Morning Knowledge NOW Burly Broadcast – Feb. 22

Right now on Morning News Now a war of words in Washington after President Biden's brother testifies behind closed doors in the Republican impeachment inquiry against the president it's been a wild goose chase built on conspiracy theory and lies from the beginning I think it's time for chairman comr and the Republicans to.

Fold up the circus tent and we should get back to work for the American people what James Biden told a house committee about his own business dealing and his brother's alleged involvement also this morning campaign Trail controversy a Republican Senate candidate says he softening his stance on abortion the discussion that's found.

Its way back to the spotlight ahead of the 2024 election plus outbreak in the Sunshine State concern in South Florida after several students come down with measles the warning now from Health officials and what you can do to keep your family healthy and an important lesson in Black history from one teacher going above and.

Beyond her unique tribute to black Trailblazers that's making learning fun good morning everybody I'm Savannah sers Joe's off this morning so you just got me we begin with the latest on the House GOP impeachment inquiry into President Biden Republicans questioned the president's brother James Biden yesterday for about eight hours behind.

Closed doors that meeting took place just 24 hours after Alexander smyrnov who Republicans had said was key to the inquiry was charged with providing false information about the Biden family false information that prosecutors claim came from Russian intelligence officials for his part smirnov's attorneys say he plans to fight the charges but Democrats.

Are calling for an end to the inquiry it's been a wild goose chase built on conspiracy theory and lies from the beginning and now we know that Russian intelligence operatives were behind creating the propaganda and disinformation at the very Foundation of this investigation so I think it's it's time for uh chairman comr and the.

Republicans to fold up the circus tent and we should get back to work for American people for more we're joined by NBC News Congressional correspondent Julie cirin Julie good morning so let's start with that closed door interview with the president's brother what were House Republicans focused on and and what were your big.

Takeaways that's a great question Savannah good morning it's so good to be with you James Biden testified for hours yesterday behind closed doors this is kind of the run-of-the-mill procedure we've seen with House Republicans looking to impeach the president the thing is so James Biden came in there and told House Republicans and house.

Democrats that his brother Joe Biden the president had no involvement in his business dealings he said he kept his personal relationship with his brother separate from his 50-year career in various businesses of course this pokes a whole in Republican Central argument who have tried to link tried to prove over the last several months that.

President Biden had benefited financially from these business relationships that both his brother and his son Hunter have had snah so this is all playing out against the backdrop of the arrest of Alexander smava as I mentioned just put in context how crucial he was to this whole impeachment inquiry in the first place this was.

Really how was Republicans star witness if you will this is what they based and who they based pretty much their entire impeachment Foundation into the president on obviously these Revelations especially that smirnov was getting this information from Russian officials it calls every everything into question but Jim Jordan said just yesterday that this.

Quote in his words fundamentally does not change the case does not change the facts and evidence that Republicans are pursuing still though it's been many months Republicans have not been able to connect any of these dots they are still willing by having James Biden for example yesterday sit behind closed doors for hours having others in the.

Future to pursue their impeachment inquiry the question is because of all these Pok hlls in their argument will there even be enough votes to formalize this inquiry to formalize the impeachment articles against the president that really does remain to be seen we know House Republicans are moving forward with their impeachment.

Inquiry where do things go from here yeah well next week on February 28th they're going to sit down with Hunter Biden the president's son behind closed doors obviously he's facing a slew of charges there there's a special counsel investigation looking into it all of those tax and gun charges unrelated to anything that President Biden had done.

But still this is the committee this is Republicans trying to connect the dots if you will trying to see if there is any evidence linking uh the business dealings of Joe Biden's son of his brother of any of his family or business associates with anything that he could have profited from while in office the thing is though Jim Jordan admitted.

Yesterday he's admitted many times before that these are events that happened before Biden was in the White House this is when he was vice president even his time as Senator so it's not really clear how they're going to use impeachment of course to go to those High crimes and misdemeanors to meet that threshold when they're looking at.

Events before Biden even took the white house but still they're going to push on because they've certainly promised a lot and they hope to deliver on it all right Julie cirin thank you so much well there's another Biden family member making headlines this morning new documents show that the Biden family dog Commander bit Secret Service agents on.

At least 24 occasions over a 9-month period the documents were revealed from Freedom of Information requests and first reported by CNN they say the agents were Bitten on the wrist chest thigh and shoulder and revealed the Secret Service changed their t tactics around the German Shepherd to quote give lots of room Commander was removed from.

The White House in October after one agent needed medical treatment for a severe bite a White House spokesperson said the environment quote simply proved too much for Commander well this morning there's been a leadership shakeup at Boeing of course this is less than two months after a panel blew out of one of its jets mid-flight during an Alaska.

Airlines flight Boeing CEO announced Ed Clark the head of its 737 Max program is leaving the company effective immediately Kate Ringold vice president of 737 delivery operations will take his place Boeing also named Elizabeth lond to a newly created position of senior vice president of quality for the commercial airplane unit this is the.

First significant staffing change we've seen since that January 5th accident well the family of a Russian American dual National detained in Russia has been speaking out about her plight La resident cinia K kilina excuse me stands accused of treason for allegedly donating money in support of Ukraine her us employer said she donated.

$518 to a Ukrainian charity but the authorities have not confirmed that NBC News International correspondent Josh lman joins us now for more on this Josh good morning so what is the latest on her situation and what did we hear from her family well hey good morning Savannah the court in the region where cassia Carolina is being held has just.

Announced a hearing for next Thursday so a week from today but that is expected to take place behind closed doors and really just is to focus on whether to keep her uh detained while this case goes forward so unlikely to get into the substance of the case but in the meantime the US government is warning there may not be that much they can do.

To help her because Russia does not recognize her US citizenship dual citizenship but in the meantime we're also hearing now from her boyfriend about what she thinks about her Russian identity take a listen she's so proud to be Russian I'll I mean that like she is so proud to be Russian and she she doesn't watch the.

News she doesn't intervene with with anything about the war and and um she's proud to be Russian and we never spoke about it like she doesn't want to speak about it she's just like you know like I said if you saw how happy she was to go home she did not have a worry in a world she did not for the life of her think that she would be in this situation now.

Carolina's boyfriend also says that she arrived in Russia last month to visit her grand mother and was actually detained immediately at the airport but then was eventually uh released he said several weeks later she went back to get her cell phone from authorities who were holding on to it and that was the last time that he heard from cassa Carolina.

There's also been this new war of words between Moscow and Washington the Kremlin is hitting back at President Biden after he called President Putin a quote crazy so at a fundraising event last night what's going on here yeah so the Kremlin says that President Biden frankly sounds like he's trying to be a ollywood cowboy and is challenging the.

US to put up any evidence of times when President Putin has used similarly as they call it borish language to describe uh the US president but what is clear here is that relations between the US and Russia are really at quite a low uh and this is just the latest example of as we see these multiple incidents involving uh navali involving this.

Ballerina other incidents around the world as well as the uh 2-year anniversary coming up of the war of Ukraine uh just how bad things are between Washington and Moscow right now Savannah so Josh we know the White House is planning to announce a new round of sanctions on Russia tomorrow this comes after the European Union approved its.

Own package of measures what are they imposing and do we know what the US package is going to look like not exactly but the US has said that this package coming out tomorrow uh will involve sanctions that are not only tied to naval's killing but also to the 2-year anniversary of the war in Ukraine uh that is coming up and they've also.

Signaled that those sanctions are likely to involve Russia's military-industrial complex in other words going after Russia's ability to keep manufacturing the weapons that it needs to continue the war in Ukraine but frankly behind the scenes us officials have been fairly candid uh that they're kind of Tapped Out on sanctions on Russia after so many.

Years of trying to punish Russia through these economic penalties Russia has really sought to bulletproof its economy against Western imposed sanctions and so while this is going to be important symbolically it may not have a huge e economic impact for President Putin or for his government Savannah all right Josh thank you very much well staying.

With the war in Ukraine NBC's Chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel spoke with women fighting in the Ukrainian military about their experiences here's that report when Russia invaded Ukraine 2 years ago it was a call to arms for Ukrainian men and women in the capital ke andreana susak.

Made the hardest decision a mother can face putting her six-year-old son on a train for a safer area before she headed to the front lines along with her husband Ukraine was expected to lose the war so it could have been a forever goodbye but susak was determined that her son not live under Russian occupation between death and freedom for.

My son I choose death many other Ukrainian women made the same choice and now Ukraine has more women deployed in combat than any other Nation 43,000 women in service 18,000 of them with young children it's all the more remarkable because women are not drafted in Ukraine but must volunteer a soldier codenamed mafka and.

Helina luova have faced intense combat and some sexism from male soldiers which they say only motivates them I will show them that I can do even better than people around me and now I teach them mafka is a sniper and drone operator luova is a combat medic what's it like now two years into this war you know we are.

Really tired but then you understand why you're like fighting our destination it's too important for us what would you say to our viewers particularly women Russia is the evil right now I think it's unfair um that we have such a neighbor um and we need your help guys we need your help andreana susak was injured when her vehicle rolled over a.

Landmine but returned to the front line and is still fighting today in the Special Forces if we will not have a victory our children or grandchildren will fight again for the inde dependence and and freedom well thanks to Richard Engle for that report and we'll have more out of Ukraine in the next hour we turn now to.

The 2024 presidential race Democrats are hoping abortion rights will be one of the top issues that is going to drive voters to the polls in November and as election day approaches some Republicans are now taking a softer stance on the topic NBC News correspondent Stephanie GS has more West Point grad and purple heart.

Recipient Sam Brown will most likely be the Republican candidate for Senate in swing state Nevada the Democrats are already attacking but extremists like Sam Brown have fought to strip away women's rights in an interview with NBC news's Natasha kki Brown clarifying where he stands on abortion I would not support a federal abortion ban in Nevada.

Abortion is legal up to 24 weeks I'm not here to try and change anything about our existing law his position shaped he says by his wife's experience felt like I was all by myself processing this major event all by myself in 2008 at age 24 former Army Lieutenant Amy Brown got an abortion a.

Decision she now regrets that she says left her shattered soon after she met Sam he's helped me process it with compassion and with empathy the former Army Captain suffered severe burns from an IED in Afghanistan Amy was his dietitian helping him recover while at the same time she says he was helping her women should always feel loved.

Supported um part of that support is is is knowing that there are other options Beyond uh abortion Brown like most Republicans supports the overturning of roie Wade which has become a major political Challenge and is largely to blame for the part's lackluster midterm results now now abortion is front and center again in this election we need to.

Make sure that we're caring for women during pregnancy and after pregnancy Republicans in some places changing the message Stephanie gos NBC News well if you're having issues with your cell phone service this morning you're not alone outages are being reported according to outage tracking website downdetector.com AT&T saw its.

Outages Peak at 32,000 around 4:30 this morning morning down detector says T-Mobile also experienced outages let's get you some weather a mix of rain and snow is headed towards the Northeast we're going to get your forecast with Andrew lassman who's here in studio hey Andrew good morning hey Savannah good morning to you thank God now I know why.

My phone wasn't working I just found this out with everybody else okay the more you know hey when it comes to the forecast we do have some soggy conditions across parts of the Midwest the Northeast is going to get out in on the action here the Mid-Atlantic parts of the Appalachians all of us are going to start to see some rain and potenti a.

Winry mix working through it's kind of a mess of a system right now but it's going to be a quick mover so we're not going to have to deal with this for very long still though could be some wet roads on your commute this morning and even this afternoon and even tomorrow in some spots let's show you those spots we've got parts of the the Northeast in.

New England dealing with some of these kind of showers across places like Western Pennsylvania you move a little farther north into portions of New York and that's where we have a little bit of snow especially in the higher elevations and potentially a wintry mix the farther south South you go Pittsburgh and really South into portions of Tennessee that's.

Where we'll see mainly rain but again could be slower on that commute this morning and even into this evening by tomorrow remember I said it's a quick mover it sure is it's off the coast by the time we get into the afternoon hour so we really just have to deal with it for the first half of your Friday one thing to note we'll see some of these.

Winds coming off the lake they're going to be chilly so that means we'll still have the potential to see some of that lake effect snow places like Maine near the Lakes that's where we'll watch for that if you're wondering about a accumulation snow doesn't look too great rain though will have maybe an inch or so in some of the higher uh areas but.

Otherwise widespread we're talking quarter of an inch to a half an inch snowfall remember I said it doesn't look too great this is it really an inch maybe in places like Maine Vermont New Hampshire otherwise not expecting a whole lot from this system uh as we roll closer to March here's the deal though for the weekend we've got the the system.

That I just mentioned for your Friday but look everywhere else plenty of sunshine mild highs Savannah these temperatures in the southern ples they're going to feel way more like spring we're talking 70s for a lot of folks across Texas the good news is dry conditions out west I know people in California are super thankful for that.

And it lasts not just Saturday and Friday but also into Sunday too plenty of sunshine across the country for Sunday I mean looks like a sunny Sunday to me and near record temperatures in some spots there you go and California really needs it oh my good they're going to have much drier conditions for an extended period so good to hear all.

Right Angie thanks see you next hour much more to come here on Morning News Now later relief for tens of thousands of people working to pay off their student loans what borrowers need to know about a billion doll student loan forgiveness plan but first so after the break the deadly rust set shooting now back in the spotlight in a New Mexico.

Courtroom will break down day one of the trial against the film's armorer that's with that's next stay with us we are back now with the first trial in the deadly shooting on the set of the movie rest it's now underway armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed is facing up to 3 years behind bars if convicted in the involuntary mans slauer trial the.

Movie's cinematographer Helena Hutchins was fatally shot back in 2021 with a prop gun by actor Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal prosecutors say Gutierrez Reed introduced live ammunition to the set NBC news entertainment correspondent Khloe Mass has the details jury selection has started in the criminal trial of Russ film armorer.

Hannah Gutierrez Reed Gutierrez Reed who was responsible for the film's weapons is on trial for involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence for allegedly handing off a bag of cocaine to a friend after the shooting I can't believe Alec BD was holding the gun it's been over two years since the deadly shooting when actor Alec Balwin fired a.

Prop gun loaded with live ammunition killing cinematographer Helena Hutchin and injuring director Joel Souza well I didn't pull the trigger someone is responsible for what happened happened and I can't say who that is but I know it's not me Alec bwin will stand trial this summer after a grand jury indicted him on one count of involuntary.

Manslaughter he has pleaded not guilty so here's the box that I got them out of Gutierrez Reed's attorney telling NBC News she is ready for her day in court and looks forward to the full truth finally coming out she is not guilty of the crimes charged against her evidence presented at trial could include video exclusively obtained by NB.

News in November step back to your original Mark as well as text messages prosecutors say show gutier Reed was using alcohol and drugs after work including the night before the fatal shooting if convicted Gutierrez Reed faces 3 years in prison this criminal trial is expected to take about two weeks and I asked Jason Bulls Hannah.

Gutterz Reed's criminal attorney if she will take the stand and he wouldn't answer the question but we do know that sheriffs and some of the First Responders who were on the scene in 201 21 will be testifying back to you all right Chloe thank you so much now we have NBC News legal analyst Danny saalo is here on set for more on this Danny.

Great to have you with us as always so let's pick up on what Khloe was just talking about there at the end whether Hannah Gutierrez Reed will testify in the trial you always talk about the risk that is obviously we know there could be major benefit but it comes at that great risk what do you make on this one of that you know historically the rule was.

Never put your client on the stand but the trend appears to be in the opposite direction especially in high profile cases you see a lot of defendants taking the stand with mixed results sometimes it's successful sometimes not so uh there may be a new era going coming here where you might see someone like a Hannah Gutierrez Reed take the stand but.

You have to ask yourself here's the test is there a piece of information that you just can't get from anywhere else that you have to get from your client that warrants the risk of putting them on the stand and in Hannah Gutierrez Reed's case I expect that's going to be testimony about number one how she certainly didn't bring live rounds on.

The set and number two how she didn't know when she was loading the weapon that these were live rounds however that could be problematic on Cross because blank rounds look different than uh dummy rounds which also look different from live rounds and I think that might be a sticking point for the defense right um let's talk jury selection you.

Know that's how this is kicking off do you see any issues here it's obviously been very high-profile very covered and there's a celebrity involved this may sound counterintuitive but with the Gutierrez Reed case I would not if I'm the defense I do not want lawful gun owners people who commonly use guns on that jury you might think hey well she's.

The armor maybe gun owners would sympathize with her I don't think so I've used gun experts I know a lot of folks who are lawful Gunners who are Hunters they tend to be very harsh in judging the negligence of other gun owners uh they would see someone in my view like Hannah Gutierrez Reed as ruining it for the rest of them with her.

Negligence because when you're around gun experts and gun owners they're aware of the uh rules of gun safety they're aware of all the procedure that you need to do to load a weapon to clean a weapon for them procedure is everything and if someone who violates procedure allegedly like the armor allegedly did uh they're likely to judge her harshly so it may.

Sound counterintuitive but I don't want gun owners on the for the defense on this jury so you bring up the question of who brought the live rounds if you're saying you know she's going to go on the stand and and maybe say that she's who we need to hear that from let's just say it sort of inconclusive where they came from Legally does the blame still fall.

On her as the armorer like if that question which has been a huge question this whole time how do they even get there it's a movie set why would you ever have a live round there if that question continues to not have Clarity what do we go do from there yeah I it would make that a central theme of the defenses case in this particular trial.

And if I was defending Alec Baldwin as well I mean that's one of several Central themes but the main one for this defendant which is the empty chair defense you point to the empty chair of whoever brought those live rounds or sent those live rounds on the set because I think they're going to be able to prove that Gutierrez Reed loaded the.

Rounds into the firearm but nobody seems to know how they got on set gutiz Reed has actually sued A supplier in connection uh alleging that the supplier was responsible for the live rounds on the set but if I'm the defense I say look the state doesn't even care they haven't burnt any calories finding out how these live rounds got on set that's.

The real criminal here you're going to hold this person responsible for loading what she believed were either dummy rounds or blank rounds more likely dummy rounds that's where you get into a little bit of problem because dummy and blanks look different and sound different the dummies look like real rounds but they have a BB in them so you.

Shake them and you should be able to tell so that might be a problem for her she should have caught them that's the issue however there's blame to go around and that's when happens in these similar movie Set shootings there have been a couple over the years where they decline to prosecute cuz the blame is spread out out over a lot of people doing each of.

Their own little dumb things that led to this tragic event Danny saval is fascinating as always we appreciate you joining us thank you so much coming up cases of the measles they're on the rise in South Florida when we come back the growing concern after an outbreak at an elementary school this is morning news.

Now we're back now with a look at one Florida school dealing with a measles outbreak that has made at least six elementary school kids sick NBC News correspondent Sam Brock reports thank you for being here staff thank you so much class is in session at manate Bay Elementary in South Florida after a cluster of measles cases here.

Six in less than a week has fanned concerned for some parents right now I'm not sending my 10-year-old to school so I'm keeping her at home we stepped up the hand washing and this and that and uh we're just doing our best to cope Broward County Superintendent Dr pet pet Lata today at a monthly school board meeting the health department is.

Currently at the school until 6:00 p.m. today offering vaccine opportunities Lata says the district is taking action to safeguard families we're doing deep cleaning we're cleaning our buses we've replaced all the air filters we've done everything we can physically to make the difference Nationwide the new year has swept in more than two dozen cases of.

Measles Lata says 97% of manate Bay Elementary students have received at least one shot of the vaccine but pediatrician Dr Jack ores explains that Broward county is at higher risk for cases because of all the international Travelers plus vaccine exemptions for religious or health reasons are rising are you surprised to see measles.

Reemerging in 2024 I'm very surprised to see it reemerging because it's something that's completely preventable and it's only those people who refuse to immunize that are really bringing this back to the United States while families at Manatee Bay doing whatever they can to to protect themselves we're trying to keep calm right just so not to add to.

Any potential hysteria we mentioned that the students here at manate Bay Elementary School have actually over indexed in terms of being pretty good about getting the measles vaccine on a percentage basis what does that break down to only 33 students out of about 1,00 in the student body but as you talk to parents and stakeholders where their.

Concern is they got brothers and sisters and they can then get the virus and bring it to another school setting that hasn't happened yet but of course that is top mind right now in West in srock NBC news for more let's bring in NBC News medical contributor Dr Natalie AAR Dr AAR okay this is a little freaky and actually the numbers are showing that.

It's really we're really seeing an uptick the World Health Organization said that measles cases globally have climbed 79% with over 300,000 cases last year I mean this is something that we have a vaccine for why are we seeing an uptick like this well so there's two major reasons Savannah one is the pandemic uh vaccinations across the.

Board for adults but especially in that pediatric population dropped significantly and kids were just behind on their on their vaccines and there's also been because of the covid pandemic a lot of anti-vaccine sentiment so the numbers right now in Florida are around 93% of kids being vaccinated and the World Health Organization has set the.

Lower limit at 95% which is required to generate what's called herd immunity which means that there's enough immunity in the population to prevent these pockets and these outbreaks from happening so at this particular School the numbers here um that s was talking about it's called manity Bay Elementary 33 out of more.

Than a thousand kids are unvaccinated so that right there is a number of concern and then secondly just remind people it if you have to have this technically to go to school or how how is it that so many kids don't have the vaccine so it is incredibly concerning measles is the most contagious vaccine preventable illness so if you walk into a room and.

You have measles and you're contagious you are going to infect nine out of 10 people who are in that room which is why we are seeing these outbreaks happen you're not going to get sick if you are vaccinated so we're talking about these kids who are unvaccinated and they yes we we normally think of these vaccines as requirements to go to school but.

There are exemptions for medical reasons for philosophical reasons and where there's a will there's a way it's very it's not that difficult to get someone to sign a letter for you saying that uh this is against my you know belief system and and if you're in a place that is more lenient about that they're going to okay it how serious of a problem for.

Kids at this age is Contracting measles very serious about one in five unvaccinated people will end up in the hospital about one to three out of a thousand children are going to die from measles we think of it as or I think I should say perhaps younger Generations think of it as a normal childhood illness it was a normal childhood.

Illness before vaccination yes sometimes it's a it's just a really crappy viral syndrome and you don't feel well but complications like pneumonia enalis and even death can ensue as well as cognitive issues it is not an illness that anyone should want for themselves or anyone should want for their children especially because the vaccine is.

Incredibly effective about 97% effective if you get your two do series for parents at home who are thinking oh gosh okay I've got a bunch of kids in elementary school and the headline I'm hearing is cases are up 79% what should parents keep in mind if your children are vaccinated they should be protected it's a series of two shots they get one.

When they're about 12 months old and then they get another one at about age four to six if your child is unvaccinated I would not send them to school all right Dr AAR very good information thank you so much it was great to have you now let's get to an incredible story of family connecting across generations and after hundreds of.

Years for the very first time two siblings from Brooklyn will see their ancestors handwritten petition for slavery rep operations after one man bought his entire family's Freedom back in the mid 1800s here's NBC News correspondent termaine Lee buried in the nation's capital by the passage of time is one family's.

Extraordinary Legacy siblings Adele and Richard are seeing for the very first time a rare document that forever changed their fam's fortunes it was a revelation to us the Civil War era filing signed by their great great great-grandfather of free black man named Gabriel kley awarded him something that most descendants of enslaved.

Africans have never received reparations for slavery it's mindboggling in the middle of the Civil War nearly a year before the Emancipation Proclamation President Lincoln signed the compensated emancipation Act of 1862 ending slavery in the district while also paying off DC's white enslavers if they pledge loyalty to the union it was an idea of.

Abraham Lincoln as a test to show that there was a way to end slavery but also provide relief to those slaveholders who were losing their property nearly a thousand white enslavers got reparations among them some of the wealthiest and most powerful people in Washington people like Francis Preston Blair Senor and advisor to President Lincoln their.

Quote property were human beings and those people generations of whom had endured tortured servitude were offered nothing for all that they'd lost unless they agreed to leave the country even though by this time many of the enslaved people were born in America yet still not considered citizens here's this opportunity to create a much more just.

Society by providing newly emancipated people with the economic means to to make Freedom real and we just didn't do it but Gabriel kley already free and the business owner himself found a loophole as a way of keeping the families together and keeping them safe one member would gain their freedom and then purchase the others kley had amazingly.

Purchased the freedom of his sister his wife and their six children to protect them legally he never registered them as free people so technically they were still enslaved many states had laws saying that if you gained your freedom you had to either leave the they pay a fine or you were subject to whipping every 6 months wow he applied for.

Compensation and was awarded the equivalent of more than $170,000 at a time when 90% of black people in this country were still enslaved he overcame so many obstacles to purchase his family and then to find the resources to get reparations the family line since has been marked by black Excellence sky ERS doctors.

Activists clergy even a recipient of the presidential medal of freedom this is a remarkable Legacy that he left for us who knows what we would have looked like as a family if he wasn't able to get this accomplished as they reflect on K's remarkable reparation story his descendants wonder what could have been if all black people had gotten.

Reparations after slavery our thanks to train Lee for that report and traine Dives deeper into that story in his new podcast series it's called uncounted millions and that is now out wherever you listen to podcasts coming up an important and memorable Lesson by one teacher going above and beyond to make sure her students learn.

Black history we'll talk to that teacher next about her unique approach look at this this is a little hint look at these pictures it's getting a lot of attention we'll tell you about it next on Morning News Now welcome back the Biden Administration has announced its cancell $1.2 billion in federal student loans.

For more than 150,000 borrowers currently enrolled in the saving on a valuable education repayment plan that's also known as save education secretary Miguel Cardona says the Forgiveness will happen automatically the relief comes after the Supreme Court struck down President Biden's original student debt relief program Last Summer the president.

Said this yesterday while a college degree is still a ticket to a better life that ticket is too expensive and too many Americans are still settled with unsustainable debt in exchange for a college degree and it's good for the economy as a whole by freeing millions of Americans from the.

Crushing debt of student loan programs it means they can finally get on with their lives instead of getting put their lives being put on hold for more on this we are joined Now by Mark kantrowitz he's a student loan expert and author of the bestselling book how to appeal for more College financial aid mark thank you very much.

For joining us so so I guess first here two questions is is who is eligible for this cancellation who hears this and this is good news for them but also tell us is this definitely going to happen how is this possible because as I mentioned before The Supreme Court had struck down a prior plan right so this is definitely going.

To happen it is part of an income driven repayment plan where your monthly payments are based on your income as opposed to the amount you owe after 20 or 25 years normally the remaining debt would be forgiven what the save plan does is reduce that to 10 years for borrowers who started off with less than $112,000 in debt and for each additional.

$1,000 it adds year so these are borrowers who switch into the save plan and so so far 7 a half million bers have done this uh and some of them have reached that 10-year forgiveness point there are still tens of millions of people out there right holding on to this student loan debt right now the average debt actually here's the balance.

It's nearly $38,000 per borrower um when when we're dealing with so many people with debt like that what are some of the impacts of eliminating loan debt on the economy what does this do when suddenly people are free of this well total student loan payments each year are about.

0.4% of GDP that's a really small portion of GDP and the borers who are receiving forgiveness through the save plan are a small percentage of that so it it doesn't really have a big impact on the economy for the many people who do have student loan debt what are some other ways people can save on repayments or.

Have it eliminated altogether and then also tell us about any of the push back that we're hearing to any of these plans right so there are several different repayment plans and there's a tension between the impact on the monthly payment and the impact on the total payment a higher monthly payment leads to lower total payments and lower.

Interest over the life of the loan but then you're paying more per month so you can go with a standard 10-year repayment plan which has the highest monthly payment and the lowest total interest over the life of the loan or you can go with extended repayment or an income jriven repayment plan which reduce the monthly payment but increase the total.

Payments over the life of the loan for as long as 25 years all right Mark htz as always thank you for joining us we appreciate it now let's get you some more financial news we're going to start with a new report showing a record high number of Americans carrying credit card debt CNBC salana hanal joins us with that and.

Other money news savan good morning hey Savannah good morning to you so more than a third of American households say they have more credit card debt and emergency savings for the second year in a row now a new report from bankr shows just 30% have more savings now compared to last year while 32% have less 29% have the same amount and 9% have none at.

All and also didn't have any last year nearly two in five people are focusing on paying down their credit card debt and building emergency savings at the same time Google has reportedly told suppliers to start making its pixel smartphones in India by this spring at the earliest it's part of the company's plan to ship more than 10 million.

Devices this year and diversify its supply chain away from China while also capitalizing on a booming Market in India Google will be competing with Apple and Samsung in India as well as several Chinese smartphone makers India has been offering companies incentives to set up manufacturing operations in the country and Samsung is bringing AI.

Features to more devices they previously were limited to the new Galaxy s24 series but will soon be available to more users next month via a software update for other phones and tablets you'll get access to Google's Circle to search feature which lets you um lets you search using gestures like circling highlighting scribbling or tapping.

Another feature called live translate provides Voice and text translations for phone calls and there's an interpreter feature that generates text for translations for live conversations how about all that that is pretty cool well when you tell us some good uses of AI syana thank you so much no problem well we all had that teacher in school who.

Went one step further than the rest and just really made Class come alive well as we continue our celebration of Black History Month we want to introduce you to a teacher from Exon Pennsylvania who's doing just that this Black History Month she's continuing her annual tradition of making learning Fun by dressing up as black Trailblazers for.

The entire month Tama Burton is a Spanish teacher at collegium charter school and she joins us now to talk about this project good morning thank you so much for joining us first just tell us the importance of celebrating black history each year and highlighting these figures in particular well good morning and thank.

You for having me um it is so important because black history is American history in my opinion so it should be celebrated more than the month that we relegate it to but to highlight these people for the month that we have is truly amazing for me I love these outfits I mean first of all I just got to say they're impressive what how many.

How many costumes do you have where are you getting all of these outfits and where did this idea come to you from to actually dress up all of the costumes most of them come from my closet the one where I was Little Richard my cooworker actually made that one for me over the weekend um some of them are my closet.

Some of them I borrowed from friends family members the Goodwill is my favorite place during this month so that's where a lot of my costumes come from who was your first that you dressed up as the very first first person I dressed up as was Ruby Bridges amazing and tell us a little bit about Ruby Bridges uh Ruby Bridges was a.

Six or eight-year-old little girl who went to integrate a school so I just decided you know what that's the first one that's the one everybody will get so I just dressed up as her how do the students react what do they think when they see you the students I teach teenagers so the students are definitely at first they were a little weird about.

It but then once a few now that we're on the third year they are able to explain to their friends exactly what I'm doing when the nth graders come in they're like oh what is she doing they're like no she dresses up for black history month so the student buyin has been great yeah does it help them engage it sounds like it does if they're having.

Conversations with friends about it but do you think it kind of makes you know some of this actually stick a little better I would say some of it sticks not all kids because what I do is I give them a piece of candy if they can correctly guess who I am so some students just want to know for their own knowledge and they don't even want the.

Candy Tama I you've got some favorite oh okay great I know you've got some favorite outfits tell us about who's been the most fun to dress up as and to represent and share their history and Legacy with your students I have a few Little Richard was one of my favorites Jimmy Hendrick was another um Bessie May Marshall.

Cunningham was a absolute favorite because I had a personal relationship with her so bringing her to life was amazing uh guy blueford who just popped on the screen was definitely a favorite because I got to wear my hair out to much any ones that I do are favorites they're all favorites I love it to Burton so cool what you're doing.

For your students and taking that extra step to help them learn we appreciate you joining us this morning thank you so much for having me absolutely coming up ready for liftop America's first moon landing in more than five decades set to happen today the new Mission meant to help future astronauts that's next on Morning News.

Now welcome back this next story might leave you Star Struck while a meteor flew across the sky last night some of you might have even caught it take a look at this because it was spotted by stargazers all the way from northern Washington to right here in New York even parts of Eastern Canada dozens of.

Eyewitnesses said it looked like a big bright light well listen to this the American meteor society says that thousands actually of fireballs like these hit Earth's atmosphere on a daily basis but very few of them are actually seen all right so here's the deal I don't have Joe here you know to laugh at my space jokes so I'm kind of just.

Saying this to myself I guess I know my dad's up early in California and watching so Dad this is for you what is money called in space Starbucks nobody in the studio wants to give me a laugh thanks guys all right we're GNA end this hour on more space news the first US moon landing in more.

Than 50 years had set to happen today a private company on a NASA mission is planning to send back critical data for future astronaut missions to the Moon the last us landing on the moon was the Apollo 17 mission that was back in 1972 NBC's Tom Costello is of course the one following this new Landing attempt he's going to tell us all the details Tom.

Good morning yeah good morning listen the clock is ticking this is super cool the intuitive machines moonlander scheduled to touchdown on the lunar surface at 5:30 p.m. eastern time the first US mission to reach the moon since the last Apollo mission in 1972 no humans on board but the images and the data should be spectacular as NASA.

Prepares to send astronauts around the moon and then Landing within the next few years now closing in on the moon at nearly 25,000 mil per hour a 14t Lander named odyss from the Greek epic The Odyssey and lift off go SpaceX go im1 and Theus lunar lander the launch just 7 days ago on a space sex rocket from the.

Kennedy Space Center lock one with spectacular views of earth as it broke free of Earth's gravitational pole if the mission succeeds it will be the first private company to land on the moon after other companies recent attempts failed and the lunar lander on board could be the first US moon landing since the Apollo program ended more than.

50 years ago but the big challenge comes later today landing near the moon's forbidding South there is no GPS at the moon at least not today so we have to carry our own navigation system on board and you'll see the two pods on either side of the vehicle the Lander is built by houston-based intuitive machines on.

Board an eagle camera that will jettison early to record The Landing another camera will capture the Milky Way from the Moon and six NASA experiments to gather new lunar data it's preparing us for sending humans uh to the lunar surface in advance of the Artemis mission future astronauts could one day tap into.

The ice water on the south pole but this Mission timeline is short odys is's solar power will last just 12 to 13 days unfortunately once the sun goes down it gets extremely cold at the moon and the Vehicle Systems will most likely freeze and that'll be the end of the first mission it will not return hoping to cut down on cost NASA has contracted with 14.

Private companies to send experiments to the Moon we're only beginning to understand the materials on the moon and I think there's materials that are worth something not only from a science and Discovery standpoint but maybe from a consumer good standpoint and there's something else on board 125 miniature Moon sculptures from the.

Artist Jeff Coons named after historical figures and potentially the first approved artwork on the moon now with just hours to go the pressure is building to stick The Landing yeah so listen NASA has warned Congress of a potentially High failure rate using private companies for these unmanned missions but even if half of.

Them fail it's still much cheaper than if NASA were to run these missions on its own the big test is going to be just a few hours away set your clock 4:30 to 5:30 eastern time we're going to be watching closely Savannah that is very exciting to watch we'll see Tom as always we know you'll stay on it for us thank you so much you liked by the way.

Tom my Starbucks joke all right that's going to do it for this hour of morning news now stay with us don't go anywhere the news continues right now good morning happy Thursday I'm Savannah sers Joe is off this morning right now on Morning News Now digging in Russia's President Vladimir Putin on the.

Offensive this morning on the heels of a key military advance in eastern Ukraine Putin even congratulating his defense minister as he looks to keep up the momentum this comes as the White House prepares to unveil a fresh batch of sanctions against Russia next week in the wake of Alexi naval's death and the Detention of that American ballerina.

Who's now charged with treason we are covering it all also this morning family matters President Biden's brother James Biden testifying on Capitol Hill yesterday as part of Republicans ongoing push to impeach the president will'll take you inside that nearly 8 Hour closed door meeting plus phoning it in some pretty troubling research this.

Morning showing young people not just here in America spend more than 2 hours a day on their phones we'll speak to one of the researchers behind a new Intervention Program that's seeing promising results and find out what steps we can all be taking to cut back and shine bright like a super massive black hole later in the hour more on The.

Illuminating Galactic discovery that could possibly be the universe's brightest object we love the space news here on morning news now thanks for joining us this morning we're going to get started this hour with the war in Ukraine it's approaching the two-year Mark President Putin was seen meeting with his troops and congratulating his.

Defense minister as I mentioned for the recent capture of a city in eastern Ukraine it comes as the United States prepares to announce a new round of sanctions on Russia NBC's Richard Engel has the latest for us there have been a lot of discussions and debates about you support for Ukraine and how it's being held up in Congress right now and.

Impacting the Ukrainian military this is what we're talking about this is where the Ukrainian military is feeling the pinch now that us support has become more complicated we are in the town of chazar this is right on the front line in eastern Ukraine uh this is still held by Ukrainian troops but Russian troops are advancing they are now less than one.

Mile from the edge of chivar and soldiers here say that they need weapons they need ammunition they need it now otherwise they're not going to be able to hold this area or areas around here for much longer and the US state department says that Russia that Vladimir Putin in particular is watching all of this and it's encouraging us.

Vladim Putin despite more American sanctions coming and accusations of murder President Putin appears pleased that what matters to him most his war in Ukraine is finally making progress while the US Congress holds up desperately needed Aid Putin visited an aircraft Factory and met with troops ahead of the 2-year anniversary of the.

War this weekend long furious at his Army's inability to defeat Ukraine's smaller military Putin congratulated his defense minister for driving Ukrainian troops out of the eastern city of aifa this weekend the Russian military's first advance in nearly a year adding we certainly need to expand.

On this success Ukraine's president vomir zalinski saying the loss highlights the need for support it's not money it's people people lives overnight at a political fundraiser in San Francisco President Biden called the Russian president a quote crazy SOB warning we always have to worry about a nuclear conflict the Biden.

Administration plans to unveil new sanctions against Russia this week the will be in connection both to the 2-year anniversary of the fullscale invasion of Ukraine and to Nani's death supporters of alexe navali the Russian opposition leader who died in prison have been arrested in the hundreds simply for honoring his death Putin is tightening.

His grip on power ahead of a rubber stamp election next month even dragging a russian-american ballerina into court accusing her of treason she allegedly donated $51 to Ukraine according to her American employer her family and boyfriend are appealing for help it's hard to enjoy anything right now knowing I have.

Freedom and she doesn't we have been to this town several times over the past two years and frankly we've never seen it this devastated this empty most of the people here have now left there are still soldiers here trying to hold this position because they don't want Russian troops to make further advances but they say unless those weapons arrive and.

Arrive quickly they can't hold on for much longer all right Richard thank you so much well there's more Fallout this morning after Alabama Supreme Court ruling that Frozen embryos are children without exception the state's largest Medical Center says it's pausing inv vitro fertilization treatments as it researches the possible legal.

Implications of the decision NBC new senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett has more Laura good morning hey there this Alabama decision that had been flying under the radar it's now reverberating loudly running head first into how fertility treatments actually work in reality with an enormous cost for so many families often.

Financial and emotional this morning outcry in Alabama the state's largest hospital stopping all IVF procedures fearing a lawsuit after a controversial Court ruling has patients angry and Confused my rage knows no B the University of Alabama at Birmingham announcing it's pausing all IVF.

Treatments saying it's saddened as it evaluates the potential that our patients and Physicians could be prosecuted criminally or face punitive damages for following the standard of care Abby crane a patient at UAB has frozen embryos she wanted to use soon I don't know what's next I don't know if I don't know if I need to be calling an.

Out of state doctor not knowing is scary that uncertainty the result of an unprecedented Ed ruling from the Alabama Supreme Court last week finding people can be sued for destroying Frozen embryos the court concluding embryos on Ice are no different than babies in the womb fertility clinics and doctors across Alabama now in legal Jeopardy as.

Frozen embryos with genetic abnormalities are routinely discarded as part of IVF before implantation part of a process to help patients avoid miscarriages or other complications that decision now a hot button political issue Nikki Haley overnight working to clear up her position after these comments to NBC's Ali Vali embryos to me.

Are babies so even those it's created through IVF I mean I had artificial insemination that's how I had my son but when you talk about an embryo you are talking about to me um that's a life Haley later saying overnight I didn't say that I agreed with the Alabama ruling our goal is to always do what the parents want with their embryo it is.

Theirs while back in Birmingham couples now feeling the effects unable to carry a child because of a rare blood disorder Megan Cole had planned to use a surrogate with an embryo implantation scheduled for this Friday my husband and I want a child desperately but now that we have this pathway forward um with IVF with sery and for it to be taken away um.

Potentially in Alabama is devastating for families who you know all they want is a child but overnight Cole learned her Birmingham fertility clinic cancelled the appointment as for what happens next here patients in Alabama tell us they may try to move their embryos out of state for IVF but for now they're stuck waiting for answers back.

To you all right Laura thank you so much well the Biden Administration is considering a series of executive actions this morning that could change how the White House handles the ongoing migrant crisis according to several us officials changes to Federal Regulations could restrict people from making Asylum claims at the southern border NBC News.

Correspondent Garrett H is following latest far us Garrett good morning hey Savannah good morning look it speaks about the scale of the crisis at the border and the political potency of the immigration issue that the White House is now considering taking actions they had long said only Congress could to try to stem the flow of migrants at.

The southern border this morning morning as Republican Rivals Donald Trump and Nikki Haley battle it out in South Carolina President Biden considering a major action on one of the campaigns Central issues immigration Biden has been under immense pressure over record numbers at the border last year including from his.

Potential 20124 rival on the trail in South Carolina there's never been a border in the history of the world that's looked anything like this tragedy it's a tragedy and he can shut it down this morning NBC News learning the president is considering a shift to crack down at the border according to three us officials with knowledge of the.

Deliberations the actions would make it harder for migrants to claim Asylum migrants who didn't meet Asylum standards would also be quickly deported under the policy the president would make the change without Congress after Republicans blocked a bipartisan border Bill the Y's are 214 and the Nays are 213 the Associated Press reporting the.

White House is considering using a rule that President Trump attempted to use giving the president broad authority to prevent certain Asylum Seekers from entering the US Biden has repeatedly criticized his predecessor's immigration policies he'd rather weaponize this issue than actually solve it so Republicans have to decide who do they.

Serve Donald Trump the American people the White House saying this morning it's exploring a series of policy options but it's not clear which one will come to pass and adding quote we continue to call on speaker Johnson and House Republicans to pass the bipartisan de deal now any Step the White House does choose to take here especially if it's.

Absent congressional action will almost certainly end up tied up in the courts making this a legal and a political battle heading into the heart of election season Savannah all right cared hake thank you so much now to Capitol Hill where the president's brother James Biden appeared for a closed door interview yesterday by two committees.

Investigating the President Joe Biden as part of their impeachment inquiry for more we're joined by NBC News Capital Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles in Washington Ryan good morning so what do we know about James Biden interview on the hill yesterday at this point well Savannah we know that Jim Biden was very clear with this panel investigating his.

Brother that Joe Biden has never had any role in any of his business activity over the 50 years that he has been in business and he described it as no role in a direct fashion or an indirect fashion that and that also that he never had any financial interest in James Biden's work and and James Biden didn't just say that kind of as a blanket.

Statement he also talked specific speically about some of the business ventures that he's been involved in that House Republicans have focused their investigation in and specifically gave examples of the work he did and how his his uh brother whether he'd be a vice president out of office or even as president had no role in all of that now.

That's likely not enough for Republicans who believe that James Biden did contradict him himself a little bit during this testimony we'll have to see how it all plays out once the full transcript transcript comes out but it seems pretty clear Savannah that they did not a Smoking Gun like they've been in search of for basically the two years.

Of this investigation so Ryan given uh kind of what we ended up learning from his brother yesterday and then also given of course the fact that we've been discussing uh this informant who potentially gave this false information where does this inquiry go from here what's the status right now well I'd say at this point it's a little listless uh.

Savan they don't seem to have a clear Focus as to how they're going to get to the finish line and exactly what they are going to focus on if they were to draw up articles of impeachment and then whether or not it would have the 218 votes necessary to pass the House of Representatives uh you know there is some private grumbling among Rank and.

File Republicans that this effort uh is not heading in the direction that they want it to and that It ultimately will just become a political distraction especially when there are so many other responsibilities that Congress has right now that are just not being addressed but as it stands right now those in charge of the impeachment and most.

Importantly the house Speaker Mike Johnson have shown no signs of backing down from this effort despite the fact that it does appear to be a bit stalled Ryan we know Hunter Biden is expected to meet with House GOP members next week for this critical phase of the investigation do we have any idea when we could learn or maybe specific people.

That could kind of provide information that bolsters this in any way do we know when anything like that could happen that could determine if the House GOP will move forward actually with articles of impeachment yeah I mean there's no doubt that the hunter Biden transcribed interview that's going to take place behind closed doors next week is an.

Important inflection point I mean Republicans really believe that they have enough information here to try and hold him to account uh under oath and get him to answer specific questions that they have about some of the theories that they have of this case but Savannah I think that a lot of Americans should prepare themselves for the fact.

That there may not be a tight bow that wraps up this process there's a the real possibility that Republicans just kind of keep the impeachment inquiry open they continue to do interviews here and there they continue to collect documents but it never really results in anything by declaring it officially over in many ways that would mean that they.

Exonerated President Biden which is something they certainly don't want to do leading up to an election but there's also the real possibility that this never makes it to the floor of the House of Representatives and there's never a formal vote on an impeachment inquiry all right Ryan nobles with the latest thank you so much let's get you some.

Other now parts of the country we're going to see record high temperatures heading into next week let's check in with Angie lman in studio with us hey Angie good morning hey good morning Savannah we've got a couple days until the official start of spring but we are feeling like it across much of the country especially the midsection of the.

Country we've got 60s on tap for St Louis today we've got temperatures headed to the upper 70s from Dallas to Little Rock those are going to run anywhere from 10 to 20 degrees above normal for this time of year and even as far east as Ron Oak we'll see temperatures well into the 60s not quite as warm tomorrow but still fairly warm.

For this time of year Kansas City you can expect upper 50s Tulsa upper 60s even Cincinnati will be slightly above normal with a temperature of 50° we're going to see them take a slight tumble here over the next couple of days but we are right back on that roller coaster ride when it comes to temperatures as we get into Saturday expect low 40s if you.

Live somewhere like Chicago by Sunday though a quick warmup already starts we're back to the upper 50s and we could be talking 60s in Chicago by Monday as you head off to work Cincinnati similar story we go from the 40s to the upper 60s in just 48 hours and we've got Nashville into the mid-50s upper 60s and low 70s by the time we wrap up our.

Weekend and head back into our next work week the warmth will continue here into our work week so we've got just a couple of days where you might need to bundle up especially in the early morning hours of places like Chicago now one thing that's coming from these temperatures that are way above normal and quite warm for this time of year when we see that.

Combined with some Gusty winds and some potentially low humidity that means that we have the potential for some fire weather and at least a threat through the day today can see some of the areas San Angelo down to Del Rio Sanderson all included in this elevated risk that we could see for fires through the day today if you live in that little section.

Of Texas just be aware of that meanwhile we've got our next system working across parts of the Midwest eventually it'll impact the M Atlantic the Northeast but it's going to be a quick mover so this morning it's the rain that we're tracking by later today we're going to see some of this kind of wintry mix across portions of the Northeast we end.

Up dealing with some heavy rain across the Appalachians we could see a bit of snow for New England and before you know it if you blink tomorrow morning uh it'll be out of here by the afternoon hours we could one caveat see some lingering snow across portions of Maine maybe along the Lakes we've got that strong wind that uh will be quite chilly.

Behind the system so no surprise if there's some additional snow speaking of snow how about this snow drought this winter we've got uh places like Cincinnati running 10 degrees below or 10 rather inches below normal for snow at this point in the season Cleveland 27 in under normal for this time of year Syracuse 63 in below normal Minneapolis.

I mean you name it and we're really looking at a deficit across most of the country especially places like Minneapolis their least snowiest winter 14.2 in that was back in 1930 and guess what they're at right now Savannah 14.2 in this is something like places like Syracuse this is six consecutive Winters where they've seen below average.

Snowfall really a kind of a dud for 6 years in a row and this is something that we expect to see more of notice this kind of trend that we're seeing since the 70s 64% of locations are receiving less snow not a whole lot of us receiving more snow than normal so this is likely something that we'll see continue as uh climate change continues.

Certainly been feeling that here although this year in New York we got at least a couple of we've lowered our standards really right true we had had any last year so three inches at a time felt like a lot yeah so true all right Angie we've got much more to come this hour of morning news now including the families.

Of Gabby Patito and her admitted killer her fiance Brian lry calling off an upcoming Civil Trial why they chose to settle out of court plus the harrowing stories of survival of gaza's youngest victims of war after escaping alifa Hospital those stories and more are up next welcome back the parents of Gabby Patito have reached a settlement in.

Their suit against the parents of Brian laundry 22-year-old Patito was killed when she and laundry were on a cross country road trip in their van in 2021 laundry died by Suicide leaving a note saying he was responsible for potito's death in a statement her parents said they had agreed to resolve the emotional distress case quote to avoid further.

Legal expenses and prolonged personal conflict details of that settlement were not disclosed turning now to the Middle East the alifa medical complex was once gaza's Premier Hospital hit but after the War Began conditions there quickly deteriorated the IDF claimed Hamas used alifa as a command center and in November Israeli troops surrounded and.

Raided the hospital trapped at alifa look at your screen more than three dozen newborn babies these images went viral in November power losses made incubators unusable forcing doctors to move the infants to a temperature controlled operating room the babies were eventually evacuated and they are now the subject of a new NBC News.

Digital documentary in it our friend NBC News correspondent Aaron mcclin takes us through the harrowing Journey these babies faced including updates on where they are now here's a clip from her film baby anas's parents rushed to Al Amara.

Hospital hoping their son was among the rescued infants they scanned the list of names and there he was anas many of the alifa babies were suffering from dehydration sepsis and hypothermia with gaza's Health Care System overwhelmed it was decided they would go.

To Egypt for treatment W and Jalal were faced with an impossible Choice keep baby anas with them in a war zone or send him to Egypt where he'd be safer because only mothers were allowed to accompany the babies across the border they chose to stay together.

at this point they were Sheltering at a school in Han yunes most of the alifa babies were sent to Egypt for.

Care two of those babies are nor albana's twin daughters they were born premature before the war now they're alifa survivors nor is a new mom the baby in the incubator is her daughter lean nor has never touched her daughter until.

Now was for lean's twin sister Leanne is being treated in another part of the hospital Leanne is strong enough for her mother to hold her did you think this moment would be.

Possible um nor is the only mother here when you see this row of babies without moms what goes through your mind Aaron mclin joins us now here on set for more on this eron so powerful just this little snippet of what is a.

145 minute documentary that people can now watch onine online let's start right there with that family that mother and her twin daughters you see her being able to touch her child for the first time I mean it's just hard to even imagine can you give us an update on how that family is doing now well that family is doing really well both of her.

Girls lean and Leanne are currently out of the hospital they are staying with a relative in Cairo there's also good news at that hospital the N administrative Capital Hospital there in Egypt that took many of these babies in at the time when the babies arrived there was very little in the way of information they had no medical records many of them were.

In extremely critical condition and Egyptian authorities and Palestinian authorities were working to try and find the families of many of the babies they were successful in that effort five mothers have since come forward in the past few months but the fact remains nine babies are still alone in that hospital including a baby known only as.

Halma uh Helma is his mother's name he's featured in the documentary he's a little boy that had a serious rare bacterial infection when he arrived at the hospital he's since fully recovered I just spoke to his doctor last night the doctor telling me he's doing great and they're now exploring plastic surgery options to address the issue.

With his right eye um but still no family oh my gosh it's just heartbreaking what about the family and there were uh you had mentioned that they potentially were going to split up and they chose not to so that they could all stay together as a family in Gaza with their baby have you been able to keep up with them yeah W day and Jalal.

State had to make the heartbreaking impossible decision either send their baby onest you see him there uh to Egypt for treatment or keep him in Gaza with their whole family um in a war zone where he would not be as safe now it's important to remember at that point that they made that decision they thought anas had died inside of alifa they.

Didn't know if he was alive they were hearing all of these rumors they'd been separated from their baby for more than 40 days they had a real rare celebration in Gaza there when he came home it was just a point of happiness and relief for that family however in the months that have transpired uh they've had to relocate they were initially Sheltering.

In Han Yunis due to a nearby bombing they relocated to Rafa now they're now staying in a tent it's extremely cold and anest is suffering from a hernia that normally would be treatable but they have gone to a number of hospitals in southern Gaza given that the hospitals there they say are completely overwhelmed they're not able to treat.

Anas and he has this hernia he's in extreme pain he's unable to eat unable to sleep and his father told us that they're afraid that they're losing him he doesn't know what to do it's just heartbreaking what do you want people to take away well you know I I interviewed one of the doctors who was really the voice of these babies when they were.

Trapped inside that hospital he Dr Amed Al M muhal laati went to the roof of the hospital under sniper fire when the hospital was under siege and he lay on the roof for 4 hours to send out images of these babies to the world it is how we first got to know these babies and I asked him why did he risk his life to save them and he said to me he said he.

Sees these babies as the future of Gaza he said as long as these babies are okay in his mind there is hope for the Palestinian people and I thought that was a really powerful message absolutely just this whole conversation and the little snippet you've seen so far so powerful Erin thank you so much incredible work here working on this as.

Well as of course when you were there and you can watch the full NBC News digital documentary please watch it the babies of alifa The Story of Survival for gaza's youngest that is up on nbcnews.com right now congratulations on a great peace Aon thank you so much let's get you some more International headlines now starting with chaos in the.

UK's House of Commons after a vote on a ceasefire in Gaza Josh Letterman joins us from London with that and more hey Josh good morning hey good morning Savannah dozens of lawmakers stormed out of British Parliament yesterday protesting the handling of a vote on a ceasefire in Gaza now this uproar started after the speaker sir Lindsey.

Hoy who is supposed to be neutral allowed a vote on a labor motion for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire conservative la makers accused him of favoring the opposition now the speaker later apologized and said he acted with the right intentions but the chaos was a clear sign of just how divided British politics are right now now let's go to.

Southeast Australia where thousands of people have been ordered to evacuate because of an outof control Bush fire in Victoria nearby highways have been closed and residents in neighboring towns have also been advised to leave officials say the fire situation will get worse before it gets better and we end at the famed San Diego Zoo where.

There will soon be a new addition China plans to send a new pair of giant pandas as it resumes what has been called Panda diplomacy with the US Zoo officials say a male and female are expected to arrive as early as the end of this summer about 5 years after the zoo sent its last pandas back to China a report back in 2022 said that zoos typically pay a fee.

Of about a million bucks a year for a pair of pandas which seems very much worth the cost to me Savannah we are about with new developments surrounding the death of a non-binary teen in Oklahoma Police there released preliminary autopsy findings in the case of next Benedict who died earlier this month after a fight at school now the.

Family is speaking out asking not to be judged the way their child was judged NBC News correspondent Steven Romo has more police in Oklahoma releasing preliminary autopsy findings in the death of a non-binary teen who died after a fight at school 16-year-old next Benedict dying at the hospital on February 8th according to police one day.

After they were involved in a fight at the aaso high school West Campus just outside of Tulsa a school next's mother told the independent where the teen was bullied for their gender identity aaso police now saying the medical examiner has determined next did not die as a result of trauma and that the cause of death is pending until toxicology.

Results and other tests come in it's un clear if the fight was connected to the bullying but here is what we do know according to the school a quote physical altercation started in the bathroom on February 7th the fight lasted less than 2 minutes before other students and a staff member broke it up the students involved were able to walk themselves to.

The assistant principal's and nurse's office the students gave statements to District administrators and Guardians were contacted the nurse determined an ambulance was not needed but advised one student Guardian to take them to the hospital for further evaluation according to police at around 3:30 p.m. nex's Guardian called police to the.

Bailey Medical Center where the school resource officer took a statement the next day the aaso police found out the teen was rushed back to the hospital in the evening and pronounced dead aaso Public Schools says it followed proper protocol and called the death devastating next his mother Sue Benedict releasing a statement to NBC's Tulsa.

Affiliate acknowledging initial confusion over the teen's name in the media saying in part quote we are sorry for not using their name correctly and as parents we are still learning the correct forms please do not bully us for our ignorance I lost my child The Headstone will have their correct name of their choice I'll be honest at first.

I didn't feel anything I couldn't former schoolmate Alexander Davidson is saying the loss is traumatic itic what are we supposed to do about that besides grief it's not just Nexus story it is a story of what is happening because of so much hate that is targeted towards the trans and non-binary community in this country across the country more than 500.

Anti-lgbtq plus bills were proposed last year and 75 were made into laws across 23 states in the past Oklahoma successfully passing bills ranging from Banning gend affirming care to restricting bathrooms currently the state has 54 anti-lgbtq plus bills in the pipeline according to the ACLU the most of any state in the country it's.

Not just the bills it's this culture of violent roric and actions that are really traumatizing our community while many questions remain about nex's death it's clear the loss is being felt far beyond their small town our thanks to stepen Romo for that report coming up phoning it in we've got some pretty concerning new data after the break on.

Teens and their phones my one researcher is comparing social media use to smoking that is next on morning news now we are back with a look at social media addiction and one expert who's trying to help teens with an issue here through a 4 week intervention in case you needed a reminder the most recent figures show people around the world.

Spend nearly two 2 and a half hours a day on social media or 144 minutes of course for many people it's a lot more than that actually joining us now is Annie Margaret she is a teaching assistant professor at the Atlas Institute which is actually at my alma moer the University of Colorado Boulder she is also CEO and founder of the post.

Internet project Annie first I just have to say the atlas building in the basement the news team Boulder Studio that is where I learned how to do this so I know Atlas well and I love what you guys are doing there uh let's start with this intervention and and kind of um talk through what it is first I want to understand you and your researcher have.

Written about how some teenagers you spoke with I mentioned this a moment ago compared social media use to smoking kind of like the addictive nature of it and then I understand that you think about it more like a diet with sounds a little bit more measured explain how these comparisons work what you mean by that yeah thank you so much um so when.

We're talking you'll see this in the media a lot where people are talking about the comparison between big Tech and big tobacco and saying people are addicted to their phones they're addicted to social media and so I think a couple things are important one to Define what I'm talking about as a researcher when I say addiction I.

Actually prefer the term problematic use um but what I really mean when I'm talking about addiction is when this Behavior starts to interfere with your daily life your ability to get things done um so that's the first part and then I do prefer the metaphor of food because we are social primates we um for thousands of years care about connection.

And communication and that feeling of social belonging um that these platforms are designed to provide or at least to give the illusion of providing and so um the reason I prefer the food metaphor is that we can't just throw our phones out the way you could with cigarettes with cigarettes you could say there are no health benefits to this I should just.

Quit cold turkey cut it out done with social media there are many benefits and so treating it the same as as cigarettes I don't think is correct um and reason I like food is that you have to have a really individualized approach here so thinking about it saying well some people can eat gluten and some people can't or some people can eat dairy and.

Some people can't um a similar type of thing exists with social media in terms of our behaviors and so um I like to with the intervention what we're trying to do is give young people or people in general really we focus on younger folks but give people the skill of being able to feel for themselves what healthy media consumption feels.

Like and what types of media consumption make them feel less than well Annie I know that this was tell us some details here four-week intervention right I think it involved about 500 college students walk us through what exactly you did here and then the results that you saw yeah absolutely so in the the way it.

Starts is just with them observing their current behaviors so thinking about how do I currently use social media what different platforms do I use and then thinking also about their intent and agency when using those platforms and so they start there uh and then they take some standard psychological surveys related to various well-being metrics as.

Well as their social media addiction levels um and then throughout the course of the four weeks they set some goals for change uh and report on their success in adhering to those goals as well as reporting on those mental health outcomes and their levels of addiction throughout the challenge throughout the intervention and so what we basically.

See is that over time people who start with a score that indicates healthy use meaning their their social media use is not interfering with their daily life with their schoolwork with their U mental health that they stay in the healthy range throughout the course of the intervention but people that have either.

Problematic levels of use or what we call clinical levels of use meaning this is a serious problem for them um those people throughout the course of the four weeks move their their scores change to move them down into the healthy levels um and while they're do completing this four weeks they're also receiving education related to um the.

Design of these platforms how their cognition works and creating motivational incentive structures for them so that they understand why it's useful for them to do this and I think that part is super important so there's two things that are important their own motivation and their own agency and setting their own goals and so this is.

Very different than a lot of the kind of prescriptive approaches you'll see or parents telling you just put your phone down it's actually coming from them and they're choosing changes that they want which you say is a really important piece of this Annie Margaret super interesting what you're doing go Buffs love to hear about this I'd love to.

Follow with you and hear more thank you so much really cool stuff thank you now let's get you some Financial headlines starting with some new data this morning on un employment CNBC Savannah hanell joins us with that and other news Savannah good morning hey Savannah good morning to you so we're just getting the latest read on the US economy and labor.

Market jobless claims that's the number of Americans applying for jobless benefits fell to its lowest level in five weeks so we got 201,000 versus 260,000 expected that's even as more high-profile companies announc layoffs now keep in mind weekly unemployment claims are broadly viewed as a repres as a representation of the number of us.

Layoffs in a given week and those numbers have remained at historically low levels in recent years and this is despite the efforts by the Federal Reserve to cool the economy with higher rates Boeing has ousted ahead of its 737 jetliner program in a management shakeup weeks after a door panel blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight Boeing says Ed.

Clark who led the 737 business since 2021 is leaving immediately Clark oversaw Factory in Washington state that's where final assembly took place on the 737 max9 jet involved in the accident he's being replaced by the Vice President in charge of delivering the 7372 Airlines Boeing shares have lost nearly 20% or about $27 billion in.

Market value since that incident and roal Caribbean is boosting its earnings Outlook thanks to a strong start to the year and accelerating demand for cruises the company says bookings are much higher than at this very same time last year consumer spending on board is also highering it is also higher that's another signal of healthy demand Royal.

Caribbean stock is up about 60% in the past year Savannah I actually know three people who are on a cruise this week different people wow you know I was going to say I am surprised that they pulled that out after everything we saw on Co but I I know I agree there you go people love cruises all right sa thank you so much now let's head to England.

Where two brothers have a one-of-a-kind collection that could be yours if you've got the space and The Time NBC News International correspondent Molly Hunter explains arriving in Cuckoo Land hello hello wow Cuckoo Land is an immersive experience theany.

Ticking ringing and as promised hundreds and hundreds of cucko it's overwhelming oh there it is more than 700 kgoo clocks it's believed to be the biggest collection in the world and belongs to British.

Brothers ma 69 years old the expert clock repairman I've been doing it nearly 50 years and we're learning every and Roman 71 the frontman of sorts we eat sleep and live cuckoo clocks the brothers unmarried with no children started as clock makers at age 15 then came the first purchase we bought that many years ago we paid £70 for it and.

Then it spiraled and now as time flies the pair want to pass their collection to the Next Generation so your ideal candidate is younger yes has the money and the knowledge I would love it to go to a family and it could continue in that family most importantly someone who wouldn't break it up what we're looking.

For is somewhere for the collection to go where it can be looked after for all time if this is you the clock is ticking Molly Hunter NBC News nutsford England that's an interesting one coming up shining bright after the break more on The Illuminating astronomical discovery of what could be the brightest object in.

The universe stick around that's up next welcome back to end this hour we are following a historic Discovery in space astronomers have identified what may be the brightest object in the universe it's called aazar and get this it shines 500 trillion times times more intense than the sun astronomers also.

Say it has a massive black hole that swallows a sun a day well I need a lot of help understanding what I just said so lucky for me we are joined by Dr savic Ford who's a professor of astronomy at City University of New York and also research associate in the department of physics at the American Museum of Natural History Dr Ford thank.

You very much for being here first can we just start on that swallowing Suns what does that mean how crazy is that so it's pretty impressive actually um we know that black holes can swallow mass and the more mass that they swallow the more light is going to be emitted so of course the black hole itself doesn't emit any light at all but as material is.

Trying to cram itself down into the black hole it ends up rubbing against all the other material and heating up and glowing and so that's why black holes are actually quite bright and we think this is probably the brightest object in the universe um and it is a black hole so that's that's really really cool and of course it's really.

Hard to cram all of that material into that small space and so it's very difficult to actually make black holes eat a lot of material all at once and so being able to eat a whole Sun a day is about the theoretical limit we think so this is not you know not the biggest black hole in the universe but really up there and so in order to be able to feed.

It you can kind of think of like if you have a small child right it's very easy to get them as much food as they want but if you have a very large you know sumo wrestler it's very difficult to get them as much food as they want and so is this is like a very large sumo wrestler but somebody is giving it all the food that it could possibly eat Dr Ford we.

Need you here for all of our space questions I totally got that for once um can you though explain because we're like talking about a black hole but we're also talking about this thing called a quazar which I think people are less familiar with like what is a quazar and what's the relationship here or the difference between the two sure so a.

Black hole is is a object that is so dense that um not even light can escape it so that's of course why we call them black and quazars are actively feeding super massive black holes and so this is that counterintuitive thing where you can have a black hole and if it's not near anything in space then it's not eating anything and you won't notice.

That it's there but if you have a black hole that has a lot of gas and dust that's trying to cram into that black hole then as it's going down the plug hole and it gets into that really dense space it's going to heat up and so we see it so quazar are just black holes that are eating a lot basically okay so quaza I was just going to say it's like.

A super extreme hungry black hole it is a type of black hole okay okay cool thanks well I love to learn something new that was something new um what's the significance of this discovery like I know it did take several decades before astronomers founded and we only have like 30 seconds left here but what does this mean you can learn by knowing about.

This so we think that in the early Universe these super massive black holes fed a lot and in the process of feeding it actually gets very messy they're very you know messy eaters very impolite they throw lots of gas out everywhere and in doing so they have an impact on their Galaxy and on the Universe At Large and.

So we think they're very important early on in the universe but we don't really know all of the details of how that works and this is very exciting because it's going to be a a black hole that's so big and so bright that we can look at it in really great detail in the next couple of years with new telescopes Dr Ford thank you so much fantastic guest.

Great to have you with us and great to learn something new this morning savah always fun to be on with you fantastic that does it for this hour of morning news now but the news continues 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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