[Music] foreign [Music] good morning and happy Friday I'm Stephen Romo and I'm Valerie Castro Joe and Savannah are on assignment right now on Morning News Now crisis averted this morning relief in Washington and across the country late last night the Senate passed the bill to raise the debt ceiling and avoid what could have been a catastrophic default we've saved the country from the scourge of default even though there was some on the other side who wanted to pull deadline more on the late nigh
t vote Plus what's next and what it all means for you also this morning underwater millions of Texans are bracing for more heavy rains from a strong Springtime storm that's left entire communities flooded plus parts of Florida threatened by thunderstorms with up to six inches of rain expected this weekend we're tracking the conditions in Low Spirits this morning growing concern about the summer travel season after a widespread delay affecting nearly all Spirit Airlines flights what we know about
what happened and what you should know ahead of your next vacation plus out and proud as we celebrate pride month we'll take a look at how more and more people are identifying as part of the lgbtq community and The Surge and support from allies more on what's behind these new trends and why activists say there's still a long way to go happy Pride that means it's June yes finally a lot going on Happy Friday we begin this morning with relief in Washington as President Biden is set to sign the deb
t ceiling bill later today averting disaster got a senate passed the bill late last night by a 63 to 36 vote just days before the country was set to run out of money to pay its bills preventing what could have been a devastating default it extends the debt limit for another two years and includes some spending caps but despite that it did receive bipartisan support this demanded a bipartisan solution we knew we'd need to come together for a solution like the one that passed tonight and so I'm ha
ppy to Stand Here passing this critical legislation to support our families preserve vital programs and most importantly avoid catastrophic default correspondent Mike memley joins us now for more on this Mike good morning and so there were a lot of questions about what would happen in the Senate there were of course some hurdles along the way but we seem to have avoided what some of the most dire predictions we're saying so how did this all play out in the end yeah Stephen if you had asked most
people in Washington a week ago while speaker McCarthy and President Biden were still negotiating this deal and even frankly 48 hours ago before the house voted on this whether Congress would be able to pass something and not only pass something but with three days to spare before that default deadline you would have gotten a lot of strange looks but that's exactly what happened as we saw the Senate last night follow that strong result in the house more than 300 votes more than 63 votes last nig
ht 47 Republicans that's all but four and 17 specifically 46 Democrats 17 Republicans voting to get this across the Finish Line you saw Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer taking a little bit of a Victory lap and also giving some credit across the aisle take a listen we've saved the country from the scourge of default even though there were some on the other side who wanted to fault wanted to lead us to default we may be a little tired but we did it look at the vote underestimating Kevin McCart
hy look at the vote in the House and Senate that says it all we didn't underestimate so it it worked out very very well and that's the bottom line Schumer's saying we're all a little bit tired this was a marathon series of votes that happened last night in the Senate 11 amendments that ultimately all were voted down if any had been adopted this would have had to go back to the house something that would have really led to a crime time crunch ultimately we saw two really powerful forces getting t
his across the Finish Line one is momentum following that house vote and the other is jet fumes frankly a lot of the Senators saw where this was heading it decided they could have stretched this out but they'd rather be home yeah that makes sense that's a big motivator President Biden also put out a statement Mike after that vote where he said the debt ceiling deal is a big win for the economy and American people and speaking of Victory Labs he's expected to address the nation tonight what are w
e expecting to hear is this going to be a victory left for him yeah this was a big win for speaker McCarthy and a big win for President Biden because if you think about one of the core promises he made as a candidate in the 2020 election was to bring sort of Washington back to normalcy to unite the country he acknowledged months ago that that was one of the hardest things that's been on his agenda to try to do but this is as clear an example of him being able to deliver on that promise as we've
had during his time in Washington a lot of major bipartisan bills have in fact been signed into law so we're it's interesting the venue and the message tonight because remember a lot of Democrats have been critical of the White House for seeding the messaging War throughout this debt ceiling standoff to speaker McCarthy we saw him talking to reporters almost multiple times a day every day while the president had largely been on the sidelines this was all according to White House officials part o
f the strategy he didn't want to engage in a Tit for Tat with Republicans that might upset this effort to get to a bipartisan compromise and so now he'll be able to speak to the country in one of the most grand settings you have the oval obviously hasn't done this yet as president and take a victory left but also say he's delivering on his promise to the American people that'll be something to see and Micah do you have to ask about student loans though for a minute the bill includes that provisi
on to restart the student loan payments that have been frozen or the for the pandemic like three years now and a separate vote yesterday the Senate also passed the legislation that would just block the loan relief program altogether so bottom line with these things what does that mean for people with student debt well ultimately the president has vowed to veto that separate resolution that was passed in the Senate yesterday to undo his student loan release and end that pause on student loan repa
yments and so this has been an interesting thing that we've seen happen in the Senate throughout the year a democratic-controlled senate now having passed multiple resolutions to overturn some of President Biden's achievements why is this happening well this is all about 2024 politics you look at the Democrats that voted for this yesterday to try to get it over the finish line which it did it's Joe manchin of West Virginia John tester of Montana two Democrats running through re-election in very
red States they want to be able to say they stood up to the president on certain issues and this is an example of that but the president ultimately going to be able to veto this and leave this up to the Supreme Court that's one of the big decisions we're waiting on for the Supreme Court to weigh in on the legality of that student loan relief and that's expected to come later this month at this point when pretty much anything happens the answer to why is likely going to be 2024. all right thanks
so much we're learning new details this morning about the special counsel's investigation into the mishandling of classified documents discovered at former president Trump's Resort in Mar-A-Lago sources tell NBC news that Federal prosecutors have obtained an audio recording of trump acknowledging the documents in his possession were classified we want to point out that NBC News has not heard the recording the former president has denied any wrongdoing he claims all the documents were Declassifie
d as soon as they left the White House take a listen why did you take those documents with you when you left the White House I had every right to under the presidential records act you have the presidential records act I was there and I took what I took and it gets Declassified when it comes to your documents did you ever show those classified documents to anyone not really I would have the right to by the way they would Declassified after not that I can think of let me just tell you I have the
absolute right to do whatever I want with them NBC News justice and intelligence correspondent kendallanian joins us now from Washington with the latest Ken good morning what do we know about this recording so far do we know when it was taken and who was in the room when that audio was recorded good morning a source familiar directly familiar with this recording said that it was taken in July 2021 during a meeting between Donald Trump and some people who were working on a biography of his former
Chief of Staff Mark Meadows Trump was at his compound in Bedminster and the subject of Iran came up and Trump referenced according to the source a document that he had that he acknowledged was classified that laid out some military options about uh striking Iran so the significance was he acknowledged it was classified and uh also deeply significant that it undercuts um the claim by him and some of his lawyers that he Declassified all the documents he took with him to the White House and we und
erstand that this document has been obtained by special counsel Jack Smith has been played during grand jury testimony and appears to be a significant piece of evidence and can what kind of evidence have we seen so far in that grand jury investigation how does this new recording impact the former president's defense here so if if the accounts we're getting about this tape are accurate some lawyers have called this a smoking gun it's essentially Donald Trump confessing on tape that he knew he had
classified information remember after he was President no longer had access to it so this would be huge now of course we don't know what other evidence the special counsel has gathered in this investigation all of it but we've seen a lot of reports about uh circumstantial evidence suggesting that Donald Trump may have been obstructing justice that the people around him were moving documents after they had been requested by the government that there was kind of a game of hide the ball here and T
rump himself has said publicly that he thought these documents were his that he didn't believe the government was entitled to them so it's looking like a pretty strong case but again we don't know everything the special counsel knows is the special counsel any closer to ending the investigation and these classified documents are charges possible yeah the consensus in the legal Community really has been for a long time that had any other person engaged in the conduct that we've seen even in publi
c they would have been charged by now and there's a great expectation that this case is wrapping up we have some evidence that the grand jury in this matter hasn't met for a while uh and so there's a lot of expectation that we'll see some kind of resolution this summer and perhaps criminal charges back to you more to come kendallanian thanks so much all right let's get to some new developments in that terrifying building collapse that happened in Iowa reports out this morning say a contractor ac
tually warned about the building's conditions just days before that collapse happened now families are looking to City officials to get some answers NBC News correspondent Shaq Brewster as the latest hi there well we are seeing here at the site increased activity take place at the building that partially collapsed several days ago the family of the men who are trapped inside tell NBC news that they were told by City officials that a search and rescue team has been reactivated as new questions in
to the condition of the building and what led to the collapse in the first place are being raised exclusive new video of the moment this Davenport Iowa apartment building suddenly collapsed four days ago officials say three people are likely still trapped in the rubble Brandon Colvin Ryan Hitchcock and Daniel Preen were each living in parts of the building no longer standing all the information provided to us is that that space is not sustainable for uh life the update comes amid new questions a
bout missed warning signs in the days before the partial collapse I just told him leave get away back away this was the day before the actual collapse yes Ryan Shafer runs a Macy he says the owner of the building rejected his bid to make repairs back in February because of the cost to support the structure I was nervous when I was in the basement if that tells you anything you were nervous evening being there yes he says for months he monitored the building with alarm every single one's crooked
and broken concerned the building was going to fall he posted this Snapchat video Saturday taking these photos just hours before Sunday's collapse that was a definite sign that the center of the building was falling due to the structural damage which affected the windows shattering the doors Boeing and it's an obvious sign for you that something's wrong oh yeah that's that terrified me when I saw that his account comes as City officials released a trove of documents showing at least 145 interact
ions between the city and property owner Andrew Wold since 2020 including inspection photos of indoor temperatures as low as 57 degrees and a letter from an engineer dated four days before the collapse warning large patches of brick appear ready to fall imminently the property owner has declined our request for an interview and released a statement extending his prayers to the tenants meanwhile here officials are still concerned about the structural stability of this building they warned that it
could really collapse at any point and they said that any demolition that takes place will be done with care as they're calling this a place of rest with three people still trapped inside back to you quite alarming all right Jack thank you well we're just one week into the summer travel season and have already hit a major snag roughly 90 percent of Spirit Airlines flights were delayed Thursday because of a technical issue that impacted the airline's website app and Airport kiosks Mark Elwood is
a travel expert he joins us now with more good morning Mark so the big question is always do we know exactly what happened yesterday and how are things looking this morning well we don't really know exactly what happened the best analogy I can give you is imagine trying to change a wheel on a car while it's still driving that's what the airline technology is like they're not able to upgrade it very easily because it's always in use and it keeps going wrong because they can't ever really take it
offline because we're always flying today is looking a bit better but we don't have full notice yet so I'd cross your fingers and hope it's fully resolved the airlines do say it is but let's hope that all right I guess we'll have to wait and see Spirit wasn't the only airline to have problems yesterday Air Canada also had technical glitches that delayed some of its flights do you think we're in for some of the same issues this summer as we had last year with cancellations and delays look this s
ummer is going to be busy or whatever that Revenge travel that pent-up inability strap we have you're seeing 75 85 of Americans saying would take care and the airports and the airlines are still not quite up to scratch they still need more people back they still need to hire more people back so there's real screens at the scene so yes I think for something would be trippy but if you're prepared you should be okay speaking of being prepared finally what are some things you can do if your flight i
s canceled or delayed look remember when your flight is delayed you have fewer whites than you wish you did the current Administration is trying to bring in a few more right but it's all up to the discretion of the airline so off nicely it canceled you have a lot more rides but I would say check your credit card if you paid for your flight with a credit card look and see if it includes trip delay protection that's basically a fallback which will cover any expenses that you incur if your trip goe
s wrong so your credit card can really be a secret weapon and you might have that for free and not even know it's part of your benefits all right I think a lot of people will be planning for the worst and hoping for the best Mark Elwood thanks so much turning to your weather now and let's take a look at this heavy rains in Texas leading to Serious flooding you can see cars nearly underwater drivers having to escape through their windows and more rain is expected there today yikes well for more o
n that plus a tropical depression in the Gulf meteorologist Angie lastman is tracking it all for us good morning Angie good morning guys it was a busy day yesterday with tropical depression 2 forming and of course the active weather in parts of the Plains we're going to get to the plains here in a moment because there's another day where you can see rounds of heavy rain and even some severe storms but let's focus on tropical depression too still a tropical depression most likely not going to bec
ome a tropical storm but there's still a chance that window however for it to do so is starting to close as it moves a little farther to the South it's going to kind of encounter some hostile environment for any further strengthening either way 285 miles west of Fort Myers right now pretty lopsided and unorganized all the rain sitting just to the north the center of that the center not looking great either 35 mile per hour winds and moving south now at five miles per hour it's going to speed up
a little bit over the next day or so as it moves South and eventually Southeast and eyes parts of Western Cuba but what does it mean for the State of Florida that's what's really going to impact kind of indirectly with some added rainfall in multiple rounds of it these are going to be tropical downpours that bring Heavy Rain to folks there through the weekend a little bit of a soggy kind of Saturday and Sunday forecast for you too hence the reason that we have this flood watch that went up yeste
rday and continues through the day today with that Heavy Rain it does include Miami Fort Lauderdale and up into parts near Lake Okeechobee so be aware of that here's the rainfall totals you can expect upwards of five inches is possible in some localized spots so we know with all the problems Florida has when it comes to heavy rain in a short amount of time there will likely be some flooding watch for that do not drive through those flooded roadways that's what happened yesterday in parts of the
Plains we saw some incredible video and today we're going to have another chance to see that localized flash flooding possible with heavy rain once again working through that same area parts of Texas into Oklahoma and Kansas could see upwards of of one maybe two even spots could see three inches so again the flooding is a real concern for us today there's also a chance for severe weather better than what we saw yesterday so this right now is looking like we'll see the main hazards being hail upw
ards of two inches and those strong wind gusts up to 75 miles per hour but we can't rule out tornadoes either so if you live in this area really focus mainly into parts of Texas that's going to be something you'll have to watch for now if you're looking for the heat it's uh in the Northeast in the midwest look at these records that we could potentially break today 92 in Hartford that would beat a record of 91 degrees Cincinnati you're headed to 92. not quite a record but warm nonetheless especia
lly for this time of year it doesn't last all that long if you live in the Northeast tomorrow we drop to 66 degrees we're talking below normal temperatures and it does last however though if you're in the midwest so 88 tomorrow in Detroit Indianapolis you're still going to be into the 90s we'll kind of moderate out by the time we get into the end of the weekend and into early next week mid 70s for Philly for Sunday 78 on Monday and 80s Monday and Tuesday for Richmond so these temperatures are a
little more tolerable a little more typical for this time of year but 90s you know we could see some of the warmest days of the year so far in places like Detroit Philly Washington DC today wow just in time for June shorts and t-shirt weather right I like it all right Angie as long as you approve I do got my stamps of approval welcome back protests are growing across the State of Florida this morning as more and more people push back against a new anti-immigration law there it's one of the harsh
est of It's kind in the country and now migrants are taking steps to make sure their voices are heard NBC's Sam Brock has the story thousands of Floridians are skipping work and taking to the streets [Applause] in what's being without immigrants in protest over Florida's new immigration law scores of restaurants and stores across the state shutting down for the day in solidarity against Florida Senate Bill 1718 which goes into effect July 1st at El Mariachi restaurant in West Palm Beach I'm look
ing around your restaurant right now it's empty empty why because we're trying to support all the immigrants most of them are in a protesting the empty restaurant costing Victor Prado three thousand dollars a day and this could be a looming crisis for him he's lost the majority of his employees in just the last few weeks they they afraid they're moving for another state they moved to another state yeah Governor Ron DeSantis touting the new law as the strongest Crackdown on illegal immigration in
the country so what you want to do is say there's not benefits for coming illegally among the new requirements local governments are banned from issuing ID cards to the undocumented or recognizing another States hospitals are required to ask for patients immigration status and collect the information and the law also enhances the penalties for quote human smuggling at this law first of all would make it a third degree felony to drive with an undocumented person even if they're your fan family m
ember across state lines according to Pew research there are more than seven hundred thousand mixed status families across Florida meaning there's at least one undocumented person in the family many of those people choosing to push back against the governor Renaissance As for Prado he says despite the losses he's joining the fight taking a stand in solidarity with all those who like him are here to fulfill a dream that is now being threatened we come down to this country to uh for a better life
it's a dream that way you come to this country our thanks to Sam Brock for that report the new law also requires use a federal system to new workers immigration status well the U.S is sending a fewer and fewer college students to study in China and that could make it tough to train the next generation of diplomats before the pandemic thousands of American students went to China to study each year and vice versa but China's zero covet policy combined with diplomatic breakdowns over Taiwan the Sou
th China Sea and Ukraine have caused those opportunities to almost dry up NBC News a foreign correspondent Janice Mackey Frayer joins us now from Beijing with more on this good morning Janice Stephen it's a sort of collateral damage of the pandemic and tense U.S China relations this staggering drop in the number of American students coming to China to study and the impact of that will be lasting around the world colleges and universities were seriously affected by the pandemic but here in China
the impact has lingered universities including American schools that have campuses here are open as usual but the number of Americans attending them has plummeted a decade ago there were nearly 15 000 U.S students in China today there are only 350 those numbers from the state department it's like a 98 percent drop and it's a problem that won't be easily fixed according to the U.S ambassador here American universities couldn't run their summer study programs they couldn't run their junior year in
China programs and so it all just dried up we need to have the next generation of China experts for our entire government they come out of these universities they're frankly we're going to need some help from the Chinese government they're going to have to give the Visas and create the atmosphere that would be receptive to American students coming back it wasn't just the pandemic or China zero coveted rules keeping American students away U.S China relations have hit a unique low in recent years
and the tension has trickled down to student and Scholar exchanges which had long sort of greased the geopolitics at NYU Shanghai it's meant to dramatic change in the landscape since the campus was the first American University to establish here back in 2012. there are fewer Americans in terms of enrollment it's tough for me to say there are fewer due to the inability to get back or maybe the hesitance to come back due to the situation on the ground here what is the long-term impact I think jus
t one of the benefits of being here is being somewhat of a soft informal Diplomat of the country and the culture and not having actual Americans having that experience and being able to go back and testify and speak to their communities about what actually happens is a huge loss of decline even before the the pandemic which gutted study abroad programs everywhere figures from the state department and The Institute of International Education showed that hundreds of thousands of Americans just sto
pped going to Japan the UK and other countries to study the number of Chinese students going to the U.S has slipped two but only slightly down 15 percent from two years ago to roughly three hundred thousand International students are a huge Revenue source for U.S schools in 2018 Chinese students contributed 15 billion dollars to the economy according to the Commerce Department the challenge with China it could take years for U.S student numbers to bounce back the country only just reopened to to
urism in March and the mood here has well shifted Megan C started at NYU Shanghai four years ago despite all the headwinds she wants to graduate this year so she came back from Maryland I think there are obvious benefits being exposed to a place that I mean clearly has a lot of importance in the U.S in terms of U.S foreign policy and U.S China relations in any difficult challenging relationship and that's what we have with China right a relationship really based on competition globally you need
ballast in the relationship and people are the balanced you want the two countries people to be talking to each other and 20 year olds probably do that best and they achieve a degree of familiarity and expertise in the country that is lifelong for Chinese students there are a lot of factors that play too in choosing where they want to study abroad and increasingly the numbers show they're giving the U.S some second thoughts Stephen yeah it's actually very curious about that the other side of thi
s did any of those students that you talk to say how their Chinese counterparts are feeling about coming to study in the U.S well the U.S is still a popular choice for Chinese students but anecdotally uh we were talking with young people and in particular their parents and they have views that are changing on the U.S because their parents are watching the news and they see that there's gun violence there are uh there's a rise in anti-asian attacks the politics are at play here and there's also t
he cost factor of going to the U.S and paying those full International tuition rates so there is a downward Trend as well among Chinese students going to the U.S increasingly they're looking at the UK Canada and Australia that said Stephen having an American Education still holds a lot of prestige for most Chinese students they're looking at perfecting their English and also their employability when they finish school and come back to China Stephen so many implications to consider Janice thank y
ou welcome back today is World eating disorder action day it's a day recognized around the world to educate people about an illness that affects so many people globally more than 70 million people are estimated to be impacted by an eating disorder so in light of that fact this year's steam will shine a light on recovering from an eating disorder and how it's a real and possible goal joining us now is Allison Walsh she is the former Miss Florida and the author of she believes she could Alison goo
d morning thanks so much for being here with us today thank you we know you're involved in the National Alliance for eating disorders talk to us about how widespread this is who it impacts and what some of the common misconceptions are yeah absolutely eating disorders affect millions of Americans every single year and I think for so long there was such a misconception and there was almost a stereotype of who it would impact and the reality is anybody can be affected by this and so really the wor
k of the National Alliance for eating disorders as well as other organizations that are celebrating this amazing day today is to continue to eradicate the stigma continue to have really important conversations and most importantly show that recovery is possible and speaking about recovery hours and I know that this year's theme involves recovery it's something that's so difficult for so many people how to someone who's struggling with this maybe take that first step toward recovery It's A Brave
and Bold step you know I took that step myself about 21 years ago and it was one of the scariest things I ever did but it was also one of the most liberating things that I could have done for myself it takes a lot of work to recover but at the same time it's possible and you can have the most beautiful life as a result of it so I always encourage people to ask for help early and often don't hide from it get connected to resources as quickly as possible and that really goes for any mental health
concern or issue that somebody might be struggling with the earlier you can get connected to care the faster you can recover the faster you can move through it and get to the other side you mentioned asking for help I'm sure it must be difficult to ask friends and family for help but how can those people in your life be the best support what can you do to help someone who's going through this absolutely and I think sometimes it's hard for family members that might not necessarily know what to do
when a loved one comes to them and asks for support so there are so many wonderful resources of course the National Alliance for eating disorders is a great resource for friends and family members that may be concerned and want to just educate themselves but there's also you know you need to have that emotional support around you so that compassion that understanding not getting aggravated with the individual because there's going to be good days and bad days on your journey to recovery and mos
t importantly embracing them with compassion and support and letting them know that you're there for them no matter what what are some I we touched on this earlier but what are some misconceptions I'm sure you look at someone and you might not know that this is a battle they're going through right so I mean I think a lot of times people make snap judgments when there's a certain body type shape or size but the reality is that people of all shapes and sizes can be struggling um it doesn't discrim
inate among any socioeconomic factors race gender religion ethnicity anything and so really understanding that this is a pervasive issue the most important thing is that you do seek support that you surround yourself with others that really understand maybe the uniqueness of what you're struggling with especially if there's any cultural challenges or anything of that sort but most importantly there are so many amazing certified eating disorder professionals out there in this world that are here
to help and so just knowing that you're not alone there are millions of people that have struggled there are also millions of people that have recovered but you have to take those first steps and it's really critically important that you address it early and often because the medical complications are oftentimes the things that people don't consider they you know we think about the psychological the mental health the emotional side of it but the reality is is that Eating Disorders have the highe
st rate of mortality you know people struggle and pass away every 52 minutes as a result of an eating disorder so the medical complications are very real and that's why they have to be addressed so quickly a lot of resources and a lot of help for people out there Allison Walsh thank you so much for being here thank you and if you or anyone you know is struggling with an eating disorder you can call the national eating disorder Association helpline at 800-931-2237 or text Neda to 741-741 an examp
le of some of the other help out there welcome back Tech Giant Amazon is agreeing to pay out more than 30 million dollars in an effort to settle lawsuits alleging the company violated the privacy of children and others NBC News correspondent Jesse Kirsch has the details Amazon has agreed to pay 25 million dollars after Federal authorities say the company sacrificed privacy for profits when it held on to Children's personal information even after parents asked the company to delete that data coll
ected with Alexa Alexa hello hi that voice is practically everywhere the FTC says more than 100 million Alexa enabled devices like this Echo dot kids have been sold worldwide the FTC also says rank an Amazon subsidiary has sold more than a million cameras like this one so you can see every corner of your home the indoor cameras branded is something to make the home safer but authorities say some cameras actually left customers exposed to Illegal surveillance Amazon now agreeing to pay nearly 6 m
illion dollars over that claim when you set up a ring camera like this one you can keep an eye on home from a farm but the FTC says homeowners weren't the only ones alleging that ring gave all of its employees quote full access to every customer video the federal complaint says the issues predate Amazon's 2018 purchase of ring and in a statement Amazon says our devices and services are built to protect customers privacy while we disagree with the ftc's claims regarding both Alexa and ring and de
ny violating the law these settlements put these matters behind us both settlements are subject to court approval we put our trust in the companies that we use with our devices and we trust them to do what they say they're going to do with our data as technology and privacy concerns continue to collide Jesse Kirsch NBC News offer some Financial headlines and money you have to around on your venmo or cash app could actually be at risk CNBC Silvana hanau joins us now with that and other news good
morning Silvana good morning Valerie good morning Stephen yes so listen to this people who use venmo PayPal and cash up shouldn't store their money with those apps for the long term because it may not be safe during a crisis now that's the warning from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and it comes in the wake of the collapse of svb Signature Bank and First Republic which all saw Bank runs as customers with uninsured deposits hold their money out now the FDIC ensures bank accounts up to 2
50 000 but money stored and payment apps aren't held in traditional accounts and while some funds may be eligible for pass-through insurance coverage they're generally not covered by Deposit Insurance meta platforms wants employees back in the office the parent company of Facebook Instagram and WhatsApp is asking workers who are currently assigned to an office to return to to in-person three days a week starting after Labor Day now employees who are designated as remote workers can still keep th
at status in a memo sent to employees about the new policy meta says roughly 75 percent of the workforce is in the office Disney's live-action remake of The Little Mermaid topped the box office this past weekend but that hasn't stopped it from being targeted by so-called review bombing now that's when people flood websites with negative reviews to try to lower a movie's rating The Little Mermaid has attracted more than 40 000 user ratings on IMDb with an average score of 7 out of 10 stars but IM
Db says its rating system has detected unusual voting activity so it has changed how it weighs user reviews guys why do people do that humans are so weird why sure well June is a pride month and there is a new survey out that gives us a snapshot of where the country is when it comes to lgbtq plus issues according to glad's annual accelerating acceptance study more Americans are identifying as members of the lgbtq plus community and acceptance is actually on the rise in fact the survey found that
91 of Americans agree that lgbtq people should have the freedom to live their lives and not be discriminated against joining us now to talk about this is Toni Morrison the senior director of communications at glad Tony thanks so much for being with us this morning so those are some very big headlines that came out of this survey what else came out of it Hey Stephen well good morning thanks for having me happy Friday to you and yeah I was so let's start with the good news here out of this accele
rating acceptance report from glad there are super majorities of Americans who agree that and support for lgbtq rights you just ran some of those numbers they're 96 super majorities of America non-lgbt Americans agree that schools should be a safe and accepting place for all youth 91 of non-lgbt Americans agree that LGBT people should have the freedom to live life and not be discriminated against and an 84 super majority of non-lgbt Americans support equal rights for the LGBT community so of cou
rse this comes at a time where there are a record rise also in anti-lgbt legislation anti-lgbtq hate all-time highs there as well but the key through line here is that anti-lgbt hate and fear goes against this majority uh of uh acceptance and it goes against public opinion so important to hear especially if you spend any amount of time on social media on Twitter it certainly seems like there's probably less acceptance than normal did want to ask despite growing acceptance that the survey found t
here are still a lot of people who are just unfamiliar when it comes to certain aspects of the community so how do you go about addressing that situation totally I call this homework for the LGBT community and also our allies so navigating and Bridging the the acceptance Gap I'm calling this uh really involves breaking down what what that acceptance is we have such high numbers and acceptance for the LGBT community overall but we're seeing acceptance and familiarity break down and Trail off when
you start getting into uh the makeup of our community so uh we have glad research here that shows that only 30 percent of of Americans know a transgender person so the 70 uh outlying there remaining where are they getting that where are they getting their education from they're really getting it from rear Ron desantises these individuals protesting anti-um these anti-dragon and anti-drag Story Hour protests that 70 where people don't know transgender people is really uh that that gap for us and
glad we create space for lgbtq people and stories to thrive and we do that with with workshops and trainings across media but I think it's when it comes to bridging that Gap and that acceptance Gap that I talked about uh accelerating acceptance is is it comes down to all of us it's accepting our own stories and owning our own stories but also listening to others and when it comes down to this this report as you just flash some numbers there only half of Americans are familiar with non-binary an
d transgender people so we have some way some some homework like I said some ways to go and understanding the fullness of the LGBT community but knowing we have the backing of that super majority of support uh that's in the numbers here yeah some progress left to go but a lot to be optimistic about all right Tony Morrison thank you so much last year we told you about a yet to be released dictionary comprised of words and phrases created or refined by black people the Oxford dictionary of African
-American English is touted as a culmination of three years of research meant to bridge the gaps between African-American language culture and history on a wider scale we are now learning about some of the entries that will be included in the dictionary slated for release in 2025. joining us now to further explore this is Tracy Weldon the executive editor and Advisory Board member of the Oxford dictionary of African American English as well as Dr Renee Blake associate professor of linguistics an
d social and cultural analysis at New York University thank you to both of you for being here Tracy let's start with you what is the significance of this dictionary and why now good morning and thank you for having me we are so excited about the uh soon to be released Oxford dictionary of African American English it has been a long time in the making it was a brainchild of Professor Henry Louis Gates and with the support of the Hutchins Center in Oxford University press the opportunity was just
right to be able to acknowledge many of the contributions of the African-American speech Community to the English language so opportunity is um is key here and we're just excited to be able to begin this project Dr Blake from a linguistic point of view what is African-American English and what can you tell us about the overall contributions that African Americans have made to the language well I'm just excited to celebrate the innovation of language by African Americans so African-American Engli
sh originates in 16th 17th century where you're talking about enslaved Africans coming in contact with colonizers and you need to communicate and so this language is created out of a need for communication but over time it is developed and African Americans have innovated the language to be what it is today and it really impacts all of our Lives not just in terms of words but also in terms of sentences and how they were together and how we communicate right across the board so this has become cr
itical right so just think about American English and the excitement behind that and African-American English being critical and foundational to that and Dr Blake you mentioned this impacts all of our Lives the dictionary has a mix of both everyday words that have become ingrained in our society that people might not even know come from Black Culture like Cakewalk for example and there's some newer words as well can cultural words that are sometimes credited to other groups be reclaimed absolute
ly but I think it's really important to remember here that we're talking about African Americans um innovating language right and so it's languages Dyna is dynamic and I rather think about this in terms of innovation and the dynamism of language and this is in fact what African Americans have been doing from the beginning of time and continue to do so yes there's Reclamation especially with words that may hurt or um but what I love is that African-Americans can take a language and take words and
give it multiple senses in multiple contexts and continue to innovate with language so for me the excitement is innovation Innovation definitely Tracy I understand this dictionary is not your average scholarly book written by a bunch of Industry insiders anyone can submit word entries that could end up being in the final draft why was that so important and how can people participate sure so we're looking at many different sources music literature speeches um but the crowdsourcing aspect is prob
ably most important because this is a living dictionary and it's important that we give an opportunity to the community of speakers who create these words to have some say in what gets represented and how it gets represented in the dictionary so if anyone wants to contribute to the dictionary the odaae Oxford dictionary of African-American English website odaae.com you can visit there and submit your entries and give recommendations for the meetings pronunciations and spellings and the lexicogra
phy team will take that up and it's likely that your entries will be seriously considered for submission all right this is fascinating and Dr Blake as you said the Innovation is very exciting Tracy Weldon and Dr Renee Blake thank you so much for being with us foreign [Music] Good Friday morning I'm Valerie Castro and I'm Stephen Romo Joe and Savannah are on assignment this morning right now on Morning News Now disaster averted after months of negotiations the debt ceiling bill is almost over the
line overnight Senate passed legislation which raises the debt limit for two years and avoids a potentially catastrophic economic crisis save the country from the scourge of default even though there were some on the other side who wanted to fall wanted to lead us to default you may be a little tired but we did it the president is expected to sign off on that bill today before addressing the nation later this evening more on the effect this new bill will have on the nation's economy and on your
wallet also this morning bringing the heat millions of Americans are bracing for what's expected to be the hottest day of the year so far for many how that's affecting towns and cities across the country and what you can do to try to stay cool pulse of the economy the latest jobs numbers out this morning will bring you that all-important figure and what it could mean for the fed's fight against inflation along with your budget plus casting a spell 14 year old Deb Shaw has been crowned at this y
ear's National Spelling Bee Champion we'll hear from the Florida team later this morning on His stunning Victory and the word that ended up sealing his win very exciting what a fun moment I know hard to beat that I cannot spell for anything so can't wait to talk to him we do begin this morning though with the extreme weather Psalm dealing with blistering temperatures and for others it's the rain and the flooding in Texas parts of Highway 87 were shut down near the Panhandle When Storms there cau
sed massive flash flooding this is what it looked like near Lubbock some cars were swept off the road and at least a dozen rescue missions to save people stranded in their cars and while the South prepares for even more rain millions of people in the Northeast are racing for extreme heat dozens of schools are already closed that have already closed their doors in cities like Philadelphia we'll check in with meteorologist Angie lastman in just a minute with all of that plus a tropical depression
in the Gulf but we're going to start with NBC News correspondent Emily aqueda from Coney Island right here in New York City Emily good morning good morning to you well millions of Americans for many of them it could be the hottest day of the year so far right now here in Coney Island it's just about 68 degrees or so but we could see that mercury Spike 15 plus degrees come this afternoon a sign of what's to come as forecasters warn for of a hotter than normal summer season this morning wild weath
er across the country heading into the weekend millions are bracing for a brutal heat as soaring temperatures are again set to stifle parts of the Midwest and East Coast I'm ready for summer sweltering conditions this week already setting record highs in seven states at just the beginning of June Burlington Vermont hitting 96 degrees Augusta Maine 93 and a staggering 97 in Fargo North Dakota and for some today could be even hotter it just feels good yeah it's just like finally some nice warm sun
shine it comes as further west Texas is reeling from major floods dramatic rescues across the Lubbock area coming cars stranded on the highways some drivers abandoning their vehicles others pulled to safety you're gonna have to get you out man as Texas recovers across the country worsening air quality from the extreme heat a concern this weekend with alerts now in 18 states east coast and Midwest cities taking action during the high temps the city of Pittsburgh activating cooling centers for res
idents and visitors as Relentless heat prompts the closure of public schools in Grand Rapids Michigan an early dismissal in Detroit and nearly 100 schools in Philadelphia today the heat could prove problematic for America's power grid roughly two-thirds of the country are at an elevated risk of power loss or blackouts there are things that we can do to manage that if we plan ahead and experts say conserving energy during peak hours and leaning on community cooling centers can help prevent some o
f those blackouts when it comes to beating the heat a few simple things to keep in mind where that light clothing don't forget to lather on the sunscreen take advantage of the shade like I am right now when you can because when you step out of the sunlight it can sometimes feel 15 degrees cooler and then of course above all hydrate hydrate hydrate the CDC says that if you are working in the heat you should be drinking a cup of water every 15 to 20 minutes guys all right Emily and hopefully some
ice cream out on the boardwalk there will keep you cool as well Emily aquetta thanks so much I like the way you think water and ice why not all right let's get to meteorologist Angie lastman for our morning news now forecast Angie good morning good morning guys we've got a lot to talk about as you just mentioned we are dealing with the heat in some parts of the country we've also got a tropical depression to talk about and severe storms possible for parts of the Plains let's start with the tropi
cs we've got an area that we've been continuing to watch over the past couple of days it did form into a depression tropical depression too yesterday and continues to be really unorganized winds at 35 miles per hour moving south at five miles per hour we'll continue that kind of southerly and then eventually southeasterly movement over the coming days as it is parts of Western Cuba for us in the United States it really means impacts to Florida and it's really telling that we have this flood watc
h already up we've dealt with multiple rounds of rain yesterday we have more rounds of rain expected for this same kind of area here as we go through the rest of the weekend your Saturday and your Sunday could be soggy in the Sunshine State especially if you live really south of Daytona Beach that's where we could see those higher amounts Tampa Naples West Palm Beach Miami all included in this and it does come with the potential for maybe five to even higher amount inches of rain by the time thi
s is all said and done meanwhile we moved to the plains where yesterday was a busy day we saw heavy amounts of rain causing some difficulties with driving in the flash flooding was was widespread we're continuing to see the potential for that here today as well notice is where you see the yellows the oranges the Reds that's anywhere over an inch to even two inches and localized amounts could be a little higher than that this is through the afternoon hours today and into the evening hours similar
time frame we're also going to look for the potential for some strong storms that could be severe bringing us the potential for some large hail up to two inches in size as well as those wind gusts up to 75 miles per hour and even a couple of tornadoes it'll be mainly focused through Texas but it does extend just slightly into parts of Oklahoma as well as out into New Mexico but if you live in the San Angelo Lubbock area that's where you're going to want to watch for potential to see even some o
f these tornadoes in that hail and wind too now on to the temperatures Emily give you a good rundown of just how warm it is going to be and all the things that have to be done because of that here's some of the records that we're expecting today a tie in Lansing Burlington headed to 90 degrees Hartford 92 degrees that would be the previous or the current record I should say of 91 degrees it doesn't last all that long for parts of the Northeast by tomorrow we're going to see a cool down temperatu
res will be into the mid 60s in New York so it'll be kind of a sweater kind of day for folks there 57 in Boston meanwhile though the Midwest you're going to hang on to the heat 90s will be seen once again tomorrow we'll start to see those kind of dwindle down a little bit by the time we end our weekend and head into our next work week but really comfortable conditions settle in for folks in the Northeast one thing to note those air quality alerts remain up we have 85 million people impacted by t
hat unhealthy air so if you are part of a sensitive group make sure you're taking it easy out there staying indoors that's going to be something we'll deal with for at least the next couple of days guys all right a lot going on out there Angie thank you all right turning now to Washington where this morning President Biden is getting ready to sign the debt stealing bill after it passed in the Senate last night lawmakers passed that legislation surpassing the 60 votes needed it's a rare sign of b
ipartisanship on Capitol Hill NBC News the chief White House correspondent Peter Alexander joins us now for more on this Peter good morning so Democrats and Republicans in both the house and the Senate came together to pass this bill officially known as the fiscal responsibility act so walk us through how did lawmakers get it over the Finish Line well they finally got this thing done just before midnight last night it really shows you how quickly the Senate can move when it wants to that final v
ote 63-36 that will do a series of things it'll raise the debt limit until 2025 that is after the next presidential election it'll cap federal spending for the next two years as well and most importantly hear what it's going to do is it's going to avoid what would have been a catastrophic default the U.S was set to run out of money to pay its bills on Monday so this got done just in the nick of time as a political matter here it really demonstrated the strength of the political middle there were
actually a lot of Progressive Democrats and some more conservative Republicans who oppose this in all 31 Republicans voted against it five Democrats voted against it which meant there was a coalition of lawmakers from both sides ultimately who voted in favor of this and as important as anything it takes the issue of default at least for the next couple of years off the table and Peter speaking about the politics of all this there was so much finger-pointing after those weeks of negotiations bet
ween the White House and and House Republicans we heard a lot of groundwork being laid for placing the blame so who's claiming the victory now well we're gonna hear from President Biden tonight he's going to be speaking for the first time in fact delivering an oval office address tonight should happen at about seven o'clock Eastern time the White House wants to claim some credit here because they were able to avoid a catastrophic default they will blame Republicans for what they say are extreme
positions that would have hurt some of the most needy in this country Republicans they're they're claiming credit here as well you've heard repeatedly from speaker house Speaker Kevin McCarthy saying in fact that this does cut spending and cap spending it it limits the trajectory of the U.S right now but certainly a lot of Republicans are dissatisfied they say it should have gone yet further here at the end of the day there's enough for each side to try to claim a bit of credit and President Bid
en is probably is going to try to cast this as a bipartisan effort which really may be an example of the Way Washington is supposed to work you know we've heard a lot from speaker McCarthy throughout all this but not much from the president so it will be interesting to hear from him and Peter I got to ask about that scare the President Biden had yesterday that fall on stage during the Air Force Academy commencement address we did hear from him afterward and he seemed okay so what is the White Ho
use saying well here's that moment you can see when the president fell on stage after shaking hundreds of hands at the Air Force Academy he was shaking hands with the cadets there as they were graduating he says the White House says that he tripped on a sandbag that was Tethered to a teleprompter to hold it down the White House says that he is just fine but it certainly is getting a lot of scrutiny because of the age of the president and voters concerns about his ability to serve given head 80 h
e is the oldest president ever to serve the president that was in good spirits last night he got back to the White House last evening in front of reporters he sort of jogged a little bit into the residence and he joked that he got quote sandbagged sandbag different meaning for the word sandbag all right Peter thank you now to the latest in the intensifying race for the White House former president Trump is escalating his Feud with his top GOP rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis plus there are ne
w developments in the special counsel investigation into those classified documents found at Mar-A-Lago NBC National correspondent Gabe Gutierrez is in Manchester New Hampshire with the details Governor DeSantis is ripping into former president Trump here in New Hampshire telling me that voting for Trump would essentially be like voting for a lame duck still at this early stage in the game the former president is way ahead in the polls despite his mounting legal troubles overnight former preside
nt Trump defiant when asked during a fox Town Hall in Iowa about new developments and a special counsel investigation into his handling of classified documents I don't know anything about it all I know is this everything I did was right a source directly familiar with the matter tells NBC News a special counsel's office has a recording of Mr Trump discussing a planning document he'd kept related to Iran acknowledging on the tape it was classified while the special counsel's office is not comment
ing The Source says the recording was made during a 2021 meeting at Mr Trump's New Jersey home that included people helping former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows write his Memoir NBC News has not heard the recording which The Source says was played for a grand jury I have the right to declassify as president President Biden is also facing an investigation into his handling of classified documents the controversy comes as the 2024 presidential campaign heats up with more GOP candidates including for
mer vice president Mike Pence and former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie set to formally enter the race next week I don't know why people are doing it on the trail Mr Trump saying his battle against top rival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has escalated into a war when I heard the scientists go out and say uh and and talk about eight years we need eight years you don't need eight years you need six months we can turn this thing around so quickly DeSantis here in New Hampshire telling me voters
should not elect a lame dog to just one term governor do you think it's a mistake for former president Trump to say he can turn around the country in six months he had four years he didn't make a dent in it give me a break Governor DeSantis is careful not to mention Trump's name in his stump speech to voters but he is trying to highlight that contrast when he answers questions from reporters the former president also attacking DeSantis over the inconsistent pronunciation of his last name the go
vernor firing back in a radio interview calling that petty and juvenile back to you all right Gabe thanks so much well the justice department is defending actions taken by the Trump Administration we're talking about the policies that led to the forced separation of Migrant children from their parents at the southern border this is all according to a recent court filing which shows a contrast from President Biden's previous criticisms of those separations five Asylum seeking mothers sued the gov
ernment for the trauma they say happened due to that separation policy the justice department taking the position that the families don't have legal standing to file this lawsuit the separations were part of former president Trump's Zero Tolerance policy that focused on Prosecuting anyone who crossed the border without authorization more than 5600 children were separated from their parents in 2017 and 2018. this morning Bill Cosby is facing a new sexual assault lawsuit former Playboy model Victo
ria Valentino filed that civil lawsuit claiming Cosby drugged and raped her back in 1969. Valentino first publicly accused Cosby of sexual assault nearly 10 years ago but this new suit was filed under a new California law that created a three-year window to file civil sexual assault claims that would otherwise expire under the statute of limitations in a statement a Cosby representative said that it is quote deeply disturbing that our lawmakers would push forward these look-back windows which ar
e a sheer violation of all Americans constitutional right the statement also said that there were inconsistencies in Valentino's story Cosby previously spent three years in prison for sexual assault and drugging he was freed when that ruling was overturned due to a legal technicality we're back now with the latest on the war in Ukraine air raid alarms sounded throughout the country as Russian forces carried out a new wave of attacks overnight on Keefe NBC News foreign correspondent Molly Hunter
has the latest good morning just in the last couple of hours there are reports of explosions in birdians it's a russian-held port city in southern Ukraine another sign that Ukraine is striking Russia deep Behind Enemy Lines overnight Russia fired at least 36 missiles and drones and here in Kiev thousands of people Sheltering once again in the subway stations it's been the deadliest week in the capital in months yesterday outside of Keith Health Clinic a downed missile fragment killed three peopl
e says his wife was trying to get into the shelter but it was locked the person tasked with opening the shelter allegedly didn't do it and City officials say a criminal investigation is now underway Keith's mayor says the missile fragments fell just four minutes after the sirens sounded a mother and daughter were also killed here the child's grandfather watching over the nine-year-old's body Ukraine's air defense has been keeping up with the Russian bombardments but the top item in a new U.S mil
itary aid package this week additional Munitions for Patriot air defense systems the U.S investment here is widely felt in the donbass region Ukrainian troops trained by U.S troops in NATO countries are preparing for a counter-offensive now most these guys did not have professional military experience before the war they had basic training and they were sent to the front line which makes these days when they're off the front line that much more critical these three soldiers all trained on anti-t
ank Weaponry with U.S trainers in Germany when did you all join beginning of reward February on the first day they all say what was it like being with skilled American troops they were striving to train us specifically to be more ready for this type of warfare Yuri says do you have American friends now you make American friends on that base yes he says and we're still in touch but what weighs on their minds their families back at home even as Ukraine's air defense is successful civilians are pay
ing the price now here in Kiev police say they are now patrolling those bomb shelters and there's actually an app which shows you a map of the open shelters nearby well as of today you can now report on that app when shelters are closed I'll send it back to you all right Molly thanks for the update now to Germany where the U.S ambassador is making an emotional reconnection with her family Amy Gutman visited the town her father's family was forced to leave behind during Hitler's rise to power her
family is now being memorialized after surviving the Holocaust despite the rise of anti-Semitism in the U.S NBC News Chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell joins us now with the details Andrea good morning good morning Valerie well this was a remarkable trip we took this week to Germany because with anti-Semitism On The Rise here in the U.S President Biden just announcing a new strategy to combat hate crimes and anti-jewish content we joined the Ambassador in Germany which is leadi
ng Europe in recognizing the need to Stamp Out the scourge of anti-semitism nestled in the hills of Bavaria the small German Town of voitvangen for 800 years home to a Jewish Community who owned homes ran businesses built a synagogue how wonderful is it to be here in Germany in the town where your father and grandparents generations of governments lived it's amazing and emotional to be here with my father and my grandparents and his siblings lived and had to flee are the first U.S ambassador to
Germany Amy Gutman the first American ambassador here whose family were Holocaust Survivors now invited by the current mayor to return for a ceremony of reconciliation and Remembrance if we want to assume responsibility and ensure that we never see such Injustice again in voystrangen it is imperative that we remember as a memorial these cobblestones inscribe with the names of gutman's family were placed in front of the family's former home and store now a bookstore one hundred thousand of these
stroppers China have been created for Holocaust victims in 30 European countries by the artist Gunter demnig whose father fought for Nazi Germany in the war Jewish families have been living in this town since the 13th century but after the anti-jewish riots in 1937 and 38 they were all forced out many to the death camps gutman's immediate family got out in time but two of her uncles were sent to bookenvald they survived one disabled for life you don't mince words when you talk about the trauma a
nd the horrors of the past where the citizens of this town I have to be really honest about this we're still seeing so many horrors of anti-Semitism in the world and um faithwangan was one of the places where Nazism thrive in 1933 70 of the people here voted for Adolf Hitler and the Nazi mayor led the burning of the synagogue in 1938. why is it so important for the people in this small town and in Germany to remember what the Nazis did and to remember the Holocaust if they didn't think back and
remember there's no way we could say never again I also have to say personally it just means so much to me and my family to be able to come back here and realize that the country my father fled is now working with us to combat anti-Semitism with the synagogue once stood there's now a museum with an exhibit on the town's Jewish life this is my grandma oh really yes and the Ambassador has come full circle able to retrieve a part of her family history she had never known the German government says
that there were more than 3 000 anti-semitic crimes in the country in 2021 according to the most recent report a 29 increase over the previous year and this is similar to the trends here in the U.S ambassador Gutman is working with her German colleagues determined to reverse that Trend Andrea Mitchell thank you so much more International headlines now in Mexico the search for seven young people who went missing took a gruesome turn Janice Mackey Frayer joins us now from Beijing with that and mor
e good morning Janice it's a grim Discovery in Mexico police there found 45 bags containing body parts that match the characteristics of seven missing call center workers these bags were found in a ravine in a suburb of Guadalajara that's in Western Mexico forensic investigators are still trying to determine the number of victims and their identities the state prosecutor's office said that seven people were reported missing between May 20th and 22nd the U.S and Taiwan have signed a new trade dea
l The First Agreement in the new initiative as tensions with China are on the rise the deal includes measures to streamline border procedures and it gives a boost to Americans support for Taiwan that Drew a warning from China about sending quote wrong signals to Taiwan about sovereignty this deal comes just as a high profile security Summit is getting underway in Singapore and finally celebrations and Splendor in Amman Jordan for a very chic royal wedding that included a lot of Royal guests from
around the world including William and Kate The Prince and Princess of Wales first lady Jill Biden was there too the groom is Crown Prince Hussein of Jordan he married rajwa al-saib she is an American educated architect from a prominent Saudi family who wowed the crowds and won praise for wearing flats on her wedding day and that is a look at your headlines this hour so many Royals there it's like something from Disney Janice thanks so much [Music] yeah it's a decades-long tradition involving p
arties poolside lounging and of course amusement park Adventures but some people are rethinking their plants major gay rights groups have issued Travel warnings for anyone heading to Florida this is because of a recent surge in anti-lgbtq legislation there for more on all this let's bring in gay day CEO Joseph Clark Joseph good morning thanks for being here so let's take a step back from this for a minute and sort of highlight the Gay Day celebration it'll be on Saturday I know at Disney's Magic
Kingdom which happens to be where the first gay Day celebration happened back in 1991 so what does this mean not only for your organization but for the lgbtq plus community yeah it's I mean it's been a part of Orlando in the lgbtq plus Community here locally if not throughout the country since 91. it started as a group of friends that were getting together at Disney World uh wearing red shirts and since expanded to 180 000 people were estimated to attend here um it's kind of a big deal I I joke
around about that a lot but it's that Community coming together uh for this large event going and seeing the mouse of course but just having a fun time Joseph this is a particularly hostile time for the lgbtq community in Florida you've got those recent anti-lgbtq bills there and Governor DeSantis is currently embroiled with Disney over the so-called don't say gay bill is there any concern over the safety of this event and what do you make of the growing number of states that are passing these
Bans yeah it's it's disheartening to see the amount of states that are passing these bans out there because I just don't understand why um what is the reason why we even need to pass bands like this um as far as the safety aspect safety for us comes in numbers and getting together as a group provides that safety for us we're not concerned here at our event we're of course at a private property of a Host Hotel and we have the utmost ends of security if anything we were we were more concerned year
s ago after the pulse shooting to it so we've seen protesters before in the 30 plus years of the events um we've seen the signs before so ultimately the more people that come though the less we have to be worried about that even happening and those people coming on the property and doing anything Joseph I'm interested with this huge push we've seen of this anti-lgbtq legislation in many States including Florida and in light of all that backlash what do you think the future looks like and what me
ssage do you have for people in the community I believe that the future is going to change I think generationally it's just going to change a lot of the younger audience that I speak to this is just not okay and they have no idea why this is even a topic out there um especially our trans Community is growing um they're getting stronger as it is I believe that this is definitely a bump on the road to not put it lightly but it it is something that will change but I think that only changes if we co
me together as a community um it's it's happened before uh ironically starting in Florida in Dade County for years ago Harvey Milk um over in California in San Francisco I mean he pushed it out there that people just need to know we're here they need to know who we are they need to know that their neighbor that their brother that their sister um are a part of this community and that will change their mindset which is why I push people to come to Florida and not just to our event to all events uh
around in the state we we're hosting several Pride events here at our Expo um just so we can get the word out that we're not going anywhere uh these are not all events are canceling or changing or doing all this uh we're standing strong all right an important message Joseph Clark thanks so much for joining us this morning we're back now with breaking news the May jobs report has just been released by the labor department and more than 339 jobs were at 33 900 jobs were added last month yeah that
's far more than the 190 000 jobs economists predicted the unemployment rate in the U.S now stands at 3.7 percent we're joined by our economy dream team of NBC News business and data reporter Brian Chung and Investopedia editor-in-chief Caleb silver good morning to you both thanks for hanging out with us to break down these numbers and Brian let's start with you we're getting a first look at those numbers right now what's jumping out to you yeah well I mean it's a blowout number when we talk abo
ut what economists had been expected so 339 000 jobs that's how many were added in the month of May that is well above what estimates were the unemployment rate did take up to 3.7 percent but it's interesting when you take a look at the industries that saw a lot of job gains you're looking at Business Services government Health Care construction that's really interesting because most of the job gains in the previous month were driven by Leisure and Hospitality more low wage tends to be higher co
ntact type of jobs that did not appear to drive the massive job gains that we saw in this month it was a lot of White Collar work that we had been hearing anecdotally were experiencing layoffs in the past few months so maybe this shows a bottoming out of that and perhaps people coming back into things like for example professional and business services either way really a positive to see a number that large and Caleb what's your take what does this report say about the state of our economy as th
e summer season gets underway yeah blowout report Brian mentioned the fact that these are good paying jobs professional and business services Healthcare government jobs these are career jobs you can work in for years and build a career and but also look at the numbers that were revised up from the prior months not only do we have high job numbers last month and the month before those numbers were revised higher so the labor market is stronger than a lot of people believe and there's still a lot
of jobs out there over 10 million jobs according to the latest jult report plenty of work out there and plenty of jobs in high-paying sectors this is a positive report for the economy so this is some good news Brian but Americans sure want to know does this mean are there paychecks going up how are wages doing in all this yeah well this report said that average hourly earnings on a year-over-year basis so comparing May of this year to May of last year went up by 4.3 that's a little bit slower th
an the 4.4 that we had seen in the last report but it's still pacing below the pace of inflation so the prices of everything at the store are going up at a higher rate than your wages are going up but regardless you are encouraged to see that that's that that wage number isn't slowing more substantially what would be more eroding uh the Americans uh wallet so that's definitely something that we're watching for very closely something the Federal Reserve is also watching as they're trying to delib
erately slow this economy to take inflation down which could also take wage growth down but again 4.3 percent appeared to be how much more people were getting paid in the month of May and Caleb we're getting another look at how the economy is doing from some big retailer stores like Costco and Macy's are warning that customer demand is slowing that's not a good sign is it is this a potential sign of what's to come yeah potentially because we have very high credit card debt it's at record highs P
lus Credit Card aprs are north of 20 so we're spending our way into some deep debt right now but the fact that the labor market strong gives people a little more encouragement to spend a not so worry so much about am I going to lose my job as somebody in my family going to lose their job in the next couple of months the labor market is telling us the economy is still strong there's still demand out there even though people are pulling back a little bit on spending they're still spending a lot on
discretionary spending that means travel that means going out on a summer trip that means going out to eat so money is being spent just not among the retailers right now Caleb thanks so much for breaking this every year the scripts words leave us scratching our heads and running for our dictionaries and this year's winning word was no different samaphile semaphile but it was no mystery word for 14 year old Dev Shaw who's now fifty thousand dollars richer after winning the competition and here's
that moment he scored big p-h-i-l-e semapho that is correct Florida and now Fresh Off The Big wind of Shaw the 2023 National Spelling Bee Champion joins us now Deb good morning and congratulations this was your third year participating in the National Spelling Bee you've been prepping for this for years how do you feel about this um it I I'm still feeling good but it's still soaking in I guess yeah I bet it's a big realization Deb I have to ask samaphile that's your winning word was that a hard
one for you or were you sort of relieved when you heard it and how do you tackle a word that you are unsure of um I was relieved when I heard it but there were quite a few words that I was a little iffy on like told sister but how I handled that I just I asked roots and I um I asked questions to reassure myself and besides getting some much-needed rest and sleep what's next for you are you going to continue doing this as a hobby uh yeah because just like as a hobby I it would be much more enjoy
able knowing that I don't have the pressure of a competition and I can just learn for fun oh that makes sense that I've always wanted to ask someone in these spelling bee competitions when you do ask those questions for word origin and to repeat the word are you ever just buying time what is your strategy there uh well you don't really buy time when you ask questions the time still goes by but most of the time it's just to get confidence I guess like no hearing the words definition you get reass
urance that you're spelling the right word but sometimes it's just you don't actually know the word and you're trying to figure it out you know you walked away with a fifty thousand dollar prize what do you plan to use the money for um well I didn't I didn't know if I was gonna win so I guess I'll figure that out later lots to think about there well congratulations on anything okay thanks for joining us we appreciate it very smart don't spend the money before you have it thanks well some Financi
al headlines now and the Pentagon has agreed to purchase Starling satellite internet terminals for use in Ukraine CNBC Silvana hanawa joins us now with that and other news good morning Savannah hey Valerie good morning Stephen how are you today all right so SpaceX has won a contract from the Pentagon to supply its Starling satellite service to Ukraine starlink has been used by Ukrainian troops for a variety of efforts including communication on the battlefield SpaceX had been providing starlink
to the country since the start of the war with Russia with the help of private donations and under a separate U.S government contract the Pentagon deal is a boost for SpaceX after CEO Elon Musk said last year it couldn't afford to fund starlink indefinitely Google Wallet is adding the option to save passes such as gym memberships and store rewards cards as long as there's a barcode or QR code that can be scanned Google is also matching apple and supporting digital IDs and as of today residents i
n Maryland can add their driver's licenses and ID cards on any device using Android 8 or newer Arizona Colorado and Georgia will be added in the coming months and health insurance cards through Humana are also coming to Google Wallet Americans are splurging on jet this year the national retail Federation predicts consumers will spend a record 22.9 billion dollars on Father's Day or roughly 196 dollars per person now that's up from 20 billion dollars last year the most popular gifts are greeting
cards clothing dinner or brunch gift cards and personal care items and a record 42 percent of people say they'll buy a subscription box and 29 will buy experienced gifts like tickets to a game or a concert guys obviously I know the experiences so yeah I'd like to give that to whenever have to give a gift my favorite thing to do smart that's a great idea I think my dad would hate subscription boxes I think getting mail like makes them nervous just waiting for stuff so let's go with experiences I
like the way you think so I like it all right appreciate it during the pandemic thanks to QR codes our phones became the new menus well now these little digital boxes are changing the game for vendors in India NBC News correspondent Janice Mackey Frayer has the story everywhere you go in India on every street at every food stall A revolution is underway in the country's sprawling economy and how people here are engaging with it it's happening because of this India's homegrown digital payment sys
tem in an instant customers can pay for virtually anything using a smartphone and that's a huge shift in a place long driven by cash those QR codes are scattered among carts and store counters and attractions where Lo-Fi intersects with high tech to reinvent Commerce in what is now the world's most populous country how it works you need a smartphone and a bank account to link it to then you scan the code enter your password and that's it it's instant there's no cash Changing Hands these codes ar
e revolutionizing transactions here and there are huge numbers of people in all corners of the country that are being brought into the formal economy through these tiny codes while digital payments are the norm in places like China India's mobile app transactions dwarf anything happening in the west over a trillion dollars in transactions were processed last year and there are no transaction fees the platform is run by a non-profit India's prime minister has boasted that India leads the world in
real-time digital payments by clocking almost 40 percent of all such transactions now for most people unified payments interface or UPI as it's called makes daily life easier and banking more accessible for the government it's extended the reach of programs and of tax collection and it acts as a sort of blue with India On The Rise the fact that India has developed and economically and its size its population has become an asset rather than a liability there are still concerns over data privacy
that are lingering but that UPI is now embedded on such a scale here is something India wants to export to other developing countries digital net Works connecting more people than ever before our thanks to Janice Mackey Frayer for that report well during this pride month we want to shine a spotlight on some familiar and unfamiliar faces and they all have one thing in common making sure that all humans have access to equal rights NBC News correspondent Ellison Barber has some of their stories bey
ond the flags parades and pride themed products there's a group of activists performers and journalists that helped shape the public consciousness but not everyone has gotten the full Hollywood treatment even stars of the stage like Casino French for ladybug a renowned Club singer whose gender reassignment surgery made her a media sensation after World War II her 1960 marriage was recognized by the French government and the Catholic Church it opened the door for legal transgender marriages in Ba
yard Rustin a civil rights icon who came out in his teens and according to his partner always lived openly Law and Order do not exist in a vacuum they exist out of social justice he mentored and helped Reverend Martin Luther King Jr Implement practices of non-violent civil resistance yes I do I think uh non-violence is still the best approach he fought against racial discrimination and segregation and some of rustin's ideas became the model for the freedom rides of the 1960s he even helped organ
ize the 1963 March on Washington and posthumously received the presidential medal of freedom for decades this great leader often at Dr King's side was denied his rightful place in history because he was openly gay also at the Forefront in the fight for civil rights and marriage equality this has become a political question also just the whole whole question of how Asians are regarded in this country journalist Helen Zia whose advocacy started at a time of intense anti-asian sentiment in the Unit
ed States in Detroit two men who beat Vincent chin to death because he thought they thought he was Japanese were indicted today on federal charges of violating chin civil rights Zia led the fight to bring federal civil rights charges against two Detroit men for Chen's death although the sole conviction in the case was later overturned part of the justice was to make people aware that this was a racial crime and what race racism toward Asian Americans is and that it exists many people credit matl
ovich with advancing the fight for gay rights in this country he was discharged from the Air Force two years ago after he announced he was a homosexual after serving in the Vietnam War technical Sergeant Leonard matlabitch came out to his Air Force captain in a letter and began to lay the groundwork for members of the U.S military to serve openly when I was in the military they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharged for loving one Matt levich was awarded the Purple Heart and bronze
star but the Air Force discharged him because he was gay matlovich fought it in the courts won a settlement and his discharge was changed to indicate what he already knew he served honorably I never had a choice to choose to be straight or gay if I had that choice I love being a gay person I love being a moral person I love being a productive person to make Society a better place finally this hour it's Friday which means grab your popcorn and clear your calendar that's right because we have a l
ook at all the movies and TV shows coming out this weekend that you just can't miss and USA today's entertained this host Ralphie Versa is here to help us sort through this can't miss list good morning Ralphie good morning yes so superhero fans have a lot to look forward to this weekend I know we have the new Spider-Man and also the new Transformers what can you tell us about these all right so let's start with Spider-Man across the spider versus sequel to 2018's into the spider-verse we went in
to it now we're going across it a lot of famous voices in this animated film including uh uh Issa Ray and also Daniel kaluya as as well Haley Steinfeld also that was the name I was blinking on for a quick second there we spoke with Issa Ray by the way having a big month she's going to be president Barbie in the new Barbie film and then of course she's playing Jessica Drew here Spider Woman who's pregnant and rides a motorcycle so uh a lot to tackle for ISSA Ray by the way we gave this one three
and a half out of four stars so I think you're gonna like this one if you head to the theater to see it this weekend but we've got so much going on I Didn't Know Spider-Woman was actually in this this new one also want to ask about the new Transformers what is the it's the Beast or what yeah rise of the Beast is this one yes so we have a couple new uh human stars in this one Anthony Ramos being one Dominique Fishback being another and then of course we have those Transformers and that whole batt
le some of the Transformer actors by the way include Pete Davidson and Oscar winner Michelle yo so this one I think is going to surprise people I think at this point you hear about a new Transformers movie and you almost you you don't want to put it in the same category as fast and the furious but you're like oh another one but I think this one's going to surprise some people I think people are really going to enjoy it in theaters this weekend Michelle yo you don't want to miss that one exactly
uh also a big night for manifest fans uh streaming those final episodes starts tonight what can you tell us Valerie this is where it gets a little awkward here on the camp Miss list because this show was canceled by NBC after three seasons but was so popular on Netflix that they were like ah let's revive it for a season four and so here we go a 20 episode season four we got 10 episodes last fall we get the final 10 uh coming up now Josh Dallas who's the star uh told us that it really would have
been cruel to leave fans of the show hanging after season three so now they get a proper send-off all right at least they get a percent off all right so when I asked about is shooting stars I know a lot of people were talking about LeBron James sort of hinting at a possible retirement so what can you tell us about shooting stars all right well first of all my personal opinion is LeBron James is not retiring he's going to stick around to play with the sun Ronnie James speaking of Ronnie James tho
ugh Ronnie James was a McDonald All-American and he played on that All-Star team with mookie cook mookie cook stars as LeBron James in this film the film of course based on LeBron's life shot in Ohio as well mookie is committed to play at Oregon for the Ducks uh this upcoming season how cool is it LeBron James you know uh Champion with three different teams NBA all-time leading scorer he's still playing and we have basically a biopic about him streaming on peacock this weekend pretty cool so muc
h pressure though to play him and then like talk to him and then also play basketball right for a big division one school yeah exactly that's the challenge lastly reality TV Queen of the Universe and searching for soul food what can you tell us all right Queen of the Universe if you love drag queens and singing competitions this is is right up your alley just in time for pride month Vanessa Williams you see as one of the judges along with uh Mel B also and uh Trixie Mattel this is streaming on P
aramount Plus all right a lot going on this weekend yeah shout out to searching for uh soul food as well with Elisa Reynolds the chef that is on Hulu all right lots of stream Ralphie Versa thanks for helping us break all that down all right that's gonna do it for this hour Morning News Now the news continues right now thanks for watching our YouTube channel follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app
Comments
We need to transition to a situation where I’m not being stalked and harassed.
They are not offering a specific improvement of sny kind. The claim of what improvement ? How is this improvement done.??
The failure to act on the potential collapse of the building is at least criminal negligence and likely an act of murder..
Todos estas Bien aDios Las gracias ybendiciones para todos
Why this issue is annually repeated? As affordable budgets being difficult to set up for prices rising and new unexpected spendings every year happening?
cold ending lol 🥶🥶🥶🥶🥶 " i'm just getting started ... fades to black ⬛
Ozone makes me sensitive..
Culture is important.
Is the words sho nuf in the Oxford dictionary¿
So grateful these individuals are exemplifying why it’s impossible to have anyone I care about around me until there is a lot of time and distance from this situation.
No don't u get it
They should be held in the standard established by the balanced budget amendment to the constitution under penalty of impeachment. The revenues should always exceed expenditures. The debt ceiling is not something to consider after the fact.
Morning News NOW Full Broadcast - June 2
Speaking of spelling. I once misspelled that word. I spelled it. miss spelled two words
Also, they cling to my brother and Meow Wolf. Which is disturbing given all that’s involved in that situation.
The minimum wage equal to reliably pay the rent for one bedroom apartment local? Is one week's pay equal to one months rent for one bedroom apartment local commute? This is important for stability and shelter food for the poorest people..
Was the last Vegas is where Brian koeburger that serial killer was in Las Vegas in Dec 12 2022
When kids don't travel overseas, the loss is great. Learning about other countries and its people cannot be minimized. It opens communication. We are all human, more in common than we realize.
When will people be investigated for manufacture use and stockpile disposal of chemical weapons and unwarranted use of nuclear weapons.??
Nadern