Nightly News Full Broadcast - June 7

tonight nearly a third of the country under historic air quality alerts Erie almost apocalyptic Skies putting 115 million Americans at risk the orange yellow Haze choking cities up and down the East Coast New York City with the worst air in the world the FAA halting flights at one of the busiest airports the Yankees and women's pro basketball postponed with schools keeping students inside all of it fueled by Canada's massive wildfires Al Roker is tracking it with the latest and how long it will last plus we ask medical experts what you should do to protect your family running mate turn rival what Donald Trump's former vice president said about the former president's efforts to overturn the election but can he shake up the race plus our new reporting the Trump Ally subpoenaed by the special counsel Pope Francis on the mend in surgery for three hours today the latest on his road to recovery School Board chaos protesters in California clashing with supporters of pride month curriculum the future of farming robots with artificial intelligence zapping weeds with lasers how it could upend Agriculture and we've packed our bags for Paris as the city of light prepares to host Nick Summer's Olympics this is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt good evening New York's famed Skyline enveloped by an eerie and dangerous pawl of smoke as we come on the Air Tonight dangerous conditions here and officially the worst air quality on the planet and the worse this city has ever recorded the source wildfires in Eastern Canada the smoke caught in an atmospheric trap right now over 115 million people from New England to Texas are under air quality alerts 90 million of them due to smoke the Thick Smoke layer driving temperatures down affecting air traffic and forcing the postponement of sporting events and face masks back in style as Millions seek relief from air quality index readings deemed unhealthy for everyone Al Roker will tell us when the skies may clear but first to Emily aqueda with the very latest tonight cityscape's unrecognizable in much of the country in Eerie glow disguising Manhattan the Washington Monument practically hidden and a haze over Detroit as warnings of worsening air quality blanket newscasts dry conditions are causing more wildfires to spark around the region outside right now a picture that is simply otherworldly my goodness it's heavy smoke in the sky the smoke today clouding Skies so much the FAA issued a ground stop temporarily pausing all flights into LaGuardia and slowing air travel into Newark and Philadelphia from the Midwest to the Northeast and down the East Coast 90 million Americans are under air quality alerts from Wildfire smoke the dangerous plumes are funneling into 16 States from fires in Canada where more than 400 are burning 239 of them remain out of control the U.S with help on the ground we have already deployed over 600 U.S firefighters and personnel as well as equipment like water bombers to help Canada battle the fires exposure to poor air quality can lead to headaches irritated eyes coughing and difficulty breathing especially for those with respiratory conditions like asthma in Hackensack New Jersey Dr Ida Capo is seeing a rush of patients they could become extremely short of breath and have difficulty breathing in a very short period of time by being exposed to this for the second day in a row New York City recorded the worst air quality in the world among major cities its air quality index or aqi today reaching hazardous levels and nearly doubling that of Delhi India any aqi above 150 is considered unhealthy higher than 300 is hazardous New York City today hit 342. the city's iconic Skyline today transformed into frightening shades of color the apocalyptic-like scenes reminiscent of West Coast wildfires that cast an eerie Hue over the San Francisco Bay area in 2020. I mean it looks different you can see the small Major League Baseball in the WNBA postponing games in Philly and New York as New York City and Buffalo public schools canceled all outdoor activities the state's Governor calling the air quality an emergency situation the bottom line is this if you can stay indoors stay indoors this is detrimental to People's Health young children seniors and pregnant women are also at a higher risk that's why expecting mother Michelle maves Dela genio is teaching piano remotely today I'm not not going anywhere I was supposed to teach in Manhattan and it just didn't seem worth it today especially with with a baby on the way to stay safe experts say check air quality alerts regularly on the epa's website airnow.gov if you have a portable filtration unit run it on high clean your air conditioner filter and run that units fan on high as well to move as much air as possible through the filter and limit your time outside when people do head out should they wear masks I would um it's it's it's safer it's going to take a lot of those larger particles out all right Emily joining me now from just across the river from New York City in New Jersey Emily we've all been commenting how unusual this skyline looks Lester that's right typically you'd be able to make out the Empire State Building right about here now the good news is the hospitals we've heard from say they haven't seen a dramatic increase in emergency admissions so far but they are preparing for what could come tonight as these conditions linger Lester all right Emilia Canada starting us off thanks and for more on what's causing it and how long all this will last let's get to Al Roker in Washington now Lester this is going to last for at least another 72 hours as you look on the satellite the visible satellite you can see that pinkish gray area that is the smoke wrapping around that low pressure system pushing the smoke into the Northeast now here's what we expect we are looking at 90 million people impacted by unhealthy air from the Wildfire smoke alone worst air quality from Lake Ontario to Delaware you look at Harrisburg Pennsylvania extremely unhealthy hazardous temp conditions in Allentown very unhealthy in Philadelphia and here's the deal as you can see on the image you can watch that smoke push into the Great Lakes down into Washington it gets worse here tomorrow heavy out to the West the only time we're going to see any relief here Lester is not until Saturday and then things start to finally clear out Lester all right Al back out of the smoke and inside the studio as we continue now it is rare for a former vice president to take on their former running mate let alone president but that's what Mike Pence announced today at his Dasha Burns reports Pence took some sharp shots at the Republican front runner he was former president Trump's running mate but tonight he's a rival Mike Pence throwing his hat in the 2024 ring and taking direct aim at his former boss we cannot expect to unite the nation around an agenda of a politics based on grudges and Grievances and Pence unleashing his sharpest criticism yet of the former president's actions on January 6 when he refused Trump's pushed to overturn election results the American people deserve to know that on that day president Trump also demanded that I choose between him and the Constitution now voters will be faced with the same choice I chose the Constitution and I always will hence today embracing Trump Administration achievements I was proud to stand by President Donald Trump every single day when we made America great again questioning the Republican front-runner's conservative Bona fides on issues like abortion now he treats it as an inconvenience even blaming our election losses in 2022 on overturning Roe v Wade the former vice president facing an uphill climb polls showed Trump with a large lead with another GOP candidate North Dakota governor Doug burgum also jumping in tonight Iowa voters weighing in on Pence he was more critical of trump in his speech than he normally is how did you feel about that um I say I don't really care for that when you're running against someone who is ahead in the polls you've got to take them on I wore a trump hat for seven years today I'm wearing Second Amendment and my mind is open well darsha Pence went after Trump today as he showed us but in some ways was he also sending mixed messages today in his someone who quote puts himself over the Constitution should never be president but then later in an interview saying that he would absolutely support whoever the Republican nominee is which could very well be former president Trump Lester Dasha Burns thank you in Florida a former Trump aide appeared before a Federal grand jury in the classified documents probe against the former president Laura Jarrett joins me Laura what's the significance of this new witness well Lester prosecutors have been investigating this case for a year and a half but this week we've learned they've been presenting their case about Mr Trump keeping classified documents at Mar-A-Lago to a grand jury in Miami today his hornber spokesman testified for roughly an hour The Source familiar with that testimony says prosecutors appeared interested in a past statement about Mr Trump not keeping classified records after leaving the White House whether he or others obstructed investigators efforts to retrieve those documents a key question for authorities meantime all signs point to this probe nearing an end the former president continues to say he did nothing wrong writing today no one has told me I'm being indicted now separately just moments ago we learned Steve band was subpoenaed by a grand jury in Washington in the other part of the special counsel's work which relates to January 6 two sources tell us he received the subpoena in May no word yet if he'll comply with it his attorney and the justice department declined to comment Lester all right Laura thank you for that we're learning more this evening about the victims and the deadly shooting after a high school graduation in Virginia student and his stepdad killed on what should have been a day of Celebration Erin Gilchrist reports [Music] Jackson and his family cheered as he walked the stage on graduation day the joyous day ended in tragedy we have an active shooter congratulations a gunman opening fire while hundreds of graduates and their families gathered at the Altria theater after Huguenot High School's commencement ceremony everybody started running and it's just chaos from there he just kept hurting shots the gunshots killing Jackson and his 36 year old stepfather Renzo Smith and injuring five others ranging in age from 14 to 58. Jackson's nine-year-old sister hit by a car as people ran she's okay police arresting 19-year-old Amari taijan Pollard police say he and Jackson had exchanged words outside the theater they say Pollard got a gun from his car and opened fire before calmly surrendering to officers at the scene this was targeted at one individual so they knew each other and had an ongoing dispute Witnesses in the school Community are still in shock seared in my mind is the image of our graduate who walked across the stage who I shook his hand literally 15 minutes before on the ground and is down getting CPR how do you explain that to kids I saw the young man who passed away breathing what I think are very much his last breaths I saw him and he was a child tonight the suspect is being held without bond after pleading not guilty to two counts of second-degree murder he's due back before a judge in two weeks Lester all right Aaron thank you now to an NBC News exclusive in partnership with Telemundo New Revelations that the federal government is expanding its investigation into companies allegedly using migrant child labor Julia Ainsley reports these are some of the migrant children Federal officials found illegally working in a slaughterhouse raising questions about child labor in America tonight NBC News learning the Department of Homeland Security justice department as well as White House officials are now examining companies in the meat packing and produce Industries who allegedly hired Guatemalan children and at least 11 states now adding locations in Virginia North Carolina and Florida to the list of those already under scrutiny according to two U.S officials we first brought you the story earlier this year of more than 100 undocumented children who Federal investigators say were hired to clean slaughterhouses in the dead of night many desperate for a paycheck to send to family back home if you mess up you get treated like an adult which none of these kids have the maturity to handle that emotional stress in the last two years border officials have released more than 260 thousand unaccompanied minors into the U.S s almost half from Guatemala migrant Advocates say penalties against companies who are hiring minors are not tough enough to keep it from happening I think ramping up the fines looking at things like the potential for criminal prosecution is really going to be key to get the situation under control the officials would not say what companies are currently under investigation but said some could face civil penalties or even criminal charges investigators say they want to build trust with these migrant children who they say are the victims in these cases Lester all right Julia Ainsley thank you Pope Francis is recovering from a hernia operation tonight the Vatican says there were no complications during the three-hour surgery and he will be hospitalized for several days in 60 seconds the brawl outside of California school board meeting went sparked a massive fight next [Music] we're back now with a clash at a California school board meeting over lgbtq issues in the school curriculum Miguel almaguer reports Oscar is an lgbtq Advocates erupted his temper's Flair steps outside the Glendale Unified School District board meeting as police near Los Angeles declared an unlawful assembly arresting those who became violent inside District leaders were forced to take a recess we are going to need to pause for a moment the board met to approve a resolution recognizing pride month as it's done for years officials saying intentional and harmful disinformation has been circulating about what is being taught in our district parents want transparency and then parents want the option to opt out I think the curriculum is fairly well designed I know the teachers put a lot of work into it this week's Skirmish which California's governor called an organized campaign of hate is just the latest in a series of violent confrontations during pride month just days ago protesters clashed outside in La Elementary School where a pride flag was burned this week the Human Rights Campaign declared a state of emergency for the lgbtq community sounding the alarm over the current political climate and culture wars tragically this has come to our district but we're really seeing this all over the place tonight a month of Celebration turning into days of confrontations Miguel almaguer NBC News Los Angeles coming up we have a fascinating look at how artificial intelligence is revolutionizing how food gets from the farm to your table [Music] back now with our series AI Revolution and how artificial intelligence is hard at work on some Farms robots doing the work of dozens of people Jake Ward has our story okay yes it's a killer robot with an AI brain but hear me out it kills weeds on a 2 000 acre organic farm in central California This 1.2 million dollar machine does the work of 30 people 24 hours a day the machine is is thinking it's learning it's understanding what it's seen what AI is great at is telling the difference between things in this case the difference between chard and a weed and then killing the weeds with lasers CEO Paul mikesell has invented a system that fries weeds too small for a human hand to grab in bursts that last only milliseconds the field smells like burnt popcorn the whole trick here is a laser is disrupt the cellular cycle within the plant with heat energy it takes a rack of servers to recognize 40 crops and 80 types of weeds this machine has got more computing power than 24 Teslas in it it's essentially a mobile data center the Farm's owner says the laser weeder will pay for itself in a single year and that it solves his single biggest problem which is finding workers we're just not getting the influx of new folks that want to come in to this deal now in a job like behind us on this tractor where someone could be making you know a really good wage 30 an hour he's got a laptop that's a little easier to find that person labor unions say they want Tech to make the work easier as long as we don't simply toss people aside after Decades of brutal labor to the extent that automation can make life better for Farmer workers by making those jobs less physically demanding safer more dignified we welcome it our concern is that automation will allow employers to basically discard them AI is spreading through farming there's the broccoli bot built by Oregon college students to harvest the vegetable and John Deere has been plowing ahead with several kinds of AI technology for Paul mikesell it's about more than just zapping weeds the data that comes out of these images will be incredibly valuable for Farmers to be able to predict what's going to happen in the future based on past action so you're not just killing weeds but actually harvesting data that we can use to make crops better yeah that's right if you talk to any farmer they'll tell you just about the data but about the Insight that you can get from the data mikesell expects AI will allow robots to work in fields and factories in entirely new ways the capabilities are too great and the wave is only starting right now Jake Ward NBC News Soledad California pretty remarkable up next our inside look at how Paris is putting its landmarks Center Stage ahead of next year's summer Olympics finally the Paris Olympics are now just over a year away in our very own cure Simmons got a sneak peek at some of the surprises to come ahead of the games tonight's Paris preparing to welcome the world with just over a year until the Olympics the famous champs-elysees getting a makeover many events held at iconic locations archery at Los Angeles the new sport of break dancing at Place de la Concorde beach volleyball under the Eiffel Tower and for the first time an open-air opening ceremony along the river Benjamin and his sister Sarah own a boat that will take part this opening ceremony on the river with your boat and other boats never happened never never never how special is that just amazing forest more than ten thousand athletes will compete in the games we're gonna rock the boat the left side's up and then the right sides up and gonna have the big will be at the center of it all you'll get a spectacular view of the opening ceremony from here starting from behind Notre Dame cathedral in the distance there 160 boats carrying thousands of athletes along the center Paris has spent more than a billion dollars cleaning up the river and says it's now safe for swimming events this will be the first post-covered games while tensions are escalating in France with protests against the president we know that there are challenges in our society there are challenges in the world but let's celebrate Sport and the best access of the world and for Team USA the excitement is really building now I'm just excited to come next year and be able to represent our country hoping for sparkling performances in the city of light Kia Simmons NBC News Paris can't wait that's Nightly News for this Wednesday thank you for watching I'm Lester Holt please take care of yourself and each other good night thank you thanks for watching our YouTube channel follow today's top stories and breaking news by downloading the NBC News app

Channel: NBC News

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Keywords: Health, International News, Lester Holt, Making A Difference, NBC Nightly News, National News, News, Nightly News, U.S. News, breaking news, evening news, politics, world news

Id: URvZeb08SK8

Length: 21min 23sec (1283 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 07 2023