Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Episode Date: May 24, 2023

NBC News is first to report that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will announce his presidential campaign tomorrow night during a Twitter event with Elon Musk, former President Trump appears in court virtually in his New York hush money case, New York City struggles to house thousands of migrants sent to the city from the southern border, shark attacks in two states send two people to the hospital, and the cross-border graduation ceremony at San Diego State.

Tonight, breaking news, Governor Ron DeSantis ready to launch. His plan just revealed. NBC News first to report the Florida governor will announce his bid tomorrow night in a live Twitter takeover with CEO and billionaire Elon Musk. We'll have all the details ahead of this unprecedented event, including where DeSantis is already planning his first campaign stops, and what this means for an already crowded 2024 Republican field. Also tonight, candidate and defended, former President Trump appearing virtually in court for the first time since he was arrested in New York City.

The new trial date just set in the case over Stormy Daniels push money payments, and it's right in the middle of the Republican primaries. Dramatic video showing the moment a U-Haul driver rammed into a barricade just a block away from the White House, a flag with a swastika recovered at the scene, what the 19-year-old suspect has now been charged with. city tonight, authorities scrambling to find space for thousands of migrants arriving from the southern border, hotels and shelters filling up. Plus, where in Central America, the Biden administration is now considering sending troops to help deal with the crowds before they reach the U.S. Typhoon emergency, a monster storm headed straight for a U.S. territory. Officials warning the impacts could be catastrophic. We'll time it out. Diet drug boom, a new pill from Pfizer, touted as an effective alternative.

to a Zenpick, the new clinical data just in and what you need to know about the side effects. And wild pursuit a cow loose on a highway in Michigan, how policing their cars, on a four-wheeler, and on horseback, finally got that animal off the road. Top story. Starts right now. Good evening. It's already been a huge week for Republican politics. We are fresh off our interview with Senator Tim Scott, the latest Republican, to announce a bid for the White House. And tomorrow night, he's going to get some company. NBC News first to report that Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, will formally announce that he is running for president tomorrow at 6 p.m. Eastern. That announcement, one we have been expecting for quite some time.

But in a move, almost no one saw coming DeSantis planning to make that announcement on Twitter, alongside its owner, Elon Musk. The two said to have a conversation on Twitter spaces. We're going to explain what that is. It's the platform's audio-only chat service. DeSantis will join a rapidly expanding field of GOP hopefuls, already six serious contenders in this race. DeSantis already second in most polls without even declaring a run and likely to pose the greatest threat to the current frontrunner, former president, Donald Trump. But Trump's campaign about to get a bit more complicated, a judge in New York City today, setting the start of his trial over hush money payments to Stormy Daniels for March of 2024 right in the heart of the Republican primary schedule.

We'll have more on that brewing legal battle in a moment. But first tonight, here's Dasha Burns, who broke that big news on tomorrow's announcement. Tonight, we're just 24 hours away from an expected major shakeup in the Republican race for president, with Florida governor, Ron DeSantis, ready to jump in. Stay tuned. Stay tuned. And now NBC News learning exclusive details about that announcement, which will feature a surprise guest. DeSantis set to reveal his presidential run in a discussion with billionaire Twitter CEO Elon Musk, Wednesday night, that will be live streamed on Twitter spaces. The site's platform for audio chats, according to three sources familiar with the plans.

Musk first tweeted his support for DeSantis last year, and a source familiar with conversations between Musk and the governor's team tells NBC News, News, Musk does not think Republican frontrunner, former President Trump, can win and believes DeSantis is the future. My preference, and I think the preference of most Americans, is really to have someone fairly normal in office. Tonight, Musk saying he won't be making any endorsements Wednesday. I'm not at this time planning to endorse any particular candidates, but I am interested in, you know, X slash Twitter being somewhat of a public town square. The Florida governor will instantly become Mr. Trump's top rival. Run the Sanctus. Did anyone ever hear of the sanctus? The sanctimonious. Their feud has been escalating. Just this weekend, DeSantis slamming Trump over his pandemic response.

We can never allow warp speed to Trump informed consent in this country ever again. Now, the Sunshine State, ground zero in a growing Republican divide. Those backing Trump... I would pick Trump. You would pick Trump? Trump has already proven what he could do. And DeSantis. DeSantis versus Trump. Who would you pick?

If it was just those two? Yeah. I would pick DeSantis. DeSantis all the way. Why? Well, I want a winner. Dasha Burns joins us now live tonight. Dasha, walk us through exactly what's going to happen.

Some people may not know how Twitter spaces exactly works. Hey, Tom. Yeah, it's certainly an unconventional approach to a presidential announcement. So tomorrow night at 6 p.m., you're going to see, or rather hear, because it is an audio platform on Twitter. You're going to hear Governor Ron DeSantis and Elon Musk on Twitter spaces with a moderator, a gentleman named David Sacks, who is the former PayPal CEO, who's sort of a confidant to Elon Musk and a supporter of Ron DeSantis as well. He will moderate a discussion between the two. And at some point in that conversation, we expect that the Florida governor will make his official formal announcement that he is going to throw his hat into the ring. How exactly this will play out?

We don't know. And we do know that Elon Musk himself is a pretty unpredictable character. So this is going to be live and in the moment. And unlike any presidential announcement that we've seen in recent years, Tom. Yeah, Dasha, so this is pretty unprecedented, but do we think there's going to be a more traditional announcement as well, a formal announcement with a large rally, anything like that? Look, this is it. We do expect that after Memorial Day, he's going to do a swing through those critical early states. He will be holding rallies. But as far as a formal announcement, this is his approach. And this is what the campaign believes, according to my sources, is going to be the way to set up that. contrast between him and the other candidates. He is not the guy that's going to give the sermon-style

speech that we saw from Senator Tim Scott on Monday. He wants to do something different, something unconventional. He wants to bypass traditional media, and this is the way using Elon Musk's 140 million Twitter followers to sort of get directly at the voters. And by the way, that's something that was once former President Trump's domain. That's how he dominated. That's how he talked to people. And now this is something that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is looking to use. All right, Josh, I want you to stick with us right now. I want to bring in our political panel tonight here on Top Story to break down your exclusive reporting.

Hogan Gidley joins Top Story for the first time. Tonight, Hogan, welcome to this show. He's a former White House deputy press secretary for President Trump. Sarah Fagan, of course, one of my old friends, former White House director of political affairs for President George W. Bush. I welcome you both to the show tonight. So, Hogan, I want to start with you. Former White House press secretary for President Trump, of course.

And, Hogan, I want to ask you, this is kind of an interesting move, right? So you have Governor Ron DeSantis going in on former President Trump's turf on Twitter. What do you think about this move? Yeah, I wouldn't say he's going in on Trump's turf. I do think Trump obviously utilized Twitter to speak directly to the American people without the filter of the mainstream media and did it really well. It's a little bit odd, I would say. I mean, look, 80% of the activity on Twitter is done by 20% of the years. users. It's not a really widely circulated, you know, way to speak to people in mainstream America,

on Main Street, by any stretch of the imagination. Also, he's using somebody close to Elon Musk, someone in the CEO, I guess, of PayPal. Obviously, PayPal had some problems trying to target conservatives and cancel them as well, so that's a little bit weird, too. But look, your campaign announcement, you want to put your best foot forward. You want to talk about what you're going to do for the country. Undoubtedly, Ron DeSantis will do that tomorrow. evening. But there's a bigger, I think, issue here. Once the, the, all the, the fanfare kind of dies down in the next 24 hours over the announcement itself, it's going to get down to what really, you know, what really matters in elections. And it's the blocking and tackling in those three

states of Iowa, South Carolina, New Hampshire. And can Ron DeSantis's message breakthrough? It's a conservative message. I imagine a lot of people will like that message. But the fact of the matter is, and I'm going to quote someone probably never quoted on your show before, and that's the 16-time World Wrestling Federation champion Rick Flair, the nature boy, who said, and I quote, to be the man, you got to beat the man. And right now in Republican politics, Donald Trump is the man, and he's the man by about a 40-point spread, and DeSantis is going to have to set himself apart and set up those apparatus needed in those early primary states for this real announcement to have any real

impact. He also said the line is long to ride Space Mountain as well, Hogan, so I know exactly where you're coming from. Sarah, I do want to say Elon Musk has favorability ratings with conservatives that are off the charts, higher than anybody else in America, at least according to that Harvard Capps poll that just came out of here. But Hogan does bring up a good point, right? For Republican primary voters, are they on Twitter? And why announce there when you're trying to own the caucus? You're trying to own the New Hampshire primary, the South Carolina primary. It's sort of a strange place to be at first. Well, I think it's actually really smart. And it's

smart for a couple reasons, because, number one, he's going to get out to all of Elon Musk's followers. David Sachs has a huge following as well. And so I would submit that more people will see this conversation by doing it in the way that they've orchestrated it than doing a speech. There's going to be plenty of time for podium speeches with great backdrops. So I think this is actually quite clever. I also think what's perhaps even more significant about the announcement is that it's already under Donald Trump's skin, and that is going to be one of the things that Ron DeSantis has to do consistently is to figure out how to draw a contrast and get Trump off his message, you know, and on to sort of the name calling and the fight

picking, which I don't think long-term plays for the former president. Hogan pointed out that Donald Trump does have really high poll ratings. He has, he's in the 40s, and he is going to be very difficult to beat. But I think that his floor is about 17. So there is room for these candidates to peel away Trump supporters. And they're going to have to get different and unique to do that. I want to go over to you. Yeah.

Right. Josh, I do want to go over to you. Elon Musk is not going to come out and endorse Governor DeSantis, right? You reported that out. He has shown that he supports him. He's shown that he likes him as a candidate. He also, I should say, retweeted a message from Senator Tim Scott over the weekend. Is it sort of a slap in the face that he's not going to endorse him, or it's just so early in the process that we're just not at that point yet with Elon Musk and the relationship with Governor DeSantis?

Well, the sources that I've been speaking to say just the fact that he is having this conversation that this is happening on the platform that he's running is a clear sign of support and that he's not the kind of guy that would come out and endorse in the same way that, you know, you would see someone who's an elected official come out and sign a pledge and stand behind one of these candidates at a podium, right? But you're right. It's a very unique sense. situation. He's a unique character. He's an unpredictable character. So what this is all going to play out like, it's not clear to me. And I'm not sure it's necessarily clear to anybody the DeSantis emerging campaign included. But the reach that Musk has, the reach that even David Sachs has,

is going to be important to DeSantis, to the donors that he's trying to court right now. In fact, across the water from me right here is the four seasons where starting tonight and in starting, I'm sorry, tomorrow night and into Thursday donors and bundler's folks are going to be gathering and starting to fundraise to build up the already massive war chest that DeSantis has. So they're trying to start on a distinct footing and on a strong footing here as they really step out of the shadow and into the spotlight. Hogan, what do you predict that former President Trump is going to do as a counter programming event? Well, I don't know that Donald Trump needs a counter-programming event. I mean, I think Donald Trump kind of carries with himself a whole lot of weight when it comes to, you know, making news. He is the ultimate showman, no doubt about it.

Look, and if I'm Elon Musk, or if I'm Ron DeSantis, I should say, I wouldn't want Elon Musk to endorse me tomorrow night. That needs to be about the announcement itself. I would hold that for a later time if, in fact, that's something that would indeed happen. Most everyone on the Republican ticket that isn't Donald Trump is going to run in one particular, lane, and it's a crowded lane, and it is, I am Donald Trump's policy without his personality. I would argue, in large measure, because of the log jam and the swamp that is Washington, D.C. It took Donald Trump's personality to get a lot of those policies, but the fact remains. I think Ronda Santis is in a spot where he wants kind of the courts to really work over Donald

Trump enough to try and hurt him with the Republican electorate, and then everybody else from Tim Scott on down is waiting for Donald Trump and DeSantis to fight and then take all their votes. I got to stop you right there. Hogan, I got to stop you right there. Where has Governor Ronda Santa said that he hopes the courts sort of take over the campaign there? You've got to give me some proof on that point. No, no, I'm saying, I'm talking about from the strategy standpoint, look, if anybody goes after Donald Trump enough to hurt him and scar him and take the nomination from him, you're going to have to do that to win. The problem with that strategy is if you do that, then there is a large portion of the MAGA base that is going to be so angry for,

at you for taking out Donald Trump, they're not going to support you. So I do think some of the strategy is to sit back a touch. No question DeSantis is going to take his shots. He's already done it. But I do think he is going to want the courts to mortally wound, to fatally wound Donald Trump so he doesn't have to, and he can get and be the beneficiary of those votes that obviously support Donald Trump and say, look at what the courts did to Donald Trump again. Look what the FBI and the three-letter agencies did to Donald Trump again. He can point that. that out without being the person to take him down, thus hurting his own chances in the primary. The rest of the field is counting on a big fight between DeSantis and Trump, and so they

can just sit there and take the votes as they fall to them. And Sarah, I'm going to, yeah, Hogan, we're going to talk about the court cases in our next segment. Sarah, I do want to ask you, though, Hogan brought up the other candidates in this race, and I completely agree with him. You are going to see a bevy of candidates who enter this race, get on that debate stage, and basically agree with Donald Trump and are afraid to attack him, right? They're afraid to attack him for whatever reasons. One, they think they can peel his voters.

Two, they may be campaigning to become a vice president to run with Donald Trump. But I will say this. If Governor DeSantis stands toe to toe with Donald Trump on a debate stage, if Donald Trump shows up because that's also in question, it's going to look really good for him because if everyone else on stage is afraid of Donald Trump,

Governor DeSantis is going to be the only man standing there. Well, I think Governor DeSantis will take it to Donald Trump. He's going to have to do two things. He's going to have to draw a contrast with the president, not only in terms of substance where they disagree, but also, of course, on style. The other person who is not going to be afraid to take it to Donald Trump is former Governor Chris Christie, should he announce, which many people expect him to do. So I think you're going to see this interesting contrast on the debate stage where there are people, you know, debating Donald Trump on who Donald Trump is and his

character and others forecasting their vision for the future, talking about what's next. And ultimately, voters, even Republicans, want to know what are you going to do in the future? And so I think that really this race has to get narrowed relatively quickly if the electorate is going to choose somebody other than Donald Trump. I got one more for Dasha Hogan. Real quick, though, do you think Donald Trump gets on the debate stage in August that Fox News debate? To me? Yeah, Hogan, I'm sorry.

Just real quick. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. He gets on stage. As Donald Trump likes to say, we'll see what happens. It's too early. He can't stay away.

Okay, Dasha, before we go, talk to me about the super, talk to me about the super PAC money that the DeSantis campaign supporters have, have built up. It's quite the war chest. You know, we've seen former President Trump define Ron DeSantis as DeSanctimonious putting fingers. What do you think is coming Donald Trump's way? Look, I think that if DeSantis is not going directly at Trump, it is possible that all of that money that is going to that super PAC, that the, that tough messaging, the direct attacks might be coming from there, that the attack talk is going to be in the super PAC.

And that is where the more hard-hitting stuff is going to come from. And listen, there is going to be a whole lot of dollars. I mean, that is the big distinguishing factor with DeSantis is he is not low on cash, and that cash is going to be spent, and a lot of that is going to be targeted towards former President Trump. Dasha Burns for us, Hogan Gidley. We thank you guys so much, Sarah Fagan. Thank you so much for joining Top Story tonight.

While DeSantis read his campaign announcement, his chief competitor, former President Donald Trump, was in court today, joining a hearing virtually in that hush money criminal case in New York. The judge setting the trial date for March of next year. smack in the middle of what would be Trump, hopes will be his third campaign for president. Trump lashed out on social media about the trial date. Ron Allen has this story. Tonight, Donald Trump making another rare court appearance in the historic criminal case against him, regarding alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. The judge setting the trial date of March 25th,

just weeks after Super Tuesday, meaning the former president could be sidelined in court during his campaign. Trump blasting the court on truth social, saying the date is, quote, right in the middle of the primary season. Very unfair. But this is exactly what the radical left Democrats wanted. It's called election interference. Trump joined the Manhattan courtroom virtually from Florida, seated beside his lawyer, Todd Blanche. The judge ordered the hearing to make sure Trump understood the terms of a protective order, borrowing him from publicly disclosing evidence in the case, which might influence or intimidate witnesses or cause security problems. MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin was in the courtroom. What was Trump's demeanor like? Dower. Dower. You have to really.

unhappy to be there. The Manhattan District Attorney's Office requesting the order citing Trump's, quote, history of attacking those associated with prior investigations, and that he, quote, has begun to launch similar attacks in this case. In the motion, prosecutors pointing to March 23rd when Trump posted on Truth Social, calling D.A. Alvin Bragg, quote, a sorrows-backed animal. And the evening after he was indicted in the case, he didn't hold back criticism. The criminal is the district attorney because he illegally leaked massive amounts of grand jury information. Even taking on the presiding judge Juan Mershahn.

And this is where we are right now. I have a Trump-hating judge with a Trump-hating wife and family. There's no evidence of either of his claims. Today, Trump's lawyer expressed to the judge that Trump is, quote, a leading contender in the presidential race and is, quote, concerned his First Amendment rights

are being violated. The judge responding saying, the directive is not a gag order and should not interfere with his ability to run for office, adding, quote, he is free to campaign and do anything that does not violate the order. When asked if Donald Trump understood the mandate and that there could be consequences for breaking it, Blanche said Trump, quote, understands he needs to comply. Trump was not heard much during today's hearing. He pleaded not guilty to the 34 counts

of falsifying business records. The judge isn't going to monitor Trump's social media accounts, but you can bet that Manhattan DA's office is going to it. If they see behavior that they think is non-compliant with the protective order, they will certainly bring it to Juan Mershan's attention. One time Trump did speak for himself at the hearing was when the judge asked whether he had a copy of the protective order. Trump answered, yes, sir, and that he had reviewed it with his attorney. Tom?

For more on, okay, Ron Allen for us, Ron, we appreciate it. For more on former President Trump's latest court appearance of what this means for his 2024 campaign, I want to bring in former state and federal prosecutor in Miami, Florida. attorney David Weinstein. David, we thank you for joining Top Story tonight. First, I want to ask you broadly regarding this case, is there a legal precedent for any political candidate running for office to campaign while they're facing a criminal trial? You know, Tom, none that I'm aware of. A lot of elected officials have been brought to trial after their office term either expired or in the middle of the process. There are various

Department of Justice protocols with regard to when you can begin an investigation. conduct an investigation, indict sitting government officials, have an influence on the campaign. But to my knowledge, this is really going to be one of first impression with regard to someone who's running for an elected office, but also facing state criminal charges there. So, David, I want to pull up some dates here for you, and hopefully you can see this screen.

You can see the trial set for March 25th, right? That's in the middle of the primary season. And it's just after Super Tuesday and Critical States. like Arizona and Florida, the campaign could possibly be over, or we could just be getting started, right? Do you expect any kind of legal petition to be brought forward to possibly move this trial? Well, they're going to file another motion to continue. They obviously don't want to have the candidate having to appear in New York on the 25th for two or three weeks. He'll have to be in court every day. So that is going to impinge on his ability to

travel to states to conduct in-person appearances. But Tom, he's a criminal defendant in a pending criminal case. And as such, he's required to appear in court when the judge asks him to do so. The fact that he's also running for office is tangential to all of this. His campaign can proceed. The elections can proceed. The primaries can. Yeah. But doesn't the judge sort of have some discretion to say when he's going to set the trial day? Maybe I'm wrong here. You're the lawyer. why I'm having you on. But I'm just thinking about this. The judge knows exactly what's at stake here. The primary calendar, anyone can Google. And so now you have this criminal trial date in the middle of the primary season, right? When it's for something President Trump was accused of

doing back in 2015. So I'm just wondering here if the judge took any of that into consideration or he doesn't have to. Well, judges have a great deal of discretion, but they run their courtrooms. The judge wears the robe and they decide when cases go to trial. Look, Tom, I've had many cases where I didn't like the trial date that the judge picked, whether because it conflicted with something I had going on, my client had going on, and we raise all these issues to the judge. And then it's up to the judge to decide whether or not that's just too bad. And his schedule or her schedule says, this is when I have an opening on my calendar. This is when I can accommodate what's going on. This is when the courthouse can accommodate what's going

on. And as a trial lawyer, I have to bend to the will of the court. And if that's when they say I'm going to trial, then my client and I and my team will be in court because that's what the judge said we have to do. I agree with you that given the date and the timing and everything else, that some are going to argue that this is not a good use of discretion. But it's really up to judge here let me ask you a question last question david if if the trump team runs out of out of any type of legal moves and we get to a situation where it's a very heated race i know i'm throwing a lot of hypotheticals at you but we've already seen what sort of the maga movement can do when when something like january 6th with something that was was based on a lie that there

was no evidence that that there was any type of election fraud there and we saw what that movement can do then, right? And so I want to ask you, if they actually have something to protest about, like we're in the middle of a campaign season, there's a heated race, and now one of the candidates has to go to a criminal trial, do you think that would compel the judge to move the date if there were actually protest, or would the judge sort of have to sidestep that and overlook that and say, I've set this date and we're going to trial? The judge is going to have to decide whether it's going to become more difficult to do a number of things. Is it going to be harder to maintain security at the courthouse?

Is it going to be more difficult to get a fair and impartial jury who's going to listen to the facts of what's just going on inside the courthouse? The judge really doesn't care whether or not this is going to impact the campaign, because what he's concerned about is, will the defendant get a fair trial? Will the jury be able to decide the case based on the evidence that's submitted inside the courtroom and not what's going on outside? If there's chaos going on outside, and it's going to impact on the defendant's ability to get a fair trial, then the judge is going to have to move the case. But that's something we'll all have to wait and see when it comes March 25th. We can all predict what might happen now, but we won't know what's going to happen until March 25th. Attorney David Weinstein out of Miami, Florida, David, we appreciate your time and all of your analysis tonight here on Top Story. Also, the scare at the White House is what we're covering tonight.

rental truck was rammed into nearby security barriers, forcing evacuations as secret service teams search for potential explosives. Peter Alexander has more on the teenage driver and the threat officials believe he posed. The dramatic crash caught on camera just a block from the White House. The driver ramming this U-Haul truck into security barricades at 935 last night before backing up and doing it again. I heard this loud bang. And it was. was I looked behind and there was this huge U-Haul truck just out of nowhere. Chris Zaboyi was jogging when it all unfolded. I thought maybe it was like a drunk driver or just an accident and then it backed up and then

rammed it again. Tonight the suspect 19-year-old Cy Varsit Kandula from Chesterfield, Missouri is in custody. According to court documents, Kandula says he flew into Dola's airport last night, rented the truck and drove directly to the White House. He told agents his goal was to quote, get to the White House, seize power and be put in charge of the nation, and that he would, quote, kill the president if that's what I have to do, and he praised Nazis. Authorities seized a Nazi flag with a swastika on it, seen on the ground outside the U-Haul,

but no weapons or explosives were found inside the truck. Now he's expected to be charged with threatening to kill or harm a president, vice president, or family member, assault with a dangerous weapon, as well as reckless operation of a motor vehicle and trespassing. The incident is the latest threat to high-profile political figure. and their families. From the violent attack on then House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband to last summer's arrest of an armed man outside conservative justice Brett Kavanaugh's home.

That suspect now charged with attempted murder. Capitol Police say they opened more than 7,500 investigations of threats against lawmakers last year alone. Hate, intolerance, and violence are part of a disturbing trend. President Biden was inside the White House at the time of the crash. Fortunately, no one was harmed. The suspect was in D.C. Superior Court today, Tom, and will make his first appearance in federal court tomorrow. All right, Peter Alexander, from the White House for us. Peter, we thank you for that. We want to stay in Washington now.

Tonight, President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy trying to reach an agreement to keep the government from defaulting. McCarthy's saying, we'll get it done while others involved in the negotiation signal possible trouble ahead. Without a compromise, the U.S. Treasury Department says the government will default as early as June 1st. to bring in NBC News Senior Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett Hayquist and covering all this, Garrett. I just feel like every day we sort of have some optimism and then we're back right where we started. What has happened since the weekend? And is there still a lot of uncertainty there in Washington? Tons of uncertainty around this time. And the bottom line here is that the president and the speaker have both tried to keep the tone optimistic here. But below that level,

their negotiators are stuck. And the main reason why its House Republicans are insisting on a spending cut between this year and next year. They say the government's got to spend less money in 24 than it's spent in 23. And when the White House has tried to put other options on the table to achieve the same results, lowering the debt, lowering the deficit, but not making the same kind of dramatic cuts that Republicans want, Republicans like the Speaker, are taking them off the table. Here's what Speaker McCarthy told me when I asked about a change in Medicare policy that the White House has been floating. That seems like a place to try to disrupt the whole negotiations, would you? Like trying to throw taxes in now, trying to start now, start talking about

Medicare? No, we've got to get it done. So as the House Republicans clear other possible items off the table, we're left in this staring contest between the White House negotiators and House Republicans about what could actually pass, and the clock just keeps ticking towards that June 1st potential default, Tom. And Garrett, before you go, can you give us one or two items that are on the negotiating table? What's really holding this up? Well, look, the biggest thing is that top-line spending number. But once that's taken care of, everything else is kind of a dial you can turn in one direction or another. House Republicans, for example, would like to see work requirements put in place on some federal benefit programs like food stamps.

That's something the White House could conceivably agree to depending on how it's done. And the White House wants to see a longer debt limit extension. They don't want to be having this argument again next year, particularly not in the middle of a presidential race. They'd like to kick this at least into the end of 2024 or maybe into 2020. I mean, again, you can turn those dials a little bit once you agree on the big top line number. We'll see if they're able to get that done this week. All right, Garrett Hake for us, Garrett, we appreciate that. We want to turn now to the immigration crisis we've been following closely here on Top Story.

A Border Patrol chief releasing this new video, which he says shows a four-year-old child being dropped over a border wall into San Diego. Luckily, the child is okay, but thousands of miles away from the southern border, buses of my continue to arrive in major cities. Local leaders now clashing over where to house them and begging the Biden administration for help. Valerie Castro has the latest. Tonight, New York City struggling to handle the rush as thousands of migrants arrive from the southern border.

How many days you're going to get here, you know? What's what you say, no? No, I don't know, I don't have a million car. The mayor saying more than 5,800 migrants arrived in the city last week with dozens bus to the Roosevelt Hotel since Friday. The iconic hotel closed during the pandemic now reopened and functioning as a processing center before migrants are sent off to their next destination. The city says medical and legal services are available. This afternoon, nearly a dozen migrants boarding this bus outside the hotel bound for another shelter in the Bronx.

25-year-old Maida Hernandez spent the last two nights here after traveling alone from Venezuela with her five-month-old daughter and two-year-old son. Because I was in the Selva, Panama, Honduras, Costa Rica, Nicaragua. How many? Like, one of three months, more than. Leaving her home country for a more stable future. Why did you have Venezuela? Well, for what they're all the people, for the economy, no, there's almost a work. Yeah, no can't live.

But NBC News reporting, it's migrants like Maida that senior Biden administration officials are hoping to discourage. from making that kind of journey, pushing for U.S. troops to be sent to the Dary and Gap, a rugged and treacherous crossing between Panama and Colombia in an effort to curb human trafficking and drug smuggling, according to a senior administration official and U.S. defense official. Some New Yorkers pointing out that resources are going to people who finish that trek when the city's current residents also need help. I'm not going to say that, you know, that's a bad thing. It's a good thing. But what about the people

is born and raised here that don't have no help. State and city leaders pushing the Biden administration to grant expedited work permits. They're ready to work, they're willing to work, and they're not able to work. Let's give them a fighting chance and making this dream a reality. Hoping to alleviate the pressure on city resources, New York City Mayor Eric Adams also busing some migrants to neighboring counties to the dismay of some of those local leaders. We recognize that we are a county of Pro-immigration protesters clashing with lawmakers in Suffolk County.

We honor immigration. We honor legal immigration. We are a compassionate nation. We spend tens of billions of dollars. City officials have yet to send any migrants to Long Island or even make the request, according to NBC New York. Other big cities around the country, also feeling the strain. There are 734 migrants sleeping on the floors of 22 police stations across Chicago, according to our station there. An alderman says the city wants to house 400 migrants at a college campus. I'm hoping they find a place for these migrants. I just think we're going to be overwhelmed. A community meeting is scheduled for this evening. Okay, Valerie Castro joins us now live tonight from outside the Roosevelt Hotel there in New York City where migrants are being

processed. Valerie, we just heard in your piece that Chicago is looking at colleges to house migrants? Is New York looking at any other similar solutions? So Tom, Governor Hokel is said to be considering residence halls at state universities for the summer months. Two other state lawmakers are calling on both public and private universities to take inventory of

their available campus space. But Republican Congresswoman Elise Daphonic says the governor's plan will potentially quote, incentivize more illegal immigration. Tom. Okay, Valerie Castro for us. Valerie, we appreciate that. Now to the super typhoon barreling towards Guam. Forecasters warning the monster storm could hit the U.S. territory tonight with the force similar to a category four or five

hurricane. Look at the size of that. Guam already starting to see strong winds and heavy rain. The governor ordering residents near the coast to evacuate their homes, and President Biden has already issued an emergency declaration. I want to get right over to Bill Cairns. Bill, walk us through the latest, the track, on the track, and what can the people of Guam expect tonight? They're already hunkered down. They've already been told to get into concrete structures. They've been told, do not stay in anything that is not concrete. That's how serious they're taking this.

They're only about eight hours from a landfall. You can see the center of the storm here, and you can see Guam, and it's looking very unlikely at this time that it's going to miss. It looks like probably direct landfall within the next six to about ten hours. Here's a different, there's the Northern Mariana Islands, and this is Guam here. 140-mile-per-hour winds, and it's drifting. The worst-case scenario anywhere in the world is a past. powerful hurricane or cyclone. They're the same thing, or typhoon, and then it's moving slowly,

because then the wind adds up. It just continues to batter the same locations, and we get the rainfall, which is incredible, too. So winds 140 to 180 miles per hour, they're telling people the outages could last weeks and coastal. Some communities could be cut off because of down trees and power lines, six to 10 inches of rain, up the 20 inches in isolated areas, landslides, mudslides are expected, too, and the storm surge could be able to 25 feet in isolated areas. And the closest approach will be later on tonight for us, but for them, that's their Wednesday afternoon. Tom, they're 14 hours ahead of us. There's 170,000 Americans that are bracing for this powerful storm.

We will be thinking and praying for them. That is a massive storm in a very small place, Guam. All right, Bill Cairns, we appreciate you. Still ahead tonight in urgent manhunt in Ohio, two inmates on the loose. After escaping from a prison in Lima, why police are considering them armed and dangerous. and sharks on the attack. Body camp footage showing the moments after a shark bit of teenager in the Florida Keys and the new 911 calls from a separate attack at the Jersey Shore.

Stay with us. Top stories just getting started. Back now with some alarming new shark attacks, sending two people to the hospital. The attacks happening off the coast of New Jersey and Florida. A warning for beachgoers with a Memorial Day weekend just around. the corner. Rahima Ellis has the story. A recent wave of shark attacks up and down the East Coast, raising new fears for beach goers. Shark attack, shark attack outside a marathon. 20-year-old Kevin Blanco was spearfishing

in the Florida Keys when his trip with friends quickly turned into a nightmare. Blindsided by the side, my left outer thigh. And I don't really remember like the pain, but I remember the pressure and the force that he hit. my leg with, it felt like I got hit by like an F-150. Kevin says a bull shark attacked him while he was 70 feet underwater, biting his leg multiple times. How long would it happen? 20 minutes ago, man.

Body cam footage showing the moments first responders arrived on the scene. 1425 for tourniquet. Finding Kevin with a massive shark bite on his thigh. And with a makeshift tourniquet, his friends acting quickly. I took my belt off of me and my weight belt, and I took all the weight. off. And I tightened it on his leg as hard as I possibly could because he was losing a lot of blood fast. Patient stable at this time. That help may have been the difference between life and death. Had my son gotten bitten and they got scared off and went to the surface, my son probably

wouldn't be here. Another terrifying attack happening in New Jersey. A person possibly bit by a shark about the ankle below the calf. 15-year-old Maggie Drusdowski was surfing in Stone Harbor, New Jersey, when she came face to face with the predator. I felt something on my foot and it pulled me down underwater. It didn't hurt, but it felt pressure and I felt the teeth all around the bottom of my foot. Like, my whole foot was in its mouth. Maggie managed to get free and swim to safety, where her friends called 911. I swam out as fast as I could, and I got out finally.

And I looked at my foot and it's all bloody. Maggie, now home and recovering, but not ready to get back in the ocean just yet. Maybe in the future, not anytime soon. Rahima Ellis, NBC News. Okay, when we come back, Netflix crackdown, the streaming service putting its new password policy in effect today, while you could soon be asked to pay an additional $8 a month, we'll explain. Okay, we are back now with Top Stories News Feed,

and we begin with the urgent manhunt for two escaped inmates in northwest Ohio, including a convicted murderer. Authorities say Bradley Gillespie and James Lee were discovered missing at a prison in Lima. Gillespie has been in prison since he was convicted of double murder in 2016. No word yet on how they escaped, but authorities say they should both be considered armed and dangerous. Netflix has begun cracking down on password sharing in the U.S. The streaming service notifying subscribers today about a new policy that will limit sharing accounts between household members.

They will now have to pay $7.99 per person outside the household in order for that user to keep access to the account or they can set up their own separate account. And a dramatic cow chase on a highway just outside of Detroit. Look at this video. Police dash cam showing the moment's ranglers on horseback and ATV pursued the cow across several lanes of traffic, finally lassoing him as he leaped over the median.

Officials say the animal had been on the run for several weeks escaping from a local rescue farm, he was safely returned to his pasture. A new weight loss drug could soon be hitting the market. Pfizer's weight loss pill showed similar results to the OZempic injection, according to a peer-reviewed phase two clinical trial published in the Journal of American Medicine Network. Like OZempic, the drug is designed for patients with diabetes, but could also be used off-label for weight loss. To help us understand this study, I do want to bring in NBC News Medical contributor Dr. Natalie Azar.

Dr. Azar, thanks so much for joining Top Story tonight. So the drug is called, and I may get this wrong, you can correct me. Danuglupron. Good. It doesn't have a catchy name just yet like Ozmpic or Wagovi. But how does this pill work compared to those drugs? So this is interesting, Tom, because this is a pill form of, as you said, of Ozempig, which is the brand name for the same drug as Wagovi, very similar to Manjaro, all of these drugs that are already available on the market. that work in a number of ways.

They increase the insulin production in the pancreas, so they're very good for type 2 diabetes. But the reason that they work for weight loss is that they do a couple of things. They work on that fullness center in the brain, so you feel full more quickly, and they also slow down how quickly food is emptying out of your stomach. So again, you're feeling full more quickly resulting in eating less,

which results in weight loss. And this is just a pill form, essentially, of what these drugs have been doing by, injection thus far. So, you know, Dr. Azar, we, of course, discussed the high demand for these drugs by people who don't necessarily have diabetes. They just want to lose weight. This drug hasn't been authorized just yet, but do you have any concerns about adding another drug like this to the market, given the hype we've seen about OZempic, but I also do want to ask you, there's been a lot of problems because people sometimes couldn't get the pen for OZempic.

There have been issued with people who actually have diabetes not getting this drug. So does this sort of alleviate some of that problem? So I think for the consumer, i.e. the patients, it's always, and for providers who are prescribing these medications, it's always better to have more options than not enough. And especially for something like this, where some patients truly are needlephobic, and they would really rather prefer a pill to an injection. But Tom, in terms of more competition in the market for the drug makers, not necessarily a good thing, right? It's really a supply and demand thing, and it just comes down to basic economics. And I think it's really going to have to do with how well does this pill really perform

Against the injections is really an advantage to taking the pill. And there, I think you have to kind of look into the study a little bit. There was a fair number of people who didn't take the pill after a little while. Did they not tolerate it? You know, these medications obviously have side effects. An injection once a week versus having to take two pills a day. Maybe compliance is an issue as well. So we'll see.

But again, for the patients and providers, more choices are always better than not enough choices, Tom. Dr. Azar, just before we go, can we get sort of a status check on and drugs just like this one, and the people who are taking them who don't have diabetes. I've heard a lot of cases about people losing muscle mass as well. Every month that goes by, we're sort of learning more and more about these drugs. What is new and is it safe for people who, again, don't have diabetes but want to lose that sort of 15 to 20 to 30 pounds? So again, I think it's really important to emphasize that these medications really are not

indicated for that amount of weight loss. They really are so important for patients who are overweight or obese. who have type 2 diabetes or other risk factors for heart disease and really need to lose a substantial amount of weight. We don't know the long-term consequences of taking medications like this. We only have safety data going out about two to three years on these medications. You mentioned the muscle loss and things like that. So, you know, again, it is always a good thing for a drug like this to come to market

because I think there's always going to be a demand for any. that can assist with weight loss, but I think it still will be really relegated to, you know, the purview of endocrinologists doing, you know, obesity medicine, but I think for a primary care doctor who may not be able to, you know, prescribe these injectables with such ease, a pill could certainly be better. I think Wagobe right now has stopped their marketing because they're experiencing such a shortage. So it's always a good idea in that regard, again, to have a newcomer on the market. Okay, Dr. Eazar, we always appreciate having you on the show. Thank you for that. Coming up, the volcano warning in Mexico, millions told to prepare to flee their homes as the

volcano spews lava and ash near Mexico City. The alert level just raised. That's next. All right, we're back now with Top Stories Global Watch and the new search for Madeline McCann 16 years after her disappearance. Portuguese and German authorities searching a reservoir about 32 miles from the beachside resort where the British toddler was last seen back in 2007. Now, there's no word yet on what actually led police to that reservoir, but it comes one year after a German man was formally identified as an official suspect in her disappearance. Okay, in Mexico, millions are preparing to evacuate as the country raises a volcanic alert level. The country's most active volcano, which is about 45 miles outside of Mexico City, continues

to spew smoke and ash. You see it right there. Flights in and out of Mexico City's two airports. impacted. Some schools go in remote and three million people in the surrounding area told to be ready to leave their homes in case it blows. And police in Spain making several arrests over racist abuse targeting a star soccer player. Authorities in Madrid charging four people with hate crimes after a mannequin wearing the jersey of Real Madrid's Venetius Jr. was hung from a bridge. That incident just one day after fans at La Liga match in Valencia hurled racial slurs at him. Three people were arrested for those chance. On social media, the star winger says the lead, quote, now belongs to racist.

Okay, when we come back, a graduation that transcends borders, we'll introduce you to some of the students who travel to San Diego State every day from Mexico what it took to get those diplomas and the special graduation ceremony that allowed their families to be there. Stay with us. Finally tonight, as college graduation season comes to an end, we're taking you to a special commencement ceremony in Mexico. in celebrating a group of San Diego state students who travel great lengths to get their diplomas.

First crossing the border and now the graduation stage. NBC's Marissa Para as their story. Beyond the pomp and circumstance, the proof of the moment is in the details. Wearing their culture on their sleeves, their graduation caps, the message is clear. I'm from both sides. Both of us, we grew up in Rosarito, across the border. These are trans-border students, and these students have crossed the border from Mexico to the U.S. for university at San Diego State. It's a process tens of thousands of trans-border students are all too familiar with. Hours spent waiting in line at the border before class even starts.

Work up at 4 o'clock in the morning to be there at 9 o'clock sometimes to school. Early mornings, late nights, more time away than at home. For years, all these families have ever known. or missed moments until now. This time, these students crossed the border in the opposite direction. From San Diego, California, the Tijuana, Mexico. To share this moment with those who thought they would never see it. We still have family that are not able to cross the border to come and celebrate with us over here.

So for us to have a ceremony that acknowledges our accomplishments as, as doctors now. In Spanish, too, for our family that doesn't speak English, is just an amazing opportunity for us. A graduation ceremony entirely in Spanish, dubbed a trans-border graduation, one of the first of its kind. Never in my five years of career, never thought that something like this, like it will happen, honestly. For the Mexican mothers, fathers, abuelos, who sacrificed so much to give their children anything. You can see it on their faces. This is everything.

My wife, you know, when she found out about that, she cried all day. She couldn't believe it. I mean, she was like crying, crying all the way, because, you know, something that she was not going to happen, you know. This time, the tears were happy ones. A milestone shared with heads and hands held high. Marisipara, NBC News. Heads held high indeed.

We thank Brissa for that story, and we thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamas in San Antonio. Stay right there. More news on the way.