Wednesday, September 16, 2026

0:03Oh, look. You just got added to a meeting about coordinating another meeting to prepare for the pre-meeting ahead of the follow-up meeting, which will, of course, require a recap meeting and then another meeting. Hit your booking point, book with Southwest and enter airplane mode. From the producers of The Traders, the circle returns with bigger twists and higher stakes. Contestants compete for popularity without ever meeting. Some are celebrities, some are regular people, and some are catfishing the competition. And now audience voting will influence the game. You decide who has what it takes to win in The Circle.

0:50Watch the Hulu original series The Circle on November 17th, streaming on Hulu and on Hulu on Disney Plus for bundle subscribers. Terms apply.

1:02Tonight, the tragic helicopter crash. Our crew reporting for NBC Los Angeles killed while on assignment. A beloved reporter and seasoned pilot covering breaking news of a deadly buzz crash when their chopper suddenly went down, killing one person on the ground. The NTSB now pointing to the video of the moments before us, key evidence. We hear from their heartbroken colleagues about the legacy they leave behind. Markets tumbling after the first interest rate hike in years and signaling more could be on the way. President Trump's Fed pick defined his wishes to lower rates, how the president is firing back.

1:39Deadly floods, crews pulling a driver trapped in rushing waters, plus the fast-moving wildfires triggering evacuations, whipping up worlds of fire. The deadly building collapsed in Gaza, nearly two dozen killed, others left trapped in the rubble as new blasts rocked the region. Disturbing video of a caretaker allegedly pouring bleach into a water bottle and serving it to a disabled patient, how he was caught. The growing divide among top tech leaders over AI. How Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pushing back amid concerns that tech could wipe out humanity. Not a great guard dog, a family pet caught on camera bringing a toy to an intruder as the suspect made himself right at home.

2:22Plus, the high school sport outpacing all the rest. We'll get into the rise of girls' flag football. Top Story starts right now.

2:36And good evening. We are coming on the air tonight with a tragedy involving our NBC News family. The heartbreaking and deadly crash of an NBC Los Angeles helicopter, killing three people, including a beloved reporter and a chopper pilot. Ileana Moreno and George Marcino were covering breaking news last night, as they had done time and time again. They were on assignment reporting on this deadly bus crash that killed at least two people, when suddenly the station lost contact with the chopper. Nearby, a massive plume of spoke appeared, their colleagues running out to the scene not knowing what had happened.

3:10The video shows that veteran local news reporter doing his job but visibly shaken before finding out that the deadly crash he was covering involved his own colleagues. Now the NTSB is investigating this video taken from the chopper just before it went down. At this hour, tributes are pouring in for the three lives lost, and you can see flowers adorning the peacock sign and the Telemundo sign at the offices in L.A. Moreno was 38 years old, described as a light and a spark plug by her colleagues. She worked regularly with Marcino, who had been flying for decades, his friend telling NBC News he was close to retiring.

3:45And medical examiners earlier today identifying the third person killed, 29-year-old Eddie Gutierrez Mejia, who was struck on the ground. On this job, we regularly report the toughest stories. We talk to people on the worst days of their lives, But last night, our colleagues in Los Angeles had to do that work under unimaginable circumstances. Our thoughts tonight are with them and with the families of all the victims. Our Steve Patterson is at the crash site again tonight and has this report. Tonight, NTSB investigators on the ground, hoping to discover what caused a heartbreaking tragedy that hits so close to home.

4:22Saying this video shot from the helicopter in the moments before the crash will be key evidence. In that recording, we are clearly hearing sounds that are consistent with the engine changing its speed. And we're also hearing tones that are being generated that are likely advisories to the pilots. Investigators combing through the wreckage of the local news chopper operated by Angel City Air that crashed overnight, killing two members of the NBC Los Angeles family. Photo journalist Eliana Moreno and pilot George Marcino reporting for local news KNBC and Telemundo. A pedestrian on the ground was also killed.

5:00Tonight, identified by the medical examiner as 29-year-old Eddie Gutierrez Meja. Angel City Air not responding to our request for comment. The investigation could take weeks. The tragic crash coming in the middle of breaking news coverage. Our L.A. Chopper team high above the scene covering a fatal bus accident. This SUV jackknifing a metro bus, killing two people and injuring five others. Avoid the intersection of Nordoff and DeSoto for the next several hours. And it was from the scene of that accident when you can hear an explosion. I can tell you that we are having trouble contacting our people right now.

5:38Followed by questions and confusion. Robert, we're going to need you to move towards that smoke and get closer to that scene immediately. KNBC reporter Robert Kvasek rushing to the scene as word circulated it was a news helicopter. As far as we know, witnesses are telling us that it is a chopper down. It is not from one of our other news stations here. We don't know where it is from. Then the devastating confirmation. We can now confirm that the chopper that went down in Chatsworth tonight, about two hours ago, was in fact News Chopper 4. And the heartbreak. Kvasek, seen off the air, overcome, and later embraced by several city officials.

6:23And tonight, the tributes for our dedicated colleagues. Moreno, a hardworking reporter from Orange County, so excited about the job, who could report in English and Spanish. Telling viewers more about her work on Instagram. We do it all using this handy-dandy camera that you see up here. And her partner, Marcineau, a veteran pilot respected in the aviation community. It is all so sad. Steve Patterson joins us now live from that scene. And Steve, we're getting a better understanding of how this happened. Yeah, Tom, investigators are now on scene, which means they're able to get right on top of that wreckage.

6:58The scene is behind me. You might be able to see it. It's those bank of containers off in the distance. Crews are searching for anything that may serve as physical flight data. Beyond that, any surveillance video. And beyond that, even cell phone video. Anything that points them in the right direction as to what went wrong here. An initial report may take about 30 days. A full report, more than a year. Tom? Steve Patterson leading us off. Steve, thank you. In the moments following that tragic crash, NBC Los Angeles was broadcasting live. Ileana and George's colleagues breaking the news of their passing to their community, but also to the nation.

7:33Joining me now is the anchor who covered that painful story on air in real time, NBC Los Angeles anchor Colleen Williams. Colleen, you are a friend, a dear colleague of ours here in New York. I am so sorry for everything that has happened to you, that has happened to these families as well. You know we are thinking about you, but we wanted to have you on to tell us more about these two really bright, shining lights, both in your newsroom and in this business? You couldn't have said it better. They were beautiful souls. They are bright, shining lights in our newsroom. They are the people we would go to whenever there was breaking news.

8:13Ileana has been here for at least a decade. She'd been in a chopper as a pilot, not as a pilot, but as a reporter, a photojournalist and a reporter, gosh, since 2010. And you know George's record. I mean, he'd been a pilot for decades. And they really worked as a team. I mean, we heard Ileana's voice a lot, but many, many times Ileana would say, and my pilot George has been talking to law enforcement, to other chopper pilots, and we have this additional information. I can't tell you what a tremendous loss this is. And then Ileana, I mean, if we can kind of narrow down on her as well, doing it in English, doing it in Spanish, right?

8:55at times operating the camera. I mean, to really have a strong local newsroom in Los Angeles, you have to have a strong chopper team. And that's exactly what these two were. There was really no limit to her talent. We had just spoken to her about a terrible accident in the same area. Their chopper went down just a couple of blocks away from that. We were getting ready at 7 o 'clock, just a couple of minutes out, when we lost contact with them. And then we saw pictures of smoke. We heard about explosions. And I think in our heart of hearts, we knew right away it was the worst for us. It was the worst for our newsroom, our community.

9:39We knew a news chopper had gone down. Yeah. When you were watching the video, and I was watching the newscast of you guys doing this, and it was so painful to watch. I could tell it was almost, you didn't want to report on anyone in our business who had gone down like this or any chopper crash for any reason, but you almost wanted to find something that it wasn't the people that you knew that you worked with because it makes it so difficult. Colleen, you know, you're a leader in that newsroom and a lot of times the community turns to you, right, to put these very tough moments into words. What have you been telling both the people in the newsroom over there at NBC Los Angeles, at KMBC, at Telemundo, but also your viewers as well?

10:21As I walk through the newsroom, I see the same face you're seeing here. There's just a numbness. People are spent. And all I can say to them is, we've covered terrible things together. And in order to honor them, because they were so good at what they did and breaking news, WE HAVE TO CONTINUE. AND I HAVE TO TELL YOU, TOM, I COVERED THE FIRES HERE, THE EATON FIRE, THE PALISADES FIRE LAST YEAR. I 'VE COVERED EARTHQUAKES. I 'VE COVERED A NUMBER OF THINGS IN THE DECADES I 'VE BEEN ON THE AIR. I 'VE NEVER HAD TO DELIVER NEWS LIKE THIS. THIS MAY HAVE BEEN THE HARDEST. YEAH, IT IS SO SAD. AND YOU WERE SO STRONG FOR BEING HERE AND FOR TALKING TO US.

11:10BEFORE WE GO, COLLEEN, I DO WANT TO SEE IF WE CAN END ON SOMETHING a little bit uplifting maybe with their memory to honor the two of them. If you can think of one story about each of them that you're holding on to, if you could share with our viewers about just how dedicated they were to this craft and how important they were to your newsroom.

11:31They were the team that never said no. I mean, whether it was covering the Eaton fires, the Palisades fire, the accident yesterday. I mean, they were always ready to go. And as you said, you know, Ileana covered it both in Spanish and English, and she could turn on a dime and do that. They were both extraordinarily talented people, and we will miss them. Colleen, we thank you so much for joining our broadcast tonight. We are thinking about you. We're thinking about all of our colleagues here in Los Angeles. We will keep you guys in our thoughts and, of course, our prayers and, of course, the families of Ileana and George.

12:10Thank you. We do want to move on now to our other top story tonight. We are following the Federal Reserve, raising interest rates for the first time in three years. Newly appointed Fed Chair Kevin Walsh making that call despite the president's opposition. I want to bring in NBC's Brian Chung, who's covering this from Washington. Brian, Walsh says the Fed had no choice but to raise rates and that there might be more hikes coming, and that's what sent stocks tumbling. YEAH, TOM, NOT THE BEST DAY TO CHECK YOUR 401K. IF YOU TAKE A LOOK AT WHERE THE MARKETS ENDED THE DAY, AT THE END OF TRADING, YOU CAN SEE THE DOW JONES DOWN OVER 600 POINTS.

12:45THAT'S 1.2%. THE S &P 500 AND THE NASDAQ ALSO DOWN AS BOND YIELDS ROSE. ALL OF THIS, WALL STREET'S REACTION TO FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIRMAN KEVIN WASHES SUGGESTION THAT HE MAY HIKE RATES EVEN FURTHER LATER THIS YEAR AFTER ALREADY DOING HIS FIRST INTEREST RATE HIKE SINCE 2023. TODAY, ALL OF THAT IS OBVIOUSLY WEIGHING ON THE MARKETS. BUT FROM MAIN STREET'S POINT OF VIEW, WARSH WAS SAYING THAT INFLATION IS TOO HIGH. THAT'S IN PART BECAUSE OF THE WAR WITH IRAN WHERE GAS PRICES HAVE BEEN UP ALMOST 50 % SINCE IT BEGAN. I ASKED THE FED CHAIRMAN WHY WOULD HIGHER RATES HELP AMERICANS THAT ARE FACING HIGHER COSTS AT THE PUMP, AT THE GROCERY STORE?

13:22WARSH TOLD ME THAT BY PUSHING INFLATION DOWN THE IDEAS THAT THOSE AMERICAN PAYCHECKS, WAGES WOULD GO FARTHER. NOW, OVERALL, HE DID SAY THAT THE ECONOMY IS STRENGTHENING. HE SAID THAT THE JOBS MARKET LOOKS STRONG, UNEMPLOYMENT LOOKS SLOW, BUT AGAIN, COULD THIS BE THE BEGINNING OF A SERIES OF INTEREST RATE HIKES? THAT'S WHAT WE'RE GOING TO BE WATCHING VERY CLOSELY. AND THEN YOU DON'T NEED A CRYSTAL BALL TO FIGURE THIS ONE OUT. PRESIDENT TRUMP IS NOT HAPPY ABOUT THIS. HOW IS HE RESPONDING TONIGHT? THIS IS A PRESIDENT THAT APPOINTED KEVIN WASH HOPING HE WAS GOING TO DELIVER ON LOWER INTEREST RATES.

13:52AND SO WE SAW A TRUTE SOCIAL POST IN JUST THE HOURS AFTER THAT PARTICULAR PRESS CONFERENCE WHERE WE HEARD FROM THE FED CHAIRMAN. HE SAID INTEREST RATES IN THE U.S. SHOULD BE 1%, SAYING LOWER THE INTEREST RATES FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. AND FAST, INTERESTINGLY, HE DIDN'T MENTION THE FED OR THE FED CHAIR KEVIN WORSH BY NAME, BUT HE DID SPEAK ON THE WAY TO A MOTORCADE IN GASTONIA, NORTH CAROLINA, WHERE HE DID SAY THAT HE HAS CONFIDENCE IN KEVIN WORSH AND THAT HE DOES WANT HIM TO REMAIN INDEPENDENT, TOM. All right, Brian Chung for us. Brian, we thank you. Now to the Republican rebuke of President Trump's war with Iran.

14:24Seven GOP Congress members breaking rank voting with Democrats to end the conflict that has now cost the U.S. more than$38 billion. Garrett Hick has this report. Tonight, the growing GOP divide over Iran. Seven House Republicans breaking with President Trump, voting for a largely symbolic resolution directing the president to end the war, including Republican Marionette Miller-Meeks from Iowa, a state the president won three times. She wouldn't comment tonight. I have no comment for you. You can contact my communications director. But in a post writing, I served 24 years in the Army. I will not vote to keep our soldiers in an open-ended war.

15:04The Iranian regime and its nuclear ambitions have been defanged, saying the president should, quote, focus on bringing our soldiers home and lowering prices. It comes as a new nonpartisan congressional analysis finds the war's price tag at more than$38 billion through the start of August, with a projected future cost of$2 to$3 billion per month, polls showing most Americans against the war, and gas prices still high. But Vice President Vance urging voters who backed President Trump two years ago not to be dissuaded by any one issue, including Iran. Even if you don't agree with us on every issue, the other party is consumed by craziness.

15:44You want to give the country over to illegal aliens and criminals. Administration officials arguing the Iranian threat to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz has weakened, saying 18 million barrels of oil sailed through yesterday, near pre-war levels. But Saudi Arabia's east-west oil pipeline damaged and taken offline by a recent drone strike. Damage assessments are still going on, but it should be up relatively soon. Okay, Garrett Haig joins us tonight from the White House. And Garrett, I know you have an update on another story. Susie Wiles, the chief of staff, may have the toughest job in D.C., and she got a bit of good news this week.

16:17Yeah, it's been much tougher. She's been treated for breast cancer going back to March. She announced today that she is officially cancer-free. DEMOCRATS AND THE DEMOCRATS SHE HAD TREATMENT THIS PAST WEEK AT THE Mayo CLINIC AND RESULTS FROM PATHOLOGY ARE BACK WITH NO CANCER REMAINING. WILES HAS BEEN CONTINUING HER JOB HERE WHILE SHE'S BEEN RECEIVING THIS TREATMENT. SHE'S ALREADY PRESIDENT TRUMP'S LONGEST SERVING CHIEF OF STAFF ACROSS TWO TERMS. NOW SHE'S EXCITED TO CONTINUE IN THAT ROLE. TOM? All right, Garrett Hague at the White House, thank you. We turned out of the deadly floods pounding parts of the southwest, neighborhoods completely underwater.

16:51It comes as dry air fuels wildfires forcing people from their homes. Are Priscilla Thompson tracking it all? Tonight, dangerous weather on the move across the southwest. This is bad out here, guys. In northwest New Mexico, flash flooding, inundating streets. Tragically, north of there in the Navajo Nation, floodwaters killing three people. This comes after harrowing water rescues in Tucson earlier this week. Watch as crews use a ladder to save this person from a car trapped in rushing water. In California, the Floriston Fire igniting north of Lake Tahoe this morning. In Texas, the Hydra Fire burning northwest of Waco.

17:33Our worst fears have happened. The fire did jump the north containment line and now is forward progressing towards the city meridian. The blaze triggering evacuations for a time in that city of around 1500 Tuesday. And southwest of Fort Worth, crews are battling the Red Bank fire. The biggest challenge right now is the terrain. It's very hilly. It's very difficult to access. Winds fueling the flames and causing these fire whirls to rise into the air as Mother Nature continues to create chaos for millions of Americans. And Tom, most of Texas is experiencing its hottest September on record. places like Austin, San Antonio, and in Dallas, where on average temperatures have been 10 degrees above average.

18:13Dallas has also not gotten rain in more than 60 days and has only had two days below 100 degrees this month. And of course, this is not over just yet, unfortunately, with more record-breaking temperatures expected tomorrow. Tom? Priscilla Thompson for us. Priscilla, thank you. I want to bring in meteorologist Bill Karens. Bill, this flood threat is far from over. Walk us through what we can expect over the coming hours. Yeah, we've been watching the Phoenix area closing. Now, downtown Phoenix has been just fine. But if you've been in the Phoenix area, it's a sprawling metropolis. Areas to the east, Mesa especially, this is where we've seen totals up to two to three inches.

18:47In just the last couple hours, we have reports of water rescues at one of the intersections there. The water is just, this is the desert area. And they try to function and take these water through canals. And then eventually the canals can't handle as much rain. And so they're over flooding into the roadways. And then we also have the problems in the mountainous area. So it's not just in the Phoenix area. Everywhere you see the red polygons, there's over 20 of them. We have 20 active flash flood warnings. And you can see all the flashes of white on the map. Those are all the lightning strikes.

19:16So we have a lot of flash flooding issues going on. These are in the deserts and these are in the mountains. This is tropical moisture. All those things mixed together is usually the recipe for really disastrous flooding. We did have three fatalities in the Navajo Nation in northern portions of New Mexico early this morning. And, you know, things like that could easily happen again. So as we go through the rest of tonight, the slug of tropical moisture will continue to push northwards and still continue to have flash flooding threats. Tomorrow, I have my eyes set on the Telluride area to Durango, the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.

19:47That's where the heaviest rain will be, chances of significant flash flooding. And then we push it to the north and kind of isolate it to the south. So rainfall totals, I showed you the Durango area. Tomorrow could be up to three inches of rain. And then we'll watch our friends heading into southern Minnesota as this storm system kind of makes a curve to the north. And then, Tom, unfortunately for everyone in the Great Lakes, Saturday, this rain heads your way. Sunday, it's our turn in the northeast for a rainy end to our weekend. Another Sunday full of rain. Bill, we're also seeing a lot of headlines about a term called Super El Nino.

20:17And I'm thinking of that Chris Farley segment on SNL. The Guardian's opinion section publishing an essay titled The Incoming Super El Nino Will Create Chaos Around the World. and we are far from ready for it. Explain what's going on here. Well, fear. We're about to witness and do a science experiment that we've never done before. And just in general, human nature, we're afraid of the unknown. So let me explain what the unknown is. So we measure the temperatures in the Pacific, the El Nino region, and they're expected to peak somewhere in the 2.4 to 2.8 degrees Celsius range sometime in November or December.

20:52The reason everyone's freaking out about this is that in our records, the highest ever was 2.4. Back in 1983, and we're expected to be significantly higher than that, maybe like one degree Fahrenheit higher than that. And all that means is that there's going to be more energy, more juice in the atmosphere, and we'll have to wait and see what actually happens. So in a typical strong El Nino, we know what happens. We've had him in 83. We had it in 97. So what we get, you know, these super El Ninos, they occur about once every 10 to 15 years. Now, this one could be like the highest ever super El Nino.

21:23And so what typically is, it's like an El Nino on steroids. In a typical El Nino, the West Coast, we know you're going to get battered. Everyone in California is already getting ready for it. The beaches have already been hit hard earlier from this tropical season. But we're going to see numerous big storms going into California. We'll probably be talking about mudslides, flooding, wind damage, beach erosion, that type of thing. But we also see a very active weather pattern through the southern U.S. And that means an early severe weather season through maybe even December, January, February with tornadoes and that sort of thing.

21:52And every now and then, one of these juiced up storms, if it times up with cold air in the winter, could make for big snowstorms on the East Coast. Doesn't always happen, but at least the potential is there. But it's that unknown, Tom. That's why we're seeing these headlines that are eye-catching. It's because we just haven't seen one this strong before and we haven't witnessed what it's going to be. Yeah, and we'll see what it brings and we'll stay track of it. Bill, we thank you for explaining that. Tonight, we are also hearing from the man who had to be duct taped to his seat on board an American Airlines flight after he allegedly became violent and unleashed a racist tirade.

22:23Now he's telling a judge he drank two screwdrivers before that incident and doesn't remember it at all. Here's Tom Costello. I had two screwdrivers and I don't know what happened. Courtroom audio obtained by the Baltimore banner of 67-year-old Arthur Lane Lundin saying he doesn't remember this moment at all. When passengers duct taped him to a seat as the pilot diverted their American Airlines Dallas to Newark flight to Baltimore September 3rd. I don't remember landing. I don't remember any of what happened. Arrested by police, Lundin told a Maryland judge the last thing he remembered was talking to a seatmate.

23:05He ended up throwing out the racial slur, the N-word, throughout this first couple minutes of this starting to happen. Fellow passengers and crews say Lundin suddenly began yelling racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic slurs, then attacked a fellow passenger. And put his hands around his throat and started actually strangling him. That's when passengers Richard Olenek and retired police officer Juan Mejia jumped in using zip ties and duct tape provided by the flight crew. So it took the two of us together to work as a team to start to control him and subdue him. Appearing in court, Lundeen still seemed confused.

23:43I don't know how I got to Maryland. I was supposed to land in New Jersey. I came here because my middle daughter is moving apartments. The Maryland state attorney and Lundeen's attorney both declining to comment tonight. Tom? Tom Costello on that weird one. We're back in a moment with the disturbing case involving a caretaker accused of pouring bleach, yes, bleach, into one of his clients' water bottles, the charges he's facing tonight. Plus, the growing debate over AI and whether tech leaders need to slow it down. But is a kill switch even possible? We'll explain. And a major milestone for one of baseball's biggest stars, belting his 300th homer in front of his former hometown crowd.

24:27That special moment ahead on Top Story.

24:37Over the years, I've met people whose lives were changed forever in a single moment. In my new podcast, Before and After, I explore what happens after that decisive moment. Personal, powerful conversations with Colin Kaepernick, Jeremy Renner, Gabby Giffords, and others. Join me wherever you get your podcasts. Listen to all episodes of Before and After with Lester Holt now, wherever you get your podcasts.

25:07We're back now with the caretaker in Louisiana, now behind bars. Police saying he gave his client a water bottle mixed with bleach. That shocking moment caught on camera. Our Jesse Kirsch has the details. You're watching a caretaker inside his client's home, allegedly pouring bleach into a water bottle. He pauses, adds more, and tells the client. The moment apparently caught on in-home surveillance footage from multiple angles, posted on social media by family. A man seen walking to the home's laundry area, appearing to grab bleach and mix it with water, hidden from the victim's view. Police say 30-year-old Reginald Andre Wilson gave bleach to a physically and mentally handicapped victim who's unable to care for himself.

25:51And after drinking the water, the victim noticed it tasted like bleach, according to investigators, who say the victim's relative confronted the caretaker and he admitted to pouring bleach into the water. The disturbing incident happening in Lake Charles, Louisiana on Monday. The health care worker's company writing on social media in part that it is deeply saddened to see what transpired, adding we immediately took action and removed the worker and transported the client to the ER to be evaluated. And tonight, Wilson is behind bars, facing multiple charges, including aggravated battery.

26:28Jesse Kirst joins us now. Now, Jesse, what more can you tell us about the suspect and where does the investigation go from here? That video was so crazy. Yeah, very disturbing to say the least, Tom. We're also trying to get some more information on the victim in this incident because it's not clear of his medical status at this hour. Of course, it's no joke to be drinking bleach as allegedly happened in this incident. We're trying to get further details on that. I do want to know we have a little bit more we can share from the health care provider company. They say that they're working with local authorities on this investigation.

27:04Read in part from their statement. They say, quote, we are cooperating with all authorities to seek justice for our client. And the investigation is ongoing, not getting much more from police either. Of course, this is the early going in an investigation like this, Todd. I can't imagine drinking bleach. It's just, again, it's just so crazy. OK, Jesse, we thank you for that. Coming up on Top Story, the gruesome mystery involving five missing women, what police found inside this house of horrors. Plus, NFL star Travis Kelsey named a victim in a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme. What we're learning.

27:34But first, Top Story's top moment and the storybook moment for Baltimore Orioles star Pete Alonzo. The former New York Met hitting his 300th career homer on his old home turf at Citi Field. Take a look. And he hits one of the deep left. That's going to be number 300 for Pete Alonzo. The crowd going absolutely wild for the polar bear. After that game tying Homer game tying Homer chanting his name from the stands prompting a rare curtain call for a player on an opposing team. After the game Alonzo met up with the lucky fans who caught that historic ball. Hey what's up guys. How's it going. How are you doing.

28:15No thank you. Of course. Wow. Where did it hit? The top right right right right down to us. Oh my goodness. Great hit. Thank you. Of course. Thank you. So great they gave him the ball back. Congrats to him on that major milestone. The Mets should have never traded him. That's what everyone's saying. All right. Much more on Top Story Ahead. Stay with us.

28:45Now to the growing divide among tech titans over whether to slow down AI over fears over the tech's capabilities to destroy humanity. On one side, you have the CEOs of Anthropic, OpenAI, along with Elon Musk, all in agreement for the industry to pump the brakes. But NVIDIA CDO Jensen Wang and now Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg cutting through that chorus claiming a coordinated slowdown just isn't necessary. Zuckerberg's wane in writing in part, every lab has the responsibility and incentive to move at the pace required to train its models to safely and the ability to take it on its own actions to ensure that happens.

29:21BUT NOT EVERYONE IS BUYING THAT ARGUMENT. TAKE A LISTEN TO SALESFORCE CEO MARK BENOFF IN AN INTERVIEW WITH CNBC. A LOT OF COMPANIES GOT HURT. A LOT OF INDIVIDUALS GOT HURT THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA. WE DON'T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN IN AI. EXIO'S REPORTER HERB SCRIBNER HAS BEEN FOLLOWING THE RUSH TO BUILD AN AI KILL SWITCH WHICH WOULD IN THEORY ALLOW COMPANIES TO PULL THE PLUG IF THEIR AI GOES ROGUE. THIS IS SOMETHING WE 'VE TALKED ABOUT A LOT HERE ON TOP STORY. HERB, WE THANK YOU FOR JOINING to broadcast, is this possible? It's the million dollar question. Yeah, thanks for having me. It's definitely possible to an extent.

29:56There's no magic button that can be pressed to totally turn off AI, right? It's not like we can, against conventional thought, you can't just pull the plug and then it's over. But there are a lot of steps that the different companies are taking to make sure that like if AI were to go rogue, if the worst fears were to happen and threaten humanity or catastrophe

30:20THERE ARE SOME TACTICS THAT ARE BEING KIND OF LIKE SUSSED OUT, PROPOSED, TESTED BY THE DIFFERENT COMPANIES. SO THERE ARE SOME KILL SWITCHES THAT ARE BUILDING RIGHT NOW. YEAH. SO THE NOBEL PRIZE WINNING COMPUTER SCIENTIST KNOWN AS THE GODFATHER OF AI, YOU MAY HAVE SEEN THIS, JEFFREY HINTON HAS ACTUALLY WEIGHED IN ON THE KILL SWITCH IDEA. HE WAS ON CNN TODAY. LET'S TAKE A LISTEN TO WHAT HE SAID. IT'S NOT A GOOD THING. THE AI WILL BE MUCH BETTER THAN PEOPLE AT PERSUADING PEOPLE OF THINGS. IT'S ALREADY COMPARABLE WITH PEOPLE AT PERSUADING YOU OF THINGS. IT WILL BE ABLE TO PERSUADE THE PEOPLE IN CHARGE OF THE SWITCH NOT TO PULL THE SWITCH.

30:58HE'S ARGUING A KILL SWITCH MIGHT NOT EVEN WORK. I KNOW THERE'S A LOT OF DOOMSDAY SCENARIO PEOPLE OUT THERE ON AI. WHAT DO YOU THINK? yeah i think a lot of this has to do with what the labs are kind of like building i think you know open ai and anthropic both have like these systems in place that kind of rely on ai to monitor ai and to identify security incidents and kind of like find out what's what's going on so in that sense like you have to like follow the labs you have to see what they're kind of proposing. But on top of that, you know, there's this whole aspect of that kind of is part of this whole argument is that like, you know, you could get to a point where the AI is training the AI and training the future models of AI to act a certain way.

31:46And so that might be into what, you know, he was proposing there where, you know, the AI was good at persuading, it's good at persuading humans, but it could also be good at persuading future AI models to not act against AI. And this could be in very subtle ways where it's teaching and training the new models to keep itself alive. I mean, that's kind of what, you know, a lot of species do, right? They try to keep themselves alive. And I'm not saying AI is a species or anything, but like, that's kind of the idea is that it would like work in its own, you know, self-interest. Yeah, it took OpenAI four days to discover that its AI models went rogue in July after they hacked another AI company.

32:23If something does go wrong, How long do you think it will take for AI companies to sort of find out? Oh, that's a great question because, you know, we only know what the AI companies are going to tell us about it, right? We don't have a handle on all these things. You know, but, you know, OpenAI has a situation going right now where they have a monitoring system that apparently, you know, it can monitor the chain of thought thinking. and it can alert its staffers that maybe something is going wrong, maybe something's going dangerous, and then the responders are then charged with pausing the activity within like, I think it's like within 30 seconds or something.

33:06So they'll know pretty quickly, hey, this is kind of going off course a little bit, and then they can act that way. Before you go, I do want to ask you, covering this space, there's a lot of people that are speaking out now, former AI engineers, but ChatGPT, you know, OpenAI, I should say, and Anthropic are private companies. How hard is it to sort of figure out what's going on? Yeah, it's pretty hard in the traditional sense, right? Like, we're not getting those, you know, maybe public financial reports, those public statements. But I will say the AI companies, even though they are private, They are very open about what's going on.

33:46There was a report a couple hours ago about new incidents that OpenAI had discovered before, you know, the hugging face and kind of showing that, like, the hugging face incident was not on its own. And so they're pretty open about this. They know how impactful the technology is, how many eyes are on the technology. They're heading toward IPOs, right, Anthropic and OpenAI. So they have kind of like this incentive to be honest about what's going on in that way. So, yeah, even though they're not public, they are definitely sharing information pretty regularly. And they're pretty open about what's happening.

34:22So, you know, just keep, if you're interested in that, keep an eye on what they're sharing, what they're saying, because they do tend to share a lot of information. Herb, we thank you for joining us tonight. We appreciate it. Now to Top Stories News Feed, we start with a new video of a brutal attack inside a Miami hospital, a patient running up and punching a worker before going after an emergency room nurse and knocking her down. This all happened back in May, but now an attorney for that nurse says they plan to file a$5 million lawsuit against the hospital. In a statement to our NBC station, the hospital did comment directly on the investigation, adding that those employees received care after the incident.

34:59And we're learning that Travis Kelsey, one of the biggest stars in the NFL, was a victim in a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. Prosecutors say he was one of many high-profile people scammed by a man who just pleaded guilty to wire fraud. That man sentenced to 11 years in prison. Authorities say he was an undocumented immigrant running a company out of Texas. It's unclear how much Kelsey was involved with the convicted fraudster. We reached out to Kelsey's reps, but haven't heard back. That of grisly new details in the case of a Philadelphia House of Horror is now linked to five missing women.

35:29Officials describing more disturbing images of women taken inside. Valerie Castro has this one. Tonight, a growing and gruesome mystery in Philadelphia as police say at least five missing women are now linked to this home. Investigators first zeroing in on the property in June following the arrest of Eugene Horsch during a traffic stop. They say search warrants executed at his house turning up urns with cremated human remains, containers of an unknown chemical substance and more than a million pieces of digital evidence. Videos recovered from the property depicted Gabrielle Amarondo and Maribel Friesis unconscious inside the home.

36:05Both were previously reported missing. Their bodies have never been found. And today, police announcing more concerning images showing three other women. Using caution would appear to be, but they're unconscious, and they're possibly, they could be, could be deceased. One video in particular catching the attention of investigators that shows Eugene's father, Raymond Horsch, on camera with a woman. He puts a zip tie around her neck, and she becomes unconscious on that video. appeared to be lifeless at that time. The elder Horsch also lived at the home and died last year at 82. He made movies and books with themes that were violent and sexually explicit.

36:43Some of this is play acting and some of it we believe could be real, but we're not there yet. Eugene Horsch is in federal custody on a weapons charge and for allegedly carrying fake federal credentials. Authorities say they have not seen him in the videos from the home reviewed so far. His attorney did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment today.

37:28on those images, some of whom they say have died in the years since. They died of overdoses in other locations. Other people, they say, are still alive today, and they've been able to interview them as part of this investigation. But the FBI, who is also involved in this case, they are now going to go back to the home, execute more search warrants. Now that they've looked at some of those videos, they can pinpoint areas of the home that they want to go back and take a second look at. All right, Valerie Castro. Valerie, thank you for being here. Now to top stories, Global Watch and the deadly building collapse in Gaza.

37:57At least 20 people killed, including multiple children. Rescuers digging through the rubble to find trapped survivors. It comes as news strikes rock the region. Matt Bradley joins us now from Tel Aviv. Matt, what are we learning about this building collapse? Yeah, well, this was a six-story building in the Tel Al Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City. Now, the Ministry of Interior told NBC News that this building had already been damaged in a 2023 Israeli airstrike. And so far, it looks as though 21 people were killed in this building collapse. That number could go up because officials are saying that there are still bodies who are buried under the rubble of this nearly 24 hours after we've seen this building collapse.

38:42Now, this is typical, Tom. We see this throughout the Gaza Strip, where more than 90 percent of that population of more than two million people are still homeless following three years of war that, in many ways, is still ongoing. So a lot of these folks are living in tents. Many of them are living in these buildings that are already so badly compromised, they could crumble at any moment. And the real problem comes when we start to see wintertime temperatures. THAT IS A REAL CRISIS IN THE GAZA STRIP. THAT IS A REAL CRISIS IN THE THAT IS WHAT IT IS BEING CALLED AND DESCRIBED BY LEADERS BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HAMAS, STRIKES ARE ONGOING?

39:25THAT IS RIGHT. EVER SINCE THAT CEASE FIRE IN OCTOBER 2025, WE HAVE SEEN NEARLY 1400 PALESTINIANS HAVE BEEN KILLED IN ISRAELI AIRSTRIKES. THIS IS STILL GOING ON. THAT IS THE CASE FIRE. THAT IS THE CASE FIRE STOPPED THE WAR BUT DIDN'T STOP THE FIGHTING AND ONE OF THE COMPLAINTS FROM THE PALESTINIAN SIDE, FROM HAMAS, IS THAT THE ISRAELIS ARE BASICALLY STILL TARGETING AND STILL FIGHTING IN A BLATANT VIOLATION OF THE CASE FIRE. THE ISRAELIS HAVE SAID THAT HAMAS IS VIOLATING THE CASE FIRE BY REFUSING TO DISARM AND THAT'S THAT'S WHY WE'RE STILL NOT SEEING ANY DIPLOMATIC PROGRESS REALLY IN THE GAZA STRIP EVER SINCE THAT CEASE-FIRE.

40:06AND THEN, MATT, WHILE WE HAVE YOU HERE, THE U.S. IS PLANNING TO SEND MORE WEAPONS TO ISRAEL. I THINK IT'S A RECORD-BREAKING DEAL AS FAR AS THE VALUE IS CONCERNED. WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THIS? THAT'S RIGHT. WITH A$2.8 BILLION PRICE TAG, THIS IS A HUGE, HUGE SALE OF WEAPONS. AND MUCH OF IT IS BEING PAID FOR BY U.S. TAXPAYERS BECAUSE THAT MONEY IS GOING BASICALLY AS PART OF AMERICAN MILITARY ASSISTANCE TO ISRAEL WHICH TOTALS IN THE BILLIONS AND THAT MONEY GOES STRAIGHT BACK TO PURCHASES OF AMERICAN WEAPONS BY THE ISRAELIS. THE REALLY CONTROVERSIAL THING HERE IS THAT THESE INCLUDE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF THESE 2 ,000-POUND BOMBS.

40:46SOME OF THEM ARE OUTFITTED TO ACT LIKE BUNKER BUSTER BOMBS BUT MANY OF THEM HAVE BEEN USED BY THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION LAST IN THE GASA STRIP AND LEBANON AND THEY'RE WIDELY CRITICIZED BECAUSE OF THEIR HUGE SIZE. THEIR IMPACT MAKES IT REALLY HARD TO AVOID CIVILIAN CASUALTIES AND TO TARGET THEM. SO THAT'S WHY THE BIDEN ADMINISTRATION LAST YEAR PUT A

41:21Matt, we thank you for that. Still to come tonight here on Top Story, our series, Business in America. We hear from the head of Kraft Heinz about how they're trying to keep prices down. Plus, it's the fastest growing high school sport right now, flag football. Why so many girls are racing to sign up. That's next.

41:42I'm Kristen Welker, and this Sunday on Meet the Press, has the MAGA movement come to an end? I'll sit down for an exclusive interview with former Vice President Mike Pence to talk about the GOP's midterm losses and how much influence the president has left as the party regroups for 2028 this Sunday on Meet the Press. Back now with our series Business in America. Tonight, we're focusing on the challenges many families are facing to keep up with the rising cost, especially at the grocery store. But it's not just prices that have people changing their habits. A recent study from Pew Research found more than half of shoppers say they're now prioritizing healthiness when deciding what foods to buy.

42:22And that has some companies at a critical crossroads, including Kraft Heinz, which makes ketchup, of course, and is also behind iconic brands like Lunchables and Oscar Mayer. Our Vicky Nguyen caught up with the CEO to talk about where the business is headed and what Americans can expect moving forward. At Bullseye Farm in Woodland, California, tomatoes grown just for Heinz ketchup. For three months, some 500 million tomatoes are harvested each day to make enough ketchup for an entire year. All tomato ketchup in the United States comes from the farms here in California. The company's new CEO, Steve Cahillane, seeing it all for the first time.

43:03He took me out to taste the tomatoes produced from original Heinz seeds. Show me how you see these tomatoes when you were a kid. Yeah, so a little salt there. Yeah. Then a small bite. Yeah. Get it.

43:18Right? That's a Heinz tomato. He's been at the helm for eight months at Kraft Heinz, overseeing American kitchen staples from Oscar Mayer and Philadelphia cream cheese to Jell-O, Kool-Aid, and Velveeta. Some iconic brands losing ground with U.S. sales down 6 % last year as consumers shift from processed and sugary foods and grocery costs rise. Are you worried that people are moving away from your core products at Kraft Heinz? I'm not worried about it, but I recognize the challenge that it is. Kay Helene says the fix starts with more value. Affordability is top of mind for a lot of consumers right now, and we're seeing store brands and private labels really make inroads with consumers.

43:59How are you making the case that people should spend more on your brand name products? Well, we have to earn it. We can't just rely on having a strong brand and saying that's going to be enough. In February, the company cut prices to retailers by 5 % on its Maxwell House and Javalia coffee products, with the intent that those savings get passed on to shoppers. You're bringing prices down on coffee? We are. He says consumers can also expect to see more grocery store deals on Kraft Heinz products at the start of each month. At the beginning of the month is when a lot of consumers are feeling a little bit more comfortable.

44:34They're not quite as stretched as they are at the end of the month, so making sure that the staple items, the Heinz ketchup, the Capri Sun, is there for them at a good value so that they can stock up their pantries. Back at the farm, the Kraft Heinz tomatoes are harvested, loaded onto trucks, and within hours, they arrive here to Morningstar packing. Each day, 1 ,700 truckloads of tomatoes are sorted, heated, and turned into tomato paste for Heinz ketchup. We visited the Quality Control Lab. You're evaluating the color, the texture, the viscosity, the taste, every single hour, 24-7. This summer saw several companies dealing with recalls and food safety concerns.

45:15Kraft Heinz has avoided those issues. Kay Helene says a safety-first culture is key. The most important thing that we do, the most important, is to make sure that our products are safe, our food is safe. What do you think is going wrong at these companies where we see repeated recalls? You know, I don't know, but making sure that you have the culture right and that there are no shortcuts. The company also leaning in hard on what consumers say they want. It's a balance between making sure you're not compromising on taste, you're giving people what they want, and you're being very transparent about exactly what they're consuming.

45:50And take it from the guy at the top. When it comes to ketchup with two million bottles sold a day, he's glad Americans love it. Ketchup on scrambled eggs. Yes. Hot dogs. Yes. Even as a Chicago guy, you say that? Even as a Chicago guy, because I'm originally from New York. Fried rice. Fried rice, yes, yeah. Ketchup on Kraft mac and cheese. Probably not. Maybe not Kraft mac and cheese. Vicky Nguyen, NBC News. Vicky Nguyen, for us, Vicky, we thank you. Turning now to the world of high school sports. Across the country, flag football is seeing explosive growth, and girls teams are leading the way.

46:27Our George Solis has more. From coast to coast, flags are flying. As girls' high school flag football surges to new heights. Now the fastest growing high school sport in the country. No helmets, no pads, no tackles, but make no mistake, the competition is fierce and increasingly expanding. According to the NFL, more than 20 states plus D.C., now officially have state-sanctioned state championships. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. As of now, there are over 100 ,000 girls playing flag football in high schools across the country. And it's now the fastest-growing high school sport. So it's really kind of insane how it's exploded over the past few years.

47:17And at the collegiate level, more than 100 schools are now offering club or varsity flag football, meaning new opportunities for recruitment and scholarships. What has contributed to its explosive growth? It's a few things. Of course, the 2028 Olympics in L.A. Another big thing behind it is the NFL. It's a big priority of theirs to grow girls flag football and women's flag football across the country. Just last year, the NFL dropping this Super Bowl ad promoting the sports growth. Girls don't play football. They do where I'm from. And teams like the Las Vegas Raiders and Minnesota Vikings have been supporting high school programs.

47:54The field is shorter than the standard gridiron, and teams are often 5-5 or 7-7. 12-year-old Ava Smithson loves playing with her team in Minnesota. To be here with all my friends and play football. Her all-girls community team is in its first season, and there have been some hurdles. Some of the lights on their field are damaged. It's really hard for the coaches to coach and the players to play when it's really dark out. But they're hopeful their season will continue, planting the flag for a sport that's only getting bigger. George Solis joins us now. George, nothing says flag football has arrived like the Olympics.

48:36It'll be part of the 2028 Games in L.A. Will both men and women compete? Yeah, Tom, making its debut at the summer games, you have teams of five V5, six men teams, six women's teams. And if you take the first season of the regular NFL season, as any indicator, I would say the odds are looking pretty good for gold. And then while we have you here, George, are schools also investing in this game, flag football for boys as well? Because we just did the big story in the segments here on Top Story about how a lot of varsity athletes can no longer play football at their schools because the schools aren't, they don't have enough kids to sort of support a team.

49:14So is flag football becoming an alternative for boys as well? That's an excellent point, Tom. And the short answer is yes. Obviously, tackle football is still such a huge driver, especially when you talk about Friday Night Lights. But as we talk to some analysts and football experts with those shortages of enrollment in some of these teams, whether it be injuries or just a lack of players, a lot of parents are also expressing concern with injuries and reports like CTE out there. So flag football is certainly becoming an alternative. And based on some of the numbers just in the women's sector of this game for high school and college, especially after the Olympics, it would be no surprise to see this have even more explosive growth in the years to come.

49:53Tom. George Solis for us, George. We thank you. When we come back tonight, they say dogs are man's best friends, but apparently they're not always the best home security system. We'll show you why right after this.

50:09Finally tonight, it was the break-in caught on camera, an intruder making his way into a San Diego home. The family wasn't there, but two of their dogs were, and they didn't quite go into guard dog mode, instead acting more like man's best friend. David Summers from our NBC San Diego station has more.

50:28In the heat of the day, this stranger sought shelter in Dante Rowley's house near the corner of 20th and J Street. That window up there? The window just above your eave. Yeah. Rowley's six-camera security system recorded the break-in. The suspect used this two-story ladder hidden behind his shed to get to an open second-story window. And we just watched it all happen from my phone. The intruder took off his shoes and shirt, took a seat on the bench in the foyer for a while. He ate yogurt, turkey and cheese from the fridge. He took a nap. The alleged burglar, though, was not alone. Inside were also two of Dante's three dogs, Ollie, the long-haired dachshund, and Nash, the 90-pound, four-year-old golden retriever.

51:17The dogs, like, we just wanted to make sure that they were safe. Now, about Nash, he's more cuddler than killer. And if you break into this house, oh, he's going to stop you, all right. He's going to stop you for a belly rub or maybe a toy to play with. The evidence is in the recording. Not once or twice, but three times, Nash brought the intruder a toy so they could play. Nash was not the greatest guard dog. We thought that he was going to be barking at people, and he did the exact opposite.

51:50Even after police arrived, not distracted by the drama, Nash had a toy to greet them at the front door.

52:01THE SUSPECT ATTEMPTED AN ESCAPE THROUGH A FIRST FLOOR BATHROOM WINDOW. HE WAS MET BY POLICE IN THE BACKYARD, HANDCUFFED THEN TAKEN INTO CUSTODY. WE HOPE HE GETS HELP, HONESTLY. AS FOR NASH, HE'S STILL IN THE DOGH HOUSE WITH DANTE FOR HIS BEHAVIOR. DAVE SUMMERS, NBC7. ALL RIGHT, NASH MIGHT BE IN THE DOGH HOUSE GOING FORWARD. Thanks so much for watching Top Story. I'm Tom Yamas in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way.

52:56these numbers. It's more context and clarity from the reporters you trust. Download the NBC News app now and subscribe for more.