Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, January 14, 2026

Episode Date: January 15, 2026

Tonight's Top Story has the latest breaking news, political headlines, news from overseas and the best NBC News reporting from across the country and around the world Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Breaking news tonight, the massive Verizon wireless outage, knocking out service to so many across cities. Phones unable to make calls, including to 911. Wireless service down for hours, no calls, text, or browsing. New York City telling people they might have to walk to police stations if they can't reach 911, the race to get service back up. Also tonight, the evacuation from space happening right now, the unprecedented mission to bring a sick astronaut home. We speak with a former astronaut about what happens next. Will America strike Iran, the U.S. evacuating troops from a neighboring country, what the president said today.

High-stake talks over Greenland as NBC learns the price to buy the territory could be as high as $700 billion. Why does the president want it and why now? Actor Matthew McConaughey taking out a whole new role, the steps he's taking to protect his voice and likeness from AI. Is Happy Hour a thing of the past? We speak with John Taff for a bar rescue about. why employees aren't meeting up for that post-work drink anymore. And love is in the air. The proposal that caught this pilot's girlfriend completely off guard.

We'll show it to you. Plus, we're two years away from the L.A. Olympics, but the ticket lottery now open. How much it could cost to score a seat. Top story starts right now. And good evening. If you've been having trouble making calls or sending text today, you're not alone. The nation's largest cell phone service provider, Verizon, in the middle of one of the worst outages ever. service down from coast to coast. The company hit with major nationwide disruptions impacting their

cellular data and voice services. SOS, an error message is seen on screens across the country as Verizon says their engineers are working to identify and solve the issue quickly. New York City, Houston, Philly, among the cities hit the hardest, that according to the outage tracking site down detector, but you can see it goes from east to west. And city officials in New York, Charleston and D.C. warning residents, the outage may impact their ability to even call 911. So what caused this major meltdown and why has it taken so long to get reconnected? Our Brian Chung leads us off. Tonight, the major meltdown for the nation's largest wireless carrier. Your call cannot be completed at this time. Verizon customers across the

country cut off by a massive network outage. The trouble began around noon eastern time with the outage tracking website Downdetector.com listing New York, Philadelphia, Houston, Atlanta, and Miami. as among the places with the most reported issues. Emergency management teams in multiple cities, warning that people may not be able to call 911. If you have access to a landline, use that. And if that is impossible, go to a police precinct or go to a firehouse. Verizon customers taking to social media expressing outrage that they couldn't contact loved ones.

Baby, this is unacceptable. Or stay connected for work. Verizon counter days because I literally had to stop at Starbucks. Verizon telling NBC News that their team was on the ground actively working to fix the issue, adding that we know this is a huge inconvenience. The company did not provide a reason for the outage. Verizon, with more than 146 million wireless customers, often promotes itself as the most reliable network with its famous catch line.

There's only one best 5G. You hear me now? But tonight, the advice. from officials for when you can't? It's also a good reminder for people to have an emergency plan, to have backups, plan A, plan B. It is a very good reminder. Brian Chung joins us now live in studio here on Top Story. So Brian, the big question people are going to be wondering, is this sabotage?

Is it a hack? And why isn't Verizon saying what's going on? Yeah, I think that's the natural question. A lot of people wondering, is this some sort of nefarious, you know, actor that's trying to go after Verizon? We don't have any reporting suggesting that's the case. did ask Verizon, hey, what is the root cause of this outage? And is there any reason to believe that this is a hack? They did not respond to our request for comment there. But a lot of people will recall the last big wireless outage was about two years ago at AT&T. At that time, it was very similarly a multi-hours long nationwide outage. That company at the time saying that it was the result of

an incorrect process used when expanding their network, not the result of a cyber attack. But Tom, I think the question is, when would we know if it ever is a hack, but it is a reminder, A lot of people should have backups, maybe even getting something like a Starlink, to make sure that they can still contact in the event of it. It's a good point. All right, Brian, we thank you for that. We're going to head overseas now to our other major headline tonight. Anti-government protesters in Iran who are terrified amid a violent crackdown. Now waiting to see if President Trump will make good on his promise to send help. NBC's Richard Engel has the latest. Tonight, President Trump is sending mixed messages to the Iranian people after promising that help is on the way to protect Iranian. demonstrators, he now says the Iranian government is easing up its violent crackdown.

And they've said they're killing us up and the executions won't take place. The State Department had specifically mentioned 26-year-old Iranian protester Efran Sultani, scheduled to be executed today, according to his family. Human rights groups say Iran has killed at least 2,500 people over the last two weeks to crush the uprising and detained more than 18,000. Today, Iran's foreign minister told Fox News the government was fighting against armed terror cells that killed dozens of security forces. They got police officers, burned them alive, they beheaded them, and they started shooting at police officers and also to the people. After teetering, the Iranian government appears to be finding its feet with government supporters flooding the streets.

The opposition now coming out mostly at night, according to a witness. President Trump says he's in dialogue with the Iranian government. They said people were shooting at them with guns and they were shooting back and, you know, they told me that there'll be no executions, and so I hope that's true. Does this mean military action is now off the table against Iran? We're going to watch him and see what the process is. Richard joins us tonight from Washington. So Richard, do we know if this potential military action by President Trump has been called off

or just delayed or, as the president likes to do, is he just showing a poker face right now? Well, I think he's deliberately trying to keep people guessing. The U.S. doesn't have very many military assets in the region, certainly compared to when it attacked Iran last summer. Just think a couple of weeks ago about Venezuela. It's just been a couple of weeks. The U.S. had an enormous amount of firepower in place to do a snatch-and-grab operation to capture Maduro. The U.S. had that kind of firepower in the Middle East when it went to war against Iran during the 12-day war aligned with Israel. So if they want to do another major operation, they'd probably need to move more assets into the region.

So he could be playing for time, but it could also be just a tactic. During the 12-day war, the U.S. was negotiating with Iran at the same time. So people I've been speaking to think that some sort of military operation will go ahead, but the U.S. needs a little more time to get its ducks in a row to put its military assets in the right places. And Richard, while I have you here, people may be watching this and wondering what's going to happen in Iran. This could take a very long time for change to come to that country. These revolutions sometimes, a lot of times don't happen overnight. If you go back in the history of Iran when the Shah was overthrown, I mean, that was a very long time. almost a year of protest back in 78 to 79.

Things move a little bit more quickly these days, and totalitarian regimes tend to break very slowly and then snap very quickly in the end. And it doesn't seem we are at that snapping point at the moment. The protesters came out. The Iranian regime for the first two weeks was completely blindsided. They did appear to lose control of large parts of the country. Now they are trying to show that they are back in control, but I don't believe that Israel and the Trump administration have moved on to another subject and are just going to ignore Iran. They recognize that Iran is weak. They recognize that the people have largely had enough of this Islamic Revolutionary government. But it perhaps could be that they need more time to prepare actions. All right, Richard Engel first.

Richard, we thank you for that. Now to an issue that could shape the global balance of power for decades to come, President Trump today, reiterating his desire to control Greenland, the world's largest island that is currently an autonomous territory of Denmark. We need Greenland for national security, so we're going to see what happens. You know, we're doing the Golden Dome. We're doing a lot of things, and we really need it. If we don't go in, Russia is going to go in, and China is going to go in.

Those comments coming as top officials from both Denmark and Greenland met with Vice President Vance and Secretary of State, Marco Rubio today at the White House. The Danish foreign minister had this to say after the meeting. It's clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland. We made it very, very clear that this is not in the interest of the kingdom. And this is interesting. NBC News has learned the U.S. could have to pay as much as get this $700 billion to buy Greenland, according to three people familiar with the cost estimate, which was generated. by scholars and former U.S. officials.

I want to bring in two people with opposing views of the issue tonight, Rufus Gifford, who served as the U.S. ambassadors in Denmark during the Obama administration, and Hogan Gidley, former White House Deputy Press Secretary during Trump's first term and a Republican strategist, a good friend to top story. We thank you both for being here. Ambassador Gifford, I'm going to start with you. The issue of national security, right? The U.S. military has had a base in Greenland since World War II, and Denmark is a longtime NATO ally.

But the president had this to say about the safety of Greenland. while it remains a Danish territory. Let's take a listen. You know, I can't rely on Denmark being able to fend themselves off. You know, they were talking about they put an extra dog, and they were serious about this, they put an extra dog sled there last month. They added a second dog sled. That's not going to do the trek. President Trump taking some shots there. What's your reaction to that, Ambassador? Oh, gosh, Tom. It's hard to know where to start with that comment. So the first thing is it misunderstands NATO. The good news is that were, God forbid, Denmark, Greenland attacked by one of our

collective adversaries, say Russia hypothetically, Article 5 of NATO would be invoked, and the entire alliance would be compelled to respond. This is the purpose of NATO. And the absurdity, and in the disrespect associated with the dog sled comment taught me just the facts. Denmark is spending $6.2 billion this year alone on Arctic security directed at Greenland. That's one expensive dog sled. As far as I'm concerned, it's an absurd statement, and it's disrespectful to one of our best allies. Hogan, you were part of the first Trump administration. Taking over Greenland was always an idea of floating around in the president's orbit. Why is this a priority now with so much going on around the world? And do you think the U.S. is ready to pay $700 billion for it?

Well, the price tag, I don't know that that's solid by any stretch, but you just hit the nail on the head when you said, why would you think about this when there's so much going on around the world? I mean, that's what Donald Trump is looking at, the global stage here. And when you realize that Greenland's basically equidistant between the United States of America and Russia, which is getting progressively more aggressive on the global stage, and I know the left hated what Russia did to Ukraine and as did Republicans, their aggression is getting bigger and bigger and bolder around the world, as is China. And so this isn't the first time a Republican president has talked about this. It was Donald Trump in his first term talking about

as well, as you just mentioned, but also Taft talked about buying Greenland as well. Johnson in the 1800s. Truman talked about buying it in the 40s, too. Strategically, militarily, it's an important piece of land. I don't think we're going to go and invade them by any stretch of the imagination, but I do think Donald Trump clearly wants a better partnership, a bigger position in that area, in that region, so we can thwart a lot of the aggressive actors and the blind actors around the globe. While I have you on that $700 billion number that NBC reported out with experts and former U.S. officials, my question to you is there's been some positive news on the deficit under the Trump administration.

Do you think they're going to want to swallow that knowing where the deficit where it's at right now? I mean, $700 billion, that's a lot of money. Hogan, sorry, that was to you, buddy. Oh, I'm sorry, Tom. Look, who knows? I mean, $700 billion is a lot of money. Anyway, you look at it, regardless of the tariffs we've taken in, regardless of the trade deficits, the economic success of this administration. Look, Donald Trump sees the world, not how he wants it, but how it actually is.

And when you have all these malign actors around the globe attacking us, attacking others, we're talking about a Verizon issue tonight. We don't even know if there's some type of hack there. It makes sense for him strategically to try and figure out how to protect the American. citizens, but also partners and allies around the globe. And whatever price tag that takes, I can tell you, Donald Trump most likely is willing to pay it. Ambassador Gifford, Secretary of the Interior, Doug Bergam, released this graphic. I want you to take a look at it. It's titled The New Interior, pointing out the flight time from Washington to Greenland is less than the flight time to Anchorage, Alaska. Alaska was purchased from Russia in the 1800s and is now a state.

Is this a fair comparison? You heard some of Hogan's arguments there. Do these sound like good ideas and why would some Americans be against this? Well, Tom, I mean, I think, sure, Greenland might be closer to the United States than Alaska, but proximity to the United States is hardly a reason to hostily take over one of our best allies. It makes no logical sense. By that argument, you could make a case for a whole bunch of other countries. But let me, let's remember here, because I just want to respond to something Hogan said. I mean, I couldn't agree. that we need to take Arctic security seriously. I actually think all of NATO, led by the United States,

remember, we used to have 17 military bases on Greenland. Now we have one. And we know that the Danes and the Greenlanders would welcome us back with open arms. My point here is that combined with the national security and the economic security argument, I think we should be mining rare earth minerals on Greenland. You know how we do it? We sit across the table from two of our best allies,

the Danes of the Greenland's of the Greenland's. the Greenlanders, roll up our sleeves and make a deal. There is absolutely no reason why you need to blow up one of the best alliances the modern world has ever seen in NATO to get that done. You think this could really blow up NATO? Well, look, NATO was certainly not set up to have one ally hostily with some sort of hostile action taking over another. Remember, the Danes have said Greenland is not for sale. The Greenlanders have said that Greenland is not for sale. As recently as yesterday, the Prime Minister of Greenland said that they will never be American. I don't know how you could take Greenland in any way

other than hostily, considering the environment. Hogan, we got a very short amount of time for this one. Why is the president sort of trolling Greenland, right? He likes to put the charm offensive when it comes to Russia and China when he's trying to do diplomatic affairs. Why is he trolling Greenland so much in Denmark? Well, I don't know he's trolling it so much. is trying to make a point to the American people that while he looks at ways to protect us and protect our partners and allies, there is a strategic piece of land

where we could expand some of our occupation. And I say that with partnership with Greenland, not taking it over by any stretch of the imagination. But also, look, he's a developer. He's a real estate guy. He looks at the map and says, wait a minute, if we need this to thwart China, we need this to stop Russia,

why wouldn't we work with them to try and get a bigger and better partnership on the table? And if that means buying them, fine. If it means working with them, they were there today having these conversations. So, as he likes to say, we'll see what happens. All right, Hogan, Ambassador, we thank you so much for joining Top Story tonight. We're tracking another big story right now, 250 miles above Earth right now. NASA is carrying out an unprecedented and urgent medical evacuation for a sick astronaut.

The crew having their mission cut short so one of them can be rushed back to Earth for treatment. Tom Costello is following the mission home. Space disc copies hatch closed. 329 Eastern this afternoon, crew 11 boarding their spacecraft for NASA's first-ever medical evacuation from the space station. Just after 5 p.m., they pulled away. Endeavour crew, enjoy the ride home. Heading home, Americans Zinik Hardman and Michael Fink, Japanese astronaut Kamia Yui, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Plantanov, leaving a month early after one of them developed what NASA calls a serious medical condition,

requiring treatment back on Earth. Our timing of this departure is unexpected, but what was not surprising to me was how well this crew came together as a family to help each other and just take care of each other. And this includes very much our teams on the ground. NASA won't identify which astronaut or their condition, but does say they remain stable. On Wednesday, Mike Fink handed over command of the space station. leaving American Chris Williams and two Russian cosmonauts on the ISS as crew 11 heads home. Dragon SpaceX on the big loop, depart, burn zero, complete. Tom Costello joins us tonight from Washington.

Tom, I know you've been tracking this since it was announced. What's the timeline for crew 11 now? So it's a 10 and a half hour journey from the space station down to splash down. Splash down will be off the coast of San Diego in the Pacific, 3.41 a.m. Eastern time. then they will be picked up by a recovery team, helicoptered over to shore, and eventually flown onto NASA. And that is where in Houston, and that is where they have extensive medical resources available to all of the astronauts, very advanced medical science, if you will, as well as all the equipment

that they need. All right, Tom Costello, and we hope those astronauts get home safely. For more and all this, I want to bring in former NASA astronaut. Mike, Massimino, good friend, a top story. Mike, great to see you tonight. Mike, I guess my first question to you is this. Viewers at home may be wondering, they're watching the Tom Costello report, they've been tracking this, and they're wondering maybe why NASA can't share some of that information.

Of course there are HIPAA laws, but, you know, America loves its astronauts, and I think a lot of people at home might be concerned about those astronauts coming back. Is it the privacy part of all this? Yeah, I think that's pretty much what it is, Tom. Your private medical information is your private medical information. I think NASA is just trying to protect the crew member. And even if the crew member is like, hey, you can tell people about it. I don't think NASA is going to let them do that quite yet.

So we'll see what happens. The time will play out if we find out who it is and what it was. But you don't always find these things out for privacy reasons. How unprecedented is this for them to be coming home? I mean, NASA has gone through so much in its history, right? And it felt like they almost turned on a dime and they were able to come back pretty quickly. I know it wasn't that fast. It's impressive how quickly they put this together.

Yeah, it sure is, Tom. You know, it's unprecedented. It's never happened before. And we've been flying people in space since before I was born. In 1961, we had a first Russian, first American went into space. So it's been a long time, and we haven't had to do this. They have people not feeling well,

where their task was done by someone else on the crew, but never have we returned to crew. So this is completely a completely different situation and what we've had before. Yeah, Mike, you've been in space, right? I don't know if you got sick at all, but at what level does this rise? Because NASA never used the word emergency.

I want to point that out right now, but they're literally coming back from space, the furthest place they could possibly come to. So maybe it is something more serious. We don't know, but where is the threshold on that sickness and when you have to come back home? I don't know if there is, Tom. I think a lot of things,

I think each one of these, because it's never happened before. So if it was a real emergency, And Tom and I were talking about this on an early, Tom Kassela and I would talk about it was an earlier program. They would have been on the ground already if it was really life-threatening. And we don't know how serious it is, but there's really a threshold. I think it was a lot of things. I think one thing is that they've been up there for five months.

And another crew is getting ready to go. And it's going to be one month probably or so of having only three crew members on the U.S. side. I'm having one crew member on the U.S. side as opposed to four. So I think that, even the operational aspect, it came into it. I think it's looking at the diagnostic equipment they have. The people are well trained. The astronauts are well trained to handle just about any medical emergency, and they're in close contact with the ground.

So I think a lot of this was a few things kind of pointed to, well, if we can bring the person home, why take a risk? It's interrupting some of the operations that had to cancel two spacewalks about this. They obviously don't know exactly what it is. I don't think they know what it is yet, actually, 100%. They want to do some more analysis on the ground because they don't have all the equipment you'd like in space. So I think it's really a combination of things

that drove them to this situation. Mike, always great to have you on this show. I'm sure we're going to be talking to you a lot in the days ahead. We thank you for that. We want to head to Minneapolis now, where tonight more violent clashes between federal officers and protesters are unfolding in the streets one week after the shooting of Renee Good.

And moments ago, our Shaquille Brewster spoke to her family's attorney. Protesters shouting and blowing whistles outside a hotel where they believe ICE officers are staying. And here a woman being violently pulled from her car telling officers she's trying to get to the doctor. DHS says she was purposely blocking officers and arrested for obstruction. Dramatic clashes in the week since the shooting death of Renee Good. Get out of the ball. DHS says the officer acted in self-defense. And tonight a DHS official telling a

NBC News, ICE officer Jonathan Ross suffered internal bleeding to the torso. In a new statement, Good's family calling her a beautiful light. The mission coming into Minneapolis was to get the worst of the worst. I can tell you one thing. Renee Good was the best of the best. What was it that caused that officer to go from zero to a hundred and shoot at her in a moving vehicle? Some Democrats now calling for ICE to be defunded. Our caucus members will oppose all funding for immigration enforcement in any appropriation bills until meaningful reforms. While DHS says amid protests, they are still enforcing immigration law, touting 2400 arrests

over several weeks, including suspects convicted of rape, sexual assault of a child, and homicide. ICE is doing our same law enforcement mission, but unfortunately, there is just such a hatred for President Trump. right now that it's blocking the views of what law enforcement is doing. But tonight we met Nimco Omar, who was outraged after being stopped for what officers called a citizen check. All right, can we see an ID please?

I am a US citizen. Before walking away when she refused. What did you think? I was scared. I don't know if they put me that vehicle, what's going to happen to me. Shaquille Brewster, NBC News, Minneapolis. And we're back in a moment with more dramatic testimony from that Opaire affair murder trial, the fiery exchanges during cross-examination.

Plus, the FBI searching the home of a Washington Post reporter. What we're learning tonight about the investigation, that search was tied to. And now is your chance to grab tickets to the 2028 Summer Olympics in L.A. We'll explain how you can snag a seat to the games ahead on Top Story. We're back now with a shocking double murder trial underway in Virginia where a man is accused of killing his wife and another man,

the defendant's former lover, who was the family's opair, back on the stand today. Here's Ellison Barber. Tonight in Virginia, more dramatic testimony in the double murder trial that's capturing attention across the country. The opair at the center of the case in the prosecution's star witness, Juliana Perez McGaluez, on the stand again today. Her former lover, Brendan Banfield, is accused of killing his wife, Christine, and a stranger,

Joseph Ryan, in an elaborate scheme to avoid a divorce and custody battle over their young daughter. Jose Banfield contacted Ryan on a fetish website, posing as his wife, luring him to the couple's home in 2023 with a plan to kill him and Christine, framing Ryan for Christine's murder. Banfield's team has denied he pretended to be his wife and says Christine engaged with Ryan directly. Today, the defense pressing, but as McGalue is about Banfield's alleged plot to kill, repeatedly questioning her memory. I mean, with all due respect, you don't remember a lot of details. Yeah.

That's what's really concerning about this. Well, if you wear my shoes, you don't remember either. Banfield's defense attorney also casting doubt on Perez-Magal-Uez's motivations for taking the plea deal. The fact that I took a year to accept my plea, it does not mean that I didn't have anything to hear the truth before. So the defense is focused on showing the jury that she's actually looking for self-preservation. She'll say anything to get out of jail. and to potentially walk free after this trial. From the beginning, the prosecution said physical evidence will be key to the case.

The blood cannot lie. And the blood puts Brendan Banfield, standing over Christine, stabbing her in the neck until she died. All right, Alison, Barbara, joins us here live in studio. So, Alison, today the defense was questioning her, the au pair, asking her about TV production deals, movie deals, if she's selling the rights to her story, Why is this relevant for the defense? So from the defense's perspective, it goes to her credibility. And it was a way to somewhat subtly raise the question of,

is she on the stand because she wants to tell the truth, or is she on the stand because she has something to gain? And the same way they're trying to do that with the plea deal. When we spoke to our legal analyst, she said the issue of TV rights during a murder trial is something that really has the potential to raise doubt among a juror and they only need one. All right, Alison, Barbara, Allison, we thank you for that. Still to come tonight, our new reporting on the arrest of actor Kiefer Suther

We have some of the new details. The charges the 24 star is now facing. But first, top story's top moment, and love is in the air. Sean took his girlfriend, Sarah, on her first flight with him in the pilot seat. But when he asked her to go over the emergency checklist, there was one important step she couldn't miss. Take a look. Is co-pilot ready to accept last name of pilot?

I love you, Sarah. My best friend. You, marry me? Yes. Oh, what a sweet moment there. Congrats to Sarah and Sean. We wish them many more flights together. All right, stay with us.

More top story on the way. We're back now with the rare search of a journalist's home here in the U.S. The FBI going into the Virginia House of a Washington Post reporter as part of an investigation into government contractors who have been accused of illegally retaining classified materials. And NBC's Kelly O'Donnell has been following the situation for us from Washington. So, Kelly, we know some of the players involved here. Walk our viewers through exactly what happened here and why this is sort of, it's not completely unprecedented, but again, as we said, it's very rare in this country.

Well, that's a good place to start, because this kind of action against a reporter's home is highly unusual because of the protections of the First Amendment. Here's what we know. The FBI carried out a surprise search at the suburban home of a Washington Post reporter. Agents there seized her work and personal computers and a smart watch. The Washington Post, her employer, says that, has... Natenson says she was told she is not a target of this probe, which again makes this search so important because it could expose her sources and constitutionally protected work.

Now, the Justice Department officials we've talked to today say this is about a Pentagon contractor who has a top secret clearance previously served in the Navy. That man, Aurelio Perez-Logonis, has been in systems work at a defense contractor. A criminal complaint says he copied government secrets and class of materials and that those were later found in his home and his car. He has been charged with retaining national security information. This reporter has not been charged with anything. Now, today, the president also spoke about this in an unexpected way in the Oval Office, and he disclosed that this involves information regarding Venezuela. And some of the things the court documents do not reveal.

So it was notable today that the FBI director posted about the reporter that she was found to be allegedly obtaining and reporting classified sensitive military information. Again, reporting on classified material is not a criminal offense under the First Amendment. It can be an offense for the person who leaks the information. Also, the executive editor of the Washington Post called the search extraordinary, aggressive action that raises profound questions about the constitutional protections. Tom? It does. You know, viewers at home may be wondering, did this journalist have any protections? Could she say no? Could she try to hide her laptop, kept her laptop?

What more do we know about this? Because, you know, in our business, we know journalists, we have met journalists, who have gone to prison for protecting sources who have given them information and not want to testify in court. How does this one sort of work into that? Well, what makes this different is often when the government wants to know something that a reporter knows, they go to the employer. They try to seek some kind of agreement,

knocking on the door in the early morning hours and executing a raid is a very different, and obviously on its face, a more aggressive approach. It was a lawful search warrant, and so she complied and provided her work laptop, her personal laptop. We don't have the inventory from what was taken. Again, she is described as not being the target of this probe. There will be more questions. A number of journalists organizations, advocacy groups for journalism in the First Amendment have been very concerned about this.

The Attorney General said that this was prompted by Defense Secretary Pete Hegzeth asking the Department of Justice to work on these leaks. And he has thanked Pam Bondi for taking this action. So there's more to come on this, but there are real questions. And if we step back, one impact could be a chilling effect on journalism, especially in Washington, when there's tension between reporters and an administration, when there are a chilling effect. real questions about the First Amendment. Kelly, you've spent a lot of your career reporting out of Washington. I said at the beginning this is not completely unprecedented.

It has happened before where administrations have come after reporters or at least tried to get their source material. Looking back on your reporters' notebooks from years past and past administrations, how does this compare to other administrations? There were times during the Obama administration where they were subpoenaing journalists, too. And certainly this has happened over time. And one of the things reporters want to do is to protect their sources. When you turn over a computer or notebooks or any of those tools of journalism,

it is possible there is a secret information that is a lawful part of journalism that the government could use to its advantage to pursue its aims. Again, the government can go after contractors or others who have security clearance and are caught leaking information. That is criminal. Being a journalist on the receiving end of that is not. Kelly O'Donnell for us tonight from Washington, Kelly. Thank you. We're going to head now to Top Stories News Feed. And we start in North Carolina where authorities say burglars robbed the home of late NASCAR legend Greg Biffle. This is a sick one.

This happening just weeks after Biffle, his wife and two children died in a plane crash. We're told a backpack along with $30,000 in cash were reported missing from the house. The sheriff's office says nobody has been arrested and the case remains under investigation. And the civil rights pioneer, Claudette Colvin, has died. She was just 15 years old when she was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. That was nine months before Rosa Parks gained international fame for the same act of resistance.

Colvin's foundation says she died of natural causes in Texas. She was 86 years old. And a woman and her dog rescued after falling through the ice on a pond in upstate New York body camp footage It shows state troopers attempting to reach the dog trapped in the water. The officers try to rescue it with a rope that end up climbing into the pond to pull it to safety. They say both the dog and the woman are now doing okay tonight. Okay, starting today, you can register to score tickets to the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Sports fans can sign up online, giving them the opportunity to buy tickets during a randomly drawn time slot. Winners will get notified through email and tickets will start at $28. The 2028 Olympics is set to feature 36 sports with five new additions, including baseball. West Wing actor Timothy Busfield making his first court appearance today as new details were revealed about previous sex abuse allegations. NBC's Dana Griffin was at the hearing today. You will continue to be held without bond. Tonight, West Wing star Timothy Buzzfield in an orange jumpsuit appearing stoic next to guards as today a new allegation of sexual abuse surfaces. This time, a 16-year-old girl whose father says several years ago,

Buzzfield allegedly kissed her and put his hands down her pants during an audition. According to court documents, Buzzfield allegedly begged the family not to report him to police if he received therapy. NBC News reached out to Buzzfield for comment and has not received a response. Today, Buzzfield making his first court appearance from a New Mexico jail on child sex abuse charges, alleged by two brothers, both actors on set of the cleaning lady. And new tonight, video from the Daily Mail Plus shows heavily armed U.S. Marshals ramming the door of Busfield's upstate New York home Tuesday, moments after he turned himself in to

Albuquerque Police. He had been wanted since Friday. His attorney says he was never on the run, but driving cross-country to New Mexico. According to court documents, the now 11-year-olds told their parents and therapist, Buzzfield, who they called Uncle Tim, rubbed and touched one brother's genitalia when he was seven, the abuse lasting two years. The Emmy Award-winning actor yet to enter a plea. His lawyer today maintaining the claims are not true.

Busfield this week telling TMZ, they're all lies, and I did not do anything to those little boys, and I'm going to fight it. Buzzfield will remain in jail until his next court appearance, likely next week where a judge will decide if he's eligible for release. Tom? Okay, Dana Griffin for us tonight on that story. For more on these allegations, I want to bring in NBC's Chloe Malas and NBC News legal analysts Danny Savalos. Chloe, Danny, we thank you for being here.

Chloe, this is not the first time that we heard Dana's report there that there's been allegations brought against him. Clear up a lot of the reporting that's out there because you've learned something new tonight. Sure. So the B Street Theater in Sacramento, California, has just released a statement to NBC News saying that they are aware of an incident involving a young woman 25 years ago, but that this was handled at the time that he is not involved with the theater in any way, although he is listed on the website as being still a part of the board, that he actually doesn't have any active involvement. But I have reached out to Buzzfield's legal team for comment. When it comes to Warner Brothers, Warner Brothers

and the allegations that are happening this week. The allegation that's happening right now with these two young boys who are 11 years old, the parents brought this to the attention, these allegations to Warner Brothers, the parent company, the studio behind the cleaning lady, and they launched an independent investigation in the spring. And what they did, Tom, is that they hired a third-party attorney, a law firm, to look into this. And this attorney, her name is Christina McGovern. She released a statement to NBC News yesterday, and she said, I interviewed all sorts of people. Warner Brothers gave me carte blanche to talk to everybody and get evidence, and that she, quote, found no corroborating evidence that Mr. Busfield engaged in inappropriate conduct or that he was ever alone with the twins on set.

So I don't know how that plays into the current criminal investigation here, but I mean, that is substantial that Warner Brothers could not corroborate this at the time. Danny, you've seen what we've put forward so far. I know this is not a court of law here. This other allegation from years ago, how does this all affect this case right now? It's being used specifically as part of a detention motion. He's not actually being charged with it. It's an argument that the prosecution's making to advance their argument that he should be detained or have a high bail. That's really what it's for. So it's a little misleading in the sense that any suggestion that he's actually being charged with.

He may be eventually, if there's a statute of limitations that's still open and available. But at present, it's really just for purposes of the motion for detention. Chloe, we're also tracking what's happening to Kiefer Sutherland. We reported this last night here on Top Story when it first came out. I think NBC, Los Angeles was the first to break this. What do we know about what's going on there in that case? What updates do we have? Sure.

Well, as it pertains to Kiefer Sutherland, a source familiar with what's going on there says that Kiefer Sutherland was out with a friend for dinner. And shortly thereafter, somebody called an Uber. And he gets into this Uber. and while he's in the Uber, he asks this Uber driver, or perhaps demands three times for the Uber driver to stop and let him out of the car. Things escalated. The source says that it was strictly a verbal altercation, but police have arrested him and booked him on suspicion of not just physical threats, but verbal threats and also putting his hands on this Uber driver. That's

something that NBC News has not been able to corroborate or confirm, but he was released on a 50 $20,000 bond, and he's going to have a court date on February 2nd. And, you know, for anybody that has followed Kiefer Sutherland, obviously he's had this enormous career as Jack Bauer on the beloved show 24. My mother, one of her favorite shows. You know, he has had run-ins with the law arrested multiple times for DUIs. He actually spent 48 hours behind bars several years ago for a DUI. So potentially some of that could come into play. But for now, unlike, you know, Timothy Busfield, who is behind bars, He is not. He posted bail, and he's awaiting that court hearing. Danny, you've heard everything we've got so far on the reporting side of this.

What do you think? I mean, a big deal for Keith or Sutherland or not really? He's charged with the felony, but this is a creature of California law, almost exclusive to California, called a wobbler. And a wobbler is a crime. A wobbler. Yeah, that's what they call it in California. It's a crime that can be charged either as a misdemeanor or a felony in the prosecutor's discretion. And because the prosecutor may have thought that these were extreme threats, threats of serious bodily. harm or death, the prosecution has the power to say, well, this is beyond a misdemeanor. I'm going to charge this threat statute as a felony. Wobbler, folks. A wobbler. All right, Danny and Chloe, we thank you so much. I've never heard that before. And that's your mom, like 24, which is

good, too. Okay, still ahead tonight. What of Hollywood's most iconic and recognizable actors taking legal action to protect himself against AI copycats will explain. Plus, the summit between two world leaders that turned into a surprise jam session. We'll explain this one. It's It's pretty cool. That's next. We used to look up in the sky and wonder at our place in the stars. I just look down and worry about our place in the dirt. In the sci-fi blockbuster interstellar, Matthew McConaughey plays a NASA pilot trying to save humanity's future. But tonight, the Texas actor is trying to protect his own ahead of the rapid rise of AI in Hollywood.

NBC's Morgan Chesky on the new legal frontier facing some of the world's biggest. stars and McConaughey's bold new strategy. All right, all right, all right. It's the iconic line from one of the most recognizable voices in Hollywood. You're beautiful. Smooth, Texan. And with today's artificial intelligence capable of being recreated to make Matthew McConaughey say almost anything, which is why the actor is fighting back.

To us, it's his fear. McConaughey officially filing to trademark his name, his voice. and even his likeness. A move designed to create a legal no-fly zone around his persona, giving him the power to sue if AI companies use his brand to sell products or train their models without his explicit permission. The move first reported by the Wall Street Journal and confirmed to NBC News by McConaughey's legal team. The law says that you cannot touch. But I think I see a lot of lawbreakers up and that's how to it. For the 56-year-old actor, the move is about more than just money. As the rise of AI and its capabilities explode, he's betting the law can keep his identity

uniquely his, especially in times where you can't always believe everything you see or hear. It's not that you don't want these systems to look at what we do or who we are or learn from us. It's that we don't want these systems to pretend to be us. And he's not alone. Other celebrities have dealt with AI content using their likeness being generated without their consent. Tom Hanks, followers, advertisers were using AI to create ads that appeared to show him promoting miracle cures and wonder drugs. Taylor Swift depicted in AI generated sexually explicit images on X, and Scarlett Johansson calling out Open AI for using a voice eerily similar to hers. When you take that feel today, you've got to lay that heart on the line, man.

Tonight, the Texan turned star, drawing his own line in the legal sand, ahead of an uncertain AI future. Morgan Chesky joins us tonight from LA and Morgan this is quite interesting. It's not that McConaughey is against AI here. In fact, we've seen him invest in artificial intelligence before. Yeah, Tom, we have and not just investing in artificial intelligence, but actually partnering with a voice cloning business called 11 labs that allows customers to license the voices of famous stars or celebrities. And one recent example that shows what they're capable of is McConaughey used the technology that 11 has to create a Spanish version of his voice so that his newsletter could, quote, reach an even

larger audience. Tom? That's pretty mind-blowing there. Morgan, I'm going to throw something else your way. This is completely random. When they do the Morgan Chesky story, right, the life of Morgan Chesky, that high school, Texas phenom football player, becoming the big network correspondent, I can see Matthew McConaughey playing a Morgan Chesky later in life. Do you see that? I won't disagree. I've had that Texas twang beaten into submission for years now, but it would certainly be a high praise if he would consider that role. I can see that. All right, Morgan Chesky, great to talk to you. Thank you, my friend. Okay, we're going to head overseas now to Top Stories Global Watch and get a check of other headlines that are happening around the world.

We're going to start in Northeast Thailand. We're covering a deadly story. There are crane collapsed onto a moving passenger train, leaving more than 30 people. dead. Dozens others are hurt. You can see the aftermath with piles of twisted metal and debris. Authorities say the train was traveling from Bangkok and that the crane was being used to help build part of that railway there. The U.S. pushing forward with the next phase of its peace plan with Gaza. That's new today from President Trump's special envoy, Steve Whitkoff. He says the plan will help start rebuilding and demilitarizing Gaza as well as create what he calls a transitional Palestinian administration. Wittkoff did not give any details about the specific timeline,

and Hamas officials have yet to respond to our request for comment tonight. And a unique display of diplomacy between Japan's prime minister and South Korea's president. Take a listen. A summit yesterday in Japan, the two leaders sitting down for a surprise jam session, playing some K-pop hits on the drums. The Japanese prime minister was apparently an avid drummer in college and complimented her counterpart on being a fast learner. Pretty incredible.

Okay, coming up, what happened to Happy Hour? We'll hear from the man behind Bar Rescue John Taffer about why fewer people are heading to the bars after work, and what those bars need to do to bring those crowds back. It's a great conversation. That's next. Hey, Boss Man. Yes. A bunch of us are going to get some drinks.

You in? Ladies and gentlemen, it is quitting time. I'm sorry, I meant later. Okay. For Happy Hour? Sure. No, I got that. Trying to get a head count.

I am in. All right. That was a clip from the Off. celebrating an age-old workplace ritual happy hour. But are the days of grabbing a cheap drink with coworkers a thing of the past? An article that caught our eye in the Wall Street Journal titled, What Happened to Happy Hour, takes a closer look at why a social staple of the American office culture is disappearing.

The reasons cited include people still working from home post-COVID. Business budgets for mandatory fun have shrunk, and everyone may be drinking less. Tonight we're joined by one of the biggest experts on the bar industry in the United States, John Tafer, host and executive producer of Bar Rescue, as well as the owner of multiple bars and restaurants. John, thank you so much for coming on Top Story. Very excited to talk to you tonight. We know that COVID and remote work took a chunk out of the bar business for the time being. When it comes to bars and Happy Hour right now, what are you thinking? What is the reason?

Well, you know, the unique thing about a bar is the socialization that happens and that human interaction that happens in a great bar. You know, Tom, you can make that drink at home. You know, you can make those chicken wings or whatever at home, but you can't get that social interaction. And I think that's a real loss, because when companies need to create a culture and they build what they call a team, well, that team needs to spend time together

to have some connectivity. So I think the loss of these happy hours has a detrimental effect on relationships and companies. But it's a combination of a number of things. People working remotely. Obviously, alcohol consumption is down. We're seeing that, certainly. Prices, I think people,

People are a little price sensitive these days. But bars to be successful need to focus on the social element over the product. We don't have to have alcohol products to have a great happy hour. We have to have a great social environment to have a great happy hour. I love that idea. Yeah, I love that idea. I want to talk to you more about that. But you brought up so many good points here, John.

It's why you're the maister of this. But I want to hone it on one. You talked about people drinking less. I want to put up a poll for our viewers here. This is a Gallup poll of alcohol consumption in the U.S. It's hit a record low with just 54% of Americans saying they are drinking. Gen Z has also jumped on this trend of drinking less. What do you think the factor is for that?

Do you think that's people trying to get healthier, or do you think it's also the proliferation of recreational drugs that are seeing more mainstream now? Well, you know, we think cannabis has had an impact for sure, Tom. There's no question about it. But I think economics has had an impact, too. The price of a cocktail has gone up considerably in the past few years. But I think social concerns, health concerns, cannabis, and not spending as much time in these bars have affected it as well. And interestingly, Tom, you know, lunch and happy hour is the same customer in a business environment.

Because you go to lunch from work, you go to happy hour from work. So when happy hour suffers in those markets, lunch is also suffering. You can't hurt one without affecting the other. You know, I was hearing from our staff today, and New York City is sort of a little bit of an anomaly because it's a big city. it's very expensive. And some of the staffers here were telling us in the city, they spent $20 for a cocktail. It's expensive to drink. Are you seeing the same trends across the country? Still very expensive. And is this on the bars or is this on the landlords? Are rents going up and bar owners need to charge more? Well, you're sitting in New York. I have many friends that are restaurateurs in New York have bailed.

They've left New York saying that the only person making money in the business in New York of the landlords. So certainly that's a major, major factor. Add the cost of labor, the cost of labor, the cost of cost of insurance, the cost of food, the cost of beverage. You know, we're struggling to make the profit. But, you know, the OZEPIC population provides an opportunity for restaurants to provide smaller portions and provide a better value equation. And I'm finding that, I know in my places, we're going in that direction. A lot of OZempic users, Tom, throw away 50, 60 percent of their entree. So I'm seeing a trend of smaller entrees, lower prices to fight that value proposition. And I'm finding the same as happening with cocktails as well. Lower proof cocktails, less alcohol in the

cocktail to manage cost and reduce the amount of alcohol intake. Before you go, you brought up that great point about being social. Bars can't just be about drinking. What are sort of three things you advise bar owners to think about when they want to expand that social aspect? Well, first of all, music is very, very important, right? Tempo music. People go where they relate to the music. Lighting is very important, Tom. The lower the lighting, the closer we get together, I'd have to get closer to you. The volume of music causes people to get closer together. The height of seating puts everybody's eyes within 10 inches of each other

to stimulate social interaction. Sephora plans, layout, seating heights. All of these things are designed to make my eye look in somebody else's eye and create connectivity. And that's when magic happens in a bar when people connect. John, you just gave us a master class on how to own a bar. We appreciate that. Thank you so much for coming on tonight.

Good to see you. All right, that's going to do it for us tonight. We thank you so much for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamis in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.