Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, January 02, 2024

Episode Date: January 3, 2024

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

Tonight, the investigation into a deadly disaster at an airport in Tokyo. The video showing the moment of Japan Airlines flight with more than 360 people on board burst into flames after colliding with a Coast Guard aircraft. Within moments, the entire passenger plane ablaze. Miraculously, everyone on board that flight surviving. One of those passengers speaking to NBC news about the chaotic moments they were rushed off the plane. will watch this fiery landing moment by moment with a former pilot and NTSB investigator who will explain how lives were saved. Also breaking tonight, Senator Bob Menendez hit with a second superseding indictment. Federal prosecutors now accusing the New Jersey Democrat of accepting luxury

gifts and gold bars as part of a year's long corruption scheme this time involving Qatar. He's already facing charges of acting as a foreign agent for Egypt's government. The late details just coming in. Harvard president out. Claudine Gay resigning amid mounting allegations of plagiarism and the backlash over her controversial testimony at a congressional hearing about anti-Semitism on campus. Her message to the Harvard community announcing her departure after just months on the job. Assassination attempt the disturbing new video showing the moment South Korea's main opposition leader was stabbed in the neck. Moments after speaking to reporters, how the attacker managed to get so close to him. Cyber kidnapping, a Chinese exchange student found in the

freezing mountains of Utah, four days after he was reported missing. How authorities say, quote, virtual kidnappers extorted his family out of $80,000 and the disturbing trend they're warning others about. Plus, the Stanley Cup craze that has nothing to do with hockey, a water tumbler, one of the most sought after holiday gifts, even causing stampedes at stores. How the product brought the company's annual sales from $73 million to a whopping $750 million in just three years. And thrill-seeking grandma, the 88-year-old who spends her free time, you guessed it, on roller coasters and skydives as well. How her late husband inspired her to take life one loop at a time. Top story. Starts right now.

Good evening. Great to be back with you here on Top Story. Tonight, the big question, what went wrong? That's what many are asking tonight after two planes collided on a runway in Tokyo, leaving at least five people dead. Take a look at these horrifying images. A Japan Airlines flight seemingly exploding into a fireball while still in motion and with more than 360 people on board after it hit a Japanese Coast Guard aircraft. The entire plane, you see it right here, engulfed in flames. Firefighters racing to try and spray water on it, but the fire just kept burning and spreading. And then this, the plane's tail breaking off the mangled wreckage still on fire. But just before that, passengers racing off emergency slides, you see them right there. The flight crew miraculously managing to get everyone on board out safely, despite the cabin filling up with smoke.

The Japanese Coast Guard was on the way to help an earthquake-ravaged area in Japan. Unfortunately, five people on board that plane were killed. We'll get to all of that in a moment, but we want to begin with NBC's aviation correspondent, Tom Costello, with more on the investigation into this runway disaster. Fire and terror on the runway in Tokyo as a fully loaded Japan Airlines passenger plane arriving on a domestic flight crashed into a smaller Japanese Coast Guard plane, the massive fireball rolling down the runway. Airport is close. Inside the JAL plane, terrified passengers saw flames outside their windows smoke rolling through the cabin. Swedish tourist Anton Deba was on board with his family. I looked to the left and I said flames all over the windows and the plane starts to shake and all the lights turn dark and everyone starts screaming in Japanese.

Once stopped, passengers evacuated down two emergency shoots. As airport firefighters attacked the flames, the plane's tail collapsed to. the ground. Exactly the kind of worst-case runway incursion the NTSB has warned about in the U.S. after so many close calls in 2023. The crash happened on runway 3-4 right, precisely where the J.L Airbus A-350 had been cleared to land. The question for Japanese investigators, why was that smaller Coast Guard plane on the same runway, possibly preparing for takeoff? Of the six Coast Guard crew members on an earthquake relief mission, only the captain survived, now in critical condition. But all 379 people on board the passenger plane survived, including eight

infants, precisely what flight crews in the U.S. and abroad trained for. Regardless of the size of the aircraft, the FAA requires that within 15 seconds of the aircraft stopping for an accident, it must be able to start evacuating everybody out through the windows, through the doors in just 90 seconds. That FAA rule is the global standard. Get up, get out, leave everything. Critical to surviving, leaving everything behind and getting out. When an American Airlines plane caught fire in Chicago in 2016, some passengers still grabbed their carry-ons. When passengers do not follow the instructions and do not leave their belongings in the airplane,

they're not only putting themselves at risk. They're putting others at risk because of their blocking exits. In Tokyo, tragedy, but survival on the runway. And with that, Tom Costello joins us tonight from Washington. And Tom, you know, I know both sort of accidents were completely different, but you sort of think about the miracle on the Hudson because everyone survived there and then everyone survives here as well. And when you see these pictures, you're not exactly sure how.

I know you have some new reporting tonight that Japanese investigators will be joined by French investigators, looking into why this happened. But also, as you point out in your report there, what was going on with the Coast Guard plane? Yeah, that's right. So because this is an Airbus jet, the French team will be assisting. Airbus, of course, is made in France. And they will both be looking at whether there was a communication breakdown between the tower and the Coast Guard plane and whether the passenger jet pilots, JAL pilots, could they even see the smaller Coast Guard plane on the runway when they came in. And one little factor here, Tom, the Airbus A350, a very advanced superjet.

It has this pop-up display, if you will. The pilots displays, its controls, and data is actually projected. it onto a plate glass, if you will, or a plexiglass readout screen right ahead of the dashboard on the window. So did that in any way obstruct his view as he's coming in for a landing? They do this every single day around the world, but that will be among the many questions they ask. Yeah, there are so many questions. All right. Tom Costello leading us off tonight here on Top Story. Tom, thank you for that. For more analysis on this crash, NBC News Aviation analyst, Jeff Gazetti, He joins me now.

He's a former FAA and NTSB investigator. So, Jeff, we want to show videos of the crash and the aftermath and have you kind of take us through what your expertise tells you about this incident. First, let's start with the collision itself. What are you seeing here? Well, the video captures pretty clearly that the airplane is just touching down and it hits the dash 8. We can't really see the dash 8, but we see the fireball that is the dash 8's fuel.

That's the smaller airplane. And the airplane continues, the airbus continues down the runway at a fairly high rate of speed because they were landing. It may look a little slow in the video, but the parallax is such that that airplane is traveling probably about 100 miles an hour or more. Jeff, you think if this happened at daytime, the pilot would have clearly seen the Coast Guard plane, or was it the speed was just too fast? I would think that the nighttime conditions did have a factor here. It's very difficult to see lights on a runway when you're landing because they might marry up with some of the other lights, the runway edge lights. So I think the nighttime had an issue here. Okay, then we have these videos that were taken by people on the plane and on the tarmac showing smoke,

filling the cabin and passengers evacuating the aircraft on slides. What's this telling you about what happened after the crash? I mean, was this textbook a perfect sort of escape out of the plane? Boy, if it wasn't textbook, it was close to textbook. You can see that the passengers are remaining calm. They appear to be listening to the flight attendants. They're not trying to grab their stuff or climb over each other. And also, I wanted to point out that there's not a whole lot of smoke at that point in time.

And that's a testament to the design and construction of the aircraft that are required not to have a lot of smoke produced after only 90 seconds. On this part, I'm sort of curious. Do you think the pilots and the flight attendants, how are they delivering instructions? Because you've got to think there's people from all over the world on that plane. Yes, well, they're going to be delivering instructions in the best way they can. They might be doing it in two or three languages. There is a teamwork coordination between the flight crew, the pilot and the co-pilot. They're the ones that actually give the evacuation order.

So the flight attendants first have to kind of hear from them and then assess the situation. Are there flames licking on the left side or the right side? Should you deploy all the slides or some of them? And then once you make that decision to evacuate, the crew members, the flight attendants will get on the PA system or even yell if they have to, if there's no power, to say, please stand up, please come go out this exit in a very controlled and calm fashion. And I think that's what happened here. And then finally, there's this image, right, which you really can't believe. The video of the plane completely engulfed in flames, crews were working to put out the flames. What's critical here, do you think, for the investigation?

Well, this is very intriguing to me because you didn't see all these flames for the first two or three minutes. This is probably the first large composite aircraft fire accident that has occurred since all composite airplanes were being built. And it's just interesting to me how the fire kind of licked the outside of the skin of the airplane, as well as coming from the inside. So I think the dynamics of the fire will be something that's studied by many engineers to try to make airplanes even safer. Finally, Jeff, how shocked are you that everyone on that flight survived? You know, I have to tell you, Tom, I'm not that shocked. Over the past two or three decades, the FAA has really come up with some great standards, Bunsen burner tests and things like that for all the materials that you see in an aircraft.

And so the most, in the last 10 years, big accidents. like this, like Asiana or others, that American Airlines won that Tom Costello spoke of, it gives people time to get out. And that's what they need. And I think most airplane, commercial airplane accidents are survivable. Jeff, I know you're the expert. When you see those images, it is still so incredible and really a testament to the great work by the pilot and his entire crew to get everyone out. Jeff, we thank you for your time and for your analysis. We want to stay in Japan now because officials there are desperate to find survivors after that deadly 7.6 magnitude earthquake

rocked the country yesterday, killing at least 55 people and injuring many more. Janice McEugh is on the ground there tonight as rescuers race against time. Tonight, Japan's military and rescue crews are searching from the air and on the ground for survivors, trapped under buildings that have collapsed or caught fire. According to officials, at least 55 people are dead, a toll that's expected to rise. from the powerful New Year's Day earthquake that rock train platforms shook grocery stores, homes, and this news station, and sent thousands across Western Japan scrambling for safety. Japan's Prime Minister Fumio Koshita saying rescue efforts are a battle against time.

On the Noto Peninsula near the coastal epicenter, buckled roads make it difficult to reach the area's hardest hit. Thousands of homes without water or electricity. Everything has fallen off, she says. I don't think we can rebuild it again. There have been hundreds of aftershocks. The quakes triggering tsunami warnings along Japan's west coast. Those warnings now lifted, with officials saying nuclear power plants were unaffected. But these familiar scenes of disaster have raised anxiety here. After the devastation in 2011, when a A massive magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami killed at least 20,000 and left parts of Japan in ruins. The extent of the damage from this earthquake still emerging.

In the quake zone, it's a race to reach those who need help. At the same time, people are being warned to stay away from their homes. Officials say there is a high risk of more earthquakes this week, possibly as powerful as this one. Tom? Janice McEy-Frayer for us from Japan, which is dealing with so much. much tonight. Okay, Janice, thank you. We want to turn to some breaking news here at home. We're following tonight the news of Senator Bob Menendez facing more allegations of bribes and corruptions. In a second superseding indictment of federal grand jury alleging the New Jersey Democrat

made positive statements about Qatar to help get a New Jersey businessman a multi-million dollar investment from a Qatari company. Federal prosecutors alleged Menendez accepted gold bars and luxury gifts from the businessman in exchange for his help. And the indictment shows text messages where the senator was allegedly offered watches valued up to $23,000. He is already facing a slew of other charges, including conspiring to act as a foreign agent for allegedly accepting bribes from Egypt's government in connection to the year's long scheme.

He has pleaded not guilty to those charges and has denied any wrongdoing. Okay, now to the major announcement from the President of Harvard University. Claudine Gay resigning amid new accusations of plagiarism in her academic work. This comes after her controversial testimony before Congress about anti-Semitism on campus. NBC News correspondent Erin McLaughlin has this one. Tonight embattled Harvard President Claudine Gay stamping down, abruptly ending her turbulent six-month tenure as the institution's first black president, the shortest term of anyone in that position. In a letter to the Harvard community, Gay writing, it has become clear that it is in the best interest of Harvard. for me to resign, and that it has been distressing to have doubt cast on my commitments to

confronting hate and to upholding scholarly rigor to bedrock values that are fundamental to who I am and frightening to be subjected to personal tax and threats fueled by racial animus. Anti-Semitic rhetoric when it crosses into conduct that amounts to bullying. Calls for gays resignation followed backlash to this response at last month's congressional hearing. When Republican Elise Stefonic pressed her about anti-Semitism on college campus, Does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Harvard's rules of bullying and harassment? Yes or no? It can be depending on the context.

It does not depend on the context. The answer is yes. Pressure grew in the following weeks, with gay facing multiple allegations of plagiarism in her academic work. Harvard initially standing by gay, but today the board accepting her resignation, saying she had acknowledged missteps, but also faced deeply personal and sustained attacks. Tonight, Stefana, claiming credit, saying this is just the beginning of what will be the greatest scandal of any college or university in history. Gay's resignation, leaving the campus divided. I'm glad that, you know, it seems like we're moving in a direction where Harvard might begin to repair its public image.

I was flabbergasted. I was more than surprised. I was shocked. I don't think she was really given a chance from the start. And Gay is not the first university president to resign in the wake of that congressional testimony. You may recall in the days following the testimony, the president of the University of Pennsylvania resigned, and there is a congressional investigation now into all of this. Meanwhile, Harvard has appointed an interim president, Alan Garber, to take the position until they find that permanent replacement.

Meanwhile, they say gay will remain on as a faculty member. Tom. All right, Aaron McLaughlin on that news, Aaron, we thank you. We want to turn now to the forecast and the Northwest bracing for more. wet weather as a Pacific storm drops rain, wind, and mountain snow on the region. But that system is set to make its way all across the country as the week progresses, hitting the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast by this weekend.

I want to get right over to NBC News meteorologist Bill Cairns. So, Bill, walk us through the track and what the entire country really can expect. Yeah, this is a classic coast-to-coast storm. This is not going to be a huge nor-easter or blizzard for the East Coast, but it will have some snow for areas that haven't seen much in two years. That's why this will be made into a bigger deal than typically. would be for this time of year. So the storm tomorrow comes inland. Then we're going to watch you heading a little bit of snow in the high elevations in Nevada, also northern Arizona,

eventually Tows and Santa Fe will get some snow, San Juan Mountains of Colorado. By the time we get the Thursday into Friday, we take the storm into the plains. By the time we get through Friday, though, it's mostly just a rain of it. It's not enough cold air in the south for snow on this one. But by the time we get through Friday night to Saturday, as the storm makes its way for the mid-Atlantic, snow breaks out in areas of the northern Appalachians, a little bit in the Ohio Valley and then possibly some heavier snow for somewhere in the mid-Atlantic maybe southern New England. So we take all of our models, mash them into one, just to kind of give a best estimate of where the snow is going to fall over the next seven days. Obviously, all the pink is the heavier

snows in the mountains of the west, lighter snow amounts from the Midwest through the Great Lakes. And then you notice the best chances for that heavier snow in the northeast at this point, the higher elevations of the Appalachians, just outside of New York City, maybe the Poconos and the Catskills and southern portions of New England. And again, the reason this is such a big deal is that so far this winter, we've had zero percent of our annual snowfall all along I-95. There's no snow in the ground and even areas of Vermont. And the last time it snowed, Tom, 703 days ago in Baltimore. New York's at 687 days. I mean, it's ridiculous. It's been way too long since it has snowed. This time, some areas will get it, but not all. All right, Bill

Cairns, might be making a snowman this weekend. We're going to have to wait and see. Bill, thank you. Now, to power in politics and the county. down to the first of the nation, Iowa caucus. Donald Trump opening up a 30-point lead over his GOP rivals in the Hawkeye State as Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley battle out for second place. Vaughan Hilliard on the ground in Des Moines tonight for us with a look at where the race stands right now. Waterloo, thank you very much. It's great to be here. Tonight, with the Iowa caucuses less than two weeks away, Donald Trump towering over the GOP field and flexing the power of his diehard base. numbers are scary because we're leading by so much. The key is you have to get out of vote.

The former president boasting a 30-point lead over his closest rivals in the Hawkeye state, gaining strength despite growing legal challenges, 91 criminal counts against him, and 14th Amendment pushes in multiple states to take him off the ballot. We're not going to allow them to rig the presidential election of 2024. We're not going to allow it. What's the next thing they're going to take away. Once they've done that, it's just a stepping stone on to the next thing. Trump ramping up his rhetoric in recent weeks, openly saying he would act as a dictator on the first day of a second term and using inflammatory language to describe immigrants. They're poisoning the blood of our country. That's what they've done. You don't vote for

a personality. You vote for a person who can get the job done. The caucus now appears to be a race for second place. A recent Emerson College poll finding Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley separated by just two points. Donald Trump is running on his issues. Nikki Haley is running on her donor's issues. I'm the only one running on your issues. Iowa shaping up to be the biggest test yet for the Florida governor, who has a major ground game in Iowa embarking on a 99-county tour

and scoring the coveted endorsement of Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds. If you like what we're doing in Iowa, then you'll love what Ron DeSantis will do for this country. But after a series of awkward campaign moments, his massive momentum coming into the race has all but vanished. I was a big fan of Ron DeSantis, but as his, as time has gone on, he hasn't really done a whole lot to impress me.

Instead, it's been former UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, who has pulled off a late surge, vaulting into second in multiple early voting states. It's great to be back in Dubuque. I'm excited to be here. But a notable omission from a town hall answer, now threatening her support. Asked about the cause of the Civil War, she failed to mention slavery before saying later that it was the cause. What do you want me to say about slavery?

No, you can answer my question. Thank you. Next question. I wish she would have answered the question historically accurate. The Iowa caucus has occasionally provided Canada. a critical boost, helping catapult Jimmy Carter to the presidency back in 1976. But for Republicans, the caucus is notoriously unpredictable of the party's final nominee, as some have found out the hard way.

God bless the great state of Iowa. Ted Cruz won in 2016, then watched Donald Trump dominate the primaries on his way to his first nomination in White House win. Now, as the candidates make their final pitches to Iowa, caucus goers, the question that is loomed over the whole race still remains. Can anyone catch Donald Trump? Von Hillier joins us tonight from the campaign trail in Des Moines, Iowa. So, Vaughn, you talked in your piece about the ground game playing out in the Hawkeye State right now. But as you know, there's also a massive battle playing out there on the airwaves.

We know candidates and other groups have already spent more than $100 million in TV ads in the state. How do those numbers break down? Right, right now you're looking over the next two weeks here. Nikki Haley and her allies looking to spend four and a half times the amount of money on TV ads compared to Donald Trump and his allies. This for Nikki Haley is a big moment, trying to make up for the lack of time she's actually spent on the ground here in the state of Iowa, Tom. Compare the number of events Nikki Haley has had over the last seven months to Ron DeSantis in Iowa. Ron DeSantis has done more than three times the number of events of Nikki Haley. He's visited all 99 counties, three times that of Nikki Haley.

And so really the question here is, does that TV ad spending, does that time on the ground? Is that a reward? Nicky Haley and Ron DeSantis at all? Or does Donald Trump, as polling suggests, take this clear far and away heading into New Hampshire? Well, no, in two weeks. Vaughn, this is not your first rodeo in Iowa. Anything surprising you right now about the race happening there? Just how much it has not moved.

Largely, when you're talking to voters here on the ground, there are Trump loyalists. One thing that I'm looking for, though, is how many independents or registered Democrats show up on caucus night and come and change their party registration and effort to help out somebody like Nikki Haley as an attempt to stop Donald Trump? That's what I'm going to be looking for here over the next two weeks, Tom. All right, Fawn Hilliard for us tonight. Vaughn, we thank you for that. For more on Iowa and the upcoming caucuses. I want to bring in our expert political panel tonight here on Top Story.

First up, Mark Murray, he's senior political editor for NBC News. And Brianne Fana Steele, she's chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register and now an NBC News contributor. Great to have you guys both on. Brian, I want to start with you. Let's put the numbers up here for our viewers so they know the state of the race. This is the real clear politics average out of Iowa right now. It averages all the recent polls. You can see Trump there.

He's the ultra frontrunner. Is there any chance of a surprise? Looking back at polling in the past, any precedent for someone who is 34 points up to suddenly collapse? Well, I think it would be pretty unprecedented to see a Donald Trump implosion at this point. But when you talk about the Iowa caucuses, it's really important to talk about what winning means. I think for Donald Trump, he's set the expectations really high in terms of what he has to do on caucus night. If he doesn't win by as many as he's polling ahead by right now, 20, 30 percent, that could be seen as a loss. him. So if Nikki Haley, if Rhonda Santis are able to close that gap, which we have seen

precedent for, yet it's coming from behind in the closing weeks of the caucus cycle to really narrow that gap, that could be a big boost for them going into Congress, excuse me, going into New Hampshire and the states that follow Iowa. Yeah, it's an interesting point. I'm going to circle back to that a little later. Mark, I want to turn to you now. Let's take another look at the final stretch Iowa ad buy that Vaughn mentioned. You can see the Haley campaign in Associated Super PACs. expected to spend $5 million in the next two weeks becoming the top advertiser in all of Iowa. Is that enough to push Haley over DeSantis, you think, at least in this race?

Yeah, Tom, it could. And, you know, what really stands out is not only the amount of money that Haley and her super PACs are spending or plan to spend over the next two weeks in this race, but also just how the Ron DeSantis, his advertisement, really lags. DeSantis, when he got into this race, was supposed to be the person with the financial juggernaut to go toe-to-to-to with Donald Trump. But we end up seeing in the final month, as we end up heading into Iowa, is that it is Nikki Haley who has the superiority when it comes to the money and the advertising that goes with it. And in a very close race for second place, Tom, the advertising could make the difference, but we have to see. Brian, let's see a look at the calendar over the next two weeks, right? We'll start with this week right now.

Here where the GOP candidates are. I was surprised that Vivek was the only one campaigning there today. You have Rhonda Sanchez, Nikki Haley, former President Trump, rounding out the week there. Do you think these visits now in the next two weeks, how important are they going to be? Because the Iowa caucus goers obviously get to see these candidates up close for so long. Right. I think they're still really important in these final weeks because as our polling shows, you know, in December, Nearly half of likely Republican caucus goers said they still hadn't made up their mind

about who to support on caucus day. So this is when they're really tuning in. They're coming out of that, you know, that holiday break, they're engaging a little bit more, they're seeing the TV ads, they're seeing this final debate, and they're making their decision. And so getting the chance to see these candidates for a final pitch, see them maybe one last time before they make their decisions, could really seal the deal. We go to a lot of these events.

We talk to a lot of potential caucus goers who say that they make up their mind immediately after hearing somebody speak. They go into the room undecided, and they're persuaded by what they've heard. So I think these events could still have a meaningful impact on the results. That organization really shows. It showed in 2016 and other caucuses for Republicans when Ted Cruz when he was clearly more organized in the Trump campaign. Mark, NBC News polling has found Trump continues to dominate in Iowa, as we've shown, but also enthusiasm and among those who have already made up their minds. What happens if Trump wins in Iowa, regardless if it's a close race, If he comes out on top in Iowa, is this race over?

Yeah, Brienne makes a really good point that, you know, the size of Donald Trump's victory, if he ends up having one in Iowa, does end up mattering. But what we've seen in Iowa, Tom, we've seen in New Hampshire, we've seen in other Super Tuesday states, is that a majority or even a greater majority of Republican primary voters or likely caucus goers say they want Donald Trump to continue to be the leader of the Republican Party. And that really stands out to me, Tom, in a multi-candidate field right now, where if Donald Trump is at a majority, it's going to be very hard to defeat him in the later stages. And really, you know, when we look at over the past year, we're Republicans like Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley have had attacks on Donald Trump, but there really hasn't been an overall way to say this man is disqualified from being our party's leader. And until you end up seeing the Republican arrivals make the case that Donald Trump is disqualified, he remains a popular figure in his own party, the most recent president of the republic from the Republican Party.

And that gives him an incredible advantage heading into all these contests. Finally, Brian, you know, there's that conventional wisdom that former President Trump is going to win the Iowa caucuses. Conventional wisdom, a lot of times, especially in politics, can be wrong. When you're out there as the chief political reporter for the Des Moines Register, what are some of the questions that you still want answered before the caucuses start that you think maybe could turn this race? Well, we've been watching how evangelical caucus goers are thinking about this race from the beginning. I've been waiting to see whether there's any movement, any indication that they're going to collis

around a Trump competitor the way that they did around Ted Cruz in 2016. You know, that really helped push him over the finish line, obviously, in conjunction with his superior ground game. But I don't know that we've seen that at this point. That's something that could still happen. But that's one thing that I'm looking for. I'm also looking to see whether, you know, any of these people who are in the middle, you know, maybe independence, maybe some disaffected Trump voters, whether they're going to coalesce behind Nikki Haley or Ron DeSantis, you know, one of them really needs to have a moment on caucus night where they're able to pull into a clear. your second place to distinguish themselves as the Trump alternative going into New Hampshire.

Brian Fannistiel, Mark Murray, always a pleasure to have you on Top Story. We thank you for your analysis. Still ahead tonight, the cyber kidnapping. Have you heard about this story? A Chinese exchange student missing for days found deep in the Utah mountains. This is video of when authorities found him. How police and kidnappers in China managed to trick him in the U.S. and extort his family overseas all virtually, we'll explain. Plus, the Hamas commander killed in Lebanon, the drone attack that took him out, as NBC News learned some of Israel's plans for Gaza after the war. And back here at home, the unexploded military bomb, washing up on a California beach, the operation carried out to remove this World War II relic. Stay with us.

where a Chinese foreign exchange student was found alive after police say he was the target of a so-called cyber-kidnapping scheme. The team spending days on a remote mountain in the freezing cold while his parents paid thousands of dollars in ransom. Liz Kreuz has the details and a warning from authorities about this alarming new trend. Hold up alone in a tent deep in these frigid Utah mountains. Tonight, a Chinese foreign exchange student has been found safe after police say, he became the victim of a suspected cyber kidnapping scam. He was cold, scared, and relieved when we found him. Riverdale police say 17-year-old Kai Zhuang was reported missing by his high school outside

Salt Lake City on Thursday. His family in China said they had received a photograph of their son indicating he was abducted and that they had sent roughly $80,000 to bank accounts in China as a ransom. Authorities began a days-long search, assisted by the FBI and the U.S. Embassy in China, finally finding him in this wooded area New Year's Eve morning with little food and no heat. How is the family doing right now? Absolutely relieved. They were terrified, believing their son was being held captive and being hard. Police believe Kai's virtual kidnappers are in China and had been manipulating him for weeks, threatening to hurt his family.

As part of the disturbing scam, they say victims like Kai are ordered to isolate, then monitored heard via FaceTime or Skype and coerced into taking photos of themselves to make it appear they are being held captive. What can people do to keep themselves and their kids safe? Have a good communication plan. Have a plan time to talk and then having code words, a code word that means you're under duress or something's not right. And officials say foreign exchange students are often targets of these cyber kidnapping scams. Authorities say if you are your family are ever threatened, go right to police. Don't send money and stop all. contact with suspects. Tom.

OK, Liz Kreutz for us. When we come back, a shocking assassination attempt overseas, the leader of South Korea's opposition party, you see it here, stabbed in the neck while he walked through a crowd. What we're learning tonight about his alleged attacker. All right, we are back now with Top Stories News Feed, and we begin with the man found dead inside of a plane engine at Salt Lake. City International Airport. Police say the man was fleeing from officers after an incident inside the airport when he used an emergency exit door to access the tarmac. Police eventually

locating his body inside the engine of a flight that did have passengers on board. The engine was off and the plane was de-icing at the time, no word yet on his cause of death. An arrest tonight after an armed man broke into a Colorado Supreme Court building. Video shows a broken ground floor window after the suspect allegedly shot at it. Police say the suspect then held the security guard at gunpoint, took his keys, and continued to cause extensive damage inside before surrendering. The state's justices receiving dozens of threats since ruling former President Trump ineligible for Colorado's 2024 ballots.

A consumer alert, nearly 7,000 pounds of ground beef recalled over E. coli concerns. The USDA announcing the recall after routine testing discovered E. coli at a Valley Meets, plant. The contaminated meat was produced on December 22nd, 2023, and has a best by date of January 15th. The products were sold in Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. And an old military bomb was found on a beach in Santa Cruz, California. Take a look at this. The sheriff's office says the device believed to be from World War II washed up after a series of recent storms. The bomb squad determining the device was inert before it was safely removed to Travis Air Force Base. Okay, we want to move overseas now to the latest on the war in the Middle East.

A senior Hamas leader killed in what Hamas says was an Israeli air strike. This Cummings as the escalating conflict threatens to expand. NBC's Josh Letterman has the latest. Tonight, the fiery aftermath of an apparent assassination. A senior Hamas leader killed in what Hamas says was an Israeli drone strike on a Hamas office in Beirut. Sala al-Rui was a deputy head of Hamas on a U.S. wanted list, accused of involvement. in multiple terror attacks. Hamas saying seven people were killed in the strike,

including two commanders. Israel won't say whether it was responsible, but only one country is at war with Hamas. Israel is at war. Whoever did this has a gripe with Hamas. Israel's military has vowed to hunt down Hamas leaders worldwide, saying they're living on borrowed time following the October 7th Hamas terror attacks

that killed 1,200 people. Tonight, as protests erupt in the West Bank, Israel is bracing for potentially massive retaliation, not just from Hamas, but from Hezbollah, another Iranian-backed group allied with Hamas that's also targeted Israel. The new Israeli foreign minister today declaring, we're in the midst of World War III against Iran and radical Islam, the assassination raising the stakes for Israel's cabinet, which postponed a meeting to discuss Israel's new plan for Gaza after the war. An Israeli official telling NBC News the plan involves local Ghazan clans or tribes handling civilian governance like doling out aid, while Israel controls security indefinitely.

This, as Israel signals, the war is entering a new phase with thousands of Israeli troops on their way out of Gaza. Even as Prime Minister Netanyahu says the war will last many more months. Palestinian groups are calling for more widespread protests over that assassination tomorrow, including in Jerusalem. and in the occupied West Bank. Tom? Okay, Josh, thank you for that. Not at Top Story's Global Watch and a check of the other headlines making news across the world. We start with the assassination attempt on South Korea's main political opposition leader, and a warning to viewers, this video is disturbing.

It shows the moment the country's Democratic Party head was stabbed in the neck while leaving an event in the southeastern city of Busan. Local authorities say the suspect was asking for an autograph when the attack happened. He is in custody. The politician is expected to survive. Russia launching massive air attacks on Ukraine's two largest cities. Explosions and smoke visible over Kiev's skyline early this morning as Russian missile and drone strikes pounded the capital city and Harkiv in the northeast. Authorities say at least five people died and more than 100 have been injured.

This latest wave comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to avenge Ukrainian attacks from over the weekend. And in Spain, a player for the country's women's soccer team testifying in court over an alleged sexual assault following their World Cup final win. You may remember the moment. Jenny Ramoso arrived at court in Madrid to give her account of what she called an unwanted kiss by the country's then soccer chief, this guy,

following Spain's victory over England in August. State prosecutors accused Luis Rueales of sexual assault and coercion in connection to the kiss. A judge will now decide whether to formally charge him or close the case. Okay, back here at home, we are following the migrant crisis, stretching some cities well beyond the border to their limits. Texas Governor Greg Abbott flying and busing migrants to cities like New York and Chicago

or shelters are now running out of space. Some migrants forced to sleep on city buses as temperatures plunge. NBC's Antonio Hilton reports. Tonight, a bitter reality for migrants in Chicago, a city running out of room. Dozens left to sleep inside these, warming buses provided by the mayor to escape the harsh winter temperatures. With shelters, push to their limits. This man says he's been sleeping in buses for five days and is waiting for proper shelter

provided by the city. It's awful. We are basically playing with human lives. As buses and planes of people continue to arrive. At least three Chicago area suburbs voting tonight on executive actions that would prevent migrants from getting dropped off without warning or punish the companies who provide the transportation. Generally, they're all fairly tough because they have a $750 per person on the bus fine if the

bus company hasn't gotten a permit in advance. So that's pretty, you know, with 20 to 50 migrants on a bus, that's pretty hefty. It's a tactic already employed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, one that critics, has pushed Texas Governor Greg Abbott to bus migrants to neighboring New Jersey instead to avoid those penalties. What Governor Abbott has done in his total reckless disregard for using people as pawns, he has shifted and it just wants to create chaos. If he's shifting, we're going to shift.

Abbott, who has called the Adams order sheer hypocrisy, now facing a legal battle with the federal government. White House filing an appeal with the Supreme Court to allow border patrol agents to cut through barbed wire put in place by the governor's administration. The political fights heating up as this crisis reaches a new peak, December breaking an all-time record with an estimated 300,000 undocumented migrants crossing the southern border, a perilous journey for many who make it, including more than 30 people who were kidnapped on a bus like this while traveling to the border town of Matamoros.

the Mexican president says is under investigation. But some progress tonight for 3,000 migrants that are part of a caravan making its way to the U.S. The Mexican government offering permits to work in the country for the year in an effort to curb the surge. But many say America is still their final destination. Like this family, we met here in New York, who say they are fleeing death threats. back home in Ecuador. Many who do make it safely, ending up at the Roosevelt Hotel, a pit stop in a long and harrowing journey towards a new life. The mayor tonight says he knew restrictions would divert migrants, even if just temporarily. And if lawmakers in states like New Jersey have an issue,

he says they can put similar orders into effect. But the reality is that every day new people are getting onto buses and planes and coming here to places like the Roosevelt Hotel. And there appears to be no end in sight, Tom. Okay, Antonio Hilton first tonight. Antonio, we appreciate that. Coming up, we're going to switch gears here. Have you heard about the red hot Stanley Cup? Again, this has nothing to do with hockey. It's the item everyone, including my kids, are obsessed with. We'll tell you the secrets to why it's recently become so popular despite being around for years. That's next. We're back with a closer look at a product you might have in your handwriting.

right now, and the same one you can see behind me. Or, if not, you've most likely seen it at school in the office or online. It's the Stanley Cup. Not to be confused with the hockey trophy, of course. It's a viral sensation that was on nearly everyone's list this holiday season. But what you might not know is the company has actually been around for more than a hundred years. NBC Stephen Romo has more on the brand's sudden new success. Drawing screams of excitement and tears of joy. This year's hottest status symbol and most coveted holiday gift

is the Stanley Tumblr. The 40-ounce quencher, a favorite from preteens and adults alike, comes in a variety of colors and costs $45. Fans lining up for new releases and limited edition items like these Valentine's Day box.

It's reminding some of the Beanie Baby Cray's or a classic Black Friday. a stampede. Adding to legend, viral videos of the Cups, indestructibility, like this one that survived a car fire. Stanley even going as far as to give the owner a new car. In three years, the quencher taking the company's annual sales from 73 million to 750 million, a massive bump for a brand that's been around for more than a century. But how did Stanley Cups go from thermosis for construction workers to a 13-year-old's dream gift. At first, the quencher was a flop. It wasn't until a group of working moms running the popular blog, The Buy Guide, took a liking

to it in 2017. They had a keen eye for what colors might work for their audience, and they were right. Stanley's president, Terence Riley, spoke to our colleagues at CNBC. Under his direction, Stanley moved into the world of pastels. So it was a slow build over many months. And then you could see that the waiting lists began to grow. Like so many other items, there's often a status water bottle, as funny as that might sound. It's not the first water bottle to reach cold status, swell, Nalgin, and Hydroflasks, all with their own moments in the spotlight. There are definitely important product quality merits, but I think more than anything, the velocity and quantity at which folks are posting about the product online as creating a sense of urgency that really has. hasn't been matched by many other products out there.

Consumers going beyond buying bottles for daily use, TikTokers often showing off their collection of colors and customized tumblers. A way for them to express themselves more so than just a way for them to carry water around and to hydrate themselves at this point. The quencher's rise putting Stanley on the radar for more consumers, and the company is looking to seize that opportunity. So the quencher trend is certainly exciting, but we're more than just the quencher. All right. With that, Stephen Romo, joins us now in studio. So, Stephen, let's go back to that group that sort of helps Stanley take off, at least when it came to social media. What exactly do they do?

Yeah, it's called the buy guide. And one of the moms on board actually found the Stanley Cups, even before they started their blog. And she loved it so much, she bought all the other members, this cup. And then the next thing you know, they have a post calling it 40 ounces of perfection. And it took off from there back in 2017. It's continued since. 2017, so the rest is history. Now, the popularity is incredible. Can other brands learn anything from Stanley? Did they do something right that maybe other companies should emulate? Yeah, it's a 100-year-old company that makes these. So they weren't really big on social media, but they really leaned into this once they saw it taking off, trying to come up with the latest colors like we've seen. Something that's really had been targeted toward outdoorsmen is now being targeted toward young people and parents. So it's really come a long way, just leaning into that virality, if you will. Yeah, from people who worked on construction sites now. It's in every school in America.

Stephen Romo, we appreciate it. Thank you so much for that. Coming up, the thrill-seeking grandmother. Wait till you meet 88-year-old Jolene in the perfect place, Dollywood, of course, taking on roller coasters, making the most of every moment and not letting her age stop her. You'll meet her right after this break. We're back now with a look at one Knoxville, Tennessee.

see grandmother finding the joy in the everyday and proving your age shouldn't stop you from doing what you love, including riding roller coasters. WBIR anchor Katie Inman has the story of how this thrill-seeker navigates the right of life. At Dollywood, families find their own fun. I thought maybe I'd be in the middle. But for one woman, it's all about adventure. 88-year-old grandmother doesn't act her age. And that's just the way she likes it. I love just experimenting with different things. And by doing that, I think you stay young.

I may not look it, but I love it. Being bold is in her blood. I know, and I'm so much fun. So is her name. Jolene Hill. But before you ask her favorite dolly song. Well, it's not Joe. I can assure you.

You'll rarely catch this roller coaster regular on rides like the carousel. I thought, okay, this is a downer right here. Now, let's get back to the Wild Eagle. Her friend's support in spirit. I always have to ride by myself because I come with a friend who had heart transplant. And she's not able to ride anything. But she's willing to sit while I ride everything. So she'll sit and watch.

When this season pass holder is not at the park. I volunteer four days a week and I go to the gym three days a week. This retired teacher's assistant lives every day like it's her last, but it's not always been that way. Well, I tell you, I didn't do a lot because my husband had Alzheimer's for 13 years before he passed away. When a disease dared to steal joy, her heart stayed steady on track. At the last, he wanted to ride them, but I was afraid to let him right.

ride them then. So I said, I tell you what? You stand here and I'll ride it twice. Once for me and once for you. So okay. So that was okay with him. Through every loop life throats, being a light is her favorite way to be fearless. I love people. I love people. And so anybody want to ride with me. I ride with me. So of course, I had to accept the invitation. Right, here we go. Smiles and screams are hard to hide, which is why we also had to give Wild Eagle a try. All right, here we go. She's soaring through her senior years. You never know if you're going to be here tomorrow. So just make the most of every day. Living with the joy of Jolene.

Love that attitude. keep riding those coasters, Jolene. We also want to thank our partners at WBIR and, of course, anchor Katie Inman for her help on that story. We thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamis back in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.