Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Episode Date: January 23, 2025

Tonight's Top Story has the latest breaking news, political headlines, news from overseas and the best NBC News reporting from across the country and around the world.

Breaking tonight, the new wildfire exploding in Los Angeles County. The fast-moving huge fire consuming thousands of acres in just a matter of hours. Nearly 20,000 residents forced to evacuate. Right now, massive plumes of smoke and flames threatening a major highway. Our team with the latest from the fire zone. Also tonight, the serious ice danger in the south. The rare winter storm leaving the region stunned. drivers ditching their cars and the winter blasts now stranding passengers at the country's busiest airport.

Trump's war on DEI, the president dismantling diversity programs across all government agencies, the far-reaching impacts of that decision, including the federal workers now without a job. AI's Oscar-nominated performance controversy swirling after the editor of the brutalist admits to using AI to enhance actor Adrian and Brody's Hungarian accent. So is the award buzz fair? Stop the videos, Justin Baldoni releasing new videos of him and Blake Lively on set as their ongoing legal feud continues. The action just taken from Lively and Ryan Reynolds to try and prevent him from releasing

any more. And work in it, the Walmart dupe of the iconic Hermes bag going viral and sparking a debate about luxury fashion. Reality TV star Bethany Frankel joins us to get a handle on which one is real and which one is the knockoff. Plus, the tabloid apology to Prince Harry decades after Princess Diana's death. Top story starts right now. And good evening. We are following breaking news as we come on the air.

A new fast-moving wildfire burning out of control in northern L.A. County. Right now, nearly 20,000 are under evacuation orders, and thousands of others are being warned to prepare to leave. Here are the live pictures at this hour. You can see that dark smoke and those flames engulfing that hillside. Aerial video just in showing the air assault and all-out effort to get the flames

under control. You see those planes passing by one another, dropping that fire retardant. New video showing kids running out of their school. The flames closing in during the middle of the school day, you can see the thick black smoke in the backdrop. At this hour, people are frantically loading up their cars as flames quickly

scorch thousands of acres. Others are taking out their garden hoses to try to protect their homes from the fire. We know these pictures so well, some even using a pool pump. New aerial video as those strong Santa Ana winds fuel the flames, picking up embers and sparking more fires. Our affiliate NBC Los Angeles reporting that ash is raining down due to those powerful gusts. This is all happening in the Castaic community, just 40 miles north of downtown L.A. and 10 miles north of Santa Clarita, section of the major I-5 freeway has been forced to shut down. In a moment, we'll hear from a man working on a movie set in the area when he had to drop everything and evacuate. But we want to start tonight with NBC correspondent Liz Kreutz in the fire zone. Liz, talk to us about the

situation right now in the ground. Hey, Tom, yeah, I mean, this has been a really fast-moving fire. We got here a couple hours ago and have just seen it explode inside as it made its way down this hillside here. You can still see the smoldering, but just an hour ago, I mean, we were seeing 20-foot flames. But firefighters have been able to attack this aggressively. They've been using this lagoon here to do water drops to fill up and attack this thing from the air. All of this being fueled by these strong, relentless winds here. This is what officials, oh, I'll see here actually point. You can see here at Chopper, they've been coming in every few minutes to do these water drops. So that is making a huge difference here as they try to prevent this fire from making

its way to the town and all those homes that are threatened right now. But as I was saying, with these wins, this is what officials were worried about and warning about all week. Tonight, a new fast-moving wildfire torching the hills north of Los Angeles. If you're able to, you want to get out right now. Mandatory evacuation order. Forcing evacuations in the town of Castaic, including homes on both sides of Interstate 5 and schools, sending students running. The Hughes fire igniting just after 11 and quickly exploding in size to more than 5,000 acres with zero containment. This neighborhood is under a mandatory evacuation order, but instead of getting out, many residents are doing this, hosing down their homes and property. My wife, my animals were ready to go.

The fire fueled by single-digit humidity, bone-dry brush, and strong winds, relentless conditions that have plagued Southern California now for more than two weeks. How worried are you about all this? Very, obviously. Since the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires demolished more than 16,000 structures, tonight, new red flag warnings leaving the county on high alert. As previous fire victims continue to struggle, now a new concern about identity theft. Judy and Stefan Zweig say they're the victims of FEMA fraud. Everybody over the weekend was saying, okay, you're at your lowest, this is it. No, we weren't quite at the bottom. Now we are.

When the couple went to apply for federal aid, they say they were told someone already had, using Stefan's name, address, and social security, leaving them locked out of the process and unable to access any disaster relief. You just feel sort of abandoned. You just feel like, you know, what more could happen? What else is going to happen next? FEMA telling NBC News in a statement that despite safeguards in place, unfortunately, bad actors sometimes exploit disaster situations.

Victims of fraud should contact FEMA's hotline. Just one more layer of anxiety for a state on edge that continues to burn. Liz Kreutz joins us again live tonight from the fire zone. So Liz, you point out that that area is on edge. What differences and or similarities you see between the fires from two weeks ago and tonight? Yeah, well, Tom, I mean, some of the similarities are just the fact that they are being fueled by these really strong winds and that it just, you know, happened at a moment's notice, exploded, and that we were seeing students, kids, families have to evacuate. at a moment's notice. The difference, and this is the good news today, is that this fire started

in a much more rural area than the Eaton and the Palisades fires. And so it's, you know, not necessarily making its way to the homes. We haven't seen neighborhoods engulfed in flames at this point. That's not to say it won't happen as these winds pick up as spot fires spread and ember spread. But we're not seeing entire neighborhoods engulfed at this time just because of sort of where the region is. And also, even though the winds are strong right now, Tom, as you know, recovering the Palisades fire. In those first few days, they weren't able to fly helicopters to attack this from the air. And as you just saw, today they are. And that makes a huge difference in putting out these fires. It's a great point. All right, Liz, we thank you for your reporting

tonight. For more on this exploding wildfire. I'm joined tonight by Daniel Valuzzi, who oversees multiple movie production locations in the Santa Clarita Valley, where this latest fire is burning. He evacuated earlier today. Daniel, thanks for joining us tonight. I can see that fire over your right shoulder. How far away is that from where you are right now? Right now, this fire is probably, I would probably say about probably two miles from where I'm at right now, but I'm standing in front of multiple streets that are that are being closed into neighborhoods right now that are under a mandatory evacuation. So talk to me how they evacuated you and your production team. Well, what we decided to do, what we have is a 240-acre

facility with multiple sets from motion picture and television production. And we have productions coming in and out, prepping, striking, filming. And we just felt that it was in the best interests of everybody today to just shut the studio down and not allow anybody in for filming, production, striking, wrapping, or even scouting today with the events of all these wildfires and this really unpredictable win. We just felt it was the safest thing to do. Those movie sets are your business. Are the sets okay?

if the fire has moved closer to them? Well, currently the sets are okay. It's just the changing winds. The fire for the longest time was burning away from us, but then strangely enough, one of the rarest things that I've happened to see is the fire actually started pushing and burning towards the wind. So it was like burning into the wind, and then that's when I made a decision that we should probably change things around

and leave. It's just, it's a really an unpredictable fire that just kind of twists and swirls at times. And one minute it's going with the wind. Sometimes it's burning against the wind, which is something I'm not used to seeing in my 56 years in this community, which deals with brush fires quite often during the season. Yeah, so Los Angeles County is massive, right? And a lot of the images that we're seeing this week, as opposed to the fires about two weeks ago, we're seeing a lot of these fires burn up in the mountains, but they are close to some residential areas. Besides Castaic, what else is threatened around there? What other areas that maybe viewers across the country would know? Well, there's a lot of estates, large estate homes in the Hasley Canyon area. Their large acreage ranches, a lot of

livestock, a lot of horses and farm animals, you know, lots of brush in those areas. Casteak itself has you know, multiple housing tracks located in and around brush. And then in the city of Santa Clarita, we also have quite a bit of brush on the hills and things. We don't have quite the density that you saw and say like the Palisades fires and things like that. So we do have a lot of space in between structures, I think, which hopefully helps our firefighters get a handle on things to avoid what we saw. Danielville-Yuzi, we hope your sets are going to be okay in your business as well. And of course, your homes will be thinking about you in covering this story. Thank you. I appreciate that.

For more on the raging wildfire, I'm joined tonight by NBC News meteorologist Bill Karen. So, Bill, walk us through the latest on the conditions there. And if you see any positives or things that are concerning you tonight. Yeah, well, the firefighters are going to be fighting this in like a tropical storm. And that's extremely dangerous. And we're still going to see that explosive development. The question is, will they continue to be able to fly the air at? assets to slow down that forward progress and to protect structures. That's the difference.

Hurricane forest winds with the palisades and the Eaton fire, they had to ground them. So hopefully they can keep the aircraft up and give themselves a fighting chance. So here's downtown Los Angeles, and this is where the Hughes Fire is located. I-5 is shut down right now. And most of the populated areas where the homes are are near I-5 here. So the fire has been burning in this rural area, but the winds are going to continue to push it to the west into the southwest towards those structures. So that's the battle going on right now with the firefighters to contain this portion. The lake has contained portions of it, but tonight those winds are going to gust to 50 to 70 miles per hour. Right now, they're only 30 to 40. They're

almost going to double Tom. And then we get those spot fires well ahead of it. It's going to be a very dangerous night tonight. Hopefully when we wake up tomorrow morning, the firefighters will win this battle, but they got their hands full. Yeah, we're all hoping for that. Okay, Bill, we Thank you. We want to move on now to some more extreme weather that's happening across the country. We head to the south right now, where we've been following that crazy winter storm that has covered everything in snow and ice, record-breaking cold, causing chaos on the roads and beyond. Atlanta's airport, the busiest in the country with major delays. Tens of thousands now without power as the region braces for another night of bitter cold. Here's Priya Shrether.

Millions in the south in the grips of severe weather. In a region rarely slammed with snow. Just outside of Atlanta, slick roads stalled cars, some hoping the sun would melt the ice. Get your little spot and just wait it out. You know, I'm not saying it's simple, but smarter. Drivers at a standstill on this highway in Georgia for more than 12 hours.

We're gonna be here a minute. In DeKalb County, officials issuing a state of emergency, urging residents to shelter in place. We have also treated more than 500 tons of roads with sand, of course, salt and calcium chloride. So this is a very serious condition that we're facing. Atlanta's airport hit with just over one inch of snow. Airport officials say some TSA officers struggle

to get to work, wait times for travelers up to 90 minutes. Passengers finally moving at Tampa's airport, where dozens of flights were delayed and canceled. Had a day, it's like it been three days, and it's only been like a day. In Jacksonville, Florida, officials say three bridges are now open again after multiple crashes closed them. In Louisiana, cities are blanketed in snow. A historic 10 inches swept parts of New Orleans overnight. Tonight, tens of thousands remain without power along the Gulf, as a lot of. many worry, major disruptions could continue for days to come. Priya Shrether joins us live tonight from Atlanta.

So Priya, talk to us about what officials are worried about there as another night of below freezing temperatures hits this region. Yeah, that's right, Tom. Well, with those below freezing temperatures, the real concern here is that all of that snow that's been on the roadways could melt, and that could then turn into a sheet of which would translate into more dangerous, icy road conditions. So local officials here are really warning folks to shelter in place, stay off the road. They don't want to see more scenes like what you saw in that story right there, where

this city essentially turned into a bumper car landscape where people were having to abandon their cars and we just saw dozens of vehicles abandoned overnight. They really want emergency crews to be able to get to people who are having medical emergencies, And they also really want those crews to be able to attend to the roads to put sand and gravel down. We're also watching tens of thousands of people along the Gulf Coast, as I mentioned, who have lost power. Local officials are warning there that because they're simply not equipped and they're not accustomed to this type of weather, it could take several more days until their power is restored. Tom?

OK, Priya, we thank you for that report. We hope they get some relief. The other major headline tonight as we turn towards politics, the president, completely rolling, back all federal diversity initiatives. The move coming amid major rollbacks of DEI programs across the country, Gabe Gutierrez tonight with more on what these sweeping changes really mean. From the government agencies that oversee air travel to public health to criminal justice, the debate over diversity is exploding throughout the country. Making good on a campaign promise tonight, President Trump is slashing all diversity, equity, and inclusion programs across the federal

government. We will forge a society that is colorblind and merit based. The president's signing an executive order his first day back in the White House. This is a big deal, merit. Our country is going to be based on merit again. Can you believe it? And overnight, this new government memo saying DEI policies result in shameful discrimination and directing federal agencies to place all DEI employees on paid leave by this evening. After the murder of George Floyd and the social justice movement it sparked in 2020, DEI programs flourished across private companies and the federal government. The values of diversity, equity, and inclusion are the core strength of America. But since then, conservative activists have railed against the programs, and after Trump's

re-election, major companies like Walmart, McDonald's and Mehta, Facebook's parent company, have scrapped their DEI programs. It's one thing to say we want to be kind of like welcoming and make a good environment for everyone. And I think it's another to basically say that masculinity is bad. One of the president's executive orders directs the attorney general to submit recommendations

for enforcing federal civil rights laws to encourage the private sector to NDEI. Another out today revokes an executive order signed by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965 that the Trump administration says mandated affirmative action. Tonight, the Congressional Black Caucus calling Trump's changes

an attempt to take our country backward. Diversity, equity, inclusion programs is really teaching us how to all work together in a positive way for a common goal. Former Facebook employee, Bari Williams, helped create one of the companies canceled diversity initiatives. People think that that equates to lowering the bar.

It isn't lowering the bar. It's casting a wider net. Gabe joins us tonight from the White House. Gabe, I want to take our time with this tonight, right? So just to be clear here, when we talk about DEI, it is important for our viewers to know that these programs are much bigger than just race. Yeah, that's right, Tom. Look, the companies that support DEI say that it is much bigger than just about race, that it's about embracing the differences that everyone brings to the table across a variety of factors. And that includes age, religion, and sexual orientation, for example, Tom.

And then, Gabe, despite the rollbacks, a number of companies are actually choosing to retain their DEI programs. about this? Yeah, that's right. We listed all the companies that have scrapped their DEI program since Trump was reelected, but other major companies, including some airlines, like American Airlines, Delta Airlines, and Southwest, as well as Apple and also Costco, are maintaining their DEI programs, at least for now, Tom. Okay, Gabe Gutierrez for escape. We thank you for that. Now to the growing backlash against President Trump over his decision to pardon nearly everyone involved in the January six attacks. Some Republican senators now speaking out against them. move as one of the architects of the attack newly released now promises revenge.

Peter Alexander has fallen at all from the White House. They're the haunting images of the armed assault on the Capitol four years ago that resulted in more than 1,100 convictions. Tonight, one of the most prominent Enrique Tario, head of the far right proud boys, who was found guilty of seditious conspiracy, seen at Miami Airport after his release under President Trump's sweeping pardons. Tario earlier with this ominous warning. I'm happy that the president's focusing not on retribution and focusing on success,

but I will tell you that I'm not going to play by those rules. The people who did this, they need to feel the heat. Republican Lisa Murkowski tonight rebuking the decision to pardon violent offenders. You just blanket pardon all of them without consequence. I think that that sends a horrible message to our law enforcement officers. Spotted inside the Capitol today, Stuart Rhodes, head of the far-right extremist group, the Oath Keepers, who was just released after serving less than two years of an 18-year sentence for directing his members during the riot. The federal judge at Rhodes's 2023 sentencing warning, the moment you are released whenever that may be,

you'll be ready to take up arms against your government. Retired Capitol Police Sergeant Akalino Ganel was one of the officers injured. Telling NBC News, it's a betrayal they were doing the fighting on his behalf. That's the only reason he pardoned them. President Trump telling us he strongly backs police. I am the friend of police, more than any president that's ever been in this office. We pressed him yesterday. The vice president, J.D. Vance, he said, if this is a week ago, he said, if you committed violence on January 6th, obviously you should not be pardoned.

Why is your vice president wrong? Well, only for one reason. They've served years in jail. President Trump also taking new action to secure the southern border, the White House announcing the deployment of 1,500 active duty military and National Guard troops and the suspension of all migrant border crossings, including blocking asylum seekers from entering the U.S. All right, Peter, joins us tonight from the White House as well. And Peter, I know you have some new reporting. Let's go back to the Oathkeeper's leader, pardoned by President Trump.

Stuart Rhodes is his name. He spoke about the attack during a visit to the Capitol today. and what he said may surprise some? Yeah, I think that's right. He spoke for almost 40 minutes with reporters today. Specifically, he was asked about a recording of comments he made shortly after January 6th, where he said that he would hang or wanted to see Nancy Pelosi hung from a lamp post. He said he regrets those comments now.

He said, I was, quote, drunk and pissed off. Tom. Okay. I do want to ask you something else. We now know the first law, President Trump will say. sign is going to be related to immigration? Yeah, that's right. It could happen as soon as tomorrow, actually. The Republican House just passed what's called the Lake and Riley Act that's named after a Georgia nursing

student who was murdered by an undocumented migrant. That migrant, Tom, had previously been arrested for shoplifting, was not detained, though. The new law will require ICE to detain migrants who were arrested for burglary or shoplifting. Tom. Okay, Peter Alexander, a lot of new reporting there. We appreciate it. President Trump adding another pardon to his sweeping list, granting clemency to Ross Ulbrecht, an early adopter of Bitcoin, and the founder of the infamous online drug marketplace Silk Road,

which prosecutors proved in 2015 had led to six overdose deaths. For more on the move, I want to bring in justice and intelligence correspondent, Ken, so Ken, give us some background here in some contexts, right? Ulbrook's trial happened a decade ago, so why is he on Trump's radar now? He's on Trump's radar because he is part of the sort of crypto movement, the libertary movement, that has been very supportive of Trump. And it's worth remembering that Silk Road was, as you said, an online marketplace on the dark web where people bought heroin and cocaine.

It did around $200 million in business. And the judge, when he sentenced Ulbricht, as you said, more than a decade ago, called him a drug kingpin. But he gave him life in prison. And that struck a lot of observers as an excessive sentence. But Donald Trump didn't just commute the sentence. He gave him a full pardon, Tom. And then as we move on from here, this is something that Trump had promised on the campaign trail, right? He is very big into cryptocurrency, the current president.

We know that. And this obviously plays into that, as you mentioned, along with libertarians as well. Talk to us what you think this means about going down further, either down the crypto world or maybe the world, the world of the dark web. Well, and I also think in terms of pardons, it just underscores how transactional Donald Trump is in the way he sees the world. He called the people who prosecuted Ulbricht lunatics and scum. These are FBI agents and prosecutors. And, you know, he clearly was enamored with Ulbric because of the support he was getting from these communities.

And people who do business in crypto expect that Donald Trump will be a very friendly president to crypto, whereas the last administration was really going after them hard, trying to regulate them. They don't expect that with Donald Trump, Tom. Okay, Kendall Lane, we thank you for explaining that one. Still ahead tonight, the deadly shooting inside of a high school cafeteria. A student in Nashville armed with a pistol, killing another classmate and injuring two others. What we're learning tonight. And another twist in the off-screen legal battle between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively,

the new move from Lively to stop videos from the It Ends with Us set from leaking. Plus AI's award-worthy performance? The backlash after the film The Brutalist used artificial. technology to enhance an accent. Stay with us. Okay, we are back now with the latest on the growing legal battle between It Ends with us co-stars Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. Late today, NBC News obtaining a letter showing lively and her husband, Ryan Reynolds, are asking a judge to effectively place a gag order on Baldoni's lawyer. The move coming after Baldoni's team released new behind-the-scenes video.

that they say disputes Lively's claims that Baldoni harassed her on set. Chloe Malas tonight breaks down with the video shows and how the parties are responding. This footage, which appears in the finished version film, it ends with us, only in this brief slow motion montage, appears to show the two stars discussing how to play the scene as they slow dance. Baldoni's team says the three takes of this scene reportedly shot in May 2020. showed that what took place on set doesn't match claims of sexual harassment that Lively made an illegal complaint last month. According to the complaint while filming a slow dance scene, Baldoni was, quote,

caressing Ms. Lively with his mouth in a way that had nothing to do with their roles. In the raw footage released by the director's attorney, the two stars can be heard talking about production details while playing to the camera as a couple in love. The complaint says Baldoni, quote, dragged his lips from her ear and down to her neck. As he said, it smells so good. Baldoni's representatives say that the tape proves it didn't happen. I'm probably getting a great fan on you.

Well, it's not bad. It's my body making. Lively's legal team firing back in a statement, quote, Justin Baldoni and his lawyer may hope that this latest stunt will get ahead of the damaging evidence against him, but the video itself is damning. Lively's representatives say that the footage corroborates her account of what happened, arguing that it shows Baldoni, quote, attempting to kiss her, kissing her forehead, rubbing his face and mouth against her neck, flicking her lip with his thumb, caressing her, telling her how good she smells, and talking with her

out of character, adding that no woman should have to take defensive measures to avoid being touched by their employer without their consent. The newly released videos follow a lawsuit filed last week by Baldoni against Lively, her PR team and husband Ryan Reynolds for defamation and extortion. Lively's legal team calling the lawsuit another chapter in the abuser playbook. A bitter battle where both sides believe the same scene tells a very different story. So Baldoni's team is promising to release additional behind the scenes footage from the production, along with a website that I told you guys.

about recently. So that's supposed to come out this week with all of the text and letters between Baldoni and Lively so that the court of public opinion can decide whose side they're really on. But Lively's team, they're calling the videos release an unethical attempt to manipulate the public and part of an ongoing campaign of harassment and retaliation. Back to you. For more on these new developments, I want to bring in NBC News legal analyst, Angela Senadela. Angela, we thank you for being here. So let's start with this new request from the Lively team, right? It sounds like this is a gack. order on Baldoni's attorneys to stop releasing material.

Will they have to comply with that? Well, so it's a request. So they're just asking for a meeting with the judge and hoping that the judge put some sort of restrictions. I think the judge will restrict Baldoni likely from releasing this information for so many reasons. If you think about a judge's rule in a trial, half of it is deciding what evidence is admissible, what evidence is not.

You also have to give both sides ample time to review the evidence. Is it accurate? Has it been edited? Should it be produced? Should it be presented? Also, this is a harassment case, right? And so she first filed a claim of harassment, filed by a claim of retaliatory harassment after she spoke up. And I think the judge could see this then as further harassment, that it's a pattern.

She speaks up now with a lawsuit and then she is harassed against, again, possibly. What do you think, how do you think in the Court of Public Opinion that video, did it do anything to dispel sort of maybe one opinion over the other? So look, in the Court of Public opinion, yes, I do think it did. But there's like a legal battle. It did for who? Who was it better for? So I think it was likely better for Baldoni, and that's because one of the allegations that was in her complaint of sexual harassment was literally about this scene. I think if you watch the video, it does show more context, more nuance that was likely left out of this.

I do think legally also the standard for sexual harassment is what a reasonable person would think, not just whether or not she thought she was being harassed. So I know you said court of public opinion, but if this was in a court of law and a jury was watching this, you think it would help Baldoni's case. I do think it would help that. not his defamation claim, which is also a big deal, because he's also claiming she made it all up. He's claiming she invented it. And he almost put this out there in order to show that she would know that she had to invent it. That's a standard for defamation. Very high. It's that she knowingly lied. But her coming out here and saying, no, actually, this wasn't a lie. I really did in those moments feel this. And that's why I was... That'll be hard to prove you're saying.

Exactly. Right. Her mindset. How much is this costing these two stars? Because they're filing legal briefs literally every day. are out there everywhere. They charge by the hour. I have to think this is going to be multi-million dollars on both sides. So an enormous amount, but also it's possible lawyers are on contingency here. Look, these judgments could be hundreds of millions of dollars, and sometimes lawyers won't take any payment up front with the hope of taking 40% of that at the end. This is going so, this is getting so aggressive back and forth. Do you think they eventually settle or do you think this actually goes and becomes a huge trial spectator?

Okay, if you play the odds, they are not going to trial. But that said, with celebrities, I mean, Johnny Depp Amber Heard, no one thought that was going to trial either. Okay. Wow, this is going to be wild. Angela Senadella, we thank you for that. Another Hollywood drama tonight, the debate over AI and films. This one's a little different. The team behind the Oscar frontrunner, the brutalist, revealing they used AI to enhance parts of the star's performances that were done in Hungarian, namely their accents.

But will that news affect their shot at winning awards like the Oscars, or is this simply the new norm? NBC's Maya Eaglin explains. Tonight, the winner of the Golden Globe for Best Drama, now in a drama of its own, over the use of AI. These are yours. Yes? Yes. All of them? Yes. The Editor for The Brutalist, an epic tale of a Jewish-Hungarian architect immigrating to the United States after World War II,

revealing to a trade publication that portions of the largely English-language film that were spoken in Hungarian were enhanced with artificial intelligence. Your English is impressive. Perhaps you can help your husband sound less like he shines shoes for a wage. Brody, who is of Hungarian descent, has not commented on the film's use of AI. What do you think? It's unusual, even for you. His performance, already earning the veteran actor a Golden Globe. The character's journey is very reminiscent of my mother's and my ancestral journey of fleeing the horrors of war and coming to this great country.

Film critics say accents in a foreign language can make or break a performance. Robert De Niro won an Oscar for speaking Sicilian as a young Vito Corleone in The Godfather, too. I satify a me. I take everything. And Selena Gomez apologized after her Spanish and Netflix's Amelia Perez was criticized. Are we going back to the United States? In a statement to NBC News, Brady Corbe, who was also nabbed a Golden Globe for directing the film, writing, the aim was to preserve the authenticity of Adrian and Felicity's performances in another language,

not to replace or alter them and done with the utmost respect for the craft. Do you think the use of AI and the Brutalist might have an influence on the award season, or is this something that you think voters might look past? That's the eternal question is when someone gets mad about something online, will Academy voters pay attention to it? This story about the Brutalist really only blew up after Oscar nomination voting ended. The Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday, So whatever those results are, I don't think we'll have been impacted by this conversation.

I brought you all out here to join me in looking forward toward the future. There are people here. The voice technology used in the film is called re-speecher, a software created by a company in which Comcast, the parent company of NBC Universal, is an investor. Its speech synthesis technology was also used in Amelia Perez. Where Carlos Sophia Gascon's singing voice was merged with that of French pop star Camille. And for the voice of a young Luke Skywalker in the Mandalorian, using the voice of a younger Mark Hamill as source material. Are you a Jedi?

I am. In a 2022 interview with Filmmaker Magazine, the Bruteless's production designer revealed that AI image generator mid-journey was used to create three brutalist buildings quite quick. that were later redrawn by human illustrators. But now, Corbe says his team did not use AI to create or render any of the buildings. All images were drawn by artists. It does seem like they use kind of common sense tools that many, many filmmakers are already using to make this happen. And I think they've been a little bit surprised by how it's blown up the amount of attention people are paying to these pretty small, detailed aspects of filmmaking.

All right. And with that, Maya Eagland joins us now in studio. So, Maya, with AI now being used not only by filmmakers, but apparently by actors as well. Will the award shows put up any type of guardrails if AI sort of assists in a performance? There's not any right now for the Oscars or the Golden Globes on their website. They haven't said what their stance is going to be. But when I asked Katie Rich, the editor for this reporting about this, she says she predicts some of these new rules will start bubbling up soon. One industry that's been kind of ahead of the game here is actually the music industry,

where the Grammys have stated their stance on AI. can be eligible for a Grammy if it uses AI, but only for categories where there's human involvement. So if AI is written a song and performed by a real person, only the performance category would be open and available for a Grammy. So it would probably see some more similar rules start bubbling up soon.

Maya Eaglin first, Maya, we thank you for that. When we returned the violence intensifying in Colombia, dozens kill this fighting between armed rebel groups escalates. The clash is setting off a new crisis. Families now forced to seek refuge in neighboring countries. Stay with us. We are back now with Top Stories News Feed. We start with that school shooting in Nashville

that left two people dead, including the shooter. Students at Antioch High School grieving tonight after a male student walked into the cafeteria, fired multiple shots before killing himself. One student was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. Two others were injured, one from a graze wound, the other from a fall. No word yet on the motive here. R&B singer Chris Brown is suing Warner Brothers over the documentary, Chris Brown, a history of violence now on Max. The $500 million suit claims the film made defamatory claims against Brown. The documentary details several accusations of violence, including the story of a Jane Doe who accused Brown of drugging and raping her back in 2020. Her lawsuit was thrown out. Brown's attorneys say Warner Brothers

and other sensationalized debunk claims for profit damaging Brown's reputation. Now, a stunning new claims by New York City Mayor Eric Adams about his federal bribery case, which he says was payback for criticizing the Biden White House. Adams telling Tucker Carlson he confronted the Biden administration about the influx of migrants gripping a city and got this shocking reply. So you tell the president and his aides this, and what do they say? Basically, be a good Democrat, Eric. Be a good Democrat?

That was the basic overall theme. You know, one of his age told me that, listen, this is like a goldstone in a pass. Adams claiming that the federal bribery charges against him were brought in retaliation for speaking out about the migrant crisis, but he provided no evidence. And paying for a flight just got a little easier. JetBlue announcing they will accept Venmo payments for flights. The airline becoming the first to allow payment through Venmo, the option is currently available on their website and will be rolling out on their mobile app in the next few months. Okay, next to the Americas now in Colombia, at least 80 people have been killed as fierce fighting between two rebel groups has sent thousands of people fleeing for safety. The escalation the deadly is fighting since a 2016 peace agreement and a major test for the Colombian president who has faced criticism from the members of the Trump administration.

NBC's David Noriega has the details. The Colombian military desperately trying to evacuate citizens and sending in troops, as violence between two armed groups has consumed the Catatumbo region near the border with Venezuela, at least 80 dead and an estimated 30,000 displaced from their homes. Some forced to find refuge across the border in Venezuela after days of intensified clashes. That fighting in danger, and, you know, that the security of the and the one, you know, is in risk and you have to out.

That fighting primarily between a guerrilla group called the National Liberation Army, or ELN, and another force that splintered off from Colombia's notorious FARC rebels, which laid down arms in 2016. In 2016, Colombia signed a historic peace accord that put the country towards a path of far more stability. What has happened in the past five days is that some of the groups that were not part of that peace process

have decided to have an all-out combat with each other. The two groups have long battled for control of the region, which accounts for about 15% of the country's coca production, according to the Associated Press, and encompasses lucrative drug routes. The fighting drawing concerns from human rights officials. There are attacks indistinct to combatants and to persons civil, that are signaled to collaborate with a group or with the other.

Many of those impacted grabbing what they can carry and fleeing on foot or on rafts, ending up in massive shelters like this one at a stadium, as troops patrol the streets. Colombia's President Gustavo Petro visiting the region on Friday, accusing the ELN of war crimes and suspending peace talks. Petro, who had promised a new era of total peace, faces waning support both at home and abroad. Newly sworn in U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has been a major critic of Petro, the first leftist leader in Colombia's modern history. Rubio denouncing Petro's total peace strategy in this medium post last May,

writing, killers and drug dealers have expanded their territorial control, while the Colombian people have gained next to nothing. Because Gustavo Petro has a very close relationship with both Cuba and Venezuela, two countries which Republicans and Secretary of State Rubio have much apprehension against, to say the least, The fact that this takes place now is really problematic for the relationship. David Noriega, NBC News. When we return the Royal Apology nearly three decades later, Prince Harry reaching a settlement with the publisher of the son

over allegations they invaded his private life, how his mother, Princess Diana, is also getting an apology as part of his major legal one. We are back now with Prince Harry celebrating a major legal winner, the Duke of Sussex settling a long-standing lawsuit with Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper group, accusing the tabloids of unlawful wrongdoing by prying into his private life. And as part of the settlement, the group also issuing an apology that the royal family has been waiting decades for. Megan Fitzgerald with that story and the apology.

Tonight, Prince Harry settling his years-long legal battle with a British tabloid winning a substantial payout and a rare apology. His lawyer calling it a monumental victory. Today the lies are laid bare. Today the cover-ups are exposed and today proves that no one stands above the law. The settlement between the Duke of Sussex and Rupert Murdoch's News Group newspapers came hours before a highly anticipated trial was set to begin over whether NGN-owned tabloid the Sun used illegal tactics to score scoops about Harry's life. As part of the settlement, NGN offering Harry a full and unequivocal apology for the serious intrusion into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for the sun. NGN also apologizing to Harry for phone hacking and surveillance at a now shuttered tabloid and for intrusion into the private life of Princess Diana, his late mother. For Harry, the crusade against the tabloids has long been personal.

The goal is accountability. It's really that simple. And Tom, tonight, Harry's attorneys are now calling for a criminal investigation into NGN. Tom? We thank Megan Fitzgerald for that story. Time now for Top Stories Global Watch and check of what else is happening around the world. We started Mexico with the president there, Claudia Shinebaum, responding to President Trump's executive order, renaming the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America.

Shinebom saying Trump could call it whatever he wants, but added Mexico and, quote, the rest of the world will still call it the Gulf of Mexico. Trump's orders appear to only be renaming the parts of the Gulf that lie within the U.S. marine boundary and not the entire body of water. Canadian authorities seizing a record-breaking $83 million worth of cocaine originating from the U.S.-Mexico border.

More than 1,800 pounds of the drug were seized. people have been arrested who are allegedly tied to Mexico's Halisco New Generation cartel. The drugs confiscated from a truck at the U.S. Canada border and the rest from stash houses. It's believed to be the largest bust in Toronto history. Police are still looking for three more suspects. And a cat racking up air miles after she was mistakenly left on an airplane in New Zealand. Officials say the eight-year-old feline named Mittens made three trips between New Zealand and Australia in just 24 hours after workers left her in the plane's cargo. They say her cage was hidden behind a wheelchair.

She was reunited with her family in Melbourne, unharmed. Air New Zealand apologized and reimbursed the cost for Mittens' travel. Glad she's okay. Okay, when we come back, can you spot the difference? Walmart selling what some say are dupes of the Hermes Berkin bag, now being dubbed The Workin. Up next, reality star Bethany Frankel gives us a side-by-side of both bags. at the center of a luxury shopping shakeup. Stay with us.

Finally tonight, you may have heard of the burken bag, right, which costs tens of thousands of dollars, but have you heard of the workin bag? Shoppers flocking to Walmart of all places to buy the knockoff purse for a fraction of the price. Valerie Castro has this look at the bag shaking up the world of luxury goods. More than 20 years after Samantha Jones first coveted a burken bag on sex in the city. Oh, honey, it's not so much the style is what carrying it means. It means you're around $4,000. Exactly.

The exclusive Arames handbag remains synonymous with wealth and status. Working for a burkin. Getting one requires a relationship with an Armez associate, a year's long wait list and up to tens of thousands of dollars to acquire. The burkin bag, all handmade. And look at those tiny stitches. But now getting that Birken look, you can pretend.

Just got a lot easier. But you got Barkin. Walmart selling nearly identical bags from third-party sellers for less than $100. This is my Birken. This is my workin. Social media flooded with reviews of what fans are calling the Workin or Walmart Birken. Bake it until you're making. With many shoppers complimenting the quality.

It feels pretty luxury. The quality of it is actually so nice. This feels so nice. Reality TV star and entrepreneur Bethany Frankel is no stranger to the luxury handbag market. I don't think you could find someone who's a bigger expert on the handbag gamut. I really do know this space. Sharing that expertise to her millions of followers on social media and comparing the workin with one of her real burkins in a viral video. This does have the diagonal stitching, which is what Hermes does do.

But there's a lot of disparity in the stitching. The high price tag of the Birken comes in part from the bag's premium materials, which can include leather, palladium, gold, and even ostrich and crocodile skin, plus hours of labor by skilled craftspeople who make the bags by hand. The brand's artistic director defending the cost of the patented Birken to 60 minutes. We're about craft. We're not machines. And we are not compromising on the quality of the way we make the bags. The workins are made of a mix of reel and faux leather and include an additional crossbody

strap for everyday functionality. Differences aside, Frankl says the workin is still a quality piece. From a functional standpoint, this looks very expensive. This is disruptive. This is a disruptive bag. I was going to not keep it and then I thought, I mean, it actually is beautiful. She believes the Walmart dupes actually mark a huge shift in the world of luxury goods. The resell value of the Birken as a collectible increasing year over year, outpacing gold. between 1980 and 2015, according to the online luxury reseller, Bag Hunter. The people that collect Airmaz bags and are terrified of the reduction in their investment or that everybody gets to have one because there's no point in having an Aremaz bag if

everyone can have one. And then the person who can afford it the $85 bag, loud and proud wearing it and saying let's all wear it, let's show them we get to be part of this club too. Knock off Berkins are nothing new. Jane Birkin, the late actress and singer, who inspired the bag, telling Vogue in 2011, it's very nice that everyone's got one or wants one, if people want to go for the real thing, fine. If they go for copies, that's fine, too. I really don't think it matters. Hermes is in the middle of an antitrust lawsuit for making customers buy other items before they're even allowed to buy a Berkin.

The company has denied wrongdoing, calling the claims far-fetched. We reached out for comment and did not hear back. Does it level the playing field? It levels the playing field. And what remains to be seen is whether the awareness makes people want the Arames bag more or if it just makes it not as special because everybody's got either a knockoff or a very closely inspired by. The lookalike of a bag nearly impossible to own now at the fingertips of any average American. Every housewife in America knows of a Walmart.

And what happened was this gave them license to wear it. Walmart said it's okay. Okay, Valerie Castro joins us now. So Valerie, where's your working? I am sad to report that Walmart is actually sold out of the workans. They're sold out. We signed up to be notified by email once they get any back in stock. But if you actually look at the Walmart website today, there are more and more manufacturers creating similar versions.

So this trend is certainly not going away. And then is there sort of a resale market for the work? where you're actually paying more money than the $70, $80 it costs? Believe it or not, there is there. You can go to eBay, and they're selling for $2, $400. Walmart sold them originally for $70 or $80. So there is a resale market there. People are calling them rare.

But you can also buy a secondhand real Bergen. Those are still selling for several thousands of dollars. Yeah. You know what the work is almost, it seems like it'd be more of a conversation piece at this point, right? Almost cooler to have. Okay, Valerie, we thank you for that. We thank you for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamerson, New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.