Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Episode Date: October 19, 2023

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, a special edition of Top Story from Tel Aviv, President Biden on the ground in a war zone as a rage over the deadly hospital strike explodes onto the streets. New videos showing the moment that blast rocked a crowded hospital in Gaza City, killing hundreds of Palestinians. President Biden meeting face to face with Prime Minister Netanyahu, telling him the U.S. does not believe Israel was behind that attack, saying it was likely a misfired rocket that came from inside Gaza. break down what all of those new videos show, plus the latest announcement about the aid that the Palestinian people so desperately need. How soon those trucks could cross in from the Egypt border? Fury in the streets, the U.S. Embassy in Beirut surrounded by protesters, angry over that hospital bombing and U.S. support for Israel, authorities using water cannons and tear gas to break up the crowds, rage bubbling over all across the Arab world tonight as fears

of a broader regional conflict mount. Inside the Iron Dome tonight, my up-close look at one of the world's best defense systems, a complex network that uses radar and rockets to protect the people of Israel, how the Hamas terror attack stretched that system to its limits. Back at home, law enforcement on high alert, intelligence memos obtained by NBC News,

warning of a rise in pro-Hamas extremists on social media, calling for attacks on Jewish targets in the U.S. how groups linked to al-Qaeda and neo-Nazism are looking to exploit this war, and the arrests late today as protesters packed into a congressional office building. Jordan's support collapsing the Ohio Republican falling short in a second straight vote to become Speaker of the House. This time, by an even wider margin, the growing calls tonight to give the temporary speaker full power. We're live on the Hill.

Plus Holloway Killer confesses Yoran Vanderslupe after decades, revealing in shocking detail how he murdered Natalie Holloway, what he says he used as a weapon before pushing her body out to sea. And what Holloway's mother told our Sam Brock about the moment she came face to face with her daughter's killer. And God's linebacker, a nun tackling environmentalist activist to the ground in France. The fight over a construction project that sent that sister over the edge. Top story starts right now. And good evening. Thank you for joining us on another special edition of Top Story, live from Tel Aviv.

We are following several major headlines on this war once again tonight, including the new intelligence on that deadly hospital strike and that major show of support for Israel from President Biden on the ground here in Tel Aviv and the promise of humanitarian aid for the people inside Gaza. But we want to begin first with that devastating explosion and what we have learned. in the last 24 hours. Newly verified video showing the moment of that deadly explosion that has killed nearly 500 people. Chaotic scenes inside the hospital and in the parking lot which bore the brunt of that blast.

A massive blaze engulfing cars. You see it right here, sending people running for safety. In the last 24 hours, we have learned much more about where this rocket may have come from. Video reposted by the Israeli military appearing to show a missile being fired from inside Gaza towards Israel before it ignited in the air and exploded on the ground. That explosion happening

just hours before President Biden landed here in Tel Aviv. You can see him here embracing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a show of solidarity with Israel. And as the visit unfolded two senior U.S. officials confirming to NBC news that they believe the hospital blast was caused by a misfired rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a militant group that is separate from Hamas, but Biden making it clear the U.S. does not believe Israel was responsible. I was deeply saddened and outraged by the explosion at the hospital in Gaza yesterday.

And based on what I've seen, it appears as though it was done by the other team, not you. But there's a lot of people out there not sure. That horrific hospital attack in Biden's show of support for Israel's sparking outrage across the Arab world tonight. Protesters in Beirut throwing rocks and sticks at the American embassy, security there, using tear gas and water cannons to disperse the crowd. Similar scenes of anger in Jordan, where President Biden was scheduled to meet with the president of the Palestinian Authority and regional leaders. But that summit canceled. Biden wrapping up his visit, heading back to the U.S. after seven and a half hours on the ground. One major sign of

progress coming from that visit, Israel tonight says it will end its. siege of the absolutely devastated Gaza strip, meaning food, water, and medicine will be allowed in through the Egyptian border. That means those aid trucks we've seen stalled on the Egyptian side of the border should soon be able to move in. Israel says it will not let aid pass through its own borders with Gaza until Hamas frees its hostages. But that morsel of progress doing little to quell the rage so many are feeling, our Ellison Barber spoke to a Gaza resident about the promise of aid and the anger they are feeling. And she leads us off tonight. Just hours after that deadly hospital strike in Gaza City reportedly left nearly 500 people dead.

President Biden arrived in Israel, becoming the first U.S. president to visit Israel during wartime. As long as the United States stands and we will stand forever, we'll not let you ever be alone. The president declaring what he called unprecedented support for Israel and backing their claims that the hospital attack was caused by a Palestinian Islamic jihadist. rocket that misfired. I was outraged and saddened by the enormous loss of life yesterday in the hospital in Gaza. Based on the information we've seen today, it appears a result of an errant rocket fired by a terrorist group in Gaza. Two senior U.S. officials telling NBC News, the U.S. conducted an independent assessment and believes the strike came from inside of Gaza. But Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and Gaza's Ministry of Health, as well as other Arab leaders, say Israeli

air strikes are to blame. After his meeting with Biden, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced a deal on humanitarian aid, promising Israel will allow some humanitarian aid into southern Gaza via Egypt. In Gaza, the situation is dire. Gaza has literally no electricity now, zero, and almost no water. Jason Sawa lives in Gaza City, but he and his family have been forced to flee south. When we spoke to him, he was in the dark.

There's no power in Gaza, and service can be spotty. But he knew about President Biden's visit to Israel and was dismayed. If you could speak to President Biden about this current situation, what would you want him to know? I feel disgusted. I mean, he came, he comforted the families of the victims and talked so passionately. about them and about Israel, their friendship to Israel, the same country that has been oppressing us, killing us for 75 years. He knows that. He's certainly old enough to know that he lived the beginnings of all this, and it's frankly disgusting. As for the announcement of aid.

Well, of course, humanitarian aid is desperately needed. This is the pool we use to flush our whether this claim is true or whether it will happen on the ground. I don't know things are changing, changing from one minute to the other. In some aspects, he says he doesn't even want it. I honestly don't give a damn about aid. We want this man to stop President Biden should focus his effort on that, in particular, not getting bloody aid into this place. That's not what we're looking for.

We want this to end. Ellison, Barbara, joins us now from the Israel-Ghasa border tonight. Ellison, the U.S. and Israel say some humanitarian aid will now be allowed into Gaza from Egypt. We've seen those trucks lined up. But do we have any updates on the Rafa crossing, whether those Palestinian-American that are trying to cross out those refugees, will they be allowed out? So we don't know on that part right now. I'll remind viewers, this is the sole land crossing that does not go into Israeli. territory. There was a point a few days ago what we thought the Rafa crossing was going to

open so foreign nationals could leave and aid could go in. It did not happen. President Biden, when he was on Air Force One, told reporters traveling with him that he thinks the border will be open to aid probably Thursday or Friday. It's still an outstanding question as to, one, whether or not that will actually happen. And you heard from that man inside of Gaza, inside of Gaza, there is some doubt as to whether or not humanitarian aid will actually get to the people who need it. And the question of whether or not foreign nationals will be able to leave, that still is unclear right now. The problem with all of these negotiations and talks, Tom, is there are other parties, not just one or two, but multiple parties that have to be involved in an

agreement to allow this to happen. And that includes inside of Gaza, Hamas, and that militant group Islamic Jihad. Tom. And they're all blaming each other. All right. Alison, Barbara for us, Ellison, thank you. The explosion at the Gaza Hospital has sparked rage in the West Bank. Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel was there and has that story for us tonight. This is the explosion that has shaken the Middle East. New video shows that deadly explosion at a hospital in Gaza City that reportedly killed hundreds

and sparked protests. In the West Bank, Palestinians today dragged out the barricades and slung Russia. Doc said Israeli soldiers. There weren't many, mostly teenagers. Israeli troops kept their distance, but when the stone throwers got too close, the soldiers opened fire, sending medical crews rushing in. And here's one more injured being taken away. The Israelis are picking them off with what appears to be rubber bullets at this stage. No one was seriously injured here today, but a number new generation of Palestinians is taking to the streets. While Israel and Hamas are blaming each other for the hospital explosion, a new Palestinian

uprising could be starting. Today our crew filmed at the Gaza hospital site and saw families collecting what they could from the debris amid charred cars and backpacks and bags on the ground. Disaster. Disaster. Impact on children. Woman's... Suddenly, there were lights in the sky, and when we looked up, a missile fell, this man says, I covered my face while friends close to me were killed. This place was a safe haven for women and children who fled Israeli shelling near the hospital,

this doctor says. Children were torn to pieces. Other hospitals in Gaza, already running low on supplies, are now struggling to keep up. These wounded all have needed intensive care facilities and ventilators. Water was running out before I left, and the electricity now started to run out. The generators were running out of diesel. Iran, which backs both Hamas and Hezbollah, is working to fan the rage even further. Iran's president calling on Muslim nations to isolate Israel,

impose an oil embargo, and bring revenge. Richard joins us now live tonight from Jerusalem. He's moved his location from where he was earlier. Richard, the size of those crowds, it was impressive, and it does say something about the rage inside of people over this war. There's obviously new reporting and new intelligence that has come out that the U.S. says they have in Israel. We've talked about the truth being secondary about that hospital strike, right?

Because the Palestinians won't believe the Israelis. The Israelis won't believe the Palestinians. My question to you is how much were the protests today about the hospital and how much were they about just in general what's happened in Gaza and Arabs across this region just being very upset? I think a combination of both. The protests in the West Bank were quite small. They were supposed to have been a lot larger.

But Palestinian police who worked for Mahmoud Abbas, the moderate leader, actually kept the crowds from forming. So there were just a handful of young people at that particular protest. It could have been much worse. But we saw demonstrations in Yemen, in Beirut, all across the Arab world. And it's not just about this hospital incident. I think there's an impression that people are outraged because of this terrible event that took place at the Gaza Hospital under circumstances that Israel,

says are not the version of events that people in Gaza believe they are. It is the cumulative effect. It is all of the strikes that are taking place on apartment buildings, on UN school, on refugee camps within the Gaza Strip. And all of this is playing out across the Arab world on Arab television stations 24 hours a day. So the hospital incident here is seen as just one of many incidents. And then you combine that with the rage, the outrage that people were feeling about this conflict before. Many of us are talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the first time in many years. Here, it is daily life. It is something that Palestinians live with every day. It is a conflict that people in Egypt and Jordan and Lebanon

talk about and feel constantly. So there's a lot of rage that has been building up and I think that is now pouring over. Going back to Gaza, because a lot of your report also had to do with the people suffering in Gaza even after this hospital strike. And I want to ask you, with aid about to come in, hopefully this time,

and we've reported this story maybe three or four times since this war has started. What are the people in Gaza do you think? What do they need most? They will tell you that what they need most is the airstrikes to stop, that the aid coming in is helpful, that they need food, they need water, they need medicine, every family will have its own particular needs. But overwhelmingly, what they want is a safe place to go, not just some trucks coming

in bringing supplies. That is what's impacting people's lives the most. They say they understand why Israel and Hamas are fighting. Anyone can understand that. But there are 2.3 million people in the Gaza Strip, and those who are not involved in the fight don't understand why there are bombs falling all around them. That is what they will tell you they need most. Richard Engel first night, Richard, thank you for that.

The reverberations from the hospital attacks still being felt throughout the region. So what can we learn from videos of the blast to determine who's behind? I want to bring in retired Army Colonel Steve Warren. He's a former Pentagon spokesman for campaigns in the fight against ISIS. Colonel, let's start with the videos that we have verified from the time of the attack. One that was captured on Al Jazeera's feed. What stands out to you from these videos? Well, thanks, Tom.

You know, the first thing we see in this video, and it'll roll here, is, you see this white dot moving through the sky. That's clearly a projectile of some sort, either a missile or a rocket. And then what you see here at a fairly high altitude is an incredible, altitude is an explosion, right? A fireball in the sky. This tells you that something went wrong, right? This isn't what you normally see when a conventional munition is fired. Then later, of course, you know, moments later, we see the fireball on the ground. This clearly is an impact of some sort. What we're not clear about is what it was. Was it an actual warhead that impacted the

ground, or was it the remnants of a missile that somehow malfunctioned or just went wrong somehow? So let's walk through some of the aftermath as well. What can we learn from those videos? Right. So, you know, the next video that we see here is a daylight video where we're actually able to see in a little bit more clear detail exactly what happened on the ground. And I think what's most notable in this video is really two things. One is right here you can see this crater in the ground. What's most notable about this crater is its size, and that size is fairly small.

You know, some are claiming, you know, that this may have been an Israeli missile. This small crater doesn't line up with that, Tom. This reminds me, in many cases, of the types of craters we saw in Iraq when we would be fired on by these sort of small, homemade missiles. The other thing we see here, as the camera pans around, there's no significant damage to the structures, right? So this, again, tells me, not a modern conventional munition that we see being used by Western militaries by, and frankly, the Israeli military. What we have here is...

Colonel, I'm sorry, can you explain, Colonel, can you explain that point a little more? Explain that point a little more, because I think it's important. Right. You know, what we see here, you know, we know that Hamas or in this case, You know, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, they're using in many cases, Islamic Jihad, right. They're using in many cases homemade weapons or weapons that they've cooked up, you know, through various means. But these aren't modern, conventional, powerful weapon systems. And so, frankly, what's most noticeable, especially in this overhead shot, what we see is burned out cars, not exploded cars,

A conventional munition has tremendous force, concussive power we see, and we've seen this in other videos, Tom, of strikes that have happened in elsewhere, where you'll see piles of rubble. We don't see that here. What we see is the result of a fireball. So it could be that the missile disintegrated and then triggered an explosion of some sort of an accelerant on the ground. There's speculation that this may have been fuel remaining in the missile or the rocket when it is. When it hit the ground, it ignited and created this fireball. And then finally, Colonel, how is the U.S. able to conclude that this wasn't Israel that conducted this strike on that hospital?

Sure. You know, they use several means, right? They've used a combination, really, of overhead imagery. They've used open source. So, you know, frankly, videos like we're watching here, this has been a real part of their analysis. They've also got intercepts, site analysis, other types of intelligence. And what they do is they weave all this together into really a tapestry or a mosaic to create a picture. So they use the various sources, and I can be quite sure that they looked at this exact video that we're watching right now as part of their analysis.

And that drove them to the conclusion that this came from somewhere inside Gaza and most likely from Islamic Jihad. Colonel Steve Warren, we thank you so much for your analysis. It was incredibly helpful. We now want to turn to some other news we're also following in this region, massive protest erupting outside the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon after Hezbollah called for a day of rage following that deadly hospital blast. Huge crowds also gathering in cities across the Middle East, as Richard was reporting about, in a show of support for Palestinians.

Matt Bradley has the latest. Tonight, chaos erupting in the streets of Lebanon's capital city. After pro-Palestinian protesters turned violent outside the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, even setting part of the building on fire. Lebanese security forces attempted to quell the mayhem with water cannons and tear gas, leading to brutal and bloody clashes with police. The anti-Israeli militant group Hezbollah calling for a day of rage following the Gaza hospital blast that the Gaza health ministry said killed hundreds of civilians. The crowds that are filling public squares throughout the Arab and Muslim world, putting the blame squarely on Israel. While Israel points to documentation, they say, shows the explosion was a result of a failed launch by Palestinian Islamic jihad. The U.S. making a similar assessment.

It's really that the Israelis have left us as Arab people no other chance or no other choice but to resist. And resistance means that you have to resist with whatever. It never means you've got including armed resistance. One member of parliament from Hezbollah we spoke to calling those U.S. claims propaganda. We believe that the Israelis are committing a genocide in Gaza and in Palestine. And now it is the responsibility of the international society to do something about it and to hold that on Yahoo and the Israel is responsible for it. A palpable anger directed toward both Israel and the U.S.

US. They're chanting death to America. It's a cry that's uniting the entire region. A view from above shows thousands protesting in Yemen, the streets teeming with demonstrators in Tunisia, and police clashing with protesters in Jordan. As fighting with Iran-backed Hezbollah on Israel's northern border, Stokes fear that a multi-front war could soon become a reality. So Matt, let's pick up right there where you left off.

Has there been any recent indication of this conflict escalating or expanding beyond rocket launches back and forth? Yeah, I mean, Tom, we've been seeing this low simmer for much of the past week, but now it looks like it's kind of starting to boil over because just yesterday we saw the deadliest day so far in those cross-border exchanges between Lebanon and Israel. There were nine people killed. Five of them were Hezbollah. Now, this is all various reporting from various sides, but it looks like what was a cold conflict is finally becoming hotter and hotter. The question is, and as we got to in that package, Iran could be the linchpin. If Iran makes a decision, they could bring all of their allies, their most important one being Hezbollah, into that fight with Israel. And that's something that could drag this entire region into war. Tom?

All right, Matt Bradley, for us, we want to stay now with those massive protests there in Beirut and show you something pretty incredible. Our partners at Sky News were also on the ground as that violence broke out near the U.S. Embassy in Beirut. Sky News international correspondent Alex Rossi walking the streets with those protesters fighting through that tear gas, the outrage from those demonstrators tonight at America's response to this war, and how President Biden's visit to the region could be inflaming tensions even more. atmosphere here is very charged indeed and these scenes are being replicated across the region. You can see people here, they're breaking stones. I'll give you a little bit of a geography tour over there where the smokes coming up. That's the road. That's the road leading to the U.S. Embassy and people here are effectively saying that the United States is complicit in

what they claim are war crimes being committed in Gaza. We'll try and go a bit further forwards and show you what's going down here. As you can imagine, the air is thick with tear smoke. We're not going to probably going to be able to stay here for very long. But I reckon there's probably a few hundred, perhaps a few more people here. Now, just round that corner where the smoke is thickest is the entrance to the US Embassy. We'll try and make it there, but you can see there's a lot of tear gas. and it's quite difficult to breathe here

it gets in your eyes as well but you'll forgive the language there as a atmosphere extremely charged just move around here Dean follow me come down here

you can see people are slinging they make slings to throw stones as well we'll just move around the corner here and you can see where I'm struggling with the tear gas. But this fire here was started last night. This is the second day of protests that have happened here. We're just going to move back a bit now because the tear gas is overwhelming. It's quite difficult to talk. It's quite difficult to breathe. The danger,

of course, for the Middle East is that these kinds of eruptions, these protests, they just carry on and they become uncontrollable igniting the whole region. Now, President Joe Biden It's in television speaking with what is a key ally, but that's, if anything, is inflaming the reaction here on the streets. They don't see the United States as an honest broker at all in all of this. They see the United States as complicit. People here have told me that the bombs falling on Gaza are for a large part made in the United States. Sky News is Alex Rossi there for us in Beirut. Israel, in our new look at one of the most important weapons in Israel's arsenal,

it's called the Iron Dome, a sophisticated missile defense system that allows Israel to repel enemy rocket attacks. Tonight, our interview with an Israeli defense official about the state-of-the-art system, how it works in the staggering number of lives. It's already saved. Much of the fighting in this war has been in the skies overhead, day and night, where Israel has a massive advantage, but Hamas has. launched thousands of rockets. Some say Israel's Iron Dome is the world's best defense against

missiles. We were given access to see it up close. That's one of the batteries that makes up this system. This technology was developed by Israel, and the way it works is that when a rocket is fired from Gaza, that battery right there launches another missile that crashes mid-air, making sure the people in this country stay safe. The system is a combination of a radar unit monitoring the skies and the direction of the incoming missile, a control center determining if that rocket will strike a population center and a battery able to launch dozens of missiles that can destroy an enemy rocket launched from up to 43 miles away. The last about 10 days, Hamas has launched over 6,500 rockets.

6,500. Over 6,500 rockets in 10 days. We would have thousands of casualties, unbelievable destruction, injuries, and we would be living in a very different reality. Hamas can't match Israel's firepower, but training videos published online show they are stocked with rockets. And in 2020, this video shows them digging up pipes to convert them into projectiles.

Israel says the Iron Dome is 90% effective. But during the attacks on October 7th, Hamas overwhelmed the system. Most of the time, the Iron Dome works. But there are rare occasions when rockets fired from Gaza are so many that a few get through, like here in Ashkelon, where a rocket hit this building with people inside. This couple was home when the rocket hit. What has the rocket barrage been like?

They say the missiles come like rain, and they wouldn't be here without the Iron Dome. Now to have a war here in Israel is impacting the U.S. authorities. And U.S. authorities tell NBC News that the anger over the conflict has opened the door to extremists looking to incite violence with one official warning of a heightened threat environment. Maggie Bespa has the latest. Tonight, authorities in the U.S. ramping up security amid warnings about potential violence mounting nationwide over the Israel-Hamas war. In New York, the NYPD ordering officers indefinitely to be uniformed and ready to deploy.

American officials and private analysts telling NBC news, extremists are flooding social media with calls for attacks on Jewish communities and other targets in the U.S. and Europe, with groups linked to al-Qaeda and American neo-Nazis seeking to exploit the war, according to intelligence memos obtained by NBC News. A homeland security official telling NBC News, DHS is monitoring a heightened threat environment in the U.S. The FBI, also on high alert. We stay laser-focused on mitigating those threats. Tonight, the NYPD's hate crimes unit asking for the public's help,

finding this man who they say punched a woman in a subway station Saturday, telling her he did it, quote, because you are Jewish. This as protests continue across the country. In Washington, D.C., dozens were arrested at the Capitol during a rally of Jewish Americans calling for a ceasefire. Seasbite out. And in suburban Chicago last night, more than 1,500 people packed a vigil for a Palestinian-American boy. He was a child. A child filled with love. any hate. Prosecutors say six-year-old Wadiah Alfayumi was stabbed dozens of times by his family's landlord who they say was angry about the Hamas attacks. Joseph Zuba faces murder and hate crime charges in Illinois and has not yet entered a plea. A child taken and a country on edge as war

wages on a world away. Maggie Vespah joins us tonight from Chicago. So Maggie, these security concerns aren't just limited to the U.S. There's also been incidents internationally. Yeah, Tom, absolutely. In fact, among the incidents that we're hearing about in Berlin, police say two people this morning through Molotov cocktails at a synagogue there, and they say reportedly no one was hurt. And then also in France, eight airports today face security concerns, and one had to be evacuated due to a bomb scare. Tom? Maggie, Vespa for us, Maggie, thank you. Still ahead on this special edition of Top Story. The other major headlines were watching back at home.

home. The House of Representatives still scrambling to elect a speaker. Support for Jim Jordan collapsing as he loses a second straight vote, the other options Republicans are now looking at. And the Holloway killer confesses the shocking account coming directly from Yoran Van Sleut, how he says he killed Natalie Holloway and what he did with her body. We're back live from Tel Aviv, but we want to turn to the latest now on the battle for House Speaker in the U.S. Congressman Jim Jordan losing a second round of voting for the job as the chamber marks its second week without a speaker. Republicans remaining deeply divided over who should lead the conference, with Jordan getting one fewer vote than yesterday.

Ryan Noble joins us now from Capitol Hill. Hey, Ryan, so Jordan got 190 votes today. Walk us through what exactly happened. Well, basically what happened is you saw a couple of people flip their votes back to in favor of Jordan, but more move away from Jordan. And so that's why he ended up with fewer votes today than he had in the first round of voting, 199 votes, which is the lowest number that any candidate for Speaker has gotten in in close to 100 years.

And it really paints a bleak picture for Jim Jordan in terms of his future moving forward if he hopes to be Speaker. There is a lot of consensus around those that are holdouts that they believe that they have other support in their ranks, that that number could be even more if there's a third round of voting as soon as tomorrow. So at this point, Jordan is insistent that he wants to plow on.

His most prominent supporters in Congress are encouraging him to see this through, reminding us all that it took Kevin McCarthy 15 ballots before he was finally elected Speaker, and they believe that Jordan should press ahead, even though right now the prospects don't look very good, Tom. Ryan, what happens now? Does it seem like, or could it possibly be somebody other than Jordan? I mean, there are possibilities floating out there. Tom, the most obvious being a proposal by David Joyce, who's a Republican from Ohio, to empower the current Speaker Pro Tem, Patrick McHenry on a short-term basis, giving him limited powers to basically allow him the opportunity to move legislation to the floor that's important, to help avoid a government shutdown, to pass an aid package that would help the situation where you are in Israel and, of course, Ukraine and others. But even that proposal doesn't really have a whole lot of support. In fact, many Republicans are coming out vocally opposed to that.

So if it were to pass, it would require the support of Democrats. Some Democrats say they're open to that. The real question is whether or not there's enough Democrats and Republicans that could combine to do something along those lines. The short answer to all of this, Tom, is at this point, there is really no viable path forward. And there's really no clear answer as to when this standoff in terms of picking the night. speaker of the House will be over. Ryan, thank you for that. When we come back, the war on disinformation across social media,

fake videos and accounts about what is happening inside Gaza, leaders on both sides lying, stoking anger for this war. After the break, Martin Fletcher, who served as NBC's Tel Aviv Bureau Chief for decades, joins us live to break down the impact it's all having on this conflict. Stay with us. All right, we're back now live from Tel Aviv, and we want to turn to the concern over the spread of disinformation about the events of the Israel Hamas war and the impact that has on the conflict with misleading social media posts and violent content circulating online, along with leaders in both sides, sometimes lying. It can be hard to know what is real versus fake. Joining us now as veteran foreign correspondent and former Tel Aviv Bureau Chief Martin Fletcher.

Martin, it's never been easy, right, to report out of this region. You probably know that better than anyone. But I think last night sort of highlighted that even in the modern era, right? We had this attack on the hospital, several news outlets race to report it one way. The headlines quickly started changing, and then this morning we woke up and there was something completely different. And then people at home may be wondering, you know, how do you get to the truth? And the most interesting part is that here, right now, the truth is secondary, right? because Palestinians will never believe the Israelis,

and the Israelis won't believe the Palestinians. Unfortunately, sadly, that's exactly right, Tom. You know, the truth doesn't really matter in this particular case. You know, it's always been said that truth is the first casualty of war. So in this case, we had the immediate information. As soon as that explosion happened, Hamas, immediately said, Israel did it, 500 dead. It then turned out, according to Israeli intelligence sources,

backed up by American intelligence sources, that it wasn't Israel. That seems to be the state of play right now. But Arab world, the Arab world, immediately erupted in rage and fury and demonstrations that we've been seeing on the program, Tom. And that isn't going to change regardless. They don't want to hear the truth. Neither side really wants to hear a truth different from its own truth. And that's not only typical in the Middle East, it's part of the division in the United States and across Europe too.

Social media emphasizes division, and everybody believes what they want to believe. The minute you say something and it agrees with what you think, you believe it. And that's the problem today. The hospital explosion is an absolutely perfect example of truth, giving way to lies. And then I want to try and say lies run rampant. But what we're really talking about is truth is no longer the key point. It's what you believe. And that belief is stirring the rage and fury in the Middle East, Tom.

Martin, has it gotten better or worse on both sides as far as how they use the media? And I asked that because obviously social media is a big factor, but now there's just so much media everywhere, right? There were multiple television networks, cable networks, every foreign language, and the entire world is watching right now. And you've been here so long, you've covered this for so long. I don't know if the relationship between both sides was, I don't want to use the word good, but I would say that both sides are, incredibly savvy and are definitely accessible when it comes to trying to get their side of the story out. Yeah, that's exactly. The distrust, though, runs so deep.

And historically, by the way, this was not the first time you've had this kind of incident, not by a long way. I remember about, I think it was about, I think it was in 2014, there was an explosion in the Shati refugee camp in Gaza, Palestinian refugee camp. Instant fury with Israel for causing it, it then turned out, again, the same thing. It was a rocket launch from within Gaza that exploded inside the Palestinian refugee camp. And again, the same thing. It didn't matter what the truth was.

The convenient truth for the Palestinians was that Israel did it. Israel tried to explain, no, we didn't, and here's proof. So social media amplifies everything. And the distrust between Israel and the Palestinians, which is decades old, in fact, many decades old, just gets exaggerated and confirmed. by the hatred, the outpouring of hatred on social media. I can't tell you how many horrible messages I've received about my reporting, for instance, and all I'm trying to, we're trying to establish the truth.

That's what we're trying to do. But if the truth is inconvenient to one side, they ignore it. Martin, how difficult is it to get, I want to say every night we come out here and we report the full story and we always, always strive for the truth. And I stand by this show, and obviously behind all of NBC News is reporting. But you can't deny the fact that a majority of the media, especially the media that has money, the bigger networks, the bigger news organizations are covering this war from Israel. We do have very brave producers and reporters that are inside of Gaza and photojournalists

that are risking their life every single minute of this day. But by having sort of, if you will, the legion of reporters on this side of the border, how much does that shape the story? hugely, hugely. The impact on the reporting is simply that journalists report what they can. At the moment, I believe there are no foreign journalists inside Gaza. They're inside Israel, as you know well, you and your colleagues, looking for stories, looking for information. And because you're in Israel, you're telling the Israeli side of the story. It's inevitable. You're doing your best to tell the Palestinian side, too, through the work of Palestinians in Gaza. But it's very difficult and very dangerous. And here's an astonishing statistic. which beggars the imagination. Apparently about 15 journalists have been killed in Gaza. Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza, three in Israel. 15 doing their job trying to report the news.

So by the way, this gives me an opportunity. This stuff about fake news, please. People like you, our colleagues in Israel, in Gaza, risking their lives to deliver information as accurately as possible. You know, hats off to you guys, really. It's incredible the work you're doing. But the emphasis, of course, has to be on the news that's in front of you. And therefore, at the moment, the Israeli narrative is dominating.

In the past, it's been the Palestinian narrative that dominated from Gaza. But right now, foreign journalists can't get into Gaza. Erez Junction, the border between Israel and Gaza is closed. The border between Rafah between Gaza and Egypt is closed. So all of the onus is on the Palestinians to tell their own story. And, of course, thanks to social media, they're able to get across their story. So we're hearing a lot about the Palestinian story much more than we would have in the past if it wasn't for social media.

So that's a positive aspect of social media. We're hearing a story from the people. Two sides of that coin. Yeah, Martin Fletcher, who was always teaching me things every time I talk to him. Martin, we thank you so much for being here. We will have much more on Israel's War with Hamas on this special edition of Top Story, live in Tel Aviv. But after this break, a shocking moment captured on camera in California, a suspected burglar jumping off a roof. Look at this. As he fled from police, the moment officers

confronted him on the ground. Stay with us. We'll continue our coverage on this war in just a few minutes, but we do want to turn to headlines back in the U.S. and top stories news feed. and doctor now accused of sexually assaulting more than 100 women. Multiple lawsuits allege Dr. Derek Todd performed inappropriate physical exams on patients that weren't medically necessary. The alleged assaults happened while Todd was working as a rheumatologist at a hospital between 2011 and this past July.

He was fired after an initial investigation. A robbery suspect making a daring escape in Los Angeles body cam video showing the moments, the suspect jumped off a building onto the roof of another before falling. to the ground. Police then approaching him and firing several shots. The suspect was wanted for a home break and survived and was taken to the hospital. New York City announcing new restrictions on shelters for migrant families. The city now imposing a 60-day limit on how long families with children can stay at one shelter. After that, they must return to an intake center and reapply for temporary housing. New York City Mayor Eric Adams staying in a statement, saying in a statement,

nearly 65,000 asylum seekers are still in the city's care. And a woman arrested at former President Donald Trump's civil fraud trial in New York. The woman initially tried to approach Trump at the defense table, saying she wanted to speak with him. She told the court officer she was there to support him. Another officer later asked her to leave and she was escorted out. Court officials say she was taken into custody and charged with contempt of court. Okay, turning now to the latest in the case of Natalie Holloway. Almost two decades after her disappearance, the prime suspect finally confessing to killing her as part of a plea deal.

NBC Sam Brock spoke one-on-one with Natalie's mother and has her powerful reaction tonight. For 18 years, the Holloway family searched for answers as to how their daughter died. Today, indescribable relief, layered with pain that will never go away. It's over. Uron van der Sloat is no longer the suspect in my daughter's murder. He is the killer. The man long suspected in Natalie Holloway's death pleaded guilty to wire fraud and extortion of Natalie's mother. It's part of his plea deal, also confessing to Natalie.

brutal murder. According to a transcript of his confession, Vandersloot said he killed the 18-year-old Alabama teen with a cinder block after she rejected his sexual advances on the beach and then pushed her body out to sea. Were you stunned by the depravity, both of what he did to your daughter, but also the behavior that you mentioned after the fact, right after he'd committed murder? Exactly. How could he have murdered her? And then he goes home and checks the soccer scores, gets on a porn site, and gets up, takes a chair, and goes to school. For years, Vandersloot. led investigators and family members on a fruitless chase. I mean, that's a killer.

That is a person with no conscience, no remorse, no guilt. Beth, in a powerful victim impact statement, confronting him, you are a killer, and I want you to remember that every time that jail cell door slams. The plea deal puts Vandersloop behind bars for 20 years. The confession brings closure. And I think the not knowing is worse. You know, the knowing is shocking. You brace yourself.

You take the head. but the not knowing is the never-ending nightmare, and that's worse. And that's the boat that you were in for almost 20 years of your life. Yeah. Tonight, at least part of that nightmare, is over. Sam Brock, NBC News, Birmingham. Got a top story's global watch. We begin with nuns, yes, nuns, facing off against environmentalist in France.

This is my favorite video of maybe the entire week, new cell phone video that went viral online, shows a nun, Tackling a demonstrator to the ground. Look at that. As environmental advocates destroyed piping materials, the group was protesting the construction of a new Catholic center that they say was being built on a habitat for protected plant species. Nuns were trying to protect its completion. All right, Russian President Vladimir Putin traveling to Beijing

to meet with China's president, Xi Jinping. Following their meeting, video shows Putin followed by two naval officers, each carrying briefcases believed to be carrying nuclear codes. While in China, Putin also condemning the recent hospital strike in Gaza that killed hundreds of Palestinians. However, in May, Russia received allegations of war crimes after a strike on a Ukrainian hospital. We should point out that killed two people. And Tropical Storm Norma, taking name at Mexico, the storm expected to strengthen to a hurricane and it's on track to hit the Los Cabos area.

Tropical storm Tammy forming in the Atlantic, it's less than 700 miles off the coast of the Virgin Islands. It's forecasted to pass close by Puerto Rico. You see it right here. We'll see what happens. We'll stay tracking that one. When we come back, the children of war, the emotional stories of kids who survived that horrific Hamas attack inside Israel, how their families are helping them cope with their new reality. Finally tonight, the pain and suffering on faces of children on both sides of this conflict. Here in Israel, Kelly Kobieya met with families from one kibbutz attacked by Hamas terrorist as they all try to grow.

grapple with the horrors they witnessed. Tonight, the kids of Kibbutzberi, now living in a hotel on the Dead Sea, trying to make sense of their new reality. Is that an ice cream? No, candy. Oh, like a lollipop. But below the surface, the horror lingers. She asked me if the bad people... I must come here to hotel.

Home no longer feels safe. after Hamas terrorists stormed their small community, killing more than 50 and kidnapping others. My son, four years old, he just started talking about the terrorist bodies that he saw. For volunteers like nursery teacher Shachar, the trauma is plain to see. I can see many kids not willing to move away from their parents, speaking about many kinds of things that you wouldn't want small children to speak about. Anthony's family hid for hours in their safe room, reading about the horrors on their phones, leaving the father of three considering the unthinkable.

At one point, I thought it was going to have to kill mine geese. Nira and her teenage daughters came face to face with the terrorists. And we just say to them, please don't kill us, please we didn't do nothing, don't kill us. They spared her and her daughters, but took her husband and daughter's boyfriend. Too much sadness and too much that nobody's crying. It's like, you know, it's no contact between my heart and my mind. A community heartbroken and numb. Their children changed forever.

They just want to be kids. They want to be kids again. But first, they'll need to find a way to feel safe again. Kelly Covella, NBC News, The Dead Sea, Israel. The smallest victims of this war. We thank you so much for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamis in Tel Aviv. Stay right there.

More news on the way.