Top Story with Tom Llamas - Wednesday, September 27, 2023

Episode Date: September 28, 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, America's crime crisis exploding from coast to coast, chaotic scenes unfolding in Philadelphia. Crowds of looters running rampant across the city, ransacking an apple store, a Lulu Lemon, and multiple liquor stores. Police scrambling to control the crowds, arresting dozens of people, organized retail crime rings popping up all across the country, prompting Target to close down stores in several major cities. How police all across the U.S. are trying to tackle the country. this growing crisis and why Oakland may be ground zero in this battle to beat crime in America. The Gilgo Beach breakthrough the revelation in court today, prosecutors saying DNA from the suspected serial killer matches hair found on one of the victims, how the defense is trying

to explain that and why the DA is now warning there could be more deaths tied to this alleged killer. Overseas the wedding reception horror chilling video showing the moment fire started waning down from the ceiling as a bride and groomed. shared their first dance in Iraq. More than 100 people killed. That banquet hall now under investigation. Return to Lahaina, emotional scenes on Maui, as residents are let back into the burn zone.

For the first time, one woman saying seeing her destroyed home was like a horror movie. Tonight, why one former official tells us the entire catastrophe could have been avoided. Plus, declared dead by mistake, a perfectly healthy woman in St. Louis, labeled as dead by the government for decades,

preventing her from finishing college and buying a home, how she ended up here and what to do if it happens to you. And right on, the nearly five-month-long rider strike ending at midnight tonight, so which shows are coming back first and when? Because don't forget, we have that actor strike still ongoing. We'll have a full viewer's guide. Top Story starts right now. And good evening.

We begin Top Story tonight with the dramatic. Images coming out of Philadelphia, shining a spotlight on a growing crisis plaguing cities from coast to coast. Take a look at this cell phone video showing dozens of people running into an Apple store, grabbing iPads, laptops, and other merchandise, as others looked on and recorded all of it. Nearby police trying to tackle suspects fleeing from a Lulu Lemon store, others clearly able to get away. Authorities tonight tell us, get this, more than 50 people have been arrested in connection to this overnight crime wave. The Pennsylvania Liquor Board today shutting down every liquor store in Philadelphia after they say at least 18 locations were looted across the city last night. But this problem, of course, not unique to Philly.

Target tonight announcing its closing nine stores in major cities, including New York, Seattle, and right here in the Bay Area, we're coming to you live tonight. Citing a rise in violence and organized retail crime carried out by large coordinated groups like the ones we see in Philadelphia. So the question is tonight, what is driving this apparent wave of crime and what can police and local officials do to stop it? Tonight, more than 50 people are under arrest in connection with this overnight crime wave that hit Philadelphia. Officers tackling suspects ransacking businesses. Crowds of suspected thieves seen running from stores like Apple, Lulu Lemon, and Foot Locker. This is not shoplifting. This is looting. This is riot.

It's called organized retail theft. It's happening all over America, killing business, and making shopping even more expensive. Target says crooks are forcing them to close nine stores by October, saying theft is, quote, threatening the safety of our team and guests. This target in Oakland is one of the ones shutting down, and you can see what the shopping experience is like. You've got deodorant, you have shaving cream all locked up, even toothpaste. You have to call someone to help you buy one because of thieves. But it's the crime outside of stores in Oakland that is terrifying residents. 10,000 cars stolen just this year.

Burglaries and robberies also up. Last week, cameras captured this woman screaming in agony as thieves dragged her across the street trying to steal her purse. It mirrors another incident earlier this month. When you see crime like that during the day, what does that tell you? It tells me that there's a sense of lawlessness. that there are people in our community that don't fear being arrested. Loran Armstrong was the latest Oakland police chief to be fired.

Is it a free-for-all when it comes to crime in Oakland? I think it's a combination of lack of enforcement, not enough resources, and then not strong enough prosecution. And now residents of Oakland say they've had enough, closing their own businesses in protest of a city they say can't keep them safe. Lending violent crime criminals out as soon as they're apprehended and books does not lead to public safety. I've never seen Oakland this way before. Residents now calling for new leadership, tougher laws, and a turnaround before crime cripples their city.

So for more on the rising retail thefts and what this means for consumers and store owners, I want to bring in former Miami Police Chief and security consultant, George Colina. George, thanks for joining Top Story tonight. What do you think is triggering all these incidents? because it's not just one city, right? It's cities all across America. Well, I think primarily you start with accountability, right? A lack of consequences.

People feeling like they can go out and violate, break the law, commit a crime, steal, and even if they are caught, there are minimal to no consequences. That's where it starts and ends. Then you have a lack of enforcement, right? There's not a lot of policemen. Most departments are short-staffed. That's a second element that's going to prompt someone to take advantage of what's happening across the country. Right, but how many more police officers can you hire, right?

I mean, how much more money can you throw at police departments to fix this? I have to believe it's going to take more than just cops on the street. It's going to take a lot more than just cops on the street, right? People need to know that they're going to be held accountable. There's this idea that if you commit a property crime, there shouldn't be much of a penalty. a lot of people that advocate for that. You have a lot of people that advocate for a lot of these pretrial conditions or programs like cashless bail, for example, because they think that this protects people. Well, who's advocating for the victim? Who's speaking up for the

victim? Because it isn't just the big retailers that people may try to rationalize and think they can afford it. No, when you want to now go buy your clothing, your items, you're paying two, three times, which you originally would have paid because you're making up for the amount of things that are being stolen. So until prosecutors say we are going to stick you in jail, and they're not afraid to say that, until police chiefs come out and say, we're going to investigate this as an organized racket, organized crime, and charge you with racketeering, and you're going to do serious time, it's not going to stop. But quite frankly, Tom, people are afraid to do that because they're afraid they're going to be attacked.

What are some solutions, concrete solutions that have worked in the past? We know in the city where you're from, where I'm from, Miami-Dade had a big crime problem in the 80s. They were able to overcome that. In New York City, it was in the 90s as well in the late 80s. What are some concrete solutions that cities have been able to develop or use to stop crime? In the past, quite frankly, there was an expectation that you would be proactive in your policing. Right. Now, you're essentially reactive.

You wait for a crime to occur before you take any action. In the past, if someone was walking at 2 in the morning in a business area where primarily everything is closed, you were expected to go up to that person and say, excuse me, what is it that you're doing here? Are you lost? Can I help you find a place? Where is it that you're going? You know, if you do that now, you're already considered to have violated somebody's rights. That's not the case.

That's your job. That's what you should be doing. You should be trying to deter crime from happening. And if you're not proactive, crime is going to occur. And then when it does occur, if you're not aggressively trying to prosecute, then people are going to feel like it's worth a shot. I might as well go out and commit crime because nothing, no one's going to do anything about it.

George, something that New York and Miami didn't have during those decades was social media. And it's something that is really impacting a lot of the crime I think that we're seeing now, You have both the aspect of people videotaping these crimes, putting them on their phones, putting them on social media, but you also have the aspect of them communicating. You know, these large flash mobs, I haven't seen any reporting that says it's people on the telephone calling each other, but it's so easy to share information, whether it be on social media or text, to get a large group together. Yeah, and that becomes very challenging. But there's ways to use that to your advantage. when people are communicating via social media, whether they're their own chat groups, for example,

well, that's an element to organize crime. That gives you at least a tool to perhaps use a federal nexus to have more serious charges when you're able to make an arrest. Police departments are going to have to make a concerted effort to look at this as organized crime. In a city like Oakland, where they've had, I think, eight or nine police chiefs over the last 14 years,

I mean, what does that tell you as far as leadership goes and how long it takes a chief to sort of turn a department around or at least turn a city around? It takes time that that's not tenable, constantly turning over leadership doesn't work. You need to have somebody to come in that feels like their job is safe, that's not afraid to implement the changes that are needed, to put a real crime plan together, to say that out loud, this is what we're going to do, and have the prosecutor. by your side and have the federal prosecutor by your other shoulder where it's a team effort that we're going to go out and we're going to do our job and we're going to hold you accountable. But Tom, you need the support for that. You need the electates to come out and stand next to you. And quite frankly, a lot of them just don't want to do that.

Yeah. Do you think there's any way to stop these flash robberies? I mean, it just seems like so many people so fast that police are sort of behind the apal by the time they get there. I think that the big, big box realtors need to do their part as well, right? They want to kind of sit back and not do anything to maybe save themselves liability or to not be criticized. But they need to have cameras. They need to have security.

They need to have signs that say we prosecute. You know, they need to put barriers in front of the store to stop a car from plowing in. And again, some people just don't want to do that because they think that they're going to be targeted by doing that. But it's really the opposite. Until people say we've had it, we're fed up, it's going to continue. Okay. George Colina, we thank you so much for your time. We thank you for joining Top Story tonight.

We have new developments tonight in the Gilgo Beach murder case. In court today, prosecutors say they've connected cheek DNA from the suspect to a piece of evidence found on one of the victims more than a decade ago. They're also suggesting that this case could expand to include other murder victims. NBC's Noah Pransky as the latest. Tonight, the case against the accused Gilgo Beach serial killer grows. And now we've expanded our investigation to include others, other bodies that were recovered in that area. Rick's Herman appearing today in court for a pretrial conference.

He's been charged in three of the murders so far, but prosecutors say they're now expanding the investigation to include other victims found along the same shoreline. We're still investigating, our investigation is continuing, and when we're prepared to announce charges, if that day comes, we'll do it in court. Long Island prosecutors also saying a DNA swab collected from Harriman after his arrest was consistent with a hair collected off of a victim's body. A defense attorney for the defendant disputes that connection. There's nobody on the face of this earth that's credible is going to say that hair is my client's hair. Rex, did you do it? Hurriman, who was arrested in July and has been held without bail, is facing murder charges for the

deaths of Melissa Bartholomey, Megan Waterman, and Amberlin Costello, whose bodies were all found on Gilgo Beach more than a decade ago. He's pleaded not guilty, but is the prime suspect in a fourth murder as well. He's a fellow who was working, has never been arrested, has a wife and children, is a productive member of society. Herman told the court he spends two to three hours a day in jail reviewing the evidence against him. Prosecutors say family members of two Gilco victims were in court today to witness the proceedings themselves. They chose not to comment. The defendant returns the court next for his next hearing on November 15th.

Tom? Okay, Noah, thank you for that. Time now for power and politics. Seven Republicans running for president are set to face off in the second GOP debate at the Lagan Library in California. But the frontrunner, former President Trump, once again, skipping the debate and the stage and offering counter-programming. NBC's Garrett Haig is there tonight at the debate.

Tonight, the Republican frontrunner again ignoring a Republican presidential debate. They ought to stop wasting their time. You know, they're wasting a lot of time with these ridiculous debates that nobody's watching. Donald Trump instead set to campaign 2,000 miles from the GOP faceoff, addressing an audience, including auto workers in Michigan, some currently on strike, just one day after President Biden walked a UAW picket line. Our poll showing the Trump-Biden race is a dead heat, while the former president leads the Republican field by more than 40 points nationally, all before his rivals take the stage.

How hard will Mr. Trump's rivals hit him tonight? Some already telegraphing plans to take sharper aim at the frontrunner. He's running in 2024 on a lot of the same promises he ran on in 2016 and didn't deliver on. He said he was going to drain the swamp. They didn't drain the swamp at all. And with the debate taking place at the Reagan presidential library, is this now Trump's party? He's embracing some of the language of the the populist right, to talk about appeasement on the world stage, drawing back from our commitments to our allies. Can breakout stars from the first debate like Nikki Haley have a repeat performance? You have no foreign policy experience, and it shows. All as Republican voters grapple with a runaway

frontrunner, still dividing the party, even when he doesn't show up. I'm hoping that Republicans realize that the Trump era is over. If he's convicted and he wins, put the oval. office in whatever prison they have me, man. All right, Garrett Higg joins us tonight live for tonight's debate. Garrett, what are you going to be watching for, right? We've seen some movement since that last debate. You've got to think Governor Nikki Haley is

happy with her poll numbers. They've gone up a little bit. But you still have people like Senator Tim Scott polling in the single digits, trying to make their mark, the same with Vice President Mike Pence. And then you have Vivek and DeSantis, right, trying to show that they're viable to all their donors. Yeah, look, all seven

candidates have the imperative to make some movement here tonight. They cannot continue to stay 40 plus points behind to Donald Trump and have this race be anything like competitive. The person who I'm paying the closest attention to tonight, I think, will be Nikki Haley, though. She had kind of the biggest delta between expectations and performance at the last debate. She was the only candidate who saw any kind of significant polling bump after the first debate. Whether she's able to repeat that performance, again, tonight could be big. She also has a long way to go. She's in the single digits in our poll. So she's not registering as a Trump threat yet, but she's really the only candidate moving in the right direction among the seven who will be on stage here tonight.

Garrett, you know what, the conventional wisdom, and obviously it changes a lot during a campaign, but as I was just hearing you report that part there about Governor Nikki Haley, I had to think, I mean, does the conventional wisdom now say that the lane to be the alternative to Trump is still open? Because for a long time, that was thought to be Governor DeSantis. Yeah, I think that's right. And certainly the reason why these other candidates are still in the race. Now, Desantis has name ID, he's got resources, and he's got a really big footprint in a super pack that's very well funded that I think will make him hard to knock out of the race in a way that would clear this space for these other candidates. But yeah, I think if you're Nikki Haley, to a lesser degree, if you're someone like a Christie or a Pence, you still think there's room to be the alternative. Do I think DeSantis has that possibility all locked up? No, but Tom, this could all be academic, right?

We had a similar debate in 2016 about who would be the alternative to Donald Trump. And by the time the race was narrowed down enough for any one candidate to emerge as that, he'd already locked up enough delegates that he was well on his way to being a nominee anyway. We could be in a very similar place this time around. And then, Garrett, finally, any indication at all that former President Trump is going to participate in any of these primary debates? We know that next debate hosted by great news organizations, some people say, Do we have any sort of telltale signs that he's actually going to take part in this process? Many people are saying, Tom, I think it's possible.

He has not closed the door entirely. Also, remember, during this whole time, he's been feuding with Fox. He has had issues with Fox. They hosted the first debate. Fox Business is holding this second debate. He's been feuding with them. So I think the opportunity for it to be in another news organization, perhaps if the polling changes and it starts to look a little bit more competitive, he'll feel forced to show up.

But the bottom line is if he's still up by 40, 40 plus points over the rest of the field, there's no political need for him to show up and let them take shots at him on stage. And that's the chorus that his advisors will be singing in his ear from now until that changes. Yeah, it might be a strategy that works. We're going to have to wait and see, Garrett. Great reporting, and I know you'll be all over it tonight. And you can tune in tonight for full analysis of this evening's debate led by our friend Meet the Press moderator, Kristen Welker.

special coverage begins at 11 p.m. Eastern, right here on NBC News Now. Okay, with Republican candidates set to take the stage in a few hours, could some of them be coming to the end of their campaign? A new article from Politico warns, quote, the 2024 field braces for a devastating fall with dropouts on the horizon. It's a really smart piece. One of the authors joins top story tonight. Natalie Allison, she joins me now from the debate spin room there. She's a national political reporter for Politico. So, Natalie, you wrote, quote, I'm going to put this up on the screen for us.

viewers here. As the GOP field preps for its second debate, it's hurtling towards a make-or-break point for lower polling contenders. They are running up against both a third-quarter fundraising deadline, a major gauge of a candidate's durability, and more stringent requirements to qualify for future debates. So I've got to ask you, for those who will be on that debate stage tonight, is this a make-or-break moment? Yeah, I mean, to what Garrett was just saying, this is a field of contenders running against Trump who are as much as 40 plus points behind him. So they can't afford to flop tonight.

This is important for DeSantis to show that he can still hold his own. Of course, Nikki Haley is someone who a lot of people are going to be looking at. But at this point, none of these candidates can afford to have a night that goes by where they're not making headlines where they're not capturing the attention of donors. And most importantly, the voters who are answering these polls right now who are showing whether these candidates have any path to viability in the next couple of months. So, Natalie, who in your estimation are the candidates who are in trouble right now that are going to be on the debate stage tonight? Well, as of right now, we're already looking ahead to the third debate.

Just four candidates so far have qualified, one of which is Donald Trump, who hasn't shown any signs that he's actually going to participate in the third debate. Ron DeSantis has qualified for that debate, Vivek Ramaswamy, and Nikki Haley. So that leaves people like Tim Scott, like Chris Christie, like Mike Pence, potentially in Trump. to meet that threshold of 70,000 unique donors by the next debate. A couple of them, like Tim Scott, for example, Chris Christie, are struggling with the polling requirements. The next debate is going to require that they have at least 4% in two national polls. They can also swap in a couple state-specific polls as well.

But the reality is this is still a crowded field, and without other people getting out, it can be really tough for a field of, you know, as many as 10 people still in this race. to stand out. And that's going to be a problem for Tim Scott, for Chris Christie, for Mike Pence, so on and so forth, to continue to stand out if we see someone like Mickey Haley gaining ground, even Ron DeSantis, maybe going up a couple more points. Natalie, I'm going to ask her great director, Brett Hulley, to put that full-screen backup on the requirements, because this is just sort of astonishing. Four percent, right? Like, we're getting close to Iowa, and if you can't break four percent

or at least get 4%. I mean, that is troubling, right? And we're talking about multiple candidates here, right? Exactly. And, you know, that would be the RNC's argument on this. You know, some of these candidates are saying these debate requirements aren't fair. They're keeping us off the stage. But the RNC is saying, well, if you can't break 4%, then maybe you shouldn't be on the stage. And so the question is, how long do the American people want to give these people to keep making their case? And a lot of these candidates are saying, give us until Iowa, Give us until New Hampshire. We have this long-game strategy where maybe it's not registering in the polls right now,

but we really are winning over voters in Iowa and New Hampshire. And just wait, just wait, you'll see. But the question is, are donors going to keep bankrolling these campaigns in the meantime? And there is time. Before you go, we only have a little bit of time here. You also wrote that the Coke Network, some of the most powerful GOP donors, are looking to back a candidate to take on Trump in the Republican primary. How much money is at stake here?

And will it matter? Well, you know, groups like the Coat Network, the Club for Growth, these relatively anti-Trump Republican groups have said, you know, they're going to probably put tens of millions, maybe even more, up against Trump, but so far they have yet to find a candidate who is that Trump alternative. You know, it wasn't Ron DeSantis. They didn't get behind him early. Tim Scott was voted for a while.

Now, Nikki Haley is suddenly the donor darling that they're all looking at, but no one has been willing to actually name. an alternative to Trump. And so it remains to be seen whether groups like Americans for Prosperity, which is funded by the Koch Network, whether the Club for Growth, are actually going to put their money where their mouth is and try to take on Trump by getting behind one of these candidates actively. And all of this as the DeSantis team is pointing to the Senator Obama

versus Hillary Clinton raised, saying Obama was way behind and was able to turn around in Iowa, so there is still time. Okay, Natalie, we appreciate all your reporting and your great analysis tonight. Senator Bob Menendez, as we head over to Capitol Hill and his wife pleaded not guilty to bribery and other charges at their arraignments in New York today as the New Jersey Democrat faces increasing calls to step down. Jonathan Deans with all the new developments. Holding hands with his wife, Nadine, New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez left federal court to a crush of cameras and a handful of protesters. Earlier, Menendez, his wife, and two businessmen pleaded not guilty to charge. charges they took part in a wide-ranging bribery scheme. The FBI says Senator Menendez and his wife

got these gold bars, piles of cash, and a Mercedes in exchange for government favors. The senator released on $100,000 bail, his wife, on $250,000. Source is familiar with the matter say the FBI is investigating if Egyptian intelligence services played any role in the alleged bribe scheme in an effort to get non-public U.S. government information from Menendez. then chair of the Foreign Relations Committee. Meanwhile, President Biden still silent on the Menendez case, while the number two Democrat in the Senate, Dick Durbin, added his name to the growing list of Democrats calling for Menendez to resign.

Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer today criticizing Menendez but not calling on him to step down. For senators, there's a much, much higher standard. And clearly, when you read the indictment, Senator Menendell fell way, way below that stand. standard. 30 Senate Democrats have now called for Senator Menendez to resign. This, as Menendez, who says he's innocent, will meet tomorrow behind closed doors with fellow Democrats in an apparent attempt to shore up support. Tom? Yeah, but those calls to resign are growing. Okay, Jonathan Deans for us, we want to head overseas now to a horrifying scene in Iraq, a massive fire breaking out during a couple's first dance

and engulfing their wedding venue. So far, more than 90 people killed. But that death could rise. Matt Bradley tonight with the details, including a look at what started that fire. A couple's dream wedding turned into a nightmare. Pyrotechnics igniting the ceiling of the venue during the first dance. The bride and groom fleeing the flames, along with some of their guests. But many didn't get out in time. The blaze ripping through the venue, leaving more than 90 people dead and dozens more hurt. This nun, who left us in a little... lives in a monastery nearby saying bodies are being taken out, use were flooding into

the hall to get out the largest number of people they could. Emergency crews rushing the injured to a nearby hospital, the wards full of victims. This Iraqi health officials saying the majority of the victims were completely burned. Daylight revealing the extent of the destruction. Drone footage shows the wedding hall's roof collapsed. Inside the building, a charred and mangled mess. Mounds of twisted metal rising from the floor of the building. This man, making an unthinkable discovery in the rubble, the burned remains of his mother's clothing.

Officials announcing nine people who worked at the venue have been arrested in connection to the fire. This investigator saying the pyrotechnics used in the ceremony were not allowed inside or outside the venue. As family and friends carry out the solemn task of mourning the dead, hundreds of people gathering for funeral processions. A day supposed to be filled with celebration turned into tragedy. Matt Bradley, NBC News. Okay, still ahead tonight. A state trooper charged after a prank gone wrong,

a teenager allegedly pulling a ding-dong ditch prank before he was brutally beaten by that officer. The charges that cop is now facing. Plus, declared dead by mistake, why the government thinks this perfectly healthy woman is dead and the living nightmare that she now can't escape. And an update from Bruce Springsteen tonight, the announcement about the rest of his tour as he battles ulcer disease. Stay with us. We're back now with the ongoing manhunt in Baltimore for the suspected murderer of a tech

CEO in an exclusive interview with NBC News, the suspect's mother now urging her son to surrender to authorities. NBC's Ron Allen has the latest. With Baltimore police intensifying their manhunt for the suspect in the killing of tech CEO Pavel LaPere, that suspect, Jason Billingley's mother telling NBC News in the telephone interview, she's texted with her son. I told him to turn himself in because they're going to kill him, adding she has no idea where he is. It's day three since police say La Père's body was found somewhere in the apartment building where she lived and worked. Authorities not revealing any connection between the 26-year-old rising star entrepreneur and the suspect. Nor why they believe the registered sex offender, also serving time for assault and robbery

and released from prison last October, might be responsible for La Père's death. Police warning the public to be vigilant. This individual will kill and he will rape. It definitely makes you think twice about going out and about that. as a woman alone. Tonight, police offering a $6,000 award for information that leads to an arrest and charges. And confirming Billings Lee is now wanted in connection with an attempted murder, arson, and rape that occurred in another part of Baltimore just last week.

As LaPere's family and colleagues prepared to gather in the heart of the city, they say she loves so much to pay tribute. How do you deal with this? It's devastating. Sharad Davis was LaPere's business partner and friend. We have taken this week to frankly just grieve. I'm trying to take it not one day at a time, not one hour at a time, 10 minutes at a time. I'm just crushed.

And tonight police say they're looking at cases stretching back over the past year to see if there's any connection to the suspect. But no word about whether they are any closer to catching him. Tom? Ron Allen with that manhunt tonight. Now, to the St. Louis woman who's living with a disastrous inaccuracy. Listen to this. The Social Security Administration classified her as dead, and the issue has plagued her for years. A simple data error that can create serious challenges for up to 12,000 Americans every year.

Valerie Castro has this story. This St. Louis woman is alive and well, but trying to prove that to the Social Security Administration has been her living nightmare. It's like a haunting. The agency classified her as dead. It messed up my whole life. Carthin tells our St. Louis Affiliates' investigative team she's been dealing with the mistake for 16 years, the station covering her struggle back in 2007 when she was a college student. I got denied my financial aid. Back then, Carthin shared the paperwork from her lender stating she was deceased.

Now they're saying, prove to us you're not dead. She says she wasn't able to graduate because of the issue, and she hasn't been able to vote, buy a home, file taxes, or even hold a steady job. There's just a matter before my social security number catch up with me, and then they have to let me go. HR can't process payroll. Carthin says she was told by the Social Security Administration that her name was mistakenly added to its death master file, essentially ending her existence in 2007. She was given this death erroneous letter to show as proof that she's still alive. That was supposed to resolve it, and I was supposed to give it to all my creditors, you know, but by that time I had cars repossessed, a guy put out my home, you know, I couldn't explain it.

It was too late. Contracts were invalid. It still messed up my credit. Carthin eventually managed to get a new social security number and even changed her legal name, adding characters like a hyphen in 2021. The judge honored it. Social Security honored it. And that's what my Social Security card show.

But she says the new number is still connected to the old. The old one that's classified as dead with the new one is cross-reference. So anytime that I'm trying to use it in commerce, trying to buy a home or what have you, It's going to come back, denied and rejected. So Carthin is still the walking dead and walking around with a briefcase full of documents to prove her identity. Now I keep my birth certificate and all these things with me because I don't never know. A spokesperson for the SSA telling our local station, they can't discuss individual cases due to privacy laws, adding approximately 3 million deaths are reported to the Social Security Administration each year and our records are highly accurate. Of these millions of death reports we receive each year, less than one-third of one percent are subsequently corrected.

A 2019 report from the Social Security Advisory Board says between 7,000 and 12,000 people are erroneously recorded as dead every year by the SSA. Carthin says she submitted numerous documents to the SSA. Her doctor even confirming she is most definitely alive, and she also filed a federal lawsuit. Nothing has worked. We're sorry. We apologize, but government has sovereign immunity. There's nothing we can do. All she wants is to be resurrected. It's just I need to get before Congress to share what has happened, the detriment that it has caused, and the resolution, how it can be fixed. So Valerie Castro joins us now in studio. Valerie, I'm watching this, and it's just so hard

to believe. We're talking about a problem that is now more than 16 years old. How can the Social Security Administration not to fix this already. Well, Tom, the Social Security Administration adds you to that death master file, and then it all trickles down from there. You're wiped from other systems like the IRS and Medicare, just to name a few. And even though she got that letter to help rectify things, her credit was already damaged. She says she has tried everything. She's even written letters to the last four presidents in the White House asking for help,

but she says it's become a finger-pointing game between agencies. The Social Security Administration says if a person suspects that they have been incorrectly declared dead. They need to head to their local social security office as soon as possible with one original form of ID, although that is exactly what this woman did, and Tom, she's still dealing with these problems. And it appears to me she's alive, right? Was that your sense, too? Yes, and she got that letter from her doctor saying, I've been treating this woman for years. She is alive. This is a wild one. Okay, Valerie Castro for us. Valerie, we thank you. When we come back, our return to Lahaina, residents' donning protective gear allowed back in

into the burn zone. Look at this. For the first time, their emotional reactions and why one former official tells us those tragic wildfires could have been avoided. Okay, we are back now with Top Stories News Feed, and we begin with the murder suspect captured after two weeks on the run. You may remember this U.S. Marshals taking 28-year-old Kevin Mason into custody in St. Paul, Minnesota. Mason walked out of a Detention Center in Indianapolis on September 13th after he was released by mistake. He's accused of shooting and killing a man outside of a church in 2021. An update tonight on a Delaware state trooper accused of beating a teenager after a prank gone wrong.

The state's Attorney General charging Dempsey Walters with multiple felonies, including Delaware's first use of the deprivation of civil rights statute. Dempsey is accused of turning his body camera off and assaulting a 15-year-old boy, breaking a bone in his face. That team was caught on a ring camera, knocking and kicking the trooper's front door and then running away. And Bruce Springsteen postponing his remaining 2023 tour dates over health issues. In a social media post, Springsteen announcing he is delaying the tour until 2024 under his doctor's recommendation as he continues treatment for a peptic ulcer disease. The rescheduled dates will be announced next week. Anyone with a ticket who can't make the new date will be able to request a refund. Okay, we want to turn out of the latest out of Maui.

Weeks after those deadly fires ravaged Lahaina, residents they are getting their first look at what's left of their homes. Sam Brock has their stories and spoke to one former state official who says this entire disaster was avoidable. Finally, after waiting more than a month and a half, families from Lahaina are stepping over the broken pieces of their properties. Right now it just looks, it looks weird, looks like out of a lot. a horror movie.

For Tani Kadayama and her 84-year-old grandmother Noreen, they braced for this moment hours earlier. But that didn't prepare them for the emotional floodwaters that followed. This is the first time I'm going to see it. So it's pretty bad. After so many years of living here, I just can't say anything. With thousands of homes destroyed and families displaced, many came clad in PPE, unsure what they'd find.

There's no expectations to really find anything. Anything that we can find, I feel like, it's just going to be bonus. Like the Vierras, whose parents moved to Lahaina in the 70s. I think this is the only one that survived. Yet even in all that rubble. treasures emerged. Like this pistol, an heirloom from their grandfather who served in the Maui Police Department almost a century earlier. Remnants of their lives recovered amidst so much that's been lost.

In your opinion, do you think a large percentage of the people who died their lives could have been saved if things were done differently? Definitely. Definitely. It is very regrettable but definitely yes. That's my firm belief. Sherman Thompson headed Hawaii's Civil Defense Advisory Council for years. After a 2018 fire nearly burnt down Lahaina, officials created a hazard mitigation plan that identified utility lines, roads, and bridges

as particularly vulnerable and the potential for residents to be trapped in Lahaina. Was it your expectation after a mitigation plan like that, that emergency officials would have figured out what the escape plan would look like if something like this were to ever happen. That would have been an almost obvious thing.

How to properly mobilize or have mass evacuation taken place. You have to have order and a sense of escape routes and education of the general public. The ATF is investigating the cause of the wildfires and Hawaii's Attorney General has launched an independent

investigation into the state and local responses as residents finally seeing what's left of their homes process and ponder what's next you think with two really good incomes my husband and I would be able to buy a house and you know give my children what they deserve what I had you know growing up here we had a home with a yard and a neighborhood and it's not possible, you know, because of how expensive homes are. An unsure future with a few mementos giving them strength in this raw moment. Okay, and with that, Sam Brock joins us tonight from Miami.

So, Sam, you mentioned the ATF is still investigating the cause of this fire, and there's been a lot of lawsuits and finger-pointing over the past month and a half. Can you update us on the latest? Because I feel every time there's a new lawsuit, we're sort of learning something new about a new allegation as to what caused this fire? For sure. Let's get to the latest reporting, Tom, but first just sort of a status check. You'll recall that in the immediate days, really three or four, after the wildfires,

residents first filed lawsuits against Hiko, the Hawaiian Electric Company, alleging that they failed to de-energize their entire system knowing there was a red flag warning coming. So fast forward a couple of weeks after that, the county of Maui then filed the lawsuit against Hawaiian Electric, alleging not just de-energization, but also negligence and not maintaining their lines. Hiko, since then, came out and said, no, no, no, we actually did have those lines de-energized. That first fire might have been responsible or might have come from a down power line, but you guys said it was extinguished and contained. We had nothing to do with the fires

that came after that. Where we stand right now, according to the Associated Press, is that investigators are examining an oversized gully underneath Hawaiian electric power lines and seeing whether or not there might have been brushed there that captured embers that could have then created the fire that burned down Mahaina. Now, what they are saying definitively is that there was absolutely no upkeep of some of the brush around that area. But could it be associated with potential negligence that appears to be part of the investigation right now? But this ATF investigation, Tom, could last months. Right now, we are only about a month and a half into the process.

All right, Sam Brock, first, a lot of new reporting as residents returned to Lahaina. Sam, we thank you for that. Thank you. Okay, time to get a check of what else is happening around the world. So that means it's time for Top Story's Global Watch, and we start with the American Soldier, released by North Korea after crossing into the country illegally. Officials confirming to NBC News that private Travis King is in U.S. custody and on his way back to Texas. The 23-year-old bolted across North Korea's heavily armed border in July while on a tour of the demilitarized zone.

The U.S. says the government of China and Sweden help the government, I should say, help with the release. In Vietnam, flash flooding sweeping the country's central region. footage shows water rushing down streets in a coastal province. Residents forced to evacuate as roads and homes were submerged. Thousands of people were left without food and clean water. One person has been reported missing. And an unprecedented trial playing out at the European Union Court, six activists, ages just 11 to 24, are now soon 32 governments for failing to address climate change. The young activists are from Portugal and, say, deadly wildfires that have burned in the country every year since 2017, are a direct result.

of an action. The lawsuit includes all EU member states and five other countries, including the UK. This is the largest climate case ever heard by the court. Okay, coming up, the startling new warning for women concerning cancer. The study that shows hundreds of thousands of deaths could be prevented with better treatment. That's next. Okay, we're back now with an alarming new look at cancer in women. A report published in the medical journal The Lancet titled Women, Men, power, and cancer examines the outsized impact of the disease on women globally compared to men. The commission behind the report suggested that 800,000 lives could be saved every year if all

women had access to optimal cancer care. Dr. Uche Blackstock joins us now. She's the CEO of Advancing Health Equity and a friend of Top Story. Dr. Blackstock, I wanted to speak to you because your work focuses on issues of bias in health care. What are some of the reasons this report pointed to that more women could be saved, but are. Hey, Tom, thank you so much for having me.

And so what we're seeing in these numbers is a manifestation of how power dynamics play out in societies across the world. We're looking at low-income countries, middle-income countries, and high-income countries and seeing a lot of disparities in terms of gender among who's getting cancer. So we're seeing breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer among women. And a lot of it's because research is not done in women. They're not enrolled in clinical trials. They don't have access to primary prevention and screening for cancer.

And then there even are, there's bias and discrimination in terms of cancer care as well, in terms of once you're diagnosed, the quality of care that you get. So all of those issues compounded together, it's what's causing these preventable deaths that we're seeing worldwide. And then the report also highlighted that many women are educated on and screen for things like breast and cervical cancers, so-called women's cancers, if you will, but lung and colorectal cancers are the second and third most common causes of cancer deaths among women globally. Why is that? Right. So, and so that's

another issue that we're seeing, and we're seeing increasing rates of colon cancer and lung cancer among women. A lot of it's because women are not being enrolled in those clinical trials to study how those particular cancers are treated. We're also seeing, you know, increase of air pollution and secondhand smoke exposure, which also can increase the lung cancer diagnoses. And so we're just seeing women being in situations, whether it's work or at home or when they present for access for care, where a lung cancer and all of these non-GYN cancers are not really being considered by health professionals. And so we really need a landscape where we're thinking about other types of cancer

And because we're seeing how women are impacted by, in terms of screening, as well as in the lack of care that they're receiving. So then give our viewers some takeaway advice here, you know. How can patients advocate for themselves knowing there's this sort of baked in bias and also varying access to treatments across the globe? So, yeah, most importantly, we see it's health literacy and education. So just education around obesity, education around the impact of alcohol, the impact of secondhand smoke. And even infections we know are leading to the increases in colorectal cancer as well as stomach cancer. So health literacy is key. We need community-based groups in all of these countries to start working around health literacy and education,

because then women can actually advocate for themselves when they're in a health care setting, which unfortunately they're not able to do as much now because we know that education is an issue in a lot of these settings. All right, Dr. Uche Blackstock, we thank you for your work, but also for explaining this one to us. When we come back, the rider's strike is ending, but when will you get to see your favorite shows? And we'll tell you what impact the actor's strike will have. That's next. Finally tonight, the Hollywood riders are returning to work after reaching a contract agreement with the studios. The deal comes, though, as actors remain on strike, citing the use of AI as one of their biggest concerns. NBC's Miguel Almaguerre explains.

Putting down picket signs and picking up pens. Today, Hollywood writers scripting their return to work. Securing a 12.5% pay raise over three years, writers also won staffing minimums on future projects, but perhaps most important, guardrails over the use of artificial intelligence. AI can't write or rewrite literary material. AI generated material can't be used to undermine a writer's crew. credit and a company can't require the writer to use AI software.

It's hard to put guardrails on something that by the time those guardrails are laid down, the technology has already moved on. The writer's deal could serve as a template for actors who are still on the picket line, as all of Hollywood looks to resume shuttered productions. But the use of AI is expected to eliminate the need for some actors and could replicate the look and sound of famous faces. If you have a film or TV show that normally would have a dozen actors, maybe you could have six actors and a couple of digital actors for, you know, in the background. From Hollywood to Main Street to Middle America, the World Economic Forum predicts artificial intelligence and automation will cut 83 million jobs in five years.

But Ty Sheraton says it'll also create new opportunities. We need to come together to have conversations about it, further enlighten and educate ourselves on how. how it's being used, how we can incorporate it and adopt it. When it comes to AI and its adoption in the workforce, experts seem to agree it's coming just about everywhere. Employees and employers will need to adapt. Tom? We thank Miguel for that, and for more on what a deal for the writers and the ongoing

actor strike means for Hollywood. And when you can expect to see new TV and movies, I want to bring in Natalie Jarvie. She's a Vanity Fair Hollywood correspondent. Natalie, thanks so much for joining us. So what do we expect to see on air soon as soon as Monday? Well, the good news is that late-night talk shows can return pretty much immediately. So you'll start to see some of those shows roll out next week. So the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, last week tonight with John Oliver,

and then shortly thereafter we'll start to see shows like Saturday Night Live return. So does this deal with the writer's impact scripted shows while the actor's strike continues? Yeah, that's the bad news. Unfortunately, the writers can get back to work, writing shows, pitching shows, reconvening in writers' rooms, but they can't actually start filming new episodes of scripted television until the actors make a deal. So shows like Abbott Elementary, which we're supposed to come back on the air this fall, can't start filming and can't come back until we get that actor's deal.

Well, I guess my next question is a little bit looking at your crystal ball. How is this going to impact the fall TV lineup and anticipated movies when they expected to be released? Yeah, so we've already seen all the broadcast TV networks adjust to their fall TV schedules to accommodate for the strike. So there's a lot of sports, there's a lot of reality. We might be able to see some scripted shows return right at the tail end of the year or early next year if they can get them back up and running.

But for the most part, we won't see a lot of new scripted TV on the broadcast networks. For the movies, it's a little bit different because those productions, you know, lead times are quite long. So, you know, we've already seen a lot of movies push back their premiere dates, and I expect that those will stay, assuming that we don't get an actor's deal here really quickly. All right, Natalie Jarvie from Vanity Fair. Natalie, we appreciate your time and thanks so much for helping our viewers and us navigate what we're going to watch on TV come the fall. We thank you for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamis in San Francisco. Stay right there. More news on the way.

Thank you.