Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Episode Date: February 22, 2023

The explosive new details coming directly from the foreperson of a Georgia grand jury investigating former President Trump, more than 40 million under alert over a historic winter storm spanning multiple states, how paramedics in Florida declared a men dead only for him to be found alive, deadly flooding in Brazil, and new data that suggests a four-day work week could improve productivity.

Tonight, breaking news, the explosive new details coming directly from the grand jury investigating former President Trump, the forewoman of the Georgia grand jury examining efforts to overturn the 2020 election, speaking on camera exclusively to NBC News, revealing she and her peers recommended indictments for more than a dozen people. But does that list include Donald Trump, where the investigation heads from here? Also tonight, the historic winter storm, more than 40 million Americans. under alert from the West Coast all the way up through New England. Minneapolis bracing for one of the worst storms in its history. Al Roker tonight standing by with the full forecast.

Biden versus Putin, the two leaders delivering dueling addresses ahead of the one-year anniversary of the war. Biden, after his historic visit to Kiev, speaking to a massive crowd in Poland, declaring Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia. Putin announcing plans to leave a key nuclear treaty, have full coverage from Moscow and Warsaw tonight. Toxic politics, outrage growing in Ohio, weeks after that disastrous train derailment leaked dangerous chemicals into the air and onto the ground. The governor drinking the tap water there, insisting it safe, what the EPA is now

ordering the rail operator responsible for this to do. Plus, Alec Murdoch's surviving son taking the stand, testifying in his father's defense, how the 26-year-old described his dad's behavior on the night his mother and brother were killed. And when animals attack a woman in Florida killed by an alligator and another in Alaska chased down by a moose will show you the wild incidents that have two communities on edge. Top story starts right now. Hey, good evening. We begin top story tonight with the dramatic new details revealed in an NBC News TV exclusive, the forewoman of the Georgia grand jury investigating former President Trump sitting down for her first on-camera interview late today,

discussing at length what is typically a highly secretive process. The grand jury for the last eight months has been operating behind closed doors, tasked with determining if former President Trump or his associates broke the law in their efforts to meddle in the 2020 election. The critical piece of that evidence that launched the initial probe a recorded phone call between Trump and the Georgia Secretary of State in January of 2021. On the call, a newly defeated Trump heard saying, quote, I just want to find 11,780 votes, which would be enough to overturn those results in that state.

Now, for the first time after hearing testimony from 75 witnesses, the four-person you see here here telling our Blaine Alexander that the grand jury has recommended indictments for at least a dozen people, though we do not know yet whether Donald Trump is on that list. Here's Blaine with that exclusive TV interview. After eight months of secrecy, tonight, a rare look inside the Georgia special grand jury charged with investigating whether former President Trump broke the law in trying to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state. What do you want people to know about this process and about your work? That really, really, when it came down to it, we were just people looking

into something, and that's worth it. Emily Coors served as four-person. She is limited in what she can share. A judge ordered deliberations must stay under wraps. But Coors confirms the jurors did recommend indictments against multiple people. It's not a short list. So we're talking about more than a dozen people? I would say that.

Yes. Are these recognizable names, names that people would know? There are certainly names that you would recognize, yes. She would not say whether that includes the former person. president but did say this. I don't think that there are any giant plot twists coming. I don't think that there are any like giant. That's not the way I expected this to go at all. I don't think that's in store for anyone. All right, Blaine Alexander joins us now from Atlanta, Georgia tonight. Blaine, walk our viewers through what happens next. It's now up to the district attorney

there in Fulton County. That's right. It's a square. in her hands, Tom. Emily's role and the role of the rest of the grand juries has come to an end. That grand jury has been dissolved. So now they've written a report. It's nine pages long. It's been presented to the district attorney. She can choose whether or not to follow those recommendations. But ultimately, it is her decision to decide who, if anybody, should face indictments, Tom. All right, Blaine Alexander, with a very big interview tonight here on Top Story. Blaine, we appreciate that. For more insight on the Georgia grand jury report, NBC News legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuaid. And political report, and political report,

reporter Stephen Fowler from Georgia Public Broadcasting, who broke the story of the tape of Trump's call with Georgia election officials, demanding they find him more votes to change the outcome of that election. And, guys, before we get started in this panel, I actually want to go to that soundbite now, I want to roll that piece of tape, that recorded conversation that set all this in motion. Let's listen to it now. But in Fulton, where they dumped ballots, you will find that you have many that aren't even signed, and you have many. that are forgeries, okay? You know that. You know that. You have no doubt about that. And you will find, you will be at 11,779 within minutes because Fulton County is totally corrupt. All I want to do is this. I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more that we have, because we won the state.

And to be very clear, the allegations from the former president never turned out to be true, at least, that we have seen yet so far. Barbara, I'd like to start with you. As a news organization, we always want to shed some light, especially in a case as big as this one. Usually grand juries operate in secret. Some viewers may be confused. The work of this grand jury has concluded. So did the foreman, the four woman, I should say, we just heard from in the interview with Blaine

or in any other interviews because she spoke with the New York. Times and the Associated Press as well. Did she compromise any part of this case or was she operating within the instructions, as you know them historically in these situations? Well, it sounds like she followed the letter of the law. In Georgia, what the law says is that the jurors shall keep secret the deliberations of the grand jury. So unless she said, here's who we decided to indict or here was the vote, I think there's an argument that she did not violate those. But, you know, in terms of the spirit of the rules, I think, disclosing that more than a dozen people have been recommended to be indicted.

She talked in some detail about the witnesses. I think that violates the spirit of the rule. Now, I don't think it's going to be in any way problematic in the case because this is just a preliminary recommendation. It is now up to the prosecutor and then another grand jury to decide whether those charges are filed. But it does seem like this juror is taking that rule to the extreme in sharing as much as she believes she can. Stephen, we heard some of this in Blaine's story, but I want to go back to it for our viewers. If we can go back to that part where she talks about the people that possibly may be indicted in this. Let's listen to that.

We saw 75 people, and there are six pages of the report cut out, I think, if you look at the page numbers. So it's not... So we're talking about more than a dozen people? I would say that. Yes. Are these recognizable names, names that people would know? There are certainly names that you would recognize, yes. There are names also that you might not recognize. Stephen, though you could interpret her comments to the New York Times and the AP and us in different ways,

and I'm sure people will be parsing her words and trying to look for any type of signs there. Here's an example from New York Times, what she told the New York Times. She told the New York Times this, you're not going to be shocked. It's not rocket science, adding, You won't be too surprised. So, Stephen, break it down for our viewers on the top line of her remarks here, which they are recommending multiple indictments here. Do you get a sense that we're talking about some very big fish and possibly the former president? Well, look, it's not going to be fully known who exactly is going to be indicted unless and until Fulton County District Attorney Fonie Willis brings charges.

What we do know is that the scope of this investigation was broad. The efforts to overturn the election in Georgia were broad, and it ranged from the people that served as so-called fake electors that claimed to be Georgia's presidential electors when they weren't, which were, you know, Republican grassroots activists and even the party chairman, all the way up to the former president of the United States. And in those comments, I mean, there are some names that are more recognizable, like Rudy Giuliani, could be one of them, for example. He's President Trump's former attorney.

He was on TV a lot. David Schaefer, the chair of the Georgia Republican Party, had a high-profile name and position. And there are plenty of people that were both witnesses and people potentially that could face charges that people don't know unless they were really in the minutia and the weeds of all of these efforts to do things in Georgia. So I wouldn't necessarily read too much into it about what that may or may not mean for Donald Trump, namely because even if the special purpose grand jury recommends, yes, we should indict the former president or no, you shouldn't indict the former president.

to the prosecutor to decide. Well, Stephen, and tell us a little bit about this Fulton County, DA. Is this a fight you think she's willing to have? Well, I think it might be. 2024, obviously, Donald Trump is running for reelection, and Fannie Willis will also be on the ballot again. This is one of her more high-profile cases that she has taken on since coming in to being the DA.

And so there are a lot of eyes and a lot of pressure on making the right decisions in her mind her mind of what she can actually bring forth and what she can actually win, because it's one thing to issue indictments against somebody. It's another to have a successful conviction. And so she's got to weigh the evidence. She's got to weigh what the special grand jury recommends with what she thinks she can actually bring forward. And since this is such a complex, complicated topic, you know, she's not necessarily going to put all of her cards out on the table at the beginning because she might have to start small and work her way up into something

bigger, especially if she's trying to say make the argument that the former president of the United States led a vast conspiracy to defraud voters. Barbara, what stood out for you? We know, according to some of the reporting from the forewoman in some of her interviews, at least one witness was granted complete immunity. What stood out for you the most in her comments tip to the various news organizations? Well, one of the things she said, I think, is very interesting, which is a good reminder that what's known in the public is not the whole case, that there is more evidence than has been publicly disclosed. For example, she said they did start with that Donald Trump call

that you played the 11,780 votes, but that they heard multiple phone conversations with Donald Trump that we have not previously heard before. And so it'll be really interesting to hear whether those other calls made the case worse for Donald Trump or in some way exonerating. She also testified that she thought that there were many witnesses who were reluctant to testify until they were granted immunity and then became very forthcoming. And so, So I think that sort of suggests that witnesses who had something to hide may have been more tight-lipped. And then upon being granted immunity were more forthcoming. And so I think that could play into that allegation that some witnesses lied to them.

It sounds like there is certainly wrongdoing there that has been exposed by this grand jury. And that is certainly consistent with her reporting that the grand jury is recommending more than a dozen people be charged. Because you weren't a part of the grand jury. I know you're working with crumbs here, but I do want to get your opinion since you're a former U.S. attorney. Have you seen enough evidence and now hearing from this four woman? Do you get a sense that you think the former president will be indicted or is it too hard to tell at this point?

At least a recommendation. I should say the recommendation. Sure. I think it's too hard to tell. But, you know, if you're a betting person, it might be a safe bet to say that based on her answers, it's a reasonable inference that Donald Trump is among the. the two dozen people, or the more than a dozen people. And I based that on that quote that you just mentioned about the, it's not rocket science, that answer came in response directly to the

question of, is Donald Trump one of the people you recommend indictment for? And so that response, although, you know, perhaps deliberately vague, you know, suggests to me that once we hear, we've heard about the call, it doesn't take rocket science. It sounds to me like that is what she is hinting at, though, of course, she doesn't come out and say so. And so, until we know what Fannie Willis decides and what the charge in grand jury decides, then even this recommendation is not relevant. Yeah, and then, Stephen, before we go, give us a state of play about what's happening in Fulton County right now.

I mean, is it weighing on that county prosecutor's office that the state of the 2024 campaign, the future direction of the United States, is potentially all weighing in on this case? Absolutely. I mean, look, Fonnie Willis and her office said, throughout the investigation, at least the parts there were in public court hearings, that she did not want to politicize this investigation. But it inherently is a political investigation

because it's investigating Republican efforts to overturn the election by Republican officials, Republican candidates, and the Republican president of the United States. That said, the Venn diagram of what the special purpose grand jury recommends be done, what the DA wants to do, and what the DA will end up doing might not necessarily have that much overlap when all of a sudden done because there are these bigger fixture, the bigger things at play to think about. Some of the people that were fake electors, for example, are now office holders. And now if she goes after them, it looks like she's targeting people that are in elected office. Some of them also are running for office in the future, so it might hamper their campaign

or be seen as trying to take them out of the running for politics. So there are things far beyond just the black and white letter of the law. that have to be considered in this. And it's also why we really haven't seen a whole lot of quick movement on this despite 2020 being now two plus years in the mirror. That's a great point. Stephen and Barbara, thank you for a very smart conversation tonight here on Top Story. We do not want to turn our other major headline tonight, the massive winter storm system set to slam the country. Nearly 60 million people under winter alerts with blizzard warnings issued for parts of the Rockies, Northern Plains, and Upper Midwest. Minneapolis,

Now, racing for historic snowfall, possibly its biggest snowstorm in more than a decade. Gabe Gutierrez there tonight with the latest. Gabe, what are the conditions looking like right now? I know it's been snowing all night, but it looks like it might have just stopped a little bit, right? Hey there, Tom. Well, it actually started snowing just a few hours ago. It still is now. It might be hard to see in the camera, but it's expected to continue through the night.

Then a lull tomorrow morning before that second wave of snow starts hitting this area. Temperatures are in the teens right now, but the wind show feels like the single digits. And right now, the Twin Cities is in the bullseye. Tonight, the National Weather Service is warning that a historic winter storm is on the move, already starting to pummel Minnesota with what could be up to two feet of snow over the next three days. The governor issuing emergency executive orders to prepare the National Guard. We don't overreact, but we also understand that weather can be dangerous. so we take it seriously.

The winter wallop slogging across the country from Washington State in Idaho to North Dakota, where there was chaos on I-29, icy, treacherous roads, snarling semis. While in Colorado and Wyoming, white-out conditions. Even in the Twin Cities, the region used to wicked weather, this snowfall could be one of the top five largest in history.

You can see a lot of red on the map. That's major impact. from this winter storm over the next one to three days. The last time Minneapolis saw this much snow was in 2010 when the roof of the Metrodome collapsed. Now the rush is on to prepare for this latest winter blast. Travel coast to coast could be impacted for the rest of the week. Weather is a bit unpredictable, and so we're asking everybody to plan ahead. All right, Gabe Gutierrez joining us again from the Twin Cities tonight.

Gabe, what are officials in that city most concerned about? I mean, it is winter, it is Minneapolis. They get a lot of snow, but apparently they haven't gotten snow like this in a long time. Yeah, more than a decade, Tom, as we heard in our report. And actually, you just see some of these joggers, these runners behind me. The people in Minnesota, they are used to winter storms. But this one, as we said, is expected to be the worst in more than a decade. But the National Weather Service here is warning that especially into tomorrow, late tomorrow and into Thursday, travel in this area.

is set to be, quote, impossible. So they're urging people to stay home and they expect potentially some highway road closures as the main part of this storm sweeps across the area, Tom. Gabe Gutier is from the Twin Cities where that snow has been coming down all night. For more on this intensifying winter storm system, Al Roker joins us now in studio.

So, Al, what's the latest on that track? Tom, we've got just about everything on the maps tonight. You can see on the satellite, we've got rain and snow. We've got some mixed precipitation along the Pacific, northwest, northern California coast, and that heavy snow where Gabe is dealing with right now, and it's just going to keep coming down. In fact, we've got right now wind advisories that are starting to make their way. We're talking wind advisory stretching from California all the way into the Ohio River Valley. 73 million people.

We're talking wind gusts of 70 miles per hour, down branches, power outage is possible as well. And then we talk about winter weather advisories, alerts, blizzard war, mornings from the Dakotas into Minnesota, on into Wyoming, 58 million people stretching from California all the way to New England. And if that's not enough, tomorrow. We've got 8 million folks from Quincy, Illinois to Wichita Falls, under severe weather risks, wind gusts of up to 60 miles per hour, tornadoes possible, and hail. So when all of a sudden done, by Thursday, the heaviest rain is going to be in the upper Mississippi River Valley,

one to two, maybe even three inches. Now, between the snow and the rain, we've got an area of ice, a significant area of icing from New England all the way into Iowa. Some places as much as a half an inch of ice, that's going to bring down power lines, make treacherous travel, and airport delays are going to be numerous. And then again, the snow upwards of 25 inches in Minneapolis, heavy amounts in the Rockies as well. And by the way, take a look at what of these temperatures, these temperatures we're going to be seeing down through the Gulf. We've got this big ridge of high pressure pumping up that warm moist air. We're talking temperatures between 10 and 30 degrees above average. In fact, over 100 records possible by Thursday.

And in fact, Thursday in Florida, Orlando could see 91. That could break their all-time February high. Potential record lows out west with even snow by Thursday morning or into Friday. San Francisco, lower elevations of Los Angeles, and snow. in the Pacific Northwest as well. Everything but the kitchen sink, Tom. You said it right, Al. Busy week for you and your team.

All right, Al, thank you for that. We do move on now to Poland where President Biden delivered a major address in Warsaw aiming a fierce attack at Russian President Vladimir Putin. This coming after the President's surprise visit to Ukraine declaring that as we come upon the first anniversary of the brutal war there, they could report Keev Stans Tall. NBC's Kristen Welker.

Has more from Warsaw. Tonight in Poland, President Biden addressing a flag-waving crowd of thousands with an unmistakable message to Russian President Putin and the rest of the world. Ukraine will never be a victory for Russia. Never. Just a day after his surprise visit to Ukraine's capital, where he stood side-by-side with President Zelensky, President Biden casting the conflict as a battle for democracy,

praising Ukrainian strength and the allies resolve. I can report, Keith stands strong. Keith stands proud. It stands tall. And most important, it stands free. The president's fiery speech, a direct response to Putin. Autocrats only understand one word. No, no, no.

Who gave a defiant address in Moscow hours earlier, falsely accusing the West of planning to attack Russia before the war began. The West was not plotting to attack Russia, as Putin said today. President Putin chose this war. Earlier today, Mr. Biden meeting with the President of Poland, a NATO country that's taken in 1.5 million Ukrainian refugees fleeing the Russian invasion. The President's message today aimed not just abroad, but an American public whose support for the war is softening.

Nearly half of Americans on our latest NBC News poll say they don't want the U.S. to keep giving Ukraine money and weapons, and just 41% approve of President Biden's handling of Ukraine. 50% of Americans disagree of President Biden's handling of the war in Ukraine. Why do you think that is? Well, it's difficult to know exactly why Americans would think that way. But, again, we believe that most Americans understand what's at stake here. A moment, President Biden calls a test for the ages.

All right, Kristen Walker, joins us now live from Warsaw tonight. Kristen, the president's speech sounding like an indictment on President Putin. It really did, Tom. It was extraordinary. And President Biden also accused Putin of crimes against humanity and Russia of abhorrent behavior. He announced a new round of sanctions, Tom. And this comes as he's going to be meeting with key allies in the region tomorrow. Really high-stakes trip and a high-stakes speech today. Kristen, you know, I was watching your report and I was sort of stunned by the images.

You mentioned there were thousands there. that we're watching President Biden's speech. It almost felt like a campaign speech you'd see somewhere in the United States, except he was in Poland, sort of rallying Ukraine. How did that speech come together? It's a really good point. The optics here were so powerful,

and there's no doubt that the White House wanted this event to feel like a unifying event. It's not just the optics, though, Tom. Think about the rhetoric that President Biden used today. He talked about this as being a battle for democracy itself. That is something that is so familiar, something that we have heard from this president on the campaign trail as well. So there were certainly some moments that did have that tone of being potentially like a campaign event. But again, President Biden trying to cast this war in Ukraine as something much larger.

The broader goal here to keep allies unified and frankly to keep a very sharply divided Congress and American public. UNified in this fight to try to isolate Russia and support Ukraine. 2023, and it almost felt like a speech you would have seen back in the Cold War. All right, Kristen, welcome with a lot of great reporting for us tonight here on Top Story. Christian, we thank you for that. And a far different perspective on this conflict from Vladimir Putin. Today, he defended Russia in his annual state of the nation addressed, but place blame for the war on the West.

Here, Simmons, is on the ground for us in Moscow again tonight. President Putin and President Biden agreed on just one word. today, war. Putin, who calls his invasion of Ukraine, a special military operation, today branding it a war with the West, a war for Russia's survival, saying the West, not Russia, caused the conflict. They started the war, and we used the force in order to stop it. His state of the Union address, uncompromising, suspending Russia's cooperation in the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty with the U.S., never once mentioning President Biden

by name, nor that surprise visit to Kiev 24 hours ago, which pro-Kremlin commentators here argue shows Ukraine's government is a tool of the West. The elites of the West are not hiding their goals. They want to turn a local conflict into a phase of global conflict. The audience applauded 53 times and gave him four standing ovations. But tonight, outside Moscow's world-famous Bolshoi theatre, we replayed Putin saying the West started the war. You don't want to talk about politics?

I hate politics. In Russia now, opinions are the front line, so most are keeping their heads down. You don't want to talk about politics? Is you need to do. I'm sorry. Okay. Tonight, so much focus here also turning to China, Beijing's most senior diplomats in Moscow, meeting with President Putin's security adviser.

Our relations are as strong as the mountain, he said. Keir Simmons joins us tonight from Moscow. Kier, in that speech, Putin said Russia is suspending its participation in the new Star Treaty with the U.S., which has gone under the most headlines. Explain to our viewers why this is an actual cause for international concern. Well, you know, Tom, it is the last nuclear arms control agreement in the world, the only one left standing, if you like. So it is a big impact. Perhaps it won't have an impact on security in the years to come immediately. And it wasn't working so well in recent years because of COVID.

But it definitely is symbolic. It definitely demonstrates President Putin's determination to wrench Russia away from the West and get closer to China. And of course, in the end, if the two countries with the biggest nuclear arsenals in the world can't keep agreeing to control that power, well, then that is dangerous. You know, Keir, one of the benefits of having you report from Russia for us is that you always get a sense of how the Russian people feel about this war. It was difficult this time in your reporting assignment.

But what is your sense? You know, it's been a year. Of course, there's state-run TV that has a big influence on the way Russian people think, but at the same time, there's been more and more Russian bodies being sent home. Yeah, that's right. But Russia is changing, Tom. Wars, and of course President Putin called it a war today. Wars change countries, and that is true for Russia as much as any place.

Now, you know, Tom, you shouldn't rush to the conclusion that just because Russian families are having sons and husbands sent home in body bags, that that is necessarily turning them against what President Putin is doing in Ukraine. It could just as easily be making families rally to President Putin and be more angry with the West, more angry with Ukraine. You definitely, in this past year, you definitely get a sense of tension here, of a changing atmosphere. And remember, many Russians who oppose President Putin and opposed what's happening in Ukraine,

have left this country, and that makes a difference, too, Tom. Here's Simmons for us tonight. Kier, we appreciate all your reporting from Russia. And back here at home, we have new details on the growing outrage over that train derailment at East Palestine, Ohio. President Biden tonight releasing a series of tweets about the disaster while overseas, Riding in part on Twitter will continue to hold rail companies accountable when they fail to put safety first. But first, we've got Norfolk Southern's mess to clean.

The president adding, I want affected residents to know that we've got your back. That rail company now on the hook for the cleanup. But as Ron Allen reports, many residents are still concerned about their health. Tonight, the EPA ordering the rail company responsible for the massive fiery derailment and its aftermath to clean up the disaster site and pay for it. Norfolk Southern will pay for cleaning up the mess that they created. If they don't, the EPA says the company could be fined up to three times whatever that cleanup costs. Is this action tough enough? Oh, it is. We're going to demonstrate to this community that Norfolk Southern will be held accountable.

In a statement, the company is saying we are committed to thoroughly and safely cleaning the site. We're going to continue our financial assistance to the residents of this community. The company says it's reimbursed or committed $6.5 million so far. Meanwhile, officials continue trying to reassure residents the air and water are safe, and that testing will continue indefinitely. But many residents still worry about health problems. Don't feel good, can't breathe, heads ringing, ears hurt, my teeth hurt. We caught up with Mark Rothenberg outside a clinic that opened today.

I was advised that they were going to do a medical examination, ask questions, and it was simply just a survey. And he has doubts about today's EPA order. Do you think that the rail company is going to be held responsible? If it's up to the politicians, no. Because they're going to somehow, I think, get away with it. Along with the EPA action, the governors of Ohio and Pennsylvania both saying they're looking into whether to file criminal charges against Norfolk Southern.

Tom? All right, Ron Allen for us. When we come back, Murdoch's son takes the stand. The only surviving child of the disgraced former attorney testifying on behalf of his father. What he revealed about the night, his brother and mother were killed. You'll hear it. Plus, a massive explosion caught on camera.

Look at this in Florida. What authorities say caused that deadly blast? And the major recall affecting parents with young children tonight, the popular brand of formula that could contain traces of dangerous bacteria. Stay with us. Top Story just getting started on this Tuesday. We're back down with the latest from the double murder trial in South Carolina. Disgraced attorney Alex Murdoch's surviving son Buster taking the stand, delivering much-anticipated

testimony in defense of his father the night he learned of his family's deaths. Katie Beck tonight on what we heard in court. inside the courtroom for 21 days buster murdock listening to painful testimony i go about buster tuesday more than 60 witnesses later alec murdoch's surviving son on the stand describing his father on the night of the murders well was his demeanor yeah his demeanor was he was destroyed he's heartbroken i walked in the door and saw him and um gave him a hug and just Just broken down. Could he speak?

Not really. If you're crying? Yes, sir. Showing little emotion, Buster's testimony framing details that prosecutors highlighted as questionable as normal, saying it was common for his father to shower and change clothes after working outside in the heat and routine to find guns left around the property. And offering a differing opinion on the I Did Him So Bad comment, investigators claim to have heard Alex say in an interview referring to Paul's murder.

What'd your dad say? Said they did them so bad. They did him so bad. Is that the first time you'd heard him say they did him so bad? No, sir. Later on the stand for the defense, a forensic engineer, testifying about the upward trajectory of the bullets that killed Paul. It just makes it very unlikely that a tall person made that shot.

Prosecutors attacking his credibility as an expert witness. You don't even know the cone and the rate of expansion. of a shotgun. How can you give that opinion? You don't need to know that. Buster Murdoch testified he was aware of his father's opioid use and says he went to a detox facility in 2018 to try and get help. But Buster said he was unaware of any of Murdoch's alleged financial crimes until after the murders. Tom? Okay, Katie Beck for us for more on the defense's case and what today's testimony means for this trial overall. I want to bring an attorney Angela Senadella, also known as the lawyer Angela on TikTok with more than one million followers.

Angela, today was a critical day for the defense. How would you say the son's testimony affected this case and did it help the defense? So emotionally, I think it was very impactful. There is nobody who is more sympathetic, maybe in this world today than Buster. He lost his brother, he lost his mother, he lost his grandfather in the span of a few days, and then his father is on trial for killing two of those three. I mean, it is tragic. So when you have someone on that stand, the jury wants to believe him.

If he is showing his support, emotionally, it's huge. But when you're talking about emotion here, Angela, it seemed to me, and you watched more than I did, he seemed very stoic. So how does that impact yours? So I thought he felt very believable. He didn't just make up things on the stand. Sometimes he said, I don't know when he didn't know the answer. That said rationally, so emotionally it's huge. But ultimately, in deliberations, are they going to go back and say anything?

He actually said, move the needle. Maybe not. If you look at what the defense asked him, I felt they even left. some big holes. They didn't ask about whether or not his father's alibi was in question, which is, I believe, the crux of the case. Right. And what do you think about this expert witness, the forensic engineer, if you will, saying that whoever shot the mother and the son had to be shorter than Alex Murdoch? So I think in the courtroom it was very impactful, but ultimately juries like all of us are savvy enough to know that any experts can be paid. And it was

established in the trial today that he was paid $350 an hour for an extended period of time. So that said, I think it really impacts how you view all of this. This is the first time I check in with you, and I know you've been following the case from the get-go. What is your sense of how the jury's going to find this case? I mean, had they poked holes in the prosecution's case or not really? Okay. To begin, the prosecution had a weak case. There's no murder weapon. There is no eyewitness. There is no cameras. There's nothing at the scene. To me, the crux is the Snapchat voice. That's the thing. That's the alibi, right? And so the question is, in that audio, was that third person Alex Murdoch or not? So if I were the defense attorney, I would

have asked Buster. That would have been very powerful testimony today. Was that your father's voice or not? The fact that he didn't ask that question to me says a lot. Says a lot. They probably knew the answer, right? They probably didn't like it. Possibly. Possibly. All right. Angela, thanks so much. Always love having you on. When we come back, the major blow to the Mormon Church. Have you heard about this one? The organization accused of hiding an investment fund worth, get this, $32 billion to find they've now been ordered to pay. That's next. All right, we are back now with Top Stories News Feed, and we begin with a deadly explosion at a welding business in Florida. New video captured on a ring cam shows the explosion in

Medley about 14 miles outside of Miami. people were killed and three others injured. The cause of this blast is still under investigation. The Mormon Church being fined $5 million accused of hiding funds behind shell companies. The SEC alleging the church illicitly hit $32 billion investments behind those companies from 1997 to 2019. It also accused the Church of going to great lengths to avoid disclosing investments. In a statement, the Church says it has cooperated with the government. And a popular baby food brand recalling 145,000 cans of formula over fears of bacterial contamination. Consumer goods company, Reckett, says two batches of the Enfamil simply plant-based formula

may have come into contact with the germ naturally found in the environment. The CDC says infections from the germ in infants can be deadly. So far, no illnesses have been reported. We have much more information on our website, NBCNews.com. Okay, we want to turn down to a shocking medical mistake in Florida, a Clearwater Man, pronounced dead by medics after suffering from cardiac arrest to only later be found still alive. NBC's Guadvenegas has more on how this mix him could ever happen. In a matter of life and death, tonight two medics suspended after pronouncing 66-year-old Thomas Maxwell dead when he was still alive.

Maxwell suffering a cardiac arrest when paramedics were called to the scene. His daughter, Phoebe, insisted he was still breathing, describing the encounter with first responders, she felt was hasty, and they made the wrong call. He just squatted down by my dad, and I'm like, he's still alive. This was his arm. He went like this. Like, okay, I'm sorry, ma'am, he's gone. Phoebe told our affiliate WFLA, the EMTs called the sheriff's department and left the home when the officer arrived.

But minutes later, the Pinellas County Deputy noticed a breath. And the sheriff came in and said, then we called other medics. And you're right, they found a slight pulse. In a statement to NBC News, the Clearwater Fire Chief said, quote, behalf of the city, I apologize for the actions and the inactions of our crew during this incident. We have strict policies and procedures in place that were not followed according to our preliminary review. He says the two medics have been clinically suspended and can't provide any patient care while though comprehensive review proceeds. Incidents of this kind are rare,

but they're not unheard of. It might happen, you know, once a year per se, once every other year. It doesn't happen commonly. But just weeks ago, an 82-year-old woman, was pronounced dead at a nursing home in New York, only to be found alive later by funeral home staff. I cannot even imagine you. Awful. And just days before that, a 66-year-old woman in Iowa was declared dead by a nurse

and also found alive later when funeral home staff says she was gasping for air when they unsiped the body bag. Just so you know, this female was transported their deceased, and she is not. Experts like emergency physician, Dr. Raid Vukmere, say every case is different and variables can change, but that they are always looking for signs of life. There are three components of neurologic response, heartbeat and cardiac activity. And then lastly, we look at sort of their respirations. Does the patient respond? Is their heart beating? And are they breathing on their own? He also says he likes to take a short time out, wait a bit, and do a second check to avoid what happened to Thomas Maxwell in third.

Florida. The fire department telling us today he's receiving attention at a local hospital and still alive. Okay, Gua joins us now from Miami. Gua, we just heard you give us an update there on that man who they thought was dead, clearly alive. Do we know anything more about him? Tom, his daughter told our affiliate WFLA that he is an intensive care and he's receiving help from his speech therapist because of slowed speech. She does worry that because of this incident he may suffer from long-term effects, Tom. Okay, Guad vanegas for us. Guad, we do appreciate all of that.

Now, the top story's Global Watch, rescuers in the Philippines are climbing an active volcano in a daring attempt to find the wreckage of a helicopter crash. Take a look at this. Officials say four people were in the helicopter when it took off from an airport in the Al Bay Province before going down. Moments later on that volcano,

officials say they believe the crash site is about 4,000 feet above sea level, No word yet if there are any survivors, but they are trying to find them. And a major wildfire in eastern Cuba is now threatening a national park there. Video shows the fire burning in the Benad de Maheri region. This is about 500 miles east of Havana and just south of the great city of Banes. The fire has already burned nearly 400 acres of land. About 600 residents have evacuated.

Officials say more than 80 wildfires have burned in Cuba since the start of the year. Okay, time now for the Americas, where the death toll continues to climb in Brazil, as rescue crews worked tirelessly to find survivors caught in devastating floods and landslides. NBC's Valerie Castro reports. Catastrophic rainfall slamming Southeast Brazil, now killing at least 46 people. Entire roads washed away in the downpours. Donations now rushing into the state of Sao Paulo as hundreds of rescue workers continue searching for survivors. Landslides and flooding followed the huge weekend deluge.

The application is very rapid. Or you gore, or you morgue, and you're not to carry nothing, just your life, so, that's the principal, right? Sao Paulo's governor saying in a statement that nearly 800 people are left homeless and at least 1,700 are now displaced. President Luis Inacio Lula de Silva flying over affected areas with cabinet ministers, pledging to help construct new houses in safer places.

I want to guarantee that the ministers, governor, will be able to conversate to be able to make a part of a partnership to recuperate effectively of the tragedy the strago that the shud offender here,

Mr. Sebastian. Survivors and the bodies of landslide victims airlifted by the military out of the flood zones. One woman describing her harrowing journey on the ground saying the water

was like an avalanche when it reached her building, thanking God, she and her family were able to survive. Nearby in the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil's carnival celebrations which take place around this time of the year were canceled due to the destruction. Officials expecting the death toll to continue rising with more than three dozen people still unaccounted for. But locals remain hopeful. The experience is the last who mourn, we have a lot of hope.

And we're all with hope to encountering. The area took on more than 23. inches of rain, the highest ever cumulative amount, according to the Brazilian government. President Lula, who campaigned on environmental issues now urging the government to restore infrastructure facilities damaged in the landslides. Tom? Okay, Valerie Castro. Coming up next, animals on the attack, the disturbing stories of two women out walking their dogs in separate states when they were assaulted by wild animals, the shocking incidents, and there's video of one of them. Next. We're back now with the shocking videos of two animal attacks on two women walking their dogs.

One woman in Alaska surviving a kick to the head by a moose, while an elderly woman in Florida was dragged into a pond and killed by a 10-foot alligator. Kathy Park has the disturbing details. It was a site you had to see to believe. You guys, this moose is chasing this person. Kate Timmons immediately hit record on her phone when a moose began closing in on a woman. and her dog. Hey, hey, hey, hey, watch out.

Moments later, the animal jumped and kicked Tracy Hansen in the back of the head, knocking her to the ground. I thought someone had, like, not been paying attention and hit me with a bike or something. I had put my hands up to my head,

and I'm like, I'm bleeding. After recording the shocking incident, Timmins and her family rushed in, got Hansen and her dog Gunner into their truck and called for help. It happened so fast. It was just like a matter of getting her out of the situation, getting her help, making sure, you know, my big thing was that she didn't have a head trauma, that there wasn't a bleed or something. Hanson required staples for head injury and is still recovering from headaches and bruising throughout her body. Meanwhile, in South Florida, another terrifying attack, this time ending in tragedy after a 10-foot alligator charged a woman walking her dog.

Wildlife officials say the 85-year-old tried to protect her beloved pet when the gator is. emerged from a community retention pond, knocked her over, and pulled her into the water by her foot. Authorities say Gloria Surge was killed Monday by an alligator weighing roughly 600 pounds. The woman's body was recovered. The alligator was caught and euthanized. They're around here. They move from pond to pond. Where there's water, there's gaiters. So you don't walk close to them. A warning for others in the neighborhood. Now on high alert. Kathy Park, NBC News. When we come back, we take a turn. The four-day work week, could it actually work? Well, some real research has finally been done. We'll tell you what they found when we come back.

All right, we're back now with a revolutionary idea that has been kicked around mostly by employees for a long time, the four-day work week. And now we have some real research on what would happen if companies actually did this? A new article in the Wall Street Journal brought to our attention a study conducted by four-day week global, a UK-based think tank. In one of the largest trials of a four-day work week, 61 UK businesses gave their workers an extra paid day off, meaning their weekend was Friday through Sunday. And so far, the results have been pretty staggering. 62% of workers who participated say it provided them with a better social life, and 71% felt it lowered burnout. Well, that makes sense.

We're lucky now to be joined by Juliet Shore, an economist and sociologist at Boston College, who is the lead researcher on that study with the group Four Day Week Global. And Claire Daniels, chief executive of Trio Media, digital marketing agency, one of the companies that participated in this trial. Juliet, you're going to have a lot of people watching this segment, just hoping their company adopts these policies. So give us the Cooks Tour, if you can. What did your research find with this four-day work week?

Well, the findings have been pretty remarkable. Across the board, we find that companies are doing really well. And for many, many well-being outcomes, workers are much better off. We're talking stress, burnout, physical health, mental health, fatigue, exercise, sleep, work family conflict, satisfaction, you name it. Big and statistically significant improvements in all of those things for workers. the same time the companies are seeing better revenue, lower absenteeism, less quitting, and good productivity performance. So I want to ask Claire about that, about productivity. You said

in the Wall Street Journal, Claire, that you plan to continue this trial for at least the next six months. Talk to me about what you guys uncovered with the four-day work week. Yeah, so the whole reason I went into it was I wanted us to be more productive. So that was why I embraced it. We then found in turn not only were we more productive, our revenues went up. We performed 47% than the same six months in the previous year better financially. We achieved a better work-life balance for all our employees, everyone was happier. And it really is that effect of if you have happy people, they then work harder, they're a lot more efficient, and in turn comes the business performance. Juliet, you know, did you find any downside?

because it can't all be perfect with this four-day work week? Well, we were looking for a few things. So we tested whether or not people took on second jobs, which would undermine some of the benefits. We also measured how intense their work was when the trial began, before it began to the end, and no increase in either of those things. So the downsides that we were looking for didn't actually materialize.

Claire, the digital marketing agency you run is made up of less than 20. employees. Do you think a shorter work week would be sustainable for a larger company? Yeah, absolutely. And I actually think it would be easier because in a small company, everyone has to muck in and do everything. So everyone is under the microscope a lot more, whereas in a larger company, I think it may be harder initially to roll out because there's more management, but ultimately I think it would be very easy to deliver. Well, I have to ask you guys, I want to play devil's advocate here because this all sounds great. I would love a four-day work week.

But what happens when the employees say, well, why don't we make a three-day work week? Or how about a two-day work week? Or how about a one-day work week? Julian, at some point, the employer has to put their foot down. Well, in fact, a progressively shorter work week is possible with modern technology. Digital technology is automating a lot of things. over time, we can see the work week declined. But let's remember, we got to the five-day work

week in the 1930s, almost 100 years ago. Let's at least take the step to four days now. It's a good, no, it's a good point. But Claire, here, look, with the pandemic and the work from home phenomenon, at first, people seem to love this. Employers loved it. Their employees were able to work during this very scary pandemic. But then it got to a point where the employers, one of the employees back in business because they felt productivity was slowing down in some cases. Also, this phenomenon of quiet quitting, essentially just doing as little as possible to keep your job while you were working from home. Why won't this lead to the same thing with the four-day work week? I think ultimately it's not possible. The whole model of the four-day work week

means people get 100% pay for 80% of the time based on 100% of the output. So productivity and performance measures have to be in place to make sure that people are achieving for them to guarantee that reward of the four-day-a-week for full pay. Do you think any U.S. companies would adopt this? Oh, many have. Our first trials were with U.S. companies, and we have another one that started in October, just finishing, and then we're starting another one in July. So we've got companies actually all over the world, Australasia, Europe, South Africa. They're all trying out this concept of four days, 32 hours, five days pay. I'm not supposed to take sides. And by the way, yeah, go ahead. The results are coming in the same in all the trials. For big and small companies,

by the way, too. That's good to know. I'm not supposed to take a side here I was going to say, but I'd love a four-day work week. I think most people would as well. Thank you so much for joining Top Story. And we thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamerson, New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.