Hallie Jackson NOW – March 13 | NBC Files NOW

tonight it is all on the line for Tik Tock gearing up for a TBD vote in the Senate that would force a sale or else a ban what we're hearing tonight from Congress and the Tik Tock team about a move that could affect more than 150 million users then in Haiti us boots on the ground as a country in crisis.

Crumbles into chaos more on the Marines in Porta Prince with our reporter Landing just across the border tonight he's going to join us in just a minute Plus in tonight's original and NBC News investigation autism Treatment Services run by big private Equity firms why one mom tells me she thinks they put profits over patients and what the company's.

Saying tonight and the talk show on X that never will be why a former CNN anchor partnership with Elon Musk fell apart before a single episode ever rolled out that's a little bit later on in the show hey there I'm hie and tonight we start with Tik Tock yes it is on the clock with its future in the hands of the Senate after that house.

Vote in just the last couple hours on a bill to ban the app unless its chinese-based owner sells off Tik Tok in the next six months how do you think the company feels about it not happy and they're not being shy saying the bill was jammed through Tik tok's CEO on the hill today presumably to try to keep the app alive as his company points out Tik.

Tok's not just good for people who love Trends and tutorials it's good for the economy too here's the thing even some supporters of this bill say they don't want to see the end of Tik Tok Al together they just hope to Strongarm the app out of as they see it beijing's control CU remember that's what this is all about lawmakers arguing Tik Tock is.

A national security threat Our intention is for Tik Tock to continue to operate but not under the control of the Chinese Communist party I have no problem uh with continued Dance videos or even political campaigning on Tik Tok so long as the ownership structure changes remember the concern isn't just a Tik Tok like a lot of apps.

Can access your data like your IP address your sync contacts Etc it's the concern that China could manipulate the platform to spread miss or disinformation with the Director of National Intelligence telling lawmakers just recently she can't rule out whether China could use Tik Tok to influence the upcoming election one of the biggest.

Questions right now then what will the Senate do that is a major TBD our Hill team reports that chamber probably won't move as fast you see the question marks there however the White House says the president would sign the bill if it lands on his desk despite of course his campaign having a Tik tock of its own we've got team coverage Brian Chong.

Following the business angle but let's start with sahok kapore on Capitol Hill okay the bill is through the bill is passed we've heard the concerns from lawmakers it is past the house it's still got to get through the Senate where it seems to be a bit of a tougher road ahead talk us through it yeah that's right hi it was an extraordinary.

Bipartisan vote to pass this bill 352 votes Nancy Pelosi to the freedom caucus to every uh sort sort of ideology in between it will certainly put some pressure on the Senate to move here the opposition including included 50 Democrats 15 Republicans uh many of those 50 Democrats are progressives who tend to have a closer connection to.

Young voters not coincidentally but of course it's in the hands of the Senate take a listen to what uh minority leader hakee Jeffrey said about what comes next a lot of who am I to tell the senate what to do in terms of its own agenda uh you know there's a process they pass bills send it over to us for consideration we pass Bill send it over.

To them uh the ball is now in the court of the Senators and I trust uh leader Chuck Schumer now what did Chuck Schumer say about this he put out a strikingly insipid statement and let's show it saying quote the Senate will review the legislation when it comes over from the house that was it that was the end of his statement.

No commitment to a vote uh on this bill or a similar Bill like it the Senate of course is a notoriously sluggish body but many senators do feel the need to act on this including notably the chair and vice chair of the Senate intelligence committee Mark Warner and Marco Rubio they put out a joint statement saying quote we were.

Encouraged by today's strong bipartisan voter the House of Representatives and they said they look forward to working together to get this bill passed there are other Senators who say they want to amend the bill and do a broader bill on foreign controlled uh apps not necessarily social media but broader companies yet others who want to do a.

Bigger Tech policy and privacy bill so there are a lot of ways this could go and the Senate right now hie does not feel quite the same level of urgency to move on this quickly this is all as we talked about about National Security concerns and there's a lot of apps that collect data from users the big deal here the concern.

From lawmakers is what the Chinese government could do with this Tik Tok denies that the Chinese government has any control over the app they've long insisted that they work to protect us user data saying that new US user data actually is routed through us-based Cloud servers here but the backdrop of this is undeniable it's a critical.

Election year and the Spectre of misinformation related to that election or disinformation related to that election looms large yeah that's absolutely right hie firstly this is not an outright ban bill this is a divest or get banned Bill Tik tok's parent company is bike dance this is the heart of the matter it is headquartered in Beijing.

Which according to Chinese law makes it subject to the Chinese government's demands if they want its information maybe get access to its algorithms let's take a look at the uh information that uh Tik Tok collects they go pretty deep into uh the users in terms of uh names ages they get phone numbers and emails locations face voice and of course the.

Algorithms have a huge impact on what types of content shows up in the feeds of the roughly 170 million Americans who are on this some of course more often than others the US considers China a malign actor hence it's worried that it could abuse this information Tik Tok and its CEO Shu have insisted that nobody needs to worry about this that China.

Won't get access uh and the house voted overwhelmingly to tell them that's nice but we don't trust you divest or get banned that's where they are right now uh recent security briefings uh in Congress have really moved members in the direction of wanting to act to prohibit or at least curtail uh Tik Tok as it exists today senator Richard.

Blumenthal Democrat I spoke to recently said the more he learns about Tik Tok the more frightening it becomes Ali saw hore live for us there uh on the hill busy day for you and for so many today Brian Chong let me go to you for more on the business side of this because Tik tok's response has been pretty aggressive they've launched this.

Campaign to try to essentially push back on some of the allegations being made yeah and the statement that they released in the minutes after the house voted to pass that legislation really underscores how they're leaning on their user base to push back so they did describe the process as quotes secret and the bill was jammed through for one.

Reason it's a ban and as sahill kind of outlined that even though it's a divesture bill conversations I've had with Tik Tok make it sound like they're not optimistic they could sell in six months so they see this as an effective band which would impact the as they site here 7 million small businesses 170 million Americans that use their service.

And that's underscored by the fact that in the leadup to the committee vote uh just last week we did see uh Tik Tok put notifications on the application asking and urging it users to ring up their representatives to say vote no on this bill and you're still seeing these notifications go out uh after this was passed even on the house side obviously.

Trying to set up the stage for whenever the Senate moves on their end so uh Tik Tok is going full court press here trying to use their strong user base which in many cases are young gen Z voters that could be very pivotal in the election uh to really Drive their case for staying in business so again we'll have to see how that pans out but you.

Are seeing the flooded uh calls and Congress as an example of what Tik Tok is trying to do heree but so if bans were to spin off Tik Tok Brian if they were to sell who who would be a buyer realistically yeah and here's the thing is that again in the conversations I've had Tik Tok has made it sound like they don't feel optimistic about being able.

To sell in that six-month time frame but broadly speaking it sounds like there would be suitors out there and one example of this is because of the fact that we have to remember in 2020 then president Trump tried to use an executive order to do the exact same thing here which would be forcing the Chinese and Company bite dance to sell.

Tik Tok what happened in that case we heard from the likes of Oracle and also Walmart as expressing interest in making a deal happen so there is precedent for this but those two potential mergers never ended up happening there was a little bit of political football and also legal kind of holdups that led to that ultimately not happening but there.

Could be another buyer here what would the price tag be what would the implications of that be what would the access even be to using their algorithm would it be the same would it be something considerably stripped down those are all remaining questions that we might face if this bill does get passed by both the Senate and the White.

House well the clock tick in Brian right six months till a possible divestment or until the Senate does something the president does something once he does sign that into law if that happens Brian Chung thank you we're looking ahead to tomorrow now and former president Trump will make an in-person appearance at a hearing in his Federal classified.

Documents case as Mr Trump is coming off a legal win earlier today in Georgia a judge dropping some not all but a few of the charges against him in the state's eltion interference case he faces tossing out three counts having to do with pressure he allegedly put on state officials to interfere in the 2020 election the judge explaining his ruling.

Basically saying that the da didn't give enough detail on the allegations which meant the defendants including Mr Trump didn't have the information they needed to defend themselves a trial here's the deal none of this means that former president Trump is out of the woods from a legal perspective just yet he still faces 10 counts in the Georgia case 88.

Total felony counts across his four criminal indictments NBC's Blain Alexander is following all of this explain why the judge decided to kill some of these charges Blain and what comes next well basically essentially saying that the DA's office didn't go far enough or didn't do enough to prove that.

There was a crime committed I want to read to you a section from the judge's uh nine-page ruling today that I think sums it up pretty well you know he writes Judge Scott McAfee writes the Court's concern is less that the state has failed to allege sufficient conduct of the defendants in fact it is alleged in abundance however the lack of detail.

Concerning an essential legal element is in the unders sign's opinion fatal so what you're seeing here there you see it on your screen right there what you're seeing here is the judge basically saying in this indictment you didn't go far enough to prove it but he's not slamming the door on it you know Von Willis has two options she can either.

Appeal this decision or she can aim for a re-indictment take it back before a grand jury kind of fix some of the issues and see if she can bring charges that way there's also and just for people thinking well wait a second weren't we waiting for a ruling in Georgia coming imminently this is not that ruling the.

One that we've been waiting for had to do with the Fon County district attorney fonny Willis and whether she could be disqualified from this case the expectation is still that should come down really any day any day any second H so that's the when we started this week we were expecting a a major decision from the.

Judge and then this happened and nobody was expecting this and not those of us who cover it and of the people that I've been speaking with who are involved in this case defense attorneys and others they weren't expecting either this was largely unexpected by by many people close to this case but yes we are still waiting to hear whether or not J J Scott.

McAfee is going to allow fonny Willis to stay on this case he has said that he plans to have that ruling by Friday we know he's on track to do that and so that's certainly something that we're going to be watching for but taken in its totality hie when you look at the past two and a half months or so of this case here in Georgia we've been talking.

About everything almost other than the actual charges and evidence against the former president and his codefendant so we've already seen it very much be detoured so whatever the judge decides is going to be certainly Monumental in how this case is going to be moving forward hie Blaine Alexander uh live for us there in Georgio I'm sure I'll be.

Talking again potentially later this week bla thanks to Michigan now because right as we were coming on the air a jury there wrapped up its first few hours of deliberations in the trial to decide whether the father of a mass school shooter should be convicted for what a son did the jury is going to be back tomorrow morning with which means.

We are really officially going to be on verdict watch then with the prosecution and defense delivering closing arguments trying to make their case listen you hear him say that there was some dueling on a paper that he it was he was a perfect kid but here's what he never says he never says I don't know how he got.

It never said that James Crumley had no idea what his son was capable of he had no idea what his son was planning and he had absolutely no idea that his son had access to those Firearms so that is James crumble you're seeing walking into court today the man who prosecut prosecutors say could have prevented the deaths of these four.

Students Hana St Juliana Tate me Madison Baldwin and Justin Schilling at Oxford High School back in 2021 crumble is facing four counts of involuntary manslaughter the same charges that his wife Jennifer was convicted on in her trial just last month Adrien brus is joining us now from Pontiac Michigan one big thing in the closing Arguments for.

The defense was that it wasn't just they say James Crumbley who didn't know his son was capable of this it was a bunch of other people who knew his son also right explain how that ties in hiy that was a big piece of the defense's strategy basically pointing to trained School leaders at Oxford High School two of whom which testified she.

Was specifically indicating the school counselor Sean Hopkins as well as the former dean of students saying if these these two School leaders didn't perceive Ethan Crumbley as a threat how would his father perceive him as a threat here's more of what the defense attorney said during her closing arguments today none of them told you that James.

Knew what his son was planning none of them told you that James knew that his son knew where those Firearms were hidden none of them told you that James knew that his son had somehow obtained access to the firearms that he had been hiding and those School leaders also testified called to testify on behalf of the.

Prosecution when we heard from H Hopkins he said his main concern was that Ethan Crumbley who is now serving a life sentence without parole was going to harm himself he didn't see him as a danger to others and he allowed him to go back to the classroom because he did not want him to be alone and that is what the defense played up not only in.

Their closing argument today but also on Cross examination also talking a great deal about that math worksheet where Ethan crumbly Drew images of what we now know to be the Oxford shooting that happened in 2021 hie Adrian we talked about how Jennifer Crumbley the mother here uh the wife uh here was also convicted the jury took about 11 hours.

To deliberate is there anything from her trial that could provide a blueprint here for what we think could happen in this instance a lot of similarities in both cases after watching them but some key differences for example the jury has already gone home for the day they will return tomorrow morning they did have.

The opportunity to deliberate late in the night the prosecution they will replay and they took a lot of notes during the course of this trial but the prosecution called 15 Witnesses the defense called one which was the sister of James Crumbley Karen now this trial has moved much quicker at a quicker Pace when We compare it to that of Jennifer.

Crumbley her trial lasted about 2 weeks this trial so far jury selection started last Tuesday it's Wednesday so it's been a week and the jury already has the case so it's up to these jurors to determine how fast they will move from here on out totally different jury so we can't definitively definitively say that we know when they'll come back with a.

Verdict right no of course Adrien brus thank you for being there when they do you will be uh first to report it appreciate it Secretary of State Tony blinkin in just the last couple of hours laying out three big things Haiti needs right now a more stable government humanitarian help and security to be able to help the people who are still in.

Haiti as we speak listen this has been a long unfolding story The Heart of the story is the suffering of the Haitian people and we want to see that brought to an end Haiti which is the poorest country in the western hemisphere is now in a state of emergency you've seen images like.

These now for days gangs banding together attacking government institutions attacking the airport prisons too according to the world food program now 4 million people in Haiti face what they call acute food insecurity a million are just a step away from famine Gabe Gutierrez our NBC News correspondent has landed just.

Across the border in the neighboring country of the Dominican Republic he's got more for us tonight hey there hie we're here in the Dominican Republic where the government is already stopping desperate Haans from coming to this country and in Florida today the governor announced that he's already deploying extra law enforcement.

And drones in anticipation of a possible migrant influx from Haiti there are growing concerns that this humanitarian crisis will spill across the hemisphere and just today a new team of US Marines went into Haiti to help beef up security at the American Embassy there the situation there is deteriorating quickly as we've been reporting the uh gang.

Leader barbecue is calling for a Civil War and the Prime Minister just announced uh yesterday that he would resign as soon as a transitional government was put in place but there are a lot of questions on when exactly that will happen and hie again the desperate situation for uh people inside Haiti we just spoke today with Mitch.

Alum you know him as the bestselling author he was actually in Haiti at the orphanage that his charity runs and he described a dramatic escape a private helicopter came and saved him and 10 other staffers in the dead of night they piled into this helicopter and he describe the experience of going across the border he had been desperate for.

Days after that mass prison break really escalated the violence in the country and the airports and the borders have all been shut down now there have been an increasing number of Haitians that're trying to get over the border into the Dominican Republic again this government is not letting them but Hy this is an ongoing situation and there's so many.

Questions about the future of whether the us will have to get more involved right now the US is saying that it is helping along a multinational security Force led by Kenya to try and restore order in Haiti hi so listen we know it has felt official for a while but now it is officially present L official a round two matchup between Joe Biden and Donald.

Trump come November after both of these candidates pass that magic number they needed the delegate math mathing for them to clinch their party's nominations means it's the longest general election in Generations but they're not your only options necessarily for president this fall you could go third party and one candidate who you might have heard from.

Hopes that you will Von Hillard explains you might remember this ad from last month Super Bowl a jingle that worked six decades ago reworked for a new era of Kennedy this one not as a Democrat like his uncle but an independent Robert F Kennedy Jr the son of the New York Senator and former Attorney General now.

Seeking his own path to the White House but what does he believe in can he actually win neither my uncle nor my father would recognize the version of America that we have today RFK junor first made his name is a climate activist and lawyer in the 80s before pivoting this Century to pushing debunked lies that vaccines cause autism.

To be crystal clear this is not true scientists have proven that over and over again but it hasn't stopped the 70-year-old Kennedy especially since the co pandemic repeatedly spreading misinformation like his book basicly attacking Dr Anthony fouchy I pressed him on covid and vaccines at a rally in Las Vegas last month would you have.

Tried to stop the FDA from approving the the covid vaccine I would have said that they need to do science to show that the vaccine is actually going to avert more problems than it's uh that than it's causing but if you're president you have agency I would make sure that there was good science and that any product but I also would have allowed people to get.

Access to Therapeutics that were actually demonstrated to work like icton like hydroxy chloroquin again doctors say Ivermectin in hydroxy chloroquin should not be used to treat Co but Kennedy could take advantage of the growing number of Americans who don't seek out vaccines to stop Co just 28% of adults have gotten the latest vaccine.

Down from 69% when it came out in 2021 according to a new Pew poll the question is is there an appetite for him or any Third Party candidate a new PLL out today shows yes with RFK pulling in nearly % of the vote more than 20% going to someone who isn't Joe Biden or Donald Trump but can people see him on the ballot right now not many will the.

Campaign says it is enough signatures in just four states as they try to get on the ballot in all 50 that hasn't stopped Kennedy from preparing like he will be with a vice presidential announcement set in just two weeks names he's floated New York Jets quarterback and fellow antivaxer Aaron Rogers V is joining us now so as we're.

On the topic of vep stakes for former presid Trump and for I guess RFK Jr you're getting some new little nuggets we can call them on that what is the deal really Aaron Rogers I thought he was going to be playing for the Jets come to fall he says he's going to play for the Jets come opening week in September and of course we'll see at.

Training camp what kind of shape he's in after missing most of the last season but look he's 40 years old and you know there's maybe a presidential candidate offering him the number two slot and the Kennedy campaign told us just 24 hours ago that the top two names on his list were not only Aon Rogers the current New York Jets quarterback but also Jesse.

Ventura the former Minnesota governor and of course WWE wrestler but just here in the last hour the son of Jessy Ventura wrote back to me quote Governor ventur will not comment on this particular political speculation he has not been officially asked to join Mr Kennedy's campaign as his Vice Presidential nominee making all of this.

Pure speculation but justce afternoon the Kennedy campaign H announced that they will be holding a VP announcement rally on March 26th in Oakland California which is just 20 minutes from where Aaron Rogers played his college ball at Cal Berkeley allly yeah all right we'll see Von Hillyard um thank you very much I know where you'll be in.

A couple of weeks really appreciate you reporting on that tonight thanks so listen some other news breaking into us in just the last half an hour or so with a federal judge saying Hunter Biden is expected to go on trial potentially just a few months from now with a tentative trial date set for early June keep in mind right in the middle of his father's.

Reelection campaign remember it was back in September that a special Council appointed by the Attorney General charged hundra Biden with three felony counts all related to Hunter Biden's allegedly lying about his drug use when he bought a gun NBC legal analyst Danny savalos is joining us now so the trial data said it sounds like it's going to.

Go maybe a week to two they laid out a few days for the obviously the defense for the prosecution for the jury deliberations Etc it's just a couple of months before the Democratic Convention here talk about what this means legally for Hunter Biden how you see it yeah I'd be surprised if this federal trial goes two weeks I mean the charges are really.

Based on the FFL the form 4473 they don't need to introduce a ton of documents not a ton of witnesses or or evidence so you could see this case and maybe jury selection could even last longer than the actual uh government's case in Chief but these charges by the way are of questionable constitutional constitutionality now in the wake of the.

Supreme Court's decision in Bruin and then another decision coming out of the fifth circuit it's easy to prove if someone is charged with being a felon in possession that's not what Hunter is charged with it's a lot harder to prove whether or not they were un an unlawful user or addict of a controlled substance uh while have owning a firearm so these.

Are charges that are not commonly brought for that reason they're of questionable constitutionality and uh but you are in federal court so the case will go to trial quickly Danny savalos thank you very much coming up here on the show a brand new study saying there could be a new way to detect colon cancer why researchers say a blood test.

Might be most accurate plus what Olivia Rodrigo is handing out to fans at her concert in Missouri it may surprise you it's not a friendship braet shares of dollar tree tank in today dropping nearly 15% after the company says it'll close nearly a thousand.

Stores these are the places that as the name implies offers a lot of stuff at low prices but the company blames things like high inflation stores not selling enough and a decrease in SNAP benefits that provide lower income families with money for food CNBC retail reporter Gabby Alon Rouge is with us do you think these stores might be doing better in.

Times like these since people may be turning to Discount stores for some of the the items that they need explain this I mean that's exactly right hi when times are tough discount retailers like Dollar Tree tend to do really really well but you have to keep in mind that their target consumer is the lowincome consumer and now they're two years into.

To persistent inflation High interest rates dwindling savings account so those consumers are under a tremendous amount of pressure and that's putting a lot of pressure on Dollar Tree's business you got to keep in mind Dollar Tree makes their money by selling the things that people don't actually need discretionary items things like toys and decorations.

All the things that are nice to have so at the Family Dollar stores where they're planning on closing about um you know a thousand over the next couple of years they those consumers are not buying those discretionary items they're buying food which is coming at a lower profit a lower margin um and so what's interesting is that the F that the.

Company is actually planning on focusing more on Dollar Tree the Dollar Tree Banner at that location the fastest growing consumer segment is Shoppers who are actually making over $125,000 a year so those people are willing to Shell out for those discussionary items so this is family do Dollar Tree trying to kind of reconcile its footprint and focus on the.

Shoppers who have more money right now what about lower-income Shoppers and their options then at this point so this is a huge blow to lower income Shoppers Dollar Tree Family Dollar they have huge presences inside of rural areas and in those locations they're food deserts it's really hard to get the Basic Essentials and as these companies have.

Expanded into those areas smaller businesses smaller Grocers have closed because it's so hard to compete so without the Family Dollar without the Dollar Tree this might be the only place where people could get a carton of eggs a you know a jug of milk so now they're going to be forced to potentially Drive 30 miles away to the nearest Walmart to.

The nearest grocer that's more gas money that's more drain on the income and that's even less money for those households Gabrielle fond Rouge thank you very much for walking us through all that appreciate it let's get you over to the five things our team thinks you should know about tonight number one the Oklahoma State medical examiner says a a.

High school student next Benedict died by Suicide you'll remember NEX died last month after a fight at school the report lists the probable cause of death as a combination of two drugs the full report is set to be released later on this month number two officials in Japan are telling people to stay away from a cat covered in toxic chemicals that.

Apparently fell into a tank of liquid with some kind of a chemical inside at a factory according to a local news Outlet an employee found a trail of yellowish Brown paw print heading away from the tank and then surveillance footage showing the cat leaving officials want people to let the city know if they see a cat that looks.

Abnormal number three a news study says playing with dogs helps people concentrate and relax re if you have a dog this will not be news to you right researchers hooked up electrodes to folks and measured what's happening in their brains they found when people played with four-year-old arrow that pup brain waves associated with.

Concentration and relaxation got stronger number four Neil Young he's coming back to Spotify there he is a couple years after pulling his music to protest Co misinformation on Joe Rogan's show he says apple and Amazon have started serving the same disinformation in podcasts and if he boycotts them there wouldn't be enough places to.

Stream his music so he is back on the spot number five Kelly Clarkson and pton Manning will co-host the Paris Olympics opening ceremony this summer along with of course Mike Taro the best it's going to be held right along the signin River in Paris the first the sen River the first time the Summer Olympics opening ceremony will not be in a stadium how.

About that it's going to be Riverside this time July 26 Circle it on your calendar should be fun when we come back the search for a Texas college student missing more than a week expanding tonight what we know about the moments before he disappeared plus why a worker at a Virginia wildlife center is dressed up yep like this we'll.

Explain police say the search is expanding tonight for a Texas college student whose family says he vanished in the middle of the night after he got a food delivery Caleb Harris has been missing since March 4th last scene at his apartment complex not far from the Texas A&M Campus where he went to school here's what we know police think he.

Disappeared sometime around 3:00 a.m. on the 4th that's based on an Uber Eats order he made just before that and then a Snapchat he sent to his little sister around 2:45 his phone was then either shut off or died his family says he left behind his keys his wallet his car even his shoes NBC's Morgan chesky is following this one for us from Dallas.

And Morgan what a mystery here what do we know about the status of this search and where the optimism might be yeah h very much ongoing here as for the status of where he might be that is the big question right now that investigators are trying to figure out hundreds of people have volunteered to join in the ongoing search for college.

Student Caleb Harris that missing student from Texas A&M Corpus Christy it's now been 8 days and one of the most frustrating aspects of this alley is the fact that you have hundreds of volunteers and Corpus Christie police now joining forces with the Coast Guard there's still not been a credible lead over more than a week and as a result of.

That the student's own father had this to say today take a listen it's it's it's at a point where he has he literally has just vanished and there's no leads there's no clues um that's what makes it so difficult because we have no um no Direction More Than Anything uh as far as a place to go a place to.

Look now as of right now of course the authorities are calling on the public to help with the ongoing search for Caleb Harris in the mean time another missing college student uh has drawn a lot of attention from the city of Nashville and that is where a different student by the name of uh Riley slain has been uh he's.

Been missing since Friday hie he was visiting from the University of Missouri surveillance footage captured in and around a popular National uh Street has seen him and that's been released today but as of right now he like Caleb Harris uh still has essentially disappeared much to the frustration of their families hie yeah.

Morgan chesky Live for us there in Dallas Morgan thank you NBC News covers hundreds of 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 the tell us is going down in their regions in a segment we call the local out of Western Bureau Police say a man holding.

A chainsaw is in custody after a 3-hour standoff with officers in LA you can see him you're about to see him in the back of a pickup truck there he is police say he was visibly distressed that he also had an arrest warrant out for a different incident outstanding out of our Washington Bureau the National Park Service says it'll remove around 300.

Trees in the city half about those iconic cherry blossom trees this is part of a three-year project to fix up the crumbling seaw walls right around the Title Basin officials say it's going to happen later this spring if you're coming into town for cherry blossom season don't worry you won't see it it won't be affected for that after the.

Work is over they're going to plant more than 400 new trees and out of our Southern Bureau workers at a wildlife center in Virginia dressing up like big foxes why they're taking care of a baby fox they rescued and they want to make sure she doesn't get too attached to them she was less than a day old when she was found and the center says.

Wearing the masks will make it more likely the fox could be reintroduced to the wild someday look at that that looks like a Wes Anderson movie it's to the top of the show about the battle over Tik Tok in Congress and regardless of whether it ends up approved or not it is probably going to add to the overall geopolitical tension between the US and.

China Secretary of Commerce Gina rundo supports the ban she's in the region right now leading a presidential trade and investment mission to the Philippines and Thailand cnbc's Unice Yun caught up with the Commerce Secretary for an exclusive interview the full interview you'll only see right here on how the US is building alliances.

At a tense time it's so nice to be here whether she's meeting State Leaders hopn knobbing with CEOs or enjoying local culture President Biden's Commerce Secretary is in Asia to ensure America's influence here is on firm footing so I've been focused on the indopacific since day one and President Biden is so.

Uh clear that we need to have a strategic forward-leaning economic vision for the indopacific secretary Gina Rondo has shown up with us businesses eager to invest in traditional American Allies the Philippines and Thailand smile everyone companies like Google Microsoft meta Visa Mastercard ups and United Airlines.

$1 billion in Investments were announced in Manila training Filipinos on US tech AI tools subc cables Financial payments EVs and cyber security to work with American companies and their customers in Bangkok rimondo said us firms were ready to supercharge large investments in fields like semiconductors which she said were dangerously concentrated in.

One or two countries so many US companies are looking to diversify their supply chain are looking for partners in the Indo Pacific that means decreasing American Reliance on China another Biden Administration goal a big part of these us visits is China and its Rising influence though that doesn't come up much in public remarks even though.

Washington's competition with hasn't been mentioned officially trips like rimondo are meant to solidify America's role in the region we're not asking any country to choose we're not saying to the businesses of the Philippines choose China or us we want to be the partner of choice but concerns remain that Washington isn't doing enough distracted.

By conflicts elsewhere hampered by domestic politics and lacking commitment to a us-led regional economic agreement what can you say to those who say the Biden Administration isn't committed to this what I say to them is look at what we're doing we are consistently and increasingly showing up in the region making Investments deepening our ties.

Helping with upskilling uh everything takes time but we're here we're acting and we're we're acting out on the president's strategy President Biden's Commerce department is talking tough on Tik tock on a trade mission meant to secure Supply chains with traditional allies here in Asia Commerce Secretary Gina Rando gave her strongest support to.

Date for a ban on the Chinese own app in my exclusive interview Tik Tok presents serious National Security risks to the people at the United States data privacy risks uh significant National Security risks so you would support a ban uh I would I would our thanks to Unice for that exclusive report coming up a lot more to.

Get you on the show including an NBC News investigation about investment groups private Equity groups buying up companies that offer autism care why that's raising questions about whether they're putting profits over patience so we've got to get to some news just breaking into us in the last.

Couple of minutes a federal judge now laying out a tentative trial date for the president's son Hunter Biden and it happens to be right in the middle of his father's general election reelection campaign NBC's Tom winter is joining us now so early June it's looking like Tom that's right hie June 3rd is when this trial is slated to begin of course that.

Can always change uh depending upon motions that are filed pre-trial if there's anything uh for uh the judge to consider or reconsider depending upon what the defense Hunter Biden's attorneys might say but at least at this juncture it appears that he'll be going to trial in the district of Delaware uh so very close to where he grew up and of.

Course where the Biden family is from dissipated face this gun possession charge basically while he had a gun in his possession or went to purchase one I should say uh that he lied on a Federal Form about whether or not he was using drugs at the time Federal prosecutors have pointed to his statements including statements in his own book uh that.

Address this so that's really kind of the uh the heart of these charges of course we have to mention that there uh it's a particular charge that is not brought very often uh it is a charge that you're looking at the three counts there related to those false statements on that firearm form that he's alleged to have been made he's pleaded not.

Guilty of course uh to this and so basically this trial is kind of uh cut and dry whether or not the gun was in his possession at the time uh they'll presumably use statements from his own book and then they'll presumably uh present the form and have an agent testify to it and you're looking at the one specific to this case he does face.

Federal charges H as you well know tied to uh a case involving his income taxes and those filings and that's going to be uh a trial that will be held at a later date in California so a federal court there so that's kind of tracking the latest developments in this case but it looks like we'll be headed to trial in this on June 3D yeah at least that's.

What it's set for tentatively Tom Winter thank you very much lots to follow appreciate it sure thank to tonight's original now with indepth reporting on a topic we've been watching and an NBC News investigation about a flood of insurance money for autism Services heading into the pockets of private Equity firms autism treatment.

Is covered by private insurers and Medicaid in all 50 states so these private Equity firms big investment groups might see this as a business opportunity buying up companies that offer this kind of care I travel down to Louisiana to meet one mom who says private equity in her view put their profits over the care for her son.

Watch you'd never know JJ Bautista only started speaking at the age of five D half this half these days he's got a million questions put the camera this way can I use it in the can I use it but when he started asking his mom Misty Rashard every day about bad weather terrified it might storm her intuition told her something was wrong just got.

Progressively worse to the point where we were at a friend's house it started raining and he wouldn't get in the car I literally had to pick him up and put him in the car cuz he was scared of death he was scared of the rain he scared JJ's on the autism spectrum and in 2017 his mother enrolled him at a private Therapy Clinic near their home in Baton Rouge at.

First happy with JJ's progress at card the Center for Autism and Related Disorders but after the chain of clinics was acquired by a prestigious private Equity Firm Blackstone in 2018 she said she became worried about some of the Staffing changes she saw they had a lot of turnover of people at the time her concerns coming to a head in June 2022.

When JJ melted down at the clinic after repeatedly asking for details which Rashard says the clinic only reluctantly provided she was shown a video of her son in a therapy session and a staffer flipping the lights on and off apparently to mimic lightning her son she says visibly upset and to watch my child go.

From the screen door to the window to the screen door to the window won't come outside on the porch won't leave the house if it's even drizzling pissed me off to no end and you basically tortured my special needs kid this is emotional for you it makes me so mad so they framed it as a therapy lesson right do you believe it was.

That's that was not a therapy lesson you're supposed to be like medical professionals and you tortured my son and you laughed about it Blackstone in a statement to NBC News denied its ownership of card had anything to do with JJ's harrowing experience saying the firm could not comment on a particular client but said.

The firm was never involved in determining the appropriate course of treatment for patients Blackstone also says the company significantly increased clinical training under its ownership two employees disputed this and provided a document showing training time cut roughly in half between 2016 2 years before blackstone's takeover and 2020.

About one in every 36 kids is diagnosed with autism in the United States treatment covered by Medicaid and private insurers in all 50 states and now services to help those kids with autism have become big business generating an estimated 7 billion dollar a year in Revenue private Equity flooding The Zone with those firms.

Behind 85% of company buyouts between 2017 and 2022 when private Equity takes over a company it's like if the mob moved into your neighborhood that's what it feels like uh that the mob has taken over uh our profession it hurts my heart John Bailey runs an Ethics Hotline for ABA therapy applied Behavior Analysis often used to treat autism he says he.

Hears time and again these private Equity firms are putting profits over patients I'm worried about what's going to happen down the road as the private Equity erodes our value systems ended up filing bankruptcy in May Blackstone says the company's Financial issues were the result of well-documented industrywide challenges stemming from impacts of the.

Pandemic and its aftershocks and insufficient reimbursements from insurers it was incredibly devastating Dorian grpe founded card in 1990 and spent the next 25 years building it into the largest autism services provider in the country she's the one who sold to Blackstone in 2018 but left her board seat after four years frustrated she.

Says with Management's decisions to add expensive Executives and thirdparty contracts now she's back in charge after purchasing most of the company's operations last summer and pledging to rebuild hiring 250 new staffers in training and opening up clinics to new patients helping children and families with autism is my entire life I started.

Working in this field when I was 16 years old and I could not walk away seeing that there's still a lot to be done um I could not just retire knowing that all the amazing things that we built at card uh could have disappeared or gone away Blackstone tells NBC returning card to its founder was the right thing to do so she could keep its.

Existing center-based facilities open for patients as for JJ now 9 years old he's receiving treatment at a new facility his mom filed a complaint with the Louisiana Behavior Analysis board and in February the card staffer involved in the light switch incident was disciplined for ignoring a client's.

Demand to stop an action that was agitating and provoking the client the anger for JJ's mom still raw so you believe that they were motivated by profit of course yes because you're obviously not interested in helping kids they don't care about anyone but their pocketbook across the healthcare industry independent research shows.

Patient care can decline after private Equity firms Buy in at hospitals one study found more patient Falls and infections after the facilities were acquired by private Equity firms and at nursing homes owned by these kinds of places a 10% higher mortality rate according to other research still to come here on the show what a former.

Nickelodeon star is saying in a new docu series about alleged abuse by an acting coach more on that and some other toxic environment claims coming up former CNN anchor Don Lemon today announcing his new talk show on X has been cancelled by Elon Musk even before a single episode episode aired or streamed or xed or whatever you want to.

Call it was going to debut with an interview with musk listen to this hi everyone Elon Musk is mad at me and I just put out a statement about what happened between him me and the interview that he is apparently so upset about lemon posted that video by the way and that statement on X he called his own questions respectful and wide.

Ranging but said musk clearly felt differently musk for his part says lemon interview style I'm quoting here lacked authenticity lemon interviewed him last Friday and says it's still going to air on YouTube and yes even on X Brian stelter is joining us now what else do we know like what's up with this especially some of this reporting that.

There was some tension during the conversation what does it mean for a questioner to lack authenticity right I was told by a source who was in the room for the interview that it was like a bad first date that these two men didn't Jael there was no great good vibe but that's no reason to cancel a multi-million.

Dollar partnership deal you know Elon Musk in reality owns X he wants to turn it into a YouTube alternative he needs big video creators and that's why he signed Don Lemon Back in January there was a big splashy announcement on stage saying that lemon was going to have a show on X and other stars are also going to be on X and now X has been out there.

In the marketplace selling these shows to advertisers but apparently after the interview mus did not like it he texted uh don lemon's agent and said the contract is cancelled so mus says lemon can still put content on X he can still put stuff on X but the company's just not going to pay him for that right on the one hand there's this sort of laying.

Claim to free speech on the other canceling this agreement over what seems to be a disagreement on content here's what lemon said speaking of free speech right I thought the first- person interview no-brainer Elon Musk the man who calls himself a free speech absolutist I asked him to do it he willingly agreed to the.

Interview apparently Free Speech absolutism doesn't apply when it comes to questions about him from people like me but Brian when Elon Musk owns the site he can platform who he wants right or deplatform who he wants that's right that's why it's so interesting and important to interrogate these powerful people who own these platforms whether.

It was Mark Zuckerberg whether it's Elon Musk I think in this situation musk is proving his critics right they're proving that he's thin skinned erratic that he's not actually as tolerant of free speech and criticism as he says but look we don't really know what happened in the interview yet I suspect that Don Lemon asked musk about reports that he.

Had used illegal drugs in the past that's a very sensitive topic for musk after all musk is a government contractor govern contractors aren't supposed to be using drugs so we're going to see what's actually in this interview and that is going to be very telling at the end of the day as you said musk has all the power here musk.

Can cancel whoever he wants but musk says the platform is a video first platform he wants to be more like YouTube and in order to become more like YouTube he needs people to post content in other words he needs people like Don Lemon Brian stelter glad to have you on thank you very much for breaking this one down for us and I appreciate it.

That's a wrap for this hour we've got more coverage picking up right now tonight it is all on the line for Tik Tock gearing up for a TBD vote in the Senate that would force a sale or else a ban what we're hearing tonight from Congress and the Tik Tok team about a move that could affect more than 150.

Million users then former president Trump off the hook for some charges in that Georgian Georgia election interference investigation what it means for the Fulton DA's case with Mr Trump headed to court in a different legal issue tomorrow then in Haiti us boots on the ground as a country in crisis crumbles into chaos more on the Marines.

And Port our Prince with our reporter Landing just across the border late tonight we'll have that in just a sec in Texas police widening their search for a college student who disappeared after a late night Uber Eats order you're going to hear what his family wants to see now plus Dollar Tree saying they're going to close thousands of stores across the.

Country why a Lifeline for a lot of Shoppers is fading away hey there I'm Hy and tonight we start with Tick Tock yes on the clock with its future in the hands of the Senate after that house vote and just the last couple hours on a bill that would ban Tik Tok that would ban this super popular app unless unless it's Chinese owner sells off Tik Tok in.

The next six months Tik tok's not happy they're not being shy about it they say the bill was jammed through at CEO on the hill today presumably to try to keep the app alive as his company points out Tik tok's not just good for people who love and tutorials it's good for the economy too they say here's the thing even some supporters of the bill say.

They don't want to see the end of Tik Tok altogether they just hope to Strongarm the app out of as they see it beijing's control because remember that's what this is all about lawmakers who argue Tik Tok is a national security threat Our intention is for Tik Tock to continue to operate but not under the control of the Chinese Communist party I.

Have no problem uh with continued Dance videos or even political campaigning on Tik Tok so long as the ownership structure changes Tik Tok denies it's controlled by the Chinese government but remember the concern here not just that Tik Tok can access your data but for what you see here it's influence potentially on us.

Elections that the Chinese could spy on Americans one study saying it probably promotes content backed by the Chinese government we just heard in fact from the Director of National Intelligence just this week who said she can't rule out whether China could use Tik Tok to try to influence the upcoming election one of the biggest questions right now.

What will the Senate do because remember this is not a done deal yet that's a major TBD with our Hill team reporting some question marks literally you see them on screen actual question marks however if it does pass the White House says President Biden would sign it into law if it lands on his desk Brian Chong is following the business angle sahill.

Kapor is on Capitol Hill um reality check then right gut check because this bill passed the house with flying bipartisan colors if you will not unanimous but you saw Democrats and Republicans backing it talk us through the path to potentially get to President Biden's desk if it Mak it makes it that far yeah H this was an overwhelming.

Bipartisan vote 352 votes for this bill to force Tick Tock to uh divest to relinquish you know the Chinese ownership or be banned uh this vote in the house included almost every member of Democratic and Republican leadership it included uh lawmakers ranging from Nancy Pelosi to farri right members of the the uh Freedom caucus on the right.

One of the reasons they were able to get so much support is that they had a series of national security briefings from the administration talking about the various dangers here of uh the Chinese government potentially utilizing a provision in their law to get access to this uh you know user data on 170 million Americans that's something that.

Could happen Tik Tok insists it won't Tik Tok insists that China has not asked for this information and that it hasn't provided any but uh the US government is not convinced that it never will which is why they're providing this ultimatum in this bill uh Pelosi who I just mentioned earlier talked also about how this is not an outright band they.

Managed to structure it in a way that wants support take a listen to what she said this is not an attempt to ban Tick Tock it's an attempt to make Tick Tock better Tick Tac Toe a winner a winner now it's not quite that simple hie because if they simply rename it to tictac to it would still be banned because the provision says a foreign.

Adversary controlled app is still not you know allowed to operate in the United States so this would have to relinquish out of the hands of the Chinese owners what's interesting here is when you look at polling a majority of Americans about six and 10 believe that Tik Tok is a national security concern but those numbers change.

Depending on the age group right because there's this fine line and that illustrates it between lawmakers you know and voters who put them into office who might love Tick Tock and some of these concerns that these uh top us officials are bringing up about the national security threat potentially the Tik Tock poses yeah hi it wouldn't.

Surprise anyone to learn that there are political undertones to what's going on in Congress of course a huge number of young voters use Tik Tok and certainly it's no it's no coincidence that some of the biggest opponents of this uh Tik Tock bill that could lead to it being banned are progressives who have a close connection to young voters there are.

Also some concerns about President Biden's re-election he's trying to engage young voters that's proving to be a big challenge for him Senator Dick Durban the majority leader uh sorry the majority whip in the Senate said uh it might not be great for the president re-election if he ends up alienating a whole host of young voters Ruben gyo a.

Democratic congressman who is vying for the senate in Arizona went on Tik Tok to explain his no vote argues that there's a better way to protect National Security while also preserving uh fundamental freedoms Mike gallager the Republican chair of the China subcommittee One of the lead authors of this bill was somewhat more dismissive.

Of that saying that National Security is far more important than in his view hoarding clicks from 17y Olds hly sahak kapor thank you very much I want to get to Brian Chung from more we've political the National Security there's a business piece of this too right what are the chances that bite dance does sell Tick Tock off could that happen and if they.

Did who would own it yeah well I mean to the defense of those lawmakers are saying this is not a ban bill they would have six months to divest well conversations that I've had with Tik Tok suggest that they don't feel optimistic they would be able to sell in that timeline now that might just be what they're saying because when you consider.

That Tik Tock and bite dance have faced this before you see that there could be a path to perhaps selling because you have to rewind to 2020 when then president Trump had tried to do the exact same thing via an executive order which did get held up uh through the election and then also through the legal uh system where he was trying to force.

Bite Dan to sell Tik Tok in that instance there were some potential suitors in the form of get this Oracle and then also Walmart now those deals never came to fruition but maybe that provides a model for them to divest if this bill does get passed into law but again another interesting facet of this is that 180-day timeline it's very very.

Often the case that these types of big deals will take a very very long amount of time to get done so uh that that clock might not be as long as it sounds like even though 6 months does sound like quite a lot of time being able to pull off a deal like that would would certainly be uh against the the the the the normal course of action when it.

Comes to mergers and acquisition so we'll have to see how it pans out of course Tik Tok has said you know all along it's insisted that it works to protect user information that uh new US user data is in fact stored on a us-based cloud system and they're pointing to the economic benefits of Tik Tok too I mean we've seen this with.

These creators showing up basically saying like this is a livelihood that they're contributing to the economy and this like influencer way yeah yeah and we've spoken with Tik tokers who have said they uh have built entire livelihoods they they have a store and they sell things on Tik Tok that's the only place that they can make money so.

If Tik Tok gets shut down they don't feel optimistic about being able to do the same thing on Instagram or YouTube because of the virality that comes with Tik Tok you can reach a lot more strangers on Tik Tok is the way they've described it to me so this would be a big deal but again I mean when they talk about the economic implications it's not.

Like Banning Tik Tok would lead us into a recession or anything like that but there are certainly millions of users uh that do rely on it as a source of income that's certainly not dramatic to say at all Brian Chong thank you very much appreciate it so listen looking ahead to tomorrow when former president Trump is set to make an in-person appearance at a.

Hearing in his Federal classified documents case that's tomorrow but today he's coming off a legal win elsewhere in Georgia with the judge dropping a few of the charges against him in the state's election interference case tossing out three of the counts having to do with pressure he allegedly put on state officials to interfere in the 2020.

Election the judge explaining his ruling basically saying that the da didn't give enough detail on the allegations which meant the defendants including Mr Trump didn't have the info they needed to defend themselves at trial here's the thing though this is not like meaning that Donald Trump's Out of the Woods that is not case he still faces 10.

Counts in the Georgia case and 88 total felony counts across his four criminal indictments NBC's Blain Alexander is following all of this for us talk to us about the impact of this ruling from the DA's perspective here what's the next move well I think that's a good question you know I spoke with a source hiy who is familiar with the DA's thinking and.

And I'm told that this ruling is under review by her office which tells me that they've not ruled anything out I think what's important in there is a line or a couple of lines that the judge put one making it clear that the entire indictment does not go away that's very clear but two leaving open the possibility for the da to re-indict.

Should she so choose in fact she could file an appeal or she could choose to go before grand jury re-indict and come back and file these charges again so there are certainly a couple of avenues that the da can take if she chooses but I do think what's important to point out is when as I've been speaking with uh attorneys here in Georgia those who have.

Been following the case very closely they say that the meat the heft of this indictment still sticks and that includes the major RICO charge here we talked about what's ahead tomorrow too Blaine with with the former president said to appear in Florida so further south from where you are on this classified documents hearing right in.

The same week that the general election as we're about to talk about is like officially presumptively official um set to hit a fever pitch in the next few months he's got the case in Florida he's got the case in Georgia he's got these other legal issues in New York facing him as well H what is the interplay there as far as demand on a defendant's.

Time you know what as far as George is concerned if he has his way if the former president has his way it won't take up much of his time you remember that his attorney here in Georgia Steve sow has said that these charges amount to election interference that's what he said before a judge he reiterated that assertion today in his statement and so.

He's trying to get the entire thing pushed off until after the election um so sometime next year now remember fonnie Willis wanted to bring this thing to trial this summer as early as early August but of course when you look at the landscape over the past 2 and a half months hie we've been talking about everything but the charges against.

Donald Trump we've been talking of course about this motion to dismiss the da and what that's going to look like that's caused a significant delay in all of this so when you ask when you talk about a timeline of taking this to trial in the summer combining the two factors one of that motion to dismiss her and two the decision today should she choose.

To appeal or or seek a re-indictment we're talking about a significant delay of this case call Blaine Alexander live for us there in Georgia lots to juggle lots to watch thank you bla tonight tens of millions of people are under alert with severe storms targeting the Midwest really bad storms targeting the South even the West Coast this really high.

Impact system that's rolling across the country coming is what could be Colorado's biggest storm of the Season biggest storm in three years hitting the Rockies look at this four feet of snow expected around Denver wind gusts up to 40 m hour it means travel GH good luck sorry if you're thinking of a spring ski trip it's going to be real messy for you.

Southwest United or put in place Colorado travel alerts ahead of the storm they're saying hey rebook your travel you don't have to pay for it meteorologist Bill Ken is joining us now talk to us about it again I mean I'm I'm talking to you about monster snow in Colorado when it's like pushing 75 right outside the window of our studio here.

And it was 75 in Denver just a couple days ago too so you crazy whiplash and this is just a classic March storm in the Heartland this is very common for this time of year it doesn't mean anyone wants to deal with it so we're got severe storms to deal with the next two nights and then throughout the next 2 and 1 half days the snowstorm so let's.

Start with the severe so we do have a severe thunderstorm watch that is up we're waiting for the tornado watch to be issued probably will be in the next hour or two for areas around Kansas City right now there's no tornadoes there's no even thunderstorms in that area we expect those storms to pop up in about an hour or two from now so this severe.

Thunderstorm watch for the St Louis area out to Columbia Missour is until 11:00 this evening we've had one really strong storm that had pingpong siiz ball uh hail H with it and that's now heading off to the east here south of St Louis these other storms may try to drift up towards St Louis in the next hour or two we'll continue to watch that so during.

The overnight hours we just showed you what's happening here but the real event the main event should be over the Kansas City area that's where we expect the strongest storms likely from about 8:00 p.m. to midnight and if we get tornadoes this is the region where they would be occurring here from Kansas City to Topeka out towards Manhattan we do not.

Expect the tornado outbreak maybe just a one two three tornadoes but again that's all it takes that hits a populated area then tomorrow a much larger area for severe storms we'll have more tornadoes tomorrow we'll also have a lot of hail and damaging winds almost from Chicago to Dallas so a huge area that's why 21 million people are at risk and some big.

Hail producing storms now let's go to the snow side of this the biggest headlines will come out of the Front Range we call it that's the mountains that are just towards the West of Denver that's where we're going to see the highest total someone will probably get 3 to four feet of snow as you mentioned the Denver area is kind of on the edge.

Of that we're starting the storm a little bit warm in Denver so it' be a heavy wet snow and we're concerned with power outages too so right now we're thinking somewhere around a foot in Denver Castle Rock possibly over 20 Ines of snow and you notice the brightest color is just to the West of Denver that's where we could see those 3 to 4ft.

Totals that's where power outages could even be widespread right now in Denver as we mentioned it was 52 earlier today still 48 degrees high so the temperature it's going to take a little bit probably right around 10: p.m. this evening is when we'll start to see going from rain to snow but uh yeah there's nothing like the weather in Denver it's one of the.

Hardest places to predict the weather in the entire country uh they change like this man I mean those meteorologists there they're uh earn in their keep that's for sure Bill Karens thank you so much appreciate it so the Secretary of State in just the last couple of hours laying out three big things Haiti needs now a more stable government.

Humanitarian help and security listen this has been a long unfolding story The Heart of the story is the suffering of the Haitian people and we want to see that brought to an end that's Tony blinkin talking with Kenya's president today about the country's security mission to Haiti as.

The US military announces they sent a new team of Marines there to help protect the embassy the US Embassy in the capital remember Haiti which is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere it's in a state of emergency after gangs banded together to attack government institutions airports prisons 4 million people there according to the.

World food program face what they call ACC food insecurity a million Haitians are one step away from famine Gabe Gutierrez has just landed late tonight in the neighboring country of the Dominican Republic he's got more for us hey there hie we're here in the Dominican Republic where the government is already stopping desperate Haitians.

From coming to this country and in Florida today the governor announced that he's already deploying extra law enforcement and drones in anticipation of a possible migrant influx from Haiti there are growing concerns that this humanitarian crisis will spill across the hemisphere and just today a new team of US Marines went into Haiti to help.

Beef up security at the American Embassy there the situation there is deteriorating quickly as we've been reporting the uh gang leader barbecue is calling for a Civil War and the Prime Minister just announced uh yesterday that he would resign as soon as a transitional government was put in place but there are a lot of questions on when.

Exactly that will happen and hie again the desperate situation for uh people inside Haiti we just spoke today with Mitch Alum you know him as the bestselling author he was actually in Haiti at the orphanage that his charity runs and he described a dramatic escape a private helicopter came and saved him and 10 other staffers in the dead of.

Night they piled into this helicopter and he described the experience of going across the border have been desperate for days after that mass prison break really escalated the violence in the country and the airports and the borders have all been shut down now there have been an increasing number of Haitians that trying to get over the border into.

The Dominican Republic again this government is not letting them but hie this is an ongoing situation and there's so many questions about the future of whether the us will have to get more involved right now the US is saying that it is helping along a multinational security Force led by Kenya to try and restore order in Haiti hie our thanks to.

Gabe Gutierrez for that reporting there from the Dr so listen we know it has felt official for a while but now it is officially presumptively official around to matchup between Joe Biden and Donald Trump come November after both of these candidates passed that magic number they needed the delegate math mathing for them to clinch their party's nominations.

Means the longest general election in Generations but they're not your only options necessarily for president this fall you could go third party and one candidate who you might have heard from hopes that you will Von Hillard explains you might remember this ad from last month's Super Bowl a jingle that worked six decades.

Ago reworked for a new era of kennedies this one not as a Democrat like his uncle but an independent Robert F Kennedy Jr the son of the New York Senator and former Attorney General now seeking his own path to the White House but what does he believe in can he actually win neither my uncle nor my father would recognize the version of.

America that we have today RFK Jr first made his name is a climate activist and lawyer in the 80s before pivoting this Century to pushing debunk lies that vaccines cause autism to be crystal clear this is not true scientists have proven that over and over again but it hasn't stopped the 70-year-old Kennedy especially since the co pandemic.

Repeatedly spreading misinformation like his book basically attacking Dr Anthony fouchy I pressed him on covid and vaccines at rally in Las Vegas last month would you have tried to stop the FDA from approving the the covid vaccine I would have said that they need to do science to show that the vaccine is actually going to afft more problems.

Than it's uh than it's causing but if you're president you have agency I would make sure that there was good science and that any product I also would have allowed people to get access to Therapeutics that were actually demonstrated to work like ion like hydroxy chloroquin again doctors say Ivermectin in hydroxy chloroquin should.

Not be used to treat Co but Kennedy could take advantage of the growing number of Americans who don't seek out vaccines to stop covid just 28% of adults have gotten the latest vaccine down from 69% when it came out in 2021 according to a new Pew Pole the question is is there an appetite for him or any Third Party candidate a new.

Pull out today shows yes with RFK pulling in nearly 9% of the vote more than 20% going to someone who isn't Joe Biden or Donald Trump but can people see him on the ballot right now not many will the campaign says it is enough signatures in just four states as they try to get on the ballot in all 50 that hasn't stopped Kennedy from preparing.

Like he will be with a vice presidential announcement set in just two weeks names he's floated New York Jets quarterback and fellow antivaxer Aaron Rogers V is joining us now so as we're on the topic of vep stakes V because that really is the next key political moment for both former president Trump and for I guess RFK Jr you're getting.

Some new little nuggets we can call them on that what is the deal really Aaron Rogers I thought he was going to be playing for the Jets come to fall he says he's going to play for the Jets come opening week in September and of course we'll see at training camp what kind of shape he's in after missing most of the last season but look he's 40.

Years old and you know there's maybe a presidential candidate offering him the number two slot and the Kennedy campaign told us just 24 hours ago that the top two names on his list were not only Aon Rogers the current New York Jets quarterback but also Jesse Ventura the former Minnesota governor and of course WWE wrestler but just here in the last.

Hour the son of Jessy Ventura wrote back to me quote Governor ventur will not comment on this particular political speculation he has not been officially asked to join Mr Kennedy's campaign as his Vice Presidential nominee making all of this pure speculation but just this afternoon the Kennedy campaign hlee announced that they will be holding a VP.

Announcement rally on March 26th in Oakland California which is just 20 minutes from where Aaron Rogers played his college ball at Cal Berkeley allly yeah all right we'll see Von hilard um thank you very much I know where you'll be in a couple of weeks really appreciate youing on that tonight thanks so listen some other news breaking into.

Us in just the last half an hour or so with a federal judge saying Hunter Biden is expected to go on trial potentially just a few months from now with a tentative trial date set for early June keep in mind right in the middle of his father's reelection campaign remember it was back in September that a special Council appointed by the Attorney.

General charged hundra Biden with three felony counts all related to Hunter Biden's allegedly lying about his drug use when he bought a gun NBC legal analyst Danny savalos is joining us now so the trial dat is set it sounds like it's going to go maybe a week to two they laid out a few days for the obviously the defense for the.

Prosecution for the jury deliberations Etc it's just a couple of months before the Democratic Convention here talk about what this means legally for Hunter Biden how you see it yeah I'd be surprised if this federal trial goes 2 weeks I mean the charges are really based on the FFL the form 447 3 they don't need to introduce a ton of.

Documents not a ton of witnesses or or evidence so you could see this case and maybe jury selection could even last longer than the actual uh government's case in Chief but these charges by the way are of questionable constitutional constitutionality now in the wake of uh the Supreme Court's decision in Bruin and then another decision coming out of.

The fifth circuit it's easy to prove if someone is charged with being a felon in possession that's not what Hunter is charged with it's a lot harder to prove whether or not they were un an unlawful user or addict of a controlled substance uh while have owning a firearm so these are charges that are not commonly brought for that reason they're of.

Questionable constitutionality and uh but you are in federal court so the case will go to trial quickly Danny savalos thank you very much coming up here on the show a brand new study saying there could be a new way to detect colon cancer why researchers say a blood test might be most accurate Plus what Olivia Rodrigo.

Is handing out to fans at her concert in Missouri it may surprise you it's not a friendship Bret shares of Dollar Tree tanking today dropping something like 15% after the company said it'll close about a thousand stores places that obviously like the name says offer a lot of.

Different things at pretty low prices so why are they closing down so many of these of these shops High inflation stores not selling enough a decrease in SNAP benefits that help give lower income families money for food let's bring in CNBC retail reporter Gabrielle Fon Rouge for more so you think these stores might be.

Doing better in times like these since people may be turning to Discount stores for some of the the items that they need explain this I mean that's exactly right hie when times are tough discount retailers like Dollar Tree tend to do really really well but you have to keep in mind that their target consumer is the lwi income consumer and now they're.

2 years into to persistent inflation High interest rates dwindling savings account so those consumers are under a tremendous amount of pressure and that's putting a lot of pressure on Dollar Tree's business you got to keep in mind Dollar Tree makes their money by selling the things that people don't actually need discretionary items things like.

Toys and decorations all the things that are nice to have so at the Family Dollar stores where they're planning on closing about um you know a thousand over the next couple of years they those consumers are not buying those discretionary items they're buying food which is coming at a lower profit a lower margin um and so what's.

Interesting is that the F that that the company is actually planning on focusing more on Dollar Tree the Dollar Tree Banner at that location the fastest growing consumer segment is Shoppers who are actually making over $125,000 a year so those people are willing to Shell out for those discussionary items so this is family do.

Dollar Tree trying to kind of reconcile its footprint and focus on the Shoppers who have more money right now what about lower income Shoppers and their options then at this point so this is a huge blow to lower income Shoppers Dollar Tree Family Dollar they have huge presences inside of rural areas and in those locations they're food deserts.

It's really hard to get the Basic Essentials and as these companies have expanded into those areas smaller businesses smaller groceries have closed because it's so hard to compete so without the Family Dollar without the Dollar Tree this might be the only place where people could get a carton of eggs a you know a jug of milk so now they're.

Going to be forced to potentially Drive 30 m away to the nearest Walmart to the nearest grocer that's more gas money that's more drain on the income and that's even less money for those households Gabrielle fond Rouge thank you very much for walking us through all that appreciate it let's get you over to the five things our team thinks you.

Should know about tonight number one new research out in just the last few hours finds a blood test could help screen for coloral cancer it apparently detected cancer and more than 80% of people confirmed to have it the test is meant to screen people with an average risk who do not have symptoms it could help catch cases early when they're more.

Easily treated number two the Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott suing a woman who he says falsely accused him of sexual assault and tried extorting him his lawyer claims she made up a story and is trying to get a hundred million from Prescott in exchange for not pressing charges Prescott's lawyer says he never sexually assaulted anyone the.

Woman's lawyer calling Prescott a liar and a rapist number three actress Olivia mun says she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double myectomy she say she's had four surgeries in the past 10 months M say she's lucky they caught it with enough time so that she had some options and recommends people talk with their doctors about their breast cancer.

Risk number four today's Spotify is testing out music videos like fulllength mtvs music videos rolling them out to people who have Premium Accounts in the UK Brazil Kenya Spotify is trying to get to a billion users by 2030 but you know music videos are they going to be a tough sale people already watch music videos on like YouTube for free number.

Five Olivia Rodrigo given out free emergency contraceptives at a concert in St Louis she teamed up with local group to pass out condoms stickers information about abortion care in Missouri where abortion is illegal NBC News has reached out to Rodrigo's team for comment when we come back the search expanding tonight for a missing college student in.

Texas what we're learning about the moments right before he disappeared plus what happened when a rocket exploded seconds after liftoff in Japan look at that police say the search is expanding tonight for a Texas college student whose family says he disappeared in the middle of night after he got a food.

Delivery order Caleb Harris has been missing since March 4th last seene at his apartment complex not far from the Texas A&M Campus where he went to school police think he disappeared sometime around 3:00 a.m. on the 4th based on an Uber Eats order he put in right before that and a Snapchat he sent to his younger sister around 2:45 phone either.

Died or was shut off right after that his family says he left behind his keys his wallet his car even his shoes NBC's Morgan chesy is following this forest from Dallas any leads here any clues that police can follow yeah hie I think one of the most frustrating aspects of all of this entire investigation and ongoing search.

Is the fact that it's now been eight days and there has not been really a shred of evidence in helping track down this missing student from Texas A&M Corpus Christie you see him there Caleb Harris smiling he had been going to school right there on the Texas coast now and he goes out to get that uberit order in the early morning hours of.

March 4th and he even is Snapchatting with his sister at 2:45 a.m. and that's the last time anyone has heard from him Corpus Christie police are now working in conjunction with the US Coast Guard trying to search the area for him we do know that one particular place they were looking uh is right around that apartment complex there in that Coastal.

Neighborhood there you can see some of just the hundreds of volunteers that have joined the search to find Harris and one of the most heartbreaking facets about all of this hi is the fact that when we had a chance to hear from his own father he said that in light of some rumors that Caleb might have been thinking about running away or even.

Harming himself uh that he he expressed there had been no troubling signs in fact he was even sharing some text messages that he had been sharing with his own son as recently as a few days ago take a listen they're looking forward to going fishing the next day uh renewed his apartment lease uh looking forward to.

Working in Alaska this summer all these things are you know somebody that's preparing to do lots of fun things and lots of things every day and now is that Coastal Community hopes for any update uh in the search for Harris there is another family uh in search of another student Riley strain.

Is a University of Missouri student who had gone to Nashville on a fraternity trip hie and he has not been seen since last Friday what is different in this case hie is there is almost an abundance of evidence here coming in the form of surveillance footage where you can see this 6'5 college student wanding the streets of Nashville after he had been.

Told to leave a bar belonging to country music star Luke ran however despite the multiple angles of strain in Nashville nobody knows where he is uh police say that despite their ongoing search near a waterway in Nashville there is no indication at this point in time uh that strain was in the water or has ended up in that Waterway uh although you can.

Imagine the fact that there's been no sign of him since then is certainly just as frustrating for that family as it is for the family of Caleb Harris I mean you hit it right there Morgan these two sets of families just living an absolute nightmare with no answers so many questions hoping for some clarity very soon Morgan chesky thank you so much for.

Being there 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 Lithuania a close Ally of the late Russian opposition leader Alexi Nal is.

Accusing President Putin's henchmen of being behind a violent attack that put him in the hospital Hospital police say the attacker smashed one of his car windows sprayed tear gas into his eyes then hit him in the hammer hit him in the head with a hammer he responded to the incident with a video saying we will not give up out of Japan a commercial.

Rocket exploding just seconds after liftoff today this is space one trying to be the first Japanese company to put a satellite into orbit G nope officials say the Rockets automated system ended the flight after it figured it wouldn't be able to finish the mission nobody was hurt the cause of the self-destruction is under investigation that's the.

Aftermath right there and out of France the mayor of Paris says she's definitely taking a dip into the sen River ahead of the Olympics this summer probably at the end of June you remember the city's been cleaning up so that people can swim in it for the Olympics there have been some sanitation some sewage problems both the president of France and the head of the.

2024 Olympics have said they'll also jump in at some point would you so listen we told you at the top of the show about the battle over Tik Tock in Congress and regardless of whether it ends up approved or not it is probably going to add to the overall Geo political tension between the US and China Secretary of Commerce Gina rundo.

Supports the ban she's in the region right now leading a presidential trade and investment mission to the Philippines and Thailand cnbc's Unice Yun caught up with the Commerce Secretary for an exclusive interview the full interview you'll only see right here on how the US is building alliances at a tense.

Time it's so nice to be here whether she's meeting State leaders hop knobbing with CEOs or enjoying local culture President Biden's commer secretary is in Asia to ensure America's influence here is on firm footing so I've been focused on the indopacific since day one and President Biden is so uh clear that we need to have a strategic forward-leaning.

Economic vision for the Indo Pacific secretary Gina rimondo has shown up with us businesses eager to invest in traditional American Allies the Philippines and Thailand everyone companies like Google Microsoft Visa Mastercard ups and United Airlines $1 billion in Investments were announced in Manila training Filipinos on US tech AI.

Tools subc cables Financial payments EVs and cyber security to work with American companies and their customers in Bangkok Rondo said us firms were ready to supercharge investments in fields like semiconductors which she said were dangerously concentrated in one or two countries so many US companies are looking to diversify their supply chain.

Are looking for partners in the Indo Pacific that means decreasing American Reliance on China another Biden Administration goal a big part of these us visits is China and its Rising influence though that doesn't come up much in public remarks even though Washington's competition with Beijing hasn't been mentioned officially trips.

Like rondos are meant to solidify America's role in the region we're not asking any country to choose we're not saying to the businesses of the Philippines choose China or us we want to be the partner of choice but concerns remain that Washington isn't doing enough distracted by conflicts elsewhere hampered by domestic politics.

And lacking commitment to a us-led regional economic agreement what can you say to those who say the Biden Administration isn't committed to this what I say to the is look at what we're doing we are consistently and increasingly showing up in the region making Investments deepening our ties helping with upscaling uh everything.

Takes time but we're here we're acting and we're we're acting out on the president's strategy President Biden's Commerce department is talking tough on Tik tock on a trade Mission meant to secure Supply chains with traditional allies here in Asia Commerce Secretary Gina Rando gave her strongest report to date for a ban on the Chinese own app in.

My exclusive interview Tik Tok presents serious National Security risks to the people of the United States data privacy risks uh significant National Security risks so you would support a ban uh I would I would our thanks to Unice for that exclusive report coming up a lot more to get you on the show including an NBC.

News investigation about investment groups private Equity groups buying up companies that offer autism care why that's raising questions about whether they're putting profits over patients to tonight's original now with in-depth reporting on a topic we've been watching and an NBC News investigation.

About a flood of insurance money for Autism Services heading into the pockets of private Equity firms autism treatment is covered by private insurers and Medicaid in all 50 states so these private Equity firms big Investment Group might see this as a business opportunity buying up companies that offer this kind of care I traveled down.

To Louisiana to meet one mom who says private equity in her view put their profits over the care for her son watch you'd never know JJ Bautista only started speaking at the age of five D half this half these days he's got a million questions this way can I use it in the can I use it but when he started asking.

His mom Misty Rashard every day about bad weather terrified it might storm her intuition told her something was wrong just got progressively worse at the point where we were at a friend's house it started raining and he wouldn't get in the car I had literally had to pick him up and put him in the car cuz he was scared to death he was scared of the.

Rain he scared of the WEA JJ's on the autism spectrum and in 2017 his mother enrolled him at a private Therapy Clinic near their home in Baton Rouge at first happy with JJ's progress at card the Center for Autism and Related Disorders but after the chain of clinics was acquired by a prestigious private Equity Firm Blackstone in 2018 she said she.

Became worried about some of the Staffing changes she saw they had a lot of turnover of people at the time her concerns coming to a head in June 2022 when JJ melted down at the clinic after repeatedly asking for details which Rashard says the clinic only reluctantly provided she was shown a video of her son in a therapy session and a staffer.

Flipping the lights on and off apparently to mimic lightning her son she says visibly upset and to watch my child go from the screen door to the window to the screen door to the window won't come outside on the porch won't leave the house if it's even drizzling pissed me off to no end and.

You basically tortured my special needs kid this is emotional for you it makes me so mad so they framed it as a therapy lesson do you believe it was that's that was not a therapy lesson you're supposed to be like medical professionals and you tortured my son and you laughed about it Blackstone in a statement to NBC News denied its.

Ownership of card had anything to do with JJ's harrowing experience saying the firm could not comment on a particular client but said the firm was never involved in determining the appropriate course of treatment for patients Blackstone also says the company significantly increased clinical training under its ownership two.

Employees disputed this and provided a document showing training time cut roughly in half between 2016 2 years before blackstone's takeover and 2020 about one in every 36 kids is diagnosed with autism ISM in the United States treatment covered by Medicaid and private insurers in all 50 states and now services to help those kids with.

Autism have become big business generating an estimated $7 billion a year in Revenue private Equity flooding The Zone with those firms behind 85% of company buyouts between 2017 and 2022 when private Equity takes over a company it's like if the mob moved into your neighborhood that's what it feels like uh that the mob has taken over uh our.

Profession it hurts my heart John Bailey runs an Ethics Hotline for ABA therapy applied Behavior Analysis often used to treat autism he says he hears time and again these private Equity firms are putting profits over patients I'm worried about what's going to happen down the road as the private Equity erodes our value systems C ended up.

Filing bankruptcy in May Blackstone says the company's Financial issues were the result of well-documented industrywide challenges stemming from impacts of the pandemic and its aftershocks and insufficient reimbursements from insurers it was incredibly devastating Dorian grpe founded card in 1990 and spent the next 25 years building it into.

The largest autism services provider in the country she's the one who sold to Blackstone in 2018 but left her board seat after four years frustrated she says with Management's decisions to add expensive Executives and third-party contracts now she's back in charge after purchasing most of the company's operations Last Summer and pledging to.

Rebuild hiring 250 new staffers in training and opening up clinics to new patients helping children and families with autism is my entire life I started working in this field when I was 16 years old and I could not walk away seeing that there's still a lot to be done um I could not just retire knowing that all the amazing things that we.

Built at card uh could have disappeared or gone away Blackstone tells NBC returning card to its founder was the right thing to do so she could keep its existing center-based facilities open for patients as for JJ now 9 years old he's receiving treatment at a new facility his mom filed a complaint with the.

Louisiana Behavior Analysis board and in February the card staffer involved in the light switch incident was disciplined for ignoring a client's demand to stop an action that was agitating and provoking the client the anger for JJ's mom still raw so you believe that they were motivated by profit of course yes because you're.

Obviously not interested in helping kids they don't care about anyone but their pocketbook across the healthcare industry independent research shows patient care can decline after private Equity firms Buy in at hospitals one study found more patient falls and infections after the facilities were acquired by private Equity firms and at.

Nursing homes owned by these kinds of places a 10% higher mortality rate according to other research still to come here on the show what a former Nickelodeon star is saying in a new docu series about alleged abuse by an acting coach more on that and some other toxic environment claims coming up former Cen anchor Don Lemon today.

Announcing his new talk show on X has been cancelled by Elon Musk even before a single episode aired or streamed or X or whatever you want to call it was going to debut with an interview with musk listen to this hi everyone Elon Musk is mad at me and I just put out a statement about what happened between him me and the.

Interview that he is apparently so upset about lemon posted that video by the way and 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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