Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Episode Date: June 4, 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.

Tonight, the high-stakes California elections and crucial deciding votes being counted right now. L.A. Mayor Karen Bass advancing to the general. So will reality star Spencer Pratt face off against her? Plus, the governor's race, still too early to call where the count stands at this hour. Also tonight, the terrifying hostage standoff in California coming to a shocking end. A suspect with bombs apparently strapped to him shot and killed by the FBI. The snipers taking aim. rush to safety, that suspect, even putting some explosives on the people he held captive. Breaking news out of Washington, the Republicans who just defected, voting to end the war in Iran.

This as Iran hits an airport in Kuwait, and now President Trump says he wants to meet with the new Ayatollah, startling video of an alleged abduction, a woman handcuffed and screaming for help. You see her right here, how a truck driver saved her. Chaos at 60 Minutes. veteran journalist Scott Pelly fired. And guess what? Now he's firing back at the network. Is it igniting a culture war? The new warning over a controversial supplement by Kratom is landing more people in rehab facilities, we'll explain. And countdown to tip off the New York Knicks and the San Antonio Spurs locked in a championship rematch, how NBA Finals mania is spilling off the court.

Plus, tonight our exclusive new reporting just in about the CIA. officer arrested for stealing millions in gold bars from the spy agency. Our new information. Top story starts right now. And good evening. Right now, millions of votes are being counted in California as we speak. And the high profile races for L.A. mayor and for governor there are not over yet. Both Democrat and Republican candidates battling to lead the historically blue city and state.

NBC News, though, can project that the incumbent L.A. mayor, Democrat Karen Bass will advance to the November election. But that second place spot is still up for grabs. And right now, former reality TV star Spencer Pratt, a conservative, is out in front of the progressive city council member, Nithia Rahman. Only one of them, though, can go head to head with the mayor in the general election this fall. Bass celebrating last night, but it's important to note, this is the first time. In two decades, a sitting L.A. mayor has failed to win a majority outright and has been forced into a runoff. Pratt already saying he will be the one to move forward, but those outstanding votes are

coming from those critical mail-in ballots, which by law in California can be accepted up to seven days after the election, as long as they're postmarked by election day and historically mail-in ballots skew blue. What we're watching is another tight rates, though also there in the state for governor. Republican Steve Hilton, you can see is currently out in front, followed closely by two Democrats. So could the governor's mansion really turn red this November, or will those mail-in votes change everything? We have a panel of political pros standing by to break it all down, but we want to begin on the campaign trail with our Liz Kreutz, live from Los Angeles. Tonight, with votes still being counted in the highly watched race for L.A. Mayor, former reality TV star Spencer Pratt predicting he'll advance to November's election.

They got one at five more months of me exposing all the failures of our mayor. So it's going to be a fun ride. I hope she's ready. Pratt currently in second place, while NBC News projecting incumbent Democratic mayor Karen Bass has already advanced. I don't care where you're from when you got here or why you're here. You are an Angelino and we are going to fight for you. Celebrating with this post on social media, although it's the first time in 20 years, A sitting L.A. Mayor could not get a majority of the vote and was forced into a runoff.

We can do debates every Friday if she would like because this actually became my most favorite thing to do. It's the latest twist for Pratt, a Republican who decided to run after losing his home in the Palisades fire last year and tapped into voter anger over crime and homelessness. And there's a surprising surge for a Republican in California's governor race too. Conservative commentator Steve Hilton currently leading the path. When people say how are you going to win in California, As a Republican, my question is, how will a Democrat win based on the record that they are putting before the people? But in this heavily blue state, he's in for an uphill battle. His likely opponent, Democrat Javier Becerra.

If he wins, the former Biden cabinet member would be the first Latino to run the state in more than 150 years. This is your state. This is your state. November, here we come. Liz Kreutz joins us now live from California there in Los Angeles. You're inside the L.A. County ballot processing center. We can see people there working behind you. Walk our viewers through how long until we may know the full results.

Yeah, hey Tom, that is the question. And yes, you can see all of these workers here busily working overnight, processing the thousands of ballots that are still coming in. We do expect L.A. County any minute now to drop the next round of results. It's still to be determined whether that will lead us to being able to project a winner in this mayoral race. And what we understand is that this will be all of the mail-in ballots that were dropped off at ballot drop boxes yesterday. So should be a lot of ballots that we're going to see the results from. But a lot of people say, why does it take so long here in California, Tom?

It has to do with our state's vote-by-mail system, which means that it sometimes can take several days for all of the ballots to be received, counted, and then in tight races. for a winner to be announced, Tom. Okay, Liz, Croyd for us. Liz, great to have you out there. I want to bring in our political pros tonight. Hogan Gidley, you know him. He's a Republican strategist, a consultant for Mike Johnson, a former White House deputy press secretary for President Donald Trump's first term and a good friend, a top story.

And Mark Ramos is the chair of the Los Angeles County's Democratic Party. Mark, we're going to start with you since you're sort of the insider here. Is this race going to be eventually Karen Bass and Spencer Pratt? Well, it's certainly trending that way. and it certainly looks that way. And I can tell you, as the chair of the L.E. County Democratic Party, I'm okay with that. I want a clear distinction between a Democrat and Republican in this race, especially with when Spencer Pratt is going to be running on Donald Trump's failed agenda.

How could Spencer Pratt, who is a reality TV show villain, zero political experience, zero experience sort of in the business community there in Los Angeles, fuel this campaign, gets so much excitement that he's now propelled himself in what appears to be. be second place in the L.A. mayor's race. And you saw the stat there. It has been a very long time since an incumbent mayor has not won outright. So what is going on there? Is Mayor Karen Bass up to task for this election? I think the mayor is absolutely up to task, Tom. Look, I think people are hurting. People are hurting all around the country. People are hurting in Los Angeles. I think, look, there's Republicans in L.A. need a home. There's a Republican on the ticket. He's got a high

profile. He's on social media. He's got friends in the media who, who, give him airtime. I think it's all natural. I think it's fine. And at the end of the day, I feel very confident and saying, I expect Mayor Karen Bass to be re-elected of mayor of Los Angeles. Hogan, you know, there's two places in this country. You really don't want to be a Republican if you're running for office. One is New York City. The other is Los Angeles. So what is happening here? What did Pratt do right? Well, listen, California has more registered Republicans in any state in the country, but it also has a lot more registered Democrats, which swamps out Republicans, and Mark knows that very well. Spencer tapped into something here, which I think was really brilliant

on his part. He basically acknowledged what everyone in California already knows, that there are homeless people running rampant to the streets, crime is up, there's open air drug use, there's feces on the sidewalks, they're utilizing needles, not to inject themselves first, of course, but to test it out on dogs, they have chained up holes to make sure there's no lethal doses of drugs before they inject themselves. And he said, all of this is happening. You've had a Democrat mayor in this city for decades. Democrat governance, nothing has changed. You can't rebuild your house because of the state issues with all of the hoops you have to jump through. The regulations are crippling. You can't pour a centimeter of concrete before all the teas are crossed and the islands.

or dotted. All of the things everyone already knows, he recognized, packaged them up and said, isn't it time to make a different choice? It was a really brilliant strategy by him. He's done amazing work on social media and exposing how Karen Bass has failed to people. Hogan, I sat down with him. I pressed him about whether he likes President Donald Trump, whether he wants his endorsement. Very smart politics. He didn't want to answer that question, right? But he is a Republican, 75% approval rating in the Republican Party for President Trump right now. It is his party. Can he keep himself distanced from the president for the remainder months of this election

because you know they're going to try to tie them together? I think so. But again, it depends on how much he wants to be distant from Donald Trump versus how much he wants to be tethered to him. There are plenty of issues like the reduction of crime, cleaning up your city streets, allowing people to have lower taxes, things like that, that I think a lot of Angelenos would gravitate toward and appreciate. He can tie himself to Donald Trump in some ways,

but then distance himself if he wants to and others. And as you pointed out, New York and California are just such different animals compared to a lot of the other states for a whole host of reasons, not the least of which is that they do not like Republicans in the least. The vast majority of them don't. So if he needs to embrace him, he might, but chances are he won't need to embrace him too much. He wants to be someone different. He wants to be someone unique. He has proved to be that to this point, not tied to the party structures. And I think that's what a lot of people in Los Angeles want. Mark, do you buy that, right? Is Spencer Pratt a different kind of Republican, or is he just MAGA with a Lakers hat on? I think you hit it right on the head there, Tom. It's just a Lakers logo on a baseball cap. Look, crime is down in the city of Los Angeles, hopelessness is down. All the Republican talking points can be thrown about. But at the end of the day, Spencer Pratt has said he has

of Donald Trump's policies, that he is supportive of rounding up the homeless against their willing, putting them into camps. He is going to throw down the Trump welcome mat for ICE and everything else. The city of Los Angeles is building after a tragic fire, which the Trump administration has done nothing to assist with. The Trump administration rush cleanups, and guess what? That ground is now toxic, so the rebuilding is being slowed down. Spencer Pratt is nothing more than a talking head exactly like our president is.

It's nothing more than getting clicks online and trying to get people engaged. But at the end of the day, Spencer Pratt is going to have to sit down and talk about serious policy issues. And we all know he's not up for the game just as was exposed during the debates. This is not about one-liners. This is about hard work and moving the city forward. How are you convinced that the portion of Nithia Rahman voters will vote for Karen Bass? They'll change their vote or they'll at least show up because Karen Bass was on the ballot and they didn't choose her, right? They chose somebody else, maybe another, even another Democrat we haven't mentioned.

Are you convinced those other Democrats will rally around Bass when it comes election time in November? I am, Tom. Here, look, gas is up over $2 a gallon in the state of California since Donald Trump started a war in Iran. The Nithia-Roman voters are very much like the Bass voters. People are hurting and they're frustrated and it's very easy to want to have a conversation about different policies. Neathia Rahman herself has called Mayor Bass, the most progressive mayor to city of Los Angeles has had. I understand the conversation that she wanted to have, and it's perfectly fine. But now we're going to have a clear distinction between Spencer Pratt and Trump's policies and Mayor Karen Bass's policies and the values of Angelinos.

Hogan, you made a smirk or you made some type of sound there, weren't sure what it was? Yeah, I just laughed at the whole concept there. Listen, the people in that city have been suffering for decades under Democrat government. Spencer Pratt is not just exposing it, but he's putting a face, a name to the problems that so many people experience. And you can whistle past the graveyard all you want to. You can try to say he's MAGA. You can try to say he's got the Lakers hat on, but just he's a MAGA, Trump, Acolyde, whatever. None of that seems to be the case.

He's his own man. He's cut his own path. And the people in that city can't rebuild because of the regulations there. The gas tax is the highest in the country in the state of California. It's a local tax that cripples everybody. The people know that. They're not swayed by Donald Trump because they don't even pay attention to him in California. They're worried about local issues and Karen Bass has failed them time and time again.

Now listen, again, vastly outnumbered Democrats or Republicans in California. This is a good chance she just goes ahead and wins. But I will love to see this race head to head, Spencer Pratt, Karen Bass, between now and November. I think we're going to see some incredible fireworks. We didn't get a chance to talk about the governor's race, but, Mark, is there anything we can draw here about Republicans and Democrats from the state, or is this just a red mirage? And what I mean by that is that you have this guy, Spencer Pratt,

who's getting obviously a lot of attention because he kind of came out of nowhere. He has a following, but he kind of came out of nowhere in politics. And then you have Steve Hilton, who's somebody who was born in London, who was a Fox News commentator, who's now also going to the general election. Should Democrats be worded in California, or do you think this is a red? I think it's a red mirage. Look, Spencer Pratt and Hogan can try and run from who Spencer Pratt is, but when he has J6 insurrectionist advocating for his candidacy, I think it's very clear as Spencer Pratt is. As far as Steve Hilton's concerned, look, the Republicans in California are going to

get their 30 to 35 percent of the vote. Their vote share is exactly where it should be, and I am excited about Javier Besetta going forward and possibly being the next governor of state of California. Okay, Mark and Hogan. So great having both of you guys. We thank you for being on top story tonight. We're going to stay in California because there's a wild story. We have a major update on that heroin hostage situation in Bakersfield. The FBI killing the suspect on the scene after he held multiple people hostage for 15 hours. NBC Steve Patterson has the latest. Tonight, a harrowing 15-hour crisis. This man strapping explosives to himself, spouting demands to authorities while keeping multiple hostages tied, terrorized, and held captive. 30 a.m. this morning, that's when the hostage rescue team neutralized this subject.

Authorities say the suspect, 41-year-old Anthony Scott Searles Harris was shot and killed at the scene by an FBI strike team. No one else was hurt, including all hostages inside. The advisor's a male subject inside the bank with a bomb, got to his chest. Police called to the scene Tuesday afternoon when authorities say Searle Harris stormed an office building in downtown Bakersfield that also houses a bank. claiming to have an explosive device barricading himself on the second floor where he took 10 employees from the Kern County Superintendent of schools as hostages. Some had additional explosives attached to them, according to law enforcement. He's demanding an FBI negotiator. We still have no entry. We're talking to the glass. Five of those hostages were tied up, officials say. Video taken during the crisis shows two people inside that building.

Crisis negotiators able to secure the release of two hostages during the day. The first being at 359 p.m. and the second being at 8.24 p.m. But as the night went on, the suspect became more erratic. And knowing one of the hostages was diabetic, they were running out of time. That's when the FBI sent in their strike team. Authorities say Searle Harris was an Army veteran dishonorably discharged in the mid-2000s for going AWOL and is a registered sex offender. He was no stranger to law enforcement and has a criminal history of using weapons to commit violent offenses. Steve Patterson joins us tonight from Baker's Field.

happen there just behind you? Do we know the motive yet here? And authorities are investigating if the hostages were targeted in any way? Tom, authorities working on a motive. They do not believe at this time that those employees inside that office building were intentionally targeted by that suspect. But as said, the motive still ongoing. You can see police still on the scene. This is 12 hours after that suspect was shot and killed. They're trying to get to the bottom of this, to what amounted to a crisis for this entire community. Tom. Okay, Steve Patterson, we have breaking news out of Washington, the House voting late today to bring an end to military action in Iran. Four Republicans joining Democrats in the vote. It comes as Iran attacks its neighbors hitting an international airport. Our chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel, reports from the region. Tonight in a stern rebuke to President Trump, the House of Representatives voted to pass

a resolution ordering Trump to stop the war with Iran. Four Republicans joining all Democrats in the symbolic vote, reflecting a growing frustration with the ongoing conflict Congress never authorized, a war which today took a turn for the worse. In the most violent flare-up in weeks, threatening an already shaky U.S.-Iran ceasefire, today Today, Kuwait's main airport took a direct hit from Iranian drones. A terminal caught fire. Flights canceled.

Kuwaiti officials say an Indian resident was killed and dozens injured. The U.S. fired on Iran as well, attacking a military installation on an island and turning around and disabling more ships heading to Iranian ports. But late today, President Trump appeared dismissive of Iran's attack, calling it not very strong. We hit them very hard on something else, unrelated, and so they were responding. He insisted a deal is still close. The negotiation itself has gone very well, actually. Very well.

Mr. President, it could happen. I mean, if it happens, it might not happen, who knows. But if it happens, it could happen like over the weekend. In an interview released earlier, Trump said the U.S. military blockade of Iran could last until September, but called it unlikely, adding he hopes to meet Iran's supreme leader, whose father, Trump authorized killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli operation. We probably will meet at some point, depending on how it all works out. Richard Engel joins us now live tonight from Tel Aviv. So, Richard, we just got word that Lebanon

and Israel have agreed to renew their ceasefire. Walk our viewers through what we know at this hour. So this is a deal between the Lebanese government and the Israeli government. I think it's an important distinction because officially the Lebanese government and the Israeli military are not fighting each other. This is a conflict between Hezbollah, which does not answer to the Lebanese government and the Israeli military. So it helps diplomacy. It helps potentially build some groundwork for progress on other talks, but it is not necessarily going to stop the war. There are still Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. They are still fighting against Hezbollah. Hasbullah says, as long as those troops are on Lebanese territory, they are legitimate.

targets. So the war inside Lebanon is still ongoing. But it is a positive breakthrough. It could encourage more diplomacy. It could encourage more talks. It certainly puts more pressure internally on Hezbollah within Lebanon to reach some sort of an agreement with the Israeli military. Richard Engel, with those new developments out of the region tonight, Richard, thank you for that. We're going to stick overseas because Ukraine unleashing a major drone attack on Russia. Black smoke rising over St. Petersburg. All this happening, just to have, of an economic forum. And Russian leader Vladimir Putin is hosting there in the city.

Our Kyrs Simmons is also there. Images of fires at a Russian oil refinery posted tonight on Ukrainian social media. The videos show drones and explosions. Even a montage with music video Ukraine claims shows its drones hitting ships here in St. Petersburg, Russia. The mayor of St. Petersburg saying three districts, were targeted by Ukraine and that there were injuries. We woke up to news of hundreds of drones fired from Ukraine, according to Russian officials, and to this, smoke rising across the city of St Petersburg.

This is President Putin's hometown. He will give a major address here in a matter of days. Another drone strike, Russia said, hit a civilian bus in Russian-occupied Ukraine. Russian officials furious, branding it terrorism, speaking to us, at an economic forum here that Ukraine was clearly aiming to disrupt. Do you think they're trying to target President Putin? You know, this is not the first time. It's not the first attack.

Actually, we are facing attacks of Kiev's regime towards or better say against civilians, probably each day. Ukraine's President Zelensky today, alongside NATO's Secretary General, celebrating the strikes. With Zelensky, asking for help to defend against. against Russia's missile and drone onslaughts on Ukraine. With that, Kier Simmons joins us now live from St. Petersburg, where those attacks have been happening.

Kier, the world is still waiting to see how President Vladimir Putin will respond to this, and you're going to be right there. That's right, Tom. I'll be there on Friday for President Putin's keynote address. It is an address that he gives here every year. It likely lasts for hours, and then there will likely be a question and answer session with a moderator afterwards.

And in the audience will be the great and the good from here in Russia. President Putin sets out his agenda, and he is very likely to touch on what has happened here today in St. Petersburg. But already, Tom, the Kremlin is saying that these strikes by Ukraine justify Russia's war in Ukraine. Tom? It's going to be a big week there, Kier. We're glad you're there. Please stay safe. We are back in a moment with the alleged abduction escape caught on. camera. A woman says she was handcuffed and then thrown in the back of a car, how she got away.

Plus, growing turmoil at CBS's 60 minutes. Longtime reporter Scott Pelly fired what we're learning about his ousting and how he's responding. And the daring cave rescue in Laos, one of the survivors, now speaking out, what he's telling us about the escape and the other still trapped inside. That's ahead tonight on Top Story. We're back with a terrifying incident in South Carolina, a woman in handcuffs sprinting away from a car, begging for help from a truck driver, telling him she'd been kidnapped. Jesse Kirsch has this one. A woman in handcuffs sprinting down a South Carolina road. Hey, we got a girl over here running for her life.

Watch the woman race toward this semi-truck with a swerving car right behind her. seemingly that car was trying to run that person over. The truck's driver, Anthony Moore, telling me that he was driving Friday morning in Aiken County, South Carolina, when that woman suddenly emerged from the woods. He ran up to my truck and said, please help me. He's trying to kidnap me. You can see the man here, identified by investigators as 39-year-old Jonathan Willard. According to a sheriff's office report, the victim says Willard approached her while she was out on a walk, claiming to be with the police.

He placed her in handcuffs, then into the rear of his car. The victim says she believed him at first, but got suspicious when he kept asking the same questions. Eventually, Willard pulled over, according to the report, and that's when the victim made her remarkable escape, running to the road and to more. Did you, for even a split second, think this was a legitimate law enforcement officer? No, sir. His face looked dirty. You were smoking a cigarette, had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. Willard has since been arrested and charged with impersonating a law enforcement officer and with kidnapping after this disturbing scene caught on camera. Yeah, disturbing is right, Jesse. What a horrifying incident for that woman in her family. Do we know anything more about the victim in this case?

Yeah, no doubt, Tom. According to the driver of that truck who I spoke with earlier, he says the young woman told him that she had actually just graduated from high school the night before this happened. The driver telling me that the woman said her phone and even her diploma were in that suspect's car as this is all unfolding. And then we also learned a little bit more from the sheriff's office report about how she apparently, made her escape. According to that report, the woman describing that the suspect got out of the car at one point when it was parked, left the door open, went around to the trunk, and that's when the young woman tried to get out of the back door. It was locked, so she crawled to the front of the vehicle, got out, and then we saw this scene unfolding remarkably she was able to escape, Tom. Yeah, great. She got rescued. Okay, Jesse, we thank you for that. Just ahead tonight here on top

story, did former Congressman George Santos place illegal bets on himself? Why the DOJ was flagged. And a child thrown out of a car window landing on a police cruiser. Whoa, that is crazy video. But first, top story's top moment and an emotional graduation surprise when Kalin Barksdale took to the stage to receive his high school diploma in Milwaukee, he was told they couldn't find it, but that's because they planned to have his sister presented to him after she made it back from her deployment just in time. Take a look. I will cross the ocean a million times for you. I praise for bringing me home to you safely for your big milestone. Congratulations, Kalyn Barksdale.

I am so proud of you. Please welcome home Specialist Barksdale, who is home after serving the Iranian War for the 2127 Infantry Battalion. What a hug. We thank Specialist Barksdale for her service and are so happy she made it back to celebrate Kalen's milestone. Love that. Stay with us.

More top story on the way. We are back now with the monumental shift at sea. monumental shift at CBS veteran anchor in 60 minutes correspondent Scott Pelly fired and now firing back at the network leadership that pushed him out. Here's Aaron McLaughlin. I'm Scott Pelly. Tonight, long-time 60-minute veteran correspondent Scott Pelley is firing back after being fired by CBS. Pelley saying CBS executives are lying about why he was let go from one of the top-rated shows in America. The longtime CBS reporter had blasted the new Tom producer of 60 Minutes and CBS News leadership in a staff-wide meeting saying they are murdering the source.

story newscast. Pelly then met with top executives, including the network's controversial editor-in-chief, Barry Weiss, who said that despite attempts to engage with him, they weren't able to find a way back after she says he broke the newsroom's foundation of trust and mutual respect. Pellie also accusing management of wreaking havoc on the show and instructing him to inject falsehoods and bias into a politically sensitive story. As parent company Paramount Skydance's $110 billion merger with Warner Brothers' discovery awaits regulatory approval from the Trump administration. administration. The ticking clock of 60 minutes has been around for 58 years and near the top of the ratings for decades. What we're really looking at is 60 Minutes, gold standard of journalism,

most popular news program in America for over half a century, fundamentally being completely redone, rethought, restructured. Barry Weiss, founder of a conservative leaning website, was brought into the network to change things up. She cleaned house at 60 Minutes, getting rid of the show's top producers. And with four full-time correspondents recently out, only three remain, including the legendary Leslie Stahl, who is yet to speak publicly about the chaos at her show. And tonight, a source with direct knowledge tells NBC News that the remaining staff on the iconic news magazine have been left feeling completely adrift. Tom. Okay, Aaron McLaughlin for us, Aaron, we appreciate that. I want to get right to Dominic Patton. He's executive editor at Deadline,

who covers TV, politics, and so much more, a good friend at Top Story. Dominic, good to see. see you there. It's interesting, right? There's been a lot of outrage over Pelley's firing in our industry. If you turn to social media, I feel like people are now picking sides, right? Depending on where your politics are, it feels like it's turning into a little mini-culture war, if you will, with some critics coming out and saying, if you go off that way in front of staffers, to your bosses, you should be expected to be fired. With others saying Pellie was trying to uphold the standards of 60 minutes. Very much so, Tom. I mean, let's look at a very specific example, Katie Miller, podcaster, and of course, spouse of Deputy White House,

Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. She was very vehement. As we put on a story we just posted recently on deadline, very vehement that Pellie was simply out of touch. He was living in a world and receiving a paycheck that just simply was not part of what 2026 is all about. On the other hand, there were people who also have worked with him over the years who said, look, he was tough, he was resistant to change. He was a baby boomer. in every way possible. But he made me a better journalist and a better person. This is exactly as you put it, Tom. And as we reported today, this is a culture war happening in real time. As CBS has been between the left and the right for decades back when Jerry Falwell wanted to

buy it just so he could fire Dan Rather, when both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon pulled out their hair what remained of it over what Kronkite said about them. So this is part of a constant in American politics. But in a way, well, as one person said it to my colleague Ted Johnson and I today, I've been around for a while, paraphrasing a bit here, I've never seen anything like this. So, Domic, explain something to our viewers here. Maybe you don't know the answer to this question. But what is the strategy here, right? Because there's a big debate about what you do with linear television. 60 Minutes still has great ratings. It still makes money. Why does the leadership there, including Barry Weiss, want to shake up this show?

There are two reasons. I would say. say, first, there is no strategy. You're trying to fix something that isn't broken. And let's be clear, not only does 60 Minutes have a great audience in some of the biggest numbers ever on linear television, which is literally a miracle into itself, as you and I know very well, but it has also been very successful in the holy grail land of digital, growing amazingly over the years since it put real effort into this. So in many ways, what you'd want to do is water those plants and keep them growing. The other argument here, though, and people have said this to me today, is, listen, we and Barry are trying to get ahead of the iceberg that's coming. And we know that eventually

that linear television is simply going to end for the most part. So digital, well, put it this way, digital pennies are not paying what analog dollars did. So we need to get in front of this and we need to make some changes quickly. It's an argument. But is it happening in real time like this? Well, someone said to us today a deadline, we cover the news. We don't want to be the news. This is an embarrassment. Nick Bilton is the new executive producer of 60 Minutes. He's going to lead that show. He claims he invited Scott Pelly out to dinner. He wanted to break bread. He asked to meet with him. Scott Pelly said no, didn't meet with him, dodged him. And then in front of the entire staff, Scott Pelley ripped him a new one. After that is when Scott Pelley essentially is fired

a day or two later after he has some meetings that go nowhere. So what do we know about Nick Billton? Well, we know Nick Billton is a guy who we would call a real 21st century innovator and all power to him. He is someone who broke some very big stories. Just ask Elizabeth Holmes, for instance. And he's also someone who has moved into other mediums, film, television. In fact, he has a couple of scripts he's supposed to deliver as well as taking over at 60 minutes. However, Scott Pelley, not so much. Scott Pelley referred to in that very tense meeting, which some called Rood and he just called a conversation. He said, look, he said, Look, Barry Weiss has no qualifications for her job as the editor-in-chief of CBS News,

and you have slant or slender qualifications. I'm paraphrasing a little bit there. They were pretty harsh words. They went back and forth and back and forth. Bilton is saying that he wants to listen. He wanted to talk with Pelley. He did not appreciate what happened, and they terminated Pelley with cause immediately. Having said that, insiders tell us that Bilton is talking and listening to people.

He wants to learn. I think that he is someone who recognizes perhaps what his strengths are here and what they're not. But at the same time, this has become a very, very, well, again, I'll quote from our own article that just went up a little while ago.

Close door toxic environment. So there were seven correspondents at the start of last season. Four of those correspondents have left. Three were fired, and then Anderson Cooper decided not to renew. You have Leslie Stahl and Bill Whitaker, who are two of the three remaining

that are sort of the big names there. What does the smart money saying, do Leslie and Bill stick around? I think right now, Leslie and Bill are going to think about what they're going to do. They're taking a breath, we've heard. They're looking at the situation. They're assessing things. These are veterans.

These are seasoned, seasoned experienced journalists. They know, like you, Tom, how to read a room. And they know how to read a network. So I think right now there's a little bit of a holding pattern happening. I think they want to see what goes down over the next couple of days. I will say, though, when you're having a he said, they said argument with Scott Pelly arguing that what Barry Weiss and Nick Bilton are saying they tried to do to reach out to them, they had to have meetings with him, and he's saying, you didn't do any of that, or you certainly

didn't do it the way you're characterizing it. It does make this a much more pitched environment, and I think it's going to be very hard for some people to navigate through. And the other thing, too, is 60 minutes has just finished its most recent season. It is usually now when the producers are in high gear putting together next season's shows, putting together the segments, getting material out to the correspondence and other producers and booking flights, et cetera, et cetera. Right now, some of that is happening, but also there's not a lot of the people there who used to be there.

You talked about correspondence being fired to let go. Executive producers, other producers, leading people on the show have either been fired or have walked out the door recently. So there's a lot of bodies on the ground. It might not be that many soldiers with so many generals over at CBS News right now. Dominic Patton, always great to talk to you. We thank you for that.

We got to turn out Top Story's news feed, starting in Iowa where a speeding train slammed into a semi-truck. Here you can see the aftermath. More than a dozen train cars crumbled. According to a local sheriff, one person was killed and another passenger was seriously hurt. The highways expected to be closed for days. State police are now investigating what happened. Former Congressman George Santos has been flagged to federal authorities over his betting activity on Kalshi. That's from two sources familiar with the matter.

They say the prediction market alerted the Justice Department after, Santos boasted online that he would be going to President Trump's state of the union address, then bet against his own attendance. In the end, he never showed up. We reached out to Kalshi and Santos for a comment, but have yet to hear back. And a scary scene, Colin Cameron, Georgia, dash cam shows a truck crashing into another vehicle, and then a child gets thrown out of that vehicle landing right on the hood of this police cruiser. This is so crazy. Somehow, officers said the kid walked away with only a few minor scratches. Yeah, that is impossible. Officials reminding the public to make sure to buckle up before every trip. A good reminder.

And NBC News is now speaking to one of the five survivors who made it out alive from that cave in Laos. He tells her Janus Mackey Freyer tonight. He went inside that cave about five times before and thinks the two men who are still missing took a different path than his group. He also says he believes they're still there and fighting to stay alive. Okay, still to come tonight, an update on that CIA officer arrested after allegedly making off with millions of dollars in those gold bars are exclusive reporting on his ties to a nuclear sub-program. Plus, the new warning about Kratum, a supplement you can find at the gas station, why some say it's so addictive.

Steve Romo, standing by. All right, we are back now with an NBC News exclusive about the CIA officer who was arrested for stealing $40 million in gold bars from the spy agency. Sources telling our Courtney Kuby he was working on a highly classified military program at the Pentagon. Courtney joins us now. Courtney, what more do we know about why this officer was? arrested and the role he played at the Department of Defense. I know you have new reporting on this. Yeah, Tom, this is just becoming more and more remarkable. The more we learn about this man.

He's David Rush. He was a senior official at the CIA. And it turns out that he had been fabricating his history for years there. Now, what we now know is that he was essentially detailed or assigned to be the liaison from the CIA to the Pentagon on maritime issues. And specifically, he was dealing with one of the most sensitive topics for the U.S. Navy, and that is the nuclear submarine program. Now, we also learned that part of the reason he was assigned to this role is because he was requested for it by the number two at the Pentagon. That is the Deputy Secretary of Defense, Stephen Feinberg. Now, we have to point out, Feinberg has not been accused of any wrongdoing here.

But as you mentioned, Tom, the investigators are now peeling back what may have been the role of this man, David Rush as the senior official at the CIA. When they went to his house, they found, as you mentioned, more than 300 gold bars worth about $40 million, as well as $2 million in additional cash, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 watches, including Rolexes. And what we found out in the course of our reporting here, Tom, is that, in fact, this was all discovered when Rush requested large numbers of money and things like gold bars. during the course of his job, when the CIA went back and tried to trace the money, they couldn't find where it had been used that began this investigation.

And now, again, we are unpacking more and more about not just the fact that this was a senior CIA official who was involved in potentially top secret events and issues at the Central Intelligence Agency, but he was now involved in very sensitive issues at the Department of Defense as well, Tom. You know, people at home may be wondering, I mean, everyone reads spy novels, we've seen the movies, but is this something that CIA officers do have access to? I mean, can they quite literally get gold bars for whatever transactions that they may be up to? And again, they're doing covert business, so I wouldn't know. But is that something that's real?

So the CIA has declined to comment. That was one of our questions as well. Is this just standard practice that you need money and you request gold bars? I mean, the reality is they're not telling us one way or the other, but the fact that he was able to request them and then store, again, more than, than 300 of them in his house. It sure seems like it might be at least part of the job that he's got at the CIA, Tom. Courtney, QB for us tonight. Courtney, great to see you. Great reporting as always. We turn out at Top Story's Global Watch and a check of what else is happening around the world. We start

with a massive fire out of India. Police say the fire killed 21 people and injured several others. The flames broke out in New Delhi burning through a building that had a restaurant and a hotel inside. First responders say more than 40 people were rescued and rushed to hospitals. No word yet on what caused that blaze. And another big upset at the French Open. Did you hear about this one? The number one women's tennis player in the world? Arena Sabalanka bounced in the quarterfinals.

She lost to the 25th ranked player on the men's side. Several top contenders have also been eliminated, including Yanik Sinner and Novak Djokovic. The upset guarantees that the two first-time champions will be crowned. Pretty incredible. And Universal's first theme park in Europe officially has a name. It's called Universal United Kingdom Resort. Here you can see a rendering of the complex. Our parent company Comcast says they're planning to start construction soon,

and that will invest nearly $7 billion in the project. The resort is expected to open in 2013, about 45 minutes outside of London, hence the name. Okay, back here at home to new concerns about a controversial supplement sold legally across most of the country. It's called Kratum. The CDC warning, it's leading to an increase in poison control calls, and treatment centers say more people are now seeking professional help to quit. Stephen Romo takes a closer look. It sold in gas stations, smoke shops, even health food stores.

But some users say Kratom marketed as a natural supplement, landed them in rehab. I realized it was everywhere. Meglameau was 11 years sober from alcohol when she came across Kratum online. There was this bit of an energy boost, but at the same time, a sense of kind of calmness. Cratum comes from a plant in Southeast Asia, sold in liquid, powder, or tablet form with claims of increasing energy, easing anxiety, and even managing pain. Do you remember when you realized, okay, I think I have a problem with this? I started waking up every night about six hours or so after I went to bed and feeling like I wanted to crawl out of my skin. Lemieux says it led her to relapse with alcohol and into treatment programs for both substances.

A new CDC analysis shows poison control calls involving Kratum reached a record 3,400 cases in 2025, up about 1,200 percent since 2015. Over that time, Kratom was associated with more than 230 deaths in the U.S. It has no approved medical uses, the DEA calling it a drug of concern, yet it's not federally controlled. Seven states and Washington, D.C., have moved to ban it. Jana Wu is with Northeast-based mountainside treatment. They started a Kratom program in 2023. Kratem may help millions of people.

We also need to acknowledge that millions of other people have also struggled and found it highly addictive. And HHS now says it's focused on creating new guidelines specifically for dangerous synthetic and artificially concentrated products. NBC News reached out to multiple companies selling these products but did not hear back. As policymakers consider potential solutions, advocates like Meg, spread the word about the real problems Kratum caused for them. If I feel ashamed and I hide it, then that's less people knowing how many of us are out there, you know. With that, Stephen, Rommel joins us now in studio. So, Stephen, the big question, I know you've been at this a year covering this story.

Why is Kratom so addictive? Yeah, a great question. It's not an opioid, but experts say that it responds to a lot of the same receptors in the brain that the opioids do. And the effects for the user can be quite fleeting. So not everyone feels those addictive effects, though. In fact, some people say they've been able to use Kratum to get off of opioids, something that experts say needs a lot more research before they can actually recommend that. Many others like Meg that we saw in the story, she says that it had disrupted her life altogether.

And in so many of these states, it's still available right next to the chewing gum at gas station. Yeah, ruining lives, too. This is terrible. Okay, Stephen Romo, good to see you, as always. When we come back tonight right here on Top Story, Countdown to Tip Off, Game 1 of the NBA, finals tonight. It's the Knicks versus the Spurs. We'll break down what to expect. From the matchups on the court to the betting odds and ticket prices. Stay with us. Welcome back. We are back with the epic NBA finals matchup set for game one tonight. The New York Knicks versus the San Antonio Spurs, a championship rematch from 1999. New York looking to win its first championship in

more than 50 years, while San Antonio hopes to bring home their first title in more than a decade. I want to bring in our good friend front office sports host and friend to top story Baker Machado Baker so good to see you man You got to be so pumped for this right? I am and also I'm pumped for this studio I know it's cool we got the hardwood and of course they cut the shot before I was doing my thing budget went up on there we go So you have the spurs who have the momentum you have the Knicks who they have the entire Tri-State behind them Who's gonna win this and do the Knicks is there a chance because I know I know Vegas is not betting on that

Not right now. Right now, Vegas is betting on the Spurs to win this thing. The Spurs is a four and a half point favorite in game one, which is in San Antonio tonight. But as you mentioned, if you ask any person in New York right now who's going to win this, it's all NICS. It's palpable right now, the energy in this city who's been waiting 27 years for this moment. And again, the last time these two played was in 1999 in that NBA finals. The Spurs won that four games to won. That was the second year for Tim Duncan with him and David Robinson, one of the last few years for Patrick. in the Knicks. So the Knicks looking for redemption in this series, but they'll have to go up against Wembe, which is a tough feat here. And you took it from me. That's right. There's this one guy that they're going to have to get by. All seven foot four of him, yeah. He is the biggest NBA star, I would argue right now, both figurative and literally seven four. Look at this guy. He's a beast. Jalen Brunson on the other end there. Actually, almost doesn't look like Jalen. It almost doesn't look like him. But Jalen Brunson, look at the difference here, right? I mean, the points are similar, but you've got more than a foot in height difference right there. So what do you think about this? I mean, I feel like Victor, like his whole life has been for this moment.

The team is playing red hot right now. But like you said, the Knicks have that energy. Yeah, you have both those guys, Jalen Brunson and Victor Wimbunyama, winning conference player of the year MVP awards for their last round. And also a lot of people excited just for the ratings on this. The highest rated NBA finals in the post-Michael Jordan era was the 2016 Cavs with LeBron versus Steph Curry and the Warriors. That brought in 20 million viewers. But I have to note, game seven of the Western Conference finals just on NBC had 15 million viewers. So a lot of people

expect this might beat that LeBron, Steph Curry finals in terms of audience. I hope so. We love the NBA and we like the excitement on the NBA. Talk to me about the odds. We talked a little bit about them. If you bet the Knicks, you bet the Spurs. How much money are you looking to win here? You can, I think it was like 160 was the odds in favor of the Spurs so far and all of this. But look, a lot of people, if you ask them, a lot of people think this is going to at least six or seven games here. One other sort of financial note I want to add to this, because a lot of people are making a big talk about the ticket prices to get into these. Obviously, game one and game two in San Antonio. The average ticket price, according to Stubhub, is around $1,300. It jumps to

$4,600 for game three here in Madison Square Garden. But we have some reporting at phone office sports that says that James Dolan, the owner of the Knicks, stands to make $20 million per home game in the NBA finals. Through the TV rights or anything else? Through the TV rights, the audience number. The attendance, all of that stuff. They had made $12 million per game during the NBA playoffs, so they're going to make $8 million more per game in the three potential games in the NBA finals. And he's putting that money on top of the monies

making off sphere, right? Yes, it's right hot. I do want to ask you, so it's hard to get in the door, right? I think the cheapest ticket here in New York City, my son was asking me 5,000 nosebleed for nosebleed. One ticket, 5,000 bucks. So they're having this huge party tonight outside of the garden, which may or may not be a good idea.

because if you've been to the garden, it is right next to the avenue right there, 7th Avenue, right? Yeah. And I just wonder what's going to happen. Penn Station there's going to be chaos. How are they doing this? So during the NBA playoffs, it did get really rowdy, especially during the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers,

where they had to shut down a lot of these parties. Just today, the NYPD announced that they are going to allow these watch parties, especially the ones around Madison Square Garden to happen. So immediately after this is over, Tom, I'm going straight over there to see some of those watch parties and basically am mingle with. with some of those Knicks fans who aren't able to pay the tons of money to get inside the arena to watch the game. You mentioned almost $5,000 for the worst ticket. I've seen some tickets going for hundreds of thousands of dollars near the base of the floor. So imagine

if your team loses and you spent that kind of money on something like that. Now, if you have that kind of money, you probably have it. True. I'm going to ask our director here, don't cut. Here we go. Toof. Yes. Okay, Brett, now cut to the single. Now cut to the single. The fade away, cut to the single. Nothing but Net Yonles. By the way, better. You should be playing for the Knicks with how good that was. So good to see you, Baker, as always, but thank you for that. We got one more great story for you, if you love sports. The sweet surprise for a group of young soccer super fans and elementary soccer team in Queens,

getting tickets to the World Cup. Chloe Malas has this one for us. Find a new gay. Find a new gay, Victoria. For one youth soccer team in Queens, the road to the World Cup started in a school gym. Because of a very special mommy that did something for us. Every single one of you is going to a world. Tickets for each child to attend the World Cup match between Norway and Senegal later this month. The surprise coming after Wing Yi sang, one of the players' moms nominated the team for Stubhub's Access New York program, which gives free live event tickets to kids.

I was very emotional and I just was so happy for them. The principal of PS 171Q says more than 90, percent of the school faces economic hardships. They should have these experiences that others have. Like, why can't they have these experiences? They deserve it. Many of the kids could hardly believe it. Can you describe to me your emotions right now?

I'm, like, excited and happy. I've never went to the World Cup, and I've watched it every year since I was too. A little team from Queens. Now headed to one of the world's biggest games. We're going to the walkout. Kelly Malas, NBC News, New York. What a surprise. All right, that does it for us.

Thanks so much for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamis, New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.