Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Episode Date: January 18, 2023

President Biden refuses to answer questions about his handling of classified documents, a Republican political candidate in New Mexico charged with plotting to shoot Democratic officials after losing a local election, the extreme measures some migrants are taking to reach the U.S., Ana Walshe’s husband now charged with her murder, and Greta Thunberg detained by police in Germany.

Tonight, Biden's Dodge, the president refusing to answer questions for a fifth straight day. Biden remaining silent about the special counsel appointed last week to investigate his handling of classified documents. Several batches found at his Delaware home and at a private office, Peter Alexander at the White House tonight, pressing the administration for answers. The stunning arrest in New Mexico, a Republican candidate charged with plotting to shoot Democratic officials after losing a local election in a landslide. hired gunmen firing bullets into their homes, but authorities have revealed about his history of election denials. Also tonight, the extreme measures some migrants are taking to reach the U.S., a group in a makeshift raft, rescued by a cruise ship in the Caribbean,

and at the southern border, three young sisters abandoned by coyotes near the Rio Grande, the emotional plea from their mother what she's calling on President Biden to do. The new development in the case of Anna Walsh, the Massachusetts mom, missing since New Year's Day. Her husband now charged with murder when investigators are saying about the break in this case. Plus, activist Greta Toonberg detained by police in Germany, why she and hundreds of others are protesting outside of a coal mine there. And the shocking abduction attempt at a drive-thru in Washington caught on camera, a man in a pickup truck trying to pull the barista out of the window. The tattooed police are asking people to focus on as they search for the suspect.

Top story. It starts right now. Hey, good evening. We begin top story tonight with day five of President Biden's silent defense. The calls for more transparency and any sort of response growing louder from both sides of the aisle. Nearly a week after a special counsel was appointed to investigate the president. Biden meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Ruda in the Oval Office this afternoon in front of the full White House press score. But as he has done every day since Thursday, Biden ignoring all questions about the special counsel's investigation.

The focus, of course, of that probe, the discovery of classified documents on at least four separate occasions at Biden's home in Delaware and at a private office, at least one document labeled top secret. But tonight, so many lingering questions, how many documents are there, how did they get to Biden's private properties, and who may have had access to them? Peter Alexander, from the White House tonight, pressing for answers. Tonight, President Biden again refusing to answer questions about the swirling controversy over his handling of classified documents. Will you commit to speak to the special counsel? For the fifth day in a row, no comment as he faces a special counsel investigation and intensifying bipartisan criticism for a lack of transparency and the ongoing drip, drip, drip of new information. Days after announcing the search for classified documents was complete just this weekend, the White House revealed five more pay. Ages of classified materials were among those discovered at the President's Delaware home.

We want simple questions to simple answers, and this administration fights us every step of the way. The first batch of classified materials, including at least one top secret document sources tell NBC News, was found in the president's former private office. And Biden lawyers found more documents at the Biden's Delaware home, including inside the garage. Republicans are accusing the president of hypocrisy since he blasted former President Trump for keeping hundreds of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago home. How that could possibly happen? How anyone could be that irresponsible. But tonight, the White House is firing back, arguing unlike Mr. Trump's case, President Biden's lawyers handed back all classified documents as soon as they were found,

accusing Republicans of faking outrage. The White House says Republicans are faking outrage on this issue. Why shouldn't Americans be outraged about classified documents? being found in a garage. Look, and I think I've been very clear about this. We have answered questions on this at this podium. He said that he didn't know, right? He said that he was surprised, and he said that he takes classified information and documents very, very seriously. The White House is leaving many questions unanswered, among them, exactly how many classified documents of Biden lawyers recovered, who had access to them. And why was the public not told for more than two months that Biden lawyers had found classified documents before the midterms.

The most important question that we've asked now for over a week is, why did they keep it from the American people when they knew about it before the election? All right, Peter Alexander, joins us now live from the White House. So, Peter, I understand you have some new reporting tonight from the Justice Department on the issue of President Biden's classified documents. Yeah, Tom, let me walk you through this. So explaining their silence, White House officials today said that there was a tension between safeguarding and protecting the integrity of an ongoing Justice Department investigation while providing information that's publicly appropriate.

But tonight, a law enforcement official tells NBC News that the Justice Department has not told the White House that it cannot talk about the facts of this case. And as legal experts have repeatedly explained to us, there is nothing legally that prohibits the White House from speaking publicly. Tom? Yeah, the strategy just seems to be silent for now. Okay, Peter Alexander, with that new reporting, Peter, we appreciate it for more on all the political fallout over. these Biden-classified documents and the latest on the future of the GOP. I want to bring in political powerhouses, Democratic strategist, Zach Patakantus, I'm sorry, NBC News, political analyst and Republican strategist, Susan Del Perseo.

Guys, thanks so much for joining Top Story tonight. Zach, I want to start with you. You just got that new reporting from NBC News. What's your take on this? Why is the Biden administration seem to be handling this so poorly? I mean, I totally disagree with that take. I mean, I think the idea that they're handling it poorly is just not true. They have done everything they are supposed to do by the book.

When they found the documents, what did they do? They returned them into the people that were supposed to get them, which is the National Archives. What they didn't do, and I know the media would love this, they didn't have a press conference with the documents, waving them around, saying, here we go. That would not be an inappropriate way to handle it. But, Zach, that's one way to look at it. The other way to look at it is to sort of do what you campaigned on, which was to be transparent, to bring ethics back to the White House. This is what Joe Biden said he was going to do. You don't have to wave it around and make a big spectacle, but at least tell people what's going on.

It was news organizations that brought this information to the public. It's, but what they, you, the way to handle this is not to go out to the public. The way to handle us is to go to the National Archives, which is what they did. That was, that is the book response to this, and that's what they did. So they stayed silent on the announcement, right? Say that's your strategy and that's fine. You can do that. But why are they staying silent now?

It's become public. Five days. And today it's appearing like he's smirking there in the White House. They're not saying silent now. In fact, the White House had a press call today, which your reporters were on. in which they answered questions related to this. I think what you're seeing from the White House is there is a frustration that they're being held

to a different standard than the Trump administration, which is under a criminal investigation because they stole documents deliberately, hid them, and they refused to turn them over. And now all this attention is being paid to the Biden administration, which, after the documents were found, they handled them appropriately,

turning over to the National Archives, and it's being treated like some sort of crazy federal case. You use the verb stole, that the Trump administration, stole those documents, what's the difference than what happened with former Vice President Biden then? Did they also steal that? Is it, would you use the same phrase? Yeah, I mean, if you go into a grocery store and you mis-and-you inadvertently put something in your pocket and walk out, and then the buzzer goes off, and you immediately go back and return that document, that's not stealing it,

that is mistakenly almost taking it out and returning it. What Trump did is he put something in his pocket, ran out after the buzzer, went home, the police followed him home, they asked for her back, and refused to give it back, and then they had to issue a search warrant. There's a major difference in how those documents are handled. Exactly. And I'm going to get you in this. Why do you think when they were fully transparent, as you were saying, and they didn't want to waive the documents to the public, but they went and they told the National Archives, why do you think they did it on a Friday night? Why do you think it took them more than 30 days to find the other batch of documents if they were truly trying to be good soldiers on this, you know, trying to be good citizens about the whole thing? I think they handled it exactly the way they were supposed to, which is National Archives.

There was no standard that says you're supposed to hold a press conference so that NBC can get a hold of this story. or other media outlets. They handled it appropriately. Well, it's probably good news organizations got this information out because it may not have led to the other search. Real quick, Susan, I want to ask you, does this affect Joe Biden?

Does it matter at all going into 2024? It's not a legal problem. I don't see it. I do think it's probably a mistake. But there's a lot of questions to be answered. And let's not kid ourselves. A news organization found out about it. And the Biden people knew about it for quite some time.

And then they got caught with the second batch of documents. But my question is, do you think someone's, if he does work for re-election? But legally, no, here's what it does. It hurts him politically. It gives something for the Republicans to weaponize, frankly, because they have no shame on this issue. They don't care that it looks supercritical, that they don't say one thing about Donald Trump

and another thing about Biden. That's just the reality of it. But more importantly, it takes the issue off for other Democrats against Donald Trump. Yeah, but also there's other things happening that would be worse for President Biden. like the border, like immigration, and now no one's talking about that because you're talking about these classified documents. But we're also no longer talking about the great two years Joe Biden had, and we're not talking about him going into the state of the union super strong. We're talking about these documents. Zach, does this affect him in any way if he decides to run for re-election? I mean, is any American not going to vote for him over these classified documents?

No, not only, well, no American not vote for him. I think it has got to solidify Democratic support, because we have seen the kind of hounding. But they're criticizing him. We were criticizing him this weekend. You're talking about some elite strategists who are on the payroll trying to get their name in the newspaper. No, no, no, no. Senator Mark Warner has written a letter about this. Representative Clyburn was on TV yesterday, saying they were investigating them. It was classified documents that he has to be held responsible for. And he is doing exactly what he should be doing, which is when he found them, he turned them over to the National Archives.

Democratic voters. You can't ignore it. He's not ignoring it. He did the exact opposite of ignoring it. Ignoring it was we would dump what Donald Trump did, which he took them, had them in his place, and refused to No, he flat out to fight it. He was horrible. Do you think this is Delane the rollout for his re-election campaign, and does this hurt Democrats at all?

Anybody who's standing on the sidelines waiting to throw their hat in? No, I absolutely don't. And I think it actually solidifies democratic support amongst voters, because they have seen this kind of hounding through the Hillary Clinton email fiasco. This is starting to feel a little like that, this sort of this attack, attack, I think it's solidifying democratic support. Yeah, but in the center where the race is won and suburban women and center, right, Republicans, here's all they're going to know. And does it ruined Biden's chance? No. But you still have former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden are currently under investigation by the DOJ for handling of classified documents. Full stop. That's all they're

going to hear. They will never hear this whole conversation. Real quick, I want to get to the GOP, and we've been talking about this a lot. I want to go real quick to a full screen that we have. This was from First Read. I want to read it here. the race for R&C chair takes place less than two weeks from today, and the contest largely boils down to this question after the GOP's disappointing midterm performance. Do Republicans stay with the status quo? Or do they become even Trumpier than they are now?

Those are the only two choices that the party's 168 voting committee officials face in the race featuring incumbent R&C chair, Rona McDaniel, whom Trump handpicked for the role after winning the White House, California RNC committee woman Harmeet Dillon, who served as a Trump legal advisor who's vowing to defeat the party's click of swamp insiders, and my pillows, Mike Lindell. Yes, that Mike Lindell.

So my question, Susan, are you worried about this? That the only people that are going to be at the top of the RNC are people who are loyal to Donald Trump? Well, I've been worried about the RNC since 2015, or 2016, rather. So it's a problem. The leadership comes down to who Donald Trump supports. If he thinks he could get away with putting all the blame on Rana and basically wiping his hands off the losses of 2022,

He'll throw her under the bus. Meanwhile, the my pillow guy, all he's going to do is say the election was rigged and go home and cry into his pillow. But, Zach, you know this. I mean, you need organization to win elections. You need a unifying message. If you have a party that is completely loyal to the former president and say he's not the nominee, what happens there? Look, I think the Republicans are in very serious trouble. I think they have allowed the organization to decay and to become totally consumed by Donald Trump.

And, you know, look, I think Susan is totally right on this. the party needs to reform. It needs to burn down to the ground and rebuild is what it needs. Reform would be kind. What she said. Susan and Zach, thank you. Great conversation. I really do appreciate it.

Now to another shocking political headline, a defeated Republican candidate for state office in New Mexico, arrested for paying gunmen to shoot at the homes and offices of four local Democratic leaders. The case now fueling the conversation about rising political violence in America. NBC News Senior Washington correspondent Hallie Jackson has the latest. New details tonight on an escalation of extreme.

With NBC News, learning the alleged ringleader of a plot to shoot at Democratic officials confronted some of them weeks before, tracking them down in person after losing a state election. He was pretty aggressive. Then in December, County Commissioner Adrian Barboa came home to this. Four shots through the front door, two shots through my partner's vehicle. So, yeah, it was shocking and scary. And you said you were with your granddaughter just hours before? That was the most terrifying as I kept thinking this is through our front door and you could see the direct path where it went out my back door and I had literally been there playing with my granddaughter just two hours before. At another official's home, one bullet landed in her daughter's bedroom wall so close to the sleeping 10-year-old that sheet rock dust was blown onto the girl's face according to newly released arrest documents.

The suspect Solomon Pena set to be charged with orchestrated. a string of attacks. Accused of paying four men to shoot the homes of four state and local Democratic officials over the past month in what authorities described as an orchestrated plot. An attack on elected official is an attack on democracy. Whether or not it's a Republican or a Democrat, it does not matter. No one was hurt. But Peña, a Republican, is a Donald Trump supporter and, like the former president, an election denier. Even though no fraud was found in New Mexico, officials say. Pena was apparently adamant he should have won a race he lost in a landslide, 74 to 26 percent. His campaign has not responded to a request for comment. The attacks coming at a time

of growing concern over politically motivated violence, experts pointing to an uptick over the past five years, and threats to members of Congress spiking tenfold since 2016. We're seeing threats, intimidation, and actual violence skyrocketing on the right. Dangerous divisions and a community on edge. The suspect is expected to be in court tomorrow for his first court appearance in this case, facing multiple charges, including conspiracy. And Tom, the district attorney is not ruling out the possibility of a more serious charge like attempted murder, just given the nature of these shootings. Tom? Okay, Hallie Jackson for us tonight.

Hallie, thank you for that. We want to turn out of the water crisis in Arizona. Last night, we brought you the story of Rio Verde, an Arizona town that will soon run out of water after being cut off from its municipal water supply. Tonight, our Gotti Schwartz is in the area in Scottsdale. Gotti, so is there any relief at all for these residents who say they're going to run out of water or don't have water already? Tom, at this point, it just looks like band-aids as far as we can see.

I'm going to show you these right here, these are the spigots that these fights are really about. Right now, we are in Scottsdale. This is Scottsdale City Limits, and I'm going to show you, see that mountain over there. On the back side of that mountain is the unincorporated community of Rio Verdi. That's the area that we're talking about, Rio Verde Foothills. So you can kind of see there's some homes up on this side of the mountain. They're here on the Scottsdale side. They've got normal water like you and I, probably a water main going up to their house.

On the backside in the unincorporated area, just about 10, 15 minutes away from here, they have cisterns, and that is an unincorporated area, so they're kind of off the grid. A lot of those families, we've been talking to them, they moved in with these big cisterns, and they had these water trucking companies that said, hey, don't worry, this is kind of like city water, but anytime your cisterns running low, we've got a little GPS thing and a cellular thing that will let us know and we'll make a delivery and you'll have water on the regular. Well, they would get their water from this station right here, about 15 minutes away. They would pull up to these little pumps, they'd open the spigot, and they would buy the water from Scotts. They would fill up and then they would head back over and then they'd fill up those tanks for those customers. Well, because of the drought, the city of Scottsdale has now said this is only for residents of Scottsdale and only for use here in Scottsdale. So the Band-Aid solution right now is that a water hauler goes 15 minutes down the way.

They have to now drive an hour and a half to find another spigot of water and those spigots are actually coin operated. go with literal pockets full of quarters, and then they spend an hour putting quarters in just to get that water. They fill up their water tanks, and then they take them an hour and a half back here. So it takes all day just for one run of water, and they've got hundreds of customers just beyond those mountains. Gotti, thank you for explaining that, because I think you really put it into perspective of why this problem exists. I have to ask you, has the governor, Katie Hobbs, who just started, has she waiting on this? Have the U.S. senators from Arizona waiting on this? So far, she just took office and not yet.

And this is a very complicated, very nuanced issue. She says that she's looking into water rights. She says that she's looking into water conservation as Arizona as a whole deals with this severe drought. But there are a lot of different people that say that this really comes down to two things. If you talk to the people of Rio Verdi, they say it comes down to the city of Scottsdale, refusing to sell them water, even at double the price. But if you talk to people here in Scottsdale, some of them say, well, people that are moving out into an unincorporated area need to know that if they don't have an active water supply, most people here in the Scottsdale area have access to at least 100 years of a water supply as the dictates of the Constitution and the laws here in Arizona state, then they're kind of on their own. So it's really dependent on who you ask.

But right now, it's a situation where people are literally worried about where their water is going to come from. Tom? Okay, Gotti Schwartz for us there. Godi, we appreciate it. For more on Arizona's water crisis, we're joined now by two Rio Verde Foothills residents, Stephen Connieris and Donna Rice. Guys, thanks so much for joining Top Story tonight. I know now is sort of a difficult time for you. Kind of explain to us and really everyone watching what is going on.

I mean, at this moment right now, I understand. You do have water in an underground tank, but at some point, that's going to run out, and it's getting very expensive to keep that water in that tank? Thank you for first. Thank you for having us. Yes, that's correct. When we first moved out here, we had a well, the well worked to dry it up. We went to hauled water. And probably about four years ago, we tried to form a water district through the county. That went on and on, and they wouldn't see it. sued the county so they would bring it up. And it didn't pass. And the reasons were listed,

and we don't probably have time to run through each of the listed reasons. But once you get those lists, you find, well, the first thing, well, that's not true. That's, you know, we're going to raise taxes. That's not true. It's a new governmental entity. Well, that's not true. We're a bunch of responsible people who want to form a water district. But water districts, I don't know if you guys can do it. Yeah, go ahead. See, but yeah, I don't want to get too lost in the weeds here because I want people, you know, who don't live in your area to sort of understand how this is affecting you. I understand you had to join a gym. It's okay. You have to apologize. You had to join a gym

to sort of bathe at times because you want to conserve water. Is that true? And then you're also having to use the outside your backyard as a bathroom? Yeah, that's maybe a little TMI there. But yes, we did join a gym to shower. We've been And using paper plates, we've been collecting rainwater to use to flush the toilets. We're just trying to do anything we can to make that water that we have to spread it out and go longer. And the less we use, the more, when the water haulers bring water, the better it is for our neighbors who have to split that water. How much is it cost to fill that tank? How much does it cost to fill your tank with the water haulers?

So basically, it used to be $120 for 3,000 gallons. It's now up to $340, and we hear it's probably going to go to about $4.40. And how much is that? How long does that last? How long does that last two people? I'll say somewhere between half a month and a month, depending on, you know, what you're doing and how much? You know, this load is going to last us quite a bit longer because we are going to, we are showering at the gym, and we are going to the long. for our laundry. So, you know, it'll last us longer this time.

Is it true? I mean, because it's been reported that some of the developers in your area skirted the laws about water. Did you ever have any idea? Did you ever hear that maybe if you bought a home there, if you rented a home there, you may have trouble with water? Well, we built our house here sort of before all this, so that we didn't hear that. We certainly know there are people locally who sold their houses. and didn't tell, and now there's suits going on, because neither the homeowner or the realtor, I don't know how you could do that, sell your house

for a million dollars to somebody, and then they don't have water. That just doesn't seem right. But did you, I guess my question to you is, did you guys know that you were gambling when you moved to that area? No, because we thought we had a well. Yeah, we thought we had a well that would supply water,

not just to us, but to three other homes. So, yeah, we thought we were good, And then when that well stopped working, we have neighbors who have been on hauled water for decades. What's your message tonight to- So we weren't that concerned. What's your message tonight to the officials in Scottsdale and to your governor and to your senators there in Arizona? So what I'd like to say is how disappointed I am with our board of county supervisors, because they've known about this problem for years and just kicked the can down the road. They didn't address it until they were forced to. And our supervisor has now come out and said he supports a private water company, which will

leave us without water for two to three years until they can come in. And when he took office, he said this was his number one priority, and that he is, and then I read in his newsletter that he was working on it every day. So he has worked on this every day for the last year, and yet he has no solution, and we have no water for two to three years. And there's a good solution, a water district. Okay. That costs them nothing.

Stephen and Donna, we thank you for your time. Good luck with this. I hope you guys figured this out because it's really, it's hard to believe that you're getting. Well, thank you so much for having us. We really appreciate it. Yeah, okay. Guys, thank you for joining Top Story. All right, moving on now to the latest on the migrant crisis in Florida and across the U.S.

southern border, a cruise ship in South Florida rescuing a group of Cuban migrants over the weekend. As migrant landings on the coastline are becoming more and more frequent, on the southern border in Mexico, Take a look at this. Three little girls were found abandoned by coyotes trying to make the dangerous trek along the Rio Grande. Their mother's emotional plea to President Biden. You'll see that in a moment. Our Guadvanegas has more on the risks people are taking by land and by sea in an effort to reach the U.S. Oh, my gosh. How many is there? Tonight, another cruise in the Caribbean turned rescue mission. 17 Cuban migrants found on this small vessel, the captain and crew of the Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas, taking

action to save the migrants. The captain got on, you know, the PA system. He was saying that they would have never lived. The crowded boat, man with only oars, was spotted in the distance over the weekend. We weren't exactly sure what it was because we're in the middle of the ocean. We don't even know where we are. So it kept getting a little bit closer, a little bit closer, and then we noticed there was a flag. Passengers emotional over a hug between two migrants on board moments before the rescue. That moment for them, they're saved. And I can't imagine what that was like, you know, when the last time they ate, they drank, they went to the bathroom. They had clean clothes, dry clothes.

Just over a week ago, another cruise ship, the Celebrity Beyond, brought in 19 migrants found at sea. That is crazy. What have they been doing? Encounters that have become more and more frequent around the Florida shores, as state officials say, thousands of migrants have been making their way to the coastline. It's unbelievable. Since last October, the U.S. Coast Guard says crews have intercepted 4,900. and 62 Cuban migrants at sea, and U.S. Board Petroza's migrant landings in South Florida have increased by more than 650%. By land, efforts to cross the border are also at record highs. A number of migrants reaching the U.S.'s southern border has nearly doubled since this time last year, among those making the risky trip, children.

These three sisters from El Salvador were found by Mexican authorities on a patch of land. along the border on the Rio Grande after being abandoned by Coyotes. Their mother in anguish, speaking out with our Telemundo partners. They are waiting to be reunited and said to be deported back to El Salvador. The mother, making one last plea to President Joe Biden asking for help. To me help, to my niemen can be with her family in the States. She says they'd be in danger if said, sent back home.

One of my his kids, was just suffered a there in that

it's calls for help like these that the Biden administration is now

having to confront. If you're trying to leave Cuba Nicaragua or Haiti you have

agreed to begin a journey to America do not do not just show up at the

border. Earlier this month, the president trying to address the surge of migrants,

which he says has led to a strain on resources. urging those seeking asylum to do so through a legal pathway. Starting today, if you don't apply through the legal process, you will not be eligible for this new parole program. But for those traveling already by land and on sea, the warning may be a little too late. The migrants rescued will be turned over to federal authorities.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard in the region has been intercepting a lot of these small vessels, almost on a daily basis. They continue to update, indicating that a lot of the individuals are sent back. to their countries of origin. Just yesterday, they informed that 82 Cubans were repatriated back to the island. The Coast Guard also reminding everyone how dangerous and deadly this voyage can be. Tom? All right, Guad vanegas for a squad.

Thank you for that. None of the latest from that deadly Russian missile attack on a Ukrainian apartment building. It's among the deadliest attacks on civilians since the war began. President Zelensky now calling for a war crimes tribunal. As first responders sift through the rubble, look at that. New details are emerging about. This woman's miraculous story of survival while now dealing with the tragedies of war. NBC's Raf Sanchez is in Ukraine with this report.

Tonight, a desperate search for survivors coming to an end. Emergency teams suspending rescue operations and turning to recovery efforts at this apartment building in Denepro. Three days after it was leveled by what British military intelligence says, was a Russian missile large enough to sink an aircraft carrier. The death toll. 45 killed, including six children. And according to the UN, more than a thousand people now homeless in the depths of winter. President Zelensky calling for a war crime tribunal.

He says all Russian murderers, everyone who gives and executes orders on missile terror against our people, must face legal sentences. And as rescuers sift the wreckage, we're learning more about the victims and survivors who once called this building home. This video of Katya Zelenska emerging after 20 hours under the rubble was seen around the world. Katia is deaf, so she was unable to hear rescuers trying to save her. Her sister writing on Instagram, she could not call for help because she's been deaf since

childhood. While she's safe, she's dealing with unspeakable tragedy. Tonight, her family confirming that Katya's husband, Olexi, and their one-year-old son, Nikita, were killed in the attack. Also among the dead, Natalia Schwetz, known for her love of animals. She was always a very nice person who posted a lot about the cats. And I just knew her as someone who saved lots and lots of cats in Nipro. Mia Willard, a 24-year-old Ukrainian American, has been in Kiev, throughout the war, completing her degree at the University of Central Florida online.

How do you keep going when people you know are killed every few days? I focus on what I can do personally to help Ukraine win this war, because I think most of us have either friends or distant acquaintances who die nearly every day. This is the inside of what used to be a school, high school. Mia volunteers with humanitarian organizations in eastern Ukraine, distributing food and medicine to civilians near the front. Russia fights a war against the civilians, while we are fighting a war against the soldiers

for our own land and our own freedom. Ukrainian officials echoing that message to U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman making a brief visit to Kiev Monday. Their plea speed up the flow of advanced American weapons, so they can liberate their land and shield other families from the grief tonight overwhelming Denepro. And Tom, Ukraine's military says right now they have no way of stopping the kind of large

Russian missiles like the one that was used against that apartment building in Denepro. Ukrainian forces are due to begin training in the U.S. as early as this week on American Patriot missile defense systems, but it could be months before those Patriot batteries are actually deployed to defend Ukrainian cities. Tom. Okay, Raf Sanchez, Raf, thank you. Still ahead tonight, a major break in the case of a missing mom in Massachusetts. Her husband who was already in custody, now charged with murder. But we're hearing from police tonight. Plus, the attempted abduction caught on camera in Washington. Look at this. A man trying to pull a barista out of a drive-through window. The update about the suspect just into the newsroom

and an update on actor Jeremy Renner, who was critically injured you'll remember in a snowplowing accident And earlier this month, what he tweeted about his recovery tonight. Top story, just getting started on this Tuesday. Back down with the latest on a missing mother of three in Massachusetts, who has not been seen since New Year's Day. Police now charging her husband with her murder after he was seen on surveillance, purchasing hundreds of dollars of cleaning supplies. And Thompson has more.

tonight there is still no official word on where Anna Walsh is but authorities believe the Cohasset Massachusetts woman is dead and today accused her husband Brian of killing her making the announcement in a video statement the continued investigation has now allowed police to obtain an arrest warrant charging Brian Walsh with the murder of his wife walsh's attorney declined to comment the 47-year-old Walsh is already in custody accused of misleading police during their search for his wife. He was arraigned last week on that charge and pled not guilty. He's on surveillance at that time purchasing about $450 worth of cleaning supplies. That would include moths, bucket, tops. He's on surveillance at that time on January 2nd, even though he said he never left the house.

Police say they also found a knife and blood in the basement of the Walsh's home. Anna Walsh was last seen New Year's Day. The mother of three supposedly on her way to her job in Washington, D.C. But it wasn't until January 4th that the 39-year-old woman was reported missing by her employer. This is not Brian Walsh's first run-in with the law. He was awaiting sentencing on unrelated federal fraud charges when Anna Walsh disappeared. Before they were married, record show Anna told D.C. police Brian threatened to kill her and a friend over the phone in 2014. She refused to further cooperate. Tomorrow, Brian Walsh will be back in court to hear the murder charge against him and perhaps learn of the evidence that led authorities

to make this accusation. Ann Thompson, NBC News. Okay, when we come back, a car show erupting in violence in Florida, the MLK Day celebration turning deadly after gunshots broke out. The manhunt now underway for the people responsible. Stay with us. news feeding, we begin with the manhunt in Florida after a mass shooting at a Martin Luther King Day event. Police say gunfire erupted during a pack car show in Fort Pierce. At least one woman killed and several others hurt. So far, no arrest have been made. Police in Washington State have just arrested a man caught on camera trying to kidnap a barista from a drive-through window. Surveillance video shows the man grabbing a woman's arm and trying to pull her out of that window with a zip-tie

device. It happened near Seattle. No word yet on the charges he's now facing. An actor Jeremy Runner is Back home from the hospital, the mayor of Kingtown star, tweeting he was watching the show's latest season at home with family. Brenner had been hospitalized since New Year's Day after he was completely crushed by a snowplow. All right, we turn overseas to those intensifying protests in Germany we told you about last week. Well-known environmental activist, Credit Tunberg, carried away by police today

after she joined hundreds of activists trying to stop the demolition of a German village in an effort to expand a coal mine. Ellis and Barbara has a story. Climate activist Gretaunberg detained while protesting in a Western German village that's set to be demolished to make way for the expansion of a coal mine. The 20-year-old smiling as she was carried out by officers in riot gear, a police spokesperson saying she and others were moved due to their proximity to the edge of a mine. But clarifying this was not in arrest, though saying high-profile people don't get, quote, carte blanche. Those detained have since been released. But Tunberg's detention now bringing even more global attention to the town of Lutserath,

where a standoff between activist and police has played out over several days. Last year, local and regional governments reached a deal with the German Energy Company, RWE. The company would be allowed to destroy Lutserath and expand a nearby coal mine if they agreed to stop using coal by 2030. 30. The country's Green Party helped strike the deal claiming it would save other villages, but activists call the deal unacceptable. Carbon is still in the ground. We are still here. Literate is still there. And as long as the carbon is in the ground, this struggle is not over. Despite a court order, they refuse to

leave the town. Now all eyes are on the police. After violent scuffles broke out, authorities defended their actions. saying those who continue to break through police lines are the ones seeking confrontations. One thing noticeably absent from the site in January, snow. Police even getting stuck in the mud at the protest sites. Temperatures soaring earlier this month in one of the hottest winters for Europe on record, with climate change largely to blame. It's been a big topic in Davos, Switzerland,

as the town host global leaders at the World Economic Forum. this week. But there are protests there, too. Activists physically blocked a runway to criticize attendees' use of private jets. It's really important that we hold this drop 1% of the richest people of the world account to it. Climate change on the agenda at this year's exclusive summit and also increasingly across the globe. Ellison Barber, NBC News. All right, coming up, China reporting its first population drop in six decades. What experts say may be leading to the decline next.

Back down, top story and time for Global Watch, the deadly landslide in Mexico. Authorities say a home in Tijuana was swept away. At least two children were killed there. Three other people, including a 15-year-old, were rescued from the debris. The same system that has drenched California in recent days, also bringing torrential rain to parts of northern Mexico. At least 50 women and girls have been kidnapped yet again in the Western African nation of Burkina Faso. Officials say victims were abducted while gathering wild fruit in the northern part of the country. A small number managed to escape. So far, no one has claimed responsibility, but Islamic extremist group have carried out dozens of kidnappings there in recent years.

And China recording its first population drop in more than 60 years. The National Bureau of Stats reported that country had 850,000 fewer people at the end of 2022 than the previous year. Officials say the country is facing an aging population and fewer babies. were born in recent years amid a slowing economy and widespread pandemic lockdowns. Okay, when we come back celebrating an NBC legend and a dear friend to top story, Carrie Sanders retiring after three decades on air, and we get the chance to interview him, how he got his start, his favorite story to cover, and the great piece of advice he shared with us. Stay with us.

And they have to go out on airboats like this and then step off into a lot. the Everglades, which is not particularly easy to walk through. We have a baby dolphin here that is washed ashore. Of course, it's too dark to do an assessment of the damage. We'll get a much clearer idea of that tomorrow when the sun comes up. Tom? In the war to save the Amazon rainforest, this is a lost battlefield. Then and now, those of course are some of the iconic moments

from our beloved colleague, Carrie Sanders, who, after more than three decades on air, is retiring. And we're lucky enough to have them join Top Story tonight. Carrie, thanks so much for taking time. Thank you. You've had a busy, busy day here and a busy career. I'd like to start at the beginning. Maybe not right at the beginning, but WTVJ, our Powerhouse affiliate and station in Miami, where we both worked. And you had one of the most memorable live shots, I think, ever in local television,

definitely live television, which was during Hurricane Andrew, where you sort of put the camera down. your photographer put the camera down inside the truck as the hurricane was going through. And I tell this story because you always sort of went above and beyond. And at that time, TVJ had some real legends coming through there. Katie Couric, David Bloom, and then Carrie Sanders. Who gave you the opportunity and why? Well, the opportunity was amazing. Don Brown, okay, came from here in New York and going back to Miami.

Sharon Scott, who was the news director. But you want to know how I wound up at W. With this opportunity, you go way back in my career, and I worked at a small station in Fort Myers, Wink TV. Oh, yeah. And there was a young intern who was just a lovely young woman, Julie Bennett, 17 years old, played tennis, and then came in to learn a little bit of that news. Fast forward many years later, she's now an executive producer at WTVJ. When opening comes up, I've been at the Gulf War covering now for a station in Tampa over in Saudi, and she tells Sharon, you know, there's a guy I know who'd be perfect for this job.

So that 17-year-old little girl who then became an executive producer said, let's get Kerry in Miami, and then boom. It took off. Yeah. And when you got to the network, did it feel right? I mean, was that the dream? It was always the dream. It was the goal.

It was the effort. When I was at WTVJ, very shortly thereafter, they had a program. where you got loaned to the network. So I would be loaned to the network and go to Haiti for three and a half months. That's during the crisis down there, which they've had many. I was living in a Winnebago in a ditch

for 34 days during the Branch Davidian standoff in Waco, Texas. So I've had these opportunities. You always had your shot and you were waiting for that call. Always working so hard, hoping that the hard work would lead to the full-time network job, which it did.

One of the keys to your success is that a lot of times you always said yes. You never said no to a story. Give me two instances where you got a phone call about a story and you could not believe it and you jumped on a plane. Two of those that really stand out to you. Okay. One, I can remember when Robert Denbo gave me a call. He worked at the assignment desk here. He was the chief guy on the desk. And he said, Kerry, we've just had a horrific accident where a U.S. submarine surfaced and it did an emergency kind of a scent and it hit a fishing vessel with some Japanese students on it. And we think that we need to get somebody there as fast as possible. I didn't know where was. And I said,

yes, I will go. Where do I go? They go get to the airport, find a plane going to Hawaii and get to Hawaii as fast as you could. And you're in Miami? Yes. No clothes, no bag, just my, you know, this is the cell phone days of coming early. Rush to the airport. I always have carried my passport with me. Always have it. Get to the airport. The plane door is shut pre-9-11. I get a ticket, but everything is closed, and I get the, thankfully, the flight attendant or the gate agent lets me down there. I take my passport. I put it on the window of the plane, and I said, I need to get on the plane. They opened the door, let me on, and I made it out there. Wow. And another one that you remember? That would probably be going to Afghanistan, because

it was very shortly, just weeks after what happened, you know, here in New York and 9-11. Washington executive 9-11. And I didn't have much time to get organized to go and to go to a place that I did not know what I was going to encounter and what it was going to be like, but with the energy to want to tell this ever so important story. And in Afghanistan, it was reporting, but it was also camping. And so you're camping, having to cook your own food, wash your own clothes, camp with your tent, sandstorms, all the rest of that stuff. And yet still do your job and that is an incredible challenge. And a critical point in U.S. history, right, a turning point in modern history for us in this country. And how lucky am I to have been somebody to help tell the pieces of the stories, you know, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, embedded with the U.S. Marine Corps, it feels ever so lucky, and then to also get a chance to do other types of stories.

What was the toughest story you ever had to tell? I think that probably the toughest story was to, this is a tough one because they've been many, But I think the toughest one was to be in Kuwait after the Iraqis had pulled out in the first Gulf War. And I met a woman who wanted to talk about her rapes and how she had been raped. And you have to understand the culture. It's not something that you want to talk about. And then to talk to a stranger and to talk to a man.

And I will say that it lives with me. every day. Yeah. So you've had a chance to see the world. You've met global leaders, historic leaders. And as a reporter, you get a lot of experiences that regular people don't. So I think sometimes you have a better understanding of what happens and why things happen. What have you learned about us humans?

What unites us and what still separates us? I'm so glad you use the word unite, because what I've discovered when you go around the world, I've been to 65 countries in this job, I've been to every state in our country. our nation, and I've had a chance to report from those spots. And I think I find more commonality than I find differences. Languages may be a challenge. The way we do things may be slightly different, but you begin to realize that the human goal is for peace, for family, for the love of children, and just for the idea of having a better

life. Right. And that is the underlying current of every culture, and it sometimes gets lost in all these political screenings. I know you have a lot, but you've got to pick one. Your favorite story? My favorite story probably is just the personal experience of being in zero G. Oh, yeah. Going on what's nicknamed the Vomot Comet and getting on the plane and understanding what it is to be like an astronaut. There is no gravity. You are floating. You think to yourself, okay, you just start swimming, and that's how it works, but there's no friction and you're all over the place. And it just so happened. In the moment that I was going to interview somebody who was a school teacher, she floated up. I floated up upside down. My legs went here. She was up against

the wall, and it just made for a moment. Yeah, a moment. Okay, here's our lightning round. Okay, so you've got to be quick on this. Favorite meal on the road? Favorite meal on the road is always Asian. And there's Asian food everywhere. Okay, favorite country. Favorite country's got to be Switzerland. Okay.

Favorite anchor? Favorite anchor? You don't know how to say that one. All right. Let me go with this one. Yeah. Tom. There you go.

We'll take it. There's a couple of them. There we go. All right, favorite sea animal. Favorite sea animal? It has to be the dolphin. Okay. Toughest competition.

in the field from another news organization. Ooh, good one. This is lightning round, too. I'm going to do a pass on that one. All right, all right. I always won. All right, everyone that beat me. All right, best advice you got on this job.

Best advice I got on this job is if you screw up today, there's always tomorrow. Just remember, own it, move forward. Any place, any moment, anything that ever happened on camera, that afterwards or an assignment that you left and you said to yourself, I somehow feel, enlightened almost almost like a supernatural experience a supernatural experience where I felt enlightened I probably would say that that's that is a really hard one because what changed my life is what you're asking what changed my life it's got to be really after hurricanes I can tell you about a hurricane where

I was down in St. Martin I landed with cameraman Felix Castro we get there we are the first people to arrive, and there is a family that has lived the hurricane inside the steam shovels, little metal thing. And as we arrived, they came running out, and I have still goosebumps telling this thing, because they ran to us and wrapped their arms around me. They had an American flag flying, and they're like, we're alive, we're alive. And nobody knew that they had survived this. And we were their first connection to the outside world. And I think I recognized in that moment that what we do as journalists sometimes is on an individual level to let others know or on a broad scale to show. Look, somebody actually survived this horrific.

I think it was a category four. Oh, my gosh. So you've had these experiences unlike other people, but you are someone who, when they asked you on the Today Show, what you're going to do next, you spoke about your wife. And it is not unusual, but it's not the norm that marriages and things. lost in this business because you're always on a plane. You've got to go to an assignment. You are in some ways married to the job. Is there a Carrie Sanders without your wife? I mean, do you have this type of success? Do you have this type of life without that support there? Knowing that there was always a home and a wife to come home to?

Well, first of all, Deborah, thankfully, was a journalist. She was part of the founding staff of USA Today. She did all of that. Then she moved on to becoming an author, wrote five books, and completely understood what it was that we were doing. And I say we, because this job has had me on the road during these decades, 200 days a year. Only one year that that didn't happen, and that was the first year of the pandemic. And so when you consider 200 days a year, we may be married for 34 years now. We've probably been married about seven years because I've been gone. And so we have time to do things now.

Yeah. Carrie, I just want to tell you, I know you've gotten a lot of love, but you have always been, like, one of my heroes. I looked up to you when I was a reporter. I had a chance to work with you a little bit when I was at TVJ, and you were so generous. I mean, even though you were the big network reporter, you would send me notes. I never forgot that. And then for a little bit, we were competitors when I was at another network, and that was fun, too, to kind of compete against one of your heroes. And then when we launched the show, you were one of the first correspondents who said, how can I help?

and I'll never forget that. Well, thank you. It's been a pleasure and to be part of the peacock and to see everything as it's unfolded and the different ways of delivering what is at the end of the day a newscast. It gives me a lot of pride to say, I've been part of this peacock.

Carrie, thank you from everyone at NBC News. Thank you. And I know we'll see you again, hopefully sooner than later. Thank you. All right. Thanks so much for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamerson, Newark. Stay right there.

More news on the way. Thank you.