Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, October 29, 2024

Episode Date: October 30, 2024

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, Vice President Harris making her final pitch to voters, locked in a tight race, the presidential election less than seven days away. The symbolic stage set as Harris makes her closing remarks from the same location where former President Trump spoke on January 6th. Moments before a mob violently stormed the Capitol, her campaign saying she plans to call on Americans to turn the page on a Trump era of chaos and division. What the polls show about voters, she must reach in order to win. Also tonight, is Trump in trouble with Latino voters? The former president's campaign in damage control after racist remarks made about Puerto Rico at his Madison Square Garden rally, Trump at Battleground Pennsylvania hoping to win over that key voting block as he works to shift the focus back to the economy and immigration.

We speak with Latino voters tonight about whether those comments change the way they plan to cast their ballots. Deadly strike in Gaza, the largest Israeli bombardment in months, killing dozens as an apartment. apartment building comes crashing down. Scenes of grief and chaos inside of a hospital overwhelmed with injured patients. The warning from the U.S. to Israel tonight as a UN agency brings humanitarian aid to the region is banned. Terrifying moments in downtown Atlanta, a shooter barricading himself inside the four-season's hotel, firing off dozens of shots, even throwing a weapon off a balcony.

SWAT teams rushing in and the area temporarily placed under lockdown what were learning about the dangerous situation. In diplomatic rescue in Spain, flash floods trapping a driver. Look at this as rushing waters overwhelm roadways. Firefighters using a helicopter to pull that driver to safety. And Apple AI assistant is here, the tech giant, debuting its new artificial intelligence software on eligible iPhones and other Mac products. The new tools at the tip of your fingers, editing photos, summarizing your texts, and changing the way you use your phone, isn't worth it, we'll explain. Plus, the lost ancient Mayan City, just discovered by accident. The student uncovering the site centuries after it disappeared. Top story starts right now. And good evening.

We begin tonight on the campaign trail with exactly one week until Election Day. Vice President Harris delivering her closing argument to thousands in Washington, D.C., with the White House in the backdrop. It comes just hours after former President Trump made his own preemptive rebuttal at his Mar-Lago estate,

slamming Harris while trying to move past the searing backlash following his raucous New York City rally, calling the event, quote, an absolute love fest, despite racist and inflammatory rhetoric from several speakers. The former president just telling voters in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, and Delaware County, just outside of Philly, that nobody's done more for Puerto Rico than he has. On January 6, 2021, it was Trump standing on stage at the ellipse firing up thousands of supporters to fight like hell to overturn the election. he falsely claimed was stolen. Tonight is Vice President Harris in that exact same spot

hoping to draw a sharp contrast from her opponent. Her campaign saying she's framing the choice for voters by arguing Trump will only serve himself in the Oval Office and she will serve the people. Former President Trump spending the day campaigning in Battleground, Pennsylvania. Tonight he's holding a rally in Allentown, a state he won, the state of Pennsylvania, of course, in 2016,

but lost by a narrow margin in 2020. As both campaigns honed their final messages, the words really matter, especially to the sliver of still undecided voters. With the race remaining extremely tight, this election could be decided by just a few thousand votes in key states. An average of battleground state polls finding the difference between the two just fractions of a point in some cases. At this point, many states are still considered a toss-up. Right now, more than 50 million Americans have already made their decision according to our exclusive NBC early polling data. Voters casting their ballots early either in person or by mail, and we're just learning that Harris,

will be spending election night at her alma mater, Howard University, and D.C. We have a lot to get to tonight, starting with NBC News White House correspondent, Peter Alexander. Tonight, her closing argument, Vice President Harris, in the midst of a dead heat race set to deliver a major speech with the White House as her backdrop. Harris advisors tell NBC News will call on Americans to turn the page on what they call the Trump era of chaos and division. Either it's going to be Donald Trump sitting in the Oval Office stewing over his enemy's list or me there working on behalf of the American people on my to-do list. According to newly released excerpts, Harris will say Donald Trump has spent a decade trying to keep the American people divided and afraid of each other. That's who he is. But America, she adds, I'm here tonight to say, that's not who we are.

After weeks of sharpening her attacks on former President Trump, including highlighting critical comments, from his longest serving chief of staff. Do you think Donald Trump is a fascist? Yes, I do. Yes, I do. Tonight, Harris will say, I pledge to seek common ground and common sense solutions

to make your lives better. I am not looking to score political points. I am looking to make progress. She'll be speaking from the ellipse, the same spot where then President Trump on January 6th urged his supporters to march to the Capitol. Because you'll never take back our country with weakness.

More than 170 officers were assaulted in the violence that followed. Her target audience, 18% of registered voters who say they're still persuadable, according to the latest CNBC poll. Still Harris faces a challenge. She's the incumbent VP with 75% of Americans saying they're dissatisfied with the direction of the country. And most polls show Americans trust Trump more than Harris to handle the economy and immigration. We pressed senior Harris advisor David Plough. Two-thirds of Americans say that the country is going in the wrong direction right now.

For those voters, why is picking the incumbent vice president the right choice? Well, I think she's been clear. She's not Joe Biden. She's not Donald Trump. And elections are a choice. And I think he's reminding people every day some of the concerns people have about putting him back in the Oval Office, back in the situation of him. Tom, tonight the campaign is anticipating tens of thousands of people will be here.

Vice President Harris is hoping to capitalize on the energy and enthusiasm from this event Over the course of the next 48 hours of frenetic pace hitting five of the seven key battlegrounds, including a stop later this week in Las Vegas with Jennifer Lopez. Tom. Okay, Peter Alexander reporting for us there. For more of a preview on Vice President Harris' closing argument tonight from the National Mall, let's bring in former New Orleans mayor and campaign co-chair for the Harris campaign Mitch Landry. Mayor, great to have you on Top Story tonight. First, what is the goal of tonight's speech? Well, the goal tonight is to lay out a vision for America gone forward.

It's going to be a very hopeful speech. As you know, the vice president was a prosecutor when she started to, so she's going to make a closing argument to the American people. She's going to talk about preserving democracy. And as I can see from behind me, protecting people's freedoms, especially women's right to make choices about their own reproductive freedom. And then finally, creating economic opportunity for everybody in America. And the fact that she's going to be a president for everybody.

Donald Trump, as you know, is going to sit in the Oval Office with a grievance list. She's going to have a to-do list, and she's going to lay that out for the American people tonight, looking forward into a brighter tomorrow when we do it all together. Mayor, when you look at the battleground map, what states concern you the most? Well, listen, as everybody knows that we've been saying this from the beginning, this is going to be a razor-thin election, just like the last ones have. So there are seven battleground states. We're battling to the finish in all of those.

feel good about our grand game, ground game. You can see behind us the incredible excitement that's not only in this rally, but in every rally the vice president has gone to. And after tonight, she's going to hit all the swing states again. We feel pretty good. But look, at the end of the day, there's only one jury that matters. That's the American people, and they have to exercise their power by just going to vote. Your home state is a red state, of course, Louisiana, but it's not too far from Georgia and or North Carolina. What can you tell us about the African American vote you think in those two battleground states? And how do you make sure that African American men turn out for the Harris Wall's ticket? Well, I think as you've seen in the last

couple of weeks, the vice president has addressed that issue directly. We feel really good about that. In fact, we think it's overblown. The African American community has been really the mainstay of the Democratic Party, and we expect them to continue to be. She laid out a plan specifically for African American men as she has for the entire country. And one of the messages is she's going to be a president for everybody, for people who are far and against it, in red states and blue states. She's going to seek advice and counsel across the aisle. She's going to be pragmatic. And this is going to be America where we believe in we the people. See, Donald Trump believes in I alone, but there is no eye alone in we the people. And she believes, and I completely

agree with her, as to the incredible coalition that she's put together, that we do better things when we do them together. You work closely with President Biden. There is new reporting tonight. from Alex Thompson over at Axios with the headline Harris stiff-arms Biden in final stretch saying, quote, Harris's team believes Biden is a political liability at a crucial time in the campaign, but is reluctant to directly say they don't want him to campaign for her. Is that the case, and do you think him being on the campaign trail negatively impacts Harris campaign? I got to be honest, we haven't seen a lot of the current president. Well, first of all, that's absolutely not true. Today, he was announcing $3 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act, which, by the way, Donald Trump wants to repeal to help clean up water and to help invest in ports across America.

The president's been on the trail. She and the vice president have been really great partners in providing 60,000 projects that are going on in the country for roads and bridges and airports and ports and waterways. And she's going to build on that and make sure that we manufacture products in the United States of America creating high-paying jobs. Yeah, Mayor, but I mean, I understand that, but they haven't been together a lot, and you can't tell me that they have because they have not. But listen, sometimes you need to turn the page, right? Do you think that's the case where Harris wants to send the message that she's turning the page from the Biden administration? Well, first of all, she's the candidate that worked together for four years. She absolutely has been in the last 13 weeks displaying to the American people that she is not Joe Biden.

She's going to be different in tone and context. She's going to drill down on prices as she has. help people get back in homes, help people start small businesses. It's not any disrespect to the president. They love each other. He's been a great president. And, of course, as you know, they've endorsed anybody. So this kind of idea that there's something untoward between them is just not true.

But she's got to run her own campaign. And tonight, she's going to make a closing argument to the American people while she is a better choice for America going forward than the alternative, because she is absolutely different than the person she's running against Donald Trump, who was an extremist that wants to use the power. the power of the president to help his rich friends and then use the power to hurt people on his enemies list. She does not want to do that. She thinks America is better than that, and I believe that she's right, and she's going to talk about that tonight as she talks about

saving democracy, protecting freedom, and creating opportunity for all of us. Mayor Mitch Landrieu, we appreciate your time. We thank you so much for joining Top Story tonight. Yeah, great to be with you. Thank you so much. And while Harris rallies in D.C., former President Trump is in the largest battleground state on the map this year, Pennsylvania. Trump slamming Harris on the economy and immigration amid the growing firestorm over that comedian's racist joke about Puerto Rico at Trump's New York City rally over the weekend. Gary Hake on the ground in Allentown, Pennsylvania tonight for us. Tonight, former President Trump back in Battleground, Pennsylvania.

We have six days, six days to go, Joe. We've got to win. After making his own pitch to voters, ahead of Vice President Harris's closing argument tonight, Trump vowing he'll deliver change on immigration. has obliterated our borders. And the economy. Millions of Americans are lying awake at night, worried about how they pay their bills because Kamala wrecked their family finances. But also facing new fallout after his Madison Square Garden rally and bipartisan backlash over a comedian's racist remarks, including this about Puerto Rico.

There's literally a floating island of garbage in the middle of the ocean right now. Yeah. I think it's called Puerto Rico. Okay. All right. Okay. We're getting there. The comments slammed by Republicans, Democrats and Puerto Rican music superstar and Harris supporter Bad Bunny. The Trump campaign has distanced itself from the remarks, but Trump has not, making no mention of the controversy while praising the event today. The love, the love in that room, it was breathtaking. a love fest, an absolute love fest, and it was my honor to be involved. But could the controversy cost Trump in a place like Allentown, Pennsylvania, where

he's holding a rally tonight? Latinos are a majority of the population here. Today we met Trump supporter Felipe Rosario. I voted for Trump last time. I'm going to do it again. The economy sucks at this point. We asked his reaction to the comedian's comments. Does that blowback on Trump in your mind?

No, I don't, that doesn't affect me at all. I don't agree with that guy. guy. That's not what Trump is not a racist like everybody says he is. We also met Enid Santiago. The fact that somebody thought that it was funny to say that an island that has been beat down is garbage. It was hurtful. She is Puerto Rican and a Harris supporter. The anger. I had about 17 messages in a matter of an hour of did you see what just happened? Did you see what they called your island?

Trump supporter, Senator Marco Rubio, has said he, quote, understood why some people were offended by the comedian. He's appearing with Trump tonight. Madison Square Garden Sunday night. Was that event a missed opportunity to be more clear about his message? No, I think he gave a great message. Look, some guy said some stupid joke, you know, I mean, an insult comic, you know, and probably not the right guy to invite to speak. Garrett Higg joins us tonight from the campaign trail in Allentown, which is part of Pennsylvania's 222 corridor, an area of eastern PA with a high population of Hispanic voters, one of the fastest growing areas of Pennsylvania. Garrett, the Trump campaign has been making a concerted effort to court Hispanic voters. This is now day two or three, if you think about it, that they're talking about what happened at that rally. You know, I know in your package there, you could only put one or two voters you spoke to who are Puerto Rican.

What was the sense you got? Because I know you probably spoke to more than that. We saw that sign, Boriquas for Trump, which means Puerto Ricans for Trump. What was your overall sense of how this incident may affect him from, at least from the people you talk to? Yeah, Tom, look, I mean, so many of these Trump controversies when you actually get out into the battleground states haven't really sunk in, people aren't even necessarily aware of the questions we're asking him, that has not been the case here. There was widespread awareness of this controversy and awareness, even among Trump supporters, that it is problematic. But I think the gentleman that we picked on the Trump side of this encapsulated what I heard from the Trump supporters here today pretty well, which is the idea that this is a mess, this is not a good thing you want to be talking about towards the end of the campaign. But they do not believe this is what Donald Trump thinks. Now, on the sort of anti-Trump side of it, there's, I think, a sense that there's an opportunity here

to get people who might otherwise be disengaged in this election off the couch and engage, essentially rallying behind a Puerto Rican flag. Whether that can kind of generate momentum, I think, is another question. But I will tell you, Tom, the Trump campaign seems clearly aware of this. They had three of their pre-programmed speakers here tonight make a point to say that they themselves are Puerto Rican and argue in both English and in Spanish, that it's Trump who's better for that community. So they're not going to apologize.

They're not going to back down, but they are clearly trying to address this issue with voters without addressing the substance directly. And then, Garrett, before you go, where is the Trump campaign headed after Pennsylvania tonight? They've got a mix of traditional battlegrounds and some eyebrow-raising ones as well, Tom. Tomorrow, the former president will be in North Carolina, which you'd expect. Wisconsin, where he'll campaigned with Packers' legend, Bradford. But the next couple of days, he's also going to New Mexico and to Virginia. Both states that have been frustratingly out of reach for Republicans for the last couple of election cycles,

where the Trump people want, at least to us be talking about the possibility of him expanding the battleground map. Whether he can actually put those states in play, I think is an open question. Does he have the staff, the infrastructure to support building on what a campaign rally might do. But they at least want to look like they have more options that they're putting on the table to get to 270. races last week. Hey, Garrett, before you go, and I'm going to put you on the spot a little bit here. Remember back in my days when I was in your shoes on the campaign trail in 2016, they made a move to Minnesota and everyone thought they were crazy,

and it turned out they were very close in Minnesota, way too close for comfort for the Democrats. Virginia is far off, and the experts we've talked to in Virginia say they don't have a ground operation there. New Mexico, I've heard zero about New Mexico, but maybe they see things we don't in internal polling. Do you have any reason to believe that they're seeing some numbers that are leading them to these trips? cost money. Oh, absolutely. Look, I'm sure there are numbers that support that these states are

close. I mean, Minnesota is a great example. That's been Trump's white whale for a long time. It's a state that in many ways behaves more like Iowa than it does like Wisconsin. So it's an appealing place to visit late. And I do think the movement that we've seen, particularly among Latino voters towards Trump over the last couple of election cycles, is what gives them hope in a place like New Mexico. But I do think, Tom, this is a challenge, right? There's one thing to generate enthusiasm with a rally. It's another thing to have a ground game,

to turn enthusiasm into voters who are registered, who are turning out, who were activated, especially in an era where so many people vote early. I'll just add one other thing. You used to see New Hampshire being a place that Republicans would add to their schedule very late in the game, whether or not they'd competed there a lot.

That's because in New Hampshire, There's almost no early vote. It's just not part of the culture there. There's not a lot of in-person early vote. There's very little absentee early vote. I'd expect that more than these states, which I think are meant to signal something nationally, more than I think they are attempts

to pick up additional electoral votes by catching Democrats sleeping. Yeah, I think it's been like 20 years if New Mexico was on the map for Republicans, something like that. Okay, Garrett, we thank you so much. Yeah, thanks so much. We appreciate it.

For more on the Trump campaign, fall out with Latino voters and the impact it could have on the election. I want to bring in former California Republican lieutenant governor and Trump surrogate, Abel Maldonado. Abel, thanks so much for joining us tonight here on Top Story. You're a surrogate for the Trump campaign, who is a son of Mexican farm workers

and have gone on to work as a prominent Latino political leader. What did you make of the comments made at the Trump New York rally on Sunday about Puerto Rico and all fallout since then? Well, Tom, first of all, the rally was a beautiful rally. It was historic. It had so much energy. people are excited, and it got to a comedian who, in essence, used poor words in some of his messaging.

I thought it was harsh, to be very sincere. And on behalf of myself, a Latino, to the Puerto Rican community, you know, we acknowledge that those words were very, very poor words to be used. But I can honestly say one million percent, those words from that comedian do not reflect the views of President Donald J. Trump, nor the campaign of President Donald J. Trump. Those were words that shouldn't have been used. We need to move forward. We need to move forward and win this campaign. Yeah, I hear you, ABLE, but actions always speak louder than words, right?

And so this comedian was booked. That is his material. That's a type of comedian he is. And if you're a Latino and you're looking at former President Trump and you're hearing someone like yourself to say, oh, that's not him, that's not what we're about. But then you see what happens at the rally, something that the Trump campaign coordinated in the final days of this campaign.

To you, as somebody who's putting his neck out there for the former president, I got to think this is frustrating to make a mistake like this when you're so close to the finish line. You know what? It was a comedian. I don't know if it was vetted or not. That's nor here nor there. The comedian used poor choice of lines in his speech. He shouldn't have said that. I acknowledge that. But I got to tell you something. I've watched the other side. Kamala Harris campaign. Not, what, a couple of days ago, there was a Mexican comedian making comment about Trump's border wall. He better build it in a day. Because if he doesn't build it on a day, maybe the material is not going to be there. In essence, calling Latinos, you know,

thieves. I'm a Latino. The guy's a comedian. We need to move on. This economy's choking the Latino community. This open border is hurting the safety of the Latino community. And that's That's why President Donald J. Trump's is enjoying historic numbers like never before, Tom. He's in the 40% rage with Latinos unheard of why he loves Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico loves him. We need to move forward. Abe, I don't know if Puerto Rico loves him, but I understand what you're saying there. I do want to put some stats on, since we're talking poll numbers here. He is in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

He's making a pitch to Latino voters there. As you know, Allentown is an area that is a majority Latino. I want to look at these stats. 10th largest population of Latino eligible voters in the country, about 600,000 Latino voters who are eligible to vote in 2022. That's all of Pennsylvania. 53% of Latino eligible voters in PA were of Puerto Rican descent in 2022. Now, I want to ask you, do you think this affects that vote at all?

And again, I know we have a lot of new cycles and people move on, and we may not be talking about this tomorrow. But I just wonder if that affects him a little bit in Pennsylvania, and a little bit could mean a lot. I don't believe so, Tom, and I say this with an open heart. I was just in Allentown, what, four days ago, and I'm going back to Elantown tomorrow. I've been on the ground. Allentown has a large Latino population, obviously mostly Puerto Ricanos, Puerto Ricans.

And let me tell you something, they're with President Donald J. Trump. They loved his economy. You see, they've lived under President Trump's economy, and now they've lived under Kamala Harris' economy. And the choice is easy. We don't want, we actually want to go back to the days when inflation was low and our streets were safe in America. And that's, you know, this is the Kamala Harris campaign trying to blow up these comments from a comedian. I get it. You know what? The comedians on their side do the same thing. We're not blowing it up. We're staying focused on the issues that affect Latinos. Inflation and the economy and the border and crime. That's what every

Latino American family wants. And we're here to tell you that help is on the way. Abel, I want to go to some exclusive video. This was obtained by NBC News of Speaker Johnson. Speaking at a campaign event on Monday, I want to play some of that and get your reaction. Here it is. We want to take a blowtorch to the regulatory state. No Obamacare.

No Obama. The ACA is so deeply ingrained. We need massive reform to make this work, and we've got a lot of ideas on how to do that. So those are some harsh comments about the The ACA, Obamacare, we know the Affordable Care Act polls well right now. It's polling at about 62% favorable with Americans. Lots of Latinos benefit from that. Is this the Trump campaign's position on the Affordable Care Act?

Should voters all across the country be concerned that there's going to be reform and they're going to do away with Obamacare? Look, Obamacare is in place. President Donald J. Trump has made it very, very clear. He's running on two issues, actually. Inflation. Lower the cost of groceries for people. lower their gas prices for people.

The next issue is the border. The borders are Kamala Harris, open this border. Trendy Arawa is in our country. Gangs MS-13 are here. We need the streets safe in America. That's the issues of Donald J. Trump. That's what he's going to do, and that's why Latinos are supporting him, Tom, 40-something percent unheard of, unheard of why they've watched him, they've lived under him, and they're ready

for him for four more years. When you're buying California to both Arizona and Nevada, where some Californians have moved, especially to Nevada, what do you think his final message should be there in those two states? I mean, it could come down to those two states as it gets later in the night. You have 11 electoral votes in Arizona, six in Nevada, but it could be that close where they're very important. What would you tell Trump that he should be saying in those two states? Well, I think he's made it very clear. He's closing statement that's very simple.

Kamala Harris broke it. I'm going to go to Washington to fix it. That's been clear. He's got a closing message. What's Kamala Harris' closing message, Tom? Nothing. You know, she's been there for, she said she's got a to-do list. Well, you've been there for four years, and you still have a to-do list.

I think Latino voters, I think the American public is seeing right through it, and they're ready for a new direction. Let's not forget, 80% of Americans say we are on the wrong track in America. This is a change election. Donald J. Trump is the change. candidate. Former Lieutenant Governor of the state of California, Abel Maldonado. We thank you for your time tonight here on Top Story. All right, sticking with politics across the country, we're seeing record early voting turnout. More than 50 million mail-in and early in-person votes have been

cast nationally. In battleground states, our exclusive NBC News, early voting data shows Democrats getting the edge on Republicans in the Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin states, but Republicans casting more early ballots in the South and Southwest. including Arizona, North Carolina, and Georgia. But if you take a look at gender, more women turning out to vote early in every one of those states, except Nevada, where the turnout is tied. For more on these early voting numbers

and what they could mean, Ali Vitale joins me now from Youngstown, Ohio. Allie, great to talk to you tonight. I know you're going to be whispering because you have a Senate candidate just behind you, Senator Brown, who's obviously campaigning there. We have all this data, but our political team cautioned,

I know you know this, that it's dangerous to read too much. Also, we have several more days of early voting to go, But what can we draw from this? We can draw that people are engaged at this point, Tom, including here in Ohio, where I spent all day at an early polling location. And the line continued to be around the block from 9 o'clock in the morning when we showed up until 2 o'clock in the afternoon when we were leaving. It shows that there's energy. It shows that there's enthusiasm. And I do think it's the right thing to say.

Don't read in too much to if it's Republicans or Democrats turning out more because you don't know if all Republicans are voting Trump. if all Democrats are voting Harris, sometimes, including in states like this one, you could be looking at voters that are trying to buck the party line or even ticket splitting. That's going to be something we're watching closely that we won't know until election day. I want to go back to the gender breakdown. And again, we're going to try to draw just a little bit from these early voting numbers. We talked about the gender gap there, and usually it's thought out, at least in recent elections, that if women are turning out, that could be good for Democrats. But is that the case here?

Well, overall, usually, women do vote Democratic. But when you start breaking it down into different subsections, black women, of course, are one of the most loyal parts of the Democratic base. But white women traditionally in presidential elections tend to vote conservative. This is actually something I've been focusing on a lot, because there are some white women that I have spoken to in key places, like Pennsylvania, who are considering either abandoning Trump or doubling down. Those are going to be key decisions, Tom, that we see,

and most of them are motivated. They've told me, and it's borne out in polling. They were motivated by the economy, but they are also motivated by reproductive health care. And those are going to be two of the key issues at play for voters overall in this election, but definitely for women as well. Yeah, before you go, and I realized I was whispering

during times in this segment, so that's kind of funny. You've been out there in Ohio talking to voters in those early voting lines. What are you hearing from them, just men, women, you know, all groups? They are motivated to vote and they are serious about the track of the country that they want to see it get on to. That's true when you talk to Trump supporters who feel that this country is on the wrong track under Democrats and under President Joe Biden.

And it's certainly true when I talk to Democrats who feel that in this post-Dobbs post-low era, it is more important than ever to vote for reproductive health care freedom. Candidly, Tom, that's one of the key issues that could be what ends up saving Senator Sherrod Brown who's on stage behind. me. He's one of those key Senate races. He's able to hold on here, and it's tough because this is a red state at the presidential level. But he has shown he can outperform National Democrats before. He's hoping to do it again here by riding a wave of a show worker, but also pro-reproductive health care access messaging. So far, we can see that it's resonating. The question is, is it resonating with enough voters? Because here in Ohio, this Senate seat could decide

control of the Senate itself. All right, Bally, at the Sherrod Brown event there in Ohio. Allie, we thank you for that. Still ahead tonight. The man who violently attacked Nancy Pelosi's husband learns his fate. The sentence he now faces after breaking into the

former House Speaker's home and bludging her husband with a hammer. Plus, the terrifying armed standoff at an Atlanta hotel, a gunman barricading himself inside a room, firing off shots, and throwing items off a balcony, what we're learning. And the McDonald's CEO speaking to investors following that deadly E. coli

what he is saying after dozens were left sick and stay with us okay we're back now with breaking news we've been following out of Atlanta tonight a 10 standoff unfolding at the four seasons hotel in midtown hotel guests evacuated a nearby residence ordered to shelter in place as a gunman barricaded himself inside a room on the 33rd floor okay you heard it there doesn't dozens of gunshots ringing out as authorities surrounded the high rise. Police say at least 15 shots were exchanged between the police and the gunmen who at least who had at least three guns were told. Police say he threw one of those weapons off his balcony

and according to the mayor, the suspect was wearing what appeared to be a gas mask. That suspect takes him into custody late today and the shelter in place has been lifted. I want to bring in Valerie Castro, she's been following this for. So Valerie, talk to us about the suspect and how were police eventually able to get him into custody? So tonight police have identified him as 70-year-old. J. Seenisberger, a 70-year-old man. They initially were calling this a mental health emergency, and they say they were called to the residential portion of the Four Seasons Tower there in Midtown when a suspect was reportedly involved in some sort of argument or altercation with an employee

at the hotel. When police arrived, they learned that he was possibly armed and potentially had access to other weapons inside that apartment, and that's when they called in the SWAT team. At that point, negotiations seemed to go south. Shots were exchanged. They say the suspect began to fire shots off the balcony, tossing furniture off the balcony. The SWAT team was eventually able to gain entry into that apartment and take him into custody, Burger into custody at that point. And then was anybody hurt in this? Berger appeared to have suffered some sort of injuries. He was taken away in an ambulance. It's unclear how serious those injuries are. Police say an officer was also injured. Unclear if the officer was shot, but they say those injuries are not life-threatening.

Yeah, I'm pretty scary for all those hotel guests hearing those gunshots while they were there. Thank you, Valerie, for that. When we come back, the unlikely place taking in refugees in Lebanon, we're going to take you to one of Beirut's most exclusive nightclubs, opening its doors to people seeking shelter from the violence. Our team went there to hear from those people now sleeping on what was once a dance floor. Stay with us. Back down with breaking news. Vice President Kamala Harris speaking in Washington, D.C. Let's take a listen. Good evening, America! Good evening, everyone, good evening, and thank you for taking the time out of your busy lives.

Thank you. Thank you. So listen, one week from today, you will have the chance to make a decision that directly impacts your life, the life of your family, and the future of this country we love. And it will probably be the most important vote you ever cast. And this election is more than just a choice between two parties and two different candidates. It is a choice about whether we have a country rooted in freedom for every American or ruled by chaos and division. division. Many of you watching have probably already cast your ballots.

But I know many others are still considering who to vote for or whether you'll vote at all. So tonight I will speak to everyone about the choice and the stakes in this election. Look, we know who Donald Trump is. He is the person who stood at this very spot nearly four years ago and sent an armed mob to the United States Capitol to overturn the will of the people in a free and fair election. election that he knew he lost. Americans died as a result of that attack. 140 law enforcement officers were injured because of that attack. And while Donald Trump sat in the White House watching as the violence unfolded on television, he was told by his staff that

But the mob wanted to kill his own vice president. And Donald Trump responded with two words. So what? America, that's who Donald Trump is. And that's who is asking you to give him another four years in the Oval Office. Not to focus on your problems. to focus on his. And Donald Trump has told us his priorities for a second term.

He has an enemy's list of people he intends to prosecute. He says that one of his highest priorities is to set free the violent extremists who insulted those law enforcement officers on January 6th. Donald Trump intends to use the United States military military. against American citizens who simply disagree with him. People, he calls, quote, the enemy from within. America, this is not a candidate for president who is thinking about how to make your life better.

This is someone who is unstable, obsessed with revenge, consumed with grievance, and out for unchecked power. Donald Trump has spent a decade trying to keep the American people divided and afraid of each other. That is who he is. But America, I am here tonight to say that is not who we are. That is not who we are.

That is not who we are. You see, what Donald Trump has never understood is that e-pluribus unum, out of many one, isn't just a phrase on a dollar bill. It is a living truth about the heart of our nation. Our democracy doesn't—it doesn't require us to agree on everything. In fact, we like good arguments from time to time. Just think of your own family, right? It's not the American way to not have disagreements.

We don't shy away from robust debate. Robust debate. In fact, we like a good debate, don't we? We like a good debate. And the fact that someone disagrees with us does not make them the enemy within. That's right. They are family, neighbors, classmates, co-workers. They are fellow Americans.

And as Americans, we rise and fall together. America, for too long, we have been consumed with too much division, chaos, and mutual distrust. And it can be easy, then, to forget a simple truth. It doesn't have to be this way. It doesn't have to be this way. It is time to stop pointing figures. We have to stop pointing fingers and start locking arms. It is time to turn the page on the drama and the conflict, the fear and division.

It is time for a new generation of leadership in America. And I am ready to offer that leadership as the next president of the United States of America. Now look, let me say, let me say, I recognize. I recognize this has not been a typical campaign. Even though I've had the honor of serving as your vice president for the last four years, I know that many of you are still getting to know who I am. Well, let me tell you, I am someone who has spent most of my career outside of Washington, D.C., so I know that not all the good ideas come from here.

I am not afraid of tough fights against bad actors and powerful interest. Because for decades, as a prosecutor and a top law enforcement officer of our biggest state, ah, one fights against big banks that ripped off homeowners, against for-profit colleges that scammed veterans and students, against predators who abused women and children, and cars. and cartels that trafficked in guns, drugs, and human beings. And I did this work, because for as long as I can remember, I have always had an instinct to protect.

There's something about people being treated unfairly or overlooked that frankly just gets to me. I don't like it. It's what my mother instilled in me. A drive to hold accountable those who use their wealth or power to take advantage of other people. The drive to protect hardworking Americans who aren't always seen or heard and deserve a voice, and I will tell you that is the kind of president I will be. And look,

I'll be honest with you, I'm not perfect, I make mistakes, but here's what I promise you. I will always listen to you, even if you don't vote for me. I will always tell you the truth, even if it is difficult to hear. I will work every day to build consensus and reach compromise to get things done. And if you give me the chance to fight on your behalf, there is nothing in the world that will stand in my way. So look, in less than 90 days, either Donald Trump or I will be in the Oval Office. Okay?

Okay? We've just been listening to Vice President Kamala Harris speaking there just outside of the White House, reminding voters about the choice that is in front of them, about turning the page to use her language, and also about the dangers that another Trump presidency could pose. Again, in her opinion, also calling for a new generation of leaders in America. This, as her campaign had told us, was going to be sort of her closing argument, the beginning of her closing argument, to let viewers see her, voters see her in front of the White House, to see her as potentially the future president, as she called herself as well, if they send her to Washington, if they vote for her, and also with an overarching message of unity, saying that she will be a president that will unify America. Okay, top story's going to continue right after this. We're going to be right back after the short break.

We're back now with the latest on the world of artificial intelligence. Apple introducing its first wave of AI features to iPhones called Apple Intelligence, and it includes updates to writing tools, Siri, photos, and more. To help us break down what it all means, I'm joined by our good friend, Joanna Stearns from the Wall Street Journal. She's a senior personal technology reporter for that great paper, and she actually sat down with Apple's head of software to talk about this technology. I don't know why we said, actually, right? Everyone wants to talk to you. So, Joanna, thanks for talking to us. First, explain, like, what are we talking about here? Because AI is so many things

to so many people. So if you have an iPhone 15 Pro or one of the new iPhone 16 models, you can now download iOS 18.1, which gets you Apple intelligence. Okay. And Apple Intelligence is a suite of tools that in, this is AI things in your iPhone is really the best way to describe it. One of the things you can do, it's called writing tools. You can select some text and then it will summarize it for you. There's another feature that will clean up some photos for you. And you're probably just wondering, what about Siri? Has Siri finally gotten smarter? Is this assistant not as done? I'm cool with Siri. You're cool with Siri?

Okay, you're not wondering that. All right, this is the question I've been getting from a lot of readers. Yeah. The answer is Siri looks better. Siri looks better. We have a little video, a demo reel, kind of what you did. You're reporting. We love your videos.

Let's take a look. Tools that is ready now? Clean up. I want to see if we can take a quick photo together. Okay. Select Cleanup, and you can tap to remove items you don't like in the shot. And AI will fill in the rest. I can edit the mic out.

I can edit that water bottle out. Some companies have chosen to go in a pretty extreme route, being able to generate new parts of the photos. Look at a lion here sitting in front of us. I was maybe thinking an explosion, you know, and then five o'clock news, here we come. So is it easy to use? I mean, can anybody use it, or do you have to spend some time to learn how to the editing software works? That's what the AI trick does here, right? Is you select whatever you want in the photo. Let's say me and you took a photo together.

You didn't want it to get me out of there. You could just select me and then bye-bye, right? The background fills in. And that's what the AI is doing. The AI is generating parts of that photo. What you also saw in that clip, though, is what Google's done in Android. They've done some more drastic things with photos. And this is really, I think, what Apple is doing here is they're saying,

we're going to do a toe in the water with AI right now in this release. We're going to slowly release these features. And then over the years, as Craig Federigi, who you saw in that video from Apple, told me, he said this is a decades-long arc towards releasing AI. And correct me if I'm wrong here, you're reporting is that Apple's a little behind the curve on this? Exactly. Right now, if you compare what Apple's doing versus what we saw in that Google tool, Apple's behind. They are not giving you as much, and they are not giving you much as advanced tools. And Apple says that's intentional. They want to get it right. They want to do it responsibly.

But also, when you look at what's happened over the last two years, chat GPT is about to celebrate It's second year anniversary or second birthday, if you will. I know you're going to be celebrating there in November. That was a big change, and that's just now coming to iPhone. Before you go, we're showing the video now about the texting and the writing. How does that work? And do you need that? Is it something you need?

This has been the big thing about using these chatbots, right? Using them to write a letter or polish up some of your text, copy edit it. I mean, text is so short, though, like what is it going to do for you? You can do it within anything. So if you were writing an email, let's say you want. wanted to write an email to me and you just, you didn't feel like you had the right words, well, writing tools can help expand that email for you. Oh, I see what it does now.

Yeah, or let's say. Hey, I have no sense of humor. I don't have a personality make me funny. Exactly. Is it funny? Does it make you funny? No, nothing's going to make you funnier. But even if it's the AI, does it make it funny or it doesn't?

It's sort of. I mean, you know, humor is subjective. Yeah. But like, let's say you had a long document. It could summarize that in a few points. Real quick, what's next for Apple? Getting this better. Getting this better? Okay.

This is the new front. This is what you have to have. And to be clear, right now, this first release does not have much. What's coming next month, or December, they've said, is chat GPT integration. They're going to have more ability to generate emojis and different types of images. So again, really just slowly dipping their toe in the water here, Apple's got to jump into the deep end. Siri could get better with the search, even though I love her. She can get better with the search. Joanna Stearns, please come back.

We've missed you. Awesome reporting, as always. When we come back, Field of Dreams. For the first time since World War II, baseball is being played at a California field once used by Japanese Americans at an internment camp. The players now suiting up to honor their family members who were once in prison there. Stay with us. Finally, tonight, as the Los Angeles Dodgers make their World Series run, a special set of baseball games is being played in northern California. After 80 years, the sport returning to a field built by Japanese America.

who were unjustly incarcerated during World War II. Our Emily Aketa traveled there, meeting the players paying tribute to their family members. Baseball hasn't been played on this dusty stretch of California desert in some 80 years. But this month marked its touching and triumphant return. Performing artist Dan Kwong spearheaded a push to restore the baseball field at this former Japanese incarceration camp in Manzanar. now a national historic site. I think of all the spirits who played on this field.

Including his mother. She was among the more than 125,000 incarcerated during World War II, seen as a security threat. Innocent Japanese-American families lost their homes, businesses, and most of their belongings. But baseball was one thing they got to keep. There's a quote on the sign over there. Putting on a baseball uniform was like wearing the American flag.

The way the Japanese American community responded was, we're going to live life, we're going to build gardens, we're going to make music, we're going to play baseball. After months of sawing and sanding, the commemorative doubleheader drew athletes spanning three generations. 23-year-old Logan Marita was the first player up to bat following in the footsteps of his family

and Japanese Americans from years before. It's honestly like a surreal experience to be at a place where my grandparents and great-grandparents played at. Kwong hopes this can be an annual tradition, but for now, he's thinking of his mother on this

field of dreams finally realized. How was that? That was amazing. Go, show. Every now and I'd stop and look at the mountains. Think about where I was. It was very, very special. Emily Ikeda, NBC News, Manzanar, California. Field of Dreams is right.

We thank Emily Aketa for that very special story. We thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamis in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.