Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, February 1, 2023

Episode Date: February 2, 2023

The FBI searches President Biden's beach home for classified documents, the emotional funeral for Tyre Nichols, a mass shooting at a D.C. Metro station leaves one person dead, a Southeast winter storm claims at least 8 lives, and Tom Brady retires again.

Tonight, the White House in damage control again. The FBI searching a third Biden property. This time, his vacation home in Delaware. Fed's executing a search of the Rehobith Beach House early today. Weeks after dozens of documents were found at Biden's other home and private office. And the lingering question tonight has the FBI searched any other locations related to the president? Are Peter Alexander asking that question and not getting a direct answer? Plus, our new reporting, what the National Archive says they were told not to do that has Republicans fuming.

And Congressman George Santos could soon be facing an FBI investigation of his own. The person detectives are now talking to about reports the embattled lawmaker used a GoFundMe to scam a veteran out of thousands of dollars. Also in D.C., a gunman going on a deadly rampage during the morning rush hour, randomly opening fire on commuters and transit employees, at least one person. killed. What we're learning tonight about the passengers who stepped in to bring the nightmare to an end. The emotional farewell in Memphis tonight, the family of Tyree Nichols, gathering to say goodbye to the 29-year-old who was killed by police. You'll hear the powerful tributes from his mother and his brother and the calls for justice and for action. Plus NBC News obtaining a copy

of the initial police report following Nichols' death. What those ex-officers said happen versus what their body camps actually showed. An internal review underway in New York following the death of a four-month-old baby who died in the hospital while city nurses were on strike. What a source inside that hospital says may have led to this tragic outcome. Plus, the urgent warning from the CDC tonight

about a brand of eyedrops that could cause you to lose your vision. And Tom Brady announcing his retirement from football again, the legendary quarterback hanging up his jersey after 23 years, seven Super Bowl wins, and one majorly disappointing final season. But will he stay on the sidelines for good this time? Top story starts right now. And good evening.

We begin top story tonight with President Biden, yet again at the center of a search for classified documents. The FBI combing through the Biden vacation home in Delaware today, making this the third sweep of its kind. Let's take a look at those three other locations and what's been found so far. You may remember on November 2nd, Biden's lawyers found a small number of classified documents at the Penn Biden Center, a private office in D.C. he used after his terms as vice president. On Tuesday, we learned the FBI also searched that site at some point in mid-November, but found no documents. In all, roughly about 10 classified documents have been recovered from this site. At the president's home in Wilmington, Delaware, a different story.

lawyer searching for documents on three separate occasions. The FBI then conducting their own search on January 20th. In all, there, at least 11 pages of classified documents have been found, though neither the White House nor the DOJ has released a concrete number. And today, at the president's home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, the FBI executing a third search with Biden's full cooperation. This time, though, zero documents recovered. But this latest search just leading to more questions,

which a spokesperson for the White House counsel's office dodged today. Questions like how many documents in total have been found and has the FBI conducted other searches that the public doesn't know about? We didn't get any concrete answers on that. And you may remember this image, right, of classified documents seized from former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate. Tonight, some are questioning, why haven't we seen a similar visual of the classified documents found in Biden's possession

or any visuals at all? Peter Alexander tonight, pressing for answers at the White House. FBI agents today spending nearly four hours combing through President Biden's Delaware Beach Home, their latest search for mishandled classified documents. The president's lawyer later saying no documents with classified markings were found that the search was done with the president's full support and cooperation, and that the agents took some materials and handwritten notes for review. It comes after the revelation the FBI searched Mr. Biden's former private office back in November,

two senior law enforcement sources tell NBC news. But the White House did not share that with the public. The president today ignoring shouted questions. Mr. President, are you confident today was the final search for classified documents? Tonight, President Biden's aides argue, unlike former President Trump, they handed back all classified documents immediately. But the White House won't say why they did not tell the public about the FBI's November search and whether others have not been revealed. Has the FBI conducted any searches of any other locations associated with the president that you or the White House is aware of? Look, I think we're providing information as this goes on and answering questions about the search activities as they've been happening.

There have now been three known FBI searches at locations connected to the president. His former office where Biden lawyers first discovered classified documents. His Wilmington home where the FBI found more classified material after Biden lawyers made their own discovery. and today's search at the Rehoboth Beach House. Republicans are blasting a lack of transparency. Someone leaked this out. We would never have heard it from this White House. They would have covered it up forever.

The special counsel investigation looming over the White House comes as the president met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, with a showdown building over raising the debt limit. The White House is demanding McCarthy unfail a budget proposal. Republicans are calling for spending cuts. We both laid out some of our viewers. of where we'd want to get to. And I believe, after laying both about, I can see where we can find common ground. Peter Alexander joins us tonight from the White House. Peter, I saw you there trying to get

answers from that White House counsel. And I know tonight we have some new reporting here at NBC News about the General Counsel for the National Archives, testifying to the House Oversight Committee that the archives had drafted a press release on the Biden documents after the initial story broke in January, but then something happened. Explain. Yeah, so let's walk you through this. So the General Counsel, the top lawyer for the National Archive, did tell the Republican-led House Oversight Committee during what was a closed-door transcribed interview. The Department was instructed not to send out a press release regarding the Archive's rule in the discovery of those classified documents at Mr. Biden's former private office.

That's according to three sources directly familiar with the General Counsel's testimony. This release was drafted shortly after the first media reports, Tom, last month, the documents were found at the Penn Biden Center and long after this case had been referred to the Justice Department. Remember those documents at the Penn Biden Center were found in early November. The archive's top lawyer did not say who prevented him from issuing a release, instead referring to Justice Department parameters about what he could say about the investigation. Tom. Peter, Alexander, for us, Peter, thank you.

The Biden administration struggling to contain the fallout of the president's handling of classified materials. Meanwhile, former President Trump pushing ahead with his next bid for the White House. as a special counsel also investigates the discovery of classified documents at his Florida home. So what shadow will this cast on 2024, plus some news tonight on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis? Here to talk about all of this senior puck news political correspondent Tara Palmary, former Republican congressman and NBC News political analyst, Carlos Kribello, and former Biden campaign senior advisor Alencia Johnson.

She's now the chief impact officer at 1063 West Broad, a social impact agency. Alensia, I want to start with you tonight. Biden hasn't announced a 2024 run just yet, but the optics of this keep getting worse. How can he convince the American people to trust or reelect him if the White House doesn't confront this head on? Well, I actually do think the White House is talking about these documents and what they are doing and what they should be doing and what a lot of news outlets are doing as well is showing the contrast in President Biden's handling of and his lawyers handling of these classified documents as well as President Trump's. And you see that they are trying to talk about the transparency, the compliance with the Department of Justice, talking about the fact that they are not above actually cooperating with the government on this. Whereas you have, in contrast, someone like President Trump, who literally was issued a subpoena and was alerted, excuse me, alerted about these documents.

And it took him almost a year, a year for even to have some sort of response. And that was through the search of Mar-a-Lago. And so I think you're going to continue to see this contrast going into 2024. I appreciate the answer, but I find that Democrats, especially in the last few weeks, every single time you ask Democrats about this, they want to point to former President Trump. And you're completely right. They are two separate cases. And what the former president did right now, from what we know, is very different from what's going on with President Biden.

But President Biden ran on transparency, right? I keep saying this every time we have these segments. He ran on transparency, and they may be complying with the Department of Justice, but they are not being transparent with the American people. The White House counsel was outside the White House today speaking with the White House press corps, and he couldn't answer simple questions like, are there more documents? Are there other residents being searched? He just kept talking around in circles. And I'm just wondering why the White House can't get in front of this.

Well, I mean, to be fair, I think when we were having a conversation about these classified documents, we want to make sure folks have the facts before you go out and tell the American people one thing and then have to come back and clean it up later. I think that is not only transparency, but that is some integrity. We want to make sure that there isn't any opportunity for there to be holes in a story in case you have to go back and clean up something. And so I understand that people's frustration, but sometimes it takes a little bit behind the scenes for things to reveal themselves.

And this White House wants to make sure that the information it is providing and getting ahead of is the accurate information and the best information for the year. I appreciate that. I appreciate that. I just don't think they've revealed anything at all. I think this has all been really great reporting that has brought these stories to light because actually the White House is not revealing this. Tara, the situation is getting worse, not better for Biden.

But here's the strange part, even if they find nothing in these classified documents, right? These could be classified documents that maybe shouldn't be classified or over classified, if you will. They may have nothing to do with national security. It just looks bad. Right. It's absolutely. The thinking is that to get ahead of a story like this, you just put it all out there. I don't understand why the White House counsel couldn't say weeks ago, and we're going to have the FBI search all of the properties, and this is how many documents we have. This is what we found.

You know, there needs to be more transparency, and then when they say there are no more documents, that's what Kreen Jean-Pierre said, this is press secretary, a day later, oh, we found more. Why are they not just giving the information out? the obscuring it is making it seem like there is a fire where there's smoke. I mean, as a journalist, I know there's a lot of frustration over the lack of information. They say, we're trying to comply with the Justice Department. But at the end of the day, I mean, the president really can't be indicted. And this is a political issue for him. Yeah, you wonder what the optics.

He needs to get out of it. He needs to be open. Yeah, no, Tara, I agree with you. I think, yeah. It's a political issue. Right. I think it's a political issue more than a legal issue. So, and I think they need to get out there and be open with the people.

Yeah, you almost want. why the president didn't come onto the cameras and say, I want the FBI to search my beach house. I want him to search the garage where I keep the Corvette. Just to kind of get in front of this. Carlos, though, I do want to ask you, you served in Congress. You know, they keep deferring to the DOJ. And is that essentially true? Can they really not talk about this at all? Or is it they can't or is it that they won't? Look, Tom, the bottom line is they don't want to talk about this. And the irony is that these twin scandals, because even though there are differences, and that's clear, these are twin scandals that are diminishing and weakening both

Joe Biden and Donald Trump at the same time. And this is going to provide an opening to other Republicans and other Democrats who want to carry the banners for their respective parties in 2024. Because at the end of the day, as terror says, regardless of what happens legally, politically, this looks terrible. It makes the American people lose trust and confidence in both these leaders. And particularly for the Biden administration, I think it's embarrassing because they were so forceful about criticizing, rightly criticizing former President Trump for this scandal, for his unwillingness to turn over these documents. But the way they have handled this, it's been really messy, it's been embarrassing, and it's just continues to erode the trust and

confidence that the American people have in the White House. This segues into my next question with Tara. I want to switch over to the GOP on to the 2024 side. I know you have some new reporting tonight on who's advising former President Trump and the issues the former president is having with fundraising. Right. So President Trump's team is very small and probably because of the fact that he hasn't been raising money the way that he usually does. I mean, he's almost taking in at least half of what he has in the past in 2020, actually even less than half of what he made in the past. And it's probably because he announced so early right after the 2022 election,

which was not a favorable one for him. He's out on the campaign trail, and he doesn't have much money to show. I think it was about $5 million at his fundraising vehicles Save America made, and they ended up actually spending more money in fundraising on lists and emails and texts than they made. So he's not starting out on a strong footing. A lot of candidates spend a lot of time thinking about the right time to announce

because you want to show that you have money behind you. And the fact that he announced so early, he doesn't have much to show for it. And one of his advisors, who was expected to join Kellyanne Conway, it appears that she will not be joining the campaign. Instead, we'll be sitting on the sidelines at Fox News in the green room where she'll be talking about the Trump campaign. She'll be giving advice to him as an advisor, maybe even calling shots. And if there's one thing I know from covering Donald Trump, he'll probably take her advice more seriously if she's saying it on TV rather than as his campaign manager. But I think, you know, she was a very public figure and to, you know, see her decide to sit on the side. sidelines. I don't know. It's an interesting move. For her, I understand. I mean, I'm sure she has a

lucrative deal with Fox, but for him, maybe he can't exactly afford someone like Kelly Ann Conway on the team or doesn't want to spend the money on an advisor like that. So early on, especially with his fundraising number, so small. Yeah, and she truly was one of his warriors who would always go out there in front of the cameras and sort of defend him regardless of what the scandal was in front of her. Alencia, I want to turn to you know, I want to ask you about 2024 and the Republicans as well. team, the former governor of South Carolina, teasing a special announcement on February 15th, likely the launch of her campaign. And the former president was asked about Nikki Haley by reporters this week.

And let's listen to this. Nikki Haley called me the other day to talk to me. I talked to her for a little while. But I said, look, you know, go by your heart if you want to run. She's publicly stated. I would never run against my president. He was a great president. I never run.

What did she say on the call? No, but she called me. She said, she said, she said, she said. She'd like to consider it. And she was letting you know. And I said, you should do it. Alencia, President Trump obviously wants a crowded primary to fracture the field. Do you think this will work, the strategy here, where he's inviting people to sort of run against him?

Well, I don't think he's inviting a whole lot of people to run against him. I think he's probably inviting the people that he thinks that he could beat. But, you know, I do think Donald Trump, and you all were talking about this earlier a few months ago, about how he announced very early. A lot of the reason he announced very early is to do. distract his base from these ongoing investigations, all these things that are actually, I think, weakening President Trump. And so what you will see, yes, there will be a lot of people, I'm sure, that will challenge him.

But I actually don't think he will make it all the way through the primary. And so you will have people who will also be ready to get rid of Trump. You know, Republicans are talking about this behind the scenes and how they are tired of Trump being the face of their party and they want something new. And I believe that a lot of former Trump supporters will actually move over to the Nikki Haley's of the world to, unfortunately, the Ron DeSantis of the world. And so it actually will not, I don't think it will work in his favor in the way that he might think it would. Carlos, Trump posted on social media on his platform, quote, the president isn't exactly

lying. DeSantis did have some wavering when it came to the pandemic, but he's also had some big wins for our own agenda. And I do want to say, like, you know, former governor, I should say Governor DeSantis has had some wins. The don't, what was called the so-called don't-say-gay-bill, for people for Florida Republicans, Disney's special tax status, and now the AP African American history course is getting revised, the College Board. We're going to have more on that later in the broadcast. But they essentially, I don't know if the word is cave, but they definitely changed the curriculum with some of the problems that Governor Santis had. How much of this is a win for primary voters? Look, Tom, all of these issues you mentioned are critical for

DeSantis in a Republican primary. These are the cultural issues that motivate Republican voters in primary specifically. So he is trying to check all of these boxes, abortion, culture wars, education. And quite frankly, from the perspective of someone who wants to win a Republican primary, he's doing a pretty good job. What has given him broader appeal, what allowed him to win reelection in Florida by a remarkable 20 points, that was all his pandemic policies. Politically speaking, politically speaking, Ron DeSantis, won the pandemic. That is what propelled him to a huge victory here last November. And it's what could give him broader appeal and help him reach independent voters. And even some Democrats,

I remind people, a lot of Democrats have moved to Florida. They moved to Florida during the pandemic because of his policies. But even though you say he won the pandemic, which is a sort of a strange thing to win, and I don't know that's exactly what you said, but it sounded like that. Didn't he flip-flop, though? Doesn't former President Trump have some facts on his side? Didn't he sort of flip-flop at the beginning of the pandemic on some of the things he's sort of running on now? Look, at the beginning of the pandemic, like President Trump, Governor DeSantis did close down the state, closed schools, closed businesses. What DeSantis will say is that as soon as the science showed that it was safe to reopen, Florida did reopen, and Florida was a big beneficiary. When I say he won the pandemic, I don't mean to be a

insensitive. I'm speaking purely from a political perspective, and Florida was rewarded. People moved to Florida. People visited Florida. Florida's economy did well while other states struggled. Those are facts, and a lot of voters here in Florida went out and rewarded Ron DeSantis for those policies in the last election. Carlos Curbelo Alencia and Tara Palmeri, thank you so much for joining Top Story tonight. We appreciate it. Staying in Washington and in battle Congressman George Santos, who has now reportedly been investigated by the FBI. It surrounds a claim that Santos stole $3,000 that was raised to pay for a surgery for a Navy veteran's dying dog. You may remember the story here on Top Story.

The veteran Richard Ostoff says he is speaking to the FBI and handing over everything he has, including text messages with Santos. The FBI tonight has declined to comment. Okay, and we are also following breaking news out of our nation's capital, a man shooting people at random near a bus stop and inside a metro station. During the morning commute, a transit employee killed, and several others hospitalized. Passengers, though, eventually tackling the gunmen to stop the rampage. Julie Serkin is in D.C. with the late details.

Essentially, emergency, emergency, mercy, mercy. Near the end of the morning commute on the D.C. Metro, terrifying moments. There's a man on the train, has a gun. I have customers on the train right now panicking. A gunman opened fire today on passengers and employees inside the Potomac Avenue station, fatally shooting a Metro Transit employee who tried to stop the rampage. His heroism has to be recognized here today. But the chaos started above ground. Police say the suspect followed an individual off the bus

before shooting them in the legs in a busy intersection. A potential witness said she saw the person on the roadway shoot somebody. According to authorities, the gunman then shot a person buying a metro card, also in the leg, before going down the escalator and onto the platform where that employee was killed. Standing nearby watching this in disbelief is Richard Frost. At that point, like, I was trying to, even me, I was trying to assess what was going on because, again, I had my music on. So I was like, I asked the guy, I was like, were those gunshots?

And he was like, yeah. And then that's when I saw the guy drop. Police say other passengers then tackled the suspect onto the platform. And along with a second transit employee held him until police arrived. All the shootings appear to be random. It's unclear what the motive of all this is. It's just one of several shootings in the D.C. area in the last two. months, including one on January 7th, where a 20-year-old man was shot and killed at a different

metro stop about a mile away. The mayor today saying this cycle of gun violence plaguing the city must stop. Whether it's the metro, it's the street, it's individual homes. We know that we have guns that are creating tragedies in our city and in our nation, and we all have to be very focused on that. Julie Sirkin joins us tonight from Washington. And Julie, such a a scare for commuters there in our nation's capital. What do we know tonight about the suspect and any updates on those victims? Well, look, Tom, police have still not identified the suspect and we still don't have a motive, but what we do know is there are four victims, three of them at a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and of course the fourth that Metro Transit

employee who police are hailing as a hero. And then, Julie, you live in the city, you use this transit system. You mentioned there have been several incidents lately, including one that you witnessed? Yeah, that's right, Tom. Just about a few weeks ago, that incident that I just mentioned in this story happened. I heard a single gunshot. You have to understand this is right outside of the Nationals Baseball Stadium. It later turned out that one man, a 20-year-old Terry Clark, had died. Police later announcing they had caught the suspect and arrested him. Okay, Julie, Serkin, for us. Julie, we appreciate it. We want to turn out a weather in the rising death toll tonight as that major ice storm we've been telling you about continues to paralyze parts of the

south. 23 million now under winter alerts as the brutal cold refuses to release its grip on the region and hundreds of thousands trapped in the dark still without power. Morgan Chesky has the latest. Day three of a deep freeze and tonight a miserable icy mess causing chaos. Oh my god, the tow truck just hit the, the tow truck just spun out. Stretching from Texas to Tennessee, the polar blast has claimed at least eight lives and leaves 23 million people. under weather alerts. In Austin, as conditions grew worse, the accidents accelerated. I started sliding, and the next thing you know, I spun around six or seven times.

If it wasn't for that curb, I'd be completely off the bridge. The deadly ice knocked out power to 180,000 customers there, leaving one in four residents in the frozen dark. We're standing on ice sleep. This isn't snow, it's sleep. At Dallas's DFW Airport, three out of four flights canceled. The cold forcing people to warming shelters. Tony Ivory was turned away three times before landing here. If you didn't have a place like this, where would you be?

Wow. Probably peddling for money to get a motel room. I'm walking into different department stores and stuff just to try to stay warm for 10 or 15 minutes. Okay, Morgan Chesky joins us now from Dallas. Morgan, Texas, not the only area that was hit by this storm, and they're not out of the clear by a long shot in terms of the temps dipping again, right? Yeah, Tom, they're really not. In fact, the sleet that turned to rain this afternoon will likely refreeze again in just a few hours, and that is one of the primary warnings from officials today. Traffic has picked up somewhat here in Dallas and in other of these states, and the roadways that are now relatively safe to drive on, that's going to be a different. story overnight as the temperature drops back down. We're not going to see a real rise in earnest

until at some point tomorrow, and that is when we should be in the clear. But in the meantime, traffic snarled on highways, air traffic still facing significant cancellations, not to mention there are still hundreds of thousands of Texans tonight, Tom, without power. Yeah, we can hear those cold, slick roadways just behind you. Okay, Morgan, we thank you for that. For more of the paralyzing cold. I want to bring in NBC News meteorologist Bill Karens, who joins us now. Bill Morgan, they're telling us a little bit about the temperatures, but I'm looking at your map now. 23 million impacted. Wow. Yeah, not done. 12 to 18 hours to go. Austin, by far, has the most power out. There's almost half of all of them in the impact area.

But Dallas was lucky. During the day today, they were in the 20s, but the sun rays were shining through the clouds, called solar radiation. And that was helping them melt things, even though it was in the 20s. The sun is down, and now things are going to be refreezing. So we still expect some significant impact from Abilene all the way towards Wichita Falls to Fort Worth into the Dallas area. That's this region in here. Still is a chance for a 10th to a quarter inch in addition to what's already happened. And that would give us a chance for some additional power outages. The big melt begins, though, by tomorrow afternoon we're the 30s, Friday and Saturday. We get back to the 40s and 50s. And as far as the next weather story, that's the cold that's going

to be coming down out of Canada. Right now near the Hudson Bay, negative 22. That is the air that's heading for the Northeast Friday night and Saturday. Be prepared. It's going to be about as brutal as it's been all winter long, especially in areas of northern New England, where the wind chills could approach negative 50. Negative 15. Okay, thanks so much there, Bill.

To Memphis now in the celebration of life for Tyree Nichols, the funeral service filled with calls for justice and police reform, as NBC News learns at least four of the officers charged with Nichols' death had been disciplined in the past. NBC's Priscilla Thompson is on the ground for us tonight again in Memphis. Tonight, songs of sorrow. Blessed of the dead which dives in the Lord. Prayers for peace.

We must come together to offer this family comfort. As the family of Tyree Nichols celebrated his 29 years of life. Tyrene was a beautiful person. And for this to happen to him, it's just unimaginable. The only thing that's keeping me going is the fact that I really true. believe my son was sitting here on an assignment for god thousands remembering the life of Nichols a dad who loved to skateboard and photograph the sunset it makes me feel sad that that happened to him he did not deserve what happened to him i'm like 100% trying to

support this family today among the mourners the families of brianna taylor and george floyd and Vice President Kamala Harris. We demand that Congress passed the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. Joe Biden will sign it. And we should not delay. Amid the grief, a resounding call to action. It is a plea for justice for Tyree Nichols. I was born.

The funeral taking place as new details emerge about the former Memphis police officers, now charged with beating Nichols to death. Lawyers for two of them in charge say they will plead not guilty. Personnel records first obtained by NBC News affiliate WMC show four of the officers had been disciplined in the past. Two of them, Desmond Mills Jr. and Demetrius Haley

for failing to file proper reports after using physical force during an arrest. Meanwhile, an unofficial copy of the initial police report filed after Nichols' encounter with the officers reveals discrepancies between what police say happened on the night of January. 7th and what the video shows. The Shelby County District Attorney's Office says they're reviewing the official report that they say matches the account of the unofficial copy we received. That account

says Nichols started to fight detectives when he was pulled over. But the video shows an officer yanking Nichols out of the driver's seat and slamming him to the ground. You guys are really doing a lot right now. Bro, lay down. I'm just trying to go home. The report also said Nichols grabbed for an officer's gun, but that was never seen on video. Officers heard talking about that on body camera after the incident. Then he was going from a gun, too, so I'm like, he grabbed a gun. The DA's office confirming the account he has seen does not mention officers kicking, punching, or slapping nickels, but does say officers pepper sprayed, tased, and struck him

with a baton several times. But for today, the family focused not only on their loss, but on Tyree's life. I'll never forget my brother. I'll never forget my Gemini to win. I love you. And just save a spot for me, bro. Okay, Priscilla Thompson joins us live from Memphis tonight. Priscilla, you were there at the funeral today.

Take us inside that room. What was it like in there? Well, Tom, you saw it was a very emotional day for the family of Tyrene Nichols. His mom at one point breaking down in tears, as she described her son as a beautiful soul and said that she felt like he was here on assignment. And one of the things that we heard in that room was people shouting back to the family, affirming them, and saying that they were going to be there to support them. And that was something that I heard from everyone who walked into this church today, who had seen that horrific video and said that they were

here to support this family, which is one of the things they'll need most moving forward. And they're going through this emotional time right now, and they still have so much left ahead in their schedules as far as the family's concerned, correct? Yeah, that's right. At the same time, even amid this grief, we're hearing them continue to call for justice. And in fact, next week, they are going to be heading to Washington, D.C., to attend President Biden's State of the Union address. And one of the topics that is almost certain to come up, police reform. Tom. Okay, Priscilla Thompson for us tonight. And Priscilla showed us so many of those powerful moments from that funeral. We're going to have

much more of them later in the broadcast to that. Night. Still ahead, though, the investigation into an infant death in New York City, a four-month-old dying in a New York City hospital, while nurses were on strike. The investigation now underway. And an update on Ron DeSantis and his fight to block an AP African American Studies class we told you about earlier. The surprise move made by the college board today, is this a victory for the Florida governor? Stay with us. Okay, we're back now with the ongoing controversy surrounding the AP African-American Studies course. College Board releasing a new framework of the class today after Republican Governor Ron DeSantis banned the course in Florida last week. Zinclair Essemwa has the latest on the new changes. It's Langston Hughes. Who knows who Lansing Hughes is? Tonight, the College Board unveiling a new framework for advanced placement African-American studies after pressure from critics to not include topics like Black Lives Matter and sexual orientation.

A critique many students in the pilot course resisted. It really hurt. Like, I thought we were moving forward in life. The college board saying its new syllabus includes the study of black artists, inventors, and gay Americans, pivotal in the civil rights movement. This is the beginning of a process that will more democratize American education. This latest chapter of U.S. education debate sparking protest and legal pushback in Florida last week. Black history is American history. Republican Governor Ronda Santis banning the pilot AP course in Florida.

His latest move restricting the teaching of race and sexuality in public schools. When you try to use black history to shoehorn in queer theory, you are clearly trying to use that for political purposes. The college board's new curriculum will no longer include authors flagged by Florida officials as scholars of concern. But it says the revisions were made independently from political pressure, adding it consulted with more than 300 professors of African-American studies and piloted the course in 60 schools across the country. Do you believe this updated course framework will be enough for Florida to lift their current ban? I do not believe that Florida is going to lift the ban because it's never been about this course. The governor was very clear. African-American studies doesn't have educational

value. And I think that the governor has led with that. The government has demonstrated that through policy, through comments, and so forth. The course is set to launch nationwide in the upcoming school year. Zinclair Samoa, NBC News. All right, when we come back, the warning from the CDC, the brand of eyedrops that could cause you to lose your vision or worse. And New York's Grand Central Station getting an $11 billion makeover, but all that money, and they forgot to spell check.

Can you spot the mistake? We'll show you next. Okay, we're back now with Top Stories News Feed, and we begin with the Philadelphia Eagles player indicted on rape and kidnapping charges less than two weeks before the Super Bowl. The offensive lineman was indicted by a grand jury in Ohio. He's accused of holding a victim against her will and raping her in 2019. The alleged crime was immediately reported. The NFL says Sills is not allowed to practice or travel with the team at this time. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates another quarter percentage point.

The move marked the eighth increase. since March of 2022. The Fed is hoping to bring down inflation. Despite recent signs of slowing inflation, it's still running near its highest level since the early 1980s. And the CDC has issued a warning on eye drops, possibly linked to a deadly bacterial infection. One person has died and three people have reported permanent vision loss after using EZERCare artificial tiers. The preservative free drops are sold over the counter in stores like Walmart and online at Amazon. So far, the has identified 50 people in 11 states with the antibiotic-resistant infection. Patients are advised to stop using the drops as the CDC investigates.

Okay, the MTA admitted to a major spelling mistake at a new $11 billion wing at New York City's Grand Central Terminal. Take a look at this Georgia O'Keefstone etching. Can you spot the mistake? Well, the MTA is now recognizing they forgot to add another F to the acclaim painter's last name. The etching is in the new Madison terminal. that opened up last week. The MTA says the issue is being fixed. Okay, now to the investigation into the death of a four-month-old baby at a New York City hospital.

The child's death happening during a three-day nurses strike there, but the hospital claims the fill-in nurses were properly trained that were there. NBC New York's Melissa Russo has this report. As nurses picketed outside Mount Sinai on day three of the strike, Noah Morton's parents were inside at their baby's bedside. Noah had spent his entire four-month-long life here in the neonatal ICU, but his parents say they had no indication that day would be Noah's last. It seemed so sudden, his father told the I-Team, describing the awful news later that night.

Noah's heart had stopped. I was surprised his mother said, I thought he was getting better. Now, three weeks later, another surprise. News reports that the hospital is reviewing their son's care to see if any mistakes were made. A hospital spokesman says this type of review is conducted in many NICU deaths, but not all of them. Noah's mother said, if they know his care was impacted by the strike, we would like to know. A hospital spokesman says Noah was a tragically sick baby. His parents say he was doing well or at least stable while awaiting surgery to repair a hole in his heart.

But one hospital insider familiar with Noah's care says there were other strike-related factors that they believe contributed to his death, like replacement nurses without NICU experience and failure to pick up subtle signs that Noah's condition was deteriorating. Before the strike, Sinai Management had warned it could impact their fragile NICU babies, some of whom they transferred out to other hospitals to lower the workload. As the three-day labor action unfolded, social media posts shared by striking staff and staff inside the hospital spoke of near misses and replacement nurses caught in stressful and chaotic situations in several departments, even as hospital administrators touted operations stabilizing. A 2010 report on patient outcomes during previous New York nurses' strikes found a 19% increase in hospital mortality. There's a little bit of research, and it suggests that when hospitals stay open, when the nurses are on strike, the replacement workers, whether they're agency nurses or management that's not used to being at the bedside that's stepping into that role, the quality of care goes down.

A Mount Sinai spokesman insists there's no reason to believe that the strike impacted Noah's care. He says throughout the strike, they had one trained NICU nurse for each NICU baby, including for NOAA. The Morton family tells us they're anxiously awaiting more information on their son's care. Meanwhile, they also say they're struggling to afford to bury their son, and they've started a GoFundMe page to raise money for his funeral. Tom, back to you. Also incredibly sad. Okay, Melissa Rousseau, thank you for that.

We turn out of the America tonight. We bring you an update on a story we first showed you back in December. Afghan brothers who fought alongside Americans during the war on terror have finally been reunited on U.S. soil. One was able to come to the U.S., but when the Taliban took over, the other had to fight his way going from Pakistan to Brazil to the U.S. southern border. Julia Ainsley tonight on the Afghan ally left behind. Today, Iran has been made right, and I would like to thank those that have worked tirelessly

to secure justice for my brother. union of two brothers, months in the making. One day being able to live an American dream. Thank you so much. Thank you, everyone. They were hunting him for a while. Sammy Safi had been fighting for the release of his brother Wasi since he crossed the U.S. southern border in September

and was detained in federal prison. He thought that if he comes to America, he will be treated as a hero. For years, the brothers fighting. alongside the U.S. against the Taliban. Sammy as a translator and Wasi as a member of Afghan special forces. Then the brother's lives diverged. Sammy earned a visa to the U.S. for his service and became a U.S. citizen while his brother stayed behind in Afghanistan until U.S. forces withdrew from the country in August 2021. Now a target of the Taliban for his help to Americans. Wasi escaped to Pakistan where he was given a humanitarian visa to Brazil.

From there, he took the dangerous journey so many other migrants take through the Darien Gap and Central America, through Mexico, and finally, to the U.S. border. It was there upon his arrival in September. He was detained in federal prison and charged with crossing the border illegally. A crime thousands of other migrants

commit daily without being in prison. Everyone just said you're illegally closed. but no one hear my reason. Top story was the first to speak with Wasi from prison in December. For months, Sammy launched a full court press, pleading with lawmakers for his brother's release, even reaching President Biden's desk with a request for a presidential pardon. Then last week, Sammy got the call he'd been waiting for. The Justice Department dropped all charges against his brother.

My hands were shaking and honestly I couldn't believe it. Wassey would be released to live with him in Texas. It was very hard for me to believe that I'm holding him back in my arms after so many years. But soon after his release, Sammy realized his brother still badly needed his care. He endured beatings along his brutal journey through the Americas, leaving him with significant injuries. hearing loss in one ear and missing teeth. The doctor had to work five hours in the first day of his release to make him be able to at least eat soft food.

Sammy said his brother did not get the medical care he needed for his injuries inside prison at Eden Detention Center. When we spoke to Sammy, Wasi was in too much pain to come to the camera. I'm trying to comfort him. I'm trying to tell him that. Everything will be okay. You're safe. You will not be sent back to Afghanistan. Have you found your happy ending to this story? Does it feel like the happy ending? I think the challenge just started. I think now I have to work even more to provide him a normal life.

All right, Julia Ainsley joins us tonight from Washington. And Julia, I want to go back to something in your report. There's an allegation there that Wazi was not taken care of after that perilous. journey when he ends up inside the Eden Detention Center on U.S. soil. That's right, Tom, and we reached out to Core Civic, which runs Eden Detention Center. They said that they were unaware of the allegations and the report and that they take seriously their role and responsibility to provide high-quality health care to individuals and their care. They said their team there follows CoreC Civic standards for medical care and standards put forth by their government partners.

You know, I want to talk about Wazi's journey because it is so incredible that he goes from Afghanistan, to Pakistan, to Brazil, through the Darien Gap right into the U.S. Do we know anything more about his journey? It's an extraordinary story, and it's one that began because he couldn't get on one of those last flights out of Afghanistan in August of 2021. He had to escape into Pakistan, a very dangerous journey, and get a humanitarian visa to Brazil. He was also beaten along the way, which is why he has a lot of those injuries that he says were left untreated. But now it's not exactly an easy road ahead. He still has not been given

any kind of assurance that he can stay legally in the United States. It's unlikely that the U.S. government would try to deport him back to Afghanistan. We haven't seen that happen. But he so far has not been told that he is off the hook for removal. Still in limbo after helping our troops in Afghanistan. Pretty incredible. Okay, Julia, we thank you for that story. Okay, coming up, back here at home, the goat retires again. Tom Brady announces he's leaving football. This time he says, it's for good. We'll look at the Rocky last year, both on and off the field.

And what's next for this legend? All right, we are back now with the major headline from the world of sports. One of the all-time NFL greats, Tom Brady, announcing he's retiring again. But after a season of drama and intrigue, both on and off the field, this time, he says it's for good. Here's Kaylee Hartton. Good morning, guys. I'll get to the point right away. I'm retiring for good. It's take two on retirement for Tom Brady.

Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream. I wouldn't change the thing. One of the greatest athletes of all time holding back tears as he broke the news on social media, ending his record-setting 23-year career, a seven-time Super Bowl champion. How about that? He only get one super emotional retirement essay, and I used mine up last year, so. Brady first announced his retirement last February, but quickly changed his mind. Back for season 23.

His final season in Tampa Bay, tumultuous on and off the field. After 13 years of marriage, he and supermodel Gissel Bunchen divorced in October. Today, she wished him well. Tom Brady. More than two decades ago, Brady began his NFL career a six. thrown draft pick. In just his second season, he led the Patriots to the first of his six championships there. He then capped his legacy in Tampa Bay with an improbable seventh Super Bowl victory at the age of 43. Kaley Hartung joins us tonight from Los Angeles. Kaley, you cover the NFL

and I think back on that last year for Tom Brady, right? He was really rolling the dice. He came out of retirement, played one more season. It didn't go his way. Plus he had all those problems personal. as well. What are people in the NFL circle saying about this last year? Will it, will it hurt his brand at all, or will he always be remembered as the greatest? You know, Tom, I think the overwhelming sentiment for people who got to cover Tom Brady is a feeling of respect and appreciation that we got to witness and cover greatness. I don't think you will find anyone who's going to say that Tom Brady's stock has gone down. Until the moment this news broke, there are plenty of teams out there who are shopping around for new quarterbacks

for next season. And there were conversations, questions being asked, where would Tom Brady play next season? So many fans hoping they would see number 12 trot out in their team colors to revive a franchise that needed help. So here's Tom Brady of 45 years old, holding every record a quarterback could dream of in the NFL, and he is walking off the field on his own terms. And then you, of course, mentioned that monster deal with Fox Sports. Do we think that we may see Tom Brady as soon as possibly this Super Bowl? Yeah, a 10-year deal. Let me repeat, $375 million.

And it just so happens that Fox Sports is broadcasting the Super Bowl this year. So, yeah, while Tom Brady is not going to end his career hoisting a Lombardi trophy, I think the Super Bowl could be an incredible stage for him to learn all about this new role and show us what it looks like seeing him there. But, you know, that last but a sound you heard from Tom in our piece, that was from just last night. He was on the red carpet for the premiere of a new film 80 for Brady, which Tom produced. He's got a production company, which I bet is going to keep churning out content. He's got his TB12, health and wellness brand. And also he launched a clothing line last year. So this is a guy

who's not riding off into the sunset, ready to go put his feet in the sand. He is going to stay busy and definitely stay close to the game. Yeah, still working. All right, Kaylee Hartung, my old friend, welcome to Top Story. So happy to have you on this team. Thanks, Tom. All right, coming up, the moving moments from today and the emotional tributes to Tyree Nichols. Stay with us. Welcome back.

The case of Tyrene Nichols shocked this nation. And today, his friends, family, and civil rights leaders touched the nation with their words memorializing him. So tonight we want to leave you with some of those powerful moments from that Memphis church. This violent act was not in front. pursuit of public safety. It was not in the interest of keeping the public safe, because one must ask, was not it

in the interest of keeping the public safe that Tyree Nichols would be with us here today? How do you have the same department than keep crime down on one side of town without beating folk to death but you can't do it on the other side of town unless you feel that you can get away with it there i can't speak for everybody in memphis i can't speak for everybody gathering but for me i believe that that man had been white you wouldn't have beat him like that that night i see the world Showing him love and fighting for his justice. But all I want is my baby birthday back.

And even in his demise, he was still polite. He asked him to please stop. Straight like northern. Let's never let them forget Memphis, because his legacy, will be one of equal justice. It will be the blueprint going forward. 20 days. We're going to start counting.

We can count the 20. And every time you kill one of us on video, we're going to say the legacy of Tyree Nichols is that we have equal justice swiftly. Swiftly. Swiftly. Straight like your mother. Straight like your mother.