Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, May 9, 2024

Episode Date: May 10, 2024

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

Breaking tonight, new body cam just released after a black U.S. airman is shot and killed by a sheriff's deputy. That department now releasing the footage, showing the moments leading up to and during the fatal encounter. The airman's family pushing back saying officers went too far, adding the video doesn't tell the full story. Tonight we'll break down that encounter frame by frame. Also breaking tonight, hospital system hacked. Ascension, one of the nation's large, health care networks hit by a massive cyber attack. Ambulances forced to reroute to other medical centers, patients turned away from appointments, the crisis unfolding in dozens of hospitals. This just in a deadly avalanche in Utah killing two skiers, what we're learning about the

lone survivor rescued just in time. This, as we track that massive storm system sweeping across the country, storms unleashing deadly tornadoes, houses ripped off their foundations outside of Nashville. A flash flood emergency, cars underwater and roads cut off. Massive baseball-sized hail helting the central U.S. Right now, 32 million remain at risk from Texas to the Carolinas. Storming off the stand, Stormy Daniels, facing off with Trump's lawyers in a heated exchange during former President Trump's hush money trial. This, as the defense calls for a mistrial once again. Plus, Ozempic deemed the magic fix to weight loss. But is it all it's cracked up to be?

We speak with an author about his own journey using the popular injection for an entire year. His deep dive on the benefits and the major risks. What he's predicting is coming in the future and how the definition of healthy and thin may quickly change. And baby for the bebes. Yeah, that's right. Justin and Haley Bieber are expecting their big photo shoot revealed. Top story starts right now. And good evening.

We are coming on the air with breaking news. Police in Florida just releasing body camp footage of the moments a deputy shot and killed a black U.S. airman. The four-minute video shows a deputy arriving to the scene of a disturbance call in Okalusa County, east of Pensacola. The deputy identifying himself as he knocks on the door of 23,000. year old Roger Forston. But in just seconds, Forston opens the door and the deputy shoots him several times, police pointing to the gun that was in Forston's hand at the time. The footage coming hours after Forston's family and high-profile attorney Ben Crump said Forston did nothing wrong and alleged the deputy responded to the wrong apartment. We're also learning Forston's girlfriend

was on FaceTime with him as the shooting unfolded. His family releasing a portion of that video. The family also releasing a statement late today saying the body cam is heavily redacted and questioning why Forston was not told to drop his weapon first. There's a lot of questions tonight, and we begin with NBC San Brock, who has been following at all for us. In the moments before senior airman Roger Fortson is fatally shot by police, and Okalusa Sheriff's deputy knocks on his apartment door. Sheriff's office open the door. Identifying himself twice.

Fortson opens the door with a gun by his side, but not visibly raised in a split second later. Six shots are fired, killing the 23-year-old. Officials say the deputy reacted in self-defense after he encountered a 23-year-old man armed with a gun and after the deputy had identified himself as law enforcement. He shot up. My baby was shot up. He was shot six times. Officers say they were responding to a disturbance call reported in Apartment 1401, which is Fortson's unit.

Are they fighting or something? You're saying that it happens frequently? A woman seen on camera when a deputy first arrived said she also heard disturbances weeks earlier, but couldn't confirm from where. Fortson's mother, whom we spoke to him, whom we spoke to before. Before body camera was released, says deputies went to the wrong apartment. Roger was the only person in his apartment. They said they was answering to a disturbance.

Was he fighting himself? She said FaceTiming with his girlfriend when law enforcement arrived. How this tragedy happened to Roger Fortson, who was an American patriot? He was a role model. Ocaloosa's Sheriff's Office did not respond to questions as many lives. Sheriff's Office opened the door. now changed forever. And Tom, the Okalusa County Sheriff's Department says they're not hiding anything.

They are referring the investigation now to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement or FDLE. They are the lead in the investigation. As for Fortson's attorney, Benjamin Crump, he did issue a statement right after the body camera release, saying that there were no verbal commands provided to drop the weapon before shooting. Tom, back to you. Sam Brock leading us off tonight. Sam, we thank you for that. For more on the shooting in that body cam video.

former Seattle Chief of Police and NBC News Law Enforcement analyst. Carmen Best joins us now. Carmen, I know you've seen this video. It is disturbing. Based on your experience, did this deputy follow protocol in responding to a call like this? Yeah, Tom, thanks for having me. You know, obviously I've seen this video a few times. It's very tragic to see the outcome.

That said, domestic violence is one of the most dangerous calls that officers can respond to. My understanding was that domestic violence. and an apparent domestic violence situation, the officer responded, and then the person opened the door with the gun in their hand. While there'd be a lot of review from all the stakeholders involved, the fact that, you know, the officer was faced with the person who had a gun in their hand after knowing that the sheriff was at the door, certainly most juries or judges are going to give the officer the benefit of the doubt in that type of situation. So I guess my question to you is, what is the protocol when an officer sees someone with a gun in their hand? Are they supposed to shoot right away, or are they supposed to ask them to drop the weapon? Yeah, all the training I've been to, obviously, if you have the opportunity, if you have cover and concealment, you have the opportunity maybe to ask the subject to drop the weapon.

But in this close circumstance like that, the door is open, the gun is displayed, it's split seconds before they. that gun can be used to harm the officer. And the expectation is not that the officer has to wait to be shot before taking a defensive action in these circumstances. Obviously, there will be a thorough review of this situation, but that is typically how this would be evaluated. Because essentially what you're saying is that the officer was taken by surprise. He didn't know he was going to open the door

and that the person he was looking to speak to was going to have a gun in their hand. You're right. You're talking about split seconds here. Is there anything that the officer did in knocking on the door? in approaching the door. I mean, he did knock several times. He said he was from the sheriff's office. Is there anything in the way that he approached the door

that he should have done differently? Yeah, I looked at this very thoroughly. Clearly, the officer approached was before he knocked, he waited, he listened to see if he could hear anything like probably somebody screaming or burgeoned being thrown or somebody calling for help or those types of things that didn't exist.

The one thing, it would have been, because there was no apparent exigency, if he had waited for his backup to get there, you know, it would have been a safer approach with two officers rather than one. That said, when a subject opens the door with a gun in their hand, the outcome may not have been any different than what we saw today. As we saw in Sam Brock's report, and as you've probably seen, there's been a lot of reporting. The family is devastated.

Famed attorney, Benjamin Crump, is representing the family in this case. there's going to be a lot of outrage. There might be some misinformation, disinformation coming from both sides. You never know it's still a very fresh and raw situation. What's your advice to that community down in Florida? You know, it is a very tense situation. We hate to see another person killed at the hand of law enforcement at any time. That said, they do need to wait for all the facts and details to come in and act and calm.

There'll be a number of people who review every aspect of this. both internally from the prosecutors. Obviously, the defense will have that opportunity as well. Again, in these situations where people are armed and they're in close proximity like that, often, you know, that will give the officer the benefit of the doubt in those circumstances. But only time will tell as the investigation is completed. Former Seattle Police Chief Carmen Best on that body cam video

just released in that shooting. Okay, Carmen, thank you for that. Another major headline we're following tonight, one of the largest health care networks in the U.S., just hit by a cyber attack that's disrupting patient care. Ascension, the nation's largest chain of Catholic hospitals, released a statement saying they are facing disruptions to clinical operations after some of their tech systems were impacted by this hack. The health network has 140 locations across the country, but it's unclear how many hospitals have been impacted by the attack. We're hearing reports of record systems down and ambulances. having to be diverted to other hospitals in multiple states. For more on this developing story, I want to get right to Elwyn Lopez,

who joins us tonight live from Los Angeles. Elwyn, what other services are being impacted by this attack? Yeah, Thomas mentioned this is one of the largest health care networks in the country, so the impact is vast, as you can imagine. As far as systems impacted, we're talking about charting, we're talking about scheduling. These are all things that are now done electronically, and now doctors and staff are forced to go back to pen and paper,

and we're not talking about small operations here. We're talking about a network of about 140 hospitals. So the extent and duration is still unclear, but several outlets are reporting that some ambulances in places like Florida were told to reroute emergency patients to different hospitals. And so the impacts here are vast and widespread. As of right now, the extent and duration of all of this is still very unclear. Yeah, and you wonder if the hackers could get into this part of the hospital system.

What else could they get into as well? When this kind of stuff happens at a hospital or health, network what type of patient data can be leaked well typically experts say that hackers are looking for things like names addresses social security numbers prescription information clinical notes in this specific case we know that the hackers were able to get into the patient record system as far as what they were able to obtain from that it's still unclear at this point but we know that ascension told their network that if any sensitive data is leaked that they will be notifying their patients but as you can imagine incredibly concerning

situation is something that is not uncommon. We know that about 250 ransomware attacks have taken place on the health care industry and that far surpasses any other sector. 250 hacks. Wow. Okay, Elwyn Lopez for us tonight on that breaking news. Elwyn, we thank you. There's a lot of news happening tonight on this Thursday. We're also following right now severe weather across the country. Tornadoes flooding and hail pummeling communities in the south and Midwest. Look at this. One massive twister touching down in Clarksville, Look at the size of that system right there. And about two hours south near Columbia, you can see it right here.

Here is all the damage. Homes completely destroyed, roofs ripped off, and trees shredded. Tornado watch is still in effect for parts of the southeast, so let's get right to NBC meteorologist Bill. Cairns, Bill, I know it's a busy night for you. We're tracking the severe weather and also this deadly avalanche. Let's start with the weather and what your radars are showing. Where are these storm systems headed? Mostly in Texas.

We're done with our severe threat in the areas from southern Georgia, the north. North Florida. So we have numerous watches that are up. A lot of these are severe thunderstorm watches. Hale and damaging wind is a bigger story tonight than the tornado threat. But we do have a tornado watch for areas from Dallas southwards down towards Waco. We have only had a couple isolated tornadoes so far today. No reports of any damage or injuries or anything like that. Happy to report the Dallas-Fort Worth area, the storms have dodged and gone north of you and south of you. And it looks like you're going to be all in the clear. So that's great for you. We do have some strong storms approaching Waco, Texas. You're under severe thunderstorm warning.

And we do have one tornado warning with this hook right in here. So Pontoa, that's where we have the radar indicated. Again, not confirmed, but the tornado sirens are going off and people are seeking shelter. Later tonight, this line of storms is going to form and then race all the way towards tomorrow morning. It's going to be here in Georgia. So we have a damaging wind threat when we get a situation like this, and it could last through many states right through the overnight hours. And we're talking winds that are as strong as like a low-end tornado, knocking trees down, a lot of power out of So by 7 p.m. we take this out of Texas as we go through midnight, 1 a.m. into Mississippi.

You're going to be woken up in the middle of the night in southern half of Mississippi. It goes through southern Alabama. At 8 a.m. it's in Georgia. And all along that path, Tom, we do have a chance of some severe weather. And I know you're tracking some more stuff out west, which is breaking news out of Utah. Two skiers have died in an avalanche there. Yeah, they've had a ton of snow. So while everyone else was getting the warm tornadoes, the cold side, a lot of snow has fallen. So here's Salt Lake City. Here's Provo. This is Alta, a famous ski resort. They closed, by the way. They closed on April 21st. But where this rescue avalanche occurred was about 20, 30 miles just to the west of there. And what we call Little Cottonwood Canyon, they reported 11 inches of snow in Alta, 42 inches in the last couple days. But the ski resorts are closed. So people were going in the back country. And the avalanche threat is very high when you get this much heavy wet snow on top of the snow that exists in that area. And so it was very rugged terrain that this occurred in. It was very difficult for the search and rescue to get to the people, know that one survivor is going to have, you know, quite a story, a very harrowing day.

Okay, Bill Kerrins for us, Bill, we appreciate that. We want to turn out of the tense moments in the court today in the trial of Donald Trump. Stormy Daniels clashing with Donald Trump's attorney under cross-examination as they accused her of making up a sexual encounter with Mr. Trump and profiting off it. Daniels denying those claims. The defense asking for a mistrial yet again, but they were rejected. NBC's Laura Jared is covering it all. Tonight, Stormy Daniels leaving court after a blistering cross-examination.

Former President Trump's defense team suggesting she's been trying to cash in on her story of sex with Mr. Trump at a celebrity golf tournament 18 years ago, which he denies ever happened. The defense today accusing Daniels of lying. Trump attorney Susan necklace hammering Daniels' years of acting and directing in the porn industry, saying it gave her, quote, a lot of experience in making phony stories about sex. sex appear real. Daniels fighting back that if the Trump story was untrue, I would have written it a lot better. There are exchanges growing heated. You've acted and had sex in over 200 porn movies, but according to you, seeing a man sitting in bed in a t-shirt and boxer shorts was so upsetting that you almost fainted? Daniels, defiant, noting Mr. Trump was twice her age and bigger. Necklace saying, you made this all up, right? Daniels, forcefully.

responding, no. Neckless pressing, your story has completely changed, hasn't it? Daniels again answering no, saying this signed statement, where she denied an affair with Mr. Trump, was done while she was trying to comply with the terms of a non-disclosure agreement in which she was paid to keep silent. Today, the defense argued Daniels has a financial stake in trying to take Mr. Trump down. After making more than a million off her story in books, a strip club tour, and various other merchandise on her website, like a $40 stormy saint of indictments candle. Necklace accusing her of trying to make money to sell a story that you promised will put President Trump in jail, right? Daniel's responding, no. Much of the testimony far removed from what

the presumptive GOP nominee has been charged with for allegedly falsifying his business records to hide a $130,000 payment to Daniels ahead of the 2016 election. Prosecutors say the payment was meant to keep her quiet so she couldn't derail his campaign. The defense says there was no crime. It was all a shakedown. Daniels testifying today, quote, I was asking to sell my story to publications to get the truth out. Neckless saying she could have just done that with a press conference for free. Daniel's responding, I could have. Necklace asserting, you chose to make money, right? Daniel saying, I chose to take the non-disclosure agreement. The jury today again hearing a phone call between Michael Cohen and Daniel's lawyer who negotiated the NDA.

That lawyer saying she wanted this money more than you can ever imagine. On redirect by the state, Daniels told the jury money didn't drive her motivation for signing that NDA. Quote, we're all happy to take money. It was just a bonus. Later, former Trump aide Madeline Westerhouse testifying about Mr. Trump's reaction when the story about the hush money deal first broke. saying, I remember he was very upset. Late today, the judge denying the defense's renewed request for a mistrial. Mr. Trump's attorneys had argued Daniel's salacious testimony was prejudicial and irrelevant.

The judge also refusing to change the gag order, which currently bars Mr. Trump from commenting on Daniel's testimony. Everybody saw what happened today. I don't think we have to do any explaining. I'm not allowed to anyway. I got to get back into campaign trail. I'm not supposed to be here. We are so innocent. There's never been anything like it.

Okay, Laura Jarrett joins us now in studio. Laura, let's go back to where you ended there. This second request by the defense for a mistrial, did they have an argument? They, I think, have a fair argument, but the judge just isn't buying it, Tom, because they basically say the defense opened the door to all of this prejudicial testimony

and that they didn't do enough to object. When Daniel said things that were problematic, and even the judge agreed, They were problematic at times. They're saying, the judge is saying, she didn't do enough to actually object to that testimony. And so it all comes in. So essentially the judge said,

you guys should have stopped this while it was happening instead of waiting till the end and then, oh, let's have a mistrial. Yeah, and so he's not buying it. And so at least on this ground, and it doesn't mean that they can't appeal later on, but at least right now, this trial's moving forward. All right, Laura, Jared for us, Laura, we appreciate that. Okay, next, we have a new look at the chaos unfolding

at colleges across the country as protest over the Israel-Hamas war continue to dominate daily life on campus. UCLA police announcing more than 40 pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at a parking garage this week, armed with metal pipes, bolt cutters, and padlocks that police say they plan to use to occupy a building on campus. Now, some of those protesters were arrested as part of the encampment that was shut down on May 2nd.

And you'll remember these images, right? Police in riot gear, firing rubber bullets and tear gas, tearing down those tents, those images blasts, across TVs and newspapers. But there was also these scenes from 24 hours before, which you may have not seen, right? When that same encampment came under siege from counter-protesters, clashing lasting for several hours before police moved in, the question tonight, why did it take so long for authorities to break up this fighting?

In the day since that violence erupted, the New York Times and the LA Times, analyzing hours of videos from that night, laying out a detailed hour-by-hour timeline in search of answers. team tonight, pouring over those videos as well and taking a closer look at what role the decision makers, including police and campus leadership, played as all of this unfolding. Here's Dana Griffin with that TikTok. For several hours on Tuesday, April 30th, a pro-Palestinian encampment on UCLA's campus swarmed by counter-protesters triggering a night of violence and prompting questions over why authorities did not step in sooner.

videos posted to social media taken by NBC news cameras and recorded by journalists on scene in the hours leading up to and including the clashes documenting how the night spiraled into chaos at 9.42 p.m., counter protesters, some draped in Israeli flags, start gathering around the encampment in front of Royce Hall. The sound of a crying baby blasted through speakers. At 1049 p.m., the first major escalation as counter protesters start dismantling metal barricades and plywood surrounding the fortified area. Security guards and yellow vests are trying to keep the group separated. Just after 11 p.m., this firework is set off. It explodes above the encampment. Several more are released throughout the night.

They have a firework. Along with an irritant spray. You hear in Kentman Chants, including from the river to the sea. From the river to the sea. Palestine will be free! As pro-Palestinian protesters reposition the barricade. Small fights are ensuing right now. Complete chaos happening right now. Water bottles launched from both sides.

Another water bottle just struck another man in the head. The violence intensifies as a man inside. encampment is smacked over the head with plywood. Another is dragged out and beaten by several counter protesters. Shortly before 1 a.m., more than two hours after the violence erupted, the mayor's office announces that LAPD officers have been called in to respond. By now, several people are injured. Video posted at 1.42 a.m. shows the security guards hired by UCLA standing together watching the melee. Some kind of spray is released as those nearby cough from exposure. U.S.A. U.S.S. S. Around 1.45 a.m., multiple law enforcement agencies arrive in riot gear as fighting

continues yards away. Protesters are receiving treatment for their injuries. By 247, officers move in to begin separating both groups. Shortly after 3 a.m., the situation is under control. The encampment remains in place for another 24 hours before the California Highway Patrol is directed to dismantle the protest. Another chaotic scene unfolds as hundreds are arrested. Classes are moved online for the remainder of the week. By midday Thursday, no signs of the massive encampment remain as criticism swirls the empty campus. Many demanding accountability from the university, including one state lawmaker, now calling on the Board of Education to investigate potential civil rights violations.

In response to campus violence, the University Police Officers Association noted that they are obligated to follow the direction of campus leadership, adding in part they shoulder the accountability for the outcomes stemming from these decisions, not the UC Police Department. Two days prior to the brawl, the university reiterated its stance on calling in law enforcement stating that system-wide policy directs us not to request law enforcement involvement preemptively and only if absolutely necessary to protect the physical safety of our campus community. UCLA has hired 21st century policing solutions to lead an independent investigation into the actions of that day and help identify those responsible for the violence. A former LAPD officer told KMBC he thinks facial recognition technology will likely be used. We reached out the 21st Century policing solutions to learn more about their involvement.

We're waiting to hear back. UCLA's President Michael Drake adding in a statement released Thursday, this independent review will provide us with more information to shore up our ability to protect our community members and their rights while keeping them safe from harm. The regents and I look forward to the findings. With that, Dana Griffin joins us live. Dana, really powerful sort of look at a protest that a lot of people may not even knew happened. So we know classes resumed in person this week, although professors are allowed to conduct remote learning until Friday if they choose.

How else is the university responding to the last week's violence? Yeah, well, Tom, Chancellor, Gene Block actually announced a newly created Office of Campus Safety that he says will help enforce policing and emergency management after last week's chaos in about two weeks. week's block is expected to testify before Congress about UCLA's response to anti-Semitism on campus and actions to protect Jewish students. And you can bet he'll likely also receive tough questions about the school's response to the recent violence. Tom? Dana Griffin for us, Dana, we always appreciate all your reporting in that look. Still ahead tonight, airport chaos, new video shows a Boeing 737 engulfed in flames after it skidded off a runway in Senegal. Passengers frantically fleeing the aircraft, what authorities say happened. Plus, neuralinks groundbreaking brain implant

malfunctioning. What the company said happened in one of its test patients and what it means for research. And is OZempic the magic fix for weight loss? The drug exploding in popularity, but how do users actually feel about it? We speak with an author and journalist about his own journey using OZempick for an entire year. Coming up, everything you wanted to know about these drugs, but we're afraid to ask why this reporter thinks it may change the definition of healthy and thin. Our conversation right after this break. Welcome back. Tonight's top story spotlight takes a look at the weight loss drug craze from the perspective of a person on OZMPIC for an entire year. In a new op-ed titled A Year on

Ozempik taught me we're thinking about obesity all wrong. British journalists and author Johann Hari has been taking Ozempik since January of 2023. He writes there are extraordinary benefits as well as disturbing risks associated with weight loss drugs. Reducing or reversing obesity hugely boosts health on average. We know from years of studying bariatric surgery that it slashes the risks of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes-related death. I am worried they diminish muscle mass and fear they may supercharge eating disorders. This is a complex picture in which the evidence has to be weighed very carefully. Johan is also the author of the new book, Magic Pill, the extraordinary benefits and disturbing risks of the new weight loss drugs, which not only chronicles

his journey with Ozempic, but also includes interviews with leading experts in the field of weight loss all over the world. Johan joins us now live on set. Johan, first of all, thank you for being here. I've read some of the book. I've seen you do interviews. I'm fascinated by what you have to say, I do want to tell our viewers, you're not a doctor. You're somebody who took these drugs and you're a journalist and you chronicled everything. So I want to start from the beginning. Talk to our viewers about what happened the first two days in after you took Ozempic. I'll never forget it. It was the weirdest thing. I was lying in bed and I woke up. And I thought, huh, I feel something weird. What is it? And I couldn't actually figure out what

it was for like five minutes. And then I suddenly realized I had woken up and I wasn't hungry. Right? I don't remember that ever happening to me before. I've been a kind of KFC addict my whole life. And I went to this diner just up the street from where I live. And I went in and I ordered what I used to order every day, which was a kind of big chicken roll with loads of chicken and mayo. It's like a chicken sandwich. Exactly. And I had like three or four mouthfuls and I was just full. And I remember thinking one of the key questions that drove me to travel all over the world to research the book, to use my training in the sciences at Cambridge University to do a deep dive into the science of this is, can this be as good as it seems, right? We've now got a new weight loss drug that causes the average person to lose 15% of their body weight. The next in this class of drug causes you to lose 24% of your body weight.

It's staggering. But can we really get that benefit without a cost? Can you have this? Is there really such a thing as a free lunch, though I guess with those end pick, it would be a smaller free lunch? You know, when I saw you do some interviews,

I wasn't sure what your segment was about, and I was curious of what you look like before because you lost obviously weight. I want to put a picture of our viewers here. I could deliberately avoid looking at this. And, you know, I've got to be honest with you, it doesn't, you can't tell from this photo, um, that you were overweight or extremely overweight or however you want to describe it. How, how overweight were you and how much weight did you lose? So I lost 42 pounds, but I lost 42 pounds. Yeah, but how tall are you? I'm 5.9. But I think we've gone to a really shocking thing, right, which is,

and it's one thing that surprised me, we've really defined obesity down. We think if you're not, hugely obese, you don't count as obese. But actually, obviously, what I was researching for the book, everyone watching, who's overweight or obese, so that's 70% of Americans, has to now weigh two risks. There's the risks of these drugs, and there are significant risks with these drugs. I go through 12 of them in my book, magic pill. But you've got to weigh that against another risk, which is the risk of continuing to be obese, right? And even just being overweight, even having a BMI of 27 poses all sorts of health problems. And I got to be honest, I was kind of shocked. by how bad view obesity is, on average.

When you lost the weight, did you immediately start to feel better? I did, and it's hard to disentangle that from, you know, some mixture of things, like a few months in my neighbor's hot gardener hit on me, right? Like, there's the kind of advantages of not being fat in this culture. There's also the physical benefits, but it's a complicated mix, and I was really trying to weigh this so carefully. I really think everyone who's thinking about taking these drugs needs to go down the list of the risk and the risk of the benefits,

But when you said, did I feel better, in some ways I did, but there was a weird thing that I wasn't prepared for. There's a lot of psychological effects of these drugs that I think people are not prepared for. And although I felt better because of those things, in some ways I felt quite muted. And there's some scientific evidence. A minority of people seem to be even becoming depressed or even some doctors are concerned suicidal on these drugs. They're trying to figure out why is that. So one theory is we know that the drugs primarily work on your brain. They change your brain.

They change what you want, right? So maybe it's a brain effect. But I actually think it's something, for me, it was something much more simple. I remember an exact moment I kind of had an epiphany about this. I was in Vegas and I went to, I had a really rough time. I was investigating the murder of someone I loved. It was very hard. And I went to a branch of KFC that I'd been to a thousand times.

And I ordered what I would have ordered when I wasn't on a Zen pic. I ordered a bucket of fried chicken. You really love KFC. I cannot imagine. The KFC share price must be tanking since I started taking this. And I was in there and I ate one of the first. of the chicken drumsticks, and I suddenly looked at this chicken and thought, oh, I can't eat this, right? You can't overeat when you're on these drugs. You have no desire to finish

off that bucket. No, I psychologically wanted to comfort myself, but I physically could not eat the food, right? And I think what's going on, one of the things that's happening with these drugs, there's so many things that people are not being prepared for that I think the public debate is not preparing people for. These drugs radically interrupt your eating patterns, right? That's why you lose so much weight. But what we know is there are many psychological drivers of why we eat. And I realized since I was a little boy, I ate to calm myself down, to numb myself. And I couldn't do that on these drugs, which I think is why I felt a bit strange. So for me, how did you fill sort of that need?

For me, bringing it to the surface meant that I could deal with it in a better way, right? I could think it through. I could think, oh, there are better ways of dealing with your feelings than drowning them in saturated fats. But that's a bumpy transition, right? Right? And I think a lot of people need to be prepared for that, along with lots of other things that happen when you take these drugs. If I said, Johan, we're going to go out to eat tonight. I'm going to take you out. We're going to go grab some steak. We're to drink some wine. When I say that to you now, psychologically, does that not sound interesting? Does that sound like, oh, this is going to be a pain. I'm not going to be able to eat. I'm not going to have fun. It's going to be awkward. I actually think for me, I've had a slight, a lot of people taking OZNPIC would say yes to that question. There are loads of people where one of the big downsides are taking these drugs is they lose their pleasure in eat. right? Actually, for me, that did not happen. And I think, looking back, although I think

I'm unusual, I realize before I took these drugs, I was not eating to enjoy the pleasure of food mainly. I was eating to stuff myself, to calm myself down. This is very common, at least 30% of people eat this way in this country. And actually, since I started taking an Zempec, I have to eat much more slowly. And for me, I actually think I enjoy food slightly more. From admittedly a quite low base, I actually think I enjoy food like more. I enjoy the taste a bit more. So maybe not a steak. That would be probably too much for me. But if you said, let's go for Japanese, I actually think I would enjoy the sushi more than I would have done before. You write in the book about 12 potential risks that happen when you take these drugs. I want to put

these up for our viewers right now because there's 12 of them. There's a lot. Some of these they may be familiar with. The famous one, Ozempic face, Ozempic butt, I had not heard about that. Stomachaelic, loss of muscle mass, malnutrition, unknown future side effects, depression. Talk to me about some of these that maybe you are more familiar with. I mean, the ozempic face is something that people have noticed people taking this, you know, it's cosmetic and it's shallow, if you will, but it's something people have to be aware of it happens to them. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I have such a naturally round face. I look like a three-month-old baby. I wasn't particularly worried about that one. But the ones that most worry me are, so there are some doctors who are

concerned it may boost your risk of thyroid cancer, although they also warn you've got to compare that to just the risk of cancer from just being obese, which is extraordinarily high. Obesity is one of the biggest causes of cancer in this country. I'm very worried about pregnant women. Pregnant women are told not to take it, but of course you don't always know you're going to get pregnant. We know that when rats take these drugs or give in these drugs, they're significantly more likely to have babies with birth deformities. I'm very worried about eating disorders. There are lots of young girls in this country who, because of the pressures put on them, are trying to starve themselves. And one of the leading eating disorders experts in the whole

country, Dr. Kimberly Dennis, says these drugs act as rocket fuel for eating disorders. So do you think the goalpost is going to move? And by goalpost, I mean, what people perceive to be healthy and thin, is this going to change the goalpost? Are people going to try to be even more thin to the point where it's an eating disorder? You think it's going to lead to that? The worst moment in the taking of the drugs for me was a moment with my niece, Erin. She's the baby of my family, so I'm very protective. It's actually 19 now. And a while into taking the drugs up was FaceTiming with her. I was kind of preening. She was saying I look good. And then she looked down and she said, well, you buy me some I Zen pick.

And she's a totally healthy weight. And I thought she was kidding and I laughed and then I realized she wasn't. I thought, oh my God, am I undermining everything I've told her? So I think there is going to be a big cultural shift. And you've got to distinguish two things. There are overweight and obese people taking these drugs to get down to a healthy weight, right? There's lots of good things about that. There are some still some risks. And then there are people who were already skinny taking them to be super skinny. And they are incurring a lot of risk. We really need to pause and think about all these risks now. 47% of Americans want to take these drugs.

This is going to change the society around us. One leading financial analyst, very sober-minded one, said the best comparison for what's about to hit us is the invention of this smartphone. I really hope my book, Magic Pill, is a chance for people to stop and think about the benefits, the risks, make decisions for themselves, and think about what this is going to mean

for the whole culture and society, because it is huge. Johan Hari, the book, as you just mentioned, it's called The Magic Pill. It is out right now. You can get at your bookstore, get it on Amazon. It talks about his journey, Johann. Thank you for coming on. Thank you for sharing this journey because I know it's very hard and very brave of you to come here and talk about that.

There were hard parts. Johan, again, thank you so much. When we come back, a big change coming to TikTok, how the company now plans to highlight any content generated by AI and why they say this update is more important than ever. Stay with us. All right, back now with Top Stories News Feed in Elon Musk's startup NeuroLink says its first inhuman brain implant has malfunctioned. In January, the device was implanted into a 29-year-old quadriplegic patient. The device made to help patients with paralysis control, external technology, using only their mind.

But a new company blog post reporting that a number of threads in the device retracted from the patient's brain, he's okay. But NeurLink says that this limits their ability to measure the device's speed and accuracy right. now. Okay, we went ahead overseas now to a plane crash in Senegal, video showing passengers fleeing the Boeing 737 engulfed in flames. Authorities say the Air Senegal flight was headed to Mali when it crashed during liftoff and skid it off the runway. Eleven people, including the pilot, were hurt, an investigation now underway. It came less than a day after another Boeing plane crash landed in Turkey due to a landing gear malfunction. And TikTok says it will start automatically labeling AI-generated content in an effort to combat misinformation.

The company announcing it is partnering with a third-party nonprofit group to identify the AI-generated content. The move and effort to combat misinformation, which lawmakers and experts have warned could influence the upcoming presidential election. Okay, time to get a check of what else is happening around the world, which means it's time for Top Stories Global Watch. And tonight we're going to focus on a crackdown in Iran on women to find the country's strict dress code. According to human rights advocates, large numbers of police have been deployed. to enforce laws requiring women to wear headscarves in public. In a statement this week, Amnesty International condemned the effort as a, quote, war on women and said that, quote, security forces across the country have intensified their violent enforcement

of compulsory veiling. This comes after the uprising sparked by the death of Masa Amini, who died in police custody after being arrested for not wearing a headscarf. That campaign beginning last month, just as military tension spiked between Iran and Israel. For more on this crackdown, Matt Bradley. joins us tonight from London. Matt, the timing of this, it all seems really interesting. Iran's government announced this new crackdown the same day they were launching missiles at Israel. Yeah, Tom, I mean, it's hard to see how or if the two things are related. But as far as

international human rights groups and Iranian human rights groups and opponents of the Iranian regime are concerned, this is definitely not a coincidence. They're saying that the Iranian regime is either, they're variously saying, exploiting the sort of insecurity that comes along with an external threat, like an unprecedented war with Israel, in order to try to crack down on internal dissent, or they're using that buoyed national sentiment that comes along with an external threat, like attacking Israel, or being attacked by Israel, in order to use that as a pretext in order to sort of corral their powers and try to crack down on dissent as well. Either way, it's clear that after nearly two years of pretext,

protests against that hijab law by women throughout the country that have been so destabilizing and have seen so many arrests and deaths at the hands of the regime that the regime has been quite rattled and they are trying to crack down on internal dissent and that this is the time to do so. Now, as you mentioned, it was last month that they announced this on the same day that they launched that salvo of missiles against the Israelis in retaliation for Israel's striking a building next to the Iranian consulate in the Syrian capital of Damascus. Now, that was a major uptick intentions, and that's something that it looks as though the Iranian regime might be using for their own internal ends. But again, this just goes

to show either way you look at it, there is a certain amount of internal instability that the Iranian regime feels they need to control, and that those protests for the last couple of years, that the protests against the hijab are seen by the Iranian regime. as tantamount to protest against the regime itself, against their ideological and religious ideology, against their fight against Israel. So really, this is so threatening, and this is the moment they're using to crack down.

Matt Bradley for us tonight, Matt, we appreciate that. Coming up, we're going to head it back here at home. Arizona will be a swing state this election, and one of its key demographics could help decide at all. Young Latinos expected to turn out in force this year are David Noriega traveled to Arizona, talking to five Mexican Americans about the issues important to them, what we learned that shows both candidates really need to fight for this voting block support.

We're back now with power in politics. This presidential election, one voting block, could be the deciding factor, young Latinos. NBC's David Noriega made his way to Arizona and sat down with five Mexican Americans preparing to cast their ballot, but they aren't too excited about the options. From campus unrest over the war in Gaza, to abortion rights, to immigration in the border, every major election issue is converging here in the battleground state of Arizona. And one group could decide it all, young Latino voters. Here in the western U.S., four out of every 10 new voters are young Latinos.

That makes them a hugely powerful voting block, but only if they actually turn out to vote. We can still keep progressing for sure. To take the temperature of this critical demographic in Arizona, we met with young Mexican-Americans from across the political spectrum, some voting Biden, some voting Trump, others undecided. Are you guys all registered to vote? Yes. Do you know at this point in time who you're going to vote for?

I would say with the nominees, I would vote Democrat. And are you, like, excited to vote for Biden? I'm super excited to vote. Well, just to vote in general, maybe not for Biden. Maybe he's just a little boring, maybe. I want to see more excitement like with representing me. In nearly two dozen interviews with young Latinos in three swing states, NBC News heard over and over. They were uninspired by the candidates and disillusioned with the system.

It's not that they don't care. In fact, they're passionate about the issues. Women's rights, you know, I feel like housing is a really big issue for me, immigration. The environment, that is my big concern as a biology student. Women's rights as well. Everything going on also in Palestine as well. As a student, student loan debt, for sure. And they're open to new ideas. Take abortion, a major issue in Arizona, where a 19th century ban went into effect

only to be repealed again. And where liberal advocates put a measure protecting abortion rights on November's ballot. These four young voters support abortion rights, even though many come from Catholic families with conservative views on abortion. Do any of you find that your positions on this question, the abortion question specifically, as young people, are different from the position of your parents, grandparents, etc.? For me, yes, because it's taboo. No one wants to talk about it. It's like, you better not get pregnant,

but if you do, you better keep the baby. And that's all that's to it. Do you find that either of the political, the major political parties, has been doing a good job of reaching people like you and persuading you of things? It hasn't? It's a lot of... you versus me. It's a lot of it's them. They're the ones thinking like this. We're the normal ones. It's hard because it is a very two-party system. It's Republican or Democrat. And when you only have, like, really one choice and it's the choice you don't really like, what can you do, really? Have you considered just not voting for either Biden or Trump? Yeah. I have definitely considered that. And I have been heavily thinking about just not voting at all.

Have you decided? I haven't decided yet, no. This could spell trouble for Biden and the Democrats, who have historically counted on both young and Latino voters. In the 22 midterms, more than two-thirds of Latinos under 30 voted for Democratic House candidates. And in 2020, young voters of all backgrounds backed Biden over Trump 59 to 33 percent. If young Latinos don't turn out for Biden in large enough numbers in enough swing states, that alone could swing the race to Trump. Some young Some young Mexican Americans say they'll vote Biden if only to protect their undocumented

loved ones from Trump's promised mass deportations. We were behaving in a way of survival mode under the Trump administration, and I feel like I don't want that to happen again. But that's not something Biden can take for granted. With disapproval over his handling of the border growing, even among Latinos. I'm part of the college assistance migrants program. Juan Carlos Avitya is 18 years old. His immigrant mother raised him both in the U.S. and Mexican.

I'm not saying I'm against immigration. My family is immigrants. What I'm saying is we can't have thousands of people come here without being probably documented and not worry about our national security. But like Biden, Trump has a popularity problem, even with conservative first-time voters like Juan Carlos. Are you excited to vote? I mean, not too much excited. It really is what it is because we haven't had the best candidates in a good while. Trump's been in court right now because of his cases. But if it was my pick between, you know, a bad. candidate and a worse candidate, you have to go for the one that's least worse. And you think Trump is the less worse of the two options. Beyond November, young people's dissatisfaction with the system is something that both parties and America at large will have to reckon with.

And with that, David Noriega joins us tonight from Los Angeles. So, David, a lot can happen between now and the election. Do you think a change in the economy or a conviction or acquittal of former President Trump in his trials? could shape how these voters make their choice, or do you feel that their mind is already made up? Tom, their minds are definitely not already made up. This is a very fluid voting block,

and the parties and the candidates, if they know what's good for them, are going to be working between now and November to win them over. That said, the flip side of that is they could also very easily lose them. You mentioned Trump's trials. You know, the one young conservative Trump supporter that I spoke to said the main thing he doesn't like about Trump is the fact that he is currently in, you know,

undergoing a trial. And if there is a criminal conviction, that could easily push him further away from being willing to vote for Trump. The same goes for Biden. If something gets worse in the economy, for example, or if there's something else that these young people perceive as a misstep with regards to an issue that they care about, like the campus protests or something similar, that could also push them further away from their willingness to vote for Biden. This is all very up in the air, very up for grabs, Tom. David Noriega on the campaign trail for us. David, we appreciate it. to entertainment when we come back the star-studded baby announcement justin bieber who has put in the spotlight half his life now expecting his first child with wife haley did they take

fans by surprise we're going to show you the big announcement my first love for my heart for the first time and I was like baby baby baby baby baby you can thank us later for getting that song stuck in your head Justin Bieber of course then just 15 years old when he released his breakthrough song Baby in 2010 emerging on the scene as a teen heartthrob well tonight Bieber now 30 years old, announcing a different kind of baby. Him and his wife, Haley Bieber, taking to Instagram to share their expecting their first child together nearly six years after tying the knot.

To talk more on this, entertainment reporter Ashley Bellman, making her top story debut. Ashley, so great to have you. Thank you for having me. This is huge news in Bieber World. Highly anticipated Bieber News, baby news, I think, on the whole Hollywood circuit. I mean, we have been waiting for this for quite some time. People have been speculating a lot this year. Actually, they were in Hawaii.

recently and she was wearing a flowy dress so you know people started having their thoughts and it's true it's here and so yeah talk to us about that image they released because some people are saying it looks sort of like a wedding did they renew their vows what were they doing allegedly this is a vow renewal ceremony his priest was there she's wearing this beautiful long white lace dress with a veil they posted pictures of her holding the bump his hand her hand with their wedding bands together so this is this is it I mean this is definitely a baby and we are all here for it. We're all happy for it. All of the celebrities are coming out congratulating them. And it appears, according to sources, that she's almost in her third trimester. So we could have a baby by the end of the summer.

Baby Bieber. Very cool and beautiful photos there. You cover entertainment. How is this being felt in Bieber world? Because he sort of was a teen heartthrob. He's obviously a young man now. Are our fans loving this? I think so. I think everybody's really happy and excited. And again, we've been wanting this. We've been expecting it. they got married in 2018. In 2020, he told Ellen DeGeneres, I want a big family, just waiting for Haley to be ready, and I want her to be able to accomplish the things that she wants. Now she is very successful with Road, her skin care line, and it just makes sense. It's time. I mean, we're ready for it. Sending positive vibes their way. And we're so happy for both of them. And Ashley, thanks so much for joining us. Of course. Thank you for having me. Great having you. We thank you for watching

Top Story Tonight. I'm Tom Yamis in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way. Thank you.