NOW Tonight - Feb. 1 | NBC News NOW

Good evening, I'm Yami South Center from NBC News Bureau in Washington D.C. and these are some of the stories we are following

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. We have a mother and father who mourned the life of a young man who should be Here today, a community gathers to celebrate the life of Tyree Nichols, the black man who died three days after being beaten by Memphis police officers. The FBI then searches President Biden's vacation home for more classified documents. His lawyers say that none were found, but not that. It does not mean that the investigators were left empty-handed, we are not going to anticipate possible speculations and steps that could happen in the investigation.

The president has cooperated fully. A field of Republican candidates is slowly emerging to challenge former President Donald Trump in 2024. We examine where some potential contenders are coming from, plus a fierce ice storm leaves more than a quarter of a million people without power in Texas as part of the state experiences temperatures colder than Alaska and after intense criticism from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, the College Board chooses the first day of Black History Month to announce that it is watering down its new AP African American Studies course now, who knew that a important part of black history is queer theory, that is, someone who is pushing an agenda for our children?

Tyree Nichols has now been charged Rest in Memphis Tennessee Earlier today, family and friends remembered Nichols in an emotional service. The funeral was attended by many, including Vice President Kamala Harris and the Rev. Al Sharpton, who gave the eulogy throughout the service. Speakers demanded that Congress pass the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. We demand that Congress pass the George Floyd Justice and Policing Act. Joe Biden will sign it and we must not delay and we will not be denied. It is not negotiable. There is no responsibility. They think we're going to get angry in a day or two. and then we'll move on to something else but some of us do this every day some of us believe that the dream has to come true some of us are going to fight until we make this legislation a reality I don't know when I'll do it I don't know how, but no We will stop until we hold you accountable and change your system.

We'll start counting, we can count to 20. And every time you remove one from a video, we'll say that's Tyree Nichols' legacy. we have equal justice quickly very powerful words there Nichols, 29, was brutally beaten by members of the Memphis Police Department during a traffic stop on January 7. He died three days later. Videos of last week's incident were released, sparking nationwide protests and renewed calls for police reform. Five all-black police officers have since been fired and charged with multiple felonies, including second-degree murder. , two other agents have been relieved of their duties and three MTS have been fired. NBC News correspondent Antonia Hilton joins me now from Memphis, so Antonia this was an incredibly emotional service.

I remember her sister talking about how she liked to watch TV and eat cereal while she took care of him. She is also named after the character and in the movie Silverado her mother also became emotional when talking about the need for police reform. We heard more today, you know, Yamiche, some of those little moments that you just mentioned really caught my attention because every time these cases happen, you know the national

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and there's so much attention on the investigation, you know, looking at the history of the police. department, sometimes the details of the life that this person lived, you know, fade into the background, so some of those moments just hearing what cereal he liked to eat, that he was a fun kid to babysit, things so, it just reminded you of some of the simple universal elements of this and of course you know how it made you feel for the family and how much pain they're in right now, so this service was an interesting combination of people who know and they hug each other Um, you know, surrounding this family with love and memories of the life that he lived, but also with this desire to make sure that he didn't die in vain, so it wasn't just Vice President Harris, but pretty much every speaker that was there. over there. today we got rounds of applause, standing ovations talking about the various levels of reform that they feel are needed here at the local level and at the federal level, you know, at the local level they are still pushing for more people, including some of these new officers, one who has been appointed official.

Preston Hemphill, another one who remains anonymous, who has been relieved of duty but hasn't been charged with anything yet and then these three paramedics, two paramedics and a lieutenant who worked with them, they want to see them charged and they see all of them The people who are in the scene that night played a role that ultimately led to his death, so the funeral was incredibly moving, but it also had this kind of broader message, as very often black churches try remind you that you know they are part of this long process. The history of protests to move this country forward and this funeral was not at all an exception to that yamiche and when you actually explain how this moves forward, I think of Benjamin Crump talking about how this should be the model for what happens next.

If there are other police killings, we now have reports that four of the five officers charged in Nichol's death have committed prior violations on the job, meaning at least people said they did things that were wrong on the job. work, they talk about whether or not The Memphis Police Department is commenting on that and how much more do we know about the seventh officer? We are still waiting to learn a lot and there are many reporters who are trying to get answers from both the police department and potentially the district attorney's office. good on this, but here's what we know from records obtained by NBC News, four of those five officers have a history of violations, those violations range from failure to complete important documents about incidents they have been involved in to problems with the use of the force and Then, one incident that really caught my attention, Yamiche, was that one of the officers has a history of reckless driving.

Reckless driving was, of course, rash or was the accusation that led to Tyree Nichols being pulled over in the first place, this officer allegedly speeding to the scene of a call he received caused a three-car accident. and he had to be relieved of duty for two days and sent to a remedial driving course and so you know that example, which was just one of many that they noticed because Les reminds them that what Tyree Nichols allegedly did that night led to this execution and that has been an incredibly painful thing for residents here to process as you know they tried to try to move forward towards this funeral, they tried to celebrate his life.

It seems like every day there are additional details about what people in the police department or other levels of government might have known about Antonio, just Antonio, there are such incredible details. I also think we need to keep in mind that when we talked about this service we looked at George's families. Floyd and Brianna Taylor and Eric Garner and so many other families who have been affected by what they see as police violence, so I really appreciate you reporting there. I know it's a difficult job. Thank you. Let's bring up Vicky Terry now, she's the executive director of the Memphis branch of the NAACP and she was at Tyree Nichols' funeral today, so Vicki, I want to play a part of what the eulogy said from Reverend Al Sharpton, who was Speaking of the officers involved, listen to these five black men who would not have had a job in law enforcement.

The department would never take on an elite squad in the city where Dr. King lost his life not far from that balcony. You beat a brother to death. I have to tell you, I talked to people who said they got goosebumps thinking about it. The fact that some of these officers are now indicted are the beneficiaries of the work of civil rights leaders like Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King. What is your response to what Reverend Sharpton was talking about? How is the community dealing with this? He already knows it before you do. I even showed that clip.

I was sitting here thinking about some of the same things that your correspondent had said about what he heard at the funeral and that struck me because I can remember when Dr. King was killed here. I was eight years old. and it just resonated with me, uh, it brought tears to my eyes just thinking about those five black officers that beat this young man to death and you know it seems so horrible that they did this, our community is suffering. You know, we know the family is, how they feel, but the entire community here in Memphis, Tennessee, we are all distraught by what happened and it's almost unbelievable that these officers who were supposed to serve us and protect us would do this to Tyree and as you use.

The word incredible is a very poignant word to use right now because many people simply cannot believe what we all witnessed in this video. I want to ask you. I mean, there are so many calls for police reform now that President Biden has said it's going to have to be up to Congress. I wonder at the local level, much of the level at which you work there, whether or not you believe that local police departments can do anything to prevent what we saw happen in the Tyree Nichols case yes ma'am I do, I certainly do. I think what we need to do is develop some type of liaison between the police department and the community.

We need people to work alongside them to make sure they're held accountable for the things that they're doing and I know our police chief, she already brought in a new investment from Internal Affairs, you know, a person who outperformed them, she I don't know if They fired the other one or what, but we have a new Internal Affairs. The Chief and I know that these complaints will be looked at personally now, you know, because of this new person, there were so many different things going on with the Scorpion unit and other units that needed to be disbanded and you need to know that. investigated to make sure that no other incidents have occurred and no one knew about it and I also want to ask you in regards to the bills that we are looking at, today we heard the George Floyd Justin police bill. that Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee could be pushing legislation named after Tyree Nichols to actually require police officers to intervene.

How important are those kinds of things? Those measurements when you think about the work that needs to be done. Oh my god, it has to happen now! It's so important that we have to make sure that this law, the George Floyd Act, is passed, and then like you said about a Tyree Nichols reform, I think we in Memphis are the model, like Ben Crump said. Attorney Crump has said that Memphis is the model for making these things happen and what we have to do is make sure that we continue to pressure our legislators here in Tennessee to make sure that these things are happening and that they know our state representatives, the Congressman Steve Coyne, all of these people, we need to make sure that we follow them to make sure that all of these laws are followed and put into legislation because right now we don't have anything on the books as far as police reform, yeah and of course.

Many people at the funeral you attended said just that, so thank you very much, Vicki Terry, executive director of the Memphis NAACP branch, thank you. The FBI searched another of President Biden's properties for classified documents today, this time it was his home in Rehoboth. Beach Delaware, according to the president's personal attorney, Bob Bauer, no new documents with classified marks were found. Bowers said the Justice Department recovered some materials of quotes and handwritten notes that appear to be related to his time as vice president. The spokesperson for the White House Counsel Office highlighted this. Everything was done in coordination with the president's legal team.

I think this is consistent with the president from the beginning to have full cooperation with the justice department as this ongoing investigation moves forward and that will continue. The president is moving quickly to give them access. to the information they need so they can move forward with a comprehensive review that is thorough and done efficiently, so let's bring in NBC's chief White House correspondent, Peter Alexander. Peter Alexander, so thank you very much for being here, Peter, what else do we know? about what the Department of Justice found today, yes, so let's walk you through this right, says the president's lawyer, while significantly noting that no classified documents were found that were marked with marks that are classified, this It was after approximately three and a half hours of searching, they say the search waswas carried out again with the full support and cooperation of the president, since the materials and handwritten notes that were among the elements that were taken for review by the FBI stand out, but in particular yamiche, this occurs after the Revelation that the FBI searched Mr.

Biden's former private office in November according to two law enforcement sources, but the White House did not share that information with the public and

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the president's aides argue that, unlike former President Trump, they did return all classified documents immediately, so the White House has not said why it did not tell the public about the FBI search in November and if other yamiche and Peter have not been revealed, even if there are no classified documents, it seems that They were found today. I wonder if there is any of that material that might violate some kind of law. that material that they took yes, that's a good question, that's part of why this investigation of Robert Herr, the special prosecutor is underway, he officially began his effort, today, what is significant?

As we talk about Robert Herr, former prosecutor Federal of the state of Maryland, the Biden administration says it has been working with the Department of Justice that turned over its documents, since they found them directly in the files, with which they spoke and cooperated fully. with the FBI, but there are real questions tonight about the issue of transparency, as the Republican head of the House oversight committee effectively says we wouldn't know anything about this if it hadn't been leaked to the media right now As far as whether any laws were violated, the White House, the president's private attorney insist that nothing wrong was done here, they say it was a conversion effort, everything was effectively a mistake and as they say it is a mistake and the White House has said it over and over again that they are in coordination in cooperation with the Department of Justice, if that is happening, do we expect more searches?

That is a good question. I tried to ask that gentleman, he saw Ian Samson, he's the spokesman for the White House special counsel's office. I asked if the White House was aware of other FBI searches at other properties. We now know from the White House that the FBI searched the president's former office here in D.C., his home in Wilmington, where they filed classified material after the president's lawyers also found classified documents. like the search that took place at the president's home in Rehoboth Beach but that spokesperson didn't say anything beyond saying that they are working directly with the Department of Justice and trying to participate as best as possible and help them complete their investigation yamiche well, it's a situation that clearly continues to evolve and develop, so thank you Peter Alexander for all those reports.

Thanks still to come, some important changes on the southern border. Which could mean the end of a coveted air immigration policy for asylum seekers and the College Board. is changing its curriculum for AP African American Studies after some Republican backlash now tonight continues today the College Board released an updated curriculum for its new Advanced Placement course in African American Studies the update here means stripped of associated Black writers and scholars with critical race Black queer theory and experience this comes after a series of criticisms from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. He is a Republican who claims that the original framework for the AP course pushed a quote of left-wing bias that amounted to citing indoctrination, but the head of the College Board said this.

He didn't make any of these changes as concessions to conservatives, saying the New York Times quote on the College Board: We can't look at the statements of political leaders; Still, the revised syllabus for the course appears to address many of the criticisms Governor DeSantis had of course, and many of the authors who wrote on topics Santos took issue with have left and are no longer part of the curriculum. NBC News correspondent Ron Allen joins us now with more Ron, how is this new framework different from the previous one? Well, according to the College Board it focuses on what it describes as core issues and facts, people and history, um, and primary sources, whereas the old framework or the revised framework focused on secondary sources, focused on theory, focused on contemporary ideas and issues like black lives matter.

The movement repairs these types of contemporary issues. There are several authors whose names have been removed, such as Kimberly Crenshaw, who writes about critical race theory, and Tanahashi Coates, who writes a lot about reparations and many other things. He is probably one of the most popular black authors today. Now, obviously this is an academic debate, so there's a lot of room for interpretation of what a lot of these topics mean, like what exactly critical race theory is and what it is, but the bottom line is that people like DeSantis and its supporters are arguing for a very different view of black history than others, and its critics would say that the College Board is bowing to that political pressure; says he consulted hundreds of black history experts and they came up with this and they say it's not political, they said things like everyone's voice is heard, but opponents of course say that's not the case and there are hundreds from black academics who say the complete opposite, so this will all be solved in Florida, but Remember, of course, that this is a national problem.

The College Board is creating a course that will be taught in schools across the country. It will be taken by students who are trying to earn credit for AP courses and take an exam and then, of course, translate. in college credits, so there is a lot at stake and I suspect that in the future, since this is still in the testing phase, if you will, in the pilot phase, there will be a lot of debate in schools, on school boards and in superintendent's offices and with parents around the country trying to understand exactly what they can teach, what they can't teach, and what will help their students earn these AP credits and pass these exams and get college credits and maybe a head start in terms of college admissions when there's a lot at stake and of course we're just entering the beginnings of the 2024 Campaign, which is why Ron DeSantis is so prominent in all of this because he's obviously expected to run for president, so which the beginning of black heritage month is off to a good start. definitely a bumpy start when talking about taking Bell away, Angela Davis, a ton of shameless coats that said you mentioned Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, has he approved this curriculum yet?

What are the chances of you going through with this? I heard directly from him that it is a very extensive syllabus, an expensive document that the university award has produced, so I expected it would take some time for DeSantis, the State of Florida and others to weigh in on this, since some have to start with the College Board. I also said that many of these topics that are not prominent and that are not prominent and that are not required, such as the work of some of the authors we just mentioned, students can consider these topics as independent research at the end of Of course , there are independent research projects that can select from a wide range of topics, many of them contemporary topics, and those that work will be eligible for credit and that's how they're making this compromise by trying to separate what's in the core course versus which is an independent studio that they're trying to satisfy a lot of voices, a lot of very passionate voices and again, this is not going away anytime soon, it's definitely not going away anytime soon, uh It's definitely an interesting start to Black History Month. , so thank you very much NBC News Ron Allen and the president's decision to lift the Public Health Emergency for greed in May could also mean the end of a policy that blocked more than 2 million people or 2 million borders. crosses, we are talking here about title 42, the Trump era policy that was implemented in March 2020, allows the US to expel migrants over public health concerns, in this case, covid at this time 20 States are suing the Biden Administration.

To maintain the current policy, in particular 10 of the states do not have any type of land or maritime border; That said, only two states border Mexico, the Supreme Court made a temporary decision to keep the policy in place while this case plays out. The question now is what happens if Title 42 ends before the court makes its decision to help us answer some of this. I'm Julia Ainsley, she's NBC News, she's a National Security Correspondent, and she's joining me now. Thank you so much Julia for being here, so tell me what. could happen on the southern border if title 42 was lifted.

Well yamiche, for over a year now there has been a prediction that when title 42 is lifted there will be an increase in immigrants, primarily this is due to the demand for people who have not been able to cross the border since March 2020 without being sent back to Mexico, we know that Central Americans and Mexicans in general have been the most affected by title 42 and in some places along the border they are not everyone, there are large migrant camps in the market of people trying to enter this is not only due to the border policy of the United States, but due to migration from the Western Hemisphere.

There are currently 2.5 million Venezuelans living in Colombia. There is a lot of political unrest throughout the hemisphere. Climate change is impacting this and it all comes at a time when these Covid-19 restrictions known as Title 42 could serve as a magnet and that is why Republicans have come out openly against lifting Title 42. And as they look at it, we know the Supreme Court is weighing the future of Title 42. You've covered this a lot. I wonder what the status of that case is and what would happen if the court doesn't make a decision by May 11. Well, it's interesting and they probably won't make a decision before May 11.

We know we will hear oral arguments on March 1, but because this is one of the most controversial opinions they will issue this mandate, we could be looking at the end of June for when we actually hear a decision, but what could change is that the Biden administration now trying a new route to lift it in the past they tried to lift title 42 saying the CDC no longer considered it necessary now they are using a more general way of doing it saying look at the entire public health emergency around kova 19 se has been lifted and therefore the way title 42 was drafted is no longer applicable.

They are extending this until May 11th. However, there are some Republicans who attempted to end the public health emergency yesterday. I'm not sure if they knew that also means lifting Title 42 and going against 20 Republican states that are suing to keep it in place, so if the bitten administration goes ahead and tries to lift it before May 11, the Supreme Court will be in a position where they will have to decide whether the lift violates the court order they put in place in December that prevented it from being lifted and then we'll see if we have another lawsuit from Republicans to try to keep it in place or what happens next, There are many hypotheses.

This could go a lot of places, but it could definitely end with the lifting of Title 42, either on May 11 or later in the summer, or continue for longer, a lot of moving parts and of course there's a lot of political tension here , so thank you very much NBC. National Security News Correspondent Julia Ansley and after the break, Manhunt became a standoff, an update on the man accused of kidnapping and torturing a woman in Oregon and a look at dangerous winter weather conditions in the south, how scary was your trip? uh we've seen two cars south of the street uh a car shop that almost hit us and then we came all the way up here riding these Heat, now it's time for some of the big headlines we'll see tonight Benjamin Foster, the suspect in a attempted murder and kidnapping case. is now dead after an intense standoff with SWAT teams, police in Grants Pass Oregon say Foster shot himself while barricaded inside a home he has been fleeing since last week after a woman was found almost beaten to death in the area now police say Fosters was also behind the murders of two men in a nearby town, very close to where Mr.

Foster was officially hiding Thursday night, a scene of double homicide. At this time we believe that Foster, the double homicide suspect, Congressman George Santos, is being investigated by police. The FBI for his possible role in a fundraising scheme inline Santos allegedly stole thousands of dollars raised through a GoFundMe intended to cover life-saving surgery to save a service dog's life for a veteran. Santos' office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. New legislation proposed in Massachusetts seeks to grant early release to inmates who donate organs or bone marrow. If passed, the bill could shorten sentences by up to a year for people who qualify;

However, the bill may violate federal law under restrictions in the National Organ Transportation Act of 1984. A pandemic error increase in SNAP benefits will disappear at the end of the month for nearly three years to Participating low-income households were allotted at least an additional $95 a month for groceries. 18 states have already stopped the extra boost, but now the remaining states will do the same. The move is the result of a late review made to the Omnibus spending bill and Australian officials are breathing a sigh of relief after locating a missing, small but potentially deadly radioactive capsule last month.

The capsule fell from a truck in outback Australia, prompting search teams to launch a frantic search. Eventually, special equipment detected radiation from the pea-sized object, leading authorities to its roadside location. At least eight people have died as a result of the ravaging winter storm. havoc in the south, so this is what we are seeing. Icy and snowy roads are causing dangerous driving and flying conditions. Some areas of Texas are reporting up to a half inch of ice and about a quarter of an inch in parts of Tennessee and Arkansas. It may not seem like much, but that amount of ice can cause serious damage.

Residents captured images of extensive damage to trees caused by the weight of ice and electrical sparks lit up dark skies as a result of downed power lines. Right now, thousands of people are without electricity. power in Texas and NBC News Morgan Chesky, you join us now from Texas from Dallas, so Morgan, how are people in Texas dealing with this weather and what are you seeing? Yes, your mission is the third day in this deep freeze and the conditions are absolutely miserable, the sleet has turned to rain temporarily, but it will likely freeze in a few hours since you mentioned that the death toll has increased.

Seven of those eight deaths have occurred here in Texas, another in Arkansas, but it has been the ice accumulation that has proven so devastating across the state. We know that at the last check, about 350,000 Texans were without power. Austin hit one in four customers especially hard. We are faced with very frigid darkness like this as we enter the evening and that is why there is a real concern that although temperatures are expected to rise tomorrow, we are definitely not out of the woods yet yamiche, as you said, this is a devastating situation. right now in Texas, so I'm wondering how the state and local officials are, how they're dealing with this, how they're responding well, are they warning people to stay off the roads for those people who maybe are left without electricity and have nowhere else to go. go I would like to share one of the resources that are asking people to take a look at this is a place where you can find a warm shelter nearby.

They have proven to be absolutely critical, in fact, today we visited one, the director of the shelter. they told us that they actually had it expand to multiple different locations because they had over 1500 people and it was just one agency in Dallas not to mention the other parts of this state that are being absolutely hit by this storm that is still going on yamiche and Morgan, One of the things that really makes this even more difficult is that you're seeing this freezing weather in Texas and other southern states, so I'm wondering how city leaders are trying to lean on the infrastructure and try to really utilize their resources. to be better prepared, not all.

The community is certainly equally equipped, we know that in certain areas the snow plows tried to clear the roads as best they could with treated bridges and overpasses or shoveling sand, but what we have been facing here despite the best intentions in terms of infrastructure is the fact that we've had three sustained days or three days of sustained temperatures below freezing or just at freezing and fortunately a lot of people have heeded the warnings and stayed off the roads there, but right now because we're in Texas and not in a Northern State, where you see this over and over again, people really have to take care of staying off the roads, which has almost been a plea from officials;

In fact, an interesting note, DFW Airport says that some of the flight cancellations are not necessarily because the planes can't take off, but they have been trying to mitigate the fact that so many people would converge on DFW on roads that no one has right to drive. Give me an important message in your report: stay off the roads. and try to stay as safe as possible. Thank you so much. Morgan NBC News Meteorologist Bill Cairns joins us now. So Bill, what can you tell us about this ice storm that's moving through the south for 12 to 18 more hours?

Obviously, we are already on the third day. covering this storm and the worst of the impacts of the power outages was today, the roads have been horrible for the three days, but today the ice really built up, especially in central Texas, the Austin area specifically, there is approximately half of all outages in all of Texas. We haven't had many power outages at least so far in the Dallas Fort Worth area, but it's actually the Hill Country just north of Austin that was the worst. Heading into Waco, we still have ice storm warnings in effect going all the way back here to parts of Mississippi in Tennessee, so we're not done yet, but tomorrow is when things will warm up and the storm will start to come out, so It's still 29 degrees in Dallas, the sun saves us today, the sun wasn't there.

The rays that were shining were strong enough to break through the clouds and help them melt things around the Dallas area today, which is why you haven't heard much about power outages and downed trees, but now that the sun has set and It's dark, 29 degrees means freezing rain will start to accumulate and we think we'll see some isolated power outages in that Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex as we move into tonight and overnight hours and additional ice totals between a tenth and about a quarter of an inch and that's on top of all the icy conditions that already exist so here's the timing of this, this is as we go through this afternoon and into the night hours and then we realize that tomorrow we finally see the green and the yellow the Amish that means rain instead of freezing rain we should be clear around one in the afternoon tomorrow and Bill, I was thinking about you this morning because I had to put on my thicker coat because we are doing some cold on the east coast too, how long can we expect it to last?

Yeah, I haven't even taken off my winter coat yet, but I think I'm saving it for Friday, this cold will come down from the north, so we already have wind chill warnings and also some wind chill warnings in northern New England. and areas from Minnesota to North Dakota, so current temperatures are where the cold air around Hudson Bay is coming from - 22 - negative 18. which is headed and has a forecast for the northeast arriving Friday night and Saturday morning, which is when the worst of the cold and the strongest winds will be there. We still think wind chill values ​​will reach -48 in Bangor Burlington Vermont -42. it's in and it's out these temperatures will warm significantly from Friday night and Saturday morning by the time we get to Sunday Albany 41 Burlington 35 Bangor Maine up to 30 degrees Boston 40 so you need it to be a hit and run, but it's going to When it's really cold, it's good to know that warmer weather is coming, but I also want to ask you, of course, about New York City, which saw its first snowfall today and set a record.

I'm right? Yes, it took forever to get the Actually, the first snowfall is the last of the season that we've measured in the New York City area, so it's been 326 days since the last measurable snowfall in New York City. The old record for most recent snowfall was January 29th, so we broke it in New York, but Philly, you didn't break yours, your last time was February 3rd. Philadelphia also had a dusting of snow this morning. Well, as someone from Miami, I'm not really looking forward to it snowing, but I'll take it. Thank you very much, invoice for everything.

The prices of your reports at the pump and in the supermarket have fallen since the summer, but everything is still more expensive today than a year ago, so today the Federal Reserve took another step to protect its bottom line. The FED raised rates by a quarter percent. This is the eighth. increase since March and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell says it will continue, all part of the effort to reduce national inflation to two percent over the past six months. It has improved, but the current inflation rate is still too high for the Federal Reserve's liking. and, frankly, American consumers aren't happy about it either.

These rate increases could help lower the prices of consumer goods, but they could also be bad

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if you're looking for a new car or a new home. Join us now is NBC News Business and data reporter Brian Chung so Brian explains this Fred Heike and what's going on here yeah so the Federal Reserve's move to raise interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point is pretty significant when you consider the fact that they have already been raising interest rates at the fastest pace we have seen in many decades and that is due to inflation at levels we have not seen in many decades (about 9.1 percent middle of last year) has come down a little since then, but generally speaking, the Federal Reserve and Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell, who you can see on the screen in front of you, making it very clear that he says that they might have to continue raising interest rates to control inflation.

Listen to the inflation data received over the last three. Recent months show a welcome reduction in the monthly pace of increases and while recent developments are encouraging, we will need much more evidence to be confident that inflation is on a sustained downward trajectory and elsewhere in that press conference the Chairman of the Federal Reserve said they expect further rate increases. From here, work not done, the last reading on inflation was six and a half percent, the FED needs to see that two percent is their preference, so there is a long way to go, certainly Amish and Brian As you say, it's a long way to go.

I also want to talk about the impact all of this is having on housing, how are these rate increases affecting housing? What do they mean for perfect owners? How do they possibly impact housing on the real estate market here? Yeah, well, I mean, everything the feds talk about can be a bit. over most people's heads, but essentially what we need to know about rising interest rates today is that it will keep rates on many consumer-facing interest-bearing products high when you think about your auto loans. When you think about your credit card rates and also when you think about, of course, mortgages, mortgage rates more than doubled over the course of last year to over seven percent and they've come down a little bit since then.

In fact, I spoke with a real estate agent in Atlanta who mentioned that even in that hot market there is a little bit of hesitation on the part of some potential homebuyers (listen to demand based on real estate is actually made up of the number of households being formed and I think it's a misnomer in the real estate industry demand has nothing to do with interest rates or anything like that, demand has to do with household formation and that's what you're seeing. Hesitation is what happened, but the demand is still there. The people who are able to buy are still there and because of another interest. rate hike today, the Fed is probably not going to lower those mortgage rates, so six percent don't expect it to get anywhere near the three percent we saw in the pandemic picture again, it's definitely news that can use, especially when people are looking for new houses or new cars, sothank you very much NBC's Brian Chung, the race for 2024 is accelerating at least within the Republican primaries.

Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley is expected to announce her presidential bid on February 15. Haley's announcement would make her former President Donald Trump's first official GOP opponent and she definitely won't be the only one former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan has also said he is considering as he takes a closer look at a potential run. presidential and let's not forget Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has neither confirmed nor denied his 2024 ambitions, but many think he will, in fact, lead NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Ali Vitale, joins me now, so Ali tells us everything she knows about Nikki Haley and this ad and what President Trump, former President Trump, is saying, yeah, yamiche. it looks like we're going to have at least one more person in the field and frankly it's going to be more than just Nikki Haley when she arrives in the middle of the month, her advisor is telling me that her rollout plan starts in Charleston, South Carolina, that's where where Ella sent out an invitation today telling her followers to meet her there for what they call a special announcement, but it's no surprise to anyone that she's now running for president and it seems like former President Trump had an inkling or an idea of that this was going to happen.

This happens because this is what she said over the weekend before this invitation went out. Nikki Haley called me the other day to talk to me, talk to her for a little bit, but I told her, look, you know, follow your heart if you want to run, she's publicly. She said she would never run me against my president, he was a great president, he would never run me, did you? What did she say on the call? No, but she called me, she said, "You'd like to consider it." I said you should do it and look, Trump was highlighting again today the fact that at one point Haley said she wouldn't run for president in 2024 if her former boss when she was ambassador to the UN Trump ran, it's clear that he's running and It is also clear that he has changed his mind.

It's very interesting to hear Trump talk about Nikki Haley and her possible promise not to run against him now that we know a little more about what's going on on the Republican side. if another president, President Biden, if he's going to run, what the Democratic field looks like, possibly, gosh, the Democratic field is frozen because you usually know why he's campaigning longer as a former president or you're the current president. By deferring in the field you managed to freeze any competition, it is clear that Trump could not do it, that he is the de facto standard bearer, but there are still people who think that they can be a better future leader of the clearly Republican party.

There will probably be a lot of current and former governors running for that position, but on the Democratic side, because Biden is still deciding to actively look at this, it's clear that that has frozen other Democrats in place, for many reasons, especially because it's difficult running against a guy with the biggest bully pulpit in the country, that's what Biden has as a sitting president, but if he decided not to run, the first place everyone would look would be his number two vice president, Kamala Harris, the first The woman in that role is someone who also ran for president in 2020 against Biden, so she's clearly someone everyone would look at and wonder if this is the person who could take over, but there are definitely others as well.

You and I know many of them well. I'm definitely still checking my calendar to see when President Biden retires and thank you so much for covering 2024 from exactly the end of the midterm elections in 2022. Thank you so much still ahead, bye, Brady. NFL Quarterback Tom Brady announces his retirement again, the question is if it will be real this time, but first, today is the start of Black History Month and every night in February we will bring you a moment from history African American. Tonight marks the anniversary of the historic Greensboro sit-in. Forum On February 1, 1964, young African-Americans sat at a lunch counter at a Woolworths in North Carolina and their action proved to be a significant movement that took a stand against segregation.

The men returned the next day and their peaceful protests gained support in the In the following months, on July 25, 1960, the Greensboro wool mill agreed to serve blacks at its lunch counter. That week more than 300 African-American diners were served there. One of the Greensboro Four was later quoted as saying that we didn't want to set the world going. fire we just wanted to eat we're back Foreign ER will return to basketball this summer after spending almost 10 months in a Russian prison now he's figuring out where he'll play next right now Greiner is a free agent today is the first day free agents can officially sign.

Greiner says he plans to stay in Phoenix, where he has played his entire professional career. Now Greiner was part of a Russian prisoner exchange with Russia. I must say that in December, meanwhile, for the first time in the history of the Super Bowl. brothers will pay each other Travis Kelsey plays for the Chiefs Jason Kelsey plays for the Eagles his mom Donna Kelsey who really can't lose well was asked about the big game on The Today Show this morning I'll probably be very elated some tears and uh just to be a very very emotional moment what do you say to that son uh who doesn't win on Sunday what do you tell him how do you consult him there is nothing I can say um, just give them a hug and you know, tell them, you know, tell them that I love them, That's all, that's all you can do.

I definitely love his Jersey and Tom Brady is retiring again. The future Hall of Fame quarterback says this time it's for the best. NBC Stan Brock has the story at this time a year ago, as exactly this time of year, on February 1, 2022, Tom Brady announced his intentions to retire from football, which lasted approximately 40 days and He returned to the Tampa Bay Bucks when I know they made the playoffs but couldn't win a single game. This time he says he's done. I'm already done in a 52-second video posted on Twitter at eight in the morning. He said: I recognize what happened before.

Not going. to be a long, drawn out announcement with all this emotion like last time, this is it, I'm out, but just hearing his voice in that clipped video and acknowledging his gratitude for his family and his friends who supported him. They have supported this. dream trip you get the impression this is probably for tb12 and the reason they call him the biggest goat of all time is because he holds every possible record you can imagine in the nfl for a quarterback but Let's start with the most important one. a Super Bowl ring Brady has seven of them, the next closest NFL player has five as far as quarterbacks go, that's really the basis of comparison.

Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw are next with four, so he's head and shoulders above them, but also just because of the longevity of his career. This is someone who spent 23 years in the NFL at one point in 2008 tore his ACL and MCL. He missed the final 15 games of that season. He didn't miss another game due to injury for another 14 seasons, so he was basically the Cal. Ripken of the NFL, but also incredibly accomplished in terms of records in a way that no other player in League history has. before. That's where we are now. What's next for Tom Brady?

He has 375 million in 10 years. dollar contract with Fox Sports as a broadcaster, so he also has a health and wellness company, a clothing line he's certainly been in on television and film, so there are a lot of different components to his personality, a lot of dimensions and careers you can pursue. outside of American football, but deep down in his DNA you know that man just wanted to win and that's what all athletes are going to remember. Brady Bai, just as we now believe that a few steps from the NFL, in Miami, Sambrock can be seen as back.

For you, an incredible career for Tom Brady with I know many sacrifices. Thank you very much Sam Brock for that report and for tonight's inspiring show on America NBC. Harry Smith visits a restaurant run by grandmothers who know a thing or two about home cooking, but first you. I have to see this: An officer in Deer Park, Texas, risked his life to save his canine companion. This video shows Officer Joel Nitchman working to free his dog from the car as a tornado heads toward them. Nitman says he cites the idea of ​​rubble. or the car flipping over I couldn't do that to him I couldn't have him out there during that they both made it out of the storm safe and sound we'll be back thanks the word Nona in Italian means grandmother for a long time For the last decade, a Staten Island restaurant has been gathering acquaintances to cook.

We first visited the restaurant in 2016. Since then, its reach has only grown. Harry Smith takes us back to tonight's inspiring America. It's like a dream. Your beloved grandmother in the kitchen preparing family favorites where you were born in Italy is where you learned to cook yes, my normal mother, but Nona María cooks for the customers, not for your cousins ​​in a restaurant in Staten Island, isn't she supposed to? that you are retired? I like the job. you like to work you like to work I like to come every day Grandma is in the kitchen it's the house specialty at Enoteca Maria The owner and proprietor of It's Magic Joe Scaravella I think the whole attraction with grandmothers is that when you're growing up it's as well as her safe space for over a decade, Scarabella has brought together a mini UN of goofy grandmas and Nana's home cooking Cuisines from Asia to the Middle East every night a split menu Italian and food from somewhere else something magical happens every night nights here we're always anticipating the different nonas they bring.

I think I know a lot of grandmas aren't that good at cooking, but I've never seen one here, especially when Nona Maria is talking, you're a genius, oh yeah, thank you, thank you inside. my face is smiling ah I feel great with us too Harry Smith NBC News Staten Island and that of course looked delicious so thank you Harry Smith for that report before we go comment 66 is expected to be the first once in 50,000 years if the conditions are right. are clear enough, stargazers will probably be able to catch a glimpse through binoculars or telescopes and don't worry, it poses no threat as the comment will be at least 26 miles away and today the Hall of Rock and Roll Fame unveiled its 2023 class of nominees 14 groups and artists are under consideration for the prestigious honor, including Missy Elliott George Michael Cindy Lauper Sheryl Crow and A Tribe Called Quest Primary ballot winners to be announced in May and, speaking of musical icons, Queen B is getting back on tour.

I'm so happy and now Beyonce Beyonce announced her long-awaited Renaissance world tour this morning. She will perform 40 shows across North America and Europe, starting first in Stockholm, Sweden. In May, the tour will be Beyonce's first solo tour in more than six years. I'm definitely trying to get some tickets for that and that's enough to go by for now tonight the news continues right now thanks for watching our YouTube channel. Follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app.