Morning News NOW Fleshy Broadcast – April 22

Developing right now on Morning News Now a milestone moment in American politics this morning Donald Trump set to appear in a New York City courtroom for opening statements in the first ever criminal trial of a former president we have Team coverage including the first Witnesses expected to take the stand and what it could mean for Trump's 2024 campaign.

Also this morning billions of dollars in additional funding now one step closer to aiding Ukraine's war against Russia can Ukraine now win this war or is the United States merely giving you enough Aid to prolong this War I think this support will really strengthen the Armed Forces of Ukraine more on a massive bill now on.

Its way to the Senate as house Speaker Mike Johnson faces The Fallout and Tik Tok we have the latest as house lawmakers vote on a possible ban on the app Tik Tock also turbulence on the tarmac as top a line companies worn of a potential plane shortage this summer what you need to know before you start planning your summer vacation and Under.

The Sea on this Earth Day we are doing a deep dive into ocean exploration how the efforts to understand what's happening underwater could help us tackle climate change up here on dry land it's Earth Day happy Earth Day happy Earth Day we have lots of great content for you from some of the best experts all around the world we certainly do lots of good.

Conversations good to have you with us on this Monday I'm Joe frier and I'm Savannah sellers we're going to get started this new week with the start of the first ever criminal trial of a former president opening statements are set to get underway later this morning in the Donald Trump hush money trial that's here in New York jury's election.

Took place last week prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney's office and lawyers from the Trump legal team selected the 12 jurors and six alternates from a pool of nearly 200 people the jurors were questioned about their social media posts their political views their ability to remain impartial the former president is facing thir 34.

Counts of falsifying business records related to alleged hush money payments totaling $130,000 Money Paid to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to keep silent over an alleged sexual encounter Mr Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges and denies the allegations for more on what we can expect we're joined.

By NBC News correspondent Von Hillyard who's outside the courthouse in lower Manhattan here in studio we've got NBC News legal analyst Danny savalos good morning to both of you Von let's start with you set the for us give us an overview what we can expect in today's opening statements and we're hearing who might be the very first witness today.

Right yeah good morning guys this is a big day after a quick jury selection process with 12 jurors and six alternates filling out the jury box we expect to hear today opening statements from not only the District Attorney's office here in lower Manhattan but also the defense team of Donald Trump their first opportunity to directly address.

The jury after being sworn in this is going to be a moment for them to lay out the case that they plan to present on both sides over the course of the next 5 to S weeks and then we're looking at the first witness being called of course the District Attorney's office and district attorney Bragg are going to be the first ones to be able to bring forward that.

Witness and NBC has now learned that David pecker is going to be the first witness David pecker was a longtime publisher of the national inquire and the District Attorney's office is already laid out and it St of facts that they alleged that back in August of 2015 David pecker had met with Michael Cohen and Donald Trump to come up with the.

Catch and uh catch and kill scheme plan where they would be able to buy stories from women who have alleged sexual relations with Donald Trump catch their stories and then silence them by never publishing them he is at the heart of this trial at that point in time the defense attorney would then be able to cross-examine David pecker Danny let's.

Bring you in here so under these next 6 to 8 weeks that's kind of the expectation here of the length of this trial what are you looking for especially putting in context now we have an idea of who the first witness is most likely to be what do you see happening on both sides here yeah the people are probably going to tell a.

Chronological Tale in the beginning there was this CD relationship uh between pecker and the national inquire and people in the Trump orbit and the idea was to catch and kill stories that were negative about Trump and then maybe even beyond that distribute stories that were negative about his Rivals so it looks like that's the direction they're.

Going to go walk us through a chronological tale uh look for them to diffuse right out in the open Michael Cohen's credibility issues The credibility issues of any of their other Witnesses this is very common in the case of cooperating witnesses that they have credibility issues this is nothing new uh the people know how to deal with.

This and they will deal with it probably in the classic way which is look the defendant chose these bad guys at their friends that's why we have to call bad guys as Witnesses that's just sort of the the standard script look for the defense on the other hand to take any number of of different angles of attack one would be that Trump himself wasn't.

Involved in this activity number two that this was personal it had nothing to do with the campaign or the election itself and uh and finally just a standard look at those Witnesses they can't be believed they have their own credibility issues van another issue Brewing the judge presiding over the case Juan M also said to hear arguments.

Tomorrow on whether Trump violated a gag order before jury selection began this is likely going to be an issue throughout the trial what can we expect right the District Attorney's office has asked the judge to make the determination that Donald Trump has violated this gag order uh there are more than 10 different social media.

Posts which the district attorney off office alleges that Donald Trump crossed the line of bringing up Witnesses names including stermy Daniels and Michael Cohen but also there is one particular post last week in which he quoted a fox commentator talking about jurs or potential jurors and it would be up to the jurge to determine whether he has.

Actually crossed the line of potential uh intimidation towards the jury and the witnesses that hearing is going to be tomorrow morning the District Attorney's office is asked Donald Trump to not only be fined $11,000 for each violation but also uh they have asked the judge to warn Donald Trump that if he were to violate the gag order again that he.

Would be thrown in jail uh through the rest of this trial Danny while we have you let's also talk about the Trump civil fraud case verdict there's been back and forth here this is over the bond over the payment get us up to speed because this is also something we could get an update on this week yeah remember this was a dollar amount that was.

Originally reduced to 175 million Trump was able to find a company to write that uh that Bond but uh what the Attorney General is now arguing is that the company itself isn't allowed to write Bonds in the uh in the state of New York that they may not have the funds and these are all real concerns because the whole idea behind a bond is that if a.

Defendant just decides to appeal they can string a case out and whether or not they win or lose two years from now when the appeal is decided there may not be any money left because they've spent it on their appeal and they can't give that money that they did have have but now don't have so that's the idea behind the bond and what the Attorney General is.

Arguing here is that okay they said they posted a bond but this bond isn't doing the one thing that bonds are supposed to do which is give us confidence that it's a legitimate Bond and so this is going to determine whether or not the attorney general has a point or whether or not this company Knight shows that it can actually pay this Bond it's going to be.

A very interesting thing because if not then if there's no bond then Trump has a big problem several cases to keep track of here Danny and V thank you both appreciate it well Israel is stepping up its attacks across Gaza this morning following two deadly strikes it carried out on Rafa over the weekend more than half of gaza's population is Sheltering.

There after fleeing from other parts of the Enclave Palestinian Health officials say dozens of people were killed most of them children when Israeli forces hit two houses in Rafa in one attack a man his pregnant wife and their child were killed but in an extraord orinary moment doctors were able to save the 30-week old baby girl by performing an emergency.

C-section the attacks Come Just As the House of Representatives approved a$ 26 billion military aid package to Israel which includes $9 billion in humanitarian assistance to Gaza NBC News International correspondent Kelly Koba joins us on this now Kelly good morning so let's start with what we saw over the weekend these Israeli strikes on Rafa.

What are we hearing from our crews inside Gaza about those attacks and if you could tell us any more details about what Joe just mentioned a moment ago this baby who was miraculously saved yeah so those strikes hit a couple of homes according to our crews on the ground one home uh the home of the abdal AL Family uh our crews on the ground.

Spoke to members of the family they say 16 people were killed including 13 children a family member told uh our crews there that 30 children were inside a four-story home and they say there was no pre-warning some people some members of the family were actually pulled out of the rubble and saved and yet another home was hit as well and this is the.

Home where a man his pregnant wife and their three-year-old child were staying all three of them were killed but the wife uh who was 7 months pregnant was taken to the hospital doctors at the Kuwaiti Hospital were able to deliver her baby via C-section and revive the little girl putting her on oxygen and taking her to the emirati hospital uh we.

Are in with health officials on the ground as we speak one of the doctors treating the baby said she is expected to survive Savannah Joe it's good news to hear there Kelly so we are also learning this morning the head of Israel's Military Intelligence is resigning over October 7th a failure to prevent the Hamas.

Attack on that day what more are we learning there yeah so this is the first senior figure to step down over the failure to stop the October 7th attacks by Hamas the deadliest assault in Israel's history he is Major General Aon haliva he said his in his resignation letter that his Intelligence Division did not live up to the task it was.

Entrusted with he said I carry that black day with me ever since he also said I will carry the horrible pain of the war with me forever uh we do expect other senior security officials to resign but the timing of that is a little bit unknown uh it could happen uh once the war is over but of course that is a big question mark as well Savannah.

Joe so Kelly the Israeli government has been speaking out also about an axios report it said that the Biden Administration is planning to announce sanctions on an IDF unit that was accused of committing human rights violations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank what are we learning there and just how significant would.

That be yeah if this happens it would be a first uh very much a large change in policy for the United States this we're talking about is an ultra Orthodox unit it's called NSA Yehuda or Judea forever it's been accused of several human rights abuses in the occupied West Bank in fact its Commander was reprimanded in.

2022 after a 78-year-old Palestinian man died in detention the unit was then transferred out of the West Bank it's no longer operational there it has been involved in the fighting in Gaza uh the Israeli government leadership is really pushing back against this report that the US May impose sanctions on the unit prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Over the weekend that he would fight against sanctions with all his strength the Israeli defense minister has also called secretary of state Anthony blinkin uh trying to talk the Secretary of State out of any kind of sanctions saying it would cast a heavy Shadow over the IDF as a whole so we'll see what happens Savannah all right Kelly thank.

You so much the war in the Middle East is having an impact here in New York prop Palestinian demonstrations began on the campus of Columbia University last week since then more than a 100 people have been arrested amid allegations of anti-Semitic language and intimidating Behavior now Jewish leaders are expressing real concerns about student.

Safety with one Rabbi who works on campus telling Jewish students to return home and just this morning we are learning Columbia University is holding all classes virtually today citing a need to deescalate the situation NBC News correspondent George CIS has the latest as tensions and pro Palestinian.

Demonstrations at Columbia University in New York grow a Jewish leader at the university is now urging students to stay away over what's being described as extreme anti-Semitism on campus I really do believe that these protests have lost the plot so to speak um and have really just turned into incitement of violence.

And Jew hatred New York mayor Eric Adams condemning videos such as this which he says shows a young woman with a son sign pointing to Jewish students stating Al Cam's next Targets in a letter obtained by NBC News Columbia Rabbi Ali buer writing to students it deeply pains me to say that I would strongly recommend you return home as soon as possible and.

Remain home until the reality in and around campus has dramatically improve going on to say no one should have to endure this level of hatred let alone at school Nick Bal says while many of his peers have left he's chosen to stay your reaction to the letter I feel Disturbed but I feel it is completely indicative of the horrible disturbances that Jews.

On campus have been feeling over the last few days as a Jew I no longer feel welcome on campus a Columbia University spokesperson tells NBC News in part we are acting on concerns we are hearing from our Jewish students so he has been Republican congresswoman Elise stonic who played a role during a hearing on anti-Semitism at Columbia this week now.

Calling on University president Manu shafik to resign the White House weighing in saying in part while every American has the right to peaceful prot test calls for violence and physical intimidation targeting Jewish students and the Jewish Community are blatantly anti-semitic unconscionable and dangerous they have absolutely no place.

On any college campus or anywhere in the United States of America last week an unauthorized encampment on campus led to more than 100 arrests I was one of the students arrested uh suspended by the university all of these students know the RIS an escalating conflict growing more contentious on campus George police NBC News in Washington over the weekend.

The House of Representatives approved a 95 billion foreign aid package that includes $61 billion in military aid for Ukraine now the bill which has bipartisan support heads to the Senate which could pass it as early as tomorrow Ukrainian president volodimir zalinsky was on this week's Meet the Press and talked exclusively with moderator.

Kristen Welker about how those funds could be used hello there Joe in Savannah this week on Meet the Press I spoke with Ukrainian president VTO zalinski here's what he had to say about his country's future after the house passed more Aid to Ukraine you know you said this week.

President zalinski that Ukraine would have no chance of winning without more us support and I guess the question is can Ukraine now win this war or is the United States merely giving you enough Aid to prolong this war thank you I think this support will really strengthen the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

And we will have a chance for victory if Ukraine really gets the weapons system which we need so much which uh the thousands of soldiers need so much and this Aid should not be just spread and layer all over but it has to end up in tangible weapon systems uh some really uh crucial weapon system which I have to get the long range.

Artillery and uh I really appreciate that it mentions uh attam long range weapons and it's important because we need long range weapons to not lose people on the front line because we have we have casualties because we not reach that far our weapons are not that long range so we need it and air defense this is crucial of these are the.

Priorities now you can see my full interviews in a lot more at meetthe press.com you can also get more Meet the Press right here on NBC news now every weekday at 4M all right Kristen thank you for more on list let's bring in William Taylor he is the former US ambassador to Ukraine is currently the vice president pres of.

Russia and Europe for the US Institute of Peace Ambassador good morning let's start with that same question that Kristen asked president sininsky is this Aid going to be truly effective can it help turn the tide or is it just prolonging the war well Joe uh as the president said um they can't win without it um they need this in order to be able.

To rebuild to get some time for them to rebuild their military the president just signed a very difficult bill that will allow him to pull more people more soldiers into the army they needed to retrain rearm uh refresh so yes this can uh this can certainly give them the chance to win this war and I also want to get your take on President zelinsky's.

Answer to Kristen in your opinion how is this money best spent how crucial are those specifically what He was discussing these longrange weapons to Ukraine right now Savannah the longrange weapons are really important it's going to be a change we're not talking about uh fighting across a line now these longrange weapons give the ukrainians.

Ability to shoot into Crimea Russian occupied Crimea there's a bridge Savannah that connects Crimea into Russia and that's how they Supply themselves if these longrange Russian uh weapons can take out that bridge it'll be very difficult for the Russians to maintain to sustain themselves in Crimea and that could help turn the tide the.

Ambor the Kremlin was quick to respond comparing the war in Ukraine to Vietnam what do you think of that comparison how do you think President Putin is interpreting this Lifeline the US is now throwing toward Ukraine Joe I fought in Vietnam um the the moral Clarity of this War uh that let's remember the Russians invaded Ukraine this is clear that we.

Know what side the right is on this one in Vietnam it was morally ambiguous I will say um that is and it was more of a civil war in Vietnam in in Ukraine this is one big nation in invading a smaller Nation the moral Clarity is there bastor William Taylor we always appreciate your expertise thanks for joining us this morning thank you thank you well for.

Months the house struggled to pass this foreign aid Bill and it has caused tension within the Republican Party conservative members have been openly warning house Speaker Mike Johnson that even bringing the bill to the floor could result in an effort to remove him from the speakership so what is the reaction on Capitol Hill this morning.

Now that the bill has passed let's bring in NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Noble Ryan good morning thanks for joining us so what finally got this done and what were lawmakers saying after it passed well Savannah the key to all of this was the speaker Mike Johnson he was the one who had the ultimate ultimate power to bring the bill to the floor.

We've known for months that if the bill actually got an up or down vote that it would pass easily that's exactly what it turned out to be but speaker Johnson had to take on the conservative flank of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives who have been threatening him with a motion to vacate which could remove him from the.

Speakership if he even brought Ukraine to the floor he has done that and now the motion to De vate gate looms large and here's what some of those conservatives are saying I support my majority I support the majority next time I do not support Mike jenssen he's already a lame duck if we had the vote today in our conference.

He would not be speaker today he's going to cause us to lose the majority at this point he's completely demotivated our base he's uh disappointed Us in the conference so obviously this small group of conser conservative Republicans is very upset with speaker Johnson but the speaker himself seems comfortable with the decision he's made Even If it.

Threatens his job but there's the real possibility Savannah and Joe that Democrats come to his rescue this time around and at least do something like uh put up a motion to table the motion to vacate to prevent him from losing his job he's obviously on Shaky Ground with Republicans but he may be able to preserve his speakership at least until.

The end of the year yeah I mean Ryan does it seem like there is maybe less of an appe to replace Johnson than there was when Republicans voted to boot Kevin McCarthy from the speakership I mean what are we hearing maybe from other less vocal members of his party no you're absolutely right Joe both Republicans and Democrats RIT large do.

Not want to go through the same level of speaker drama that they did back in the fall and there are some conservative Republicans who are defense Hawks who are very concerned about the situation in Ukraine that actually view what Mike Johnson did as a profile en courage among them the chair of the house Foreign Affairs committee Mike McCall.

Listen to what he said I think he his the stock of Mike Johnson's gone way up I think the respect for him has gone way up because he did the right thing irrespective of his job that garnered a lot of respect it's probably going to be at least a week though before we know how this all resolves itself because the.

House is currently on a recess Ryan before we let you go let's talk Tick Tock so this was sort of lumped into this foreign aid bill here that now the idea of either selling the company or facing a ban here in the US for its parent company bite dance what's the timeline for that to happen and doesn't seem like it is likely to pass in the.

Senate as well yeah I I do think that this is a real possibility Savannah I mean the Senate is poised to pass this legislation as early as Tuesday or Wednesday of this week now the big difference is initially the bill that the house passed gave bite dance only six months to divest in Tik Tok this would now extend the time timeline for.

President Biden to make this happen between nine months to a year but it is a reality that bite dance is going to have to reckon with are they going to sell the company or will it be banned in the United States I have to say I was skeptical up until what we saw develop over the weekend that we'd ever see Tik Tok go away just because of its.

Popularity and the millions of users that it has across the country but members of Congress have decided that it is a real national security threat that needs to be dealt with and so we're going to have to see how this all plays out and how the company responds once this becomes law so and Joe Ryan Nobles thank you very much time for your.

Morning News Now weather some spots in the East waking up to below average temps on the flip side it'll feel like summer in parts of the Southwest for more details let's get to meteorologist Michelle Gman she's here in studio with us hey Michelle good morning hey there guys happy Monday and yeah we have a big temperature divide across the country.

Below normal in the East and we're waking up to temperatures in the 30s and 20s getting out the door uh this morning 76 million people waking up to freeze alerts some of these alerts are through Tuesday morning because we're expecting another cold night but where you see the pink here the lighter pink that's your frost advisory freeze warnings up for.

Pittsburgh also Columbus so places like the Tennessee Valley the Midwest into the Great Lakes the Northeast seeing some really cold temperatures as we start out our morning here and then we're not going to warm very far in some spots we're going to be below normal in the East for many places 50 degrees in platsburg that's 90 degrees below what.

Is typical for this time of year same scenar as you head down to the southeast as well we're looking at New Orleans 10° below normal and then look at the difference out to the West summerlike we're talking shorts tank top 98 Dees in Phoenix because we're be we will be near 100° 11° above what is typical for this time of year 70s in Salt Lake City.

Denver and 83 in Reno we'll keep those warm temperatures in place tomorrow still well above normal on our Tuesday Tucson into the 90s same story in El Paso near 90 degrees in LEC and then we're going to be warm too in Las Vegas near 90 degrees there as well we'll finally warming up into the Midwest as we head towards the middle part of the.

Week we're looking at Chicago 50° on Wednesday not quite so warm but by Thursday 60° 64 on Friday Kansas City we are into the 70s and near 80° in Memphis on Thursday otherwise we're relatively quiet we're looking at nationville satelllite radar here notice not a lot of cloud cover that's high pressure in control so that's why we're seeing those.

Temperatures dropping to those cooler levels but we're seeing two cold fronts one in the high plains that's bringing some showers some storms not a lot of moisture with it and then another front in portions of Florida that's bringing the chance for some showers and storms as well this will move out though it's going to sink to the South we're going.

To clear CED out by this afternoon but in the meantime could see a few strong showers some storms uh that could be on the Gusty side with winds up to 60 m per hour some heavy downpours also the chance of some hail but that will clear out by this afternoon and then we're tracking the system that's going to bring some showers into the Great Plains.

And then by tomorrow into the Great Lakes so overall relatively quiet the big story is you know summer in the west a little cool in the East yeah no snow though there you go all right thanks Michelle sure thank you much more to come here on morning news now later this hour there rocking out to the beat of Their Own Drum I'm going to introduce.

You to one band that is flipping the script and what it's like to live with autism up first though after the break America's homeless crisis set to go before The Supreme Court the controversial case over fines for sleeping outside that could impact cities across the country stay with us we'll be right.

back welcome back the Supreme Court is set to hear a case today that could have a major impact on those experiencing homelessness in this country country the case stems from ordinances in Grants Pass Oregon that bar people from camping on public property critics say that the rules criminalize homelessness this.

Morning the justices will weigh an appeals court ruling that found those laws are prohibited under the eth amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishment right now the number of people living in America without a permanent residence is at record highs NBC News supreme court reporter Lawrence Hurley joins us with more on this.

Lawrence good morning good to have you with us us you're our Supreme Court Guru take us through the case that's going to be heard by the Supreme Court today what exactly are the justices weighing here good morning guys yeah the key issue here is this issue of punishing people for being homeless uh the advocates for homeless who filed this.

Class action lawsuit saying you know they're not challenging City's ability to enforce you know the usual kind of ordinances they have for public health and people sleeping out and those kind of things what they're saying is they can't punish people who have nowhere else to go that's the key issue here so basically there's fines there's.

Penalties there's potentially jail time for people who are sleeping on the street but they don't have anywhere else to go because this city in Oregon doesn't have very many beds um very limited space the city says maybe they could just go to other places outside of the city but the appeals court that upheld uh rolling in favor of these.

Homeless people said that's not good enough U the city has to do what it can with in its own jurisdiction it can't rely on other cities to do its job for them Lawrence what impact could this case have on how local and state governments tackle this issue as we see these populations rise I mean it could be a huge deal.

Because if the court was to uphold this appeals court ruling in favor of the homeless people suddenly a ruling that was uh at the moment only applies to Western States would apply to the whole country um and then of course on the other side if the court overturns that decision it's a big blow for home Advocates and we can hear a little bit.

Now from Ed Johnson one of the lawyers for the homeless people in Oregon whatever the Supreme Court decides will become the law of the land and if cities are allowed to engage in this kind of total criminalization where people are essentially banished from the city borders it will be chaos uh people will have nowhere to go they have to.

Live somewhere um but cities will have a new incentive to be meaner than their neighbors so that people don't move to town so as you can see for The Advocates the stakes are high because the ruling against them uh they think could really Empower cities to uh be more punitive against the growing homeless population.

So Lawrence I mean depending on what the ultimate ruling is here will cities have to put Protections in place possibly to avoid over reach by the lower courts so they can still conduct sweeps on encampments but Shield themselves from outright bans and just a second question here when do we think we'll get a ruling in this.

Case yes so the um homeless Advocates will be very concerned if the court overturns this appeals court ruling because uh you know it will Empower cities um to to uh you know be more you know punitive against homeless people as I mentioned um if it's the other way around uh the cities will feel like their hands are tied that maybe they.

Won't be able to enforce the or ordinances they already have um and uh you know with a growing homeless population they're concerned about public health and safety and these kind of things they might be worried that even some of the things they do routinely will then get punished uh you know they will get sued for potentially.

Covered by an injunction so um these are all be issues are addressed during the oral argument today and will expect a ruling by the end of June all right Lawrence Earley we know you'll be keeping an eye on this one in many other cases this week thank you so much let's now take a look at what's making news around the world this morning starting.

In Sri Lanka where a car racing event turned deadly NBC's Matt Bodner joins us from London with that and otherw world news Matt Good morning Joe Savannah good morning well let's kick things off today in Sri Lanka as you mentioned where a race car flew off a track during a local competition on Sunday the video the the vehicle crashed into a crowd of.

Spectators and race officials killing seven people and injuring 20 others this all took place in a town about 110 Mi east of the nation's capital cap of Columbo this was the 17th out of 24 planned races in the event the rest are suspended three of those injured are reported to be in critical condition moving along now to Ecuador where the.

Head of a prison known as El rodo was killed in an attack yesterday authorities have not released any information about the attack but another person was reported injured in the incident The Killing comes the same day that ecuadorians went to the polls to vote in a referendum on a package of proposed security measures that.

President Danielle NOOA is making a centerpiece of his war on organized crime and we'll wrap things up today in New York where a Nigerian chess champion faced off against a child education activist non-stop for 60 hours on Time Square not only this not only is this a fun thing to do in and of itself the duo also managed to break a Guinness world.

Record for longest chess Marathon the previous record holders played for just over 56 hours the Nigerian champ tday on AOA hopes to raise $1 million for child education across Africa savannah wowz 60 hours that is a lot of for 20 minutes my gosh not Bonner thank you so much coming up we are celebrating Earth Day with a deep dive into ocean exploration yeah.

When we come back we'll show you the efforts to find out what's under this surface and how it could help us understand what's going on up here on land stay with us this is Morning News Now welcome back well guess what today is Earth Day and to mark it we are taking a look throughout the show at.

Everything from renewable energy to what you can do in your community we're going to kick off our coverage this morning by taking a deep dive into ocean exploration the ocean makes up about 71% of the Earth's surface despite its size and its importance to life on Earth the majority of what goes on beneath the surface is still largely unknown.

Organizations like the Schmid ocean Institute are working to improve our understanding by using new technology to go where no human has gone before let's bring in the Schmid ocean Institute Co founder Wendy Schmid for more on this Wendy good morning thank you for joining us here good morning happy Earth happy Earth Day to you as well great to spend.

It with you so we want to talk a part about what your organization does which is really cool so you actually have this research ship it's called the falor 2 it is free as my understanding scientists can say I want to come on board I want to do research here tell us about this about this kind of program that you've created and what type of discoveries.

Have been made on this ship when we started uh doing this about in 2013 we launched first ship the problem is that there isn't a lot of ship time for scientists who want to do this kind of research that's the gating item so my husband and I thought let's make the ship time available as much as possible for scientists all over the world we've.

Had more than 1100 of them so far wow and in exchange for this free time on our Laboratories our robotic vehicles our highspeed Computing all those tools they share their information in real time with other scientists because the oceans are under attack as you know it's a critical time to accelerate our understanding of the ocean for all the.

Reasons that we're here today to celebrate Earth Day so so with that in mind what kind of voyages do you see in the future for falor 2 well we're going to be in all of the ocean basins uh we were in five countries this past year since 2023 we did nine Expeditions uh some of the upcoming ones are fascinating we're going to Antarctica.

We're going to look at the interface between the the ice and the movement caused by climate change and the systems underneath that water it's never been mapped before we have been in an age of Discovery for this last year I have to say I used to think the age of Discovery was the 15th 16th 17th centuries when people were finding mountain ranges and.

Oceans and rivers and all those features they even found China I think they found out where it was but now we're in a new age altogether it's like seeing the Earth from space back in 1969 now we're looking at the ocean in real time with our all of our senses using our robots and we're discovering life on Earth again and tell us the.

Connection that I know you say is so important between what's going on in our oceans what's going on in our seas and land what is that connection what does it mean for climate change what we're really looking at here is a question of resilience resilience in the ocean in a system that's been evolving for four billion years and resilience on land.

Resilience in our soil everything we do on land affects the ocean and we depend on the ocean for every other breath we take for all of our primary protein and there's so much to discover there that could be of use to humans for medicine in the next pandemic Heaven Knows our exploration will help us protect the ocean and create the resilience that.

It's meant to have our impact is affecting that now and that's what has to change so if you compost at home and you look at the packaging you buy and you really question how much of that plastic should be in your life it's going to end up in the ocean 40% of the of the debris in the ocean is plastic packaging make some little Chang right.

We can reduce our emissions by going solar if we can right use your local produce your local farmers markets right support local resilience because soil health is ocean Health that's how to think about it in just a few seconds what's your message to people who feel like climate change is such a big problem right now they're overwhelmed by.

It we're all overwhelmed by it but I think individual actions will add up together and those things I just mentioned leading to resilience if that's the thing you're really thinking about you will help the ocean cuz all of us really want to be part of the solution not part of the problem and really good tips that anybody can kind.

Of grab on to Farmers Market reducing plastic things like that Oney Schmid thank you so much happy Earth Day we appreciate your time this morning it's really incredible the work you're doing thank you good to see you staying Outdoors rising sea levels and Storm surges are posing major challenges for the gagi nation this community of slave.

Descendants has thrived as a coastal Society for centuries along the South Carolina coast their Heritage and lifestyle are now at risk because of climate change NBC News correspondent Bri Jackson has a look at the efforts to save their culture God trouble.

Water you can see how the little Ripples and thing like that go like a water essential to all but even more precious for gagi communities working to maintain their distinct way of life away from the mainland that allowed our africanisms as others call it to continue to evolve here in this land but to also amalgamate into this unique gagi culture and so we.

Say we Thea we we traveled to St Helena South Carolina to meet Queen quet chiefess of the gagi nation descendants of slaves they're known for their unique language and traditions like basket weaving for decades they've retain their culture despite the landscape around them changing the movement of the gichi as.

Part of the Great Migration brought culinary Traditions food traditions spiritual Traditions to the rest of the United States before the issue was Bridges coming in and bringing people in who were overbuilding and displacing us now one of the biggest concerns is climate change increased storm surge and rising sea levels threaten their land.

And lifestyle that causes more flooding it's causing saltwater in and in places that were freshwater areas which also impact some people's farming ability Queen qu tells me Rising temperatures are also taking a toll our oysters we won't have nor will we have shrimp or crabs if the ocean acidifies I'm geei I grew up eating crabs there's a lot of.

Crabs on the table throughout my life Tia Clark runs a business in Charleston South Carolina focused on catching blue crabs a key ingredient in gagi Cuisine it has changed my life and put me in this place to come outside every day and share my culture Clark says the water brings her closer to her culture but she's seen conditions for the Wildlife.

Decline with climate change if it stays this warm then the crabs are around which means there's going to be a lot of pressure put on them by me and other people that are trying to catch them to help conservationists are building oyster reefs to create a habitat for sea creatures to survive look at where that line is from here for how this reef is.

Protecting the grass when we start losing some of these resources and when it really starts hitting home and affecting more people is when some real change is going to happen this is an effort to ensure survival absolutely every part of what we're doing is to ensure our survival as native gagi and the survival of our tradition a fight.

Against climate change to preserve their way of life in South Carolina Brie Jackson NBC News and stay with us we've got much more Earth Day celebration coverage come in our next hour and coming up a summer shortage that could impact your vacation plans up next why Airlines say they could soon have fewer planes than they need but you need to.

Know before you book this is Morning News Now welcome back if you've got travel plans this summer you may already be in for a bumpy ride that is because a potential plane shortage could be on the horizon major airlines are saying The Limited number of planes is due in part.

To those ongoing investigations into Boeing NBC News correspondent Marissa par has more summer travel is expected to soar to record highs but a potential shortage of planes Looms on the horizon and that's leaving Airlines really bracing to make sure that they can handle that onrush of travel demand US Airlines this.

Year expected to receive 40% fewer planes than they planned for last year according to Industry group aerodynamic advisory which means one thing for your travel budget from a consumer standpoint with demand strong and Supply relatively weak that's a recipe for higher airfares United Airlines in Southwest pausing hiring United even offering their pilots.

Unpaid leave Alaska Airlines along with Southwest Unsure how many flights they can fly calling their capacity forecasts uncertain all of the airlines pointing directly to Boeing 737 Max production delays the aviation giant facing quality control scrutiny and under investigation by the FAA after the door plug blowout in January Boeing's number of airplanes.

Deliveries sank to 83 in their last quarter compared to 157 the one prior you've got this effort to return to 2019 levels of jetliner production Airbus is getting there Boeing is stumbling pretty badly Boeing CFO Brian West saying last month we're deliberately going to slow to get this right and we're the ones who made the.

Decision to constrain rates on the 737 program all of this on the brink of Sky High Travel demand major airlines bracing for a huge travel season following a record setting GE for TSA travel numbers it means higher prices but also planes that are going to be more full than they would otherwise be Airlines now have just months left to.

Course correct before summer travel takes off where para NBC News time now for some Financial headlines Tesla is cutting car prices yet again NB Savannah Han now joins us with that nether news hey Savannah good morning hey Savannah Hey Joe good morning to you happy Monday yes so Tesla is cutting prices worldwide for many of.

Its cars as it deals with falling sales and weaker demand for electric vehicles in the US Tesla is lowering the price of the model YX and S by $2,000 and the pr of its full self-driving driver assistance technology by $4,000 now the latest Cuts come as Tesla gets set to report earnings tomorrow the stock falling below $150 last week wiping out.

All the gains made over the past year Tinder is adding a new safety tool it's called the share my date feature which lets you share details with family and friends with a single link now this includes the location date and time of the day along with the f photo of your match and link to their profile dates can be set in the app up to a month in.

Advance Tinder says about half of users under 30 already share details on their dates with friends and 20% do so with their mom and Nike is set to sign an 8-year deal worth up to $28 million with basketball star Caitlyn Clark beating out Adidas Under Armour and Puma The Wall Street Journal reports Nike's offer includes a signature shoe the length of.

The contract suggest the company sees long-term Global appeal for Clark as she'll have a chance to represent the us at three Olympic Games over the next eight years guys there you go love to see there's not money we want to see your that's what we want yes absolutely now thank you so much coming up they are a rocking band with a special bond how.

This quintet is flipping the script on living with autism we're going to jam with them next on Morning News Now now to our series flipping the script featuring people on screen on stage and behind the scenes shining a spotlight on diversity and we've got a special edition for Autism Awareness Month meet.

The ASD band this Canadian quintet like so many other groups takes their music seriously and they dream of making it big well they've experienced a lot of success they're also hoping to challenge views on autism you see ASD stands for autism spectrum disorder and for four of the band's members life on the spectrum is part of their reality created in 2019.

The band now has a new album but says their message is about more than music ready one 2 what kind of music do you guys play there there's definitely a lot of range but I think at the core of it though is like mostly like power pop a lot of her songs are very Punky some of them sound.

Like kind of elv Vibes a song I wrote like you know had to do with a reggae Take ran Spencer Jackson and Ron have a wide range of Music tastes but they all have one thing in common we're all like very openly autistic and we we we Bond over that and uh it it it it positively informs the the the music we create for four of the.

Five band members living with autism is part of their day-to-day life lives and while they all got into music as individuals autism is what brought them together I love performing with this band because uh we all have different abilities with the you know that blow everyone's mind when writing our original songs and everyone has.

Something new to the table Jackson loves the 50s music Spencer's all about the punk I just keep reading that you love the 19 50s I can tell just from your hair right there right I like to say uh I put the Roll in rock and roll he's a big Elvis fan yeah he does he's an Elvis impersonator for a living actually really can we hear a little Elvis.

Perfect my BL Moon Turns to Gold again I'll be back within my arms to stain awesome the band is the focus of the Canadian documentary film ASD band the movie you memorized it oh sure amazing when people hear you play or they watch the documentary what is it you hope they take away from that you know just because you have autism.

Doesn't mean it's the end of the world they should follow their hopes and dreams you know whatever they may choose to Aspire to be if we can do it they can too it's I mean we're living proof I I hope the film like dispels like some some stereotypes like about autism there there are definitely like autistic.

People that are like like science Geniuses and like working like stem and all that but there's also autistic people that are more like that are artsy yeah they're into music and and theat we're all we're all just people we just want to be treated like people like we don't want to be thought of as you know you're different or weird or certain.

Things try your Dynamics this time bass player Mory is the only band player without autism but has been part of the band's success from the beginning this band has done everything back backwards so we made a documentary first then we made a record a short EP and then we did our first gig and then we were on Canada's Got.

Talent tell me uh this band what do this band meant to you it's just uh Gathering my new friends Jackson ran Spencer and you Mory yes we're happy to we're happy we made friends with you right yeah agreed absolutely yeah what what should people know about Ron and his ability on.

The piano that he's incredible yeah he's like the new show he's a modern showan and that's not Ron's only Talent give them the day you were born oh that's right yeah give him that tell you the day special skill calendar yeah it's a special skill that he has I was born on July 29th 1977 um let's see it falls on a Friday.

July 29th 1977 it does it's crazy how quickly he can do that you look younger thank you now after several years together the band is making their own original album called Almost Flawless what's the dream the dream is just to be able to keep.

Playing performing at all the provinces all the states and then eventually heading to worldwide our thanks to ASD band for taking the time to speak with us you can listen to their music on Spotify and apple music and check out their documentary at ASD band. movie what a delightful.

Conversation they are just the best okay that date skill is seriously impressive it's incredible past and future by the way so aming Ron Nails it they're so talented and it's so sweet their friendship check out their music that's going to do it for this hour of morning news now stay with us the news continues right.

now good morning thanks for getting your week started with us I'm Savannah sers I'm Joe frier right now on Morning News Now history set to unfold in a Manhattan courtroom opening statements in former president Trump's hush money trial set to begin just hours from now we've got more on the former Trump Associates who.

Could be among the first to take the witness stand in how all this could affect Mr Trump's reelection chances come November staying in the race for the White House could a thirdparty candidate like RFK Jr actually hurt former president Trump more than President Biden we're going to dig into some surprising new NBC News.

Polling that may shock voters on both sides of the aisle also the fate of tick tock here in America now in the hands of the Senate the house voted overwhelmingly to potential Bann the wildly popular app over the weekend that is causing a major upo both online and on Capitol Hill what you need to know about the latest Bill and what we can.

Expect from the Senate plus you could say we're feeling a little green on this Earth Day later in the hour the Biden administration's historic new multi-billion dollar push to tackle climate change With a Little Help from our friend the sun we're going to be digging deep into Earth Day all throughout the hour so stick with usot.

Of let's begin this hour here in New York where opening statements will take place today in the hush money trial of Donald Trump and the first ever criminal trial for a former president Mr Trump is accused of falsifying business records in connection to alleged hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in the leadup to the 2016.

Election now Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him a source with direct knowledge of the situation tells NBC news that David pecker will be the first witness called by the prosecution today pecker is the longtime publisher of the national Inquirer and was the one who alerted Michael Cohen about Stormy Daniels and.

Her plan to go public about her alleged relationship with Mr Trump NBC News senior legal correspondent Laura Jared has a preview on what we can expect hey there today is all about giving the jury in New York a road map of what's to come a preview now for prosecutors the story is one involving an alleged Affair a payoff a.

Presidential election and of course a cover up while the defense hopes to persuade this jury that if there was a crime the state simply cannot prove that Donald Trump had anything to do with it this morning opening statements beginning in the first criminal trial of an American president Donald Trump expected back in the courtroom in lower.

Manhattan where he pleaded not guilty to charges of falsifying his internal business records a low-level felony but the story prosecutors are expected to lay out for the jury of seven men and five women today far more sweeping one of a presidential candidate in damage control after the release of the Access Hollywood tap directing his former fixer.

To pay off Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election to keep her quiet about an alleged trist from a decade earlier later reimbursing Michael Cohen in monthly checks prosecutors say creating a phony paper trail it's more important for the prosecutors to get the the jurors on their side early I always used to tell the jurors this is the.

Table of content so when they're listening to the evidence they'll go uh-huh the former president Den any encounter with Daniels his defense team likely to argue Cohen has an ax to grind against his former boss writing an entire book called Revenge Cohen expected to be a key witness at trial also the former publisher of the.

National Inquirer David pecker who prosecutors will argue helped catch and kill damning stories about Mr Trump now expected to be the state's first witness called to trial meanwhile the limits of Mr Trump's weekend campaign strategy coming into Focus now now bad weather forcing him to cancel Saturday's rally in North Carolina I'm devastated that.

This could happen the likely GOP nominee instead trying to use the existence of the trial itself to make his case instead of being in Pennsylvania or Georgia am sitting in a courthouse all day long and this will go on for another four or five weeks and it's very unfair as for what to expect today after the prosecution finishes opening.

Statements this morning then the defense will have their chance and then the state is expected to call its first witness to the stand back to you all right Laura thank you NBC News Now legal analyst Angela cadela joined us with more on this okay so we have a jury we're talking about opening statements we're talking about the first witness.

Still we saw Trump's team last week appeal this decision to not move the case out of Manhattan can anything still delay this trial or are we set are we rolling now with no delays exp so we are rolling 9:30 a.m. today we should start to see opening statements this is a historic day we've talked about and finally it is here and we should see.

Today both the prosecution and the Defense 2 start to roll out their preview of The Evidence in these opening statements give a a note to the jury about what this whole case will look like what they should rely on what they should look at so that's where we are Joe it started tell us what you think we could end up seeing from the prosecution.

Especially now that we do have this idea of who the first witness called is going to be what that means you think about the case they're going to lay out so the prosecution has to really lay out two different parts to this case first is the idea that Trump and his team falsified business records but as we know in the state of New York that's.

Really just a misdemeanor so here they have linked that then to the bigger charge of also intending to conceal a crime and here it's all about election interference so we're going to see two things one a lot of physical evidence that's going to be presented so the reason why there's 34 counts is because this payment was broken up into monthly.

Installments so we will see the 11 monthly invoices the 11 checks and then the 12 notes in the Trump organization's accounting Ledger but then beyond that is the real question of intent and that's where the prosecution is going to use Witnesses like Cohen to put them on the stand and have them allege and explain that when Trump did this it was.

To interfere in the election Trump has indicated that he will take the stand in this case do you really think that's going to happen what are the pros and cons here well Joe we know that he has indicated previously in past trials as well and then he doesn't do it because he is ultimately aware of the risks so when a defendant takes a stand they.

Really will only do it if there's something that they can present on that stand that no other piece of evidence can but in a case like this with fraud where intent is important sometimes that is a risk a defendant would be willing to take only they can explain their state of mind but as we saw on Friday with the sandville hearing the.

Prosecutors will be so excited if he takes that stand because they intend then in Cross to bring up every other Pastime Trump has ever been found to lie question his credibility up and down so in light of that the fact that he will actually take this stand I think it's not going to happen you have to assume his attorneys are saying maybe not I.

Mean they've got to be pressuring him to say no to takeing no reasonable attorney I can't even fathom anyone especially in light of all the other criminal trials happening which maybe won't happen before the election but could likely happen at some time still all right Angela thank you so much as always yes as former president Trump's trial.

Continues today new polling numbers show a dip in his support among potential voters the latest National NBC News poll also shows the third party vote is affecting Mr Trump's support more than President Biden NBC News senior political editor Mark Murray joins us now to break down this new polling data Mark good morning so let's begin with.

The general election what is our new polling data telling us about this matchup explain to us how multiple candidates are impacting those numbers as we were just discussing yeah Savannah so in our two-way ballot between President Biden and former president Donald Trump holds a two-point lead within the margin of error 46% of.

Registered voters backing Trump 44% for President Biden but when the ballot is expanded to five candidates uh President Biden is the one with a two-point lead within the margin of error at 39% Donald Trump at 37 and Robert F Kennedy Jr at 133% and what is notable is that there's a greater share of trump voters in that two-way ballot who end up backing RFK Jr.

Than Biden voters and it is contrary to a lot of other polling that's out there as well as the conventional wisdom that is the larger share of the third party vote would end up hurting President Biden well in our poll it shows it actually hurts Trump a little bit more but do with caveat this is one poll and we'll continue to see if it reflects in.

Other ones so those are the candidates let's take a look at some of the issues that voters say are important to them what standing out have we seen any changes at all over the last few months you know Joe this is the first time we've asked this question this cycle but it looks very similar to what we end up seeing in the 2022 midterms in our poll.

Where you end up having cost of living inflation at number one uh Then followed by immigration in the Border threats to democracy but when our poll asks a SE a separate question on if is there one issue that fires you up that you would vote for or against a candidate solely on that basis what really does pop is uh threats to democracy and constitution.

Rights as well as the issue of a abortion abortion on those numbers you just showed are kind of in the middle of the pack but when it's asked like is there one issue that really fires you up we do see abortion play out on that Mark according to our latest polling data interest in the presidential election has reached a 20-year low for this point.

In the election cycle tell us about that Savannah we've been asking a question on are do you have high interest in the election dating back to 2008 and this is the lowest share at 64% saying that they have High interest that we have seen at this juncture of a presidential contest and to me this is might be the biggest headline in our entire poll because as.

We're trying to gauge what turnout might look like remember in 2020 it was the largest presidential turnout that we had actually seen in modern times uh I do think these numbers and they're kind of similar to what we've seen in previous surveys in the NBC News poll I think we should brace ourselves for a lower turnout than what we ended up seeing in.

2020 and that could have surprise ing effects on the outcome six months from now all right Mark as always thank you now to Washington where lawmakers on Capitol Hill are on the verge of passing a sweeping National Security funding package that will provide Aid to Ukraine to Israel and Taiwan NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles joins us.

Now from Capitol Hill with the latest Ryan good morning Hey Joe uh good morning and conservative Republicans worked very hard to pressure the speaker Mike Johnson not to bring any form of Ukraine funding up for a vote but now after passing the house easily this week the Senate will act and Ukraine will receive a much needed injection of.

Weapons and funding at a time when they need it the most will be in order what once seemed improbable on this vote the A's are 311 and the Nays are 112 the bill is passed has become inevitable senators are poised to approve a $95 billion National Security package that provides funding for key us allies lies it has 26.4.

Billion in funding for Israel which includes humanitarian aid for Gaza 8.1 billion for Asian allies like Taiwan it also authorizes the seizing of5 billion in Russian assets tougher sanctions on the country and the ban of the popular app Tik Tock if the chinese-based company that owns it does not sell it within a.

Year but the biggest part of the package more than $60 billion in funding for Ukraine was the most controversial and carried with it the most immediate consequences straty but because Ukraine's President vlir zinski telling Christen Welker without this funding his country would likely lose the war and we will have a chance for.

Victory if Ukraine really gets the weapons system which we need so much it is a plea zalinsky has been making for months while the legislation was stalled and it did not matter much to conservative Republicans who argued American border security should come before Aid to Ukraine Mike Johnson has betrayed America he's betrayed.

Republican voters conservatives have warned house Speaker Mike Johnson that even bringing a Ukraine Aid Bill to the floor could result in an effort to boot him from his speakership but Johnson who once voted against funding for Ukraine was presented with overwhelming evidence in classified briefings that led to a change of heart he showed true.

Leadership if we didn't do this the consequences would have been severe one that could cost him his job a threat he has come to terms with you do the right thing and you let the chips fall where they may so the question now is how soon could conservatives attempt to remove Johnson from the speakership and if they.

Do will Democrats come to his rescue the answers to those questions won't come until next week when the house returns from a weeks long recess Joe all right Ryan thank you well under another part of that legislation as you just heard there from Ryan a little bit Chinese social media company bite dance was has nine months to sell Tik Tok or.

Potentially face having the app banned in the United States NBC News correspondent Emily aeta has the details this morning the fate of Tik Tock in aace against the clock the bill is passed the house passing a bill that would force the apps Chinese parent company bite dance to sell the platform within a year to a new owner up from the.

Original 6 months or face a national ban of the widely popular social media app with 170 million American users I hope there's a way we can save Tik Tok the vote passing with a resounding 360 to 58 but online some are rallying against the ban did you know that 7 million small businesses in the US rely on Tik Tok to generate Revenue urging their followers.

To take action please just contact your state senators and let them know that you do not support this ban some in Congress agree I'm just concerned about the impact of the local economy Across America and I'm hopeful the Senate will will weigh in and make some of those changes the focus now turning to the Senate as early as this week before it.

Goes to the president if they pass it I'll sign it but even if the bill becomes law no changes would be made overnight B dance has nine months to sell and there's room for an extension Tik Tock is likely to consider filing a lawsuit on First Amendment grounds so that could push the timeline out even further government officials have.

Repeatedly raised serious National Security concerns saying China could force Tik tok's owner bite dance to expose a trove of detailed information about American users and push propaganda Tik Tok has fiercely pushed back most recently telling NBC News a ban would trample the Free Speech rights of 170 million Americans devastates 7 million.

Businesses and shutter a platform that contributes $24 billion to the US economy annually and experts say the blowback against lawmakers could have big implications I do think that a lot of these representatives are severely underestimating how angry this is going to make the American public all thanks to Emily AA for that report let's take a.

Look at what's ahead with your Morning News Now weather forecast Michelle Gman is in studio with us and she's back hey Michelle good morning hey there guys and we are relatively quiet today tomorrow into Wednesday things start to ramp up by Thursday and Friday but looking at this map for today quiet weather pattern the biggest story today will be the the.

Temperature divide across the country really warm out west we're looking at temperatures into the upper 90s near 100° in some spots and then out to the east we're starting out Chile and we're going to keep it below average but it's still a really nice day lots of sunshine throughout New England into the Northeast and midatlantic watching a few.

Showers even some Gusty thunderstorms in portions of Florida we have a front that's sinking through but that's going to be off the coast by later on this morning and then we have another front uh bringing some showers and storms into the high plains that will move off to the Great Lakes tomorrow still pretty quiet on Wednesday we have that April.

Warm still in the southwest into the Inner Mountain West chilly still in the Great Lakes region the Midwest into parts of the Ohio Valley as well then we have some rain from that front that I just talked about in the High Plains today that's going to move to the Great Lakes tomorrow then eventually into the Northeast by Wednesday we could see a.

Little bit of snow too with some colder air mixing into the Northern parts of New England otherwise we're quiet in the Southeast we're quiet in the Ohio Valley also the Tennessee and Mississippi Valley Friday that's when we start to ramp things up actually Thursday we really start to bring back the chance for severe storms but Friday we're.

Looking at that severe R risk throughout the middle of the country from the Northern Plains all the way to the Southern Plains could see some rain it could be Heavy we're looking at those brighter colors showing us where we could see that heavy rain and then we're going to bring some colder air into the Inner Mountain West that's going to.

Bring higher elevation snow some Mountain snow and lots of rain throughout the Northwest into the Inner Mountain West and also parts of the Southwest as well let's talk about the cold because we are cold this morning and we're going to keep it cold overnight once again into tomorrow that's why some of these alerts last.

Through Tuesday morning we have have Frost advisories freeze warnings for 76 million Americans because we're off to chili start and we will once again on Tuesday morning we'll keep it on the cooler side as we go throughout the rest of this Monday not terribly cold this afternoon we have lots of sunshine that April Sunshine warming us up but still.

Below normal so Memphis 68 degrees today that's 8 degrees below what is typical for this time of year and we're looking at 75 in Corpus Christie but look at that big temperature difference feeling like summer in the west temperatures near 100° in Phoenix 90 today that's 11° above normal 70s in De Moine Denver Salt Lake City Reno you're going to be warm.

To 83 that's 17° above average we'll keep that warm air in place tomorrow in the west where with temperatures once again into the 70s 80s 90s 90 degrees in El Paso 8 degrees above average and 93 in two Sun so that's a big story as we go throughout this Monday notice satellite radar showing us that we are very quiet we have some green showing up.

On the map that's light rain throughout the high plains that front that I mentioned earlier also throughout the uh Florida Peninsula the southern part of Florida but notice that front sinking down to the South and we'll move off the coast over the next several hours in the meantime we could see some isolated showers some storms and some could be.

Gusty with winds gusting up to 60 mes hour we do have the chance of seeing some hail the tornado risk is low that's good news and could see uh some heavy rain from West Palm all the way down to portions of Miami that other front brings showers along the front very icated too not a whole lot of rain with this we're not expecting severe weather.

But we are expecting the chance for some storms some showers hours and this will move off to the east uh by tomorrow into the great lakes and then eventually into the Northeast by Wednesday so we are relatively quiet today tomorrow Wednesday and then things start to get a little bit busy on Thursday all right we'll take the quiet yeah right thank.

You Michelle it's rare much more to come on this very special edition of morning news now we're not going to be quiet it's Earth Day a little later in the hour we're going to be talking to the White House about the B administration's new billion doll push for solar energy projects plus a closer look at some of the major legal cases around the world.

That are shaping the way countries deal with climate change those stories and more are up next welcome back Israel's prime minister is pushing back against reports that the US is planning to impose sanctions on an IDF unit that's accused of committing human rights violations.

Against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank the move comes after dozens of people in Gaza were killed in Israeli strikes on Rafa NBC News foreign correspondent Chief foreign respondent Richard Engel joins us now from Jerusalem Richard good morning good morning there is a very strange Dynamic here at the moment the.

House just approved nearly $30 billion in aid for Israel much of it for the Israeli military but at the same time the Biden Administration plans to sanction a small part of Israel's military and that is what's adding to these long simmering tensions between the administration and prime minister.

Netanyahu pressure is growing against prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu from all sides the Biden Administration is set to impose sanctions on a unit of the Israeli military accused of human rights violations in the occupied West Bank Netanyahu on Sunday saying he will fight the sanctions with all his strength.

While inside Israel people increasingly want him gone he's a to the human and the Jewish people around the world and Israel Netanyahu faces corruption charges and protesters claim staying in power and out of court is his main priority he says the charges are politically motivated protests like these are now.

Happening every week and they're growing calling for new elections and for Netanyahu to step down why multiple reasons Israel had a massive intelligence failure on October 7th and was slow to respond to hamas's Massacre of 1200 people more than 130 hostages remain in Gaza Israel and Iran were in an.

Unprecedented shooting War last week that nearly spun out of control and Israel's reputation is taking a beating as protesters around the world are accusing the nation founded after the Holocaust of genocide against Palestinian an accusation the Israeli government vly.

Rejects and now Israeli strikes are intensifying in Gaza again in an around Rafa where more than a million Palestinians are Sheltering Israel says Hamas is hiding among the civilians officials say dozens of Palestinians were killed including the Judah family but in a medical miracle doctors rescued the baby who.

Survived also today the head of the Israeli military intelligence Department tendered his resignation acknowledging failures to anticipate and stop hamas's October 7th attacks Joe all right Richard thank you so much let's get more International headlines now North Korea just conducted its latest weapon test NBC's Matt Bodner joins us with that and.

Other world headlines Matt Good morning Joe Savannah good morning well let's kick this off on the Korean peninsula where South Korea's military is claiming this morning that the north fired several short-range ballistic missiles into the sea South Korea has of course decried this move as a threat to stability in the region the missiles.

Flew about 186 miles South Korea says the launch coincided with a visit to South Korea by us space command General Steven whitting who's hosted by South Korea's top Commander moving along now to Haiti where armed gangs have launched A Renewed assault on parts of Porto Prince the nation's capital the timing of the attacks come ahead of a.

Transitional Council that's coming into Power this is aimed at installing a new government that can bring an end to the ongoing political crisis in that country hadi's current prime minister Ariel Henry pledged in March to step down this is under pressure from the US gangs currently control an estimated 90% of the capital we WRA things up today in.

Tokyo which celebrated Pride over the weekends the city's bustling sibuya and haruku districts were packed with 1,000 15,000 people uh taking part in the event this year this year Tokyo Pride was a special one marking 30 years since the first ever pride parade in the city Only 1,100 people took part back then that was August 94 today Tokyo pride is.

One of the largest Pride events in Asia Japan for the record is the only G7 nation that does not recognize same-sex couples despite public opinion polls showing overwhelming support somewhere around 70% back to you guys all right Matt Bodner thank you so much thank you coming up we are celebrating Earth Day here on morning news now after the break.

We're going to dig into the B administration's new multi-billion dollar push for solar energy projects is the white house looks to make climate change a priority ahead of November's election that's next stay with us welcome back let's not get to our Earth Day coverage well the celebration.

Is actually more than 50 years old it was back in 1970 that an unprecedented 20 million protesters joined demonstrations around the country amid growing public concern about pollution but today some argue the event has become too commercialized in the modern era in response to a question about Earth Day becoming about so-called.

Greenwashing former vice president Al Gore recently told our NBC News meteorologist Al Roker that some of the activities that take place are quote definitely in that category here to help us talk about this in more detail sorry about that we thought we had actually a little bit of a sound bite there for you uh is.

Environmentalist and founder of third act bill McKibben built thank you so much for being with us it's great to have you join us um happy Earth Day which maybe is kind of part of this conversation is kind of this whole like celebration aspect of it and what it really means and what the real purpose is here first though I do want to just.

Ask you what we just read there that little quote about what former vice president Al Gore had said about Earth Day do you agree that in some ways this has become too commercialized well the first Earth Day 54 years ago wasn't commercialized at all it was the biggest demonstration probably in American history about 10% of the then population.

Of the us out in the streets and so successful that it brought us within 18 months the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act and the EPA but of course that means that over time a certain amount of marketers and things have decided to get in on the action uh I think a a good guide for figuring out whether or not it's nonsense might be the more penguins.

And polar bears a company puts in an chances are the more damage it's doing to the world around it we're going to talk in just a moment about some of the actions being taken by the Biden Administration including $7 billion being granted to the EPA overall do you think lawmakers are doing enough especially in an election year or do we.

Need to hear more from them about this issue well look this is the biggest problem the world has ever faced the biggest problem our species has ever wandered into last year was the hottest year in the 125,000 years and this year is starting out hotter there couldn't be enough attention from lawmakers that said Joe.

Biden somehow managed to finally convince Congress to put some serious money on the line and the inflation reduction Act is now beginning to produce real returns factories springing up around the country to build batteries and so on and today the president with AOC and Bernie Sanders two of the original sponsors of the uh uh uh Green.

New Deal at his side will be putting aside 7 billion dollars for solar for all and announcing this climate core uh youth around the country coming out to do the work that we need to do to help transition America so that's a good sign a good sign that they understand that 70% of Americans know that climate change is a deep and serious problem and.

Want the government to do more in a country as divided as ours 70% is pretty good do you think that we are seeing the type of passion and sort of urgent urgency around this issue that we did I mean those numbers are pretty astounding that I mentioned a moment ago Back in 1970 20 million protesters joining in that sort of led to the creation of this.

Day do we still see that do we still feel that I think we need more and I think you get it something really important here um we spend a lot of time talking about all the things that will happen if we don't take action on climate change and they are scary and sobering and they should be we need to spend more time.

Talking about the remarkable possibility for adventure and change that we have right now we stand on the precipice of transforming ourselves from a species that sets things on fire here on Earth coal gas uh oil wood um and instead learning how in very short order to rely on the fact that the good Lord hung a large ball of burning gas 93.

Million miles up in the sky and we have the wit to make full use of it California has produced more than 100% of its electricity needs from the Sun and the wind for most of the last month that's a remarkable Watershed and now we need to build on it and build on it fast because remember the scariest thing about climate change is that it comes.

With a time limit it's not like our other political problems that we get to gas on about for decades this one we actually have to do something about because once the arctic's melted no one's got a plan for freezing it back again that is a very good point and way to spark some urgency here Bill McKibben thank you very much for joining us today.

Take care let's talk more about solar President Biden has said to celebrate Earth Day by announcing $7 billion in Awards for the Environmental Protection agency's recent solar forall competition yeah the president heads to Virginia today to speak on the historic grants while also highlighting his future plans for tackling climate change and how his.

Administration has made progress in the crisis so far this week we'll see many of his cabinet members also traveling across the country to spread Awareness on the climate crisis joining us now for more on the Biden administration's climate plans is White House National Climate adviser Ali Zade Ali good to have you with us and happy Earth Day.

Thanks for joining us so let's talk more about these billions of dollars in awards that President Biden will formally announce later today where are these funds going all 50 states will see the upside of these funds as more and more Americans are able to plug in to the utility savings that come from solar energy the solar for all program $7.

Billion will fund nonprofits state and local governments and help lower income Americans be able to tap into this massive opportunity so with major pieces of legisl ation like the bipartisan infrastructure act that we were just talking about now in progress what are some of the president's other goals for future climate action that he plans to.

Talk about today and what does he think he can get done in the next few months you know today we're going to be talking about expanding the American climate core there will be job postings online at climate at climate.gov today uh so big part of the agenda is getting people in the jobs and the careers necessary to build out uh our response to climate.

Change we're seeing uh economic upside in the transportation sector where uh the United States has gone from lagger to leader on EVS um we're doing it in the power sector we're building out solar wind geothermal nuclear a bunch of technologies that burn clean um and we're seeing that transformation in even sectors that hadn't been on the frontier.

Of climate uh for example in the agriculture sector President Biden's initiatives now have 880,000 Farms who've signed up uh to do climate smart agriculture so this is a big deal uh it's impacting our communities but as Bill said there's a lot of upside here uh and what the president's focused on is making sure that the United States.

Can tap into the upside this massive Economic Opportunity translates for everybody in every zip code you mentioned climate core jobs and its training program a lot of people might not be familiar with that what should people know about that program and the types of jobs you know for a long time I think people have struggled to see.

Themselves in the solution set uh not sure how to get into a career uh taking on the climate crisis young people all around the country have been raising their hands saying hey we want to sign up the climate Corps really provides a low barrier to entry way to do that no experience required no particular background necessary just folks who want.

To step up to the plate and do something go to climate.gov look at the positions near you or maybe you want to get further away from home uh and it's a variety of careers whether it's you know restoring uh nature in a way that prevents uh uh climate impacts from hitting harder so uh Forest management uh remediation or installing things like.

Solar and EV charging uh plugging into the clean energy economy uh all of those Pathways opened up uh for young people who want to step into these careers we know the theme for this Earth Day this year 2024 is planet versus Plastics and the specific goal is reducing all production of plastics by 60% by 2040 this is one of those ones though as.

You've referenced that really it does seem like legislation has to intersect in order for big corporations to make big changes does the White House have a plan for the plastic waste problem you know through the the infrastructure law we were able to get uh hundreds of millions of dollars to help stand up Recycling and reuse.

Programs around the country uh we've been investing as an Administration in bioproducts uh stuff that grows out of the Earth turning that into substitutes for Plastics that otherwise would be produced from petrochemicals um and we're working on an international basis on a treaty to help reduce uh Plastics as well so we're.

Focused on this uh it plagues our communities waterways oceans um we're getting after it all right Alli 80 thank you so much for joining us this morning happy Earth thank you you lawsuits challenging governments and corporations over climate change are growing in the US and all around the world yeah 2023 actually.

Saw the most climate cases in US history they range from States suing big oil to people suing governments for not doing enough about the climate crisis here to talk more about this is Michael Gerard he's the founder and faculty director of the Sabin Center for climate change law at Columbia Law School good to have you with us because this is an important.

Part of this process anything you've seen in the last year that in the legal world that's really had an impact on climate change or something that you see will have an impact moving forward several young people in Montana sued the state saying that the state's fossil fuel friendly policies violated the environmental rights provision of the.

State Constitution they had a trial over the summer uh the Court ruled for the plaintiffs the the court heard the sworn testimony of climate scientists uh found that they were correct that climate change is having a terrible problem that is mostly caused by uh by fossil fuels and ordering the state to do more now Montana's uh not a very large population.

But the same theory is now being applied in other states there's a trial coming up in Hawaii this Montana Victory is also energizing similar kind of cases in other parts of the country I was on the ground that for some of that was pretty amazing to see just because at the time of them actually filing this I believe they were all even under the age of 18.

It was like quite something um let's look over seas and I want to read some details about a landmark case we saw in Europe earlier this month so that I get them right the continent's top human rights Court ruled that the Swiss government had violated the human rights of its citizens by not doing enough to fight climate change the suit alleged.

That Switzerland failed to meet its Target in reducing carbon emissions specifically and must act to address that shortcoming what type of precedent does that set and does it mean that when something like that happens in a courtroom something really comes out after that legislation or something is going to take place that actually means.

That that can be tackled yes that decision from the European Court of Human Rights is binding on all the countries in Europe because they have all signed on to the European convention on human rights right now the interamerican court of Human Rights is hearing argument in a similar case for Latin America there's another similar.

Case that's pending before the international court of justice so we may see these International tribunals say that National governments are doing too little to reduce climate change these tribunals don't have the authority to order governments to do anything but increasingly we are seeing domestic courts picking up on these doctrines and.

Ordering their governments to do more so this really can have an impact looking ahead any case you're really keeping an eye on uh all of the actions that the Biden Administration has taken to adopt new regulations like their securities disclosure rules their rules on motor vehicle emissions rules that we're expecting this week on power plants all.

Of those are being challenged by the red States and by some Industries in court we'll see what happens with that at the same time there are 25 lawsuits pending brought by states and cities against the oil companies those are moving forward but there's the the oil companies are trying to get the Supreme Court to shut it down so we're waiting to see what.

Happens there all right important stuff here Michael Gerard thanks for joining us this morning we appreciate your time happy earthday when we come back we're going to take you aboard a very special vessel that's making the case for clean zero emission travel across our planet's oceans yeah and guess what our own.

Andrew lman is out there in the field this morning she is downtown at North Cove Marina with a look at what could be the future of the maritime industry there she is she joins us live next we are back with our ongoing coverage of Earth Day this morning we are taking a look at the Earth Observer.

Vessel that has been sailing around the world for the past seven years the so-called Space Age catamaran is attempting to show how navigation using renewable energy is possible and lucky for us the vessel is currently docked here in New York city so we sent our own meteorologist Andie lman down there Andie good morning great to see you out.

Of the studio down on a ship tell us more about this project how this came about and the goals here yeah good morning Joe and Savannah happy Earth Day to you I definitely didn't draw the short STW today we know that of course we are celebrating Earth day today but we know how important with the worsening climate change crisis how.

The transition to renewable energies and that is why I'm here on not a spaceship I know that's what it looks like but on the energy Observer ship it's basically a living laboratory that's been traveling across the globe since 2017 focusing on working towards the transition of renewable energy especially in the maritime industry one.

Of the world's greatest polluters so what we see solar wind and hydrogen energy being produced and stored on this ship you're seeing solar panels right now on the front of the ship there is more than 2,000 square fet of them they are stored in uh batteries on the ship and they use it while they're traveling across the world you're also noticing.

These two things on the sides of the ship those are called ocean wings that's how they harness the wind energy and that of course goes into powering the ship too but we've also have no shortage of ocean water when we're out at Sea right so they use hydrogen energy they they split the hydrogen and the oxygen and they stor them in these massive.

Tanks on the side of the ship guys and all of this is what they use to power their research as they travel the globe that is so cool that is a lot of solar panels so what are some of the things the Earth Observer has actually found over these last seven years what are some of the biggest accomplishments yes so so much I I spoke.

To one of the lead scientists aboard take a listen to what she had to say herself for that we have learned a lot of different things I think like the main uh learning uh was about the the technology and the fact that such an energy mix well can work uh because we have tested on a boat on a at a small scale but it can also be.

Applied on land at much larger scale to uh provide uh energy and electricity to a city or even an internation yeah and so guys what you heard there is basically how important the real life implementation of This research is what is it all for if we can't use it in the future to make big changes to this industry that is exactly.

What they're trying to do here so Andrew what's next for the Earth Observer where is it headed next what's it looking for next yeah what a great question so again those real life applications are so important so we've got the Earth Observer one right here here but there's going to be an earth Observer too that's going to be a cargo ship that is run.

Fully on liquid hydrogen that is of course one of the main things that we know is the polluters in the maritime industry that will make big changes and of course they're going to continue their research here on Earth on energy Observer one as well guys lots of cool things happening and of course celebrating Earth Day in not such a bad.

Place for me I can't complain I know and a gorgeous New York City day it seems shaping up to be Angie lman thank you so much Angie gave herself nice weather CU that's how that works all right earlier this morning we told you about new technology looking beneath the ocean surface well now we're looking at the ocean from space just two months ago.

NASA launched the pace satellite that is short for Plankton aerosol cloud and ocean ecosystem one of the goals for this satellite is to study how climate change is impacting microscopic organisms that live on the ocean surface scientists say this data is key to understanding the overall health of the ocean's ecosystem let's bring it Dr.

Ivona senich for more on the research she is the pace oceanographer Dr good to have you with us so walk us through the role of Plankton in the ocean it may sound kind of ordinary but it's really important what's the role they play in keeping the air and the ocean clean first um happy Earth Day um and then phop are the best things ever.

That's what I study so they're teeny tiny microscopic plant-like organisms um and what they do they just like microscopic they float around they are doing similar things to plant and land and they produce the oxygen um they're the base of marine food web and they taking down the carbon dioxide so therefore controlling a climate they're.

Like amazing but they come in different colors um they have that spinach color green chlorophyll that we used to study it from space for a very long time but with pace and new technology that is carrying it allows us see all these different colors of the ocean different types of Aly that come in red colors orange colors and so on and different.

Types of Aly different types of phytoplank them plays different roles in the ocean health and in our climate yeah what does the color of the ocean tell you about the health of the Plankton and then and then the ocean generally and then also the atmosphere yeah so the color of the ocean that's where we measure from space.

You know if you ask anybody ocean is blue but ocean comes in many different colors for example reddish color of the ocean could indicate different types of phylon so this um you know we used to traditionally just look at the green as I said but then if we tease out these different colors we can maybe detect different types of harmful alga blooms.

Along the shores of Florida we can detect really strongly important Fisheries type of phop Plankton um in North Atlantic it's blooming there now it's a spring Bloom there as well but we can also use this ocean color actually color that we see from space to detect different things that are happening in the atmosphere different types of.

Aerosoles so dust particles smoke particles but also different types of clouds so all that stuff comes together about you know to understand better our climate our Earth's climate you know data shows Plankton are changing why are they changing and what do these changes mean for the future of our planet so um everything's changing we.

Are in a changing world and and if you change the temperature that's where they live their ecosystems start changing their little environments start changing and they're changing themselves if you change the base of marine food web same as on land you're going to be affecting everything that comes out after it um so think about you know just by teeny tiny.

Changes in the temperature the phylane is going to change that the little animals that eat are going to change and ultimately will come to us through the things that we care the most about sushi on our plate oysters on our plate or just beautiful like you know manatees or like dolphins swimming around it just like it's it's everything is.

Interconnected and that's what we try to look at it from space very cool Dr ion sent n an important topic thanks for taking time to join us this morning happy Earth Day to you happy Earth Day happy Earth Day and if you're looking to stay green even after Earth Day Has Come and gone and we got you covered after the break some small ways you can make a.

Difference even if you're simply scrolling on your phone stay with us this is Morning News Now welcome back this morning for Earth Day we brought you from the ocean floor to outer space everywhere in between but we are ending this hour with tips on how you can keep the Earth Day celebration going right at home even after today.

Yeah basically your own home small changes can make a huge difference in the fight against climate change so we've got some familyfriendly tips to help us all make sustainable changes that will last yeah to help us out we've got Allison sha she joins us now she's an editor and digital producer for National Geographic Kids Allison good.

Morning and happy Earth Day if you can help kids hopefully you can help us and our viewers understand how we can be helpful here so many of us are hoping to celebrate Earth Day outside what are some family-friendly ways to do that especially for families with the little ones yeah research shows that the more time people spend Outdoors the more that.

They care about the environment so the best thing you can do especially with kids is to just make time today to go outside and have fun so one of my favorite things to do is just get outside go to find a creek and look for Critters it's that time of year when frogs and salamanders are coming out so it's a great time to go on a little hunt.

You just want to make sure if you're looking for small animals that you have Clean Hands no sunscreen no bug spray on your hands because those chemicals can harm those animals if you want to take it a step further you can participate in a citizen science project where you look for Animals take pictures and then you can upload it to an app that scientists.

Will use that data so for example there's something called frog watch where you learn how to listen for frog calls and then record what you heard or you can upload your photos to I naturalist um pictures of basically any animal scientists are hoping to study that we saw something important there don't take anything from its natur.

As so if you're stuck indoors for the day what are some things you can still do here's one of your tips apparently showering with your plants yes so fresh clean water is precious so a great way to reduce your water consumption is when you're taking a shower bring your plants in the shower with you and then you're all bathing at.

The same time you're wasting less water along with the water idea when you're washing your laundry use cold water rather than hot that uses less energy to heat the water and then hang dry your clothes rather than using the dryer again that uses less energy it's also just better for the fabric there's less wear and tear on the fabric I love this.

Also no mo may yeah that idea is that this is the time when pollinating animals like bees and butterflies are waking up and they're hungry so they need flowers like dandelion blooms and clovers for food pollen and nectar so if you can just leave your lawn alone for a little while that benefits a lot of tiny insects.

Really interesting Alison we have like a minute left here but tell us about this stop thee like hashtag an effort on social media so the idea is that if you see photos of animals like doing something unnatural so maybe a person who's riding an elephant or someone who's holding a sloth or holding a lion cub those behaviors are really unnatural.

For the animals and those animals are suffering so when you you like that content it's encouraging more of that activity and it's encouraging more of those animals to be taken out of the environment so it's better to just not like that type of content and even consider reporting it to the app and my favorite tip besides showering with your.

Plant which I'll have to look into here I feel like I'd make a lot of dirt but I'll try it my best here is uh to get a cone not a bowl when you're going for ice yes that is a good one which is just the more delicious option anyway yeah you reduce the waste right of the cup and the spoon and then you just get an extra snack exactly right save a piece.

Of plastic and just enjoy your ice cream soon we'll see Joe from the shower with the plants you going to do it I I don't I have any plants I won and it's not going to the shower because it needs to be watered from beneath but anyway Al thank you thank you very much and happy earthday this hour morning news now don't go anywhere though the.

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