Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, November 27, 2024

Episode Date: November 28, 2024

Tonight's Top Story has the latest breaking news, political headlines, news from overseas and the best NBC News reporting from across the country and around the world.

Tonight, the coast-to-coast storm colliding with holiday travel. Major airports jammed with delays and cancellations mounting. The dangerous road conditions as snow and rain reduced visibility, millions on alert in the northeast, the region, racing for a messy Thanksgiving. Al Roker tonight standing by with the conditions for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Also breaking tonight, music mogul Sean Diddy Combs denied bail. The ruling just coming in tied to his sex traffic. trafficking and racketeering case, a judge saying no conditions could assure the safety of

the community. Amazon workers preparing to strike employees in more than 20 countries, including the U.S., expected to walk off the job between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, what they're demanding and the impact it could have on your holiday purchases. Trump's border battle, President-elect Trump vowing to carry out the largest deportation in U.S. history, but how exactly will it work? And what does it mean for the court system dealing with a shortage of immigration judges and a backlog of asylum cases? We're going to explain tonight. The dramatic bridge rescue body cam footage capturing the moment an officer makes a split second save as a man falls off a bridge. Creating a Thanksgiving dinner with just 20 bucks. One TikTok creator going viral for cooking up

a delicious meal relying solely on dollar store ingredients. How her budget-friendly recipes are bringing a little holiday joy to families trying to make ends meet. And Turkey emergency? Call the Butterball Hotline. Experts standing by to help thousands with their Thanksgiving turkey troubles. So what are the most common calls and unusual questions? We're giving you a glimpse inside their hotline headquarters with their busiest day just hours away. Plus, are the Black Friday deals a real steel?

We're tracking top items to see if you're actually getting that discount. Top story starts right now. And good evening tonight. It's the last minute dash to the Thanksgiving table. This year's record-breaking holiday travel upended, all thanks to coast-to-coast storms. We're taking a live look tonight here in Top Story at Philadelphia and Orlando right now. Drivers, some of them in bumper-to-bumper traffic, and airports backed up on what is expected to be the busiest travel day of the entire week. At this hour, we're we're still seeing a number of significant delays. The worst airports right now, you see them here, Denver International, Newark, and Dallas, Fort Worth. Newark is struggling to keep up due to a shortage of air traffic controllers. Snow and rain, spelling out a mess from the roads to the skies, an avalanche advisory just issued for the surrounding Denver area, and this system is now lashing at the central U.S. Nearly 80 million Americans expected to travel this week, according to AAA.

That number is expected to shatter past records. And you can see a majority of people are hitting the roads. This storm is set to take a direct aim at the East Coast on Thanksgiving Day. Millions from Raleigh up to Boston bracing for a cold washout, and some places could even see snow. Are Al Roker standing by tonight to time and out, including what it all means for the iconic Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade? Will the balloons fly or will the conditions threaten the holiday tradition? We have a lot to get to this evening, and tonight we start with Tom Costello. Moving through the Rockies and taking aim at the Midwest this evening, heavy rain and snow.

We encountered a massive thunderstorm, so you couldn't even see five feet in front of you. Both Salt Lake City and Denver airports de-icing departing flights. Denver leading the country with nearly 600 flight delays, heavy fog in Tampa this morning. And while many airports started with long TSA lines but few disruptions on the flight-aware misery, map that changed as the weather moved in. Get here early. There are lines. Please get here early. At Newark Airport, a critical hump for United, 95-minute departure delays amid the ongoing shortage of air traffic controllers. 300-plus delays at Newark. United says 28,000 of its

passengers are impacted every day. While the FAA is training new controllers at its academy in Oklahoma City, trying to keep up with attrition and retirements. How long will it take you to get to full staffing? Our goal is five to seven years to be fully staffed and comfortable. In the meantime, the rush is on today. I wanted to see if I could take 740 off the gate instead. NBC's Adrian brought us at the American Airlines Op Center at Chicago O'Hare. American Airlines expects nearly 31,000 passengers to pass through O'Hare alone today. And this is where they monitor every single flight trying to mitigate delays and cancellations.

Meanwhile, a yearly ritual on the nation's roads, a record 71 million Americans hoping to beat the weather and slide into a Thanksgiving dinner. Trying to get it out early because we're actually, we came from Georgia for Atlanta, so we left about one this morning. Tom Costello joins us tonight from Reagan National Airport in Arlington. You know, Tom, I'm watching your story,

and I'm thinking it feels like the airlines are going full throttle. Put this in a perspective. How many flights a day on a typical domestic day do we see? And then how many now during Thanksgiving? So virtually every plane is being deployed right now. They may hold a few in reserve, but virtually every plane in an aircrafts and an airline's fleet is out there. Typically, they're going to fly eight to ten flights a day. Once it lands, they've got 45 minutes on a 47, 45 minutes to turn it, right? All the bags off, all the people off, all the bags back on, all the people back on, and then get out again. 45 minutes. That's on the domestic flight. If they're going international, they've got about

an hour to make that turn. It's crazy. Wow, it's going to be really full throttle, as you said. I do also want to ask you before you go and before you start marinating your turkeys, give our viewers the top lines of this travel holiday, the busiest times, best times to leave. We're all listening. So this today is going to be the busiest day. And then, of course, tomorrow Thanksgiving. Then it drops down, right? 1.7 million people flying. Sunday, that's the mega day. I mean, we've got everybody trying to get the kids back to school. Everybody's trying to get back to work. The TSA expecting more than 3 million people traveling on that day. Now, if you're driving, the worst time to drive is between 12 and 7 p.m. according to the AAA.

12 and 7 p.m. is really not a good time. And then on Monday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Right? So you can imagine, if you've got the bright idea, you're going to get back to work on Monday. You're not the only one, and so you're going to have a lot of company. All right, Al Rokers here, now to walk us through the next couple of days, including that holiday forecast. So, Al, let's talk about those two storms. Tell us what you're tracking tonight. Well, right now, Tom, we can see from Dodge City where they got snow, heavier showers and thunderstorms from Kansas City all the way into the Ohio River Valley. We're looking at really wet weather. That's going to make its way along the eastern seaboard tomorrow for Thanksgiving Day. That's the main problem. That's where we're going to.

we're going to see all the issues. Very cold conditions through the plains, sunshine out west. Now, we move into Sunday, big travel day again, and we're talking about a December chill. The only real problem we see is some heavy lake effect snow. Otherwise, temperature's a little on the cooler side. And speaking of lake effects snow, from Ashtabula, Ohio to Augusta, Maine, we're talking about winter weather, advisory, storm watches, and warnings. Lake effect snow is going to be drawing right across the Great Lakes from Alpine, to Michigan, where we could to the west see about two feet of snow, but from Cleveland to Watertown, there could be upwards of three feet of snow. And Tom, some of the coldest air of the season is going to be coming in.

It's the Siberian Express, literally a cold air mass from Russia, temperatures as cold as 30 degrees below zero. They're going to wrap between that low pressure and that high pressure over Alaska, comes down through Canada, 5,000-mile trek, and then draws down south as far south as Memphis, Knoxville, Washington, D.C. Look at these temperatures, at the end of the weekend going into early next week, 10 to 20 degrees below average. St. Louis, you're going to be in the low to mid-30s, Charleston mid-30s, mid-30s, mid-to-upper 30s in New York. Even Atlanta, even though it doesn't seem that cold, but mid-40s by the time we begin the week top. Wow, the Siberian Express, it sounds like a professional wrestler, right? Al, tomorrow we're watching those storms. You're going to be out there on the parade route. Talk to us about the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade forecast. That's right. I'm going to be riding Tom Turkey. Starting at 8.30. If you want a drumstick, I'll get it for you early, Tom. But we're looking at steady rain. The good news is only about 10-mile-per-hour winds.

Temperatures will be in the mid-to-upper-hour winds. Yeah, you know, 10-mile-per-hour winds may not sound like much, but it can affect those balloons. Walk us through if you can, Al. Entertain us here. Like, take us down sort of Nightmare Lane, like some of those really rough Thanksgivings were you out there on the parade route. I think 1997 was one where it was incredibly intense. That's right. Really cold. really, really windy, had to bring the balloons down all the way down because they had problems. Balloons were deflating a real mess.

Now, coldest Thanksgiving Day parade? 17 degrees in 2018. The warmest was 69 in 1933. The wettest, well, that happened back in 2006, almost an inch in three quarters. The snowiest back in 1989, almost four and a half inches of snow. And, of course, the parade starts 830. NBC and Peacock, Tom, I know you will be watching while you start frying those turkeys. Oh, you know, man. I can't do both, but I'll definitely be watching.

Al, real quick, the video of Barney going down in 1997, I mean, that video is scary. Did Barney ever, did he survive? Did he make it through that? He did, but he was never the same. It was sad, really. We haven't seen him since. Super de duper, not so much. All right, Al Roker for us, Al. Take care. We'll be watching tomorrow. We're going to switch gears here now to our other major headlines.

A federal judge denying Sean Diddy Combs bail ahead of the holidays. The rapper charged with sex trafficking, racketeering and transportation to engage in prostitution. He's pled not guilty. His lawyers claiming the prosecution's case is thin, but prosecutors arguing Combs could tamper with witnesses if released. For more of the judge's decision and what it could mean for this case moving forward, I'm joined by our good friend, criminal defense attorney Sarah Azari. Sarah, thanks for being here. So I know you weren't surprised by this decision, but what does it tell us about the

the severity of these charges? Well, I think it speaks to the charges in the sense that, Tom, the racketeering charge has predicate acts that support it. And those predicate acts are violent acts. One of the major ones being the domestic violence on Cassie that was captured on video in 2016. So the idea is that he's a danger to the community. It doesn't matter that he's putting up $50 million, his collateral, his homes, all of this, because ultimately there are no set of conditions that would guarantee.

the safety of the community. So the case has obviously gotten a lot of media coverage, and since then there have been more and more lawsuits, right? They've piled on to Diddy since these allegations came out. Does that have any impact on how the judge makes his decisions? Does he ignore that because he just sticks to the criminal charges? Well, you have to stick to the allegations in the criminal indictment. So there are lawsuits, there are accusations, there are rumors, but to the extent that they overlap with what the prosecution is presented as their evidence, at least on paper and an indictment, it does come in. So anything that shows that Diddy has a propensity for violence

does not have to be necessarily laid out in detail. The judge can consider... So that video that we've been talking about with Cassie in the hotel room. Okay. Yeah. And then I do want to ask you, you know, you mentioned how much money he has. He said he's put up for bail. He has probably a legal dream team because he has the means. Do you think there's any chance that he gets out? for his trial? I don't think so. And the problem here is not as much the flight risk factor as it is the danger of the community. And that's always a problem.

When I have that as the issue in a case, there's almost rarely a set of conditions that satisfies the court. And so he's put it, I mean, he's offering a security team. He's offering monitoring. He's offering, you know, giving up his phone and only being in communication with his lawyers. And still the court isn't satisfied. So he can come back another 30 times, as many times as he wants to. It's not over for him. No, but he's got to present a packet and terms that are acceptable to the court, and I just don't see what more he can offer.

Okay. Sarah Azari for us tonight. Sarah, great to have you in studio. Good to see you. Happy Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving. We're also following reports tonight of violent threats made against several of President-elect Trump's picks to lead his new administration. Federal authorities now working with local law enforcement to investigate multiple bomb threats. Kelly O'Donnell is in West Palm Beach tonight with the latest.

Tonight, the Trump team rocked by an alarming new scare aimed at cabinet picks and top figures for the coming administration. Transition officials announced violent, un-American threats that range from bomb threats to swatting. The White House said President Biden was briefed, and he and his administration unequivocally condemned threats of political violence. The FBI said it is working with local law enforcement and noted, we take all potential threats seriously. Three law enforcement sources said no actual explosives were found, and these appear to be hoax attacks delivered through email and social media. A few of those targeted identified themselves publicly.

Matt Gates, who withdrew for Attorney General, said a bomb squad responded to a Florida home where a threat was made. Lee Zeldon, picked to head the Environmental Protection Agency, writes, a pipe bomb threat targeting me and my family at our home today was sent in with a pro-Palestinian-themed message. And Elise Stefani, selected his ambassador to the United Nations, praised the response to her upstate New York home after a threat this morning, thanking the extraordinary dedication of law enforcement. This wave of new threats, a disturbing reminder of attempts on Mr. Trump's life this summer. Today, a transition spokeswoman declared,

dangerous acts of intimidation and violence will not deter us. Okay, with that, Kelly O'Donnell joins us live tonight from West Palm Beach. So, Kelly, I know the transition team has been busy announcing other new names to the President-elect's team. That's right. And there's been a range of them in the last 24 hours on economic matters, in the public health space, and today in national security, where former President Trump, President-elect, is saying that he would like retire General Keith Kellogg, who was a part of the first term in the national security team to take on a new role as the special envoy to Ukraine and Russia. And of course, that is notable because Mr. Trump has said

he would like to see that war ended quickly. Also tonight, Pete Hegeseth, who is the choice to be the next defense secretary, has come forward as well to say that he has also received these threats. Tom? Yeah, that news just coming in. All right, Kelly O'Donnell, with some new reporting tonight for us. Kelly, we appreciate that. We also want to take a deeper dive tonight into one of Trump's signature campaign promises,

the mass deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. Trump made his immigration policies a hallmark of his campaign, promising to finish the border wall he started in his first term, and reinstitute the remain-in-mexico policy, requiring asylum seekers to wait south of the border while their claims are processed. But the centerpiece of his immigration agenda, what his campaign website calls, the largest deportation operation in American history. To do that, Trump says, he will declare a national emergency after taking office

deploying the military to the southern border to assist. Trump's pointman on immigration, Tom Homan, the former director of immigration and customs enforcement, also known as ICE, home and detailing the plan during a visit of Texas yesterday, and issuing a warning to governors and mayors that oppose the deportations. I'm sending a message for people that said they're going to get in our way they're going to stop us

from what we're doing on interior enforcement operation I've said 100 times in last week don't cross that line is a felony to knowingly harboring and conceal

illegal animal and immigration authorities don't test us the nation wants to save country we've had enough crime in this country of an illegal alien crime

it's time to end it and stop it President Trump's committed to it Immigration advocates are worried about what the deportations will look like in practice. Homan help oversee Trump's controversial child separation policy during his first administration, which separated thousands of children from their families, many of them never reunited. The other outstanding question is a logistical one. There are nearly 4 million cases backlogged in immigration court right now, which an Axios analysis projects will take four years to clear.

But if we add the over 10 million undocumented immigrants who Trump has promised to deport, The Axios estimate says all those cases could take 16 years for courts to sort through. So is Trump's deportation plan possible? What will it all cost in our measures like deploying troops to the border, even legal? I want to bring in two men who know immigration very well tonight. Legal Learn is the deputy director of the Immigrants Rights Project at the ACLU, and Brandon Judd is a former president, former president of the National Border Patrol Council. I thank you both for being here tonight.

Brandon, I do want to start with you. walk us through what the term mass deportation actually means. What does that look like? And what should Americans expect to see on their streets as this is carried out? So it's obviously not going to be door to door. You can't do that. That's impossible. What you're looking at is you're looking at checking out what all the court dockets are

in every single major city, looking at who is going before a judge. And if that individual is going to be released, if that's going to be the last time that they're going to be in court, you take that individual into custody, regardless of whether the city is a sanctuary city. You can't stop federal officers from doing their jobs, even if it's in a sanctuary city. So that's what it's going to look like. You're going to be looking for those criminals, whether they're currently in the prisons, whether they have a court case for whatever it might be, and you're going to go after those

individuals first. And then after that, you're going to look at employers and are employers hiring illegal people that are in the country illegally, and then you're going to go after them. You know, it's all stuff that has been done. You're just going to do it on a much larger scale. Brandon, do you see in that process, that first scenario, do you see undocumented immigrants being taken from whatever detention center they're in immediately being put on a bus or a plane and then being deported?

Or do you think there's a second step here where there's, you know, a mass detention center where they're being kept before they're taken to their countries? So that's what's really frustrating to me, is everybody has this idea. that immigration officers take people into custody and then immediately remove them from the country. That's just not true. These individuals have due process. They have the right to see a judge. It's ultimately a judge that makes the determination on what's going to happen, and then immigration officers carry out that judge's order unless that undocumented individual voluntarily decides that they want to be taken back to their country or something like that. So it's not immigration

officers. It's not Tom Holman that puts somebody on a plane and sends them back. They go before a judge, a judge makes that determination, and then immigration officers carries out that order. And essentially catch and release, as we know it now, would be gone in this new scenario. Absolutely. Okay, so, Lee, you're on the front lines of this, right? We just heard some of the scenarios. And again, look, it may look just like that. It may look completely different. But from what you heard from Brandon there, is this feasible? Do you think it's going to look like this? Is it legal? Well, I think that's the question. Is it going to look like that or is it going to look like something different? I mean, I agree with your guest that they're entitled to do process rights and there need to be hearings.

What I am worried about is the attempt to have summary deportations without hearings and also go after people not hard in criminals and national security threats, but families with little children and separate them. So one of the things we saw at the end of the first Trump administration is trying to use an expedited removal process. the interior of the country where you don't actually get a hearing. Supervisor's signature is enough to remove the person without ever seeing a judge. And what I'm hearing is that the Trump administration intends to bring that back. That would mean sweeping up people all throughout the country if they haven't, can't prove that they've been here more than two years and deporting without any process. I'm also hearing the administration say they want to use the Alien Enemies Act and the military to have summary deportations. So I think the question is what we will actually

actually see in practice. Do you think we're going to see raids? I mean, we have seen those before. I can recall ice raids happening during the Obama administration as well at times. Trump administration, do you think will be seen scenes like that? I suspect we will. I'm sorry, Brian. I'll get you in right here.

Lee, Lee, you think we're going to see those? Sorry about that. Yeah, I suspect we will. And look, there have been deportations under every administration. I think the question is going to be, are we really going to see mass deportations in the millions and millions? I think that will hurt the economy, it will separate families, and it will just not be good public policy, and it will cause terror throughout our streets. But there will be deportations there are under every administration.

I think the question is, what is this going to look like in practice? You know, and you've mentioned the American public wants immigration reform. We do as well. I think the question is that's sort of an abstract notion of. immigration reform. Will the American public stand for going after families with U.S. citizen children, putting the military in the streets? I think there will be a line over which the public will say, no, not anymore. And that's what we saw during family separation in the first term, where people thought that the American public had been desensitized to such an extent.

They wouldn't speak out. But when they saw little babies and toddlers being ripped from their parents, then the people spoke out. And I think that's what we'll say. see if it really is this kind of mass deportation. Maybe it'll be much more limited, as your guest is suggesting, but I think right now we're taking the rhetoric very seriously. You know, Brandon, if you read the art of the deal and you study President Trump, you know, he has said in negotiations, you always come very heavy, right? You come strong at first, just to kind of almost shock the person you're negotiating with

or your opponent, if you will, to get what you essentially really want. Do you think he's putting this out there, this campaign and this rhetoric about the mass deportations. He's going to be tough on immigration, but it won't be as extreme, maybe as some are reporting or speculating? I think that he uses every tool in the toolbox. I absolutely know that he negotiates trying to get as much as he possibly can. I mean, all we have to do is look at what he did with Mexico. He threatened terrorists greater than the amount of money that the cartels were able to bring into the economy. And when he did that, they agreed to remain in Mexico. And it was a hugely successful program. So when you look at all of that, absolutely. He's going to use every

single tool in the toolbox. The legal tools remain in Mexico was legal. All of those legal tools he's going to use to effectuate safety and security for the American people. And that's what we're all looking for. Remember, we're talking about illegal immigration, not legal, illegal immigration. Nobody's against legal immigration. It's all about illegal immigration. How do we actually secure our borders, keep Americans safe, go after the cartels, go after the fentanyl, do everything that we need to do to protect the American people. Lee, you know, when you look at the polling and the question is asked about mass deportation, 50 to more than 50 percent of Americans polled when they're asked the question say that they

are in favor of mass deportations. And I know there's some pushback about the way the questions are asked and there's different polls, but it seems like, you know, a majority of Americans when asked this question are okay with mass deportations. My question to you is that when people see it up close when they actually experience it in their communities, do you think the polling will stay at that level? I don't think so, and that's what I was suggesting before.

You know, that's just sort of an abstract, vague notion, mass deportations. And I think when asked that way, people say yes, when they actually see what that means in practice, I don't think they will, just like they didn't want babies ripped away. I mean, one of the questions I got constantly during the first Trump administration from friends, from, you know, acquaintances was, wait, I didn't know they were going to take the custodian and my son's school away. He's such a nice guy. He doesn't bother anybody. He works hard. And I think once we see people like that being, you know, picked up, deported, detained in mass detention camps, I think the public will push back. And I think they'll say, no, that's not what we actually meant. We thought you were only going to go after serious criminals and national security. security threats. And the notion that all of these migrants are threats to our country are dangerous or criminals, I mean, anybody who just stops for a second to think about it, thinks about the immigrants they know, knows that's not true. And I think the people who know best are mayor's

Democratic or Republican who see immigrants revitalizing their communities. And if we start supporting millions of millions of people, I think we'll see businesses push back and say you're hurting the economy. So we'll have to see what it looks like, but we're prepared for the worst. Brandon, you could argue the economy is one of the reasons why President elect Trump won that election. I do want to ask you, are Kristen Welker asked President Elector about the deportation policy and what it will cost, and he didn't really give her an answer. Do you have any idea how much this plan will cost taxpayers? I know a lot of figures have been thrown out there, and they're massive, especially at a time when we're trying

to get the deficit under control. Until we have an operation, there's no way to determine what it's going to cost. What I can tell you, though, is that the cost, is that the cost that we've been dealing with, with the number of people that have been crossing our borders illegally, is more than six times the number that we've ever dealt with before. So I certainly think that there's that when you look at those numbers and when you re-implement Remain in Mexico and drive those numbers down, then that money can just be diverted to handle all of these operations that are going to go into place. So again, I just don't think that we can speculate on that until we actually see the operation. Tom Homan yesterday.

They said that it's in the planning stages. That's what they're doing right now. They're trying to develop the operations so that when President Trump is inaugurated, and he takes office, then you can implement that. But until that, we just can't say that. Now, I do have to push back a little bit right now. When we talk about ripping babies away, I have never, I was a Border Patrol agent at that time.

I would love to see a picture of a baby being ripped away. I think we have to be careful with that type of rhetoric. because it paints a picture that just isn't true, and it puts law enforcement in a dangerous position because any time you say a baby had been ripped away, you're going to blame that on the law enforcement agents. We do not rip babies away. Lee, you're on the front lines of those cases.

I remember it's where we first spent on child separation. I'll let you have the last word on what Brandon just said. Yeah, that's absolutely not true what's being said. The family separation policy required officers to force, take children away if their parents wouldn't voluntarily give them away, and under coercion, obviously. I think it's been documented over and over and over. The reason there are no pictures but actually happening is because they wouldn't let the media in. But there are affidavits, countless affidavits of parents talking about how their children were forcibly taken from them.

I think it's beyond any doubt now that that's what happened. You know, it may be that the officers on the ground didn't want to do that, but they were. told they had to. I think at this point, there has been findings and findings and findings, that's what happened. League Alert, Brandon, Judge, I thank you for the civil conversation. We're going to keep it going as we head into the Trump administration. We went to head overseas now. The ceasefire that went into effect between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon appears to be holding. Tonight, some of those displaced are able to return to their homes. Matt Bradley is on the ground in Beirut tonight.

24 hours after the ceasefire deal, there are still bullets over Beirut, but this is celebrating. military gunfire. Marking the end of nearly 14 months of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel that killed thousands of Lebanese citizens, and according to Lebanese officials, displaced more than a million. Going back home is the nicest feeling, said this woman from the eastern Bukkah Valley. We're returning with our dignity back to our homes. But for others, home appears to have all but vanished. Mahmoud al-Auni says his destroyed house is the only place he has to live.

The deal ends a conflict that started after the October 7th Hamas terror attacks. When Iranian-backed Hezbollah started firing rockets into northern Israel, killing dozens and displacing tens of thousands. During months of fighting, Israel killed Hezbollah's leader and top deputies, a top U.S. negotiator speaking to NBC's Andrea Mitchell. Look, the Lebanese people actually never wanted this conflict. They didn't ask for it. Hezbollah forced it on them.

But some Hezbollah supporters, insisting peace means victory. I asked him what he thought about the C-spire. He said, what C-spire? This is a victory. He says that Hezbollah definitely was victorious against the Israelis. A big part of this deal is that both sides reserve the right to respond in self-defense. And Israel's prime minister has made it clear that Israel will consider military action if the terms of the deal are violated. Tom?

Matt, Bradley, for us tonight. Matt, we thank you for that. Still ahead tonight, the violent crash landing after a plane misses the war. runway, dramatic video showing the moment of impact, the aircraft wrapping. You see it right there around a tree and clipping a fire hydrant, what we're learning about the people inside. Plus, sad news about former talk show host Wendy Williams, her team revealing she is permanently incapacitated due to dementia. And Amazon workers around the world preparing to go on strike through the busiest shopping weekend. The reason behind the move and what it could mean for

your Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Stay with us. We are back now with news of a strike that could really impact your holiday shopping at the world's largest online retailer. Amazon workers in more than 20 countries are set to hold protests between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the busiest time of the year for shopping. Organizers behind the make Amazon pay efforts say the protests are to hold Amazon accountable for labor abuses, environmental degradation, and threats to democracy. A spokesperson for Amazon telling NBC News, the company is proud of the competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, and safe work experience they provide. For more on this, let's bring in Brian Chung and Brian, this is serious. I mean, as we just said, it's the busiest time of year for online shopping. Yeah, look, I mean, when it comes to Amazon, this is their Super Bowl, right?

So you imagine that if there's going to be people walking out on the job, well, that could be a major impact to them. For what it's worth, if we just dial into the reason behind this strike, this is a group, as you mentioned, that's calling this make Amazon pay. they want better pay, they want better working conditions, and they have environmental concerns with the way that Amazon operates as well. This is two groups that have organized this. This is a Switzerland-based group called UNI Global and also progressive international. They're teaming up to organize this not just the United States, Tom, but as you mentioned, in over 20 countries around the world, including in the United Kingdom, what locations those are going to be specifically. We don't know at this point in time, but you can imagine that that could be a lot of people. You know, a lot of people are going to be

watching this, and they're going to be concerned? I mean, how will this affect their shopping and getting packages on time? Yeah, well, I mean, the short answer is we don't know. However, this is not the first time that this Make Amazon pay movement has been put together. They did the same strike during the Black Friday and Cyber Monday weekend last year, and it didn't really appear to have an impact on Amazon's performance. And for what it's worth, as you mentioned, Amazon does defend themselves against these allegations. And they say that they're always trying to look for ways to improve, but they say they're proud of the competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, and, quote, engaging safe work experience.

You know, I want to put something else on the screen for our viewers here that Amazon said. They said the world purchased more than a billion items on over an 11-day period, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday. This was last year. Do we think that this could affect the company at all? I mean, not the bottom line, but in getting packages, but in the long run? Yeah, and by the way, Amazon said they had a record-breaking performance last year. So it doesn't appear that the strike really impacted them, at least on that front.

But when you talk about the overall business, I mean, yeah, we all think about Amazon as the e-commerce Goliath in the industry. But we have to remember, it's not just in packages that they make money. Their Amazon Web Services are a huge part of their business. Arguably, the bigger one, which you know, talk to Wall Street analysts, they say that's the one they pay more attention to. So, again, this strike is a big deal, and we can't discount that. But again, Amazon is a good. Yeah. And as I'm sure you know, in the history of Amazon, they sort of stumbled upon that business. It turned out to me a huge moneymaker. Yeah. All right, Brian, great talking you, man. When we come back, dramatic rescue, a man about to roll off a bridge.

when an officer grabs him right before tragedy strikes. The incredible moment caught on camera. That's next. All right, we are back now with Top Stories News Feed. We begin with lawyers for former talk show host Wendy Williams, saying she is afflicted by early onset dementia, a legal memo saying the 60-year-old is, quote, cognitively impaired and permanently incapacitated.

Williams was diagnosed with primary progressive aphasia and dementia last year. The news comes from a lawsuit against the docu series, Where is Wendy Williams, which accuses the series of taking advantage of her? Williams has had health issues publicly since 2017 when she fainted on air before her show was canceled in 2022. Okay, a geyser erupting in Fullerton, California after a small plane crashed into a fire hydrant near the airport. Here is the surveillance video.

It shows the plane crash line. landing, skidding into the fire hydrant, and a nearby tree. Eyewitnesses rushed into help the two passengers as the fire hydrant explodes, sending water, shooting into the air. The two people on board were hospitalized and are expected to survive. And a life-saving leap, an Oklahoma City police officer saving a man who actually rolled off a bridge body cam video. You see it here showing a man sleeping on a bridge, roll over the side.

The officer leaps forward, getting to him in time to catch his sweatshirt. A passerby stopping to help pull the man to safety. The man was not injured, believe it or not, and the cop gave him a ride back to his family. Okay. And three decades of blue, the colorful drummers from the Blue Man Group will go dark soon. Both the New York and Chicago productions

of the painted performance are set to close early next year. However, the shows in Berlin, Boston, and Vegas will remain open. The New York production, get this open back in 1991, and performed more than 17,000 times over. its lifetime. The Blue Men Racking in, I should say, more than $100 million annually. Pretty lucrative.

Okay, now to an update on a story we've been following, three American prisoners have finally been released from a Chinese prison after being wrongfully detained in the country for years. The release part of a prisoner swap according to government officials, NBC's Janice McEray has this one.

After years in Chinese prisons, three Americans are heading home to night, Mark Swadhan, Kai Lee, and John Long, now safely in U.S. custody, according to the White House. The rare prisoner swap in the works for months. We spoke to the U.S. ambassador here last month. They were prosecuted and convicted of crimes, which they did not commit. There was no reason to put them in the jail. Mark Swadon was on death row since 2012 on drug charges. Kai Lee accused of spying and jailed after a closed-door trial. the State Department calling them wrongfully detained. China says their cases were handled according to law,

leaving families to lobby Congress to do more. What about my dad? When will it be his turn? China had jailed the third American, John Long, accusing him of being an FBI informant. Getting detained Americans released here, even to facilities back home, is complicated because there's no treaty or agreement between the countries

to transfer prison. According to a U.S. official, the U.S. handing back two Chinese nationals in return, including Xiu-Yanjun, a convicted spy prosecutors linked to China state security. Janice McAfeefraer, NBC News. Now at Top Story's Global Watch, and we begin with the new arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court. The ICC's chief prosecutor issuing a warrant for the Supreme General of Myanmar's military, Ong Lange for alleged crimes against the Rohingya Muslims. The general who sees power in 2021 is accused of persecuting and deporting members of the ethnic minority.

Nearly a million Rohingya have fled the country to escape what has been called an ethnic cleansing in the Buddhist majority nation. Okay, former Vietnamese property tycoon, Chong Milan has been ordered to pay $11 billion to avoid execution for her role in the nation's largest fraud scandal. Milan was convicted and sentenced to both life in prison and death after she was convicted of embezzling a total of $16.4 billion in two trials. Vietnamese law requires the return of three-quarters of stolen assets for a jury to reconsider that sentence. Her lawyer says Milan can meet payback requirements to avoid execution. A Ukrainian free diver, Katerina Sardirska, broke her own world record off the coast of Dominica.

Sardiska made the record-breaking dive with no fins in a... a free diving competition. You can see a clip right over here. She dove to a depth of 269 feet in three minutes and 10 seconds. Again, she did this with no fins and no tank holding her breath the entire time. This marks her sixth global record weeks after Sodorzka dove 262 feet off the coast of Greece. Okay, when we come back, do you think you could make an entire Thanksgiving meal for just $20? One TikToker cracked the code buying all of her ingredients from Dollar Tree. We'll show you what she used to make a delicious three-course meal. That's next.

We're back now with an early look at Black Friday. That time of year where savvy shoppers hunt down the best deals for electronics, clothes, toys, and more. But how can they be sure they're really getting the best price? Experts now say price checkers are the way to go. Here's Brian Chung again for us tonight. With the days of Doorbusters long gone, the calendar creep of Black Friday has now made its way earlier in the week. Amazon Target at Walmart are already offering discounts to consumers. The 25th of November, that's less than a fortnight. Putting the onus on the shopper to see if the prices are truly perfect now.

Shoppers are skeptical. Oh, it says it's 20% off, but that's actually the price has been all year. Black Friday does remain the best time of. year for the deepest discounts, according to Adobe Analytics, which tracks prices online. Because consumers perceive the best absolute discounts to fall between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, they really make sure they're offering some of their best priced items during that period. We wanted to see for ourselves tracking the price tags on some gifts you might be eyeing for the holidays. Take the newest AirPods pros, which have been discounted on and off through the last

few months. But the best deal we saw was this weekend, 30 bucks off. And the same trend with this coffee maker, which is the cheap as it's been in months. But other items we tracked like these sneakers, these toys, or this TV haven't been significantly discounted in recent weeks. I think that some brands may say it's on sale. However, it's like the same price, but they may just like fake the price as like higher and saying, oh, it's on sale. Experts advice use price checking tools and take advantage of price matching in store to

truly get the best deals. A little homework going a long way this holiday season. season. Brian Chung, NBC News. And a big thanks to Brian for pulling double duty tonight. And it's not just electronics and gadgets you can get a good deal on this year. We want to show you what could be the best value. You'll see this holiday season for your dinner table. Take a look at this receipt for a viral trend. It's called the Dollar Tree Thanksgiving dinner. And it's a full meal for just 20 bucks. All the Thanksgiving staples are there from turkey stuffing to potatoes,

even cranberries, all just $1.25 each. The idea may sound half-baked, but with many feeling that financial strain boiling over this holiday season, it's becoming more and more popular. NBC's Ellison Barber has this look at the TikTok creator behind the ultimate Thanksgiving value meal. This is all of the best parts of Thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving your feast with friends and family doesn't have to break the bank. I have done the $20 Thanksgiving dinner two years in a row. This will be my third year. Tick-Tock creator Rebecca Chobot, known online for her Dollar Tree dinner's recipes, going viral for this year's affordable take on a classic holiday meal. I have a bit of a vision for this dinner. The idea is for an appetizer, we're going to make some fried mac and cheese balls. And that's why I got the ranch dressing is to dip those in.

For the entree, I'm actually going to be combining the entree and the sides and make a best of Thanksgiving cassero. And then for the dessert, we're going to make some caramel apple cookie bars. All of this picked up from Dollar Tree for just one $20 bill. And I attribute this largely to the fact that Dollar Tree got a good amount of Thanksgiving-related food items in stock this year, including canned turkey. Compare this to the average cost of a Thanksgiving meal, which the Farm Bureau reports will cost almost three times as much, with half of that going to the turkey alone. A whole turkey only benefits somebody with a fridge big enough to store it in and an oven to bake it in. Rebecca's meal racking up 8 million views on TikTok. Other content creators seeing the meal's impact in real time.

Went to the dollar store tonight to get some canned vegetables, and this woman pulled up next to me whenever I was going in. And, you know, she was kind of driving a beat-up car, and she had three little kids with her. And she said that for Thanksgiving this year, she was just going to do like frozen meals or something. But she said because of those videos that she's actually going to be able to give her kids like a real Thanksgiving dinner and her kids are excited for it. Rebecca, emotional to hear the impact of her recipe. I don't have the words to describe how I'm feeling today. I think the closest I can come to is that I'm humbled and I am honored. A reminder.

It's not about the food you serve, but the people you share it with. There's a ton of people because I've seen the comments. People who are struggling who now have an idea of weight, I can actually make something with variety for me or my family. Ellison Barber, NBC News. All right, we thank Ellison for that. And if you're cooking a full turkey, there's help if you need it. When we come back, we're taking you inside the Butterball Hotline headquarters where employees

are working all day to answer your turkey question. How you can reach them, and what they say is the craziest question they've ever been asked. That's next. Finally tonight, Americans across the country are prepping for one of the biggest cooking days of the year. But mastering the perfect turkey is no easy feat. That's where the butterball turkey talk line comes in, where you can actually chat with trained turkey experts to answer all of your kitchen questions and hopefully avoid any holiday disasters. Our Maggie Vespah has this one.

Catherine, this turkey tastes half as good as it looks. I think we're all in for a very big treat. In a country that's turned ruining holiday dinners, into a bit time-honored as the turkey itself. Oh, my God! I know! It's stuck! There stands one ultimate, if not iconic, solution.

The Butterball hotline. Butterball has a hotline? Yeah. God, I'm sorry. I love my... country. Hi, butterball turkey talk line. How can I help you? Welcome to the real-life war room of America's Thanksgiving feast. You're looking for 170 in the breast and 180 in the thigh. Okay. It sounds like it's the feathers on there. Embedded in this suburban

Chicago office building. I'm listening in here. I mean, this is like nonstop. Yes, the phones are stacked and we have cues of people just coming in one after the other. Butterball Turkey Talk Line, can I help you? Gwen Carver. Lyle is one of more than 50 turkey talk line experts manning Butterball's phones, live chats, and emails sun up to sundown. Yeah, what size turkey do you have? Fielding every culinary question imaginable from cooking the bird to perfecting sides. Do people cry when they call? Oh, some people. It's awful. And I want to cry. What's like maybe the weirdest question you've gotten? I had one person call me. They were asking about the

stopper in the sink if it was oven safe and I said well why why are you asking and she said well we were following the turkey in the sink we took the turkey out put it in the pan and didn't realize it was stuck under the wing and they cooked the turkey with the sink stopper through the whole thing they're busy and they're doing so many things on the holiday it's like common sense sometimes goes out the window and just things happen and then they call us all talk line experts come in with backgrounds in food and cooking, but go through extra training at Butterball University. Butterball U is when we bring all the incoming freshmen, and we run them through making a turkey. We want to teach them the butterball way. The experts are trained in every method imaginable,

from deep fried to suvied, even microwaved. There's a lot of new ways that have emerged over the years. And you have to keep up on it. We keep up on it. That dedication, a lifesaver for even the least skilled, long holiday chefs. I've called before. Have you really? Yeah. Have you really? We'll have to look it up.

And when I tell you, my friend and I, we were roommates. We were in our 20s. And one of your experts talked us through pulling out the mostly frozen neck. And on the phone with one of your experts, we screamed bloody murder. And she responded so sweetly with, oh, is this y'all's first turkey? Aw. So a big question for you. How did it turn out?

It was so good. It went beautifully. Since launching in 1981, staff estimate they've helped millions eager to feed their families. Some stories stick. I had a gentleman call me one year and like he was the sweetest guy and his wife had passed away and he was like asking me for advice and I literally could cry. It's just so, it's just such a unique experience to help people. That one stuck with you. Yeah.

It does. They do. And tonight, the calls keep coming as Americans count down to their annual feast. We hear stories on stories of people that are having like the best year or the worst year. And we're just there to help. It's really an honor. I honestly enjoy it. Many giving thanks someone's there to help. Two to two and a half hours. So they can leave the holiday pitfalls to Hollywood. Maggie Vespa, NBC News. Illinois. All right, we thank Maggie Vespa for that story and all the turkey experts for saving so many Thanksgiving dinners. Now, if you have a turkey emergency tomorrow, you can get in touch with them by calling this number. It's very easy to remember. 1-800 butterball. One-800-butterball.

Simple. You can text the number on the screen or chat with an expert online. We thank you so much for watching Top Story tonight. And we hope you have a great Thanksgiving tomorrow with your family. We're going to be here. There's more news on the way. Stay right there.