Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, January 28, 2026

Episode Date: January 29, 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.

Tonight, the disaster unfolding across the south hundreds of thousands without power in dangerously cold weather. The death toll rising and the temperatures are set to plunge even lower. Car after car sliding off an icy road, piling up in a ditch, an arena roof collapsing under heavy snow and ice. Power crews even hanging from a helicopter to restore electricity. Pipes bursting inside the home of a family we introduced you to last night how they're surviving and we're tracking a bomb cyclone. the areas that could see even more snow. Also tonight, the new video just in showing ICU nurse Alex Pready in an altercation with federal officers days before he was killed.

Plus, two officers involved in the deadly shooting now placed on leave. Plus, the attack on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, what we just learned was sprayed on her. The man accused of murdering his wife to be with his au pair testifying in his own defense, he'll see that husband on the stand and hear what he had to say. say about their relationship. Drones striking a passenger train in Ukraine, people desperate to escape the fiery explosions. Ukraine accusing Russia of terrorism with peace talks now hanging in the balance. A massive inferno ripping through a luxury hotel at a popular ski resort, hundreds evacuating in the dark. Tennis star Coco Gop caught on camera smashing a racket, now slamming event organizers

over the placement of cameras, we'll explain. And fine wine, aged. Under the sea, why divers are putting bottles in cages under the ocean. Plus, the deadly virus scare U.S. health officials monitoring an infectious outbreak overseas what we're learning. Top story starts right now. And good evening. We come on the air tonight with the dire situation unfolding across the south. Right now, hundreds of thousands still without power and the death toll rising after that monstrous snowstorm. And the situation is about to get even worse. Cars spinning out of control on this icy road in Mississippi, crashing into other vehicles,

already piling up on a ditch. Power crews dangling off a helicopter working day and night to restore electricity across the region. Some families, on day four without power, forced to sleep in their cars just to stay warm. Look at that. And in Arkansas, the roof of a rodeo arena collapsing under the weight of snow and ice. Video shows the entire structure crashing down. The overturned truck, semi-truck, cutting off a highway in Indiana. and in Ohio, multiple tractor trailers careening off the road.

Here in New York, the Hudson and East Rivers frozen over. Ships seem pushing through sheets of ice. Ferry services suspended until further notice. But forecast show another bomb cyclone is approaching the East Coast spraising for what could be another direct hit. At this hour, $72 million under cold weather alerts, it's far from over. Another blast of Arctic air is on the way. Our Bill Cairns, you know him well, he's standing by tracking the cold and the next big storm. but we begin with George Solis on the ground in Hardhead, Tennessee.

Tonight, the race to restore power in the south from the air with repair crews using helicopters and on the ground as nearly 400,000 people remain in the dark. At least 68 deaths are now being blamed on the dangerous winter weather nationwide as snow, ice, and freezing temperatures take their toll. Watch as the roof of this rodeo arena in Arkansas collapses from heavy snow, and as more drivers take to the roads, accidents, pipe. In Mississippi, dramatic new video shows multiple cars already in a ditch on the side of the road. Then watch as this SUV loses control, slammed into a truck and adds to the pile.

In Indiana, I see roads causing this big rig to turn over on its side. In Tennessee, Nashville Electric Service today reporting more than 300 power poles broken and 900 crew members working on repairs. Few needed more than the Martin family. We first shared their story last night, huddled together on the floor under Blanky for warmth. Today, a new crisis, a burst pipe flooding their home, water leaking everywhere. All the water came out on the floor here. Oh, man, this is where you guys were huddled up here. Yeah. Temperatures in Nashville have fallen below freezing for six straight days. Life-threatening

conditions for those without power like restaurant worker Madison Bright, now forced to stay with family. She showed us this text message she received saying the power was back on even when it wasn't. We checked twice and the power still has not been back on. Also in Nashville, the McCann family now sleeping in their car after burst pipes flooded their home and their floors froze over. I've been praying to God of, you know, can we get any help? Also in Nashville, police responding to reports of an unresponsive man in his home. We believe that he succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning. Carbon monoxide poisoning, a growing concern. We have actually in the poison center had at least 46 cases of poisoning in children, and then across the board, both children and adult,

101 cases since Thursday night. George Solis joins us tonight from Nashville. George, we can see the power crews there. Their lights still blinking behind you. They're working through this big freeze. Yeah, that's right, Tom. It is a race against the clock ahead of that next expected freeze. These guys have been out here for hours trying to restore power in one of the hardest hit

neighborhoods where people have been without power for days. Part of their work actually includes chopping down to some of these frozen trees. And some of these lines I can actually hear them crackling here, which means this neighborhood could be one of the fortunate ones that gets power back relatively soon. Tom? All right, we hope so. George, we thank you. Let's go right to meteorologist Bill Karens. Bill, we're getting a better idea of where this next powerful storm is headed.

Yeah, good news for some and bad news for others. It kind of depends what you're looking for, too. I know there's some people that still like the snow, but that number is dwindled after this last storm. So this is going to take you into Saturday morning. So this is when the storm really begins to develop off the coast. This is just a classic coastal storm that's going to become a bomb cycle, and all that means it's a really powerful winter storm in a short period of time.

So this is 7 a.m., blue shows you where it's going to be snowing. Northern Georgia, upstate of South Carolina, through North Carolina. The storm really explodes in intensity. The winds really pick up on the coast. As we go throughout the day Saturday, there's going to be a heavy snowband. Somewhere from Richmond, the Norfolk, Virginia Beach, down through Raleigh, Washington, Greenville, Newburn, down the Wilmington. and then possibly even down through South Carolina.

So then the storm was going to head more out to see. That's the trend over the last two days and away from the East Coast. So as of now, areas like D.C. to New York, you may not even see a snowflake. The only areas that could get snow is possibly here in eastern portions of New England. So we're talking Providence back out to Cape Cod, maybe a little bit in Boston. So here's our first call snowfall. Six inches plus. So that means a possibility someone in eastern North Carolina, southeast Virginia,

is going to get a foot out of this storm. I'm not willing to say who exactly yet, but we will also see damaging winds on the coast. High tide, it could be a problem because we've got a full moon time on Sunday. So that's going to have the tides extra high, too, with these high winds and large waves. Bill, I got more questions for you. But on that bomb cyclone, is there any chance it could shift back closer to the coast or we think we're in the clear for a while? We're still three days away from the snow in the southeast, four days for New England. That's a long time for something to change.

As far as the heavy snow goes, right now we're predicting it mostly over Cape Cod. But you notice if we took this and only shifted it 100 miles inland, then all of a sudden we get towards the I-95 corridor. So that, of course, would be, you know, New York, Boston, adding millions of people. So, yeah, we're not going to give up on it, but the trend is our friend. Not for the cold, though. The cold is here to stay. I mean, it's been ridiculous. Tomorrow, negative 11, Chicago, wind chill, negative nine areas of Cleveland, New York City, negative 7 in the morning.

So it's going to be a brutal cold. And behind this storm, this cold is going to get sucked all the way to the south. These are the high temperatures, high of 37 in New Orleans as we go through Saturday. And this will be the big story after the snowstorm. The low temperature in Tampa 32, Miami 37, bitterly cold conditions. And Tom, we were thinking maybe it warms up after Groundhog's Day. For some areas on the East Coast, it may not be towards Valentine's Day now. Wow, all right.

We thank you for that, Bill. I know we're going to be talking a lot in the days ahead. Right now, desperation is sinking in for so many Americans, still without power. And that includes areas like Oxford, Mississippi. You can see some of the damage here, down trees, power lines coated in thick ice. They're having issues not just getting the power back on for residents, but also with water pressure. The mayor of Oxford, Mississippi, Robin Tannahill joins Top Story tonight. Mary, we thank you for your time.

We know how busy you are. You have called the damage catastrophic. What is the situation like on the ground right now? Tom, I appreciate you letting us tell our story. The situation in Oxford is complete devastation. It looks like a tornado has gone down every street in our community. People have lost homes. They've lost their cars.

People are sitting in the cold tonight, many without water. And, you know, it just completely devastated our electric power grid. It's not like, you know, on a road where you have a few trees down and you rebuild a line. Our poles are snapped in half. Trees pulled complete power grids out of the ground. So we are busy. repairing electric infrastructure, trying to get the power back on, get the water back on, just the basics. We're still really in an emergency state here in Oxford.

You know, my next question was, were you prepared for a situation like this? Because sometimes, you know, these storms, the sad irony is that they expose when you're vulnerable and what your city and state and town is vulnerable with. But it sounds like from what you're saying tonight, you guys have never experienced anything like this. We haven't, Tom. You know, we had an ice storm in 94. I was. here. My husband was in law school and we were in Oxford when that ice storm hit. And it was bad, but it was nothing like this, honestly. You know, we're better prepared today. We have better equipment today. We have better plans in place. But the devastation is much greater. The landscape

of Oxford is forever changed. And, you know, I think we were as prepared as you can be for a natural disaster. You can't really be prepared for something that takes out, you know, 12 of your 16 electric circuits. So we are rebuilding. I've got the best employees in the world. I'm telling you, they're showing up every single day saying, what can we do today to make somebody's life better? You know, what's great about Oxford, Mississippi, you know, tragedies and challenges like this, either bring out the best or the worst in people. And we've been so encouraged to see across our community that it has truly brought out the best. I hear you, Mayor. But after days, people do reach a breaking point. Walk our viewers through what happens with the water pressure. What exactly

is going on there? They do. Unfortunately, we have experienced a huge loss of water pressure. Two days ago, we had to put some emergency precautions in place as the water pressure at our hospital had been going down and actually to a point where they were not able to stabilize instruments and things for necessary procedures. So we had to immediately turn off or temporarily suspend some of our customers in order to get water pressure to the hospital. Since then, this pressure has not, the capacity has just not come back like we need it to. We know that some of that is because we've got lots of apartment complexes and places that people left town, but they left their faucet running.

And, you know, on a typical day in Oxford, Mississippi, we pump about 5 million gallons of water. We've pumped 13 million gallons of water today, and it's still isn't enough. Wow, that's so wild. You've noted some frustration among residents being told power was back on, but that wasn't the case. What is the current status of getting electricity restored, and where is that misinformation coming from? Sure. Well, you know, we will report that we have repaired a circuit that serves a different, a certain area. But it may be that along that circuit, there are different feeder lines that a tree has downed or a connection to a home has been pulled off the home. And so electricians are going to have to do some work to get.

the power back to that individual residence. But in most cases, is that the feeder line on a particular street in a full, you know, a neighborhood will have one street that is out. And it's, it's a feeder line that we just have to get in there and get a new pole in the ground. So you start with your circuits and then you build out to your tap and feeder lines. And we are, we started yesterday, we had 10 of 16 circuits still down. This morning, we were down to eight tonight. We We hope to be down to, we're down to four right now, and I am praying that before we go to bed tonight that we've gotten one more circuit on and are down to only three of our 16 circuits still down as far as power goes.

We hope you're right, Mayor. We'll be thinking and praying for your community. If things do get even more dire, if you need things, make sure to get in contact with us, and we'll let the country know what you guys are going through. We appreciate your time tonight. Thank you, Tom. We're following several major headlines out of Minneapolis as well. a newly released video showing an intense incident between Alex Pready and federal officers days before he was fatally shot.

And tonight the two officers involved in his fatal shooting have been placed on leave. NBC's Camilla Bernal following it all for us. Tonight, a representative for Alex Pready's family confirming this newly released video shows him interacting with federal agents on January 13, 11 days before he was fatally shot. The video shows him kicking a vehicle and agents tackling him to the ground. The video does not show what happened before the incident. And tonight, the Border Patrol agents who fired in Preeti's fatal shooting are on administrative leave, according to the Department of Homeland Security. At a town hall last night, Representative Ilhan Omar was criticizing the Trump administration's response to Pretti's death.

DHS Secretary Christine Nome must resign or face impeachment. when a man in the crowd charged her, spraying her with a substance in a syringe. Some of the liquid hit council member Latricia Vita, who says it was terrifying, not knowing what it was. It's so scary when you don't know, and we've had some crazy incidents in this city. I think everybody's on edge, so it was even scarier. Omar's office said today it was told a preliminary report shows the substance was apple cider vinegar Minneapolis police have arrested 55-year-old Anthony James Kamirchuk for assault.

Omar is a frequent target of President Trump who said she probably had herself sprayed, knowing her. The president is also continuing to stand by DHS Secretary Christy Knoem, despite two Republican senators, now calling for her to go. She's never managed a large organization, and she's failing at every possible measure of the job. In a rare move, today DHS adopting a different. difference stands than in the immediate hours after Pretti's death when Nob made this claim, later contradicted by cell phone videos. This looks like a situation where an individual arrived at the scene to inflict maximum

damage on individuals and to kill law enforcement. DHS now saying it relied on reports from CBP from a very chaotic scene on the ground, adding an investigation is now underway. Camilla Bernal joins us tonight from Minneapolis. Camila, we're hearing more from Alex Preddy's family tonight about that new video. That's right, Tom. The family's saying they were actually already aware of previous interactions with federal agents. They also released a statement saying that a week before Alex was gunned down in the street, despite posing no threat to anyone, he was violently assaulted by a group of ICE agents. And then they added that nothing could possibly have justified that killing.

Earlier in the week, the family also saying that they wanted the public to remember Alex as that nurse, as that person who cared for other people, as someone who wanted to help this community, Tom. All right, Camilla, we thank you for that. We're also tracking another story, the FBI, rating an election office near Atlanta seeking documents related to the 2020 election. According to Fulton County officials, that county, you'll remember, central to President Trump's false claims the election was rigged. NBC's Aaron Gilchrest is there for us tonight. Tonight, this video shows federal agents raiding an election center in Fulton County, Georgia. The county says it was served a warrant for a number of records related to 2020 elections, with the FBI calling it court-authorized law enforcement activity. All afternoon, a steady stream of local and state elected officials arriving at this sprawling facility

trying to observe the agent's work. One state senator who went inside posting this video to social media that he says, shows agents removing boxes of ballots. This is an order from on high to try to disrupt Fulton County's election administration just because Donald Trump is still mad that he lost the 2020 elections. President Trump has long falsely claimed the 2020 election was rigged, something he brought up just days ago. It was a rigged election.

Everybody now knows that they found out. People will soon be prosecuted for what they did. In the months after the election, the president asked Georgia's Republican Secretary of State to help him find votes. to overturn the results. And Fulton County District Attorney Fonney Willis charged the president with interfering with the election. That case was dismissed

last year. Tonight, the FBI not commenting on what it's looking for or why. Okay, with that, Aaron Gilchrest joins us tonight, live from Fulton County. So, Aaron, what more do we know about what the FBI was looking for inside that building? Well, Tom, the FBI is still being tight-lipped

about that. I can tell you, though, if you can see behind me, there are some moving vans that have been backed up to the loading dock here at the election hub here in Fulton County. We've been watching agents there with forklifts, moving items into these trucks, really for the last six or seven hours, at least today. They've been here doing this work. As we said, we know that the county says that they were searching for documents related to the elections in 2020. It's worth pointing out, Tom, that there was a case last month where the Department of Justice sued the circuit court clerk here, excuse me, the Superior

court clerk here in Fulton County, Che Alexander, for those documents related to the election in 2020. That case, as we understand it, is still outstanding, but today there is this activity that is leading a lot of folks who are elected officials in this area to believe that there

are connections between some of those cases and what's happening today and obviously what happened back in 2020, Tom. All right, Aaron Gilcrest, for us tracking that tonight, late into the night. That or exclusive new reporting about a terrifying close call on a runway at San Antonio's airport, the FAA praising one air traffic controller whose quick thinking averted disaster.

Tom Costello has the details for us. It was a frantic last second call from the controller. A canceled takeoff clearance. The cancel takeoff clear. A southwest 737 cleared for takeoff rolling down runway 2 at 115 miles per hour in San Antonio when a private Pilates PC12 plane suddenly made a wrong turn onto the same runway heading towards the 737. A head-on crash just seconds away. They stopped in time. The plane safely departing for Dallas an hour later, while another Southwest flight, preparing to land was ordered to go around.

What's the 70-10 go around, fly runway heading, time maintaining 4,000. A Southwest spokesperson says the controller saved the day. The FAA investigating. For years, so-called runway incursions or close calls have been a top. priority at the FAA, with 1635 in 2025, down 7% from 2024. Meanwhile, in Bangor, Maine, the NTSB says the black boxes from the private plane that crashed in snowy condition Sunday night, killing all six on board, are now at the NTSB lab in Washington. The airport remains closed. Unfortunately, the extreme weather conditions on the field are impacting the progress of the investigation.

Investigators are analyzing the weather conditions at the time of the crash and weather icing may have prevented the plane from taking off. Tom. All right, Tom. Now to the Federal Reserve where a defiant Fed chair, Jerome Powell, today resisted White House pressure to cut interest rates again. The market's largely holding steady on the news. You see the S&P right here. It did reach a new high, though, briefly, hitting 7,000 points for the first time ever. Powell today, though, taking questions from reporters for the first time since the deep. DOJ launched an investigation to Fed building renovations. In the room for all of it, NBC's Christine Romans, who joins us tonight live from Washington. So, Christine, we'll get to the economy, but I want to start with politics.

Powell did not expand on his previous comments about the DOJ probe, but he did stress the importance of an independent Fed. Yeah, I mean, this political drama really front and center, even as the Fed chair, tried to keep it on the policy overall. And he was even asked about his advice for the next Fed chief, and he said, avoid a lot. elected politics. Stay away from that. Stay in your lane and just look at the data and make the best call for the American people. And he said an independent Fed is critical for trust, trust in the U.S. economy, in the U.S. system, and also for stability for the economy. You know, there's a wait-and-see approach to the economy that many are taking. But despite that, there's major cutbacks from several large companies like Amazon, Nike, and UPS. What are they seeing?

Yeah, you know, the Fed chief said the economy is coming into 2026 on a firm. footing, that's what he said. But making note that last year they had to cut interest rates three times because the job market, Tom, was weakening so much. They say that weakening job market may have stabilized, even as you're seeing those headlines start to pick up here of beginning of the year layoffs for a lot of different kinds of companies. One of the reasons why the Fed is taking a weight and seeing approach, not cutting interest rates right now, but not ruling it out in the future if the job market starts to weaken further. Christine, we thank you for that. We're back in a moment with dramatic new testimony in the O'Pair affair and that murder trial, the husband taking the stand

in his own defense. You'll see him. Why he says the plot to kill his wife never happened and the night he got with the opair. Stay with us. We're back with the dramatic scene in a Virginia courtroom. The man accused of killing his wife and a stranger so he could continue his affair with their opair taking the stand in his own defense. NBC Stephanie Gosk has the details.

In a Virginia court. Testify truthfully in this case under penalty of law. Accused killer Brendan Banfield taking the stand in his own defense. Prosecutors say he conspired with the family's opair to kill his wife Christine and another man, Joseph Ryan, by luring him to the house with a fake profile on a fetish website. Today, Banfield telling the jury that never happened. I think that it's an absurd line of questioning that a plan was made to get rid of my wife. that is absolutely crazy.

Banfield did admit he had an affair with the O'Pair, Giuliana Perez-Magaliers, starting six months before the alleged murders, on a night that his wife and daughter were in New York City. I did not stop her advances. When I went upstairs, she came with me into my bedroom. Banfield testifying that he told Magaliers that it was just an affair. and that both he and his wife had multiple affairs in the past. Prosecutors say Banfield came up with the scheme to kill his wife so he could start a new life with Magaliers. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter and testified for the prosecution that there was a plan

to kill Christine. Did he tell you what he wanted to do? Yes. What did he say? He mentioned his plan to get rid of her. Okay. Stephanie joins us now along with our NBC News Legal Amher. Missy Maris. Thank you both for being here tonight. Stephanie, I'm going to start with you just before he got off the stand.

Banfield started talking about the morning of the killings. Yeah, that's right, Tom. A critical timeline, right? What did he do? Where was he? When did he get to the house? He said he left early in the morning that he had an important meeting that he went to McDonald's and he got his breakfast where he then received a phone call according to his testimony from the nanny who sounded stressed. He tried to call his wife, Christine, he told the jury, couldn't reach her.

And they stopped testimony right before he got to the house to describe what happened at the house. It will be important, however, because the prosecution says he was at that McDonald's waiting for the call from the nanny because he knew it was going to come that he was going to go back to the house. Misty, you know, it was unclear if Bannfield would take the stand. He has. I don't know how you think he's doing so far. Would you have put him on the stand if you were defending him? Listen, I think this is a hugely risky move. And this is the direct examination right now.

So this is friendly. It's his defense attorney, giving him the questions to tell his story. And some of what Stephanie was just talking about, this morning breakfast run to McDonald's before work, is a critical timeline in the case. And he's locking himself in to a timeline where prosecutors are really going to be able to go after that and cross. In addition to that, remember, the cross-examination, when somebody takes the stand, it opens up the door to a whole host of things. The jury would never hear. So this is a hugely risky move, and I'm not sure from what we've seen so far, that it's playing into the defense's favor. Stephanie, you've been watching this trial. He's been taking notes throughout the case. What was his composure like on the stand? Pretty much the same. I mean, he was very composed. He was very calm. You know, and he's talking about deeply personal things and things that don't make him look that good when he talks about starting the affair. And he's talking about he's had affairs in the past, how his wife had affairs in the past.

But he delivered everything almost exactly the same, except for that one moment where he said, it's absolutely crazy. He never would have come up with this plan. Yeah, Misty, I want to ask you, tomorrow's going to have the cross-examination, as you mentioned. The prosecution's going to get their shot. They think he's the mastermind at this. What do you think we're going to see? Well, first of all, they have to establish that there was a conspiracy and agreement between him and the au pair to facilitate this crime. And I think you're going to be confronted with a lot of the electronic evidence.

And another factor, when we talk about stuff that the jury might not have heard, remember, he's an IRS agent. So it's likely the prosecutors are going to say, well, you have training in forensic evidence. You have training which would allow you to concoct this kind of complex scheme more so than the average person. So I think you're going to see a really brutal cross tomorrow. Okay. We'll be tracking it. We thank you guys both for being here. Still to come tonight on top story, new developments in the state murder case against Luigi Mangione. we just learned about when he could go to trial. Plus the terrifying moment in the air video capturing a plane losing its wheel shortly after takeoff. So what happened? But first,

Top Story's top moment in a New Jersey preschool asked students once a month to bring in something they're thankful for, show and tell day. And while most kids would choose their favorite toy, four-year-old Daniel asked if he could bring his two-year-old sister, Sophie. Take a look. All right, Daniel. Tell us about Sophie. What do you like to do with her? What do you guys play together? Cards. Sophie likes to play cards. Is he a good brother?

Yeah. Do you want to give him a hug? Good. Oh, I love that. Mom, Stephanie said the moment made her so proud to be Daniel and Sophie's mom. All right. Stay with Top Story. Got more in the way.

We're back down with the deadly virus overseas that health officials here in the U.S. are monitoring. Airports in Southeast Asia ramping up health screenings due to confirmed cases of the NEPA virus, which has no known cure. NBC's Ralph Sanchez joins us now with the details. Raf, tell us more about the disease and how transmissible it is. So, Tom, this is a really serious virus. It is far more deadly than COVID. The World Health Organization says it has a fatality rate of between 40 and 75%.

It is usually transmitted from animals to humans. It's usually in fruit bats, pigs, animals like that. It is also possible for humans to get it from infected fruit if that fruit has been in contact with those animals. The good news is human to human transmission is pretty rare. This is not an airborne virus. It's not like COVID. You can't get it from somebody breathing near you.

It's more likely to be carried by secretions, so by fluids. But the bad news is there is no known vaccine. And that is why these two cases that were confirmed in India and the state of West Bengal are really setting off alarms all over the region and all around the world at this point. And then what are we hearing from the CDC here in the U.S. about this? Yeah. So they say that they are closely monitoring the situation. They say that they stand ready to assist.

And they are in close contact with the Ministry of Health in India. Now the Indian authorities are saying that they've been doing pretty widespread contact tracing. You remember that from COVID? They're getting in touch with everybody who was in contact with those two confirmed cases. They are saying they haven't detected any further outbreak. And so they believe at this stage, they have the virus under control. But in neighboring countries in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, they're really taking no chances. You mentioned that heightened screening that we're seeing at airport arrivals right now.

They're mainly doing temperature checks because one of the symptoms of the symptoms of, of this virus is fever. So they're looking for people with heightened temperature. But Tom, one of the things that makes us so complicated is it has an incubation period of up to two weeks. So you could be infected but not show any symptoms for another two weeks, which of course means somebody could get off a plane, pass a temperature check,

show no signs, and then end up being really, really sick and potentially die two weeks later. Yeah, it's pretty scary. We're going to keep an eye on that one. Raf, we thank you for alerting our viewers. Now to Top Stories News Feed, we start with an update on Luigi Mangione's state murder case. New York prosecutors now pushing to have the trial start in July. Mangione's attorney calling the timeline unrealistic since July's selection in his federal case, jury selection, I should say, is set to start in September.

Mangione is facing charges over the shooting death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. He's pleaded not guilty. An alarming video showing a wheel falling off a British Airways flight during takeoff. You can see it here. It happened earlier this week at a Los Angeles. Vegas Airport. You see the plane leaving, then moments later the tire dropping to the ground. We're told the flight touched down safely in London. The little orange circle you see there has the tire. British Airways saying they're working with investigators to figure out exactly what had

happened. And a mountain that's been mountain line that's been roaming the streets of San Francisco has finally been captured. People first spotted the Big Cat on Monday wandering around apartments that apparently caused quite a commotion across the city. Officials eventually cornering the animal between two buildings and snagging it. They say the plan, they plan to test it to make sure it's healthy before releasing it back into the wild. Okay, and Spotify announcing it has paid out more than $11 billion to the music industry last year. Company officials say that sets a new record for the largest annual payment to music creators. They also claim half of those royalties went to independent artists and labels.

Spotify's head of music says it proves artists are now making more money than they were decades ago during the CD era. Okay. In Los Angeles, a dangerous high-speed pursuit, a group of alleged burglars fleeing from police, weaving in and out of traffic in a U-Haul before crashing a second getaway car and fleeing on foot. Steve Patterson has the wild video. Screeching sirens, with the LAPD and hot pursuit of this U-Haul, police say fresh from a brazen early morning burglary. The thieves had just ransacked a warehouse before taking off. Surveillance video shows squad cars closing in, but from the air,

you can see several suspects ditching the van, then hailing the getaway car. I got these guys, something in a separate vehicle, okay, they're going to be in too black to the ass. The car weaving through traffic. This driver is making these wild turns, cutting off other drivers. Police say the driver peaked at more than 100 miles per hour, while slowing several times to drop off some of the suspects, but never fully stopped until. Going about 60 miles per hour as he comes up on that intersection, oh my my

goodness, did you see that crash and spin out? This driver now getting out of that black sedan trying to make a run for it. The driver ditches the wreck and hops a fence before hiding out in a nearby backyard. Imagine waking up to this. This guy's not getting away though. But how it all ends? Still unclear. Police say they arrested two suspects with one still on the loose. 60 miles per hour. Thankfully, police say the innocent driver caught in that awful crash wasn't injured. All right, Steve, you joining us tonight from Los Angeles. What more are we hearing from the police about this one? Yeah, Tom, we reach out to the LAPD.

They aren't seeing a whole lot, save for the fact that they're continuing their investigation into that burglary. And now, some 11 hours later, they are still searching for that getaway driver, so the manhunt is still on here in Los Angeles. All right, Steve Patterson, crazy video, my friend. Coming up, the deadly Russian drone attack on a train carrying civilians in Ukraine, as negotiators keep pushing for a path. The peace will it happen? Plus, a massive avalanche engulfing a town in Kashmir will show you the moment it hit.

That is next. We're back following a deadly attack in Ukraine, a passenger train carrying roughly 300 civilians hitting a drone attack. President Zelensky calling it an act of terrorism as Russia announces when the next round of trilateral peace talks will take place. Here's Keir Simmons. A train in flames from a Russian drone strike in Ukraine last night is followed. by frantic moments. Inside, a soldier pleads with a mother to evacuate. You see her cot and hear the sound of a baby.

As they disembark into the cold, the little child's face appears. Then mom begins weeping in the snow. Let's go, he says, as she cries uncontrollably. Around them, more civilians flee the burning cars. President Zelensky posting today in any country a drone. strike on a civilian train would be viewed the same way, exclusively as terrorism. Nearly 300 were on board, six are dead, Ukrainian authorities say. The attack coming as another round of face-to-face peace talks were announced following two days

of Russia-Ukraine U.S. negotiations. There are some very good things happening on Ukraine and Russia. They will meet again in Abu Dhabi on Sunday, the Kremlin says, but it continues to insist It must be given large amounts of territory. It is not one on the battlefield. The Secretary of State addressing that in evidence on Capitol Hill today. I know there's active work going to try to see both sides' views on that can't be reconciled. It's still a bridge we haven't crossed.

And as the war grinds on, next month will mark four years since Russia's full-scale invasion. A Washington, D.C. think tank says by the spring, Russia and Ukraine will have suffered a grim two million dead, injured. or missing. It says Russia alone has seen 1.2 million casualties. And with that, Kier Simmons joins us now, Kier, that number is stunning. 1.2 million Russians dead, wounded or missing, and President Putin believing he is winning? That's right, Tom. It's clear he does from the way, for example. He answered a question I asked him in December, saying that Russia would gain the region of Dombas, either through negotiations or through war. And yet that number of 1.2 million

Russian casualties you mentioned, Tom, from the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies includes 325,000 Russians killed. The Kremlin telling NBC News today, only casualty numbers from Russia's Ministry of Defense can be trusted, but it has not provided numbers recently. And experts say, for all the massive losses Russia has seen, its recent gains have been incremental. Tom? And again, when you include the Ukrainians, nearly 2 million, that number is just stunning. here. We thank you for that report. We're going to stay overseas now with Top Story's Global Watch, starting with a fire ripping through a five-star hotel at a ski resort in the French Alps. You can see the smoke billowing from the building overnight as firefighters scrambled to put out the flames.

Officials standing around 300 people were evacuated from that area and that nobody was hurt. The cause is still under investigation, but it comes just weeks after that fire at a Swiss ski resort. You may remember that left 40 people dead. And another massive avalanche caught on camera. This one slamming a neighborhood in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. Watches a cloud of snow pours in completely overtaking buildings and eventually blocking the camera. Officials telling an Indian news agency nobody was seriously hurt. And a company in Chile taking a new approach to aging wine. Instead of keeping the bottles in traditional sellers, they're storing them at the bottom of the sea. You can see divers putting the wine in metal cages under the water. They say it

helps keep the bottles at a consistent temperature and reduced light. People have been preserving wide in water for decades, but the concept is apparently new in Chile. Okay, when we come back tonight, growing controversy in the sports world, one of the greatest football coaches of all time, Bill Belichick reportedly snub from the Hall of Fame, plus new outrage over the use of cameras on the tennis court. Who's complaining about this one? We'll break it all down. That's next.

We're back now with the Hall of Fame snub heard around the world. ESPN reporting that eight-time Super Bowl winning coach Bill Belichick felt. short of the votes needed for induction to the pro football Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility. That according to four sources with firsthand knowledge of the vote. Backlash to that report, snub quickly spreading online. Patrick Mahomes calling the move insane, even another all-time great LeBron James, huh? Wayne in writing, that's impossible, egregious and quite frankly, disrespectful. Thank you, LeBron. For more, Baker Machado from Front Office Sports joins us now. Baker, let's break down Belichick's record. Look, he is one of, some people might

I'd say he's the goat. I think Jimmy Johnson was alluding that to it, too. He's had six Super Bowl rings, right? Pretty incredible. 17 division titles, but also some large stains, including losing a losing record without his guy, Tom Brady, not to mention SpyGate, the Flake Gate, also not the friendliest of people to the media and to other coaches. So what's at stake here? What do you think happened? I mean, this is a shock. I mean, you mentioned that sources close to Belichick say that he is completely puzzled and really disappointed by all of this, because the expectation here, Tom, was that he was a surefire luck to get on the first ballot Hall of Fame. He's going up against four other people to get in there. And based on how the voting process

works, there's 50 people that select from five people, and you have to choose three of your top five, which means he has to get 80 percent of that vote. That means over 11 people chose not to include Belichick in their top three of their decisions to make the Hall of Fame. And explain to our viewers here who's on that Hall of Fame voting committee. You got media writers, you got players and coaches, ex-players and coaches? Exactly. So, You have each city has a media representative. You have people in the Hall of Fame like Coach Tony Dungey that's in there. You have former Bills and Colts general manager Bill Pollyan, who was also on that committee as well.

So there's a lot of different voices and perspectives on all of this. Any idea who sort of sunk him or? Well, so the theory out there is Bill Pollyan. We should note Robert Kraft, the owner of the Patriots, also is in line to potentially be on the Hall of Fame. And by the way, the people who got into the Hall of Fame will not be fully announced until next week during NFL honors during the Super Bowl. But a lot of people are speculating that maybe Bill Pollan, who's close to Robert Kraft, basically had some sway within the committee voters to say maybe Bill Belichick needed to take a year off from being elected into the Hall of Fame because of Spigategate, because of Deflategate. We should know Spigate Gate was more so him. Deflate Gate was more Tom Brady. So I really shouldn't concoct those two together.

I mean, my theory is that it was just maybe people that Bill Belichick rubbed the wrong way over all those years. Yes, which, by the way, is a very valid point. But you mention all of the accolades that he has. He is the second. all time in NFL history and wins. Most head coaching victories of all time at six. He has eight Super Bowls combined with the two that he was the defensive coordinator. So just on those merits alone, Belichick supporters would say

he deserves to get in just based off of that. He's not doing great right now at UNC, but again, he's just getting started there, so we'll give him some time. Does that what's happening at UNC and or maybe in his Instagram profile doing cheerleading movies? No, but does that have any impact on any of this or not really? Belichick supporters

would say no. If you look at one of the most successful college coaches of all time, Nick Saban didn't have the greatest record in the NFL, and that didn't blemish his reputation and his legacy as a coach at all. And look, Bill Belichick will say he's sticking in North Carolina. They have a really difficult season next year, obviously, facing your Miami Hurricanes and 11 other teams that had winning records next year. But obviously, it's an apples to oranges comparison. What Bill Belichick did in the NFL should completely be separate from how he's judged in college. Baker Machado, always so great to see you, man. We appreciate it. Okay, now to another viral moment in the sports world.

This one at the Australian Open, players rallying behind superstar Coco Gough after she was caught on camera slamming her racket in part of the arena she thought was private. NBC's Emily Aketa has more. This is the emotional moment caught on camera at the Australian Open. Coco Gough seen smashing her racket after a quarterfinal loss against Ukrainian Alina Spitalina. The flash of frustration spreading like wildfire on social media and prompting a conversation about player privacy behind the scenes at a Grand Slam tournament that reaches nearly two billion viewers in more than 200 countries. I tried to go somewhere where they wouldn't broadcast it, but obviously

they did. So, yeah, maybe some conversations we can be had because I feel like at this tournament, the only private place we have is the locker. Competitors echoing golf's concerns that the focus should stay within the confines of the court. You're just kind of going about your day and to feel like someone's constantly filming you. I mean, I saw online people were like zooming in on players' phones and stuff like that. Like that's so unnecessary. The question is like, are we tennis players or are we like animals in the zoo? The now viral video comes on the heels of another heated moment.

That time during a second round matchup, Romanian player Serana Kirstia, complained to the umpire about Naomi Osaka's conduct between Serbs. Leading to a tense exchange after Osaka's victory. and a cheeky post-match snub. I think this was her last Australian Open, so... Okay, sorry she was mad about it. With four more days of competition to go, Tennis Australia, which owns and runs the Australian Open, telling NBC News in part,

each year we provide more private spaces for players where they can relax, focus on their preparation, and work with their teams privately. And that behind-the-scenes cameras, position where the players warm up, cool down and make their journey to and from the court, are designed to provide fans with a deeper connection to the athletes.

In the meantime, golf getting the backing of tennis icon Serena Williams, posting to X, nothing wrong with hating to lose, which for golf is par for the course, high stakes and high emotions. I don't try to do it on court in front of kids and things like that. But I do know I need to let out that motion. Otherwise, I'm just going to be snappy with the people around me, and I don't want to do that. Emily Aketa joins us now and said, Emily, this has become sort of a hot topic in tennis.

Other big players are talking about this? Yeah, some of tennis's biggest stars, including Novak Djokovic, who says he empathizes with Coco Golf and says it's really sad that there's no place that you can hide from the cameras. But he does acknowledge that this is kind of the era that we're living in. This is we are in the society that embraces so much content. Content is everything. He believes it requires a deeper discussion. Emily, Akita for us, Emily, thank you.

I want to keep this conversation going with former professional tennis. player, Brad Gilbert. He's now a tennis commentator and analyst, host of tennis channels, Big Tea podcast, and has also coach Cocoa Gough. I should have stolen that name for my podcast. Brad, thanks so much for joining Top Story tonight. When you see those images of Coco slamming her racket as her former coach, what's your reaction? Well, good day, Tom. And sorry about the shiner on my face. I got a little Vaseline, took a face plant a couple days ago, carrying too many bags. But honestly, I think it's a joke with the cameras. It's like the casino eye.

When you go into the casino, they're always following you. And after a tough match like that, when a player is thinking they're going to a safe space to break a racket, because maybe she didn't want to do it on the court, show people her emotions, you should be able to have that and not have to be seen. Or all of a sudden, you know, I have to come home and everybody said, She's, they just saw you on TV breaking a racket. I think it's absolutely ridiculous. And remember in 23, U.S. Open, Cocoa Gough beat Zabalanka.

In the final, after the long, on-court presentation, Zablanca went into the gymnasium and smashed the racket to the Smytherians. And everybody's going, she's a bad sport. And once again, ridiculous that they allow that and cameras to be showing a player when they're showing their emotions, when they want to keep it from the public eye. But Brad, I mean, some people are going to say when it comes to these cameras, these players are being paid millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions when you add in all the endorsements to compete in these tournaments. And that being in the public eye, it just kind of comes with

a territory. Do you think that's fair? I mean, it's a fair point, fair question. But if they do it in the context of playing in the match on the court. Everybody sees it or, you know, maybe in the tunnel. But this is after the match is over, they're following you in the, you know, like the stairs down, walking out. She kind of walks behind kind of like an area where she thinks she's not being seen. But that casino camera was up there. It followed her to where she thought she was in a safe space. She didn't want to show that emotion to people. And that context. And that context. I think it's completely wrong. I hear you.

Also, they have reporters down there asking players questions right when they come from the court about what they think about ICE and how Trump is doing in his first year, which I think is absurd as well to ask a tennis player after they lose a match. These questions, I think they should be taking the predidations away from the press versus. Yeah, that's a little different. I will tell you though, like in every professional sport, whether it be in the NFL or the major league, you have dugout cameras.

You have cameras in the hallways as they're leaving after the game. I got to be honest with you, Brad. I liked it. I like seeing that fire in players. I love seeing what it takes to be a champion. I didn't have an issue with it. I get it. She thought it was an invasion of privacy.

I want to ask you a larger point, though. I feel like we're hearing consistently from tennis players just complaining, whether it be about fans being too close, whether it's too many cameras. We even heard Naomi Osaka, who we just saw in the report there, complaining about having to answer questions at news conferences. I mean, these are professional tennis players. Like we said, they're being paid a lot of money to play. I get maybe they don't have it completely right,

but are tennis players getting too sensitive? I'm just asking. I think everybody in general is getting a little too sensitive. Yeah, you know, there's some things that you can control, some things you're not going to be able to control. I think Naomi El Saku wanting to stop normal press conferences after the match, something that's happened that all of us players have gone through forever. I thought that was ridiculous. And obviously some players now in every sport and every

facet of life are a little more sensitive. But sometimes you have to take, you know, things with a little grain of salt and you got to push through. So I do agree with you. We are getting a little bit sensitive, but sometimes the envelope does get pushed. And that's when you can say, you know what, I'm not crazy about what's happening. It might not change, but you can at least let yourself and the point be known. Finally, last question, completely out of the blue. What's your advice for tennis players who are beginners who insist on doing a one-handed backhand?

Jeez, this is a good question because I'm 64 years young and I'm a dinosaur. So when you're starting out, it's a lot more tough sledding with the one-handed back end, especially on the return and on the high back end. So I want to see. I'm yet to see it on the pro tour. Where is a hybrid backhand where you play a two-handed backhand return or maybe a two-handed backhand on a high one and then rip the single-hander?

Because all two-handers can go to one. So I want to see the one-hander, especially the kids and club players start now. Let's find out where the next hybrid backhand is. Love the free tennis advice for a bad tennis player like myself. Brad, we thank you for joining us tonight. Thanks for all your perspective. We thank you for watching Top Story Tonight. I'm Tom Yamis in New York.

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