Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Episode Date: June 15, 2023

A tornado outbreak carves a treacherous path across the southern U.S., a former Starbucks manager is awarded $25.6 million in damages by a jury after she said the company fired her for being white in the wake of a racially-charged 2018 incident, the parents of a high school student who took his own life last year detail the “sextortion” he faced online, Belarus takes a historic deployment of nuclear weapons from Russia as Ukraine intensifies its counterattack, and the writers behind a Cuban song that became a rallying cry for freedom sit down with Tom to discuss their new documentary about the song.

Tonight, breaking news, multiple tornadoes touching down across the south. A massive funnel cloud tearing through southern Alabama, ripping roofs off of homes and tearing an office building apart. Strong twister striking in Texas and Georgia, 31 million people still under alert tonight. Bill Karen standing by. Trump's defense plan. The former president firing back at the special counsel calling his 37-count indictment, a, quote, heinous abuse of power. The legal strategy Trump and his team are now mounting as running mate

turned rival Mike Pence takes his toughest stance yet on those classified documents. Also tonight, new accusations in the Rust movie set shooting, why prosecutors are alleging that the armor who loaded the fatal bullet that killed the film cinematographer may have been hung over. Fired for being white? A former Starbucks manager awarded $25 million after she was fired in the in the wake of this video that was viewed millions of times. Two black men arrested while they were waiting for a business meeting at a Starbucks, while the judge ruled that employee was used as a scapegoat. Plus, party crash for the moment a black bear showed up uninvited and helped himself to the food table.

And Patriot Iida, tonight the story behind this song that defined an uprising in Cuba. Our interview with the artists who inspired a movement and are now taking that spirit, to the big screen. Top story starts right now. And good evening. We begin top story tonight with that dangerous tornado outbreak in the south. A string of violent storm spawning strong funnel clouds from Texas all the way to Georgia. It is a rare occurrence for this time of year. We want to show you some of the images coming into our newsroom late today, this monster funnel cloud captured by a resident in Aviville, Alabama. Look how big that is compared to that McDonald's sign right there. And then multiple

homes and this office building you're going to see here torn apart by the strength of that confirmed tornado. And in Newton, Georgia, take a look at how fast this tornado was moving here, carving a treacherous trail across fields and through rows of trees. Luckily, though, no fatalities have been reported from this system. We're not done there. Strong thunderstorms and damaging hail also a concern across the region. This right here hail the size of a baseball coming down in Brooksville, Mississippi. And the severe threat will continue into the night. More than 30 million people you see right here in the risk area. We've got Bill Cairns. He's standing by for us, that full forecast in a moment. But first, NBC's Kathy Park leads us off from Alabama tonight.

Tonight, torrential rain, dangerous winds and tornadoes tearing through the south. Reports of at least six tornadoes in Alabama, Georgia, and Texas, including this one appearing to touch. in South Georgia. Warnings continued in several states throughout the afternoon. We've got a lot of lightning strikes here across the area, so definitely stay away from those windows. The wall to this office in Alabama, gone, now lying next to the building. While inside, debris is scattered throughout the cubicles. Traders start wobbbing real bands, so we all just had to hunker down and try to just ride it up. In Louisiana, down trees piling up and mangled power lines.

Heavy rain in the region not just causing a flood risk, but slowing down traffic on major highways. On this interstate in Arkansas, pounding rain and damaging winds limiting visibility. Tens of millions at risk for severe weather tonight, from Texas to Florida. The damage already done in Alabama as a fast-moving storms knocked down trees. Hail a concern in many states already coming down in Mississippi. All right, and with that, Kathy Park joins us tonight from Warrior Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. Kathy, we can see some of that damage there just behind you.

Talk to us and show us what you're seeing tonight. Tom, good evening. So according to neighbors here, this massive oak tree behind me actually split during the height of the storm, which was late this afternoon. You can see, Tom, how close these large limbs are hanging by these power lines. Fortunately, we're told the power remains on at this hour. But keep in mind, this is damage from round one of storms. We are bracing for another round.

a severe weather, the potential for more tornadoes, flash flooding, all the possibility, Tom. And then do we know anything about injuries at this hour, Kathy? That information is still coming in. As of right now, we are learning of at least one injury in Utah, Alabama, which is about an hour and a half southwest of where we are right now. And according to authority, strong storms roared through that community and destroyed a home there. One woman was injured. Three people were home at the time. two were able to actually escape and they're doing okay. But right now we are told that the woman is hospitalized. But Tom, the big headline, of course, is the cleanup in Utah, Alabama and

beyond. We're dealing with large limbs that are on the ground as well as down power lines. Tom? Yeah, and it's just getting started. All right, Kathy, thank you for that. The South is bracing for more severe weather overnight. So let's get right over to Bill. Cairns. Bill, your board is lighting up there like crazy. Explain to our viewers what we're looking at there. Yeah, we're three quarters of the way through our severe weather outbreak, and this is what's happened so far. So the tornado reports are showed by this red icon. Those have mostly been here on the border of Alabama and through southern Georgia. All of the blue icons is where we've had wind damage reports, which is what I feared the most going into today, was the chance of at least a hurricane force gusts up to 80 miles per hour. We haven't had a lot of reports of that so far, so that's good.

And then the large hail reports here are also shown where all these white icons. and we had a five-inch hailstone. We showed you the picture earlier in the show. That may have tied the Mississippi State record, going back to 1962 for the largest hailstone ever in the state. So some pretty rare territory. So we have numerous watches that are up from Dallas all the way to Savannah. A couple tornado watches.

These are all severe thunderstorm watches where we're worried more in Dallas all the way back through Little Rock and Jackson, Montgomery. That's a wind damage and hail threat. Isolated tornadoes are still possible in southern Georgia. Let's see if we have any current warnings. It looks like just one tornado warning left here. That's south of Douglas, and you notice this icon here. This storm did produce a tornado about a half hour ago.

So we'll continue to watch it there, and a lot of heavy rain. Albany, Georgia, has been in and out of tornado warnings. Now they're under flash flood warnings. It's just a mess in southern Georgia. So this is the area at risk as we went into today. Now we're seeing these storms shrinking to the south here around Mobile, Tallahassee, damaging winds. And then tomorrow we'll have isolated strong storms again on the Gulf Coast,

and then we're going to head back out in the Central Plains. A very active weather pattern as we head into the middle of June. And we'll stay on top of it throughout the broadcast. All right, Bill, we thank you for that. Want to head now to the latest on the historic indictment of former President Donald Trump. Attorney General Merrick Garland speaking out today. One day after the former president pleaded not guilty to 37 federal counts, this has Trump doubles down on his defense and announces new fundraising numbers following his indictment.

NBC's Garrett Haake has more. Tonight, Attorney General Merrick Garland defending Special Counsel Jack Smith, the prosecutor Garland appointed, who brought. the 37-count federal indictment against former President Trump. When I pointed Mr. Smith, I did so because it underscores the Justice Department's commitment to both independence and accountability. The AG responding to Mr. Trump's growing drumbeat of accusations, including at a rally with supporters last night, Mr. Trump arguing he's only being charged because he's the Republican frontrunner

against President Biden. Today we witness the most evil and heinous abuse of power in the history of our country. Never before have the two standards of justice in our country been more starkly revealed. Tonight, a source close to former President Trump describing the mood around him and his senior staff as calm and upbeat and satisfied they successfully stage manage yesterday's unprecedented arraignment. Another source who's not part of the legal team telling NBC News, Mr. Trump knows he's entering a period of long and uncertain legal battles, and that his defense will likely focus in part on his belief that he was allowed to keep the documents.

Whatever documents the president decides to take with him, he has the right to do so. But the special counsel alleging Mr. Trump illegally held on to classified documents and then obstructed investigators when they tried to retrieve them, saying they found boxes, some of which contained classified documents in Mar-a-Lago storage rooms, a ballroom, and a bathroom. At yesterday's arraignment, Mr. Trump pleading not guilty. And while the Republican frontrunner is energizing supporters, including at that pre-planned pep rally at a Miami-Cuban restaurant following his court appearance, tonight Mr. Trump facing new criticism from his former running mate turned rival.

Mike Pence saying he believes politics played a role in the charges, but also saying this. I cannot defend what is alleged. The very prospect that what is alleged here took place, creating an opportunity where highly sensitive classified material could have fallen into the wrong hands, even inadvertently. That jeopardizes our national security. Gary joins us tonight from Bedminster, New Jersey. Garrett, there's a new presidential poll out today from Quinnipiac. Tell our viewers when it was conducted and what do we learn?

Well, this poll was conducted just over the last week or so, Tom. And what it shows us is that the news of this indictment has not made a significant dent in Donald Trump's support. Certainly not in a Republican primary. commanding lead over Ron DeSantis, his closest competitor, and then a host of other candidates in the low single digits. It also shows basically a coin flip race between Trump and President Biden, with the president picking up a little bit of ground over Donald Trump, but within the margin of error. If you are a Republican waiting for indictment news or legal problems to take down Donald Trump, this is not a good poll for you. Again, the former president still,

the commanding frontrunner in the race in front of him right now. the Republican primary. And we saw how the former president turned some of the post-indictment hearing into a campaign stop. I know you have some new numbers and some new reporting from the Trump campaign on how much money they've actually raised since this latest indictment. Yeah, this was interesting, Tom. The campaign announced they'd raised more than $6 million since the latest indictment. That is, on its face, a big number. But compared to the first indictment in New York back in April, it's only about half. After that indictment, the campaign said they raised $12 million.

And in that case, all the money basically came from online donations, small dollar donors, folks who opened up their wallet on their own of court to kind of lean into this moment. In this case, Donald Trump had a big pre-planned fundraiser here in Bedminster last night that was accountable for about $2 million of the $6 million total. So what does that mean? Perhaps there's less enthusiasm between throwing money into Donald Trump's legal fights with prosecutors. It might take some more time to kind of parse out the. overall financial picture of this campaign, but the ability to gin up outrage around the charges

against Donald Trump and convert that outrage into campaign cash seems to have been limited to a fairly significant degree here. Okay, Garrett Haik, for us, from the campaign trail on the Trump beat tonight. We're following also some breaking news out of New York City. The man accused of killing Jordan Neely after placing him in a chokehold for 15 minutes on a subway train was just indicted by a grand jury on second-degree manslaughter charges. For more on this, Emily Aketa joins us now with this. breaking news. Emily, tell us what we know so far. Well, Tom, as you mentioned, we learned late

today a grand jury indicted Daniel Penny on second-degree manslaughter, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The 24-year-old Marine veteran was seen on camera back in early May, putting Jordan Neely in a deadly chokehold on a New York City subway. Witnesses say Neely, who was homeless and suffering from mental illness, had been making threats and harassing passengers on the train before the altercation. According to the assistant district attorney, Penny wasn't arrested for Neely's death until about two weeks after the incident. That delay, sparking protests across the city. He recently defended himself in video statements saying he did not intend to choke Neely

and that he was just trying to restrain him if convicted of second-degree manslaughter. Penny could face 15 years behind bars. And have we heard from Penny or his legal team tonight? Yeah, just getting a statement in a matter of minutes ago. Tonight, his legal team says when weighing evidence during trial, their confident jurors will find Penny's actions on the train were justified. The Manhattan DA declining to comment at this hour. Okay, Emily Aketa, great to have you on set here.

We appreciate it. Next to new allegations in the rush shooting, prosecutors alleging the weapons expert on set was likely hung over when she put a live bullet into a gun that was discharged by Alec Baldwin when killing cinematographer Helena Hutchins. Prosecutors saying witnesses are willing to testify that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was, quote, drinking heavily and smoking marijuana in the evening during filming. Aaron McLaughlin joins us now from L.A. This is pretty explosive, Aaron.

What more do we know about these new allegations? Yeah, as you say, Tom, the prosecutors alleging a number of things specifically relating to her drug and alcohol use. I have a copy of some of what prosecutors had to say in these court documents that were filed last week, saying it is likely that defendant Gutierrez was hung over when she inserted a live bullet into a gun that she knew was going to be used at some point by an actor. The crime of involuntary manslaughter was designed specifically for this type of circumstance. These court documents, prosecutors also drawing attention to her behavior immediately following the shooting, saying that following the shooting, she walked off with the gun, unloaded it,

handing the bullets to at least one witness and then walked off for a, quote, considerable amount of time in these legal documents, noting that so far she has not been charged with tampering with evidence, but also noting that this investigation is ongoing. All of this was in response to her motion for the case to be dismissed. She's alleging that this entire case is politically motivated at this point, time. And then, Aaron, just on these specific charges, or not charges, allegations, I should say, of being hung over of drinking heavily, smoking weed the night before. Has Gutierrez read or her lawyers commented? Yeah, her lawyers put out a scathing statement today, building on their allegation that this is a politically motivated case. I have a copy of what her lawyers had to say, saying the prosecution has so mishandled this case, and the case is so weak that they are now resorting to character.

assassination tactics to further taint the press and jury pool. It's worth noting that the hearing to determine whether or not this case will be dismissed against the Rust Armor will be decided, is expected to be decided, end of August. Okay. Aaron McLaughlin here on Top Story with a lot of new reporting, Aaron, we appreciate that for more on this development and what legal trouble Gutier's Reed could face next. I'm joined by a friend of Top Story legal analyst Angela Senadella, also known as the lawyer, Angela, on TikTok, with more than one million followers. So, Angela, this is another strange legal turn in this case. How do you interpret these allegations?

The allegations? Well, so the only reason why the prosecution brought these up are not to prove or claim that this was a crime because she was hung over, but it's really only in response to the defense's motion to dismiss. And to be fair, as Aaron just mentioned, there were personal attacks that were launched in that motion to dismiss. They claim that the DA that you had on this show and the special prosecutor only did this

because they were politically motivated. They're also arguing selective prosecution under the 14th Amendment, claiming that these new special prosecutors came in and they just dismiss charges against Alec Baldwin because he's this famous, rich celebrity and yet are focusing only on her

when she was just this 24-year-old. So I do want to go back to this though because, I mean, look, this is Hollywood, right? I mean, drinking, smoking weed. I mean, that seems to go hand in hand with sometimes when people are trying to lay off and get, you burn some steam off after a long day of work, is being hung over a legal liability? No, it's not. But what they were doing here is trying to prove a history of reckless conduct.

As you and I know, if you are hung over, that's not going to get you in jail or in prison. But if there's standard of care for a job of an armor, for example, it's in their contract that you may not inhibit or that you may not intake weed or alcohol while on the job at all or in the set during a certain amount of time, that could be possible. was drinking heavily and smoking weed. How can they prove that she was hung over? Yes, that's really it. They can't. They're bringing up this now, just in order to claim that she's a threat to the community, but there's no evidence they're bringing to back this up. It's unclear whether or not they'll actually pull this through if there is a trial in front of a jury,

because as you said, that could be easily disputed. You've been following this case pretty closely for us. We saw what happened with Alec Baldwin in this case. What do you think is happening here? Is this case falling apart? I think the case against her remains pretty strong. And as I've always said, I want to see what Dave Halls is going to say. So he's been forgotten in the press because he pled no contest to unsafe handling of a weapon pretty early on. But he was a person who turned because he was a cooperating witness. And he claims that he has information that is relevant to this entire trial.

What about the things that Aaron was reporting there, what she did after with the gun and how that would tie into her? I mean, I don't know, having drank heavily the night before and or smoking marijuana. How do they connect those dots? And it was just, it was on professional conduct? So it's really the pattern that they are trying to prove. So what the prosecution is saying is that this case should not be dismissed

because she maintains herself as a threat to the community. So they're saying there's a pattern of behavior. It's not just a one-time accident. So it's not even evidence that we brought in child. It wasn't just the bullet. It was everything after that, too. It's all connected. Yes, they're saying this woman herself is a threat. So we have to put her behind bars.

in order to keep our community safe. Angela Senadella, we thank you so much for joining Top Story, as always. Okay, we now turn to another big lawsuit here, losing Starbucks losing a massive lawsuit, a former employee who says she was fired because she's white. A jury awarding the former regional manager more than $25 million after that infamous 2018 incident where two black men were arrested

while waiting for a business meeting at one of the stores she oversaw. Stephen Romo has more on why she says she was used as a scapegoat. Tonight, the Starbucks regional manager fired after this moment, which ignited a national uproar and forced the coffee giant into a racial reckoning. Now that former employee winning more than $25 million in damages after suing the coffee giant for violating her civil rights in her termination. It all started in April 2018 when these two men, Rishon Nelson and Dante Robinson, into a Starbucks in Philadelphia where they had a meeting. One of them was refused access to the bathroom without making a purchase and they were asked to leave. When they refused,

someone told what they did. They didn't do anything. I saw the entire thing. A staff member called the police who arrested both Robinson and Nelson. Because you see us, we are here. The incident, a stain on the massive coffee retailer sparking protests and national outrage. It ultimately prompted Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson to release a video statement, taking accountability for the incident and promising to do better. What happened in the way that incident escalated and the outcome was nothing but reprehensible. And I'm sorry. Starbucks taking drastic action. Today the company announced that all of its 8,000 U.S. stores will close the afternoon of May 29th. Employees will go through racial bias training. And changing its bathroom policy. So any

one could use them. The company eventually settling with Nelson and Robinson for an undisclosed amount of money and providing them with a free college education. The two also settled with the city of Philadelphia for a symbolic one dollar each with Billy's promise to invest in a youth entrepreneurship program. I'm thrilled that they just did it for a dollar with the city. It showed a lot of class on their part. But the drip, drip of the fallout continued. The next year, Starbucks was in hot water again, hit with a lawsuit from the regional manager who oversaw that store in approximately 100 other locations. Shannon Phillips, who is white, claims she was fired after the incident because of her race. In the lawsuit, she says she was not involved in the arrests in any way

and that Starbucks did not take any action against the black district manager who oversaw that store and had promoted the person who was responsible for making the call to police. On Monday, a federal jury in New Jersey sided with Phillips, awarding her $25.6 million in damages. What was ultimately determined by the jury was they kind of went after people that were not involved with that situation at all, making those decisions based on appearance and the race of the people that they disciplined, who were associated with the Philadelphia store,

but not with the offense that occurred. Starbucks fought the lawsuit in court saying Phillips was not fired because of her race but for failing to lead, according to court filings. But the company has not commented publicly since the verdict and has not responded

to our request for comment. In a statement, Phillips lawyer said Starbucks was looking for a scapegoat and the Phillips will now be pushing for more back pay from Starbucks to be decided by the judge. All right, asking for even more money. Stephen Romo joins us now in studio. So, Stephen, what was the biggest piece of evidence in this case that bolstered the manager's argument?

Well, the legal expert we talked to really highlighted one piece of evidence in that lawsuit. The company allegedly punishing people who weren't involved in the actual incident because they were white. Now, before she was fired, Phillips claimed she was told to suspend a white district manager who oversaw stores in Philadelphia, but not the one where this actually happened. And one other note about this, Tom, a lawyer we spoke to said he doesn't actually think that she'll get $25 million because that's actually above what the law allows. Still, a big deal that this jury chose in her favor, we'll have to see what comes of this. All right, Stephen, Rubble for us, Stephen, we appreciate that. We turned out of the economy where the Federal Reserve made a big move today by not moving interest rates. You can see it here. The Fed raising interest rates every meeting over the last 15 months all in an effort to cool inflation.

Those new inflation numbers over the last two days looking a bit better. The consumer price index up 4% in May over last year, way down from the highs. And this morning we found out the producers' price index that measures the wholesale prices that producers are paying was up only 1.1% from last year, much lower than expected, meaning potentially some relief for consumers down the line. But Fed Chair Jerome Powell is saying we're not in the clear quite yet, and you probably all know that if you've bought anything over the past few months. For more on what this move means and what it means for consumers,

I want to bring in NBC's Tom Costello. So Tom, despite the pause, right, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said they expect to hike rates two more times this year. Why pause today if they expect to keep hiking? Well, if they want to see whether what's in the rearview mirror, in other words, we know that inflation tamed in May. What's it going to be like in June? Is inflation truly coming down and is it going to pick up the clip? In other words, come down faster. They want to hit the pause button because they've had 10 rate hikes, of course, since March of last year. And they've now raised that. key interest rate by a full five percentage points. They also have had to deal with some bank failures. So all of that combined may also help to slow the economy even more. They just want to see what's going to happen in the next 30 days. But all eyes really do, first of all eyes are on the Fed, and most analysts do expect another rate hike coming as soon as next month. And Tom, let's take a listen to a little of what Powell said today. The conditions that we need to see in place to get inflation down are coming into place.

And that would be growth meaningfully below trend. It would be a labor market that's loosening. It would be good pipelines getting healthier and healthier and that kind of thing. The things are in place that we need to see, but the process of that actually working on inflation is going to take some time. You know, Tom, it's really interesting because I remember a year ago we were having these conversations where we're talking about the R word, the recession, right? And so I want to ask you, I mean, is one of the reasons why, and you laid it out why they didn't raise rates, but is one of the reasons why they're sort of watching this closely because they don't want to sort of throw the economy

into a recession? Yes. There's also a school of thought out there that this, well, first of all, this economy is a head scratcher. I mean, the most experienced Fed watchers say never before has this country experienced an economy like this. We have stubbornly high inflation, better than a year ago, but stubbornly high. Unemployment very low. The economy is improving, and yet we still have very strong labor gains. In other words, people have jobs. So they are trying to walk this tightrope, right? They want to see if they can slow the economy without getting it into a recession. However, there's now a school of thought, maybe, just maybe, we can avoid a recession. That's another reason for the pause. So markets immediately responded to this negatively today, but then bounced back.

it was a bit of a roller coaster. What was that about and how should everyday Americans be viewing the movement today? Well, the market sold off immediately because Powell was suggesting there is certainly going to be another rate hike probably next month and maybe even more after that this year. Higher interest rates means we all pay more for everything that should slow the economy. And then the market's bounced back. Why? Because a lot of people don't think the Fed has this right. A lot of people think that they've got this completely wrong, that they're going to overcorrect and that there is signs, in fact, that the economy is starting to slow on itself, and we can't avoid a recession. You know, the market is always trying to be one step ahead of the Fed, and that's where

the market's mentality is right now. Tom Costello for us from DC, Tom, we appreciate that when we come back, calling for change. The family of a teenager speaking out after he died by suicide following a social media scam that turned into blackmail, the action they're now taking to prevent others from falling victim. Plus, the asteroid, the size of the Brooklyn Bridge, set to pass right by Earth, NASA labeling a potentially hazardous object. So just how close is it expected to come here? And beer wars, America's number one selling beer, is actually now Mexican. The logger from Mexico that's now knocking Bud Light out of the top spot after two decades. Stay with us.

We're back down with a heartbreaking story. The Parents of a high school student who died by suicide last year are speaking out for the first time. Their son falling victim to online sextortion. They're now hoping to create change to help save the lives of others that might be in danger online. NBC's Valerie Castro reports. We do want to warn you that a lot of the details in the story may be disturbing of yours. Tonight, a Michigan family speaking out for the first time, turning the grief of their son's death into action with a warning about teen extortion. In the most tragic of situations, Jordan's life is saving lives.

17-year-old Jordan DeMay died by suicide last year after his family says a digital extortion scheme drove him to end his life. There was three Nigerian men that conspired from across the planet and came into my house in the middle of the night while I was sleeping and murdered my son. The U.S. District Attorney inditing three Nigerian men accused of using a hacked social media account and a female. female persona to encourage DeMay to send a sexually explicit photo, then blackmailing him according to the indictment. When extortion occurs online, the perpetrator often pretends to be someone else and then persuades the victim to send compromising photos or perhaps engage in compromising conversation. The indictment outlining the text messages, the suspects using the name Danny Roberts, writing,

I have screenshot all your followers and tags, can send this nudes to everyone and also send your nudes to your family and friends until it goes viral. All you've to do is to cooperate with me and I won't expose you. Are you going to cooperate with me? Just pay me right now and I won't expose you. DeMay asks, how much? The suspects, $1,000. DeMay sending $300, not enough to satisfy his tormentors according to the indictment. They add, goodbye, enjoy your miserable life. DeMay replying, I'm killing myself right now because of you. The suspects, good. Do that fast, or I'll make you do it, I swear to God. Jordan's parents say the entire conversation from the first point of contact to the moment he took his life, just a six-hour time frame.

And then when she convinced him to send a picture of himself a little after midnight, obviously that's when the switch happened and the extortion started happening and the pressure and is frantic trying to pay these folks money. The devastating outcome motivating DeMay's parents to call for change. Right now, social media companies have no liability for anything that happens on their platforms. The family pushing for passage of the Kids Online Safety Act requiring social media companies to enable strongest safeguards as the default, protect minors information and limit who can contact a profile, restrict location gathering, and provide parents the ability to supervise activity. In this case, the suspects behind that tragic scheme were tracked down overseas. The FBI coordinating with Nigerian law enforcement to arrest the trio now facing extradition to the United States, while Jordan's family is left to remember his life, stolen online.

I wish he were here today to celebrate his birthday, and we could go to the beach like he would want to. I miss him every single day. You feel so bad for that family. Valerie, is there any advice to parents out there? How do they know if their kids are caught up in this sex, the social media exploitation scams? So first of all, this is a very serious problem. And earlier this year, the FBI, along with Homeland Security and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, issued a public safety alert. They say more than 3,000 minors have been victimized in the last year, mostly boys, and more than a dozen reportedly died by suicide.

Jordan's parents say, in their opinion, social media is not a place for children, period. but they say if children are using it, don't use it alone. They should be supervised. They shouldn't be up in their bedrooms using it unsupervised. And again, we should note the suicide prevention lifeline is 9-88. Okay. Thanks so much for that, Valerie. I appreciate it.

When we come back and update on the 11-year-old shot by police inside of his Mississippi home, after the child called 911 for a domestic disturbance, the punishment just handed down to that officer involved. That's next. Okay, we are back now with Top Stories News Feeding the latest on a horrific shooting in Mississippi last month. You may remember a Mississippi police officer shot an 11-year-old boy in the child's home. That officer has been suspended without pay. The officer was responding to a call about a domestic disturbance when he shot Adrian Murray in the chest.

Murray was taken to the hospital with several injuries that is now recovering at home. So far, the charges have been filed. An asteroid, the size of the Brooklyn Bridge, is expected to pass by Earth on Thursday. The asteroid is predicted to come within 2.5 million miles of Earth, close enough for NASA to label it as a, quote, potentially hazardous object. However, experts say there is no risk of it colliding with our planet. And Bud Light has been dethroned as America's top-selling beer after two decades. For the month ending, June 3rd, Mexican lager Moldello made up 8.4% of U.S. retail beer sales.

while Bud Light felt the second place at 7.3%. Bud Light, sales have dipped in recent weeks, following boycotts over the brand's decision to send one commemorative can to a transgender influencer. Okay, we want to turn out of that heroin rescue of four children we've been covering here on Top Story. They were lost deep in the Amazon. NBC News has obtained new information on the plane crash

that stranded them there and how they managed to survive impact. Kelly Kobie has the latest. It's been called A Miracle. Four siblings between the ages of one and 13 found alive after 40 days alone in the Amazon jungle, surviving a plane crash that killed their mother and two others. I always had faith, their father said. A preliminary report issued by Colombian authorities and obtained by NBC News says the single-engine Cessna they were in was airworthy. But it says the pilot radioed a May Day twice because of engine trouble,

35 minutes into the flight and again 26 minutes later, calling Mayday, Mayday, Mayday, the engine is failing again, going to look for a river. The report written before the children were found says the aircraft crashed nose first into the jungle floor. These photos showing where investigators believed the children were sitting in the back, avoiding the worst of the impact. The report says they only presumed the youngest sibling, now one year old, may have been seated with her mother. The family says their mother died at the scene four days later. That report also noting the Cessna was involved in an earlier crash in 2021 due to loss of engine power, but was repaired and in the air again this past March. Incredibly, rescuers say the children had no serious

injuries from the plane crash. Tonight, the siblings are still hospitalized, and and slowly getting stronger. Kelly Kobiea, NBC News. Coming up, mass evacuations, a powerful cyclone set to slam into parts of Pakistan and India. The last minute push to get residents out of coastal areas. And party crash. What happened when this bear, that's right, a wild bear, joined the buffet line at a party in Mexico. That's next.

Back now with the war in Ukraine, neighboring country Belarus says it has started taking delivery of Russia. nuclear weapons. This deployment, the first of its kind since the end of the Cold War. The move comes as Ukraine seeks to step up its counteroffensive, which we've been telling you about, and also now using American-made fighting vehicles in combat. Raf Sanchez, with a unique up-close look at this. Tonight, as Ukraine's counteroffensive in the east grinds forward, Russia raising the nuclear stakes and moving tactical nuclear warheads to its neighbor and ally, Belarus. That's according to the country's president, Alexander Lukashenko, who says the weapons

are three times more powerful than the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No official confirmation from the Kremlin, which previously said the weapons would be moved later this summer. In what would be the first time Russia has deployed nuclear weapons beyond its borders since the collapse of the Soviet Union. This is yet another example of making irresponsible and provocative choices. And in Odessa, families jolted from sleep this morning by Russian missile strikes. At least three civilians killed, Ukraine says, and three more in shelling in the eastern region of Donetsk.

Hanging over the counteroffensive, a major question. How effectively is Ukraine using the Western weapons supplied by the U.S. and NATO allies? To get answers, NBC News analyzed video from both the Russian and Ukraine. military's showing different angles of a single battle. It's early Thursday, June 8, in the southeastern region of Zaporica, and a fierce firefight is underway. Analysts say this appears to be the first time Ukraine has deployed American-made Bradley fighting vehicles in combat.

This one appears to hit a landmine, damaging the treads and immobilizing the vehicle. But the Bradley's design shields the crew from the worst of the blast. They deploy smoke canisters to hide their movements. And when the smoke is thick enough, they make a break for it. Here's that disabled vehicle in Russian drone footage. We match the layout of these wrecks in both of the videos. The battle ends with several Bradley's lost,

along with German-made leopard tanks. Russian losses unclear. Retired U.S. Army General Stephen Twitty commanded Bradley, units in Iraq and helped us gauge their effectiveness here. What's your assessment of how effectively the Ukrainians are using this equipment? What I would have preferred to have seen in that picture is a combined arms approach to their maneuver where they had tanks with them as well as overhead air coverage with them, but they're doing well for what they have right now.

Russian troops later celebrating that disabled Bradley as a trophy of war. But the U.S. this week announcing it's sending 15 new vehicles as part of its latest $300 million aid package, resupplying a critical counteroffensive that's still in early days. And Tom, we spoke to a Ukrainian soldier who was in one of those Bradley fighting vehicles when it was hit. He told us if he had been in one of Ukraine's old Soviet-era infantry fighting vehicles, he and his crew would be dead by now. Tom. Raf Sanchez for us tonight. Raf, thank you. Not a top story's global watch and the migrant tragedy off the coast of Greece.

Officials say an overcrowded fishing vessel carrying migrants from Libya to Italy capsized and sank miles from shore. It's one of the deadliest migrant disasters so far this year, with at least 79 people confirmed dead. But officials say many more are missing. and the death toll is expected to rise. More than 100 people, though, have been rescued. Mass evacuation is underway in Pakistan and India ahead of a powerful cyclone. Video shows Pakistan's military using boats to move people out of low-line areas.

The cyclone, which is expected to make landfall on Thursday, is packing wind gusts up to 145 miles per hour and is slated to be the most powerful storm to hit the area since 2021. So far, more than 60,000 people have been evacuated from coastal villages. villages. And a party in northern Mexico getting an unexpected guest. This now viral video shows a bear, a wild bear, crashing a party in San Pedro, before heading straight to the buffet. The bear treating himself to food as shocked partygoers and caterers kept their distance, though. The caterers were still there. Luckily, no one was hurt and the animal eventually saw himself out. All right. When we come back, a song that inspired a movement. Padri Ay Vida, Homeland and Life became an anthem during

mass protests in Cuba in 2021, and earlier this week, I sat down with two of the artists behind that song. What they told me about how the song came to be, the impact it had, plus the new documentary about it that just premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. And that right there was Patria and Vida, the hit Cuban song that inspired a movement. A group of hip-hop artists releasing the song as a protest against the oppression of the Cuban people by their own government, the title which means homeland and life, playing off the communist Cuban regime slogan of homeland or death. In 2021, the song was released, Conditions in the country. You may be remember this right here, already fueling anger on the island.

Cubans demonstrated against food shortages, the government's handling of COVID, and crackdowns on free speech. Patria I Vida became an anthem, a united cry around the world calling for the freedom of Cuba's people. It's now the focus of a new documentary, Patria and Vidia, the power of music, which takes a closer look at the origins of the song, how it came to be, and the brutal suppression by the Cuban government of anyone who dared to sing it. We're now joined by two of the artists behind Patriotia and Beatriz Luengo and Yotuel Romero. Thank you so much for being here on Top Story. We really do appreciate it. Beja, I'll start with you. How did the song come to be? How did you guys write it and how did it come to be? The song began in our kitchen in a conversation about my feelings in Cuba.

Because I'm from Spain and the first time when I was in Cuba, I could see the Patriot Mueuerte everywhere, country or death. And I was asking Jotuel as a Cuban, Jotuel, why is... is the slogan of a country, something so sad as a country or death, when the people has to inspire and have to be a stand-up for life. So this is the beginning of a conversation. After that, it became a song. One month after released a song, it was an anthem for Cuban in the Iceland. That was incredible.

You know, there's a phrase in Cuba, Resolbed, which basically means resolve. People there are struggling. They'll trade an egg for a piece of meat, for a fruit, just so they can feed their family because there's not enough food. You were living there, and you wrote this song with Baia. What were you experiencing at the time that you put into those lyrics? Because they're very powerful lyrics, and you knew at the time it was dangerous, because in Cuba you cannot say those things out loud. Yeah, first of all, I want to say thank you. All the artists is involved in this song, Hentezona, the same Michael Soobos is in here right now and funky.

What we try to say in the song is all that the people in Cuba want to say because, you know, in Cuba, we don't have an opportunity to express yourself or to say what they want to say. So we use the music to transform people to say what the people on the street want to really say. Of course, we don't have any food, we don't have a lie. we don't have a Goviano, we represent Cuba. We never have election in Cuba. So all this is in the song. For that reason, when the songs come out, the regime was scared because it was millions, million people in Cuba

with the same direction. There's an incredible clip in this documentary you guys made where you said you didn't spend a single cent on publicity, and yet you were on the cover of every major, American newspaper, every newspaper around the world, and it became this global phenomenon. How did you guys pass around the song at first? Was it through text? Was it through email? How did the song get passed around Cuba first? Internet. Yeah. Internet, yes. And this is something important in the documentary, because I suppose two things, the reality of Cuban people and the reality

of the music right now, because the algorithm is the new boss on the entire world. The algorithm is the way, it is the formula to, the mathematical formula, to understand what the people is consuming. This story told the people that we was an independent label without any support. With a sad song talking about human rights, a heap of Latin song, in 100% words in Spanish. And in a few weeks, it was an explosion in the world. We have a clip from the documentary showing the way the Cuban government cracked down on people. after the song was released. Let's take a look. I mean, this is going to be a very hard concept for Americans to understand, but you release

a hip-hop song, and it leads to artists that were on the song to be put in prison. And Yotuel, we were just talking, your friends that were on this song, the people in this documentary, they're still in prison? You're still in prison. The most incredible is that we don't talk any violence in the lyric. We only talk about life, only want to have a change in Cuba. people want to have a new Cuba. For only with their reason,

they put in jail Michael Sobaud for nine years. Only for St. Patriot. One of the artists on the song is now in jail for nine years. Just for rapping about freedom. Yeah. Yeah.

Another guy is also in the video called Luis Manel Oter Alcantara. It's amazing artist, plastic artist. He's in jail for five years only to be in the clip. Yeah. It's incredible.

It's crazy. Because it's the first time in the history of humanity that an artist who has won two grammars for a son is in jail for the same son. It's not a son who talk about violence. It's a song for empowered people to ask for vindicate rights not obtain.

Yotuel, did you ever think that it would lead to this massive movement, to the hashtag, to people being in prison to the hundred millions of people seen it all over the world? I've never seen that, but I believe in the power of music. Yeah. I know the music changed people, music changed mentality.

And I hope that song can help people understand the reality from Cuba because Cuba for many, many years, sent to the world something is not true. This song, when you watch the documentary, you come to touch the reality. We believe in Cuba, the people. normal people live in Cuba, you know, the brutality, the rassies, the everything that we only want to say to the world, listen to us, we want to be freedom. So you wrote this song, it spread all over the world, you're now going to the Tribeca Film Festival, you won Grammys, but you can't return to your country.

Jotuelo, what's that like? Imagine, right now I'm the side of a lot of Cuban can return, his island, because you don't, you don't have an opportunity to return because we don't have a law in Cuba. If I return to Cuba, they can accuse me like whatever. And arrest you immediately. I'll arrest it for the rest of my life because we don't have a law to help people. The only law in Cuba is for help the regime, not for the people in Cuba. So for that reason, I come back.

Andrews, what's your message to the Cuban government tonight? What would you want to tell them if you had a chance to talk to them? For me, the message is for the Cuban people. They have to be, they have to feel how they can do. I want to, they feel empowered. They have to take the streets and say the people, what they want. They want, they need a chain. They want a better country for them, for the kids.

It's very sad what is happening with the kids in Cuba, they don't have a future. A doctor in 10 dollars and a prostitute, 300. It's sad for the kids. So this is my message for them. Don't be scared. Go out the streets in a peaceful way. They have to show the world the message that they have to, all of the things that they feel,

they have to show to the people to the rest of the world. My parents left Cuba, and they were part of the exile movement, and there was a famous song we still always listened to called When I Salida, Cuba, which was when I left Cuba. And I'd like to say that I think your song, Patria, has now picked up for the next generation. It picks up where that song leaves off, and we'll see what happens. We'll see what change, if any, comes about.

I want to thank you so much, Yotouelbea. Thank you so much for being here on Top Story. We appreciate it. And thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Giammis in New York. Stay right there. War News on the way.