Morning News NOW Full Broadcast - April 13
[Music] good morning i'm savannah sellers i'm joe fryer right now on morning news now terror on the train the latest developments this morning surrounding yesterday's horrifying rush hour shooting at a brooklyn subway station 10 people shot more than a dozen injured the nypd says a person of interest has now been identified and the manhunt is on what we know about frank james and the keys to a rented u-haul van found near the sea also this morning covering up a resurgence of covid cases from coast to coast now some cities and school districts rethinking their relaxed rules on masks with infections up more than 15 percent nationwide over the last two weeks and death counts dropping the question now is the worst behind us we've got expert analysis of this latest uptick later in the hour charged comments ramping up rhetoric from president biden directed at moscow and his russian counterpart vladimir putin commander-in-chief referring to putin as a dictator and later doubling down on labeling russia's atrocities in ukraine a genocide the evidence is mounting and we're going to only learn more and more about the devastation so what does this sharpen rhetoric mean for the hopes of diplomacy down the line our expert weighs in plus inflation nation soaring prices at the pump the produce aisle and beyond driving many americans to the brink of frustration so how can you save we've got some tips to help you manage your family's costs at home at the supermarket and on the road good to have you with us on this wednesday morning we begin with that terrifying mass shooting at a brooklyn subway station 10 people shot many more injured trying to escape police are searching for the gunman who is still on the run now they've released the name of a person of interest nbc news correspondent jesse kirsch is in brooklyn with the latest police believe they have the gun used in this violent rampage as well as a hatchet fireworks and more smoke canisters but they do not have the person responsible for this violent attack [Music] this morning an urgent manhunt in new york city as police intensify the search for the gunman who opened fire on a subway train tuesday morning authorities now calling this man 62-year-old frank james a person of interest in the frightening shooting rampage the morning rush hour quickly turning to chaos when police say a gunman put on a gas mask opened two smoke canisters on a moving train in brooklyn sunset park and opened fire we still do not know the suspect's motivation clearly this individual boarded the train and was intent on violence one subway rider's cell phone camera rolling as the manhattan-bound train came to a stop authorities say the gunman fired 33 times [Music] several people fleeing some bolting onto another train i was scared i didn't know i didn't know what to do graphic images showing other victims bleeding on the floor one of the injured describing the horror from his hospital bed all you see like a smoke black smoke bomb going off and then and then people bum rushing to the back this pregnant woman was in front of me according to area hospitals 29 people were injured in the attack police say at least 10 were shot while others suffered from smoke inhalation and were injured in the ensuing panic the youngest victim just 12 years old for now james is not being called a suspect authorities say they found u-haul keys at the scene which unlock a van james rented in philadelphia we are endeavoring to locate him to determine his connection to the subway shooting if any officials say they also recovered a handgun extra ammo a hatchet and a bag of smoke canisters and fireworks i'm not going to use any graphics in this video i just want to talk to you directly police are also looking into social media posts that law enforcement sources say are from james that mentioned homelessness race ukraine and mayor eric adams police don't believe this was an act of terrorism but cities nationwide are on alert until the gunman is caught in less than 24 hours after this rampage the subway station here on 36th street reopened people back on their morning commutes i went down to the platform and if you were not following the story yesterday looking around you would have no idea what kind of violence had unfolded there yesterday back to you wow jesse thank you so much in the wake of the subway shooting mayor eric adams told today anchor savannah guthrie he's considering new safety measures for the nation's busiest transit system there's some new technologies that are out there that we have been looking at that we believe could enhance and improve our safety they already been used at ball fields they've been used at some of our local hospitals and so we are going to explore all new methods to improve the safety remember we're using an antiquated method that's been used the same way for hundreds of years it's time for us to match technology with safety and i'm going to explore that let's bring in nbc news law enforcement analyst cedric alexander good to have you with us cedric so let's start with the shooter i mean new york is the biggest police force in the country is it surprising that the gunman was able to get away at the scene uh no it's not surprising whatsoever particularly if you have a planned attack which it appears that he had had uh planned to do so he probably had planned out his entrance's exit uh decoyed himself on that plane in a workman's vest to blend in and of course all this is very telling but here again this is a person of interest that need to be found and questioned and talked to uh so that they can potentially establish some probable cause here so there's a lot that's being worked on as we hear about every day but there's also a lot that's going on behind the scene and i am confident that within some period of time this gentleman is going to be located and he'll be questioned let's talk about the investigative work we know an mta surveillance camera in the station was not working at the time clearly that's a huge obstacle still we do have this person of interest now how do investigators go about trying to figure out who they're looking for here well having a couple of cameras out is not going to make or break this case whatsoever there's going to be other technology such as cameras that are going to be in other locations uh down there by the train and of course uh once upstairs on the street uh they would utilize any footage from from building from stores from homes uh wherever they can find evidence and plus we also have to consider forensic evidence that is being collected along with witness evidence that's being collected and along with also uh social media uh information that can be gone around his account so all this is going to be part of the initial investigation but until this person of interest is located talked to and continued uh evidence is collected they'll be able to make a case hopefully at some point or identify the person and persons involved in this horrible act we just heard a moment ago from new york's mayor eric adams he's a former police officer he has said he believes the shooting was meant to terrorize subway riders but authorities have said the attack has not been considered an act of terrorism what is the difference and why isn't this at least right now being considered a terrorist well first of all we're getting into semantics and we constantly find these semantics anytime these types of attack take place but quite frankly if you look up the word terror it means exactly that the root of that word is terror and you frighten people you scare people you put people in a place of discomfort and harm that is terrorizing people whether it's done by foreign our domestic foe at the end of the day people are afraid people are running people are excited people even lose their lives and people are exposed to a type of trauma that the average person is not exposed to all of that is terror so the semantics of this quite frankly uh you know really doesn't matter it's terrifying cedric alexander we appreciate your expertise as always thank you inflation is skyrocketing hitting a 41-year high while costs are up across the board energy is the biggest contributor with prices jumping 48 percent year over year now the white house is taking steps aimed at trying to bring down fuel costs before that busy summer travel season nbc news correspondent tom costello joins us now from a gas station in mclean virginia with more hey tom good morning yeah good morning so you're right i mean we are seeing inflation across the board everything housing and maybe used cars and a new car and food but as you mentioned gas prices are really driving the surge in inflation we saw it peak in march the hope is that it's going to improve but right now the binding administration adding an ethanol blend to the summer gasoline mix hoping to bring gas prices down most of ex experts think the impact of that will be rather minimal many americans have known it for a long time but now it is official inflation is skyrocketing hitting 8.5 last month the highest since 1981. a big driver gas prices which a new government forecast predicts will reach an eight-year high this summer while right now prices are down 24 cents from their highs in march the national average is still four dollars eight cents a gallon up a dollar 22 cents from a year ago now the biden administration is announcing a temporary summertime waiver to allow for the sale of e-15 a blend of gas with 15 percent ethanol even if it's an extra buck or two in the pakistan they fill up will make a difference in people's lives but adding more ethanol may have a limited impact since only one and a half percent of gas stations nationwide actually carry e15 it's not just energy prices that are fueling inflation food is up 8.8 percent year over year the biggest annual increase in 41 years one expert noting it's costing the average household 327 dollars more per month to purchase the same goods and services as last year a gallon of milk has climbed 57 cents eggs up 42 cents and a pound of ground beef 49 cents higher you know everything else is going up too but that's meat that is the the biggest price hikes i'm seeing meanwhile as airlines gear up for the summer season domestic tickets are now averaging 3 42 round trip that's up 35 percent from last year fewer seats than before the pandemic and higher jet fuel prices are sending ticket prices sorry right here you're probably gonna pay a little bit more than you would have in the past so you know you need to look to to be flexible potentially consider alternate destinations a lot of economists this morning are predicting that maybe march was the peak for inflation it's not going to drop off immediately but hopefully we're on the downslope president biden suggesting this is putin's price hike but a poll by nbc news suggests most americans are really not buying that completely only six percent of americans completely blame president putin many if not most suggest the president's policies play a role here guys back to you all right tom thank you so much and stick around because we're going to have more tips on how you can save a little later in the hour for the first time since the war in ukraine began president biden has accused president putin of committing genocide the comments come as russian forces closed in on the eastern donbass region tighten their grip on the southern city of mary opal nbc news 4 correspondent molly hunter has more from keeve and a warning her report contains images some may find disturbing this morning russian troops are surrounding the southeastern city of mariopo the mayor there says an estimated hundred thousand people remain trapped inside that city really hard to know though if that number is accurate ukrainian officials though tell nbc news there is no way out for them today there are no humanitarian corridors in effect this morning more russian troops moving towards eastern ukraine as ukrainians brace for the next phase in these newly released maxar satellite photos the u.s intelligence contractor says russian military vehicles can be seen just an hour from ukraine's eastern border this comes as russian troops close in on the city of mariopol the death toll there the mayor says likely more than 20 thousand in the key region alone officials say the bodies of more than 700 people have been identified and that's not including hundreds still missing for the first time president biden calling the atrocities in ukraine genocide none of it should hinge on whether a dictator declares war and commits genocide a half a world away overnight president zielenski responding in a tweet true words of a true leader on tuesday putin's closest ally in ukraine victor medvechuk was detained by ukrainian troops overnight zolensky proposing to swap him for ukrainians captured by russia and here around kiev as the grim work of counting the dead continues volunteer paramedics are racing to reach those still living who have been without medical care for the last six weeks andy mcclellan from quebec was a combat medic in afghanistan woke up three weeks ago and decided she had to be here i said to myself this is really bothering me this is wrong so i thought at least i can try to do something they're going village to village today asking local troops here if there's anyone left it's amazing to see people smile still you know really amazing what's the reaction when people come when they see you guys like when you go to grandma and grandpa's house they greet you they love you i've been kissed so much even though i understand what they're saying but they don't understand what i'm saying but they're so happy that somebody's here to come see them but even as the war moves east no one here is letting down their guard now we are traveling with those paramedics today we're just east of the capital as i mentioned very close to the main road that links the capitol to the russian border in kharkiv overnight it is intensifying there officials there say more than 20 people were killed in the last 24 hours and as the war ramps up in the east it looks like they are going to get more help officials tell nbc news there may be another u.s
military aid package coming as early as this week and two u.s officials say that could be worth more than 750 million i'll send it back to you all right molly hunter and keith thank you and let's get more on the situation in ukraine with michael o'hanlon he's a senior fellow at the brookings institute michael thanks for being with us so first i want to get your reaction to these comments from president biden accusing vladimir putin of committing genocide in ukraine we've heard sort of this string of anti-putin rhetoric from him that's sort of gotten increasingly stronger so do you think there's a risk for an american president to say these things about the leader of a nuclear-armed country like russia or have we reached the point where diplomacy is really not the priority or seen as an option yeah it's a great question you know at one level president biden's comments are completely understandable and almost slightly emotionally satisfying or at least a release for many of us who are just so horrified by this war on the other hand if you are thinking at all about diplomacy maybe not now but maybe in a few weeks or whenever it may be possible and you're thinking that the united states may have to play a role in that diplomacy i don't know that it benefits you to use this kind of language however justifiable although frankly the term genocide is a very very powerful term as we all know and as bad as the ukrainian war has been so far i would not use the word genocide i would talk about mass killings that's bad enough but we don't actually know for a fact at least from what's in the unclassified open literature and uh discussion what putin has personally authorized versus what some of his abysmal commanders have decided versus what some of the troops who are scared for their own lives and lashing out have done so i don't think we can accuse putin personally of genocide with any kind of legally sustainable case and i'm not sure it's diplomatically wise to use that phrase yeah let's turn now to the situation there on the ground the warfare it's looking more and more like the besieged city of mariopol could fall soon and this comes as moscow claims that some ukrainian troops there are surrendering walk us through that capture i mean obviously there's not much left of the city but how important would that be could it impact russia's sort of fortunes turn the tide for them in that broader dombass region you know on the one hand if it were in russian hands it could begin to establish this infamous land corridor they're thinking about developing and you could imagine that being a necessary precondition for putin to be willing to do a deal because at least he's got his minimal objectives ukraine agreeing to stay neutral and a land corridor to crimea on the other hand the ukrainians having died so valiantly in such large numbers for this city i think are going to be hard pressed to concede marry a coal and i don't know that we should pressure them i think i'm in favor of trying to you know influence the way the ukrainians negotiate on certain issues they're asking for security guarantees for example in the united states i don't think we should provide those or offer to provide those but i can't ask them to give up mary a call i don't think they would so i'm not really sure it helps get us to an end game that's a really good point and michael i do also want to get your thoughts on ukraine arresting the leader of the largest opposition party this pro-russian politician had been under house arrest as we were discussing last hour before the war broke out having been accused of treason now last month president zlonski suspended 11 opposition parties including the largest one this is the kind of crackdown russia sort of is usually accused of should we feel uneasy about this does it harm ukraine's image as a democracy or what do you think and tell us a little bit more details about these particular people and parties well i think ukraine's image is pretty good right now in the eyes of the world so i think zolensky has some space on these kinds of issues and we do recognize you know even abraham lincoln limited certain kinds of dissent during the american civil war so i'm not going to hold that too much against him but i think you're right still to raise the question is there a way to maybe make illegal certain kinds of speech rather than all these parties all at once but you know on balance i think ukraine is a democracy we recognize that it's under attack we recognize that i think zolensky has some room for maneuver here really important context michael o'hanlon thank you so much we appreciate your time thank you time to get a check on your morning news now weather with nbc news meteorologist michelle grossman hey michelle hey there guys and it's a busy one again today we're watching the threat for severe weather flash flooding red flag warnings once again and we are also watching blizzard conditions and april snowstorm in the northern plains and i think we have a little video out of bismarck because they had a day yesterday we had before it's all said and done we're going to see three feet of snow in some spots in north dakota we had winds blowing 50 miles per hour heavy heavy snow freezing fog and we're seeing more of that today so a massive storm causing a triple threat you can see on radar we are tracking some heavy rain even at this hour we had some severe weather overnight that has calmed down for the most part but we're going to start to see that ramp up again this afternoon evening into the overnight hours where you see the blue that is the snow so first we'll start with the snow the blizzard conditions in the northern plains we're going to see reduced visibilities really difficult travel and we could see an additional 10 to 20 inches of snow possible especially where you see the purple because we have a blizzard warning there then we have a critical fire danger this is also part of this storm system so we have really gusty winds really dry conditions and those strong winds will spread fire really rapidly extreme dry humidity levels from the central and southern plains into parts of the southwest and then we also have the severe weather threat once again fourth week in a row third day this week we're looking at the chance for strong tornadoes widespread wind damage with winds gusting near 75 miles per hour and we could see the risk for ef-3 or greater tornadoes from the ohio valley down to parts of the south that's going to be a big thing we're going to watch today along with those really gusty winds that could cause damage on its own and also large hail we've seen that the past two days we're going to see that once again today opposite extremes too in terms of the temperatures guys finally feeling like spring in the northeast back to you we'll take it all right exactly yeah for sure and thanks michelle finally and coming up this latest surge in cobot cases is causing some cities and schools to rethink their mass requirements and it's got some folks thinking twice about those family get-togethers this week so is the worst of the pandemic actually behind us we're going to talk with our expert next welcome back covet cases are again on the rise across the country and it comes as schools go into spring break and families get ready to travel for holidays that has some cities considering a return to some of those pandemic precautions yeah one city bringing back mandates is philadelphia and that's where we find nbc news correspondent emily aketa emily good morning good morning to you both well that mandate will come back into play in just the next few days but for now all eyes are on the cdc which is expected to make a decision on whether or not to keep the federal mass mandate in place while traveling on planes and trains this comes as the debate over pandemic precautions intensifies yet again this morning covent infections are climbing in nearly half the country but with a big drop off in testing the nation's top doctors warn it certainly is being undercounted today's infection rate is nothing like we saw in the winter when daily counts topped 800 thousand but as cases trend upwards experts are watching closely if there is an uptick in severity in the sense of hospitalizations we may need to reinstitute some of the mitigations and that's already happening a growing list of colleges now reinstating mass mandates indoors george washington university going just a single week without requiring masks before reversing course what contributed to the back and forth there we're starting to see evidence of transmission in the classroom small clusters of cases that we had never seen before amongst students the highly contagious ba2 sub variant now makes up 86 percent of new cases the highest rates are in the northeast where boston's mayor is encouraging but not requiring masks at monday's boston marathon and philadelphia is set to become the first major u.s city to bring back its indoor mask mandate the same day do you think others will follow suit yeah i do i think we need to get used to the up and down of the mandates it's probably the new normal in neighboring new jersey governor phil murphy says he wasn't expecting philly's reversal i'd be shocked if we put a mandate like that in place in new jersey a new axios poll shows less than one in 10 americans now consider covid a serious crisis as a pandemic-weary country fights to find normalcy if you are vaccinated and you are boosted and you have a very low risk that there is going to be a problem that you should just go about and enjoy the holiday season be it passover or easter and the cdc says vaccinations are on the rise the number of shots going into americans arms daily has doubled in the last two weeks that's in large part due to boosters still less than half of fully vaccinated americans have gotten one dose of the booster guys all right emily thank you so much let's bring in dr mario ramirez he's an emergency physician and the former pandemic and emerging threats coordinator under president obama dr good to have you with us so there's been a lot of talk about bringing masks back let's talk about testing do schools need to ramp up their testing efforts more and what how could that help well testing is important for a couple of different reasons joe you know at the at the population level testing is really important because it first tells us where the virus might be spreading so that we can get schools and hospitals and providers ready for a potential surge the other thing it does though it also allows us to track which variants are out there circulating if we're not testing we're not going to know what's out there we're not going to know how effective our treatments are but at the individual level testing is really important because we now have access to really effective treatments in the form of things like paxlovid and other oral antivirals that can really nip this in the butt if you do get infected but of course the only way that those treatments are effective is if you start treatment soon after testing and so it's really important i think if folks are feeling sick to use testing and that's where it really has its value and now millions of people are eligible for a second booster shot doctor but for people who either only have the initial vaccine or the first booster where are we at with protection against this omicron sub-variant that is causing this new surge that we're just starting to see the beginning phases of what we saw in savannah was that in all adults protection against infection and hospitalizations was really good after just a third dose of the mrna vaccine so after that first booster but what we've seen as we move further out from those third doses is that protection against overall infection starts to drop off and we see some more what are called breakthrough infections but not very many hospitalizations in younger adults the groups where it does seem like their significant value for a fourth dose right now are people particularly over age 60 and we've seen that a fourth shot can really make a big difference in the rates of serious illness and hospitalization groups now it's possible that that could shift as we get further out from those third doses and the value of a fourth shot really improves for younger people after that but at this point in time the value is really for older persons so dr ramirez we know we're likely going to see more variants more sub-variants perhaps beyond this one at this point do you think the worst is behind us or is there still the potential to have a surge that's similar to the omicron wave from this last winter well it certainly seems like the overall trend is in a much better direction right at the top of the story we talked about how the number of cases is far less than what we experienced from the first part of the omicron wave but when we listened to viral geneticists and and people who emphasize evolutionary biology what we've seen is that this virus is likely to keep mutating and giving us a really new look every four to six months and i think that's why people are really worried about what the fall and the winter season are going to hold you know technically at that point we would really be about time to see a real shift in the back in the virus again and potentially you know could cause a surge but nobody knows for sure and so i think the best thing we can do like you mentioned is to keep testing and keep a close eye on where the science is going all right dr mario ramirez thank you so much thank you doctor and now let's take a look at what's making news around the world this morning nbc's claudia labonga joins us again from rome claudio good morning hey guys good morning well let's start off with some breaking news coming out of egypt where the authorities say that a truck and a tourist bus have crushed killing at least 10 people including four french and one belgian national now other people got injured the authorities say they were taken to the hospital with bruises broken bones and other kinds of injuries but they say they are in stable conditions now the cause of the crash is still unknown and people in taiwan have received a sort of citizen survival guide as concerns over a potential attack by china have grown after russia's invasion of ukraine the handbook was released by the country's military and explains how to use a smartphone app to find bomb shelters water and food supplies as well as giving tips for preparing emergency first aid kits and scientists in britain have launched a bio-banking scheme in an effort to save koalas from extinction the scientists plan to freeze the sperm from male koalas which could be then harnessed with ivf technology to impregnate female koalas now koala numbers have plummeted since 12 2012 when the species was declared at risk of extinction guys oh wow what a picture there whatever we can do to save them all right on the tree of life exactly yeah very good thank you claudio very good all right coming up out of office new york's lieutenant governor resigns after his arrest related to a campaign finance fraud investigation so how might this affect governor hochul's re-election bid plus bringing black women's maternal struggles to light the challenges they sometimes face on the road to motherhood those stories are next [Music] welcome back and now to the latest on another scandal that has toppled a politician at the highest levels of government here in new york state lieutenant governor brian benjamin has resigned from office after he was arrested on charges related to campaign finance fraud governor kathy hokel who picked benjamin to be her lieutenant governor less than a year ago said his resignation was effective immediately while the legal process plays out let's bring in joshua solomon a capital bureau reporter for the times union in albany for more on this story hey joshua thanks so much for joining us so first just walk us through what we know about the arrest here and what charges he's facing sure thing so uh the lieutenant governor is facing bribery related charges related to campaign finance things when he was running for city comptroller but uh some of the issues are also a matter of what the southern district called a matter of cover-up and that was leading up to the time at which he was uh nominated and accepted as lieutenant governor which was uh late which was this fall and so during that time period he uh not only tried to take according to the southern district uh exchange a grant for uh campaign money he also tried to cover that up and now joshua we know governor hochul you know had pledged to clean up albany and turn the page after of course the scandal that was andrew cuomo and his flame out sort of there as his time as governor how much will this arrest impact that i mean again she picked him just a year ago and what could it mean for her chances of being reelected in november well the one good thing for her is that unlike with the president the lieutenant governor and the governor don't run on a joint line so it's two separate lines which is a good thing for for the governor but nonetheless obviously it's it's uh it harms her in terms of this was her pick she pledged that this was the person she rolled it out in big fashion in harlem with this uh with this former state senator but the curious part here is the fact that uh he's probably going to be on the ballot anyway new york has some interesting laws that leads to so that if you're on the ballot unless you die or move out of state you're going to stay on that ballot wow that is pretty interesting and also do we know if the governor's considering any possible replacements right now is that something she'd do uh so it seems like she may but she also doesn't have to new york has a rich history of letting the the majority leader of the senate act as a interim uh lieutenant governor it's not a necessary position to fill so she could leave it blank she could also fill it and then have that person run something as wild as the writing campaign for the june 28 primary there are a lot of interesting political maneuvers that could happen forward absolutely and a lot going on in our state joshua solomon thank you so much absolutely thank you it's black maternal health week in the united states which is shining a light on the challenges even dangers many black women face on their way to motherhood nbc news correspondent blaine alexander takes a closer look india snead williams dreamed of having another baby she was 34 years old when she was diagnosed with cervical cancer last year but she says the real heartbreak was when her doctor told her she needed a hysterectomy taking away the hope of another child it was not presented as an option there were no other alternatives presented to me but her family urged her to get a second opinion that changed her life the doctor reviewed my record she did agree that a hysterectomy was probably the best route but what she did say was we also have a egg retrieval program that we'd like to put you into i never had to ask for it she started the egg retrieval process but learned amazingly she and her husband had conceived their daughter emani naturally doctors delayed her cancer treatment while she carried amani was born eight weeks premature she's doing well now but india says there was one notable difference between her first doctor and her second my white doctors were pushing me towards hysterectomy gave me no alternatives whereas my black doctor heard me received me and directed me to alternatives she is not alone on her difficult road to motherhood every year black women are three times more likely to die during childbirth it's a danger that stretches through all stages from conception to postpartum care according to the u.s commission on civil rights black women are more likely to have severe complications after leaving the hospital why the glaring disparity experts say there are multiple factors access to health care underlying health issues and implicit bias is this a crisis i would say that it's a reality dr renita white is a board certified ob gyn in atlanta she's delivered thousands of babies throughout her career including mine do you have some patients who seek you out specifically because you're a black woman oh my gosh absolutely i have so many patients who come to say not only do i want a female doctor but i want another black doctor who may understand or listen to me the biden administration has labeled this a priority earmarking nearly three billion dollars for things like rural maternal health care and implicit bias training and at least five states have expanded medicaid coverage for postpartum care from two months to a full year with more states on the way i really urge patients to have these really candid conversations about what can i do to make sure that i'm safe in pregnancy but also doctors to consider what can i do to be a better provider or to make sure that i'm taking care of my patients thanks to blaine alexander for that important report the department of health and human services released a report back in december that showed 720 000 americans would benefit from medicaid's postpartum coverage plan if it were adopted in all 50 states that's pretty amazing coming up on this hour of morning news now more from our own al roker's exclusive interview with former president obama and his post white house passion project a new streaming series on preserving our environment for the future and tips on how you can manage your money a little better with inflation on the rise that's coming up after the break [Music] we're back now with an nbc news exclusive al roker's interview with former president obama he made protecting the environment a priority while he was in office now he's out with a new netflix series taking us to iconic national parks while delivering a call to action on how we can preserve them for future generations now spoke with the former president about the show and his life since leaving the oval office here's some of that interview yeah how's it feel being in this this national park well you know what uh anytime we get out of the city and we're among trees and woods and critters i feel better for former president barack obama national parks are the backdrop for some of his favorite memories from his first trip to yellowstone to growing up in hawaii the whole state almost is a national park so the oceans the coral reefs the mountains the forest that was part of my everyday life now his new netflix series our great national parks showcases some of the world's most spectacular settings this is a journey through the natural wonders of our shared birthright the former president serving as both executive producer and narrator there's nowhere else you'll see a hippo in the atlantic ocean the series not just a feast for the eyes but a lesson on the importance of protecting the parks and their wild residents i'm hoping that we're going to learn something not just about how to maintain national parks but why it's so important to deal with issues that like climate change that threaten the entire planet in fact we we have younger kids sasha malia this generation right that demands us being better caretakers will people seeing this heed that call well i think that the the generation of our kids are more mindful of how we haven't always taken care of the planet and with climate change affecting everything they are demanding action nature is more resilient than we think if we are intentional about it in addition to spending his time out in nature former president obama has been navigating some political terrain returning to the white house for the very first time just last week how did that feel well you know it was wonderful to see some of the old team the fact that i could leave though was nice vice president biden vice president then you made the vice president biden joke were you a little surprised that people are like hey what's up with that no you know look president biden and i have an extraordinary friendship as well as a professional relationship last month mr obama became one of the more than 80 million americans who tested positive for covet 19. how are you feeling i feel fine i was fortunate that i did not get it until i had been vaccinated i had been boosted and i barely had symptoms post-presidency how has life changed for you michelle sasha and malia there's nothing that compares to the privilege and honor of serving the american people in the highest office of the land you know there are times where i miss the work i don't miss the hoopla though and you know we're finding that we can be really uh productive uh contributing citizens in all kinds of other ways on a personal note our son nick is getting ready to go to college you've been through it you got any tips for us as far as empty nesting michelle always said and she's absolutely right about this our job as parents is to to teach our kids not to meet us and it hurts but when you see them as accomplished confident kind thoughtful responsible people then you know you you've done your job and the former president is also hoping to inspire the next generation to get involved with national parks and share his love of nature so we led some local kids on a scavenger hunt we've got some great games what's going on guys from the boys and girls club to greater washington all right is this team rock over here let's see team obama though he's come to play angel how are we going to do this well you got to set the expectation that this team is going to win so obviously team obama going to win come on [Applause] you're going to win one oh wow look at all those tadpoles so you guys know what tadpoles turn into they turn into frogs have we seen any birds you see anything so this is now spring migration for birds does everybody know what what uh ranger means when he says uh migration is that they go to a different place so i was in hawaii and i saw a bunch of whales that migrate although they swim all the way down from alaska and then they swim all the back i was born in hawaii yeah very good thank you so you know more than some people about where i was born so this is skunk cabbage guys oh my that's not good that is stinky everybody point at the cabbage keys everybody good job way to go you guys were outstanding on our scavenger hunt the series our great national parks premieres today on netflix and the former president is not stopping with the show he's launching the wild for all initiative which encourages people to get outside and learn more about nature conservation what a great interview there now it's time for our cnbc money minute the biggest financial headlines of the day and why they matter to you bertha coombs is back with another read on the economy bertha good morning yeah joe and savannah the headline of the day is record producer wholesale inflation the producer price index coming in uh with a gain of 11.2 percent
year-over-year for march and you know compare that to the fact that we saw the consumer price index up about eight and a half percent so they're not passing all of those costs on to us on the consumer side one silver lining in the numbers we saw some numbers come down when it comes to egg beef and fruit prices fruit and vegetable prices on the wholesale level from february to march so maybe that increase is leveling off a bit nonetheless again a record 11.2 year-over-year gain for wholesale inflation meantime elon musk is now facing a lawsuit over his investment in twitter the suit alleges musk illegally delayed the public disclosure of his big stake in the social media platform so that he could buy more shares at lower prices the lawsuit accuses musk of violating a legal deadline to reveal that he had a massive stake of at least five percent musk didn't actually disclose his position until he'd almost doubled that stake to more than nine percent that strategy according to the lawsuit hurt other investors youtube is back online after an outage disrupted certain features for thousands of users across the platform users were unable to log in switch between accounts or use the navigation bar several also reported problems with accessing youtube tv it's unclear what caused that outage and if you want your breaking news on snapchat well the platform's making it easier it's rolling out a new product to make it easier for news publishers to upload content in real time as stories break axios reports more than 40 news publishers including espn the wall street journal washington post and tmz will use a feature called dynamic stories that lets them publish to snapchat using an rss or really simple syndication feed that's what that stands for stories will post to snapchat stories through the discover platform snapchat will sell video ads and share the revenues with the publishers someone earlier this morning was joking hopefully they don't have one of those funky features when they have the breaking news coming on that would be a little embarrassing if it looked like a cat or something absolutely but i'm all for news on snapchat that's a big part of my job so love to hear it thanks bertha now you've probably noticed this in your bank account lately from gas and groceries to big ticket items it's all costing more and families across the country are feeling the pinch but there are some ways to ease the pain on your wallet nbc news senior consumer investigative correspondent vicki nguyen is here with tips to help stretch your dollar hey vicky good morning hey good morning savannah right now every penny counts more than ever as we keep seeing prices spike on all of these things that we need but i have some tips for how to plan spend and save your money wisely so that it goes further even on vacation united states of sticker shop 8.5 percent remains a 41-year high you have to go back to 1981.
inflation climbing to its highest rate in nearly 40 years a rise in consumer prices last month at an annual rate of 15 percent and just like then these days americans taking a big hit where it counts their pocketbooks every week is something new it's beef prices it's produce it's avocados it's take out containers now it's fuel every time you go and shop every like a price of something has gone up by so much it's insane the average household will now spend an estimated 327 dollars more per month to cover the soaring costs of everyday necessities from gas to groceries but there are some things you can do to help keep your family's finances in check start with making a budget know how much money your household earns and spends each month then look for ways to save we can't control how much higher inflation will be but we can control how much we spend when it comes to debt know who you owe and how much along with the interest rate experts say if you have multiple loans consider paying down the one with the highest interest rate first with mortgage rates topping 4 percent for the first time since 2019 homeowners who want to refinance should do it now not later as the federal reserve has promised to raise interest rates to combat inflation you might be in a better situation to lock yourself into a mortgage that you can afford long term despite a recent cost of living boost to social security benefits experts also suggest planning more for the future so you don't outlive your money try to fund and add more on a tax offer basis into a roth ira a traditional ira 401k and no need to let inflation stop your family vacation if you do a little smart planning with points and miles there's a lot that you can do without really breaking your budget and of course going back to an old-fashioned budget is really really important experts also told us when it comes to making big investments like a car or a new computer even though prices are higher right now you do need to think about your personal situation and how essential that purchase is for your day-to-day life if it's something you really need even though it is a good time to cut back on spending ultimately you've got to buy the things that you need just be smart about where you get that money and remember that loans cost more now absolutely such good advice there vicki so much for so many americans to think about thank you so much coming up brotherly loves shining through times of hardship one st louis pastor's life-saving mission to keep family intact that story is after the break [Music] welcome back major league baseball history was made and a glass ceiling was shattered during the giants and padres game last night alyssa mackin took over as the san francisco giants first base coach making her the first woman to coach on the field in a major league game this came 75 years nearly to the day since jackie robinson broke the color barrier in baseball nackin was called up in the top of the third inning after the other coach was ejected following an argument with a member of the padres nachon is donating the bright orange helmet from tuesday night's game to the national baseball hall of fame in cooperstown and not only did she make history she got to see her team win big the giants went on to beat the padres 13 to 2. all right finally this hour a pastor is practicing what he preaches but this time his message and actions were not for his flock but rather for his own brother nbc news now anchor tom yamas has the story ernest adams jr from st louis is used to life on the open road but for this trucker it all changed in 2020 after a battle with coving i've been driving for about 38 years now and i can't drive while i'm on dialysis his doctors warned that dialysis was not a permanent solution for kidney failure while dialysis is a good bridge for life it's certainly not a long-term answer and ultimately it renal failure will ultimately have taken his life earnest was placed on the transplant list but finding a match could take years at barnes-jewish hospital the wait time for a kidney transplant is around three years ernest reached out to family and friends hoping to find a match for a new kidney answering the call his younger brother cedric a pastor and his kidney a perfect match and when she told me it was like the world stood still i'm like really i said i said a match from one brother to another a new perspective on brotherly love i'm looking at this as a part of helping my brother showing brother love but this is ministry their surgery is planned for april 19th i don't even know how to compensate them for being such a good man these brothers hope their story inspires others to consider organ donations it's not every day that people in society get to save someone's life but in this case cedric who's a pastor is truthfully saving the life of his brother you know this is like a gift a new life that's how i take it we wish the adams family a successful surgery and a speedy recovery our thanks to tom yamas for that report and our st louis station ksdk for their help with that story that does it for this hour of morning news now but the news continues right now thanks for watching our youtube channel follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the nbc news app
2022-04-18 21:46
