Hallie Jackson NOW – March 14 | NBC Info NOW

top of the hour on news now and we are coming on the air with the nasty weather across the country at least one reported tornado in the Midwest and Colorado's biggest snowstorm in years upending travel there we are live in my home state with these dramatic scenes also that breaking news on Donald Trump's.

Legal troubles a Manhattan prosecutor calling for a delay in his trial starting in two weeks while a judge sounds rather skeptical about Trump's attempt to get a different case thrown out we are live outside that courtroom in Florida then how would you like to work one day less but for the same pay one senator says that should happen.

Because of the way the tech is changing our world but is that realistic plus why a top news agency is now putting Kensington Palace in the same category as Iran and North Korea after that doctored photo of Princess Kate how big of a deal this is for the Royals and there's a new driver on the roads in La no one why driverless taxis are coming.

To the second biggest city except not on the highways that's going to be later in the show good day I'm Tom Costello in forley and right now we are watching a double whammy on the weather front with active tornado watches across the plains in the Midwest and snow piling up by the foot in Colorado and what could be its biggest snowstorm in years starting with.

Tornadoes now we are just hearing that one has touched down on the Indiana side of the Indiana Kentucky border video of damage just starting to come in you can see there roofs torn off the storm system already produced this reported tornado in Kansas last night part of a severe storm system that is putting more than 35 million people in the risk Zone.

From Ohio down to Texas and hail so big look at that it's being called gorilla hail look at that it's as big or bigger than a golf ball and in some place is bigger than a baseball out in Colorado it's not hail it's snow you're looking live at a shot outside of Denver where the city could see up to a foot and a half of snow my brother in metro Denver.

Says he's already got 18 Ines schools are closed and we're talking about the city now not the suburbs necessarily or the mountains the mountains they could get up to 4 feet roads are just an absolute nightmare there cars snuck stuck rather in snow drifts and as you can see as you can imagine air travel not looking great Denver Airport alone.

We've seen over 800 flight cancellations and delays so far we have meteorologist Bill Kens standing by keeping an eye on the tornadoes first though let's go out to Dana Griffin in Boulder Colorado my college Hometown uh Dana I remember those scenes from many years ago and it looks like a rough day there you know it's not as bad as a lot of.

People think in areas like this and here's why because the streets have actually been plowed we've seen people out with their dogs some playing in a nearby park and so here things look pretty good but as we kind of pan over here this is the concern the potential for down trees and not sure when this one came down luckily it's a pretty.

Small one compared to a larger tree but let me show you the snow I know this is your home state and you guys here are used to it but what makes this this particular storm different at least since we've SE different than we what we've seen in the last three years is look how much water is in the snow I can throw this up this is not falling apart.

Like the light fluffy stuff it is so thick and dense it is very heavy this is the concern because once this lines these trees and power lines it creates damage there have been some 31,000 customers with without power in the Denver metro area and it is just an absolute mess we've seen several neighbors out here trying to shovel.

Their sidewalks and driveways Listen to What a couple told me it's just really heavy um you don't really notice until you start but every foot every shovel full is probably 20 30 lb there's a lot of water and so you got to deal with all that clogs up the gutter system yeah but the key is they're.

Getting out early and they're coming out several times a day so that this heavy stuff doesn't accumulate and they won't have to put in as much elbow grease later tonight Tom yeah you know and the mountains of course love it because it's important for the ski industry but I was actually talking to the ski industry today on an unrelated note and they were.

Saying you know the snow is great but uh it also means it's going to be very difficult for people to be driving up I70 to get to the ski resorts right so people are being told don't even bother hitting the roads exactly the message is stay home stay off the roads and stay safe because you allow the plow trucks to come.

Through so that they can clear the roads and you just don't want to get stuck we know that parts of I70 have been closed and we also heard I'm not sure if you I'm sure you're familiar with uh Eldora one of the popular ski resorts here they shut down for the first time in 20 years that's how much snow has fall it and and the concern for people trying to get up.

There it's like hey don't even come stay home and stay safe Mr Tomatoes pizza right down the road from you great pizza tonight Dana I'm just telling you right now thank you very much standing by in Boulder all right let's bring in meteorologist Bill Karens Bill what do you know about the tornado watch that we're watching right.

Now rather tornado watch and also severe storms yeah it's all starting to pop percolate if you want to call it that you know we kind of think of these storms you get the heating of the day you get the humidity and then they just start boiling up sometimes you actually see it in the sky the clouds just billowing up and that's what's happening.

Now and the storms are really exploding throughout the areas that we're most concerned with the one tornado we had earlier was actually located right here with this Red Tornado symbol it started in Indiana crossed over the Ohio River had done significant damage to some mobile homes and some structures so that was you know even far away from the area.

We were greatest concerned with and now we're getting huge hail reports we've had two reports this afternoon of softball siiz hail 4 in diameter hail that would fit in the palm of my hand it smashed through windshields where it happened it happened right in one spot in Oklahoma here and then also just across the border into areas of Arkansas.

So hu tail tornadoes that's what we're going to be dealing with we have tornado watches that are up here one of them goes until 900 p.m. this evening this other one includes areas just north of Dallas and areas of Eastern Oklahoma goes till 600 p.m. and you notice a couple of red dots on here we do have a couple active tornado warnings one of.

Them here's downtown St Louis here's Interstate 70 heading towards Columbia and this one is right on top of the interstate here so we'll wait and see that's just radar indicated that has not been spotted on the ground we have another tornado warning with this storm here to the South this is just south of Interstate 44 here Springfield Missouri.

So we're going to continue to watch these storms again that's radar indicated but we do think we will start to get more and more of these tornadoes on the ground and if we get these tornadoes the area for favored for the strongest ones mallister A Little Rock up to Springfield and as far as snow goes Aspen Springs time 45 Ines of snow.

Conifer has got 36 now Boulder and Denver this first round reported about a half a foot it's variable I mean the east side of Denver got almost nothing the airport got 1 in and if you go to the west side or the southwest side of downtown Denver heading to the South some bases got 18 in so it just depends on where you are and we still under eat.

These Warnings and we are going to get this new batch of heavy snow tonight right through tomorrow morning so additional snow Denver about 5 in Boulder 8 Castle Rock 8 and we're all said and done we will get 5T of snow in a few spots and I heard you mention the ski resorts and a lot of people are disappointed Aspen Veil copper they're.

Only getting 2 to 4 Ines out of this you really have to those ski resorts right on the Front Range to get the bullseye on this one Elora but they're closed all right buddy thank you very much Bill Kens uh we have some breaking news out of New York the Manhattan da is unexpectedly backing a delay in Donald Trump's hush money trial the new filing.

From da Alvin Bragg you see here says he supports holding off on that trial for no more than 30 days all right but in Florida you see the schedules of Mr Trump in federal court today his lawyers are trying to get a different case against him thrown out that one related to the 40 federal charges he and two others face for allegedly bringing.

Classified documents to marago and storing them in places they shouldn't be like a bathroom or a Storage St a stage rather the Trump team is making two big Arguments for dismissal first a 1978 law that his lawyers say Lets the former president transform whatever presidential records he wants into personal records so that he can take.

Them home number two on un constitutional vagueness they argue in plain English they claim the special counsel cannot bring these charges against a president mbc's Dasha Burns is outside the courtroom in Fort Pierce Florida Dasha let's start with the breaking news out of New York why is the Manhattan da on board with delaying the.

Hush money trial Yeah so basically the Manhattan da is just saying they don't oppose a delay uh because the former president Trump's legal team requested this because about 31,000 pages of additional records came through just yesterday Trump's defense team is saying look we need time to go through this we need to go over this the.

Special uh the Manhattan da is saying that's okay but no more than 30 days the judge though still has to rule on this and the judge could say we are giving you less time could say we're giving you more time but overall this is a a win in the short term for the former president and his team is out with a statement saying president Trump and his Council.

Have been consistent and steadfast that this case has no basis in law or fact and should be dismiss so we'll wait to hear from the judge here Tom all right well let's talk about the the Florida case the special counsel of course disagrees with both of those arguments from the Trump team and it sounds like the judge who's a trump appointed judge.

Is skep as skeptical as well yeah the judge is particularly skeptical in the uh motion to dismiss based on the presidential records act basically what the Trump team is arguing here is that when the former president was in the white house he designated all of those materials that we saw at Mara Lago he designated those as personal.

Records not presidential records he was fully in the right to take them they point to all sorts of examples of former presidents holding on to materials from the White House taking them to other residences and they're saying nothing to see here less dismiss this the judge though judge Canon said look this is not something I see as grounds for dismissal.

Of an indictment could be a good argument a trial but not necessarily a reason to dismiss this case the court adjourned here just before 3:00 says she's going to rule quickly here that we have seen her take her time uh in this one Tom so she could rule at her discretion tomorrow a week from now a couple months from now it's fully up to.

Her you know we've talked a lot over the uh weeks and months about how the president wants to make the legal political and our colleague John Allen rep on how the Trump campaign plans toe make lemonade out of lemons and use his court dates for political gain how does he plan to do that yeah well he's going to have to.

Figure out a way to do that because so far today included he's been showing up often in cases where he's not required to be there today he didn't have to be here but he came anyway in the primary this was a gold mine for the former president each time he came to court his uh poll number shot up fundraising shot up but now and in some of these criminal.

Cases says he is going to have to be in court which means he's not on the campaign Trail and this is the general election for a primary audience indictments were great for general election it's more tricky but what the Trump team is planning to do is essentially flip the script here and we've seen this language already at.

Rallies on social media saying you know what it's actually Biden who's a threat to democracy he's trying to imprison his political enemies and today we saw a lot of supporters out here a couple dozen or so uh basically making that same argument saying you know Trump is a martyr for us so they're hoping to use that as as a boon here Tom Mr Trump is a.

Martyr according to his supporters Dasha Burns thank you very much all right right now President Biden is in Michigan making a campaign trip to that state and Wisconsin proving that the 2024 general election is in full swing those destinations no coincidence the president will probably need to win both if he wants to beat former president.

Trump again in November political calculus the name of the game with Mr Biden speaking in a city with large black and Latino populations groups he wants to make sure are on his side come election day all of that goes for VP Harris 2 she visited a Planned Parenthood Clinic which provides abortion services in Minnesota earlier.

Today sources at the White House say it marks the first time a president or a vice president has ever visited a clinic that provides abortions NBC's Ali rotha was with the president in Sagen Michigan so Ally give us a sense here what went into vice president Harris's decision to make this trip and it really underlines that abortion rights are a key issue.

This year that's right Tom the White House sees abortion access as an issue so consequential that they are leaning as much as possible into it you mentioned the vice president making history with this trip today to a Planned Parenthood in Minnesota she said that it was important for her to go to Minnesota.

Specifically because it is one State uh providing abortion access to patients coming from neighboring states that are restricting it vice president Harris today uh saying it is quote uh outrageous and immoral to have any restrictions on abortion saying it's putting women's lives at risk take a listen to more of what she had to.

Say right now in our country we are facing a very serious health crisis one of the points that must be made on this issue as we attempt to uplift the real stories and the real consequences of the do's decision is to remind people elections matter the vice president vowing uh that if uh Democrats win both chambers of.

Congress come the 2024 election that they will try to codify row back into federal law remember that's something we saw attempted in the immediate aftermath of Row's reversal only to have that effort fail in Congress Tom so the vice president renewing calls for that to today so let's talk about the politics Mr Biden visiting Michigan for the.

Second time in just a matter of weeks but again not sitting down with the large Arab American and Muslim communities in that state and those communities played a very big role in the 100,000 strong uncommitted votes in the Michigan Democratic primary back in late February but they're not happy with him over the war in Gaza right and it's.

A little surprising he's not even trying to reach out to them in person while he's there that's right in fact the mayor of Dearborn I spoke with him earlier today and he said that the White House had not contacted him or to his knowledge any leaders of the Arab American or Muslim Community before returning here to.

Michigan for the first time since we saw that uncommitted movement of over a 100,000 voters uh many of them in protest to the president's handling of the Israel Hamas war and that's really sparking concerns about what a wider move M could look like considering remember in 2020 President Biden won this state over former president Trump.

By just 154,000 votes so I spoke with members of this community today uh they said that despite this shift in tone this more sharp rhetoric of the president uh criticizing prime minister nety who's handling of this war the humanitarian crisis in Gaza that's just been growing they said that is still not enough for.

Them and they want to see more drastic action take a listen to what they told me we will see you in November because our movement is strong our movement is growing so if you want to bet on on uh uh brushing off this movement good luck in November worth noting Tom that you know.

The president not meeting with members of this community today here in Michigan but we do know that senior White House officials met privately with members of the Arab Arab American and Muslim Community but that meeting took place in Chicago earlier today Tom all right Ally thank you very much other news now New York Senator Chuck Schumer making news.

Today expressing support for a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and criticizing Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu on the senate floor as a lifelong supporter of Israel it has become clear to me the Netanyahu Coalition no longer fits the need needs of Israel after October 7th I believe a new election is.

The only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel Senator Schumer is the highest ranking Jewish official in the United States Israel's military operations have displaced nearly the entire population of Gaza since the start of the war Palestinians have been pushed South into.

Increasingly smaller and smaller areas of land to Escape Israeli and bombardments a new documentary from NBC News digital docs team called salma's Journal features a 22-year-old dental student from Gaza City who documented the first months of the war in video diaries and in her art Journal as her family was pushed South seeking safety.

Until she eventually did escape to Egypt here's part of her story there was something that I did before everything happened that was was the official goodbye for Gaza I went for a car ride and I'll tell you the.

Story I'm only it was the 6th of October it was dark at night and me and drena had an extra half an hour after our weekly cousin hangout Rena pushed me to turn around not go home go for a late car ride and at night Gaza is so beautiful it's empty the lights are nice the streets.

Are nice and not knowing it was the last time seeing Gaza in its full Glory we're just trying to survive the day with a minimum trouble minimum crying minimum food and just next day and so on and so on this is when I was sleeping and I woke up hearing like me my name they.

Told me your name is on on the list I'm like what what you mean my name is on the list I'm not prepared for this am I meant to have a life and I have to make the most difficult decision I have ever made which is leaving my family behind I didn't know if I'd be able to see them again you can watch the full NBC News.

Digital documentary life after Gaza psalmist diary of the war on nbcnews.com tonight new efforts to try to get help into Haiti and get Americans out the state department says over 200 Americans in Haiti have registered to get more information on how to leave the country US Government reps say they are trying to help everybody they can but the.

Administration is not actively planning an evacuation for those folks meanwhile the U the UN is setting up an air bridge between Haiti and the Dominican Republic next door to get humanitarian Aid in and provide a path for people trying to leave to get away from the chaos like what you're seeing right there play out on the screen with gangs now controlling.

Most of the capital city and uncertainty about who is going to lead the country next NBC's Gabe Gutierrez is in the Dominican Republic in a town bordering Haiti uh gave this town that you're in has long been a destination for Haitians trying to escape poverty and violence across the border and with the Border reopening temporarily what does it look.

Like where you are right now hi there Tom good afternoon so yes we're in dahab bong this is in the Northwestern part of the Dominican Republic the northeastern part of Haiti and just a little bit in that direction is the Haitian border and behind me you see some people leaving here right now they're actually going back to Haiti and.

The reason that is Tom is that this area this is kind of No Man's Land you know you see in the distance there that gate over there is the Dominican Republic Haitians are not allowed to go that way but just for today they were able to attend an Open Air Market here and many of them brought back uh supplies it was a dramatic scene as we saw many of them.

Coming back with you know food water clothes anything they could grab as you said the situation especially in the capital city is deteriorating so much 80% or so of portal Prince according to the UN is now controlled by armed gangs and earlier this week we spoke with a physician with Doctors Without Borders who talked about a situation where he.

Saw a patient recently executed in front front of his Hospital while inside an ambulance here's some of what he told us um the situation of the health system uh it's been on a steady train of deterioration for many years but now it's really at the border of collapse patients who suffer from gunshot wounds the previous.

Day who are only able to make it to our our facility 12 hours later um when they feel safe to have passage across the city and we've had some of these patients died and Tom there right now there are so many questions about the political instability in Haiti and whether that a temporary the transition Council to get.

New leadership in there will be accepted by local politicians Tom I'm just curious have you seen any violence on the border where you are you're you're not close to portter Prince at all and then my second question is you know this kind of feeds into the whole concern about migrants in this country and the possibility of an inflow of migrants.

Into Florida where they are deploying more more officers for that very reason right what are you hearing from the Biden Administration about migrants well on your first question Tom no violence here today and you may not be able to see it here but over back there there's a heavy security presence although in this town a few days ago.

There was a report of um there was a shootout between one a young man who actually tried to steal uh a weapon from one of the guards here but largely this part of uh the Dominican Republic and of Haiti is seeing no nowhere near the violence that we're seeing in Porter Prince where again armed gangs control so much of that capital city with.

Regards to what the Biden Administration is doing the B Administration announced today that it is considering potentially housing temporarily some Haitian migrants at guantan Bay now that's something that uh the US has done before certainly there's been migrant influxes from Haiti certainly over the last several decades um and then yesterday of.

Course it was Florida Governor Ronda santis deploying extra resources troops drones to the state's southern coast anticipating an increase in Haitian migrants in the Florida Straits so far we're not seeing that yet but the leaders in the US are preparing for it Tom okay Gabe thank you very much stay safe good Gabe Gutierrez in the.

Dominican Republic when we come back the new health concerns in Chicago with the city connecting more measles cases to a migrant shelter and Pope Francis saying tonight he's not going anywhere why he's dismissing concerns about his health stay with us we're back two more children in Chicago.

Have been diagnosed with measles including another person living at a migrant shelter that brings to eight the number of cases at the shelter and 10 total now for the city and it's just Chicago that's not just Chicago that's having a measles outbreak 45 cases have been reported in 17 States so far this year but the outbreak in Chicago is.

Drawing attention in some heart because of the cases at that migrant shelter Chicago's mayor pushing back against anti-immigrant rhetoric and blame take a listen they didn't bring illness okay so I just want to clarify that in fact migrants are more vulnerable to the existing um infectious diseases that we already have.

Here Dr John Torres is joining us now uh John measles is highly contagious and can be deadly 10 confirm cases may not sound like a lot but how serious is this and what are authorities doing doing to try to keep it from growing to a bigger outbreak and Tom you're right it might not sound like a lot but it is and the main reason back in 2000 we actually.

Thought we had it eliminated from this country measles was no longer here in the United States and is making us comeback it is the most infectious virus we have out there that can attack us and a matter of fact the example I usually give is if you're in an area with somebody they're coughing and sneezing those virus particles can Aeros saliz.

Get in the air for 2 hours if you pass through there you can get it as well before vaccines came about in the 60s 2 million people died from from meels every year now one in three per thousand can die from it once they get it so again it's very contagious it can be very deadly it's something to be concerned about John any idea why we.

Suddenly have now an outbreak again and it's happening in other states and also globally right and Tom it all has to do with vaccine rates it needs a 95% vaccination rate among on a population to get that her immunity that you and I talked many times about during the pandemic and this is one of those ones that needs a high vaccination rate.

Unfortunately because of misinformation and disinformation from a variety of sources out there people are less likely to get the vaccine they're more hesitant and getting the vaccine and those rates are dropping even if they just drop down to 93 92% it can make headways into that community and that's what we're seeing here now the other thing to realize is.

Some of these ones that are coming from other countries they don't have the Health Resources we have and so it's not that they're bringing the disease here but we need to make sure we get Public Health in there to protect them which also protects us from getting the disease because they are vulnerable a vulnerable population exact uh Dr Torres.

Thank you very much let's get you now over to the five things our team thingss you should know about tonight number one Tennessee's alcohol regulator is now investigating whether missing student Riley strain was over served alcohol he's the student we've told you about he went missing Friday on a fraternity trip in Nashville police say he was kicked.

Out of a bar and his friends lost track of him state law does not allow serving alcohol to anybody who is visibly intoxicated number two Pope Francis says he is not planning to retire and says he doesn't have any health problems that would necessitate that he says he's in an upcoming Memoir uh if something serious happens he will resign but he.

Called it a very distant hypothesis it comes after his he's been sick with bronchitis and the flu number three Senator Bob Menendez has thinking about running for re reelection as an independent that from two sources who talked to him you'll remember he and his wife were indicted on B bribery charges both have pleaded not guilty when we.

Asked him today he did not deny possibly running again saying I don't have to declare what I'm doing when I do everybody will know number four two Time Masters champion Bernard Langer will miss the upcoming Masters in April because he tore an Achilles t playing pickle ball he says he was playing it to stay fit he fell during a.

Game and he heard a pop he'll be out of action for at least 3 months number five take a look at this it's a new Peak at the beef rice we were telling you about researchers are growing beef cells inside rice cells they say this is the first product of its kind and could be a substantial source of protein down the line former treasury secretary Steven.

Minuchin says he is putting together a team that may try to buy Tick Tock minuchin unveiled his plan just 24 hours after the house passed a bipartisan bill that would force Tik tok's parent company bite dance to either sell the company or in the next six months or be banned in the United States take a listen it's a great business and I'm.

Going to put together a group to buy Tik Tok you're trying to buy Tik Tok I am because this should be owned by us us businesses there's no way that the Chinese would ever let a US company own something like this in China now who exactly is banding together with the Trump era Cabinet member is not all clear at this hour.

Minuchin did not specify another big question whether this group would have enough cash to buy Tik Tock its pair company is the world's most valuable startup valued at a whopping 220 billion with a B dollars and while the potential sale of the US division would be less than that it would still be a very big chunk of change money.

Aside is still really unclear whether the Chinese government would even let bite Danel Tik Tok to a US buyer mbc's Christine Romans covers business she's following this Christine Steve minuchin has a lot of money but could he possibly put together the cash to buy Tik Tok and does he have a political agenda here to push a conservative Trump talking point.

Kind of a pro a platform he does have a history of being dealmaker someone who can coule together investors uh IND deac after the financial crisis remember that one also more recently New York Community Bank so he has his own vast personal wealth and an extensive network of investors I'm told by people who cover cover this company that there are.

A lot of other groups who would love to have a chance to try to buy a Tik Tock if if China were to S bite dance were to spin off the US operations but a big question there uh Tom is would China really allow the IP the code right the source code to be spun off and there's a big a a big doubt that that would ever happen one analyst I talked to today.

Said if there were a deal it' have to be like a hundred billion dollar right for the US part of this operations and it would be like buying um a race car without the engine because a lot of analysts don't think that China would ever sell that part of it interesting all right so what could the next six months look like for Tik Tok and it's ch.

Chinese-owned parent company if this bill does in fact land on president Biden's desk either way if it lands on his desk um it looks really chaotic quite frankly as the company tries to figure out how to separate itself from bite dance and then be you know a standalone company uh in the US and even if it doesn't get on the president's.

Desk in the next six months there are a lot of questions about what its path looks like in the Senate what um you know what kind of deal to buy it would look like how much competition there would be uh for that deal and there are a lot of questions among analysts about how you single out just this one company and not have sort of a comprehensive.

Look Tom at all of these companies that that track Americans uh data right and sells it to third parties can you just separate out Tik Tock and not look at all the other tech companies as well all right so to that point it's Tik tok's algorithm that we we're talking about here right it tracks what you and I do with the app and that's what is most.

Valuable about the asset that's right and also it's popularity because look at how extremely popular it is 170 million users you know over the course of a month that is a really big Juggernaut in terms of social media influence so you've got a couple of angles here you've got a national security angle that Washington is uh concerned about.

Economic Security but you also have the popularity of of this app itself uh it really is a runaway success in the United States and and you know ban says part of that is because it is truly a global app it wouldn't be the same if it were just a US operation just watch the space Tom there are a lot of twists and turns in the months ahead I'm sure yeah.

There really are all right Christine thank you very much Christine Romans after the break why one top news agency is putting Kensington Palace in the same bucket as Kim Jong-un after the Kate photo scandal and a hockey Legend is in Pittsburgh tonight but thousands of many versions of him will not be it's a heist and you won't believe it when we come.

Back we're back now and you know working from here is kind of like drinking out of a fire hose hundreds of stories coming in around the clock making it awfully tough to read to watch to listen to everything so our Bureau teams have selected some highlights and here's what they tell us is going down in their regions and we call this the local from.

Our Western Bureau over a dozen SWAT officers were injured during a training exercise at an FBI facility in California the sheriff's department says an explosion happened inside during the training the officers were taken to a hospital they're expected to be okay the FBI is investigating from our Northeast Bureau the Pittsburgh Penguins say.

Somebody stole their shipment of coveted your mere yogger bobbleheads no the team was planning to give them away at tonight's game against the S the San Jose Sharks and now fans will be given a voucher to pick up the bobblehead at a later date police are investigating this 50 was on the job from our Northeast Bureau the British Airways concord jet.

Made its way back home to the Intrepid Museum today after a monthl long Restoration in Brooklyn there it is being transported along the Hudson River the museum says most of the restoration work included sanding and recoding the Jet tours of the Concord set to resume next month Senator Bernie Sanders wants to change the work week as we know it.

Here in the United States He is pushing for a 4day 4day work week but with a pay cut at a hearing he held today he said it is time the question that we are asking today is a pretty simple question do we continue the trend that technology only benefits the people on top or do we demand that these transformational.

Changes benefit working people all right so instead of 40 hours over 5 days you'd work 32 hours over 4 days under his new bill Sanders point points to other countries that reduced their work weeks including the United Kingdom where a pilot program there showed positive results More than 70% of the workers said they were happier with.

Their time and felt less burned out 35% of businesses saw an increase in Revenue let's bring in now sahir kapor on Capitol Hill all right sahill give us the nuts and bolts here what he wants and this kind of seems unlikely to pass yeah it it certainly unlikely to pass in the foreseeable future Tom but the bill is called the 32-hour work week.

Act and let's take a look at some of the specifics of what the bill does it would reduce the standard work week to 32 hours over four years it would lower the maximum hours threshold for overtime compensations it would uh require overtime pay at time and a half for work days longer than eight hours and double that for work days longer than 12 hours.

Uh protect worker pay and benefits to ensure there's no loss in pay now Sanders introduce this in the Senate with one co-sponsor that is Senator lafonza Butler of uh California also a Democrat there is a house companion bill uh introduced by Congressman Mark Tano a California Democrat this is unlikely to go anywhere in the foreseeable future.

But Sanders is using his perch as chair of the health education labor and pensions committee to force the issue to hold a hearing and to make his case for this particular Bill Okay so what is the data that he is using to make his argument it's a familiar argument that Bernie Sanders has been making for decades now he.

Argues that labor productivity has risen massively in the last several decades and the trends do show this look at that bar going up and up and up with that line uh at the same time CEO pay has risen as well currently in 2021 399 times that of a typical worker that's according to uh a study by the economic policy Institute and Bernie Sanders that.

This trend is only going to get worse with AI and Robotics he believes that this is one way uh he can try to help workers in anticipation of the continued Trend okay but let's be honest it's going to run into a buzs saw among Republicans especially and even pretty plenty of Democrats as well right about small businesses being impacted how this.

Could impact the workforce uh Fortune 500 companies I mean it will be a pretty tough sell how could this bill be watered down that's right well firstly we can expect Republicans to reject this bill out of hand that seems to be uh what they're already doing uh Senator Bill Cassidy the ranking Republican on the committee spoke about this let's.

Play what he had to say we have that balance this disrupts that balance and we won't maintain the status of being in the world's wealthiest Nation if we kneecap the American economy with something which purports to be good for the American worker but indeed will lead to offshoring of jobs seeking for a lower.

Cost labor force and I caught up with Senator Sanders just a few hours ago Tom he told me that nobody expects this bill to pass uh tomorrow those were his words and he told me that's simply about beginning a discussion about who's going to benefit from this revolution in technology including AI uh and he said if we don't.

Change it it'll simply benefit large corporations even further at the expense of workers Tom well it may be the start of a conversation that lasts many many many years uh but it's a good one to start at least have the conversation all right sahil thank you very much oriz uh sahil mentioned in the UK Prince William appearing at an award show honoring the.

Legacy of his mother Diana tonight in London that according to Kensington Palace as the controversy surrounding the royal family grows with one of the world's biggest news agencies now saying Kensington Palace is no longer a trusted Source yeah Alan France press is a very big organization and it's making a rare and traumatic move usually reserved for.

Propaganda from North Korea and Iran after the palace released that Dr photo of Kate Middleton and her three kids you can see it right there Kate apologized for it but still so many questions about Princess Kate's condition and how the Royals might try to bounce back from this Matt Bradley is following all of this from London all right Matt this has.

Got the uh the whole Newsroom talking uh just how big of a deal is that the Kensington Palace is no longer considered a trusted source for this one news agency yeah Tom it's a great question how big of a deal I mean I would say it's not such a big deal not nearly as big of a deal as what we heard from a.

Couple of days ago when AFP and all those other news agencies actually withdrew that photo and elsewhere in that interview with the head of aan France press he said that you know they only do that maybe once a year and if you can imagine how many pictures cross the deaths of aljan France press in a single day from all over the world it.

Just goes to show how rare of an event that was now you know to the extent that this is a threat for the palace I mean that I think that people in the palace might have been kind of laughing about a little bit because the fact is I mean there is no other royal family that attracts this much attention as the one in Britain here you know this is the.

Only game in town they have a monopoly almost on Royals coverage everything that comes out of the palace is stuff that a AFP is going to want to run uh and the fact is when it if he says that all this means is that he's going to be scrutinizing or they're going to be scrutinizing photos out of the palace a little more than they did before well.

He's not going to be alone I think just about everybody with an internet connection is going to be scrutinizing every single photo that comes out of Kensington Palace from now on Tom yeah there's that you know there is so much public interest here with theories about and questions about Kate Middleton all over social media it's striking that the.

Royals are are still remaining silent here right yeah well I kind of wonder if maybe they haven't learned a lesson here Tom don't you think I mean those of us who have been on social media know uh and I think they learn the hard way and very publicly that sometimes the best response is no response at all they.

Didn't have to release that Mother's Day picture on Sunday they had told the public that Kate Middleton wouldn't be seen in public until after Easter well she might be seen in public but she wouldn't be resuming official duties and and that they wouldn't be constantly giving regular updates on her health status they could have just stuck to.

That instead they bowed to the pressure from social media which they've done this twice now theyve issued a statement basically bowing to pressure and now they did it again when they released that photo and they got bitten very very hard so it's possible you can hear that silence continuing yeah Matt your beat will always be solid there in the UK so.

You you have good job security going forward thanks very much Matt Bradley who's on the story true coming up from a spacex's super Starship just burned up on re-entry by the company and guess what NASA still call this a successful test flight that story's coming up great story today a group of new.

Astronauts has earned their wings in Houston as NASA gets ready for a very big mission the class of 12 are likely to be among some of the astronauts who will one day get to land on the moon and set up a lunar base I talked to some of them in Houston about their hopes and their dreams here's one of those interviews you know I I reached for a.

Dream and I never got bumped off that path and was able to get to where I am today as a little kid I used to say I'm going to be the first person on Mars so even as a little child I I had the Mars uh idea for the dream yeah Nicole SS uh who by the way is also a pilot fighter pilot you can watch my full story on this mission to.

The moon on NBC Nightly News with Lester Hull tonight and that new astronaut class could one day ride a SpaceX rocket to the moon the company is celebrating a major flight Milestone today that is expected to be key to NASA's future missions 2 SpaceX calling the launch of its Starship Mega rocket a success even.

Though it did end up breaking up over the IND and Indian Ocean as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere Starship is the tallest and the most powerful rocket ever launched and while it was launch on return the rocket still managed to reach space testing out new capabilities going faster and further than any rocket ever the goal of it all.

To eventually get people back on the moon and maybe even as we mentioned maybe Mars dror Paul suder is an astrophysicist and NASA adviser he also wrote how to die in space a journey through dangerous astrophys physical phenomenon not something I want to try um doctor this was the third test flight for Starship it did make it to orbit on.

All 33 engines they all fired off and then the flight lasted 45 5 minutes and it was only Lo lost on return to Earth NASA calls it a success what do you think oh this is absolutely a success no it didn't achieve all the dream goals which was to attempt a a a a simulation of a soft Landing in the Indian Ocean but the rocket was going to be ditched.

Anyway we were not going to return this and reuse it U and a passed so many key Milestones which is why it is this ESS it launched it exited the atmosphere it achieved orbital speed it achieved a fuel transfer test a door opening and closing test these sound like simple things but these are key Milestones that NASA needed this test to demonstrate to.

Continue funding SpaceX along these lines and to power the emis mission back to the Moon yeah and it is important because when you consider that they lost the rockets on on the first and the second test flights this was a fall far more successful Mission and it lasted far longer than the other ones but listen we're talking now about you.

Potentially using this rocket on emus 3 which would potentially land on the moon in 2026 with humans does that seem like a reach when they haven't had a successful really successful complete mission yet Elon Musk is talking about many more test flights though coming up soon oh yes uh we are not near that goal there's still so much to do and it.

Sounds like what's the big deal with opening and closing a door or transferring fuel doing that at tens of thousands of miles per hour in the vacuum of space is much more challenging which is why we require these tests but here's the thing about SpaceX that is different than the NASA approach they already have dozens of boosters and.

Rockets on the assembly align waiting to be stacked together and tested again so this third test this is third of many that they already plan for well in advance sending Rock Rockets up again and again and again collecting the data figuring out what's wrong improving the next iteration and sending it back up that's exactly what they do and why they.

Are able to do this uh development so quickly yeah it truly was a phenomenal uh mission to watch today a test flight uh and I think you're absolutely right as you watch that mission and how far far it's come from the first two test flights uh the Boeing or rather that SpaceX ran boy they had they had a great day and I I think we've all learned the.

Lesson don't ever bet against SpaceX right that's for sure they've shown this was 22 years since their birthday and they've shown in 22 years they have leaped frog every private space organization every government space organization we are entering a new era of space exploration yep Dr Paul suder thank you very much coming up from us.

After the break that taxi that just cut you off in La yeah you might not have anyone behind the wheel to yell at we're going to explain why if you're in LA today you might see scenes like this cars passing you with no driver behind the wheel get this roughly 50 driverless Robo taxis are.

Rolling out across the city weo Google's self driving car project has debuted this late ride sharing service to select members of the public until now the service tested only in small corners of the city and was limited to people on a waiting list safety concerns have been raised recently in San Francisco and in Phoenix where way Mo already operates.

NBC's Liz CZ joins me now from La Liz this is a pretty big milestone for for this industry that was once only imagined in sci-fi right what changes has why has weo brought to make this really happen yeah Tom it's a huge deal really significant La the second largest city in the country now they'll be operating.

Here and it comes after some pretty big hurdles here in California uh local debates in San Francisco here in Los Angeles with local officials raising concerns about how safe these cars actually are and the California Public Utilities Commission uh in the past few weeks and the past few months have made two really big decisions to actually.

Move forward and allow weo to expand expand in San Francisco to allow charging for rides and then allow the expansion here in Los Angeles and you know the local officials that have been pushing back they say that these cars pose some pretty um uh serious public safety concerns still that they're not fully vetted and tested there's a report.

That we were looking at that looked at some of the different self-driving cars and showed that weo actually had the most crashes of any of these self-driving cars but the company points out that there have been no serious injuries reported they do continue to expand now Los Angeles here and the plans for expansion continue they're.

Hoping to be in Austin Texas later this year Tom okay but drill down a little bit more on these safety concerns I I'm wondering how do how does the typical Angelino uh react to this what do they think about the possibility of these Robo taxis on the roads not on the highways though right yeah not on the highways right now.

They're just going to be on side streets and in just a part of the city a pretty big chunk from Santa Monica to downtown but not the entire city 50,000 people have signed up so far to be able to use this these cars so I think there's certainly a lot of intrigue and excitement from some people others probably a little freaked out I'll admit.

I was recently living up in San Francisco the past few years and they're everywhere in San Francisco and it's still a little weird to be driving next to a car that has no driver in it and some of the issues you hear from up in San Francisco are cars just stopping in the middle of the road blocking traffic um not taking you to the right place.

There was an LA Times Reporter that just wrote about taking one here in La where they've been testing and the car stopped in a really unsafe area near Skid Row in the neighborhood that usually the the person would have said hey you know driver keep going keep going don't stop here but instead the car just stopped and there was no other alternative.

Except for to call the customer service number so those are some of the issues Tom the future is here Liz thanks very much Liz quites in La that is a wrap for this hour the coverage resumes right now on news now top of the hour on a Thursday here on news now and we are coming on the air.

With the nasty weather across the country at least one reported tornado in the midwest that's Colorado look at the snow there the biggest snowstorm in years upending travel we are live in my home state with these dramatic scenes and also that break news on Donald Trump's legal troubles just now getting into us from a judge of Florida about.

His attempt to get a case of his thrown out as a prosecutor in Manhattan says he does not oppose a delay in a separate trial we'll break all of that down then the historic visit by the vice president to a Planned Parenthood Clinic as President Biden makes a push to clean up support in a state that he needs to win this November Michigan plus we are live.

Just across the border from Haiti in the Dominican Republic as the crisis there spirals into chaos in Haiti the desperation from Americans trying to get out and why Donald Trump's former treasury secretary wants to save Tick Tock but the big question tonight is it even up for sale with that new band possibly looming we will ask coming up.

Later in the show good day I'm Tom Costello on a busy day I'm in for H and right now we are watching a double whammy on the weather front active tornado watches across the Plains and the Midwest and snow piling up by the foot in Colorado and what could be its biggest snowstorm in years my brother reporting 18 inches in Highlands Ranch.

Starting with tornadoes though here we are just hearing that one is touched down on the Indiana side of the Indiana Kentucky border video of damage just starting to come in there you see the roofs torn off the storm system already produced this reported tornado in Kansas last night part of a severe storm system putting more than 35 million people in.

The risk Zone from Ohio down to Texas look at the hail so big it's being called gorilla hail and look at this hail bigger than golf balls some were told bigger than a baseball all right out in Colorado it's not hail it is snow Denver could see up to a foot and a half of snow schools closed in many areas and we're talking about the city now not the.

Suburbs nor the mountains nor the Foothills they could be getting up to 4 ft roads are an absolute mess in place as car is stuck in drifts one fire department Pi on the south side of Denver tells people just to stay home and bunker down to stay home stay off the roads unless there's an emergency reason to be.

Out there it should really just be essential Personnel who are traveling to and from work Eric Cur from South Metro Fire Rescue we have met meteorologist Bill Karens keeping his eye on those tornado watches for first though to Dana Griffin in the beautiful Boulder Colorado suburbs Dana you've been there all day what is making this storm.

Different from the others you've seen lately well Tom it is beautiful but it is starting to turn just a little dangerous I want to show you we were standing in a different spot underneath this tree part of it came down and just moments before our live shot this Branch came tumbling down and obviously it's not a huge limb but if you're standing.

Under one of these trees you can obious viously get whacked in the head so we definitely want to be safe so we moved over and this is part of why we're seeing limbs like this fall because let me show you the snow see how heavy it is like just scooping it up there's so much water density here in the snow that it's creating a dangerous situation for trees.

And power lines you've got thou tens of thousands of customers without power and you've had several people out early trying to get this stuff out of the way out of their tree branches out of their dry way so that they can be safe listen to what some neighbors told us it's just really heavy um you don't really notice until you start but every.

Foot every shovel full is probably 20 30 lb there's a lot of water and so you got to deal with all that clogs up the gutter system yeah it's a lot of water and that's why officials are asking people to stay home stay off the roads and stay safe and that's why you're also see a lot of flight cancellations at Denver.

International alone some 800 plus cancel cancellations and 200 delays just today alone hopefully that will change as we get toward the end of the week but several Airlines have rebooked passengers for free because of this storm Tom yeah you know we mentioned that my brother lives on the South Side in Highlands Ranch he's got about 18.

Inches and so I called a friend of mine we called a friend of mine who's with South Metro Fire Rescue that public information officer you heard from and we asked him really how are they changing their plans to hopefully get emergency vehicles through the snow here's what he said today we're starting to see some.

Access issues in some of our Suburban areas with higher elevations our snowplow operators will be spending the night in the fire stations and so they will be immediately available um the moment somebody calls 911 for fire or medical assistance they'll be plowing the way for our crews yeah that's the second biggest.

Fire department in the state there H how did dangerous could it be if these Crews can't get to where they need to be right because uh that the forecast is just for more snow to pile up exactly we've got 12 hours left of this continuous snow so for Crews that are trying to get to certain areas where roads need to be plowed or maybe someone.

Needs help if you're out on the roadway clogging up those Road those roads those plow trucks can't get through it's something that we saw even last night Colorado State Patrol said that the 70 got clogged because so many cars were on the highway now we don't know if that was because the highway had gotten shut down but it's a great reminder if you.

Don't have to leave your house just don't because you could be impacting other resources that need are needed right now Tom yeah Jana thank you very much try to warm up and stay stay dry let's bring in meteorologist Bill Karens Bill what do we know about the tornado watch and the severe storms we've been talking about yeah we're in the middle.

Of the severe weather outbreak Tom and so far we just had that one confirmed torn that was when we showed you that crossed from Indiana over the Ohio River into areas of Kentucky that was right here but all these white dots are hail reports we're now over 53 total we had two monsterized hail reports both were.

4in hail reports and one in Oklahoma one in Arkansas that's softball size and in both instances they smashed windshields when they were coming down so uh you can get the idea with that as far as the tornado watches go we have tornado watches that extend Now new one actually just issued to the Little Rock area in Texas Arcana so these at least 20.

Million maybe more than that now that little rocks added into this too are under tornado watches all the way from Ohio into areas down here into Oklahoma and North Texas we do have a couple active tornado warnings a couple minutes ago we had seven total now it looks like we're down to about two three here we're watching these are all radar indicated.

So our radar can see when the storms are spinning and when conditions are favorable for a tornado form the other way we know is if our stormchasers are out there or the public and they see the tornadoes that hasn't happened in a couple hours so thankfully we haven't had any confirmed damage besides the one on the Indiana Kentucky border here's.

The St Louis area you're now in the clear it's been a rough last couple hours severe thunderstorm warnings hail reported there now one tornado warning to your North here just south of Springfield Illinois right around Redbud this is a tornado warning and this actually had baseball siiz hail reported with it about 3in hail about an hour ago.

So here's a closer view of this storm here and you can see it located waterl is where we had that 3-in report of that large hail radar indicated tornado warning with that one so in addition to this obviously we got this incredible snow event ongoing in the Front Range some areas have already picked up three and now approaching fourt of snow.

Counter Aspen Springs it's been less as you head down lower elevations into the plains but we're not done yet we're still under the winterstorm warnings round two is just starting and the roads have been pretty decent because of this you know during the daylight and the sun getting through the clouds the radiation solar radiation but now the snow is.

Picking up Tom we do expect another 6 to 12 in by tomorrow morning morning so just cuz it doesn't look that bad yet that additional weight trees are going to start coming down left and right yep it's that time of year wet snow Bill thank you very much all right we have some more breaking news this time out of Florida the judge overseeing Donald.

Trump's classified documents trial is denying one of his arguments to dismiss his case this one having to do with a question of unconstitutional vagueness in playing English claiming the special counsel cannot bring these charges against a president this fing just out on the last hour saying the matter can be brought up later but not right now.

Maybe to a jury the judge uh is in fact a trump appointee has not yet ruled on the other argument from the Trump team related to a 1978 law that would let him make a presidential records into personal records all of it related to the 40 federal charges he and two others face for allegedly bringing classified documents to marago and storing them in.

Places that they should not be like a bathroom or stage NBC's Laura Jarrett joins us now so Laura does this mean the federal classified documents case is is in fact going to trial or might there still be a hiccup we are still not there yet Tom she was very tight lipped the judge alien Canon was very tight lipped about the trial date which is what she's.

Been under most scrutiny about as she's really provided no indication on whether or fact this could go to trial before the November election Mr Trump's attorney is obviously trying to push it and trying to get the the charges themselves tossed out out there were two separate issues two grounds that they had tried to use to get the charges.

Tossed out you mentioned one saying essentially that the complaint here was too vague the law was too vague he wasn't on notice that he was breaking the law on that part time she's decided to reject that she said that can go to a jury as you said but there's another piece of this as you mentioned on the presidential records acts the former.

President essentially saying these were my documents I could do anything I want with them on that piece of it Tom she hasn't ruled about whether the charges should be dismissed so that one still hangs in the balance which mean this case could still get gutted uh the prosecution's case should could still be uh gutted here Tom all right we also.

Have breaking news out of New York right the Manhattan da saying he does not oppose a 30-day delay in the hush money trial that's supposed to start 11 days from now so why is the da saying that yeah this was something of a surprise Tom as obviously this is the only case that currently has a trial date currently set for March 25th but only.

Recently we learned according to the new court filing that Trump the defense team actually received thousands of pages of documents related to Michael Cohen people will remember his former fixer at the heart of the hush money payment that prosecutors say was made before the 2016 election and that prosecutors say that the former president and Michael Cohen.

Wrongfully cast as a business expense when in fact it was Hush money well just now we're learning that the former president releas received tons of documents and only in this late stage and so the prosecutors are saying hey we recognize you only recently got these documents so we're willing to give you a 30-day delay now we haven't seen.

Anything from the judge yet Tom and he will be the key decider on when in fact this trial happens Laura Jared thank you very much right now President Biden is in Michigan making a campaign trip to that state and Wisconsin proving that the 2024 general election is in fact in full swing those destinations are no coincident coincidence rather the.

President will probably need to win both if he wants to beat former president Trump in November political calculus is the name of the game Mr Biden speaking in a city with large black and Latino populations groups he wants to make sure are on his side this election all of that goes for VP Harris as well she visited a Planned.

Parenthood Clinic which provides abortion services in Minnesota earlier today sources at the White House say it marks the first time a president or a vice president has ever visited a clinic that provides abortions NBC's Ali Rafa was in the president was with the president rather in Sagen Michigan uh all right Ali VP Harris's trip to this.

Planned Parenthood there were high levels of caution and secrecy about all of that right that's right Tom the White House is well aware of how controversial this issue continues to be but it's really not affecting how adamantly they're continuing to push for abortion access to be protected and that is a large part.

Of why you saw uh this history making trip Tri by the vice president today going to this Planned Parenthood in Minnesota the vice president saying that she specifically went to Minnesota because it's one of the states that is providing abortion access to patients coming from neighboring states that are restricting abortion access the vice.

President today saying it's quote outrageous and immoral to have any restrictions on abortion saying it's putting women's lives at risk listen to more of what you had to say right now now in our country we are facing a very serious health crisis one of the points that must be made on this issue as we attempt to uplift the real.

Stories and the real consequences of the do's decision is to remind people elections matter the vice president emphasizing how much elections matter and saying that if both uh chambers of Congress are led by democrats after 2024 that they will push to codify row back into federal law remember that's something we.

Saw attempted in the mediate aftermath of Rose reversal only to have that effort fail in Congress so the vice president reupping uh the push for that effort uh today in Minnesota Tom yeah the president is really picking and choosing who he's meeting with based on that political calculus we mentioned and some Fe some groups there in Michigan.

Are are feeling rather snubbed I understand that's right the president for the second time this year coming to Michigan and not meeting face Toof face and personally with members of the Arab American and Muslim Community and that has many uh people many members of this community angered not just about his handling of the Israel Hamas War his.

Continued support for Israel's right to defend itself for prime minister Netanyahu but they're also uh angered that there hasn't been that personal uh attention by the president to their cause here uh and despite this gradual shift that we've seen by the president recently speaking more sharply against uh prime minister netanyahu's invasion.

Of Gaza the humanitarian crisis that's just growing in Gaza uh these the members of this community specifically Dearborn Michigan mayor uh Abdullah hamama uh H I'm sorry hammood told me that he's just not satisfied with that that he wants more from the president listen to more of our interview dialogue is is really not.

Meaningful what we're looking for is for action because lip service doesn't really get you anywhere you know we've seen now a change of tone where the president uh recognizes Palestinian suffering but what we want there actual concrete steps that are taken to reduce that Palestinian suffering worth noting Tom the president.

Here in Michigan today uh while senior White House officials did meet with leaders of this community but that meeting happened in Chicago Tom all right Ali Rafa thank you very much new efforts to try to get help in into Haiti and get Americans out as the curfew there is extended tonight the state department says over 200 Americans in.

Haiti have registered to get more information on how to leave the country US Government reps say they're trying to get help to everybody that they can but the administration is not actively planning an evacuation for those folks meanwhile the United Nations is setting up an airbridge between Haiti and the Dominican Republic to get humanitarian.

In and pro humanitarian Aid in and provide a path for people trying to leave to get away of course from the chaos like what you're seeing right there play out on your screens heavily armed gangs control most of the capital uncertainty about who is going to lead the country Gabe Gutierrez is in the Dominican Republican Republic rather.

Right next door uh a town that is bordering Haiti so Gabe you've been talking to people there about what it's like to live through a situation like this right now what are they telling you hi there Tom well we're just steps from the Haitian border uh right now and actually the street behind me just a few hours ago was filled with Haitians who.

Were allowed to come here uh earlier today for an Open Air Market usually the borders are completely closed but um closed but these U Haitians were allowed to come here and many of them taking supplies back to Haiti they're desperate and we actually also spoke with one man uh who is says he was from Miami but was in Haiti visiting family when a gang.

Overtook his bus took his phone wallet passport all his documentation and now he's trying to find a way out take a listen to what he told us what went through my head is like oh no don't I hope this dude with big guns don't you know kill everybody on the bus the situation is in Haiti right now it's terrible.

Sir and Tom we've been speaking with others here who again talk about this desperate search for food it's not just the violence here in this part of uh of Haiti uh right on the other side of the Border it's more rural than Porter Prince so it's not the violence it's the hunger that is devastating uh that part of the country in Porter Prince though.

About 80% of that capital city is right now under the control of gangs and today we also learned that hundreds of Americans have actually registered with the state department and they're trapped inside Haiti right now the country is cut off Tom you know Gabe we've heard a lot about this transitional Council that's been discussed to replace the.

Government in Haiti how How likely is that to happen and how is it being received well actually at this point it's it's stalled so there are a lot of questions about how it's going to move forward and you know briefly this some of it boils down to local politics there's a prominent politician in Haiti known as G Philip he was actually a.

Senator here years ago went to the US pleaded guilty to some criminal charges served some time in prison then came back here well now it's on he has the support of the gangs because he has promised them amnesty if he were to take power he opposed the the Prime Minister and so now there a lot of questions about whether he will support this.

Transitional government so far he hasn't and so what's next no one really knows the US of course trying to Rally Caribbean Nations and giving them a whole lot of money to try and carve a path forward but right now things look Bleak Tom Gabe Gutierrez in the Dr right next to Earth Gabe thank you very much New York Senator Chuck Schumer is making.

News today expressing support for a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and criticizing Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu on the senate floor as a lifelong supporter of Israel it has become clear to me the Netanyahu Coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after October 7th I believe a new election is the the.

Only way to allow for a healthy and open decision-making process about the future of Israel Senator Scher is the highest ranking Jewish official in the United States Israel's military operations have displaced nearly the entire population of Gaza since the start of the war Palestinians have been pushed South into.

Increasingly smaller and smaller areas of land to es scrape Israeli and bombardments now a new documentary from NBC News digital docs team called salma's Journey features 22-year-old Dental student Salma shurab from Gaza City who documented the first months of the war in video diaries and in her art Journal as her family was pushed South.

Seeking safety until she eventually escaped to Egypt here's part of her story there was something that I did before everything happened that was the official goodbye for Gaza I went for a car ride and I'll tell you the.

Story only it was the 6th of October it was dark at night and me and drena had an extra half an hour after our weekly cousin hangout Rena pushed me to turn around not go home go for a late C ride and at night Gaza is so beautiful it's empty the lights are nice the streets.

Are nice and not knowing it was the last time seeing Gaza in its full Glory we're just trying to survive the day with minimum trouble minimum crying minimum food and just next day and so on and so on this is when I was sleeping and I woke up hearing like me my name they.

Told me your name is on on the list I'm like what what you mean my name is on the list I'm not prepared for this am I meant to have a life and I have to make the most difficult decision I have ever made which is leaving my family behind I didn't know if I'll be able to see them.

Again you can watch the full NBC News digital documentary life after Gaza salma's diary of the war it's on nbcnews.com coming up and historic first college sports why basketball players at Dartmouth could be one step closer to getting paid and well looks like someone's not getting their delivery tonight how this FedEx truck ended up.

Hanging off a highway coming up we're back approaching the bottom of the hour two more children in Chicago have been diagnosed with measles including another person living at a migrant shelter and that brings to eight the number of cases at the shelter and 10 total for the city it's not just Chicago that's having a measles outbreak.

45 cases have been reported in 17 States so far this year but the outbreak in Chicago is drawing attention in part because the cases have been largely focused around a migrant shelter Chicago's mayor is pushing back against anti-immigrant rhetoric and blame take a listen they didn't bring illness okay so I just want to clarify that in fact.

Migrants are more vulnerable to the existing um infectious diseases that we already have here NBC's Jesse kers is in Chicago uh Jesse you're on the ground there what are local authorities saying about the situation right now the health authorities yeah so Tom we know the CDC is now here helping support local.

Officials I sat down with Chicago's director Commissioner of Public Health earlier today and I asked her uh about the situation if it is under control and she said they are working to get it under control and you just heard the mayor there stressing uh that migrants did not bring the measles here uh but at the same time this outbreak sticks out.

From others that we're looking at because of the Nexus tied to this migrant shelter and there's some uh unique factors that are contributing to what we're seeing here so a couple things first of all many of the people coming to Chicago uh in and going to these migrant shelters are from Venezuela and that is a country with a.

Low vaccination rate on top of that you have factors like uh that migrant children the the city confirmed me earlier are being allowed to start attending Public Schools without having the vaccinations that most students are required to have and so there's the potential for a child to be going to the school without having that additional.

Protection as well because of how they are are coming to the city and and they're making their way into this community so those are some of the factors that are added stressors uh because of what's going on here Tom uh and we had the mayor there pushing back against anti-immigrant rhetoric and how is the community responding to those.

Comments and the dynamic yeah and so we heard from someone earlier today who is living at this shelter with her two young children she agreed to speak with our team be uh as long as we did not identify her and she described uh leaving the shelter and having someone shout invectives at her essentially just assuming that she's.

Infected because she is staying there so there is concern about that R if you heard what the mayor said but there's also questions about if enough has been done to protect the people stand at these shelters here's part of one of my exchanges with the commissioner of Public Health there earlier we didn't see misles coming we.

Haven't had measles in 5 years the things that we were ramping up doing winter was covid flu and varicella everybody though that has a comprehensive medical exam had the opportunity to have all their vaccinations assessed and then cut up so the city's Public Health.

Commissioner saying that they were focused on other viruses but the reality is Tom uh that well before measles was identified in Chicago Public Health officials in the United States were already discussing and looking at uh measles in the United States so there are still some outlying questions there Tom all right Jesse thank you very much.

Jesse kers on the ground in Chicago we want to get you over now to the five things our team thinks you should know about tonight number one Tennessee's alcohol regulator now investigating whether missing student Riley strain was over served alcohol now he's the student we've told you about he went missing Friday on a fraternity trip in Nashville.

Police say he was kicked out of a bar and his friends lost track of him state law does not allow serving alcohol to anybody who is visibly intoxicated number two Sen Bob Menendez is talking about running for reelection again as an independent that from two sources who have talked with him now you may remember he and his wife have been.

Indicted on robbery charges both have pleaded not guilty when we asked him this afternoon he did not deny possibly running again but he said I don't have to declare what I'm doing when I do everybody will know number three it's official the Dartmouth men's basketball players are now credited certified as a union the first of its kind in college.

Sports it's a story we've covered on the show The organizers telling us they hope the union will help them get paid for all the work they do for the team Dartmouth tells us it opposes the union push it has not commented yet on today's Certification Number Four New York State Police say a FedEx truck rolled over on a highway you could see it hanging over.

The edge of the overpass police say nobody's seriously injured thankfully but your packages may be a little delayed and number five Athletic Apparel company outdoor voices is reportedly going to close all of its stores this week the New York Times says it'll now be online only outdoor voices did not reply to our request for comment former.

Treasury secretary Steve minuchin says he is putting together a team to try to buy Tik Tock minuchin unveiled his plan just 24 hours after the house passed that bipartisan bill that would force Tik tok's parent Company by dance to either sell it in the next six months or be banned take a listen it's a great business and I'm.

Going to put together a group to buy Tik Tok you're trying to buy Tik Tok I am because this should be owned by us us businesses there's no way that the Chinese would ever let a US company own something like this in China all right so who exactly is coming together with the Trump era Cabinet member to buy Tik Tok not really clear.

Right now minuchin did not specify another big question whether this group would have enough cash to buy Tik Tok its parent company is the world's most valuable startup listen to this it's valued at a whopping $220 billion and while the potential sale of the US division would be less than that it would still be a big chunk of change.

Money aside it's still really unclear whether the Chinese government would even let by Dan sell Tik Tok to a US buyer NBC's Christine Romans is following the developments for us and she joins us now Christine Steve minuchin has a lot of money but could he possibly put together the cash to buy Tik Tok and does he have a political.

Agenda here to push a conservative Trump talking point kind of a pro a platform he does have a history of being a dealmaker someone who can couple together investors uh indac after the financial crisis remember that one also more recently New York Community Bank so he has his own vast personal wealth and an extensive network of investors I'm.

Told by people who cover cover this company that there are a lot of other groups who would love to have a chance to try to buy a Tik Tock if if China were to S bite dance were to spin off the US operations but a big question there uh Tom is would China really allow the IP the code right the source code to be spun off and there's a big uh a big.

Doubt that that would ever happen one analyst I talked to today said if there were a deal it' have to be like a100 billion right for the US part of this operations and it would be like buying um a race car without the engine because a lot of analysts don't think that China would ever sell that part of it interesting all right so what could the.

Next six months look like for Tik Tok and it's ch chinese-owned parent company if this bill does in fact land on President Biden's desk either way if it lands on his desk um it looks really chaotic quite frankly as the company tries to figure out how to separate itself from bite dance and then be you know a standalone company uh in the US.

And even if it doesn't get on the president's desk in the next six months there are a lot of questions about what its path looks like in the Senate what um you know what kind of deal to buy it would look like how much competition there would be uh for that deal and there are a lot of questions among analysts about how you single out just.

This one company and not have sort of a comprehensive look Tom at all of these companies that that track Americans uh data right and sells it to third parties can you just separate out Tik Tock and not look at all the other tech companies as well all right so to that point it's Tik TOS algorithm that we we're talking about here right it tracks what you and.

I do with the app and that's what is most valuable about the asset that's right and also it's popularity because look at how extremely popular it is 170 million users you know over the course of a month that is a really big Juggernaut in terms of social media influence so you've got a couple of angles here you've got a national.

Security angle that Washington is uh concerned about Economic Security but you also have the popularity of of this app itself uh it really is a runaway success in the United States and and you know ban says part of that is because it is truly a global app it wouldn't be the same if it were just a US operation just watch this space Tom there there are a.

Lot of twist and turns in the months ahead I'm sure yeah there really are all right Christine thank you very much Christine Romans after the break from us everybody's working for the weekend but could two days turn into three 3 days off one senator says it should and a step toward equality in Japan why the lgbtq plus Community there is.

Celebrating tonight stay with us you know it's a busy place here in NBC news we cover hundreds of international stories every day and it's awfully tough to read watch listen to all of them so our teams around the world have done it for you and for me here's a look at what.

Telling us is worth watching it's a segment we call the global from the Mediterranean a humanitarian group says about 60 migrants are feared dead after their boat broke down at Sea they say the engine stopped working three days into the journey from Libya towards southern Europe the group rescued 25 survivors after they spent a week.

Stranded on the water with no food no water in Japan the lgbtq plus Community is celebrating after a high court there ruled that denying same-sex marriage is unconstitutional judg has called on the government to change the current marriage law which still says marriage is between a man and a woman as of now Japan is the only G7 country that does.

Not allow same-sex couples to legally marry and out of France the Paris Olympics is cracking down on drones setting up an anti-drone coordination Center just outside of the city for police and military to identify which drones are friendly like Media or drones and which which drones are potentially security threats officers say the base.

Will be able to neutralize drones from Miles Away Senator Bernie Sanders wants to change the work week for all of us as we know it here in the United States He is pushing for a 4 day work week without a pay cut at a hearing he held today he said it's about time the question that we are asking today is a pretty simple question do we.

Continue the TR that technology only benefits the people on top or do we demand that these transformational changes benefit working people so here's the deal instead of 40 hours over 5 days you would work 32 hours over 4 days under his new bill Sanders points to other countries that have reduced their work weeks including.

The United Kingdom where a pilot program there showed positive results More than 70% of the workers there said they were happier with their time they felt less burned out 35% of businesses saw an increase in Revenue they say we want to bring in Now NBC sahil capur who's on Capitol Hill all right so Hill give us the nuts and bolts here what he wants.

And this kind of seems unlikely to pass yeah it it's certainly unlikely to pass in the foreseeable future Tom but the bill is called the 32-hour work week act and let's take a look at some of the specifics of what the bill does it would reduce the standard work week 32 hours over four years it would lower the maximum hours threshold for overtime.

Compensations it would uh require overtime pay at time and a half for work days longer than eight hours and double that for work days longer than 12 hours uh protect worker pay and benefits to ensure there's no loss in pay now Sanders introduced this in the Senate with one co-sponsor that is Senator lefa Butler of uh California also a Democrat.

There is a house companion bill introduced by Congressman Mark Tano a California Democrat this is unlikely to go anywhere in the foreseeable future but Sanders is using his perch as chair of the uh health education labor and pensions committee to force the issue to hold a hearing and to make his case for this particular.

Bill okay so what is the data that he is using to make his argument it's a familiar argument that Bernie Sanders has been making for decades now he argues that labor productivity has has risen massively in the last several decades and the trends do show this look at that bar going up and up and up with that line uh at the same time CEO pay.

Has risen as well currently in 2021 399 times that of a typical worker that's according to uh a study by the economic policy Institute and Bernie Sanders worries that this trend is only going to get worse with AI and Robotics he believes that this is one way uh he can try to help workers in anticipation of the continued trend.

Okay but let's be honest it's going to run into a buzz saw among Republicans especially and even pretty plenty of Democrats as well right about small businesses being impacted how this could impact the workforce uh Fortune 500 companies I mean it would be a pretty tough sell how could this bill be watered down that's right well firstly.

We can expect Republicans to reject this bill out of hand that seems to be what they're already doing Senator Bill Cassidy the ranking Republican on the committee spoke about this let's play what he had to say we have that balance this disrupts that balance and we won't maintain the status of being the world's wealthiest Nation.

If we kneecap the American economy with something which purports to be good for the American worker but indeed will lead to offshoring of jobs seeking for a lower cost labor force and I caught up with Senator Sanders just a few hours ago Tom he told me that nobody expects this bill to pass uh tomorrow those were his words and he.

Told me that's simply about beginning a discussion about who's going to benefit from this revolution in technology including AI uh and he said if we don't change it it'll simply benefit large corporations even further at the expensive workers Tom well it may be the start of a conversation that lasts many many many years uh but it's a good one.

To start at least have the conversation all right sahil thank you very much ores uh sahil mentioned the UK Prince William appearing at an award show honoring the legacy of his mother Diana tonight in London that according to Kensington Palace as the controversy surrounding the royal family grows with one of the world's biggest news agencies now saying.

Kensington Palace is no longer a trusted Source yeah aan France press is a very big organization and it's making a rare and dramatic move usually reserved for propaganda from North Korea and Iran after the palace released that doctor photo of Kate Middleton and her three kids you can see it right there Kate apologized for it but still so many.

Questions about Princess Kate's condition and how the Royals might try to bounce back from this Matt Bradley is following all of this from London all right Matt this has got the uh the whole Newsroom talking uh just how big of a deal is it that Kenington Palace is no longer considered a trusted source for this one news.

Agency yeah Tom it's a great question how big of a deal I mean I would say it's not such a big deal not nearly as big of a deal as what we heard from a couple of days ago when AFP and all those other news agencies actually withdrew that photo and elsewhere in that interview with the head of uh France press he said that you know they.

Only do that maybe once a year and if you can imagine how many pictures cross the deaths of Alan France press in a single day from all over the world it just goes to show how rare of an event that was now you know to the extent that this is a threat for the palace I mean that I think that the people in The Palace might have been kind of laughing.

About this a little bit because the fact is I mean there is no other royal family that attracts this much attention as the one in Britain here you know this is the only game in town they have a monopoly almost on Royals coverage everything that comes out of the palace is stuff that AFP is going to want to run uh and the fact is when it if he says that all.

This means is that he's going to be scrutinizing or they're going to be scrutinizing photos out of the palace a little more than they did before well he's not going to be alone I think just about everybody with an internet connection is going to be scrutinizing every single photo that comes out of Kensington Palace from now on F yeah.

There's the you know there is so much public interest here with theories about and questions about Kate Middleton all over social media it's striking that the Royals are are still remaining silent here right yeah well I kind of wonder if maybe they haven't learned a lesson here Tom don't you think I mean those of us.

Who have been on social media know uh and I think they learned the hard way and very publicly that sometimes the best response is no response at all they didn't have to release that Mother's Day picture on Sunday they had told the public that Kate Middleton wouldn't be seen in public until after Easter well she might be seen in public public which.

Wouldn't be resuming official duties and and that they wouldn't be constantly giving regular updates on her health status they could have just stuck to that instead they bowed to the pressure from social media which they've done this twice now they issued a statement basically bowing to pressure and now they did it again when they released.

That photo and they got bitten very very hard so it's possible you can hear that silence continuing yeah Matt your beat will always be solid there in the UK so you you have good jobs security going forward thanks very much Matt Bradley who's on the story true coming up from a spacex's super Starship just burned up on re-entry why the company and guess.

What NASA still call this a successful test flight that story is coming up great story today a group of new astronauts has earned their wings in Houston as NASA gets ready for a very big mission the class of 12 are like to be among some of the astronauts who will one day get to land on the moon and set.

Up a lunar base I talked to some of them in Houston about their hopes and their dreams here's one of those interviews you know I I reached for a dream and I never got bumped off that path and was able to get to where I am today as a little kid I used to say I'm going to be the first person on Mars so even as a little child I I had the Mars uh idea.

For the dream yeah Nicole SS uh who by the way is also a pilot fighter pilot you can watch my full story on this mission to the moon on NBC Nightly News with Lester Hull tonight and that new astronaut class could one day ride a SpaceX rocket to the moon the company is celebrating a major flight Milestone today that is.

Expected to be key to NASA's future missions 2 1 SpaceX calling the launch of its Starship Mega rocket a success even though it did end up breaking up over the indan Indian Ocean as it re-entered the Earth's atmosphere Starship is the tallest and the most powerful rocket.

Ever launched and while it was lost on return the rocket still managed to reach space testing out new capabilities going faster and further than any rocket ever the goal of it all to eventually get people back on the moon and maybe even as we mentioned maybe Mars Dr Paul is an astrophysicist and NASA adviser he also wrote how to die in space a journey.

Through dangerous astrophysic physical phenomenon not something I want to try um doctor this was the third test flight for Starship it did make it to orbit on all 33 engines they all fired off and then the flight lasted 45 minutes and it was only Lo lost on return to Earth NASA calls it a success what do you think oh this is absolutely absolutely a success.

No it didn't achieve all the dream goals which was to attempt a a a a simulation of a soft Landing in the Indian Ocean but the rocket was going to be ditched anyway we were not going to return this and reuse it U and it passed so many key Milestones which is why is it is a success it launched it exited the atmosphere it achieved orbital speed it.

Achieved a fuel transfer test a door opening and closing test these sound like simple things but these are key Milestones that NASA needed this test to demonstrate to continue funding SpaceX along these lines and to power the Artemis Mission back to the Moon yeah and it is important because when you consider that they lost the rockets on.

On the first on the second test flights this was a far far more successful Mission and it lasted far longer than the other ones but listen we're talking now about you potentially using this rocket on emis 3 which would potentially land on the moon in 2026 with humans does that seem like a reach when they haven't had a successful really.

Successful complete mission yet Elon Musk is talking about many more test flights though coming up soon oh yes uh we are not near that goal there's still so much to do and it sounds like what's the big deal with opening and closing a door or transferring fuel doing that at tens of thousands of miles per hour in the.

Vacuum of space is much more challenging which is why we require these tests but here's the thing about SpaceX that is different than the NASA approach they already have dozens of boosters and Rockets on the assembly align waiting to be stacked together and tested again the this third test this is third of many that they already planned for well in.

Advance sending rocket Rockets up again and again and again collecting the data figuring out what's wrong improving the next iteration and sending it back up that's exactly what they do and why they're able to do this development so quickly yeah it truly was a phenomenal uh mission to watch today a test flight uh and I think you're.

Absolutely right as you watch that mission and how far far it's come from the first two test flights uh the Boeing rather that SpaceX ran boy they had they had a great day and I I think we've all learned the lesson don't ever bet against space right that's for sure they've shown this was 22 years since their birthday and.

They've shown in 22 years they have leaped frog every private space organization every government space organization we are entering a new era of space exploration yep Dr Paul suder thank you very much coming up from us after the break that taxi that just cut you off in La yeah you might not have anyone behind the wheel to yell at we're.

Going to explain why if you're in LA today you might see scenes like this cars passing you with no driver behind the wheel get this roughly 50 driverless Robo taxis are rolling out across the city weo Google's self driving car project has debuted this latest ride sharing service to select members of the public until now.

The service tested only in small corners of the city and was limited to people on a waiting list safety concerns have been raised recently in San Francisco and in Phoenix where way already operates NBC's Liz CZ joins me now from La Liz this is a pretty big milestone for for this industry that was once only imagined in sci-fi right what changes has why has wh.

Mo brought to make this really happen yeah Tom it's a huge deal really significant La the second largest city in the country now they'll be operating here and it comes after some pretty big hurdles here in California uh local debates in San Francisco here in Los Angeles with local officials raising concerns about how safe these cars.

Actually are and the California Public Utilities Commission uh in the past few weeks and the past few months have made two really big decisions to actually move forward and allow weo to expand expand in San Francisco to allow charging for rides and then allow the expansion here in Los Angeles and you know the local officials that have been.

Pushing ping back they say that these cars POS some pretty um uh serious public safety concerns still that they're not fully vetted and tested there's a report that we were looking at that looked at some of the different self-driving cars and showed that weo actually had the most crashes of any of these self-driving cars but the company.

Points out that there have been no serious injuries reported they do continue to expand now Los Angeles here and the plans for expansion continue they're hoping to be in Austin Texas later this year Tom okay but drill down a little bit more on these safety concerns I I'm wondering how do how does the typical Angelino uh react to this.

What do they think about the possibility of these Robo taxis on the roads not on the highways though right yeah not on the highways right now they're just going to be on side streets and in just a part of the city a pretty big chunk from Santa Monica to downtown but not the entire city 50,000 people have signed up so far to be able to use.

This these cars so I think there's certainly a lot of interest and excitement from some people others probably a little freaked out I'll admit I was recently living up in San Francisco the past few years and they're everywhere in San Francisco and it's still a little weird to be driving next to a car that has no driver in it and.

Some of the issues you hear from up in San Francisco are cars just stopping in the middle of the road blocking traffic um not taking you to the right place there was an LA Times Reporter that just wrote about taking one here in La where they've been testing and the car stopped in a really unsafe area near skid Row in neighborhood that usually the the person.

Would have said hey you know driver keep going keep going don't stop here but instead the car just stopped and there was no other alternative except for to call the customer service number so those are some of the issues Tom the future is here Liz thanks very much l quites in La that is a wrap for this hour the coverage resumes right now on.

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