About this transcript: This is a full AI-generated transcript of Morning News NOW Full Episode – Aug. 12 from NBC News, published August 14, 2026. The transcript contains 19,554 words with timestamps and was generated using Whisper AI.
"We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. Breaking right now on Morning News Now and overnight upset in a key primary race this morning. NBC News projects Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has won the Democratic nomination for governor of Wisconsin, narrowly defeating..."
[00:00:00] Speaker ?: We'll be right back.
[00:00:01] Savannah Sellers: We'll be right back. We'll be right back. Breaking right now on Morning News Now and overnight upset in a key primary race this morning. NBC News projects Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley has won the Democratic nomination for governor of Wisconsin, narrowly defeating Democratic Socialist state lawmaker Francesca Hong in the key battleground state and in South Carolina, the primary minister Darlene endorsed by President Trump now set to face Congressman Ralph Norman for the Republican nomination. Also this morning, President Trump speaking out about that secret plane swap during the NATO summit after an alleged threat from Iran.
[00:00:45] Speaker 2: I have a lot of threats. I have a lot of threats that you don't know about. Any consequential president has a lot of threats. Non-consequential presidents don't get threats. And I think that I may be the most consequential president.
[00:01:01] Savannah Sellers: We will bring you the very latest from Washington. Also this morning, path of destruction parts of the Midwest left to pick up the pieces after a series of severe storms and millions of people bracing for scorching triple digit temperatures with some cities on track to set records today. Angie is tracking it all. Plus privacy problem. The growing controversy over popular AI glasses recording people without their consent will tell you those safety and privacy concerns and big show in the sky. The excitement is growing ahead of today's solar eclipse set to sweep the northern hemisphere in just a few hours. And while we won't get the total view here in the U.S., there is still plenty to see. We will show you what to expect. Ah, an eclipse day.
[00:01:51] Joe Fryer: Exactly. We might even board a cruise and take you to Iceland this morning.
[00:01:56] Savannah Sellers: We're going to get a really good
[00:01:57] Joe Fryer: feels a little bit of a better view. Good morning. Good to have you with us. I'm Joe Fryer.
[00:02:00] Savannah Sellers: And I'm Savannah Sellers. Thank you for starting your day with us. We are going to begin this morning with what you might have missed last night. This was an election night nail biter in Wisconsin. NBC News projects Milwaukee County executive David Crowley wins the Democratic primary for Wisconsin governor in a narrow upset. That call was made overnight after he was locked in a razor thin race with progressive Francesca Hong.
[00:02:23] Joe Fryer: In the run up to the primary, the polling was very tight, but showed Hong consistently leading. NBC News spoke to a number of late deciding Democratic primary voters. who said they ended up voting for Crowley.
[00:02:37] Speaker 4: Why did you vote for David Crowley?
[00:02:39] Joe Fryer: Um, because I think he can win.
[00:02:43] Speaker 5: I voted for Crowley because I am a risk averse person and I really was reading a lot about like who has the chances to beat Tom Tiffany in the larger election. other primary news in South Carolina.
[00:02:56] Joe Fryer: We now have a run off instead of a coronation. Darlene Graham is the sister of late Senator Lindsey Graham and President Trump's pick for the spot. She led the GOP field, but did fall short of the 50% needed to clinch the nomination. So now she'll face Congressman Ralph Norman in the August 25th runoff. And a major setback for the president in Minnesota. Republican State House Speaker Lisa Damoth defeated Mike Lindell. That's the MyPillow founder who had Mr. Trump's endorsement. Damoth will go up against Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar in the race for governor in November. We have a team of reporters following this for us from Washington. NBC News reporter Megan Brand is going to break down the dynamics, but let's start with NBC News Washington correspondent Alice Barr. Alice, good morning. Good morning, Joe and Savannah. And we'll start with the Wisconsin governor's race, really the big talker of the morning because of what it may say about divisions
[00:03:42] Alice Barr: of the Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic Democratic and the buzzword there was electability. Primary voters evidently decided the Democratic Socialist candidate was too much of a risk to be able to win in the November general election in that critical swing state. We are here tonight. This morning, an upset in the closely watched race for Wisconsin governor with NBC News projecting David Crowley narrowly defeated Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong in the Democratic primary. Crowley has the backing of the party's establishment wing and argued Hong's positions are too extreme on issues like calling to abolish police, something she says she no longer supports. We're going to need someone who can build the necessary coalitions and
[00:04:25] Speaker ?: speak, speak to unity, not
[00:04:25] Alice Barr: necessarily division. Crowley now takes on Republican nominee Tom Tiffany in the
[00:04:31] Speaker 7: election. We're going to need someone who can build the necessary coalitions and speak, speak to unity, not necessarily division.
[00:04:36] Alice Barr: Crowley now takes on Republican nominee Tom Tiffany in November. As the debate over Democratic divisions also played out in the Senate primary in Minnesota, where moderate incumbent representative Angie Craig fell to progressive Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan.
[00:04:54] Speaker 8: We can insist on change and send someone who will always put Minnesota first.
[00:05:01] Alice Barr: While on the Republican side in South Carolina, Senator Darlene Graham is headed for a runoff against GOP Congressman Ralph Norman in the special election to replace her brother, the late Senator Lindsey Graham. Darlene Graham was appointed to hold the seat temporarily with President Trump backing her in her brother's honor.
[00:05:21] Speaker 2: He actually said she is better than him. That was hard for Lindsey to say. While Norman is drawing
[00:05:26] Alice Barr: attention to her lack of experience. I don't know where she stands on
[00:05:29] Speaker 9: a lot of issues. I've been accused of not being a
[00:05:32] Speaker 10: politician. Guilty as charged. I will spend the next two weeks of this runoff meeting with voters and unlike some politicians, listening to their concerns. And in Connecticut, 14-term
[00:05:47] Alice Barr: incumbent Congressman John Larson lost his Democratic primary to the former mayor of Hartford, Luke Bronin, who is three decades younger and campaigned on the need for generational change in Congress, part of a broader push among Democrats. Joe and Savannah. All right, Alice, thank you so much. For more on this, let's bring in NBC News political reporter Megan Brand.
[00:06:04] Joe Fryer: Megan, good morning. So, let's start with Wisconsin.
[00:06:06] Savannah Sellers: I want to walk through some of the dynamics coming into that primary day that just made that particular race so razor-thin. Good morning. So, first of all, this race wasn't even expected to be as razor-thin as it was.
[00:06:18] Speaker 5: Polling it actually indicated Francesca Hong in the lead heading into yesterday. But, it is not expected to be as razor-thin as it was. But, essentially, this was a race between the moderate and the progressive wings of the party
[00:06:34] Speaker ?: here.
[00:06:34] Speaker 5: And, ultimately, there were some voters, some in the Democratic Party, who pointed to things like Francesca Hong's social media history, which was controversial, and raised concerns about the possibility that she would not be able to pull out a general election win in a very swing state. Another dynamic to watch here was the fact that this was a pretty unusual path for Crowley. He had actually previously dropped out of the race, and then he got back into the race after a front-runner had dropped out during a financial reporting scandal. So, an unusual path to get to what we saw unfold last night, guys. Let's turn to Minnesota's governor's race. Let's be clear. The Democrat here, Amy Klobuchar,
[00:07:11] Joe Fryer: is a Democrat who can win in Trump counties. But, now, having Mike Lindell out of the race, what does that do for this race coming up in November? Yes. So, Republicans, ultimately, they selected Lisa Daymuth. She's the Minnesota State House
[00:07:25] Speaker 5: Speaker, instead of Lindell, who is a close ally of President Trump. But, he's also promoted election conspiracy theories. So, you know, Minnesota is traditionally a bluer state as well. It's a state that Vice President Kamala Harris won by about four points. But, a notable part of this story here, as well, is really just the fact that this is a candidate that Mike Lindell was a candidate who President Trump had endorsed. And we saw in other races across the country, candidates who were in these tightly contested races, who were endorsed by President Trump, pulling out one of the candidates who were in these tightly contested races, who were endorsed by President Trump, pulling out one of the many cases. And so, now, this proved to be an upset for President Trump as well. And that shakes up the dynamics, too, heading into the general election. So, Trump's endorsement didn't
[00:08:16] Savannah Sellers: really work there in Minnesota. But, in a way, for Darlene Graham in South Carolina, not quite enough, though. She's in this runoff without getting 50% of the vote. What are we looking for between now and August 25th there? Yeah. So, she's in a runoff race against Congressman Ralph
[00:08:28] Speaker 5: Norman. And one factor to watch here is how voters are going to be thinking about these candidates' levels of experience, as well as how President Trump's endorsement factored into this. So, our colleagues on the ground in South Carolina the past couple of days were hurt -- were hearing from some voters who were concerned about Darlene Graham's lack of experience. She's never held elected office
[00:08:48] Speaker ?: before.
[00:08:48] Speaker 5: So, that's one factor to watch. And, again, President Trump had endorsed Darlene Graham even before she had announced that she was going to run for a full
[00:08:55] Speaker ?: term.
[00:08:55] Speaker 5: So, now we're going to have to see how President Trump is approaching this race as well in the next coming weeks as we head off to this runoff race later this month, guys. All right. Megan Brand, thank you so much. President Trump has now confirmed reports that he covertly switched planes while traveling back from the NATO summit in Turkey last month. He said the decision was made by
[00:09:12] Savannah Sellers: the Secret Service and the
[00:09:14] Joe Fryer: military because of a security threat. NBC News previously confirmed the Washington Post bombshell reporting about that dramatic switch. The president secretly moved to an unmarked military jet using a catering truck after boarding Air Force One in front of cameras. Well, now we're learning new details about both the elaborate plan and the threat
[00:09:32] Speaker ?: itself.
[00:09:32] Joe Fryer: NBC News chief White House correspondent Garrett Hake has the
[00:09:34] Speaker ?: story.
[00:09:34] Joe Fryer: New details of the elaborate operation by the Secret Service to covertly swap President Trump's planes amid fears of an Iranian assassination plot. All of it happening at last month's NATO summit in Turkey. Just a few hundred years ago, the president was going to
[00:09:49] Speaker 11: move to an unmarked military jet using a catering truck after boarding Air Force One in front of cameras. Well, now we're learning new details about both the elaborate plan and the threat itself. NBC News chief White House correspondent Garrett Hake has the story. New details of the elaborate operation by the Secret Service Air Force One, just a few hundred miles from the Iranian border. The president had arrived aboard his Qatari gifted Air Force One, but raised eyebrows by announcing he'd take an older plane home, sending the new plane ahead to a British air base.
[00:10:16] Speaker 12: It's flying to Europe, to one of the big bases, so the soldiers can see it because it's truly magnificent.
[00:10:23] Speaker 11: But a U.S. official tells NBC News the change was made because of a quote, "extremely serious Iranian threat," including that the Iranian regime could take target the president with a shoulder-fired missile. So the Secret Service devising a clandestine departure plan. It was a snap decision, the U.S. official tells us. Our job is to keep the president safe, adding, "This is probably the most unprecedented level of alertness we've ever been at." You could see the president boarding the old Air Force One. Then, as the camera pulls back, there's a glimpse of a catering truck parked behind it. Later, a small group of reporters, the press pool, unwittingly bored what would become a decoy jet, as Secret Service agents were covertly moving President Trump to that catering truck, which drives away and pulls up next to a small military jet further down the tarmac. That plane would then fly President Trump out of Turkey. A U.S. official telling NBC News that Cabinet Secretaries Marco Rubio and Scott Besson and other senior staff remained on board the decoy plane, the old light blue and white Air Force One, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth joined President Trump on the smaller aircraft. After landing in the U.K., President Trump is seen walking off the old Air Force One, which he had to find out on the other aircraft. That plane could fly
[00:11:28] Speaker ?: up next to a small military
[00:11:28] Speaker 11: jet further down the tarmac. That plane would then fly President Trump out of Turkey. A U.S. official telling NBC News that Cabinet Secretary's Marco Rubio and Scott Besson and
[00:11:38] Speaker ?: other senior staff remained
[00:11:38] Speaker 11: on Air Force One, which he had secretly just re-boarded. Back aboard the new plane, he brushed off a question about Iranian threats. Were you aware of any
[00:11:46] Speaker 13: credible threat by Iran against Air Force One? Well, I have a threat
[00:11:49] Speaker 11: all the time. I'm number one on their list. The Secret Service has declined to comment on this episode, but a senior official who was on that trip told me that for the White House, the president's safety is paramount and that staff and press simply won't be treated the same, adding "Those are the risks everyone signs up for." All right, Garrett, thank
[00:12:08] Joe Fryer: you. Well, a former U.S.
[00:12:10] Savannah Sellers: Marine who was held in a Russian prison for more than four years has been released. Yesterday, President Trump announced on social media that 32-year-old Robert Gilman was freed on a "humanitarian basis." He is believed to be seriously ill and there was no prisoner exchange with Russia here. This video shows his arrival overnight in San Antonio, Texas on a stretcher. Roughly two months ago, Gilman was diagnosed with a dissociative stupor. That is a condition where a person becomes catatonic, unable to interact or eat. U.S. officials said he also suffered a severe case of
[00:12:38] Speaker ?: pneumonia.
[00:12:38] Savannah Sellers: Gilman was convicted of beating a police officer back in 2022 and given a three-and-a-half-year sentence. While serving his time, he was accused of attacking a prison inspector, beating an investigator, and assaulting a prison guard, which resulted in an extended tenure sentence. According to U.S. officials, he was tortured and provoked by Russian authorities and forced to take medication. Russia has not commented on his release. The death toll in Colombia is rising this morning in the aftermath of Monday's devastating earthquake. More than 200 people have been reported killed with thousands more still missing. The Trump administration says it's sending a team to the disaster zone to help respond to the powerful 7.4 magnitude quake.
[00:13:15] Joe Fryer: Our NBC News correspondent George Solis is in Colombia, where rescue crews are in a race against time, searching for those still trapped in the
[00:13:22] Speaker ?: battlegrounds.
[00:13:22] Joe Fryer: They are in the aftermath of this death toll. The death toll in Colombia is rising this morning in the aftermath of Monday's devastating earthquake. More than 200 people have been reported killed, with thousands more still missing. The Trump administration says it's sending a team to the disaster zone to help respond to the powerful 7.4 magnitude quake. Our NBC News correspondent George Solis is in Colombia, where rescue crews are in a race that are trapped in the debris.
[00:13:42] Speaker 14: This hospital torn apart during dangerous tremors that rocked the region when an earthquake hit Colombia. Healthcare workers forced to care for newborns outside. A family in Pereira narrowly escaping their home. The ground beneath them cracking. Seconds later, debris comes crashing down. Others scrambling for safety, running out of this school as columns fell around them. The death toll rises. The death toll rising as more than 3,000 people have been reported missing by relatives. Rescue teams now desperately searching for survivors at this collapsed department building in hard hit Gali. Take a look at this human chain of first responders and volunteers. Some of them survivors themselves. All of them moving that smaller debris. The objective here is to clear the road so that bigger machinery can get it. There have been glimmers of hope. This six month old infant pulled from the rubble captured by a local news network reporting that rescuers heard voices calling out from the concrete. Firefighters saving this 35 year old man who was trapped. A brief moment of silence to listen for signs of life and then cheers. There are people one man exclaims. Emergency crews putting this survivor on a stretcher as those gathered celebrated. This aerial footage showing the vast destruction across the region. Angela Yebarba's building collapsed and says it's a miracle of God she's alive. Everything was destroyed, she says. The water pipes burst. The floors cracked open. 15 year old Samuel Rubio showed
[00:15:06] Speaker 8: up bringing water to rescuers. He was in a class when the
[00:15:09] Speaker 14: quake struck. Sharing this video he filmed. I wouldn't be here, Rubio says, if the building had fallen on my school. It happened to all of us Colombian citizens. We were here. It happened to all of us Colombian citizens. He says we all feel it. Estefania Peralta says she's holding on to hope. We have to hold on to that, she says. Hope that there might be someone alive. And this is what makes it so hard to get people out of this debris.
[00:15:34] Speaker 15: You can see just how high it's
[00:15:35] Speaker 14: stacked. An army of volunteers and first responders moving heavy buckets to hopefully be able to find somebody who will help people out of this debris. This is what makes it so hard to get people out of this debris. You can see just how high it's stacked. An army of volunteers and somebody in this rubble.
[00:15:53] Joe Fryer: Extraordinary effort there, George. Thank you.
[00:15:56] Savannah Sellers: Well, this morning people across the Midwest are cleaning up after another round of deadly storms ripped across the region last night. The Chicago area was hit with blinding rain and winds gusting to nearly 100 miles per hour. The winds were so strong. They uprooted trees like this one and toppled power lines. Those strong winds also
[00:16:14] Joe Fryer: sweeping through Ohio and interstate traffic camera in Columbus captured the moment this vehicle was lifted into the air and flipped over. This morning Ohio's governor is declaring a state of emergency in several counties that are dealing with widespread flooding and damage. NBC News correspondent Maggie Vespa is in Portage, Indiana, in the northwest corner of
[00:16:32] Speaker ?: the state.
[00:16:32] Savannah Sellers: She joins us with the latest. Maggie, you have just been covering so many storms for us this weekend and right now you are, I know, in this hard hit area where you said really just the damage has stunned you in some ways. What is it like this morning? Yeah, guys, it's feeling like the worst version of Groundhog Day with these storms. Once again, we're on the ground with insane damage
[00:16:49] Speaker ?: like trees down, power out
[00:16:50] Speaker 16: across the region. But we're walking because I want to show you this. This is the most jaw-dropping example maybe I've ever seen. Authorities say this home caught on fire and then they believe exploded. You can see some of it's still smoldering here. They say one person is dead. They say one person is dead. You can see some of it's still smoldering here. They say one person inside was killed in this home. And they're still investigating exactly why it caught fire. But they say they absolutely believe this disaster was storm-related. And we're seeing so many, again, just stunning examples across the region. Yesterday, last night in the Chicago suburbs, we were at another house fire. The authorities believe one of a few things happened. Number one, they say it was either struck by lightning or strong winds blew electrical equipment onto it. Or option three, one of things happened. It was either struck by lightning or strong winds or option three is quite potentially both. That was in Frankfurt, Illinois. Thankfully, no one was hurt in that incident. But the Chicago area, as you point out, was just slammed with these insane storms. They rolled through midday yesterday. The skies suddenly turned
[00:17:50] Speaker ?: black.
[00:17:50] Speaker 16: We had sheeting rain, crazy wind. And then in Ohio, because again, this was a huge
[00:17:54] Speaker ?: system.
[00:17:54] Speaker 16: We're going to step over here, by the way, as this fire truck comes through because we don't want to get in the way of first responders. We'll let them go through. Thanks, guys. In Ohio, we have this video element. I want to show you one more time of this car getting flipped by the winds. You can just see how intense and how strong they were. Guys, obviously, this is an active scene here. We're going to move over this way, let them get back to their work. But we'll just show you one more time how crazy it is here on the ground. First responders across the region doing their best to help people just start what will be a long clean-up process. Absolutely. All right, Maggie. Thanks for bringing us that live report. We appreciate it. Coverage is starting as daylight comes up there on that part of the country, and the severe weather risk
[00:18:32] Joe Fryer: is still lingering across the Midwest this morning. Angie Lastman is here with the latest for us. Hey, Angie, good morning. Hi, guys. Good morning to you.
[00:18:40] Speaker 13: As Maggie said, this is ongoing, something we're going to have to see kind of develop across other regions throughout the day. But we've already really ramped things up across the region across the region region across the region. but we've already really ramped things up across parts of Indiana, Ohio, stretching into Kentucky, and we've got plenty of flood alerts to prove it. Some flash flood warnings in effect across those regions. This is, you know, a really kind of heavy line of thunderstorms working across that area. We move farther back to the west, and we've got a severe thunderstorm watch that's in effect until 10:00 a.m. today across parts of Iowa and Nebraska, Omaha, and Des Moines included in that. That's going to go through at least the mid-morning hours. But we've got more of these kind of thunderstorms that are likely going to bubble up here. as the day goes on. So notice, we're still dealing with this same kind of front that has been just hanging around. We've got really intense heat, so no surprise that the ingredients are there for that severe weather to pop up as we get through the day today across parts of the plains and the Midwest. By tomorrow, still some of these scattered to, you know, strong thunderstorms across parts of Colorado. the Rockies stretching into Ohio, parts of the Midwest. You're going to see those as well as the potential for some heavy rain and the flooding concern to last, too. Here's where we're watching for the severe threat as we get through at least this evening. 16 million people, parts of the plains stretching across the Midwest, down through the Ohio Valley. We've got Evansville, St. Louis, Des Moines, all included in that. It's the wind gusts and the hail that we're most concerned about, but of course, an ice storm. We've got an ice storm and storm. We've got an ice storm and storm. We've got an ice storm and storm. The wind gusts and the hail that we're most concerned about, but of course, an isolated tornado, not out of the question. And remember, I said there's plenty of flood alerts. That's another big concern today as we gear up for an additional multiple inches of rain. And in some spots, we could be looking at five plus by the time we get through at least tomorrow. And I sound like a broken record, but the heat continues. We've still got these above normal conditions across much of the southern tier of the
[00:20:24] Speaker ?: country.
[00:20:24] Speaker 13: 52 million people under those heat alerts now and still running anywhere from 10 to even 15 degrees above where we should be for early August. We've got 101 for Waco. It's going to feel like 106 for St. Louis today. 90s in Lexington. We've got 94 for the actual temperature in Macon, but feeling like 101. And unfortunately, that continues even as we get into
[00:20:46] Speaker ?: tomorrow.
[00:20:46] Speaker 13: There's not a whole lot of relief across this region, even for the extended period, guys. Angie, we have to share with
[00:20:52] Joe Fryer: Savannah our new name for August.
[00:20:54] Speaker 13: Oh, yes, go ahead. I'll let you do the honor.
[00:20:56] Joe Fryer: We decided it's August. August really sums it up. Really just can't. Angie's going to have shirts made is August 26. Oh, I don't appreciate that. That day. It'll show up with the August. We'll be back to August. It'll be the other 29 days. 30 days. Yeah. August is 31 days. This is my trick is that I always get confused with July. June, July 31.
[00:21:19] Savannah Sellers: I think. There you go.
[00:21:21] Joe Fryer: More to come here on morning news now. Later this hour, passing policy atop University dropping letter grades for freshmen. More on the movement to support students' mental health. First, though, we have
[00:21:32] Savannah Sellers: developing news out of the Middle East. A deadly attack on a cargo ship in the Red Sea. We'll tell you what we know next. Stay with us. We are back with an inside look at one of the most sacred sites in all of Christianity. The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem sits on the site where many believe Jesus was crucified, buried, and resurrected. Now, researchers have found evidence to prove it is in the right place. NBC News Chief International Correspondent Keir Simmons got exclusive access. Keir, good morning.
[00:22:08] Speaker 17: From the Garden of Gethsemane, it is here at the foot of the Mount of Olives that Christians believe Jesus prayed before he was arrested. Now, across the holy city of Jerusalem, evidence that may lend credence to another part of that biblical story. In the biblical city of Jerusalem along its narrow cobbled streets where Jesus walked two millennia ago. You can follow the stations of the cross to one of the most important churches in the world. The Holy Sepulchre. Over thousands of years, millions have worshiped here, their faith unmoved by science. But now the restoration of the historic church floor has revealed something to scientists that may show this church is truly built in the holiest of places. At the center of the Holy Sepulchre, where many Christians believe Christ was crucified and buried, right next to the small chapel built over what is said to be the true tomb of Christ. Archeologists, looking beneath the floor, have uncovered the remains of 2,000-year-old grapevines and olive trees.
[00:23:25] Speaker 18: They took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial clothes along with...
[00:23:31] Speaker 17: And that could be significant because at the time of Jesus, the Gospel of John speaks of a garden.
[00:23:38] Speaker 18: Now, in the place where he had been crucified, there was a garden. Put them here. Italian archaeologist Professor
[00:23:48] Speaker 17: Francesca and her assistants. Look at this.
[00:23:51] Speaker 19: Yes.
[00:23:52] Speaker 17: This is incredible treasure.
[00:23:53] Speaker 19: Oh, yes.
[00:23:54] Speaker 17: Describe looking under the church floor as like turning the pages of a history book.
[00:24:00] Speaker 19: There were a lot of pilgrims.
[00:24:02] Speaker 17: Yes. Finding crosses dating back almost 1,000 years and...
[00:24:07] Speaker 19: Late Roman. Late Roman. Late Roman. Late Roman. And then this is Byzantine. Yes, Byzantine. Oh, wow. Yeah. So this is before Jesus? Yes. Before Jesus.
[00:24:18] Speaker 17: Before Jesus. Wow. While in their lab, scientists are analyzing the soil samples.
[00:24:23] Speaker 19: We founded a cultivated area. Cultivated? Cultivated with... With the alive, with the grapes. Olives and grapes? Yes. Yes.
[00:24:34] Speaker 17: Back then, small gardens of olive and grape trees were nestled beside the walls of Jerusalem. Do we know if those olives and grapes are 2,000 years old? Are from the time of Jesus? About, yes.
[00:24:46] Speaker 19: About the time of Jesus.
[00:24:48] Speaker 17: And in this place was also the garden. The walls of the church are adorned with paintings portraying Jesus' final hours, the tomb and the garden.
[00:24:59] Speaker 18: The road that came to the city, this gate was named the gate of gardens.
[00:25:09] Speaker 17: And we were given a rare few moments to film inside the chapel, encasing the tomb. Millions of pilgrims have prayed here. If you were a Christian, this is the holiest place you can possibly be. And you don't need evidence. You have your faith. Faith without the need of science. Now finding scientific support.
[00:25:43] Speaker 20: Where the Christ crucified has a garden. Inside the garden has a tomb.
[00:25:47] Speaker 17: And now we know that there was a garden here.
[00:25:50] Speaker 20: Of course, yes. Around the tomb of the Holy Sepulcher was a garden. Yeah.
[00:25:55] Speaker 19: Archaeology is a science.
[00:25:57] Speaker 17: Yes. No? The moment right here where science meets religion. Yes. Thousands of years old beneath the church of the Holy Sepulchre has been sealed again. It may be decades, maybe longer before scientists can have another look. By then, there may be new technology that can lend new insights. Science and religion working together to reveal the past.
[00:26:28] Savannah Sellers: Truly an incredible look. Keir Simmons, thank you so much. We've got more headlines from around the world this morning. At least six people on a cargo ship are dead following a Houthi attack. NBC News international correspondent Janice Mackey-Frayer joins us now from London to take us around the world in 60 seconds. Janice, good morning.
[00:26:47] Speaker 21: Good morning, Savannah. Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked a cargo ship in the Red Sea, killing six people on board. The first reported fatalities and targeted attacks in more than a year. U.S. forces also said they fired missiles on a container ship in the Gulf of Oman for trying to breach a blockade on Iranian ports. The incidents show that even with diplomats saying there's progress to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the war, now stretching into its sixth month, continues to have an impact on the world's most critical shipping lanes. Vinspace, the Vietnamese aerospace company, says it has signed a deal with SpaceX to send its first satellites into orbit. The satellites will be launched in 2027 on a rideshare mission on SpaceX's transporter, owned, of course, by Elon Musk. Vinspace will develop the satellites to test its technology in orbit. It marks the latest move by Vietnam to develop a space industry. And finally, after a decade together, Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodriguez have tied the knot, marrying in a private ceremony in eastern Portugal. The soccer superstar and model have five children together who naturally attended the ceremony, which was described as intimate. Ronaldo has just come off his record-tying sixth World Cup. The couple posted a photo on their Instagram account showing their simple gold rings and their initials tied together with a heart. And that, Savannah, is a look at what's happening in the world today. What do you buy them?
[00:28:22] Savannah Sellers: After 10 years together. That's kind of amazing. Janice, thank you so much. Well, coming up, forget your BMI, maybe? Researchers say there is a better way to weigh your risk of heart disease. Dr. John is here to tell us what that is. Your weekly checkup is next on Morning News Now. Dr. Dan. We're back now with a new policy coming to one of the nation's top universities that could cut back on some of that anxiety that comes with freshman year. Starting in the fall of 2027, the University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science, and the Arts will drop traditional letter grades for first semester freshmen. So, instead, students are either just going to get a pass or no credit on their transcript. In a statement, the school says the goal is to help students acclimate to college life and, quote, curb the mental health crisis unfolding among college-aged individuals. For more on this, let's bring in clinical psychologist, Dr. Jen Hartstein. Doctor, it's so good to have you back with us. I got to say, I love this story, and I think it's just -- it's such an interesting conversation to unpack. I so remember I talked a lot about my own anxiety on the show, but, I mean, freshman year, it was tough for me. Just the life transition of moving out, of being on your own, and, really, this workload that comes along with college and what that can do to you. So, talk about what freshman year, in particular, does. What it means that freshmen are going through as they try to make that transition.
[00:29:48] Speaker 22: It's a big transition, Savannah, as you're mentioning, right? We're really leaning these young people into adulthood, and they're trying to figure out how to do basic things. Their laundry, schedule themselves, make sure they eat, make sure they take care of themselves. And so, all of that, just kind of tossing them in, creates anxiety, creates worry. And oftentimes, they aren't taking care of themselves in the way we need them to, just stepping into adulthood. So, I think the idea behind this is good, although I have some concerns about it.
[00:30:18] Savannah Sellers: I want to hear about those concerns. I do got to say, like, I haven't thought about my GPA, you know, like, since, I guess, you get your first internship or job or something. And then it's sort of like, I don't know, you got a degree, you know, like once you're years from it. But it meant so much stress back at the time that it's so difficult to kind of square that up. So, what does the research say about the stress that GPA can put on students?
[00:30:45] Speaker 22: You know, it's interesting. There is some research that says it puts a lot of stress on students, but it's also what students know. I mean, this is how we gauge accomplishment and whether or not they have gotten their skills or they have gotten the material, all of those things. And the truth is, is that if you read all the fine print on the Michigan thing, grades are still going to be there. They're just behind the scenes. So, even though on your transcripts, it's only going to say pass or no credit, they're actually still going to be grades, which for me would be more anxiety provoking because I'd be like, well, what's my grade really? And what does that really mean? So, I'm not sure that for someone like me, that would be helpful because I know that there's a grade somewhere. So, and also, what am I basing my progress on? I don't really know that. And then second semester, when you start to give me grades, how am I going to handle my anxiety that? So, there's a lot of pieces in here.
[00:31:32] Savannah Sellers: I think we're understanding what type of student Dr. Jen was right now. Yes.
[00:31:36] Speaker 22: Dr. Jen spent a lot of time in school.
[00:31:39] Savannah Sellers: So did I, by the way, but I just think like the pressure, the lid of the pressure off I'm into.
[00:31:43] Speaker 22: Is that your main concern, what you just described? I think we're missing the point. I don't think grades are the only thing that are challenging the mental health, right? I think building community. I think understanding how to take responsibility and accountability for yourself. So, I think that this is a lovely stopgap, but I don't think this is addressing the bigger part of mental health challenges for young people in college.
[00:32:07] Savannah Sellers: Really quickly then, I mean, you're kind of touching on this, but I mean, Michigan's actually not the first school to introduce this kind of pass/fail policy for students in that first semester. So, what do you say to the critics who argue that reducing that pressure doesn't help students in the long run?
[00:32:21] Speaker 22: I think that it's one piece of a bigger puzzle. I think that we can start here, and I think it would be great if schools start to think about a week where kids show up on campus, and we teach them how to be on campus, how to eat right, how to take care of themselves. Give them the basic understandings of how to be on their own, and then the grades are just part of that. It's not the bigger issue. So, I think we have more to do.
[00:32:43] Savannah Sellers: Dr. John Hartstein, great conversation. Love this one. Thank you so much. Time now for our weekly medical checkup. And this morning, we've got a look at what your waistline might be telling you about your heart. We also have a new study that's revealing the major keys to boosting your brain health sooner rather than later. NBC News medical contributor Dr. John Torres is here on set to break this down. Good morning.
[00:33:05] Speaker 23: I've been sucking my gut in for the last minute and a half. Well, I know.
[00:33:08] Savannah Sellers: Well, it's about your waistline. So, the interesting thing here is that there's been, you know, this indicator, BMI. Everybody probably knows about that. They've probably heard about it. Maybe remembers the stress of learning some of this information in a doctor's appointment. But now that your waistline could actually be a better indicator of heart disease. What's the connection there? And how big of a change could this be?
[00:33:29] Speaker 23: Actually, I think it can be a big change because you have people look at it. And essentially what they did is they did a study, 60,000 people, 20 years older and above. They looked at both their BMI, see what category they fell into, and then their waist circumference. And also they used something called the waist to hip ratio. But their waist circumference is the main thing. And they said, okay, let's see what happens. If you're normal weight and you're overweight, but you have a low waist circumference. In other words, you have a smaller waist, then you did not have any issues with things. On the other hand, if you were in that category, but you had a high waist circumference. In other words, your waist is a little bigger than normal. Then you had a 10 to 50% chance of dying of what they call these nine outcomes. Those are mostly cardiovascular disease or what we call all cause mortality. So what do you do here? What's the doctor's orders? And how do you find out what your waist circumference is? Well, number one, remember, BMI is just a number. It's just one of the numbers we use as a screening tool. And we're finding out it's not the best screening tool. It's waist circumference because it indicates visceral fat. The fat we have around our organs, that's the better number. And so know the healthiest waist sizes. And it doesn't matter on body type, height, any of those things. They have numbers set down for you. For women, it's 34.5 or below are the healthy sizes. That's inches. For men, it's 40 or below are the healthy waist sizes. The way you do that is just go essentially right above your belly button or right over your belly button and just measure around your waist. Measure it out. See if you fall in that category. All right, there you go. If you do, regardless of your BMI, that waist circumference is a better indicator of your health. Wow.
[00:34:55] Savannah Sellers: And maybe a time to talk to a doctor about that, depending on that number. Exactly. Okay, this is another one kind of about weight loss here, too, or similar lines. That a low-fat vegan diet meant that people who were following that lost weight without counting calories. I'm going to be honest, it doesn't really sound like a surprise because what are you eating on low-fat and vegan? But what's the takeaway here?
[00:35:19] Speaker 23: You know, an interesting takeaway because they looked at 223 people and they were obese and they said, some of them are going to be on this low-fat vegan diet. Others can eat whatever they want. And the ones on the low-fat vegan diet ended up eating less what they call high-energy dense foods, less calories. And no surprise. And I think, like you said, the biggest thing here is that kind of food that you look at a low-fat vegan diet is something that all of us could use whether we're vegans or not. And essentially it's the fruits and vegetables, the high-fiber content of the foods. And the theory is that fiber actually fills you up. And so you don't eat as many calories. And so they ended up eating 30% less calories than the people that could eat any kind of food, regardless of the food choices. And so even though they ate the same amounts of food, the calories were lower for those who had a low-fat vegan diet. So what are the doctor's orders here? Well, essentially the doctor's orders are, you know, when you start putting things on your plate, and I tell people all the time, I don't do this, but I tell people all the time, when you go to a buffet, load up the veggies first, and then start going to the other things, especially the meats, because then you'll have less meats. If you put the meats on first, you'll have less room for veggies. So start with the veggies, pack your plate with those, and think the more food you have, the fewer calories. The more of that kind of food you have, the fewer calories you're going to eat.
[00:36:29] Savannah Sellers: But what about just like when we talk about like a clean protein? Like I hear a lot about starting with the protein on your plate. Is that still okay?
[00:36:35] Speaker 23: Yeah, it depends on what you're going for. And if you're going for that weight loss type situation, you're going for the fiber in it, because you want a healthy gut and microbiome, all those things, I would go with the fiber part of this itself. All right, interesting.
[00:36:47] Savannah Sellers: Okay, finally, this new one is about brain health and kind of prioritizing it earlier in life. What do we do?
[00:36:53] Speaker 23: Yeah, and they looked at the study and actually interviewed thousands of people, a couple thousand people, and they said, you know, what's the big deal here? And they said 60% of them want to prioritize their brain health early in life, but they don't know how to do that. And this is important because whether you have a family history of brain issues or not, all of us need to start early. And we have found out that starting in those young ages, 20s, 30s, 40s, really is an indicator of what's going to happen later in life with your brain health. And particularly starting with a couple of things you can do, exercise, regular exercise, good quality sleep. And we found out when you sleep, your brain actually flushes out all the way all the things that go on during the day, all the irregularities in your brain get flushed out. And so you want to take care of that. And so doctors order there, you know, start working your brain out early. That's one of the other things you can do. And the ways you work that out, social connections, extremely important. We found out that that's something that you really should do throughout your whole life. And then challenging your brain. And we talk about puzzles and Sudoku and things like that. But if you've ever done a puzzle or Sudoku, after you do it for a while, you learn the quick tricks, right?
[00:37:53] Speaker ?: True.
[00:37:53] Speaker 23: You learn how to do the things and the words that work in puzzles and things like that. That's not challenging your brain. What's challenging your brain is doing new things. Learning a new language, picking up a musical instrument you never played. Learning that thing because it rewires your brain to learn and do new things. It's important as you go on in life.
[00:38:08] Savannah Sellers: Dr. Torres, good ones today. Thanks so much. Good to have you here. Coming up on Morning News Now, an eye-opening controversy involving those popular AI-powered smart glasses.
[00:38:18] Speaker 24: Usually, you can, like, tell if there's a light on when they're recording. Again, I didn't notice that at all. So, initially, I was just kind of -- I felt, like, kind of violated.
[00:38:28] Savannah Sellers: We've got more on the privacy concerns. Plus, what's acceptable and what's not when it comes to wearing those glasses. We will discuss it with our friend, Thomas Farley, also known as Mr. Manners, after the break. We're back with a growing backlash over how MEDA's AI-powered smart glasses are able to be used. The glasses can basically record everything you see. The person wearing them sees. Whether or not the person on the other side knows that they're on camera. That sparked concerns about safety and privacy, and some critics are now calling for more legal protections for people who get filmed without their consent. NBC News national correspondent Yasmin Vesugian explains.
[00:39:09] Speaker 25: It's what many thought the future would look like. Yeah, telephone, it's needles. Wearable technology, not just pictured on the silver screen anymore, but mirrored in real life. MEDA's latest AI glasses look unsuspecting, even stylish. The company collaborating with Ray-Ban, a product that intrigued Breck Metra and her family.
[00:39:31] Speaker 24: When my husband got them, I mean, we have kids, so he was like, it would just be fun to, like, in the moment, be able to, like, capture something that you don't have to pull out your phone.
[00:39:39] Speaker 25: A great idea until they were used in her home by someone else. That still looks small to me. He says she and her husband sell vintage T-shirts online, often from their own living room. But while making a sale at her home in Utah, she didn't realize it was all recorded until it was posted to social media.
[00:39:56] Speaker 24: Usually you can, like, tell if there's a light on when they're recording. Again, I didn't notice that at all. So initially I was just kind of, I felt, like, kind of violated. My kids were in it. He kind of blurred them out, but he did it in some of the shots.
[00:40:09] Speaker 25: She asked the content creator to delete the post, and instead she says he blocked her. She escalated it to Instagram, also owned by Meta.
[00:40:17] Speaker 24: I filed a complaint, and I sent them the video and the screenshots. They, like, sent me, like, an auto email back saying, like, thank you, and then we'll look into it.
[00:40:25] Speaker 25: After a family member also complained to the user, the video was deleted. But not before it racked up some tens of thousands of views, Breck says. We were unable to reach the person who posted the video for comment, and Instagram didn't comment directly on this situation. But Breck is not alone. The Internet is inundated with videos just like it. Usually more flirty encounters.
[00:40:47] Speaker 4: I just want to let you know you're a very beautiful young lady.
[00:40:51] Speaker 25: Women getting approached by men on the street asking for their name, number, or even for a date. With some women saying they had no idea that casual conversation was being used for content. Didn't know he was recording me. In the United States, people cannot expect to have much of a right to privacy in public places. And in most states, you can legally record your conversation with someone without their permission.
[00:41:13] Speaker 26: Unfortunately, the sorts of protections that exist right now are not really robust in allowing people to have videos taken down.
[00:41:24] Speaker 25: Meta in a blog post seems to recognize a certain amount of transparency is welcome, noting that every pair of its glasses has a small LED light that blinks when the user takes a video or snaps a picture.
[00:41:36] Speaker 27: Meta Ray-Ban display.
[00:41:39] Speaker 25: But those lights can be easily obscured, even removed. NBC News found listings across at least 30 states offering services to do just that. But in a recent update, Meta announced a new privacy feature that shuts some generations of the glasses off if the device detects that the LED light is being tampered with. Across social media, some are suggesting women play copyrighted music to avoid being on camera. We all know that Disney goes after people that don't license their music, right? A slide tactic that could prevent some content from being uploaded on platforms like YouTube and TikTok. Instagram, though, reportedly cracking down on some of the videos shot by Meta glasses. Its CEO saying the pickup artist prankster style videos would be banned from the app.
[00:42:23] Speaker 28: We don't want people to be surreptitiously taking videos of other people and harassing them and then posting them on our platform.
[00:42:31] Speaker 25: Meta told us in a statement, "We've built privacy in the camera for the glasses from the ground up. A capture LED that will blink bright white when you take a photo or video." Adding, "When people report content, it gets reviewed quickly and taken down if they find it violates bullying and harassment policies." Still, there has been a new push to ban the smart glasses in certain settings, with New York banning them in state courts and Philadelphia courts making a similar move. It all came after a judge in Los Angeles scolded Mark Zuckerberg's team for wearing Meta glasses during a high profile trial. And some private businesses also taking action, like Comic Con in the UK, saying recently, many attendees are "not comfortable with the knowledge that other convention goers might be filming them without consent." But sales numbers tell a different story. Ray-Ban's owner said purchases of its AI glasses more than tripled in the last year to over 7 million pairs. The company did not respond to our request for comment. In the last year alone, Meta recruited A-list celebrities for major ad campaigns. Hey, Meta, call my lawyer. And new collaborations. Hey, Meta, take a picture. Advanced technology that once seemed a lifetime away.
[00:43:44] Speaker 2: Good morning, Mr. Hunt.
[00:43:46] Speaker 25: But comes with complications that we're dealing with now. Yasmin Vesugyan, NBC News.
[00:43:52] Speaker ?: All right.
[00:43:53] Savannah Sellers: So we want to keep this conversation going this morning. It's obviously a talker. While there are these major real safety and privacy concerns, especially when it comes to women being recorded without their consent, that is one thing. But there's also just kind of like the manners aspect of this. We have our friend here, you could see Thomas Farley, also known as Mr. Manners, to just kind of talk through, like, let's be appropriate and wear these at the right time and use them properly and keep that in mind for anybody who is trying to just, like, do right while wearing these. So when do you think it is appropriate to have a pair of AI glasses on and when is it not?
[00:44:27] Speaker 27: I think they have lots of wonderful features, right? We can all suddenly be like James Bond lab accessible with glasses on. Right. So maybe we're doing a skiing video or maybe we're driving and we want to capture the countryside and we're driving with the glasses on. That's for our own personal use. No issue with that whatsoever. It's when we're interacting with others that it starts to get a little bit creepy. Both for these privacy settings that we're talking about here where others may not know or they may not know what a blinking white light on someone's glasses means if they even notice. But also the footage that you upload to Meta's servers can be used for their own AI -- Meta's own AI purposes. And so although you may be opting in as the user, does that necessarily mean that the people around you know about that? They're suddenly -- their images are being used for AI purposes. And who owns that? Who knows?
[00:45:13] Savannah Sellers: So what do you think about them in a social setting generally?
[00:45:16] Speaker 27: You know, I think they're a little bit awkward. I think, you know, and one of the things I know Meta is also working on is a feature called Name Tag, where they'll actually help you identify either people in your own circle or potentially anyone with a public Instagram profile, which that obviously has its own creepy connotations as well. They can be used for good. Someone with visual impairment, you can use them to help identify what you're looking at. Someone who's speaking a different language -- they speak six different languages. So if you're trying to have a conversation with someone who doesn't speak English or your own native language, that facilitates conversation. So I think they have terrific purposes. They're certainly a talking point. I think you can let somebody else try them on, see what they're like. But I think for most social situations, you can turn them off and use them as regular glasses.
[00:45:59] Savannah Sellers: It's just so interesting because, like, when you say something like the language thing and everything, it's, like, cool in the sense that it really does feel like a spy movie. Yeah. But it's, like, the point of them in the spy movie was, like, that people think about it as, like, with high security clearance are allowed to be using them and doing so appropriately for some greater good. That's right. Do we really all need to be walking around having, like, secret agent capabilities on our faces? I'm not so sure about that. What do you think -- what would be your, like, Mr. Manor's take on, um, if you are -- realize you're being filmed? Yes. What do you say if you don't want to be?
[00:46:31] Speaker 27: If you are not comfortable being filmed, I would voice that immediately. So say it the moment you notice what's going on. Hopefully they respect that. But if they don't, obviously, it's your own free will to walk away from the situation. But I think it's highly inconsiderate not to notify. You walk into a space where filming is taking place, there's always a big notice board. So true. So, you know, there's filming taking place. Your image may be used. We're not doing that when we're wearing those glasses. And I think it's important to put that out there.
[00:46:55] Savannah Sellers: What do you think if, like, you -- I loved your point about maybe you don't know what the blinking light is. I mean, that's not -- that's new info -- that's a new feature of something. That's right. It's not like we all grew up knowing what a blinking light on a pair of glasses meant. What if you see and you know that somebody else is being recorded and you think that they don't know? Would you jump in?
[00:47:11] Speaker 27: You know, depending on the scenario, I think I probably would. I, you know, just maybe insert myself in a -- maybe not a threatening way, but, oh, wow, I see you've got those new smart glasses. Are you filming right now? So rather than challenging them in an obnoxious way, yeah, just kind of like a nice little side comment.
[00:47:28] Savannah Sellers: Oh, my gosh, of course he has a nice little side comment. Mr. Manners, polite way of doing it. Thomas Farley, thank you, as always. And we love when you're on set with us. Likewise. Coming up, countdown to totality. We are just hours from a spectacle in the skies above Europe. We're going to talk to an expert about today's total solar eclipse. One of our friends here on "Morning News Now" will be right back.
[00:47:49] Joe Fryer: We are ending this hour with a reason to look up in just a few hours. A total solar eclipse will sweep across parts of the northern hemisphere.
[00:47:57] Savannah Sellers: Yeah, the path of totality will cross Greenland, Iceland, and northern Spain. While here in the U.S., some of the country will get a glimpse of a partial eclipse.
[00:48:06] Joe Fryer: And one of the people with truly a front row seat is astronomer and space scientist, Dr. Emily Rice, who, get this, joined us from a boat off the coast of Iceland, just hours before totality. Doctor, this is incredible. Yesterday, Rav Sanchez told us, you've got to get to Iceland if you really want to experience this. You did. I mean, tell us about this eclipse cruise where you are and what everyone is doing, just besides the cool T-shirt, to get ready.
[00:48:35] Speaker 29: This is amazing. So there's a lot of astronomers and eclipse chasers or umberphiles, as we like to call ourselves, who have come to Western Europe. I know a lot of astronomers are on boats in Greenland. I am on the Norwegian star right now. We are docked in Isaf. Isaf is -- Icelandic is a very challenging language. It's for here, I think. And it's behind me. We are going to -- in a couple hours, we're going to be leaving, hopefully finding some gaps in the clouds. The sun is over here right now. It's kind of peeking out, but we've got some cloud cover. We had gorgeous weather for the last few days. And so we've been practicing. I hope that that can come back and we can get a glimpse of totality. But totality is going to happen even right here in this town, which is really, really exciting.
[00:49:20] Savannah Sellers: OK, I do have to shout out, if you could like take a teeny step back, is maybe not with your headphones. This is the Taylor Swift reference mixed with the eclipse on her shirt. This absolutely is. For those that don't know, I could not be more obsessed with your shirt, Dr. Emily. Tell us also what people can learn, like what scientists actually get out of an eclipse, like the one that we had back here in 2024 in the U.S. There's so much excitement, but there's real learning going on.
[00:49:44] Speaker 29: Yeah. What I love about an eclipse is that everyone becomes a scientist. To see the corona of the sun with our own eyes, to experience these phenomena that happen when the sun is eclipsed by the moon, like observing these in person is just life-changing, phenomenal. Scientists are always watching the sun. It's always changing. We have -- but we have satellites watching that all the time. For every person that gets to see this in person themselves, I think they become a scientist. And so that's what I'm really excited about, is having another billion people in the path for this entire eclipse and hopefully more and more people moving into totality to be able to see this.
[00:50:22] Joe Fryer: We won't ask you the Icelandic word for moon, but I think we all remember when we experienced this, like here in the U.S. a few years ago, when you have that totality when you're underneath it, the sun's totally blocked. There's that moment where people can actually safely take off their glasses. Yes. Here in the U.S., we're not going to have that. It's only a partial eclipse, maybe like 9% here in New York, if I recall. You're going to definitely need those eclipse glasses if you're not experiencing just total totality, right?
[00:50:47] Speaker 29: Yes, always hold on to these eclipse glasses. In fact, I think they're a little bit -- it's a misnomer. During totality is the only time you can take them off. And so the rest of the time, you can keep these in a drawer and use them to look at the sun any day. Sometimes we can see sunspots or things like that. But during any partial phases, even up to 99, 99.5%, keep these on. Only the moon blocks enough light for us to be able to look at the sun safely, directly. Otherwise, use the glasses.
[00:51:15] Savannah Sellers: Keep those on. All right. We're breaking up a little bit, which isn't a surprise, I suppose, coming to us from Iceland. But hopefully we can ask you this last quick question, which is actually not the only reason to look up right now. The percent meteor shower is also peaking. Tell us about that.
[00:51:30] Speaker ?: Yeah.
[00:51:31] Speaker 29: So we are so high up in latitude from this ship that we haven't actually gotten much night sky. It stays light actually all night, which is really, really cool. But I think during totality, it will be darker during the day than it is at night here. And I'm hoping with the peak of the Perseid meteor showers tonight, that we might have a chance of getting maybe one or two meteors if we're lucky during totality, which is very, very cool. And so if you are in, oh.
[00:51:58] Joe Fryer: Go ahead. I just wanted to ask you if there are any sort of eclipse themed cocktails or food on the ship. You're on a cruise.
[00:52:07] Speaker ?: Yeah.
[00:52:08] Speaker 29: On the ship. So I just went to a grocery store and it's your for you. Yes. And I got some chocolate bars, dark chocolate eclipse themed. And so I'm very excited about these. These are 70% dark chocolate with sea salt. Yeah. I don't think we have any specialty cocktails, but we'll have to make them. Right. I missed opportunity. Yeah, I know, right? Yeah. We were singing already total eclipse of the sun earlier today. Totally eclipse of the heart. We changed the words.
[00:52:38] Joe Fryer: That's all you really need is the song right there.
[00:52:39] Savannah Sellers: I can't get over your shirt, by the way. I really can't.
[00:52:42] Joe Fryer: Dr. Emily Rice, that is awesome. Thank you. Enjoy it. I know it's a magical moment for you. We can't wait to hear about it on the other side. Live it up. Thank you so much. All the solar eclipse action right here. We're going to have live coverage of the 2026 total solar eclipse begins at 1:45 p.m. Eastern right here on NBC News Now. That's going to do it for this hour of Morning News Now.
[00:53:01] Savannah Sellers: Stay with us though. The news continues right now. Good morning. Thanks for joining us this Wednesday. I'm Savannah Sellers.
[00:53:18] Joe Fryer: I'm Joe Fryer. Right now on Morning News Now. Relentless scenes of utter devastation greeting millions across the Midwest. Yet another round of severe weather tearing through several states. Extreme winds, flipping cars, even lifting a train off its tracks. Angie's here tracking it all as you head out the door. Also this morning, a recap of last night's big primary upsets across the country. That includes a win for establishment Democrats in battleground Wisconsin and a rebuke of President Trump out in Minnesota where the candidate he backed, known as the MyPillow guy, was defeated. The results as we head into November coming up. Plus, we're getting a fresh snapshot of America's fight against inflation this morning in the wake of last week's rather dismal jobs report. How is the cost of living stacking up against everyday wages? And where is the ongoing war with Iran leaving our wallets? We're watching your bottom line. And later in the hour, if you're on the hunt for a new pet, but your allergies have you thinking twice, the answer may lie in gene editing. Could this be the future for a human's next best friend? Think of all the people who endure their allergies, too, just to have a pet because it means that much to them.
[00:54:35] Savannah Sellers: Yeah, that was my mom with our dog always. Exactly. Just lay on the floor and then have hives. Love of the dog outweighs the hives. There we go.
[00:54:42] Joe Fryer: All right. Let's start this hour with another round of severe summer storms sweeping through the Midwest. In Ohio, strong winds actually flipped a car that was on the interstate near Columbus last night. Surprisingly, no injuries reported from that incident. And in northwest Indiana, authorities are investigating what caused a home to explode, killing at least one person as the storms rolled through.
[00:55:06] Savannah Sellers: Meanwhile, in Illinois, heavy downpours caused flash flooding and at least one tornado near Chicago. Meteorologists say wind guests in that area reached over 100 miles per hour. NBC News correspondent Maggie Vespa is in hard hit Portage, Indiana, which is in the northwest corner of the state. She joins us with the latest. Maggie, good morning.
[00:55:25] Speaker ?: Guys, good morning.
[00:55:26] Speaker 16: I mean, the damage on the ground here is absolutely insane. We have trees down, power lines down, out across the area, but this is the most jaw-dropping example. This is the home that you were talking about, the one that authorities believe caught fire and then exploded. And they now say they think it was because of this storm. They say one person, neighbors telling us, a woman here was killed in the explosion. And that is just one layer in this devastating 24 hours across a region the guys was already exhausted by severe weather. This morning, millions waking up to devastation across the Midwest. After monster summer storms barreled through multiple states, packing winds powerful enough to flip this car, lift this train car right off its tracks, and blow the roof off of this gas station. And they're gone. They're gone. They're gone. They're gone. In Portage, Indiana, a home catching on fire, leaving one person dead. The cause, the weather, also making it harder for emergency responders to reach the site. Farther south, a four-year-old boy was killed after a tree fell on his home. Authorities in the state calling Tuesday's storm the worst they've ever seen.
[00:56:42] Speaker 30: We have not had a disaster of this size before.
[00:56:45] Speaker 16: The Chicago area also slammed. Holy cow! Intense storm clouds made the day look like night. The break! Crowds at the iconic Navy Pier taking cover in a parking garage. In Frankfurt, Illinois, crews spraying hotspots for hours after this house fire that officials believe was caused either by a lightning strike or powerful winds ripping down live power lines. Tammy McKee and her mother barely made it out alive. It's just devastating. It's heartbreaking. In Ohio, the governor declaring a state of emergency amid widespread flooding after storms there claimed at least one life. The monster system also knocking out power to more than a million customers across four states. A relentless summer of severe weather that's showing no sign of letting up. Yeah, as you saw, the system was just stunningly strong. At last check, we've had hundreds of severe wind reports, at least three reported tornadoes, and guys, countless scenes of damage across the Midwest.
[00:57:48] Savannah Sellers: All right, Maggie, thank you so much.
[00:57:50] Joe Fryer: Let's get right to meteorologist Angie Lastman.
[00:57:52] Savannah Sellers: She is monitoring another active weather day. Angie, good morning.
[00:57:56] Speaker 13: Hey, good morning, guys. And we've already kind of ramped things up so far this morning. Plenty of alerts to get through. And a whole lot of thunderstorms already firing across parts of the Ohio Valley. Notice, we've got flash flood warnings up and down parts of Indiana stretching into Kentucky. 16 million people in total dealing with these flood alerts. And that's not it. We've also seen this new thunderstorm watch issued across parts of Illinois stretching back into Iowa. And we've also got parts of Nebraska included in these thunderstorm watches. Those are going to go until 10:00 AM and 1:00 PM. So we've still got some time as these kind of lines of thunderstorms work east. And this is going to be the general kind of setup for today. We've still got these stationary fronts hanging around. So with that heat, it's not going to be hard for us to see some of these thunderstorms still firing up well into the afternoon and evening hours across the plains and the Midwest. Tomorrow, we're still going to see those scattered strong storms anywhere from Colorado to Ohio. Notice, again, they're scattered, but they still could be quite intense with some of those stronger storms developing into the second half of the day. That's the case today from anywhere across parts of the plains stretching down to the Ohio Valley. We're going to see the wind gusts and the hail be the biggest threat, but isolated tornadoes not out of the question either. On top of that, already dealing with the flooding concerns. And notice, even through tomorrow, we'll pick up an additional couple of inches in some spots. We could see upwards of four, maybe five inches, closer to six in some locations. So we are concerned about flooding through that region. Across the south, it's the heat that is still getting your attention. 52 million people dealing with these heat alerts with temperatures well above average for this time of year. It's 90s and feeling like triple digits for a whole lot of folks. That's St. Louis, Lexington, Tupelo, Macon, all into the 90s and feeling much warmer than that. Tomorrow, still hot, still humid, 101 in Dallas for your actual temperature. We've got 110 for what it will feel like in Charleston. So not a whole lot of relief if you're looking for the cool kind of conditions. They're not going to be across parts of the south and stretching into the plains anytime soon, guys. This is all the way through the weekend. You can see St. Louis into the high 90s. We've got triple digits for Columbia. It's still a scorcher out there for a lot of these folks.
[01:00:05] Savannah Sellers: All right, Angie Lassman, thank you so much. Well, this morning, results are coming in from primaries in six states, and we are getting a look at who will be on the ballot in this fall's critical midterms, all with control of Congress at stake. NBC News Chief Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles is in South Carolina following the latest. Ryan, good morning.
[01:00:25] Speaker 31: Good morning. Here in South Carolina, the Republican primary for U.S. Senate is headed to a runoff. But the big surprise was in Wisconsin, where David Crowley, the more moderate candidate for governor, who at one point had gotten out of the race, got back in, won the endorsement of the state's sitting governor, has squeaked out a narrow primary win over the Democratic Socialist candidate Francesca Hong. It's a major win for moderate Democrats in what has become a very competitive primary season. This morning, an upset in Wisconsin with national implications. Establishment-backed candidate David Crowley defeating Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong in the race for governor. The race, a much-needed win for moderate Democrats, as the party debates its future, with multiple recent victories from very progressive candidates ahead of the key midterm elections that could shape governor.
[01:01:15] Speaker 7: We're going to need someone who can build the necessary coalitions and speak to unity, not necessarily division. Crowley's victory was narrow.
[01:01:24] Speaker 31: Hong had been leading in the polls, but drawing controversy over some past positions, including calls to abolish the police and to cancel Thanksgiving, though she recently backtracked under pressure. But the Democrats' ideological divide continuing on display elsewhere in the Midwest, with Minnesota's Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan, another progressive, defeating moderate incumbent Angie Craig in a Senate primary.
[01:01:48] Speaker 8: This campaign was about the many versus the money. Well, guess what? The many just won.
[01:01:59] Speaker 31: She'll face off in November against former NFL sideline reporter Michelle Tafoya. Meanwhile, in South Carolina, the special election to replace the late Senator Lindsey Graham is headed to a runoff, with Graham's sister Darlene, who currently holds the seat and is backed by President Trump, set to square off against Republican Congressman Ralph Norman in two weeks.
[01:02:19] Speaker 10: I want to thank President Trump, his steadfast support and his complete and total endorsement means so much to me.
[01:02:30] Speaker 31: Norman zeroing in on Darlene Graham's lack of experience in national politics.
[01:02:35] Speaker 9: Well, I don't know where she stands on a lot of issues. I think that's where we'll find out.
[01:02:40] Speaker 31: And in Connecticut, 14-term Congressman John Larson lost his primary race to former Hartford Mayor Luke Braunen, the latest example of Democrats voting out incumbent House members and replacing them with younger leadership. Meanwhile, in many of those Republican primaries, President Trump's endorsement loomed large. Many of his candidates didn't win last night, but there were some uneven results. In Minnesota, Mike Lindell, the election conspiracy theorist and the CEO of MyPillow, lost the Republican primary for governor to Lisa Demuth. And of course, here in South Carolina, Trump's endorsement of Darlene Graham was enough to get her to the runoff, but not enough to allow her to clear the 50% threshold to win the Republican primary outright.
[01:03:21] Savannah Sellers: All right, Ryan, thank you.
[01:03:23] Joe Fryer: Thank you. President Trump is now confirming reports that he secretly switched planes when traveling back from the NATO summit in Turkey last month. He said the decision was made by the Secret Service in the military because of a security threat. NBC News is learning more details about that covert plan, which involved the use of a catering truck. We're also learning more about the nature of the threat itself. NBC News senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez joins us now with more on all of this. Gabe, good morning. Joe good morning.
[01:03:51] Speaker 32: The president is sounding nonchalant about that remarkable secret mission to protect him. His comments coming as a US official tells me the change in plans was a snap decision to keep the president safe. This morning, new details on the elaborate ruse to whisk President Trump out of Turkey last month amid concerns of an Iranian assassination plot. A US official telling NBC News the threat included the possibility of the Iranian regime targeting the president with a shoulder fired missile, adding this is probably the most unprecedented level of alertness we've ever been at. Overnight, the president was asked if he was worried about missiles targeting him.
[01:04:30] Speaker 2: I don't worry about anything, to be honest, whatever it is, you know my attitude, whatever.
[01:04:35] Speaker 32: The US official says the president and his team huddled during the last few hours of the NATO summit in Turkey, making the snap decision at the urging of the Secret Service and the military. The president had flown to Turkey in that new Qatari gifted jet, but the White House had raised eyebrows by abruptly announcing he'd take an older plane home, sending the new Air Force One ahead to a British airbase. Here, the president boarding the old Air Force One. Then, as the camera pulls back, you can see a catering truck parked behind it. Minutes later, a small group of reporters unwittingly boards what would become a decoy jet and were told to keep their window shades closed, according to the press pool report. As the president was secretly moved to that catering truck, which drives away minutes later, the decoy jet thought to be carrying the president then takes off near the smaller military plane he was on board instead.
[01:05:33] Speaker 2: I guess there was a threat out there. I didn't really ask there much about it. I get a lot of threats.
[01:05:38] Speaker 32: The U.S. official telling NBC News that Cabinet Secretaries Marco Rubio and Scott Besant, as well as other senior staff, remained on board the decoy plane, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth joined President Trump.
[01:05:50] Speaker 2: The plane that I flew on was at greater risk. Why do you say that? Because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for.
[01:06:00] Speaker 32: Now the president says he gets a lot of threats. The public never hears about adding any consequential president has a lot of threats. Joe.
[01:06:10] Joe Fryer: Right, Gabe, thank you so much. Let's talk more about this operation with NBC News law enforcement analyst, former Secret Service agent Evie Pomporis. Evie, good to have you with us. I just, when the details came out, what did you make of this operation to secretly get the president off the plane? I mean, is this use of misdirection and decoy, is it a common practice with the secret service or is this something kind of rare?
[01:06:34] Speaker 33: It is a rare occurrence. It does happen from time to time. If there's intelligence or a reason to do something covert in such a way that you use a misdirection. When I first heard of it, I thought that they executed it very well. From a protection standpoint, I think it was done very well. And the fact that it came out much later is the most important thing. It would have been of detriment if had it come out sooner or had been leaked while this was happening. So to me, I think very well done and very well executed. And look, you have to keep in mind that for them to make a decision like this, there's a reason. There's a credible reason to do something like this. And so it's thought through. It's not done very impulsively. It's done thoughtfully.
[01:07:19] Savannah Sellers: Evie, walk us through how it happens in the moment. Like in those few hours we've been told was what it took to essentially plan this. How did this go down with the secret service and the military?
[01:07:29] Speaker 33: So they've not officially released any information. A secret service has been no comment. The White House officially hasn't really said anything other than the information that President Trump shared. But ideally is you collect intelligence. The U.S. Secret Service is not a creator of intelligence. They are a consumer of intelligence. So when that intelligence comes in, they'll look at it and they'll decide how likely or not likely is this going to happen? Is this credible? Could it occur? I would suspect too, given the region of the world that they're in, it's Turkey, the proximity to other countries in the nearby area. Also maybe issues within Turkey, lack of safety, security, any leaks happening within there. They're thinking we are better off doing this than not doing this. So putting something like this together, I don't want to say it's difficult, but it does require some moving parts, individuals doing things. And the whole point is for nobody to know. I mean, there were plenty of times even when I worked, when you would see kind of these secret trips that the president would take to Afghanistan or different countries. There were times where I was out of the loop and I would show up to go to work literally at the White House. And they say, oh, no, he already he's he's he's on his way to Afghanistan. So that's how overt and secretive they keep them even from even from us. If you're not technically on the shift or working, you don't need to know.
[01:08:48] Joe Fryer: That is covert right there. And I think what stood out to many about this operation is that priorities were laid bare. Only Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth joined President Trump on the military plane. You had Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the Treasury Secretary Scott Besson, other senior White House aides, not to mention all the journalists left on that decoy plane. I mean, what does that tell us? Is it basically that for the Secret Service, the president is the priority and that's it? Or is there more at play here?
[01:09:16] Speaker 33: So there's been a lot of questions about a duty to warrant. So in this specific situation, you are on Air Force One. Air Force One belongs to the Air Force, the military. You have all these other entities. The White House is taking part. So in this scenario, the Secret Service is protecting the president. They're not there to protect everybody in this situation. So they decide based on the intelligence they are getting for our protectee. This is what we would like to do. Now, the decisions that maybe have notified others on the plane. That would have been either up to the White House or up to the National Security Council. So it would not have been on them to notify others. Also, I have to kind of remind people the obvious. When you are near the president of the United States, you become a target. He's a target. You're a target. It doesn't matter whether you're a cabinet member. It doesn't matter if you work the White House. It doesn't matter if you're a journalist. When you make the decision to get on that plane and to be around him, you become a target.
[01:10:14] Joe Fryer: The president made that point on the plane. Fascinating perspective, Evie. Thanks so much for joining us this morning.
[01:10:20] Savannah Sellers: Now, let's get to the latest in the ongoing rescue efforts in Columbia following that devastating earthquake. As of this morning, more than 200 people have been killed in the quake. And now it is a race against time to find thousands of others still reported missing among the debris. NBC News correspondent George Solis is on the ground with how rescue teams are responding. George, good morning.
[01:10:43] Speaker 14: Hey, Savannah, good morning to you. I want to give you a live look at what's happening right now. You can actually see some of the first responders here deep into the rubble here. Some of them actually inside of the structure. This is a race against time. They are now down to the last 24 hours in that window where they could still be expected to find survivors. And that's not to say that a miracle or two won't happen. And that is certainly the hope here. Tragically, thousands are still missing. And that death toll now staggering and hovering above 200. This morning, small glimmers of hope amid the devastation. An earthquake ravaged Western Colombia. In hard-hit Cali, 31-year-old Diana Troncoso rescued after an agonizing 16 hours buried under her crumbled four-story apartment building. After finding her in a crevice, rescuers cheering the life-saving victory. Droves of determined first responders and volunteers again working through the night at the site of this collapsed building. After hours of working, nothing deters this group of volunteers and first responders, all of them hoping for a miracle. In Pereira, a brief moment of silence to listen for signs of life and then cheers. There are people, one man exclaims. Emergency crews putting this survivor on a stretcher after 36 hours trapped in the rubble. Aerial footage shows the widespread destruction across the region. Buildings flattened, homes crumbled, even schools not spared. 15-year-old Samuel Rubio was in class when the quake struck, sharing this video he filmed, now bringing water to rescuers. I wouldn't be here, the teenager says, if the building had fallen on my school. The barba's building collapsed and says it's a miracle of God she's alive, racing down the flight of stairs after knee surgery. Everything was destroyed, she says. The water pipes burst, the floors cracked open. Estefania Perata says despite the devastation, she's holding on to hope. There's no time to spare, she says. Every minute counts. Every minute matters. Yeah, and again, just take a look at some of the heavy machinery being used to move some of the debris here and the rubble. Aftershocks, guys, still much a very big concern. We actually had one last night, and you might not be able to see, but there's a structure right next to me. There is concern compromised buildings like that could still fall. And again, officials now asking, these firefighters now asking volunteers to actually take a step back and just let them get on top of the structure to hopefully prevent any tragedy.
[01:13:30] Speaker ?: Guys.
[01:13:31] Savannah Sellers: All right, George, thank you so much. Stay safe. Much more to come on this hour of morning news now, including some brand new numbers on America's fight against inflation. How is the ongoing war with Iran still impacting price tax here at home?
[01:13:43] Joe Fryer: First, though, after the break, we are mere hours away from Europe's first total eclipse in more than 25 years. So what's it going to look like from our shores? We're going to show you what to expect next. Welcome back today. Millions of people are preparing for one of the most spectacular sights on Earth, a total solar eclipse. In a few hours, the path of totality will cross Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain. And here in the U.S., some areas will get to experience a partial eclipse. NBC News international correspondent Raf Sanchez is in northern Spain with the assignment of the week. Raf, good morning.
[01:14:26] Speaker 30: Joe, good morning. Assignment of the week for sure. No shortage of sunshine here in southern Spain right now. It's going to be a very different story in a couple of hours time. We are right in the path of totality here, which means we are going to see the complete solar blackout and the total wonder of the total eclipse. This morning, excitement building across Europe with lines for solar glasses ahead of the continent's first total solar eclipse in more than 25 years. The sun will be completely covered by the moon for millions of people along the path of totality, which runs from Greenland, past Iceland and into northern Spain. The total eclipse here will last just one minute, 43 seconds, but long enough to attract nearly half a million tourists who will be gazing skyward.
[01:15:16] Speaker 15: It's an amazing event.
[01:15:18] Speaker 30: These photographers set up at a Spanish vineyard hoping for the perfect shot of the celestial spectacle. Thousands of Americans have flown in, including the Fulmer family from Las Vegas. Point to the sky.
[01:15:31] Speaker 34: Right up there.
[01:15:33] Speaker 30: Today's eclipse falling on Max's third birthday.
[01:15:36] Speaker 34: We are chasing eclipse to see the whole line of totality.
[01:15:40] Speaker 15: This will be her second and my third. And this is my first.
[01:15:44] Speaker 34: Oh, you're in for a real treat.
[01:15:46] Speaker ?: Any tips for me?
[01:15:47] Speaker 15: Savor the moment. Yes, just really live in it.
[01:15:51] Speaker 35: You're like looking through the glasses and you're seeing it and then all of a sudden it disappears in the glasses and you take them off and it's like this fireball in the sky.
[01:16:01] Speaker 30: Like millions of other Americans, they hit the road to see the 2024 eclipse over the U.S.
[01:16:07] Speaker ?: What's the moon doing?
[01:16:08] Speaker 36: He's taking a bite.
[01:16:10] Speaker ?: Of what?
[01:16:11] Speaker 36: Of a little sun.
[01:16:13] Speaker 34: He's taking a bite of the little sun?
[01:16:15] Speaker 30: Al covered it for today from Dallas.
[01:16:18] Speaker 31: Let's get them on, OK, because it's starting to come.
[01:16:21] Speaker ?: Oh, wow.
[01:16:22] Speaker 30: Today's eclipse will be partially visible in the northern U.S. A reminder of 2024's moment of solar magic when it felt like the whole country was looking up in awe. And Joe, we are definitely going to have the best views here in Spain, but folks back in the U.S. aren't going to miss out completely. The eclipse will be partially visible in the northern U.S. starting in Alaska. That's around 8:27 a.m. local time. The sun there is going to be about 37 percent covered at peak. The eclipse then visible in the continental U.S. little after 1:50 p.m. Eastern. If you're in Maine, you're going to see the sun about a quarter covered. Hometown of Boston. It's going to be about 16 percent coverage. And then, Joe, I'm afraid by the time it reaches you in New York City, we are down to just 9 percent. So that is going to be just a little sliver of the sun sliced off at that point. But if the shot wants to come back to us, yeah, just to offer a little PSA, Joe. If you are going to be looking at the sun anywhere, you definitely want to be wearing your super fashionable solar glasses because we definitely, definitely don't want any burned eyeballs out there.
[01:17:30] Joe Fryer: No kidding. They look fantastic on you, Raph. And especially if you're looking at the 9 percent, you want to make sure you have those on. Obviously, Raph is going to have the best view. But if you can't make it to Spain because it's a little late for that right now, we got the next best thing. You can catch all the solar eclipse action right here. Our live coverage of the 2026 total solar eclipse begins today at 1:45 p.m. Eastern right here on NBC News Now.
[01:17:55] Savannah Sellers: Well, let's get a look at what else is making news around the world, including the Thai prime minister suspending gun purchasing permits after a recent school shooting.
[01:18:04] Joe Fryer: NBC News International correspondent Janice Mackey-Frayer joined us from London to take us around the world in 60 seconds. Janice, good morning.
[01:18:12] Speaker 21: Hey guys, good morning. Thailand's prime minister has suspended gun permits for firearms in the country and has ordered a review of existing permits days after a 14-year-old gunman killed nine people. Police have also been told to stop renewing permits as the country now moves toward tougher gun control laws. Last week, the teenager killed six people at his school, then himself after fatally shooting his grandparents. Thailand has the highest rate of gun ownership in Southeast Asia. The Caspian tiger is making a return to Kazakhstan, a species not seen there in 70 years. The release of a wild-caught female into a nature reserve comes after a decade of careful planning. As conservationists hope it's a move toward restoring the species feared to be extinct. Umit, which means hope in Kazakh, may soon be joined by other big cats, including a wild-caught male from Russia and two tiger cubs that are being raised on the reserve in special enclosures. And finally, the heat waves that have been hitting Europe this year are reshaping the sparkling wine industry in Italy. Workers there are having to go into the vineyards to pick grapes before dawn and also 10 days earlier than usual. Not only to avoid the scorching temperatures, but because the heat has been speeding up the ripening process. Winemakers say that climate change is narrowing the window for what they do, and that quick decisions are now required to make the difference between a good wine harvest and a bad one. Joe and Savannah, back to you.
[01:19:52] Joe Fryer: So many adjustments that need to be made. Janice, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Coming up, we are now just a few weeks away from the start of Luigi Mangione's murder trial right here in New York.
[01:20:03] Savannah Sellers: After the break, why the judge presiding over his case wants to keep the jury anonymous. That's next. This is Morning News Now. We're back now with a closer look at what's making news in the world of politics this morning, starting with a Democrat running alongside a former Republican in Arizona.
[01:20:26] Joe Fryer: NBC News political reporter Megan Brand joins us with that and more. Megan, good morning.
[01:20:31] Speaker 5: Hey, Joe and Savannah. Good morning. Let's start in Arizona, where Governor Katie Hobbs has picked her running mate in what's expected to be a competitive reelection race this fall. What's unusual, though, is the fact that Hobbs, who's a Democrat, has tapped a former Republican to run for lieutenant governor. She's picked John Giles, the former Republican mayor of Mesa. Giles said he was a lifelong Republican before becoming an independent. He also switched his party affiliation to independent back in May. Let's go next to Russia, where a former U.S. Marine was released after spending more than four years in prison. The man, 32-year-old Robert Gilman, was believed to be very ill, and a White House official said that he was back in the U.S. last night. President Trump said in a Truth Social post that Gilman was released on a humanitarian basis and that there was not a prisoner exchange. Senator Ed Marquis said in a statement that Gilman had been diagnosed weeks ago with dissociative stupor, where he was essentially catatonic and also had a severe case of pneumonia. Finally, let's turn to Congress. Republican Senator Bill Cassidy slammed President Trump's executive order that aimed to cut the number of universally recommended vaccines for kids. Cassidy, who is a doctor, strongly defended vaccines in a post to X. Moves like the executive order, he said, were, quote, "Why parents are losing faith in this administration." The senator also spoke out against the executive order yesterday, calling it wrong. And that's a look at what's making news in politics this morning, guys.
[01:22:03] Joe Fryer: Megan, thank you so much. We are following some new developments in the case against Luigi Mangione. That's the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione was back in a New York court Tuesday where the judge ruled his state murder trial will have an anonymous jury citing concerns about possible harassment and intimidation.
[01:22:21] Savannah Sellers: The courtroom was packed with journalists and Mangione supporters as his attorneys left court, surrounded by cameras, take a look.
[01:22:29] Speaker 29: How's the lead you doing? How's your client doing right now? I'm so sorry, we're not commenting. Do you feel prepared for the September 8th start?
[01:22:38] Savannah Sellers: We're always prepared. And they'll soon have to put that preparation to the test with jury selection set to begin September 8th.
[01:22:47] Joe Fryer: Joining us now, NBC News legal analyst Misty Maris. Misty, good to have you with us. So this anonymous jury, I mean, your thoughts on that. Is that something that's common? What was your reaction?
[01:22:57] Speaker 37: So New York actually has a pretty strict rule for juries to be anonymous. Okay. In general, juries do not operate in anonymity in New York. So it has to be a danger to the jury or the judicial system. Where you see this, cases of the mafia, gangs. Most recently, high-profile cases like Donald Trump and Daniel Penny. So not surprising to see it here, but one of the reasons defendants don't like it, they say it makes the defendant seem inherently dangerous and could prejudice the jury the other way. But in this case, prosecutors were able to convince the judge anonymous jury was the way to go.
[01:23:30] Savannah Sellers: So there's this quite unusual level of support here for the defendant in this case. It's been a pretty bizarre thing to watch unfold. Prosecutors have, of course, raised concerns about that when it comes to seating a jury. How do they go about this on a case like this?
[01:23:45] Speaker 37: Well, so first, you're going to have these extensive jury questionnaires, and the jury questionnaires are going to try and touch on some of the hot-button issues in the case, or at least weed out those who have potential prejudice, who aren't going to be able to go into the courtroom and make a determination based on the facts and not what they've seen play out in the media or their own personal opinion. This is not going to be an easy task. So this voir dire process is going to be extensive. A lot of questions asked of these jurors. Internet searches, you know, deep dives on each individual. This is going to be quite a process. It's going to be difficult.
[01:24:16] Joe Fryer: It's going to be quite the voir dire, I have to imagine. Part of that is both sides are working on the questionnaires, right? And what is that fight like over what questions can be asked? And can I have to imagine it's going to be questions about the health care industry and your perspectives on that? Just your thoughts on Luigi Mangione himself? Yes.
[01:24:31] Speaker 37: So the defense really wanted to have deep dive questions on this questionnaire that jurors would -- the jury pool would answer with regard to the health care industry, specifics relating to jurors' opinions on certain other areas like guns. However, the judge had said keeping it more general and then asking a lot more of those personal questions one-on-one during that voir dire process to dig in to those health care type issues. Because they want a pool of jurors. They want people coming into the courtroom. You're going to have these questionnaires. You're going to be eliminating everybody before you even get people into the voir dire process.
[01:25:05] Savannah Sellers: Let's also talk about the federal trial at the same time. Mangione is due in federal court Friday. How do these intersect with each other?
[01:25:12] Speaker 37: Well, this is interesting because that conference Friday was a joint conference requested by prosecutors and defense popped up out of nowhere. Some speculation, is there a plea deal? Could be anything else. There's lots of things happening in that case as well, in anticipation of the January trial. But many are saying, could the federal case go away?
[01:25:34] Joe Fryer: We're obviously speculating here, but if there's a plea deal when it comes to the federal case, but then you still have a state case, that creates an interesting situation, too.
[01:25:41] Speaker 37: It does quickly. Well, the defense would likely argue that the state case has to go away, too, because of double jeopardy. The laws are much more expansive under New York law than federal law. So that's something we could potentially see. We'll have to wait till Friday.
[01:25:54] Joe Fryer: Stay tuned. Misty, good to have you with us.
[01:25:56] Savannah Sellers: Thank you. Coming up, some new numbers on inflation are out this morning.
[01:26:00] Joe Fryer: When we come back, we're going to dig into the latest data, including an in-depth look at how the ongoing war with Iran is still impacting those critical energy prices. We are watching your wallet next on Morning News Now.
[01:26:15] Savannah Sellers: We are back with some breaking economic data.
[01:26:17] Joe Fryer: So inflation rose by 0.1% in July. That's the month over month. Here's the number you're probably paying attention to, 3.4% year over year.
[01:26:26] Savannah Sellers: NBC News chief business correspondent Christine Romans is at the big board for us. Also with us is Investopedia's editor-in-chief and chief business editor of People Inc. Caleb Silver, good morning to you both. Christine, let's start with you at that board to talk us through these numbers and how they do compare with previous months.
[01:26:40] Speaker 38: Yeah, I mean, a little bit cooler than we saw last month. That's good news. But remember, what is comfortable when we don't talk about inflation, it's 2%. So it is much more than that right now. Take a look here at the trend and what that looks like. You've got a little bit of improvement here. But when I look inside these numbers, I see a core inflation rate, which is when you take out food and energy that's up 0.2%. Sounds really wonky, but that's the highest or the biggest month on month increase since last September. So that does show that inside these numbers, higher prices are still percolating.
[01:27:11] Joe Fryer: All right, Caleb, your reaction, what stands out to you?
[01:27:14] Speaker 4: Yeah, we're kind of stuck here in this range, right? 3 to 3.5%. But it feels higher if you're out there shopping every week for your family. And if you look at things like, and I know Christine will take us through the categories, food prices, food prices away from home. But then you stretch it out and you think about how much things have increased in the past year. I'm looking at airline fares up 25% in the past year. Doesn't it feel like every time you go to buy an airline ticket? Ridiculous. That used to be 350 bucks. Now it's 480 bucks. So sticky inflation and retailers and service companies like airlines know they can keep it right here. We're actually paying for this and shelling it out even though we feel terrible as consumers. No kidding.
[01:27:49] Speaker 38: Christine, let's dig into these numbers by category. Yeah, you know, and Caleb, you mentioned airfares. I'm looking at used cars and trucks because I need to buy a car. And used car prices popped up a little bit last month. So the new car models come out in September. So I'm sort of watching when's going to be the best time to buy a car because car prices have been a problem. I just filled this in for you. Food prices up a little bit. But food at restaurants, dining out costs more than staying at home. We saw that in those numbers. Energy prices down a little bit again. Remember we'd seen some relief earlier this summer in energy prices. Shelter prices up 0.1%. I also looked, guys, at electricity also up 0.1%. It's interesting. I was reading a Republican pollster who was saying never before had he seen Americans to a person know exactly what they paid last month for energy and for electricity and for car insurance. And so there is this affordability top of mind for everyone. So each of these little numbers, even a 0.1% increase means it's more expensive today than it was a month ago.
[01:28:46] Joe Fryer: Literally discussion we had over the weekend while we were riding in a taxi in our household. Right. Okay, so the Federal Reserve obviously paying close attention when they meet in?
[01:28:54] Speaker 4: 35 days, 5 hours and 15 minutes, but they're probably not going to do anything. The Fed's going to get another inflation report, the August inflation report, before it meets next on interest rates. And right now it's 50/50 on whether or not they move rates in either direction, which means they probably won't. We got that weaker than expected jobs report last week that tells us the labor market's weak. So hiking rates to combat inflation right now might have the opposite effect on the labor market. Don't expect the Fed to change anything, which means rates are here for a while and the price is the price. It's probably going to go higher if there's more tension in Iran.
[01:29:24] Savannah Sellers: Christine, I know one of the other things that you're always keeping an eye on is wage growth and then how inflation stacks up against that, what that ultimately means for everybody at home. What do you see?
[01:29:33] Speaker 38: So if this top number is inflation in July at 3.4%, you can see wages growing only 3.2%. What does that mean? It means your family's purchasing power is a little bit less. It means your wages aren't growing as fast as the cost to run your household. And so that I think is still -- it's been happening for a few months now. And I think that's still kind of this top of mind feeling for so many families. Because even if they are getting a little bit more money in their paycheck with the wage increases, they're paying more than at the grocery store and for energy and everything else. So that is kind of the backdrop of the affordability question, I'd say.
[01:30:08] Joe Fryer: We have been talking about that for several months. I think people are taking notice of the fact that their wages aren't rising as fast as inflation right now. What is that doing to the economy? Just what's some of the advice you have for people who are trying to figure out the best way to stretch their dollar?
[01:30:21] Speaker 4: Yeah, they're going to have to continue doing it because rates are going to be right where they are. Even if the Fed moves them, it's going to be a quarter point, not a very big difference. So financing costs are high and prices continue to sort of trend higher right now. And if you're an airline or if you're a retailer, you know that these prices are pretty sticky. We are paying them and they don't have to move them down because there's price elasticity for the moment. At some point, consumers might tap out if the economy continues to weaken, but we haven't seen that yet.
[01:30:46] Savannah Sellers: All right, Caleb Silver, Christine Roman, thank you both very much.
[01:30:49] Joe Fryer: And if you are going out, well, when you think of a wild night out, you're maybe picturing a younger crowd. But many watering holes around the country are now catering to Gen X customers. That's because for many night spots, it's not necessarily the younger patrons who are keeping the party alive. It is the more mature customers who are keeping the bars in business. I spoke with a music venue in Michigan to better understand what's behind the shift and how bars are adjusting. Like a good cocktail, the bar scene has been shaken. As the days of a crowded club of 20-somethings seem to be drying up. Now it's Gen Xers who are going all in on nights out. We finally lived long enough to become the target demographic for nightlife. With bars seeing a business boom among adults from their late 40s to early 60s.
[01:31:40] Speaker 39: Gen X is really kind of the bread and butter of the industry right now.
[01:31:44] Joe Fryer: It comes as Americans are sobering up. A recent Gallup poll found only 54% of adults say they're consuming alcohol. That's the lowest number in nearly 90 years. But will more than half of adults under the age of 35 say drinking, even in moderation, is bad for your health? Only 48% of people 55 and older said the same. The trend has some owners tapping into a more mature crowd, throwing theme nights that revel in 80s nostalgia to keep the drinks flowing. Just outside Detroit, the Magic Bag even hosts dance parties with the Early Birds Club. Who are these Early Birds?
[01:32:23] Speaker 39: So an Early Birds event is more of a Gen X event. We started about 6:00, we ended about 10:00, and it's for people that got stuff to do the next day.
[01:32:33] Joe Fryer: As for Gen Z, a recent poll found they're staying home more often on weekends, mostly hoping to save money.
[01:32:40] Speaker 40: Of course no one's drinking. You have to take out a loan, a small business loan, for a night out.
[01:32:46] Joe Fryer: Still, bars and restaurants have found some success in catering to younger patrons, introducing mocktail menus and hosting reality TV watch parties. Still, owners say it's the older crowd that's most reliably buying drinks, as they make sure a night out is never wasted.
[01:33:05] Speaker 39: They just want to have a good time is the best way that I can put it. And then get a full night's sleep. And then get a full night's sleep. Yes, exactly.
[01:33:14] Joe Fryer: It is interesting to know Gen Z may not be drinking less. One study released earlier this year did found their alcohol consumption is pretty much on par with other generations. They're just less likely to maybe have that drink edible. Love that.
[01:33:29] Savannah Sellers: There's a growing summer showdown on the picturesque island of Nantucket. So this local store on the island went viral after hanging up a sign that said no influencers. Well, the shop's owner now says the sign wasn't meant to be taken literally, but it's already sparked plenty of online praise and quite a bit of backlash. So as social media tourism continues to grow, are influencers starting to wear out their welcome? NBC News correspondent Kaylee Hartung has the details.
[01:33:59] Speaker 41: The appearance quiet enclave of Nantucket, a coastal getaway for celebrities and famous families and an idyllic backdrop to some of the hottest recent shows.
[01:34:08] Speaker 8: I'm just trying to move forward.
[01:34:10] Speaker 41: So I'm planning on having a girls weekend to Nantucket is now booming with a different type of visitor trying to perfectly capture that aesthetic shot. We're headed to the island today for an influencer event. The island's summertime popularity stirring up a heated debate. How stupid can you be to put a sign in a store that prohibits basically free marketing? A popular local store, the Four Winds Craft Guild displaying this sign over the summer. This sign is funny. It's funny. Some got what the store owner said was a joke as a post of the sign went viral. What happened to humor? Like it's just like a little bit like a little bit of like local like humor. But swift backlash came with the buzz. It sent the message that creators aren't welcome and I don't think that's fair. The owner John Sylvia told the New York Times sometimes his store is used as someone's background, a stage. While influencers say they can be good for business.
[01:35:07] Speaker 40: As a business owner and as a content creator, I live this tension every day. Our influencers are really important to us and I know that they can make a big difference for any small business. I do think there are creators who could be more conscious of how they show up in shared spaces. I really do. But putting up a sign just saying no influencers, blanket, no influencers allowed just seems a little tone deaf.
[01:35:31] Speaker 41: In recent months, Nantucket has become an influencer hotspot. We were influenced on Tik Tok to come visit and we're having a great time. With long lines now a common sight on what used to be a very private island. The town has become an absolute zoo lines everywhere. Paige Lorenz, a lifestyle creator and founder of the brand Dairy Boy, launched a flagship boutique in Nantucket earlier this summer. Droves of eager customers lining up to buyer merchandise. Gearing up for a very busy end of the month. We have a big draw. And it's not just in Massachusetts. The rise of influencer tourism part of the reason why there's been an influx in some popular areas. Including destinations in Europe like Saint Tropez and the Amalfi Coast. And in many major cities, Tik Tokers sometimes even taking over the latest trendy spots. All of it highlighted recently in Emily in Paris. Excuse me. How did you hear about this place? Well, it's all over Instagram and Tik Tok. You ruined Solitano. It was paradise and now it's Disneyland. In the U.S., some towns taking action. Like Sleepy Hollow Farm in Vermont, where fall foliage is a sight to behold. Neighbors petitioning to close nearby roads to prevent tourists from flooding the streets to snap a photo. Back in Nantucket, despite the ongoing debate, many locals seem to be completely unfazed by all the extra love their town is getting.
[01:36:55] Speaker 4: Are influencers good or bad for Nantucket?
[01:36:58] Speaker 2: What are influencers?
[01:36:59] Speaker 4: What are they?
[01:37:00] Speaker 41: I have no idea what you're talking about. As more visitors continue to flock to the island for some summer fun.
[01:37:06] Speaker 36: I don't think it's really about good or bad. Nantucket's an influential place. People are always going to want to come here and, you know, showcase the island. So for me, it's just about enjoying Nantucket.
[01:37:16] Savannah Sellers: Our thanks to Kaylee Hartung for that report and the excuse to look at those gorgeous pictures of Nantucket. Well, influencer culture, it is a multi-billion dollar industry and even that shop owner acknowledges its value. But he says his frustration is with visitors, excuse me, who come in just to take photos or videos or record with those little microphones without buying anything or even engaging with him. So certainly a debate to continue having there. Coming up, it could be a saving grace for pet lovers who just so happen to suffer from allergies. And Morning News now returns how gene editing technology is helping owners breathe a little bit easier while caring for their best friend. Stay with us. That's up next. We're getting this hour with some groundbreaking research that could help dog lovers with allergies breathe easier. A team of scientists use a Nobel Prize winning technique to edit the genes inside the skin cells of a pair of dogs. Those edits stopped the production of a specific allergy causing protein that is found in dog fur, saliva and dander. All that stuff that can make you itchy or sneezy. This is the first time this particular gene editing approach, it's called CRISPR, has been tried successfully in dogs. The results produce these two hypoallergenic, very adorable, by the way, beagle twins you see on your screen. Their names are Bailey and Alfie. And joining me now is actually in the corner there is Bailey, as I understand it, as well as the scientist who led this research. Matt Walker, he's the CEO of Kindred Companion Sciences. And there he is, the proud owner of Bailey, one of those beagles. And Bailey, we are lucky. We also booked as a guest. So look at us. That's very cool. Matt, let's just start with how this all works. Like, what makes these two beagles different from, you know, I know a lot of people who think they already have these hypoallergenic dogs. What's the difference?
[01:39:07] Speaker 42: Yeah, so this term hypoallergenic typically just refers to breeds that shed less hair. But dogs as a species actually all produce this main allergen gene in their saliva and in their hair and dander. And studies have shown that these hypoallergenic breeds like poodles and doodles actually produce just as much allergen as any other breed. So our approach here is a little bit different, like you mentioned. And rather than hoping that reduced shedding will decrease exposure to the allergen, we're actually targeting the allergen at its biological source and preventing it from being produced.
[01:39:42] Savannah Sellers: So roughly one in 10 Americans is allergic to dogs. That's according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology. Is that why you wanted to do this? Yeah, exactly.
[01:39:52] Speaker 42: And I'm one of those one. I mean, I've always been allergic to dogs. My family could never have a dog. When I left for college, my family actually got a golden doodle named Morgan. And this was a breed that was created partially because of its hypoallergenic properties. But whenever I went home, I had the same reaction to Morgan as I did to any other dog. So as a scientist, I wondered what was the cause of my allergies and realized it was genetic. And I wondered if we could use modern genetic tools to address this problem at its source.
[01:40:21] Savannah Sellers: I know that you all want to test this on other dogs and service animals and essentially try to breed a line of dogs that are allergy free. What are some of the challenges, though, that stand in the way of getting that done? Yeah.
[01:40:34] Speaker 42: So as I mentioned, all all breeds of dogs carry this allergen gene. So we'll be targeting this gene and other breeds. And that part of it should be straightforward since they all have this gene. And our next step is really to apply it to these other breeds and also to service animals. We're really interested in helping people who are allergic, who rely on service dogs for visual impairments or seizure disorders or other health conditions. We'd really love to help make that relationship possible by applying this gene editing tool in these other breeds and service animals.
[01:41:07] Savannah Sellers: Let's talk about the other side of this, though. Some animal rights activists claim either that this isn't safe enough to test more broadly. There's also concern, though, about what this means for rescuing dogs, what it means for this nationwide animal shelter crisis. What is your response to both of those?
[01:41:23] Speaker 42: Yeah, it's a really good question. Thanks for raising it. So gene editing is, of course, a powerful tool. And we need to make sure that it's used carefully and responsibly. And for us, that means making sure that the animals are healthy. That's our priority. And so far at almost two years of age, the dogs are healthy and have developed normally as we published in our paper. And then regarding animal shelters, I guess I would say that as someone with allergies personally, I would never have been able to bring a dog into my home. So so we think that we're we're really addressing a completely different group of people here. And the other side of this is that allergies are, of course, a reason that many people have to give up their dogs when they bring a dog into their home from a from a family. From a breeder or from a shelter and then they realize that they're allergic. They have to give that dog up for adoption or it has to be rehomed. So so we hope that that our work will be able to help both humans and dogs.
[01:42:16] Savannah Sellers: My dog would be very jealous of your dog's couch privileges that I'm seeing happen.
[01:42:22] Speaker 42: You know, you're not allowed on the bed, but she is allowed on the couch.
[01:42:28] Savannah Sellers: OK, I'm the opposite. All right. Matt Walker, thanks so much for joining me this morning. Really interesting stuff. We appreciate your time.
[01:42:34] Speaker 42: Thanks so much.
[01:42:35] Savannah Sellers: That's going to do it for this hour of morning news now. But the news continues in just a moment. Stay with us.
[01:42:40] Speaker 31: We thank you for watching and remember stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or watch live on our YouTube channel.