Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, December 4, 2024

Episode Date: December 5, 2024

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 hunt for a killer after the United Healthcare CEO was gunned down in Midtown Manhattan. Chilling video shows the gunman pursuing and shooting CEO Brian Thompson at point-blank range in what police are calling a targeted attack. Thompson's widow telling NBC News, her husband had been threatened before. We'll walk you through some of the clues investigators already have as the city prepares for one of its biggest events of the holiday season. Also tonight, defense secretary pick Pete Hegeson, defending his reputation in the hopes of salvaging his confirmation. Hexseth dismissing allegations of sexual assault and alcohol abuse on the Megan Kelly show. His own mother now coming to his defense after slamming his behavior in a scathing email. You'll hear what she had to say.

President-elect Trump already reportedly preparing a backup plan. Could Florida Governor Ron DeSantis be Hegsef's replacement? Breaking tonight the stabbing spree in downtown. Vancouver, the chaotic scene unfolding first responders rushing in, the late details still coming in. Deadly sinkhole accident, a grandmother swallowed into the ground while searching for her cat. Our team on the scene as officials now call this a recovery mission. Danger at the border, terrifying video of the moment of Border Patrol vehicle strikes a migrant sending him airborne what officials are telling us about the incident and new reporting on who could be the first

target of president-elect Trump's promised immigration crackdown. Better than Wagovi, the new head-to-head trial between Wagovi and Zepbound, revealing which medication helped shed the most pounds, which brand came out on top? And you may remember this dog left abandoned and tied up on the side of a highway as Hurricane Milton was set to slam into Florida? The pup rescued by a state trooper, finally finding his forever home. How the dog nicknamed Trooper found his perfect match just in time for the holidays. Plus, a broadcasting legend signing off. We'll sit down live with legendary anchor Chuck Scarborough

as he steps away from the desk after 50 years. Top story starts right now. And good evening. Tonight, a killer is at large somewhere in New York City after the CEO of United Healthcare was hunted down and killed in Midtown. Right now, a massive man. hunt is underway to find the gunmen who police say targeted Brian Thompson.

You can see the NYPD right now offering up to a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. This all happening around 6.45 this morning. This is the surveillance video. It captures the moment the gunman approached Thompson from behind, pointing a gun and firing at him. Take a look at these images of what the NYPD believes to be the shooter. They were taken just inside of a Starbucks before the incident, right where the shooting

happened. We want to walk you through how all of this unfolded. The shooting taking place on 54th Street just outside the Hilton Hotel on 6th Avenue. Then the gunman takes off down an alleyway and ends up on 55th Street, where he then gets on a city bike and heads north towards Central Park, and that's where the trail ends. Here's what we know about the suspect. Police say he was a light skin man wearing a light brown or cream color jacket, a black face mask, black and white sneakers and a great backpack. We know the CEO, Brian Thompson, was in town for an annual investors meeting, which was being held at the Hilton Hotel.

United Healthcare's parent company was holding a different investor conference this morning when the news broke. I'm afraid that we, some of you may know, we're dealing with a very serious medical situation with one of our team members, and as a result, I'm afraid we're going to have to bring to a close the event today. Good. Thompson took the position leading one of the country's largest health insurers just three years ago. He was with the company for two decades. The 50-year-old is a husband and father to two children, United Health Care servicing 29 million Americans. So the big questions tonight, what was the motive here,

and where is the killer tonight? NBC Stephanie Gosk starts off our coverage. It was a brazen attack on the busy streets of Midtown Manhattan, just as the workday was beginning. The NYPD says that gunmen was laying in wait for United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson. Every indication is that this was a premeditated, pre-planned, targeted attack. NBC News obtained this video from a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation. According to police, Thompson was shot in the back and in the leg. At the scene, we recover three live nine millimeter rounds and three discharged nine millimeter shell case. The motive for this murder currently is unknown.

Emergency responders couldn't save the 50-year-old father of two, who was later pronounced dead at the hospital. The Minnesota native was in town for a United Health Care Conference being held at the Hilton Hotel. Police say at 6.44 a.m. Thompson was walking to the Hilton from a different hotel where he was staying. The shooter wearing a black ski mask and hoodie was already there, according to the NYPD, arriving minutes before.

He stepped out from behind a car and started shooting, walking and firing multiple times. At one point, the gun appeared to jam. It does seem that he's proficient in the use of firearms as he was able to clear the malfunctions pretty quickly. The NYPD says at 648 officers arrived at the scene, but the gunman had already fled. An eyewitness watched it happen. I saw him after he shot him. He ran across the street.

This way, try to take a picture, but it's too far away. It's not that clearly. According to the NYPD, the shooter took off through an alley, grabbing an e-bike and riding it into Central Park, which at that time was filled with morning runners and walkers. That's when the timeline police are publicly sharing ends. The full investigative efforts of the New York City Police Department are well underway, and we will not rest until we identify and apprehend the shooter in this case. A law enforcement source briefed on the investigation tells NBC News, these photos were taken before the shooting. We are sinking information from the public to help identify the shooter. As the commissioner said, we have up the reward up to $10,000 for information.

In Minnesota, Thompson's wife and family in shock. Brian was a wonderful person with a big heart and who lived life to the fullest. He will be greatly missed by everybody. Our hearts are broken and we are completely devastated by this news. In a separate phone conversation with NBC News, his wife expressed some concern. There had been some threats, basically. I don't know, a lack of coverage, she said, adding, I don't know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.

Despite the threats, she says her husband did not change his travel habits. Today, the head of pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly, spoke out about the shooting. I mean, it's shocking, yeah. He was assassinated, essentially, in the street going to his investor conference. United Health Care is the largest private health insurer in the country. part of United Health Group. In a statement, a spokesperson writes in part, we are deeply saddened and shocked at the passing of our dear friend and colleague. The company says it is working closely with the NYPD. The scheduled conference has been canceled. Tonight just

blocks away from where the shooting took place, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree will be lit in the annual celebration, an event that is always tightly secured by the NYPD. Officials assuring the public there will be a massive presence there tonight. This is a terrible event, but we're going to go on, and people are going to enjoy the tree lighting tonight. And with that, Stephanie Goss, joins Top Story Live tonight, right outside the Hilton where that shooting happened. So, Stephanie, Brian Thompson, as you reported, didn't seem to have any security with him, even though his wife says there had been some threats. Is that unusual? Yeah, you know, Tom, United Health Group put out its most recent report to stockholders, and in that report, it does not.

List security. There are other insurance company, including Cigna and Humana that had pulled, sorry, we've got a bit of a disturbance here, that they put out similar reports, Cigna and Humana, and they do provide security for their executives time. As we've been reporting the suspect in this shooting, now the target of a massive manhunt across the biggest city in the country in the middle of the busy holiday season. For more on the investigation and how law enforcement will try to track down the shooter, I want to bring in John Monaghan, a retired captain with the New York City Police Department. John, thanks so much for being here tonight. So, John, we're going to walk our viewers step by step from the clues that we know the investigators have. We know they probably have more. Let's roll this video.

This is the surveillance video of the assassination. And you see right here he's walking to the hotel. We're going to freeze it here because we don't want to show the shooting. Talk to me about what you're noticing here. You notice sort of a gun here. talking about potentially a silencer, a heavy gray backpack, and the position that he's shooting. What do you see? The position tells me he's at least spent some time at a gun range.

You know that from that, from the way. It's good form. He can tell. His stance is proper. His arms are proper. This is how you would train someone. He doesn't appear to be highly trained, but he knows his way around the gun. Why do you say not appears to be highly trained? The way he tries to clear the jam, the gun jam. He does know how to clear a jam on a gun. That requires some knowledge and some training. He may be professional in the sense that he was paid for this.

I don't think that this was a personal on his part. When we get to the end of this video. Okay, well, let's roll the next clip, and you can walk us through the next clip once we play this one. So this is right after he's done shooting and he's walking off here. Not really taking up, he's not jogging away. The victim would be down here? Yeah.

I noticed this. He finishes firing. he approaches the subject and turns away. If this was personal to him, he'd have gotten in closer to deliver a message or the final kill shot.

He doesn't. He just walks away unaffected. That tells you something. You know New York City of Manhattan. Well, let's go to our next element here. We want to show how he essentially gets away and he walks through before he gets to the park, right? So this is where he shoots Thompson.

He then jumps on a city bike, which is the bikes you can rent here in New York City, essentially for free. And then he jumps on that city bike, and there's tens of thousands of these bikes, you know, and he takes off into Central Park. What does this getaway tell you? You know, I don't want to say he knows his way around town.

That is a New Yorker. I don't believe that. You know, you could go to Google Earth, like we're here now, go down the street level, study your area. He obviously put some time into this. He was prepared for this. I have a lot of questions about all of that as well. How did he know that this man was leaving?

at exactly that time. He was only laying away for five minutes. The conference wasn't until nine o'clock. How did this kid know to be there at that time? And why was he an hour and a half early for the conference? Also, why was he not staying in the Hilton, where the conference was? He was staying across the street. How does this kid? He had intelligence information. So why did he go around this way? Through this, they call an alley. It's actually a beautiful plaza. Right. And then come back this way. I don't know. That's where he left the bike. He's on the bike. He has a large gray backpack. What does that tell you? Because It seemed, to me, it stood out because it's so big.

Right, right. He may have all the firearms. If that's a silencer, you know, that does tell you something about the silencer. And why the gun jam? There's a lot we could talk about with that, because there's a thing called subsonic ammunition that doesn't give the same pressure as the gun requires to eject around properly. Subsonic ammunition is known to cause jams. And it's not as loud?

Correct. That's why they call it that. And it's not as powerful. I want to go to our next element. he escapes into Central Park, and this is essentially where police at least have told us that he kind of disappears, right? And Central Park is massive. My question to you is, if he goes into Central Park, are there cameras inside Central Park? Fixed posts, there are a few.

Yeah. We do put up. But we're talking about, you know, if you go all the way around six miles, three miles down, I mean, there's a lot of places to disappear, right? Well, you know, technology is one thing, but good detective work, and I know Joe Kenny, he's got his guys out there. shoe leather. Okay. You get to this corner, 59th and 6th, Central Park, South, and Avenue, to America's, and you ask every doorman, every store clerk, every cab driver, who walks their door at the same time every day? Oh, little old lady, there's in that building. We're going to knock on every door in that building

until we find her. People know more and have seen more than they realize. Right. And now you go through the whole park. There were people that jogged the same time every day. We're going to talk to every doorman along this strip. Yeah. And by now, this is about 12 hours in. I would venture to say that they've got a handful of witnesses already. And just to be clear, there are cameras around here. There are. All of these buildings. Some of the posts here, some of the more traveled areas would have cameras. If we can go back to that other map that we just showed, Brett, I'm going to talk to our director here, because I want to make this point, where the shooting happened and where

you have the Rockefeller tree lighting, obviously it's happening tonight, it didn't happen in the morning, but this guy killed the CEO from United with a massive police presence, just blocks away, because the police have been here for days. You know they're going to block all this off today. It's impossible to get in. It wasn't that crazy this morning, but there's a lot of cops in this area. What does it tell you that he was brazen enough

to pull it off knowing there's this massive police presence just a few blocks down? I think it was out of necessity. He had intelligence information. He knew where this man was staying. He knew when he was going to leave his hotel and he laid him wait for only a few minutes. So he knew exactly when he was leaving.

I'd say he didn't have a choice. Would he rather do it in a quieter place? Probably. Maybe that's why he pulled out a silencer. I want to show you the images they took from the Starbucks, which is on 56 and 6, so just a couple streets from where the shooting took place. He's in full gear, but, you know, post-pandemic, sometimes people wear the mask over their face. They wear the hood. Sometimes people go around looking like this. Does this tell us anything? Not much. Not much, really. You know, there's so many avenues that have to be explored.

And again, the Detective Bureau and NYPD, they're going to sign a team to each afternoon. Yeah. I'd be surprised if they'd put two homicide detectals on a plane bound from Minnesota this morning. Yeah. You need to look into his private life, his professional life. Yeah. Then the ballistics at the scene, knock it on doors in the immediate of his escape route. But from that picture, you don't have a lot. Finally, let's talk about the victim in this case, because we can't ever forget the victim here, right?

We told you he's a CEO of the largest health insurer in the entire country, 50 years old, married with children. What does that tell you about the victim? I mean, obviously he was so high profile. Well, again, there's a lot of avenues. Professionally is one, personally is another. You have to find out everything you can about all his associations, personal ones as well as professional ones. I understand that this conference was about finance.

He's the CPA. I don't see where there's a direct connect to him denying coverage to someone. Not saying that that's not any of you. We would set a team on that, explore the finances of that. Was that the issue or was it elsewhere? Okay. You have to find out of the you can about him, both professionally and personally. Okay.

We thank you for joining us tonight. Thank you. Incredibly helpful. All right. Yeah. We're going to transition now to our other major story that we're following tonight.

President-elect Trump's picked for Defense Secretary in an all-out fight to save his nomination. Pete Hagseth speaking out for the first time following those reports of sexual assault

and workplace misconduct allegations. This, as we're learning, Trump may be considering a former primary rival to replace Hegseth if the nomination goes down. NBC's Garrett Hake. Has more.

Tonight, President-elect Trump's selection for Secretary of Defense, Pete Hegseth, facing what may be a make-or-break moment for his nomination amid wavering GOP support. Heggseth defiant, saying Trump told him today. Hey, Pete, I got your back. It's a fight. They're coming after you. Get after it. The former Fox News host and decorated combat veterans speaking to Megan Kelly, pushing back on

damaging stories about his background. What has been said about me, it was so ridiculous and all anonymous that we didn't want to give it oxygen. What you're seeing right now with me is the art of the smear. NBC News has reported 10 current and former Fox News employees say he drank in ways that concerned them. First of all, I've never had a drinking problem. But, you know, what do guys do when they come back for more oftentimes? Have some beers. Heggseth, adding, if confirmed, he would stop drinking entirely. So this is the biggest deployment of my life and there won't be a drop of alcohol on my lips while I'm doing it. And addressing why he paid a settlement to a woman who accused him of

sexual assault in 2017, an allegation he denies. Police investigated and Hegeseth was not charged. I did it to protect my wife. I did it to protect my family, and I did it to protect my job. But multiple Republicans have told NBC News at least six GOP senators are not comfortable supporting Hegsef. He can only afford three Republican no votes. Meeting with Iowa's Joni Ernst today. And the president-elect may already be preparing a backup plan. Two sources tell NBC News Trump is considering other options for the Pentagon if Heggseth falters, including Florida governor and Navy veteran Ron DeSantis. Trump talked to the governor and wants him to do it, a source familiar with the conversation told NBC News.

Trump and DeSantis wants primary rivals. I don't know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star. And it's time for Ron DeSantis to hang it up. But DeSantis ultimately endorsing Trump. He's been prosecuted, and he nearly lost his life. We cannot let him down, and we cannot let America down. Some top Trump allies now in a holding pattern. My presumption is I'll support whoever he wants.

It's 100% clear to me who he wants the Secretary of Defense right now. All right, Gary joins us live from Capitol Hill tonight. Garrett, it is not just Pete Hegset, taking to the airwaves, right? His mother went on Fox and Friends this morning and spoke about the email she sent to her son in 2018, published by the New York Times. where she essentially said he's not that great of a guy. Here's what she had to say today. We all believe in him.

We really believe that he is not that man he was seven years ago. I'm not that mother. And I hope people will hear that story today and the truth of that story. So the other thing I want to say is I am here to tell the truth, to tell the truth to the American people and tell the truth to the senators on the hill, especially our female senators. I really hope that you will not listen to the media and that you will listen to Pete.

So Gary, do we know why she went on Fox and Friends? And it was interesting at times. She actually just addressed the camera directly like we just saw there. Yeah, I think there are probably two parts to this, Tom. Number one, I think it's very clear, and you heard some of this in the piece, that Trump wants to see Pete Heggseth fight for this job.

And that included his own interviews today. and getting his mother out there, basically any other character witness that he can have, appearing not just to the public in general, but also to the senators who are going to be deciding his fate, ultimately. You know, Fox has not covered this email controversy involving Hegset's mom to any particular degree here. But here you have a sort of a friendly interview and an opportunity for her to address the senators. And also, I think, addressed Trump directly. In one point during the interview, she thanked him for sticking by her son. There's kind of an inside media game here with all things Trump and making sure that audience of one is addressed.

Garrett Hake for us tonight, Garrett, we thank you for that. And with Trump's pick for Defense Secretary, possibly in jeopardy, the reported possibility of a Ron DeSantis nomination could become a reality. I want to bring in Ken Cucinelli. He formerly served in the Trump administration as the acting deputy Homeland Security Secretary and helped launch the never-backed-down super PAC that urged Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to run for president. Thanks so much for joining Top Story. We appreciate having you here tonight. I do want to first get your reaction to Pete Hegg said. He'll be with you. Should he withdraw from consideration for the position of Defense Secretary now that these allegations have been revealed? No, I think these allegations were, you know, they're not, they're new to a lot of people in America. They're not new to Pete, and I'm sure they were addressed in vetting.

He's going to have to fight, just as the president said. He's going to have to fight for this nomination. Doesn't mean he'll get it, but President Trump isn't known for backing down. I don't expect any of his nominees to back down. In your opinion, are any of those allegations, whether it be, you know, the allegation of sexual assault or the heavy drink are those disqualifying? I don't think the allegations are disqualifying, and I think that senators are going to judge for themselves his commitment to be a teetotaler

if he's in this position, as well as deciding for themselves their assessment of what happened in 2017 or didn't happen in 2017. Pete Heggseth's resolution of that is a pretty common outcome for people who just want to avoid the problem, the problem that he described in the interview when addressed on that question himself. So that alone doesn't tell me much, really, anything. And it's going to be a tough environment to work through that with individual senators. The pressure is clearly on, and now new names are being floated. You know Governor Ron DeSantis.

If Pete Higgseth were to step aside, why would he be a good Secretary of Defense nominee? Well, of course, he is a veteran. was a Navy lawyer. He served in Guantanamo Bay, dealing with terrorists there, as well as in the war zone in the Middle East, supporting the seals over there. He's got the experience when he was in Congress, he was on the Foreign Affairs Committee his entire time, and he chaired the subcommittee on national security for the government oversight and reform committee. So he certainly has all the experience, but even more important, and one of the things that is virtually never discussed for any of these agencies or department heads, and the Department of Defense is far and away, the biggest one of them all, is the necessity of management and leadership capacity, which he has demonstrated in a manner that really no one else on the stage other than the president himself has done.

Whether it's hurricane response, whether it's fighting crime and removing Soros prosecutors, his COVID response, he has been magnificent in complicated, crisis. RIS-ridden management circumstances that really are about as good an analogy as you could find out in the political world, the policy world, for the role of Secretary of Defense. So he's got an extraordinary resume to step into this role if, for any reason, Pete Heggseth, his nomination falters. I want to play some of what Governor DeSantis said when he was campaigning against President Elect Trump in that primary and ask you about it on the other end. Let's play that. He's running in 2024 on the things that he promised to do in 2016 and didn't do. I'm even going to build the border wall and have Mexico pay for it like Donald Trump promised. You put your big boy pants on, you're held accountable for your conduct.

Had Trump and Fauci not plunged the country into lockdown, I don't think we would have had riots at that scale. So, Ken, you know, you've had your issues with President Trump in the past and you, like many other Republicans, just like Governor DeSantis, have had that sort of road to Damascus moment, where, you know, you were at odds, but now you guys all came together, and Governor DeSantis is the same. Do you think any of that is going to hurt him in President Trump's eyes? Well, if President Trump, you know, chooses ultimately to nominate Ron DeSantis, the answer to that question will obviously be no on balance.

And, you know, the issues that, as you described them, issues I had with the president really weren't disagreements. They were, we could do more and we could do better. And those are the kinds of positions and things that President Trump campaigned on doing in this second term. So I'm very optimistic on that. And in the realm of foreign affairs and in the use of military force in foreign affairs, I think Ron DeSantis lines up awfully close to President Trump's historic approach to those policy areas, as well as what he has broadcast he's going to do in a second term. They are very, very close on those issues. And the president's determination to see those through is, frankly, very consistent with the criticisms you just played by Governor DeSantis during the presidential primary.

Ken, real quick, we'll only have about 10 seconds here. Do you think Governor Ron DeSantis will be a no-drama pick if he's eventually the nominee? I do think he'll be a no-drama pick if he is the nominee, yes. Ken Cuccinelli, we thank you so much for joining Top Story tonight. I want to turn to the southern border now in the terrifying cell phone video that shows the moment a border patrol vehicle strikes a migrant, sending him airborne, are Guadvenegas on what officials are saying tonight, and the latest reporting on President-elect's immigration crackdown. A warning, this footage may be difficult to watch. Tonight, the shocking video that has advocates asking for answers at the U.S. southern border. This video showing what appears to be a Border Patrol SUV striking a person at the border wall between Tijuana and San Ysidro, California. It's unclear what happened before the video begins, but the man manages to get back

on his feet before the patrol returns and apprehends the remaining individuals attempting to scale the border fence. This is extremely egregious when you have a Border Patrol agent that is what looks like using his vehicle to cause harm to someone. What did your organization do? Our organization filed an inquiry requesting an investigation to this incident. When asked about the video, U.S. Customs and Border Protection telling NBC News the incident is being reviewed. The video coming to line just weeks ahead of a new administration, promising to secure the border and taking a hard line on immigration. On day one, I will launch the largest deportation program in American history. to get the criminals out.

For weeks, Democratic leaders and city officials have vowed to push back, threatening to retaliate with lawsuits, passing state legislation, and refusing to lend state authorities to enforce deportation efforts. While others, including New York City's mayor Eric Adams, offering to work with the incoming administration, for months he has said he opposes mass deportation but has called for violent migrants to be deported. Well, cancel me. because I'm going to protect the people of the city. And if you come into this country in this city and think you're going to harm innocent New Yorkers and innocent migrants and asylum seekers, this is not the mayor you want to be in the city under.

Adams adding, he wants to sit down with the incoming Trump borders are. I just been notified he wants to sit down and meet with me. I'm willing to meet with him. Last month, Holman issuing this warning to any leaders defying his deportation plans. And I'm sending a message for people who said they're going to get in our way. they're going to stop us from doing what we're doing on interior enforcement operation.

I've said 100 times in last week, don't cross that line. Immigration lawyers and activists painting a picture of who some of the first targets of that deportation effort could be the nearly 180,000 migrants wearing ankle monitors as their immigration status is sorted out. Experts say those losing their case and receiving a deportation order would be some of the easiest to locate, including this woman Romina who spoke with Noticias Telemundo. Saying, I am afraid because I can't be in Colombia, making reference to the danger she, like many others say they now fear if they are returned to their home country.

And the Trump team hasn't shared any specific details on how the mass deportations would be executed, but the incoming border star says that preparations are in place to make changes on day one. Tom? Okay, Guad, thank you for that. Still ahead tonight, a gunman opening fire at a school in Northern California. At least two students rushed to the hospital. What police are telling us about the shooter and what happened there?

Plus, a tragic turn in the effort to find a grandmother trapped in a sinkhole, the recovery mission now underway. And which weight loss drugs are the most effective? The new study showing a big difference between Wagovi and Zepbound will explain. Stay with us. Welcome back. We want to head right now to Western Pennsylvania. The search for a grandmother who apparently fell into a sinkhole has gone from a rescue mission to a recovery effort. The woman going missing after she went looking for her cat. Authorities finding her car nearby with her five-year-old granddaughter inside. Priya Shrether is on the scene tonight for us. Priya, walk us

through what you've learned tonight. Hey, Tom, that's right. Yeah, this is such a heartbreaking story. And we just learned the devastating news from authorities that they're really shifting their posture here from a rescue mission to now a recovery effort. We know that 64-year-old Elizabeth Pollard first went missing around 5 p.m. on Monday. Her family called 911 on Tuesday morning. And a few hours later, they discovered her car near to where I'm standing with her five-year-old granddaughter inside. They believe that she was alone in that car for around 10 hours in this absolutely frigid wet. At that point, they discovered a sinkhole that was covered with a thin layer of grass close to where her vehicle was recovered. They officially started a rescue operation at that point. They began pumping oxygen down into that hole, and they also sent a camera down there with the listening device. They were able to see with that camera a shoe that they believe belonged to Elizabeth Pollard, but they didn't hear anything. Now, it's important to note that this sinkhole is above an expansive mine, which hasn't been used since the 1940s. So they were using these old maps, but the integrity and the structure of that hole was very compromised.

So today we learn from authorities that at a certain point, there were no signs of life of Elizabeth Pollard, and they didn't want to risk the life of any of these search and rescue officials in the process. So now state police are telling us that they're suspending operations. for tonight, and they'll resume their efforts tomorrow morning. They say that they've had heartbreaking conversations with Elizabeth Pollard's family. And of course, they want to do right by her family and recover her body. And they're still hoping for a miracle, but it's not looking good right now, Tom. Okay, Priya Strether, with that new reporting. Priya, we thank you for that. That is something frustrating a lot of travelers this holiday season and really all year long.

So-called junkfeast tacked on your plane ticket. Today, executives from the major airlines had to answer for them as they were grilled on Capitol Hill, and you're not going to believe what some of them said. Here's Brian Chung. As Americans scrambled home for the holiday last week, some frustrated travelers giving no thanks to the airlines. Why am I paying to sit in the aisle or window in Road 24? A record 3 million passengers traveled through TSA checkpoints the Sunday of Thanksgiving weekend. Some turning to creative ways to avoid those bag fees. And today on Capitol Hill, senators took the airlines to task, fuming over things like seat fees,

which generated more than $12 billion in revenue over a six-year period. Nobody enjoys flying into airlines. It's a disaster. Executives from five airlines testified to a Senate subcommittee following a report accusing low-cost carriers' frontier and spirit of paying gate agents $26 million in incentives between 2022 and 2023 for stopping customers violating their bank policies, $5 to $10 for each catch. That seems like a bounty.

Spear Airlines said it ended that policy in September, but Frontier... Will you commit to ending it? I wouldn't characterize it as a bounty program. It's not something I'm able to commit to. The committee also taking aim at the major airlines asking why they can't share profitability metrics on their bag policies. We routinely do not look at it that way. look at the number. We look at our profitability very carefully by flight and by market and by

region, but we do not look at our profitability by baggage. It defies imagination. A turbulent ride for the airlines ahead of what could be another record-breaking holiday later this month. All right, Brian Chung joins us live. Brian, I want to go back to that, because I want to make sure viewers understand this. The airlines essentially were paying people to spot people with bags that they didn't, that maybe they thought were too big, to call them out, and then they would get paid for that themselves? Well, you know, those little, like, kind of racks at the gate where they kind of stuff it in there to see if it fits in here, then you are compliant with the policy. They were paying gate agents $5 to $10 in the case of Spirit and also Frontier

to basically say, hey, you know what, that bag's not going to fit, and then they would make a little extra money. Now, Spirit Airlines said in the hearing today that they no longer have that policy as of September 30th, but Frontier said that they still have that policy, and then you heard in that interaction whether or not they'll consider changing that policy, frontier executives said no. So you do kind of wonder, And that might even explain some of the customer experience at the gate at times. Oh, and I think now that this information is out, it's going to get even more dramatic and tensious and a lot of tension there at the gate. Brian, thank you for that.

When we returned terrifying moments in downtown Vancouver, the stabbing spree leaving multiple people injured, but we know about the suspect and the chaotic situation. Stay with us. Okay, we're back now with Top Stories News Feed, starting with, fatal shooting at a northern California school. Officials say they were called to the scene following reports of gunfire at a small school about 70 miles north of Sacramento. Two students were hurt and taken to the hospital. No word on their condition. The suspected gunman found dead with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. In Canada, two people hurt in a stabbing attack in

downtown Vancouver. Video showing paramedics performing CPR as people are wheeled from the scene. Policing a suspect stole alcohol from a nearby restaurant before stabbing seven several people at a 7-11 where he was shot dead by police. The rare attack happening just days before Taylor Swift ends her world tour in Vancouver this weekend. And a new study finding diabetes and weight loss drug, Zepbound, sheds more pounds than Wagovi. Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly, saying a clinical trial against their rival shows patients who got weekly injections of Zepbound, lost approximately 47 percent more weight than those who got on Novo-Nortis Wagovi. Okay, we want to turn now to the weather.

And millions across the Great Lakes hit with yet another winter blast. In Michigan, a multi-vehicle pile up, critically injuring at least one person. Authorities saying 14 passenger vehicles and three semi-trucks snarled by the white-out conditions and fast-driving motorist. And in New York, Lake Effect Snow, pummeling downtown Buffalo, winter alerts now in effect for almost 20 million people stretching from the northern plains to New England. Let's get right over to NBC News meteorologist Bill Cairns, who's in the house tonight. He joins us live. They'll walk us through this sort of second wallop that's coming through. Yeah, high impacts, but it's going to be in and out.

Not like the last one that lasted a couple of days. So we're already watching numerous areas of heavy snow in Michigan, a light snow event in areas of western New York. And as this Arctic air blows through, the winds are going to crank, the snow's going to be blowing around. We're going to worry about snow squalls, and we worry about traffic accidents and pilots. That's the big concern. So by this time tomorrow, the storm is gone, but the cold air and the squalls will continue in New York and also in Pennsylvania. and then by the time we get to Friday, we kind of taper off most of it, but it will be very chilly. I mean, some of the coldest air that we've seen so far this early winter season.

19 million people under winter weather headlines, you'll notice the highest areas like Erie are going to get another 18 inches of snow. This is on top of to two to three feet they already have on the ground. Central New York also getting some heavy snow too. And as far as temperatures go, Tom, tomorrow morning, Chicago, negative three, St. Louis, and this cold air stays with us, Tom. It's going to be in the 20s in Tallahassee come Friday. in Talley, 20. Wow, that's crazy.

Okay, Bill Karens for Spill, thank you. When we come back, our spotlight interview with a TV legend, NBC, New York's Chuck Scarborough, retiring after five decades at this station and even more years on air. We're asking him about his most memorable stories and some of the funnier ones. What do he plans to do next? It's all coming up. Stay with us. All right, we are back now with top stories, spot.

and I'm joined by a very special guest tonight. If you've ever lived or even visited New York City, you have seen his face, and if you've listened to him, you likely learned something. And like millions of others over the years, he became a mainstay in your home. In the biggest market in the country, no one has been able to match his reign over the airwaves. He is the one and only, Chuck Scarborough. And over his decades-long career at WNBC, our flagship station, he has covered everything. from terrorist attacks, to space exploration, to COVID-19.

He's not only been a leader in the news industry, but also a friend and mentor to so many, including myself. Chuck, we thank you for being here, and we are celebrating you. It is incredible. You've been on the air anchoring for more than 50 years, on air longer than that. You're officially signing off, but before you go, let's take a quick look back at your career.

Good evening. I'm Chuck Scarborough. This is News Center, Ford. The hospitals we've checked with so far, We all are working on auxiliary power. We're just about to go through the speed of sound right now. We're a mock point nine eight. You did it very well tonight. Thank you.

Good to have you. I'm so nervous. I couldn't eat. Eight of our servicemen have been killed in an abortion attempt to rescue the hostages in Iran. At stake, the freedom of the West. It's a game that we may be losing. One moment, our president's being shot,

and the next were launching a new era in space exploration. What was it like for you, knowing you'd identify them right away to sit in that courtroom and not be able to tell it to a jury? This is the wine country in central Chile. I want to bring you up to date. up to date on an air crash off the south shore of Long Island tonight. This is the top-of-the-line Navy fighter right now, the F-18. The primary purpose of the summit here in Moscow

is to hammer out some sort of a deal on loose nukes. The back door of this plane is going to open, and this pararescue team, the four jumpers are going to be jumping out. Since the horror of 9-11, we've heard a great deal about the heroics of firefighters and police officers and medics who rushed in trying to save lives. But there were other heroes that day. When the snow begins to accumulate, it's time to go check the avalanche conditions.

Let's go. This year, there were about 200,000 participants and 2 million more spectators. Our own Tom Yamas got to be part of it. Tom? Well, Chuck, it's really amazing how quickly the city cleans up. And we start with positive news on the road to reopening here in our area. Thank you for joining us. And good night. Who was that young reporter?

It looked like you had something. You haven't changed a bit, Tom. Chuck, so when you started, did you ever imagine you'd go this long? Oh, heavens no. No. When I came down here in 1974, the station had been through some terrible ratings periods, you know, They'd churned through several anchors, and I was, I guess, not even enough at 30 to come down and think I could possibly do something. But I had no ambitions of staying beyond a three-year contract.

As you know, we live in these little increments. Right. Yeah, so, but remarkably, here I am 50 years later. Throughout your career, you navigated New Yorkers through things like the son of Sam, 9-11, COVID-19. Did it ever weigh on you that New Yorkers were turning to you for answers? They were looking for information. They needed you in some cases? Absolutely.

The responsibility that goes with anchoring a newscast is enormous, especially when you build up a reservoir trust over time. And certainly, that trust is something that I've guarded carefully if I can. It's something hard to earn and pretty easy to lose. So that responsibility goes way heavily. You've reported on thousands of stories throughout your career. I know there's one that's very close to your heart. We have a clip here. Set it up for us.

Well, this was a story that I, at a story that I, Initially went out because they went to the southern Philippines because we had a little lone element of the war and terror going on there. That was in the southern Philippines, was mostly Muslim. It was a terror group there called the Abu Sayyaf. They were the group that bombed the World Trade Center in 1993. The original one, right? So I wanted to go cover that part of the story of the war and terror in 2002.

My uncle happened to have a great World War II story from that same area. He was in the first attack on the Japanese fleet of Manila Bay. and he was a dive bomber pilot. He was shot down, crash-landered in Manila Bay, and was rescued by the guerrillas who were fighting a guerrilla war, the remnants of the Filipino army, against the occupying Japanese army. So he spent three months fighting with them and got back to his fleet and became my uncle, married my mother's sister.

And who did you talk to? So anyway, I'm going to the Philippines. I spent a week embedded with the special forces hunting the Abu Sayef and file a series of reports, and I thought, as long as I'm here, I'll stop in Manila on the way. back and see if there's any record of my uncle fighting for the guerrillas. When I went into the administration there and to the VA administration, I discovered

that there was an old guerrilla fighter who actually ran a department of guerrilla affairs in the Philippines and a criminal Diacampo. And in our interview, I asked him if he had any record at all or had any knowledge of it. It turned out, I began to dawn on the both of us that he actually was part of the group that rescue my uncle, just out of the blue. And the clincher on that was he remembered a song as we were doing one of those walking shots where you're getting some cover footage. He started singing a song. He said, my uncle used to sing. And this is from World War II.

World War II. And so this old colonel, I said, wait a minute, because now I could have absolute proof. I called my mother, not realizing it was 3 a.m. in East Hampton where she was living, got her on the phone and said, I'm here in Mandela with Colonel Diacampo and he wants to sing a song to you. Could you identify it? And that was my last source there. So that moment when my mother recognized the song was the tail end of the story that I put together and that's what we have. Colonel Diacampo somehow recalled a song the young pilot sang and began to sing it. I called my mother in New York and asked her if she recognized the tunes. It was a remarkable moment.

An old guerrilla fighter singing to a woman he never met half a world away. Yes. And she remembered. She says, Uncle, I used to sing that song. So it was that the connection was made and the mists of time fell away. A song sung in a Philippine jungle by my uncle more than half a century ago led me to a man who knew him then. The story was now complete. Still gives you goosebumps.

Incredible. That was really one of these little pearls that occurs. curls that occurs occasionally. When you don't expect it in a story, something pops up, and it just makes the story sing. How was the business changed since you got in? Well, there's been a lot of changes. When I started, we were using 16-millimeter color reversal film. You'd actually hold it up and look at the news you shot and clip it, glue it together,

and all the glue joints held for the evening news. We probably in the middle 70s, late 70s, we switched over to videotape, but then the technological changes started piling on. Suddenly, the computers came on board, and digital came on board, and cable channels came on board, and the two things happened. Technology made it much faster and easier to do what we do and do it more comprehensively. We can go live anywhere now at any moment. It used to be very tedious. And also, the economics have changed because of shows like this. You know, those did various channels, all the digital channels out there, all the competition is a fragmentation of the audience.

Right. That's changed. But the principles still are the same. Absolutely. The basic principles of journalism, of getting it right, verifying it, being fair. All of those principles are exactly the same as they were when I came in here. You mentioned being live. You were live with another legend for a long time, Sue Simmons, who if you lived in New York, you definitely knew Sue.

And Chuck and Sue, you guys were one of the most dynamic teams ever, anchor teams ever. Talk to me about what it was like working with her. And give me one good story because there were so many good stories about Sue Simmons. It's got to be PG or at least PG-13 because this is streaming. That's a big ass. Sue, I like to say that Sue never had an unspoken thought. Right, right. But somehow it was always amusing that all came out of her mouth.

One night, she was, there was a story on about a baby whale that had washed ashore and it was not doing well, and marine biologists were trying to nurse it back to health, and it was one of these little voiceovers that we did coming out of weather or something. And her co-anchor said something kind of inane, like, well, I hope he gets better. And she said, well, I do too. if he gets well, I'll kiss his little blowhole. When she says that, what do you do? Yeah.

Well, it's very, you know, you have to crack up a little bit. It's funny. It was perfectly fine, perfectly clean, but it sounded a little naughty. Yeah, truth be told, Sue, because I was on set with you guys a few times, Sue would say something totally inappropriate, really funny, usually during her commercial break, or when you were tossing to your package. Oh, always, yeah. And she would sort of kind of poke the barrel a little bit, and you would just laugh.

You never stopped her. It was hysterically. You just enjoyed the show. We sat like this, and there was a lever of. in my chair down here, that would raise it and lower it. And she could reach over with her foot when I wasn't paying attention to get that lever. So I did, I don't know, probably a dozen or so shows and a half squat. Yeah, where you just started to lay.

Because the chair fell out from out of me just before I went on the air. So, Chuck, you've done so much, especially over the last 50 years. What's next for you? I know you love carpentry. I know you love military history. I know you love shooting. What are you going to be doing with all your time now? I've been watching this show.

This is a pretty good show. It looks like fun, Dom. But you're doing a great job. We'd love that. Another 50 years. But do you have plans? Well, I still, I'm still under contract with the company. Now I'm just released on the anchor desk, but I may have some special projects in the future. Maybe go back to the Philippines and check on Uncle Al's memory again. It would be good. I'd sing some more songs. Chuck, I want to thank you personally. You've been always such a good friend to me, and you actually, I know, early in my career, gave them the idea to put me on the anchor desk, one of the reasons why I'm here.

So I thank you for that. I thank you for all your service as a journalist as an anchor, and New York is better because of you. Well, thank you. I appreciate it very much, Tom. Chuck Sarba. We'll keep watching what you do next. All right, and we will be right back. Back now with an update, you might remember seeing that viral video of a frightened dog tied to a fence facing rising floodwaters during Hurricane Milton. Well, just a few months later, some good news. Here's NBC's Valerie Castro. As Hurricane Milton barreled towards Florida in October, this video of an abandoned dog left tied to a fence along I-75 went viral. A Florida Highway Patrol trooper rescuing the Bull Terrier from chest-high floodwaters.

It's okay. The dog ended up in the care of the Leon County Humane Society, naming him Trooper. I was like, he's with us, he's safe, he's okay, and we get to decide, like, what happens with him, and we get to make sure that he's going to have a happy life and a happy ending. The shelter says in the first week, more than 500 inquiries were made from people hoping to give Trooper that happy ending, and a new home. But one in particular stood out above the rest. So they sent an email to us within the first week of us having him before we were even like accepting applications on him or thinking about getting him adopted out.

The email came from Frank and Carla Spina, dog lovers familiar with the breed who had also recently said goodbye to their own beloved bull terrier, Diesel. Diesel left the hole in our hearts, the size of a baseball. And we were really sickle. over it. And when we, I think when we saw a trooper together, we realized that Diesel was signaling us, hey, guys, you need to go move on. You need to go get Trooper and move on and take care of him now. The day came for the couple to meet Trooper, and it couldn't have gone any better. Literally the moment they walked in, you could see that Trooper was totally cool with them. One potential hiccup, Trooper's fear of men after abuse by a previous owner, but Frank didn't face

And I had told them, I already know what's going to happen. I've been doing this 33 years. We're going to be best buddies in five minutes. And it took about three minutes. Another wag of the tail came when it was time to meet their other dog, Dallas. They were a match made in heaven. Trooper now settling in at home. There he is. There he is. A perfect fit with his new family. When you look back at that video where he's terrified. and growling and, you know, water up to his chest and to see how far he's come, how do you feel knowing that you have been able to give him a second chance?

So I want to say this without trying, it's amazing. It feels really good. He needed somebody to love him, and he's great. And you could say he's great. Valerie Castro, NBC News. So happy for Trooper there. We thank Valerie for that one. Finally tonight, Joe Fryer has the touching story behind

This year's Rockefeller Christmas tree. The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree has embarked on quite the journey this year, much like the family donating it. Well, I consider it probably one of the greatest honors of my life. Earl Albert and his wife, Leslie, planted the tree in their Massachusetts yard in 1967. We first used to decorate it when it was small, and then he got so big that I couldn't decorate it. When this Norway spruce caught the attention of Rock Center's head gardener, in 2020. Well, it felt like an angel swooped in. You see, Leslie had just passed away. This is definitely her handiwork. What do you think she's thinking? I'm thinking she's thrilled.

Every Christmas was family. Everything we did was family. When we visited in October, the 74-foot tree was still firmly rooted in the ground, but not for long. It was cut down early last month, The community celebration that was cut short. That night, Earl suffered a stroke and was airlifted to the hospital. He's got some medical hurdles to get over. But he is recovering, bolstered by thousands of Getwell wishes. Everybody's praying for my dad and the family. It's just been a magical experience.

Every card says they're going to be thinking of him. I mean, you just feel it. And while Earl will have to watch the tree lighting on TV instead of in person, and what he told me in October still holds true. What do you think you'll be thinking of in that moment? Leslie, how much she enjoyed trees? How much she enjoyed Christmas? This year, this rock center icon is truly a family tree.

Joe Fryer, NBC News. And we'll all be thinking about Leslie tonight. We thank you for watching Top Story tonight. Stay right there. More news on the way.