Current with Christine Romans – Aug. 4 — NBC News NOW

[0:00] Good morning. It's 10 a.m. Eastern and 7 a.m. on the West Coast. I'm Christine Romans. Let's get you current. [0:08] Todd Blanche's bid were moments away from a critical vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee for the next attorney general. [0:14] We'll take you live to Capitol Hill. An arrest is made in connection to those out of control wildfires in Washington, [0:20] where the effort to contain the flame stands right now. A pivotal primary election in Michigan today. [0:27] What the results could tell us about the future of the Democratic Party and the first deaths in the parasite outbreak tied to lettuce. [0:36] The new concerns today about other Greens. What you need to know. [0:41] And good to be with you this busy Tuesday, August 4th. A lot to get to this morning. [0:51] Let's begin this hour with breaking news on Capitol Hill. We'll see a vote soon on President Trump's nominee for attorney general. [0:57] The Senate Judiciary Committee is meeting right now. Todd Blanche is expected to get the majority of votes on the Republican-controlled committee. [1:06] If that happens, there will be a final vote on his confirmation later this week. [1:11] It was only yesterday that Senators John Cornyn and Tom Tillis agreed to support Blanche after he put in writing that the controversial anti-weaponization fund is dead. [1:22] We have team coverage on this story this morning. NBC News senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez and NBC News senior congressional reporter Scott Wong. [1:30] Gabe, I want to start with you here. Todd Blanche, he was once the president's personal attorney. [1:35] Now he could be the attorney general by the end of the week. What does the president want to see from Blanche in this role? [1:42] Well, look, Christine, that has been a big question ever since Todd Blanche has been acting attorney general. [1:47] It is clear that President Trump views the role of the attorney general very differently than many of his predecessors. [1:54] And yes, Todd Blanche was President Trump's personal lawyer and the president has demanded loyalty from Todd Blanche. [2:03] Now, it's been a long road over the past several days with Todd Blanche trying to appease those two Republican holdouts, [2:11] Senator John Cornyn and Tom Tillis, who, by the way, just spoke right there as this committee is meeting to advance this nomination. [2:20] You see Amy Klobuchar speaking right now with those live pictures. [2:24] However, it has been this long road with over the weekend Blanche signing this order, [2:30] putting in writing what these two Republican holdouts had wanted, [2:34] a guarantee of sorts that this so-called anti-weaponization fund would not move forward. [2:40] Now, there are still questions from Democrats of whether it is in fact dead, [2:44] some pointing to the potential for this legal loophole where Todd Blanche signed this order. [2:50] But in the initial settlement, it was the president's sons as well as his lawyers that had also signed it. [2:57] So there are very significant questions from skeptics of this order, whether it could be revived at some point. [3:04] Now, the president was pressed on this yesterday. [3:07] He said that he had not seen the order that Blanche had signed. [3:10] However, that he thinks that he's a great guy, Blanche is, and would do very well in this position. [3:16] But at this point, we do expect Blanche's nomination to move forward. [3:20] And as you say, he could be confirmed by the full Senate by the end of the week, [3:24] by the time the Senate moves to its August recess. [3:27] Christy. [3:28] Scott, we've heard from Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Durbin. [3:32] Let's listen. [3:33] The Justice Department has thrived under his leadership. [3:40] Among other things, Mr. Blanche has led major successes in thwarting federal program fraud, [3:47] ending racial discrimination, and restoring the safety of every American. [3:53] And what have we learned in the last few weeks when it comes to Todd Blanche? [3:57] We have learned that simply his word is not enough for most of us, not even for some of my Republican friends. [4:05] So, Scott, bring us up to speed on this vote. [4:08] Where does it stand? [4:10] Well, I think those comments illustrate that this will be a party-line vote in the Judiciary Committee, [4:16] 12 to 10, in favor of Todd Blanche. [4:20] It very likely will be a party-line vote in the full Senate as well. [4:24] Chuck Grassley has given these members time to explain why they're voting either in favor or against Todd Blanche. [4:33] He could have moved directly to a vote, but, you know, he, Democrats are focused right now on the fact that Todd Blanche [4:42] did not adequately protect some of the victims in the Epstein files. [4:51] He was overseeing the Epstein files and the release of those files, [4:55] and they are really hammering him on not protecting identities of those victims. [5:01] One thing that jumped out at me was Tom Tillis, Republican from North Carolina, [5:06] one of the senators who was holding up the nomination. [5:10] He said that any sort of weaponization fund should not apply to just Republicans. [5:19] He said he wants to see the DOJ, you know, not directly targeting Democrats as well, [5:27] including James Comey, who is obviously involved in this case down in North Carolina [5:34] regarding the 86-47 seashells case. [5:39] So that was certainly interesting to me. [5:41] Hey, Gabe, Senators Cornyn and Tillis have both acknowledged there are still ways for Blanche [5:46] or the White House to revive this anti-weaponization fund. [5:50] This is what they said yesterday about that possibility. [5:55] I think he knows that would be a monumental mistake, and so I can't predict the future. [6:03] Another fine could be created because of the law, and I agree we should change the law, [6:10] but those same credits need to realize that these sorts of tools are available to anyone [6:14] in the White House based on current law. [6:19] Gabe, the president has repeatedly said he likes the idea of that fund. [6:22] Has he indicated he wants to revive it himself? [6:25] Now, look, Christine, he has been doubling down on that fund, tripling, quadrupling down, [6:30] if you will, even defending it yesterday as a way to potentially give some solace [6:34] to people that he views as being unfairly targeted by the Biden Justice Department, [6:39] including the possibility of some who attacked the Capitol on January 6th. [6:43] Now, the president has been vague about where the fund plans to go from here. [6:48] He's defended it, though. [6:49] Then he comes back and he says that Todd Blanche has said that it will not move forward. [6:53] It seems to me that the president is really trying to advance the nomination of Todd Blanche [6:58] and not really focusing on whether he wants to revive the fund or not. [7:02] But when he's asked, he has defended it time and time again, [7:05] and that is giving the critics of the fund and Democrats and even some skeptical Republicans [7:12] ammunition to perhaps think that it could be revived. [7:15] However, Todd Blanche has put it in writing, and that apparently is enough for both Cornyn [7:22] and Tillis to vote to move him forward. [7:25] All right. [7:25] We'll continue to follow this as it happens today. [7:28] Scott Wong and Gabe Gutierrez, thank you so much. [7:30] Now to Spokane, Washington, where authorities have arrested a man accused of starting one [7:35] of the three wildfires burning out of control in that area. [7:38] A 37-year-old Aaron Farnacci was taken into custody yesterday. [7:43] He is charged with first-degree arson in connection with the Old Trails fire. [7:49] That's the largest of the three. [7:50] Nearly 68,000 people have been forced to evacuate. [7:53] More than 700 structures have burned to the ground. [7:57] This is the heart-wrenching moment one man discovered his family's home of 27 years up [8:03] in flames. [8:04] All right. [8:10] Joining me now from the front lines in Spokane is NBC News national correspondent Morgan Chesky. [8:14] Morgan, what are investigators revealing about the suspect here? [8:20] Yeah, we are learning a lot, particularly from the county sheriff who says that Aaron Farnacci [8:25] was initially encountered, Christine, just a few hours after this blaze took off that burned [8:33] this very neighborhood where we're standing. [8:35] Authorities detained him, briefly questioned him about the fire because witnesses said that [8:41] he had been described as looking nervous and crouching in the brush close to where the fire [8:46] originated. [8:47] On his person at that point in time, Christine, authorities say that they found a butane lighter [8:52] and waterproof matches. [8:53] He was released before being brought back into custody without incident by members of a SWAT [8:59] team yesterday, and he's now being held on $1 million bond facing arson charges. [9:04] He is due in court at some point later today. [9:08] But that's what we know right now. [9:09] This is a 37-year-old Spokane native. [9:11] According to authorities, he does have a manslaughter charge on his record dating back [9:16] into 2012 when he lived in Arizona. [9:18] But we do anticipate hearing more about that individual. [9:23] In the meantime, the firefight here is very much ongoing, and I cannot impress upon you [9:29] enough that that fire that they believe that that suspect started has scorched really this [9:35] entire neighborhood. [9:36] You can drive for block after block, and the only thing you see here are chimneys left. [9:41] Christine. [9:42] Morgan, I want to play for you now that moment where this man found his family's home up in [9:46] flames. [9:47] That's our house. [9:52] Just heartbreaking. [9:55] What are you hearing from folks on the ground as they're discovering what happened to their [9:58] neighborhoods? [10:01] Well, we've spoken to individuals who have made their way back to find that their home is a total [10:06] loss, but tens of thousands of people are still waiting to see whether or not their home is still [10:11] standing or waiting to kind of pick up the pieces because, as we heard from the Spokane mayor [10:17] say yesterday, there is an abundance of caution right now because of the fear of [10:22] potential re-ignition from hot spots in certain areas that have already burned. [10:26] Not to mention the fact that, at last check, I believe containment levels on all three of [10:31] these fires are very close to zero, and they are hoping to make progress today because the [10:37] temps tomorrow are only getting hotter. [10:39] Christine. [10:39] All right, Morgan Chesky, thank you for all your great reporting there in Washington. [10:44] Joining us now, NBC News meteorologist Angie Lastman. Angie, explain to us what kind of [10:48] conditions the firefighters are facing there as they're trying to get these blazes contained. [10:52] Yeah, so we've got, of course, you heard mention, Morgan mentioning the winds. He talked about how [10:58] dry it is. Those are all the things that are going to go into this kind of worsening here over the [11:02] coming days. Here's what we've got right now. Notice all of those wildfires currently burning. [11:06] Over 100 large fires across the continental 48. That's going to leave us with still dealing with [11:12] some of these, the smoke conditions. But in the meantime, this is the area we're specifically [11:17] worried about as we get through the day today. We've got an elevated risk. What does that mean? [11:21] It means all of those ingredients that I mentioned are all on the table, especially in this area. Salt [11:26] Lake City to Aspen, stretching down into portions of northern Arizona and New Mexico, parts of Wyoming [11:31] included in this, as well as Idaho. We've got the wind gusts 20 to 30 miles per hour. We've got the [11:37] dry vegetation. No rain in sight, unfortunately, Christine. So this is something that we're going [11:41] to have to watch for the long haul, along with the increase in those temperatures over the coming [11:45] days. And air quality is a major concern here as well. How far is all that smoke spreading? [11:50] Yeah, so this is going to be something that, especially if you live in the Pacific Northwest, [11:53] you're going to notice the densest of that smoke kind of centered where you live. But notice, [11:59] even if you go unhealthy to very unhealthy, that is in place for parts of Washington and Oregon. [12:05] And even as you look to parts of the Midwest, we're looking at moderate kind of air quality. But [12:09] the unhealthy and even the unhealthy for sensitive group kind of focused across portions of Idaho, [12:15] of Washington, of Oregon, 160 for Baker City. You see Boise at 179 for your air quality index. [12:23] This is going to be something that folks, even if they don't have respiratory issues, [12:27] need to watch for here through at least today, Christine. But unfortunately, it looks like this [12:31] will be something they're dealing with for coming days. All right, then, Angie Lassman. Thanks, Angie. [12:36] It's decision day for voters in five states with all eyes on Michigan, a state with one of the most [12:41] talked about Senate primaries of the midterms. Democrats Abdul El-Sayed and Haley Stevens are [12:47] running to put their names on the November ballot. Stevens has the backing of party leaders like [12:52] Senator Chuck Schumer, while El-Sayed is gaining support from progressives like Bernie Sanders. [12:58] This is an important race for Democrats to win if they want to regain control of the Senate. [13:03] Michigan has not had a Republican senator in over two decades, but President Trump did win the state [13:09] over then Vice President Kamala Harris in 2024. Joining us now, NBC News correspondent Shaquille [13:15] Brewster on the ground for us in Michigan. Shaq, you caught up with Abdul El-Sayed last night. [13:20] How is he feeling about his chances? Hi there, Christine. I think he and his campaign [13:26] are feeling very confident coming into Election Day. His campaign manager telling me flatly that [13:30] they believe he is the frontrunner, that he has, in their words, the energy and enthusiasm [13:35] on their side. I want you to listen to some of the conversation we had just ahead of his final [13:40] event in Detroit yesterday. What's been your closing message to voters? I'm just really grateful, [13:47] and our closing message is the same message we started on. We want to get money out of politics, [13:51] put money in your pocket, pass Medicare for all, because it just shouldn't be this hard to get by [13:54] in the richest, most powerful country in the world. One concern, one factor of uncertainty here [14:03] is the amount of money that has been spent in this race. One analysis suggesting that 80% of the record [14:10] amount on the Senate Democratic primary has been benefiting Haley Stevens. And, you know, [14:16] our colleague Julie Serkin spoke with Haley Stevens yesterday. Shaq, here's her message for Michigan [14:21] voters. I have a record. Michiganders are going to be able to look at it and see that I was chief of [14:28] staff on the U.S. Auto Rescue, that I've stood up to Donald Trump, that I'm redirecting the $70 [14:34] billion slush fund to ICE to our local law enforcement and state police who will keep us safe. [14:43] Immigration, a big issue for voters there. But Shaq, affordability is too, isn't it? [14:48] Absolutely. I'll tell you, I just talked to a voter who said that the cost of living is the top issue, [14:55] was the top thing he was thinking about as he was heading to the polls, saying that his raises aren't [15:00] matching the increase in prices. He said that he just filled up his gas tank and it was, quote, [15:04] stupid high. So that is a big issue for so many people. But I'll tell you, in this Democratic primary [15:10] where folks are choosing between Democrats, at least Democratic voters are choosing between [15:15] Democrats. Another issue is who will win in November. That is also something that's top [15:20] of mind for folks as they head into polls and settle this intraparty dispute between these two [15:25] candidates. All right. It says a lot about the conversation happening inside the Democratic [15:29] Party right now. Shaquille Brewster, thank you so much. And don't miss our live coverage of the [15:33] midterm primaries tonight. Kristen Welker, Hallie Jackson, Steve Kornacki, along with our team of [15:38] reporters, kicks off at 9 p.m. on NBC News Now. All right. New questions this morning over the [15:45] source of the deadly cyclospora outbreak. Health officials are now looking at other leafy greens [15:50] besides shredded lettuce. As the number of cases grows here in Michigan, two people with [15:56] pre-existing health conditions died after contracting the illness. Both got sick before the voluntary [16:02] recall of iceberg lettuce linked to the outbreak. There are more than 11,000 cases confirmed in the [16:09] state. Nearly 200 people are hospitalized. Joining us now is NBC News correspondent Ann Thompson. [16:14] And Ann, welcome. The HHS secretary, RFK Jr., he is defending the Trump administration's handling of [16:21] the outbreak. What is he saying? Well, you remember way back in July 21st, Christine, [16:27] that RFK Jr. said that the cyclospora outbreak was under control. It has only grown since then. And so [16:35] have the questions about the impact of budget cuts on the HHS and what impact those have had [16:42] on this outbreak. Specifically, people are wondering about the fact that cyclospora no longer has to be [16:48] reported to the federal government to a surveillance arm called FoodNet. Now, yesterday in an interview [16:55] with USA Today, Secretary Kennedy took on both issues. But you don't think like staffing cuts at CDC would [17:05] have had anything to do? No, they had nothing to do with it. We didn't stop any of this cuts. We had no cuts in [17:13] the in our food surveillance system. Okay. And the FoodNet, there was cut? The FoodNet cut. The FoodNet was [17:20] redundant system. And all the states will tell you that. Now, cyclospora still has to be reported in 47 [17:27] states. So it goes to the state. It just doesn't. It's now optional to go to the federal government. [17:32] You've been talking to people who have suffered from this illness. What are they telling you about [17:36] the experience? It is miserable. They say it is an unpredictable experience. You don't get a lot of [17:44] warning when you're going to get sick. It leaves you dehydrated, malnourished, exhausted. And when you [17:51] take those factors and combine them with an underlying health condition, let's say diabetes or heart disease [17:57] or cancer, it can be a really dangerous combination. And it's long lasting. It's not like a [18:02] 24 hour flu that you just sort of work through. I talked to a woman yesterday who got out of the [18:08] hospital after five days. She's had this for a month. It lasts a very long time. And the other [18:14] problem, Christine, is that it incubates in your gut for up to two weeks. So it's very, it's a very [18:20] difficult disease. All right. Ann Thompson, thank you, Ann, for that. All right. Much more current ahead, [18:25] including President Trump's fury at his U.S. attorney in D.C., Janine Pirro. What we know about her [18:31] two hour meeting at the White House. Plus, the SpaceX rocket on a collision course with the moon. [18:37] What scientists hope to learn from the high speed encounter. And later this hour, Ariana Grande speaks [18:43] out after announcing she is taking a break from the spotlight. What she said about that decision. [18:48] We'll get to current after the break. A top member of the Trump administration striking a more optimistic [18:57] tone on talks with Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Besant just put a timestamp on when the Strait of Hormuz [19:04] could reopen. I think there is a chance we may have a deal today or tomorrow to open the strait and move [19:14] towards a more normalized position in this conflict. Now, that renewed optimism after days of sharp public [19:23] back and forth between the president and Iranian officials. President Trump blasted Iran's [19:29] leadership for being, quote, unbelievably duplicitous when Iran denied his claim that new talks were set [19:34] to begin, even as Trump insisted Iranian officials had privately asked to negotiate. Joining us now [19:41] from Doha is NBC News chief international correspondent Keir Simmons. And Keir, we have that new word about [19:46] the reopening of the strait. We still have the back and forth with Iran denying talks are even happening. What's going [19:53] on? Yeah. Yeah. Listen, I think before we all start cheering, I think it's just sobering to know that after all the [20:01] fighting and all the shouting and all the hyperbole about a new era in this region, we're down really now to [20:08] negotiations over a stretch of water, a small shipping lane that was open before the war began. That being said, you're right. [20:16] There are these indications, not least from the Treasury Secretary, that we may well get some kind of a deal [20:21] announced in the coming hours, maybe coming days. And I had a chance, Christine, to question the [20:26] spokesman for the Qatari foreign ministry here in Doha. Qatar is intimately involved, of course, in these [20:33] negotiations. And I asked him about the detail about how these talks are working. Take a listen. [20:42] The drafts are always being exchanged. I mean, anybody who's working on the negotiation process in any [20:46] mediation knows that the tool of the trade is these drafts that keep being circulated. So I won't [20:55] comment on specific drafts. I can tell you that Linewood has been drafted on a possible agreement [21:00] that is being circulated. So crucially, what he's alluding to, what he's talking about is that there [21:11] are there is a draft drafts, maybe, but certainly something written down and that that is being passed [21:17] around. He also signaled that we should pay close attention to the number of phone calls that are [21:22] happening between capitals. He also said that there is no prospect of the kind of face-to-face meeting [21:28] that we've seen in Islamabad or in Switzerland with J.D. Vance and his equivalent in Iran. [21:35] So, Kir, what happens next? The president has warned Iran's window to make a deal may be closing. [21:40] And then, of course, there's always the threat of another round of U.S. military action if the [21:44] president is frustrated. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there is that threat and there is a big military [21:51] presence here, U.S. military presence here. And we said yesterday, didn't we, that we really were [21:56] just by the president's own account on the brink over the weekend of a huge escalation here. [22:01] That can happen again. I do think that there is a desire by Washington, certainly, to get to some [22:08] kind of a deal and by Iran to at least not see that kind of massive escalation. Both sides, [22:14] of course, are threatening what they'll do if it does escalate. However, Christine, [22:18] no matter what announcement comes, I think we haven't seen the end of this. I think this is [22:23] simmering rather than boiling right now as we speak, but could at any moment, you know, [22:28] kind of heat up again. All right, Kir Simmons. Thanks, Kir, for us in Doha this morning. [22:35] NBC News has learned artificial intelligence companies will meet at the White House today [22:38] to review President Trump's executive order on AI. A White House official says President Trump is not [22:45] expected to attend. Now, that order, remember, was signed in June and establishes a voluntary [22:50] framework for evaluating these more advanced AI models. What's in the order has not been shared [22:57] publicly. It's also unclear when companies would start using it or abiding by it. Joining us now, [23:03] NBC News White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor. Yamiche, walk us through what we might learn from [23:08] today's meeting. Well, as you said, even though the president is not expected to attend, that this [23:13] is a staff-level meeting, we are expected to learn a little bit more about how the White House is going [23:18] to be working with these AI companies to sort of, in some ways, put into place this executive order. [23:23] Now, the president has said several times that this is a priority for him. He signed this order back [23:28] in June. But it is going to be not CEOs, but staff-level people from the different companies that are [23:35] going to be coming here to meet with people from the Office of Cybersecurity and other people at [23:40] the White House that are focused on this policy. I want to read to you part of what the White House [23:44] is saying this morning about this meeting. They said, even though the president isn't coming, [23:48] the president believes America must lead the world in AI without burdening innovators with [23:53] unnecessary regulation. President Trump is working hand-in-hand with American industry to strike [23:57] the right balance between innovation and national security. As AI capabilities increase, [24:01] new cyber and national security considerations emerge that require coordinated action between [24:07] the federal government and the private sector. So we expect to know a little bit more about what [24:11] that coordination is going to be looking like, Christine. What kind of names are we expected [24:14] to see there? What companies, AI companies, big tech companies? So in the past, we've seen the CEOs of a [24:20] number of big companies like OpenAI, Meta, Google. We expect that some of the staff of those [24:26] companies are going to be here at the White House. So again, Meta is one of the ones that we've [24:30] been hearing Google, OpenAI, Anthropic. But the White House hasn't put out a list just yet. So [24:35] we'll be keeping our eye out for exactly who shows up. Okay, Yamiche Alcindor at the White House. [24:40] Thank you, Yamiche. A D.C. U.S. attorney, Janine Pirro, paid a visit to the White House after [24:44] a stunning rebuke from her boss, President Trump. The president says Pirro, a longtime ally, [24:51] choked by dropping the government's reflecting pool vandalism case. NBC News captured video of Pirro [24:58] leaving the White House yesterday, carrying a black rolling briefcase with a white box stacked [25:03] on top. Joining us now, NBC News senior justice reporter Ryan Riley. And Ryan, the president [25:08] is, he's saying that Pirro just didn't deliver in this case. Here's what he said yesterday. [25:14] Instead of going after the people that did it, the judge went after her and went after her department. [25:22] And I guess she choked. I was disappointed with Janine Pirro, really disappointed with Janine Pirro. [25:29] She folded like an umbrella. Okay, first, can you catch us up on how we got here? [25:37] Yeah, what's remarkable about, I think, that Trump's statement is that this case was really [25:41] at the very beginning, and the judge really took no action. I would be highly suspect of the notion [25:46] that he knew who the judge was in this instance. But, like, there wasn't any action to be taken so [25:51] far. The Justice Department chose to walk this case back after they got this additional information [25:57] from the Interior Department, which showed that there was extensive damage in various areas of [26:01] the pool, including that one spot where David Hearn allegedly touched the material that was already [26:07] coming up from the bottom. And there was no way that they were going to be able to prove that this [26:11] was more than $1,000 worth of damage that he had caused. They had images from before. They had images [26:16] from after. And as he sort of contended, there was not a difference between what the material that [26:21] was already coming up looked like before and after he arrived that day. And so this case was [26:25] going to fail. In fact, I think, you know, there was a lot of surprise here in D.C. that this case had [26:29] made it past the grand jury to begin with. And the defense team had been making some inquiries about [26:34] how exactly that came about and had discussed some of the grand jury testimony and suggested perhaps [26:41] that there had been some coaching of the grand jury witness in this case. [26:44] After the president's comments, we saw Jeanine Pirro visit the White House. What do we know about that [26:50] visit? Yeah, as you saw there, she was bringing in a lot of documents. Now, of course, we don't know what [26:56] was inside of that box, but, you know, presumably this was related to this case. And there is just a lot [27:02] of evidence from the Interior Department about the concerns that they had about this for a very long [27:07] time. You know, that filing from the Justice Department really did go through the timeline here and [27:12] from the very beginning was saying how there were issues with the application of this material. [27:17] It was already coming up. And, you know, the other point that they sort of made here is that there [27:20] was damage right smack dab in the middle of the pool, right? So it wasn't something that people [27:24] were on the sides pulling up. This was damage in the middle where people wouldn't really have [27:27] access just from the sides of the pool. All right. Ryan Riley, thank you so much for that, [27:32] Ryan. Still ahead, President Trump blasts big oil companies for making too much money off his war [27:38] with Iran. He's demanding they lower gasoline prices. Is it really that easy? But first, [27:44] we're hours away from a SpaceX rocket colliding with the moon. We'll tell you when and where you [27:50] can see it more current right after this. All right. We want to go back to Capitol Hill. The vote [28:02] is taking place right now to move Todd Blanche's nomination to be the next attorney general out of [28:08] the Senate Judiciary Committee. We're keeping an eye on this. It looks like they're not having a vote [28:13] right now. Cory Booker looks as though he is making his remarks there as they're discussing [28:18] whether Todd Blanche should be attorney general of the United States. Two Republicans who have [28:23] been holding out have now agreed that they will vote to advance this from the Senate Judiciary Committee [28:28] onto the full Senate. Again, that vote has not happened yet. Apologies for that. All right. [28:34] From a death at an ice facility to a climber on the Brooklyn Bridge, let's get you current on the [28:38] other headlines we're following today. We begin in New Jersey, where an ice detainee from [28:43] El Salvador died in custody at Newark's Delaney Hall. Immigration officials say Edwin Lopez [28:49] Cornejo experienced a medical emergency and that facility staff called 911. An official cause [28:56] of death has not been yet determined. Delaney Hall has faced protests over the treatment of [29:01] ice detainees. Over 4 million people have lost government food aid since last July. According to [29:08] government data, participation in SNAP, also known as food stamps, has plunged since President Trump's [29:14] one big, beautiful bill act. The bill included major changes to the food assistance program, [29:20] which the White House said was bloated. And starting in October, states will now have to shell out [29:25] millions to keep it going. Experts warn the costs could limit SNAP even more. [29:30] A naked man who jumped off the iconic Brooklyn Bridge has been arrested and charged. Police [29:37] say the 44-year-old man climbed to the top, stripped down, and leapt hundreds of feet into the water on [29:42] Sunday. He was rescued by an NYPD boat, taken to a hospital. He's in stable condition. Now police [29:49] say he's facing numerous charges, including reckless endangerment and public lewdness. [29:55] Three, two, one, ignition. You're looking at a SpaceX rocket launch last year. Back then, [30:09] it sent two robotic landers to the moon. Now a piece of the Falcon 9 rocket is expected to collide [30:15] with the moon. An overnight crash explosion that will pick up a lunar dust cloud. NBC News senior [30:23] correspondent Tom Costello covers space for us and joins us now. The crash explosion kicking up [30:28] an awful lot of interest, too, Tom. Absolutely. I mean, listen, here's the deal. [30:34] NASA is hoping that we're going to learn a lot more about the moon from this impact. [30:39] NASA has done this before, right? Back in 2009, it crashed a rocket into the lunar south pole, [30:45] and that confirmed the presence of ice. So now SpaceX is going to crash a rocket booster [30:50] just as NASA is preparing to land astronauts on the moon in just a few years. [30:58] Four months after the world watched the Artemis 2 crew's spectacular lunar flyby, [31:08] a piece of space junk is about to slam into the lunar surface at 5,400 miles per hour. [31:16] Ignition. [31:17] It was January 2025 that a SpaceX rocket sent two robotic landers to the moon. [31:24] Now, as an accidental bonus, the massive rocket booster is getting pulled closer and closer to [31:31] the moon. What has happened is essentially a mixture of solar activity and gravity forces [31:36] have put it on a path towards the moon. At 2.34 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow, that booster [31:42] will crash into the moon, digging a massive new crater. The expected explosion will send a plume [31:49] of lunar dirt and dust as high as 60 miles above the lunar surface, which astronomers around the [31:55] world are eager to examine. It's a real scientific way of learning more about what the moon's made up [32:01] of. Orbiting probes will document the impact, with NASA hoping to learn more about what's under the [32:07] lunar surface. Artemis 4 astronauts are expected to land on the moon within two years. Ultimately, [32:14] NASA wants to create an Artemis base camp on the moon and use that to go to Mars. [32:20] We're learning and building up to doing something extremely hard, being able to operate astronaut [32:24] crews on a near continuous basis on the lunar surface. Meanwhile, this upcoming space junk crash [32:31] underscores a big concern for NASA. There are now more than 130 million pieces of space junk orbiting [32:38] the Earth, from pieces of rockets and dead satellites to straps and covers, hardware bolts and nuts. [32:46] Last year, a Chinese spaceship with astronauts on board was hit by debris, and all of it poses [32:52] potential lethal risks to astronauts, other satellites, and humans on Earth as it all reenters [32:59] Earth's atmosphere. Yeah, listen to this. The amount of space junk is expected to double in less than 50 [33:05] years. There are proposals out there to declutter space of all that debris, but it's a very big, [33:11] challenging problem, right? And expensive. The European Space Agency has a plan to launch a chaser [33:17] satellite with robotic arms to grab and de-orbit at least one large rocket adapter, but other plans [33:23] include using nets, magnetic towing. It comes down to who wants to pay for a big, expensive operation. [33:30] Back to you, Christine. All right. It is still cool. It's very cool. Tom Gonzalo. Thanks, Tom. [33:36] Let's bring in astronomer and space scientist, Dr. Emily Rice. Emily, are we going to be able to see [33:41] this with the naked eye, or is this, it's going to be more than my binoculars. I'm going to have to [33:45] have a pretty good telescope. Yeah, I think this is not going to be visible to the general public [33:51] with a big telescope, but we don't know, ultimately. That's one of the cool things about this, [33:56] is that we don't know exactly where it's going to fall on the moon. We've got a pretty good idea. [34:00] What's exciting to me is that it's really on the edge of the visible part of the moon. And so that [34:06] could make it a little bit more visible because we won't have the bright moon behind it. We might [34:10] have the dark space behind it, but until it actually hits, we won't know for sure exactly how bright [34:15] it's going to be. But a lot of people will be watching. That's why everybody's so excited just [34:18] to see what's going to happen. You know, space junk hitting the moon. I mean, it sounds like a bad [34:23] thing, but I mean, scientists are really excited about what they could learn from this. What are they [34:27] hoping to find out? Yeah, this is actually really, really useful. It's something that we, [34:32] you know, we plan to do it. It would cost a lot of money. We're getting it for free because it's a [34:37] little bit of an accident. And so it's really exciting for us. We could learn a lot more about [34:41] the surface of the moon, depending on exactly where it falls, how bright the ejecta are, how far it goes, [34:47] how much we can see. We don't know. It's kind of surprising to me always how little we know about [34:51] the moon. The exact composition, how much water might be under the surface, exactly what kind of [34:57] light the surface is like in different places. You know, we've we have an orbiter around it, [35:04] the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter operated by NASA will be looking at this very, very closely. [35:07] But up until now, we've only really in detail looked at very limited places on the moon. And so [35:13] this will add another big kind of data point to our understanding of the surface of the moon. [35:17] I think I was a little surprised. Tom was telling us just how much space junk is up there. I mean, [35:21] we've been launching metal into space for, you know, decades since the 60s. Should we be concerned [35:28] about, I guess, risks going forward to Earth from all that stuff flying around? Yeah, absolutely. So [35:33] most of the space junk is in low Earth orbit because most of the stuff stays close to Earth. [35:39] Not a lot has gone to the moon. And so this is pretty unusual for something like this [35:43] to be able to hit the moon. But yeah, in low Earth orbit, there's a lot more stuff and it can be [35:47] really dangerous. Even something very, very small, like a centimeter or so at these speeds can [35:54] impact and damage sensitive equipment that is operational in orbit. But we kind of track the [36:03] biggest pieces. We know where they are. We try to follow them and see if things change. But things [36:07] are always a little bit unpredictable. We talk about space weather because it is like weather where [36:13] it's just uncertain what the sun is doing on a minute timescale even. And so this can have [36:18] different impacts on the objects in low Earth orbit. There was the spacecraft that even just a few [36:26] months ago is lowering its altitude. And the recent rescue mission to boost it up launched just back [36:35] in July, I think. And so there's a lot going on. We do have to track it. We do have to do our best to [36:39] declutter it, use more reusable things, and try to keep our area of space clean. [36:45] All right. Well, we'll be watching tonight for sure. Dr. Emily Rice, thank you so much. [36:50] Coming up, a new look at the economy through the golden arches, what McDonald's reveals about how [36:55] families are spending their money. And our first edition of the Romans Report will dive deep into [37:00] housing and tell you which American cities are a buyer's market. We'll get you current after this. [37:05] From a new lawsuit against President Trump's tariffs to your morning market check, [37:15] let's get you financially current this morning. 25 states are suing the Trump administration over [37:20] its latest tariffs, arguing they're attempting to replace tariffs already struck down by the [37:24] Supreme Court. Last month, the White House announced double-digit levies against 59 countries and the [37:30] European Union, claiming they had not done enough to crack down on forced labor practices in their [37:36] imports. Let's check in on what you're seeing at the pump right now. Oil prices ticking lower here, [37:41] dipping below $80 a barrel this morning. The national average for a gallon of regular [37:45] still higher than $4 a gallon. Let's now get a check on the markets this Tuesday morning. All [37:51] major averages pointing higher this morning. The Dow hitting record highs up more than 700 points [37:58] right now. We have a new look at the U.S. economy this morning through the golden arches. McDonald's [38:04] just reported a slowdown in sales growth for the fast food giant, reflecting flashing economic warning [38:09] signs that American anxieties are real and that many people are being more cautious with their [38:14] spending as those gas prices remain high. Joining me now is NBC News business and data correspondent [38:19] Brian Chung. What does this say, I guess, about gas prices and economic anxiety when you look at [38:23] what's happening at the golden arches? Well, I mean, it tells us that there's pressure on the average [38:27] American consumer when you consider that McDonald's is kind of one of your mainstays in American [38:31] culture to try to get value. But it seems like Americans might not be getting that right now. [38:35] When you take a look at this earnings report, which showed that in the last quarter, sales were only up 0.8% [38:40] to your point. That's a slowdown from the 2.5% that we saw in the same quarter a year ago. So what [38:46] attributed to that? First off, McDonald's is acknowledging this. Chris Kamchinski, the CEO, said that they [38:51] made a big management change. They replaced the head of operations here in the U.S. They're now installing [38:57] Sky Anderson as the new person, replacing Joe Erlinger. So they clearly want to do this turnaround story. [39:01] I think price is the big story. You have value, value, value that matters a lot in this K-shaped [39:06] economy, where the bottom percentile of this economy is really trying to make ends meet. And [39:11] they said the value menu implementation is going to be a priority. They said only 60% to 65% of their [39:17] system, which is very franchise-focused, implemented their $3 menu this quarter, which means that they [39:24] really want to try to prioritize and fix that to get that value to consumers in the next year. [39:27] Yeah, those consumers are really sensitive to higher prices and higher gas prices. Speaking [39:31] of higher gas prices, the president has been attacking the big oil companies, saying they [39:35] need to lower prices. They need to lower prices, and they're making too much money. On the one hand, [39:41] you know, he's a huge free enterprise guy. On the other hand, he sounds a little like a Democrat [39:44] when he said this yesterday. Listen. [39:48] Chevron, too much money. ExxonMobil, too much, too much money. When you look at one company where they [39:56] made 12 times what they made the year before, they're going to give some of that back to the [40:01] public. And they better cut the retail price, the consumer price. Too much money. You're surprised [40:07] I'm saying it? I'll say it loud and clear. I'm not happy about it. [40:11] It sounds like a windfall of profit tax. And that's what Democrats sometimes, or actually [40:15] really progressive Democrats, talk about. What is the president doing here, you think, by really [40:21] zeroing in on? I mean, they're making a lot of money because his war with Iran raised energy [40:26] prices. That's right. But he's making it very clear. He wants the retailers to lower prices at [40:30] the pump. But the challenge here is that it's all about supply and demand, especially in oil markets, [40:34] where it's an internationally invoiced commodity. So whatever you pay abroad is going to be the same [40:39] that you pay here. And when there's a significant development, be it the closure of the state of [40:43] Hormuz or now escalations in the Red Sea, you can't forget about Russia and Ukraine. That makes oil [40:49] prices go higher. And these retailers just have to deal with that. Now, as far as the margins, [40:53] that's something that progressives might say, hey, that sounds pretty good to me. But again, [40:56] does the government have the ability to tell ExxonMobil, hey, now you just got to offer retail [41:01] prices at $2.50 a gallon? That's something that's pretty untenable, especially for Republicans that [41:05] have argued for a free enterprise market for oil. And also, a lot of the gas stations, [41:10] your corner gas station is owned by a small business, not necessarily owned by the big oil [41:13] companies, right? Right. And CapEx, which is kind of just a way of saying investments into the [41:17] business is extremely expensive. Yeah. All right. Brian Chung. Thank you, Brian. Nice to see you. [41:21] Okay. This morning, we bring you our very first Romans report, drilling down on issues that affect [41:26] your kitchen table. Today, we focus on the nation's tough housing market, where affordability is a [41:31] major challenge. Mortgage rates have jumped to the highest in a year, 6.83 percent for a 30-year [41:36] fixed rate loan. But in some American cities, buyers now have the upper hand. Miami and Nashville [41:44] lead the nation in the most favorable cities for buyers. Real estate firm Redfin found in Nashville, [41:50] there are more than two home sellers for every buyer. Redfin says many buyers in Nashville are [41:56] opting for new homes, where the builders are offering actually relatively low mortgage rates [42:02] and even help with closing costs. And people buying existing homes have more leverage to negotiate [42:07] with sellers on price. Texas, also favorable for buyers. Cities like Houston, San Antonio, and Austin. [42:15] Nationwide, Renfin found an estimated 48.5 percent more sellers than buyers in June, and many homeowners [42:22] locked into ultra-low mortgage rates. They've been delaying their life changes and moves, but they can't [42:28] postpone moving forever. That's why more people are now trying to sell. All right. After the break, [42:34] this huge box office summer is being driven by premium movie theater formats. How 4DX and IMAX [42:41] are becoming major draws for theaters. And coming up next hour, we take you inside the growing lucrative [42:46] world of prediction markets, how they work, and the growing calls to regulate them. More current right [42:52] after this. We are hearing from Ariana Grande for the first time since the megastar announced she is [43:00] stepping away from the spotlight. Grande paused her concert last night in Chicago to speak directly to [43:05] fans about that decision. NBC's Emily Akeda joins me now with more on what she revealed. She's at the height [43:11] of her career. How is she explaining this decision to sort of step out of the spotlight? Yeah, so a lot [43:17] of people talking about this. Ariana Grande saying this is her trying to clear the air in a message [43:21] she read from her phone so she wouldn't forget, according to the pop star. She explained at her [43:25] concert she planned her break from the spotlight a long time ago as questions and concerns over her [43:31] health from the public sweep social media. Overnight, Ariana Grande speaking out. [43:38] It's okay if we get a little real time. Addressing fans for the first time after the news that she [43:44] would be taking a break from public life after her eternal sunshine tour. The announcement that was [43:50] made yesterday was not a reactive or impulsive thing. A decision that was made from a thoughtful [43:56] and empowered place. Earlier yesterday, a representative for Grande saying the pause comes after quote [44:03] endless ongoing public scrutiny. That scrutiny recently centered on growing concerns about the [44:09] star's health and weight with images like these emerging and a newly released music video for her [44:14] song Pedal. The video showing Grande going through an audition process, including a close-up of notes [44:22] from a producer commenting on her weight. Some fans have been expressing worry for the star online. [44:28] If she's not in a place where she's mentally or physically okay, I hope she can get there. [44:32] A source close to Grande tells NBC she performs a very physical show helpfully night after night. [44:38] And Grande sharing the video and behind the scenes shots on her Instagram, receiving support from [44:43] family. Her mom posting quote, you are magnificent and this video is incredible. Last night Grande [44:50] speaking directly to the crowd. I heard that my negativity was ruining things for me. [44:58] Grande has been hugely popular since she was a teenager. Something she said has impacted her. [45:04] I've been kind of doing this in front of the public and kind of been, you know, a specimen in a petri dish [45:15] really since I was 16 or 17. In 2023, directly addressing concerns about her health. I think we [45:22] should be gentler and less comfortable commenting on people's bodies. There are many different ways to [45:26] look healthy and beautiful. In the years since, Grande has been on multiple press tours and launched her album [45:32] and tour, but now stepping back, including withdrawing from a London show with her Wicked [45:37] co-star, Jonathan Bailey. [45:41] Still, Grande telling her fans she's grateful for them. [45:53] And also, this can be and will continue to be the greatest experience of my professional and creative [46:00] life. [46:01] So as for what's next, we know she has 12 more stops on her tour still. And while she is [46:07] stepping back, we also know that she's expected to appear in a film Falker-in-law from our sister [46:12] company, Universal Pictures. That is coming out in November. Her rep would not comment on whether [46:16] she is expected to be a part of that press store, but she's already shot it. So we'll see how much she [46:22] is in the public eye related to that. But certainly we hope she finds some peace in stepping away from [46:27] the public. I mean, she's really been on a run. She has been. She's been in a spotlight, [46:30] you know, even before Wicked. Yeah. You know, so just she works. She's a hard worker. Yeah, [46:34] absolutely. All right. Emily, thanks, Emily. Thanks. If you've been on social media lately, [46:38] it's likely you've seen moviegoers being tossed around in their seats, blasted with wind, [46:45] even sprayed with fog. It's all part of the 4DX experience. And as premium movie formats boom, [46:51] NBC's Chloe Malas went to the world's biggest 4DX theater to see what all the hype is about. [46:56] I want you to choose me. As fans embark on their own odysseys to watch Christopher Nolan's latest [47:03] epic. We're seeing the Odyssey in 4DX. The ones brave enough to view the film in 4DX are going viral. [47:12] 4DX is a multi-sensory theater experience with special effects that fully immerse you in the movie. [47:18] The world's biggest and busiest 4DX theater is at this regal cinema in Times Square. So I had to give it [47:25] a try. I'm wondering how wet am I going to get? Oh my gosh. Get ready. Wind. Oh, and I just got... [47:36] You have two 4DX auditoriums, including the world's largest 4DX, and we are consistently selling out. [47:49] So the 4DX is an immersive experience, so there's a lot of elements that go into it. [47:53] You do have some wind nozzles there that could spray. So these are wind nozzles? Yes. [47:58] I thought they were buttons. Oh, okay. 40X theaters have up to 13 different environmental effects, [48:04] like snow or fog, from rolling to tickling. Wow. Yeah, that one startles people the more. Yeah. [48:12] It takes about two weeks for 40X producers to design the plan for each film. To get the Odyssey right, [48:18] the team watched the movie at least 10 times, re-watching some scenes more than a hundred times [48:24] to nail the effects. The growing popularity of premium large formats like 40X comes as movie [48:31] theaters are rebounding, with this year's domestic box office projected to hit $10 billion for the [48:36] first time since the pandemic, according to Rentrac. The Odyssey sent fans into a frenzy, [48:43] desperate for IMAX tickets. And the limited number of IMAX screens creating a traffic jam for studios. [48:50] The Odyssey blocking Spider-Man Brand New Day from IMAX and Doom Part III, doing the same to Avengers [48:56] Doomsday later this year. Far stronger. All paving the way for film distributors to embrace IMAX competitors, [49:04] like CJ4DPlex, the company behind 40X and ScreenX, which gives moviegoers an extended 270 degree view. [49:13] The premium formats has really led the revival of cinema. This year we're looking [49:18] in premium formats being up a total of 19%. While fans can't watch Spider-Man Brand New Day in IMAX, [49:26] they can watch it in 40X and ScreenX. This is the first film that was shot for ScreenX specifically. [49:32] We had additional cameras on all principle of photography capturing 180 degree spectrum. [49:42] Chloe Malas, NBC News. There's much more news ahead. The next hour of Current starts right now. [49:49] Good morning. It's 11 a.m. Eastern, 8 a.m. on the West Coast. I'm Christine Romans. Let's get your [49:59] current confirmation vote. Any minute now, we'll have clarity on Todd Blanche's bid to become Attorney [50:04] General. We're on Capitol Hill with the breaking developments. Fighting, the flames, wildfires [50:10] expand in Washington state as authorities make an arson arrest tied to one of those fires. [50:16] Primary preview. Voters in five states are heading to the polls and a crucial [50:20] test of the political mood. We'll take you live to Battleground Michigan. [50:25] Betting boom. Americans are using prediction markets to wager on everything from elections [50:28] to the economy, how lawmakers and regulators are racing to keep up. [50:33] And good to be with you this Tuesday, August 4th. We've got a lot of news to get to this morning, [50:44] so let's begin this hour with breaking news on Capitol Hill. Senators on the Judiciary Committee are [50:50] moments away from voting on President Trump's pick for Attorney General Todd Blanche. [50:55] We do expect a majority of lawmakers on this committee to advance Blanche's [50:59] nomination to a final vote in the Senate. That could happen later this week. Blanche has been [51:05] serving as acting Attorney General since April. He took over when the President fired the previous [51:09] Attorney General, Pam Bondi. We have team coverage on this story. NBC News senior White House [51:14] correspondent Gabe Gutierrez and NBC News senior congressional reporter Scott Wong. Gabe, [51:19] I'll start with you. We know President Trump and Todd Blanche have a close relationship. Todd Blanche [51:23] have been his personal attorney. How big of a win would this be, assuming Blanche is confirmed for [51:28] the President? Well, certainly, Christine, it would be significant in the eyes of the [51:32] administration. You mentioned Todd Blanche being President Trump's personal attorney, [51:36] but also he seems to be the type of Attorney General that President Trump has only, you know, [51:42] dreamt about to this point. He values loyalty significantly, very different than his previous, [51:47] uh, than his predecessors. Hey Gabe, I'm going to have you hold on for just a second. We're hearing [51:51] from inside the room that they are starting to vote. So we want to take this, uh, we want to take [51:54] this standby. We want to just watch this as it's happening. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. All right. [52:12] The nomination will be favorably reported. Before we adjourn, I have some letters I want to put in the [52:21] record, uh, from, uh, uh, well, I'm not going to bother to read it. It's not worth, worth reading at [52:30] this point. Uh, the meeting's adjourned. And that's a wrap of that. It looks like he, Democrats said no, [52:44] uh, Republicans said yes. And it moves on to, uh, the scan, the Senate. Scott, I'm going to bring you [52:50] in here quickly. What stands out to you from, from the hearing today? Well, uh, you know, Grassley gave [52:57] everyone a chance to say their piece. Uh, I think we knew where this was headed, a party line vote 12 [53:03] to 10 with Republicans, uh, winning the day. Uh, what happens at this point is, uh, the nomination [53:09] gets advanced to the Senate floor. Uh, we know that leadership, uh, John Thune specifically has wanted [53:16] to get, uh, Todd Blanche, uh, confirmed by the end of this week before the Senate adjourns for its long [53:23] summer recess. They're not slated to be back after this week until September. And so there was a very [53:29] big sense of urgency that they needed to get Todd Blanche confirmed, uh, this week as soon as possible. [53:35] Uh, a number of procedural hurdles will now take place. There will be debate in the Senate. Um, [53:43] there is a threat of forcing the Senate senators to work into the weekend in order to get this done [53:48] in other Senate business. Um, but a lot of senators don't want to work into the weekend. So we expect [53:54] that there could be some sort of an agreement between the 100 senators to sort of speed things [54:00] along. Uh, we are expecting, I think, uh, a confirmation vote on the Senate floor, uh, by Friday. [54:07] All right. So Gabe, let's talk about how we got here. Todd Blanche cut a deal with, uh, two Republican [54:13] holdout senators to drop this anti-weaponization fund or to promise, um, that they would. Where, [54:18] where does the president land on this? Well, look, the president, uh, over the last several [54:23] days has vouched for, uh, Todd Blanche yesterday. And when he was pressed about this, um, order that [54:29] Blanche had signed over the weekend, appeasing Senator Corden and, uh, Tillis, the president said [54:33] he hadn't really looked at it. So he's been kind of downplaying any concessions here. And you heard [54:39] Democrats on that committee reference that, uh, during their speeches this morning, [54:43] they're arguing that there is no guarantee, even with that written order, that this so-called [54:48] anti-weaponization fund is in fact dead, or they couldn't be revived there, that there could be [54:54] legal, a legal loophole that would allow it, uh, to be revived. And that would also allow, uh, the Trump [55:01] family, uh, to enjoy a favorable tax protections, which some Democrats are calling immunity. [55:07] And they're referring to this anti-weaponization fund as a slush fund that could be used [55:12] to help, uh, the president's, uh, political allies. Now, the president for his part, [55:16] again, he hasn't said that the, uh, weaponization fund would be revived, [55:21] but he has defended the fund in general, uh, repeatedly, even saying yesterday that [55:26] he believes it's a good idea that it could give solace to people who he thinks were unfairly [55:30] targeted, uh, by the Biden administration. So Democrats, as you just heard there from several [55:35] of them on that committee, they are arguing that they're extremely skeptical that this [55:40] weaponization fund won't be revived, Christine. And Gabe, just quickly, I want to kind of translate. [55:45] I think a lot of people hear that mouthful anti-weaponization fund, and they've heard it [55:49] so much in the past weeks. This is something that two Republican senators, at least, and a lot of [55:53] Democrats say would be taxpayer money that would pay people like the January 6 rioters, put taxpayer money [55:59] in their pockets, and people who are Trump allies. That was what the distasteful part of it was here [56:05] that caused at least two senators to ask for a guarantee this wouldn't happen. [56:08] Yeah, that's right. This fund, uh, was created as part of a settlement, uh, between the president [56:14] and the Department of Justice over an IRS lawsuit, uh, that, uh, had been pending. Uh, the president, [56:20] again, had argued that since he was unfairly targeted in his view by the Biden Justice Department, [56:25] that there were many others who were also, uh, targeted in his view, and that they should be [56:30] compensated if they submitted those claims. Now, uh, that got a lot of, uh, backlash, outrage, [56:37] not just from Democrats, but also from some Republicans, including those senators, uh, [56:41] Cornyn and Tillis, who have been trying to get Blanche to commit not to move that fund forward. [56:48] Again, Blanche says it will not, but Democrats think the president at some point might try to revive. [56:53] And now the, uh, the nomination goes to the full Senate next. Scott Wong, [56:58] Gabe Gutierrez, thank you so much, both of you. Now to those devastating wildfires burning out of [57:03] control. Police announced an arrest in connection with one of the Washington fires. 37-year-old [57:09] Aaron Farnacci was taken into custody yesterday. He is charged with first-degree arson in connection [57:15] with the Old Trails fire. That's the largest of the three in the Spokane region. Crews are working [57:21] around the clock to contain these flames. Nearly 68,000 people have been forced to evacuate. [57:26] More than 700 structures, including homes like this family's, have burned to the ground. [57:32] It was the first time I'd seen it since it was, since it burned. It seems like it's a nightmare that [57:39] we're just gonna wake up from. Joining us now from the front lines is [57:44] in Spokane is NBC News national correspondent Morgan Chesky. Just heartbreaks for her, uh, [57:49] and what happened to their home. What are we learning about the suspect in that arson this [57:53] morning? Yeah, Christine, Aaron Farnacci expected to be in court at some point later today. He has [58:00] been in custody for about the past 24 hours or so, uh, and authorities say it's because of at least [58:06] one charge of arson here tied to that Old Trails fire. And it's that fire in particular that's [58:12] responsible for burning the neighborhood that we are standing in right now for burning the very home [58:17] that Ken and Lisa Anderson, whom you just heard from, uh, lived in for the last 27 years. So [58:22] it'll be very interesting to see what details come out of this court appearance there. I think [58:26] something that was very telling Christine is the fact that investigators actually detained and [58:31] questioned Farnacci, uh, on Saturday and in his possession, he had a butane lighter. He had waterproof [58:37] matches and witnesses described him appearing nervous, kind of crouching in the brush near where this Old [58:43] Trails fire originated. And then he was taken into custody without an incident by members of a SWAT [58:49] team at some point yesterday. What are you hearing from families on the ground who have been forced to [58:55] evacuate? I mean, some, what, 68,000 people. It is a tough situation for so many in this area because [59:03] for everyone who's been able to go back and see the little left of their home is Ken and Lisa did. [59:10] There are still tens of thousands of people in this greater Spokane area that are still abiding by that [59:16] mandatory evacuation order. There was just, uh, having dinner last night, Christine, the waitress [59:24] can't go back home. She's staying with a family member because it is in one of these neighborhoods, [59:29] uh, that is still cut off at a precaution of potential hotspots reigniting. And when you look at [59:35] the little to no containment that crews have been able to put on these three different fires, [59:41] not because they're not working hard, but simply because of weather conditions, [59:45] because of the geography they're battling, uh, this is still a very active firefight. [59:50] And unfortunately, with the temperature only expected to get hotter in the coming days, [59:56] there's certainly a bleak feeling on multiple fronts here. [59:59] All right, Morgan Chesky, thank you so much. We'll stay on the weather part of that story. [1:00:03] Joining me now, NBC News meteorologist Angie Lastman. Angie, any relief in sight here? [1:00:08] Unfortunately, not a whole lot. You heard Morgan just mentioned, Christine, that we're going to see [1:00:12] those temperatures increasing. We don't have a lot of kind of improvement with the other ingredients [1:00:16] there that kind of leave us with these conditions. Let's just give you a little bit of a lay of the [1:00:20] land. You can see where Spokane is, and these are the fires that are happening near Spokane right now. [1:00:25] Zero percent contained for all three, Autumn Lane, Fairview, and the Old Trails fire. [1:00:29] And we do, of course, have those lighter winds today, but still, again, the potential for more [1:00:35] of these fires to start and spread in other locations through the day today as well. There's [1:00:39] the, the kind of all of the west where you see all of the fires, over a hundred of them burning at [1:00:45] this time. And an area that we're specifically watching for that elevated risk today. So those [1:00:49] ingredients that I mentioned, the dry vegetation, the winds, as well as the temperatures, all of that [1:00:54] going to be in play anywhere from parts of southern Idaho, all the way stretching down into northern [1:00:58] New Mexico and Arizona. In this area, we'll likely see wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour. So we're [1:01:03] concerned about that, of course, again for today. What about, what about air quality? That's got to [1:01:09] be a concern too. A big concern. And especially if you live in the Pacific Northwest, where no surprise, [1:01:13] you have all of those really active fires ongoing, Christine, at least unhealthy, if not unhealthy for [1:01:19] sensitive groups for a really widespread area. You can see Baker City, Quincy, Spokane, all checking [1:01:25] into that unhealthy region. So we do, again, urge folks to not be outside if they have respiratory [1:01:30] issues, children, elderly, all of those kinds of situations. You're going to want to make sure that [1:01:35] you have a place to get the fresh air. The air conditioning is going to be a key for us today, [1:01:40] and we'll likely see this last in the next couple of days, Christine. All right, Angie Lastman, [1:01:44] thank you, Angie. It is decision day for voters in five states, including Michigan, [1:01:49] one of the most important states for Democrats this year. Former public health official Abdul El [1:01:53] Syed and Congresswoman Haley Stevens are going head to head in the Democratic Senate primary. [1:01:59] If the party does not win that seat, it would be much harder for Democrats to retake the Senate in [1:02:04] the midterms. We have team coverage on this race. NBC News correspondent Shaquille Brewster on [1:02:09] the ground for us in Michigan. NBC News chief data analyst Steve Kornacki is here for us. Shaq, [1:02:14] let's start with you. You've been speaking with Michigan voters. What are they telling you about this race? [1:02:18] Well, many of them telling me that they feel that this is important. They said they were going to [1:02:24] make sure they are out here, that they got their vote in early because they feel the attention, [1:02:29] the national attention on this race. And they know the implications, especially that you laid out, [1:02:33] especially when you look to November. But some of those voters also telling me that here in [1:02:39] Stevens district, this was a hard fight for them. I want you to listen to two people who said, [1:02:44] while they like Stevens, they ended up voting for El Syed. Listen to a little bit of what they told me [1:02:49] about why. This is the first time that I've actually gotten to vote for a candidate that excites me. [1:02:55] Really? Most of the time, I feel like I'm forced to vote for Democratic candidates that [1:03:01] don't really represent anything I believe in. Most of the concern was that he is too different [1:03:06] from the mainstream. And I think if we continue to have that mentality, we will continue to get [1:03:10] ourselves into the problems that we're into today. And I think that speaks to some of the messaging [1:03:17] that you've been hearing, especially from the Stevens side. Many of her ads, when you listen [1:03:21] to her on the campaign trail, she portrays herself as the safer pick, the more electable candidate for [1:03:30] November. We know Mike Rogers will be the nominee on the Republican side. One of these two Democrats [1:03:35] will be meeting him for a debate and for a battle in November. Shaq, there's a lot of money flowing in [1:03:41] in this race. You know, more than 70 million dollars has been spent. What are voters saying [1:03:46] about that influx of cash? Well, I'm sure you won't be surprised to hear that. They are not [1:03:53] happy about that at all, that they notice it when watching the television ads. I'll tell you, [1:03:58] when I came to Michigan, turned on the TV, you noticed the influx of ads. And analysis from ad [1:04:04] impact actually showed that about 80 percent of those TV ads out there right now for this Senate [1:04:09] Democratic primary are benefiting Haley Stevens. That's something that she's been criticized [1:04:14] for as well. We know that her event yesterday, as she was walking into it, there were some [1:04:19] interruptions, some hecklers as she was walking in. People upset that one of the super PACs, [1:04:24] the biggest spender in this race, is one aligned with AIPAC, that pro-Israeli group. Haley Stevens [1:04:31] saying that she's going to fight for Michigan and for all voters, despite who's funding her. [1:04:36] All right, Shaquille Brewster. Thank you so much, Shaquille. Today is also the launch [1:04:40] of Data Dive with Steve Kornacki, a new franchise across NBC News, where Steve's going to bring you [1:04:45] his signature data-driven analysis and reporting. Of course, some of the biggest races are happening [1:04:50] tonight. Steve, what stands out to you in Michigan? All right, taking a deep look at Michigan here, [1:04:56] Democratic primary for U.S. Senate here. The theme of the primary season this year, [1:05:00] if you've been watching, you know, in Democratic primaries, far-left candidates, [1:05:04] progressive candidates have been pulling off some major and surprising wins. The question here, [1:05:09] could there be another one in the offing? Abdul Al-Sayed running far to the left. He's endorsed [1:05:15] by some leading Democratic socialist politicians. He says he's not a socialist, [1:05:19] but his platform is awfully close. His support base is awfully close. [1:05:22] He's running against sort of a traditional establishment candidate here, Congresswoman Haley Stevens. [1:05:28] Not been a ton of polling, but that which there is has shown El-Sayed with an advantage coming [1:05:33] into this race here. Now, the winner of this primary tonight will face off in the general election [1:05:39] against Mike Rogers, the Republican. He nearly won the seat a couple of years ago. [1:05:42] And the significance of this primary is, look, if El-Sayed does win this thing, [1:05:47] is he too far to the left for a state like Michigan that, remember, in 2024, voted for Donald Trump. [1:05:53] Trump won it in 2024. He won it in 2016. He lost it in 2020. [1:05:58] Trump's two for three in this state. And that's what makes this so interesting, this primary, [1:06:02] because we've talked about the success that the far-left candidates have had in other Democratic [1:06:07] primaries this year. Those primaries have been in deep blue congressional districts. [1:06:12] They've been in deep blue cities like Washington, D.C. That's where that insurgency on the Democratic [1:06:18] side has had its success. If El-Sayed wins tonight, it's going to be the first one of these [1:06:24] that's in truly swing political territory. And for Democrats who are trying to win back the United [1:06:30] States Senate this November, this is right now a Democratic seat. The incumbent is not running for [1:06:36] re-election. If the Democrats can't hold on to the Senate seat in Michigan, it's really hard to see [1:06:42] how they'd have a path to flipping the control of the United States Senate overall. So really [1:06:46] interesting stakes in this race here, Stevens versus El-Sayed on the Democratic side. [1:06:50] All right, Steve. Thank you for that. Don't miss our live coverage of the midterm [1:06:54] primaries tonight. Hallie Jackson, Kristen Welker, anchor with our team of reporters. It all begins at 9 [1:07:00] p.m. on NBC News Now. And for expert analysis and updates on the midterms all season long, [1:07:07] scan this QR code and subscribe to the Data Dive with Steve Kornacki. His weekly newsletter will drop [1:07:13] every Tuesday. Coming up, the first confirmed deaths tied to the cyclospora outbreak. Dr. Kavita [1:07:20] Patel joins us to answer your questions. What's safe, what's not, and what you need to know. Plus, [1:07:26] an FBI agent accused of stealing nearly a million dollars in crypto from Russia? The reason, [1:07:32] according to investigators, quote, frustration. And later, ICE has more than doubled its arrests [1:07:38] at U.S. airports. What's driving the sharp increase in enforcement? We'll get to current after the break. [1:07:43] Thousands of Americans are still struggling with cyclospora and making it even more challenging. [1:07:56] The source of some of these outbreaks remains unknown. Health officials are investigating other [1:08:01] leafy greens besides lettuce as they work to trace potential new sources. And now that the Michigan [1:08:07] Health and Human Services Department has reported two deaths from the outbreak, you might be wondering [1:08:11] what you can do to keep your family safe. Here to help us is NBC News medical contributor Dr. Kavita [1:08:17] Patel. And Dr. Patel, health officials are looking at other leafy greens like cilantro as a potential [1:08:22] source. Should people just be avoiding these types of greens altogether? Yeah, Christine, [1:08:28] until we understand these sources, I don't think it's over calling it to say let's avoid these. But [1:08:34] then if, in fact, you do encounter any of this produce, I would make sure, number one, that you [1:08:39] know where it's been handled. If you can make sure and you can try to wash it. As you mentioned, [1:08:44] it's those small microgreens, things like cilantro, basil, even berries like raspberries. It's really hard to [1:08:50] get some of that clean. And we know that it's not just the iceberg lettuce. And that's because the CDC [1:08:56] said that it's not there's so many pockets of cases, as you put up on that map previously, [1:09:01] that there must be other sources. So the cautionary kind of approach is not an over call on this [1:09:07] situation. We've talked about washing and preparing produce. We've heard, you know, [1:09:12] wash it vigorously, peel, boil if you need to. Of course, you can't really boil lettuce. But [1:09:17] is that still the advice that you need to clean it or cut away the, you know, the pathogen, I guess? [1:09:25] Yeah, I'll walk through kind of what I'm doing that might just help people and what patients are [1:09:28] doing. So if I buy iceberg lettuce, I buy the whole head and I'm taking off the outside leaves and still [1:09:34] washing the rest of it. But taking off those outer leaves gets Christine to really what's at heart. [1:09:38] Remember cyclospora, a very small microscopic parasite, hard to see. You're not looking for [1:09:43] something. You can't really see it. That's why you got to take off everything. If I'm buying fruit for the [1:09:47] kids, I'm trying to focus on things that have appealed bananas, oranges, and then if they love [1:09:51] their berries, so I'm doing that under kind of warm water. I'm also doing it pretty vigorously. [1:09:56] Then I'm washing my hands. And then if I'm cutting something, I'm putting it in the fridge for [1:10:00] anything I'm not using or eating. So to your point, I think there's ways to stay safe and to eat healthy [1:10:06] foods. But I do think that for sure, if you've got some of that lettuce or produce sitting, [1:10:11] make sure you look at the back of it. Look at the distributor. We're looking for products that you might [1:10:15] want to take off the shelves. Most grocers and manufacturers are already doing this. [1:10:19] But these are steps that you can take yourself safe. And then the most important thing, [1:10:23] if you do have this kind of diarrhea that just doesn't seem to go away after a couple of days or [1:10:27] is causing concern, come to an office, come to our clinic, get checked out. We can do a stool test, [1:10:33] diagnose, treat, and hopefully prevent any other adverse effects. That's very good advice, [1:10:38] Dr. Kavita Patel. Thank you so much, doc. Thank you. All right. It's a case that began with a [1:10:43] hunt for Russian crypto criminals and ended with an FBI investigator in handcuffs. According to court [1:10:48] documents, the former agent grew frustrated after learning investigators could not legally seize [1:10:55] all of the target's cryptocurrency accounts. That's when prosecutors say he took matters into his own [1:11:00] hands, stealing nearly a million dollars of crypto for himself. NBC Legal Affairs reporter Gary Grumbach [1:11:06] joins me now with the details. Walk us through how investigators say this all went down, Gary. [1:11:11] Yeah, this is a really wild case, Christine. This was an FBI supervisor who over the past couple [1:11:15] years was assigned to a cryptocurrency team at the FBI. And he was upset that the FBI wasn't doing [1:11:21] more to try to target some of these adversarial countries that have this cryptocurrency attack. [1:11:25] They're taking money from people like Americans. And so using FBI resources, he started taking money [1:11:31] out of the Russian crypto account himself and putting it not into some government wallet, [1:11:36] but his own personal crypto wallet himself. He did this 10 to 12 times, adding up to more than $900,000, [1:11:44] according to investigators. And in the last two weeks, something changed. He started talking to people, [1:11:49] his colleagues and some of his bosses about the fact that he did this. He said he screwed up. [1:11:53] He even filled out an FBI self-report form on the website. And he's cooperating with investigators [1:11:59] during the search of his house as well, Christine. Wow. That is remarkable. So what charges is this [1:12:04] former agent facing? And could there be any leniency given that he told the FBI he did it himself? [1:12:10] Yeah. So he's being charged with interstate transportation of goods and receipt of stolen [1:12:14] goods. That actually could lead you to up to 10 years in prison if you're convicted of those charges. [1:12:19] But you're right. This is sort of a case where the FBI kind of screwed up here, right? And so [1:12:24] this does make the FBI look bad that he was able to do something like this. And so certainly because [1:12:29] of his transparency and all this, and because he didn't spend a dollar of what was in the [1:12:34] cryptocurrency, according to investigators, potentially he could avoid some jail time [1:12:38] here, Christine. All right. Gary Grumbach, thank you so much. What a story that is. [1:12:42] All right. From attacks on Russian warehouses to the fight over FIFA's leadership, [1:12:46] let's get you globally current this morning. Ukrainian strikes hit three warehouses across [1:12:51] Russia overnight, killing five people and injuring at least 10 others. Two of the warehouses were [1:12:56] run by the Wildberries company. That's considered the Amazon of Russia. Ukraine has been stepping up [1:13:02] its attacks against the online retail giant in recent weeks. In Greece, more water dropping [1:13:07] helicopters took to the sky this morning in the latest efforts to battle wildfires on the ground. [1:13:12] Over the weekend, a midair collision between two firefighting helicopters left two crew members. Dead [1:13:18] high temperatures are expected in the region this week, making the fight even harder. [1:13:23] And FIFA's president, Johnny Infantino, facing growing criticism after he said he would not move [1:13:29] forward with his controversial plan to sell stakes in the World Cup. The proposal was met with scrutiny [1:13:35] from fans and politicians alike. And even some of the soccer world's most influential governing bodies, [1:13:40] Infantino is now eyeing reelection for a fourth term as president. After the break, [1:13:45] journal entries written by Massachusetts mom Lindsay Clancy were read aloud in court, [1:13:50] what prosecutors say they reveal about the day her three kids were killed. And the best driver on the [1:13:57] road may not be human. What we just learned about Waymo cars and crashes. We have more current right [1:14:03] after this. From a new study on robo taxi safety to growing ice arrests at airports. Let's get you [1:14:14] current on the other headlines we're following today. You might be safer in a driverless car. A new study out [1:14:20] from a highway safety organization found that Waymo robo taxis crash less often than humans do by 68%. [1:14:28] The study compared how often Waymo and human operated vehicles reported being involved in crashes in [1:14:33] several major cities. And real safety differences may be even larger since humans often skip reporting [1:14:39] minor scrapes. A rare tick-borne illness has been confirmed in New York state. Health officials say [1:14:46] three people came down with rabbit fever on Long Island. Infected ticks spread the disease to people [1:14:51] after biting sick rabbits. Doctors say the illness causes high fevers and extreme fatigue and can sometimes [1:14:59] be more severe than other tick-related illnesses like Lyme disease. And ICE officers have more than doubled [1:15:06] arrests at U.S. airports since last year. A DHS official said officers are making between 20 and 40 arrests at [1:15:12] airports every day. Last year that number was 10. Many of the arrests have drawn backlash recently as [1:15:18] videos of confrontations circulate online. Right, new developments in the high profile Idaho murderers [1:15:25] murders case. Brian Koberger, the man convicted in the killing of four college students, is now being [1:15:31] represented by a new public defender. He's attempting to take back his guilty plea. The move coincides with a [1:15:38] new Netflix docu-series detailing the years-long investigation and the lives of the victims. The [1:15:44] younger sister of one of those victims sat down with Today co-host Craig Melvin this morning. Aubrey [1:15:50] Gonzalez says she's speaking out about the case as a way to honor her older sister Kaylee and another [1:15:56] victim, Maddie Mogan, who she says was also like a sister to her. When everything happened, I was a sophomore [1:16:03] in high school. I was only 16 years old and at the time I kind of just decided that no words were going to [1:16:09] bring back either one of my sisters, so I didn't feel like saying anything. And now that I've gotten [1:16:17] older, you know, almost four years has passed, I realize still that no words are going to bring back [1:16:24] my sisters, but words are what's going to keep their memories alive. Just breaks your heart. Joining me now, [1:16:31] NBC News Senior Legal Correspondent Laura Jarrett. Laura, you know this, the families thought this [1:16:36] has been put to rest with a guilty plea and all of this was behind them. How likely is it Koberger will [1:16:41] be able to change his plea? They sure did, Christina. It's part of what makes this so painful for them [1:16:46] is that almost everyone agrees Koberger stands no real legal chance in getting out of prison in this [1:16:52] way. He agreed to plead guilty. He did it in open court, but it doesn't mean that he may not still try [1:16:58] in this effort. And now he has some new legal help by his side. This morning, a new attorney now [1:17:05] representing Brian Koberger as he mounts a long shot bid to backtrack on his plea deal. [1:17:10] Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty? Yes. Court records now showing a new public defender [1:17:17] assigned to Koberger's case more than a year after he agreed to a plea deal, admitting an open court to [1:17:23] killing four University of Idaho students, Kayla Gonsalves, Madison Mogan, Ethan Chapin, and Zanna [1:17:30] Kurnodal in their off-campus home. In handwritten documents filed last week, Koberger [1:17:35] now saying he was convinced to falsely confess by coercion, disinformation, false promises, [1:17:41] and the withholding of exculpatory evidence. Also accusing his former public defender of [1:17:47] ineffective assistance of counsel and suggesting without evidence that his plea deal was not [1:17:53] voluntarily entered because of threats asserted by petitioners legal counsel. Despite the new attorney, [1:17:59] legal experts in Idaho say his new efforts are almost certain to fail. There is none, no chance [1:18:06] that he's going to end up out of custody on this thing. His claim to be an innocent man is far too [1:18:14] little against the mound of evidence against him. But for Kaylee Gonsalves, his sister who addressed [1:18:20] Koberger directly at his sentencing. I will call you what you are, sociopath, psychopath, murderer. [1:18:28] The filing still comes as a shock to the system. That fact that someone locked behind bars [1:18:37] still has the ability to re-victimize their victims, that's something that isn't just very easy to get [1:18:44] over. Koberger's new legal filing coinciding with the release of Netflix's new three-part docuseries. [1:18:54] He didn't even have to say their names. That's not enough. [1:18:57] Kaylee's sister Olivia is saying the plea wasn't the closure their family needed. [1:19:02] This will never be over for us until the defendant is no longer breathing on this earth. [1:19:09] So Christine, we reached out to that new public defender for Koberger who said he's still getting [1:19:13] up to speed on the case. But it's also highly likely that this petition from Koberger for a new trial [1:19:19] just gets resolved by the judge on the written court filings. And instead of going through any [1:19:23] actual hearing and putting the family through all of that, we should say we also reached out to his [1:19:27] former public defender and the families for the other victims in this case, but have not yet hurt [1:19:33] back, Christine. All right, Laura Jarrett. Thanks so much, Laura. Nice to see you. All right, [1:19:37] more on the gut-wrenching murder trial of Lindsay Clancy now in its second week. For the first time, [1:19:42] we're hearing from the doctors who treated Clancy right after she allegedly murdered her three [1:19:47] children. Did you ask her about her mood that day? I did ask her her mood. And what did she write? [1:19:55] She wrote horrified. We asked her, you know, how are you feeling horrified? And then she wrote down, [1:20:07] uh, do I have an attorney? And I said with my team that at this time, we're just getting to know you [1:20:15] and getting to know the case. Excerpts read from Clancy's journal seized in a search warrant [1:20:22] reveal she felt she was, quote, drowning every day. The 35-year-old mother is charged with three counts [1:20:28] of murder and faces life in prison without parole if convicted. Joining us now on set, NBC News legal [1:20:34] analyst Misty Maris. Misty, what does this new, I guess, medical testimony add, if anything? [1:20:39] This medical testimony has been critical. Because remember, this is treatment that she's receiving [1:20:43] days after the killing. So right after. Remember what the critical issue is in this case. [1:20:48] What was Lindsay Clancy's mindset when the killings were being done? Was she in a state of psychosis? [1:20:55] She couldn't control her actions. She didn't understand right from wrong. Or was it planned and [1:21:00] premeditated, as prosecutors have said? Nobody's there with her that day. So it's looking at what's [1:21:05] leading up to that act and the aftermath when she's in the hospital, she's being treated, [1:21:11] and what are these doctors observing? A personal journal, her personal journal, [1:21:16] was also entered into evidence today. She said she felt like she was drowning every day. [1:21:21] How does that play into this case? So we saw a lot of entries in this journal. There were some that [1:21:25] were undated and there were some that were really from the three months leading up to the killing. [1:21:31] So that's a really critical time period of documented mental health issues. What I thought [1:21:36] was interesting is that both the prosecutors and the defense were picking entries from that journal [1:21:41] and presenting it to the jury. So clearly some thought that some might ignore to the benefit [1:21:46] of both sides. But how do you get into somebody's head? Well, reading a journal that you can look at [1:21:52] that time frame and you can see what they were thinking, what they were penning. Well, that's [1:21:56] the way to do it. We are in the second week of this trial. What's next? And who else do you think [1:22:00] is going to take the stand? So there's still, there were, there were like a hundred and something [1:22:04] witnesses on the prosecution's list and there's 50 on the defense list. So whether or not everybody [1:22:09] testifies, it's usually not every single name on that list makes it into the courtroom. [1:22:13] But where we haven't even started is with the experts. We're hearing from the treating [1:22:18] physicians, psychiatric physicians who were treating investigators. But we haven't heard [1:22:23] from the experts who are going to talk about to the jury, what does somebody who's in a state of [1:22:28] psychosis look like? Can they present like they're in a good state of mind or is there something else [1:22:34] to look for? So that's going to be that battle of the experts that plays out in court. And Patrick [1:22:38] Clancy could also come back to the stand. He's on the defense list as well. Yeah, he's the husband. [1:22:42] We heard from our already this week. All right. Thank you so much. Nice to see you, Misty Maris. [1:22:46] Coming up, platforms like Calci and Polymarket are turning current events into [1:22:51] bets. The race to regulate the new world of prediction markets. And rising from the ashes, [1:22:56] we're checking in on the Pacific Palisades a year and a half after wildfires ravaged parts of that [1:23:00] community. We'll get you current after this. From sports to geopolitical events, [1:23:10] prediction markets are becoming an everyday tool for people to place bets on quite literally anything, [1:23:17] even wildfires are fair game. Bloomberg reports markets are trading on natural disasters. [1:23:22] Lawmakers are concerned people could take matters into their own hands to, quote, [1:23:26] make their bets pay off. In New York, Governor Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James [1:23:32] filed a whopping $36 billion lawsuit against prediction market operator Calci. [1:23:37] They claim Calci's betting markets violate state gambling laws. Joining us now, [1:23:42] NBC News business and economy reporter Ali Canal. And Ali, what are the broader implications, [1:23:46] I guess, of placing bets on anything? I mean, right down to Taylor Swift's bridesmaids. I mean, [1:23:53] people are placing bets on everything. Everything. And I think it falls into two buckets here. One [1:23:58] is ethics, right? Should we be placing bets on wildfires, on natural disasters, on when somebody [1:24:05] could die? I mean, these are very deeply personal moments, deeply personal events. And there's that [1:24:09] morality question of it all. And then there's market integrity. When you think about market manipulation, [1:24:15] insider trading, particularly when it comes to betting on elections, that's a real concern. And [1:24:20] we've recently done some reporting where election officials worry that prediction markets could be [1:24:25] incentivizing bad actors to interfere in elections, that they could possibly erode the trust in the [1:24:32] election system. And Calci, meanwhile, says it prohibits people who could manipulate elections from [1:24:38] actively trading. They say they monitor consistently for insider trading. But experts have told me it is [1:24:44] very difficult to catch them all, so to speak. I mean, these contracts are very thinly traded. [1:24:49] There's a lot out there. Like you said, you can bet on pretty much anything and everything that to go and [1:24:54] police this is a very difficult feat. So that's the biggest concern as these platforms gain popularity. [1:25:00] I mean, if somebody wanted to bet on how long the segment will last, there's going to be somebody on [1:25:03] the other side of that bet. It's remarkable to me. Let's get to this lawsuit against Calci. What's in [1:25:08] it and how is Calci responding? So this is really the latest chapter in a much bigger fight over who [1:25:13] gets to regulate these platforms. Now, New York argues that Calci is operating an illegal gambling [1:25:19] business without complying with state gambling laws. So this lawsuit is seeking to block Calci from [1:25:25] operating in the state and is also seeking $36 billion in penalties and restitution. I mean, [1:25:30] that's a heck of a lot of money. And you were just seeing on your screen Calci's response to all of [1:25:35] this. And they're arguing that, look, we're a federally regulated exchange under the Commodities [1:25:40] Futures Trading Commission, otherwise known as a CFTC, and that states don't have the legal authority [1:25:46] to go and shut down a federally licensed exchange. In fact, in that statement, they called this, [1:25:52] quote, political theater of sorts. But New York isn't alone. And that's important to remember here. [1:25:57] I mean, we have Massachusetts and Washington who have both won political, sorry, excuse me, [1:26:02] preliminary injunctions. Michigan has a temporary restraining order in place, [1:26:06] and then Calci is totally banned in a state like Nevada. So this is across the country, [1:26:11] this attack on Calci and these prediction markets. A state like Nevada, which, by the way, [1:26:15] is a big actual legalized gambling state, and that would be competition for legalized gambling there. [1:26:20] Lawmakers are calling on the CFTC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, [1:26:23] to crack down on these markets. Where does regulation stand then? Federal regulation. [1:26:28] Yeah. So right now, these are federally regulated exchanges. The CFTC, they call them event-based [1:26:35] contracts, not gambling. States like New York, though, say, no, this is gambling. And remember, [1:26:39] there's financial incentives here for the states as well, because legal sports books, [1:26:43] they pay licensing fees, they pay taxes. A lot of these prediction markets generally do not. So [1:26:50] there's a lot of money on the table that's being left for these states, which is a big reason why [1:26:53] they're going after these prediction markets. And just today, a federal judge denied the CFTC's [1:26:59] emergency request to pause New York's lawsuit, basically saying the agency hadn't shown that [1:27:05] it was likely to win or would suffer irreparable harm. So for now, this case in New York continues. [1:27:11] And New York has really become the epicenter of all of this because Calci is headquartered here. [1:27:15] And New York also has a pretty sophisticated legal system, a court system that can handle these types [1:27:21] of nuanced, complicated stories that's basically happening in real time. So this could set a [1:27:29] precedent. And then experts say this could maybe eventually go all the way to the Supreme Court. [1:27:32] Well, let's keep following it. I mean, it is just pervasive. It really is. All right. [1:27:37] Allie Canal, thank you so much. Nice to see you. All right. We've talked a lot this morning about [1:27:41] the wildfires burning in the Pacific Northwest. But further south, survivors of California's [1:27:46] deadly Palisades fire, they're still picking up the pieces. More than a year and a half later, [1:27:51] that wildfire remains the most destructive in Los Angeles history. Over 20,000 acres charred, [1:27:57] thousands of homes and businesses and schools gone. NBC News correspondent Liz Kreutz takes a look [1:28:04] at how the community is working to rise from the ashes. Well, hey there. Yeah. Well, [1:28:09] rebuilding after the fires here has been hard and slow. There are signs of progress. Later this [1:28:14] month, the popular Palisades Village Mall, which many call the heart of Pacific Palisades, [1:28:19] is set to reopen. We sat down with developer Rick Caruso about this turning point moment for the [1:28:24] community. It was a year and a half ago that flames tore through LA's famous Pacific Palisades [1:28:31] neighborhood, taking 12 lives and burning more than 6,000 homes and businesses in this idyllic seaside [1:28:37] community. Pacific Palisades, it was like a Norman Rockwell picture. And when the fire hit, [1:28:43] the devastation hit, it was so dramatic. Now, 21 months later, a major milestone in the rebuild. [1:28:50] Does this sound give you so much joy? So much joy. I get chilled. I mean, really. [1:28:55] After a $100 million investment from developer Rick Caruso, the heart of the town center, [1:29:00] the Palisades Village, which survived despite sustaining significant smoke damage, [1:29:05] is finally set to reopen. We took the inside of every store, [1:29:10] every restaurant, every apartment down to the studs. We know there's no contaminants. The humbling [1:29:16] part of being a part of this is what it means to the community. It means hope. Hope for business [1:29:22] owners like Amanda Rastegar, whose toy store burned down in the fire and is now one of the mom and pop [1:29:27] shops moving in. And Michelle Murphy, who recently opened this gift shop across the street. If you would have [1:29:32] asked this year and a half ago, there's no way this could be real. You can see it and touch it and [1:29:37] feel it now. We're coming back. And yet there's still a very long way to go. Out of the thousands [1:29:43] of structures destroyed in the Palisades, the city has issued just 35 certificates of occupancy. [1:29:49] This is our home. It's in the process of being rebuilt. Julianne and Genevieve Bostic say the reopening [1:29:54] of the Palisades Village is a small but symbolic step forward. We can still go to dinner. We can still see [1:30:00] our neighbors. We can still enjoy moments versus waiting for it all to be perfect and all to be [1:30:05] back. In fact, their family's favorite restaurant is in the village. It's where they plan to once [1:30:09] again celebrate when their daughter starts high school this fall. What I really believe that will [1:30:15] come out of this, more businesses will open, more people will build their homes. Those places where [1:30:21] community comes together are the most important. What message does this send to the community, [1:30:26] this reopening? This community is resilient. And the official reopening is Saturday, August 15th. [1:30:34] That is when 70% of all the businesses there will be operating. And that includes three restaurants [1:30:39] with James Beard award-winning chefs. So this is not only about bringing joy back to the local community, [1:30:44] but also about once again, making Pacific Palisades a destination for visitors too. Back to you. [1:30:50] All right, Liz, thank you so much for that. Turning to the Bahamas where some travelers got quite the [1:30:55] scare when the seaplane they were taking off in crashed in the Caribbean. Officials say the plane hit [1:31:01] a dock. NBC News correspondent George Solis shares their story of survival. New video of a harrowing [1:31:08] seaplane crash in the Caribbean. Ten Americans onboard a plane that slammed into a dock in the Bahamas [1:31:15] as it was trying to take off. How did we get out? In this video, recorded by passenger Eloy [1:31:19] Descantillo, the moment the plane makes impact. It was very disarming, he said. Thank goodness, [1:31:26] I was wearing my seatbelt. It was very horrible. You can hear the desperation from passengers as [1:31:33] alarms blare. Bahamian police say the Cessna was attempting to take off Saturday morning when the [1:31:39] plane ran into boat traffic, leading the pilot to change course. Right place, right time, right people, [1:31:45] and the rest was in God's hands. Nick Pavlakis was there on his boat dealership's customer getaway [1:31:50] and among the good Samaritans that raced into action to save lives. Taking us on board the vessel [1:31:57] used in the rescue. Where are the people boarding once they have the opportunity to get to safety? [1:32:02] So some people boarded from the very bow of the boat. Some people boarded back here. Dramatic images [1:32:07] show the plane's wing fully submerged as it began to sink and this moment as it fully flips upside down. [1:32:15] I pull up to the plane and it's a sound I'll never forget of the glug, glug, glug. And I said, [1:32:21] guys, this plane's going down. We got to get everybody off. Ten souls on board. That's right. [1:32:25] All saved. All saved. George Solis, NBC News. Wow, terrifying. All right, thanks, George. [1:32:32] Next, a multi-faith campus in Nebraska trying to bridge religious divides. It's part of our series, [1:32:38] 50 States in 50 Days. And show me the money. The iconic Hollywood props and costumes up for grabs. [1:32:44] If you have deep enough pockets, we have more current right after this. [1:32:48] When you feel overwhelmed by the problems facing the nation, sometimes you just need to turn to your [1:32:59] neighbors to find solutions. In our series, 50 States in 50 Days, we're introducing you to people [1:33:05] making a difference in their communities. Today, we're heading to Nebraska, home to the only multi-faith [1:33:11] campus of its kind in the world. John Chapman from our Omaha affiliate, WOWT, visited the Tri-Faith [1:33:18] Commons to hear how the project bridges religious divides spiritually and physically. [1:33:24] 38 acres of diversity make up the Tri-Faith Initiative campus, a Christian church, [1:33:31] a mosque, and a synagogue located on one spot in Southwest Omaha. [1:33:36] JOHN CHAPMAN, So, one of the interesting things of our shared campus is, there is a creek [1:33:40] that separates our building. That creek is called Hell's Creek. And yet, [1:33:44] we built a bridge over it called Abraham's Bridge. So, the only way to pass through hell, [1:33:50] at least metaphorically speaking, is to walk on a bridge together. [1:33:54] JOHN YANG, That bridge unites a Jew, a Christian, and a Muslim, [1:33:59] working together to understand each other. [1:34:02] JOHN YANG, So, yes, do we argue? Absolutely. But the beauty of being neighbors is, it also [1:34:08] creates the opportunity for us to gather and engage in what I've been calling sacred disagreement. [1:34:14] JOHN YANG, We cannot ignore one another because we look out of our sanctuaries, [1:34:18] out of our offices, and we see our very neighbors. And it's a beautiful thing to be able to experience. [1:34:26] JOHN YANG, The concept for this unique campus was born from a simple act of kindness. [1:34:31] JOHN YANG, It was on September 11, 2001, when a group of Omaha Jews, so concerned for their [1:34:37] Muslim neighbors and for any possible reprisal attacks or prejudice attacks that might happen [1:34:43] to them in the wake of the terrorist attacks, that they stood guard over a local mosque [1:34:47] through the night to keep them safe. JOHN YANG, Faith leaders here hope to be [1:34:51] an example to the world, teaching lessons, lessons that start with our children. [1:34:56] JOHN YANG, I work particularly with our children and youth, and what a gift it is to be able to watch [1:35:02] and hopefully foster relationships between children and youth of different backgrounds and different [1:35:09] faiths. JOHN YANG, It's almost hate every day. We try our best to bring some peace and to give a [1:35:15] message that, yes, we can be together. We can work together. We listen to each other. We talk to each [1:35:22] other. We, again, at the end of the day, we are all human, and we all have the same blood color. [1:35:29] JOHN YANG, With all the conflict and pain going on in the world, this unique campus, [1:35:34] in a so-called flyover state, might have a simple solution to some very complicated problems. [1:35:40] JOHN YANG, And that at the end of the day, if we can just let our guard down, listen to one another, [1:35:45] hear and share our stories, and truly get to know one another, we can come to understand that no [1:35:52] matter what divides us, what brings us together is stronger. I'm John Chapman for NBC News Now. [1:35:59] That's John Chapman from our affiliate in Omaha. Thank you. From Batman to Harry Potter, [1:36:04] Friday the 13th, and Saturday Night Fever, some of Hollywood's most legendary movie props and [1:36:10] costumes are about to hit the auction block, and some of the price tags are in the millions. [1:36:16] NBC's Michelle Valles has an exclusive look inside the blockbuster sale where rare Hollywood treasures [1:36:23] are meeting serious money. There's some of the most iconic memorabilia in Hollywood history. [1:36:30] Michael Keaton's bath suit, the terrifying Jason mask, the golden snitch from Harry Potter, [1:36:39] and they're about to go on sale at the end of August. Here in West Hollywood, over 1700 original [1:36:46] film and television costumes, props, and autographed treasures are going up for auction for anyone to [1:36:52] buy. So the movie is Edward Scissorhands. These are the Scissorhands themselves. Star Trek, [1:36:56] the original series. Rocky's opponent in the second film is one of the modern horror franchises. [1:37:01] According to Prop Store, the company hosting the auction, the total cost of the items expected to [1:37:07] bring in a whopping $10 million, and some items are more rare than others. Why it's so important [1:37:14] when it comes to Jurassic Park movies? Well, you've got trapped in there the mosquito in amber. [1:37:19] That is what carries the dino DNA. This piece is used in the very opening of the movie. [1:37:28] What a collector's item. How'd you guys get your hands on this one? This has been with someone who [1:37:31] worked on the film for years. Really? Yeah, it's never come to auction before. It's going to be [1:37:35] offered for the very first time. This is one of the most exciting things on collection, Brandon. [1:37:41] People aren't going crazy for this. This is Travolta's famous white suit from the dancing [1:37:45] sequences, specifically in Saturday Night Fever. If I open up the other side of the jacket, [1:37:49] you can see it's actually signed. An inscription. It says to Jean. So here's to a classic, [1:37:54] your friend John Travolta. The piece has a pre-sale estimate of up to $400,000. [1:38:00] People get excited about that. Is it the nostalgia? Is it the era? [1:38:04] Nostalgia is definitely a big factor. And I think just appreciation. I mean, [1:38:07] it's amazing that something like this exists. You better believe it's a jaw-dropper. [1:38:11] Kita Kita is a memorabilia expert. She says while only a few people can actually afford these objects, [1:38:18] the type of buyer is broadening. It begins with the passionate collector who wants to preserve [1:38:25] the golden era of Hollywood and filmmaking. It also has now currently expanded to [1:38:32] the alternative investor, someone who wants something for his portfolio that he feels is [1:38:38] going to diversify it and increase in value with time. And in an exclusive for NBC News, [1:38:46] we get to share with you the most sought after highest price item up for auction. [1:38:51] You ready? Yes. Wow. It's the stop motion puppet that was used in the 1949 classic Mighty Joe Young. [1:39:03] The 15 inch gorilla believed to be the only intact one of his kind helped lay the groundwork for [1:39:10] modern day movie magic. If you can put yourself in the mindset of 1949 and think I've never seen an [1:39:16] image like that. I've never seen a giant gorilla walking across a film screen. It would have been a [1:39:21] pretty special thing. It's pre-estimate price tag between one to three million dollars. Without [1:39:28] this process, the stop motion animation process, which isn't really a process that's in wide use [1:39:32] anymore, we wouldn't have gotten to things like computer graphics. It's a piece of history. [1:39:37] Michelle Vias, NBC News, Los Angeles. NBC News Daily is next. [1:39:44] We thank you for watching and remember stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app [1:39:50] or watch live on our YouTube channel.