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Tag: NBC News

  • Good Samaritan helps rescue family from near-death crash on California highway

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    A car lost control along California Highway 50 on Christmas morning, leaving its occupants in a life-threatening situation until a U.S. Air Force staff sergeant stepped in to help.SSgt. Ruben Tala, stationed at Travis Air Force Base, was traveling with his family through the Sierra corridor shortly after 8 a.m. when he saw an SUV spin out of control.“During that time, I mean, I think it’s the adrenaline kicking in,” Tala said.The SUV was teetering hundreds of feet above the ground. Video shared with sister station KCRA shows Tala gripping the driver’s side door as the vehicle dangled over the edge.“I thought about my wife and my daughter. What if there’s a family in that car? Somebody has to help,” Tala told KCRA.As Tala worked to stabilize the situation, other good Samaritans stopped and joined the rescue effort. Together, they were able to help the driver and his wife reach safety. The woman was visibly shaken and clutching the couple’s two dogs.Highway 50 is known for hazardous winter driving conditions, particularly during storms, when snow and ice can make the roadway treacherous even for experienced drivers.Tala said the gratitude from the family left a lasting impression. One detail, he added, stood out to him afterward.“It’s funny too, because one of their dog’s names is Luna, which is my daughter’s name,” he said. “I was like, how’s that a coincidence, right?”Tala and his wife, Yvett, share a 22-month-old daughter and were on their way to the snow for the holiday when the crash unfolded.”SSgt Tala and Yvett’s quick action and courage are a direct reflection of our Core Value of Service Before Self,” Lt. Col. Jason Christie, 60th Force Support Squadron commander, said in a statement.”We’re so proud to have them as our teammates and witness them ready to help anyone in need.”

    A car lost control along California Highway 50 on Christmas morning, leaving its occupants in a life-threatening situation until a U.S. Air Force staff sergeant stepped in to help.

    SSgt. Ruben Tala, stationed at Travis Air Force Base, was traveling with his family through the Sierra corridor shortly after 8 a.m. when he saw an SUV spin out of control.

    “During that time, I mean, I think it’s the adrenaline kicking in,” Tala said.

    The SUV was teetering hundreds of feet above the ground. Video shared with sister station KCRA shows Tala gripping the driver’s side door as the vehicle dangled over the edge.

    “I thought about my wife and my daughter. What if there’s a family in that car? Somebody has to help,” Tala told KCRA.

    As Tala worked to stabilize the situation, other good Samaritans stopped and joined the rescue effort. Together, they were able to help the driver and his wife reach safety. The woman was visibly shaken and clutching the couple’s two dogs.

    Highway 50 is known for hazardous winter driving conditions, particularly during storms, when snow and ice can make the roadway treacherous even for experienced drivers.

    Tala said the gratitude from the family left a lasting impression. One detail, he added, stood out to him afterward.

    “It’s funny too, because one of their dog’s names is Luna, which is my daughter’s name,” he said. “I was like, how’s that a coincidence, right?”

    Tala and his wife, Yvett, share a 22-month-old daughter and were on their way to the snow for the holiday when the crash unfolded.

    “SSgt Tala and Yvett’s quick action and courage are a direct reflection of our Core Value of Service Before Self,” Lt. Col. Jason Christie, 60th Force Support Squadron commander, said in a statement.”We’re so proud to have them as our teammates and witness them ready to help anyone in need.”

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  • Purchases of iPhone 17 Pro soar across Gaza amid ‘limited’ humanitarian aid

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    Friday’s NBC report said that, due to the compactness of the phones, they can be imported into the Strip more efficiently than construction materials or formula.

    Rising purchases of Apple’s new iPhone 17s by Palestinians are being reported within the Gaza Strip, with many of the buyers still displaced and jobless, according to an NBC News report published on Friday.

    The new iPhones have been selling in the Strip for a few months, with a report by the UAE-based newspaper The National, published at the beginning of the month, claiming that some Palestinians were left suspicious and were quoted as asking: “Why phones, and not food?”

    Friday’s NBC report said that, due to the compactness of the phones, they can be imported into the Strip more efficiently than construction materials or formula, which the report described as “bulky.”

    The recent report also cited Gazans saying that budget phones in the Strip are being sold for up to NIS 5,000.

    Accusations that Israel using imported phones for intelligence gathering

    The National report cited claims made by journalist Hamza Al Shobaki, who said that “Israel has a long history of using phones and communication systems for surveillance and intelligence gathering. To allow entry of devices that weren’t permitted even before the war, this raises questions.”

    Palestinian women walk together past makeshift shelters at a displacement camp in Gaza City, Palestinian territories on December 16, 2025. (credit: Hashim Zimmo / Middle East Images / AFP via Getty Images)

    It has also been two years since phones were allowed to be imported into the Strip through official channels, the NBC report cited Tania Hary, executive director of the Israeli human rights group Gisha, as saying, who noted that “there is greater demand for phones and also accessories.”

    The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) reportedly told NBC that it was “fully committed to its obligation to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid trucks in accordance with the agreement,” but did not comment on the phones being sold in the Strip.

    This comes after COGAT, a week earlier, criticized a UN report on Gaza that said famine had been averted but conditions “remained critical,” calling the assessment “a distorted and baseless picture of reality.”

    “Contrary to the claims in the report, between 600-800 aid trucks enter the Gaza Strip every day, approximately 70 percent of which carry food,” COGAT’s director, Maj. Gen. Ghassan Alian, said.

    COGAT added that “The remainder carries medical equipment, shelter supplies, tents, clothing, and other essential humanitarian assistance.”

    According to the COGAT statement, since the ceasefire began, as of mid-December, more than 25,000 trucks carrying food have entered the Gaza Strip, totaling 500,000 tons.

    Tobias Holcman contributed to this report.

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  • Poll: Trump’s MAGA base is still behind him — but cracks are showing ahead of 2026

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    President Donald Trump’s approval rating remains steadily underwater among adults as he nears the end of his first year back in the White House, and he has lost some ground among his “Make America Great Again” base, according to a new NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey.

    Trump’s approval has inched down in 2025 amid concern about the economy, while Americans remain worried about inflation and costs after Trump’s campaign promises to ease those anxieties. Respondents’ concerns were apparent in everyday spending decisions like grocery shopping, holiday spending and more, the poll shows.

    Other high-profile Trump decisions, including his handling of the controversy over the so-called Jeffrey Epstein files, have scored negatively with Americans. Trump initially opposed a congressional move to force the release of the files before relenting to pressure from both parties last month.

    Overall, the poll underlines how the intense support that Trump rode to a second presidential term has weakened — and how the intensity of the opposition to him has grown.

    American adults largely disapprove of Trump’s job performance, with his approval rating at 42% and disapproval at 58% in the new poll. That’s a slight approval rating drop of 3 points (from 45%) over the course of four polls since April, the first time the survey was conducted. The new poll surveyed 20,252 adults, including people registered to vote and not registered to vote, online from Nov. 20 to Dec. 8, with a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points.

    But underneath this modest decrease in approval are more subtle shifts in the intensity of feelings about the president — both positive and negative.

    The share of people who strongly approve of Trump (21%) has dropped over the course of the year (26% in April). Slightly more people now say they strongly disapprove of Trump (44%) compared to April (42%).

    MAGA not as ‘strong’ for Trump

    Two groups show the largest drop in strong support for the president since April: those who identify as Republican, and, in particular, those who identify with Trump’s MAGA movement.

    Among the Republicans who consider themselves more supporters of the Republican Party than the MAGA movement, the share of those who “strongly approve” of Trump now stands at 35%, compared to 38% in April.

    Trump’s strong approval is higher among those who consider themselves MAGA Republicans: 70%. But that represents a drop of 8 points (from 78%) since April.

    And while 7 in 10 MAGA supporters still say they “strongly approve” of the president’s job performance, fewer Republicans report being part of the MAGA movement compared to earlier this year.

    In April, a majority of Republicans reported identifying with the MAGA movement. In this survey, Republicans are evenly split on whether they identify more as “traditional” Republicans or as MAGA movement members.

    Although small, these shifts are notable because Trump has enjoyed tremendous sway over his party in no small part because of his ability to command a core base of support. But in recent months, fractures have emerged.

    Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, once a stalwart of Trump’s MAGA movement, broke publicly with the president and his administration over a number of issues, including what the Georgia Republican saw as a misplaced focus on foreign affairs over domestic policy. Greene has said she identifies now as “America First,” rather than MAGA, and is resigning from Congress early next year.

    Meanwhile, elections in November saw Democrats dominate on a message of affordability, underscoring the challenges Republicans may face going into next year’s midterm elections, as allies of the president urge him to do more to speak to economic concerns.

    Concerns about the economy and finances

    The economy remains the most important issue to Americans right now, and persistent inflation remains a sore spot, even among the president’s supporters, according to the survey.

    Those who identify as Republican, including MAGA Republicans, are shifting perspectives slightly when it comes to the economy.

    Compared to the last NBC News Decision Desk poll, in August, both groups were a few percentage points more likely to say their personal finances are worse today compared to one year ago. Those groups were also 6 points more likely to say the country is on the wrong track.

    Overall, 64% of Americans overall think the country is on the wrong track, up from 60% in the beginning of the year.

    That finding holds across most groups, but the groups shifting their views in a negative direction may also be among the most consequential in next year’s midterm elections: people who voted for Trump in 2024, people with a high school education or less, people who are 65 and over (especially older women), and Black and Hispanic Americans.

    Different economic priorities by income

    While the majority of Americans express concerns about the overall state of the economy, the top and bottom of the income distribution are not experiencing the same levels of worry — or showing their worry in the same way.

    Overall, 41% said that their personal financial situation is about the same as it was a year ago. Another 35% said it’s worse today and 24% said it’s better.

    However, 45% of those making less than $50,000 said their finances are worse today, compared to only a quarter of those who make over $100,000.

    Similarly, while 31% of the highest earners reported being in a better financial position than a year ago, only 16% of the lowest earners said they’re better off today.

    Americans with incomes under $50,000 cited the cost of housing and food as the biggest economic problems facing them and their families. The cost of health insurance and planning for retirement, meanwhile, were the biggest economic problems picked by those making over $100,000.

    As a result of recent economic conditions, a majority of Americans reported needing to change what groceries they buy in order to stay within their budget, and a majority also said they had personally cut back spending on extras and entertainment to afford necessities.

    Those with incomes under $50,000 were more likely — by double digits — to say they’ve cut back on groceries, extras and entertainment, and even holiday spending, compared to those with incomes over $100,000.

    And while 69% of higher earners said they are personally affected by what happens in the stock market, 58% of lower earners said the stock market doesn’t affect them much or at all.

    Over half of all Americans (53%) said they trust the Democratic Party over the Republican Party (47%) when it comes to handling the rising price of everyday things. The majority opinion on that question is consistent across traditionally Democratic groups whose turnout will be critical to the party’s prospects in the 2026 elections: African Americans (77%), women (61%), Latinos (60%), young people (59%) and independents (55%).

    The NBC News Decision Desk Poll powered by SurveyMonkey surveyed 20,252 adults online from Nov. 20 to Dec. 8 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.9 percentage points. Percentages may not add up to 100 due to rounding.

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  • Cleaning worker who was mom of 4 fatally shot after mistakenly going to wrong home, police say

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    A 32-year-old cleaning crew worker who went to the wrong home to work was shot and killed in Whitestown, Indiana, on Wednesday morning, police said. The worker, identified as Maria Florinda Rios Perez , according to NBC News and WTHR-TV, had tried to use keys in her hand to get into a new client’s home when she was shot.The home she intended to go into was behind the one where she and her husband went, The New York Times reported. Rios’ brother told reporters that his sister fell into her husband’s arms after being shot through the door of the home.”It’s so unjust. She was only trying to bring home the daily bread to support her family,” Rios told NBC News. “She accidentally went to the wrong house, but he shouldn’t have taken her life.”She was a mother of four children, with the youngest being 11 months old.Officers initially responded to a report of a possible home invasion about 20 miles outside of Indianapolis. Police are still investigating what happened. “This remains an active and ongoing investigation into the fatal shooting. The facts gathered do not support that a residential entry occurred,” the police department said in a statement on its Facebook page.

    WHITESTOWN, Ind. —

    A 32-year-old cleaning crew worker who went to the wrong home to work was shot and killed in Whitestown, Indiana, on Wednesday morning, police said.

    The worker, identified as Maria Florinda Rios Perez , according to NBC News and WTHR-TV, had tried to use keys in her hand to get into a new client’s home when she was shot.

    The home she intended to go into was behind the one where she and her husband went, The New York Times reported. Rios’ brother told reporters that his sister fell into her husband’s arms after being shot through the door of the home.

    “It’s so unjust. She was only trying to bring home the daily bread to support her family,” Rios told NBC News. “She accidentally went to the wrong house, but he shouldn’t have taken her life.”

    She was a mother of four children, with the youngest being 11 months old.

    Officers initially responded to a report of a possible home invasion about 20 miles outside of Indianapolis. Police are still investigating what happened.

    “This remains an active and ongoing investigation into the fatal shooting. The facts gathered do not support that a residential entry occurred,” the police department said in a statement on its Facebook page.

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  • Illinois inmate shot and killed at federal prison in Sumter County

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    Illinois inmate shot and killed at federal prison in Sumter County

    WESH TWO NEWS. ALL RIGHT, HALEY, THANK YOU. MEANTIME, A FAMILY SAYS THEY HAVE QUESTIONS AFTER THEY SAY ONE OF THEIR OWN WAS SHOT AND KILLED IN PRISON. THIS MAN, 33 YEAR OLD DWAYNE TOTTLEBEN, DIED ON OCTOBER 10TH. WESH TWO. TONI ATKINS IS LIVE AT FCC COLEMAN IN SUMTER COUNTY, WHERE TOTTLEBEN WAS SERVING TIME AND TONY. HIS FAMILY JUST WANTS TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. WELL, IT’S BEEN 12 DAYS SINCE THE INCIDENT HERE AT THE PRISON RIGHT BEHIND ME. THIS FAMILY, HOPING TO FIGURE OUT SOMETHING SOON. 33 YEAR OLD DWAYNE TOTTLEBEN OF ILLINOIS WAS SHOT AND KILLED WHILE INSIDE U.S. PENITENTIARY COLEMAN IN SUMTER COUNTY. LOVED ONES POSTING ON GOFUNDME SAYING THEY’RE TRYING TO UNDERSTAND THE SITUATION. NBC NEWS REPORTS. TOTTLEBEN WAS SERVING 15 YEARS AT THE FEDERAL PRISON FOR POSSESSION OF METHAMPHETAMINE WITH INTENT TO DISTRIBUTE. THE CHARGES, RELATED TO A 2020 TRAFFIC STOP IN SAINT LOUIS. THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS, WHICH ALSO SHARES INFORMATION ON INMATES DEATHS, HAS NOT RELEASED INFORMATION ABOUT TOTTLEBEN. IN THE MEANTIME, LOVED ONES SPOKE WITH NBC NEWS DWAYNE TOTTLEBEN SENIOR SAYS OFFICIALS INFORMED HIM HIS SON WAS SHOT. HE SAID, QUOTE, I WAS DISTRAUGHT. I DIDN’T KNOW IF SOMEONE STABBED HIM. I DIDN’T KNOW ANYTHING. THE PRISON SENT THIS STATEMENT TO NBC NEWS SAYING THE FACILITY WAS PLACED ON ENHANCED MODIFIED OPERATIONS ON OCTOBER 10TH, AND THAT WARDENS MAY ESTABLISH CONTROLS OR IMPLEMENT TEMPORARY SECURITY MEASURES TO ENSURE THE GOOD ORDER AND SAFETY OF THE EMPLOYEES AND THE INDIVIDUALS IN OUR CUSTODY. END QUOTE. TOTTLEBEN SENIOR TOLD NBC NEWS, QUOTE, WHEN PEOPLE GET INTO FIGHTS IN PRISON, THEY LOSE TIME, CREDIT. THEY DON’T LOSE THEIR LIVES. AND I ALSO REACHED OUT TO THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF PRISONS TO SEE IF THEY HAD A STATEMENT ABOUT HIS DEATH. THEY I DID RECEIVE AN AUTO REPLY, AND IT SAID THAT THEY WOULDN’T BE ABLE TO RESPOND DUE TO A LAPSE IN APPROPRIATIONS, WHICH IS RELATED TO THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN. FOR NOW, I’

    Illinois inmate shot and killed at federal prison in Sumter County

    Updated: 11:33 PM EDT Oct 22, 2025

    Editorial Standards ⓘ

    Dwayne Tottleben, a 33-year-old inmate from Illinois, was shot and killed while inside U.S. Penitentiary Coleman in Sumter County, according to loved ones who are trying to understand the situation.Tottleben was serving a 15-year sentence at the federal prison for possession of methamphetamines with intent to distribute, stemming from a 2020 traffic stop in St. Louis.The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which often shares information about inmate deaths, has not released details about Tottleben’s death.Meanwhile, loved ones spoke with NBC News, with Dwayne Tottleben Sr. saying officials informed him his son was shot.”I was distraught. I didn’t know if somebody stabbed him. I didn’t know anything,” Tottleben Sr. said.The prison sent a statement to NBC News, indicating that the facility was placed on enhanced modified operations on Oct. 10.It stated that wardens may establish controls or implement temporary security measures to ensure the good order and safety of employees and individuals in custody.”When people get into fight in prison, they lose good time credit… they don’t lose their life,” Tottleben Sr. said.

    SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. —

    Dwayne Tottleben, a 33-year-old inmate from Illinois, was shot and killed while inside U.S. Penitentiary Coleman in Sumter County, according to loved ones who are trying to understand the situation.

    Tottleben was serving a 15-year sentence at the federal prison for possession of methamphetamines with intent to distribute, stemming from a 2020 traffic stop in St. Louis.

    The Federal Bureau of Prisons, which often shares information about inmate deaths, has not released details about Tottleben’s death.

    Meanwhile, loved ones spoke with NBC News, with Dwayne Tottleben Sr. saying officials informed him his son was shot.

    “I was distraught. I didn’t know if somebody stabbed him. I didn’t know anything,” Tottleben Sr. said.

    The prison sent a statement to NBC News, indicating that the facility was placed on enhanced modified operations on Oct. 10.

    It stated that wardens may establish controls or implement temporary security measures to ensure the good order and safety of employees and individuals in custody.

    “When people get into fight in prison, they lose good time credit… they don’t lose their life,” Tottleben Sr. said.

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  • Are “Dancing With the Stars,” “FBI” on this week? Election Day TV schedule

    Are “Dancing With the Stars,” “FBI” on this week? Election Day TV schedule

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    While Americans will choose between former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee, they will also be choosing who takes 435 U.S. House and 34 U.S. Senate seats.

    However, as the nation awaits the news of who wins the presidential election on Tuesday, November 5, regular TV programming could be impacted, and many popular shows will skip their weekly runtime completely.

    Newsweek has compiled a full list of schedule changes you should expect for your favorite shows from Dancing With the Stars (DWTS) and FBI to late night TV.

    Dancing With the Stars

    Fans of DWTS will have to wait until Tuesday, November 12 to watch another episode because of Election Day.

    During the show’s regularly scheduled time, ABC will instead be airing its election night coverage Election Night 2024: Your Voice/Your Vote. This will keep Americans updated with real-time updates on the Electoral College map and which candidate secures enough votes to become president.

    FBI

    FBI is also not airing as usual on Tuesday, November 5 because of Election Day coverage.

    The show will be back on its regularly scheduled programming Tuesday, November 12, but for Election Day, viewers will instead be able to watch the CBS News: America Decides: Campaign ’24 Election Night program.

    It often makes the most sense for TV networks to delay airing the next week’s episode as most Americans will be glued to election night coverage and would miss a new episode if it was scheduled as usual.

    The Real Housewives of New York City

    For those who rely on a dose of reality TV to get through any election season anxiety, there’s good news.

    Bravo will continue to air The Real Housewives of New York City all throughout Election Night, from roughly 4 to 11 p.m., with a new episode airing at 9 p.m.

    Married at First Sight

    Fans of a different reality show, Lifetime’s Married at First Sight, have less than ideal scheduling news for the week of the election, however.

    The show, which brings strangers together to marry upon their first meeting, is skipping a week, with episodes to return Tuesday, November 12.

    1,000-lb Sisters

    Another popular TLC reality show, 1,000-lb Sisters, will be pausing its programming this week as well.

    So that means viewers will have to wait an extra week to catch up on what’s happening in the Slaton sisters’ lives.

    The Voice

    The Voice is also taking a break this week due to Election Night coverage. NBC will instead be keeping track of all breaking news updates related to the 2024 election.

    Fans of the singing competition show will have to be patient, as the next episode resumes next week on Tuesday, November. 12.

    Stickers sit on a table during in-person absentee voting on November 1 in Little Chute, Wisconsin. Election Day could impact your regularly scheduled TV programs.

    Scott Olson/Getty Images

    Is Jimmy Kimmel on This Week?

    While Jimmy Kimmel Live! is a fixture on ABC, he will not be airing his late-night episode as usual.

    This is due to ABC blocking off the time for election night coverage instead.

    However, starting on Wednesday, November 6, Kimmel will be back on his usual schedule, with guests Jon Favreau, Jon Lovitz, Dan Pfeiffer and Tommy Vietor as well as musical guest Alessia Cara.

    Is Stephen Colbert on This Week?

    The Late Show with Stephen Colbert is also following suit and opting against airing a new episode on Election Night.

    The next episode is scheduled for Wednesday, November 6 with guest George Stephanopoulos and a music performance by Lenny Kravitz.

    Is Seth Meyers on This Week?

    Late Night With Seth Meyers is likewise taking a break on Tuesday for NBC’s Election Night coverage.

    However, fans don’t have to wait long because Meyers will be back with his regularly scheduled episodes beginning Wednesday.

    Is Jimmy Fallon on This Week?

    Taking a nod from the other late night TV hosts, Jimmy Fallon is delaying the next episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon due to Election Day coverage.

    But the next episode airing on Wednesday will be action packed with guests Whoopi Goldberg, Rosie Perez and Bailey Zimmerman.

    Other Election Coverage

    While the final results of this year’s election may not be available for several days, Tuesday’s vote counts will help Americans learn who’s leading in key swing states as well as across America.

    ABC News will begin its coverage at 8 a.m. Tuesday, while CNN starts its election show at 5 p.m. Monday.

    Fox News will also air its election coverage beginning at 6 p.m. on Monday, while MSNBC starts airing its election show at 5 a.m. Tuesday morning.

    The last presidential election in 2020 took four days for officials to make a final call, mostly due to the prominence of mail-in ballots due to the coronavirus pandemic and social distancing.

    For this year’s Election Day, most polling locations close around 7 p.m. or 8 p.m.

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  • Hoda Kotb says she’s leaving NBC’s “Today” show after 5 years as co-anchor

    Hoda Kotb says she’s leaving NBC’s “Today” show after 5 years as co-anchor

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    Hoda Kotb announced she is leaving the “Today” show early in 2025 after more than five years co-anchoring the morning program. 

    Kotb announced the decision in a letter that was shared with colleagues, Today.com reported. 

    The departure comes after more than 25 years at NBC News. Kotb previously worked at “Dateline,” and served as the co-host of the fourth hour of “Today” with both Kathie Lee Gifford and Jenna Bush Hager. She stepped into the co-anchor role after Matt Lauer left amid sexual misconduct allegations, and spent five years working alongside Savannah Guthrie and other hosts. 

    “My time at NBC has been the longest professional love affair of my life,” she wrote in the letter, according to Today.com. “But only because you’ve been beside me on this twenty-six-year adventure.” 

    TODAY - Season 73
    Hoda Kotb on Monday, September 16, 2024.

    Nathan Congleton/NBC via Getty Images/TODAY


    Kotb said in her letter that she still plans to “remain a part of the NBC family,” but did not elaborate what her role at the network would be after departing. She did not give an exact date for her departure, but said she would “be working through the beginning of 2025.” 

    Kotb recently celebrated her 60th birthday with a segment on the Today Plaza. She said that emotional moment spurred her to make the decision to leave. 

    “I’ve been weighing this decision for quite a while — Am I truly ready?” she wrote. “But, my sixtieth birthday celebration on the Plaza felt like a shift. Like a massive, joyful YES, you are! I saw it all so clearly: my broadcast career has been beyond meaningful, a new decade of my life lies ahead, and now my daughters and my mom need and deserve a bigger slice of my time pie. I will miss you all desperately, but I’m ready and excited.” 

    Kotb has two children: Haley Joy, who she adopted in 2017, and Hope Catherine, who she adopted in 2019. She shared both children with ex-fiancee Joel Schiffman, who she separated from in 2022. 

    A replacement for Kotb was not immediately announced. 

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  • JD Vance Downplays Laura Loomer’s Racist Comments, Doubles Down On Immigrant Conspiracy

    JD Vance Downplays Laura Loomer’s Racist Comments, Doubles Down On Immigrant Conspiracy

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    Senator JD Vance continued to peddle unfounded claims about Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, on Sunday and said he didn’t “like” far-right activist Laura Loomer’s racist social media post about Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

    When NBC’s Meet the Press Kristen Welker asked Vance about Loomer’s comments, he alleged that he’d only read them this morning, because “I knew that you’d ask me about it.”

    “Look, Kristen,” Vance began, “I make a mean chicken curry, I don’t think that it’s insulting for anybody to talk about their dietary preferences or what they want to do in the White House.”

    “Do I agree with what Laura Loomer said about Kamala Harris? No, I don’t. I also don’t think that this is actually an issue of national import. Is Laura Loomer running for president? No,” he continued. “Kamala Harris is running for president, and whether you’re eating curry at your dinner table or fried chicken, things have gotten more expensive thanks to her policies.”

    In addition to her comments about Harris, Loomer has been in the news this month for her increasing influence on Donald Trump’s campaign for the presidency. Loomer was among those Trump took on his private plane en route to Philadelphia for ABC’s presidential debate last week. When asked about this, Trump responded that “a lot” of people fly with him because “it’s a very big plane.” Trump said Loomer is a “free spirit” and “supporter.”

    Trump was also alongside Loomer at official September 11 memorials in New York and Pennsylvania this week. Loomer has promoted the conspiracy that 9/11 was an “inside job” and recently said in a CNN interview that, “I’ve never denied the fact that Islamic terrorists carried out the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In fact, the media calls me anti Muslim precisely for the reason that I spend so much time focusing on talking about the threats of Islamic terrorism in America.”

    On Sunday, Welker pressed Vance on Loomer’s comments and how they relate to his Indian-American wife and potential second lady, Usha Vance.

    “Senator, were you and your wife offended, and do you disavow those comments that even some Trump allies say are blatantly racist?” Welker asked. “Kristen, I just told you, I don’t like those comments,” Vance replied. “I also don’t look at the internet for every single thing to get offended by.”

    Loomer saw Vance on Meet The Press—and lauded the VP hopeful’s responses.

    “Vance,” Loomer wrote on X, formerly Twitter, “has done a fantastic job as an Ohio Senator, and he has given a voice to the forgotten men and women who want to talk about real issues.”

    “Donald Trump and JD Vance are giving those people a voice to tell the TRUTH about how they are being replaced by Kamala Harris’s invaders,” she posted, adding, “PS: I hope I can try the Senator’s chicken curry one of these days.”

    Minutes before in the interview, Vance again doubled down on the unfounded claim that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are harming and eating household pets and geese.

    “Months ago, I raised the issue of Haitian illegal immigrants draining social services and generally causing chaos all over Springfield, Ohio,” Vance posted on X earlier this week.

    “Reports now show that people have had their pets abducted and eaten by people who shouldn’t be in this country. Where is our border czar?”

    So far, the xenophobic rumors have been spouted by Vance, Elon Musk, Charlie Kirk, the founder and president of Turning Point USA, and Trump himself—to name a few.

    On the debate stage in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, Trump said without any proof, “In Springfield, they’re eating the dogs. The people that came in. They’re eating the cats. They’re eating—they’re eating the pets of the people that live there.”

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    Katie Herchenroeder

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  • “This Chose Me”: Why Dateline’s Dan Slepian Can’t Leave Sing Sing Behind

    “This Chose Me”: Why Dateline’s Dan Slepian Can’t Leave Sing Sing Behind

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    Within moments of meeting Dan Slepian, he gets a call from a prisoner at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Slepian has known the man for more than decade, from his time volunteering at the New York State prison, and they talk about his latest court appearance. Though Slepian’s not working on an immediate Dateline story on this particular case, it’s one of dozens he’s following at any time. “My name might be written on bathroom walls in prisons around the country,” he says.

    ‘The Sing Sing Files’ by Dan Slepian

    You couldn’t blame anyone wrongfully incarcerated for trying to get ahold of Slepian, whose dogged reporting for NBC’s Dateline has helped free several innocent men and is the subject of his new book, The Sing Sing Files. It’s a riveting read—and an infuriating one. Throughout a two-decade odyssey reporting on the criminal justice system, Slepian encounters police, prosecutors, and judges who appear more motivated to put someone away for a crime, or uphold a questionable conviction, than to find the truth. Meanwhile, he speaks with jurors who describe the pressure they feel to deliver guilty verdicts. In one particularly galling case, Richard Rosario is convicted of a Bronx murder despite having been in Florida at the time it occurred and having 13 alibis—the title of a previous Slepian podcast. (Rosario’s conviction was later vacated, and a jury awarded him $5 million for wrongful conviction.)

    It’s “really, really challenging when people in prison are calling you, and mothers are calling you in tears, begging you to help them,” Slepian, 54, tells me, adding, “This chose me. You know what I mean? I didn’t choose this. I have to do this. People say, like, ‘Do you have hobbies?’ I don’t have time for hobbies. I have a platform [and] I have a responsibility, given what I’ve seen, to speak for people who cannot speak for themselves, who society has thrown away.”

    Slepian’s criminal justice crusade began while he was embedded with the NYPD after the 9/11 attacks. Up until this point, his trajectory was fairly conventional for a TV journalist; an ambitious kid hustles his way into a WNBC internship, gets accepted to NBC’s coveted page program, and works for the late talk show pioneer Phil Donahue before landing a booking job, in 1996, at prime-time newsmagazine Dateline, where he eventually becomes a producer and conducts a variety of investigations. In 2002, Slepian received a tip about the 1990 Palladium nightclub murder, a case in which David Lemus and Olmedo Hidalgo, who didn’t know each other and couldn’t be placed at the scene by any physical or forensic evidence, were nonetheless convicted of the crime. That experience shattered his innocence, Slepian recalls, opening up “Pandora’s box” and revealing “the pathology of mass incarceration as a whole.” Now he refers to himself as “an evangelist” for criminal justice reform.  

    “I’m an evangelist, because the same way that if you were around in the 1930s and went to Germany, you would come back to the United States and you would say, ‘You got to see what’s happening over there,’” he says. “You’re a witness to something that’s not right. For me, I grew up believing that the system worked just the way it was supposed to. I’m a white kid from a middle-class suburb in Westchester County, New York.”

    It was while filming a story on the Palladium case in 2002 at an upstate prison that Slepian met the mother of Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez, who becomes central to his journey in the book. Velazquez was imprisoned for almost 24 years, only receiving clemency in 2021, nearly a decade after Slepian’s Dateline special raised damning questions about his case. (Slepian also explored Velazquez’s plight in his podcast Letters From Sing Sing, which was a finalist last year for a Pulitzer Prize.)

    Velazquez’s legal ordeal is truly harrowing, and it tested Slepian’s ability to demonstrate a type of journalistic detachment that, while well-intentioned, can come across as performative, even tone-deaf. Despite knowing Velazquez for more than a decade and believing he was innocent, Slepian, as he recalls in the book, still recited a rote speech about his objectivity following a devastating setback in court.

    When I ask about this moment, now eight years after the fact, Slepian gets emotional. “The DA was standing there; I wanted to show my objectivity. I wanted to put it on display,” Slepian tells me. “And I said this mantra: ‘JJ, if I find anything showing your guilt, that’s coming out.’ And there was this long pause, and he just said three words…‘Really, Dan?’ Pause. ‘Now?’ I literally can’t really talk about it. So I realized at that moment that I was part of this game. I was part of the system where everyone’s just doing their jobs. There’s no bad guys.”

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  • Chuck Todd Blasts NBC News On-Air Over Ronna McDaniel Hire

    Chuck Todd Blasts NBC News On-Air Over Ronna McDaniel Hire

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    Chuck Todd left moderating duties at “Meet The Press” behind several months ago, but he isn’t through with the show yet.

    During a surprising appearance on Sunday’s broadcast of the program on NBC, Todd took issue with a decision to hire former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as an NBC News contributor, then put her on “Meet The Press” for an interview with current moderator Kristen Welker, who had booked McDaniel prior to the hiring becoming known.

    “You got put into an impossible situation, booking this interview, and then all of a sudden the rug was pulled out from under you, and you find out she’s being paid to show up?” Todd said Sunday. “It’s unfortunate for this program, but I am glad you did the best that you could.”

    McDaniel’s hire as a contributor was unveiled Friday, and has sparked concerns about her ability to speak truthfully on air to NBC News’ audience. In the past, McDaniel has called into question the validity of the 2020 presidential election and suggested journalists were promoting propaganda.

    “Our bosses owe you an apology for putting you in this situation,” Todd said to Welker, in separate remarks. Welker disclosed on air that a possible booking of McDaniel had been in the works for weeks and that she was not involved in the decision to hire her.

    Todd’s remarks appear to be a rebuke aimed at Carrie Budoff Brown, the NBC News executive who oversees political coverage and “Meet The Press,” or Rebecca Blumenstein, the NBC News president to whom she reports. Blumestein joined NBC News from The New York Times last year, and has, since her arrival, masw hires aimed at bolstering NBC News’ investigative efforts and political coverage. During her early tenure, NBC News hired David Rohde from The New Yorker, installed Welker at “Meet The Press” and orchestrated a change in command at “Dateline.”

    During the interview, Welker pushed McDaniel on her views on the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election as well as former President Trump’s promise to pardon anyone punished for involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

    Most controversial decisions by TV news outlets are discussed behind the camera, not in front of it. But NBC News has been called out by its journalists in the past. In 2019, MSNBC anchor Rachel Maddow delivered a stinging monologue in primetime during her cable program that examined concerns about NBC News’ treatment of Ronan Farrow, who had begun investigating disgraced movie producer Harvey Weinstein while at NBC News, then took his work to The New Yorker after NBC declined to put his work on air.

    NBC News’ decision to hire McDaniel has clearly rankled some staffers, with MSNBC President Rashida Jones issuing a memo Friday, according to The Wall Street Journal, that vowed McDaniel would not appear on the left-leaning cable outlet.

    “There’s a reason why there’s a lot of journalists at NBC News uncomfortable with this, because many of our professional dealings over the past six years have been met with gaslighting, have been met with character assassination.,” Todd said. He suggested McDaniel’s contributor deal was made in exchange “for access.”

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  • How To Watch The New Hampshire Primary Results

    How To Watch The New Hampshire Primary Results

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    A small contingent of journalists gathered near the Canadian border earlier this morning to watch as Dixville Notch, NH, continued its tradition of casting the first ballots on an election day.

    Nikki Haley cleaned Donald Trump‘s clock in this hamlet — 6 votes to none.

    As the day goes on, network correspondents are fanning out across the state at precincts to talk to actual voters, after months in which the first-in-the-nation primary was judged and assessed by polls. Commentary and analysis is focusing on whether

    Haley and her top surrogate, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu, blitzed the airwaves on Monday, while Trump held a final rally in Laconia, NH, where he predicted that Haley would be out of the race after tonight. He was interrupted by climate protesters, who have been a frequent presence at events in recent days.

    There is a Democratic race, too. Joe Biden is not on the ballot, as the Democratic National Committee mandated that South Carolina hold the first-in-the-nation primary. But New Hampshire has gone forward anyway, and Biden supporters have mounted a write-in campaign, hoping to stymie efforts by Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) and Marianne Williamson to make some kind of surprise showing in the state.

    Broadcast networks will provide ongoing coverage of the results on their streaming channels, although special reports are possible during the primetime lineups. Polls close in some locations close at 7 p.m. ET and at 8 p.m. ET in others.

    Here are the coverage plans of the major networks:

    ABC: The streaming channel ABC News Live will provide coverage, with David Muir joining Linsey Davis at 7 p.m. ET for Your Voice, Your Vote special, with reporting from Rachel Scott, Mary Bruce, Jonathan Karl, Martha Raddatz, Eva Pilgrim, Whit Johnson and Rick Klein, among others. Donna Brazile, Reince Preibus and Sarah Isgur will provide analysis. ABC News’ Nightline will devote its full show to the caucuses.

    CBS: Norah O’Donnell will anchor CBS Evening News from Manchester, NH tonight, and she will be joined by Major Garrett for live coverage of results on CBS News Streaming starting at 8 p.m. ET. Garrett also will anchor an hourlong edition of America Decides from New Hampshire at 5 p.m. ET. Coverage also will include analysis from John Dickerson and Anthony Salvanto, with reporting from Robert Costa, Ed O’Keefe, Fin Gómez and Caitlin Huey-Burns reporting from New Hampshire. Tony Dokoupil has been reporting from the state for CBS Mornings. Dickerson will anchor a special edition of CBS News Prime Time on CBS Streaming starting at 7 p.m. ET.

    NBC: Tom Llamas will kick off coverage at 5 p.m. ET on NBC News Now, and will be joined by Hallie Jackson in New Hampshire and Chuck Todd and Steve Kornacki breaking down the results. Kristen Welker, who moderated Meet the Press from the Granite State on Sunday, will be back in New York to join Lester Holt for a network special report. She will pick up coverage from Llamas on NBC News Now starting at 10 p.m. ET.

    CNN: Following coverage throughout the day, Jake Tapper and Anderson Cooper anchor coverage starting at 6 p.m. ET, with Dana Bash anchoring live from New Hampshire, joined by Kasie Hunt, Chris Wallace and Jeff Zeleny. Erin Burnett will lead analysis with Kaitlan Collins, Abby Phillip, Audie Cornish and Manu Raju from Washington, and Audie Cornish from New York. David Chalian will provide polling and delegate analysis, and John King will break down results at the Magic Wall, and Phil Mattingly and Harry Enten will provide updates. Laura Coates and Erica HIll will anchor overnight coverage starting at 1 a.m. ET. The caucus coverage will stream live without a cable log in from 7 p.m. ET on Monday to 5 a.m. ET via CNN.com.

    Fox News: Following a two-hour Special Report with Bret Baier at 6 p.m. ET, the network plans coverage during its primetime shows Jesse Watters Primetime and Hannity. Baier and Martha MacCallum will a special Democracy 2024: New Hampshire Primary starting at 10 p.m. ET, with analysis from Brit Hume, Dana Perino, Trey Gowdy, Charles Payne and Kellyanne Conway. Bill Hemmer will analyze results on the Bill-board, while Sandra Smith will present voter analysis from New York. Trace Gallagher will anchor post-caucus analysis on Fox News @ Night at midnight ET, followed by a two-hour special at 2 a.m. ET with Mike Emanuel and Gillian Turner.

    MSNBC: Jen Psaki kicks off special coverage from New Hamoshire at 4 p.m. ET, followed by Rachel Maddow with Decision 2024 starting at 6 p.m. ET. She will be joined by Ari Melber, Joy Reid, Chris Hayes, Alex Wagner, Lawrence O’Donnell and Stephanie Ruhle. Steve Kornacki will be at the Big Board throughout the evening. Psaki will continue special coverage at midnight ET.

    PBS: Amna Nawaz and Geoff Bennett anchor coverage from Washington, D.C. starting at 6 p.m. ET, with reporting from Lisa Desjardins in New Hampshire. Desjardins will give an update at 9 p.m. ET, and live coverage will start at 11 p.m. ET.

    NewsNation: Chris Cuomo, Dan Abrams and Elizabeth Vargas will anchor Decision Desk HQ 2024: The New Hampshire Primary starting at 7 p.m. ET. Connell McShane is breaking down results, while Leland Vittert and Chris Stirewalt will offer news and analysis from the Granite State. Brian Entin, Kellie Meyer and Joe Khalil will provide additional reporting.

    C-SPAN: Starting at 8 p.m. ET, the network will provide candidate victory and concession speeches, viewer calls and social media reaction.

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  • A new COVID variant, HV.1, is now dominant. These are its most common symptoms

    A new COVID variant, HV.1, is now dominant. These are its most common symptoms

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    As the United States enters respiratory virus season and health officials roll out updated COVID-19 vaccines, a new COVID variant HV.1 has emerged and is currently sweeping the country.

    The new omicron subvariant has rapidly overtaken other strains, including EG.5 aka Eris, to become the dominant variant in the U.S. As of late October, HV.1 is responsible for more than a quarter of all COVID-19 cases, and health officials are monitoring the new variant amid concerns of a winter COVID-19 surge.

    HV.1 accounted for an estimated 25.2% of new COVID-19 cases during the two-week period ending Oct. 28, according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

    After HV.1, the next most common variant in the U.S. was EG.5, which made up 22% of cases, followed by FL.1.5.1 or “Fornax,” and XBB.1.16 or “Arcturus.” (Globally, EG.5 is still the dominant strain, according to the World Health Organization.)

    All of the most prevalent COVID-19 strains in the U.S. are offshoots of omicron, which first emerged in November 2021.

    Although COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have been trending downward after a late summer surge, HV.1 is continuing to pick up speed around the country.

    Cases are expected to increase again this winter as was the case the past three years, Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, tells TODAY.com.

    As HV.1 spreads, many are curious if the new subvariant is more contagious or severe, whether it could cause different symptoms, and if the new COVID-19 vaccines will provide protection. Here’s what we know about HV.1 so far.

    What is HV.1, the new COVID variant?

    HV.1 is part of the omicron family. “You can almost think of HV.1 as a grandchild of omicron,” says Schaffner. HV.1 is a sublineage of omicron XBB.1.9.2 and a direct descendent of EG.5, according to the CDC’s SARS-CoV-2 lineage tree.

    “The COVID family of viruses likes to mutate. We’ve all learned that by now,” says Schaffner. While HV.1 is mutated, it’s still very close to the existing omicron subvariants, Schaffner explains.

    For the most part, scientists are not concerned about new variants like HV.1, which look very similar to strains we’ve already seen before, NBC News reported.

    However, there are a few highly mutated strains which have set off alarm bells. These include BA.2.86 or Pirola, which has an extra 36 mutations that differentiate it from XBB.1.5., and a newer variant called JN.1, which has one more mutation than Pirola.

    Fortunately, neither BA.2.86 nor JN.1 are common in the U.S. right now, according to the CDC — JN.1 is so rare that it makes up fewer than 0.1% of SARS-CoV-2 cases.

    As for HV.1, it rapidly gained steam after it was first detected this past summer. In late July, HV.1 accounted for just 0.5% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., CDC data show. By Sept. 30, HV.1 made up 12.5% of cases, and by November, it was the dominant strain.

    Is HV.1 more transmissible?

    “One of the characteristics of this entire omicron family is that they are highly transmissible,” says Schaffner. Sometimes, mutations can enable a new variant to spread more effectively or quickly, per the CDC.

    Right now, it appears that HV.1 could be slightly better at spreading from person to person than previous strains, NBC News reported. The increased transmissibility of HV.1 likely explains how it became dominant so quickly in the U.S., Schaffner notes.

    It appears that HV.1 could also be slightly better at escaping prior immunity to COVID-19, but not enough to cause alarm, Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, told NBC News.

    Although it is more transmissible, HV.1 does not appear to produce more severe disease or lead to more hospitalizations, Schaffer says.

    What are HV.1 symptoms?

    The symptoms caused by infection with HV.1 are similar to those caused by recent variants, says Schaffner, which include:

    • Sore throat

    • Congestion or stuffiness

    • Runny nose

    • Cough

    • Fatigue

    • Headache

    • Muscle aches

    • Fever or chills

    “Congestion, sore throat and dry cough seem to be the three most prominent symptoms right now,” says Schaffner.

    Increasingly, doctors report that COVID-19 symptoms appear to follow a pattern of being concentrated in the upper respiratory tract, starting with a sore throat and followed by congestion or a runny nose, NBC news reported.

    Coughing isn’t typically a primary symptom, but it can persist. “The virus seems to produce a kind of a chronic bronchitis, so that you can have a cough syndrome that lasts beyond the period where you’ve recovered from other symptoms,” says Schaffner.

    Another trend is that COVID-19 seems to be causing milder infections, likely because people have some prior immunity. “By milder, we mean it doesn’t require hospitalization even though you can feel quite miserable for several days,” says Schaffner.

    Do COVID-19 tests detect HV.1?

    All COVID-19 tests — including PCR tests performed by a health care provider and rapid at-home antigen tests — will detect HV.1, says Schaffner.

    Testing is a crucial tool to protect yourself and others from COVID-19. The symptoms of HV.1 and other COVID-19 variants can look very similar to other viruses, including respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), influenza and rhinovirus, which usually causes the common cold.

    “The only way to distinguish (COVID-19) from RSV and flu, both of which are now gaining steam, is by testing,” says Schaffner.

    Experts encourage anyone who has symptoms to get tested, especially those in high-risk groups — people over the age of 65, who are immunocompromised or who have underlying health conditions.

    “We have treatments that can prevent more serious disease,” says Schaffner, but early detection is key. COVID-19 antivirals such as Paxlovid are effective against HV.1 and other variants, but they work best when within five days of symptom onset, TODAY.com previously reported.

    Testing has significantly diminished in the U.S. in the last year, which is concerning, says Schaffner.

    When the U.S. federal public health emergency for COVID-19 ended in May, so did the guarantee of free testing for many people.

    However, every American can still get COVID-19 tests for free or low-cost right now. One way is to order four free at-home COVID-19 tests from the government, which will be delivered by mail via the U.S. Postal Service. To order your free tests, go to COVIDTests.gov.

    In addition, all health insurance plans are required to reimburse eight at-home COVID-19 tests per month, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. State Medicaid programs are also required to cover at-home tests, and Medicare beneficiaries and uninsured individuals can access free tests provided by Health & Human Services at thousands of community health centers, clinics and pharmacies.

    If you still have a stockpile of tests sitting around, remember to check the expiration date and whether it’s been extended by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

    Does the new COVID-19 vaccine protect against HV.1?

    The updated COVID-19 vaccine is recommended by the CDC for everyone ages 6 months and older. It is now widely available at pharmacies, doctor’s offices and other locations around the U.S., says Schaffner.

    The new boosters have been reformulated to target omicron XBB.1.5, which was the dominant COVID variant for most of 2023. While XBB.1.5 has since been overtaken by HV.1, Eris, Fornax and Arcturus, it is still closely related to these newer strains.

    The updated vaccines seem to be well-matched to the variants currently circulating and making people sick, Andrew Pekosz, Ph.D., virologist at Johns Hopkins University, previously told TODAY.com.

    “Laboratory studies indicate that the updated booster will protect against serious disease caused by HV.1,” says Schaffner. Vaccination also significantly lowers the risk of becoming hospitalized or dying, per the CDC.

    However, only 23 million Americans or 4.5% of the population had received the updated shots by Oct. 27, Reuters reported.

    The first phase of the new booster rollout hit several speed bumps, including supply delays, high demand, cancelled appointments and insurance obstacles. Some parents have been unable to get their kids vaccinated as some pharmacies and pediatrician’s offices have struggled to secure enough child-size doses.

    Although many of these initial issues have been resolved, says Schaffner, uptake is still slow. “We’ve underutilized this updated vaccine, and we anticipate that COVID will once again increase even more during the winter season,” says Schaffner.

    It’s not too late to take advantage of the new booster, Schaffner adds, and people should get the shot as soon as they can.

    The FDA has authorized three vaccine options for 2023-2024: one mRNA shot each from Moderna and Pfizer, and a protein-based non-mRNA shot from Novavax.

    Insurance plans should cover the updated booster, says Schaffner, and those without insurance should still be able to get the shot for free, according to the CDC.

    “We’re in a good place because for a considerable time now, we have not had a new variant that causes more severe disease or evades the protection of currently available vaccines,” says Schaffner.

    How to protect yourself from HV.1

    As the winter and holiday season approaches, it’s important to take steps to protect yourself from COVID-19 and prevent transmission to others, especially the most vulnerable. These include:

    • Staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccines

    • Getting tested if you have symptoms

    • Isolating if you are testing positive for COVID-19

    • Avoiding contact with sick people

    • Improving ventilation or gathering outdoors

    • Washing your hands with soap and water frequently

    • Wearing a mask in crowded, indoor spaces

    This article was originally published on TODAY.com

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  • Longtime NBC Journalist Says Hamas Took Wife’s Family Members Hostage

    Longtime NBC Journalist Says Hamas Took Wife’s Family Members Hostage

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    Former Israel-based NBC News correspondent Martin Fletcher revealed during an MSNBC appearance that two members of his wife’s family were among the hostages captured by Hamas from Israel.

    Fletcher, who served as Middle East correspondent and Tel Aviv bureau chief, choked up as he explained the situation to MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle on Thursday night during a discussion about the Israel-Hamas conflict.

    He said he had just learned the news that day. He said that Natalie and Judith Raanan, Americans from Evanston, Illinois, were in Israel visiting their grandmother for her 85th birthday.

    “They were last seen [with] their hands tied, being dragged away by the Hamas terrorists. So it’s personal, it’s real,” he said.

    Judith Raanan and her teenage daughter Natalie Raanan were visiting Judith Raanan’s mother at a kibbutz in the south of Israel at the time of Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack, The New York Times reported last week.

    Natalie Raanan had just graduated high school.

    Family members in Israel were reportedly told that the women were in Gaza but that it was not known if they were dead or alive.

    Family and community members in Evanston, a suburb north of Chicago, told The Associated Press they’re praying for the pair’s safe return.

    Natalie Raanan’s aunt, Sigal Zamir, said, “I pray for them to come back alive. They’re innocent and loving, and they didn’t do anything.”

    An estimated 200 people were taken hostage to Gaza, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan said on Thursday. Hamas says it has 200 hostages, Reuters reported. At least 20 Americans are missing, according to U.S. authorities.

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  • MSNBC Is Having Its Super Bowl With Donald Trump’s Indictments

    MSNBC Is Having Its Super Bowl With Donald Trump’s Indictments

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    The MSNBC panel was awaiting former president Donald Trump’s Fulton County Jail mug shot, when Rachel Maddow asked her audience to register the gravity of the moment. “I’m saying we should slow down here just for a second, because this is serious stuff for the nation, for who we are as a country,” she said last week, as MSNBC aired the photo—the first of any current or former United States president. “This is not something to take lightly. Our constitutional republic depends on the very basic concept of rule by law, not rule by man,” Maddow continued. It was fitting that Trump looked so angry in the mug shot; despite being the fourth indictment and arrest this year, it was Trump’s first. “He’s embodying…the avatar for the rage that he has traded off of to become president in the first place,” Joy Reid said.

    But not every moment was that earnest on MSNBC that night. Over the course of the segment, which followed everything from Trump’s plane landing in Atlanta to his motorcade to and from the jailhouse, the MSNBC panel—Reid, Maddow, Chris Hayes, Lawrence O’Donnell, and Nicolle Wallace—oscillated between analysis, weighty reflection, and, well, schadenfreude. O’Donnell mused, was the “strawberry” hair color listed in the booking information Trump’s own description? Maddow cast a cheeky glance to her colleagues when she read his listed height: “six-foot-three.” Then came Trump’s weight—listed as 215 pounds—sending the table into hysterics.

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    MSNBC’s talking heads had been given the license to have a little fun. Even when Maddow and others were reflecting on the sheer weightiness of this newscycle—that even a former president can be held accountable under the criminal justice system—a viewer could tell: This panel was relishing every part of it. And, it seems, the viewers are relishing in it all too.

    MSNBC has emerged as the network of choice for viewers looking for coverage of Trump’s criminal charges. The timing of Trump’s arrest in Georgia—Thursday night—didn’t correspond with Maddow’s regular Monday slot, but the network brought her on anyway; it was an evening ripe for the heavy hitters, after all. The tactic seems to be working. The network has seen a bump in ratings recently, reportedly beating Fox News in prime-time ratings for a full week in early June amid coverage of Trump’s second indictment, on charges related to classified documents. The network continued to bear the fruits of Trump’s legal woes earlier this month, which has been MSNBC’s most-watched in more than two years. When Trump was indicted for the fourth time, over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia, MSNBC prevailed over Fox News for the top three spots in the cable lineup, Forbes reported, citing Nielson data. More viewers turned to MSNBC from 9 p.m. through 3 a.m. than Fox News and CNN combined. Maddow’s 9 p.m. program, which happened to feature a previously scheduled interview with Hillary Clinton, drew 3.9 million viewers, and was the number one show across all of television, including broadcast. MSNBC beat Fox News in prime time again the next night. “While most of the country is experiencing some level of fatigue over Trump’s legal battles, MSNBC’s viewership has increased with each subsequent indictment,” Axios’s Sara Fischer noted.

    MSNBC’s approach—and success—is in spite of the broader recalibration toward nonpartisan media that newer outlets like Semafor and The Messenger have said they see a market for. CNN, too, made an apparent attempt to overcorrect for its breathless coverage of the Trump White House. The result, largely ushered under now ex-CEO Chris Licht, has at times been over-sanitized, leaving viewers unsure of what the network is offering.

    “CNN has definitely lost a ton of audience to MSNBC,” one CNN producer tells me. “One of Chris Licht’s great legacies was basically telling the audience we built during the Trump era: You’re not welcome, we don’t work for you. I don’t know if that’s ever going to be undone, and this new lineup is certainly not a strategy to attract this audience back.” CNN is maintaining its focus on hard news, both in its latest streaming effort and newly cemented prime-time lineup. “We now have a decade of data telling us that cable news viewers don’t want news in prime time,” the producer adds. “So this completely ‘blinders on, we’re gonna double down on news in prime time and hope for the best’—it just doesn’t make any sense to me.”

    Meanwhile, MSNBC has seemingly only doubled down on being the premier news source for the Trump resistance. For two years, the network’s coverage and numbers were largely driven by Robert Mueller’s special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. “In addition to breaking pieces of news related to the probe—working in tandem with journalists from NBC News—MSNBC’s anchors, and, in particular, its opinionated progressive evening hosts, turned the Russia story into a gripping daily soap opera that not only helped grow the channel’s audience, but kept it coming back for more,” my colleague Joe Pompeo wrote back in 2019. A person close to MSNBC’s strategic thinking credits the network’s ratings to more than just the recent indictments, pointing to both the network’s consistency with viewers and expanded footprint across digital, audio, and streaming. Following Trump’s departure from office, the mandate for hosts has been to keep it nice, as Semafor reported—opinion without snark or bombast.

    Now MSNBC is approaching what could be the apex in Trump political coverage: his indictments, trials, and another presidential run. The network appears particularly well-positioned to take on this story with its stable of legal analysts, including former top Mueller prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, former acting US solicitor general Neal Katyal, and former US attorney Joyce Vance. It helps that NBC News has also been a central player this political cycle and appears well-sourced with both Trumpworld and Ron Desantis’s camp; NBC nabbed the first network interview with the Florida governor after he launched his campaign, and has been nabbing scoops on him as well as on the Biden administration.

    Timing, too, is on their side; MSNBC is firing on all cylinders just as its competitors face a period of instability. Fox News is still figuring out its future without Tucker Carlson and girding for more defamation suits, while CNN is rudderless, with temporary management attempting to pick up the pieces post-Licht’s tenure, as the company searches for a new CEO.

    Over at MSNBC, things are comparatively low drama. I’m told that MSNBC president Rashida Jones has an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” mentality that has been well-received by top talent.

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    Charlotte Klein

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  • High On Life And Rick And Morty Creator Facing Domestic Violence Charges

    High On Life And Rick And Morty Creator Facing Domestic Violence Charges

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    Image: Greg Doherty (Getty Images)

    Justin Roiland, creator of TV series Rick and Morty and the recently released High on Life game, has been charged with domestic violence against a former girlfriend.

    NBC News reports that it obtained Orange County Superior Court records stating that a criminal complaint was filed against Roiland back in May 2020 by the Orange County District Attorney. The complaint charges Roiland with “one felony count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud and/or deceit.” Roiland was arrested and released with a $50,000 bond in August 2020 and pleaded not guilty to both charges in October of that same year.

    According to NBC News the victim says the incident between herself and Roiland occurred around Jan. 19 of that year. A protective order was filed in October 2020, which states that Roiland can not harass, threaten, surveil, or be within 100 feet of an unknown person protected under the order. The order also made Roiland relinquish ownership of any firearms he owned or possessed. The order lasts until October 2023. According to NBC News, Roiland is scheduled to appear in court Thursday for a pre-trial hearing.

    Read More: Rick And Morty Creator Used Controversial AI Art, Voice Acting In New Shooter

    This news comes shortly after the release of High on Life, a first-person shooter game created by Roiland’s video game company, Squanch Games. Despite the game’s popularity on Game Pass, Xbox’s Netflix-like game subscription service, it’s been at the center of controversy for its use of an AI generator to create poster art and vocal performances. Prior to High on Life’s release on December 13, Roiland launched two NFT projects in 2021 and 2022 called The Best I Could Do and Art Gobblers.

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    Kotaku reached out to Squanch Games and Roiland’s lawyer but did not receive a comment by the time of publication.

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    Isaiah Colbert

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  • Set Your Clocks Back Tonight—And No, Daylight Saving Time Isn’t Going Away Yet

    Set Your Clocks Back Tonight—And No, Daylight Saving Time Isn’t Going Away Yet

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    Topline

    Americans will set their clocks back Sunday morning as daylight saving time comes to an end—even as a national debate gains steam over whether the longstanding tradition of switching between daylight saving and standard time should be eliminated, and if daylight should be permanently pushed back the extra hour.

    Key Facts

    At 2 a.m. Sunday, clocks in the U.S. will revert to standard time, turning back one hour and giving Americans an extra hour of sleep that night, but shifting sunrise and sunset an hour earlier and ushering in four-plus months of darker winter evenings.

    In March, the Senate approved the bipartisan Sunshine Protection Act, which would make daylight saving time permanent, extending daylight longer into the evening between November and March in exchange for darker winter mornings—but the bill has stalled in the House.

    The bill, which would apply to every state except Hawaii and Arizona—an outlier in the daylight savings arena, observing year-round standard time—is the latest attempt at longer evenings, with proponents, including Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who introduced the bill, arguing it would reduce crime, improve rush-hour traffic safety and encourage kids to play outside longer.

    Critics of the semi-annual switch also point out the process of changing the clocks twice a year has been linked to increases in traffic accidents, robberies, workplace injuries and heart attacks in the days that follow the shift—a 2004 study published in Accident, Analysis and Prevention also found permanent daylight saving would decrease vehicle deaths by more than 350 per year.

    Lawmakers in Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, New Jersey, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Washington have proposed bills to make daylight saving time permanent, although none of those bills have received Congressional approval—the Uniform Time Act allows states to exempt themselves from daylight saving time—which Arizona did (with the exception of the Navajo Nation) in 1968—but forbids states from remaining on permanent daylight saving time without congressional approval.

    Chief Critic

    Scientists studying sleep warn a transition to permanent daylight saving time could disrupt Americans’ circadian rhythms as midday sunlight is pushed back from noon to 1 p.m. The result, according to a 2019 study in the Journal of Health Economics, is that people’s “social and biological time” drift apart, creating a phenomenon known as “social jetlag,” while overall sleep time decreases by an average of 19 minutes, and impairs sleep quality. According to University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School-Baystate professor Karin Johnson, that could increase the risk of health problems, including obesity, diabetes and heart disease, NBC News reported.

    Big Number

    63%. That’s the share of U.S. adults surveyed in an American Academy of Sleep Medicine survey last July that want to eliminate seasonal time changes, including 38% who strongly support eliminating it.

    Key Background

    Although the debate over daylight saving time is almost as old as the practice itself, it’s facing renewed criticism as lawmakers attempt to do away with standard time altogether. The semi-annual changing of the clocks began in 1918 as an initiative to save fuel, give shoppers extra time after work, although federal officials left it up to state and local lawmakers to decide when they should reset their clocks, and whether they do it at all—creating a completely nonuniform nationwide time system. Congress standardized the practice in 1966, with former President Lyndon B. Johnson approving the Uniform Time Act, following through on three years of planning from the Committee for Time Uniformity. In 1996, Congress amended the Uniform Time Act, extending daylight saving time by bringing the start date up nearly one month, from the first Sunday in April to the second Sunday in March while pushing the end date from the last Sunday in October to the first Sunday in November. Recently, however, a bipartisan group of lawmakers are once again trying to change America’s time. In a statement last year, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who supports the Sunshine Protection Act, argued permanent daylight saving time “positively impacts consumer spending and shifts energy consumption,” while Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.) said “I don’t know a parent of a young child that would oppose getting rid of springing forward or falling back.”

    Further Reading

    Permanent Daylight Saving Time Would Cut Collisions With Deer And Save Lives, Study Finds (Forbes)

    Daylight Saving Time Is Here And It Could Be The Last Time We ‘Spring Forward’ (Forbes)

    Clocks turn back this weekend, but the future of daylight saving time is far from settled (NBC News)

    A Brief History Of Daylight Saving Time (Forbes)

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    Brian Bushard, Forbes Staff

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