Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, June 17, 2026

Episode Date: June 18, 2026

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

Breaking news tonight, the triple storm threat. Tornado's touching down right now as Tropical Storm Arthur charges inland. A possible twister in Alabama as warning sirens blare across the Midwest. And down south, Tropical Storm Arthur barreling across the Gulf, this carous swept out to sea. Plus wildfires exploding a doorbell capturing this home up in flames and the Inferno outside of Miami. Bill Carrant's tracking it all. The new twist of the Luigi Mangione murder case, the alleged killer now planning a psychiatric defamation. Does this mean he admits he did it? The unbelievable rescue mission after a private jet crashes on a Texas highway, incredible video of drivers rushing to pull survivors out, what we know about the tech founder killed in the crash. Protesters tear gassed after a child is shot and killed by a police officer, responding to a shoplifting call at Walmart. What we're hearing from that devastated mother tonight. Chaos in Central Park, a person tossed from a runaway horse carriage. You'll see more of this video. shocking IVF mix-up a couple who gave birth to a child that isn't genetically theirs,

striking a deal with a biological family to keep the baby. And the massive security operation for the Knicks parade, millions expected to cheer on the NBA champs. The major steps New York City is taking to keep everyone safe. Plus, the president just signing the Iran peace deal hours after the terms of the agreement are made public. What's inside? Top story. It starts right now. And good evening. As we come on the air here, a triple-weigh. weather threat unfolding, putting tens of millions on alert. Right now, tornado warnings going off in the Midwest, and down south, tropical storm Arthur is churning inland and wildfires

igniting from coast to coast. At this hour, new images are coming in a funnel cloud. You see it here forming in Alabama, massive storm clouds blanketing Illinois. The damage already on display in that state after high winds toppled stoplights and ripped bricks off buildings. The Midwest hardly able to catch its breath after the first round of severe storms. Packing this tornado that tore across Indiana. You see it here perfectly. And heavy hail slamming Michigan. Down south, millions are under flood alerts.

Here's why the first-name storm of the season, Arthur, making landfall. The worst of that storm, though, could still be to come. We're already seeing rough seas in Texas, high tide submerging cars and buildings. The big concern tonight, life-threatening flash floods. Officials in New Orleans warning it could be a worst-case scenario. The region already battling deadly flooding, parts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, underwater after days of heavy rain. And out west, look at this, this wildfire raging in Spokane, Washington, multiple homes destroyed with thousands forced to evacuate. This ring camera capturing the moment's flames consume a neighboring house.

And on the opposite coast, a brush fire in Miami burning thousands of acres, the air quality there worsening by the hour. from tornadoes to floods to fires are Bill Cairns standing by and, you know, tracking this triple threat. We want to begin tonight, though, in Chicago with those severe summer storms taking aim. Our Maggie Vespa is there, and Maggie, we can see some of that mess right behind you. Right. Yeah, Tom, exactly. I mean, damage on display, really across the region. Look at how massive this tree is, ripped out of the ground by its roots. I'll walk along here. You can see how huge it is. And we've been talking about more tornadoes, more warnings, more sirens.

going off across the region, basically more violent storms firing up as we speak. It'd be looking like it's on the ground. Tonight, an apparent tornado in Alabama and sirens sounding in central Illinois. Emergency managers there confirming a tornado just north of Springfield. Devastating storms from Chicago with down trees blocking roads and littering parks to rural Illinois where pieces of this brick storefront crashed to the ground. It's bad. Holy crap.

Severe weather wreaking havoc far and wide this week, with new video showing an apparent twister tearing through Indiana. In Texas, rescue crews driving through high water after deadly flooding near San Antonio. Here, a car poking out from floodwaters in Mississippi, first responders pulling people out just in time. As tropical storm Arthur churns off the Gulf Coast, preps are underway in New Orleans with two people already reported dead in Louisville. Louisiana because of flooding. It could be a worst-case scenario. Elsewhere tonight, wildfires rage on both coasts. This rain camera video showing flames just feet from the owner's house, with multiple homes already destroyed and thousands ordered to evacuate in eastern Washington. While in Florida, wildfires burning near the Everglades, closing roads around Miami. A devastating roundup of severe weather impacting millions coast to coast.

Maggie Vespa joins us once again from Chicago. And Maggie, we're hearing more tornado sirens going off across Illinois. Yeah, Tom, that's right. We've just talking to our climate team here in the last few minutes and basically multiple sirens going off and cities kind of around Springfield, the state capital, and then down south of Champaign. So we're talking about like the heart of the state, the middle of the state, rural areas, the definitely pockets of population there. So a lot of people across Illinois and frankly across the Midwest, just racing for more violent storms tonight, Tom.

Okay, Maggie Vespah, you and your team stay safe out there. As Maggie mentioned, Tropical Storm Arthur, the first-named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, making landfall along the Texas coast today. NBC's Ryan Chandler joins us tonight from Galveston, Texas. Ryan, this is the first time we're getting a look at your shot there. We can see some of the flooding behind you. Parts of Galveston already feeling what this storm is bringing. That's right, Tom. This scene really speaks for itself.

Look at this neighborhood here after a hurricane or a tropical storm. Arthur rolled through Galveston earlier today. The only entrance into this neighborhood covered by inches of water. If I were to step a few feet this way, I wouldn't be able to stand anymore, Tom. It's water as far as the eye can see. Part of this is storm surge. This part of the island doesn't have Galveston's iconic protective seawalls. So when the tropical storm pushed all of this water in, it had nothing to stop it.

It's also just retained water from so much rain that came through the night and through the afternoon. It's nice skies now, but it is looking ominous in the horizon as we prepare for possibly more rain to add to this water tonight, Tom. And then, Ryan, while you're out there, the Gulf Coast has dealt with flash floods for days. How are officials preparing for what may be a more dangerous tonight with those torrential rains? Well, the answer to that, Tom, depends on where you are on the Gulf Coast. Here in Houston, I think it's actually a story of optimism. Most of the rain from this system actually hit in the Gulf, not on land. So the forecast that we had here were more pessimistic than the reality that we had.

Now, if you're in central Louisiana or farther east along this storm's path, we know that officials in Louisiana are prepping sandbags, worried that they could see flooding like this, warning everybody to stay off of roads that will inevitably be flooded, stay out of the ocean at all costs, as we're still seeing some rough seas. It's part public preparation and personal responsibility to keep everybody safe, Tom. Okay, Ryan Chandler for us there in Texas. Ryan, we thank you. I want to get right over to NBC News meteorologist Bill Karens, who's tracking all of this for tonight. Bill,

you've got a lot to cover there. Yeah, we've got the tornadoes ongoing. We've had obviously the problems with all the fires out there too. We did have one reported tornado on a spot we weren't really expecting earlier today, and that was in areas of Alabama near Enterprise. It was captured here over the highway. It did not do any significant. damage, but you can see the lowering there of the base down there, and we did get some confirmation that actually was on the ground for a brief period. This was just a thunderstorm that just rolled in right off the water and sparked up into this stronger storm. Now, as far as Arthur goes from the hurricane center, the latest information is that it's in between Victoria and Houston. The thing to

notice, all the heavy rain well to the east of the center, and you can see where it's heading. All the rain is heading up into Louisiana. So if we're going to get problems tonight in Baton Rouge or in New Orleans, It's going to be during the overnight hours. And then tomorrow we're going to take that threat into areas of Mississippi, Alabama, maybe even eventually Georgia. Some areas in Mississippi already picked up eight inches of rain this week, and they could get another three to six inches tomorrow. So that's why you can see we've already have problems with river flooding and flash flooding. We could deal with even more. And then as far as the areas of greatest concern, the next three days, this area is maroon is the biggest problems.

Now let's turn to that tornado threat because we do have active tornado warnings out there right now. We have one right along Interstate 57 here. This is in central Illinois heading for the Charleston area. We have another big thunderstorm up by Decatur, Illinois. So we'll continue to watch these. We haven't had what we feared so far, you know, like the big long-track tornado on the ground. It's still possible, but it hasn't happened yet. We do have tornado watches that are going to be up for a long time, well after the sunsets.

Indianapolis, your tornado watch goes until 1 a.m. in the morning. St. Louis, you're until about 10 a.m. or so. And I think the St. Louis area, you got it roughly about two hours until those storms will arrive right over the top of you. And if we do get those areas of tornadoes and rotation, we'll obviously be watching this area. Pretty much Interstate I-70 up towards Decatur and Indianapolis. This is still the area of greatest risk, even as we go throughout the overnight hours. And then tomorrow, we're not completely done with this. We're going to have isolated severe storms from areas of the mid-Atlantic into northern New England all the way back down through Virginia.

So Tom, as we mentioned, there's a lot going on. Those fires, too, have been really horrific in so many areas. You saw the flames and the pictures and the smoke near Miami. I mean, that was been incredible. Yeah, what more can you tell us about those raging wildfires? Because we are tracking them sort of coast-to-coast Miami and in Washington. Yeah, the worst of them have been into Spokane. So those are the pictures we showed you at the top of the show.

That was the up river fire, and that was the one that you see the flames there. It just happened to form right near the homes. And so as it started burning and unruly, usually windy conditions. The gusts were 50 to 60 miles per hour. They were kind of helpless, and they did rapidly just evacuations trying to save lives because they couldn't fight it. It was too windy. It was too dangerous for everyone out there. Fifteen homes have been reported lost. There are people missing, but they said that's very common in these situations, Tom, because people are evacuating, they leave their cell phones behind, and they're trying to locate everyone.

It's a difficult situation. Yeah, and it's going to be a dangerous night all across the country. All right, Bill, we thank you for that. We may come back to you. We want to go down to our other developing story we're following at this hour. Private plane crashing onto a highway in Texas, people racing to the fiery wreckage to save those on board. And tonight we're learning the CEO of a private equity firm was killed in that crash. Here's NBC's Tom Costello. Terror on Loop 20 in Laredo, Texas. A private business jet crashing into traffic and erupting in fire after failing to make it to a nearby airport.

There's people in there. Dash cam video capture the moment of impact. The plane torn in two by a light pole suddenly ignites. Inside the plane, six people. We literally saw a aircraft, you know, split in half. So we're like, oh, my God, this is crazy out of a movie. Zira Garza's husband was among the drivers who used hammers and crowbars to break one pilot free, then another.

Three teenagers got out on their own. Three kids, two pilots. Where's the parents? They're still in there? The only fatality. 50-year-old Joshua Baer, the founder of Austin-based Capitol factory, which funds high-tech startups. The company calling him brilliant and a dear friend to so many of us. The Cessna citation departed San Jose del Cabo Mexico last night, bound for Austin, climbing to 43,000 feet before reporting they were low on fuel diverting to Laredo. Flight radar 24 data shows the plane rapidly descending at 3,000 feet per minute before slowing its descent to line up for a landing, but then drifting off course. The last radar contact, two miles south of the airport. It is nothing short of a miracle that this tragedy did not become a mass fatality event. This jet was owned by a company called Net Jets. It leases jets for private flights, the biggest company in the world that does that, owned by Berkshire Hathaway. It's the first fatal crash in 40 years for the company.

It now says tonight that safety is and always has been at the foundation of everything it does, and it is working with investigators to find out what went wrong. Tom? Okay, Tom Costello, with some new developments on that horrible crash, Tom. Thank you. Also breaking tonight two U.S. officials telling NBC the Iran deal has officially been signed. And tonight we're learning more about what exactly both sides have agreed to, including the U.S. lifting its blockade in the Strait of Hormuz.

NBC's Gabe Gutierrez is traveling with the president and has this report. Tonight, two U.S. officials tell NBC News the deal is signed. With the president at the G7 summit, his administration laying out details of the preliminary peace agreement with Iran. I didn't want to see economic catastrophe. If you kept this going, that could have happened. According to a senior U.S. official, under the 14-point memorandum of understanding, which leads to 60 days of more talks, Iran allows toll-free passage of the U.S. Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. ends its naval blockade of Iranian ports, and Iran reaffirms

it will not develop or procure nuclear weapons. No, it's not final. It's a memorandum of understanding. If they don't behave, we'll go right back to dropping bombs, right smack in the middle of their head, okay? World leaders at the G7 issuing a joint statement, praising the agreement, which they said was secured under the strong leadership of President Trump. But critics are seizing on financial concessions. including allowing Gulf countries to start a $300 billion reconstruction fund and allowing Iran to resume selling oil. It does smack of the kind of appeasement that our administration rejected

in the Obama-Iran nuclear deal. The president pressed today about that fund to help Iran. Only if they're doing things right. We're not putting up money. Saying a final deal is expected to address the Iranian regime's support for terror groups. And what remains of the Iranians. ballistic missile program. They have to have some because other people have some.

Which he told NBC's Garrett Haake, Iran, can now keep. Why is it acceptable to you now that they keep some of that capability? And Iran is... What are they keeping? What are they keeping? They have less than other nations now. We knocked out probably 84, 85 percent of their missiles. And he had this response when asked if he named Vice President Vance's lead negotiator so he could

blame him later. I like that idea. This way, if it works out, I'm going to take the credit. If it doesn't work out, I'm blaming JD. You better be careful, JD. Gabe Gutierrez joins the Senate from Geneva. And Gabe, you have new reporting on why the text of this deal was not released until today. Yes, Tom.

A senior U.S. official tells me the delayed release was at the request of Iran and that this is the same text that was signed on Sunday. Now, another U.S. official says only the vice president had previously signed it, and that tonight President Trump signed it digitally or at a private dinner with a French president at Versailles. Still, Tom, there are a lot of questions about the future of this agreement, including a provision that says that military operations in Lebanon must cease. But as you know, Tom, Israel has said that it is not part of this agreement. So there are a lot of questions about how this moves forward,

especially over this next 60-day period, which is crucial. The administration says a lot of this will be worked out, but some skeptics wonder whether this ceasefire will hold. whole top. Okay, Gabe Gutierrez. Gabe, I thank you for that. I want to bring in our political pros to discuss. Amisha Cross is a Democratic strategist and a former campaign advisor to President Obama, a good friend to Top Story. And Mike Dubkees served as White House Communications Director for President Trump during his first term and a founding partner at Black Rock Group. I thank you both for being here. Mike, I'm going to start with you. What has the U.S.

gain here that wasn't already true before the war or during the 2015 deal negotiated by President Obama? Well, I think what they've gained here, with this, especially on the domestic front, at least from the recent time, is that we've got a gas prices coming down, and we've got a world leaders circling around President Trump at the G7. What we don't have is a number of concessions that were made prior to early February, and And we're still trying to work all of those out as these details come out. But the main goal here, domestically at least, was to have a secession of the hostilities so that we could move forward into and lowering gas prices for the American consumer.

But, Mike, I get that. But the gas prices were low before the war. So essentially, what did we gain from this war with Iran? I think what we gained in terms of on the battlefront, we december. They've estimated their Navy. We took their military stockpile down, especially on ballistic missiles. We disrupted their ability to fund Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Houthis. And we disrupted what has been a terror regime since 1979.

So if you look at what the president started with in 2020, with the killing of Soleimani, that might have been strike one. Strike two was probably the bombing last year of the nuclear facilities. And this hostilities, this conflict that started in February, is strike three. And I think that's what the president would outline is how we have moved this, how we have moved our mission forward in terms of stopping Iran from being a center of terror for the world. Yeah. Amisha, what do you say to all that? Well, this is an example of the president starting a fire and then trying to extinguish the one that he started.

Last I checked, President Trump still doesn't call this a war because a war would mean that he would need a congressional approval and authority to go about his business. He has called this everything but a war up until this point. And I think that, you know, to the point that you made just a moment ago, gas prices were not up before the war started. So him trying to level them off, again, based on something that he started puts us in a different place. But moreover, I'm concerned with the fact that not only was Israel not at the table. What we do know is that they are not a good faith partner in this. A ceasefire has not occurred any time President Trump has called for one, and I don't think one's going to occur now.

In arguing that we are not going to be paying Iran is absolutely ridiculous when in the agreement itself there are payments that have to be made in large part because of the infrastructure issues that were created by the bombings that literally destroyed civilian life. Mike, a person close to the White House told NBC this deal is quote, and I'm reading from our notes here, embarrassing for the president because the straight was open before this war started, as we all know. And some of the more complicated terms, they still have to be worked out, right?

So how does the president convince Republicans that this is a good call to give some concessions to Iran and lift the U.S. blockade? Well, Tom, this really goes back to what I started with. I think in terms of convincing Republicans, it's going to be about getting back, uh, getting back to a level of our economy being able to function again. So, I mean, just pure politically, pure power politics, I think that's what he's going to explain. But this is what he needs to talk about. And I think this is where we differ on this.

This is not money coming out of the United States. In terms of the monies that are going to be loosened and the waivers that are going to be given for oil, that is Iranian money that is not U.S. funds and the monies that will be earned for the sale of Iranian oil will be to rebuild the country. So I think he's going to focus on those. The things that are going to be concerning to Republicans, however, is the situation in the Strait of Hormuz and the overall lifting of sanctions that have been in place for a number of years and really have brought the previous regime with a protest that happened in January, brought them to a brink but didn't push them over.

over the edge. The one difficulty we have here, the United States and facing off with Iran is that the Iranian regime does not care about its people. And it is very difficult to negotiate with a regime that doesn't care about the 93 million citizens that live in their, within their border. That's a great point, Mike, Amisha. The president promised the world and more importantly, the people of Iran, that they would stand with the Iranian people to topple the regime. That has not happened here. You have a new Ayatollah, and yes, maybe they have the guy behind the guy behind the guy who is leading Iran now, but it is still the same Iranian regime that people are still oppressed and really the future is still bleak over there. Well, it was a PR campaign. Again,

when Trump initiated this war, he was trying to find a way to get people to stand beside him as he knew that it was an unpopular war here in America. So he touted regime change. At the end of the day, he has since walked that back multiple times about his own concerns of regime change and that not being one of the reasons. So will the will Donald Trump please stand up? Was it regime change? Was it not regime change? If it was regime change, guess what? We're still stuck with the same regime. There was never a plan to actualize regime change. And as we all know, the history of regime change wars led by America has, quite frankly, been really, really disappointing. So it was never a good idea to begin with. But he lied to the Iranian people. There was no regime

change. We know the individual stood out and held signs and they were very excited to not have such a demonstratively poor regime, you know, basically hurting its people. And that was one of the reasons why they thought that there was another future on the other side. That has not happened. And it was never, quite frankly, the intention of this president. It was PR from Jump. Okay. We thank you for that, Amisha. And Mike, thanks for being here tonight. We're going to have to leave the conversation there. We'll have much more the outrage in Mississippi after a one-year-old baby was shot and killed by police, who were called in for an alleged shoplifting at Walmart, what the mother of that child is now saying.

The risky legal move from Luigi Mangione's defense team preparing to use a psychiatric defense in his upcoming state murder trial. Ardeni Savalas with how it's shaking up the trial. And breaking news, the shocking scene here in New York, a teenager killed after he was thrown from a runaway horse-drawn carriage in Central Park. The tragic details just coming in.

Stay with us. We're back now with the surprising new developments in the case against Luigi Mangione, the accused healthcare CEO killer. A judge today saying the defense team will pursue a psychiatric defense, which experts say effectively concedes he pulled the trigger. Stephanie Gosk explains the risky new legal strategy. A bombshell in New York state court, the judge in the case announcing that Luigi Mangione's defense team is changing course. Legally conceding their client did kill United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan.

It's no longer a who-done-it. It's no longer did Luigi's. Mangione killed Brian Thompson. It's he killed him. But the defense will argue Mangione was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance and deserves a lesser charge than murder in the second degree. If he's successful with this defense, it could be significantly reduced to manslaughter, which means five to 25 years as opposed to the potential of life. The judge ordered all relevant documents handed over to the prosecution. The DA's office has the chance to order its own psychological evaluation of Mangione. The trial, less than three months away, will now look very

different. Forensics and the murder weapon may not be the focus. Instead, it will likely be on the Ivy League grad's mental health and the alleged planning leading up to the shooting. Evidence like the red notebook found on him when he was arrested in a Pennsylvania McDonald's, possibly playing an even more significant role. One entry written months before the killing reads, I finally feel confident about what I will do. The details are finally coming together. Prosecutors accused Mangione of meticulously plotting the crime, which could make a psychiatric defense a significant challenge. When you raise an affirmative defense like this, the defense actually has to show that Luigi Mangione acted with extreme emotional disturbance that he lost self-control.

Okay. Stephanie Goss joins us now live in studio along with Danny Savalos, our NBC legal analyst. We thank you both for being here. I'm going to start with you, if that's okay, Stephanie, with the lawyer here. Is this for our viewers, because they may be confused. Is this an insanity defense, or is this different? It is not an insanity defense. It's totally different. Insanity, if the jury acquits but not acquits, but fines not guilty by reason of insanity,

it's a total defense. That's not what EED is, extreme emotional disturbance. All it does, as Stephanie and Misty pointed out in that package, is downgrade, if successful, from a murder charge to a manslaughter. charge, which would make the punishment far less, and that's significant, certainly for Luigi Mangione. Is this tough to defend if you're on the defense team here to prove this? It is very difficult. And think about this. Just like insanity, the defendant has to admit that he did it. So it is something of a gambit because you're going into trial saying, look, I did it, but now I'm

taking on this additional burden to prove that when I did it, I was under this extreme emotional disturbance. And we saw in the package, the prosecution gets their own psychiatric expert. And Tom, what do you think their psychiatric experts going to say when that expert examines Luigi Mangione? They have these folks on call, and they're very good at their job, and so it's going to be a battle of the experts. It's a risk. Stephanie, you've been covering this case from the get-go. It was a tough case for the defense. There's a lot of evidence, and we've talked about this. Yeah, there's a lot of evidence. And, you know, what happened right before all of this? There was that pretrial hearing, the evidentiary hearing, where they tried to get a whole host of things thrown out, arguing that their clients, constitutional rights were violated.

Well, that didn't happen. So you still had the gun and the silencer and the notebook that were going to be part of the trial. And so now they've come around with this strategy. Is it risky? But what else can they do necessarily? They're trying to minimize how much time he potentially spends in prison. But of course, you also have the federal case as well. You're going to have to prove this mental illness. What type of evidence do you think they're going to provide there? Yeah, for the federal case, you're not allowed to do this. You're not allowed to present this psychiatric defense. And as Danny mentioned, the genie's out of the bottle with admitting that you

are, that you killed him. So they're going to have to come up with some other strategy in federal court. Yeah, and then the evidence for to try to prove this mental illness. Like, will they go to the notebook? Do you think, do we have any idea what they may present for that? Well, it's really interesting. The defense tried to keep that argument sealed, and the judge said today that he's going to unseal it. It's not out yet because they've got to go through and redact it.

But we're going to find out the nuts and bolts of what's in that and what they're arguing. And it could be pretty revelatory. Danny, if you're working with the prosecution, how do you use this to your advantage? Well, first, you're delighted because you know you're going to get a conviction of at least manslaughter. That's the best Mangione can hope for. He's going to prison no matter what now. If he uses this defense, this affirmative defense, then it's virtually a foregone conclusion that he will go to prison.

If you're the prosecution, you line up your psychiatric, your forensic psychiatric expert, you get ready for that part of the battle, but you know that you've already gotten to conviction land. And by the way, I just want to say that this is not a risky move for the defense. I understand it's a bit of a gambit in that you have to convince the jury that he did it, but you have to prove something else in addition. Sometimes the defense doesn't have a lot of options. The defense here has done a magnificent job of chipping away at the case through pretrial motions.

But I think many suspected that as we got closer to trial, still with all the evidence against him, they had to consider this as a possible avenue. And then, Stephanie, before we go, reminder of yours, when does this trial start? September 8th, and then the federal trial is scheduled for early next year. Okay. Stephanie, Goss, Danny Savals. We thank you guys for being here. just ahead the massive fire near downtown L.A. smoke pouring out of the roof, the fight to get it under control. And the huge security operation in New York City for the NICS championship parade, imagine this 10,000 officers deployed as millions descend on the Big Apple.

But first, top stories, top moment, and a special surprise for one Michigan family. Senior airman, Jonas Morton, had been stationed in South Korea for over a year. But when he found out he was able to come home early, he decided to pull off the ultimate surprise. Take a look. And Jonas liked that so much. He kept doing it. The surprises kept coming, shocking the rest of his extended family. All of it caught on camera.

He'll be home for three weeks before being stationed in Japan. I hope he gets some time to rest or he's going to keep surprising people. Welcome home, Jonas. And thank you for your service. Stay with us. More top story after this break. We were back now with the dramatic sentencing of the Gilgo Beach serial killer, emotions running high inside court as the victim's families and the

even the judge delivering scathing messages to the killer's face. Our Emily Aketa was there. Tonight, the Gilgo Beach serial killer coming face to face with his victim's families. I'm responsible for what was said in this room today. The words I would say have no meaning. Rex Ehrman was sentenced in New York to multiple life terms without the possibility of parole. after admitting to soliciting sex and strangling eight women to death between 1993 and 2010. At least eight that we know of, are you at least a little bit sorry for that? Yes? Yes, I am. The victim's loved ones in the courtroom.

That paint is available. And confronting the Holking New York City architect who lived a double life through tears. Rex hereman did not just take my mother's life. He stole an entire lifetime of memories that me and her never got to make. Today would have been Jessica Taylor's 43rd birthday. You thought you took her voice, but you didn't know that she had people who loved her. You hunted her and I hunted you. Heerman's sentence marks the final chapter in a killing spree that terrorized Long Island, New York for decades.

Investigators arresting him in 2023, using cell phone data and DNA from a discarded pizza crust to help link him to the murders. that he now will sit behind bars for. You've been described as a very big man, but you're a disgusting and despicable small man if you're a man at all. And you're a coward. Get him out of here. There are still some unsolved killings near Gilgo Beach, which the district attorney vows to continue to investigate.

Tom. Emily Aketa, with those moments there in court. Emily, thank you. We're going to turn out of Mississippi. where protesters are growing and a family is demanding answers after police shot and left a one-year-old child dead. Here's Valerie Castro. Growing outrage tonight over the death of a one-year-old at the hands of police. Protesters met with tear gas outside the Mississippi Walmart where the incident took place, demanding justice for Cohen Wiley.

According to investigators, the shooting on Sunday happened when Senatobia police responded to a shoplifting call involving two adults and a child. child. One witness telling a local reporter of the two adults, one was carrying the boy, the other a box of diapers. Policeman shot open fire in a public setting over allegedly some pampers. Authorities say the adults, now identified by the family's lawyer as the boy's mother and her friend, tried to get away, driving toward and nearly hitting an officer, another officer then firing at the car. The boy's mother says she tried to communicate to police that a child was in the vehicle. I raised my baby up trying to show them dead. He was in the car. By the time I set my baby down, it was like three to four shots. One of the shots hit him in his real cage. And the other shots

hit her and her arm and her thigh. Cohen was pronounced dead at a hospital while the driver had critical injuries, according to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigations, which is now handling the case. To make no mistake, this is a very tragic situation. I would ask that the public maintain patience as much as possible. I know this is a very frustrating time, but maintain patience as this process is done. Attorney Ben Crump now representing the family and saying in a statement, we intend to seek justice for baby Cohen and the life that was stolen from him. Protesters now calling for accountability and transparency. So there are just questions that need to be asked, need to be answered, video that needs to be reviewed, and to actually see what it saves. Go with the evidence.

Senatobia police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, but on Sunday the police department posted a statement on Facebook saying in part that it was committed to full transparency. The city of Senatobia says the officer involved in this incident has been placed on administrative leave while the state continues their investigation. Tom. Valerie Castro, good to see you. Now to Top Story's news feed. We start with an update on the devastating B-52 bomber crash in California. Edwards Air Force Base releasing the names of the eight crew members who died. You see them right here. They died when their jet crash shortly after takeoff on Monday.

You can see their names and their faces on your screen. The oldest person on board was 53-year-old Gregory Watson, the youngest, 32-year-old Jeremy Smith. The investigation of what caused the crash is still underway. And breaking news from right here in New York City, an 18-year-old has died after he was thrown from a horse-drawn carriage in Central Park. Disturbing video shows the horse bolting with the passenger. Still inside after the driver stepped out, officer said the 18-year-old hit his head on the ground and was rushed to the hospital where he later died. Officers say the rest of his family suffered only minor injuries. Crews battling a massive fire at a commercial building near downtown L.A. Aerial

photos showed the massive black smoke pouring from the roof. Residents ordered to shelter in place and close their windows and doors. No word yet on any injuries there. And several people arrested in Atlanta as huge crowds showed up at an event for influencer Kai Sinat. Video from above shows the size of their crowd. Look at that. This is outside Atlanta's State Farm Arena. It was part of Senat's Streamer University program. The scene outside got so rowdy, it had to be canceled and rescheduled for tomorrow. Okay, now to the massive security operation for the New York Knicks Championship Parade. The NYPD is deploying the largest number of police officers ever to a planned event. Here's NBC New York's Andrew Siff. Making a choice isn't easy, especially when the choice is family commitment.

or the Knicks parade. Tomorrow's my daughter's graduation, but I'm going to try to make it happen. What's your plan? How can you do both? Oh, I'm going to go. The moment they call her name, I'm out. It's a sign of the times,

a championship parade like none other in recent memory. The route may be familiar up the Canyon of Heroes, beginning at 10 a.m. From Battery Park up to City Hall, but the size? We are preparing for enormous crowds in Lower Manhattan, with attendance expected to be in the millions. The police commissioner announcing today unprecedented manpower. The largest deployment for a planned event in NYPD history with more than 10,000 officers. All attendees will be

screened with metal detectors, enclosed viewing pens open at 6 a.m. No backpacks or bags, no glass or metal bottles, no umbrellas, no strollers, and no coolers. It may rain a little bit. Totally fine to bring your ponchos, totally fine to come there with your friends. The advice is arrive early, but how early? Some fans don't even want to say. Are you going to the parade? I will be going to the parade. What's your strategy?

When are you getting there? How are you going to do it? I don't want to expose my strategy, but it will be very early. Barricades are up along Broadway. The Knicks riding in some 50 floats and vehicles will be cruising along this route. And City Hall is building a stage and setting up. cares for the noontime keys to the city ceremony. And the emotions, well, lifelong fans still talking about the reward of winning after 53 years of not.

And just feel the crowd, the people, everyone's hugging each other, slapping each other fire. I haven't seen New York this happy probably ever. The advice to all of the tens or thousands or millions of people arriving is to take mass transit if at all possible. That is the latest reporting from Lower Manhattan. I'm Andrew Siff, sending it back to you, Tom. Our good friend, Andrew Siff, we thank you for that. Still to come here, the shocking mix-up at an IVF clinic, a Florida couple now saying they will keep the baby who isn't genetically theirs,

how they came to an agreement with the baby's biological parents, plus the massive warehouse fire in France, smoke towering over the Paris skyline. That's coming up. Top Stories Global Watch. That of Top Stories Global Watch. and we start with a Russian artist who used his work to criticize Russian leader Vladimir Putin

now found dead in his home in Poland. Police say Robert Kusakov was shot and killed at close range. Two Belarusian citizens were arrested in connection to the shooting. Prosecutors have not attributed the killing to Moscow. And a massive fire erupting at a warehouse near Paris, a huge pillar of thick black smoke rising over the Paris skyline, the blaze erupting in a suburb on the outskirts of the city. More than 100 firefighters rushed to the scene. Luckily, no one was hurt.

The site housed several furniture and equipment companies. And in Japan, six of the country's main ice cream manufacturers were raided over accusations of running a cartel. Japan's Fair Trade Commission alleging the companies colluded to raise ice cream prices to levels beyond inflation. The company is all saying they will cooperate with the investigation. Japan's ice cream industry has exploded in recent years with the market hitting a record $4 billion just last year. Back here at home, the new developments in a shocking IVF mixup of Florida couple who sued a fertility clinic after realizing their newborn was not biologically theirs. They have come to an agreement now with the biological parents to keep the child. NBC's Liz Kreutz has more.

Tonight, the IVF mix up making international headlines, Tiffany Score and Stephen Mills giving birth to a beautiful baby girl, only to quickly realize she was not biologically theirs. According to a lawsuit filed against the fertility center of Orlando, while the parents are both white, their baby Shay did not appear to be. Genetic testing later revealing their baby was 100% South Asian. That began a search for the biological parents who only recently learned about the horrifying mix-up. They were obviously shocked when they were told that their embryo was used and given to another couple. Legal filings show the two couples have now reached a custody of. agreement, allowing the birth parents to keep baby Shay. The genetic parents who have chosen to

remain anonymous will also remain part of her life, but their attorney says they're heartbroken. Would your clients have preferred to have the legal custody of Shea of the baby? If it were up to my clients, and they had the choice, of course, but the laws in this country and in Florida favor the parents who actually give birth to a child. So it would have been an incredible uphill legal battle. NBC News reached out to the fertility clinic, which has since closed and did not hear back. In a statement, Shea's birth parents say they have begun and intend to continue to foster a relationship of friendship and trust with their daughter's genetic parents. Both families saying a mix-up like this should never happen again. Liz Kreutz, NBC News.

Liz, thank you. We are taking a turn now to rapper Lil Nas X, who is sharing an update on his mental health. Last August, the musician was charged with four felonies after he was found disoriented and naked wandering around Los Angeles. Instead of jail, he was able to seek mental health treatment. And now he says he's doing better. Take a listen. First, where I've been, I've been in rehab for a few months. And since then, I've been, you know, back at home. I have a therapist now and a psychiatrist, which has been really helpful. When I got my bipolar disorder diagnosis, I feel like I hadn't known for, like, the past few years, but I didn't want to admit to it because I didn't want to have to take medication

and, I don't know how people think different to me. I mean, I'm already like Black and Kay, like, damn God, give me. Like, give me like, come on, black, gay bipolar. Like, I'm like living life on, like, extreme hard mode. Yeah, but on a serious note, like, I'm doing much better. I'm doing better. I'm feeling better. I'm creating freely.

And there's less fear in my heart. All right. That's just part of it. For more, I want to bring in NBC's Chloe Malasel. Chloe, what do we know about how he's doing? I mean, first of all, Tom, this is a heartwarming story to me to see him looking so healthy. This is such a stark contrast to what we saw in that very jarring video of him walking the streets of Los Angeles last summer. And we haven't heard from him.

And we finally are hearing now that he's been in rehab. He's been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. And he actually is laughing and saying, you know, I'm doing really well. I'm even working on new music. Remember, those charges were ultimately dismissed if he sought treatment, if he stayed clean and stayed out of trouble for two years, and clearly he's doing just that. Reminder of viewers, what exactly happened in Los Angeles 9-9?

Because it was so strange. Right, it was so odd. So he was seen walking down the side of the road. You know, no pun intended to his song, Old Town Road, and he's in a pair of, like, tidy whiteys, some cowboy boots, and just people are literally filming him, and it started to go viral this video. And when police officers got to the scene

because they kept hearing about this guy that looked like Little Nazex walking down the road, he charged at officers, and he was arrested. And we never heard from him after the incident, right? So he never did some big sit-down interview. I tried, don't worry. And so for him to come out, though, he is looking so healthy, strong, positive.

And so this is one of those things, where I just love it when a celebrity reclaims their own narrative. He went on social media with this update, and the comments that are pouring in are so positive and supportive. And, of course, like I said, he teased some new music, too. Well, I was going to ask you what's next for him, and he did talk about this new music, and he's such a big artist. He's had some of the biggest hits over the last few years.

So it sounds like he's going to get back in the recording studio. Yeah, it sounds like perhaps a new album is on the way. I interviewed him early on in his career, and, you know, he rose to fame very quickly with his hits. song Old Town Road. And he had so many celebrity collaborations. And he is somebody who has navigated the spotlight very fast at a young age. And so again, you see a lot of stars. Hollywood is a very forgiving place, have bumps along the way. And it's everybody loves a story where somebody has a happy ending and a comeback story. So, you know, hopefully he's

able to stay healthy and clean. Okay. Chloe, so great to have you here. Thank you for being on top story. When we come back on the broadcast, Leonel Messi making his history, making his at the World Cup, the hat trick that cemented his place among the all-time greats. Plus, the monkey on the loose in Florida landing in the backyard of a familiar face right here at NBC News. That's next. We're back now with a thief on the loose in Florida. A monkey breaking out of an animal sanctuary, finding her way into backyards across Fort Lauderdale, including the one belonging to our very own former NBC news correspondent, Carrie Sanders.

Ari Adler from our NBC South Florida station has this one. The thief isn't even. trying to hide. It's just monkey business as usual. Carrie Sanders thought it must have been an iguana munching his mangoes. Then I came out and I couldn't believe what I saw. Stealing our mangoes eating right there. A monkey. This is bananas. You could say the neighborhood is going eight. How cool is it to see a monkey in your backyard? Very cool. Six-year-old Maya Sive said the unexpected guest A vervet monkey freaked her out a little when she took a banana right from her hand. Because it's very cool and I've never done that in the way, whole life world, and that's the crazy thing I ever done.

They love these. The folks at the Dania Beach Monkey Sanctuary know the wayward animal. They rehab injured monkeys here. And they say the sailboat bend Vervet visitor is a runaway from the wild colony that lives near the sanctuary and visits every day. Her little bachelorette Gallivance is what I'm calling this. Dr. Missy Williams runs the sanctuary and says it's unheard of for females to leave the colony. I was very surprised to see that this was a female that had left the wild population. So we're really not quite sure what sparked her to leave her social group.

She left her primates for the single life. So I think the big question is, is it just one or is there more? Is there a tribe? And my fear is, if there are more, It will be monkey sea, monkey do. All right, our thanks to Ari for that. And Carrie, looking great, as always. Finally tonight, it was a historic World Cup opening for Lionel Messi,

the 38-year-old star forward, scoring his first hat trick in a World Cup tournament setting up the defending champions for their tournament run. I spoke to him recently about what it's like to play in the World Cup. It didn't take long for Lionel Messi to remind everyone why he's called the goat. The soccer superstar playing in his sixth World Cup, scoring once, twice, three times for Argentina, his first hat trick in a World Cup. Pleasure to meet you. I recently spoke with Messi, who rarely gives interviews about what it felt like to win the last World Cup. When you held that trophy up and you were on the shoulders of your teammates, what was going through your mind?

When you won the Cup Mundial, what was thinking? Well, everything I went through and everything I did to achieve that, it was the dream of my life. The 38-year-old now chasing new dreams. Last night tying the men's World Cup goal record, Andres Cantor Spanish call on Telemundo going viral. The incredible moment. Coming exactly 20 years after Messi's very first World Cup goal back in 2006. It's Messi. just after school. Now, two decades later, he comes into the tournament as the reigning champ

chasing victory once more. It would be a dream to be world champions again. All right, that does it for us. We thank you so much for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamase in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.