Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, January 31, 2023

Episode Date: February 1, 2023

Prosecutors allege Alec Baldwin didn't attend a required firearm training before "Rust" filming began, police fatally shot the gunman who opened fire inside of a Nebraska Target, the dangerous ice storm in the South turns deadly, the consequences for a 22-year-old coach pretending to be a teenage player in a JV basketball game, and the man risking his own life to save a driver in trouble.

Tonight, the stunning new details in that deadly Russ-set movie shooting. Actor Alec Baldwin formally charged with manslaughter for the 2021 death of a cinematographer, Helena Hutchins, who was shot on set by a gun Baldwin was holding. Prosecutors alleged Baldwin had been distracted during firearm training, talking on the phone with his family throughout the session, and that unreleased video shows him with his hand on the trigger multiple times, where the case heads from here. breaking tonight, a gunman opening fire inside of a Nebraska target with an AR-15.

Shoppers fleeing as he began to shoot what were learning about the moment officers confronted that shooter. In the south, the dangerous ice storm turning deadly. Hundreds of accidents reported across multiple states, power lines snapping under the weight of the ice, how soon those frigid temperatures could hit the northeast. Al Roker is here tonight. The new development in the Biden classified documents investigation, sources telling NBC News the president's private officer, was searched by the FBI back in November, days after his own lawyers found classified material there. The big question tonight, why is this information only coming out now? The doppelganger murder, a woman in Germany, accused of finding her lookalike on Instagram, then tracking her down

and killing her what authorities are revealing tonight about a possible motive. Plus, the technical foul you have to see to believe, a 22-year-old coach lacing up to play in a JV basketball game. how she tricked the opposing team into believing she was 13 years old and what it means for the rest of the team season. And hero on the highway, a man risking his life running across several lanes of traffic to help a driver who was in trouble. His incredible story of bravery tonight and how he's now being honored. Top story starts right now.

Hey, good evening. We begin Top Story tonight with those late developing details about the Rust movie shooting, and they are explosive. Prosecutors formally filing manslaughter charges against actor Alec Baldwin, and with that filing, we are learning for the first time about what could be the most damning pieces of evidence yet.

So let's take a look. We've seen this video before showing Baldwin rehearsing with the gun moments before cinematographer Helena Hutchins was shot. The DA's office now saying they have evidence that shows Baldwin had his finger on the trigger multiple times before that fatal shooting. The DA

also alleging that Baldwin was not proper trained to handle a gun because he did not attend a required training before filming began. And when Baldwin did go to a training, the DA says it lasted just 30 minutes instead of a full hour and that the actor was distracted and talking on the phone to his family. NBC's Miguel Almaguer has been following this case since the beginning, and he leads us off tonight. I do have some very unfortunate is to tell you. She didn't make it. Saying he acted with willful disregard and negligence, tonight the Santa Fe County District of

attorney has officially charged Alec Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter, arguing the actor-producer directly caused the death of cinematographer Helena Hutchins. In a new statement of probable cause, the DA says Baldwin was not present for required firearms training prior to the commencement of filming, then was distracted in talking on his cell phone to his family during the training, cutting the hour-long session in half. The explosive allegations, saying evidence shows Baldwin with his finger on the trigger multiple times before firing the shot that killed Hutchins. He's experienced. He understands what the proper protocol is for safety, and he was just

disregarding that. While Baldwin's attorney has called the charge a miscarriage of justice, the DA says he handled the weapon in a negligent manner and aimed the revolver directly at the crew. I would never point a gun at anyone to pull a trigger at them, never. After finding live rounds on the armorer's cart and on Baldwin's holster, the DA believes it was Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was in charge of guns on the set, who loaded the weapon, an assistant director Dave Halls, who handed it to Baldwin. For a lesser charge, Halls took a plea deal. The attorneys representing Gutierrez-Reed, who's also charged with involuntary manslaughter, say, we will fight these charges. Do you think they're both equally culpable here? I do.

convicted, the actor and armorer could face six and a half years behind bars for the real-life tragedy on a low-budget movie set. Okay, Miguel Hummogger joins us now live from Los Angeles tonight. So Miguel, Alec Baldwin, saying in that 2021 interview, he wasn't responsible for pulling the trigger, but the FBI conducted tests to prove he was? That's right, Tom. They conducted test after test after tests. And the DA says they were never able to make that weapon fire without pulling its trigger.

They say that is definitive. They also say, as you mentioned earlier, they have video evidence of Alec Baldwin's hand on that trigger. They say that could be damning evidence in this case if it goes to trial, Tom. Miguel, I know you've been covering this case from the get-go. Besides this evidence they say they have about the trigger, this other new reporting we have, the allegations that he wasn't paying attention apparently during the training, the firearms training. Does he have any kind of statement or comment on that? And also, when's the earliest we could see him in court?

Well, we did reach out to Baldwin's attorney. He did not release a new statement. He did earlier call this a miscarriage of justice and says Alec Baldwin will fight these charges in court as to when he could appear in court. He's got 15 days now for his initial appearance. He could waive that initial appearance. The DA tells us, if this does go to trial, we're looking most likely at a summer trial, but that it could get underway as early as May or April. Tom. Okay, Miguel Omiger, with those big new developments in that story. We now want to turn to our other major headline tonight. a man with an AR-15, opening fire inside of a target in Omaha, Nebraska. And this comes after all those mass shootings we have experienced lately out there in the West Coast. Police managing to shoot and kill the gunman before he hurt anyone, preventing what could have been yet another massacre in this country. NBC's Maggie Vespa has the late details. At least six shots from inside the building, parties are running out.

Tonight in Nebraska, an all-too-familiar tragedy narrowly avoided. Police say this Omaha target nearly became the scene of yet another mass shooting. This after investigators say around noon today, a man armed with an AR-15 rifle walked into the store and began shooting. AR-15 rifle with him and plenty of ammunition. There's evidence to suggest with shell casings that he entered the target and was firing rounds. It's unknown at this time if he was firing at anybody. Some ran into the parking lot. Just a really loud bang.

and it sounded just like something fell, and we kind of all looked around each other. Like, I hope that wasn't when I thought it was. Minutes later, Omaha police officers rushed the store. The first arriving officers went into the building, confronted the suspect, and shot him dead. Omaha police have not named the deceased gunman, describing him as a white man in his 30s. Also no word, on motive. After searching the store, both police and Target confirm no one else was hurt. Okay, and that's some good news there.

Maggie Vespa joins us now live from Chicago. Maggie, this could have been a tragedy if it wasn't for those officers. Do we know how they were able to respond so quickly? So, Tom, they say they got multiple 911 calls from people running out of the store. And they also say, frankly, they've trained for this. The chief adding, basically, that they've watched what other cities have gone through, what's benefited them and tragically what hasn't. And they also, by the way, wanted to thank the target employees,

saying on social media, those employees helped a lot of customers. escaped this situation safely and noting staff at that particular Omaha target had recently gone through active shooter training. Tom? It's incredible those employees knew what to do, but it's also incredibly sad. People now know how to react in these situations. All right, Maggie Vesper for us, Maggie, thank you. We turned out of the deadly winter weather slamming the south. In Texas, the storm plunging much of the state below freezing, icy roads causing hundreds of collisions. Two of those fatal, 27 million.

Now under winter weather alerts from the Southern Plains all the way to the Mid-Atlantic. Morgan Chesky has the latest on the region's deteriorating conditions. Tonight, an icy mess gripping the Southern Plains, freezing nearly everything in its path. It's solid ice up my walkway there. The frigid mix of rain and sleet putting 31 million Americans under winter weather alerts. The storm killing two people in Texas after icy collisions in Austin and Arlington. in Texas will remain very dangerous for the next 24 to 48 hours. The Texas governor adding any outages stem from ice buildup and not a failing power grid.

Across the state, highways turned into skating rinks, causing hundreds of accidents and leaving some, like this Dallas transit bus, stranded in the cold. Has it been this bad all morning? You lose any kind of traction, then this is what's going to happen. The driver, like so many others, stuck till reinforcements could arrive. Sand trucks working overtime as precipitation froze on contact. What's the biggest problem you've seen so far? This right here.

It looks like snow, but we're standing on sleet that's really turned into ice, huh? Right. At airports, nearly 1900 cancellations nationwide. With another 3,000 delays. The FAAs saying conditions may not improve. Thursday. While in Arkansas, where a state of emergency was declared, these frozen power lines toppled over, catching fire. It's coming down. Pretty good. The roads are already solid white. Solid white and solid ice. Once in my losing control so badly, cranes had to remove it in pieces

as traffic backed up on a blocked I-40 for more than 15 miles. Tonight, with warmer weather days away, the polar threat remains far from over. All right, Morgan Chesk, He joins us now live from Dallas because of that polar threat. Morgan, I want to ask you how the power grid is doing. We saw also all those accidents on the roads. How is this affecting air travel tonight? Yeah, Tom, temperatures remaining below freezing for at least the next 24 hours here. So it is going to be treacherous travel, whether you're on the road or in the skies. As for that power grid that everyone has been scrutinizing here in Texas, the governor Greg Abbott announced today that while there are outages, they are remaining local

outages. We have seen that number rise today from about 7,000 to more than 20,000 at last check, but we are not seeing a grid failure. There is still plenty of power available. It is meeting demand, more than meeting demand, and that is incredibly reassuring news. In the meantime, regarding that air travel, the FAA saying today that delays across multiple states may not lessen until this weather passes, and that could be Thursday. Tom? All right, Morgan Chesky on that storm that has now turned deadly. I want to get right over to Al Roker, who joins Top Story tonight. Al, walk us through the latest on this track.

So the interesting thing, Tom, is if you were with us last night, I know you were, we're looking at pretty much the same area that's looking at winter weather advisories, winter storm watches, winter storm mornings, and ice storm mornings. 31 million people stretching from New Mexico all the way to the Virginias for tonight. And like we showed you last night, we've got rounds of frozen precipitation, making its way up through Texas, on into Arkansas, and then stretching into Kentucky and on into Tennessee. Here's what we're going to be looking at, rounds of icy conditions through the Tennessee Valley tonight. Sleet, freezing rain, impacting a lot of Texas, putting a lot of strain on the power grid.

Tomorrow, more ice for northern Texas, moving up into Oklahoma, hazardous travel, down to power lines. We're talking trees down, power outages. And then as we move right on into Thursday, this now, becomes more of a soaking rain event down through the southeast with high rainfall rates and localized flooding. So right now, we're looking at still a fair amount of ice accretion from much of southern Texas all the way into central Texas and Dallas, anywhere from a tenth of an inch to a quarter of an inch of ice, and that stretches all the way on up into Nashville. You move further south. We've got localized flooding possible. Now, we're also talking Arctic

air coming in. Look at these wind chills for tomorrow morning. minus 9 in Grebe, minus 5, Des Moines. St. Louis, it'll feel like 12, minus 5 in Detroit with single digits. As we move into the weekend, we bottom out around Friday or Saturday. Burlington, Vermont, minus 17, 6 in New York City on Saturday, 15 in Washington, D.C. Same in Cincinnati. The good news about this, Tom, it's short-lived. Monday, we'll see temperatures in the 40s and 50s.

Yeah, we look forward to that the next few days, so we'll be rough. Al, thank you. We want to head now to Washington in the new charges tonight in the death of a 13-year-old, Karan Blake. Prosecutors charging a D.C. city employee with second-degree murder after the fatal shooting earlier this month. And tonight officials revealing some of the teen's final words shouting at his alleged killer, please don't, and I'm a kid. Yamish Alcindar has the latest from Washington. It's the teen killing that brought outrage in Washington, D.C.

Tonight, murder charges announced against the man who shot 13-year-old Karan Blake to death. as some of the boys' last words are being revealed. On Monday, that arrest warrant was signed by the judge charging 41-year-old Jason Lewis of Northeast D.C. with second-degree murder while armed. According to the affidavit, after being shot by Lewis, the teenager can be heard on recordings yelling, quote, I am sorry, please don't, and I am a kid. The murder charge comes after Karan's family and a number of community members spent weeks demanding authorities identify the shooter and make an arrest. Emotions were highly charged.

This is a fact, a murder, a homicide. MPD, the U.S. Attorney Office, do your damn job. D.C. Metro Police laid out more details from the shooting at 4 a.m. on January 7th. This, after speaking to witnesses, reviewing video, and uncovering new evidence. Police chief Robert Conti, saying Quran was with at least two other people shining flashlights into cars. They were peering into cars that were. that were in the block in front of where Mr. Lewis resides, and they were going into the cars. According to police, Lewis first fired into one of the cars.

I think the biggest grievance is that the first shot that was fired was actually fired at someone who was sitting in a vehicle who was not an immediate threat to the person who fired a shot. Police say these surveillance images from the affidavit then show Lewis raising his left arm and firing at Quran. Some point, Karan ran toward Mr. Lewis and Mr. Lewis fired shot striking Karan and killing him. He was standing outside of his door, but still on the property. According to the affidavit, a witness told police that Karan got about five feet away from Lewis before they heard the shot. Mr. Lewis in this case was a license concealed carry permit holder on his property when the shooting happened. Conti said Lewis, an employee.

for the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation made, quote, somewhat of a self-defense claim. If the prosecution introduces evidence that Blake said things like, I'm sorry, and I'm just 12 years old, this could be devastating for the defense because it tends to show that this person was not a threat to the defendant. An attorney for Lewis said his client maintains its innocence, writing in part, while this is certainly a tragedy, once all the facts are heard, I believe that a jury will find that there was no crime here. Koran's family spoke to Tom just days after the shooting. Even though he snuck outside 3 or 4 o'clock in the morning, he still shouldn't have got shot for playing with a car. This man shot my grandson more than once.

It just don't make sense. All right, Yemish, joins us now from Washington tonight. Yamish, talk to me about the community response to these charges and what the mayor is saying tonight. Well, Tom, clearly the community was pushing to identify this shooter, to identify what happened. They wanted real answers here. and they wanted accountability. And now the community is feeling it seems like they are getting some of that accountability. But you could hear in the police chiefs press conference that he was really speaking to the people

who thought maybe this took too long. And he was saying at the end of the day, they were not going to be rushed into an investigation. And of course, as you said, the D.C. mayor did release a statement thanking the police for what she called a, quote, thorough investigation in some way nodding to the fact that this took a little bit longer than some people would have liked. She also said, quote, Koran Blake's death was needless. Too many guns are leading to too many tragedies. We cannot fuel this horrific and traumatizing cycle of violence without every person, family, and community helping to keep our young people safe.

So really, the D.C. mayor here releasing that statement in some ways applauding the police work here and also getting at the idea that the community wants answers. We, of course, had Jason Lewis have his first court appearance. Both families were in court. That would be the family of Jason Lewis as well as Karan Blake. Neither one of them spoke. But the idea is that at least now the process is moving forward in a way that people are hoping it would, Tom. Okay. Yamish for us tonight. Yamish, thank you for that. We head to Memphis with that in the fallout from the killing of Tyrene Nichols. Two medical workers fired for their lack of action as they

came to the scene. This is as Tyree Nichols' family prepares for his funeral. NBC News correspondent Priscilla Thompson's in Memphis with the latest. He the f***ing is! Tonight, new questions about the disbanded Memphis Police Department's Scorpion Unit, whose officers violently beat Tyree Nichols. Nichols family attorney Ben Crump says there are more victims. There's a brother who said four or five days before this happened to Tyree, that same scorpion unit confronted him, and he said that they used all kind of profanity against them.

They threw him on the ground and put a gun to his head. Five officers now charged with second degree murder, with two others on administrative leave as investigations continue. Lawyers for two of the men in charge say they will plead not guilty. All of these officers were under a duty to prevent the other officers from taking the legal actions that caused Tyreneckle's death. This as first responders are also under fire. Two medical workers Robert Long and Jamichael Sandridge and one lieutenant Michelle Whitaker have been terminated. Officials writing their actions or inactions on the scene that night do not meet the expectations of the Memphis Fire Department. After an internal investigation, the department says

Long and Sandridge failed to conduct an adequate patient assessment of Mr. Nichols. Video shows EMTs walking away from Nichols and leaving him as he rolls on the ground in distress. NBC News has not confirmed if these are the same EMTs who were terminated. What do we want? Justice! Tonight, frustrations growing. As around the country, people honor the life of Tyree Nichols. He always made everybody smile. And his smile went right up the room. All right, Priscilla Thompson joins us now from Memphis.

And Priscilla, I know we're getting new details about Nichols' funeral. That's right, Tom. The services are scheduled to happen here at this church tomorrow morning. Tonight, we're learning that Vice President Kamala Harris will be in attendance, along with family members from Brianna Taylor's family and George Floyd's family. Tom. Priscilla, going back to something you reported there. and that we heard Ben Crump talk about last week

when we were both in Memphis. What more do we know about these other people coming forward with allegations against the Scorpion Unit? Right. Ben Crump has said that since this happened, they have been hearing from lots of other alleged victims. He specifically has mentioned one man who said that he had an encounter with this group just a few days before Tyree Nichols' deadly encounter.

And Ben Crump says that those allegations will undoubtedly be a part of the civil case. that Tyree's family intends to bring. Tom? Okay, Priscilla Thompson for us tonight. Priscilla, thank you. We turned out of politics in the investigation of President Biden's handling of classified material. New revelations tonight that the FBI searched his former office and the public was never told. This is NBC News's reporting. Kristen Welker, has more tonight. Tonight, we're learning about another FBI search related to President Biden and his handling

of classified information. This time, FBI agents going through his private. office at a think tank in Washington. Two senior law enforcement officials tell NBC News. The search happened back in November after Biden attorneys discovered classified documents there and did not involve a search warrant. But the public was never told about that FBI search by either the White House or the Justice Department, despite the White House's repeated insistence that it's being transparent with the American people. Just yesterday, the president dismissing a question about whether he would sit for an interview with the special counsel. that investigation sparked by multiple discoveries of classified documents at mr biden's private office at least one of which was marked top secret according to sources and at his delaware home including in the garage i think you're going to find there's nothing there i have no regrets now nbc news has learned president biden's notebooks were among the items the FBI took from one of his delaware homes according to a source familiar with the investigation the president

facing growing criticism. The president says he's been so transparent about these documents, but for two months, he and his administration and his attorneys kept this information from the public, days of foreign election. All right, Kristen, joins us tonight from the White House. So, Kristen, two points I'd like to ask you about. First, what is the president saying? We hear he's back now in D.C.

And Republicans tonight calling for additional FBI searches? Well, to your first point, Tom, neither the president nor the White House nor Justice Department are commenting about this. But this is really a growing political problem for the president. There's no doubt about that. Think about the timing, right? The president's state of the union address is next week. He's expected to likely announce his plans for re-election sometime after that. Still the White House trying to stress their key differences between President Biden and former President Trump, who, as you'll recall, refused to turn over classified documents in his possession, which led to a subpoena in search of his Mar-a-Lago estate. But keep this in mind, Tom. Our latest poll shows

the public gives both presidents equally low marks for their handling of classified documents. Now, to your second question about Republicans ramping up their calls for the FBI to search, they essentially want to see the FBI search all of President Biden's properties. Not clear that's going to happen, but what may be more consequential, Tom, there are bipartisan calls, Democrats, and Republicans demanding more information from the DOJ about all of this. So we'll watch it really closely, Tom. All right, Kristen Welker, at the White House for us. Weeks of revelations over the president's handling a classified documents,

fueling bipartisan criticism as the White House insist it has been transparent. For more on what this all means for President Biden, we're grateful to be joined tonight by former White House press secretary, Jen Saki. She, of course, is now an NBC News analyst, and she's going to have an upcoming show that we'll be launching very soon, that we are all very excited about. Jen, welcome the top story tonight. So I'm confused here.

Why is this being, why is this so difficult for the, Biden White House. It's not like they're new to this game. They're political veterans, especially the president himself. Why do you think they've had so many hiccups here? Well, I understand why you're confused, and a lot of people are. I mean, what's happening right now is they're making decisions based on the Department of Justice and their effort to keep a good relationship with the Department of Justice through the course of this investigation. But at the beginning, the question is, why didn't they release things earlier? It's the same answer. They wanted to do it by the book. They went to the art.

They went to the Department of Justice, but that doesn't explain all the drip, drip, drips, which is very painful for a lot of people watching. In this next question, I'll give the president the benefit of the doubt, right? Do you think there's a problem here that it could be he has a private attorney, and then there's the White House press secretary in that entire communications department? Do you think there's a breakdown there? Because sometimes in the communications business, people do not communicate? I don't know that there's an internal breakdown. Sometimes when there is an ongoing investigation, actually almost always when there's an ongoing. investigation, Tom, there are significant limitations on what you can say as a spokesperson publicly. So that's what we're seeing right now, which is frustrating, certainly, to the reporters in the room and people asking very good questions. Just a limitation on what they're

going to say publicly because it's an ongoing investigation. So on that point now, do you think this is the president that is directing this, or do you think these are the people that are advising the president? Because somebody is clearly making mistakes here. And the mistakes are that this is just hanging around a lot longer than the White House wants it to be? Well, that's going to be true now that there's a special counsel. I mean, the biggest challenge for them is they have no control over the timeline of that. It could be two months, it could be a year, it could be two years. We don't know at this point, and they have no control. In terms of the strategy there, obviously the president, but senior members of the White House

team, but what their prism is and their North Star right now is that they don't want to do anything that is going to upset the apple cart of the ongoing investigation at this point. That means they have not released information on a regular basis, which is not the choice you'd make politically or from a communication strategy standpoint, because you would want to get everything out as quickly as possible, but that's not what they're doing because they're being guided by not upsetting the apple card of the investigation. You know, he has the State of the Union coming up next week. There's been a lot of breaking news events that have happened over the last week,

Unfortunately, a lot of them involving violence and people of color. I do, though, want to ask you, do you think at some point the White House can get over this because the president does, from what we think, want to make an announcement about his 2024 run? Well, the State of the Union is the best thing that's happened to the White House as it relates to talking about other issues and changing the conversation publicly from these documents. They do not want to be talking about these documents, and the State of the Union is an opportunity to do that. As you noted there, Tom, there are a lot of challenging issues. The president is going to have to address and needs to address, including the horrific actions we saw by police officers just last week, including the need to raise the debt limit.

Those are not easy, but he'd rather be talking about the need to address those challenges than the document. So I expect that's what the state of the union will try to address next week. And Jim, before we go, you know, a couple of weeks ago on a Saturday, there was a sort of, if you will, come to Jesus with the president. personal attorney where he laid out everything they knew up to that point. Even then, there still seemed to be things they were leaving out. Do you think we're going to have another one of those moments where either the president, the press secretary, or his lawyer releases something saying, this is everything we know up to this point, because it just seems that everything they tell us, either the date or the timing is strange, or they just leave things

out. Yeah, I mean, I hope so, Tom. I mean, it is a 101 lesson of communication strategy that you want to get everything out as quickly as you can get it out. Now, they're not being driven by that right now because they're being driven by the Department of Justice strategy and not trying to upset that process, but the more they can get out and the less they can make it about drip, drip, drip, and new information that seems to come out every week, the better they are, because obviously Democrats, their friends, their allies, their partners, the people who are rooting them for them on the outside are scratching their heads and banging their heads against the wall every time there's a new story that breaks.

All right, Jen Saki, we thank you for that. We now turn to Capitol Hill. Tonight, controversial New York Congressman George Santos recusing himself from his committee assignments, issuing a statement saying, with the ongoing attention surrounding both my personal and campaign finance investigations, I have submitted a request to Speaker McCarthy that I be temporarily recused from my committee assignments. This comes as Santos told reporters today he is not leaving Capitol Hill. NBC's Ryan Nobles joins us now. Ryan, I want to ask you first about Santos' decision to step down from his committee assignments.

Do we know more about why he came to this decision and what this means for the pressure on him to resign? It was really twofold, Tom. First, there was a degree of pressure put on Santos by Republican leaders here in Washington, including the Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who had a meeting with him yesterday, where he encouraged Santos to take this step. That's the first part of it. And then the second part of it is Santos himself suggesting that he understands that all of this, Hupala around him is a distraction to the work that's being done in Congress, and he did not want that distraction to extend to the work on the committees that he'd been assigned to.

Now, it's important to point out, this isn't him stepping down from these committees. He's just recusing himself. He said in his statement today that he is hoping that ultimately he'll be cleared of any wrongdoing, and once that happens, he'll begin the full work of those committees at some point in the future. Yeah, we'll see how long all of this lasts. Santos also sat down with an interview with the conservative cable-trial. channel O-A-N-N. Here's some of what he had to say to them.

What would you say, George, that you would have done differently? I wouldn't have lied about the education. I wouldn't have, I would have just fought like hell to get that nomination. So, Ryan, kind of walk our viewers through this. They're probably not as familiar with O-A-N-N as others maybe who cover politics. Do we know why he decided to speak to this outfit number one and number two? He didn't really apologize about many of the other lies that have been detailed in various stories that have been put out there since he was elected. Yeah, Tom, there's no doubt that the congressman went in search of a friendly conversation here.

This is a right-wing outfit that is very loyal to the former President Donald Trump and to the MAGA wing of the party, which Santos has really aligned himself with. And you're right, while he did acknowledge that he lied about his education, he wasn't pressed on the myriad of other inconsistencies in his resume. during this rather lengthy interview. He wasn't pressed on the inconsistencies in his biography, his claims about his mother's connection to 9-11, his time in Brazil where he's accused of crimes there, and, of course, was asked no questions about the very specific claims he's made about his financial background, how he went from making $55,000 to over a million dollars in just two years and where

the money came to fund his campaign. So it's safe to say that this interview, while he did conduct an interview, which is something he's been reluctant to do. It didn't really provide us any additional information about everything that's happening with George Santos at this stage of his career in Congress. And, Ryan, before you go, you know, we also have this poll conducted in Santos' district before he recused himself from his committee appointments.

We'll take a look here for our viewers. 75% of the people asked in his district said they believe he cannot be effective in Congress. Do Republicans have any tools, or is this all going to be on Santos himself if he resigns from Congress? Well, there do have the option of moving to forcibly remove him from office, but that really can't take place until after the Ethics Committee conducts its investigation.

So much of what happens with George Santos' future really hinges upon these investigations into his background. Until there's resolution there, he's likely to remain a member of Congress for the foreseeable future. Okay, Ryan Noble's for us. Ryan, we thank you. Still ahead tonight to search for a missing law school student in New York. video showing the 29-year-old just moments before he disappeared. What police say they've now recovered from the area where this was taken. Plus, the dramatic rescue in Utah, two hikers

stranded in danger of freezing to death, how a rescue team tracked them down from the sky. And impossible to ensure why State Farm and Progressive are now refusing to cover certain models of Kia's and Hyundai's claiming they're too risky. We'll explain all. Top story, just getting started on this Tuesday night. Okay, we're back tonight with two car makers getting shut out by two major insurance companies. They're refusing to insure some Kia and Hyundai models because of how often those vehicles are being stolen. NBC Stephen Romo has more. It's something no car company wants to be known for, being easy to steal.

But certain Kia and Hyundai models now have that notorious reputation. Kia boys stolen car haul after videos like this one where teens show step by step how to use a USB to outsmart the keyless ignition starting the engine with something as simple as a cell phone charger pull down and then break it down now two major insurance companies have caught on progressive and state farm announcing this week they won't issue new policies for some of the automakers model years though they didn't specify which wants Progressive citing high theft rates, saying in a statement, quote, given that we price our policies based on the level of risk they represent, this explosive increase in thefts in many cases make these vehicles extremely challenging for us to ensure. State Farm has also temporarily stopped issuing new policies for certain vehicles in states where theft has increased dramatically, saying, quote, it became necessary to take action. The viral car hacking trend has done serious damage. beyond leaving the owners to pick up the pieces after their cars were destroyed. They are very easy, unfortunately, to steal. You can look up the information that's been put out there.

Last year, four teens were killed in a car crash in upstate New York in a stolen Kia. This is a terrible, terrible outcome for such young kids that have their entire lives in front of them. A highway lost data institute analysis of 2021 insurance claims breaks down just how risky it is to own one of these vehicles. The report says theft claims were nearly twice as common for Hyundai and Kia vehicles as a group than for all other manufacturers among 2015 to 2019 model year vehicles. If I knew like the car wasn't safe to get, you know, we wouldn't have gotten a brand like that. We would have got a different car. Kia responded to the move by insurance companies in a statement saying it is taking action by upgrading technology on newer models and offering some owners software upgrades. It went on to say, quote, Kia America regrets this decision by certain insurers and its impact on owners and lessees of select Kia vehicles, which we anticipate will be temporary.

NBC News has also reached out to Hyundai, but we've not yet heard back. The theft problem is an issue Denver resident Susanna Kampora knows all too well. The first time it was attempted, the second time it was stolen completely. Since I recovered it from being stolen, there was another time where someone broke into the car. The move by insurance companies won't impact current policy holders, but this Kia owner tells our affiliate KUSA, she expects to be a target again. And like, what time do I live in? The 2018 car, you know, I don't live in the 70s or 80s where it's like, oh, here's a screwdriver and let me just take this car now.

It is sort of wild. Stephen Romo joins us now. Stephen, you mentioned there that Kia will be offering some upgrades. But the big question is, even if you get the upgrade, do you get the insurance back? Yeah, that's a decision, of course, for those insurance companies, something yet to be seen. They do say those upgrades to the Kia's will come out sometime in the summer. And until then, they say they have some low-grade options, like a steering wheel lot, that they're giving out to people who have these models that are affected by this to get the club?

Yeah, the club. Yeah, good memory there, those infomercials for the club. That's basically what they're given out. to try to give people something to keep these cars from getting stolen. It's already hard enough to get insured, and then the insurance rates are very expensive. Now these poor owners have these cars, and they won't be able to get insurance.

Okay, Stephen, thanks for that story. We want to turn out to a dramatic helicopter rescue caught on camera in Zion National Park, Rangers pulling two men out of the depths of a frozen canyon in Utah after they had gone missing for more than 24 hours. NBC's Gotti Schwartz tonight with the incredible images. I do see two. Rescuers in a race against time to zero in on the missing hikers.

From above, they get a visual of the two men. Down below on the ground, the frigid temperatures meant they were in peril of freezing to death. It took just 30 minutes to pinpoint their location using infrared cameras in the deepest, narrowest part of the canyon. The Utah Department of Public Safety helicopter crew faced dangerous rugged mountaintops, daunting, deadly drops, and the bitter elements. I'm mentally preparing myself to be really cold. The three-member team quickly deciding to lower down a specialist into the canyon who then had to wade through sub-freezing water that turned to ice when he spotted the pair of 26-year-olds.

Hey, you guys in here? How are you guys? How are you? Okay, hold up. I'm going to try to find my way around to you, okay? Stay there. Uninjured, but trapped here for more than a day. One of the men was dangerously hypothermic.

Purching the skid. Both lifted to safety and are now expected to recover, thanks to a team that put themselves in harm's way to help them survive against all odds. All right. Just stay right there. Buddy Schwartz, NBC News. Okay, we thank Gotti for that. When we come back, technical foul. The 22-year-old woman seemed playing in a J.B. basketball game among 13-year-olds,

the consequences that team is now facing. And a woman accused of meeting her doppelganger online and then killing her, why police believe she did it. Next. All right, we're back down with Top Stories Newsfeiting. We begin with the search for a missing law student in New York City. Authorities releasing new surveillance video showing Jordan Taylor in Lower Manhattan on January 7th, several hours after he was reported missing.

The video taken in the same place his wallet was found. His cell phone was found miles away in Hell's Kitchen. The 29-year-old was lasting abruptly leaving a haircut in Queens on January 6th. Virginia, 22-year-old assistant coach, getting a little too involved in a junior varsity basketball game. Our Alicia Boykin seen here wearing number one, suited up and played in the game. Yes, she's 22.

Yes, this was a game for 13-year-olds. She's even blocking some shots. Parents say that now fired coach was impersonating a student athlete who was out of town at the time. The JV and varsity head coaches have also been fired, and the team has chosen not to play the rest of their season. Okay, and more than 50,000 pounds have cured me. have been recalled due to a potential listeria contamination.

The recall products were produced by food manufacturer Danielle International. A recent USDA inspection found Listeria on surfaces that these products touched in the factory. No illnesses, though, have been reported just yet. Okay, we want to head to Haiti now, a country facing intense gang violence, poverty, and a cholera outbreak. 60% of the capital, Porterprints, is now controlled by gangs. Our partners at Sky News traveled there to speak with a former policeman, Turn notorious gang leader. Stuart Ramsey has the chilling interview.

This is a country that is falling apart day by day. We wanted a move from one area of the capital Porto Prince to another, crossing two rival gang territories. Sky News contacts insisted we had a police escort. Machine guns ready. They cleared a way through. It is that bad. The officers were wary.

Ten policemen were killed here in the last week. Haiti has been bad for years, but this is a new development. There is now no elected controlling authority at all. Some countries are actively considering sending in foreign soldiers to impose order. Port-a-Prince is a seething mass of desperate people. 60% of the city is under gang control. There are over 100 groups, and that is who the international force would face. After weeks of negotiation, we were guided by a motorcycle rider into the heart of one

of the most notorious gang-controlled areas. We came to meet a man known to everyone as barbecue. He says sending in foreign forces would be a disaster. I think that's a second intervention. We're a community international is a lucid to run into, for your chita, to you dialogue with everyone.

But if we try to resolve this with exam, and I'm thinking, effectively, a little people in a country popular in, in a few people. And there are more people in a country popular, there are but you're more innocent

that are culpable. Jimmy Chorazir is a former policeman. He's under sanctions from the UK for his actions here. But he does remain one of the most powerful people in Haiti today and he doesn't like being interrupted. constantly escorted by machine gun-toting guards, he told me the threat of an organized hit on him is permanent.

He has survived four attempts already. It's the blue building, yeah? The blue building, yeah. Okay, you can put in here with you. Barbecue is the leader of one of a collective of gangs called the G9. They are very powerful, but not powerful enough to take on the other 91 gangs. Everyone's all right, gang meteor.

I'd say you, I'm going to go there. Yeah. When you're going to say you, each day, So if you were to just go to go through here. You can't go across because a wife against me. Yeah. Yeah. So if you were to just go through here now, would they shoot?

Yeah. So barbecue and his men control their area. Police it and patrol it. If you respect them, if you have received them, we have to have, we have to have, so.

It's hard to make me make sure of all the businesses. The fact that we may be able to see all the pitiful. It's hard to explain, but this is like a castle and inside barbecue is the king. But his enemies are only one wall away. You can use a cao to do fire to you try. They used those houses to hide out and shoot out. They're going to take out and shoot it. He dispenses money and largesse.

He dispenses money and largesse. He sees himself as a revolutionary fighting against the dark corruption of government and oligarch businessmen. But he is a gang leader and is always under attack. Porto Prince is a war zone every minute. The edges of their territory are clearly marked and he rarely goes beyond them. What's really incredible, actually, is the sense of being in a war zone, actually, going through back alleys to get between the front lines, which are around the corner. It's like being in Aleppo. It's like being in Mosul.

It's quite remarkable, actually. You've got so many factions, so many gangs fighting each other, and their territories are very specific. Ironically, it is safer for us to film here in this gang-controlled territory that in most of the rest of the city, where we could easily be kidnapped or killed. And that is something that every single person lives with here every single day. Okay, we thank Stuart Ramsey from Sky News for that.

We turn to Top Story's Global Watch, and a tragic update on that deadly mosque bombing in northwestern Pakistan we told you about last night. The death toll is growing to at least 100 so far, as rescuers work to pull anyone still trapped under the rubble. Officials say at least 97 of the victims are police. police officers. Dozens of people are in critical condition. Authorities now investigating if a security breach allowed the attacker to access that heavily secured mosque. And a woman in Germany

is accused of murdering her look-alike so she could fake her own death. Prosecutors allege the 23-year-old suspect found her doppelganger online, arranged a meeting, and then murdered the woman with her friend. The victim was found stabbed to death in a wooded area in Upper Bavaria in August. The suspect was trying to go off the grid before she was arrested. And former Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, has applied for a six-month visitor visa to stay in the U.S. The visa request comes as he faces mounting investigations in Brazil. It's unknown what type of visa he entered the U.S. on, but he arrived in Florida on December 30th, days before the inauguration of Brazil's new president, known of course, as Lula.

Lula will meet with President Biden at the White House. We now know on February 10th. Okay, coming up, another mystery at the Dallas Zoo. A pair of rare monkeys reported missing after their habitat was tampered. with. It's the zoo's fourth incident this month. The major update just in. That's next. Okay, we're back now with some developing news out of Texas. Two monkeys missing from the Dallas Zoo have been found alive. Police say the two rare emperor tamarins, look at them right there. They look like they have little beards or mustaches. They were found inside an abandoned home in Lancaster

following a tip. The monkeys were reported missing on Monday, and zoo officials say their habitat had been tampered with. Wildlife experts say they are popular on the black market. You can take an animal out of the wild, but you cannot take the wild out of the animal. For anybody who thinks that, oh, I can turn this into a good pet, you're wrong. You're wrong. It's the fourth mysterious incident at the Dallas Zoo just this month. On January 13th, a clouded leopard escape from its enclosures after its fence was cut. His fence was cut. It was found on zoo grounds. The same weekend, similar cuts made out of monkey habitat. and a vulture death on January 21st is now under investigation, all very strange.

As for this latest crime, Dallas police are still looking for those responsible. The monkeys are now being evaluated by a vet. Okay, when we come back, the hero on the highway, the man caught on camera, racing across the highway to help a driver who suffered a medical emergency. This video is pretty incredible, why he says he jumped into action, and how the city of Boston is now honoring his bravery. Stay right there. Back now with an incredible story and some incredible video, the hero on the highway.

A Massachusetts man fearlessly sprung into action, pulling his vehicle off the road and then running across four lanes of traffic to help save a driver in distress. NBC's Valerie Castro tonight with more of the man's heroics and how he's now being honored. An incredible act of bravery caught on camera. A man sprinting across several lanes of Interstate 93 near Boston. Dodging traffic to save a driver in distress. Adolfo Molina is the man running alongside the blue car as it speeds in the shoulder next to the median. Molina trying to open one of the doors.

He says he first noticed the driver unconscious behind the wheel. That's when he pulled over his own truck to help. The risky move, a dangerous attempt. But Molina believes his own safety was in the care of someone else's hands. It was like something of God's protectio in that truncours. His wife, Maite, thinking about what could have happened. The first thing that came to my mind was, oh my God. And then I was like, oh, my God, I would have became a widow and my children.

Eventually, another driver was able to help Molina bring the car to a stop until police arrived. The 25-year-old Uber driver, originally from the Dominican Republic, honored by his local mayor. and the Dominican consulate in Boston for his bravery. Valerie Castro, NBC News. We thank Valerie for that, and we thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamis in New York. Stay right there. There's more news on the way.