Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, July 29, 2025

Episode Date: July 30, 2025

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

Breaking tonight, investigators finding a second suicide note in Vegas as they search for a motive in the horrific Manhattan shooting. The gunmen storming the New York City high-rise, wielding an AR-15-style rifle, opening fire in the lobby. What were learning about the four victims, the NYPD mourning one of their own, and the top female executive shot in cold blood. Plus the panic in midtown office workers barricading themselves, others running with their hands up. and was the shooter targeting NFL's headquarters? Also tonight, the note the gunman left behind at the scene, claiming he suffered from CTE after playing high school football. So what is the brain disease?

We speak with one of the country's top experts. New aid drops in Gaza, people running into the ocean to retrieve what they can. The report warning, a worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding. Plus, the UK's new ultimatum to Israel, vowing to recognize a Palestinian state unless the war ends. The monster tornado caught on camera video capturing the twister picking up a structure and ripping it apart. And the All-Star Cleveland pitcher placed on leave as the MLB launches a sports betting probe will show you the plays being called into question and why he's not the only one in the team being investigated. Hacking the T app, a popular app designed to safely let women vet the men they're dating, suffers a massive security breach, the chats, images, and photo IDs exposed online.

and peddling to propose. This Tour de France cycle is racing to the finish line to win over his girlfriend, claiming victory in the form of a yes. Plus, the new chat GPT feature that won't give you the answers. Instead, it'll guide you to them, but will students use study mode instead of cheating?

Top story starts right now. And good evening. We're coming on the air tonight with chilling new details in that horrific shooting here in New York City. Four people killed by a lone gunman as authorities now investigate why he staged the attack.

Video showing a column of police entering the skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan after that shooter opened fire. Inside these images depicting a terrifying scene, employees at Blackstone barricading the door with office furniture, and outside, people led from the building with their hands raised as police evacuated

those still in the tower. Officials now saying that gunmen had a documented history of mental health. issues. In a suicide note, the 27-year-old referenced CTE, a football-related injury. The note saying he wondered if it caused his mental illness, even though it's unclear if he even had CTE, which can only be diagnosed with an autopsy. Police also recovering this weapon at the scene in AR-15-style rifle, blood smeared along the barrel. Police say he turned the gun on himself after the attack. Tonight, New York City morning, four lives now cut short. A police

officer, a Blackstone executive and a security guard shot in the lobby, and a woman still unidentified shot upstairs. Tonight, the New York Police Department carrying out a dignified transfer for that officer killed a father of two, his wife pregnant with their third child. And late tonight, news of a second suicide note left by the suspect at a home in Las Vegas before he made that cross-country journey to New York. Aaron McLaughlin leads us off tonight with new reporting. Tonight, police say chilling new evidence may point to why this man, Shane Devin Tamura, armed himself with an AR-15-style rifle and opened fire in a skyscraper that's home to NFL headquarters.

Access shooter. We're getting multiple calls from 3, 4-5 Park Avenue. Four people were shot dead. That rifle later recovered smeared with blood. A three-page suicide note found in Tamora's wallet and reviewed by NBC News contained several references to CTE. A degenerative brain. disease that's been linked to contact sports and can only be diagnosed during an autopsy. Tamura, who played football in high school, wrote, CTE study, my brain, please. I'm sorry. Adding the league knowingly concealed the dangers to our brains to maximize profits.

We have reason to believe that he was focused on the NFL agency that was located in the building. Walter Roby coached Tamora's high school football team 10 years ago. His work ethic was strong, willing to do whatever you ask him to do, so he was a coachable type of kid. Did he show any signs of any mental illness? Not to me, not at all. Did he ever express concern about CTE? No, not to me. Police say 27-year-old Tamura had a documented history of mental illness, and they believe part of the assault rifle he used was purchased by an associate.

We have located that associate and others, and will be questioning him about that purchase. They say he failed to show up for work Sunday for his overnight security job at Horseshoe, Las Vegas, Hotel and Casino. Instead, he drove his black BMW across the country. According to police, his license play was photographed in New Jersey late Monday afternoon. Roughly two hours later at 6.28 p.m., police say he opened fire in the building's lobby, killing NYPD officer Dita Rul Islam and Ilan Etienne, who were both working as security guards, along with Blackstone executive Wesley Lepatner. An NFL employee was also shot but survived.

After his shooting spree in the lobby, police say Tamura headed to the elevator. He appeared to have gone to the wrong floor and due to the wrong elevator bank. According to the police commissioner, Tamura never entered the NFL offices. Instead, going to the 33rd floor, home to Rootin Management, the building's owner.

There, he shot and killed a 27-year-old woman, according to police sources, the gun on himself. This photo shows how Blackstone employees on another floor created a makeshift barrier out of office furniture to protect themselves. This woman telling NBC News she learned an active shooter had entered her place at work via email. Then we started to find a place to hide. That was that was it. Then we were in there for maybe over an hour and a half waiting, so pretty scary. Outside video shows the harrowing moments police carried a body from the building. We all were just running as quickly as we had

We could. Tonight, New Yorkers paying tribute to the innocent lives lost. Wesley Lepatner was one of Blackstone's highest ranking executives. She was also a wife and mom to two kids. The firm calling her brilliant, passionate, warm, generous and deeply respected. New York police officer Deer Rule Islam was originally from Bangladesh, remembered today by family as a devout husband and father of two with a baby on the way. I

really I miss him tonight his body moved to a local mosque in a solemn procession he'll be buried without meeting his unborn child it is such a tragedy for all those families of the victims Aaron McLaughlin joins us now live Aaron I want to go back to something you had in your report there

and I know you have more reporting about the suspect's mental illness and his history of mental illness yeah that's right Tom law enforcement officials in Nevada tell NBC News. Tamura suffered from two separate mental health incidents, one in 2022, and then again in 2024. We're also hearing that authorities have found a second note inside of his Las Vegas home, similar in tone to the suicide note that was found on his body. Also tonight, officials have just released separate images of the weapons that he carried into the

building. Meanwhile, tonight, we are hearing from New York City's chief coroner say that they will examine his brain as part of the autopsy. Tom. Hey, Aaron, before you go, I know we just got those images into the newsroom. I'd like to talk about those a little more. We just showed them on the screen there. So talk to us about the weapons that the NYPD has now just released because the handgun is new. Yeah, that's right. They've just released images, two separate images, one of the assault rifle that you can very clearly see in that still that was released by authorities immediately following the attack. Authorities say that weapon is under investigation at this point. They're trying to figure out how Tamora assembled that assault rifle.

They are talking to one of his associates, that according to investigators. And then you mentioned there the second handgun. That is the first time we were seeing an image of that gun just released tonight by New York police officers. Aaron McLaughlin with a lot of new reporting for us here on Top Story. Aaron, we thank you for that. For more on this shooting in Midtown Manhattan, retired NYPD captain. John Monaghan joins us now on set, a good friend to Top Story. John, I want to start here with the images that sort of chilled everyone that initially saw this.

Let's talk about the shooter here and the weapon he's carrying, that AR-15. We just heard Aaron report that investigators are trying to figure out how he assembled it. What do they mean by that? Well, you know, it reminds me almost of Luigi Mangione. I said that that was a gun that he created. He purchased the machined part of that weapon. Right. It has to be finally machined for robbery properly.

The rest of it, apparently, he had already. So this associate they're talking about supplied him with part of the weapon. So it may have been that he cobbled it together. It's a frightening sight to see it out in midtown Manhattan. I mean, that's just... Well, I want to ask you about this, and this is all very new, and this was a horrific scene that happened, but this is a long walk that he had with the gun on his side, a walk from Park Avenue all the way to this building. You know it's a very long sort of walkway,

if you will. Should security had picked him up before this? Should he have never even gotten to the front door? You know what time they may have, and we wouldn't know that. The two men in the lobby are dead. Yeah. We don't know. You know, you got the cop, you got the security guard at a desk, I'm guessing behind where the cop was, what they saw. And this is a shocking thing, because this is something you don't see in Midtown Manhattan. You know what? His calmness, his confidence, belies what he has in his hand. I have to guess that that's brought on by him knowing that he's going to die in a few minutes. He just seems so at ease with what he's doing.

So, I mean, not that you would miss that rifle, but he did nothing other than walk very calmly across that plaza. Do you think, we're looking at this image here with the sunglasses, the sneakers, and the AR-15, Do you think at some point he knew this might be his last image, the surveillance image might be his last look, if you will, before he was going to do what he wanted to do? Well, that's an interesting specific point, yes. I mean, I think he knew that this was the end for him when he got in the car back in Las Vegas.

But, yeah, he was very calm. He knew what it was about to happen. Yeah, I would say so. Let's move on to our next image here. And this one, as we got more reporting, we learned about this. Las Vegas, Metropolitan Police Department, concealed firearms permit. Walk our viewers through what this means. This doesn't mean that he worked for the police department.

This means that he had a concealed weapons right, permit in his wallet to make sure he could hold weapons because he worked in the security industry. Well, whether it was because he worked in security, there's a lot of vetting that goes into issuing one of these days. They don't just hand them out. Right. Now, the fact that, you know, our reporter just told us that he had mental health issues. Recently.

In 2020, this was issued in 2022. Right. But a subsequent, I'd have to hope they were. Right. Because as I said, you've vetted very closely before you're issued one of these. Had he been vetted prior to this, the mental illness occurred prior to this date, they should never have issued it. But then there was another mental health episode subsequent to the issue. See, it doesn't expire until 2027, why these two ages not talking to one another?

Yeah, why wasn't there a red flag to pull that? For what I understand, the way I read it was that he reached out for help. It wasn't someone called on him, and they went to ascertain as this kid, you know, having a mental illness. But the irony of this is the concealed firearms. I mean, he was carrying the AR-15. He wasn't trying to hide anything. Well, you know what? He had that pistol in the car.

Yeah. And I understand it was ammunition. I'd like to know that they have a speed-loaded. Because I have to tell you, Tom, you could do almost as much damage with a six-shooter. If you know how to open it, reload with a speed-load it, reclose it, you can put 12 rounds out there really fast. Let's go to our next image here, because this talks to us about sort of his mindset and his plan and also maybe the premeditation here. He drives, you know, he's originally in Las Vegas, or in, I should say, I'm sorry, in Nevada. He drives from here all the way to New York.

They pick him up first in Colorado. That's when he's first detected in the BMW, but he means driving cross-country. John, and he's probably thinking about this the entire time. What does this tell you about a suspect? Well, he had a very definite and direct mission. There was nothing going to stop him. He knew exactly where he was going, what he was going to do. It's almost heartbreaking when you think of all the opportunities that he didn't get stopped for speeding.

I don't know the day and time he left, but he made it here really quickly and directly. It's the same. But I would say, based on that straight line, he knew exactly where he was going and what he was doing. Let's talk about the victims here. We heard a little bit in Aaron's report about the families that have now lost their loved ones. We'll start with the police officer that was on. detail there at the building. Walk us through what it exactly means when someone is in uniform but not necessarily on duty protecting these buildings all across Manhattan and New York

City. You know what? It's just a slight technicality. He's on duty. Let's just consider for all intensive purposes. The only real, functionally the only real difference is he's not going to leave his fixed post and go out and proactively patrol. Other than that, he is NYPD. It's that the owners of the building pay the department to have him present there. So it's like overtime pay for him. comes in an extra layer of security if you will well now the building you know what we call it building security it's really just access control you know what i mean it's an administrator explain explain why you say that because that's an important note it is you know they checked your ID who you were here for sit down will call up maybe they'll send someone down for you it's just access control it's not

going to stop obviously a man with a machine gun it's not even built for that it's access control it's part of the overall security plan control is it a false sense of security well uh I don't think so because this is an aberration. This doesn't happen in New York City. Like you said, Tom, the picture we saw it, the plaza is much bigger. It goes all the way out to Park Avenue. This never happens. This poor kid, when you think he's a Bronx cop, he's up in a 47. It's a dangerous place to be a cop that precinct. He's down here on 51st in Park, the nicest dayboard in New York City, right by the St. Patrick's Cathedral, blocks from where we're standing. It was a nice detail for him. The last place of the world you would expect something like this to happen.

So he's standing in that lobby, for all intents and purposes, he's on duty on my PD. He's just not going to go out and proactively patrol. Real quick, how much does this change sort of the security profile of New York City? Because, I mean, this is where we all know 9-11 happened. Everything changed after 9-11. People stepped up to security. This is something that you could probably never plan for. But will it change the profile, the way people interact in buildings you think here?

You know what, Tom, I hope not too much. Because when you look at pre-9-11 and post-9-11, in so many aspects of our lives, It has changed, you know, it's more secure, but there's so many prohibitive things, particularly air travel and such like that. Listen, that building did everything that they could. They had a uniform security guard in the building at a desk. He probably had control over the elevators, and you had access control. And you had these guys taking proactive approaches at Blackstone, you know, trying the best they could

because they've been so many mass shootings, you know? Yeah, I don't see the shooting getting through that. Yeah, John Monaghan, we thank you for walking us through so much. We appreciate it. chilling images of employees barricading themselves emerged. There are new questions tonight over workplace security like we were just talking about and whether companies have the measures in place to protect their employees in a situation like this. Here's NBC's Emily Aketa. The images are staggering, doors barricaded with couches and desks,

panicked employees running hands above head. The mass shooting in New York City sending a shutter tonight through corporate America, raising concerns about safety and the sobering question, could my workplace be at risk? Are you looking at things differently? Yeah, I feel like I was definitely more like on edge walking to work this morning and just like knowing that it happened right there. Olivia Edy also works around the corner. I think it just is a little bit of a wake call that you always have to be on your toes and anything can happen. Police say the suspect shot five people, including an off-duty NYPD officer working security in the lobby and a security guard near the elevator bank before making it to the 33rd floor.

Is it increasingly complicated to secure workplaces? It is absolutely. Glenn Cochera runs security company Allied Universal's enhanced protection services. Once he breached the front door and started firing, all bets were off. So all of this is you have to pay attention to that perimeter. Do not let that threat into the building. And that's what companies across the country should be looking at today. 100%. No breach of the access.

As thousands pile into these skyscrapers every day, Research shows nearly half of companies, big and small, rank physical security as their number one workplace challenge. The Park Avenue skyscraper, home to NFL headquarters along with other companies, shuddered today. With the NFL promising an increased security presence in the weeks to come, the high-profile attack coming less than a year after prosecutors say Luigi Mangione also traveled to New York from out of state and gunned down United Health Care's CEO. Kutra says while these incidents are rare, they're a tragic reminder to old. always be aware of your surroundings. What happens in New York City has the potential to happen in any large metropolitan area. Even the smaller areas, that threat is everywhere.

So everybody needs to be on high alert. And with that, Emily, Akita joins Top Story tonight. So Emily, everyone's going to be asking themselves, is my building safe? What can people do? So I think it's important to remember that the vast majority of organizations will never experience an active shooter situation. But experts say everyone should be familiar with the phrase, and you've probably heard it. so many people are probably familiar. Run, hide, fight. Run. You want to escape to safety.

That's the first priority. Hide if you can't escape to safety. And then as we saw in those images, the employees are building that blockade, that barrier between the threat and themselves. And then the last resort is fighting. Experts also say if you have concerns, don't be afraid to ask your employer questions. Ask about the emergency response plan, the exit points, communication protocols. When was the last time that they reviewed or evaluated their security policies? It's important questions amid this time of heightened concern. All right. Emily, Ikeh, a lot of good tips, sir. We thank you for that. We're going to turn to politics now in President Trump making new comments today on Jeffrey Epstein,

saying the convicted sex trafficker stole Mar-a-Lago employees from him, causing a rift in their friendship decades ago. One of those employees later becoming a prominent Epstein accuser. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell has the details. As President Trump headed home from Scotland, he identified a prominent sexual abuse accuser of Jeffrey Epstein, Virginia Jewfrey, as a former Mar-a-Lago employee who had been recruited by Epstein to work for him instead, causing a falling out with Mr. Trump. He stole her, and by the way, she had no complaints about us, as you know, none whatsoever. Jufrey, who died by suicide in April, had worked at the spa at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club as a teenager in the late 90s. Reporters asked the president whether any young women were among those hired away by Epstein.

in the spa. I have a great spa, one of the best spas in the world in Maralago, and people were taken out of the spa, hired by him. This new disclosure surfaced as the president revealed more about why he abruptly cut off his friendship with Epstein 20 years ago. He took people that worked for me, and I told him, don't do it anymore, and he did it. And I said, stay the hell out of here. In 2019, Epstein was charged with sex trafficking of underage girls. Jewfrey had pushed for Epstein's arrest. How did this happen for so long? How did he get away with it?

President Trump is not accused of any wrongdoing tied to Epstein. Gielaine Maxwell, Epstein's convicted co-conspirator, has been subpoenaed by Congress to testify, but her lawyers want immunity first. Tom? Kelly O'Donnell, we appreciate it. Galane Maxwell's immunity demands coming as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, push for more transparency in the Epstein case.

I want to go to NBC's Julie Serkin, who joins us tonight from Capitol Hill with the latest. So, Julie, can you walk us through the list of conditions or demands, if you will, Maxwell has for testifying and how members of the House Oversight Committee are responding? Well, Tom, what a list it is. Her lawyers are asking the House Oversight Committee for granted immunity or a pardon. They also asked for clemency from the President as a condition to get her to testify before the House Oversight Committee. In addition, they want the questions in advance. This isn't something the committee does. ever and certainly not something they're considering now. And she also wants to be allowed to testify outside of prison. Her lawyers arguing that the environment would make it challenging for her to respond to political questions. She also most notably wants this deposition to happen

after the Supreme Court decides whether or not to review Galane Maxwell's conviction appeal, something she sort of lighted a fire under again this weekend, Tom. And now's for the committee, the top Republican, a spokesperson for him, James Comer, saying, quote, the oversight committee, will respond to Ms. Maxwell's attorney soon, but he will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony. Maxwell's attorney is saying if all of these conditions, especially immunity, are not met, then she will plead the fifth, which is something that we heard so many other witnesses do before these panels, and is something that is entirely in her right. As to how Democrats and Republicans are responding to this, I haven't talked to a single

lawmaker up here, Tom, that is interested in giving her immunity for any information that she could provide, especially because there are real questions as to what she can even say that is new. Tom? Yeah, it'll be interesting to see where it goes from here. Julie Sirkin with a lot of new reporting there. Julie, we thank you for that. We went ahead to Gaza now in the alarming U.N. back report, saying a worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding there. It comes as President Trump says the U.S. will send more food aid.

NBC's Matt Bradley reports for us tonight. Tonight, as food aid is airdropped into Gaza, people rush into the ocean to grab aid packages that landed in the water. I almost drowned. I only did that for my boy, just to bring him something, said this father. Now an alarming assessment from the world's leading authority on measuring hunger, saying Gaza is enduring the worst-case scenario of famine. Though it's not an official famine declaration, saying 20,000 children were treated for acute malnutrition in the last three months.

Tonight, President Trump says the U.S. will send food aid. I mean, they are starving. And you see the mothers, they love them so much, and it's just nothing. And we're going to get them for. But blaming Hamas for stealing aid. They send money, they send food, and Hamas steals it. It comes as the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says more than 60,000 Gazans have been killed since the Hamas October 7 terror attacks started the war nearly two years ago.

Hamas doesn't distinguish between combatants and civilians in its death toll. President Trump blames Hamas for blocking a ceasefire deal. And tonight, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying, quote, by one path or another, bring home the hostages. Meanwhile, the U.N. says half the amount of requested aid is successfully entering Gaza. This isn't enough. Children are pale and turning into skeletons, this mother says. They've forgotten what eggs, meat and fruit are. And the U.K. announced today that it will recognize the state of Palestine unless Israel agrees to a ceasefire by September and improves the situation in Gaza. President Trump said the U.K.'s move would be rewarding Hamas. Tom?

Matt, Bradley, reporting from Israel for us. Matt, thank you. When Top Story returns, the Colorado dentist accused of slowly killing his wife by poisoning her protein shakes. The jury now deliberating after a day of dramatic closing arguments. This just in, a new photo of a person of interest in the case of that couple killed while hiking with their two young daughters. And the dating app that was supposed to protect women while dating now breached their photos, IDs, even their home address is leaked online. What women can do to protect themselves? Don't go away. We're back tonight with a trial that shocked a lot of Colorado and a lot of the country of a former dentist accused of killing his wife with poisoned protein shakes, doctored pills, and a lethal injection, all to allegedly escape his failed marriage. The jury now deliberating after two weeks of testimony, NBC's Camilla Bernal, on a day of intense closing arguments.

A Colorado jury now deliberating in the murder trial of former dentist, James, James. Craig, who is accused of killing his wife Angela by poisoning her protein shakes. This is a murder weapon. In closing arguments today, prosecutors said in 2023 he researched poisons before lacing her shakes and poisoning her with cyanide, arsenic and eye drops. He suddenly realizes he needs to go by 12 bottles of eye drops. Give me a break. Adding the father of six had been cheating for most of their 23-year marriage and killed

his wife because he wanted out of the marriage, wanted the money, and did not want to ruin his image, according to prosecutors. He cheated on his wife constantly. But this idea that somehow this was some sort of motive was nothing new. Craig, emotional as his defense attorney made the case that the cheating was not a motive for murder, but it was a motive for suicide. She wasn't. wanted to kill herself saying this home video shows Craig warned doctors of his wife's possible suicidal thoughts it's your fault they treated me like I was a suicide like I did it to myself and like nothing I said could be believed doctors could not figure out what was wrong with Angela in text messages presented in court she said I feel drugged and Craig replying just for the

record I didn't drug you Craig's future now in the hands of the jury Camila joins us tonight live from Los Angeles. Camila, the jury in this case just finished up for the day, going back to the case tomorrow. Both sides agreed that Craig was not a good husband, but how do they use it to sort of prove their case here, at least for the prosecution? For both sides, the defense, Tom, saying that he was a crappy husband, and that because he was such a bad husband, because he cheated over and over again, that broke Angela. and they say that she wanted to die by suicide because she was broken because of everything he had done to her. But on the other side, you have the prosecution saying,

no, that's not true. He killed her because he wanted to be with other women. And they say not only did he kill her, but he planned all of this. They have a lot of his Google searches, and he searched some things like how many grams of arsenic will kill a human. He searched, is arsenic detectable in an autopsy? He even searched how to make.

murder look like a heart attack. So prosecutors saying, look, he didn't research or Google how to stop your wife from committing suicide. They say he planned all of this and meant for her to die after having all of these protein shakes. Now, of course, all of this is now in the hands of the jury. They're expected to come back, Tom, tomorrow morning. All right, Camila Bernal for us. Camilla, we thank you. When we come back, a closer look at CTE, the brain disorder tied to head trauma. Now back in the headlines as the shooter that killed four innocent people in Midtown Manhattan yesterday, left a note claiming he was suffering from the disease. We speak with a leading expert named in the gunman's note. Plus, the latest

suspension to Rock Major League Baseball over suspected gambling, what we're learning about that investigation. But first, top story's top moment and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for one very deserving Chicago Bears fan, Liam Woodworth, a 13-year-old who has undergone three open-heart surgeries and five operations in total. He was invited to the Bears training camp this week. You sign there. When he got with a one-day contract to join the Bears before he heads to the sidelines to huddle with the team.

Take a look. Liam, 13 years old. Yes, sir. Yeah. Yep. 13 years old. Guys, he's had five heart surgeries. If you think today was hard, if you think today was hard, try living one day in this man's life.

Liam, break us down, man. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. We'll put the arm up. We'll go. Family on three, all right? Here we go.

You said, family on three. Family on three. Family on three. One, two, three. Family! What a beautiful moment. Liam also received a jersey from his favorite player, Caleb Williams. The players adding that Liam is a huge inspiration to them and to us. All right, stay with us. We are back in just a moment. We are back tonight with our coverage of the shooting just blocks away from here in Midtown Manhattan. The shooter claiming to suffer from CTE in that suicide note left at the scene, the note expressing anger over mental illness. He claimed was due to the brain disorder, also praising neuroscientists for their research on the illness. To help us get a better understanding, I want to bring

in neuropathologist, Dr. Anne McKee. She is the director of the Unite Brain Bank at Boston University and one of the country's leading authorities of traumatic brain injuries. She's also one of the experts mentioned in that shooter's note. Dr. McKee, I thank you for joining Top Story. I do want to ask you first about your name being among the officials the gunmen mentioned for their research on CTE. What's your reaction to being named in the note and have authorities contacted you? No, authorities have not contacted me.

My reaction to seeing my name in the note is my work is very clearly associated with CTE. I was in the front line documentary that he was. referenced. And I've never met or I don't know the individual, so I'm really not sure why my name was there. So your research is why we know that Aaron Hernandez suffered from CTE. You're the leading authority on this. What are the symptoms that people who have CTE live with? Well, the early symptoms can be very disabling. It can be difficulty with impulse control. There can be depression, poor judgment. There can be violent behaviors, both verbal. and physically, and there's often depression and paranoia.

And then anything, and I know we will never know, or until there's an autopsy done on the gunman, whether he has CTE or not, but anything in his behavior that would lead you to believe he might be suffering from CTE? Well, I don't know too much about the individual. I know he played high school football, And our research does show that high school football players are at risk for CTE.

We had a recent publication in 2023 where we looked at 45 high school players, never having played beyond high school. And of those 45, 14 were found to have CTE, we're about 30%. So CTE can affect young people, even in their teenage years, and it is a disease that gets worse. with aging. So it's possible he had CTE. You know, I want to ask you a question. I know it's going to be very hard for you to answer, but I think there's going to be some people that may be skeptical out there. Is the reason someone played high school football and possibly has CTE, could that have led them to what happened yesterday in Midtown Manhattan and all this bloodshed?

Well, you know, I don't know all the details of this specific case, but we've certainly seen people with very erratic behaviors. We've seen people do very impulsive things. Sometimes rarely, it involves homicide. So there is some precedent for this type of behavior in a few cases, but it isn't at all a common manifestation of this. Would you be interested in looking at this gunman's brain? Oh, of course.

Very interested in looking at anyone's brain for CTE. And with every brain, you know, our research gets closer to finding out. out how to diagnose it during life and treat it. So yes, I'd be very interested in looking at this. Do you have a fear at all that some people may say or may now use CTE and try to associate that with any type of mental health episode

because they played football? Well, I don't have a fear of it, but I imagine that's a possibility. But the research is very clear. There is a disease, a neurodegenerative disease that affects the brain. It affects the brain's strong. structurally. There's brain damage. And it is associated with symptoms. Those symptoms get

worse as the person ages. So I'm not sure if it'll be used as an excuse, but it is a real and valid disease. Dr. McKee, we thank you so much for joining Top Story tonight. We thank you for your time and for your expertise. Thank you. We want to turn out at Top Story's news feed, starting with police putting out new photos as they search for who killed a couple out hiking with their kids in Arkansas. State police releasing this sketch and photo of a man who was a person of interest. The suspect is described as a white male of medium build. Police are asking those who were in Devil's Den State Park over the weekend to go through their photos or GoPro videos. The couple's two daughters were found unharmed. Right now, three people are unaccounted for

after an explosion in Fremont, Nebraska. Surveillance footage showing the moment the biofuels facility exploded and burst into flames, the business manufacturers fuel pellets, Officials say they are still battling those flames. And terrifying video of tornadoes tearing across the plains. Take a look at this monster twister in South Dakota, sweeping up a barn and farming equipment in Gregory County. And another video showing a rope tornado barreling across a field, the region now cleaning up after dealing with two straight days of severe storms.

The Environmental Protection Agency moving to repeal a key scientific declaration that is the foundation for current limits on greenhouse gas pollution. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin drafting plans to overturn the finding that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases threaten human health and welfare. The plan would roll back regulations under the Clean Air Act for vehicles, power plants, and other pollution sources. Okay, we want to turn out of that latest on that deadly boat collision off the coast of Miami. The sailboat and barge involved have now both been hauled away from the scene that left two children dead. NBC's Jesse Kirsch has new details on the captain of that barge and what investigators are asking for. This is the sailboat that collided with a barge in Miami's Biscayne Bay.

The crash killing a 7-year-old girl and a 13-year-old girl who were at sailing camp. There it is. Late today, the small vessel hoisted to the surface, the mast and sail in a pile on top of the hall. Now the sailboat and barge have been taken away as authorities share more details about their investigation. We do believe all of the girls more wearing life jackets. The U.S. Coast Guard also revealing they've interviewed the barge captain and have tested for intoxication. We did do alcohol testing and we have conducted the chemical testing as well.

We're pending those results right now. Monday's tragedy unfolded between Miami Beach and the mainland in an area constantly filled with yachts, jet skis, tour boats, and more. So far, investigators still have not determined how this could have happened. If you had seen a sailboat on its own or a barge on its own in that specific spot, that would not be. That would not be an immediate red flag. Not an immediate red flag. None of common at all. All right, Jesse Kirsch joins us tonight live from the scene.

Again, we can see that barge has been moved. The sailboat, as you reported as well. Jesse, tonight we're hearing again from the Miami Yacht Club in charge of that sailboat in camp. That's right, Tom. The club says that its facilities, including its partner facilities on its campus, are closed until further notice. And at the press conference this afternoon, I asked authorities if that, That is something that the club was ordered to do, and the Coast Guard says law enforcement has not ordered the club to do so.

So this appears to be entirely voluntary. Tom. All right, Jesse Kirsch for us following that story. Jesse, thank you. Not a Major League Baseball and a sports betting investigation shaking up the Cleveland Guardian's 2025 season. Their superstar pitcher, Emmanuel Kloss, becoming the second player on the team put on leave as that investigation plays out. NBC's Adrian Broaddus has the latest. Swing and a miss. Emmanuel Class A, the Cleveland Guardians three-time all-star pitcher suspended Monday just hours before taking the mound.

Bucket. Class A considered one of the greatest closers in the league now on non-disciplinary paid leave through August, becoming the second guardians player placed on leave in less than a month. Fellow pitcher Luis Ortiz also tied to an ongoing Major League Baseball investigation into sports betting, though it's unclear if the cases are related in any way. Fans reacting to the news. If they bet on the Guardians, they got to go. I'm shocked.

I think it's shameful. And the team. It stinks. It hurts. It's not something we saw coming. Details are limited on that investigation. But according to ESPN reporting, it began after sports betting integrity firm IC 360 flagged two pitches from Luis Ortiz last month, ESPN saying,

they've seen the IC 360 alerts. The first one against the Seattle Mariners on June 15th. The second against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 27th. The firm reportedly seeing abnormal betting activity on those pitches being called a, quote, ball or hitting the batter. Also, apparently involving an unusual amount of money for prop bets. You can place micro bets, which are, I think, that this pitch at this particular time will be a ball or a strike or something else.

And Louis Ortiz is a pitcher. He's the guy with the ball in his hands. And so you can see how this would be a problem. In both cases, Ortiz's pitches were well outside the strike zone. Zach Meisel covering both suspensions for the athletic. Emmanuel Class A learned about this prior to Monday's game and was told do not show up to the ballpark. The gravity of that, it's kind of shocking to the. the system. Neither player or the MLB Players Association immediately responded to NBC News's request for comment. But in a statement posted on X, the Guardian said in part, quote, we have been informed that no additional players or club personnel are expected to be impacted,

adding they will, quote, continue to fully cooperate. The MLB recognizing the suspensions in a statement writing, quote, we will not comment further until the investigation has been completed. Adrian Broadest joins us tonight from Chicago. Adrian, what are the leagues doing to protect the integrity of the sports as betting ramps up? Hey there, Tom, that is a great question. Legal sports betting is big business. If you think about it, there are some safeguards in place to monitor the market in the past. That is how some players have been discovered.

Take a look at the NBA, for example. The Players Union is all about education, requiring its players to review material to make sure they know and understand how to navigate sports betting. Similar on the MLB side, every year the MLB requiring its personnel to participate in betting education programs. Some of those programs, not only for the major, but the minor leagues as well, are in person, Tom. There is, yeah, so much betting in all of sports right now. Adrian, we appreciate your reporting. Still ahead on Top Story, the dating app that blew up TikTok designed to help keep women safe. Now thousands of images are circulating online, including women's IDs and home addresses after a massive data breach.

We're going to explain here what this app does and what just happened. And cracking down on cheating, we put the new chat GPT study mode to the test. Can it really help students learn instead of doing the work for them? Stay with us. Back down with a concerning security breach, making waves in the online dating world. The T app, which, allows women to privately search men's backgrounds and compare notes. Well, now the tea has spilled tens of thousands of images, addresses, and private messages

all leaked on the Internet. Our Marissa Para has the latest on the security breach and what users should do to keep their info safe. Download two. You can literally look up so many things. It was marketed as an app for women to talk safely and anonymously about the men they're dating. Just download the tea app, type in his name, and you can literally see if he has red flags or green

flags. Now it's a nationwide security nightmare. What are we doing about the T app leak? Like, this is not okay. The T app announcing a massive data breach to their systems last week, roughly 72,000 images, including 13,000 verification selfies and images of government IDs have been leaked online. The company adding today, some private direct messages were also accessed in the breach, and they have since disabled that function. Unfortunately, the T app was not secured the way that it was supposed to. They didn't encrypt or protect that data. T says, quote, during our early stages of development, some legacy content was not migrated into our new fortified system. An unauthorized actor accessed our identifier link where data was stored before February

24, 2024. Launched in 2023, the app was advertised as a safe space for women to find out more information about the men they're dating by comparing notes with other women and offering self-described dating safety tools like background checks, sex offender and criminal record searches and catfish image searches. All you have to do is drop in his name into T's criminal record search. The T community had more than four million users exploding in recent weeks, surging to the number one spot in the Apple App Store. But now troves of personal information of some of those users available for anyone to see online. A Google map that allegedly shows the addresses of users, as well as a website called T-spill that allows anyone to rate the leaked

selfie of T-app users. I was racking my brain, feeling anxiety about, oh my gosh, like my information might be leaked out there. This TikToker, instead of using her real name, prefers to go by her username, person with job, has used the T-app for about six months. It was really to just quickly search who I was matching with on dating apps. But now she's concerned for information could be out there too. There's a lot of trust that has been lost through this whole experience. T says the breach only affects users who signed up before February 2024, and they have, quote, engaged third-party cybersecurity experts and are working around the clock to secure their systems. When a data breach like this happens, it really is scary for the users

because you can't just go and change your address. That's where you live. And there's a physical security risk there. The T app now desperately trying to contain this sensitive spill of information. Now if you are watching and you are among those impacted, we asked our expert who told us there are three things that you should do immediately. The first freeze your credit. The second, lock down any information from data brokerage sites. You can do that individually. You can request your information to be taken down or you can pay a data breach removal tool to do it for you. And lastly, make sure you are using long, random, unique passwords. you are changing frequently.

But of course, Tom, make sure you keep track of all those passwords. Marissa Parra, we thank you. Now to our series, the AI Revolution, and tonight a new tool from the makers of ChatChipT aimed squarely at college students. It's called Study Mode, designed to teach, not do the work for you. But will it really slow the surge of students using AI to cheat? NBC Savannah Sellers shows us how it works. It's called Study Mode, the newest tool from OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.

the artificial intelligence chatbot that since bursting onto the scene in November 2022. AI has made cheating incredibly easy. It's a cheater's dream. Has frustrated college professors like Duke University's Orrin Starn. How much has AI impacted your classroom? It's had a huge impact. What I've been starting to see is more and more students handing in assignments that were all or partly written by AI. But Open AI CEO Sam Altman says higher ed needs to change. And I already think college is like maybe not working great for most people.

And today, his company says study mode is designed to help students learn something, not just finish something. Here's how it works. If you've used chat GPT before, you provide it with a prompt. I need a 500-word essay on Orwell's 1984. It immediately gives you the essay. Now, in this new mode, if you click on study and learn, ask it the same thing, it's not just going to spit the exact essay out for you. It's going to go about it more like a tutor. saying, before we jump in, can you tell me a little bit about the assignment,

asking me questions to help me write it? Wall Street Journal tech columnist Joanna Stern says the choices now in users' hands. There's nothing stopping a student from getting the answer. That cat is out of the bag. There are so many AI tools that will provide the answer for you. Or a learning version. Open AI competitor Anthropic launched a similar tool to study mode back in April for institutions. AI already a huge part of education.

A recent Gallup poll shows six in ten teachers use it as a tool for their work. And startups like the Alpha School use AI software to power core curriculum as early as kindergarten. Artificial intelligence is sort of the future, whether we like it or not. I think it's something that is already a part of our lives on a daily basis. The issue now, how students will choose to use it. So Tom, I just want to reiterate. The whole idea here is that a student would have to self-select to actually do this. So for a student who really wants to learn, that's great.

students actually do it is what really remains to be seen since you can just jump to the answer so quickly. And that professor that you saw there on that story, that's what he's really worried about is that students just simply are not learning. Tom. We're back in a moment with a grueling ride, a stunning finish, and one American rider's proposal that stole the show at the Tour de France. Finally, tonight, the Tour de France isn't just a test of strength and stamina. It's a grueling gut check race through mountains and madness. But for one American cyclist, what happened after he crossed the finish line made this the ride of his life. Here's NBC Sam Brock on the surprise

moment that had Paris cheering. Simmons is coming forward here. Competing in the grueling Tour de France. Quinn Simmons has gone now. American Quinn Simmons was certainly racing to the finish line. He's a man on fire. But his burning motivation was actually the person waiting for him on the other side. The southwestern Colorado native barely off the bike before dropping to one knee and proposing to the love of his life, Sydney. Paris cheered them on. That is a very clear yes. The celebration begins for Quinn. The ring did not make the ride, but was secretly handed to Simmons by his staff.

How long you've been planning this? Basically since I knew I was on the list of the tour in December, I knew I had an extra reason to get to Paris this year. The fiancée, flashing her new rock and admitting she was shocked. I had no idea. I was telling his mom, he was acting strange today. And I was like, I think, I don't, I thought he was just nervous for the race. Now the man known for his handlebar mustache and flowing red locks hasn't just set hearts of fire in France. Did you ask you your girlfriend tomorrow?

Did she say yes? He's showing the world. It's about finding the right partner who's along for the journey. share this moment. And, you know, to add a Simmons to the family is pretty special. Sam Brock, NBC News. Love that story. We thank Sam Brock for that one. We thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yammis in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.