Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, March 9, 2023

Episode Date: March 10, 2023

Former President Trump can appear before a grand jury related to hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, a Mexican cartel issued a handwritten apology for kidnapping and killing Americans, several dead after a church bombing in Germany, major cities crack down on "ghost cars," and the push to help men battling eating disorders.

Tonight, breaking news, there are mixed reports tonight is the Manhattan District Attorney signaling criminal charges could be likely for former President Trump. NBC News confirming prosecutors are calling on Trump to testify, if he wants, before a grand jury in a case related to that hush money payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election will have a live report and analysis straight ahead. Also tonight, the surprising move from the cartel issuing a handwritten apology and turning in their own goons for kidnapping a group of Americans and killing two of them as the bodies of those killed are returned to the U.S. tonight. This just in a mass shooting reported at a church in Germany, multiple people killed the late breaking details coming in. Back here at home, fight or flight, a brawl breaking out in the aisle of a southwest plain moments before takeoff. This, after a man on a different flight stabbed the flight attendant after trying to open an emergency door. That seemed coming just days after another man stabbed the flight attendant or the judge ruled about his case in court today. In Washington tonight, Senator Mitch McConnell hospitalized with a concussion after tripping and hitting his head,

how long the minority leaders expected to be out of commission and what this could mean for critical budget negotiations on the hill. Plus, off the rails, the president of Norfolk Southern grilled by lawmakers over a string of of toxic train derailments, the latest happening while he was testifying and taking Tiger to court, why an ex-girlfriend of Tiger Woods is taking the golf superstar to court and asking for millions of dollars. Top story starts right now. And good evening. We want to get right to that late breaking news that's just happened here on Top Story. Mixed reports coming in about whether or not Manhattan's prosecutors are signaling former President Trump could soon be facing criminal charges related to hush money payments made to adult actress Stormy Daniels.

That news first reported by the New York Times. I want to bring in NBC News Justice and Intelligence correspondent, Ken Delanian, and NBC News Senior Legal Correspondent, Laura Jarrett. Ken, I'm going to start with you. And no, we're telling our viewers here, we're being very transparent. There's a little bit of mixed reporting tonight. All of this information is just coming in. So I want you to sort of clarify where we are on our reporting. The New York Times has a headline out tonight.

signaling that prosecutors say criminal charges possibly are likely for former President Trump because they're asking him if he wants to testify in front of a grand jury, which usually signals that criminal charges could be coming. We have some different reporting. Get us up to speed right now. Good evening, Tom. Well, actually, NBC News has confirmed that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has invited the former president to testify before the grand jury that's been investigating this hush money payment matter. And that is a sign generally in the New York system that charges are imminent. It's equivalent to getting a target letter in the federal system. It's what happens to defendants shortly before they're indicted. It's very unlikely that Donald Trump would be

able to testify. He would be opening himself up to too much jeopardy. But New York generally grants a defendant one last chance to tell their story before they are charged. And let's remember what this case is. It's a case involving $130,000 payment made to the porn actress known as Stormy Daniels back in 2016. And the charges here are based on the premise that that payment was not properly accounted for under New York State law within the Trump organization. And that would be a misdemeanor. But to elevate it to a felony, it would have to be in concert with another crime. And the potential crime there is an improper campaign contribution. This $130,000 could be seen as a campaign contribution to Donald Trump because he was running for president at the time,

and he wanted to tamp down on this story that he was allegedly having an affair with this porn actress, which, by the way, he denies. And so that's the theory. It's also important to note here that the federal government, the Southern District of Manhattan, investigated this case thoroughly, and they charged former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen in a document that laid out some of the conduct of then-President Trump, who was called in that document individual one. But they decided not to, well, it couldn't charge Trump while he was president under Justice Department doctrine, but even after he left office, that office took a look and decided not to charge former President Trump. They decided this case was not strong enough. So Alvin Bragg of the

Manhattan DA, should he bring this case, is taking a big risk. It would also be a momentous, momentous decision to charge a former president. And it could be the first of actually several charges. There are two other pending investigations involving former President Trump. All right. Can I also want to point out some new NBC News reporting, we have here from Trump's own attorneys who are saying this. Two of Trump's defense attorneys tell NBC News that former President Donald Trump has been told through his attorneys that he can appear before the grand jury, but here's what they say is different.

Contrary to the New York Times reporting, according to these sources, he was not told that criminal charges could be forthcoming. I want to turn now to Laura Jarrett, who's joining us now, Ken touched upon all the different sort of crimes that may or may not have been committed here at the law. It's very complicated. This is not going to be an easy case to prove. Just to walk people through this again. The two charges here involve former President Trump paying Michael Cohen, right, saying they were legal fees.

Reimbring Michael Cohen. Reimbursing him saying there were legal fees, but they weren't legal fees. So that is considered fraud, a misdemeanor. They could elevate it to felony, but it's going to take some time. On top of that, they want to marry that to another law that was possibly broken, that by Michael Cohen painstormy Daniels, that $130,000, it was a hushed money payment. That's actually not illegal. You can do that. What's illegal is that President Trump was running at the time for office.

a campaign law. You don't need me at all. You've got all the law, yeah. But here's the thing, can they marry those two laws together? Because that seems complicated. It's super complicated. It's untested. It's a novel legal theory.

And this is why so many people, I think, have looked at this case as sort of, if you're going to bring a case against the former president of United States, is this the best vehicle to do that? Because of all the reasons you laid out. Normally, it would be a misdemeanor, falsifying business records. Misdemeanor. Doesn't mean it's not a serious criminal charge, but it's a misdemeanor. kind of a question of, is it small potatoes? Is it worth going after the former president when

he's been facing so much other scrutiny for his business record, something that may seem more elevated? But as you point out, you can elevate it to a felony. So we're talking about jail time here, at least I think four years in prison. But to do that, you'd have to tack on this other violation of an election law. And it seems like a roundabout way to do it. And so the question whether is, is that really the best use of the prosecutor's time and discretion here? Now, of course, the Trump camp denies all of this, and they say that this is just a political hit job on him. But it's worth noting that, you know, the district attorney here has faced a fair amount of scrutiny for not having pursued other cases against Trump. And in his discretion decided he decided he couldn't make out that case and he didn't pursue it.

And someone wrote a whole book about why he should have. But it appears as though this has reached an advanced stage. And so they can quibble the president's lawyer, former president's lawyers, can quibble about whether or not this signals. that a criminal charge is near, but it clearly signals that the prosecutors have reached an advanced stage. We know that they have brought a litany of other witnesses into the grand jury. And typically you wouldn't go after someone at a high level at this stage unless you were prepared to indict. And Alvin Bragg, we should point out for our viewers, as somebody who runs for office, you have to be elected to become the district attorney of Manhattan.

I do want to ask you, Trump's attorneys are pushing back on the New York Times reporting saying, listen, they just invited him to testify before the grand jury. They're not signaling any criminal charges. but if they're asking you traditionally, historically, to testify in front of the grand jury, it's essentially your last chance to say, I'm innocent, I didn't commit these crimes, don't indict me, correct? Yes, and New York law is a little bit funky here, and in other places, it's not always the case that they do that, but New York law, they let you sort of have that one last shot at testifying. Now, I cannot imagine the circumstance in which we will see Donald Trump enter that courthouse to testify,

because if he takes the stand, he doesn't get to claim immunity. He doesn't get to take the fifth, so to speak. actually have to testify, honestly, and frankly, about everything he knows about that. And they may not be something he wants to do and open himself up to criminal exposure. So let me ask you, because you know the world of politics, you know the world of law. These are going to sort of intersect, because I wrote a note down here at 2024. I mean, we're getting closer and closer to the primary calendar. I think the debates start in August.

What's going to happen here? I mean, will judges take this into consideration? Will the appellate courts take this into consideration? They're not supposed to, but, you know, it's just a question of reality that we're all living in. Again, we're in sort of untested waters. We've never seen the former president of the United States under criminal indictment. And we should be clear, it's not there yet. They haven't charged him with anything.

He can deny this, as he has continued to do, and I'm sure will do, and say that he's innocent of any of these charges. But if they do charge him in the midst of a political season, it will obviously cause a fair amount of confusion and speculation about what it all means. And it's certainly something on the minds of federal prosecutors, as you have seen, the attorney general appoint a special prosecutor for this very reason, recognizing the extraordinary circumstances we find ourselves in to have the former president under such scrutiny.

And there's a whole conversation you're going to have about politics on whether this is going to hurt the president, former president, or help him, because it may empower him with some supporters. Ken, before we go, I do want to ask you for one more question. I know grand juries, they operate in secrecy. Do we have any kind of idea on a timeline on what's next? And I understand from some of the reporting that I'm reading, the most he could get possibly if he was convicted is four years.

so we're not talking about a ton of prison time if we even get to that level. I think that's correct. We can only intuit read the tea leaves that the timeline is accelerated here, that apparently they're asking him to come in next week, and so if it goes as other cases have gone, an indictment could be imminent, like within weeks.

But you're absolutely right. This is not a terribly strong case. It's not a very serious set of criminal charges, particularly compared to what Donald Trump may be facing down in Georgia with the case down there and also with special counsel, Jack Smith, who is investigating. Obviously, what happened in January 6th, as well as Donald Trump's retention of classified documents, Tom. And actually, I just have one more question for you, Laura.

The genie's out of the bottle here. Alvin Bragg at this point, it's going to be very hard for him to hit the brakes, right? I mean, it would seem somewhat embarrassing if they go through this, all the way through here, and they don't do anything, right? Yeah, I mean, this famous saying is, like, if you're going to take a shot at the king, you don't miss. Right, from the wire, yeah. You don't go this far down the line in a historic, prosecution if you're not prepared to indict. Now, of course, the district attorney's office this

night is declining comment. Okay. Laura Jarifres, Ken Delaney, on this breaking story that's just coming in. We appreciate both your reporting and your analysis. We do want to move on out to another major story tonight, the stunning twist in the cartel kidnappings. We've been following closely. Days after four Americans were brutally taken at gunpoint, two of them killed, we're hearing from the cartel for the first time. Yes, from the cartel. The group releasing this image showing the five men that they say are responsible for the attack. Yes, they gave up their own men, a group that they are describing as rogue actors. You can see them there with their shirts pulled over their heads, their hands tied, the type of image we are custom seen from a violent drug ring.

But left on the windshield of the vehicle, something we are not used to seeing whatsoever. A handwritten apology note. In that letter, the cartel writing, we respect the life, tranquility, and integrity of the innocent. The guilty parties will pay regardless of who they are. Those innocent lives, of course, two Americans who were killed. The other two who were kidnapped with them returned alive. One Mexican National also killed in the crossfire. The cartel apologized for that killing as well. And just moments ago, the bodies of the dead you see them in this van returned to the U.S. Despite this stunning act of violence, the president of Mexico today rejecting calls for the U.S. military to intervene, saying such a move would be

irresponsible. Borganshevsky is on the American side of the border tonight with all of these new developments. The stunning photos show five men laying on the pavement, each with hands tied, and all but one shirtless, with a handwritten letter claiming to be from Mexico's Gulf cartel stuck to the windshield. A bizarre scene that tonight a senior law enforcement official tells NBC News appears to be an apology from the cartel, following the kidnapping that left two Americans dead. The shocking admission almost unprecedented.

Have you seen a PR situation like this? No, I have not. They made a huge mistake. They killed two Americans, and they know that the Mexican government going after them. They know that we're going to go after them as well. The letter, obtained by the Associated Press from a Mexican official, includes apologies to the people of Mademoros, the Mexican woman who was killed and the families of the Americans. It reads in part, the Gulf Cartel Scorpion Group strongly condemns the events of France. March 3rd. For this reason, we have decided to hand over those involved, adding the men acted

under their own determination and undisciplined and against the rules in which the cartel has always operated. Mexican authorities have not confirmed if the men are in custody or if they're truly responsible. Meanwhile in Texas, as officials work to get two slain Americans back home, survivor Eric James Williams is recovering. His wife sharing doctors placed metal rods in his leg, wounded in the hail of gunfire. Tonight, the cartel, ending their letter, asking society to remain cold. Closing with the guilty parties will pay,

regardless of who they are. All right, Morgan Chesky joins us tonight from Brownsville, Texas. We can see the border crossing there just behind you. Morgan, I want to go back to something that you reported in your story. You and your team witnessing that van carrying those Americans who died in this attack, crossing back into U.S. soil. Tom, that's right. Our crew witnessed the transfer of those two Americans from Mexico back to the United States. This was a process that had been going for some time now.

We do know that it's headed to a funeral home here in Brownsville, Texas, and arrangements, however, with the families, have yet to be made. Tom? You know, Morgan, this is a very strange case every day. There's a new twist that we can't believe, this latest twist with the cartel admitting to this and giving up the alleged gunmen. Where does the investigation go from here? Yeah, Tom, the FBI says right now Mexican authorities are cooperating, so the first order of business on behalf of federal authorities verify these men are actually tied to this kidnapping crime. If so, the U.S. Justice Department is within their rights to request extradition because of their potential involvement with the deaths of the U.S. citizens. Tom.

All right, Morgan Chesky, with all those new developments for us, Morgan, we thank you for that. For more on this bizarre behavior from the cartel and this apology letter, which we've never seen before, I'm joined now by former FBI agent who also worked against, working against the Mexican cartels on the border, Robert D'Amico. Agent D'Amico, we thank you so much for joining us here on Top Story. I want to first start with that letter in all your years working with the FBI and working against the cartels. Have you ever seen anything like this, this apology letter?

I haven't personally seen one, but I do know that the, and the end. says, especially the cartels in the Northeast, do do this. But it does remind me of the American mafia. Like, when you look at how these groups operate, the people within the communities give them security. They tell them, they tip them off. So they actually understand a lot that having the people more on their side helps them. It helps them in the long run. I'm surprised at the letter.

To a point, I figured they were going to kill the gunmen because the gunmen are just employees. I figured they're going to kill them and get rid of them that way. And they actually did a smarter move by turning them over. They know that the American FBI is going to find out who is involved and come up with indictments. If they could get them out of the way early, it takes them out of the picture, especially the leaders. Yeah, I want to ask you about that a little bit later because it's sort of strange.

They almost are the law in that town. But I want to ask you that in a moment. First, I want to ask you, though, is there an unspoken code? Is there some type of law? within this lawless group? Because it sounds from the apology letter like these men broke some kind of rule. There's always laws within these groups.

So whatever groups you're dealing with, be it motorcycle gangs, American mafia, even an intelligence organization, there's inside rules, there's inside baseball. And these cartel guys, they made that mistake. And the cartel's blaming them.

Now, again, what were their orders when they went after them? was it was it were they told no or something like that probably not but they're blaming them they're saying hey you guys went over and above what we told you could do uh maybe got a little zealous and and did something and it's coming down on them but even if they didn't the leaders are going to blame them they're going to take everything off off themselves they're going to say hey they were acting on their own they weren't it's an enterprise they operate this way um so i think again the leadership the cartel is trying to get the pressure off them, and giving up five, six gunmen is not going to

hurt them in the long run. So, you know, we talked about this video when it came out on Monday. We kind of walked, you walk me through it moment by moment, frame by frame, if you will. And one of the interesting things we pointed out was that the cars just sort of stopped in traffic here, right? These men were armed to the tee. They had their bulletproof jackets on. They were throwing the bodies in the back of the pickup truck. If we can roll that video once again so people could see what I'm talking about. The question I have for you is that if these gunmen were never turned over. If the gang, the cartel didn't turn in their own men, do you think Matamoros police, the Mexican National Police, would have ever turned them in as well?

Not local police. I think it would have taken a whole bunch of effort from the U.S. government to the Mexican federal government side to get them turned over. It would have been a lot of pressure. And again, the cartel smartly said, hey, we'll package them up, we'll give them to you, leave us alone. And that's what the letter's about. It's not. sincere. They're not sorry. They kill hundreds of people a year. They're sorry. They got caught. They're sorry it happened. They're sorry they got bad press. And that's why they're doing this. They're doing it to relieve the pressure on them. What do you think this does for the relationship between the U.S. and Mexico? There have been a lot of people who have called for sort of U.S.

intervention, if you will, to act against the cartels because people make the argument that they are terrorist organizations, right? They traffic guns. They traffic human beings. They traffic children. They commit all types of atrocities. They've taken over many cities in Mexico, as we saw here in Matamoros. What do you think this does with a relationship? Because we heard from the president of Mexico, right, who's pushed back against any calls for the U.S. to assist with the country's ongoing feud here. And he addressed this today as well. He definitely doesn't want to look, he wants to look strong for his people. He doesn't want the U.S. coming in. That looks bad on him. he wants to say, hey, we can solve these problems.

It's just bringing to light what the cartels do. You know, there's been a lot of series on TV and stuff. It's like the American mafia. When people look at it, like, oh, it looks cool on a series, but when you really see the reality of it, it's not. People are dying. Drugs are getting trafficked and people get in trafficking. It's never been anything but that.

They're just trying to come out with a better, better image in that. So again, they may even have, like, a public relations firm. They hire professionals. There's a lot of money in it. They might have been told, hey, look, don't, don't kill them. Write a letter. We got to get out in front of this. It's just like any other corporation at a point. Okay, former FBI agent, Robert DeMigo, Robert, we always appreciate your time. We also have some breaking news overseas. Several people are dead and many more injured after a shooting at a church in Hamburg, Germany. For the late breaking details, I want to bring in NBC's Megan Fitzgerald, who's been covering this for us.

She's been tracking it all tonight from London. Megan, tell us what you know. Well, Tom, what we know right now is that police are confirming that this shooting happened just after 9 o'clock local time when they say at least one or more suspects walked into this church, as you mentioned in Hamburg, Germany. This is the second largest city in the country, an open fire, killing multiple people, injuring several others. Police are calling this a large-scale operation here.

They have taped off multiple streets around the area as they search for answers. Video coming into our newsroom showing the moments that this happened shortly after, really. You see the officers walking in with guns drawn heading into the church. You can also see several people leaving the church. It certainly suggests that there was some sort of an event taking place inside. But at this point, police have not confirmed how many people have. have died, how many people are injured, or if they were able to detain that one or other suspects that they believe committed this crime here.

This is still a very active and ongoing investigation, Tom. We will continue to follow the latest. Okay, Megan Fitzgerald, following those late-breaking details over there in London. Megan, we appreciate it. Now to a shocking video on a Southwest Airlines flight from Dallas, a fight breaking out while the Phoenix-bound flight was boarding. One passenger punching another while others tried to break up the fight. So is anything being done about all these brawls in the air and unruly passengers?

Wad vanegas has that story. Chaos in the cabin. No, do not hear him again. This man in a tan leather jacket punching another passenger on a Southwest flight in Dallas on Monday, while others attempt to stop him. Get out of the man seen here throwing punches, alleging the other passenger with tattoos seen here, approached his family aggressively. Tell him what happened. Tell him what you did. I will sit down in jail for you approaching my family.

Caitlin Johnson, who filmed the video telling NBC News, it was likely a simple bump that triggered the incident. The two Phoenix-bound Southwest passengers were removed from the plane and no arrests were made. Southwest Air Lines declined to say if it's taking any further actions against the unruly passenger, saying in part, nothing to share other than to say our flight crews are well-trained in de-escalation, and we commend them for managing the situation.

This video is circulating as another unruly passenger involved in an incident on Sunday heads to court. I will kill every man on this plate. Francisco Torres accused of stabbing a flight attendant and trying to open an emergency exit door during a cross-country United flight from Los Angeles to Boston. Tell them to bring SWAT to shoot you down. A Boston federal judge deciding Torres will continue in detention pending a competency hearing. According to the FAA, more than 40 unruly passengers are being reported every week. That's nowhere near the sky high number we saw around this time last year, but still much higher than pre-pendemic trends. It's one too many incidents for industry professionals, including the famed captains who landed a plane on the Hudson River after the flight struck a flock of birds,

responding to that Boston incident telling our Gotti Schwartz that a no-fly list is a good idea. part of the problem is that all the stressors, all the divisions in our society, many people bring on the airplane with them. And if they're already stressed, it doesn't take too much more to set them off. The Association of Flight Attendance calling for federal intervention, saying in a statement, quote, we call on Congress to pass the protection from Abusive Passengers Act. The legislation introduced by Representative Eric Swalwell and Senator Jack Reed would ban abusive passengers from commercial airline flights. This is legislation that has the Senate in the House behind it.

It has Republicans and Democrats behind it. But the bill introduced last year has seen little forward movement in Congress. All right, Guad joins us tonight from Atlanta outside the busiest airport in the country. And Guad, all these incidents come as the airline industry is dealing with another set of challenges. Those close calls on the runway we've been reporting on for weeks, even mid-air in some cases. What can you tell us about the safety summit that's? coming up.

Tom, that summit is going to be taking place March 15th, the head of the FAA, says he wants to convene with people that represent regional and commercial air carriers as well as airports and all sorts of aviation experts. The idea is for everyone to share what they've seen these last few months and also bring ideas to the table on how to enhance the safety net that we have in the U.S. Tom. All right, Guad vanegas for a squad, we appreciate it. From problems in the air to now the rails.

Another Norfolk Southern freight train derailing today, this one in Alabama. It happened as the company's CEO was testifying before Congress. Facing tough questioning about that toxic derailment in Ohio five weeks ago. NBC's Tom Costello has more. I want to begin today by expressing how deeply sorry I am. Fully expecting a bipartisan grilling, Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw started with an apology and a promise. We're going to be there for as long as it takes. to help East Palestine thrive and recover.

That's my personal commitment. But when Senators asked for specific commitments to cover residents' medical expenses for exposure to toxins and lost property value, the railroad exec kept it vague. Will you commit to paying for long-term medical testing for people in the impacted communities? Senator, I'm committed to doing what's right.

Will you commit to compensating effective homeowners for their diminished property, values. Senator, I'm committing to do what's right. Well, what's right is a family that had a home worth $100,000 that is now worth $50,000. We'll probably never be able to sell that home for $100,000 again. Will you compensate that family for that loss? Senator, I'm committed to do what's right. That is the right thing to do. Shaw said the company has already pledged $21 million to help the area insisting he runs a safe railroad. But as he was speaking, word of another Norfolk Southern derailment, 30 cars early this morning in Alabama.

No injuries and no hazmat spill. Over the weekend, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in Springfield, Ohio. Again, no injuries. Also under fire for its response, the EPA. Why did it take weeks for the EPA administrator to drink the water? He repeatedly told residents was safe. The EPA today did report that East Palestine air and water samples continue to test clean. Norfolk Southern has had 20 hazmat spills over eight years. The railroad industry averages one a month. Today, Ohio Republican J.D. Vance took aim at members of his own party who oppose new railroad safety regulations. We have a choice. Are we for big business and big government or are we for the people of East Palestine?

Shaw says he'd support parts of the new regs, but not all. Norfolk Southern runs a safe railroad. And it's my commitment to improve that safety. Tom, right now, 18 lawsuits have been filed by the residents of East Palestine against Norfolk Southern. Now, the EPA insists it will hold the company accountable. If it fails to completely clean up the area, the EPA is threatening to force it to pay triple the costs of the cleanup there. Tom. Tom Costell for us, we want to stay in Washington.

Now, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell remains hospitalized with a concussion tonight after a fall at a Washington, D.C. hotel. NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent, Ryan Nobles, has been following this for us. Ryan, you know, usually if a lawmaker slips and falls, it's not major news, but we're talking about a serious injury here to Senator McConnell. Yeah, that's right, Tom. Serious enough where his staff is saying that he is expected to spend several days in the hospital, and they're not setting a timeline for his return. Now, despite that bleak outlook, Look, there is every expectation that he'll make a full recovery. In fact, President Biden was asked about McConnell tonight. Keep in mind that they have a long relationship because of Biden's lengthy stay here in the United States Senate where he worked with Mitch McConnell. He said that he reached out to McConnell's family and was told that McConnell will be all right. But as of right now, we don't have a lot of information about his health status other than that he's currently being hospitalized and that they are not ready to say exactly when he'll be able to come back to work. Brian, talk to me about the machinations in the Senate right now, and I ask this because we have a few senators now who aren't able to work because of illnesses we have.

Senator John Federman, of course, from Pennsylvania, who's being treated for depression. Senator Dianne Feinstein from shingles for shingles from California. Now we have Senator McConnell who's hit his head and has this concussion now. How is this impacting the overall work of the Senate? It's really a question about the length of McConnell's absence as to just how big of an impact it'll have on the U.S. US Senate. In the short term, it's probably not that big of a deal. As you point out, there are two Democrats missing. Now there's one Republican missing. There are tight margins here in the Senate, but it likely won't change the outcome of any pending legislation. The bigger problem for Republicans

and for McConnell is if he is out for an extended period of time, he is in charge of the negotiations for Senate Republicans. And there are a number of major issues that have to be hashed out here over the next couple of months. There's a looming debt ceiling crisis. And of course, the negotiations over the budget, which President Biden announced today. If McConnell's not here to steer that ship, that's going to be a big change for Senate Republicans. Of course, McConnell is the longest serving leader of either party, Republican or Democrat. So they count on him to be the person that figures this out in exactly the role that Republicans play in these fierce negotiations. Yeah, and few know how the Senate works better than Senator Mitch McConnell. All right, thanks so

much, Ryan. We appreciate it. We turn now to the forecast and severe winter weather stretching from coast to coast, 50 million people under wind alerts from the northern plains to the northeast with thunderstorms set to slam to southeast. And in hard-hit California, where massive snowstorms have strained so many, heavy rain and high elevation snow expected to cause even more damage. We have NBC News meteorologist Bill Caron's here. Bill, I'm looking over at you, and I can see you're starting in California again. I don't know if that state has had such bad weather for so long. This is quite the storm. The next 24 hours, we expect damage. Hopefully we're not going to have fatalities, but it's a possibility. So this is what happened today. For tomorrow, they have issued

what we call a high risk of flash flooding and of flooding. These are pretty rare. They only happen about 4% of the days during an entire year. And when we get these, this is when we have the big damaging flash floods, and this is when we have the problems. About 39% of all flash flood deaths are in these high risk. And that's from Monterey down to almost Santa Maria and heading in the mountainous areas, the foothills, Fresno, up into areas of the Sierra. So that's the areas of greatest concern. A huge section. And when you see the radar of California, you're like, wow, like the blue is the snow, the green is the rain, the yellow is the pouring rain. And right now, some of the heaviest of it's coming in to San Francisco. And we expect this to continue tonight, tomorrow,

and even into tomorrow night. So some of the rainfall totals, yes, will be one to five inches in the mountainous area. Even the city, Santa Barbara's going to get two inches. That means the mountains outside of Santa Barbara will get four to five. So that's a possibility of flooding. We have high winds, too, that could knock out power to some of these areas. So California, The next 36 hours, very difficult. And then, Tom, you were mentioning, you know, we have a snowstorm going on under Wisconsin. Chicago northwards, a very difficult drive home tonight. We have areas under a winter storm warning around Milwaukee.

That's where we get considerable snow tomorrow morning. Very difficult southern Michigan to Detroit, Cleveland during the day tomorrow. And then that will tomorrow night head through areas of Pennsylvania, and we will get some snow out of this just outside of New York City towards Hartford. And Tom, I'll leave you with this. We have a chance for a Northeaster, maybe even a strong Northeaster, Tuesday. next week, be one of the first ones of the entire winter for areas of New England. I'll have much more details on that tomorrow. First nor-eastern mid-march. All right. Wow.

Okay, Bill, thanks for all of that. There's a lot of news tonight. We want to head back overseas to the chaos unfolding in Israel. Protesters turning out across the country, blocking major roads and airports. The demonstrations even disrupting a trip by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. NBC's Ralph Sanchez has been following this for Top Story from Tel Aviv. Tonight, Israel's deep internal divisions on full display and bringing the country to the verge of paralysis. Tens of thousands blocking highways and major roads in protest against government plans to weaken the Israeli Supreme Court. Democracy is in danger in Israel.

And with demonstrators blockading the airport, a high-profile visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin thrown into chaos. A one-day trip reduced to just a few hours on the ground. This is Israel's defense ministry where Secretary Austin was supposed to have his meetings. But you can see, protesters have brought Tel Aviv to a complete standstill. There was no way for him to get through. Instead, Austin holding a brief meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu within the airport compound. The Israeli leader says his judicial plan, which would allow Parliament to ignore Supreme Court rulings, is a badly needed reform to curb activist judges.

But demonstrators told us they fear for their country's future. These countries eventually, let's say Jewish and democratic. Right now they're trying to take away the democratic part away. And, you know, that just brings people to the streets. Austin's signaling the U.S. is also concerned. As President Biden has said, the genius of American democracy and Israeli democracy is that they, They are both built on strong institutions, on checks and balances, and on an independent judiciary.

But just hours after Austin's call for calm, a terror attack in the heart of Tel Avid. Police say a gunman opened fire on Israeli civilians, wounding three before he was killed. And this morning, Israeli forces killing three gunmen from the military. group Palestinian Islamic jihad, Austin, voicing strong U.S. support for Israel's security and condolences for Israeli victims, including these two brothers shot dead by Hamas last month, but also speaking out against inflammatory rhetoric by far-right members of Israel's government and attacks carried out by Israeli extremists. And we're especially disturbed by violence by settlers against Palestinians.

The Palestinian town of Hawara repeatedly attacked by Israeli settlers, who set fire to homes and businesses. This car dealership, losing nearly its entire stock to the flames. A camsayada? Me? A hundred cars. Owner, Sultan Abu Sarif, telling us,

It took 20 years to build my business. It took just four hours to destroy everything. Israel's military tonight, acknowledging it should have stopped the settler attacks on Hawara. But with the flashpoint holidays of Ramadan and Passover, fast approaching, American hopes of resurgence.

storing calm, colliding with harsh reality on the ground. And earlier tonight, Israel's president, who is a largely ceremonial figure, but whose words carry a lot of moral weight, said the divisions within Israel were a disaster. He called on Prime Minister Netanyahu to abandon his judicial overhaul and replace it with a compromise agreement. But so far, no sign Netanyahu is backing down. Tom? Israel appearing to be at a crossroads tonight.

All right. Ralph Sanchez for us, Ralph, we appreciate it. still ahead. The scare at a Chicago elementary school, multiple students hospitalized after some kind of irritant was released into the air, what authorities believe caused it. Plus, cracking down on so-called ghost cars. Have you heard about this? Take a look. Drivers across the country removing license plates? Some even using high-tech devices. The cars have even been linked to serious crime. So what happens when you crash into one of them, or they crash into you? How one major U.S. City is now trying to stop it. And the investigation into Tesla, some customers reporting

The steering wheels are falling off while they're on the road. Stay with us.