Transcripts For KNTV Today 20240703 : vimarsana.com

KNTV Today July 3, 2024

The strict rules behind the showdowns and what both men are hoping to gain and the potential pitfalls they face. Were live with the very latest. Storm alert. Tens of millions set to face more Severe Weather today. Parts of the south bracing for heavy rain and dangerous flooding, while the northeast faces its own soaking. Als full forecast is straight ahead. Ambush attack. Slovakias Prime Minister fighting for his life after an attempted assassination caught on camera. Just ahead, his condition and what were learning about the suspect now in custody. Crash chaos. Another bridge accident leading to major problems this morning. A barge slamming into a vital causeway in texas, triggering an oil spill and creating havoc for commuters that could last for weeks. Were live on the scene. Those stories, plus, commencement controversy. Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker under fire for his message to women during a graduation speech. Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but i would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. Inside the growing uproar he sparked. And on a roll boston eliminates cleveland to advance in the nba playoffs. Tatum finds the laces and he buries it while dallas defeats Oklahoma City, pushing the thunder to the brink. Doncic ahead. Jones way up high for the jam. As football fans rejoice with the release of the longawaiting 2024 nfl schedule. Well break down the seasons most anticipated matchups, today, thursday, may 16th, 2024. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb, from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Good morning. Welcome to today. Were so happy to have you with us on this thursday morning. Yeah, good morning, everybody. Our top story, big announcement in the 2024 president ial race. President biden and former President Trump agree to two general election debates. The first will be in june, the other in september. Yeah, the surprise deal marks a major shift in the campaign calendar. Both camps are still trying to work out details, including the debate formats as well as who the moderators will be. But the candidates themselves are already taking on aggressive tones. President biden taking a swipe at his rivals legal problems, mr. Trump calling biden the worst debater hes ever faced. Weve got it all covered, starting with nbcs chief White House Correspondent, Peter Alexander, whos right here with us. Hey, peter, good morning. Savannah, good morning. This happened fast, and really out of the blue, within hours of President Biden introducing this idea, both men had signed on, two debates, you noted. The first, just six weeks from now. A calculated risk for each of them in what is certain to be a bitter battle. Their first televised confrontation in more than three years. The whole idea let him reporter in an already unprecedented campaign, another unpredictable turn this morning. President biden and former President Trump agreeing to two oneonone debates, ending months of uncertainty about whether theyd face off at all. President biden on wednesday delivering this surprise offer to debate twice. Donald trump lost two debates to me in 2020. And since then, he hasnt shown up for a debate. Now hes acting like he wants to debate me again. Well, make my day, pal. Reporter the president even taunting mr. Trump, whos been stuck in court four days a week. So lets pick the date, donald. I hear youre free on wednesday. Reporter mr. Trump who refused to take part in a single republican primary debate quickly signing on. And pushing for more. I think there should be more than two. And i think they should be in large venues. Its just more exciting. Reporter the first matchup with no studio audience set to take place june 27th, the earliest in modern history. Thats just a few weeks before the republican convention, and likely shortly after mr. Trumps hush money trial has wrapped up. The second debate slated for september 10th before early voting begins. The Biden Campaign has requested a number of parameters, including that the candidates microphones be cut off when its not their time to speak. All of it comes after months of public pressure for the former president , even bringing out an empty lectern on the trail. Thats for joe biden. Im trying to get him to debate. Reporter their agreement bypasses the commission on president ial debates thats organized every matchup for more than three decades. Folks, do you have any idea what this clown is doing . Reporter most americans hope the rematch isnt a replay of their first debate in 2020 that turned ugly. Radical left will you shut up, man. Reporter meanwhile, senator mitt romney, a fierce trump critic, says that President Biden should have pressured federal prosecutors not to indict the former president , and for the good of the country, should have pardoned him. Had i been President Biden, when the Justice Department brought an indictments, i would have immediately pardoned him. Because it makes me, President Biden, the big guy and the person i pardoned the little guy. Lots to unpack here, peter. Is with us now. Laura jarrett, because we have to talk about the trial, which resumes today. But the debate. Both sides seem to be really anxious for the other guy to be there, because they want them to you know, the trump people think theyre going to get an advantage when everyone sees President Biden, and the biden people thinks that theyll have an advantage when everyone sees President Trump. Youre right. And in my conversations, both sides are framing this as an opportunity. As you note, mr. Trumps folks view this as this is the perfect opportunity to crystallize this race to show american an opportunity for them to try to expose joe bidens vulnerabilities, his age and stamina. For the biden folks, they say its an important opportunity for them to crystallize this race right now, in effect, to show americans, this is the choice. These are the two men, one of whom will be the next president of the United States. In their eyes this is binary here. But to be very clear, they are tossing tradition aside. They are getting rid of those traditional political enormous norms by not going through the traditional Debate Commission that has done this thing date back in 1988. And another key factor not to miss is the fact that neither of them wanted rfk jr. , Robert F Kennedy jr. To be on that stage right now. Under these circumstances, it appears that that would be the case. But for those people who support rfk jr. Or who dont like either of these men, it may backfire. They may say, hey, im going to stick it to both of them and vote for rfk jr. Instead. Okay. So lets turn to laura. We have the trial resuming today. Michael cohen on the stand. And the crossexamination, we got a flavor of it on tuesday, but its going to kick into high gear today. We would expect it will go all day today. Theyll dig into all of his admitted lies, his lies to congress under oath i expect will take up a lot of the day. But at some point, we have to get back to the alleged crime. I think at some point, they have to zero in on what Michael Cohen said on the stand a couple of days ago about the actual charges. The falsification of business records. Its a dry charge, compared to some of the scandal in this case, but they have to dig at that, or else the jury will be left with the impression that the former president ordered all of this, even though theres no evidence that he actually went in the Computer System and typed, legal retainer, and that was all fraudulent. So theyll have to flesh all this out. Both sides need to keep their eye on the ball of what actual charges are. The case is starting to wind down. The prosecution says Michael Cohen is their last witness in their case in chief. What are we expecting from the defense, if anything . They may not put on a defense at all. They may say, you know, it signals more to say, were not going to call any witnesses and go straight to closing arguments. All right. We shall see. Laura, peter, thank you very much. All right, guys, another big story were watching, the return of Severe Weather. Millions in the midwest and south are once again bracing for powerful storms and dangerous flooding. Heavy rain also falling across new england. Al is tracking all of it for us. Hey, al, good morning. Good morning, guys. We are really more concerned about flooding than we are Severe Weather, but we will have some of that as well. Take a look, 17 Million People under flood watches, stretching from Central Texas all the way into alabama, were watching that. Were also looking at these storms that will continue to roll. Were looking at a high risk for flash flooding, enhanced risk of Severe Weather, as well, from abilene to lufkin down to houston for a few tornadoes possible, wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour. Tomorrow, these storms race across the gulf coast. More training storms again across texas, on into the gulf. In fact, tomorrow, 8 Million People at risk for Severe Weather from lake charles, new orleans, on into pensacola, up into columbus, and the flooding, again. We saw that river flooding a couple of weeks ago. Well, we have a lot of river flood warnings from texas, right on into louisiana. Why . So far, some parts of texas have picked up 800 of their average from texas to florida over the last two weeks. You put on top of that this saturated soil. Theres nowhere for this rain to go. And so we have a high risk of flooding for Central Texas into South Central louisiana, also into birmingham, alabama, pensacola. Some places picking up to 8 inches of rain with 3inch rainfall totals per hour, guys. Flash flooding will be a big, big problem going into the next 24 hours. Guys . Al, thank you. Turning now to the war in gaza. Overnight, the u. S. Military finished installing a temporary floating pier that will be used to deliver muchneeded humanitarian aid. And in a new interview with g t ahead with military operations in the city of rafah despite opposition from the white hous cnbc, israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is vowing to press ahead with military operations in the city of rafah despite opposition from the white house. Lets bring in nbcs chief Foreign Correspondent inerer juice rem again for us, richard engel. Richard, good morning. Reporter good morning, savannah. Im actually in sderot in southern israel at the moment. And in that interview, Prime Minister netanyahu was emphatic. He said repeatedly that he understands President Bidens opposition to a Major Military push into rafah, but that israel is going to do it anyway. That it has no other choice, that the operation in part has already going to continue over the next several weeks. Pulled from the rubble of buildings flattened by israeli strikes, palestinian survivors are caked in so much dust, they look like statues. Israel is once again fighting across the gaza strip, battling a regrouping hamas insurgency. What were doing is what we have to do to win this war. Reporter in an interview with cnbc, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outlined his vision for ending the war. A longterm plan with israel destroying hamas and maintaining total control of security in gaza indefinitely. The palestinians should have all the powers to govern themselves, but none of the powers to threaten us. Reporter netanyahu also suggesting some unnamed arab countries could help manage daytoday affairs in gaza, while israel continues to carry out military operations. So far, no Arab Government has said it wants that role. Reporter in a widening rift, israels defense minister suggesting on israeli tv, netanyahus plan implies an endless war and occupation that israel cant sustain, saying the price would be bloodshed and many victims without purpose, as well as a heavy economic cost. Secretary of state blinken appeared to agree. Weve been very clear that when it comes to the future of gaza, we do not support and will not support an israeli reof occupation. Reporter but disagreements have not stopped u. S. Support. With new arm shipments approved and a massive dock built by the u. S. Military to deliver food and other humanitarian aid has now been anchored off gaza. With that pier now anchored, aid deliveries are expected to make shore into gaza over the next several days. Richard, thank you very much. Also this morning, the Prime Minister of slovakia is fighting for his life after an attempted assassination. That frightening moment he was ambushed and the chaos unfolded. It was all caught on camera. Nbcs Megan Fitzgerald has that story for us. Hey, megan, good morning. Reporter hoda, good morning. This has been an all hands on deck effort to save slovakias Prime Minister. Robert fico has went underwent five hours of surgery in two operating rooms. And this morning, a glimmer of hope signs hes improving. [ gunfire ] reporter this morning, a suspect charged in an assassination attempt in broad daylight on slovakias Prime Minister. Video showing three gunshots ringing out, striking robert fico in the stomach. His security rushing to help him get away and a possible glimpse of the shooter. Authorities said an arrest was premeditated. The deputy Prime Minister reassuring the public outside the hospital. Saying the doctors have managed to stabilize his condition, but the situation is really serious. President biden calling the incident a horrific act of violence. Slovakias interior minister saying it was politically motivated. Ficos politics are divisive and hes a support of russia and its war against ukraine. And protests have erupted across the nation after ficos plan to put the state broadcaster under government control. The assassination attempt, the latest to send shock waves across the world, after several highprofile incidents in recent years. In 2022, japans former Prime Minister, shinzo abe, was shot in the street, later dying. A year later, a gun jammed as a man targeted argentinas then president. And just last month, ukraine claimed it foiled a russian plot to assassinate president zelenskyy. But now in slovakia, an emergency Cabinet Meeting is under way to address a nation in crisis. The interior minister says the suspect acted alone has previously taken part in antigovernment protests. State broadcasters are reporting that the suspect is a senior citizen. The president of slovakia is calling this attack an assassination on democracy. Hoda . All right, Megan Fitzgerald for us in london. Megan, thank you. Quarter after. Say good morning to craig. Savannah, hod savannah, hoda, good morning. Good morning to you as well. Were learning more this morning about yet another alarming bridge accident. This time, in texas. A barge slammed into the causeway that connects galveston to Pelican Island, causing a partial collapse. Also causing an oil spill and a traffic nightmare. It shut off the only road to the island. Nbcs Priscilla Thompson has made her way there. Priscilla, first of all, whats the very latest this morning . Reporter yeah, craig, very tense moments here yesterday when that barge crashed into the bridge behind me, after breaking loose from its tow, prompting that partial bridge collapse and also the oil spill. We know that this barge carries up to 30,000 gallons of oil. Its unclear how much of that may have spilled into the water, but Martin Petroleum says that that leak has been stopped. We are also learning that there were two operators, Officials Say, who were on board this barge when this crash happened, including one of them who ng thl standstill here on Pelican Island with th actually fell into the water and was rescued immediately. But thankfully, Officials Say that there were no injuries, but it did bring things to a virtual standstill here on Pelican Island, with the road being entirely shut down, the only road connecting the island to galveston. As you can see, the road closed sign is still up behind me, and there remains a Police Presence here. But overnight, they did reopen this road to begin to allow people to get out, and were told that there is a long line of residents eager to get out after being trapped here all day yesterday. Craig . Im sure. Priscilla, all of this, of course, coming after that bridge collapse in baltimore a few weeks ago, and just yesterday, federal officials sounded the alarm in the wake of that on capitol hill. They talked about these kinds of incidents. What did those federal Officials Say . Reporter yeah. So they were on capitol hill to speak about the safety issues that were raised by the baltimore bridge co

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