Hallie Jackson NOW – Apr. 18 | NBC Data NOW

we are coming on the air with a jury picked and seated in a critical moment in the historic trial of a former president and honestly it all came together in just the last 30 minutes setting up opening statements maybe as soon as Monday in Donald Trump's case coming up our breakdown of how the.

Prosecution may try to frame that opening what happens from here with the alternates and who exactly are these everyday people picked to decide Donald Trump's fate we bring it to you live from downtown Manhattan also tonight new answers on how 911 went down for millions of Americans and the Mystery still out there in one state sending.

Officials scrambling then in tonight's original we go one-on-one with the woman denied Health Care Help from a pharmacist in a state where the overturning of Rover versus Wade upended all the old rules plus be like Mike how about be like Caitlyn the potentially groundbreaking shoe deal for the WNBA superstar that could net Caitlyn Clark.

Millions and why Taylor Swift fans are desperate for any kind of clues about her new album set to drop just a few hours from now they are down bad the first ever reporter hir just to cover her we'll be here live later in the show hey I'm hiy and tonight it is the first of what may be many Milestone moments in an unprecedented trial the jury 12.

People now seated plus one alternate in the criminal trial of Donald Trump there still needs to be five more selected five more alternates and the judge late today says he's hopeful they'll finish that process tomorrow setting up openings maybe as soon as Monday but this day with two jurors sent home a bunch more picked it's all highlighting.

The challenges of a trial at this particular moment in an election year for this particular person Donald Trump in this particular City with one dismissed juror saying more about that with their Yasmin of ass as you are looking live at former president Trump's speaking we're going to listen in for just a quick second before we bring you.

That jur let's just listen on a trial that really is a very unfair trial these are all stories this is over the last few days from legal experts this is Wall Street Journal editorial but all of these are stories from legal experts saying how this is not a case the case is ridiculous there another one the cases.

Is a ridiculous Trump indictment it's missing fraud there is no fraud uh all of these uh stories are stories of how and these are done by the experts and editoral brag falsified business record and uh he falsifies them he's the one he's the broad but take a look at.

All of these are our stories you see them here here uh Greg's indictment even Falls as an indictment you are listening there to Donald Trump look at him he's paging through P what looks to be dozens of pages of paper printouts of various news stories here continue what we have seen.

From him since even before this unprecedented criminal trial began and that is railing against what he sees as political persecution against him interesting that he's talking about the merits legally of this case because coming up in a couple minutes we're going to have more on how the prosecutors are expected to frame their.

Opening argument not as a hush money trial but as an election interference case we'll get to that in our breakdown in just a second but first I want to bring in Von hilard who's outside the courthouse live for us in Manhattan so Von the split screen moment here Court I guess is wrapping up for the day if Donald Trump's out that tells me that.

Everybody's heading home getting ready to come back tomorrow when they pick those five alternates talk us through this day cuz 45 minutes ago an hour ago we were talking about painstakingly slow grind to get this jury selection within just the last hour we've seen the jury seated one alternate selected Walkers through.

It and suddenly we have a jury we have 12 jurors they still need six alternates but you said it hiy while you were introducing the show here the court has formally been dismissed for the day and tomorrow the court will come back into session as they look for those six alternates but to Donald Trump's point there he calls the case ridiculous and.

That the legal Scholars are on on his side well this is a moment where his team his legal team is going to be able to defend him in court and he himself will be able to testify as well we should not it was the citizens of New York who chose to indict him through the grand jury process and now it'll be 12 New Yorkers who were selected through.

This process his defense team had the opportunity to challenge and strike each of these individuals from serving on the jury and so now this is going to be the opportunity where Donald Trump and his legal team are going to be able to make the case that he is being unfairly prosecuted and hopefully for him even either be found innocent or at least get.

A hung jury which with 12 jurors all it takes is one of them to rule him not guilty to come up with a hung jury hie what's also interesting van and let's just kind of roll with this for a second here because former president Trump as he's speaking we're not going to listen live we've got our team monitoring in case he says things that are newsworthy.

Will dip into it but one of the things he's talking about is what we've heard from him this idea that he's stuck in the courtroom and not on a campaign Trail saying he could have been in places like Georgia New Hampshire North Carolina Etc instead he's stuck in New York um part of it though V is the way that his campaign has tried to uh.

Essentially Collide the courtroom and the campaign tra right I mean he is using this in many ways as a way to Rally his base around him absolutely and he has a campaign rally planned this upcoming weekend here in Wilmington North Carolina he was in central Pennsylvania this last last weekend for a campaign rally he will.

Have Wednesdays off you can go on the campaign Trail on Wednesdays if he desires but you said it Donald Trump is not clearly as he's talking to the cameras running away or trying to make this be a quiet thing right he's calling attention to the fact that there's a trial and I talked to a close Ally of is just earlier this afternoon and I said.

You know do you want this kind of be in the background and that individual pushed back saying quote we want people to watch what's happening it's the first communist Style Show trial to come to America for Donald Trump and his political allies they want to try to make the case that he's being unfairly prosecuted and.

Make the case to the American electorate that regardless of what these 12 jurors ultimately decide that this in New York City is an unfair venue for him full of New Yorkers that don't like him though it was his home until just a couple years ago but this is the case that they're going to try to make because the reality is whether they like it or not.

Whether Donald Trump likes it or not there is a criminal trial that it's going to continue over the next 6 to 8 weeks I want to play for folks because as this jury has gotten assembled right it does as we said at the top of the show highlight the challenges right now of this case at this moment with this particular person this former president.

And current candidate here's what one dismissed juror told our Yasmin vugia not too long ago let me play it everybody has biases and you know you know stereotypes in their mind so you have to be really you know know deep and uh you know Fair person which is very hard to do right van you I know have been talking.

With people who are in and out of that courtroom here too right I have and I think the difficulty of this year is the level of scrutiny that is going to be on these jurors we now know who the jury is here and undoubtedly they've got friends they've got family with strong uh political convictions I think probably everybody.

Watching right now would agree that they've got close ones in their lives that have an opinion on whether Donald Trump should be guilty or not 6 months from the general election and this morning there was one juror who was dismissed who was initially seated but came back today and said just yesterday heard from friends family and colleagues.

Who said asked her if she was in fact a juror and she said that she felt pressure that she led her to believe that she didn't know if she could be impartial during this 6 to8 weeks of proceedings and she was then dismissed and excused from being on the and so this is a really tough process for just general New Yorkers who are now find.

Themselves being the ones that determin Donald Trump's level of guiltiness so the jury made up of seven men five women one alternate selected five more set to be selected potentially all tomorrow we'll see Von Hillard you'll be watching all of it thank you let's take a step back here right remember what this case is all about fundamentally Donald Trump.

Facing these 34 felony counts accused of basically lying on business documents allegedly to cover up pay ments he made to former adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign now in plain English as you look at the web here of the former president's legal issues a lot of people including us have short-handed this one as Like the quote.

Unquote hush money trial right that's what you hear it as sometimes and many legal experts have suggested this may be the weakest case because in their view okay if he lied on internal records what would be the harm to the public but the Manhattan district attorney says it goes way beyond that here's our breakdown in the orbit of Donald Trump's trials.

The one in New York has headlines that seem tailor made for the tabloids a possible sex scandal involving Mr Trump an ex porn star Stormy Daniels and $130,000 in so-called hush money payments paid to her by his former fixer Michael Cohen Mr Trump denies having a sexual relationship with Daniels but the alleged crime recorded in checks signed.

By Mr Trump to reimburse Cohen and Manhattan district attorney Alvin brag suggests there's more to it than so-called hush money so it's an election interference case not interference in 2020 but the first time around the 2016 election Bragg says those checks allegedly to try and silence Stormy Daniels were part of a scheme by Mr.

Trump to keep the alleged Affair from voters in 2016 that payment was to hide damaging information from the voting public Bragg never actually even called it hush money when he announced the charges he argues then candidate Trump did this to cover up other crimes like the campaign Finance laws Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to in 2018 and served 3.

Years in a federal prison for the da repeatedly making the case publicly this goes beyond a sex scandal the case is is is not you know you know the core of is not you know money for sex we would say it's it's about conspiring to corrupt a presidential election and then you know lying in in in New York business records to cover it up that framing echoed in.

Part by the judge Juan Maran who in a court filing wrote he'd tell a jury that these allegations have to do with falsified business records to conceal an agreement with others to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election all of it a potential preview of how the prosecutor's opening statements may go so what about team Trump's opening.

Statements right for them according to Legal filings it's more about in their view look the former president simply didn't want to be embarrassed it has nothing to do with influencing voters and more importantly they say that means it is not illegal more on this story obviously throughout the night tomorrow and then Monday right here on NBC news.

Now as we follow all of it to some other big headlines tonight though and there are many of them right as we were coming on the air officials on aahu say their 911 system stopped working for a little while not even 24 hours after a separate outage left millions of people across four other states without a way to contact First Responders overnight now.

We don't know if the two outages are related at all but it comes as we're getting some answers as to what may have happened over overnight seems like the issue is related at least partly to a comms and Telecom company called Lumen Technologies in a statement to NBC News a spokesperson is apologizing to customers in Nevada South Dakota and.

Nebraska they say this outage happened when a thirdparty company was putting in a poll and then caused what some officials say was this unprecedented situation here's what else we know tonight law enforcement officials tell us there's nothing to indicate that this was part of a Cyber attack or something.

That somebody did on purpose that's important to note the FCC is looking into this and what we still don't know what the root of this issue might have been down in Texas which was the fourth state affected by the outage because Lumen says it doesn't actually provide 911 services there Brian Chong is joining us now so Brian can we start.

With what's happening in Hawaii with what happened not too long ago on aahu this you know lot of attention in the course of the last 24 hours on these 911 systems and now this what's up yeah well it appears that the outage in Hawaii lasted about 20 minutes ago rather it lasted about 20 minutes it started about two hours ago so it seems to be resolved.

And in a statement to NBC News Lumen said that they they do not provide services to Hawaii so this is not a situation that would be tied to what they experienced early earlier on today but regardless what happened overnight was very much a scary situation where you had people in multiple States as I mentioned or as you mentioned rather.

Nebraska uh South Dakota and also Nevada not being able to access 911 services in many cases emergency departments like fire and also police were advising people to uh try to text 911 which is a service that is available in many jurisdictions as well as try to use alternative ways like dialing the 10 number local phone uh for those.

Emergency services to reach if you were in an emergency so very interesting situation there one thing that's worth noting is that there were a number of of a police departments and fire departments that noticed people trying to dial 9911 to test if they were able to contact them they say don't do that we saw the same thing play out in the.

AT&T outage about 2 month ago they say only call 911 if you are actually in an emergency we know this you know as as we've laid out here initial thinking was like could there have been some sort of Cyber attack component here that does not seem to be the case that said there have been um there's this broader question perhaps when you look at just a.

Couple of months ago that AT&T had a big outage of the vulnerability of these kinds of systems in the first place how do we how should we be thinking about that yeah well I mean and this is a really relevant question with regards to First Responders because uh there's an upgrade that's trying to be done Nationwide through what they call.

NextGen 911 this is a process that preceded uh even the AT&T situation from earlier this year and Department of Homeland Security interestingly enough just earlier this week had been warning of the potential for a hack of that very very important system take a look take a look at what they said they said quote they also represent new vectors for.

Attack broadening the concerns of and complicating the mitigation and management of cyber risk across all levels of government and again I want to emphasize that it wasn't a hack that was to blame for today again as Lumen said it was really basically just a severed line that was related to maintenance of a poll from a third party so again it.

Could be something as simple as that but these attacks very much remain a big issue going forward hie Brian Chong thank you very much you had another close call tonight this one here in Washington after a plane tried to cross the runway while another plane was getting ready to take off listen stop sou 2937 stop.

Stop we were cleared to cross runway for okay I mean you heard it there saying stop stop he said we stopped apparently this air traffic controller told a Southwest flight to cross the runway right as a Jet Blue flight was about to take off from the same Runway fortunately nobody got hurt Emily aeta is joining us now boy has it felt like.

We've been talking about these close calls at airports quite a bit now we're learning it had to do with air traffic control apparently talk us through it hey there H yeah certainly a hair raising incident at one of the nation's busiest runways and you can hear it in the voice of those air traffic controllers the Panic the urgency in.

That moment here's what we know as of right now from the FAA and according to our sources we know that a Southwest plane was given clearance to cross a Runway to then reach the runway it was supposed to get to to do its takeoff meanwhile around the same time we're told that a jet blue plane was preparing to take off coming within 1,000 ft of.

One another according to a source so really speaking to the seriousness of this close call we spoke with an industry expert who discusses what could have gone wrong here take a listen my reaction is something went wrong with the uh air traffic control instructions here the FAA is challenged right now with a reduced controller.

Workforce and that means bringing on new trainees and stressing the system by having to give instruction to these trainees so let's zoom out for a moment this close call comes literally the day before the FAA is set to begin a 4-day hiring period for air traffic controllers in an effort to bring on 1,800 new people just this year and to.

Address something that we've covered so extensively the severe shortage of air traffic controllers I will tell you tonight the FAA tells us that uh the number of close calls is actually trending downward and both Airlines say they are working with Federal investigators uh to figure out what exactly went wrong hie Emily aeta thank.

You so much for that a big deal moment tonight for big deal family in American politics with a whole bunch of the kennedies coming out today against one of their own and choosing to endorse President Biden's reelection watch this President Biden has been a champion for all the rights and freedoms that my father and Uncle stood for that's why.

Nearly every single grandchild of Joe and Rose Kennedy supports Joe Biden 15 entities including Carrie who you just heard from there she's the sister of RFK Jr who of course is running a third party race there Carrie she's saying that President Biden represents a vote to in her words save our democracy the endorsement comes is.

Some Democrats worry that her brother's candidacy could hurt them and help hand the election to former president Donald Trump RFK Jr himself responding on X saying I am pleased my family is politically active he says it's a family tradition we are divided in our opinions but United in our love for each other Mike memy is joining us now so this is.

So extraordinary for a couple of reasons right first where it's happening Pennsylvania key Battleground State second because of the fact that you have not just the siblings of a candidate coming out to endorse somebody else but the siblings of a candidate who has put his own family and family name in so many ways front and center in his.

Campaign tell us more yeah H well I mean this was a moment that was months in the making and you could say the seeds were planted in the White House's Rose Garden we all remember that photo of three generations of kennedies four different branches of the family with President Biden after they celebrated St Patrick's Day together that was a very powerful.

Image that spoke to what we saw today which was the eventual endorsement by members of the uh Kennedy Clan including his own siblings RFK Jr's own siblings think about it this way in terms of what we saw for President Biden RFK Jr represents a potential political spoiler we see that in just about every poll there was a new Quinnipiac poll today.

For instance that had President Biden leading Donald Trump in a head-to-head match up 40 8 to 45 but if you make it a three-person race including Kennedy both candidates Trump and Biden drop into the 30s with RFK drawing significant support a Reuters poll also showed RFK Jr with 16% of the vote in a potential three-wave race so yes he is a potential.

Political spoiler the Kennedy family though looks at this as a potential Legacy spoiler for the family's Legacy of public service and they are really concerned about the fact that this uh their presence of their brother their cousin their uncle could tip the balance to RFK Jr and so they want make a big impact they tried to do that in the most.

Important state to President Biden that's Pennsylvania what we also saw today hie I know it was close to your heart because President Biden yesterday raised some eyebrows we saw yesterday though he visited a sheets and so today he visited a w limitation of a WWA sheet if you're trying to you know demonstrate your bipartisan bonafides in a key State.

Reach those swing voters he's now played both sides of the argument but he tried to get a shake at the Wawa in Philadelphia today had a little trouble with the digital kiosk I think but he ultimately got what he wanted can I just tell you first of all thank you my team knows that if there is a WWA involved in political coverage it must.

Be in tonight's broadcast so I appreciate you and them for doing that but I want to go back to the RFK junr thing for a second because I think there's two questions here right number one he's trying to capitalize as you say on his family Legacy how powerful is that and number two who does his candidacy actually hurt more Democrats.

Are clearly somewhat concerned about this outside the Biden orbit um but rep should Republicans be more concerned well the Kennedy name of course has significant cache in American politics still there's significant nostalgic value especially for Democrats in that Kennedy name which is driving the concern on the part of the.

Democratic party you only need to look at President Biden himself who talked today about the fact that when he sits at the Resolute desk in the Oval Office looks ahead he sees the bust of RFK in the Oval Office to ask what would Kennedy do in this situation and in a race where the margins are going to be razor thin there there is concern that.

Voters especially those who are going to tune in much later in this election and not like both of the options from both major parties will see a familiar name and vote for him and that's why you're seeing this urgency today and why the Democrats have Marshall an effort not only to message against RFK Jr but even to try to throw him off the ballot in.

Some of the states where he's seeking to gain access Mike Mamay line for us outside the White House thank you also here in Washington right now this really big funding fight this money fight is picking up More Steam on Capitol Hill but the bigger question tonight can the house Speaker get these huge $95 billion foreign aid packages past for Israel and.

Ukraine without losing his job like can he do it and still keep the speakership the honest answer is nobody is really quite sure because some members of Johnson's own party are threatening to oust him speaker Johnson himself is late tonight shutting down talk about changing the rules to make it harder to kick him out of his position reminder a.

Position he's only held for 6 months and Johnson tells our team that getting removed as speaker is not even as big as worry right now you decided on proceeding with changes to the motion to vacate rules speaker Johnson no we're we're focused on the sou Mill right now say we're focused on it right now.

This Aid talk comes as Israel is getting ready to retaliate against Iran and as it relates to Ukraine and Russia as Ukraine says they will lose this war if they do not have more us support making things even more comp licated the house is trying to package this forign a bill with a potential ban on Tik Tock unless it's Chinese owner sells it Tik Tok is.

Not thrilled as you might imagine putting out a statement calling this new move a cover that could devastate Millions salak kapore is joining us now um we love a bucket on this show there's two of them here there's the leadership fight and then there's the actual Aid package they are intertwined but for the purposes of this conversation let's.

Separate it and start with Mike Johnson come Sunday Come Monday Tuesday Wednesday does he still have his speakership both those issues are live ball right now hiy and uh house Republican leaders including speaker Johnson are in the process of teeing up a series of votes separated on these various bills Israel.

Aid Ukraine Aid assistance for Taiwan and the Indo Pacific and at Fourth package of of various National Security priorities which we'll get to in a moment but one thing that speaker Johnson is trying to do is get this through the rules committee and get this on the floor while minimizing his right-wing opposition he did just.

Earlier today just about an hour or so ago take off the table this idea of changing the motion to vacate threshold this is what some uh conservative members who are not explicitly in favor of removing him have insisted that he uh avoid doing that the motion to vacate should stay as is he uh said in a tweet that it's harmed the office and the.

House Majority the rule as it is but he also noted that it requires a majority of the Full House to change the rule and he said he doesn't have that so taking that off the table now what is a motion to vacate this is a familiar rule to anyone who's followed This House of Representatives over the last year because it's what happened to uh former.

Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy it's a vote on removing the speaker any one member of the House under these Republican rules can bring up the motion and it needs a simple majority to pass now the way for thin margins here mean that even a small number of Republicans could vote with Democrats to remove Mike Johnson and he would be out of a job.

Immediately the uh difference here as opposed to what happened with Kevin McCarthy is that Democrats seem a little bit more willing to rescue him to vote down the motion to vacate in the event that he you know he gets potentially tossed as a result of bringing Ukraine Aid to the floor which is something they've demanded for a while okay so.

Drama on that front there is also on the Personnel front if you will also on the policy front right let's talk about now this potential Aid to both Israel and Ukraine both involved in wars in their regions here will those packages cross the finish line the goal for Johnson right now is to get them through the rules committee and on on to the floor.

And pass them by Sunday evening now if he gets them to the floor hie and gets that process triggered then they're very likely to pass and with different coalitions Israel Aid has overwhelming Republican support a lot of progressives can vote against it and it can still pass Ukraine Aid has overwhelming Democratic support a lot of.

Conservatives in the Republican caucus can oppose it and it would still pass and uh the other the other bills are somewhat less controversial in terms of the numbers one thing that is in that fourth bill that hodg podge of national security issue is Tik Tock changes specifically a proposal that would force Tik tok's owners to sell uh to a.

Different company so it's no longer effectively under Chinese control or Tik Tok would be banned here this is very much a a a possibility that this could pass and get to Biden's desk Tik Tok right now is in more danger I would say than it ever has been of getting banned uh simply because this bill if it passes the house will have escape velocity in.

The Senate there's an enormous amount of determination among Democrats as well as many Republicans to get Ukraine Aid to President Biden's desk and to get this done so one thing this does unlike the last Tik Tok ban which gave six months to sell or or be banned this extended extends it to nine months with the option for the president to make that a.

Year hie s hore live for us on the hill thank you very much to Maryland now where a High School student's in police custody charged with threatening Mass violence in connection with an alleged school shooting plan this is in Montgomery County Maryland right outside of Washington according to court documents obtained by NBC News you see.

The court papers here alleging that 18-year-old Andrea yay who goes by Alex wrote a 129 page document that includes a strategy on how to carry out the attack even contemplating targeting an elementary school allegedly wanting to be famous police are expected to give more details in a news conference set for tomorrow yish alsandor is joining us.

Now so more answers yish potentially coming then but already a lot of information coming out of these court documents as to how the officials here investigating carried this out that's right hiy and it really is a disturbing and striking thing to see here in Maryland this document really is.

Striking when you go through it um officials and authorities have really been dealing with this for more than a month we should walk through people the timeline of all of this so on March 3rd a witness contacted the Baltimore County PD now that witness is someone who spent time in a psychiatric facility with Alex ye they were worried they thought a.

School shooting was eminent police then obtained search word for ye's Gmail that's where the the access to this to this Manifesto or this Memoir some say that ye called it um that's where this where that came from with his Gmail account because it was a Google doc then on March 5th ye messaged on Discord which is a site that they actually ended.

Up being kicked off of for posting about violence ye wrote my friend reported me to the police for write for a book I'm writing on March 6 ye is hospitalized there had been a number of hospitalizations dealing with suicidal and homicidal thoughts according to police charging documents then on March 21st first s there was a search of ye's.

Home and then on Tuesday ye was arrested now we should note now that Montgomery County Public Schools they put out a statement I want to read part of it to you hiy says the charges are extremely serious involving alleged threats to harm others the student who has not physically attended an mcps school since the fall of 2022 has been actively.

Participating in lessons through a virtual program called online Pathways to graduation it's really important to note that because authorities here said that there was real worry that this this that this teenager this 18-year-old could at some point shoot up a school that's why of course now they're charged with making a mass a threat of mass.

Violence hi yish alcendor Al for us there on the ground in Montgomery County yamish thank you a lot more still to come on the show including who the Florida governor is taking on now you may be surprised to hear it's the satanic temple plus the fast food worker one mom describes as her hero tonight the terrifying close call when we're.

Back a potential fight now Brewing between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and the satanic temple oh yes that is not a misspeak it has to do with this bill that DeSantis just signed in the law that would let Florida Public Schools.

Bring in volunteer chaplain as a resource for students it's controversial for a bunch of reasons here right critics say the kids could end up getting religious advice they don't want or feel uncomfortable because the chaplain could have a different religious background than they do case in point the satanic temple telling.

Our team they're planning on training and placing their own chaplain in Florida schools Governor DeSantis today saying that's not going to happen we're not playing those games in Florida uh that is not a religion that is not qualifying to be able to participate uh in this so we're going to.

Be using Common Sense uh when it comes to this so you don't have to worry about that Marissa PA is joining us now it's it's one of these like sort of wow moments here for for a lot of reasons here the governor of course Republican governor of Florida there says the satanic temple is not qualified to be a part of this.

Procedure is there a legal mechanism to um to stop them from being involved as volunteer chaplain great question hie and yeah I do have to acknowledge it wouldn't be a day of covering Florida politics if we weren't talking about a headline like a showdown between the state's governor and the satanic temple um so let's get to it Dan santis seems.

Confident that there won't be a showdown that won't happen in fact look at his tweet that he put out not that long ago he said that Satanism isn't a religion he's very confident that they will not even qualify because it's not a religion and in his tweet you'll see an image he has a circle and a strike through around the world Satanist again he is very.

Confident but it's important to point out the Bill's own sponsor a Republican senator in Fort Pier said she was concerned about what the satanic temple might be able to do because of First Amendment religious freedoms um so that could potentially be the next chapter of this hle a court battle over what exactly defines religion the satanic.

Temple is already said that they would take this to court and fight against this under the guise of of discrimination but the satanic temple has also said that they are very confident that the constitution is on their side here uh calling to Sis's words today some of them you just heard now quote empty.

Grandstanding and they also put this uh statement out in part saying they will move forward with training their satanic chaplain to place them in Florida Public Schools but H also really important to remember that it is ultimately up to the individual schools on how they choose to move forward who they choose to allow into their schools to meet with the kids.

Setting aside the potential of of of having you know satanists volunteering as chaplins in schools there are some other concerns and we touched on them briefly at the top of this discussion more broadly when it comes to the role overall of religion in public schools right right and so this is something that we've seen open letters we've seen.

Open letters signed by of course not just Faith groups we've even seen chaplain sign in on that um but civil rights organizations particularly the ACLU they have been very very vocal about this I here's some of what they wrote in March in part expressing frustrations and concerns about how this would infringe on religious freedoms.

Among students they said that this also opens the doors for students to be evangelized especially in States like this this one that have Conservative Christian leadership and as you can see on your screen there their concern is about the lack of credentials and training required by these volunteer chaplain Al and I'll just end by saying.

That Texas passed a law just like this one last year 14 states have introduced legislation just like this one just in the last year so Hal Florida just the latest one to sign this bill into law potentially not the last just this year alone super interesting Marissa par live for us there in Florida thank you let's get you over now to the five things our.

Team thinks you should know about tonight number one Dicky Betts of course a guitarist the co-founder of the Almond Brothers band has died at the age of 80 his manager telling Rolling Stone he died from cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease Betts wrote the hit song Rambling Man for the Almond Brothers Band and helped to find.

Southern Rock back in the 60s and 70s number two Google firing more than two dozen workers today why allegedly for protesting the company's $1.2 billion contract to provide Israel with cloud and AI Services it comes after nine employees were arrested a couple days ago for a sit in at Google offices in Seattle New York and California Google.

Says that I'm quoting here physically impeding other employees work is a clear violation of our policies number three the number of houses being sold in this country fell just about 4% last month because people facing higher interest rates and higher prices for those homes we saw drops in the west south and the Midwest only the Northeast saw sales go.

Up here's the thing and it's a little bit confusing even though sales are down the median home price is up about 5% since last year number four Trader Joe's is recalling some of its packaged basil because of a salmon illa outbreak one person had to be hospitalized there were at least a dozen other reports of people getting sick the affected products we.

Just showed them there the infinity herbs organic basil packages they've been sold since the start of February the head of the company says he's heartbroken this product have made people sick number three Prince Harry making a major change to his living situation making it official really saying the US is his primary residence.

Not the UK According to some new document filings now remember the Duke of Sussex moved to California back in 20120 with his American Wife they took a step back from their Royal duties at the time he made it seem like maybe the move would be only temporary but you see the case so listen it is Spring right it is pollen season and if your your allergies.

Seem to be getting worse that's not just in your head it's real it's super pollen and it has doctors overwhelmed we have more patients coming in now with severe allergy symptoms they're coming in sneezing congested coughing from the drip in the back of their throat and doctors say even people who.

Have never had allergies before are getting affected this year it's gotten so intense that regular allergy medication like you might buy at the store might not even work for everybody Dr Natalie AAR is joining us now this is real right it's not just in our heads um allergy season actually is getting worse why it is you know I I think hi the.

Easiest thing to to tell people is that when you have very mild very wet very warm Winters that's kind of a perfect recipe for especially in the spring for trees to start blooming earlier and I think there's one phenomenon that I think is really really fascinating that people should understand you know how we occasionally have like a really really.

Nice warm day in late February or early March and then it gets cold again and then we have one spiking warm day that actually primes your immune system to be more sensitive and more reactive to pollen once you're kind of full on in fall in pollen season Once the spring actually hits so you can go out and enjoy those nice days but just beware.

That that can actually happen and you know a lot of people hi are like well I don't know is it a cold or is it an allergy and we have a list of of allergic symptoms for people to take a look at the one defining feature of allergy symptoms is itchiness it's the itchy eyes the itchy nose and the itchy throat and that will 100% of the time.

Help you to distinguish between allergies and a cold or a mild flow you know this idea to pull more on this thread of super pollen right because I was interested to hear that I mean not only and like it's a just to pull back the curtain in my household allergy sufferer right my partner not one until now like until truly this season dealing.

With it so like we what I'm interested to hear is about how how um severe weather systems like climate change is playing a part in this by breaking up pollen into tinier pieces that can infiltrate our systems even more easily yeah I mean climate change is the num sort of like the umbrella factor in all of this that is leading to these warmer.

Winters that that are really the culprit here every year we're like this is the worst pollen season ever this is the worst poll season ever and and to the point about your husband um you can develop an allergy at any time in your life so even if you were mostly a tree sufferer when you were younger you might now be a grass sufferer in the summer or.

Weed come the fall so it's not like you're out of the woods if you haven't really had much many symptoms over the years so far and on that super fun note Dr Natalie Asar thank you very much for being the bearer of bad allergy news appreciate it thank you so tonight's original now with in-depth reporting on a topic we've been watching and tonight.

We take you to Idaho a state that now bans abortions in nearly all cases after the Supreme Court overturned Rover versus Wade a couple years ago some women who need medicine for things like miscarriages or inducing labor say they're struggling to get their hands on them because they can also be used in medical abortions here's Erica Edwards.

Give high five children were part of Kristen and Lauren coulson's plan from the beginning we always knew that we would have a family but it hasn't been easy in January the boys the Idaho couple miscarried for a fifth time we were hoping to see a heartbeat and on ultrasound we saw that um I had a nonviable pregnancy Kristen's doctor.

Wrote her a prescription for misaal a drug that causes the uterus to contract helpful during a miscarriage which is the spontaneous loss of a pregnancy and can take weeks for the body to complete on its own everybody processes grief differently but for me I um I like to have a plan choosing to use the medication I can time when this happens.

Misoprostal can also be used during a medication abortion a deliberate termination of a pregnancy that's why Kristen believes her Walgreens pharmacist refused to give her the drug I was in shock confused um dealing with this miscarriage they told me that they didn't feel comfortable filling the misoprostal prescription at that dosage.

Idaho's defensive life act went into effect in 201 22 after the US Supreme Court overturned Ro v Wade the state's law says that every person who performs or attempts to perform an abortion could be committing a felony punishable by a sentence of imprisonment up to 5 years the law isn't clear whether a pharmacist is committing a felony for dispensing.

The medication the threat of jail time is a real worry for pharmacists like Matt Murray once you see a prescription for Misa prol you now a little alert goes off in the back of your head that says well maybe we need to make sure what this is used for is this frustrating to you it's frustrating and it it takes time away from other things.

That that we need to do but ultimately the fear is that people aren't getting the medical care that they're needing pharmacists are understandably scared by these incredibly strict abortion laws that have been enacted and they are afraid that they might be charged with a felony simply for doing their job Allison Tanner senior legal counsel at.

The National Women's Law Center says since the Supreme Court decision they've heard from a number of women who say they were denied access to legally prescribed medications including misoprostal pharmacists were afraid about the new lay of the land under the law the US Department of Health and Human Services has investigated.

Complaints against some pharmacies including Walgreens which HHS says have been resolved in a statement Walgreen says it'll accommodate team members whose beliefs conflict with selling certain products and make sure another pharmacist can fill the prescription Kristen's doctor was able to transfer her prescription to another Walgreens.

That filled it in boisee I have other options and access to other pharmacies and that may not be the case for for a lot of people that went through what we went through across the state Erica Edwards is joining us now so Erica you've laid out what happened in Idaho and the policy there but what about other states what are they doing.

Hey h yeah you know this is happening Nationwide women across the country are telling us that they have been denied legal prescriptions now the HHS has given guidance uh to pharmacies basically saying that refusing to prescribe certain medications um to women can have negative Health impacts and may violate civil civil rights laws.

But it's not so clear to pharmacists like who we talked to in that piece uh Matt Murray and Boise who say you know in navigating this Le landscape is especially difficult for independent pharmacies who don't have the legal means to guide them through this process we're left hoe with pharmacists who'd rather play it safe and not it out these.

Medications that could land them in trouble hie Erica Edwards thank you so much for bringing us that reporting right here on NBC News Now NBC News covers hundreds of international stories every day and because it can be tough to read or watch or listen listen to them all our teams around the world have done it for you.

Here's a look at what they're watching in a segment we call the global out of Indonesia a local airport shut down cancelling flights in the region all because of that volcano eruption we told you about 24 hours ago here on this show want to show you here more stunning video look at that lightning right Bill Karens talked about this yesterday that.

Eruption is sending lava Ash especially way up in the air we don't know how many passengers are left stranded at this airport but officials have ordered more than 11,000 people to leave because because of a potential tsunami risk If part of the volcano collapses out of the UK Scotland's only clinic for treating transgender kids has announced it's.

Pausing new prescriptions for puberty blockers it told you last week how the UK's push to restrict gender affirming care for minors is kicking in health officials say they want to provide the best care while also reviewing medical evidence that supports this treatment they clarified patients already getting treatment will not be affected and also.

Out of the UK Prince William stepping out again publicly for the first time since his wife's Kate wife Kate's cancer diagnosis remember Princess Kate announced she had cancer you see him or is diagnosed with cancer you see them at a food distribution center there representing the rest of the family a lot of the Royals have been absent from.

The British public because of their health problems specifically King Charles who's seeking treatment for cancer we still don't know what kind he also a lot of folks watching him when we come back Caitlyn Clark's money moves the company's reportedly fighting over a partnership with one of basketball's biggest stars and what it means for the.

Rest of the league NBC News covers hundreds of other stories every day and because it can be tough to read or watch or listen to them all our Bureau teams have done it for you this is what they tell us is going down in their regions in a segment we call the local out of our Southern Bureau look at this scary snake.

Situation all captured on camera oof this is a mom and son just trying to leave home in Texas when this aggressive snake just like lunges at them while they're on their front porch they're both okay except for some bruises when they tripped and fell while running away the snake still out there also out of our Southern Bureau this video out of.

North Carolina a group of folks just pulling bear cubs out of a tree why apparently to take selfies one of them ends up holding one of the Bears taking pictures and then like dropping it a couple seconds later officials confronted the people taking the video the Cub went to a rehab center fortunately is expected to be okay and.

Out of our Northeast Bureau a Taco Bell man saving a baby's life in Bucks County PA a mother was in the Taco Bell drive-thru when she noticed her baby struggling to breathe turning blue you see her jumping out she's screaming for help that's when the manager runs outside starts doing chest compressions on the baby that kiddo started to.

Breathe Again was taken to the hospital for treatment the mother calls the manager her guardian angel up next it is Caitlyn Clark's world and we're all just living in it we'll tell you about the huge deal she may reportedly be signing soon now that she's a pro and what it means for the rest of the league so unless you live under a rock.

Or perhaps in a cave somewhere you probably know that later on tonight Taylor Swift will drop her 11th studio album like I know the whole world knows everybody knows it is um like already a huge deal and it's not even out yet Spotify is announcing that the tortured poets department is officially the most pre-saved album countdown page ever and.

Whether you're a Swifty or not you've probably seen one of these so-called Easter eggs hyping up this album they're literally on buildings murals of these QR codes again around the world this is a global drop and they all have different Clues on them with businesses jumping in on this kind of unprecedented moment Apple music launched a swift.

Scavenger hunt you need a subscription to play right Spotify is launching a whole popup in LA but one thing that probably wasn't planned leaks of some of these songs it got so bad that even X blocked searches what makes this tricky people don't even know if these quote unquote leaked songs are real or fake with AI it's a whole new story so here.

To break it down for us as us said today Taylor Swift reporter that's right Brian West Brian we're so glad to have you on H former NBC Alum thank you for being on with us tonight thank you so much Hy we are about six hours in counting and everybody is counting I mean truly and so that's what I want to get into right I want to get into your.

Job in a second but let's start with like the business imp that Taylor Swift is having we have seen big album releases even just this year Beyonce with cowboy Carter but she's about the only one right the two of them are in A League of Their Own a universe of their own when it comes to the attention on the music that they're producing talk us.

Through that piece of it and what we've seen with Taylor especially is that she has a snack for Easter eggs for bringing in a lot of her corporate sponsors or corporate Partners to help kind of uncover or unleash this new project and so we saw Spotify as you announced how had a pop-up installation at the Grove in Los Angeles hidden in that popup.

Display are book spines with the titles of the 20 tracks on this album there is a globe there that has a push pin in Miami which is the next location for her us domestic leg of the eras tour she had a typewriter that had messages she has song lyrics that are included in the cases and so you see that across all these different platforms on Apple music.

For six days bands would have to search all the playlist to find which one was lowercased with specific capital letters and that would spell out a phrase We Now know that is we hereby conduct this postmortem which tells us that there's something to do with two a lot of clocks including the animation that Taylor Swift has released have told us 2:00 or.

Postmortem is 2 hours after so a lot of fans are again speculating they are excited they're thinking maybe something is going to happen you're looking at the animation right now this is the intern area and that's where she says what's going to happen the calendar that we are going to see the first single fortnite with post Malone is going to have a.

Music video that comes out tomorrow night so it really just makes it fun for the fans to follow along but also must be so exhausting for the singer in their team just to keep track of everything do you think quickly here Brian that this album is different from her others in terms of its release its hype Etc well we know is that there's two.

Collaborators so post Malone and Florence Welch from Florence in the machine but two co-writers co-producers Jack anof and Aaron dner have worked closely with the writer we saw Aaron come in during the folklore era and so he has really helped to kind of propel Advance the writing and same with Jack he's been one of her producers sound.

Since 1989 I have to ask about you because you have what is maybe the most coveted job in all of Swifty world right um after you got it the vice president of local news for USA Today talked about how you personally Brian have this balance between somebody with serious news chops and someone who understands everything about Taylor's world and the.

Universe that you're stepping into talk to us about how this role has been and honestly what you do next Once her AOS tour is over that's a good question so it is constant I would say every day is completely different I just woke up about an hour ago to get ready for this full Marathon all nighter of the release.

And then tomorrow morning it's been such a whirlwind to be able to travel with the AAS tour alongside it in Tokyo Japan in Melbourne Australia and Sydney I'm going to be heading to Europe in to see also if there are any changes but it really is the dream of the the job of my wildest dreams uh Brian we're so glad to have you on thank you um so like what do.

You have 16 red bulls to get ready for tonight is that the deal just all coffee we're already starting starting now a fortnite of Red Bulls okay very good Brian thank you so much for being on that does it for us for this hour we've got a lot more coverage picking up right now.

We are coming on the air with a jury now picked and seated in a critical moment in the historic trial of a former president all of it coming together in really just the last 90 minutes setting up opening statements maybe as soon as Monday in the former president's case coming up our breakdown of how the prosecution may try to frame that.

Opening what happens from here with the alternates and who exactly are these everyday people picked to decide Donald Trump's fate that's live from downtown Manhattan also tonight new answers on how 911 went down for millions of Americans and the Mystery still out there in one state sending officials scrambling plus why a bunch of kennedies.

Are not backing one of their own in the race for the white house instead late today coming out and endorsing President Biden so how much does their famous family name really resonate with voters right now then the potential foreign aid Fiasco on Capitol Hill the house Speaker fighting to save his job and get billions for Ukraine and Israel we'll.

Tell you how even Tik tok's playing into it plus the new fight over religion in public schools why Florida's governor is now going toeo Toe with satanists you heard that right that's later on in the show hey I'm hiy and it is the first of what may be many Milestone moments tonight in an unprecedented trial the jury 12 people now seated in the.

Criminal trial of Donald Trump along with one alternate they've got to pick five more alternates the judge says he's hopeful they'll finish up tomorrow seven new members now added to this jury including a male investment banker and a male security engineer they were added because two people were taken off one uh an oncology nurse who said so much.

Personal info got leaked her friends figured out it was her on the jury she's no longer on it the other this male it consultant who was out for allegedly lying to the judge remember it's not over yet the magic number is 18 so you still have a few more to go but all of it sets up the openings maybe as soon as Monday this day overall highlighting the.

Challenges of a trial at this moment an election year for this person Donald Trump in this city New York with one dismissed juror talking more about that with ar Yasmin vugi everybody has biases and you know you know stereotypes in their mind so you have to be a really you know deep and uh you know Fair person which is.

Very hard to do right so what about former president Trump this is him walking out of court just within the last hour you watched it live last hour right here on NBC News Now accusing prosecutors in his view of being out of control slamming the judge even complaining about the temperature in the room very cold now a lot of.

People said it was basically freezing in that room here's what Donald Trump did not say anything about the makeup of the jury the seven men and five women who will decide his fate V hilard is outside the courthouse of Manhattan that may be because that partial gag order has been put on the former president we'll talk more about that next week when the judge.

Is set to make a decision on any penalties for potential violations but let's talk about what's happening now this big milestone now a jury picked and seated and it sounds like Monday is when everybody thinks openings will begin right the starting lineup is set they've just got to fill out the bench right now the six Alternatives that.

They've got left and that's what the order of business is going to be tomorrow howy this is a it was an afternoon went from having just five jurors to suddenly having 13 and one of those being the alternate five left to go here and this is significant these are going to be the 12 individuals that ultimately determined Donald Trump's.

Legal fate here in New York City it is going to be on them despite all of the pressures that exist around them here to ultimately make the determination on the evidence and testimony they he over the next 6 to8 weeks on what Donald Trump's fate is so van talk to us a little bit about what you heard from some of these.

Perspective jurors I mean we're looking at this graphic here and obviously you know I should note here there was an admonition from the judge to members of the media to members of the press who are watching this go down to use common sense and not reveal too much information that could be revealing about these jurors he seemed concerned.

About that um but it has been a process that really isn't over yet right right and this is what makes Donald Trump such a unique criminal defendant is that all of these potential jurors were asked the question do you have strong opinions about Donald Trump and every single one of the individuals who have been seated the 12 plus one all.

Said no there was one woman who had actually been seated on Tuesday to be a jur but showed up this morning at court and said that she didn't actually think any longer she could be so she was dismissed and excused I want to let you hear from one other dismissed jur that I talked to about the experience of walking in there and about being asked.

The question whether he could be fair and impartial take a listen were I to be Seated on the trial he it would be dishonest for me to withhold that information but there's be no way that blanch who's not going to rely on the kindness of strangers would permit me to uh be on the jury Mark that man an honest man who.

Came in and said he could not be fair and impartial but they were waiting through you know some of the folks said that they could be and when the defense team for Donald Trump went through the social media accounts of some of these folks they found posts uh that were not too kind to the former president and several of those individuals they were.

Dismissed and excused because of those past social media posts is it raining out there I can't tell is it it looks like it's wet behind you it's been a bleak day hie it's been a bleak day out here and inside Donald Trump was complaining about it being cold that's what I mean I'm ask because like here's one person who we know is.

Out there why did George Santos you know show up to the to the to the court today I mean all it gets to something that we've talked about this week and you're seeing a picture of George Santos walking in now I guess to the courthouse um we we've been getting to this this is a spectacle I mean it is a it is an unprecedented trial it is a trial that.

Is making history and it is also kind of in a weird way become a bit of a tourist attraction is that fair right it's kind of a chaotic scene I I George Sanz is sort of this odd character in our American politics last two years and of course I guess naturally he'd find himself outside of this Courthouse but definely there's.

Been folks that we have met that have come by just to go and see it here I wouldn't call it a chaotic scene here but you know it's not lost on anybody especially in lower Manhattan that the former president of United States and the potential of the future one at least Republican presumptive nominee is going to be here for several more weeks inside.

Of that courtroom hie Von hilard live for us there in downtown Manhattan among it all on this as you say Bleak day van thank you friend appreciate it so listen let's take a step back remember what this case is about okay Donald Trump facing these 34 felony counts accused of falsifying business records basically lying on.

Business documents allegedly to cover up payments he made to former adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 campaign now in plain English as you see this web here of all of Donald Trump's legal issues there's a lot of people including us who have shorthanded this particular one as Like the quote unquote hush money trial that's what you'll.

Sometimes hear oh this is the hush money trial some legal experts have suggested it is the weakest case because they say okay if he lied if he lied on these internal records what is the harm to the public but the Manhattan district attorney says it goes way beyond that here's the breakdown in the orbit of Donald Trump's.

Trials the one in New York has headlines that seem tailor made for the tabloids a possible sex scandal involving Mr Trump an ex porn star Stormy Daniels and $130,000 in so-called hush money payments paid to her by his former fixer Michael Cohen Mr Trump denies having a sexual relationship with Daniels but the alleged crime recorded in checks signed.

By Mr Trump to reimburse Cohen and Manhattan district attorney Alvin brag suggests there's more to it than so-called hush money so it's an election interference case not interference in 2020 but the first time around the 2016 election Bragg says those checks allegedly to try and silence Stormy Daniels were part of a scheme by Mr.

Trump to keep the alleged Affair from voters in 2016 that payment was to hide damaging information from the voting public brag never actually even called it hush money when he announced the charges he argues then candidate Trump did this to cover up other crimes like the campaign Finance laws Michael Cohen pleaded guilty to in 2018 and served.

Three years in a federal prison for the da repeatedly making the case publicly this goes beyond a sex scandal the case is is is not you know you know the core of is not you know money for sex we would say it's it's about conspiring to corrupt a presidential election and then you know lying in in New York business records to cover it up that framing.

Echoed in part by the judge Juan Maran who in a court filing wrote he'd tell a jury that these allegations have to do with falsified business records to conceal an agreement with others to unlawfully influence the 2016 presidential election all of it a potential preview of how the prosecutors opening statements may.

Go okay so that's the prosecutor's case what about the Trump team right what might the defense say well according to Legal filings they may say something like look Donald Trump just didn't want to be embarrassed it has nothing to do with influencing voters and more importantly they say that means it is not illegal we will see how this begins.

To be framed starting maybe as early as Monday we'll have coverage of that historic trial right here on NBC news now to some other headlines tonight and there are plenty of them let's start with that 911 system outage on aahu in Hawaii not even 24 hours after a separate outage left millions of people across four other states without a way.

To get in touch with First Responders overnight via landlines we don't know if these two outages are related at all but it comes as we're getting some answers about what may have happened overnight it looks like the issue was related at least partly to a Communications and Telecom company called Lumen Technologies in a statement to NBC News.

A spokesperson apologized to customers in these three states Nevada South Dakota Nebraska they said the outage happened when a thirdparty company was installing a poll causing what some officials say was an unprecedented situation to our knowledge we have never experienced an outage of this magnitude or.

Duration here's what else we know tonight law enforcement officials tell us there's nothing to indicate that this was part of a Cyber attack or something somebody did on purpose the FCC is looking into this but here's what we don't know what the root of the issue may have been down in Texas which was one of the states affected by this.

Outage because Lumen technology says it doesn't provide 911 services there Brian Chung is joining us now and what's interesting this wasn't like same same in all of these states right for some places 911 services were only down if you tried to call on cell phone for other places I mean it was just a it was kind of a patchwork here yeah and that's.

Why it's important to part out that we don't know what happened in Texas we don't know what happened for that 20-minute outage in Hawaii but what we do know is that in the three states that were affected in Nebraska South Dakota and also Nevada that those were tied to Lumen Technologies which is a telecom Communicator uh having gone down because.

Of a wire that was cut because of a third part not loomin trying to do repair on a light pole it's it's simple as something like that that could take down these Emergency Services which had overnight in some cases many states experiencing difficulty in reaching 911 emergency services now uh it's interesting because this is really.

Highlighted that there are instances and might be instances where you can't reach 911 in which case emergency uh providers like for example the fire departments and also uh police departments have said first off jot down the local number for your police and your fire department it's 10 10 number digit that's not 911 and they also advise trying a landline.

Or other types of ways of reaching out like text messaging for example in which case you actually can text 911 depending on whether or not your locality offers that and one last Point here that's so important hie there were instances during this outage where people were trying to dial 911 to test if Emergency Services were being active do not do.

That we saw the same thing play out when AT&T had issues 2 months ago only down 911 if you were actually in an emergency that's such a good point you mentioned that at AT&T outage a couple of months ago is there a broader question mark here about the vulnerability of some of these systems yeah and again I want to emphasize that what happened today does.

Not appear to be a hack it simply simply seem to be that uh that that repair pole cutting a line but there have been instances where the dep Department of Homeland Security has said look there's an upgrade that's trying to be done to 911 services Nationwide could that be subject to a hack some point down the line that's very much a concern but.

Again not related to what we saw happen today hie Brian Chong thank you very much to Maryland now where a high school student is in police custody charged with threatening Mass violence in connection with an alleged school shooting plan this is in Montgomery County right outside DC according to court documents obtained by NBC news.

Here are some of the documents here alleging that 18-year-old Andrea ye who goes by Alex wrote a 129 page document that includes a strategy on how to carry out the attack even contemplating targeting an elementary school allegedly wanting to be famous we expect some more details possibly as soon as tomorrow in a news conference but yisha Sor has made.

Her way to Montgomery County tell us more about this investigation how it unfolded and where this goes from here well this H is really a striking and disturbing situation here and to understand how this all is unfolding we have to go all the way back to March 3rd so we should put up a timeline for folks that's when a witness contacted.

Baltimore County Police and said that Alex y was writing a Manifesto um that was disturbing to them and that was that made feel like a school shooting was eminent then on March 5th police obtained a search warrant for ye's Gmail account that was tied to that document on March 5th he messaged on Discord which was a an Internet site that that.

He actually ended up being pushed off of and blocked from because he was posting about violence he wrote in that on that internet site my friend reported me to the police for a book I'm writing March 6 ye is hospitalized March 21st there's a search of ye's home and then on Tuesday he is arrested and police are saying that this Manifesto that's 100 29.

Page document that he says was a work of fiction that really is it contains such disturbing language that they are worried that this was something that was actually going to be a blueprint for school shooting I also want to put up that Montgomery County Public Schools they're weighing in here I want to read a bit of their statement they say the.

Charges are extremely serious involving alleged threats to harm others the student who has not physically attended a Montgomery County Public School since the fall of 2022 has been actively participating in lessons through a virtual program called online Pathways to graduation so there you have the higho school and the school district.

There saying while the student was not physically in school they were still part of the school community so definitely going to continue to watch this ye as we understand it is in custody and is now awaiting a bond hearing Alie you may shall sendor live for us there in Maryland thank you a big deal moment tonight for a big deal.

Family in American politics with the kennedies coming out today against one of their own and endorsing President Biden's re-election instead watch President Biden has been a champion for all the rights and freedoms that my father and Uncle stood for that's why nearly every single grandchild of Joe and Rose Kennedy supports Joe.

Biden 15 Kennedy's there you see them all including Carrie you just heard from her she's the sister of RFK Jr who's of course running that third party race Carrie Kennedy saying that President Biden who you see on stage represents a vote to in her words save our democracy this endorsement is coming at an interesting time in an interesting race.

As some Democrats worry that RFK Junior's candidacy could hurt former president Trump RFK Jr himself responding on X saying I am pleased my family is politically active he says it's a family tradition we are divided in our opinions but United in our love for each other Mike memy is joining us now and it is so interesting.

For multiple reasons right number one um because of the family involved here because it is the kennedies number two because because for any candidate having siblings come out right and and protest your candidacy in essence or at least endorse your opponent is significant particularly when that candidate has leaned on his family.

History yeah hie just think about if Valerie Frank and Jimmy Biden came out this week and endorsed Donald Trump what what a a bombshell that would be and for the Biden campaign you can understand why this moment is so significant you just need to look at the polls right there's a Quin Pak poll this week that shows if it's ahead to-head Joe Biden.

Versus Donald Trump Biden has a three-point lead but when you insert Robert F Kennedy Jr into the mix you see both candidates Dro down into the 30s and Kennedy with a significant share of the vote the same finding in a Reuters poll that had Kennedy up at 16% so you you see what is at stake in terms of uh the Biden campaign with Kennedy as a.

Political spoiler I think what's so fascinating is the way the Kennedy family is viewing this they see this as a potential Legacy spoiler for the family this was an event that was weeks in the making you can remember that image we saw of of generations of kennedies with President Biden in the Rose Garden this was in the works even.

Well before that the Biden campaign saying they're taking their cues from the Kennedy family as much as they want to be involved they will be involved going forward what's also interesting is the place where this is happening in Philadelphia today after two other days so this is the third straight day that.

He has campaigned specifically in Pennsylvania all while former president Trump is sitting in a criminal trial in New York right talk about um the the potential benefits of the campaign and how they see it well it's the Biden campaign really sees us call it what you want the counterprogramming the split screen strategy the message they want to.

Convey this week knowing that Trump is going to dominate most of the national headlines is one to get a lot of local headlines in the most important Battleground state to Joe Biden which is Pennsylvania but you can really break down the political geography that Biden covered this week to look at some of the issues and how they see this race.

Scranton of course President Biden's Hometown he sees that as sort of the home base for his economic messaging he talked about the fact that Trump views the economy through Mara Lago or Park Avenue he sees it through the lens of the people he grew up uh with in Scranton Pennsylvania then you see Pittsburgh that's been a political home.

Base for President Biden he was with union workers he sees himself as the most Pro labor president an important stop there to talk about China and then there was of course today Philadelphia that's kind of the stakes of this election the Democracy Stakes the Kennedy's helped him to make that message today you also saw him playing.

Both sides of a very heated political debate in Pennsylvania the president stopped today at a WWA he got a hogy and a shake this was just the day after he stopped at a sheets in Pittsburgh which side are you on Mr President I I think this is a real question please tell me somebody asked him well we haven't heard that yet you know this will be something.

Maybe he's going to get the next time he goes to Pennsylvania I think I know where you fall on this just so people Western PA home to Sheets the pale imitation of Eastern Pennsylvania's WWA uh a WWA of course that has infiltrated you know from New Jersey all the way down here to DC did you did you oh you're in DC you didn't place an order.

But I'm going to send you like an Italian hogi over from Wawa to the White House ma'am well hie as somebody who spent a lot of my youth the summers in on the Jersey Shore I was a WWA guy for a long time but covering the 2008 campaign especially I spent a lot of time in rural Pennsylvania and sheets was kind of that Beacon at night when.

You really needed a good meal and so I I don't know I guess this is my last appear on it's been a lovely final appearance for you on this program Mike memy uh sheets betrayer thank you so much Wawa forever here on this show thank you Ma appreciate it all right listen we got to take you out west because there's some breaking news.

That's happening now we're just getting this into a Ser so I want to grab some information on this because we're seeing some protests now at universities in some of the country's biggest cities not just New York but La as well let me start with New York look at Columbia University so this is police coming in we've told you about this over the last.

24 hours these huge crowds of students students that kind of camped out on the big lawn in front of the university the school says students refused to disperse so now more than hundred have been arrested but go to the West Coast now that's where it's happening as we speak USC students look at this out protesting the University's decision to not allow a.

Speech from this year's Pro Palestinian valedictorian a valedictorian who has expressed views that are pro Palestinian now the school says the decision has nothing to do with freedom of speech they say the main issues are campus Safety and Security I want to bring in now KBC correspondent Christian casares who is joining us from the USC campus.

Christian you're right in the thick of it tell us what it's like well I can tell you this group as you can hear them they are chanting let speak and that has been uh the mood here for about an hour now I can tell you this group came together fairly quickly about an hour and they came together here right in the middle of USC's campus.

Right by uh Tommy Trojan about 20 minutes ago this group that you see here they mobilized they went around the campus here they did a short walk uh and it was a silent March but I can tell you that students here they say received messages uh from fellow students to cancel their School attendance this afternoon to participate and support the.

Requests to reinstate the validat toan's speech now participants were asked to wear hoodies and masks which is the reason why many of them uh have that uh on right now but again this is a silent March uh I was telling you that they were walking around the campus about 20 minutes ago and they really didn't chant they didn't really say much they were.

All quiet I talked to a couple of students along the way and they said that they really uh did like the fact that this was silent really does speak to the fact of why they are out here now at the center of this is uh asna tabasan this is USC's 2024 valedictorian she is a fourth year student from Chino Hills with a major in biomedical engineering.

And a maor and a minor in resistance to genoci now the university canceled Her speech after they say concern sparked over a link that was that was that she shared but did not author on her social media that they say contains anti-semitic language well recently the first generation South Asian American Muslim told NBC for our affiliate here.

In Los Angeles in a statement that she was disappointed in USC's decision to cancel her graduation speech uh during the ceremony she says that this is basically a campaign of hate meant to silence her voice I did get a chance to speak uh to a spokesperson from USC just moments ago and they said that they still are standing on that uh move on on.

On that stance to not allow her to participate in the ceremony which is coming up on May 10th but again this is a silent March that is just getting underway it's been about an hour now I can tell you it's roughly about maybe uh 200 students there's also I understand some faculty uh that are here but again they're very passionate about this and.

This is something that has been going on for about a week now so of course this is just something that both on social media and of course here on campus students have been voicing their thoughts about this uh this fellow student that they are are fighting for her to go and have her speech uh said during the uh the ceremony which is.

Again coming up on May 10th Christian garz we're glad to have you out there reporting on all of it live for us tonight from Los Angeles again from our affiliate KNBC thank you Christian appreciate get it let's bring you back here to Washington because right now this really big fight over money is picking up More Steam on.

Capitol Hill and there's a big question tonight right can the house Speaker get these $95 billion foreign aid packages for Israel and Ukraine can he get those packages done without losing his job that is totally a potential right that is a live ball at the moment with some members of Johnson's own party Mike Johnson's own party threatening to kick.

Him out speaker Johnson himself late today shutting down talk about changing the rules to make it harder to kick him out of his position a position by the way he's only held for like six months and in the hallways Johnson's telling our team that his whole speakership thing this whole threat to his job that is not even his biggest worry right.

Now sir have you decided on proceeding with changes to the motion to vacate rules speaker Johnson no we're we're focused on the subal right now all right so he says he's focused on the legislation so let's talk about what those bills would do Israel is getting ready to retaliate against Iran Ukraine says without this money they will lose.

The war with Russia if they do not have us support there's also a Tik Tock component making the whole thing even more complicated because the house is trying to package up those foreign aid bills with a potential ban on Tik Tok a ban that would go into effect unless Tik tok's Chinese owner decides to sell the app first obviously Tik tok's not.

Thrilled in a new statement they say this is a cover that'll devastate Millions sok kapor is joining us now um let's talk about these two things right in two sort of different ways of thinking about it the Personnel drama with speaker Johnson and then the policy drama with all of these forign a bills and the Tik Tock thing what is going on.

With Mike Johnson right in other words if these bills pass on Saturday night I does it mean he could be out of a job come Monday it's a tale as old as this Congress itself H speaker Johnson has a way for thin majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives he's dealing with a Democratic Senate and a Democratic president and a very.

Rebellious right flank that does not want him to compromise with Democrats specifically on the issue of Ukraine Aid now this is all very plausible that this Bill gets through he's come up with a creative process that would trigger four separate votes on four bills Israel Ukraine assistance for the indopacific and finally this hodg podge of National.

Security priorities which includes a potential Tik Tock ban let's uh show a graphic of what exactly that provision in that bill would do it would require uh Tik tok's owners to sell Tik Tok so it's no longer controlled by bite Dance The Beijing owned Chinese company within nine months that's a shift from the earlier bill which required it to be.

Sold within six months the president would also have authority to extend uh that 9-month window to a year and if the sale does not go through then Tik Tok would be banned in the United States that's paired with some other national security measures um in that in that final bill that Johnson's put out including new sanctions on Iran.

Providing some of Ukraine's assistance in the form of of a forgivable loan and the repo Act which would empower the White House to seize Russian Assets in the states and help pay for Ukraine reconstruction the Ukraine assistance all of this has a good chance of getting passed but first Johnson's got to get this through the rules committee uh and.

Get this through the floor the process on the floor so it can trigger the votes he's going to need democrats for that and he's got to do this delicately because Democrats usually the minority party usually does not get involved in the processes of these things and his rightwing members certainly do not want him to work with Democrats on it so then.

Timeline wise what are we thinking his goal is to get this done by Frid uh by by Saturday evening okay that was about 72 hours since the bills came out he likes to give them time to read it and beyond that as soon as the the rules committee can trigger the process they will uh move to the house floor begin that he says they're going to be.

Votes on some amendments but by Saturday we uh if his plan uh works out by Saturday evening these bills should be passed and headed over to the Senate where they will have escape velocity because there's a lot of determination to pass Aid to Ukraine and Israel hie s hore live for us on Capitol Hill to cover for you friend thank you lots more.

Here on the show as well including cutting the cord the bizarre reason that Travelers are facing some big delays out west plus College athletes cashing in the new law that may have student sports stars rolling in it but there's a catch a potential fight now Brewing between Florida Governor Ronda santis.

And the satanic temple that is not a misspeak that is actually what the deal is down south it has to do with this bill you're seeing DeSantis just signed into law that would let Florida Public Schools bring in volunteer chaplain as a resource for students it's controversial for a bunch of reasons like critics say kids could.

End up getting religious advice they don't want or feel uncomfortable if the chaplain have a different religious background than they do case in point the satanic temple tells our team they're planning on training and placing their own chaplain in Florida schools the governor is talking about that today he says that is not going to happen.

Watch we're not playing those games in Florida uh that is not a religion that is not qualifying to be able to participate uh in this so we're going to be using Common Sense uh when it comes to this so you don't have to worry about that Marissa PA is joining us now it's it's one of these like sort of wow moments here here for for a lot of.

Reasons here the governor of course Republican Governor Florida there says the satanic temple is not qualified to be a part of this procedure is there a legal mechanism to um to stop them from being involved as volunteer chaplain great question hie and yeah I do have to acknowledge it wouldn't be a day of covering Florida politics if we weren't.

Talking about a headline like a showdown between the state's governor and the satanic temple um so let's get right to it Dan santis seems confident that there won't be a showdown belt won't happen in fact look at his tweet that he put out not that long ago he said that Satanism isn't a religion he's very confident that they will not even qualify because.

It's not a religion and in his tweet you'll see an image he has a circle and a strike through around the world Satanist again he is very confident but it's important to point out the Bill's own sponsor Republican senator in Fort Pierce said she was concerned about what the satanic temple might be able to do because of First Amendment religious.

Freedoms um so that could potentially be the next chapter of this hi a court battle over what exactly defines religion the satanic temple has already said that they would take this to court and fight against this under the guise of of discrimination but the satanic temple has also said that they are very confident that the constitution is on.

Their side here U calling to Sis's words today some of them you just heard now quote empty grandstanding and they also put this uh statement out in part saying they will move forward with training their satanic chaplain to place them in Florida Public Schools but hie also really important to remember that it is ultimately up to the.

Individual schools on how they choose to move forward who they choose to allow into their schools to meet with the kids setting aside the potential of of of having you know satanists volunteering as Chapin in schools there are some other concerns and we touched on them briefly at the top of this discussion more broadly when it comes to the role.

Overall of religion in public schools right right and so this is something that we've seen open letters we've seen open letters signed by of course course not just Faith groups we've even seen chaplain sign in on that um but civil rights organizations particularly to ACLU they have been very very vocal about this here's some of what they.

Wrote in March in part expressing frustrations and concerns about how this would infringe on religious freedoms among students they said that this also opens the doors for students to be evangelized especially in States like this one that have Conservative Christian leadership and as you can see on your screen there their concern is.

About the lack of credentials and training required by these volunteer chaplain Al and I'll just end by saying that Texas passed a law just like this one last year 14 states have introduced legislation just like this one just in the last year so Hal Florida just the latest one to sign this bill into law potentially not the last just this year.

Alone super interesting Marissa par live for us there in Florida thank you let's get you over to the five things our team thinks you should know about tonight number one Dicky Betts is a guitarist and co-founder of the Almond Brothers Band he has died at the age of 80 his manager tells Rolling Stone he died from cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary.

Disease Betts wrote that hit song Rambling Man for the Almond Brothers Band and he really helped Define southern rock back in the 60s and 70s number two police are investigating whether yay the rapper formerly known as Kanye West was involved in an alleged battery LA police were called to a scene early yesterday morning but say that yay.

Was gone when police got there his chief of staff tells NBC News this incident happened after y's wife was allegedly in their words physically assaulted number three the Sacramento Airport seeing some huge delays after some AT&T wires were cut apparently on purpose according to officials this happened at a utility pull 2 miles away from the airport.

Police haven't figured out who's responsible yet but they say it looks like somebody who knew what they were doing a service has been restored obviously flights are getting back in order now number four College athletes in Virginia May soon be able to get paid directly by their schools because of those nil deals name image likeness.

They're not going to get paid for playing but they can be paid for showing up in marketing campaigns it's supposed to start in July but probably won't take effect because current NCAA rules still stop athletes from signing nil agreements with their own players leaders in Virginia say the law will give them a leg up if and when those.

NCAA rules change number five Starbucks is gearing up to roll out new disposable cups in a push to try to cut down on the amount of plastic we all throw out the company says the cups will be made of up to 20% less plastic than what they use now comes as the company's um sales of cold drinks obviously that's what they're serving those plastic things for.

They've boomed more people drinking those iced lattes summertime man coming up why laws in some states have women facing off with their pharmacists that's next plus evacuating an eruption we're bringing you to Indonesia as thousands scramble to get to safety to tonight's original now with in-depth.

Reporting on a topic we've been watching and tonight we take you to Idaho a state that now bans abortions in nearly all cases after the Supreme Court overturned Rover versus Wade a couple years ago some women who need medicine for things like miscarriages or inducing labor say they're struggling to get their hands on them because they can also be used in.

Medical abortions here's Erica Edwards you give high five children were part of Kristen and Lauren coulson's plan from the beginning we always knew that we would have a family but it hasn't been easy in January the Boise Idaho couple miscarried for a fifth time we were hoping to see a heartbeat and on ultrasound we saw that um I had a.

Non-viable pregnancy Kristen's doctor wrote her a prescription for misaal a drug that causes the uterus to contract helpful during a miscarriage which is the spontaneous loss of a pregnancy and can take weeks for the body to complete on its own everybody processes grief differently but for me I um I like to have a plan choosing to use the.

Medication I can time when this happens misaal can also be used during a medication abortion a deliberate termination of a pregnancy that's why Kristen believes her Walgreens pharmacist refused to give her the drug I was in shock confused um dealing with this miscarriage they told me that they didn't feel comfortable filling the.

Misoprostal prescription at that dosage Idaho's defensive life act went into effect in 2022 after the US Supreme Court overturned Ro v Wade the state's law says that every person who performs or attempts to perform an abortion could be committing a felony punishable by a sentence of imprisonment up to 5 years the law isn't clear whether a pharmacist.

Is committing a felony for dispensing the medication the threat of jail time is a real worry for pharmacists like Matt Murray once you see a prescription for Misa proall you now a little alert goes off in the back of your head that says well maybe we need to make sure what this is used for is this frustrating to you it's frustrating and.

It it takes time away from other things that that we need to do but ultimately the fear is that people aren't getting the medical care that they're needing pharmacists are understandably scared by these incredibly strict abortion laws that have been enacted and they are afraid that they might be charged with a felony.

Simply for doing their job Allison Tanner senior legal counsel at the National Women's Law Center says since the Supreme Court decision they've heard from a number of women who say they were denied access to legally prescribed medications including misoprostal pharmacists were afraid about the new lay of the land under the law the US.

Department of Health and Human Services say has investigated complaints against some pharmacies including Walgreens which HHS says have been resolved in a statement Walgreen says it'll accommodate team members whose beliefs conflict with selling certain products and make sure another pharmacist can fill the prescription Kristen's doctor.

Was able to transfer her prescription to another Walgreens that filled it in boisey I have other options and access to other pharmacies and that may not be the case for for a lot of people that went through what we went through across the state Erica Edwards is joining us now so Erica you've laid out what happens in.

Idaho and the policy there but what about other states what are they doing hey h yeah you know this is happening Nationwide women across the country are telling us that they have been denied legal prescriptions now the HHS has given guidance uh to pharmacies basically saying that refusing to prescribe certain medications um to.

Women can have negative Health impacts and may violate civil civil rights laws but it's not so clear to pharmacists like who we talked to in that piece uh Matt Murray and Boise who say you know in navigating this leg landscape is especially difficult for independent pharmacies who don't have the legal means to guide them through this process.

We're left Howe with pharmacists who'd rather play it safe and not get out these medications that could land them in trouble hie Erica Edwards thank you so much for bringing us out that reporting right here on NBC News Now NBC News covers hundreds of international stories every day and because it can be tough to read or watch.

Or listen to them all our teams around the world have done it for you here's a look at what they're watching in a segment we call the global out of Indonesia a local airport shut down cancelling flights in the region all because of that volcano eruption we told you about 24 hours ago here on this show want to show you here more stunning.

Video look at that lightning right Bill Karens talked about this yesterday that eruption is sending lava Ash especially way up in the air we don't know how many passengers are left stranded at this airport but officials have ordered more than 11,000 people to leave because of a potential tsunami risk If part of the volcano collapses out of the UK.

Scotland's only clinic for treating transgender kids has announced it's pausing new prescriptions for puberty blockers we told you last week how the UK's pushed to restrict gender affirming care for minors is kicking in health officials say they want to provide the best care while also reviewing medical evidence that supports this treatment.

They clarified patients already getting treatment will not be affected and also out of the UK Prince William stepping out again publicly for the first time since his wife's Kate wife Kate's cancer diagnosis remember Princess Kate announced she had cancer you see him or his diagnosed with cancer you see them at a food distribution center there.

Representing the rest of the family a lot of the Royals have been absent from the British public because of their health problems specifically King Charles who's seeking treatment for cancer we still don't know what kind he also l folks watching him when we come back Caitlyn Clark's money moves the company's reportedly fighting over a.

Partnership with one of basketball's biggest stars and what it means for the rest of the league so unless you live under a rock or perhaps in a cave somewhere you probably know that later on tonight Taylor Swift will drop her 11th studio album like I know the whole world knows.

Everybody knows it is um like already a huge deal and it's not even out yet Spotify is announcing that the tortured poets department is officially the most pre-saved album countdown page ever and whether you're a Swifty or not you've probably seen one of these so-called Easter eggs hyping up this album they're literally on buildings murals of these.

QR codes again around the world this is a global drop and they all have different Clues on them with businesses jumping in on this kind of unprecedented moment Apple music launched a swift scavenger hunt you need a subscription to play right Spotify is launching a whole popup in LA but one thing that probably wasn't planned leaks of some of.

These songs it got so bad that even X blocked searches what makes this tricky people don't even know if these quote unquote leaked songs are real or fake with AI it's a whole new story so here to break it down for us as us said today Taylor Swift reporter that's right Brian West Brian we're so glad to have you on H former NBC Alum thank you for being on.

With us tonight thank you so much hie we are about six hours in counting and everybody is counting I mean truly and so that's what I want to get into right I want to get into your job in a second but let's start with like the business impact that Taylor Swift is having we have seen big album.

Releases even just this year beonce with cowboy Carter but she's about the only one right the two of them are in A League of Their Own a universe of their own when it comes to the attention on the music that they're producing talk us through that piece of it and what we've seen with Taylor especially is that she has a snack for Easter eggs for bringing.

In a lot of her corporate sponsors or corporate Partners to help kind of uncover or unleash this new project and so we saw Spotify as you announced had a pop-up installation at the Grove in Los Angeles hidden in that popup display are book spines with the titles of the 20 tracks on this album there is a globe there that has a push pin in Miami which.

Is the next location for her us domestic leg of the ays tour she had a typewriter that had messages she has song lyrics that are included in the cases and so you see that across all these different platforms on Apple music for six days fans would have to search all the playlists to find which one was lowercased with specific capital letters.

And that would spell out of phrase We Now know that is we hereby conduct this postmortem which tells us that there's something to do with two a lot of clocks including the animation that Taylor Swift has released have told us 2:00 or post postmortem is 2 hours after so a lot of fans are again speculating they are excited they're thinking maybe.

Something is going to happen you're looking at the animation right now this is the intern area and that's where she says what's going to happen the calendar that we are going to see the first single fortnite with post Malone is going to have a music video that comes out tomorrow night so it really just makes it fun for the fans to fall along.

But also must be so exhausting for the singer and her team just to keep track of everything do you you think quickly here Brian that this album is different from her others in terms of its release its hype Etc what we know is that there's two collaborators so post Malone and Florence Welch from Florence and the.

Machine but two co-writers co-producers Jack antinoff and Aaron dner have worked closely with the writer we saw Aaron come in during the folklore era and so he has really helped to kind of propel Advance the writing and same with Jack he's been one of her producers sound since 1989 I have to ask about you because you have what is Maybe the most.

Coveted job in all of Swifty world right um after you got it the vice president of local news for USA Today talked about how you personally Brian have this balance between somebody with serious news chops and someone who understands everything about Taylor's world and the universe that you're stepping into talk to us about how this role has been and.

Honestly what you do next Once her Eros tour is over that's a good question so it is constant I would say every day is completely different I just woke up about an hour ago to get ready for this full Marathon all night of the release and then tomorrow morning it's been such a whirlwind to be able to travel with.

The Aras tour alongside it in Tokyo Japan in Melbourne Australia and Sydney I'm going to be heading to Europe in May to see also if there are any changes but it really is the dream of the the job of my wildest dreams uh Brian we're so glad to have you on thank you um so like what do you have 16 red bulls to get ready for tonight is that the deal just all.

Coffee we're already starting starting now a fortnite of Red Bulls okay very Brian thank you so much for being on that does it for us for this hour we've got a lot more coverage picking up right now thanks for watching stay updated about breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or follow us on social media.

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