Morning Info NOW Elephantine Broadcast – April 18

right now on Morning News Now a shortlived showdown in the Senate Homeland Security secretary Alejandra myurus spared from impeachment after Democrats quickly dismissed charges over his handling of the migrant crisis what we saw today was a microcosm of this impeachment since day one.

Hallowed frivolous political he's probably the least effective and and I think most dangerous in terms of his implementations of any cabinet secretary in the history of the United States and in the house Speaker Mike Johnson facing the Fallout within his own party over foreign aid we'll bring.

You the latest from both Chambers also campus concerns Columbia University's president grilled on Capitol Hill in the wake of recent anti-semitic incidents on school grounds the tense testimony raising questions about Free Speech plus it's a hidden ingredient that could be harming your health researchers finding high levels of pesticides in your.

Produce what you need to know before your next trip to the grocery store and a shared struggle a majority of college students say they're feeling emotional stress but one group says earning a degree doesn't have to take a mental toll more on the problem and possible solutions I promise there really are solutions which is so important when we.

Have that conversation good morning I'm Savannah sers thanks for joining me on the day before Friday Joe's off this morning we're going to get started with that impeachment Showdown on Capitol Hill the Senate quickly dismissed two articles of impeachment against Homeland Security secretary Alejandra maoris brought by House Republicans over his.

Handling of the US border Senate Republicans slammed the upper chamber decision not to have a trial oh we about to set a precedent that the allegation of a felony is not a high crime and misdemeanor that is not an appropriate parliamentary inquiry you don't have to be Mena material to know that it's not only a ha crime and.

Misdemeanor it is a felony for more we are joined by NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ali Vitali Ali good morning so walk us through what happened on those impeachment votes tell us more it was a little bit wild there last afternoon uh Savannah because what we saw on the senate floor is the Senate do what it.

Was always going to do which is dispense with these articles of impeachment it was just the question of how they ultimately ended up doing that Senator Chuck Schumer really kicking down the twole of this chair first going after the first article of impeachment which is willful and systemic refusal to comply with the law Schumer arguing that.

That was not constitutional his colleagues all Democrats and one Republican who voted present agreeing with him that toppled article one and then article two went down in the same fashion what took a while was the Republicans trying to make various motions to adjourn or prolong this ultimately those efforts failed and it.

Left both leaders of the Senate on the Republican and Democratic side warning of the president that this would set for two very different reasons watch to validate this gross abuse by the house would be a grave mistake and could set a dangerous precedent for the future this process must not be abused it must not be short circuited history.

Will not judge this moment well so certainly a lot of talk about precedent there of course this was a really rare moment in the first place the first time a cabinet secretary was impeached in about 150 years the Senate doing again what we expected them to which is motioning to dismiss this absolutely allly let's talk about another issue.

Going on in the house house Speaker Johnson's plans for foreign aid he's facing a divided party including members that want to oust him from his job Johnson told members that they should expect to vote on separate Aid bills for Ukraine Israel and Taiwan this weekend a little confusing since Johnson had voted against Ukraine funding before he took.

The gavel 6 months ago so what changed and what is it going to take for this Aid to pass what do you expect to happen namely his title Savannah he is no longer just Congressman Mike Johnson he is Speaker Mike Johnson and I do think that that's a large part of what we're seeing here especially as the majority of this house Republican conference does.

Want to see the the Congress push forward on this package of foreign aid now it's a different fashion of doing it initially the senate had passed a supplemental Aid package weeks ago that had all of these variety of of Aid pieces in it now what speaker Johnson is doing is basically just breaking them up you get an up or down vote on Ukraine.

Aid get an up or down vote on Israel Aid an up or down vote on indopacific Aid and then there's this fourth package that includes a lot of Republican priorities on combating foreign adversaries there's things in there that Democrats like I was talking to one Congressman this morning on way too early who said he loved the idea of how.

Tik Tock was being included in that but then of course Democrats are also skeptical about whatever border provision is included in that they're reading it very closely but by and large the expectation is that this will pass in bipartisan fashion here's something important to remember though even though the plan is for up or down votes on all.

Of these various Aid pieces they have to first get on to the actual business of voting for those and in order to do that on the house floor you have to vote for the rule the rule is usually something that the majority party does by itself that is not what we expect to happen today and that could endanger Mike Johnson's job yeah let's talk more about.

The potential danger that his job is in so actually we understand in an effort to sh up support Johnson met with former president Trump last week in Florida could that protect his job and do Democrats want to work with Johnson or in an election year would they see would they like to see more infighting within the Republican party like is this a good.

Thing or a bad thing for Democrats how does this play out first on the Trump of it all I think that what we saw between the speaker and the former president was more of a side hug than a full Embrace and it's not clear that it's done anything to dissuade margorie Taylor green who is not just a chief Ally of the former president but right now the.

Chief antagonist of the speaker of the house she said she's going to wait until after the foreign aid package to push any kind of motion to vacate that means that today is a really important day in Congress but certainly over the weekend as well it's going to be difficult for People Like Us Savannah who are now going to have to compete with watching.

Congress and also listening to Taylor Swift's new album I am just really stressed was just waiting to say to you happy new Taylor Swift album day since I know you celebrate and observe I love it Al covering so much and in preparation for this album it really is something we appreciate it Ally good to see you let's turn out of the house probe into.

Allegations of anti-Semitism on college campuses the president of Columbia University was the latest College official to testify before the Republican Le committee on education and the workforce NBC News senior Capitol Hill correspondent Garrett H has more New York's Columbia University again a flasho in the rise in.

Anti-Semitism on college campuses as Pro Palestinian protests continue across the country and Jewish students report being targeted or feeling unsafe I feel a tremendous amount of hostility towards me Colombia's leadership testifying before a house committee investigating its response to recent incidents of anti-Semitism president.

Manu shafik says that's included curtailing access to campus and stiffening penalties for unapproved protests anti-Semitism has no place on our campus and I am personally committed to doing everything I can to confront it directly administrators press to respond to some of the most appalling examples of anti-Semitism does calling for the.

Genocide of Jews violate Colombia's code of conduct Mr Greenwald yes it does Miss Shipman yes it does Dr shafik yes it does Colombia's leaders clearly prepared after the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard's presidents stumbled over the same line of questioning last year ultimately resigning their posts that calling for.

The genocide of Jews violates Harvard code of conduct correct again it depends on the context it does not depend on the context the answer is yes and this is why you should resign some questioning focused on work and commentary of certain faculty members the support of terrorism is acceptable if you're a Columbia.

Professor not at all some Democrats criticize the Republican Le committee noting they've now held three hearings on anti-Semitism on college campuses and none on bills designed to combat the problem all right Garett he thank you so much well former president Donald Trump is Du back in a Manhattan courtroom this morning as jury selection resumes in his.

Criminal hush money trial after an off day yesterday so far seven jurors have been selected to participate in the trial the case involves an alleged payment made to hide an alleged sexual accounter with adult film star Stormy Daniels in the runup to the 2016 election now Mr Trump denies the relationship and any wrongdoing NBC News.

National correspondent Yasmin Vasan is outside the courthouse for us this morning Yasmin good morning so as I just said a second ago yesterday was an off day for the trial but we did still hear from Mr Trump he had some things to say about the jury selection process on social media tell us what his objection was.

Here it was about the Striking process so essentially when you go through jury selection which we talked about um just the other day you go through this process of potential jurors reading off the 42 questions that they answered as they were waiting to get called into the jury room and then they go through a strike process both the defense and the.

Prosecution and there are peremptory strikes which essentially means you can literally just strike for whatever reason and there's causal strikes right you have to bring in the evidence as to why you believe this jury will not be appropriate to serve in this trial and then essentially judge Juan rashan has the final say in that the former.

President on Twitter um yesterday essentially said well I thought I got unlimited strikes and it turns out we only get 10 each which he's right about by the way so each side as I mentioned only getting 10 each they can get as many strikes as they want when it comes to those causal strikes um the issue is the final say as.

I said already comes down to judge Juan Maran and I will say as we saw on Tuesday and I think we're going to see this again um the judge wants to move this thing ahead right he wants to get this jury sacked and seated and ready to go I mean we're looking at opening arguments beginning possibly on Monday event I think essentially when we first.

Started we thought this process was going to take possibly 2 weeks but now we're looking at opening argument starting on Monday with the speed in which this whole thing is moving yes in a court filing yesterday revealed what prosecutors would plan to ask Mr Trump if he did decide to testify in this trial which is a big question here what.

Are we learning there and what do we think the chances are we'll see that so essentially what they're establishing and what they want to establish and and it's they did this for this thing called the sand of all hearing so what that means is the prosecution presents the evidence that they would show if in fact Donald J.

Trump the former president of the United States took the stand right so they do this so that the former president along with his defense team can make an educated um decision about whether or not he wants to testify right and it looks as if it's just three pages this filing in preparation for the sand of all hearing um they talk about an.

Establishment of pattern they talk about the conviction with the egene Carol case being held liable for sexual assault they talk about the conviction when it comes to the Trump Corporation when it Trump comes to the Trump payroll Corporation as well um the violation of the gag order in the judge andoran case with the Trump civil fraud trial so they.

Are establishing a pattern here with that filing some of which they will bring to the trial if in fact the former president um Savannah takes a stand all right yes been thank you so much well this morning more than 20 million people from Texas to Indiana are facing the threat of dangerous storm storms parts of the Midwest are already reeling from.

Heavy rain wind and the nearly two dozen tornadoes that tore through communities on Tuesday in Ohio thousands of people were left without power after those storms brought down trees power lines peeled off roofs of homes and even flipped over cars our storm coverage this morning is going to bring us Andrew lman with the latest system placing more.

Than 20 million people stretching from Texas to Indiana at risk for impact she's going to give us the latest hey Angie good morning hey good morning Savannah we've already seen quite an active morning across the midsection of our country with severe thunderstorm watches that were issued earlier but have since expired but it's no surprise.

We saw that earlier we had some strong lines of of thunderstorms working across portions of Kansas and Missouri but a whole lot of rain even north of that up into parts of Iowa Nebraska we've even got a little bit of snow falling in that region and this is going to continue to work its way East but yes we are concerned once again with some of those.

Stronger storms potentially severe storms packing a punch with all of the hazards on the table right now we've got 26 million people at risk through the day today this is this risk will likely last through the evening hours after Sunset as well the bullseye for the best chance of some of those stronger storms St Louis Paduka but notice from.

Indianapolis all the way down into Texas we've got Dallas and Waco included in that we could see some of these stronger storms again the hail the wind gusts up to 60 mes hour all possible along with a couple of tornadoes through today meanwhile as we look ahead to tomorrow the severe risk will diminish it won't be zero but we're not so much going to.

Look at that to be the most impactful thing for our end of our work we can into our weekend instead we start to see a new storm system developing right along this kind of stationary front that's hanging out in the Southern Tier of the country that is the spot that we're going to see the greatest potential for some heavy rain as we go.

Through the next three days Friday through Saturday potentially Sunday and even into Monday in some spots but that rain is going to be from Texas all the way into the Carolinas as we get through your Sunday you can see the systems finally on the move but still dealing with that heavy rain we're going to eventually see it move off Co off the.

Coast but will continue to see some of that rain left uh and packing a punch for us for our weekend plans the flooding concern will be there specifically places like Dallas San Angelo San Antonio Waco you're going to see the greatest chance of of that flash flooding concern uh but all the way from Texas up into the Carolina again where.

We'll see the prolonged periods of some heavy rain over multiple days will'll have that potential for some flooding here's the totals that we're looking at again same spot with the flash flooding risk elevated that's going to be Dallas places like that could see 1 one and a half in maybe some isolated spots up to 2 in but from the Carolinas to Texas.

We've got widespread areas that we'll see over a half an inch up to an inch so something to note uh specifically Saturday to Monday now let's go through the weekend because of course it's most important time of the week and we've got Friday for most of the country actually looks pretty sunny I mentioned some of those showers that we'll see across.

Parts of the East it'll be quite warm across Florida but otherwise lots of sunshine and some mild conditions for the middle of the country out west we've got 70s on tap for Southern California and plenty of sunshine we stick with that forecast for our folks there for Saturday but there's that Heavy Rain that I mentioned across the Southern.

Tier of the country for your Saturday plans it will unfortunately cool down also for our friends across the Midwest you're going to see temperatures back to the 40s back to the 50s after dealing with 60s 70s some spots across parts of the East we into the 80s close to the 9s over the past week or so we're going to see different story uh start to settle.

In here for Saturday it'll be a little bit milder by Sunday but those stormy conditions will stick with us across the South all the way through our weekend plans and you were right I needed an umbrella and I didn't have it did you have a hood at least no yeah no thank you so much I forgot to text you today you did much and it was rainy this.

Morning much more to come here on morning news now later this hour it could be the key to a better night's sleep for millions of people more on the weight loss drug that could soon be used to treat sleep apnea at first though after the break closer to closure the Department of Justice finalizing a landmark settlement to the Olympic.

Gymnast sexually abused by their doctor we'll be right back the FBI failed to interview pertinent parties in a timely manner it took over 14 months for the FBI to contact me despite my many requests to be interviewed by them to be clear I blame Larry ner and I also blame an entire sister.

That enabled and perpetrated his abuse that was Olympic gold medalist Ali raceman and Simone biles testifying before Congress over the failure by the FBI to properly handle and investigate allegations of sexual abuse made by gymnasts against former National Gymnastics Team Dr Larry Nasser in a development first reported by The Wall.

Street Journal two people familiar with the negotiations told NBC news that the doj is nearing a monetary settlement with the victim in the case and the number is likely to be close to $100 million a spokesperson from the justice department said they can't confirm the Wall Street journals report at this time an investigation by the doj found that.

The FBI failed to act when concerns were raised by athletes here with the details on this is NBC News justice and intelligence correspondent Ken Delany and Ken good morning so Ken if everyone signs off on this agreement this brings the total settlements for nasser's actions between the doj and USA Gymnastics and Michigan State University.

Where he worked to nearly a billion dollars again this has not been confirmed yet but explain how this one is different and how the FBI failed to do their job in this case when we hear things straight from gymnasts straight from victims of Larry Nasser explaining how they weren't even interviewed they tried to get in touch I.

Mean walk us through exactly what went wrong here that's led to a settlement yes good morning Savannah it's really extraordinary after uh mustering up the courage to finally report these allegations which were covered up for years this conduct and going going to the FBI these women were not heard and as you said in 2021 the.

Department of Justice Inspector General issued a scathing report documenting the FBI's failures in this case as one of those gymnasts just said it was 14 months from the time the FBI first heard about sexual abuse allegations against Larry Nasser to the time they first interviewed a single gymnast and during that time it's believed that Larry.

Nasser may have abused as many as 70 women and the details of what happened here are really outrageous there were two uh FBI agents in the Indianapolis field office who first were alerted to these complaints and did nothing with them for a very long time did not alert the FBI agents in Michigan who really needed to follow up because that's where.

The conduct was occurring and one of those FBI agents was actually negotiating for a job with the US Olympic Committee at the time one of them was fired another resigned uh but uh that doesn't do anything to ease the pain obviously of these women uh and now they're approaching settlement negotiations and getting ready to pay a.

Really large sum of money and by the way it's hard to sue the federal government so this $100 million is a really big deal the justice department you mentioned you know somebody fired somebody resigning but it's one thing to pay or to see something like that happen has the justice department actually addressed its failure in their duty to.

These gymnasts for not properly handling their complaints have they have they addressed it admitted it and and tried to rectify it in anyway other than this payment to a certain extent yes and when we say the justice department we're really talking about the the FBI and FBI director Christopher Ray actually was in IND in Indianapolis last year and he.

Addressed this he got questions from local reporters he said every great organization makes mistakes uh the key is to learn from those mistakes and we have learned from them the thing is the FBI is not a very transparent organization so we don't know exactly what steps they've taken to make sure that this kind of thing internally can.

Never happen again you know and sometimes it's chocked up to just bad conduct and incompetence by a handful of employees uh but look this is the third major settlement that the justice department has had to pay out because of FBI failures the last two were involved mass shootings but this is a lot of money that taxpayers are having to pay.

Because FBI agents didn't do their jobs so is there any transparency here about how something like this can be prevented from happening in the future well not really that's the issue it's the FBI just doesn't like to let the public see exactly what they're doing um and you know it's a huge organization they they do say that they.

Have taken steps internally to make sure that this kind of thing doesn't happen again exactly what those steps are U they need to be pressed on because they really haven't been transparent about it Savannah all right kend delanian thank you so much well time now for some International headlines starting with a new development in what is being called.

The largest gold heist in Canada's history Megan fitzel joins us now with that and more hey Megan Good Morning Savannah good morning to you that's right we start in Canada with what's being called the biggest gold theft uh in the country history now police say more than $4 million worth of gold bars were stolen a year ago along.

With millions of dollars worth of cash from Toronto's Pearson Airport investigators say they arrested the alleged driver in the US and recovered dozens of guns they believe were meant to be used in Canada and in Indonesia hundreds of people have been forced to evacuate after a volcano on a remote island erupted multiple times now.

There's fears the volcano could partially collapse and trigger a tsunami Indonesia has more than 120 active volcanoes and sits along the ring of fire which is an arc of seismic fault lines in the Pacific Ocean and two new Major Marine Parks will be created in Greece by the end of this year according to the country's energy Minister one of.

The parks will focus on protecting seabirds in the AG andca the other Park will focus on protecting marine mammals the announcement is controversial though turkey is accusing Greece of exploiting environmental issues to push a geopolitical agenda and has called on the country to abandon its plans Savannah all right Megan thank you so.

Much we coming up underst staffed and overworked police departments across the country sounding the alarm as response times grow what they say is behind the problem and what one city is doing about it plus the emotional toll of higher education more and more college students say they're stressed out about school how one group is working to protect.

Their mental health this is Morning News Now we are back with a closer look at a growing problem among police departments across the country Staffing shortages the Los Angeles police say they're severely understaffed and its impacting response times for non-emergency calls NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt sat.

Down with the lapd's chief to see what they're doing about it here in Los Angeles police and residents are feeling the strain from a chronic shortage of police officers La one of many cities losing officers practically faster than they can hire new ones I spoke with the lapd's interim Chief about how he's addressing the.

Crisis the LAPD has long been considered one of the most understaffed major city police departments in America making the current Staffing crisis all the more troubling for the top brass Chief is it fair to say you were severely understaffed absolutely recruitment now a critical issue for interim police.

Chief Dominic among the three largest cities Chicago and New York have about twice as many cops per capita while Los Angeles is far more vast I think if we had about 12,000 we would be um well staffed and as of last Monday we are at 8,832 that's the lowest Staffing level at the LAPD in more than two decades and.

It's having a direct impact on the Department's ability to police as the shortage of police Poli officers simply made it harder to respond to certain types of calls I think it's made it more difficult to respond to all types of calls where we're seeing some slippage is our non-emergency calls we've seen that number go from an average response.

Time of about 20 minutes upwards to uh 40 minutes up to an hour calls like this one where a group of mass suspects use power tools to cut through the security door and safe at the CET MZ restaurant in b Heights with the suspects taking off everybody was on edge with no arrests made Tanya Diaz and her family who've owned this restaurant.

For decades say the neighborhood feels less safe there's not as many cops out in the streets or anymore so we got hit and then a couple weeks later another restaurant got hit while violent crime trended down in 2023 property crimes were up a revolving door of repeat of offenders taking a toll on morale I understand the frustration uh that an.

Officer works so hard to put somebody in jail because of criminal behavior and then that person is walking out the door before they can finish their reports that is frustr frustrating it's demoralizing law enforcement agencies Nationwide are feeling the crunch with unprecedented declines in police Staffing since.

2019 in a recent report the Department of Justice calling it a historic crisis saying departments are losing office officers faster than they can hire new ones citing labor market competition officer safety and well-being and increased tensions between police and the communities they serve it affects the ability of the agency to even.

Respond to relatively low-level um concerns but that are high quality of life concerns for the communities to entice new recruits the LD recently negotiated pay increases new full-time officers can now make nearly six figures about the same starting salary for a computer engineer graduating from the University of California system not.

Everybody thinks a a lot of police officers a good thing there there are those voices out there um that say this money could be used in a more efficient way what's your response to that I'm an absolute supporter of alternative response so there are certain calls that I believe that police don't need to respond to to the people that think less.

Cops are okay um I I have to disagree at the end of the day you have to have a safe Community our thanks to Lester hul for that report while more colleges are now rethinking their approach to the growing demand for mental health services on campus according to a recent survey 69% of four-year college students are.

Suffering from emotional stress well now a new report from the Jed Foundation that is a nonprofit working to prevent suicide in teens is highlighting how a different approach could benefit those students we have two guests with us here to take a closer look at this report we've got Jed Foundation CEO and my friend John MC alongside Sunni.

Westchester Community College Student Lotus Taylor good morning to both of you thank you so much for being here I appreciate you coming in and I'm so excited to talk about this report because it's so important um John I'm going to start with you so I know a lot about the Jed foundation's work but specifically even these numbers blew me.

Away because essentially What's Happening Here is you have this Jed campus program and what you're seeing what this report is right is numbers out of that what you've actually seen over time about what this program does I want to read some of the numbers 25% less likely the student reports a suicide attempt 133% less likely on suicide.

Planning 10% on suicide ideation what is this program how are you doing this and making this impact yeah so the Jed campus program is a program in which the Jed foundation and as you noted we're a nonprofit that focuses on teen and young adult mental health partners with a college for 4 years and we partner with them to help them survey their students.

And understand their students needs and then to uh assess their programs policies and systems their culture around supporting student mental health and reducing risk for suicide and we partner and advise them over the period of four years to help them Implement recommended in best practices for supporting their students in 440.

Colleges across the country uh participate in this program and tell me what some of those recommendations are like what types of things are actually happening on campuses yeah so these are recommendations to take actions to help students develop life skills problem solving and coping skills because we know those are protective for mental.

Health to create a culture where students know it's okay not to be okay and where and how to get help and then to really map out the system so that when a student needs mental health care they're getting the mental health care they need whether it's at the school or out in the community so Lotus the campus that you're on right is one that has.

This program implemented can you tell us what it's like what you actually see feel have access to on your campus because of this program yeah so Jed came to our campus in 2019 um and were able to offer a vast number of improvements we were able to increase the amount of clinicians we have on campus we started with two now we have four um and we also.

Have a private mental health Suite um in on campus in our mental health uh in our health office on our campus um we also have two different clubs and organizations that are dedicated to mental health um and we consistently have trainings events that are surrounded with mental health taking care of yourself sometimes we have.

Therapy dogs come on campus which is so fun um it's a very mental health positive campus and I think it's definitely thanks to a lot of what jet has done not only on your campus but if we broughten it out to your generation do you think that the stigma around talking about something like this around asking for help.

Around offering help is loosening do you think that your generation's more comfortable with addressing this head on I think so I mean obviously culture plays into it as far as personal and familial culture but people in my age group in my generation are genuinely more open to talking about mental health seeking treatment encouraging others to.

Do so as well and John tell us in this report so walk us through exactly I know it's like I said quite a few years now of actually seeing this work in action tell us how you were able to siphon out this information and then maybe also what really surprised or excited you about what you were able to see in data about what this program is doing yeah so.

The data analyze is uh analyzing a data set from 73 colleges that finished the program with over 100,000 students full of of data um and students are surveyed at the beginning of the work with a college and then again at the end and we're also collecting data on all the policy programs and systems the school has and the changes they're making.

Things like Lotus described and so the the analysis shows as you noted reductions of 10% in suicidal ideation reports from students 133% uh in suicide planning 25% in uh suicide attempts and also improvements in average depression and anxiety scores and improvements in retention and graduation rates I would.

Say that none of this really surprised us at Jed but it was very gratifying to see that when a school like Sunni Westchester takes purposeful and comprehensive actions they see these kinds of results I can add um we had a 50% increase in usage of services from 2019 um in the 2020 2021 year till now um it is very well used consistently um.

Supported and it's been really great oh my gosh what's it like for you to hear that to just know how much there an uptick there is in students even seeking it out it's amazing it's amazing and it's an amazing Testament to lotus's generation as you noted and to the work that schools like Sunni Westchester are doing absolutely I think also for people.

Who are at home like we talk about mental health a lot we certainly do on this show and we appreciate our viewers for engaging in that conversation most days but when it when you talk about actual suicide ideation reports of attempts it's kind of I think maybe even for parents startling to be like okay there's a difference in having a.

Conversation about mental health and if my child's okay and then something like that how important is work specifically aimed at changing the conversation around SU and lowering those numbers it's very important yeah unfortunately suicide is the second leading cause of death of young people and so it's something that we need to talk about and.

To put plans in place and it's important for us just as friends and family members to talk to each other about it if we're worried about a friend worried about a family member to ask how they're doing are they okay um and it is okay to ask somebody if they're thinking about harming themselves notice how impactful has it been to have these resources and.

To have that open line of communication on some something as serious as this it's been amazing um we use it even I'm Student Government President we use it in our clubs and organizations as well so our Mental Health Services works with a Program jet introduced called Brave talk um it helps train student leaders in how to have a conversation with.

Someone who is potentially struggling potentially having thoughts of suicidal ideation and how to effectively help them seek help um professional help we also have like strategic referrals through our mental health and counseling department um it's it's been honestly really great especially with the growing conversation around mental health and.

Feeling supported as students we feel supported absolutely Lotus and John thank you both so much for coming by great to see you incredible work that you're doing and it's so great that we're able to quantify it with this report so thank you so much for sharing it this report's just out today we appreciate you both coming on so nice to.

Have you both here and if you or anyone you know is struggling please call or text the suicide and crisis Lifeline it's on your screen right now just 988 just those three numbers we're coming up a popular weight loss drug showing new promise in another area when we come back what scientists are saying about the Drug's additional benefits that.

Could help millions of people get a better night's sleep plus problem in the produce aisle a new report that's renewing concern about the amount of pesticides and your fruits and veggies you're watching morning news now we're back now with some important Health news that could impact the millions of Americans who suffer from.

Sleep apnea new trials from drug maker Eli Lily show its weight loss drugs Z bound help reduce irregular breathing episodes by as much as 63% and those results are adding to some pretty eye- openening evidence showing other weight loss and diabetes drugs on the market that could have additional health benefits for more on this let's bring in.

NBC News medical contributor Dr Cavita Patel Dr Patel always great to have you with us so walk us through this how is it that Zep bound and put in context also for people who are like so is that kind of like OIC is that kind of like Monaro how does it work and how does Eli Lily say it helps when it comes to sleep apnea yeah Savannah so a couple of.

Things this hasn't been peer-reviewed and hasn't been published this is kind of Announcement by press release but they are going to release more detailed findings in June but what we know so far Zep bound you're right to kind of make sure that we know what we're talking about it's really the same chemical to zepeti as manaro zound is the name.

That's approved by the FDA manufactured by Eli Lily approved for weight loss so this is a drug you can get today with the indication from a doctor for weight loss so just to put that into context so manaro is kind of the other drug that you can compare it to same chemical and it acts by really quieting down your brain and other parts of your body from.

Getting hungry it really suppresses kind of the appetite drive that we have that we now know is really in your gut and it's also mental and it improves your insulin response meaning the insulin that your pancreas normally makes to help you respond to sugar when you eat it it helps improve the sensitivity and the effectiveness of that insulin all in.

All we're learning more and more about how much more this drug does beyond weight loss like we're finding out with sleep apnea yeah so could this be a replacement for sleep apnea machines just when it comes to this particular issue yeah it's a really great question so you mentioned that there was already this finding in this study these were.

Patients that had moderate to severe sleep apnea not all of them were t on CPAP or those machines that they use for sleep apnea so some were not and some were but in both sets of patients they saw that reduction in the times that you stop breathing which is kind of classic Hallmark we always knew Savannah that obstructive sleep apnea was associated.

With obesity and we knew that weight loss probably could help with sleep apnea but we had to resort to pretty Extreme Measures like bariatric surgery or some other interventions now we have a possibility so it is possible once we see more data that you could see this drug becoming the first thing that we reach for with patients that have a.

Diagnosis of sleep apnea which we think estimate affects about 20 to 30 million Americans in the United States so you just made a really good point Dr Patel which is that sleep apnea had long been linked to obesity so I guess then my question is could using a drug like this if it's making you lose weight then essentially mean oh okayy this is a.

Benefit you know just like just like Mobility is a benefit of losing weight or could somebody who does not need to lose weight get prescribed this just because they have sleep apnea right that's exactly so that I think is what we would love to see some of the reason I mentioned up top that there is not as much of the detail that is exactly the.

Question that I've been asking that we know that obesity has a factor but what if we have people with a diagnosis of sleep apnea and they don't meet that criteria for obesity they might be overweight or they might have normal body weight by kind of our current standards I think this opens up a really important question and some of the.

Things that I'll be looking for when they release the detailed results in June but Bottom Line Savannah every day we're learning a little bit more about this drug remember there's no Silver Bullet there are some side effects people did report some of those GI side effects and I think it's important to know that there are going to probably be.

Multiple approaches depending on who you are with sleep apnea and how your body responds to drugs or to even a sleep apnea machine doctor I guess my next question is like how are you just feeling about these drugs in general for all of us I mean to me it feels like they kind of came out of nowhere everybody's talking about them it feels.

Like a lot of people are using them for a lot of different reasons but it's also like do we know that much about them do we know what a long-term effect is we start to hear about other impacts on our society like like people purchasing food and all other different types of things I mean how do you feel about longterm where we're headed with these types of.

Drugs that sort of feel new and novel but do seem to keep on every day there's a new reason to prescribe them yeah I I see this a lot look I'm I'm fortunate that I've kind of been practicing medicine for a while and I make this analogy to when statins came out that class of drugs that we use for high cholesterol 10 de you know 10 20 years.

Ago even when I was starting to Train everybody used satins and we didn't know what the long-term effects are and now we really know I think these drugs are in a similar class that we're seeing so many positive effects Bottom Line Savannah these drugs have changed the landscape of American Medicine Global medicine and will likely have a.

Significant effect on Generations but we are unpacking more and more of what we know about them first things first we need to get them accessible and get cost more accessible to people and a supply chain that can provide them all right Dr Patel fascinating conversation as always on these ones thanks for joining us well if you hit plan to hit the grocery store.

This week you might want to listen to this a new review by Consumer Reports examine which fruits and vegetables contain high levels of pesticides 20% of the foods tested in the report post a serious pesticide risk including popular items like bell peppers blueberries and strawberries let's bring in Katherine Roberts for more on this report she's a.

Health reporter for Consumer Reports Katherine good morning so let's start with the basics here which fruits and vegetables have the highest risk for pesticides and then how bad is that for us how much of a concern is it so right so in our analysis some of the higher risk items were things like blueberries bell peppers um also hot peppers kale.

Mustard greens um potatoes um and watermelons now it's important to know you don't need to totally cut these out of your diet um but our advice is really to limit them and that's especially for people who are pregnant or young children um it's going to be most important um for those kinds of people um you know pesticides have been linked.

To a lot of different health effects like cancer and cardiovascular disease um many of them are also suspected endocrine disruptors which means that they interfere with the body's hormones um and again that kind of thing is most important um in those sensitive stages of development like early childhood and pregnancy so you don't need to totally.

Stop eating these uh but it is a good idea to maybe limit them or substitute out some things sometimes so is the answer here buying organic um that is one answer you know in our analysis um for the for the data that we had um uh did have data on every organic version but usually the organic versions um are a lot less risky when it.

Comes to pesticides but there can be expensive too so you uh can also substitute for other you know less risky conventional versions um you can buy organic when you can on just a few things those kinds of things so talk to us about less risky which remind us what that list is um lots of things uh the the good.

News in this report is there are a lot of items that are very low risk um I'll just run through a few you know uh let's see onions lowrisk squash sweet potatoes um cucumbers cauliflower tons of things are low risk that's the great news um so it's it's it's you have a lot of really good options that is really good news so for people who are like well.

Even if I like those ones that are high-risk if I just run it under some water maybe even if I kind of give it a good scrub does that help here is is washing produce helpful or not not the idea so it is helpful um the the we use data from the usca to do this analysis and they actually do that um before they test so actually washing produce cold.

Water for um you know 15 to 20 seconds scrubbing if if it if it's not a delicate kind of skin um that is a good idea um but that won't get you um that won't improve basically on what the USC found um so it is a really important step to get some pesticides off the surface but it's not totally going to solve the problem Katherine Roberts.

Thank you so much good advice for people as they head to the grocery store we appreciate it let's get to some Financial headlines now Google has fired dozens of employees who protested a billion dollar contract with Israel CNBC syvan Han now joins us with another news syvan good morning hey Savannah good morning too yes so as you mentioned.

Google it terminated 28 employees Wednesday following a series of protests in multiple cities now that's according to an internal memo viewed by CNBC the company's vice president of Global Security wrote that they will continue to investigate and take action as needed the workers were speaking out against labor conditions and the company's.

Contract to provide Israel with cloud computing and AI Services the news comes shortly after nine employees were arrested on trespassing charges after staging sittings at two of the company's offices meanwhile Tesla is making more cuts the automaker announced they will be laying off 285 employees in Buffalo New York this.

Is part of a broader restructuring plan now that's according to a warn notice filed in the state the layoffs account for around 14% of Buffalo's Workforce most of the employees work for Tesla's Factory which produces supercharger equipment the move follows a company wide memo sent earlier this week saying that the automaker would be reducing.

More than 10% of its Global Workforce and as Tesa navigates these Cuts CEO Elon Musk sent an email saying the company sent incorrectly low sance packages to some laid off employees in the memo email seen by CNBC musk apologized and said the mistake would be corrected immediately few details have been released about Tesla's shakeup but.

Musk sent out a companywide memo Monday assuring that the layoffs would help prepare the company for the next phase of growth Savannah all right so out thank you so much it coming up a retro Revival fitting for this throwback Thursday when we come back I'll show you how old school split flap displays are getting a new life this is Morning News.

Now welcome back we've got a baby on tour alert Ashanti has confirmed that not only is she expecting she's engaged this is the singer's first child with her now fiance Nelly the couple confirmed they had rekindled their romance back in September of last year that's a decade after Calling it Quits the first time they actually teased a.

Possible pregnancy announcement back in December after Nelly's 11th annual black and white ball but with this confirmation we can send a big congratulations to The Talented hipop Duo I guess they're becoming a trio now very cool great to see and so cool that she's on tour while saying it well finally this hour We're introducing you.

To a Philly based company that's putting a literal spin on the idea of taking something old and making it New Again by defying a digital world and going analog andb News correspondent George siss has this story you could call them a Timeless classic with a lot to say simple elegant and just plain.

Cool for decades split flap boards have been Turning Heads at airports and train Halls conveying info for travelers a treat for the eyes and ears While most displays have gone digital like the belove display at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station just a quick drive nearby o Foundry is not only handbuilding them they're bringing retro back all right.

Welcome to oer let's do a little Tour all right I'm excited which I quickly learned is no picnic that's the correct way to do it incorrectly yeah the correct way to do it incorrectly the company successfully turning the clock back on split flap so far installing more than 300 boards in offices bars and restaurants in 30 States and in 23.

Countries and Counting Google Carnival Cruises and Starbucks among some of the big names going analog in New New York City more than 650,000 daily Travelers are greeted by the flutter of flaps belaying Transit data at the Irish exit bar in moan train Hall so why split flap there's something nostalgic about it it's a Timeless design and so we started.

Making them and really just falling in love with it it's definitely a romantic product to build Maron is CEO and one of the co-founders of the now multi-million dollar company started in 2013 with a mission to build cool stuff challenged by their restaurant client honey grow to create a new way to call orders the team realized they could flip the script on.

Digital advertising you bank on split flaps and it's paid off in pretty big dividends it sounds like we knew that there was something special about this and then we're able to grow not just business operations but our team here with the necessary roles for that behind every click 50 characters per Carousel moving in tandem create every clack.

There's definitely a a ballet that happens I mean you you're talking about tens of thousands of moving pieces Fast Company writer Nate Berg covering design agrees o foundry's mix of innovation and tradition is part of a spiked interest in the antique we've seen this push towards novelty items like typewriters vinyl and now split flap is there a.

Growing market for more analog I think there is I mean it's going to be a niche but this kind of sign I think is going to be really useful when a cafe setting a restaurant to Bar it's mostly just to differentiate themselves like to have something that customers maybe don't expect or don't get to see wherever they go the team moving beond letters numbers.

And characters with full color images picture flap came out of split flap each design made to order for however big or small the client is willing to pay they're built to last we have a sign in our shop that's been running for 39 million rotations which for the average user is like 300 years of use so there's longevity here yeah you're buying.

Quality longevity oat Foundry appre app for those who are willing to stop and listen do you think we're in an era or revisiting a time where we're going to see more analog technology come back I hope so I think that there's a future where the technology that we see the analog technology we see can have all that that magic but it doesn't have to.

Just be a black Obelisk glass screen in your pocket it doesn't have to just be the digital glow of screens in an airport or train station it can be this warmer sort of handshake between where we are now and where we're going our thanks to George sise for that story so if you're like me and you're thinking.

Hey that'd be kind of cool to have in my house well just so you know displays start at around 50 Grand the team is hopeful they can bring them down they can be the ones to bring back a functioning excuse me board to Philly's 30th Street Station the original was removed because finding Parts became increasingly difficult but it's a.

Challenge that can hopefully withstand the test of time pretty cool to see that's going to do it for this hour of morning news now but stay with us the news continues right now good morning happy Thursday almost through the week I'm Savannah cers Joe's off today right now on morning news now.

We are tracking some wild weather that's whipping across the country this morning millions in the midwest are waking up to more heavy rain and threats of dangerous flash flooding as officials there reel from several reported tornadoes that swept through the region our Andre lman has the storm's latest track meanwhile on Capitol Hill anti-Semitism on college.

Campuses back in the spotlight how Columbia's president is responding to students who say they no longer feel safe on school grounds and her message to lawmakers in Royal news Prince William is officially heading back to work returning to his public duties today for the first time since Princess Kate revealed her cancer diagnosis we've.

Got more on that in just a moment and to all my fellow swifties are you ready for it a brand new era for the one and only Taylor Swip is about to drop at midnight tonight in typical Taylor fashion there's already no shortage of Easter eggs out there for eagle-eyed f we'll bring you everything we know about her latest album The tortured poet's.

Department a little later in the hour I canot week good morning thanks again for joining us we're going to get started with another round of dangerous storms in the midwest tornado watches were in effect overnight in Pennsylvania after dangerous conditions swept through multiple States including Ohio Missouri and Michigan with Iowa's Governor.

Issuing a disaster declaration after tornadoes there earlier this week Maggie vesa joins us from hard hit Ferndale Michigan Maggie good morning hey Savannah good morning yeah officials here in Ferndale called yesterday's storm quote quick but unbelievably wild winds speed's here topping 70 mph look at that ripping part.

Of the roof off of this restaurant and this tire shop and then look at this tossing huge pieces of it onto the cars here in the parking lot below and as you point out this is just the latest chapter in this week of widespread severe weather this morning the trail of damage from severe Spring weather is growing.

After another line of violent storms packing strong winds and reported tornadoes ripped through multiple States across the Midwest uprooting trees flipping cars and leveling homes we were trying this store in Ohio hit hard after winds Wednesday night ripped off a chunk of its roof guys might want to get down this video taken from inside a post.

Office gives a firsthand Glimpse at the strength of the dangerous gusts lost part of our tree crews are now working around the clock as homes are in desperate need of repair and power lines are impacted with more than two dozen tornadoes reported in at least five states since Monday that's a tornado the Twisters ripping across the Midwest.

Leaving stunning scenes of Destruction it's blown up I mean it's no other way to say it it's blown up Iowa's Governor declaring a disaster in six counties it's heart-wrenching neighbors there helping an 85-year-old woman whose home was completely destroyed as students from nearby schools pitch in to sort through the rubble it's just amazing how.

Many people will come out of the Woodworks to help and we're so glad there are so many people there to help somewhat miraculously by the way we haven't had any reports of any serious injuries from all of these storms this week but get this so far this year we've had more than 300 t tornadoes reported across 26.

States and may next month is historically the busiest for tornadoes Nationwide wow Savannah all right Maggie thank you so much well we're going to continue and take a look at the severe weather with meteorologist Angie lman hey Angie good morning hey good morning Savannah and that severe threat that Maggie was just talking about continues.

Today we've got another system that we are tracking across that same kind of similar region of the country to leave us with the potential for some strong storms we've already seen some watches mornings up this morning those have all since expired across parts of the Plains but still plenty of rain and a strong line of thunderstorms working across.

Parts of Missouri Kansas Iowa stretching farther north into places like Wisconsin and um and Minnesota we've got the rain here's the area that we're going to closely watch for the potential for some strong storms later today we've got 26 million people in the risk area damaging wind strong wind or damaging hail rather strong wind gust as well as just a.

Couple of tornadoes possible here as we get even through the evening hours places like St Louis Springfield Little Rock Dallas all included in that risk area as we head through the day today as we turn our attention to Friday rounding out our work week here's what we're watching this next storm system is going to develop and it's going to be a rain.

Maker that's what we're watching as far as the impacts from this system so the severe weather thread will diminish slightly but that will ramp up the potential for some flooding concerns across the Southern Tier of the country really as we get into our weekend and Beyond by Saturday this rain is going to span from Texas all the way up into the.

Carolinas it'll be soggy we'll have periods of really heavy rain especially across places like Texas over the next couple of days and finally as we get into Sunday rounding out our weekend we'll see the system start to exit rain still in the picture for parts of the southeast and up through the the Mid-Atlantic here as we get through your.

Sunday and for that we're going to of course we're going to be watching for the flooding concerns we've got the flash flood slight risk centered across portions of Dallas San Angelo San Antonio Houston places like Jackson Atlanta and up into Raleigh all those locations a marginal risk but either way it's not hard for us to see some.

Flooding in this region so we'll likely be watching for at least some isolated areas of some localized flooding but the flash flooding potential will be there too specifically where you see the yellows the oranges the Reds those are the accumulations that we're expecting to be upwards of about an inch so one to two inches is the more likely amount we.

Could see some isolated amounts up to 3 in so we'll be watching for the flooding concern in that area temperature- wise we're a taale of two areas when it comes to uh seasons for parts of the Upper Midwest we we've got temperatures in the 50s and the 40s we're running 20° below normal for Denver by this afternoon with a high of just 43 de a very different.

Story if you look just to the east for places like Nashville and Little Rock which are going to Surge into the mid 80s we'll see these temperatures stick around for some folks just a sliver really of the southeast here as we get into tomorrow and that cooler air will start to spread a little farther to the south and east we've got Chicago on tap.

To hit just 59 degrees tomorrow Kansas City into the upper 50s Cheyenne it's upper 30s for you tomorrow that's as warm as it's going to get and a big difference when you look at Augusta which will hit 90 degrees so feeling like summer there feeling like winter honestly in some spots across parts of the Northern Plains we'll see Montgomery.

Head to the upper 80s then we'll start to kind of gradually Rebound in some of those cooler areas so Omaha you go from the low 50s for any Saturday plans you have but then back to work by Monday upper 60s it is so you know don't put the coats away yet but you won't need them by the time you get back to work St Louis similar story 60s for both.

Saturday and Sunday Monday you return to the 70s Nashville will kind of hover around into the 60s and places like Oklahoma City upper 50s to low 60s Saturday and Sunday and then returning to work into the 70s um just a a slow rebound back to where we typically should be for this time of year as we look across that part of the country the.

Whiplash oh my Goa wh the fake summer the little glimpse of nice weather right backe yeah there we go Angie thank you so much of course now let's head to Capitol Hill where house speaker Mike Johnson has introduced bills aimed at providing Aid to Ukraine Israel and Taiwan this comes as Johnson is facing strong opposition from fellow House.

Republicans potentially putting his speakership in Jeopardy NBC News Capital Hill correspondent Ryan nobl joins us from Washington with the latest developments here hey Ryan good morning so speaker Johnson had previously voted against giving Aid to Ukraine before he became house Speaker what's different this time around and how could a foreign.

Aid package pass the house with Republicans holding this very slim majority yeah it is a remarkable shift in speaker Johnson's tone as it relates to Ukraine funding you're absolutely right he voted against it before he was speaker of the house I think the big difference between the rank and foul member that he was then and the leader.

That he is now is that he has access to these classified national security briefings where he has given in Stark terms a real understanding of what is happening on the ground in Ukraine and is now convinced that the situation there is dire he said that he believes these intelligence reports uh and he is concerned that Ukraine could fall uh and.

That that could uh really reduce the stability of Europe and the world Beyond and that's why he has basically drawn A Line in the Sand and said that he believes Ukraine needs to be funded that he's going to support it he's going to put it on the floor uh and that's how this process is playing out here over the next couple of days Savannah so Ryan.

Ultimately is Speaker Johnson's job actually in Jeopardy where do things stand right now with these members of his own party who do not like what he's doing yeah it absolutely is and I think that was what what was so Stark about what we saw from him yesterday up until yesterday he'd been trying to have it both ways was trying to find some way to.

Put Ukraine Aid on the floor in a way that it would appease the right-wing flank of his party and hopefully preserve his speakership he seems to have come to the recognition that he can't have it both ways and basically what he told us yesterday is If this means that he'll lose his job he doesn't care take a.

Listen if I operated uh out of fear over Mo to vacate I would never be able to do my job look history judges us for what we do this is a critical time right now critical time on the world stage I I could make a you know I could make a selfish decision and and and do something that um that that's different.

But I I'm doing here what I believe to be the right thing you know Savannah I have to tell you having been covering this specific aspect this battle over funding for Ukraine up until yesterday I I really thought there was probably no chance that had a path to actually being passed I feel very differently about it now.

Judging by the way the speaker talked about it yesterday it seems realistic that they can get it done there's a lot of work still to be uh to still happen between now and passage but this is a very different tone that you're seeing uh from the Republican leader in the house and Ryan on a similar note here during a meeting yesterday with the.

Prime minister of Ukraine treasury secretary Janet Yellen dialed up the pressure on House Republicans to act what was her message she basically said that if they don't do something now Ukraine could lose the war and this is something that we've heard National Security Experts cabinet secretaries uh the leaders of the intelligence and.

House armed services committee say over and over again that this isn't something that the Congress can mess around with anymore that they've tried to find every which way to allow Ukraine to have the resources that it needs to at least hold Russia off we're now starting to see Russia make gains uh in places that they had not made gains uh in several months.

They believe that the time is in now to get this legislation passed to get the funding to Ukraine as soon as possible and if they don't the consequences could be dire it's still a lot of work to be done Savannah it isn't not over the Finish Line quite yet but at least looks like it's in a universe where it may happen all right Ryan Nobles thank you.

So much well the president of Columbia University was on Capitol Hill yesterday facing questions from lawmakers about allegations of anti-Semitism on campus she's the latest College official to testify before The house's committee on education and the workforce about the issue NBC News senior cap Hill correspondent Garrett H joins us now.

Garrett good morning hey Savannah good morning and yeah Congress has taken a notable interest in how especially Elite universities are responding to the rise in anti-Semitism on their campuses holding hearings with ivy league university leaders again yesterday as events half a world away fuel campus debate and in some cases.

hate as Pro Palestinian protests spread from coast to coast this week New York's Columbia University has become the latest flasho in the debate over Rising anti-Semitism on college campuses and in the peace protest movement with some Jewish students saying they feel unsafe we feel targeted.

As Jews and throw is those students on campus there's a lot of anxiety around campus and I think um a lot of students don't feel protected both my Jewish peers and uh my araban and Muslim the ivy league University's president testifying before Congress Wednesday even as protests flared on campus anti-Semitism has no place on our campus.

And I am personally committed to doing everything I can to confront it directly administrators pressed to respond to some of the most appalling examples of anti-Semitism does calling for the genocide of Jews violate Colombia's code of conduct Mr Greenwald yes it does Miss Shipman yes it does Dr shafik yes it does that.

Exchange notable after the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard's presidents stumbled over the same line of questioning last year ultimately resigning their posts calling for the genocide of Jews violates Harvard code of conduct correct again it depends on the context it does not depend on the context the answer is yes and this is.

Why you should resign some questioning Wednesday focused on the commentary of certain faculty members support of terrorism is acceptable if you're a Columbia Professor not at all while some Democrats criticize the Republican Le committee for being more focused on creating viral moments than on protecting Jewish students this.

Committee has held three hearings on anti-Semitism on college campuses but not one of these hearings has considered a bill to actually address the scourge of anti-Semitism now the protests at Colombia which has a long history of political activism continued late overnight are expected to resume again.

Today the house committee by the way says they will continue their investigation expanding it to more college campuses Savannah all right K thank you so much well now to have growing concern and anger also on Capitol Hill over new whistleblower allegations directed at Boeing this includes claims about the construction.

Of certain Boeing Jets and questions over the company's commitment to safety NBC News senior correspondent Tom Castello covers Aviation of course joins us from rean National Airport Tom good morning so these are some pretty strong allegations from insiders who've continued to bring us these exclusive interviews what can you tell us we're.

Hearing today yeah that's right so these are whistleblowers we heard from a former Boeing uh whistleblower a former FAA a former Boeing engineer I should say former FAA engineer and inspector and a present Boeing engineer he's the one who warned this week about potential fatal flaws with one of the planes we also.

Heard from a an outside panel reporting back to Congress they were commissioned to do a report on the culture inside Boeing all of this as a very divided Congress seems to be United on the issue of Boeing every second of the day a Boeing jet is in the air but after two fatal Max 8 crashes overseas 5 years ago a Max.

9 door plug blowout in January and boeings admitted quality control breakdowns whistleblowers told Congress they feel the need to speak out effectively they are putting out defective airplanes one of them making a stunning Claim about the trip 7 assembly line I literally saw people jumping on the pieces of the airplane to get them.

To align I call it the Taran effect engineer Sam solapur told Senators what he told us in an exclusive interview this week that Boeing 787 fuselage has a manufacturing flaw that could cause it to break apart in Flight should Boeing ground the 787 right now to check the Gap sizes I would say they need to the entire fleet worldwide the entire Philly.

Worldwide but Bo says that's simply not true reiterating that in 13 years of service and after extensive stress testing and checks we have found zero fatigue and we are fully confident in the safety and durability of the 787 Dreamliner on Wednesday releasing this video of extensive testing on the 787's composite material United Airlines CEO.

Says he too is confident there are thousands of these airplanes have been flying for decades millions of the flight hours I am totally confident the 787 is a safe airplane but with family members of some of the 346 max8 victims on Capitol Hill another former Boeing Employee turned whistleblower says the company has dodged accountability not a.

Single person from Boeing went to jail hundreds of people died and there's been no justice a divided Congress seemingly bipartisan on Boeing there is still a long way to go to bring an effective safety culture back to Boeing the flying public is also acutely worried about why pieces of Boeing airplanes are falling from the.

Sky Senators also said that they've heard from other other whistleblowers who have yet to come forward Boeing uh making the statement regards to what happened yesterday and all of the comments in that hearing boing says it insists we continue to put safety and quality Above All Else and share information transparently with our.

Regulator that's the FAA along with customers and other stakeholders but the problem here Savannah is this company has been in the firing line for years now and its problems seem to grow worse by the week by the day as you've got more whistleblowers who according to members of Congress are prepared to come forward back to you wow all right Tom.

Costello important reporting thank you so much we got much more to come here on this hour of morning news now including President Biden's new push for higher tariffs on some Chinese medals but what would that mean for the average American we are watching your wallet for you in just a moment firsto Prince William is back on the job this morning officially.

Returning to public duties for the first time since Princess Kate Went public with her cancer diagnosis we've got more on that up next we are back with the latest on the race to the White House former president Trump is due back in a courtroom today for the continuation of jury selection in his hush money criminal trial and.

With Mr Trump tied up in court his rival President Biden was calling for higher tariffs on Chinese steel while campaigning in the swing state of Pennsylvania yesterday NBC News senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez has more according union members in Battleground Pennsylvania President.

Biden is calling for the tripling of tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum I'm not looking for a fight with China I'm looking for competition but Fair competition the administration accuses China of overproducing goods and flooding the US market hurting the American economy China denies it President Biden has kept most of the.

Tariffs on China that the Trump White House first imposed former president Trump has pledged even higher tariffs if he wins my predecessor and the Maga Republicans want AC cross the board tariffs on All Imports from all countries that could badly hurt American consumers the president is focusing on economic issues during a three-day trip.

Through a crucial swing state while his opponent is tied up in court a new poll shows 64% of Americans approve of how Mr Trump handled the economy while 63% disapprove of President Biden on the issue Joe padavan a retired steel worker blames corporate greed not President Biden for inflation America because I really do believe that the constitution.

Is going to take a step backwards if um Mr Trump gets in he supports the president's push for more tariffs on China what we need to do is be building in America why pay the Tariff if you can build it here but in Scranton Trump supporter John baselga is building a new restaurant and he's slamming President Biden for Rising costs he says his.

Policies are better for for Middle America or anybody just walk around and ask the real people they'll tell you the exact opposite with jury selection in former president Trump's trial set to resume on Thursday the Biden campaign is heading to Philadelphia trying to create a split screen moment back to you all right gab Gutierrez thank you so much so.

Let's talk more about President Biden's economic policies with NBC News business and data correspondent Brian Chung Fresh Off quite the reporting trip yep in China in China which exct exactly you'll tell us more about this so first off just help us to understand how these tariffs work why President Biden wants to do this in the first place and then.

We'll get into how it's going to impact us at home yeah well with the specific tariffs uh on steel and aluminum basically right now they're about 7.5% on whatever Chinese China is trying to import to the United States President Biden wants to Triple that and that's a big deal because that means that essentially any steel that'd be coming.

In from China would be enormously more expensive to bring into this country than it is right now now one thing that is worth noting is that this is going to involve some cooperation from Mexico as well because the Biden Administration is also weary of China trying to export steel into United States through Mexican channels as well so that's why the.

Announcement yesterday also included some uh mention of Mexico having to basically tie down on their tariffs on Chinese steel as well so when then president Trump wanted to do something like this what it sort of resulted in was like this trade War because then China did the same thing back I mean are we going to see that again well I mean.

Here's the thing is that the Biden Administration has said before that they are not going to take tariffs on other things off the table this is really the first one and as you mentioned I was in China following treasury secretary Janet Yellen and she was mentioning that this whole idea of China essentially flooding not just the United States but other.

Global markets with goods and trying to deliberately lower prices to undercut local competition it's happening not just in steel but it's happening in things like electric vehicles happening in things like solar panels happening in things like batteries so this could be the first step in escalating that war of course it depends on whether or not.

China does anything retaliatory we have to remember there are Global bodies that are in charge of kind of administering and making sure that there's fair trade around the world that comes from the World Trade Organization could they step in at some point that remains an open question but we're a few months out from an election you do wonder if this is the.

First step for the Biden Administration to ratchet that up you also hear that and you're like okay that sounds like everything gets more expensive for all of us tell us how will this impact all of us at home what does this mean for our wallets what does this mean for things that may not even be really thinking are connected here but that you.

Head to the store to buy yeah and and that's the thing is that if you increase tariffs well that would increase the the price of importing that good which in this inflationary environment would that make everything that has Steel in it more expensive well not yet for a few reasons first off what President Biden announced yesterday is a request for the.

Trade Representatives Office to raise tariffs not necessarily an immedia directive that's going to take place tomorrow there's a number of other steps that have to happen before that and then secondly the amount of Steel that's imported into United States represents about 6% of us demand so for the most part the steel that we have here.

Domestically is either domestically produced or brought in from other countries that aren't in China so it's not necessarily the case that okay these tariffs are going to make everything that has steel more expensive but certainly worth watching right well that's some good news there to hear all right Brian Chong again fresh off his.

Trip great to have you back and Perfect story for you to report on for us thanks for coming well changing gears Prince William is set to make his official return to public duties today for the first time since his wife Princess Kate announced she's being treated for cancer the prince is scheduled to visit West London and nearby sir and focus on the.

Environment NBC News International correspondent Molly Hunter joins us from Buckingham Palace with the latest hi Molly good morning Savannah good morning from a sunny Buckingham Palace for once that's right Prince William is back to work we' have already seen him out and about today and he is now looking forward to.

His Royal duties and supporting his family take a look this morning Prince William is back at work his first public engagement since his wife Kate the princess of wales's bombshell Health announcement last month a test after the operation found cancer had been present this week William and Kate's kids now back at.

School after the Easter holidays the whales family often spends school breaks at their Country House in norfol it was very restful it was very quiet usually they're a very busy Active Family one of Kate's favorite things to do in Nori is to take the family sailing um I don't think there was any of that this time around as Kate undergos preventative.

Cancer treatment the family has requested privacy hunkering down just the five of them that as a family we now need some time space and priv while I complete my treatment they've mostly stayed out of the public eye but last week William spotted with eldest son George cheering on their favorite soccer team while Prince Harry a world.

Away making headlines this morning registering his permanent address in California and speaking at a travel conference yesterday for us communities is the people and the places meanwhile back here Kate's still recuperating I'm told by Palace sources that at the moment she's not working from home the focus is on her treatment Kensington.

Palace only saying she'll restart her public facing Royal duties when she feels ready earlier this week a hint at business as usual a statement from both the prince and princess following the horrific stabbing attacks in Australia and with family Milestones coming up we may hear more from the Wales family next week when little Louie turns six perhaps.

Another Kate family photo to Mark the day at the end of April William and Kate celebrating their 13th wedding anniversary and looking ahead trooping the color looms large on the calendar in mid June an event the whole family usually attends and if we're lucky little Lou steals the show if we're lucky Savannah lots to.

Look ahead to now there's no timeline on Kate the princess of whales return we know she's eager to get back but the palace also says when she does come back it may be sporadic so not to read too much into those early events another thing to look forward to though next month Prince Harry Savannah likely to be on this side of the pond for an Invictus.

Game ceremony in early May Savannah we'll have to see how that works out with the whole family Molly thank you so much for the latest there let's get you more international news now the US is reimposing sanctions on Venezuela's oil industry Megan Fitz joins us with that more hey Megan Good Morning Savannah good morning to you.

That's right it comes as a response to uh president Venezuela's president madur failure to allow for an inclusive and competitive election now the US says that Venezuela didn't stick to the commitments made last year Maduro agreed to hold such elections so the US Treasury issued a temporary authorization to allow transaction of.

Oil and gas without sanctions but that agreement is set to expire tomorrow in an attempt to combat Mass tourism Amsterdam will no longer allow new hotels to be built the city says it will only be possible if another hotel closes but it can't have more rooms than the building it will replace government officials say they want to keep the city.

Livable for both residents and tourists and a pretty cool story out of England a father and daughter Duo discovered that uh what may be the largest Marine reptile to swim on Earth Justin and his 11-year-old daughter Ruby Reynolds discovered this gigantic Jawbone on a beach in 2020 they continued searching finding more pieces over the course of 2.

Years the bones belong to the species of the Giant eus and they say that this is the largest thing that ever swam in the seas and it's comparable they say uh to a blue whale Savannah wow pretty amazing Megan Fitz derald thank you so much well coming up America's obsession with the new generation of weight loss drugs is.

Now causing a supply chain squeeze when we return how one major drug maker is working to keep up with a boom in demand as shortages plague patients from coast to coast this is morning news now we are back with new developments in the case against the man accused of killing those four University of Idaho students in a court filing Wednesday.

Attorneys for the suspect offered up an alibi saying in part that Brian coburger was out driving alone the night the students were killed here's NBC News senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett with the details hey there good morning the whole point of an alibi is to raise some Reasonable Doubt in the minds of a jury.

To suggest that the the defendant was someplace else so he couldn't have committed the crime but in this case The Alibi that's being offered by the defense raising more questions and answers this morning a fresh look at Brian cober's defense strategy his lawyers revealing in a Long awaited Court filing they will offer expert.

Testimony to cast Dow on prosecutors evidence placing coburger near the crime scene pointing to his fondness for nighttime drives his public defender now says that quote Mr koberger was out driving in the early morning hours of November 13th 2022 as he often did to hike and run Andor see the moon and the stars it's the very same defense that.

The judge appeared skeptical of last year when his public defender first loaded it not prosecutors that cerer fatally stabbed Madison Mogan Kaye Gonzalez Zanna kodo and Ethan chapen in their off-campus home near the University of Idaho authorities zeroing in on coburger.

Using cell phone towers to track the location of his phone and surveillance video allegedly showing a white hondai matching his vehicle casing the victim's house on the night of the killings and the morning after this is state of Idaho versus Brian cobber in the newly released Court rep documents cober's legal team now says his phone did not.

Travel east on the Moscow pulman Highway in the early morning hours of November 13th and thus could not be the vehicle captured on video along the Moscow pulman Highway the judge entered a plea of not guilty on cober's behalf but this morning the case is stalled in unresolved pre-trial motions with no trial date Kaye Gonzalez's family saying.

In a statement they're frustrated by the delays while their attorney said says it's striking just how little information has been shared with the families the line of communication between the prosecution and the victims family at least for the gonz alz family has been very limited I've never seen it before in my career well the next court.

Hearing in this case is currently scheduled for May 14th back to you all right Laura thank you so much well Eli Lily's announcement that its drug zet bound May improve sleep apnea is expected to add to the huge and growing demand for the weight loss medications so can the drug makers keep up and BC News senior business correspondent.

Christine Romans joins us with the latest details on this hey Christine good morning good morning you know that's right the big problem the Eli Le is facing right now is is a shortage of this drug both zound and mararo which is used for diabetes are increasingly hard to find at the moment thousands tens of thousands of people really across the.

Country not able to get their prescribed dosages and that could last for months all across the country America's relationship with weight loss is undergoing a dramatic transformation as drugs like OIC wovi Mount jaro and Zeb bound are changing the game their popularity is exploding with sales soaring over 11 billion in 2023 compared.

To about 4 billion the year before and now demand is exceeding the supply here in North Carolina a multi-billion doll all Hands-On deck push to churn out Manjaro for diabetes and Zeb Bound for weight loss a massive investment to bring injectables from this brand new Eli Lily site to your Pharmacy so people consumers out there who are who really.

Are eager for these drugs will see product from here at their pharmacies in the spring in January and sometime next year for sometime next year not soon enough for the nearly 80,000 people now taking Zep Bound in a shortage just 5 months after being approved by the FDA it's the drug some Wall Street analysts say could.

Drive the weight loss drug Market to$ 100 billion a year is that a function of just demand that is so great for these drugs that you're really scrambling to keep up it is the demand that's causing this and again we we we are working so hard every day to make sure that we increase that capacity as fast as we can to get these medications in patients.

Hands Amanda chellis says this new class of glp1 weight loss drugs has changed her life it has been a GameChanger food noise is unrelenting um it's when all of your thoughts just completely revolve around food and the glp1 medications they they shut it off like a switch for me and I feel I feel free I feel like I'm no longer ruled by food anymore I.

Feel like I can just live my life I feel normal and with the zon shortage I'm just I'm not willing to struggle again I'm not willing to suffer again but it's become a part-time job to fill her prescription I just Googled Walmart Pharmacy in New Jersey and I just went down the list and I called every every single Walmart in the state of New.

Jersey nobody had it so then I started focusing on Pennsylvania Philadelphia specifically no one had it there either I tried a few mom and pop shops I've tried Hospital pharmacies I could not find it within the state of New Jersey when do you think Zep bound will be in you know more better supply for the near term we are going to be in this limited.

Availability which may cause delays across some of the doses for both monjaro and Zep bound um outside of near term car it's very challenging to predict when you know it's going to be full on so I would say that um just for the near term we are expecting limited availability but thousands of patients like Amanda facing the risk of having to.

Start all over again months down the road all right these drugs are not simple to use you have to start at an initial starter dose then you work your way up to what's called a therapeutic dose and if that dosage laps if you can't get it right you have to start all over again at the beginning people who aren't able to find their dose should.

Talk to their doctor about what other Alternatives there are but people like Amanda I mean she's it is a full-time job part-time job to full-time job for her chasing down what she thinks is a lifechanging and life-saving Drug in her case yeah pretty interesting to hear her talk about that food noise I'd never heard it put that way um and yet even.

Though they're so difficult to actually find we're hearing about more potential uses for them and maybe even meaning more people that are looking for them with Eli Lily pointing to what doing potentially for sleep apnea yeah it had some late stage results and a couple of different tests that it had that showed that it was really had good uses for.

Sleep apnea and that sometimes can be weight related so you're starting to see all of these things where addressing the weight issue has these other consequences that are really important for health they're going to later this year in the middle of this year they're going to present that to Regulators around the world um and to uh and to um.

Try to get it you know get that on the on the road to being something you can prescribe this drug for but again you can't get it you know like not everybody can get it so it's just more demand for something you know I was in that factory they are working hard they're being careful you want to be safe but they know that there's big demand for this.

And they've they're standing up an entire Factory just to turn out these two drugs hopefully hitting Market by next year and but even then not until next year all right Christine Romans thank you so much great interview final headlines starting with the latest read on unemployment CNBC Savanah hanell joins us with that breaking news and.

What other Financial headlines hey savan good morning hey Savannah good morning to you we are getting a fresh look of the economy the number of Americans finally for jobless benefits didn't change last week as the labor market continues to defy efforts by the Federal Reserve to go hiring the labor department reporting that initial claims.

For the week of April 13th remains unchanged at 212,000 claims all right United Airlines said Wednesday that Boeing will pay for any Financial damages that the carrier incurred in the first quarter as a result result of the grounding of the 737 Max 9 aircraft us Regulators grounded some Boeing planes in January.

To undergo safety checks after a cabin panel blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight the move forced United Airlines to temporarily suspend all of its 737 Max 9 Fleet resulting in a $200 million loss for the airline in q1 United said Boeing will pay with credit memos for future purchases Red Lobster is considered ing whether to file for.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Bloomberg reports the seafood chain is getting advice on restructuring from outside lawyers Red Lobster is looking to shed some long-term contract and renegotiate several leases the company has been weighed down by Rising costs for labor and real estate Savannah all right savan thank you so much well now let's get to.

A new Scandal rocking the NBA the league has issued a rare lifetime ban for the Toronto Raptors player John Porter accusing him of gambling violations here's NBC News correspondent Sam Brock with the story the NBA's Doling out a lifetime ban to Raptors forward jonte Porter Jr after a league investigation uncovered.

Blatant violations of our gaming rules Porter is accused of manipulating his own performance and tipping off betters which Commissioner Adam Silver commented on days ago it's cardinal sin you know that that what he's accused of in the NBA Porter is the first active player or coach expelled from the league for gambling in 70 years Adam Silver had no.

Choice but to drop the hammer today according to a league investigation Porter placed at least 13 bets on NBA games netting about $222,000 shared confidential information about his own health status to a known NBA better and limited his own game participation to influence the outcome of bets tied to his performance he then.

Gets into a game against the Sacramento Kings and within 3 minutes takes himself out saying that he's sick he only played three minutes he didn't take shots he didn't get rebounds so he underperforms they win the bet NBC News was unable to reach Porter for comment the rush of attention around professional sports leagues and gambling all the stars with.

All your friends has coincided with those same leagues going into business with the gambling companies how are we going to integrate gambling into professional sports while simultaneously making sure that the players aren't gambling it's the most important thing but what he did speaks to the heart of why this is such a bad idea to have.

Leagues partner with gambling companies a new terrain that leagues like the NBA must now navigate Sam Brock NBC News coming up finding love in darkness after the break the true to life story of two Holocaust Survivors who fell in love during one of History's Greatest tragedies it's told in a new series on Peacock called the tattooist of owitz.

And its star Jonah Howard King joins us next this is Morning News Now welcome back we legendary director Martin Scorsese has teased a new project that's getting a lot of attention variety reports that he wants to make a biopic of Frank Sinatra and is actually looking to cleonard DiCaprio as the singer this would be the pair's seventh.

Film collaboration he also reportedly wants Jennifer Lawrence to play anatra second wife Ava Gardner vary reports that sces is also looking at making a film about Jesus although it's not clear who he has in mind for that role so something we will keep our eyes on big news there well it's been nearly 80 years since the end of the Holocaust but.

The harrowing stories that came out of that dark time are still making their way to light one of those stories is the focus of a new peacock series it's called the tattooist of osht it was inspired by the real life story of Jewish Holocaust Survivors Lai and G sakov who met and fell in love in the ashit berken now concentration camps.

Every time I open my eyes I am still there have to find something in your mind a good thing can't get guy sound something there someone well this morning we are so lucky to be joined by Jonah Hower King.

Who plays loli in this Jonah thank you very much for being here thanks for having me great to have you I mean even just this trailer is emotional it totally had me tearing up tell me about you first learning this story cuz again it's Prett incredible this is a real story this is really based on something that happened tell me about hearing.

About it and then deciding to take on this role yes I heard about it uh when the book came out originally Heather Morris uh had spent a lot of time with Lai over the years and and had written his his story and I fell in love with it I fell in love with um him and his humanity and his uh commitment to GA and their love story and I found it to be.

Such a extraordinary thing that a love could uh could come about in in that context and so um yeah I heard that they were making it into a into a show I really wanted to be involved what was it like learning about someone who was this real man who went through something such as this and and taking him on trying to you know do that Ro Justice what was.

That process like that's exactly it I think it definitely feels like a huge responsibility I think anytime there's a much love book I think you feel that but particularly when you're telling the story of a life that has been lived and in this context I think you want so much to make sure that it's dealt with sensitively and.

Respectfully and uh and and make sure that the the story is being done Justice absolutely I I believe that if you wouldn't mind sharing there's a bit of a personal connection just in in what your grandparents went through yeah tell me that yeah so my I was looking at the documents just this morning that a cousin of mine who works in a museum and.

Has access to all of these archive records that sent me and it's the uh it's the the documents of of when he came from from Poland at the end of the 20s and came over to Canada and then to America which is where my mom grew up but it was amazing cuz he left and uh and it was sort of sandwiched in between the the Russian pograms and then what.

Was to come uh in Nazi Germany and um and they were able to leave and build a new life but I felt very connected to to this part of History I guess as as a result how emotional was that kind of tapping into something that your own family dealt with it was it was and it felt very personal it felt very intimate and I think again I think we wanted so.

Much to to make sure that this story was being handled delicately we knew it was an important story to tell but at the same time I think making sure that we were um being respectful to La specifically and everyone um who has a story like LA's or similar to his because there's so much um there's so much trauma connected to this time and.

So I think we wanted to make sure that we looked after it absolutely what was it like to tell a love story in a place like that yeah it was something that Drew me to it I think it's such a unique thing um and a unique aspect of this story we wanted so much not to dilute any of the horror that had happened but also celebrate the fact.

That two people had been able to find each other they were able to survive and spend the rest of their lives together so we really wanted to to highlight that and I think we were very inspired by their ability to give love and receive love uh in a place like that it it felt for us like it was an act of defiance absolutely I'm so happy we could share.

That I didn't know if that was just something I knew secret already that they survive and live together which is just such a beautiful part of they they they spent the rest of their days together and and and they had a child and it was a you know a beautiful ending to a very dark time a story like this related to the Holocaust it's coming at.

At a tough time right now in the world and actually I want to read a that according to the Anti-Defamation League anti-semitic incidents in the US in the US reached a record high last year up 140% from 2022 what does it mean for you to put art out about a time like that at a time like this right now in the world it.

Feels very important you don't really get the opportunity to do this where you feel like you're telling a story that has so much meaning and goes so much further than just the job I think for us this is very living history um victims perpetrators they're still alive today but that won't be the case and so we feel like it's really important to keep.

Remembering these stories to keep telling them honoring the lives that were lost honoring the lives that uh survived as well and I think ultimately the story is I think fundamentally it's a it's a show about advocating for Humanity and and for peace and I think we we need that at this time absolutely so much so Jonah Hower King thank you so.

Much for coming thank you for sharing the show it's really really incredible to see you can check this out it's the tattoo of asht it's streaming on peacock starting May 2nd so we're getting a little sneak preview thank you for coming by we really appreciate it that's going to do it for this hour of morning news now don't go anywhere though the.

News continues on morning news now 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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