Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Episode Date: December 4, 2024

Tonight's Top Story has the latest breaking news, political headlines, news from overseas and the best NBC News reporting from across the country and around the world.

Breaking tonight, Pete Hex has nomination to lead the Department of Defense now in peril. NBC News with new reporting that as many as six Republican senators aren't comfortable supporting his bid for the Pentagon's top spot. Allegations of past misconduct threatening to derail his confirmation prospects. The current and former Fox News employees now coming forward saying his drinking habits worried them. Bombshell new details just coming in. Also breaking tonight, chaos in South Korea. The president reversing course after suddenly declaring martial law, lawmakers scaling fences to get into the parliament building and strike down the military order. Soldiers take into the streets using tear gas where the volatile situation now stands. Early winter slam, dangerous white

out conditions causing a massive pile of multiple semi-trucks and cars colliding in terrifying moments as a truck gets stuck on train tracks, a freight train palling plowing right through it, Millions recovering from the holiday week and snowstorm, now bracing for the next winter wallum. Vernick watch in the subway chokehold death case, the fate of former Marine Daniel Penny, accused of killing subway performer Jordan Neely, now in the hands of the jury. The key evidence they're relying on to reach a decision. Open to negotiations, the Wall Street Journal reporting, Ukrainian president Zelensky says he's willing to work on a peace deal with Russia. So what are his demands? And can they realistically be put an end to a nearly three-year war? Missing by choice, a new twist in the case of a Hawaiian woman who vanished after missing her connecting flight in Los Angeles,

police saying she voluntarily crossed the border into Mexico. Tonight we speak with her sister and her attorney, the family attorney, about why they're actively continuing to search. The major drug bust in the Pacific Ocean officials capturing narcotic subs packed with several tons of cocaine during a massive international operation, the crackdown leading to the discovery of a key drug trafficking. route. Plus, can you put a number on financial success? Gen Ziers think they should be making 600,000 bucks a year in order to become accomplished. How that number vastly differs from other generations. Top story starts right now. And good evening. We are coming on the air with breaking news at this hour. Republican senators

growing increasingly skeptical over Pete Hegeseth. President-elect Trump's pick for defense secretary, throwing his confirmation prospects further into limbo. The former Fox News host on Capitol Hill today, you see him right here, speaking with lawmakers hoping to garner their support, but allegations of past sexual misconduct, alcohol abuse, and financial mismanagement could sink his nomination chances. Three Republican sources telling NBC News that as many as six Senate Republicans and possibly more might not support his nomination, keep in mind if every Democrat votes against him, Republicans can only afford to lose three votes for Heggseth to be confirmed.

Also, new exclusive reporting from NBC News, 10 current and former Fox News employees say Pete Agseth's drinking concerned as co-workers, a reminder that this is a job where Heggseth would have to make military decisions around the clock. So if he does have a drinking issue, that prompts serious concerns. At least two colleagues saying that on more than a dozen occasions during his time as a co-host of Fox and Friends weekend, they smelled alcohol in him in the morning before he went on air. Hexseth has not commented on the allegations, and a Trump transition team spokesperson has called the claims unfounded and false. The 44-year-old who served in the military has also

drawn backlash over an allegation of sexual assault, which he denies, and over his comments that women shouldn't serve in combat. NBC's senior Capitol Hill correspondent, Garrett Haight, has the latest on this one. Tonight, President-elect Trump's pick for Defense Secretary Pete Heggseth facing growing skepticism of his chances for confirmation amid damaging news reports. Do you need to address the questions about your character that have been raised? And now 10 current and former Fox News employees who worked with Hegeseth, who hosted one of the network's morning shows, telling NBC News that he drank in ways that concern them.

Two saying that on more than a dozen occasions they smelled alcohol on him before he went on air. Quote, everyone would be talking about it behind the scenes. One of the former Fox News employees said, he should not be Secretary of Defense, another former Fox News employee said his drinking should be disqualifying. A Trump transition spokesperson calling the allegations disgusting, completely unfounded, and false. An attorney for Heggseth referring us to the transition statement. Fox News did not respond. Mr. Hegset, so many of these stories about you have involved alcohol. Do you have a drinking problem, sir? Now NBC News has learned as many as six GOP senators are not comfortable supporting Hegset's nomination, according to multiple

Republicans with direct knowledge of the nomination process. Heggseth can only afford to lose the support of three Republicans if all Democrats vote no. The articles I've read, yeah, some of them are concerning. I don't know if it's true or not, but he'll go through the process. He'll be asked about it and see what happens. There are questions that some members have, and we're going to be working for an answer. Are you among the members who have questions? Well, I'm looking to be supportive.

But no Republican senator has publicly said they will oppose Hegson. who's also a decorated combat veteran. I think they've got a really good shot of getting them all through. Meanwhile, late tonight, another Trump pick abruptly pulled his name from consideration. Chad Chronister, the sheriff in Hillsborough County, Florida, withdrawing his selection for administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. Posting, quote, over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I've concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration.

Okay, a lot of transition news tonight. Garrett Hake joins us live from Capitol Hill. Look, Garrett, right, we have the reporting. We have sources telling us that at least six senators are having serious concerns with him, Republican senators. This news, for sure, has trickled over to Marlago, right? And you have to think that the Trump transition team is aware that there might be a break in the ranks here. Is Pete Hague, Seth, a dead man walking?

That may be too strong, Tom, but he's certainly in trouble. and the Trump team understands that. That's part of the reason they've got him up here on Capitol Hill, continuing to push forward with these meetings, trying to blow past this steady stream of negative stories that have hit him essentially every day for the last four, hoping that it might blow over. But so far, he hasn't really done much to defend himself,

and notably neither has the Trump team done much to defend him publicly. I think if you're Pete Heggseth and you are understanding the challenges to your nomination, You'd like to see a more robust defense from some of these big Trump surrogates or perhaps from the president-elect himself with his social media megaphone. None of that has been coming, and that can't be welcome news to Pete Heggseth. It's a very good point. Garrett, I know the Trump team has also now reached an agreement with the Justice Department for an FBI background check of nominees. Yeah, that's right. This is a memorandum of understanding.

This has been a long sort of discussed possibility here. A lot of Republican senators wanted to see this done. It's a very normal step in a transition, and it would provide for these FBI background checks of incoming nominees. Senators want to see them. They don't want to be surprised, especially at or after a confirmation hearing with something that might come out about a nominee. This will speed up the process potentially and could help root out any other, you know, unpleasant surprises in nominees' backgrounds. The Trump vets, to the degree that they've been done at all, haven't caught up till now, Tom. Okay, Garrett Haig, with a lot of new reporting tonight for us.

Garrett, we appreciate that. NBC News exclusive reporting on allegations involving the drinking habits of Pete Hegseth. I want to bring in one of the reporters on that byline, NBC News Pentagon correspondent, Courtney Kubey. Courtney, thanks for joining Top Story tonight. So, you know, a big story you guys broke. Talk to us about this reporting of what you and your colleagues uncovered. Yeah, so we spoke with nearly a dozen people, both current and former Fox News employees, some of whom will work directly on Fox and Friends, which is the popular series.

Saturday morning show that Pete Hegseth has been a host of for several years. And they detailed a number of times where Hegseth would come into that show, which begins at 6 a.m. on weekend mornings, he would show up only moments before the show was actually going to begin. And on a number of occasions, he would come in and talk about how he'd been hungover. Sometimes there were even cases where they smelled alcohol on him from the night before still. And Tom, this caused a lot of stress. to these colleagues who we spoke with, again, 10 former and current Fox News employees who said that this would put a lot of strain on the staff.

They were worried he wouldn't show up. Now, none of them could tell us about times where he didn't actually make it on the air, or he was actually visibly drunk on the air. But you know well from being on shows throughout your entire career when the anchor or the host is causing stress on the show,

look, it can cause a lot of trouble, and it really makes the show dynamic. a lot more difficult. Now, I should say the Trump transition team called these allegations false. They continue to allege, as they have with a lot of these allegations about Pete Hegseth, that these are disgruntled people who worked for him or worked with him who were just out to settle old scores, Tom. Yeah, and I think one of the important things your piece does on NBCNews.com right now is you put this in a context, right? I want to read a piece of your piece right here. It says the former colleague's description of Hegseth's behavior while he was employed at Foxxon. news raises questions about his ability to carry out around-the-clock duties involved in managing

the Pentagon and its three million civilian and military employees. What more do these employees share about sort of their concerns over his ability to do the job of Defense Secretary? As you know, as I know, there are two wars happening right now overseas that are six and seven hours ahead of us. So you have to really be ready around the clock. Yeah, and you know that well from your time reporting from conflict zones. But I mean, And it's not just the ongoing conflicts. There's the things that come up all the time. The China spy balloon is one.

You may recall that during the time when that balloon passed into U.S. airspace, the commander of NORAD, Northcom, General Glenn Van Herk, called Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at 3 o'clock in the morning while he was traveling in Manila to inform him that there was a Chinese spy balloon flying over the continental United States. And it's not just that Austin was woken up at that time. Then he spent the whole next day, after working through the night, engaged in diplomatic conversations about keeping the U.S. military presence in the Philippines with President Duterte. So it just underscores the gravity of this job. You know, one that I've been talking about today, because I think this will really bring it home to our viewers about the enormity of the responsibility for Secretary of Defense.

Operation Noble Eagle, that is the mission to protect and defend the borders of the United States and the continental United States. One of the missions of that is for NORAD and Northcom, the skies over the United States. So think about when we hear about an aircraft or an airplane that has breached a restricted airspace. That happens all the time. But there is always the possibility that that aircraft could breach into restricted airspace and could be threatening the president, the capital, some critical place. Well, the NORAD commander calls the Secretary of Defense any time day or night. And at that moment, in literally a matter of moments, the Secretary of Defense could have to make the decision for a military aircraft to shoot down that plane.

It's an enormous responsibility that comes with that job. And all these character concerns are really starting to weigh on senators about that, Tom. Courtney Kubey with that breaking news tonight. Courtney, we thank you. We want to move overseas to breaking news out of South Korea, where tonight the country's president sending massive shockwaves after declaring martial law. The now reversed order caused complete chaos, forcing thousands of protesters to hit the streets. The tense situation with one of the U.S.'s closest allies appearing to catch the Biden administration off guard. NBC's Janice Mackie Freyer has a story from Beijing tonight.

Tonight, dramatic scenes of chaos in South Korea, one of America's key allies. Protesters scuffled with police outside the National Assembly building. Some windows shattered and helicopters flying overhead. after President Yun-Suk-Yol declared martial law. ... aimed at stopping what he called North Korean anti-state forces in the government. Only hours later being forced to revoke it when opposition lawmakers held an emergency vote to defy the president and scrap martial law, some of them scaling fences to get back inside for it.

Outside the parliament, protesters pushing against armored vehicles, while inside the parliament, protesters pushing against armored vehicles, while in side, furniture piled high to keep soldiers out. The U.S. announced they had no warning of Yun's plan in a country where nearly 30,000 American troops are stationed. We are watching the recent developments in the ROK with grave concern. We are seeking to engage with our Republic of Korea counterparts at every level. In an interview with Lester last year, President Yun warned the North Korean threat was growing. Do you think that the U.S. is paying enough attention to deterring a North Korean attack on the south?

Yes, definitely. Since my inauguration, we're continuing our consultations with the United States. Yun's future now uncertain. Janice Mackeyfair, NBC News. Okay, back here at home now. Millions still reeling from that lake-effect snowstorm we've been showing you. Snow-covered roads making for extremely dangerous driving conditions. Tractor trailers, jackknifing, highways brought to a standstill, and roofs collapsing under the weight of the snowfall.

All this has another storm system makes its way east. Erin McLaughlin has the latest than I. Tonight, a whiteout in Erie, Pennsylvania and dangerous driving conditions. I-90 was shut down when low visibility caused four trucks to slide off the road, according to county officials. There were no reported injuries. Not far away, there was a close call yesterday. New video captures the harrowing moment. A trailer truck became stuck in the slush over train tracks.

He's not going to stop. Oh, man. A freight train, unable to stop, plows into the side of the truck. Holy hell. Police say thankfully the driver jumped out prior to impact and is fine. Tonight from New York to Pennsylvania, there's been so much snow, roofs are collapsing under the weight of it. In Erie this morning, it was a loud bam. It scared my sister.

The owners of Sparkle Clean Car Care tell NBC News they were supposed to be at work right around the time this happened. Caden's Denning lives across the street. You have a lot of snow on your roof. Are you worried? Yeah. I am. It started to get us worried. Since last Friday, the region has been measuring snowfall in feet, not inches.

The plow drivers of Pennsylvania say they've had enough. When you see snow like this, what goes through your mind? More work. You might have to be out all night. There's snow coming down like this. Tonight up and down the East Coast, millions are feeling the freeze with temps 10 to 20 degrees below average. Meanwhile, here in the northeast, they're bracing for a clipper storm set to strike on Thursday. And as you can see, Tom, it's still snowing.

Yeah, Aaron, get back inside. We can see all that snow piling up on your shoulders there. For more of the early winter wallup, NBC News meteorologist, Bill Kerrins joins us tonight live in studio. And Bill, Aaron mentioned that next storm system moving into the northeast. Time this one out for us. Yeah, and this one is not the four to five feet, but in Aaron. that got hit hard, they'll get another one to two feet on top. So I hope you've got everything dug out over the last two days because it's on its way. 12 million people under some kind of

winter weather headlines. This storm system is going to be coming in from the north, especially heading in from areas of northern Michigan and back down through areas of southern portions of, I'd say all the way down through southern Wisconsin. Now you watch the areas of light snow starting to make their way. We will be watching the heaviest snow during the afternoon tomorrow. So this is the storm system at 8 p.m. tomorrow night. Notice a band of snow near Cleveland, the Buffalo. We got light snow breaking out from Albany into areas of the central and southern New England. We're not going to see a lot of snow in the I-95 quarter, but it will be very windy and cold behind this storm. And you can already see those lake effect

streamers there as we go throughout today Thursday. So how much snow are we talking about? Areas in white about an inch? So probably don't count on any school delays there. But where we get the blue three to six inches, that's going to be enough to plow or shovel. Those are going to be areas in areas of western Michigan, from Cleveland to Buffalo, a little bit here, central New York, through areas of New Hampshire, Maine, and also through Vermont, some downwind of the lakes. All we could near, one to two feet in additional snow.

And if you don't get a lot of snow out of this time, you will feel that cold wind on Thursday. But the best news at all, after this cold blast is gone, it looks much warmer next week for everyone coast to coast and no more snowstorms. All right, we've got to wait for it, though. Okay, Bill, we thank you for that. We want to turn now to a story we've been following closely here

on Top Story. The jury deliberations beginning today in the trial of Daniel Penny. The former Marine charged in the chokehold death of subway performer Jordan kneeling. Jurors must now decide whether Penny's actions were justified, ultimately protecting fellow subway riders, or whether he used excessive force on a vulnerable man. Emily Aketa has been following the case closely. She joins Top Story tonight. So, Emily, the jury has the case now. How long have they been deliberating for? Just a couple of hours, and court will resume tomorrow morning. So now Daniel Penny's fate is in the hands of about a dozen or so jurors who remember, many of them are whom frequent subway riders.

And they have a lot to consider in the hours, potentially days to come, including testimony from dozens of different witnesses that include police officers, medical experts, loved ones of Daniel Penny, passengers, some passengers who have described nearly's erratic, irate actions. They described how he was yelling, he didn't care if he died, or if he went to jail. And that is something that the assistant district attorney in the closing arguments, today. They acknowledged that he did enter the train a year and a half ago and a threatening manager, but quote, take a look at this, said even though the defendant started out trying to do the right thing. As the chokehold progressed, the defendant knew that Jordan Neely was

in great distress and dying, and he needlessly continued. The defense contends, though, the medical examiner had rushed to judgment in determining that the chokehold was the cause of death, saying that there could have been other factors that came into play, including Jordan Neely's medical condition, drug usage may have contributed. They also said that Penny was acting to defend other people on board of that subway train, asking jurors to put themselves, imagine themselves in the shoes of one of the subway riders and asking who would you want on that train alongside you? Has the jury asked questions yet, or it's still so early in this case as far as the charges that they're considering? They've asked one question. It's only a couple

hours into this, and again, they will resume deliberations tomorrow. And what they're considering the top charge here is manslaughter in the second degree. Once they decide on that, they'll continue and look at criminally negligent homicide. The top charge could carry up to 15 years in jail. I think an important thing to remember is just how deeply divided opinions on this case have been, not just here in New York, but really across the country, because it touches on so many hot-button issues ranging from race-relation, public safety, and how the city has handled mental illness.

Okay, Emily Aketa, we're going to be following this, I'm sure tomorrow as well. We thank you for that report. For more on the deliberations in this case. I want to bring in jury consultant Richard Gabriel, who has assisted counsel in major cases, including the trials of Casey Anthony and O.J. Simpson. Richard, welcome back to Top Story. Always great to talk to you. The defense has leaned on body cam video,

showing witnesses speaking to police in the moments after the incident. I want to play some of that now and get your reaction. I heard the young man that's on the floor saying, you know, hey, I'm willing to die, you know? I'll do anything. I'm willing to die. I'll go to jail. I don't care.

I don't care. And he was saying it so loud that everyone turned around. When he came in, he was unbelievably. So the jury heard from witnesses like that who were on the subway train. How much is that going to help the defense? Well, I think it does help the defense because it mainly goes to the threat. The issue is that you've got 12 jurors, a lot of them, obviously subway riders, you've got people from the upper and west and east sides. You've got lower people from all over the city who ride the subway.

A number of those jurors also have experienced outbursts on trains, and some have even felt threatened. So really, it has to do with how they interpret what his threat level was, whether it was just an outburst or whether people really felt scared and felt like he had to be subdued, although the prosecution has done, I think, a smart job of trying to navigate that by saying he started out by doing the right thing, but then maintained it for so long for too long. And I think what's going to be interesting now is really how you've got two attorneys on this jury, as well as a paralegal and also a health care worker, they're going to factor, I think, significantly into how these deliberations go and how they interpret the evidence from some of the medical testimony as well as from the other testimony as to what happened in the case. Yeah, you know, you mentioned the jury and their roles, and I do want to ask you about that, right? because everybody who lived in New York City during the pandemic, post-pandemic,

I mean, there was issues with crime and safety. I don't think anyone will deny that. You wonder if these jurors have also been subway riders, if they've experienced this kind of thing, and also being a jury in Manhattan, right? Will they side with someone who was trying to defend other subway riders, according to their lawyers, or a man who was in need potentially of help,

somebody who clearly was having potentially a mental health breakdown, and somebody who was in need of both financial assistance and was obviously going through a lot. Will they sympathize with that? How are you reading the jury so far? Well, again, it has to do with really their personal interpretation of safety and what they feel comfortable with. That's why jury selection is so important

because you're reading their body language and how fearful they are. Because there are some jurors who see this all the time. There are some of the subway riders who said they didn't feel threatened at all. They've seen these kinds of outbursts all the time. There's some subway riders in that car who said, I felt really afraid. So it's really the personal interpretation of safety and really how threatened they felt that I think is going to lean one way or the other.

And then the last thing really has to do with how they interpret those jury instructions and that verdict form as to what constitute sort of that reckless indifference to his life. That's going to be key as well. I want to hone in on that, right? Because Emily just mentioned that. We know the jury requested the judge reread some instructions. about the exact crime Penny is being charged with after they began deliberations today.

What does that tell you, if anything? Well, again, they're honing in. They want to know, you know, the problem is a lot of jury instructions kind of go over jurors' heads. They hear it, they're just so loaded down with so much information that oftentimes it kind of passes over them. So as they start honing in on the issues in the case and going, how do we interpret these verdict questions,

a lot of times they're like, I need to hear those instructions. again, just to kind of try and interpret them because they're legal language. A lot of it is kind of mumbo-jumbo for a lot of jurors, and they're trying to really hone in, what does this mean? How do I apply this to the verdict questions? I have to decide.

Richard Gabriel, for us, always fascinating to talk to you. I'm sure we're going to talk a lot in the future as well. Still ahead tonight, the police update after a Hawaiian woman went missing in Los Angeles. Officials tracing her to Mexico, saying she disappeared at her own will. We speak with her sister and the family's lawyer tonight. why they're pressing on with their search.

Plus, the heroin video officers rescuing several children as their home went up in flames, their quick thinking to help those kids safely escape. And the TikTok influencer caught showing off items she stole from her target, from targeting her videos, arrested again what she's accused of doing now. You're not going to believe it. Okay, we are back now to the search for a woman who mysteriously disappeared.

on a layover at Los Angeles International Airport last month. Police now saying they believe she intentionally missed her flight and willfully crossed the border into Mexico. But that revelation creating even more questions and answers for her family and many others who have followed the case of strange twists and turns. Marissa Para has more on what's next for the investigation. A new twist in the desperate search for Hannah Kobayashi.

We urge Ms. Kobayashi to contact her family, law enforcement, or personnel at the U.S. Embassy, to let us know that she is safe. Police now reclassifying the investigation as a quote, voluntary missing persons case after evidence showed her leaving the country. She was alone with her luggage and appeared unharmed. Investigators say her social media showed signs of wanting to disconnect. The frenzy defined her started November 8th when the 30-year-old aspiring photographer

left her home in Hawaii to visit an aunt to New York. Security cameras caught her walking off the jetway at LAX for connecting flight to JFK. But after missing that connection, her family, claimed that she was killing time until she could make a different flight, captured briefly in this YouTube video at a Nike event in the Grove. She was also spotted with a mystery man in Los Angeles. But as hours turned to days, family members report strange texts from Kobayashi, claiming her identity had been stolen. And in one message, she wrote, I got tricked pretty much into giving away all my funds for someone I thought I loved. It's been really scary. But now, police say on the

morning of November 12th, Kobayashi was seen on unreleased video. heading into Mexico after buying a bus ticket at LA's Union Station. We reviewed video surveillance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which clearly shows Kobayashi crossing the United States border on foot into Mexico. Police now saying they believe she intentionally missed her flight and say the man she was spotted with is cooperating with police and cleared of any wrongdoing. To date, the investigation has not uncovered any evidence that Kobayashi is being trafficked or is the victim of foul play.

But Kobayashi's family says they're not giving up, reeling from yet another tragedy after her father ended his life after weeks of searching for his daughter, speaking to NBC just recently. It is every parent's the worst nightmare for sure. The family now releasing a statement, saying in part, we want answers and a resolution that ensures Hannah's safety, urging authorities to keep their focus on finding Hannah as police urge Hannah to reach out to her family. I'm very sorry to the family for all that they've been through throughout this order. deal. Marissa Parra, NBC News. We now want to bring in Hannah's sister, Sydney, and the Kobayashi family attorney, Sarah Azari, who you know, of course, from Top Story.

We thank you both for joining us tonight. Sydney, I want to start with you, and first of all, I'm so sorry for what your family has gone through over the last few weeks. I can't even imagine. What is your reaction to the news that Hannah was seen seemingly unharmed, crossing the border into Mexico, and now police are basically classifying this as a, quote, voluntary missing persons case? I mean, we found out the same day as the public did.

So we were very shocked. We were taken back, frustrated. We didn't have any confirmation at all from LAPD that there was actually, like, we didn't, haven't been shown that there was footage at all for us to confirm as her family that that actually was in fact her. So right now, you know, as I've stated previously in a statement, we kind of just feel left in the dark and we're just confused and just frustrated more than anything right now. Sarah, explain this to us. You're the family attorney. I mean, what does this mean a voluntary missing person's case? Does this mean that they are no longer

looking for her, that she's not in danger? That sounds like it. And, you know, voluntary, Thomas, as such a broad term, you know, she's seen walking across the border by herself, but it takes a lot more digging and investigation to be able to say it's voluntary. I don't know that there's any digital investigation. I don't know what more they've done. They've just reached this conclusion and told the family without really showing them any footage, having them identify Hannah. And so I get the frustration because it's the police saying. it's voluntary. But to the family, it's very, it's not like her at all to just disappear like this. She's never disappeared before. Sydney, your family did an interview with our Ellis and Barbara

a few weeks ago. I want to play a quick clip of something you're on said. Let's listen. What we have believed to be telling people is true. And we cannot speak more on that. But we, it has been confirmed to us that Hannah is in day. danger. Very tough moment for your family there, your late father there as well. Your family's very clearly distressed in this video, saying it's been confirmed that Hannah is in danger. But now police are saying there's no evidence of foul play. Can you expand on what the family's fears were at the time and if they still remain? I mean, yeah, our fears were just because she's never done this before. You know,

she's traveled. She's, you know, gone to different places. She's always checked in. She's always let us know what's going on. And she's, like, my best friend, my entire life, you know, she's always kept close to me, or more than anyone, in our lives. And for us, we're just, we're very concerned at the fact that, you know, she hasn't even reached out to anybody. She hasn't sent any messages, nothing like that.

Yeah, Sydney, yeah, and I feel like I have to ask you this. Does your sister have any kind of history? of having issues with her mental health and or substance abuse issues that that may have led her astray to kind of sort of leave the family and leave you guys guessing and head to Mexico? No, I wouldn't say that. I think that the thing that we fear the most is because you hear all of these stories and, you know, of, like, trafficking and, like, women that travel alone, And, you know, they get drug, they're, you know, just some random person can come up and, you know, just take advantage of them. So, just to be clear, yeah, you're afraid she possibly is a victim of sexual trafficking?

That's definitely one of our possibilities, but we have to, we can't discount anything at this point. You know, like, but that's definitely one of our biggest fears. Yeah. Yes. No, I hear you. Sarah, you know, I have to ask you, there have been a lot of resources spent on this case in trying to find Hannah. There's been a lot of media attention. And there's a lot of women who are missing out there somewhere in the United States, somewhere in the world, that are in danger. And with this case, police are telling us it doesn't seem like she's in danger. What is the next step for the family and for people like you? Well, I mean, again, I disagree with the LAPD, and I work with the LAPD all the time, and their conclusion that she's not in danger. We don't know that.

They saw her allegedly crossing the border about two weeks ago. We don't know what's happened to her since then. And so what's ahead for us is that, obviously, me and my investigative team have just stepped into the case, and we're not going to give up on trying to find her. Are you actively trying to find her? I mean, when you go to Mexico? Yes, we're going to be deploying colleagues down there to help us. continue the search for her down there.

And this is on behalf of the family. What if she doesn't want to be found? Well, I think that needs to be confirmed with her, but the family's concerned about her well-being, so at least she needs to be located. Sidney, before we go, what message do you have for your sister in case she's watching this tonight?

You know, I just can't stress it enough how loved you are, and how, you know, supported you are from, like, all of your friends and loved ones here. We're really worried about you, Hannah, and, you know, no matter what situation you're in, we always have a home to come to, and, yeah, just, like, if you could just give us a sign that you're okay or reach out or something, just we're really worried and just know that we love you so much.

Sydney Kobayashi, the sister of Hannah. I am so sorry again for everything that you've gone through, and your family has gone through over the past few weeks. Sarah Zari, we thank you, as always, for joining our show. When we come back, we'll continue our coverage, the surprising end to Georgia's longest-running criminal trial, the co-defendants and rap star Young Thugs, racketeering case, learning their fate, the latest turn in the wild case and the decision handed down by a jury. That's next. Okay, welcome back to Top Stories News Feed.

We begin with the stunning acquittals in Georgia's longest criminal trial, the RICO case. involving rap superstar young thug. The jury returning not guilty verdicts on all but one charge for the two defendants left in the sweeping racketeering case against the Atlanta Street gang YSL. The case started with 28 co-defendants in January of 2023. 23, 26 of those defendants, co-defendants, including Young Thug took plea deals. The charges included racketeering and murder for rival gangmen killings. In Colorado, police jumping into action to rescue two kids from a burning home Sunday. They checked this out. Body cam footage shows police ripping boards out of the neighbor's fence, making a hole so the kids could escape the flames. Both children ages 8 and 14 are okay. No one else was at home at the time. Authorities still investigating the cause of this fire. An update tonight on that influencer arrested for stealing the items she was showing on her TikTok. Marlena Vela Velaez arrested a second time for stealing hundreds of dollars worth of items from you guessed it, Target. You'll remember as we reported just last week, the 20,

two-year-old influencer was arrested in October for stealing from that same target. Police saying Velez scanned false barcodes instead of the real items in both crimes. In the NFL and update tonight on that dirty hit we showed you last night, the Houston Texans linebacker that knocked out Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence, now suspended for that illegal tackle. Aziz Al-Shire will be suspended for three games for that hit on Lawrence as the QB was sliding. The hit sparking a fight that sent both Al-Shire and a Jaguars, player to the locker room. Earlier in the season, Al-Shire was fined for two other hits in games

against the Titans and the Bears. ESPN reporting he plans to appeal. Now, Ukraine and some major news tonight, could the end of the war be inside? President Vladimir Zelensky signaling he is open to negotiating with Russia, but are his demands realistic? Zelensky now saying that Russia could keep the Ukrainian territory currently holds you, see it right here, about 20% of Ukraine in exchange for membership in NATO. The fact is that it is a solution to stop the hot stage of the war because we can just give the NATO membership to the part of Ukraine that is under our control. But the invitation must be given to Ukraine within its internationally recognized border.

President Zelensky speaking with our Sky News. For more on this, Richard Engle joins top story tonight. Richard, President Zelensky has been hinting at this, right? We now have an American president-elect who is vowing to try to end this war. But the big question here is, will Putin agree to accepting 20% of Ukraine, or is he hungry for more? Well, he's probably hungry for more, and it seems unlikely that he would accept this base position from President Zelenskyy. The whole reason, if you remember, it's almost three years now, when Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine, he said at the time it was to prevent Ukraine from ever becoming a NATO member. He said that if Ukraine became a NATO member, that it would provoke a war between Russia and NATO, it would lead to World War III, and he actually framed his invasion of the country as an act to avoid World War, that he, by stopping Ukraine from becoming a NATO member, was preventing this global catastrophe.

So it seems very unlikely that NATO would accept Ukraine as a member, especially not with the U. with the arrival of President-elect Trump, who has not been a big supporter of NATO in the past, not been a very vocal supporter of Ukraine in the past. So I understand, and a lot of people understand, what Ukraine is looking for, and Ukraine is looking for assurances and security guarantees so that if it does lose territory,

and this is also an acknowledgment, a significant acknowledgement from Ukraine, that in some sort of deal it is going to lose territory, it wants those security reassurances. But I think NATO membership is going to be a tall order from NATO, from Trump, and especially from Putin. Let's talk more about Putin, since you opened the door there. The Wall Street Journal frames why Putin may not be willing to negotiate, even if Trump is involved with this. They write, in recent months, Russian forces have advanced more quickly in eastern Ukraine than at any since the early days of the war.

Moscow has already moved its economy on toward war. and recently approved the largest defense budget in Russia's history, giving Putin confidence that he can continue to grab more Ukrainian territory by force. Richard, does Putin want more war? Can he afford it? So all the assessments that I've read and that I've heard, I've spoken with former intelligence officials, I've been to Ukraine, I was just there not long ago, speaking with the government officials there, there is a universal belief that Putin has not given up

on his goal. He does not believe that Ukraine should exist as a country, that he wants a Ukraine that is either destroyed or is a province of Russia or is, at the very least, subservient to Russia's will that falls under Russia's sphere of influence. So why would he necessarily give up right now? His troops are gaining on the battlefield. They've been gaining out on the east. He's received reinforcements from North Korea, about 11,000 North Korea. Korean troops. So he has a foreign country willing to actually not just send support and political cover, but also to send actual soldiers willing to fight and die. In the North Korean Korea, sent to fight and die. Many consider them to be cannon fodder. So he is in a strong

position, but this does have cost for Vladimir Putin as well. He's losing, according to most estimates, or at least was, as of a month ago, about 1,500 soldiers killed. killed or wounded each day. That was the number in October, an extremely high number. His losses haven't been that severe in the last couple of weeks. But he's paying a heavy price for this. So the economy, according to a recent study by the economist, is not as strong as it had been previously believed to be,

so it is not completely out of this scot-free. And as time goes on, Putin is becoming more and more dependent on China. There is a cost, there is a huge cost for him to continue this. But this base position, this opening position, perhaps from Zelensky, that the war can end, at least the hot phase. If Ukraine is recognized as a NATO member in its entirety, that seems like considering how strong his hand is at the moment, that he would not accept that. Richard Engel for us tonight.

Richard, we thank you for that. Next to Top Story's Global Watch and a check of what else. is happening around the world. Authorities searching for two Americans and one Canadian now missing. They were trying to scale New Zealand's tallest mountain. Here's what we know. The three men flew to Mount Cook on Saturday, scheduled to summit the mountain on Monday, but did not show up at the top for a flight back down the peak.

Rescue teams found climbing gear believed to belong to the men, but no sign of them anywhere. Okay, in Colombia, the country's Navy finding out just how far drug smugglers are willing to go. They seize semi-submersibles while uncovering a new Pacific drug trafficking route from South America to Australia. Look at this, the Navy releasing video of the submersibles known as narco subs that can travel 10,000 miles without refueling and are undetectable by authorities. More than 1,400 tons of drugs were seized in the six-week naval operation that includes 225 tons of cocaine and 128 tons of marijuana. More than 400 people were arrested in the smuggling. plot, I should say, and a crummy situation for a Michelin-starred chef from Northern England. His van containing $30,000 worth of pies was stolen.

Chef Tommy Banks owns the van that held 2,500 pies filled with steak, ale, turkey, and butternot squash pies. Thieves took the pie van overnight before they were to be sold at a nearby Christmas market. Police found the van abandoned with false number plates, and sadly, the pies were all destroyed. terrible. All right, coming up, measuring success, a new survey finding Gen Z thinks you need to make close to 600,000 bucks a year. 600,000 bucks to be financially successful, how that measured up to other generations, and could social media be fueling those responses? Stay with us. We are back now with Money Talks and a story that caught our eye that was first in Axios,

A financial services company called Empower, surveyed more than 2,200 Americans in September and asked them, what does financial success look like? Well, here's how it broke down by generation. Boomer said making almost $100,000 a year meant financial success. Gen X said a yearly salary of $200,000, and millennials said $180,000. But Gen Z said they needed to make almost $600,000 a year

to be successful. That's roughly three to six times what any other age group said they would need, and it's almost nine times the average U.S. salary, which is about $66,600, according to the Social Security Administration. So why does Gen Z's definition of financial success differ so much from previous generations? To help us break this down, I'm joined now by money expert Tori Dunlop. She's the founder and CEO of her first 100,000, the host of the podcast Financial Feminist and has 2.4 million followers on TikTok.

Tori, thanks so much for joining Top Story tonight. Explain this to us. How much stock do you put into this survey? Thanks for having me back. Yeah, I mean, it's quite a staggering number to see that anybody Gen Z feels like they're going to need that much money in order to survive. It's hard to say if this is entirely accurate, right? We can't predict the future. But things are getting more and more expensive. So I'm not surprised that Gen Z feels like they're going to need a lot of money to be able to survive, yet alone have, you know, an American dream. Yeah, costs are skyrocketing for younger generations, inflation, which is going down, but is also at times kind of stubborn. You also pile on student loan debt, rising rent,

and then coupled with everything they see on social media. Do you think those are the factors driving this, that Gen Z thinks they have to make 600K a year to be financially successful? Yeah, I mean, I help over 5 million women be better with money. And so, much of the conversation I'm having in my community is the stress of not only how do I survive, but then how do I thrive? I am a millennial, but just barely. I was born in 94, and I graduated college in 2016, so not even 10 years ago, and my college is already $30,000 more expensive. So, of course, as costs continue to increase, and the state of the world becomes more and more unsure, I can see how they're getting to that number. You know, Gen Z spent some very important years

of adulthood in the pandemic, right, where the mantra was a bit more like yolo. Do you think more about living their best life than maybe working hard? Or is that an unfair characterization? Because I find it kind of interesting that on one hand, you know, there is this generation of putting everything on social media, having the best vacations, the best meals, or at least trying to show off to your friends, at the same time wanting to make $600,000, but also wanting independence and wanting to work from home and do other things that are sort of unique to that post-pandemic life. Yeah, that was the interesting part to me about this survey, is there was a question of, like,

do you feel like you can afford the kind of lifestyle you want? Or do you feel like you are able to do things that make you happy, like travel or go out to restaurants? And the vast majority of Gen Zers said, no, not only can I not afford to do things, or not only can I not do them, but the reason I can't is because I can't afford to. So I do think Gen Z and maybe even younger millennials like myself become kind of misrepresented of like, oh, yeah, they're post-down social media and they're, you know, just obsessed with consumerism. I don't think that's the case at all. We're just trying to navigate a really, really difficult time to be alive, right? These kind of like once in a generation things keep happening to us like every five years. And so it's difficult to

navigate. And I have nothing but empathy and grace for anyone who's trying to work hard and yet is not seeing the kind of results that may be someone who was born in the 50s could expect for their hard work. Totally get that. Great point. Tori, we thank you for being on tonight. We hope to see you again. When we come back, new hope for children caught in the crosshairs of war. The largest medical evacuation of kids from Gaza just arriving on U.S. soil, the group of Palestinian children in need of life-saving surgeries, receiving a massive welcome at O'Hare International Airport. That's next. Finally tonight, a new hope for a group of children from Gaza.

Eight young Palestinians in need of life-saving care brought to the U.S. as part of the largest medical evacuation of kids from Gaza. The children and their family members arriving to a massive crowd at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. NBC Chicago's Natalie Martinez has this one. Fresh off a 12-hour flight, these Palestinian survivors are part of the largest medical evacuation of kids. from Gaza. They're here in Chicago thanks to the Palestinian Children's Relief Fund Monday night. Aside from the physical damage that they have that they need to receive that medical treatment for, they also have the cultural difference that they have to be accustomed to, as well, the PTSD and the mental help that they need.

Tonight, eight kids and a family member each come for life-saving surgeries and medical equipment at Shriners hospitals in the U.S. This is a drop in the ocean. There are thousands and thousands of children that need medical care and there needs to be a better system to allow us to take these children out. Some have waited months, some for over a year. Where I was told by his mother that she saw her own daughter get killed in front of her. And then her youngest son saw this incident occur in front of him, and now he's mute. Cannot say a single word.

And she had to leave him behind to bring these two children to receive the medical treatment. This is him right here. On cue. Say hi, dude. Jude's host dad is a UFC champion, but this little guy wants to be a police man. He and his dad have been here with Bilal Muhammad's family since March and came to welcome the new children at O'Hare's Terminal 5. Seeing him now, he got the right medical care that he needed. It's the least we could do, right?

Belal, like so many others here, says he hopes to help more. This is the life that kids should have. This is the life that they should be all should be living. Every kid should be experienced in this. And we thank NBC Chicago and of course Natalie for her help on that story. We thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamison, New York. Stay right there.

More news on the way.