Top Story with Tom Llamas - Thursday, September 4, 2025

Episode Date: September 5, 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, explosive clashes on Capitol Hill, RFK Jr. in the hot seat with trusted America's health care system on the line. Fiery exchanges as Republicans and Democrats grilled the HHS Secretary on everything from vaccines to turmoil at the CDC. Kennedy doubling down, blaming the CDC for pandemic deaths and rejecting criticism that he's making it harder to access vaccines. Also tonight, tropical threats gaining strength, tropical storm Lorena, bringing flash floods to Mexico. southwest bracing for heavy rain and the new system brewing in the Atlantic as the peak of hurricane season quickly approaches. New video of the deadly train derailment in Lisbon and American now among the dead. You'll hear witnesses describing the horrifying moments the tram crashed right off the tracks. Is President Trump trying to shake up New York City's mayoral

race? The new reporting about a possible position for Mayor Eric Adams in Washington to potentially clear the way for a two-way race between Andrew Cuomo and Zorhan. Hamdani. Remembering a fashion icon, Georgia Armani built a multi-billion dollar empire, revolutionizing the Italian suit worn by everyone from Hollywood to Wall Street, how his designs ruled the red carpet. Terrifying dash cam video as a car goes airborne, shooting over all the lanes of the highway. That driver somehow surviving. And just hours before the NFL season begins, a young Eagles fan fighting a rare type of cancer, getting the surprise of a lifetime from his Super Bowl, winning heroes. Plus the growing trend of micro-dosing

GLP-1s promising results with fewer side effects. But does it actually work? Top story starts right now. Good evening. We're coming on the air tonight with that explosive testimony from Capitol Hill. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. clashing with senators from both parties, defending his handling of the nation's health system. Kennedy, facing a firestorm of criticism from Democrats, one lawmaker calling him a charlatan. Another saying he has reckless disregard for science and the truth.

Kennedy has said science guides his work at the health department. But a number of Republicans also raised concerns, including Senators Bill Cassidy, Tom Tillis, and John Barrasso. In a critical moment, Senator Cassidy, who is also a doctor, saying that under Kennedy's leadership, people are being effectively denied vaccines. Kennedy also clashing with senators over his handling of the CDC saying the agency made a series of critical errors during the pandemic and defending the firing of the CDC director Susan Monaris. Ryan Nobles leads us off tonight from Capitol Hill. Tonight, the grilling. Sir, you're a charlatan. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy,

pressed by senators about his controversial shake-up at the CDC. You're making things up to scare people, and it's a lie. I don't think, I don't, with respect, I do not think I'm the one making people. Kennedy questioned about changes to recommendations for the COVID vaccine. To say it's only needed for older and high-risk Americans, which a CDC panel will review within weeks. This from Republican Bill Cassidy, a medical doctor whose vote was critical to Kennedy's confirmation. I would say effectively we're denying people vaccine. Democrat Elizabeth Warren, arguing the new recommendations, means some people can no longer get COVID boosts.

at the pharmacy. I'm not taking them away. Everybody can get access to them. No, they can't walk into a pharmacy the way they could last month and get access. It depends on the state. It depends on the states. A year ago. But they can still get it. But Rachel Sampers-A-Laya says she's been unable to schedule a COVID booster. And she's worried about her daughter with asthma. My biggest concern right now is going through the winter and ending up with COVID. COVID and having a kid end up in the hospital. Another flashpoint, the firing of CDC director Susan Monares, who today writes she was dismissed because she refused to pre-approve the recommendations of a vaccine advisory panel newly filled with people who have publicly expressed anti-vaccine rhetoric. I did not say that to her. So she's lying today to the American people in the Wall Street Journal. Yes, sir.

Kennedy, who's pushed debunked theories linking vaccines to autism, saying he's not. not against them. Saying I'm anti-vaccines, like saying I'm anti-medicine. I'm pro-medicine, but I understand some medicines harm people. And saying revamping the CDC is necessary because it made critical mistakes during the pandemic. When it's disastrous and nonsensical policies, destroyed small businesses, violated civil liberties. And the people at CDC who oversaw that process who put mass on our children who closed our schools are the people who will be leaving. Today, he was pressed about how many people died from COVID. You don't have any idea how many Americans died from COVID?

I don't think anybody knows that because there was so much data chaos coming out of the CDC. You were sitting as Secretary of Health and Human Services? How can you be that ignorant? And tonight, a former CDC director says Kennedy is dangerously undermining the institution. This is about not fundamentally being grounded in the evidence and the data that should drive decision making. And that is why we raised the alarm. Okay, Ryan Noble joins us tonight from Capitol Hill. Ryan, you have new reporting that after that heated hearing, the White House is giving Secretary Kennedy a vote of confidence. Yeah, it was interesting during this

hearing, Tom. We heard Secretary Kennedy be very critical of COVID vaccines and numerous points in the conversation. But he did praise President Trump's Operation Warp Speed, which helped to develop the vaccine. Now, we haven't heard from President Trump directly tonight, but two administration sources tell us that he remains confident in his secretary. And then before you go, Ryan, I know there's new data on vaccination rates in the U.S. What do we know? Yeah, there is a real concern that Secretary Kennedy's vaccine skepticism is starting to seep into the way that people respond to and get access to vaccines. This new polling shows that 74.8% of counties and jurisdictions have seen a decline in their vaccination rates.

Only 68.5% of counties have rates, I should say they have rates below 95%. That is the rate which is described as herd immunity. And 53.6% of counties and jurisdictions saw their exemptions rates more than double. And of course, Tom, this comes as Florida has announced that they are going to eliminate all vaccine mandates. That simply means that fewer people will be vaccinated, and health experts say that could lead to more diseases cropping up across the country. Tom. All right, Ryan Noble's leading us off here on top story. Ryan, we thank you. We're also tracking tropical threats in the Atlantic and Pacific tonight. Tropical storm arena already bringing flash floods and mudslides to parts of Mexico. You see it right here.

In Baja, California, though, roads completely wiped out. And now the Southwest is at risk for heavy rains. I want to get right over to NBC meteorologist Bill Karens. And Bill, you've got a lot to juggle there, both coasts and a lot of oceans. Yeah, we're watching three storms in really three different areas and all have a chance to be something of a problem. So let's start with Lorraine. This one already is producing flash flooding in Mexico. We just showed you those pictures. But a lot of this moisture has been sucked northwards into areas of Arizona and New Mexico. So we're already seeing an enhanced monsoonal flow. And so we're going to see an additional three to four inches of rain in many areas of Mexico, including the hillsides. That'll be problematic. In Arizona, it's going to be hit and miss. It's already happening this afternoon. It would be worse tomorrow.

we have at least 12 different spots with flash flood warnings. So a lot of normally dry washes are going to have water in them in the next day or two in mostly southern Arizona. Now to Kiku, this is still the most powerful storm on the planet. It's had a pin needle of an eye, which is usually a sign of a very intense storm. You can see it right there. 130 mile per hour winds. Now, this is still the equivalent of St. Louis to Los Angeles away from the Hawaiian island. So we got at least five days to watch it. But you notice that cone of uncertainty does include the big island. Thankfully, it will not be the beast of a storm is now by the time it gets there should be a tropical storm, but it still could be producing significant rainfall at that time. The winds may not be damaging, but with the mountainous terrain in Hawaii, we could have issues. Notice all of our model lines are somewhere near the islands in about five days from now. Now to the Atlantic, ever since Aaron, things have been eerily quiet for the peak of hurricane season, but we do think this has a 90% chance of development. It's still way out here in the Atlantic. And the reason we're concerned with it is it looks like this one is not going to harmlessly turn out to see and miss everyone.

However much it develops, all of these yellow lines are possible paths. Most of them are somewhere near the Caribbean Islands, somewhere around the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, in about seven days from now. So, Tom, we have plenty of time to watch this one, but the chances that this one's a nothing storm are pretty low. This one's going to have to deal with this eventually. Okay, we'll be asking you about it probably bill every day up until then.

We appreciate it. We head to California now where the Department of Justice is filing two lawsuits against the California utility company, alleging they are to blame for the deadly eaten wildfire. remember that ignited earlier this year, decimating parts of a Los Angeles neighborhood. NBC's Liz Croix has the details. Tonight, eight months since the Eaton Fire ravaged parts of East Los Angeles, killing 19 people and destroying more than 9,000 homes. The DOJ accusing one of the state's largest utility companies

of starting it. Southern California Edison negligently failed to properly maintain its power and transmission lines, negligence that had deadly and very cost. consequences. In two lawsuits against SoCal Edison, the U.S. government says they're seeking more than $77 million in damages for both the Eaton Fire in Altadena and the 2022 Fairview Fire in Riverside County, alleging a troubling pattern of negligence. While investigators have not officially ruled on the cause of the eaten fire, videos like this one have emerged showing flames at the base of an electrical tower in the early minutes of the blaze. We believe that the evidence is clear, that Edison is at fault. The reason not to wait is because fire season's coming up again. We want Edison to change the way it does business. In a statement, SoCal Edison responding, in part, while the cause of the fire is still under investigation, we will review this lawsuit and respond through the appropriate legal channels. It all comes as firefighters are actively battling dozens of other wildfires across the West, from Washington State, where the rattlesnake fire is burning west of Spokane to California, where crews are gaining ground on multiple brush fires that ignited from a left. lightning storm outside Yosemite National Park.

Liz joins us tonight from Chinese Camp, California. You can see still there in the fire zone. Liz, I want to go back to your report, right? The DOJ seeking $77 million in damages, but what about compensation for fire victims? Yeah, Tom, the DOJ lawsuit does not compensate fire victims. But interestingly, SoCal Edison has recently set up a wildfire compensation program for fire victims, potentially a signal that they're acknowledging that some of their utility equipment made of play a role in starting this fire. All of this comes as they are also

facing dozens of lawsuits from fire victims, potentially totaling hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars and damages, Tom. Okay, Liz, Croyd's again in that fire zone for us. Liz, we thank you. The State Department tonight confirming an American citizen is among the 16 people killed in that deadly tram car crash in Portugal. And there's new video emerging tonight showing the horrifying moments after the accident as authorities work to determine a cause. NBC's chief correspondent. Kierce Simmons has the latest. Tonight, the harrowing new video emerging, taken seconds after that deadly tram crash, as people rushed to help. With the State Department now confirming at least one American was killed when the tram derailed in Portugal.

These images showing the dust clouds from the impact, people screaming, while others pulling at the mangled wreckage. A lot of people died, one man is heard saying, in the streetcar below, frightened passengers climb out of of windows and tonight describing how their car dropped only to see a second car care care care care care reining towards them from above. We felt no brakes anymore. I don't know what happened. Either the cable or the driver. I don't know.

We heard the other one coming up rolling down. Authorities say the death toll has risen. At least 16 people killed when the popular Lisbon tourist attraction derailed and crashed into a building. Unconfirmed media reports citing firefighters organizations say a steel cable connected. Connecting the cars may have come loose. Witnesses with similar accounts. It was coming down the hill. Something was wrong with the cable.

It lost control, didn't have any braking ability. An investigation is underway tonight, and officials saying all Lisbon's finuculars have been suspended for investigation. The mayor saying they need answers. Tom? That is true. Okay, Keir, we thank you.

Back at home, a heart-stopping rescue high above a baseball stadium in Arizona. A worker maintained the lights above the stadium was hit in the head 100 feet in the air, making it unsafe for him to climb down. Camila Bernal takes us inside the hour-long rescue operation to get him safely back on solid ground. A worker left stranded more than 100 feet in the air atop this towering light pole in a stadium in Mesa, Arizona. The man who was changing the lights at Ho-Hoham Stadium was injured when a piece of equipment failed, striking him in the head, according to the fire department.

He got very dizzy and did not feel comfortable. climbing the light tower physically down the way he came up. Mesa firefighters geared up, raised their ladder to get as close as possible, then climb the massive pole. So it's not easy? It's not easy, but it sure is fun. After nearly an hour, crews finally reached the injured worker, carefully securing him into a rescue harness.

They rigged the system to take positive control of our rescue package and lower him down to the ground while pulling him away from the light tower. Once on the ground, first responders immediately took him to the hospital. Officials say he's expected to be okay. Camila Bernal, NBC News. All right, we head to Texas now where parents of some of the camp mystic flooding victims are opening up in an exclusive interview about their grief and efforts to protect future campers.

As the governor is poised to sign tougher regulations on youth camps into law, we get the details from Priscilla Thompson. SEAL would be in third grade right now, starting dance, soccer, talking about Halloween costumes incessantly, but instead she is lost in the Guadalupe River right now. Two months after catastrophic floods tore through the Texas Hill country. The parents of eight-year-old SEAL Stewart still wait. Hoping and praying that our child's body to be returned to us. Every phone call, every text.

Your heart stops because you hope it's the one. Their daughter, among the 27 young lives, swept away at Camp Mystic. Those parents, in an exclusive Today Show interview with Jenna Bush-Hager, remembering their girls and their final letters home. I love you. I miss you so much. I just can't wait to see you. Happy July 4th. She was happy.

Just said, dear mom, I'm having so much fun. Families, united in grief, now fighting for change. This wasn't an accident. This was complacency. Spending the week since their children's death, urging lawmakers to pass the Heavens 27 Camp Safety Act, which prohibits licensing of youth camps with cabins and floodplains, with limited exceptions based on level of risk,

requires camps to have an emergency warning and public address system that works without internet, and to display evacuation routes in every cabin. at Mystic writing in a statement, it supports the legislation and applauds the families for their meaningful advocacy and leadership. The governor says he will sign the bill into law on Friday. We sometimes say, man, I hope we never forget about what Molly was like. And the Heavens 27 family is a way for us to never, ever let the world forget these girls. Our girl's legacy was not that they died in vain. Priscilla Thompson, NBC News.

And we thank Priscilla and Jenna for that powerful story. We turn now to the Biden-era plan to protect airline passengers, which is no longer cleared for takeoff. You'll recall late last year, the Department of Transportation under President Biden, proposed new rules for delayed flights, including payouts, 200 to 300 for domestic delays, or at least three hours and over 700 for longer delays. Now the Trump White House is walking back those plans. I want to bring in NBC's Tom Costello, who covers aviation. Tom, walk our viewers through what happened. Yeah, Tom, that's right. The Trump DOT is dropping a plan proposed by the Biden administration last year that would require airlines to compensate passengers for flight delays of at least three hours when caused by the airlines. Now, the airlines have been fighting that rule arguing it would drive ticket prices even higher. The DOT is also considering amending or

doing away with biting rules that we reported on here, which would require airlines to be more transparent in their ticket prices. Three years ago, as you may recall, most airlines agreed to compensate passengers from meals and hotels during significant delays or cancellations. Today, the airline lobbying group, Airlines for America, said it is encouraged that the administration is reviewing those burdensome regulations. The impact, of course, on how this all falls out to the passenger, is yet to be seen. Tom? All right, Tom, Costello for us, Tom, we thank you. We also have some breaking news from the White House just in. President Trump plans to reinstate the Defense Department's former title,

titled the Department of War. Two White House officials tell NBC News, Trump plans to sign an order tomorrow, bringing back the Defense Department's original name in a secondary capacity. But the order asked the Defense Secretary Pete Heggseth to recommend actions to make the change permanent. Just moments ago, Heggs says saying this to reporters at Joint Base Andrews. Hard to hear there, but the order will also authorize Hegset to refer to himself as the Secretary of War. Okay, we're back in a moment with the latest bizarre twist in the New York City mayoral race. Is President Trump considering tipping the scales by offering Eric Adams a White House job? The new report tonight that Adams is now considering dropping out of the race, plus the attorney suing meta after he was reportedly, excuse me, repeatedly suspended from Facebook for impersonating

Mark Zuckerberg. His name, Mark Zuckerberg. You'll want to hear his story. Trust us. And remembering an icon in the fashion world, Giorgio Armani, known for dressing the rich and famous on the runway and the red carpet, has died. A look back at his legacy and fashion empire ahead when top story returns. We're back tonight with new developments in the race for New York City mayor. An article just published from the New York Times says Mayor Eric Adams is considering dropping out of the state. out of the contest after a secret meeting in Florida. According to their reporting, Adams met with Steve Whitkoff, an advisor to President Trump, though what they discussed wasn't immediately clear. It comes amid growing questions on President Trump's potential impact on the heated contest.

The New York Times was also the first report that Adams, who is running as an independent, has had discussions with the White House about a position in the administration. And tonight, political was reporting that Adams was offered a position at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban development, that according to one person with direct knowledge. A spokesperson for Mayor Adams denying all these reports saying, although Mayor Adams has been the most pro-housing mayor in New York City's history at no time did he ask for, nor was he offered a job at HUD. Joining us tonight on top stories, Jeff Colton, one of the political reporters on that byline, as well as the co-author of the New York playbook. Jeff, always great to have you here on

the show. So much happening with Mayor Adams, just at least in the last hour or so. You guys have a hot report. The New York Times has another. What are you hearing tonight? Well, you know, nothing is clear because we have Mayor Adams saying very firmly, yes, I'm in the race till the end, I'm staying in until November. But then we have reporting that he's, you know, privately dithering, and that he's considering. And, you know, he's open. He was actually bragging that he's been offered many jobs. He says, private sector, public sector, lots of people want me to come work for them after I'm done being mayor.

Of course, that's kind of admitting that he might not be mayor. after December 31st. Right. So at the same time that he's bragging about this, he's denying specifically that HUD offer. He's keeping it a little more vague about other Trump administration offers. And I know it was the New York Times, not your reporting, but any idea of what he's doing, speaking with Steve Whitkoff,

who's also trying to get peace in Ukraine and Israel? Well, yes, he's met with Whitkoff before. Whitkoff was his, he's the Middle East envoy. He's also the Eric Adams envoy. When Eric Adams made that extraordinary trip down to Mara Lago, you know, a Democratic mayor meeting with the president, or I guess he was incoming president at the time. Whitkoff was the go-between.

You know, Whitkoff is a New York City businessman. He has connections with both Trump and Adams. There's a lot of those people that have connections between both Trump and Adams. So there's a lot of people that are trying to get involved in this mayor's race and make things happen. And maybe influenced, Jeff, let's look at the recent polling, right? This is from AARP Gotham. It shows assembly member Zorham Amdani is leading the crowded field with 42%, followed by former Governor Andrew Cuomo. 23% Republican Curtis Leewa was 17, and Mayor Eric Adams with nine.

It gets interesting when you take Adams out of the equation. That same poll asked how those same voters would vote if Mayor Eric Adams dropped out of the race. It showed Mamdani gains 1%. Cuomo gained six, and Curtis Leewa gets a 2% boost. Still a tough race for Cuomo, though if you look at that. So I explain this to me because there was some reporting out there, some thinking that the president would want Adams to get out so Cuomo becomes the mayor. Why? Cuomo hates Trump as well. Does he just hate Trump less than Mamdani?

There is some very interesting dynamics at play here. Yes, the latest reporting, the latest thinking of people in the know is that Trump does not want Mamdani as mayor. Even though some Republicans think that would actually be great to have a socialist mayor of New York City, they think it would help. Make a campaign run against him, right? Exactly. They think it would help Republicans in the ballot box. Trump is hearing from a lot of friends in New York who really don't like Mamdani. They think that he's going to hurt the cities, hurt the city's economy. And so he's apparently listening to them. And, you know, the fact of the matter is even though Adams is close to Trump and Adams is not close to Cuomo, I mean, Adams just simply does not

have a path to victory. Consolidation is the name of the game, as we saw in those numbers. If anybody wants to beat Mamdani, the other non-Mam-Dani candidates are basically going to have to drop out. Right. So, Adam, Trump, is, you know, being lobbied from many different directions to get involved in this race and to help out. Jeff Colton, always great to have you. You can read Jeff, of course, every day, almost every day in political. Jeff, we thank you for that. Thank you. Now to the Indianapolis attorney suing meta, this story is crazy, all over his Facebook account that keeps getting suspended or deleted. The cause? The name he shares with the company's famous founder.

Jenny Runevich from our NBC affiliate, WTHR, has this report. The Indianapolis attorney. office of Mark Zuckerberg. With that oh so famous name has had it up to here. So you've never been at Facebook? I'm like, oh my God. He's not that Mark Zuckerberg. I'm Mark Stephen and he's Mark Elliott. But he says having the same name as Facebook's founder is more nightmare than novel coincidence. Not when they take my money. This is this really pissed me off. Zuckerberg is suing meta, the parent company of Facebook for negligence and breach of contract because Facebook keeps shutting down his pages, accusing him of impersonating a celebrity.

And using a false name, which I've had way longer than he has. I've got better things to do than to sue Facebook. And they have more money and more lawyers and more resources than I do. I'd rather not pick a fight with them, but I don't know how else to make them stop. Zuckerberg says his business account got shut down five times in the last eight years. His personal account four times. In fact, try to find the Mark Zuckerberg attorney page. You get this.

You're off right now. I'm off. You've been suspended. Suspended. Facebook jail. Emails show apologies from Meta, but Zuckerberg says it still takes months to get back on Facebook, and then he gets suspended again. The last time they did it, it was over six months before I got my account turned back on.

So I don't know how else to get their attention. Zuckerberg, Mark S, not Mark E, says getting kicked off Facebook has cost him thousands of dollars in advertising for his law practice. It's like buying a big. billboard on the side of the highway, paying the people for the billboard, and then they come and put a giant blanket over it, and you don't get the benefit of what you paid for. It's not fair. It's not right. They need to stop. The lawsuit is asking META to keep his accounts on and pay for attorney's fees and lost ad money. As for that other Mark Zuckerberg. If he wants to fly here

personally and say, I'm sorry, or maybe let me spend a week on his boat to say I'm sorry, I'd probably take him up on that. In a statement to NBC News, a meta spokesperson said we have reinstated Mark Zuckerberg's After finding it had been disabled in error, we appreciate Mr. Zuckerberg's continued patients on this issue and are working to try and prevent this from happening in the future. Okay, when Top Story returns, late word tonight that former President Biden recently underwent surgery to treat skin cancer. What we're learning about that procedure. Plus, the growing popularity in what's known as microdosing GLP1 weight loss drugs, more telehealth services are promoting the benefits, but is it safe or even effective? But first, top story's top moment in the emotional wedding day escort for one New York City bride. Kristen Marino's father, Kenneth, a member of the New York City Fire Department, died responding to the 9-11 attacks when she was just three years old.

And though he could not be present on her wedding day, her dad's firehouse made sure he was honored in a very special way. Take a look. I hear your rest always, your rest of men. Kristen was greeted there by Rescue Company One who escorted her from the Plaza Hotel to her New York City venue. The bride adding that the gesture made her truly understand what it means when firefighters say it is a brotherhood. Very powerful video. Stay with us. More news on the way. We're back now with some NBC News exclusive reporting.

In rare interviews with NBC News, multiple federal judges criticized the Supreme Court's handling of Trump cases, telling our reporters that justices need to explain their rulings better. For more on what this all means, I want to bring an NBC News legal analyst and friend of top story, Danny Savallo. So this is really rare for the judges to criticize the Supreme Court. The rarest. What's at play here? Because some people may be watching the same. during every Trump administration, there are the list of fill-in, former intelligence agency heads,

you know, former world leaders, whatever, and then they're criticizing, is this kind of the same thing? Well, you said the magic word, and that magic word is former, and that's the word I was looking for in this article. Former judges, former judges of state court, former judges international court, something that wouldn't be current. I am very surprised that current federal judges were willing to speak even off the record. On the record, just not on background. I'd not give me their names. Yeah, actually right. Thank you for the journalistic correction.

Yeah, I'm the journalist. You're the lawyer. No, no, you're right. I should know better. But you're right. I mean, essentially being anonymous, although in a way, federal judges are the most protected positions in our government. They serve forever unless they are impeached, die, or quit.

So I am surprised because generally it's always been a judge's approach or the rules that they follow internally to simply not comment on public matters like this. I want to read a bit of our reporting, which you can find on NBCNews.com right now. Here's a quote, since Trump took office in January, his administration has asked the Supreme Court 23 times to block lower court rules on an emergency basis. And just this week, the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to quickly overturn a lower court ruling on his sweeping tariffs. Do they have a point here?

Sure. I mean, on the one hand, I've often said that the one unintended benefit of a Trump administration, a Trump term, is that we get answers to constitutional questions that have for centuries laid dusty and unexamined, and things like tariffs, things like the extent of the president's powers under that federal statute that he used to impose those tariffs. Those are all questions that are helpful to have answered. So, you know, while many people are concerned about this, on the other hand, there is a benefit in the sense that we will get an answer. The concern is that it may go to the Supreme Court, and they decide it without a reasoned written opinion explaining how they arrived there.

All right, Danny Savalas, we thank you for that. We thank you for joining Top Story, as always. We really do. Okay, we're going to turn now to Top Stories newsfeed, starting with former President Joe Biden undergoing surgery to remove skin cancer. A spokesperson for the former president says he successfully received what is known as Moes surgery and is doing well. He does have a scar on his forehead. In March, Biden's office announced he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones. Okay, and an update in the FBI's investigation into President Trump's former national security advisor, John Bolton.

NBC News has learned that the FBI sees two phones, computers, a white binder labeled statements and reflections to allied strikes, and typed documents and folders labeled Trump 1 through 4 in Roman numerals, among other items. It comes nearly two weeks after Bolton's Maryland Home was searched by FBI agents as part of an investigation into classified documents. And wild video just coming in, I should say, of a car going airborne in Long Island. Take this, take a look at this. Look at the dash camp, captures the moment a car comes out of nowhere. It flies over all the lanes of traffic on both sides of the highway. Fire Department body camp footage shows where that car landed right in a tree.

This is the incredible part. That driver, a man likely in his 70s, only. suffered minor injuries. No word yet on what caused that crash. Also tonight, new tea leaves about what's next for the White Lotus. Deadline reports that the show's creator, Mike White, is looking at France for the next location for season four. The show works with four seasons hotels and sources told the outlet that they're looking into a hotel on the French Riviera. That sounds interesting.

Can you remember where the last season took place? It was Thailand. So if you're a big fan, you probably knew that. Okay, and a lion discovering a hidden camera at the Oregon Zoo in Portland and the video is priceless. This is probably the best video of the day. You see the Big Cat playfully eyeing the camera and swatting it with her paws, but that wasn't enough to fulfill her curiosity. She decided to give viewers a close-up of the inside of her mouth, showing off those large and sharp pearly whites. That is what it's like to be eaten by a line.

I would think the last thing you see, the zoo was able to get back that camera and show us this great video, so we thank them for that. Okay, now to Top Stories Health Check and a new trend that caught our attention. Some people are microdosing, not on shrooms or marijuana, but on GLP1 drug, saying the smaller dose offers all the benefits without the side effects. Hundreds of people sharing their experience online. The day my life changed is the day I decided to start microdosing at GLP1 slash JIP. Microdosing at Treaspetide and NAD plus.

You don't have to be significantly overweight to get the benefits of GLP1. Week 1 update and- All right, more than 5,000. People joined a community on Reddit endorsing the practice, and dozens of telehealth companies are offering programs in support. A new article from The Washington Post did a deep dive into the trend, looking at how microdosing GLP1 drugs became a longevity craze, with internet telehealth companies promoting it for wellness, mood, even joint pain. For more on this, I want to bring in Washington Post reporter and author of that article, Daniel Gilbert. Daniel, thanks so much for joining Top Story tonight. Thanks for having me. Yeah, talk to me about what's different here.

People are getting GLP-1 prescriptions and deciding not to take the full dose. I mean, do they inject themselves a less amount of times? I mean, how is this working? Yeah, it's just as you described. It is people getting prescriptions for GLP-1 medications. These are weight loss, diabetes medications, and using basically fractions of the standard starting dose that you would typically use. And what they're after is not just, say, improving their blood sugar control or losing weight,

but often something a little bit more ill-defined, such as longevity, or living as long as they can, or staying as healthy as they can for as long as they can by using these very, very small doses. Our medical unit here at NBC is also looking into this, and they found that this is a legitimate practice that some doctors are doing. What are doctors telling you?

I mean, is this even safe? Well, it depends on the doctor. But as far as whether it's safe, we don't really have the kind of evidence that you would want to make a definitive statement on that. This is, you know, these medications are approved for a certain purpose and certain dosages. And when you and I take a medication, we get a dose that has been approved by the FDA, which in turn has been based on research and extensive clinical trials. But what people here are trying to do is they're trying to find the dose that works best for them themselves. They're engaging in their own discovery process. And then let me ask you this.

Is this all part of the cost? Or are these, because these drugs are so expensive, if you take less, you can stretch them out longer. Is that also part of the play here? I think they're intertwined, but I don't know that cost is the driving consideration for a lot of people. For a lot of people, they're interested in reducing the side effects that are commonly associated. associated with these medications, kind of unpleasant gastrointestinal effects that people often have. But they're also interested in other benefits beyond weight loss, such as joint pain or reducing

inflammation throughout the body, that they think if they can take in a small dose, and again, there's no scientific research that establishes this, but they believe it's plausible that will have this benefit for them over the long term. All right, a very interesting, great write-up. A lot of people are talking about it, Daniel. We thank you for being here. We turn out to a loss in the world of fashion. Italian designer and mogul, Giorgio Armani, has died at the age of 91.

He was known for his sleek suits and gorgeous gowns and making the red carpet just as important as the event themselves. Here's Stephanie Goss. Giorgio Armani, the fashion designer everyone knows, even if they know nothing about fashion. The 91-year-old whose jaw-dropping dresses and sleek suits redefined red carpets has died. His company calling him indefatigable, saying he worked until his final days. When you hear the name Armani, what comes to mind?

Genius. To me, he was such a visionary. We lost a huge talent in the fashion and creative worlds. Born in Piacenza, Italy in 1934, Armani did not come from a wealthy family. He found his way into fashion after serving in the military and then working at a department store in Milan as a window dresser and a buyer. Armani's first clothing line dropped in the 1970s, but it was the 80s when his suits caught everyone's eye. Well swear. Everyone remembers American Gigolo.

That's what created this huge departure into the worldwide platform, let's say. This soft, fluid tailoring clothes that define the 80s and define a new type. of power for men and women. That suit, Richard Gere. Exactly. That man does not go back into that courtroom. Do you understand me? And then Armani became a Hollywood staple, dressing the industry's biggest stars in the biggest

movies. But as much entrepreneur as designer, Armani's business exploded far beyond the iconic power suit, creating a worldwide brand with affordable Armani exchange and branching out to books, hotels, and makeup. He leaves behind a business empire worth billions and an indelible mark on fashion history. Stephanie Gosk, NBC News, New York. All right, we thank, Stephanie, for that one. We have some breaking news that's just come in from the White House.

President Trump speaking at an event with tech leaders, taking questions on a variety of topics, including the New York mayor's race we just talked about. Trump blasting the Democratic nominee, one of the Democratic nominee, Zohan Mundani, as a communist. Take a listen. No, I don't like to see a communist. become mayor, I will tell you that. And I don't think you can win unless you have one-on-one because somehow he's gotten a little bit of a lead.

I have no idea how that happened. But I'd prefer not to have a communist mayor of New York City. And, you know, that's what he is based on his policy, if you look at his statements in the past. So I would like to see two people drop out and have it be one-on-one. and I think that's a race that could be won. Okay, we're going to have to wait and see what happens.

The president also took questions on other news of the day when asked if he will be speaking to Russian leader Vladimir Putin in the near future. He said, quote, I will be and asked about RFK's testimony today. He said he heard he wasn't able to watch it, but heard he did very well. Okay, still ahead coming up on top story, the multi-million dollar heist at a museum in France, the national treasures, thieves made off with in the middle of the night.

And the Trump administration defending the deadly strike on a suspected drug boat off the Venezuelan coast. It signals a new front in the war on drug cartels, but is it legal? Don't go away. We are back now with Top Stories Global Watch, and we start with a driver plowing into a crowd in Berlin, leaving several people injured. According to police, a BMW crashed into a group of mainly children. At least three kids were hospitalized with minor injuries, and an adult suffered a serious injury. injury. Police spoke with the driver and say this incident was purely an accident. And a multi-million dollar museum heist in France is now under investigation. Thieves smashing through a window at the Adrian Dubois National Museum in the middle of the night. The robbers

then taking off with two Chinese dishes and a vase worth roughly $11 million. Wow, the items are considered national treasures. And Pope Leo is preparing to canonize the first millennial saint this weekend. Italian teenager, Carlo Acutis, who died of cancer in 2006 at the age of 15, will be made a saint on Sunday. The canonization was originally going to be held in April, but was postponed when Pope Francis died. Akutis was known to many as God's influencer and used technology to educate others on Eucharistic Miracles. Turning now to the Americas and the latest on President Trump's drug crackdown in Latin America, after he announced Tuesday a military strike in the Southern Caribbean Sea

took out a, quote, drug-carrying boat allegedly belonging to the Venezuelan 3Darawa gang. The president taking a truth social, posting footage of the attack, which he says killed 11 gang members. Secretary of State Marco Rubio defending the move today. We're not just going to hunt for drug dealers with the little fastboats and say, let's try to arrest him. No, the president has said he wants to wage war on these groups because they've been waging war on us for 30 years, and no one has responded.

Now, the strike marked a significant shift in the U.S. fight against drug cartels, but is it legal and what comes next to help walk us through these questions? I want to bring in Michael Allen. He's a former senior director at the National Security Council. Michael, so great to have you here on top story tonight. So walk us through what you think here. President Trump did not seek congressional approval for this before launching the strike. And they provided very few details since then. How will his administration justify this strike? Well, I think first and foremost, this is putting the U.S. Navy into the driver's seat, and it would put the war back in the war on drugs. If President Trump continues to individually target with military assets, drug boats,

I think this begins to transform a law enforcement paradigm into something that we're familiar with, like the global war on terror. In other words, using intelligence to target individual drug dealers and to go after them with the U.S. military and to eliminate the target. So what it does is begins to make this more into a use of force, military force paradigm, and out of a law enforcement paradigm. Are there legal arguments, though, if they classify these cartels as terrorists, that they essentially are coming here to commit a sort of type of narco-terrorism? Does that even exist in either maritime law or laws in our country? They are trying to reclassify drug dealers as narco terrorists and import a new body of law to help them justify what they want to do against these narco, against these narco drug dealers. Some of it may not survive a court challenge, but for now I think the president is relying on his commander and chief authority.

Of course, he'll lean on his inherent powers of self-defense and to protect. the American citizenry. But this definitely signals a new escalation in the war on drugs, and he wants to come after them individually. Drug dealers are obviously evil people, right? They want to come here to do harm. They want to sell drugs that will harm Americans. I understand that. I get that. My question is, and I think you kind of touched upon this, is it the best use of the American Navy to take out a boat like that, which looked like a go-fast boat, killing those 11 gang members so that we're those drugs into this country, or is that what the DEA is for? Or is the DEA not capable of doing that? Is that too complicated of an operation?

It depends over time how much in the way of U.S. military assets would be pinned down in this type of use of force operation. Traditionally, you would see the U.S. Coast Guard doing this, maybe with some assistance from the United States military. But if this is going to be a new, long campaign against the narcos, then I think President Trump would say, this is why I was elected. He obviously cares so much about fentanyl and other drug issues. And he cares also very much about Venezuela. I think he sees the president of Venezuela as harboring these narcos.

And so I think it's something that he wants to rank and move up the national security threat matrix. All right, Michael, we thank you so much for joining Top Story tonight. Always appreciate your analysis. Still ahead on Top Story tonight. The Super Bowl surprise, a young boy fighting a rare type of eye cancer, getting the gift of a lifetime ahead of tonight's NFL season opener in Philadelphia. We speak with him coming up. We're back now, and so is the NFL season with kickoff tonight. So do you know how you're going to watch your favorite team this year?

There are no shortages of streaming options, but those subscriptions can really, add up. We're going to start with the good news, though, tonight. For fans tomorrow, Friday's Chiefs and Chargers matchup, in Brazil, that's free to watch on YouTube. That's good news, but that's about the last first down you can catch for free. If you want to stream the rest of the season, we crunch the numbers. That could cost up to $1,500 a year if you don't want to miss a game. Here to help us break down those costs and hopefully save some money. A friend of Top Story and front office sports host Baker Machado joins us now in studio. Baker, so great to see you. So let's talk about all these options because it gets kind of pricey here.

So explain if you want to watch all the games this year, not the special games, just all the games. Right. How much is going to cost you? All right. So this is, let's just say you don't have a cable package. This is only kind of streaming. A lot of people are using YouTube TV because that is the most used streaming live TV platform out there. That's going to run you about $82.99 a month.

But you have to get the NFL Sunday ticket to be able to watch those games on Sunday, which are on CBS and Fox. That's going to cost you about $378 a year. And that's with the YouTube TV. You have to get YouTube TV for the Sunday ticket. By the way, if you don't get that, that's going to cost you close to $500 just for NFL Sunday ticket without a YouTube TV subscription. So this is getting a little pricey. What about Red Zone from NFL Network? So Red Zone, if you just want to watch a bunch of the games happening at once, that might be a more affordable option for you, just having to pay about $15 a month.

All the big plays, the touchdowns. All the big plays that are happening. By the way, they did just announce there's going to be commercials for the very first time on NFL Red Zone. But that's sort of where you're going to go to get those Sunday games. So obviously, there's going to be a bunch of. games on Thursday night, Sunday night, all those other ones that are exclusive to say NBC or Netflix. So you're going to have to get a subscription to say Prime Video because after tonight, NFL Thursday Night Football, moves to Prime Video. Our good friend Kaylee Hardtong, she's one of the

sideline reporters there for prime video. Okay. And then Netflix and Peacock kind of same deals because they got some exclusive rights. Exactly. So there's going to be a bunch of holiday games. We'll get to that just a little bit. And of course, Saturday games on Peacock, which, by the way, you can watch Sunday night football on Peacock. But again, that'll cost you about $10 a month. All right. Let's talk about the next thing now. You talked about some of those special games. So some of these you have to kind of add on because they're going to be special games to watch. Oh, yes. So as you mentioned, this one will be free tomorrow. So everybody's going to be watching the Brazil game between the Chiefs and the Chargers in Sao Paulo on YouTube.

You got to watch it on YouTube though. Yes. You have to watch it on YouTube. But we should note a lot of people are watching YouTube now on their televisions now because of most smart TVs have that. But then again, there's going to be Monday Night Football, which is exclusive only to ESPN. You have some cable options there. Exactly. But you get that on YouTube TV. You do. But again, if you don't, if you just want a standard. ESPN package, that's going to cost you as well. NFL Network has a bunch of Sunday morning international games, the London Games. There's a bunch of other games in Dublin and others. Those aren't going to start until September 28th. And if you don't have that in your cable

package, that's going to cost you more as well. And then holiday games, right? What are we talking about here? Okay, so Netflix paid a ton of money for the holiday games on Christmas Day. They've got two of those. So obviously, if you have a Netflix subscription, that's going to be included in that. And then, of course, you've got your peacock holiday exclusives as well that are happening on December the 27th, you'd have to have a Peacock subscription for that. And as we mentioned, Prime Video has the Thursday Night Games, so you, of course, have to pay for your Prime subscription there. Yeah, and so there's other options, though, if you don't want to spend everything. So this is more of the cheaper options here. So there is a playing here called NFL Plus.

This, by the way, Tom, you can only use on your phone and your tablet, and this only gets you the live in New York. So say, let's say you live in New York, you're only going to get what's every local TV. But that's going to cost you about $6.99 a month. That's a very cheap option. There are some free radio broadcast that you can get through Westwood One. But then there's the old school model. You can just get a TV antenna, get your local broadcast there. And, of course, my favorite, which you'll see me at the sports bar. Every game is going to be there.

And, of course, you get a beer at the same time. But to go back to the reason why we did this, it's going to cost you around $1,500 if you want to watch all the NFL games. Yes. And so if you want to be able, like me, to watch the Denver Broncos, but live in a place like New York, it's going to cost your pretty penny to be able to do that. So I've seen on the low end, it could cost you anywhere between $6.50 to $800. On the high end, if you want every single NFL game, that's going to cost you close to $1,500. Baker Machado, front office sports.

So great to have you here. So great to break this down for us. I'm going to have to save some money to watch these games. We thank you. And on this NFL kickoff night, one young fan who has battled a rare type of cancer, getting a very special surprise from his favorite team, the Philadelphia Eagles. Take a look. Get ridden.

You better get ridden. For as long as 8-year-old William Weir can remember, it's been Fly, Eagles Fly. Eagles kick, though. Now it's the Eagles cheering him on after his health took a sudden turn last year. William in the beginning was starting to complain of like headaches. His mom, Stephanie, says his vision began to change. Soon after, he was diagnosed with retinoblastoma, a rare form of eye cancer. He doesn't deserve to be going through this and we needed to fight for him.

William would undergo brain surgery. But through the hard times, William's fly. came to his side. Hey, what's up, William? Including retired Eagles' defensive end, Brandon Graham. I'm thinking about you and rooting for you and wishing you are the best. And a hospital visit from stars Jalick's Hunt and William's favorite, Cooper to Jean. Every time the Eagles played, he had lights strong up on the back of his bed.

As he got better, the Eagles invited him for a preseason reunion on their turf, hanging with swoop during practice. And then, just yesterday, William completed his last day of radiation, just in time for the biggest surprise of all. Got a little song for you. There you go. Oh, my God. Yeah. Getting tickets to Super Bowl 60.

You know, going through this hard journey, it's just, it's really amazing that they're just continuing to think of him because he deserves it. They stand ready to cheer each other on. Tickets to the Super Bowl. imagine if his eagles make it back there. That'd be incredible. All right, we thank you so much for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamous in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.