Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, February 3, 2026

Episode Date: February 4, 2026

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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight, the latest on the all-out search for today show anchor Savannah Guthrie's mother. Police combing through hundreds of leads more than 48 hours after Nancy Guthrie was taken from her home. We're with the team searching for clues leading to the 84-year-old. What police are now saying about DNA found at the scene as they try to piece together what happened. And the message of hope from Savannah herself. Also tonight, U.S. forces shooting down an Iranian drone approaching a U.S. aircraft carrier. The growing tension in the region as the president says negotiations with Iran are underway. Former First Lady Jill Biden's ex-husband charged with murdering his current wife,

what police discovered when they arrived at his home. Alarm in Washington after President Trump calls for Republicans to nationalize elections. The pushback from his own party over the move that would go against the Constitution. French police raiding Elon Musk's ex-offices in Paris. The investigation ended up. the site's AI chatbot and child abuse images now intensifying. Starling dash cam video you have to see to believe a trooper nearly penned by a car during a traffic stop, how he's doing tonight. And the 13-year-old hailed a hero for saving his family after

they were swept out to see what his mother is saying about her son's harrowing two-mile swim in choppy waters to find help. Plus PepsiCo to slash prices on popular snacks, but will it actually make a difference for your wallet, we'll explain. Top story starts right now. And good evening. I'm Ellison Barber in for Tom Yamis. We begin tonight with another difficult day for the NBC News family as we learn new details in the desperate search for Nancy Guthrie, the mother of our Savannah Guthrie. Police and the FBI revealing they still do not know where the 84-year-old is but believe she was taken from her home against her will. The sheriff telling NBC News they have a huge team fanned out across the region as they canvass the

desert terrain for any possible clues. The FBI asking the public to call this number with anything that could help the investigation. And our dear Savannah asking for prayers on social media, saying in part, believe with us that she will be lifted by them in this very moment. We need you. The NBC family and the world rallying behind the Guthrie family tonight as we pray for Nancy's safe return. NBC's Liz Kreutz is on the ground in Tucson and leads us off tonight. Tonight we're learning new details and the disappearance. of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie as the investigation enters its third day. We have a lot of work in front of us. The FBI now working alongside the Pima County Sheriff's Office,

which tells us that more than 48 hours later, they still don't know where Savannah's mother is. You told me yesterday that you've received a lot of tips and different leads, but you don't have one significant lead. Has that changed? No, we don't have anybody saying, this is who you're looking for. This is the person. No suspect? No, not yet. The sheriff says their to pin down a timeline of when Nancy Guthrie was taken from her Tucson home, which they say happened against her will in the middle of the night. He says they've also taken DNA samples from the home and are still awaiting the full results. Tonight, President Trump responding to a question about Nancy's disappearance. Would you commit to more federal agents like helping out on the

sure? I'm going to call her later on. I think it's a terrible thing. I always got along very good with Savannah. Very unusual situation, but we're going to find out. Outside the home, officials, once again pleading with neighbors to check their own security cameras. Has there been any footage from neighbors that has been given to you that's at all helpful? I don't know if it's helpful. Do we have something that says, aha, here's somebody really in the neighborhood slinking around or this car shouldn't be, we don't have that yet. To give you a sense, this is what the neighborhood looks like.

Many of the homes are on these big lots set back from the street with all this tall dry vegetation blocking any view of the road. There's also no street lights here, making capturing video in the middle of the night. in the middle of the night even harder. Search and rescue teams canvassed the area, searching for any potential clues in the desert brush. Any footprints or anything that may have been dropped or left behind that might give us an indication

of where someone might have been. The community banding together, a Savannah thanks people for their support and asks for prayers for our beloved mom, our dearest Nancy, a woman of deep conviction, a good and faithful servant. Do you believe that Nancy Guthrie is alive? I'm not, you know, I will not give up on that.

We have nothing else to go on but the belief that she is here. She's present. She's alive. And we want to save her. That's all we want to do. We want to get her back home, safe and sound. And Liz, Croydz joins us now from Tucson, Arizona. And Liz, we have just learned officially that Savannah will no longer be traveling to the Olympics this week.

What more can you tell us? Yeah, Allison, Savannah was supposed to fly to Italy this week to host the opening ceremonies on Friday, understandably, that is no longer going to happen. NBC Sports has put out a statement saying she's not going to be attending the Olympics. She's going to stay here in Tucson to be with her family as they continue this search, a search that is actively happening right now just moments ago. And we can still hear it. We saw the Sheriff's Department helicopter flying overhead in the area that appears to be just over Nancy Guthrie's home. Ellison. NBC's Liz Kreutz on the ground in Tucson. Thank you. Not a breaking news out of the Middle East. An American fighter jet shooting down in

Iranian drone that approached a U.S. aircraft carrier. Hours later, President Trump said negotiations with Iran are still moving forward. NBC's chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel has this report. Amid already heightened tensions. Today, military escalations with Iran. The American aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln, which just arrived in the region as part of President Trump's military buildup, was today approached about 500 miles from the Iranian coast by an Iranian coast by an Iraq. Iranian drone flying aggressively and with unclear intent, according to U.S. Central Command. The Lincoln scrambled a fighter jet and shot it down. Hours later in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most vital shipping lanes for oil

and gas, a U.S. flagged and crude commercial tanker was approached by two boats from Iran's Revolutionary Guard and a drone, according to CENTCOM, which said a U.S. warship moved to assist and the incident de-escalated. Afterwards, President Trump said negotiations with Iran have not stopped. We are negotiating with them right now. The Iranian military moves today came after Iran's supreme leader threatened that if the U.S. attacks Iran, it will become a regional war. And Richard Engel joins us now from Tehran.

Richard, as of now, talks between the U.S. and Iran are still set for Friday. seems like a high-risk time for military escalations from Iran. It certainly is a high-risk strategy, but it seems that Iran is trying to strengthen its hand to show that it still has some cards left to play, can still do damage to the United States, can still do damage to the region. It wants to go into these negotiations from a position of strength because so much is at stake. I spoke to an Iranian official. earlier today. And he stressed that if there is going to be another war, if the U.S. attacks this country, as President Trump has threatened to do on numerous occasions,

it will be a more serious war than what happened this summer when there was the 12-day war between Israel, the United States, and Iran. If you remember, Ellison, during that war, when Iran retaliated to the American strikes, those B-52 strikes on Iranian nuclear sites, According to President Trump, Iran first notified the Americans that the strikes were coming, that there would be missiles heading toward an American base in Qatar. Iranian officials say this time it will be different. It will be a regional war. And by carrying out this drone attack, these approaches by Iranian naval vessels, they are also, it seems, trying to signal to the U.S., be careful. Don't engage in a war. Iran still has the means to defend itself. Excellent reporting. As always, NBC's Richard Engel on the ground there in Tehran. Thank you and stay safe.

Now to the murder case with a surprising connection to the White House. The ex-husband of former First Lady Jill Biden now charged with the murder of his current wife. NBC's Aaron McLaughlin has more on the case and that suspect's relationship with the Biden family. Tonight, the ex-husband of former First Lady Jill Biden behind bars. charged with first-degree murder. Bill Stevenson was taken into custody on Monday in Delaware after a grand jury charged him with intentionally causing the death of his wife, Linda.

According to authorities on the night of December 28th, police were called to the Stevenson's Delaware residence for a domestic dispute. They found Linda unresponsive in the living room. She was later pronounced dead. Bill Stevenson was married to Jill Biden for five years in the 70s. In her 2019 memoir,

Biden wrote about the ill-favorian relationship detailing how the two met in college and married when she was just 18, writing, there was a time when I truly believed we were destined for each other, but that they soon grew in different directions. Biden calling the divorce the biggest disappointment of my young life. She also wrote that Stevenson supported Joe Biden's 1972 run for Senate, although decades later when Biden became president, it's my honor to introduce the 46th president, my husband, Joe Biden. Stevenson was an outspoken critic of the First Lady,

frequently talking about the relationship on Newsmax. She was bitter. She was nasty. And she said things in the court that were crazy. The Biden family declined to comment about the case. Stevenson is in custody, having failed to post $500,000 cash bail. And Aaron joins us now on set. So, Erin, what more do we know about the victim in this case, Linda?

Yeah, Linda Stevenson was 64 years old, a mother, a grandmother, an Eagles fan. She had a bookkeeping business. In an emotional obit, her family wrote, quote, Linda will be remembered as tenacious, kind-hearted, and fiercely loyal. Her strength, resilience, and unwavering love for her family and friends will never be forgotten, and her absence will be felt deeply by all who knew her. So she was much love, not surprising, no mention in that obit of Bill Stevens. All right. Aaron McLaughlin, thank you. Bipartisan backlash building tonight over calls from President Trump for Republicans to nationalize future elections. These comments come less than one week

after the FBI raided a Georgia election center. NBC's Garrett Haik reports tonight from the White House. In a podcast interview with his former FBI deputy director, Dan Bongino, President Trump, turned heads with this. The Republicans should say, we want to take over. We should take over the voting the voting in at least many, 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting. Given that the Constitution dictates elections be run by the states, the president's comments triggered democratic outrage. I don't see this as a distraction.

I see it as an actual threat. He has said out loud what he wants to do. And polite pushback from top Republicans. It's always been the responsibility of the states to administer elections. I want to see elections be allowed. President Trump, pressed late today, insisting there are problems with elections in multiple states. Horrible corruption on elections, and the federal government should not allow that. The federal government should get involved.

It comes amid growing alarm among Democrats following last week's FBI raid of a Fulton County Georgia election center. The FBI seizing hundreds of boxes of ballots and other documents related to the 2020 election, which the president has repeatedly and falsely claimed was stolen. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard observed the raid and later facilitated a call in which President Trump spoke directly to FBI agents involved in the search, two sources say. She has no role in executing search warrants, and she does not belong on the scene of a domestic FBI search, particularly one tied to the president's personal grievances carried out under the pretense of normal law enforcement. And Garrett Hake joins us now from the White House. Garrett, you pressed White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt about why Gabbard was involved in that FBI rate at all. What more did she tell you?

Well, Leavitt told me that Gabbard was handpicked by the president to look into these questions that he has around so-called election fraud or the idea of a stolen election, suggesting that there's nothing more important to national security than election security in line with the president's talking points on these issues. on these issues. But, Alison, it's not at all clear if Gabbard has a budget, if she has authority to order anything to happen, if she has anyone working with her on this, or if her job is merely to shadow these operations that other law enforcement agencies are doing and then report back on them directly to the president. Garrett Hake, thank you. And tomorrow night, Tom sits down with President Trump for an exclusive interview ahead of the Super Bowl. You can see that tomorrow on NBC nightly news and an extended version right here on top story.

and, of course, much more on Super Bowl Sunday. Now to the standoff between the Clintons and House Republicans over their testimony about Jeffrey Epstein, the former president and former Secretary of State agreeing to speak to the House Oversight Committee about the convicted sex offender days before a vote to hold them in contempt for refusing to appear. But the terms of their testimonies,

those are still being negotiated. Let's bring in NBC's Melanie Zanona on Capitol Hill. So, Mel, when we say terms are still being negotiated, We mean the Clintons have agreed to testify right, but there's a back and forth about whether or not that will happen in public or behind closed doors. That's exactly right. What has been agreed to is that the Clintons will testify for these depositions on February 26th and February 27th, which is a big deal after all this back and forth. What hasn't been agreed on you, though, yet, is the format because the Clintons are still pushing for public hearings saying this is the only way to ensure transparency, to ensure fairness in this process. But Republicans want to keep these depositions behind closed doors as they have done for all these other depositions so far in this investigation. So this has yet to be worked out.

So far, Republicans have said they are not willing to put the contempt resolutions on the floor as long as the Clintons agree. But if they can't come to a resolution on the format, they are still reserving their right to move ahead with those contempt resolutions for the Clintons, which could ultimately result in fines and even jail time. And switching gears here, but staying on the hill, the House voted to end, partial government shutdown temporarily funding the Department of Homeland Security. Where does that deal stand now? Yeah, that's right. The House did vote to open the government, reopen the government after this brief partial shutdown, but now the real hard work begins. That is because this deal included only a temporary funding patch for the Department of Homeland Security, which has come

under intense scrutiny after those shootings in Minnesota. Democrats are demanding more reforms for ICE. They want things like a prohibition on masks, a requirement for body cameras for agents, a requirement for identification for agents, excuse me, while Republicans are bulking at those proposals and say they have their own set of demands, such as ending so-called sanctuary city. So this is going to be a battle, and really it could end up an even more prolonged shutdown just for the Department of Homeland Security. Allison. NBC's Capitol Hill reporter Melanie Zanona, thank you. We appreciate it. Also, on Capitol Hill, the family of Renee Good spoke out for the first time since she was fatally shot by ICE officers in Minneapolis nearly one month ago.

Her two brothers testifying at a congressional forum on the use of force by DHS agents. NBC's Maggie Vespa is following this one tonight. Maggie, what did the brothers say in their testimony on Capitol Hill? Yeah, Ellison, it was really interesting. They got emotional at times just talking about their sister, the person that she was, talking about her children. And then they also talked about the operations here in Minneapolis, but it wasn't really a political speech.

They didn't even really blast DHS or mention President Trump. It was just about how do we explain to our kids what's going on on the ground here in Minneapolis. One of the brothers saying, how do I tell my four-year-old why this is happening, why we see officers on the ground and protests happening, especially after their aunt was killed. Brent and Luke Ganger are the names of her brothers. Both spoke for a few minutes each. Here's part of Luke's comments earlier. Our family took some consolation, thinking that perhaps Ney's death would bring about change in our country.

And it is not. And you know, Ellison, it's worth noting Saturday marks one month since Renee Good was killed. And obviously since then the situation here greatly exacerbated by the Border Patrol shooting of ICU nurse Alex Preti. We hadn't heard publicly, like on camera since the fan. of either Renee Good or Alex Preti since she died. So this really was a seminal moment today to hear those brothers speaking out. Yeah. And I understand, Maggie, you also spoke directly to Governor Waltz today about that DHS announcement regarding body cameras for officers in Minneapolis. What did he tell you in that interview?

Right. Right. So we were at a press conference with the governor and we had a Q&A afterward. And obviously this comes 24 hours after DHS Secretary Christina. announced in this big post late yesterday that all officers in the field in Minneapolis effective immediately will have body cameras. We're there with the governor. We hadn't heard from him yet on his response to that. And I said, Governor, you know, there's the body camera announcement, but we both know

body cameras only really work or accomplish the goal of having them if the video is released when the proverbial expletive hits the fan effectively. And I said, do you have any confidence that the administration will release video when a tragedy, a controversy, or when the public demands it. And he said flat out, no, no, no. He said, I have no confidence in anything when it comes to this administration. And he said, look at this. We have body camera video that DHS has confirmed exists in the Alex Pready shooting. He said they haven't released that yet. And he said, I've also asked them just to confirm the names of the officers who shot Pretti and they've declined that as well. They've declined that to us,

the press, too. So he said, I really have no confidence that this will do anything when it comes to building transparency or trust. I should point out, Alison, one last change here in the last hour. We're bringing this here on top story first. Bordersar, Tom Homan just announced he'll have a press conference here in Minneapolis tomorrow morning around 9 o'clock Eastern. We don't know what the announcement is or if there is one that's kind of that's based around. So we'll see if he has any news to deliver tomorrow about the operations continuing on the ground here. A lot to watch there. NBC's Maggie Vespa bringing us the very latest from Minneapolis. Thank you. We appreciate it. With the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games just days away, all eyes are on skier

Lindsay Vaughn after a terrifying crash in Switzerland. So many now wondering, is she in or is she out? NBC, Stephanie Gosk is in Milan with the latest. Lindsay Vaughn is not letting go of her Olympic comeback. I will do everything in my power to be in that starting game. But today in Cortina, Italy, the 41-year-old revealing she ruptured the ACL in her left knee after crashing in Switzerland last week. if she will compete?

I can't tell you that answer until I actually ski 85 miles an hour. Vaughn's first training run is Thursday, a huge test as the games draw near. And today, Team USA choosing its flag bearers for opening ceremony, speed skater Aaron Jackson. In Beijing, she became the first black woman to win an individual gold medal in the Winter Olympics. What message does it send to have you be the flag bearer? It's an amazing message because that's more visibility. At her side, Frank Del Dukkah, U.S. Army Sergeant and bobsled pilot. Carrying the American flags, leading us into opening ceremony is going to be just the absolute joy and honor.

Tonight in Milan, the city center coming alive with excitement for the games. Opening ceremony only three days away. The women's downhill is on Sunday. Lindsay Vaughn still has to do a training run probably on Thursday before that. She says she feels good and the swelling is down in her knee. it will all depend on how stable the knee feels during that training run. Alison? A lot of people holding their breasts.

Stephanie Gosk, thank you. And we are back in a moment with the terrifying kidnapping case involving two teen sisters allegedly taken after meeting a man on the online gaming platform, Roblox, what we're learning tonight. Plus, a young boy now being hailed as a hero after swimming for hours to save his family who got swept out to see how he helped rescue them. Plus, some of your favorite snacks could soon get a little cheaper why this popular food giant is pushing to slash prices. That's ahead on top story.

We're back with a disturbing story out of Florida. 12 and 15-year-old sisters allegedly kidnapped by a man. Police say they met on the popular online gaming platform Roblox. NBC's George Solis has more. Tonight, a kidnapping crisis averted after authorities arrested a Nebraska man accused of taking two young Florida girls. Investigators say Sir Mulace, who remains in custody, drove from Omaha to Martin County, Florida to pick up 12 and 15-year-old sisters after chatting with them for months, first on the online gaming app Roblox and then Snapchat. Anything where you can communicate digitally can be a problem. You can never disregard any of the apps.

The sisters were first reported missing Saturday evening when authorities say family called 911 after the girls went for a walk and didn't come home. They went for a walk around 4.45 and they haven't come back. It's two girls. Investigators say the girls were found more than seven hours later across state lines, inside the suspect's car by Georgia State Police. These criminals that are out there constantly surfing the Internet. They know what to say. Tonight in a statement to NBC News, Roblox saying in part they're investigating,

adding they have robust safety policies to protect users that go beyond many other platforms. Snapchat telling NBC News, in part, we continuously adapt our strategies as criminals evolve their tactics. All of this comes as authorities in Indiana recover the remains of 17-year-old Haley Busby, who was reported missing last month. Authorities say a 39-year-old man who met the teen on a gaming platform is in custody in connection with the case. And George joins us now from Stewart, Florida.

George, getting back to that Florida case, are we learning anything new about that suspect tonight? Yeah, Allison, we actually spoke with the sheriff who says they're still reviewing a lot of the materials that was found on the devices for that group. And they actually said they found some more troubling contact. So there could be more charges that follow, including some potential federal charges. We actually spoke with the family of those girls today, too. They tell us they are extremely grateful to law enforcement and to have those girls safely back. Alison.

George Salis on the ground there in Florida. Thank you. And coming up, another setback for NASA. The agency delaying the launch of its historic mission to the moon. What went wrong and where things go from here? Plus, first responders jumping into action after a driver got stranded on top of a truck as it sank into an icy pond will show you that amazing rescue. And we're back with Top Story's news feed, starting with a major shakeup at Disney. The company announcing today, Josh DeMorrow will take over for Bob Eiger as the Entertainment Giants' new CEO. The move is set to take effect next month. DeMorrow has been overseeing the company's theme parks, cruises, and resorts since 2020.

The leadership change comes as Disney is seeing success at the box office as well as a decline in foreign visitors to its parks here in the U.S. And a close call for a Tennessee Highway trooper after a truck rear-ended his patrol car. Take a look at this. You can see the officer making a traffic stop when another vehicle just slams into his cruiser, nearly pinning him between the guardrail and the stopped car. Luckily, that trooper was not hurt. Tennessee's Highway Patrol is warning drivers to slow down and move over when a proclamation. approaching emergency vehicles. And dramatic new video of firefighters in North Carolina rescuing a driver who lost control

and crashed into a pond. You can see the man standing on top of the truck as it sank into the freezing cold water. Crews helping him into a raft before rowing him back to land. The driver says he was stranded for about 45 minutes. And the rock world is remembering a legendary voice tonight. Chuck Negron, a founding member of the band Three Dog Night, has died. His publicist says he died yesterday at his Los Angeles home from part of the country. failure and pulmonary disease. Nogrand helped create the band in 1967, producing the hit

songs, Joy to the World, and won. He was 83 years old. Now to Money Talks and good news for chip lovers. PepsiCo announcing plans to cut prices of some of their most popular products by as much as 15% including fan favorites like Lays, Cheetos, Doritos, and Tostitos, but is it too good to be true? NBC's business and economy reporter Emily Lorsch joins us now. So, Emily, does this mean the chips we buy for Super Bowl Sunday? Sunday? Whatever you want to call it? Are they going to be cheaper or is it like a little more complicated?

It's definitely more complicated here. I don't want us to get ahead of ourselves. There are a lot of factors to consider. So first of all, this is a suggested retail price. So it's unclear at this point if Pepsico is actually lowering its wholesale prices. The company has not responded to our request for clarification. So at this point, the company is really suggested. that retailers set their prices at this. So that means going to your grocery store down the street,

that retailer gets to set its final prices. So it's up to that store to decide whether or not they're going to cut that price. They're going to take PepsiCo's suggested price cut. And so even groceries stores right now don't know at this point what they're going to do. They're still telling us that they're going to talk with PepsiCo. We did speak with Stu Leonard from the grocery chain that's in his name. He tells us that if he does see his costs or lower, he plans to lower his prices in store, Target's another place where you can expect in the snack aisle to see lower prices. But again, it really comes down to the retailers here. It's up to them to decide their pricing.

So if this is a suggested retail price, which is what this could be, because we're waiting to hear back from PepsiGo on clarification, it's up to each store to determine its own pricing. Okay, so I ask you this next one, give me these Doritos. Firstly, so is this a thing that is like... Also, can I tell you why we went downstairs? We got these chips because we could. can break down what exactly PepsiCo is saying. So we paid exactly, I believe it was $4.99.

I think we have a graphic we could pull up here for this bag of lays. Yeah, $4.99 right there. So the suggested price that PepsiCo is coming out with is a 70 cent drop for this bag of lays that we have here. For this bag of Doritos, it's an 80 cent drop. So if consumers are going out to the store, if a place, you know, like Target is taking the suggested price cut, those are the prices that consumers could. potentially see. Do we think this is about inflation? Have customers just been like complaining about

prices and this is an effort to be like buy it anyway? We hear you? That's exactly at Ellison. So PepsiCo is saying that consumers have been reaching out complaining about high costs, saying that they're really feeling this pinch. And so PepsiCo really wants to meet consumers where they're at. And they say it's part of their broader strategy to increase affordability here. Interesting stuff. Emily Lorsch, thank you. And thank you for this. And I would love to keep reporting on this so we can keep eating tips with you, also. Cheers. Cheers. NASA delaying the launch of that historic mission to the moon. The space agency encountering several problems during what's called a wet dress rehearsal, including a hydrogen leak.

The setbacks pushing the expedition to send four astronauts around the moon for the first time in a decade to a later date. NBC's Tom Costello joins us now. So Tom, break this down for us based on what you know right now. What went wrong here? So a wet dress rehearsal is literally fueling the tanks, fueling the rockets that will eventually send. the Artemis II rocket around the moon, as you suggested, with four people on board. And so they do this wet dress rehearsal, essentially a dry run, if you will, to see if everything is working well. It was about, well, it was most of yesterday, most of Monday, and it lasted a long time. And yet again,

the old gremlin's kind of popped up. And that is the hydrogen leak issue. You may recall, we had that with the Artemis 1 test flight. That was an uncrewed test flight. And then it happened again yesterday. Hydrogen, by the way, 700,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. And the hydrogen is always the problem because it is a very volatile molecule. It is very excitable, in the words of one engineer. In other words, it's hard to contain, and it wants to escape. And they have a hard time with the valves to make sure that it is not escaping. So that was the issue. They worked all through the day, well past midnight, and they finally said, okay, we think we understand the issue here. how we need to try to fix the issue.

And so they stopped the wet dress rehearsal on the practice countdown of that matter at that point. And they will pick it up again, do another wet dress rehearsal sometime next month. And they're going to try to launch on March 6th. Okay. So delayed but not completely up in it, it seems. I mean, in terms of the mission's travel time, will this have an impact? Because for that, they have to sort of take into account the changes to the moon's positioning in space, right? That's right. So what we're waiting for is the latest NASA calculation. If they launch on March 6th, will they still travel further from Earth than any humans ever? That was going to be the plan if they launched on the first day of this launch window. But of course, that's now scrubbed. But as the Earth rotates, of course, and the moon's orbit changes, we'll see if that is affected. Nonetheless, I do want to make the point that the chief of NASA, Jared Isaacman, is saying, listen, we don't take chances here. We've got four humans who are going to run.

this rocket. And so here's what Jared Isaacman said in a statement, essentially saying that we will take no chances and that we value safety and remaining the top priority for our astronauts, our workforce, our systems, and the public. We only launch when we believe we are ready to undertake this historic mission. The emphasis over and over again, Ellison, was that they're not in a rush, right? There's no reason that they have to go this month, next month, June. The only mission is to do a successful mission, a loop around the moon. All right, NBC's Tom Costello. Thank you so much for helping us understand that.

Excellent stuff, as always. We appreciate you. You bet. And still to come at this hour, police in Paris, raiding the offices of Elon Musk's social media platform X, what we're learning about that investigation. Plus, the daring rescue after dozens got trapped on a ride more than 100 feet up in the air,

how crews finally got them back on ground. And we're back now with the investigation. into Elon Musk's social media platform X in France. French police raiding their Paris offices early this morning as part of a probe into the spread of sexual deepfakes and Holocaust denial content on that site. The investigation comes amid wider concerns about Musk's AI chatbot GROC and non-consensual image generation. I want to bring in NBC's Ralph Sanchez, who's been following this one for us. So, Raf, we also know Elon Musk was actually summoned as part of this investigation. What can you tell us? Yeah, that's right, Alison. So French prosecutors have summoned both Elon Musk and Linda

Yakorino, who is the former chief executive of Axe. They say they want them to appear in front of an investigative hearing in France in April. We don't know at this point whether either of them are going to show up. It's worth saying neither of them have been charged with a crime. But French prosecutors are laying out these suspected criminal offenses that led to this raid, and they're pretty serious. I want to walk you through just a couple of them. They say they're looking into complicity in both the possession and the distribution of child pornography images. So that's child porn being circulated on X, but also in some cases potentially being generated by GROC. They are talking about violation of personal image rights. That is to do with the generation

of sexual deepfakes, as you mentioned, pornographic imagery of people produced without their consent. And then finally, denial of crimes against humanity. And in France and in other European countries, it is a crime to deny the Holocaust, other mass atrocities. And they say those are potential things they've seen going on on X and sparked this raid. Awesome. So, Raf, has Musk or the team at X more broadly responded to the raid and the investigation? Yeah, they have. And they are really coming out swinging, as you can imagine. Elon Musk has been very frustrated with European governments for a long time, but this is reaching a new level following that raid. I want to read you just a little bit of the statement from X. They say the allegations underlying today's raid

are baseless, and X categorically denies any wrongdoing. Today's stage raid reinforces our conviction that this investigation distorts French law, circumvents due process, and endangers free speech. Now, that last one is especially notable. Musk has repeatedly accused European governments of censorship on his social media platform. But that is also a theme that has been taken up by the Trump administration. And it will be very interesting to see to what extent, if at all, the White House decides that they want to swing in behind X in the face of this French investigation. It is also worth saying, Alison, that authorities here in the UK have opened up a probe of their own. That is a investigation being done by regulators. It's not a criminal investigation, at least not

at this stage. Alison. All right, NBC international correspondent, Raf Sanchez. Thank you. Staying overseas with Top Stories Global Watch, Russian forces carrying out a major attack in Ukraine as the countries prepare for another round of peace talks tomorrow. President Vladimir Zelensky says the strikes included hundreds of drones and a record number of ballistic missiles. He says 32 in all. We're told at least 10 people were hurt. Zelensky claims the attack targeted the country's power grid as communities there face one of the coldest winters in years. no response from Russian officials. And in eastern China, at least five people are dead after a bridge collapsed. Authorities telling a local media agency it happened yesterday while the bridge was under

construction. Here you can see some of the aftermath. Search and rescue crews responded to the scene, no word yet on what caused the initial collapse. And a scary moment at a park in Brazil, as dozens of people got trapped on a ride nearly 130 feet in the air. Emergency officials released this edited video of the rescue from late last week. Crews using a ladder truck to help get the people safely back on the ground after the spinning ride suddenly stopped working. Luckily, nobody was hurt. In Australia, a 13-year-old being hailed a hero for saving his mother and two younger siblings

after they got swept out to sea well on vacation. That boy swimming for miles in choppy water just to get them help. NBC's Jesse Kirsch has the video of the rescue that followed. This is the moment a harrowy nightmare for a mother and her young children remarkably came to an end. I just said, all right, not today, not today, not today. I have to keep on going. Austin Appleby, his mother and two younger siblings were paddle boarding and kayaking while

on vacation in Southwestern Australia Friday when police say rough conditions swept them out to sea. His mother, Joanne, was faced with the unimaginable, trying to save 13, 12, and 8-year-old children. Austin is the oldest. One of the hard decisions I ever had to make was to sit to Austin, try and get the show and get some help. It's got really serious really quickly. Austin raced towards shore on a kayak, but police say it took on water, so he swam roughly two and a half miles to dry land. I was really scared.

I was just thinking, I was just thinking in my head, like thinking I was going to make it through. And four hours after he set out, Austin says he made it to shore, only to then have to spring, sprint over a mile to get to a phone. I said I need helicopters. I need planes. I need boats. My family's out of sea. I was very calm about it. I think it was just a lot of shock. Like, just went through our mind. Rescue one, can you advise if there are any injuries of the people you have on board over? About two and a half hours after police got the alert, this rescue helicopter crew spotted Austin's mother, brother, and sister clinging to a paddleboard. I thought that was dead. I had a lot of guilt in my heart.

Because, you know, I thought, oh, man, I wasn't fast enough. But now, the family's together again. I'm speechless at his efforts, but at the same time, I knew he could do it. I can't be proud of his younger brother. And Jesse joins us now. What else are we hearing from the family about those hours they spent stranded in the water? and how are they doing tonight? Yes, so, Alison, the family is working through a range of injuries from what they've shared.

You can imagine they might be having to recuperate for some time after going through something like this. One of the things that the family shared about how they got through this is the family describing playing games joking, trying to treat this like a game-like atmosphere. And you can imagine trying to keep a 12-year-old and an 8-year-old in the water there with you on that paddleboard, trying to keep them swimming, floating, trying to keep them alert while your other child is out there trying to get help. And you have no idea if your 13-year-old has made it to shore is okay themselves to be doing this. So just truly an unbelievable situation. It sounds like the biggest physical issue that the family is dealing with overall is all of them seem to have

sore legs. The mother also says that she's concerned about some long-term mental health impacts from this as well. So certainly something that you can imagine this family is going to be thinking about for quite a while. What a complex ordeal. NBC's Jesse Kirsch, thank you. We appreciate it. When we come back, Tom catches up with baseball superstar Shalhei Otani, the 31-year-old phenomenon who already solidified himself as one of the greatest players of all time. Their conversation about life on and off the field is next. Next tonight, we are just days away from the Super Bowl, but all eyes have been off the field. And on the coaching carousel, 10 NFL teams hiring new head coaches at the end of their seasons, filling a record-tying number of vacancies. Age and experience

varying, but notably there's a lack of racial diversity. And by lack, literally none, no black head coach has hired despite the fact that the majority of players in the NFL are black. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about the hirings at a Super Bowl news conference. Here's a little of what he had to say. I think we need to continue to make progress. And I believe that. I believe diversity is good for us. think we have become a more diverse league across every platform, including coaching. But we still have more work to do. And we are tracking another major headline in the football world tonight as well.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft will not be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 26. It comes after former Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was also left out. I want to bring in Jerry Brewer. He's a senior sports columnist for The Athletic for more on all of this. Jerry, let's start with what we mentioned off the top piece you wrote. talking about very beautifully. I mean, you wrote in your piece, which is titled the NFL hired zero black head coaches, that tells you everything. You write in part, quote, in a nation backing away from previous diversity commitments, there is little societal pressure for NFL owners to be better.

The problem isn't confined to minority coaches being passed over. It's much bigger. It's about an industry unwilling to challenge its own narrow vision of leadership. Tell us more about that. Talk to us about the coaching jobs that were filled. what you think the league is getting so wrong here? Yeah, you had 10 coaching openings, and you had one minority candidate hired, Robert Sala, who used to be the New York Jets coach, is now the Tennessee Titans coach. Zero blackhead coaches hired in a year in which the marquee black coach of 19 seasons, Mike Tomlin, resigned and took some time off. And so now the NFL will begin next.

season with just three black head coaches. And this isn't just an issue, Ellison, about what black folk would like, right? Like the NFL has explicitly said that diversity is a key value of theirs, and we're not seeing the results. And it would be one thing if coaches were thriving and there was a lot of evidence that teams were really good at hiring coaches and the opportunities just weren't there. But the NFL and its owners are terrible at hiring coaches, yet they won't give different ideas, different people who look different a chance. Why do you think that is? Because, I mean, even in your piece, you mentioned a number of coaches who on paper would be fully qualified, You mentioned the defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos, right? Vance Joseph, who powered the Broncos to the AFC title game.

Why aren't those names being put in the mix? Well, it's pretty complicated, but I think it ultimately comes down to like what is your vision of a coach? And I think there's this classic vision of a football coach being a Tom Landry, a Vince Lombardi, a Newt Rockney, a Mike Dick. a Bill Walsh. None of all of these are white men, and they had a certain way of either being gruff, like a Bill Parcells, or very cerebral and mellow, at least in public persona like a Bill Walsh. They're just the face of what you think coaching is creates a kind of unconscious bias. And I think that affects things that ultimately when, ultimately everyone who gets hired in the NFL has to sit down with the owner of a team. And that owner has to feel comfortable about hiring you.

And it's clear that most owners aren't comfortable with faces that aren't familiar to them. I mean, it sounds like you're saying policy changes, things like the Rooney Rule would be ineffective at correcting this issue. I mean, is this just a case where we need more newer leadership at the very top in terms of ownership? I mean, we've seen some more diversity, not a ton, but right, some notable diversity coming into league ownership. But for the most part, when you look at who owns teams, it is mostly white men. Yes, and I think you can't really legislate your way to diversity. Like, no one is asking for quotas on hiring. No one is specifically saying that if your process leads to another.

white man being coached, it was a failed process. People are saying that, like, in terms of intentions, there should be greater results. The NFL has enhanced the Rooney Rule multiple times since its implementation over two decades. There now is a requirement that actually a lot of minority coaches don't like and that you have to interview two minority candidates for all of your top positions. That's GM, that's head coach. They also encourage that heavily at the offensive and defensive coordinator levels. A lot of coaches don't like that because their names get out there that they're being interviewed. And then when they don't get hired, all of a sudden, you feel like something is wrong with you. I look at a really young, promising leader named

Anthony Weaver, who came from the Baltimore Raven. and was most recently defensive coordinator of the Miami Dolphins. He is the kind of guy that when you're in a room with him, you know that he can lead an entire locker room of young men. He's got a presence about him, and yet he's the kind of guy who gets four or five interviews every cycle, and no one's hiring him. And then at some point, it becomes, well, what's wrong with Anthony Weaver? I don't want to ask about what's wrong with Anthony Weaver.

I want to ask what's wrong with these only ones. owners that see this charismatic man and no one wants to give him an opportunity. Jerry Brewer, thank you so much for your time and insights. Your piece is one to read, whether you're a sports fan or not. We appreciate you taking the time to join us tonight. Thank you. Thank you. And finally, tonight, Showtime. At just 31 years old, baseball superstar Shohei Otani is already in a league of his own. He talked to Tom today about his work on and off the diamond. Watch Shohey Otani is to witness a once in a century force, a $700 million arm and a swing that has become the stuff of legend.

He's the face of the sport, a double thread, knocking 55 home runs and pitching a sub three ERA in 2025, a feat that felt like science fiction until he made it a reality. What was it like to win back-to-back World Series titles? This second year was a lot harder. You know, obviously a lot more pressure that was put on the team. It was a very special year. For the four-time MVP, the conversation has now turned to something rarely whispered in baseball, a three-peat. For Americans out there, when we talk three-peat, we think of the greats in other sports, people like Michael Jordan and Tom Brady and all the championships he won. you're going to be talked about in those conversations as well.

Have you thought about a three-peat? I don't think about it too much. However, I do hope that when I retire and I look back and I can be able to say that, hey, I was on that team that won three championships in a row. That would be very cool. But with that success comes scrutiny. To get there, the Dodgers have a payroll

that has redefined the sports economy, allowing them to scoop up the best talent in the game. Do you think that's good for the game? Yeah, I think what the ownership group has done is great. You know, I mean, obviously the fans pay money to, they buy tickets, and they, you know, they come to the game. So I think that money is being, you know, being used back to sign these great players and put out a winning product on the field.

What's it like to play on a super team? I mean, it feels like every one of your starters is an all-star. Yeah, I think it's very exciting. You know, when I did decide to sign with the Dodgers, that was a conversation I had with the ownership group. They promised me that they were going to put the best team out on the field. And just, you know, the goal was to, again, continue to win as many World Series as we could. For Otani, the future now includes a new addition at home, a baby girl born last April. Also by his side, Major League Baseball's most valuable pup, decoy.

So, you know, when I was growing up in Japan, I had a dog myself. I wanted a dog from myself over here. I kind of met Decoy and we hit it off. A celebrity in his own right, Decoy is now the subject of Otani's new children's book. So Shohei, why did you want to write a children's book? Yeah, I think the initial idea was basically I had my daughter coming soon, so timing-wise I felt it was a nice time to maybe be able to read her a book

about my story as well as our dog Decoy story. What do you love about dogs? They're just very special animals. They're a part of your family. But with a book deal and millions of fans, Otani's sidekick might be stealing a bit of the spotlight. Does he need a super agent to represent him? Do you know, all of the proceeds for these books are going to go to animal shelters? We're going to obviously donate all of the proceeds.

But now that I think about it, maybe I should have negotiated just a little bit of amount to get decoys some good food, you know. We'll do that next time. And thanks so much for watching Top Story. For Tom Yamis, I'm Ellison Barber in New York. Stay right there. More news is on the way.