Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, May 14, 2024

Episode Date: May 15, 2024

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, cross-examined what Trump's defense team made Michael Cohen admit on the stand and is this case about to wrap up. Trump's attorneys painting Cohen the former fixer as untrustworthy and out for revenge. Cohen testifying, Trump directed him to pay off adult film star Stormy Daniels. The defining moment Cohen said he decided to turn on Trump. Plus, Trump's Republican allies by his side showing up in court to show. their loyalty, the political play at this trial. Also tonight, horror on the highway. At least eight people killed after a pickup truck and a bus collide. The bus carrying 50 migrant farm

workers plowing into a tree and then flipping over. Dozens rush to the hospital. What we're learning about the cause of this crash. New details in that deadly bridge collapse in Baltimore. The report just released and what may have been an early warning sign. What happened about 10 hours before launch. New York City Mayor Eric Adams blasted over racist remarks. Eric Adams saying the city should hire migrants to fill lifeguard shortages because they're quote, excellent swimmers? The backlash over those controversial comments. Prison van attack security camera video capturing the dramatic armed ambush. Attackers swarming the vehicle to free a known drug kingpin known as the fly. At least two guards left dead, the manhunt underway for the

escape prisoners and the attacker still at large. Plus, AI comes to live, open AI taking chat bots to a whole new level with a new voice assistant, the new tech that can talk your kids through their algebra homework, translate languages, and even detect how you're feeling through your facial expressions. And the potential medical breakthrough that could help limit the harmful effects of alcohol, what you may soon take before your next drink. Top story starts right now. And good evening.

Tonight, former President Trump's defense taking aim at Michael Cohen, the prosecution's star witness in Trump's hush money trial. Trump's attorneys attempting to cast doubt over Cohen's credibility, getting him to admit some of his past lies while on the stand. The defense saying Cohen had an ax to grind when it came to his former boss and claimed he's reaping the benefits, making millions off book deals. Before the heated cross-examination, Cohen breaking down the reimbursement scheme for the hush money payments. And the turning point, the moment Cohen says he had to put his family before Trump. It wasn't just Trump's lawyers coming to his defense today, a full show of force in that courtroom with some of the former president's closest allies at his size. Two former rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential race now vined to be Trump's VP pick. and the highest-ranking Republican to show up at court House Speaker Mike Johnson calling the trial a sham and the court system corrupt.

All saying and posting many of the things Trump can't because of that gag order. In a moment, we hear from a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor about Cohen's testimony, but first, we start with NBC's Lord Jerry. Tonight, Donald Trump's defense team tearing into the prosecution star witness, suggesting Mr. Trump's self-described fixer turned fierce Trump critic Michael Cohen, is out for revenge on his former boss. Do you want President Trump to get convicted in this case? Trump attorney Todd Blanche asking, sure, Cohen acknowledged. Cohen confirming he recently said the former president belongs in a cage, like an animal. The defense trying to cast Cohen as motivated to lie, that he previously fed prosecutors dirt

on Mr. Trump to get out of prison early, and that now his financial livelihood, including media appearances and podcasts, centers on trashing Mr. Trump. Trump. Cohen acknowledging he's made more than $3 million off his books disloyal and revenge and that he had been going on TikTok six days a week to slam his former boss to paid subscribers. Saying of his past praise of Mr. Trump, quote, at that time, I was knee-deep into the cult of Donald Trump. The defense getting Cohen to admit he previously described himself as obsessed with Mr. Trump, insinuating he was jilted once pushed outside the Trump orbit. The state's case largely depending on jurors believing Cohen's word, as he's the only witness who said the former

president knew his internal records were falsified to cover up Cohen's payment of an adult film actress before the 2016 election. Mr. Trump has pleaded not guilty to those low-level felony charges. We had a very good day. I think we're exposing this scam for what it is. Thank you very much. Earlier today, the prosecution questioning Cohen, who told the jury these invoices seeking repayment for services rendered in 2017 were false records and that the retainer agreement he references never existed. Prosecutors guiding Cohen through check after check with the retainer language included all false statements, he said, because they weren't for valid legal fees, but reimbursements for the hush money. Cohen describing a meeting with Mr. Trump at the White

House in 2017 where he posed for this picture. Cohen says they discussed Mr. Trump reimbursing him for paying off Stormy Daniels, an arrangement developed by Trump organization CFO Alan Weisselberg months earlier. I was sitting with President Trump and he asked me if I was okay. He asked me if I needed money and I said, no, all good. He said, because I can get a check. I said, no, I'm okay. He said, all right, just make sure you deal with Allen. Cohen testifying later saying he was frightened when the FBI raided his home in office in 2018, saying Mr. Trump told him, don't worry. I'm the president of the United States, stay tough, which Cohen took to mean don't flip. But Cohen says he turned against Mr. Trump after consulting with his family. My wife, my daughter, my son all said to me,

we're supposed to be your first loyalty. Cohen has been disbarred and convicted of lying under oath. And tonight, the defense zeroing in on his motives. Trump attorney Blanche asking Cohen if he was motivated by fame. Cohen suggesting, that's not fair to say. Blanche then quoting this excerpt from Cohen's book, quote, I wanted it all, power, the good life, public acclaim, fame. Those are my words, Cohen said, yes. Laura joins us tonight from outside of court. Laura, today I was following along the live reports on our live blog on NBCNews.com, and I saw you had a couple observations, really with both sides going after Michael Cohen and

questioning him and then the cross-examination, but at times, sometimes losing their rhythm and maybe the attention of the jurors as well. You know, Tom, it strikes me that so much of us, so many of us in the news media, have been following this case so closely, and the prosecutors have been preparing for this moment for literally years. But the jury doesn't know all of these facts. And so lots of times there's so much to cover, so much ground that they potentially go into that I think sometimes they lose the threat of what this case is about, which is the falsification of business records. prosecutors say in order to try to cover up a scheme to subvert the election results, right? And I think sometimes we go down the rabbit holes on certain things. And so today, we heard a lot from the defense trying to make hay of Michael Cohen's credibility,

casting him as a liar, as you heard in the piece. But there were so many different avenues that they almost lost steam, getting lost in all of them. And in the same regard, on the prosecution side, we saw the prosecution trying to get ahead of some of the defense lines of questioning, going down certain lines of questioning with Michael Cohen without much content. for. And at the end of the day, it'd obviously be up to the jury to decide which version of this story they believe, Tom. Yeah, it's been a long few weeks for those jurors, but it could potentially all be coming to an end, right? I know some, there were some late developments as court was wrapping up today. Get our viewers caught up. Is the defense going to put up a defense?

Well, one of the nice things about getting transcripts so shortly after the court wraps up here is that we can see what's happening in the sidebar conversations, which are without, of the jury and it's just when the judge is talking to the defense lawyers and the prosecutors and it was revealed that the defense may not actually put up any real witnesses. They're debating about whether to put on a so-called expert witness, Tom, but they may not call any witnesses of their own, in which case the prosecutors will get a chance to rehabilitate Michael Cohen after the defense team finishes and then they could wrap up, which means there may be the end of this case by early next week, Tom. All right, Laura Jarrett for us. For more on Michael

Cohen's second day in court, I want to bring in Bernardi Villalona. She's a criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor. She was in the courtroom today and yesterday from Michael Cohen's testimony. So Bernarda, you've been on both sides of the defense team and the prosecuting team. What do you make of Michael Cohen? I think Michael Cohen is definitely coming off as credible. It's crazy because this whole buildup of Michael Cohen, you've heard people call him a dirtbag, how he's a mean person. He's a person that can be trusted. He goes rogue. Well, he's been convicted, a perjurer, and he's gone to prison. I mean, that's where some of that comes from.

Yeah, but even... He also said horrible things to reporters. It doesn't just come out of the blue. I mean... But coming out in front of the jury, that's what I'm saying, what the jury has heard from other witnesses that have testified in the trial. But when, as Michael Cohen is testifying, he comes off as a completely different person, not the person that you expected to be on the stand based on what other witnesses said

from Hope Pigs, from other witnesses earlier on in this trial. Michael Cohn is calm, cool, collected. He's answering the questions. He has a perfect cadence in the sense of how he's answering the question. And if that's really big, because when the jury has to evaluate credibility, believability, they're going to take into account his demeanor understand how he answers questions. Is he evasives? If he's giving attitude, is he consistent with prior testimony? What's his motivation? His bias. So he's coming off well, and the most important thing that the prosecution is doing

is that when they ask him a question, especially when it's relevant having to deal with the falsification of business records, if they have receipts, meaning, do they have phone records to corroborate? that the phone call took place, they're showing it. Do we have a text message? They're showing it. A meeting? They're showing it. How was the cross-examination? I thought the cross-examination was weak. Really?

I thought it was weak. As a foreign prosecutor, having prosecuted cases for 16 years, and being a defense attorney and tried close to 100 cases already, I thought it was weak. I thought that the defense would have came out swinging, but they came out flat,

like very underwhelming, the testimony itself. It just had no rhythm. And Michael Cohen wasn't going for the bite. He kept cool. He kept collected. Except he did have to admit under oath here that he did lie. Absolutely. But the good thing about it is that he's admitting it.

He's not running away from it. He's accepting the person that he is. And that's the most important thing when it comes to prosecutors. Don't try to clean up the witness. Let the witness be the person they are. So if you're going to argue, yes, he's upset. He has an obsession with Donald Trump. Embrace it.

Of course he has an obsession. A convicted fraudster involving on the standing of fraud trial. something beautiful. He had a little bit more to think about Donald Trump. I do want to ask you this, though. The defense doesn't, you said they weren't great on cross-examination, and now they're not going to, it sounds like they may not even put up a defense. What does that tell you?

Does that tell you that they think they're confident? I think one is that they have to weigh all the evidence that's been presented. So while a lot of people was like, oh, Michael Cohen, he's not the star witness. Well, the star witness is the documents. But you needed Michael Cohen to provide the direct link because you don't have Island Weisselberg testifying. And so they're going to hang their hat that Michael Cohen is not going to come off credible, believable, and they're going to say that the reasonable doubt comes from him because they can't take his word for it.

Yeah. So you've been in court for two days now. You are an attorney. A hundred cases under your belt. Have you seen a smoking gun? There's no smoking gun. There's no smoking gun here. And this is about bookkeeping.

Yes. And yet the Trump bookkeeper, Alan Weisselberg. He's not part of his trial. Why isn't he being called? Let me tell you, look, Tom. Why isn't he being called? There's going to be an issue. So.

Why isn't he being called? Do you want to know why? Because he's in jail and he's going to help and he's going to help Donald Trump. He's a convicted of perjurer. He's probably going to say Trump didn't know. He's not, he didn't know and guess what get convicted again of another perjury. Will the jurors? Will the jurors ever find that out?

Will they ask, hey, where's the accountant? Where's the actual bookkeeper in this case? So Tom, this is what I'm waiting. for the prosecution to do because that's the unanswer question. They've got to fill that whole, right? That's the empty chair. Right, that's the empty chair. That's the Donald Trump. You have to provide an answer to them. Like, it's not necessary

to prove the elements of falsifying business records, but still, that's an unanswered question mark. If I were the prosecution, and I've done this before, is that when I have a witness, that's a major witness that can assist in the case, I'm going to have a detective come in and testify I was trying to look for the witness,

couldn't find it, or I found the witness, and they refused to talk to me, because my follow-up question, be like, well, where did you meet with the witness? Rikers Island. So you can tell the jury, he's at Rikers Island. He wouldn't provide any information, and he's a co-conspirator regardless. So do you think they have the full

jury here? What do you think happens here? Do you think he's found guilty? He's found not guilty, hung jury? What do you think it's going to happen? Tom, I highly doubt that it's going to be an acquittal. Okay. If anything, if anything, it will be a hung jury, meaning a mistrial. Doesn't mean that the case goes away. It means that

the prosecution will have to make a decision as to whether to retry it is going to come down to closing arguments. The prosecution is going to have to give the closing of his lifetime because you have to connect all the dots for the jury. And so far they haven't. You know, they have, but the jury is taking notes on everything, but they don't know what are the important parts. So, for example, Stormy Daniels, that's a why.

She doesn't provide anything having to deal with the element. So you have to tell this jury how you connected all the dots and how it applies to the law. and why you can find him. And we may know by next week. We'll have you back to figure out if you were right. All right, Bernard of your NOAA, thank you so much. Thanks, Tom.

The former president also putting on another show of force in court today. Several prominent Republicans, including House Speaker, Mike Johnson, showing up to the courthouse in lower Manhattan to support Trump and blast the case. For more on the politics at play in court today, I want to bring in Vaughn Hillier. And Vaughn just kind of struck me, too. I wonder what jurors are thinking if they recognize any of these people in court that aren't the usual people that come in every single day.

Talk to me about strategy here. Give us some of the names of the biggest politicians that have showed up in the last two days. Right. These allies are sitting literally four feet behind Donald Trump, the defendant. You have Governor Doug Bergam of North Dakota, who is a potential vice presidential pick for Donald Trump, but you also had Byron Donald's, a Florida congressman,

and you also had Vivek Ramaswamy, both there sitting in that front row inside of this courtroom today. But yesterday, you had J.D. Vance, the Senator of Ohio, who is also under consideration to be Donald Trump's VP running mate here. And so what you saw the first couple of weeks was really Donald Trump in isolation. There was no political allies. You didn't see Melania Trump. And this last week has been a little bit different. Florida Senator Rick Scott was there, his son Eric Trump, Laura Trump, the RNC co-chair were all in the room.

So he has a much bigger base of support there sitting in solidarity inside of that courtroom with him now, Tom. You know, I want to hone in a little bit on this relationship with the former president and the governor of North Dakota, Doug Bergam. He's been on many of the short list to potentially be a running mate with Trump. But I'm so confused about this relationship because this is what he told our Chuck Todd earlier in the year, I should say last year, when he was being interviewed on Meet the Press. Here's what he had to say. Would you ever do business with Donald Trump? I don't think so. Why?

I would, I just think that it's important that you're judged by the company you keep, and I... You just wouldn't do business with him. No, I wouldn't. You're judged by the company you keep, and now he can't leave Trump's side. What happened here? Talk to us about sort of how this relationship evolved, and if this has ever been addressed in Trump world. Right, well, two things.

Number one, we saw this happen eight years ago. Ultimately, old Republican rivals, Cole, that surround. Donald Trump. He is the leader of the Republican Party. And the first 2024 rival of Donald Trump's to drop out of the 2024 presidential race and endorse Trump was Doug Bergam. It was at that campaign event in Iowa. It was an evening that was below zero temperatures. And it was Doug Bergam, who joined him on stage before the Iowa caucus and was the first former rival to throw his support around him. And of course, Donald Trump has showed a willingness to invite Anybody back on board, even if they said bad things about him?

Look, the other guy in the room today, Speaker Johnson, who back in 2015 questioned the morality of Donald Trump. But here he was in Lower Manhattan today. So Donald Trump is willing to welcome you on board if you're able to back him. Von Hilliard on the politics of this trial here in New York. All right, Vaughn, we thank you for that. The other major headline we're following tonight, incredibly sad. A bus collision out of Florida killing at least eight migrant farm workers and injuring dozens

more. A suspect now in custody. the deadly crash happening early this morning in the central city of Ocala. NBC Sam Brock is there with more. This morning in Florida, a deadly crash on a country road. Obviously, we're here because of a tragedy. We've got eight dead people. Just after 6.30 in the morning, a retired school bus carrying more than 50 migrant workers

to a Marion County watermelon farm, side-swiped by a pickup truck. The school bus traveled off the roadway onto the grass shoulder. where it went through a fence, struck a tree, and overturned. First responders dispatched in force. More than 30 ambulances rushing 38 people to area hospitals. At least eight of them died at the scene. Several more in life-threatening condition. So there's high probability this may be beyond eight fatalities.

Florida Highway Patrol identifying the driver of the pickup truck as 41-year-old Brian McLean Howard with a lengthy criminal history, now charged with eight counts of DUI Mansfield. slaughter. Locals in this largely agricultural area say these backroads can be dangerous. This road seems to have a lot of traffic incidences. Over the past several years, it's been even worse. Authorities say that weather might have been a factor and promise a full investigation into exactly what caused the fatal crash, but say that review could last six months. I'm confident we will have answers for the family to be able to give them closure of why we have this crash.

For now, this wreckage offers only sorrowful questions, an inconsolable heartbreak. All right, Sam, Brock, joins us tonight from Ocala, Florida, just where the accident happened. Sam, my first question to you in watching your report, did weather play any type of role in this accident? Do we know? Because at times it sounded like it was raining. At other times, it looked like it was pretty dry. It certainly could have. I'll tell you, driving up here from Miami, Tom.

We did sort of hit pockets of heavy rain. And yes, there's been thunderstorms and severe weather. in the area for a couple of days, so it could have. But in terms of the specific charges here, you're talking about an individual with a history of lawbreaking, frankly, someone that had fled the scene of a crash previously, had been driving on a suspended license multiple times, and of course, a DUI-related charge as it concerns manslaughter.

And this happened, Tom, at 6.30 in the morning. So you have to wonder whether or not the driver's behavior now factors into the investigation. But, yes, whether is one of those elements that is being considered. And then, you know, do we have any updates on the conditions of those taken to the hospital? HCA, Florida, updated, actually, earlier this afternoon some of those victims.

And Tom, look, there were about 40 people that were treated in addition to those eight who were killed. The good news here is that about 30 of them were released with no problems. They're now connecting with their families. Again, seven of them remaining critical condition. Three of them are in stable condition. And you certainly get the impression

hearing investigators that they are expecting that debt toll to rise from aid based on how severe some of those injuries were, Tom. Okay, Sam Brock on that devastating story tonight, Sam, we thank you for your reporting. Back here in New York City, Mayor Eric Adams, sparking controversy over remarks he made about migrants. Appearing to suggest they could fill the city's lifeguard shortage because they are, quote, excellent swimmers. Take a listen.

If we had a migrant and asylum seeker plan that states those jobs that we are in high demand, we could expedite. How do we have a large body of people that are in our city and country that are excellent swimmers and at the same time we need lifeguards? And the only obstacle is that we won't give them the right to work to become a lifeguard.

That just doesn't make sense. That quote really doesn't make sense. Adam's administration has faced criticism over its handling of the estimated 180,000 migrants who have arrived in the city since 2022, many of them ending up in the city's already overwhelmed shelter system. For more on Adams' remarks, the state of the

migrant crisis in New York City, I'm joined now by Power Malou. He's the executive director of artists, athletes, and activists. It's a grassroots organization that connects migrants here in the city with key services, including shelter, food, medical care, and legal support. Power, I want to thank you for joining me. I want

to start with the mayor's comments there. I know how I interpreted those comments. How did you interpret them? Well, once again, we have an administration that's deflecting attention off of their incompetency and mismanagement and pointing the finger at the migrants. At any given press conference, you'll have this administration blamed the migrants for the financial woes of this city. And on that same breath, they'll praise and say the migrants should be allowed to work because they can help us. Yeah, I get that. But I also want to talk about just sort of painting with a very broad brush that the migrants in New York are all great swole.

Where would he get that from, unless it had something to do with crossing the Rio Grande, or because some of them may come from places like Cuba or Haiti or another island. Regardless, it's incredibly racist, and I am shocked and really upset that there hasn't been more sort of outrage in this city, a city that claims to be progressive, a city that claims to protect people from all nationalities, and no one really cares about this. Yeah, we have an administration that is constantly doing things like this, and it gets brushed under the rug. Also, this mayor says that people attack him because he is black or African-American. So what we are having here is just excuse after excuse as to why you're not dealing with a migraine crisis.

And what I want to say is that there are plenty of grassroots organizations that have been supporting since day one. And this administration has constantly said that there is no resources, but there are a lot. abundance. There's abundance of resources. Do you think a mayor who could make a comment like that has an understanding of who these people are and where they come from? Because they really come from all over the world. Absolutely. This is stereotyped. This is, you know, a mayor that is not in touch with what's going on. We've been on the ground since day one. There are people that cross from Africa, from Afghanistan, from Latin America. They're from all over the world. So to just say that people that are here are great swimmers is a poor comment. Do you think it was literally connected

to them crossing the Rio Grande? Do you think that? That's where the logic can't. I don't even know where the logic comes from. So you're talking about a mayor who said that these migrants are the issue that's going to crush New York City. That's what he said at another town hall meeting. So you can't listen to the things that he says because this administration are spin masters. They always try to find a way to deflect attention. Where do you get migrants are great swimmers and they're going to save the situation with the pools and the beaches?

You should have been thinking about this a year ago when that problem existed. Yes, of course, they're skilled when they come here and they're looking for work and they deserve work, but it doesn't happen by osmosis. Our organization has been helping them file for work authorization and asylum, and they can't even get their mail because they're constantly being moved from shelter to shelter. Let's deal with the root of the problem. Power, Maloo, we thank you for being here tonight. We would like to note that we reached out to the mayor's office to join tonight's conversation. They declined and would not comment further on. on the mayor's remarks.

Okay, now to Baltimore, where the NTSB has just released its preliminary report into that deadly bridge collapse back in March. The report revealing for the first time that the cargo ship, Dolly, had experienced another power failure just 10 hours before the crash. For more on these new details in the report, let's get right to Ryan Nobles, who joins us tonight from Baltimore. So, Ryan, let's start with that new revelation in this report. The Dolly had lost powers just hours before the crash.

Does the NTSB think there were warning signs missed? Well, Tom, we've known for some time, and there's been a lot of suspicion that power outages were part of what led to this collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge after that collision with the container ship dolly. This report now confirms that there were two separate power outages the night of the accident, but it's this separate power outage that happened 10 hours before the crash that is raising a lot of questions. It was part of what the investigators believe was an error by a member of the crew. It did not prohibit the ship from leaving the port the next day. At this point, the NTSB has not definitively said whether or not there's a connection between that power outage 10 hours before and then the two power outages that happened that led to the accident. One of those power outages, Tom, the night of the accident, occurred when the ship was just 350 yards away from the base of this bridge here behind me. That's not nearly enough time to anchor a massive vessel like this or to get tugboats there in time to stay.

steer it away from the base of the bridge, which is what led to the collapse. So the NTSB still in the midst of their investigation. This is just a preliminary report, but you're right. It is a very big revelation that it was having power issues before it even left the port the day before. And then, Ryan, you know, we're curious here over at Top Story because we had that report yesterday from George Solis when they blew up the bridge just behind you. Today it's been about 24 hours since then. What does the bridge look like today, and how is it helping the recovery effort so far?

Yeah, so you can see behind me that the ship is still there, and we had thought, and we were told that explosion that you were talking about, that controlled precision explosion that was designed to get part of the bridge that was remaining, resting on the ship off of it, was designed to allow them the opportunity to more easily move the ship out of this spot in the river where it is stuck, but it hasn't moved at all today. I've been staring at this ship all day, and I can't even tell if it's moved a centimeter. Now, that being said, the cranes that are around the ship and the bridge have been very active all day long. The officials tell us that they hope that they can begin the process of moving the ship out of the river as soon as tomorrow. That's vitally important, Tom, because that's part of the reason that the port of Baltimore is not fully reopened yet. It's difficult to get massive container ships the size of that container ship into this port when it is blocking them from coming in. That's, you know, you're talking around $200 million worth of cargo every single day that comes through this port when it's up and running.

So they're hoping it happens tomorrow. They're obviously dealing with weather. The rain has been on and off here all day long and could be tomorrow as well. But they are hopeful that they're making progress. Keep in mind, Tom, that ship has been stuck in that spot for 49 days. It's just one small example of how difficult this recovery is bad. Ryan Knowles from all the new developments that have happened out there in Baltimore. Ryan, we thank you for that.

Tonight we're also tracking severe weather in the south, which has devastated parts of Louisiana. Damaging winds flipping vehicles in the Lake Charles area, uprooting trees and downing power lines. Those storms also turning deadly near Baton Rouge, killing one woman and injuring two others after a tree fell onto a mobile home. The threat not over yet for 20 million people across the south. Let's get right over to Bill Karens for more. Bill, walk us through what you're seeing and what you're hearing. Yeah, we got bad storms this morning that we're rolling through Florida, and now we're focusing up into areas of Tennessee and northern Alabama.

Severe thunderstorms with wind damage and hail. We're not going to talk too much tornadoes as we go throughout the night. Nashville, you already had some storms blow by. Right now we're watching some of the strongest storms here by Huntsville, Alabama. It's little small hail possible with that storm and maybe some wind damage. There's another line coming behind this. So in Nashville, you may not be completely done with your storms. Yet you notice the rain is just beginning to come to an end there.

And here's a closer look at that storm that's just exiting the Huntsville area. Usually on the radar when you see the pink, usually there's a good chance that you have hail in those storms. Tomorrow looks to be a slightly more dangerous day than today. We're going to see storms returning to Oklahoma, but I have my eyes on Florida. You're going to have storms early in the morning. They're going to continue through the day. And we do have a tornado threat that includes highly populated I-4 from Tampa all the way to Orlando. So, Tom, late tomorrow afternoon.

We'll have to watch that very closely. Okay, Bill, we thank you for that. Still, I had the prison van ambush in France. Have you seen this video? heavily armed suspects firing at a prisoner of transport van that was stopped at a toll booth, killing two guards and freeing a notorious drug kingpin, the all-out manhunt underway.

Plus, the federal agency's warning foreign terror organizations may target Pride Month events this year, how they're telling the public to stay vigilant. And what if you could enjoy a night of drinking without any of the health risks and possibly no hangover? Sounds crazy, right? Well, the protein gel researchers say

can change the way the body reacts to alcohol and breaks it down. We're going to explain. Coming up after the break. Back down with the urgent search for a drug kingpin who escaped from the custody of French police. Armed gunmen ambushing officers who were transferring him, opening fire at a toll booth as horrified commuters looked on. The deadly assault captured on surveillance video,

NBC's Josh Letterman has the latest. Tonight, an urgent manhunt underway in France for a notorious drug kingpin and the armed gunman who broke him out of police custody. The deadly ambush at a toll booth captured on surveillance video, a black SUV smashing into a police van conducting a high-profile prisoner transport. The Paris prosecutor's office naming the prisoner as 30-year-old Mohammed Amra, convicted of burglary and under investigation in a fatal kidnapping case. French media say he's known as the Fly or La Mouche.

The assailant's SUV appearing to pin the prison van in, gunmen jumping out. out as terrified bystanders in nearby buses take cover. Others catching glimpses of the chaos. The gunmen pulling Amra out as they make their escape an explosion in front of that black SUV. Authorities say two officers were killed and three more injured. The attack rattling France, which has deployed hundreds of officers to search for the fugitives. French Justice Minister Eric Dupon Moretti saying, everything, and I am saying everything,

will be put in place to hunt down the perpetrators of this revolting crime. It's the first death in France's prison service since 1992, the Justice Ministry says. Parliament paying respects to the dead and injured with a moment of silence. From France's Prime Minister, a promise of justice at any cost. He says, we are hunting them down. We will find them. And I tell you, they will pay. And we are learning more tonight about the prison officers who were killed in this incident.

The French police say one of them was a 52-year-old who had served in the French prison service for more than 15 years. He was the father of twins who were about to celebrate their birthday. The other was a 34-year-old supervisor in the prison service. He and his spouse were expecting a child. Tom. Josh, Laderman for us, okay, Josh, when we come back, a scary close call caught on camera, home security system capturing straight bullets flying into a Fort Worth home, nearly missing

that little boy. only nine years old, but we're learning about the shooting next. All right, we're back now with Top Stories News Feed, starting with the FBI warning ahead of Pride Month. The FBI and Homeland Security saying foreign terror groups may target LGBTQ events and venues next month. The agencies urging the public and law enforcement to look out for threats made online in the mail or in person. The bulletins saying ideology spread by groups like ISIS contributed to the Pulse nightclub massacre in Orlando and a pride parade attack in Vienna. We have shocking new video showing

a nine-year-old boy in Texas narrowly avoiding bullets from a drive-by shooting, a home security camp capturing the moment the child ducked for cover as stray bullets flew into his Fort Worth living room, dust filling the air as the gunshots hit the wall. The boy was not hurt, but authorities say that shooting did injure six people, including four children. and police are still searching for the gunman. And an art installation connecting New York City to Dublin temporarily shut down due to inappropriate behavior. The portal, allowing people in both cities to interact

by using live video streams. But less than a week after it was put in place, the portal was turned off. The move coming after videos on social media showed up of people holding up offensive images and signs and doing lewd acts to people either in Dublin or back here in New York. The organization saying the portal will turn back on

by the end of the week. Okay, we go to Washington now, where tonight President Biden announcing a major increase in tariffs on Chinese imports. The White House saying the hike is expected to affect an estimated $18 billion worth of goods, including electric vehicles. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez has this one. With China revving up to sell government subsidized electric vehicles for as low as $10,000, tonight the Biden administration is slapping higher tariffs on EVs and other Chinese goods to fight what it calls unfair trade practices. It's not competition. It's cheating. The price to import electric vehicles from China will now quadruple from a 25% tax to 100%.

The president is also announcing hikes on a slew of other Chinese products, including steel and aluminum, lithium-ion batteries, semiconductors, semiconductors, syringes and needles, and personal protective equipment. China heavily subsidized all these products, pushing Chinese companies produce far more than the rest of the world can absorb, and then dumping the excess products onto the market. and on fairly low prices. It was the Trump White House that started charging more for Chinese imports. And even though as a candidate, he promised to reverse what he called Trump's senseless policies on China tariffs, President Biden has kept most of them.

The Biden administration denies the new moves will lead to more inflation because they're more targeted. But today, the former president said they don't go far enough. The Trump campaign has floated at 10% tariff on all imports. China is eating on lunch right now. The president fired back. He said China is eating our vote, that's what Trump said today. We've been feeding it a long time.

In Battleground, Wisconsin, car dealer Scott Cunis thinks the administration is pushing EVs too hard, but he supports what President Biden did today. Leveling the playing field across the board is important, especially when we have the Chinese government subsidizing their EV production. In response, China's Commerce Minister said today the U.S. is weaponizing trade issues, calling it political manipulation. Tom? All right, Gabe Gutierrez, we thank you for that.

We move on under the latest on the war in Ukraine, where U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made a surprise visit to Kyiv, making reassurances that more U.S. support is on the way after Congress passed that major aid bill a few weeks ago. But all of this has Russia continues to advance on Ukrainian territory. NBC Chief Washington correspondent, Andrew Mitchell, has this report. Tonight, the Russians advancing from Ukraine's. northeast border. A desperate race to evacuate thousands of Ukrainians on the outskirts

of Kharkiv. She says they are shooting from everywhere. Yesterday, there was a hit in the front of our house burned down. Ukraine forced to retreat in recent months, waiting for Congress to approve weapons, now trying to hold the line in villages north of Kharkiv. Secretary of State Blinken arriving in Kiev today, even taking time to jump on stage with a local band. playing rockin in the free world. President Zelensky expressing gratitude but saying his country still needs air defense

against the Russian barrage, specifically Patriot missile batteries. It's air defense, the biggest deficit for us for Harkab region, because people are under attack. Secretary Blinken saying the assistance is on its way. Some of it's already arrived, more than will be arriving,

and that's going to make a real difference. But the U.S. says it doesn't have enough Patriot missile launchers and is working with other countries to send theirs, while Russia is getting critical support from Iran, North Korea, and China. Putin is ramping up yet another offensive against Ukraine, in Harkiv and across the east, sending wave after wave of Russian soldiers, Iranian drones, North Korean artillery, and tanks. And later this week, President Putin, riding the wave of recent advances in Ukraine,

will meet with President Xi in Beijing and will discuss the war. Tom. Okay, Andrea, we thank you for that. Next, the top stories, global watch and a check of what else is happening around the world. In Mumbai, a billboard collapsed, killing at least 14 people and injuring dozens. The new video posted to social media showing the massive billboard falling onto a gas station and homes during a major thunderstorm there. Rescue crews managing to save some people from under the rubble.

Local media reporting, about 75 people were hospitalized. And there's an update tonight, finding Venezuela is expanding its military presence on its border with Guyana. The Center for Strategic and International Studies sharing these satellite images showing what they say is new military infrastructure, including an expanded military base, airfield and fueling equipment near the disputed Esquibo region. The oil-rich land makes up about two-thirds of Guyana. Venezuela and President Nicolas Maduro and his supporters have scaled up threats to an exit. And researchers in Switzerland developing an oral gel that they say breaks down alcohol before it actually enters the bloodstream.

The study at a Zurich saying the protein gel can be consumed before or during drinking alcohol, and it would cause that alcohol to break down in the digestive tract instead of being transported to the liver. They claim it reduces the potentially harmful and intoxicating effects of alcohol. Clinical tests are still required before humans can use the gel, but in mice, data showed that it reduced blood alcohol levels by up to 50%. All right, coming up, remember when stocks for GameStop soared nearly 1,000, percent thanks to social media. Well, it's happening again after three years, a post by Roaring Kitty surging shares of GameStop, AMC, and Blackberry. Yes, remember those? What these, quote,

meme stocks mean for Wall Street and why financial experts say, this is not the way to get rich. We're going to tell you about all of it. Okay, we are back now with money talks, what consumers and investors need to know from the business world and beyond. You may remember those meme stocks. that shook up the market a few years ago. Well, tonight, there's surging again. GameStop up 60%, AMC, up more than 30, all because of one cryptic post on social media. NBC's Christine Romans explains.

This picture on social media posted by a guy called Roaring Kitty, after nearly three years of silence, did this on Wall Street. GameStop, which is soaring another 57% this morning, over 7 million shares of volume. This afternoon, AMC and BlackBerry joining GameStop in an eye-watering surge. There's no fundamental reason for these stocks to suddenly move 50, 60, 70 percent. It's a speculative run. Absolutely. There's no fundamental reason, even for some of them to have been worth what they were worth last week. An echo of 2021, when unloved stocks like GameStop

soared as much as 1,000 percent propelled by an almost cult-like social media following of this guy. The first stock that I'm going to talk about is GameStop. That's Keith Gill, aka Roaring Kitty, featured in the movie Dumb Money, which told the story of those amateur investors sticking it to the Wall Street pros. How much should we make today? Five million? How much did we lose today?

A billion. It wasn't just a get-rich quick scheme. Amateur investors online also championed what they saw as a revolt against Wall Street. But experts say the real way to beat Wall Street is to get rich slowly. What Wall Street actually hates isn't a meme stock, What they actually hate is people basically buying and holding index funds, kind of being very passive, doing the financially smart things that work over decades.

For most investors, boring is better. Choose low-cost index funds, keep management fees to a minimum, and check your retirement accounts twice a year. All right, Christine, Romans joins us now on set. Christine, we appreciate all that responsible financial advice there at the end of the report. I do want to go back, though, to the beginning of your report, because, I mean, Roaring, Kitty did take off, but he saw something in this stock, others didn't. He thought it was undervalued, and that's how this whole thing started. And isn't that what Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger did, rest in peace? That's how they made their billions. And is that not what's happening right now? So finding value is a classic way to make money on Wall Street. Gambling is a different thing altogether. And a lot of these people who are buying these stocks are simply buying it

because they're watching it run up. And they're trying to stick it to the man, stick it to Wall Street a little bit, maybe catch the shorts out, make a quick buck. But it's not because they think the stock is fundamentally a great company that's going to be around for the next 25 years. Yeah. If I'm five years old, because people are going to be watching this and they're still not going to get it like shorting a stock, selling it, what Roaring Kitty's doing, explain it to me like I'm five. What exactly is happening here? How does this happen? It's just imagine that it's a sports team. There's a losing sports team that might be kicked out of the league. And a fan, a super fan decides, I'm going to really cheer for this team. I'm going to get

everyone to cheer for this team. And we're going to make this team win the championship. It's not ever going to win the championship, but everybody gets pulled into the hype. So this is a hype parade, essentially, here. And it's some, we used to call it a pump and dump where you would say something really good about a company and get everybody else to get in on it. And then you sell it just as everybody else is getting in, right? This is just a speculative fun. I think that's part of it, fun game for a lot of people who are amateur, gamer, and traitors. Yeah, and the dangers of people who don't know it's a game and then jump in and get caught up in the hype. And that was all explored in the movie. All right, Christine Romans, we thank you

for the economics lesson. We thank you for being here as well. So we go from a new story that inspired a movie to a movie that inspired new technology. Move over Scarlett Johansson, because when we come back, we're going to introduce you to a real-life AI voice assistant. That's right, OpenAI introducing technology similar to the one romanticized in the critically acclaimed film, Her. A look at how that new chatbot is having conversations in real time, including the ability to pick up on emotional cues. This video and this new app are incredible. It's all coming up next. Finally tonight, AI chatbots are getting even chatier. OpenAI unveiling a new voice model that can keep a conversation, sing, and even detects.

emotions. The voice is so human-like, it's drawn comparisons to the movie Her. Embassy's Ellison Barber has this peek into the future. Hey, chat, GPT. Hello there. How's it going? Say hello to a whole new level of chat bot. Me? The announcement is about me? Well, color me intrigued. Are you about to reveal something about AI? Open AI introducing the latest version of the popular chat GPT model. This is It's GPT for O. They're first to hold a conversation in real time.

You can now interrupt them up. You don't have to wait for it to finish your turn before you can start speaking. Was anything, did anything unusual happen recently? Yes, actually. The company demoing a variety of uses, from coding to tutoring and even real time translation. Hello, being.

I'm still a little occupied here, preparing an event for the week. Hey, I've been good. Just a bit busy here preparing for an event next week. Yeah, I really want maximal emotion. Like maximum expressness, much more than you're picking up on and using emotional cues.

Let's amplify the drama. Once upon a time in a world not too different from ours. While a male voice is also an option, that female voice is taking the spotlight. Ah, I see. I see, I love chat GPT. That's so sweet of you. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman dropping a single word hint at his source of inspiration.

Her. A reference to Spike Jones's 2013 film about a man who falls in love with his AI assistant, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Hello, I'm here. Oh. I think Her got something deeply right on the interface, and that is no small feat. Open AI even breaking the mold with this product launch, demoing the technology, which will be available in the coming weeks, in a small venue designed to look like a living room. Google, with an announcement of their own today, unveiling its answer to chat GPT to thousands

of developers in a traditionally grand event, previewing Project Astra, a product their billing as the future of AI assistance. Do you remember where you saw my glasses? Yes, I do. Your glasses were on the desk near a red apple. Google says their assistant will be available to users later this year. It's just amazing. But the new, exciting generation of AI chat bots

I'm so excited for this is raising eyebrows among watchdogs. We have here a very intense multi-billion dollar, if not multi-trillion dollar, multi-trillion dollar arms race between some of the biggest tech companies on the planet. So they are taking no prisoners. They're not waiting for anyone. They are release, release, release. Or in its own, is the founder of True Media.org.

I don't view this as revolutionary. I view this as one more step towards our all AI all the time. Open AI admits their technology is not perfect. They even released a clip of bloopers. So let's root, root, root for the home. Oh, no. What was that? Sorry, guys.

I got carried away. But whether we're ready or not. Her has left Hollywood. Oh, stop it. You're making me plug. All right, Alison Barber joins us now in studio. incredible the technology. I mean, I was blown away when I saw that video. I know there's a phrase that a lot of reporters and tech people are using when they talk about this type of

technology, and it's called multimodal. What does that mean? Yeah, so basically the simple definition is that it means that it can take data from multiple sources all at the same time and then also give you an answer with all of those sources. So think text, speech, images. All of that can go in at once. I sort of think of it as it is on this trajectory of trying to be more human-like, right? And older models that were known as unimodal generative AI, which generative AI is sort of this umbrella term. Then within that, you can have a unimodal system or a multimodal system. The unimodal system is like when you'd write into a server and say, hey, write me an essay on horses. And then it gives you back in text and essay on horses. Now it's doing more of like

what we do when we go into a room. It's not just saying, okay, I need you to type it for me, but they can see it, they can hear it, and then process their answer that way. So it's using multiple different systems of intake to give you an answer. So now you could show it an image of a cookie and say, hey, I really like this and not say the word cookie. And maybe it'll just offer you recipes and other visual examples of what you're talking about because that's the way you're doing it as well. Totally, totally understand now. When you first used ChatGBT, BT, did you ask for an essay on horses? I thought that I could have been more successful in school had I, so. Alison, Barbara, great to have you here. We thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamison, New York.

Stay right there. More news on the way. Thank you.