Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, October 31, 2023

Episode Date: November 1, 2023

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

Tonight, the Israeli army ramping up its attacks on Hamas, a massive explosion rocking Gaza's largest refugee camp. Israel taking responsibility claiming the a air strike killed a Hamas commander. But civilians caught in the crossfire, Hamas saying dozens of people were killed, hundreds injured, also still trapped in Gaza more than 200 hostages. A cousin of one of the captives seen in a Hamas video joins top story. Hate at home? The chilling warning from the FBI as the war between Israel and Hamas raises concerns about threats to the U.S. The last time this happened during the rise of ISIS. In New York, a suspect in custody for making threats against Jewish college students. Wildfire explodes, thousands evacuating in Southern California after the Highland fire nearly doubled in size overnight. Multiple homes and cars destroyed the struggle tonight to get the flame.

under control. Pushed past capacity. A new migrant caravan with thousands of people heading to the U.S. southern border. But American cities already struggling to house asylum seekers as temperatures drop before winter. New York opening a new tent city

at a naval airfield. But local politicians and advocates are warning the flood risk and fire risk is there. Plus, the new class action lawsuit against Abercrombie and Fitch claiming the company helped fund a sex trafficking scheme. The former CEO accused of harassing and sexually abusing dozens of men in exchange for modeling contracts. Shipwreck standoff, a houseboat stuck for days on a Florida

beach, washing ashore after losing power in a storm. The town putting the owner on notice to get it back at sea as it becomes a local attraction. And hat trick or treat, the 10-year-old boy who uses a wheelchair going viral once again for his creative Halloween. costume. How this year's look helped get him the VIP treatment from his favorite hockey team and meet his favorite player. Top story starts right now. Good evening, everybody. I'm Aaron Gilchrist in for Tom Yamis, and tonight Israeli ground forces are closing in on Gaza City while attacks from the air continue. We're getting new video. You see it here. Air strikes raining down on Gaza. The explosion.

there, lighting up the night sky with that orange glow, almost looking like a sunrise. Rockets hitting a refugee camp earlier today, killing as many as 50 people and injuring hundreds more. That's according to the Hamas-run Health Agency. The Israelis claiming the strike targeted Hamas tunnels and killed a Hamas commander. Around the explosion, buildings collapsing into a massive crater. Israeli forces releasing video of troops on the ground there as they near Gaza City. you can see here soldiers surrounded by total destruction.

The fighting in the northern part of Gaza forcing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to the south. Many crowding at the Rafa border crossing, news tonight that Egypt could open the gates tomorrow for the injured. That says hospitals across the Gaza Strip are just overwhelmed at this point. Anger over the war also felt here at home. Protesters on Capitol Hill with red hands in the air

interrupting a hearing on President Biden's request for billions of dollars for Israel and Ukraine. Also on the hill, the FBI director warning the Hamas attack could inspire more terror groups abroad and here at home. And more than 200 hostages remain in Gaza now for 24 days. In just a moment, we'll speak to a woman who saw her loved one in a recently released Hamas video. We begin tonight, though, with NBC News chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel.

Israel devastated part of a refugee camp on the edge of Gaza City, carrying out what it called a large-scale strike in one of the most densely populated areas in the world. A nearby Hamas-run hospital tonight said dozens were killed and hundreds injured. NBC News cannot independently confirm those figures. The camp is full of apartment buildings, and people can be seen carrying away, wounded and dead and digging through rubble. Israel said it was targeting one of the leaders of Hamas's October 7th massacre of 1,400 Israelis, and that its strike collapsed a subterranean structure. Israel blamed Hamas for the civilian deaths, saying Hamas uses civilians as human shields.

Perhaps the only thing not in dispute in this war is that civilians in Gaza are suffering and that the hospitals needed to care for the growing number of injured are barely functioning. This has been a massacre that's been unfolding, and now we're getting to the final chapter of this massacre, where even the wounded will not be spared. The world needs to intervene now. UNICEF today calling Gaza a graveyard for thousands of children. Israel has rejected a ceasefire, saying it would be a surrender to Hamas. Everything we're seeing here in southern Israel indicates that this ground offensive is still ramping up with more and more troops heading into Gaza. Israel says it struck 300 Hamas targets today and that it's hunting Hamas commanders.

It claims this strike killed an architect of the mass murder of Israelis in two kibbutzis near Gaza, as Israel increased its estimate once again of the hostages held in Gaza, now to 240. One is back with her family, private Ori Meghidish, rescued by Israeli troops. While Natalie Ranan, an American teenager taken hostage by Hamas, is also back home in the Chicago area. She was freed 11 days ago. And Richard Engel joins us now from the Israel-Ghaza border. Richard, another Iranian-backed militia is, again, sparking fears about this becoming a regional conflict, right? So two U.S. military officials tell NBC News, they believe that Houthi rebels in Yemen fired a ballistic missile at Israel, and that Israel shot it down. The United States is already in a low-level conflict with these Iranian-backed militias.

The real question is, how big will it get? Richard Engelforce in Israel tonight. Alison Barber is also on the ground for us on the Israel-Gaza border and is once again hearing heavy artillery fire through the night there. Allison, it's something we often seem to hear through the night. Walk us through the situation where you are right now. Yeah, Aaron, so we are at the border of northern Gaza, just directly to the north of Gaza. And that is, you will remember, where Israel has said they are focusing most of their military efforts on northern Gaza and ultimately on Gaza City, because they say this is where Hamas primarily operates out of. We have been out here for nearly three weeks.

And since Israel confirmed that there were Israeli forces on the ground inside of northern Gaza on Friday night, we have seen every night since then a constant escalation inactivity in this section of Gaza. A lot of it that we have seen throughout the night has been in a pocket. There's something sort of lighting up over there right there in that pocket in the northwest corner of Gaza. When Israel first acknowledged that they had troops fully in, there's another flash on the other side here. But when they said they had troops, ground forces fully into. Gaza that they had entered on Friday night. Initially, we were hearing a heavy focus on artillery fire in this direction. You hear a lot of it now. Then we started to see as the days

went by more and more rockets and more what looked like flash bombs that will drop, and then flare bombs, rather, that will drop and then explode into the skyline. Tonight we're hearing a combination of all of it. We are seeing the skyline constantly light up, that orange glow, and we are hearing the loud booms of artillery thundering in northern Gaza. Aaron? It really is amazing to see it in real time here. Alison, the Palestinian Ministry of Health has also issued this warning about the hospital situation all along the Gaza Strip tonight. Can you tell us more about that?

Yeah, so they are saying that it is a desperate time that they only have hours left before they run out of fuel. Remember, hospitals that are operating in northern Gaza, and again, we'll keep an eye on the skyline here as we talk to you so you can just get a sense of how constant the bombardment is. But hospitals, some of the largest hospitals in Gaza are in northern Gaza, one of them being Al-Shepa Hospital, another hospital, the Indonesian hospital. Both of those have been treating people who were injured in the strikes on Jabala refugee area earlier today. They say that they are really at the last bit of gas available for generators. And remember what they're using electricity and power for. It's keeping people alive who are on ventilators. So much medical equipment depends on having some sort of power source.

And for weeks now, most of those hospitals say they have been relying on generators. And now they say that fuel is almost entirely gone. And a part of the plea that you mentioned, it was asking for more fuel to be not just allowed in to Gaza, which we know that has not happened yet with the 200-plus humanitarian aid trucks that have been allowed. in, but they are also pleading with anyone inside of the Gaza Strip who might have gas stored somewhere to take it to hospital so they can keep caring for the sick and wounded. They also called on other nations, oil-rich countries, saying, please get that to us now. We desperately, desperately need it.

Aaron? Just an awful situation developing there. Alison Barber, you've been doing some amazing reporting for us here. Stay safe. You and your team. Thank you. Now, the need for basic supplies, as Ellison just noted in Gaza, is becoming more urgent by the day. There is a growing uncertainty about when that vital Rafa border crossing from Gaza to Egypt will be open for more than just humanitarian aid trucks.

This is hundreds of Americans and foreign nationals are unable to get out. NBC's Megan Fitzgerald is there with that story. Tonight, our firsthand look at the Rafa border crossing, a lifeline for millions of people, suffering and trapped inside Gaza. In the last 10 days, more than 200 aid trucks have passed through here, 66, just today. But the UN says it's not nearly enough. The situation in Gaza has become absolutely inhumane. A UNICEF employee sending this voice message to NBC News from inside Gaza, saying the crisis is taking a personal toll on her own daughters. And I have the youngest, she's four years old, and she's showing severe symptoms of stress

and fear and resorts to still harm like ripping her hair off and scratching her thighs until they bleed. UNICEF warning a lack of clean water is putting lies of Gaza's one million children at risk of dehydration. The plan was for the Rafa border crossing to alleviate this crisis. The Rafa border is supposed to be a two-way crossing with these trucks packed with aid making their way in, Americans and foreign nationals that are trapped just beyond this border, making their way out, but that hasn't happened yet. Egypt is not accepting Palestinian refugees, and foreign nationals say they have not been allowed out.

Nearly a thousand Americans are trapped inside Gaza, and the U.S. says Hamas is blocking them. The impediment is simple. It's Hamas. We pressed Egypt's head of state information. Who's holding up the Americans from crossing over the border? The Americans? It's Hamas. America says Hamas is holding the Americans.

Meanwhile, Americans like Qasim Ali are running out of patience. We don't see any care for us from the American government. I don't know why. Americans caught in the crossfire desperate to escape. Megan Fitzgerald, NBC News, Rafa Border Crossing, Egypt. Turning now to the ongoing effort to rescue the hostages taken by Hamas, the Israeli military saying the number of hostages. held in Gaza, has risen to 240.

This coming days after Hamas released a video of three Israeli hostages. Now, this video we showed you yesterday shows three women on camera. The woman in the middle speaking there, most likely in duress, is Danielle Alone. Joining us now is Alana Zaycheck. Danielle is her cousin and one of six of her family members being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. Alana, thank you so much for being with us today. mentioned your cousin Danielle was seen in this video what did you think when you first saw that video well I mean we were shocked right you never expect to see your

family member in in that condition but you know of course there's like a sense of relief see her alive but on the other hand you know she doesn't look very well and she's very clearly, you know, in distress and, you know, like, is desperate. And so, you know, that's, on the other hand, what we're seeing there. And we know the prime minister there in Israel, Netanyahu, said in a statement after seeing that video that, I think the quote was, we're doing everything to bring all the kidnapped and missing people home. what has your family's communication been like with the Israeli government to this point? What do you think of the effort to rescue the hostages there in Gaza?

Well, I know the IDF is in contact with my family in Israel. So they check in on them every couple of days, and I'm pretty sure that my family there is at the moment satisfied with what they're able to receive, given the circumstances. And in regards to the efforts, I mean, I'm not really a military. expert, right? I don't really know what one is supposed to do in this situation. So I'm really just remaining hopeful. Yeah, a lot of people trying to hold on to some hope here. I know you spoke at the United Nations and you said, we don't want more bombs or rockets or blood or tears. We want

our family back immediately and we want peace. Are you concerned sort of what the next phase of this war might likely be a ground offensive we've been talking about? Are you concerned with that could mean for your family members who are being held hostage? It's hard not to be scared right now. War is scary, and it's hard not to feel afraid of what, you know, the coming days, what we could see in the coming days. So, yeah, I've been afraid since day one, and I will continue to be afraid until we have them back with us safely.

So you have so many family members who have been, who are being held for weeks now. If you could get a message to them at this point, what would you want to say to your family right now? I just want to tell them that we love you so much and we are doing everything, everything in our power to get you back and we will get you back. Well, I hope that that message makes its way to all these people who are afraid right now and hoping for the best outcome. Alana, we appreciate you making some time for us. We're keeping your family and our thoughts and prayers as well and hoping for the best. outcomes here. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

Now, the war overseas also prompting an alarming alert here at home, the head of the FBI warning Congress of terror threats against the U.S. and tonight an arrest in threats made toward Jewish students at a college in New York. NBC's Garrett Haik has more.

On Capitol Hill tonight, a stark warning about the growing threat at home from the devastating war abroad. The ongoing war in the Middle East has raised the threat of an attack against Americans in the United States to a whole nother level. FBI director Chris Ray signaling the U.S. is in a dangerous period. We assess that the actions of Hamas and its allies will serve as an inspiration, the likes

of which we haven't seen since ISIS. As Jewish college students are facing threats on U.S. campuses, Cornell University officials today confirming the arrest of a suspect in connection with online threats of a mass shooting and other violence there. To see, you know, my own campus targeting specifically 104 West, this building, the building that I live in, sleep in. It was just unbelievable. A Las Vegas man also charged with threatening to kill Nevada Senator Jackie Rosen, who is Jewish, after leaving a series of anti-Semitic, profanity-laced voicemails.

Three thousand five hundred kids dead. Also on the hill, anti-war protesters interrupting a hearing as the secretaries of state and defense were pushing the White House plan to spend $105 billion in emergency support for Israel, Ukraine, and other national security threats. That funding, dividing House and Senate Republicans. New Speaker Mike Johnson setting a vote this week on aid to Israel alone, with $14 billion in military and humanitarian assistance, while some GOP senators argue to include aid to Ukraine. To separate the package is naive. because the threats are in have commonality. Ray went on to say that the Bureau isn't tracking any imminent threat

by any specific foreign terrorist entity and that they're most worried about lone extremists inspired by the events happening overseas. He urged every American to continue to be vigilant. Aaron. Now to the other headlines we're following tonight and the migrant surge overwhelming major cities across this country. Another massive caravan now traveling through Mexico

headed for the U.S. and New York City preparing to open a controversial new tent facility to house about 500 migrant families. One city official telling us the shelter is a major fire risk. Guadvinegas has the details. A new migrant caravan of up to 7,000 people, now passing through Mexico, heading straight for the U.S. southern border. This migrant saying many have no money for food or transport, so they have to get to the border this way by walking. But as that massive caravan makes its way north, major American

cities are struggling to house the ones who've already arrived and are seeking asylum in the U.S. We're having to create new space because we don't have any other space we can access in New York City. This week, New York City opening a new tent city on Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, which could house about 500 families. These sprawling facility features individual rooms outfitted with cots and bassinets and provides electrical outlets and locking. doors. But the field it sits on once an able air station is prone to flooding. And some city officials have raised concerns about the fire hazards posed by the crabbed living quarters. The nearest fire hydrant is 3,000 feet away. If there was a major fire at that location,

there wouldn't be enough water for the fire department to quickly put that fire out. However, New York City officials have denied those claims. As they tried to make space for what they estimate is just under 70,000 migrants in New York's shelter system. In terms of the fire safety issues, these are not fire traps and these are not death traps. Every single space has issues that we need to address and mitigate, and we work very, very closely with all of our agency partners to mitigate those things, and we're doing that with the fire department. In Chicago, as the cold winter months approach, city officials are building a tent city with

winterized tents in Brighton Park and have plans for another in this vacant law. on the south side. Chicago's winter are brutal. Play migrants in the tennis such conditions nothing short of inhumane. The Brighton Park facility drawing backlash from Chicago residents at a heated community meeting last week. What does housing look like for our own residents who are houselessness, who need affordable housing, our seniors, those resources that asylum seekers are getting in one place. Our residents have to go multiple places for. And in Massachusetts, officials announcing a wait list for arriving migrants

after the state reaches its fast approaching shelter system capacity of 7,500 people. Massachusetts Governor Healy also announcing a work authorization clinic for migrants in those emergency shelters next month. There are so many steps that they can review to make sure that the applications won't be denied or rejected for things that can be fixed on site. Cities push past capacity. with more migrants appearing to be on the way. And Guavenegas joins us now from our bureau in Miami. Guad, I understand there's an update on the southern border as well, that razor-wire barrier that Texas put in the water to stop migrants from crossing the Rio Grande.

Aaron, there is, and everything that happens in Texas affects the rest of the country when it comes to the migrants because most of them arrive through Texas. So we know that with the border barrier in the water, the buoy's, A judge is overlooking that, well, a court of appeals is overlooking that decision, whether Texas will be able to keep those in the water or remove them. But there's also a decision that has been made with the other lawsuit. Texas sued the federal government after Border Patrol agents were cutting the razor wire fence that's been installed in the border as well.

But even though the judge has ordered, the decision was that the judge ordered board patrol agents to stop cutting the fence, there is an exception where they can cut it, if a migrant is in a medical emergency or under medical distress, which is why they say they've been cutting it. So it doesn't really change much on the ground, but it's just another chapter in this battle between Texas and the federal government as the humanitarian crisis continues south of the border, Aaron, with the migrants still making their way to the U.S.-Mexico border.

All right, Guad vanegas for us in Miami tonight. Guad, thank you. In Riverside County, California, hundreds of firefighters working around the clock to battle a wildfire that is 0% content. It exploded overnight, fueled by dry conditions and unpredictable Santa Ana wins. Some residents saying they just had minutes to get away. Here's NBC's Liz Kreutz. In Southern California tonight, a desperate race to contain a wildfire exploding out of control.

If you received an evacuation order, please leave. 4,000 Riverside County residents ordered to flee their homes as crews battle the Highland fire. It is totally blowing. The wind is blowing tremendously. Officials say it doubled in size overnight, jumping across a major highway and burning more than 2,200 acres northeast of San Diego. Residents in the small town of Oguanga capturing the flames encroaching the roads around them. These smoky conditions making it nearly impossible to see. Some say they only had minutes to escape. I don't think it's not even 20 minutes, half an hour.

Luis Cagnonez, who has lived in Riverside County for 33 years, returning to his property late today, finding his son's home, his firewood business, and 12 of his prized cars completely destroyed. No more. No more baby. The blaze, which started Monday afternoon and spread quickly, fueled by dry and gusty Santa Ana Wims, still 0% contained.

What has been the biggest challenge with fighting this, fire. The first is the terrain that the fire is burning in is extremely steep and rocky. It's steep with valleys and gulches. The second challenge is that we have high winds. We're in the Santa Ana wind pattern right now. Yesterday they had sustained winds between 20 to 30 miles an hour on the incident with gusts up to 40. Cal Fire using all their resources to fight these flames. We do have about 400 firefighters on the ground that are pulling hose line, cutting line. We do have water dropping helicopters and tankers dropping retardant when the wind is allowing it. Across California, many parts of the state seeing red flag warning conditions, meaning low humidity and strong winds that help fuel the flames.

On Monday, firefighters responded to several small brush fires, two on the central coast, prompting evacuations near seven. Louis Obispo High School. We were getting a lot of ashes, and there's a lot of spot fires coming up in our yard that we put out. And it only got a little worrisome when those eucalyptus trees start exploding around us. And Liz Coich joins us now from Los Angeles. Liz, we're learning a firefighter has been injured in this fire, too. What more do you know about that and any hopes of getting this fire under control?

Yeah, Aaron, talking about the Highland Fire there. told that that firefighter was taken to the hospital and is now in stable condition. We don't know what that injury was. As for controlling the fire, it's really going to come down to the winds. They've been dealing with wind gusts up to 40 miles per hour. A red flag warning remains in effect here through today. Aaron. All right, Liz, Croyd's for us tonight in Los Angeles.

Liz, thank you. Now, for more on that wildfire and the deep freeze setting in overnight for millions of people. NBC News meteorologist Michelle Grossman is joining us now. Shell, good to see you. Talk to us about what's happening in California, the conditions that we're seeing there. Hey there, Aaron, always good to see you. Well, we're going to see the winds decrease overnight. So we'll see them relax a little bit. But then by tomorrow, we're going to see them up into the 25 to 30 mile per hour range. So the red flag warning has been dropped. We'll see if it's going to be reinstated tomorrow. Just looking ahead, we'll see those winds gust a bit more. Not as high as today, but still in the gusty range.

We are, though, looking at red flag warnings along the Gulf Coast states. We have red flag warnings. That's in the red and the R&A fire weather watch. That is for Atlanta, Albany, Panama City. It's due to those persistent winds, along with really dry ground, really dry air. The dry ground is sort of fuel for these fires. So we're going to be watching that again tomorrow as well as California. On to the freeze, we are looking at temperatures so cold for this time of year. It feels more like Thanksgiving than Halloween. Seventy-seven million people impacted by frost and freeze alerts. We have a freeze watch that is in the purple. That extends from the Mid-Atlanda to the southeast all the way to the south-central states and freeze warnings. That isn't the hot pink color. This is important because that kind of

ends the growing season. And it also could, if you have any exposed pipes outside, you want to cover them up because we're going to see really cold temperatures. We're looking at cold temperatures right now, below freezing in many spots. You need extra layers on those Halloween costumes. Sue Falls right now 28 degrees. It's 35 in Chicago. Notice this number next with, though. We have really gusty winds there. We're looking at winds to 25, 35 miles per hour straight from the northwest. It's making it feel colder than it actually is. So feeling like 26 in Chicago, it feels like the freezing mark in St. Louis, feeling like 37 in Lexington. Here are the winds. We're going to see them continuing to gust. And look what's happening as well. We've that cold air in place. We have

those winds, and they're going over the Great Lakes. And that's why we're getting that lake effect snow. So we saw several inches of snow. We're going to continue to see that downwind of the Great Lakes. And that's going to be a story as we go throughout tomorrow as well. And Aaron, we're going to see temperatures 10, even 20 degrees below what is typical for this time of year. Back to you. I guess winter just can't wait. It's here now. Michelle, thank you. Well, still ahead tonight, the latest on the deadly mass shooting in Maine. New details emerging about the gunmen who killed 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar. What the Army banned him from doing months before he went on that deadly rampage.

Plus, 16 minutes of horror, the dramatic body camera footage just released by police in Maui, showing the early moments of that catastrophic Lahaina fire. And Abercrombie and Fitch at the center of a shocking new lawsuit. What dozens of male models are accusing the four. former CEO of doing. Stay with us. Back now with a new look at one of the country's deadliest disasters. Wildfires tore through Lahaina, Hawaii three months ago, killing 100 and displacing thousands more. Maui police now releasing 16 minutes of dramatic body camp footage showing officers racing to save

lives. NBC's Miguel Almaguer has that story, and we should warn you, Some of this video may be difficult to watch. Jesus. You got to go! The heart-pounding video captures a scramble to escape the flames and the race to save lives. Come out, come out, come out. As wildfires tore through Lahaina, Maui police rescued 15 people trapped inside a coffee shop on famed front street, while thick smoke choked the air and the inferno closed in.

Come on, come on, come on, everybody out, everybody out. The heroine scene unfolding August 8th, This is our first perspective from police who selected the 16 minutes of video from 20 hours of footage. To say that the White Police Department did not do their due diligence to save lives is false. Get the f*** on the Royal Eye! First facing flames at 6 in the morning. There's a fire. Is there anybody else in here? Police scrambled to break open locked gates on dirt roads to create escape routes and rush to evacuate residents.

This is not fucking important. We're trying to get everybody out of custody. As the blaze erupted through the night, one officer loads a burn victim into his car, realizing he's badly in need of help. Maybe I'll just take you straight to the hospital. With 99 believed dead and 2,000 structures destroyed, these 16 minutes of hell are, for many, a lifetime of pain. Authorities in Maui still have not named a cause for the fire as down power lines remain a focus

of the investigation. Aaron? Miguel Almaguerre for us tonight. Now to new allegations against a major fashion retailer, Abercrombie and Fitch sued by dozens of men alleging the company turned a blind eye

as a former CEO sexually trafficked those who were promised modeling contracts. Maya Eagland has that story. Abercrombie and Fitch, which was a fixture of American malls in the late 90s in early 2000s,

along with its often shirtless greeters and models, now hit with a sex trafficking lawsuit. In a class action lawsuit filed in a New York federal court, dozens of men accused the company of, quote, providing the financial lifeblood for a sex trafficking organization, allegedly led by former CEO Michael Jeffries, who ran the fashion brand from 1992 to 2014. The suit also accuses Michael Jeffries of sexual abuse, alleging Jeffries used his role as CEO of Abercrombie to prey upon attractive young men who believed that Jeffreys was going to hire them as an Abercrombie model. The company told NBC News they do not comment on pending litigation.

An attorney for Mike Jeffreys telling CNBC, Mr. Jeffries will not comment in the press on this new lawsuit, adding the courtroom is where we will deal with this matter. I think it's rarely considered that men could be a victim of anything. The suit brought on by David Bradbury, who made similar allegations in a recent BBC investigation. He says he was recruited in 2010 to model for Abercrombie. but was then forced to engage in sex acts with both a modeling scout and leader Jeffreys. What I'd like to talk about is being lied to, tricked and traded like a commodity. Following the BBC investigation, in a statement to NBC news, a company spokesperson said Abercrombie's current leadership team was not aware of the allegations of sexual misconduct by Mr. Jeffries, but that they are appalled and disgusted by the behavior described in the

allegations, and that an outside law firm has been hired to investigate. As a manager, you have to recruit good-looking people, and this is what good-looking is. The brand also fell under renewed scrutiny last year. After a Netflix documentary that featured former employees accused the retailer of racist and exclusive hiring practices as its popularity exploded during the years Jeffreys was CEO. Some stores offer discounts, others freebies, but only one is drawing in shoppers with Half-naked models. Jeffreys left the fashion giant in 2014.

Since then, the company has rebranded its image, including going away with the shirtless male models that once dominated the brand's identity. But it seems they will have to face their past in court. Maya Eagland, NBC News. All right, stick around. When we come back, an urgent rescue effort in Florida, a pilot crashing in the Everglades,

clinging to his sinking plane. Our rescuers got him out. And the search for a soccer star's missing father after he and his wife were kidnapped in Colombia. Where authorities think he may have been taken. That's next. Back now with Top Story's news feed, new details emerging about the gunmen in that deadly mass shooting in Maine. In statements to NBC News, the U.S. Army saying leaders previously decided the shooter, Robert Card, should not have guns, handle ammunition, or participate in live fire activities.

That's after he underwent medical evaluation for his behavior at the West Point Military Academy in July. Card had also been deemed non-deployable over concerns for his well-being. That's according to the Army spokesperson. We also have an update in the investigation into another mass shooting, a new third-party report showing the mass shooting at Oxford High School outside Detroit in 2021 could have been prevented if proper training and guidelines had been in place. It also showed staff at the school and district level failed to provide a safe environment for students

and did not raise concerns about the shooter earlier. Four people were killed in that shooting. A daring plane crash rescue in the Florida Everglades, video showing the moments a rescue team spotted the pilot standing on the wing of his half-submerged airplane. A rescuer attaching him to a harness before the team airlifted him to safety. Officials say the man was taken to the hospital for a leg injury.

And a jewelry heist at the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California. Several players on the University of Colorado football team reporting jewelry missing from the locker room after their game against UCLA. Both universities releasing statements saying they're in communication with each other, with each other, Rose Bowl staff, and authorities about the investigation. We want to return now to our continuing coverage. of the Israel-Hamas war and the impact it's having on communities even here in the U.S. Minnesota's twin cities are a place both Jewish and Palestinian Americans call home,

and communities there are following the escalating conflict overseas closely. Gabe Gutierrez is on the ground for us with their views of the war. More than 6,000 miles from Israel, the war hits home. So my initial response was fear and sadness and anger. A seat at the table, both Jewish. It's just a living a nightmare, like a horror story. Palestinian, we are Semitic people. And Palestinian.

Jeff Burstein's grandfather opened his family's first Jewish restaurant in the 1930s. He now checks the latest news from Israel hourly and was horrified when he first learned a Hamas' terrorist attack on October 7th. Were you surprised? No. Why not? Because they've been telling for years that they want to destroy not only Israel. Israel, but Jews. And people that speak that way, you have to believe what they tell you.

Over lunch, we listened in as three Jewish Americans opened up about their agony over the war. My extended Jewish family is being threatened here on a daily basis and across the world, and it's terrifying and infuriating. I feel like I just keep going back to the word home, and it's not home like a home that's thousands of miles away. it's home that is like right here. I think there's a way to have discourse that isn't hateful. There's a way to have a protest that doesn't kill the jute. And as for the humanitarian concerns in Gaza,

I'm getting very emotional because I really wish there was a way to be able to still feed people, but have it not also feed the enemy who came in and slaughtered thousands of our own people. Nearby Mim's Cafe opened decades ago. Palestinian-American owner Mahmood Shaheen's wife and five of his children live in the occupied West Bank. You see the images coming out of Gaza, of all those casualties. What goes through your head? You know, it is horrifying. It is definitely horrifying.

We also listened in as Palestinian Americans at his restaurant spoke about the war from a much different perspective. It does seem clear that Israel is geared towards vengeance, not necessarily getting the leadership of Hamas by itself. Until there's an end to Israeli occupation and aggression, there will be no peace. They're furious at the U.S. government for not supporting a ceasefire. I am honestly not voting Democrat again. I'm not going to vote for Biden.

But for them, this is about much more what they consider a long history of being dehumanized. This idea that we have to constantly earn empathy. It's ridiculous. We're auditioning for sympathy. It's outrageous. Two tables, two very different viewpoints, a world. A world apart. Gabe Gutier's NBC News, Minneapolis.

In southern Lebanon tonight, a group of villagers caught in the crossfire of the escalating conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, but they are determined to hold on to their community, their homes, and their Christian identities. Here's NBC News Foreign Correspondent Matt Bradley. The church bells still ring in Aynabal, but there's hardly anyone left to hear them. Ever since fresh fighting came to the Middle East, the women and children have almost all fled this Christian village in southern Lebanon. I am telling all the families that are in Beirut, please don't return now. Let's wait and see what will happen.

Only the men remain to watch and wait, a familiar kind of ritual. The distant sound of explosions has already emptied out all of these houses. It's because this community knows all too well the horrors of war. The last war that ripped through this place was in 2006, when Hezbollah and Israel fought for more than 30 days. Nearly two decades later, the memories are still fresh. The scars haven't faded. This is a Christian village, an island in a sea of Shiite Muslims.

It's the main reason the men have stayed behind despite the danger. They worry that if they leave, their Muslim neighbors could take over. But some have no fear from God, I'm not afraid of anyone. But some have no choice. For the Ayub family, fleeing is a luxury they can't afford. They tried to go to Beirut, but seeking safety there required cash and connections. So Shotterby, his wife Vivian, and their five children have to stay and wait and watch the war come to them. Be a-a-robe-shue.

The explosions are getting closer and closer. There are going to be swat one here. Despite the talk of Christian martyrdom, of fear and fate, this is a village of non-combatants. Hezbollah is rattling its sabres, but no one here is asking for war. You will hear another one in three. Rakhon Diab's young child and pregnant wife are waiting out the war in Beirut. Is it a struggle that you want to take on? No one asks you that.

It just goes on without us even taking into consideration our own opinions. Where is our right to decide our own fate as well? He says he stayed behind to help safeguard his village's Christian identity. This is how it goes in the Middle East. You have to lay your body down to keep your place. It's ridiculous, yeah. But up till now, this place has meant to us more than our physical integrity and safety. It's an obligation they've inherited, a burden for which they never asked.

Matt Bradley, NBC News, Ain Ebel, Lebanon. Now to top stories, global watch. Watch, and we begin with a major update after a hockey player died in a freak accident on the ice. The English Ice Hockey Association announcing that all players in the U.K. will be required now to wear neck guards. That's in 2024. This comes after Adam Johnson, a Minnesota native and player for the Nottingham Panthers, was cut in the neck by a skate over the weekend and later died. In Colombia, a desperate search for the father of a soccer star who was kidnapped.

Authorities say the parents of Luis Diaz, a striker, who plays. for Liverpool in England, were abducted by armed men on motorcycles near their home in Northern Colombia on Saturday. Diaz's mother was rescued hours later, but his father remains missing. Authorities now fear he may have been taken into Venezuela. And Russia's largest and most active volcano putting on a stunning display, take a look at some time-lats video here, showing that volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula spewing lava and ash there more than six miles above sea level.

Russian authorities warn the plume of smoke, which stretches almost 220 miles more than that, actually, could be dangerous for air travel. Well, coming up next, shipwreck standoff, a Florida man stuck on the shores of a Jacksonville beach. He can't get back out to sea, and he refuses to leave that sailboat. You'll hear from him next. Welcome back. A man in Florida in need of a rescue after his sailboat, where he lived, ran aground on a Jacksonville beach, the city giving him three weeks to move that boat, but it's an effort proving harder than he anticipated. Rahim Alice has more on the race to get back in the water.

Stranded on the sands of Jacksonville Beach, a sailor refusing to abandon ship. All this entertainment y'all are getting for free. For eight days, Luke Rayburg has been holding court atop his 40-foot sailboat, the Aqualoon. Nobody gave the $10 for the pictures. Explaining just how he ended up marooned on the Florida coast. This thing stood straight up, nose up in the air coming in. Rayburg telling our Jacksonville affiliate, WTLV, he was leaving the sea and air show when the boat lost power,

about a fourth mile out from the beach. The weather changed. I pulled anchor and was going in, and the engine failed. As the boat got pulled closer to shore, the captain was forced to abandon ship once the situation. became unsafe, paddleboarding and swimming to shore. It was quite a ride coming in. The 35,000-pound vessel is also Ray Burke's home,

and the Coast Guard says it's his responsibility to get it off the beach. Everything inside looks like he took this boat, shook it around, and then threw a hand grenade in the middle of it. Among the daily crowds, some good Samaritans, one group offering to pull the vessel back into the water, using a tugboat during high tide on Sunday. But Rayberg declining. saying the effort proved too dangerous to succeed.

We would damage their boat and possibly endanger them of becoming another rescue. Jacksonville Beach officials now hitting him with a three-week notice to move that boat. Rayburg says he will need about $12,000 to pay for industrial-grade tugboats that can move him back into the water. Money, he says, he doesn't have. I appreciate the goodwill and support. and I'll do my best to get this boat off you guys' beach. But right now I'm doing what I can.

As such, two GoFundMe pages have been opened on his behalf, both with $10,000 goals. Now a race against time and tides to get this vessel back out to sea. Rahima Ellis, NBC News. Well, when we come back, a very special Halloween tradition, Blake Mumfer, making headlines, for years, really, with his creative Halloween costumes. He made them especially to suit his needs. Well, after the break, what he went as this year and the professional sports team that took notice.

And finally tonight, as we celebrate Halloween here on Top Story, we want to introduce you to a family in Ohio. They create costumes every year that work with their son's wheelchair. The family says they do it to raise awareness and to inspire others. Their looks always go viral, and this year they even caught the attention of a hockey team.

This Halloween, Blake Mumfer, is riding in style. The Columbia Blue Jackets fan coasting through the streets of Ohio on his very own homemade Zamboni. Jackets on the power play. The 10-year-old was born with spina bifida, a neurological disorder that affects the spinal cord and requires him to use a wheelchair. So, year after year, the family creates their own,

one-of-a-kind Halloween costumes that work with his wheelchair. Our goal is to make sure that Blake just feels like any other kid. Those creations going viral and have included a school bus, macaroni and cheese, a local meteorologist, and a box of French fries, just to name a few. It's all up to Blake. He decides every year, and he's got pretty eclectic taste. So usually we'll try and will little.

it down to some of his favorite things that we could make as a costume on his wheelchair. For this year, the choice to make a hockey-themed costume was an easy one. He started getting really into just one player in particular, Boone Jenner, who's the captain, just really always said he wanted to meet him and that he's his favorite, and he'd always point him out on TV. So it just kind of took off. Like, he just, he wants everything, Blue Jackets. How's their song go when they score?

What, uh-oh, boom. What, uh-oh. Blake's dedication getting him the VIP treatment with the Blue Jackets, including a ride on the real Zamboni during a recent game, and the visit to the Blue Jackets locker room, what's up, Blake? Where he finally got that dream meeting with Boone Jenner, who gave Blake his stick from the game.

It's got to be the best costume here tonight. When there's about five minutes left or so, we were taken down to a room, and we told him there was another surprise, and he just, what, you know, just trying to kind of figure it out, and he didn't know until Boone Jenner walked into the room, and his face was just in shock and awe, and it was pretty great. Blake, even leaving the arena with some new writing on his ride.

Wow. And a memory for this special Halloween that he will not forget. And a pretty cool story to tell, too. We thank the Mumford family for sharing their story with us. And we thank you for watching Top Story tonight. For Tom Yamis, I'm Aaron Gilchrist in Washington. Stay right there. More NBC News now on the way.