Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Episode Date: August 28, 2025

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

Tonight, the school children praying in the middle of mass when a gunman opened fire on their church, the mass shooting during the first week of school, Minneapolis. At least two children killed and 17 others injured. The shooter firing through stained glass windows, targeting those praying in the pews. Parents rushing to the scene clutching their kids tight, a 10-year-old survivor recalling how his friend who saved his life ended up getting shot. We speak with an eighth grader who was inside the church as the bullets began to fly. Also tonight, the search for a motive, police identifying the lone shooter, the arsenal the shooter carried, and the sketch of the church in a disturbing manifesto.

The FBI investigating this as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime. The shakeup at the CDC, the newly appointed director just fired after a few weeks on the job. And now other top officials submitting their resignations. What's happening as the agency faces mounting pressure? Two brothers with the same deadly disease, but only one was approved for the treatment to slow that illness, the parents desperate for answers in our latest cost-of-denial series. Two decades after Hurricane Katrina, the scars of the storm remained visible in the hard-hit lower-ninth war. We walked through the once vibrant black neighborhood with the general who became the face of the recovery efforts. Dramatic body cam video as first responders catch a child forced to jump from a second-story window as his home went up in flames.

Plus, a painting stolen by the Nazis during World War II discovered in a real estate listing where it was found. Top story starts right now. And good evening. Tonight, the city of Minneapolis is reeling after a shooter opened fire on a church with dozens of Catholic school students praying during a morning mass. Two children were killed just eight and ten years old, and now the gut-wrenching search for answers. Video capturing the chaotic scene this morning, parents rushing with children in their arms, others desperate to find their loved ones, one woman embracing an officer overcome with grief. Heartbreaking images of emotional reunions, parents embracing their kids at the scene. Officials say in addition to the two children killed 14 others were injured, as well as three adults.

This 10-year-old boy was inside when the shots rang out. I think I got like gunpowder on my neck. when you heard the shots what went through your head I was like the first one I was like what is that I thought it was just something then I heard it again I just ran under the pew and then I covered my head my friend Victor like saved me though because he laid on top of me but he got hit your friend laid on top of you yeah and he got hit is this something that you practiced before um yeah we we practice it like every month or I don't know, but, yeah, we've never practiced it in the church, though, only in school.

So it was way different. Was your mom super happy to see you? Yeah. Give you a big hug? Mm-hmm. What was that hug like? I just felt like relieved kind of. Yeah.

I was very happy. A fifth grader describing a shooting inside of a church. Police say the shooter approached the Church of Annunciation, opening fire through the stained glass windows after barricading two of the doors. That church filled with students celebrating their first week of classes at the Catholic school, just feet from the scene. Police say the shooter fired dozens of shots at the children sitting in the pews before taking their own life. The suspect identified tonight as 23-year-old Robin Westman, who has no prior criminal history. Police say they used a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol in the attack. just legally. Legally, we'll speak in a moment with another one of the children in that church

about the horror he witnessed inside. But we begin tonight with Shaq Brewster on the ground of Minneapolis. Minneapolis grieving tonight after a morning of horror. They pulled over in a hurry, got out of the car, screaming, asking where their kids are. A shooter opening fire on children at enunciation Catholic school. During a morning worship service marking the first week of school, Dozens of students were inside the church. Two young children, ages 8 and 10, were killed where they sat in the pews. 17 others, mostly children, were rushed to the hospital, parents frantically racing to the scene. This was a deliberate act of violence against innocent children and other people worshipping.

The sheer cruelty and cowardice of fighting. Firing into a church full of children is absolutely incomprehensible. Police say the gunfire started just before 8.30 a.m. local time when the 23-year-old shooter, wearing black, approached the church armed with a shotgun, rifle, and pistol. After using a two-by-four to block two of the exits, they say the shooter fired dozens of shots through the church windows and toward children sitting in the pews using all three weapons. The coward that shot these victims took his own. life in the rear of the church. That coward has been identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman.

No prior criminal history. 10-year-old Weston-Halsney was hiding inside the church. I was like two seats away from the stained glass windows. So they were like the shots were like right next to me. I just ran under the pew and then I covered my head. My friend Victor like saved me though because he laid on top of me but he got hit. friend laid on top of you? Yeah, and he got hit. Is this something that you practiced before? Yeah, we practice it like every month, or I don't know, but yeah, we've never practiced it in the church, though, only in school. Weston says his friend was taken to the hospital. He's really brave, and I hope he's good in the hospital. Tonight, Vice President Vance calling Weston a

very brave little boy. President Trump ordering flags to be flown at half staff after speaking with Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on the phone offering condolences. It's my strongest desire that no state, no community, no school ever experiences a day like this. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frye outraged. Don't just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying. It was the first week of school. The school's principal emotional. I love you. You're so brave. Within seconds of this situation beginning, our teachers were heroes. Heroes of all ages stepping up in the wake of an unspeakable tragedy.

I did harm my kids. I know soon the parents are not as fortunate as do so. So hard to hear from those parents. Shack, this shooting at a Catholic school in the middle of a mass has sent shockwaves around the world. That's exactly right. And you're hearing well wishes come even from the Vatican. Pope Leo the 14th sending a telegram saying he was profoundly saddened by this shooting, also offering his condolences. Meanwhile, the grief here in the Minneapolis community is only going to continue in the evening where we know there are at least three separate vigils scheduled this evening, Tom. All right, we want to turn out of the investigation to this horrific shooting. Police have identified a suspect and disturbing videos. posted just before the massacre. This says we have new reporting about the shooter's connection to that very church. Here's NBC's Maggie Vespah. Tonight, we're learning more about the

killer who went on that twisted rampage, gunning down children as they prayed in their church pews. Police identifying the shooter as 23-year-old Robin Westman with no criminal history. At this stage, we believe that the shooter had acted alone. There is no indication of other suspects directly involved in carrying out this attack. Police say they're executing search warrants at four locations tied to the shooter. As to the weapons used to perpetrate this horrific attack, there was a rifle, a shotgun, and a pistol. All three had been lawfully purchased by the shooter. The FBI saying it's investigating the mass shooting as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime

targeting Catholics. According to court documents obtained by NBC News, the shoot was granted a legal name change to Robin in 2020. The document saying Westman identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification. Her mother appeared to sign those documents. Police say before carrying out the massacre, Robin Westman posted a series of disturbing videos. We're also aware of a manifesto

that the shooter had timed to be released on YouTube. This manifesto appeared to show him at the scene and included some disturbing rights. One video showing a handwritten floor plan of a church and several weapons. On one of them, a message threatening to kill President Trump, plus many anti-Semitic slogans and references to the Catholic Church. Police say they have not identified a motive, but are studying those videos. It's been taken down and our investigators are going through that to try and develop a motive from that. All right, Maggie joins us tonight from Minneapolis. Maggie, we heard there, we still don't know the motive, right?

but we have some new reporting that there is a connection between the shooter and that church. Yeah, Tom, exactly. It appears the shooter's mother used to work here. The Church of Annunciation posting on Facebook back in 2021 congratulating Mary Grace Westman on her retirement here after five years at the church. NBC News has reached out to her as well as other family members of the shooter. So far, no response, Tom. Okay, Maggie Vesp, with that new reporting, Maggie, we thank you. Joining us now in Top Story is an Annunciation school student who was in the church this morning and witnessed what happened there that ended in tragedy. Javan Willis is a 13-year-old eighth grader at Annunciation, and he joins our broadcast tonight.

Javan, first of all, I am so sorry for what you have gone through, what your classmates and your community have gone through. Can you tell us and say just what you can and what you remember, what exactly you remember happening and what you heard? Well, it was just, we had just sat back down after the Psalms were read, and we were just waiting, honestly, for the next part of the Mass to continue, and all I hear is, pow, pow, pow, and me and my two buddies, I just, my first thought, I told them, get down, get down, go under the pew, and I dropped down under the pew myself, and after I just started praying, and when we were just waiting just here, I just saw a whole bunch of people around me. stressing and crying and I was just like okay I can't keep thinking about me I need to help out these other people and let them stay comforted so they're not just going through this horrible situation by themselves jayven that that is that is incredible that someone your age would have that much poison to be thinking about your fellow classmates I got to ask you you're you're only 13 you're you're such a young person how did you know that was gunfire or you didn't know what it was

Well, I just, there's too much, there's too much stuff going through my mind, and I hear the shots, and I can, I can just, I just could tell, because nothing that I've ever heard was that loud. My classmates have said that they thought it was confetti or fireworks or something, but I was just like, no, that can't be the thing. Like, I was just like, I know this is what it is. You know, there's different parts to the mass. What part was this when you guys were celebrating the mass or around what time when you guys were in the church did this happen? Mass had just started.

We were all just happy. We just finished a song. Our teachers just read the Psalms for the day and next thing you know, we're sitting down waiting for a father or a deacon to continue on at the mass. And this is when the outrage breaks out. And that's just when my mind came to a complete shot.

What was it like after you knew you were okay? Were your friends okay? Did any of your friends get hurt, unfortunately, in this terrible shooting? Well, I didn't know about any of my friends getting hurt until we were told we could go outside, and I wanted to keep my friends that I was trying to help them not be so stressed and relief

when I was trying to help them. I told them to keep their head down, and I look up, and I just see, unfortunately, I see them Unfortunately, I see a body on the floor not moving. And when we get outside the building, my friend, he tells me that he has been hit and that he had to be rushed to the hospital. So I'm just waiting for the chance to meet, for me to talk to him. I hear that he's okay, that his surgery went good.

I'm just waiting for the time for me and him to have another close personal conversation. We were just hanging out yesterday, and I think it's just horrible that this had to happen on the first week of school. I am so sorry that someone like you had to see this that any of your friends had to see this what was the moment like when you when you were reunited with your family it was just awesome like me and my family when we reconnected um it was kind of like a happy feeling yet sad feeling knowing that some of these kids don't get to reunite with their family and I was one of the lucky ones. You were one of the lucky ones. You mentioned a lot about praying. If you could share

with us today, I'm somebody who's spiritual as well. I pray a lot as well. What are you going to pray for tonight? Well, honestly, I think that it's a miracle that I got saved because I just got baptized like a week ago. And tonight, I'm just going to be praying that all my friends that got hurt and all kids that got hurt, their surgeries or whatnot can go safely. And I also pray that the people whose families have to go through loss, praying that they can go through these times and eventually get better for this unfortunate situation. Javin, I'm going to say a similar prayer for that.

I thank you for joining us tonight on such a difficult day of your very young life. You're such a brave kid. You were so poised. We thank you for talking to us tonight and to our viewers. Yes, sir. Thank you very much for this opportunity. Amid that horror that you just heard there, dozens of parents were rushing to the scene,

praying their children were safe. One of those parents, Vincent Francois got a call no parent wants to hear that there was a mass shooting at his 11-year-old daughter's school. He rushed down to the school where, thankfully, he was reunited with his daughter, Chloe. Vincent, thank you so much for joining Top Story tonight. You just heard that interview there.

We got the perspective of the students inside the church. In some ways, what parents are going through tonight, and at least two families are going through tonight, is so much worse. Talk to me about what happened when you got that phone call, and what does a parent do when they get a call like that? So I got a phone call from my wife saying there's a shooting at the school, and I'm like, okay, they don't really panic. I just took the car because I was so.

away from the house and then just decide to draw back to the house, let my car buy the house because we live three blocks from the school. And as I walk, I talked to an officer and I start to be emotional and say I'm a parents. And they did a really good job. And so we rushed to the school, we went to the, we were gathering into the gymnasium.

By that time, my wife had to, texts me again telling me Chloe was okay. I couldn't get any news. You know, I was on my phone. Nothing was coming up. So I wasn't sure what was going on. And I got my, you know, I was walking down and tried to find my family. And I found them.

And we all heard and cry. Yeah. What was that moment like when you were able to sort of hug your daughter? I mean, it's pure love. It's very emotional. all. She saw me first and she just cried and she's all, you know, it's, I wasn't sure what was going on and I didn't, I decided to don't go to the panic mode. I decided to just say, okay, let's, you know, let's take one step at the time. And I wasn't sure our body was.

And, but as I got to the place, I saw a body he has been. And so at a moment, you just hugged each other and you're so happy and you just, you know, everything is like coming at you. You just have time to think. So, you know, and then after that, they transfer us to the auditorium and as the news came in and we found out about injure. We didn't know there was two kids who lost their life at that time and we found that much later. And it's, I don't know what to say. I mean, like it's a blur with like we're so overwhelmed. But we have been able to get with other family. We're gathering all together.

The Annunciation is such a tight community. It's like a small village in the city. We all together. We happen to go on vacation, actually, with a group of 20 family last year. I mean, and so people are asking us what you're going to do. We don't know what we're going to do. We're going to take this one step at the time. And we have so much help.

I've been walking, since I live nearby, I've been walking my dog around and people come and hug us. And it's, you know, I think for me, it's a bit of, you know, a year ago I told my wife that, you know, first I'm from France, but I say a year ago, I told my wife, you know, every time we drop our kid to school, we don't know if we're going to see her. And it sounds pretty dramatic on that day, but people need to know that. Every morning you drop your kids at school, you're just not going to know if you're going to see. Vincent, I do want to ask you, your daughter, Chloe, what are you going to tell her about this? We just heard that 13-year-old boy describe what he saw. I can't imagine how his parents are sort of like talking to him and asking him and kind of going through that, that trauma. What are you going to tell your daughter, Chloe, about this?

Well, she, I mean, those kids, they're super smart. They're super open mind. much smarter than we were at the age, and she makes us promise to don't hide anything from her. So we're not going to hide anything from her. What I've been, you know, I just told her it's just a sick person. It's just something that we won't be able to explain all the way. We will try to help. You know, we, I mean, we don't know what. We don't know what. what we're doing. Okay, we're just taking by the hour, I'm just going to be frank with her. We're just going to tell her, you know, that it's just people who are sick in the head and

they struggle. And so they, it's, it's what happening. And sometimes you just can't explain everything. And so did you know. And we're going to need help. I mean, we're going to need help. Yeah. Do you know if Chloe, does she remember what happened? Did she see what happened? I know she was in the church. Yeah, we... There was so much chaos. You know what she said, and hopefully I don't say this without losing it here,

but we already went a bit of a counseling. She said she really thought today she was going to die. And it was a complete chaos. She's feeling really guilty that she wanted to help more people. We're getting peace. And snippet of what happened today. She's not really talking much about it yet. But we hear from other kids, even the interview you just had.

But basically, I don't think they realized at the beginning what was going on until, you know, blood start to go and scare. and they had been scared. I mean, as I say, she thought she was going to die today. Vincent, I can't imagine what that's like for a parent. I am so sorry you're dealing with this right now. I'm so sorry your daughter Chloe is dealing with this and that entire school of enunciation we will be, and I know people say it is a cliche,

but it's a Catholic school. We will be thinking about you and praying for you and we promise to keep covering this. And I thank you for your time tonight. Thank you very much. And just know that it can happen to everyone. And this is a society we're living in, and it's a sad time, sad time. That is true.

Vincent, again, we thank you for joining Top Story. Thank you. Coming up, we're going to have much more on this tragedy, including my interview with the mayor of Minneapolis, what he told me about the resilience of his city and the message he has for the parents who lost their children. But just ahead on Top Story, there is some turmoil and breaking news at the CDC. The director is now out tonight after less than a month on the job. what we know about her firing. Plus, the California man accused of killing his wife and fleeing to Peru.

You may remember this video. Finally, in police custody and facing charges. In our series, the cost of denial, two brothers with the same deadly disorder, one approved for groundbreaking gene therapy treatment. The other? Denied. Don't go away. We're back now with breaking news out of Washington. the director of the CDC Susan Monars ousted after less than a month on the job.

And now four other top officials at the agency are handing in their resignations. I want to bring in Ann Thompson, who's covering this breaking news for us. And what do we know? Hi, Tom. We just got a statement from the attorneys representing CDC director Susan Minores. And they say that she has neither resigned nor has she received notification from the White House that she has been fired. What they do say is that when CDC director Menares refused to what they say rubber stamp, unscientific, reckless directives and fire dedicated health experts, she chose protecting the public over serving a political agenda. They say for that she has been targeted. And they accuse Health and Human Service Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of weaponizing public health for political gain and putting millions of Americans. at risk. Again, her attorneys say that she has not resigned and they've received no notification

from the White House that she has been fired. Tom? All right. A lot of developments there from the CDC. And we thank you just ahead, the incredible rescue caught on camera. A little boy trapped in his home as it went up in flames. The first responders catching him as he jumped from the second floor. Stay with us. We're back now with our continued breaking news coverage of that deadly mass shooting in Minneapolis, the shooter opening fire at enunciation Catholic school during morning mass, killing two children and injuring 17 other people. Earlier today, I spoke with Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frye about how the community is recovering in the wake of this tragedy. Here's that conversation. And joining us now is Minneapolis's mayor, Jacob Fry. Mayor, I am so sorry for what

you and your community are going through right now. I can't imagine that type of trauma. Take Take me back to the beginning. When you first got that call, what did you think? When you first get these calls, you don't know exactly what to think because you don't have all of the information. And then as the information reveals itself, what's clear is that it's an unspeakable tragedy. But how many times have you heard politicians talk about an unspeakable tragedy that happened in their city or in their state? and then nothing happens. We all have our titles in our professional or political lives in this case,

but I'll tell you the titles that matter most to me are husband and dad. Those are the titles that matter most to everybody. We had kids in our city that lost their lives today. That shouldn't be pushed aside. We obviously need thoughts and prayers, but good Lord, we need a whole hell a lot more than thoughts and prayers. The kids impacted, we're literally praying at the time of this tragic and horrible shooting. And so we're appreciative of all of the work that our greater Minneapolis family has been doing.

We have come together in this beautiful and resilient fashion, and it's on public servants and leaders to not just have words, but also have actions that are attached to those words. And I've been telling people, think of this not as somebody else's kids. This is not just somebody else's kids. Think about it as if it were your own kids, how you would feel, how you would want that horrid thing to be prevented. When we say we never want this kind of thing to happen again,

we got to mean it, and then our actions have to match. And so, you know, I'm grateful for our Minneapolis family. I'm grateful for the teachers, by the way, the teachers and the faculty of annunciation that stepped up, that risked their own lives to protect so many more kids, and it could have been way worse than it was. I'm grateful for our law enforcement partners and our police who ran towards danger when so many of the rest of us would have run in the opposite direction. And while I'm grateful, yeah, I'm also mad. I'm angry.

Because nobody should have to suffer like this. We all have these common and beautiful rituals of those last moments with your kid before you send them off to school in the morning or daycare. You know, sometimes it's a couple loving words. Maybe it's putting on a headband or putting together a ponytail. You should be able to do those things with the assurance and the confidence that they're, they're going to be safe in their school, and you should know that they're going to get back home safely, too. And I'm so hurt, and I feel so horrible for these families, that are not going to see their kid again. Mayor, me and my family, our entire lives, to this day, we've gone to

churches just like enunciation. What was it like to walk in there and to see that? Now a crime scene, an amazing, a beautiful place like a church, a house of worship, and to know the carnage that happened in there? These are sacred places, but these are not the only sacred places. Schools are sacred. Classrooms are sacred. You should be able to send your kid off to enjoy their day without the concern of them having this severe safety risk. And as I was running up, I saw dads and moms that were terrified, didn't know where their kids were. were, didn't know whether they were hurt or not. And that's what's so horrific in all of this is there are these just beautiful, commonplace

rituals that you should be able to engage in on a daily basis and know that your kid is going to get home safely. And so again, thoughts and prayers, not enough. These kids were literally praying. We need to be doing more to keep our children safe. This is not a moment for hate. This is not a moment for attacks. This is a moment to act, to do something to protect our children because we love them.

As the principle of enunciation said, two angels lost their lives today. I'm not sure if you had a chance to speak to their parents just yet. But what is your message to those parents tonight? We have a whole Minneapolis family. that will be there for you. We're going to wrap our arms around you. We will do everything possible to help. We are so deeply sorry for your loss.

And at the same time, none of these words are going to make it better. How many times have people said something like this should never happen again, and I'm about to say it myself, it's got to be action. Mayor, finally, what do you want the rest of the country to know about? Minneapolis tonight and enunciation and what's happened in your backyard now? Minneapolis is strong as hell. We may get knocked down seven times, but we get back up eight. Our community is resilient. We are tough and we love each other. And this is a moment when you are going to see Minneapolis community members from a thousand different backgrounds step

up to show everybody the city that we are. And it's one of love. Mayor, we thank you for your time tonight. We will be thinking and covering this story. And again, I am terribly sorry for what has happened to your community. Thanks. Thank you. Thanks for the time. And again, we're going to have much more on what happened in Minneapolis later in the broadcast. For now, we turn to Top Stories Newsfeet. We start with an update We brought you last week, a California man charged with his wife's murder, turning himself in after fleeing to Peru with the couple's three kids. 36-year-old Josimald Cabrera Cornejo was caught on camera carrying a large object from his apartment. His wife's body was later found in the Angeles National Forest.

Los Angeles prosecutors have filed a complaint for his extradition to the U.S. The children are in protective custody in Peru. And dramatic body cam video capturing the moment New Jersey police rescued a boy from a burning house. Look at this. The video shows officers persuading the boy to leap from a second floor window, catching him when he jumped out. The boy was taken to the hospital for smoke inhalation. He is okay. The cause of this fire is still under investigation. And in Buenos Aires, a painting stolen by the Nazis was spotted in a real estate listing more than 80 years after it was taken. The picture in the photo shown here is called Portrait of a Lady, and it's currently hanging inside

a property that was once owned by a senior Nazi official. This piece is just one of hundreds diluted from a Jewish art dealer who helped other Jews escape during World War II. All right, now to Money Talks and the young college grads bucking the trend as they enter the workforce. You've probably seen headlines like this describing how entry-level jobs are being decimated by AI. The New York Times declaring the AI job apocalypse may already be here. But despite the tough job market, some grads with experience in AI are cashing in. The Wall Street Journal reporting these so-called AI native grads, are making hundreds of thousands a year.

And in some case, millions to help us talk about this trend, we're joined tonight by Joanna Stern, a senior personal technology columnist at the Wall Street Journal, and an NBC News Technology analyst. Joanna, so great to have you back on Top Story. So talk to me about these AI millionaires who are just getting out of college, or is it not that great so far?

It's certainly great for some, right? What are reporting at the journal shows, and what we're hearing across the industry is if you've got a deep background, and even for early grads, if you've got a background in machine learning and you're an engineer or a researcher in AI or machine learning, well, then you could hit it big. And that's because these companies, many of them startups, are looking for new ways to crack AI, to make these models better, to make it all smarter.

And so if you're young talent and you've got that researching capability, the ability to train these models, to figure out how to make them better, you're making some good money right now. Yeah, I want to ask you, so, you know, people graduating now, they've had Chat CheapT since 2022, right? And they've obviously worked a lot on it. And there's sort of those memes and those ads you find on YouTube where they say, if you're just using ChatGBTGT as a search tool, you're not really using it. So what do these younger people know about ChatGBT, or how do they use it that maybe you and I aren't right now? Well, I think it's important to be really clear that the people who are making this money

have probably gone to school or at least done a lot of work. work in their internships and maybe on the side to improve AI, right? They are deep into the technical knowledge here. They know how to research. They know how these models work, and that's what they're doing. What there's also going to be, and what we're already seeing, is graduates who have been using AI in their studies or graduates to do their schoolwork maybe in different industries, maybe not computer science, maybe not machine learning. And they've learned how to use these AI tools to really benefit themselves to make themselves more efficient, more productive, and those people are obviously going to have an edge also going into the job market

to be able to say, hey, you're going to get two people out of this higher. You're going to me and my AI assistant, which I know how to use really well. Yeah, no, I hear you. As we mentioned, it's not such a rosy picture for all grads, right? A new study from Stanford out this week, finding a 13% drop in employment for workers ages 22 to 25 in fields impacted by AI. So why are the, or I guess walk our viewers through why the entry level workers is in particular vulnerable to AI? Oh, the biggest reason, and we don't have a ton of research on this yet, but that Stanford study is a really good indicator of what's happening,

is that the people who are in higher-level jobs right now are passing off the work they used to do or give to the lower level, the entry-level workers, the people just coming out of college, they're passing that work off now to AI, where AI can do some of those tasks. And so the tasks of the entry-level workers are sort of becoming smaller and smaller. And so what likely may happen, or we, again, don't have the researches, is that those entry-level jobs will evolve.

But right now, what that Stanford study really shows is that in a few key industries that are really using AI, customer service and coding, those entry-level jobs are lessening. And then, you know, if people are watching this regardless of their age, do we know yet the jobs that are maybe not safe or safe when it comes to AI? Well, you hear plumber a lot. You hear a lot right now, and I kind of joke in a way, but you hear a lot now about blue-collar jobs and the idea that that type of manual labor, people working in factories, people working in homes and in construction or whatever you want to sort of group those in, those types of jobs

are not going to be replaced by a chatbot or AI tools that are advanced. That said, of course, robotics is coming and advancing very quickly with AI. But, you know, look, we still don't fully know. We do know that certain jobs for sure right now are being hit. And as I mentioned before, customer service, coding, those that are going into coding. But of course, we're also seeing through this journal story today, those that have majored in computer science and have deep knowledge of machine learning seem to be in a good position. All right, Joanna Stern. Always so great to have you on Top Story.

We thank you. Thank you. Tonight in our series, The Cost of Denial, the story of two brothers, both with the same type of debilitating genetic disorder, both seeking the same gene therapy treatment. The insurance company approving the treatment for one brother, but then a few months later, denying the other. Maggie Vespa has this one. Ready, go. Chicago area dad, William Small, strives to care for his three sons equally, but says he and his wife, Allison, can't. Your insurance company is denying one son.

Correct. The same treatment your other son has received and seems to be thriving after receiving. Yes. It's baffling. It's the exact same diagnosis. That diagnosis, Deschen muscular dystrophy or DMD, a genetic disorder that progressively attacks a person's muscles. Experts say most are in a wheelchair around 12 and don't live to see 30.

Parents all the time think about like, oh, when my kid goes to high school or college or gets married. You can't dream about those things. Yeah, you can't dream about them. Noah and Hunter Small, now nine and ten, were diagnosed as toddlers. Only their oldest brother, Carter, doesn't have it. Doctors telling Allison she had passed DMD down as a carrier. A lot of guilt, but I had no idea.

So, I mean, I just had no idea. Hunter may look healthy, but his legs are failing. His larger calf muscles layered with scar tissue. as DMD attacks. How does it make you feel? Tired a lot. It makes you feel tired a lot. After doing what kinds of things?

Sports. But these days, Noah is having an easier time, able to pedal alongside Carter. He's got the medicine. You got the medicine. Yeah. He's talking about a state-of-the-art gene therapy shown to slow DMD's progress.

Known as a levitis, it costs $3.2 million. Noah received the treatment. earlier this year covered by the family's insurance provider, Blue Cross Blue Shield's federal employee program. The family initially hesitated with Hunter whose DMD had been causing heart issues. But doctors soon signed off only to have Blue Cross Blue Shield deny Hunter's coverage twice, listing the treatment as not medically necessary. What are the details of that? What are the specifics? But you get none. It's very frustrating. Citing patient privacy, Blue Cross Blue Shield declined to discuss the brothers' specific cases, but said its decisions are guided by nationwide best practices for care, helping to identify what has proven successful for members in the past.

A levitis has been under scrutiny with the FDA in June announcing two boys had died after getting it, though when they received the treatment, their DMD was so far along, they already could no longer walk. A physician herself, Allison, understands the risks, but argues DMD already guarantees an early death. Their only hope to pray for a cure and stall the disease, while their sons can still walk, run, even swim. Hunter is declining. We don't have days, weeks, months to wait. We need this down as soon as possible. Do you feel like your insurance company is wasting that precious time? Yes. With this process? Yes. you're watching your son deteriorate before our eyes. He did. Maggie Vespa, NBC News, Winnetka, Illinois.

And our thanks to Maggie for that story. When Top Story returns, remembering Katrina, New Orleans's lower 9th War, devastated by the storm, still recovering two decades later. Our Priscilla Thompson takes a look at the community with one of the leaders who brought the city through. General Russell Honorary. Stay with us. We're back now with our special coverage of Hurricane.

Katrina 20 years later. The Lower Ninth War was one of the hardest-hit communities, and it still bears some of the deepest scars two decades later. Our Priscilla Thompson returned there with the man who became a face of the recovery efforts, commander of Joint Task Force Katrina, retired U.S. Army General Russell Honoré. 20 years after Hurricane Katrina submerged 80 percent of New Orleans, this is what the hardest hit lower ninth ward looks like today. Doorsteps still there, but no house. Yeah, symbolic. It gives a marker that there's somebody in this, uh, the chain of this property are going to come back. That's what you see when you see that. Somebody's coming back. Somebody's

coming back. Sixty-five percent of the population hasn't returned to the lower ninth and less than 40 percent of homes that once stood have been rebuilt. I see the for rent sign. Yeah. But I also can't helping notice all of this over here right across the street right if there was a house then that probably wouldn't be there illegal dumping just one of the problems now plaguing the once vibrant black neighborhood the rules don't get enforced here we've been standing out if how long did you see a police car come by anytime probably not an area retired army general Russell honoray knows well he commanded the relief effort here all those years ago when you got the call

You're going to lead this mission. I didn't get the call. Huh. I pre-deployed to Mississippi without orders. So you went on your own? Yeah. I talked to my boss. He informed the Pentagon, and then they called the White House.

And within minutes later, the White House said, get that general to New Orleans. Arriving by Chopper, two days after the storm made landfall in Louisiana. To look down at all these 16,000-so people looking at this helicopter and to look in the eyes of desperation. I saw a lady with a baby in a shopping cart and water, and the water was up to the baby's chest. Soon after, evacuations began by bus as the city continued to spiral. Looting, indiscriminate, basics and luxuries, anything not nailed down. And Honoré says the narrative among news networks and politicians began to shift.

And they're going in the big box stores and they're taking the food and water. out of the big box store. And we don't like that. While they sit on their 70 degrees air conditioning in New York and D.C., these people are trying to survive and they've been standing out there for five days.

So I had to get that message straight. Doing just that in this dramatic moment. Put those damn weapons down. I'm going to say again, told the truth. Put their weapons down. We don't do that.

That resonated with people. I think so. Why? Because we were there to save people. We weren't not doing a combat operation in Iraq or Baghdad. There were accusations of racism that this would not have happened the way it did, had this not been a predominantly black city, a predominantly black neighborhood. Do you believe race played a role in the recovery and the government response? I can see how people draw some of that conclusion. I think the enormous amount of poverty combined with the fact that New Orleans was a majority African-American city. But when the levees broke, it broke for everybody.

The levees have since been rebuilt and fortified, though officials say federal budget cuts have halted inspections for this year and next. This month, a mural unveiled, honoring the community where the levy in the lower ninth broke. A reminder, Honoré says, that strength in a disaster often lies with the people. The people we put in body bags, but yard them were elderly, disabled, poor, and they were home along. That hurts my heart. That we didn't only have a failure of the system to get them out. We had a failure of friends, relatives, and neighbors. And as disasters grow worse and more frequent due to climate,

change? You need to be your own first responder. We cannot no longer look at the TV and say, oh, look, the hurricanes coming, but I'm going to stay because I think I can survive a category three. Or you're living out in California and see the fire coming. Well, you know, we've been here for fear to hear. That fire never made it up the hill. We've got to change that perspective. change, something that 20 years after the storm, parts of New Orleans still seek. We ended up with more hotel rooms after Katrina than we had before and more restaurants. And we've got a better flood protection system. And more vacant lots in the Ninth Ward, the low-knife.

Priscilla Thompson, NBC News, New Orleans. Priscilla, thank you. And our coverage of Hurricane Katrina will continue every night this week here on Top Story and on nightly news, including our roundtable discussion. with those who survived the storm and are still grappling with the lasting impacts as we approach the 20-year mark this Friday. Now to the growing questions over Israel's attack on a hospital in Gaza, the strike killing 22 people, including five journalists. Tonight, our team's on the ground talking to those who rushed to the scene who said that area was a known hub for journalists. NBC's Molly Hunter has the latest.

Tonight, the Israeli foreign minister touching down in Washington, ignoring shouted questions. Please, the killing of journalists and civilians in Gaza? Back in Israel, the IDF, under increasing pressure to explain why they launched two deadly strikes at Nassar Hospital Monday, killing 22 people, including five journalists. The IDF releasing its preliminary findings, claiming troops identified a camera that was positioned by Hamas observing their activity. But there was only one camera on the roof of NASA. hospital, a Reuters camera, according to five journalists on the ground, eyewitnesses

to Monday's attack. At the moment of the first strike, the Reuters live feed, freezing, the audio dropping, the cameraman Hussama Masary killed. Ibrahim Kanan was live on the air when the second strike hit. He tells NBC News, Reuters and AP have a specific location, the highest location, and the Army has the GPS coordinates. They have all the information. In a statement to NBC News, Reuters said Israel was fully aware that Reuters and multiple other news organizations were operating from Nassar Hospital.

Dr. Muhammad Socker was at the entrance of the hospital moments before the second strike. He said it's well known that Nassar Hospital and specifically that staircase on the fourth floor that was hit was a hub for journalists. Everyone can see this place. Even the Israeli army, by their own drones or by their own cameras, they can see Hussein and other journalists working from before the floor. He said if the IDF had an issue, they could have called. The IDF knows our numbers. But if the Israeli military wanted to get rid of a camera, they'd call you. If they had any trouble with Hussam or other journalists working from the fourth floor,

they could have called us. We simply could have just removed the camera. But the Israeli military launched two deadly strikes seven minutes apart. And we have repeatedly asked the Israeli military two questions. Did they know that there was a Reuters camera on the roof of Nassar Hospital at the time of the first strike? And why were there two strikes? And they have not provided us answers. Tom.

Molly Hunter, we thank you. We'll be right back with some closing thoughts on a day of heartbreak and tragedy in Minneapolis. With someone with deep roots in the city, our own Joe Fryer. Stay with us. Finally tonight, our thoughts are with the Annunciation Catholic school community in Minneapolis as they grapple with this senseless tragedy that unfolded today. Our Joe Fryer, who has close family ties to the school, shares his perspective on the community in mourning. In this South Minneapolis neighborhood, Enunciation Church has deep roots with the first

mass celebrated more than a hundred years ago. It's a very close-knit neighborhood. Which is why the anguish felt here is echoing down every single block. My heart goes out to all the annunciation families. All of us that know all those families. When enunciation school year began Monday, the theme was a future filled with hope. Words inspired by scripture, Jeremiah chapter 20. words then shattered by reality. There's nothing about today that can fill us with hope. And yet the school's values like be kind and be brave were on full display in their darkest hour.

My friend Victor like saved me though because he laid on top of me, but he got hit. You're really brave. You know that. Yeah. Bravery from the kids and from the adults who protected those kids. This is a nightmare, but we call our staff the dream team. And we will recover from this. We will rebuild from this.

Despite everything, their faith still guides them to see a future filled with hope. Joe Fryer, NBC News. We thank Joe for those thoughts, and we thank you for watching Top Story tonight on a very difficult night. I'm Tom Yamis reporting tonight from Los Angeles. Stay right there. More news on the way. Thank you.