Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Episode Date: May 21, 2025

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

Tonight, the new twist in the New Orleans jail break, a jail maintenance worker charged in helping them escape inside jobs. New details just revealed how the workers says he was threatened with a shanking if he didn't help, how he turned the water off so they could escape behind the toilet as police hunt for more accomplices. Plus, the fugitives themselves, another one arrested, six more left. new tornado warnings this one forming in illinois late today people sheltering in place in the capital there as storms charged in this twister tossing debris into the air and the moment lightning struck this police car where the storms head next new ditty revelations the mother of his ex-girlfriend taking the stand why she says she had to take out a twenty thousand dollar loan to pay off the music mogul and the star rapper set to testify next Elon Musk's political retreat, why he says he's going to dial back his political spending

and what he revealed to CNBC about that arm gesture that got him in so much trouble. Back in high school, the 24-year-old accused of lying about his age so he could attend high school. Why did he do it? Dron to the rescue, the fisherman who jumped into action to save a drowning girl using his drone to deliver a flotation device to get her to safety, He tells us how he did it. And cheers to George Wint. We remember the actor who everybody knew his name as Norm.

We pour a tall one for the actor who made America laugh from the end of the bar. What do you say, Norm? Well, I never met a beer. I didn't drink. Plus, breaking late today, the major move from the FAA, cutting the number of flights going in and out of Newark. Will it work to stop the chaos there? Top story starts right now. Good evening. I'm Ellison Barber in for Tom Yamis.

Tonight, a jail employee now finding himself behind bars, accused of helping in that brazen New Orleans inmate escape. And right now, several of those men all said to be incredibly dangerous remain on the loose. This is the video of that daring escape. Ten inmates breaking free Friday morning around 1 o'clock. But it took several hours for workers to notice something was a miss and that delay is prompting outrage over this major security failure. At this hour, four out of the ten men are back behind bars, but the active manhunt for the other six is expanding. At this point, they could be anywhere. But officials making a stunning announcement today, they say Sterling Williams, a maintenance worker at the sheriff's office, cut off the water so the inmates could pull the toilet from this wall and break out.

Williams claims an inmate threatened to shank him if he refused. Plus, new video Justin, that is believed to show the moment police captured one of the inmates. Officers swarming this home in New Orleans, taking one of the men back into custody. The charges these men face range from first-degree murder to armed robbery and drug offenses. The big question tonight, could there be more accomplices? We're breaking it all down, starting with NBC's Ryan Chandler, who's in New Orleans. tonight officials say the breakout at a New Orleans jail was an inside job arresting jail maintenance worker Sterling Williams they say he turned off the water to this cell enabling 10 inmates to escape through the wall according to the arrest affidavit Williams told investigators one of the fugitives told him to turn off the water threatening to shank him if he didn't comply an inmate also tried to take Williams's phone according to the document he intended to assist these individuals to leave that facility

The sheriff's office says a total of three jail employees are on leave without pay. The police chief today with this message for anyone who aids the escapees. If they participate willfully and knowingly, they are going to be charged with serious felonies. Six fugitives are still on the run, including a convicted killer. Police say four have been recaptured and arrested, all in New Orleans. The latest on Monday night, 21-year-old Gary Price. The sheriff who oversees the jail has been under fire for the response. Today, she apologized.

I take full accountability for this failure. According to the jail's timeline, guards didn't notice the inmates were missing for more than seven hours after their escape. The public wasn't notified for more than 10 hours. Look, if this jailbreak happened at 1, the public should have known at 105. The public is your best friend. New Orleans District Attorney Jason Williams prosecuted the convicted. killed her now on the loose. He says the sheriff's response puts the public at risk. Every single day that these men are at large, the public is in danger.

And Ryan Chandler joins us now from New Orleans. Ryan officials are actually raising the reward now to try to put pressure on anyone who might be helping these fugitives hide. Yeah, Alison, the stern message from law enforcement, as you heard from the New Orleans police chief there is clear. You can either help turn these fugitives in and accept a reward of $20,000, or if you are protecting them, you could possibly face serious charges of your own. Interestingly, Ellison, one of the fugitives in this case, Antoine Massey, escaped from jail before back in 2019.

He was later apprehended in Texas, but this time, Ellison, he's still on the run. Excellent reporting. Ryan Chandler, thank you. And we are joined now by retired FBI agent Rob DeAmico, Rob, let's just jump right in here because this maintenance worker that was arrested, he is saying at least one of the inmates threatened to shank him if he did not shut the water off and help them here. Do you buy that? Ellison, it's one of those, that's all they're going to say. They're always going to say, well, I was threatened, though it does happen. So because it happens so often, there's procedures when you get threatened, what you do to report that. And again, it's one of those. threaten him or they can threaten his family. It happens all the time in prisons with the guards and the inmates, but again, there's policy

that you report it, and then there's policy to put someone in safety when that does happen. So I think you're going to see that is a constant thing that you, if they arrest any more, and I do believe they probably will, because this is one thing that had to happen for them to get out. I think there's probably other things that had someone had to do on their behalf for them to get away like they did. And I think each part of that escape is going to be looked at and to see who had access to be able to help them. So I think there's going to be a few more rest down the road. Explain that for us a little bit more.

I mean, exactly how much help, based on your experience, do you think a group this big would actually need to be able to pull this off and get out? So you're saying it's probably more charges. Are you thinking maybe three more? Could it be 10? How many people could we be talking? I would look at a couple more. I've heard or read that that toilet feature could not be removed without bolts on the outside being loosened. So if the gentleman who turned off the water didn't have access or didn't do loosen the bolts,

then someone else is responsible for that, then how did they know that this person then went to get food at a certain time? So was there some inside information given to them at what time to do this? So I think they're going to have to break down each and every step and figure out could the inmates have done something to do this or did someone on the outside have to help them and then looking at who had access, who may have done something, looking at phone records and text records to figure those things out. So 10 prisoners escaped, four have been captured. Do the chances of catching the others drop as the minutes hours and now days pass? It's going to take time. I guarantee all of them will be caught within, you know, a few weeks, I think. But as time goes on, that net expands out. And the one gentleman who escaped, he was in Texas.

They all have to go to somewhere where they have support. They can't just go and have no support, no place to stay. They didn't have money. They had to get closed. They may have gotten some of that in Orleans before they start going outside of it. But you start looking at their friends. used to work fugitives down in South Florida. And again, you start with that the people that know them, the people they may go to, you start looking at sell records, you start looking at all

these other things, and you start sending out leads to check out other houses. They'll have surveillance on people that they know. They'll be just sitting on their houses watching for something. And then the tips come in. I think they up the reward, which helps because it does put pressure on them. You can't give them any safety of being able to lay low and not think someone's onto them because you want the pressure on them to make a mistake. Rob, Ryan Chandler mentioned in his report that the DA actually personally prosecuted the convicted killer that is now on the loose within this group. If you were in his shoes, how worried would you be for the safety of public officials as well as the public at large?

Well, there's always a safety concern when you do that. Even if you say that the convicted murderer was in a gang, even if he's in jail, he has gang members on. on the outside that may want to do something, but it really ups the ante of what's going to happen if you go start going after law enforcement, if you start going after DA and judges. It gets to be much more significant. So I'm sure there's police protection

around the DA right now. Anytime you deal with this, you kind of get those threats, but there are some tentative rules in there because it's so serious when you're looking at it, if you go after someone, and do something, the ramifications later on. So I think they know there's a threat, but I don't think they're as worried as some folks would be. All right. Rob DeMiko, thank you so much. We appreciate

your time and insights. Thank you. Also, breaking late tonight, the FAA issuing an order to drastically reduce flight arrivals and departures from Newark Airport. These temporary restrictions designed to help stop major disruptions to flights at that airport. NBC News correspondent Sam Brock joins us now on set. Sam, walk us through this. What exactly is the FAA doing and what do travelers need to know? So what they're doing, first of all, Alison, good to be with you, is that they are formally reducing the volume in and out of Newark Airport, at least through the end of October. So you're talking about about five plus months. I don't know if you've noticed or not. It's been a little chaotic at Newark. So let's fast forward to April for a second.

Starting with these outages that have cropped up, the issue was prior to that you were seeing 40 plus arriving flights and departing flights per hour. This is now going to be dropped down to 28 flights arriving and departing per hour. That's about a 30% drop. That's through June 15th. And Allison, it's worth noting that there is runway construction that's going out at the same time at Newark. So that's part of why they're trying to balance the volume here from June 15th to the end of October. That climbs back up to 34 arriving flights and 34 departing flights per hour capped.

There could be some adjustments along the way the FAA says as they see how this. this plan comes to fruition. I will point you, though, to the statement from the FDA officially. As you mentioned, the traveler's aspect of all this and all the frustration out there, they say, and I quote, our goal is to relieve the substantial inconvenience to the traveling public from excessive flight delays. So there's acknowledgement there due to construction, staffing challenges, and recent equipment issues, which magnify as they spread through the national airspace system. Also worth noting that does not address the infrastructure problems, which have led to some of these outages in the first place.

Okay, so we're looking at five months of them working on this, but potentially there's going to be more information, more improvements coming down the line. They sure do. The infrastructure things that we're talking about right now, high-speed bandwidth connections that would basically be from New York to the Philadelphia Trecon area. So that's one thing that they're doing three of those. Replacing copper telecommunications with fiber optic. You recall, Chuck Schumer, the New York Senator said, I'm not joking. In 2025, they're using copper cables. How could that be? And then increasing controller staffing as well. Of course, that's a work in progress.

We'll take place over the course of years. But at least in the short term, Some of those that had to leave ATC workers because of the traumatization of what happened in Newark should be returning by the fall. All right. Sam Brock. Thank you. We appreciate it. New dangerous weather is on the way tonight for parts of the country already hard hit by deadly tornadoes. At least 28 deaths reported for more than 50 twisters since Friday. Communities now racing to clean up before dangerous wind gusts could turn piles of debris into projectiles. NBC's Kathy Park reports from the storm zone in Kentucky. tonight mandatory evacuations in areas of hard-hit Kentucky where new storms are already rolling in

after more than 50 confirmed tornadoes and 28 storm-related deaths since Friday 37 million people across the Midwest and South are now at risk from more severe weather with the potential for large hail and devastating twisters governor we saw how destructive the tornadoes were what worries you the most about this next round what worries me about this next round especially here is the amount of debris. Anticipated 60-mile-an-hour wind gusts, potentially turning debris piles into projectiles. In Illinois, everyone in the state's capital in Springfield

urged to shelter in the basement. Tornado warning on the top floor of the Capitol. And in St. Louis, where five people died following Friday's tornado, frustration and calls for accountability. No. No side. Nothing. Nothing came through.

The mayor saying new procedures are now in place after the, warning sirens failed to alert the public. At the end of the day, the siren failure should never happen, and it never will happen again. The whole house was shaking, and you can hear the tin ripping off. Back in Kentucky, Shelby Gregory, grateful his family made it through the storm alive. Where do you go from here? You just, I can't describe the overwhelming, the generosity and help from everybody. you can you can replace everything I lost I mean my family's alive I'm here so it's all that matters

me and Kathy Park joins us now from London Kentucky Kathy evacuation orders are now in effects there you are in one of those shelters opened up for people who need a place to go what are you seeing hey there Allison that's right it went into effect at six o'clock this evening goes through until 11 o'clock tonight and that's right we're in one of these shelters opened up today. It's a safe space where people can turn to to ride out the storm. They can pick up just basic essentials, food, water. There are cots available as well during the overnight hours. Meanwhile, Alison, it is not just Kentucky, but there are eight other states across the region bracing for more tornadoes bad weather this evening. Ellison?

Kathy Park, thank you. Dramatic new testimony today in the sex trafficking trial of Sean Diddy Combs. Combs' former personal assistant, the mother of Combs' ex-girlfriend, Cassie Ventura, and a male exotic dancer known as the Punisher, all taking the stand today. NBC's Chloe Malas tracking it all from the courthouse in downtown Manhattan. Chloe, there were several key moments today in court. Walk us through those. Sure, so I'll walk you through the highlights, Ellison. Let's start first with Combs' former personal assistant. David James. Now, he worked for Combs for two years, and it was illuminating to hear him talk about

This toxic environment, very grueling, at times he did admit that it was fun, but he talked about procuring drugs for Combs like ecstasy, getting those hotel rooms ready for freakoffs, and that at one point, Combs actually had him go with him in an escalate to look for a very famous music executive by the name of Shug Knight, who was a well-known rival of Combs, and that while they were in the car, he turned around and he saw three handguns on Combs's lap. He said that he, they actually never found Shug Knight. But what he did say is that that incident, Ellison, made him scare for his life. And he actually quit shortly thereafter. And like you said, we also heard from Cassie Ventura's mother who talked about taking photos of her daughter when she was covered in bruises when she came home for the Christmas holidays in 2011 and that she wanted to memorialize those. And Chloe, rapper Kid Cuddy, who's been mentioned already in this trial, he had a brief relationship with Cassie Ventura. in 2011. He is set to testify this week. What are we expecting to hear from him on the stand? Yeah, it's going to be really interesting. I mean, he's one of the big name celebrities that is

going to be testifying in this trial. And he claims that at one point, Combs actually blew up his car. Luckily, he wasn't hurt and nobody else was. Combs denies this, that this was over jealousy because he was dating, like you said, Cassie Ventura. And we could see him take the stand as early as tomorrow afternoon. Chloe Malas, thank you. And joining us now is Kristen Fettin. She's an NBC legal analyst and former sex crimes prosecutor, known for her work in high-profile cases like Bill Cosby.

Kristen, thank you so much for joining Top Story tonight. So in addition to what Chloe reported there, Cassie Ventura's mother testified that Combs demanded $20,000 in exchange for sex tapes with Ventura on them. Is that the kind of smoking gun moment? if you will, that prosecutors were hoping for? Yeah, it's one probably of many, particularly when you say that Kid Cuddy is going to be testifying tomorrow. What you really see is the prosecution kind of outlining,

going from that personal trauma where you're dealing with Cassie Ventura, the tears, the emotional element. They're going over to the systemic control now. And that is really the infrastructure that is necessary to support the enterprise charge, to support the sex trafficking, to really support the elements of the coercion and show that this was not about consent, but rather this was about force, and here's how the manipulation unfolded. So you talked about, and I like the way you phrased it, the idea of them moving to establishing systemic control

because a lot of people were wondering off the top, and we heard the defense argue this, if they said, look, the prosecution is going to tell you he's a bad guy, he did do a lot of these things. He's a domestic abuser, not a great guy, but they have to prove these specific charges, and he's not charged with domestic violence here, not charged with being a bad person. When you think about where the prosecution is right now and how they have built their case, do you think they have made it clear enough to the jury thus far

that Combs orchestrated these freakoffs and that he was a puppet master in order to make those sex trafficking charges really stick? Do you think we'll see more of that in the days ahead? I think we will see more of that in the days ahead. And to kind of answer your question, I think we need to see more of that in the days ahead. Why? Well, the prosecution has done a fantastic job. Again, putting down those

layers. They went from Cassie's testimony to the former assistant who's able to establish that enterprise, right? How there was a setup of these hotel rooms. There's weapons. There's drugs. There's baby oil. There's, you know, and then you put that with the surveillance footage, you see the coercion. But again, the assistant alone and Cassie's testimony alone, and even Cassie's mom's testimony alone is not going to be enough to show that direct knowledge and criminal intent that is necessary to show that Diddy was really the head of this enterprise. And again, I think that that assistance testimony was great. He outlined the hierarchy. He talked about how this was Combs' kingdom. And so, again, the prosecution is on their way. But I think they just need

a little bit additional element to bridge that gap so that they can get their way to that conviction. So a federal agent also testified today that some guns seized from combs by federal agents in Miami during one of their raids on his homes, that they had serial numbers scratched off, which would make it more difficult for authorities to trace a weapons history. What do you make of that information? Is that helping to move towards proving a broader conspiracy, in your opinion? Absolutely. And the reason that it's showing that broader conspiracy and that broader pattern, right, is because of the testimony both from Cassie, as well as testimony today, where they're utilizing those weapons, not only to coerce, not only to show that there was that coercive and induced sexual acts, but also to show that Puff Daddy or Diddy was capable of these acts. They show it through that surveillance, which I know didn't have any weapons. But again, when you couple that with the testimony regarding utilizing those weapons to go and find Shug Nights, to engage in some type of aggressive or potentially violent episode, it really paints the picture.

And then when you see that his staff assisted him, not only with the concealing of the weapons, but then to take him to Shug Nye, you throw all of that together, and you see that this was a broader enterprise, which supports that RICO charge. Talk to me about what you make of the defense's strategy here, because they did not seem to push back as much today. They limited their cross-examination.

In the case of Cassie's mother, they declined to ask any questions. Do you think that's an effective strategy? I do, I do. They don't want to waste the jury's time. They want to just get in and get out. And there's really nothing they can cross Cassie's mother on with regard to their overlying theory,

which is this was consensual. Yes, he's not great in terms of the domestic violence, but this was a consensual element. There's nothing that they could score points on to try to dismantle the prosecution's theory that this was a broader enterprise. So absolutely, I think, was a great idea, and it's going to make sure that the jury doesn't get mad at them, which they don't want when it comes to deliberation time. All right, former sex crimes prosecutor and NBC legal analyst, Kristen Fettin, thank you so much. We appreciate it.

And we are back in a moment with the fiery cross-examination in the Karen Reed retrial. Did a key technology expert lie about his credentials? And will his testimony be thrown out? Plus, daring drone rescue, the young girls being sucked out. to see how a fisherman used the drone to drop life-saving aid. He speaks out to top story. And the actor who raised the bar for one-liners in sitcoms, George Went, famous for playing Norm on Cheers.

He has passed away. Our look back coming up. prosecution's key experts and his analysis of new evidence in the case. NBC's Aaron McLaughlin has the latest. Tonight, Karen Reid and her attorneys taking aim at a key witness for the prosecution in her murder retrial. Incredible or uncredible. I'm not sure what the word is. Using new data, he says, was overlooked in the first trial. Digital forensic analyst, Shannon Burgess, putting forth a new timeline of the Knight Reid's boyfriend, Boston police officer John O'Keefe, died in 22. In a testimony, analyzing the computer from Reed's Lexus SUV and cross-referencing it with data

from O'Keefe's iPhone. Since we've got that shared event between the two devices, we can reconcile any type of clock variance. After calibrating the clocks on both devices, Berges says he identified a three-point turn, a backing up maneuver and a potential collision. Just seconds after O'Keefe's phone was used for the last time. But the defense alleging Burgess mischaracterized the data. None of the information in that black box that you referred to on your direct testimony indicates that there was a collision on January 29th, doesn't? Not by itself. Not by itself. Correct.

Noting a sometimes three-second delay in the Lexus's longing of events. The infotainment module power on events were on average recorded three seconds. after the ignition release or finger off, correct? Correct. Reid's defense also challenging Burgess's credentials, saying he never completed a degree as listed on his firm's website, and that he lied on a resume provided to a Texas court in a different case. As a personal objective, I would like to finish my bachelor's,

but again, work and life gets in the way. Burgess says he did not post the information on the site, and that the date on the resume sent to the Texas court was, at the time, his expected year of graduation. Did you ever represent to a court that you had a degree that you didn't earn? No, I have not. Walking out of court, redoubling down on alleged discrepancies in the prosecution's analysis of the phone data, sticking to the original timeline laid out by her legal team.

John's phone is still moving. He's still walking after a trigger on a common trigger on my Lexus. And Aaron McLaughlin joins us now in studio. So, Aaron, even though the last expert witness that the prosecution called face such a tough cross-exam, they're going to call another expert witness, right? Do we know when the prosecution might wrap? Yeah, well, they just called another forensic expert. She's really focusing on the pieces of broken cocktail glass that were found there at the scene,

as well as the taillight. She just began her testimony. It's expected to continue tomorrow. Now, we don't know when the prosecution expects to rest its case. It was interesting when Karen Reid was exiting the courtroom today. She was asked that very question. She says she expects it to last for another week, but we'll have to wait and see. NBC's Aaron McLaughlin.

Thank you. And when Top Story returns, the major change to the COVID vaccine, why it will be harder for younger Americans to get a booster. But what's behind the shift? Plus, back to school. The 24-year-old busted for posing as a 17-year-old in enrolling in high school. The moment police arrested him caused. on camera.

And we're back now with Top Story's news feed. At least two people, including a child, were injured this afternoon when a car crashed into a Chicago daycare. You can see the car wedged into the front of the building. Officials say both people were transported to nearby hospitals. No word yet on their condition or if they were inside the daycare at the time of the incident. The cause is under investigation. This is the third incident of a car crashing into an Illinois child care facility in the past month.

A 24-year-old man arrested in Ohio accused of posing as a high school student, even joining the swim and soccer teams. Police say Anthony Emmanuel Labrador Sierra was arrested on charges of felony forgery after his legal guardians and school discovered he was not a minor. Police say he had used fraudulent documents to enroll in the school. He has denied the allegations and says the birth certificate that indicates he is 17 years old is the accurate one. And Southwest Airlines implementing a new policy that will affect how you charge your phone in flight. The airline now requiring passengers keep all portable chargers in plain sight while using them following growing concerns over lithium battery fires. There have already been 19 incidents involving these batteries on planes this year, following last year's record high of 89, according to the FAA. The policy itself goes into effect May 28th.

Some NFL stars one step closer to Olympic gold. League owners voting today to allow players to participate in flag football during the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. The sport will make its primetime debut at the games with six men's teams and six women's teams with 10 players per team. Each national team would be permitted to select one player per NFL roster and each team's designated international player will also be allowed to participate for their country. Players will still need to try out in order to qualify. And new body camera video of the moment

Colorado police caught a kangaroo on the loose for the second time. You see an officer slowly approaching the animal named Irwin, quickly picking him up so he doesn't hop away. Police in Durango, which is just north of the New Mexico border, say they apprehended this same red kangaroo back in September. They say he has grown since their last encounter. Erwin was detained and returned to his owner. Turns out it is legal to have a pet red kangaroo in Durango as long as owners follow local and federal guidelines. Now to Elon Musk's big step back from politics as well as government. The world's richest man who spent hundreds of millions of dollars to help Trump get elected says he will spend a lot less going forward as he shifts his focus back to Tesla and SpaceX.

Musk spoke to CNBC today in a wide-ranging interview that touched on his stent with Doge, the White House, and whether or not he regrets his work with President Trump. Senior business correspondent Christine Romans has this one. Tonight, Elon Musk is steering away from politics and government. Take over, Elon, yes. Signaling his days of handing out big checks on the campaign trail are over. In terms of political spending, I'm going to do a lot less in the future. The world's richest man, who recently stepped back from his

advisory role in the Trump administration, speaking to CNBC's David Faber, at an event promoting Tesla's upcoming robotaxies, saying he does not regret his work with the Trump administration. Talking about Tesla, obviously, you know, takes me to a certain extent to what some would say is the brand damage done by your government service. I don't know if you would agree with that. There have some pros and cons. There have been some pros and cons. Musk also defending this gesture he made at Trump's inauguration. Thank you. How many legacy media publications, talk shows, whatever, try to claim that I was a Nazi

because of some random ham gesture at a rally where all I said was that my heart goes out to you and I was talking about space travel. Musk taking a chainsaw to federal spending in his unofficial role as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, better known as Doge. We're trying to go after every part of the budget. Those highly litigated reductions, sparking protests and boy. We are advisors. We are not kings here. The backlash even affecting his company's bottom line, Tesla profits plummeting 71% in the first quarter of the year.

Today, Musk attributing the sales decline to a recent retooling of Tesla's factories without going into specifics. We've seen us a major rebound in demand at this point. I mean, when you buy a product, I mean, how much do you care about the political views of the CEO? Or do you even know what they are? they are. Now with his days of wearing double hats in business and government in the rear view mirror. He wants to get back home to his carters. Musk says he's hoping to focus his energies on the core of his businesses. My rough plan on the White House is to be there for a couple days every every few weeks and to be helpful where I can be helpful. As for what's next with Musk and Tesla,

Musk says he's interested in a new push in self-driving cars, making them fully autonomous. He's even hinted that other automakers are interested in licensing the Tesla self-driving technology. This next-level tech, he says, is going to be ready in about a year. That's a promise, Ellison, he's been making since about 2016. Ellison? Christine Roman, thank you. A lot more political news today, including President Trump on Capitol Hill. He was there today meeting with House Republicans urging them to back his, quote, one big, beautiful bill.

The massive tax bill facing opposition from within his own party. The president leaned on blue state Republicans who were pushing for a higher cap on deductions on state and local taxes, and he pushed hardline conservatives to not slash Medicaid funding. The president also announced a new Golden Dome missile defense system to protect America that he says will be operational by the end of his term. It comes as the Justice Department is accusing a sitting member of Congress of assaulting federal agents at a protest outside an ICE jail earlier this month. NBC's senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez has more from Washington. The heated confrontation outside an ICE detention facility in New Jersey this month was captured on body cameras.

You can see Democratic Congresswoman La Monica McIver there in the red jacket in a scuffle with ice agents. Tonight the Justice Department has been. charged her with assault. She was shoving federal agents. She was out of control. The days of that crap are over in this country. We're going to have law and order. But the Congresswoman says she did nothing wrong and is accusing federal agents of escalating the situation. It's political intimidation and I'm looking forward to my day in court. According to the criminal complaint, McIver hit officers while trying to stop them from arresting Newark Mayor Ross Baraka for trespassing. Today charges against Baraka were dropped. The complaint includes photos of what looks

like McIver's forearm making contact with an officer's back. And you certainly can't put hands on an officer or employee. The Justice Department did not follow its standard practice of consulting its public integrity section before charging her, according to a source familiar with the matter. Meanwhile, the DOJ is also investigating the city of Chicago's hiring practices after its Democratic mayor touted the number of black city officials he's hired. When you hire our people, we always look out for everybody else. chief operations officer is a black man, budget director, it's a black woman, senior advisor

is a black man. The DOJ will now determine if he's discriminating based on race as the Trump administration cracks down on DEI. This administration has demonstrated a great deal of animus and disdain towards what is sensible about our country, and that's the diversity of our country. Also today, the Homeland Security Secretary incorrectly defining habeas corpus, which allows people to challenge their detention. Administration officials have floated, suspending it for undocumented immigrants. What is habeas corpus? Well, habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the president has to be able to remove people from this country and suspend their right to. Let me stop you, ma'am. Habeas corpus, excuse me, that's incorrect. And Gabe joins us now from the

White House. Gabe, we're learning new information tonight about former President Biden's past medical history following his diagnosis with prostate cancer. What can he tell us about that? Yes, Alison. A Biden spokesperson now says his last known PSA blood test, which detects prostate cancer, was 11 years ago in 2014. Oncologists say it is not typically recommended for men over 70. And the spokesperson also says that prior to Friday, he had not been diagnosed with cancer. before. Right now, a Biden spokesperson says that he and his family are considering treatment options as they rest at their home in Delaware. But still, questions have been raised about why this cancer wasn't detected sooner or else. NBC's Gabe Gutierrez. Thank you. The FDA tonight announcing

major changes to this year's COVID vaccine, saying that healthy kids and adults may not be eligible to receive a booster. The move, a sudden reversal by health officials under the Trump administration with the previous recommended age for COVID-19 vaccines starting at six months old. To break this all down for us, we're joined now by NBC's medical contributor, Dr. John Torres. Dr. John, I want to start with some numbers here because the most recent CDC data shows that 23% of adults over 18 have received the latest version of the COVID shot. That's compared 28% of adults over 65 and 13% of children.

How significant is this new guidance from the FDA, given that people are still getting vaccinated against COVID? And, Alison, I think this is a huge change, and this is very significant for a couple reasons. Number one, you notice there the amount of people that have not been boosted because with the new COVID, that strains that are coming out. And that's important because these strains do change from year to year. Think of it like the flu itself, which also changes as well, but change as much faster than COVID. And so it's one of those things we definitely need to keep on top of. On top of that, also are people who have not been vaccinated at all with COVID. And not something they're really addressing.

The 65 and above, and those with medical conditions, they're talking about vaccinating. They're mainly talking about giving them booster shots. But the thing they don't talk about is those that have not been vaccinated, will they be eligible for vaccines if they're below the age of 65 and healthy, which is important because we know COVID from the pandemic on to now. can be deadly, can put you in the hospital, can cause long-term issues, and so getting that initial vaccine is important, and getting boosters at regular intervals is also important, Ellison. And Dr. John, in the past, the FDA would typically get recommendations from the FDA advisory committee, right? A bunch of experts to help make a decision like this, but that was not done in this case. Do we know why?

And that was not done in this case, and that's something that a lot of experts are scratching their head. If you go back to the pandemic, that's the first time most of us heard about this VIRPAC. It's the vaccines and related biological products advisory committee. It's an independent committee of experts from across the country that look at the vaccines and say, here are the recommendations for, number one, what we think needs to be in the vaccine, but also number two, who should be getting those vaccines at what age they should be getting them. And then that's followed up with ASIP, which is an advisory committee on immunization practices, who then say, okay, we're going to recommend it for these age groups.

the FDA and the CDC take that information, they almost always use it, but not always. They're not bound by it, but they certainly look at these outside independent experts who have no sway under the HHS and aren't answering to them in any way. And that's important because they can make those decisions independently and the best decisions and put forward those recommendations. In this case, they stopped using them for these recommendations for COVID. Nobody can quite figure out why they're doing that. They're making these decisions in-house themselves, which brings up questions.

of, you know, are they having undue influence from those above them to make these decisions? We simply don't know, but we're not getting that outside expert advice. So, Dr. John, the FDA also announced that they are changing the requirements for COVID vaccine clinical trials. Can you walk us through that? Because is this something where these new trials are in some way more comprehensive than what we saw with the first vaccine rollout back in 2020, or is it something else? You know, it sort of relates to those first vaccine trials. that came out early. If you remember those first vaccine trials that came out early, 30, 40, 50,000 people were involved in those trials, and a lot of them were placebo-based trials. In other words, people either got the vaccine or a placebo to see how it would work. And now they're saying, okay, now we need to make sure that when we change these strains a little bit, that we need to do that again, meaning that if they change the strain every year, they need to go through these placebo-based trials again, which is really not something we've looked at in the past. If you look at flu, every year the flu strain changes, but we don't require these clinical trials because we

We know the flu. We know the reactions that can happen with the flu and the benefits we can get from it. It's the same with COVID. And some manufacturers and experts are arguing, you know, if you look at the COVID vaccine, billions and billions of people have gotten that COVID vaccine. It is the largest human trial we've ever had for a vaccine. Yet the FDA is saying, okay, we want one more step in this trial process, which a lot of experts are saying, it doesn't really make sense. It might be something they do in parallel with giving the vaccine to people and the boosters to people, but it's not necessarily something they should stop the vaccines and the boosters. and do this to see if it works because we know it works, we know it's safe, we know it's effective. We know there are some side effects,

but we've seen those and they've been very, very minimal. And again, billions of people have been vaccinated. We've seen this in real life situations. And Dr. John, you touched on this earlier, but just to make sure it's clear for viewers, if you are not eligible to receive a booster shot under this new guidance, but still wanna get vaccinated, is there anything you can do to get that vaccine?

We don't have the guidance out yet. They're just talking about guidance they might do. And so we'll wait until that comes out. But there is typically a way you can get the vaccine. You might have to pay for it on your own. But as a physician, we can always do things off-label, meaning if it's approved for somebody, we can certainly give it to somebody else. More than likely, though, insurance companies won't pay for it. All right. Dr. John Torres, thank you. You bet. And some sad news to report tonight. We're remembering beloved actor George Wendt, who passed away today at the age of 67, 76, rather. He played Norm for every single episode of

hit show cheers across its 11 seasons. He made America laugh every week with killer one-liners, often delivered with a beer in his hand. Here's Morgan Chesky with a look back at his life and career. In a place where everybody knew his name, George Wint made all our troubles feel the same. As the lovable norm at the Boston Bar Cheers, Wint was never without a beer or a trademark one-liner. Hey, what's happening, Norm? It's a dog-eat-dog world. Emmy and I'm wearing milkbone underwear went nominated for an Emmy for six consecutive years over the show's 11 season run it's one of the great perks of employment history I get free beer wherever I go born in Chicago the beloved

every man found his footing on stage at the famed second city but it wasn't until he landed in Cheers in 1982 Wint became a household name appearing in everything from movies to Michael Jackson music videos And Saturday night, lock. The Bears. The Bears. A family spokesman confirming Went passed away peacefully at home.

Tonight cheers co-star Ted Danson, sharing he's devastated and sending love to Wynne's wife and children. You know what I think the most important thing in life is, is love. You want to know what I love? Beer, norm. Yeah, have a quick one.

Tonight, fans pouring one out for the one and only. Morgan Chesky, NBC News. When Top Story returns, the hero fisherman who saved a girl from drowning, how he used a drone to help reel her back in, that rescue caught on camera. And Kermit, the commencement speaker, how the beloved Muppet plans to build a rainbow connection with Maryland's graduating class. In tonight's Top Story's Global Watch, the first planes carrying migrants who voluntarily deported themselves from the U.S., landing in Colombia and Honduras. The government-funded flights carrying 68 people who are part of the Department of Homeland Security self-deport program, the Trump administration offering participants $1,000, travel assistance, and the offer to one day be allowed to apply for legal entry.

A long-lost bust of the door's frontman Jim Morrison found after being missing for 37 years. The sculpture of the singer and songwriter was stolen from the Paris Cemetery where he's buried back in 1988. France's financial and anti-corruption brigades says they found the sculpture in an unrelated search on Friday. The bust was crafted in 1981 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of Morrison's death. And a drug-smuggling cat in Costa Rica captured while trying to sneak into a maximum. security prison. Prison officers capturing the cat while it was climbing over a penitentiary's fence northeast of San Jose. Police say they cut off two packages of marijuana and heroin that was attached to the cat's fur and then ultimately handed the cat over to the National Animal Health

Service. A fisherman and his drone saving the day in Florida after a teenage girl got swept up in a riptide, how he got her to safety without stepping foot in the water. NBC's George Solis has the amazing video and story for us. A high-flying dramatic rescue on a Florida beach caught on camera. Take a look. That's a drone carrying a flotation device. Watch as it delivers it precisely

to a teenage girl in trouble. I was just hanging out and then someone started screaming. That's Andrew Smith, a shark fisherman and pilot of the drone who was at the Pensacola beach by chance, reluctantly returning after a day's work at the request of a buddy. He was like, man, let's go fishing. I was exhausted from work and I was like, oh, I guess we'll go.

Andrew, thinking on the fly, attaching a flotation of ice to his drone, flying it out to the teen, who officials say had been caught up in a rip current during a red flag warning and had been fighting by Smith's estimate some five minutes at that point. Heavy wins, causing him to miss it first. It was a terrible release. I wasn't even close. I was really panicked. I was shaking.

I could hardly breathe. But then, success on the second try. I think she got it. He got me. I cried whenever I finally got it to her. Because you could see the camera, you can see her arms reach up and grab it. Andrew thinking quickly on his feet, official saying lifeguards were already off duty.

The rescued girl hanging on to that flotation device for five more minutes before EMS arrived. Fortunately, getting back to land safely. All thanks to that drone. Devices like it becoming more common on beach patrols. The NYPD announcing last year, it would start deploying drones for beach safety. God forbid if somebody is having an emergency in the water, the drone operator can hit a button. It would drop what's called a rust tube. As soon as that tube hits the water, it opens up into a flotation device.

The fire department there using its drone for surveillance, spotting swimmers who became lodged between rocks on a jetty and notifying emergency services. And while on the topic of shark fishing, drones in Long Island being used to spot sharks lurking in the water. We're deploying the drones. I was able to launch one off the back of one of our boats last year and see how it worked. And it's sending real-time images of the water to our lifeguards.

This rescue, perhaps proof the technology could be used for even more. Do you believe this is the future of search and rescue? Yes. I fully believe that. And George Solis joins us now. George, do we know how the teen is doing after this ordeal? Yeah, hey, Alison, shaken up. Now, Andrew told us that he spoke with the teen's father,

who of course praised him after the rescue, calling him his daughter's guardian angel, saying he was a hero. And like any hero, Andrew, of course, is remaining modest. Now, at this point, there's no word of a reunion between the two, but we'll be sure to bring that to you when and if that happens. Allison? NBC's George Solis, thank you.

And still ahead tonight, the University of Maryland's school colors are red, white, black, and gold. But tomorrow, they're going green. Our one-on-one interview with Kermit the Frog giving a preview of his college commencement speech to our very own, Hallie Jackson. Finally, tonight, it ain't easy being green. Kermit the Frog is set to give his first commencement speech in 30 years. Kermit preparing to speak to the University of Maryland graduates and share a positive message as they leap into the world. NBC's Hallie Jackson spoke to the world's most famous amphibian and has this report.

For graduates, coast-to-coast ceremonies featuring the famous and the funny, the fearless, and the froggy. I'm kind of taking this as seriously, as seriously as a singing, dancing frog can take anything. Yes, it's a commencement at the University of Maryland featuring Kermit the Frog. What is your advice going to be to these students who are now stepping out into the real world? Yeah, well, lots of stuff, you know. Taking the leap into opportunity and making connections in our world today. I mean, those are just a few of the things that I have learned in my own journey to follow in my dreams. Marilyn knows the Muppets, their creator, Jim Henson, earned his degree here in 1960.

There's a statue of Jim and me on campus. Have you seen that? Yeah, I've seen it. Have you? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's really great. What do you think of it? Oh, it's a really perfect likeness of Jim. A little work on me, but it's pretty good. It'll be Kermit's first addressed to graduates in 30 years, and the students now seem ready for their big moment and his. Welcome back to Maryland.

After all, Kermit knows it's not easy being green or a grown-up, even for those who have grown up with him. I don't think we are ever really all grown up, you know? Maybe we're at our best when we allow ourselves to continue to grow and learn something new every day, and that's kind of like very a childlike thing, don't you think? I kind of hope these graduates keep that sophisticated childlike sense of curiosity and imagination and innovation and innovation as they travel down their paths.

You still have that, right? I do, yeah. Do you? Oh, yeah. All right. Because none of us ever really graduates from that sense of wonder and connection, rainbow or otherwise. Hallie Jackson, NBC News, College Park. And thanks so much for watching Top Story.

I'm Ellison Barber in New York for Tom Yamis. Stay right there. More news is on the way. Thank you.