Wednesday, September 30, 2026

0:00To every clinician finishing notes at 9pm, there is a faster way. Whisperflow is a voice-to-text app. You talk, it types in your EHR, your email, anywhere you type. Say the progress note, the referral letter, the patient instructions, and it comes out clean and formatted with your terminology spelled right. Four times faster than typing and HIPAA ready. Whisperflow is free. Get it at whisperflow.ai. That's W-I-S-P-R flow dot A-I. High Five Casino is the top choice for social casino gaming that's free to play. With chances to win and redeem for real cash prizes, free spend rewards, and tons of exclusive games, you can experience more high-five moments than ever before.

0:42You're going to want to high-five everyone. The neighbors, the mailman, all your coworkers, of course your friends. Well, you get the point. Your high-five moment awaits at highfivecasino.com. No purchase necessary. Void where prohibited by law. Must be 21 years or older. Terms and conditions apply. Breaking news tonight. The suspected terror attack on a passenger plane headed to Israel. One pilot stabbing another in the cockpit. The horrific images inside. The pilot bloodied while his co-pilot attacker is held down by heroic passengers. Families screaming as the plane drops thousands of feet.

1:15Passengers rushing the cockpit door. How they finally made it all in. And the plumber on board who took the controls, the heroes of that flight, now speaking out to us. Plus, the investigation tonight. Was the pilot with the knife part of a terrorist group? How did he get that weapon through security? And how safe are flights here in the U.S.? This just in the major move from Cornell University as the school investigates that alleged rape. Plus, NBC News obtaining the accuser's original statement two years ago, what it reveals. The tornado warnings right now as dangerous storms take aim. This woman clinging to her car as the water rises.

1:55Rescue teams moving in. plus the powerful nighttime tornado touching down in Texas, sirens blaring. The woman accused of firing at Rihanna's Los Angeles home, charged with attempted murder, what the indictment now reveals. The mystery liquid attack in New York City's surveillance video shows the suspect dousing another man in an unknown substance, what police are saying. Plus, we speak with the CEO of a company building what could be America's first humanoid soldier when these lethal bots could be on the front lines. and the Army veterans suing a hospital after surgeons allegedly amputated the wrong leg.

2:30How could this happen? Top story starts right now.

2:39Good evening. We begin with the breaking news details on the horror in the sky, a pilot stabbing his co-pilot in the cockpit of a passenger plane in what Israel is describing as an attempted terror attack. A warning, the images coming into our newsroom are graphic and terrifying. This video shows the pilot on that flight bound for Israel covered in blood on the ground after he was stabbed. Right next to him, the alleged attacker subdued after passengers rushed the cockpit in a scene so reminiscent of the 9-11 terror attacks.

3:14Those are the chilling screams from passengers as the plane plummeted more than 14 ,000 feet in less than 30 seconds. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the attacker's goal was to crash that plane into the ground. You can see the flight path here, the plane taking off from Dubai on its way to Tel Aviv when it made an abrupt turn as that co-pilot allegedly launched his attack, the plane ultimately making an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Cheers of relief erupting when it finally touched down and Saudi officials arresting the co-pilot. The passengers then flown to Tel Aviv, swarmed by cameras and by family members, overcome with emotion.

3:52One of the passengers, a plumber who helped stop the attacker, still covered in blood, recalling how he took control of the plane. His training? Watching a TV show about aviation disasters. There are so many questions still to be answered tonight. How did the pilot get a knife on board? Why did he do it? And could something like this happen here in the U.S.? At this hour, there are growing fears about this new nexus of terror as we sit with that realization that the threat can come from inside the cockpit as well. Our Matt Bradley is in Tel Aviv. He leads us off tonight. Tonight, the horror in the skies, what Israel's defense minister calls an attempted jihadist terror attack.

4:31You see that pilot covered in blood after being stabbed by his own co-pilot. He was subdued by a group of courageous passengers who sprung into action. It all started a few minutes earlier. You can hear screams as the Fly Dubai flight plummets from 33 ,000 feet to 17 ,000 feet in just one minute. The packed plane, full of Israeli passengers, including families with children, and, according to U.S. officials, four U.S. citizens. It was on its way from Dubai to Tel Aviv, Israel. Two and a half hours into the flight, the plane starts to nosedive. Moments later, an emergency signal is activated. Israel scrambling fighter jets to respond to a potential hijacking.

5:16Inside the plane, you can see passengers start to move down the aisle towards the cockpit. Then the plane starts to shake. A few seconds later, an announcement to passengers.

5:32Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the co-pilot had begun stabbing the pilot and also tried to sabotage the aircraft's controls and attempted to crash the plane with everyone on board. But that's when brave passengers and crew stepped in. This man, with blood on his face, saying, we're currently in the middle of an attack on the aircraft. We've just subdued the attacker to anyone who can hear me. We need help, he says. Tonight, the pilot identified as Smit Machar, an Indian citizen, who Israeli officials tell us, while being attacked, was able to press a button opening the cockpit door with his foot.

6:10allowing access to the passengers. Two senior law enforcement officials tell NBC News the co-pilot who attacked him is of Omani descent. This man says he was one of the passengers who rushed the cockpit, recording a video for his daughters. I'll have to change my clothes, he says. They're filled with blood. We caught the terrorist. I'll tell you when I come back. By chance, two pilots were among the passengers. They took over the flight, which was diverted to Saudi Arabia. The plane's tail severely damaged during the nosedive. Passengers were treated by medical staff, and the co-pilot was arrested.

6:45Late today, cheers as the passengers arrived back home in Israel. The prime minister meeting one of the hero passengers, a plumber returning from vacation with his family. He still had blood on his clothes. I grabbed the terrorist, choked him. He says, the plane was going like this, he said, describing the nosedive. I started pulling the lever back on the controls to stop the nosedive and said he had seen them do that on a TV show. These are the passengers coming out right now. They're being mobbed by media and they've been through a horrific ordeal. But now they're finally safe at home. Did you think you were going to die?

7:23Yes. Tonight, passengers describing the nightmare. All scared after you fell down five kilometers. You don't understand anything. You said you were scared and I'm sorry about your ordeal. But can I ask you, how do you feel now? Proud, very proud. Proud? Yes. Why? That they managed to land here. That they didn't stop us. With that, Matt Bradley joins us live from Tel Aviv. So, Matt, the big question tonight, was there a potential terrorist in the pilot ranks at Fly Dubai, which is owned by the Dubai government, which also owns Emirates Airlines? Well, we can't know for sure, Tom, but it's certainly starting to look that way.

8:02The Israelis have opened an investigation, And in a statement, Fly Dubai said that the reasons and motives behind this event are unknown, but remain subject to a formal investigation. Tom? All of this bringing up so many questions tonight about how this attack happened, including how the co-pilot apparently got past airport security with a weapon. Here's Tom Costello.

8:27Aviation experts say the Fly Dubai 737 MAX 8 was nearly flown into the ground. Among the questions for investigators, how did the co-pilot, also known as the first officer, get a forbidden weapon, possibly a knife, through airport security? And had the airline done a thorough background check on that pilot, who the Israeli prime minister's office says had been with flight Dubai for less than a year? It's not just the looking for radicalization. It's looking for the mental balance of people that we have on the flight deck. The attack drawing immediate parallels to the 9-11 al-Qaeda hijackers who used box cutters as weapons and the United Flight 93 passengers who bravely fought back.

9:11Since then, cockpit doors have been hardened, knives prohibited even in the cockpit, though some U.S. pilots are certified to carry handguns. The Homeland Security Secretary today. We continue to look at the procedures that we have in place and continue to make sure the American people are safe. The AP, citing regional sources, says Israeli air marshals were among the passengers who fought back. Clearly in this case, everything went as best as it possibly could. Where passengers were able to get involved, there was a pilot available to land the airplane. That's not going to happen every time. Any pilot who flies into or out of the U.S.

9:46and most of the world goes through extensive background checks before being hired, criminal terror watch list checks, and mental health screenings. But no system is foolproof. Tom Costello joins us. Of course, you know he covers aviation for us. Tom, I have a lot of questions for you. I want to start with Fly Dubai and Emirates have the same owner as we went over with Matt. Do their pilots go through the same training and the same psychological evaluations as American pilots? Do we know the process? That is the question that we have. And as you heard, they're being rather tight-lipped at the moment if they're in the middle of this investigation.

10:21I would tell you that I've talked to veteran American pilots, U.S. pilots, as well as FAA officials who say Emirates has a fantastic reputation in the industry. Their training is exceptional. And what they expect of their pilots is really at the highest level. So the question is going to be what levels of background checks did they do? And, of course, was this individual radicalized or have a mental health issue after he was hired? And then, Tom, you know, you've looked at what we have so far, what the Israeli government has said so far. We're not getting too much from Saudi Arabia and the UAE just yet.

10:58I'm sure that'll come in the days ahead and even from American investigators who I'm sure are curious as well. But from what you've read and what you've seen tonight, what is the one thing that sort of stands out to you so far, the biggest red flag tonight? Well, I think, listen, we all want to know how and why did that pilot, let's assume that it was a knife. How did he get a knife through airport security and onto the flight deck? He should not have. Nobody should have a knife on that plane at all other than butter knives, if you will. That's a big question. And, you know, a lot of airports have kind of the express lane for pilots, right, and for crew members.

11:34And sometimes I got to say, I've wondered over the years, are they getting the same level of security that you and I are getting? That will clearly also be a question. Did they have an express lane, a special lane at the Dubai airport? and did they get the same level of scrutiny and security that all of us go through? Yeah, it's a good point because you see them getting just ushered through sometimes TSA as well. Tom Costello, great to have you on a night like this. We thank you. Joining me now at the big board is Anthony Roman, a former commercial pilot. Anthony, thanks so much for doing this for us tonight.

12:04We're going to talk about the flight path first. We want to show our viewers exactly kind of what happened with this plane. The plane takes off from Dubai's airport just over two hours later. It suddenly drops more than 14 ,000 feet. and then an emergency is declared on board before those relief pilots make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Talk to us about the flight path here. What do you think happened? You see this sort of weird turn here and then a landing here, and then we heard the screams when a plane drops like that. What does that feel like? Oh, negative Gs. And it must create terror on board that aircraft.

12:38The fact that some Israelis, many of whom are former military, entered that cockpit and subdued the co-pilot is just a wonderful thing. Yeah. From this flight path, what do you think happened here? Well, I think this is the normal flight path for the aircraft going from Dubai to Tel Aviv. And once the emergency begins to happen and they're wrestling, there's a loss of control of the aircraft. The aircraft can turn left. It can turn right on its own. If the autopilot's not on or the co-pilot could be attempting to go in a different direction, perhaps attack Israel. We know the outside of the cockpit, of course, is locked.

13:25We all know that after 9-11. the inside of the cockpit. What does it look like and how does it work and how was that pilot able to open it with his foot after being stabbed? Well, again, that pilot was probably in the military and he's an expert in that cockpit. You live a long time in that area and you train every six months to remain effective and prove that your worth is there. So he was determined not only to try and protect himself, but to protect the passengers. It's an amazing feat. Yeah. Just looking at this right here, there's been some reporting that the co-pilot who stabbed the other pilot also tried to destroy the instruments.

14:13He was stabbing the instruments or ripping apart the instruments. What would that do to a plane, as sophisticated as the planes are these days? Well, if you get rid of the computer panels, it becomes more difficult to fly the aircraft. You have to see the speed of the aircraft and the height of the aircraft above the ground. However, experienced pilots, and there were experienced pilots on board, they can fly the aircraft based on setting the throttle, the power throttles to a particular THEIR PARTICULAR POINT. AND THEN LOWERING THE GEAR, STABILIZING THE AIRCRAFT. THE FACT THAT THEY RECONTROLLED THE AIRCRAFT AFTER FALLING 17 ,000 FEET AND THE DAMAGE THAT'S DONE TO THE CONTROL SURFACES, AMAZING.

15:05I WANT TO PLAY THE DISTURBING VIDEO WHEN THE PASSENGERS SUBDUE THE PILOT WHO WAS THE ATTACKER, RIGHT? AND THEN WE SEE THE OTHER PILOT that, of course, is also sort of in peril as he's trying to recover. Where do you think this happened in the plane, knowing airplanes inside and out? What are we talking about here? We're talking about the captain being near the exit to the cockpit. He's a part in, a part out. And the Israelis who ran into that cockpit sacrificed themselves to try and save... This is the seat map of the kind of plane this is. their families, and when they're entering... This is happening right here, you think?

15:46That's exactly where it's happening. And the fact that he was subdued and the aircraft was not lost, and basically, a cook in the Israeli military pulled up on the control panels because he saw it on television one time. Yeah. What do you think? I asked Tom the same question. I mean, they couldn't have landed that plane if there weren't other pilots there. No chance, right? No chance at all. Okay. The fact that there were airline pilots on board for Fly Dubai, and they were deadheading it to Tel Aviv, fantastic luck. Anthony Roman, great to have you here. We thank you for all your perspective.

16:24Matthew Levitt is a counterterrorism expert and director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Matthew, since 9-11, most of the threat focus has been outside of the cockpit. Has there been any thought about an attack from inside? And again, we're still learning about this, But if this pilot indeed was a terrorist, this would sort of be a new phase in what terrorists are trying to do to this planet. I started my career at the FBI and worked 9-11, so this is deeply personal. It's a feeling like we're just back there again. I think people did anticipate that there could be such a thing as an attack within that confined space.

17:01But the idea was you're doing such testing. You're doing such background tests. you're doing psychological tests of your co-pilots, that that then becomes a trusted space. And what's amazing here is that the pilot was able, apparently with his foot, to open that door. If he doesn't open that door, then an entire plane full of people isn't going to stop the co-pilot from downing this plane. Matthew, Israel says the pilot was purposely trying to crash the plane. Do you think the co-pilot was targeting something, or do you think he just wanted to take that plane down anywhere? I don't know, and I don't think that anybody else knows yet.

17:37The prime minister says that he was trying to take the plane down to kill the passengers. That alone would, of course, have been a tragic, tragic act of terrorism. But the larger fear, of course, would be, did he plan to fly it into something? And in the past, there have been terrorists who have at least talked about a notional idea of trying to take out various towers in Tel Aviv. I don't know that that was the case. it seems more likely that what he was trying to do is down the plane and kill the passengers. So there is so much going on in the world right now, right? And it's sort of unclear, at least for me, someone who's not an expert, where groups like al-Qaeda stand in the world, right?

18:17And what the top terror groups are. It comes at a time, though, also that's heightened tension for the Middle East with the war in Iran going on. What action do you think is being taken overseas right here at home, but also overseas to prevent this from happening and trying to trace who's behind this. And again, it could be a lone wolf, but if it's not, what are you suspecting? Look, I've been there and authorities are working at 110 % right now, tracking every lead, seeing if there was any signals intelligence indicating something, trying to see if this was actually part of a terrorist group, an actual group plot.

18:55But as you said, it's very possible that this was a variation of a homegrown violent extremist, someone acting on their own. There's a lot of anger over the events that are going on in the Middle East, and you could see why someone might want to target a flight of Israelis heading back to Israel. There's larger concern that maybe this was more organized because perhaps this was trying to undermine the Israeli-Emirati relationship, the Abraham Accords, that have survived the tension that the region has seen since October 7th. the Israeli prime minister just went to the United Arab Emirates. We don't know this was a group or just a lone offender, but believe me, authorities are on it, and in time we will know.

19:37Matthew, after everything we've learned from 9-11, I was actually surprised. And I don't know if this happened. I didn't see any reports of this, that planes were not grounded, right? Why wouldn't fly Dubai sort of say, wait a minute, let's make sure we don't have any other pilots out there like this or other airlines, right, in the region? Are you surprised that wasn't the reaction? because, I mean, there were multiple planes on 9-11. So I'm sort of surprised that there wasn't more. I don't know if they had to paralyze the airline system in the world, but I thought they would at least ground some planes because of this.

20:10I think it was different than 9-11 because we had four hijacked planes simultaneously, and this was one plane. I don't know of any other instance where there was one hijacking and there was tons of other planes that were grounded. It all happened very quick as well. And I think the authorities were likely assuming that this was a specific plot targeting an airline full of Israelis that was on its way to Israel and that it was focused on a terrorist group or an individual terrorist's animus against Israel. So pretty quickly, you're able to determine that this is a plot targeting this plane and not all the others.

20:48And you don't want to put the entire industry on the ground and all of the impacts, financial and otherwise, that that will have unless you have to. All right, Matthew, we thank you for joining Top Story tonight. We want to turn to our other developing headline in the tornadoes firing up right now. Warnings going off in Kansas as tens of millions are on alert for life-threatening flash floods. Rescue teams working around the clock to save people from the rising waters. Ryan Chandler is tracking it all. Tonight, rescue teams racing to save people trapped in rising waters. North of Las Cruces, New Mexico this morning, a woman clinging to the roof of her vehicle.

21:23A first responder attached to a rescue rope swimming towards her. That rescuer holding on to the woman as several others carefully pulled the pair to safety. A state of emergency now declared. Wow. Strong tornado. While in the Texas panhandle, this tornado touching down outside Amarillo Tuesday. Oh my God, that's not good. And in Arizona, authorities say a family of four was trapped in this RV as water rushed inside. Rescue crews saving them and their four pets just in time. As the storm system marches east, first responders in Dallas urging people not to go out. So the biggest thing is just stay out of water that's on the road.

22:03If you can, stay home. In Fort Worth, the city distributing sandbags as families brace for the heavy rain ahead. And Tom, up to eight inches of rain is possible along the I-35 corridor through Texas and up into Oklahoma. And rain is not the only threat. We're also tracking a tornado watch in effect in parts of Kansas. Could be a long night for many families. Ryan Chandler for us tonight. Ryan, thank you. We're back in a moment with the investigation into that alleged rape at Cornell. NBC News obtaining a statement that Jane Doe gave to police at the time of the attack. and the announcement by the governor of New York, plus the random attack caught on camera, a stranger throwing a mysterious liquid at a man, burning him, the search for the suspect tonight.

22:44In our series, Affording America, you'll hear the story of one single mom and the great length she's going to to provide for her three young kids. That's ahead on Top Story.

22:58To every clinician finishing notes at 9 p.m., there is a faster way. Whisper Flow is a voice-to-text app. You talk, it types in your EHR, your email, anywhere you type. Say the progress note, the referral letter, the patient instructions, and it comes out clean and formatted with your terminology spelled right. Four times faster than typing and HIPAA ready. Whisper Flow is free. Get it at whisperflow.ai. That's W-I-S-P-R flow dot A-I. The GLP-1 pills you've been hearing about are on row. Yep, they're here. With clinically proven ingredients for weight loss. Now in a pill. And now on Rho. Two FDA approved GLP-1 pill options.

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24:16Well, you get the point. Your High Five moment awaits at HighFiveCasino.com. No purchase necessary. Voidware prohibited by law. Must be 21 years or older. Terms and conditions apply. Now, with major updates in that Cornell University rape case, NBC News obtaining a statement Jane Doe gave to campus police at the time of the alleged assault. And tonight, a new announcement from the governor about the investigation, Maggie Vespas at Cornell. Maggie, what more do we know now about this new sort of phase in the investigation? Yeah, Tom, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announcing late today that Cornell University has now agreed to an independent investigation by outside counsel, saying they understand the importance of this.

24:56This as we learn more about the details of these allegations. Tonight, shocking new details in the Cornell University rape investigation. NBC News has obtained the six-page statement a female student gave to campus police back in 2024, two years before the student, now identifying herself as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit accusing members of the Chi-Fi fraternity of drugging and sexually assaulting her. According to the document, she arrived at the house after heavily drinking and describes having a threesome with two men, one of whom she described as a friend that she says I was pretty OK with. She describes being offered ketamine and other drugs throughout the night and that I felt like I was unable to make any decisions because of how intoxicated I was.

25:40She says at one point, a group of men walked into the room, saying I felt like hiding under the covers of the bed was the only option because the men were standing between me and the only exit. In the statement, she tells investigators, my thought was that if I passed out and these men had sex with me, then they could be charged with rape. She also describes men repeatedly asking her for sex, saying to me that felt like coercion. She says she swatted one man's hand away several times. The DA's office now reopening the criminal investigation as authorities pour over the details of that night. This is where the night began at Jane Doe's sorority house, where the lawsuit says she drank vodka.

26:21Then the suit says she and her sorority sisters headed to an event here at Mooney's bar. Then Jane Doe went to another bar before she, as the suit puts it, stumbled alone here to the Chi Phi house, roughly a mile away where the alleged assault took place. Tonight, questions mounting about why New York prosecutors declined to charge any fraternity members back in 2024, with Jane Doe reportedly telling campus police in an interview at the time, I can say with 100 percent confidence I was raped. That's according to a transcript obtained by WCBS and not independently reviewed by NBC News. District Attorney Matthew Van Houten telling NBC he only learned of that quote last night, writing in an email that was not contained in the written statement that we received from Cornell police.

27:07Cornell saying university police shared a lengthy police investigation report with the DA. All right, Maggie joins us once again. Maggie, the district attorney is also sharing an update tonight. Besides what he told you earlier, what did we learn? Yeah, Tom, that's right. He says the next step in this process basically is to sit down with Jane Doe and her attorney, which he hopes to do in the coming days. And he also tells us right now he's shifting his focus to pursuing additional evidence that, as he put it, has recently come to light. Tom. All right, Maggie Vesper first. Maggie, thank you. Still ahead, the hospital nightmare, an Army veteran suing after surgeons amputated the wrong leg.

27:45How could this happen? And the nighttime rescue at C3 men trapped on an overturned boat as it was sinking beneath the surface, how they were pulled to safety. But first, Top Story's top moment, and the results are in for Fat Bear Week. It's the annual contest where voters crown the biggest bear in Alaska's Katmai National Park, and this year's chunky champion is Backpack, weighing roughly 1 ,200 pounds. What a big dude. He stole the show with his calm disposition and ability to bulk up in just a few months eating some fish there. Backpack comes from a family of victors. His mom won the Fat Bear contest in 2019.

28:22I'm sure she's proud tonight. Congrats to Backpack and all his hefty competitors. Stay with us. More Top Story after this.

28:37Back now with Top Story's news feed starting in Ohio, where a woman is suing a hospital accusing its doctors of amputating her wrong leg. The 74-year-old Army veteran claims her right leg was supposed to be removed during a skin cancer operation, but instead, surgeons took off her left one. She later had the necessary procedure, making her a double amputee. This is so unbelievable. Hospital officials have called it an avoidable event, adding that the workers involved are no longer in their positions and that it retrained its surgical staff. An update on that shooting at the home of Rihanna and ASAP Rock, you may remember.

29:10A grand jury indicting 36-year-old Ivana Ortiz on an attempted murder charge. He's accused of driving from Orlando to L.A. back in March and opening fire on a trailer where the celebrity couple was staying with their kids. Nobody was hurt. Ortiz has pleaded not guilty in the case. That's now on a fast track to trial. And a daring rescue off the coast of South Florida when three young men got stranded at night on top of their capsized boat. Deputies reaching them as the ship sinks underwater. They say it happened about two miles out from the Port Everglades inlet, the crew helping pull the men on board one by one and safely bringing them back to shore.

29:46Now to a shocking and unprovoked attack here in New York City. Surveillance video shows a man waiting outside a restaurant when a stranger throws a mysterious steaming liquid on him. The incident leaving that man with severe burns. Ida Siegel from NBC New York has more. It's a stunning attack captured on surveillance video. Watch as a man with a steaming cup of some sort of liquid douses another man with it on 116th Street and Park Avenue. The attacker runs off afterward. The victim left with severe burns on his face and neck. It happened Monday night outside the Craven Crispy restaurant. Police say the two men do not know each other.

30:24Oscar Perez was not working when it happened, but he saw police investigating today. OSCAR PEREZ, Police came, everything, like a couple people, a couple workers said something about it. But like I wasn't here at all. Police tell us they don't yet know what substance was poured on top of the 40 year old victim. But you can see the steam seeping out of what appears to be a cup. The folks at the fast food restaurant say this white residue was left behind on the sidewalk after the attack. The victim was waiting on an order when the suspect came up from behind. Pretty bizarre and like throwing on a random person to even more crazy and it's safe no more.

31:04The apparent randomness of the attack and the lengths this person went to in order to hurt another person have people in the neighborhood frightened, wondering what was poured on that man and knowing he never had a chance to protect himself. You know, you can be walking and someone randomly comes up, approach you and do this to you. You know, we just have to be vigilant, like I mentioned, and just be your brother's keeper. That makes me kind of scared because like I said, I used to live over here. My brothers, that could have been my brothers. That could have been anybody I know. That's scary.

31:36Police have not yet been able to identify the man in that video who threw the unknown liquid. But again, the victim says he does not know the attacker. And investigators are now hoping someone comes forward with more information. Tom? All right, Ida Siegel, great to have you on the show. Crazy story. That or a series of Flooding America and the day we spent with a single mother in Chicago. She sells insurance but works a second job driving for DoorDash to make ends meet, sometimes delivering food with her three young kids in the back seat. Our digital docs team has her story. That's how much your parents call?

32:13$20? One pair of... Am I tripping? All right. It's showtime to go to school. I am a 30-year-old mother of three. I have an 11, a 10, and a 7-year-old. Everything I believe I need, I need to get these windows open. Go out. Take this, put this in the back of the car. Being a single mom, I really have to make sure that me and my kids are okay because nobody else is going to do it. Get in the car. I do not think life is affordable, and I do not think that life is easy to get by. Right now, my finances is a roller coaster. Expenses outweigh the gains. You just have to be able to pivot. I really want them to know that.

33:07Bye, baby. Have a good day.

33:14My main source of income would definitely be insurance. Hi, Lauren. How are you today? My name is Jade Cross French. I have a life insurance producer license. I'm most passionate about this. Hi, Ms. Josephine, how are you? The way I get paid here is based on commission. It varies what we bring home. Bringing home money from insurance means that you actually have to sit down and make the appointments. I'll probably bring home at minimum$500 in a week. There has been weeks that I haven't brought anything home, Like, the whole month of April, I did not produce much of anything. So I would do DoorDash.

34:01So right now, I have... Oh! Okay, my bank account is overdrawn. It's negative$572.35. I only got$20 going on today until we dash. Because my accounts are screaming emergency, I'm going to go ahead and do a little DoorDash before I go get the kids. Yeah, I'm not going to be lucky enough to get four gallons.

34:36DoorDash is always my right now money. Right now money means gas, like the stuff that I need to get done in my everyday life. Turn right onto Harrison Street. Then turn left. This time last year, we were on the bus. And it was hard for us, but I pushed through. My dad seen that, and one of his friends had a car. And he brought it to Chicago for me. I started to DoorDash. With my insurance business, I work from Wednesday to Wednesday, and DoorDash Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and some Sundays. 84-37. Oh. These houses are actually really nice. Hey, Mom. Hey, baby. Are you coming to take some stuff?

35:24Yeah, I'm coming.

35:29Hey, Lena Lee. OK. Y 'all going to eat in DoorDash. Come on. Y 'all ready? Y 'all already ate y 'all slice of pizza? You don't like you don't eat at all. You don't work, you don't eat.

35:48I don't know. Where's this sushi place? Now, TJ, here. Go into Kai's Sushi. I'll go in. Can I go in with him? In terms of child care, the best place for them to be is with me while I'm working versus keeping them with somebody else. Sometimes they like it. Sometimes they are ready to go home. But ultimately, they know it's for them. I would rather them spending that time more productively go to, like, Taekwondo or other extracurricular activities. But that's investment. I would not want my kids to do gig work or dash. If they needed to, by all means, do what you have to do. But I'm working hard so that you don't have to work as hard.

36:33Oh, they got boba? Yeah, it's boba. I need you to securely hold. TJ. OK. Alina, I need you to please sit down and strap in. And mommy, these are tiring. They keep dropping every time I try to put them down. What? These bubble things. Why are you playing with people's food? I said when I tried to put them... Just please hold them tight so that we can deliver some clean, safe food.

37:08All right, you guys. After this, we going home, I know. I need like five minutes to call you. Seriously, please. I'm hot. Y 'all hot, tired. Always cook. We going to be all right. So we're two minutes from our last delivery, and we're getting ready to go home after this. Thank you, Jesus. Going home with 35 buckaroos. 35 big ones. That's gas money. At least I made my 20 back plus, what,$15?

37:51Do you feel comfortable going in there? No? Give me the food. Yes. Me being a gig worker is showing my kids they never have to settle. You have to be ready to make adjustments. You have to understand that everything is not always going to go your way. The lifestyle that we're going into, just taking a little bit of extra time. Yeah, I need y 'all to live in somewhere like that so that I could be able to come and kick my feet up and sit by the fireplace. It was real nice, right? Yeah. Coming up, could it be the future of warfare? Humanoid robots replacing real-life soldiers on the front lines. We'll hear from the head of a company backed by President Trump's son that's gearing up its bots for the battlefield.

38:42Stay with us.

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40:29That, of course, was a clip from Terminator 3, where an army of robots fight their way through a dystopian future. Once just the stuff of science fiction, it seems like that could maybe soon become a reality? Possibly? Well, thanks to this. This is Phantom, a robot that could become America's first humanoid soldier. It's designed to carry heavy loads and one day maybe fire weapons. Today, it still needs a little human help. Foundation Futures Industries, which makes this robot, says it stands nearly six feet tall. It can carry nearly 90 pounds of equipment, and it already has big backers. Foundation says it has secured$24 million in a defense contract with the Pentagon, as well as private investment from the president's son, Eric Trump, who now serves as the company's chief strategic advisor.

41:14Joining us tonight is the founder and CEO of Foundation, Sankit Patek. Sankit, I should say. SANKET, THANKS FOR JOINING TOP STORY TONIGHT. THANKS FOR HAVING ME. SANKET, I SAW YOU SMILING THERE WHEN WE'RE SHOWING THE TERMINATOR 3 CLIP. DO YOU THINK THAT IS JUST THE STUFF OF SCIENCE FICTION OR WILL THAT BE THE FUTURE ONE DAY? NO, I THINK THAT IS PROBABLY, I THINK IT'S CRAZY AND IT'S BIZARRE AND I THINK WE ARE SHOWING THOSE THINGS TO PEOPLE TO ACTUALLY MAKE THEM FEARFUL OF NEW TECHNOLOGY THAT IS GOING TO HELP US TREMENDOUSLY. SO I THINK THE PIECE ABOUT TERMINATOR THAT NONE OF THE ROBOTS ARE PHYSICALLY CAPABLE OF EVEN DOING IS REGENERATE.

41:54SO WITHOUT THAT, WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO FEAR WITH ROBOTS. THEY'RE A BUNCH OF CLANKERS, AND THEY'RE BUILT TO BE ABLE TO DO HEAVY-DUTY WORK THAT WE WANT THEM TO DO, THINGS THAT ARE DANGEROUS FOR US, THINGS THAT ARE TOO LABOR-INTENSIVE, THINGS THAT WE DON'T HAVE ENOUGH PEOPLE TO DO. THE TERMINATOR SCENARIO IS NOT EVEN 1 % OF THE POSSIBILITY OF THAT REALITY. I GOT IT. I 'VE DONE A LOT OF REPORTING ON HUMANOID ROBOTS, WENT TO FACTORIES IN CHINA. Talk to me about what your robots can do. Are they remote controlled? Are they autonomous? Well, it's a mix of both, right? So what Phantoms is capable of doing today is able to do autonomous tasks that are very specific.

42:31So things like racking and racking, box picking, autonomous navigation around an environment, those things a robot can do autonomously. Over time, increasingly, it's going to be able to do more and more tasks autonomously. And with that, the goal is we want to build robots that can do things with varied degrees of autonomy, but at the end of the day, still instructed by humans. So what have you done as far as the battlefield is concerned? I understand from our research here that some of the robots have already been used in Ukraine, maybe not in the war or in combat, but Ukraine is using some of your war robots.

43:05Can your robots fire a missile launcher? Can they fire a gun? Have you tried this? And what have you learned from those experiments? I MEAN, SO WE DID A PILOT IN UKRAINE. WE DON'T HAVE AN ACTIVE DEPLOYMENT THERE. WE ARE POSSIBLE LAUNCHING OUR SECOND GENERATION ROBOT, FANTOM 2, BUILT OFF FANTOM 1, THE ROBOT YOU SEE BEHIND ME AND YOU SAW IN THE CLIPS. THAT ROBOT IS WEATHERPROOF. THAT'S WHAT WE REALLY NEED TO PUT IT OUT IN RUGGY TERRAIN ENVIRONMENTS. SO THAT IS THE ROBOT WE WILL REALLY MASS PRODUCE NEXT YEAR. AND SOME OF THEM WILL GO TO VARIOUS MILITARY APPLICATIONS AS WELL. We've also worked with Air Force, Navy, Army in the U.S.

43:44The Air Force currently has fuel for robots as well. We're actively serving a phase three civil with them. And across the stack, today the applications we focus on, contrary to popular belief, are non-kinetic. So there are things like box pickup and movement, reconnaissance, which is being able to map the building and its surroundings, things like that. Eventually, we will do kinetic applications as well. We've done pilots where we have tested weapons handling and things like that as well. So eventually we will do it. We think land-based autonomy is significantly more precise than dropping the bomb with a drone.

44:19So we think in net, it is a positive step in the right direction. But as it stands today, majority of the work that we've done and we continue to support ends up being on reconnaissance and logistics fronts, not really kinetic use cases. Sanket, how far is Phantom from actual deployment, do you think, in combat? I mean, for the kinds of use cases I described, it should be early next year. So I think we will, the robot has the capabilities to be able to do supply management and reconnaissance. There are two big activities we're working on for Department of War. And both of them seem to be in good shape.

44:58Now, obviously, we have to scale production and scale compute accordingly. So we're working on that as fast as possible. and I think we will start putting some meaningful units out hopefully early next year. So Sanket, I'm trying to understand because we've seen drones, we've seen robots in combat before, right? Even here in America when they go and they disarm a bomb maybe, what is so different about your robot? Why does it stand six feet tall? Why does it look like a human? I mean, am I looking at a future soldier behind you? I mean, I do think it'll be a kind of a soldier. So I think you're going to have various kinds of robots that would become a part of the defense ecosystem in itself.

45:39Humanoids are specifically useful because they can actually navigate the same terrain environment that humans do. For instance, one of the tasks that our soldiers do that is quite dangerous is clearing a building. So being able to enter a building and then clear it, make sure there's no adversary in there. THAT IS QUITE DANGEROUS BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE YOU HAVE A LOT OF FATALITIES HAPPEN BECAUSE IN CLOSED QUARTERS. THE GOAL OVER THERE IS INSTEAD OF SENDING A SOLDIER, IT'S THE FIRST BODY IN, YOU SEND A HUMANOID. THE GREAT THING ABOUT A HUMANOID IS UNLIKE A DRONE, IT CAN OPEN UP DOORS. IT CAN MAP THE ENVIRONMENT REALLY WELL.

46:14YOU GET A REALLY HIGH FIDELITY UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT'S IN EVERY ROOM, WHAT'S ON EVERY FLOOR. AND THEN WHEN THE HUMAN SOLDIERS ENTER THAT ENVIRONMENT, THEY ALREADY KNOW WHAT'S EVERYWHERE. and it's a much more safer place to be in. Those kinds of tasks today cannot be done with a drug. I hear you, but I also know that it's very, very difficult to get robots to open doors and open different types of doors. And I know we're still maybe, I don't know where you guys are in your research, but we've done so much reporting on this that I know that we're, several companies are very far away from that point.

46:44I do want to ask you, but why stop there, just opening doors and securing a building? Why will not, why won't your robots eventually have weapons so there's no human lives lost? I mean, I think that would happen eventually. You slowly want to move into that direction. So the first mandate right now to your point, being able to walk into a building, climb stairs, open or break doors, those alone are hard challenges. So we've been focused on those areas at least for last year. And then we're going to deploy them and then slowly move our way towards more kinetic applications, which would, to your point, involve actually armoring the robot AND BEING ABLE TO TAKE ACTIONS THAT ARE NEEDED AS YOU'RE CLEARING THE BUILDING.

47:24HOW DO YOU MAKE SURE ONCE THAT ROBOT CAN DO THAT THAT THE ROBOT DOESN'T TURN THE GUN ON THE PEOPLE THAT IT'S WORKING FOR? I MEAN, AGAIN, IT'S EVERY SINGLE ACTION THAT THE ROBOT PERFORMS NEEDS A HUMAN IN THE LOOP. SO WE'RE NOT TALKING ABOUT AI TAKING OVER THESE ROBOTS, RIGHT? THE AI WILL NOT BE CONTROLLING THESE ROBOTS. WELL, AI CONTROLS THESE ROBOTS IN THE SENSE THAT HOW TO WALK, how to open up doors, what is in the building, good semantic understanding of the environment, but what needs to happen next? You always need a human to really tell it what to do. Think of it this way. AI controls the how.

48:02The human controls the what and the why. I think that's a really important way to sort of think about some of these things, even when it comes to AI computing here, but that will lead to more questions as the AI gets more advanced. We mentioned Eric Trump as an investor and now an advisor in your company, which has DRAWN SOME CRITICISM GIVEN THE CONTRACT YOU HAVE WITH THE PENTAGON. DEMOCRATIC SENATOR ELIZABETH WARREN CALLED YOUR PARTNERSHIP QUOTE CORRUPTION IN PLAIN SIGHT. WHAT'S YOUR RESPONSE, RIGHT? BECAUSE SOME PEOPLE MAY, YOU MAY DO ALL THIS GREAT WORK. YOU MAY HAVE THE BEST HUMANOID ROBOT IN THE WORLD.

48:31BUT SOME PEOPLE MAY SAY, OH, THEY JUST GOT THE CONTRACT BECAUSE ERIC TRUMP WAS CONNECTED TO THEIR COMPANY. WELL, ALL OF OUR CONTRACTS PREDATE ERIC'S INVOLVEMENT WITH THE COMPANY. So if Senator would have done a little bit of research and not only so X posting happy and just trigger happy and jump and post something without fact checking it, she would realize all the contracts predate Eric's involvement for the company. And by the way, that's the fact that almost all of the media outlets have missed. All of the contracts have predated. None of these contracts are new. We've had them for a while.

49:06We acquired a company, Boardwalk. They had them for a while. they worked out of IHMC, which is a lab. They had it for a while. In aggregate, if you look at the entire history of the company and all the technology that has existed, we've done over$70 million in contracts in aggregate. But those weren't newly won contracts. They're contracts that we got far back. And then we continue to serve some of them. I totally get it. I totally get it. But if you're playing devil's advocate here, the next question is, there are so many rich people in this world. There are so many people that are far wealthier than Eric Trump.

49:38why get into business with the president's son? I mean, again, you get into business with investors who like your company and who you like. I happen to like Eric. I think he's a great person. People don't realize that he's a phenomenal engineer as well. The thing we really connected on is the long-term vision of the company, which is I actually want to build cities using robots, cities and infrastructure. Eric obviously is in real estate, so he's a big fan of that vision. HE IS A HOBBIIST MECHANICAL ENGINEER. I AM AN ENGINEER. WE REALLY GOT ALONG WELL. I LIKE GETTING INVESTORS INVOLVED WHO ARE GOOD OPERATORS AND ALSO PEOPLE I GET ALONG WITH.

50:15AND ERIC HAPPENS TO BE ONE OF THAT. AND I DON'T CARE IF HE IS ERIC TRUMP OR ERIC SPENT. YEAH. WE SHOULD MENTION THAT YOUR COMPANY ALSO DOES A LOT OF BUSINESS WITH COMPANIES AND YOU LEASE THESE ROBOTS OUT TO, LIKE YOU SAID, CARRY BOXES ALONG WITH THE MILITARY COMPONENT AS WELL. LIKE WE SAID, WE 'VE DONE TRIPS TO CHINA. We have covered humanoid robots in all types of spaces. You've looked at your competitors. How do you think the U.S. fares to China? Do you have any idea? I mean, yeah, I have a decently good idea of what's going on in China. I do think Chinese capital markets are significantly more risk, kind of like risk on for early manufacturing to U.S.

50:56capital markets because it's the Chinese government that's investing heavily in scaling manufacturing for humanoid in the supply chain that goes with it. U.S. is significantly far behind in that effort. We have not made enough material capital investments across the supply chain and also the robot manufacturing area for us to be competitive or at lead. I think this is one of the biggest risks we have in AI. Now, I do know that the government firsthand is at least thinking about this as a problem, and they're taking subsequent steps, I just wish those steps were being taken fast enough because China is significantly and very aggressively investing, which gives you this perception that China is ahead.

51:38While on majority of the research, China is either neck to neck or slightly behind, but they're very ahead in manufacturing. They have significant mold created across the supply chain. And they have a major buy-in, obviously, from the Chinese government. Before we go here, give me your best estimate of when you think we will see humanoid robots IN OUR EVERYDAY LIFE, WHETHER IT BE OUT IN PUBLIC OR IN HOMES? I 'VE BEEN HERE ONE TO THREE YEARS AWAY BEING ABLE TO SEE HUMAN LOID ROBOTS BY AND LARGE EVERY WAY. NOW THEY WON'T BE ABLE TO DO EVERYTHING IN ONE TO THREE YEARS, BUT WE'RE RIGHT AT THE CUSP WHERE THEY'RE STARTING DOING, THEY'RE STARTING DOING PRODUCTIVE, MEANINGFUL WORK.

52:15SOME OF IT IS GOING TO BE IN HOMES, SOME OF IT IS GOING TO BE IN FACTORIES, SOME OF IT IS GOING TO BE OUTDOOR, BUT WE'RE RIGHT AT THE CUSP NOW. SANKET, PATEK, WE THANK YOU FOR joining top story and we thank you for answering our questions. We hope to speak to you more in the future. When we come back tonight, we're going to change gears here and tell you about the high school football players and coaches that are teaming up to support a mother in her fight against cancer. That special moment right after this.

52:45Finally tonight at a high school football game in Georgia, north of Atlanta, it was what the team did off the field to honor a mom battling cancer that became the biggest play of the day. We love you. We're praying for you. Are you serious? Yes, ma 'am. Alex Henson was sitting, ready to watch some high school football when something unexpected happened. Every member of the Centennial High School football team in Roswell, Georgia, coming over one by one, giving her a flower and a hug. The mom of two is battling cancer, and the journey hasn't been easy. Fighting cancer is really scary, and you can feel alone.

53:28Alex is on the sidelines for nearly every football game. Her husband, Trey, is the school's athletic director. To see them walk over and hug Alex and just show what good kids they are, there wasn't a dry eye down there. It was something like I've never experienced before. I just felt so much love from the players, from the coaches, just from the community in general. Small acts of kindness from a team and a town eager to support one of their own. I think I just want them to know how much it means to us. The ability to know that you're not alone and that you've got people that are cheering for you and praying for you all over the place is really powerful.

54:17Hug after hug, what a gesture. That does it for us tonight on Top Story. Thanks so much for watching. I'm Tom Yamas in New York. Stay right there. More news on the way. To every clinician finishing notes at 9 p.m., there is a faster way. Whisperflow is a voice-to-text app. You talk, it types in your EHR, your email, anywhere you type. Say the progress note, the referral letter, the patient instructions, and it comes out clean and formatted with your terminology spelled right. Four times faster than typing and HIPAA ready. Whisperflow is free. Get it at whisperflow.ai. That's W-I-S-P-R flow dot A-I.