Morning News NOW Tubby Broadcast – Feb. 16

right now on Morning News Now breaking news Russian media reporting opposition leader Alexi nabal has died in prison also this morning courtroom drama district attorney fonnie Willis expected back on the witness stand in Georgia in a hearing that could impact Donald Trump's state election interference.

Case you're confused you think I'm on trial these people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020 I'm not on trial no matter how hard you try to put me on trial the defiant testimony from both fonnie Willis and the special prosecutor whose relationship could get Willis disqualified from the case and in New.

York it could be decision day for former president Trump's multi-million dollar civil fraud trial we have Team coverage plus it's captivating and controversial we'll give you a sneak peek at open ai's new text to video tool that's raising concerns in the creative world and from hoop dreams to reality college basketball player Caitlyn Clark now the.

Women's all-time leading scorer we will take you to Iowa for more on her incredible record-breaking game good morning good to have you with us on a busy Friday I'm Joe frier and I'm Savannah sers we begin with that breaking news out of Russia this morning jailed Russian opposition leader Alexi Naval has died that is according to.

Russian media citing the Russian prison service it said that Naval quote felt unwell and almost immediately lost Consciousness Naval who was a vocal critic of President Putin was serving a 19-year sentence on charges that he said were politically motivated NBC's Chief forign correspondent Richard Engel takes a look at naval's.

Life as Russia's leading opposition figure Alexa Naval piled pressure on the Kremlin and put a Target on his back born in 1976 in what was then the Soviet Union navali trained as a lawyer and Rose to prominence as a political blogger in 2011 he started the anti-corruption foundation which exposed the extravagant wealth of.

Russian officials including President Vladimir Putin the the biggest thing that Putin is afraid of is is public discontent in Russia and that is why it's so afraid of opposition leaders naval's and Putin's stars were intertwined as Putin tightened his grip on power Naval became a leading figure at anti-government.

Protests we will force them to live by the law because we hold the power here he shouted he was arrested countless times and turned attacks to his advantage in 2017 after announcing his intentions to run for president naali was attacked with green dye twice maybe the Kremlin thinks that I.

Will not record videos with a green face he said but now even more people will watch in 2019 as nal's anti-corruption Foundation gained support nationally police raided their offices and arrested several activists including of course navali but in 2020 his life was threatened like never before on a plane traveling from Siberia.

To Moscow navali became deathly ill he fell into a coma and was put on a ventilator while recovering in a German Hospital investigators revealed he had been poisoned with novachuk a Soviet era neurotoxin Naval blamed Putin for the attack ACC claimed the kreml denies miraculously nabal recovered and participated in the investigation into.

His own poisoning documenting the whole thing on social media despite the threats against his life in January 2021 navali and his wife Julia voluntarily returned to Moscow where he was immediately arrested ostensibly for violating the terms of a 2014 embezzlement case once in jail he was.

Tried and sentenced to more than 9 years in a Maximum Security Prison Naval said the charges were politically motivated but even Behind Bars he found ways to make his voice heard using social media to protest the Ukraine war and needle those in power his legacy is one of defiance a constant thorn in the side of the Kremlin Richard Engel NBC News all.

Right thanks to Richard for that report and we will stay on it throughout the morning now let's head to Atlanta where this morning fton County district attorney fonnie Willis will be back on the stand following her fiery testimony yesterday Willis is the da who charged former president Donald Trump with trying to overturn georg's 2020 election.

Results Willis took the stand in her own defense over misconduct allegations that could lead to her removal from the case in a contentious back and forth she acknowledged having a relationship with Nathan Wade who was she hired a special prosecutor in Georgia's case against the former president but she denied the relationship was improper the hearing.

Focused on whether Willis benefited financially in the form of romantic getaways here are some of the highlights from yesterday's dramatic testimony Mr Wade visits you at the place you laid your head when has he ever visited you at the place you laid your head so let's be clear because you've lied in this this let me tell you.

Which one you lied in right here I think you lied right here no no no no this is the truth it is a lot it is a lot Mr s thank you we're going to take five when someone lies on you and it's offensive when they to implicate that you slept with somebody the first day you met with them Miss Willis is a.

Very as in my we're private people not our relationship wasn't a secret it was just private I kept something private that's my private life is not any mystery to anyone it's it's it's like a a woman doesn't have the right to keep her private life private I don't need anything from a man a man is not a plan.

A man is a companion and so there was tension always in our relationship which is why I was give him his money back I don't need anybody to foot my bills the only man who's ever foot my bills completely is my daddy you've been intrusive into people's personal lives you're confused you think I'm on trial these people are on trial for trying to.

Steal an election in 2020 I'm not on trial no matter how hard you try to put me trial all right let's break it all down we're joined by NBC News correspondent blae Alexander outside the fton county courthouse in Atlanta and NBC News legal analyst Danny savalos thank you both for being here Blaine let's start with you before yesterday.

There were some questions about whether Willis would testify at all she did we'll hear from her again today walk us through the dramatic day in the courtroom and what were the big takeaways well the biggest thing was it was a surprise to everybody who was sitting in that courtroom everybody who was watching it live uh at home or.

Wherever and even to members of her legal team who at the very time that she walked into that courtroom were arguing to try and keep her from the stand and so you saw this moment this kind of dramatic moment play out where she walked into the courtroom uh preceded by her her security of course she walked into the courtroom as anac cross was.

Arguing that the subpoena should be quashed they kind of met eyes at one point and Willis made it clear that she wanted to take the stand she basically walked in and said let's go and then about two hours of testimony ensued from there so I think that it was very clear that she walked in ready to have this conversation these allegations have been.

Out there for more than a month now aside from her speech at the MLK day uh ceremony and her written motion response she hasn't addressed them so this really was the first time that she was coming in and able to as you could see expressed some of her frustration with what she saw in that motion now as for the substance of what she said she.

Maintained as did Nathan way that their relationship began after she hired him to work on the Trump uh Georgia election interference case so after November of 21 uh she said that they never cohabitated together and one thing that they both made a very strong point of of driving home is that either they split their costs evenly or she reimbursed him.

For travel now that's a very big piece of course because the entire underpinning of the defense's argument is that she improperly financially benefited from the trips she's taking she said no I paid him back I paid him back in cash so she doesn't have receipts for it but that she paid him back uh roughly everything that he spent.

For that and it was split evenly guys Danny let's bring you in here so as Blaine just laid out I mean she comes in and physically takes the stand as her lawyers are trying to explain why she should not have to do so then it gets quite combative many times people would not be advised to take the stand in a case like this what do you make of the.

Fact that she did so and and did she help or hurt herself she helped herself in terms of she made some great speeches there's some great sound that you saw she stood up for herself uh but did she testify well as a witness no not by any metric she she didn't answer questions she answered the questions she wanted to answer she had to be brought back onto.

The rails by the judge uh who I think the Judge should have done more often and sometimes she was so rambling she forgot what the original question was she had a mission she was going to make a statement whether or not she was asked the question that she wanted to answer or not uh so in a strange way was she technically a good witness did she.

Follow the rules of evidence absolutely not and she knows that she's obviously the elected da of Fulton County but was it effective it may have been by rambling on uh and taking up so much time she fatigued the judge I felt she fatigued Ashley Merchant who was the main lawyer questioning her uh and it may have saved the day for her because.

By the end of the day I mean they didn't really get to the core of their burden of proof and by that I mean the defense showing or at least having to show or getting to admit that's what they wanted to do is get her to admit that there was some benefit given to her by Nathan Wade and I don't think that they got there but it's not because Fanny Willis.

Testified properly the way Witnesses are supposed to let's talk more about that because the goal here for Trump and his codefendant codefendants they want her disqualified from the case just how high is that bar to have Willis and way disqualified from the case and do you see anything that reaches that bar I really thought at the beginning of the.

Day that the defense had a real shot I also believe Nathan Wade's testimony was not very credible because at the core of this issue is a not very credible proposition a lot of people today are talking about hey man what's the big deal people deal in cash they have large amounts of cash number one I agree with you by the way you know who doesn't.

Agree with you law enforcement law enforcement uses large amounts of cash routinely as evidence of criminality you know what I've never seen in a police report suspect had drugs and checkbooks they never care about checkbooks cash is evidence of criminality uh not that there's any evidence of criminality here but my point is uh I think there's.

Nothing wrong with cash law enforcement disagrees the other part of this is this is not about whether it's okay or not okay to have cash it's about whether the explanation that Fanny Willis has for never having received anything of benefit from Nathan Wade is credible and I ask you of all the dates all the I ask you Savannah did you ever after a trip.

With your husband peel off a wad of thousands and reimburse him for a trip to Aruba I have yet to find anyone who's done that maybe F Willis is the only person to have ever done that that doesn't make it credible Blaine as we mentioned earlier Willis set to return to the stand today what can we expect in the courtroom how is this going to get.

Underway and when could we get a ruling well I think almost to Danny's point we're going to hear her addressing a lot of the things that perhaps uh some people did find less than credible we know that she's going to be back on the sand she's going to be the first witness Court get underway at 9:00 a.m. uh we know that her side is going to spend.

About four or 5 hours calling Witnesses of their their own one of them will be finding Willis's father he's going to testify remotely from California and so we're certainly going to see uh possibly some more fiery testimony but her kind of making some of her own points in this um and then in terms of a ruling we know that the judge isn't going to rule From.

The Bench we already know that it's possible that this extends into early next week as well so what we think the judge will do what we know the judge will do is go back consider the evidence and issue a written ruling at some point in the days to come guys all right bla Alexander thank you so much Danny stick around we're going to have you talk.

About next story yeah meanwhile that's here in New York a verdict is expected today in the $370 million civil fraud trial against former president Trump the verdict is going to be delivered by judge Arthur and Goran capping a trial that began more than four months ago Trump and his company are accused of inflating the value of business assets.

In order to get better terms on loans the judge has already ruled that Mr Trump inflated his wealth on financial statements today's verdict will determine the penalties exactly how much Trump and his organization could oh the multi-million dollar lawsuit was brought on by New York attorney general Laticia James in addition to the proposed $370.

Million in penalties James is also looking to ban the former president from conducting future business in New York's real estate industry for more on what we can expect on this one today we are joined by NBC News National correspondent Yasmin vugi and and as we said Danny Calis is still here on set with us Yasmin I'll start with you good.

Morning what can we expect from the judge today is is this could this be a real Day of Reckoning for the former president and his company I mean a huge Day of Reckoning if you think about I think the former president's brand and who he was before he was president um of the United States and who he is he has based his entire identity on his real.

Estate Empire here in New York City and he did through the 80s through the 90s as well he's written multiple books about it um judgeing Goran has already said that the former president and his business is engaged in fraud this is dating back of course to the trial that began on October 7th in which the former president along with his three children.

Testified um in this trial the decision is set to come out today and as you reminded folks and I'll remind you once again AG Laticia James seeking $370 million along with the former president and his business is being banned forever from the New York State real estate industry this is going to be and I.

Cannot say this enough I know Danny has said this on air as well and he can back me up on this a major gut punch the former president um of the United States um if in fact he has to pay out $70 million and is no longer able to engage in real estate businesses here in New York City and you coupled out guys by the way because I was on air with you.

With the egene Carol Case as well with the $83 million he's going to be have to pay out with egene Carol and these multiple cases that are continuing to go on former president has an uphill battle here but this is going to be major today as we await this um as we await this decision from Judge engoron so Danny of course one big headline will be the.

Number that he'll have to pay but this idea that he could be banned from New York real estate what would be the rip effect of that for Trump and his business and does he have appeal options well first what would that ban even look like it could be thou shalt not perform business activities in New York or it could have to do with remember they've.

Canceled the the business charter so is that canceling the business or even the assets meaning the buildings so who ends up owning those buildings what happens to these companies do they get taken over by something else it's really going to be interesting to see how this uh remedy is crafted and then of course appeal options absolutely and in fact I.

Might even expect a stay of all this execution of all of these proceedings while this goes up to the Appel division in the first department on appeal and I think that they probably the defense will get a stay so this is probably probably not going to be something that immediately goes into effect and even if it did it's such a major sea change in.

In the corporate structure that uh it would be difficult to do overnight so whatever Justice and Goran decides it's probably not going to be something that we're going to see the Ripple effects of right away because there's going to be an appeal right away and I believe they get an automatic appeal up to the court of appeals as well has been let's once.

Again switch gears as we've been doing for the last few minutes here on this show to talk about a different issue yesterday when we were talking to you you were outside the courthous that was not for the Civil fraud trial that's coming to an end presumably today that was for this hush money trial that now we know will get underway next month.

It's where we saw the former president yesterday in court the presiding judge denied this attempt to have the criminal charges dismissed what else happened inside that courtroom yesterday Savannah he denied it immediately literally 5 minutes in um yesterday he said motion denied motion to dismiss um denied and then the rest was really um kind of.

About back and forth when it comes to Q&A for um jury selection March 25th the date is set that is when the trial is beginning and it was interesting because um um the judge in that case actually mentioned that he had spoken to um judge chuin um to figure out the date for this trial and recognize that they could clear the way for this trial to move.

Author on March 25th because it seems the DC case has been stalled because of the immunity um case that is still pending obviously with the Supreme Court we know we're awaiting that um that um we're awaiting that response from um from Jack Smith but that being said U March 25th dat is set it's going to last about six weeks or so um the judge said.

They talked a lot about Q&A when it comes to um the jury selection one of the things that they dialed in on guys which I thought was really interesting was where you're getting your news and media from um and and they talked a lot about wanting to ask the jurors kind of their political affiliation to understand whether or not they really.

Support the former president of the United States or not they also wanted to ask the jurors if in fact they believe the 2020 election was stolen there were some um push back uh for that from um the former president's attorneys that took up the majority I have to say of the rest of the hearing yesterday but we really have to look forward to six weeks.

Of the trial in which the former president is there every single day just a reminder as we talked about yesterday this is um this is a criminal trial so the former president has to be there and he's possibly looking at four years in prison with a classy felony so Danny Trump has acknowledged repaying his.

Former lawyer Michael Cohen classifying these as legal payments real quickly here what's his defense that was one of several defenses that they used yesterday to try and get the case thrown out and as asmin pointed out it was denied right away but that will remain on the record for appeal they would have a better shot on appeal among them were.

That he's been charged with too many counts for one crime so for example uh if somebody Robs a Bank you can't count charge them with four different crimes that are essentially the same uh you robbed a bank a bank was robbed you know there was a robbery at the bank and you did it you can't take one event and extract from that several different.

Crimes related to that is the theory that hey Trump paid this uh attorney out of his personal funds for personal services that should not be imputed to the business I think the other court have already dismissed that idea so most of these arguments are probably not going to make any Headway they didn't make any Headway in the motion to to.

Dismiss all right Danny savalos thank you for covering it all this morning Yasmin thank you very much well an FBI informant is facing two federal charges for allegedly lying to the agency about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter during the 2020 presidential campaign the justice department says 43-year-old Alexander smyrnov has been arrested in.

Las Vegas the 37-page indictment comes from special councel David Weiss Who was appointed to look into Hunter Biden the indictment alleges that smof provided false derogatory information to the FBI by claiming to the FBI that the Ukrainian Energy company bisma once hired Hunter Biden because they said he would quote protect us through his dad.

From all kinds of problems smof is also accused of falsely telling the FBI that barisma officials told him that they had paid the president and his son 5 million it was this account that has become a key component behind Republicans ongoing impeachment inquiry into President Biden a detention hearing for smof has been scheduled for a federal court in Las.

Vegas next Tuesday new details are emerging in the investigation into that deadly shooting at the Kansas City chief Super Bowl victory parade police are now saying they have two juveniles in custody in connection with the shooting and that the tragedy was the result of a dispute between several people one person was killed and 22 others were.

Wounded or injured during the shooting police identified the person who was fatally shot as Lisa Lopez Galvan her siblings spoke with NBC News yesterday and shared their thoughts about how she should be remembered she just brought people together she did it to bring happiness in even in sad times in other in other.

Instances that's who she was she wanted pure joy that she's just not a statistic Lisa was a lot more than just a number she was a very wholesome very caring very loving individual NBC News correspondent Ellison Barber joins us now from Kansas City with more on this Ellison good morning so police police say they have.

At least two people in custody in connection with the shooting but we know there's juveniles which means information can be limited so what do we know about the suspects and a possible motive right so police say right now the people that they have in custody two of them are juveniles previously they'd said they had three people in custody.

Tied to this shooting we don't have specific details on names or ages and that's because they have not yet been formally charged in this case but at a press conference yesterday the Kansas City police chief said in part we have subjects detained two of which are juveniles we are working to determine the involvement of others she was then.

Asked by reporters there does that mean possibly you think there are other suspects other Shooters still out there currently among the public she said this in part quote we are not closing the door and giving direct numbers on this this is still in active investigation we are asking the public if anyone witnessed the shooting Direct.

To still contact police we want to make sure that anyone who is responsible for yesterday is brought to Justice at that press conference I asked the police chief if they knew these individuals in custody either Kansas City Police or any other law enforcement agencies prior to this the police chief said that as well as the relationship between these.

Individuals is still under investigation but as you said Savannah and Joe they say they have confidently ruled out that this could Poss be terrorism or some sort of homegrown violent extremism they say this act of violence stemmed from a dispute between individuals Savannah Joe Ellison we mentioned that we now know the person who was killed they've been.

Identified uh this is a popular local radio DJ Lisa Lopez Galvan I know you've been talking to people in the community just a moment ago we heard from some siblings what have you learned about her yeah she was the co-host of a popular radio show at KK fi a local station here it was called a taste of Tano she was very well known and beloved.

Particularly within Kansas City's Hispanic Community she was married for 22 years she had two adult children she was a sister a friend to many her co-host who's worked with her for the last two and a half years let us come to the station yesterday to hear a little more about her to see where she worked I want you to listen to what he had to say.

Because he can explain it better than I can listen I don't think really she had acquaintances anytime you knew her she always treated you like you were her closest friend you were her you were were her focus and she has a lovely husband two lovely children a great family and uh they were all just so so.

Kind and so honored to to have such a great sister you know she she was always the light of of the party she was always the life of the party it was always down for a great time and uh she'll she'll be missed definitely I mean she she just showed great when you think back to the last Tuesday you spent together have you replayed those.

Last moments just again and again I mean how do you begin to process this multiple times multiple times you know we walk down in the parking lot from the station here and and I told her you know be careful have fun be careful and I'll see you next Tuesday she said okay bye and jumped in her truck and was excited to go see her Chiefs she's an avid.

Chiefs fan and she loved her Chiefs so she was where she wanted to be she was in a happy place when we talked to him he kept smiling as he talked about Lisa because he said she was just so good and so happy and so full of life that that is how he remembers her not the way that she died this morning a GoFundMe that was set up.

To benefit the family there were two large donations listed $50,000 each $100,000 in total and the name on those donations was Taylor Swift our team spoke to her publicist this morning and they confirmed that she made those donations to Lisa Lopez galvan's family hoping to help them as they move forward from all.

Of this Savannah Joe all right clearly a person who impacted so many people in such a positive way Ellison Barber thank you for that appreciate it let's switch gears now and get a check on your Morning News Now weather there Angie lman joins us with the forecast Angie good morning good morning guys we've got a couple of systems that we're tracking.

That could bring the potential to of snow to some folks here as we gear up for our weekend we've got an exiting Clipper system we talked about this yesterday it's out of here but we're still seeing some of these lingering cold winds that are leaving us with some snow showers remaining down wind of the Lakes it's going to be a little blustery.

Out there for folks that live in the Northeast you'll be able to notice just how strong and cold those winds are so those will stick with us for a little while but like I said that system's on the way out but we're gearing up for our next system that's going to work out of the Plains eventually impact folks from Missouri to the Mid-Atlantic and we've.

Got the alerts to prove it right now there's some alerts up out west but we've also uh got these stretched across parts of the mid Midwest and into the Mid-Atlantic 47 million total people are included in these across the country and here's the system that we're going to be tracking through the day today into the overnight hours tonight and into early.

Tomorrow before it quickly uh pushes out as you uh Gear Up for your first half of today it's going to be basically parts of uh Missouri to the Ohio Valley that we'll see some of that snow working through we'll also see a couple of spots dealing with some rain you can see places like Knoxville down to Memphis could see some of the rain but the snow.

Is going to be focused across parts of the Ohio Valley it'll be light to moderate and then early tomorrow morning you might notice a little bit of snow along the I95 Corridor New York to Washington DC could pick up a couple of inches I'll show you those amounts here in a moment but then it it slowly starts to wrap up and we'll just be left with.

Some scattered snow showers for the second half of your Saturday there's those totals as promised places like Philadelphia 2 to 4 Ines possible I think some of those higher amounts in the higher elevations could be upwards of 5 in overall places like New York 1 to 3 3 in you might see some uh flurries in the city early tomorrow morning.

Indianapolis you could pick up a couple of inches as well Savannah is grinning because I said flurries in New York City we're not done yet not happy about the next storm system though out west I'm sure we've got a couple of them at that we're going to see again really heavy rain guys and multiple systems that are going to bring big batches of that rain.

To the already soaked uh West Coast and this is going to be something we'll deal with over the next couple of days flash flooding will be a problem specifically in California um couple of inches of rain here through the weekend all right thank you Angie appreciate it much more to come here on morning news now later this hour going offbrand to stay on.

Budget more on the shopping strategy that more and more Americans are turning to up first though after the break more on the breaking news we brought you at the top of the hour Russian opposition leader Alexi navali has died more on what we're learning when we return we're back with more on our top story this morning the death of jailed.

Russan opposition leader Alexi nalni the news was reported by Russian media citing the Russian prison service the vocal Kremlin critic was serving a 19-year sentence in a remote prison in the country NBC News Chief foreign correspondent Richard Engel joins us now from keev Richard first of all just what are we learning about the circumstances.

Surrounding the death of Naval and just your thoughts right now so we're hearing from the prison officials as being quoted by Russian State media so you have to take that with an enormous grain of salt but the official account is that Alexi naly who was recently transferred to this uh penal.

Colony north of the Arctic Circle in Siberia uh he was only transferred there in in early December actually he went missing uh for a while and his own lawyers didn't know where he was his conditions since he was arrested have been getting worse and worse and this penal colony is is known to be particularly harsh it's it's a frozen.

Gulg in Siberia uh it's often called the the um the polar wolf is its nickname and it's a facility for men uh houses about a thousand inmates and according to the official account this morning Alexi naly was taking a walk that he immediately began to feel unwell quickly lost Consciousness that prison medical staff reacted but that they were unable.

To revive him and that he died U Vladimir Putin has been informed of his death according to Russian State media but uh the the team V his own Inner Circle have not yet confirmed it and they are immediately casting doubt on this this description of events the official uh the official account by by the Russian authorities one of naval's.

Top AIDS said this is if it is true and we don't know if it's true and his lawyer is on his way to the penal colony now that it is not a case of naali died but Putin killed navali and I'm in Ukraine right now and the president of Ukraine President Vladimir zalinski just said a short while ago uh we weighing in on this that it is quote obvious that.

Putin killed naali that uh Putin does not care who dies all he wants to do is maintain his position of power Richard tell us any early reac ction we've heard from the US or anything else from Moscow so we have not heard anything uh official from Moscow except this acknowledgement um we I suspect we'll be hearing more uh throughout the day we.

Are starting to hear from nal's uh supporters uh they are accusing Vladimir Putin of of of of orchestrating this if not directly if not having him killed today or or or poisoned uh in in this recent time frame here uh but of arresting him sending him into horrible conditions conditions that were getting worse and worse uh over time and.

Contributing his death through exhaustion and and poor treatment uh the the details uh are unclear we may get a an official Russian autopsy but it's very hard to believe particularly the these days what is coming out of uh Russian State channels especially when it comes to uh Alexi Nal who was the most outspoken critic the most feared.

Critic by Vladimir Putin uh in Russian Society someone who was not afraid to challenge Putin directly was not challenge to afraid to challenge uh the entire Kremlin um and it is not just Putin who who wields power in Russia there are many powerful oligarchs there are many people around Putin who can also uh influence uh can Al can also uh.

Wield their wield a tremendous amount of influence so Richard you've been covering navali for years talk more about the Legacy he leaves behind and with the state of things right now is there anyone who can even begin to fill his shoes as a Critic of Putin there there is uh K Mora who's another uh leader who like Vladimir.

Korta who is someone I've known for for quite a a long time as well who followed naval's example uh there are critics in Russia who live in Exile so there are people like uh Gary Kasparov the the chess Grandmaster uh who is a fierce P opponent of uh of Putin but who lives in the west and is working against Putin and against the Kremlin from the outside.

Um with conferences with events with speaking with political activism naali didn't want to do that he wanted to stay in the the country so he was poisoned he had to leave the Russia to get medical treatment in Germany after he was poisoned with Nova chunk uh which is a very lethal poison it didn't kill him uh he was extraordinarily healthy at the.

Time uh it was something of a miraculous uh recovery but then even after he'd been poisoned he decided to go back because he didn't want to be an opposition member in Exile now maybe that was too brave maybe that was the wrong decision or maybe his legacy will will be stronger through his death and through his martyrdom so we don't know.

Exactly what the the long-term Legacy will be but when he went back that was a very decisive moment because he knew everybody knew that he would be arrested as as soon as he hit Russian territory Richard Engel we very much appreciate you and your expertise making the time to join us on this breaking story this morning thank you very much we are.

Learning new details on the potential Russian threat to the US that had members of Congress raising alarms this week three us officials have now told NBC news that Russia is developing a space-based nuclear weapon designed to Target us satellites NBC News chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander has the.

Latest the White House confirmed that it's monitoring Russia's development of what it called a troubling anti-satellite capability but cautioned it is not a threat to Americans we are not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth NBC News has learned new details about that.

Capability that it's a Russian nuclear-powered space asset that could be weaponized according to a Us official and a congressional official familiar with the intelligence it is not a nuclear bomb that Russia is trying to send up in space it is not an active capability and it has not yet been deployed experts have said a nuclear.

Fueled satellite might be able to carry a high powerered Jammer that could block out a wide array of communications and other signals revelation come just hours after the house intelligence committee chairman Republican Mike Turner issued a cryptic warning demanding the White House declassify intelligence about the unspecified threat the White House met.

With house leaders about it I've got great faith in uh what the administration is currently doing to try to address this matter in 2022 NBC news's cameras were the first ever allowed inside the US space command in Colorado general Steven Whiting speaking to NBC's Tom Costello we don't want there to be a war in space but if others.

Choose to uh start a war there we'll be ready all of it as Russian President Vladimir Putin is Raising eyebrows weighing in on the 2024 election saying he would prefer President Biden over Republican FrontRunner Donald Trump saying Biden is more experienced more predictable he is an old school politician Mr Trump calling that a.

Compliment the only president in the last five that hasn't given Russia anything is a president known as Donald J Trump and this rebuke from the White House Mr Putin should just stay out of our elections our thanks to Peter Alexander for that report Senate leaders will likely receive their own briefing on the national security threat when.

They return from their recess coming up after the break retaliation in the Red Sea when we come back in NBC News exclusive what we're learning about an American Cyber attack on an Iranian ship this is Morning News Now we're back with exclusive reporting on a.

Recent American covert operation that targeted an Iranian vessel in the Red Sea three us officials have told NBC news that the US carried out a Cyber attack on this Iranian ship that is suspected of collecting and sharing intelligence with Yemen's houthi Rebels NBC News Pentagon correspondent Courtney QB joins us now from the Munich security.

Conference in Germany So Courtney what are we learning about how this operation and why this operation was carried out so initially when we were hearing about this retaliatory action that the US was planning to take after the death of three US service members in Jordan we were hearing from us officials that there would be the kinetic piece so air.

Strikes but there would also be a cyber component and we're now learning a little bit more about that cyber piece it included a Cyber attack on an Iranian military vessel more than a week ago now the goal here was to stop this vessel from being able to collect information targeting information that the Iranian military was then pres.

Uh providing to the houi rebels of course you guys know the houthis have been firing on Commercial and even military ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aiden for weeks now in fact as recently as today theyve been trying to Target Target these ships now the majority of their efforts with anti-ship cruise missiles drones and even unmanned.

Sea vessels or what we might call Sea drones the majority of those efforts have been unsuccessful but they have at times been able to hit hit some commercial ships at times even causing fires on board and damage to those ships the goal with this Cyber attack according to these us officials was to stop this ability to Target these ships.

And according to the officials they believe their efforts here were successful Courtney we actually know that Iranians had previously warned the us not to attack this particular ship what purpose are they saying it serves to give us more information on that and also is the US now bracing for retaliation for this.

Attack yeah so the way that this has been working is that we've seen what the military doesn't like to talk about it but the reality is there has been a Tit for Tat here so when there has been a strike there has generally been a Counter Strike so the US is definitely concerned about the possibility for some.

Sort of reciprocal action from Iran here most likely that would look like a Cyber attack but the reality is so far we've not seen anything like that and Courtney quickly could we see more cyber attacks like this in response to what's happening in the Middle East absolutely so I think that the reality.

Is if they have seen this as a successful method or measure that's been able to stop the Iranians from gathering this information and share it with the houthis we should expect to see more of this all right Courtney QB thank you so much let's get you some economic news retail sales have dropped nearly a full percentage Point since the start of the.

Year it's a sign that consumers are pulling back on their spending after years of soaring prices and inflation well that is now leading to a surge in Shoppers saving their pennies by buying less expensive Brands and it's all playing out on social media NBC News senior business correspondent Christine Romans has.

More inflation weary Shoppers are chasing cheap and bragging about it I'm just not paying Tyson prices if I don't have to their waffles are a dollar cheaper than egos they're being called dupes less expensive Alternatives or private labels and the social media generation loves them elf is in their dupe era let's compare a $5 stealing cup.

Dupe to the real thing it's kind of flipping the script on our parents generation keeping up with the Joneses this is buying an inexpensive thing to keep up and be cool exactly it's an interesting flip of the script with the levels of inflation that we've been dealing with in the last few years this is a a clear response to that kind of.

Economic pressure after years of higher prices and shrinking packaging consumers now have the upper hand and retailers know it Target this week expanding its store brand of items that sell for less than name brands to more than 2,000 items Chinese super discount retailer teu running three Super Bowl ads to reach consumers who are just sick of.

High prices companies acknowledging their customers weariness Coke and McDonald's reporting sales fell after they raised prices so did craft hindes the consumers are looking for better value in all the choices they're making newly Frugal consumers may slow price hikes but economists say don't expect prices to go back down to pre-pandemic.

Levels as deflation would be an economic headache of a different kind Christine Romans NBC News New York coming up is it a tool or a threat open AI is showing off a new program it's meant to turn text prompts into video you're looking at one of those right now we're going to give you a sneak peek and why creatives are so concerned this is Morning News.

Now welcome back open AI is releasing samples of its newest text to video program and it may be the end of the phrase seeing is believing take a look at this clip well it may look like Tokyo coated in a blanket of snow with cherry blossoms on the trees it is totally fake it was created by the makers of chat GPT.

Using a new program called sora NBC News business and data correspondent Brian Chung joins us with a closer look at this technology Brian thanks for being here so just for somebody who maybe isn't a chat GPT user or AI user at all explain how this works like just how simple it is yeah I mean it's pretty simple all you do is you put in the text.

Prompt for what you want this tool to generate and it'll create up to a minute video for it and this is coming from the creators of chat GPT so that chat box where you just kind of just respond to to robot then they also had Dolly which you can create images so this is the Natural Evolution creating videos but look at that woolly mammoth this is a.

Bird again these are not real creatures not tried on real cameras so you can imagine a lot of filmmakers VFX folks kind of concerned about this but are some limitations to this here's an example of some wolf puppies you can see they're kind of like blending together it looks kind of creepy right so there are limitations they say it can't really.

Do a good job with uh seeing how different objects or people interact with each other but nonetheless I mean that woolly mammoth video is still blowing my mind it looks so real but it's all fake it's all AI generated and we also know even if something looks kind of fake it can still go viral on social media with people believing it so.

There's worries especially in election year that it's going to be used for nefarious purposes what does the company say about about how it plans to stop that can it stop it yeah and it's important to note that open aai told NBC news that they're not planning on releasing this to the public soon so what you saw were demos they're uh.

Basically inviting policy makers and uh those in the industry to kind of aine through the testing purposes which again is not released to the public but they said in in a question in a question to NBC whether or not they were going to police these using the same uh guard rails that they've been doing for open AI already they said quote they'll be.

Watching for extreme violence sexual content hateful imagery celebrity likeness or the IP of others but we've seen in other cases of AI uses of deep porn right with Taylor Swift so whether or not these guard rolls are enough right now is very much an open question but open AI says that they want to invite these policy makers to be part.

Of that discussion so that once this is released to the public that won't be an issue so this was a huge sticking point right I mean AI it's a sticking point all over the place for many reasons but let's talk about Hollywood and the Hollywood strike because you imagine just being able to type something in and boom you have some scene that looks like.

A movie what does how does this impact the creative industry yeah and when we look back on the strikes that happened in Hollywood right the the AI was a specific talking point in those negotiations and there are trade groups there was the U um uh illustrators Guild that basically said they expect to see about 20% of the industry uh laid off or.

Put out of work because of the emergence of tools just like this one that preceded the announcement of AI releasing this tool called sora so there's a lot of concern that illustrators videographers um you know visual effects folks will not necessarily be needed in the capacity that they're needed right now and that's.

The reason why they're trying to lock down that job security say make sure that there's a place for us in this industry but again this technology at least those you know examples that we just showed that was released yesterday so this is moving very very quickly and I think even at a speed that perhaps even those in the industry didn't.

Anticipate Brian Chong fascinating stuff we know you'll stay on it thank you making new friends can be hard I'm Franklin Armstrong my name is Charlie Brown step aside Charlie Brown and make room for Franklin Armstrong you just caught a peek at Snoopy presents welcome home Franklin the first black character in.

The Peanuts Gang is getting his very own animated series on Apple TV plus now Franklin might be new to a few of you uh it looks like he's actually it may not look like it but he's actually a little over 50 years old just days after Dr Martin Luther King's assassination a teacher wrote a letter to peanuts Creator Charles Schultz asking for more.

Diversity in the comic strip and and to the teacher surprise Schultz listen Franklin made his first appearance in the newspaper strip back in 1968 now you can catch him in the series premiere of his new show starting today very cool check that out very cool love it thank you Joe good morning thanks for joining us.

This busy Friday I'm Savannah sers I'm Joe frier we are following breaking news this morning Russia's prison service reporting that jailed opposition leader Alexa Naval a longtime critic of Vladimir Putin has died we're going to bring you the very latest back home tension in a Georgia courtroom is Fulton County district attorney Fon Willis.

Takes the stand she's testifying about her relationship with a special prosecutor she hired to lead that election interference case against former president Trump no no no no this is the truth judge it is a lie it is a Lie the da headed back to court this morning what we are expecting there well in a separate trial in newor York the.

Fate of the former president's real estate Empire comes down to one final decision by a judge feeding false information this morning an FBI informant is charged with lying to the agency about a claim against President Biden and his son Hunter bid that information has been a key argument in Republicans impeachment efforts against.

The president you got more on that in just a moment and Addicted to Love yeah new lawsuit claims you might have better luck finding your soulmate off those apps that some think are habit forming we're going to explain a little later in the hour good to have you with us let's begin this hour with that breaking news out of Russia where jailed opposition.

Leader Alexa navali has died that is according to the Russian prison service navali was a vocal critic of President Putin and was serving a 19-year sentence on charges he said were politically motivated we spoke earlier with NBC's Chief foreign correspondent Richard Angel about the circumstances surrounding the death.

So we're hearing from the prison officials as being quoted by Russian State media so you have to take that with an enormous grain of salt but the official account is that Alexi naly who was recently transferred to this uh penal colony north of the Arctic Circle in Siberia uh he was only transferred there in in early December actually he.

Went missing uh for a while and his own lawyers didn't know where he was his conditions since he was arrested have been getting worse and worse and this penal colony is is known to be particularly harsh it's it's a frozen gulg in Siberia uh it's often called the uh the um the polar wolf is its nickname and it's a facility for men uh houses.

About a thousand inmates and according to the official account this morning Alexi naly was taking a walk that he immediately began to feel unwell quickly lost Consciousness that prison medical staff reacted but that they were unable to revive him and that he died U Vladimir Putin has been informed of his death according to Russian State media.

But uh the the team of V his own Inner Circle have not yet confirmed it and they are immediately casting doubt on this this description of events the official uh the official count by by the Russian authorities one of naval's top AIDS said this is if it is true and we don't know if it's true and his lawyers on his way to the penal colony now that.

It is not a case of navali died but Putin killed naali and I mean Ukraine right now and the president of Ukraine President Vladimir zalinski just said a short while ago uh we weighing in on this that it is quote obvious that Putin killed naali that uh Putin does not care who dies all he wants to do is maintain his position of power Richard tell us.

Any early reaction we've heard from the US or anything else from Moscow so we have not heard anything uh official from Moscow accept this acknowledgement um we I suspect we'll be hearing more uh throughout the day we are starting to hear from nal's uh supporters uh they are accusing Vladimir Putin of of of of orchestrating this if.

Not directly if not having him killed today or or or poisoned uh in in this recent time frame here uh but of arresting him sending him into horrible conditions conditions that were getting worse and worse uh over time and contributing his death through exhaustion and and poor treatment uh the the details uh are unclear we may get a.

An official Russian autopsy but it's very hard to believe particularly the these days what is coming out of uh Russian State channels especially when it comes to uh Alexi Nal who was the most outspoken critic the most feared critic by Vladimir Putin uh in Russian Society someone who was not afraid to challenge Putin directly was not.

Challenge to afraid to challenge uh the entire Kremlin um and it is not just Putin who who wields power in Russia there are many powerful oligarchs there are many people around round Putin who can also uh influence uh can Al can also uh wield their wield a tremendous amount of influence so Richard you've been covering navali for years talk more.

About the Legacy he leaves behind and with the state of things right now is there anyone who can even begin to fill his shoes as a Critic of Putin there there is uh K Mora who's another uh leader who like Vladimir korta who is someone I've known for for quite a a long time as well who followed nal's example uh there are critics in.

Russia who live in Exile so there are people like U Gary Kasparov the the chess Grandmaster uh who is a fierce P opponent of uh of Putin but who lives in the west and is working against Putin and against the Kremlin from the outside um with conferences with events with speaking with political activism naali didn't want to do that he.

Wanted to stay in the country so he was poisoned he had to leave the Russia to get medical treatment in Germany after he was poisoned with novaon uh which is a very lethal poison it didn't kill him uh he was extraordinarily healthy at the time uh it was something of a miraculous uh recovery but then even after he'd been poisoned he decided to go back.

Because he didn't want to be an opposition member in Exile now maybe that was too brave maybe that was the wrong decision or maybe his legacy will will be stronger through his death and through his martyrdom so we don't know exactly what the the long-term Legacy will be but when he went back that was a very decisive moment because he knew.

Everybody knew that he would be arrested as as soon as he hit Russian territory our thanks to Richard Engel and we will bring you updates on that story as it develops today is a crucial day in court for former president Trump here in New York the judge overseeing the Civil fraud case against Mr Trump and his business is expected to issue a.

Decision it follows yesterday's legal split screen involving two other cases against him our senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett breaks it all down hey there a major setback for the former president in New York he can no longer avoid at least one of his criminal trials before the November.

Election but he may have found strategic success in Georgia a very different case now hitting a major detour this morning more testimony expected in fton County Georgia after district attorney fonnie Willis unloaded on the stand Thursday it is a lot it is a lot trying to defend her reputation and save her election interference case.

Against the former president as defense attorneys try to get her kicked off you're confused you think I'm on trial these people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020 I'm not on trial Willis combative at times no no no no this is the truth sparring with defense attorneys over when she began a relationship with top prosecutor Nathan.

Wade and whether it started before she tapped him to lead the Trump case in November of 2021 I hired him I do not consider our relationship to have become romantic until early of 2022 that timeline differing from the one offered by Willis's former friend testifying Thursday say their relationship started years before you have no doubt that.

Their romantic relationship was in effect from 2019 until the last time you spoke with her no doubt at issue for the judge to resolve whether Willis benefited financially from hiring Wade as defense attorneys have highlighted the pair's vacations together I don't need anything from a man a man is not a plan a man is a companion painting it.

All as a conflict of interests in order to upend the entire prosecution while in in New York a different Trump trial moves full steam ahead jury selection now set for March 25th in the case where prosecutors accused Mr Trump of trying to bury a hush money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election an allegation Mr Trump has pled not guilty.

To the judge refusing to dismiss the charges I shouldn't be in a courthouse for something that virtually every legal scholar says they don't understand it there's no crime even if he was guilty of something there's no crime and in yet a third Trump trial we now expect a decision later today from Judge en Goran in his civil fraud case $370.

Million in a civil penalty on the line and expect a decision today all right Laura Jared thank you we're on all the Trump legal trouble we're joined by NBC News Now legal analyst Angela cadella where do we start let's spin the wheel here we're going to start with the hush money case so yesterday the judge said here's the date it's March 25th at this.

Point is there anything that could stop that from happen or does it this going be the first criminal trial against the former presid in late March Joe it is really moving forward and we believe with almost certainty that it is going to start on March 25th the judge dismissed Trump's motion to dismiss this case which really was the last road.

Block so jury selection is going to start on March 25th now there are lots of questions though around jury selection how do you ensure an unbiased jury in Manhattan and we saw in that courtroom the prosecutor and the defense attorneys going over what questions are we going to be allowed to ask so there will be a lot of fireworks there too now.

Let's pause on that one move down to Georgia fonnie Willis the district attorney takes the stand in her own defense kind of in the middle of her lawyers explaining why she shouldn't have to she walks in physically sits down two real issues here when did the relationship between her and special prosecutor Nathan Wade begin and then.

Did she financially benefit at all for things like having vacations paid for ETC what did you make of her testimony did she help herself hurt herself so you're exactly right those are the two main issues now with the first I thought that there was some doubt there when she was on the stand one of the the attorneys drilled down on isn't it weird.

That he visited your condo 10 times in private prior to the date that you started but she really didn't give an inch there now the biggest question though is the cash if she never got any cash or never took any trips that she didn't pay for then it then it could be a possibility that she that her argument would would would be sustained so she.

Here was saying she paid him back for everything she paid cash made it even Steven if the jur if the judge in this case believes this then she has a shot so I think she did help herself on the stand that's a key reminder the judge will decide that in this case so if she is removed by chance we don't know if that will happen how would that impact.

The case I mean yes the case could move forward but realistically could it move forward without her you're right so the the real question there is how long will this be delayed what will happen is there's a council of Prosecuting attorneys in Georgia who will then decide decide who the next prosecutor would be this is going to take a long.

Time this doesn't happen often also other Prosecutors office in the state of Georgia they don't have the resources to try a huge case like this so there will be delays and that means the whole trial could possibly go away and the judge could decide right away today or do we expect it might take a little bit of time before we get an answer on this he.

Has total discretion here he could decide today he could push it off till next week he could push it off for a month we'll see all right Angela sadella thank you so much appreciate it turning now to that shooting at the chief Super Bowl Parade that left one person dead and at least 20 others injured this morning we're learning more details.

About the two suspects police have in custody and we're hearing from survivors and from the loved ones of the woman who lost her life NBC News correspondent Jesse Kur joins us now from Kansas City with the latest Jesse Good morning Joe good morning a short time ago we saw the chief's Championship banners coming down here at Union.

Station at the same time there are now projections up on the building that say Kansas City strong they're reminders that even as the confetti and the other debris here is being cleaned up memories of the violence remain overnight at a candlelight vigil the Kansas City Community grieving and outraged you got to protect us I'm.

Scared as hell after the city Super Bowl celebration devolved into deadly chaos authorities say they recovered several firearms and have two juveniles in custody but so far no official word on criminal charges this appeared to be a dispute between several people that ended in gunfire and this morning we're seeing more images from the unfolding.

Horror one mother and daughter hiding under a car and desperately calling 911 shots this video appears to show the massive crowd at the rally when gunshots first rang out some fans begin to flee but many more seem unaware that nearby a 43-year-old mother of two was gunned down she a big loss Lisa Lopez Galvan.

Was a local radio DJ and huge Chiefs fan her family says what was supposed to be a celebration with her son turned into a nightmare both were shot but only he survived Lisa was a lot more than just a number she was a very wholesome very caring very loving individual officials revealing of the 22 people wounded at least half are under age 16 the youngest.

Person shot 8 years old old in a new year that's only 46 days old this was at least the 48th mass shooting of four or more people according to the gun violence archive another American Tragedy fueling familiar outrage what is happening here have we been Have We Become that numb Have We Become that callous Bridget Bon says at one point.

She was this close to the rally stage when gunshots rang out she pushed her 13-year-old daughter to the ground I saw the shooter cuz he was like that and my daughter was screaming so you saw someone with a gun oh yeah I saw the Guns Bon says this bullet fragment struck her backpack just inches from her body I've been through some traumatizing.

Things that will that changed my life and this this is probably the worst and a short time ago Joe we learned that overnight Taylor Swift who is arguably become the world's most famous Chiefs fan this past football season has donated 100 ,000 to a crowd fund that is set up to benefit the.

Family of Lisa Lopez Galvan who lost her life here Joe Jesse thank you so much appreciate it now let's head to Washington where the Republican L impeachment inquiry into President Biden may be in serious Jeopardy this morning an FBI informant has been indicted by the justice department accused of lying to The Bureau about the president and.

His son Hunter Biden NBC News chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander joins us with the latest on this hey Peter good morning Savannah good morning morning this is a dramatic new development Democrats are now urging House Republicans to abandon their impeachment inquiry altogether in the wake of this indictment the justice.

Department as you noted says that a longtime confidential FBI informant a man by the name of Alexander smrnov allegedly provided false information about President Biden and his son Hunter to an FBI agent including explosive allegations that the Biden took millions of dollars in bribes this morning house Republicans.

Case for impeaching President Biden may be falling apart after special counsel David Weiss charged of former FBI informant with lying about financial ties between President Biden his son Hunter and Ukrainian Energy company bisma top Democrats now calling on the GOP to abandon the impeachment inquiry even Donald Trump's handpicked special.

Counsel Mr Weiss has now brought charges against This Confidential human informant who turns out presumably allegedly to have been engaged in a fraud from the very beginning those barisma allegations are the focus of House Republicans push for impeachment according to the justice department Alexander smyrnov was arrested in Las.

Vegas after returning from a trip overseas a 37 page indictment alleges smyrnov had been a confidential source for the FBI since 2010 and that he provided false derogatory information to the FBI about both bidens after Joe Biden became a candidate for president in 2020 the doj says the source falsely claimed officials at barisma said they.

Hired Hunter because his father would protect them and that the bidens were paid $5 million each following smirnov's indictment the House GOP said it's impeachment inquiry does not rely on the informant's claims even though top Republicans have Amplified his false allegations for months a highly credible FBI source alleges that Joe Biden.

Received $5 million in exchange for pressuring for the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor a source familiar with the matter tells NBC News Hunter Biden does not know the individual who was charged and does not believe he ever met him in December Hunter Biden acknowledged past Financial struggles but called House Republicans quest to impeach his father.

Baseless there is no evidence to support the allegations that my father was financially involved in my business because it did not happen also overnight Hunter Biden's attorney tells NBC News the top House Republicans had been warned that they quote built their conspiracies about Hunter and his family on lies told by people with agendas not.

Facts smirnov made his initial court appearance yesterday in Las Vegas a judge ordered him held pending A detention hearing next Tuesday Savannah all right Peter thank you so much the west coast is bracing for even more wet weather let's get a look at your morning news now forecast Andrew lman is with us in studio hey Andrew good morning good.

Morning guys wash rinse repeat that's the story out west as we gear up for another active weekend if you look at our satellite and radar though you might notice that it's mostly quiet for our friends out west we've instead got a couple of uh storm systems working through the middle of the country a little snow we've got some rain along.

The Gulf Coast but the West Coast over the next couple of days is going to have multiple storms to contend with here's the first one this happens tomorrow we're going to see this push on Shore rain snow those are the things that we're watching uh be impacting folks across this region here for your Saturday and your Sunday and we know.

It's been quite a soggy uh season across parts of this region that means that once again we'll be likely looking at flash flooding conditions for folks across specifically California as we gear into uh gear up for the end of the weekend into Sunday you can see this is 8:00 pm we've got another batch of rain working on Shore with this next system.

That'll impact folks across that region once again as we round out our weekend here's the areas that I want you to keep a close eye on most of this for the flash flood risk through uh Saturday is going to be focused across portions of California Santa Rosa up north just south of Eureka but places like Crescent City Eureka reading down through San.

Fran Monterey you're all going to still have a marginal risk at least of some of that flash flooding to occur too we've got a good batch of rain on the way over the extended period an inch 2 inches 3 Ines all possible we could likely see some of these isolated spots pick up maybe 5 Ines between now and Sunday this is going to leave us with once again all.

Those same impacts that we've seen time and time again this season the land slides the mudslides the washed out roads that'll all be something we'll have to watch for through your weekend plans meanwhile across parts of the Northeast we're still dealing with some of these snow showers coming off the lake we've got those strong winds in the.

Picture if you're outside walking at all across the Northeast you're going to notice just how biting those winds are this is going to last here for a little while longer before we gear up for our next storm system that works from the middle of the country to the east 47 million people across the country under these winter alerts but this area is.

What we're watching as far as the the impacts from that Clipper system this one that you see right here that's going to work from basically Missouri to the Mid-Atlantic over the next day or so it's a fast mover so just like the one that we dealt with yesterday it's going to be gone before you know it but not before it dumps some light to moderate.

Snow across parts of the Ohio Valley uh we could see some rain from Knoxville down to portions of the southeast and then even as we get into tomorrow this is 5:00 p.m. it's long gone but we could likely see some lasting kind of scattered snow showers but in the morning specifically we'll see some snow along the I95 Corridor so New York to.

Washington DC we could pick up some again light to moderate snow but it could be impactful for travel especially with folks out the door and uh getting stuff done on their Saturday New York about 1 to three inches I would say is likely two to three inches maybe up to four inches for Philadelphia Washington DC right around that same kind of range.

Of 1 to three uh the higher elevations guys will pick up a little bit more snow but it'll be uh we'll see some flurries as we get out the door for our Saturday BL love a flurry thanks Angie of course we've got much more to come on this hour of morning news now including a new lawsuit alleging all those dating apps actually do more harm than good but.

First the standoff in Washington over the crisis at the southern border and what's at stake if Homeland Security runs out of cash that's next stay with us welcome back the Biden Administration and Congress are at an impass over policy changes and funding at the southern border the president has asked.

Congress for additional funding to boost resources at the border but Republicans blocked a bipartisan border package earlier this month that was tied to the funding Homeland Security officials are now facing a dwindling flow of money for Border enforcement and House Republicans are refusing to free up funds without sweeping changes to immigration policies.

NBC News Congressional correspondent Julie cirin joins us with the latest developments here Julie good morning so what's the latest on negotiations for Border resource I know a couple times we've been talking and you're like this just might not be getting done in an election year but are there any signs here of a potential.

Compromise yeah I still feel that way unfortunately I mean this really is a heated partisan political environment Republicans as you mentioned did kill that Senate bipartisan border compromise which again went very far in the direction of conservatives in terms of changing that Asylum policy making it harder for illegal immigration.

Specifically but at this point this week we had reported that speaker Johnson wants one-on-one one-on-one meeting with the president to discuss the path forward for a supplemental Aid package for foreign aid abroad he's still pushing for hr2 that partisan border security bill that House Republicans passed last year that stands no chance.

In the Democratic controlled Senate it is really not clear at this point guys if anything can get done on the border but certainly the situation is still dire so we know the president has been a meetings with top AIDS about border security for weeks can his administration bypass Congress in any way way and take some sort of executive.

Action at the border well Republicans have been saying for months that President Biden can close the border if he really wants to with executive action the issue here though is that they need funding they need resources to make all of this happened remember under the Trump Administration the former president had.

Directed about2 and a half billion dollars to build the Border while he took that out of military construction funds in the Pentagon so technically the president can redirect funds reallocate them between agencies but Trump of course faced heavy litigation for this the Biden Administration is concerned as well politically in terms of what they.

Can do at the border but the bottom line here is Congress control controls the pur strings and they really need additional funding to get anything done including getting those detention beds to be able to put people in detention rather than release them into the country yeah tell us some more implications here what's at stake Julie.

If the Department of Homeland Security doesn't get this funding well ice which is the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency they are running out of money my colleague Julia anley had some reporting earlier this week they could be $500 million short uh by May that's just a couple of months from now if they don't.

Get additional funding from Congress the thing is though we know Congress is considering those spending bills uh at the beginning of next month in March uh Republicans are insistent upon not adding anything that doesn't concern defense spending of course Homeland Security falls into the non non-defense discretionary spending bucket.

Republicans again without policy changes unlikely to spend more money it's not even clear if they will get to an agreement on ful year funding bills and that can certainly hamper uh the DHS the Department of Homeland Security and can make the administration's uh executive actions at the board or anything they want to do close to imp possible all.

Right Julie cirin thank you so much coming up looking to get away maybe you've been eyeing some warmer weather after the break we've got the low on on where you can find some of the best travel deals you're looking for a spring break destination stay with us welcome back if you're looking for.

Love you might have better chances offline according to a new lawsuit filed against the parent company of the dating apps Tinder hinge and the league the lawsuit claims those platforms are designed to addict users rather than help people find their forever love NBC News correspondent Emily aeta has more on that Emily good morning hey there Joe.

Tinder hinge the league they've become popular ways of dating in the modern world World in fact it worked for one in five couples under 30 years old but a group of users are blasting those platforms for allegedly rolling out addictive features and putting profits over love whether it's stumbling into a.

Dreamy British bookstore um can I help you too no thanks or a matching drink order at a bar can I get old thank you the days of coincidental meat cutes appear to be fading as the technology dominates the dating scene I'm about to go on my second hinge date 2 days in a row an estimated 300 million.

People around the world use dating apps an industry that raked in nearly $5 billion dollar in Revenue in 2022 hinge wants you to meet someone great even if it kills us but a lawsuit filed on Valentine's Day argues that's not the case and that popular dating apps Tinder hinge and the league are portrayed by their owner match group as.

Effective tools for establishing off app relationships while secretly doing everything in its power to capture and sustain paying subscribers and keep them on app Ryan Clarkson is representing the six plaintiffs what about these apps make them addictive it's the gamification of relationships the infinite scroll and swiping features the.

The use of rewards the ever increasing uh increasingly expensive subscription fees match wholeheartedly disagrees calling the lawsuit ridiculous in writing we actively strive to get people on dates every day and off our apps an e-harmony survey in the UK found nine in 10 singles who use online dating platforms believe they are addicted and.

Seven in 10 think it has a negative impact on their mental health I'd say it was an awful experience while criticism of dating apps focuses on adults it comes as tech companies face mounting scrutiny over allegedly employing addictive features and contributing to the youth Mental Health crisis New York City suing several social media.

Platforms this week who all say they strive to keep people safe Clarkson hopes his lawsuit and others alike help slow the scrolling in a screen weary world we all need to kind of shed a light on any of these technologies that foment addiction so if you're one of the millions of people exploring dating apps.

Psychologists suggest take things slowly look carefully at a profile before swiping it is not a numbers game focus on one or two dating apps and set aside time for scrolling so it doesn't impede on your entire day right some useful advice Emily thank you well the recent winter weather might have you thinking about getting away to a warmer place.

That's maybe you want to embrace the cold weather and head to the slopes for some skiing well there are deals for winter Travelers out there but also a few things you should know before you go Kat and asro a travel expert with going she joined us now with some ideas to make your little winter trip go a little smoother so let's talk about why you.

Should travel during the winter how is it different from Summer travel all right so hear me out I know this might be a little bit of an off color opinion but W winter travel is the new summer travel you can often find incredible deals in the winter and less crowds better prices for example at going we found an incredible best ever on this.

Route deal 207 Miami to London in incredible which is really great and you know what I was just in the UK yes I had to pack maybe a couple more layers but it was fantastic no bathing suit no bathing suit but hey you know what these guys they don't don't need to see the Sun for a minute and you just can have a really great experience despite it being.

A little bit chillier and you know there are places if you are looking at Europe there are places that are pretty temperate Malta Sicily even going to the Greek Islands in the winter you know you have less cra and hey winter sorry summer travel can be really hot in Europe too hot for sure exactly last year we saw that so just considering.

Your options and knowing that you can often get a better deal and less crowds oh my gosh you say Sicily and it's like an ache just being in Italy oh what a fabulous place um let's talk about getting there because I understand some airports are changing how you go through security what's going to be different right so actually it's it's not every.

Airport but we've just found out that if you are looking to apply for Global Entry if you're located in the DC area you can now get an appointment on departure so this means that you can actually show up to the airport a little bit earlier and get your interview done that's the second part of your interview process of the process of getting Global.

Entry you know right now you have to often apply online and then wait to get your your interview it can often be weeks course now it's getting easier week after yeah up to a year some people have to wait so this is only available in do Washington Dallas but we should see this trickling about the country and this is really great because again.

Getting those appointments oftentimes with your busy schedule can be a bit hard so this is great news for anybody that's considering getting Global Entry all right so you get through the gate but it's winter right now we're seeing all the rain on the west coast and the winter storms and things like that you find out your flights impacted in some.

Way what are your best options what should you do right here is the plan B toolkit of winter travel or just of of bad weather travel so first thing you want to do they're telling everybody to go to customer service you're smart you get your phone out and see if you can actually rebook yourself through the mobile app a lot of these Airlines have.

It already built in that you can do self-service and you want to get on top of that quickly because those seats on flights it's not an endless supply you want to be it's a first come first syrup so you want to be ahead of the game so while you're standing on that line get your phone out second second step if you can't do that on your mobile app you.

Want to connect with the International customer service line everybody's on that domestic line flooding the gates you smart you get on that International line doesn't matter if the agent is located in London or Australia they're able to get into the system help you just the same yeah let me tell you from experience you see that massive line and.

You're joining the end of it it's over for you it is over just go home and get on the phone um let's talk about spring break that's like ahead a little bit so if you don't want to go right now and maybe you want to do like March April May what should we know about that time right so spring break's interesting because it's not quite peak season it's.

Sort of this gray area because and then again it's not sort of low season it's kind of this weird in between you know we are likely to see more people travel than we did last year but the great thing that you can sort of Bank on is the fact that school schedules are all different around the country or city to City so you can almost do City Arbitrage.

So say you're in New York and you actually can see better prices leaving from Philly leaving from Boston something to consider to sort of save in the end so we call that sort of city Arbitrage if you're looking for for flight deals around your children's spring break when you look at Spring it always feels like spring break is a.

Little more expensive can you still find good deals if you want to travel during the Spring yes you can but we are suggesting that come March we're likely to see these prices rise but right now you can head from Madison Wisconsin down to Orlando 118 round trip round trip round trip that's right yeah oh my gosh one way is like less than lunch yeah.

This city anyway what are you having for lunch I get it New York head from Washington DC over to San Diego maybe you this is the year that you take that uh surf lesson for 2:30 or maybe you want to go International you can go from New York over to Paris 435 round trip available dates throughout March and April yeah it's You airlin.

Full service Airlines like a Delta and American it's you know you have to do you should be a little bit flexible in your timings but again know that deals are out there you just don't want to wait until the final hour and be left with high price check all right wow K Astro thank you so much now we're excited to travel coming up history or.

Should I say her story in the world of baseball yeah after the break we're going to introduce you to the very first female voice of a Major League team her name is Jenny kavar and you'll be hearing a whole lot from her this season stay with us we are back with some Financial headlines Nike is now planning a round.

Of layoff CNBC Savannah hanau has that and other money news Savannah Good morning Joe Savannah good morning to you yes so Nike is cutting more than 1600 jobs that's about 2% of its Global Workforce the company is looking to reduce costs as it warrants of weaker profits this year with consumers cutting back on non-essential items the layoffs.

Are reportedly not EXP expected to impact employees in Nike stores or distribution centers or those in its Innovation team Nike is increasing investment in categories like running women's apparel and the Jordan brand apple is reportedly ramping up development of new generative AI features for its excode programming.

Software that are similar to Microsoft's GitHub co-pilot boomber said Apple plans to release the tools to thirdparty developers this year they apply a large language model to predict and complete lines of code and could potentially write code to test apps saving time and money and Uncle nearest is nearing so-called unicorn status that means when.

A startup is valued at more than a billion after raising new round of cash Uncle nearest is a black and woman-owned whiskey brand that was launched in 2017 it's now the world's top selling blackowned spirit and one of the fastest growing American whiskey makers last year less than half of 1% of all venture capital dollars went to Black Founders.

Guys have to try that one out all right pretty cool too thank you now to a historic moment in the Great American Pastime for the first time ever a woman will be the voice of a Major League team NBC Sports California has named Jenny kavar the primary play-by-play announcer for the Oakland Athletics cavar will call her first game for the A's when.

Spring training kicks off and this morning we have Jenny here with us in studio good morning hi guys good morning first congratulations thank you so much has it kind of sunk in yet yeah has a lot of text messages uh just really overwhelmed by the response super humbled by it and you know it's something that uh we've been working for.

For a long time I I called the game for the first time in 2018 and have been doing backup play byplay and there's a couple other women in the industry that are doing it as well and to to get the lead job I so grateful to NBC Sports California for the opportunity you've been in this business what for 20 years now or so doesn't look it does not look.

Like you have been uh were there those moments where you just said oh my gosh I don't know if this is going to happen if I'm going to be able to break through that SC of course I think when we all start out in broadcasting business you have no idea uh where you want to go you have a dream you have an idea and for me that really was to be a sideline.

Reporter and um that was the representation I saw on television of women and specifically in the game of football so I think 20 years ago to today looking around and and the sports landscape for broadcasting and seeing women in so many roles not just on air but behind the scenes producers directors positions of power hiring.

Power it's so important to know that you know the next generation of girls can dream to be anything did you always know that baseball was like where your heart was but you didn't see that representation yeah I never saw it on television represented um I think Genie's alasco was maybe doing baseball on a national level and that that was.

Really about it so I grew up in a household where my dad was a longtime High School coach and I knew nothing else but the baseball field um so when I got my first opportunity in ' 07 uh to to be part of the broadcast team for the San Diego Padres that was really that moment yeah you're you're Hometown uh that was really that moment that I.

Thought wow I I feel like I was made to do this I I've been in this game my whole life I mean your dad was your baseball coach and and one of your children is named after Vin Scully is that right so talk about that I mean this isn't your blood this is like right it really is my husband played Minor League Baseball we met through through.

Uh will Venable who was a Padres player he introduced us set us up uh Vince scly has always just been you know so kind had always been so kind to me and I had this feeling when when I was pregnant and found out I was having a boy that you know that would be a cool name to name him after and got the chance to let Vin know when he was still alive and he.

Pinned a lovely letter to my son that is just going to be so special to hand off to him one day that's framed I better it better be yeah and it is a great name um okay let's talk about the new so play-by-play announcer obviously you really got to know a team in and out and you've just joined the organization how are you preparing how are you feeling is.

It nerves is it excitement oh I think it's everything right it's all wrapped into one all these emotions that you're trying to enjoy and be in the moment but you do have to look ahead and there's a big season coming up and so I'm excited to dive in I'll go to spring training down in Arizona next week and um you know in addition to all the preparation.

I'm doing uh going into that moment of this team it's that's where it builds it's the relationships that you make with the players and I think that's why I love sports broadcasting you get to be the voice of the player story and you get to share that with fans and hope hope to connect fans to their team a little bit more it's a long season 162.

Games right they need to keep coming back for something so to be able to have that like personal connection to the players they love to watch is so important I'm sure you hear from so many girls who are inspired by you what is your advice to those who are looking at you and want to follow in your footstep man I I I am just blown away especially.

A dad comes up and tells me I can't wait to share this with my daughter I can't wait to watch a game with my daughter because that's how I grew up with my dad watching sports um but there are so many women to watch in our business right now Susan waldman's been doing it for decades uh for the New York Yankees on the radio and Melanie Newman's doing it.

On radio for the Baltimore Orioles Jessica Mendoza got in the booth like I I just think that there are going to be so many more opportunities for these girls and it is really special to know that uh I'm part of that conversation of inspiring the Next Generation and it just means so much to hear from them so cool Jenny congratulations we'll be.

Watching we'll be listening we're so excited for you thank you guys so much for having me absolutely coming up we just can't send you off to your weekend without a look at the latest and greatest in the world of entertainment that's because we've got your Camp Miss list it's right after the break today we're talking about two Titans of Pop.

Mariah and Ariana teaming up for a yes and remix that is one to bump this weekend on that that's a good thing right we'll say more words like that right after this break finally this hour it's Friday which means it's sign for your weekly.

Can't miss list from an Allstar action flick to a disturbing documentary plenty to watch this weekend plus we have the latest on a musical Remix featuring two iconic performers that just dropped overnight joining us here on set for everything you can't miss is entertainment journalist and pop culture expert Brian balaz our good to have you.

Here you let's start in the theaters action-packed Russell Crow all Hemsworth brothers multiple Hemsworth brothers right it's called land of bad same words used to describe dating me years ago um land of bad starts Russell Crow as a drone pilot and he's overseeing remotely this Mission uh this extraction mission in the Philippines very dangerous.

Obviously things run off the rails and it leaves uh Liam Hemsworth Helmsworth character isolated outnumbered and alone so now Russell Crow has to get him out of there but also help them complete the mission in the first place yes uh Liam's brother is in there not Chris the other brother and Milo vent Amilia sorry did I just call the other brother I hope he's.

Not sorry other brother the but this is action all the military action suspense you could ask for this is in theaters yeah all right all right okay let's go non-fiction or documentary right God and Country highly rated apparently tell us about this yes okay this is Rob Riner produced and this is the story of uh the documentary follows.

Christian nationalism its impact on politics its impact on Christianity and and how we view religion and politics as a whole um it's got some of the leading world leaders in Christianity and religion and it's got 100% currently on Rotten Tomatoes This is in limited release in theaters but I really hope this gets to streaming because um it may.

Not get the crowd in theaters but it's really important for everyone to watch based on everyone what everyone's saying about it and pretty timely when you consider the election this year Okay so we've got something on Apple TV called the new look and it looks at the French fashion industry in the 1940s right right okay so this is the story of a.

Christian dior's rise and as sent to and his efforts to Dethrone Coco Chanel this is the time of the height of Couture but the interesting added layer to this is this is when the nais were occupying Paris so there's these two layers of you know there's curfews certain people couldn't work in certain occupations there shortages of food and then we have.

This battle in the fashion Community it stars Ben Mendelson Juliet Bonos is Coco Chanel Glen Clos is in there John malovich and interesting they they they take period songs and they use modern-day covers of these songs so it's kind of this hybrid soundtrack which is also kind of interesting but it's a historical story that's also very.

Interesting is that kind of what Bridgerton does like s it makes him the orchestral of success but I really I do like that I think that's interesting yeah I really want to see that one I hadn't heard about it till this morning um okay there's a second season of of an Amy Schumer show right we got the first one a while ago it sounds like it's been.

Years and of course there's been a lot of start stops and starts we're going to be saying that a lot nowadays like things that we haven't seen in years are finally back this is life and Beth this is on Hulu Amy Schumer as we know her to be like this is her it's her character personified really um it's kind of a midlife crisis movie who can't relate to.

That and um s her and um Michael Sarah and yam Monica Saunders shout out to her who's her best friend on the show she's a wine salesperson who then moves to Long Island to hook up with a well be with a farmer hook up with Michael Sarah's farmer character which is that's acting I don't see it but it is really she do get pregnant right so I guess so.

Yes and it's just a really it's just if you love The Amy Scher brand of Comedy it's really good I really like this one and this is season two you don't have to have watched season one but I recommend season one you know what's funny is I've been uh binging the bear on Hulu which is amazing but so I see promos for this and it catches you up on season one so.

I've never watch it and I feel like I'm caught up you can watch if you want there go I like um this like Brian un varnish oh my God isn't it scary right not everyone feels the same way I was like I wonder if this is my last time we're on the internet right exactly there no rules no rules here all right let's talk about.

Ariana Grande Mariah Carey it's a remix of yes and it's interesting because what I saw Mariah at MSG during a Christmas show Ariana came on with talk about timing yes they did a Christmas song once before um and Ariana has famously said she's not going to release Advanced singles like she typically does before her March 8th day of her album but this.

Was just a month since the premiere of this original song yes and Mariah then has joined her in this duet lots of harmonies lots of Diva Diva music it's it's already charting the the music video has already gotten or the lyric video has already gotten like 35 million views in eight hours wow a million for just when they put the words yeah it's I.

Don't even think it's the words it's just the cover like it's just it's there's nothing to the video it's just you want to hear it on YouTube yeah so it's obviously this is and what brilliant marketing released it a month later and all these people are buying the new version so it's great great exctly then the AL comes next so all.

Right I can't wait to listen thank you so much thanks for having me always great to see you have a great weekend that is going to do it for this hour of morning news now but stick around there is a lot of news it continues right now thanks for watching stay updated about breaking news and top stories on.

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