Top Story with Tom Llamas - Tuesday, September 22, 2026

Episode Date: September 23, 2026

Tonight's Top Story has the latest breaking news, political headlines, news from overseas and the best NBC News reporting from across the country and around the world Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight, the new investigation into ICE after a violent confrontation in Chicago, this time involving a U.S. citizen, new video of what witnesses claim was a brutal interaction with ICE. This American citizen sent to the hospital after a case of mistaken identity. What went wrong? And tracking dual weather threats, a potentially dangerous Northeaster targeting tens of millions from the Mid-Atlantic all the way to New England, plus a monster Category 5 hurricane near Mexico. the warning to American citizens on vacation there. The parents and Nolan Wells speaking out after the DA said there will be no criminal charges after their son was found dead. They joined Top Story live. The controversial looks maxing influencer known as clavicular charge with rape, how he's responding to the allegations, and rodeo ruckus, a massive bull leaping over a safety barrier,

nearly boring fans in the stands. and unlocking a new era of aviation and autonomous plane completing its first ever coast-to-coast flight with no pilots at the controls. Could it carry passengers next? Plus Olympian Simone Biles revealing three masked men broke into her home. What she says they stole. Top story starts right now. Hi everybody. Good evening. I'm Yasmin Vasugin. And for Tom tonight, we're going to begin with the violent confrontation between ICE officers and a U.S. citizen. Tonight, federal 3rd, say they mistook that man for the target of an immigration operation. So this video shows

the moments after witnesses say two officers pin the man to the ground in Evanston, Illinois, just outside of Chicago. You see them wearing police vests. But local officials have confirmed they are, in fact, ICE officers. They eventually uncoff him and they drive away, leaving the man on the ground. Witnesses then step in and call 911 to get a medical attention. Evanston police say that man who hasn't been identified suffered injuries to his head, his neck, and his teeth. DHS says he wasn't cooperating and refused to ID himself and that the officers left once he said he was a citizen. It's coming just a day after the arrest of this food delivery driver in Austin, Texas, that ended with an ICE officer shooting him in the back. Austin Police Department just releasing this body cam foot and showing a new angle of the moment after he was shot.

our Maggie Vespa has tracked it all and leads us off from Evanston. Tonight, what federal authorities call a case of mistaken identity near Chicago that local police say left an American citizen in the hospital. You see that man on the ground, federal officers standing around him. A witness who shot this video telling NBC Chicago, I saw two agents pinning down a gentleman. They were using very rough force on him. Moments later, you see the officers leave.

Evanston police saying the unnamed U.S. citizen reported injuries to his head, neck, and teeth. It happened here Sunday. DHS tells NBC News. ICE officers were doing targeted enforcement in this area and that the man in the video, quote, resembled the target. The agency telling us the man was given lawful commands but was not cooperative and refused to identify himself. adding ice officers relied on their training, leaving once the individual finally identified himself. And we're learning more tonight about the arrest of this food delivery driver in Austin, Texas, who was shot by an ice officer. Tonight, two DHS officials telling NBC news that the officer who shot Wilbur Rafael Garcest Perez on Sunday had been issued a body camera but was not wearing it.

DHS says Garcès Perez was in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela and a judge had issued a final. deportation order against him. It comes amid a historic surge of ICE arrests nationwide, part of President Trump's pledge to crack down on illegal immigration. Today we have the strongest, the most secure border in our country's history. And Maggie Vespah is joining me now. Let's start where you left off there in Austin with the incident. Did we learn anything, Maggie, from this newly released body cam footage? So, Yasmin, basically we have the body camera footage and then police and officials in Austin also released, and this was key, a cell phone clip. It's really short, but in it you can hear three gunshots. And that appears to be when these Austin police officers

approach the scene. And then you see them in that video helping the food delivery driver in that city. And from there, it sort of goes through what we saw. And that's the video there from witness video as well. He clearly has a gunshot wound in his back. The local police officers hear them asking ICE, is he under arrest? But I mean, this is kind of the through line that we're seeing in these incidents, Yasman. And There were two very different incidents from Texas to here outside Chicago, but you have these local metropolitan police departments showing up on these scenes and basically starting to investigate ICE activities in their city.

We're just, we're seeing it more and more here. So obviously the incident in Austin, Texas, right, that was Sunday. Let's talk about what happened there in Evanston, right? Do we have any more insight into how this happened and who this guy is? So the guy's not being identified publicly. None of the agencies are identifying him. He hasn't spoken out publicly. I'll point out actually both of these instances, it's interesting, were on Sunday.

And again, super different. Basically, in Austin, we have ICE shooting a man who they say they were pursuing. They got the right guy, but we don't know why they shot him. Here in Evanston, ICE was pursuing the wrong guy. DHS says it and local police says it. We don't know why they thought this was the person they were supposed to be arresting. Basically, DHS just said he looked like him. But what's really interesting, and again, Evanston police investigating this is that

Evanston PD says they later talked to the ice officers, like moments after this happened in a different part of Evanston. They said one of the ice agents had blood on his hand, and he openly told the local police officer that that happened while he was trying to handcuff that suspect. So again, that one, Yasmin, also under investigation. Maggie Vespa, thank you, Maggie. We are following some breaking news of a potentially massive FBI breach journalist from an independent technology company, 404 media report. They have communicated with hackers who claim they breach the FBI's internal data system. Those hackers claiming they stole data on almost every FBI agent, including names, addresses, phone numbers, bureau officials telling NBC News the FBI is investigating, but it is, quote, still too early to know more.

All right, let's get to an update now in the death of Nolan Wells. The Mississippi teen found dead after going out on a boat with his friends. The district attorney tonight saying there is no evidence, of a crime, but his family demanding more information. There's Kate's now. A Jackson County Mississippi grand jury unanimously finding no criminal wrongdoing in the death of Nolan Wells. Today, his parents demanding a more thorough investigation. There is only one victim, and it is our son, Nolan, Xavier. Late Monday, the district attorney released a video. This is and has always been a search for the truth.

The grand jury finding Wells's cause of death was undetermined, but consistent with drowning. Also saying an injury on the back of Wells' head was not fatal. The family's attorney wants more information. The cause of those injuries and their contribution to Nolan Wells' death remain unexplained. An outcry on social media today. You know we ain't buying it. It makes zero sense that Nolan Wells just up and drowned. The DA criticized the family's attorney Ben Crump and said outsiders and influencers exploited Wells's death to divide and create chaos.

There is absolutely no evidence to support the allegations that Nolan's disappearance in death were racially motivated. Nolan's friends love Nolan, and Nolan loved them. But the grieving family still has so many questions. The only thing we have asked for since day one is an honest, transparent, fair investigation. Kate Snow, NBC News. And joining us now are the people that are closest to this case, Nolan Wells' parents, Elmore Wansley and Christine Wells-Wansley,

and their attorney at Ben Crump. Welcome to all of you. Elmore, Christine, how are you guys doing today? It's a day. A very tough day for our family. But we're going to lean into. each other and do what we need to do to advocate for our son. Christine, what was your reaction when you heard the grand jury was not going to bring charges

in no one's case? Honestly, mortified at the lack of empathy that was provided, the lack of grace that was extended it to us to read through the document, to process the document before it became public. Not surprised, though, because at no point in time were there any suspects named information to us as well as our legal team was very limited, if any. So it just, it hurts to say that, right? it hurts to say that I'm not surprised. I'm hurt.

We're hurt, but we're not surprised by how that went down. Why are you not surprised? Because since the very start of this, there were things that were set in motion. There was a narrative that was put out prematurely of accidental drowning, no foul play. only hours after his body had been found. We were not allowed to see him and identify him.

And again, there were just so many factors that has played into how everything has unfolded and how it's caused us to feel personally about where and how the investigation went. Almore, when did you guys find out that the grand jury wasn't moving forward with this, subsequent to when the public found out? My wife found out via text message about 7.54 last night. But she could tell you more about that. When I found out, I just kind of walked off and just lost myself and my thoughts.

But the message was sent to her. And then not too long after the message, I think the video came out on Facebook, which I thought was really, really unprofessional, because this is our child, the death of our child. And instead of calling us and being professional about it, you go to social media as soon as you possibly can. I just, I thought that was kind of tacky.

I didn't think it was very professional at all. Ben, I want to talk about some of the evidence submitted here and what the grand jury was talking about and looking at. Okay. You feel as if there was not, the grand jury feels as if there was not enough evidence to indict. I know that you present. presented the grand jury with certain pieces of evidence, including things that were on Nolan's phone.

Do you feel as if they did not see the full picture in spite of the evidence that you presented to them? Well, remember, we don't know what the grand jury saw because it's a secret process completely controlled by the prosecutor. The old saying amongst the legal community is you can indict a ham sandwich if you want to because the prosecutor, controls everything. And we knew that was the case going in. And the fact that, you know, the medical examiners, both the independent medical examiner,

as well as the state of the Mississippi medical examiner, found that there was evidence of injury, went forth trauma to the back of Nolan's head. But that seemed to not be considered significant. They wanted to go, as Christine said, with this notion of an accidental drowning, even though their son Nolan is a college football player on scholarship, and he's in tip-top shape.

So you have this 18-year-old college student who allegedly drowns and nobody sees him. Nobody knows anything, but yet you say, oh, what a blood force? trauma that had bleeding in the back of his head. You say that's not a factor. No. Who do you think should be indicted then? Is there a name? Is there someone that you believe should in fact be indicted here that witnesses potentially

point to? We're searching for answers. We don't have the information from the grand jury. And hopefully we'll be getting it. We don't even have the autopsy from the state of Mississippi. That's how limited what we have. So what we believe is that somebody... Ben, I will say the DA has said that they have provided

Nolan Wells' family's attorney with the autopsy report. So are you saying the DA is not telling the truth? Is there another attorney the DA might be talking about? We found out for the first time of the day that she said that the autopsy report was made available to us, but she didn't hear anything else about her offer. So let me make this point, and I don't want to go tip for tat with her

because it's really not about me and my legal team or her and her office. The issue is about what happened to Nolan Wells, everything else is just an distraction. This autops report from the state of Mississippi should have been released to the public. Our Dr. Mitchell, when he went to do his examination with X, can I have a copy of the state of Mississippi autopsy report to take with me? He was told no.

Why do you think it's important? At the very beginning, she's going to give them to information. Ben, why do you think it's important for the public to see the autopsy report, not just Nolan's parents, Christia Nellmore. Transparency. So everybody can see the evidence so we could trust the system. Right now, there's great mistrust

from the family and the supporters of Nolan Wales that we were not going to get a fair and full and transparent investigation. Then the district attorney criticize you by name, saying that you knew better than to say Nolan's death. was rocially motivated.

And that there is, this is what she said, not a shred of evidence proving that. What's your response? Well, I don't want to get to tip of task. She has her opinions. We have our opinions, but none of that matters. It's a distraction. Don't fall for the distraction.

The issue is, what happened to Christine and Elmore Sun? I mean, this dead 18-year-old college student who had blunt force trauma in his head and their conclusions flies in the face of common sense when you really think about it. You feel really being honest. And you say, hold on, this colleague

after me, drown and all those people out there nobody saw nothing. And you're telling me that the blunt force trauma to his head had nothing at all to do with why he is unalive today. If this was you, your child, if you were the parent, would you accept that? So why do they expect us

to accept that. If it was their child, they wouldn't accept that they would want them to keep investigating. Keep finding out what really happened to Nolan Wells. Christine, was there ever a point in which Nolan talked to you about feeling as if he was being racially targeted amongst his friends? Did he ever experience that? I honestly, that I don't feel like that. that's an appropriate question because at no point in time have we ever made this a racial thing, right? Unfortunately, the optics of the situation has kind of allowed a segue to that. But what I can tell you is what we have stated before. we have always raised our son to love others, right?

Not to judge people, look at the person's character, but also too, because, and let me make this very clear, because of our lived experiences, we have had to have very tough conversations with our children about the past of our people. And again, that's a lived experience that no one can change or take away. It's an unfortunate thing that we have to do as black parents, but it has to be done. And those are the things we taught him,

as well as the rest of his siblings. I'm a mom of two young boys. I cannot imagine Christy and Elmore what you guys are dealing with on a daily basis. It is the worst thing for a parent to have to deal with, seeing a young boy like Nolan and what has happened to him and his life cut so tragically short.

You have the stage here. What do you want people to know about Nolan? What do you want people to know about the situation in light of this decision from the grand jury and about his life? I would say never be afraid to ask questions. I have always told our children, I will move heaven and earth. If anything were to ever happen, and that's exactly what Elmore and I are doing.

We are attempting to do. Nolan was, and it, the embodiment of kindness, love, inclusivity. He was just, he was a good person. He is a good person. He's someone, and I've always said this, that you would want to meet in every lifetime, someone you would be blessed to have by your side. But also, too, for all the people out there

who are casting judgments and know nothing about us, have never walked a day in our shoes, do not understand the pain we are going through. Nolan 100% would be absolutely okay with the road that we have taken. He would want us to advocate if this had happened to one of his siblings and he was still here. Because that's the kind of person Nolan was. He was honest and he stood for the treat.

It's, you know, seeing his picture, he seems like a really kind man and having a has an infectious smile to say the least. Let's not call him a man because 18, you're still a teenager. I know by law you're an adult. Nolan was a, he was a boy. He was a child. He was our child. So for everyone watching, please stop referring to him as a man because he was a teen

ager. He was 18 when he left the search. Christine Elmore, I, again, I am so incredibly sorry for your loss. I'm so sorry. And I know it's tough to do interviews like this, too, on a day probably when you just want to hug your kids and your husband. And so we also appreciate your courage. Because we don't, we can't just sit here and not fight for our child. So we are going to do everything that we can.

And our feelings aside, we have to stand up for Nolan because we are his voice now. Nolan is not here. And please remember, the only victim in this situation is Nolan. And as my husband stated, before all of this, before the hashtag, Nolan is our child. And he will always be your child. Absolutely. Elmore, Christine, hug each other tight tonight, as I know you will and your children.

Thank you guys so much for your time. Ben Crump, thank you as well. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We'll be right back. All right. Welcome back now to the dual weather threat shaping up off both coasts. Put back tens of millions at risk. Right now, a monster category five hurricane is intensifying just near Mexico's Pacific coast. It's coming as a rare September. Nor'easter is shaping up. Meteorologist Bill Cairns is tracking it all and stand-in-by for us.

So we're following this breaking situation, it seems right now, in Mexico as well. So we have this noreaster that is shape it up. We have this breaking situation in Mexico. So walk us through sort of what you've been seeing on the maps. Yeah, so we have these two huge storms we're going to be talking about, but we also at the same time still have to deal with, you know, on a smaller scale, big issues in New Mexico. This is from monsoonal tropical moisture. They were under what we call a moderate risk of flash flooding today.

That's like a level three out of four. So we were expecting problems. And now we're starting to see those develop. You can see this new video in here. We've had a lot of water in a short period of time. Many roads are closed off. and they're telling people to stay off the roads and stay at home if they can. So this area that we're looking at right here, if we go to the maps, this is up to the north.

So this is a flash flood emergency. We have numerous flash flood warnings. The next step higher than that is a flash flood emergency. That's when we know water rescues are taking place or people, you know, we have water into homes or businesses. And this is near Mora, and these are all these little silver dots here. Those are, you know, reports to the National Weather Service of high water or water rescues taking place. We already have a setup on the east. coast that is ugly for the coastal areas. A strong northeast wind is coming in. Huge high pressure

in Canada is going to be responsible for this along with our developing nor'easter. We already have winds that are gusting near 40 miles per hour on the coast. Every high tide from now through about Sunday is going to take chunks of the dunes and beaches away. We're going to deal with some significant coastal flooding. We've got a full moon coming in here. So astronomical high tides on, you know, as we approach Saturday's full moon. We already have coastal flood warnings out for all coastal areas from Virginia Beach through the Chesapeake, the Delaware, all the way back up through the Jersey Shore. These are going to be numerous days here. By the time this is all said and done, a lot of the beaches are going to look ugly. We will have some damage, too, because

of the wave action and the high ties. As far as inland areas go, if we get the gusty winds and the heavy rain, it'd likely be Saturday as we go through Saturday night into early Sunday, and then the storm should be exiting. So a very ugly weekend. We're not going to get a lot of damage inland like the coast, but we will be dealing with those problems. And as far as what we're going to deal rainfall-wise, the heaviest rains will be southern portions of New England. I don't think we're going to get a lot of flooding out of these rains. It's mostly going to be the problems on the coast. We do have leaves on the trees.

So gusts the 30 to 40, we could get some isolated power outages. And then finally, this just looks like a buzzsaw. One of the most impressive storms you'll ever see on our planet, 180 mile per hour wind. It's the third strongest we've ever witnessed in the eastern Pacific. Thankfully, though, this is not going to make landfall any time in the next four to five days. as he has been it looks like maybe by Tuesday or Monday up here in the Baja. And finally, for our friends in Hawaii, we are watching another possible storm for you. 90% chance.

Hawaii's got hit twice already. This could be a third time later this week. A lot to track out there, to say to least, Bill Caron's, thank you. Want to turn now to a stunning threat from President Trump at the United Nations. Tell him we're leaders that he may annihilate Iran. And then a separate moment there causing another delegation to walk out. Here's Gabe Gutierrez. Tonight, President Trump's dire warning.

I have a big decision to make. With the world watching here, the president speaking bluntly to Iran's delegation at the UN General Assembly. Will a deal be made with Iran or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? The president now says his team met with Iranian officials. today for three hours, even though he thinks Iran is stalling, hoping Democrats win the midterms. I gave absolutely no credence and will not give credence to the election when it comes to Iran.

It doesn't even enter my mind. The only thing that does is that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon. In his wide-ranging address, the president also saying Cuba's communist regime will fall, prompting the country's delegation to walk out. Communism will never be coming to America, but freedom will be coming to Cuba. Today's video footage largely provided by the UN itself, after the president bans CNN, MS now, and political from the White House, prompting the TV pool to suspend its coverage. Secretary Marco Rubio, who has not banned those outlets from the State Department,

is still defending the president's move. The president feels very strongly that why should I have people working in my building and in my office that I believe are not honestly covering my administration. And Gabe Gutierrez has joined us now from outside the United Nations. A very busy day there, Gabe, to say the least. And the president also set to meet with Venezuela's leader Delci Rodriguez tonight. What can we expect? Yeah, that's right, Yasmin.

It will be their first face-to-face meeting since the U.S. arrested Rodriguez's predecessor, Nicholas Maduro. Now, then the president pivots to another high-stakes meeting. set to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping and host him back in Washington tomorrow through Friday. So certainly a very busy week for the president. Yes. Thank you, Gabe. All right, now to the tragedy on a school campus.

Two Ole Miss University students found dead, both with the same popular gas station drug found nearby. Our George Solis has the details. Tonight, two University of Mississippi College students found dead. Boy, possible, O.D. They do not believe the subject's breathing, trying to start CPR or the phone. Police rushing to the Ole Miss campus in Oxford just after 1.30 p.m. on Monday for a report of a possible overdose. What's the mood been like on campus right now? Honestly, really frantic. So I think people are just really shocked. Authorities say package cratum sold from a retail store was discovered during both investigations,

and there is no evidence connecting the deaths. But urging the public to avoid cratom and any other medication that, is not prescribed. Kratum, a synthetic opioid, comes from a plant in Southeast Asia. It's often sold in liquid or tablet form and found in gas station, smoke shops, and even some health food stores. The DEA calling it a drug of concern, and poison control calls involving Kratom reached a staggering 3,400 cases last year. Police say Kratum has been banned by local laws in Oxford, Mississippi, but can be bought in surrounding counties. Tonight, the university says it's heartbroken by the recent loss of two students, and they remain in contact with

local and state law enforcement. Kratum is still illegal in about seven states, but it is still considered legal in many. There's still a lot of regulation to try to get this all ironed out, but this investigation in Ole Miss still ongoing. Yasmin. Thank you, George. Turning now to the disturbing allegations against clavicular, the man at the center of the online looks-maxing movement.

The controversial social media influencer is accused of. raping a teenage girl. Jesse Kirsch has those details. The looks maxing influencer known as clavicular tonight facing charges including rape. In a Massachusetts criminal complaint, the internet personality accused of raping a 17-year-old girl after he gave her alcohol. Everyone knows what looks maxing is. Clavicular, whose real name is Brayden Peters, has become a social media lightning rod known for promoting looks maxing, the pursuit of physical attractiveness even through extreme dangerous actions. I've done like a lot of things like fat dissolvers. Like I've injected liposis agents into my face was a big one. I've in bone smashing. The complaint alleges Peters invited

a teenage girl to his family's Cape Cod home in May 2025, where she joined him on a live stream. According to the criminal complaint, the victim says Peters knew she was only 17, but still offered her vodka. And at one point she stated she was really drunk. Then Peters and the victim allegedly go over to his bed and have sex, according to the complaint. The victim says she fell asleep. And when she woke up the next morning, Peters was having sex with me. Police say the victim told them she did not consent. Now Peters faces charges of rape, drugging someone for sexual intercourse, and of procuring liquor for someone under 21 years old. So far, record show he has not been arrested. Overnight, Peters posting on his Instagram story, tagging his location in Los Angeles. It comes after a young

woman sued Peters in April in a civil case in Florida, alleging she woke up with Peters having sex with her without her consent when she was a minor. According to the civil lawsuit, months later, Peters told the plaintiff, Alexandria Vasilevna Mendoza, he wanted to inject her with something to melt fat on her cheeks. The lawsuit says Mendoza believes Peters may have also injected her with methamphetamine. The civil lawsuit says Mendoza is now over 18. Clavicular's attorney at the time said that he denies the allegations and intends to vigorously defend himself, according to NBC South Florida. The new Massachusetts criminal complaint does not name the alleged victim,

but several details shared by police match Mendoza's account. When asked about the criminal charges today, Mendoza's attorney telling NBC News, we have no comment at this time as the police are handling the criminal matter. Jesse Kirsch is joining me now, some really disturbing allegations in there, to say the least, Jesse. What more is Cliffler's team saying tonight? night. Yeah, Yasmin, from last we heard from his team, he has not been served with an arrest warrant yet,

and I do want to share some new reporting that our team has on NBCNews.com right now reporting that a source familiar with the matter confirmed that the charges against Peters are in connection with Mendoza's allegation. So that is some new reporting that we have in tonight as well, Yasmin. Jesse Kirsch, thank you. All right, coming up on top story, Lionel Richie postponing more shows, what we're learning about his recent heart procedure that's keeping him off the same. stage. Stay with us. We're back. We are back now with the bribery accusations against Maine Republican Senator Susan Collins, who has just weeks out from her critical midterm race. ProPublica reports the FBI

investigated the five-term senator in a sweeping probe but pulled the plug when President Trump returned to office. At the heart of this investigation, this CEO of a defense contracting company pictured with the senator here, reportedly telling the FBI, Collins gave him tens of millions of dollars in government contracts in exchange for super PAC donations. Ryan Nobles is reporting from the Hill for us and is joining us now. Ryan, this is a really in-depth investigation. Walk us through some of the highlights here and how Senator Collins is responding. Well, according to this report from ProPublica, this CEO that you talked about that's at the center of this controversy, said that he met directly with representatives for

Susan Collins' super PAC and was under the impression that if he steered a financial benefit to the super PAC in the form of campaign donations, that that would result in government contracts. Keep in mind that Susan Collins is a powerful member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. She steers a lot of money back to her home state of Maine in the form of government contracts. And according to this CEO, who we should point out, has pled guilty to numerous federal crimes. He was told not so uncertain terms that if that money found its way into the super PAC that then the donations, or I'm sorry, the government contracts would follow.

There is a record of those donations taken place and of those contracts being put into place. But according to Collins and her team, that two have nothing to do with each other, that this investigation was launched by the FBI. They fully cooperated, and they found that she did nothing wrong. So as I was coming to your run, I talked about the timing of the ending of this investigation. Do we know the why of it all and if it could resume? So I would not expect that this investigation resumes any time. soon, especially given the makeup of the current Justice Department. The timing of it falls directly in line of when this investigation was concluded when President Trump took office in 2025.

Now, at the time, the sources that talked to ProPublica said that they were just on the verge of widening the scope of this investigation when the Department of Justice's administration changed hands. Now, the FBI was asked about this investigation today. They said that there was not enough evidence for the investigation to move forward, and they have no reason to do that. to believe that Susan Collins did anything wrong. For her part, we talked to Senator Collins today. She said that this is unfair, that all the allegations are completely false, and she's angry that this information came out in the way that it did so close to an election. Of course, Yasmin, she is in what might be the most competitive race on the Senate map in Maine, one that could

determine who controls the Senate after the fall election. Yeah, certainly a race that we've been talking about for some time, and we'll continue to talk about between now and November. Ryan Noble's, thank you. Now to Top Stories, News Feed and scary scenes out of Queens here in New York. Firefires responding to this massive house fire. Some of them getting trapped in the flames. Here you can see one escaping headfirst, rushing to get down the ladder as the fire

shoots out of the window. And all crews there say four firefighters were hurt, but all are expected to be okay. And then this wild video from a bullfighting arena in Spain. capturing the moment. One of the bulls leaps over the barrier, almost hitting some people in the front row, but it wasn't done there. Moments later, that 1100 pound bull jumped over the fence yet again, causing people to scramble out of the way. Thankfully, no reports of any injuries there. And then famed singer Lionel Richie, postponing more shows after undergoing a heart procedure. A representative for the 77-year-old says he's doing great, but it's going to take some time off.

The announcement comes as Richie has faced multiple health scares in recent months. A few people weeks ago. The four-time Grammy winner reportedly checked himself into the hospital after feeling weak and dehydrated following a show. All right, now to a stunning revelation from Olympian Simone Bile. So the gymnast describing a scary home break-in on social media. During our last few months in Chicago, three men in mask came to our house and stole my Porsche. Stole the GTS. So this is just the latest in a recent string of high-profile burglaries. Erin McLaughlin is joining us now on set to talk through all of this. So we're stiglass on social media.

Obviously, as I mentioned, this has happened before to other individuals as well. What do we know about this break-in? Well, there's a lot we actually don't know about this. Simone Biles dropping this disturbing news as she was getting ready to go pick up her new Porsche. Her existing Porsche is the car in question that was stolen. She says by three masked men who entered her home. Now, they have been able to recover that Porsche. She's buying a new one anyway.

We don't know if there were any arrests in connection with this. She says that this is really coming on the heels of what has been a tough summer for Simone Biles. We know back in June, she was posting how she suffered this medical episode that landed her in the hospital. So she says her life has basically become this recent. reality television show. And she said this latest break-in has also inspired her to get a guard dog. Take a listen to what else she had to say. I feel like I need a reality TV show.

The things that happened to me are absolutely insanity. And so it would be really easy for producers to just film regularly. That is one of the reasons why we also got our Doberman. So as you mentioned, this is the latest in a series of high-profile break-ins. We have a list here. Brad Pitt had his home broken into in June 2025. MacLamore in June 2025, Dylan Spouse back in April. And then Kim Kardashian, you all remember her hotel room back in 2016. Well, her home was broken into in August of 2006. So I guess the moral to this story is if you are high profile. Up your security. Up your security. We should note that none of these

instances are connected in any way at this time. Thank you, Aaron. All right, turning now to a new kind of fight. getting into the ring with a robot. The Terminator-like scene going viral and raising new questions about the future of fighting machines. Stephen Romo takes a closer look. For the first time in history. Tonight, a fight straight out of science fiction brought to life in the ring and raising new questions about the future of fighting on the battlefield. Social media influencer Frankie Lepena fighting a six-foot tall 200-pound robot designed by a company called Rec and controlled by a human operator. You can see Lepena land some punches.

The robot kicking right back, at times knocking Lepena to the ground. Rec says fights like this are just for entertainment. We are going to create something relatively similar to robot UFC. Another company, Foundation Future Industries, posting this video of its humanoid robot firing a mortar. It's not as much capability limitation as like an ethical and policy, legal consideration when it comes to using robots in a weaponized way. This summer, Tom visited a robotics plan in Beijing. It looks aggressive. It's marching.

Should it be seen as something that is going to be maybe part of your military one day? No, yeah, no. Yeah, we don't want the robots to do that. Yeah, we want a robot to help people. With technology moving fast and drones already being used in war, this bout could offer a glimpse into the future of fighting machines. Stephen Romer, NBC News. Stephen, thank you.

Still ahead tonight, the future of flying. We're going to speak with a company that just completed a fully autonomous cross-country flight. But could it ever carry passengers? That conversation is coming up next. All right, let's get to a major breakthrough in the skies. completion of the first ever fully autonomous cross-country flight. The aviation company, Joby, says one of its aircraft, a converted Cessna caravan, flew from California all the way to North Carolina's outer banks using autonomous flying technology. The journey span more than 3,000

miles, took about a week to complete, with several stops along the way. The company says the plane taxi took off, landed all without a human pilot's input. There was a safety pilot on board. But Joby says it never had to take the reins. The plane now beginning its flight back west, taking a different route through some busy airspace as well. I want to bring it now Greg Bowles, Joby's chief policy officer, talk more about this. This is fascinating, Greg, to say the least.

I would also say I'm sure a lot of folks are a bit worried for this kind of safety parameters and measures that are taken into account with flights like this. But first, walk us through how it actually works. Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, in aviation, we have. have a very, very high threshold for safety, so it's absolutely top of mind for all of us. And so the way this aircraft works is we've incorporated Jobi's autonomous capabilities

into the aircraft, as you mentioned. That aircraft has all of the capabilities on board to safely fly from leaving the chalks or leaving the gate, taxiing, taking off, integrating into the airspace, watching for traffic, watching to identify weather, to identify the active runways and land safely. on the ground a remote pilot is able to actually talk to air traffic control. Wow. Can broadcast and navigate the aircraft and kind of direct it in the macro sense. Is there ever a point in which passengers are going to be able to fly on flights like this and planes like this?

You know, on this trip, on this coast-to-coast and as you said coast again, so coast to coast-to-coast returning this next couple weeks, folks have been on board. So in addition to a safety pilot, We've had some people ride on board the aircraft. So that's what's really exciting about this technology, is it's built to a level that is safe for people to ride on board. The aircraft is able to conduct missions that sometimes you wouldn't want people to have to be on board for. Firefighting missions where at night we don't drop fire retardants because of the danger.

You know, this aircraft can conduct missions like that. It can conduct critical first responder missions and bring medical supplies. So there are lots of aviation uses that an aircraft like this is, is a lot of is really exciting for. So is the objective of this autonomous technology for uses like you just named or for passenger flights, commercial flights as well? Well, you know, I think what we're seeing right now is a fantastic way to prove out the technology and to integrate this aircraft safely into the airspace system. This aircraft has been flying for a number of years now, integrated into controlled airspace with traditional air traffic. It's working through an FAA approval process.

It's been flying with the Department of War. So kind of a growing spectrum of things the aircraft can be used for. We've built the autonomy stack in a way that it can be used across different platforms. So this is a great platform to demonstrate, but you can imagine that we can fit this equipment into a whole range of different aircraft. How do you guarantee it safe? Yeah, so, you know, this is the life of many of us in aviation, is really, deep work in redundancy, reliability, in safety, and in lots of learning. And so, you know, the years of work up to flights like this with a safety pilot on board

is really key to some of that. And, you know, when you think about autonomous driving on the roads versus what happens in the air, it's really interesting. So in the road environment, we have to react very, very quickly. Things happen in microseconds. In the air, it's, you know, a slower progression of events. and, you know, technology is really, really well suited to that. And it's an exciting times to be able to start to demonstrate that.

So I want to present for you a scenario because yesterday there was kind of this massive meltdown at Newark that knocked out air traffic control for several hours. How would you handle, for instance, an autonomous aircraft in a situation like that? Yeah, and on our coast-to-coast-to-coast trip, we've come across unexpected weather. We've come across unexpected traffic. And so there are many layers of safety in the way we deal with the aircraft. Today, you can imagine a traditional piloted aircraft. Sometimes the radios can actually go out on the aircraft, and there are procedures for those pilots when that were to happen,

that the pilot will conduct the landing following the previously approved path nice and safely to make sure that you're flying end-to-end. What's exciting about this aircraft is it has additional capabilities to see a little more deeply. it has LIDAR and cameras. It is using very well-known databases. So a little bit more background information. And then, of course, this aircraft has the ability to fly to any of the more than 5,000 airports across the country. I want to ask you about another project as well that Joby's working on. The electric air taxis, right? They're kind of like smaller aircrafts that could, for example, take someone from a city center to an airport. Do you guys have an update on when those are going to be available for commercial use?

I think this is, you know, this is extremely exciting. Flying cars, some people call them. And so that's right. Our electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, we actually just celebrated the launch of a program called the EIPP, the E-V-TOL integrated pilot program in Dallas, with a number of leaders, including the Secretary of Transportation. We previously, back in May, celebrated in New York City

with flights around the city. And, you know, it was exciting. New Yorkers just celebrated the quiet that these electric aircraft bring. And we're excited for people that maybe join us in Florida in November to see some of this kind of flying happen. Have you flown on one of these autonomous aircrafts, Greg? I have not, but I'm very excited. I get to fly on this. I'll be flying a few legs on the aircraft.

I'm actually headed down to meet it in Raleigh-Durham tonight and excited to fly on some legs. I'm a long-time pilot. I've been flying since I was 15 years. old, extremely excited to be on board. So you got some extra confidence then because you know how to fly one of those things if something actually goes wrong. Greg Balls. Thank you, sir.

Appreciate it. Thank you, Yes, man. All right, when we come back tonight, this special moment for a 93-year-old volunteer, getting a birthday surprise from the people that she gives so much to. See with us. Finally, tonight, the special birthday surprise for a one 93-year-old classroom volunteer. How the students that she helps every single day gave back to her. It was a birthday surprise, a chorus of tiny voices celebrating classroom volunteer Eileen McKeown.

The 93-year-old reads to these Kansas City kindergartners twice a month. So on her big day, the teachers and students knew they had to give back to a woman who gives them so much. The class celebrating with signs, singing, singing, snacks, and even some happy tears. I walked in and I saw this and it got to me. For nearly 20 years, Eileen has been working with kids,

volunteering as a part of the Kansas City Organization Operation Breakthrough. Kelly Phelps has worked with Eileen for 13 years and helped the kids pull off the surprise party. It was just really special to be able to do something small for Eileen to show her how much we really do. love her. It wasn't small. And don't worry, the kids still got the reading time in two. Birthday cupcakes in hand. This bond across generations. It's an environment of love. You don't see that too much anymore. It's an environment of love. Happy 93rd birthday, Eileen. Thank you so much

for watching Top Story for Tom Yamis. I'm Yasmin Vasugian here in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.