Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, July 2, 2025

Episode Date: July 3, 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.

Tonight Diddy denied bail. Sean Diddy Combs remaining behind bars after his major victory in court. The music mogul acquitted on the most serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking, but found guilty on two lesser counts. Combs dropping to his knees in prayer as the verdict is read, his family greeted by crowds of supporters. How much longer could he spend behind bars? Also tonight, Coburger's confesses. Brian Coburger pleading guilty in the murders of four University of Idaho students. The families of the victims sobbing in court as they had to relive their loved ones, brutal murders. The urgent search for seven people still missing after a fireworks warehouse explodes.

Video capturing the blast, the massive ball of fire setting off the pyrotechnics. Wild weather water spouts swirling off of Florida, the tornado light cloud looming over the Atlanta Braves Stadium. Look at that. and a dust storm in Las Vegas, where storms are taking a next this holiday week. Missing in Paradise, the husband banishing while vacationing with his wife and Turks and Caicos, would a private investigator hired by the family, says this surveillance video shows. Are you listening to a band that doesn't really exist? The possibly AI-generated music raking in hundreds of thousands of listens will let you hear it for yourself.

And Mozilla, mild, the stretch of highway shut down after. a crash left a debris field of shredded cheese. Plus, we're following breaking news after a skydiving plane crashed in New Jersey with more than a dozen people on board. What we're learning. Top story starts right now. And good evening. We begin tonight with breaking news in two cases that have captivated the nation.

Sean Diddy Combs found not guilty of sex trafficking and racketeering charges, but convicted on lower counts. A confession in the Idaho College murders. Here in New York, the emotional moments in court after the Diddy verdict was read, Combs dropping to his knees apparently in prayer, his lawyer in tears, his family in the gallery erupting in applause. Moments later, his mother walking out, waving to her son's gathered fans. The rap moguls supporters putting on a show of force outside the courthouse, customized T-shirts, you saw them there, signs even a pin, free puff. The jury clearing Combs of the most serious charges, two counts of sex trafficking, as well as one count of racketeering, but they still found him guilty on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Late tonight, the judge denying Combs' release on bail, meaning he will wait behind bars for his sentencing scheduled for October.

The reaction to the verdict already pouring in, Cassie Ventura, Combs' ex-girlfriend, and a star witness for the prosecution, her lawyer saying she's happy he was convicted on those two counts, asking, he stayed behind bars. And in Idaho tonight, Brian Coburger pleading guilty to murdering those four college students in 2022, Coburger accepting a plea deal that will imprison him for life, but spare him the death penalty. We have expert legal analysis standing by on both cases, but we want to begin here in New York with the jury's judgment of Sean Diddy Combs. Our Chloe Malas is live outside that courthouse in downtown Manhattan. Chloe, what was the scene like there? Hey, Tom, it was a day of high highs and very low lows for Sean Combs, especially in the beginning when he found out, well, it was great news for him in the beginning, a real high when he found out that he was acquitted on the most serious of charges, like you said, sex trafficking and racketeering. But a low when he learned that he had to stay behind bars at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center while he awaits his sentencing, which is scheduled for October.

Sean Diddy Combs sinking to his knees in the courtroom. Moments after a jury found him not guilty of racketeering and sex trafficking, the most serious charges he was facing. He was convicted on two counts of a lesser charge, transportation to engage in prostitution. In the courtroom, an emotional scene. Combs' lawyer wiping away tears as family members, including his six kids, clapped and cheered. His mother later blowing a kiss to the crowd as she left the courthouse. It's a block party-like atmosphere outside the courthouse with some people dancing and others protesting today's verdict. But one thing is for sure, they're here for a front row seat to history.

The jury of eight men and four women deliberated for a total of 13 and a half hours. Late Tuesday, they sent a note saying that they'd reached consensus on four counts, but were split on one. They returned this morning deliberating for under an hour before announcing they had a verdict. During the seven-week trial, prosecutors argued that Combs, was the leader of a criminal enterprise and everyone was there to serve him. They called 34 witnesses, including two of Combs' former girlfriends, singer Cassie Ventura, and another known only as Jane. In emotional and graphic testimony, both women said Combs plied them with drugs and forced them

to have sex with male escorts and what he nicknamed Freakoffs. Ventura's lawyer today is sharing her reaction to the verdict. We're pleased that he's finally been held responsible for two federal crimes. something that he's never faced in his life. In a statement, the U.S. Attorney's Office acknowledged the victims, writing, sex crimes deeply scar victims. And the disturbing reality is that sex crimes are all too present in many aspects of our society. Combs opted not to testify, and his lawyers did not call any witnesses. They said he was put on trial for his lifestyle and didn't commit the crimes he was charged with.

He's also facing dozens of civil suits. But tonight, Combs is facing far less. prison time than he would have if convicted on the most serious charges. Chloe joins us back now live with some new reporting. And Chloe, you just heard from Diddy's attorneys. What do they say? So all eight of his attorneys, Tom, just walked outside of the court house, the front doors, and they spoke to reporters. They each took turns speaking. But Mark Agnifalo spoke first, Combs' lead defense attorney, and he called it a great victory. That this was a great day, a win for Combs, and that the jury got it. So again, all of them spoke, and at one point they were holding hands right before they addressed the crowd.

But again, it is a big victory for Combs' defense team, which has been nicknamed, like the modern dream team. And that was a nickname that we heard of how they had coined the defense attorneys back during the O.J. Simpson trial. And so, again, acquitted on the most serious of charges. And now he has to wait for that sentencing hearing, which is tentatively scheduled for October 3rd. but we could see that move up sooner, Tom. Chloe, before you go, since you heard from the attorneys there, were they frustrated that their client is not free on bond with that million dollars they wanted to put up for him?

I mean, they're definitely disappointed, but they were so happy. They're laughing. They're holding hands. I mean, they're joking around. And again, they are just effusive. I mean, they're beaming because, again, you're not starting at 15 years with sex trafficking, which was the mandatory minimum on even.

of those. You're not dealing with RICO, which he would have faced up to life in prison. You're dealing with, yes, two federal crimes that he has been found guilty of, the Mann Act, transportation to engage in prostitution. But again, he doesn't have a big rap sheet. He has a misdemeanor on his record. He doesn't have a felony record. So when you're looking at that, he's not necessarily going to get the 10 years, which is the mandatory maximum. So again, we've already heard from the judge today that he is going to get time served. and he's been at the Metropolitan Detention Center behind bars leading up to this trial for 10 months. But again, look, it doesn't sound great, does it, to have to be in prison for a couple of years, but it's a lot different than life.

Chloe Malas leading us off tonight here on Top Story. Chloe, great job out there. We appreciate it. We're joined now by our good friends, NBC News Senior Legal Correspondent Laura Jarrett, trial attorney and legal analyst, Misty Mayors. We were just here last night saying, doesn't feel like it's going to look good for Diddy. Different story this morning. Let's talk about the defense attorneys. Chloe was talking about them, Laura.

What did they do right? Because they didn't call any witnesses. No, and they had a strategy there, which is always a risky one. The first, obviously, move that they used there was not calling him. That could have been devastating. Not calling any witnesses. I think they wanted to show that they felt like it was a prosecution's burden to try this case. They have no obligation to call a single witness, but it's always a gamble to do that.

It paid off for them here. It is interesting. As I watched them, Tom, just a short time ago, they are not acting. like this is a client that could face serious prison time. They are not acting like this is a client that is currently behind bars and has been behind bars, as you and I have discussed, since last fall. They are acting like he just got a full acquittal. And obviously, they're enjoying their victory lap. All makes sense, and they're doing this in front of the cameras right now. But he's still facing serious prison time for a man of his age. The judge is in there this evening talking about

all of the violence. This is not a judge saying that he plans to go lightly. This is a judge who's taking this seriously. Yeah, Misty, I was going to ask you, I mean, the judge is not showing any leniency here, right? Do you think the reaction that Laura's talking about is because, I mean, they felt dejected yesterday. Those were all the descriptions in court, right? Do you think they were just stunned with this victory over the RICO, the racketeering, and over the transportation, not the prostitution, but over the sex trafficking? Do you think that's what this emotion is because their client is still behind bars?

Yeah, Tom, and Laura's exactly right. This is a victory for the defense of the sense that it was the crime that has the lowest penalty. been convicted of sex trafficking, there was a mandatory minimum. That's a big difference of 15 years. So certainly this is a win for the defense. But that being said, when I was listening to that press conference, I'm thinking, he's going back to MDC tonight. And what we see was a little bit of a preview of what we can expect in sentencing by this bail hearing that we just witnessed. Because both sides have made arguments about what they believe, the federal guidelines. So there's guidelines that the judge will look at to make a determination,

although the judge has discretion. What does that mean? What does that say for this type of charge? Now, the defense says 21 to 27 months. That's like two, two and a half years. While the prosecution says 51 to 63, and they may ask for more. This is a rough calculation. That's more like five years. So big difference there, although certainly different than 15 minimum. What do you think is going to happen, Laura? I know it's tough to sort of gauge and predict these things because we've been surprised all day. Yeah. I think the judge could fall somewhere in the middle. He could recognize that he's going to be by that point behind bars for a year,

and he could sort of split the baby and go somewhere in the neighborhood of three. As you and I've talked about, he doesn't have a criminal history. He hasn't been convicted of a federal crime before. So you already start at the lowest level. And then you sort of add on things like there's more than one victim, like he used violence, like it was a crime that, you know, it affected interstate comments. There's different little add-ons that you can tack on here. that may reach it to a point where he doesn't go all the way up to the five years that the prosecutors are asking for,

but it's not going to be the single year that the defense wants. Would you be surprised if he walks out? Yes. You would be? I would be surprised. I think there'll be some time. Missy, how much of an embarrassment is this for the U.S. attorneys in the Southern District of New York? Millions of dollars I've been told to spend investigating this case, incredibly high profile.

They went after RICO when there's a lot of other huge real RICO crimes happening here. Was this a big mistake? this was certainly not the Southern District's best day. Let's just say that. They have like an 80-something percent conviction rate. And usually when you see an SDNY case, these prosecutors have that case locked up, which was why, as I was watching this trial, I was surprised on the RICO charge. But there's some strategy. As it, you know, played out during the prosecution's case, where's the enterprise? I still have that question going into deliberations. But there's a strategy to that because it actually allows a lot more evidence to come.

into the courtroom. All of those predicate crimes. The prosecutors were able to put that in front of the jury when they otherwise would not have been able to. Clearly, it did not work in this case. The defense won the day, essentially. There was reasonable doubt, of course, with the sex trafficking. But I would say it was not the SDNY. I just think having no one who flipped also just really had such an impact. There was no one to show the enterprise. There was no one to say, hey, I was in the room. He explained it to me. This was how the business deal was supposed to go down. They didn't have anybody who was really able to connect the dots who was on the inside with him. Okay. Missy Maris, Laura Jarrett, so great to have you guys. Thank you so much.

You guys are a great team. For more on how this will impact Sean Diddy Combs' business empire and legacy in the music industry, I want to bring in Daryl James. He's a veteran music journalist who has covered Combs for decades and is the author of the book, Becoming Diddy, the making of Sean, John Combs, from Mogul to Monster. Daryl, I do want to ask you, because I think a lot of people might be perplexed on this. Did he at one point was, you could say, the king of the hip hop world. He did not receive a lot of support from the hip hop community. I mean, Kanye West came out once, maybe one or two artists. I don't even think that many. What happened here? And is he now forever a pariah in the hip hop industry? Well, even before the charges, even before any of this happened,

he was kind of a pariah anyway because of the way he ran his business and because of the way he actually treated his artist starting as far back as the notorious Biggie Smalls. And then your impression of this verdict tonight, what does this mean for Combs and his legacy? I mean, even if he gets out, whether it be right away or in five years, I mean, is he done in the entertainment industry? It's hard to say if he's done, you know, because we have other people throughout the entire entertainment industry who have been unscrupulous, who have done bad things, who were bad people, who still. managed to still do business. So that's kind of a hard call. He can probably still get in and, you know, still have his legacy, preserve whatever legacy he has left and still be able to make a living. What does this do down the road for hip hop in general? I mean, did he again? What was so

popular? At one point, I know he wasn't very popular now. He definitely wasn't current, especially with younger people. But he was a mogul at one time. Is this being seen tonight as a victory? I mean, are people celebrating this, or is this maybe looking at law enforcement going a little too far? I don't think anybody's really championing his cause. I mean, real hardcore people in the music industry. I don't think anyone celebrated and wanted him to, you know, oh, God, I'm glad he got arrested. I hope he, you know, gets it. And I'm talking about just lay people.

I think people who did business with him, who had close ties, maybe they're happy that he's going to because that's what it looks like. Maybe they're happy that he got arrested. But I don't think that the music industry, the urban music industry at large, is really celebrating that he's actually about to do time. Yeah, I do want to ask you, what do you think happens to all the lawsuits that are out there now and how many more civil lawsuits do you think this is going to invite now that there's all this evidence out there of those parties and the things that he has been convicted of? Well, I think the lawsuits are going to keep on coming because that's just what happens. I mean, we saw that with, you know, Bill Cosby, we saw it with R. Kelly. We see it with

pretty much anybody who gets into a situation where they have public legal issues. People who, some people are going to come out to try to get money because, you know, they really did have something happened to them. And some people just want to get a payday. All right. Darren James, we thank you so much, Darrell, for being out here and for coming on Top Story. We appreciate it. We do want to turn out of Boise, Idaho for another stunning moment in court. pleading guilty on four counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of four University of Idaho students. It comes after a judge accepted a last-minute plea deal that's left the families of the victims deeply divided. Liz Kreutz was in court today and has the latest.

Tonight, two and a half years after the brutal murders of four University of Idaho students, the man accused of the crimes, Brian Koberger pleading guilty in a Boise courtroom. Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty? Yes. In a chilling moment, Judge Stephen Hippler, one by one, asking Khobeger this question. Murder in the first degree, as it relates to the murder of Madison, Mogan. How do you plead guilty or not guilty? Guilty.

Haley Gonzalez, how do you plead guilty or not guilty? Guilty. Zana Kurnodal, pardon me, a human being, how do you plead guilty or not guilty? Guilty. Ethan Chapin, a human being, how do you plead guilty or not guilty? Guilty. In the courtroom, families of all the victims, Some sobbing and holding hands as prosecutors recounted the disturbing evidence they were ready to present at trial.

The defendant's car, the white Alantra, as I've described, circling the 1122 King Road area, that neighborhood, starting around 3.30 or so in the morning. Defendant entered the residence, went to the third floor, and with a knife killed Madison Mogan and Kayman-Gonzalez. The defendant, as he left that room, for whatever reason, ended up leaving or the sheath for a K-bar knife was left on the bed next to Madison Molden's body. The prosecutor saying before fleeing, Coburgar murdered the other two students and then drove home. About 9.30, evidence taken from the defendant's phone, that he took a selfie of himself on his phone in what appears to be the bathroom of his Pullman apartment with a thumbs up. Koberger's plea deal, which takes the death penalty off the table, shocking to even the judge, who said he only learned of it Monday. Some of the families of the victims outraged. Kaylee Gonzalez's father lashing out at the prosecutor.

We didn't agree on anything. He only negotiated with the murder of our children. Kaylee would be ashamed to what happened today. In 2022, after a week's long manhunt, the former criminology student was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania, charged with the murders of Gonzalez, Zana Kronodal, Ethan Schaepp. and Madison Mogan. Her mother and stepfather tonight saying they've found relief in the plea deal. We have closure. We embark on a path of hope and healing. Liz Croyd joins us tonight from Boise, Idaho. And Liz, those families that had to listen to all those grueling details will get their day in court to address Koeberger directly, correct? Yeah, Tom, they will. On July 23rd, there'll be a hearing where family members of the victims will be able to give victim impact statements.

It's expected that at that hearing, Coburger will then be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. But something about the fact that it's not going to trial that's upsetting to some of the victim's family members is they feel that many of the questions they still have, including motive, why he did this, where the murder weapon is, that many of those things are going to be left unanswered. Liz, we thank you. For more on Brian Coburger's plea deal, I want to bring in criminal defense attorney, Jeremy Saland. Jeremy, thanks so much for being here. I mean, when you listened to that play out in court and as prosecutors in Leda County sort of detailed what they had,

the evidence was overwhelming, correct? Absolutely. When you're looking to check boxes off in terms of, should I go forward on this case, can I go forward on this case, and can I prove it beyond a reasonable doubt? They were checked. You have DNA. You had cell site information putting him near that near the location of the murders.

You had the vehicle. You had the bushy eyebrows. You had what you needed to move forward, but you waited to the last minute, relatively speaking, to come to this conclusion and an offer. We can never get in the mind of a killer. Maybe one day, Koberger will talk about why he did this. Those families will not know the motive. They won't know why their kids were picked, and they won't know why he kept killing after he killed his first two victims. But I do want to ask you, for somebody who was a Ph.D. in criminology, he seemed to have made a lot of mistakes. Well, let's not conflate a good degree or working on your Ph.D. in criminology as someone who can do this and get away with that.

It speaks for itself. We hear people all the time of arrogance and mistakes and sort of just greed and who I am messing things up. And he made a lot of mistakes. Maybe he wanted to be caught. I don't know. But ultimately he got caught and the evidence was overwhelmingly strong to indicate that he did it and he did it really brutally. You know, the judge, the first thing he did was sort of addressed the court of public opinion. He said his office had been inundated with calls, people demanding the death penalty. Then he was saying, listen, I have no control over that. He was being. honest with everyone there, how tough was it for prosecutors to take that plea deal, do you think? That's a great question. I was a prosecutor here in Manhattan for a long time, and you do things not because they're easy, you do things because they're right. And you'd like to think that really guided them, but there's a real practical reality, too. This is a small municipality or jurisdiction part of me. Did they have the financial power to deal with an appeal, to deal with this throughout that entirety of the process? Do they have the person power, the sweat equity power,

to take this in terms of that time and effort to get a conviction and there's other matters going on around them. And then there's just this sense of closure, though you heard from one family member, I'm really opposed, I'm appalled, and then you heard from 100% support from another. It's a tough spot, but a disappointing one from what it seems to be for a lack of notice to get to that point. And I'd say one other thing, there was a point when Kohlberger's team was fighting the death penalty and that if prosecution opposed that. Well, why did we now come to this conclusion? We could have done that a long time ago.

Good point. Jeremy Salon, so great to have you on Top Story. We thank you for your analysis. In California tonight, an urgent search is underway for seven people who remain missing after a huge explosion at a fireworks warehouse just outside of Sacramento. NBC News correspondent Morgan Chesky has the late details. The building storing commercial fireworks was already up in flames. Our Sacramento station covering it live when the blaze triggered a massive explosion. That warehouse turning into an inferno. I can say I have not seen anything like this.

This is obviously an incident of great magnitude. And tonight, authorities say seven people are still missing at the fireworks company in this rural community outside Sacramento. Authorities say the first call came in at 550 last night. Everyone within a one mile radius was evacuated. The flames consuming several nearby homes and igniting spot fires, hampering authorities efforts to get close. We know that the risk is high in that area, so we maintained a wide perimeter. That leaves little information for loved ones of the missing, who came to tonight's press

conference looking for answers. The first priority is the piece. We're going to go on to the next question. Sianna Ruiz's 18-year-old boyfriend, Jesus, is still unaccounted for. We have a baby on the way and I can't take it risk things like that right now. We're also learning more about another fireworks incident in Massachusetts. Authorities say that a vehicle appears to have been delivering fireworks at a golf course, and it then caught fire, which in turn caused the entire battery of fireworks to explode.

Tonight we've learned at least one person there was injured. Tom? All right, Morgan Chesky, on those two firework incidents. We're also following breaking news out of New Jersey tonight, multiple people injured after a skydiving plane crashed in Monroe Township. Here's some images. The small plane crashing in the town of Monroe that's in South Jersey, not far from Philadelphia. You can see several people being put into ambulances, local emergency management calling it a mass casualty incident and saying about 15 people were aboard, multiple people were airlifted to local hospitals. All right, when Top Story returns tonight, missing in Turks and Caicos, authorities searching for an American tourist who vanished on the Caribbean island one week ago, what surveillance video shows.

And GOP Gridlock, House Republicans divided on passing President Trump's big, beautiful bill with the clock ticking towards his July 4th deadline. Plus, the mysterious band catching fire on Spotify with more than 700,000 listeners and counting. But is it real? Or is this banned AI? What we found out. We're back now with a growing mystery in paradise. while on vacation in Turks and Caicos. Surveillance video showing the moments he was last seen more than a week ago. NBC's Jesse Kirsch has the latest on the search. Brian Terrence and his wife were on an island vacation,

according to a private investigator hired by the family, when he suddenly vanished in Turks and Caicos. She went to bed rather early, 7 o'clock. She got up two times, checked on him. He was watching TV or whatever. And then when she got up 7 a.m., he was gone. That was June 25th. The family hired private investors.

The investigator Carl DeFazio says this surveillance video shows the 51-year-old New Yorker outside the couple's resort around 4 a.m. walking normally with his phone. He did not have his passport. We have no credit card charges. We don't have any Apple alerts on his phone. Do you know where his devices are right now? Unfortunately, we don't. We're getting that information now. The police department here and myself with helping the embassy. We're trying to get that information. The problem was it was the only one that was on the accounts, and it took a while for the service providers to share that information. The U.S. State Department says it's aware of a U.S. citizen missing in Turks and Caicos, where that American tourist was going, and why remain a

mystery. All right, Jesse joins us live tonight, Jesse, a lot of unanswered questions here. The family is on the ground there in Turks and Kekos, obviously trying to figure out what happened. That's right, Tom. The private investigator hired by that. family tells us that the missing American's wife has returned to the states briefly, but is expected to return to Turks and Caicos. Meanwhile, Brian Terrence's mother and sister-in-law, we're told her on the ground right now in that island country with so many questions still unanswered. Yeah, and looking around too. Okay, Jesse, we thank you. We're back in a moment with new details, how that five-year-old fell overboard on that Disney cruise ship going through a

porthole and how her dad risked it all to save her. And Paramount paying up announcing a 16 million dollar settlement with President Trump in the legal battle over that 60 minutes interview with former Vice President Kamala Harris, why the media giant gave in. But first, top story's top moment. And this one comes from all the way from Ireland, a wife, mother, and long-time fan of classic cars stopping to take a picture after she spotted one of her favorite models in a parking lot, only to find out her husband of 40 years had a very special surprise in store. Take a look. What do you want to be photo? That's beautiful.

A little boy. That happy couple is Kahal and Bernie Heron. Their daughter tells us that white Citroan is her mom's dream car. Here's to another 40 years in that beautiful ride. All right. Stay with us. We're back in a moment. We're back now with wild weather from coast to coast just as we hit into the holiday weekend.

Atlanta Braves fans spotting this tornado looking cloud over Truist Park, I should say. Look at that thing. Thunderstorms unleashing the so-called scud cloud. That sounds scary. And in Florida, this water spout churning off the coast of Fort Myers as storms hit the region. And check this out, a massive dust storm whipping through lost face. Bigas. Thick plumes of dust swirling over buildings. That's no fun. Let's get right over to NBC meteorologist Bill Cairns. Bill, that was a new one. I've never heard of that. What is it, the Scud Cloud? Yeah, you hit that right on. They look scary. They're produced by thunderstorms. So you associate thunderstorms with scary looking clouds. And you're thinking, this is going to be like a tornado. It looks like a tornado, but it's not spinning. It's not rotating. It's just kind of hanging there in the air. And so, yeah, I don't know the origin of it, but somehow these became called Scud Cloud. So often they are misreported as tornadoes. Pretty cool, though. And they don't have. hurt anyone, which is even better. So we always have some bad weather across this large country.

Dallas, Fort Worth Airport, 75-minute delays. Miami, you're at 45-minute delays. We're much better in the northeast today. But unfortunately, tomorrow, we've introduced the chance of some severe thunderstorms. It's not going to be widespread. It'll be isolated. We're mostly talking from Albany, all the way down to Philadelphia, the New York area to Hartford, and the damaging wind is going to be a thing. It's not going to be like the coverage of the storms we had the two previous nights when we had those horrible delays, but we will be watching isolated strong storms with damaging wind. I paused this at 5 o'clock. And you can kind of see how the storms are kind of hit and miss. As we go into the fourth, we're shifting south. The worst weather in the country,

central Florida. It looks like we're going to have some heavy rain and thunderstorms to deal with. Hopefully, Tom, those will be over with by the time we do the fireworks. Rest of the country still looking pretty fantastic. Okay, Bill, we'll take it. We thank you for that. Now at tonight's news feed, we start with new details about a Canadian man accused of attempting to break into WWE Star Live Morgan's Florida home. Morgan, who was traveling at the time, reported, seen a man trying to enter her home on surveillance footage. The Ontario man was seen carrying an AR-15-style BB gun, leaving a rambling handwritten note saying he intended to pay a friendly visit. He was arrested and now faces burglary and federal stocking charges.

Now to an update on that dramatic rescue we brought you earlier this week when a little girl went overboard from a Disney cruise ship. It was terrifying. According to the sheriff's office, now the five-year-old lost her balance while sitting on a railing and fell through a porthole. Her mother alerted her father who jumped into the ocean to save her, treading water until they were rescued by a cruise tender. You see there, investigators say it was about 20 minutes from the fall to the rescue. The sheriff's office also said the father was hospitalized. And a cheesy situation, sorry about it, but we had to do it, unfolding on a Pennsylvania highway after a tractor trailer crashed, scattering mozzarella across the roadway. Photos from the scene show Interstate 80 covered in

cheese after the truck crashed and split open. The dairy debris. scattered 200 yards across the roadway that was shut down for several hours today. Luckily, no one was injured in the crash. A lot of chicken parms, though, going incomplete there. Okay, to Washington now, the latest on the battle over President Trump's so-called big, beautiful bill, House Republicans divided as they scrambled to pass the Senate-approved version of the measure ahead of the president's July 4th deadline. It comes as the winners and losers of Trump's signature legislation are coming into focus.

The bill will help out corporations. and higher income homes that will see tax cuts as well as workers who will no longer be taxed on tips and overtime. But it also saddles future generations with an additional $3 trillion of national debt and cuts parts of Medicaid and food stamp programs, possibly impacting lower income homes and health care workers. Our Ryan Nobles has been pressing lawmakers for days and has this report as the president met today with GOP holdouts. Tonight, the Mad Dash, House Republicans trying to overcome a GOP divide. to pass what President Trump calls his big, beautiful bill. A small group of House conservatives upset over changes to the bill by the Senate.

A lot to negotiate. But you can't change the bill. Can't change the bill, but you can change the implementation of the bill. Earlier, President Trump summoning Republican holdouts to the White House. I'm not sure if I'm going to the woodshed or not. I've been summoned by the president, so we'll see how this goes. Though most GOP lawmakers were already behind the massive budget bill. It's a great bill.

is something for everyone. Which delivers on a slew of the president's campaign promises, including eliminating taxes on tips and overtime and increasing border security funding. Is a no vote a vote against President Trump? I wouldn't want to do a no vote and vote against President Trump. This is what he ran on and what 77 million American people voted him on office for. Okay, let's pick it up right there. Ryan Nobles joins us live again from Capitol Hill.

So Ryan, we know there are a small number of Republicans that are upset about the version. What's in the bill exactly that they're not happy about? And leadership, can they still think they can pass this before the self-imposed July 4th deadline? Clock is ticking. It certainly is, Tom. And I'll take your second question first. They remain optimistic. We've seen Republican leaders come in and out of closed door meetings throughout the day. Every time they come out of these rooms, they say they are making progress, although that progress is slow and incremental. They still predict that they're going to be able to get this done before the 4th of July. wrestling with is the answer to your first question, and that is conservative House Republicans

are upset that the cuts that they initially made in their first version of this bill that passed the House was changed significantly by the Senate. They do not like the way the Senate plans to overhaul Medicaid. They do not believe that it brings enough savings. And they're also upset that the Senate version of this package slowed down the rollback of those energy tax credits that were implemented during the Biden administration. The issue they have, though, here, Tom, is that they cannot change the bill if they want to get it done before the 4th of July. All right, Ryan, I know we're going to be sticking by close to you over the next 24 hours. We thank you for everything.

President Trump tonight celebrating what he's calling a legal victory over Paramount and CBS News after they settled a lawsuit with him for $16 million. The suit brought after a 60-minute interview with Kamala Harris that Trump claims was deceptively edited to help the Democratic presidential nominee. The network still denies those claims and will now, will not have to. issue an apology. Stephanie Gossk has this one. Tonight, a $16 million settlement, Paramount, the parent company of CBS, announcing it will pay President Trump's legal fees and give money to his future presidential library. The president sued CBS over this interview with Vice President Kamala Harris on 60 Minutes during last year's presidential campaign.

We're not going to stop pursuing what is necessary for the United States to be clear about where we stand on the need for this war to end. The suit accusing the show of manipulating the editing in Harris's favor, a claim CBS News denied. In June, 60 Minutes anchor Scott Pelly was asked what effect a settlement and apology would have. It will be very damaging to CBS, to Paramount, to the reputation of those companies. Paramount is not issuing an apology, but says it has agreed to release written transcripts of future 60 Minutes interviews with presidential candidates. The Trump legal team calling the settlement another. win for the American people, holding the media accountable for their wrongdoing and deceit.

The announcement comes as Paramount is looking to merge with Skydance Media, a deal worth $8 billion. It has been stuck waiting for FCC approval for nearly a year. Paramount previously saying the lawsuit is unrelated to the Skydance merger and the FCC approval process. Following a string of lawsuits this year, media companies and social media platforms have reached settlements with the president worth more than $60 million. In January, ABC News agreed to pay $15 million over on-air comments made by George Stephanopoulos. The terms similar to CBS, though in that case, ABC News did issue a statement of regret.

Stephanie Gosk, NBC News, New York. Okay, we thank Stephanie for that one. Now to the cost of denial and the premium frustration felt by one small business owner who reached out to us after seeing our series on the insurance industry. He's in a four-and-a-half-year-long fight with his insurance company and says his successful furniture business is at risk now. Here's Christine Romans. When the storm hit, Martin Goebel thought he'd be okay. You had insurance. I was fully covered and I was up to date with all of my payments. Making all your payments.

You thought you'd be covered. Yes. So you don't think it's fair. Everything going on here is not fair. This is video Goebel shot recently, water drenching the floor of his St. Louis furniture shop. This is our workshop. All because he says, of a storm that tore a hole through his roof back in 2021. What we're dealing with is not the disaster of the storm. It's the disaster of the insurance that's supposed to protect us from the storm. Building coverage, a million. Now he's suing Cincinnati insurance company for what he believes he's owed from his more

than $1 million policy. You can't afford to just fix this roof yourself. No, that's why I have insurance. But the insurer, he says, has only provided money for tarps to replace some machinery and other temporary fixes, far from enough to repair the roof and machinery damaged by hail, rain and wind. Every time it rains, it gets a little bit worse and a little bit worse than there's a new leak somewhere else.

Now his daily routine clearing out that water, protecting his machines, time taken away from furniture making. I haven't paid myself a regular salary in more than a year because I need to make payroll every two weeks. I need to pay suppliers. He's made benches for Washington University. workspaces for Nike, even a throne for a chieftainess in Zambia. But now he says he's lost hundreds of thousands of dollars,

had to cut staff, and take on a second job to make ends meet with a newborn at home. The assumption is the storm is the worst day of your life. But in reality, the worst day of your life is the next storm. And you don't know how bad that damage is going to be. That must be frustrating because if it had just been fixed back in 2021, you wouldn't have these cascading problems. It's extremely frustrating. Cincinnati insurance says it believes in paying claims quickly and fairly

and that the company pays billions in claims each year. The insurer telling NBC News it can't comment specifically on Goebel's case, but in a court filing said based on their expert's inspections, the existence of hail or wind damage is an open question of fact. A question Goebel calls laughable. says it was a storm. We checked and a hail storm did hit St. Louis at the time. Where there is water coming in right now, where there are beams sagging, where there is roof missing, none of that was a problem. His case now set to go to court next month. I think that every small business owner

out there should look at this and say to themselves, what do I do when this happens? Because it's not a question of if, but when. So to protect yourself, experts say know what the exceptions are in your policy, read the fine print, and understand ahead of time what's not covered. You might be surprised. Second, document with photos and video your place of business now, and then again after any kind of damage happens so that you can really compare. And finally, hire your own professional to evaluate the damage if something happens so that you have your own information to present to the insurance company as well. Tom? Christine Roman, some great tips tonight. Christine, we thank you. That of money talks and

another warning from the housing market this time in Florida. The Wall Street Journal reporting that the worst housing market in America is now Cape Coral. That's a city on the southwest coast of Florida near Fort Myers. A surge of residents moved there during the pandemic, looking for their spot among the city's iconic canals, but home prices there have dropped get this 11% through May over the last two years. That's the worst of any metro area in the entire country. It comes as CNBC reports, requests for mortgage refiners. are surging amid a drop in interest rates. A Mortgage Bankers Association Index finding demand to refinance a home loan was at a 40% higher last week year over year.

For more on what's causing this, I want to bring in the writer of that article and the reporter, of course, Deborah Acosta. Deborah, thanks for joining Top Story tonight. So we're looking at those beautiful images of Cape Coral. What happened here? Tom, when the subprime mortgage collapse happened back in 2008, Cape Coral was known as the epicenter of the foreclosure. crisis in America. Ever since then, we've seen prices climb. And in fact, in 2018, from what you see in these gorgeous images, it became one of the fastest

growing cities in the country. What happened during the pandemic is that we had a lot of people coming down to Florida, and they found an inexpensive slice of Florida Paradise in Cape Coral, particularly. And so we had a run-up in prices for three years, about 75 percent higher. And so that created suddenly a huge price increase. And coupled with inflation and other issues happening in the economy, a lot of these retirees on fixed incomes found themselves in a situation where they just couldn't pay the costs of maintaining these homes. Add to that the hurricanes that punished the western coast of Florida starting

in 2022 every single year. And then you had other costs that they weren't expecting. And so a lot of these homeowners started listing their properties on the market. At the same time, because of all this exuberance and excitement in the market that we saw during the pandemic, a lot of developers came into this particular area and started building, and they built quickly. They started building single-family homes and in particular apartment buildings, which this area hadn't really seen before. And now we have a glut of development in this area at a time where there's not that many buyers. And so it's a very difficult situation if you're a seller at this moment. Deborah, I follow everything you're saying, right, especially the insurance part of this. On the maintenance, though,

that part I don't follow because in Florida, you know, you don't really have seasons. You have your AC on year round and you have your landscaping bills. But that's really it. What other maintenance were they talking about? Or was that insurance being roped into that? So of course, insurance goes up when you have these natural disasters. And suddenly if you see your home is flooded, that means you have to fix it. And so you have to hire construction workers to come in and fix your home for you. So those are some of the maintenance costs we're talking about here. People have to come in and fix these homes. And when construction workers are busy fixing other homes, those costs start going up along with inflation.

When they're working on developments, then there's fewer of these construction workers available. And so all of those costs went up for all of these retired people. So what's going to happen? It became untenable for them. What's going to happen there in Cape Coral? I mean, is it a bubble? Has it burst? Are now vulture funds going to go in there and scoop up these homes?

We're not anywhere near what happened back in 2008, 2009, when you did have a lot of these investors coming in and scooping up properties. A lot of those investors, actually, when they saw that run-up in prices, they're part of the problem. They sold a lot of their properties because they saw an opportunity to take a profit. And so that added, again, to more of this inventory issue that we're seeing. They're telling me, I got a wrap. I do want to ask you, though, is this going to happen in other parts of Florida, other parts of the country? We're seeing, unfortunately, this issue in Sarasota, in Tampa, we're seeing tons of inventory. Okay. And across the country, we're seeing it in Austin as well.

Not good news. Deborah Acosta, the next time you have another write-up, let us know we will bring you on to talk about what other cities being affected. We thank you for being here tonight. When Top Story returns, music for the modern era, the next band to Rock Spotify, it might just be AI. Turning now to Top Story's Global Watch, we start with you. where authorities say at least five people are dead after a Ugandan military helicopter crashed at Somalia's capital airport. The helicopter used in an Africa Union peacekeeping mission was traveling within the country with eight people on board. Local authorities telling state media investigations are now ongoing to figure out why it crashed. The Italian Coast Guard came to the rescue when a young boy was swept out to see. This story is incredible. The five-year-old

was floating on an air mattress off the coast of Naples when strong winds pushed him two and a half miles offshore, Coast Guard members reached the boy and his grandmother who swam to try and rescue him. Both were brought to safety where they received medical care. Can't bring yourself to tell your boss, I quit? Well, outsource it. That according to some experts in Japan. That's right, an industry of so-called proxy quitters. He's growing in Japan, where one in 10 employers report receiving resignations from proxies. One agency, Memori, which translates to, I can't take it anymore, charges roughly 350 bucks for the service and receives about 2,500 cases a month. Okay. Now to what could be a watershed moment for the music industry, a band called Velvet Sundown

has been raking up hundreds of thousands of streams at Spotify, but some eagle-eyed and ear listeners are saying everything about this band from their photos to their music appears to be AI-generated. NBC's Aaron McLaughlin takes a closer look and listen. Velvet Sundown may sound like the latest band ready for its big break, with more than 700,000 monthly listeners and counting on Spotify. But listen closely. Dust on the wind, boots on the ground. There are growing suspicions this song. In fact, the entire album could be AI generated, something the band nods to in this new promo video.

Are you sure we're not real? Or did you just stream the dream again? You believe the lie and danced to it anyway. Even the band's profile pictures show signs of AI image manipulation. Take a look at those hands, that guitar, that recording device, all clues pointing to artificial intelligence. We reached out to Velvet Sundown on the social media account attached to the Spotify. We've yet to hear back. This band is a mystery. But music insiders say the music?

100% AI generated. We actually know from which app and which. version of that app. Alexis Lanternier is the CEO of Deezer, a music streaming app based in Paris. He says AI generated music now accounts for 18% of all music uploaded to his platform, over 20,000 songs a day, a number that's doubled in the last few months. Those trends tend to be exponential, so we are preparing for a massive inflow. This seems like a tidal wave that's about to crash ashore. We are preparing for that. We think that's going to happen. Lanternier says bands like Velvet Sundown are now working their way into a growing number of playlists, and listeners may have no idea.

I think there is no other music streaming platform that are flagging 100% AI-generated song. That's why Deezer makes a point of letting its users know if a song is AI-generated, unlike Spotify and other streaming apps. NBC News reached out to Spotify for comment and has yet to hear back. Solace. Chris Hieronymus, the artist behind the indie band, Velas. Meadow is taking Velvet Sundown's growing popularity personally. I was like, man, that looks very familiar. Like everything does.

The name, like even like the AI image, like when I used to have long hair and stuff, it's just weird. And so he put pen to paper, writing this disc track aimed at AI-generated music. I think people are getting too far down the rabbit hole of dissecting is a AI? Is it not AI? And forgetting the important question, which is like, how did it make you feel? Mikey Schulman is the CEO of Suno, an app that allows anyone to transform a text prompt into AI generated music in just seconds. Was Sunno used to create the music of Velvet Sundown? We're not in the habit of saying one way or another what tools get used to make lots of different

music. You know, I can tell you that there are Grammy winners who use Suno every day in their production. Check this baby out. As for Hieronymus, he's determined to keep his music old school. If you can't beat him. Join him? I don't know. Never. I'll go down.

This captain will go down with this shit. And with that, Aaron McLaughlin joins us now in studio. Aaron, this is going to be such a talked about story. And I think one of the big questions is how do people make money off this? Is someone making money off this band? Well, right now in the United States, you can't copyright AI-generated music. But there's a lot of gray area here. For example, if you write the lyrics but use AI for the instruments, what happens then?

Then you have the matter of the streaming platforms. Right now, the streaming platforms, the vast majority of them do not disclose what's AI generated and what's not. So it's entirely possible that whoever is behind this band could be cashing in all the while the slice of the pie for that mid-sized earnest artist out there organically making music. Yeah, let's get in smaller. Velvet sunset, right? Velvet sunset. Sundown. Velvet sundown.

All right. Thanks so much, Aaron. We thank you for that. When Top Story returns Christmas in June, the Santa's helpers who sprang into action to bring a Christmas miracle to one little girl who needed it most. Don't go away. Finally, tonight, hundreds of neighbors in a Maryland town rallying together to celebrate one last Christmas for a little girl with brain cancer. That community going all out with.

miles of houses decked out in holiday lights and even an appearance from Santa. Our Priscilla Thompson has this story. Oh my gosh, it looks so good. It began as most Christmas wishes do with a letter. This community has been incredibly supportive of our family over the last four years. Alyssa and Joe Zackman writing, not to Santa, but their Maryland neighbors about their nine-year-old daughter, Casey, wanting to celebrate Christmas on June 28th. The date she was diagnosed with brain cancer four years ago.

This week will be incredibly hot and not the best climate for putting up lights, but we aren't sure how much time we have. With just days to prepare, Santa's helpers went straight to their workshops. All of the neighbors were out there just sweating as we hung Christmas lights. Merry Christmas! Thank you so much. She ran like she hasn't ran in years. She wanted to be right in the middle of it. More than two dozen fire trucks.

and hundreds of homes decorated just for her. Oh my gosh, Kay's, look on the roof. June 28th for us has been Diagnosis Day, has been a heavy day for us to now be able to think about June 28th as Christmas in June, especially next year. We're so thankful. A priceless gift from the community that made Christmas

come early. Priscilla Thompson, NBC News. A beautiful sight for that little girl there. girl there. Okay, we want to thank Priscilla for that story. We thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamerson, New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.