Morning News NOW Plump Broadcast – Jan. 26

Right now on Morning News Now flashes of anger inside a New York courtroom as former president Trump briefly took the witness stand yesterday in that defamation damages trial involving writer egene Carroll his clashes with the judge ahead of closing arguments today also a first of its kind execution making National headlines this morning.

Kenneth Smith a former inmate in Alabama convicted for his role in the 1988 murder of a preacher's wife put to death last night using nitrogen gas the controversy now swirling over this lethal injection alternative and on Capital Hill the future of a critical funding deal in the works for months is up in the air this morning Senate.

Minority leader Mitch McConnell casting doubt on a spending package that would both tighten immigration laws and provide Aid to Ukraine in its fight against Russia we will tell you about the intense pressure McConnell is under from presidential candidate Trump and later in the hour we are just 6 months out from the Summer Olympic Games in.

Paris we're going to talk to one of the gymnastics hopefuls on his quest for gold medal Glory always a good morning when we have some of those athletes on six months is the perfect time to countdown for something as exciting as as the Paris tax season not so much we talk about that a little early getting your.

Return good morning good to have you with us on this Friday I'm Joe frier I'm Savannah sellers happy Friday we're going to get started right here in New York this morning where closing arguments are set to get underway in the J Carroll civil defamation damages trial it follows a 10 stay in court yesterday when former president Trump clashed with.

The judge before taking the stand Trump was limited on what he could say on the witness stand because of the verdict in the previous trial where he was found liable for sexual abuse and defamation despite all this he still called Carol's accusation false during his testimony and the judge quickly ordered that claim stricken from the record Carol is.

Seeking at least $10 million in Damages the case will soon be in the hand hands of the jury which will now decide how much money Trump is going to have to pay MSNBC anchor Yasmin suian and NBC News legal analyst Danny savalos join us now for more on this case so Yasmin after all that Trump was on the witness stand about what three minutes so walk us.

Through what we heard and what the jury can actually consider thank you yeah all the anticipation right Joan Savannah and it was all just but three minutes 216 he took the stand 219 he was off the stand that even included cross- examination from Roberto Kaplan e Carol's attorney um really three questions or so from.

Alina habba that had been um passed by um judge Kaplan earlier before they allowed the former president to testify because as we had talked about over the last couple of days there were restrictions on the former president's testimony the things that he could and could not say IE he couldn't say he didn't sexually assault egene Carrol.

He'd already been found liable um he couldn't say um that it was all a hoax he'd already been found liable he couldn't say he didn't defame her he'd already been found liable on the previous trial let me just read for you some of the questions that were asked by Alina Hava uh um you viewed your deposition yes I did you stand by it.

100% yes do you deny the allegations to defend yourself yes I consider it a false accusation that was stricking he wasn't allowed to say that because he's already been found liable um did you ever instruct anybody to hurt Miss Carol no I just wanted to defend myself my family and frankly the presidency also stricken as well and then they went into.

Cross by uh Roberto Kaplan much of which was objected by um Alina hoba let me just say two things I think we need to consider going into today we're going to hear closing arguments um early this morning starting around 9:00 a.m. the former president will in fact be in that courtroom he canceled an event in Arizona um later this evening um for the.

Campaign Trail to be here in the courtroom for closing arguments um then they're going to shift of course um to the jury the decision will then be in the hands of the jury likely after lunch we'll likely get a decision after that um let's consider with this the jury makeup right when the jury was um being gathered two big questions they were.

Asking was where do you get your news from and who did you vote for the people that were chosen for this jury pool were fairly vague about the things that they watched and who in fact uh they voted for the other big case that eent Carol's attorneys was building was former president's net worth right his wealth.

Um the amount of money he has so a jury likely to focus on that as well as they consider their decision likely later on this afternoon guys Danny let's bring you in here I want to start there and talk about some of the stuff that we saw from Carol's lawyers one of those things being this video deposition in which Trump is repeatedly bragging about his.

Wealth as as we just heard reference there they also focused on clips from a news conference last week where Trump called Carol's sexual assault claim a rigged and madeup story also truth social posts as well of his how are the types of things that we saw discussed yesterday Central to this case yes and there was also videotape where he.

Bragged about his wealth and that was actually the most compelling to me because for punitive damages you have to demonstrate a couple things you have to demonstrate the defendant's hatred or ill will or spite but also relevant in punitive cases is Discovery on the wealth of the defendant that may sound strange but if punitive damages are.

Designed to punish a dollar amount to each of the three of us would be a different kind of punishment than it would be to a billionaire like Trump and I thought this was really clever by plain's Council to take this deposition testimony introduce it it's under oath it's sworn and it's Donald Trump saying I'm worth billions and billions of.

Dollars so you have this admission to the jury and now you can argue to them in closing look what is a dollar amount that would make someone feel the pain to to punish a defendant for what he did well you saw how much money he has think of a number that fairly would punish him that would make him think twice about doing this again not a regular guy on.

The street but Donald Trump who just told you in deposition testimony that he's worth billions of dollars what is the dollar amount that would fairly punish a billionaire so he asmin the jury is expected to get this case today a verdict could come come quickly could come today we certainly saw a quick verdict last time but looking forward.

What is next on the former president's busy legal calendar what is not next Joe I think is really more the question because he's got a very busy legal calendar um ahead of him along with of course running for reelection of the president of the United States just down the road for me and I've talked about this repeatedly.

We're waiting a decision from Judge and Goron either next week or the week after a judgment of course on the Trump civil fraud trial which could basically say the former president never works again in New York City the payout that Leticia James is looking for there $370 million right you add that up with what EEG Carol here is asking for $10 million.

To know how how much more as Danny saal just said imp punitive damages the former president is looking at a possible payout of $380 million um Plus in the next couple of weeks we got um a motion that the former president his attorney's joined down in um Georgia to remove the fton County DA from that case um that's going to be heard uh by the.

Judge down there in mid-February um and then of course we're awaiting um the DC Circuit Court of Appeals decision in Washington when it comes to Trump the Trump immunity case so he's got a lot on his calendar in the next couple of weeks that we're going to be watching for Danny Yasmin just referen what's happening in Georgia that of course is.

Trump's election interference case I want to ask you about that before we end this segment yesterday Trump's lawyers they joined a motion to disqualify fton County district attorney fonny Willis from leading the case there's been a lot of back and forth here tell us the latest and exactly what we know about that and.

When we might hear yeah this motion really has the potential to derail The Fulton County case it really follows two Avenues the first one is to dismiss the entire indictment because there were defects in how they got the indictment specifically the special prosecutor uh was not properly appointed secondly the argument is that because the da and the.

Special prosecutor had this improper relationship allegedly uh they should be disqualified because of the appearance of impropriety and if they're disqualified that raises the question of who will carry the banner forward in this case all right Danny asmin thank you both appreciate it we do also playing out in the courtroom yesterday.

Former Trump adviser Peter Navaro was sentenced to for months in prison for defying a January 6 committee Congressional subpoena Navaro was also ordered to pay a fine of nearly $10,000 he was convicted in September on two counts of contempt of congress for refusing to testify and hand over documents during the committee's.

Investigation of the attack on the capital Navarro's lawyer asked the sentence be immediately stayed because of quote novel issues presented in the case including Navaro stated belief that his conversations with the former president were protected under executive privilege Navaro is appealing his conviction Heavy Rain continues to slam.

The South with Millions under flood alerts this morning yeah Louisiana flash flooding even trapped several cars it flooded homes and businesses and left some people to use kayaks even to get around that's what you're looking at on your screen more rain is in store for the west and the Northeast so Michelle Gman is here with us tracking that hi.

Michelle good morning hi there guys happy Friday yeah it's like the rain that won't quit we're going to see a little break in New York City Philadelphia so portions of the Northeast but a lot of us are still seeing the rain falling right now 18 million people still impacted by flood alerts we're going to see this.

Throughout the weekend where you see the green that's your flash flood also seeing flash flood warnings where you see that maroon box so again we will see these popping in and out throughout the day as Heavy Rain Fall so this is what radar looks like right now the heaviest rain is actually falling to the north throughout the Great Lakes into the.

Interior parts of the Northeast we're going to get another wave into the South and that's going to bring soaking rains later on today but notice some pinks popping in on these last few frames that's that colder air working in the precipitation meeting up with that cold air that's why we're seeing that pink and purple so freezing rain and also.

Seeing some snow we could see some Euling snow in portions of northern Maine a few inches not a whole lot but still causing some slippery travel in addition to that we have a lot of fog across the country once again so we're looking at flash flood risk once again in the South once we get that second wave coming through actually the fifth.

Wave whatever it is the second wave within the past 24 hours so an hourly rainfall rate of 1 to 2 Ines where you see this darker blue Jackson Alexandria New Orleans seeing the likeliest uh thought of seeing some flooding rains we're also looking at uh some rain in terms of rainfall we're looking at 1 2 3 Ines of rain so we're looking at the.

Darkest colors here Reds oranges yellows is where we're going to see the heaviest amounts of rain snowfall forecast again not a whole lot but still see some accumulating snow we're looking at anywhere from 1 to 3 in where you see that darker blue that's where we're looking at the highest amount of snow although I think those new englanders.

Like it this is what it looks like we have lingering rain and winry mix in the Northeast the next surge of rain developing over the Southern Plains that's going to bring the chance for severe storms by tomorrow as it makes its way into the South these so Alabama also Georgia on the lookout for some strong storms later and then we'll get a.

Little break in the midle Atlantic the Northeast and then Sunday we're looking at more rain we could see some snow in spots I think I95 is going to be the cut off so New York City should be all rain but we're going to watch it over the next couple days here we go again using the umbrella more this January than I imagined I know more than I would like.

Hope hopefully you got one for Christmas exactly thanks the state of Alabama carried out the first nitrogen gas execution in the US last night 58-year-old inmate Kenneth Smith was executed by means of nitrogen hypoxia PR officials say Smith was strapped to a gurnie and forced to breathe nitrogen gas through a mask depriving him of.

Oxygen Smith was convicted in the murder For Hire killing of a preacher's wife Elizabeth Senate back in 1988 the commissioner of the Alabama Department of Correction says the execution was carried out with no issues appeared that one Smith was holding his breath as long as he could and then uh there's also information out.

There of uh um he struggled against his restraints a little bit but there's some involuntary movement and some agonal breathing so uh that was all expected and is in the um side effects that we've seen or researched on nitrogen epoxy a previous attempt to put Smith to death by lethal injection two years ago failed when prison staff were unable to.

Find a suitable vein that incidents as well as other issues caused Alabama officials to pause lethal injection and find an alterntive ative method now let's turn to Washington as negotiations on a deal tightening immigration laws appear to be in Jeopardy this morning during a closed door meeting with fellow Republicans on Wednesday Senate minority.

Leader Mitch McConnell cast doubt on a deal being reached now McConnell has been pushing for a bipar is and deal to pass border legislation and foreign aid together but former president Trump is asking GOP members to kill the immigration deal which would leave a deal for Ukraine funding in doubt NBC News homeand security cour correspondent.

Julia anley joins us now with the latest developments here Julia good morning so what can you tell us about this closed door meeting what do we know that happened well what it shows is the power of Donald Trump on the hill he's not he's a he's a candidate he's a former president he is not in any of these meetings but boy is his presence felt.

And what we understand is that basically the former president doesn't want this deal to go through he's messaging that to Republicans and now you have McConnell who's starting to walk back he said one of the things uh that we were able to report that my Hill colleagues were able to report is that he said you know the Border used to be what United.

Us and Ukraine divided us but the politics have shifted that they're now dividing uh especially among Republicans about whether or not there should be a border deal at all they're it's not about brass tax we've talked a lot about the things that the Democrats were willing to negotiate on some of the things that we're holding this up this.

Really just has to do with whether or not they're going to do a border deal at all a lot of critic ISM about what McConnell had to say including from some Republicans like Mitt Romney we've since heard from leader McConnell following that meeting with Republicans so what's he saying and where do things stand right.

Now yeah that's right so at first we're reporting on a closed door meeting and then the uh Senate Majority Leader McConnell did come forward and he talked about a meeting that he had or things that he said to uh Janet Yellen and President Biden and here's what he had to say I did make it clear to both of them.

That we have to have a credible solution to the wide openen Border in order to get a bill that includes all of the things that I think are important across the senate floor water security needs to be a part of this package if it's going to move out of the Senate and it's important to know when.

He's saying that there were already a number of Provisions that would have dramatically tightened the Border including raising the bar on claiming Asylum and perhaps increasing the number of beds and Ice detention to try to make it so that more migrants are detained as they await their Court hearings there were a lot of very uh you know tangible.

Ways that they were going to make the Border more secure and now he's saying look we need something bigger on border security one thing they could be pointing to in this case is a house bill known as hr2 which is basically a republican wish list of everything they want done at the border basically he's raising the bar here and casting a lot.

Of Doubt on whether or not a deal will be reached at all Julia what level of urgency is going on here with trying to get this done well it used to be something we thought could get done before Christmas before people left for the holidays now then we we started to think it was going to get done last week we've been hearing.

A lot from the negotiators okay text this week text next week at least trying to get it done by the end of January now it seems that there are so many Republicans who are feeling pressure from Trump not to budge at all on board and to basically not get this done because he wants to continue to use this as a political weapon to show that Biden.

Isn't doing anything on the border that the borders are open keep the numbers high so that he can use that in a campaign effort against the current president and so it seems that the urgency to get anything done now may be fading all right Julia amley thank you very much Wall Street is looking to end another week on a strong note following.

Thursday's news about the economy markets reacted positively yesterday to new e economic data showing the economy grew stronger than expected at the end of last year NBC News senior business correspondent Christine Romans takes a closer look at this commercial Glass Factory in Ben Salem.

Pennsylvania owner Josh Berg says the much forecast recession of 2023 never happened the year was good the the year was really really good you had new business maintained existing business grew your Workforce and and grew your Topline and bottom line numbers in a year we expected a recession that's correct as as as counterintuitive as.

That may seem work happening on Factory floors like this one has kept the US economy humming in fact economic growth last year GDP was stronger than the average for the entire decade before the pandemic the economy grew 3.3% in the final 3 months of 2023 for the year a robust 2 and a half% fueled by strong consumer spending and hiring continually.

Throughout the year we have had strong growth and in this case stronger growth than expected President Biden in Superior Wisconsin America now is the strongest growth the lowest inflation rate of any major economy in the world yet polls show Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of the president's handling of the economy the ongoing effects of.

High inflation and the least affordable housing market in more than a generation contributing to many not feeling the country's economic IC growth personally but back in Ben Salem tempered enthusiasm from Josh Berg what was 2023 in a letter grade A minus a minus always room for improvement but a a well- earned Year from everybody here.

That was Christine Roman's reporting the Federal Reserve is set to meet next week where we'll get an updated snapshot on the state of the economy and its plans for interest rates we've got much more to come on this hour of morning news now including some pretty important correspondence between the US and China over America's growing fenel crisis we.

Will take you to Beijing after the break plus the latest on King Charles Health as he is admitted to a London clinic this morning ahead of a procedure on his prostate those stories and much more up next we are back with some breaking news out of the international court of justice right now the icj is about to issue its interim ruling in the case of.

South Africa accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza NBC News foreign correspondent Matt Bradley joins us now from Tel Aviv on this breaking news Matt what's the latest yeah Savannah well the latest is exactly what you said we're now listening to the international court of justice they started 20 minutes ago this.

Is led by the president Joan Donahue who happens to be an American uh she's the president of the icj and she has been reeling through now a lot of the legal issues around this case we have not yet heard a verdict it could happen at any minute but meanwhile we're seeing that the United States is trying to increase the pressure uh on these negotiations to.

Release hostages held by Hamas and other groups in the Gaza Strip Israeli hostages uh and so they're deploying the head of the CIA here's our report this morning the US ramping up its efforts to secure the release of Israeli hostages sending CIA Chief William Burns to Europe in the coming days where he'll meet with his Israeli.

And Egyptian counterparts and Cutter's prime minister hoping to ink a deal that would release all the remaining hostages in exchange for a two-month truce he's the most thoughtful and nice person in the world and he is my best friend for Ron Benjamin's daughter Shai the global efforts are a light at the end of the.

Tunnel this gives us hope and this this is the thing that keeps me going you know I don't know what I would have done if it wasn't happening Israel's assault on Gaza has has now killed more than 26,000 people according to its Hamas run Ministry of Health now survivors face the threat of famine a un report last month said more than 90% of gazin face.

Crisis levels of food insecurity Israel denies there's famine in the Gaza Strip but here Palestinians are preparing to eat animal feed and this crowded kitchen has little to offer but soup and scraps among the crowd of mostly women and children we find Ahmed Al pleading for food but now he's giving up hungry.

Humiliated and empty-handed he returns to his family of 25 a lot of times I go and I won't take anything he said I don't know how to feed them but there's a bit of stale bread softened with water so the children can eat it it may sustain them today but survival tomorrow is another question so savan those images you just.

Saw searing images of the kind we've been seeing for the past 3 months or nearly four months now out of the Gaza Strip those have shocked the world and now they're before the international court of justice where we are about to hear a verdict one that could change the course of this conflict Savannah all right Matt Bradley thank you very much.

Us officials will be in Beijing next week for talks with their Chinese counterparts at issue the fentanyl crisis it is the first time both sides are meeting at a high level to discuss the issue since China China broke off talks in 2022 in retaliation for former speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan for more on this we're joined by NBC.

News forign correspondent Janice Macky freyer in Beijing so Janice who's in this us delegation what exactly are both sides expected to work on well what was described to us as a Joint Task Force is set to be launched next week and it's going to bring together highlevel officials from law enforcement and narcotics control from.

Both countries Ries including us Homeland Security and the DEA this is seen as a significant step uh toward Reviving counternarcotics cooperation which hasn't existed at all since 2022 with Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan and also that had encountered obstacles since 2020 uh with the US putting sanctions on a Narcotics control lab.

Here as well as the Institute of forensic science both falling under the ministry of public security uh that was seen as an obstacle by the Chinese side both of those were removed from the entity list in November uh right after President Biden met with XI Jin ping in San Francisco it was seen as a tradeoff uh a necessary tradeoff uh according to.

The Biden Administration in order to revive the level of cooperation we're going to see here next week and Janice I know you've spoken with the deputy director of China National narcotics Control Commission what did he have to say about all this and what beijing's expectations are here I I spoke with uyan he's the deputy.

Director general of China's narcotics control Bureau that falls under the ministry of public security uh we talked about the challenges uh for China in trying to crack down on chemical supply lines from Chinese companies here there are literally tens of thousands of chemical precursors that can be synthesized to produce the fentanyl.

That's killing so many in Americans but they can also be used for legitimate purposes uh he also talked about uh cryptocurrencies the use of the dark web the fact that the internet uh is transnational but he said the biggest problem uh with the opioid crisis in the United States Still Remains demand so Janice why is this meeting happening now.

Well it's happening now out of necessity um it's it's seen as something that uh uh needs to get back on track in order to try to at least attempt to put a dent in the supply lines uh we've seen the opioid crisis deepen across the US uh there are more deaths now than at any other time in US history uh so this has become a by partisan issue uh in for.

Americans uh officials have been working for months here to try to get things back on track there was a bipartisan delegation that traveled uh to uh China in October met directly with Xi Jinping and senators from both sides appealing to him to do something anything uh to help this crisis that's ravaging so many communities all right Janice thank you.

So much look King Charles at the was admitted to a private London Hospital this morning to undergo what Buckingham Palace is calling quote a corrective procedure for his previously diagnosed en large prostate and it really comes amid quite a bit of medical news for the royal family NBC News forign correspondent Megan Fitzgerald joins us.

With the latest details on this Megan Good morning so what do we know at this point about the king's procedure guys good morning so we know that the King was admitted as you mentioned into the London Clinic which is just about 20 minutes away from where we are here at Buckingham Palace this is the same Hospital where Princess Kate is.

Being treated or where she has just undergone a planned abdominal surgery uh that was last week and we understand NBC News has confirmed that the king uh visited with her this morning ahead of his treatment um we know about the king that he is um seeking treatment he sought treatment for an enlarged prostate um that he's going to be.

Undergoing this corrective procedure um we know that his condition is benign and the reason why he wanted to come forward with this level of information to the world is because he wants to inspire other men who may be feeling symptoms to get checked now what is still unclear is how long he's going to remain in the hospital um but the palace does tell us.

That after the treatment is completed it will be a short recovery period as for uh Princess Kate we understand that uh she should be released any day now it was last week when they said she would recover in the hospital for about 10 to 14 days before she will then be released to go home where she will continue her recovery but we're talking about 2 to 3.

Months for Princess K to fully recover and according to Kensington Palace the advice uh from doctors is that she not resume her duties until after Easter so that certainly gives you a little bit of an idea of how significant of a surgery she underwent but again they have said it is non-cancerous uh and they expect her to resume her duties in a couple of.

Months guys yeah and that's just about all we know right Megan Fitzgerald thank you very much for joining us coming up we are talking about nuns not female members of religious orders in the Catholic church but the opposite actually they are people who identify as nonreligious or nuns and more and more Americans are hopping on board with the.

Idea so what is behind the shift we're going to take a closer look up next we're back now with a historic case in Michigan the involuntary manslaughter trial for the mother of a school shooter who killed four people in opening statements yesterday both sides painted very different portraits of Jennifer.

Crumbley NBC News course respondent Adrien brus has the story a dramatic day of testimony inside of the Oakland County Courthouse over the course of the next 3 weeks prosecutors say they will bring at least 20 witnesses to testify and introduce more than 400 pieces of evidence Jennifer Crumbley didn't pull the.

Trigger that day but she is responsible for those deaths prosecutors laying out why they believe Jennifer Crumbley should be held accountable for her 15-year-old son's actions he killed four people at Oxford High School the defense hitting back he did something she could have never anticipated or fathomed or predicted Crumbley charged with.

Involuntary manslaughter the first parent in the US ever charged in a mass school shooting carried out by their child they didn't do any number of tragically small and easy things that would have prevented all this from happening the defense appearing to shift blame onto to crumb's husband James who has a separate trial James.

Crumbley was responsible for getting the gun out putting the trigger lock back on storing the gun prosecutors showing this video of Jennifer and Ethan together at the gun range and calling its first Witnesses so it entered here and exited here teacher Molly Darnell showed jurors where she was shot that memory still wrong so I looked down and um.

I realize he's raising a gun to me crumbly tearful at times leading to a heated Exchange in front of the judge to have not just the defendant her lawyer sit there sobbing I not the defense asking jurors to keep an open mind and we also learned on Thursday Jennifer Crumbley plans to take the stand her attorneys say their.

Goal is to show who she was as a mother back to you all right Adrien thank you all right we're going to switch gears here according to a recent Pew research study the largest religious group in the country they're now what's called religious nuns but that is n o NES not Nu NS we're talking about those who identify as religiously unaffiliated the.

Study found this group now makes up 28% of American adults and while they may label themselves as unaffiliated that doesn't mean they are all anti-religion here to explain what they found as po Research Center vice president of research nahas seel thank you so much for joining us first can you just expand on this term for us religious nuns like.

What falls into that category how's it defined sure in the United States for public opinion service is quite common to ask people what is your religion if any and we give people the usual options that you a Christian Muslim Jewish Mormon Etc uh but as part of those options we also give people the um the option to say that they are either an.

Atheist or an agnostic or they have no particular religion and together these three categories when people say they're either atheist agnostic or have no particular religion forms the group known as nuns and as you explained n o NES rather than Nu Ms so yeah nuns it's important to note they're not non-believers a majority can still.

Consider them to consider themselves to be spiritual tell us more about what types of belief systems actually fall under this category of n you're absolutely correct there it would be wrong to say that these are these people are anti-religious or completely non-believers they do tell us they believe in God but they also tell us.

That they don't believe in God as described in the Bible rather their views are that they believe in some kind of higher power so you could say that their beliefs tend to be non-traditional uh some of them say they're spiritual that's by no means everybody but half of them say that they that they are spiritual and politically.

They tend to be much more liberal and Democrat ratic leading so this is on the rise it seems I mean just seven years ago the number here was 16% of adults in the US identifying this way now as Joe had mentioned up to 28% what do you think's led to such a jump yeah I would say this is one of the most significant changes in the American.

Religious landscape that we've been documenting at the PE Research Center in 2007 we first measured religious nuns as being 16% fast forward 15 years later were at 28% and now this share of 28% is roughly the same as the share of Evangelical Christians in their country so if you were to think about the American religious landscape kind of as.

A pie this is a big old slice of of that pie H now what is behind the rise of the religious NS that's an interesting question there's two ways to answer that question one this may be part of a broader Trend in American society where people are disaffiliating or disengage engaging we also find that people are less likely to vote uh you know and and.

That they're volunteering less right or they're actually P Research Center surveys also show that they're less likely to now follow the news so it may be part of a broader Trend in in American society where people are sort of opting out uh of traditional institutions in this study we also asked religious nuns why they now have no.

Religion they may have been raised in a religion uh but now they're saying they have none and the most common reason that they gave us is that they just became skeptical at some point about religious beliefs or they had bad experiences with religious institutions or religious people let's talk a little more about politics because we do talk a.

Lot about religious demographics during election Cycles we tend to think evangelicals might be more conservative so when it comes to the nuns group how could this shape the future of spirituality in this country especially when it comes to politics yeah that's that's an important question we know that in the United States uh what people.

Believe religiously is closely tied up with their politics and how they vote so for example we know that Evangelical Christians pretty reliably vote for the Republican party now uh this group the religious nuns they politically are much more democratic and they're much more liberal right but does that mean that they will tilt the election in the favor.

Of the democratic party the answer to that is not so simple because what we also know religious nuns is that they are less civically engaged they are less likely to vote than than other people in the United States H they also have other forms of Civic engagement that stand at at lower levels so we know that elections are won not just by how people.

Think but what they do and that is actually turning out to vote and therein lies the rub with religious nuns they are democratic leaning they are liberal but they are less likely to vote mayle really interesting stuff thank you so much for joining us on this thank you for for having me coming up keeping kids safe while scrolling through the app.

After the break we're going to tell you more about a new Push by meta that's the parent company of Facebook and Instagram to try and better protect the teens and younger adults that are on its platforms stay with us welcome back a Texas school district is headed to court next month the case Center is on a black high school student.

Who was punished for refusing to change his hairstyle NBC News Now anchors in clay Esa has more a heated dispute between a Houston area school district and one of its black high school students is headed to trial Daryl George has been serving an in school suspension and facing other disciplinary actions for more than four.

Months now all because of his hair why like why me out of everybody in that school The Barbers Hill district says it's because George's lock hair style violates its dress code policy which limits hair length for boys but George's family and critics say the move is a violation of the crown act a new Texas law which took effect in September and.

Prohibits race-based hair discrimination I wrote The Crown act I filed it and it is clear locks band to knots twists braids wash and goes blowouts however you wish to wear your hair wigs should be accepted barbar Hill ISD is stealing his high school experience and breaking the law a state judge Now setting a February trial date to determine if.

George's punishment is a violation of the law the family has a real case here especially given that the authors of the bill really believe that this is a situation where the crown act would apply the outcome of this case will absolutely set a precedent especially within the state of Texas George's mother said she was disappointed the.

Judge did not Grant a temporary restraining order that would have stopped her son's punishment until the trial I have have a son 18 years old that wants to go to school that wants to get his education and y'all messing with him why Barber's Hill superintendent telling NBC News in part the crown act says nothing.

About hair length adding it was meant to allow braids locks or twists which the district has always allowed the law was never intended to allow unlimited student expression in a paid ad that ran earlier this month in the Houston Chronicle pool stood behind the district's decisions the ad reading quote we will not lose sight of the main.

Goal high standards for our students by bending to political pressure or responding to misinformed media reports these entities have lesser goals that ultimately harm kids greg p is a liar it is about the fact that he does not like braids locks or any sort of African-American hairstyle which he said and I'm going to prove it to you we.

Spoke with George in December shortly after he was suspended for a second time due to his hair how has this all felt for you is very stressful I'm trying to maintain being a student while also having to deal with this why should I cut my hair for my education my hair has nothing to do with my education what does your hair and your.

Hairstyle mean to you it just means a lot to me it make me feel more closer to my people being without my hair is like cutting me from my people not letting me you know express myself how I feel I should be Zin sah NBC news now let's get to some news out of the social media giant meta they are launching new safety protections on Facebook messenger and on.

Instagram specifically aimed at teens NBC News senior National correspondent Stephanie gusk has the details for parents worried about who is messaging their teenagers on social media meta says it hears them announcing changes to accounts on Facebook messenger and Instagram for teenagers under 16 years old today we're.

Announcing a new default setting for teens around messaging that make makes Instagram safer for them blocking DMS from anyone who they don't follow and aren't connected to for parent supervised accounts changes made to that setting or any other safety and privacy setting now has to be approved by a parent we believe that parents know.

What's best for their individual child and we want to do what we can to empower parents to make those decisions to shape Instagram the announcement comes after steps taken earlier this month that limit teen's ability to see potentially harmful material and to alert them when they are spending a lot of time on the app at night 95% of teens use social.

Media and are on it more than three hours a day which the Surgeon General says puts them at higher risk for depression and anxiety critics say these measures announced by meta don't go nearly far enough these changes are about as effective as a screen door on a submarine techsavvy teenagers May easily navigate around restrictions how how.

Difficult is it for a teenager to lie about his or her age and set up an Instagram account it is so simple because we've never put in age verification and age Assurance requirements by the way a trillion dollar company can figure that out oh thanks to Stephanie Gus for that report Financial headlines now Tesla.

Stock just saw its worst day of trading in a year cnbc's Pippa Stevens joins us now with that and other money headlines this morning hey Pippa good morning Savannah well Tesla suffering its worst day in a year as the stock tumbles more than 12% wiping out 80 billion in market value the drop coming as CEO Elon Musk warns sales growth will slow this year.

Despite several price cuts that have curtain margins at the electric vehicle maker that's fueling concerns about soft demand and competition in China Tesla has lost more than 200 billion in value just this month Levi Strauss will cut up to 15% of its corporate Workforce during the first half of this year the move is part of a 2-year restructuring plan that.

Aims to cut costs and streamline operations at the iconic company Levi had about 19,000 employees as of the end of November since peing 3 years ago Levi stock pric is down nearly 50% and Nintendo will likely launch a new game console later this year with a bigger screen according to a top analyst in Japan Nintendo switch which is 7 years.

Old has sold more than 130 million units and is approaching the end of its life cycle the company hasn't said anything about a potential successor but the new device is expected to hit stores in time for this year's holiday shopping season I love that we're 26 days into the new year and already talking about the holiday season yeah no get your gift.

Early all right esap Pippa thanks so much thank you coming up there are only 6 months until the Paris Olympic Games and we are kicking off the celebrations a little a little early that's right after the break our conversation with Brody Malone a decorated gymnast who competed in the Tokyo games and now has his sight set on France that's next.

Stick around welcome back in my home state of Minnesota snowplows and their drivers put in some pretty long hours working hard to clear up all those snowy roads so naturally every year thousands of people opt to give the plows names well early next week the state will announc the winners of the fourth annual name.

Snowplow contest more than 8,000 submissions were narrowed down to a list of just 49 finalists only eight of them will be bestowed or bestowed on the plows of this year's contenders are Aaron burer you'll recognize that one if you're a Hamilton fan and in honor of you Savannah we have Taylor drifts we've also got don't flurry be happy who let.

The plows out and dolly plen also I like this one too oh for sleet's sake it's a very Minnesota expression Twisted right there voting ends on Sunday so those are really cast your votes Taylor drift and who let the plows out I think actually who let the might be my okay thanks Jo well the 2024 Olympic games are now just six months away thousands of athletes.

Will head to Paris to compete in the summer games NBC News Chief International correspondent Kier Simmons takes a look at how the city is preparing ing for one of the biggest sporting events in the world the clock is ticking down to the Paris games the merchandise already on sale the venues almost ready we got a.

Look at the athletes Village it's going to be ready oh yeah that's that's the crucial question we are perfectly on time already early 6 months from the games and they tell us the Olympic Village will be ready in 6 weeks 3,000 apartments for more than 14,000 athletes and staff many venues are being recycled the 1924 Paris.

Olympic swimming pool is being refurbished are you putting the water from the sen in here no no the send the centerpiece of the games hosting the first opening ceremony outside a stadium other iconic landmarks will become venues like the plasterer Concord where Olympic breaking will Premiere Sunny Choy will be there for Team USA.

I'll be like sitting on the plane all a sudden I feel like tears in my eyes and I'm like wait I'm going this is happening like right now as for the hometown fans basketball is a huge draw with NBA star Victor wanyama expected to lead Team France which country is going to get gold in the basketball you sure.

What actually I think the us is going to get it the us as always we'll see in just six months Kia Simmons NBC News Paris and no one understands the countdown to the Olympics perhaps better than our next guest gymnast Brody Malone he's a Tokyo Olympian two-time us all-around champ and a Paris 2024 Olympic gymnastics hopeful Brody good.

Morning good to have you with us so we'll dig into the fun of Paris in just a moment but we want to get an update on you you competed for the first time since your leg injury this past weekend you were at the Houston National Invitational how did it feel to get back out there how are you feeling right now oh it was incredible to get back out.

There um anytime you get a chance to raise your hand in front of a judge is just a great experience and it was my first time competing in about 10 months um so it was it was good to get the nerves going again and just get back out there even if I wasn't doing Dismounts it was it was still awesome and how was your recovery process I I imagine it was.

Pretty intensive just knowing a little bit about the injury you suffered yeah so the recovery process has been uh long definitely um but I'm on the right trajectory um I've started running on treadmill Sprint uh sprinting on treadmill um so I'm getting back and there's still a little there's still uh I'm still dealing with a little bit of.

Pain but that's part of it so absolutely um so you won the US all-around title in 2021 and 2022 and at the G 2022 gymnastics World Championships you also won the high bar title and of course as we mentioned you've been to Tokyo what would it mean to you to make the team this year oh it would it would mean everything especially with my injury um.

Coming back and going through this it's a you know big big roadblock but if I was able to come back and make the Olympics it would it would be amazing um i' I'd want a chance to kind of redeem myself after uh the Tokyo Olympics and get a medal talk about the mindset six months out how do you approach the upcoming Olympic trials and everything.

You need to do to reach this goal yeah so the mindset is just I mean I have to do everything I can do day in and day out um inside the gym and outside the gym so um inside the gym I'm working my butt off training super hard and outside of the gym I got to make sure that I'm doing everything in my power fueling my body properly getting the right amount.

Of sleep everything I do affects how I uh perform in the gym so that's kind of how I look at it you were the only actually us gymnast to compete on all six events in the Team final at Worlds in 2022 obviously with what you've gone through in the time in between and with your recovery things may have changed so what can we expect to see you on um at.

The upcoming trials is is it all six events or how you feeling um well hopefully I'll be able to get there not really sure yet it just kind of depends on uh the trajectory of my knee I will at least be doing uh four events so everything except floor and Vault um but right now I'm training on uh tumble track I'm doing some actual tumbling um.

So we'll just see we'll see how it goes BR we understand you recently got engaged congratulations to uh you and your fian say a there you go that's perfect location well done on that one right there talk about just the motivation that comes from having someone in your corner and how you balance the personal life with trying to.

Just achieve this incredible goal of going to the Olympics yeah um it was a little bit harder when I lived in uh California when I was training at Stanford but I I'm training in Florida now and she lives in Georgia so she's able to fly down all the time and U I get to see her a lot so that has been great and just as.

Far as having her in my corner um it's it's incredible she gives me so much support and I'm just so grateful to have her in my life and I'm I can't wait to be married to her oh by the way I like um I I think it was maybe her on the Instagram caption of those gorgeous photos set something like it's about time I know that feeling so I like that.

She called you out on it it's so funny um Brody at this point are you kind of like daydreaming at all about Paris are you imagining being there what's the anticipation like yeah there you go no definitely not the wedding there but yeah I'm definitely dreaming about it a little bit but um I try to take it one day at a time.

Um every day presents its own challenges and you just have to I like to take it one day at a time and not really think about the future too far in advance so I mean I've still got a lot of work to do to make the Olympic team so that's kind of where my mind is at right now yeah good advice for us all feel like the Paris backdrop could be a little.

Distracting for everyone but we'll see what Happ there's too much to do there yeah Bry Malone thanks for joining us congratulations on all your success and your return we look forward to following you in the coming months good luck we'd love to check in appreciate it thank you Brody it's going to do it for this this hour of morning news now but the news.

Continues right now stay with us good morning happy Friday I'm Savannah Sellers and I'm Joe frier right now on Morning News Now Super Soaker millions of Americans waking up under flood alerts as rain water logs the East Coast lifethreatening flash floods slam parts of the South forcing people to.

Abandon their cars some areas faced up to an inch of rain per hour we're tracking where that system is heading now as the cleanup in the South gets underway plus Alabama carries out the first American execution using nitrogen gas but we know about the method the push back and what it could mean for the future of capital punishment in America.

Also this morning Trump on the stand defending himself briefly in the defamation suit brought by eege Carroll his clash with the judge and the remarks he made which were quickly Struck from the record and the weekend is here we have a double dose of entertainment first we're breaking down everything heading to your screens this weekend.

With your can't miss list and later my conversation with WWE Superstars in real life couple Bianca belir and Montes Ford talk about everything from this weekend's Royal Rumble to their new reality show to making history in the ring good morning good to have you with us I'm Joe frier I'm Savannah sellers we have a can't miss and flipping the.

Script exactly we piling all on for the weekend ahead we're going to begin of course with the soaking wet weather hitting several parts of the country this morning yeah Millions remain under flood alerts this morning in the south Mississippi has already received several inches of rain with the heavy downpours causing flooding across the region and.

Here's a look just Northwest of Houston where heavy downpours have caused streams to overflow their Banks now that same system has made its way overnight into the Northeast with with Boston directly in its path and that is where we find NBC News correspondent Aaron mcglaughlin this morning Aaron good morning hey Savannah good morning as you.

Can see it is raining here in Boston but let's talk about what happened yesterday in the South the South getting absolutely pummeled by rain that storm system now making its way up North with tens of millions of Americans on the East Coast on flood watch the already sat ated Southern Plains are facing more wet weather this.

Morning any additional rain uh is going to impact already saturated grounds and you'll have that quick runoff of water communities drenched with an inch per hour rainfall rates in some areas more rain falling on soggy soil and swollen Rivers leading to severe flooding and in some cases dangerous road conditions in Louisiana homes and businesses flooded.

Submerged cars abandoned and even kayakers taking to waterlog streets the community is soaked some of the ditches are still full it's not going to dry up in a day or so the same system bringing high winds that destroyed This Barn setting chickens loose on the wreckage we heard something crashing severe weather sent a massive tree slamming.

Into this man's home found the front living room and carport area had a tree through it farther south heavy rains drowning this park now completely underwater turn around don't drown it near Houston Texas a creek overflowing into this low-lying road the flooding there leading to evacuations and rescues when you do get to the dips or the lower.

Areas they're going to be prone for flooding in addition to the Rain fog affecting visibility in some areas for a third consecutive day up north the combination of rain and snow melt leading to more flood concerns States from Texas to Massachusetts are seeing more than double the historical average of January precipitation with nearly a.

Week left to go before February and there is some good news in the forcast for Boston all this wetness you see here well that's expected to dry out in the coming hours with warmer than average temperatures and let's talk about those temperatures in some cases here in the United States the average high being.

30° higher than average which is pretty incredible especially when you consider what we were seeing Play out across the country last week with this intense Arctic blast these wild temperature swings leaving millions of Americans wondering what's going to happen next guys all right Aaron mcclin thank you so much let's bring in NBC News.

Meteorologist Michelle Gman with a look at what's in store for the weekend yeah Michelle good morning just how much rain should we expect well a lot of us are going to see more rain this weekend and Sunday playoff games we going to be on the couch for many of us because we're looking at soaking rain still in the South that's the big weather story today.

Heavy rain throughout the South Central States especially the gulf coast states could see some stronger storms better chance for stronger storms tomorrow but notice that rain extends all the way to portions of the Northeast I do think we're going to get a little break in cities like New York City Philadelphia it's not going to be the prettiest of.

Days we could see a little break in the cloud covered and mostly cloudy skies but we won't see the rain falling all afternoon the rain though will still be falling in portions of the Northern parts of the Northeast and even some freezing precipitation as it interacts with that colder air could see accumulating snow in northern Maine also.

Some freezing rain in portions of New Hampshire also Vermont some rain in the Great Lakes and as you look towards the West we have another storm system moving on Shore so River moisture once again it's storm after storm and this is what's making its way cross country so we're looking at soaking rain along along the west coast from the Pacific.

Northwest into Northern California that's going to bring the chance of localized flooding some Mountain snow as well in the Cascades the Rockies also seeing some uh Mountain snow we foggy and we've been foggy for days in many spots so a tough start to the day then as we go go throughout Saturday that Western wash out still continues with.

That heavy rain falling along the coast the Mountain snow Midwest warmth does continue and then look at this kind of tacked in the same place heavy heavy rain in portions of the southeast into the Tennessee Valley this is where we're looking at the chance for some storms into Georgia also Alabama could see some really Gusty winds a chance of a few.

Tornadoes as well Sunday drying out in portions of the South that's good news we're looking at still some linger rain in portions of the Pacific Northwest into the Inner Mountain West some record highs but notice what happens in the Mid-Atlantic also in the Northeast we have more rain in the forecast and then I think the I95 quarter should be just.

Rain uh but we're going to look at some snow falling in the interior parts of the Northeast into parts of New England this is what we're going to watch over the next couple of days so storm number one that's what's affecting us today we have heavy rain falling throughout the great lakes that freezing precipitation storm number two this is where we're see.

This come through by uh Sunday where we're going to see that heavy rain falling so for today lingering rain Midwest to the Northeast some ice some snow across Northern New England by tomorrow we're looking at the next surge of rain developing over the Southern Plains another round of flooding possible uh so we're going to see.

Anywhere from 1 to 3 in but it is so saturated so any sort of additional rain could cause some flash flooding then as we near tomorrow uh we're looking at Heavy Rain pushing into the Mid-Atlantic that severe weather threat across Alabama and also Georgia that would mainly be in the evening hours and by Sunday that steady rain returning to the.

Coast of uh the eastern coast where we're looking at rain from Philadelphia Adelphia New York City but just a little bit further north we're looking at that snowf falling and could see accumulating snow in portions of New England something to watch as we go throughout the next couple of days 18 million people under flood alerts especially in.

The South Atlanta Montgomery New Orleans could see some flooding today and this is why we're looking at that radar showing us where that rain is falling flash flooding too this is super dangerous as you're out and about so where you see that darker blue Jackson Alexandria New Orleans you could see hourly rainfall rates of 1 to 2 Ines per.

Hour 1 to 3 in that's what we're expecting could see a little bit higher amounts where you see those darker colors snow amounts not expecting Blockbuster amounts but enough to slow us down in parts of New England into the inter interior parts of Northeast could see up to three inches in some spots uh that weekend wash out will continue.

Especially Saturday we're looking at the gulf coast states and then by Sunday we are looking at that impacting portions of the Northeast so another weekend wash out with heavy heavy rainfalling this is all coming from the south it's pulling that moisture and that's why we're getting those torrential downpour let's talk about the temperature divide.

Because I don't really want to end it here I'm going to hear it from Savannah and Joe because we have this temperature divide that if you're in DC you're looking pretty good temperatures in the70s might reach 80 Dees but that front out crazy so we're going to watch that but that temperature divide is really close to us so unfortunately New.

York City Philadelphia staying in the 40s today okay I'm happy about that January it should be cold here oh I like a little I like a little 80° in January day of 80 that would have been fine by me freaks me out thanks Michelle bye this morning here in New York closing arguments are set to get underway in egene Carroll's civil defamation case.

Against former president Trump Mr Trump clashed with the judge before briefly taking the stand yesterday but the judge struck much of his testimony from the record all this while Trump continues to focus on the race for the White House ramping up his attacks on former un un Ambassador Nikki haly NBC News chief White House correspondent Peter.

Alexander joins us with the very latest Peter good morning Hey Joe good morning to you Mr Trump is expected to be there for those closing arguments today again campaigning from the courtroom this time as he waits to learn how much he owes writer egene Carroll for Branding her a liar meanwhile his threats to ban anyone who donates to his Republican rival.

Nikki Haley appear to be backfiring with the Haley campaign overnight saying Trump's scheme blew up in his face for former president Trump on tap today closing arguments and possibly a verdict as a jury weighs how much money and damages he must pay writer egene Carroll for defaming her Mr Trump speaking out in a video posted overnight.

I don't even know who this woman is this is another scam Mr Trump who last May was found liable for sexually abusing Carol stood by his denial of that accusation in the courtroom on Thursday saying he quote wanted to defend myself my family and frankly the presidency the judge quickly striking that statement as he tries to nail down his party's.

Nomination Mr Trump is Raging about Nikki Haley's refusal to exit the race and has been lobing personal attacks at Haley wow what a great Victory but then somebody ran up to the stage all dressed up nicely the former president is threatening to Blacklist Haley donors warning they quote will be permanently barred from the Maga Camp an attack.

Haley appeared to welcome her campaign now selling T-shirts that read barred permanently and quickly raising more than a million dollars in less than 24 hours still Mr Trump is not alone in the pressure campaign to force Haley out the Republican National Committee was eyeing a move to declare the former president the party's presumptive 2024 nominee as.

Early as next week according to a draft resolution obtained by NBC news but after Mr Trump rejected the idea the RNC backed off according to a source familiar with the resolution it's a great day in South Carolina despite a double- digigit deficit in her home state according to polls Haley will hold back-to-back.

Rallies there this weekend not backing down but ramping up Jabs at her former boss he didn't talk about the American people once he talked about revenge and back here in Washington we are getting perhaps the clearest display of Mr Trump's influence over republicans in Congress looking to possibly derail a.

Bipartisan border deal this the Senate as you know has been working for months on trying to get this Security deal getting closer to what some Republicans have described as the best opportunity in decades to get it done but Mr Trump's public push to kill it is now severely complicating things here top Republican Mitch McConnell behind closed doors just.

This week telling his colleagues they may not want to quote undermine Donald Trump on the issue since he wants to run on it now Democrats and Republicans including Trump allies are blasting the former president's opposition to any deal one Republican slamming it in his words as immoral to do nothing because you think it could help Mr Trump win Joe.

In Savannah all right Peter thank you so much we turn now to the state of Alabama where the first ever execution via nitrogen gas has been performed it was the state's second execution attempt on 58-year-old convicted murderer Kenneth Smith after a failed lethal injection in 2022 NBC News correspondent Emily aeta has the details.

Hey there this controversial and untested method was used in place of lethal injection Smith's legal team argued it may lead to pain and suffering in those last minute legal battles but the state says the execution proceeded as planned overnight an unprecedented execution going forward in Alabama the.

State performing the country's first ever nitrogen gas execution on convicted killer Kenneth Smith officials saying the execution began at 7:53 p.m. local time and Smith was pronounced dead at 8:25 they added the nitrogen flowed for about 15 minutes and that Smith had labored breathing he struggled against his restraints a little bit but there's.

Some involuntary movement and some agonal breathing so uh that was all expected the corrections commissioner saying he appeared to be holding his breath as long as he could the 58-year-old was convicted for the 1988 murder for high killing of Elizabeth Senate he had been in prison for 35 years Smith was scheduled to die in.

November 2022 to but the attempt at lethal injection didn't work before the execution the Supreme Court rejected another last ditch effort from Smith's legal team to stop it arguing it could lead to prolonged pain and suffering though State officials have testified in court that nitrogen gas is painless and Humane according to Media Witnesses.

Inside the chamber Smith quote Shook and rived for about two minutes on a gurnie followed by several minutes of deep breaths Smith's spiritual adviser Reverend Jeff Hood witnessed the execu and we also saw correction correction officials in the room who were visibly surprised at how bad this thing went victim Elizabeth Senate's family.

Reflecting on the impact of Smith's crime as they look towards closure after years of loss Kenneth Smith made some bad decisions 35 years ago and his debt was paid tonight and NBC News has reached out to the AL Obama Department of Corrections for more information on the reaction.

From Witnesses but we have not heard back State officials have said Smith's response to the gas was part of the known side effects and what they were expecting back to you all right Emily AA thank you let's turn now to some breaking news out of the international court of justice the icj has just delivered its inm ruling the case was.

Brought by South Africa which accuses Israel of committing genocide in Gaza among the measures approved the court has ordered Israel to quote take all measures within its power to prevent genocide in Gaza NBC News foreign correspondent Matt Bradley joins us now from Tel Aviv Matt good morning so walk us through this ruling here what are the.

Emergency measures it's ordered yeah so this was a consequential ruling because you know there's this uh there were these issues of whether or not the court could even had jurisdiction over this Israel had asked for this case to be thrown out and this was a case that was brought by South Africa some eight injunctions brought.

Against Israel and the Court ruling which we just heard just moments ago said that Israel needs to ensure it does not commit genocide punish those who incite to genocide provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza prevent the destruction of evidence of the genocide and that Israel needs to submit a report to the court within the next month.

Describing how they have uh worked towards all of these measures that you're now seeing on your screen so we should be hearing from Israel in a month if they're hoping to comply with the court worth noting that the international criminal uh the international court of justice doesn't have any teeth to impose these.

Punishments and Israel had called these allegations absurd and now we just heard from the right-wing minister of National Security here in Israel uh that this was an anti-semitic ruling but at the same time the residents of Gaza and the Palestinian people and those who have been calling for a ceasefire throughout the entire world are also likely to be.

Disappointed by this ruling because it doesn't go so far as South Africa had asked for an immediate ceasefire which is a demand that we've been hearing from all corners of the globe as Israel's incursion into the Gaza Strip now has killed well more than well more than 26,000 people most of them civilians in the Gaza Strip so this is a case uh that.

Is going to continue this was as you mentioned a preliminary ruling the final ruling on whether or not Israel was committing or is committing genocide in the Gaza Strip that could be years away but given that they didn't ask for an immediate halt to uh hostilities in the Gaza Strip it is un likely according to analysts and experts on International.

Justice that the court will finally rule in the end that Israel was committing genocide because the bar for the final ruling of genocide is so much higher but still guys this is a really consequential decision the really big thing here was that the court decided to entertain these injunctions these requests from South Africa at all this.

Was something uh that the court decided they had jurisdiction on decided that South Africa had the right to make these claims against Israel that is uh really important for international diplomacy very important for the efficacy of the Court even though it doesn't have the teeth or the implementation power to impose these rules but it just goes to.

Show that Israel is being watched by the International Community for its actions in the Gaza Strip guys Matt Bradley on this breaking news for us thank you very much still got a lot more news to get to on morning news now stay with us more after the break welcome back to tomorrow people around the world will Mark International.

Holocaust Remembrance Day January 27th is the date when the Nazi concentration and extermination camp owitz was liberated in 1945 it's a time to remember and honor the memory of the 6 million Jewish victims of the Holocaust and the millions of other victims of Nazi persecution joining us now on this is Marina Rosenberg she is senior vice.

President of international Affairs for the Anti-Defamation League Marina good morning thank you very much for joining us today so this the United Nations established this day back in 2005 tell us kind of what it's turned into since then and its importance yeah good morning so tomorrow on Saturday we're going to honor the.

Memory of the Six Million Jews and other uh non-jews victims who perished during the Nazi regime in Europe and Beyond during the second world war as you well mentioned this was a decision by the United Nation back in 2005 after a a diplomatic effort from diplomats all over the world understanding that the Holocaust should.

Have a special International Day and to remembered not by Jews alone but everybody else in order to make sure that history does not repeat itself you know Marina though decades later we are seeing right now a rise in anti-semitic incidents globally what do you think needs to be done to just combat the rise in hate that we're.

Seeing yes so um I think that this year more than ever the importance of remembering H the horrors of the Holocaust and understanding how hateful speech brings to hateful acts and can eventually bring to horrible events La a full genocide and this year we're see a spike in anti-Semitism not just in the United.

States where we're seeing a 360% rise only in the past three months Jo uh but we're seeing it all over the world in France yesterday the ministry of interior U published their numbers of anti-Semitic incidents mentioning a rise of 1,000% in the past three months with over 1,250 50 anti-semitic incidents in.

H in France alone in the UK as well authorities are talking of a a spike of 3,000 incidents across the country and hundreds in London alone we're hearing the same from countries like Argentina Brazil with 961 per Rising anti-Semitism again only in the past three months and we're um going towards a this year of 2023 that is going to be the worst year.

In decades with anti-semitic incidents H around the world so we we really are calling leaders and not just political leaders but influencers H to take this into account and to take concrete measures to make sure that anti-Semitism goes down in this country and around the world yeah that is important too when you talk influencers.

Especially in in the social media space because of how much content there is around denying the Holocaust which is kind of shocking on a lot of these platforms Marina tell us what events will be taking tomorrow and what people can do to commemorate the day Savannah I just want to mention the the issue of denialism is of great concern uh to us.

Personally um the family of my grandparents from both sides have died in the Holocaust and most of them in uh in Poland and to see how Holocaust denialism again is rising in these past month and years in social media and uh and Beyond and becoming almost normal is of great concern and causes a great pain of course to.

Holocaust survivals but also to second and third Generations uh of survivals and unfortunately it's even more shockingly since we see the same kind of denialism post October 7 events and this is um we're talking about events that happened three and a half months ago and not just of Holocaust that happened.

79 years ago um regarding your question on the events so normally governments especially in the in the western H world are doing a special events to commemorate the victims of the Holocaust they do it with the Jewish communities and non communities the UN itself commemorates it but beyond the commemoration and special um events we.

Really need leaders to take more concrete measures to remember the Holocaust we're seeing this a a horrible rise in a lack of understanding and knowledge ER in schools around the country and around the world H we have data of 35% of people that answered our Global 100 survey a few years ago that never heard.

Of the Holocaust and many that heard of the the Holocaust think that it didn't happen in such a a tragic extent as it is so it's really alarming data and numbers and we have to fight it Marina Rosenberg thank you so much for your time this morning we really really do appreciate it now much making international headlines thousands of.

Australians protesting the holiday that some call Invasion day NBC News forign correspondent claudo lavanga joins us from Rome claudo good morning Savannah Joe good morning well that's right January 26 is Australia Day but is also a controversial day because it's a holiday marking also the anniversary of the British colonization.

Uh of that country well now thousands of Australians this year joined the call to turn it into a day of mourning instead now let me give you a bit of a history of this on January the 26th 1788 the first 11 British ships carrying convicts arrived in present day Sydney and protesters say that day marked the beginning of a period of discrimination.

And expulsion of indigenous people from their land now on Thursday Two monuments symbolizing Australia's Colonial past were damaged in Melbourne and today thousands of people took to the streets in big cities like Melbourne and Sydney asking for Australia Day to be moved to another date and let's go over to Spain now where a judge proposed that the.

Country's former soccer Federation president Luis rubiales CHS stand trial over a kiss he forced upon the Spanish female team's Captain after they won the World Cup last year right after the team's historic win in Australia rubiales grabbed the player Jenny Herm Moo's head and kissed her on the mouth she later said the kiss was not.

Consensual and rubiales resigned now a judge in Spain has found there is enough evidence for the Met to proce proceed to trial well Penal for penalties for such a kiss range from a fine to four years in prison and let's end this toour of the world in London where an early work from British Artist David hotney is going up for auction it shows two naked.

Figures in an outdoor swimming pool and was painted by hawne in 1965 after a trip to Los Angeles now the painting was last seen in 1979 and will now be the highlight of selected works of art from the 20th and 21st century auction is on March the 7th the estimated price $20 million back to you guys good I'll try to add it to my.

Collection clao thank you very much make your bids we're now just 6 months away from the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris yeah starting in July we'll be able to witness the world's best athletes competing in everything from some favorites like swimming and gymnastics and then also some new events like break dancing making its debut this.

Year this morning we are lucky to be joined by Olympic medalist and member of the US Women's National gymnastics team Jordan child Jordan it is great to have you with us you recently competed won several medals at the Pan-American games in Chile just how excited are you about thinking about Paris well first off thank you guys so.

Much for having me I'm really excited this definitely is crazy to even think that we're already six months out um I'm really excited just to be able to experience you know another Olympic cycle an Olympic Journey that you know not a lot of people get to experience so this should be a fun year and there's definitely a lot of talent out there for.

Sure tell us what is kind of like these next six months are like I mean we know it's this team sport as well as an individual sport which is pretty unique when you think about you know so many of the other games in the Olympics and then also there's so much physically but also mentally something that we've seen very much play out with with our girl Simone.

As she competed on the biggest stage like what is those duality of both of those things the individual aspect versus team as well as mental and physical how do you prep for that so as an individual obviously you know you have the ability to control what you're doing within yourself whether it's mental physical emotional um you know.

Very well being able to make sure you're okay throughout the time process but also having a teammate or even just a team in general can help you a lot as well obviously leading into you know the last year Olympics there were some um that incident that did happen with her but you know being able to have a team right beside you helping you and.

Supporting you you definitely got the ability just to relax and enjoy the rest of the time being so team and individual is all within yourself for sure for me personally I kind of just like focus on myself and making sure that mentally I am okay because that's a huge thing that has been um a topic for sure and we want to make sure all the athletes are okay.

Whether it's in gymnastics swimming whatever it is because this is a really hard time and that's really at the Forefront of so many athletes mind right now so you joined the US Olympic team at a younger age now you you're older you're more mature you're taking on a leadership role within Team USA what's that like and what does that mean to you.

Being able to be you know a veteran at the top with you know a bunch of other amazing athletes as well it's really cool knowing that you have the ability to inspire the younger generation I will be 23 this year which is really crazy to say but having the ability to understand not just the process of what it's been like already but just giving the younger.

Generation a heads up like yes this is a tough time but once you put that hard work and effort that you've been doing for not just one year four years but your whole life the outcome will definitely be the best thing you'll ever have in your life for sure Jordan Charles thank you so much we wish you all the best as we approach these next.

Six months leading up to Paris we love you joining us thank you for being here no thank you for having me absolutely coming up the man accused of murdering four college students in Idaho is Dub back in a courtroom this morning the big question hanging over when the trial will start and the toll that waiting for justice is taking on the parents of the.

victims welcome back Brian cerer the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students is expected to be back in court today among the issues to be settled whether a date for the trial can finally be set this morning we're hearing from the family of one of the victims NBC News correspondent Liz CZ.

Says more on what we can expect today hey there yeah first up today it will be more procedural hearings Brian cober's team has repeatedly tried to get the grand jury indictment against him thrown out but the bigger news may come after that the parents of Kaylee Gonzalez told me they're hoping to get a date for the trial set for this.

Summer Brian kig are expected back in court today for the first time in the New Year and all eyes are on whether they leave with a new trial date set it's time to prepare time to be time to get ready and time to get some answers the prosecution is requested the trial be held this summer when schools are out of session the parents of victim Kaylee.

Gonzales told us if that doesn't happen they're concerned it we be pushed to Summer 2025 we know if they don't push for this summer we're looking at a year over a year and um that's mindboggling it's sickening all right cober is charged with the murder of four University of Idaho students Zanna kodal Ethan shapen Madison Mogan and Kay alz.

In November 2022 a judge entered a not- guilty plea on his behalf and he said through a former attorney he believes he'll be exonerated steveen chrisy Gonzalez preparing to again come face to face with the suspect in court today how does it feel to see Brian cober in that courtroom it's hard to keep control of yourself you know it's not fun to see.

This person um um be able to sit and with a nice tidy haircut cut nice plain shave a suit before they get to the question of the trial date several procedural hearings cober's team asking the court to reconsider its previous decision to deny their motions to dismiss the grand jury indictment the more that they can complicate it and the.

More that they can delay it um it is harder for the state um you know to have to put their arms around all of the earlier this month the judge ordered the prosecution to turn over to the defense some of the DNA records They say LED them to cober that's all under seal we just want to know about the evidence there's just a lot of unknowns and you.

Know how long do you have to wait before you can find out about your own child's you know life and and what happened who did this and how do you hold them accountable and as Christy gonzal has pointed out Brian cober has been allowed to wear a suit in his pre-trial appearances a former County prosecutor in Idaho told us that is highly unusual.

She says in every case she's tried in her 33 years the defendant came came to court in their jail clothing for pre-trial hearings a court spokesperson told us back in June cober's attorney asked if he could wear his own clothes and the judge agreed back to you L thank you for more on this case let's now bring in NBC News Now legal.

Analyst Angela sadella Angela good morning thanks for being here so let's start with getting a date for this because it seems like this balance of these delays with victim for these with Justice exed for these victims families when do you think we're going to get that and how does that process work well we hope that we will actually get a date.

At today's hearing so perhaps that will be solved and you know you feel so much for these victim's families as you hear about them but in the court of law what matters most is that the defendant has a right to AFF Fair trial so to the extent that the defense does continue to raise motions that the judge considers to be relevant unfortunately the victim's.

Families and their right to a speedy trial is not really relevant we know this isn't cober's first attempt to trying to get the indictment thrown out out is this argument any stronger or any different no I mean he's had so many arguments that the judge at this point has said wow very creative which is not a compliment from a judge but he's I.

Mean they've thrown everything out but that is really what a defense team should do be vigorous in the defense of their defendant including things like there was the wrong standard used the jury instructions were improper that the evidence was not shared properly with the defense so all of these arguments were dismissed they will continue to be.

Dismissed but we do hope to get a trial today as we heard in Liz's piece that the judge had ordered the prosecution to turn over these DNA records to the defense walk us through that yes so we as the public will not ever know what was in those records because they were sealed as part of the grand jury indictment so that genology data is not.

Even what led to the Warren or LED to coburger but it was almost like a family tree that determined who could be possible suspects possible matches from the DNA that was taken from the knife sheath so the defense there argued that they should have access because then they would know who other possible matches could be so they are continuing.

To seed Reasonable Doubt all right Angela thank you as always coming up next a tag team edition of flipping the script how a pair of husband and wife WWE Superstars are slamming competitors inside the ring and making history outside of it that's up next how to our series flipping the.

Script featuring people on air on on stage behind the scenes and in the ring we're shining a spotlight on diversity enter Bianca Bair and Montes Ford it is a big week for the married WWE Superstars they'll both be at the Royal Rumble event tomorrow in Florida and next week their reality TV show premieres on Hulu it's called love and.

WWE Bianca and montz on top of that it was just announced this week Belair is one of the superstars on the cover of the latest edition of of the popular WWE 2K video game making history is the first black woman to be featured on that cover I sat down with belir and Ford a few days ago to talk about their skyrocketing careers and the importance.

Of representation Royal Rumble week for first let's do the primer for those who don't know what the Royal Rumble is how do you explain it to them in an easy digestible way let's do this as a tag so the Royal Rumble that's how dramatic it.

Is way you get eliminated is over the top rope the last person in that ring gets a World Heavyweight Championship match at WrestleMania how big of a deal is that that's the biggest deal there if anyone doesn't know what professional wrestling is or what WWE is about this is the time this is like essentially our playoffs forward and the speed Tak tight.

Now Mont it's huge I mean this is the time of the year where you want to be at your Prime it's the grandest stage of them all so you want to get to WrestleMania it's stressful it's hectic it's just it's nonstop and so the Royal Rumble is very special because it just jump starts all of that speaking of jump starting look what it did to you won.

Right you won2 Inc young lady crating an incredible moment for someone like me I was pretty new and I actually won the Royal Rumble uh I was the first uh black woman to ever win the Royal Rumble and that led me to then Main Event WrestleMania where I became one of the first black women to Main Event.

WrestleMania I went a title at that match then I won an espb so that all started by winning the Royal Rumble so I feel like it has some meaning in your household right oh yeah oh yes we're always ready to rumble where she wants her K being the first black woman to win the Royal Rumble what was the significance of that I mean I'm guessing.

When you talk to your fans especially your young fans and you see little black girls what what how do they respond to that uh it's it's my why um it's like it's everything is about representation for me and I didn't even realize I made history until after the MCH it blew my mind because I wasn't even trying to make history so I just.

Want that to be inspiration for you know other little girls that look like me people who look up to me that like just go after your dreams and you can make history you don't have to go to the history books to find history you can become history so I want that to be inspiration for other people every time I'm in the kitchen you in the kitchen.

This my house too I pay for a fourth of the bills around here you guys have something that most Superstars don't have in WWE which is you are in a relationship you are married what is that like I'm I'm sure there's pros and cons let's start with the pros what are the pros the pros is uh you get to be with each other all the time and like.

Essentially for us well know for me I'm not going to speak for I'm speaking for me it's not fair I know for me that makes everything so much easier you know because when you do go through the these Peaks and valleys and life and when you're on the road and when you're doing the WWE you know they're always there to comfort you like you know she's my piece.

Are there cons there are they're are cons you know when you know you want to give somebody the silent treatment you can't because you're in the car for 4 hours it's like this is going to be a long car ride so it helps us work on our communication it's a balance of really trying to figure out when to be husband and wife and when to be a WWE Superstar.

It's bright highlight could probably sh me from space if I had in the ring and com to the ring the beam it's one thing to be a couple it's another thing to have cameras follow that you were doing a reality show called loving WWE debuting next week what was that like being part of a reality show well you know it was something that you know she.

Used to tell me all the time that she would never do until she saw that check now just like he said I was someone who I always said I would I'm never going to do reality TV I don't want to do it and then I learned to Never Say Never uh I think I saw it as opportunity to really just you know show the WWE universe who we are not just inside the ring but.

Outside the ring pull the curtain back a little bit uh show who we are but also an opportunity to show people that may not be wrestling fans that may not know much about WWE may not be a part of the WWE Universe show them what what we're about show them what it means to be a WWE Superstar show them that wrestling is cool you know anytime I'm working.

With the wife it's not work it's pleasure it's Paradise Paradise you get it he does that a lot I get it okay Royal Rumble tomorrow night streaming on peacock starting at 8pm Eastern there it is we're going to use.

That every day for every story also love and WWE beanca and Montez premieres on Hulu next Friday February 2nd there you go can we get it again I don't know It's Finally Friday that's ding ding we should use it in can't miss list I think yo Bravo personnality Darren karp's going to want that Bell now right she's here to help us break down all the.

Things you need to know as we cruise into the weekend your Camp Miss list coming up next we are back now with get this some potty mouthed parrots in 2020 a British Wildlife Park had to isolate five African gray parrots because of their terrible.

Swearing well this week this part's a little murky to me but three more parrots who really like bad words were donated to the park I don't know where they're coming from now sta there have hatched a new plan all eight of these swearing birds are going to be rehabilitated back into the flock of about 92 more polite parrots the team.

Hopes they'll be a good influence but they warn there's a chance it could go the other way where the cursing eight actually influenced the 92 nice birds so we're going to have to keep it posted on that one I think I think an update's warranted rehabilitated it's like they really got a problem I want a reality show on that.

All right finally this hour it is Friday which means to sign for a weekly Camp Miss list plenty to watch from a controversial drama about a real drug lord that's getting a lot of Buzz to a documentary about the biggest night in pop music joining us now Bravo personality host of shaking and disturb Darren carp good to have you with us.

Mean try not to swear pleas otherwise we're going to have to rehabilitate you whatever put you with all the other Bravo people don't swear um we'll see how it goes so gelda has gotten tons of headlines already this week star Sophia varara there's drama exactly so tell us about.

The show and also the controversy where things stand yeah I mean this has been in the works now for two years they've been talking about Sophia vargar is producing this she's obviously the star of grel Del Blanco this takes place in the in Miami in the 70s and 80s with the cocaine trade going on she's kind of considered not the king pin but the.

Queen pin kind of the the mother of cocaine she was a very popular uh drug lord at this time super dangerous they do say the series a little bit Loosely based on the facts But ultimately based on the true story but yeah huge lawsuit came out this week because CH gelda herself actually sued for unauthorized use of likeness uh which to me is a.

Testament to the movie of how great Sophia's transformation has been but it is gritty it is Harsh um I highly recommend it if you were a fan of Naros uh then this is going to kind of be right up your alley and it is Loosely based on a true story so it's kind of really interesting to see how it kind of went down and I know it's kind of.

Negative but I do like it's a woman yeah I think it's cool well an it's been a minute I feel since we've seen her well we haven't seen her in a while no we haven't seen her in a while I mean she does AGT and she does a lot of stuff but we haven't really seen her in this like dramatic serious role so I'm really excited for that very cool let's talk m.

Masters of the air I mean epic cast huge co-produced Steven Spielberg Tom Hanks like oh my goodness tell us about the show well I was a huge banded Brothers fan I mean I feel like that was one of the best series of all time uh and it's been a long time so this is kind of the the sister to that it is if you like band Brothers you're going to like this.

This is a nine part EP nine-part series on Apple we got Austin Butler right there he lost the Elvis voice finally it took him a little bit but he lost it Barry King he had it on the award Ser everything he like still done it's like a little gritty I was like is it that deep I don't know but you can't really tell here he's you know his got.

Get him get him there Barry Keegan off of his salurn run is also in this movie Super serious it takes place um you know in Germany World War II they're Behind Enemy Lines in a bomber and they just have to face unrelenting German attacks so it's just really well done the super effect the super effects and CGI in this are beautiful let's talk about a.

Documentary for those who remember the song We are the world it was this unreal thing cuz he had like what 40 stars coming together to sing a song 46 of the greatest pop stars of the era Los Angeles 1985 they have one night to get this together Lionel Richie Michael Jackson You're going to pick up a phone call from them but this is the age.

Before email before cell phones they managed to get 46 Stars Bob Dylan Paul Simon Cindy loer Diana Ross all in one room you can imagine the egos in this room which is why this documentary is so interesting cuz here they are recording We are the world for African f but imagine doing this all in one night everyone's got their own opinion their.

Own take their own this oh we should do this we should do that so this goes behind the scenes with some archival footage has interviews with the stars who were there you can see Bruce Springstein laughing at some of this night it really was the greatest night in pop this comes out in January sorry it's comes out on Netflix next week on.

Tuesday and it's supposed to be amazing it's really really well done I had no idea that those interviews and that footage existed how cool that it's coming out now very very cool um okay this one sounds a little quirky animated characters interviewing Real celebrities we we don't have much time left here but tell us about this new Mike Judge comedy.

In the know yeah if it's Mike Judge I mean be us in rad you're going to really like this but yeah this is this is a parody of an NPR show um hosted by Lauren Caspian who you can see him right there he's kind of this you know Ira Glass kind of guy hosted the third most popular NPR show so he has real life interviews with people it's witty it's.

Quirky it's super funny I think they can kind of go there because of the animation in a way that they couldn't before but I really really like it if you're an NPR fan and you sort of get there get how you can easily make fun of it it's the perfect show for you it's on love it while making fun of it that's the key all right DK us yes thank you so.

Much check out some wrestling now right ding ding ding do it for this hour morning news now stay with us cu the news continues right now thanks for watching stay updated about breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or follow us on social media.

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