Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, October 1, 2026

Episode Date: October 2, 2026

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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight, the new image is just coming in, showing the moments after that suspected terror attack on a plane was thwarted. New chaotic scenes as the hero passengers stormed the cockpit, restrained the co-pilot who stabbed his fellow pilot, and the attacker tied up after he allegedly tried to down the plane. Israel saying he had been radicalized. The hero pilot carted off the plane. Our new reporting tonight. Destructive tornado outbreak, a likely twister, ripping this barn apart in Kansas. The semi-truck careening across a highway rescue team saving this driver trapped in flash floods,

plus the 60-plus carol-up shutting down I-95 in South Carolina. Bunched execution, a woman on death row for decades, surviving two doses of a lethal drug. Now she's in critical condition. So what went wrong? Text messages in the Cornell University rape investigation revealed what the accusers said to fraternity brothers in the days and weeks following the alleged assault. and what they told school officials. Plus, the case at Cornell igniting a movement across social media

what people are posting and the new hashtag they're using. And the antler attack caught on camera and elk charging at a car, smashing out this driver's window, what happened next? Plus, is the key to success in youth sports not keeping score? It turned Norway into a powerhouse on the world stage, but could it work here? Top story. It starts right now. And good evening.

We begin tonight with new video and the details of those horrifying moments in the skies. The chilling scene outside the cockpit and the hero passengers who risked their lives to stop the rogue co-pilot from crashing that Israeli-bound plane and the images are graphic. New video shows the fear and the confusion. You hear people actually shouting, are you a doctor? And we need a pilot as bloody passengers rushed to aid the staff pilot. We're also getting a new look at the attacker appearing restrained with his hands tied behind his back. He's currently under arrest in Saudi Arabia. And you see the pilot he allegedly attacked. carried away on a stretcher tonight. The Indian ambassador to the UAE says he's in good health

and recovering well. That is good news. Social media video shows passengers overcome with relief cheering and pumping their fists as we hear more of their firsthand accounts of that heroin flight. And now President Trump wained in saying there is a connection between the attacker and Iran. Our Matt Bradley tracking it all. He leads us off from Tel Aviv. Tonight's stunning new video of the chaos as hero passengers rush to stop the coast. pilot from killing everyone on board their fly-dubai flight to Israel. Screaming in Hebrew, he tried to crash our plane. Sit down!

No, no, no. Calling for a doctor to treat the pilot who had just been stabbed by the co-pilot. Then someone asked if there's another pilot on board who can fly the jet. Amazingly, there was. Pilot Smit Machar, who incredibly opened the cockpit door while he was being stabbed, is seen bloody and speaking. He just, he hit me like... No, no, no, no, no.

My hand, I can move, but I can't do this. I can't squeeze my hand. Later, he's on a stretcher after the plane landed. India's ambassador to the UAE tonight says he's recovering well. Also on video, a new look at his attacker, the Omani co-pilot, who tried to fly the plane into the ground, passengers tying him up. He allegedly told them to kill him. President Trump tonight saying,

a connection between the co-pilot and Iran. Israel says it's investigating, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the co-pilot had been radicalized. He underwent Islamist radical indoctrination. And there's new video of one of the hero passengers. He's yelling, we won. Israel's president said he's nominating the four Israelis who charged the cockpit for a heroism award, including Yaniv Hayun, a plumber who subdued the attacker, then managed to level the plane before it crashed. After seeing it done on a TV show, we pulled the terrorist out, I made sure we subdued him, and then pulled the control wheel up, he said today. For more than 170 other passengers, trauma from the incident still lingers. American Mika Bauman was returning

from a vacation in Thailand and was sitting next to an 11-year-old girl in her family. In that moment, in the drop, we just held hands, me and her and her father next to her. And and we all screamed. Matt Bradley joins us tonight live from Tel Aviv. Matt, we're learning about something strange here. The co-pilot who tried to bring down this plane shouldn't have been working on that flight? Well, that's right, Tom.

Israel bans pilots from countries it doesn't have diplomatic relations with. And Oman, where this co-pilot is from, doesn't recognize Israel diplomatically, so he shouldn't have been on that flight. Tom? All right. Matt Bradley for us. I want to bring in our very own Kier Simmons, who knows this region well.

has flown in and out of that airport numerous times. Kear, you travel in this area so much. I first want to ask you about fly Dubai. What do we know about this airline? Well, Tom, I have traveled on that airline many times. I have traveled on this route from Dubai to Tel Aviv many times. I will tell you that it is a quality service. They have business class in their cabin as well as economy.

The security is as modern as I've seen. anywhere around the world. And when you are flying from Israel to Dubai, you asked many questions before you board the plane. It's clear to me, just if you like as an ordinary passenger, that they are screening you very carefully, which raises that question from Matt Bradley once again. How was it that this pilot was on this plane? So I want to ask you about the airport. You've flown in and out of this airport several times as well. Is it the same type of security protocols that we see here in the US with TSA? Is it more?

Is it less? Is it about the same? Yeah, I mean, it is extremely secure. And the kind of technology that they have at Dubai airport, people will recognize when I say, for example, you no longer have to take electrical equipment out of your bag because it is so advanced. And certainly, the United Arab Emirates

is renowned for its security around the world, even to the point. at times of being criticized for it. So they will be investigating, and one of the questions they will be asking is about this pilot. It is a land border between Oman and the UAE, so they are very close together.

But how is this possible? You know, Tom, terrorist experts talk about the difficulty of trying to stop a lone wolf. And if that is what this was, then it may be that all the checks in the world weren't able to identify him. Yeah, but the flow. side of that is terrifying, which is if a terror group was able to penetrate a system and get one of

their people as a pilot licensed into this cockpit, which is scary things. Israel has already, they have intense security measures. I've flown in and out of Tel Aviva several times, and you know, you sort of notice the security there from the moment you walk into the airport. We know that the security around Dubai is going to be very similar to that. Dubai's had a very tough time, right? And the UAE, they have this incident following the attacks from Iran during this war. What does this do for the state of play in that country? Yeah, it's a challenge. There's no question that Dubai's economy has been hit by what has happened this year and it has been looking to recover. Look, fly Dubai, for example, just

in this last year, put in an order for 150 new planes. It has 120 routes around the world even now. So they are a tourism hot spot. And, Not only that, but these airlines fly people from parts of the world to other parts of the world using Dubai as a hub. They will be looking to recover from that to get back to business. Certainly I will tell you that Emirates and fly Dubai got flying within days of the Iran war beginning. They were determined to get back into the air. And until now that's been successful. And of course, thank goodness this attack was thwarted.

But they will be working to ensure that they double down. on their security because it matters so much to their reputation. Keir Simmons, we thank you for being up for us tonight. We know you're traveling and covering this story from abroad. Back here at home, violent storms ripping across the country, twisters touching down in Kansas and relentless floods inundating highways and the threat is far from over. Are Ryan Chandler's in the storm zone once again?

Tonight, the tornado outbreak across Kansas. Oh, my... Structure just got hit. Watch as a likely twister rips apart that building. At least 12 tornado reports along a line through central Kansas. Part of a massive storm system extending from the Rio Grande to the Great Lakes, putting millions at risk. In Texas, streets submerged, drivers in Fort Worth trying to navigate through the floodwaters. Watch as this firefighter carries a woman from her car.

More than half a foot of rain hammering the flood-prone hill country. Heavy rain throughout the hill country has the Lano River rushing. It's set to swell to 16 feet overnight, 10 feet higher than it is right now. But fortunately for so many people here in Flash Flood Alley, none of the rivers here are expected to cause significant flooding. North of here in Nebraska watches this 18-wheeler careens out of control on rain-slicked roads, jackknifing on Interstate 80 in Omaha, before crossing the traffic lanes once more. And in Lincoln, Nebraska, some people forced to trudge through the floodwaters and push their vehicles out of the water. While in South Carolina, authorities are investigating what caused this massive pile up on Interstate 95. They say it was foggy at the time of the crash.

Dozens of vehicles involved at least two people hurt in serious condition. Ryan Chandler joins us tonight from Austin. Ryan, we can see the rain that's kind of coming and going where you are right now. The flood threat not over there yet? It is not over yet, not even close, Tom. You see the rain is still coming down. We're actually under a flood watch for about another 24 hours until 7 p.m. tomorrow night. And some areas in that time could see yet another six inches of rain. Life-threatening flooding is still possible across the I-35 corridor as that threat now moves east.

Tom. All right. Ryan Chandler for us, Ryan, thank you. Not in major developments in the Cornell University Sexual Assault case. Tonight we're getting a look at some of the text messages between Jane Doe and the men she would later accuse of assault. Maggie Vespas on Cornell's campus. Tonight, newly revealed text messages shedding light on how a Cornell student's understanding of her night at the Kai-5 fraternity house in 2024 appeared to evolve after the alleged assault.

One day after the incident, the student, now calling herself Jane Doe, exchanged text messages with one of the men she accuses in her civil suit. Those texts obtained by the New York Times. writes, I just wanted to apologize for how things went down. She writes, at the end of the day, none of the sexual stuff was illegal. Two days later, in text obtained by NBC News, Jane Doe messaged with a second man, she accuses in her suit, writing, my reputation is destroyed and I'm utterly ashamed, adding all I do is sleep and cry all day. A week later, after saying she'd been uninvited to a party at the house, Jane Doe writing to him, y'all aren't my friends, y'all are covering your asses. Then two weeks after the incident, a shift.

She texts the first man, let's be clear that 90% of what happened that night was not consensual. In a text to the second man, the following week, Jane Doe writes, I think I'm done talking to you. I know you lied. That was around the time Jane Doe would go to campus police. Documents from the school's disciplinary proceedings obtained by the New York Times, also revealing more about the accounts of the fraternity brothers accused in the lawsuit. One of them saying when he entered the room, he was immensely concerned. since I've never seen anything like this in my four years at the house.

But he added he remembered Jane Doe saying something along the lines of, this was normal in the medieval times. Another student saying she was conversational with people, which alleviated whatever concerns I had. NBC News also obtaining court records that show Cornell investigators conducted more than 50 interviews with 32 witnesses. According to Jane Doe's testimony to a college hearing panel in 2025, she said,

I felt like bait. I felt like lions around me. It was just a totally debilitating place to be in. Adding, after drinking heavily and using ketamine for the first time, she described feeling like her lights were on, but no one was home. Jane Doe's roommates quoted telling investigators she initially appeared in shock. Her lawyer telling NBC News, it took her time to process the alleged assault. Tonight, Cornell students blasting the school's handling of the case. We deserve to know that our institution values our safety more than its reputation. Maggie Vespa joins us now. Maggie, Jane Doe's attorney spoke to your team today. What did you learn? Yeah, Tom, so he basically told us that he has, in his words, no confidence in the DA's ability, the prosecutor's ability to prosecute this case moving forward, saying that his handling of it thus far,

telling us over the phone, it, quote, feels like a cover-up. The DA tonight pushing back, saying that he has no intention in his words, of getting distracted from getting to the truth in this case. Tom. Okay, Maggie Vesper for us. For more on this, I want to bring an attorney, Laura Gilson, former senior sex crimes counsel at the Department of Justice, who now litigates on behalf of victims of sexual abuse.

Laura, thank you for joining Top Story. This is such a complicated matter. I want to ask you about these text messages that we're seen for the first time tonight from a legal perspective. How do you handle what appears to be a shift possibly as we see Jane Doe appearing to try to come to terms with what happened on that night? I think all the new evidence that comes to light

in this case will be significant and should be presented to the grand jury for their consideration. I think we can't jump to conclusions around this evidence as we're continuing to learn more by the minute, but it's all incredibly important for the grand jury to consider. Having done this as a profession for as long as you have, what stands out to you? Was anything done incorrectly,

or should investigators have done anything differently? You know, I think that there are still a lot of fallacies around sexual assault. I think some of those come from investigators' awareness, that criminal cases have this higher burden of proof. But I think it's important to put those fallacies aside and recognize that there won't always be evidence of DNA or video or physical injuries, and that a sexual still could have occurred and needs to be thoroughly investigated. For a victim, you know, that would be so upsetting to hear.

But if you are a DA, is that something you have to take into consideration because you have to bring this in front of a jury and take this to court? I think as a former sex crimes prosecutor and somebody represents victims now, you need to approach it from a trauma-informed approach, not just because it's the right thing to do, but because it allows you to actually get to the truth of what happened. So we explain that again for me a little more if you can. What I'm saying is that victims all process sexual assault differently.

There's no one way that people process it. And I think that conclusion should never be drawn quickly around what happened in these cases, that they each need to be thoroughly investigated. We now know that Cornell investigators talk to 32 witnesses and conducted 50 interviews as part of their investigation. But the DA says he received a summary. of that investigation, not necessarily full transcripts. Is that typical when you're dealing with a college?

Every institution is different and handles record releases differently. And every DA's office is different also what they require before they close the case. Because as you know, DA's offices have the power of subpoenaing records if they want to get them. So, you know, I won't speak for this particular institution or district attorney, but I could say in my practice, I would always want the full victim statement before making a determination. If the DA is likely going back and looking at those interviews or conducting new interviews again, it's now been two years since the alleged incident. Are there concerns about what people may or may not remember about what happened?

There's always some concerns about that. Memory obviously can change over time. But also, as we're seeing, there's a lot of evidence that actually was quite timely, like those text messages, like the transcript of our interview. So there's both timely evidence, and there's also still important evidence, even if it comes to light later. There are a lot of text messages. The New York Times has this reporting. Excuse me. There's a lot of statements from those that were accused, the fraternity members, that the New York Times has, that refutes a lot of what the alleged victim in this case has said. If you saw all of this evidence, if you've read everything that's been public, would you have brought this case before a jury?

Would you try to try to try this case? I think it's an impossible question to. answer without having the evidence in front of me now. But my instinct is that we have to believe women and to try to move forward with their case. And so I would have done everything in my power to consider all the evidence and take every step I possibly could to gather the evidence

to present it to a grand jury. Laura Gilson, we thank you so much for joining Top Story tonight. The case at Cornell has lit up social media and reignited conversations about sexual violence on college campuses. Now a new hashtag is taking off with some using it to try to protect the identity

of Cornell's Jane Doe. Kate Snow takes a closer look. I am Jane Doe. I'm Jane Doe. I am Jane Doe. I am Jane Doe. It's a movement sweeping across social media. Thousands of videos and comments posted with the hashtag I am Jane Doe. I am Jane Doe. And until there are no more Jane Doe's, we are all Jane Doe. It comes in the wake of the allegations at Cornell, users, mostly women, reacting to the lawsuit that's made headlines this week and created a moment in culture. I would just like to come out here and say that I am Jane Doe. The hashtag appears to have been born from an attempt to protect Jane Doe's identity,

pushing back against online efforts to publicly docks the female student and reveal her real name. The thought, if you search Jane Doe, you'd get these videos instead. Hi, I am Jane Doe. I stand with Jane Doe because I am a Jane Doe. Fifteen years ago, I was raped. We're all Jane Doe. Others using the hashtag to share their own. deeply personal stories. I was assaulted on my college campus in 2019. I was 16 years old.

And I know how it affected me. No one deserves it. No one's asking for it. It's been nearly a decade since the Me Too movement went viral globally, prompting a cultural reckoning and widespread conversations about sexual mistreatment of women. I think every time we've been like where it feels like we're on the precipice of maybe changing something. There's a shocking case. And then there's this tsunami of like stories and outraged and it happened to me and it's not going to happen anymore. And then it seems like, you know, there's not the kind of institutional change that would actually prevent it from happening. A seismic story, renewing calls for enduring change. These are all things that feel unspeakable. But here we are

again. And I think we need to speak about it. Kate Snow, NBC News. Our thanks to Kate for that report. And as this case garners so much attention online and across the country, the mayor of Ithaca, where Cornell is located, is now calling for a pause on Greek life events at the university. And that mayor, Robert Cantalmo, joins us now. Mayor, thank you for joining Top Story. You were sworn in back in 2024, months before this alleged assault occurred. In a statement released this week, you said you just learned of the allegations this week. For our viewers at home, how is that possible?

Well, as I'm sure your viewers are aware, and I know you're aware, this issue was handled internally by Cornell University Police. The issue was not coordinated or shared with the Ethical Police Department, and that internal investigation was turned over to the district attorney's office, in part, as from what I understand. But our officers who are trained in handling very sensitive investigations, including sex crimes, including trauma, informed care for survivors were not consulted in this matter. Yeah, Mayor, do those universities, a place like Cornell, I also know you have Ithaca University there too, I believe. Do those colleges sort of, I mean, do they just police themselves? Can they, can whatever they want happen on their campus and it's up to them to sort of

make sure those things are right or wrong or prosecuted? It's a good question. Under New York State law, one of the things that happens is that these organizations are treated. like kind of peace officers. They are formally deputized by the Sheriff's Department, so Tompkins County Sheriff's Department. But to your point, one of the things that I'm demanding coming out of this tragic incident is that these investigations going forward are turned over to the Ethica Police Department, especially when they are violent in nature or sexual in nature.

I think we need to ensure that properly trained municipal police who are accountable to the public here in Ithaca are the ones who are handling the matters. Do you trust the district attorney who did not bring charges two years ago to be handling this investigation? My focus right now is on doing everything we can to get justice for Jane Doe and to hold Cornell's feet to the fire so that we avoid these types of things happening again. I do not want this to be another gun violence moment where there is a tragedy and then nothing happens. And, you know, right now, the spotlight is on Cornell University, but this is an endemic problem in our country where sexual violence is happening at universities all across the country on a regular basis. Women are being victimized, and the perpetrators are being referred to disciplinary matters rather than facing real justice. And what I want to see is the university commit to turnover investigations to our police.

to ensure that they are taking concrete measures to not just punish, but to transparently report and monitor sexual violence, and to do more to address the toxic culture that exists on their campus and campuses around the country that allow this type of behavior to take root. So that's where my focus is. I want to keep my residents safe, and I want to make sure that we have a moratorium on these types of events until we can get the commitment from Cornell University

that they are going to hold themselves, and their students to a higher standard. You know, we don't have all the information in this case. Every day we are getting more and more. It's been a piecemeal approach. Obviously, this is a highly sensitive issue. These allegations are horrific. If we don't have a complete picture yet,

have you seen enough to know that this needed to be handled differently? I do think it needed to be handled differently. I have no understanding why the Cornell Police Department, with the severity of the... allegations, with the severity of the crime, with the statements of the victim, which we are still seeing come out, why a professional municipal police department was not consulted. I do not understand that. I do not support that decision. And I do think, at the very least, that is a huge example of something that should have been done differently and done better

in the service of justice. You're a Cornell grad, if I'm not mistaken. There's been some reporting that people, students and parents are rethinking whether to send their kids there, maybe some students rethinking about going to Cornell. Do you think Cornell is a safe campus? I think that's up to Cornell. I think that Cornell can make a decision. They're at a crossroad. They can decide where do we need to focus our efforts?

Is it protecting our reputation or is it protecting our students? And I think that there are concrete things that they can do to make this a safer environment for students. And especially if they agree to handing off those investigations, I can assure you that the Ethical Police Department is going to do everything that they can to keep the members of this community safe, whether they be students or permanent residents. Mayor, we thank you for your time. Thanks for joining Top Story. Thanks for having me. We're back in a moment with new details about that botched execution, a woman on death row, somehow surviving after allegedly getting two doses of a lethal injection. What went wrong? Plus, the family of Renee Good now suing over the deadly shooting by an ICE officer, the new accusations tonight, as her partner speaks out publicly for the first time.

And a wild attack caught on camera the moment an elk rams a car smashing out a window with its antlers. More on that video on Top Story. We're back now with the alarming details of the botched execution of Krista Pike, Tennessee giving the death row inmate two doses of a lethal drug, but somehow she survived. So how could this happen? Jesse Kirsch has the latest. Tonight, that failed Tennessee execution. We're learning that despite apparently receiving two doses of Pento Barbitol convicted murderer Krista Pike. is still alive. Pike's legal team says she is hospitalized in critical condition, but they have not been able to see her. The pentobarbital did it actually enter Krista Pike's bloodstream as far as you know.

I think we're going to have to wait on some of the doctors before we know that for for sure. Pike's attorneys say the execution team spent an hour trying to establish an IV line for that lethal injection, noting Pikes had issues with blood draws over the years. Reporters describing what they witnessed last night. At 734, she said my arm feels like it's about to burst open. Then she smiles really big. The curtains close at first at 746, and she was clearly still alive. The curtains open again. Three minutes later, she was snoring very loudly at that point.

The curtains later closing again. Pike was sentenced to death for murdering her 19-year-old classmate Colleen Slammer in 1995. Today, Slemer's stepfather writing in part, Unfortunately, Colleen's soul cannot rest until this monster succumbs to the two doses of Pento barbitol that she was given. This is Tennessee's second unsuccessful execution this year alone. This is a tragedy. Today, Governor Bill Lee calling for a third-party review of the state's lethal injection protocol. Last night was not just inefficient.

It was cruel and it was torturous. Jesse Kerch joins us now. Jesse, we know she's in the hospital. Is there any word on if the state will attempt another execution? Not for the time being, Tom. According to the state's governor, he is halting at least temporarily executions, including Pikes for the time being as this third party review gets underway. Unclear exactly what that will look like at this point. And something else to keep in mind, Tom, the Supreme Court. Pike's case had gone there twice in recent days. The court did not intervene on her behalf, but there is still, according to her legal team, the potential for other appeals. including potentially off of the developments that unfolded last night.

So that is something to keep an eye on. Meanwhile, Pike's legal team is asking the governor to commute her sentence, Tom. Okay, Jesse Kirsch for us tonight. Coming up, two parents appearing in court after police say their toddler pulled out a loaded gun at a daycare. Could they face jail time? We'll explain. Plus, a major update, the Lindsay Clancy murder case, the decision just handed down by a judge. Stay with us.

Welcome back. Right now, President Trump is on the road on a midterm blitz. making his pitch to Republican voters. The president's day beginning with a stop in Texas. He's now on his way to Oklahoma and will later hit Alabama and Ohio and Nebraska. Every one of these states you can see here went red in 2024. The president appearing to play defense to keep those votes this November. NBC's Garrett Hake is traveling with the president and joins us now. Garrett, you're in Oklahoma where the president is expected to speak tonight. Explain the strategy here. Well, Tom, I'm not sure that the White House or R&C have done a very good job

of articulating what the strategy is, but mostly, it involves using the president in places where they think he's popular. They believe this is going to be an election in which they still have to convince Trump supporting voters to come out when Donald Trump himself is not on the ballot, and they want to try to get those people fired up. And some of that is just sort of an echo chamber effect of having him in a place like where I am in southern Oklahoma, where he is still very popular, and hoping that image can fire up Republican voters elsewhere and can also kind of generate enthusiasm from this president, who's not historically been particularly excited about campaigning for other people to continue that midterm blitz.

But he is also double dipping here a little bit in Texas, which is turning into one of the biggest and certainly the most expensive Senate battleground this cycle. He was in Denton, which was just north of Dallas, and the DFW media market earlier today. And here in Southern Oklahoma, he actually gets a bit of a different Texas media market. We're here on television as well. So he kind of gets a little bit of a bonus here across the Red River between Texas and Texas. in Oklahoma today. Yeah, the president's approval rating, you know, at a second term low. What have you been hearing from voters?

How are they feeling about the president? Yeah, look, I mean, there's a lot of frustration from voters, even in places like this, about the state of the economy. And I think one of the biggest unanswered questions that I have about this election are all those voters who, especially in rural places, places that have traditionally supported Republicans, are they frustrated enough to vote for a Democrat or to just stay home? I've been talking to voters today about the price of gas and about the price of diesel, which is something that really helps power, particularly the rural economy.

Diesel's up even more so than gasoline. It's near record highs. I talked to some truckers today who say they're spending several hundred dollars more than they typically would to fill their tanks. Among those folks who I spoke to today, as frustrated as they are, they say they are still voting for the president's party if they vote. And to me, that's like the big question between now and the end of this month, really as this voting continues throughout this month, are those people mad enough to vote Democrats? Are they mad enough to stay home? Or do they reluctantly sort of swallow that anger and stay with the party that they've supported these last couple of elections?

That'll tell us a lot about who decides, who will be in control in the House and Senate when this is all sudden done. Garrett Hake, on the campaign trail there with the president. Garrett, thank you. Tonight, the family of Renee Good, the Minneapolis woman, shot and killed. by an ICE officer, suing both that officer and top government officials alleging wrongful death and excessive use of force. Good was killed during protest against an immigration rate in January. ICE officer Jonathan Ross opening fire in the 37-year-old after she reversed her car and

then accelerated. The Trump administration has defended the officer's actions calling Good the agitator, but that footage sparked waves of protest. Now tonight, her partner, Becca Good, who was in the passenger seat speaking out publicly for the first time. What I want them to understand, every single day they get to look at their children and their wives and their sisters and know what they took from our family. They took a mother away from her children. I want to bring in NBC's Shaq Brewster, who has been following this since the beginning, the family filing two separate lawsuits.

What are they alleging exactly? Tom, they're alleging that Renee's Good's death was a wrongful death, that there was negligence involved, in those lawsuits, I should say, naming, as you mentioned, top U.S. officials and even the officer, Jonathan Ross, who fatally shot her on January 7th, saying that he violated her Fourth Amendment constitutional rights. He did not follow DHS mandatory use of force protocols. And then they also went after the entire operation that sent Jonathan Ross and thousands of immigration officers to the city of Minneapolis saying that it was unconstitutional and that

It was discriminatory in nature. And Tom, when you listen to that press conference, there was a dual message that you really heard. One was about the lawsuit, but the other was wanting to shift the focus to Renee Good, the person who she was and the person that her family lost, especially her three young children who say, or who the family says are still feeling the pain and the weight of her being gone. And then, Shaq, the White House responding tonight? Yeah, very forceful response from the White House. When we asked about this lawsuit directly, we'll put up that.

statement. They said the Trump administration views the deaths of countless innocent Americans at the hands of criminal illegal aliens as a tragedy that should warrant equal coverage. They say at the end that we intend to vigorously defend what they call baseless civil lawsuits. Tom, we heard in the past, even as recently as last month, the Trump administration continued to tout their immigration operations. They talked about in August, for example, how they had a record number of ICE arrest of 50,000 across the country. They are making clear that they are staying put with their immigration policy,

even as they're not addressing the claims that we saw laid out in this lawsuit, Tom. All right, Shaq Brewster. Thank you. Not at Top Stories News Feed, we start in California where crews are searching for a missing patient after a medical helicopter crash. It went down shortly after takeoff overnight, slamming into the water near Catalina Island, about 20 miles off of L.A. Authority say two people were killed and two others were hurt. Investigators now looking into what went wrong.

And an update tonight in the Lindsay Clancy murder case. A judge denying her defense's request to declare her not guilty after that mistrial. Clancy's defense attorney argued that there was not any proof that Clancy clealed to her three children. But the judge pushed back, saying there was enough evidence to bring charges. Prosecutors have yet to decide whether to put the case before a jury for a second time. Moments ago, a SpaceX rocket carrying four astronauts docked at the International Space Station. It took just eight hours to get there, a new U.S. speed record on board of two Americans, one Canadian, and a Russian. One of those Americans is Jessica Watkins. She's the mission commander,

making her the first black woman to lead a crew to orbit. They're expected to stay on the ISS for six months. And while video out of Colorado showing the moment an elk attacks a car, watches the animal runs towards the SUV, ramming it with its amplers. Check that out, huh? Smashing a window. This happened next to a golf course in Estes Park. It's apparently not the first time. A local newspaper reports people in the area have nicknamed the elk, crash or smash because it's known for charging at vehicles. Okay, we're going to turn out of Michigan and parents facing a judge after their toddler brought a loaded handgun to daycare. You heard me correctly.

Those parents now facing charges as we learn other kids passed around the weapon. Valerie Castro has more. Two Michigan parents in court facing possible jail time. Police say their three-year-old son was found with a loaded gun in daycare. Court will enter not guilty, please. The couple, 28. year old Brandon Eli and 27-year-old Rabab al-Zayyad, each pleading not guilty to misdemeanor charges in connection with unsafe storage of a firearm. On Monday, Canton Police were called to this

daycare in the Detroit area after a teacher saw a handgun being passed around between students, according to prosecutors. No one was injured. A loaded firearm in the hands of a toddler is an extremely serious matter. In a letter to parents obtained by NBC News, the Children's World Early Learning Center writing, a secured firearm was a was found in a child's backpack in a holster. The firearm was removed from the backpack by the child, and staff became aware of the situation and immediately intervened. The child's father is a member of the Detroit Police Department,

telling the court he has nine firearms in the home. Detroit police confirming in a statement he's now on administrative duty. The defendant shall surrender all firearms to law enforcement immediately. The daycare says they've implemented new backpack checks after disenrolling the toddler and a sibling. Prosecutors say Eli faces up to a year in jail if convicted. Al-Zayat faces up to 93 days. All right, Valerie, Castro joins us now in studio. Valerie, we know the child's father is a police officer.

How is this impacting his career? Yeah, he's a member of the Detroit Police Department. And today in court, the defense attorney asked the judge if there was any way that he would be able to keep his service weapon for work. He says he's been a police officer for the last eight years. The first four is a detective, most recently, as part of a special operations team. And so he said if he could hang on to his gun, he could keep it at a gun locker at work. But the judge said given the nature of the charges, he ruled that he should surrender any firearms in the home.

And the Detroit Police Department has also placed him on administrative duty. Okay. Valerie Kastrow, with that update for us, Valerie, thank you. Coming up, a major update on Sean Diddy Combs after our exclusive reporting about his life behind bars, where he's now being moved. Stay with us. We're back now with an update after our exclusive reporting about Sean Diddy Combs, life behind bars, including the fact that he has a cell phone and was paying inmates to do chores for him. Tonight, we're learning Combs is now in solitary confinement. Chloe Malas has the latest. Tonight, new fallout following our NBC News exclusive reporting. Just a day after we aired this video

of Sean Combs using a cell phone in prison at Fort Dixon, New Jersey, which is prohibited by federal law. A source with knowledge of the matter tells us he was moved to solitary confinement into the special housing unit known as the shoe. That means removal from the general population in prison. So those meals like rice and beans, pizza and onion rings, that multiple sources say Combs was paying other inmates to cook, likely no more. It's his second time in solitary confinement in just over two months, according to a source with knowledge.

Combs was moved there after his involvement in a prison fight back in July. The Bureau of Prisons said contraband-like phones remains a constant challenge. and they continue to tackle the problem. In a statement Wednesday, a Bureau of Prison spokesperson would neither confirm nor deny that Combs was moved, but reiterated that it does not comment on the conditions of confinement for any incarcerated individual. Combs is serving a 50-month sentence. Earlier this week, a spokesperson for him told NBC News that the media is characterizing ordinary prison life as news. Chloe Malas, NBC News, New York.

Still to come tonight in top story is the key to youth sports. not keeping score, we hear from a reporter who traveled to Norway to check out the country's very different playbook when it comes to kids' competition. Plus, this high school dance team is used to celebrating big wins, but this time it was a surprise announcement from their coach that had them putting up their pom-poms. That's next. We're going to train the next level athlete. There is money to be spent in baseball.

It is a very big investment. They only go to school for two hours a day. I worry about that academically. What would you do if your son has a passion for it? I'm not going to kill his dream. He's going to the MLB for sure. Well, you heard it right there in the new show, Team Moms Baseball. Parents are willing to put it all in the line for their kids to become professional athletes.

And youth sports is costly in America. But across the pond, things look a little different. That's why this article caught our attention titled New Jersey Youth Sports are Tainted by Corruption and Greed. We found the cure 4,000 miles away. Norway, taking a much different approach, begging the question, is the key to youth sports not keeping score? NJ.com reporter Steve Politi flew across the globe for this scoop. Steve, we thank you for joining us. You know, the Olympics during the coverage of the winter games, this storyline came out to this sort of phenomenon in Norway,

where they were able to compete at a very high level in the winter games and in other sports, too, to be fair. And they have a much different system over there. What did you find? Yeah, I mean, it's pretty much the upside down compared to where we are in the U.S. You know, it is local clubs where the kids, you know, playing their neighborhood clubs throughout their childhood. They're encouraged to play in multiple sports. You know, they don't travel until they're 13 or 14. They don't keep score until they're 12.

And really, it's just an emphasis on having fun, participating in multiple sports, and low costs. I mean, that's the biggest difference. I don't know if you have kids, but you know, you could spend several thousand dollars. I've talked to parents who spend more than $10,000 on their kids' youth sports. In Norway, we're talking hundreds of bucks to compete. It's just a completely different world. And, you know, as you mentioned, it's working pretty out pretty good for them, a country with five and a half million people, you know, doing well in the World Cup, finishing the top eight during better than we did dominating the Winter Olympics. You know, they might have something figured out.

But, Steve, come on. It's Norway. It's not America. Things are different here. I can't tell you how many stories we've done with politics, with crime, with almost every social issue where you say, well, in Norway, it's a little different. Yeah, well, Norwegians are a little different. Is the genie out of the bottle here in America? Could you convince a town somewhere in America to move to this model? And that'll set up my next question.

But what do you think? You know, that's a great question. And I think you're right. Obviously, this is a country of 350 million people. Capitalism pretty well-engrained here in America. You know, it's a little different than in five and a half million people in more of a socialist democracy in Norway. Totally different place, understandable. And there's so much money now in U-sports.

It's a $40 billion, billing with a B-dollar industry, you know, capital money in it. It's going to be very hard to change. I think where it can change is locally, is organically, is in towns. If you encourage kids, you know, to stay local, to play in their parks, to play in their rec leagues, to find out. trying a different way as opposed to traveling when you're nine and ten years old. You know, I've seen these kids that are, you know, already criss-crossing the country to play soccer games, you know, before they even get out of grade school. And I think that's part of it that people in the U.S. who are trying to fix this system think there's a way around it, think there's a way that they can attack that era, at least at that age.

Yeah. Steve, compare the kids right here and in Norway and then also the parents that you saw observing these sports. Yeah, I mean, I think the parents understand that, you know, they like their system. They like the way it is. And they grew up with it. Remember, they also played in these same clubs and in the same towns. Are they over intense, like parents here? Well, I mean, it's, I think parents here are much more focused on the bottom line,

much more focused on the W on winning, on competing for championships at this, at the younger levels, which, you know, it's been proven that it doesn't have any bearing on how the kids it'll do when they're ready for college. You know, the best athlete at 10 years old is very rarely the kid who's the best athlete at 17 years old. So I think there's so much emphasis on winning early, on competing early. And in Norway, look, this is why it works in Norway is because, you know, the more kids you have in the system, the more kids that you have participating, the better chances that those

kids will stay in it, that'll keep doing it until later ages. And that's the big takeaway is that there's so many kids participating in sports well into late teens in Norway compared to here. I think in Norway college is free. A lot of families hope that their kids are competitive at this age and stay competitive to maybe win a scholarship to a public university and now it's so lucrative, maybe an NIL deal. And if you just make the team, you get $100,000 check, boom, right there. It's obviously very hard.

You have to be the 1% of the 1% of athletes to do that. But do you think if you take the competitive aspect away in some of these towns here in America, it would put those kids at a disadvantage where maybe in those other cities and towns are not going to change and they're going to stay as competitive. You know, I think that's you're drilling down right on the problem there. And I think parents and human nature, you know, it'll be easier for parents to see it. Well, gee, I'll just move my kids one town over and I'll do, I'll play for their team. I'll play for another travel team.

You're absolutely right. You know, it would take a lot of people like-minded individuals to buy in on this. And I wondered if you could do it at a state level. not in a national level. You know, New Jersey's got nine million people. It's not quite, no, it's bigger than Norway. Right, right. Do it over here.

I still, you still need a lot of people buying in. Steve, before you go, what, give us our viewers one thing that you learned over there that you think could maybe be implemented here that could help sports in America for kids? Yeah, I mean, I just, the strength of the clubs and the local clubs. And I just think that there is more investment on that grassroots level here in this country. it would make a big difference. I mean, rec programs in so many towns are all but dead now in America, and that's the shame of it. If you want to sign your kid up for a low cost, low activity after school, a lot of those things are gone. And I just think if there's a way to take some of the money at the top of the sport,

that you see in different places and bring it back down to the local level where it's cheap, where it's affordable, where parents can do this without having to spend, you know, $10,000 to travel across, the country, I think people embrace it. And I know I grew up with that system. A lot of people in my age remember it. I think there would be a lot of people who would want to go back to that. Yeah, and it's a larger conversation, right, with like the amount of sports you play in a season, the amount of sports you have your kid in, speaking to it.

And I'm saying this. I'm someone who has kids in multiple sports, and they love it and we love it. It's all great. But, you know, times have changed then when you and I were playing youth sports. And it was one sport of season. It was rec sports and maybe a little bit of travel, but that's all changed. now. Steve Paletti, we thank you for being here on Top Story. I'm glad to do it. Thanks for having me.

Finally tonight, this special announcement from one high school dance coach. The long journey it took to get there and the priceless reaction from her students. This is an announcement high school dance coach Kristen B. Wan has been eager to make. I couldn't wait to share something really special with you guys. It's getting hard to not be able to share this news, but we're going to have a new little member. Kristen sharing the happy news with the team she's coached for 15 years. I'm just so excited to share this with you guys and have this moment with you. They love you.

Her time outside of dance hasn't always been easy. She and her husband Tyler have faced infertility and pregnancy loss while trying to start their family. It's just taking so long to get here. It's been something that feels like a roller coaster of emotion. Through it all, the team has been there for her. her. So happy for you. Even when they didn't know the full scope of their coach's struggles. I was overwhelmed with just like complete joy. I was so touched by them. They're reflecting back all the love that she's poured into them. I just couldn't believe their reaction. It was so fun and so

genuine and they were so happy and the fact they got emotional. I was so emotional. And she had one last surprise to share. You want to know what it is. New chapter is starting. It just makes me so happy to think about it and to share that together. I love you. Congrats Kristen and Tyler. Thanks so much for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamison, New York. Stay right there.

More news on the way.