Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Episode Date: June 13, 2024

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, life-threatening flooding, slamming parts of Florida as relentless rainfall plagues the region. This video is showing a possible tornado whipping across southern Florida. A rare flash flood emergency issued as streets turn into rivers and drivers are left stranded. Record rainfall upending travel, not just on the roads but at airports. The danger far from over as storms linger for the next few days. And we're tracking the first tropical disturbance of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season, Bill parents standing by with that track. Also tonight, the deadly bus hijacking a gunman, taking more than a dozen passengers hostage,

holding a bus driver at gunpoint and forcing him to speed away. The tense rush hour chase and frantic 911 calls to loved ones. The alleged hijacker actually speaking on camera to our local reporter just before his one-man crime spree. Hate on display disturbing videos of anti-Semitic incidents in New York City. We'll show you the hostile protest outside an exhibit. paying tribute to those killed at an Israeli music festival on October 7th. And you'll hear what another group did on a subway car threatening Israeli supporters and telling them to get off the train. Plus the vandalism targeting the homes of a museum's Jewish leaders.

Defined Biden's executive order, new reporting showing the president's southern border policy isn't being implemented. The evidence that migrants who cross the border illegally are still being released into the U.S. as the ACLU officially files a lawsuit against the Biden administration. Missing jet found, in 1971, a private plane carrying five people on board, vanished. More than five decades later, that mystery is solved, thanks to an underwater explorer. Tonight, you'll hear from that man and see where he made the shocking discovery. Wild collision, a deer bursting through the windshield of a city bus, the animal flying right into passengers.

and the new discoveries in the ancient city of Pompeii. Our cameras inside a hidden room giving us a glimpse into the past. Top story starts right now. And good evening tonight, millions in Florida facing the threat of dangerous flash flooding as torrential rains inundate the region. Storms causing chaos at airports and parts of I-95 are completely shut down right now. New video just in as a possible tornado moves. Move through.

You can see the force of that system right there. That intense video taken just north of Palm Beach, and you can see the debris being lifted into the air. Nearby, Jupiter Island, cut off from the mainland due to the number of trees down. Destruction reported in several cities and towns across the state. Take a live look at Dania Beach, where a rare flash flood emergency is in effect,

the National Weather Service there. even warning of the potential of catastrophic damage. In Miami, a water spout forming just off the coast of the beach and big bolts of lightning and striking as storms rumble through. From Miami to Fort Myers to Sarasota rainfall quickly turning streets into rivers, car stalling out and in some cases even floating by. Sarasota is setting a record for the most rain it's ever seen in just an hour with eight inches quickly falling.

To make matters worse, some of the strongest storms hitting during the rush hour commute, officials continuing to urge people to stay off the roads. The severe weather causing hundreds of flight cancellations and delays at Fort Lauderdale and Miami International Airports. And we're also tracking the first tropical disturbance of the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. Bill Carrance is standing by with the areas it could impact, but first we start with NBC's San Brock in the storm zone. Tonight, Florida under siege from severe weather. This reported tornado slamming down in Martin County, Florida, while about 100 miles south, chaos on the roads near Miami Beach.

The cars are floating, and the water is so high right now. On this iconic highway, vehicles swamped by flooding. How would you describe the conditions right now? Very bad. Arm. Another round of vicious rain, battering the state for hundreds of miles, canceling flights, and delaying I'm going to miss all my connection flight. With life-threatening flash flood warnings popping up from Miami Day to Broward.

There was a lot of rain, a lot of rain. We had to stop and walk because we couldn't see from the rain. Florida's notorious flood problems re-emerging, even as Miami Beach has recently raised some of its roads for drainage, but the poorest limestone underground is an issue. It creates something we call compound flooding, whereas the water is coming from underneath. may see it percolate up through storm drains. When you add rainfall on top of that, there's really there's nowhere for the water to go. And this is only the middle stretch of a week of rain. So you can see cars are being towed behind me all over the place.

Are we going to move the car up on the garage so then we can stay here because I know it's not safe to go out the streets either. The challenge now, what still lies ahead in the days to come. All right, Sam, Brock joins us tonight from Aventura, Florida. Sam, it looks like you're completely under water there. I know during your reporting earlier today, you had to jump into action, helping people push a car out of those flood waters. Walk me through what happened there, and how much of this are you seeing? Tom, I know that one of the things you appreciate about me is I'm a man of the people, much like yourself. So, yes, I saw someone stranded and figured, you know, why not help him out? Obviously, Miami is a very diverse area.

This gentleman happened to be Haitian. I don't speak Haitian Creole. But he was out here in the middle of this water, of this pool, basically de facto. And I asked him if you could please put the car in neutral, got behind, and I'm guessing you're playing this video right now, push from behind. I will say it makes me look like I'm a lot stronger than I actually am. It kind of glided right along, which makes you wonder how it could be right now

that you have so many cars that are stalled out here. But clearly, Tom, this is sort of treacherous situation in terms of trying to get through pathways that are deeper than people anticipate, have obstacles that you can't see. In my vicinity right now, really within, let's say, 50 to 100 feet in each direction, You're looking at about 10 cars that are stalled out. I still have people behind me right now that were like grinding up against the tree branches.

You're trying to get through. One guy almost got stuck right here 45 seconds ago. So you'll never learn, apparently. I guess they say the definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again. And a lot of people here are doing that right now. Luckily for those people, you spent years building those quad muscles on the tennis courts where you grew up. So those people are lucky for that. And then Sam, I do have to ask you, you like many of the people that are living in South Florida,

are new to the area. I know you've been there for quite a while now, but a lot of people move there during the pandemic. Are you seen a lot of people that this maybe is new to this flash flooding? Because it really does take you by surprise. Without a doubt. I spoke with a couple from Argentina earlier today. They took out a bike. They said, well, hey, the last three days were beautiful in Florida. Why would this day not be beautiful? And of course, it changes in a heartbeat. They weren't listening to some of the warnings that were coming along. So that's from an outsider's perspective. But also, Tom, I talked to one woman whose car that she just bought a week ago

is now stuck in the middle of this median because she said she heard the warnings and figured how bad could it be? So the answer is it can be bad, especially when you're getting four to six inches of rain in some places per hour, just at that speed. It only takes a little bit to stall these cars out.

A lot of folks right now, and more dangerous outcomes as well. A lot of folks are discovering that right now. And you've got rain in the forecast, nowhere for that water to go because Florida, especially South Florida, surrounded by water on all sides. This is the most of the most of the first.

important point. Obviously, we are at sea level or below sea level in many parts of the Miami area, and you have this limestone underneath the ground, Tom, that is porous. So you have the water table coming up. At the same time, the rain is coming down, there is nowhere for it to escape. It's a problem in Miami Beach. It's a problem in Aventura. It's a problem in Hyaliyah. Brickold, downtown Miami, you name the neighborhood. This is an issue for the area, and we're not going to solve that anytime soon. All right, Sam, Brock, again, a reporter for the people. Sam, we appreciate all that. For more on that dangerous rainfall in Florida. NBC News, Bill Kerrins joins me now. And Bill, I can always catch that radar out of the corner of my eye.

You can't even see South Florida right now. Yeah, all the bright reds that were dark, dark reds were the intense thunderstorms that were right over the Miami area as we went through all afternoon. Now they shifted down towards Key Largo, but as you saw it's him, it's still raining. And it rained hard yesterday. Now it is poured today. And if it rains tomorrow, it takes even less to get that significant flash flooding. So here's the area that was hit the hardest. Here's Miami, Pembroke Pines, and Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Florida. I've seen at least three personal weather stations that collect the rain over a foot of rain today. One location had four and a half inches of rain in one hour.

That's the results you get when you see something like that. For that reason, for at least the next hour, we were under flash flood emergencies for this area, telling everyone to stay off the road, stay home. Of course, everyone's at work and they want to get home. So that's the problem. And as far as rainfall goes, just even in the last three hours, as we head towards North Miami Beach, about six and a half inches of rain, Tom. That's going to cause a lot of problems right through the evening.

And, Bill, it is June. I know you're tracking something in the tropics. This is in the Gulf tonight. Yeah, actually, we have two areas. One is the one we're just talking about, which is right over the top of Florida. And then the other one is going to be down in the Southern Gulf. So here's our areas of interest. These are not informed storms yet. The first one is heading off of Florida. Not really a good chance of forming. But this one down in the Bay of Campici, this has about a 30% chance of development. If anything, it looks like you would head up there towards the Mexico coastline, not for the lower 48 here into the Northern Gulf. watch it. And this is just a reminder. We're just in the beginning of what we expect to be a very active hurricane season. All right, Bill Cairns for us. Bill, we thank you for that. Okay, we want to move now to Atlanta, where tonight one person is dead after a gunman hijacked a commuter bus. 17 people on board fearing for their lives as the bus driver was held at gunpoint,

leading police on a high-speed chase for nearly an hour. And the alleged hijacker actually spoke with reporters just before the mayhem. NBC's Priya Shrether with that video and this story. A terrifying scene unfolding during rush hour in Atlanta Tuesday. Todd's part of the person shooting on the bus. As 39-year-old Joseph Greer hijacked a Gwinnett County Transit bus with 17 passengers on board. I think that someone taking the bus hostage. Police say it all started with a fight between Greer and a fellow passenger. That passenger pulled out a gun, then Greer grabbed it and shot the passenger before

ordering the bus driver to flee the scene, authorities say. Right now I'm in an extreme mode. Earlier that day, Greer spoke to NBC's WXIA at the scene of an unrelated shooting in downtown Atlanta, telling our affiliate he was bipolar and manic. My thing is I'm in a manic episode. Hours later is when police say Greer hijacked the bus. Johnny Gilbert says his wife was a passenger as it all unfolded. She called me and told me that a guy, one guy shot.

another guy on the bus. Police say Greer fatally shot that passenger with the passenger's own gun. Tonight, the victim identified as 58-year-old Ernest Byrd Jr. My heart goes out to the family. The entire hijacking lasted nearly 40 minutes. The bus seen driving in the wrong direction of traffic and hitting multiple cars before a Georgia State trooper was finally able to stop the bus by shooting his gun into the engine. It was something that we'll never forget.

Tonight, authorities confirming the suspect is a convicted felon who's previously been arrested 19 times. He's now facing 31 charges, including kidnapping and murder. Tom? Okay, Priya, on that developing story down there in Atlanta. We want to head overseas now in the barrage of rockets fired into northern Israel from Lebanon. The escalation comes as U.S.-backed ceasefire plan for Gaza is in peril. Ralph Sanchez is in northern Israel with the latest. It's time for the haggling to stop and a ceasefire to start.

Tonight, a visibly frustrated Secretary Blinken in Qatar, accusing Hamas of making unacceptable demands as it tries to change the terms of the ceasefire deal laid out by President Biden. Hamas could have answered with a single word. Yes. Instead, Hamas waited nearly two weeks and then proposed more changes. A source familiar with the talks tells us, Hamas is seeking a timeline for when Israeli forces will withdraw from Gaza. It's not clear if Israel will commit to that, accusing Hamas

of giving a negative response. But the mediators say they'll keep trying to bridge the gaps. And in Gaza, exhausted families tell our team they're praying for a deal. Enough killing, enough destruction, and enough suffering, this displaced man says. The U.S. says a Gaza ceasefire is also the best way to ease the growing crisis on the Israel-Lebanon border. These Israeli families running from rockets fired by Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants. The IDF says more than 200 were fired today, one of the largest bombardments of the entire war. We're seeing more interceptions now over the skies of northern Israel as a fresh barrage of Hezbollah rockets comes in. The attack in response to this Israeli strike, which killed a senior

Hezbollah commander. And it is funeral today. calls for revenge. And with that, Raph Sanchez joins us tonight from Nazareth. Raff, understandably, most of the attention, the focus has been on Gaza and southern Israel, but there have been civilians displaced and facing tragedy where you are as well tonight. Yeah, that's exactly right, Tom. Hezbollah started firing into northern Israel on October 8th, just one day after the Hamas terror attack, and there has been intense fighting here ever since.

On this side of the border, northern Israel, around 70,000 civilians have been displaced from their homes, just over the border, not far from here, in Lebanon, around 90,000 displaced over there. The death souls at this point don't compare to Gaza. It's eight Israeli civilians killed over here, around 80 Lebanese civilians killed. That's according to the United Nations. But the fear is that that is just a small fraction of what could happen if an all-out war breaks out. Remember, Hezbollah is far more powerful than Hamas. So the U.S. very focused right now on trying to get to that ceasefire in Gaza as a way of de-escalating across the region. Tom.

Ralph Sanchez from Nazareth tonight. And the war overseas in Gaza, of course, stoking tensions right here in the U.S. A series of recent anti-Semitic incidents in New York City has leaders sounding the alarm. Red paint splashed on the home of a Jewish museum director. And pro-Palestinian groups slammed for protesting outside an art existence. honoring the lives lost on October 7th. NBC's Valerie Castro reports on it all. Pro-Palestinian protesters making their mark in red paint.

Oh, my goodness! On the home of the Brooklyn Museum's Jewish director, the latest incident in escalating tensions over the Israel-Hamas war playing out in New York City. I think it's terrible. I don't think it's an effective way to deal with a problem. The vandalism condemned by New York Governor Kathy Hokel, calling it an abhorrent act of anti-Semitism.

In recent weeks, protesters taking to the subways defacing train cars and seemingly trying to intimidate riders. Raise your hand to genocide! In Manhattan, a pro-Palestinian crowd gathered outside the Nova Music Festival exhibition, a display recalling the deadly terror attack on Israel and those who were killed or taken hostage on October 7th. Organizers of the protest had called for a day of rage in response to Israel's raid on the Nusirat refugee camp during which four Israeli hostages were freed and 274 Palestinians were killed. Protesters waved Hezbollah and Hamas flags. At other protests, they carry banners reading, long live October 7th. And one person even yelled, he wishes a quote, Hitler. was still here. These are reprehensible and vile comments. New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio

Cortez describing the protest as atrocious anti-Semitism. But the group claiming responsibility for the demonstration within our lifetime, saying it reiterates the call for sustained action against any institution facilitating or justifying the genocide of the Palestinian people, including the NOVA exhibition. The city continuing. to make arrests while trying to quell any violence. Since October 8th, the NYPD has made more than 2,850 arrests at Israeli Gaza protests alone. Okay, with that, Valerie, Castro joins us now live in studio.

So Valerie, you know, we asked these questions during the college protest. What is the city of New York doing to keep Jewish residents safe here now? So the NYPD has and will continue to step up patrols at various events around the city, like the Israel Day parade that was just a few weeks ago. They stationed outside synagogues when there are Jewish holidays. And they continue to closely monitor and watch these protests, these demonstrations as they pop up. Last month, 34 protesters were arrested for storming the Brooklyn Museum.

The NYPD now turning their attention to finding the suspects in those incidents involving that red paint. Valerie, we thank you for that. We're also following some breaking news tonight from Capitol Hill, the Republican-controlled House voting to hold U.S. Attorney General, Merrick Garland, in contempt of Congress. This stems from the investigation into President Biden over his handling of classified documents. The vote was 216 to 207

with just one Republican representative, David Joyce of Ohio, citing with Democrats. I want to get right over to Ali Vitale, who's been tracking all of this for us tonight. So, Allie, this has to deal with the interview he did with the special counsel and those tapes. What do we learn on what's going to happen moving forward? That's exactly right.

This is the latest escalation in Congress's attempts to get those tapes from the attorney, He has said in the past, and in just the last few weeks, in fact, that he won't be intimidated by this attempt at contempt. Now, of course, we've seen the House make good on the threat referring this to the Department of Justice, though we don't expect the DOJ to actually act on prosecuting its top lawyer. Still, the House speaker telling me tonight that the House did its job on this and that they sent the message that they needed, that they want this audio, even though they already have the transcript of the interview that Herd did with President Biden,

So I'm confused now. You're saying that the DOJ will not go after their boss. I know I don't mean to laugh, but it's all so strange. So what is going to happen next? It is all strange, especially because in many ways it's all in the family, right? But what we expect to happen next is likely nothing. The DOJ releasing a statement tonight that read in part that Congress has turned, in their words, a serious congressional authority into a partisan weapon. That's the same kind of tone and tenor that we heard from the Attorney General himself when he spoke

before one of these very committees that's holding him in contempt, saying, again, that he won't be intimidated and that while he respects contempt and cooperating with Congress, in this case, exerting executive privilege over this audio is the stance of both the DOJ and the White House. They fear it could have a chilling effect, in the words of the Attorney General, on future people cooperating with federal prosecutors. Allie Battali from Capitol Hill tonight, Allie, thank you. We now want to head to the southern border and just in the ACLU filing the first major legal challenge to President Biden's recent executive action on the border.

And as that order faces challenges in court, we're also learning more about the challenges actually on the ground. So migrants crossing illegally and still being released into the U.S. NBC's Julia Ainsley has this report. Tonight, new evidence, migrants who cross the border illegally are still being released into the U.S. by border agents. One week after President Biden signed an executive action, suspending their entry. If they choose to come without permission and against the law, they'll be restricted from receiving asylum and staying in the United States.

But NBC News has learned Border Patrol is still releasing many migrants into the U.S. who crossed illegally to pursue asylum claims. A senior DHS official tells NBC News those releases have dropped by more than half, but are still happening because agents don't have enough space to detain the large numbers of arriving migrants. An internal memo to Border Patrol agents in San Diego directs agents there to release migrants into the United States unless they are from these eight countries. Overall, illegal border crossings under the new policy are still high, but have dropped from 4,000 to 3,000 per day, DHS sources tell us. President Biden signed the executive action after fierce criticism of his handling of the border, with a record, nearly 10 million migrants entering the U.S. since he took office. But the Border Patrol Union says the president's new action is not tough enough. It's status quo. Things have not changed. The executive order has not made any significant impact as it relates to the legal border crossings.

We suffer a lot just to get here, says this Guatemalan woman waiting in Mexico to cross. And late today, immigration advocates suing saying the asylum restrictions go too far. This ban is patently illegal. The Trump administration enacted a near identical asylum. We sued over that. We won. We hope to win again. All right, Julia Angeley joins us tonight from Washington. So, Julia, we were just talking to you last week when the executive order came out, and it seemed like nothing was happening on the border. Now, here we are almost a week later, and it's the same thing. Do we understand

why it's taking so long to put this executive order into effect? Well, in short, they don't have the resources to detain all migrants before deporting them. So they have to release some migrants into the United States. Now, we do understand that those releases have dropped by more than half, but even still, that's contradictory to what the president said when he announced this order and what the White House said in their fact sheet, that it would suspend the entry of migrants across the border illegally. But it's not clear that they're ever going to get quite the amount of resources that they need short of Congress actually taking action. And that doesn't seem like it's on the table anytime soon, Tom. Yeah, last week, the ACLU came

on top story. They said they were going to file suit against the Biden administration. They said this broke the law, this executive order, because it goes against the laws of the country where people can file for asylum when they cross the border, whether it be illegally or not. So now they filed suit. Do we know what's going to happen with the executive order? And has the Biden administration responded yet? We haven't seen a response yet. And something that's a little different about this lawsuit is that they're not calling or they're not asking for an immediate temporary restraining order. In other words, the judge doesn't have to decide right away if this action should be put on hold.

In fact, I think if you read this, it looks like there could be another move. When they actually find migrants who have been affected by this, they could come back and sue as part of a class action lawsuit showing those people have been harmed. That might be one of the reasons why we saw a delay from the ACLU in these groups. But even still, they think they have a winning case here because they sued the Trump administration over a very similar action, and they won in that case, Tom. All right, Julia Ainslie for us. Julia, thank you.

below for the survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, the Oklahoma Supreme Court dismissing a lawsuit from the massacre's last two survivors who were seeking reparations and are both now over 100 years old. This now diminishing the hopes of racial justice advocates that the state would make amends for that horrific attack that left more than 300 black people dead in the thriving Greenwood District. For more on today's dismissal, I'm joined now by DeMario Solomon Simmons. He's the lead counsel for the Tulsa Race Massacre Survivors and founder of Justice for Greenwood. DiMario, first, were you able to relay this to your client so that they could understand and have they been able to tell you how they took this news?

Hey, Tom. Well, thank you for having me on. It's been a very difficult day for all of us who seek racial justice and Justice for what happened in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. Our entire team, including survivors, are thoroughly disappointed that once again, the Oklahoma judicial system has failed. It's been 103 years since we've been trying to get justice for the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. And my two clients, Viola Ford Fletcher, who's 110, and Lesley Benefiel Randall, who was 109. Both of them was hanging on for justice and hoping that they will see the right thing done. And unfortunately, the goalpost was moved again today by our Oklahoma judicial system.

And we're hoping that the Department of Justice will now come in and do a federal investigation because we've done as far as we can go with the Oklahoma courts. So DeMario, explain to our viewers exactly why you were seeking those reparations and the horrific events that happened there in Oklahoma. Well, doing a 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, it was the largest and the worst case of domestic terrorism in the history of this country, where my community, where I live, of over 11,000 residents were bombed from the sky and from everywhere else by a group of up to 10,000 and 15,000 whites who were deputized by the city of Tulsa, Tulsa County. and it destroyed the entire 40-block area of the city. And this is a complete, almost its own town. And it was completely raised to the ground. Harbor University back in 2020,

estimated that the property damage alone was over $200 million. You stated that there were up to 300 people killed, but we know that there were over 3,000 people that were never heard from again, disappeared, lost killed. We don't really know what happened to them. And we simply were seeking underneath the public nuisance theory that we brought this case for, which has been enforced in Oklahoma since 1910,

that a public nuisance was created by the massacre, and that nuisance continues to this day. And we just wanted to have an opportunity to go to court to have a discovery and have a trial on this issue, and Oklahoma Supreme Court has denied us that. And we are incredibly disappointed, Tom. We are going to file for a petition of rehearing. We have 20 days to do that.

We're certainly going to do that. But again, we're calling upon the Biden administration and the Department of Justice and the Civil Rights Division headed by A.G. Christian or Assistant A.G. Christian Clark to come in and open a federal investigation, which we've been asking for for many, many years. So, Mario, so the Oklahoma Supreme Court said they didn't think this was a court issue, right? They think this should be handled as a legislative issue, right? With your representatives, your state senators, is there any legislation that could help out these survivors?

Well, first of all, we think, again, they are completely wrong on their analysis of this. This is a public nuisance case. We met the pleading that Oklahoma is a notice, pleading standard. We met all the requirements, and they moved the goalposts. And they simply said, now we have to go and talk about some type of legislation. What the fact of the matter is, these are the type of cases that Oklahoma courts have dealt with for over 100 years. This nuisance law has been on the books since 1910. And obviously, in Oklahoma, which is a very, very conservative mega-leaning state, we know that we don't have anything in the house or the governor's house is dead on arrival. So at this point, although we will file for a petition of rehearing with the Oklahoma Supreme Court,

telling them why they got this wrong, how they analyze this incorrectly. They pointed to facts, not even within our briefs. They pointed to facts that was not even a part of our oral argument. We don't understand how they created the decision that they did. But at the same time, we're calling upon President Joe Biden and the Department of Justice to open a federal investigation. They need to come in and do what Oklahoma has refused to do for 103 years, which is give justice to Greenwood and justice to these two living survivors.

DeMario Solomon Simmons, we thank you for coming on. We know it's been a very difficult day for you and your clients. Still ahead tonight, the fireworks in an Atlanta courtroom, the trial of rapper, a young thug. Taking an unexpected turn, a judge in the case, holding his lawyer in contempt. We're going to show you the video of why that happened. Space X CEO Elon Musk accused of retaliating against his own employees,

the lawsuit accusing Musk of wrongfully firing workers after they raise concerns about sexual harassment. And a private jet vanished back in the 70s. Five decades later, the mystery has been solved. We hear from the underwater explorer who made that stunning discovery. You'll hear from him. It's coming up. Okay, we're back down with wild moments

during the trial of rapper Young Thug. One of his defense attorneys held in contempt of court in order to jail in the middle of the courtroom. The trial already the state's longest running with no end in sight. Adrian Brodus has the latest. Take Mr. Steele in the custody, police. Attorney Brian Steele came to defend his client, Atlanta rapper Young Thug. But he left under arrest after this tense moment with the Fulton County Chief Judge, Ural, Glanville.

I'm asking you, how did you get this information? I'm not telling the court. What I'm saying is based upon information. Okay, well, listen, if you don't tell me how you got this information, then you and I are going to have some problems. The judge found Steele in contempt for refusing to disclose how he learned about an alleged a meeting between the judge, prosecutors, and a prosecution witness. Who told you?

What I want to know is why wasn't I there? Why, sir, I'm going to hold you in contempt if you don't tell me who this information was done from. When Steele didn't give up the source, he was ordered to spend 20 days behind bars. That's 10 weekends in jail. You were removing me against his will, my will. you're taking away his right to counsel. It's the latest twist in the high-profile trial for Atlanta rapper Young Thug,

also known as Jeffrey Williams. Williams was arrested in May of 2022 on racketeering and gang charges connected to his music label, YSL Records. Prosecutors allege that label is a street gang. It's a drug conspiracy case. It is a RICO type case. It is a gang conspiracy case. It includes guns, drugs, homicide. The trial started November 2023 and is the longest criminal state trial in Georgia's history. It's gone viral on social media. Big news in the criminal defense world today. Attorney's Jack Turnbull and Adele Brockmeier have followed the trial since the beginning. They say if the alleged meeting took place, the judge never should have let it happen without the defense present. It's outrageous.

in the courtroom. We both have been practicing law a long time. I'm a third generation attorney, Jack's, a seventh generation attorney. And I've never seen anything with the judge, the allegations that are being placed regarding what occurred behind the, with the judge in chambers. What does this mean for the case moving forward? What it means for the case moving forward is that the defense is going to be impaired. When we're in long trials, we work on the weekends. We work at night. If he's in jail on the weekends, he's not going to be able to give young thug an adequate defense. The rise to fame started in 2010 for the Atlanta rapper, collaborating over the years with artists like Drake, Chris Brown, and Gunna.

Gunna also faced RICO charges in connection to YSL, but was released from prison after pleading guilty in 2022. Meanwhile, young thug has pleaded not guilty in this case. and now his legal representation, finding themselves on the other side of the law. Any lawyer we've spoken to has no idea or has no recollection of ever seeing conduct like this. Adrian Broad has shown us now. So, Adrian, what happens to steal the attorney? Does he now have to find his own attorney to handle his arrest? He now needs legal representation and has it, Tom.

And many of our viewers may recognize the name, Ashley Merchant. She represents one of the co-defendants in the Trump RICO trial, which is happening in the same courthouse. Tom? Yeah, the one who brought up all those allegations. Okay. Adrian, we appreciate that. A twist in that case we didn't see coming. Next tonight to the major development in a mystery that has gone unsolved for more than half a century,

an underwater investigator finding wreckage at the bottom of Lake Champlain, capturing video that he tells us tonight shows a private plane that vanished in the 70s. Aaron McLaughlin has this one. On the bottom of Lake Champlain, the answer to a 50-year-old mystery likely solved. This wreckage believed to be the remnants of a private jet that vanished in January of 1971, discovered by underwater investigator Gary Kozak, who says he succeeded where 17 searches had failed. The NTSB has yet to confirm the findings. We brought in a remote operated vehicle, and we captured the underwater images confirming that it's 99% the right place.

The 10-seat private plane carrying passengers Frank Wilder, George Nikita, Donald Myers, Randy Williams, and Kirby Windsor, vanished on a snowy Vermont night shortly after takeoff with no distrust signal sent. I started getting more interested in the problem and the challenge of why has nobody found this plane. Kozak, a seasoned underwater rescuer, joined the effort in 2014. His first attempt to find the jet in 2022 turned out to be a false alarm. We got all excited. We found it. Closer inspection. It had a stenciling that looked more military in nature, not something you would see on a commercial private jet. Last month, Kozak and his partners say they finally cracked the case with decades-old sonar data. It was in the location that the radar lost tracking of it when it crashed. It is painted the same custom. paint scheme, black, red, black that was on the side of this jet.

So there's very little doubt in my mind this is the right plane. Finally appearing to put one of Lake Champlain's biggest mysteries to rest and giving five families a sense of bittersweet closure. Frank Wilder's father was on the plane that night. I'm feeling a lot of sense of a relief because spending 53 years not knowing if, you know, the plane was in the lake or maybe on a mountainside around there or somewhere was distressing. Unfortunately, it's open of other questions, and we have to work on those now. Tom, why the plane went down remains a mystery tonight. We heard from the National Transportation

Safety Board. The NTSB put out a statement saying they're going to evaluate the condition of the wreckage, and based on that, as well as a number of other factors, they'll figure out next steps. Tom. All right, Aaron, we appreciate that. When we come back, Deer versus Bus, a deer smashing through the windshield of a commuter bus in Rhode Island. Several passengers taken to the hospital at a dramatic moment next. Okay, we're back now with Top Stories News Feed,

and we're starting with the tragic death of a college football player. Police say Marcus M.J. Daniels, who was a quarterback at the University of Southern Mississippi, was shot to death at an apartment complex in Hattiesburg. No word on what led to the shooting, and so far no one is in custody. Eight former SpaceX employees suing the company and its founder, Elon Musk, alleging sexual harassment and retaliation.

According to a lawsuit obtained by NBC News, the employees alleged Musk personally ordered their firing in 2022 after they circulated a letter that claimed the company tolerated open sexual harassment in the workplace. SpaceX did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. And shocking video of a deer jumping through a bus windshield in Rhode Island. Look at this. The surveillance video showing the deer runs straight into the public transit bus through the window and into shock passengers. Three of the six passengers

aboard were hospitalized but are expected to be okay. Rhode Island Public Transit Authority commending the bus driver for his exemplary response to that situation. Okay, now to money talks and the better than expected inflation numbers out today, a hopeful sign that the prices of everyday items could be stabilizing. Look at this, the consumer price index up 3.3 percent year over year this May, but the number is down when compared to April's number and below expectations. The market quick to react to the news, the S&P and NASDA, closing at near record highs, but Jerome Powell and the Federal Reserve taking a more cautious approach in their outlook. Here's what they said. The most recent inflation readings have been more favorable

than earlier in the year, however, and there has been modest further progress toward our inflation objective. We'll need to see more good data to bolster our confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%. And here to break it all down for us tonight is NBC's Brian Chung. So, Brian, take a look at the chart. We haven't seen the Fed move rates in September. What kind of data are they looking for before they make a move? Yeah, as you mentioned, they haven't moved in quite a while,

but they've been holding interest rates high, and it's because of inflation, inflation, inflation. Again, the figure that we got this morning showed that prices are up 3.3% between May of this year and May of last year. That's a bit of a slower pace than the 3.4% figure we had seen in the April to April period. But again, we have to remember the Federal Reserve wants to see this number somewhere closer to 2%. So not yet mission accomplished. And a reason why they're not going to take their foot off the gas pedal when it comes to trying to deliberately slow this economy.

But one important thing that the Fed's also watching for is wage growth versus inflation. Yes, inflation is high, but we just crossed the one-year mark of wage growth, which is about 4%. Outpacing inflation, which again, as I just mentioned, is 3.3%. If your wages are growing faster than the price tags are at the store. That's a welcome development, and that only happened as of about a year ago. But stay right there, Brian, because I do have a question here, right? I know realtors and traders will hate this question, but why doesn't the Fed raise rates if they really want to tackle inflation? Yeah, and one big story here is that the Federal Reserve already aggressively raised interest rates for the time being. And again, just because they

haven't cut interest rates, doesn't mean that interest rates are low. They're still just holding them at a high level. Again, here's a recap of the chart that shows all the interest rate moves just over the last two years. By the way, there was a period in time post-pandemic. We weren't even thinking about a half-percentage point move at one time. And then to get more aggressive, the Federal Reserve did three-quarters of a percentage point increases in the June, July, September, and November meetings unprecedented. We had not seen rate moves that big from the Federal Reserve in decades. So you could argue that they have already front-loaded a lot of the aggressive interest rate hikes. That's why they're trying to keep it basically at this level

for right now, while it tries to bite into the economy. Also knowing that it economists say it can take time for these interest rates to bite into inflation. And you were just telling me, Jerome Powell actually said nothing is off the table, which we should remind our viewers. Yeah, and he was saying in the press conference that, look, he doesn't want to take any policy moves off of the table, but that interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve are likely guided by the forecast that they baked in. We saw forecasts from the Federal Reserve today. No officials saw the case for an interest rate hike by the end of this year. There's 19 of those officials, but he said, look, we can't predict what's going to happen in the future. we're not going to take anything off.

Let's dig a little deeper into the data, right? Because we have you here, we have that beautiful screen. So where are consumers, where are Americans feeling the pinch the most? What is still very expensive? What's coming down? Yeah, and I've got a wonderful graphic with this big board here. And when we talk about some of these categories, we talk about travel, right? We're in the summertime and a lot of people trying to go out to maybe hit vacation.

Airline fairs are down almost 6%. We've also seen cars down over 3%. But unfortunately, there are some categories that are increasing, Cost electricity. We're talking about utilities here, up 6% and then housing. Again, this is a big one for Americans, knowing that most of our paychecks are going into just putting a roof over our heads, up 5.4% on a yearly basis. Again, these are things that we're going to have to watch for. So great that if your summer vacations, it's going to cost you a little less. Housing is the big story with that inflation above target. If they want to get that down, housing is going to be a big part of the market. Let's talk about the housing market, right? People looking to buy, people looking to sell. What does that look like as far as mortgage rates are concerned? Well, look, when we talk about mortgage rates, they're about 7%. And when you compare that to just a few years ago where people were locking in mortgages at 2.5%. Well, yes, certainly that's frozen a lot of potential buyers on the sidelines. It doesn't mean that there's no activity happening right now.

It basically just means that people are continuing to weigh on the sidelines to see maybe if mortgage rates right now at 7% can get a little bit lower. But again, based off of what the Federal Reserve has done so far, we're not expecting them to cut interest rates back to zero, which led to those 2.5% 30-year fixed mortgage rates any. time soon until this 7% mortgage rate can go down to maybe six, maybe five and a half percent, which we don't know when that might be. It's going to continue to freeze out the housing market and make it very difficult for sellers to move inventory time. All right, Brian Chung for us tonight, Brian, we appreciate that. Coming up next, a stunning verdict involving Chiquita brands. The banana distributor found guilty of bankrolling a terrorist group during Colombia's Civil War,

but they've been ordered to pay the families of eight victims who were killed during the conflict. Stay with us. We are back now with the Americas in a monumental ruling against a corporate giant. Chiquita Banana ordered to pay almost $40 million to family members of those killed by a paramilitary group during Colombia's civil war. A South Florida jury ruling the company funded those militants even after they were deemed a terror organization. Our Ellison Barber reports. A stunning verdict in a South Florida federal court. The banana giant found liable by a U.S. jury for funding a so-called Colombian death squad

and ordered to pay more than a dozen relatives of victims a total of $38.3 million. It's a case that was decades in the making. From 1997 to 2004, Chiquita, then known as the United Fruit Company, paid a right-wing paramilitary group at least $1.7 million. The group, the group, The United Self-Defense Forces of Columbia, or AUC, formed as a reaction to left-wing guerrilla groups during Colombia's civil war. Experts say the AUC often promised people and businesses protection from other armed threats, but as their power grew, so did the violence. The U.S. designated the AUC as a terrorist organization in 2001.

How common was it for corporations, companies, particularly those bases, in the United States to be paying and or working in some form or fashion with these paramilitary groups. At least 187 companies provided with financial support to these groups. Most of them, 90% of them, were domestic companies. But there have been some American companies. Chequita, a company headquartered in the U.S., pled guilty to making payments to a designated terrorist group in 2007 and agreed to pay a $25 million fine. The latest lawsuit began around the same time. The plaintiffs in this case risks their lives to come forward.

His son worked at a banana plantation and was killed. The AUC commander confessed. And so we had a ton of evidence about who killed him and why and fell right within the period that Chiquita was paying the AUC. Agneshka Frischman, one of the lead lawyers for the plaintiffs, has worked on this case for close to 20 years and says the jury got it right. How rare is it for a corporation to actually be held responsible for their involvement in human rights violations and or just nefarious activities?

It is actually very, very rare. This is, I think, the first corporate case I know that has gone to trial. I think it's such a very important precedent. And it's really important for making sure that corporations that operate in places where the rule of law is not effective. strong, see that they can be held to account in their home courts. But the fight is far from over. Chiquita is a defendant in a suit filed in Medellin, Colombia, and the company tells NBC

News they intend to appeal the U.S. jury's verdict. Writing in part, quote, the situation in Colombia was tragic for so many, including those directly affected by the violence there, and our thoughts remain with them and their families. However, that does not change our belief that there is no legal basis for. for these claims. While we are disappointed by the decision, we remain confident that our legal position will ultimately prevail. Ellison Barber, NBC News. All right, when we come back a look into the past, NBC's Kelly Kobayya getting exclusive access into new findings into the ancient city of Pompeii. The newly discovered rooms and

artifacts giving us a glimpse into how Romans lived more than 2,000 years ago. Stay with us. uncovering history in the ancient city of Pompeii, researchers discovering preserved rooms and artifacts never before seen in one of the biggest digs of this generation. R. Kelly Kobier got exclusive access to some of these new findings. In the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, the old Roman city of Pompeii, preserved in volcanic ash for centuries. Are we on a Roman road yet? We're making a journey of about 2,000 years. And now, We are almost down at the Roman level.

Now the biggest dig in a generation has unearthed a breathtaking scene from the past. Oh wow, this is the blue room? This is the blue room. You can see why. Which is a very unusual thing for Pompeii, this blue wall. It's so vibrant. Oh, it's stunning. NBC News getting an exclusive look at this ornately decorated

shrine, as it was nearly 2,000 years ago. Female figures representing the four seasons. It has this very heavenly atmosphere. And rare Egyptian blue paint on the walls. Why is blue so important in here? Blue was the most expensive color. It came from far away from Egypt and even from the middle and far east. On the floor, a row of clay jugs. and oyster shells used for plaster, sitting exactly as builders left them that fateful day in 79 AD. Something strange started happening at Mount Vesuvius, and you could hear a big bang, and it starts raining these pommas stones. The entire city was buried in volcanic rock and ash from the devastating eruption and frozen in time. What did you think when you first saw this room, the blue room?

I was stunned. These MIT students already on site, using specially adapted night vision goggles and handheld scanners to study the new finds. Nobody's really looked at these materials before. You can see these really fine details and evidence. That's just incredible. So it gives you a look into how the Romans were building things. Bakers and artists, builders and merchants, more than 20,000 people lived here.

This was a big, wealthy, thriving city. Entire rooms, like this newly discovered banquet hall, decorated with mythical figures like the beautiful Helen of Troy, showing the sophistication and elegance of the Pompeians. What would this room have been like? Well, you would have the owner in this corner here, and then sofas on all three sides of the wall. Cushions and small tables in front of them, musicians coming in or some kind of entertain. Today, teams are finding new clues about how those people lived, carefully putting the pieces back together. Seeing something for the first time in almost 2,000 years. Two thousand years ago, somebody looked at it for the last time, and now we who excavated are the first ones to look at it again.

Some of these new finds opened to the public this month. We were given an up-close look. This is a little bedroom. When this room was first-time coved, and we thought that was amazing. We had no idea, obviously, of what we were going to come down on to. Frescoes from the ceiling to the floor, and this intriguing image of a boy and his dog. This is unique. Around the corner, another surprise, charcoal drawings made by children, a hunting scene, a boxing match.

Little hands. It's kind of hear the little giggles of the children. It's like a hand reaching out from the past. showing its flare in its fractured new form. You have to imagine that this is all buried under volcanic materials. A third of it is still buried, and finding the artifacts is only the first step. Archaeologists now trying to put the puzzle back together. These fragments, part of a magnificent ceiling, crushed under the weight of volcanic rock.

We don't know who was the owner, but we can say that he has money. because it was very, very expensive. The past slowly re-emerging, piece by piece. Kelly Kobieya, NBC News, Pompeii. And that does it for us tonight. We thank you for watching. I'm Tom Yamis in New York. Stay right there.

More news on the way.