Morning News NOW Paunchy Broadcast – March 15

Right now on Morning News Now denied a major legal blow for Donald Trump a judge in Florida turns down the former president's request to drop his classified documents case and in New York the Manhattan DA office now offering to delay Trump's hush money case which is set to start in 10 days we have Team coverage also this morning.

Devastation and Desperation in Gaza after dozens of people waiting for Aid are killed on Capitol Hill Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking out against the violence and calling for new leadership in Israel prime minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take the precedence over the.

Best interests of Israel more on the fighting The Fallout and new efforts to offer aid plus it's a tale of two weather extremes communities across several States de devastated after a night of severe storms including possible tornadoes well in Colorado they're digging out with some spots getting several feet of snow it's not.

Over yet we're tracking the conditions and what you can expect for your weekend and could TGF soon be tgit Thursday could be the new Friday if Senator Bernie Sanders has his way we're going to tell you about his new bill to make the 4-day work week the standard across America on this Friday good morning to you I'm Joe frier Savannah is.

Off we're going to begin with the classified documents case against former president Trump which appears to be mo be moving forward in Florida a judge denied one of two motions his lawyers filed to throw out the case Trump was in court yesterday for the dayong hearing as his defense team sparred with prosecutors over the Espionage Act the.

Main statute that prosecutors are using against him Trump's team says it's unconstitutionally vague as it applies to presidents Trump says that he designated the materials he took to Mar Lago as personal records while he was still in office prosecutors called on Judge aen Cannon to reject Trump's claim arguing that the docu documents in.

Question are nowhere close to being personal records all this comes is the start of Trump's New York hush money trial Which is less than two weeks away faces a possible delay the trial is supposed to start at March 25th that's a week from Monday but Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg says he is not opposed to Trump's requests to push back.

That start date we have a lot to cover this morning NBC News senior National politics reporter Jonathan Allen joins us as well as NBC News legal analyst Danny savalos to break it all down John let's start with you walk us through what happened in court yesterday in Florida and the judge's decision to deny the motion from Trump Good morning Joe.

Uh the big headline of course as you note uh the denial of this motion uh based on uh the Espionage Act and what Trump's lawyers say is it being too vague in part um suggesting that uh the term National Defense information is too vague uh we know that Donald Trump took uh took documents that I think uh anybody would would understand have.

Defense value but uh basically what the judge did yesterday was denied uh that motion uh and said not uh that the motion could never uh be considered but rather that it was premature at this point and said that uh it could be considered uh as part of jury instructions later or for things things for jurors to weigh as they try to.

Determine whether or not Donald Trump is guilty of a crime so we'll uh we'll probably see that pop up again uh as far as the other motion uh involving the presidential records act and whether uh president Trump actually uh you know actually was uh in in a place where he was unlawfully retaining them uh we're still waiting to hear what judge Canon.

Says about that all right so Danny let's talk about the fact that judge says that Trump's lawyers concerns about the Espionage Act could be discussed during jury instruction briefings we don't have a date yet for this trial but is this an indication we could be getting closer to that step yes maybe but look I've been saying this for months look at the.

Examples even in the New York case so many of these trials we say okay in New York there's a trial date we know it's coming what else there's nothing left that could possibly delay this case and then something comes up or in Atlanta someone files a motion to disqualify the prosecutors that nobody saw coming things happen in high-profile complex.

Cases a trial date is a delicate thing it requires coordinating the schedules of dozens of people and hundreds of thousands maybe even millions of documents and evidence and Exhibits and Witnesses uh so things happen and trials get delayed sometimes it's ordinary run-of-the-mill stuff but on cases of this importance it's really to be.

Expected and just in the last couple months we've had a couple different reasons these trials are getting delayed that nobody saw coming back at the end of 2023 and John let's talk about a delay that maybe we didn't see coming for the case that we thought was going to start in 10 days Trump's New York hush money trial now the Manhattan da.

Says that he'd be okay with delaying the start of the trial for 30 days so what's happening here and could this also impact Trump's three other criminal cases yeah Jo um all of these things impact each other and certainly they impact the politics uh to Danny's Point um you know if if you've got a bunch of well-paid lawyers they have the ability.

To uh continue to raise all kinds of motions and delay trials what we've got going on in manhatt apparently uh you know the defense basically said that they weren't able to see uh Discovery from Witnesses until uh you know until right before uh this trial date was set to start and I think you know the prosecutor there Alvin Bragg has has.

Determined that uh the risk of being accused of um you know sort of trying to pull a fast one on uh the defense is not worth uh is not worth trying to stop a delay you know the possible Appeal on that those grounds later if he were to win a conviction so uh you know he's asked the judge for you know no more than 30 days we'll see if that's.

Actually what happens um but you would think that uh it wouldn't be likely wouldn't be a lot less than that now Danny let's dig into why this could be delayed the US attorney's office for the southern district of New York turned over 73,000 pages of Records in recent days prosecutors say those records appear to contain materials related to.

This case these are materials that the District Attorney's Office requested more than a year ago the US attorney didn't give them declined to provide why now why so close to the start of the trial well one reason the US attorney's office may have declined to provide is they didn't feel like it and that's the supremacy clause at work and this is.

Part of a common tension between local prosecutors and federal prosecutors which is uh they don't necessarily have to listen to each other and there isn't always as much inter office cooperation as you might expect the rules of discover require the Manhattan DA's office really to turn over what they have it doesn't really create an.

Obligation in them to go out and find other stuff that other agencies might have including a federal agency including the US attorney's office but both sides are a little bit to blame here and actually let me say all three sides including the US attorney's office for kind of dragging this along the Manhattan DA's office uh hopefully was.

Forthcoming about the existence of these documents and then the defense knew a lot of these documents stem from the Michael Cohen uh investigation from years ago go so that was no secret to anybody these were not documents that were in a vault somewhere and completely unknown uh the their existence maybe not this number of documents but the.

Existence of the investigation was known for some time so I think there's a little bit of blame to go around to all all right John and Danny thank you both for kicking us off this hour we appreciate it now to the war in Gaza where there is a new deadly escalation of violence the Hamas run Palestinian Health Ministry says dozens of people.

Were killed more than 150 were ined injured in two separate Israeli attacks on crowds waiting for Aid one of the attacks was on this Aid distribution center in central Gaza the IDF has denied responsibility for the attacks the violence comes amid the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza which the UN says is on the brink of famine a.

Private Aid ship that has been slowly making its way across the Mediterranean is set to arrive in Gaza today and just yesterday Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for new elections in Israel some of the strongest criticism yet by a us leader Schumer called prime minister Netanyahu an obstacle to peace NBC News senior Capitol Hill.

Correspondent Garrett H has more as Israel targets Hamas in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis grows the top Senate Democrat delivering a scathing rebuke of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying he needs to be replaced in new elections prime minister Netanyahu has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take the.

Precedence over the best interests of Israel Schumer the highest ranking Jewish elected official in American history laying blame for the war at the feet of Hamas but saying Netanyahu is an obstacle to peace he has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to Historic lows Israel cannot.

Survive if it becomes a pariah Republican leaders slamming the criticism of Netanyahu who is also known as bi the democratically elected leader of a close us Ally the Democratic party doesn't have an anti-b problem it has an anti-israel problem it's just plain wrong for an American leader to play such a divisive role in Israeli politics.

While our closest Ally in the region is in an existential battle for its very survival Netanyahu has not responded to Schumer's comments meanwhile President Biden has criticized Israel's military operations as over the toop and privately complained of Netanyahu quote giving him hell sources told NBC news last month all right.

Garett H thank you so much the situation in Haiti is growing more desperate by the day hundreds of Americans are among those struggling to get out as the violence there continues to grow NBC's Gabe Gutierrez reports from the neighboring Dominican Republic a catastrophe is unfolding in Haiti each day people running for their.

Lives the gang violence in Porter Prince now trapping Americans caught in the crossfire hundreds of stranded US citizens registering with the state department and we just want to go home missionary Jill Dolan and her family are stuck at a makeshift motel near the country's shuttered main airport she's desperate to get back to Florida in time.

For her daughter's wedding instead she's ducking for cover we did hear gunfire like right outside at this gate and it was very scary and we all went running and we turned off the lights and just like hid in our room until it went away amid concerns of a mass Exodus from Haiti the Dominican Republic is increasing patrols along its border and.

The US is considering temporarily housing Haitian migrants at Guantanamo Bay like it's done before in the Dominican border town of dahong Haitians were briefly allowed to cross into this closed off Market but if they went too far illegally we saw bus after bus deporting them this Widow must of six told us she was desperate for.

Food we don't have work we don't have a president we have nothing she says the UN just announcing that it's launching an airbridge essentially a humanitarian Corridor in the sky to bring over humanitarian aid from the Dominican Republic across the border in Hai we also met wanu jier who says he's from Miami but as he recently visited family.

In Haiti a gang overtook his bus leaving him with no passport and no way out they took all my stuff my document my bags my phones my money that I had in my pocket this is the edge of chaos a humanitarian crisis at yet another border our thanks to Gabe Gutierrez for that report in addition to the violence the United Nations estimates that almost.

A million people inside Haiti are on the brink of famine Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to win a new six-year term as Russians begin voting in a presidential election overshadowed by the war in Ukraine polls have now opened in a three-day election that's all but certain to extend Putin's Reign it's unlikely that Kremlin friendly.

Rivals will put a dent in the results NBC News Chief International correspondent Kier Simmons joins us now from Moscow so Kier walk us through how this election is unfolding and how Russians feel about another likely Putin ter well Joe are inside a middle school in central Moscow that has been turned into a polling station we've been here.

Since 8:00 a.m. it's now 2: in the afternoon take a look at the motif for this election that V in the Russian colors you'll recognize it as a symbol of the war in Ukraine because in many ways this is not so much an election as a referendum on President Putin and on his illegal invasion of Ukraine behind me there you can see voters registering.

Then you'll recognize this from our own election across here uh the traditional polling Booth seethrough uh for transparency there are monitors from inside Russia here no monitors from the West allowed a monitor from China and here are electronic voting booze this is the first time it's been a three-day vote.

The first time that there's been online voting like this the Kremlin spokesman Dimitri pesov today calling it convenient but we've spoken to uh monitors here Russian monitors who do question this they say they don't know exactly what's going on with that electronic voting and all of this is important to the Kremlin not just.

Necessarily because of the result listen we know President Putin is going to win this election uh on it will be announced on Sunday night it will be about the the turnout so back in 2018 it was 67.5% according to the Electoral commission here in Russia you can bet that the Kremlin will be determined to ensure that it matches that or is more.

Than that we we actually saw a group of 15 mun workers arriving here clearly organized um and and voting together that being said President Putin is very popular here uh Joe independent polling such as there is shows that across this country of 11 time zones we spoke to one woman in her 90s who said she voted for President Putin she said she saw the.

Funeral of Stalin and now she says President Putin is the only person she trusts so Kier I mean clearly the Warren you Ukraine is a major issue here in the States but in Putin's recent state of the nation address he also leaned heavily on some of the domestic challenges within the country tell us a little more about that what are the.

Issues on the minds of Russian voters yeah I mean just to mention the war in Ukraine opposition to the war has just not been allowed there are there are three other candidates all of them support what Russia so-called special military uh operation uh elect nal's wife julan naly uh who of course was leading voice in opposition to President.

Putin until he died in prison just a few weeks ago she says that the West should not recognize this election but you're right it's also about domestic issues and some of the voters that we've spoken to here have talked about the fact that they feel comfortable that they feel economically well uh in fact uh a report just this week from the office of the.

Director of National Intelligence in the US said that the Russian economy is likely to grow a talked about the fact that Europe is still that Russia is still the second largest provider of liquid natural gas to Europe so certainly talking to Russians and it does depend on the age older Russians tend to be more supportive of President.

Putin uh talking to Russians one of the things that they will highlight is the economy again this is a referendum really on President Putin what he's going to want to do after this is to show that Russia is behind him and frankly he is clearly determined to do that by whatever means all right Kier Simmons with a great look at what's.

Happening right now inside Russia Kier we appreciate your reporting thank you so much the father of a school shooter in Michigan will be sentenced next month after a judge found him guilty yesterday of involuntary manslaughter the jury deliberated for about 10 hours before convicting James Crumbley on all four counts stemming from his son's deadly.

School Rampage marks the first time in the US that parents of a mass school shooter are being held criminally responsible crumley's wife Jennifer was convicted on the same charge last month both James and Jennifer Crumbley will be sentenced on April 9th and face up to 15 years in prison their son Ethan is serving a life sentence the cleanup is.

Underway in several States this morning after devastating storms there were reports of eight tornadoes in the midwest on Thursday two people were killed at a mobile home park in Ohio officials in Indiana are reporting a number of injuries and flattened buildings in the town of Winchester out west parts of Colorado saw nearly 4 feet.

Of snow many schools and businesses forced to close across the state under understandably with more than 100,000 customers losing power the system rolled across Denver which got close to a foot of snow at least 800 flights in and out of the city were cancelled during that storm let's get more on all this now from meteorologist Angie lman busy day.

Angie huh busy day indeed Joe good morning to you finishing our work week with a whole lot of weather to talk about let's start with what we dealt with last night in into the overnight hours and it was a line of thunderstorms that sparked some tornadoes some of those of course damaged Ing and we'll likely see that survey come out from the.

National Weather Service here as the day goes on but in the meantime these are two of the hardest hit areas we did see some of those tornado warnings coming down around 7:39 for folks in Winchester Indiana Lakeville Ohio around 7:27 each of these spots had about 20 to 25 minutes until the tornadoes work through of course we've seen the damages already.

And again we'll start to see the surveys coming out in the ratings of those tornadoes here as the day goes on in the meantime those areas are much quieter but notice this line of thunderstorms that stretches across parts of the southeast we've got Knoxville down into portions of Texas picking up some additional rain we've got uh plenty of.

Lightning and those thunderstorms are working through and we do actually have a thunderstorm watch that's in effect until late morning for central time we're going to watch that centered right around parts of Tuscaloosa you can see Mississippi to Alabama uh continuing to see those conditions we've had a couple of tornado warnings we've had a couple.

Of severe thunderstorm warnings and our severe threat is not uh over just yet we're going to see that potential last into this evening we've got a couple of spots although not quite as expansive as yesterday but a few spots that could pick up some large hail that's going to be our main threat today we've got tennis ball siiz hail possible across.

Portions of southern Texas Austin and San Antonio included in that and again it goes through tonight this storm system is going to be the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to uh impactful weather here over the next couple of days we've got the potential for some flooding across parts of Northeast Texas into Mississippi with.

Some impressive rainfall rates I showed you the severe weather from it and even into tomorrow more rain on the way as that system continues to sink to the South we'll have to deal with another round of those showers and thunderstorms across parts of the South even into our Sunday those thunderstorms once again with that front now becoming stationary.

It's going to leave us with some heavy rain to contend with across portions of the East Central Gulf when we go through now through Sunday maybe an inch to two inches again the flooding will be a potential uh Joe as we look ahead to s Saturday we know it's a big weekend across the the country with St Patty's Day we've got the rain across the South.

But Elsewhere for Saturday looks pretty good some good parade weather in other parts of the country all right Angie thank you so much much more to come here on morning news now later this hour We're flipping the script all the way to space the new documentary shining a spotlight on the black astronauts and Engineers whose stories have gone Untold.

For decades now first though after the break joining forces a rare look at the military drills between the US and Japan his tensions rise with China we'll be right back we're back with rare access inside joint military drills between the US and Japan as tensions rise between the US.

And China NBC News International correspondent Janice Macky fryer gives us a look at this Regional show of force here on okanawa and phibious carriers are landing on a beach to simulate a raid to take back an island these are American Vehicles rolling off a Japanese hovercraft Japan and the US expanding joint military drills to home.

Close coordination between forces these drills happen fact they're already heading back out to sea and for the first time the exercise called Iron Fist said to name China as the hypothetical enemy though the threat is real says the US ambassador to Japan Ram Emanuel what is it that China is doing that is creating this potential for conflict.

Well they're in conflict with everybody there is no country in the region they're not in some kind of small very small K kinetic problem with an untethered unanchored China is a destabilizing China with Japan facing its gravest security threat in decades spending billions on American stealth fighter jets and cruise missiles to.

Defend against China but also Russia and North Korea a key part of Japan's strategy involves fortifying an island chain with missile systems and a new military base that US aircraft would use too creating a wall centered around Taiwan limiting China's access to the Western Pacific China's claims over most of the disputed South China Sea are.

Causing friction with Close Encounters involving Chinese ships and aircraft the US transforming its presence too we're the permanent Pacific Power you can bet long on America for years these drills were held in the US and last year moved here as deterrence and a message that Japan is readying to fight Janice mckyer NBC News.

Okanawa more International headlines now tragedy in the Mediterranean Sea where dozens of migrants fleeing Libya are now feared dead NBC's claudo labanga joins us from Rome with that and more world news claudo good morning good morning Jo that's right at least 60 migrants are to have died after the vessel broke down in the.

Mediterranean at least according to survivors now rescue group SOS mediterranea rescued 25 people in very weak conditions survivors said the engine of the vessels broke down after 3 days of leaving the Libyan coast and since then the migrants were left the drift without food or water they also shared that at least the that the.

Victims included women and at least one child now we move to Africa where several countries experienc a major internet outage due to a subse cable failure the disruption was reported from yesterday morning since then citizens since then citizens have been unable to access basic internet now International Bank transfers as well as local.

Businesses were also affected the cause of the failure was not immediately clear and we end up with an interesting new study listen to this researchers in Asia say that python meat could be a more sustainable alternative to beef pork and chicken scientists studied python farming in Southeast Asia for 12 months and they found that the reptiles can.

Reproduce rapidly even when food is not abundantly available hence less labor from the farmers compared to other animals the researchers say pythons tastes tastes similar to chicken while also being high in protein and low in saturated fat now as you can see in Ron is lunchtime as you can see behind me I don't think python is on the menu the.

Only thing they're tasting like chicken Joy is chicken I'm going to stick with chicken too claudo I agree with you all right thank you so much yeah me too coming up outbreak concern several cases of the measles linked to a Migrant Center in Chicago when we come back what we're learning from officials and what you can do to keep your family healthy.

This is morning news now we're back with new details in the search for a University of Missouri student who went missing in Nashville new surveillance video shows the moments Riley strain left a bar a week ago before disappearing his family is speaking out to us as authorities investigate whether he was over served.

Alcohol before he vanished NBC News correspondent Kathy park has the latest the search for 22-year-old Riley strain intensifying in Nashville Crews using Sonar equipment in the Cumberland River it's just we got to find him the University of Missouri student disappeared last Friday night after his family says he left by himself from a.

Downtown Bar owned by country music star Luke Bryan Do you know why he was asked to leave the bar he was trying to pay his tab but he didn't have a tab and the bartender was like you've been over served you got to go surveillance video revealing some of the last moments Riley was seen one video appears to show him.

Stumbling even falling it hurt to see no one to help investigators say right now no foul play is suspected this is strictly person investigation at this point his parents say Riley stands out he's 6'7 adding he was visiting Nashville with his fraternity Brothers I think my last the last text was around 7:45 and I just said I love you and he.

Said I love you too the family says Riley told his friends he would be back to their hotel but when his friends arrived Riley wasn't there and they couldn't reach him on his cell phone police say this 911 call was made the day after Riley was last scene who is it that you're wanting to report is missing it's we're here on a fraternity.

Formal trip it's it's one of my good buddies Riley's family now on a mission to bring him back home the operator and owner of Luke Bryan's Bar says they will work closely with police meanwhile Tennessee authorities have launched an investigation to whether Riley was over served alcohol they did not say which establishments were under review back to.

You Kathy Park thank you so much the CDC is investigating an outbreak of measles inside a migrant shelter in Chicago at least seven of the city's eight cases have been linked to the shelter now officials are asking School Aids children staying in the shelter to stay quarantined NBC News correspondent Jesse kersch has more Chicago officials are.

Trying to keep up with an outbreak of measles hitting multiple communities including two Public Schools overall the city reporting 10 cases in just one week eight of those infections found here at a single City migrant shelter at this point would you say the situation is under control well uh measles is quite contagious and it spreads among those.

Who were not vaccinated so we are trying to get it under control by vaccinating as many people as possible Chicago's Commissioner of Public Health says the city has vaccinated more than 900 shelter residents but that was after the outbreak began and immunization takes time it takes 21 days for the vaccines to become effective.

This woman is staying at the shelter with her two young children she agreed to speak with us if we concealed her identity the conditions are awful she told us there's more than 300 people in one area who are all crammed together the city says it's trying to create more space moving families with vulnerable.

Pregnant women and children less than a year old to hotel rooms Nationwide the CDC reports at least 45 measles cases combined across 17 States so far this year but Chicago's outbreak underscores that new migrant arrivals can mean new public health challenges many here come from Venezuela which has a low measles vaccination rate Chicago's mayor says.

Don't blame the migrants they didn't bring illness in fact migrants are more vulnerable to the existing infectious diseases that we already have here our thanks to Jesse kersch for that report let's bring in NBC News medical contributor Dr Cavita Patel for more on this Dr Patel good to have you with us so remind us just how contagious is the.

Measles virus and how worried should we be about what's happening right now in Chicago yeah Joe it's incredibly contagious and just to give a little bit of a comparison if one person has the flu in your household they're likely going to infect anywhere from two to four people if someone has the measles they can infect anywhere from 12 to 18.

People that's just how easy it is Airborne you kind of spread it through those respiratory droplets and then being concerned I think we should all be concerned not just about what's happening to Chicago but what Jesse mentioned about 17 states that we know of today that number could be growing and that's because we've just got our.

Lowest numbers of vaccination rates in the country right now so measles vaccines they're down slightly the share of kindergarteners with two doses of the vaccine 93% down from 94% a year earlier remind us why the vaccine so important what are the risks if you aren't vaccinated yeah the vaccine this is as close CL as one can get to something.

That's 100% effective I mean it's an incredibly remarkably effective vaccine Joe we literally eliminated measles cases several decades ago I mean zero so it is possible with vaccination to actually get rid of this entirely and I want to just underscore something someone might see in their community that there's a case of the measles and.

If you're not vaccinated even getting that one shot in that 72-hour period after being exposed potentially can still protect you even though the shot takes several weeks to become totally effective so critical to get vaccinated and it's never too late no matter what age over the age of 18 one shot under the age of 18 you need two shots so talk.

To your doctor if you are worried that you were exposed and perhaps you are not vaccinated what are some of the symptoms people should be watching out for yeah and this is tough joke because it can take seven to 14 days for symptoms to start to develop from when you were exposed you could feel fine not even think that anything's happening and you.

Could start with just some mild cough or cold or sore throat symptoms very non-specific you could think it's a common cold and then some of the telltale signs which even as doctors we don't see a lot of because we haven't seen a lot of measles when I was in medical school you can see some spots that develop inside the mouth sometimes.

Out on the skin surface that can then progress sometimes to more serious disease like pneumonia brain disease called enalis and even unfortunately in some cases death that's why we take it so seriously as soon as we immediately identify it isolate it and and try to identify exposed people vaccinate those who are unexposed exposed and.

Unvaccinated all right important information as always Dr cavid Patel thank you so much coming up Fridays could soon be the new Saturdays at least under a new bill from Senator Bernie Sanders we're going to break down his proposal to make the 4-day work week the American Standard stay with us you're watching Morning News.

Now welcome back it's Friday so you're probably looking forward to the weekend but what if it already were the weekend Senator Bernie Sanders is now leading the latest push for a standard 4-day work week without losing any pay the Vermont Senator introduced a Bill on Capitol Hill yesterday called the.

32-hour work week act it would reduce the work week from you guessed it 40 hours to 32 hours over the span of four years it would protect workers pay and benefits there are companies all over our country and all over the world that have adopted the 40-hour work week you know what they found they found that productivity.

Actually went up because workers were able to focus on their work they were not exhausted they were happy to go to work for more on this we are joined by Chief scientist of workplace culture at culture Partners Dr Jessica creal good to have you with us so let's walk through Pros and cons of a four-day work week because as you pointed out to us.

There are some cons right yes absolutely so from an employee perspective it's everything that you could dream of you're less stressed out you're less burned out you're happier in your job and for those companies that were in the pilot they also got great results their revenue increased their turnover went down it looks like a dream however and.

This is really important those are all companies that opted into this because they already had leadership aligned around a culture that would support that kind of initiative I don't know that that's going to be the same experience if this is a mandate that reluctant companies have to enact within their own organizations I think that the con if.

It's a mandate is that stress might actually go up results could go down because the leadership team would not be aligned around the cultural belief that this is a good thing for the company so it could be bad news if they're not coming to it organically like those in the pilot yeah especially if you have a uge workload and fewer hours to get the.

Work done so we do have evidence that we can look at as Senator Sanders mentioned we've already seen some companies and countries adopt the 4day work week what are some of the results we've seen from this model from a revenue perspective we saw 34.5% increase in revenue for those that opted into the pilot we also saw 92% of.

The companies that were in the pilot deciding to continue with the 4-day work week after the pilot was over so clearly it was working for them and it does work when it has come to organically there are a lot of organizations in America as he said that have already adopted a 4-day work week you see it more for office workers than you do for.

Manufacturing there are some exceptions Great Dane Trailers has a 4-day work week they are getting results it's working but great day trailers cares deeply about their Workforce and the happiness of their Workforce that's a competitive Advantage for them right now because there are thousands of other manufacturing companies that would not.

Do that unless they were forced to so it's all about the leadership mindset and the shared cultural belief that we want to have about the nature of our relationship with work so one of the reasons we're even talking about this is stress I mean just how stressed out is the American worker right now I think we're at an all-time high of.

Stress American workers are at their wits end and you're seeing that in the levels of depression the levels of anxiety even the levels of suicide Financial stressors are at the top of the list and I just recently saw research on the bre down of the most stressed out jobs this spans all walks of life steel workers at the top of the.

List for the most stressful job but right after that is surgeons and lawyers so this isn't about whether you're a front-line worker or an office worker everyone is feeling the pain and I applaud this initiative to have us ask that sort of existential question about are we putting too much into the work aspect of our lives and do we need more.

Balance I think that's an important question and I hope that the leaders across America am will think thoughtfully about it some are worried this change could cause even more stress I want to play some sound from yesterday's hearing here and if you want to see those same employees really stressed out just see.

What happens where their employers lay them off to hire part-time workers instead or have to close their doors because they cannot make enough Revenue Dr Kel we're tight on time here but real quick your thoughts on that argument absolutely the stress can also come in the form of freak out managers that are forcing more productivity into.

Those 32 hours even if they're not laid off which is why we have to be careful about implementing this unless it makes sense for your business all right interesting conversation Dr Jessica creal thanks for bringing us some information to help us have an educated discussion about all this appreciate it now to some Financial headlines United.

Airlines is reportedly looking to buy more Airbus Jets cnbc's Pippa Stevens joins us with that and other money news Pippa good morning Good morning Joe while United Airlines is close to secur uring at least three dozen Airbus Jets as it looks to replace orders of Boeing 737 Max 10 planes that are years behind schedule Bloomberg reports United is in.

The final negotiations for the aircraft that's due to be delivered between 2025 and 2027 United was set to be the first major customer for the max 10 but there have been multiple delays in certifying the planes for commercial use Regulators are more closely scrutinizing new Boeing Jets entering the market Market meantime Honda and Nissan announcing today.

They'll work together to develop electric vehicles as they pull resources in an area where Japanese automakers have fallen behind that's because Nissan Honda Toyota and others have been so successful with gas engine and hybrid cars but this partnership between two Fierce Rivals highlights the pressure they face with the rising cost of.

Transitioning two electric vehicles and Amazon is planning its first ever spring sale in North America as it faces growing competition from Chinese online retailers Chen and TAMU the sale scheduled for March 2th to 25th will be open to all Amazon customers not just Prime members it includes deals on Spring fashion outdoor furniture Lawn.

And Garden Products Amazon devices and more Amazon typically holds Prime Day events in July and October and last year it also held a pet Day in May with deals on treats toys and supplies so Joe mark your calendar for that sale yeah no kidding the more sales the marrier all right Pippa Stevens thanks so much this morning we want to introduce you to Chad.

Rivera a rare genetic condition left him permanently blind but that is not stopping him from doing what he loves while inspiring others to do the same NBC News Now anchor Gotti Schwarz has his story in Southern California there's an old school skateboarder that is so.

Respected the bowls clear as soon as he rolls up and yes this is a blind Mobility stick and that is a board and if you're thinking wait a minute hold on I don't know about this well don't worry because this is just the beginning of the legend of Chad Rivera made it when it comes to the.

Skate park you don't see the skate park you you feel the skate park yeah but I essentially like the ball cuz I kind of like to get my groove and it has that I get that Rush of at first I first do my first couple of drop-ins cuz I don't really see it every drop in is always a little weird at first but then I make it and then I find.

My groove Chad is 56 years old and legally blind he lost his sight while waiting at a stoplight 34 years ago because of a rare genetic disease called Libra's hereditary optic neuropathy it causes all my optic nerves to die off which is no actual blood flow on the optic nerve anymore while he's never been able to drive a car since he can.

Still kind of make out shadow in shapes sort of like this I almost forget about having a vision issue because I can do something at a upper level that not just not even the average Joe can do Chad is magical I tell him I go like you can do everything as good or better than I do except drive a car that's it I mean and I've spent so much time with him that I.

Really I'm not even aware that his site is limited I always say that Chad river is there's no excuses oh if you hang out with him enough his believe you can do anything attitude gets contagious for your fight stance make sure your your back foot's planted okay look at this look at how steep that is we're not going to do that here this.

Is yours we will let you do this I feel like I feel like hanging out with you for more than a day would end me in the hospital all right while I got too scared to drop into that bowl I figured I'd try dropping in on another of Chad's favorite p times and this one's a lot closer to the ground turns out jiujitsu is how Chad.

Starts his days as an instructor at Surf fight in delmare the grip makes a natural wrinkle right there for you to grab I just kind of got it for him a black belt teaching is all about what you can feel and what you can adapt to two things in which Chad is a true Master Jiu-Jitsu like it just does seem like the great equalizer before I was.

Put in for a pece of mind and now I get to help people get a the mind it was just kind of cool I didn't ever I didn't think I'd be instructing and when it comes to what is students see an unbeatable joy for life and the kind of man they want to be he just lives a healthy lifestyle and it kind of puts in perspective for me like I want to grow.

Up be like chat so whether he Taps you out or you get a chance to spot him on his board his Vibe is libery all right thanks to Gotti Schwarz for that great great story coming up it is a space race you probably haven't heard about we come back we are flipping the script with a look at a documentary on the trailblazing astronauts who broke.

Barriers both in space and for civil rights you're watching Morning News Now welcome back Award Show season is not over yet this year's glad awards were handed out last night at least some of them were handed out and The Winner Circle was so fetch the Apple TV plus Smash Hit Ted na Ted alasso nabbed outstanding comedy series and Mean Girls.

The musicals Renee rap took home outstanding musical artist the night also included special performances from Khloe Bailey and Kate Hudson the awards are a celebration of popular films TV media and music that represent the lgbtq plus Community by the way some of our team here at morning news now has also been nominated our series flipping the.

Script is up for outstanding live TV journalism and the winner of that category and several others will be announced at glads New York ceremony on May 11th speaking of flipping the script time for our latest edition of the series featuring people on screen on stage and behind the scenes who are shining a spotlight on diversity and.

Today we're looking at a new documentary that's focused on a space race that many Americans just don't know about this movie tells the stories of black astronauts the challenges they faced and the missions they've accomplished growing up I love the space.

Program but nobody doing that stuff look like me they're the astronauts and scientists who broke barriers in space and the Civil Rights Movement now their stories are told in the National Geographic documentary the Space Race directed by Lisa Cortez and Diego herado de Mendoza knowing your history is extremely.

Important and for us just having the opportunity to pair something that everyone thinks they know and then you watch a film like ours and I think you're going to discover that you didn't know all of the story a few years ago there was the movie hidden figures which I think taught a lot of people about black female mathematicians who worked.

For Nas and many people didn't know that story I guess that's really just the tip of the iceberg though right there are a lot of hidden figures there is more to the to the picture beyond the frame and sometimes the frame cuts out important contributors to progress to pull this thread to pull An Invisible Thread is I think what is really exciting for us in.

Telling these stories like the story of Ed Dwight who in the 1960s was training to become the first black astronaut but never made it to space a dream derailed by discrimination it wasn't until 1983 that guy blueford became became the first African-American to reach space Paving the way for nearly 20 more including Leland Melvin who's an.

Executive producer on the documentary this has been an Awakening for me understanding these Pioneers that were never talked about or never heard of Melvin went on two missions in 2008 and 2009 helping to build the International Space Station you have spent more than 500 hours in space right mhm how do you describe that to.

People Joe I think uh the the biggest thing about traveling in space is that you're trained to do all of these tech technical things right but when you get the moment to look out the window or when you're breaking bread with people used to fight against you have this other overview effect that that you can't you can almost not even describe.

It you feel connected to the planet you feel connected to the cosmos but as the documentary shows that also comes with challenges find the defendant guilty in 2021 when the police officer who killed George Floyd was on trial astronaut Victor Glover was in space he says it was an overwhelming and emotional time for him that also impacted Melvin when I.

Think back on this really tough time in our country I think about what I was feeling down here on Earth and I felt numb I can only imagine what my brother Victor Glover was feeling up there what do you hope people who see this documentary take away from it the first thing I hope is that they learn their history and that's all people I've been.

I've been talking to everyone that's seen it from white black Asian whatever color and culture you want to see have seen the movie and they said the first thing they say is I never knew and then the second thing they said is wow what perseverance what resilience what ability to rise above your circumstances when you hear those responses how does.

That make you feel it's a big smile on my face because I had a part of helping bring these stories to light and you can hear those stories for yourself the space race is streaming now on Disney plus and Hulu finally this hour this next story is Tearing Up My Heart that's because in sing fans were.

Treated to the surprise of a lifetime during the Justin Timberlake concert in LA on Wednesday here's Ellison Barber Justin Timberlake show at the wilter in Los Angeles California making in sync fans wildest dreams come true the crowd erupting in screams when the curtains behind JT opened to reveal.

JC Shaz Chris kpatrick Joey faton and Lance Bass we in the S marking the group's first live performance together since 2013 lighting up the stage with fan favorites like bye-bye bye and it's going to be me even debuting their brand new song Paradise set to be released on.

Timberlake's upcoming studio album Super Fan ly Pinto was there for the big moment we're singing our hearts out and then he's like all right everyone in sync The Crowd Goes Crazy we're like What like this boy band ended 20 years ago the iconic boy band stepping onto the scene in.

1995 becoming a global sensation with hits like I Want You Back Tearing Up My Heart Tearing Up My Heart I'm with you and pop de dominating the pop music world for years until going on Hiatus and eventually disbanding in 2002 after Timberlake began to pursue his solo.

Career he was ready for a reunion the pop Legends came out of their 20 year long break last year with their song for the trolls movie better place the prize performance reigniting their loyal fan base who apparently never said bye- bye-bye to their favorite boy band.

Really just brought me back to being a kid with my big sister in her car with her friends um it was kind of nostalgic so best night ever we're saying bye bye bye to Ellis and barber but we're saying hi hi hi to Justin Timberlake six solo album everything I thought it was which is out now that's going to do it for this hour.

Morning news now stay with us the news continues right now good morning and happy Friday I'm Joe fryer Savannah is On Assignment right now on morning news now we're watching some wild weather that is ripping across the country in the south in Midwest dangerous hail and multiple.

Reported tornadoes thought to be responsible for at least two deaths in Ohio further west mountains of snow burying Colorado we've got your full Friday morning forecast coming up in Russia this morning the polls are open in a presidential election that is widely expected to hand Vladimir Putin another six years in power so what could.

That look like in Russia Ukraine and Beyond we're on the ground in just a moment plus as the summer travel season heats up airlines are cracking down on carry-ons frustrated Travelers are sounding off on that apparent crunch foged down by pesky fees and restrictions what you need to know before you take to the skies and earning.

Their wings later in the hour the new class of NASA astronauts setting their sights on where else the moon we're going to start this morning with a look at the strong even deadly weather across the country a series of powerful and destructive tornadoes touched down overnight in several midwest states well to the West five states are digging out.

From a huge late winter storm that dropped nearly 4 feet of snow in parts of Colorado NBC News correspondent Jesse kers is in Winchester Indiana with more some crews in the storm Zone using snow plows to move down trees and here in Winchester Indiana take a look at some of the destruction you can see some sheared off tree limbs and what appears.

To be toughs of insulation in the tree over there and we've seen that in multiple trees just speaks to the of debris that's been blowing around here and if our camera moves down you'll be able to see a vehicle over there flipped over one Hospital in this community of under 5,000 people says 39 people have come there for treatment as this.

Community wakes up to scenes of Devastation we have houses leveled to the ground here a powerful storm system tearing through at least nine states spawning devastating tornadoes Thursday night in Indiana and Ohio where at least two people died after a tornado hit a mobile home community in Lake View another twister ripping through another.

Mobile home community in Winchester Indiana tossing mobile homes like toys we have two subjects in tra with injury they're advising the house collapsed on them stay over there stay over there oh my dear God a massive half mile wide tornado also tearing through Ohio at the time the National Weather Service in Cleveland warning residents this is a.

Very serious and dangerous tornado on the ground earlier residents in Southern Indiana picking up the pieces from a tornado that crossed the Ohio River there's a whole house that's blown over over there there's just stuff everywhere man it's crazy meanwhile a major winter wall up out west just days before the official start of Spring Colorado.

Montana Wyoming and New Mexico all digging out this morning from a series of massive snow storms it's just really heavy experts say this is no ordinary snow it's dense and weighed down with water but the kind of snow that could take down power lines and trees every shovel full is probably 20 30 lbs parts of Colorado seen up to 5 ft of snow I'm.

Not going any place today shutting down major highways leaving cars buried and Stranded flights backed up at Denver International Airport more than 800 canceled and hundreds more delayed as some planes were deced ahead of takeoff we're going to stay here at the airport until Saturday night because we don't have anywhere where to go back here in.

Indiana officials say after Daybreak they will be doing a fuller assessment of the damage and overnight there were no reports of any missing people in this community back to you that at least is some good news Jesse kersch thank you so much a busy 24 hour so let's get a check on your Morning News Now weather with Angie lman Angie good morning Good.

Morning Joe happy Friday to you you know last night into the overnight hours it was quite busy with all of that severe weather we're not done with the potential of severe storms just yet we're going to see that same system continue to to wreak havoc across parts of the South here through the day today here's what's going on right now though.

Notice we've got this strong line of thunderstorms that's marching its way south and east we do have a thunderstorm watch in effect for parts of Mississippi and Alabama here through 10: a.m. Central that is set to expire at that time but notice we've got thunderstorm warnings we've got tornado warnings happening across that region and that's.

Going to continue even into the afternoon and evening hours as far as the potential is concerned notice the two spots that we're looking Jackson to Montgomery San Antonio kind of the bullseye of that that uh area that we're going to watch for the potential to see some uh large hail including tennis ball siiz hail for Austin San Antonio Uvaldi.

Del Rio all included in that here even as we get into the evening hours tonight here's the storm system as we work through the day today a little bit more of that uh the strong storms possible but we'll also see the potential for some heavy rainfall with impressive rainfall rates through the day today by tomorrow we still are seeing this system.

Hang out and that means another round of some showers and thunderstorms we'll have to contend with across the same region interrupting our weekend plans across the Gulf Coast too this is Sunday rather as this front becomes stationary it'll leave us unsettled across the Gulf Coast now the rainfall amounts anywhere from an inch to two inches but we could.

See again some some heavy rain in a short period of time with those rainfall rates upwards of 2 in per hour but by the time this is all said and done through Sunday an inch to 2 Ines is the most likely in some of those those higher amounts so heads up for folks there meanwhile we talked a lot about the West yesterday we've still got 5.

Million people under these alerts across that region notice Denver no longer included in that but we still could pick up a little more snow elsewhere places like Durango anywhere from six to 12 Ines in some of those higher spots so that's what's going on as far as the next couple of days but notice as we get into your weekend with all of those.

Parades going on of course St Patrick's Day we've got a littleit of unsettled weather we're expecting in Boston on Sunday some showers could interrupt the folks uh plans there by the time we get to sha Chicago on Saturday and New York on Saturday temperatures into the 50s but we'll see mostly sunny conditions just a heads up if you're going to the.

Parade in Chicago we will see some Gusty winds meanwhile across parts of the Gulf Coast Savannah Atlanta New Orleans we'll see a thunderstorm chance for New Orleans but elsewhere partly sunny with just some cloud cover for parades in those locations and of course we can't forget about Kansas City sunny and Breezy there the forecast looks great.

It's really just Texas Honestly by Saturday and Sunday that we're going to have to be concerned about if you're headed to the parade though in San Francisco sunny and mild and Joe how about Clover Leaf Texas on St Patty's Day yep a popular place some rain Dublin California into the 70s we've got patricksburg Indiana into the 40s we've.

Got it all we love the holiday weather maps all right Angie thank you so much appreciate it no problem Russians are now voting in a three-day election that is expected to extend President Putin's 24-year Reign people in the Russian occupied Ukrainian territories are also voting in this election which comes after the death of prominent Russian.

Opposition leader Alexa nalni NBC's Chief International correspondent Kier Simmons has more from Moscow good morning well we're inside a middle school in Moscow that's been turned into a polling station you can see this is where people are registering to vote then across here there is the transparent Ballot Box and further over.

Electronic voting that is new in a presidential election and has left many people questioning once again the legitimacy of this vote in many ways this is not an election President Putin will inevitably win it is more a referendum on President Putin and on his illegal invasion of Ukraine this morning President Putin.

Asking Russia for six more years he's already been its leader for 24 changing the Constitution so he could run again NBC News was at this Central Moscow polling station when it opened 90-year-old Nina kiselova lived through Stalin today she voted for Putin I really trust him she told us I trust only.

Him we live well says fana kulikova that's why I voted for Putin International election monitors will come from 106 countries Russia says including China but independent Western Observers are not welcome for the first time in a Russian presidential election there's electronic voting did you vote electronically no no do you trust that.

Yes of course she says President Putin undoubtedly still popular here but young Russians are less enthusiastic 22-year-old Julia who didn't want to give us her last name told us she won't vote laughing it's clear who's going to win this is the first national election since Russia illegal invasion of Ukraine people in the Ukrainian.

Territories occupied by Russia are voting under martial law a Russian bear is the star of a Putin election video on state media don't put him in Chains it says the Kremlin ensuring Putin is effectively unopposed all the other candidates support Russia's so-called special military operation even the wives of Russian servicemen laying.

Flowers for their loved ones to come home have been threatened with arrest in recent weeks while Putin's strongest opponent Alexi nval died in prison and was buried last month this week his wife ulia called on the west not to recognize the election while one of naval's top AIDS in Lithuania says he was beaten with a hammer this week in a video with.

A broken arm he vowed we will not surrender and that war in Ukraine looming over this election you can see the election Motif there a V in Russian colors you'll recognize it as a symbol of the so-called special military operation in Ukraine after this when he wins President Putin will look to the turnout and try to say that he.

Has the full support of Russia all right Kier thank you so much let's talk more about Russia with Robert English he's the director of central European studies at USC the University of Southern California thank you for joining us so just what do you make of this election I mean at this point right now isid President Putin is strong as he's ever.

Been not quite he was probably stronger at various earlier points when the economy was really humming or at the outset of this war um it's now dragged on for over two years more than 100,000 maybe closer to 200,000 Russians have died the economic toll is growing heavier and heavier there's a kind of superficial Prosperity but daily lives.

Are growing more difficult in many any ways and people are tired so even though a majority probably still trust Putin it's partly because of the flood of propaganda and the absence of any other candidates to vote for so they're resigned they're apathetic but they're not happy and Putin desperately wants to be able to show 80% maybe 90% turnout.

And support mainly for his ego you talk about the lack of other candidates I mean in the wake of Alexa nal's death what is the state of the opposition movement is there anyone right now who can take up that mantle there are but they're they're prevented from becoming prominent to prevent it from a national presence and.

If they start to gather one through social media or informal descent then they're arrested um or exiled so there are opposition you know opinion is strong but the ability to organize and Advan a candidate has been has been completely neutered all right Robert English thank you so much for joining us this morning we appreciate your time and.

Your analysis this morning an aid ship bringing food to gaza's starving population is finally arriving after setting sail from Cyprus on Tuesday the much needed food comes after the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said more than a dozen people were killed in an Israeli attack while waiting for Aid the IDF has denied responsibility NBC.

News Chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel joins us now from Jerusalem Richard good morning well good morning a lot of people are watching this delivery to see if this initial program this pilot run uh is successful uh it is a logistical nightmare because this ship left Cyprus several days ago it's taken 3 days to.

Get here the trip has only been traveling about 3 mil an hour so what we have is an initial ship relatively small I saw the ship when it was in Cypress as it left a few days ago now it is arrived just off of the gazin shore and it has to get from the shore to the to the to the land so gazans themselves because there is no real distribution Network in.

Gaza eight agencies are not operating in any uh in any practical way they have to build their own Jetty so they're using whatever they can find to build a jetty and most of what they have at hand is Rubble so they're using rubble from destroyed buildings aftermath of attacks and they are creating a makeshift Pier so that they can receive this Aid and.

They've been building this over the last several days and the hope is that if this is successful and the the the the raft because what we're seeing or the barge doesn't capsize there's not some mass casualty event that it will be followed by other deliveries of Aid and already the the uh World Central Kitchen the aid.

Organization which is organizing this initial run is preparing for subsequent shipments but Aid agencies say that this is helpful but it in no way is a substitute for lifting the the The Siege on Gaza uh the territory controlled by by Hamas Israel says it will not do that until uh the hostages are free and there about 100 hostages believed to be still.

Alive held by Hamas in the Kasa strip and today there's potential of of uh of some renewed hope or renewed hope for the for the diplomacy as uhu there's rers is reporting details on it and Hamas has confirmed that it is uh there renewed discussions uh taking place through International medaries uh Med is to reach some sort of ceasefire and.

Potential hostage release but it is still very tentative steps we've seen this process before we will see how it plays out and the Israeli government says it will consider and study hamas's new proposal all right Richard Engel Richard thank you so much this morning former president Donald Trump is waiting for a judge in Florida to rule on one of.

The Motions he filed to get his classified documents case they're thrown out the other motion was denied Yesterday by the judge all this comes amid a flurry of activity in two other cases that Trump faces the Georgia election interference case and the New York hush money trial now that New York case is supposed to start the trial is.

Supposed to get going March 25th that's a week from Monday but now Manhattan district attorney Alvin brag says he is not opposed to Trump's request to push back that start date lot going on here let's bring in NBC News legal analyst Kristen Gibbons fedon with a closer look so Kristen let's start in Florida yesterday what do you make of what.

Happened in court especially with the judge denying one motion and then we'll wait and see what happens with the other one well I thought that the the ruling was actually significant because it really in my opinion I believe it really marked the first time that judge Canon has denied a legal Challenge from Trump's team particularly about that.

Indictment so I thought it was significant but so in that case just a quick breakdown Trump's defense argued that um the Espionage Act was really vague specifically key phrases like unauthorized possession or relating toal defense they argued that the law was too vague and undefined which made it unenforceable so they were asking for.

Dismissal on that level but judge Canon denied it but the interesting thing here is that in denying Trump's motion to dismiss she actually denied it without prejudice and what that means is she actually left the door open for Trump's team to bring these arguments up later on in the proceeding particularly as she pointed out in her opinion when.

Discussing jury instructions which is what when the um case goes right before the jury so I thought that this decision was significant because it marked the first time she really denied an attack on the indictment but it also struck a balance because it did not dismantle the Espionage Act which is a critical body of law that protects National Security.

All right we're taking a trip around the country here that was Florida let's move to Georgia we are expecting another big decision from the judge in the Georgia election interference case now earlier this week he dismissed some charges against Trump and some of his codefendants now we're going to find out if the da fonnie Millis will be fonnie.

Willis will be removed from the case talk more about what you expect here and how this decision is goingon to impact the case well it's interesting because I think based on the testimony evidence presented during these really contentious hearings I think that it's not likely she's going to be.

Disqualified I don't think that the defense although they put on a good case I don't think that they met their burden for removing or under Georgia law they have to prove that actual conflict existed um that gave her the incentive to improperly Target Trump and I I really don't think they bore that out but I think that all of the testimony.

That came out made clear that there potentially da Willis made an ill-advised decision to date Wade um so her testimony really did um even though it dispelled the defense's allegations of any Kickback scheme or comingling of funds or any forensic misconduct which is what they need to prove in order to disqualify her I do think that you know.

That personal entanglement is really going to undermine The credibility of the DA's office in the minds of any potential jury so whether she's disqualified or not it is going to be an issue within any um prosecution of this case and if she is removed I mean is that case probably going to struggle to move.

Forward just in terms of procedurally I think from a times perspective but it will move forward potentially under the hands of a different District Attorney's Office a different prosecutor that is unrelated to that office so the charges will still go on um but if it it will go on but it will probably be with a delay and again if the state decides very.

Similar to the federal doj not to prosecute a sitting president and he already is the uh presumptive nominee it may delay it even further if he is elected president speaking of delays let's talk about Trump's New York hush money trial it is supposed to start in 10 days now the da is saying he's okay with delaying it because 70,000 pages of.

Documents were recently handed over by the US attorney's office so do you think we are going to see this delay here I mean that's a lot of documents I think we are absolutely going to see the delay here you know as a prosecutor it's important not only to um Advocate advocate for the community um but to zealously prosecute your case.

And as part of that you do have to think about the constitutional rights of the defendant in this case Trump every criminal defendant is entitled to adequately prepare their defense and with that many documents it makes sense that they need to um delay the trial it's my understanding there's going to be additional document dump next week so.

We're not even talking about them having the entirety of the documents so I think it is highly likely um and I think that it's prudent for the judge to do so all right Kristen Gibbons fed and as always we appre appreciate your expertise thanks for joining us on this Friday morning much more to come on this hour of morning news now including how the.

Crisis in Haiti is affecting the hundreds of thousands of Haitian Americans who are living in the States but first the father of the Oxford High School school shooter in Michigan James Crumbley guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter one charge for each of his son's victims how this historic ruling could shape the future.

Of legal action against the parents of School shooters that's next welcome back James Crumbley the father of a school shooter in Michigan will be sentenced next month after a jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter crumley's wife Jennifer was already convicted on the same charge last month this marks the first time in the US that.

Parents of a mass school shooter are being held criminally responsible NBC News correspondent Adrien brus joins us now from Pontiac Michigan with more Adrian good morning Morning Joe good morning to you the jury of six men and Six Women found James Crumbley guilty on all four counts one count for each student killed this.

Verdict comes one month after his wife Jennifer was found guilty on the same charges making them now the making them now both the first parents and the US to be held criminally responsible for a mass school shooting carried out by their child guilty of involuntary manslaughter as it.

Took a Michigan jury nearly 11 hours of deliberation to convict James Crumbley of involuntary manslaughter making him the first father to be held criminally responsible for a school shooting committed by their child Crumbley shaking his head when the verdict was read this verdict does not bring back their children but it does Mark a moment.

Of accountability Crumbley son Ethan pleaded guilty to the first-degree murders of four classmates and was sentenced last year to life in prison without parole prosecutors arguing the 2021 shooting at Oxford High School was quote foreseeable and preventable by James Crumbley James Crumbley is not on trial for what his son did James.

Crumbley is on trial for what he did and what he didn't do prosecutors say Crumbley ignored his son's mental health and also failed to take simple precautions to secure the handgun he bought for his son as a gift this is me and conting a table up that takes less than 10 seconds the defense says James had no knowledge his.

Son was a danger to anyone you heard no testimony and you saw no evidence that James had any knowledge that his son was a danger to anyone the shooter's mother Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty on the same charges last month on the witness stand she suggests said her husband should have secured the murder weapon I just didn't feel.

Comfortable being in charge of that it was more his thing so I let him handle that but unlike his wife James Crumbley didn't testify in his own defense it is my decision to remain silent after the verdict parents of the victims thanking prosecutors for holding the crumblies accountable I truly felt our children there just really just saying you guys.

Got this and those parents telling me this guilty verdict does not erase their pain however there was some sense of relief moving forward they say they will continue their fight for change meanwhile James Crumbley is facing a maximum sentence of 15 years behind bars per count the entire crumbly family will.

Be likely in prison Joe all right Adrien thank you so much this morning we're taking a look at how the ongo crisis in Haiti is impacting the growing Haitian Community here in America NBC News correspondent guad Vegas talked to people in the Little Haiti neighborhood in Miami who say they're scared for their loved ones back.

Home the spiraling situation in Haiti hitting close to home for many in the US I was working in 0 but the situation is still hard gangs everywhere I have children I have nothing to do I couldn't stay even though I wanted but I couldn't stay as as of 2022 more than 730,000 Haitian immigrants resided in the United States making them the country's 15th.

Largest foreign born population according to the US Census Bureau 276,000 now living in Florida adding to the state's already expansive haitian-american Community the majority of them residing in the Miami area where the vibrant neighborhood of Little Haiti serves as a gathering point with lots of Haitian businesses and a resource center.

For a lot of people who are worried for their friends and family back in Haiti this situation could have been prevented Marlene Bastien is the executive director of the family Action Network movement and a prominent figure in Miami's Haitian Community like many here she's watching the turmoil unfold in Haiti with family still there who's the.

Closest person to you that's in Haiti right now uncle aunts and cousins a lot of uh nieces and NE ref what did they say to you in the last conversation that you had they were being chased from their home uh by The Gangs former US Army retired first class John Oriel was born in Haiti and moved to the US years ago now you said you have family that is.

Still in Haiti yes sir have they thought about leaving the country well Haiti is Haiti will always be home my mom she loves the country to death you know she uh she she comes here and visit but her heart is Haiti she says that no matter how it is here it'll never be home that's the reason why they want to stay she just hopes that the insecurity and.

The dying stops like she's ready for Haiti to go back to what she used to know but many are trying to flee and officials in Florida fear this will mean an influx of migrants similar to the one seen last year when hundreds of Haitian migrants arrived in the Florida Keys and along the coast by boat I have a friend that lives on the street and he called.

Me when I got home from work and said I've got people in my backyard on Wednesday Governor Ronda Sanz ordering more than 250 law enforcement officers and soldiers to patrol Florida's water the governor tweeting in part no state has done more to supplement the underresourced US Coast Guard's interdiction efforts we cannot have.

Illegal aliens coming to Florida a move Marlene says she finds disappointing our governor fail to understand is that people do not choose to leave their homes they don't just wake up one day say oh I'd love to come and and and visit the beautiful beaches of South Florida people come because they are forced to do so they are aware of the.

Danger and yet the desperation is such that they are willing to risk everything they have even losing losing their life for a r of Hope back here in Little Haiti hopes for an end to the chaos because residents here aren't ready to give up up on their Homeland all I can say is that Haiti is a beautiful country I just.

Hope that one day it can go back to that to be able to walk the street without any fear our thanks to guad Venegas for that report the US Coast Guard says in the last four weeks they have not seen an increase in irregular migration from Haiti but says it will have more resources in case there is an increase in Haitians who are trying to escape the.

Violence more international news this morning South Korea is getting ready to host a major democracy Summit NBC's claudo labanga joined us from Rome with that and otherw world news claudo good morning good morning Joel that's right Secretary of State Anthony blink blinkin will lead the US delegation to the third Summit for democracy hosted by South.

Korea next week our participants will discuss digital threats to democracy including misinformation artificial intelligence and deep fakes South Korea's Deputy foreign minister said that they will share with the world the use of new technologies to benefit humans without hampering democracy while KY razuk National Security Council.

Senior director for democracy and human rights said at a briefing on Wednesday that the summit also takes place this year at a critical moment during what has been called the year of Elections let's go now to Japan where on Thursday a Court ruled that denying same-sex marriage there is unconstitutional the current marriage law has been.

Interpreted to restrict marriage is only between a man and a woman now the Court does not have the power to overturn the law but said that not allowing same-sex couples to marry and enjoy the same benefits as trade couples violates their fundamental rights to equality and freedom of marriage and has called for Urgent government action to address the.

Lack of any law that allows same-sex unions and let's end the story of the world in Australia where a farm smashed the record for the world's largest blueberry now this fruit as you can see is huge and weighs 10 times the average blueberry the specimen is of a new variety developed by the Costa Berry Farm in New South Wales Brad Hawking a.

Senior hearty culturist at the farm said this his team was shocked and stoked when the Barry was way the giant Barry was picked back in November but not only now the venness world records certified it as the heaviest ever recorded back to you Jo I still think Violet board was bigger in the Wily Wonka movie but still all right claudo lavanga thank you so.

Much coming up Carrie on crunch after the break why Airlines seem to be getting a little more strict with those baggage rules ahead of the summer travel season and how Travelers are reacting that's next on Morning News Now welcome back as we head into the summer travel season you may have noticed it's getting a little harder to.

Get on board a plane with all your stuff without being asked to consolidate or check a bag Airlines have always limited passengers to one carry-on bag and one so called personal item but now it seems like the enforcement of those rules is getting a little tighter NBC News correspondent Sam Brock joins us from Miami International Airport with more on.

What could be driving these changes Sam good morning Joe good morning to you look the rules have always been what the rules are the thing is we're seeing a record-breaking number of Travelers right now and the price Joe of checking your bags for a lot of the major airlines has gone up in recent weeks and.

Months so what are people doing what people do trying to save money by taking all of their stuff with them on board the plane but many passengers right now realizing things like pillows and blankets laptop cases even fanny packs are considered personal items as one Airline explained it this is not a Crackdown it's a clarification of the.

Existing rules for many Travelers trying to Jet their way through the airport the carry-on convenience is also becoming a bit of a conundrum with more than two items I think it's definitely irritating because like sometimes you just have extra stuff passengers tired of ever Rising checked bag fees we pay enough.

For our tickets for all the other fees are getting to the gate with roller boards and bags and even pillows in packs and hitting roadblocks like this southwest flyer I can hear the gate agent saying that if you have a pillow or a blanket that you need to condense it and put it inside of something because it's counted as a carum.

Southwest Airlines which does allow passengers two free checked bags States on its website that personal items can include purses and cross body bags briefcases blankets pillows not including neck pillows cameras food containers or laptops Southwest telling NBC News the Crackdown referenced in recent reporting is in actuality a.

Clarification of the already existing policy limiting customers to two items American Airlines says it focuses on the number of carry-ons and have not made any changes to their policy so why the apparent crunch on carry-ons as we've seen check bag prices increase it's no wonder that there are more bags trying to get fit in overhead bin space and.

This can actually affect sort of the boarding process mere minutes can affect how many flights Airlines can make occasionally causing confrontation like in Meet the Parents I'm sorry sir you're going to have to check that I got no I'm sorry that bag won't fit no I'm not I'm not checking my bag and less dramatically in real life too some.

Budget Airlines like spirit and Frontier do charge flyers for a carryon while basic economy tickets on United or JetBlue are cheaper and allow for a personal item but add a fee for a carry-on the web of rules adding up with carry-ons now coming under the microscope there's obviously a Varian showe of rules between Airlines but.

There's things you can do to prepare ahead of time so for example if you booking on a lowcost carrier and you know you want to take on a carry-on pay for it upfront when you book it'll be cheaper that way than if you try to do it at the airport check online to see what the individual Airlines carry-on policies are because again whether it's.

The items or the size of the bags that can vary a little bit and then volunteer to gate check your bag so you're prepared going in and you're not dealing with that really delicate dance are they going to take this are they not going to take this how well am I hiding this object under my coat as I get on the plane we've all been there before no.

Kidding all right Sam thank you so much appreciate it the Federal Aviation Administration is in investigating a mishap during yesterday's big SpaceX launch after the Starship rocket broke apart upon re-entry but NASA and SpaceX say there were many successes in the flight it comes as the newest class of astronauts prepares to one day ride the.

Rocket to the moon NBC's Tom Costello has the story on its third test flight the biggest rocket ever built flew farther and faster than ever before hot staging confirmed star performing critical tests and sending back stunning images breaking apart 45 minutes into flight on re-entry the SpaceX flight comes as 12.

New astronauts earned their wings with NASA preparing for some very big missions ahead hopefully some of these men and women you see on stage set their footprints on the moon emus 2 Commander Reed Weissman will lead the crew that loops around the moon in 2025 by the end of the decade future Astron asut will use Starship to land on the Moon new.

Astronaut Dr Chris Williams have you dreamed of being among the first to return to the Moon I absolutely hope it's me and uh you know and that I get the chance to do that under emis and Aion Space Capsule will carry astronauts to a new space station called Gateway already under construction this is Gateway the space station that will.

Eventually orbit the Moon on board four of these modules will host four crew members working and living on the station and sending astronauts from here down to the lunar surface a sort of floating Mothership eventually all four will go down and then they'll come back and forth from here to uh get ready to go down the surface or return home.

Perhaps one day Starship will carry astronauts even further Air Force fighter pilot and new astronaut Nicole AES as a little kid I used to say I'm going to be the first person on Mars so even as a little child I I had the Mars uh aidea for the dream and do you still of course definitely but before Mars the Moon is calling Tom Costello NBC News.

Houston coming up achieving greatness after the break a new documentary series it's examining the highest highs and lowest lows of one of football's greatest dynasties the New England Patriots my conversation with its director Matthew hamek next stay with us welcome back Prince William and Prince.

Harry honored their mother's Legacy in an event yesterday albeit separately comes as Megan The Duchess of Sussex made a surprise return to social media to launch a new Lifestyle brand BC News International correspondent Molly Hunter joined us from London with all the details Molly Good morning Joe good morning to you all the.

Details and of course all the things that you just mentioned come against the backdrop of a very tumultuous week of course for Kensington Palace so last night we heard from both Prince Harry and Prince William as you say separately and after a week of Silence Kensington Palace shows no signs of changing course.

Force at the end of a tumultuous week for the royal family a rare sighting both brothers honoring their mother's Legacy at the same event Prince William presenting the Legacy Awards last night to 20 young social activists sponsored by the Diana award she taught me that everyone has the potential to give something back that every everyone in.

Need deserves a supporting hand in life that Legacy is something that both Catherine and I sought to focus on through our work but that was the only mention of his wife Kate the Princess of Wales all night in STK contrast to Williams formality Prince Harry joined virtually later on after the actual Awards so much.

Of the future depends on you guys right and you know that and some of you may feel as of the work that you're doing is small some may be feel as though it's big my mom would be incredibly proud of all the work that you've done and meanwhile back at home in California Megan the duess of Sussex launched a new Lifestyle brand with this dreamlike.

Video back on social media for the first time since 2020 it's called American Riviera Orchard a nod to California's Santa Barbara all of this perhaps welcome distraction for the whales family journalists and newspaper editors have always been uneasy queasy about the increasing trend of handouts and I think that this incident is now going to.

Probably put a bit of lead into the pencil of those journalists and make them much more willing and capable of saying no we're not going to take this situation we're not going to take this hand out all the agencies validated the photo afp's global news director one of the major organizations that killed that altered Mother's Day photo earlier this.

Week was asked about this on the BBC you said that Kensington Palace was a trusted source for you at the AFP is it still a trusted Source no absolutely not um like with anything when you're let down by a source uh the bar is raised and Joe that is why this matters that is why this is such a big question what you just heard from that AFP Global.

News editor is it it is going to be very hard to imagine that Kensington Palace maintains the same amount of control over the whales family images through handouts as we just heard talked about and there is a sense definitely among the British press and those of us based on this side of the pond that Kensington Palace will will have to put Kate out in.

Public in person to start repairing that trust Joe all right Molly thank you so much for almost two decades the New England Patriots were the most dominant force in all of professional football fueled by Future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill bich the Patriots won an unprecedented six Super Bowls over 18.

Seasons but their rise to the top was filled with turmoil both on and off the field and now it's the subject of a new 10-part documentary series on Apple TV called the dynasty New England Patriots let's take a quick look that team won enough to become the villain we worked for Bill but we played for.

Tom Bill tour Brady's hit completely off there's things there are done that can't be undone I was just trying to hold it together the best I could this team will be scrutinized celebrated for as long as the game of football is played the final two episodes dropped today this morning we're lucky enough to be.

Joined by the director and executive producer of that documentary Matthew hamek thank you so much for joining us so you are a football fan but let's be clear not a Patriots fan you're as they like to say a cheese head you love the Green Bay Packers so why do this story on the Patriots well um a few years ago I was working on a documentary called.

Tiger for HBO and the author that had written that book Jeff Benedict that inspired that documentary came to me and said I'm doing my next book would you be interested in doing the doc based off of that and I said of course and you know when I sat down with Ernie Adams who's the director of football research he had this interesting thing he to say to me.

He said um you know every team at the beginning of the year wants to win the Super Bowl but not every team is willing to do what it takes to get there and when he said that to me that was sort of a light bulb moment saying okay maybe that's the thing that we're going to try to answer as we go and interview the 70 plus players and coaches execs Rivals.

That we were going to talk to and because I wasn't a fan what was so great about this was I was curious and I had questions that that that I had never asked anybody before and I didn't come in with some preconceived notion so it was just I'm G to ask the questions and then just get out of the way and let them tell the stories you could approach.

It with some respect but also with being unbiased right that's right you have a lot to cover here 20 years or so and a lot happen in that you have the murder conviction of Aaron Hernandez you have the cheating scandals how did you get everyone to be so open in discussing some of these tough topics I I think it's the same thing with any documentary.

You work on you basically spend time whether it's you know before you get them in the chair or during the interview itself just building up trust and you let people know like a lot of people said to me how am I going to be portrayed in this thing and I always tell people you know it's going to be between a puff piece and a hit piece and.

And and in between those two things normally lies the truth about all of us right we're messy and we're complicated and we're nuanced and so getting into all of that is sort of uh what I always try to do and did you feel like they were open with you yeah I think most of them were I think people are going to hear things in this that they really.

Have never heard before and and not only is it what the people said but also we had 35,000 hours of neverbe seen archival footage that we had to comb through and to give your audience a visualization for that that's two Mac trucks filled up to so we had to go through all of this stuff and then you know all of a sudden You' uncover these.

Gems in the middle of it that would be like you know uh Aaron Hernandez at the NFL rookie Symposium the year he was drafted and Chris Carter is up there trying to tell him you know that you're at a fork in your Road in your life and you need to separate yourself from all of your old friends and and form new ones and things like that that just say.

So much more than anybody could say in an interview chair just looking for those moments that folks haven't seen before one of your guiding lights was what does it take to achieve greatness did you did you get an answer I think it's obviously a lot of things right because it's a 20 year story with a lot of different people it's not just belich.

And Brady but the I think the the simple answer is these guys outworked everybody and they were maniacal and how they did it and even when they had found incredible success they kept going kept going if even if it was just to get like the fraction of a percentile better and I think that's what it was and they never stopped is you talked to so many.

People yeah what surprised you most that you heard from folks I think what surprised me most was to listen to them talk about how this perfect machine was created right they basically a world where nobody was above a team there were no stars everybody did what was in the best interest of the team and that lasted for about 15 almost 20 years and.

And then at the end what I started to hear from everybody was how the foundation of this incredible machine started to crumble because all of those things that they had kept at Bay for so long started to make their way into patrion place any ideas what you want to work on next after this or do you just no Mac trucks just take a bre exactly no.

Uh I spent so much time away from my family for the last two and a half years talking to all these football players and coaches that I just I'm gonna a week from now I'm going to go to the beach and finally spend some time with them so I don't blame you that's the plan all right final two episodes are out today Matthew Hammer thank you so much for.

Joining us you can catch all 10 episodes of the dynasty New England Patriots streaming right now on Apple TV thank you so much all right we've got much more to come on this hour of morning news now stay with us we'll be right back this is an NBC News special report here's Kristen weler good morning I'm Kristal Welker we.

Are coming on the air with breaking news with huge implication for one of the criminal cases against former president Trump a judge in Georgia just ruled that Fulton County district attorney fonny Willis who brought Georgia's election in case against Trump can stay on the case but with big conditions after a motion was made to disqualify her it comes.

Following accusation she had an improper relationship with a special prosecutor she hired for the case Willis and that prosecutor have acknowledged a relationship but denied anything improper I want to get right to our senior legal correspondent Lord Jarrett Laura there is a lot at play in today's decision help us break it down for us.

Some tough language in here as well some tough language indeed Kristen this is not the result that the district attorney fonny Willis wanted but it's certainly not the Fatal blow that it could have been if Donald Trump and his co-defendant had got their way so let's remember what the original ask was the ask was to have the da removed.

Completely from the case over an alleged ethical conflict of interest from having her boyfriend named Ean Wade her then boyfriend former boyfriend lead the Trump prosecution Trump and his codefendants had alleged that there was a financial entanglement that the two were taking lavish vacations together and that that was all while the time.

That the state was actually paying his salary that was the conflict that was alleged the judge in this case this morning saying the defendants did actually not prove an alleged or did not prove an actual conflict of interest from all that Financial entanglement however the judge is saying there is an appearance of conflict given how all of.

This played out given all of the evidence that came out during the dayslong hearing there in Georgia the judge is saying the da essentially has two options now as you laid out Kristen she can either remove herself and her entire office from the case completely which would be a severe blow or she can remove Nathan Wade from the case which.

Is perhaps much easier to do and anybody else could certainly step in his shoes as opposed to wiping out the entire prosecution team there is certain language in here that I if I'm the district attorney I find very troubling some of um the tone that the judge is using talking about the allegations against her but there's other language.

Where in other ways he sort of exonerates her and says the evidence didn't go as far as Trump and his codefendant had suggested but again bottom line here is the da now has a choice to make the indictment stands it has not been dismissed but this is going to be a choice for her to make or it cannot just go on as status quo as.

Normal Chris and Laura let's just tick through some of the language here the accusation was that the district attorney benefited financially from this relationship with Nathan Wade the top prosecutor her exboyfriend and the judge ruled the defendants have not presented sufficient evidence indicating that the expenses.

Were not roughly divided evenly that was really the core of this case right Laura trying to establish that link that she somehow benefited financially from this that's exactly right that that was the whole sort of Crux of it and they kept pressing that even if they couldn't show an actual conflict it just smelled funny and it looked bad and the judge says.

This which I think is notable the district attorney chose to continue supervising and paying Wade while maintaining such a relationship she further allowed the regular and loose exchange of money between them without any exact or verifiable measure of reconciliation this lacked of confirmed Financial split creates the possibility.

And appearance that the district attorney benefited and that's the Crux of it Kristen because of that appearance that's why he's now giving her this choice to make again between having him removed or removing herself which obviously she wouldn't want to do and Laura finally just very quickly big picture here what does this all mean.

About when this case may actually go to trial and is it fair to say this has already delayed any potential trial date oh certainly this this entire uh sort of uh this entire sort of debacle has derailed the case for months now we've we all remember the televised hearings that went on for days there's still no trial date set in this case obviously.

The district attorney wanted to try it before the election I would be shocked if that happened and so this entire sort of um again sort of has derailed a little bit of the case again it's not a fatal blow the indictment still stands but this has certainly um provided a a problem for her office to now resolve quickly all right Laura Jarrett thank.

You so much for that and helping us understand this complicated ruling NBC's Blaine Alexander was first to report the news of the ruling this morning she joins us now from Atlanta Blain as I'm reading through this court document I'm struck by some of the language that the judge used he calls this a tremendous lapse in judgment he refers to the Imp.

Appearance of impropriety so he's not removing the da from the case but he's not letting her off the hook either you know what Kristen he does not hold back in essentially scolding the da kind of basically saying listen yes there is not actual uh in congruency here but this does not look good this looks bad and he's letting her know that.

When we talk though about appearances though Kristen I have to kind of break out and just widen out and talk about the fact that not only has this really just dominated this conversation over the past two and a half months remember as you and Laura were just discussing this is essentially ground this case here in Georgia to a halt this is the.

Case that many legal experts were calling the most legally perilous against former president Donald Trump and for the past two and a half months none of the facts of the case or anything have been discussed but in addition to what's happening here at the fton County Courthouse we also have to look at the fact that it has sparked.

Other investigations into this district attorney we know that just a couple of blocks away there's a republican L state senate committee in fact that's investigating these very allegations and in fact the chairman told me that he expects to Tina fonnie Willis in the coming weeks to get her to come down and testify at the capital there was a bill.

That was signed into law by the governor just this week giving lawmakers oversight overstate prosecutors so even though yes this does essentially give fonnie Willis and her team the green light to continue on this case with of course making the change of removing Nathan Wade from the case there are so many other ways that this has become.

Sidetracked and we expect that those will continue uh in the months to come uh Kristen a couple of other things that I want to point out though I've spoken with a source who is familiar with the judge's thinking and just a little bit of interesting context about the timing of this this order has been written for more than a week now that's certainly.

Interesting he's been tweaking it he's been fine-tuning it but that tells me that he made his decision soon after hearing the summation arguments uh from the attorneys a couple of weeks ago the other thing though that it tells me of course all of this is tied to politics we look at the ballot Donald Trump is on the ballot in November but fonnie Willis.

And Judge Scott McAfee are also running for re-election the judge has drawn a couple of uh opponents in this case that happened last week but the fact that this was written before that shows basically that there was no political kind of leanings in the fact that he has opponents and when he drew this the other thing that I'm learning is that.

Security was a major factor the judge has already received a number of threats against him and against his family he has two young children and so why put this out today the source tells me that that allows for him to put proper security measures in place he'd been working with the sheriff's office this week to make sure that that security was.

In place before this order was released Kristen uh really fascinating blame the judge judge McAfee in his early 30s talk a little bit about what you have witnessed in court of course that surprise testimony by fonnie Willis herself Nathan Wade taking the stand fonnie Willis's father even taking the stand to talk about the fact that the.

Family typically pays for things in cash and that's why there wouldn't be a more robust written record of the financial transactions between fonnie Willis and Nathan Wade this really was a spectacle that unraveled there it absolutely was I mean we got into personal details of the district attorney and her relationship with.

Nathan Wade we heard about her preference of greay Goose vodka over wine I mean these are things that nobody would have ever would have thought would have entered the conversation when you're talking about the prosecution of Donald Trump and so the other thing of course one thing that stands out here in Georgia is that all.

Of this is televised all of this is playing out on live TV and so when we talk about that appearance going forward and kind of what that looks like for the case aside from the legal implications here certainly that appearance is very very crucial as well one important note I want to add about Nathan Wade Kristen he's somebody who's been on this from.

The very beginning you know it's very important to remember that he was brought on to lead the special grand jury back in 2022 when they started bringing in witnesses that 8mon period where you kind of had testimony and the investigative part of all of this so he really is some could argue perhaps one.

Of the more familiar people with the facts of this case so the fact that he is sensibly going to have to leave that's certainly notable as well uh considering his longevity on this case Kristen well the Trump team's goal was to delay delay delay and in this case at least they have been effective at that Blain Alexander incredible job breaking.

This news today really appreciate it that does conclude our NBC News special report we will now return many of you to the Today's Show and we continue coverage on our streaming Network NBC news now online at nbcnews.com and tonight on Nightly News I'm Kristen Welker thanks so much for.

Watching we are going to continue our coverage right now of the judge's decision to keep Georgia da fonny Willis on the Trump election case with big conditions for more let's bring in NBC News legal analyst Danny savalos Danny let's just break this down again the judge giving fonnie Willis a decision basically.

Saying your entire team can leave this case or you can push Nathan Wade off of the case of course her former partner and at the center of these allegations talk about the implications of the judge's ruling here Danny and mcafe has given the DA's Office of Hobson's choice which is to say there is no choice at all either the entire office is.

Disqualified or one special prosecutor Nathan Wade must leave the choice is clear the DA's office will stay on the case Nathan Wade is all but gone from the case so the Topline summary could be defense motion granted but barely the only net effect is that they've removed Nathan Wade but procedurally they have caused considerable delay and while the.

Judge has allowed the DA's office to stay on the case it was hardly a glowing endorsement of the DA's conduct uh among other things he the judge said the da was willing to conceal her relationship with Wade and called the entire prosecution as having an odor of mendacity so hardly an endorsement of of the DA's conduct here but the DA's.

Office stays on interesting to note that had the judge found an actual conflict disqualification would have been mandated but he also concluded that where there was only an appearance of impropriety which he found in this case disqualification was not mandated so the net effect will be the DA's office stays on the.

Case well Danny let's talk a little bit about what we witnessed during this trial and the fact that da fonnie Willis took the stand essentially bucking the advice of her own councel surprising just about everyone she defended herself she said there was no Financial impropriety there was no conflict of interest in this case.

The judge effectively ruling the defendants did not present sufficient evidence proving their allegations of a conflict of interest what do you make of her decision to take the stand that dramatic moment Did It ultimately help her politically it likely helped her but I've said that technically speaking from an Evidence a Rules of Evidence.

Standpoint it was not what you would call good testimony especially by the highest ranking da uh in the county she often didn't answer the question asked to the point where judge McAfee warned her at one point this is the elected da that he might have to strike her testimony if she didn't answer questions but of course politically I think she.

Achieved her message which was uh taking the stand and publicly refuting uh these allegations uh was it credible testimony in fact ultimately in this opinion I think Fanny Willis's testimony was less a problem than Terrence Bradley's testimony could have been but judge McAfee signaled during the hearing where he was going to go when judge McAfee who.

Could have taken the text messages between defense attorney Merchant and Terrence Bradley as substantive evidence ultimately concluded that even though Terrence Bradley said absolutely when talking about his knowledge of the relationship between Wade and Willis that absolutely was not supported by the source of that information and therefore.

Those text messages did not create substantive evidence that met the burden for the defense really this sounds complicated but the bottom line was that uh the judge found that all this testimony including YY which he really disposed of in one line in his opinion uh none of it met the defense burden of showing the conflict which would have.

Required uh disqualification but it did create that appearance of impropriety and that's how uh judge McAfee arrived at this choice that he has now delivered to the DA's office Danny let me ask you big picture because we've talked about extensively the Trump team strategy of delay delay delay this case has been delayed the documents case has been.

Delayed of course the case surrounding January 6th has been delayed while the Supreme Court uh waits to hear arguments about whether former president Trump deserves full immunity from any type of legal action what do you make of where things stand we're also learning that the hush money case in New York may now be delayed Danny a couple things so.

Delay means different things in different cases for the state court cases delay means something different there are two criminal state court cases and there are two Federal criminal cases delay means something different completely different in each of these cases and here's why as to the federal cases if they are still pending and if.

Donald Trump is elected he can simply get rid of those cases he can either appoint an attorney general who will dismiss them or he can try to Pardon himself but delay means Victory if Donald Trump is elected and if the cases are still pending not the same result with the state court cases those cases can continue and Trump has no power to.

Pardon himself or to have an attorney general get rid of say the fton county Georgia case in fact in Georgia the rules for a pardon are much more stringent the governor it's not even the governor that can pardon uh it is actually a situation where a defendant actually has to serve time and then there's a panel so the bottom line is in.

Georgia as long as there's a DA willing to keep Prosecuting this case it will not go away the challenge is that if history is any indicator in Fon County these kinds of complicated Rico cases take a long time under ordinary circumstances the last high-profile RICO case took no less than maybe more than 8 months just in jury selection this is.

Life in the state courts particularly in City type counties where you have high volume where judges have many other cases on their calendar and even one delay uh can send the trial date way off into the Distance by month so delay certainly helps Trump on all fronts but it helps him less in the state court cases it helps him less in Atlanta in.

Fulton County than it does in the Federal cases where delay in federal court for Trump can mean Victory all right Danny solos thank you such an important distinction and a great distillation of this ruling we really appreciate it let's head now to NBC's Dasha Burns who's in West Palm Beach Florida where she is covering the Trump.

Campaign Dasha any response yet from the former president and also just Big Picture This was a split decision to some extent because fonny Willis is not being removed from the case having said that some of the language in this ruling is incredibly tough the appearance of impropriety the judge says some really challenging language that will.

Undoubtedly Loom large over this case as it moves forward yeah Kristen you're exactly right I'm staring at my phone I'm refreshing truth social waiting for any comment from the Trump team or from the former president himself haven't seen anything just yet but if we look at the pattern of how his team has responded to.

Rulings in his favor or even not in his favor if there is even a window cracked for them to so doubt so confusion so frustration and distrust in these institutions and these processes and the people running them they jump at that opportunity and they are very good at flipping the script and this 20 some pages didn't just crack a window it.

Really opened a door with some of this language I mean Danny mentioned odor of mendacity another uh portion here saying the dismissal of this case is not the appropriate remedy to adequately dissipate the financial cloud of impropriety and potential untruthfulness uh saying uh the Georgia law does not permit finding of an actual Conflict for.

Simply making bad choices even if repeatedly so there is a whole lot of language that the Trump team can uh latch on to here can use in their response uh to really make their own case that they've been making on the campaign Trail in the courtroom on social media on television that this is a system that is out to get the former.

President that he is standing uh between uh the weaponized justice system and the public he is the Martyr that is taking it all for them we expect that we will hear some very similar uh responses as we've heard in the past there is a pattern of how they use this to gain steam politically with the base and in this case now that we are in the general.

Uh election Kristen it's not quite the same with as with primary voters where this was a huge Boon anytime he was indicted anytime he was in court they were fundraising uh they were ring voters poll numbers were going up however the ability for this team to now sew that doubt in whether or not these cases are legitimate even as at the same.

Time the ruling clearly states that there was no actual misconduct found just the appearance one important passage I just want to point out here is uh they say whether this case ends in convictions acquittals or something in between the result should be one that instills confidence in the process a reasonable Observer unburdened by.

Partisan blinders should believe the law was impartially applied and those accused of crimes had a fair opportunity to present their defenses that is exactly what the Trump team is going to try to instill and plant that seed of doubt in and that could that could be make or break in terms of the the Court of public opinion which is really as we.

Know and you know well Kristen from history the former president cares deeply about dsh you're absolutely right and I think you hit the nail on the head when you talk about the distinction between the primary and the general election we will have to see how all of these court cases play out against the backdrop of the general election but as.

Of right now most of these court cases all of them in fact have been delayed so Dasha thank you so much for your great reporting I now want to bring in kathern Christ she's a former Manhattan assistant district attorney and an NBC News legal analyst start right there where Dasha left off the fact that you have the Optics of this ruling the fact.

That it has muddied this case moving forward no matter what the ultimate determination may be and the fact that the judge made this really fascinating Split Decision effectively it's actually the right decision I many of us have already said that Nathan Wade should have been off this case as soon as the motion was.

Filed he's an unnecessary distraction that he was sitting in the courtroom the last time the hearing was on was baffling to me he should have been removed by the da or voluntarily so now this can happen it's unfortunate the court had to order it but now his presence will be removed now the judge made a very stinging statement he said.

That this finding is by no means an indication that the court condones this tremendous laps in judgment or or the unprofessional manner of the District Attorney's testimony during the hearing so that's a very stinging indictment of the district attorney and the office however there has been no finding of an actual conflict of interest so she and.

Her office gets to stay and the unnecessary distraction who is Nathan Wade has to be removed uh and very quickly what do you make of Da Fon Willis's decision to take the stand do you think it could have hurt her or did it help her I I agree with Danny it was remember she's an elected da she's up for election I.

Believe next year politically it helped her she was speaking to the Fulton County electorate who voted her in office she also quite frankly those words had to come out of her mouth you know the judge said it was in an unprofessional manner we can argue about that but he found he I mean his statement of the judge said it wasn't.

That she was I believe it was not so incredible to be inherently unreliable you know so he found it her her credible it's it's sort of like damning with faint praise but I think she felt she had to take the stand yeah talk a little bit about Judge McAfee I mean he is a man in his 30s 34 years old I believe with this incredible.

Responsibility he said I'm going to make this decision in two weeks and now here we are two weeks later we have this decision this Monumental decision he has found I have found him throughout the proceedings not just this hearing from beginning of arraignments to be very thoughtful judge very temperate uh he's he's sort of like you know right down.

The middle I think anyone who is fair and objective would say that he is a fair and uh uh you want from a judge temperate judge so he he promised two weeks and here it is so I find from my experien appearing before many judges throughout my career he is the judge that you want from both sides you want someone like him all right thank you so.

Much for your great legal analysis we really appreciate it again uh the judge has ruled that district attorney fonny Willis can stay on the case if she removes Nathan Wade from the case we will see how this evolves that concludes our special coverage we are going to return you to morning news now right after this quick break I'm Kristen.

Welker thank you so much for watching thanks for watching stay updated about breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or follow us on social media

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