Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, April 8, 2025

Episode Date: April 9, 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 market's tanking again as we enter the final countdown to the biggest tariffs yet, now just hours away. Not backing down, the White House set to slap a 104% tariff on China at midnight tonight. That country firing back as the trade war hits a new level. And another whipsaw day on Wall Street, a massive morning rally turning into an afternoon plunge, plus how your favorite products are now hanging in the balance. Truly a moron, the war of words between Elon Musk and a key Trump advisor, the two tear into each other publicly over tariffs and Tesla's, is President Trump's team of rivals beginning to unravel. Nightclub tragedy, the roof of this club collapsing in the Dominican Republic. More than 60 people killed the race to save the dozens trapped in the rubble.

Two former Major League players found dead. The rescues ongoing. Attacking the cartels, NBC News first to report. the White House is considering hitting drug cartels with drones inside of Mexico. The warning tonight from that country's president. Toddler rescued the moment police found this two-year-old lost in the woods. That's him before, curled up wearing only a diaper. And switched at birth, the New York man who found out decades later, he went home from the hospital with the wrong family,

why he says that mistake ruined his life. And a mega change for mega millions, the price of a ticket, about to more than double. So how much bigger can the jackpots get? Top story starts right now. Good evening. Tonight, the clock is ticking as President Trump's tariffs are set to go into effect in just hours. Right now, a number of countries making last-ditch efforts to try to strike a deal, and it all comes as early signs of relief on Wall Street quickly faded away, with all indices landing in the red. Here's a look at the markets at closed. You can see here, all three major markets down, but these numbers don't show the whole picture. Our friends over at CNBC rode quite the roller coaster with investors today.

Let's take a listen. Our market is soaring right now. We've got the S&P beginning the day up 3.3 percent, the NASDAX, on 3.7%. We are up, but well off of the highs, and a little bit of a fade here. So we have seen Dom Chu, who now joining us for Market Navigator, a nearly 10 percent about a 10% intra-day intramarket swing. The swings are bonkers. You've got to admit that. Can a massive rebound rally losing steam midday, closing in the red? All right, you heard it there, closing in the red. The big question tonight, will we see

those massive tariffs against China take effect after Beijing refuse to back down on its retaliatory threat? Yes, you're reading that right. 1004% tariffs on all Chinese imports are experts standing by with when you could feel the impact. And tariffs are not just taking a toll on the global economy, but causing a rift in President Trump's inner circle. The feud now escalating between Elon Musk and Trump's trade advisor, Pete Navarro, as Musk calls Navarro a moron. We're tracking the very latest this evening, starting with NBC's chief business correspondent, Christine Romans. Tonight, more whiplash on Wall Street. The Dow up nearly 1,500 points before closing down 320 and the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ down too. All as were hours away from a new round of President

Trump's tariffs on imported goods. We've been ripped off and abused by countries for many years with the tariff situation. They've used tariffs against us. We didn't use tariffs against them in any way. I mean, we just didn't use them. Though the White House says it's open to negotiation for countries looking to lower new U.S. tariffs for their products, saying 70 countries have reached out so far. Bring us your best offers, and he will listen. Deals will only be made if they benefit American workers and address our nation's crippling trade deficits. Now it's a global scramble to stop potentially disruptive border taxes. We're doing very well in making, I call them tailored deals, not off the rack. These are tailored, highly tailored deals. Right now, Japan is flying here

to make a deal. South Korea is flying here to make a deal, and others are flying here. But tonight, trade war with China still flaring. Following tariffs and retaliation on both sides, after midnight, China will face a 104 percent border fee on its goods to the U.S. China's foreign ministry calling it bullying and blackmail. I think it was a big mistake this Chinese escalation. The Treasury Secretary urged countries not to retaliate if they want a deal. Don't escalate, and then we will see where President Trump is after a period of days or weeks. Tonight, most Republicans backing the president's efforts to bring back American jobs. This has been a tilted playing field for a long time.

President's trying to even and out, I think he's doing the right thing. But Democrats warning the President's action could trigger a recession. Donald Trump should immediately reverse his reckless trade war. Christine Romans joins us now in studio. So, Christine, we're less than 24 hours from what the president is called Liberation Day, these tariffs becoming a reality. Are you getting the sense that some investors think that, maybe something's going to happen to prevent these or put these on pause?

It certainly shows you how much they dread these tariffs, that at any inkling of progress on negotiation, boy, they want to buy stocks or they want to believe it. But the president has said many times he wants tariffs to be permanent. He wants to raise revenue to help pay for tax cuts and then also to try to force companies to move to the United States. Remember the USMCA, the Mexico-Can Canada Accord, that took two years to negotiate. So the idea that 60 countries could have a deal quickly seems to stretch the imagination. All right. Christine Romans is leaning us off here. And the debate over tariffs sparking a very public feud between two of President Trump's biggest advisors.

Senior Trump advisor Elon Musk and one of Trump's closest economic counselors, Peter Navarro, clashing over manufacturing of Musk's Tesla's as Musk breaks with Trump on tariffs. It all started yesterday on CNBC's squawk box when Navarro suggested many of the pursues in Teslas are manufactured. He's a car manufacturer, but he's not a car manufacturer. He's a car assembler. And he wants the cheap foreign parts, and we understand that. But we want him home. So the response from Musk, Fast and Furious, the Tesla CEO calling Navarro's claims demonstrably false, branding him a moron and dumber than a sack of bricks. NBC News White House correspondent Vaughan Hilliard is covering this for us tonight. So Vaughn's getting a little hot over there at the White House. We've seen reporting of

Musk clashing with Trump advisors before and cabinet members behind the scenes. But this is by far the most public fight. And it's very interesting because the timing sort of comes when there's this Trump breakup with Elon Musk. At least that's been reported. Right. And we haven't seen other cabinet members publicly go on the attack against Elon Musk like we have Peter Navarro in very straight, direct ways. And if you look at the last year, Tesla's car sales have gone down. The stock market price over the course of the last months, but especially the last two weeks has plummeted. And so there is reason for the business side of Elon Musk to be concerned. And as we have heard him express, he wants a, in some cases, a zero for zero

tariff trade agreement between the U.S. and the EU, for example. And this is where there is much consternation across corporate America, not just from Elon Musk, but for others about these tariffs that are being implemented. And yet, the question is, ultimately, does the president listened to Elon Musk, or does he put him sort of continue to be in charge of Doge, but it doesn't necessarily mean that he's going to take his advice on every other policy. I want to let you listen, because there was a little bit of back-and-forth earlier, and Caroline Leavitt, the press secretary, was asked about the two men in their discourse.

Look, these are obviously two individuals who have very different views on trade and on tariffs. Boys will be boys. and we will let their public sparring continue. Boys will be boys. Tariffs will continue to be debated by within this White House. So Elon Musk, arguably, one of the most famous people in the world. He has brought so much attention to the Trump White House.

Not that he needed it, but he brings even more attention, even more sort of interest and cameras. But Pete Navarro went to prison. Some will say for Trump. What happens there? Who does Trump pick you think in the long run, Vaugh? Right, Peter Navarro literally went to jail because he refused to turn over records or testified

to the January 6th Select Committee about his role in the efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Literally went to jail, left jail that same day when he gave a convention speech at the Republican National Convention last August in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There's arguably fewer people that are more loyal

to President Trump than Peter Navarro. And when you're looking at, when it comes to trade policy, Peter Navarro has the same strict, tough tariff policy that mirrors that of President Trump. So in this case, it's hard to see the president turning away from Peter Navarro. At the same time, Elon Musk is obviously this bigger-than-life personality within the confines of the White House, and his money will continue to be key for President Trump and Republicans well into the midterms and beyond. It's a good point. All right, always great to have you, Vaughn. Von Hilliard for us tonight. So tonight, the possible impacts of

these tariffs are still coming to focus, right? But if tariff fees are fully pushed onto consumers, The price tag for sneakers, say, made in Vietnam, could jump by more than 40%. An iPhone could spike $350. But tonight, we thought we'd take a closer look at a single product. Nintendo's hugely anticipated Switch 2 console. It's set for release June 5th. The original Switch, get this, sold $150 million worldwide. And the newest version would be the first major gaming release since the tariff announcement.

Pre-orders were supposed to start tomorrow, but instead the company decided to hit the pause button, it says, to assess the potential impact of these tariffs. They got to figure out what they're going to get charged. Do they charge 50% more? Do they charge double? Do they even ship them? The current prize for the new Nintendo switch $449. Ironically, to keep prices down, Nintendo had moved some of its switch to production to Vietnam because of earlier tariffs on China. But Vietnam is now facing its own 46% tariff. How much of this is made in the U.S.? None of it.

None of it. The reality is for these tariffs, it is a gut punch for every electronic. Nintendo being the first case because they're early in terms of the switch. This is basically an economic Armageddon coming to tech. Ives says movie production to the U.S. isn't a realistic option. How much would it cost them to start manufacturing switches here in the U.S.? Tens of billions of dollars? Billions?

That's because of a support. supply chain that's been built over decades. It would take four to five years to even build and get done a factor here in the U.S. And the reality is the assembly, the supply chains in Asia. If you just build a factor here in the U.S., where are you getting all the parts from? Still in Asia. Nintendo says it remains on track for a June 5th release. In your estimation, how much of what we buy is going to go up?

90% of what we buy as consumers living in the United States is going to go up. And I think the U.S. consumer doesn't realize the storm that's coming, but they'll be seeing it over the coming weeks and months in those prices. So there is one big caveat here, and that there could be exemptions for some companies. This did happen in Trump's first term, but so far it hasn't happened again. It's unclear if it will. The president, of course, is the one setting the tariffs, which means he has the power to exempt companies if he chooses.

Okay, tonight we're turning now to another story. We're following other breaking news happening just south of our border. Crews in the Dominican Republic are desperately searching for anyone that might still be alive after the roof of a popular nightclub collapsed. At least 66 people are dead, including two former Major League Baseball players. More than 150 people taking into local hospitals there. Priscilla Thompson is following this one for us. Pain and heartache in the Dominican Republic tonight amid an urgent search for survivors.

The roof of this Santo Domingo nightclub collapsed early Tuesday, officials say, killing at least 66 people, with more than 160 others injured. We have trust in God that we will still rescue more alive from the ruins, the president said. Rescue teams seen here from above, combing through the massive pile of broken concrete and metal, searching for any signs of life. Loved ones waiting anxiously outside, scanning lists of names, hoping for news. We didn't see her name, one relative said. She's still in there. This video appears to show the moments just before the roof caved in, seemingly unsuspecting patrons enjoying a night out at Jet Set Club.

Then a loud crash and screams. Officials have not said what caused the fatal collapse. The disaster unfolding during a performance by Meringue singer Ruby Perez, who officials say is among the dead. show attended by politicians, athletes, and more. Photos of the scene show the fallen roof in pieces, crumbling cement walls and piles of debris. Nelsie Cruz, a governor in the DR, died in the collapse, calling the president from under the rubble, according to the country's first lady. Also killed former MLB player and World Series champion Octavio Deltel,

the New York Mets holding a moment of silence at tonight's game to honor their former teammate and all the victims. Tonight, a country and mourning, as all government resources are deployed to continue the desperate search for survivors. Priscilla Thompson, NBC News. All right, we'll stay following that one,

I'm sure throughout the week. Back here at home, law enforcement and military sources tell NBC the Trump administration is considering drone strikes on drug cartels in Mexico. The move would mark a major escalation in the fight to stop the flow of drugs across the southern border. And tonight, Mexico's president

responding to NBC's reporting, saying that they are not on board. NBC's Kendallanian reports. Armed drones are among the most precise and lethal weapon systems in the American arsenal. And tonight, six U.S. officials briefed on the matter tell NBC News, the Trump administration is considering using drone strikes against the Mexican drug cartels that are importing deadly fentanyl into the United States. The officials told us no final decisions have been made, and they said, administration is hoping for Mexico's cooperation, but they say it has not ruled out unilateral

action. Acting Drug Enforcement Administrator Derek Maltz told me in a text exchange this week that all options should be on the table because drug cartels have killed more Americans than al-Qaeda and ISIS. The Mexican president responding to our reporting today. We've always said we do not agree. First, because we're not in agreement. with any military intervention, she says, adding, it would not solve anything. President Trump paved the way for military action when his government designated Mexican drug cartels

as terrorist organizations and authorized surveillance flights by the CIA over Mexico. What can you tell us about the CIA drone flights over Mexico? Is this the next step in the war against the cartels? Well, we're going to see. We recently spent a day with the DEA in the Phoenix Division where 60% of the fentanyl enters the U.S. U.S.

So this is our drug vaults. And where a top DEA official says the new intelligence gathered by the CIA has been helping. So now we get the intelligence community involved and the Department of Defense, and all of us working together can target and eliminate the threat. With tens of thousands of Americans dying each year from fentanyl coming in mostly from Mexico, the idea of American military action against drug cartels has long been contemplated. fictionalized in the 2015 film, Sicario. What are the rules of engagement?

Weapons free, my friend. Dron strikes could target cartel leaders, their security forces, and their manufacturing facilities. Similar to how the U.S. used Reaper drones in the Middle East and South Asia, this Taliban drug facility in Afghanistan, destroyed in a split second by four 500-pound-guided bombs. But many experts say U.S. military action without Mexico's consent would spark out of our outrage in Mexico and cripple cooperation. They also question whether it would work to stop the flow of drugs. U.S. drug warriors say it's time to raise the cost of the drug cartels.

Cartels at their root are evil, and they don't care. It is basing greed. We are collateral damage to them. President Trump's pressure on Mexico has sparked tough new measures against the cartels, and several U.S. officials told us they believe the Trump administration may be able to secure Mexico's agreement to conduct limited military strikes. They also acknowledge that going it alone would be risky. If Mexico stopped cooperating with the U.S. in the drug war, that would be a huge victory for the drug lords. Tom. All right, Ken Delaney first, Ken, thank you.

And we're back in a moment with the dramatic video. Police find a missing toddler lost in the woods in only a diaper. Those rescuers speak out on top story. Plus, switched at birth how this man ended up being raised by the wrong family. And Minecraft movie mayhem, it's the biggest hit in America right now. We'll tell you about a viral trend forcing theaters to call the cops on tween moviegoers. You'll see why. Back down with two incredible rescues in Michigan, pulled off with the help of drones equipped with thermal cameras.

In one case, a toddler wandering out into the cold in just a diaper, and in the other, a woman stranded after making a wrong turn. NBC's Camilla Bernal has the play-by-play of those urgent rescues. Two incredible rescues in Michigan, less than 200 miles apart. All right, I got another heat sensor. Infrared technology deployed from the skies playing a critical role in both. It's in a ditch, can't tell. There's an animal or the child. In Jackson County, a two-year-old boy missing for more than an hour in the cold on Saturday night. The weather outside was low 40s that evening and the child was only in a diaper.

No shoes, no shirt, no pants, just a diaper. The urgency felt immediately. But thanks to these heat sensors, this is looking like this is possibly the child. The toddler located just 15 minutes after the search began. Here he is in the arms of a first responder. How crucial is this helicopter in finding this little boy? In this circumstance, it was extremely crucial. This would have undoubtedly been a tragic event had the aviation unit from the state police and the chopper showed up.

A day later in Grant Township, another close call. Would you say this is a miracle? Oh, yeah, without a doubt. It was a miracle. A 74-year-old woman missing for three days, rain, snow, and temperatures dipping below 22 degrees, locking. up her body, keeping her from calling for help. She was exposed to some awful conditions, awful harsh conditions, and we were just, we did not expect a favorable outcome. Authorities say Nancy Bloomquist got lost while trying to drive home from a casino. Her car caught on fire, her phone left inside. Disoriented, she waited for help. We had deputies within just a few yards

of her, but because the woods was so thick, they couldn't see her through the thick trees and all that. So they wouldn't have been able to find her without the drone? No, not at all. No, she was laying between two down trees. So you would have seen the trees, but you wouldn't have seen her between the two of them. Fast action and technology. Key in saving these two lives. Camila Burnell, NBC News. Glad they found both of them there. All right, we thank Camila for that one. Back here in New York, we have a wild one. A Long Island man says he lived his entire life with the wrong family. He says back in 1960, he was switched at birth with a baby born 45 minutes after him who had the same last name. The man learning the truth through Ancestry.com 60 years later.

He's now suing the hospital over the alleged mistake. NBC New York's Paisy Chang spoke to the man. Even as a child, Kevin McMahon always felt something wasn't right. Even when, you know, my siblings joked that you were the mailman's kid or stuff like that, It was never done maliciously. It was just like an observation like he doesn't look anything like us. The 64-year-old Selden man was the third of four children, but he learned after his niece took an over-the-counter DNA test that he wasn't related to his family at all. A little digging into birth records, Kevin learned he was switched at birth with another male baby named Ross McMahon. There are two Caucasian mothers with the same last name in the 30s that both gave birth to baby boys.

Both boys born on the same day at Jamaica Hospital within hours of each other. They were switched before the birth certificates were even signed. There's no mystery as to what happened. Jamaica Hospital switched the babies and the DNA proves it. The mystery is how did they look? let this happen. Kevin has filed a civil suit against Jamaica hospital. A hospital spokesman declined to comment. As a baby, Kevin's mother was an alcoholic and couldn't always care for them. His three siblings would stay with his paternal grandmother. Kevin was sent to live with a friend's

family. So I was treated differently by my grandmother. She didn't like me. It was obvious she didn't like me. And in time, I just took that that I was unlikable. I feel I could have shared so much with my parents, with my birth parents, but I didn't get to do that. I certainly would have changed the whole course of my life. Kevin did meet with the family he never knew. Ross, the boy he was switched with, and Keith, the little brother he never knew. And Kevin's sister Carol met Ross, the brother she is getting to know. Two families learning to deal with pain inflicted decades ago.

They're completely responsible. They made one calamitous mistake. and it just changed the entire course of my life. Pacey Chang joins us tonight from Melville, New York on Long Island. So Pacey, I guess one of the big questions is when you hear this man's sad, sad story, how is his relationship with both his siblings, the ones he grew up with, but also the new ones he just discovered? So Tom, according to Kevin, he's always had a very good relationship with his siblings. In fact, it was his sister, Carol, who suspected he was switched at birth.

And before she told him, she did the research on her own. She dug up the birth records. She went to meet Ross, the boy that was switched with him and the hospital, because she wanted to be sure that this was true. And when she told him, he said she was trembling and just so emotional because she couldn't believe that this had happened to him. He really does regret, though, that both sets of parents have passed since he found out because he wants to explain to the parents who raised him, you know, why they felt. he was different from them or different from the others, but he also would have loved to have met his birth parents because apparently they share a lot of similarities. They both have a lot of shared interests according to the brother that he now knows as well. So both sides of the family

are really just, you know, spending time getting to know each other after such, you know, so many decades apart. Right. Paisy Chang, very powerful story tonight for us. Paisy, we thank you. When we return the new body cam footage, a house exploding in Illinois, the race to rescue a firefighter trapped in that rubble. And the big change to mega millions that will cost you more, but it could also win you more. We're going to explain. Stay with us. We are back now with the Supreme Court waning on two critical cases.

First, blocking an order requiring the Trump administration to reinstate thousands of federal probationary workers. And in the other, the justice is allowing the use of a sense. centuries-old wartime law to deport alleged gang members. Gabe Gutierrez has a reaction from the White House tonight. Tonight, the Trump administration is touting two legal victories at the Supreme Court. The justice is allowing the firing of 16,000 probationary federal employees to go forward, at least for now, part of the White House's efforts to downsize the bureaucracy.

And in another win overnight, the High Court also allowing President Trump to use the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged gang members to El Salvador for now. We have judges that are out of control that say, oh, bring them back, bring them back. We don't want them back. A lower court judge had temporarily blocked the president from using those wartime powers for deportation flights. The highest court in the land made it clear that the president of the United States has the power to protect our homeland and forcibly remove foreign terrorists who pose a grave threat to families and communities. But migrant advocates call the victory a technicality. The justices also ruled deportees must receive advance.

notice and the opportunity to legally challenge their removal. The government cannot summarily take people and put them on planes to a Salvador in prison without giving them the opportunity to go to court. Also, as it ramps up its immigration crackdown, the Department of Homeland Security is now revoking the legal status of nearly a million migrants who were released into the U.S. during the Biden administration using a phone app created to make asylum screening appointments. The rules at the time weren't fair.

The rules were dangerous to Americans. Gabe Gutierrez joins us tonight from the White House. And Gabe, we're also learning tonight that the IRS has agreed to share tax information with ICE. Explain that to our viewers. Yeah, Tom, the Department of Homeland Security said in a court document that the IRS has agreed to share certain tax information filed by undocumented taxpayers with ICE. Now, it's all part of a case challenging the legality of the IRS sharing tax information with other agencies. Now, the DHS has sought to use tax filing information to find.

people in the U.S. without legal status, and that's all in support of President Trump's mass deportation operation. Now, many people without legal status pay billions of dollars in taxes, Tom. They file under tax ID numbers. And for months, IRS officials had resisted disclosing what has long been guarded information that the president has replaced the agency's leadership with staff more friendly to the planet, Tom. All right, Gabe, we thank you for that outside the White House. In power and politics tonight, we're taking a lot. We're taking a lot of look at how President Trump's tariff policies are dividing his own party. A fracture is emerging among elected Republicans over how to respond to the levees, which could have serious consequences

for their constituents back home. We reported earlier on that public spat between two of President Trump's closest allies, Elon Musk and Peter Navarro. To discuss all of this, I want to bring in our political pros tonight, Republican strategist Joe Pinyon, Julia Roginski, Democratic strategist, good friend to Top Story, and author of the salty politics newsletter on Substack, of course. And Joe Wisenthal, he's co-host of the Odd Lots podcast of Finance and Markets podcast for Bloomberg. Joe, we thank you as well for being here for your first time. Joe, I'm going to start with you, though. We heard this growing chorus of Republicans sort of firing back at Trump over these tariffs. We have a short clip. I want to play it for you and get your feedback on the,

on the flip side. If we go into a recession, particularly a bad recession, 2026, in all likelihood, politically would be a bloodbath. They're not only bad economically, they're bad politically. I'm assuming this all got gamed out because it's a novel approach. It needs to be thought out. Whose throat do I get to choke if this proves to be wrong? All right, so clearly the honeymoon's over, Joseph, right? I mean, you had President Trump here who had all this political capital with Republicans.

You could say or do anything and every Republican was behind them, but now we're seeing some chinks in the armor. What's happening? Oh, look, I think the reality is that President Trump is doing what you elect a second-term president to do in a non-consecutive reality. There is an impetus to make sure that we can bring jobs back to America, not all the jobs, but some jobs. There is an interest in making sure that we can build things in this country with materials that are from this country. And so I think the reality is the phone has started ringing in some of those congressional offices. You've got grandparents, people like my mother, calling up the broker yelling, sell, sell, sell. The reality is that if you're going to get through this, you have to find a way to stay the course.

You have to find a way to quell those fears. The reality is Navidia is not worth less than 30% of what it was at the beginning of the year. And Tesla's not worth less than 40% of what it was. But is he going to crack? Because, I mean, you have these representatives, these lawmakers. They have an election coming up right next year. And then you have Trump, who's watching television. He's seen all this.

he's getting all the blowback, do you think he holds his ground, or does he, like, maybe negotiate with some of these countries? The president's going to hold his ground. I believe that this administration has made it quite clear, that the tariffs go forward. China is going to find out that the hard way, and I think ultimately, at the end of the day, yes, there will be some market uncertainty, but the metrics for how they got here is not what is broken. I think the reality is that what is broken is the messaging, and that needs to change.

Julie, is the politics broken? Is the economy going to become broken because of this? Well, the economy is already broken, and I think, most people would agree we're in a recession now, whether it's been declared to be one or not. I would tell Tom Tillis, by the way, that the throat that he should choke is his own, because Tom Tillis had every opportunity, along with all the other Republicans in that caucus, to get tariff power back into their own hands. And yet their own leader, the majority leader today, John Thune, said that that's not going to happen. So they're enabling Donald Trump to do this,

even if they're going out and complaining about this to distance themselves from it. They own this just as much as he does. And it's interesting, right? Because a lot of the stories we've been doing on the Democrats up until now had been there's no Democratic leader, per se. Where's the North Star for the Democratic Party? It seems like they've sort of found their North Star in this economic message, which is rallying against Trump. Well, look, ultimately, it's not really... The Democrats have been handed a gift, I mean, every single day,

which is that this president came in with a very strong mandate, not that he got a mandate electorally that was strong, but with a strong mandate from his voters to lower prices. I mean, that's why people voted for him. That's why he ultimately was put over the top. You look at exit polling, and that's what you saw people voting for. regardless of, irrespective of what Republicans think that voters voted for. That's not happening.

Inflation was a major, major issue for Trump voters. Inflation will go up because of these tariffs. The economy was a major issue. The economy will decline because of these tariffs. That's indisputable. That's not even something Republicans are arguing against. And so when you have that kind of problem, Democrats have to sit back and say, this is what you voted for voters.

Do you want more of this in 2026? The answer clearly will be no. This continues. Joe, you talk about markets and finance every day on your podcast. I mean, we see the market's going back and forth. I mean, it's whiplash every single day. It's not really whiplash. It's basically straight down.

It's straight down, but then you see these small rallies in the mornings, and yesterday you saw the same thing. I mean, what's happening here? Do you think this can be undone, or are we just, are we downhill now? When the tariffs were announced when he pulled that chart out, people were in disbelief, and every day we've basically gone down since then, and the reason we haven't gone down more is because people keep thinking there's going to have to be some sort of, like, backtrack. We talked to every professional, and I was like, oh, it's negotiating position. Oh, this is like,

they're like setting up to do deals. When you hear that, what that means is that they don't actually believe the numbers on the chart. And every day that goes by without any change, in fact, more ratcheting up, such as what we've got from the China tariff, is we've gone down further. So what I would say is, like, we, those numbers haven't even fully sunk in yet, and we've got basically one of the biggest, you know, where are we on the tariff with China now? is it a hundred and four percent? 104 percent. Do you think that's going to be real?

Yeah. Well, these are the two biggest economies in the world. The entire global economy is essentially shaped around the U.S.-China trade relationship. And now that's coming to an end in a matter of a couple of days. And the idea that that's like sunk in yet or that the market is like fully digested, that in a way. Does that worry you as Republican strategist? I mean, what's the winning message now?

Well, look, I'll take a clear example, right? You have somebody like Congressman Bacon from the North Nebraska second, right? Obviously, he is one of those individuals that is voicing concern trying to make the principled argument about bringing the tariffs back under congressional control. I would say on paper, constitutionally, that is correct. To say that we're going to change track in the middle of global negotiations, I think it undermines the executive branch. I think it undermines our authority as a republic. And I do believe that you see that because of the fact, as I said before, those phone calls coming in, that you have people like Congressman Bacon that have defied the laws of political gravity. You have a Democrat that gets elected governor in 2018 in that state.

He finds a way to win his district, even though it was not carried, all the way after 2024, when Kamala Harris carries that district, and he wins. And so the reality is that when the phone rings, even if the congressman doesn't hear it, that staff person has to hear it. And I think most of those individuals don't have the bandwidth or the runway that they did in 2008 to keep working, 10,000 baby boomers every single day retiring. And I think that becomes the silver lining. that public spat between Elon Musk and Peter Navarro. Clearly not everyone's on the same page

anymore. People are getting frustrated. Someone like Elon Musk, who sort of learned, even though he was playing politics in the White House, he has all these businesses to run, and he has to make money for shareholders. What does that tell you? What's the bigger story that that tells you? It's like the Iran-Iraq War. You don't know who to root against, who to root for, because both sides are absolutely horrible. I mean, look, you have Elon Musk, who's now starting to stand up against tariffs because it's starting to affect him. It's starting to affect his businesses, especially Tesla in Europe. And I assume eventually that shamp. Shanghai plan in China is going to have some sort of repercussions attached to it because

the Chinese will be counting on him to take care of Trump for them. And that's not happening right now. So he's doing what the Chinese need him to do, but he's not delivering for them. That's going to be a problem for him. On the other hand, Peter Navarro is entirely in line ideologically where Donald Trump has been all along in tariffs. In fact, he influenced a he and his alter ego in his book influenced Trump on these tariffs. And so ultimately what's going to end up happening is you are going to have two people both

saying to Donald Trump, completely disparate things, only one is going to survive. My money's probably on Musk because Musk has the money. And that's what Trump cares about most of all. But at the end of the day, if Musk doesn't deliver for the Chinese quickly, I'm curious to see what's going to happen to Musk and his businesses in China. Do we learn a lot more about Elon Musk maybe this week? He says he was all in it for the better of America. Now, and maybe he still believes this, that this is bad for America, these economic policies. Do you think he's got his political hat on, which is, make America great again, that hat he wears a lot?

Or do you think he's got his Tesla hat on? I mean, in the last 15 years, Elon Musk and his companies are the only companies in America that have had real success in the realm of manufacturing, which is what Trump ostensibly wants. And when Elon Musk is saying,

no, this is really not going to work, and ostensibly what Peter Navarro and Donald Trump want is more U.S. manufacturing, and when the one singular successful U.S. industrialists of the last, you know, maybe 20 years is saying, no, this is really bad, I mean, that's the alarms, I think, should be sounding right there. He's the only one.

That's basically there hasn't been anyone else successful in this industrial realm. And you say, you're not going to be able to do this by cutting off trade. I want to play you guys a piece of video. It's a Chinese meme that's circulating on social media. It's come out of China sort of mocking the U.S. worker. Let's listen to that. Watch it. So clearly there's a lot going on here, right?

They're saying a lot of things here. I personally find this so offensive on so many fronts. But they're essentially saying, first of all, Americans aren't going to do that. A lot of Americans, I guess, are obese as well as what they're trying to say here, and that that's just not going to happen. I think that Chinese sort of underestimate how hard Americans do work, and there are a lot of Americans that do take jobs and trade jobs, and they're incredibly successful in this country.

But what do you kind of message do you think that sends to people across America? No, the soft bigotry of low expectations is a universal language. Apparently it crosses oceans and continents. I think a big win for the Chinese Communist Party because now they've gone mainstream. I'll just simply say this. I think it's probably healthy that the President of the United States, irrespective of whether they're a Republican or a Democrat, not be in a cocoon of yes men. Yes, obviously you have Peter Navarro has one opinion.

You have Elon Musk has another opinion. At the end of the day, the focus here needs to be on the fact that if you're going to be standing outside of the Bernie Sanders rally saying that we need living wages paid to American workers, you can't do it wearing fast fashion that was made by Uighurs via slave labor or people being paid slave wages. So as Jesse Jackson says, you cannot outsource global trade and not have the human rights to go along with it. That is at the cross-position.

Do we want to be in America that builds here at home and makes things here at home or not? If we don't, Democrats have simply owned that. Julia, he's got a point there, right? Like, what is the Democrats' argument? How can you say you're for the American worker, and you don't want to bring those manufacturing jobs back? Well, look, we are a service economy, and we export services, we export technology,

we export a lot of good things. The reality is, if you think that the people sitting in Vietnam or China are going to be replaced by American workers stitching fast fashion, the reality is that's not happening in this economy, that's not happening in this country, for a number of reasons, it's not the least of which is Americans will not want to pay those kinds of prices for those kinds of products. Like it or not? That's just the way it's going to be here for this reason. What do you got to say? We should be very fortunate in the U.S. that we have many of the jobs that we

have that aren't in brutal industrial conditions. Manufacturing is really important for national security. And there are reasons why a country wants to have strategic manufacturing capacity in key areas, high tech, certain low tech, things related to arms, things like that. But we should be very fortunate as Americans that the vast majority of people aren't working under the conditions of that mean. Real quick, yes or no, do the tariff stay? Does Trump hold his ground? Yes or no, quick? Right on time. I think I would guess more yes than no. Okay.

I think he caves eventually. Look, I think the tariff stay and the last thing I will simply say is that we go back to 2020, the Department of Homeland Security said that they, that China literally hid the extent of COVID. in order to hoard P.P.E. supplies to make sure that the Americans here die while they were... Okay. So we do need those manufacturing jobs. We should not accept the status quo. It actually literally got people killed. Joseph, Julia. Joe, we thank you so much for me on TopSource. All right, time now for Top Stories, newsfeed and a check of what else is happening around the country. We start with some new body cam video showing the moment a home exploded in Southern Illinois last week trapping a firefighter beneath the rubble. You can see people standing around a home

in Christopher. This is about two hour. south of St. Louis when it erupts into a fireball. That's when everyone runs over and lifts a portion of the collapsed home. You're going to see it here. You can actually see a firefighter being pulled out towards the top of your screen there. He somehow only suffered minor injuries. The cause of that explosion is still being investigated. Okay, we turned out a meta announcing new safety measures for teenagers. Instagram users under 16 will not be able to live stream without parental consent and will need approval to unblur nudity and direct messages. It's also extending its teen account safeguards to Facebook and Messenger.

These are already in place for Instagram and include blocking private messages from strangers and setting time limits. And the alleged victim in a Florida boat rage incident is now asking the public to stop making threats towards the suspect. It happened last week in Punta Gorda, just north of Fort Myers. Watch as an argument erupts between 40-year-old Brock Horner and 22-year-old gauge towels with Horner than Clinton. climbing onto Towell's boat, who then drives off. Towers says Horner continued to yell at him and chased him around his boat. Horner was arrested and released on bond. He has apologized, though his lawyers, through his lawyers,

Towell says he is grateful for the support he's getting, but concerned with the threats being leveled at Horner and his family. Okay, and starting today, mega millions tickets are going from $2 to $5. You heard us right, five bucks for a single play. The change may have its pros for players, though. Lottery officials saying they expect bigger jackpots and better. odds of winning, officials also expect the grand prize to top a billion dollars more frequently, with the $5 ticket mega millions is the country's most expensive lottery draw game.

Okay, we are back in a moment with the new benefits of OZempic, why the drug may not just be good for weight loss, but preventing dementia as well, and the out-of-control viral trend, why tweens are causing chaos at the biggest movie in America right now. We'll show you. All right, we are back now with Top Stories Health Check. Two new studies published in JAMA neurology, finding GLP1 drugs like OZMPIC, are linked to a decreased risk of developing dementia. The disease affected an estimated 6.7 million Americans, age 65 and older. Both studies looking at patients with type 2 diabetes, but in one of them, researchers found taking GLP1 drugs showed a 45% lower risk of dementia. For more on these developments, Dr. Giatri Devi joins us now.

Medical Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the Zucker School of Medicine, Northwell, and the director at Park Avenue Neurology. Dr. Devi, thanks so much for joining us. Talk to me about the significance of this study. I think this is a very important study, and it's very well done because they looked at nearly 90,000 people over a course of almost 10 years and that they found that the use of these drugs, not just GLP1, but also GLT2 drugs. The one that we know best is Ozempik, of course, of the first class.

reduces risk for dementia by almost a third in people. And that's a big deal because the number of patients with dementia is going to go up. And if we can prevent it, it'll be fantastic. So the study was looking at patients who had diabetes and were taking these drugs. If people don't have diabetes but they're taking these drugs, will they get those benefits you think that are tied to dementia? We don't know that yet. We do know that these drugs are very important for improving blood flow to the brain,

for improving, preventing insulin resistance in the brain. And if you prevent insulin resistance, brain cells can be healthier. They thrive better. It also reduces metabolic risk. So for a multitude of reasons, these drugs are good for the brain. So we've seen all these benefits, everything from stopping people with vice issues to colon cancer. I mean, they're incredible, right? Do we think we're going to keep finding these more sort of discoveries on the benefits of some of these drugs?

I think that the jury is still out in terms of all the things that these drugs may be helpful for. And certainly in terms of preventing dementia and people don't have diabetes. We don't yet know. There are studies currently ongoing to look at it. But certainly the way these drugs work by helping the brain be more resilient to the vicissitudes of aging, that is a big deal. But let me ask you, if you were to stop the OZempic is the logic that then the dementia would either increase? Well, whatever help has happened, in other words,

the increased blood flow, the help with insulin resistance, all that is still going to continue to be there, but in terms of future benefit, we don't yet know. So you keep putting these caveats in, which I think is good, it's important, right? We have to be careful. What worries you about these drugs?

Anything? Well, there are side effects with the drugs. The cost is enormous. and we are only getting to know them. So it's only been, you know, 10 years or so that they've been in the marketplace. So, and we do know that when we stop the drugs, a lot of times there's rebound, obesity, et cetera.

But as far as the brain's concerned, I think whatever benefit they confer to the brain is going to, that benefit has continued to be there. And you're on the front lines of this, you're a neurologist. Are you seeing the benefits day and day out in your practice? I do see benefits from the use. of these drugs in my patients in terms of their cognition. Absolutely. Not just these drugs, but old-school drugs like metformin, which is also an anti-diabetic medication.

Okay, so you're seeing the links there. Dr. Debbie, great to have you on Top Story. Thank you for being here. Thank you very much. Yeah, when we return, Minecraft Madness, have you heard about this? The viral trend causing chaos at movie theaters across America, why police are being called in in the middle of the movie. We'll explain. Finally tonight, it's the viral trend sweeping movie theaters across the country. You may have seen it. Chaos erupting at screenings of the new Minecraft movie, the number one movie in America, over something called The Chicken Jockey. The scene driving some young fans so wild, theaters are banning unaccompanied minors and calling in the police.

Our Stephen Romo explains. It's the scene in the new Minecraft movie that has young theater goers going absolutely insane. Chicken jockey! Yes! Throwing popcorn, drinks, and silly street. Ripping off their shirts. And in one instance, ending with police escorting them out of the theater. The movie moment causing that madness is known as the chicken jockey.

Chicken jockey. It happens during a scene where Jason Mamoa's character, squares off with a baby zombie riding a chicken. The chicken jockey has been a fan favorite among players of the video game since 2013. Chickens found a way to defend themselves through an unexpected alliance. A chicken jockey. Chicken jockey! Fans of the best-selling video game of all time, ecstatic to see the rare character appear in the Universal Pictures movie adaptation.

which hit theaters last Friday. The studio shares a parent company with NBC News. It was like a tidal wave of popcorn. College student Eric Farugia was at a screening in Long Island, New York, where the cops were called. Nassau County police say no arrest were made. Two police officers walked in, and it was, you can hear a pin drop. Everyone initially thought it was just the workers again,

telling them to relax. So they were all kind of getting defensive, but as soon as the police officer showed up, everyone stopped. One theater in Washington, New Jersey, now banning unaccompanied minors from the Minecraft movie. Writing on Facebook, a large group of unsupervised boys engaged in completely unacceptable behavior going on to say, if your son was at Township Theater Friday night, we strongly encourage you to have a conversation with him about his behavior.

The trend reminiscent of the gentle minions phenomenon from 2022, where hordes of young people dressed in suits to watch minions the rise of groove in theaters. And eyes to the center, please. Despite the chicken jockey frenzy, or maybe in part because of it, the Minecraft movie pulling in nearly $163 million on opening weekend, the biggest domestic debut of the year and the best for a video game adaptation in history. Don't worry. I'm going to cushion on ball with this water bucket.

I had kids that were obsessed with Minecraft. years before I heard about this movie. So I learned how to play the game, because I love games. You're building things. It's architecture. It's the love and joy of creativity. The love for the game, clearly, transferring over into the theater, as fans flock to get their chicken jockey moment.

Chicken jockey! Stephen Romo, NBC News. All right, chicken jockey. We learn something new every day. We thank Stephen Romo for that. We thank you for watching Top Story. Before we go, we do want to leave you with an exciting announcement. We have a new addition to the Top Story team.

Our senior producer, Sarah, giving birth to that beautiful baby boy you see right there and already a fan of Top Story wearing his top baby little onesie. How cute is that? We couldn't be happier for her and her family. I'm Tom Yamis in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.