Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, November 28, 2023

Episode Date: November 29, 2023

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

Tonight, the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on its fifth day as more hostages are released from Gaza. The fragile ceasefire holding tonight, even after both sides blamed the other for violating the deal. Twelve more hostages now out of Gaza, ten of them, Israelis back on home soil. Palestinian prisoners released tonight in exchange arriving in the West Bank. Israelis demanding more for family members still in Hamas' custody rallying together. Inside Gaza, Palestinians return to homes in utter ruin, using the pause in fighting to search the rubble for whatever they can salvage. Will the ceasefire be extended again? Winter blast, a major winter storm barreling through the Great Lakes, snow causing dangerous conditions in Ohio, a 20 vehicle pile up on one highway there.

Some parts of New York expecting three feet of snow. Deep freeze warnings across the east stretching as far south as floor. We'll have the latest forecast. Desperation on the border. The heartbreaking images. Children being pulled from the Rio Grande as they cling to Texas law enforcement officers and life preservers. A mother crying out that her son has been swept away. Then a man being given chest compressions to save his life.

The crisis at the border growing more grim. Tasing excessive force. A Colorado woman suing local police saying she was tased in the back, raised in the back while on the ground, alleging excessive force, now saying the department didn't report the incident to the state, what the internal investigation found. Love of a lifetime, the emotional moment, Jimmy Carter, leaving hospice to say farewell to Rosalind, wearing a blanket with an image of the two of them. Former First Lady standing together paying tribute, the eulogy and music celebrating her legendary life. Plus, high risk, rescue.

the mission to save trapped construction workers, rescuers pulling 41 people to safety. Their harrowing story of survival after a catastrophic landslide, living off of food and air pumped through narrow pipes for days. And forklift, hot pursuit, police chasing a stolen 17-ton forklift, driven by a preteen, ignoring red lights slamming into parked cars. Top story starts right now. Welcome to Top Story. I'm Ellison Barber in for Tom Yamis. We begin with the temporary ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas holding on shaky ground,

with both sides pointing a finger of blame for breaking the truce. Still, more progress was made. Twelve additional hostages freed from Gaza, 10 of them, Israeli citizens. The youngest of today's group, 17-year-old Mia, you see her there walking on her own, carrying her family dog. Her mother also released from captivity today. The Red Cross driving off, taking them back home to Israel. Egyptian TV catching the moment hostages board a bus after a medical inspection at the Rafa border crossing.

Israel, in exchange, releasing 30 Palestinian civilian prisoners, a bus arriving in the West Bank tonight, people waving flags celebrating their return. We are also learning as many as 40 hostages are held. by militant groups that are not Hamas. Palestinian Islamajihad also releasing a statement saying they have handed over some detainees as a part of this agreement. Now, whether this relative calm stretches past tomorrow is still up in the air. NBC News chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel starts us off tonight. The ceasefire tonight is holding.

Hamas releasing this edited video of another group of hostages freed. This time nearly all of them are eligible. The oldest is 84. They are 10 Israelis and two Thai nationals. No Americans. In exchange, Israel will release 30 Palestinian prisoners. But Hamas doesn't have all of the hostages in Gaza. Dozens are held by other militant groups,

and their families worry they're being ignored. Today, in Tel Aviv, the Bebas family held a rally in support of Yardin, Shiri, and their children. and their children, Ariel and Kaffir, all hostages in Gaza. They held orange balloons to evoke the children's hair. These are their before videos. Kaffir giggling as his father gives him kisses. At ten months, he's the youngest of all the hostages.

And Ariel, four years old, driving his bulldozer. The baby and toddler have been held for seven weeks in Gaza, where freed hostages say they were kept in the dark, often in tunnels, with barely enough food, and surrounded by mass gunmen. Since the Biba's are apparently not held by Hamas, the Israeli military says Hamas handed them to another group. They've been passed over, time and again. Supporters today released the balloons as a symbol of the liberation they've been denied.

The Biba's family is beloved in Israel. TV crews follow them around, respectfully. hoping they'll be on hand if they finally get word that at least the children are coming home. So we just wanted to raise our voice and to speak for them and to say that it cannot be that this ceasefire will end without them being released.

It's like a shot in the chest every time that their names are not in the list. And how does all of this feel that everywhere you go, people want to talk to you, look at all these cameras around, people in Israel are really rally, behind you and all of the hostage families.

Yeah, it's really heartwarming, and it really does give us the family's strength and hope to continue a struggle. No one from the Bibas family was freed tonight. They'll have one more chance tomorrow. After that, unless the truce is extended, Israel's war on Gaza to destroy Hamas resumes. Richard joins us now from Tel Aviv. Richard, do we know more about these other groups that are holding hostages? Can you talk to us more about that family?

So there is one other group holding hostages, a main group called Islamic Jihad, and the group claims to be holding dozens of hostages, including Israeli soldiers. And what was interesting today is that some of the hostages that were released, the 12 people released today, were reportedly, according to Hamas, released by Islamic Jihad. So that shows a degree of coordination in Gaza that we hadn't seen before, that these two often rival groups were able to pool their hostages together and release them. But then there are other groups. There are smaller factions, and it is believed that this family is held potentially by one of these

smaller factions, and that is much more complicated. Very little is known about these minor groups. In fact, when the attack happened on October 7th at Hamas broke out of Gaza, ordinary citizens left as well, and some of those people stole property, engaged in kidnappings, took whatever they thought could be valuable, including people. So there was a lot of chaos that day, and quite a few people engaged in hostage-taking. So what we're seeing now is Hamas trying to gather those people together using this ceasefire to potentially release them. And tonight, Richard, what do we know about ongoing or additional negotiations

for more hostages to be released? Have you heard anything new from sources? There are intense negotiations going on in Doha between the head of the CIA, the head of the Israeli intelligence service, the Mossad, and senior Qatari officials. And they are specifically focused on expanding this truce, expanding the temporary ceasefire, and trying to release more hostages, buying more time with the hope, according to the Qatari's, of turning this into a more lasting deal. But so far, as far as I'm being told from sources, there have been no breakthroughs, but they are still ongoing. Richard Engel, thank you. And as this ceasefire enters its final day, the families of the remaining hostages wait desperately for the return of their loved ones. Joining us now is Moshe Lavi.

His brother-in-law, Omri, was taken by Hamas on October 7th from Kibbutznal Oz and is being held hostage by Hamas. Mosh, I thank you for joining us. I hate that we have to meet and speak under the circumstances. Can you walk us through the emotions that you and your family have felt the last few days since learning there was a hostage deal possibly in place and then figuring out the details that maybe Amri wouldn't fit the characteristics to be released right now? Yeah, the past week, ever since the deal has become a reality. It's been a emotional rollercoaster, that's how I describe it. Because on one hand, we feel the joy of the sites of people being released, especially these are the most vulnerable hostages, children, babies at times, elderly women, mothers, and they, it was imperative to get them out first.

But at the same time, we're saddened by the fact. Omri and so many others are going to be left in the Gaza Strip if this ceasefire will be concluded as planned. You know, I was reading some of the testimony your sister wrote about what happened on the kibbutz on October 7th. And I was so struck by her describing the moments of her Namri waking up to sirens and then rushing their two young daughters into a shelter and being in the shelter and hearing glass breaking, then voices of Hamas militants inside. And she wrote this in part, quote, the Hamas terrorist entered, pushed us violently to the floor and started tearing down our home, waking our girls with a gun pointed at their faces. threatening to do the most vile acts to us, mocking us for our helplessness. We were two parents trying to protect our two baby daughters against the face of evil. I think it is almost impossible for anyone who has ever met a child, has a mother, a father,

or is a parent themselves to read that and not feel the pain. How is your sister? How are the daughters doing right now? And how do you help a child understand what's happening here when really there is no logical explanation. Yeah, we all feel the pain since October 7th. Our entire family was targeted. All of them luckily survived, but it was a lottery.

Could have been very different. I could have lost my entire family that day. Lishai, my sister and Omri, experienced the worst of everyone when Hamas terrorists entered their home. And Lishai endured a significant trauma. And so did the girls, Svoni and Alma, two and a half, and eight months old, almost now. But she's recovering, and she's been a brave and strong woman

and talking to the world, speaking to everyone who wants to listen, elected officials, to the media, everywhere. She's been everywhere, and I'm so proud of her. But at the same time, she also needs to take care of the girls. My parents help her. Ronnie already speaks. She's two and a half years old, but she's such a smart girl. and every night she cries for her dad.

Every night she asks, why is he not around? And she speaks of the violence she experienced because that was not something she ever saw before. You know, as you're talking, I get the sense that there is a bit of hope amongst you and your family, despite all of this. It's not lost on me that we're about to start Hanukkah next week. And I think there was a speech that the Khabad Rebbe gave once

where he said part of the lesson of Hanukkah and the Maccabees was that darkness cannot be crushed. by brooms and sticks alone. It can only be expelled by illumination and saying a little light can do a lot to eliminate a lot of darkness. How do you find light and are you hopeful right now that this deal will extend and Amory will be home with this family soon? I will tell you. Every time a friend family member reaches out tells me I'm sure it's a difficult day for you, especially over the weekend. What I tell them is it's not a difficult day. It's a joyful day because hostages were released. It's a joyful day because we have.

have the ability to understand what the hostages been going through, and now we're going to keep on fighting, fighting both our pain and agony, and fighting for the hope that all the hostages will return home. This is our task. This is our mission, and we're not going to stop until it happens. This is why I'm here, and everywhere that invites me to speak, because we have the hopes that we can banish darkness both in the short term by returning the hostages to Israel, return. turn them to their home, both Israeli and foreign nationals, and both in the long run, because

this reality of having a terrorist organization like Hamas behind the border can no longer be a reality for the Israelis, and both the Palestinians are in the Gaza Strip and are suffering from Hamas authoritarian regime. If Amri were able to hear you or your family tonight, what would you want him to know right now? I first want him to know that Lishai, Ronnie, and Alma, survived. He doesn't know that. He was taken believing that they might have had the worst fate.

That's the first thing I want him to know. And I want him to know that the entire world knows his name, knows the name of all the hostages. And despite the hate we see at times on the streets, when people rip our posters, on social media, when people write the most vile things about what happened on October 7th and about the very same hostages. I want him to know that so many other people are supporting him

and are doing all they can all around the world, to ensure he's returning to Lishai, my sister, returning to Roni and Alma, returning to his father, Danny and his siblings. That's what I want him to know, and I hope somehow he will get that message that we are fighting for his return, and that will not stop day and night until he's back home with my sister, Lishai. Thank you. We hope we can speak with you again when he is home safe. Our thoughts are with you and your family. Thank you. Moshe Lovit, we appreciate it. Thank you.

Now to the struggles in Gaza, city getting its first pause. after a relentless bombing campaign. Ordinary people there are now returning to what is left of their homes. NBC News, foreign correspondent, Raf Sanchez, has more on what some of those families found. Under the cover of a fragile truce, Gossons are venturing onto the streets,

lining up at gas stations hoping for a few precious drops of fuel and baking bread in traditional ovens. The ceasefire, which is due to end tomorrow, offering a brief respite from seven weeks of his own. Israeli bombing in response to the October 7th attack. Around 15,000 people have been killed, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry. That's one out of every 130 people.

But today, the World Health Organization, with a stark warning. So eventually, we will see more people dying from disease than we're even seeing from the bombardment. Disease spreading through camps like this, more than a million Gazans now displaced by the fighting. Their tense, little match for the winter rain. Muna al-Bayari fled with her daughter. She doesn't know if her husband is still alive.

Is there anything worse than this? She asks. And even when the war ends, many will have no homes to go back to. In the city of Han Yunus, an analysis of satellite imagery shows damage to around 15% of all buildings. But travel up the strip and the devastation grows. In northern Gaza, where Israel's bombing was most intense, half the buildings are now partly or completely destroyed. This was Soldiers Square, a park in the heart of Gaza City.

Today, it's a landmark unrecognizable. Khalil and Yasmin got married just a month before the war. This is what's left to the house they hoped to make a home. We were living a happy life, but this happiness is gone and everything with it, she says. And with the clock ticking towards the end of the ceasefire, families bracing for the war to begin again. Raff Sanchez, NBC News, Tel Aviv. Back here at home into the major winter blast impacting millions in the Great Lakes region. The snow-coated highways causing a 20-car pile up in Ohio, with some parts of New York expecting up to three feet of snow.

This as temperatures plunge leaving millions in a deep freeze. NBC News correspondent Jesse Kirsch is in western Pennsylvania. From the Great Lakes to the east coast, tonight millions of Americans feel. winter's chill. Parts of Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, blanketed by Lake Effect Snow. In Ohio, some drivers facing white-out conditions. Possibly 10 vehicles. And outside Cleveland, police believe treacherous conditions led to a pair of pile-ups involving over 20 vehicles, one crash causing serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Right behind us here. What was it like this time yesterday?

Bear. Near Erie, Pennsylvania, more than a foot falling in Edinburgh, Officials are asking drivers to be cautious, especially for the season's first big storm. People sometimes they don't think about slowing down because they've been driving all summer, all fall without snow. Even with snow continuing to fall today, people now cleaning up across the region. Some areas hit by nearly two feet of snow. This is a big storm to be our first storm of the year. In Washington, D.C., the National Park Service says the National Christmas Tree fell over today during a strong wind gust. From the east coast to Chicago, millions feeling temperatures 10 to 20 degrees below average tonight. And along the Great Lakes, this snow is expected to keep falling across parts of the region until tomorrow morning. Ellison?

Jesse Kirsch, thank you. For more on that latest snowfall forecast, NBC News meteorologist Bill Karens joins me now in studio. Bill, where are you watching tonight? It's the same areas where Jesse is located, but it's ending. By tomorrow morning, we'll probably get some more school delays. will begin to get cleared. We just dropped Cleveland from our lake effect snow warning, but from Erie up towards Buffalo and even the Syracuse area, New York State, Thruey, that's kind of the worst of it right now. We still have these bands of snow. This isn't like

a storm that goes from the Midwest to the East Coast. This is just cold air flowing over the warm lakes. It produces clouds and bands of snow and like snow squalls. So it's not even last all day. But certain spots where it gets persistent, we get two feet. Orchard part, after the Buffalo Bills play, they're shoveling out the stadium, 14 inches of snow. So there was a significant storm for isolated areas, only another couple inches to go. The other story is it's not just the cold in the east. It's going to be a frigid morning in the deep south. We're going from Baton Rouge to Mobile to Tallahassee.

Cover up your plants. Bring them indoors if you don't want to lose them because tomorrow morning, by far the coldos has been so far this season. 28 in Jacksonville. Mobiles will be 28. The wind chill will feel probably the mid-20s in Florida tomorrow morning. But then the next story is not going to be the rain and the warm up in the east. It's going to be what happens in the west. We're going to have not one, numerous storms coming on shore. Friday, Saturday, into Sunday.

Alison, you ever heard of atmospheric rivers? We've talked about them a lot in years past on the west coast. This will be a big one. We'll talk more about that in the days ahead. All right, Bill Caron, thank you. We want to head to the U.S. southern border now and new shocking video out of Texas. Officers rescuing a migrant family from the rushing waters of the Rio Grande. Border officials urging people to stay away from the river as water levels rise, while a new surge in migrants pushes customs and border patrol to close down ports of entry. NBC News correspondent Morgan Chesky has the latest. We do want to warn you some of the video you're about to see is hard to watch. Screams for help in the real grand.

This body cam video from a Texas DPS Marine unit showing a rescue in real time. Operators pulling a mother and two children from the water. caught in a dangerous current. Coming! The children watching as members of the unit perform CPR on their mother, reviving her as the boat returned to the U.S. side of the border, now facing yet another surge in migrants. In a statement to NBC News, a spokesman for Texas DPS saying,

every person and child captured in the videos survived due to the life-saving measures of our tactical marine unit. The dire situation near Eagle Pass, Just one of the thousands of encounters impacting border crossings in both Texas and Arizona. On Monday, Customs and Border Protection shut down U.S.-bound traffic on one of Eagle Passes bridges, so more agents could process the men, women, and children coming across illegally. In October, CBP is reporting more than 38,000 encounters in the Del Rio sector alone, making it the second highest in the country behind Tucson sector,

where the agency has reduced vehicle processing at the International Conference. crossing in Lukeville, Arizona. The efforts, part of what's being called a shift in migration trends with no clear time frame on how long the closures will last. The agency only saying until the numbers of illegal crossings decrease, they'll keep their agents in place. Morgan Chesky joins us now from Dallas. Morgan, November numbers, they are not in yet for migrant crossings. But do you get the sense that authorities there are concerned about a new wave of migrants joining this latest search. Allison, absolutely. In fact, there's been reports from Mexico of hundreds of migrants

sitting atop freight trains bound for the U.S. Mexico border. In addition to the fact that several weeks earlier, we do know that a large migrant caravan had been spotted in southern Mexico. Now, there were reports out of Mexico City that Mexican authorities had rounded up several hundred migrants there near a bus stop prior to them finding transportation likely to border towns. But Ellison, keep in mind, the number of those migrants that were apprehended in Mexico city sits in the hundreds, and the reports still have thousands of people working their way towards that U.S.-Mexico border that, as for right now, those authorities will be keeping those international crossings in Eagle Pass and in Arizona temporarily reduced and or closed,

until they can process everyone coming across. Allison? Morgan Chesky in Texas. Thank you. Moving on to news out of Washington. Hunter Biden agreeing to testify to the House Oversight Committee next month as part of Republicans' impeachment inquiry into his father, President Biden. For more on the possible testimony, NBC News, legal analysts, Angela Sinadela, joins us now.

So Angela, Hunter's lawyer is asking, demanding that his client's testimony here be public. writing this in part, quote, we have seen you use closed-door sessions to manipulate, even distort the facts and misinformed the public. We therefore propose reopening, or propose opening, rather, the door. What is the advantage here to doing something like that from a legal strategy standpoint? Is it something that is a good idea? So the advantage to Hunter Biden is that it would be a huge disadvantage to the investigators, because at this point, either way, he is going to to be testifying in public in front of Congress. This would have just been the first step. So any deposition like this is all of the prep, all of the legwork for the investigators.

They get to do a fact-finding mission for hours, sometimes days, getting all of their data. He is testifying under oath behind closed doors, so they get a total preview of what he would say in front of Congress. So eliminating that step would then have them have no idea what he would stay in front of Congress. So when his legal team is looking at this, I mean, is it safe to say we look at this and we say, okay, Hunter Biden is going on the offense now and there's a shift in legal strategy, or is this just a continuation of what we have seen? Yes, that's totally right. And I think it started from the plea deal that was yanked out from under him. So at that point, the legal strategy was attempt to cooperate and try to get the best deal. But once that went away, the entire strategy shifted. So he is going on the offense. And I think it's smart.

So the House Oversight Chair, Comer, said this first testimony should remain. private. And then he went on to say he welcomed Hunter Biden testifying publicly, but at a later date. Why would Republicans not just want this out in the open right now? Well, as I said earlier, it's really a part of preparation. It's all about strategy. But also, what I want to clarify is that what Hunter Biden's team has done, which is so brilliant here, is they have shifted the narrative to pretend as if he has a choice. He is saying, oh, I will agree to testify. No, a subpoena from Congress, You have to testify. Courts have ruled time and time again. You don't have a choice. Otherwise, he'd be thrown in criminal contempt, could possibly be thrown in jail. So they've shifted the narrative to pretend like this is an agreement. No, it is a forced order. Interesting. Angela Sinadella, wonderful, as always. Thank you for being here.

Next, we head to Atlanta where former First Lady, Rosalind Carter, was remembered. The service was attended by President's past and present, but it was her own husband, former President Jimmy Carter, whose presence was the most touching. NBC News correspondent Blaine Alexander has more. A fitting final farewell for a former first lady. Flanked by her grandchildren, Rosalind Carter's casket, carried into Atlanta's Glen Memorial Church. awaiting her inside, former President Jimmy Carter, wheelchair bound and covered with a blanket. For more than 77 years, the two were side by side. Now, at age 99, he made the long trip from Plains, Georgia, to bid his wife goodbye.

Joining him, President and Mrs. Biden, Vice President Harris, and former President Clinton, along with every living former First Lady. The ceremony itself was a moving snapshot of the things Mrs. Carter held dear. From the music, including a tribute from the Carter's close friends, Trisha Yearwood and Garth Brooks. To the speakers themselves, among them, her richest legacy, her children. My mother was a glue that held our family together through the ups and downs and thicks and thins. And daughter, Amy, today, holding back tears as she read a love letter from her father to her mother written 75 years ago. When I see you, I fall in love with you all over again. Does that seem strange to you? It doesn't to me. Goodbye, darling, until tomorrow, Jimmy.

But amid the tears, moments of joy. Her most viral moment was when they were at a baseball game and the Braves put them on the kiss cam. And just like today, I mean, people were crying at the Braves game, you know. Mrs. Carter's motorcade will now head back to Plains, Georgia, where she will be laid to rest in a private ceremony tomorrow. Blaine Alexander, NBC News, Atlanta. Later in the show, we have an interview with Chip Carter, son of Rosalind and the former president. Talks about being a caregiver to Rosalind and their special bond. Also ahead tonight, tasing lawsuit, a woman in Colorado suing police saying she was tased while on the ground and that the officers or the chief did not initially report it.

What an internal investigation by the department found. Plus, a senior Pentagon official arrested in a human trafficking sting. The new video showing the moment he was taken down in an undercover bust and fresh fallout for Sean Diddy Combs, the business role. he's now stepping away from as he faces multiple sexual assault allegations. Stay with us. Back now with dramatic body camera video out of Colorado, now at the center of a federal lawsuit. The video showing the moment a woman was tased by police as she was laying on the ground. An internal investigation finding the officer violated the department's policies,

but the incident, it was never reported. to state regulators. NBC news correspondent Maura Barrett has this story. On the ground now. Tonight, the Colorado woman seen in this body camera footage, tased while lying on the ground, suing the officer and the chief of the Pueblo Police Department for failing to report excessive use of force following this incident in February. She's running. On the ground now. Get on the fucking ground now. Officer Benny Villanueva seen approaching Christy Gonzalez after she attempted to evade police in a truck she later confessed was stolen. Gonzalez forced to the ground, the officer then deploying his taser,

both probes striking her lower back as she yells out in pain. According to the lawsuit, Gonzalez still has numbness and difficulty using her right hand since the incident. Her attorney says they're looking for accountability. Christy, she's in prison for what she did here. She took accountability for what she did with this stolen vehicle. But, you know, when you were in a badge, the law and Pueblo apparently doesn't apply to you. The Pueblo Police Department conducting an internal affairs investigation. Finding Officer Villanueva may have used excessive force against Gonzalez and another person a few weeks later. One of the things that an agency has to do every year is send along a report that says whether or not any of their officers have been subject to a disqualifying incident.

Gonzalez's lawsuit claims the officer's use of the taser violated department policy and that the department did not report. report any disqualifying incidents in 2022. An IA conclusion that there was excessive where unlawful force used is a mandatory minimum one year suspension of your certification. The police department has not returned NBC's request for comment. During the internal investigation, Officer Villanueva acknowledged several times that he and his colleagues needed more training on excessive force and the taser they were issued. In interviews for the investigation, he said, quote, I'll be honest, I'm totally unfamiliar with

this taser. We need more training on it. Officer Villanueva also told investigators his taser usage incidents were related to his uncontrollable anger and temper. Mara Barrett joins us now from Chicago. Maura, is this officer still on the job right now? Well, Ellison, the Denver Post is reporting that Officer Villanueva, who was in his 30s, actually recently retired. This after many issues with excessive force on duty and actually a few assault charges off duty. Now, we've reached out to the Pueblo Police Department and Officer Renova himself but have not heard back.

But the thing is, this story is just one in a series of many excessive force cases and police departments across the country. And often those cases involve situations in which departments have to police themselves and when it comes to accountability. Now, advocates say if more resources, more funding was allocated towards higher levels like the attorney's general offices, they could then hire investigators to independently audit police departments in hopes that less cases like this happen going forward. Allison? Mara Barrett, thank you. We appreciate your reporting.

Now to a disturbing story out of Georgia, a senior official with the Pentagon agency entrusted with educating the children of military service members arrested in a human trafficking sting operation. Tonight, the new video from authorities inside that operation and the charges he's now facing. Tonight, the bomb shall arrest in a human trafficking sting operation in Georgia. 64-year-old Stephen Hovenick is a senior official with the Department of Defense Education activity.

That's the military agency that runs schools around the world for children of service members. To know that one of the senior officials in that very organization were actually, you know, in part of something that's as unethical and immoral as it can get, I think it's very disturbing. I know. It's so bad. New video released by Coweta County Sheriff's Office shows Hovenick walking into a motel room with an undercover agent pretending to be a prostitute. Steve, by the way. Hey, thanks to meet you. So you're beautiful.

Hovenick asks if the agent will do 30 minutes before she discusses payment. Hovenick presents cash to the agent who sets the money on the table and excuses herself to go to the bathroom. Just moments later. Sheriff, office, put your hands up. Hey, I'm not doing anything. Hovenick now facing a pandering charge. Just one of 26 people arrested during the two-night sting operation in connection to the alleged human trafficking ring. Pandering is a charge that's ordinarily reserved for a consumer of sex crimes.

If the transaction is caught on audio and video, then a defendant is usually going to be thinking about a plea and not going to trial. because that would probably be a loser. Harlson Sheriff, Stacey Williams, whose office assisted the Coweta County Sheriff's Office with the Sting Operation, said in a statement to NBC News, quote, we look forward to working together again in our pursuit of justice for these victims.

The DODEA, saying they are aware of the alleged incident but would not comment any further. But Hovenick's former role, Chief of Staff for the America's Division, is now listed as vacant on the DODEA web. website. Neither Hovenick nor his attorney could be reached for comment. It's got to just be horrible for all the people who were doing a good job with the DODEA, you know, to find out that somebody like that is doing something at the highest levels is just really hard to hear.

And we do want to note the Cowena County Sheriff's Office says during the Sting Operation officers made contact with what they're describing as six victims of the trafficking ring. The Sheriff's Office says they were taken to a safe house and will be receiving. assistance. When we come back, low-speed chase, police trailing a stolen forklift in Michigan for hours, watching it crash into multiple vehicles. What we're learning about the 12-year-old behind the wheel and where the equipment was stolen from. That's next. Back now with Top Stories News Feed, and we begin with the hazmat investigation at a Chevron Refinery just outside of San Francisco. Video shows massive columns of fire and thick smoke shooting from the stacks visible across

the Bay Area. Has Matt and air quality crews say at this time, there does not seem to be measurable health impacts. However, officials say they have received dozens of complaints over air quality. Chevron says the flaring started after a partial outage at the refinery. In Michigan, a 12-year-old boy driving a stolen forklift, leading police on an hour-long chase. Dash cam video shows Ann Arbor Police tailing the child driver, who they say hit about 10 vehicles during this chase. According to authorities, the boy found the keys inside the vehicle

while it was parked at a local middle school. The boy eventually stopped the forklift and was taken to a juvenile detention center. Luckily, no one was hurt. And Sean Diddy Combs temporarily stepping aside as chairman of the media network revolt as he faces sexual assault allegations. Revolte released a statement saying Combs previously had no day-to-day role in the business, but the decision will allow the network to focus on creating meaningful content. A spokesperson for Combs saying he made the decision last week. The Music Mogul has been accused of sexual assault in three different lawsuits. Those are accusations he strongly denies.

Now to a trial, we've followed closely here on Top Story. Convicted murderer Ehrlich Murdoch was in a courtroom once again today in South Carolina. This time, he faced sentencing for stealing millions of dollars from his clients. NBC's Ann Thompson has more. Already a convicted murderer. Today, Alec Murdoch was sentenced as a thief. I trusted you with everything. The clients, he swindled out of millions of dollars, telling the once prominent attorney

just how he betrayed them, including Murdoch's lifelong friend, Jordan Jenks. The money you stole for me, you could have asked me for it, and I would have gained. it to you if that's how I felt about you and your family. Murdoch stole more than $4 million from the sons of Gloria Satterfield, his housekeeper, who fell at his home and later died. He lied, you cheated, he stole, you betrayed me and my family. Gloria's sister asking this. I just don't understand. Did you not have her soul?

Murdoch agreed to a 27-year sentence for 22 financial crimes to be served concurrently with his two life sentences without parole for the murders of his wife Maggie and son Paul in 2021. Murders today he insisted again he didn't commit. And I would never hurt Maggie and I would never hurt Paul. With handcuffs unlocked, an emotional Murdoch apologized to his victims. I deceived each of you. I did terrible things. And his family. I am so sorry. that I destroyed my family's reputation. Judge Clifton Newman, unmoved. I will turn the page and leave you behind.

Today's 27-year sentence is vindication and justice for Murdoch's many victims. But Ellison, it is also an insurance policy if Murdoch is successful in overturning his murder convictions. He will now be in prison at least until his murder. mid-70s. Ellison? Anne Thompson, thank you. Coming up next, an alleged poison plot in Ukraine. The wife of one of the country's top spies

hospitalized after officials there say she was poisoned. So could Russia be behind the attack? That story when we come back. We're back now with a chilling story out of Ukraine. The wife of the country's spy chief hospitalized after officials

say she was poisoned. The raising suspicion that Russia was behind the attack after the Kremlin's long history of targeting its enemies with poison. NBC News, foreign correspondent Megan Fitzgerald has more. Tonight, the wife of Ukraine's spy chief recovering in the hospital after officials say she was poisoned. Miriana Budenava, who is married to Kirillow Budanov, the director of the military agency known as GUR, and one of Ukraine's most senior military leaders undergoing treatment after she was poisoned with, quote, heavy metals, according to GUR. The incidents during speculation that Russia could be behind the attack targeting Ukraine's

top officials. Budenova, a rising figure in Ukrainian politics, ran for Kiev City Council in 2020. And according to a spokesperson for Ukraine's intelligence agency, her husband has often accused Russia of trying to kill him, saying this summer alone, there have been at least 10 attempts to take his life. The Kremlin has not commented on this incident, but the use of poison plots has long been a tool of Russia's to silence and eliminate its enemies. There have now been a number of cases and incidents of critics of the Kremlin coming down with severe cases of poisoning, And it seems pretty clear that poison is a weapon of choice for Vladimir Putin.

In 2020, Alexei Navalny, an outspoken critic and political opponent of Vladimir Putin, was on a flight over Siberia when he suddenly began to moan in agony. German doctors say he was poisoned by a nerve agent. Navalny survived, but he's now behind bars in Russia, serving a decades-long sentence for fraud, embezzlement, and extrad. embezzlement and extremist charges. And in 2018, British authorities charged two Russian assassins for the poisoning of former Russian spies, Sergei Scripp Paul, and his daughter. Police say the Russians put a nerve agent in a fake perfume bottle, which they then sprayed on the door of Scrip Paul's

house. Scrip Paul and his daughter became violently ill but survived. British police say both suspects fled to Russia. The Kremlin has denied involvement in both. of these cases. What we're seeing is that Russia sort of doesn't care if it gets caught, but it really wants those that have crossed the Kremlin to live in fear. And Ellison, if confirmed that Russia was behind this poisoning, it would be the highest level person targeted by Russia since the war began. Ellison?

NBC News, foreign correspondent Megan Fitzgerald. Thank you. Now the top stories, global watch on our continued coverage on the war between Israel and Hamas. Organization now warning more people in the Gaza Strip could die from disease than from airstrikes. According to the agency, infectious diseases are on the rise. They are widespread among children and overcrowded UN facilities where more than one million people are sheltering. Currently, all sanitation services are not operating and there is a lack of clean water. Finland announcing the closure of its borders with Russia for two weeks due to a surge in asylum

seekers. The majority of the country's border crossings had already been closed, last week after an influx of hundreds of migrants from Africa and the Middle East. Finnish authorities have accused Russia of deliberately encouraging migrants to cross into Finland. Those are claims the Kremlin has denied. To India now in the remarkable high-risk rescue of more than 40 construction workers trapped for weeks in a tunnel after a landslide. Here's NBC's Janice Mackie Freyer. It took 16 days and multiple attempts, but 41 workers in northern India are finally freed,

pulled one by one to a hero's welcome. Weary, wobbly, but alive. They've all come out from a different environment and conditions, said this official. The ordeal started November 12th, when a landslide caused the tunnel where the men were working in the Himalaya Mountains to give way, blocking the only exit with 200 feet of rock and debris. They had been getting food, water, and medicine through a narrow pipe, but they weren't getting out. Day after day, there were roadblocks.

Drilling efforts failed. Even machines brought in by international experts were breaking down. It's too much for the auger, okay? It's like our auger is not going to do anything more. With just six feet to go. We are near a breakthrough, but not yet there. Rescuers brought in so-called rat miners, men with tools, who cleared the final stretch by hand.

The workers were then wheeled out on stretchers through a three-foot-wide pipe. After the jubilation, the workers were rushed to nearby hospitals, an incredible journey that will soon take them home. Janice McErayer, NBC News. When we come back, Rosalind Carter remembered by most as a former first lady, a humanitarian, but she was also a mother, and our Richard Louis sat down with her son Chip, talking about everything from his childhood to how the pair spent their final year. years together. That's next.

Finally tonight, MSNBC anchor Richard Louis sat down with Jimmy and Rosalind Carter's son, Chip, for a revealing discussion. Chip describes the special relationship with his mother, her final moments, and how he was there for her. My mother's nickname was the Steele Magnolia. I can count on one hand the number of arguments I ever won. Chip Carter, the second son of former First Lady Rosalind Carter and President Jimmy Carter. had arguments about everything you can possibly imagine. My mother always took the side with the weak children and helped us. No matter what the consensus was, my father took the opposite

side so that we could know that there's more than one answer for it. Did your mom ever take your side and you knew she'd actually did not believe your side? Absolutely. Absolutely. And she would always tell me afterwards, you know, damn was right. But she studied issues and knew what she believed and a lot of it was based on her faith one of those issues she more than believed in mental health and caregiving there are only four kinds of people in the world those who have been caregivers those who currently are caregivers those who will be caregivers and those who will need caregiving rosalind carter lived all four alongside her mother caring for her father as he battled cancer later receiving care herself from family friends and husband jimmy

including Chip, driving that six-hour round trip to planes two or three times a week, often alone, and he did that for six years. In the last year, it was hard to stand in front of the front door and you'd have to, and open it and go in and immerse in that stuff, and you'd have to kind of talk yourself into it. But it was difficult emotionally for me. Were you your mom's favorite? Yes, but I'm not sure my other siblings would not say the same thing.

She was always there, so yeah, I always felt like she was on my side and she would help me do stuff. We always jelled, you know, and I could pretty much say everything to her and anything when I was growing up. That started their shared view on the world, including their work together on humanitarian missions. We like being around people more than the other folks in my family. Actually, we had to become friends with my parents, which is something I wasn't sure anybody ever did before that as I get. older and they're not around. I'm going to be so happy that I did that. MSNBC anchor Richard Louie joins us now. Richard to hear Chip talking about his parents, being able to actually be friends with them, and also talking about what he did as a caregiver,

making this trip to help his mother, six hours a trip, multiple times a week. What other challenges and rewards did he talk about in terms of being that all-important caregiver? You know, Ellison, he focused on the rewards a lot when I sat down with him. Sunday. He said, you know, it got to be a very long trip so many times. And I'd stand at that front door wondering what I'm going to do next. But I remembered the hug. As soon as I would walk in, mom, whether she remembered me because of her Alzheimer's dementia, could remember him. During that hug, she'd look at him and go, chip. And he said, you know, I realized only within maybe recent months, years, they're my best friends. He said, how weird is that to say, my parents are my best

friends, former president, first lady, but that was true. And he said he lost one of his best friends, one that he could call, unlike necessarily his father, he was intimating, about anything, any time, and not just recently, but throughout the years, through the 80s and 90s when times were tough for him. Really amazing. Did he say anything about how his father, President Carter, is doing, who he is in hospice care? He was saying that at a moment right now for his dad, He saw him in ways that he hadn't seen before because they were the primary caregivers of each other. Mrs. Carter was the primary caregiver of the former president and the former president of the primary caregiver of the First Lady. She's gone now. And part of that change that he feels like he's

going through is I'm now the guy, along with my family, to take care of my dad. And recently, he said he had a hug and a kiss with his dad and it was probably he said he could count it on one hand that they had such a close moment. And that's very interesting, Ellison, because on top of that it's the first Christmas in 73 years

he's been alive, they're not all going to be together. That change fits very interestingly into her focus on butterflies change in metamorphosizing and he is going through that change he realized. Something is ahead, something that is difficult

right now, but he still remains positive. Wow. MSNBC anchor, Richard Louis. Thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it. And thank you so much for watching Top Story. I'm Ellison Barber in for Tom Yamis. Stay right there. More news now is on the way.