Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, August 26, 2026

Episode Date: August 27, 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.

Breaking news tonight, the deadly flood disaster in Southeast Asia. The urgent search for hundreds missing, including Americans. The monster wave of water at the border of Nepal and Tibet, this bus depot destroyed. Drivers scrambling to escape, entire neighborhoods swept away. The race to save people trapped right now. Also breaking the body camera rest video of San Francisco 49ers owner, Jed York, just released what he told police when he allegedly tried to meet a prostitute. New details in the death of American icon Dolly Parton, what her team is revealing about her

final moments and her funeral service as fans from around the world pay tribute. Landmark settlement meta reaching a multi-billion dollar deal after Facebook and Instagram were accused of endangering children. The big changes the company will now make. New details on the deadly measles outbreak in Pennsylvania, all reporter on the ground in the epicenter. Roadside rescue video capturing a group of people lifting a car off a little girl trapped underneath. And the groundbreaking pancreatic cancer drug just approved by the FDA, how long it could extend a patient's life. Plus, should NFL players be allowed back onto college teams? We'll explain the loophole that opened that door and how major conferences are trying to slam it shut.

Top story starts right now. And good evening. As we come on the air, an urgent rescue mission is unfolding on the other side of the globe. Right now, hundreds are missing, including American tourists and many fear dead after deadly floods tore through the border of Nepal and China's Tibet, wiping out entire towns. Video capturing people trying to outrun the terrifying wall of water as it rushes in, demolishing this building and everything in its path. Another angle shows this bus depot completely wiped out as a torrent of mud and water. charges through. The horror captured from inside this bus, people screaming as others try to run out of the way. The violent wave knocking this bridge off its foundation, carrying it downstream. A footbridge snapped in half and whisked away all of this unfolding around 9 a.m. local time this

morning. Tonight, a dire and dangerous rescue mission is underway. Crews pulling this man out of his home covered in mud. And this woman wrapped in the arms of disaster teams there. Another in the bucket of a tractor trailer. Officials say more than 150 people have been killed and countless others are missing tonight. Aerial video showing communities buried in the deep mud. At this hour, it's still unclear what exactly triggered this catastrophic flooding that hit the border area between Nepal and Tibet. Our Janice McAfrayer covers this region for us and starts us off on the coverage. Tonight, harrowing images from when the flooding hit. Passengers on a bus panicking as they watch people trying to outrun a monster wave.

A surveillance camera on the Tibet side of the China Nepal border showing crowds running for cover just before a building is wiped away by a wall of water. Tonight the trail of destruction along the border catastrophic. Construction workers scrambling to escape as the wave barrels towards them. That red truck also trying to outrun the torrent of water, but eventually is swept away. Buses lined up on this parking garage quickly destroyed. In Nepal, the four and after images showing the overwhelming scale of destruction. Entire communities along the border submerged in water and mud, effectively erased.

In all, hundreds are now missing, including nearly 300 foreign tourists. Officials say dozens of Americans among them. The Nepal Army has been deployed to the area's hardest hit. Many now buried in mud, this woman among the survivors. What caused the floods is still unclear, though officials believe an earthquake might have triggered an ice avalanche that unleashed disaster. Tonight, the State Department confirms at least 54 Americans are impacted by this disaster in Nepal.

in China. Officials say they are rushing in rescue teams. So this really is a race against the clock on both sides of the border. Tom. It's horrific what's happened there. Okay. I want to bring a meteorologist Bill Kerrins now. Bill, walk us through the science here, and earthquake likely triggered this knocking off some type of glacier off a mountain? Yeah, the number of question is people have never seen anything like this. This rivals the worst tsunamis that we've seen in Japan and Indonesia. This is just a sequence of events that's almost unimaginable, but it was a very note. danger in this area to have a potential for a wall of water to come down. This same river area had a pretty big flood only of July of last year when we had not the same magnitude, but

kind of a similar consequence of events. Let me take it through it. So we started the day and we had the report of an earthquake. So the first thing everyone was thinking, oh, we had an earthquake, it must have triggered a landslide or a rock slide, and then the glacier gave way. And it was a 5.2. But then the U.S. Geological Survey, they reviewed it. And they said, no, This wasn't an earthquake. This was actually just a glacial collapse. The side of a mountain just giving way and crashing down into the valley, that caused the catastrophic flood.

So how does that happen? Let's zoom in. This is the actual mountain. It probably doesn't look like this anymore. This was before the event. And this is 23,000 feet tall. In Colorado, the highest peak isn't even 15,000. This is a huge Himalayan mountain.

The top of this gave way. It collapsed down the valley, and it blocked the river. It made a natural dam. Eventually, the pressure from that river just kept getting greater and greater and greater, and then it just bust and burst open, and then rock and debris and everything else just headed straight down the river. That's the video, that's the pictures that you saw. That's why no one really had a warning time. It was not an earthquake.

It was actually just the side of the mountain that made it seem like it was an earthquake. Yeah, so wild. I know back here in the tropics, we're tracking a couple of different systems now. So one of them potentially could be named Dolly? Yeah, so every five years names by the Hurricane Center get re-scentrales. So we continue to watch, you know, names get repeated. And it just so happens that the next name storm is going to be Dolly. There's a 60% chance that happens. It's out here in the Atlantic basin. The reason that we're watching this is because our computer models do take this eventually

towards the northern Leeward Islands here, possibly Puerto Rico. It does not look like it's going to be a powerful storm, but we're getting towards the peak of the hurricane season. Even though we have the El Nino-Taron storms apart, that's why we haven't had many. We still can get one or two. So we'll watch this closely. Again, these endpoints, Tom, this is a week from now, so we have some time to watch it. Yeah, we'll keep an eye on them. Bill, we thank you for that. The minds of the world still very much on Dolly Parton. Tonight, as we learn new details about her passing and how she wanted to be remembered, it comes as tributes pouring for the beloved musical icon from Hollywood to Dollywood. Here's Joe Fryer.

In the wake of Dolly Parton's death, her team revealing new details. After bravely facing a brief battle with cancer, Dolly departed her earthly life. Now at her request, a small private funeral service will be held for immediate family. Today, her Dollywood theme park opened its doors, giving fans a place to gather together and honor the icon. A scene replicated across Severe County, the place she was born and raised. How do you open up today and do your jobs like it's any other day? Made a promise to her that the show is going to go on. The Eli family traveled to Dollywood from Illinois. It's just a lot to take in.

Somebody as famous as she is and you just still feel like you just had her ripped out of your heart. The tribute spanned the globe from Buckingham Palace where 9 to 5 played during the changing of the guard to the Empire State Building bathed in Dolly Pink. Her goddaughter, Mylie Cyrus, writing, The feeling of losing my Aunt Dolly is beyond what feels right to share. Adding what I know is Dolly would want me to feel it, write a song about it, and then continue on and be strong. Though we may get a little more Dolly music down the road.

She recorded a song locked away in a time capsule until 2045. For decades, Dolly charmed the world with both her wit and unwavering faith. I love everybody. I try to find the Godlight and everybody, and we all have it. Today at Dollywood, they posted these pink signs across the park, echoing what the singer declared for decades, I will always love you. Joe Fryer joins us now from Dollywood and Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. So Joe, we're learning more about the ways Dolly's legacy will be carried on? Yeah, Tom, her new hotel in Nashville is on track to start welcoming guests next month. And at that hotel, a couple weeks later, a museum all about Dolly will open. And then by the end of the year, her Broadway musical will arrive in New York.

It's officially set to open on January 19. Tom, that's the day Dolly would have turned 81 years old. Joe Fryer in Dollywood for us, Joe, thank you. Tune into NBC tonight for a look at the extraordinary life and legacy of the Queen of Country. Dolly and NBC new special that begins at 9 p.m. Eastern. All right, now to the surprising turn in that landmark Mediterranean. trial, the social media giant agreeing to pay $18 billion to settle claims that Instagram and Facebook are harming kids and teenagers. The company also promising sweeping changes. Christine Romance has the

details. Tonight, Meta, the parent of Facebook and Instagram, shelling out $18 billion to settle a lawsuit accusing the tech giant of designing its social media sites to addict children, fueling a teen mental health crisis. A bipartisan group of 29 states brought the suit, now celebrating the landmark settlement. We're making meta pay. These are significant changes that will keep your kids and mine safer. Meta denying wrongdoing, but promising to change how children and teens use Facebook and Instagram.

The framework we've negotiated will empower parents to easily manage their children's access to our platforms. Among those changes, a two-hour daily time limit for teens under 18. A nighttime block between midnight and 6.8. stronger age verification, hiding the number of likes on a post, and blocking teens from using extreme beauty filters. The settlement coming four days into a trial where Meadow was potentially facing hundreds of billions of dollars in damages. Now the company will pay 18 billion, roughly just one month of its revenue. For New Jersey mother, Erin Popolo, this is personal.

She says her 17-year-old daughter, Emily, died by suicide after being bullied, including on Instagram. You don't think this is a quick fix for kids and parents. No, it's not a quick fix for kids and parents. It's kind of a band-aid. This is a good start, but we still need laws in place. We still need federal legislation. Toma, where does this leave other social media players? It's an interesting structure to this settlement. The full $18 billion is only paid out if YouTube and TikTok also agree to similar changes on their apps. Meta is saying that teens move fluidly across social media sites and there needs to be industry-wide standards. Tom?

Christine Robbins for us. Christine, thank you. So many families with children impacted by social media have been watching this trial very closely, including the family of Michigan teen Jordan DeMay. He died by suicide when he was just 17 years old. after being tricked into sharing explicit images on Instagram. The people behind that extortion scam are now behind bars, but Jordan's loved ones are still focused on the apps that those predators use to reach their son. I'm joined today by Jordan's father, John DeMay.

John, I am so sorry for your loss and what happened to your family and your son. I don't do first start by asking you about your son's story and how did these social media apps impact Jordan and your family? Hey, Tom. Thanks again for hand me on. appreciate it to be back. You know, Jordan was an amazing young teenager.

He was a dual sport athlete, an honorable student, just a well-rounded young man, getting ready to graduate high school. He was six weeks from graduation and turning 18 and stepping into, you know, that first leap of faith into adulthood. But unfortunately, social media took everything in the wrong direction one crazy night on March 25th, four years ago, when he was approached by a young lady named Danny Roberts on an Instagram message that just said hello. And he started communicating with Ms. Danny Roberts around 10 o'clock that night.

And then eventually what happened is she convinced him to send a new image of himself, which he did. And then the extortion started. It was immense pressure and constant extortion and manipulation, trying to get him to send more money and more money. And he sent money and that wasn't enough. And they kept coming back at him and finally got to the point where he just couldn't take it anymore. He ended up taking his life at 3.45, less than six hours from the time then he received

his first message in the middle of the night while I was sleeping upstairs. John, I can't even imagine that. Again, I am so sorry. You have been outside the courthouse for some of men's other trials. What's your reaction to the fact that they've settled this massive case and that all of the evidence will not be made public? Well, that's the big thing for us, too. It's not so much about the money. I think that's an important part in the long term. there was a civil suit that was prevailed by the plaintiff for around $6 million against META. That's the California case just a few months ago that I attended to in Los Angeles. At the same time, the New Mexico Attorney General filed suit and won $350 million,

and I believe the judge actually awarded another $500 million on top of that. So this is the third case that Meda has lost. And the big thing for us in fighting this fight is trying to get them information. out because what they're telling the public and what they're actually doing behind the scenes are completely two different things. And the evidence that I saw come out in the Los Angeles courtroom was quite damning. And this isn't necessarily about a free speech issue. I know a lot of the Net Choice and some of the other lobbyist groups that are getting paid by META to infiltrate some of our politicians are using that as a crutch. But this is about product design.

This is about a company building a product that's pushing out to our young people in this country and the world for that matter. that's really not safe. And the parents can only do so much, right? It's certainly our responsibility to make sure we're keeping track and doing those things, but we also have to provide a safe product for our kids to use in this country, whether it's a car, an automobile, bicycles, these lap types, technology. Every company in this country has the duty to provide products that are safe for consumers. And right now the tech industry and social media companies specifically are unregulated. and it's time for some change, and I think that's what's happening now. So the money's great.

I think that's where we can pinch on small business or large business in this country. It's either civil litigation by filing lawsuits, which has been a challenge with Section 230. And then the only other way would be to provide federal legislation with laws such as COSA, the Accountability Act that's gone through. And there's several other bills that we've tried to get across. the finish line, especially Kids Online Safety Act, which basically just provides a duty of care to these companies to provide safe products for youth. And it's not getting across the finish line. There's a lot of hurdles in the House of Representatives right now with that. So it's a challenge.

So this is a good start in a great putting the ship in the right direction, if you will. For other parents out there who are worried about these social media apps and what's going to happen in the future, and we just heard there from Christine, that TikTok and you two have to be on board as well, for these damages to go through. What's your advice to parents tonight? You know, there's a lot of moving parts to this, right? And I'm a parent, too. I did everything I could do, and Jordan was young,

to build a wall between his social media use and or lack of social media use and even the technology itself. But parents have to be diligent just because they're going to make some changes, which is great. We still have to be diligent on paying attention to what they're doing on these apps, what apps there have, keeping devices out of their private spaces, especially late at night.

Those are really important things. We have to be involved in their tech use. And we can't let up our guard, but we also have to demand that social media companies are doing the right thing and building their products and designing their algorithms and designing their features in a safe way that we can, as parents, can feel comfortable that our young people are on it and being safe when they're there, because right now it is not. John DeMay, again, we are so sorry for your loss. We thank you for coming on here and sharing your story and giving us your insights tonight. Thanks a lot, Tom.

Also, some breaking news tonight. A trial date has officially been set for the alleged mastermind of the 9-11 terror attacks. This news comes just two weeks before the 25th anniversary of the day that changed America. NBC's Kelly O'Donnell's following this and joins us now. So, Kelly, when will we see Khalid Sheikh Mohammed stand trial? It will still be a period of time. to go and it has been a long, slow journey toward justice. A military judge issued a new order tonight that sets the trial date for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, also known as KSM, for June

2028. That's about 18 months further into the future than prosecutors had hoped for, but the military judge set it to give additional time for the process to unfold. Now, he is accused of being the top conspirator. Some call him the chief architect for the 9-11 attack. He was a part of al-Qaeda. He was a deputy to Osama bin Laden. He has been held at Guantanamo Bay for 20 years, and he was captured in Pakistan in 2003. So he and other alleged co-conspirators, three others, will face this military commission that is separate from the federal criminal court system. This is about military justice. There had been plea negotiations where KSM had agreed to plead guilty in order to have a life sentence, not risking the death penalty. That was

revoked a few years ago. Part of the delays, COVID added to the delays as well. But as you noted, Tom, the anniversary, a poignant one, 25 years, is in just two weeks, and it may stun many of our viewers that it has taken this long. The process has been slow. There have been many developments. and the new court date of June 2028 also sets out a schedule for next steps. And, of course, I don't have to remind any of our viewers the cost of 9-11. Nearly 3,000 Americans died on that day. Tom? Kelly O'Donnell for us.

All right, Kelly. Thank you. Now to the major update in the fight against pancreatic cancer, the FDA approving a new pill that dramatically increases the survival time for patients with advanced stages of the disease. Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest and most difficult forms of cancer to treat with a survival rate of just 8%. And Thompson joins us now with more.

And walk us through the results of this clinical trial and why this is so important. So first of all, you said it. There's a five-year survival rate is just 8%. This finally gives people who have advanced pancreatic cancer, gives them time and hope, Tom. First of all, what convinced the FDA was a late-stage trial involving 500 patients.

Some of them were given the new drug, RASNQ, and chemotherapy. others were just giving chemotherapy. Those that had the drug and chemotherapy lived almost twice as long, 13.2 months compared to 6.7 months. And that means so much if you are looking, the thing that cancer takes away from you is time,

and suddenly you get six or seven more months, that's huge. It could be a wedding, a graduation, maybe even a new baby, so it's very, very important. No, any time on this planet is so cherished. I do want to ask you, Do we know how much it's going to cost and will insurance cover it? That's the big thing.

It is going to cost $40,000, close $40,000 for a month's supply. It is approved by the FDA, so that should increase its chances of being covered by insurance, but it is very, very expensive. Can it be used to treat other forms of cancer yet? Do we know? They're hoping it can, and at least it's the first step. So how this drug works is it targets a gene mutation that essentially, makes your cancer grow faster, and that's why it spreads throughout your body. And so what they're

hoping is that by turning off that gene mutation, it slows the cancer from spreading. Former Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse has been taking it, and he said his tumor production in his body has reduced dramatically under this drug. So what they hope is that that same gene mutation exists in certain forms of ovarian cancer and lung cancer and other cancers. And they they think that maybe this is a step to working on those cancers as well. Okay, Ann Thompson for us. And we thank you for being here explaining that one to us. Okay, the entertainment world morning, another loss tonight.

Actor Tim Curry, who starred in the Rocky Horror Picture Show, has died at the age of 80. Chloe Malas has a look back at the roles that defined his decades-long career. There's no need to shout. I'm not shouting! All right, I am. I'm shouting. I'm shouting. I'm shouting.

Tim Curry had a way of disappearing in side his roles. I, Georgie, and Penny Wise. Delighting audiences from Broadway to the box office for more than 50 years. His iconic portrayal of the mad scientist, Dr. Frankenfurter, in the 1975 cult classic Rocky Horror Picture Show, launched him to super start-up. The thing that resonated for me more than anything was don't dream it, be it. Don't dream it.

B. Cury was a British actor who effortlessly crossed the line between comedies like Home Alone 2. Cedric, yes. Don't count your tips in public. And dramas, a versatile performer often tasked with darker roles. Hair is a boring. His renowned career began on the London stage in 1969, with his first professional role in the musical hair, eventually leading to Broadway. Trim your sail.

And the movies. Playing Long John Silver in the family favorite Muppet Treasure Island. A debilitating stroke in 2012 left him paralyzed and limited his public appearances. But it never stopped him from working. Curry's speaking about his mortality in a recent interview with CBS Sunday morning. I didn't fear death. I tried to avoid it. But I suspect that in the end I will welcome it.

Chloe Malas, NBC News. And we're back at a moment here on Top Story with the new twist in the Brian Koperer of her case. The judge granting him a new hearing as he fights to withdraw his guilty plea in the Idaho murders. Plus new body cam of officers arresting the owner of the 49ers in a prostitution sting. We'll show you that video. An actress busy Phillips opening up about her surgery to remove a rare brain tumor. We'll hear from a doctor about the high-tech scans that she says saves her life. Stay with us.

We're back with an update on Brian Coburger, the man serving four life sentences for the killings of four University of Idaho students. Tonight, a judge granting Coburger a new hearing as he fights to take back his guilty plea. Morgan Chesky has the latest. Tonight convicted murderer Brian Coburger now one step closer to a possible do-over. A judge granting the 31-year-old a new hearing as he attempts to take back his guilty plea for the murders of four University of Idaho students. Kaylee Gonzalez, Madison Mogan, Zana Kurnodl, and Ethan Chapin. Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty? Yes.

Koberger reversing course last month. Writing in a petition from prison, he was convinced to falsely confess, accusing his defense team of manipulation, claiming his plea quote, was induced by unkept promises, allegations made without offering evidence. That filing a shock to the system for the Gonzalez family. That fact that someone locked behind bars still has the ability to re-victimize their victims. That's something that isn't just very easy to get over. His 2025 guilty plea took the death penalty off the table with a judge sentencing Coburger

to four consecutive life sentences. The Gonzalez family telling today just weeks ago they would have taken a trial over the plea. We really were in a perfect position to put our foot down and say we're not going to allow this to happen in our state. And I would have liked to see that happen. Morgan Chesky joins us tonight. Morgan, will Coburger have to prove in this new hearing? What will he have to prove in this new hearing to get that second chance at a trial? Yeah, Tom, he'll have to prove a couple separate things.

Number one, he'll have to effectively show the court that his defense team failed to represent him, essentially violating his constitutional rights. But more importantly, or just as important, rather, those claims that he made in that handwritten petition saying that he was essentially coerced into a confession, he'll have to provide actual evidence of that, which he did not do when he submitted that last month. Tom?

All right, Morgan Chesky first. Morgan, thank you. Still to come on top story, our reporter in the epicenter of that deadly measles outbreak, what she's learning on the ground in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. and the remarkable rescue overseas people rushing in to save a young girl pinned underneath a car. Stay with us. Back now with the body cam video released late today showing the moment the owner of the San Francisco 49ers was arrested in a prostitution sting.

Maggie Vespaz the footage. Show me your hands. Show me your hands. Don't move. Don't do anything. Tonight, new body camera video showing the arrest of San Francisco 49ers owner, Jed York, during a prostitution sting in Ohio. Just before 10 a.m. You see York wearing his wedding ring pulled out of this gray SUV appearing to ask officers. Can I ask what you're doing? What are you doing here?

Just driving. Do you meet none of you? No. The officer searching him. You're just driving around in East policy? Yeah. And per court documents obtained by NBC News, officers finding $160 in cash. Yeah. He's a real estate guy. He's got all the money. York arrested on engaging in prostitution, later pleading no contests to an amended charge of disorderly conduct. After court documents say he responded to an undercover ad placed on a known prostitution website by a local human trafficking task force, then drove to this East Palestine trailer park where he'd arranged to pay a woman $140 for sex.

The husband and father of two who filed for divorce earlier this year was sentenced to one day in jail, given credit for time served and ordered to pay more than $1,100 in fines. The NFL vowing to review the case under its personal conduct policy, York's lawyer did not respond to an earlier request for comment. Maggie joins us now. Maggie, what more did we learn from this new video and any word on what the NFL might do? Sure. So, Tom, in regards to the video, first, we pointed this out briefly in the piece, but just to reiterate, that video is at 10 a.m. on a Sunday in Ohio. So this is a lot. Sunday morning, broad daylight. And you heard the officers talking about he's a real estate guide.

Another point in the video, they never name York, but they say something to do the effect of they're surprised that someone that rich has to make the arrangements that they believe that he's accused of making. So the video is really striking. As far as the NFL's possible punishments, that is all up to Commissioner Roger Goodell. And according to NFL bylaws, he could suspend York. He could fine him. He could make a fine and pose a fine of up to half a million dollars, potentially more and even more severe punishments if he gets the backing of other team owners. So we'll see what happens. Obviously kickoff for the season, Tom, is in two weeks.

All right, Maggie Vespa with that video out tonight. Maggie, thank you. Netta Top Story's news feed and an update on the mask band seen terrorizing people in Philadelphia. Authorities say they arrested the suspect in Las Vegas after following a trail of security cameras. That according to police, they say he approached more than a dozen people in a horror movie-style disguise. as you see it here, including chasing a jogger and asking if they were ready to die. Investigators believe the suspect recorded himself and get this, he was doing this purely for social media content. A new twist in the legal battle tonight between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni.

A judge ruling that Lively can receive about $400,000 in attorney fees, but she was seeking $8 million, the judge calling that number unreasonable. It all stems from Baldoni's defamation lawsuit against Lively, which was dismissed last year. And an incredible rescue in China, more than a dozen people rushing to save a young girl trapped under an SUV. The crowd working together to help lift the car and pull her out. She was apparently riding that electric bike when she was hit by the car and dragged underneath, according to Chinese state media. The girl was taken to the hospital. You can see her kind of get up and she was apparently talking as well. She's expected to be okay.

Okay, back here at home and time for Top Stories Health Check. We have an update on the deadly measles outbreak in Pennsylvania. The State Department of Health confirming an infant who had measles has died. The death, one of two reported in Lancaster County, the epicenter of the outbreak. 177 cases have been reported there since April. That accounts for nearly half of the cases reported across Pennsylvania, but you can see it's impacting more than two dozen counties. Across the country, there have been more than 2,700 cases this year.

That's already more than we saw in all of 2025 in the highest level in nearly three decades. I want to bring in our medical correspondent, Erica Edwards, who's on the ground in Lancaster County. For us, Erica, so sad to hear the news about that infinite. I mean, it's just so sad. What more do we know about these two deaths? Yeah, good evening, Tom. So the Lancaster County Corridor's Office, which is just right down the street from where we're standing here is investigating the death of that baby who had tested positive for measles. Now, we know that both of the people who died here were from Lancaster County. Both were unvaccinated. But Tom, I can tell you tonight that it's not just kids. who are testing positive. A doctor I spoke with here today so that he's seen an increase in pregnant women coming in testing positive for measles. They're struggling to breathe. Some Tom have even been admitted into the ICU. Tom. Yeah. And then while we have you there, the vaccination rate

we've looked this up in Lancaster County has dropped, right? I think it's from 95% in 2017 to 87% in 2025. But you're learning there from your reporting that officials are saying people are coming to get vaccinated? Yeah, that's right. They're saying that people are responding to this outbreak. Sadly, responding to these deaths and people, their neighbors getting sick around them. They're saying there are coming in for more vaccinations. But that 87% vaccination rate that you mentioned is woefully inadequate to either prevent or stop an outbreak. The local county commissioner here today told me that it was never a question of whether an outbreak would affect this area.

It was just a matter of when. Tom. Erica Edwards for us. Erica, thank you. That to another health headline and the surprising announcement from actress Busy Phillips, revealing she had a rare brain tumor removed. The Dawson's Creek Star telling People magazine that she discovered the brain tumor after getting a full body scan in February. Here's some of what she said in that interview about the moment she got the diagnosis. I was like, just tell me what's happening. And he's like, this isn't any of those other things that they said it could be.

this is a real tumor and it's inside your brain. And busy, it's got to come out. Sounds pretty scary. For more on this, I want to bring an NBC News medical reporter, Dr. Akshay Sayal. Dr. Sayal, thanks so much for being here. So explain to our viewers if they don't have familiarity with this. What exactly is it? So this is a tumor, Tom, called oligodendro glioma.

It is a rare type of brain tumor. You know, brain tumors in general are rare. This happens to be an even more rare type of brain tumor. And it comes from the cells in the brain that sort of support healthy function called glial cells. And it comes in grade two, which is what busy has, or grade three. And, you know, grade three is the more aggressive type. But generally, Tom, you know, these are treated with surgery. You try to take out as much of the tumor as possible.

And depending on your mutations, depending on your specific case, you may be given a combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy, more targeted therapy against those mutations, or doctors might just watch you and wait you and see how you do. What about this scandal that she had done, right? Explain that. So this is, you know, this is one of the most common. We're common questions we get from our patients now, these full body scans, and should I go get one? I don't have any symptoms.

I just want to know what's brewing inside me. And the reason people are asking about him, Thomas, because think about it. When you go for a physical, sometimes it feels like not everything is being checked. You feel like, oh, maybe they should have done this, maybe they should have done this. Patients are looking for more solutions, and they're taking matters in their hands, and they're getting these full body scans. Now, to be clear, this isn't something that we recommend for the vast population. This is something that, you know, it's going to find things. About 95% of scans will find something.

most of those things are benign. So if you are somebody who's signing up for these, be prepared. There might be something that shows up on your scan. You need to have the resources in place to mobilize and deal with it. It looks into your body from your skull all the way down to your toes. It does. And then the doctor says, well, look, this looks like something, this looks like nothing. When you say 95, it finds 95% of things.

Little things? I mean, what does it find? Little things. You know, once I had a kid, a 23-year-old, you know, come to me once, and he had the full body scan down, and he found a cyst in his prostate. And, you know, that caused a lot of anxiety. He thought, do I have prostate cancer? You know, at just 23 years old, we were able to get him the more tests and reassure him that, you know, that's not what it is. But that's an example of what could come up.

Little cis, or, you know, in medicine we call them incidentalomas, things that are incidental findings, that don't necessarily mean you have cancer or a deadly disease. The question is, you know, if you find some of those things, do you have a doctor in place that's going to do something about it and help reassure you. So everything from brain tumors to could it find, oh, you have a tear in your tricept or your pinky toe is broken. Would it see those things? Depending on the type of image, yeah, you know, MRIs tend to look at soft tissues. So if you had any sort of damage to muscles or tendons, for example, a torn ACL, you know, it would show something like that. But think about when you go to a primary care doctor today or any doctor, you know, you get a test result.

You get a portal message. And then if you want to see a specialist, you have to wait weeks. So if you put that in context, if you go get a full body MRI, you get a portal message that, oh, it has this. You better be, you know, able to find somebody who can help you deal with that. Otherwise, you're going to have a lot of anxiety. How much does this cost and insurance doesn't cover this, right? You know, insurance doesn't cover it because we don't have long-term data around it. So I can't say if you get this full-body scan, if we follow a bunch of people over years,

that it's going to improve survival. So why would insurance companies save it? And something may pop up tomorrow. That's not there when you do the scan. You know, it's really interesting. Most of the insurance in this company is given by employers. And most people don't stay at their employers for that long. So employers aren't incentivized to do preventive medicine because people tend to leave their jobs anyway.

So it's not a good investment for them long term. How much is it cost, though, if you want to get it done? About $2,000, depending on the level of granularity that you. you want to have with your scan. And if you're somebody who wants to get one of these, right? You mentioned somebody who was in their 20s, but I mean, obviously you have to have the means to pay for this is expensive. You have to kind of tell yourself, you're probably going to have to do this every year, right? Well, that's a good question. We don't know the answer. Is it every year, is it every few years? And, you know, the way we do it, we do sometimes do whole body imaging,

and we take into account family history. We take into account genomic sequencing. We take into account certain, you know, advanced tumor markers to come up with a personalized plan. You know, when you talk about medicine in general, that's really where things have headed and one precision medicine as opposed to blanket recommendations for every single person. Okay, so much more to talk about, but we're out of time. Doctor, so great to have you on the show. Coming up still on the broadcast, should pro athletes be allowed to play on college teams, the recent rule change raising questions, and the growing push to keep those players off

the field. Plus, we'll hear from the married couple behind Panda Express, how they started the iconic Asian chain and why they're now in a mission to help their workers achieve the American dream. That's next. We're back now with the debate shaking up the world of college football. Two of the biggest conferences in college sports, the Big Ten and SEC, now banning NFL pros from going back to school to play after at least two players try to take advantage of a new loophole.

You can see those players pictured here. Dayquan Wright and Xavier and Harris suited up for NFL practices just a few weeks ago. But after they failed to make the final cut, both of those former Ole Miss players are trying to play a fifth season at rival LSU. The reason they say is because in June, the NCAA changed the game, writing a new rule that allows college athletes to compete for five years instead of four. But that rule was not intended to apply to players graduating this year and a legal battle, as you imagine, has ensued. Here to help us make sense of it all is NBC Sports College Football Insider, Nicole Arbach. Hey, Nicole, thanks so much for joining us.

So I guess it was the L.A. Rams head coach who kind of put it best. He said, watching someone go from the NFL to now playing back in college is like, taking a gummy. Essentially, this is wild, right? People are hallucinating here. Why is this happening? Well, it is jarring. So Sean McVeigh is correct to compare it to that because you just showed photos of players in NFL jerseys and talking about them playing college. But it really does go back to that rule change from the NCAA. They're moving into a different eligibility model that will give athletes five years of eligibility to use. And this is a class, the class of 2022, they're saying, well, what about us?

We just had four, ours expired in the spring. And so the NCAA did expect that there would be lawsuits, but we're watching it play out right on the cusp of the season right now. And this is uncharted waters. We've always had a clear dividing line between pro players and college players, even as college sports has become more professionalized. And that's why you're seeing pushback from conferences and different coaches throughout the country and people who are just genuinely very uncomfortable with the idea of someone

trying to make an NFL team, not making it, and then playing in college football the same year. Nicole, with the new rules, say you are an incredible athlete, right? And you're able to go to the NFL pretty fast, right? Say you only play two years in college. You go to the NFL. If you play an NFL game, can you still come back? I mean, at what point is the red line drawn? Well, yes.

I mean, I think that's where people are trying to draw that line. You saw the Big Ten and the SEC both ban pro players from coming back to college. And that was one of their lines. It was if you declare for the draft and don't withdraw, it's if you sign a contract with the NFL. There's certain lines that they're trying to get in bright red ink so that everyone knows what to expect. It's not that you were undrafted and you went to a mini-camp workout, which is essentially just a tryout. It's more the guys that were signed to contracts, the guys who played in preseason games that are signed to a 90-man roster. It's that type of dividing line that they're trying to draw here.

And I think it makes a lot of sense. I mean, once you're a professional athlete, you do lose your collegiate eligibility. But we have seen time and time again, these athletes just go to try to find a friendly judge and get them to overrule the NCAA rules and other eligibility rules. And that's kind of where we are right now

with some of those LSU players who still intend to fight, but you have the SEC trying to prevent them from playing for LSU this fall. And Nicole, for our top of the top of, story viewers that don't come to the show for the sports. They come for maybe the news and the politics. Explain to them that there are some scenarios where even if you're on a practice squad and you're on a professional team, you could still make more money playing in college, correct? Well, that's exactly what's happening here. Because in what world would you leave

an NFL team that you're trying to make to go play college football? I mean, that's the dream that all these players have had since they were little boys, their own footballs in the backyard. But there's so much money to be made in college right now. There's really no effective salary cap, and it's just whatever boosters and schools are willing to pay you, combine from your NIL deals and then also revenue sharing directly from the schools. So that's why you're seeing these players who've never had this avenue before trying to force it and trying to push it, because there's an opportunity to make a lot more money than you would as a fringe NFL player who may or may not make a roster. I know my beloved Miami Hurricanes, their first game is next Friday against Stanford.

What about LSU? When is their first game, and will this be settled by then? Well, they're playing week one, so right around the same time. And we don't know. We don't know. The SEC is activating these new rules that would severely penalize a school for playing a player that played or signed an NFL deal, had, you know, again, crossed those lines that they implemented in terms of contracts.

And we'll see how that plays out. We don't know if the LSU players are then going to sue the SEC conference, what that might look like. Or if LSU decides the juice is not worse to the squeeze. They don't want to risk Lane Kippen being their head coach. They don't want to risk the financial penalty of all of this. And they decide it's not worth it to try to play these players. So we don't know yet. But the time crunch is real.

And a lot of these issues are also going to play out in college basketball. But they've got a little more time for that. This is right on the cusp of the college football season. And people will need answers. Otherwise, you might have coaches wondering, hey, should I play this player? Is he going to stay eligible if I put him in the game right now? Nicole Auerbach, we thank you so much. Can't wait to see more of your reporting throughout the college football season.

We're going to turn now to our series Business in America. And tonight, we're taking an inside look at Panda Express. The largest Asian restaurant chain in the U.S. Our Savannah sellers caught up with the co-founders to learn more about the people behind the iconic brand. You know the Panda logo. And you've probably had the orange chicken. From the largest Asian restaurant chain in the country, Panda Express. Leading the brand?

Not your ordinary suit in Thai CEOs. Andrew and Peggy Cherng have been married for 51 years. They run the business from their corporate headquarters, which have an Asian touch. Should I take one of these? Fruit trees. You need to wash a little bit on. Ah, I'll get bought. The two have come a long way.

They're now more than 2,500 location empire starting as a single sit-down restaurant in Southern California, the Panda Inn, opened by Andrew and his chef father in the 70s. I felt like I was going to be very successful, and it turned out to be very wrong. What was difficult about it? There's no customers. Would you have thought it's more likely this isn't going to work out, or we will end up having a restaurant business with over 2,000? locations. Well, definitely not the latter, you know, to survive it, you didn't have a choice. Either I was going to get it done or get it done.

With Andrew's determination, business grew until one day a regular ask the churns if they'd open an outpost at a local mall. They jumped in head first, and wife Peggy joined the business, the start of their working relationship. Peggy, tell me how you and Andrew split duties. always think about what is the nest that we can do better. So actually, she lets me do whatever I do, then she take care of the rest.

Just four years after that first mall location, they struck gold, or rather, orange. The chicken is a big deal, and orange chicken, certainly for us, is the number one seller. Panda Express Chef Andy Cow created orange chicken in 1987, which modernized a classic citrus. flavor dish from China's Hunan province.

In 2025, Panda Express sold 148 million pounds of the dish. What do you say to people that, as a criticism, say, this is not authentic Chinese food? I've taken no offense at all. You know, I don't know what authenticity is. There's so many cuisines out there. Whatever sells, our guests make that decision. A large chicken.

We label ourselves. American Chinese food. Affordability is top of mind for Americans right now. How do you keep that in mind for your customers? Raise price gingerly. Keep your portion as big as you used to be or more, right? Don't cut back. A true family affair, all three of their children also work for the company.

Those familial ties extending to employees too. How do we help these people to have a better life? That's our mission, right? And, you know, to do that, we actually measure how many of our managers makes $100,000. Are they able to buy home? The company says 63% of Panda Express managers are homeowners with a median age of 34. Our colleague is how we're able to help more associate to realize the American train.

43 years later, Panda's legacy is more than a case of good fortune. Stores span across malls, airports, and college campuses, helping normalize Asian flavors for the American palette. We helped really, you know, define a new category, quick service, right? Even with our Chinese immigrants' family, you know, the parents, maybe they don't think us as being very authentic, but their kids love it. And they can find us everywhere. All right, our thanks to Savannah for that one.

When we come back, the musical tributes to the one and only, Dolly Parton. We'll play you the odes from her fellow entertainers and family. moved by her legendary songs that span genres and generations. Stay with us. Finally tonight, the tributes to Dolly Parton, the sound of her legacy resonating around the world. Tonight, the celebrations pouring in for the Queen of Country. This is for Dolly.

Tonight, the music that touched so many now echoing around the world. Back through the years, I go wondering once again. From a community choir practice in Philly, Jolie, Jolene, To the raw, distorted sound of Jack White's famous guitar. And I can easily understand how you could easily take my mind, but you don't know what he means to me, Jolie. Tributes to Dali Parton spanning decades of hits and musical genres. But they're not all songs you would know. And I didn't know what else to do other than pick up my guitar and write about how I was feeling.

Tick-Tock Country Breakout, Thomas Mack, penning this new song. This whole world is crying because you're gone. And the tributes to the Queen of Country Music come home to Nashville. And the Grand Ole Opry, where she first performed at just 13 years old. Her legacy live on through her songs, the lives she touched, and the countless artists she inspired. All right, that does it for us tonight. We thank you for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamis in New York.

Stay right there. More news on the way.