Good morning. It's 10 a.m. Eastern, 7 a.m. on the West Coast. I'm Christine Romans. Let's get you current, breaking right now. New details on a deadly shooting at an elementary school in Oregon. Three children and a teacher killed. What we know about the bystander who stopped the gunman. Plus, President Trump back on the campaign trail today with a rally in Georgia as voter frustration with the economy puts his party in a tough spot. The president overrules his defense secretary's plans to livestream an execution. New reporting on the behind-the-scenes debate at the White House. And federal authorities investigate suspicious mail sent to congressional and election offices ahead of the midterms. What we're learning this morning. And good to be with you this busy Friday, October 16th. A lot to get to this morning.
We begin this hour with breaking news out of central Oregon, where a horrific school shooting has killed three children and one teacher. The three children were five, eight, and 11 years old. Police say the 16-year-old suspect got into the school by shooting through locked doors and was killed, shot and killed by a bystander within minutes. An investigation is underway. Joining us now from Bend, Oregon, is NBC News correspondent Liz Kreutz. We're learning the teenage gunman forced his way into the school. Walk us through how all of this unfolded.
Christine, good morning to you. It is just heartbreaking to watch another community go through a tragedy like this. According to authorities, this all unfolded here at the school within just minutes. The first call came in around 12:59 p.m. Police say they were here at the school by just three minutes later, and it's just still, though, enough time for that gunman, they say, to get inside, shoot multiple people, killing four, including those three young children ages five, eight, and 11. This morning, the people of Bend, Oregon, heartbroken following the loss of four innocent lives, including three children and a teacher who were gunned down at Silver Rail Elementary School.
For an active shooter at Silver Bell Elementary. The first 911 call came in at 12:59 p.m., police say, from a person in a vehicle who reported being shot at multiple times by someone with a long gun. This video showing the bullet holes.
Went right by the driver's seat through the window. Authorities say the shooter forced their way into the school by firing at locked doors. Officers rushing to the school, arriving in just three minutes, according to police.
Moments later, an officer reported that the suspect had been shot by a community member who had seen the suspect enter the school and pursued him into the school and engaged him. Authorities say the hero was able to kill the gunman, but not before the shooter killed four and seriously injured two others.
The deceased at the scene include three children, ages five, eight, and 11, and one teacher. One seven-year-old child and a 54-year-old teacher were transported by Bend Fire to St. Charles Bend with critical injuries.
Outside the school, these emotional scenes of young elementary school students huddling on the ground. The kids taken by bus to a church to be reunited with their distraught parents. Authorities have not publicly identified the suspect or said whether they had any connection to the school, only identifying them as a 16-year-old Bend resident. A source familiar with the investigation telling NBC News that the ATF did an urgent trace of the firearm that was used and already have the results this morning. All area schools are closed as this devastated community comes together to grieve.
Please hold your children. Hold your loved ones tight tonight. Let them know we are going to rally and care for one another in this community.
And Liz, police are praising the quick actions of that bystander who brought down the gunman, saying that this person prevented potential further loss of life.
Absolutely, Christine. Rightfully so. So many in this community, the Oregon governor, are hailing this person a hero, saying it was just an extraordinary act of bravery that absolutely prevented more loss of life. It is sparking a conversation here about some of the gun laws in the state. Concealed weapons are actually not allowed on schools here in the district. And reporters did ask the police chief if this person had a concealed weapon on them. They said that's all part of the investigation and it was too soon to say. I will say families here, Christine, obviously are extraordinarily shaken by this. One parent said it wasn't until 6 p.m. last night that she was reunited with her fifth-grade son. As for those two people injured, the seven-year-old and the teacher, we are still awaiting an update on their conditions this morning, Christine.
And really hope that they're okay. All right. Liz Kreutz, thank you so much, Liz. Joining me now, Mindy Miranda, the parent of a student enrolled at Silver Rail Elementary School. And, Mindy, thank you so much for coming with us this morning. Your eight-year-old daughter was in the school when this happened. She is physically safe. How are you both doing this morning?
She is still asleep right now, which is great. She definitely needs some rest. I wasn't able to sleep at all last night, so I've been up just... there's just a lot of thoughts and emotion and kind of trying to navigate how we're going to process this as a family and as a community. But she was happy to be reunited with us last evening. And yeah, we're safe and at home.
I'm so sorry that this happened to your community. It's just, I'm really sorry that you're having to go through this, and the days ahead will be real tough, I'm sure. Talk to me about what happened. You received a call from the district telling you there was a lockdown at the school. What was going through your mind in that moment?
We've gotten things, you know, notifications from the school district prior. You know, if there is an emergency or a situation kind of in the area that goes out to all schools. When I initially got the call, obviously it sparked some, you know, some worry about what could potentially be going on, but I never in a thousand years thought it would be at Silver Rail Elementary, a place that I safely dropped our daughter off at every day, and she goes to learn and to thrive and to be a part of a great group of people there. So as things started unfolding, my office is about a mile from the school as the crow flies, and you could just hear sirens, more sirens than I've ever heard, ever. And that's when things kind of started processing a little, like maybe this is happening at the school. We continue to receive notifications from the school district, and we received more notifications on, you know, the process and how they would be bussing the children to the local church and kind of what that process looked like there. So it all happened so quickly, but also felt like it took an eternity for everything to kind of hit, and yeah.
And tell me where your daughter was when the shooting happened.
She was upstairs. So a big part of being a third grader at Silver is that you get to move to the classrooms. I'm thankful of that, as she wasn't on the main level where this occurred. So she was upstairs when this happened in her classroom.
You've talked about your community as a place where everyone shows up for each other and supports each other. Talk to me about what's happening right now, how you're all talking to each other and trying to just, I guess, not even move forward. You're just trying to understand what happened yesterday.
A lot of unpacking right now. It's, you know, Silver Rail is a fairly small school. You know, we have about 40 instructors and about 400 or so kids, but it's a close-knit group of people. We know most of the parents there. Our daughter has attended there since kindergarten, is in third grade now. You get to know familiar faces. You get to know teachers and staff. It's a school that shows up for each other, and we will continue to show up for each other, especially now. Once we arrived at the church where they released the children yesterday, you know, even if it was a parent that maybe you had, you know, crossed paths with, you know, at a concert or something like that, everyone was embracing and hugging. You know, people were trying to share information that they had received potentially from like a kid who had a watch in a classroom who was able to pass along, you know, that they had seen another child. So we're not done showing up for each other yet. This is only the beginning, and we will only get stronger from this. It's going to take a little bit, but we're here to advocate for the mental health of our children. We are here to advocate for safer schools. And you haven't heard the last of Silver Rail yet.
All right, Mindy Miranda, hug that little girl when she wakes up. And please, please stay safe and healthy for us. All right. Thank you for telling us your story. Just a real tough day out there, okay? To the midterm election blitz now. And President Trump back on the campaign trail today. The president, of course, not on the ballot, but he's stumping in red states this week. Today he's in Georgia, where Republican Mike Collins faces an uphill climb in his bid to oust incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff. Joining us now, NBC News White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor. Yamiche, President Trump has spent much of this week in states that are normally solidly red. Georgia, a little bit of a different story. Talk about the dynamics at play in Georgia.
Well, it's a fascinating state because Georgia was solidly red for a number of years. And then in the last few years you've seen it turn purple. And it's because Democrats have spent a lot of time, including through Stacey Abrams, who ran and lost for governor of the state of Georgia twice. They spent a lot of time, Democrats, registering people to vote. So they have a big registration advantage now. So it's going to be very interesting to see how this race shakes out. The president is going there to really try to tilt it back red. But Jon Ossoff has been taking really direct aim at President Trump. And of course, the headwinds are against Republicans here, with Jon Ossoff making the case that the economy is struggling, that there's gas prices spiking, all because of President Trump. And as a result, he should keep his seat in Congress. So definitely a state to watch and definitely a state to see how President Trump's presence there impacts voters.
Yamiche, let's turn now to Maine, where the president was a big focus in last night's heated debate between Republican Susan Collins and Democrat Troy Jackson. Listen.
The other thing that he has said that is just plain wrong is that I somehow am responsible for the Medicaid cuts in the big, beautiful bill. I have voted repeatedly against cutting the Medicaid program and the Medicare program. That is just false.
I said that she advanced out of committee. They called her a team player for doing that. Look, if she wants to argue about percentages, 92, 95, 96, fine. What I know is 100% of the time when Donald Trump goes to Susan Collins for a vote, he gets it.
Yamiche, Collins has long positioned herself as an independent Republican. How is she threading the needle with the president?
Well, Christine, it's really interesting to watch Susan Collins try to thread this needle because she is, of course, the only really blue-state GOP senator left in the Senate. And she's someone who has been trying to and has continued successfully to put herself in front of voters as an independent-minded Republican. But she's also been someone who has been reliably a vote for President Trump. She's helped confirm Supreme Court nominees. She's done all sorts of things with Republicans to get their legislation through. But in this year, Maine voters, it seems, might want to send a message to the Senate, to President Trump. And as a result, she might lose her seat. This is one of the tightest races that she's found herself in. The president hasn't gone to Maine yet. Might not go at all because voters are really trying to possibly send a message to their senator.
All right. Yamiche Alcindor, thank you so much. The White House overnight, new Russian drone strikes against Ukraine, killing three people in Kharkiv and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands. Ukraine's president meeting with European leaders today. Europe pledging support as the relationship with the United States deteriorates. President Trump calling it a, quote, disgrace that Zelenskyy is resuming strikes on Russian oil refineries and said this about the relationship.
Zelenskyy is not a good guy for us to deal with. Biden gave him hundreds of billions of dollars, billions and billions of dollars.
Have you lost faith in him? Well, I think they're going to, if they're going to end up with a settlement of some kind, they're not going to do it with him. He doesn't want to settle. He says he wants to settle, but he doesn't. I find Zelenskyy to be more difficult to deal with than Putin.
Joining me now, NBC News correspondent Daniele Hamamdjian. Important to point out that there is bipartisan support in Congress for Zelenskyy and Ukraine. The White House, though, taking a much tougher, tougher tone. A split screen, too, with European leaders meeting with Zelenskyy, pledging support, while the president is publicly feuding with Zelenskyy.
Yeah. Good afternoon, Christine. It's been an extremely difficult week for Volodymyr Zelenskyy, militarily getting pounded by Russia while Ukraine adheres to the ceasefire for at least three days, diplomatically rising tensions with its U.S. ally, who it relies on heavily. It's an increasingly unpredictable relationship. Also unpredictable is what's going to happen in the future to the satellite communication that Ukraine so heavily relies on for its air defenses. The Star Shield satellite system owned by Elon Musk, of course. Of course, all this happening as the country approaches yet another winter. On the same week he was berated by Donald Trump, you're right, he's being embraced by his European allies, the European Union standing by him, reiterating that no sanctions will be lifted on Russia so long as Russia is engaged in this war. This week, we've seen Volodymyr Zelenskyy increasingly frustrated, increasingly defiant. He's had to pick his words very carefully, Christine. But at times like today, it's what he didn't say that spoke volumes. Take a listen to an exchange with a Sky News correspondent in Brussels today.
President Trump is facing pretty difficult midterm elections. His personal popularity is very low. Diesel prices in the U.S. are very high. And the war that he started in the Middle East is not going the way he wants it. Do you think you are being treated as a scapegoat for his own problems?
And as for the Star Shield satellite communication, he did say today that it had improved in the past 48 hours, but had not been fully restored. Christine.
All right, Daniele, thank you so much for that. President Trump says the Pentagon will no longer livestream the execution of a man who killed 13 people at an Army base in 2009. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that plan last week for this public execution, but quickly faced pushback from lawmakers in both parties and from the public. The president had initially supported publicizing the execution and livestreaming it. NBC News senior national security correspondent Courtney Kube on what changed.
President Trump overruling his defense secretary, halting plans by Pete Hegseth to livestream the execution of convicted U.S. soldier Nidal Hasan. The president posting on social media that Hasan will die as scheduled by firing squad, but this event will not be streamed. White House and U.S. officials say Hegseth surprised Trump administration officials with this announcement last week.
And so he's going to get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be, and we'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public, because people need to understand that there's serious consequences for these types of things.
Hegseth's plan to livestream the execution faced bipartisan opposition.
The concern would be that you would create a video that would be a recruiting tool for future terrorists. I wouldn't be watching it if it was aired.
And skepticism from within the Trump administration.
Trump Administration Official
16:39 ↗
I don't know that that's actually going to happen. If it's ultimately livestreamed, I'm not going to be watching it.
Hasan, a former Army major, opened fire at Fort Hood in 2009, killing 13 and wounding 32 more. He was convicted of premeditated murder and sentenced to death. A U.S. official says that while the president initially liked the idea to stream his execution, absolutely, he decided against it after learning more about the case. Hasan was shot during the attack and paralyzed from the waist down. White House officials say President Trump did not know Hasan was in a wheelchair, and that factored into the decision not to air the execution. Courtney Kube, NBC News.
All right. New security concerns after dozens of letters containing a mysterious substance were mailed to election officials and lawmakers across the country. Several Democratic senators targeted, including Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Election officials in at least 15 states say they were also sent the suspicious mail. Federal law enforcement says preliminary testing shows the white powder is not harmful. Joining me now, NBC News Capitol Hill correspondent Julie Tsirkin. The FBI, Capitol Police, the security arm of the U.S. Postal Service, all of them are investigating these letters they say that are still being intercepted.
They are all three agencies working in tandem. Look, the Senate got notified through a notice that was sent by the Sergeant at Arms yesterday about these letters that have been mailed to several Senate offices. It looks like they've been sent back home to their district offices, which is notable because all of these lawmakers are home now. We know of at least six senators that were targeted. I actually just learned of another one, Senator Chris, that did receive this letter. It was intercepted by the FBI and the Capitol Police, as the other five were. Interestingly, no House lawmakers that we know of were targeted by this. But clearly, it's a very stressful situation for folks, particularly when you have a Capitol building that has been the target of suspicious substances. Actually, right now, there is a warning that there is a potential suspicious substance in one of the Senate office buildings. No word if this is connected or if this is anything real yet, but important to mention.
Yeah, a former FBI special agent telling NBC News that even if this turns out to be a hoax, there still could be a possible crime here.
There could be. Jason Pack, he spoke to NBC News. He said it could potentially lead to five to 20 years behind bars because of the chaos that this has caused. And remember, these letters with suspicious substances, as you said, none of them in the preliminary investigation, at least, have been determined to contain hazardous substances, but they've been sent to different states. All of these states have different laws governing them. And so the point that this former special agent is making is, look, even if you're sending these letters and there's nothing harmful in them, they're not causing real harm, they are still causing real panic. And that's still considered a crime.
All right. Julie Tsirkin, thank you so much, Julie. Much more ahead, including President Trump's new White House press secretary responding to growing questions about her legal background, what she's saying to critics this morning. Plus, I'll go one-on-one with former Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland. Why she's calling America an unreliable boyfriend. And later, the countdown to Christmas. Yep, it's on. We go inside the world of the beloved Hallmark holiday movies. We'll get you current after the break.
Trump's press secretary, K/D Zachariah, defending her legal background in a new interview. Zachariah graduated from law school but did not pass the California bar exam. Despite that, she has repeatedly referred to herself as a lawyer. She claims the title is appropriate.
I consulted for a very long time many people in the field. Is it okay and acceptable if I label myself lawyer, not attorney at law, not K/D Zach or Zachariah Esquire, but lawyer and provide legal analysis, not legal advice? And they said absolutely, absolutely across the board.
Joining me now, NBC News senior White House correspondent Gabe Gutierrez. Gabe, Zachariah moved to China right after she failed the bar exam. She was moving there with her husband, who got a job there. He's in finance. How do we get to the point where she's calling herself a lawyer and we're quibbling over lawyer and attorney at law?
Well, look, Christine, she is trying to argue, and the White House is arguing, that she can call herself a lawyer, just not an attorney. Although many legal experts say that it's widely understood that the terms essentially mean the same thing. They need to be licensed in order to practice law. Now, Christine, we just saw Katie Zachariah earlier this morning here on the White House North Lawn. After she was wrapping up another interview, she greeted the reporters, but she said that she wasn't going to take questions. There were several questions that we wanted to ask her. She declined. In one of her earlier interviews, though, she was asked specifically if she wished that she had disclosed to President Trump that she was not a practicing attorney. Here's what she said.
Those questions weren't asked. I'm being hired as White House press secretary and not White House counsel. The conversations and the reason I was, the reason that I was hired was to represent the president in the press.
So again, Christine, there is no White House press briefing scheduled thus far with Katie Zachariah. The president expected to head to Georgia later today.
And Zachariah also said she intentionally sort of sought out this job by strategically choosing her TV appearances.
Yeah, that's right, Christine. She says that she had picked certain spots where she would be on television, certain policy issues that the president would be watching. And she said that this is something that she had wanted back even from 2016, but that she was in the process of having children. And so she was busy at the time. But, Christine, this happened very quickly. According to her telling, she received a call from the president on Wednesday. She then flew in to Washington on Thursday and then met with the president on Friday. And that is when she was offered the job. This all happened very quickly. She got her briefing materials on Monday, which was a federal holiday, but they weren't finalized until 8 a.m. on Tuesday, which is when she gave the briefing. She acknowledges that perhaps she could have prepared more or perhaps should not have taken questions during that first briefing, just introduce herself to reporters, Christine.
All right. Gabe Gutierrez at the White House. Thank you, Gabe. President Trump on the campaign trail with just 18 days to go now until the midterm elections, delivering his closing remarks to voters. And earlier this week, he took another swipe at neighbor and longtime ally Canada.
Canada ripped us off with tariffs. They would charge us tariffs. They would never talk about it. They'll end up being the 51st state because it's the only way it works. You know, we don't need them, but they need us.
The two trading partners locked in a trade war. The breakup between the two countries, something hard to even imagine a few years ago. Former Deputy Prime Minister of Canada Chrystia Freeland's new book is called Unreliable Boyfriend. It dives into the once solid trading partnership through the eyes of Canada, and she joins me now. Nice to see you, Chrystia.
Great to be here, Christine, and congratulations on the new show.
Thank you. You've been on the front lines with the relationship, the trade relationship between the United States and Canada. You helped devise that first U.S.-Mexico-Canada trade agreement that the president had his hands on and then now has rejected. So who's the unreliable boyfriend here? Is it America or is it Donald Trump?
Look, the reason you have metaphors is so people can decide what they stand for. But there is a lot of unreliability. And actually, I think the big question Canadians and all of America's traditional allies are asking is, is it America or is it Donald Trump? Because Canadians, like in our heart of hearts, we would love to have a win-win relationship with the United States. And we think that's really possible. But it's not possible if America wants to annex us, if America is hitting us with illegal and unjustified tariffs at a time when our trade is governed by a trade deal that Trump himself concluded. So I think Canadians are asking, is this Trump's approach to Canada or is it America's approach to Canada?
On the back of your book, you know, when you get the blurbs from people who endorse you, one of the endorsements is from Howard Lutnick, who's the Commerce Secretary, who called you, I think, the worst. I talked to him last month and I asked him about this trade balance. I talked to him about this trade war. So many governors say they're so concerned about the fight between the U.S. and Canada because so many U.S. states depend on Canada for trade. This is what he said.
The fact is, what Canada did was they walked away from the best deal in the world so they could fight with President Trump politically.
It's an incredibly intertwined relationship, which is why in the very near term, so many governors are concerned. They'd like to see some progress.
Why would they not have our liquor on the shelves? I mean, could you be more disrespectful? And you can't insult President Trump and get away with it. So what's going to happen is they're going to have to make the right deal with America.
So here's what we hear from the administration all the time, including on the campaign trail right now, that you Canadians have ripped off Americans and you're disrespectful. How does this relationship get repaired?
So let's remember what happened, okay? We have a trade deal. We have Donald Trump's trade deal. And then totally breaking that deal, Donald Trump imposed illegal and unjustified tariffs on Canada for no reason whatsoever, citing national security. Canada responded because if you get punched in the face by a bully, you have to defend yourself. What I think needs to happen is Americans need to decide what kind of relationship do they want with Canada? Do they want to annex Canada? Do they want...
That's hyperbole. That's just something that gets a laugh on the campaign trail, or is it serious inside Canada? Do your former colleagues, are they really concerned that Canada could be the 51st state?
Canada will never be the 51st state, but Canadians quite rightly take it utterly seriously. When the president of the United States says, I want that country to be mine, you have to take it seriously.
How do you think countries, your country and others, should be negotiating with Donald Trump? Are they waiting for a next administration? Or how do you deal with Donald Trump, a very different kind of politician than we've ever seen?
Well, we saw him before. And the good news is we did get a trade deal with him, right? It was hard. There is a reason that he doesn't like me, and he calls me toxic and a nasty woman because we stood up to him. But the way we got a deal was, one, do not capitulate. Two, do you find areas where you can work together? And there are a lot of them. And three, we called it the donut strategy. We really believed in Americans, and we thought if we took our story to Americans, they would get it and they would put pressure on the White House. And you know what, Christine? Right now, opinion polls show that more Americans think Canada's trade retaliation is a good thing than support U.S. tariffs on Canada. So I trust Americans, and we'll see if I'm right when we see the midterm results.
Chrystia Freeland, the book is called Unreliable Boyfriend, a very good read. Thank you very much. Nice to see you. All right. From new foldable phones to flying cars, let's get you financially current this morning. Apple starts taking pre-orders today for its first-generation foldable phone, the iPhone Duo. Within minutes of pre-orders opening, some estimated delivery dates slipped all the way to next year. It's one of Apple's most expensive phones yet, starts at just under two grand. It has a five-inch front display and a nearly eight-inch foldable inner screen. The Duo officially drops a week from today. Tesla just unveiled its flying electric sports car after a decade of delays. The big rollout for its Tesla Roadster in Texas this week, featuring SpaceX tech, including, look at these thrusters. The car climbed up a curved ramp, then launched off into a controlled landing. It also used those same thrusters to perform flips in the air. Tesla says the Roadster can go from 0 to 60 in less than one second. Let's get a check on the markets this morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up about 222 points. But the story of the week, it was a mostly losing week for stocks, dragged down by selling in artificial intelligence and technology stocks. All right. Coming up, the Trump administration suing California over the state's voter rolls. Why legal experts think it's a legal long shot for the DOJ. But first, the ICE agent driving a car that hit a man in Houston. That agent put on administrative leave. The exclusive NBC News reporting next.
We have more current update on the health of Pope Leo to a dangerous crash at a Florida daycare. Let's get you current. This morning, the Vatican is releasing the first images of Pope Leo in the hospital as he recovers from lung surgery. The Vatican says the pope will deliver a prayer address on Sunday and is already back to work, celebrating Mass and completing some paperwork. Doctors say his recovery is progressing as expected and he should be able to leave the hospital Monday. Fire crews battling several brush fires across Southern California. Hot, windy weather fueling the spread of the fires. One near Malibu has burned about 200 acres, forcing evacuation orders. Dry conditions and strong winds are expected to keep fire danger high through the weekend. A car crashed into a daycare in Orlando, Florida, sending at least three children and two adults to the hospital. State troopers say a 79-year-old driver crossed the median and entered oncoming traffic before plowing into the building. Authorities say it's unclear why the driver left the road. An investigation now underway.
Now to an NBC News exclusive on the ICE officer accused of running over an immigrant in Houston. A senior DHS official has shared with NBC News that the officer has been put on administrative leave while the incident is investigated. We're also learning Harris County District Attorney spoke with a key witness who was in the vehicle driven by the ICE officer. The DA says that witness had a front-row seat to the incident and everything that led up to it. We did get a significant amount of relevant details from him. Joining me now, NBC News senior homeland security correspondent Julia Ainsley. Julia, we know multiple ICE officers on the scene were wearing body cameras. ICE is reviewing that footage, but there's been no decision yet on sharing that video with the public.
Yeah, that's right. What I'm told is that they have plenty of footage of different angles of this incident. Remember, ICE officers are now supposed to be wearing their body cameras. They've had them since the end of last month. And if they're trained, they are supposed to have them on in every interaction that they have, like operations like this. They can also use dashboard cameras. So we expect that black truck there in front that blocked the public's view of what happened to have had a dashboard camera as well. And so there's a lot of information that ICE has right now. But the Harris County District Attorney says that they haven't shared that yet. When I talked to a senior DHS official, they said it is still part of their internal investigation, and there has not been a decision yet about whether or not they'll share this with the public or the district attorney.
The district attorney said his name is Sean Tur, right? I think he said he's also said he's spoken with a man who was handcuffed in the back of the vehicle at the time Miguel Hernandez was hit. What more are we learning about that interview?
That's right. Tur said that this is a man who was a witness to everything. They had a lot of significant details, and that he is currently in the Port Isabel Detention Center. I've been to that detention center. It's oftentimes the last stop before people are deported. And so there's a concern by Tur and by immigration advocacy groups that this witness could be deported before he would be able to testify about what happened in this incident.
And there's two separate investigations, right? There's now within ICE and Harris County. How soon can we expect all this evidence to be brought to a grand jury?
Well, Tur said that they want to bring it to a grand jury very soon, and in part because of this deportation clock that they have on this witness. And he said that they could bring that as soon as next week. Now, the investigation that's being conducted by ICE doesn't have a timeline like that. These internal investigations often take a long time, and if they don't find any evidence of criminal wrongdoing, it really could just result in some kind of internal disciplinary action or a report from a board that is reviewing what happened here to see if it was against their training and against their policy. So really, at this point, it looks like any possible possibility of criminal charges or an indictment would come at the local level.
Okay. Julia Ainsley, thank you so much for following it for us. And now to the Trump administration's new suit against California. The White House wants to temporarily block the state from counting mail-in ballots of people they suspect are non-citizens. This would apply to some 20,000 people. Attorney General Todd Blanche said California was given an opportunity to self-correct its records and accuses the state of intending to let non-citizens vote. California AG Rob Bonta says this is just an attempt to advance conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud that simply doesn't exist.
Joining me now, NBC News legal affairs reporter Gary Grumbach. The DOJ had already threatened California, demanding the state look at its voter rolls or it would be hit with this legal action.
Yeah, that's right, Christine. Earlier this week, the Department of Justice provided a thumb drive, a password-protected thumb drive of thousands of names of people that they believed are non-citizen voters in the state of California to county officials in California. They said within 48 hours they wanted the ballots of those individuals segregated from the rest of the ballot population in California. California did not do that, and the Department of Justice hit the state with this lawsuit that we're talking about right now. It is, of course, against the law for non-citizens to vote in U.S. elections, but it is also against the law for any sort of voter list maintenance to happen within 90 days of an election. We are 18 days away from the November midterm elections, and California has already sent out their mail-in ballots to folks in the state of California.
Gary, the president has repeatedly made these claims about non-citizens voting, but we know that it is actually quite rare for non-citizens to vote, and it is already illegal.
It is incredibly rare for non-citizens to vote. There is no widespread voter fraud, significant voter fraud happening in the United States. And don't take my word for it. NBC News has analyzed this and has found that 114 non-citizens have been charged with voter fraud over the past few years. We've done the math on that. That is 0.000003% of total voters in the United States. Christine.
All right. Gary Grumbach, thank you so much for that. Gary. Another Friday, another news quiz. How current are you on the week's news? We'll test your knowledge throughout the show. Our first question: What operation did Pope Leo XIV undergo this week? Was it a hip replacement, lung surgery, cataract surgery, or spinal joint fusion? If you were just paying attention, you know the answer to this one. Scan the code if you want to get the quiz sent to your phone by downloading the NBC News app. We'll share the answer later this hour. Coming up, Joanna Stern's new interview with the CEO of Microsoft, what he says about concerns that AI could end humanity. Plus, NBC News speaks to Elon Musk's ex, Ashley Saint Clair, what she said about his relationship to President Trump. We'll get you...
...all have to answer for the potential dangers artificial intelligence could pose to humanity. NBC News chief technology analyst Joanna Stern asked Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella about how safe AI is, and how Microsoft's latest product could help protect the public.
I'm going to start where I'm starting all my tech executive interviews right now. And it's a very simple, easy question. Is AI going to kill us?
I think we have to do one simple thing, which is ensure that that never happens. That's my job. That's our job as an industry, and we are focused on it. Everything we did today was all about making sure that the primitives in terms of technology are there to contain these agents. There's a lot of science work that needs to be done in a careful way. I love this term that people throw around called pacing. I think of it as when you're growing something new, building something, engineering something that is complex, you take your time, and that's what we're going to do.
Do you think the rest of the industry is going to do that?
I think so. I think everybody is going to ultimately face up to the fact that there is a real scientific challenge here, which we don't completely understand.
When it comes to the safety of AI agents, Microsoft is making changes to its Windows operating system to make the agents more secure. Its new Surface Laptop Ultra has a powerful NVIDIA chip that allows an AI model to run locally and not rely solely on cloud-based data centers. Nadella showed me an app he built himself on the laptop. So this is Satya Nadella.
This is my tracker, which...
...telling us we need to blur some...
...of it. Yeah, you'll have to blur it off.
Okay. Do you want to tell us out loud what we might have to blur?
No, you have to blur everything. Okay. Oh my God. Yeah. You love... Oh my God.
It's okay. We're going to blur for you. We're going to blur for you. Satya, I didn't see anything there. I don't even know how to read. Why does this local stuff even matter? Well, a few benefits: your AI agent can keep working even without the internet. And if you're worried about the energy those massive AI data centers are guzzling, Microsoft's Windows and devices executive says running AI on your computer can help with that. To say, I'm still... Okay, that's my name. And I'm worried about data centers, the energy, the water usage, all of the fears that we've been hearing about. Sure, what is needed to run these models and to get the benefits of AI, is this hybrid solution something that should make me feel better?
Hybrid solutions definitely give you way more capability in terms of choosing where the models run, making sure they're secure, making sure they're private. So you do have the ability to run performant AI on your device with your applications without needing to use data center and cloud infrastructure.
But I don't need to tell you that the backdrop to all this gigantic progress is, well, not exactly reassuring.
Two major AI models going rogue.
An OpenAI model went rogue and hacked into another company.
A swarm of rogue OpenAI agents, a German website.
There's been a big fear now about agents. I mean, every day there's a headline some agent has gone rogue, and you have to give a lot of trust to this agent, whether it be Microsoft's agent or Meta or OpenAI, to come on my device, have access to all of this information. Why is Windows now the place that you think people should have their agents?
First of all, you know, trust is one of the things which is you don't claim trust, you earn it. You have to be able to govern it. So you should be able to set policy. And I set it, or the IT admin at work sets it, where you give it the permissions you trust it with. You don't give it all permissions. And then in time, as you get confidence that this agent is able to do more autonomous action, you can escalate that permission, but it should work with the least amount of privilege to start with. I think of all agents as insider risk and treat them as such.
When we actually talked a few years ago, you predicted this world where we're going to have multiple agents, and it sounds like that's sort of how you can picture this evolving, right? You might have your Microsoft Copilot or autopilot doing some of that tax work, but you might have a different agent from a different company that might be doing, I don't know, managing the home.
Yeah, I always felt that. I think most people think about it as like, oh, yes, it's all about one big winner or it's this thing I use. I mean, it's always funny when I listen to people talk about their messaging app, my God, like, so I use only this, except you then look and say, I mean, they're, you know, sending me messages on 15 different messaging apps.
We're going to close our eyes together, and you tell me what the future of computers looks like.
Future of computers looks like something that I can turn to to have it do things that I always wanted to do but never got around to doing. It's always been the case when I first started using it, and I think it's more the case today than it was then.
And you're still alive, being able to use the computer because the computer didn't kill you?
No, absolutely. In fact, I am alive because, you know, I made the computer do things that made this world a better place for all of us.
An optimistic vision for the future during an uncertain time. Joanna Stern, a living human, reporting for NBC News.
And for more of Joanna's interview with Satya Nadella, scan the QR code on the screen. All right, look under the hood of the American economy, and you will find a shortage of skilled workers: welders, auto technicians, electricians. Ford CEO Jim Farley, writing today in a Washington Post op-ed that it is time to elevate skilled trades. Quote, 'More kids need to see the trades as an option for a well-paid job that makes them proud.' And now the AI economy, fueled by a growing network of new data centers, computing power and infrastructure, it needs more of these workers than ever. About 1.7 million jobs will need to be filled every year through 2035. Yet out of every 100 people who start an internship, an apprenticeship, only 29 actually end up entering the skilled workforce. In Detroit, 17-year-old Juan Thomas Junior's dad and grandfather never finished their own trade school programs.
I am the first to actually follow through and pass something and have proof that I did it, and actually going into the field, it gives me so much joy to know that I'm actually doing it, and I can build up more skill and do more things and possibly become a master technician, do more, and do all those things.
Also holding people back, only 33% of students say they would feel respected if they worked in the trades. You can see more of my reporting on the push to skill up the American workforce, including an interview with the Ford CEO Jim Farley on Sunday, Today with Willie Geist, and back here again on Monday. All right. Elon Musk is pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into this year's midterm elections to support Republicans. To watch Yasmin's full interview with Ashley Saint Clair, check out Here's the Scoop and NBC News podcast. Already outspending what he had spent during the entire 2024 election cycle. But now one of the mothers of his children is speaking out about what she says is behind his political ambitions. Ashley Saint Clair says she was offered millions to stay silent about her relationship with Musk, but is now speaking out in a new Netflix documentary and telling NBC's Yasmin that Musk's support for Donald Trump may have been more about protecting himself than politics.
In the documentary, you said that he backed Donald Trump. Basically, you said because Trump could be bought. Yeah. How do you know that?
Because I have eyes, and anyone can see that.
Everyone experientially. How do you know that?
Because I read his words where Elon texted me and said, 'There's about half a dozen investigations of significance into me and smaller ones, many more smaller ones, and I, I can't be president, but I can help Trump win, and I will.' Those were his words in one message.
Wait, let's, let's back up for a second. So who writes, 'There's about a half a dozen investigations'?
...and says, 'I can't be president, but I can help Trump defeat Biden, and I will.' Because in the context of, 'There's about half a dozen investigations of significance into me.'
Got it. So basically, for his own protection.
That's what it sounds like.
And we should note Musk has publicly denied that he financially supported Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign to influence investigations into him or his companies. NBC News has reached out to Elon Musk for comment, but have not heard back. Again, check Yasmin's full interview today, and Here's the Scoop wherever you get your podcasts. So how current are you? Earlier in our news quiz, we asked what operation did Pope Leo XIV undergo this weekend? That answer: lung surgery. The Pope had a pre-planned surgery in Rome to remove an early-stage cancerous nodule on his lung. All right, here's another one for you. Kimberly Guilfoyle resigned from the Trump administration while facing misconduct allegations. She was the U.S. ambassador to which nation? The possible answers on your screen. We'll have the answer for you in our next hour. After the break, we go inside the world of Hallmark holiday movies with Christmas just 70 days away. Why these films are so adored by fans around the world. And next hour, the key speech today from the chair of America's central bank. The clues his remarks could give us about a possible interest rate hike. More Current after this.
Weather threat facing tens of millions this weekend. Parts of the Northeast bracing for severe storms as soon as tonight. NBC meteorologist Aisha Scott tracking all of it for us. So nice to see you, Aisha. What are you watching for this weekend?
Yeah. Good morning, Christine. Good morning, everybody. So this weekend will be mostly dry, at least for most of the country. But before we get to the weekend, today we're certainly watching for showers and even the potential for severe storms across the Northeast. So I want to start off with a look at what's been happening over the past couple of hours. We've got showers moving through the Midwest, and we've got this line of storms already developing across western New York, and that's along a cold front that will move through later on today. So you can see that slight risk for severe storms. That's from Hartford to New York, Philadelphia, even down to Washington, D.C. It's in this area that we could see those storms produce wind gusts over 60 mph, and even a few tornadoes can't be ruled out. So here's that storm system. We're out ahead of the front right now, so it's still pretty mild for much of the Northeast. But as it moves through later on today, we'll have to watch that potential for strong and severe storms. Now let's head out west and talk about the fire weather because these fires have really been getting going, especially yesterday. But they will continue even for the rest of today. So we've got a fire threat for Southern California, a critical risk that includes Santa Clarita, also Ventura. New fires will likely spread rapidly as they develop for the rest of today. And then we've got high wind warnings from San Bernardino, even down to Pine Valley. We could see wind gusts in the mountains and foothills up to 70 mph. Now, in addition to that, we've got red flag warnings that affect about 6 million people at risk from Paradise all the way down to parts of Los Angeles under that red flag warning. And that will continue through tomorrow. So speaking of the weekend, as we head to Saturday, plenty of sunshine for much of the country, but showers and storms continue across central and southern Florida. Also, we've got windy and cooler conditions for the Northeast. Christine, back to you.
All right, Aisha Scott in Chicago. Thank you so much. Okay, so let's be honest. Most of you are still planning your Halloween costume, but the Hallmark Channel, it's already trading pumpkins for mistletoe. Today is the start of Hallmark's annual countdown to Christmas movie lineup, featuring ten weeks of hometown hunks, cozy romances, storybook endings. We spoke to the channel's stars and loyal viewers about the heartbeat behind the brand, from three estranged brothers reconnecting over the holidays.
Can't do it without you, pal.
To a career-driven executive falling for a rival coworker in the City of Love.
To a firefighter finding his soft side.
Sometimes love finds you when you weren't even looking.
Hallmark has redefined romance for the last 25 years, with storytelling heavy on hope, joy, and comfort.
When you hear Hallmark, you just think about love.
In all different kinds of love, like friendship love and familial love and romantic love and love of self.
We remind people that there is good out there.
Since its launch in 2001, the Hallmark Channel has grown into a cultural phenomenon, celebrating a quarter century of feel-good TV.
Happy birthday, happy 25th birthday.
Happy 25th birthday, Hallmark Channel.
It brought together 22 beloved stars, executives, and a sold-out crowd of loyal viewers to New York's 92nd Street Y for what felt like the ultimate family reunion.
She played my daughter. Oh, she played my daughter's boyfriend. Oh, he played back and forth.
The Hallmark heartthrobs, meet-cutes, and mysteries have grown into a celebrated brand.
25 years ago, someone would have said, 'Hallmark is a greeting card company.' Today, we're so much more than the products we make. We're really a caring and connecting brand that's all about putting goodness and love back in the world.
And viewers can't get enough, helping bring in hundreds of millions in revenue. In 2021, the network earned a third of that revenue solely from Christmas movies.
Merry Christmas, everyone!
Hallmark's countdown to Christmas has transformed the holiday TV landscape, and it's back for the 17th year, spreading cheer with 34 movies across ten weeks. But the audience is the real hallmark of these happily ever afters.
And this is a different type of fan where they just care. They care beyond the movies.
They look forward to knowing us. There's a sense of family.
These feel-good movie lovers inspired Hallmark to launch interactive experiences like a Christmas cruise and live bus tours with the channel's beloved stars.
It really is like feel-good. It's our family thing we do. Yes, we're all year-round watchers.
The movies are magical. They transport you to different places.
And those wholesome bonds translate off the screen.
It's become a real-life thing.
It's like family.
What you see is what you get.
Hallmark's unapologetic celebration of love, joy, and connection is central to its business model, one that fans and silver-screen sweethearts hope powers the network into the future. All right, there's much more news ahead. The next hour of Current starts right now. And good morning. It's 11 a.m. Eastern, 8 a.m. on the West Coast. I'm Christine Romans. Let's get you Current. Tragedy in Oregon. A teen gunman opens fire at an elementary school. Three children and a teacher killed, the bystander who stepped in to stop the shooter. Plus, President Trump back on the road today with his midterm blitz taking him to Georgia. Will his visit help or hurt Republicans in the state's big races? Ukraine again striking oil refineries in Russia. We have new comments from Zelenskyy as tensions with Trump escalate. And will the Fed raise interest rates ahead of the midterms? What the chair of the Federal Reserve is signaling about next moves.
And good to be with you. This Friday, October 16th. We've got a lot of news to get to this morning. We begin this hour with the latest breaking news out of Central Oregon, where a deadly shooting at an elementary school left three children and a teacher dead. The children were five, eight, and 11 years old. Another seven-year-old child and a teacher were also critically injured in the shooting and taken to the hospital. Now, police say the teenage gunman entered the school by shooting through locked doors, but was brought down within minutes by a bystander. NBC News' Liz Kreutz has the latest from Bend, Oregon.
