Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, November 7, 2023

Episode Date: November 8, 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.

It's election night, with polls closing in several states, why tonight's results could set the stage for the race to the White House. One of the biggest policy battles of the night, abortion rights on the ballot in Ohio and looming over the governor's race in Kentucky. In Virginia, debates over access underline the Republican efforts to sweep the state house. Will the highly contessions issue fuel voter turnout? What tonight's results could mean for the presidential election? Countdown to the debate. We're here in Miami just 24 hours before five of the top Republican presidential candidates face off. The frontrunner, former President Trump, a no-show again, but holding a rally just a down a few exits.

Will his rivals take aim at him and why tomorrow may be the last debate for some candidates? On stage, will it be Governor Ron DeSantis fresh off a big endorsement or a surging Nikki Haley that gets all the attention? Also breaking tonight, police investigating the death of a performance. pro-Israel supporter after an apparent scuffle with a counter-protester. The medical examiner ruling it a homicide. Right now, the alleged assailant cooperating with police and not in custody, witnesses asked to step forward to find answers. One month after the Hamas terror attacks in Israel, people gathering in Jerusalem for a special prayer service mourning the 1400 killed on October 7th, projecting their photos on the sacred western wall.

In Gaza, more images of grief with Hamas reporting the death. toll at more than 10,000. Air strikes flattening entire neighborhoods, children pulled from rubble while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hints at possible plans for Gaza after the war. Plus, the deadly fog back here at home for the second time in about two weeks, thick fog mixing with wildfire smoke causing a deadly crash in Louisiana. More on the super fog, blinding motorists early this morning. And call Santa. There's a flying deer on the loose that buck going airborne over a car and smash it into that white pickup at the exact moment it was supposed to be sold. Top story starts right now.

And good evening. Welcome to Top Story. We are live tonight from the Telomundo Studios in Miami ahead of tomorrow night's Republican presidential debate. It is election night and polls are closing in some of the most consequential elections of the year. One major issue trying a lot of these races together. the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

Tonight, Ohio voters are making a massive decision on abortion rights, whether to enshrine reproductive care and access into the state's constitution. It will take just 50% of voters to make that happen. Abortion doesn't need to be on the ballot to play a major role in the Kentucky governor's race. The incumbent governor, Andy Bashir, a Democrat, is looking to hang on for another term facing off against Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron, who defended the state's abortion ban. Both candidates saying the other holds extreme views on abortion rights, but now the voters decide.

And all eyes are on Virginia and whether Republican Governor Glenn Yonkin will score a governing trifecta his goal. Republicans winning control of the House of Delegates and the state Senate, a major GOP sweep in Virginia, is leading some to believe it could push Yonkin into the presidential race, reshaping the race to the Republican nomination to try to unseat President Biden. All of this just before our big debate tomorrow night. It's a huge night of politics, so let's get started with NBC News correspondent, Dasha Burns. Tonight, abortion rights taking center stage with multiple races testing its political power to motivate voters. At issue in Ohio, whether or not to enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution. We believe that everyone should have their rights protected as much as possible, and this freeborn human should have their right to life protected. It's been a bitter battle with abortion rights advocates claiming the ballot language.

is intentionally confusing. Abortion rights supporters coming off of a string of election wins since Roe v. Wade was overturned. Democrats hoping the issue motivates their base amid President Biden's dismal approval ratings. Women and families all across this country are being heard loud and clear that we do not support the overturn of Roe v. Wade. And a major test in Virginia where control of the state legislature is up for grabs. The number one issue we hear across the Commonwealth is the concerns about Biden's inflation. and that it's stealing their hard-earned money. A Republican win would raise the national profile of Governor Glenn Yonkin.

Republican control could also clear the way for Yonkin and the legislature to implement a 15-week abortion ban, with exceptions for rape, incest, and the life of the mother. Meanwhile, in Kentucky, Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron. The people of Kentucky are going to make this judgment and decision. Hoping to unseat a rare Southern Democratic governor, Andy Bashir, by tying him to President Biden. Bashir has leaned heavily into the abortion issue as part of his campaign, bashing the state's near total ban. NBC news correspondent, Dasha Burns, joins us now live from Cleveland, Ohio.

Dasha, let's start right there. I know some exit polls are out over the question about abortion in Ohio. So far, what do we know? Yeah, Tom, that's right. One question post-voters was about the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, And what we're saying right now is 39% of voters say that they are angry over that decision. 21% say they're dissatisfied. Just 17% say they're satisfied.

Only 18% say they're enthusiastic. So that large chunk of voters that are unhappy with that decision, Tom. We have seen that that is what has driven folks in the past. We've seen the abortion rights movement have success in these special sorts of elections off your elections. since that Supreme Court decision came to be. And this is why Democrats have really been using that as fuel in these elections, like the ones that we're seeing today, Tom. And then, Dasha, do we have any information yet about the race,

the governor's race head of Mississippi? Not yet, Tom, but this is an really interesting one. That state has not flipped blue in a governor's race in more than two decades, but Democrats have made an aggressive push to try to unseat incumbent Republican Republican Republican. Governor Tate Reeves, Democrat Brandon Presley, who, yes, is of relation to LaRoc legend Elvis Presley, has been pushing very hard that race is surprisingly tighter than people have expected. The Democratic Governors Association has poured millions into that race, Tom. Yeah, we'll see if the spirit of Elvis can lift his hopes there.

Finally, I know you've been all over the campaign trail. We've been talking a lot about polling. Are the governor's races in both Mississippi, and we saw there, report, Kentucky as well. Are they expected to be referendums on President Biden? Well, the Republican Party certainly hopes, and it's trying to make that the case, in both of those races, the Republican governors have been trying to tie their opponents to Joe Biden. When you see the ads, they're not so much about where their opponent's positions are, but they are about the relationships that they're trying to show to voters about their opponents

and former President Biden, hoping that his unpopularity that we've seen in the polls will help sink their Democratic opponents there, Tom. All right, Dasha Burns leading us off tonight here on Top Story, Dasha. We thank you. As we heard in Dasha's report, one of the key tests for Democrats tonight is that governor's race there in Kentucky, where polls across the state have just closed. Voters deciding between incumbent Governor Andy Bashir, a Democrat, or the Trump-back challenger state attorney general, Daniel Cameron.

That race right now, too close to call, as we see some of the Senate. the results in right now. NBC news correspondent Shaquille Brewster is on the ground in Louisville Shaq. There were some disruptions in Jefferson County where you are tonight, forcing some polling locations to stay open late. What can you tell us about that? Yeah, the disruptions took place at an elementary school in a Baptist church in the Louisville area. There was apparently a closure for about 30 minutes, but a judge essentially ruled that once polls reopen, that polls should stay open in additional 30 minutes. But you mentioned polls across the state have a officially come to a close now that disruption not seem to be a major disruption according to

election officials things have been going smoothly across the state of kentucky i'm going to ask our director bert holey to put up what what the results that we have in right now and again polls just closed so we obviously there's no way we're going to make a call on this right now but i want to show our voters again where the voting is right now i can take a closer to look at this as well so we only got about 21 percent in obviously too close to call 59 percent to 41 percent there you know shack any surprises so far with the early vote in looking at these numbers? No clear surprises. And look, when you listen to both campaigns, and I've been on the phone with both sides

here, and they're saying that they expect this result to be close. They just need to see more of that vote to come in. You hear from Democrats that they like the early voting numbers that they've been seeing, but they don't have much to compare it to because there was no early vote in 2019. As we go through the course of the night, what you're going to see county by county is they're going to compare Andy Bashir, a popular Democratic governor who, remember, won by just 5,000 votes in this state in 2019. They're going to compare his 2019 numbers to what he's able to pull now.

This is a conservative state. You're going to see a lot of red across those counties. But if he's able to shrink those margins and do better than Joe Biden did here and continue to get and meet the marks that he made in 2019, then he's on for a good track. But it's still very early as we're still waiting for a lot of vote to come in. All right, Shaq, Brewster for us tonight, Shaq, if we do get any results or we can call that race, we're going to come right back to you. It is a big week in politics, folks. And tonight, major elections, as you just saw, that could give us an indicator of where the electorate is headed.

And tomorrow night, the third GOP presidential debate from right here in Miami. That debate will include Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, biotech billionaire Vivek Rameshwamy, Senator Tim Scott, and former Governor Chris Christie. Former President Trump will be holding a rally, not far from the debate hall and Hialeah, both part of Miami-Dade County. There he's expected to get an endorsement from Sarah Huckabee Sanders, his former press secretary, and obviously the current Arkansas governor. I want to bring in NBC News chief political analyst Chuck Todd tonight. Chuck, let's start with what's happening right now. It's going to be a big test. We saw what happened in the midterms, right?

Republicans suffer because of the overturning of Roe versus Wade by the Supreme Court. We're about 16 months from that decision. And I always say people have sort of short memories in the world that we live in now because of everything that we have right at our fingertips. Tonight abortion rights is being put to the test again. What do you think is going to happen? Looks like we're going to see the same result as we saw a year ago, which I think is going to lead to some interesting questions that the Republican Party has to have,

which is, look, the Republican Party closed in 2022 trying to make the midterms a referendum on Joe Biden and inflation, and the Democrats closed, trying to make it a referendum on democracy and abortion rights. And, you know, we had a little bit of a debate for a few weeks after that election. Oh, was it more Trump, was it more abortion rights? I think now, as we've seen every single special election that's been held since the midterm elections where Democrats overperformed the abortion rights issue being key to all of that, we saw all this little evidence. And look, it's early, but the returns that I've examined so far in Kentucky indicate that Bashir, you'd rather be Bashir right now than Cameron based on some.

comparatives from four years ago in certain counties to areas now. Again, it's still early. You're seeing, I think there's a better chance that Democrats expand their advantage in the Virginia State Senate than it is now. Whether they flip the State House, that still might be a little bit of a tall order, but they have a decent shot at that. And all of it is due to the abortion issue. It's still very salient. And I think, you know, if indeed this is the direction of the night, that's a sigh of relief in Team Biden world, right? I think both parties have their own blind spots right now. Biden's age is a huge blind spot for Democrats, meaning this campaign I don't think fully appreciates

how problematic it is to many voters. But the Republican Party's abortion position, it is, I don't know how many times the voters are going to speak here before they listen to the voters, but the voters keep speaking, and so far many in the Republican Party haven't been listening. Let's turn to tomorrow's Republican debate here in Miami, and I think it's critical. Here's why. You have a little over two months before Iowa. You have an ultra frontrunner in Donald Trump, time and money are running out,

and some tougher qualifications to make it to the next debate stage, right, in about a month from now. So for one or more of the candidates, this could be their last debate. Clearly, Tim Scott is taking the role of Desperate Man, right? You see it in their campaign memo, they're putting it out, they're attacking. he's telegraphing that he's going to attack DeSantis and attack Haley. I'm always leery when campaigns start telegraphing things like that before a debate because it does reek a little bit of desperation. And Tim Scott's not the type of candidate that has been an attack dog in a past.

I don't know how this is going to look on him. I'll be very curious to watch that, but you're getting that to the reason, and that is there is a lot of desperation. This might be the last debate Scott gets in. And look, Ron DeSantis in, you know, Nikki Haley's got momentum. Ron DeSantis is desperately trying to stop the bleeding of support here. He's got a little desperation. But what I'm curious about, Tom, is how much time are these candidates going to spend on each other?

And how much time are they going to spend on Donald Trump? Because none of them have made a good case to Republican Party primary voters that Donald Trump should not be the nominee. And it's a waste of time to attack each other if they're not going after the top dog. Well, that leads to my next question, right? Because I was going to ask you how important that endorsement of Governor Ron DeSantis by Iowa's very popular governor, Kim Reynolds is, versus Nikki Haley, who has the momentum, is formidable. But I do want to remind our voters, right, that eight years ago at this time, Ben Carson was surging in Iowa. He actually overtook Donald Trump at one point in the poll. So there's still time to be made up there.

But what do you think is going to happen tomorrow? Who has the big target on stage? Is it Governor DeSantis or is it Nikki Haley? Well, I think it's Nikki Haley, probably more than DeSantis. Scott wants to go after Haley, and so does DeSantis in that respect. But look, I think that's tricky. The only woman on stage, she's proven to be the most effective debater in the first couple of debates. So I think there's some high risk there.

But look, Scott and DeSantis, this is, you know, there's no time to wait. So, yes, it's high risk, but they're going to have to do it. But again, I go back to, I think it's a real waste of it. energy if they don't get out there. I'll be curious to see who's the candidate that focuses on all things Donald Trump, and who's the candidate that gets distracted by people on that stage? That's what I'm looking for tomorrow night. Chuck Todd, for us tonight, Chuck, we can't wait until tomorrow's debate. We love having you on tonight. We appreciate that. For more political analysis on the critical elections happening

today, the third GOP primary debate in the future of the Republican Party, I want to bring in my friend Carl Scourbelo. He's a former Republican congressman from Florida and an NBC news political analyst. Ashley Hayek, executive director of America Works First, and a right-wing advocacy group. And Nicole, I'm sorry, Noel McPoor, a Republican political consultant. We thank you all for being here tonight. Carl, so I'm going to start with you. If you were advising candidates on that stage or at least one candidate, and you tell them, listen, here are the three big issues Republican voters care about, immigration, Israel, and the Hamas war, and then the economy. What would you tell them to go after? Well, I would say, Tom, that you have to find the perfect balance between distinguishing yourself from Donald Trump while keep maintaining yourself, continuing to be attracted to his base.

A lot of people think that that's why Nikki Haley has surged here in recent months because she has distinguished herself from Trump, but she hasn't become an anti-Trump candidate like Chris Christie, whereas Ron DeSantis tried a copycat campaign, and that seems to have backfired for him for now. But as far as the issues, what do you think, what would you tell voters right now? I mean, what is the most important issue for Republicans? Some polls will say it's immigration like in New Hampshire. Israel, Hamas, is dominating the news. The most important global issue right now, you could argue. And then you have the economy, which everyone's thinking about. It's the three eyes, Tom.

It's immigration, inflation, and Israel. That's what the Republican base cares about now. Immigration is an issue of passion. It gets Republican voters excited. It gets them to the polls. Inflation is still with us, even though it's gotten better, and it's a big attack on Joe Biden and Israel. is a topic that for the last decade or so, especially since the Bush presidency, Republican voters

have become increasingly passionate about as well. Ashley, former President Trump won't be there. We know that. So who do you think becomes the main target? Is it Governor Ronda Santis or is surging Nikki Haley? I'm not sure who's going to be the main target. I think that ultimately they do need to start talking about policies that matter to Republicans. And just to kind of go off of that point, they need to talk about weaponization of government.

I have not heard any of the candidates talk about how this. justice system has unfairly targeted President Trump and how they need to address that, should they have any sort of leadership in the next administration. I'm also curious to see how they're going to field the questions from Lester and, you know, the other host, considering that, Kristen, yes, considering that they've gone after President Trump for a long time. So this will be a true testament to see if they're able to stand up to these tough questions that Donald Trump has had to answer for for so long.

Noelle, I want to turn over to you. What does Senator Tim Scott and Chris Christie need to do to stay alive and qualify for that next debate and stay relevant before the caucuses begin in Iowa? I just don't see how they're going to be able to do it because it's going to come down to raising money and staying relevant in the news. You know, Chris Christie's stick is attacking Trump, but that's not really going over that well because considering Trump is so high in the polls, he's really boxing. in the air. So that really has not been a great strategy, but that's how he's staying in the news. And let's face it, I think that the debate really is coming down to the three top, which are Nikki Haley, Rhonda Santis, and a little bit of Vivek Ramoswamy. I really don't think that Tim Scott and Chris Christie, their polls, their fundraising, their numbers are

really going to amount anything to stay in future debates. I really don't. But the thing that I am really looking at is who is going to emerge on their own merit. You know, Chuck Todd had mentioned something, which a lot of people are thinking the same thing by going after, you know, the big guy in the room that's not there, going after Donald Trump. But that, I don't know if that strategy is going to work, given the double-digit lead that he has in the poll and people really like him with national security, inflation, and a lot of issues that are at hand that they feel like he could handle.

So what I would do is what Nikki Haley has been doing is come out on your own merit, come out with fire, and stay focused on the issues on what makes you such a good candidate. And maybe that will deflect to the 300-pound gorilla, Donald Trump, in the room while he's doing his own thing, that there is a new superstar that emerges from that debate. And I think all eyes are on Nikki Haley, really. Carlos, building off that point we just heard there from Noel, I do want to ask you, what are Republicans who don't like former President Trump saying right now? You were no fan of President Trump. I mean, do you think there's hope that someone's going to emerge and

actually give him a race in Iowa? Well, what some of these traditional Republicans want, Tom, is for one candidate to be given the opportunity to face off against Donald Trump in these primaries. They know that if it's a broken, fractured field that Trump is going to win. But if a Nikki Haley, if a Ronda-Santis gets that opportunity to go one-on-one, Trump's legal problems continue to grow. Biden, there are a lot of questions surrounding him in a way. Trump and Biden kind of depend on each other, right? They're the excuse for the other one to stay in the race. This is what a lot of Republicans are hoping for that one of these candidates will be able to go against Trump one-on-one. The race looks very stable on the surface.

Beneath the surface, there's a lot going on, and that might be an opportunity for someone to defeat Trump in the prime. Ashley, do you think at any point the former president is actually going to have to join one of these debates? You know, former Governor, Chris Christie calls him a chicken. He says that he's afraid to debate. He knows that he'll be the center of attention. He won't be able to handle that pressure. Do you think at some point we're going to see Donald Trump on a debate stage? I think he'll decide if he wants to do a debate. But at this point, with such an enormous lead, he doesn't have a need to. He's going to do a rally in Hailea, which is, as you know, a part of Miami that the president did

extremely well in. The people of Haile are excited to see him. That's where he went and went to Versailles and met with a lot of his supporters. We will get to set the tone of this, and everyone else is probably going to have to follow. Yeah, Versaiza and Little Havana, Hiley is a little farther away. But I get your, I get your, yeah, I get your general point. Yeah, it's very, very big and very diverse, wonderful place to be from. Noel, I do want to ask you about the new polling numbers that were out, because there was a question in that New York Times-Sienna poll that essentially asked, it matched up Biden

against President Trump, Ronda Santis, Nikki Haley, and then a generic. Republican. The generic Republican actually did the best against Biden. But DeSantis and Nikki Haley actually did better than President Trump in some cases. Do you think those kind of poll numbers, I mean, they give hope to Republican voters or to these campaigns? If you like those candidates, it gives you hope. But a lot of people don't pay attention to the polls anymore because they've been so grossly wrong. One of the things that I'm going to pay attention to as a national fundraiser is I want to see what the money's going to look like after the debate and after President Trump speaks with his little rally that he's going to do,

I want to see where these small donors go because the small donor, not the big donor, but the small donor indicates momentum and it indicates voters and enthusiasm. So that's what I'm going to be looking for after that debate, that next day to see who raises money from small donors. I know, well, we thank that. And then, Carlos, finally for you, who do you think doesn't make it to the next debate? Well, look, I think there's Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley, and then everyone else. So I think you're going to see most of those other candidates fall off the debate stage.

And this is going to become a race between Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis for that opportunity to face off against the frontrunner one-on-one. All right, Carlos Krubella, we thank you. Ashley Hayek, Noel Nippur. We thank you all for joining Top Story tonight. Make sure to tune into our debate coverage tomorrow night. Join me and Hallie Jackson as we count down to the debate starting at 7 p.m. Eastern right here on NBC News. Then the debate kicks off at 8 p.m. That's moderated by our friends Lester Holt and Kristen Welker and Hugh Hewitt.

And then stick around immediately after the debate. Hall and I are back again checking in with the candidates and seeing what voters thought of the debate in real time. Okay, staying with presidential politics and President Biden losing critical support from within his own party, some prominent Democratic kingmakers questioning if he should even run for re-election after some troubling poll numbers. Comparisons now emerging to the last Democrat who faced a serious primary challenge in the White House. more than four decades ago. Right now, President Biden facing what could be the toughest election of his life. New polling just out, raising alarms the 80-year-old commander-in-chief, losing in battleground

states and losing support with key demographics, and now facing growing calls from within his own party to withdraw from the race. I think that it would be the right thing to do for the president to not run. There is reason to be concerned, and people shouldn't dismiss these polls. It's just facts of political gravity. Some Democrats worried that history could be repeating itself. I formally declare that I am a candidate for re-election as president. It's been more than 40 years since a Democratic president faced a serious primary challenge.

In 1980, that challenger, the heir to the Kennedy political dynasty. Today, I formally announce that I'm a candidate for president of the United States. Ted Kennedy, the brother of President John F. Kennedy and Robert Kennedy, going up against then-President Jimmy Carter. The failures are stark. Like Biden, Carter's approval ratings were underwater. Both had perception problems with handling of the economy. Carter settled with an oil crisis. And like the Israel-Hamas war today, conflict in the Middle East.

The hostages in Iran consumed Carter's president. I speak to you this afternoon at a somber time. Fifty Americans continue to be held captive in Iran. Things weren't going well. Carter had never been popular with the liberal wing of the party. There was also the fear, not for the first and last time, that the president was not in a great position to win in November. Ted Kennedy accused Carter of taking a backseat in his own administration

and promised to return to the policies Democrats wanted to see in the White House. Kennedy lost that primary to Carter, but rebuked his party leader and called for change in the Democratic Party to his campaign's dying breath. The work goes on, the cause and doors,

the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die. President Carter, bloodied by his primary battle with Kennedy, would go on to lose to Ronald Reagan in the general election. Thank you very much. in one of the biggest landslides in American history.

I have spoken to Jimmy Carter many times over the years, and above all, he blames his defeat of 1980 on the fact that Ted Kennedy ran against him, divided the party, and made the case for Democrats against Jimmy Carter. Hello, everybody. President Biden, there's hope his reelection won't face the same fate. The deadlines to file for some state primaries have already passed, and many of Biden's would-be challengers have already publicly backed him.

Wallowing, I'm going to work hard to get President Biden reelected. I'm proud to be for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris. But he is losing ground with voters that will be critical to his re-election. New polling out this week from the New York Times and Sienna College showing black, Hispanic, and young voters all starting to look elsewhere. Nearly three and four swing state voters say he's too old to be president, and a majority trust his main GOP rival, Donald Trump, over him on the economy. The Biden campaign is faced with the challenge of pulling these younger diverse voters back into the process, engaging and mobilizing them.

Now the man who has spent decades getting to the Oval Office facing historic headwins to keep it. All right, we are going to have to wait and see what happens there. Still ahead tonight, the demonstrator killed a Jewish man. dying after a confrontation with a pro-Palestinian protester, authorities now looking into claims he was hitting ahead with a megaphone, plus the special counsel investigating Hunter Biden answering questions from congressional investigators for the first time since the pro began what we know about the closed-door meeting. And the massive fire destroyed a World War II era hangar that has also appeared in blockbuster films. The investigation now underway.

Stay with us. Top story. Just getting started. We're back now with the latest on the investigation into Hunter Biden, the special counsel in that probe, meeting with House Republicans behind closed doors today. An unprecedented move marking the first time a special counsel has answered questions from congressional investigators while investigation is still underway. To break this all down, I want to bring in NBC's Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Noble. So, Ryan, talk to us about what we learned from the meeting today. Did we learn anything at all? Well, Tom, there was a disconnect between the testimony of those two IRS whistleblowers and the claims that David Weiss and Attorney General Merrick Garland had made about the authority that David Weiss had when it came to this probe of Hunter Biden.

And Weiss said multiple letters to Congress and Merrick Garland backed him up that Weiss had the ultimate authority. If he felt he had the goods to hand down charges against Hunter Biden, he could have done that at any point. And what today did was give him the opportunity to answer very specific questions from these very skeptical Republican members to refute these claims of the IRS whistleblowers. And at every turn, he said that if he wanted to bring charges, he could have. And that he didn't ask for and wasn't granted special counsel status until August of 2023 because that's when he wanted special counsel status. So this was an on the record specific answering of these questions that Republicans had had. And then, Ryan, remind our viewers why exactly? exactly we got, like how we got here, right? Because we're in the middle of a special counsel

investigation, and yet you have him, you know, testifying or at least answering questions to congressional members of Congress. Yeah, and Tom, it's really an important point. Special counsels never testify in front of Congress in the midst of an investigation. This is the first time it's ever happened. So it is very much unprecedented. And the reason we got here is because of all the political controversy surrounding the questions related. to the investigation of Hunter Biden, and David Weiss volunteered to come speak to the Congress before he was granted special counsel status and before that plea arrangement between the government and Hunter Biden fell apart, since he already offered that up. Congress took him up on it,

and he made good on that promise. But to be very clear, he didn't answer any questions related to the investigation itself today. It was specifically limited to these questions of his authority, which his goal today was to clear up, you know, in the ways that the they differed from the testimony of those IRS whistleblowers. And all of this coming as the House is ramping up its impeachment inquiry into President Biden and likely to subpoena his son Hunter and his brother James in the next few days, right? Yeah, that's right. We're told that those subpoenas could come down as soon as tomorrow, Tom. And this comes after the House Oversight Committee had subpoenaed all kinds of bank records

connected to not just specific members of the Biden family, but even beyond their business associates, people in their orbit, trying to find some sort of direct connection between Hunter and James Biden's business dealings and the president himself. While they did reveal some short-term no-interest loans that were given to James Biden from Joe Biden and then paid back, they've yet to demonstrate any sort of hard evidence that demonstrates any sort of wrongdoing by the president himself or that there was any commingling of the business practices of his brother and his son with the president himself. And of course, even the information that they've revealed up until this point, most of it comes during that window of time when Joe Biden had left the vice presidency

and before he became president. So it's yet to this point for these impeachment inquiry investigators to really demonstrate high crimes and misdemeanors, which of course is the standard necessary for articles of impeachment. All right, Ryan Nobles at Capitol Hill late tonight for us. Ryan, we appreciate that. When we come back, another headline from the nation's capital, armed with what looks like a semi-automatic rifle, just steps from the Capitol building, police racing to the scene, how they took him down. That's next. He was in front of Union Station with what assembled an AR-15.

He refused to drop it and was tased. Luckily, no one was hurt. Okay, a deadly super fog, shutting down an interstate outside of New Orleans again. Video from Interstate 10, I-10, shows the lack of visibility. Officials say it's caused by a combination of dense fog and smoke from a nearby wildfire. Police responded to several crashes which left one person dead and eight more hurt. This comes, you may remember, just two weeks after another super fog event in Louisiana caused a pile of that left at least seven people dead.

And a massive fire destroyed a historic hangar in Southern California. Video shows flames burning through the structure overnight. Parts of the roof still collapsing. The hangar at Tustin Air Base once housed blimps used in World War II and has since been featured in several movies, including Austin Powers and Pearl Harbor. Officials are still investigating the cause. No one was hurt. And a health alert, nearly a dozen tuberculosis cases linked to a northern California casino

Local health officials saying they haven't found out the source of the spread just yet, but are advising anyone who's been inside California's Grand Casino and Pacheco over the past five years to get tested. You heard that right, five years. For this disease, according to the casino, it's working with the county to notify people and encouraging testing more than 300 people have been contacted so far. Next, authorities in Southern California are investigating the death of a Jewish man after a confrontation with a pro-Palestinian supporter. It happened during one of the many protests tied to the Israel Hamas war. Miguel Almagir has more, and a warning, some of the video you're about to see is disturbing. When police and paramedics arrived on scene, 69-year-old Paul Kessler was alert but badly injured,

suffering from trauma to the back of his head. Later succumbing to his injuries, the coroner says his cause of death was due to a blunt force head injury, consistent with the fall, which came after a confrontation. with a counter-protester. Investigators have not ruled out the possibility of a hate crime, and this is being investigated as a homicide. The deadly incident unfolded Sunday outside Los Angeles when Kessler, who was part of a pro-Israel group,

had an encounter with a man taking part in the pro-Palestinian rally. Victim is an older male was knocked out at the protest. How the two became entangled is still under investigation, Before he died, Kessler spoke to investigators. How much information was the victim able to share with you from the hospital? I'm not at liberty to discuss that part of the investigation at this time. Authorities detained and released the other man involved calling him a suspect. A search warrant has been served in his home, but he has not been named, arrested, or charged with a crime.

Investigators say they are asking for videos like this and witnesses from the group of roughly 100 to step up. forward. Jonathan Oswax, who joined Kessler at the rally, says the 69-year-old was assaulted by a man carrying a megaphone. I didn't know it was Paul that went down. I just saw the megaphone come flying. Expressing deep sadness and concern, L.A.'s Council on American-Islamic relations called on the public to refrain from jumping to conclusions. The nation's first deadly encounter amid dueling protests comes after a troubling string of incidents. Investigators at Stanford University say an Arab Muslim student was run down by a car in a suspected active hate. In Arizona, a Tempe man was arrested after threatening to

execute a local rabbi. Since the war erupted in Israel, the Anti-Defamation League says a nearly 400 percent increase in anti-Semitic incidents has been reported. across the U.S. People often react quickly and emotionally. We also need to calm down a little bit. Tom, investigators say witnesses have given conflicting accounts as to what happened here, including who was the aggressor in this altercation. As for the man who's been labeled the suspect, he is cooperating with police.

Investigators say he's one of many people who called 911. Local police patrols have also been stepped up tonight around local mosques and synagogues. Tom. Miguel Almagir for us tonight. Miguel, we thank you for that. It has been one month since the terror attack that shook the world. On this anniversary, Israel is mourning those they lost

and the hostages still being held inside Gaza. Tonight, Israel reporting its forces are now doing battle on the ground inside of Gaza City while the country's leaders weigh a post-Humaz future for the embattled territory. Richard Engle reports. The Israeli military says it's fighting inside Gaza City tonight. releasing this video of soldiers on the hunt for Hamas.

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu says Israel will take overall security responsibility in Gaza for an unspecified period to prevent another Hamas attack, prompting this response from the White House. The president maintains his position that a reoccupation by Israeli forces is not the right thing to do. But Israel is nowhere close to controlling Gaza. In Jerusalem at the sacred western wall, Israelis tonight mourned the 1,400 people Hamas murdered a month ago, gunning them down in their homes as they danced at a festival and tried to escape. Gathered tonight were also families of the 240 hostages still held by Hamas, including Rachel Goldberg's 23-year-old son, Hirsch.

We cannot forget, there are 200. 140 people buried, but very much alive under Gaza. The hostages have been underground in Gaza for 32 days. Speaking in Hebrew was Eli David. We joined his family on Friday for a Shabbat dinner as they prayed for the safe return of their son and brother Eviatar. Do you have a message to your brother? Your brother?

You can feel that he is strong. We're waiting for him. You have to stay brave and strong because it's only a matter of time. It will be back home. In Gaza, the perspective couldn't be different. Israel's air and ground offensive is turning cities into wastelands. And many Palestinians say Israel is carrying out its revenge against 2.3 million people who can't leave the Gaza Strip. Today, our camera crews saw more grief and more injured children.

Ahmed al-Najar says several of his family members were just killed by an Israeli airstrike. All my family is inside. More than 27 people are inside. I heard a message to the whole world. We are civilians. We have nothing to do with what has happened to them, except we are Palestinians. One month on, and this war still seems to be in its early stages.

The UN said today, 70% of Gazans have been displaced from their home since the start of the war. That's about one and a half million people. Tom? Richard Engel, with another powerful report from the region tonight. We turn to Top Story's global watch, and we begin with the tragic death of a military aid to one of Ukraine's top commanders. The major killed when a grenade that had been given. as a birthday gift exploded, the explosion killing the 39-year-old and injuring his son and an 11-year-old daughter. Five other live grenades were also gifted and are now being examined, according to the Ukrainian government. Authorities in Pakistan's Punjab province

announcing a four-day public holiday to battle a growing smog emergency. Schools, restaurants, and gyms will be closed to reduce environmental pollution, which has been making residents sick. Video showing dense smog blanketing cities, including Lahore. Pakistan is one of the most polluted countries in the world due mostly to industrial emissions and crop burning. And King Charles delivering his first official speech and the first in 72 years for a king. The new monarch outlining Parliament's priorities as drafted by Prime Minister Rushi Sunak, including economic and criminal justice policies, but one subject putting the king at odds with his own values. Sunak writing that the UK plans to increase fossil fuel extraction in the near future,

but Charles has been a passionate climate advocate for decades. Coming up next, our favorite video of the day, a New Jersey man trying to sell his white pickup truck when a deer came flying out of nowhere slamming into the truck bed, but did he still make the sale? We'll tell you. Stay with us. We're back now with a shocking moment. A deer flies through the air landing on the back of a pickup truck that had just been sold. The whole thing caught on surveillance video. NBC's Philadelphia's Ted Greenberg has a story. Troy Westcott is all about dribbling in his driveway and getting some air. But the 13-year-old's jumps just cannot compete with this one. I'm wondering, where did this thing come from? A leaping deer hurtling over a car before crash landing onto this pickup truck outside his family's house in Hamilton Township Friday.

Mere moments after a guy from Ocean County pulled up to buy the 2007 Chevy Silverado in mint condition from Troy's dad. The stunning collision, putting some dents in the pickup and the $9,400 deal Jay Vaughn had made with the buyer. It just couldn't believe it. You know, you promise the guy, the truck's in immaculate condition, and a deer comes out of nowhere and just caves the side of it in. It's funny seeing the video, but it was shocking to see it on a person. I'd never seen anything jump that high in my life. Surveillance video of the deer's jump into and out of the truck has gone viral on social media.

not surprised at all. I've watched it at least 100 times because it's still funny to hear it crashed into the side of the bed. The deer ran out of view pretty quickly. The family is not sure if it was injured at all. Jay did, though, cut the price of the pickup down to $8,500. What are you going to do? I mean, like, the guy wanted the truck. He said, I'll just buy a new bed for it.

A wild transaction. I'm not going to ever forget this. That still got off the ground after reaching. unexpected heights. We thank Ted Greenberg for that story. A wild transaction is right. They did a really great job with that story. So crazy. All right, when we come back, polls closed in Ohio about 20 minutes ago. We're checking in with our teams in Columbus to see what they're hearing from voters about that amendment to enshrine abortion rights into the state's constitution. Stay with us.

All right, top stories back on this election night. Polls have just closed in Ohio, and we're getting the first look at results coming in. Two major referendums, Ohio voters were faced with at the polls tonight. Let's start the first one, the big one, the fate of abortion rights in the state where it's currently banned at 22 weeks or later. And the legality of a heartbeat bill is under review by a state judge. A yes vote would mean abortion would be legal and written to the state's constitution. That race obviously too close to call.

You can see 14% of the vote in right now. Right now with 14% and 66% are saying yes to that right, while others are saying no. question facing voters here was to legalize marijuana. Again, only 14% in. This is too close to call. 58% saying yes, no 42%, but still very, very early. Are Priscilla Thompson, who we know so well, joining us live tonight from Columbus, Ohio. Priscilla, I know it's very early out there. Polls just closed, but talk to us about what you were seeing at this hour and what you were hearing from voters. Yeah, Tom, so we are at this watch party for folks in favor of that abortion access amendment. I suspect when that race is called, there will be folks taking to that podium

to either celebrate or express their disappointment depending on the outcome. But the numbers that you just showed match pretty closely the numbers that we saw in a lot of the polling from last month from of Ohio voters, about 57 percent voting in favor of this abortion access amendment and also for the legalization of marijuana. But as you mentioned, only 14 percent of the vote is in right now, so still far too early to call. But I want to also call our attention to some of the insight that we're getting from the exit polls. In particular, there was a question that NBC asked about who voters trusted more to handle the issue of abortion. And nearly half of Ohio voters said that they trust the Democratic Party more than the Republican Party with only

42 percent saying that they trust the Republican Party on that issue. So that gives us some indication of sort of the mindset of a lot of these voters heading into this. And the other thing that I think is worth paying attention to is turnouts. Turnout was 78% higher in terms of early voting for this off-year election than in the last off-year election in 2021. So clearly the word had gotten out. Voters were energized. More than 860,000 folks took to the polls to vote early. And so, of course, that's what we're seeing come in first. But it will be interesting to see how those numbers shift as we begin to see more of what the election day vote actually looks like here. Tom? And then, Priscilla, you know, we're in Miami for the big debate tomorrow.

One of the candidates on stage is Vivek Ramashwami, who's from Ohio. I understand you had a chance to speak with him today. I did. He went in to vote earlier today. He said that he voted no on both of those issues. And I did press him about his debate prep and what his strategy was going to be going into tomorrow night. And he said that he is focused on telling the truth. He says that he hopes with a smaller number of candidates on the debate stage that it won't seem like such a tear-down, drag-out fight, or a chaotic scene as he described it with the last debate, but that he'll be able to get some of his points across. And I also pressed him on foreign policy, which was something that he took a lot of heat for in the second

debate. And I asked if he was prepared for that and to defend his positions. And he said that he was and that it is about telling the truth and saying that he is going to be different what he would consider sort of establishment Republicans that he said got America into the war in Iraq and the conflict in Afghanistan and all of those things. And so he says he is going to go out there and tell the truth, and he's feeling confident, Tom. Priscilla Thompson covering the debate covering the election, she's covering it all tonight. Priscilla, we thank you. And we thank you for watching Top Story tonight.

I'm Tom Yamis, live in Miami. Make sure to tune into our coverage of the third Republican primary debate starting tomorrow at 7 p.m. Eastern. hear our news now. And stay right there. There's more news on the way.