Hallie Jackson NOW – March 29 | NBC Recordsdata NOW

we are coming on the air with the travel trouble maybe hitting thousands this holiday weekend the nasty wet weather millions are going to have to brace for we're live in Atlanta we are also live on the scene in Baltimore with divers going back in the water tonight for the massive cleanup of this bridge collapse.

With no timeline right now this huge crane you're about to see it coming into help the president set to go next week and new details on just how dangerous this could be then in tonight's original a big pay raise coming for fast food workers in California but could some of them lose their jobs because of it we've lost our papers we'll see plus our.

Newsmaker tonight the most popular candidate for president may be literally anybody else and now you can vote for him a real person who's changed his name he's going one-on-one with us in just a couple of minutes and the music Beyonce says is her best ever so will it finally win her album of the year that's coming up a little later on in the show hey.

There I'm hie and tonight we start with that busy travel weekend as millions of people are heading out maybe for spring break maybe for the Easter weekend but some bad weather could be a problem for flights or even your picnic plans you've got a big storm moving into California that has more than 20 million people under flood watches through Sunday we're.

Talking the potential for rain for snow for a ton of wind and the holiday travel surge could also affect flights all across the country here's some of the trouble spots right the FAA says next week will be the busy iiest of the Season as far as today we've seen about 2,800 flight delays 60 cancellations not the worst thing in the world but not the.

Best if you're one of those 60 flights priia Shar is at Atlanta airport and meteorologist Angie lman is covering it for us priia let's start with you lots going on this weekend what's the expectation yeah that's right hiy well it's really a triple whammy when it comes to travel between Easter like you said spring break and then also that.

Total solar eclipse that's scheduled for April 8th the airport officials here in Atlanta said that they were expecting 7.6 million travelers to pass through this airport between March 14th and April 7th and the busiest day in that 3we period actually today with 335,000 passengers expected to travel through here what's unique about this specific.

Spring break uh period is that that level of travel is actually being sustained over the next week as you mentioned with the FAA expecting 50,000 Travelers per day almost every single day next week There's expecting a spike on April 4th and 5th as a result of that uh solar eclipse that I mentioned and you're seeing people traveling to.

Unusual destinations like Dallas Buffalo Cleveland and Indianapolis so it's interesting because we're going to see airports perhaps in other parts of the country where you didn't typically see such high volume of passengers going through there for spring break specifically also see um a high number of passengers so they're telling people.

To get to the airport early 2 and 1 half hours if if you can also try to hitch a ride with someone or maybe take an Uber to the airport because they're expecting that parking could be limited and if you're going to hit the roads as you mentioned there are some weather conditions to be aware of the good news is that gas prices are actually only.

Around $354 right now it's a little bit higher than last year but nowhere near the over $5 gas prices that we saw back in 2022 hie well and you got a lot of folks thankful that that is not in fact the case priia thank you very much meteorologist Angie lastman is joining us now okay so talk us through the.

Forecast talk us through the expectation here yeah so Hi here's the deal we got to watch the West Coast from today tomorrow even into Sunday and we'll slowly but surely start to see that system work its way East but in the meantime we're already gearing up for a busy Friday afternoon and Friday evening in this region we've got San Francisco.

That has been just dealing with plenty of rain through the day today we're going to have repeated rounds of some heavy rain working through California over the next day or so there's the system that we're going to be watching and preemptively before this works into Southern California we've got flood watches that are up from San Louis to.

Biso including Santa Barbara LA and down to San Diego 21 million people included in that and get this this lasts through the weekend likely till Sunday we'll see some of those flood alerts this area has had you know Relentless winter start of spring they've had plenty of rain they're oversaturated in a lot of these spots and it doesn't take much to see.

The landslides and the mudslides so that's what we're going to watch by the time we get into the later parts of the day today into the even evening overnight hours and into tomorrow we'll start to see southern California get in on this action we'll have many of those rain bands rotating into parts of the desert Southwest causing some problems.

From Nevada to Arizona out towards Utah but the flood risk that we're most concerned about is where you saw that bright that bright green flood watch from LA to San Diego where we'll see multiple rounds of this rain working in not just today and into tomorrow but by the time we get into Easter as well the Rockies will get in on the snow action.

As well I know it's the end of March you're waiting for us to wrap up the snow forecasting but that's not going to happen just yet when it comes to the rain I I think the more widespread amounts that we're not so concerned about across parts of the Southwest it's going to be a quarter of an inch a half of an inch but look at places like Santa.

Barbara and La we're talking three to 5 Ines in some of those spots we've seen it time and time again we know that the landslides the mudslides are really concerning so that's why we're watching that specifically and in a very busy travel weekend just as Prius said when it comes to the snowfall totals a foot maybe 2 feet and some of these spots.

Especially across the Sierra range that's where we'll see that additional snow for folks there when it comes to the good news because there is good news especially when we're looking at our holiday forecast for Sunday there's a couple of spots that we're going to see really nice conditions much of the South you'll see really great conditions how.

About egg Bend Louisiana where it'll be into the low 80s dealing with some clouds but you're not going to see much rain that goes for folks along the east coast as well we'll have a couple of spots across parts of the Great Lakes the Midwest where you'll see temperatures mid 70s to 80s but you will have to contend with some rain and then.

Notice this is all part of that same system where we are just going to be watching the additional snow the additional rain for folks in the western third of the country across parts of the Rockies and across parts of the Southwest unfortunately for flower pot Arizona yes that is a city 50 degrees and dealing with some rain for their.

Sunday Easter forecast hi that's something that uh will call for a plan B maybe some indoor plans for our friends in Easter cross California as well Angie lastman thank you very much for that uh that breakdown of it all appreciate it let's take you to Baltimore now and tonight a massive a complicated a dangerous cleanup Mission there with the.

Army Corps of Engineers calling it one of the biggest challenges they've ever faced we've got President Biden heading to the city next week as the biggest crane on the Eastern Seaboard look at it right there it's now on the scene of that catastrophic bridge collapse along with hundreds of tons of Twisted Metal and concrete in this huge operation to.

Clear the really important channel here in the Patapsco River and to reopen one of the nation's busiest Port it has now been 4 days since the deadly collapse killed at least six construction workers State officials late today are announcing a plan for a new scholarship for the children of those men who died on the job we're just learning divers.

Will go into those frigid Waters it's dark it's cold they're going to go in with lights with torches to try to cut apart the chunks of Steel as the governor of Maryland warns cleanup and rebuilding will take a very long time the big part and one of the challenges is that the Key Bridge was which sits on top of the vessel right.

Now that that weight is somewhere between 3 and 4,000 tons so our team needs to cut that trust into sections in a safe in a responsible and in an efficient way before it can lift those pieces out of the water Tom Castello is following this for us live from Baltimore he is joining us now and Tom what is very clear is that this.

Mission uh is going to be extremely sensitive they've got to be extremely careful given the weight given the force of what Isen happened here after the ship slammed into the bridge yeah and by the way there are still four unaccounted for construction workers who are in the water uh and so they're very mindful of the fact that.

They need to recover those those bodies let me just give you the latest stats coming from the governor's office about how big of a floella is in route right now to help in this in all seven floating cranes 10 tugboats nine barges nine Salvage vessels F five Coast Guard vessels also will be a part of this massive operation now they are now.

Positioning on site as you saw that massive crane has now arrived but they want to get more equipment on site they want to Stage all of this and then they need to look at all of the data they're Gathering right now because they've been the Army Corps of Engineers as you know we were out there with them yesterday they are mapping the entire uh wreckage.

Area the debris field with sonar with liar as well as just getting underwater as best they can with divers however the divers are not in the water now it's simply too dangerous and the problem is to your point about the the wreckage the Twisted Metal it is razor sharp and they are very concerned that somebody a diver might sustain a potentially lethal.

Injury if they get too close to a razor sharp piece of that bridge so that's the challenge they want to know where every piece is and then they're going to go in with the Torches you suggested and cut down and cut apart the pieces of the bridge just that piece on the ship you heard them say is 4,000 tons just that piece that doesn't even count all the.

Rest of the of the bridge that is in the water so this is a massive operation very very dangerous very dangerous and they're not going to rush it they're going to do it right Tom I'm so sorry I didn't me to interrupt you there friend I just as we're looking at some of these images here and we're seeing um the the the containers essentially stacked up on.

The ship that is another level of danger as well pull on that thread because they've got to be incredibly careful there's not some sort of spill there's not some sort of issue with what's already on the ship right absolutely and I was on that Army cor engineer boat yesterday right up to the ship and and literally looking up.

Like this at those containers uh the whole ship is stacked with containers right we know that 56 of them have some sort of hazardous material not thought to be extremely dangerous in some case it's just it's liquid soap and oils and that kind of thing nonetheless they want to make sure that every single container that is at risk of falling off or that.

Is a Hazmat concern that they secure those containers and secure the entire ship and you know what happens hie when you you can imagine right you you bring up eventually they lift up that beam that's laying on that ship they lift it up and what's going to happen to the ship they don't know they know that right now.

It is pushed so far down the the bow the nose has pushed so far down into the water it's literally into the mud 50 ft down so what happens when you release the pressure and it starts to rise again is that ship seaworthy they don't know so the Coast Guard has an immense job ahead of it the Army Corps of Engineers the Navy not to mention of course the.

The state police and the state police divers they're bringing in professional dive teams of the Marine dive teams that are contracted for the Army cor Engineers it's a massive massive job they're not going to start this overnight Tom Castello live for us there in Baltimore uh another day of intense coverage there Tom thank you for being.

There let's take you overseas now because the leader of One of hai's most powerful gangs a guy named barbecue as they call him is telling Sky News he's open to calling for a ceasefire if his organization of armed gangs is included in peace talk talks listen he's talking about the political.

Class the political system that he believes has reached his end with barbecue becoming this really the face of ha's collapse into violence he and the armed gangs he leads saying the country's been controlled by corrupt politicians for more than a decade the UN now calling what's happening in Haiti cataclysmic saying there has to be.

Immediate action bold action they say more than 1500 people have been killed because of gang violence this year alone guad Venegas is following this story for us and guad it is very rare access to this gang leader here who's also telling Sky News the possibility of more violence is not over he is so he seems to be the most.

Powerful person or individual in Haiti at the moment you know as we've had conversations with members of the haitian-american community here in Miami who are in touch with friends and family in Haiti we always talk about the gangs and why they think I ask them why they think they have so much power and what they tell us is that well these gangs.

Also offer protection for a lot of the individuals that live in neighborhoods where there are no police officers and there's no other type of government government so one of the reasons why these gangs are so powerful is because they are backed by neighborhoods or by residents that have no other option we've been waiting now for some time for.

This presidential Council uh that was set to then get together and officially name an interim Prime uh Minister that would then try to take the country into the next step which would be to hold to hold elections that seems to be the one thing that everyone agrees on in Haiti and the Haitian American Community here that we spoken to is that they want to.

See elections but uh with the amount of violence and the no government in place it's difficult to think that elections would be held anytime soon as for the Americans that were in Haiti when this violence escalated the US government has been working hard to evacuate those that have asked for help the federal government has been able to evacuate.

More than 400 Americans and then you also have the State of Florida uh the Florida Division of Emergency Management has been able to evacuate more than a 100 FL and these efforts heli are incredibly difficult because they need to contract private security on the ground those security officers have to go door too to to be able to rescue the.

Individuals the Americans and then sometimes even use helicopters to take them to where the airplanes are at that can then bring them to the United States um at least the State of Florida has been doing that the US federal government has also been using helicopters to get people out of Haiti and into the Dominican Republic and then.

Then there's the question of that Kenyan peacekeeping force that the United Nations agreed on uh Kenya already said that they won't be sending in that peacekeeping Force unless there's a government in place and a prime minister in place but that was sort of the solution that was proposed by the International Community but at the same.

Time hie Haitians say they want to figure this out on their own without the influence from the International Community so it's just very difficult to see what's going to happen next you know we had a top state department official on the show I think it was just about 48 hours ago asked him about this issue of weapons coming into Haiti um the weapons.

That are being used I know that you've been doing some exclusive reporting on this with access now to seized weapons what else can you tell us hi we've seen the images of the gangs walking around the streets with those guns the same guns that members of the military have so what you're seeing here are images of the seiz weapons that Homeland Security.

Investigation has been able to find in shipments that were going to Haiti now these weapons that soldiers use I'm not a weapons expert but what I was told is some of these are called anti-material rifles which means they can Pierce through walls Vehicles even sandbags those are the types of weapons that are being smuggled into Haiti we were able.

To go into the office of Homeland Security investigations and see these weapons in person and we also went to an area a very particular part of Miami now this is key to the smuggling in Miami we have an area which is the Port of Miami at the Miami River with smaller freighter now these freighter are allowed to have shipments with smaller.

Goods or secondhand Goods that people take to an area to like a warehouse and they say I want to send this to Haiti a few boxes and they're allowed to put these boxes in the freighter without those having to go in containers and going through the formal process that usually takes place when you ship things abroad this is because that's the way.

Things have been going into the Caribbean now the Smugglers or criminal organizations are taking advantage of that system to be able to hide a lot of these weapons and boxes and a lot of the humanitarian Aid that needs to go from Haiti into that area here's part of the conversation that I had with one of the agents is this a daily occurrence that.

You guys are finding weapons it's a very regular regular occurrence it it sometimes daily have been flow with it but yeah it wouldn't be uncommon to get daily weapon Caesar coming out of Miami so again incredibly difficult to stop because we don't have enough people to check every box they have to keep those shipments going because a lot of.

Food and humanitarian Aid goes from the US to Haiti through that route quad Vega Squad it's important reporting we're glad that you're bringing it to us tonight and more of it thanks Squad we'll Air Tonight on top story with top Tom yamus at 7 o'clock Eastern right here on NBC news now do not miss that lots to come on this Friday night also.

Just into us now we're learning from the Vatican Pope Francis will skip the traditional Good Friday Stations of the Cross at the Coliseum in Rome he was supposed to lead the ceremony this is a live look right here at the ceremony it is happening as we speak obviously in Rome it's later than it is here in the United States that's why it's dark the.

Vatican says this is meant to preserve the Pope's Health ahead of tomorrow's vigil and Easter Sunday mass he'll watch tonight's ceremony from his Home Instead This is the only event Pope Francis has missed so far in this very busy Holy Week leading up to Easter the most sacred time for Catholics around the world he actually had to skip this last.

Year because of cold weather remember that's right after he got out of the hospital where he was treated for bronchitis he's still planning to be the rest of his events on the schedule this year giving mass and trying to portray some strength after fighting health issues these last four months remember he's 87 he's had intestinal surgery he's.

Had lung inflammation all in just the past year we're going to be keeping an eye on this and have more coverage tonight and throughout the weekend of course what's happening at Rome for Easter weekend here on the show so the pope not the only one scaling down Easter weekend plans the royal family is as well after the palace announced.

Prince William and Princess Kate with be skipping Easter obviously that's after her announcement that she's being treated for cancer Kensington Palace remember had said initially way back when that Easter would be the first date she'd come back to public duties after abdominal surgery they said that back when we first learned the surgery that's.

Typically a time when you see the whole royal family together the palace says the king who is also going through treatment for cancer will be at services this weekend I want to get to Josh Letterman on this okay Josh um different looking Easter right not unexpected based on some of what's going on the health issues that the royal family.

Faces but talk us through what we expect shortterm and maybe even medium to longterm here well hopefully this will not be the new normal Hy where we have some of the top Royals out of sight right I mean this is supposed to be a temporary situation while they are fighting cancer and this has already become something.

That we've gotten used to over the last few months we haven't seen Princess Kate hold a public event since December ahead of that surgery that she had in January which was of course before they discovered that she she actually had cancer and at the time that she had surgery in January anticipated that she'd be in the public eye holding.

Events after Easter now that we know that they found uh that there had been cancer present and she's undergoing preventative chemo we don't know whether that time or it will be longer until her and as far as the king who also had surgery in January they realized that he had cancer you know they've tried to find ways to put him out there for him.

To be accessible even though with a compromised immune system he can't be out and about like he would be at a typical Easter shaking hands with people and interacting with the public it kind of reminds me in a way of covid when we got used to trying to interact with people uh via Zoom or other ways where we weren't directly exposed and so we've.

Seen the palace uh put him out uh in videos uh in terms of Rea interactions he's had with the Prime Minister and others including in a recording they released yesterday normally he would have given a speech for Holy Thursday instead they released an audio recording of the king listen to what he had to.

Say we need and benefit greatly from those who extend the hand of friendship to us especially in a time of need the king seemed to be alluding there to all of the well-wishes that have been coming toward him and his family as both he and Princess Kate are now fighting cancer and while that was an audio recording we didn't get to see.

Him yesterday we do expect that the king will be visible on Sunday at the uh Easter Service uh at Windsor Castle uh even though he won't be quite as public as he would have been in years past we do expect both he and queen Camila will attend that service but we are told that Princess Kate Prince William and their three kids they are planning to lay low.

This Easter and stay totally out of the public Josh Letterman live for us there overseas Josh thank you to a decision now on that long awaited menthol cigarette Bay that could be delayed again a decision we were supposed to see at the end of last year it was pushed to this month and it may get punted more.

Public Health Advocates have been working to ban menthol cigarettes for years data shows it would lead to one in four Menthol smokers quitting smoking altogether if it were to be banned the FDA says more than half a million deaths could have been avoided over the last four decades if these kinds of cigarettes were not in the US anymore I.

Want to bring in Aaron gilchris near the White House um explain to us here right there are some political implications what has the quote unquote hold up in yeah well so hi I mean this has been a controversial issue off and on o over several years as you mentioned there are public health groups that had been anticipating some action from the White.

House on this ban this month as you as you said after the ban was was sort of punted back in December was really quietly delayed by the White House now we've been tracking this rule process that the FDA decisions like this have to go through there's a an Office of Management and budget website that indicated really a final decision would.

Come this month or could come this month and now we are past the close of business for today on the last business day of the month and no ban and so we don't expect that we're going to be seeing that happen anytime soon as you noted Public Health experts have been pushing to ban menthol cigarettes for some time now they say that the science.

On this is clear and that black Americans in particular seem to be targeted by the marketers of these menthol cigarette products and more adversely impacted by this type of cigarette FDA data showing that 85% of black smokers use menthol cigarettes compared to about 30% of white smokers and there's some research that suggests.

That we could see more than half a million lives saved by a ban like this the tobacco industry has been fighting the idea of a ban saying that it would create or potentially could create uh an illegal market for for cigarettes and as you noted this is something that the Biden Administration has not commented on widely uh as we've been looking at.

This ban coming from the FDA it is an election year uh and so we know that this is a this is a ban that would impact a key voting block a key part of the Biden Coalition if you will and so we'll be looking to see if this is an action that gets taken this year hie uh before the election or something that happens after Aaron Gilchrist live for.

Us there outside the White House Aaron thank you so much lots more to get to after the break including millions of Americans spending now like there's no tomorrow new numbers out today explain the so-called YOLO economy and does your brain kind of work a lot like Instagram a new study says maybe we've got that next are you spending money like there's.

No tomorrow turns out thousands of Americans are with new data showing that we are in what's being called a YOLO economy that's how the Washington Post puts it totally different reaction now right than after the 2008 recession or even going back to the Great Depression what is a YOLO economy means a lot of people are spending a lot more money on.

Like big flashy stuff live entertainment is up9 billion dollar from before covid travel internationally those foreign trips nearly $40 billion more from 2019 to now of course if you're spending on that probably not saving as much and you can see that in the chart here before the pandemic Americans put away like 8 % of their paychecks this huge Spike.

Obviously in April 2020 heart of the co pandemic now down to just 4% the fed's preferred data today showing prices up 2 and a half% from February of last year to this year Brian Chung is joining us now what's interesting is this idea of like a YOLO economy is reflected in some of these new inflation numbers showing things like services are up Goods down.

Yeah and one important thing to note though about the yo economy is that it's only for a subsect of the economy right I mean those that are lower income are likely not splurging on some of those more luxurious things but look at the end of the day this is all reflected in the aggregate numbers that we get in the form of the personal consumption.

Expenditures it's just a boring term that describes one measure of inflation and this shows that prices over the year-over-year period February of this year compared to February of last year went up by 2.5% on a monthly basis compared to January it went up by. 3% so prices are still going up but interestingly it's different depending.

On what type of price you're looking at so prices for the things that we buy Goods have actually gone down year-over-year by 0.2% now much but take a look at services so paying for people to do stuff for us has gotten a lot more expensive 3.8% what are specifically getting more expensive things like for example airfare as you mentioned so you.

Look at international airfare specifically that is getting more expensive also take a look at financial services and insurance motor vehicles and parts and not just that it's also insurance so these are the things again that are Services usually you're paying for someone to fly you from New York to Los Angeles you are paying for someone.

To manage your money you are paying for someone to fix your cars so these are all really interesting facets of the economy even several years out from the pandemic Al okay so the next question to our resident fed expert what is what do these numbers mean for what the FED could do about interest rates I thought You' never ask hie well what all this.

Tells us is that the Federal Reserve is still really not expected to do all that much that's because right now the expectation is when the FED meets next on May 1st that they won't cut interest rates and they haven't cut interest rates for the last few months although they also haven't further raised interest rates now the question is when.

Will they start to cut interest rates as this guy Jerome Powell has teased before he's the head of the Federal Reserve that could begin in June now for what it's worth these expectations are coming from market pricing investors are betting that it might happen in June if that happens maybe that offers a little bit of alleviation to the things that.

Interest rates are tied to like mortgage rates like car rates like uh credit card rates which have been very elevated as of late so we'll have to watch what this guy said this guy actually spoke today and he was mentioning that the inflation numbers that we got this morning seem to be in line with the expect might cut rates at some point we just.

Don't know when Brian CH I'm glad we got that in thank you Brian appreciate it good to see you on the show so tonight's original now with in-depth reporting on a topic we've been watching and tonight it's the hundreds of thousands of fast food workers in California who will get a little more cash in their pockets starting Monday it's because a new law.

Will kick in raising the minimum wage to 20 bucks an hour up from 16 that is huge for workers because of those higher costs we just talked about but some business owners we heard from worry what it means for them might they have to close their doors because of it here's Mora Barrett with more the $4 an hour pay raise could boost paychecks for an.

Estimated 500,000 fast food workers in California but in the leadup to the new $20 minimum wage policy taking effect April 1st business owners like Amir samati and San Jose project a pinch as an owner or as an employer you have to have like coverage to pay them if you cannot you have to shut your door during the pressure of the pandemic MTI says he.

Didn't lay off any workers or cut hours with the new increase though he's not sure he can afford that same protection a collective of franchises for Pizza Hut and Roundtable Pizza already indicated plans to lay off at least 1,200 delivery drivers this year according to the Wall Street Journal Roundtable Pizza tells NBC News the franchisee is transferring.

Their delivery services to third party calling it unfortunate but we look at this as a transfer of jobs Pizza Hut has not returned our request for comment and has not said publicly the change is connected to the new law others said they've cus hiring or cut back on workers hours Governor Gavin Nome signed the fast act into law last fall this is.

A big deal $20 an hour requiring the pay bump at any fast food chain with 60 or more locations nationwide like Pizza Hut or Panera Bread that's a 25% increase from the state's broader $16 minimum wage which had grown over the last8 years it's a result in part from a decade of fight for $15 protests the movement now ballooning to a fight from.

$20 motto in response to inflation and higher cost of living but this law is just for one industry those who work in fast food what is the point of having a separate minimum wage for fast food workers versus just across the board it's very very unusual to have a separate minimum wage for a particular sector I still think there's this common.

Misconception that oh well that business owner makes a lot of money they can afford it that might be true right um but that doesn't mean they won't change their behavior when the minimum wage goes goes up some low scool workers lose their jobs and while it threatens those jobs consumers could be eating the new cost too McDonald's chipotle and Jack in.

The Box have already said they'd raise menu prices in response to the law creating several losers in a play that was sold as one that would win Mora is joining us now Mora it's great to see you here on set in Washington um so as we're looking ahead to what happens Monday there right I know you've been talking with experts.

Here with some questions about whether a pay raise like this actually is the most effective way to help workers basically Economist it feels like it should be it seems like it Point Blank right but the way it looks to Economist when you dig a Little Deeper they told me it's essentially political theater it makes people like Governor Nome look really.

Good because it says he's doing something but what happens is you raise the minimum wages the businesses feel it like we laid out in the package there but also you don't have to raise taxes and then you don't really see any changes in the Bud budget deficit it really just hurts those employees when the businesses can't keep up now there.

Is a real need for wage adjustment when it comes to this industry the fast food industry actually has more workers living in poverty than any other industry but economists tell me that something like a tax credit for those workers would be more effective that's interesting morber thank you so much for that reporting appreciate it let's get.

You over to the five things our team thinks you should know about tonight number one Syria blaming Israel for air strikes that killed more than 40 people overnight the strikes reportedly hit missile Depot belonging to hezb one Human Rights group calling it The Deadliest such attack in years Israeli officials have not commented on the.

Strikes number two the family of Riley strain now calling for a second autopsy remember he's the 22-year-old student from Missouri who went missing on a trip to Nashville his body was found about 2 weeks later his family says the autopsy has only raised more questions like why he was found with no pants no shoes they say they want more details about what.

Happened police say strain's death continues to appear accidental number France looking for help from other countries to make sure the Olympics are safe this summer the government's reached out to about 46 other nations asking them to send a couple thousand police officers to Paris that's after France raised its security alert to the.

Highest level after that attack on a Russian Concert Hall number four Oppenheimer premiering in Japan today eight months after the movie was released around the rest of the world remember the film got some criticism for its marketing approach in Japan with some movie goers telling the Associated Press they like it but the former mayor.

Of Hiroshima saying the horror of nuclear weapons was not sufficiently depicted he still says he's encouraging people to go see number five a new study on experiments in mice is giving us some new insight into how our brains could form memories researchers studying mice and mazes say the brain sends out signals to essentially tag certain.

Experiences when they're awake then when they're asleep they replay those same signals over and over again sort of like saving memories for later scientists say it shows how important sleep or rest may be to creating permanent memories and isn't kind of funny it kind of works like your favorite Instagram post you click like you got it you can go back to.

It that kind of thing coming up here on NBC News exclusive why the ca's top cyber expert tells her own kids not to touch Tik Tok and why this fish in Florida May spin itself into Extinction NBC News covers hundreds of stories every day and because it can be tough to read or watch or listen to them.

All our Bureau teams have done it for you this is what the tell us is going down in their regions in a segment we call the local out of our Northeast Bureau take a look at this video a man chasing a woman down a street in New York following her for several stops on the subway the NYPD says the man even follow her after she moved training cars.

Then ran after Chasing The woman Inside a building police are asking anybody who sees them to call their tip line out of our Western Bureau Police in California going after a car that sped off during a traffic stop only to find a 9-year-old behind the wheel police found the car in the middle of an intersection it wasn't moving and after.

Telling the driver like go he sped away in a chase that ended near an elementary school this kiddo said he was just trying to get to school fortunately nobody got hurt out of our Southern Bureau officials say the endangered small tooth sawfish they're dying at very alarming rates in the water in Florida they're.

Doing this weird thing where there can you tell right there they're spinning around in the water experts don't know why they're spinning and spinning basically spinning themselves out of existence Wildlife agencies are now launching emergency efforts in the first ever attempt to rescue that fish from the wild to an NBC News exclusive now.

With the cia's top cyber security official sounding the alarm on threats she's watching heading into this critical election year and at the top of that list I bet you believe it tick tock there's been so much talk about it especially as it's facing a potential ban in Congress she says it could be a threat to your kids as part of Courtney.

Cub there one-on-one sit down with Julian Galina the deputy director of D digital Innovation at the CIA stepping into her new role as the country faces all kinds of cyber threats like the push to disrupt the 2024 presidential election or to put computer worms into our critical infrastructure or that big debate of course over whether Tik Tok.

Should be banned over concerns about Chinese data collection and influence you saw Court in the interview there she is joining us now live and we are so glad to have you because it's super interesting um especially the point there's been so much conversation around Tik Tok she doesn't let her kids touch it that's right and she says she.

Actually warns them off of it and at the end of the day the one thing that that Julian Galino really stresses that she's very concerned about influence campaigns so we're talking about efforts by we spoke about Russia we spoke about China um but other groups as well foreign actors who may be trying to influence us opinions and one of the main topics that.

We talked about was surrounding us elections not just the 2024 presidential elections but elections in general and in fact when we talked about some of the threats including these influence campaigns she said that at times she sees those as the more enduring and even concerning threat because they're changing people's long-term opinions and.

That can be really difficult to counter or even get to the bottom of who it is that's behind these influence campaigns but in addition to that Hy Julianne said that she is very concerned about efforts Again by both Russia and by China to influence us opinions and even influence us leadership and and and that includes lobbyists and even us leaders on Capitol.

Hill and some of their opinions and maybe even try to influence how the how they will vote hie um what else did you hear from her what else stood out to you because there's so like when you look at the landscape over the course of the next seven months there's a lot yeah so I mean I have to say this is very rare access to talk to she's the senior cyber.

Professional at the CIA and she's only been in this job for about two months and it's really an enormous undertaking that she has every single foreign adversary uh cyber potential cyber threat that's what her unit is not only responsible for detecting but also protecting and defending against it and then warning other partners in the US.

But hie the one thing I was really struck by by Julian Galina is her background now here she is is the senior woman uh in this position at the CIA in intelligence world in the cyber world but she's not new to being a leader and even breaking through glass ceilings in at the Naval Academy when she was a midshipman there more than 30 years ago.

She was the first woman ever to be selected as the command the Brigade Commander so in other words she was the highest leadership position at the Naval Academy as a woman the first woman selected for that and why that's so critical we spoke to her when I spoke to her about it she explained that as a woman in this job she faced some real.

Challenges here's what she had to say critics would say well women are um taking up space that should be going toward officer candidates who are going to serve in combat and so questions would be raised about whether or not the investment in US female mid Shipman was worth it remember in 1991 women still were not.

Allowed to serve in combat and as a sailor she wasn't even allowed to serve on some combatant ships that's what drove her into the intelligence field because women could serve as signals Intelligence Officers on combatant ships hi her first ship had 800 men and four women wow uh Courtney Q we're so glad to have that interview we're so glad to see.

A bit of it thank you there's going to be more tonight on NBC Nightly News coming up at 6:30 with Lester Holt on this show the candidate a lot of Americans want for president now a real person meet this guy literally anybody else that's his name next tonight you've got The Campaign the.

Presidential campaign in full swing President Biden finish in that star studded fundraising swing through New York former president Trump he's getting ready to make a trip to the Battleground state of Wisconsin yes the general election a race Americans don't seem to want at least a lot of them an election putting the spotlight on so-called.

Double haters meaning they don't want to vote for either of the candidates of the major parties this year you might have seen it when NBC News sent sha Brewster out to talk to folks about this watch what do you think when you see these two options not great oh boy can't say that I'm happy about either option oh hell no why is it them two again it.

Happened four years ago if somebody steps up to the plate other than these two I would consider it okay so what are the numbers to that 56% of Americans do not want Mr Trump to run again 70% were against a second term for President Biden all of it kind of given the impression that some voters would take literally anybody else.

Turns out literally anybody else is running a man literally named literally anybody else he's an army vet and a Texas teacher who you see it on his driver's licensed he changed his name from Dustin eie to literally anybody else he joins us now thank you very much for being on the show so talk us through where the idea.

To do this came from so it was just came out of a sense of dissatisfaction from the last election when it was the first round of trump and Biden you know it was I went to the polls dissatisfied you know and I thought to myself it would be so much better if we had a way to kind of reset the election you know to have a neither.

Option you know or just to say literally anybody else and um when Biden's term started going around you know last year I bought the domain to for kind of commercial purposes cuz I thought hey why not make some money if uh other people are feeling the way I'm feeling just so literally anybody t-shirt the coffee mug the candle and.

But as we got closer and closer and further further down the election season you know I saw the opportunity and and the value of the name to kind of gather attention and you know and um just to kind of use that attention to kind of send the message hey like we we need to do better and so well so talk to me about that we're showing your website.

Right now and on it right on your platform I suppose you you write that literally anybody else isn't just a person it's a rally cry what are you trying to Rally people towards what is the message so anybody who feels like wanting anybody else other than Trump and Biden if.

That resonates with you you know that right there it brings people together under one thought one idea you know everybody has this kind of senses like we don't want this but our voices are separated so this kind of brings the chorus together to the song and hopes of being heard you know if you know we're just kind of separated and spread out.

You know we we can say our peace but I feel like we're not represented and that's kind of the core behind it like I want this campaign to be about representation to be about you know saying this is what we want you should you know accommodate that as the government you know we're we're a democracy you know where by the people.

Of the people for the people and if almost 70% of your people are not represented no matter who wins that's not that's not democracy that's not acceptable and that's what this is supposed to be well let me ask you this um and because I know that you are taking the steps to try to file right to get on some of these ballots the ballot.

Access is obviously critical for any presidential campaign fundraising Etc you've talked about your message here and we're showing here the name of your committee the committee to elect literally anybody else for president and I ask this respectfully is this symbolic your run for the presidency or are you serious is it.

Serious it's kind of a mixture of both so I feel like uh for the M for the most part it is a symbolic run but any kind of uh symbolic action without you know following through it just it it felt Hollow to me so I will continue to take the steps to get on the ballot you know because and you know I'm amazed at just how much support that this is getting.

Like I'm getting calls constantly not just from you know media and the news but from everyday citizens I mean while I was waiting to come in here I had two calls from just everyday people saying how much that they love what I'm doing and that they want to help they want to donate they want to get out there and you know get the petition signatures not.

Just in Texas either this morning I had someone in Hawaii saying he wanted to be the boots on the ground there and so it's it's practically impossible it's for all intense purposes impossible but the more support we get you know there is an unseen Tipping Point where it could happen and so I will keep striving um toward that right there and.

If it happens it happens but at the very least the message is sent and it sounds like the message you're aiming right the message that you're aiming at are the what we call the double haters right the people who do not want to see Donald Trump the people who do not want to see Joe Biden in the white house but there are other options right I mean there's a.

Bunch of campaigns up and running that are meant to offer voters other options looking at specifically RFK Jr right who we know is running who just picked a vice presidential candidate here why do you think that independent campaigns have not gained More Steam if there is such an appetite as you say for people who don't want either of the U the sort.

Of big party main party options well it's exactly what I said earlier I mean trying to uh gather these um estranged voices into one uh candidate is quite difficult like I could have never run under Dustin Eevee if I had run under Dustin Evee I wouldn't be here you know in this interview right here so stunt helps to.

Get the attention right I mean that seems to be the thesis for here yes the gimmick got your attention watch me as I earn your vote that's essentially what this is saying let me ask you this this is all over as you say the core of it is being able to choose who you want the most not who you want the least um at the core of.

It if this is all let's say this is December and you come back on the show and we're talking and you're not the president of the United States do you see a future politics for you is it back to the classroom uh this is not I don't consider myself a politician I have you know a lot of you know what I believe.

Good ideas for sure but you know I don't I don't enjoy the level of scrutiny that you know politics would bring you know if this this message right here specifically is you know like like my friends say the juice is worth the squeeze um but to have that kind of constant scrutiny for the rest of my life is just not something that I feel.

Like I would ask for it's not something I feel like my wife would ask for either you know if you're that high-profile all the time you know you lose kind of connection with who you are before then and you know I'm I'm still going to be dust and eie after November no matter what and I don't want to lose that will you change your name back oh for sure.

Win or lose it's this was a gimmick and I don't want to live the rest of my life as a gimmick this was all about getting attention um forwarding the idea and resonating with people who shared that sentiment thank you so much for being on the show this afternoon uh this evening really appreciate your time thank you very much.

Hy we are coming on the air with divers heading back into the water in Baltimore for the huge cleanup of this bridge collapse with no timeline right now a massive crane coming in to try to help the president headed there next week we're live on the scene with new details on just how dangerous this could be.

We're also live in Atlanta with the travel trouble that could hit thousands of people this holiday weekend the nasty wet weather a lot of folks are bracing for plus your forecast in just a second then a Wall Street Journal reporter now held captive for a year in Russia the new outpouring of support for Evan gershkovich from his parents and.

Journalists all around the world then in NBC News exclusive with the new Cyber expert for the CIA how she says the country is getting ready for the potential for foreign election interference and why millions of Americans are spending big on fun and saving on none we're explaining today's YOLO economy later in the show hey there.

I'm hie and tonight we start with that huge that complicated that dangerous cleanup mission in Baltimore with the Army Corps of Engineers calling it one of the biggest challenges they've ever faced you've got President Biden heading to the city next week as the biggest crane on the Eastern Seaboard is now on the scene of this catastrophic bridge.

Collapse we're about to show it to you you can actually see it in the next slide we're going to show you in just a second um with hundreds of tons of Twisted Metal and concrete that's it right this huge this massive operation to clear that very important channel the Patapsco River and to reopen one of the country's busiest ports it's now been.

Four days since a cargo ship that lost power slammed into one of the pillars of the bridge bringing it down killing at least six construction workers State officials late today announcing a plan for a new scholarship for the children of those men who died on the job and we're also just learning divers are set to go back into the water now freezing.

Cold water Pitch Black Water they're going to have lights and torches to try to cut apart the chunks of Steel with the governor warning clean up and rebuilding this is going to take a very long time the big part and one of the challenges is that the Key Bridge which sits on top of the vessel right now that.

That weight is somewhere between three and 4,000 tons so our team needs to cut that trust into sections in a safe in a responsible and in an efficient way before it can lift those pieces out of the water Tom Castello is following all the updates from Baltimore he is joining us now so the arrival of this crane this is.

Critical in this Mission moving forward talk us through what the next 48 hours looks like we've moved positions hie cuz we wanted to get closer to the crane and here it is this is called the onton Train the Chesapeake onton train it is massive I mean it is a monster monster crane it is the biggest one on the Eastern Seaboard.

And so now that is close to we're we're not far from I don't know maybe a third of a mile from the actual uh Bridge that's down and that's over my other shoulder I'm going to ask gudy to just slide the camera over a little bit but he's shooting into the Sun so bear with them not an easy shot but right there you can see is the bridge so we've got.

The the onton crane on site here and there's the bridge and and hie I got to tell you you can't appreciate why this bridge would have been hit would have been hit and would have come down being hit by a ship until you see how big the ship is uh you and when you're driving past it you realize oh my gosh this thing is massive in in.

Fact it's about 985 ft and that that's almost as tall as the Eiffel Tower I mean it is huge and it's stacked high of course with all of that cargo and it weighs so much that is why all of this has happened that is why that that famous bridge has come down when we talk about the timeline here right they're not going to immediately start using.

This crane to go out there and start pulling it out they can't as you suggested they've got to cut all of these pieces up they can't put divers in the water until they fully mapped it out with sonar and with radar and then they will very carefully put divers in the water because it is very risky because that metal the Twisted Metal from the.

Bridge is razor sharp they're worried that divers could cut themselves cut an oxygen line or what have you and they're very concerned as well that that entire that entire rack wreck rather is Shifting underwater as well as on top of the ship hi and you can see it too Tom I mean it's windy there the conditions that is still such a question mark and.

It's not the only question mark uh the timeline the expense of this to get this cleaned out to get the port reopened to eventually rebuild this bridge the Maryland governor has been extremely clear almost from the jump that it is going to be a long time no absolutely I mean the the the Army Corp Engineers would not give me a.

Timeline for when they think that they're going to be able to open the port because there are so many variables so many unknowns outside Engineers are thinking a month but but you know the Army Corps is not sure we're going to have 40 vessels on site here within a week or so that includes cranes and barges and.

Coast Guard and support ships at least 40 vessels and barges on site here within a few days and it's a massive collaboration and coordination you just don't suddenly start pulling stuff up out of the water they want to be as precise as they can be Tom Castello thank you very much for uh that live shot there looking right at it uh in.

Baltimore thank you so listen folks traveling for spring break or for Easter might get hit with some pretty bad weather that could mess up your flights or at the very least maybe your picnic plans you've got this big storm moving into California that has more than 20 million people under flood watches through Sunday we're talking the.

Potential for rain for snow for a lot of wind and this holiday travel surge could mean a big impact on flights across the country those are the trouble spots there if you hear them the FAA says next week will be the busiest of the Season we've got our team posted up at the airport priia shadar in Atlanta meteorologist Angie covering a two priia.

Um how bad is it right I mean this is a it's not Thanksgiving travel week we know it's not the end of the world right but there's a lot of people that are heading out for the holidays for Easter Etc talk us through it yeah and it's not just spring break and Easter as you mentioned it's also that total solar eclipse that's.

Scheduled to happen on Monday April 8th that have a lot of people excited and preparing their own travel plans here at the Atlanta airport airport officials say they were expecting 7.6 million travelers to pass through here between.

About this spring break travel period is that this level of travel or this level of air passengers I should say is expected to continue into next week with the FAA expecting 50,000 Travelers per day with especially busy days occurring on April 4th and 5th ahead of that solar eclipse that I was talking about before so they urge people to get to the.

Airport early if they can two and a half ear two and a half hours early is what they're telling people to do also try to hitch a ride to the airport maybe take an Uber instead of driving here cuz they're expecting that parking really could be limited um in airports across the country hi priia live for us there in Atlanta Pria thank you very much at.

Springing meteorologist Angie lman so lay out the timeline lay out the forecast what are we looking at yeah so hie we're looking at a couple of trouble spots mainly West Coast I think folks in California specifically you've had a rough couple of months really wet couple of months it's helped with our drought conditions out there uh but it it's.

Causing a headache likely over the next couple of days right now the heaviest of that rain is just south of the Bay Area folks in San Francisco and points south of that between King City that's where we've seen the heaviest of the rain that isn't the only batch of rain that you're going to see we've got a low pressure system that's going to work some rounds.

Repeated rounds of heavy rain on Shore over the next day or so and into even potentially your Sunday from San Louis aiso down to San Diego though we are preemptively looking at the potential for some flooding there's a flood watch in effect more than 20 million people and here's why here's a look through the rest of your day today yes that Heavy.

Rain along the coast in parts of the mountains will pick up some additional snow but even into tomorrow we'll start to see some of the heavier rain working into Southern California vulnerable areas for landslides and mudslides and on top of that parts of the of the desert Southwest are going to pick up on some rain and potentially some snow.

Across the Rockies as well by the time Sunday rolls around a lot of places in California will start to dry out specifically the bay area but notice Southern California La San Diego still dealing with those repeated rounds of Rain by the time we get into Sunday likely picking up 3 to 5 Ines of rain in some of the mountains and Foothill areas.

That's where we're most concerned for those things I mentioned the mudslides the landslides the flooding concerns the washed out roads we'll also pick up some snow the highest amounts look to be across the Sierra range maybe a foot to two feet possible but across the Rockies will'll pick up some snow as well and we're not leaving out the rest of the.

Country there is just one little quick mover that we're going to have to watch hi over the next day or so to bring some rain to the Northeast and then eventually parts of the Midwest Angie lastman thank you very much let's take you overseas now because the leader of One of hai's most powerful gangs known as barbecue that's what they call.

Him he's now telling Sky News he's open to calling for a ceasefire if his organization of armed gangs is included in peace talks listen so barbecue as they call him he's become kind of the face of Haiti's collapse into violence he and the armed gangs he leads say the country has been.

Controlled by corrupt politicians for more than a decade with the UN calling what's happening in Haiti right now cataclysmic saying there has to be immediate action bold action they say more than 1,500 people been killed because of gang violence this year alone guad Venegas has been following the story for us it is not often right that.

We hear from a like a gang leader in a moment of Crisis like this but barbecue is giving this access to Sky News dismissive of the transitional government that's supposed to lead Haiti towards its next steps here um and yet if you can call it a shift in tone maybe that's what we're hearing a shift in tone that's correct.

Hy so barbeq is a very particular leader of a gang in Haiti he appears to like going on camera he's spoken to other individuals on camera some of it going on social media but the the messaging has been mixed now we're hearing uh a different attitude saying that he's willing to discuss now the issue with what he's bringing up is that the.

International Community this is the Caribbean CARICOM and the United States backing them as well as France and Mexico all decided to back the decision to create that presidential Council and the members of that council do not represent the gangs and those are the ones that have been uh designated to choose the next intern prime minister so.

That's where the gangs have an issue because although they control a large part of porter prins in other parts of the country they are not part of that discussion here's another part of that interview that barbecue gave to Sky and when he makes reference to what he says was a corrupt government he's.

Making reference to the former prime minister Al andri and other leaders of Haiti that the gangs believe and and this is also something Ali that I've heard with members of the haitian-american community here in Miami a lot of them immigrants that have recently come to the US most of them telling me that they believe that the.

Governments that have been ruling in Haiti were backed by the United States and they feel like the International Community has had a lot of influence in the decisions made by those governments and that's one of the reasons why the gangs and a lot of people in Haiti did not support AEL HRI who's the former prime minister now uh who's waiting to.

Be replaced by whomever this new presidential Council decides to name as the Prime Minister and that next prime minister will have to work to hold elections that's the one thing hie that the members of the gangs and the people of Haiti have agreed on everyone wants to see Haiti have elections once again to pick a new president there's also the.

The piece of it with the US uh um involved in trying to get Americans stuck in Haiti out we know the Biden Administration has says they've gotten more than 450 Americans evacuated essentially Florida at the state level has also been getting Americans out so far more than a 100 at the same time the US is trying to get help in right.

Humanitarian Aid to the people who need it food water medicine and you've got some exclusive reporting about how that system is being taken advantage of right right because the system in place to ship goods to Haiti is also perfect for organizations criminal organizations that's smuggle weapons into the country so you've got the official humanitarian.

Aid that's sent by the Us and other countries but there's also a lot of stuff that gets sent by individuals in places like Florida to friends and family and they use these freighter ships in the Miami area there's an area in the Miami River that's also a port of entry and it's a very interesting uh mechanism to ship goods to Haiti it's.

Necessary for people to ship a lot of these humanitarian Goods but but because of the way it's done it's also very easy to put weapons inside a lot of these boxes here's part of a conversation we had with a special agent with Homeland Security investigations is this a daily occurrence that you guys are finding.

Weapons it's a very regular regular occurrence it it sometimes daily have been flow with it but yeah it wouldn't be uncommon to get daily weapon Cesar coming out of Miami and you can see the packages that were behind him those are the types of packages that get dropped off and they can't be checked there's no machine to.

See what's inside and we're talking thousands inside of that warehouse one of the many warehouses where people ship a lot of these items that again criminals take advantage of to smuggle the weapons and issue that the United Nations has said is affecting Haiti and the United Nations also say that most of the weapons in the country come from the.

US and in particular from Florida hiy guad venez um we are so glad to have the depth of your reporting here for us as we continue to watch what's happening in Haiti thank you you can see more of gad's full exclusive report right here on NBC news now keep on watching a little bit longer that's coming up on top story with top Tom yamus in just a.

Bit 7:00 eastern right here also overseas today marks one year since the Detention of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan gershkovich as his friends and family are thinking about everything he's missed while he's been behind bars in Russia in a conversation with our Andrea Mitchell listen it's been a year Evan is not here.

We knew that it it's going to be Marathon but still had hopes that it will be sooner he spent all four seasons there he spent his birthday and all the holidays and we want him home as soon as possible look at the front page of the Wall Street Journal today dramatic and Powerful the headline one year stolen.

His story should be here and instead just a big Blank Space it's because gershkovich of course is in this notorious Moscow prison known for its harsh condition while he waits to go on trial on Espionage charges charges that he The Wall Street Journal the government of the United States all deny with the US calling him wrongfully.

Detained President Biden today marking this somber moment in a statement saying journalism is not a crime Evan went to Russia to do his job as a reporter and that as he's told Evan's parents President Biden will never give up hope either of getting Evan back home Kier Simmons is joining us now the president talking about trying to stay optimistic.

Evan gershkovich is family talking about trying to stay optimistic um and yet here we are one year to the day after he was wrongfully held that's right and the message they're trying to send is that he is a journalist and he was doing a journalist's job that he is innocent that he shouldn't be in uh the prison uh.

There he shouldn't be appearing in uh Court the way that you're seeing there in those pictures I had to say that the way that we've seen him uh he does appear to be physically fit and and the uh US ambassador has been able to pay visits says that he is mentally strong but that message they are just determined to keep getting that message.

Out there and and let's just uh look at another one of those articles in the Wall Street Journal incredible powerful copy of the Wall Street Journal today it says evanovich's stolen year in a Russian jail there has been a burst of weddings and engagements of friends from high school and college he's missed a year of monumental changes and Intrigue.

In Russian reporting a Cornerstone of many his of his friendships with with the pters and a key part of his identity and and that just goes to the point the chilling effect that his arrest has had on on journalism we should say that uh journalists in Russia who have criticized the Kremlin have been been crushed over the years uh but what the.

Impact of Evan gershkovich is arrest hie has been that it's more difficult even for reporters from outside Russia to go there and tell the world what's really going on and that's a crucial thing uh that needs to be that's a crucial story that needs to be told yeah there's also this question I mean we've seen it with some of these other individuals who have.

Been held wrongfully detained considered by the US in Russia and um it's an understatement to say it is not easy to make deals to do what needs to be done to get them out and obviously that is the case with EV gersich here so what is the what is what do we know about the plan to try to actually get him released is everybody says they want.

To see yeah look he's on he's in on pre-trial detention and that means that he could be held almost indefinitely he's not being tried right now the hearings are about whether he could be just released from being held for the time being if you like uh so yeah it is a a massive challenge not least because the Kremlin has pretty clearly indicated.

That it would like to see an FSB officer who's in jail for murder in Germany released and of course the US can't just tell Germany what to do it this is extremely difficult puzzle Kier Simmons we're glad to have you covering this important story on this critical day thank you very much you bet we're just learning in really just the last 60.

Minutes or so that Pope Francis at the Vatican has now skipped the traditional Good Friday Stations of the Cross at the Coliseum in Rome he was supposed to lead this ceremony about to look at it here the Vatican says this is to preserve his health ahead of tomorrow's vigil and Easter Sunday mass the pope watched tonight's ceremony from home were told.

Instead and this is the only event Pope Francis has missed so far in this very busy Holy Week leading up to Easter this is the most sacred time for Catholics around the world tonight's event something that the pope had to skip last year also because it was really cold remember that was right after he got out of the hospital where he was treated for.

Bronchitis the Pope's still planning to be at the rest of the events on his schedule this year giving Mass this morning trying to show some strength here after fighting health issues in the last few months he's 87 he's dealt with not just the bronchitis but just in the last year intestinal surgery lung inflammation as well we will be watching.

To see the pope of course this critical Easter weekend more coverage to come on NBC and the pope is not the only one scaling back at least to a degree Easter weekend plans this year the royal family is as well after the palace announced Prince William and Princess Kate would be skipping Easter services that happened when this video came out as I'm.

Sure you know when the princess announced she's being treated for cancer Kensington Palace even before then initially had said at one point that maybe Easter would be the date she would come back to public duties after her abdominal surgery that is obviously not going to happen but the weekend is a time when the whole royal family.

Typically comes together this year not the case the palace says the king who is also going through treatment for cancer will however attend services this weekend here's Josh Letterman joining us now different looking Easter right not unexpected based on some of what's going on the health issues that the royal family faces but talk us through what we.

Expect shortterm and maybe even me to longterm here well hopefully this will not be the new normal hle where we have some of the top Royals out of sight right I mean this is supposed to be a temporary situation while they are fighting cancer and this has already become something that we've gotten used to over the last.

Few months we haven't seen Princess Kate hold a public event since December ahead of that surgery that she had in uh January which was of course before they discovered that she she actually had cancer and at the time uh that she had surgery in January anticipated that she'd be in the public eye holding events after Easter now that we know.

That they found uh that there had been cancer present and she's undergoing preventative chemo we don't know whether that time or it be longer until her and as far as the king who also had surgery in January they realized that he had cancer you know they've tried to find ways to put him out there for him to be accessible even though with a.

Compromised immune system he can't be out and about like he would be at a typical Easter shaking hands with people interacting with the public it kind of reminds me in a way of covid when we got used to trying to interact with people uh via Zoom or other ways where we weren't directly exposed and so we've seen the palace uh put him out uh in.

Videos uh in terms of Rea interactions he's had with the Prime Minister and others including in a recording they released yesterday normally he would have given a speech for Holy Thursday in instead they released an audio recording of the king listen to what he had to say we need and benefit greatly from those who extend the hand of friendship.

To us especially in a time of need the king seemed to be alluding there to all of the well- wishes that have been coming toward him and his family as both he and Princess Kate are now fighting cancer and while that was an audio recording we didn't get to see him yesterday we do expect uh that the king.

Will be visible on Sunday at the uh Easter Service uh at Windsor Castle uh even though he won't be quite as public as he would have been in years past we do expect both he and queen Camila will attend that service but we are told that Princess Kate Prince William and their three kids they are planning to lay low this Easter and stay totally out of the.

Public eye Josh Letterman live for us there overseas Josh thank you coming up why experts say a big wage hike pay raise for fast food workers in California could be maybe a kind of copout plus why a Welsh rugby star wants to try his hand at good old American football so are you spending your money.

Like there's no tomorrow thousands of people apparently are with some new data showing we're in kind of a YOLO economy now that's how the Washington Post puts it totally different reaction now than what we saw after the 2008 recession or even going back to the Great Depression when people hoarded their money so what is a YOLO economy it means a lot more.

Spending on the really big flashy stuff the things like you know going out to see a big show that live entertainment spending is up$ N9 billion do from before covid there's like the big foreign trips international travel look at this massive Spike right nearly 40 billion more from 2019 to now but of course with all this spending means less.

Saving you can see that in the chart here before the pandemic people were putting away like eight% of their paychecks that went way up in the pandemic and then now it's down to just about 4% you've got the fed's preferred data today showing prices up 2 and a half% from February of last year to this year here's Brian Chun with more what's.

Interesting is this idea of like a YOLO economy is reflected in some of these new inflation numbers showing things like services are up Goods down yeah and one important thing to note though about about the yo economy is that it's only for a subsect of the economy right I mean those that are lower income are likely not splurging on some of those.

More luxurious things but look at the end of the day this is all reflected in the aggregate numbers that we get in the form of the personal consumption expenditures it's just a boring term that describes one measure of inflation and this shows that prices over the year-over-year period February of this year compared to February of last year.

Went up by 2.5% on a monthly basis compared to January it went up by .3% so prices are still going up but interestingly it's different depending on what type of price you're looking at so prices for the things that we buy Goods have actually gone down year-over-year by 0.2% not much but take a look at services so paying for people.

To do stuff for us has gotten a lot more expensive 3.8% what are specifically getting more expensive things like for example airfare as you mentioned so you look at international airfare specifically that is getting more expensive also take a look at financial services and insurance Motor Vehicles in parts and not just that it's also.

Insurance so these are the things again that are Services usually you're paying for someone to fly you from New York to Los Angeles you are paying for someone to manage your money you're are paying for someone to fix your car so these are all really interesting facets of the economy even several years out from the pandemic alley okay so then next.

Question to our resident fed expert what is what do these numbers mean for what the FED could do about interest rates I thought You' never ask hiy well what all this tells us is that the Federal Reserve is still really not expected to do all that much that's because right now the expectation is when the FED meets next on May 1st that they won't.

Cut interest rates and they haven't cut interest rates for the last few months although they also haven't further raised interest rates now the question is when will they start to cut interest rates as this guy Jerome Powell has teased before he's the head of the Federal Reserve that could begin in June now for what it's worth these uh.

Expectations are coming from market pricing investors are betting that it might happen in June if that happens maybe that offers a little bit of alleviation to the things that interest rates are tied to like mortgage rates like car rates like uh credit card rates which have been very elevated as of late so we have to watch what this guy said.

This guy actually spoke today and he was mentioning that the inflation numbers that we got this morning seem to be in line with the expectation that the FED might cut interest rates at some point we just don't know when hie Brian Chong I'm glad we got that in thank you Brian appreciate it good to see you on the show to tonight's original now with.

In-depth reporting on a topic we've been watching and tonight it's what's happening Monday in California where hundreds of thousands of fast food workers are going to make a little more money a new laws kicking in raising the minimum wage to 20 bucks an hour up from 16 that's big for workers because of those higher costs of living we just.

Talked about but some business owners we heard from worry they may have to close their doors here's Mora Barett the $4 an hour pay raise could boost paychecks for an estimated 500,000 fast food workers in California but in the leadup to the new $20 minimum wage policy taking effect April 1st business owners like Amir samati and San Jose.

Project a pinch as an owner or as an employer you have to have like coverage to pay them if you cannot you have to shut your door during the pressure of the pandemic MTI says he didn't lay off any workers or cut hours with the new increase though he's not sure he can afford that same protection a collective of franchises for Pizza Hut and Round.

Table Pizza already indicated plans to lay off at least 1,200 delivery drivers this year according to the Wall Street Journal Roundtable Pizza tells NBC News the franchisee is transferring their delivery services to third party calling it unfortunate but we look at this as a transfer of jobs Pizza had has not returned our request for comment and has.

Not said publicly the change is connected to the new law others said they've paused hiring or cut back on workers hours Governor Gavin Nome signed the fast act into law last fall this is a big deal $20 an hour requiring the pay bump at any fast food chain was 60 or more locations nationwide like Pizza Hut or Panera Bread that's a 25% increase.

From the state's broader $16 minimum wage which had grown over the last8 years what do we want when do we want it's result in part from a decade of fight for $15 protests the movement now ballooning to a fight for $20 motto in response to inflation and higher cost of living but this law is just for one industry those who work in fast food.

What is the point of having a separate minimum wage for fast food workers versus just across the board it's very very unusual to have a separate minimum wage for a particular sector I still think there's this common misconception that oh well that business owner makes a lot of money they can afford it that might.

Be true right um but that doesn't mean they won't change their behavior when the minimum wage goes goes up some low skilled workers lose their jobs and while it threatens those jobs consumers could be eating the new cost too McDonald's chipotle and Jack in the Box have already said they'd raise menu prices in response to the law creating.

Several losers in a play that was sold as one that would win Mora is joining us now Mora it's great to see you here on in Washington um so as we're looking ahead to what happens Monday there right I know you've been talking with experts here with some questions about whether a pay raise like this actually is the most effective way.

To help workers basically Eon it feels like it should be it seems like it Point Blank right but the way it looks to economists when you dig a Little Deeper they told me it's essentially political theater it makes people like Governor Newsome look really good because it says he's doing something but what happens is you raise the minimum wages the.

Businesses feel it like we laid out in the package there but also you don't have to raise taxes and then you don't really see any changes in the buz budget deficit it really just hurts those employees when the businesses can't keep up now there is a real need for wage adjustment when it comes to this industry the fast food industry actually.

Has more workers living in poverty than any other industry but economists tell me that something like a tax credit for those workers would be more effective that's interesting morber thank you so much for that reporting appreciate it let's get you over the five things our team thinks you should know about tonight number one attorneys for former.

President Trump and some of his reported but if you have one of these go get it fixed at the dealer they'll do it for free number four the movie Oppenheimer finally premiering in Japan today 8 months after it was released.

Around the rest of the world and it's getting some mixed reviews some movie goers tell AP journalists they liked it others say they wish the movie dealt more with a horror of nuclear weapons on those affected by them number five a Welsh rugby star now turned into the NFL we're talking about 23-year-old Lewis Reese zamid and he's known for being.

Very fast that's what got him the nickname Reese lightning he's just signed a deal to play for the champion Kansas City Chiefs he said that has been a dream after the break where Russia's biggest pop star might get labeled a foreign agent by her own country NBC News covers hundreds of.

International stories every day and because it can be tough to read or watch or listen to them all our teams around the world have done it for you here's a look at what they're watching and it's segment we call the global out of South Africa investigators are still looking for the bodies of victims from a horrific bus crash yesterday they say at.

Least 45 people died an 8-year-old child was the only Survivor after the bus lost control and went off a bridge the bus was carrying people from batswana to an easter event just one day after the government warned drivers to be careful since more than 200 people died in various Road crashes the same holiday weekend last year out of Russia.

Prosecutors asking the ministry of Justice to consider labeling the country's biggest pop star as a foreign agent no official word from the Kremlin or the singer about this yet Allah pukoa repeatedly spoke out against the war in Ukraine labeling her a foreign agent means she could be in serious trouble with officials but right now she is.

Currently abroad and out of France Renovations are almost finished on the Eiffel Tower Olympics officials say it's going to be the epicenter of the next games coming up this summer an arena for Judo and wrestling and a stadium for beach volleyball are all going up around him the T itself like if you want to go up visit still going to be open during.

The games and clearly recently it will be freshly refurbished by the time you get there to an NBC News exclusive now with the cia's top cyber security official sounding the alarm on threats she's watching heading into a critical election year telling us Tik Tock which as you know is facing a potential ban in Congress could be a threat to your kids.

All of it part of our one-on-one sit down you see Courtney cuby there along with the deputy director of digital Innovation at the CIA who's stepping into her new role as the country faces all kinds of cyber threats like the push to disrupt the 2024 presidential election or to put computer worms into our critical infrastructure or of course.

That big debate over what we just talked about whether Tik Tok should be banned because of concerns of Chinese data collection and influence you saw Courtney with that exclusive interview Court's joining us now with more we are so glad to have you because it's super interesting um especially the point there's been so much conversation.

Around Tik Tok she doesn't let her kids touch it that's right and she said she actually warns them off of it and at the end of the day the one thing that that Julian Galino really stresses that she's very concerned about influence campaigns so we're talking about efforts by we spoke about Russia we spoke about China um but other groups as well foreign.

Actors who may be trying to influence us opinions and one of the main topics that we talked about was surrounding us elections not just the 2024 presidential elections but elections in general and in fact when we talked about some of the threats including these influence campaigns she said that at times she sees those as the more enduring and even.

Concerning threat because they're changing people's long-term opinions and that can be really difficult to counter or even get to the bottom of who it is that's behind these influence campaigns but in addition to that Hy Julianne said that she is very concerned about efforts Again by both Russia and by China to influence us opinions and even influence.

Us leaders ship and and and that includes lobbyists and even us leaders on Capitol Hill and some of their opinions and maybe even try to influence how the how they will vote hie um what else did you hear from her what else stood out to you because there's so like when you look at the landscape over the course of the next seven months there's.

A lot yeah so I mean I have to say this is very rare access to talk to she's the senior cyber professional at the CIA and she's only been in this job for about two months and it's really an enormous undertaking that she has every single for foreign adversary uh cyber potential cyber threat that's what her unit is not only responsible for detecting but also.

Protecting and defending against it and then warning other partners in the US but hi the one thing I was really struck by by Julian Galina is her background now here she is is the senior woman uh in this position at the CIA in intelligence world and the Cyber world but she's not new to being a leader and even breaking through glass ceilings in.

At the Naval Academy when she was a midshipman there more than 30 years ago she was the first woman ever to be selected as the command the Brigade Commander so in other words she was the highest leadership position at the Naval Academy as a woman the first woman selected for that and why that's so critical we spoke to her when I spoke to.

Her about it she explained that as a woman in this job she faced some real challenges here's what she had to say critics would say well women are um taking up space that should be going toward officer candidate who are going to serve in combat and so questions would be raised about whether or not the investment in US female mid.

Shipman was worth it remember in 1991 women still were not allowed to serve in combat and as a sailor she wasn't even allowed to serve on some combatant ships that's what drove her into the intelligence field because women could serve as signals Intelligence Officers on combatant ships hie her first ship had 800 men and four.

For women wow uh Courtney Q we're so glad to have that interview we're so glad to see a bit of it thank you there's going to be more tonight on NBC Nightly News coming up at 6:30 with Lester Holt on this show the candidate a lot of Americans want for president now a real person meet this guy literally anybody else that's his name.

next tonight you've got The Campaign the presidental campaign in full swing President Biden finishing that star studded fundraising swing through New York former president Trump he's getting ready to make a trip to the Battleground state of Wisconsin yes the general election aace Americans don't seem to.

Want at least a lot of them an election putting the spotlight on so-called double haters meaning they don't want to vote for either of the candidates of the major parties this year you might have seen it when NBC News sent sha Brewster out to talk to folks about this watch what do you think when you see these two options not great oh boy can't say that.

I'm happy about either option oh hell no why is it them two again it happened four years ago if somebody steps up to the plate other than these two I would consider it okay so what are the numbers to that 56% of Americans do not want Mr Trump to run again 70% were against a second term for President Biden all of it kind of.

Giv the impression that some voters would take literally anybody else turns out literally anybody else is running a man literally named literally anybody else he's an army vet and a Texas teacher who you see it on his driver's licensed he changed his name from Dustin eie to literally anybody else he joins us.

Now thank you very much for being on the show so talk us through where the idea to do this came from so it was just came out of a sense of dissatisfaction from the last election when it was the first round of trump and Biden you know it was I went to the polls dissatisfied you know and I thought to myself it would be so much.

Better if we had a way to kind of reset the election you know to have a neither option you know or just to say literally anybody else and um when Biden's term started going around you know last year I bought the domain to for kind of commercial purposes cuz I thought hey why not make some money if uh other people are feeling the way I'm.

Just sell literally anybody else t-shirt the coffee mug the candle and but as we got closer and closer and further further down the election season you know I saw the opportunity and and the value of the name to kind of gather attention and you know and um just to kind of use that attention to kind of send the message hey like we we need to.

Do better so well so talk to me about that we're showing your website right now and on it right on your platform I you you write that literally anybody else isn't just a person it's a rally cry what are you trying to Rally people towards what is the message so anybody who feels like wanting anybody else other than Trump.

And Biden if that resonates with you you know that right there it brings people together under one thought one idea you know everybody has this kind of sense of like we don't want this but our voices are separated so this kind of brings the chorus together to sing the song and hopes of being heard you know if you.

Know we're just kind of separated and spread out you know we we can say our peace but I feel like we're not represented and that's kind of the core behind it like I want this campaign to be about representation to be about you know saying this is what we want you should you know accommodate that as the government you know we're we're a.

Democracy you know where by the people of the people for the people and if almost 70% of your people are not represented no matter who wins that's not that's not democracy that's not acceptable and that's what this is supposed to be well let me ask you this um and because I know that you are taking the steps to try to file right to.

Get on some of these ballots the ballot access is obviously critical for any presidential campaign fundraising Etc you've talked about your message here and we're showing here the name of your committee the committee to elect literally anybody else for president and I asked this respectfully is this symbolic your run for the presidency or.

Are you serious is it serious it's kind of a mixture of both so I feel like uh for the for the most part it is a symbolic run but any kind of uh symbolic action without you know following through it just it it felt Hollow to me so I will continue to take the steps to get on the ballot you know because and you know I'm amazed at just.

How much support that this is getting like I'm getting calls constantly not just from you know media and the news but from everyday citizens I mean while I was waiting to come in here I had two calls from just everyday people saying how much that they love what I'm doing and that they want to help they want to donate they want to get out there and.

You know get the petition signatures not just in Texas either this morning I had someone in Hawaii saying he wanted to be the boots on the ground there and so it's it's practically impossible it's for all intense purposes impossible but the more support we get you know there is an unseen Tipping Point where it could happen and so I will keep.

Striving um toward that right there and if it happens it happens but at the very least the message is sent and it sounds like the message you're aiming right the message that you're aiming at are the what we call the double haters right the people who do not want to see Donald Trump the people who do not want to see Joe Biden in the white house but there.

Are other options right I mean there's a bunch of campaign CS up and running that are meant to offer voters other options looking at specifically RFK Jr right who we know is running who just picked a vice presidential candidate here why do you think that independent campaigns have not gained More Steam if there is such an appetite as you say for people.

Who don't want either of the U the sort of big party main party options well it's exactly what I said earlier I mean trying to uh gather these um aranged voices into one uh candidate is quite difficult like I could have never run under dust and eie if IID run under Destin I wouldn't be here you know in this interview right here so the.

Stunt helps to get the attention right I mean that seems to be the thesis for here yes the gimmick got your attention watch me as I earn your vote that's essentially what this is saying let me ask you this when this is all over as you say the core of it is being able to choose who you want the most not who you want the least um at the core of.

It if this is all let's say this is December and you come back on the show and we're talking and you're not the president of the United States do you see a future in politics for you is it back to the classroom uh this is not I don't consider myself a politician I have you know a lot of you know what I believe.

Good ideas for sure but you know I don't I don't enjoy the level of scrutiny that you know politics would bring you know if this this message right here specifically is you know like like my friends say the juice is worth the squeeze um but to have that kind of constant scrutiny for the rest of my life is just not something that I feel.

Like I would ask for it's not something I feel like my wife would ask for either you know if you're that high-profile all the time you know you lose kind of connection with who you are before then and you know I'm I'm still going to be dust and eie after November no matter what and I don't want to lose that will you change your name back oh for sure.

Win or lose it's this was a gimmick and I don't want to live the rest of my life as a gimmick this was all about getting attention um forwarding the idea and resonating with people who shared that sentiment thank you so much for being on the show this afternoon uh this evening really appreciate your time thank you very much.

Hy we've got more coverage picking up right now thanks for watching stay updated about breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or follow us on social media

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