Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Episode Date: March 22, 2023

"The chilling final moments of Irvo Otieno's life captured on surveillance video, calls grow for an investigation at Ft. Hood after a 20-year-old soldier's death, an active shooter drill at a Michigan hospital sparks fear and confusion, and Bad Bunny faces a $40 million lawsuit filed by his ex-girlfriend. The chilling final moments of Irvo Otieno's life captured on surveillance video, calls grow for an investigation at Ft. Hood after a 20-year-old soldier's death, an active shooter drill at a Michigan hospital sparks fear and confusion, and Bad Bunny faces a $40 million lawsuit filed by his ex-girlfriend. "

Tonight, the chilling final moments captured on surveillance video and the new indictments just handed down. Video obtained by NBC News showing the moments a 28-year-old man was dragged through the halls of a psychiatric hospital, then pinned to the ground. As many as 10 people smothering him as he struggled on the floor, that man later dying at the scene. Seven deputies and three hospital workers charged with his murder. What newly released 911 calls reveal about the minutes leading up to his death. Out west, California getting slammed with its 12th atmospheric river so far this year, 17 million people under flood alerts as heavy rains push rivers and levies to the brink. Bill Karen standing by with the forecast.

On alert, the entire New York Police Department ordered to be in uniform and ready to respond to protest as the city braces for a decision in the Donald Trump Stormy Daniels case. The new attacks the former president is leveling at the district attorney, as the grand jury decides his future. Demanding answers. Growing calls tonight for an investigation after a 20-year-old soldier was found dead at Fort Hood. Her family revealing she had complained of sexual harassment in the months leading up to her death, their emotional message tonight. Plus terrifying moments in Detroit, police responding with guns drawn to what they thought was an active shooter at a hospital

only to find out it was all a drill, how that horrifying mix-up happened. And bad money at the center of a new $40 million lawsuit why his ex-girlfriend is suing the global superstar over a voice recording made on an iPhone in a bathroom, nearly a decade ago. Top story starts right now. Good evening. I'm Ellison Barber in for Tom Yamis. We begin top story tonight with that disturbing case out of Virginia. Ten people charged with the murder of a 28-year-old black man inside of a psychiatric hospital. And now for the first time, we are getting a look at their actions on that fateful day. The victim, 28-year-old Ivo Oetiano, was initially taken into custody on March 3rd while he was in the middle of a mental health crisis.

After three days in jail, Oetiano transferred to the central state hospital. Surveillance video obtained by NBC News shows the moment Oteano was dragged through the halls of that hospital with his hands and legs in shackles. At least seven Henrico's sheriff deputies pulling him into a room, attempting to prop him up against a chair. Moments later, Oetiano pinned on the ground. At times as many as ten people piled on top of him, this scene lasting for 11 minutes until O'Tieno was rendered motionless. CPR eventually administered, but efforts to save his life were unsuccessful. A Virginia grand jury tonight formally indicting seven of those deputies and three hospital employees on second-degree murder. charges. NBC's Katie Beck spoke with the Oetiano family late today about those charges and that

shocking video. She leads us off. The actions of seven Virginia sheriff's deputies and three hospital workers on March 6th captured on camera. Images of 28-year-old Ivo O'Tiano's last hours alive. This story was not supposed to end like this. Transported from jail to a mental hospital where prosecutors say he was smothered to death during intake. A great, grand jury meeting today. They took about three hours and they came back with 10 indictments. What does that say to you? It says to me that this nine men and one woman murdered my son. The video released by the prosecution, which doesn't have sound, shows Oetiano's intake at the hospital. At 419, deputies walk him into a hospital admissions room. Oetiano appearing to be

handcuffed his ankles in shackles. At first, leaning him against a chair. Minutes later, deputies and hospital staff pile on top of him until about 440. Oetiano then seen unresponsive. Chest compressions begin. There's no pulse anymore. Is the patient aggressive or is he not? No, he used to be aggressive, right? So they're trying to put him in restraint. Then eventually he's no longer breathing. The emergency crew arrives at 508 and continues to attempt to revive Oeteno, but by 548, it's too late. One defense attorney disappointed by the released videos saying it could tain a jury and saying his client had limited contact with Oteano. This suggests that he in any way acted in concert, quite frankly, is a stretch of the imagination. But Oteeno's family

haunted by unrelenting grief and the question, why? I call his name every day. I find myself calling his name. Katie joins us now from Richmond, Virginia. Katie, we saw in the piece you spoke with O'Tiano's family. What more can you tell us about why they felt like this video needed to be released publicly? And how are they doing tonight? Well, Alison, Oteano's mother said that she feels some relief knowing the public will actually have a chance to see what she saw on that videotape. She said describing it would never be enough.

to really convey to people how horrible, how despicable her son was treated. And she really does feel like this is transparency, this is the way towards justice. They are going to be fighting for a very long time, she feels, to try and get this case to where it needs to be and to find justice for her son. But she says this is about every parent in America who has a child with mental illness, that they should be seeing this video and realizing what's possible in terms of treatment. She was expecting that her son was going to go to a hospital and receive care and come home, and none of those things happened. Katie Beck, thank you so much for that report.

Now to the dangerous flooding threat out west, another big storm system hammering California tonight. Heavy rains, high winds, and the potential for more flooding in the central and southern regions of the state with 17 million people under flood alerts. Shaquille Brewster has the latest. Tonight, another round of intense storms pounding the West Coast. Relentless rain soaking SoCal. While white out conditions hit mountain communities where families are still recovering from the last storm. Central and Southern California bracing for whipping winds, already topping 70 miles an hour. 33 million people are under high wind alerts across the region, 17 million facing flood alerts.

In Tulare County, mandatory evacuations forcing thousands of families out of their homes. It's never been like this, never, since we lived here. since we lived here. It's been 36 or 7 years we lived out here. This is California's 12th atmospheric river storm since January, the system dumping up to 10 inches of rain throughout the state, which has faced drought for nearly a decade. California reservoirs now at 70 percent capacity. But the series of storms also eroding riverbanks, causing dangerous water rescues and putting

pressure on levees and infrastructure. A water main break adding to the misery on L.A.'s freeways. This is a lake that is formed right on the southbound lanes. Tonight, another dangerous washout, leaving Southern California drenched, as forecasters say more is on the way. Wow, Shaq Brewster joins us now from Los Angeles. Shaq, those weather conditions also causing power outages. How many people there are going to be in the dark?

Well, Alison, at Lashtek, more than 160,000 people are without power this evening. The number that is only expected to increase, especially as most of those power outages are coming from just south of the Bay Area, where we're hearing reports of wind gusts exceeding 70 miles an hour. That's leading to some really dangerous conditions, power lines on the roads, even a tree that fell over and killed a motorist up in that area. And Ellison, it's not just a dangerous wind. We're expecting more rain to come, more of that historic rain to continue to come for the entire California area. so you can expect that raging river that you see behind me to only intensify. Ellison?

All right, Shaq Brewster. Thank you so much. Stay safe. For more on this Western weather, let's get right to NBC News meteorologist Bill Karens. Bill, what is the latest on the track here? We're concerned about the winds. The rain really hasn't delivered catastrophic flooding anywhere. I haven't heard of any levee breaks or breaches.

I haven't even heard of any major river flooding. So the rain has been behaving itself, but the winds have been howling. San Francisco International, they're at 62 last. hour there are 56, Sacramento is at 45. So the storm is located near San Francisco, and that's where the strongest winds have been. And as Shaq was mentioning, that's where all the power outages are. So the high wind warnings continue along the coast down around Santa Cruz, and then in the mountainous areas, we're going to continue. We've already had reports of 100-mile-per-hour wind gusts in the highest terrain. So the high elevations are getting it,

but the lower elevations are much more minor, maybe 30 to 40-mile-per-hour wind gusts. The other issue, we still have a chance of some isolated flooding, but again, it's not going to be widespread. It's going to be isolated and maybe get some thunderstorms and maybe you can get some small hail in these storms as we go throughout the night tonight and tomorrow and that includes San Diego to Los Angeles and then areas just north of Phoenix up in the rim here to Prescott the Payson and those areas have a chance for isolated flash flooding. It's been very wet as we know in the last couple weeks and it won't take much only an inch or two and that's the possibility and the final piece of this is the snow and we are going to watch the chance for an additional

couple feet in areas like northern portions of Arizona Flagstaff, Big Bear Lake and also the Wasatch Range in Utah. So else in one more day of this than the area. of the West. Get a break. Wow. All right. Bill Carrens, thank you so much for that. Moving now to New York City, where police are on high alert ahead of a possible indictment of former President Donald Trump. Trump lashing out tonight on social media as former attorney turned prosecution witness, Michael Cohen. The grand jury reconvenes tomorrow as both sides have tried to make some

of their arguments in the press. NBC News as Garrett Haig has the latest. Tonight, New York City bracing for a possible indictment of former President Trump. All NYPD officers ordered to be in uniform and prepared for deployment today in case of protests. With the grand jury set to reconvene tomorrow, Mr. Trump's weekend prediction of his own Tuesday arrest not coming to pass. The former president now unleashing a new barrage of insults, including labeling his former fixer turned prosecution witness Michael Cohen, a quote, serial fake storyteller and a liar. It's a typical Donald J. Trump play out of the playbook. figure out how you're going to money the water as best as he possibly can, denigrate the person,

disparage them. The possible prosecution could center around a $130,000 payment Cohen says he made to Stormy Daniels on behalf of then-candidate Trump in the heat of the 2016 campaign to buy her silence about claims of an affair with Mr. Trump a decade earlier. Hush money payments are not illegal under state law. Any potential indictment could rest on how the payment was a campaign. counted for, a possible misdemeanor case, or in a legal gamble, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg could pursue a lower-level felony. Mr. Trump's attorney, noting Bragg's predecessor decided not to pursue any

charges. Well, they're using a case that by all accounts was dead on arrival. By all accounts was turned down by every other agency that looked at it. Top Republicans peppered with questions about the former president's conduct today, attacking the Democratic DA's possible case, and as politically motivated. And I think in your heart of hearts, you know, too, that you think this is just political. And I think that's what the rest of the country thinks, and we're kind of tired of that. Garrett joins us now from downtown Manhattan, outside of that courthouse. Garrett, we saw at the end of your piece.

Republicans are already criticizing Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg. This is a big risk for Brad, politically speaking. Is this likely a preview for Trump's attack strategy? I think that's right, Alice. I think you see the former president essentially using his allies in Congress to go after Bragg and to try to make sure the country, or at least people who aren't following this case particularly closely, see it as purely political. They're going to try to drag Bragg up to the hill to testify, although it's not clear which House committee, if any, would have jurisdiction to do so. And a lot of these other Republicans are able to amplify Donald Trump's claims about a political witch hunt or a partisan prosecutor to folks who may have already tuned Donald Trump out.

So think of Congress as a megaphone for Donald Trump's attacks on a prosecutor. He's trying to undermine, at least in public opinion, if not in a courtroom. And Garrett, the grand jury is back tomorrow. What do we expect to see in terms of a timeline for where this goes next? Well, it's impossible to know for certain. But every signal, every sign we've gotten is that the grand jury is close to the end of their investigation. They heard from a defense witness, which is typically the kind of thing they only do towards the end. And we know the prosecutors asked Michael Cohen, who had been on standby yesterday, to rebut that witness.

They basically told him he could go home that they didn't think they need him. That suggests they may be close to the end of their probe, but we won't know for sure until they make a decision either, hand up an indictment or shut this thing down. Great, Garrett. Thank you for that. We now have alarming health news. The CDC warning a drug-resistant and potentially deadly fungus has been spreading rapidly through U.S. health care facilities. A new government study finding cases of the fungus, a type of yeast called Candida Oris, jumping from four states in 2016 to 21 in 2021. For more on this growing health concern, I'm joined now by NBC News medical contributor, Dr. Kavita Patel.

Dr. Patel, let's just get the big scary part in some ways out off of the top, because a lot of people have probably heard a lot about fungal infections simply because of the very popular HBO television show, The Last of Us. I know it's big in my household, but experts they're saying don't panic. This is not quite like that. Explain to us what we're seeing in terms of these rising numbers and cases and how worried should people really be. Yeah, Alison, you're in my household too. So here's the good news. This is a fungus that is commonly found on skin. And for the majority of people, Alison, it does not cause a problem. Where it does cause problems are in people who are immunocompromised that can generally be older people

or people with chronic conditions. And what we know about this fungus is that it can intact it, once it gets into your system if you're immunocompromised, it can be incredibly resistant to the typical antifungal medications that we use, which makes it harder to diagnose and harder to treat. And especially because we're talking about usually hospital-acquired infections. These are infections that we see in hospital settings. So these are people who are already sick with other infections, Allison. And common symptoms that we look for, it can attack many of the organs that we have.

It can attack the nervous system, the blood, the brain, kidneys. It can go anywhere. But the key here is to remember that this can be prevented with good hand hygiene, keeping hospitals, doing all the things that we had to do during COVID, but just remembering to double up on that as we look at how this spreads from hospital facilities, especially to patients who are elderly or immunocompromised. So if you are someone who has a loved one in the hospital who falls into that category and you're thinking,

oh my goodness, do I need to be wiping things down more? How is this transmitted? And what's your advice to people who are in that situation? Yeah, it is commonly the transmission really is on surfaces. So again, we can find this. It's possible that many people in hospital settings or in nursing home settings have it on their skin. We see this with other fungus.

and bacterial infections, by the way, but they don't cause a problem until they can get into the body somehow. That can be a breakthrough of the skin, it can be through the respiratory system. So if you have a loved one, honestly, it's just making sure that you have good hand hygiene. I've done this with loved ones in nursing homes myself.

I'll just try to make sure, hey, by the way, do you mind washing your hands? I know people are reluctant to do things like that, Ellison, but it is just reminders like that. I think what the CDC is also doing by putting all healthcare workers on alert to remind us that we should be thinking about these infections if we see unusual patterns in patients where they're not responding typically to the antibiotics or to the antifungals that we

might prescribe. So with your loved ones, basic hand hygiene and just wearing a mask, not entering if you're sick, things like that can make a difference. Okay. Dr. Kavita Patel, thank you so much. We head overseas now to Russia, where Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met for a second day of talks in Moscow. The two leaders touting the, quote, no limits friendship between China and Russia and criticizing the West, but no signs of a diplomatic breakthrough over the war in Ukraine. For more on the meetings, Keir Simmons joins us now from London. Kier, walk us through today's talks.

What did the two leaders discuss? Well, listen, they didn't appear to reach an agreement, interestingly, for a peace proposal, or even a suggestion of a ceasefire, although they did. say that they talked about the Ukraine situation substantially and, of course, as you may imagine, blamed the West for the fact that they couldn't offer any kind of a deal at this stage. So there was that. But what was more interesting, I guess, in many ways, was the fact that they walked out with President Xi proposing increased economic aid for Russia. What does that mean more oil sales, more gas sales, more trade, propping up the Russian economy?

and enabling China to benefit from cheaper energy and economic opportunities. There was plenty more personal bono-mee between the two men, of course. We've seen that now between them over many, many years, and I think in many ways that is the secret to why they continue to be able to work together like this, despite the fact that, as I say, in the end, there wasn't a substantial proposal about the Ukraine situation. today. Last week, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin, tied to allegations that Russia, under his leadership, has been forcibly deporting Ukrainian children to Russia. The White House has criticized Xi's trip as diplomatic cover for that.

Has that arrest warrant come up at all during Xi and Putin's meetings? They didn't mention it, but President Xi did say that he's invited President Putin to Beijing this year, So you can imagine that President Putin isn't going to be arrested when he travels to China. In a sense, that perhaps is an answer because that international criminal court indictment, of course, makes it more difficult for President Putin to travel around the world. And I think in a way that just underscores the way the world is dividing up into different blocks. There will be places that President Putin can go and places that President Putin can't go. And clearly, China is going to be one of those places that he can travel to as often as he likes.

Lastly, Japan's Prime Minister, Tushita, making a surprise visit to Ukraine to meet President Zelensky. What's the latest on their meeting? Yeah, he was there, and it was a surprise. We didn't know he was going. I think there has to be a question about whether it was a last-minute decision in order to provide a kind of a split-screen with the leader of China in Russia. But just think about that split-screen. The leader of Japan in Ukraine, the leader of China in Russia,

of them on two sides of this war. And I think, Alison, that just underscores why people are so concerned that this conflict in Ukraine has the potential to escalate globally. Kier Simmons, thank you. Now to a disturbing new report about the London Metropolitan Police. Today, members of parliament releasing their scathing review of the force calling it racist, sexist, and homophobic. The report coming after the heinous killing of a woman at the hands of an active police officer. back in 2021. Allie Aruzzi has more. The kidnapping, rape and murder of Sarah Everard

at the hands of a police officer, Wayne Cousins, shook London to its core. Cheap on you! Cheap on you! Leading to calls to investigate Britain's biggest police force. Tonight, a scathing new report finds the London Metropolitan Police Force is broken, guilty of institutional racism,

misogyny and homophobia. The 363-page report released by Parliament outlines the deep-seated issues in the department, while the horrifying Everard murder sparked this investigation. Cousins had previously faced accusations of indecent exposure, the earliest allegation dating back to 2015. The police officers responsible for investigating those incidents now facing misconduct cases. Had he been thrown out of the police force before he could abuse his position and powers, Everard might still be alive today. I just think it is so dreadful and, you know, has to be a moment that change came.

Change didn't come. So now this report has to carry that and has to take responsibility. But Everard's murder is not the only recent scandal plaguing London's police force. Another officer, David Carrick, unmasked that one of the UK's most... prolific sex offenders, guilty of 85 serious offences, including 48 rapes. We've let Londoners down and we've let our own front line down. And this report paints that vividly. And as I've said several times, I'm deeply sorry for that. The report finding that female officers routinely face sexism and misogyny, going on to say that not only is

discrimination tolerated, but it's baked into the system. The review also pays. painting an alarming picture of how crimes against women and children were mishandled and not investigated properly. The report calling for a complete overhaul of London's police and a new approach to restoring public trust and confidence, even stating that if the force doesn't reform, it could face being broken up in the future. Baroness Casey said that it's not the job of the public to keep themselves safe from the police.

It's the police's job to keep the public safe. that far too many Londoners have lost faith in policing to do that. She said that the MET in the past has paid lip service, but not actually implemented any change. She called for the MET to change itself, and if it can't, then it needs to be disbanded. Because ultimately, if the murder and rape of a young woman by a police officer can't lead to change, then nothing will. Alison. Alia, Ruzzi, thank you for that. Still ahead tonight, demanding answers.

A young soldier found dead at Fort Hood after her family. says she was sexually harassed. The growing calls tonight for a thorough investigation into her death. Plus, scary moments at a hospital in Detroit, the staff not warned ahead of time about an active shooter drill. You'll hear their terrified 911 calls as they thought they were under attack. An A-list actress, Gwyneth Paltrow, appearing in court today. Why is she being sued over an incident at a ski resort back in 2016?

Stay with us. Top stories just getting started on this Tuesday. We're back with a terrifying active shooter situation at a Michigan hospital. Panicked 911 calls were made, heavily armed police swarmed in, guns drawn. But it turned out to be a planned drill. The problem, the police weren't told about. the plan. NBC's Stephen Romo has the chaos that ensued. Put your hands on top of your head facing me. Do it now. Tonight, an active shooter drill

gone sideways. Can you tell me what's going on? Keep the line open. Okay, okay, okay, okay, please. Police, patients, and some employees thought there was an active shooter at a Michigan Children's Psychiatric Hospital last December. But it was just a drive. drill. And now a state investigation is underway to figure out what went wrong. Where are you in the building? I don't know, please. In the 911 call audio obtained by NBC affiliate WDIV, you can hear the panic in the voices of callers inside the Hawthorne Center in Northville, Michigan.

Ma'am, you're still there? Hello? Hello. Hi. Just want to make sure you're still there. police saying they also had not been warned about this training exercise rather quickly upon our arrival and people were stating that they were employees and it was a drill to identify that this is a drill because you literally have every if you look around there's probably 50 top cars out here when i heard the sirens i'm like oh yeah well we're coming we're coming hot man they did the unfortunate mistake of doing it unannounced and we don't want that to ever be the case a law enforcement analyst we spoke with agrees Listen, if you're going to have an active shooter scenario and you don't let the employees at the facility, and this is the psychiatric facility with employees and patients who were not prepared for this drill, you don't let law enforcement know. It's a problem.

We were unable to get a comment from the Hawthorne Center, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, which operates the facility, provided a statement to WDIV, saying in part, quote, M.D. HHS is investigating the events involved in the recent drill conducted at Hawthorne Center to ensure these policies are followed for any future drills. A vital step to prevent future incidents, but impossible to turn back time for the people inside the center who were clearly traumatized by the botched exercise. I'm back. Okay, so I just got a confirmation from the officers on seeing that it is a drill. You can leave your offices, okay? Okay. Can you hear me? Okay. You did fine, okay? I'm sorry. That's really fucked up. Stephen Romo joins us now in studio. I mean, that last line, this really is messed up. I mean, talk to us about some of the concerns we heard from the experts in your piece, even law enforcement talking to each other saying we're coming in hot. I mean, what could have happened here when they're saying, hey, you need to tell law enforcement if you're doing something like this.

Yeah, Alison, you can hear the concern. in the police officer's voice. Thankfully, none of that happened in this situation, but the expert we talked to saying that just imagine if they did show up and thought that there was an active shooter instead of the role player and they encounter them. Of course, the possibility is that they could open fire on those people. Another concern that they have is that when something like this takes so many police resources, that it really slows things down for other emergencies in that area, slows response time down and just ties everyone up. Again, thankfully, that didn't happen in this situation, but just a picture of why they say it's so.

important to let these police departments and employees know what is happening. All right. Stephen Romo, thank you. We appreciate your reporting. Now to the growing calls for an independent investigation into the death of a female soldier inside Fort Hood last week. The Army says there are no signs of foul play, but the soldier's family insists she had told them she was sexually harassed, including by one of her superiors. Officials at Fort Hood once again facing questions about how they handle issues regardless. regarding potential harassment on the base. Valerie Castro has more. Tonight, growing calls for answers in the death of Fort Hood soldier private Anna Fernanda Basildo Ruiz

and allegations that she was sexually harassed on base before she died. This is a pain that we never experienced before. My family is like destroyed to say the least. The 20-year-old joined the army in 2021 in hopes of having a successful career in the military. But when I was going to the Army in the U.S.U.S.U. I was to loga much of those

dreams. But that all came to an abrupt end last week when her body was found. Family members in Mexico stunned by her sudden death. Their grief interrupted by anger,

her family calling for an investigation into what they say was a troubling experience in the Army. She shared some details some details of she having a hard time during this last week's. Her mother, Alejandra Ruiz, telling Telemundo, her daughter had said she'd been sexually harassed on base by a superior. My daughter is with me, my husband, the Army's criminal investigation division reporting,

no foul play is suspected in her death, but an official cause hasn't been released, while allegations that she was sexually harassed are under investigation. CID is currently investigating these allegations, and they will investigate these allegations thoroughly. Let me be clear, we do not tolerate harassment of any type. Harassment of any type is contrary to the Army values. The soldier's death once again spotlighting Fort Hood's handling of sexual harassment allegations. First drawing scrutiny after the murder of Army Specialist Vanessa Guillen, another Latina Fort Hood soldier who filed a similar report before she, was brutally killed. Her death leading to the I Am Vanessa Guillen Act in 2021, a law criminalizing

sexual harassment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. At least 14 leaders from Fort Hood were relieved of duty or suspended from their positions following the case. A report issued by Rand, a federally funded research group found that Army women at Fort Hood, Fort Bliss, and several other bases faced total sexual assault risk that is higher than the risk faced by the average woman in the army. Unfortunately, I think that there's been a culture that's been allowed to fester of allowing men to try to take advantage and harass women that are in the military. Do you think anything changed after Vanessa Guyan's case? The Vanessa Gayan Act was passed, and now we're just hoping that it's implemented and exercised to the full extent of the law. As for Baselda Ruiz's family,

they'll continue to wait for answers as to what happened to the soldier they loved so much. She wanted to travel the world. She loved music. She loved to dance. I just want everybody to not let my niece's name fade to keep her name alive until we realize what really happened. And Valerie Castro joins us now. Valerie, you listen to that civil rights group you spoke with. You listen to the family.

It seems like a lot of people are saying, hey, maybe there should be some sort of outside independent investigation. Could that happen here? Alison Lulak, the group that you heard from in that case, says they want the FBI to jump on this case and sort out exactly how she died. But they also say more needs to be done to change the culture at Fort Hood surrounding sexual harassment. They say there was some awareness that came out as a result of the Vanessa Guyan case three years ago. But they say clearly there is more work that needs to be done. Thank you so much. We appreciate your reporting.

All right. When we come back, drummer attacked. A man arrested after allegedly knocking a member of Deaf Leopard, to the ground. Where this all unfolded is up next. Back now with top stories, news feed, and we begin with the attack on deaf leopard drummer Rick Allen in Florida. 19-year-old Max Hartley was arrested in charge for allegedly knocking Allen to the ground outside of a Fort Lauderdale hotel earlier this month. According to a police report, Alan, who has one arm, hit his head.

on the ground. Police say the attack was unprovoked and that the suspect also hit a woman who was trying to help. A Texas man has been arrested in connection to the deadly kidnapping of four Americans in Mexico. Federal authorities say Roberto Lugardo Moreno sold a pistol that was used in the abduction that left two Americans dead. According to a federal complaint, he told investigators he knew the gun would end up in the hands of the Gulf cartel when he sold it for $100 in 2019. And the civil trial involving actress Gwyneth Paltrow began today in Utah. The Academy Award winner appearing in a Park City courtroom for opening statements. 76-year-old Terry Sanderson accused her of crashing into him while skiing on a Utah mountain in 2016 and fleeing.

He claims he suffered serious injuries. However, Paltrow has countersued claiming he was the one who crashed into her. Now to a highly emotional battle by a Georgia couple who, are in court protesting the move of Tennessee officials for taking custody of their five children, this after a traffic stop last month when law enforcement found marijuana in their car. Activist and lawmakers now joining the battle. Priscilla Thompson has more. Tonight, two black parents are in a desperate fight with the state of Tennessee over custody of their children.

Five children taken away while one of them were still breastfeeding. The father locked in a cage. to make bond for a sightable offense. Emotions running high after more than a month of separation following a traffic stop. This nightmare for Deonté Williams and Bianca Claiborne began on February 17th when the family was pulled over while driving from Atlanta to Chicago for a funeral. An arrest warrant obtained by NBC News says Tennessee Highway Patrol stopped Williams for having dark tint and driving in the left lane while not actively passing.

An officer smelled weed and after searching the car. found a gun, officials say, and two small amounts of marijuana. The warrant also alleges both the driver and the female passenger admitted to smoking marijuana. Williams was arrested for possession, while Claiborne was given a citation. We did not arrest the mother in this particular case. That's where we left it. The children were left and the mother had custody of the children. But hours later, something changed. She was sitting outside at the criminal justice Center waiting to get her partner out and then DCS approach trying to take the children away. All five children, ages three months to seven years old, were taken by child protective

services. State Senator London Lamar is among those demanding the children be returned. I've never heard of children being ripped away from that family for a misdemeanor charge on some simple drug possession when marijuana is legal in half the states in the country. Their attorney telling NBC News, the children. were not returned to their parents after a hearing in juvenile court Monday and remain in foster care tonight pending the results of a drug test. It's certainly extreme, but the problem is that courts in family law have such vast discretion to decide what they want to do on a case-by-case situation. The Department of Children's Services says caseworkers acted appropriately. You know, we talk about

transparency a lot, whether that be policy, procedure, protocol, and in this case, we feel like those case managers did just die. The department did not clarify the grounds for removal, but told NBC News in a statement, DCS and law enforcement follow protocol for collecting evidence. Those findings are then presented to the court. In this instance, the evidence resulted in the court placing children in DCS custody.

Tonight, still more questions than answers. As Williams and Claiborne vow, they won't stop fighting for their kids. This has got to end. And Priscilla Thompson joins us now from Atlanta. Priscilla, this seems like a very significant step for a misdemeanor. Is it common for child services to take children away from their family after a misdemeanor

charge like this? Well, Ellison, it's extremely rare, according to the expert that we spoke to. And one of the key questions here is what prompted the Department of Children's Services to step in hours after the Tennessee Highway Patrol had released these children back into the custody of their mother. And so tonight, there are still a lot of questions about this, as it has now been more than a month since those parents have been and had those children in their custody. And experts also tell us that it can take weeks, if not months, to reverse a decision like this. Ellison.

Priscilla, have you heard anything else from officials about this case? We have not received any updates from officials. What they have told us is that there is a gag order in place. And because there are juveniles involved in all of this, they are not allowed to speak about this. And we also know that the attorney for the family is now saying that she's limited on what she can say because of that gag order as well. As they wait to see whether or not those children will be returned in the coming days, the attorney says that she expects to have an update by the end of this week. Ellison. Marcella Thompson, thank you.

Next tonight, a new development in the Fox News Dominion Voting Systems legal battle. A Fox News producer is now suing the network of. alleging that Fox lawyers, quote, coerced, intimidated, and misinformed her into giving false or misleading testimony in the Dominion case. The producer also alleges she experienced sexism and harassment in the workplace. NBC News legal analyst Danny Savalos joins us now. Danny, walk us through some of the allegations in this lawsuit. How damning is it? And when she is saying that, you know, these lawyers, Fox lawyers were coercing her, opening her up to,

says civil and criminal liabilities. I mean, how big of a deal is that and what does it mean for this nearly $2 billion dominion case? Most of the civil complaint reads like a pretty typical employment discrimination complaint, hostile work environment, gender discrimination, sex discrimination. These are pretty standard. We're already hearing from Fox the classic answers of a corporate defendant to those kinds of allegations, which are basically, no, this wasn't sex discrimination, this was just a bad employee. That seems to be the direction they're going. What is explosive is the allegations near the end of the complaint that detail that she allegedly came into a room full of Fox lawyers and was essentially in her description of it

coerced into giving, well, misleading testimony. Now, the problem with that is that everyone who takes a deposition raises their right hand and swears or affirms they will tell the truth. So there's another side to that coin. Even if she was coerced into giving testimony, ultimately that's her testimony, not the lawyer's testimony, not anyone else's but her own. So that may create some problems for her as well. But the allegations that if it's true, she was coerced to give misleading testimony is very damning indeed. So what does this mean for her and also for this case? Could Dominion say, hey, we want this producer to come and testify again? Could they say, hey, we want this taken

out of the lawsuit? What does it mean next? This is a perfect witness for Dominion in that this is someone who knows some of the inner workings at Fox. She's clearly saved some of the communications. At least you can infer that from her complaint. So she has some insider information and a motive to cooperate with Dominion. So even though their two complaints are not really the same, they don't make the same allegations, the facts involved may be mutually helpful to each party, ultimately. And we did see Fox News this morning file a suit trying to prevent this producer essentially from speaking out. They then withdrew that. Why would they do that? Because it's too thorny an issue.

Anytime you try to get some kind of prior restraint or restraining order on somebody, it's pretty difficult to make that showing. And in doing so, each suit that they file is another suit that they could get discovery on, and it could just be more problematic for them to try and silence this former employee. And then there's the optics. I mean, they're suing essentially to try and silence her. It's not a good look, and Fox is suffering from a lot of not a good looks in the course of this litigation so far. So probably discretion was the better part of valor here, and they decided strategically and politically, or at least public relations-wise, it'd be better to drop that particular lawsuit. Okay. All right, Danny Savalos. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Now to Top Stories, Global Watch, and the letter bomb sent to five different news stations in Ecuador. Police there sharing these images showing SWAT officers searching one of the newsrooms where one bomb was delivered. One journalist saying he received an envelope containing a USB drive that exploded when he plugged it into a computer. He suffered minor injuries, but no one else was hurt. And in India, Internet access cut off to millions of people. Officials extending the internet blackout for a fourth day as police search for a Sikh leader supports a separate state for members of his religion. The internet shut off amid protest from his supporters, which have led to more than 100 arrests. Coming up, would you be willing to work a 69-hour work week? Officials in South

Korea putting forth a controversial plan to extend regular working hours. We'll take a look at the heated debate, that proposal has sparked. Stay with us. As many workers reconsider their working lives after COVID, a growing number of companies in the U.S. and in Europe are moving toward a four-day work week. But in South Korea, they're moving in the opposite direction. The government there has proposed raising the cap on working hours to 69 hours a week, but now young Koreans are pushing back. Josh Letterman has more from Seoul. When it comes to countries with a great work-life balance, South Korea isn't high on the list.

This country is notorious for its workaholic culture, with intense schooling and long hours fueling huge economic growth since the Korean War. But for 22-year-old Huang Jun Pyo, the old way is not his way. He recently left college to focus on his true passion, spinning music. And you see the kind of hours that your dad works. Is that something that you want for your own life? He says, these days, whenever I get home, my dad seems to come home late. It makes me think, could I work like that?

Would I be able to do well? It's a debate that's raging in South Korea after a controversial proposal to let employees work up to 69 hours a week, including overtime. President Yun's government claimed it would actually give workers more flexibility by letting them bank overtime to use it other times for longer vacations or parental leave. But unions and especially millennials in Gen Z are outraged. And now South Korea's government is scrambling to walk it back. On average, South Koreans work about 120 hours a year more than Americans, according to

the OECD. South Korea's work culture is so intense that many workers flock to nap cafes like this to squeeze in an extra snooze on their lunch break. Anzaii founded Mr. Healing Sleep Cafe in Central Seoul, just one of four jobs he works. Is this a symptom of a culture that is overworked? He says that nap cafes are gaining popularity because of South Korea's corporate culture, which includes working overtime and attending mandatory team dinners. And South Korea is dealing with a major demographic crisis.

It has the lowest fertility rate in the world. Professor Cho-hee-Kyeong says overworking is a huge. huge reason why. Fewer and fewer women want to have babies because they realize that having a baby means that it's the end of your career effectively. And also, the long working hours mean that fathers are unable to participate properly in child rearing as well. The debate about work-life balance is playing out across South Korea, including at this

pharmaceuticals factory south of Seoul. Progressive by Korean standards, a shift here is only nine hours long. Huang Sung Kuan is MFC company's CEO. He also happens to be Huang Jun Pio's dad. Would you like to see him go back to school to study science or engineering? Yeah, yeah. I think, frankly speaking, I want that, but who decision, my son's decision, up to my son's life?

Huang Sung Kuan chocks it up to a generational divide. Younger Koreans prioritizing enjoying life over making money. He says personally, a work week of 50 to 60 hours seems about right. For comparison, in the United States, it's 40 hours. 40 hours, 40 hours late. Back at home, Huang Jun Pyo is getting ready for his overnight shift at the nightclub. But he hasn't ruled out one day joining his dad's business. He says, lately, I've been thinking about it.

But for now, I want to focus more on my work. In the future, when I'm resting or in my free time, I want to think more about how I plan to live my life from now on. After a huge backlash, an advisor to President U. now says he believes a work week of more than 60 hours is unreasonable. South Korea's government says it's going back to the drawing board and promising to do a better job of listening to workers and young people. Ellison? Josh Letterman and Seoul, thank you. When we come back, Bad Bunny Baby, why those three words could cost the Puerto Rican superstar $40 million.

The lawsuit now filed by his ex-girlfriend. The details up next. Finally tonight, Grammy winner Bad Bunny at the center of a multimillion dollar lawsuit. It's all over an eight-year-old voice recording used in two of his songs that have been streamed nearly a billion times worldwide. and the suit brought on by his former girlfriend. It's a voice recording that may be worth $40 million. Bad Bunny's ex-girlfriend, Carlis de la Cruz Hernandez, now suing the global superstar,

claiming in a lawsuit that her voice and phrase they came up with together were used in two of his mega-popular songs without her permission. That includes his hit single, Patti, which has been viewed more than 355 million times on YouTube. And Dos Mille di Césis, a song from his chart-topping album Un Verano Sinti, which became Spotify's most streamed album in 2022.

Made Bad Bunny the most streamed artist in the world. And won him, a Grammy. Bad Bunny! I just made it. This album with love and passion. According to the lawsuit, the pair started dating in 2011, and in 2015, she claims the rapper whose real name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, asked her to record a voice note on her phone and then send it to him.

She also alleges in the suit that in 2022, after they broke up, Bad Bunny's rep, asked to buy her recording for $2,000, but she declined, and that in a subsequent negotiation, Bad Bunny's rep sent over contracts, which she did. did not sign. But the next day that Grammy-winning album was released, and according to the suit, that voice memo was everywhere, including its use in live performances. That helps her case a lot, because it shows that they were aware of what they were supposed to do, and they didn't actually do it. The law is clear you must obtain written consent or explicit consent in some form if you are going to use it for commercial purposes.

Collectively, the two songs have been streamed nearly one billion times online, which the suit claims has led to fans flooding De La Cruz's social media comments and even yelling the phrase at her every time she goes in public, something the lawsuit says has caused her to seek mental health treatment. She is claiming here that not only were her legal rights to her voice and the actual profits that she lost out on were what we're taken from her, she's also claiming that she had this injury at a mental level. We've reached out to Bad Bunny for comment, but have not yet. heard back. The Puerto Rican rapper now preparing to headline Coachella next month. Thanks for watching, Top Story. I'm Ellison Barber. Stay right there. More news now on the way.