Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Episode Date: February 21, 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.

Tonight, the White House announcing plans to punish Russia after the death of Vladimir Putin's most outspoken critic. President Biden before the cameras today previewing a new sanctions package against Russia after Alexi Navalny's death Saturday in an Arctic penal colony. His wife accusing Putin of murdering her husband with a nerve agent and then covering it up. It comes as Russia detains yet another American, a 33-year-old Los Angeles ballerina. New video emerging of that woman blindfolded and handcuffed as she's held on suspicion of treason and raising money for Ukraine, how the State Department is responding. Also tonight, Haley's last stand, Nikki Haley vowing to stay in the GOP primary race for the long haul, despite polling showing her facing a massive defeat to Donald Trump in her home state of South Carolina this weekend. Her emotional moment on the campaign trail in the Palmetto state today choking up as she talked about her husband, who's deployed overseas and a frequent target of Trump's attacks.

Plus sorrow over sentencing, a popular Utah vlogger famous for her videos about parenting and dating, crying in court as she now faces decades in prison on child abuse charges, her tearful apologies to her husband and her children. Assassination plot twist two years after the murder of Haiti's president, a judge now indicting his wife as part of a massive conspiracy to carry out the killing, The country plunged into turmoil in the wake of his death. Nearly 5,000 people arrested last year alone

and almost the entire capital city controlled by gangs. Gucci at gunpoint, armed robbers breaking into a Gucci store in New York City, ordering customers to the ground and stealing $50,000 in merchandise. Three suspects still at large will have the latest on the investigation. And the spirit of I-95, new video showing a horse, galloping along the side of a Pennsylvania interstate, Wyatt's handler says it ended up on that highway and how this speedy steed is doing tonight.

Top story starts right now. Good evening. I'm Ellison Barber in for Tom Yamis. We begin tonight with the major news from the White House today. That new sanctions package coming against Russia in response to the death of Alexi Navalny. President Biden speaking to reporters earlier today, saying that sanctions packages will be announced this Friday. He says they are designed to hold Russia accountable for Navalny's death. The Russian opposition leader died Saturday in a penal colony in the Arctic. Prison officials there claim he died after he passed out following a walk.

But President Biden has been crystal clear he believes Putin is responsible. Navalny's death igniting an international firestorm. Across Russia, Navalny supporters risking their freedom to lay flowers at memorials for him. Authorities dragging many of them away, detaining nearly 400 people over the weekend. In a defiant message yesterday, Navalny's wife, Yulia, accusing Putin of poisoning her husband with the nerve agent Novichok and then covering up the murder by barring his family from seeing the body. Further inflaming tensions between the U.S. and Russia is the detention of yet another American. 33-year-old ballerina, Kessnia, Carolina.

Russian authorities holding her on suspicion of raising money for the war effort in Ukraine. New video emerging today showing Carolina handcuffed and blindfolded being led through a prison after her arrest in the country's southwest. We'll have much more on Americans detained in Russia in just a moment. But first, let's get right to NBC News senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez for the latest on that sanctions package. So, Gabe, are White House officials giving any? more details tonight about what is going to be included in this package.

Hey there, Alison, not many details at all, but the White House does say it is preparing to announce what it calls major new sanctions against Russia on Friday, as you mentioned, following the mysterious death of Russian opposition leader Alexi Navalny. Now, the Biden administration is pushing for complete transparency. As Russia's prison service says, the 47-year-old Navaldi died last week in a penal colony after losing consciousness following a walk. He was serving a sentence of more than 30 years. on charges of extremism and fraud, which he denied.

The day before, Navaldi had looked healthy during a court proceeding, and his wife and mother now demanding Russia return his body. The president said last week that Russian president, Vladimir Putin, is responsible for Navalny's death. And the White House says these new sanctions are meant to hold Putin accountable, not just for that, but also Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine. Allison? Gabe, you mentioned the ongoing war with Ukraine.

It's almost the two-year anniversary of the third. start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine? Is that fact, that anniversary, impacting sanctions, discussions at the White House tonight? Well, certainly it's weighing on the minds of U.S. official. And a U.S. official now says President Biden will join a virtual meeting of G7 leaders on Saturday, the second anniversary of Russia's invasion. President Biden now ramping up calls for congressional Republicans to pass tens of billions of dollars in aid for Ukraine. But we're in an impasse, Allison. The president said last week he'd be had to have. happy to meet with House Speaker Mike Johnson about the aid if he had anything to say.

But so far, no meeting has been scheduled, Ellison. Gabe Gutier is reporting from the White House North Lawn. Thank you. Now to the American citizen detained in Russia. The country's state security service is a dual citizen from Los Angeles is now in custody on suspicion of treason, alleging she helped raise money for Ukraine's armed forces. NBC's Justice and Intelligence correspondent Kandalanian, reports.

An American blindfolded, handcuffed, and behind bars. Russia's Federal Security Service releasing this video showing what they say is the detainment of a 33-year-old woman with dual Russian-American citizenship. NBC News confirming her identity with a senior U.S. official as ballerina Kessnia Carolina from Los Angeles, who obtained her American citizenship in 2021. She's just a sunshine. She brings good energy, kindness, love, everywhere where she shows up. Russian officials say she was detained on suspicion of treason for allegedly raising money to support Ukraine's war effort,

adding, while in the U.S., she repeatedly took part in public actions in support of the Kiev regime. We are aware of the case. We are seeking consular assistance that has not yet been granted. The State Department now cautioning the support they can give this dual citizen, may be limited. Russia is not recognized dual citizenship, considers them to be Russian citizens first and foremost, and so oftentimes we have a difficult time getting consular assistance, but we will pursue it in all matters where a U.S. citizen is detained. Carolina detained in the Russian city of Yakaterenburg, the same city in the Ural Mountains,

where Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gerskovich was detained on charges of espionage last year. a Moscow court rejecting an appeal from his legal team, ruling the journalist will stay in custody pending a trial. Gerskiewicz and the Wall Street Journal have strongly denied the allegations of spying. We're disappointed, but not surprised by the outcome of the hearing. As you've heard me say many times from this podium, the charges against him are baseless. Russia should immediately release Evan Gerskiewicz and Paul Whelan, and the United States will continue to work towards securing both of their freedom. And Kendallanian joins us now. Ken, Ken, how will is the White House reacting to this news of yet another American being detained inside of Russia?

Alison, White House spokesman John Kirby issued a stark warning to any American or dual national who remains in Russia. He essentially said, get out now. That's what the State Department advises. They're saying Americans should not travel to Russia. They are at risk, Alison. And listening to your piece there, it was interesting to hear the State Department talk about the difficulties they have negotiating when it comes to someone who has. as a dual citizenship because Russia doesn't recognize the other citizenship. But when we're talking about people with American citizenship currently detained in Russia, we are also talking about people who solely have American citizenship.

Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan, others. You think back to WNBA star Brittany Greiner, she was exchanged for Russian arms dealer Victor Bout, and that gave a lot of families hope that maybe, particularly when it comes to Paul Whelan, that that could happen for their loved one. Is there any hope right now that we could see another exchange, be it for Paul Weillan, Evan Gershkevitz, or this latest detainee? Well, there's always hope, Ellison, and that's certainly what U.S. officials have been trying to negotiate.

The problem is that arms dealer Victor Boot was the top priority for the Russian regime to retrieve. He had been in prison for many, many years in the U.S. And there really is a lack of high-profile Russian detainees in prison in the United States. Certainly no senior Russian spies that we're aware of. It's such a dearth that, in fact, U.S. officials have been trying to search around the world to see which other countries have attractive Russian detainees that they can possibly swap. For example, Germany has a very high-profile spy in their custody.

But that's really the problem is that they keep grabbing Americans, and the United States doesn't really have Russians to exchange, but they are still trying to negotiate, Alison. Kandelanian, thank you. For more on these expected sanctions against Russia and Putin's regime, let's bring in Robert English, director of Central European Studies at the University of Southern California. Thank you so much for joining us tonight. I want to start with just this latest news we have out of Russia because you are so well-versed in Russia and this region.

What do you make of the news about this American who is detained and charged with treason? Do you think she's being used for political leverage? for political leverage and also to send a message to any others who might think of speaking out against the war supporting Ukraine if you're a Russian citizen even a dual national you're particularly vulnerable the charge could be treason but even for someone like me an academic or someone else who might have any kind of dealings with Russia the message is you better not criticize or you could get in trouble be arrested thrown in jail it's chilling And when we're talking about these new sanctions that are going to come from the U.S. against Russia,

what do you expect them to look like? What should they look like to actually have the intended impact from the U.S. side? You know, it's difficult. And what we've learned from the preceding rounds of sanctions, over a dozen, in fact, is that the sanctions themselves are fine. It's the compliance. It's the enforcement that's difficult, right? We have sanctions on individual oligarchs.

We have sanctions on specific companies, on intent. entire sectors of the economy. The problem is that people aren't observed them. They're violating. And the White House said that they're going to target two areas. They're going to target the Russian defense industrial base and Russia's sources of revenue. The former suggests to me that they need to tighten compliance on countries, on businesses that are shipping high-tech components, microchips, and advanced processors that are enabling Russia to build weapons, aircraft, missiles, and drones, they're getting through now, even though they're sanctioned. So that means perhaps countries like Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia will come

under really heavy pressure. As for oil revenues, oil and gas revenues that fuel the Russian economy, we know who's buying those, and I don't expect sanctions on China or India, but there are a lot of allied countries that through intermediaries, through third parties, are still importing Russia oil and gas, European allies. So maybe we're going to see some kind of secondary sanctions on those. Again, it's about compliance, not so much new sanctions, but tightening the ones we have. Yeah, I mean, you mentioned Russia in India, just looking at some numbers earlier today. Russia has sold $37 billion of crude oil to India. That's about 13 times higher than their pre-war numbers. That's just what they've sold since Russia launched its full-scale invasion.

of Ukraine. When you look at what's going on with China, Russia is exporting more liquefied natural gas and oil to China, so much so that they have a trading surplus. You said you don't expect it, but I mean, should the United States be trying to more directly target the governments of China and India as it relates to this in order for these to have any sort of real impact on Putin? If we weren't dealing with India and China on a whole host of other issues, then we could probably do that. The problem, however, is that we have trade with China. We want China's cooperation on North Korea. The same with India, tensions in South Asia. So it cuts both ways. We don't want to alienate those non-allied countries. We want to keep them as partners and not

turn them into outright adversaries. Another group of countries is essentially the global south, right? It's Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina, South Africa, and a whole. host of others. They're not sanctioning Russia either. And when we try to pressure them to put sanctions on Russia, their response is, what about Israel? What about all these other things? There are countries committing atrocities all over the world. You're picking on us and our trade with Russia that's lucrative. Why don't you sanction Israel? Why do you have a double standard? So it's got really complicated because of our multiple interests all over the globe. You know, last summer, I remember reading an article by an opposition leader, a Russian opposition figure, where they made this argument of essentially saying the sanctions up to last summer had done nothing to impact Russia's economy, nothing to directly impact Putin or his allies within Russia, and that they were ultimately hurting his enemies as well as civilians.

My question to you is when it comes to sanctioning an authoritarian regime, like Putin, do sanctions ever work against authoritarian governments? It's hard to make them work against an authoritarian government of a country like Russia, which has so many natural resources and is essentially autarkic in most economic areas. They grow the food they need. They have the resources to produce most of what they want to manufacture. And again, they can find ways around sanctions to import the rest. A country that's that big and a well-organized autocracy is really hard to sanction.

A smaller autocratic country with a more, you know, mono economy, you can target the one commodity that they import or the one type of manufacture that they export. Russia is big and sprawling and fairly advanced, so it is very tough. And breaking sanctions is lucrative for all these other countries and third parties. It's a game of whack-a-mole. And so far, we've been probably losing. All right. Robert English, director of Central European Studies at the University of Southern California. Thank you. We appreciate your time and insights.

You're welcome. Moving now to a troubling story out of Oklahoma, where a 16-year-old student died after a fight in a high school bathroom. Police in the city of Owasso saying they never got a call from the school and only learned about the incident once that student was at the hospital. The next day, the teen, was pronounced dead. NBC news correspondent Rahima Ellis joins us now with more. So Rahima, what do we know about this incident right now? The first thing we know about it is what you've said. This is a tragedy all the way around.

Police are not revealing exactly what the cause of death was. They're saying they're waiting for the medical examiners report, and they're also waiting for a toxicology report before they can determine cause of death of this young 16-year-old sophomore high school student. And that report, we're told, may not come for. several weeks. Has the school said anything, acknowledged the death, or released any sort of statement? This afternoon, they did release a statement.

And they're saying several things, of which we want to share some information with our viewers about that. For the first thing they're saying, is identifying where this happened. They say students were in the restroom for less than two minutes, and the physical altercation was broken up by other students, along with a staff member who was supervising outside of the restroom. They go on to say that all students involved in the altercation walked out under their own power to the assistant principal's office and the nurse's office. Now, there's even more that they add.

They say, while it was determined that an ambulance service was not required, out of an abundance of caution, it was recommended to one parent that their student visit a medical facility for further examination. That did happen. But the school goes on to say as to why the police were not notified, here's what they say. Per district protocols, the parent or guardians of students involved in a physical altercation are notified and informed of the option to file a police report should they choose. Some people might be wondering, why didn't the school file a police report if there was a fight going on in the school? Those questions may be answered in the coming weeks. But first, we're looking for what is the exact cause of death of the 16-year-old Oklahoma student.

Right, and we will stay on this story. Rahima Ellis, thank you so much. We appreciate it. Now to the race for 2024. We're counting down to this weekend's GOP primary in South Carolina. Donald Trump versus Nikki Haley. And despite her poll numbers, Haley says she is not giving up. Here's NBC's Garrett Hake. Tonight, Nikki Haley says she's digging in for a long campaign to come with her pivotal home state primary just four days away. South Carolina will vote on Saturday. Sunday, I'll still be running for president. I'm not going anywhere.

The former South Carolina governor and Trump administration UN ambassador vowing to stay in the race despite losing the first three early primary states and facing daunting Palmetto State polls that show her getting walloped by GOP frontrunner Donald Trump by a nearly two to one margin. Haley arguing former President Trump is the only Republican whom President Biden can defeat and that the country desperately needs. new leadership. Trump and Biden are two old men who are only getting older. Growing emotional speaking about her husband Michael, a National Guard officer deployed in Africa and a recent target of Trump mockery. I wish Michael was here today and I wish our children and I could see him

tonight but we can't. The Trump campaign releasing a new ad today attacking Haley over her tax policies as governor. Let's increase the gas tax by 10 cents over the next three years. Even as top Trump campaign officials argued to reporters in a memo that Haley has no mathematical path to the nomination and should be ignored as irrelevant and not newsworthy. Haley's political math problems only get worse after South Carolina votes Saturday. Nineteen states will hold their nominating contests in the next two weeks. There are no public polls that show Haley leading Trump in any of them. Ellison? Garrett Hake, thank you.

Turning now to the weather, and in southern California, tens of millions of people remain under threat of flooding and landslides as the region gets hit with even more rain. NBC news correspondent Liz Kreutz is there. Up and down California's coast, a trail of destruction as another storm tears across the state. Massive boulders falling on the famous Pacific Coast Highway blocking traffic, Fast-rising waters, trapping drivers, leading to dramatic rescues. Los Angeles has seen nearly as much rain this month than it typically does all year, more than Seattle, New Orleans, and Miami.

The deluge and storm after storm hitting California taking a toll on the region's infrastructure and some of the areas already eroding coastlines. This neighborhood in the coastal city of Rancho Palace Verdes is in an active landslide area. Officials say for years, it only moved inches a year, but now it's starting. It started moving feet. It started with a crack and then it started to sink. And now all this sinking has just been gotten worse and worse. Water mains here continue to break. The city is asking for help.

I feel very sorry for this part of our neighborhood. Nearby, the historic Wayfares Chapel now closing indefinitely due to the shifting land. More than 175 weddings here canceled. Our structures are heaving, foundations are cracking, literally everything. on our property is being affected by the ground that is moving. From falling trees to thousands of potholes to the multi-million dollar cliffside home still teetering on the edge. Tonight, much of California feeling the brunt of Mother Nature's force and this relentless winter weather.

And Liz joins us now from Los Angeles. Liz, what are the conditions like right now and how are people coping starting to clean up? Yeah, Ellison, well, I can report happily that at the moment it is dry, which is definitely a relief for all of us who have been out here in the elements the past few days, but it is a brief break. More rain is expected. The storm should be moving out by tomorrow, but the threat of these landslides, these mudsides, will continue for at least the next week. And for places like here in Palis Verdeus, this neighborhood, that church we showed you, that threat could last much, much longer. of that church, it could take years for it to be able to reopen, Allison. All right. Liz Kreutz in Los Angeles. Thank you. We appreciate you and you're reporting. For more on those severe weather threats out west, NBC News meteorologist Michelle Grossman joins me

now in studio. So Michelle, is California going to get any relief anytime soon? Hi there, Allison. Well, we're going to see that break come later tomorrow. So we still have tonight into tomorrow morning. Most of these alerts will drop off tomorrow morning, but still looking at 35 million people impacted by flood watches from Chico to Monterey, down to Santa Barbara, also San Diego. We're looking at heavy rain falling in spots, and that will continue throughout tonight into tomorrow before we start to see that relief tomorrow afternoon. We could see hourly rainfall rates of an inch or half inch per hour, especially where you see this pinker color, Los Angeles to Temecula.

I could see some really heavy rain, and it's up over that really soggy ground, as Liz mentioned, so we have the threat for landslides, mudslides. Could even see a few thunderstorms in portions of San Diego, Canada. So this is what it looks like for this evening. This very slow moving storm with lots of moisture continuing to move inland. We're going to see heavy rain containing for California overnight into tomorrow. That's going to continue the risk for flash flooding, flooding, mudslides, land slides, debris flows. And then as we go throughout tomorrow, we'll see those scattered showers lingering. But they're going to decrease as we go throughout the day. We're not expecting those heavy, heavy downpours. Just really scattered rain along the coast there. Then that heavy mountain snow into the Great Basin and also the rocky. So this is what it looks like on radar. Heavy rain falling where you see. see those darker colors, the reds, the oranges, the yellows. That's where we're seeing the heaviest rain falling. And we could see another inch or two as we go throughout the overnight hours. We are at 85% of the annual rainfall already in the month of February for downtown L.A.

Ellison? Michelle Grossman, thank you. Turning now to the Americas and the shocking allegations out of Haiti, the widow of Haiti's slain president now indicted in his murder, a judge accusing more than 50 people of being involved in the assassination nearly three years ago. The charges come coming as the country continues to face crippling unrest. NBC news correspondent Guadvanegas has this report. Tonight, a twist in the investigation into the assassination of Haiti's former president, Jovenel Moise. A judge in Haiti indicting his wife, Martine Moise, of allegedly being an accomplice in the

assassination. In a 122-page document, nearly 50 suspects named and indicted, including ex-prime minister Claude Joseph and the former chief of Haiti's national police, Leon Charles. Two years ago, the former president was shot dead after a group of armed men broken to his port of prince home while he slept in his bedroom with his wife. His wife, Martine Moise, survived the attack and was found in critical condition after the raid. I will have hope that juvenile Moise will have justice and I won't stop asking for justice until justice is fine.

But in the latest report, the judge says her statements were, quote, so tainted by contradictions that they left something to be desired and discredit her. It also accuses her of planning to replace him as president after the assassination, but did not provide direct evidence of her participation. What does this mean for the former first lady? My sense is that the former first lady is accused and arrested. She's likely to face a long prison time before. she goes up, you know, up before any kind of court system.

Paul Turner, a partner at PBYNA, who represents Moise telling NBC News, quote, Martin Moise is innocent. She has no motivation for this attack, and her inclusion is supposedly based on her imperfect memory of the most traumatic night of her life. The report comes just days after the Haitian police shut down, anti-government protesters demanding the resignation of current Prime Minister, Henry. The Caribbean country has been in a free fall and hasn't had another president since the death of Moise in 23, gang violence killing nearly 5,000 people and leaving an estimated 80% of

the capital Port of Prince under gang control. It's a humanitarian crisis that has displaced more than 300,000 people. This man saying his house was looted by bandits before being forced to seek shelter somewhere else, adding that the criminals control. control this whole area. A nation reeling with tragedy, now possibly one step closer to getting justice for their former president. And Guad vanegis joins us now. So Guad, that indictment has over 50 individuals who are named. Some of them are already jailed, but others like the first lady are being named for the very first time. What options do they have moving forward? Ellison, legally, they have the option to appeal, but it's unclear what can happen in a country like Haiti.

If someone gets arrested right now, we don't know how long they would be in jail before the process moves forward, or if this will ever go to trial, a lot of experts have called the country a failed state. Meanwhile, in the United States, there is a separate case moving forward. They've already prosecuted 11 individuals, three have been sentenced in connection to the assassination. and very important to keep in mind that in that case prosecutors have not gone after the former first lady. Ellison. A lot to watch. Guadvanegas, thank you. Still ahead tonight, breaking news on the 11-year-old girl missing in Texas, the tragic discovery late today, and the neighbor now expected to be charged with capital murder. Plus, a Utah mom who once ran the popular

YouTube channel, eight travelers, crying in court as she was sentenced. How many years she'll spend behind bars after pleading guilty to abuse. And a search underway for three suspects who robbed a New York City Gucci store at gunpoint. How much authorities say they got away with. Stay with us. Back now with an update on a Utah mom once known for her family channel on YouTube, now facing years in prison for child abuse. The vlogger tearful in court as she learned, her fate. NBC news correspondent. Valerie Castro has more on what she did and how authorities finally caught her. Welcome to district court. The now infamous mom influencer and YouTube star Ruby Frankie tearful in court as she faced her sentencing. I was so disoriented that I believe

dark was light and right was wrong. The judge handing down a sentence that could last 30 years for several counts of child abuse. The sentence will be that Ms. Frankie serve four counts for one to 15 year sentences based on her convictions for four counts of aggravated child abuse the Utah mother of six once gained notoriety for her YouTube channel eight passengers but a darker side to her parenting revealed last year when she pleaded guilty to four counts of aggravated child abuse including inflicting physical torture as part of her plea agreement Frankie admitting to forcing one child to stay outside in direct sunlight for several days, resulting in serious sunburns with blistered skin. She threatened him with suffocation and

drowning, and to prevent him from running away, she also handcuffed his wrists and ankles so tightly that they cut through the skin and damaged the tissue. Frankie telling the child he was evil and possessed and that these were acts of love. Frankie's downfall began when one of her children escaped his restraints in the backyard of her friend and business partners. Jody Hildebrandt's home. That child begging neighbors to call 911. And he asked us to call the police. So he's very afraid. Police quickly investigating, arresting Frankie and Hildebrandt, both women pleading guilty. And to count six, aggravated child abuse, a second degree felony. With my deepest regret and sorrow for my

family and my children, guilty. Frankie cooperating with authorities, they say, to spare her children the trauma of having to testify. One of the toughest things we ask victims of alleged abuse to do is testify in a trial against their abusers. Now, Frankie asking for forgiveness. I took from you, your mother. How terrifying this must have been for you. You are you so precious to me.

I'm sorry. The judge also handed down a sentence of four to 30 years for Jody Hildebrand. That's Ruby Frankie's so-called business partner. she also pleaded guilty to similar charges. Utah has what is called indeterminate sentencing. That is that range of years. At this point, the Utah Board of Pardon and Parole will ultimately decide how much time the women will serve in prison.

Alison. Valerie Castro, thank you for that. Turning now to Florida, where just tonight a city has repealed segregationist ordinances created 100 years ago that were actually still on the books. The historical change of the city's laws reverses three city ordinances that created segregated residential areas and rules that prohibited residents of the opposite race from entering into certain areas. NBC news correspondent Sam Brock

joins us now from Boynton Beach, Florida. So Sam, this has all happened really in the last hour. These ordinances, they weren't being enforced, right? But why are they? Why were they still written law? Yeah, they definitely were not being enforced, Allison. Good evening. 1964 civil rights act negated them any state or federal legislation wiping away this sort of overt discrimination would invalidate these ordinances that said it's a great question how is it possible a hundred years later that they're still on the books technically i talked to a commissioner about that and he was very frank he said i honestly don't know i mean we kind of stumbled upon this both historians probing into the city's history also there's a unity project

we're trying to create more diversity celebrate black history and vanquish these ideas and vestiges of slavery, and they found these ordinances, and let's talk about what they actually did. Two of them were created in 1924, and as you said, basically engendered a white district and a black district. And then nine years after that, another one was passed, which prevented anyone over the age of 18 from going from one to the other during evening, you know, whether that's loitering in the words of the ordinance or spending time in public spaces, it was out of the order. And the ultimate result of that for residents who lived in these spaces was either imprisonment or a $25 fine, which in today's day and age would be about $600.

But here's the most important thing. I spoke with the only African-American commissioner who lived in Boynton Beach at the time. He lived through this and said it's way more severe than that for him and for his friends. Take a listen. Some of my friends didn't always make it. Like I said, I was pretty fast, and I knew the shortcuts to get out of harm's way. but they got picked around a little bit. My ancestors, okay, they got caught in the wrong place, the wrong time,

and they were actually hung from an oak tree right there on U.S. 1. Hunting to think that was less than 100 years ago, Allison, and on Saturday, they will be burning the physical copies of the ordinance and throwing a block party to officially close this chapter of history. Sam, you have spent the day there talking to people who live in Boynton Beach. It's so moving to hear from that local politician, his experience, his history with this. What do people hope the rest of the world takes away from this now as they symbolically burn these ordinances this weekend? Two things. One, that there's other cities and towns in the state, no doubt towns across the country that still have ordinances like that on their books.

Time to take a look. And secondly, one gentleman said, long as we're going to be taking books out of classrooms and trying to rewrite the history of slavery, acts like these are more than just symbolism. Alison. Sam Brock, thank you so much. We appreciate it. When we come back, how one city is fighting the war against misinformation. False claims about migrants overtaking Tulsa, Oklahoma, spreading wildly online.

We spoke to the mayor of that city to find out what he's doing to set the record straight. Stay with us. Back now with Top Stories News Feed, and we begin with a tragic update in the story we brought you last night. Officials in Polk County, Texas, confirming the body of 11-year-old Audrey Cunningham has been found five days after she disappeared while on her way to catch a school bus. Divers finding her body in a river late today. Forty-year-old Don Stephen McDougal, who is already in custody for unrelated charges. charges will be charged with capital murder, according to the DA. A manhunt underway in New York City after a robbery at a Gucci store in broad daylight.

Surveillance video shows the mass gunmen entering the store in Manhattan, ordering customers to the ground, before ransacking the shelves, stealing about $50,000 in luxury goods. An investigation is ongoing, but police say they are looking for at least three suspects. And a violent brawl erupting at the end of a college basketball, game in San Antonio, Texas. This video, it shows the two teams, the University of Incarnate Word and Texas A&M Commerce, shaking hands after a nail-biting overtime finish when the punches just start flying. It took officials more than a minute to break up this fight. A bystander was also hit, according to ESPN announcers. Both teams have issued apologies, no word yet

on whether or not any players have been suspended. A truly wild incident caught on camera. A horse riding free on a highway in Philadelphia. Take a look at this. The horse galloping at a blazing speed on interstate 95 in the early morning hours. Authorities eventually able to capture the animal, which appeared to be okay before it was transported to a stable. A handler telling our local NBC news station, the horse escaped from a nearby urban riding club where it had only recently arrived. Next tonight, Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the center of a wave of disinformation surrounding migrants and how the city is dealing with them as rumors and disinformation spread wildly online.

NBC news correspondent Stephen Romo spoke to the mayor of Tulsa about how he's trying to fight back. Tonight, the national controversy over immigration, making ripples far from the border and sanctuary cities. I usually don't waste time responding to conspiracy. theories that are out there in the comments section. But Tulsa Mayor G.T. Bynum is speaking out now to refute false claims concerning undocumented migrants heading to and being welcomed by the city. I had other elected officials reach out to me because of concerns they'd heard from their constituents based on complete misinformation. The controversy appears to have started last November when an article was posted on Brightbart.com linking Tulsa's designation as a certified

welcoming city with sanctuary city status. In reality, the designation comes from the nonprofit, nonpartisan organization Welcoming America, which advocates for civic engagement, economic development, and leadership for immigrants in the U.S. This is something that we received a recognition for helping legal immigrants go through the citizenship process. And immediately, you had people turn around and say, well, this is recognizing that Tulsa is a sanctuary city. Many ex-users reposting the article and the headline. Pretty quickly, some users started referring to Tulsa as a sanctuary city in their posts. But that was just the beginning. Next came rumors about busloads of migrants getting dropped off in the nearby suburb of Catusa

and heading to Tulsa. When Bynum says it was actually just a local church's annual prayer walk. And more rumors, including a supposed migrant processing center with the federal government handling 15,000 cases a day. But it turned out to be the new customs facility for the Tulsa Airport, which is expanding to include international flights. The disinformation picking up so much traction, it posed a security risk at the groundbreaking. Tulsa Police Department determined of their abolition that it was bad enough that they wanted to have extra police protection. This week, Mayor Bynum posting a fact check. Making it clear Tulsa is not a sanctuary city. Rather than do this one-off over and over again, I need to put the truth out there for everybody to see at one time.

But it's not yet clear how well received that message will be, with some users on X already pushing back. It is manufactured fear that isn't based on any facts whatsoever. Stephen Romo joins us now in studio. So Stephen, even with the mayor's efforts, these conspiracy theories, they're still being spread online. Is there anything else local officials want to do or think they can do to address this? Yeah, it's alarming, right? Police even having to get involved here. There are other efforts. There's actually a proposal for an ordinance by one city council member to stop all funding from going to anyone who is undocumented in the country. The mayor actually opposes that because it seems very difficult to enforce.

What would police and firefighters do, check IDs or something? It doesn't seem enforceable. That ordinance, though, it's coming when there's so much heated rhetoric right now. It's going to have its first reading at a meeting tomorrow. So we'll see what comes of that. Many people just looking down different avenues for a solution to this continual disinformation they're seeing there. Stephen Romo, thank you. We appreciate it. Turning now to Top Story's Global Watch, starting with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and his latest, possibly final attempt to avoid extradition to the United States. The 52-year-old legal team returning to London's high court today, kickstarting a two-day hearing that will determine whether the Australian native can appeal a 2022 U.K. extradition decision.

Assange is wanted by U.S. authorities for leaking and spreading classified material via WikiLeaks. His wife, Stella, saying her husband's health has deteriorated while in prison, adding, quote, if he's extradited, he will die. And surgeries and other medical treatments canceled in South Korea after more than six. 1,600 doctors walked off the job. Trainee doctors pushing back against a recent government plan to increase medical school admissions by 2,000 starting next year. They say the schools cannot handle the increase and that more competition could lead to a shortage in resources.

The government has threatened to revoke trainees' license in order to break the strike. Coming up next, a landmark ruling out of Alabama. The Supreme Court there legally recognizing frozen embryos as children, the major implications for the rest of the country and the future of IVF. We're back now with a controversial ruling out of Alabama. The state Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos created during fertility treatments can be considered children under state law.

Critics say the ruling could have sweeping implications for fertility treatments, including whether or not patients can freeze future embryos or if unused embryos can be donated or destroyed. For more on this court case and what it means for the future of fertility treatments, I want to bring in NBC News legal analysts, Angela Sinadela. So, Angela, this decision, it was issued in a pair of wrongful death cases that were brought by a couple who had frozen embryos accidentally destroyed by a fertility clinic. Walk us through this.

What sort of precedent could this set? So this is a huge precedent. And to understand that we have to look at the context, which is that before this ruling, embryos have traditionally been considered property under the eyes of the law. That means that if somebody else accidentally or intentionally destroys that, you could sue them for property damage or negligence, et cetera. But what that also means is that there is an owner of the property so that as the mother or the father, you could choose what to do with that embryo.

Now, this ruling did not touch parental rights, but that's the obvious next step, because if you can no longer discard them, then what can you do? So that's where the major question lies. So when you look at this, I mean, this was a 7-2 rule. ruling, right? And part of what cited has been described by critics as anti-abortion language in the state's constitution. The justices, they concluded that a law from 1872 allows parents to sue over the death of a minor child and that it, quote, applies to all unborn children regardless of their location. Is this a ruling that is isolated to Alabama and directly tied to that

1872 law they're citing here? Or is this something that is more related to the Supreme court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. Yes, so you're really getting at the right point there, which is it all comes back to Roe v. Wade. Roe v. Wade was really the stopgap, and once that's gone, it's a floodgate. So with Dobbs, the majority ruling claimed that this was going to be limited only to abortion. Why? Because abortion was a destruction of an unborn being. Well, what are we seeing in Alabama here? That they are now defining unborn being that of an embryo, a frozen embryo.

They are applying the Constitution, the Equal Protection Clause, to embryos outside of a body and also inside of a body. So what does that mean? That also means that if you do genetic testing or viability testing for an embryo, then that embryo would also not be allowed to be destroyed in the same way that there's no distinction between inside of body outside, genetically not viable, et cetera. So the path seems tenuous. There's so many possibilities, but it all comes down to Roe v. Wade. One thing that did stand out to me was in the court's opinion, the chief justice actually quoted the Bible as he was writing that. He wrote in part, quote, even before birth, all human beings bear the image of God and their lives cannot be destroyed without effacing his glory. So the word separation of church and state, they don't explicitly appear in the Constitution right, but it is implied, and I think there is longstanding legal precedent to suggest that that is what the establishment clause is in the First Amendment, right?

I'm curious when we think about where this goes from here. I have a couple questions. One, is it normal to see such a high-ranking judge in a high-profile ruling directly quote a piece of religious scripture? And then, two, when we're thinking ahead to appeals, is that something, that sort of language and maybe the establishment clause and First Amendment issues? Is that something that we could see a legal challenge, like an appeal brought using that? So I have to say this is really location specific.

So here in New York, we would almost never see that. In the South, sometimes we do. And that's because the Establishment Clause specifically prohibits Congress, the federal government, from passing these laws and thus incorporating state and church together. But that is not something that the judiciary is explicitly a part of. So judges have often put in religious sentiments or alluded to God in their decisions. That wouldn't necessarily nullify it, as long as it's based in some legal standard here. But it's possible it could be brought in as part of the appeal.

And that's because judges enforce laws, they don't make them, presumably. But do you expect this to possibly make it up to the U.S. Supreme Court? Yes, it sounds like totally right for the Supreme Court to weigh in on. But given the extraordinary nature of their Dobbs decision last year, it's also possible they might want to wait a bit and let states make their own headway before jumping in yet again. NBC News Legal Analyst, Angelus and Adela, thank you so much. We appreciate it, as always. When we come back, the failed lie detector test that cost $25,000, the first and second place

finishers at a fishing competition stripped of their titles because they could not pass a polygraph test. We will hear from those teams about that prize money that they couldn't quite reel in. Finally tonight, fishing for the truth, a possible cheating scandal rocking the world of competitive fishing. Two teams stripped of more than $30,000 in prize money. after failing lie detector test. Tonight, why those competitors are insisting,

it is all one big misunderstanding. Tonight, outraged fishermen in murky waters. What do my children think? They think I was lying. After failing polygraph test, disqualifying them from winning over $30,000 in first and second place prize money awarded in a Connecticut fishing tournament.

It casts doubt on my integrity. Tim Valley caught a hefty blue fin, just over 15 pounds that would have won his team the second place prize of $7,500. Kevin was fishing to my left. Rick was fishing to my right. I was feeling very lucky. His captain reflecting on what a win would have meant to him. We were so excited to finally get a win because I've been going. I've been doing this tournament since I was a little kid. The initial first place winners meeting the same fate, also failing a lie detector test, giving up bragging rights and a prize of $25,000. From the get-go, people didn't believe it just could have lived a very large fist.

Anyone could have caught that fish. Benny Sheen reeled in a massive 20-plus pound fish. The 41-year-old competition, known as the greatest bluefin tournament on Earth, stipulates that in addition to weight verification and consideration of the condition of the catches, a lie detector test is also required to ensure there was no cheating. I run the boat. I told them the position where we caught the fish, that we have all, everybody in the boat witnessed the catch. The teams involved say they don't know why they failed the polygraph.

For some reason, he failed the lie detector test. I don't understand how it's even possible. They have it on video. The picture is everything. He gets disqualified. The lie detector tests are in place in theory to keep the contest fair in a sport that has been rocked by high-profile cheating scandals. We've got weights and fit. There we go. Back in 2022, a Cleveland team was disqualified for stuffing their catch with lead balls. And last year, a South Carolina team eliminated after officials spotted a shark bite on a 620-pound marlin, an injury that could have made catching the fish easier.

It would appear that this fish has been bitten by a shark. But the fishermen back in Connecticut questioned the need for a lie detector test. And according to forensic psychiatrist Charles Morgan, they might be catching on to something. The problem with that kind of a test is that you have lots of chances to look guilty when you're not. If I were in their issues, I'd challenge that. I mean, I wouldn't accept that. Catching the fish seems to be the easy part. Passing that polygraph test is the hard part. Thank you so much for watching Top Story. For Tom Yamis, I'm Ellison Barber in New York. Stay right there. More news now is on the way.