Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Episode Date: May 18, 2023

Conflicting reports emerge about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s claims of a “near-catastrophic car chase” through New York City, Keir Simmons explores Prince Harry’s troubled history with the press and paparazzi reflecting on his mother's death, flooding devastates northern Italy with multiple dead and a F1 Grand Prix cancelled, an ex-Apple employee is accused of taking the company’s secrets to China, and the 13-year-old boy who saved his sister from a would-be kidnapper…with a slingshot.

Tonight, a tale of two chases, so which side is telling the truth? A spokesperson for Prince Harry and Megan Markle saying the couple was involved in a near catastrophic car chase with paparazzi for two hours after leaving a charity event in New York. But law enforcement saying the couple was followed, not chased, describing the incident as chaotic, but not catastrophic. Even the mayor playing it down with the taxi driver who eventually picked up the royals. right, they were in a taxi. What he told are Gabe Gutierrez about the pursuit and the painful memories of Princess Diana's death in a Paris chase that this is bringing back to life. This just in, George Santos heckled on the steps of the Capitol by another congressman right in front of our cameras. What led to the exchange as a battle is brewing in the House of Representatives

over the embattled lawmaker charged with fraud and money laundering, Democrats moving to expel him from the chamber, what Republican leadership just did to avoid sending that resolution to a vote. The live report from the Hill coming up. Abortion pill battle of federal court weighing whether to keep a commonly used abortion drug on the market or uphold a lower court's decision to invalidate its FDA approval, how the Republican appointed judges appear to be leaning as North Carolina becomes the latest state to put major restrictions on abortion access. Apple's secret stolen, a rare security. breach at the highly protective tech giant, a former employee charged with stealing top secret

self-driving technology, then turning it over to a Chinese company, where authorities believe that suspect is now hiding out. Overseas a deadly flood disaster unfolding in Italy, at least eight people killed, 5,000 people evacuated, and the hugely popular Formula One event that organizers were forced to cancel. Plus, slingshot savior, a 13-year-old. boy rescuing his sister from a potential kidnapper by firing a slingshot from his window. Tonight, you'll hear from that hero brother. And a court case that has become the taco of the town, why Taco Bell is suing a regional Mexican chain over the phrase Taco Tuesday.

Top story. Starts right now. And good evening. They are one of the most photographed couples in the entire world. But tonight, questions are swirling around Prince Harry and Megan Markle and what exactly happened on the streets of New York City just last night and why there's so little video evidence of what went down. So let's take a look because tonight there are a lot of questions.

Here's what we know, right? Around 10 p.m., the Sussexes were spotted living at charity event in Middham, Manhattan. You see them here, you see all the flash bulbs going off there, where Megan accepted an award from the Miss Foundation of Women. Now, you can see a swarm of photographers there to take their pictures, but from there, two different narratives have emerged, right? A spokesperson for Harry and Megan saying after they left, they were involved in a, quote, catastrophic car chase, right, at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi. But the NYPD, while acknowledging some sort of pursuit happened, saying in a statement that there were no reported collisions, summonses, injuries, or arrests in that regard. There are also no photos or videos of this chase so far.

But all of this, of course, conjuring up images of that fatal car crash in a Paris tunnel in 1997 that killed Prince Harry's mother, Princess Diana. And that image, of course, of Harry walking behind his mother's casket. Who can ever forget this, right? All burned in our minds. The trauma of that tragedy, something Harry says he still carries with him as an adult. Kierrez will have much more on Harry's complicated relationship with the press in a moment. But tonight, we start off with Gabe Gutierrez, who's live in New York.

Prince Harry and his wife, Megan Markle, seen here leaving a charity event in New York. And tonight, there appeared to be differing accounts about what happened next. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex admonishing photographers for a relentless pursuit that lasted two hours and resulted in multiple near collisions involving other drivers on the road, pedestrians, and two NYPD officers. Adding, the near-catastrophic car chase came at the hands of a ring of highly aggressive paparazzi. The briefing I received, two of our officers could have been injured. I thought that was a bit reckless and irresponsible. Though tonight, at least three law enforcement sources tell NBC

news the couple was followed, not chased, and that the incident was a bit chaotic, not near catastrophic. I would find it hard to believe that there was a two-hour high-speed chase. In a written statement, the NYPD says numerous photographers made the couple's transport challenging. But there were no reported collisions, injuries, or arrests. Harry and Megan had private security as they left this venue. And two law enforcement sources tell NBC News that they wanted to return to Manhattan's Upper East Side, where they were staying with a friend and did not want the paparazzi to follow. So the law enforcement sources say the couple was driven up and down Manhattan for more than an hour with a police escort. Then the pair was taken to this police precinct

where a taxi picked them up. Would you describe it as chaotic? Yeah, chaotic. You could say chaotic. But catastrophic? I don't know what happened previous in the day, right? With me, it was chaotic, but not crazy, crazy, right? Do you think the paparazzi went too far? You know, I don't know. They kept their distance when they were following us in my cab.

Sonny Singh told us he's the taxi driver who picked up the couple, but he says they drove around for only 10 minutes before the street was blocked by a garbage truck. People just came out of nowhere with cameras and started snapping pictures. Did they seem worried? They seem worried and nervous as well. He then says he dropped them back off at the police precinct where a different car eventually took them home. All right, Gabe, Gutierrez joins us now live from Manhattan.

Gabe, we heard there from the cab driver who drove Harry and Megan. Felt like they were worried. What more did he tell you about the time that they spent in his cab? Well, Tom, it was incredible to hear from this cab driver. Again, he says he only drove them for about 10 minutes. And just so we're clear on the timeline here, This cab driver picked them up when they were at the police precinct, and then started driving them around again for 10 minutes. He says a garbage truck blocked the road, and that's when he says this crush of cameras surrounded the vehicle.

He was very careful, though, in his language. He said, well, it may be chaotic. It wasn't really that crazy. And so he did say that they seemed very worried, Tom. And he then eventually drove them back a few minutes later to this police precinct, and then they found another vehicle that eventually got them safely back to the upper. side, Tom. Even with that game, it seems there's still a lot of daylight between what Harry and Megan are saying, the Sussexes are saying, versus what the NYPD and the mayor are

saying. Do we know why there's such a stretch there? Well, certainly, it goes back to their vantage point, right? The Prince Harry and Megan Markle have waged this battle with the press. They've been traumatized, they say, by intense media scrutiny before. So from their perspective, it may be that paparazzi went too far. Speaking with his cavalry, driver, though. He said he was used to it. By the way, he says that he's picked up other celebrities before. He didn't really seem that very much phased by it, Tom. But the question is, that's a central question. Did the paparata here go too far? The NYPD says there were no arrests, however. And as you said in your introduction, the source close to Harry and Megan

does say security video exists of this incident, but it hasn't been released publicly yet, Tom. And, Gabe, before you go, because some people may be sort of confused by the mayor's statements. You live in New York City, you report out of New York City, you're a man about town. Why would a two-hour car chase in New York City be almost impossible, especially in Manhattan? Of course. Right. And you heard there from Mayor Adams, a high-speed chase in New York City, even at that time of night, is nearly impossible. You see how tight these streets are. It's extremely crowded. There's a lot of traffic even at that time, even if they went on the FDR just in the fringe of Manhattan and then made it to a highway to go there for two hours.

It's a very long period of time. Those law enforcement sources say that they did dry around for more than an hour, but it's a question whether this really was a high-speed chase or whether it was a chaotic scrum of photographers that made Harry and Megan very uncomfortable, perhaps. All right, Gabe Gutierrez leading us off. Gabe, we appreciate all your reporting. And with all of that said, we know that Harry has fought the paparazzi fiercely, right?

The news today reminding many of Princess Dynie. Diana's 1997 tragic death in a car crash while being chased by paparazzi. NBC's Keir Simmons has more from London tonight on Harry's painful past. It is a highly charged combination. Prince Harry, his wife and his mother-in-law, the paparazzi, and all the painful memories of his mom. Princess Diana spent her adult life endlessly trying to evade unwelcome cameras. It was the primary cause of her fatal car crash in a Paris tunnel. Whatever exactly happened in New York on Tuesday night, her son appears to have been trying to do the same, escape photographers.

In his book this year, he described driving to the place where Diana died. I thought driving the tunnel would bring an end or brief cessation to the pain, the decade of unrelenting pain. Instead, it brought on the start of pain. Today, together with Megan, he is locked in a battle with the press that has already contributed. to their rift with the royal family. Prince Harry is said to give evidence in a court case that accuses British newspapers and journalists of hacking cell phones of royals and those around them,

even the king. But critics say Harry and Megan caught the cameras and the attention. In their Netflix docu-series, they let cameras in. No one sees what's happening behind closed doors. While accusing the media of invading their privacy. I had to do everything I could to protect my family. But followed by photographers in a big city,

Prince Harry will have been on a hair trigger. The past is never dead, reads the quote that opens his autobiography. It's not even the past. On Tuesday night, he may have felt that was never more true. We would get followed, photographed, chase, harassed. The clicking of cameras and the flashes of cameras makes my blood boil. It makes me angry. It takes me back to what happened to my mum and what I experienced when I was a kid.

All right, and with that, Keir joins us tonight from London. I want to take a look at some of the headlines from the U.K., right? And it seems like the media, at least for now, there where you are in London, is buying the story that Harry and Megan's spokesperson told this morning here in the U.S. I guess the question I have, and we were talking to Gabe about this earlier, there's two different statements, right? Harry and Megan saying it was catastrophic, possibly, potentially, and NYPD saying, well, it wasn't that bad, but it was definitely chaotic.

How are the people in the UK perceiving this news? or do they even care? Well, Tom, stand by for it to descend in the same kind of polarize, he said, she said, taking sides that we've seen swirling around Harry and Megan for the past months and years. Look, I think the issue here may be perception.

Clearly, Harry is going to be thinking about his mom, as we said in the report. And there are some parallels. His mom was trying to escape and evade the paparazzi when she died. Prince Harry clearly was trying to get away from the paparazzi. His mom had private security, not royal protection. Prince Harry now has private security, not royal protection.

But then again, there's also that context, that battle with that media, that legal fight that he is now taken to court here in London, Tom, with the British press. This isn't just about the past for Prince Harry. I think it's about the future. he seems determined to fight the media whether or not he can win well that's something that many people do question

you know keir when the first Netflix documentary came out about Harry and Megan we had you along a lot we were talking about sort of the editing and the storylines and one of the things we did talk about was a sequence there where Harry and Megan are sort of running away from the paparazzi right and now we have this incident now in New York City we still know

that Netflix I think has two more specials to produce with him that was part of the contract can we assume this was also documented and maybe we will see this in a Harry and Megan special to come up? Well, there is a report that, Tom, that Prince Harry was filming. Will we see that footage soon in order to kind of corroborate his view, or will he hold it back for some kind of a documentary? What impact will that have on people's perception of what this is really all about?

But then I think there is some management, if you like, or message management going on here, but maybe in a way that you don't expect. So here's what happens or what has happened here in the UK over the years, Tom. The royals, when they have been packed and they've been chased by the paparazzi, have sent out a message saying that it's happened, and their ambition there has been to tell the media not to use the photos. Why? Because then the paparazzi don't get paid, and the hope by Buckingham Palace and the royals here has been that you interrupt the economy of the paparazzi and basically try and stop them from doing it Again, maybe that's what Prince Harry was thinking of here.

The question again, though, is how comes up such hyperbolic language when it doesn't look as if exactly fits what really went on? Kear, that is the type of perspective we can only get from someone who has covered the royals for a long time. It's one of the great reasons that we're so lucky to have you tonight. Kear, we appreciate all your reporting. Thank you. Okay, we head to Washington now, where we have some developing news that just happened. There is a push by House Democrats to expel and battle Republican congressmen

George Santos. The GOP-led House bypassing a vote on a resolution to expel Santos from Congress, instead referring it over to the Ethics Committee. But just moments ago, Santos walked to the east depths of the Capitol with some dramatic words and then was heckled by a fellow congressman. NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles was in the middle of all of it. Ryan joins us now live here on Top Story. So, Ryan, you were right there for that sort of impromptu news conference. Walk us through what happened next. You know, Tom, it seems as though, from his first day in Congress, chaos follows George Santos everywhere he goes, and today was no different. And this came just after the House of Representatives voted to refer this matter of expelling him from Congress to the House Ethics Committee.

And Santos came to the steps to talk to members of the media about his perspective on that. What Santos basically said is that he was glad that his fellow Republicans offered this up to the Ethics Committee so that he could have due process so that he could. make his case to his fellow members of Congress, that he is innocent of the charges against him. And in the midst of that conversation, while he was explaining himself to those of us in the press corps, another member of Congress, Jamal Bowman, also of New York, came by and just started yelling at Santos, telling him to resign. Here's a bit of that exchange. I'm confident that I will fight to clear my name. Why do you deserve another term in Congress, sir?

percent to resign what do you have to say to those like i said if i could if i could understand you over my colleagues screaming here the reality so you can hear a part of what bowman said there he said have some dignity it's time for you to step down congresswoman alexandria alcacio cortez was also with bowman at the time she actually serves on the ethics committee you know of course there's always a lot of drama when it relates to George Santos, Tom. The sum total of all of this is that the ethics committee is now the ones that are going to be responsible for deciding the future of George Santos here in Congress and whether or not they make the recommendation to expel him is something that we still are going to have to wait and see. Okay, well, but I got to ask you, Ryan,

you know, Democrats introduced this resolution yesterday. It gets kicked over to the Ethics Committee as you're talking there. Do you see a scenario where that GOP-led Ethics Committee votes to expel Santos? Yeah, I think it is still a very real possibility, Tom. You know, there are a number of Republicans, many of them from New York, who have joined the chorus of Democrats telling George Santos that it's time to resign. Now, those same Republicans also believe that it shouldn't be Congress that necessarily expels him without that due process part of it that comes through the Ethics Committee investigation.

So that's why they're asking for this process to play itself out. But if the ethics committee is able to uncover or deliver enough hard evidence that shows that he is responsible or guilty of many of the things that he's been accused of, it's very possible that Republicans will join Democrats. He needs two-thirds of the House to vote to expel him. So that is very possible. The question I have, Tom, is does it not come until we're closer to the next election and where Republicans have found a candidate that could win a race in his district, which is a very close district? that may be the calculation for Republicans right now. So this is still a very real possibility. It's just not going to happen immediately. Yeah, more than a year away, though.

That's a long time. Okay, Ryan, we appreciate that. Thank you for all of it. Now to the ongoing battle over abortion. A federal appeals court hearing arguments on limiting access nationwide to a widely used abortion pill. A fight ultimately heading back to the Supreme Court, while some states restrict abortion further.

Here's Laura Jarrett. Tonight, the most commonly used abortion pills still on the market. but its legal future uncertain. A federal appeals court appearing deeply skeptical today of arguments from the Biden administration and pill manufacturer as they try to keep Miffa-Pristone available. I don't understand this thing the FDA can do. We are allowed to look at the FDA, just like we're allowed to look at any agency.

The three-judge panel must decide what to do with that controversial decision out of Texas last month, which invalidated the FDA's longtime approval of the drug. One judge hearing the case appointed by George W. Bush, The other two by Donald Trump, all have a history of supporting abortion restrictions. Judge James Ho calling abortion a moral tragedy in a 2018 case. The stakes of what happens to a pill women can currently get in the mail, even higher now, with new abortion restrictions emerging at the state level. We needed to take action to protect the unborn. Overn overnight in North Carolina, a GOP supermajority banned most abortions after 12 weeks,

with few exceptions, overriding the governor's veto. The law is incredibly arbitrary, and it was crafted by people who are not physicians. It's really important to note that when there's a list of exceptions, someone is always left out. North Carolina had been an outlier among a sea of states that restricted access after the Supreme Court decided women don't have a constitutional right to an abortion. Every pregnancy threatens the life of mothers. In neighboring South Carolina, a six-week ban like Florida's on the horizon. Okay, Laura Jarrett joins us now live in studio. So, Laura, I guess my first question, I want to go back to that abortion pill.

What's your sense of those judges and the ruling on the FDA pill and the most widely used abortion pill? What do you think is going to happen? Oh, this pill is in real trouble. It's clear from the questioning today over about two hours. The Biden administration, the pill manufacturer, who want to keep the drug on the market, pepper, just time and again by all of the. these judges, all three of the judges, we'll see exactly how they frame the opinion. And remember, even no matter what they do, this is going back up to the Supreme Court. But it matters because it will just affect how the Supreme Court actually views the case, views the issues. Essentially,

they tee it up for the Supreme Court. But as of right now, pill stays on the market. It's all just going back to Supreme Court. And then back to North Carolina. North Carolina is not the only state we're tracking, right? We're also talking about Nebraska and something may happen there as well. Yeah, Nebraska actually wanted a six-week ban, I believe, but they didn't really. get it. And so now it looks like a 12-week ban is where they're headed. That seems to be, you know, the new course of action for, obviously, North Carolina and Nebraska, South Carolina tried the six-week ban. The line keeps creeping further and further. Remember, many women don't know they're prognat until much, much later. But again, this is what happens after

the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Yeah. Okay, Laura Jared, who's been very busy the past couple of weeks, Laura, we always appreciate it. Thank you. We do want to head overseas now to Italy in the deadly flooding that has devastated the northern part of the country. The images are wild, torrential rain submerging entire communities and forcing thousands more to evacuate. Ali Uzi has this one for us. Tonight, northern Italy, in a deadly disaster, record flooding, killing at least eight people with fears that number could rise with more missing.

Firefighters now desperately trying to rescue survivors. using helicopters to pull stranded residents to safety. Tarrantial rains in the Emilia-Romania region causing all the rivers in the area to overflow, flooding 23 cities, the catastrophic conditions triggering the evacuation of more than 5,000 people. Entire bridges have been washed away as rushing waters wreak havoc on the infrastructure,

destroying homes and submerging, thousands of acres of farmland. Officials say some parts of the region received half of their average annual rainfall in just 36 hours. Intense flooding, even leading to the cancellation of the highly anticipated Formula One Grand Prix set to take place in the area this weekend.

This food and beverage service worker saying that, unfortunately, the situation has changed dramatically. It's a critical situation. and it's been decided to postpone the Grand Prix until a later date. Northern Italy, becoming all too familiar with weather extremes, swinging from drought to deluge. The Italian government now sounding the alarm as the country deals with the devastating effects of climate change.

Italy's civil protection minister saying what happened in Amelia, Romania had already happened with different effects in Iskia and could happen anywhere else in the country. With more rain expected to batter the area, authorities warn residents, it's not over, urging people to get to higher ground amid fears the rain-swollen rivers could burst their banks again. And Tom, Italy is no stranger to these climate extremes. Last year, Italian authorities declared a state of emergency due to severe drought in the same area that experienced this torrential rain. Now the World Meteorological Organization says that temperatures in Europe increased

at more than twice the global average over the past 30 years, the highest increase of any continent. Scientists warned that unless meaningful action is taken to mitigate climate change, Europe will continue to see more intense and frequent weather cycles. Tom? Okay, Ali, Arousie for us, Ali, we appreciate it. But back here at home, we went ahead to California, where federal prosecutors, say, an ex-Apple employee

took the company's trade secrets back to China. The Chinese nationals now believed to be an executive at a self-driving car company based in China. The charge is part of a broader effort at the Department of Justice where there is growing concern over stolen property information from American companies. Dana Griffin has the details. Tonight, a former Apple employee charged with stealing trade secrets for self-driving cars, then fleeing to China, and he's still at large.

This YouTube video appears to show the man testing a reduced self-driving vehicle. He's named in the video as the head of autonomous driving. at the Chinese electric vehicle company. Stealing software and hardware source code from U.S. tech companies in order to market it to Chinese competitors. According to the newly unsealed indictment, 35-year-old Wei Bao Wang was hired by Apple in 2016 and attended secrecy training for the project he was working on. Then, nearly two years after gaining access to Apple's highly sensitive materials, he accepted

a U.S.-based job with an unnamed Chinese company, but didn't resign from Apple until four months later the indictment says. Baidu, the massive Chinese internet company that owns Judu did not respond to our request for comment. According to the indictment, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Wang's Mountain View, California home in June of 2018. Among the materials discovered from the devices in Wang's home was the source code for Apple's entire autonomous systems project as it existed around the time that Wang left Apple. Open the door. FBI open up. If you don't open up the door, we will. This Bay Area family remembers that day, Wang's home was raided. So we ran to the peephole, and I could see all the way up these stairs, just FBI agents on full

gear. Wang was home during the raid, according to the indictment, but managed to board a one-way flight from San Francisco to China later that same night. The DOJ did not comment on Wang's current location, but confirmed he is not in custody. You'll never be able to stop this kind of thing from happening 100%. Even with Big Brother, you know, with all kind of key logging software, even a photo can get around key logging software. If I took a picture of some source code, that is not typing anything into my keyboard. There's always a work around.

Wang's indictment is just one of five announced Tuesday by the DOJ's newly formed disruptive technology task force. We stand vigilant in enforcing U.S. laws to stop the flow of sensitive technologies to our foreign adversaries. Apple has not responded to NBC's request for comment. U.S. companies now on high alert as the government fights an emerging threat. All right, Dana Griffin joins us now live from Los Angeles. Dana, great to see you tonight. The only way the U.S. or Apple will get justice here, right, is with the help of China. What are the chances China will actually help out in this case? Well, Tom, according to our legal experts, it's very unlikely. Now, there is no extradition

treaty with China. So unless China has some political gain to turn him over, they probably won't. And this issue is bigger than Wang. There are other former Apple employees from China accused of stealing trade secrets. One pleaded guilty in August. Another is also facing charges, but a trial date for his case has yet to be set. If convicted, Wang faces up to 10 years in prison for each trade secret violation. Tom. All right, Dana Griffin for us, Dana. We appreciate all of that. Still ahead tonight, the small plane crash in Florida, a banner plane. You see them all the time there in Florida, going down near a target parking lot. Look what happened.

It burst into flames. What we've just learned about the plane company involved. Plus, slingshot savior, this is an incredible story you're going to love. A 13-year-old brother witnessing a kidnapping attempt on his younger sister, how he used his slingshot to stop the crime. You'll hear directly from him. And Taco Wars, the new legal battle over the phrase, Taco Tuesday. Yes, it's going to court. Can you believe that? We'll explain. Stay with us. Top story just getting started on this Wednesday.

We're back now with new developments in the brutal killings of those four University of Idaho students. The suspect has been indicted and is expected to be back in court very soon where we should learn more about what happened. NBC's Aaron McLaughlin has this. Tonight in Moscow, Idaho, Brian Coburger, the man charged with stabbing four college students, death now indicted by a grand jury. The indictment includes four counts of murder in the first degree and one count of burglary. If found guilty, he could be sentenced to death. Coburger has yet to enter a plea, but his previous attorney said he believes he'll be exonerated. The indictment follows his December arrest at his family home in Pennsylvania. More than 45 days after

Maddie Mogan, Kaylee Gonzalez, Zana Kernodal, and Ethan Chapin were found brutally murdered in this college house. According to court documents, Koberger's DNA was found on a knife sheet at the crime scene, and his white Hyundai Alantra seemed driving here during a routine traffic stop. It was also allegedly caught on camera in the area the night of the killings. One of two surviving roommates telling police she saw a male figure with bushy eyebrows, a mask and black clothing in the home that night. So this grand jury indictment simplifies the process for the surviving Absolutely, because they don't have to testify in front of Coburger during this preliminary proceeding. News of the indictment is the latest twist in a grisly case that's left a small university community heartbroken.

Last weekend, Kaylee and Maddie both received posthumous degrees. Coburger will be arraigned on Monday. Legal experts say once he enters a plea, the trial must begin within six months unless he waives his right to a speedy. trial. Tom. Erin McLaughlin for us tonight. Aaron, we appreciate that. We want to switch gears now to an incredible and somewhat uplifting story. A 13-year-old shares how he saved his 8-year-old sister, using a slingshot to fend off a would-be kidnapper. NBC Stephen Romo spoke to the family about the boy's quick thinking

action. Tonight, a 13-year-old boy being hailed a hero after police say he saved his little sister from a kidnapping using a slingshot. in the room, right, playing games, like all other teenage boys do. And I hear my sister scream. Owen Burns tells us he looked out his window only to see his eight-year-old sister being grabbed by a stranger. He knew he had to act fast.

I had two things I shot him with head and chest. Head was the marble. The chest was rock. Through the window, making the shot twice from about 200 feet away, according to his mother. Seems like you're a pretty good shot. Do you practice a lot with your slingshot? No. Not, I was like this.

What was going through your mind when this happened, when you saw this guy coming to your sister? I was mad, so when I got up outside, it was maybe a little bad. Police say the little girl had been playing in her backyard when the man appeared. The suspect had come through the woods onto her property and came from behind her. grabbed her like you'd see in the movies, hand over the mouth, arm around the waist, and was attempting to pull her into the woods. Police say troopers were able to find the 17-year-old suspect hiding at a nearby gas station, easily identified thanks to Owen.

What he did also helped us to identify who the suspect was because obviously he had injuries from getting hit with a slingshot, and those were things that helped us evidentiary-wise. Police sharing with their mother, Margaret, that her son is, in fact, a perfect shot. I kind of thought he was lying. But then when the police finally confirmed it and said that he did hit him twice, and he did make both shots, I was quite impressed. He really is the one that saved, that I believe, saved his sisters, either life or from something seriously bad happening to her. Now, the Burns family healing from the traumatic. event one that could have ended much differently. I'm just happy we were able to celebrate her

eighth birthday that Saturday after. I mean, we could have been celebrating a funeral or something else. And Owen has some advice for parents. You always want to tell them if you have 13-year-old, better buy them a sunshine. All right, definitely advice from a 13-year-old. Stephen Romo joins us now live in studio. When you hear that mother's chilling words, it sort of brings everything into perspective because it's a different type of story. What do we know about this suspect? Yeah, the suspect actually, just 17 years old. We know that he will be tried as an adult.

His bond was set at $150,000 at his arraignment last week with three charges, one for attempted kidnapping, one for attempted assault, and one for assault and battery. Meanwhile, that mom we heard from in that story was so terrified at the time she raised home. Now says this little girl just wants to move on and forget about it, but it kind of sounds like this young man may have some endorsement deals with slingshots coming up in his

future trying to get other parents to buy them out there. That are under some kind of competition. All right, Stephen Romo, we thank you for that. When we come back, cops miss robbers. This is crazy. Surveillance video showing a couple of thieves ransacking a clothing store. The moment, not one, but two police cars drove by without noticing the crime in progress. And late breaking news on TikTok, which U.S. state just became the first to ban the popular

social media app. That's right. TikTok banned completely in one state. We'll tell you. All right, we are back now with Top Stories News Feed, and we begin with a deadly plane crash in Hollywood, Florida. Social media video showing a small plane engulfed in flames in the middle of a roadway. Aerial footage capturing crews responding, sprained foam onto that burned wreckage.

One person on board was killed. No one else, though, was hurt. NBC Miami found the company was linked to five crashes and emergency. landings from 2014 to 2019. An investigation is now underway after Sacramento Police missed a burglary in progress, not once but twice. New surveillance video showing two suspects breaking into a clothing store. You see it here and then dropping their tools as a police car drives by. A second police car passes by moments later. The store owners saying the burglar stole at least $30,000 worth of merchandise and authorities did not respond until 10 minutes after the incident. Montana, this

This is big news, officially banning TikTok, the first U.S. state to do so. The governor signing a bill into law that will prohibit app stores from offering TikTok within Montana state limits. The governor saying the ban is in an effort to protect people's personal data. It doesn't go into effect until January 1st, 2024. TikTok has vowed to fight it. This all comes amid growing calls from U.S. lawmakers to ban the Chinese-owned app nationwide over privacy concerns. And two taco restaurant chains battling it out over. Taco Tuesday. Taco Bell filing a petition with the U.S. Trademarks Office to reverse Wyoming-based Taco

John's trademark of the phrase, Taco Tuesday. Taco Bell arguing it should be able to use that phrase without legal consequences going so far as to say the trademark violates the American ideal of the pursuit of happiness. Taco John's response, it's rolling out a two-week-long Taco Tuesday deal. All right, the Taco Wars are on. Okay, now to the American. and the chaos engulfing to Ecuador's government tonight. The president there dissolving the country's National Assembly to stop his own impeachment. Valerie Castro has this story.

Tonight, political turmoil in Ecuador and what could be the end of one of the last remaining conservative leaders in Latin America. The country's president, Guillermo Lazo, terminating the impeachment proceedings against him with a drastic measure, dissolving the National Assembly. to apply the Article 148 of the Constitution of the Republic that me otorgia the faculty to dissolve the Assembly National Crisis Political and Commotion Interna.

National Police now prohibiting former assembly members from entering the legislative building. The constitutional tool dubbed La Mueira Crusada, which translates to a two-way death, also effectively ending. Lassau's own presidency in six months. He would have had to govern two more years as an exceptionally weak president with several scandals swirling around his government related to possible corruption, to possible crime

ties. This was not an easy position to be in. Lassau forced into the lose-lose situation, facing impeachment over accusations of embezzlement related to an oil shipping contract before he took office. The latest political strifee for Lasson, the latest political strife for Lasson, comes amidst brutally low approval ratings since the start of his presidency in 2021. A recent Perfiles de Opinion survey showing only 13% of Ecuadorians see Lassau in a positive light. What are some of the monumental, I guess, hills that he's had to overcome?

Sure, I think monumental is the right word. Ecuador used to be a safe country. It used to have a national homicide rate lower than that of the United States. But last year, it's homicide rate topped even that of Mexico's. Other domestic challenges erupting last June, violent clashes between supporters of indigenous groups and police over the price of gasoline and food, authorities deploying water cannons and tear gas, Lassau calling the demonstrations an attempted coup. We'll make a community international to adverti of this intent to destabilize the democracy in the Ecuador. In January 2022, a broken oil pipeline causing an environmental disaster in the Ecuadorian rainforest, and the nation beset by years of prison riots, leaving hundreds of inmates dead.

The future of the country, now up to voters. No one expects right-wing or center-right parties to do well in these next elections. The more likely outcome is that this development plays into the hands of Lassos' opponents, ironically, the populist left. Valerie Castro joins us now in studio. So, Valerie, I guess the next question is, will there be an election now in Ecuador? So eventually, but for now, Lhasa will continue to govern for the next six months by decree. And in the meantime, the National Electoral Council has seven days to call for elections for both the presidency and the assembly. Those elected will then serve out the remainder of the term, which ends on May 2025. So Tom Laso

essentially cut out the remainder of his presidency, which was a year and a half. All right, Valerie Castro, a very important story. Valerie, thank you. Coming up, Global Watch, amazing new view of the Titanic. Have you seen this? The first digital scans reveal unprecedented detail of the shipwreck like we have never seen before. What it may tell us about the disaster. Stay with us. All right, next tonight from the border, new numbers being reported on the amount of migrant encounters since the end of Title 42. This is the fallout over the end of the COVID-era immigration policy impacts communities across the U.S. We are joined tonight here on Top Story by Black

He's the Assistant Secretary for Border and Immigration Policy at the Department of Homeland Security. Assistant Secretary, thank you so much for joining us tonight. I know you spoke with reporters earlier today, and you gave an update on the border. I want to put these numbers up for our viewers so they can see them. These are some of the trends that the administration finds are moving in a positive direction. First, encounters down by 56% since the days before Title 42 was lifted. 4.4,000 daily encounters since May 12th. You remember, we were talking about numbers like 11,000 earlier last week.

And CBP won, the app, processed 5,000 individuals since May 12th. So, Assistant Secretary, I want you to walk our viewers through why you think these numbers are positive, so they understand. So the first thing I would say is that, you know, we view these signs as, we view these as encouraging signs that the policies we have put in place, policies that combine, strengthened consequences for individuals who cross the border unlawfully but also are combined with a substantially increased lawful pathways for individuals who are willing to wait and take a safe and orderly route to come to the United States that these policies are working as they were intended. We also have been working quite closely with our foreign partners with the government of Mexico,

the government of Guatemala and governments in the region to do more to address these migratory flows before they reach our border. I want to ask you caution, though, that these are still early days. It's still just the first week and we'll close to watch. Yeah, we'll see what happens there. I want to understand why does the administration think

5,000 migrants using the app or at least registered through the app is a good sign? Because like we said, right, we were talking about tens of thousands close to 40,000. We don't have the total for last week. I'm not sure if we do yet or not. But when you compare that number to the 5,000 applying for asylum through the app, do you really see that as a positive sign? We believe that providing non-citizens with the opportunity to take a safe and orderly route

to the United States, if they wish to claim asylum, is something that this country, you know, wants to do and should be doing. However, we believe there's a right way. and a wrong way to come to the United States. The wrong way is obviously crossing unlawfully between ports of entry. And there, you know, we are implementing our lawful pathways rules that places some common sense conditions on asylum eligibility for individuals who do not use the CBP1 app. So we do believe and are encouraged by the success of the app,

and we think it's a smart way to manage flows to the border. Assistant Secretary, as you know, of course, the Border Patrol falls under the Department of Homeland. security. Last night, right here on Top Story, we had the vice president of the National Border Patrol Council. Here's what he had to say. When you're seeing a bunch of these agents that are having to be put in the processing centers, they're doing the job that they really didn't sign up for. And it's frustrating for them because when they're apprehending these individuals, these individuals themselves

are letting them know, hey, look, we're coming across now. We know we're going to get released. And at the same time, they're hearing, you know, radio traffic or sensor traffic knowing that other groups are coming across, not knowing what those other groups are that are coming in other areas. What is your response there to Agent Del Queto? And I guess his bigger question, or his bigger point, I should say, was about sort of Border Patrol being taxed. And then on top of that, the rapid release, if you will, those are words that sources within the DHS has told to NBC News, essentially the processing of those tens of thousands of immigrants, and then them being released, many, of course, with court dates, but still being released into the streets of America.

Well, there's little doubt that our 24,000 men and women from Customs and Border Protection from the Border Patrol and the Office of Field Operations who have been working on the front lines for the past year and a half, as we've dealt with this challenge on the border, have been doing heroic work. We have over the last few months surged resources to support them. We have more than 1,000 law enforcement personnel from other parts of the department and the administration and other departments deployed to the border. And obviously we are in the process of deploying up to 1,500 active duty military personnel to, again, enhance and support our men and women on the front lines.

I would also say that, you know, over the past week, as we have seen, again, this encouraging decrease in unlawful crossings at the land border, that that has given our border patrol facilities a chance to decompress, and we are now at substantially lower levels of in-custody numbers and below our, you know, custody limits compared to where we were even a week ago. Assistant Secretary, do you think it was the right move to sort of rapidly release all of those migrants again, process them, take them in, vet them, give them a court date? But we were talking about tens of thousands of migrants who are now out on the streets,

of America, and in many cases, putting pressure on local governments who do not have the room to house them? So I would say a couple of things there. The first is that, as you noted, every individual we process is thoroughly vetted against our national security and public safety systems, and any individual who could pose a threat to the community, you know, individuals with outstanding warrants or individuals who may have a link to terrorism, are detained and are not released. And I would also say that, you know, presidents of both parties have.

at times had to release individuals from custody in order to ensure the safety and well-being of the migrants in our custody, but also of the men and women who work for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. And, you know, the last point I would make here is that we appreciate and really understand the costs that our communities are bearing when it comes to the challenge posed by migration to the border. And, you know, we view those as the cost. cost of a fundamentally broken system that the U.S. Congress has not updated in decades and sent a bill to the U.S. Congress on the first day of this administration, and we have been consistently calling for our members of Congress to work on a bipartisan basis to deal with this

challenge once of all. Assistant Secretary, we appreciate your time. I know you're incredibly busy this week, last week, and I know you still have a lot of work to do ahead. So we thank you. Thank you so much for the invitation to join you tonight. Now at Top Story's Global Watch and the deadly attack against a U.S. convoy in Nigeria. The attackers opened fire in the Anambrae state, one of the epicenters of separatist violence in that region, killing four people, including two U.S. Embassy staffers and two policemen. Five people are still missing. The motive, though, is still unclear and remains under investigation.

And tonight we have an update in that deadly hostile fire in New Zealand we first reported on Monday night right here on Top Story. Police are now saying they believe it was arson, and they've launched a homicide investigation. The fire that you saw there tore through a hostel in the capital city of Wellington. At least six people killed, and that death toll, though, is expected to rise, with 20 people still unaccounted for. Police are not trying to identify any suspects. And now to the wreckage of the Titanic like we've never seen before, researchers creating a 3D model. Look at this. Of the sunken ocean liner using 700,000 images shot by suburb.

The footage showing how far the wreckage has deteriorated, including the iconic grand staircase in ruins. Scientists say it's the largest underwater scanning project in history and could provide further insight into the 1912 disaster. Okay, when we come back, saved by the iPhone, a group of teenagers lost inside of a canyon at night. They didn't have cell service, but still managed to contact rescuers using their iPhone. One of those rescuers explaining the potentially life-saving technology that help find them. That's all coming up next. Finally tonight, SOS by satellite, a group of 10 hikers, all of them teenagers, getting lost with no cell signal. So they turned to a new feature in their iPhone.

Miguel Amalgare picks up the story from there. As the sunset in Ventura, California, an urgent call for hell. We received a 911 text stated that there was approximately 10 hires. A group of teenagers between 16 to 18 years old getting lost while hiking in Santa Paula Canyon with no cell service, but managing to contact a local rescue team using Apple's new emergency SOS feature. This is our first chance to interface with the new iPhone technology, and it's a game changer, frankly.

They were able to use their iPhone to call 911 and it, you know, works through the satellite. The emergency SOS function available on iPhone 14 models uses satellite communication to text critical information to first responders when cell service isn't available. First, you'll provide some information about your situation for emergency services and you'll see choices to specify your emergency based on your answers. rescuers unable to get direct radio communication in this canyon. There are no injuries, but they are on a rock. But this group of teens was able to share their location and condition. We knew they were fine. They did the right thing.

They hunkered down, sheltered in place, and waited for us to arrive. And so that changed the search strategy. After an hour and a half hike into the canyon that had recently been damaged by flooding, members of the search and rescue team found them. They were not necessarily in any immediate danger, but they certainly were not going to get out of there on their own. The rescue combining new technology with old-fashioned common sense. These guys did it just right.

They realized they were lost and they stopped and they'd hunkered down and they stayed in the same location. They didn't split up and that makes our job much, much easier. The SOS feature on the iPhone, good to remember. All right, we thank Miguel for that story. We thank you for watching Top Story tonight. I'm Tom Yamas right here in New York. Stay right there.

More news on the way.