Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Episode Date: November 19, 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Breaking tonight, the Epstein files a signature away from being made public as a key bill heads to the president's desk. The Senate and House passing that bill that could force the DOJ to release records related to the convicted sex offender. Could a key provision keep some of the documents sealed? Plus the heated moment, a reporter pressed the president on Epstein in the Oval Office. That tense exchange playing out in front of the crown prince, President Trump welcoming Saudi Arabia's leader with open arms Despite the CIA saying he was behind the brutal murder of a journalist. Breaking tonight, singer David, now named as a suspect, in connection to the death of a 15-year-old whose body was found inside of his car,

what we're learning tonight. Fiery crash landing video inside the plane as it skids off the runway, how everyone on board was able to escape as flames engulfed the aircraft. A Massachusetts dad accused of killing his wife unexpectedly changing his plea moments before jury selection, admitting to dispose of, of a body, but not to the murder itself. Will jurors believe him? Roblox's selfie security, tens of millions of kids

asked to snap a picture to verify their age following a string of lawsuits, alleging predators are lurking on the platform. But where do the photos go? And will this actually work? We press an official at the company. Plus, banning the resale of concert tickets the anticipated cracked down in the UK

after a letter from Dua Lipa and other artists push the government to act. Plus, the sudden quits Twist in a cold case after more than three decades. We speak with the college students who helped crack the murder. Top story starts right now. And good evening. We are coming on the air tonight with breaking news.

The Senate late today passing a bill unanimously to compel the Justice Department to release the Epstein files. It comes after a dramatic day on Capitol Hill. The bill clearing the House first spearheaded by a bipartisan group of lawmakers. Last night, we told you less than 20 Republicans had publicly said they'd vote for it. In the end, more than 200 of them did. The final tally, look at this, 427 to 1. It was an emotional moment for many of Epstein's victims rallying today outside of the Capitol ahead of the vote. It marks the culmination of that stunning reversal from President Trump backing the measure he opposed for months.

The bill now headed to his desk, and he's promised to sign it. But the fight for the files is far from over. The bill only asked for unclassified documents to be reaffosed. released. So some classify ones may still remain secret. And in a key provision of the bill, Congress allows the Justice Department to withhold documents that, quote, would jeopardize an active federal investigation. An investigation like the one President Trump asked for last week launched by Attorney General Pam Bondi into some Democrats ties to Epstein. The question tonight could that be used to keep some Epstein docks from seeing the light of day?

Our Hallie Jackson has been following the votes from Washington. She leads us off again. The bill is passed. What looked like a long shot, tonight just one step from becoming law. The House nearly unanimously passing a bill to force the release of Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein, with only one Republican voting no. It's time for the Epstein class to go to be held accountable. Then the Senate quickly passing it too. House lawmakers acknowledging some Epstein abuse survivors in Washington to witness the moment,

including the family of Virginia Roberts-Joufrey, one of the most prominent Epstein accusers, died by suicide earlier this year. She did it. She did it. She paved the way for the survivors that continue to come forward and to continue to fight. At the Capitol, a candlelight vigil for survivors. President Trump resisted backing the bill for months before a surprising political pivot, now saying he'll sign it into law.

In an Oval Office meeting with the Saudi Crown Prince, the president bristling at a series of questions, including about Epstein. Mr. President, why wait for Congress to release the Epstein files? Why not just do it now? You know, it's not the question that I mind. It's your attitude. As far as the Epstein files is, I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. I threw him out of my club many years ago because I thought he was a sick pervert.

But I guess I turned out to be right. He gave me none, zero, no money to me, but he gave money to Democrats. That coming just days after the president snapped at a Bloomberg reporter attempting to ask a follow-up question about Epstein. The White House, saying the reporter last week behaved in an unprofessional way, but Bloomberg saying they asked questions without fear or favor. President Trump has directed the DOJ to investigate Democrats connected to Epstein, even after the Justice Department suggested it closed the case this summer. Any active investigation could let the Justice Department withholds certain documents. What makes you think you would actually, if this bill passes, see these files, that the public would see them?

There are 1,000 survivors. They can't open enough investigations to cover up everything that's in these files. President Trump has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein, his allies in Congress, blasting Democrats. They don't care about the victims. They only care about one thing, and that's trying to embarrass Donald Trump. They hope and pray there's something in these documents that will embarrass Trump. Now, fallout growing from the Epstein scandal with Larry Summers, the Treasury Secretary under former President Bill Clinton, saying he's stepping back from public commitments after emails showed extensive correspondence between Summers and the sex offender. Summers saying he's deeply ashamed of his actions.

All right, with that, Hallie joins us tonight. Hallie, have a couple questions for you. The first being, what exactly is or what exactly is going to be found in the Epstein files? Yeah, it's a good question. And I can tell you what the bill directs the DOJ to release. want the Justice Department to release a bunch of stuff, including travel records, for example, internal DOJ communications, et cetera. But here's, I don't want to call it a catch, but maybe a caveat. The Justice Department is also going to have to think about victims' privacy. That's critical

to this bill that has now made it through the House and cleared the Senate. And then you heard me ask Congressman Tom Massey about this, who's a co-sponsor of this, any active investigations will have to be a factor, right? That is part of the provision of this bill. And keep in mind that the president, of course, just last week, directed his DOJ to look into to investigate Democrats and their connections to Epstein. So I think what we do know is that when this is signed into law, that starts a 30-day clock for the DOJ. That is part of this. So they will be on a timeline once this thing is signed. Yeah. And then once it's signed, how quickly could the public get this? And we do think it's going to be this week, right? We don't know. We don't know.

Because keep in mind, you know, they would have about a month and there are redactions they'll have to do. They are going to have to go through, again, this active investigation piece of it. Like, there are real question marks around how that process actually works. Remember, it's been, you know, since the beginning of the Trump administration, there were earlier. Remember, the president suggested he'd be open to releasing certain files, et cetera, during his campaign. And so perhaps the DOJ has already started that process of redactions, et cetera. Those are, again, it's kind of a black box on that front. And so I think there are some of these threads to pull moving forward.

I will say, you know, they'll have 30 days after that. they've also got to then explain, according to the bill's provisions, why it is that they redacted certain pieces of information, et cetera. So all of this, very much a live ball, even though the political drama over on Capitol Hill has moved very quickly today. I mean, think about the timeline here. There are still going to be real spotlights on both the White House and the Justice Department moving forward, Tom.

Okay, Hallie Jackson for us, Halley, great to have you here. We just saw in Hallie's piece here that heated exchange in the Oval Office over the Epstein files. I want to play a bit more of that moment. Mr. President, is it appropriate, Mr. President, for your family to be doing business in Saudi Arabia while your president, is that a conflict of interest? And, Your Royal Highness, the U.S. intelligence concluded that you orchestrated the brutal murder of a journalist. 9-11 families are furious that you are here in the Oval Office. Who are you with? Who are you? Who are you? And the same to you, Mr. President.

I'm with ABC News, sir. You with who? ABC News, sir. Fake news. ABC fake news. One of the worst in the business. But I'll answer you a question. Mr. President, why wait for Congress to release the Epstein files? Why not just do it now? Well, it's not the question that I mind. It's your attitude.

I think you are a terrible reporter. It's the way you ask these questions. You start off with a man who's highly respected, asking him a horrible insubordinate and just a terrible question. And you could even ask that same exact question nicely. You're all psyched. Somebody sikes you over at ABC. You're going to psych it.

You're a terrible person and a terrible reporter. As far as the Epstein files is, I have nothing to do with Jeffrey Epstein. ABC's Mary Bruce there maintaining her composure throughout. And here's more of an exchange on Air Force One with another reporter. What did Jeffrey Epstein mean in his e-mails when you said you knew about the girls? I know nothing about that. They would have announced that a long time ago. You've got to find out.

that he know, with respect to Bill Clinton, with respect to the head of Harvard, with respect to all of those people that they know including J.P. Mortgages. Yes, Jennifer, go ahead, go ahead. There's nothing incriminating in the five of Venezuela. Quiet, quiet. The president calling a reporter there, Piggy. Joining us down to discuss what we just saw, Democratic strategist Amisha Cross, a good friend a top story, and Republican strategist Malik Abdul.

We thank you both for being here. Amish, I'm going to start with you. You know, we've seen the president get heated with reporters before. We used to seat a lot in the first term. Starting to seat a little bit now in the second term. The question was fair. No doubt it was definitely a hot question, especially when the crown prince is sitting right there next to the president.

What's your take on this, especially it seems to be ramping up now in the second term, these attacks on reporters? Well, Trump proved to us in the first term that he was no fan of the fourth estate. And I think that we have to take him at his word and take him at his actions. But this is a little bit different. And I think that we have to really lean into it because, you know, rest in peace, But this is a president who has said that he was going to be on dictator, a dictator on day one. He has leaned into authoritarianism.

We've seen him circumvent all of the branches of Congress that are supposed to, you know, enforce the separation and those checks and balances that exist. However, he has basically included all power in the universe of one, in himself and his own office, that unitary executive. I think that we have to really call out when he is disrespectful, not only. two journalists, but also when he is restructing their work. It is not their job to be state media. It is their job to be investigative. It is their job to speak truth to power. It is their job to convey to the American public what his policies are, what he has actually

said versus what he is doing. And that is something that he has a problem with. This is a president who has tried to throw everything at the wall and see what sticks. And right now he's up against an affordability crisis. He's up against a crisis of individuals who, as we've seen over the past few weeks who are more than willing to join those No King's protests, who understand the type of president he is right now and are very frustrated. I think that for him, he saw last Tuesday's elections, and he is running scared in many ways, not only because of polling data, but also because his grip on the American electorate is steadily evading him. Yeah, Malik, I want to get you in here. You know, the president, to his credit, opens those

things up to reporters. He's been very open and taking questions from reporters throughout his second term. He's been out there a lot in front of the public eye. What do you think happened here? What do you think set him off so much? First of all, thank you for having me. And I'm so glad that your team played the earlier part of the clip. I had not seen the original question that was asked about to the Saudi Crown Prince. I think that question itself is what set Donald Trump off. And you actually heard him say, you know, that it was a bad question to ask. I do think that in the context of the Crown Prince sitting there, I do believe that it was an inappropriate question

for a journalist to ask, simply because the American government, remember, it was Joe Biden who went over to Saudi Arabia to meet with the Crown Prince and also his father. We still have a relationship with Saudi Arabia and Donald Trump was talking about some of the deals that he's trying to get for Saudi Arabia

to invest money into the United States. So I do believe that that is what set Donald Trump off. But on the Epstein question, I voted for Donald Trump three times. He's the first Republican that I ever voted for, but bro, on this Epstein issue, these are valid questions, and there are questions that people like Dan Bungino, who Donald Trump brought into his administration as a deputy FBI director, he built a cult following on the issue of Epstein.

So I get that Donald Trump, it is, it has been, the coverage has been unfair when it comes to the Epstein case, but Donald Trump, you brought people into your administration who actually pushed to the conspiracy, and you're going to have to take the ale on that. Malik, as you know, there's freedom of the press in this country, right? And when any lawmaker, any leader goes into the White House and faces the United States press, they're going to be asked whatever questions the press wants because it's a free press, right? And there are still, and we heard from the 9-11 families, there are still a lot of people in America that are demanding questions and answers from the Saudis about 9-11 and about Jamal Khashoggi as

well. Our own intelligence service. The CIA said the Crown Prince was behind it. He knew what was going on with it. So I got to push back and tell you it was a fair question. Maybe not in the scenario that you're saying that it was two questions at once, but I mean, this is a free press and reporters can ask whatever they want. No, I don't think it's not a matter of it being a fair question. I thought it was an inappropriate question because I doubt very seriously, and we've seen it over and over again. Those type of questions haven't been asked of Netanyahu. I don't think it's appropriate when you have a world leader come to your country to confront these type of issues because, again, it's not the Trump administration. It is our own government that continues to do business with Saudi Arabia.

So while I get the notion of Khashoggi and it's something that should be addressed, it is something that our federal government itself, Joe Biden and Donald Trump, have decided, I won't say forgive, but at least they forgot about it. Amisha, the president also threatened ABC's broadcasting license after those questions, right? Besides attacking the reporter, threatening their license, which really, I mean, they have a right to broadcast and asking questions is baked into the Constitution. You're allowed to ask questions to anybody in this country. Yeah, I think that we've seen President Trump, we've seen him go after, you know, nightly comedians. We've seen him utilize the power of the presidency to sue various. cable networks as well as those who are outside of the cable framework. We've seen him threaten executives. We've seen him threaten the leadership of various media platforms, especially during

this administration. He does not want the truth to be shed light on his administration. He also wants to scare the hell out of people so they don't ask questions that he is not comfortable answering. And I think that this is just another example of that. This is a president who loves the press that loves him. And when the press starts asking him questions he is uncomfortable with or questions that really, you know, make him have to explain himself the policies he stood for and some of the ways in which he's trying to pad his own pockets in the White House, he is going to threaten to sue you. He is going to threaten to strip your license. That is what this president is doing. In a perfect world for Donald Trump, the media and the press bends to his will.

They become state media. That is what he wants to see. He wants to see a media that does not question him. He wants to see a media that is a propaganda machine for the Trump White House. Thank you, Malik, before we go, you heard what Amisha said there. Does it make you uncomfortable that the president's family is cutting these deals, doing deals all over the world, that the president will attend and speak at a Bitcoin conference where his family has a huge stake in the Bitcoin industry? Does that make you feel uncomfortable with somebody who voted for the president? The president ran against corruption, specifically highlighting what Hunter Biden had done under his father's administration. Excellent question, and I'm glad you mentioned Hunter Biden.

that that's where I was going, I'm one of the Republicans, the Trump supporter, who was out there talking about all of the what seemed to be very sketchy relationship that Hunter Biden had when it came to Ukraine in Burisma, but also China. The WhatsApp messages that we ended up getting about what he was saying about having to foot the bill for his family, giving his dad half of his salary. We talked about this over and over again. So to answer your question, I am very uncomfortable because we were just, they were literally hearings on Hunter Biden's business dealings around the world. And now it seems as if the Trump family is doing similar things. Yes, I am very uncomfortable with this because it makes me, if I were defending it, appear to be a hypocrite. All right, we're going to have to leave it there for tonight. Malik Abdul, Misha Cross, so great to have you both on top story tonight. We're going to stay, though, in Washington, those fiery moments in the Oval Office playing out in front of Saudi Arabia's crown prince, Garrett Hake is at the White House live for us.

And Garrett, the president was also touting Saudi investments in the U.S. There was a lot going on during that open press event there. Yeah, a ton of storylines, Tom, as you guys were just discussing. Look, the president has a lot that he actually wants from Crown Prince bin Solomon. This is a relationship that's very important to him. There was a lot of discussion vaguely about business deals here, the idea of taking the $600 billion that was pledged from the Saudis back in May and bumping it up to around a trillion. As we stand here now several hours after, the White House has still not provided much detail about where that $400 billion gap comes from. There was talk about a civilian nuclear program that they have provided some detail on.

The U.S. basically wants to be the nuclear power provider for Saudi Arabia in the future. And the other big moment out of this, Tom, that struck me the difference in tone between the two leaders was on the Abraham Accords. This is the president's signature foreign policy issue. He is not quite desperate, but very eager to have Saudi Arabia, the biggest country in the region, sign on, normalize their relationship with Israel. He kind of prodded the Crown Prince to say, you're in favor of that, right? You're coming along. And if you parse what the Crown Prince said pretty carefully, he said, yes, I am, but only when I see progress on a two-state solution. So the Crown Prince wants something from President Trump there a little bit, too, to lean on the Israelis. Very complicated politics there. And it was interesting to watch the President.

you know, trying to lead the crown prince down that path and the crown prince only being willing to go so far. Yeah, yeah, quite a day at the White House today. All right, Garrett Hake for us tonight there. Garrett, we appreciate it. Also breaking tonight, we're following this new news. The singer David now identified as a suspect weeks after a teen girl was found dead in the trunk of his Tesla. That according to an LAPD source. Camila Bernal has the late-breaking developments. Tonight, singer David now is suspect in connection with the death of Celeste Rivas, according to a Los Angeles police source with direct knowledge of the investigation telling NBC 4 Los Angeles. The 15-year-old's decomposed remains were found in September inside a Tesla registered to him

at a Los Angeles towyard. But the girl was reported missing last year, according to authorities. Now the LAPD source saying David has not been cooperative. Adding Rivas' death likely occurred in the spring and that the singer likely had help in dismembering and disposing of the body. Law enforcement sources have said the remains were not intact, and according to the medical examiner, it appeared the girl who was described as having wavy black hair and weighing about 71 pounds had been dead inside the Tesla for an extended period of time.

The singer David, whose real name is David Anthony Burke, rose to fame on TikTok and was on tour when the body was found this summer. Now David at the center of this gruesome and devastating investigation. Thank you. Kamila Bernal joins us tonight from Los Angeles. Camila, the medical examiner in this case, still working and determine the cause of death? Yeah, Tom, and it's unclear if they were ever going to get to a cause of death because of the conditions of the remains. Remember when the remains were found, it was only because employees at the towyard reported a very strong smell coming from that Tesla. Her remains were then found in the front trunk of the car, so the front of the Tesla.

And of course, we already know that they were in horrible conditions and that she was not intact. So instead, her remains had to be identified through forensics. So we still don't know the circumstances around how she went missing or how she died. And initially, David's representatives were saying that he was cooperating with investigators. Now sources telling our NBC for Los Angeles station that he is not cooperating. So it's going to be even more difficult and just more complicated for a thing. to figure out exactly what happened and to get to the bottom of how her remains ended up in his Tesla, Tom. Okay, Camila, burn off for us. Camila, we're going to stay on top of this one. We thank you.

We're back in a moment with a stunning breakthrough in a cold case after more than three decades. We'll speak with some of the college students who helped solve the murder. And parts of the Internet knocked off line today after a major outage, popular sites like chat GPT and X going down for hours. What happened? And officers jumping into action to save a driver just moments before Skari roughly. into flames, how they pulled into safety. That's next on Top Story. We're back tonight with the cold case spanning decades, now a step closer to justice. The big break didn't come from detectives, but a group of college kids.

Criminology students at the University of Texas partnering with police in Arlington to investigate the death of Cynthia Gonzalez, who disappeared back in 1991. Her body found days later with several gunshots, and her daughter, just six years old at the time left without answers until now. Police, they say they gave students access to real cold case files, including 4,500 documents and photographs from the crime scene, and that's what helped crack the case. And this really came down to old-fashioned police work.

It was connecting all the pieces of the puzzle together and realizing that the suspect made statements and new things that only the killer would know. Joining us tonight are two of the criminology students, seniors Natalia Montoya, who's studying criminology and criminal justice, and J.C. Cancannon, also is senior, studying biology with a minor in forensic science. Guys, thanks so much for joining us here tonight in Top Story. Great work. Such a sad story, right? Natalia, walk us through how you were able to nail down that suspect and what it was like going through all those old files.

So going through the files together, we were able to pay attention to some of the suspects that were speaking and what caught our attention was just the amount of polygraphs failed as well as the confessions that she would make to other people. Okay, Jacey, I mean, going through the story, it's sort of like how did the police not find this suspect, right? Because both women apparently had had a romantic lover and the lover had picked one woman over the other. How did police sort of let that slip through the cracks? Yeah, I mean, the police, they did a bunch of, work, a bunch of investigating, and they did a great job compiling all of this information. It's just, unfortunately, they don't have enough time to work on these cases one-on-one,

and they're trying to solve cases that are active. So, unfortunately, things do get missed, but with the work that they provided us, that's how we were able to make this breakthrough. If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be where we are today. Yeah, Natalia, what was it like when you guys finally did break this case and police made that arrest? it was an extremely emotional moment i remember when detective safford spoke to us i just broke down in tears with jacy and it was just an empowering moment for us and i'm just so happy to have helped her daughter in the long run and to finally get the answers that she deserved yeah i've been thinking about that

six year old the daughter all day right she was six when her mom was taken from her never saw her again jacy what was it like because you got to hear from her right to know that your work help get this family some closure? Yeah, it was emotional. It was amazing to be able to meet her. We never thought that we would meet her. But when we saw that the victim had a daughter, it reinforced how much we wanted to be able to help the PD

get some new information to hopefully bring this case to a close. And it was just emotional, and we were so grateful that we got to be a part of that and that we had the opportunity to meet the daughter as well. Yeah, great work out there. We do a lot of stories about college education and the future of colleges. And this is really interesting and a good reminder of the things you can kind of do at the university level. You guys should feel really good about yourselves. And I hope you get to work on more cases.

Thanks so much for being here tonight. Thank you. Yeah. An unexpected twist in the case of a Massachusetts father accused of killing his wife. How he changed his plea at the last minute, we're going to have an update on this one and why the trial is still moving ahead. Plus a massive crypto scam caught on camera, thieves convincing elderly people to put thousands of dollars into ATMs, at least stop this man in South Florida. But first, Top Story's top moment

and landing a dream job sometimes brings out the best emotions. Penn State interim head coach Terry Smith struggled to get through a post-game press conference after his first win with the team, Smith choking up in disbelief at how far he's come. And I'm just so blessed. I have the opportunity to be the head coach at Penn State.

I don't think anything has made me or my family happier than this opportunity. I've never been lifted off the field in my career. It's just a great moment. And here is that moment, the team lifting Coach Smith on the field for the first time in his career. What a beautiful side for him. Saying, if you love what you do, you never work a day in your life.

That really is true. Stay with us. More news on the way. All right, we're back with the major internet outage that impacted some of the most popular websites and online services. Cloudflare, an internet services company, was hit by a system disruption this morning, knocking major sites like ChatGPT, Spotify, and X offline for several hours. I want to bring in NBC's Brian's Brian's Brian for the latest on this. Brian, what caused this and explain this to us in the most simplest terms possible?

Yeah, and Cloudflare is not a name that many people will be familiar with. They basically do cloud services, providing a little bit of cybersecurity layer on top of those things, Well, the company saying that there was some sort of crash in their software system, but they did say that there was no evidence that this was the result of an attack or caused by malicious activity, which a lot of people usually think about when they see these big types of outages. But Tom, you mentioned some of those big names that were impacted, Spotify. Here in New York City, the MTA was impacted as well. So it really speaks to the fact that a lot of these large companies that we interact with on a daily basis. They're using only a few of these providers to get their cloud services. And that's kind of where a weak point can kind of manifest. It's If there's an issue with something like Cloud Flair, there are going to be a lot of companies that go down with it. You know, we had you on here. I think when AWS had that major outage and affected air travel, how secure are these cloud systems? Well, I mean, you could even go back even previous to the AWS outage. Last year, there were issues with, you recall, crowd strike, which sounds a lot like Cloud Flair. It's a different cloud company. There was the Microsoft issue where we saw those computers that were basically brick. They had the blue screen of debt. So it seems like every few months now, Tom, there's some sort of outage issue that people, are encountering. And I just think it speaks to this fragility. We're talking about 2025 in age

where there's AI and age where we're supposed to be as technologically advanced as we've ever been. But we're still facing a lot of these issues. And I think it speaks to just the fragility of the infrastructure that we have right now. It doesn't take a lot for one company because, again, they're so big to fall down. That takes so many other of these companies that we interface with on. So many rely on them. Okay. Brian Chung, thanks for being here. Appreciate it. Now at Top Stories News Feed, a big legal win as we talk about tech today for Meta, a judge ruling the tech giant does not have a social media monopoly. It's a major decision because META could have been forced to spin off its two popular apps.

Of course, you've heard of them, Instagram and WhatsApp. This all comes after the FTC's historic antitrust case against the company. And FTC spokesperson says they are deeply disappointed by this decision. And a legal battle over a congressional map in Texas could soon be headed to the Supreme Court. A panel of federal judges today blocking the new map aimed at giving Republicans five more seats in the U.S. House. It's all part of a broader nationwide fight over redistricting. Texas's governor says the state now plans to appeal that ruling. An investigator is now saying the deadly bridge collapsed in Baltimore last year

could have been prevented. The NTSB revealing a single loose wire on the cargo ship sent it crashing into the Francis Gottke Bridge. Agency officials say that loose wire led to an electrical blackout causing it to lose propulsion and steering. Six workers on the bridge were killed. And police in New Jersey arrested between a man who got trapped in a burning car, look at this dash cam video. Officers arriving at the scene. You see them there

smashing the window, finding a 26-year-old unconscious, unconscious at the wheel. They finally managed to unlock the door and get him out, dragged him out, really. Just moments before the car went up in flames, we're told that man is now recovering. Okay, next tonight, we've been covering these celebrity break-ins. Well, Brown's quarterback, Shadour Sanders, the latest victim. The incident happening during his NFL debut, Steve Patterson, has this look at the growing crime trend. throwing on first down as Cleveland Brown's quarterback Shador Sanders completed his very first pass in the NFL this Sunday. These Cleveland fans are loving Shador on the field. Police say a

team of thieves were inside his suburban Ohio home. And now Sanders has to step up with it all took less than an NFL quarter. The Medina County Sheriff's Department says surveillance video shows three suspects wearing masks and gloves breaking into Sanders home at 646 by 658 just 12 minutes later, they left with various property belonging to Sanders. Authorities estimate the stolen property is worth at least $200,000. Sanders is the latest in a rash of celebrities whose luxury homes have been invaded while away at well-publicized events. Kathy Hilton.

Police say Real Housewives of Beverly Hills stars Kathy Hilton and Sutton Stratz's homes were both struck Saturday while they took to the stage at BravoCon in Las Vegas. I don't sit at the table. Your family does. But at least one star's horror story is getting a Hollywood ending. In 2023, thieves made off with millions and items stolen from Keanu Reeves' home, including six watches, one with serious sentimental value inscribed from the set of John Wick. Today, the FBI announcing the wristwear is reunited with its rightful owner after a theft

ring bust in Chile. The final scene, Reeves penning a handwritten letter of appreciation. Steve Patterson joins us tonight from Los Angeles. Steve, you mentioned those real housewife break-ins that you report on for us last night. Now we're getting surveillance images from one of those incidents, as you mentioned. Yeah, that's right. Tom, first of all, police confirming the break-in at Sutton's home and Strack herself releasing those surveillance images along with a statement, saying that whoever broke in came in through the kitchen window stole all of her luxury handbags

and a good amount of her fine jewelry. She says she's now cooperating fully with an ongoing police investigation. But so far, no suspects in any of the cases we've been covering that occurred over this weekend. Yeah, Steve, you know, we've done so many of these stories, right? And again, these burglaries are terrible, these robberies that are happening in these people's homes. Is there any kind of protocol now, especially for the NFL, these professional athletes that seem to be getting their homes robbed every time they're playing in a big game? The first messaging came from the FBI to the NFL, the NFL, the NFL, the NBA, dispercing messages, just telling people that there is organized, crime, that there appear to be several rings that are operating and targeting players while

they are on the field or on the court or in the rink. And whether or not that messaging is getting through because this is still happening now in 2025. Okay. Steve Patterson for us on it. We appreciate it. We're also following the start of the Brian Walsh trial. This is the man accused of murdering his wife after a party on New Year's Eve back in 2023. In a stunning move, Wals changing his plea on two of the lesser charges he faces just moments before jury selection began. Stephanie Goss explains why. In Massachusetts court today, Brian Walsh told the judge he did mislead police and he did dispose of his wife's body. Tell me in your own words, sir, why are you here?

I'm here to plead guilty. On those two counts? Yes. But what he didn't do is plead guilty to murdering his wife, Anna, the most serious charge he faces. Before we again selecting jurors. selection now beginning in a case that has taken wild turns since Walsh reported last seeing his wife on New Year's Day in 2023. According to the criminal complaint, he told police she was called away suddenly on a business trip to Washington, D.C., which triggered a search for the mother

of three. But the prosecutor says she never went on that trip. She did not board a flight out of Logan Airport. The marriage was in trouble, according to the complaint. Walsh pleaded guilty to federal charges for selling forged Andy Warhol artwork, and Anna was dating someone else. And then she disappeared. The prosecutor says an iPad belonging to Walsh's six-year-old son revealed a series of Google searches. How long before a body starts to smell? Ten ways to dispose of a dead body if you really need to. Can you throw away body parts? The following day, investigators say Walsh went to Home Depot and spent $450 buying a long list of supplies. including mops, buckets, and a hatchet.

He's on surveillance at that time on January 2nd, even though he said he never left the house. And then a gruesome discovery, according to the complaint, investigators found 10 trash bags in a local dumpster filled with towels, plastic sheeting, a Tyvec suit, and Anna's COVID-19 vaccination card, much of it apparently stained with blood. He watched the dumpster carrying garbage bags. He's leaning in the PS2 heavy. Anna's body was never found, but Walsh was arrested for murder and held without bail. Couples fight. This was not earth-shattering motive to kill information.

The trial set to begin December 1st. All right. Stephanie joins us in studio. Stephanie, this is a wild one. Evidence not looking good for the suspect here. Besides the marriage trouble, there was also a life insurance policy at play to you were telling me. $2.7 million. The sole beneficiary is Brian Walsh. Among those Google searches was one that said, quote, How long for someone missing to inherit? Now, the jury selection just started today. It's supposed to go to the end to the end of the week.

And then the trial itself starts on December 1st. It's three to four weeks. And it's interesting, this strategy, Tom, because he's come forward and said, yeah, I'm guilty of disposing the body. I am guilty of getting in the way of the investigation, but I'm not guilty of murder. So prosecution's going to have to, without a body, prove that he actually murdered, Anna.

And the defense strategy, as you're saying here, is basically to just make sure they can't get to that point. Perhaps. Perhaps. I mean, all these other details, they'll say, aren't necessary or whatever they may argue in that regard. They can't prove that he killed her. But they'll have to prove that he killed her. Okay. Stephanie Gosfer for us.

Stephanie, this is a strange, but I'm sure we're going to stay on top of it. We thank you for that. Okay, next tonight, an alarming video out of Florida, an 80-year-old veteran, stopped by police as he fed tens of thousands of dollars into a Bitcoin ATM. He thought he was on the phone with the bank, but actually criminals were using the machine to scam him out of his own money. Liz Kreutz has this one. Hey, what are we doing? This is the moment a police officer in South Florida intervened to stop an elderly man who was in the middle of being scammed. Stop putting money in. Stop putting money in. Stop.

The victim, 80-year-old veteran Ted Viscowski, who authorities say was sending money through a Bitcoin ATM to criminals posing as his bank. A chase bank is on the telephone. No, chase bank's not on the telephone. You can see in the body camera video, the victim's face, blurred by police, how confused the man is, as officers try to convince him to stop at one point, even taking away his phone. Who am I speaking with? Who are you? I'm the police. If you're a police, I'm Donald Trump, okay?

Yeah. Let's get this man as much of his money back as we can, because he's being scammed right now. Viskosky, telling our station NBC6 in Miami, it all began with a pop-up on his computer that said his money was about to be stolen. The thieves told him the only way to stop it was to quickly withdraw cash from his bank and put it into a Bitcoin ATM. It looked so real on the screen. Authorities say Viskosky's son saw the withdrawals and called police. But by the time they arrived, he had already deposited nearly $58,000. How did this happen with me?

you know, what was I thinking? According to the FTC, fraud losses from Bitcoin ATM scams are skyrocketing. Annual losses now topping more than $100 million. Okay, Liz joins us live tonight from Los Angeles. So Liz, is there any hope for Ted to get any of his money back? Tom, I mean, authorities say that they are working on it. They are trying to retrieve that money for him, but they say that it is really hard. Cryptocurrency, part of the reason these Bitcoin ATM,

scams are so popular is that you can't reverse these cryptocurrency transactions. And there's also very little oversight because there's no bank involved. There's this sort of official authority that's going to say, hey, something about this seems suspicious and flag it and not let it go through. So it's going to be really hard. They are working on it, though, Tom. And Liz, before we go, any tips that police are giving to people who see these bank alerts? Because a lot of time for people I get them, they look so real. They do. I mean, that gentleman said that, right? He said it looked so real. And I think this is one, a good example of remembering if you have a loved one, an elderly parent or someone in your life, talk to them about this because these Bitcoin ATM scams are largely targeting seniors.

In this case, you saw how his son got the withdrawal alert for his father and was able to call police and they were able to intervene. There's another story, Tom, in Texas, where a woman saw her elderly neighbor doing the same thing, putting cash into one of these machines and also called authorities. able to stop it. So that's just one thing. But of course, you know, another tactic if you get that phone call, say, hey, can I call you back? What's your phone number? And if they're trying to keep you on the phone, that's another red flag that something could be suspicious. All right, some good tips there. Liz, we thank you. Coming up on Top Story, the major moves from Roblox, the popular gaming platform rolling out new AI safety features, but will it actually help protect kids? Plus, a new push to rein in those soaring ticket prices for sports and concerts. The drastic

measures the UK is considering taking against resale sites. Stay with you. with us. We're back now with a major update from Roblox, the hugely popular online gaming platform with roughly 150 million users daily, nearly 40% of them under the age of 13. The platform allows players to engage with millions of player-made experiences, such as the city like Bloxburg or the more Zen grow a garden. It also allows users to message each other, which has sparked concerns for children's safety. Attorneys General in Louisiana, Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma, all filing lawsuits

or signaling their intention to pursue legal action, arguing the company, it's not doing enough to keep children safe from predators. Dozens of other private lawsuits are also pending against the company. It's something we've been covering here on Top Story for years, including a case in California where a man was charged with kidnapping and unlawful sexual conduct with a minor after he was found with a missing 10-year-old girl who he had been talking to on Roblox and Discord. He said when arrested, he did not realize she was a minor. Now tonight, Roblox saying it will begin using AI technology to scan users' faces.

This is how it works right here, to verify that they are the age they say, and it will prevent unverified users from using that chat feature. These age checks are rolling out in Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands first, and across the globe in January. Joining us tonight is Eliza Jacobs. She's head of product policy for Roblox. Eliza, I thank you for joining Top Story tonight. Thanks so much for having me.

Yeah, I want to ask you how the facial scan is going to work because I think when parents hear that their kids need to upload images of their faces to this app, they are going to be concerned. Absolutely, and we understand that concern, and that's why we've designed this to be quick and easy, but also privacy protecting. So what you'll do is you'll open up the app. You'll do a live facial check, so you'll be moving your face side to side,

so we know that you're not using a photograph or an AI-generated image to try and pass this age check and then we will estimate your age and as soon as we've done that and the settings have been updated in your account, we'll delete that photo and video. So we won't be holding on to that data. That's our sort of privacy-protecting way of completing this really important check. Yeah. Can parents opt out of the verification if they don't want to sort of give their child's face to Roblox? Parents can also connect their account to their child's account, and they can do the verification on their children's behalf. But we know that parents are busy, and there's a lot going on, and their kids are on a lot of platforms. And we really do believe that this is a fast, easy, and privacy-safe way of making sure that everyone is safe on the platform.

For kids that are under nine or maybe even younger, really, who maybe can't read, how would this work? Yeah, so kids who are under nine by default will not have access to chat on the platform even if they do complete the facial age estimation process parents will need to go in and turn those systems back on but they will be able to complete it either on their own or with the help of an adult and then once they do we'll need that additional step of parents approving their access to chat features do you think kids 9 to 13 should be

chatting with strangers should be able to chat with strangers so our approach is an age appropriate chat approach we think kids talking to each other on the playground or at school is certainly developmentally appropriate. And often the gameplay requires that. You know, you're doing a collaborative game. You're growing garden together. We want people to be able to chat with age-appropriate peers, but not with unknown adults. And that's why we're launching this today. Yeah, I have my son plays Roblox a lot. All my kids have played Roblox and have enjoyed it. My little guy's eight, and he chats with another friend of his, who's one of our neighbors, who's six. How is that all working on

Roblox, and again, I know it's incumbent on us to sort of be monitoring this, but we know they're talking to each other, and when they've tried to talk to other people, we've been able to cut that off. But if they're so young, how are they able to chat with each other now in the app? Well, right now, we have a variety of chat default. So, for example, the eight and six-year-old are not permitted to use our private chat features. They're only permitted to chat in-game. And likely if they're friends on the platform, when they join the same server to play the same game, then they're in the public. game chat, which is also fully filtered. So we have stricter filters for under 13 users, and then still filtered for over 13 users. We also have constant AI monitoring in the background. So we have many layers of safety systems that are running to keep everybody on the platform safe.

We also don't encrypt chat, because we know that it's important for us to be able to monitor these chats and to work with law enforcement if we ever see anything concerning. So we have access, we're running background systems, and we have lots of settings, that are available by default, so safe by default,

but also parents can go in and update those settings. For example, who your kids can chat with. You can approve and approve who your kids can chat with on the platform. Right, we mentioned that incident where that man was arrested in California for chatting with a 10-year-old, a minor. What did you guys learn from that experience? Yeah, you know, any incident like that is one too many, and we take safety extremely seriously at Roblox.

Safety is built into our DNA, and we think about it, you know, in all of our systems design. So our hearts go out to families that are affected by incidents such as that one. And that's why we're doing this launch today. So in the future, kids just won't be able to talk to unknown adults. They'll only be talking to their peers or to people that their parents are approving. So if your son wants to talk to his older cousin or for you, for example, if you want to play with him, you'll be able to approve that in parental controls, but otherwise we'll not be able to speak to unknown adults.

And then Eliza, while I have you here, any tips for parents as well? Yeah, we recommend that parents go to our safety center, so that's roblox.com slash safety center, where there are step-by-step guides on things like how to set up parental controls, how this technology works, all kinds of tips and tricks on how to talk to your kids about online safety, because we know they're not just on Roblox, they're on a lot of platforms and everywhere on the internet. And so we really want parents to open a dialogue with their kids, get in the game, play along with them so that you understand what they're doing online, and you can help guide them along the way. All right, Eliza, we thank you for joining Top Story tonight.

Thanks so much for having them. Yeah, we're going to turn out of Top Story's Global Watch, heavy range triggering severe flooding, and a landslide in central Bolivia, aerial footage showing mud covering this village, homes destroyed, roads washed out, and trees ripped out of the ground. Authorities are saying multiple people are missing and several others are hurt. Ecuador voting against the referendum to allow foreign countries to set up military bases within its borders. The vote coming just weeks after Homeland Security Secretary.

Secretary Christine Nome toured a base there that could potentially host U.S. troops. Ecuador's president has been pushing for the plan, arguing it would help fight organized crime and reduce violence in the country. And the UK cracking down on soaring ticket prices sold on resale sites. Our partners at Sky News reporting a new band will prevent tickets from live events from being resold above their face value. Service fees reportedly will also be capped. Multiple music stars, including Colplay and Duolipa, have urged the government to take action after fans face steep resale ticket prices from their concerts. OK, to the Congo now, we're a jet carrying some of the nation's top officials

made a crash landing and burst into flames. Everyone on board, though, somehow managing to survive. Kier Simmons has the video from inside the plane capturing the stunning escape. Watch as a passenger's phone records a harrowing crash landing in Africa's Democratic Republic of Congo. The moment of touchdown. down, then the terrifying seconds as it skids off the runway. This video from inside the plane capturing an alarm sounding as people jump out of the aircraft, the camera revealing the charter jet in flames, thick black smoke pouring from the back

of the aircraft as the men call to each other. While firefighters rushed to douse the plane with water, tonight miraculously reports from Colise Airport say there were no injuries or fatalities. As pictures show much of the plane turned to ash. The plane's owner, Airjet, releasing a statement expressing a deep sense of responsibility and confirming no casualties. Around 20 people were on board, including a government minister. The government delegation was on their way to La Wallaba province to visit a copper mine that collapsed last week, killing dozens. That tragedy almost leading to another.

An investigation has not yet identified the cause of a crash that could have been so much worse. Keir Simmons, NBC News, Dubai. When we come back, the new viral sensation in Venice, how this high-flying dolphin is amazing tourists and locals alike. That's next. Finally tonight, Venice has a visitor, the famed Italian city of canals, now home to a bottled nose dolphin. His aerial flips out of the water quickly charming tourists and locals.

NBC's Emily Aketa has this look at the dolphin of Venice. The Rides just got even more charming. Thanks to a new local, rolling, jumping, and flipping its way through this lagoon. To Venetians and visitors delight. There it is right there. One vacation are capturing this video of the marine mammal last month. And some specifically setting out to find the dolphin and its aquatic acrobatics. Local officials say the dolphin, who has taken on the nickname Mimo, was first spotted in St. Mark's base in this summer and has popped up more frequently in recent weeks.

But the heavily trafficked waterway is a risk to the dolphin, prompting local rescue teams to try and nudge Mimo back out to open. and see with acoustic devices. It was right there. Do you see it there? Though for now, Mimo, not ready for this trip to Venice to end quite yet. Thanks so much for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yammis in New York. Stay right there.

More news on the way.