Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, December 6, 2023

Episode Date: December 7, 2023

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 we're coming on the air with more breaking news and new information on that deadly shooting at UNLV. Students seen with their hands up trying to evacuate the campus after reports of gunfire inside two campus buildings. The sheriff saying at least three people are dead, but that number could rise as they try to assess the injured. The suspect also killed. The shooting just minutes from the Las Vegas Strip causing a ground stop at the city's busy airport. We have all the late details still coming in, and moments away, a student who was forced to shelter in place as the gunshots rang out joins Top Story Live. Also tonight, the deadly flooding in the Pacific Northwest. Aerial footage showing neighborhoods submerged in water, roads completely washed away, relentless rain causing rivers and streams to overflow.

At least two people near Portland, Oregon, swept away by flash floods. But the situation could get worse. 8 million people on alert with more rain and even snow in the forecast. Flushing out Hamas? As Israel continues to bomb Hamas tunnels in Gaza, new reports say the IDF is now considering pumping seawater into the underground corridors to try and flood them. Are Richard Engel pressing the IDF on those reports as concerns grow for the remaining hostages who may also be inside?

Settling scores? Former President Trump asked in an interview, if he would be a dictator if re-elected, re-elected, responding no, but adding, quote, other than day one. The former president long-vowing payback against political opponents, including President Biden, who polls showed Trump beating in a potential presidential rematch. Trump also the major frontrunner for the GOP nomination as the four other remaining hopefuls battled out tonight on the debate stage, Vine, for that number two spot. Plus, the shocking video is showing an SUV running through a stop sign and slamming right into a motorcycle on a high school campus.

The man on the bike sent to the hospital. Now he's alleging that the officer seen in the video and school administrators allowed the driver of the SUV to blow through the stop sign, all part of an elaborate promposal will explain. And a hero deputy caught on camera jumping over a construction barrier and towards a burning semi to rescue a driver as fuel leaked out of the vehicle.

How that officer is now being honored. Top story starts right now. And good evening. Let's get right to that breaking news and the deadly shooting unfolding at the University of Las Vegas. Here's what we know so far. Law enforcement sources telling NBC News, quote, multiple victims are dead. We're hearing it's at least three people, but local hospitals are treating the injured and we do not know the extent of their injuries. We also know tonight that the shooter is dead, but we don't have more information on them or a motive just yet. It's a scene all too familiar in this country. Students seen with their hands up, as you've seen here, they were evacuated.

A person on a stretcher taken into an ambulance has police canvassed that college campus. Just before noon, local, reports of gunshots near the school's beam hall. About 20 minutes later, police responding to additional reports of gunfire at the nearby student union. Video posted to social media showing officers on the roof. You see them there of a campus building and several law enforcement agencies on the ground in the area as students barricaded themselves in classrooms under shelter in place orders. One of those students will join us live in just a few minutes. But let's get right to NBC Steve Patterson with the late breaking details. Tonight, terror in Las Vegas.

You heard loud shouting. Immediate panic. Everyone dropped down to the floor. Just before noon, a gunman opening fire at Beam Hall, the home to the University of Nevada Las Vegas's business school. Law enforcement sources telling NBC News, at least three people are dead, the suspect also found dead. I want to say to the community, there's no further threat. This chilling warning posted on the campus website urging students to run, hide, fight. Terrified students sheltering in place. We only looked through the windows for a couple minutes because we did not want to have to keep looking through

because we were nervous if he could shoot up there or not. We spoke to English professor Roberto Lovato while he was on a lockdown. We heard the clips of semi-automatic weapons just going for what felt like about 30 seconds. It was a very, very disturbing thing to hear. Police evacuating buildings one by one. They said they have no indication of a motive. The fact that this happens over and over again is ridiculous. Six years ago, the city of Las Vegas was devastated by the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history,

killing 58 people at a music festival. Tonight, another mass shooting, less than four miles away. We can't even send our kids to school without worrying if something like this is going to happen. So it's very alarming and disturbing and scary. All right, with that, Steve Patterson joins us tonight from Los Angeles. Steve, you mentioned multiple victims transported to the hospital. Is there any word yet on their condition tonight? Yeah, Tom, as we come on the air, here's where we are.

Las Vegas Metro Police just updating maybe 10 minutes. minutes ago or so to say three victims dead. Of course, we knew that. The shooter dead. We knew that as well. One additional victim in the hospital in critical condition. If there are additional victims beyond that, police aren't relaying that information. The only real status we have is that fourth victim now notified is in critical. All right. Steve Patterson with those late-breaking development, Steve, we thank you. Joining us now as a student who was on campus during the shooting and sheltered in place in a building just minutes away from where those shots rang out. Dominic Lvois, a senior journalism student at UNLV.

Dominic, first, thank you so much for joining Top Story tonight. I know it's been a very wild day. We're so glad you're safe, but I am sorry for what's happened to your fellow students there. Talk to us about what you heard first and how you were notified by the school of what was happening. Thank you. But just the way the day kind of started, it was a normal day for me. I was on campus. I was prepping for my final, my sports journalism class.

And I was just in the student newsroom, and I get a text on my phone from the university police saying that there was shots fired at the business school shelter in place. And one of my teachers came running through the hallway and said, everyone get down and hide. We're shutting all the lights off, just hide. And immediately my heart dropped. And I'm in there with my professor, who is also a former news anchor and one of my classmates. And we all hide underneath the desk in the newsroom, which is all. glass and none of us feel really safe so Dominic if I could stop you right there I mean what's going through your head at this moment I was born and raised in Las Vegas so I just I thought about

one October and it's different being on the outside looking in and I just was scared and I honestly didn't think I was going to make it out of their life I knew it was a four minute walk from my college that I was in and I've been passed there many times I just didn't think I was going to walk out of their live. I didn't think I was going to see my friends, some of which were in the opening story that I know, and I didn't think I was going to see my friends or my family alive again. That's so wild. And then how were you able to make it out of the journalism school? It was scary even doing that because we got the all clear from a teacher. And when they opened the door, I was just hiding underneath there. And then for one, when they opened the door, I thought that

was it. I was going to die right then and there because I didn't know if it was, you know, the teacher or the shooter. And I heard his voice and we all got up and packed our things and we went out of the back entrance of the journalism school towards the parking garage where I was parked at. And as we're waiting to cross the street, that's when we see people running away from the student union towards us, telling us to run that there was shots of the student union. The shooter was coming towards us. And I felt helpless. And I just had to run with everyone and my professor. My professor is lucky enough, and she parked nearby, and she rallied all of us into our car, and our professor drove us about 10 minutes away from campus so we can kind of process

and check on our families and our friends. Have you been able to get in touch with all of your friends, all your fellow classmates and the people who you live with, your roommates, your dorm mates? I was able to get in contact with my mom first. I'm back home with my family right now. But I was able to get in contact with a lot of my friends. And I've had a lot of people reaching out to me via social media or texting me or calling me. So everyone, for the most part, right now is accounted for in my life, which I'm very, very thankful for. As you study journalism, I'm sure you're aware of the rules that we follow when reporting things out. Police have not yet stated a motive or anything about those victims, unfortunately, that have died. Have you heard anything?

Has your news team there at the college? Have they been able to gather any facts yet about what happened and why? Everything is honestly up in the air. I work at an NBC affiliate in Las Vegas, KSNV, and everything's up in the air in that newsroom. Everything's up in the air. My group chats with my friends, and I try and tell them because, like you said, you're taught in journalism school. Just don't say anything unless you have it confirmed outright, and there's people posting on their stories about multiple suspects. posting things that aren't confirmed by local authorities and scaring my friends more and

scaring people more. And I'm just trying to tell them to kind of relax. And we aren't in classes right now and we're just trying to kind of control the flow of information and just make sure everything is coming from the proper authorities. But it's hard when you have a city that's wounded like this from a mass shooting already. And you have that short memory and you have people kind of sharing things on a whim and skimming through a police scanner and just picking up bits of information and sharing whatever they please. So it's been, it's been difficult, but I've been trying to kind of be that mediator, not only in the media school for UNLV, but also just in my friend group, knowing everything that I know, and just trying to keep

everything kind of settled down for now, just through the fear and the shock of this event. Dominic Lovewall, we thank you for sharing what you remember from today, another dark day in Las Vegas's history, unfortunately, involving a mass shooting. We thank you again for your time. We do want to turn now to the severe storms we've been watching this week in the Pacific Northwest. Tonight, communities assessing the damage after torrential rain set off a flooding emergency that's already killed at least two people. Eight million still under flood alerts, and the storms aren't over just yet. NBC News is Miguel Almaguer joins us again live outside of Seattle this time. Miguel, how does it look out there? And it actually looks worse than what we saw

last night with you. Yeah, it really does, Tom. And believe it or not, the floodwaters are expected to slowly start to recede, and the rain should eventually stop, at least according to the forecast. That's the good news. The bad news, another weather system is on the move here for an area that's already water locked. Bloaded and bustling. Tonight, many of the river, streams, and creeks that carved through the Pacific Northwest are bursting at the seams, fueled by a, days of relentless rain. The dangerous fast-moving torrents are leaving some 8 million people in the region under flood alerts.

Across Washington, emergency teams race from rescue to rescue, the Coast Guard plucking one driver to safety, then hoisting a family from their home, which was suddenly surrounded by four feet of rising water. Today, an hour outside Seattle. The damage has been done to some homes in granite. falls. I put a lot of time and effort in this. It just took one thing to take it all away. The deluge which triggered the flooding, the first of three atmospheric rivers, dumping several inches of rain in the region's biggest cities. It's crested now. Outside Portland,

authorities fear at least two people were swept away by powerful currents when flash flooding turned deadly. How would you feel if you watch your best friend go in and in the water and knowing you couldn't know about it? With up to 10 inches of rain expected to fall by tomorrow, today's reprieve from the next system will be short-lived. The water's rising high, and we're getting ready to get out. A region desperate to dry out, now finding itself in the bull's eye of yet another storm. Miguel Alamegare joins us again. Miguel, what can this community expect over the next several hours?

Well, Tom, the rain was expected to forecast, at least forecasters said it was going to stop this morning. Clearly, that hasn't happened yet. So the hope is that it will beentially ease up over the next couple of hours. That'll give some communities here about a day, half a day to dry out. And then that next weather system is expected to move in. The good news for that weather system, it's expected to be less severe, exactly what this community needs, Tom. All right, Miguel Alamegare, with some shocking pictures out of the Pacific Northwest tonight. I want to bring in Bill Cairns, our NBC meteorologist, of course.

Bill, I say shocking because you saw those communities of people either camping or living under the bridge there. You can't imagine those rushing river waters and then all this storm as well. Yeah, scary. I know we know we lost two lives. The cleanup will take weeks in some of those communities. Flood watches have been dropped. So it is raining, but it's not hard enough to be causing any additional problems. All of the rivers are coming down.

So we're getting past this first wave, this first storm, at least the West Coast. Here comes a little wave that will bring some rain tomorrow. And then there's the next storm as we head towards Friday night and Saturday. So yes, they're not done, but we're not going to see anything close to the two storms that we saw, the one last weekend, and then this big one that we just got done with. So the storm that is moving onshore now in the West Coast, by the time we get to Saturday, it's going to cause problems in the middle of the country, starting with severe weather. So a heads up for your Saturday from Houston to Shreveport, the Memphis, Little Rock, included.

We're not sure yet if it's in how many tornadoes will be formed. We know we'll get wind damage out of this, but we'll pinpoint that in the days ahead. And here's the timing of this. So on Friday, our storms in the Rockies with some snow. Then as we go through Friday night and Saturday, we watch the severe weather and the rain breaking out in the southeast. Not too problematic in areas of the Northeast on Saturday. Whole East Coast, by the way, Saturday is warm. It's a good day to get any of your outdoor errands done and wherever else you have to do

because on Sunday, this whole thing slides to the East Coast. It's going to be wild. We're going to have strong winds. It's going to be warm, like 60 degrees, all the whips of Vermont. So we're going to get problems with flooding and snow melt in northern New England. And behind it, the winds will whip, too. Tom, Sunday will be a bad travel day for the East Coast. We'll have to see about power outages, especially on the coast where winds could hit 70 miles per hour.

Looks like it's going to be a dangerous start to the week here in the Northeast. Okay, Bill, we thank you for that. Now, to power and politics, and once again, frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, dominating the headlines with comments about whether he will abuse his powers if he gets back into the White House. This is four Republican presidential candidates prepared to debate tonight, once again, fighting to get out of Trump's shadow. Garrett Hake has more. Tonight, just hours from another Republican debate that he is skipping,

frontrunner Donald Trump dominating headlines with this answer about. abuse of power. Do you in any way have any plans whatsoever, if reelected president, to abuse power, to break the law, to use the government to go after people? You mean like they're using right now? Pressed later. You would never abuse power as retribution against anybody. Except for day one. Except for? He's going crazy. Except for day one. Meaning? I want to close the border and I want to drill, drill, that's not a, that's not, that's not retribution. I got it. I'm going to be, I'm going to be, you know, he keeps, we love this guy. He says, you're not going to be a dictator, are you? I said, no, no, no, other than day one,

we're closing the border and we're drilling, drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I'm not a dictator, okay? But Mr. Trump has long promised payback against political opponents, including vowing to appoint a special counsel to investigate the Biden family tonight, of former advisers. going further. We're going to come after the people in the media who lied about American citizens. Whether it's criminally, we'll figure that out. This, as President Biden told donors Tuesday in Boston, quote, if Trump wasn't running, I'm not sure I'd be running. Later clarifying, he'd stay in the race even if Mr. Trump did not. Many polls show former President Trump leading President Biden in a head-to-head matchup. I'm not the only one to read it, but I will

defeat him. With that, Garrett joins us live from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, tonight at the 4th. Republican debate. Gary, this will be the smallest debate so far, and even though we say this is make or break for some of the candidates on stage, there is pressure on candidates like Chris Christie to drop out, but the former governor of New Jersey has made it clear that he wants to stay into this until at least New Hampshire and possibly Michigan, now he's saying. Yeah, that's right, Tom. Look, I mean, the simple reality here is these candidates are running out of time to change the dynamics of a race that has been remarkably stable for months now with Donald Trump way out in front, and the rest of the pack kind of bunched up and looking for some kind of momentum to change the race in some significant way.

One of the only ways left to do that is for the field to get smaller and for the support for some of these candidates to get distributed elsewhere. Christy, who barely qualified for this debate, is an obvious candidate to perhaps be the next person out. His support of another candidate in New Hampshire, which is his strongest state, could be the kind of thing that makes a meaningful difference in this race. we are talking about fractions of percentages and single-digit vote totals in a race that Donald Trump has run away with. And there's only a few of these big set-piece events left. So the pressure remains high, the odds of changing the dynamic, low. All right, Garrett Hake for us at that fourth debate. Garrett, we thank you for that for more on the impact of both Trump and President Biden's recent comments.

And tonight's GOP debate, I want to bring in our panel, Mark Lodder, former Director of Strategic Communications for the Trump 2020. 20 presidential campaign. Amisha Cross, she's a Democratic strategist, and our friend Tara Paul Mary, she's Puck's News senior political correspondent. Guys, thank you so much for joining us tonight. Mark, I want to start with you. How do you interpret former President Trump's comments? It obviously made a lot of news. People saying that he's pretty much telling the world that he's going to do what he wants and he's going to go after his enemies. Do you think that's true? Well, I think he's talking about delivering on the promise that he's making to the American people to secure the border and unleash America's energy dominance again. And that's what he said to

Sean Hannity. And he's been very clear about doing that. Those are day one priorities to secure the border, reopen America's energy pipeline. And so I take that comment. It obviously, you know, he has a way with words and it's dominated the headlines again. Right. And I agree with you. He did say that, but he has also said in the past and even at the beginning that he would settle scores. And is that something the American people should expect. Well, I think they want to see an end to the two systems of justice where we do see liberals, Democrats, and if it's the Biden family as well, treated the same way, investigated with the same rigor that we do on the other side.

And so he is going to make sure that we have a one system of justice, not two in America. Amisha, you know, the current president, President Biden made some big headlines yesterday when he said at a fundraiser, essentially that he wasn't sure. sure if he'd be running if Trump wasn't running. That's not exactly a rallying cry to be re-elected. Was that a mistake? Or was he just telling the truth? I don't think it was a mistake. I think it was Joe Biden trying to be kind of cheeky, and it wasn't responded to in that way. We know that Joe Biden has consistently said that we are in a battle for the soul of America, that this is a race against democracy and dictatorship, democracy and authoritarianism. He is setting

himself up as the leader who is fighting for what America stands on, fighting for our democracy, ensuring that our democracy survives, multiple attempts that former President Donald Trump tried to do to eradicate it, and those that could happen in the future should he become president. I think that the comment has, you know, gone viral in many ways unnecessarily, because, again, he was being tongue-in-cheek. We know what Biden is running for. We know why he's running. His campaign has been very serious about that from day one. However, we also know that Donald Trump is running for the exact things that he showed us multiple times to take America back. Amisha, you have an incumbent who has terrible, terrible poll numbers. I mean, he, he, does he

have, I don't know, does he have the leash, right? Does he have, does he have that sort of runway to be able to say jokes like that? And you said it's a joke, I don't know if he was joking or telling the truth, but I mean, shouldn't he be really focused on trying to win this election with his poll numbers down and Trump beating him in several other polls? Well, I think he's absolutely focused. Just because of one off-kilter comment, I don't think that that means that he doesn't have his eye on the prize. Joe Biden has surrogates on the ground in multiple states.

He knows what it means to win in the battleground states. He knows that he needs younger voters. He knows he needs that Democratic coalition that comes out. He also knows that he needs those undecided voters. He's making sure that he is crafting the agenda, speaking to the needs of those individuals. And he's really doing that in a way that I think is going to displeasing. despite what we're seeing in the polls, because just like the polls were wrong last time in the last few election cycles, I think they're also wrong right now.

Tara, so you have one of the strangest campaigns coming up, I think, that maybe we've ever covered, right? Because you have an incumbent who poll after poll shows Americans don't want to run again. You have a former president who poll after poll shows Americans don't want him to run again either. And then you have these four candidates vying to be the Republican nominee in a debate tonight, and nobody is talking about them. I know. It's amazing. I mean, they're basically running for second right now. They're so far behind nationally in the polls, 40 to 50 points behind Trump in Iowa, the first state, 27 points. I mean, I don't even know what the viewership is going to be like for this kind of debate because it feels like everyone's really tuned out and just accepted at this point that it's going to be Donald Trump and Joe Biden. But the problem is that the fact that Americans are so unhappy with their choices, it's really injecting a lot of fear about third-party candidate. and how they will influence the race and how, you know, people looking for other options,

maybe looking to third-party candidates like Bobby Kennedy Jr., Cornell West, Jill Stein, no labels, has this group of moderates that they're trying to put forward. And it's really changed the dynamics where people in Washington, you know, the political gurus who try to predict races, they don't know, they can't predict it because they don't know how people are going to vote. They might protest vote for somebody else. They might not show at all. I mean, we know Joe Biden is having a hard time with the coalition of black, young, and Hispanic voters who are not always the most reliable to turn out. And right now, they're not that happy with him. In fact, they're only pulling one point ahead of, he's only pulling one

point ahead of Trump with this same group, this reliable coalition that Democrats, you know, were able to use to bring Obama into the White House. And even 2020, they helped Joe Biden come into the White House. Yeah, a group that he needs to get reelected. Mark, I want to ask you about tonight's debate. We have the smallest group so far. We've seen a certain. We've seen a surge in Nikki Haley. She's also got that big endorsement from the Koch brothers, though it could be debated whether that helps her in this Republican primary or not. At least it gives her some money. What are you looking for tonight? Well, I think I'm looking out for their legacy. I mean, this nomination is over. So what are they campaigning for? Wait, wait, hold on.

Hold on. Let me stop you. There hasn't been a single vote cast yet. You're saying that this primary process is over? Well, when you're up 40, 50 points in the national, you're up 20, or 30 points in the early states. I mean, this thing is all done but the vote counting. So each of those four candidates has to think about what's next. Are you running for vice president, a run in 28 possibly, or just try to take down Trump? What is your legacy? Because this is your last chance, and it's going to make an impact for your future, not Donald Trump's. Tara, do you agree with Mark? I mean, you talked to a lot of Republicans that are outside of Trump world. I know you talk to people inside Trump world as well, but you're speaking to all those other

campaigns as well. We're still talking about maybe $100 million, if not more, that is still on the table, still in this race. Is it really over? I mean, there are a lot of people, I think in Washington right now, there's a feeling that it's over that Trump already has a nomination. It's a time for choosing, and that's why you're seeing a lot of senators and members come out and start to endorse Trump because they don't want to be behind. They want to do it before the Iowa caucus when they expect to win. You saw two senators today, including Katie Britt from Alabama. where the actual debate is happening come out and endorse Donald Trump, even though he won't even be there. Obviously, she's from the red state of Alabama, and it makes sense to endorse him. But there's a feeling in Washington that he's the nominee, and everyone needs to get in line, or there may be retribution for them, too. I mean, clearly Trump has made this his next term all about retribution,

and people are expecting that at this point. Before we go, Emisha, I do want to ask you, do you think that the Biden administration, or should say the Biden reelection team, has made that calculation as well, and that's why you haven't heard the current president go after these other candidates that are still in the Republican race? Absolutely. You go after the candidate who is at the top. You go after the candidate who is showcasing that he can win.

I don't think that the primary states are going to do anything to knock Donald Trump off that leaderboard. So at this point, it is the Biden camp is playing the game that they know that they're in, one against former president Donald Trump. All right. We thank you to all the guests tonight, and of course we'll be talking probably on the flip side of that debate as well. We thank you for joining top story. Oversee now to the war between Israel and Hamas, the Israeli military intensified its bombardment of the Gaza Strip,

as it reportedly prepares to potentially deploy a new tactic against Hamas militants flooding their underground tunnels with water. Richard Engel on the ground once again for us tonight in Israel. Israel says it's destroying Hamas in Gaza, above ground, and below. targeting what it says are 300 miles of Hamas tunnels. Military officials showed NBC News videos, they say, were taken in the northern Gaza city of Baitanun. A soldier points to a Hamas tunnel outside of a classroom. Israel has blown up some.

Now a U.S. official tells NBC News the Israeli military is exploring a new tactic, flooding the tunnels with seawater. Is that under consideration? I can't comment on any of our future operational activities. what we're planning to do in the future. One thing I do know is that we are focusing on dismantling the terror infrastructure that Hamas has embedded within and underground, all of Gaza.

Some of Hamas's hostages may be inside those tunnels. At Tuesday's tense meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu, a released hostage accused the government of playing roulette with their lives. Twelve-year-old Dua Atef and her family now live in tents near the Egyptian border. With other children, Dua walks barefoot to collect thorn bushes to burn for cooking. The thorns pricking their hands. We are fed up with our lives because of this war. We can't find food.

We can't find anything. We drink dirty water, she says. And here in Rafa, Gazans tonight came under attack. The injured rushed to a field hospital. This island is treated lake for civilian who came to the emergency environment now without any anesthesia. Israel says it warns Palestinians with leaflets, online maps, and robocalls before carrying out strikes against Hamas and verifies targets to avoid civilian casualties. Richard Engel joins us tonight from Jerusalem again. Richard, I want to go back to something in your report about the Israeli forces possibly preparing to flood those Hamas tunnels under Gaza.

Can you walk our viewers through how exactly that would work if they decide to do that? essentially, would the water pressure collapse those tunnels? And, of course, the concerns about the remaining hostages still being possibly kept underground. So all of these are real concerns, and it's unclear that they're going to necessarily do this, but U.S. officials confirm that it is something under consideration, and Israeli officials have been asked about this repeatedly over the last several days, and they've given somewhat cagey answers, not denying it outright saying, well, we can't comment about future operations. One military official saying, well, that it wasn't something that he was considering in the area where he is operating, leaving open the possibility that it could happen in other areas.

The Gaza Strip runs along the Mediterranean Sea, and these tunnels run all throughout the Gaza Strip. So it might not happen in every area, if it happens at all, but it would be, I don't want to say, a relatively simple engineering task, but you would use powerful pumps and hoses and just start flooding the tunnels with seawater with the idea of killing the people inside, making the tunnels unusable. What does that mean for hostages who are potentially in tunnels? well, it could be catastrophic. But Israel has intelligence agencies that hopefully have some idea where these hostages may be. But it is something that obviously is adding more concern to the families of the hostages. And the families of the hostages are saying that this government needs to go back to the negotiating table, at least temporarily, that it needs to do more to get the process flowing again,

like it was going during the truce, where Hamas is releasing hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. It wasn't perfect, but it was functioning to a degree during the truce, and about 100 hostages were released. And every day that passes, these families of the hostages are increasingly concerned, and they're making statements, they're speaking out to the government, they are lashing out to the government in some cases, saying, get them out now before this escalates and the tunnel issue is certainly on their minds. Richard, before you go briefly, do we know where those sort of negotiations stand right now, possibly negotiating a truce for a time period so these hostages can get back out?

So far, we're not hearing any kind of progress whatsoever on that. Before there was momentum. We were in touch with the negotiators on a daily basis. We were hearing about the talks. They were back and forth about what kinds of hostages were being released. There were disagreements, and there were some days where they were false starts, but there was progress. Now we're not hearing anything. From Jerusalem tonight, Richard, thank you.

Still ahead, the rising tensions over migrants with no place to go in Chicago. Plans to open up a massive tent shelter, scrapped. After toxic chemicals were found on site, the scramble now to find another shelter for hundreds of people. Plus, incredible video showing the moment of Minnesota officer. race to pull a driver from a semi-truck that burst into flames. And a promposal ending with a student hit by a Porsche in the parking lot. You see it right there. Why that teen's lawyer is alleging the driver blew the stop sign on purpose to impress his girlfriend.

We'll explain it all. Top story. Just getting started on this Wednesday. Okay, we're back now with a promposal in Arizona that ended with one student in the hospital. A senior was riding his motorcycle when he was hit by one of his classmates who allegedly blew a stop sign on purpose as part of an elaborate plan. NBC Stephen Romo has more, but a warning to some viewers. You may find this video hard to watch. Tonight, dramatic video of a promposal gone terribly wrong. After the accident, we could tell that he's become a little bit more

withdrawn and closed off. Surveillance video from Arizona, College Prep High School shows senior William Vanisap leaving campus on his motorcycle back in April when this Porsche SUV speeds right through a stop sign, sending him flying. Okay, can you move your leg at all? But running that stop sign was allegedly no accident. Instead, all part of another student's plan to ask his girlfriend to prom, according to Vanisap's attorney, who is now preparing to sue the school, the district, the principal, and the school resource officer for a million dollars.

It was not a good plan. The estimated speed of the car involved that was being driven by the student was over 40 miles an hour. According to the notice of claim sent ahead of the lawsuit, the student in the Porsche had his girlfriend in the passenger seat and planned to speed through that stop sign to be pulled over by school resource officer Joshua Basil. And when it appeared he was in trouble, he would then turn to his girlfriend and ask her to prom. That plan going off course when Vanisap entered the intersection. Basil, who, according to the notice of claim, was there to take part in the promposal, instead racing to check on the injured Vanisap. He very easily could have died in this accident by just milliseconds difference in timing. The notice alleging that not only was the school resource officer involved, but that the principal, Robert Bix, knew about the plan ahead of time too. In a statement to police included in that notice, the driver of the Porsche, saying he, quote, had very clear arrangements.

where I gave the law enforcement as well as the school administration, the make and model of my car, the time, and everything. They agreed to this. Those adults at the school should have said, no, we're not going to do this. In Officer Basil's body camera video, which was released by Vanisap's attorney, Principal Bix, is seen sitting in Basil's car at the time of the accident. Then, minutes after Vanisap was hit, he says this. I don't know about this.

The Chandler Unified School District and Chandler Police declined. to comment citing the pending litigation, but police confirming school resource officer Basil is still working at the school. No arrests have been made in this case. I just wish that at least someone will be held accountable for this because the only consequences that we've seen is William being injured. Okay, Stephen Romo joins us live in studio. Steve, let's pick it up right there where she left off. What happened to the driver of the Porsche SUV, the other student? Yeah, a lot of people asking about this. He actually was not ticketed.

We heard this on the body cam. Not ticketed. Not ticketed because it happened on private property. We heard them say that in the body camp video. But we also learn from the victim's attorney today that they do plan to include that student in this lawsuit that they expect to file coming up in about two weeks now. Such a crazy promposal. Anyways, okay, Stephen, thank you for bringing that story to us.

Still ahead tonight, the serial killer investigation out of Los Angeles, a man arrested for killing at least four people, why authorities are now saying he may have even more victims. All right, we're back now with Top Stories News Feed. We begin with the deadly shooting spree in Texas. Police arresting Shane James Jr. For multiple shootings in Austin and San Antonio in less than 24 hours. At least six people killed and several others heard, including police officers.

Authorities believe two of the victims are his parents, but it seems some of the shootings were random. James was arrested. after crashing his car while fleeing from police. Now to the serial killer investigation out of California. 33-year-old Jared Joseph Powell was arrested in charge for the murders of three homeless men in L.A. and the slain of an L.A. County employee inside of his home.

All the crimes taking place over a few days in November. Investigators say due to the severity of his crimes in such a short time period, they are now seen if he's responsible in other unsolved murders across the state. And a Minnesota sheriff's deputy honored for a dangerous rescue that was caught on camera. Check this out. Dash cam footage shows the deputy racing towards a burning semi-truck on a highway and jumping over a construction barrier to reach the driver. Despite fuel pouring out of the vehicle near the flames, the deputy pulled the unconscious driver to safety.

That driver now recovering and the deputy awarded for his heroic actions. Okay, we turn to the migrant crisis in Chicago that is pitting state and city leaders against each other. With asylum seekers caught in the crosshairs, a multi-million dollar tent camp intended to house thousands, of migrants scrapped after toxic chemicals were found on site. Now, the race to figure out who can house those migrants instead. NBC's Maura Barrett is in Chicago with the latest. Tonight in Chicago, the migrant crisis taking on new urgency as frigid winter temperatures move in, and hundreds of people remain out on the streets.

We need to move as quickly as we can. A major setback plans to open a $65 million tent camp that would house nearly 2,000 migrants near Chicago's Midway Airport, halted by the governor over serious environmental concerns. It is toxic, and now can we sit down and actually talk about what we can do that's humane? This is a concentration camp. The reversal coming after the city released an environmental report over the weekend, indicating the Brighton Park site would require a cleanup of toxic chemicals and heavy metals, as the nine and a half acre plot formerly housed industrial work.

Mercury, arsenic, and lead, along with cyanide, pesticides, and the now banned. and cancer-causing compounds known as PCBs were found on site. City officials saying the most problematic levels of contamination were removed and still deemed the location safe for migrants. Discovering toxicity there wasn't a surprise. The state of Illinois knew that this assessment was happening and felt confident enough to continue to build on this site. Friction between the mayor and governor's offices on full display

as nearly 600 migrants await placement in shelters, according to the city. The mayor's office writing, it's received clear signals from Texas officials that the number of buses will continue to increase. So the urgency of the moment remains. We say no. The proposed site facing opposition from residents in the community from the start, as state and city officials struggle to house the influx of migrants. With 80 buses of migrants arriving in just the last month, the need for shelters like this is massive. An alliance with faith-based organizations like Grace and Peace Church is filling that gap. What's the realistic capacity for churches that are part of this initiative without those bigger shelters?

Well, let me tell you them, there's more than 100 churches in the city of Chicago. The church is really the gatekeepers of the city. If we get the church involved in many areas, we can relieve some of the stress that the city is dealing with. Pastor John Zayez is coordinating shelter for around 200 migrants, across his eight sites. It's hard because we have this water hose that's constantly coming with migrants. But there are people on the ground

giving tireless hours to serve the city and to serve the people in our community. He says they've developed a plan with the city to get migrants housed and employed in 60 days. There's continual flexibility of folks rotating in. There's also folks that have received their work permits. And so we're just lining folks up into the system of, you know, housing and working as we move along. Well, it was a process a large, costoso, much inconvenience, not easy.

Uncertainty rising as the temperatures here only continue to drop. Maura Behr joins us tonight from Chicago. So, Maura, you're at a Chicago police station where we've reported here on Top Story. migrants had been temporarily housed, but we now understand the city has been clearing those out as well. Yeah, Tom, thousands of migrants were forced to wait it out here at police stations like this one, and across the city as they waited for their spot to open up in shelters. But the city now has a plan to clear all of these police stations working their way through over the last month before the winter season really hits.

But now that this plan for those larger shelters are stalled, a lot of migrants are still turning to sleeping on the streets or are staying at O'Hare Airport. Now, what's more, the city has even their plan for feeding these asylum seekers has fallen through as well. And so the state just stepped up this week and allocated an additional $2 million in funding towards that. Tom? Can't imagine having to sleep on the street out in Chicago with those Chicago winners. All right, Maura Barrett for us. Marr, we appreciate that.

Coming up, the breaking news out of Peru, a former president accused of running death squads when he led that country with an iron grip. Tonight, released from prison just moments ago, the controversy that has divided a nation. Stay with us. Back now with Top Stories Global Watch, a check of what else is happening around the world. And we begin with the arrest of a suspected gang leader in Turkey. Video shared by Turkey's interior minister showing the moment armed police stormed a hotel room in Istanbul. Officers immediately arresting the suspect.

In Nepal says he's wanted for leading a gang that's responsible for distributing large amounts of cocaine and heroin in England. Tensions rising between Venezuela and Guyana. Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro vowing to permit oil exploration and mine development in a disputed territory with the neighboring country. The pledge comes after voters in Venezuela approved a measure to take back the land, despite a border set by the International Court of Justice. The court and the UN have urged Maduro not to take any action on that territory.

And a gondola capsizing in Venice's fame canals, look at this. the video has gone viral on TikTok showing a group of tourists in the water clinging to the overturned boat and trying desperately to get back on. The gondola flipping as it passed under a bridge near St. Mark Square, local media reporting the group was warned to stop moving around the boat while taking selfies before this accident. Okay, timing out for the Americas and Peru, where the country's highest court is ordering the release of former President Alberto Fujimori from prison. The decision is the latest in a decades-old legal saga, as the controversial figure serves a 25-year sentence in relation to death squad killings from the 90s under his regime. His critics now taking to the nation's streets to protest urging he stay behind bars. NBC Sam Brock explains this one. Tonight, Alberto Fuhimori, one of the most controversial leaders in Peru's history, is a free man.

He climbed into this gray car and out of the Peruvian prison system. The uproar surrounding his release, coming as Peru's constitutional court, gave the green light more than a decade early in a 25-year sentence related to death squad killings in the 90s. Relatives of victims of the massacre protesting in the Capitol. While Fujimori's supporters took to the streets to sing and dance in celebration. Why do people feel so strongly on both sides? Transparency International considered him the seventh most corrupt president

anywhere in the world from 1980s to the 2000s, estimating that he stole $861 million. He's also in jail for overseeing a death squad that killed 25 innocent Peruvians. Fuhimori's decade in power did include tamping down inflation, bringing economic stability to Peru and defeating a guerrilla terrorist group. But he also trampled on democracy,

dissolving the nation's Congress in a self-coup in 1992 with the help of armed forces and taking complete control of the government. Fujimori's power coinciding with violence and the massacre of 25 people. In 2009, Fujimori was sentenced to 25 years in prison on charges of human rights abuses until being granted a humanitarian pardon

by then-president Pablo Kaczynski in 2017 shortly after being rushed to a hospital at risk of dying in an exchange for political support. footage showing Fuhi Mori reading the presidential pardon with his son from his hospital bed. He's guilty of grievous crimes. Why was he pardoned in the first place? He was pardoned in 2017 as part of a political pact between then-president Pedro Pablo Kuczynski and Fuhimori's son, who was a political operator. And he basically leveraged support in Congress to help Kuchinsky stave off an impeachment attempt. So he essentially purchased his

dad's freedom. That pardon was eventually suspended under pressure from thousands of of protesters, as well as the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, sending him back to jail. Five years later, those same international groups, once again calling on the courts to keep Fujimori behind bars, but their police ultimately fell on deaf ears. Sam, Brock joins us tonight from Miami. Sam, so many developments on this story.

As you mentioned in your spot there, five years ago, the international community made it clear they wanted to keep Fujimori behind bars. The courts listened then. So what's changed now, now that he's a free man? Yeah, Tom, it's a great question because the international pressure is still there. The biggest change right now is the Congress of Peru, that their government effectively has transformed in recent years to become a parliamentary system effectively, which is to say

a very strong Congress, a very weak presidency, and that the members of Congress exert incredible influence over the courts. And in this case, the Congress in Peru right now is embroiled in controversy. You have members there who are accused of effectively co-opting independent institutions. taking bribes, intimidating judges, and to create a smokespring, experts tell us that what they were doing is releasing this former president right now in order to get people to stop talking about their own scandals. And very telling Tom, members of Congress were actually there in front of the prison tonight as he was released. Sam Brock for us with that breaking development.

All right, Sam, we thank you for your reporting. Coming up, celebrating the life of a TV pioneer back here at home. The producer behind some of television's biggest and most groundbreaking shows the tributes from loved ones coming in tonight. That's next. Welcome back. Tonight we're celebrating the life and legacy of a television legend, Norman Lear, known for popular and groundbreaking primetime comedy series like All in the Family and the Jeffersons, Joe Fryer now, and the man who shattered barriers and changed TV forever. Norman Lear made the small screen bigger. We are the Jeffers.

stretching TV's boundaries to share new stories. Oh, this is a big one. And project new voices. I have never been in a situation in my life, however tragic, where I didn't see some comedy. He built the foundation for his TV empire in the 70s with all in the family. You are a meathead. The groundbreaking show used humor to tackle hot button issues like race. One, two, three.

Well, it's spin-off. Maude addressed abortion months before the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Whale. Just tell me, Walter, that I'm doing the right thing, not having the baby. With shows like Sanford and Son, Lear depicted life for black Americans. Family dealing with poverty and good times. A successful couple in the Jeffersons. How can you afford to live in a place like this? You ain't tall enough to be no basketball player.

A vocal opponent of the religious right in the 80s, Lear created a nonprofit called People for the American Way. Don't tell us we're bad Christians or good Christians, depending on a political point of view. That isn't the American way. Age never slowed him down. In his mid-90s, he rebooted a classic series one day at a time with a Latino family. I spoke with him in 2021.

I've had as good a time in this business as anybody has ever had. any business ever. And I love it. Today, all in the family star Rob Reiner paid tribute. I love Norman Lear with all my heart. He was my second father. And from Judd Apatow, Norman Lear changed the world. Joe Fryer, NBC News. Finding television legend, his work shaped by his faith in this country, and the opportunity all of us to make it better. Lear often sharing this view both on the network and later through social media. Even when he was a hundred years old, he was still working, his daughter helping him film videos to post on Instagram. Here's Norman Lear now, in his own words.

Good morning and good afternoon, good evening, depending on where you are, who you are with. It's Norman Lear here. So everybody asked me, at 100 years of age, what do you want to tell younger people? What would you have them follow? Well, my first thought is our America. I flew 52 emissions in World War II. I loved this country with all my heart. The All in the Family Ensemble was a stroke of not human brilliance, just something glorious in the universe.

Everything converged that moment. Those four people carried the kind of. for a half hour, a week for nine years, just on their backs, just in their emotions. Just, I mean, that's beyond us. Well, the only answer to that is... I lived with Archie Bunker. I read in a small article of TV guide

about a show that was a big hit in England till death has due part. And all they said about it was just a couple of lines about a bigoted father and his son-in-law. Oh, my God, that's my dad and me. Yeah, but every picture I ever seen a guard, he was white. Well, maybe you were looking at the negative. He was afraid of progress.

You know, black families moving next door, that wasn't anything he grew up on. It wasn't anything he understood. Progress, basically, was what he feared. What was happening, going to happen. tomorrow. America has not realized all of its promise, but the promises nonetheless there. There are enough of us dedicated to that promise. It's us, we humans, who need each other so desperately, and we in America who need America, the America I was born into, which I'm very

confident we can return love you all thanks so much for watching top story i'm tom yamas in york stay right there more news on the way