Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, March 12, 2025

Episode Date: March 12, 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.

Tonight, mission to return, the launch this evening to bring home the NASA astronauts left in space for months. Sunni Williams and Butch Wilmore's unexpected nine-month journey finally coming to an end. The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket heading to the International Space Station in a mission to bring them back to Earth, how the long-awaited handoff will work. Also tonight, Europe hits back, the EU and Canada, announcing new retaliatory men. as President Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum take effect. The president's new threat as the trade war reaches new heights. Officials naming a person of interest after a college student went missing while on spring break. The new details just emerging as police look for clues into her disappearance.

Terrorist train takeover, new video showing the attack in Pakistan as militants take hundreds hostage, even blowing up a train car. A leader of a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University, now fighting deportation, massive demonstrations outside the courthouse today, as his case was heard. In just moments, you'll hear from his lawyer right here on Top Story, who spoke to him today why she says this could be the start of a dangerous overreach by the Trump White House. And the wild road rage incident caught on camera, a driver swinging a baseball bat, another firing off a flare gun, what happened next?

Plus, how will mass layoffs at the Department of Education impact your child? We go inside the classroom to find out if their education is at risk. Top story, starts right now. And good evening. Tonight, the countdown is on. The first phase of a mission to return the NASA astronauts left in space for nine months, now less than an hour away. We're taking a live look at the launchpad right here at the Kennedy Space Center.

where the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, you see it right there, slated to take off at 7.48 p.m. Eastern. We will bring you that live as it happens over those clear skies. That launch will allow Sunni Williams and Butch Wilmore, you will remember them, to finally return home after their unexpectedly long mission on the International Space Station. That's because they will be able to swap out with these four astronauts, also known as the Space X-10 crew. We should say two astronauts, one from Russia, one from Russia, one from the space space. from Japan. Williams and Wilmore were only supposed to be in orbit for 10 days back in June, but it turned into a nine-month ordeal when their Boeing capsule malfunctioned during the docking

process. If things all go according to plan, here's how it will work. After liftoff, that rocket will travel through space and is expected to arrive at the space station tomorrow morning. Then it will take a few days to prepare for their departure. NBC News Aviation correspondent Tom Costello is at the Kennedy Space Center with the very latest. And here they come. Heading to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center, SpaceX, Crew 10, astronauts Ann McLean, and Nicole Ayers, Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi, and Russian cosmonaut Karil Peskov, scheduled for a nighttime launch to the International Space Station.

Are you ready for Comchecks with MD, LD, and D.C? While they'll spend six months on station testing lunar navigation equipment and studying the impact of space travel on humans, their arrival will also allow astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sonny Williams to finally come home after nine long months in space. Really excited to high-five them and get the hand over from them

and take the watch after they go home. It was June 5th when Sunny and Butch launched on a 10-day mission in a new Boeing Starliner spacecraft. But Starliner developed helium leaks and engine thruster problems and NASA worried it was too risky to bring Butch and Sonny home.

Mission managers ordered them to remain on the station. Starliner came home empty, but only after a SpaceX crew nine ship arrived on station with just two crew members. Butch and Sonny then joined crew nine's six-month assignment to the station. While they missed family events, birthdays, and holidays, they insist they do not feel bitter or abandoned. We came up, prepared to stay long,

even though we planned to stay short. That's what we do in human spaceflight. We're coming back before long, so don't make all those plans without me. All right, Tom Costello joins us tonight from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral there in Florida. First, Tom, the weather looks great. I know it's a go-for-launch, but they're still working through one issue? Yeah, by the way, 95% chance for go-for-launch because we have beautiful weather in Florida, but they're working a single issue right now, an hydraulic issue related to the clamp arm that comes out

and literally one of the clamp arms that holds the rocket in place. So they're working that hydraulic issue right now. It's on the ground, not on the rocket. They hope to have a decision. I'm looking at the countdown clock. They hope to have a decision within the next three minutes of whether they go or not. And if they do go, it's at 7.48 p.m. Eastern time, Tom.

Okay, that is so great. Tom, we appreciate all your reporting. Standing down. They just scrubbed, Tom. Oh, okay. They just scrubbed. As you just now, they scrubbed because of this ongoing issue. with the hydraulics. Sorry, I've got mission control on my left ear. They're dealing with an ongoing hydraulic issue related to the clamp that holds the rocket in place. And because of that, they've decided they can't resolve it in time for launch. And they're now scrubbing for today.

We'll see when the next launch attempt is, but they're going to call it off for now. Tom, we know these things happen quite often, right? These things have to be perfect for that rocket to take off. In your experience now, how many days do you think they have to? have to wait, and I know you don't have the forecast right in front of you. I can't really answer that, Tom. I can't tell you. First of all, they've got to drain the height. They may have to drain the fuel out of the rocket. That's going to be up to the mission managers, and then they've got to decide, okay, when do we go forward and refuel and how long might it take to deal with this clamp issue, this hydraulic clamp issue on the ground? I want to

stress again, this is not on the rocket. It's on the ground on the structure that holds the rocket in place. And we will hear from mission managers later this evening about what their plan is going forward. They may try tomorrow. They may wait a day or two. We'll have to see what they say. Tom Costello instantly breaking that news as it happened, listening to Mission Control as he was reporting. Pretty incredible. Tom, we appreciate that. Appreciate having you here. Any updates will bring you back on the air. We want to turn out of the White House, the global trade war entering a new phase today with President Trump imposing a 25 percent worldwide tariff on metal.

As Canada and Europe retaliate on increasing tariffs on essential goods, NBC's Gabe Gutierrez has more. Welcoming Ireland's prime minister to the Oval Office. Very good news. President Trump touting today's better than expected inflation numbers. Inflation is way down and it's based on what we've done. But tonight, his trade war is escalating. Canada and the European Union slapping new retaliatory tariffs on the U.S., including the EU, hitting Burbin and Harley-Davidson motorcycles with 50% tariffs.

But the president's latest round of tariffs took effect, 25% on steel and aluminum imports from around the world. The European Union treats us very badly. They have for years. President Trump saying today he'll consider raising the tax on cars imported from Europe, which is currently 2.5%. The EU tariff on imported American cars is 10%. So whatever they charge us, we're charging them.

If they charge us 25 or 20 percent or 10 percent or 2 percent or 200 percent, then that's what we're charging them. There's nothing more fair than that. Stephen Capone employs 100 people making steel products in Massachusetts and supports Trump's new tariffs. He says cheaper Canadian steel has decimated his business. We have to revitalize our industry, our economy. We can't rely on foreign imports for anything, anything critical. But Trump's new tariffs are devastating for Canada. In the working-class city of Drummondville, manufacturing is huge, and about 18% of the jobs here are linked to the U.S.

What would your message be to President Trump? Stop the tariff. Jean-François Nadeau has worked at Matri-Tech, a metal processing company, for 25 years. At one point yesterday, President Trump threatened 50% tariffs on steel and aluminum. What is this uncertainty doing to you? It's giving us, we are kind of becoming crazy right now. It's going too fast. On the morning, it says something.

On the afternoon, say something else. And don't get him started on Trump floating the idea of annexing Canada, making it the 51st state. The first time was, he's making a great joke. Now it's not a joke anymore. Luis Charle El-Badi works for the mayor's office in Drummondville, where he says some 3,000 Canadian jobs are now at risk. risk, the tear of turmoil potentially driving up prices on both sides of the border. Did this almost feel like a betrayal?

I mean, to some extent, yeah, because America's our greatest friend, right? All right, Gabe joins us tonight from Quebec. Gabe, we know U.S. and Canadian officials are going to meet tomorrow, right? Meanwhile, there's a headline involving a potential federal government shutdown. What's the latest there? Yeah, Tom, Senate Republicans need seven Democrats, seven Democrats, seven Democrats, to support. their funding bill to keep the government open. But tonight, top Democrat Chuck Schumer says that Republicans do not have the votes, indicating that Democrats are prepared to block the Republican funding bill with a deadline on Friday.

Tom. Gabe Gutier is reporting from Canada tonight for us. Gabe, we appreciate that. Next to the latest on that Palestinian activist detained by ICE, lawyers from Mahmoud Ha'il in court today as a Columbia University graduate and green card holder awaits his fate in a Louisiana detention center. He's facing deportation and connection to campus protest last year. His supporters protesting outside today's hearing.

NBC's Laura Jared is following all this. Release Mahmood right now. Outside a New York City courthouse today demands for the release of Mahmood Halil. If they come for Mahmood today, they will come for every other green card holder. Halil, a leader of the pro-Palestinian protest that rocked Columbia University last spring, arrived on a student visa and became a permanent resident last year, according to court papers. Now he's facing deportation at the direction of Secretary of State Marco Rubio, accusing him of supporting Hamas. This is not about free speech. This is about people that don't have a right to be in the United States to begin with.

The Trump administration relying on a law authorizing the Secretary of State to deport any green card holder whose presence or activities in the United States would have potentially serious adverse forms. policy consequences. Halil, an Algerian citizen of Palestinian descent, was set to graduate in May. But his lawyers say immigration agents apprehended him Saturday night at his home in New York in front of his wife, who is due with their child next month. Then quickly moved him to a detention center in Louisiana, where he remains. His legal team in court today saying he has no criminal record and has not been charged with

any crime. What happened to Mahmoud Khalil is nothing short of extraordinary and shocking and outrageous. It should outrage anybody who believes that speech should be free in the United States of America. All this, as President Trump threatens to punish any school that allows, quote, illegal protests, promising others will face the same fate as Khalil. I think we ought to get them all out of the country. They're troublemakers.

They're agitators. They don't love our country. We ought to get them the hell out. So as for what happens next here, Tom. Haleel's lawyers are obviously trying to get him released, trying to get expedited treatment, but as of tonight, it's not at all clear which court is actually going to have jurisdiction to resolve this fight. The judge in court today suggesting he may not be the one who ultimately gets to resolve it, because, of course, Hale was first transferred to New Jersey before he was eventually transferred to Louisiana.

So we have sort of a shuffling of duck chairs here, leaving Haleel essentially in legal purgatory tonight, Tom. Back to you. Laura Jarrett for us tonight, Laura, we thank you for that. For more on this case, I want to bring in one of the lawyers from Mahmood Halil, Amy Greer. Amy, thanks so much for being here. Thank you. We learned today the judge said that that Khalil can get one privileged phone call today and tomorrow. Have you or your legal team been able to speak to your client yet?

And how is he doing? I have been able to speak to him, but not on a legally privileged call. So we haven't been able to speak about the case freely because. all the calls are recorded. So I have spoken to him. I can confirm that he's in as good as spirits as a person can be when they're being unlawfully detained. And we've been able to be in pretty regular contact with him,

either myself or his wife. But tonight will be our first chance to actually speak openly with him on a line that's not recorded. Is he confused? Is he scared? I think he's angry. I think he's confused and scared. And I think, you know, the fact that he hasn't been able to have, like, good consultation with the legal team means that he's feeling, you know, disconnected from everything that's happening so quickly that affects the rest of his life. And yet he hasn't necessarily had a chance to participate in that, to answer questions or have us answer questions so that he understands what we're arguing and why.

Laura Jair brought up sort of this jurisdiction roulette, if you will. He gets picked up in New York, taken in New Jersey. he's in Louisiana. Do you know why he's in Louisiana? We don't know why. What I can say is I was on the phone with him that night when he was picked up and they told us that they were taking him to 26 federal plaza. And then... Which is New York? Which is New York, Manhattan.

And then we learned the next morning, later the next morning, on the ICE website that he was in Elizabeth. But then in New Jersey, when we tried to confirm that, we couldn't confirm that and then next thing we know he's on his way to Louisiana okay so why I don't know I do want to play some more of what Secretary of State Marco Rubio said we heard a portion of it but I want to I want to actually play the whole thought and get your your sense of it on the back and let's play that this is not about free speech this is about people that don't have a right to be in the United States to begin with no one has a right to a student visa no one has a right to a green card by the way so I know you don't agree with Secretary of State Marco Rubio

But legally, does that argument hold any water? Will it, will it uphold in a court of law? Well, the first thing I'll say is this country did grant him a green card. He has been vetted by this country. And this country has found him to be somebody that we want to have here. So I don't agree with that statement. There is this rare provision, a rarely used provision, that we know that they're citing to.

I would argue that there isn't a valid ground to invoke that provision in this case, and that's what we're arguing. But will they be successful? Is there any evidence that your client ever communicated with, email, talked to, texted, tweeted with Hamas, that he worked in any kind of coordination with Hamas? Mahmoud is a human rights defender.

He has been, he himself, is born of refugees from Tiberius Palestine, was born and raised in a refugee camp in Syria and has worked his entire life to defend human rights and to defend Palestinian rights. There's no reason to believe, and I don't think anybody who knows him would argue otherwise or suggests that he would have

any connection with any of these entities, but that's also not what he stands for. That would be completely opposite to his values. I want to play another soundbite. This is from one of the attorneys that is working with you on this case. Here's what he had to say. It simply cannot be the case that you can be disappeared at night off the streets of New York City simply because the current U.S. government, the current administration at the White House dislikes what you have to say. That is, you know, not just an American, it's also unacceptable. So my ears went up when he said disappeared, right?

because it sort of harkens back to Los Desparescillos, which was the dirty war in Argentina, late 70s, early 80s, tens of thousands of young people, literally picked up from the street, disappeared in Argentina, tortured, killed, some thrown from airplanes. Is that what this is here? Is that a fair comparison? It could be. We're still seeing how this all plays out through the end. But what I can say, having been on the phone and heard how he was taken, We had, we didn't entirely know why he was being taken.

It turns out that the reason they gave us wasn't actually the reason he was taken. We didn't know where he was going to be taken. We lost contact with him for, you know, quite some time. You know, so, and so I think that that in this country, this is not what we're used to in this country. And it is directly counter to our Constitution that people should just be taken. not heard from again, moved halfway across the country without anybody knowing why or where or how or what the justification is. We still haven't heard a justification.

We've heard a lot of press conferences. We've heard a lot of, seen a lot of social media. But we ourselves have not received direct evidence from this government as to what makes why they're targeting Mahmoud Khalil with any, you know, evidence that is direct, can be directly attributed to him. Amy Greer, we thank you for joining Top Story tonight. One of the attorneys for Mahmoud Haile, we appreciate it. Yeah, thank you.

We want to head overseas down to the late developing news on the war in Ukraine. President Trump tonight warning Russia that it must accept a ceasefire deal or risk what he calls devastating financial retaliation. This, as Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelenskyy says he's ready for peace, ready to sign the minerals deal with the U.S. as well. NBC's chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel has this report from Ukraine. President Zelensky today said he's not the obstacle to peace and that he is ready to immediately implement a 30-day ceasefire proposed by the U.S. if Russia does the same.

I am very serious about it, and for me it is important to end the war, he said. I want the President of the United States to see it. I want Americans to see it and feel it. Zelensky also said Ukraine will sign a minerals deal President Trump has been pushing for. And President Trump seems to like what he's hearing, saying now it's up to Russia to accept or reject the ceasefire, adding a threat to Moscow. I can do things financially that would be very bad for Russia. I don't want to do that because I want to get peace.

In exchange for what seems to be a more flexible Ukrainian approach, Trump also resumed intelligence sharing with Ukraine and the supply of American weapons. Both were suspended after that disastrous meeting in the Oval Office. You're gambling with World War III. When President Trump and Vice President Vance accused Zelenskyy of being unappreciative of American support and not being serious about peace. By unilaterally accepting the U.S. deal, Ukraine has now flipped the script. Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying the onus is squarely on Russia to prove it wants to end the war

by agreeing to stop the guns and sit down for talks. Here's what we'd like the world to look like in a few days. Either side is shooting at each other, not rockets, not missiles, not bullets, nothing. President Putin so far hasn't commented on the ceasefire. Today he visited his troops in Kursk, a part of Russia that Ukraine captured, but where Russian troops made major advances while American intelligence cooperation to Ukraine was suspended. The Kremlin said Russia is waiting to hear more details about the ceasefire.

We just need the rest. And that's it. In Ukraine today, Vitaly Kim, governor of Mikhailayev, welcomed the potential pause, but said he sees no indication that Russia will stop attacking. I think that 100 percent of Ukrainian people who want the war to be ended. The uncertainty and changing American position are weighing heavily on Ukrainians, who questioned if President Trump is on their side. Yuri, a construction worker, came to a memorial in Mikolaiv today to pay respects to his

friend killed by Russian forces. What do you think about President Trump and the way he's been dealing with Ukraine? I can't say those words on camera. What I think about Trump, he says, It's like a young child's behavior. My one-month-old daughter is acting better than Trump. Now Ukrainians hope the world will see which country wants peace and which country wants to take pieces of its neighbor.

neighbor. The proposed ceasefire would not end the war, but it would give each side time to rest and negotiate or rearm. Tom. Okay, Richard Engel from Ukraine tonight. Richard, we thank you. Back here at home, we're going to turn to the weather now because southern California bracing for a round of severe storms. More than 20 million people under flood watches right now in the region. Ahead of the rain, evacuation warnings issued to communities near burn scars from those devastating wildfires in January. You see them here. All the concentrated areas near the Palisades and Altadena. Officials saying those areas are at higher risk of debris flows and mud slots. Piles of dirt still lining neighborhoods today. Let's get right to the forecast

with NBC meteorologist Bill Karen. So Bill, what can people in Southern California expect? It's the middle of the night, Tom. So everyone's going to be sleeping, and that's when you'll get your flash flood warnings and maybe the mud and debris flow warnings too. So the big storm has been rolling from San Francisco to Sacramento all afternoon long. Sacramento just had a very strong gust go through with some heavy downpours. this is what we're going to expect in the Los Angeles area. And all the burn scars is what we're concerned with in Southern California tonight. So here's kind of the timing.

Los Angeles, we are expecting about one to about three inches of rain. It's going to be fast moving. So that's good. But if we get two inches of rain in a quick hour, hour and a half, that's when we could have issues. This is at midnight. The red shows you where we're going to have it near Malibu, Pacific Palisades. That's going to be the time of greatest concern for you. Then Altadina, the Eaton Fire, it looks like to be about one to about 2 a.m.

Then after this, we're going to worry about severe weather. Ice-lid, severe storms in Texas and Louisiana. We get a little bit of a break tomorrow. But then as that storm on the West Coast gets into the middle of the country, kind of a classic severe weather set up, this is going to be Friday from St. Louis all the way down through Mississippi. And then on Saturday, we could deal with strong storms and tornadoes into areas from Atlanta all the way down to New Orleans.

So this is a coast-to-coast storm, Tom. Tonight our concerns will be with those fire scar areas. All right, Bill Karensfell. We thank you for that. And we're going to be right back in a moment. with police now saying they have a person of interest in the case of that missing student in the Dominican Republic,

what we know about her final moments before she vanished. And the new plan from the Idaho murder suspect's lawyers, why they say evidence against him, was, quote, planted at the scene. And the video of a road rage incident that gets even more fiery a driver fighting back with a flare gun,

you saw it there. We'll show you all the video. What Top Story comes back. Okay, we're back now with a major development in the college student who went missing on spring break. U.S. investigators are now saying they've identified a person of interest almost a full week after she first went missing. NBC's Jesse Kirsch, again for us tonight from the Dominican Republic. Tonight, American authorities say there's now a person of interest in the search for missing U.S. college student, Suddickia Kunaki. And sources familiar with the investigation say, it's this.

man. There's concern about the statements that he's made, the inconsistencies on those statements, and that bothers us. The sheriff's office in Loudoun County, Virginia, where Kunaki is from, saying a 22-year-old man has caught investigators' attention. He appears to have been the last person with Kunaki before she vanished from this Punta Kana beach. But the sheriff's office stresses this is not the same thing as a suspect as this is not a criminal matter. It is still a missing person case. Dominican Republic authorities who are leading the investigation have neither confirmed nor denied there is a person of interest. The University of Pittsburgh student was last seen on surveillance video here more than six days ago at this resort on her spring break

trip. Her disappearance around 4.15 a.m. Thursday later sparking a massive search that has included a focus on the water. The Dominican Republic's national police telling us they're studying where a body would drift if someone drowned. We still hold out hope that she's around and that she may still be alive and we're hoping that she, you know, that we find her. Okay, Jesse joins us again from Punta Kana in the Dominican Republic. So Jesse, now that this person of interest is named, do we know where he is, what we can expect moving forward?

Not many details, Tom, and as we were just talking about there, the only authorities on the record telling us that there is a person of interest to begin with is that sheriff's department, that sheriff's office out of Virginia. We have been trying to chase down Dominican officials today. They have not given us an answer either way. So his whereabouts right now very much unclear. And I know you also have new information on the Konaki family? That's right, Tom. A short time ago, that sheriff's office that has been giving us a lot of information that is from Kunaki's hometown telling us that her family has now returned home to Virginia, as her whereabouts remain very uncertain, and we're coming up tomorrow morning

on over a full week since her disappearance. Tom? All right, it's got to be terrible for that family. Just think about them and hope they're okay and in a good place. All right, Jesse, we thank you for that. We want to move on now to the new details in the upcoming murder trial of Brian Coburger. Prosecutors in Idaho revealing Coburger's defense. team will argue that key evidence found at the home where four students were found dead was planted. The new defense strategy comes amid a series of recent setbacks for Coburger, who if convicted, could face the death penalty. To break this all down for us, Liz Kreutz joins us tonight from L.A. So, Liz, the defense has been trying to get mountains of key evidence tossed out

in this trial. Most of it unsuccessfully. Walk us through what Coburger's new argument is in this recent motion. Yeah, Tom, so this comes from a new legal response, not from Coburgers' attorneys, but from the prosecution. And in it, the prosecution says that they believe that Coburger's attorneys are going to try to make the argument that he was essentially framed in these murders. As you said, they're going to basically try to say that the knife sheaf that was found at the home where the murders occurred, that had Coburger's DNA on it, that that was planted by the real perpetrator, whoever that may be. Now, we have heard some variation of this argument before. This all comes as Coburger's attorneys are trying to basically get some of the DNA evidence thrown out, the evidence

that was found through investigative genetic genealogy testing. So far, they have been unsuccessful on that. The judge has said that it is permissible to have that evidence using that technique. They are continuing to try it, though. This is another effort. We'll see what happens, Tom. And then, Liz, it's good to kind of remind our viewers, when do we think this trial is going to officially start

and what can we expect next? Yeah, it's been a long time coming. It happened in 2022. The trial's been pushed back and pushed back. Right now, we know that the hearing about what we were just talking about, about the genetic genealogy technique testing. That is going to happen in April. We'll heal arguments for and against.

Jury selection begins at the end of July, and then the trial is scheduled to begin in August. That will last three months. We'll see what happens there. As you mentioned, though, we have just recently learned that he will be up for the death penalty. That is a possibility if he is convicted in those four murders, Tom. Okay, Liz, Croyd's with a big update there.

Liz, we thank you. Still ahead tonight. Will the major cuts to the education department impact students? Our Sam Brock visits a school, to find out what those layoffs look like inside the classroom. And an update on the Menendez Brothers bid for freedom, when they could go before a parole board as they asked Governor Newsom for clemency.

Stay with us. We're back with Top Stories News Feed. Six Americans jailed in Kuwait for years on drug charges are finally home. Photos showing the former detainees who include veterans and military contracts. arriving in New York this afternoon. The group's consultant calling the release a gesture of goodwill between two allies.

He said his clients maintain their innocence. The release follows a recent visit to the region by Adam Boller, the Trump's administration's top hostage envoy. The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency announcing sweeping reversals of landmark environmental regulations put in by the Biden administration.

EPA administrator Lee Zeldin saying he is rolling back 31 environmental rules in total, including restrictions, on pollution and vehicle emissions. Zeldon said he will rewrite the EPA's 2009 findings of greenhouse gases endangering public health and welfare. At an update tonight, California Governor Newsom says Eric and Lyle Mendez will go before a parole board hearing on June 13th. On his podcast, Newsom said a group of experts and psychologists will examine if they believe the brothers post any danger to the public once the independent risk assessment is finished. The governor's

office. We'll submit it to the judge for resentencing. At the same time, Newsom's office will also consider commuting their life sentences for the 1989 murders of their parents. A baseball bat and a flare gun used as weapons during a shocking road rage incident in Florida. Video showing the driver of the white van grabbing a man inside another vehicle. The victim defends himself by firing a flare gun. The attacker then strikes the car and breaks the back window with the bat. Those Borough County police saying that man was arrested and charged with aggravated assault of a victim over the age of 65. And Othello's Broadway preview in New York City, making history at the box office. The Shakespearean tragedy starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gillen Hall, taking Broadway by Storm, selling

more than $2 million worth of tickets last week. It's now the top grossing show to hit the Broadway stage, beating the previous record set by Wicked. Othello is open through the first week of June. Tickets cost around $300. on average. Okay, next tonight to the major shake-up at the Department of Education. The office is today a ghost town. More than 1,300 employees were laid off, notified last night in an email of the difficult news that their organization unit is being abolished. Now, those layoffs, plus the more than 500 workers who took voluntary buyouts, leaving the department slashed in half as President Trump considers abolishing the agency entirely and leaving education to the states. The administration

The administration has said the move will not impact department functions, including federal student aid, but the uncertainty causing concern at schools across the country. Our Sam Brock visited one New Jersey high school where the superintendent laid out with these drastic changes could mean for her students. In the halls of this New Jersey high school echoes of uncertainty. When you heard about the promise to dismantle the Department of Education or at least reduce it in the name of efficiency, Did that sound like a good idea to you, or were you concerned? Very concerned. Very concerned.

Superintendent of Englewood Public Schools, Dr. Marnie Hazleton, walking us through the places where her students, faculty, and staff would feel any potential cuts first. So we'll go in here. Are you anticipating impacts right away in the classroom? Absolutely. We've already gone through the first wave of cuts a few weeks ago. Our funding for reimbursement for Medicaid. which is part of our IDEA, we saw that reduced from $280,000 down to $28,000.

A 90% cut in that money right away. Absolutely, yes. In the middle of the school year. Yes. The services provided through Medicaid went to support our most fragile students, providing occupational therapy, mental health services, physical therapy. President Trump has said he wants to shift control of education. to the states. In 2021, right around 11% of school funding came from federal sources, according to

the National Center for Education Statistics. The other almost 90% from state and local avenues. But Dr. Hazleton says every dollar in her district's budget is critical. For every $100,000 in funding that you lose, what does that mean for a teacher or staff? For every $100,000 that we lose, that is the equivalent of one teacher, one full-time teacher, including their benefits. Another fee, The possibility the school could lose reimbursements for free meals that roughly 80% of their students qualify for. For some of our most fragile students, this is the only place where they get a hot, nutritious breakfast and lunch. We were so concerned that we partnered with our local grocery store to open a food pantry. We have a food pantry here where we distribute meals.

once every two weeks. Hearing that the USDA recently just cut a billion dollars of assistance for schools nationwide in terms of accessing fresh food from farmers and other sources, a billion. Does that give you pause for thought? Absolutely. If children are hungry, they cannot learn. And if we are going to rely on highly processed food versus fresh fruits and vegetables, that is alarming. Dr. Hazleton says she may need to make the difficult.

decision to cut sports and arts programs, which he says are the reasons many students look forward to coming to school. What do you think the impact on the arts could be from these cuts? Well, the first priority is always staffing classrooms. The priority is English language arts and math and science. So we would start to look at programs, our after-school programs, which include the arts. impossible conundrum for school administrators balancing basic services and those that can shape an entire high school experience. Some of the students featured in the play, I didn't even realize they were musically inclined until they shared with me, I'm going to be in the musical. I didn't know you were into musicals. And you have to provide students that outlet in the opportunity.

Sam Brock joins us tonight from Englewood, New Jersey. So Sam, do we know the total amount in dollars we're talking about here that could be cut. And what are you hearing about how that will already impact them for next year? Yeah, we do right now. Certainly the amount of money that could be cut, Tom. And to give you just a sense of the financial tightrope that school districts like Englewood are walking right now, Englewood's budget for the entire year is $81 million. Then there's an additional $10 or $11 million of federal supplements, which is to say about 11 or 12 percent of the total financial picture is coming from the federal government. Now, here's the toughest part. We already mentioned in that piece that Medicaid reimbursements for this school year

have already been removed by the administration, according to the superintendent. Well, right now, they're trying to plan their 25-26 budget, which the preliminary report on that is due in a matter of weeks. And Englewood basically doesn't know whether or not they're going to be getting a good chunk of this $10 million that's still on the table from the federal government. That's just a huge open-ended question. And the hardest part about that, that funding is heavily weighted towards special need students, and low-income students. And of course, as we lined out, there is a trickle-down effect as well,

because once that money is taken away, if it is, it could affect things like sports and the arts as well. So just a potentially very difficult situation for school administrators. Yeah, and then, you know, the Department of Education, it has various functions and the way they interact with public schools. You've mentioned some of them.

We know one of them is also anti-discrimination laws and sort of protocols in schools. Do we know what happens there? Does that department go away? The DOE is responsible for enforcing anti-discrimination laws. So when I asked the superintendent that very question, her face went blank for a second then, and you could see the distress in her eyes, frankly, because what she said was, we don't know. There has been no guidance provided so far from the federal government as to where we're supposed to go

if suddenly this entity, if DOE just disappears tomorrow. She said they would be talking to their HR departments and continuing to handle things internally as they normally would. But from a federal level and federal action, they have absolutely no idea, Tom. All right, Sam Brock for us. Getting the story there, Sam, we appreciate it. Now, the Top Story's Global Watch and an update on the train terror attack in Pakistan. Pakistan's military says it has rescued the remaining hostages held by the terror group.

That group known as the Balik Liberation Army sharing this video showing attackers blowing up a train with 400 passengers. The group claims it executed at least 100 more hostages. Military officials say 30 terrorists and four soldiers were killed during rescue operations. Dozens of inmates breaking out of an overcrowded prison in Indonesia. New video shows the inmates hopping over the prison's front gate and fleeing to the street, others jumping from the roof. Police say they have recaptured 24 prisoners, but nearly 30 are still on the loose. Local media reporting the jail is designed to hold about 100 people but is currently housing about 400. And Western Europe's oldest human fossil found in a cave in northern Spain.

The fossil in his adult facial fragment and is believed to be between one to 1.4 million years old. Scientists say the discovery will help researchers get a better timeline of when human ancestors settled in Western Europe. Okay, up next, the launch to bring home those astronauts left in space just called off. Why NASA decided to stand down and when the next opportunity for takeoff could be. Two former astronauts join us to break it all down. That's next. We are back now with more on that. that SpaceX rocket launch scrubbed just moments ago as we're coming on the air.

This was audio from the moment mission control decided to call it off. SpaceX LD on Countdown 1 at this time. We are standing down from today to further address hydraulic release data. The mission was intended to relieve the four-person crew already on board the ISS, which includes Butch Wilmore and Sunni Williams, who are currently nine months into what was supposed to be a 10-day mission. We are joined tonight by two former astronauts. and Eileen Collins, who is also the first ever female shuttle commander. We thank you both for being here. Also back with us, NBC News Aviation Correspondent, Tom Costello,

who's out there at the launch and who broke the news for our viewers tonight. Tom, I'm going to start with you. You were listening to Mission Control in one year, you were listening to me at the other year, and you heard that the mission was scrub. What more have you learned in the last hour or so, if anything? Well, by the way, you've got the A team with Eileen and Mike, so that's fantastic. Bottom line here is SpaceX and NASA are stressing this is not an issue with the rocket. This is an issue with a hydraulic problem on the clamp, on a ground clamp that connects to and holds the rocket in place to the erector set, if you will, right?

The structure on the ground that keeps it in place. They've been working the issue for a few hours, and then finally a T-minus 43 minutes. They said, okay, we need to stop, we need to fully understand what the problem is. they do have launch possibilities for tomorrow evening and Friday evening. That doesn't mean that they'll use those opportunities, right? They need to first understand what the issue is and can they fix it? Or, and this is me saying this, not SpaceX, or do they need to take the rocket down? There's no suggestion of that right now.

So they're going to work it probably through the evening. They'll pick it up again in the morning. And then we should get some update as to what their plan is on when they're going to try again. Beyond that, though, this was a picture-perfect day, 95% chance of go, beautiful weather. And Butch and Sonny, of course, who have been up on the International Space Station since June, nine months now. And yes, they're good astronauts and they're Navy veterans. And they say we're used to longer than expected deployments. They're ready to come home.

And clearly, this must be a disappointment for them and their families. Sonny has said, you know, the hardest part is our families who feel like they're constantly getting delay after delay. and they want Butch and Sonny to come home as well. But safety is always the top priority at NASA, at SpaceX. They want to make sure they understand precisely what the issue is, Tom. Yeah, and we were just looking at some live pictures. We may possibly, and again, this is a fluid situation, it's a breaking news situation. We may actually see the two astronauts, the astronaut from Russia, the cosmonaut and from Japan come out.

Guys, I'm going to ask the control room, are these live pictures, is this them? So this is them still inside the capsule right now. They're actually, Mike, you can walk us through this. They haven't even gotten out yet. They were told almost an hour ago, no go, but they still got to stay in there. Why? They've got a safety area. Make sure everything's okay with the fuel.

Make sure everything's okay with whoever the problem they were looking at and go back and then get them. They have a whole procedure to run through to get this. And, you know, it's funny, Tom. I mean, I'm sitting and Eileen, my friend is there. I think it was one of the first launches I went to see. Eileen was on board and they had a hydraulic issue and they scrubbed that launch right at the last minute. Eileen, you can pick up the story from.

there, if that's true. And get us in the minds of these of these astronauts, right? And cosmonauts, what are they thinking right now? Is it disappointment or are they trained to know that this happened sometimes? Well, actually, it's both of those. And I cannot count how many times I've been out there with a scrub. It might have been five or ten, but especially with the weather this nice, you go out there and you say, oh, it's beautiful, I want to go. But the mindset of the astronaut is you have to be ready for one or the other. You have to be ready for win or lose, go or no go. And especially when you get in the very last minute seconds of launch countdown,

you have to be ready for one of the others. So that's just part of our training. And I think the disappointment will come after they get out and they're driving back to crew quarters, then the disappointment will set in. But right now, I'm sure they're just thinking very professionally and doing their procedures. This is, you know, we are dealing with some SpaceX technology here.

But Mike, can you tell us what we were just seeing there? It looked like they were trying to open the hatch, if you will. That's the correct term? Yeah, they looks like they had the access on there. You can see the close-out crew there opening up the door, the hatch to the spacecraft. So the crew is, you know, again, they practiced this before. They practiced it in the real spaceship not too long ago. Talk to you about this protective gears.

A reason why they're just like that? You never know. You're around a spaceship and there may be something leaking. You know, there may be some coolant leaking. There may be some sort of propellant leak. You never know. It's always good to make sure that you're careful around that area. So you always wear the bunny suits.

You always wear protective things on your shoes. That's going to space, that spaceship. Don't want any contaminated. Mike, I was asking you about the mindset of these four. How about the mindset of Sunni and Butch who are like, hey guys, been here for nine months, clock is ticking. What's going on? That's probably what they were wondering.

You know, they thought they were getting eight days and they keep getting them delayed. And here's another day. But I'm sure they're just, you know, this is the way it goes. As Eileen said, these are things that we're used to. We used to say, when you're sitting on a launch pad, you never know you're really going to go until the solid rocket

light. That's what we should say for the shuttle. And that's what you know where you're going somewhere. When that rocket lights and you're on your way. Other than that, you're, you're hopeful. Eileen, talk to me about the conversation. We're not privy to it just yet, but between mission control, if you will, and Sunni and Butch, essentially telling them, listen, it's going to, it's going to be another day, maybe be another two days. Is that a difficult conversation, or are the astronauts so trained that it's just very formal and it's, you know, it's part of the job? Well, I would imagine that they were listening to the launch countdown themselves live. I mean, that's what I would guess.

But I'm sure they have conversations with mission control and, you know, the Capcom is going to tell them something, you know, very nice. Like, you know, don't worry, we're coming to get you. I actually just emailed Butch and Sonny a couple weeks ago just to kind of get a feel for how they were doing. And I told them, hey, you know, we're concerned down here because you are all over the news. everyone's talking about you, and they're like, hey, we're fine. You know, we're up here, like, loving it, doing the mission that they've trained for. And the other thing, they actually trained for a short duration flight, and they got a long duration flight out of it.

So I think they feel like they're, you know, they're really making some good contributions to science. They each done some spacewalks. And, you know, it's, we're very, very proud of them. And I also told the two of them that when they come back, they're going to have a fantastic, greeting from us Earthlings down here, so get ready. Yeah, I think the book was called The Right Stuff, right?

That's a good book. My favorite. And it's the movie based on the book, and you do have to have the right stuff, right? Because most people complain if they're playing as an hour delayed. Yeah. These two astronauts have been up there doing NASA's work, doing work for our country, and having been told,

listen, your trip is going to be nine months long away from your families and up in space and a lot of unknowns. Yes, I think it's a great example for everyone. You have to be resilient, go with flow, things change, and I think that's what we all can take away from the example that Sonny and Butch of Set. Mike Massimino, Eileen Collins, Tom Costello, we appreciate it. As we still are seeing live pictures, that crew about to be taken out of the capsule. And again, as soon as we have new information on when the new launch will be, we're going to bring that right to you

as these astronauts, cosmonauts, and that astronaut from Japan are all coming out now. We again, we thank you for this conversation. We are going to be right back with an interesting story, a historical story. We're going to take you to Italy. Pompeii, 2,000 years after volcanic eruption buried the city. Our team on the ground there, the first U.S. news crew

to get a look at the latest excavation. That's next. We're back now with an inside look at the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. Nearly 2,000 years after it was buried under volcanic ash. Researchers now saying they've just wrapped the most important dig there in a century.

NBC's Molly Hunter is in Italy with more on their discoveries. 2,000 years later, Mount Vesuvius still towers above the ruins of the Roman city of Pompeii. Walking in before the crowds, we headed to the edge of the excavated area. Archaeologist, Dr. Sophie Hay, takes us inside the latest discovery. Wow. These frescoes are spectacular. They go on three walls, and you can see the figures are nearly life-sized.

They're wild women doing things that typically. women didn't do at the time, like eating raw meat, like hunting, and their initiation rights into the mysterious cults of Dionysus. Were the real women going to go out to the woods, hunt animals, eat raw meat? We still don't know that. We're walking on Roman ground level here, about 30 feet underground. It was all dug by hand, Dr. Hay explains. First, 10 feet of pumice stone from the eruption, then toxic gas and ash.

They basically seal the top of Pompeii. So if you're left in the city at that point, you're never going to leave. Following Dr. Hayd down. Just how the Romans did it, right? We descend into a small room where two people died barricaded inside, the skeleton of an older woman clutching gold and pearl earrings. And this is portable wealth. This is something she can use beyond the walls of Pompeii after the eruption.

Sadly, she never had that chance. Was this her lavish house? Or was she a slave? Maybe a thief. But director Anna Onesty, who heads the dig, says the good news is they've only uncovered half the site. Every day here, there is a surprise. Molly Hunter, Pompeii, Italy. We thank you so much for watching Top Story.

I'm Tom Yamas in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way. Thank you.