Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, September 11, 2025

Episode Date: September 12, 2025

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.

Tonight, the breaking new details in the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the FBI releasing these images of their new person of interest. As authorities say they've recovered the bolt action rifle, they believe, was used in the shooting. The massive reward now being offered for information as officials hunt for the killer. It comes as tributes pour in for Charlie Kirk, the president saying he will award Kirk the Medal of Freedom, one of the highest civilian honors. Vice President Vance touching down in Utah to visit with his family as Kirk's friends and fans remember a powerful conservative voice famous for fostering debate. Also tonight chilling new details in that Colorado high school shooting, officials saying the 16-year-old shooter was radicalized by an extremist network before wounding two students and taking his own life.

Plus the man accused of trying to kill then candidate Trump begins his defense, Ryan Ruth questioning the former Secret Service agent who did. discovered him on a golf course last September, allegedly line and wait for a rifle for the president. The wife of former New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez sentenced to four and a half years in prison for selling her husband's influence in exchange for bribes, cash, and gold bars, and a luxury car, the emotional moments in court.

Mexico Highway Inferno, the tanker truck bursting into flames, at least eight people killed dozens more injured. And as we marked 24 years since the September 11th, attacks are Sam Brock sits down with three firefighters who have answered the call to serve after their fathers made the ultimate sacrifice at Ground Zero. And tonight news that fresh off their merger, Paramount Skydance, is preparing a major bid for another media company. Top story starts right now. And good evening. Tonight, the manhunt is on in Utah for the shooter who assassinated

conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Authorities saying they are pursuing multiple leads as the chaos and horror of yesterday's attack comes into painful focus. A warning, the video you're about to see is disturbing. New images taken in the seconds after that fatal shot, Kirk carried away by his security team in a black SUV.

The FBI today releasing these images to the public, take a good look of the new person of interest dressed in dark sunglasses and a hat. Authorities also seen scouring a rooftop near the spot where a person was seen yesterday. Investigators say they also recovered a high-powered bolt-action rifle in a wooded area. They're now offering a $100,000 reward for any information leading to an arrest.

As the search intensifies, so does the grief. Tributes pouring in from around the world of politics for Charlie Kirk, a commentator with a massive audience, and a unique ability to reach young conservatives. Tonight, President Trump revealing he has spoken to Kirk's wife saying she is absolutely devastated. Trump promising Kirk a posthumous presidential medal of freedom, one of America's highest civilian honors. In a moment, we'll speak to former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, how he'll remember Charlie Kirk and his reflections on the growing wave of political violence, gripping the nation. But we begin tonight with Morgan Chesky on the ground in Utah. Tonight, the massive manhunt, the FBI releasing these images of a person of interest

in the assassination of Charlie Kirk, offering a $100,000. reward for information, revealing they've now found the weapon that was used. It's a high-powered bolt-action rifle. That rifle was recovered in a wooded area where the shooter had fled. And more potential critical evidence near the crime scene. Investigators have also collected footwear impression, a palm print and forearm imprints for analysis. President Trump late today. I hear they're making big progress. And we're getting new information about the grim timeline. Investigators say the shooter arrived on Utah Valley University's campus at 1152 a.m. We spoke to Utah DPS Commissioner Bo Mason. We know what time the gunman arrived

on campus. Do we know if he had the rifle with him when he did? We believe he did. We believe it was with him the entire time. Concealed. Authorities say surveillance video captures him climbing stairwells to the top of a building, then moving across its roof to the shooting location, which was roughly 175 yards away from the stage. The roof with easy access. It is very accessible. Doors to access unlocked? Not even doors. There's open pathways with railings that you stand over. So there's somebody on the roof right there? This video appearing to catch a glimpse of a figure dressed in black up on top of that very roof. Then Kirk arrived for the event, throwing hats to a cheering crowd before taking audience questions under a tent. Around 12.20 p.m., he was answering a

question about mass shootings. Do you know how many mass shooters there have been in America over the last 10 years? Counting or not counting gang violence? Great. The video too disturbing to show, 3,000 people in the crowd then screaming and running for their lives, security rushing Kirk out in a black SUV. While this video appears to show someone up on that roof running away. Amid the chaos of that fatal shot, authorities say the gunman then jumped off a building, making his way off this campus into a nearby neighborhood. Brandon Russon was close to the stage. All of a sudden my heart just dropped to my stomach and I knew after seeing the graphic, the graphic nature of that of that shot that it was real that charlie had been shot after diving to the ground he texted his wife

what do you say the most important words i can say i love you all right with that morgan chesky joins us tonight from the scene in utah morgan there's been a lot of confusion we've been getting the news alerts tonight to our phones here and now officials are telling the public there are rapid developments in the investigation what do we know yeah tom that is what is what What we're still awaiting. It was a press conference that was scheduled for earlier today, but authorities came out, said that there had been rapid developments, and then that press conference was postponed. So as we're still awaiting to hear what those developments may be, Commissioner Mason telling me that when he watched that surveillance footage of the suspect entering campus, he said it appeared that he was very

comfortable walking around almost as if he was familiar with the area. Not only that, but when that government fired, that fatal shot atop that rooftop, authorities say that it appears that they had some sort of face covering on that would conceal their identity. Tom? Okay, Morgan Chesky, with that new reporting that you just heard right there. Morgan, we thank you. In Washington, Kirk's assassination has shaken leaders on both sides of the aisle with tributes pouring in tonight. And now there are growing concerns about security for all political figures with threats rising dramatically just this year. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez has the late details. At the Pentagon honoring today's 9-11 anniversary, President Trump announcing he'd posthumously award

Charlie Kirk, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Charlie was a giant of his generation. Vice President Vance landing late today in Utah to see Kirk's family, the president speaking with Kirk's wife Erica by phone. We had a long talk and she's devastated. And suggesting he knows the motive. I have an indication, yeah, but we'll let you know about that later. The 31-year-old conservative star remember tonight for rallying young voters

and encouraging open debate, often taking questions from Democrats on campus. Do you think gun ownership is a privilege or a right? I think it is a privilege. That's where we disagree. Donald Trump Jr. was a close friend. He could just relate to people. Even his biggest detractors, I mean, on a daily basis, Charlie Kirk gave them a platform to debate these ideas. The president now blaming what he calls the radical left.

For years, those on the radical left have compared wonderful Americans like Charlie to Nazis and the world's worst. mass murderers and criminals, this kind of rhetoric is directly responsible for the terrorism that we're seeing in our country today. But threats against high-profile figures from both parties are on the rise. Capital police telling NBC News its agents are on track to work through roughly 14,000 threat cases this year alone, which would be a 48 percent increase from 2024. In just over a year, there have been two attempts on President Trump's life, a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband were murdered in Minnesota, and the residents of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was firebombed. The assassination of Charlie Kirk risks an uncorking

of political chaos and violence that we cannot risk in America. All right, Gabe Gutierrez joins us tonight from the White House. Gabe, we got a couple questions for you. Let's start with the string of threats across the country today, because some people may have heard about the DNC as well. Yeah, that's right, Tom. Look, there's a heightened state of alert really across the country, so many people on edge. And throughout the day, there was a string of threats to HBCUs and the DNC headquarters that forced lockdowns, Tom. Yeah, and then before you go, I know you're getting some new reporting about the funeral arrangements for Charlie Kirk. What do we know? Yeah, that's right. Three sources familiar with the planning tell NBC News that Vice President Vance will fly Kirk's family

in his casket aboard Air Force 2 to Arizona. And just a short time ago right here at the White House, President Trump told reporters that he does plan to attend Kirk's funeral, and he believes it will be next weekend in Arizona, Tom. Okay, Gabe Gutierrez with those new details here. Gabe, we thank you. Tonight here on Top Story, we are joined by former Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Speaker, thank you so much for being here. Thank you. I know you knew Charlie Kirk. You had a relationship with him.

Can you tell us about the Charlie Kirk you knew? He was always an optimist. And if he thought about this, I met him like 10 years ago, just starting turning point. It was like a dream. And I met him because he was helping students run for student body president. It wasn't that you had to just be a Republican. And it was amazing. We'd bring him to Washington, D.C.

I thought these would be four future members of Congress. But what drove Charlie was he loved the debate, the policy. The back and forth. But he respected the other side. If you watched what he would do, and this is something you've got to think about for a moment. In America, we believe debate should happen in colleges, right? But this wasn't like he went to a college just to speak to people who he agreed with. If you disagreed with them, you got to go to the front of the line.

He would tell his supporters, be quiet, let's show them respect. And he'd have a respectful debate. We disagree. I think guns are right. He'd go back and forth. Would it be an abortion, be whatever he'd be. And he'd have that conversation with you. And sometimes he thought, you know, I'm wrong about this.

And look, he loved his faith. He loved his wife. He loved his children. This is a person that didn't walk up and disagree with them. This is an assassination that thought about it, that planned it, that's now on run. How did you get out of it? And had to have training to shoot almost 200 yards to hit him like that. He's not elected either.

Right, yeah, no, I know. He could have been elected. He could have served in the cabinet. But he's more of a cause of a, of a, of a. passion of something bigger than himself. Yeah. Are you concerned talking about, you know, 200 yards away. This person had, looks like they had planned this pretty well. They still haven't been caught. They're out there. There's one image, surveillance image they've been circulating. You worry that they're going to

catch this guy or not? I believe people know who that person is. Look at that picture. You know that shirt. This person has to be a good shooter. Probably had to be trained or a shooter or a hunter. Yes. And to be able to plan that, Think about that. He took that shot so far away through all those people and hit right where he needed to hit. And then from the same standpoint, he was able to escape. That has to be some sophistication in planning. And did he shoot when that question, how would he know that question arose at the same time? That's information we've got to know. It's eerily similar to what happened to President Trump and Butler.

You have somebody climb up to a roof who had dressed in dark clothing. people see them on the roof and then still able to pull off the assassination. In the president's case, he did not die, but it came inches from death, and Cory Comptory, unfortunately, lost his life there. I do want to ask you, I mean, you're somebody who's in the public eye. You were the Speaker of the House of Representatives. You know what it's like to get threatened. Where do we go from here? Because as you mentioned, Charlie Kirk, and I made this point yesterday a lot, he wasn't elected, never ran for office. He was a political activist. He had his enemies, right? But he had a lot of supporters, and he was in a friendly environment

there, where does politics go? Where does campaigning, pressing that flesh, getting to see people you are interested in up close? Will that all change now? Well, that's a question for the country. Because if you think about this, I was looking back and I was literally listening to RFK announced to a crowd that Martin Luther King was killed. And he literally asked this question, what type of nation Are we? And how do we move forward? That was in the 60s we watched this happen. But that was against elected officials, leaders. Charlie was a leader. If they thought they were going to kill them all, this is going to plant many more out there of Charlie's movement to grow. But what we need to have here, there's got to stop. We've watched this happen. President Trump came less than a quarter inch of dying the same part. I mean, he's watching. This is like a son to him and thinking. Same thing happened to him. We watched elected officials get killed in Minnesota. We've watched this happen time and again. The only way we are going to cure this is individuals of the nation itself.

You have a little bit more freedom now because you aren't in political office. What do you think of some of sort of the outrage, the things being said right now on both sides about what happened to Charlie? Is it getting to a level where it's getting dangerous again? We may almost repeat what we just saw? We watch on social media people celebrating it. What's that going to do to somebody on the other side that pretty knew them? You and I are talking about this, but I'm telling you who's going to affect it the most. If you go and listen to children 14 to 25, Charlie was someone they got a lot of information.

Whether they support them or not, they like to build the date. They think they could be safe at a school and literally have a debate. They're going to be afraid from that standpoint. But is someone going to come back and say, I need to pay you back for what you're doing and others? That's the fear I have going forward. What would you tell President Trump right now, what should his message be to the country? Well, I mean, I like the idea of making sure this doesn't happen again, but I'm looking at President Trump and I'm thinking, emotionally, how does he go through this? This is like a son to him, and at the same moment, how does he not have the emotion that that was exactly what happened to him?

And he could end up, just like Charlie, had he not turned his head that one second, you know? I look at it too, where I watched members on the house floor argue over praying. This is what I want you to think about Charlie, not elected, but if you asked him what he wanted to be known for, a father, a husband, and a person who believed in faith. And why would this, if this person disagreed with him so much, Charlie would allow him to be the first person in the line to use words instead of use a gun against him. This is why this is so devastating. This really looks back to the 1960s in America. and it takes all of us. It doesn't sit and say, oh, somebody elected or not, as a nation. And it's happened in Minnesota, it's Democrats. Everywhere. Pennsylvania, everywhere, Republicans, Democrats. Speaker, thank you for being here,

and we thank you for sharing your thoughts and your memories of Charlie. Thank you. All right, political violence, as we were just discussing, they're also the top of mind in Florida tonight, where the man accused of trying to assassinate President Trump at his golf club in Florida is on trial in opening statements. Prosecutors revealing Ryan Ruth, armed with a rifle, allegedly got much closer to the president than was previously believed. NBC's Jesse Kirsch was inside the courtroom. Defending himself, today Ryan Ruth came face to face with the former secret service agent who spotted him in a sniper hide, allegedly waiting to assassinate President Trump.

Robert Furcano, revealing that while then candidate Trump played golf in South Florida last September, Ruth was closer to the Republican presidential nominee than previously known, just one hole away. Fricano testifying he spotted Ruth and a rifle barrel pointed directly at my face, testifying, I feared for the life of the president. Furcano says that's when he fired at Ruth, who did not shoot back. Then Ruth questioned Fricano, who prosecutors credit with saving the president's life. Is it good to be alive? asked the defendant. Fricano responding, yes, it feels good to be alive.

Walk straight back. Prosecutors say Ruth fled the scene, but not before witness Tommy McGee spotted him driving off. As Ruth cross-examined McGee, the questioning quickly went off the rails. At one point, Ruth gave McGee a thumbs up, saying, you're the man. Good job. Okay, with that, Jesse Kirsch joins us tonight from outside that courthouse in Florida. Jesse, some strange moments there. Ruth got off to a strange start, as we saw in your report there, in opening statements, too. Talk to us about what he said.

Yeah, Tom, it was bizarre, pretty much out of the gate. He was talking about in his opening statements, Hitler, Putin, Iran, Israel, not the facts of the case. The judge admonishing him at one point, asking the jury to leave and then come back in. He was supposed to have roughly 40 minutes for his opening statement, but Judge Eileen Cannon cut him off after only about five minutes. Tom. Okay, Jesse Kirsch on day one of that trial, Jesse, thank you. Now to the new details in the Colorado school shooting that left two students in critical condition and the gunman dead. Authorities revealing the shooter was radicalized by an extremist network and a reminder. He was only a

16 years old. NBC's Dana Griffin has this report. Tonight, Colorado authorities identifying 16-year-old Desmond Holly as a student who opened fire at Evergreen High School using a revolver. Investigators did not say where the shooter got the gun, but said he was radicalized by an extremist network. He tried to find new targets, and he came up against a roadblock on many of those doors. He couldn't get to those kids. They say he continued to reload as he shot out windows and at lockers.

Tonight officials say two students remained in critical condition. Authorities say they have obtained search warrants for his home, phone, and locker, and that his parents are cooperating with the investigation. And those teachers and those students did their job and took into account what they've learned, and it kept them safe. Investigators say the motive for the shooting remains unclear because of the significant cleanup, Evergreen High will remain closed this week. Dana Griffin joins us tonight from Los Angeles.

And Dana, a lot of America is on edge. That's not a secret. And we saw that throughout the country today with some threats. Yeah, so many threats across the country today, Tom. Even earlier at the University of Massachusetts, some students there evacuating as law enforcement responded to reports of a shooting. Meanwhile, several historically black colleges and universities were forced to go on lockdown today after threats toward those campuses.

Authorities say none of the threats, however, were deemed credible. Tom? Okay, Dana Griffin for us, Dana, great to have you in the broadcast tonight. When Top Story returns why this classroom near Chicago burst into cheers, the 10-year-old boy we first introduced you to in our Cost of Denial series just received the call of a lifetime. He was approved for a potentially life-changing treatment. The big update just ahead.

Plus, a new treasure trobe of Jeffrey Epstein emails allegedly revealing he was far closer to his convicted accomplice Galane Maxwell than anyone previously knew. And total destruction, several people killed nearly 100 hurt after an oil tanker exploded under an overpass in Mexico. Don't go away. We are back now with our Cost of Denials series and the life-changing update to a story we brought you a few weeks ago. One suburban Chicago community fighting for a pair of brothers, with the same debilitating genetic disorder. One approved for a game-changing treatment, the other denied.

Tonight, Maggie Vespah shows us how their community rallied to give both brothers a chance to beat the odds. Two brothers battling the same devastating disease just want the same medicine. It's why 9-year-old Noah Small on the right pleaded 10-year-old Hunter's case to the family's insurance company mailing this letter last week. You have a copy of the letter here. Would you mind reading it to me? Yeah. Dear Blue Cross Blue Shield Federal, I'm running to ask you to accept my brother Hunter for gene therapy. I received gene therapy in March.

Now I am able to swim and learn how to ride my bike. At recess, I can be more active and score touchdown. Growing up outside Chicago with their oldest brother Carter and parents, William and Allison, Noah and Hunter both suffer from Dishen muscular dystrophy or DMD, a rare genetic disorder that progressively attacks a person's muscles, leaving most children wheelchair bound by age 12 with an average life expectancy under 30. You can already see the effects on Hunter's legs, his larger calves, layered with scar tissue. How does it make you feel?

Tired a lot? It makes you feel tired a lot? There's nothing that you can do. Last month, Nightly News spoke with the family about their efforts to get a levitis, a one-time dose gene therapy that has been shown to slow DMD's progress. The cost $3.2 million. Noah was approved for coverage receiving the treatment earlier this year. Doctors initially hesitated with Hunter to make sure his heart,

which had been impacted by DMD, was strong enough. They soon signed off. But when we first met the family... Your insurance company is denying one son cracked. The same treatment your other son has received and seems to be thriving. after receiving. Yes. It's baffling.

Their insurer, Blue Cross Blue Shield's federal employee program denied coverage for Hunter twice. Blue Cross Blue Shield declined to discuss the specific case, citing patient privacy, saying its decisions are guided by nationwide best practices for care, helping to identify what has proven successful for members in the past. Two weeks after our initial story, we followed the brothers back to school where because their legs tire easily, they use elevators and scooters. Their fellow classmates launched a letter writing campaign to get Hunter the treatment. They had very strong opinions. Just, I'm not happy about this. This doesn't sound right. I think we should revisit this. And today, the principal

had news for them. We're happy to announce that Hunter did get approved. So he is also going to The family, saying after filing yet another appeal, Blue Cross Blue Shield told them this week, Hunter's treatment had been approved. The news still setting in for Hunter. You're getting the medicine? Yeah. Are you excited? Yeah.

His parents now scrambling to schedule his gene therapy appointment as soon as possible, grateful for the groundswell. I even had somebody stop at our door the other day, said, I saw the piece. on NBC. I have ideas for you. And I think it really shows the good in the world, I will say, that every little bit does, you can make a difference. It's going to give them a better quality of life for a longer period of time. So that's why we fought so hard. Two brothers with a village behind them now getting the same fighting chance. Maggie Vespa, NBC News, Winnetka, Illinois. We're so happy No one Hunter are getting covered. We thank Maggie for that story. Still ahead on top story.

South Korean nationals detained in that massive ice rate at a Hyundai plant in Georgia, finally headed home. The arrest causing South Korea to rethink its economic investments in the U.S. And new reporting, shaking the media world, is Paramount Skydance on the verge of buying up Warner Brothers' discovery and what it could mean for consumers. But first, top story's top moment and a reunion between dog and owner 13 months in the making. After Little Peach went missing from her home in San Francisco more than a year ago, Her family did everything they could to find her, but had accepted she was gone forever. Until local police spotted her and were able to track down her family thanks to a microchip.

Here's the moment they were all finally reunited. Come here, budd. Come here, boy. That was there. Oh! Oh! Oh, look at that tail. Oh, no. Are you happy to have her back?

Oh, my gosh. Now she remembers you, huh? I don't know who's smiling more of the dog or Little James there. What a great moment. All right, stay with us. More news on the way. We are back now with the latest on the way. Kirk at Utah Valley University.

We want to rock you through what we know at this moment and show you the evidence authorities are looking at. And joining me now and said is retired NYPD Lieutenant Darren Porcher. Darren, thanks so much for joining us on Top Story tonight. I know you've seen some of this. First, let's start with the surveillance image, right, that the FBI has released. They're asking the public to take a good look at this, to look at the man's face, to look at what he's wearing, to see if anything strikes any kind of cord that can lead

people to an arrest. When you see these images, tell us what you as a professional see that maybe we don't. Sure, the first thing that I think of is the public is our greatest resource in law enforcement. And so when we speak to facial recognition, we're going to use something referred to as crowdsourcing. When we go back to the Boston Marathon bombing, that's when crowdsourcing facial recognition was used. But we're going to expand that information. And with the crowdsourcing facial recognition, what it does, it goes through faces all throughout the Internet. This is germane for us as law enforcement

and trying to capture an image and match it up with the person. What do you think about what he's wearing? Do we think the rifles in the backpack, the disguise, if you will? What do you notice? Well, this is quite grainy, but what's the uniqueness of this is this appears to be a U.S. flag when we just lost that. And that tells me that this is an individual

that possibly perceives himself as being a patriot and doing something that's honorable. This is clearly a dishonorable act that he committed. Yeah. All black, the sunglasses, the hat, anything else there for us? It seems as if he's doing the best that he can to mask his appearance, but at the same token, fit into the common society, because he's wearing the sunglasses, he's wearing a hat. But at the same token, we still are able to triangulate as it relates to the nose, the mouth.

We don't have the eyes. Every time we touch it, though, just so you know it's going to change. It's all good. Yeah, yeah. Okay, don't we appreciate that. I want to talk about the map now. I mean, this, you know, and Speaker of McCarthy was telling us, I don't know about a long-distance shooting. This seems like a difficult shot.

200 yards, he's on the roof. It's almost very similar to what we saw in Butler, Pennsylvania, with the assassination attempt on President Trump. What does this tell us about this assassin? I was an officer in the Army. I can make this shot from 200 yards away. It's not difficult with a rifle and a scope. I don't want to say it's not difficult, but we don't know if he used a scope. And I want to go back to the early 1960s when we had the Charles Whitman shooting on the University of Texas at the clock tower.

He had a bolt-action rifle, and he shot people from distances that are very similar to this, and he didn't have a scope. He didn't have a bipod. He didn't have a tripod, and he had a series of headshots as a result. So we have strikingly similar comparisons shooting from this area on the top of this roof. If you mentioned what happened with the failed assassination attempt as it relates to Trump, we have stark similarities because we have an assailant at the top of a roof that was unsecured. So here talking about why the assassin picked this point, he's up here, he's dressed in black. Some people noticed him.

There's a social media video you saw in the report saying, hey, there's somebody up there. But as far as getting the shot off, him being up here versus being somewhere else, why do you think he chose here? This was the perfect vantage point because there was. was a direct line of sight to where Charlie Kirk was located. And this is a premeditated attack because he only fired one time and he was able to hit Charlie Kirk in the neck. And after he fired that one shot, he didn't continue reloading. He was comfortable and confident in his ability that he struck Charlie Kirk because

we saw Charlie Kirk fall backwards and that's when he made his escape. Do you think he knew that he struck him? I mean, saying that he, like you said, maybe he doesn't have a scope. If he didn't have a scope, do you think he would have known from that distance that he was, you know, he had hit his target? I believe he did. When we think of 200 yards, we think of two football fields. With the naked eye, you can see two football fields away. And Charlie Kirk was in a position where although he had the fortification of his personal security, you can see where he was seated.

So it makes all the sense in the world that he saw Charlie Kirk fall back. In addition to that, you had the crowd that reacted. So he genuinely believed that he was successful. in his attack. Yeah. And as we move on here, you talked about the high-powered, high-powered bolt-action rifle. It was recovering in a wooded area. It's being analyzed by the FBI.

This is interesting, right? Because he hasn't made so far that we know, we may learn more later, too many mistakes. But he had to ditch the gun somewhere. Why do you think he did that? Well, I think he made quite a few mistakes, because we've captured his image, and we, as the general public, have identified a face, and I genuinely believe that the FBI has identified who the individual is. They know it's just a matter of time to pinpoint his location and take him into custody.

But as it relates to this high-powered bolt-action rifle, as I mentioned to you, this is a sniper-type rifle, very accurate. It was recovered in this wooded area, and what police are going to do, they're going to do a DNA analysis. When that DNA analysis is going to consist of swabbing the weapon for DNA, how did you put those bullets, that bullet into that weapon? We're going to look at the stock as well. I'm sure that we're going to be able to extract some level of DNA,

and that's where the FBI laboratory in Quantico comes into play. Okay, Darren Portia, we thank you so much for being on Top Story. This was so helpful. We thank you for that. We're going to turn now to Top Story's News Feed and the wife of former U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, sentenced to four and a half years in prison for her role in the couple's bribery schemes. Nadine Menendez sobbing before her sentence was announced,

describing her husband as a manipulative liar. Still, she said she does not plan to divorce him. Her defense attorney asking the judge to let her to visit her husband in prison before she surrenders, Nadine was convicted of colluding with the former senator to sell his influence in exchange for bribes of cash, gold bars, and a luxury car. And more than 300 South Korean workers detained in last week's immigration raid at Hyundai facility in Georgia, now on a plane heading back to South Korea. U.S. officials say the people arrested were working or living in the country illegally.

But the South Korean president responding today, claiming that the raid could hurt his country's business ties with the U.S., which recently pledged billions of dollars in investments. And Senate Republicans triggering the so-called nuclear option to change the rules of the Senate, allowing them to quickly push through presidential nominees. The move lets lawmakers speed up the confirmation of President Trump's nominees instead of processing them one by one. The rule applies to executive branch positions subject to two hours of Senate debate, but it will not affect judicial. nominations. And the NCAA says it's investigating over a dozen former men's college basketball players from six different schools for betting related violations. The student athletes accused of betting on and against their own teams, sharing information with third parties and manipulating game scores. The organizations didn't name any of those players, but the schools

include Temple, Arizona State, and under current rules, no athletes or staff are allowed to bet on any sports that have NCAA championships. All right. A massive acquisition could be hitting Hollywood very soon, according to the Wall Street Journal, who's reporting Paramount Skydance, is preparing a majority cash bid for Warner Brothers Discovery. The move would see the two titans of the entertainment industry come together. And you can see some of the massive companies that would be affected by the deal like HBO and CNN, which are owned by Warner Brothers, and CBS and MTV under Paramount, not to mention their historic movie studios. This comes just weeks after Skyny's. Skydance closed another massive deal to merge with Paramount. So what could all this mean for the future of film and television? We're bringing in at CNBC's media and sports reporter Alex Sherman to break it down. Alex, first, would this become the largest media company in the world? Well, it would depend on how you define media company because, look, I mean, Comcast is a media company and that it owns NBC Universal, but this would certainly dwarf NBC Universal alone in size.

But these days, you know, YouTube is a media company, and that would certainly be much larger. Amazon is a media company, Apple is a media company. So it depends on the definition. But look, even Disney, you would say, is a media company. And it certainly wouldn't be as big as Disney. But it would be a very large deal. The market cap of Warner Brothers Discovery at the end of today was about $40 billion. It has another $20 billion or so of debt on top of that.

So we're talking about a deal. around $60 billion enterprise value. That's a huge deal, certainly. And it's way bigger than the company of Paramount Skydance today. So they would be buying a larger company here, and they would be using money from Larry Ellison, one of the wealthiest men in the world, to do it. Or the richest man in the world, depending on what day it is.

I do want to ask you, what do you think the Ellison play is here, right? Because if you think about the Ellison's, they're at the forefront of technology, right? Oracle, they are already there. They are in the quote-unquote sexy business right now in the world. Why do you think they're coming back and buying up legacy media? David Ellison's stated play, take him out his word, is that he wants to modernize the media business. In other words, he wants to take media assets and sort of turn them into technology companies. Now, he hasn't fully stated how he plans on doing that.

there are rumors that they would love to get their hands on TikTok if ever that deal was forced by the U.S. government. Of course, you need a willing seller in China or you need them to be forced somehow. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. But Oracle and TikTok have a long now relationship between the two of them, where Oracle has kind of been the back-end U.S. technology provider for TikTok. Even if they didn't end up buying TikTok, you could see David Ellison wanting to modernize the distribution of the media. So maybe they build kind of their own TikTok or something like that. Again, he hasn't fully explained the details here.

But what he has said is that he wants modern media assets to be transformed into a way where younger people can view them. Do you think, because some people have said this also, look, anytime there's a lot of money, the richest companies in the world at the time, Gulf Western, GE, I mean, you can name them all, have wanted to own media companies. movie studios because it is fun, it's entertaining, right? It expands their brand in some ways. Do you think there's some of that here, or do you think there's a real strategy? A little of column A, a little of column B. I mean, David Ellison grew up as the son of Larry Ellison. He certainly probably didn't need to work a day in his life if he didn't want to. But he grew up as sort of a young filmmaker and then morphed into the CEO of Skydance.

which was a, you know, somewhat small, but not that small, film production company, which then kind of grew out to be TV production, too. And then this was a giant leap forward with the most recent deal negotiated with Sherry Redstone to buy Paramount. So this would be an even bigger, leaps and bounds, bigger deal, if this, in fact, comes together where Paramount binds Warner Brothers Discovery, which owns HBO, it owns the Warner Studio, it owns a bunch of cable networks, CNN, TNT, TBS.

So they would become a major player in media. Of course, that's kind of a fun job. But look, it would also have to be kind of definitionally a good investment because this will remain a publicly traded company. Yeah. And then finally, in the news world, in the world of journalism, you could see a scenario where I guess CBS News would merge with CNN? Well, yeah, exactly how that would come to pass.

We don't really know yet. CBS is a broadcast channel. CNN is a cable news network. you know, you could think of it sort of as NBC and MSNBC, right? Like they're not necessarily merged. They could still have two different functions, but they could certainly share resources. But look, I think we're getting ahead of ourselves a little bit there. Kind of one step at a time here, the bid hasn't even been given to Warner Brothers Discovery yet,

although I'm told that could happen as soon as next week. And then finally, Alex, any sort of pitfalls, any hurdles here? We know Larry Ellison has a very good relationship with the president. Yeah, look, you would think that there may be some regulatory hurdles here bringing together two of the largest movie studios, certainly as analysts have contemplated this deal, which they have in different iterations for many years. That has been one of the regulatory holdups, or at least potential. But we just saw Skydance merge with Paramount. This would be a bigger deal.

But, yeah, you'd have to think that the Ellison's relationship with the Trump administration could go a long way toward getting a deal through. And if you look at the history of tech leaders in the last 20 years, scale is the name of the game, and this might be part of a scaling a massive mini operation eventually. Alex Sherman, always great to have you on Top Story and always great to see you. When Top Story returns, major developments tonight in the Epstein saga. What a new trove of emails reveal about Galane Maxwell's relationship with Epstein and talks of having fertility treatments together. Plus the investigation to a man known as the real Tarzan. Have you seen this guy while he's facing backlash for catching crocs in Australia?

We'll explain. Stay with us. We are back now with a wild story out of Australia, an American influencer who calls himself the real Tarzan is under investigation after he posted a video of himself wrangling a crocodile. Tonight, the Australian government calling his actions dangerous and illegal. NBC's Jesse Kirsch explains. This is the biggest king cobra in captivity. His stunts are jaw-dropping.

Social media influencer Mike Hart. Holston again and again going face to face with some of the world's most intimidating creatures. But I got a hold of him. But tonight, the man known as the real Tarzan is being clawed at by more than just animals. In this recent viral video, Holston wrestles what he says is a freshwater crocodile in Queensland, Australia. And while he seems pretty excited about catching the cross. Others are not wild about the moment. Critics writing the incident was real disrespectful. This feels like cruelty and leave our crocs alone.

A Queensland government spokesperson telling NBC News they are actively investigating, adding these actions are extremely dangerous and illegal, and we are actively exploring strong compliance action, including fines to deter any person from this type of behavior. Here we got. Even the crocodile hunter's family is sounding off. The late Steve Irwin's father reportedly telling Australian media, people visiting our country need to respect our wildlife or they need to be booted out the door. A crocodile conservation group saying this behavior is distressing for the animal and illegal under the Nature Conservation Act.

When it's promoted on large social media platforms without permits or authority to handle wildlife, it sets a dangerous precedent. We reached out to Holston and have not heard. back. But in the past, Holston has said he cares about wildlife. He probably can see my love and passion for animals. And even as public criticism began growing, Holston posted another video going after what he says was a saltwater crocodile, a move that could carry fines up to roughly $25,000. This thing is sick. Holston then commented on his own post, writing in part these videos are for educational purposes only. I don't encourage anyone to try to recreate or reenact these

videos. Jesse Kirsch, NBC News. Now at Top Stories Global Watch, former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro convicted of plotting a military coup to stay in power after his 2022 election loss. The ruling today handed down by a majority of justices on the country's Supreme Court, sentencing him to more than 27 years in jail. You may remember Bolsonaro's supporters storming Brazil's Congress calling for a government takeover. Right now, Bolsonaro remains on house arrest and is set to be sentenced later this week. And at least eight people killed and more than 90 others hurt after a fiery gas tanker crash in Mexico City. Video shows the truck engulfed

in flames, emergency cruise racing to put out the fire. The tanker reportedly exploding after it tipped over on a highway burning dozens of vehicles along the road. It was carrying more than 13,000 gallons of gas. Investigators still looking into how it all happened. And the EU calling for sanctions against Israel over its war in Gaza. The European Commission President saying she will seek partial trade suspensions against Israel and sanctions against some of the country's ministers. The EU is Israel's largest trading partner and has been facing pressure to take action as the conflict escalates.

The announcement comes as Israel carried heavy airstrikes targeting Houthi rebels in Yemen, killing at least 35 people, and leaving more than 130 others hurt. Okay, back here at home, we turn a new D-THAI. about Jeffrey Epstein and just how close the disgrace financier was to his accomplice Galane Maxwell. A report from Bloomberg today unearthing previously unseen emails allegedly laying out Maxwell's personal and financial proximity to the convicted sex offender. NBC's Hallie Jackson breaks it down for us. New insight tonight into the relationship between Jeffrey Epstein and Galane Maxwell from a trove of purported emails, more than 18,000 published by Bloomberg News,

which suggests Maxwell and Epstein were closer in many respects than either publicly admitted. In her July interview with the Deputy Attorney General, Maxwell, Epstein's convicted co-conspirator, recounts asking Epstein about the initial investigation into him. He said, not to worry he didn't say, didn't share. I wasn't part of it at all. The Bloomberg report suggests she counseled Epstein after that. At one point, he asked her advice on what charged to negotiate in his 2008. plea agreement. I suppose lewd and lascivious conduct, she responded. NBC News has not independently

obtained or verified the emails. Bloomberg says they were authenticated using cryptographic and metadata analysis and corroboration with external sources. The outlet says one email included a detailed spreadsheet of 2,000 gifts and payments like, quote, lingerie and chocolates, some for teenage girls who later lodged sexual abuse complaints. Except for three minor instances, Bloomberg says the emails do not otherwise mention President Trump, who has said his relationship with Epstein ended in the early 2000s. The White House, calling it, in part, stupid fake news. Maxwell's attorney has not responded to NBC's request for comment. And for the first time, revelations Maxwell and Epstein were going through a fertility treatment together, according to Bloomberg, years after

she said they broke up. In 2005, Bloomberg says Maxwell emailed Epstein detailed instructions on a sperm donation, adding, you can do the sample at home. And tonight, fallout internationally with the British Prime Minister firing the UK ambassador to the U.S. because they say these newly released emails show that the extent of his relationship with Epstein was greater than previously known. Tom? When we come back, the heroes of 9-11, 24 years later, the sons of firefighters who lost their lives on that fateful day, now following in their father's footsteps, what they told our Sam Brock about their father's legacy.

Stay with us. We are back now, marking 24 years since the September 11th terror attacks. Tonight, we are remembering the first responders who risked their lives and in many instances paid the ultimate price. The children of some of the brave firefighters who rushed into the Twin Towers are now joining the FDNY themselves to carry their legacies forward. Our Sam Brock has their story. For a second today, time stood still.

As a nation honored the thousands killed on September 11th and the bravery of those who responded from lower Manhattan to Pennsylvania to our nation's capital where President Trump attended a ceremony at the Pentagon. And for three members of the FDNY, all sons of fallen firefighters, every day is painful. We as a department have that slogan of never forget, right? And it's not just never forget the guys. It's never forget the actions that they took. Never forget what they did that day. Battalion chief Chris Gansy, Lieutenant Chris Moskali, and firefighter Scott Larson all upended after their fathers tried to rescue victims in the rubble or in the towers.

I do remember being at my grandparents' house and just like he was supposed to come home that night. And it was about five, six, seven o'clock. And, you know, everyone was starting to see like the writing on the wall. And it was a very emotional day. for me. My 13-year-old keeps asking me, she goes, I can't believe he did that. And it's funny, because now we're all in a job and we're like, no, I absolutely can believe that he did that. Like, this is what we do. Like, we don't leave our guys. We stay. And he stayed. For Muscali, the loss proved a call to action.

I go to work each day and I hold myself accountable because I know he would hold me accountable, right? And it's, to serve and to be a part of this department. We asked the trio about lessons for younger generations. What I would say to them is, look at what happened in the days after 9-11. And look at how the United States and the country surrounded each other. Would be a pretty good lesson for right now, wouldn't it? Absolutely. We're all people at the end of the day.

A shared humanity. They say we should always remember, especially now. Chris Gansy says he just turned 49 years old and is having a very difficult time reconciling the fact he's almost the exact same age as when his father Pete died, the man who was orchestrating the entire rescue operation from. the towers that day. Scott's father was only 35 years old at the time. They both said this is like September 11th every single day, which is why they keep their families and their dads close to them every single time they put on that uniform. Tom. And our thanks to Sam Brock for that story. I'm joined tonight by one of the brave first responders, former NYPD captain John Monaghan,

who 24 years ago answered that call and rushed to the Twin Towers. John's a good friend of top story, and we appreciate you being here on a very difficult day. This day happens every year, right, and you have to look back, and it is so tough even now. When it is 9-11 and you wake up on this day, what goes through your head? Tom, an assortment of things every year, it's something different that comes to the fore. This year, I'm thinking about the phrase first responders. Prior to 9-11, when you describe people who rushed into the danger when everyone was running for their lives, the phrase was cops and firemen.

It seems to have evolved since 9-11 to first responders. I think I know why. What I saw that morning, tough memory. But at the time I got there, the towers were in flames already. We had evacuated a number of buildings in Lower Manhattan, because, you know, there was a third plane up there. We didn't know where it was going. We evacuated City Hall, one police plaza, the courthouses.

So I had a push-through security with one of my lieutenants. Can I shout out to Lieutenant? Mike Maitoogel. God bless you, Mike. Yeah. And Danny Nicholson. We rushed it. We got a uniforms now.

over there and there was no communication number of cell towers are down. Phones weren't working. So there were cops coming in from all over the city. They didn't really have a lot of directions. So I grabbed the team of eight guys from Brooklyn, I think. Down we went digging around and stopping and listening. We thought there'd be people. You're now in the rubble. We climbed down into the basement underneath the rubble looking for victims. John, I got to ask you, I mean, you saw what had just happened. The Twin Towers, right, which were sort of the highlight of lower Manhattan and really of the city, nothing had been built like that. And now they were knocked down.

They were just piles of rubble. And you didn't know what was next. I mean, how did you go in there? Were you afraid? You know what? Well, yeah, but you have to ignore that. You can't let fear stop you. It's funny you say, not know what was next

because later in the day, Building 7 fell. And we were down underneath the rubble. And my God, I tell you what, it was asses of the elbows getting out of there. Excuse my language. But you know what? We went down there and we were crawling around in the dark. It was a bright sunny day, remember?

We had maybe one or two flashlights between the 10 of us, no masks, no helmets. I had to bring the guys up for some fresh air and light after an hour, hour and a half. Did you hear anything? No, did you hear anything? No, and we would stop and freeze and listen and tap, and we kept expecting people to be calling out to us, a signaling somehow. And we would come up into the sunlight after a few hours, and here's why the phrase first responder is so fitting. There was a row of gurney's time. It was quite a sight.

medics, nurses, nurses, nurses, doctors, EMS, there they were. They had rushed in, too. And they were ready, like sprinters waiting for a relay baton. And that's a tough memory. All we could do is shrug. We had nobody. And I tell you what, but, you know, the second or third time we came up out of the underneath, you know, we're breathless, we're filtered, and there they were.

All those medics. You know who impressed me to? The labor unions, the steel workers, the iron workers. Those guys are like acrobats. Let me, they're daredevel. I remember looking at that pile afterwards thinking they'll never going to clear it, and they cleared it in record time. And that day, Tuesday, September 11th, they marched in and columns of two like a military unit. I was so proud of the unions that day, too.

24 years later, John, what have we learned? Oh, God. You know what? There was a lot of unity that day. I can tell you the day's follow. We had closed Manhattan on House of Street. And every time I drove out of Air in uniform, there was thousands of people to barricades on House of Street. That's the Lower West Side, not known for its pro-cop stance as a neighborhood. and the way they chaired us, it brought a tear to my eye every day. There was unity throughout the nation.

I mean, you had people like Rosie O'Donnell complimenting Rudy Giuliani. We were together as one as a nation, and the God, if we could recapture that without having to suffer another attack like that, wouldn't that be something? It would. And we're going to leave it right there. John, we thank you for being here. We thank you for your service and your bravery on that day and all the brave men and women who sacrificed, but who also went in there and not knowing if they were going to come out alive. We thank you.

Thanks, Tom. We thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamis, again here in New York. Stay right there. We have more news on the way.