00:00 - 00:03
good morning Good to have you with us
00:01 - 00:04
I'm Joe Frier And I'm Savannah Sers
00:03 - 00:06
We're going to begin our show this
00:04 - 00:07
morning at the White House Top Trump
00:06 - 00:10
administration officials are coming
00:07 - 00:12
under intense criticism for discussing
00:10 - 00:14
those Yemen war plans in a group chat
00:12 - 00:16
that inadvertently included the
00:14 - 00:17
editor-inchief of The Atlantic magazine
00:16 - 00:19
His name's Jeffrey Goldberg President
00:17 - 00:20
Trump and his allies are downplaying the
00:19 - 00:23
leak saying there was no classified
00:20 - 00:25
material in those texts But lawmakers
00:23 - 00:27
are demanding an investigation into the
00:25 - 00:29
incident Some Democrats are calling on
00:27 - 00:32
the president to fire the officials
00:29 - 00:34
involved Among those under pressure is
00:32 - 00:36
national security adviser Mike Waltz He
00:34 - 00:38
was the one who accidentally added
00:36 - 00:40
Goldberg to the group chat The president
00:38 - 00:43
told NBC News that Waltz quote learned a
00:40 - 00:45
lesson and he's a good man In an
00:43 - 00:47
interview with Fox News yesterday Walt
00:45 - 00:49
said he took responsibility for what
00:49 - 00:53
It's embarrassing Yes Uh we're going to
00:51 - 00:55
get to the bottom of it We've have I I
00:53 - 00:57
just talked to Elon on the way here
00:55 - 00:59
We've got the best technical minds
00:57 - 01:03
looking at how this happened But I can
00:59 - 01:05
tell you I can tell you for 100% I don't
01:03 - 01:07
know this guy I know him by his horrible
01:05 - 01:09
reputation Look I take full
01:07 - 01:11
responsibility I built the I built the
01:09 - 01:13
group to my job is to make sure
01:11 - 01:15
everything's coordinated We've got a
01:13 - 01:17
team standing by to talk about this and
01:15 - 01:18
more We start things off with NBC News
01:17 - 01:20
White House correspondent Aaron
01:18 - 01:22
Gilchrist Aaron good morning So what
01:20 - 01:23
else are we hearing from the president
01:22 - 01:26
about this we know he likes to take the
01:23 - 01:28
temperature of the media coverage Is he
01:26 - 01:31
still fully standing behind Mike Waltz
01:28 - 01:33
this morning 100% behind Mike Waltz and
01:31 - 01:35
the rest of his national security team
01:33 - 01:37
to include the Secretary of Defense as
01:35 - 01:39
well as the directors of national
01:37 - 01:41
intelligence and the CIA who testified
01:39 - 01:43
on Capitol Hill yesterday President
01:41 - 01:45
Trump really and I think the entire
01:43 - 01:48
administration has been trying to uh
01:45 - 01:50
sort of shift the focus of this incident
01:48 - 01:53
more to uh the outcome what happened to
01:50 - 01:56
the Houthies who were subject to this
01:53 - 01:57
air strike Uh that was the the the the
01:56 - 02:00
point of this conversation that happened
01:57 - 02:02
on the signal messaging app Uh rather
02:00 - 02:04
than focusing on uh what really has
02:02 - 02:07
turned into a fiasco for uh this
02:04 - 02:09
administration in terms of looking at uh
02:07 - 02:10
how this this sensitive information
02:09 - 02:13
which the president says was not
02:10 - 02:15
classified That's his understanding Uh
02:13 - 02:17
the sensitive information was was able
02:15 - 02:19
to get out there to the general public
02:17 - 02:20
in the way that it has at this point I
02:19 - 02:21
want you to hear a little bit more of
02:20 - 02:23
what the president himself had to say
02:21 - 02:26
about this incident uh and
02:23 - 02:29
accountability
02:26 - 02:31
There's no classified information as I
02:29 - 02:34
understand it I don't think he should
02:31 - 02:37
apologize I think he's doing his best Uh
02:34 - 02:40
it's equipment and technology that's not
02:37 - 02:42
perfect and uh probably he won't be
02:40 - 02:44
using it again at least not in the very
02:44 - 02:48
Now we also heard uh Mike Waltz the
02:46 - 02:50
president's national security adviser
02:48 - 02:52
say again in that interview you showed a
02:50 - 02:54
few a few seconds ago that there was no
02:52 - 02:56
classified information in this
02:54 - 02:58
conversation He also went so far as to
02:56 - 03:01
say that he would prefer the Atlantic
02:58 - 03:03
not release more details not release
03:01 - 03:05
more contents of that chat saying that
03:03 - 03:07
uh the people who were supposed to be
03:05 - 03:09
there believed that they were having a
03:07 - 03:12
confidential uh exchange of policy ideas
03:09 - 03:13
and and exchange of information about
03:12 - 03:14
some of the actions that the
03:13 - 03:15
administration would be taking Joe and
03:14 - 03:17
Savannah So Aaron we've mentioned
03:15 - 03:19
lawmakers are demanding answers some
03:17 - 03:22
demanding repercussions Is the White
03:19 - 03:23
House likely to heed calls at least for
03:22 - 03:26
any type of investigation or take any
03:23 - 03:28
kind of meaningful action we saw really
03:26 - 03:30
uh aggressive back and forth from
03:28 - 03:32
Democrats on Capitol Hill yesterday as
03:30 - 03:34
they were uh questioning the national uh
03:32 - 03:35
director of national intelligence and
03:34 - 03:38
the CIA director This was supposed to be
03:35 - 03:40
a hearing about uh really a different
03:38 - 03:43
topic but so much of it focused on this
03:40 - 03:44
signal chat conversation uh and the fact
03:43 - 03:46
that the information there was able to
03:44 - 03:48
get out to someone in the public We we
03:46 - 03:51
know that there is at least one senator
03:48 - 03:52
who's calling for uh Pete Hexet the
03:51 - 03:54
defense secretary and Mike Waltz the
03:52 - 03:56
national security adviser to resign As
03:54 - 03:58
far as an investigation goes the Trump
03:56 - 04:00
administration has not been using the
03:58 - 04:02
word investigation They have said the
04:00 - 04:04
president has said the press secretary
04:02 - 04:06
has said that they are looking into this
04:04 - 04:08
incident suggesting that Elon Musk and
04:06 - 04:10
his doge team these are technical
04:08 - 04:12
experts who would be looking into how
04:10 - 04:14
this person was added to the group uh
04:12 - 04:16
chat that also the national security
04:14 - 04:18
council uh and the White House council's
04:16 - 04:21
office the lawyers at the White House
04:18 - 04:22
are also looking into this incident uh
04:21 - 04:24
and there seems to be consensus Joe and
04:22 - 04:25
Savannah that they don't want to see
04:24 - 04:27
this happen again Aaron real quick while
04:25 - 04:28
we have you we wanted to ask about an
04:27 - 04:30
executive order the president signed
04:28 - 04:32
yesterday It's a directive that requires
04:30 - 04:33
people to prove their citizenship when
04:32 - 04:35
they register to vote This is certainly
04:33 - 04:37
going to face challenges in court But
04:35 - 04:38
how could it impact our elections yeah
04:37 - 04:40
you're absolutely right This is going to
04:38 - 04:41
face challenges in court Joe This is
04:40 - 04:44
something also that would represent
04:41 - 04:46
really a major change in how uh
04:44 - 04:48
elections are uh carried out in this
04:46 - 04:51
country The order uh orders the Election
04:48 - 04:54
Assistance Commission to redo voter
04:51 - 04:56
registration forms uh and require that
04:54 - 04:58
voters prove their citizenship in order
04:56 - 05:00
to register to vote It also makes some
04:58 - 05:03
changes to mail and ballot deadlines and
05:00 - 05:05
to election equipment in some instances
05:03 - 05:07
And the administration says that this is
05:05 - 05:09
really designed to prevent non-citizens
05:07 - 05:10
from being able to vote which there's no
05:09 - 05:12
evidence that that happens in
05:10 - 05:14
significant numbers When people uh
05:12 - 05:16
register to vote they do have to swear
05:14 - 05:18
on that form that they are both citizens
05:16 - 05:20
and that they are eligible to vote The
05:18 - 05:22
expectation from some legal experts is
05:20 - 05:24
that uh Job Vanna this will end up in
05:22 - 05:27
the courts because elections are
05:24 - 05:29
primarily uh run if you will by Congress
05:27 - 05:31
and the states The president doesn't
05:29 - 05:33
necessarily have any authority or power
05:31 - 05:34
over elections and how they're carried
05:33 - 05:36
out All right Aaron Gilchrist thank you
05:34 - 05:38
so much Well senior Trump national
05:36 - 05:39
security officials are likely to face
05:38 - 05:41
tough questions today about that group
05:39 - 05:42
chat leak at a House hearing Yeah
05:41 - 05:45
already yesterday top intelligence
05:42 - 05:47
officials stonewalled and shifted blame
05:45 - 05:48
as they were grilled by Democratic
05:47 - 05:50
senators It was part of an annual
05:48 - 05:52
hearing about global threats but that
05:50 - 05:55
hearing was overshadowed by the security
05:52 - 05:56
breach Democrats press CIA Director John
05:55 - 05:59
Radcliffe and Director of National
05:56 - 06:00
Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard for answers
05:59 - 06:02
over their participation in the now
06:02 - 06:10
chat Director Radcliffe this was a
06:05 - 06:10
huge mistake Correct
06:15 - 06:19
a national political No no you No no
06:18 - 06:21
director I asked you a yes or no
06:19 - 06:25
question and now you'll hold on A
06:21 - 06:28
national political reporter was made was
06:25 - 06:30
made privy to sensitive information
06:28 - 06:33
about imminent military operations
06:30 - 06:35
against a foreign terrorist organization
06:33 - 06:38
There's been no apology There has been
06:35 - 06:41
no recognition of the gravity of this
06:38 - 06:44
error And by the way we will get the
06:41 - 06:45
full transcript of this chain and your
06:44 - 06:48
testimony will be measured carefully
06:45 - 06:49
against its content
06:48 - 06:51
For more let's bring in NBC News Capital
06:49 - 06:52
Hill correspondent Julie Cirin Julie
06:51 - 06:53
good morning So clearly things got
06:52 - 06:55
heated at yesterday's hearing What did
06:53 - 06:57
senators try to dig into with their
06:55 - 06:58
questions yeah it got super intense
06:57 - 07:00
during that hearing Remember there are
06:58 - 07:02
two parts to the worldwide threat
07:00 - 07:04
hearing The one that the public sees and
07:02 - 07:06
then a close session And that is where
07:04 - 07:08
most Republicans reserve their concerns
07:06 - 07:10
and questions of which there are many
07:08 - 07:12
behind the scenes uh to these national
07:10 - 07:14
security and top defense officials that
07:12 - 07:16
testified before this hearing Now what
07:14 - 07:18
you did say play play out in public was
07:16 - 07:20
mostly from Democrats You saw John Oaf
07:18 - 07:23
of Georgia kind of questioning uh John
07:20 - 07:25
Ratcliffe uh there in that hearing but
07:23 - 07:26
you also heard many Democrats try to get
07:25 - 07:28
to the bottom of what happened in the
07:26 - 07:29
signal chat whether the information was
07:28 - 07:31
classified or not They kept getting
07:29 - 07:33
mixed answers from Tulsi Gabbard to John
07:31 - 07:35
Ratcliff to the other folks in that room
07:33 - 07:37
And Mark Warner who was the top Democrat
07:35 - 07:39
on that panel really tried to drill down
07:37 - 07:41
on this because he and many other
07:39 - 07:42
Democrats and Republicans by the way
07:41 - 07:45
were just stunned that this happened a
07:42 - 07:47
mere 18 hours before this scheduled
07:45 - 07:49
hearing uh was set to take place Listen
07:49 - 07:56
If this was a rank and file intelligence
07:53 - 08:00
officer who did this kind of careless
07:56 - 08:01
behavior what would you do with them
08:00 - 08:03
senator I'll reiterate that there was no
08:01 - 08:05
classified material that was shared in
08:03 - 08:07
that ma'am If there's no classified
08:05 - 08:10
materials share and then if there's no
08:07 - 08:12
classified materials then answer the you
08:10 - 08:14
can't even answer the question whether
08:12 - 08:16
you on the chat
08:14 - 08:18
They got extremely frustrated in this
08:16 - 08:19
hearing as they kind of heard different
08:18 - 08:21
things from all of the witnesses present
08:19 - 08:24
and they obviously got even more during
08:21 - 08:25
that close session afterwards So Julia
08:24 - 08:27
what are congressional Democrats
08:25 - 08:28
planning to do to try to get some
08:27 - 08:30
answers about whether any classified
08:28 - 08:32
information was in these texts and who
08:30 - 08:35
was ultimately responsible and is there
08:32 - 08:37
any sign that any Republicans want to
08:35 - 08:39
play ball and also look into this more
08:37 - 08:40
well Republicans playing ball is pretty
08:39 - 08:42
key here because Democrats are in the
08:40 - 08:44
minority in the House and the Senate of
08:42 - 08:45
course and so they don't have much power
08:44 - 08:47
when it comes to getting to the bottom
08:45 - 08:49
of this There is a new letter out this
08:47 - 08:51
morning uh from the Senate Minority
08:49 - 08:53
Leader Chuck Schumer and top Democrats
08:51 - 08:55
to President Trump expressing their
08:53 - 08:57
anger and frustration at this wanting to
08:55 - 08:59
get to the bottom of this situation But
08:57 - 09:00
when you talk about Republicans the top
08:59 - 09:02
Republican in the Senate John Thun
09:00 - 09:04
yesterday said that he expects some of
09:02 - 09:06
his committees the Senate Armed Services
09:04 - 09:08
Committee for example who could call in
09:06 - 09:10
Pete Hex who is the defense secretary
09:08 - 09:12
who was on that chain uh that signal
09:10 - 09:15
chat before the panel He said that his
09:12 - 09:17
committees will be holding hearings will
09:15 - 09:19
be trying to get to the bottom of this
09:17 - 09:21
Uh it just depends how much the other P
09:19 - 09:23
other side of Pennsylvania Avenue at the
09:21 - 09:25
White House actually wants them to I
09:23 - 09:27
asked a number of Republicans yesterday
09:25 - 09:29
if they want to see the full signal file
09:27 - 09:30
if they want to perhaps get some of
09:29 - 09:32
these officials on the phone or in the
09:30 - 09:34
room They said they do want to do so
09:32 - 09:36
They want to see everything But of
09:34 - 09:37
course we'll see exactly what happens
09:36 - 09:39
whether it's a public hearing whether
09:37 - 09:41
it's a conversation or a hand slap that
09:39 - 09:42
happens in private That still remains to
09:41 - 09:44
be seen But as you mentioned they those
09:42 - 09:46
officials will be back on the Hill today
09:44 - 09:48
testifying before the House Intelligence
09:46 - 09:49
Committee this time Uh Julie before we
09:48 - 09:51
let you go one other quick thing we want
09:49 - 09:52
to ask you about This battle that's
09:51 - 09:54
spring between Republicans and federal
09:52 - 09:56
judges This is these judges who have
09:54 - 09:57
issued rulings blocking parts of
09:56 - 09:59
President Trump's agenda like for
09:57 - 10:01
example the one we've been talking a lot
09:59 - 10:03
about with immigration this current hold
10:01 - 10:05
on deportations under the Alien Enemies
10:03 - 10:06
Act Um House Speaker Mike Johnson he
10:05 - 10:08
made some pretty aggressive comments
10:06 - 10:10
yesterday floating the idea of
10:08 - 10:12
eliminating federal courts Let's play
10:10 - 10:14
some of that
10:12 - 10:15
We do have authority over the federal
10:14 - 10:18
courts as you know We can we can
10:15 - 10:20
eliminate an entire district court We we
10:18 - 10:22
have power funding over the courts and
10:20 - 10:23
all these other things But um desperate
10:22 - 10:24
times call for desperate measures and
10:23 - 10:28
Congress is going to act So stay tuned
10:24 - 10:30
for that So Julie what are Republicans
10:28 - 10:31
actually exploring here as they try to
10:30 - 10:34
push their agenda past these judges and
10:31 - 10:35
courts yeah House Speaker Mike Johnson
10:34 - 10:38
threatening with the power of the purse
10:35 - 10:40
Of course Congress does control uh the
10:38 - 10:43
federal spending they can in theory
10:40 - 10:44
shutter an entire district court Uh but
10:43 - 10:46
what's most likely to happen here is
10:44 - 10:48
that the House will take up a series of
10:46 - 10:49
bills including Daryl Isis who's a
10:48 - 10:52
congressman from California who
10:49 - 10:54
essentially wants to neutralize or limit
10:52 - 10:56
the power that district judges have over
10:54 - 10:58
injunctions meaning pausing any
10:56 - 11:00
executive orders that come down from the
10:58 - 11:02
Trump administration of which there have
11:00 - 11:04
been many over the last two months Those
11:02 - 11:06
pauses and stays as the courts review
11:04 - 11:07
those actions further The thing is Elon
11:06 - 11:09
Musk and some in the party want them to
11:07 - 11:11
do more He remember threw money behind
11:09 - 11:13
members of Congress who floated
11:11 - 11:15
impeaching uh these judges That's
11:13 - 11:17
probably not going to happen but
11:15 - 11:19
obviously Republicans want to be caught
11:17 - 11:21
trying All right Julie Cirkin thank you
11:19 - 11:23
very much Let's return to our top story
11:21 - 11:25
the ongoing fallout from that group chat
11:23 - 11:27
leak with NBC News national security
11:25 - 11:29
analyst Clint Watts Clint good to have
11:27 - 11:31
you with us So let's just ask about this
11:29 - 11:33
signal messaging app that was used for
11:31 - 11:35
the conversation The president said
11:33 - 11:36
yesterday a lot of people in the
11:35 - 11:38
government and the military use it
11:36 - 11:41
Should it be used for these types of
11:38 - 11:43
conversations i mean it's encrypted but
11:41 - 11:46
just how secure is it
11:43 - 11:48
yeah a couple things with that They
11:46 - 11:51
should not be using it largely because
11:48 - 11:53
it's on their personal phones That would
11:51 - 11:54
be the normal course of action US
11:53 - 11:56
government generally doesn't put it on
11:54 - 11:58
devices They may in certain
11:56 - 12:01
circumstances That is yet to be seen I
11:58 - 12:03
think the second part of it is signal is
12:01 - 12:05
known as one of the better applications
12:03 - 12:08
for securing communication You might
12:05 - 12:10
even remember uh DHS SISA and some
12:08 - 12:12
others put out a warning last fall
12:10 - 12:13
regarding uh Chinese hacking and they
12:12 - 12:16
actually said use encrypted uh
12:13 - 12:19
applications such as Signal That being
12:16 - 12:21
said it's a private uh company app It's
12:19 - 12:22
not controlled by the government The US
12:21 - 12:24
government should always want control
12:22 - 12:25
over all of its communications and have
12:24 - 12:27
authority over all of that
12:25 - 12:29
infrastructure So they're relying on a
12:27 - 12:30
third party that likely hasn't been
12:29 - 12:32
vetted in the way most would for the US
12:30 - 12:34
government the US intelligence community
12:32 - 12:36
in particular And Clint you mentioned
12:34 - 12:38
it's it's not on a government device
12:36 - 12:40
because it can't be downloaded there and
12:38 - 12:43
it's on personal phones Why is that a
12:40 - 12:46
concern why is that less secure
12:43 - 12:48
it's less secure mostly for the unknown
12:46 - 12:49
You don't know where it is secured or
12:48 - 12:52
how it is secured You're basically going
12:49 - 12:54
to a third party without proper vetting
12:52 - 12:55
uh hoping that it is more secure At the
12:54 - 12:57
same point there have been warnings
12:55 - 12:59
issued uh both in the US government and
12:57 - 13:01
around the world that foreign
12:59 - 13:03
intelligence services do target the
13:01 - 13:05
signal application They do that because
13:03 - 13:06
they know it is a secure application and
13:05 - 13:09
many people are trying to use it So if
13:06 - 13:11
you're a Russian Iranian Chinese or
13:09 - 13:13
other hacker group uh that is a ripe
13:11 - 13:15
target to go after because you would
13:13 - 13:17
assume that very high level people may
13:15 - 13:19
be with confidential conversations not
13:17 - 13:21
just in government but law firms
13:19 - 13:24
corporations they would also be using it
13:21 - 13:25
That's a that's a ripe field to get into
13:24 - 13:27
if you can go and pick into those
13:25 - 13:29
accounts Clint what kind of problems
13:27 - 13:30
could a leak like this have not just on
13:29 - 13:32
intelligence sharing within the
13:30 - 13:34
government but with our foreign allies
13:32 - 13:36
not not to mention our foes now that
13:34 - 13:38
they know these conversations are
13:36 - 13:40
happening at the highest levels on
13:40 - 13:45
Two dimensions to classified information
13:43 - 13:46
One what is the classification level
13:45 - 13:48
which we always talk about secret top
13:46 - 13:51
secret and even beyond But the second
13:48 - 13:53
part is really how is it distributed
13:51 - 13:55
information is only secure as the
13:53 - 13:57
distribution system it's on when you see
13:55 - 13:59
this if you're an ally uh working with
13:57 - 14:01
the United States uh even if you're a
13:59 - 14:03
source uh maybe they're providing that
14:01 - 14:04
information whether there's labels on it
14:03 - 14:07
or not when sensitive information like
14:04 - 14:09
that gets out into the open everyone
14:07 - 14:10
loses trust and loss of trust equals
14:09 - 14:13
loss of sharing loss of sharing equals
14:10 - 14:16
lack of security So that that entire
14:13 - 14:18
pendulum those steps down uh all impact
14:16 - 14:20
US US government US intel community and
14:18 - 14:22
overall US people in terms of their
14:20 - 14:24
protection All right Clint Watts Clint
14:22 - 14:26
thank you so much Let's stay on Capitol
14:24 - 14:29
Hill The future of Social Security was a
14:26 - 14:30
hot topic yesterday as the man tapped by
14:29 - 14:33
President Trump to run the agency was
14:30 - 14:34
pressed on the administration's plans
14:33 - 14:36
While he says there won't be any cuts to
14:34 - 14:38
benefits many Americans are still
14:36 - 14:40
anxious about the program's future NBC
14:38 - 14:43
News correspondent Cap Capitol Hill
14:40 - 14:46
correspondent Ryan Nobles has the story
14:43 - 14:49
Denise Parish is a 70-year-old retired
14:46 - 14:51
nurse from Pennsylvania who relies every
14:49 - 14:53
day on her check from Social Security
14:51 - 14:55
It's just uh something that we always
14:53 - 14:56
counted on She's one of millions of
14:55 - 14:58
Americans who paid into the system and
14:56 - 15:00
now worries about the impact of
14:58 - 15:03
potential changes from President Trump
15:00 - 15:06
and Elon Musk Just looking at being able
15:03 - 15:08
to provide three basic meals for each
15:06 - 15:11
for ourselves because if social security
15:08 - 15:12
were eliminated I I mean it's just I
15:11 - 15:15
can't even think about how terrible that
15:12 - 15:18
would be Musk has openly attacked social
15:15 - 15:20
security Social Security is is the
15:18 - 15:22
biggest Ponzi scheme of all time Enter
15:20 - 15:25
Frank Bizignano the former CEO of the
15:22 - 15:27
financial services company Fisterve
15:25 - 15:28
tapped by Trump to run the program
15:27 - 15:31
promising no one's benefits will be
15:28 - 15:33
impacted despite planned staffing cuts
15:31 - 15:36
and office closures Are you willing to
15:33 - 15:39
commit right now that you will put
15:36 - 15:41
enough people back to work so they can
15:39 - 15:44
do the job of delivering the benefits
15:41 - 15:46
that Americans earned i will commit Yes
15:44 - 15:47
or no i will commit to have the right
15:46 - 15:49
staffing to get the job done
15:47 - 15:52
Congressional Republicans are on a
15:49 - 15:54
mission to cut as much as $2 trillion in
15:52 - 15:56
federal spending A task that won't be
15:54 - 15:58
easy without impacting programs like
15:56 - 16:02
Social Security Some expressing their
15:58 - 16:06
fears at fiery town halls across America
16:02 - 16:08
100% untrue Republicans insist they plan
16:06 - 16:11
to focus on potential waste fraud and
16:08 - 16:12
abuse and hope to automate some services
16:11 - 16:14
I don't think there's a business in the
16:12 - 16:16
private sector that's probably operating
16:14 - 16:19
with the antiquated type of IT system
16:16 - 16:21
that government agencies are You know
16:19 - 16:23
why can't we upgrade those but for
16:21 - 16:26
seniors like Denise abrupt techsavvy
16:23 - 16:30
changes could be a huge challenge Social
16:26 - 16:32
security and Medicare should be the that
16:30 - 16:34
should never be on the chopping block at
16:32 - 16:37
all And there are already reports of the
16:34 - 16:40
agency's website crashing and long waits
16:37 - 16:42
for people seeking help on the phone A
16:40 - 16:44
recent survey shows that 72% of
16:42 - 16:46
Americans are concerned that Social
16:44 - 16:48
Security will run out of funding in
16:46 - 16:50
their lifetime
16:48 - 16:53
Ryan thank you Vice President JD Vance
16:50 - 16:55
says he is now planning to join his wife
16:53 - 16:56
on her trip to Greenland later this week
16:55 - 16:59
Usha Vance had planned to travel to the
16:56 - 17:01
Danish territory on a cultural visit
16:59 - 17:03
before her husband announced his plans
17:01 - 17:05
The couple will now visit the US Space
17:03 - 17:07
Force base there to get a briefing on
17:05 - 17:10
Arctic security issues The move is
17:07 - 17:11
perceived by some as a major escalation
17:10 - 17:13
President Trump's intentions to have
17:11 - 17:15
Greenland become part of the United
17:13 - 17:18
States Officials in Greenland have
17:15 - 17:20
called the visit disrespectful Well West
17:18 - 17:22
Virginia is now the first state to
17:20 - 17:24
completely ban foods that contain
17:22 - 17:26
certain artificial food dyes over health
17:24 - 17:27
concerns The ban will take place in
17:26 - 17:30
schools first beginning this year and
17:27 - 17:31
then across the state in 2028 NBC News
17:30 - 17:34
senior correspondent Tom Costello has
17:34 - 17:37
They're found in everything from chips
17:35 - 17:40
and candies to baked goods breakfast
17:37 - 17:42
cereals fruit juices even medications
17:40 - 17:44
For decades researchers have warned that
17:42 - 17:47
artificial dyes can lead to serious
17:44 - 17:49
behavioral issues in children While not
17:47 - 17:51
universally accepted West Virginia has
17:49 - 17:54
now become the first state to ban seven
17:51 - 17:57
artificial dyes and two preservatives in
17:54 - 17:59
schools this year statewide in 2028 The
17:57 - 18:02
governor writing "West Virginia ranks at
17:59 - 18:03
the bottom of many public health metrics
18:02 - 18:05
which is why there's no better place to
18:03 - 18:08
lead the Make America Healthy Again"
18:05 - 18:11
mission Marissa Salon is now weaning her
18:08 - 18:13
six-year-old off artificial dyes I would
18:11 - 18:16
see him bouncing off the walls and just
18:13 - 18:19
acting way out of his character throwing
18:16 - 18:22
huge temper tantrums and just not being
18:19 - 18:23
able to control himself uh and being
18:22 - 18:27
able to calm down after he would eat
18:23 - 18:29
those foods The EU Australia and Japan
18:27 - 18:32
already ban or regulate artificial dyes
18:29 - 18:35
The FDA banned red dye number three in
18:32 - 18:37
January A food industry trade group says
18:35 - 18:39
West Virginiaians will have less access
18:37 - 18:42
to affordable nutritious and convenient
18:39 - 18:44
food and beverage choices Meanwhile more
18:42 - 18:46
than 20 other states are considering
18:44 - 18:49
similar bans California already bans
18:46 - 18:52
dyes in school meals NYU nutrition
18:49 - 18:54
expert Marian Nestle These dyes are
18:52 - 18:57
there for co cosmetic purposes They
18:54 - 19:00
don't have a health or a safety purpose
18:57 - 19:02
and uh public health advocates have
19:00 - 19:04
wanted to get rid of them for decades
19:02 - 19:07
Researchers say the evidence isn't
19:04 - 19:09
concrete because it is unethical to test
19:07 - 19:12
something on children when you believe
19:09 - 19:14
it will likely hurt them Back to you All
19:12 - 19:15
right Tom thank you so much Texas could
19:14 - 19:17
see some flooding tonight with storms
19:15 - 19:18
coming in from the Gulf For more details
19:17 - 19:20
let's take a look at your morning news
19:18 - 19:22
now weather Meteorologist Michelle
19:20 - 19:24
Gman's with us Hey Michelle Good morning
19:22 - 19:25
Good morning guys Yeah this is going to
19:24 - 19:27
be a big story over the next several
19:25 - 19:30
days We have a developing situation
19:27 - 19:32
where we could see up to 15 ines of rain
19:30 - 19:34
in parts of southern Texas and that's
19:32 - 19:36
because we have subtropical moisture
19:34 - 19:38
moving in So flood alerts already in
19:36 - 19:40
place We have a flood watch uh for
19:38 - 19:41
Corpus Christie That's sort of going to
19:40 - 19:44
be the bullseye of where we're going to
19:41 - 19:45
see some of this really heavy rain Right
19:44 - 19:47
now things are looking okay We're going
19:45 - 19:50
to start to see this rain filling in
19:47 - 19:52
especially later on this evening and be
19:50 - 19:54
really heavy on Thursday with rainfall
19:52 - 19:56
rates of 2 3 in per hour So this is what
19:54 - 19:58
it looks like That heavy rain developing
19:56 - 20:01
across southern Texas especially this
19:58 - 20:02
evening And we could see record rainfall
20:01 - 20:05
amounts at Corpus Christi Again that
20:02 - 20:07
will be the bullseye Lots of reds and
20:05 - 20:09
oranges and yellows indicating that
20:07 - 20:11
really heavy rainfall And this is
20:09 - 20:12
Thursday The rain and storms continue
20:11 - 20:14
That's going to raise the flood risk We
20:12 - 20:16
could have flash flooding We have a
20:14 - 20:18
moderate risk in spots and could see
20:16 - 20:21
hourly rainfall rates of 2 to three
20:18 - 20:23
inches per hour Generally we'll see four
20:21 - 20:25
to eight inches of rain but could see 10
20:23 - 20:27
even 15 inches in some spots where you
20:25 - 20:28
see that darker red That's going to be
20:27 - 20:30
the bullseye right off the Gulf where
20:28 - 20:32
it's streaming right onto the coast
20:30 - 20:35
That's one big story The second big
20:32 - 20:37
story is rain snow and storms in the
20:35 - 20:40
Pacific Northwest We have a really rare
20:37 - 20:42
event today where we could see a tornado
20:40 - 20:44
a brief tornado in portions of the
20:42 - 20:46
Pacific Northwest Um and certainly
20:44 - 20:48
seeing thunderstorms are likely So as we
20:46 - 20:50
go throughout time here we'll see this
20:48 - 20:51
big cyclone move on shore It's going to
20:50 - 20:53
bring the chance for really heavy rain
20:51 - 20:55
That's going to continue into tomorrow
20:53 - 20:57
as well uh bringing the chance of
20:55 - 20:59
flooding there But 7 million people at
20:57 - 21:01
risk from Seattle to Portland Eugene We
20:59 - 21:03
don't see this often where we could see
21:01 - 21:06
hail 2 in or larger with any of these
21:03 - 21:09
storms Winds gusting up to 60 m hour and
21:06 - 21:11
could see a brief tornado or two Heavy
21:09 - 21:13
rainfall especially along the coast from
21:11 - 21:15
Seattle uh to Medford down to Eureka
21:13 - 21:16
where you see those darker colors That's
21:15 - 21:18
where we're expecting the highest
21:16 - 21:20
amounts of rain And we're going to see a
21:18 - 21:22
lot of snow in some spots too The
21:20 - 21:24
highest mountains could see 8 in of snow
21:22 - 21:26
in some spots So the third big story
21:24 - 21:28
lots of weather happening today We do
21:26 - 21:29
have that warmth holding on record
21:28 - 21:32
breaking heat across the West into the
21:29 - 21:34
Plains 91 degrees today in Henderson
21:32 - 21:36
Nevada That's 17 degrees above what is
21:34 - 21:37
typical for this time of year We broke
21:36 - 21:39
some records yesterday We broke some
21:37 - 21:41
records on Monday We'll do that once
21:39 - 21:43
again today And you guys we're going to
21:41 - 21:45
see 90° in Tucson That is 12 degrees
21:43 - 21:47
above what is typical for this time of
21:45 - 21:49
year Also warm in the plains and into
21:47 - 21:52
the southeast Back to you 71 in Seattle
21:49 - 21:54
That's like June July weather there So I
21:52 - 21:55
know Isn't it crazy thanks Michelle
21:54 - 21:57
Appreciate it Well it's exactly one year
21:55 - 21:59
ago this morning that a cargo ship
21:57 - 22:01
slammed into the Francis Scott Key
21:59 - 22:03
Bridge in Baltimore killing six people
22:01 - 22:05
as it collapsed into the water below You
22:03 - 22:08
can see that moment of impact right here
22:05 - 22:10
The crew says they lost the ability to
22:08 - 22:12
steer that massive container ship after
22:10 - 22:14
losing power as it was leaving the port
22:12 - 22:16
of Baltimore Crews are now building a
22:14 - 22:19
new bridge as the NTSB's investigation
22:16 - 22:21
goes on That probe is already raising
22:19 - 22:24
questions about possible issues with the
22:21 - 22:25
bridge before the deadly incident NBC
22:24 - 22:28
News correspondent Jay Gray joins us now
22:25 - 22:30
from Baltimore with a closer look Jay
22:31 - 22:35
morning Joe Savannah good morning to you
22:33 - 22:37
As the sun comes up you can see just
22:35 - 22:40
behind us here the remnants of the Key
22:37 - 22:42
Bridge what's left from that tragedy a
22:40 - 22:46
year ago A constant reminder uh for
22:42 - 22:48
people who live and work here NTSB
22:46 - 22:49
investigators say they expect to file a
22:48 - 22:51
full report on the crash this fall but
22:49 - 22:52
they are warning as you talk about Joe
22:51 - 22:55
that there were issues with the
22:52 - 22:58
Keybridge before the tragedy A lack of
22:55 - 23:01
required inspections the agency says
22:58 - 23:04
would have alerted operators uh to the
23:01 - 23:06
collapse risk that was nearly 30 times
23:04 - 23:09
the acceptable threshold for critical
23:06 - 23:13
and essential bridges here in the
23:09 - 23:15
US As the cargo ship dolly slams into a
23:13 - 23:19
pier supporting the key bridge the
23:15 - 23:21
bridge is gone Holy It rips apart not
23:19 - 23:25
only the massive structure but the lives
23:21 - 23:27
of six families Six members of a road
23:25 - 23:30
crew killed as the bridge suddenly
23:27 - 23:33
collapsed beneath them To the victims of
23:30 - 23:35
this tragedy and their loved
23:33 - 23:38
ones All of our hearts are
23:35 - 23:41
broken We feel your
23:38 - 23:43
loss We're thinking of you and we will
23:41 - 23:46
always be thinking of
23:43 - 23:48
you It took more than 3 months to pull
23:46 - 23:50
the ship from the scene and the wreckage
23:48 - 23:52
from the water crippling one of the
23:50 - 23:55
busiest shipping lanes in the United
23:52 - 23:57
States And now a year later a shocking
23:55 - 24:00
report from the NTSB claiming Maryland
23:57 - 24:02
authorities ignored national guidelines
24:00 - 24:04
calling for vulnerability assessments on
24:02 - 24:06
the bridge Had they done that the
24:04 - 24:08
collapse couldn't could have been
24:06 - 24:10
prevented The Maryland Transportation
24:08 - 24:13
Authority responding to that report says
24:10 - 24:15
the tragedy is quote the sole fault of
24:13 - 24:17
the dolly and the gross negligence of
24:15 - 24:18
her owners and operators who put profits
24:18 - 24:24
safety As crews build a new bridge
24:21 - 24:26
Maryland's governor stresses it will be
24:24 - 24:28
safe We are going to make sure that we
24:26 - 24:29
are going to get this bridge built on
24:28 - 24:31
time and on budget and it is going to
24:29 - 24:34
make sure that it leads up to all
24:31 - 24:36
industry standards on safety The rebuild
24:34 - 24:40
has a target completion date of 2028 at
24:36 - 24:43
a cost of just under $2
24:40 - 24:46
billion You know right now land and
24:43 - 24:48
water surveys are continuing They're
24:46 - 24:50
ongoing here at the site Joe Savannah
24:48 - 24:52
They expect to really begin uh
24:50 - 24:54
construction in earnest sometime by the
24:52 - 24:56
end of the year All right Jay thank you
24:54 - 24:58
so much Appreciate it Thanks for
24:56 - 25:01
watching Stay updated about breaking
24:58 - 25:05
news and top stories on the NBC News app
25:01 - 25:05
or follow us on social media
video to article