Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, December 3, 2025

Episode Date: December 4, 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 Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Tonight, the growing pressure on Defense Secretary Pete Hegeseth, the new internal investigation finding he could have put troops at risk when he used a group chat for war plans, as questions mount about those strikes in the Caribbean. President Trump late today saying he's willing to release video of that controversial second strike in the Caribbean, what the video could reveal, and the new focus on what Heggseth previously told soldiers about ignoring legal advice about the rules of engagement. Also tonight, never before seen images of Jeffrey Epstein's private island, a room with a dentist chair and masks on the wall, and what was written on a chalkboard in the compound. Danger in the sky, a jet erupting into a fireball, the pilot forced to eject and use the emergency parachutes, the first sentencing in the tragic death of actor Matthew Perry. How long the doctor who gave ketamine to the friend star will spend behind bars? The self-driving car debate taking a turn, our conversation with the neurosurgeon who says, why? widespread adoption would make roads safer, despite a recent string of driverless vehicle mishaps. Party animal, the drunken raccoon, going viral after he broke into a liquor store and drank the night away,

the newly obtained surveillance video of his boozy burglary. And tonight we celebrate the annual Christmas tree lighting here at Rockefeller Center. Our conversation with the man responsible for picking the perfect tree ahead of tonight's show. Plus, did you get your Spotify wrapped? I'll walk you through mine and break down the top music. trends of the year. Top story starts right now. And good evening. We begin tonight with two major stories developing, the Trump administration and the Pentagon at the center of it all. Moments ago, President Trump saying he's willing to release video of that controversial second strike in the Caribbean back in September as

bipartisan criticism of that double tap on the alleged drug boat mounts. The president also warning attacks on land in Venezuela will come, quote, very soon. The announcement coinciding with another major controversy swirling around defense secretary Pete Hegseth after an eight-month investigation by the Defense Department Inspector General into his use of the app's signal to share details of planned U.S. strikes in Yemen. The report finding HECS. has shared secret information on the app, which is encrypted, but not a secure government messaging app that could have put American troops in danger. It also found that he violated military regulations by using his personal phone for official business.

to two people who have read the report. The White House defending Hanks as saying no classified info was leaked. Gabe Gutierrez has been followed it all from the White House and leads us off tonight. Facing calls from Democrats to release more video of this controversial strike against an alleged cartel boat smuggling drugs into the U.S. Tonight, President Trump, saying his administration would. I don't know what they have, but whatever they have would certainly release. No problem. It comes amid bipartisan backlash to that double-tap airstrike near Venezuela until.

September 2nd. Two people survived the initial attack, but defense secretary Pete Hexeth yesterday told me he did not personally see the survivors and had moved on to another meeting while Admiral Frank Bradley ordered a second strike that killed all on board. President Trump tonight. So to be clear, you support the decision to kill survivors after the initial threat. No, I support the decision to knock out the boats. And whoever is piloting those boats, most of them are gone. But whoever are piloting those. boats. They're guilty of trying to kill people in our country. Also tonight, there's new scrutiny on a passage in Hegss's 2024 book, where he described a briefing from lawyers to his troops

in Iraq, afterwards telling his platoon to ignore legal advice that they could not shoot and kill an enemy combatant with a rocket-propelled grenade unless it was pointed at them. Hegst says he told them, I will not allow that nonsense to filter into your brains. Men, if you see an enemy who you believe is a threat, you engage and disdain. destroy the threat. Meanwhile, a new Pentagon Inspector General report finding the information Hexath shared on a group signal chat in March about a pending military operation in Yemen was considered secret. Two people who have read the report tell NBC News, adding that had the information been intercepted by a foreign adversary, it would have imperiled American troops. The watchdog report

delivered to Congress also concluded Hexseth violated military regulations by using his personal phone for office business, though saying Hexseth had the power to declassify intelligence, according to the sources who read the findings. And Gabe, joins us tonight from the White House. Gabe, what are we hearing tonight from the administration on that IG report? Well, Tom, they have a very different interpretation, a Pentagon spokesman calling it a total exoneration. And the White House also saying it affirms no classified information was leaked and that operational security was not compromised, adding the president stands by Secretary

Hexseth, Tom. Yeah, Gabe, and as a reminder to our viewers, you pointed out there in the story, the man who ordered that second strike in the Caribbean, Admiral Frank Bradley, it's expected to brief Congress tomorrow. What can we expect? Yeah, that's right, Tom, according to lawmakers and three sources familiar with the planning, Admiral Bradley will brief top leaders of the House and Senate, armed services, and intelligence committees. Now, more lawmakers want to talk to him as well, and it's possible there could be another classified briefing to more lawmakers, potentially. potentially next week, although the timing for that is still being worked out. Now, Democrats and Republicans, some Republicans anyway, had been asking for that video of that second strike and audio to be released. And again, it was significant today that the president, when asked about that, said that he

was willing to release that video, no timetable for when that might happen, Tom. Okay, thanks, Gabe. And for the first time, we're getting a look inside Jeffrey Epstein's infamous home in the Virgin Islands. Today, House Democrats released the never-before-seeing photos and video, which are part of the congressional investigation to Epstein. Here's NBC's Ryan Nobles. Tonight, newly revealed video and photos providing an inside look at the infamous Epstein Island. His state and the Virgin Islands where sex offender Jeffrey Epstein allegedly took many of his victims.

The images do not show any people, but do provide a detailed view of some of the rooms inside. One, furnished with a dentist chair and the walls. adorned with masks. Another shows a library, power, music, and deception can be seen written on a blackboard. But other words have been blacked out. The photos and video released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee, who also redacted parts of the images also show bathrooms, bedrooms, and a pool area. Steve Scully worked there and spoke to NBC News in 2019, but said he had no idea if underage girls were on the island. I have no way of knowing that, truly. But but they appeared to be young to me.

The new image is part of a slow trickle of information related to the late financier. These are just disturbing images. I've never seen before images of what Jeffreys Island and the estate actually look like. The Oversight Committee says it has received bank records related to Epstein and expect to release that information soon. But Congress is still waiting for the Department of Justice to release its investigative files. After Congress overwhelmingly passed a bill, despite pushback from the White House to force. their release. The president ultimately signed the bill into law. All right, Ryan Nobles joins us tonight. Ryan, people are going to see these photos and want

to know more about them. Are we going to see more releases like this? And where do they actually come from? Yeah. So this is part of a batch of more than 150 images that the House Oversight Committee released, the Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released. It's part of their broad investigation looking into the Epstein controversy. Of course, this is something that they got from the Department of Justice in the Virgin Islands. So they've been making requests to the Epstein estate. That's where we saw those emails that were released not too long ago. And of course, there is that information that they're still looking for from the U.S. Department of Justice, which they are compelled to release after the House and Senate voted

to demand the release of that information. We still haven't got that yet. So any of the stuff that we're seeing up until now, Tom, this is coming from places other than the U.S. Department of Justice. And then we also have some news on Galane Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein's former partner. She's making another new push to get out of prison? Yeah, this has been very controversial. Of course, she was in prison in Florida. She was moved to a different prison camp in Texas. And some critics say that the situation there is a lot cushier than it was in Florida. We knew through a whistleblower to the House Democrats on the Oversight Committee that she had planned to ask President Trump for a commutation of her sentence. We now have a formal recognition in a court of law. Her lawyer

sending a letter to a court here in Manhattan requesting and letting them know that she plans to file a for her release from prison. It's not a clear exactly what ground she believes that she should be released from prison since she was convicted and sentenced to this 20-year sentence, but we should expect that to come very soon, Galane Maxwell asking to get out of jail. Okay, big headline there. Ryan, we thank you. Now, the dramatic video out of California showing the moment an F-16 fighter pilot, ejected as his jet plunges to the ground. You can see the pilot in this video actually dangling from his parachute in Southern California there on the left hand of your screen. NBC's Morgan Chesky has been following this developing story from Los Angeles. Morgan, the pilot part of the Air Force's famed Thunderbirds demonstration team. What do we know about their condition tonight? Yeah, Tom, as far as that pilot's condition goes, we do know that he was able to safely eject from that F-16 prior to that fiery impact on the ground. He's currently listed in stable condition at a nearby hospital, and authorities say that he is recovering with non-life-threatening.

injuries. Incredible when you consider just the sheer event of what took place. And you see that fiery plume happening there in the California desert, that parachute off to the left of the screen, showing that pilot safely landing there in this controlled airspace that was near Trona, California, which, as you can see, is a relatively remote area there, Tom. Yeah, and this area that you're talking about there near Death Valley, a common place for low-level flight training across the armed forces. Tom, it is, and not just for the Air Force, but also the Navy. And we've learned that this pilot actually took off near Las Vegas and was flying over

this desert area conducting what has been described as a training mission when this took place. Back in 2019, a Navy pilot was actually killed flying through what's known as Star Wars Canyon relatively near where this incident took place. There were also several tourists that were injured following that. impact there. That was an incredibly low altitude flight. We still don't know the altitude of this particular plane where it was flying, what this specific training mission entailed. That's all part of the ongoing investigation here, Tom. Yeah, and we've talked about and seen

those training missions as you've been talking about, that Navy jet colliding with the wall of a nearby canyon. I think that was 2019 from what we remember. It's just these are machines of war. They go so fast and they can be incredibly dangerous at times. They can be, but it's important to note that when you look at the F-16s as a whole, this is an aircraft that has been used by the United States military for decades. It is considered one of their primary workhorses here. Despite the incidents that we've seen in the past, it does have a strong safety record. Of course, they're going to be going through this particular flight piece by piece to try to understand what took place. Also important to note here, Tom, that if you are a member of this aerobatic squadron, these are some of the best of the best here.

They are the Air Force equivalent of the Navy's Blue Angels, and so this pilot was well-versed in handling this aircraft, and unfortunately, again, they were able to safely eject in time. Now, hopefully investigators can figure out just what went awry inside that multimillion-dollar jet. Tom? Yeah, I've had a chance to fly with the Thunderbirds, Morgan. They are incredible, and you're right. there are some of the best pilots in the Air Force. Morgan, we thank you for that. We're also following immigration crackdowns in two major cities tonight.

ICE enforcement operations now underway in Minneapolis, as President Trump doubles down on his inflammatory comments about the large Somali community in that city. And in New Orleans, a DHS operation just launched. NBC's Maggie Vespas on the ground in Minnesota tonight. Tonight, a senior law enforcement official telling NBC news, ICE has begun enforcement operations in Minneapolis. All as President Trump is doubling down on his comments, railing against the Somali community here, the largest in the U.S. The Somalians should be out of here. They've destroyed our country. Minneapolis City Councilman Jamal Osmond was born in Somalia. How did it hit you when you heard what the president had to say?

You know, the sad part for me was just trying to answer my daughters and saying that why are we being singled out? I won't answer any more question. Okay. Can you put handcuffs on him, please? While Border Patrol tonight is also launching a crackdown on illegal immigration in New Orleans, administration officials say ICE in Minneapolis is not targeting the Somali community, but just enforcing deportation orders already issued by judges. We're going to enforce the laws of this country without apology, including in the Twin Cities. Focuses on those Twin Cities more because of the criminal activities been uncovered by DOJ and DHS.

Federal prosecutors have charged dozens of people in Minnesota's Somali community for allegedly stealing hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money, including from government programs meant to give meals to low-income children. This beautiful place, and I see these people ripping it off, you don't want them in our country. Let them go back to where they came from and fix it. But this son of Somali immigrants who doesn't want to give his name says the president is creating fear and unfair. fairly blaming the whole community. Other people hearing that, you know, they're going to really use that to come at us. That's what I'm really scared of. Maggie Vesp joins us tonight from the Twin Cities. Maggie, the city's police chief has appointed message to the residents there.

Yeah, Tom, definitely. The police chief here in Minneapolis telling residents, get this, to call 911 if they come in contact with masked agents. He said some people have reported that they're scared because they can't tell whether or not those masked agents. those masked people are indeed law enforcement. That was his advice. Borders are Tom Holman hitting back, calling the idea shameful of calling 911 on officers. Tom. Okay, Maggie Vespa, Maggie, thank you.

Tonight, millions across the country bracing for bitter temperatures as a brutal Arctic blast of cold air makes its way down from Canada. Several states also bracing for more snowfall, and NBC news meteorologist Bill Kerrins is tracking it all. Bill, we could be seen some record lows over the next few days. Yeah, Thursday morning and Friday morning. Now, typically we get big snow storms in December, and then it warms up a little bit and melts kind of quickly. Not this time. I mean, this snow is going to settle in and be here for a while, and it's all because of this brutal blast that's building in Canada and going to head our way. I'm sure Big Trout Lake is a beautiful place in the middle of summer, but right now it's negative 42-degree wind chill. So all of this cold air in central Canada is heading down to the U.S. It's not going to be as cold.

It's going to moderate a little bit by the time it gets here, but it's still going to be brutal. So we're already at negative four wind chill in Minneapolis, and tomorrow morning will be worse. The actual air temperature in some areas will be in the negative teens. So it's all because there's Arctic cold front. Right now it's heading through Detroit. Tomorrow it slides through the northeast. There's not a lot of snow with it. There'll be a little bit of lake effect of typical areas if you're driving near Buffalo or Syracuse.

But these are all the spots that have a chance of record lows. These are all the same spots that have snow on the ground that helps keep the cold air right down at the surface. So Chicago tomorrow morning could have a record low. And then a few areas in the east also as we go into Friday. So how cold tomorrow? The bus stop weather's not fun in Des Moines, negative 10 with a windshield of negative 17, negative 14 in the Quad Cities, Chicago, negative 9 wind chill tomorrow morning. So that's like peak of winter cold where you got all the winter gear on. And in the Northeast, it's not quite as bad Friday morning, but easily the coldest we've had so far this season. Temperatures in the 20s won't be that windy, so it's not going to be all that bad. So it's here to stay, though, Tom. After this, we have another cold blast coming Monday to Tuesday to next week. There's no new snowstorms. least for these areas. I hope the kids are all listening to you out there when they don't want to bring in their gloves on Friday to school. Real quick, how's it going to be tonight for that tree lighting? Yeah, tree lighting actually looks fine. It's 35 degrees and it's no wind whatsoever.

Kind of a nice mood, no flurries or anything like that, but it's going to stay pretty nice. The only storm that we have to worry about on the map is the one that's hitting Colorado. Denver picked up six inches of snow. This snow is heading south, and it's going to be moving down towards Pueblo and southwards into New Mexico later on tonight. So I-25 is by far the worst out there on the map. And we could see an additional around Taos and Santa Fe areas could get another six inches of snow out of this. But as I mentioned, once we get done with this, there's not a lot of other big storms on the map as we head towards the upcoming weekend. We get a little break from our early winter season. Those skiers will get some early runs, though. All right, Bill,

we thank you for that. Now at an emotional day in Los Angeles. Matthew Perry's family coming face to face with a doctor who prescribed the actor ketamine before his fatal overdose. Today, that doctor was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. Here's Camilla Bernal with what Perry's family, including our own Keith Morrison, had to say. In court today, prosecutors called former Dr. Salvador Placencia a drug dealer in a white coat. Then a judge sentenced him to two and a half years in prison after he pleaded guilty to illegally selling beloved friend's star Matthew Perry, large amounts of ketamine in the weeks leading up to his overdose. Perry's mother today addressed Placencia, saying he failed to keep the oath he took as a doctor. She also asked him to leave.

look at her as a mother. It's a bad thing you did, she said. He looked at her and nodded. Placencia also spoke today, acknowledging he failed Mr. Perry, failed his family, failed the community, eventually turning around to look at Perry's family saying, I'm just so sorry. During sentencing, the judge pointed to previously release text messages between Placencia and another doctor. I wonder how much this moron will pay, he wrote, and let's find out. A letter to the court, Perry's mom and stepfather, Dateline's Keith Morrison, slammed greedy jackals who took advantage of the actor, calling the doctor the most culpable of all. Perry spoke openly about his addiction and his family discussed it with NBC News last year.

I have found a huge amount of meaning in thinking about the fact that this isn't our tragedy. This is, this happens to people every day. Camila, Bernal joins us tonight from outside that court in Los Angeles. Kamila, what more do we know about the cases of the four other people charged? Yeah, Tom, so the four other people charged also accepted plea deals, and they are expected to be sentenced in the coming months. Two of them in December, that includes the so-called ketamine queen and the other doctor, and then two others in January, and that includes Matthew Perry's personal assistant. But when we're talking about the fact of being provided ketamine, the judge here today said the difference in this, this case in the Salvador Placencia case was that he actually had a relationship with Matthew Perry

and the judge in this case saying, look, you were expected to have a patient doctor relationship and instead this was about dealing drugs. Tom? Okay, Camila Bernal, before we go, though, was also, we know, as you mentioned, such an emotional testimony from the family today. And our thoughts, of course, are with Keith and his family. What else did they say? Yeah, the siblings were really emotional as they gave their statements. And also as that sentence was being read, you could hear one of the siblings sobbing when the 30 months in prison was read. But in general, they spoke about how difficult it's been to lose Matthew Perry, to lose a member of their family saying that the holidays are not the same without him, that they missed the way that he

made them laugh and really made the whole country laugh. One of his siblings, the youngest, saying that celebrities are not just dolls that you can mess around with and play with. She said, look, celebrities are people too, and she lost her brother. And again, extremely emotional testimony, as they really describe the impact that this doctor had on their lives. The doctor, as I mentioned in the piece, did turn around. He faced them directly and apologized and essentially admitted to what he'd done to this family. Tom. Okay, Camila, thank you.

We are back in a moment tonight. with police in Delaware arresting a man who they say had plans for a potential violent attack on campus, what we're learning about the suspect tonight. Plus the growing questions over self-driving cars and whether they're actually safe on the road, why one neurosurgeon is calling the vehicles a public health breakthrough. We'll talk to him. And a mass burglar causing chaos inside of a Virginia liquor store, how this raccoon went on a drunken rampage before passing out on the bathroom floor. We'll tell you what he had to drink. That's next. We're back now with that story that has taken social media by storm.

Images of a raccoon passed out inside of a state-run Virginia liquor store after it went on a bit of a bender and trashed the place. Turns out it's not the first time something like this has happened in the area. NBC's George release has this one. Right on that shelf, a now infamous raccoon, taking one of the first tumbles of what would be a wild night. Video obtained by NBC News shows the critter inside a Virginia liquor store. Then as it makes its way down the aisle and scampers around the broken models it knocked over, the aftermath going viral, a trashed panda splayed out next to a trash can and toilet,

like that one person that maybe had one too many at the holiday party, it all unfolding in Ashland, Virginia over the Thanksgiving weekend. I was just like, that is the funniest thing I've ever seen. At least he got to the bathroom when he passed out. According to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority, the Masked Bandit dropped in from the store ceiling, Trunky Raccoon, then checked into the room only to find lots of boozy bottles. The damage?

14 bottles worth about $250. If you're wondering how a raccoon wets its whistle, this particular one appeared to have a taste for rum, Scotch, moonshine, peanut butter whiskey, and eggnog. Security was alerted which prompted a search of the store and the comical reveal once the officer arrived. arrived. When she told me at first, I thought she was apprehending a human subject. And I'm like, we don't do that. The raccoon was then transported to an animal shelter so it could sober up.

Just looking at this raccoon being so lethargic laying there. The officer stated the eyes were moving back and forth and just kind of, okay, telltale signs that he's probably been a little bit, a little drinking. So. Like Lee would have failed a field sobriety test? More than likely. The officer, she had no problem picking the raccoon up. The shelter posting the aftermath on, And the rest is drunk history. That's kind of things we deal with on a regular basis, not saying that in a liquor store, raccoons are. But we do with raccoons every day.

He's right. It's happened more than once. Turns out about a year ago at this neighboring martial arts studio, they encountered a raccoon break-in as well. These are images from that encounter. It was up in the cross space, like in the ceiling. And it went through in our break room and it got into all of our snacks. It was all over the place. Staff says likely not the same raccoon.

but wouldn't be surprised if it is. As for this party, animal, animal protection officials say after a night in the drunk tank, and because it was showing no sign of injury, aside a potential hangover, it was released back into the wild. All right, George Salyze joins us tonight from Miami. George, it sounds like a lot of people are obviously getting a kick out of this. I understand some of the other businesses in that area are getting in on the fun. Yeah, that's right, Tom, just when you think you've seen it all.

So some of those Virginia ABC stores are actually putting up on display, the same bottles that that raccoon broke there in front of the store so people can drink like a raccoon. And if you think they're done, absolutely not. One company there in the state actually making a t-shirt labeled Trashed Panda. There it is there that you can buy. And all the proceeds, go to that shelter there. A lot of good fun.

I've never tried peanut butter whiskey, but this raccoon, hey, you know what? There's some intrigue here. So that's at least something we can look forward to, perhaps. And, George, you have some new reporting for us, too, that the drunk raccoon was later spotted at Taco Bell as well? That's tomorrow's follow-up. All right. We look forward to that one. Okay, George, thank you, ma'am.

Still ahead on Top Story, the massive recall for thousands of bags of cheese sold at grocery stores across the country. What you need to know tonight. Plus, Spotify just wrapped, Spotify just dropped today, giving fans a look at all the music trends around the world. We'll break down who's topping the charts this year and why many are asking, what's your listening age? But first, Top Story's top moment in the emotional send-off for a Sacramento sports legend. Rogers from our NBC affiliate, KCR, retiring after 28 years as the station sports director in his final night on air, the former NFL running back and Super Bowl champ with the Niners had this message about what he called the most important part of his job.

You know, during the last 28 years here at KSERRA, I covered professional sports because I had to, but I also covered high school sports because I needed to. You see, high school sports is a backbone to our community. Tonight, I hang up my mic, but I'll never hang up on what you've given me. Thank you for letting me be a part of your fields, your cords, and your kids' lives. Beautiful words there by Del Rogers. He was joined by his family on set. KCR says that Dell will be missed, not only in the newsroom, but by the community,

and his impact will continue to be felt. All right, stay with us. More news on the way. We're back now with a potentially violent attack on a college in Delaware thwarted after police say they confronted a man and found rounds of ammunition in his car and detailed plans for an attack in his home. Sam Brock has borne the police work that appears to have saved lives. Police in Delaware may have prevented catastrophe after finding this University of Delaware students, Luke Mon Khan, inside his truck in a park after hours last week. Officers patrolling the area initiated a traffic stop. Khan was uncooperative and armed, they say, with a loaded Glock handgun,

more than 100 rounds of ammunition and an armored ballistic plate, as well as a notebook that, according to the federal complaint, states his desire to be a, quote, martyrer, naming a member of the University of Delaware Police Department as a target. Battle efficiency, kill all, martyrdom, all combatants, he wrote. The fact that martyrdom was invoked, does that add another chilling to, mention to the story. I'll tell you, as you peel back every layer of this, it gets more and more chilling. What I truly believe is a cold individual with no regret for human life. The FBI says Khan is a naturalized American citizen from Pakistan, with Newcastle police telling NBC

news he traveled back and forth recently. His notebook also contained a drawing of a University of Delaware building with entry and exit points, prompting the FBI, the search Khan's home, where they say they uncovered more weaponry and a device that converts handguns to machine guns, stunning neighbors. It's scared of a jeebies out of me. The 25-year-old, now facing state and federal charges, he has not yet entered a plea as the Wilmington community is grateful. This is the type of work that law enforcement across the country does every day. Sam Brock, NBC News.

Okay, turning now to Top Stories News feed to check up other headlines around the country. We're going to start with President Trump announcing he's pardoning Texas Democratic Congressman Henry Quayar. was indicted last year on bribery and money laundering charges, you may remember. The president also parted in Quayar's wife, who was facing charges as well. The couple's trial was set to begin next April. And two wrongful death lawsuits were filed today over that UPS cargo plane crash in Kentucky last month that killed 14 people. The lawsuits were filed by the families of two victims. They were accusing the company of putting profits over safety and alleged that it kept flying

older aircraft without increasing maintenance. UPS says it doesn't comment on pending lawsuits. UPS says it doesn't comment on pending lawsuits, but insist that safety remains its top priority. And more than 250,000 cases of shredded cheese recalled because of potential metal fragments. That's according to the FDA. Great Lakes Cheese Company issued the voluntary recall. It spans more than 30 states and impacts popular brands from Target, Ali, and Walmart. And it took a squad of sheriff deputies to move this massive alligator off the road in Florida. Look at this.

You can see them wrangling the 14-foot beasts. It's a big one. before finally lifting it up and putting it in the back of a truck. They say it weighed around 600 pounds, wow, and has now been released at a gator farm. Okay, we're going to turn out of the nationwide debate over driverless cars and the spinal cord surgeon calling for the widespread adoption of these autonomous vehicles. You'll hear why in a moment. This has the robo taxi company Waymo recently made some headlines for viral moments like this. We showed this to you just last night, a Waymo autonomous taxi driving right through an active police scene.

in L.A., with a suspect laying on the ground in the background. This one was a strange one. And there's also a federal investigation underway after a Waymo car was seen illegally passing a stop school bus in Georgia. You know, you can't do that. The company also facing criticism from labor unions, the Boston Teamsters branch, speaking out as the city council considers restrictions on autonomous vehicles, looking out from drivers there, saying in part, driverless cars and trucks poses serious threat to public safety, our communities, and the livelihoods of the countless dedicated men and women across the common. and wealth who work as professional drivers.

Waymo saying in a statement to NBC Boston that its technology brings additional safety, economic activity, accessibility, and sustainable transportation to the cities where we operate. One voice, though, speaking out in favor of driverless cars, a Pennsylvania neurosurgeon who wrote this opinion piece in the New York Times

after analyzing data released by Waymo. He argues that widespread adoption of driverless vehicles would lead to less traffic-related deaths and injuries. And the author of that piece, Dr. Jonathan Slotkin, with Geinzer Health Systems, he joins us live tonight here on Top Story. Dr. Slotkin, thanks so much for being here. I read your piece yesterday, the New York Times. It stood out to me. I first want to ask you before we dive into it, you're not a paid spokesman for Alphabet, for Google, or Waymo.

You just looked at the data and you wanted to put this out because you're a surgeon who sees car accidents on the front lines. Yeah, that's right. Thank you for having me, Tom. I have no financial relationship with any of those. those companies that you named, and I'm not invested in them either. I wrote about this because, you know, frankly, Tom, I've seen enough. I've seen enough dead people, kids who I can't save. And the piece I wrote about a teenager who was ejected from a car, and we declared him

brain dead. And when I saw this data, the data stunned me. Yeah. I want to read a piece of your essay that you put in the New York Times. We put up on the screen for our viewers here. You wrote, if Waymo's results are indicative of the broader future of autonomous vehicles, we may be on the path to eliminating traffic deaths as a leading cause of mortality in the U.S., while many see this as a tech story, I view it as a public health breakthrough.

Talk to me about how your experiences in hospitals led you to be an advocate for autonomous cars and why you frame this as a public health issue, because, I mean, I don't want to say you're on an island here, But I'm in the media. I know the stories that we've done on Waymo. We've also done stories where we show that they work, especially in airports like in Phoenix. But you kind of went out on the limb here. Tell me why this was so important to you.

Yeah, you know, me and the thousands and thousands of other men and women, nurses, doctors, therapists, working with trauma patients. We feel this and know this every day. We have blood on our shoes, the blood of our kids. And look, we accept, Tom, we accept 40,000 deaths a year as the price of mobility, the price of driving. And when I analyze their data, and look, you can go analyze it too. They released it, all of it, the raw data on their website. I saw that we saw greater than a 90% reduction in most types of crashes, including a 96% reduction in

intersection crashes, which are some of the worst we see in the trauma bay. And look, if I or anybody else in medicine sees a treatment or a prevention that prevents 90% of trauma, we know we need it. Did you feel, yeah, did you feel, did you feel you had to write this because there's, there may be a perception that these cars are dangerous? There may be a perception that the news coverage of them is not fair. I mean, what really compelled you? Was it public health or were you getting concerned that maybe this type of technology since you believe in it was going to get sort of stonewalled in some cities well you know you mentioned some cities and look particularly Boston and D.C.

recently there's been coverage in the Washington Post and and other papers New York Times is covered Boston Globe that you know there are entrenched forces that have politicians ears on this and you mentioned some of them and there are others and some of these are quite moneyed. And I'm certainly aware, and it's not lost on me, that when we review this appropriately so as a safety issue, this can harden the argument, actually, against some of these other forces that have quite deep pockets

and have a reason for the status quo to stay the same. And what I want people to realize is this is not a tech moonshot anymore. This is about our safety. And this is, you know, not to go to inside baseball here, Tom. This is significant, statistically significant data that we should change what we do. Well, it's interesting, right? Because cars have changed a lot, and there have been campaigns to wear seatbelts. I'm thinking about Ralph Nader for decades, right?

And then you have cars that can automatically break. You have cars that alert you when things are getting too close. I mean, sort of almost every car now comes with these features. But this is a whole different ballgame, right? These cars cost $100,000. And from what you're seeing, and I don't know you, but the sense I'm getting is that you're kind of over car crashes, right? You're kind of done with them because you've seen the death that they cause, the injuries that they cause, they change lives on an everyday basis kind of thing. And you're seeing something that can potentially maybe end this by 90%.

America should be all in on this. But people are scared, right? They're scared because they see the stories that these cars sometimes go a little crazy. They're also putting a lot of sort of, I don't want to say, faith, because we put faith in technology, but, I mean, driving 75, 65 miles per hour on the highway with nobody at the steering wheel, I mean, you got to have something, right? Maybe it is faith. Well, look, the first thing I'll tell people is these vehicles, until you've experienced them,

you don't know what it's like. And the first time you experience one, you will view it differently forever. That's a main piece I want to share with. people and again I'm not associated with this company but about fear and trepidation let's just take base fear it's human nature right and I run into this in health care all the time we we fear the robot that we perceive we can control much more than the drunk driver we think we can avoid because we're a good driver or the beer we think we can control when we drink it but here you know

here's the hard truth the robot doesn't get tired it doesn't text it can see in 360 degrees, it doesn't get distracted. And I get that the trepidation's real, and the technology's not perfect. These technologies, they can stall or they can get confused. But when they're not perfect, the data shows so far, they're not perfect in safe and minor ways. But we know these things, they don't drive recklessly, they don't fall asleep, and they markedly and significantly decrease your chance of a serious injury or worse. So what I think we need to do, and all of us that have lived this or know it or read the data need to do is to help people trust the math over their gut. Because right now our gut, Tom, is getting one jetliner's

worth of people dropping out of the sky every day dead in automobile accidents and 10,000 people in our emergency rooms every day. Yeah, those are two stunning stats that you can't deny. Dr. Slotkin, thanks for coming on Top Story. Thanks for talking us through this one. We appreciate it. Tom, thanks for having me. Yeah. Coming up next, the push for peace in Ukraine are Richard Engels on the ground with the latest on the talks to end the war with Russia, plus the crash landing in China after a new rocket blasted off, and its first unmanned test flight.

We'll show you the dramatic fireball next. Back down with the latest on the Ukraine peace talks. Tonight, NATO representatives gathering in Belgium to discuss conditions to bring an end to the war with Russia. And the NATO Secretary General making headlines saying there's only one person in the whole world able to break the deadlock, and that is the American president. Though notably absent at this meeting, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, it comes just one day after those marathon talks between the U.S. and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow. NBC's chief international correspondent Richard Engel joins us tonight

from Ukraine. Richard, I think it's important you describe to our viewers why it's so dark there behind you in Ukraine. It's obviously very late, but there's another reason. And it's important in sort of putting that into perspective into how these talks are going, because it's unclear to know if sort of the ball has moved at all. I'm glad you mentioned that, Tom. So people talk about this war as if Russia and Ukraine are somehow on equal footing. The war is being fought inside Ukraine, on Ukrainian territory. Russia is trying to claim Ukrainian land. And for the last four years, this country has paid almost all of the prices in terms of damage, in terms of personnel

lost. The men and women in this country are sacrificing. And yes, it's dark here right now because for the last three days since we've been in the city, it has been facing blackouts every night. There are also air raid sirens every night here because Russian forces are continuing to attack. This is a civilian city, and they are attacking civilian infrastructure. They're apartment buildings. They are attacking the heating grid. And these kind of attacks happen every single night. And what happened over the last couple of days from this country's perspective is that Vladimir Putin is calling the shots. It was a Russian favored proposal from the beginning. The Ukrainians were outraged, as were Ukraine's European allies, when they saw the initial

draft of the peace plan that President Trump put forward. The Ukrainians worked on it twice, first in Geneva, then in Miami, to try and improve the terms. And then the deal went back to Vladimir Putin, and he rejected it. So standing here in a blacked-out city, it seems very much that Vladimir Putin is calling the shots, and that it is up to Vladimir Putin to approve or deny a peace deal to potentially end this long war after hundreds of thousands of people have been killed. nearly four years. And Richard, we mentioned there in the introduction about Secretary of State Marco Rubio not being there for these talks. I mean, he was president at the White House yesterday for that marathon cabinet meeting. Can we take anything from that that he's not

present at these meetings? People here are reading into it. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was the only one who was talking openly about having a deal that respected Ukraine's sovereignty, having a lasting peace deal that would allow Ukraine to thrive within its borders. And he wasn't in these long talks in Moscow. Instead, it was Whitkoff and Jared Kushner. Whitkoff, who Ukrainians remember from just a few days ago, was heard and leaked audio appearing to coach the Russian side on how they could win over Donald Trump. The same envoy who continues to go to Moscow.

more than a half dozen times, and yet officially he's never been to Ukraine. And Ukrainians are very worried that this team that was in Moscow that didn't get a yes is anxious to get a yes, that they want to please their boss, Donald Trump, and that Ukraine would potentially be sacrificed in order to get that yes, because Vladimir Putin at this stage does not appear to be budging in his initial demands. Richard Engel for us tonight. Richard, we thank you for being there for us. All right, now to Top Stories, Global Watch, a check of what else is happening around the world. The first test flight for a Chinese reusable rocket ending in a fiery explosion.

Look at this. You can see the unmanned rocket blasting off before something went wrong with the landing. Video shows it barreling towards the ground, erupting into a fireball. Wow. The Chinese firm Landspace says it's investigating what happened. It's trying to become just the third company to successfully test a re-reacted. usable rocket, you will remember. Elon Musk's SpaceX stunned the world when they first did this, and Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin, just did it also. Rescue crews still searching for hundreds of missing people after last week's devastating floods and landslides in South and Southeast Asia. This is some of the destruction across parts of Indonesia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Look at this.

Many villages buried under water and mud, others without power. Between all three countries, officials say more than 1,400 people have died, and around 800. We're still missing. In Chile, is the latest country to pass a bill banning the use of smartphones in the classroom. The new law is set to take effect next year and will apply to elementary and middle schools. Officials say it's meant to help kids stay focused

and reduce the potential harmful effects of smart devices. A handful of other countries have similar restrictions, including France, Brazil, and the Netherlands. All right, speaking of technology, music lovers all over the globe, Spotify releasing its annual Spotify wrap roundup of the music you listen to most this year. It's become such a phenomenon.

Even the Empire State Building celebrating tonight lit green in honor of the music apps year in review. Pretty cool. And the top artists in the world? Well, you guessed it, Bad Bunny. We'll get into my top artist in just a moment. But first, Emily Akeda has this look at the new feature that's surprising listeners

and what the music we listen to might say about us. Most wonderful time. It's the moment music fans wait all year for. Spotify rap today. Music streaming giant Spotify dropping its year-end listening roundups. I love seeing everyone's Spotify wrapped. A customized report for each user of top artists, albums, and songs. Globally, Bad Bunny was crowned the most played artist with a staggering 19.8 billion streams. Driven in part by his sixth studio album and history making residents. in Puerto Rico.

This was much more than just a concert. What did it mean to you? Everything. This is a dream come through. The Latin artist now dethroning pop sensation Taylor Swift, though this show girl is still number one in the U.S. Chances are you listened to a lot of my music this year on Spotify. And in one of the app's busiest new features,

this year you can find your Spotify estimated listening age. I'm feeling 22. Calculated by comparing your musical taste to others in your age group, looking at the release years of the tracks you listen to most. And it has some listeners, speechless. You're aging me by 10 years? What is this? 81.

I'm sorry. I love Aretha Franklin. As fans are turning up their soundtracks to 2025. All right, Emily, it kind of joins us now on set. Emily, so many people across the country are talking about this, right? now. We want to show people how it works. So this is my phone. You can see it right back here. This is my Spotify homepage here. Right at the top, you'll see there's wrapped. You click on that right there at the top. It's in white. And then you just say, let's go. And you go through this.

So 2025, my top artist, Bob Marley, Bad Bunny, the English beat, also known's beat, O-A-R, which is another great band. The top songs. So you're adding to the Bad Bunny's Success there. Oh my gosh, yeah, definitely. And then the top songs, Rough Rider's Anthem. This was kind of funny because I have like a thing with myself. before his games. We have like a game day mix. And so this is like the one we always listen to, the Rough Rider's anthem. Not up in here? Yeah, not up

in here. But it's so cool. And the other thing, the listening age, this was wild for me. But I like a lot of the oldies. This one is 63. 63? A young 63. Oh my God, Emily. So tell me about yours. Okay, so it's a little complicated, right? Okay, because I share an account with my husband. So he really

infiltrated my results here. So yes, unsurprisingly, there's Taylor Swift, there's the beaches, which is this all-girls band. But then you'll also see, like, Charlie Crockett and Big Crit in my top artists. Charlie Crockett's great. Yeah, I know. You know, it's an eclectic bunch, I should say. So this is your top artist right here. These are what you're wrapped 2025.

Yeah, yeah. Okay, so, and only two of these are yours. The other two are your husband. I mean, it's hard to, like, we'll listen to some of the same music, but it's definitely eclectic because I'm sharing with my husband. But Taylor Swift really should be for me. Top album. Top artists, top song, in terms of, like, what I'm listening. And so you, you know, you were so brave to share your top music.

What about your age? Because I shared mine. Yeah. I'm a little bit older than you, Tom. Are you really? Show us what you got that. 69. No.

69. Yeah. So explain again. So how are you 69? I think because we're also listening, like one of my favorite art, Simon and Garfunkel. Oh, my God. So, I mean, there's a lot that goes into it. And then also, they're looking at your actual age, comparing your music to other age groups.

And then the music that you're listening is when those songs were released. So there's a couple of things that go into that calculation. But it's kind of fun to see what ends up populating for so many people. It's definitely the talk of the town. It's something that everyone can talk about and share. And more than ever, you can see on the app as you're scrolling through. Like, there's more interactive elements and different ways to share. It's not just music.

It's also books. It's podcast. There's a whole variety. And I want to show people like, once you do this, it's so great, you can kind of swipe up for more. So this was my top album. It was Bad Bunny's album. You keep swiping, and it kind of keeps giving you. more content, which is great. It tells you how many artists you listen to.

More than 1,200. It shows like the months, like what I was listening to every month throughout the year. This is just so incredible. And it takes you back to that month, right? Like there are certain moments that happened throughout the year. And you're like, oh, that's what I remember. And then this part right here, Emily, this is the part that I was sort of obsessed with. And now a word from one of your favorites. We can't play it now, but this was a personalized message from Bad Bunny. I mean, this is just so smart from Spotify and from the artist. Yeah, I think it's very cool. And it's a cool way for them to connect. There was one from Taylor. Swiff, so, yeah. All right. Emily, it's so great to have you. This was so much fun.

All right. Well, coming up next on Top Story, we are heading outside. The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree is ready to get lit. We'll talk to the head gardener here about how he picked this year's tree. We promise you it'll be lit up as we count down in the big moment later tonight. Don't go away. Finally tonight, the most famous tree in the world right behind me here is set to be lit in just a little bit. The 75-foot Norway spruce comes to us from upstate New York. decorated with more than 50,000 lights and a 900-pound star that will shine bright tonight and kick off the holiday season. And we're so fortunate to be joined by the man who has picked

the most famous Christmas tree in the world. For more than three decades now, our good friend the head gardener here at Rockefeller Center, Eric Pauzy. Eric, thanks so much for being here. Thank you, bud. So when we look at this beautiful tree here, what do you see? I see a beautiful tree. Perfect. 75 feet tall. And you were just telling me it's still drinking a lot of water? Still drinking about 15 gallons a day right now. 15 gallons a day? Wow. And then how do you guys constantly fill that up?

I love this part. Well, there's actually a hose over there next to the building. We sneak out in the morning and fill it up. And just fill it up. Okay, so what was it about this tree that stood out to you? Oh, when I went up to see it back in July, it had a great shape. And when I got out of the car, I just knew walking to the front door to meet Judy that it was going to be perfect. How many years had this one been growing for?

This is about 75 years old. 75 years old. She still looks great. And the family behind it was also very special, right? Yeah, Liam and Judy are great. I had a lot of fun with Liam. We're a good time. Little boy, and he was so excited, right, to be out here? Yeah, I love his reaction when we told him we were going to put 50,000 lights on there. Yes, jaw dropped, right? Right, right. So when you look at this tree and there's a lot of pressure tonight in the lights, I mean, do you get nervous at all? I know you've been doing this for a long time. No, we got a great bunch of professionals and everything's going to go well. Yeah, what is the team, what kind of team is it take to kind of get that tree perfect?

And I know by myself and my house, it's hard to get the tree straight. How do you make sure you have that tree straight? Well, we got about 35 people every day working on a tree when it gets here. Is it leaning a little bit to the right? I don't know. It looks a little bit of your side. I'm joking. What else do you want people to know about this process?

Because it's so special to so many around the country. Oh, sure. It's great. It's great how everybody comes to Rockefeller Center. They share their traditions and their family traditions, and it's a lot of fun. And then remind us, what happens after the holiday? This big, beautiful tree. It gets its moment, and then does it turn into so fun?

I'll get to the table. What happens? Well, it goes to Habitat for Humanity. And last year, it was the first step to the upstairs, and it got stamped with 2024 tree. That's so great. Eric, thanks for being out here. Thank you for everything that you do.

We're so looking forward to tonight. It's going to be amazing. All right. And she looks great, so congratulations. Thank you, bud. All right. And you can watch Christmas and Rockefeller Center hosted by Reba McIntyre,

starting at 8 o'clock Eastern, 7 Central, live on NBC and streaming, of course, on Peacock. All right, that does it for us tonight. Thanks so much for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamas. Outside of Rockefeller Center, stay right there. More news on the way.