Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, October 24, 2024

Episode Date: October 25, 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, are Eric and Lyle Menendez about to walk out of prison? Why the Los Angeles DA is recommending a resentencing. The decision just announced the district attorney, saying the brothers found guilty of murdering their parents, quote, paid their debt to society. The case, one of the first trials ever broadcast on TV, back in the headlines after new evidence of sexual abuse from their father came to light. The role a recent docu-series played in reviving the case will explain why the brothers could be released immediately. Also tonight, inside the battlegrounds, Vice President Harris breaking out a star-studded team to drive swing state voters to the polls. Former President Obama, Bruce Springsteen, and even Beyonce wrapping her, wrapping up her campaign. But will it help?

Meantime, former President Trump storming crucial Sunbelt battlegrounds, Arizona, Nevada. his controversial statement on special counsel, Jack Smith, saying he would fire him if he wins the election and the new polls just in on the state of the race. Are Keir Simmons tonight pressing the president of Russia on his country's alleged attempts to meddle in the U.S. presidential election? How he responded, plus his newest comments on his relationship with former President Trump.

Is Ozempic the key to lowering your risk for Alzheimer's? The significant breakthrough after new research finds the popular weight loss drug actually slowing cognitive decline. We speak with a doctor about what it all means. Breaking a new look? Remember Ray Gunn, the Australian break dancer who went viral for her Olympics performance? Well, look at her now. On a magazine cover, her new look as her iconic dancing outfit tops this year's Halloween costumes list. Plus, food regulations issuing an urgent warning amid that deadly McDonald's E. coli outbreak, could other popular fast food chains be impacted by those bad onions. Top story starts right now.

And good evening. We start tonight with the breaking news. The Los Angeles District Attorney pushing to resentence the Menendez brothers, which could potentially allow them to walk free. That stunning development coming years after the notorious case captivated the country. It was one of the first trials ever broadcast on television. You may remember this right here. Eventually, Lyle and Eric Menendez would both be found guilty for the 1989 murders of their parents. But it wasn't until recently that their story drew renewed interest. Let's take you back to where all this began in August of 1989. Jose Menendez and his wife, Kitty, were shot and killed in their Beverly Hills mansion.

In March of 1990, Lyle was arrested by police, and his brother Eric turned himself in days later. The brothers charged with first-degree murder. Three years later, in July, the televised trial begins inside an L.A. courtroom, each brother with their own separate jury. Prosecutors arguing they murdered out of greed wanting the millions of dollars their father made as an executive at a record label. Their defense was that they killed their parents out of self-defense for years of sexual abuse by their father. In January 1994, both juries cannot come to a decision and a mistrial is declared. A retrial begins in October 1995, this time with just one jury. Five months later, in March of 96, the brothers are sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Fast forward, 27 years later to May 23, a peacock docu series called Menendez plus Minuto. Boys Betrayed comes out when a former member of the boy banned Menudo says he was raped by Jose Menendez. The father, remember that, when he was a teen. Attorneys for the Menendez brothers then file a petition asking the court to reconsider the conviction. In September of this year, a new Netflix series, and documentary launches the case into the spotlight once again. And just weeks ago, the L.A. District Attorney George Gascone announced his office was reviewing new evidence. Notable celebrities, including Kim Kardashian, bringing the case back to the national stage. She wrote an article earlier this month for NBC News saying the brothers should be freed.

And that could soon become a reality, as the DA says they would be eligible for parole immediately. We'll explain why and what the next steps are. But first, we start with NBC Senior Legal Correspondent. Laura Gerard. After serving more than three decades behind bars tonight, the Menendez brothers may soon be on the verge of release. I believe that they have paid their debt to society. Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon announcing today his office will

support a resentencing of Eric and Lyle Menendez, convicted of murdering their parents in a Beverly Hills mansion, a case that captured the nation's attention, one of the first to be televised. We are going to recommend to the court that the life without the possibility of parole be removed and that they would be sentenced for murder. They will be eligible for parole immediately. The DA under pressure to re-examine certain evidence of sexual abuse, the brothers say they endured at the hands of their father, Jose, then a high-powered music executive.

Because I think that often, for cultural reasons, We don't believe victims of sexual assault, whether they're women or whether they're men. Those claims dismissed by prosecutors at the time who argued they killed out of greed to get their inheritance money. And the abuse allegations were largely excluded by the judge when the brothers were tried and convicted in 1996, but viewed in a new light now, gaining fresh attention with a Peacock documentary and recent Netflix series. and from pleas by celebrities and extended family members who've called for their release. This decision is not just a legal matter. It is a recognition of the abuse my cousins endured.

All that mounting pressure raised by critics of the DA's decision who question its timing, as Gascon faces a tough reelection in less than two weeks, and why he's acting now, when the brother's pending petition for freedom laying out evidence of the abuse, where was filed more than a year ago. Mr. District Attorney, when did you make the final decision in this case to recommend resentencing? The final decision was made today. I have been reviewing arguments within my office, both in support and against it. And I came to my final conclusion a few hours ago.

Why the timing so close to the election? It has nothing to do with the election. This has to do with the workload of the office. All right. Laura Jarrett with us. We're going to get more to that re-election in the next segment. Laura, I want to ask you, walk our viewers through what happens next. Okay, so it's not fully up to the district attorney what happens here.

You should think about it almost like he made a recommendation to the judge who's going to have the ultimate sign-off about whether or not these men should be resentenced. He says he's going to do that tomorrow, and then the judge will probably set a hearing in the coming weeks. I would imagine in the next 30 to 45 days or so we'll see something from the judge actually determining whether they should be resentenced or not. Once that happens, say the judge agrees, then it's going to be up to the parole board to decide whether or not they're just being going to be eligible for it, but the parole board has to decide. So two steps here. The judge will resentence, and then the parole board will decide whether they get out or they stay. Are parole boards in California? Are they more liberal, they more conservative? These kind of cases have any idea how they would do? I'm going to have to study and do a deep job now on the parole board in California and get smart on this. But I think the basic gist here is...

Does the DA have weight? So, yes, I think in a case like this where the DA is making a recommendation, it's all but certain that the judge is probably going to sign off. And then if the judge signs off, the parole board's probably going to go with it. But we should mention, the DA mentioned, there are objectors in the office who think this is a bad idea. I was going to ask you, that's one of the strangest things I've heard. Besides the re-election part. I think he was trying to preview it because he knows we're going to hear about it if, in fact, there are people who are loudly opposing this. We're going to get rid of it.

Other media reports are going to be reporting. There was a split in the office, so his strategy was, let me get out ahead of that right now and tell you, there are people who told me not to do this. And from what he said at his news conference and what he told you, essentially it was his sole decision. That's how he came to it? He's the decider. He says there are people in the office who believe that they were molested and believe they should be released today. And he agrees with those people. Okay. Laura Jarrett, we thank you for all that legal analysis. We appreciate the parole board.

We'll follow up on. We'll figure that one out. But we thank you for that. For more on the case and decision, I'm joined by NBC News correspondent Gotti Schwartz, who's been, Following every detail of this case, and Neri Inclan, she's the executive producer of Menendez and Menudo, boys betrayed, a peacock documentary, focused on the relationship between Jose Menendez and Roy Rosello, a member of the boy band Menudo, who alleges Menendez raped him. Neri, I want to start with you. Your documentary was mentioned at this news conference. In many ways, that documentary has sort of given hope to the Menendez brothers, if you will. What essentially did your documentary do, and are you surprised at what's happened since? It is pretty much a miracle. I was told when we started the documentary that there was literally 5% chance or less,

even with this new evidence that the brothers would ever have a chance at parole or resentencing. But I give all the credit to Roy Rosello. We had eight months of excruciating conversations, and when I finally got to the topic of Jose Menendez, his voice changed, his demeanor changed, and I knew that something very bad had happened. And, you know, from that point on, two days after our documentary premiered on Peacock, as you said, the lawyer for the Menendez brothers filed the writ of habeas corpus saying, hey, there is new evidence to be considered here. There had been this letter from 2015 that had been floating around but had never gotten any traction.

So when you have a live breathing witness that you can put on a stand who's independent and is going to say, Jose Menendez raped me. Also, it gave that letter, you know, wings to fly. So those two things, the letter and Roy, coming forward in our documentary, was the, you know, one-two punch that got this case reopened 18 months ago. Neary, you're a journalist. You've done a lot of hard stories, all types of stories as well for NBC News, besides this documentary. Is there any doubt in your mind that Jose Menendez was a molester, a pedophile? There is no doubt in my mind. Roy is the one who ultimately agreed to come forward,

go public, go on camera. But I talk to many Minuto members, and I have to leave it there. Okay. Guy, I want to bring you into this conversation because people are getting up to speed. They're sort of re-remembering, if you will, this case and studying up on it. If the Menendez brothers were molested by their father,

right, as they allege. Why did they have to kill their mother as well? Well, according to the defense in the first, go ahead. No, go ahead, Goddy. You're much more familiar with the first case. No, please go, Gotti. Okay, so a lot of this comes down to when evidence was admitted to what trial, right? So in the first trial, the defense basically said that the allegations of molest states,

that this dark family secret were about to come to light, that the boys had basically made it clear to their parents that they were going to expose this secret and that they feared their lives. They feared that their parents might kill them. And so that's why they murdered their parents. Now, it's an imperfect defense. And at the time, it was never debated on whether or not

they had murdered their parents. But that was going to be, it was an imperfect defense. It was imperfect self-defense, I believe, is the term that was used at the time. But that was the first trial that resulted in a mistrial. The second trial, none of the allegations of molestation or rape were really admitted into the evidence there. So that trial is the one that resulted in the conviction that we see today. Neri, what did you want to say? Yes, the first two trials, they had separate juries, and they did get to hear from some 50-plus witnesses

corroborating that, you know, Jose was horrible, two physically and abusive, and three cousins saying that there was sexual abuse. All of that was allowed, and you had two separate juries come in, 666, 6.66. It wasn't close. They were hung juries, and they had the ability to choose between manslaughter, first degree, second degree, third degree. In that second trial, there was one jury, the judge disallowed most of the sexual abuse evidence, and the jury was only given the choice of not guilty or first-degree murder. Neri, to go back to that question and Gotti sort of answered it as well, why did they say they had to kill their mother? They thought the mother was going to kill them? Here's the thing. What's at issue now has nothing to do with what happened in that case.

They killed their parents. I wasn't there for those. trials. I do have a lot of experience with PTSD and how and what that does. It can last two minutes, two hours, two days. So there's no time to relitigate those cases. And it's irrelevant in terms of what's in front of the, what was in there. What I don't think is irrelevant, though, is informing viewers and making sure they have the full picture. So, you know, I understand the legal arguments, but I also think that, again, people here watching the show, they're not experts on the case. And it's important to understand why this happened. You know what?

Tom, good for you. I will answer that question. Okay. If a mother knows, if a mother knows that she is sending her two five- and six-year-old children to a neighbor's house two or three times a week, and she knows that they are getting raped over there, does that make her innocent? Yeah, I'm not going to answer that question.

I'm not saying, I'm not right. I am not saying at all. that the Menendez parents should have died in the way they did. Of course not. But you're talking about kids that did not grow up in a normal way, brains that did not develop in a normal way. And I'm sure you could have many experts that would explain that to you better than I can.

So what happened those 35 years since, right? That is what's on the table. And that's what's giving them this opportunity. The new evidence, the unfairness of the last trial, and the fact that they had been rehabilitated, been leaders at the prisons they've served, and created all sorts of programs to help other prisoners when they had no chance.

Yeah, and spent more than 30 years in prison. Real quick, going back to this case, so people again, to refresh their memories, Neri, of course. After they commit these murders, the prosecution was saying they sort of mourned it in a strange way, right? They were out buying Rolexes, throwing parties. I mean, that was part of the prosecution too, right?

Right. Right, and speaking, a very, highly of their parents at the time, eulogizing their parents, talking about how the father was a titan of industry and really building up their character. And it wasn't until after the arrest and it wasn't until they really took the stand that the public got to see what the defense says is behind the curtain, behind the curtain of this dark secret that the defense at the time. And the second, in the first trial, said was this molestation that was going on with the mother,

Menendez knowing about what was going on. And again, that played into the defense at the time, saying that she knew what was going on. She made it clear to the boys at the time that she was aware of what was happening. I believe something along the lines of like, what, do you think I'm stupid? Do you think I don't know? Or something along those lines. So that factored in. But again, did not result in not guilty. It resulted in a hung juries. Even with all of that, The jury was unable to make a decision, but then the second trial, a lot of that did not make it into the trial at all. Neri, in those 30 years, you mentioned a lot of the stuff they've done. They've also gotten married, right?

In prison? Yes. They both have very loving, caring-wise. And how did that relationship, how does that happen for people who have not gone to prison and gotten married? Well, there was a, there's from the beginning, a huge outpouring of support for them, even back. then, and it comes from, you know, the sexually abused community. I'm not saying that that's the case with the two women in their lives. And I don't really, you know, want to talk to them.

But I do want to make the point that you talked about their behavior afterwards, and everybody does still go back to that a lot. If you have an expert on here, they will tell you that that bizarre behavior is, you know, classic for two young guys dealing with unbelievable trauma, an explosion of PTSD, immediate regret. One goes shopping and the other one goes into a deep depression. I asked all the same tough questions because it is hard to get past that day.

But when you dig deeper and you talk to the experts and for, and go watch the documentary, I have not had anyone, federal prosecutors, all my friends are journalists and lawyers, okay? And we watch it that didn't come away, believing the brothers and believing Roy Rosello. And that's why we've reached this judgment. Goddy, before you go, this documentary, the evidence that came out a year ago, we have this re-election.

What is the real story there? I mean, was he reviewing the case? It was because he had too many cases, or is it because he has a re-election, and now he's back in the news? Yeah, not only does he have a re-election, Tommy. He's also some like 30 points behind his challenger in the polls, and the reason why that's so pertinent is because here in LA, a lot of people are watching all of this unfold, and they are wondering if this is a last-ditch effort to generate massive, massive amounts of free

publicity with a very high-profile case and then try to turn around this reelection, even among those that have been pushing for the brothers to be released. That Menendez and Manudo documentary that you've been talking about, it is extremely powerful. Again, it was released in May of last year. The DA's office has known about the allegations made by Roy Rosello for quite some time. They've had the letter that was written from Eric to his cousin for some time as well. In Gascone, he even posted a picture of that letter that's supposed to be this piece of evidence and then, like, inexplicably deleted it from social media for some reason that we still don't fully understand.

Then he had that news conference weeks ago, not to give his decision here, but to do that. to say that he was going to make a decision, which he says he finally made in the last few hours, as we heard today, the association representing the assistant district attorneys here in Los Angeles say that this is a political stunt to get free media attention that Gascon, again, refute says today this was not political, but whether any of this is actually going to move the needle during this election, that still remains to be seen. Gotti Schwartz. Neri, thank you so much.

This was a great conversation. learned a lot. Okay, turning now to our other big story, obviously, of the week, the major headline of the night. With just 12 days to go until Election Day, Vice President Kamala Harris is unleashing all the heavy hitters on the campaign trail. She's in Battleground, Georgia tonight with former President Obama and the boss, and that's just the beginning. This on the heels of a town hall where Harris said, she thinks former President Trump is a fascist. We get the latest details tonight from NBC's Peter Alexander. Vice President Harris tonight ramping up efforts to get out the vote.

former president Obama and rock legend Bruce Springsteen. Michelle Obama on Saturday and Beyonce expected to perform at a Harris rally in Houston tomorrow. Harris is trying to hammer home what she argues is the contrast with former President Trump. Donald Trump will sit in the Oval office, stewing, plotting revenge, retribution, writing out his enemies list, or what I will be doing, which is responding to folks like the folks last night with a to-do list. At a televised town hall, Harris highlighting Trump's longest-serving chief of staff, John Kelly, saying his former boss meets the definition of a fascist. Do you think Donald Trump is a fascist?

Yes, I do. Trump says Kelly was lying out of pure Trump derangement syndrome hatred. Harris says it's a warning. He's just putting out a 911 call to the American people. Harris was also asked about a frequent Trump criticism of her that she's had nearly four years to make the changes she's now calling for. Why wasn't any of that done for the last four years? Well, there was a lot that was done, but there's more to do, Anderson.

And I'm pointing out things that need to be done, that haven't been done, but need to be done. And she was pressed for specifics on a border wall. She now backs a bill that funds some new construction, but she previously called a wall stupid. So you don't think it's stupid anymore? I think what he did and how he did it did not make much sense because he actually didn't do much of anything. But you do want to build some wall? I want to strengthen our border. Meanwhile, polls show the vice president is facing an enthusiasm gap with black men.

In Philadelphia, we met Harris supporter, Jeremy Page. What is it about Kamala Harris that has you backing her so strongly? It is her being an advocate for small businesses and for economic development. Gary Blassengale is voting for Trump. I like the way he speaks his mind. He says what everyone is thinking. But Harad remains undecided. This is one of the few elections where I actually feel like we have been valued as black men.

And here in Georgia tonight, more than two million people have already cast their ballots in person, a record, and a third of all the active voters in this state. Tom. Peter Alexander, we thank you on the campaign trail again. As Peter just outlined in his report, and we all know this, the state of Georgia will be critical in November. It was a crucial flip for President Biden back in 2020, and it's shaping up to be razor-tight once. again this year. So tonight on Top Story, we're giving you an election night preview of the Peach State. So first things first, if you take a look at the last few elections at Georgia, and we're going to go back all the way to Obama in 2008. Look at the progression of Republicans here.

52% for McCain. They go up slightly with Romney, take a big dip in 2016 with Trump, and then in 2020, you can see they go down, and Biden's able to flip the peach state right there. But the Republican vote share has been dropping since 2020. That's something we just highlighted there before Biden finally turned the state blue in 2020. Here's the thing. Biden flipped Georgia without flipping a single county. So how exactly did he do that? Let's show you. When you look at the peach state, look at all this red, and then you have those pockets of blue. And the big reason is because of the greater Atlanta metro area.

These ring counties around Atlanta, and if you draw this even bigger, if you go about 50 counties, nearly 50 counties there, around Atlanta, you get about 50% of the vote for the peach state. It's pivotal. This is where roughly half you like that. the electorate lives, and it's been moving fast towards the Democrats in recent elections. Take a look at a place like Cobb County right here. Cobb County, Biden was able to flip this, and it was really Hillary Clinton in 2016 who flipped this, because look where this was. Romney 55, Clinton 48, and you got to remember, this is

where Newt Gingrich once held office. And then we flip over, we go to Gwinnett County, and it's sort of the same idea. It's these counties just outside of Atlanta. Clinton was able to flip that from Romney, 53, 50, and then look how big that jump is to Biden in, 2020. It's so important, and that's kind of where they grow the margins, right? For Harris, turning out the black and Hispanic voters in these areas will also be critical, and for the former president, he has to drive turnout in the rural areas, all that red you see there, to offset his losses. For more on how the race is shaping up in Georgia and what to watch for our election night, I want to bring in Greg Bluestein. He is a government and politics reporter

at the Atlanta Journal Constitution. He joins us from the Harris rally in Clarkston, Georgia tonight. That's in DeKalb County right over here in the Atlanta metro area. Greg, thanks for being here. My first question, as I just outlined, the Democratic vote in and around the Atlanta metro area is growing. Do we know why? Well, one reason why is there's been an influx of people from other parts of the country who have moved to Atlanta, and many of them come from liberal-leaning states. And so they're voting, but also it's because Democrats are doing a better job of turning out their core Democratic supporters, partly by leaning into core liberal issues, like abortion rights, like gun

control, like other issues that Democrats hadn't emphasized in past elections here in Georgia. And, Greg, there's a growing group of Hispanic voters in Georgia. They make up a little bit less than a 10th of the Georgia electorate in 2020. How will Hispanics impact the vote you think in Georgia this year? With an election this close, it's a margin of error vote, and it could be decided in the margins. So any significant swing from even... Even the smallest of voting blocks, and Hispanics make up a pretty big voting block, as you mentioned, could be decisive. Right now, they tend to lean Democratic, and most of our polls at the AJC. But Donald Trump is fighting to make inroads among Latino and Hispanic voters.

And then, Greg, Georgia is a state that voted for two different presidents and two different election cycles. You have a Republican governor, two Democratic senators, right? What can we draw from that? We can draw that there's a number of split-ticket voters who are really the, decisive factors in the last two or three elections in Georgia. Those are voters, many of them live in the suburbs, but they're really scattered throughout the state who've shown that they could vote for Republican statewide elections, but also Democrats in statewide elections. I call them the Brian Kemp and Raphael Warnock voters, the Kemp-Warnock voters, because they voted both

for the Republican governor and the Democratic senator, and I think they're going to be the most decisive factor in this election. Yeah, that's a great point that we're going to add to our research as we get ready for election night. So we've seen really strong turnout so far in the early vote in Georgia. What does that tell you about how Georgia voters are feeling or how the state may be trending this election? I think they're one of the most important factors from early voting, which is now topping 2.1 million voters. That is about a third of Georgia's electorate and it's a record for in-person early voting here in Georgia at this stage of the race. And I think what it tells you is Republicans are now embracing early voting in a way that

they just did not in 2020. Donald Trump, you know, denigrated early voting. He voted. He villainized early voting in past elections in Georgia, even as local Republicans kind of, you know, groaned when he would do so. Now the former president's campaign is not doing that. They were leaning into early voting. It was at his rally this week, and there were signs all over saying vote early Republicans. And so I think that is one of the reasons why we're seeing higher turnout. And of course, Democrats have always embraced early voting. And so right now, the early voting trends show it still to be a very, very close race based on demographic data in Georgia. Greg, before you go, give us your cheat sheet.

Give us a few counties that maybe that aren't on our list, but that you're going to be watching on election night to kind of gauge where this election is going for you. Yeah, well, Ron is right here in DeKalb County. This is the most important Democratic stronghold for the campaign, for the Harris campaign in Georgia. She's got to get around 90% or so of the vote here, and they'll be fighting to get that.

Another county I'm looking for is just north of here, Cherokee County. It's a Republican excerpt. Joe Biden didn't get 30% of the vote there in 2020. Democrats are hoping if they can get to 35, 36% of the vote, they can win by losing less. So I'll be very closely watching Cherokee County and the rest of the North Atlanta exurbs.

All right. Greg Bluestin, we appreciate you so much. We thanks for being here. A lot of great insight. We now move to the Western battlegrounds now. Former President Trump is in Arizona tonight, making controversial statements about the special counsel, saying he'll fire Jackson.

If he's elected to office, this as he remains laser-focused on the issue. He's hoping will help him squeak out a win on Election Day. NBC's Garrett Hake reports. Tonight, with less than two weeks to Election Day, former President Trump hitting critical battlegrounds, including the campus of Arizona State. I will launch the largest deportation program in American history. And overnight in Georgia. I'd like to begin by asking a very simple question.

Are you better off now than you were four years ago? A new poll shows Trump going into the final stretch leading Vice President Harris by two points nationally, within the margin of error, and showing most Americans, 54 percent, disapprove of Harris's job performance as vice president, while 52 percent approved of Trump's performance as president. This morning, a clearly confident Trump making a controversial vow to fire Special Counsel Jack Smith moments after taking office. Oh, it's so easy. So easy. I would try him within two seconds. Saying he does not believe the House, even if controlled by Democrats, would impeach him for a third time. No, I don't think they'll impeach me if I fire Jack Smith.

Jack Smith is a scoundrel. Smith, who was appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland, is prosecuting two cases against Trump, one over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. A second case involving Trump's handling of classified documents was dismissed by a Trump-appointed federal judge. A decision Smith has appealed. The Harris campaign responding, quote, Donald Trump thinks he's above the law, and that a second Trump term, where a more unstable and unhinged Trump has essentially no guardrails is guaranteed to be more dangerous. Trump has called Smith's prosecutions political, pointing to a recent statement by President Biden. We got to lock him up. Politically, lock him out. Lock him out.

The White House says the president was just referring to politically defeating Trump. He's not allowed to say that. He's such a stupid guy. The former president wrapping up a raucous rally here in Tempe just a few minutes ago, heavily focused on the border and on immigration. Two issues that he is convinced will propel him to victory here and in Nevada, where he campaigns later tonight. Tom? All right, Gary, we thank you for that in the final days of the race for the White House.

The candidates are making their pitch to younger voters, a voting block that could hold the key to the outcome of the election. Take a look at this. A new NBC News, stay tuned poll. of 18 to 29-year-olds shows 50% of Gen Z voters support Vice President Harris, while only 33% support former President Trump. To discuss more on this, we are joined by people who are engaged with young voters. Mary Pat Hector is the CEO of Rise, an organization focused on mobilizing young people to vote and has been doing outreach in battleground states.

Abraham Enrique, as you may know him, it's been on top story a few times. He's the president of Bienvenilo, a conservative Latino group. So, Mary Pat, I'm going to start with you. Young people have historically flocked to the Democratic Party. And every election that I have covered, people get really excited about younger voters. There used to be rocked the vote when MTV was a thing, a very important thing back in the day. And then I always find that political parties, they're always let down year after year. What makes you think that young people will turn up and turn out for Kamala Harris?

Well, I will say that while many people have been disappointed historically about young voters, it's been the young voters that have been that small margin that has pretty much saved our democracy, cycle after cycle, I can truly say that for me here in the great state of Georgia. But what I will say is that young people are excited and energized around the issues. They see that this election more than ever, and they see mainly the Democratic Party paying a lot more attention to them as a voting bloc and the issues that they care about, which is driving their excitement around this election and seeing a candidate that represents who we are as a generation, right?

Gen Z is one of the most racially diverse. voting blocks in this country, and there's a candidate that represents that, there's a candidate that's a woman that's young, that's not young, white, and old, which is what they're used to. And then Abraham, we've seen younger men in particular leaning towards former President Trump of the polls. That's good news for his campaign, but historically, isn't it harder to turn out young men as opposed to young women who seem to be favoring Harris right now?

Well, great to be with you, Tom, and I want to start off by just acknowledging something. When it comes down to this election, Hispanics are the second largest voting block in this election, and the average age of Hispanics in America are 29 years old, meaning we're the youngest racial demographic in the country. So if you don't start winning the Hispanic young vote today, there is no winning tomorrow. And I go back to the New York Times poll that was just released a few days ago that shows that young voters, young Hispanic voters in battleground states under the age of 30 actually acknowledged, majority of them actually acknowledged that the Trump policies were better for them

than what they have today. So as we talk about getting Hispanic voters, or young voters, particularly out to vote, we have to fight voter fatigue, but when we're facing high inflation, the chaos at the border, not voting is actually not a luxury anymore. We have to go out and get the vote done. And so as I'm traveling across the state, you know, young Hispanic voters are really passionate about going and defending the values that maybe their grandparents and parents fought for. ensuring that the election is their way of fighting for freedom and liberty here in America. Mary Pat, you are in Georgia where Vice President Harris has campaigning today. If you believe the polls, the Harris campaign, it isn't had the same support Joe Biden had at least not four years ago when it comes to black voters.

The Trump campaign seems to have made some inroads. What are you seeing? What are you hearing? And how would you explain that? Really, what I've been telling my team since the very beginning is I don't want to trust the polls. I want to trust the people. And when we think about these polls and historically, you know, the messages are what they put out. In 2016, if we believe the polls, then we would have had a different presidential outcome.

And there is such thing called the Bradley effect, where pollsters will ask a lot of people questions, and those that will respond to those polls will pretty much tell them a lie, right? They'll tell them something that they will, that seems more socially acceptable, or, you know, especially when there's a minority candidate in the race to avoid seeming bias. And so I always say don't trust the polls, trust the people. And as the other guest mentioned, right, like when I think about young people in this election,

despite what the polls may say, this election, whether you're a conservative, whether you are progressive or a Democrat, or you don't want to be associated with a political party, young people care about the issues. They care about economic justice. They care about climate justice. They care about the rights that they've lost

that their grandparents might have had, that they no longer will have or don't have. And so this election is not a luxury for them. This is something that is really going to impact their lives. Abraham, you just heard former vice president say he'd get rid of Jack Smith, the special counsel that is currently investigating him. If he is innocent, completely innocent,

what does he have to worry about? Why would he have to do that and not let justice play out? So I think part of the reason why President Trump is making inroads with the Hispanic community really just minority voters, is that minority voters have this frustration. I'm sorry. I asked you about Jack Smith. Did you hear that?

Yes, yeah. I'm going there. I just want to make sure you heard the question. Yeah, yeah. There's this frustration with the bureaucratic state in this country. And with what President Trump was put through at the beginning of this year, his rhetoric on firing Jack Smith actually makes those Hispanic voters, minority voters, more passionate about it.

So whether he, because he's innocent, I believe that him just doubling down on that, down on that and telling his base and telling voters that are frustrated with the bureaucratic state that he's going to eliminate the waste and the swamp, quote-unquote. I think it- Yeah, I get the swamp, I get the bureaucracy. I get your argument on that, but we're talking about sort of justice, right? And Hispanics, as we know, are law-abiding citizens. So draw me the line because I don't understand your argument. Why would Hispanics, why would firing Jack Smith, why would that argument appeal to them? It just goes back to the frustration of what we saw President Trump go through at the

beginning of this year. So we want another four years of prosperity under President Trump. I think when you're talking to those voters and why they're probably gravitating towards that message, it's like, it's more of saying, I want to get rid of what would cause me to put accomplishments and opportunity back on the table and put someone that is a little bit unbiased towards a justice system. Mary Pat, what do voters tell you about Kamala Harris? Because she just did a CNN Town Hall yesterday. A lot of the reaction was that she didn't answer a lot of the questions. There was a lot of, you know, people describe it as word salad, where she sort of talks around answers. We saw that a little bit also when she was speaking with my colleague

Hallie Jackson this week in her interview. You know, young people love authenticity, right? They want people to be real. Do people feel that Kamala Harris is real? I do believe that they view her as real. Again, I think they see themselves in her as a candidate. She seems to a lot of young people as a breath of fresh air for the mere fact that she represents or mirrors this voting block, right? Again, the diversity aspect of it. But again, I just want to focus on the fact that when you talk about or you talk to Gen Z voters, they aren't enthusiastic about personalities.

They aren't enthusiastic about the two-party system or systems in general. They are enthusiastic about the issues. And I think, again, that is what's pushing them towards wanting to support Vice President Kamala Harris, because she is pushing the issues that they care about. the most. And beyond that, she's targeting young voters. I mean, in 2020 and 2022, nearly half of young voters were even contacted by a civic organization or a campaign. Her campaign has targeted young people. She's hired young people to, you know, in high levels of her campaign. And she's, you know, engaging with influencers and taking the social media

approach because that's where many young voters are getting their information if they're not talking to a civic organization or a campaign on the ground. And she's doing the work. And I think That's what's driving on people to her. Mary Pat Hector, Abraham Enrique, two rising stars within their respective parties. We thank you for this very smart and enlighting conversation. Still ahead tonight, the new clues into what caused that deadly E. coli outbreak at McDonald's. The food regulators focusing on a California onion company and issuing a warning to other fast food restaurants. And the mom now speaking out after she got sick.

Plus, chaos at a Travis Scott concert, yet again, fans breaking barriers and throwing bottles outside of a stadium in a Australia, the scene reminiscent of the deadly Astro World concert. What we're learning tonight. And it was a moment to remember at the Paris Olympics. Remember Ray Gunn, her controversial breakdancing routine? Well, now she's back making her debut on a magazine cover. Yeah, that's right. Stay with us.

We'll tell you all about it. Okay, we're back down with the latest on the McDonald's Quarter Pounder E. coli outbreak. The FDA now investigating the fast food chain's onion. supplier, who has now pulled their products out of an abundance of caution. Other restaurants following suit to removing onions from select locations. NBC's Maggie Vespa speaks with one Nebraska woman who found herself in the ER after eating one of those quarter-pounders. Tonight, amid a deadly E. coli outbreak tied to its quarter-pounder, McDonald's IDing California-based

Taylor Farms as the source of the potentially tainted onions, the FDA investigating the supplier. distributor U.S. foods issuing this recall notice urging customers to destroy four Taylor Farms' raw onion products. The recall sparking a chain reaction in restaurants with no reports of illness. Colorado-based illegal peats along with Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and others confirming their removing fresh onions from select locations. Taylor Farms not responding to NBC's requests for comment telling Bloomberg it hasn't found traces of E. coli yet, but pulled the products out of an abundance of caution. Meanwhile, lawsuits against McDonald's, mounting. Do you trust them as a fast food place?

Nebraska receptionist Clarissa Debach alleges she went to the ER with E. coli last month after eating a quarter pounder with her two-year-old son Kai by her side. It's terrifying to think if that would have been a different outcome and he would have got it instead of me. The CDC said nearly 50 McDonald's customers became infected and one died. Do you have more plaintiffs getting on board? We do. We've been retained by over 15 of the families in this outbreak. McDonald's president on today, Wednesday, stressing they've pulled raw onions and the quarter pounder in several states to protect customers from contaminated product. Very likely worked itself through that supply chain already, but certainly will be working with the CDC and cooperating.

An ongoing investigation into an iconic brands crisis. Maggie Vespa, NBC News. When we come back, a man on the FBI's most wanted list finally captured. The fugitive wanted for murdering an attorney caught after being on the run for years where he was arrested. Stay with us. All right, back now with Top Stories News Feed, one of the country's most wanted fugitives, now in custody after nearly eight years on the run. U.S. Marshals say they've arrested 57-year-old John Penaligan in connection with the 2016 murder of an Illinois attorney. The suspect was placed on the 15 most wanted list in 2020 after fleeing

to Mexico before he could be arrested. He was deported back to the U.S. earlier this week. An update tonight, the Department of Justice announcing a massive settlement with the owners of the cargo ship that crashed into the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. The owner and the operator of the Dolly cargo ship have agreed to pay more than $100 million, U.S. Treasury and several other federal agencies affected by the collapse. The settlement will not cover the damages for reconstructing the Baltimore Bridge, as the state of Maryland has filed a separate claim for those costs. There are also lawsuits for the families of the six victims who died when the bridge collapsed. Chaos erupting at a Travis Scott concert in Melbourne, Australia. New video shows fans

fighting and trying to break through barricades outside of the stadium. According to our partners at Seven News Australia, at least five people were hospitalized. Security officials say that they did employ more security guards than usual, but are reviewing safety measures. This danger is comes nearly three years after a crowd surge broke out during Scott's Astral World Concert, leaving 10 people dead. Okay, an Australian Olympian break dancer Ray Gunn, unveiling a new look. The dancer nearly unrecognizable on the cover of a major Australian lifestyle magazine. Gun went viral during the Paris Olympics for her dance moves, including one that resembled

a kangaroo. She also lost all of her matches, but she is still ranked the top break dancer in the world by the World Dance Sport Federation. All right, good for her. Coming up, Russia accused of widespread campaign to interfere in the 2024 presidential election. Tonight, Arir Simmons questioning Putin on his country's alleged meddling attempts. How he responded. That's next. We are back down with Top Stories Global Watch.

In Russia, President Vladimir Putin giving a rare news conference, capping a three-day summit hosted by the Kremlin. Our Kirs Simmons is the only U.S. network TV correspondent there and questioned the Russian president on the country's alleged attempts to interfere in the upcoming U.S. election. He also pressed Putin on his relationship with former President Trump. Let's take a listen. And Mr. President, we are weeks away from the U.S. election.

Russia again is accused of interfering and that you have had private conversations with former President Trump. Have you been speaking with him and what have you been saying? We've been accused of the last year of intervening in the American elections in favor of Trump, but this is complete rubbish. Nothing of the sort hasn't ever happened. It didn't happen in the past, and it's not happening now. How, after the elections, Russell, American relations will evolve.

Well, we have yet to see. Keir Simmons, doing what he does best, pressing those world leaders. He joins Top Story tonight from Kazan, Russia. So, Kier, what did you make of President Putin's response there? Well, he began by smirking, Tom, which is classic Putin, and tells you nothing, but you always suspect there's more to what he thinks than the way that he answers. Now, he said it wasn't true. We should say that those reports that there were phone calls, that there have been phone calls between former President Trump and President Putin were first reports. in the veteran reporter Bob Woodward's book,

and there hasn't since then been any evidence proving that they are the case. So the Russian leader talking about it for the first time, saying that it's not true. Another aspect, though, and you can make of that what you will, another aspect, though, Tom, just to finish, I think is interesting, is the way that he said in another answer,

it will be up to America to decide on the election and who will be president, and then it will be up to that president to decide what relationship they want with Russia. And I think that betrays in President Putin a belief that the relationship between Russia and the U.S. could change. I think that's pretty unlikely, honestly. President Putin has talked about as a great tactician,

not a great strategist. I think maybe that's an example of that. He still thinks that he can change things. Again, I think that's, there's got to be a limited chance of that. And here, before you go, if you can, briefly, Talk to us about this summit, right? It was the largest diplomatic event hosted by Russia since it invaded Ukraine. Did anything of substance come out of this?

Well, I think the key thing is that President Putin didn't look isolated, did he? He was surrounded by other major world leaders. Keep in mind, though, it was in Russia. There will be G20 meetings and BRICS meetings in the future that President Putin will not be able to attend, Tom, because of those allegations that he's a war criminal, because of those. the risk that he might be arrested, Tom. Keir Simmons for us tonight again, reporting out of Russia, Keir. We thank you for all your reporting.

When we come back, Alzheimer's breakthrough, a new study showing an active ingredient in drugs like Ozempic and Wagovi could reduce the Alzheimer's risk in people with type 2 diabetes. We're breaking down the study and what it could mean for millions of Americans. That's next. Finally tonight, ending the show a little differently. Top Story's Health Check, a new series we're doing for. following major health headlines.

And tonight we're looking at a new study published by the journal Alzheimer's and dementia. Finding drugs like OZempic could lower the risk of developing Alzheimer's and people with type 2 diabetes. The new study finding that patients prescribed semagliteide, the active ingredient in Ozempic, seen a lower chance of acquiring the disease. In some cases, get this, by 70%. For more on this, I'm joined now by Dr. Caroline Messer. She's a board-certified endocrinologist here in New York and an expert in internal medicine. Just to be clear, I said it right, right? You were wonderful.

Yeah, because a lot of people say it wrong. Yes, maglutide is correct. So what is this all about? Because this was an incredible headline. I think it is incredible. To tell you the truth from the perspective in an endocrinologist, it's not actually that new. We have trials going back to 2019, actually even before that on rats and mice, showing that these medications probably helped.

But this was the largest trial. This was over a million patients that they looked at. So peel back the curtain, how does it work? So in order to understand how it works, you have to have like a little primer on what Alzheimer's is, not that we really completely understand it, but first of all, you have to understand that there are these proteins called tau proteins and amyloid proteins, and they deposit in the brain, and that's a negative, that's a negative thing. You also have brain shrinkage, and when that happens, you start seeing inflammation of

the brain and something called mitochondrial dysfunction. So if you remember back to ninth grade science, 10th grade science, mitochondria are like the energy source for the brain, and so when you start seeing dysfunction, you see a decline in and cognitive function. So there are many similarities between type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer's in terms of that pathophysiology. We say that they share many characteristics. So the same thing. So we see mitochondrial dysfunction. We see brain shrinkage. We see that the neurons aren't working properly, what we call oxidative stress, chronic inflammation. So it really does make sense that treating one would treat the other. And so scientists for years have been looking

at diabetes treatments as a potential holy grail. So going back to... Do a lot of people that suffer from Alzheimer's also have diabetes? Yes. There's a huge link between the two, but of course you can see Alzheimer's without that. But there are many risk factors for Alzheimer's, so unhealthy lifestyle smoking, excessive drinking, obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, but of course diabetes as well. What would happen if somebody were taking Ozempic and they got off Ozempic?

Would the Alzheimer's come back? Would it... I don't want to say come back or grow? Well, what I always say is the benefits of these medications are probably pretty short-lived. First of all, the weight usually comes back relatively quickly, but the reason we think that they work so well is because of their anti-inflammatory effects, and those are not sustained, unfortunately. So not that it's been tested necessarily, but my hunch is that the cognitive benefits we're seeing would be short-lived.

You're seeing that these drugs are being prescribed for other things, sleep apnea. For instance, could somebody, could you see a future where somebody suffering from Alzheimer's gets prescribed this, or it wouldn't work? they'd have to have that diabetes component as well. I know, so a lot of the trials are looking at patients without diabetes who are being treated with these medications and seeing a decrease in cognitive decline. So absolutely, I think the goal is that we would be able to use these in patients who don't have diabetes to prevent Alzheimer's. I would tell you, I'm actually using it that way.

It's completely off-labeled, but given the lack of other treatments for Alzheimer's, when patients have mild cognitive impairment or evidence of amyloid deposits in their brain, I'm using it because I don't think we have much to lose. You're very measured. You're obviously a doctor. To me, this feels like a major breakthrough, because Alzheimer's is something that we're trying to battle in such a major way in our country. The only reason I'm measured about it is because I love keeping up with the research, and we have trials going back to 2019 showing that early versions...

You're like, this is old news. Well, it started with exenetide, right, and then Laraglittide, and we were seeing all of the same benefits. It's just that this is the biggest trial. But this can provide a lot of new hope for families. Absolutely. Dr. Carroll, so great to have you here on Top Story. We appreciate it for you for explaining everything. And we thank you for watching Top Story tonight. We'll see you right back here tomorrow. But stay right there. There's more news on the way.