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Good morning. Good to have you with us. I'm Joe Frier. And I'm Savannah Sers. Thank you very much for getting your day started with us. We're going to begin in Washington where the Supreme Court will deliver the final opinions of its term later this morning. Among the biggest decisions still left is a ruling on President Trump's executive order to end birthright citizenship. The controversial plan to deny that right to children born in the US to undocumented immigrants is a centerpiece of Mr. Trump's immigration crackdown. Now, the second to last day of the term was also consequential. Yesterday, the court delivered a mixed bag of wins and losses for the president. In one case, the justices denied his bid to fire
Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. The president had tried to fire her over allegations of mortgage fraud, allegations she denies. But in another case, the justices ruled the president can fire people who work at other independent agencies. The court backed the president's removal of Rebecca Slaughter, who was let go from the Federal Trade Commission without cause. We've got a team standing by to discuss all this and more. Let's start things off with NBC News legal affairs reporter Gary Grumbach. Gary, good to have you with us. Let's start by looking ahead to today's big decision. We know it's coming on birthright citizenship. Remind us what's at stake here and what we learned from the court during those oral
arguments back in April. I mean, the justices did appear skeptical of the president's efforts to end it. Right. They did. And this all goes back to the 14th amendment and the text of the 14th amendment and especially five words subject to the jurisdiction thereof and whether those five words means that a child born in the US is a US citizen even if his parents either of his or her parents are not US citizens and that's crucial here. So during oral arguments there was some deep concern and skepticism from members of the Supreme Court about the practicality of all this and whether or not this is actually possible. What happens if for example a child is born in a hospital? Is there a
court proceeding that occurs in the days following that child's birth where the parents have to argue on behalf of the 2 or three day old child? What exactly is going to happen uh in the days following that? And so there was a lot of concerns by that. Remember President Trump actually was in the courtroom for the oral arguments making history as the first sitting president to attend oral arguments on this issue. That's how important this issue is to him. Joe, let's talk, Gary, about some of yesterday's rulings. So, the court ruled that the president cannot fire Fed member Lisa Cook. What was their reasoning there? So, this was all about whether or not Lisa Cook could be fired from the Federal Reserve Board of Governors in a
five-4 decision. Chief Justice John Roberts saying no, she cannot be fired. There was a real lot of concern about political interference. I think John Roberts must have written the word political interference four or five times during his in his opinion and it's all because there's real concern about the monetary policy in the United States and it being completely separate from any sort of interference with politics. He wants that completely separate. Now in other decisions he said it was okay for the president to fire uh members of federal boards of agencies and independent boards. So he was very concerned about the Federal Reserve staying separate and away from
presidential politics. This does sort of feel like an episode of The Apprentice because while the court did push back against the president there, they did greenlight his ability to fire Rebecca Slaughter. She's a member of another independent body. That's the FTC. Critics are calling this the biggest expansion of presidential power. So, why did the court say this firing was okay? How's Slaughter reacting to it, too? Yeah, get your history hats on here. This all goes back to a Supreme Court case from 90 years ago called Humphrey's Executive that ruled the Supreme Court ruled that some a president could not
fire a member of the Federal Trade Commission. 90 years later, we are here the Supreme Court saying actually that was unconstitutional and a president should be absolutely allowed to fire a member of the FTC. Rebecca Slaughter, who was the person at issue here, she was the commissioner at the FDC, she was on CNBC earlier. Here's what she had to say. It is unprecedented and it hands a massive amount of power away from Congress and to the president to shape economic decisionmaking in a way that will reward the rich and powerful and at the expense of ordinary Americans. So this is a decision that really
expands the power of the executive, the power of any president and currently right now this president. And what it also does, it signals that unless you're a member of the Federal Reserve, you work at the pleasure of the president of the United States, guys. All right, Gary, thank you so much. Let's bring in NBC News legal analyst Danny Sevelis to talk more about these rulings. Danny, let's start with yesterday's, excuse me, today's expected decision on birthright citizenship. What do you think? What are your expectations for this ruling? And how unprecedented would it be if the court were to rule in the president's favor?
I think everyone's expectations, including the presidents, are that the president will lose on the birthright citizenship case. The justices appeared skeptical of their position. And after all, their position is an ambitious one. They're essentially saying that a century old case that announced in so many words, we are adopting birthright citizenship just solely, the law of the soil. Well, that's what they said, but it's not exactly what they meant. That case is Wong Kim Arc from a century ago where they're going to argue that the parents of Wong Kim Arc were actually the equivalent legally of lawful permanent residence. So that case doesn't really apply even though the court actually adopted birthright
citizenship. That is a huge mountain to climb. The court's going to be very skeptical of undoing centuries of an interpretation of a clause of the Constitution. If Trump wins here, it would truly be unprecedented. I don't like throwing that word around much because I feel like we've overused it, but this would be truly unprecedented. Danny, let's talk about some of yesterday's rulings. Help us understand why the court denied the president's bid to fire Fed member Lisa Cook, but then ruled in favor when it came to firing FTC member Rebecca Slaughter. Why the difference in opinion here, and what does this tell us about presidential power?
Yeah, you have two opinions, same author, Chief Justice Roberts, dramatically different results. And Roberts pointed to the history and traditions of the Fed and the importance of the independence of the institution that moves global markets. As Gary's excellent report reporting pointed out, that was the major distinction here. But even in addition, uh the uh Cook also won at the Fed on process. It's because Trump fired her by a social media post. Therefore, she didn't get the proper process, the right to be heard, the right to contest her termination. But the big takeaway is that other than the carveout for the Fed, this is a major expansion of executive power to fire
agency heads. It would appear that the only distinction for now is that institution that drives global markets and sets economic policy. Danny, also one other one from yesterday. The Supreme Court refused to hear President Trump's bid to overturn the Eegene Carol sexual abuse and defamation verdict. Um that verdict is also means a $5 million civil judgment and that remains in place. The president blasted this ruling. He said he'll continue the fight, but tell us why the court decided that way. And legally speaking, can the president continue to fight like he says he will?
Yeah, the fight, at least for this case, is over. There is a separate defamation case that is still in the appeals process. But this is the way most cases die in appeals. And by that I mean the Supreme Court says no to the vast majority of cases that apply to it for cert. So the reality is for most of the litigants, the court of appeals, the federal court of appeals is the last stop. It is effectively the Supreme Court. And this happens all the time. When the Supreme Court declines to hear a case, the court below its decision is essentially the Supreme Court for purposes of that case. It is over. That is the end of the case. So Trump can move on challenging some of the other
cases including the one involving Eugene Carol. But as far as this case is concerned, even if the court doesn't give a fantastic, well-explained reason, simply declining to hear it is the decision of the court and that is final. All right, Danny Savalos, thank you so much. Let's get the latest out of Washington and bring in NBC News senior national politics reporter John Allen. John, let's keep the court theme going there. As we just heard, the Supreme Court ruling that President Trump does not have the authority to fire Lisa Cook, but did give him more power over other g government agencies that do fall under the executive branch. How is the White House responding to all this?
Yeah, such an interesting thing there, Joe. Uh with the Federal Reserve exception uh to the president being able to fire whoever he wants. Uh the White House reaction to this has been uh primarily through President Trump both uh in person with reporters yesterday and through social media, through his truth social account. he has been trying to focus very much uh on that expansion of presidential power. Uh to claim that yesterday was uh essentially a positive day for him, not only for himself but uh I think as you heard earlier uh for the office of the presidency in terms of expanding that ability uh to fire people who are at agencies that Congress has deemed independent. Uh that said uh the
president also addressed some of these other court cases particularly the mail and balloting. uh he kind of uh pivoted away from the defeat that he had on that on mail and balloting where states can uh continue to count ballots that are received uh past election day if they were postmarked by election day. uh pivoted away from that and basically said uh this ruling is even more reason to do his uh quote unquote Save America Act uh which has been stuck in Congress and that would require uh multiple forms of identification for voters to register and then require photo ID at the polls uh and that has been uh subject to a lot of controversy in Congress uh and Republicans simply don't have the votes
passed but he urged them again to do that yesterday. Uh, John, also let's switch over to some international news. Talks between the US and Iran, they're set to resume today. Yesterday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, M East Envoy Steve Whit gave both the House and Senate unclassified briefings on negotiations with Iran. So, what can you tell us about these talks and what we learned in those briefings? Yeah, not that much, Savannah. uh if you're to believe the members of Congress uh who were uh on those briefings um that there really wasn't uh a lot of information to be obtained. Um, you know, I think part of the reason that these briefings happened
is that President Trump showed up uh last week at the Senate Republican Conference and uh was uh at one of their lunches and was uh attacked basically bered by uh some of the senators um uh Senator Bill Cassidy from Louisiana in particular um looking for details. And so, you know, one of the ways to calm down that kind of direct confrontation with the president that White House has used is to uh is to have more briefings for members of Congress, but they often don't contain any more information uh than the president or his aids are saying publicly. And I think uh yesterday was no exception to that.
John, while we're talking about Congress, New Jersey Republican Congressman Tom Kaine set to return to the capital this morning. He has not been seen or heard from for 4 months. What are we learning about his absence? This is such a mysterious story. Uh he's going to speak today. Uh I'm going to be uh on tent hooks. I'm I don't even know what tenor hooks are, guys, but I'm going to be on tener hooks uh on the edge of my seat to try to figure out exactly what went wrong with Tom Kaine. Uh he left Congress in March and has not returned. He is in one of the most competitive races in the entire country, one that could uh help determine uh the
b the control of the House uh between the Democrats and Republicans next year. Uh, and so, uh, you know, I'm going to be listening closely to hear what he has to say. All right, we all will as well. John, thank you so much. Good to have you with us. Take care. Well, here in New York, JetBlue, passengers traveling in from Las Vegas got a scare in the skies. According to air traffic control audio, the crew reported a drone may have hit the plane as it was approaching John F. Kennedy International Airport yesterday. JetBlue says there was no damage to the aircraft and no evidence of a collision, but it is the latest in a string of incidents
involving drones flying too close to airports. NBC News correspondent McLaughlin has the details. The FBI is investigating. We collided with a drone back there in the turn after the pilot reported a drone struck a JetBlue flight on final approach to New York's JFK airport. You said you collided. Yep. It hit us right uh right above the cockpit. Do you require any assistance? You just continue to the runway.
Affirmative. We don't need any assistance. We're just going to go ahead and land. It happened at 7:15. Flight 948 from Las Vegas was about 3,000 ft in the air. JetBlue tells NBC News the flight landed without incident. And a post-flight inspection found no damage. Minutes later, according to air traffic control audio, another JetBlue flight reported seeing a drone flying quite close. JetBlue 2769 just uh observed a drone passed to our right slightly below us as they scrambled to figure out whether it was safe to land the plane. And last Friday, another drone sighting as a United flight arrived in nearby Newark.
We almost hit a drone right there. Many times these are uh false positives. In other words, it's a bird strike or some other balloon or object like that. And if it was a drone, well, that's very serious. Aaron McLaclin, NBC News, New York. The legal process now underway for the retrial of Alec Murdoch on charges that he killed his wife and son. This was Murdoch's first court appearance since the state supreme court overturned his double murder conviction last month. NBC News national correspondent Aaron Gilchrist was at the court has this report. Alec Murdoch back in a South Carolina courtroom for the first time in more than two years.
I see we have a full house. Good morning. With a new judge diving head first into his second murder trial, Murdoch in an orange prison jumpsuit and shackled. His lawyer having him stand to make a point about biasing potential jurors before trial. Chained around the waist, chained on the hands, chained on the feet. I mean, this guy is not a serial killer, not you know Ted Bundy. The state says it's a routine security measure. It is a security risk. and what was to be a routine status conference quickly became contentious.
We don't know what we don't know. And I'll give you an example. Murdoch's lawyers arguing there may be evidence available that wasn't shared with them during the first trial in 2023. State prosecutors pushing back. I know that my obligation is to provide that information to the defense. And if I'm aware of it, uh, then it's been provided and we have done that. They've had it well before the original trial and we will continue to do that. Guilty. A jury convicted Murdoch, a once prominent and powerful attorney, of killing his wife Maggie and son Paul back in 2021. South Carolina Supreme Court overturned that conviction last month, citing interference by former
court clerk Becky Hill, who the court said placed her fingers on the scales of justice with comments she made to jurors. The new judge setting April 5th as the start date for the new trial. The judge also delaying a decision on a request for a new analysis of unidentified male DNA found under Maggie's fingernail as the defense signals someone other than Alec could have been at the crime scene. As soon as Judge Deborah McCasslin sat down, she launched into a series of pointed questions about evidence and she ended the hourlong hearing by telling the lawyers, quote, "When I set a trial date, I don't do continuences." All right, Aaron. Thank you. Well, in another case that has drawn national attention, the federal trial against accused CEO killer Luigi Manion is now
postponed until next year so his lawyers can focus on his state trial. In a bit of courthouse drama, though, yesterday's hearing was delayed after he got stuck in an elevator on the way to the courtroom. That's according to a court official that was familiar with the incident. Manion remained cuffed while engineers worked to get the elevator moving again. Manion arrived in the courtroom more than half an hour late where the judge announced that his federal trial will now start on January 5th. Manon has pleaded not guilty. The East Coast is bracing for a scorcher heading into this holiday weekend. Starting today through Saturday, 168 million people stretching from New England to Louisiana are under heat alerts. Highs are expected to be 10 to
20° above average with some temps reaching the lower triple digits from Georgia all the way up to Maine. Mix some heavy humidity into this sweaty stew and you'll understand why experts are urging folks to stay inside with fans and air conditioning if possible. Sweaty stew. I wrote that. That was my visual that I wanted to paint for everyone. More details on this holiday heatwave. Let's get a closer look at our Morning News Now weather. Andrew's brewing the steamy, sweaty stew, right? Oh god. Yes. With my cauldron.
Yeah, guys. The visuals there are crazy. But we're going to we're we're going to continue on with this heatwave talk for really the prolonged period because it's just getting started today. You'll notice as we get through at least Saturday. Here's the alerts that we're seeing. They go from the Midwest down all the way to the Gulf Coast. They include much of the Northeast. These are going to be kind of uh in place in preparation for folks to see temperatures well above normal, potentially record-breaking in some spots as this heat dome kind of builds in through the day today especially and through the weekend. Here's a look at your temperatures today. 95 in Chicago, but of course you add in the humidity.
106 is what it'll feel like. 113 for the heat index in Paduca during the warmest point today. New Orleans at 104. You move to the east and we've got Atlanta, Jacksonville, all feeling like the 100 plus. Uh Wilmington, 96 degrees. Even Richmond, you're going to head to those low 90s uh and feeling quite warm. As we get into tomorrow, more of the same. This is going to be kind of the pattern that we're stuck in for the prolonged period. So Memphis 114 for your heat index. New York 104. Uh and we get even warmer here by the time the weekend rolls around in a lot of spots. These of course are your heat index values that you're seeing on the screen right now.
Notice Boston 104 on Thursday. You're still into the 90s by Friday. By the time we get to Saturday and it feels like 92. That's going to be welcomed relief, I think, for some folks across uh Boston. We've got Nashville into the 100s Thursday and Friday. And this is just kind of setting the stage for the concern that we have for folks when it comes to the dangers that heat brings. And we've got about 102 million people today alone with that major risk for heat related health impact. So not being able to cool your body down, those heat strokes, etc. are something that we're watching for. And 17 million where you see this kind of purple, that's the extreme risk. So we're talking about a
long duration event that potentially could be deadly. So we're reminding people, of course, to check on uh on the more vulnerable, the chill, the kids, the pets, the elderly. This is going to be something that you're going to want to pay attention to through the weekend. Meanwhile, we've got still some fire uh issues out west. We've got uh still these isolated kind of dry storms and that of course brings frequent lightning for us. So those gusty winds uh are going to be potentially playing a role in some of those fires starting and spreading again through the day today. Uh we've also got some of these thunderstorms that we're tracking. A thunderstorm watch actually in effect for parts of Wisconsin and Minne and
Minnesota, Minneapolis and Rochester included in that. This is going to go through 10 a.m. Central, but you can see some of those thunderstorms kind of ramping up through that region as the rest of the day goes on. We'll also see kind of uh some of these popup thunderstorms across parts of the plains. This is going to be something that we'll watch into the afternoon hours and we've got one little kind of line that's going to work through the northeast through the day today. So, you could be dodging a couple of showers there. Otherwise, as we head into tomorrow, some of these kind of thunderstorms across parts of the southeast. We've got these afternoon thunderstorms across parts of the plains. And of course, guys, it's the
thunderstorms, the fire weather, and the heat that we're going to be watching closely over the next couple of days. not seeing a whole lot of changes when it comes to that and we'll be waiting for that release. We thank you for watching and remember, stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or watch live on our YouTube channel.
