Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, July 8, 2026

Episode Date: July 9, 2026

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

Breaking news tonight, the U.S. launching a new round of strikes on Iran as the president says the ceasefire, it's over. The fresh attacks coming as tensions escalate in the region. Iran threatening retaliation. Are we on the brink of returning to a full-scale war? The president's tough words for Iran's leaders, plus our reporter on the ground inside of Tehran, what he's finding, and the new questions tonight about why the president left Turkey on the old Air Force won. Also tonight, inside the race to stabilize that New York City high rise that was at risk of collapse, the new images tonight, and the confusion with the Department of Buildings over what caused this. Katie Couric's terrifying health scare, the former Today anchor revealing a sudden episode of memory loss.

The diagnosis causing a black hole in her memory. Dangerous toy warning, the popular product exploding, leaving kids with serious burns, what parents need to know. Paris Hilton alleged she was abused at a Utah boarding school as a team. Now the state is pulling the facility's license. The reason behind that move. The mysterious illness at the Grand Canyon, several whitewater raptors sickened, and doctors can't figure out why the symptoms sparking concern. Wild video of a police chasing a minivan on a golf course,

how they stopped the driver wanted for attempted murder. Plus, can AI call your bluff? We speak with the inventor of a new technology being used at the World Series of Poker. You'll see how it works. Top story starts right now. And good evening. As we come on the air here, the U.S. unleashing a punishing new wave of strikes against Iran. President Trump saying the ceasefire is officially over.

New video shows a huge explosion. You see it right here erupting over an Iranian port as U.S. Central Command confirms the president ordered these new attacks. Following a series of intense strikes last night, targeting a Iranian port. Iran's air defense and naval capabilities. You can see those fiery scenes in a major port city in Iran near the Strait of Hormuz, smoke and flames filling the night sky. And new video showing rows of boats in another city swallowed in fire after U.S. attacks. Iran striking back, state media releasing this video, saying it shows retaliatory missiles against the U.S. military.

President Trump had scathing words for the Iranian regime today, calling them sick people and, quote, scum after the interim peace deal fell apart. All of this unraveling after Iran attacked commercial ships in the strait, something it pledged it wouldn't do. The escalation sending oil prices surging up 5% now just as they were starting to come down. So with the ceasefire over is the possibility of full-scale war back on the table. Our Garrett Hake is traveling with the president leads us off. Tonight, the U.S. launching a new wave of retaliatory airstrikes against Iran following U.S. strikes last night. All a response to the Iranian regime firing on unarmed commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz two days ago. Earlier, President Trump at a summit with NATO allies

declaring the ceasefire over. We attacked very powerfully last night. The very dangerous people from Iran, they're sick. There's something wrong with them. We said, go and do your funeral stuff. And instead of that, they started shooting rockets at chips yesterday. And so we hit them very hard last night, very hard. Iran attacked those commercial ships despite promising to allow them through the straight as part of the preliminary peace deal. Is this he fired or done? I think it's over. I don't want to deal with them anymore.

They're scum. You know what scum is? They're scum. They're sick people. They're led by sick people. And they're vicious, violent people. And if they had a nuclear weapon, they'd. use it. As far as I'm concerned, it's over. I'll let our wonderful negotiators keep talking if they

want, but I don't see it. Richard Engel is in Iran. Here in the capital, Tehran, there's no panic. People are still out on the streets late into the night. The government is promising a fearless retaliation. The president saying there won't be a return to full-scale war. I don't think it's going start again. I think it's going to go very quickly. When they hit, we hit. We use their language. their language. President Trump previously said this about Iranian negotiators. We're dealing with people that I think are very rational people. Tonight, he was pressed on what changed. I got to know. Based on their actions over the last week or two, they're not doing a service to the people. We can play games, but I'm not sure I want to make a deal. Let's just

finish the job. All as NATO's Secretary General says he supports the U.S. strikes on Iran. Iran is basically violating the ceasefire. I think it is totally crucial that the U.S. forcefully react. If that conflict enlarges again, are you concerned at all that that could divert money, munitions, resources, attention from stopping the war in Ukraine? No, because the United States is so strong and powerful, it can do both. Garrett Hague joins us tonight from Turkey. So, Garrett, the president flew to the summit on the new Air Force One, give it. by Qatar, but flew back on the old plane. Do we know why?

This was a strange episode, Tom. This was the first foreign trip for that new Air Force One, which the president arrived on when he got here yesterday. Then this morning, the White House announced he'd be departing on the old Air Force One. The initial story for this was that the president wanted to show off the new plane, which would be flying ahead to an airbase in the United Kingdom. But when he was asked about this today during that news conference, He pointed out that he is, in his words, number one on Iran's kill list. And then the White House said that, you know, this new plane does have top-level security protocols, but also they use tools like distraction and deception to keep the president safe.

Something we also saw them do when he was presidential candidate Donald Trump, and they put him on different planes when they were Iranian threats against him at the time. The president has now, in the UK, switched back to the new plane, and he told reporters on board it as it returns to the U.S. United States, that the plane was welcomed there in the U.K. And when asked about why they had to lower their window shades on takeoff, another security procedure that's a little bit unusual, he said he wasn't asked, but did acknowledge, again, that the Iranians, he believes, are, in his view, crazy people who might try to target him or his aircraft. Tom? All right, Garrett Hake there

with that one. Garrett, we thank you. I want to bring in NBC's Courtney Cuby, who covers the military first. Courtney, I guess the big questions here, what exactly are we striking, right? The sort of the different targets that the U.S. is going after now. And will this escalate until a full-scale war once again? So a U.S. official tells me that we should expect tonight's strikes to be bigger than what we saw last night. It's not really clear what that means if they're talking about the scope and scale or if potentially last night the strikes that we saw were more than 80 targets.

They were primarily along the coast of the Strait of Hormuz. And they were the sorts of things that are attacking commercial ships that have been for the last several weeks. So drone launching facilities, missile launching sites, coastal radar sites, those sorts of things. One thing that we need to watch for tonight, Tom, is whether some of those strikes move further inland and whether they start to go after things that is an expanded target list. So President Trump has spoken recently in recent weeks about the possibility of going after things like water desalienization plants. If we see something like that that is a clear escalation from what the U.S. military has gone after or struck in

these back and forths between the IRGC, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the U.S. military in recent weeks. But at this point, the official tells us that the strikes continue at this hour, and we should expect them to continue for quite a bit longer. Last night's strikes just for perspective lasted for about four hours, Tom. And, Corey, not just going after targets and things, maybe going after people, like what we saw at the beginning of the Iran War. I also know you have some new reporting tonight about the Pentagon and its financial situation.

Yeah, and this all really ties back to the war in Iran because the U.S. military has incurred an enormous loss in money because of the war in Iran. Now, there's a supplemental that the Pentagon is asking for about $67 billion, and much of that is to replace things like munitions, aircraft that were lost, specific costs from the war in Iran, which keep in mind, even though technically there is the ceasefire, whether it's actually holding or not, the U.S. military still is maintaining about. 20 ships there in the region and more than 50,000 troops forward deployed should President Trump decide to restart major combat operations. Well, that is incurring a huge cost. So even with the roughly trillion dollar budget the Pentagon has asked for, they are running short on money. It's causing things like some training to be canceled or postponed, some base repairs to be delayed or even canceled altogether. The Pentagon asking for more money. But as this conflict or this stalemate in the Middle East continues, it's only going to continue to cost more and more.

And the Pentagon is the one, and the services are bearing the brunt of that budget. Okay, Courtney Kubey with that new reporting first. Courtney, thank you. Next tonight to the urgent search for five missing crew members after a Pakistan cargo plane. Pakistani cargo plane crashed into the Arabian Sea last night. And now pieces of the Boeing 737 have been recovered. NBC's Tom Costello has the latest on the investigation. Tom, what are you learning? Yeah, Tom, the only clues come from Pakistan.

Pakistani authorities who say the pilots reported some sort of problem with their navigational system before controllers lost radar and radio contact. The few photos that we have seen from Pakistani authorities show several large pieces laid out on the deck of a Pakistani naval ship. Flight radar 24 shows the plane flying at 34,000 feet when it suddenly dropped 5,000 feet, then climbed 6,000 before a very steep and final descent crashing into the Arabian Sea. This was a Boeing 737 cargo version and had flown over the Strait of Hormuz, but a U.S. source says there is no indication that hostile action might have brought this plane down, and indications right now point to a mechanical failure of some sort. Investigators are hoping the black boxes will reveal more if they're recovered. They're thought to be about 9800 feet below the surface of the sea, which will require specialized equipment to find and recover them. Now, the cargo airline K2 says it's cooperating with investigators. The U.S. NTSB and FAA have assigned technical advisors to assist. Pakistan has the lead. Boeing and General Electric, which makes the plane's engines are also

standing by. This was a 737-400. It was first delivered as a passenger plane to Russia's aeroplight. That was back in 1999, converted to a freighter in 2012, and it was the only plane that this cargo airline, K2, had. It entered service back in 2020. its previous flight before this one was on June 28th when it flew to the United Arab Emirates. So the investigation still is just getting started to hear. Tom, back to you. Okay, Tom Costello with that lengthy report there, Tom, thank you. We're still keeping a close eye on Graham Platner, as you know, the embattled Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, who has been accused of rape and sexual assault, which he denies.

NBC's Ryan Nobles has been tracking this one for us. That's right, Tom. In a video to his supporters, Graham Platner announced that he is withdrawing from the race for U.S. Senate in the wake of allegations of rape and sexual assault. Plattner's decision comes after pressure from both Maine and national Democrats who were calling on him to step aside ahead of the crucial Monday deadline where the party would have the option of picking his replacement. This evening, the Maine Democratic Party announced plans to hold a 600-person convention to pick the nominee to replace him. They must choose the new candidate before July 27th.

Plattner's campaign had been plagued by a series of scandals. Despite those issues, he still easily won the Democratic primary. His replacement will face incumbent Susan Collins and what may be the most important Senate race on the map. This is a big relief to Democrats in terms of their hopes this fall. Tom? Ryan Nobles, we thank you for that. Appreciate it. We'll see on top of that race. We're also trying to try to get some breaking news tonight. We're following out of Maryland. Dozens of people have been injured after a bus crash just outside of Baltimore. Officials say the bus crashed into what appears to be a commercial building in Pikesville. This is the first images and video that we're getting from what happened here. We're told at least 28 people

were injured. One critically. Video from the scene, look at that. It shows that the bus is kind of in the building there. There's debris in the street and down wires. Baltimore fire confirming Medivac choppers took patients to nearby hospitals as he declared a mass casualty incident, which means there could be many injuries. The scene still very active at this hour. No word of possible cause. We're going to stay on top of this throughout the broadcast. All right, next tonight to the growing questions over what caused beams in that New York City high rise to buckle, leaving several floors sinking and raising serious concerns about a partial collapse. Are Emily Aketa on the search for answers.

As crews raised to fully stabilize this New York City high rise, adding support floor by floor, we were staring outside the window and we saw that it was kind of tilting a little bit. Tonight, city officials digging into what went wrong, resulting in a terrifying lean over the heart of midtown. Failure to provide steel reinforcement as per approved plans led to the cause of the incident. The Department of Buildings wrote in a complaint that they later deleted saying it was not accurate. The DOB adding the investigation is still underway and noting that while the building is now considered stable, all construction activities except for emergency work have to stop. They're going to be working through the day to get all the way up to the roof and all the way down to floor nine.

The former home to Pfizer's headquarters is being converted into 1,600 luxury apartments, including building more floors. It was just under that addition on the 21st floor that support beams buckled. What kinds of questions are being asked right now? Was the design okay? Was the construction okay? And were the materials that were used okay? And the sequence of the construction is important as well. The developer Metroloft called the incident nothing more than a typical construction mishap to the New York Times. and telling NBC News today it was never concerned about a collapse,

adding, we've identified the issue and developed a clear plan to fix it. Some evacuated from the area are now being allowed to return. Even as you can see, crews making adjustments to the leaning side of the building. Officials say the structure is stable and has not moved, an encouraging sign for these emergency efforts. Tom. Okay, Emily, in Houston tonight, a devastated family is speaking with NBC News after immigration officers shot and killed a father of three. The Department of Homeland Security says the man tried to run over an officer with his car,

but right now there's no video that shows the deadly encounter. Priscilla Thompson with the family and the details. The moments after the deadly shooting captured on camera. 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado seen on the ground after being shot. DHS says they were conducting a targeted operation to capture Salgado, who was in the U.S. illegally from Mexico, when he attempted to evade arrest. This brief clip appears to show Salgado's white van being tailed by a dark SUV.

DHS says Salgado later weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer who fired in self-defense. We don't believe that at all. Two of Salgado's sons speaking out. I believe that when he saw those cars falling him around, he thought that he was going to get robbed of his van, of his livelihood. Do you believe if that vehicle had been identifiable that your dad would still be alive? Absolutely. Absolutely 100%. He would have complied. He would have stopped. It comes, as President Trump's borders are, says ICE is keeping the president's campaign pledge to increase immigration enforcement. ICE in the last week and half is making record rest every single day. And we're going to continue that.

You're going to see those numbers even go higher. Tonight, Salgado's sons are calling for an independent investigation. He just wanted to live a life, a simple life of work and family, and that got taken away from us. Priscilla Thompson joins us now from Houston. Priscilla, you noted the family is disputing the ICE account of what happened. Do we know if there's any body cam footage of the incident? Yeah, Tom, that is one of the questions that the family is asking. And also people like these demonstrators who are out here demanding justice, demanding answers.

We do not know if there's body cam of this incident that exists. DHS, you may remember in recent months as these fatal incidents have happened. DHS has said that they are going to be expanding the body camp program nationwide, but despite being the most well-funded law enforcement agency in the country, as of last check, only about a quarter of agents actually wear body camps. Tom. Okay, Priscilla Thompson out there at those demonstrations. Priscilla, thank you. We're back in a moment with Katie Curran opening up about a recent health scare that made her lose her memory.

So what caused it? Plus the dangerous social media trend, kids heating up a popular toy making it explode, the urgent warning and what parents need to know. And the disturbing attack caught on camera, a suspect throwing a Molotov cocktail at someone in a wheelchair. We'll show you what happened. Stay with us. We're back tonight with a scary health episode involving Katie Couric, our former colleague here at NBC News. Katie describing the frightening moment she temporarily lost her memory, shining a light on something known as transatlantic. global amnesia. NBC's senior national correspondent Kate Snow has her story. Younger people are getting their news and information on their iPhones. Two Saturdays ago, Katie Couric appeared on a panel about the future of journalism at the

Aspen Ideas Festival. She now says she doesn't remember any of it. A few minutes later, her husband John says she was weak, dizzy, and a little out of it. We're going to be getting reaction to that this morning. The journalist and former Today anchor has always been willing to share her own health journeys, famously having a colonoscopy live on air to encourage others to get the test. In a substack post, Katie says when she was taken to a hospital, a doctor asked a series of questions. She thought it was 24 and Joe Biden was president. She couldn't remember the name of her three-week-old granddaughter. The doctor turned to the nurses and said, initiate stroke protocol. An MRI of Katie's brain showed she had not had a stroke, but she couldn't retain

information and kept asking her husband and doctors what had happened. Katie says she was later diagnosed with transient global amnesia, a sudden episode of memory loss that's rare, but more common in people over 50. This is arguably one of the scariest moments in a patient or a family member's life, but as a neurologist, it's the best diagnosis I can make because I know these patients will return to living in a completely normal life. Dr. Laura Stein is a neurologist at Mount Sinai Health System. Some of the triggers include stress. So an example would be physical stress, emotional stress, physical exertion.

There's no one reason that this happens to people. There is not. And that's part of what makes it so hard to understand. Katie says she has no memory of about seven hours. While this was a freaky occurrence, she wrote, it could have been much more serious. So ultimately, I'm relieved. Kate joins us now on set.

Kate, this may happen more than people may think. This actually happened to you. you're not just reporting the story. You experienced this. It did, although I will say it's like 0.01% of people, Tom. So this is pretty rare, but in my case, it was 20 years ago. It was an election night at a different network. I was under a lot of stress and pressure. I had a new baby at home.

I had had recurrent migraines. And that night, I just, I stopped understanding, like, the screen in front of me went kind of blank. I couldn't understand what the emails meant. I didn't know my kids' names. It was incredibly scary. I did not go see a doctor right away. way I slept it off and later saw a neurologist. That's not the right thing to do. Tom,

because it could be, these symptoms could also be a stroke, so you really do want to get help if something like that happens. Glad you're okay. We're glad Katie's okay, and it's good that people know about this more. Yeah. All right, Kate Snowforth. Kate, great to see you. Thank you. We're going to turn out to a warning for parents about a viral social media trend involving a popular kid's toy. If you have kids or grandkids, you've probably heard of this toy. Doctors say children are suffering burns after heating up dough-like toys, which can cause them to explode. George Solis has a story and a warning. Some of these images they are distressing. It's the squishy stress toy that surged in popularity found on store shelves across America.

They're marketed as harmless sensory gadgets, but these goo-like toys are now at the center of a dangerous viral trend. Reports of videos online encouraging children to heat or microwave the gel. field toys to make them more pliable. But once heated, medical professionals say the gel inside becomes a hot glue-like substance. Something Katie Spence's 13-year-old daughter discovered after leaving her toy called Anita in their hot car. She squeezed it once and it popped on her. She was screaming. Get it off me, get it off. And I didn't know what it was initially. Spent says weeks later, her daughter is still recovering from her injuries. It's like I couldn't even

help her. I couldn't do anything. You know, I couldn't do anything to help her. literally rush her to the hospital. A similar story earlier this year for Caleb Shabala, whose mom says he had burns on his face, his eyes swelling shut after she says he put his Nito in the microwave. I didn't know it was a trend on TikTok before because my friend did it before, but she put it in for like she didn't get hurt. Shriner's Children's Boston nurse practitioner, Jill Pashuko,

says they've seen a dramatic spike in cases over the last six months. and that some of the injuries are serious. What are some of these children needing after this gel-like substance gets on their skin? Yeah, so some of these kids have required hospitalization for a day or two after the injury, depending on where the injuries have occurred. Nido is one of the most popular brands of the sensory toys. Its maker, Boston-based shilling toys, warns cubes, should not be left in cars or direct sun. In a statement to NBC News, the company says in part,

We are disappointed to see that there has been a trend on social media demonstrating misuse of our Nido products and say they're working with social media companies like TikTok to take down content containing Nito product misuse. With that, George Siles joins us from Miami and George. It's not just these Nito toys, right? There are knockoffs. What do parents need to know? Yeah, Tom, certainly some knowledge here that needs to be gained.

We actually have a Nito toy here, one that's pretty flyable, and then another one that we tore open ourselves and the glue-like substance really does get everywhere. And with these knock-offs, experts say you really just don't know what's in them or what they're made of. Some of these products are safe. Some of them may not be safe for children. So the real message here is for parents to educate themselves. And, of course, look at the packaging on this toy.

A big warning for a lot of parents tonight, Tom. Yeah, and they are so popular. If you have kids, you know about those needos. All right, thanks so much. Still to come tonight. The mysterious illness linked to the Grand Canyon, several people reporting serious symptoms after rafting at the the National Park. So what's going on? Plus the wild police chase officers crisscrossing a golf course trying to track down a suspect. But first, top story's top moment and the major milestone at a

Florida hospital. Nine-year-old Paisley finished her final dialysis treatment ahead of a life-changing kidney transplant, thanks to a donation from her uncle. Paisley's one wish was to get back in the pool, so the staff made sure to make some waves during her big walkout. Take a look. Paisley said she plans to name her new kidney, Splash. All right, congrats to her. Stay with us. More top story on the way. Okay, we're back down with a legal blow for President Trump in federal court. A judge ordering that writer E. Jean Carroll should immediately receive the more than $5 billion she's owed after a jury found President Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation. That order coming despite the president's demand for a delay. NBC News legal analyst, Danny Savalos, joins us now. So, Danny, the president's

legal team filed another appeal minutes after the judge's order. Is there a real shot of blocking the payment, or is this a game plan just to kind of delay, delay, delay? No, not really. In all likelihood, I should say that the odds of getting any kind of reconsideration at the Supreme Court or any relief at the district court are next to none. Trump's argument is essentially, yes, we agreed if cert was denied, if the Supreme Court denied to hear my case, that would be it. The funds would be released. But technically, as long as we're still asking the high court to reconsider, as long as we're still fighting, this appeal is still live. And therefore, the funds should not be released from escrow. And then on that point, Carol has owed more money for another case against the president.

Will that cash be held up in appeals too? In all likelihood, probably not. And I say that because the Trump team is making some creative last-minute arguments. but their arguments really amount to saying after a court essentially gives a final order. Because here, this has been the rule for centuries now. Once your case gets to the Supreme Court, they either deny your opportunity to be heard, called denying cert, or they choose to hear it. But either way, if they deny cert, that is the end of the case. Trump's team is saying, well, technically the court could decide to reconsider its own decision not to hear this case.

case. So technically, all this stuff is still alive. It's sort of part of the Trump playbook of legally fight, fight, fight until the bitter end, which, you know, is either a bug or a feature depending on how you look at it. Okay, Danny Saval is for us from London tonight. Danny, great to have you on. We appreciate you being here. Now at Top Stories News Feed, starting in California, where two teens were detained after authorities say they were caught drinking and shooting a toy gun from inside a Waymo Robo Taxi. Our NBC station, they report, and Mateo police showed up after getting a call from a Waymo rep. They apparently thought the gun was real. The company told the teams the car was having a mechanical issue so they wouldn't run off. We reached out to Waymo for comment but haven't heard back. In Ohio, a dramatic car chase right through the golf course. You can see that minivan, dodging trees, speeding away near the 18th hole. Golfers left stunned. The van then slams into a police car in a nearby neighborhood. The cruiser flipping over as the suspect ran away on foot. Ohio State Highway, Patrol says the man was wanted in connection to an attempted murder and was later arrested.

And FIFA announcing Justin Bieber will join the halftime show at the World Cup final. He's the latest in a list of major headliners set to perform, including Madonna, Shakira, and BTS. The Super Bowl style show will take place during the final game on July 19th. It's all curated by Cole's Chris Martin, whose group will also be performing. And another major milestone for Shohei Otani, the L.A. Dodgers superstar Belting his 300th career home run. Otani is the first Japanese-born player to hit that mark. And also the fifth fastest to do it, it took him just over 1,100 games.

The quickest player to reach 300 homers, Yankee Slugger, Aaron Judge. All rise. All right. Next tonight to a disturbing encounter in Oklahoma City, a suspect throwing a Molotov cocktail at a man using a wheelchair. People nearby racing to help. NBC's Jesse Curse with the video. And a warning, some of you may find this video sort of graphic and distrust. This is the moment a man in a wheelchair is hit by a Molotov cocktail, catching fire in Oklahoma City.

Watch as he tries to escape the flames, but the attacker shoves him into the fire. The victim falls to the ground and back into the blaze before police and a bystander rush into help. The disturbing attack caught on camera last week right across the street from Oklahoma City Police headquarters. investigators say 38-year-old Alexander James Emery is the man who threw this Molotov cocktail after allegedly telling the victim, don't talk to me. The video showing police detectives park in the middle of the street, appearing to approach with guns drawn as they help the victim and take Emery into custody. According to the July 2nd incident report, Emery had a second Molotov cocktail with him when he was detained, an officer smelling a very strong odor of gasoline. Emory also exclaiming a German phrase associated with Nazi ideology, according to the report. He now faces multiple felony charges, including arson and assault with intent to kill.

All right, Jesse, joins us now live. Jesse, that video and the incident is so crazy. What more are we learning from police tonight? Yeah, so Tom, I think there are a lot of questions about what would prompt someone to do something like this. And at this point, we're still searching for answers. According to that incident report from police, this was not. a mental health-related incident. I think that is something that might come to mind immediately for people wondering if that might be involved in this in any way, shape, or form. And so at this point, what authorities are sharing is that is not connected in any way to a mental health incident.

And then I know this is, I know we're still trying to learn things about this case, right? But, I mean, to try to attack somebody with a Molotov cocktail and then have a backup ready to go, especially a person in a wheelchair, I mean, you've got to really have some hate for this person. Do we know if these two men knew each other, if this is connected in any way? Yeah, whatever is driving this alleged attack is very unclear right now. One of the things that sticks out from the incident report, the victim, according to the report, told investigators that he was minding his own business, and then you have that interaction where they briefly speak with each other.

And as we talked about in the piece, the suspect allegedly saying, don't talk to me. and there's something to that effect. And then this all unfolds according to that incident report. So it's unclear how much more of an interaction there may have been. And when you look at the video, it doesn't look like they were moving together through the streets when this all unfolded. Yeah, so strange and scary as well. Jesse, thank you. Now to the medical mystery at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, multiple people returning from whitewater rafting trips reporting an unknown illness with flu-like symptoms that won't go away.

Borgenchewski has borne the investigation and what you can do to stay safe. A bucket list experience in a place known for its beauty. Now seemingly behind a growing medical mystery with a bevy of frightening symptoms. Oh, I'm horrible. Matthew Wappin of Utah says he's been sick ever since his rafting trip down the Grand Canyon's Colorado River back in May, sharing it started after he skinned his knee mid-trip. It was weird, but my whole knee just swelled up was red. It was, yeah, just, it was awful.

Wappitt also began to experience symptoms he says felt flu-like. And, I mean, like, I try to explain it to people. I mean, it feels like I did a hard workout every day, even though I've done nothing except for sit on my butt. When he went to a hospital, Wapit's doctors sent him home with antibiotics for his knee. But his other symptoms lingered, then grew worse. And his search for answers he posted on a Grand Canyon Rafter's Facebook page, noticing others describe similar symptoms.

One man sharing, several people on his rafting trip had the same issues, among them fever, fatigue, and muscle soreness. Adding, doctors are all stumped so far. In a statement to NBC News, the National Park Service says they're now investigating those reports off social media. And they're not able to comment on the extent of the illnesses, potential diagnoses, or other details while the investigation is underway. That clustering together of many different people complaining of the same symptoms, absolutely. is something that we thought deserves a bit more attention. Dr. Nahid Bedelia is an infectious diseases physician and director of Beacon, a disease tracking platform at Boston University.

We don't yet know if there's a unifying cause for all these reported illnesses, and that's what the public health investigation would probably tell us. Rafting trips are popular during the park's busy summer season, welcoming thousands each year, and tonight they remain open. If you have a rafting trip planned, should you postpone or simply be aware? I think this is a simply be aware. I think good public health practices are if you're traveling through these areas, use DEET containing, of course, mosquito repellence, wear long sleeps where you can. Make sure you see a doctor if you feel any symptoms. Morgan Chesky joins us now. So Morgan, doctors so far are stumped. But are there any leading theories as to what this could be?

Yeah, they're certainly looking into that, Tom. Doctors are exploring multiple possibilities right now. with the leading theories pointing to what's known as Valley Fever. This is a fungal infection that develops in one's lungs that's typically concentrated in those southwest states or something known as leptosporosis. This is a freshwater bacterial infection that does appear to match some of the symptoms that these raptors are describing.

Health officials also testing illnesses that are spread by ticks and mosquitoes to at least try and rule out any other of those environmental causes. But for now, it certainly seems that medical experts are stopped. Tom? All right, Morgan Chesky for us on this strange one. Morgan, we thank you for that. To Utah now, where a high-profile boarding school may be forced to shut its stores for good. It's the same all-girls treatment center where hotel heiress and socialite Paris Hilton was sent as a teen and where she says she suffered intense physical and mental abuse. Here's Ryan Chandler with the details.

Tonight, a major win for Paris Hilton and other girls, she says, endured abuse at her former boarding school. Utah authorities revoking the license of a school and mental health treatment center. She has spent years fighting to close. The investigation ultimately uncovered multiple noncompliances. Allegations of abuse mounted for years behind the doors of Provo Canyon School. Some who have attended the behavioral health center detail a haunting history of mistreatment, bolstered by one of their most high profile alleged victims. I was forced fed medications and sexually abused by the staff.

I was violently restrained and dragged down hallways, stripped naked, and thrown into solitary confinement. Hilton taking damning allegations to the halls of Congress, part of her passionate crusade to close the school. I will not stop until America's youth is safe. And telling NBC News in 2021, she spent time there as a teenager and buried her trauma for decades. I experienced things that no child should ever experience. I wish I would have spoken up sooner, but I just didn't even want to. think about it. Now the state of Utah shuttering the school's doors after the Utah Department of Health and Human Services says an investigation uncovered violations of state law. Failing to ensure

each client is free from neglect and engaging in unnecessary restraint and aggressive physical contact with the client. The school CEO Tim Marshall did not respond to NBC News's request for comment, but told the New York Times this week that they disagree with the decision and are evaluating all available legal and administrative options, including an appeal. Hilton writing, the news I've been fighting and praying for is finally here. Ryan Chandler joins us now. So Ryan, what may be next for this school? Well, Tom, the state will give Provo Canyon School 15 days to get a hearing on that license revocation. And we should note, the school operates on two different campuses. There's the girls campus in Springville. That's what this story is about. And then there's the boys campus in

Provo. They operate on two different licenses, and the boys' campus is under certain restrictions, but they were not impacted by the state decision that the girls' campus involved. Now, Tom, Hilton says, regardless of what this center's next step may be, she will not stop, quote, not until every child walks out of Provo Canyon School alive. Tom. Okay, Ryan, thank you. when we come back tonight here on Top Story, Danger in the Water. Poisonous snakes lurking in flooded streets. Look at this. After that typhoon tour across China, we'll show you more of this video with Janice Mackey Freyer standing by for us.

Plus, is your poker face good enough to trick AI? The new tech being used during the World Series of Poker that can tell if you're bluffing. We'll talk to the brains behind it next. We're back now with scenes out of a horror movie. Venomous snakes on the loose slithering through flooded streets. Hundreds of them breaking free after a massive typhoon struck parts of southern China. Our Janice McAfriar has the video. If a typhoon and floods in southern China weren't enough, there's the threat in the muddy waters.

Snakes, more than 900 of them, according to state media, including venomous cobras, carried downstream from a breeding farm in Guangxi province, after heavy rains caused a reservoir dam to burst. Residents are being warned to avoid using their hands to catch the snakes. Flooding has caused wide-scale destruction. Rescuers in boats now trying to reach people and animals. This shelter owner, saving dogs and cats trapped by rising water. And severe weather is hitting elsewhere around China, leaving dozens dead and thousands affected by landslides, even a rare tornado. Scientists warn extreme weather events.

are becoming more frequent and intense because of climate change. And on China's eastern coast, it's about to get worse. With Super Typhoon Bavi on the move in the Pacific, already lashing U.S. territorial islands earlier this week, Bavi on track to be one of the strongest storms of the year, now putting China on high alert. Janice McEugh-Reyer, NBC News, Beijing. Janice, McEFrayer for us, Janice, thank you.

Now to top stories global watch and check out of of what else is happening around the world. We have an update on the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo. Healthcare workers in some of the hardest hit areas are going on strike. Many say they're walking off the job because they're not getting paid. Congo's government hasn't commented publicly about the situation. It all comes as the disease is still spreading. The latest data shows nearly 600 people have died since the outbreak started two months ago.

And more backlash over some calls at the World Cup. Today, the Egyptian Football Association blasted. the referees, particularly over the use of a VAR, that's the replay system there, that lets them review calls. The organization says some of the decisions directly impacted the outcome of the game yesterday against Argentina, which Egypt lost three to two. So far, no response from FIFA. And in Spain, the world famous running of the bulls is back. Here you can see crowds taking to the streets as those massive bulls chase them down. It's all part of an iconic festival in Pamplona. First responders say at least eight runners have already been hurt this week.

during those daily runs. According to organizers, the tradition dates back to the 13th century, but it's faced criticism with some saying it's dangerous for both animals and runners. Now to the new frontier of artificial intelligence prompting the question, can AI call your bluff? For the first time ever, the World Series of Pokers implementing a new tool allowing the tech to analyze a player's poker face. Here's a glimpse of the action on ESPN Plus.

Davis settles in and prompts his cheek into his hand. It doesn't look like much, right? Could just be a guy looking around at the table, but our AI kept flagging it. Not because touching your face is a magic poker giveaway. Everybody touches their kids, but this specific pattern kept showing up when decisions started getting uncomfortable.

The production company behind ESPN's coverage there says the tool's only being used on players who are already eliminated, so it doesn't impact live games. I do want to bring in the artificial intelligence engineer who made that tool. Luke, thanks so much for joining Top Stories. night. Oh, thanks for providing me, Tom.

Pleasure to be here. Yeah, we're going to run the video again for our viewers, and I want you to kind of walk us through this bit by bit so we can kind of understand what we're looking for here. And really, I guess the bigger question is, what is the AI looking for? Sure, absolutely. So let me see here. Essentially, if you notice the boxes around his face, there's boxes on his eyes and on his eyebrows and over his mouth, the AI is looking for pretty much every possible

physical movement that he has, not just in his face, his hands, his upper body, so if he's leading away from the table, if he's leaning towards the table, and then with the information of what he's currently doing in the hand, combining that with all the past footage

it's seen of him playing, it's predicting the probability of the strength of his current hand. How is the AI doing, though? What are the percentages like? Pretty well. It will vastly depend on the quality of the and the player that you're focusing on.

For instance, I wouldn't use this on a professional player because they've worked hard to remove their tells. But if you find someone who hasn't done that, you can get 70, 80, 90% accuracy and find, you know, high-quality, reliable, consistent tells. I know you don't want to give away your secret sauce, but when you talk about inputting data, how many games of poker are we talking about here?

The more the merrier. Ideally, you would want, like, hundreds of hours of footage to find, you know, very reliable, very accurate tells. But even off of just of just of... 10 hours, you can still get a good baseline of how a poker player acts, what his regular behaviors are, so you can find any anomalies in how he plays or how he's playing in a certain day. When we talk about AI versus just technology, the AI can learn, it can teach itself.

What sort of surprised you as you were building this model? How much footage you need to get very reliable, very, you know, interesting tells you'll see a lot of common behavior among players. that's not really useful. So you do want to find footage where, I don't know, where they do something out of the ordinary, and in order to find that footage, you just need lots of data, I guess.

Yeah, and then you're, I see you're wearing a poker shirt, I think. I don't know if you're a poker player or not, but you obviously have an interest in this. How much should sort of a poker background play into this? And do you need that to really sort of understand for this tech to work? It definitely helps. I don't know if I would say. say you would need it. You are right, though, this is a live stream I play on up here in Boston.

And the first target or subject of this tool was actually myself. I used the footage of me playing to find my tells. And that's kind of where I first thought, you know, I can probably do this for other people in addition to myself. Well, that's the interesting part of this AI, right? Because you can attack it and be like, this is cheating, but you can also learn from it as well. I'm not in the poker world. How is the poker world reacting to this technology? I think as a viewer, when our producer showed it to me, I thought it was really fun, and it made the game, it was sort of a new layer of making the game interesting. Sure. Yeah, great question. Tech people have seemed to love it.

Poker players have not seemed to love it. It's gotten a decent amount of not the best, not the most positive feedback. But I think people tend to focus on the negatives, like how it could ruin the game. I view it much more as a neutral thing. Sure, you can use it to find other people's tells, but at the same time, you can use it to find your own towels and learn from that to not only avoid doing those, you know, tells in the future, but then you can do reverse tells. So what you usually do when you're bluffing, if you know that, then you can do that when you have a strong hand.

A false flag operation in bluffing. No, I totally get it. How far can we use this technology? I mean, will I see this when I'm watching baseball to sort of read the pitcher's eyes and his facial expressions before he's going to throw a pitch or even a quarter? quarterback. Yeah, I don't see why not.

I know there is someone out there doing something very similar for penalty kicks in soccer, trying to predict based on the shooter's movements, you know, how they're running towards the ball. They're trying to predict where in the net the player is going to kick the ball. Luke, from what I understand you can correct me if I'm wrong here. You're letting ESPN use this technology, but you haven't sort of figured out yet, I don't know, the financial model or this is going to be a regular thing yet with their coverage? That's correct. Yeah, I'm letting them use it. It had started off as a side project, although poker players have, a few poker players have reached out to me, offering me money to use this tool. I am working with a few. I haven't, you know, narrowed down the financial part of it yet. But it does seem like there is interest in paying to use this to find tells off. You might be on to something huge, Luke. So I hope you figure that part out. Maybe AI can help you with that, getting the numbers right. Luke Gill, thanks so much for coming on top story.

Thank you for having me. When we come back, wait until you see this. The new Guinness World Record for the biggest paper plane ever made. We'll show you more right after this. Finally tonight, a new world record taking flight, students at a university in Italy creating the largest paper plane ever. How a simple combination of paper and glue has these young minds soaring to new heights. Our Ann Thompson has this one.

This is a paper airplane all grown up. The creation of students at the University of Pisa in Italy, where Leonardo da Vinci is believed to have sketched the first flying machine, around the same time he painted the Mona Lisa. This version is far from a folded piece of paper. It took months of study, simulations, and many mistakes. The final product named Icarus, 23 feet long with a wingspan of almost 66 feet, all paper and glue. propelled as always by hopes and dreams. It flew 193 feet more than half the length of a football field.

In taking flight, setting a new Guinness World record for the largest paper aircraft. Somewhere Leonardo da Vinci is smiling. Aunt Thompson, NBC News. All right, that does it for us tonight. We thank you for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamison, New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.