Top Story with Tom Llamas - April 1 | NBC News NOW

tonight a dangerous storm system stretching from Texas to Ohio more than 40 million Americans affected by severe weather tonight intense storms packing the threat for nighttime tornadoes damaging winds and large hail in Oklahoma torrential downpours making driving conditions treacherous the same system dumped feet of snow in California's Sierra Nevada mountains and this is just the beginning a multi-day threat bringing flash flooding and the chance for a midweek nor Easter targeting the I95 Corr

idor we'll time it all out also tonight an SUV ramming into an FBI office a driver in custody after slamming into the front gate of the FBI's Atlanta headquarters what we're learning about the chaotic moments after the crash expanding Battlefield Israel strikes Syria a massive fiery explosion killing a top Iranian commander and leveling Iran's Embassy in Damascus the attack further fueling concerns of opening a second front this as Israel withdrawals from gaza's Main Hospital leaving a path of D

estruction the pressure building as prime minister Netanyahu faces the largest protest in Israel since the War Began battle over the Border former president Trump ramping up his anti-immigrant rhetoric with new ads casting migrants as dangerous criminals but his message isn't just resonating with his supporters some Democrats are now siding with him on the issue the concerns for President Biden's campaign ahead of of the November election presidential bling police busting down the president of P

eru's door and raiding her home searching for luxury watches the Scandal over her Rolex at the center of a corruption investigation plus a $20 minimum wage a new California fast food law raising the minimum wage to one of the highest in the country the change bringing some workers to tears saying it's desperately needed but not everyone is on board will explain and girls wrestling takeover a new generation of female wrestlers pinning down traditional Norms of the sport female wrestling now becom

ing the fastest growing High School sport in the country how they're shattering the glass ceiling one take down at a time top story starts right [Music] now and good evening tonight as we come on the air dangerous storms are firing up in the central us right now 40 million Americans are on alert for severe storms that include the threat for nighttime tornadoes new video Just In from Oklahoma torrential downpours you see him here leading to hazardous driving conditions large hail pelting the regi

on sending horses running for cover the massive storm threat stretching from San Antonio tonight up to Cincinnati it brings the risk for strong nocturnal tornadoes destructive winds and large softball siiz hail in California the same system dumped feet of heavy snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains several inches of rain inundated Santa Barbara count County flooding major roadways the system isn't anywhere near over tomorrow 55 million Americans look at it here from the Gulf Coast to the great lak

es also face a severe weather threat and by Wednesday we could be talking about a nor Easter dumping over a foot of snow in New England meteorologist Michelle Gman is standing by for us to time this all out but I want to get straight to NBC's Morgan chesky on the ground in Tulsa Oklahoma Morgan what are residents bracing for there yeah Tom a serious threat of tornadoes in fact forecast ERS here say the highest risk of tornadoes is happening in Oklahoma over the last year and that is why all eyes

are on the sky at last check the National Weather Service says 35 Oklahoma counties are under tornado watch until 900 p.m. that same watch extends down into Northern Texas five counties there bracing for potential tornadoes and you are seeing what these storms have already brought to a vast swath of this state a psize tail this is in Fairfax Oklahoma about an hour and a half Northwest of us here but the threat for hail in addition to tornadoes could go up to softball siiz hail that is incredibl

y damaging I shouldn't come across any property or anyone caught in its path and that is why forecasters are urging everyone to keep an incredibly close eye on conditions that could change so very quickly we know that the last significant tornado outbreak in Oklahoma was in April 19th 2023 multiple people died in an outbreak that spawned more than a dozen tornadoes and people people know that this is a way of life here in Oklahoma but that certainly does not make it any easier the threat will go

as you mentioned after the sun goes down uh and the tornado risk When the Sun Goes Down can make them even deadlier and so as it stands right now even though we know this system is moving to the north Northeast people definitely do not feel as if they're in the clear right now despite standing in Tulsa with an over overcast but calm Skies uh people know that we still have several hours where they can know that they're officially in the clear here Tom yeah and we all know a nighttime tornado can

cause so much damage all right Morgan we thank you for that for more on the severe weather I want to get right to NBC News meteorologist Michelle Gman Michelle how dangerous are these storms shaping up to be and how long are we going to be watching them hi there Tom well this is a multi-day event and as you mentioned nighttime tornadoes double as deadly so this is a really dangerous situation you need to have your tornado plan in place protect your family because we are starting to see these st

orms ignite even over the past two hours notice the lightning all the way from portions of southern Texas throughout portions of the central plains into the Ohio Valley so this is a wide area that has a threat to see severe storms over the next several hours and that includes overnight look at this 8 million under tornado watches stretching from the Southern Plains all the way to the Ohio Valley that's where you're seeing those red boxes and this is through 12:00 a.m. that's going to be the late

st and no doubt we're probably going to see that extended as we go throughout the next couple of hours it's not just a severe storms we could see some hail with those storms we could see damaging winds winds gusting up to 80 mph could see some some strong tornadoes as well but it has a ton of moisture with it we are so saturated in this area the Ohio Valley into the Mid-Atlantic but notice all those bright colors the Reds the yellows the oranges that's where we're seeing heavy heavy rainfall so

we do have a flood watch for 16 million people that will be through tomorrow we're going to be watching that and then as we go throughout Tuesday we're going to see the risk for 40 million people and the largest risk tomorrow will be T tornadoes as opposed to hail today again tonight we could see hail up to 2 Ines that is tennis ball size tomorrow we're going to worry about strong tornadoes damaging hail and also winds gusting up to 80 mph where you see these darker colors here tonight we're loo

king at the red that's Oklahoma City Dallas Springfield Kansas City St Louis into Cincinnati a broad swath then as we go throughout tomorrow we're going to increase that number to 55 million now we're talking Chattanooga bur Birmingham Nashville Lexington Charleston into Columbus looks like Columbus will be the bullseye for some really strong storms and again we're looking at that heavy rain falling over the next several days this will move into the Mid-Atlantic by Wednesday Tom all right Michel

le gross from Michelle we appreciate that we turn to some breaking news out of Atlanta tonight the FBI saying a man is in custody after ramming his car into the front Gates of their Atlanta headquarters the scene unfolding just earlier today as authorities are now investigating a motive here's bla Alexander with more tonight a major security Scare at the FBI field office in Atlanta when agent say a man driving this vehicle used it to try and force his way inside we can confirm a person rammed in

to the FBI Atlanta's front gate shortly afternoon today he was not associated with this facility the FBI says the driver tried to get past the security checkpoint by following an employees vehicle inside but the security barrier engaged and the suspect crashed his car into it officials say he then jumped out of the car and tried to run toward the building but only made it a few feet before being tackled several of our special agents who are passing by apprehended him his motives at this point ar

e not known the suspect was taken to a local area hospital where he's being evaluated the suspect was never close to actually getting inside of the building officials say and note it's too early to tell whether this was a potential Act of terror tonight FBI officials are not releasing the name of the suspect and say no weapons were found inside the car all right Blain Alexander joins top story live tonight from the scene so bla we don't have a motive yet but do we know what this man's going to b

e charged with tonight right well Tom I'm told that officials are considering both state and potentially federal charges for the suspect but as you said there are still a lot of questions they don't have a motive they say that this car has no previous ties or the suspect has any previous ties to this particular field office and then of course they're going to be looking into seeing what if anything motivated him to do this again no weapons were actually found in that vehicle but that doesn't tak

e away the possibility of some very serious charges here Tom bla Alexander for us tonight from Atlanta bla we thank you we want to move on now to the massive cleanup operation underway in Baltimore tonight progress is being made just one week following that frightening bridge collapse that killed six people the US Coast Guard now opening a makeshift channel for ships involved in the long recovery NBC's Aaron Gilcrest has the very latest tonight authorities battling more bad weather in the Urgent

mission to get a portion of the Baltimore port back open today announcing a temporary Channel now complete it will help us to get more vessels in the water around the site of the collapse we were out on the water with the Coast Guard late today with this temporary shipping channel now open we're seeing one of the first ships to go through off in the distance here a barge being pushed by a tugboat the operation in full swing 6 days after the Francis Scott Key bridge collapsed when a container sh

ip struck one of its pillars we know Crews were out this weekend with cutting torches slicing these pieces of metal you're looking at now some of the first pieces that were cut and they're waiting to be removed the new 11t deep temporary shipping Lane expected to allow only vessels essential to salvage operations more than 370 Engineers technicians Logistics experts and others working around the clock the plan clear the bridge wreckage from the channel stabilize the dolly remove the bridge span

from its bow and eventually remove some cargo containers so the massive ship can be refloated and brought back to Port all of this expected to take weeks at least we're going to move as rapidly as possible but we're going to continue to do it safely every day the port remains closed could have a major impact on both the supply chain and the 8,000 jobs that directly depend on this busy Waterway being open 140,000 workers have some connection to this shipping hub it's stung um seeing it seeing it

come down Chris Elliott is a long shoreman the folks who handle all the products moving from ship to shore at the Port since the bridge collapse Chris has been in limbo the uncertainty has to be hard though yeah it is it's uh every day you're thinking about the future and the uncertainty um you know you lose some sleep over it um got bills to pay so many all across Baltimore affected by this accident Aon gilchrest joins us tonight from the scene Aaron you just spoke there with someone who said h

e's now out of a job as we wait for this massive repair operation are there any efforts by the government to assist businesses now in the state of limbo yeah Tom well I'll tell you that Chris told me that he is now looking for other part-time work he said recently applied for something he was one of 400 people who applied for that job we understand from the Biden Administration the small business administration actually opened up an office here a resource center for businesses in this region to

start applying for lowest government loans of up to $2 million the government says that it wants to make sure that these people can get this money so they can keep their businesses operating and keep their employees working and Aaron I know you have some other reporting the White House announced today that President Biden will travel to Baltimore later this week week what do we know about that yeah Tom we learned the president will come here to Baltimore on Friday I suspect it'll probably be uh

by helicopter he'll get a chance to see the wreckage site himself uh and see a lot of the work that's been going on over the last several days there we know he'll also uh meet with the governor and with other leaders here at this unified command that the Coast Guard has stood up to work on this project to get an idea of exactly what they've done so far and what they're going to need to do in the future Tom Aaron gilchrest for us on that accident and collapse there in Baltimore Aaron we thank you

for that we do have some breaking news out of Gaza tonight we've been tracking we're hearing several International Aid workers were killed in an air strike the IDF says they are investigating the incident this as Iran claims an Israeli air strike in Syria killed some of its senior commanders at an Iranian Embassy building in Damascus NBC's rap Sanchez has all of this tonight tonight the fiery aftermath of what appears to be a targeted strike in Syria smoke and Flames bu in from an Iranian diplo

matic building in Damascus debris scattered on the streets Iran says the blast killed two generals and five officers from its revolutionary guard and it's blaming Israel and vowing revenge Israel not commented Iran is a primary backer of both Hezbollah and Hamas as fears grow of a widening conflict outside Gaza where today Israel announced the end of what it called a two-week counterterror raid on alifa Hospital leaving behind a trail of Destruction Israel says Hamas used the hospital as a base

and that Israeli Commandos killed 200 militants and captured senior Hamas operatives the US saying Hamas is hiding among civilians Kamas should not uh should not be operating out of hospitals but as we've also said we do not want firefights uh in a hospital the World Health Organization says at least 21 patients died during the Israeli Siege and gaza's Hamas run Health Ministry said they found bodies of civilians decomposing in the dirt among them Dr Ahmed madma according to his family and Pales

tinian media situation in is still catastropic a dedicated surgeon his colleague said he refused to leave his patients behind he opted to stay in in Northern Gaza in Shian to look after his patient okay Raph joins us live from Tel Aviv tonight Raph what more do we know about those foreign aid workers who were killed in a bomb in Gau and I do want to let our viewers know to be completely transparent here we are following lots of reports that are out there but we're only going to tell you what we

can confirm tonight Tom this is a developing situation that we are reporting out live but here's what we know earlier tonight A Hamas spokesman says four International Aid workers were killed in an Israeli strike in central Gaza now an NBC crew rushed to the aloa hospital where the bodies of the victims were being held they found several of those victims wearing clothing with markers from the world Central Kitchen the American charity run by Chef Jose Andres which has been delivering Aid by sea

into Gaza now World Central Kitchen saying in a statement we are aware of reports that members of the world Central Kitchen team have been killed in an IDF attack while working to support humanitarian food delivery efforts in Gaza this is a tragedy humanitarian Aid workers and civilians should never be a Target ever we will share more information when we have gathered all the facts now we reached out also to the Israeli military they say they have launched an investigation and are conducting a t

horough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident our team at the hospital among the bodies finding several blood passports one British one polish and one Australian Tom before you go I I I am curious what type of repercussions may come from this once this story is reported out and and more people learn of what may or may not have happened but Aid workers uh you know we we can't say whether they were targeted or not but they've been killed and they were

just people there possibly trying to deliver a or food to the people of Gaza Tom the consist story that the Israeli military has been telling the world since October 7th is that the strikes it carries out inside of Gaza are precise they are targeted they are based on intelligence and I think a lot of people around the world if it does turn out to be the case that a number of international Aid workers people who were there trying to get food trying to get medicine to people in Gaza have been kil

led in an Israeli strike I think a lot of people around the world will be questioning how precise are these Israeli strikes that over the last 6 months have killed so many people both Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants but also a very large number of civilians including thousands of children and I think it is going to be difficult for the Israeli military to keep telling the world how precise its strikes are if it does turn out to be the case that civilians from uh an international Ai

d organization have been killed here tonight rap Sanchez on that breaking news we do want to let our viewers know as well that we're going to stay on top of the story throughout the broadcast now to power and politics in the intensifying battle over immigration in the 2024 race back here at home former president Trump releasing a dramatic new ad using horror music to portray migrants as a threat to the nation Trump said to visit Michigan tomorrow after a Grand Rapids woman was killed there alleg

edly by an undocumented immigrant gab Gutierrez has all of this tonight tonight former president Trump doubling down on a 2024 campaign flasho immigration millions of illegal border crosses have entered the country unlawfully in a recent post Trump sharing a new campaign video set to horror music showing thousands of migrants said to be traveling to the US from many countries Trump promising in the ad to crack down we will secure our borders and we will restore sovereignty it comes As Trump prep

ares to visit Michigan Tuesday in the wake of the death of a Grand Rapids woman Ruby Garcia allegedly at the hands of an undocumented immigrant who police say was in a romantic relationship with her authorities say he'd been previously deported during the Trump Administration this is a horrible incident with Ruby what what a horrible thing we had a tough policy of getting the bad ones out and we were getting the bad ones out and now the bad ones are coming in at a level that nobody's ever seen b

efore Trump has made his Hardline stance on immigration and migrants are Hallmark of his political image when Mexico sends its people they're bringing drugs they're bringing crime they're rapists but in recent months Trump has escalated his rhetoric on immigration they're poisoning the blood of our country that's what they've done President Biden has tried to turn the tables on Trump blasting him for ordering Congressional Republicans to kill a bipartisan border Bill I'm told my predecessor call

ed members of Congress and the Senate to demand they block the bill he feels political win he viewed be a political win for me and a political loser for him but new polling shows Americans and even some Democrats are siding with Trump on the issue a new survey shows 68% of Americans disapprove of President Biden's handling of the Border including four in 10 Democrats that includes more than half of black adults and nearly three4 of Hispanics and while nearly half of us adults hold President Bide

n responsible for America's border problems only 35% say the same about former president Trump the Biden campaign now forced to reckon with a decades old wedge issue as the 2024 race rests on a Razor's Edge all right Gabe Gutierrez joins us tonight from the White House Gabe the Biden campaign has known the borders of political liability for years now so what are they doing to counteract this messaging from former president Trump well hey there Tom well one thing that the Biden campaign is doing

is really focusing on money here so far the Biden team the last couple of uh months has really been outpacing Republicans when it comes to fundraising and now they say that they're opening up dozens about 30 field offices just in the state of Michigan so they hope to counteract that message that way but another way they're doing it Tom and we're seeing this increasingly more and more not just on the trail but also here in the White House they're trying to make the issue of immigration they're th

r trying to throw it back on Republicans essentially by arguing that because Republicans killed at bipartisan border bill that we mentioned that they need to own this immigration issue the Democrats now say that they agree that the border is a problem that's something as you know Tom that they didn't agree with for quite a long time but now they're trying to make Republicans own it Tom okay Gib Gutierrez at the White House we head now to Peru where the government and agents there busted down the

door and raided the home of President Dina BTE the country's first female president now the subject of a luxury watch investigation some are calling Rolex gate NBC's elen Lopez has the details a pre-done raid at the house of Peru's first female president armed officers seen busting down president Dina's door at her Lima home officials say the raid is part of a corruption probe last month a local TV program showed the 61-year-old wearing what appear to be luxury watches one of them Rolex that th

ey claim is worth about $14,000 just Days Later prosecutors launched an investigation presidents in Peru make $4,000 a month uh so it really raises the question how she could possibly be in the ownership of all these assets if she isn't accepting any money under the table bartes says she owned the watches before she took office but according to a statement by prosecutors she did not list them in a mandatory declaration document in Peru elected official or required to declare assets worth more th

an about $3,000 the president continues to maintain her innocence slamming the raid as she addressed the nation other government officials including the Prime Minister appointed by her swiftly coming to her defense the latest incident adding to the back-to-back scandals plaguing the country's political crisis in 2022 bolte was sworn in going from vice president to president after a predecessor Pedro Castillo was arrested and impeached for trying to dissolve Congress her inauguration marked the s

ixth time Peru saw a new president in less than 5 years Peru's next elections are in 2026 what I'm hoping for what I think many people are hoping for is a free and fair contest where peruvians at least get the chance to potentially choose different maybe better leadership for the country elwin Lopez joins us tonight from Los Angeles and eln I know you have some new reporting about one of president bolar's cabinet members yeah that's right that cabinet member has stepped down and we do know from

the president's attorney that some items were seized from her home what is unclear at this point is what those items were she is set to testify on Friday Tom elwin Lopez for us elwin thank you still ah had the terrifying crash on a Florida Highway possibly involving an NFL player video showing a driver losing control leading to a crash involving several cars reports an NFL Stars vehicle was one of those cars that might have been involved how he's responding tonight plus the ruling from Florida S

upreme Court that could Implement one of the strictest abortion bans in the country why the decision May ultimately end up in the hands of Voters and the deer crashing through a bank window you see it right there getting trapped inside how police eventually helped get that animal out stay with [Music] us we're back now with the new details in the investigation of a six vehicle crash in Dallas that may have involved the car belonging to a Kansas City Chief's player a lawyer for the football star

saying the wide receiver is now cooperating with authorities NBC's Priscilla Thompson has more on the late details tonight for the first time since this terrifying crash Kansas City Chief's wide receiver Rashid rice is responding amid reports that his car may have been involved his attorney writing in a statement that rice is cooperating fully with authorities and will take all necessary steps to address this situation responsibly adding his thoughts are with everyone impacted the response comes

48 hours after this sixc car crash caused police Say by this Lamborghini and Corvette speeding down the expressway the major accident on the freeway H 6700 block of North Central Expressway Northbound dramatic dash cam video shows the moment police say the drivers lost control one car slamming into the center median as the other appears to spin out Kayla Quinn says she and her four-year-old son were headed home after a day at the zoo when they were among those hit this could have ended way wors

e she wrote on social media both cars hitting me yet me and my baby walked out untouched police say all injuries were minor and the occupants of the Lamborghini and the Corvette all ran from the scene moments after the crash a bystander captured this video you guys all right yeah where are you guys heading you guys all right yeah you guys just going to leave it tonight the NFL not commenting but the chief's President telling KCMO talk radio this we'll get to the bottom of it we'll get we'll gath

er the facts and then we'll react accordingly Dallas police are not saying if rice was involved in the actual crash and are asking for the Public's help in identifying the men in that video Tom all right Priscilla Thompson there with a lot of strange videos next tonight to a major health issue affecting black Americans a group four times more likely to be diagnosed with kidney failure than white people according to the National Institute of Health a new mandate now prior prioritizing black kidne

y transplant candidates after researchers and doctors realized a race-based test had been misevaluated black patients for decades Antonia Hilton tonight spoke with a recent kidney recipient about the life-changing experience it's time I'm in the hospital getting ready for my transplant when PhD student Jasmine Evans finally got the call that she would receive a kidney transplant in July she was overjoyed I'm getting a whole kidney so Evans was first diagnosed with chronic kidney disease when she

was just 17 years old and was put on the transplant list in 2019 she thought she was still years away from being matched with a donor until a letter from her Hospital came in the mail last year explaining she should have been added to the transplant list in 2015 4 years earlier and that a racially biased test was to blame when you got that letter what went through your mind at first I was outraged and just the fact that no one really knew that this was something that was going on um it was real

ly jarring and shocking Evans is one of thousands of black patients who have been prioritized for transplants as a result of a national mandate by the organ procurement and transplantation Network or optn the new rule which was instituted in 2022 instructs hospitals to stop using a test that overestimated how well black people's kidneys were functioning in the 1990s there was a big study when the the black participants in this research studies's creatinines and kidney function were looked at for

some reason they had slightly higher amounts of kidney function for the same level blood test and instead of investigating sort of why that might be the conclusion was that it was based on race that flawed test meaning thousands of patients were put on the transplant list years later than they should have been a potentially deadly weight for some people those extra years waiting actually contribute to their either being too sick to get a transplant or um their prematur death patients like Evans

who were misevaluated have been bumped up on the list with the average patient getting transplants one to two years sooner than expected but for Evans who calls herself a reluctant kidney Advocate the fight is not not over what do you believe this represents for thousands of black patients like you I think it represents hope it represents reconciling in a lot of ways but I also see that the fight is not over yet there are thousands of black Americans that are still waiting for organ donations a

cross the board according to Dr pavlakis change takes time some labs are still occasionally using the old race-based formula so doctors need to keep an eye out for their new patients and make sure they're getting the care they deserve Tom Tonia Hilton we thank you for that when we come back a consumer alert Kia recalling nearly 400,000 Telluride SUVs why Federal Regulators say the cars could possibly roll away while they're parked thank you all right we're back now with top stories news feed sta

rting with the death of former NFL star vonte Davis 35-year-old was found dead inside of a home near Miami Florida police say they do not believe Foul Play was involved Davis who was a two-time Pro Bowl quarterback played for multiple teams including the Dolphins Colts and the bills he was arrested on DUI charges last year following a crash on a Florida highway the Florida Supreme Court allowing a six-week abortion ban to take effect but voters will have the final say while ruling on a 15-week a

bortion ban the Florida justices concluding a six-week ban that Governor DeSantis signed into law last year can take effect in 30 days however they also ruled a proposed amendment that would enshrine abortion Protections in the state can appear in the November ballot Kia recalling more than 400,000 SUVs because they might roll away while parked the recall impacting I'll tell you rides from 2020 through 2023 and some 2024 models the national highway traffic safety administration says two parts on

the car that are supposed to keep the car parked may not fully engage so far no injuries or crashes have have been reported dealers will contact owners to update parts and softwares and a deer crashing through a bank window in Texas surveillance video showing the deer bursting through a window before running loose through the bank this happened outside of Austin Police attempting to Corral the animal back out the front entrance where you can see it's scampered out no injuries were reported okay

next more than 500,000 fast food workers got a raise today to $20 an hour as a new law took effect in California it's to offset the High Cost of Living but it'll also mean you'll pay more for your Burgers likely here's NBC's list CS better than for three years Anisha Williams has worked at Jack In The Box struggling to make ends meet as a single mom in high price Los Angeles they need to know that their workers are struggling some workers are homeless that's why today marks a moment she's been

waiting for and Isa is among hundreds of thousands of fast food workers across California getting a raise we need this we need this so bad after years of protests restaurant chains with more than 60 locations nationwide must now pay their California employees at least $20 an hour it's one of the highest minimum wages in the country and the first time State lawmakers have mandated a minimum wage for just one industry supporters say it's time for the billion dooll corporations to pay a living wage

how's it going but many franchise owners like Jessica Debra who runs 11 McDonald's around La say the law puts an unfair strain on their businesses already operating on Slim margins do you feel targeted that it's specifically for fast food yes and I think people just don't realize that they see this big McDonald brand and just think oh they've got all the money in the world and it's just that's not at all how it is McDonald's chipotle and Starbucks already saying they plan to raise prices to off

set the rising labor costs Pizza Hut preemptively laid off 12200 delivery drivers like Michael OA I was very frustrated a lot of got our jobs taken from us he was let go after 8 years what's the point of the raise if you don't have a job anymore experts say the law may also lead to Shorter hours and expedite the push to automation replacing people with technology economists often say there's no such thing as a free lunch does that apply here it really applies here but we forget that somebody's p

aying for it somewhere but for Anisha as the cost of living Rises she says a few extra dollars goes a long way I'm praying that this $20 will actually do something for me and my children LZ CS NBC News Los Angeles for more on California's new fast food minimum wage law and how it could impact food businesses I want to bring in Alex Johnson he owns 10 Auntie an's pretzels and cinnabun restaurants in the San Francisco Bay Area Alex thank you so much for joining us we appreciate it thanks Tom so ca

n you tell us about how California's law increasing the minimum food wage for fast food workers to $20 an hour has already impacted your business yeah listen my family and I started this business 30 years ago I'm a second generation uh franchisee our small business pretzel power we employ over a hundred people in the bay in the San Francisco Bay Area as you mentioned we have 10 locations and this bill this new wage has really far-reaching effects um you know my family and I work really hard to t

reat our employees fairly and pay them really well uh but the con there's going to be real consequences due to the fast act um you know for one we're going to be raising prices which I really don't want to do we've already had to raise prices several times over the past couple of years because of the covid induced inflation um and right now you know we're not seeing the best in terms of sales and we've got declining traffic counts um it's really not a good time to have to raise prices we're not

um hiring anymore um we're not expanding in the State anymore in fact I had to turn down a location for a a a new store um which I was really sad to have to do um and ultimately I'm considering selling or closing our restaurants and and what was the the price difference if I can ask you what were you paying your employees to what you have to pay them now was it were you close or was it was it was it too too far of a stretch in the Bay Area um the cities there have wages or have minimum wages tha

t are a little bit higher than the states um but I do have some locations that will go from the 16 to $20 um that jump that 25% jump that happened last night I do have a couple of locations who experience that and so in the in the immediate future do you think you're going to increase prices at those stores or you think you're going to lay people off or both it'll be probably be a combination of both um we're just going to have to look at how we can work smarter how we can work um harder with le

ss folks not just cutting hours but literally removing people you know removing headcount from our locations you know people it's so expensive California is a very expensive State places like Los Angeles and the Bay Area I mean they're incredibly expensive to live there so you understand where the politicians Minds we in increasing the the minimum wage how do you think this is going to affect inflation there because things are already expensive and now people are going to be making a little bit

more money and people like you store owners like you are going to have to increase prices do do you think it it has a negative effect on inflation I mean so the conversations I've had with my employees is that they're pretty fearful actually what this will do to inflation and like you mentioned it already um you know it's already so expensive to live in the state uh and prices have gone up you know I'm not the only one raising prices and pretty much everyone is across the board and um they're re

ally worried they're really they're they're concerned they've seen their purchasing power get less and less and less over the years and um I don't believe in my conversations with them that they feel like this is um really going to help them all that much how do you how does someone though how can someone work at your your restaurant and support themselves or support their family if you don't raise the minimum wage well look we take pride in um giving you know being people's first job you know w

e have a lot of folks high school students uh folks with no job experience immigrants um we enjoy employing those people teaching them the soft skills not just how to roll a pretzel or how to make a cinnamon roll but things like customer service um making eye contact like soft skills that they use throughout the rest of their career um and and we actually do have a pass to making a career out of um at our locations we have in fact my director of operations he worked his way up all the way from a

mall janitor to now our director of operations so there's an incredible opportunity um in our business in the fast food industry for these folks Alex if you don't end up selling your family business do you think that this law will encourage you to look into using different technology to replace the jobs typically done by people I am talking about AI will we eventually get to a place where where a cinabun comes from a Cabot you know I I I don't think that's far off um I don't have plans immediat

ely for that kind of like robotic or automated deployment um but I don't think we're we're far off and I think that this law will uh accelerate some of the companies and Technologies out there trying to do just that Alex Johnson a small business owner there in the Bay Area in the state of California where the minimum wage is going up to $20 we're going to have to wait and see how that affects the economy there Alex we thank you for your time and your honesty coming up the tragedy on a beach in M

exico the bodies of several Chinese migrants discovered after their boat capsized on their way to the us what we know about where that boat was coming from next all right we're back now with top stories Global watch a check of what else is happening around the world we start with a tragic Discovery in Mexico authorities say the bodies of eight Chinese migrants were found on a beach in wakasa officials belied they were on a boat that departed from Mexico's border with Guatemala while it was headi

ng towards the US it suddenly capsized one person though did survive according to recent data the number of Chinese migrants illegally entering the US from Mexico has skyrocketed since the pandemic a potential turning point in turkey's Politics the country's opposition party sweeping local elections dealing a major blow to president erwan's ruling party the opposition WI in Istanbul by more than 1 million votes along with victories in other big cities including the capital of Ankara it's the fir

st time since erwan came to power more than two decades ago that his party was defeated across the country and Germany has begun relaxing some of its marijuana laws crowds gathering at the Brandenburg gate in Berlin for a smoke in as a new law took effect that allows adults over 20 over 18 I should say to possess up to an ounce of cannabis citizens can also grow about three plants at Home Germany now the largest country in the European Union to legalize recreational marijuana use it remains bann

ed for anyone 18 and under now of the new allegation surrounding the investigation into the mysterious Havana syndrome in an interview with cbs's 60 Minutes Greg Ed green a lead US military investigator saying he believes the syndrome was an attack on us officials by Russia the US government though previously deeming it very unlikely that the syndrome came from a foreign adversary but Ed green alleging that bar forever idence was too high I think it was set so high because we did not as a countr

y and a government want to face some very hard truths and what are those can we secure America are these massive Counter Intelligence failures can we protect American soil and our people on American soil are we being attacked and if we're being attacked is that an act of War so why was this investigator so sure it was Russia here's what he had to say one of the things I started to notice was the caliber of our officer that was being impacted this wasn't happening to our worst or our middle range

officers this was happening to our top five 10% performing officers across the defense intelligence agency and consistently there was a Russia Nexus there was some angle where they had worked against Russia focused on Russia and done extremely well all right for more on this interview in the US government's response I want to bring in Kendall lanan who joins us tonight from Washington Ken you've been covering this for years help us put these new allegations into context and what is the US gover

nment saying about all this well Tom 60 Minutes in a publication called The Insider have anned some interesting circumstantial evidence that members of an elite Russian intelligence unit may have been on the ground in places where us Personnel suffered symptoms associated with Havana syndrome they also found documents suggesting that those same Russian operatives may have been researching acoustic weapons and they argue that this evidence suggests a link between these Russian spies and Havana sy

ndrome symptoms 60 Minutes also interviewed that Former Defense intelligence official as showed who helped investigate the issue and says he believes Havana syndrome is a result of Russian attacks though it's important to note he said he couldn't discuss the classified details it's also important to say that none of this reporting found evidence of an actual weapon or of Russians attacking Americans and two US intelligence officials told me that the CIA and five other agencies stand by their ass

essment from last year that there's no evidence of any secret weapon wielded by Russia or any other foreign adversary so how does the US government sort of straddle this line right how do so many top level us intelligence sources say they suffered some type of of you know medical episode and yet there was no attack yeah well there's a lot of theories on this Tom including uh some kind of brain disorder one thing that they tell us is that after this assessment was published uh last March reports

of symptoms absolutely plummeted like many many fewer than before and that suggests there may have been a psychogenic aspect to this and that doesn't mean people were making it up these symptoms were very real they're heartbreaking in some cases people have stopped being to work who've suffered from these symptoms but um for example one one expert postulated that there was something called a functional neurological disorder that's a common brain malfunction not caused by medical factors so we ma

y never know the answer but what the intelligence Community is saying is they see no evidence that this is an attack by Russia or another foreign adversary so Ken to wrap this up do you think we'll ever get to the bottom of of what this is or what this was no I think this debate's going to go on and on because like many of these victims have long believed that the US government is not asking hard enough questions and they're now heartened by this new reporting and they Place very little stock in

the in the intelligence assessment but in terms of the intelligence Community they've turned the page I mean as far as many of them are concerned this is over and done and the important thing now is to treat the people who have symptoms but this is not a debate that's going to go away Tom Ken delanian for us Ken I have a feeling we're going to keep talking about this for years to come but we're going to have to wait and see all right Ken thanks again when we come back not just for the boys girl

s wrestling Ling now the fastest growing sport in the country with all female wrestling programs found in nearly every state we speak to two athletes who are part of this historic Trend their fight for equality on and off the mat that's next all right we're back now with an error in the paint throwing off players and fans at the NCAA basketball tournament officials revealing just minutes before an Elite 8 game that one of the three-point lines had been drawn incorrectly and was too close to the

basket NBC's Morgan chesy has the play-by-play of what happened next as Texas and North Carolina State prepared to face off in an Elite 8 matchup an issue with the court leaving fans baffled I walked in and there was measuring happening and I was sitting next to a friend who was like are they measuring the three-point line the NCAA three-point line is officially 22 ft and 1 and 3/4 of an inch for both men and women but this three-point line in Portland Oregon in front of of the North Carolina St

ate bench was 9 in short that's according to a postgame measurement by the NCAA and Court supplier Connor Sports go out there and get up in the stands and look at it and you can see it the Texas and NC State coaches measure the difference themselves weighing the options of delaying the game they gave us the option of bringing somebody in and remarking it correctly which would have taken an hour and we might have lost our window with ABC both teams agreeing to go ahead with the game is scheduled

North Carolina State winning by double digits I don't know that it was an advantage or disadvantage either way we both played a half on each end four full sweet 16 games were played on that same court Friday and Saturday but nobody raised concerns the NCAA and Connor Sports have apologized the NCAA adding the mistake was the result of human air and they should have cut the air sooner the association reviewing all other three lines in both the men and women's tournament and confirming they're acc

urate and we have this moment where the athleticism is in a mo in a place where it's better than it's ever been we have like more focus more media coverage the things that these players deserve and then we have these little moments that kind of remind us of the work that's still there for us this air just the latest distraction from a record-breaking women's tournament in N State's first round game against Chattanooga a referee was pulled out at halftime over a conflict of interest and Notre Dam

e star Hannah hialgo sidelined for part of a sweet 16 matchup because of a nose ring she had worn all season long the three-point line fixed with pain overnight for the remaining Elite eight matchup but the damage may already be done well I hate to say this but I have a lot of colleagues that would say only in women's basketball I mean it's it's a shame really that it even happened but it is what it is Morgan chesky NBC News we thank Morgan chesy for that one and finally tonight forget the stere

otypes a new generation of girl wrestlers are proving the mats aren't just a boys club anymore their passion and hard work are opening doors not only for them but for the generations to come with dreams of scholarships and even Olympic Glory NBC Steven Romo has more what is your favorite wrestling move definitely High see I'm a right leg lead so you would you would shoot to this like you're like tied up and then you bring their arm over High School senior Haley jaffy and freshman Jameson Strickl

and are on a mission to slam stereotypes and pin down new opportunities in the world of wrestling for years without A League of Their Own many of the opponents these girls faced were boys Strickland who has been wrestling since she was s says the training started at home did you wrestle with your brother a lot growing up and your skills on him we would work on moves that we learned on YouTube in the basement I remember the first one was a headlock and I would just do it on him and it worked how

did your brother like being in a headlock I think he was just happy to help my little sister never put me in a headlock I think I'd be very proud if she did that but that tide is now turning with girls wrestling becoming the fastest growing sport in the country it literally took off the numbers just started exploding as recently as 20 2018 there were only six states that had officially recognized girls wrestling programs now there are 45 states with campaigns to grow even further at the Youth Le

vel Junior High High School level the growth is amazing and then even on the college level right now we are seeing more and more programs the boom thanks in part to nonprofits like sanction PA which are fighting to have the girls leagues formally recognized even a few years ago when a girl was in her school building and she's walking past those wrestling room doors those doors were closed now it's like the doors are open and someone's coming out in the hallway and saying hey come on in and try w

restling that group succeeding in getting signatures from more than a hundred schools to get the sports sanctioned in Pennsylvania which held its first ever official state championship last month jaffy took home the silver medal a legacy the senior is hoping will continue after she graduates now all these girls have these opportunities that they didn't have before so it's really exciting and you know now they can all go win state medals every year and that's like history for now there's no forma

l Collegiate league but an NCAA committee has recommended adding a women's wrestling championship as early as 2026 and while women's Freestyle Wrestling has been an Olympic sport for 20 years only two Americans have taken home the gold but with this widening pipel Line new hope that the sky is the limit for women in the sport but if someone does say to you wrestling is not a girl sport wrestling is for boys how do you respond to that well I mean the accolades kind of speak for itself girls can d

efinitely wrestle I mean it's not just boys good luck to all those wrestlers and we thank Steven Romo for that story we thank you for watching top story tonight I'm Tom yamas in New York stay right there more news on the way thank thanks for watching stay updated about breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or follow us on social media