comfort for me, that maybe it is him saying hi or it brings me back to that moment of the day of his funeral where things were really hard. and there was such an emotional journey, but that rainbow centered everything and was, look for me there, here i am, hi. >> my thanks to the iconic martins tavern in georgetown where you heard luke went with his father. the book is "look for me there" out today. and to luke and maureen, no matter where you are in the world, you are always part of the nbc family. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." follow the show online on facebook and on twitter at mitchell reports. lindsey reiser is in for "chris jansing reports" right now. good day, everybody. i'm lindsey reiser in for chris

jansing in new york city. warning signs in the economy as worries about a recession, interest rates and the debt limit shave hundreds of punts points off the dow. now with a standoff over how to pay the nation's debts, will things get worse before they get better? and why wait until next week to find out? plus, no chief justice, no problem. senate democrats slam the supreme court as they push ahead with a hearing on ethics, even after john roberts declines to show up. chairman dick durbin arguing the justices' ethical standards shouldn't be acceptable at a local city council, let alone the highest court in the land. and as the texas manhunt stretches into a fourth day, haunting new questions from family members about whether the police could have caught the suspect at the scene or stopped him before he started the massacre. i'll talk to a former police chief about what should have happened once those 911 calls started coming in. but we begin with congress

and the white house, under increasing pressure to resolve the bitter fight over the debt limit, with nothing less than the strength of the u.s. economy, the stability of the global financial system at stake. and instead of having months to get it done, treasury secretary janet yellen says the u.s. may only have until june 1st to raise the limit or risk a catastrophic default. with that in mind, the first substantial talks between republicans and president biden in months are now set for next tuesday. although neither side seems willing to budge. >> america is not a deadbeat nation. we pay our bills. and we should do so without reckless hostage taking from some of the maga republicans in congress. threatening default now will be totally irresponsible. it would lead to higher interest rates, higher credit card rates, mortgage rates would skyrocket, working people, middle class and seniors would pay the price.

>> house speaker kevin mccarthy insists house republicans are addressing the issue, pointing to a newly passed house bill that would raise the debt limit. albeit with conditions the president has already rejected. any hopes they might raise the debt limit without any of the trade-offs that republicans want was dismissed by republican senator john cornyn who said bluntly, won't pass the house, won't pass the senate. in a senate any bill would need nine republican votes. i want to bring in kayla tausche, brendan buck served as an aide to two republican house speakers, and eugene robinson, "washington post" columnist. the timeline here has changed. but the talking points on either side haven't. where do things stand now? >> reporter: well, lindsey, right now democrats in the white house are trying to figure out what if any paths still remain to try to push for that clean debt ceiling increase as they have been pushing for several months. for republicans, they're going to try to see which portions of the gop-passed spending cuts

bill from last week could be salvaged in any potential deal to prioritize exactly what is in there. but ultimately while the two sides will be negotiating with each other or will ultimately have to negotiate with each other, the calendar might be their worst enemy here because there are now just a few weeks before that june 1st date after which the secretary of the treasury says the u.s. could default and not be able to pay its bills. and that is a really tough timeline to work with when there are still a lot of boxes that need to be checked. >> so, kayla, why wait until a week from today for this meeting? >> reporter: practically, lindsey, the house is not in session right now. speaker mccarthy is overseas traveling with some of his members. so they couldn't do this meeting with the core four this week even if they wanted to. at a strategic level, it also gives the white house a few days to collect its thoughts to talk to the secretary of the treasury, to talk to some of its advisers and figure out exactly what its playbook should be. you're right there are situations and their positions

haven't changed in the last three months, but if they're going to change, the white house can take a beat here and look at the facts it has at its feet and the economy as the federal reserve sees it when it talks tomorrow and say what are our options here and what are the risks to the economy. >> which side has leverage here right now, eugene? >> well, both and neither, to tell you the truth. they both have leverage because they have staked out positions, they held to their positions, and they say they're not going to budge. the white house wants a clean debt ceiling increase and the house republicans want spending cuts to go along with it. that's -- those two things are not compatible. and i -- you know, it is starting to look to me like it is going to be difficult in the time between now and certainly june 1st for a real agreement to be reached. so what i think is possible is they might get an agreement for a very, very short term debt

limit increase, kicking the can down the road, literally, you know, a few weeks, a couple of months, to give time for them to try to figure some way both sides can save face and at the same time we can get this necessary thing done because it is unthinkable that the debt ceiling is not raised and that the economy actually goes into default. >> you've been through this before, when you worked for speaker boehner here. what does your experience tell you about how this is being handled and how you think it will end? >> well, i think at this point mccarthy has got what he wants now. his whole idea was i'm going to pass this bill to force joe biden to negotiate with me. joe biden said he doesn't have any need to talk to you, but at a budget, maybe i'll talk to you. kevin mccarthy, 218 republicans which credit to him is not easy to do on something this big, and forced joe biden to negotiate. but now the hard part for him. his members have basically said, all right, kevin, we're standing

by you, now go get us a good deal and that's much easier said than done. look, the president has pretty strong ground here politically. i think the politics for him are pretty good playing against house republicans here. but, he still needs something to -- a resolution. still needs a bill. and as you all have laid out articulately, significant economic consequences is pad for bad for the country and for joe biden's politics, no matter who is to blame for it. kevin mccarthy has joe biden to the table. and now joe biden needs to find kevin mccarthy an off ramp, where they can save face. it will be difficult for mccarthy to bring up a bill that does not deliver on a lot of promises they made and the reality is he's not going to be able to. >> we keep hearing before the economy tanks. a chief economist said we may see the dow lose 1,000 points before talking get serious. what is the risk for people at

home, for their 401(k)s? >> well, a thousand point drop for the dow, lindsey, might actually end up being mild depending on how close to the brink we got. ultimately when we think back to 2011, it was that significant market drop, it was the downgrading of the u.s. credit rating that caused them to come together and reach an 11th hour deal. something like that may have to happen here if the two sides remain in intractable positions. for consumers, there could be very real costs. not only the 401(k)s going down, but credit cards and mortgages, car loans, expect the interest rates on those to go up because the cost of government securities, government securities are no longer seen as a safe investment. if there is a real risk by some of those creditors, the u.s. won't pay its bills, interest rates could skyrocket even on top of what the federal reserve has already done. >> you mentioned how this is a test of mccarthy's leadership here in making sure his members

can stay in line. do you get a sense we're going to see some of these far right republicans try and make some names for themselves during this process, like we did in the speaker's fight? >> yeah, it is very possible. i think the reality, i think kevin mccarthy knows this, the ultimate bipartisan deal he cuts with joe biden is not going to have the support of the far right. they never vote for bipartisan debt limit increases, the question for mccarthy is how much are those people going to try to use this against them. forget the vote, they're not voting for it. but do they try to use this as an opportunity to take him out? i think this is the most encouraging for kevin mccarthy, when he passed this debt limit bill in the house, no one really started making threats against it. so i think he actually goes into this negotiation with pretty good standing for his conference. but in the same time, he has set expectations pretty high. you have some of them saying this should be the floor for us, this should be the final deal. and when he comes back with something much, much, much smaller, is that when the people

who said, okay, well, i trusted you and you didn't deliver and they come after him. i'm not saying it is going to cost him his job, but that will be the conversation we're going to start seeing as the shape of this much smaller bill comes together over the next few weeks. >> eugene, is this the messy side of governing, how the sausage is made or did it get unnecessarily messier? >> oh, look, this is always messy. especially when, you know, one party is in the white house, the other party as a house of representatives, it always gets messy. but let's remember what we're talking about here. we're talking about raising the debt limit, so we can -- so the government can pay for spending that has already been approved. in other words, we're paying our bills. this is not for future spending. so, it is the height of irresponsibility, not to raise the debt ceiling. some scholars argue that it is unconstitutional not to raise the debt ceiling. be that as it may, here we are

and, yes, it is messy, yes, it is sausage, and, yes, you kind of don't want to see how it's made. hopefully it tastes good at the end. >> kayla tausche, brendan buck, eugene, stay with me. the chief justice declines to attend, the potential impact on the nation's highest court in 60 seconds. on the nation's highest court in 60 seconds a ballet studio, an architecture firm... and homemade barbeque sauce. they're called 'small businesses.' but to the people who build them there's nothing 'small' about them. that's why at t-mobile for business... you'll save more than $1,000 versus verizon. and with price lock guarantee, we'll never raise your rate plan. so you can keep your focus on toe-turns and making sure the sauce is extra spicy. at t-mobile, there are no small b ♪♪ first, there's an idea and you do something about it for the first time with godaddy. then before you know it, (it is a life changer...) you make your first sale. small business first. never stopped coming.

(we did it!) and you have a partner that always puts you first way. (no way!) start today at godaddy.com. realtor.com (in a whisper) if we use kevin's college fund, we can afford this house. the house whisperer! this house says use realtor.com to find options within your budget. good luck young man. realtor.com to each their home. today, a major move against drug traffickers on the dark web, including the arrest of 300 people and the seizure of $50 million. ken dilanian joins us now from the justice department with more. what can you tell us? >> they're calling this one of the biggest operations of its kind, spanning three continents. as you said, nearly 300 arrests. they say there were a total of 117 illegal firearms seized, more than 200,000 pills in the united states, many laced with

fentanyl. so, i have to be candid with you, this is a marketing situation here with the justice department. a lot of the cases are old, they're announcing them because they're under a lot of pressure to show they're dealing with the fentanyl problem, which is killing 70,000 americans a year from overdoses. the attorney general merrick garland acknowledged there is a whac-a-mole situation here, they arrest all the people, other people come back in the dark web that the fentanyl continues to flow, but he said we're going to continue to whack. they need to do this stuff to send a message to criminals there is a price to be paid. what they didn't want to confront at this news conference, garland or the other officials, was one of the biggest problems facing the united states and its battle with fentanyl and that's the lack of cooperation from the mexican government. it is very difficult for u.s. officials to talk about that publicly, but it is at its worst in decades and the americans who are down in mexico trying to fight this battle are getting very little cooperation. when they get intelligence about where the traffickers are in mexico, it doesn't get acted on.

that remains a great challenge, even as many, many, many americans continue to die of overdoses from fentanyl-laced pills. >> ken dilanian, thank you. today, serious question of ethic at the supreme court being raised on capitol hill after recent revelations about the conduct of justices leading the court's influence and impact hanging in the balance. a hearing is going on right now there is senator dick durbin talking. and they're asking why the highest court in the land has no ethics code of conduct similar to the one that applies to lower federal court judges. >> we entrust judges with administering equal justice under the law. it is critical to our democracy that the american people have confidence that judges cannot be bought or influenced. and that they're serving the public interests, not their own personal interests. we're here today because the supreme court of the united

states of america does not consider itself bound by the rules. >> ali vitali is on capitol hill and eugene robinson is back. ali, what ethical questions are being raised in this hearing? >> reporter: what we heard this refrain time and again from democratic lawmakers, the highest court in the land should be subjected to the highest ethical rules that govern it. that's not what they feel that they have right now and we know already that chairman dick durbin tried to invite chief justice john roberts to testify at this hearing, roberts, of course, responded in a letter saying he would decline that invitation. and in the wake of him saying no to coming to this, durbin proceeding as i imagine he would have even if the chief justice was there in that he and other democrats are highlighting the ways that ethics reforms need to take place here and that if the court won't do that themselves, congress is happy to step in, even though they're chagrinned to have to do so. but on the other side of this too, we have seen republicans, those who said that roberts should not be there testifying,

also playing defense saying that the court is partisan in the opposite direction and that democrats are only wanting to litigate these ethics reforms because of the recent conservative tilting of the court. and as much as there could be movement on a larger ethics reform package, there has been some bipartisan conversation about that, in this hearing room at least today it was pretty partisan in terms of what we heard from democrats and republicans alike. >> so, eugene, senator lindsey graham said the questioning of the ethics court amounted to an unseemly effort by the democratic left to destroy the legitimacy of the roberts court. does that mean they're above reproach? >> well, no. and they're not above reproach and shouldn't be. look, i don't know in what universe it makes sense for the highest court in the land not to have the strictest code of ethics of the land. it should be that way. and ideally the court itself, separation of powers reasons,

the court itself would impose a really strict set of standards, enforceable standards that judges -- that justices have to live by. and the court refuses to do that. and i don't understand why. but i think it is appropriate for the senate to look into it. i frankly don't know, again, for separation of powers reasons, i don't know exactly what congress can do and it would be somewhat preferable if the court would do itself, but the court seems unable to move. >> as we watch senator whitehouse there and some remarks here, maybe part of his questioning, eugene, saying you don't necessarily know what will happen in congress, what the appetite is, do you expect anything in the way of reform and if not, has the public's trust in the supreme court regulating itself eroded a bit after this? >> no, i think the public's trust in the court has eroded a

lot. and frankly it has nothing to do with partisanship. it does have something to do with some of the decisions the court has made recently that are extremely unpopular. and leading, you know, first among them, the dobbs decision on abortion is extremely unpopular in the country. and that tends to rob the court of legitimacy. now, it is -- and that's just a fact. it is not something that democrats are doing or democratic senators are doing or anybody is doing, it is something the court did. and that on top of that you have the ethics revelations about justice thomas, and the free travel and goodies accepted from a texas billionaire without disclosing them and you got a problem. and the court needs to address this problem. i can't imagine why chief justice roberts because after

all, it is his court, this is the roberts court, i can't understand why he doesn't make this a priority and get it done. >> so, eugene, given the checks and balances that we're supposed to have in this country, how significant is it that they didn't agree to appear today? >> i actually -- i understand that in the context of checks and balances and separation of powers, right, because, you know, one branch is lone to interfere with the management of another branch. the supreme court doesn't tell the senate what rules to set or whether the filibuster is constitutional or anything like that. and so the court looks at the senate and says, look, you don't tell us how to govern ourselves, how to set ethics rules. and that's all well and good if each branch does what is needed

and what it is supposed to do. the problem here is this basic thing of having strict ethics guidelines for the highest court in the land is something that the supreme court simply refuses to act on. and that's the source of this problem. it is the court itself. >> senator dick durbin, chair of the senate judiciary committee is wrapping up right now, saying this was a good faith hearing, saying he respects chief justice roberts. looks like it is wrapping up right now. ali vitali and eugene robinson, thank you for joining us on this. we appreciate it. new questions surrounding the ongoing manhunt in texas as survivors ask why help didn't arrive sooner. how should police have responded? we'll ask a former chief of police next. k a former chief of police next.

(music throughout) get the royal treatment. join the millions playing royal match today. download now. from big cities, to small towns, and on main streets across the us, you'll find pnc bank. helping businesses both large and small, communities and the people who live and work there

grow and thrive. we're proud to call these places home too. they're where we put down roots, and where together, we work to help move everyone's financial goals forward. pnc bank. (vo) verizon small business days are back. april 27th through may 3rd. get a free tech check and special offers. like a free 5g phone. get started today with verizon business. it's your business. it's your verizon. so, you found the no7 then... it's amazing! hydrates better than the expensive stuff i don't live here, so i'm taking this and whatever's in the back. it's already sold in the us. but i'm not taking any chances. the uk's #1 skincare has crossed the pond.

and this is ready to go online. the uk's #1 skincare any questions? -yeah, i got one. how about the best network imaginable? let's invent that. we don't have time for lag or buffering. who doesn't want internet that helps a.i. do your homework even faster. come again. -sorry, what was that? the next generation 10g network, only from xfinity. it now has been 80 hours without any new leads in the frantic manhunt of a man who killed five of his neighbors in texas. and questions are piling up against law enforcement response to the shooting. one man hid in the closet with his wife and infant and called 911 repeatedly saying, quote, i wonder if they had come in those 30 minutes if this would have happened, i wonder if my family would still be alive. but they didn't show up until the shooter had fled. sam brock is live in cleveland,

texas. we're also joined by isaiah mckinnon, former detroit police of chief. sam, what is the latest in the manhunt? >> reporter: so, lindsey, good to be with you. it has been about 48 hours since we had any sort of press update from the local sheriff's department here or the fbi. they referred us to the social media accounts, speaking of which the last couple of hours there have been a couple of tweets that have come out. i don't know how insightful they have been. what the fbi is saying is they're analyzing hundreds of pieces of information and they posted some pictures out there of officials in front of computers and at mobile command centers. he said it is coming from all over. it is not exactly clear where they gleaned that information. the next tweet, though, it comes after that in their feed says that, quote, francisco oropesa could be anywhere. so after not hearing from the fbi for 16 hours, that was their next tweet. they did say they're coordinating right now with law enforcement officials, not just in the state of texas, but across the border indicating the fact they may think oropesa

could have let the country. we haven't received that sort of insight where they stand with this investigation. let me walk you through what i saw earlier today and perhaps lay the groundwork for understanding why it may have taken police a long time to get out there. the roads are filled with craters. it is just hard to navigate the infrastructure is very poor here. it is extremely rural. it took us 15 minutes to drive maybe two miles to get there. we also saw the suspect's house today, and there was a car, a black pickup truck that pulled out of the house. not sure if it is his wife or a caretaker, a lot of animals on the property there, it is the only house on the entire block that a gate around it and on the gate there was a sign that says this house is blessed by god. so right next to that house, of course, is the house where all those victims were, those ten members of the honduran family, five of whom were slaughtered. one, 9 years old, daniel. who boy who identified himself as daniel's best friend showed up at a memorial last night with

a handwritten letter and talked about how the situation has impacted him and his family. >> he used to play soccer at the bus stop and he used to be good at goalie. i liked him on my team. i wanted to show him, like, how good i was a friend of him. >> reporter: there was some emotional community reaction there as well, with one woman just sobbing. she doesn't believe it is possible that asking someone to stop firing their weapon would have prompted a response like this. there had to have been something deeply personal. we haven't gotten to the levels of the investigation just yet. hopefully in the coming days we will. one more point about the sheriff here, he told the associated press there are three deputies to cover an area that is about 27,000 residents, 700 square miles. perhaps that might explain why it was hard to get out to that property in the first place. and also from so many neighbors i've talked to, who said there is gunfire constantly on a friday night, people standing outside with their cans of beer firing their weapons, so, in

some sense there wasn't the surgency needed when there were calls coming in for shots fired, maybe the context would have been this happens all the time. i can't say that definitively, but helps to understand what the thinking might have been. >> chief, weigh in here. what is the typical law enforcement response to a call like that, in a rural area, with limited resources? >> well, so much depends, lindsey, on the number of people that you have. i think as sam just said, there are three officers on duty to patrol this incredible amount of space. but i think also, it is where were those officers at the time? i think there is waveways of fig that out. they have sensors in the cars that will tell them. the other part of that too is what was the message that was given in terms of -- to the 911 operator, the dispatcher. were they told there was a person shooting at them, were

they told there is a person who is a danger to them. i think they said 20 minutes or so that they had been calling and no one responded. all those factors play into this. they have 18 officers for that entire department. there is three that is on duty. and as was just said, the roads are horrendous, but was it told to the officers immediately that they were in immediate danger? so all those things play a big part in this. >> and that said, also, chief, how critical is response time? both for capturing a suspect who right now is on the lam and when it comes to potentially life saving medical care for victims? >> lindsey, all those things play a big part. you respond immediately and in particular in a critical life saving situation. if someone told you or told a dispatcher that someone is a danger to them, that they are firing a weapon, that someone else might be hurt, you respond

with immediate urgency and that is most important to what you have to do as a law enforcement officer. and i -- the things that i don't understand in this, in terms of the location of the officers, what they were told, what the dispatchers were told, and their immediate response 20 minutes or so for that, that on the surface does not look good. >> chief, i got to be quick with you here. back to the manhunt, four days with no leads. what is the best way to handle something like this? >> i think that what they're trying to do is to have as many people as possible to see this person, to see his face, and i think probably based upon his location, right here in detroit, we're across the border from canada, that might be the case there, i think he might be in mexico already. >> sam brock, isaiah mckinnon, thank you. a bride was killed and a groom is fighting for his life

today after a suspected drunk driver hit the newlyweds on friday night as they were leaving their wedding reception. the couple were in a golf cart on a south carolina road when they were hit, throwing the cart hundreds of yards, flipping it several times, according to a go fund me page. the bride, 34-year-old samantha miller who you see on the screen was killed. the groom, aric hutchison is in critical condition after suffering multiple broken bones and a brain injury and two others were injured in the crash. the driver is charged with reckless vehicular homicide and three counts of felony driving under the influence. coming up, a close confidante of e. jean carroll takes the stand in a defamation trial against former president trump. how that testimony could impact the case. and the state department confirms the successful evacuation of hundreds more americans from violence in sudan. what about the thousands who are still there?

that's next. thousandsho w are still there? that's next. congestion, especially at night? try vicks sinex for instant relief that lasts up to 12 hours. vicks sinex targets congestion at the source, relieving nasal congestion, and sinus pressure by reducing swelling in the sinuses. try vicks sinex. (vo) verizon small business days are back. april 27th through may 3rd. get a free tech check and special offers. like a free 5g phone. get started today with verizon business. it's your business. it's your verizon. my moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...the burning, the itching. the stinging. my skin was no longer mine. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®, most people saw 90% clearer skin at 16 weeks. the majority of people saw 90% clearer skin even at 5 years. tremfya® is the first medication of its kind also approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis... ...and it's 6 doses a year after 2 starter doses. serious allergic reactions may occur.

tremfya® may increase your risk of infections and lower your ability to fight them. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms or if you had a vaccine or plan to. emerge tremfyant®. with tremfya®... ask your doctor about tremfya® today. introducing astepro allergy. ask your doctor now available without a prescription. astepro is the first and only 24-hour steroid-free spray. while flonase takes hours, astepro starts working in 30 minutes. so you can [ spray, spray ] astepro and go.

this week is your chance to try any subway footlong for free. like the subway series menu. just buy any footlong in the app, and get one free. everyone loves free stuff chuck. can we get peyton a footlong? get it before it's gone. on the subway app. remember the things you loved before asthma got in the way? fasenra is an add-on treatment for asthma driven by eosinophils. it's designed to target and remove them and helps prevent asthma attacks. fasenra is not for sudden breathing problems or other eosinophilic conditions. allergic reactions may occur. don't stop your asthma treatments without talking with your doctor. tell your doctor if your asthma worsens. headache and sore throat may occur. tell your doctor if you have a parasitic infection. get back to better breathing. ask your doctor about fasenra. back when i had a working circulatory system, you had to give your right arm to find great talent. but with upwork, there's highly skilled talent from all over the globe. right at your fingertips. ♪ this is how we work now ♪

(vo) verizon small business days are back. april 27th through may 3rd. right at your fingertips. get a free tech check and special offers. like a free 5g phone. get started today with verizon business. it's your business. it's your verizon. hey, man. you could save hundreds for safe driving with liberty mutual. they customize your car insurance. so you only pay for what you need! whoo! we gotta go again. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ our customers don't do what they do for likes or followers. their path isn't for the casually curious. and that's what makes it matter the most when they find it. the exact thing that can change the world. some say it's what they were born to do... it's what they live to do... trinet serves small and medium sized businesses... so they can do more of what matters. benefits. payroll. compliance. trinet. people matter.

in new york, attorneys for e. jean carroll tried to bolster her testimony. she says carroll described the assault, she said i ducked out of the room and said, jean, he raped you, you should go to the

police. she said, no, no, no, i don't want to go to the police. she said promise me you will never speak of this again and will tell no one and i promised her both those things. i want to bring in barbara mcquaid, law professor at the university of michigan and msnbc legal analyst. all along, trump's attorneys have tried to say this was made up. what does it mean for carroll's case to have someone testify that, yes, she told me about it right after it happened? >> this can be very important information, lindsey. so often in cases of sexual assault there is no third party witness who can say i saw this happen. as we know, it is commonplace for survivors of sexual assault to not go to the police, for a variety of reasons, not to be revictimized, they don't want to make a big deal out of it, victim shaming, all kinds of things. what we're left with are these contemporaneous reports to others, to friends, to loved ones, to family members, and if

they can tell a story that is consistent with the testimony, yes, i remember her saying this to me at the time, that can be very persuasive testimony for a jury to say, no, she didn't just make this up, this year or last year, she has been telling this same story since way back when it happened. and in a case like this, this is the kind of testimony that can really tip the balance to that 51% that a civil plaintiff needs to prevail. >> trump's attorneys tried to argue that carroll is in it for money, part of a political vendetta. we heard a little bit about that on cross examination, trump's attorney asking about her political affiliation, the negative things she said about the former president. does that undermine her testimony? >> well, it is a classic tactic for cross examination is to try to demonstrate to the jury that the person has a bias to lie, to attack the credibility. but i think it is something that lawyers tend to overplay. just because somebody doesn't like you doesn't mean that everything they're saying about

you is a lie. and so, you know, it is to be expected. i'm sure the witness expected there to be these kinds of questions, but i don't know that it completely undermines everything that she has to say in the eyes of a juror. >> and how did we expect tacopina to poke holes in how close friends carroll and birnbach were and how would that be a tactic? >> to show they are biased because they're close friends and they're rooting for her and trying to shade the testimony to help her. i suppose they could -- one other argument could be that maybe she was making it up back then. maybe she was lying to you back then or as you pointed out, pointing out that they are democrats, they donated to democratic candidates, but i think when most jurors hear these kinds of things, it may give them some pause, but at the end of the day, what they're going to assess is the testimony itself. does it tell the story that seems believable to them. i think that's what jurors really want to do is figure out what happened, and so, i think it is the testimony itself that

is going to matter anymore than any of these credibility tactics. >> you alluded to it, but remind us what kind of burden of proof carroll has to reach in a civil trial. >> it is preponderance of the evidence, much lower than a standard in a criminal case, guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. one thing we have seen in cases involving sexual assault when there is no third party witness is how difficult it is to break that tie. but in a preponderance of the evidence case, you have to get to 51% and so these friends who are testifying might be just enough to get her there. >> barbara mcquaid, thank you. more than a thousand americans have fled sudan since the outbreak of violence last month, according to the state department. it is a small part of a massive surge of refugees racing for the country's border and ports. while the fragile cease-fire is in place and the u.n. warns 800,000 people could ultimately flee, potentially pulling the entire region into a humanitarian crisis. nbc's ali arouzi is following

the story for us. the state department saying 5,000 american citizens in sudan have reached out getting help out. what is being done for the remaining 4,000? >> reporter: hey, lindsey. the state department said, yes, a third convoy of americans had reached port sudan, but that's it. no more convoys planned, no more evacuations planned. they're advising american citizens that are still trapped in sudan and want to get out to make their own way to port sudan, to get there on their own esteem. and once they get there, then they can try and snag a seat on a commercial vessel taking them to the port of jeddah in saudi arabia. as you know, that's a 500 mile perilous journey. there is no over the horizon intelligence or overhead armed drones to protect them like the convoys. it is a very dangerous route for them to take to get there. the u.s. has said some consular officers are staying in port

sudan to assist, but their stay there is completely dependent on the security environment in the country, which is being deteriorated since this all began. there is some glimmer of hope, lindsey. the two warring generals have agreed to a cease-fire beginning on the 4th of may, meant to last several days, but we have seen time and time again those cease-fires have been shattered by both sides. also negotiators said the two warring generals agreed to send negotiators to peace talks, possibly in saudi arabia. but for those peace talks to take place, there needs to be a meaningful lull in the violence. there has to be a sustained cease-fire and there hasn't been any sign of that yet. of course, the people who are suffering the most are the sudanese people. about 100,000 people have already fled the country. some 320,000 people are internally displaced. over 400 dead, over 4,000

injured. so, it is a really terrible situation for them. let's not forget about a third of this country, about 16 million people were already dependent on international aid before the latest outbreak of violence. so, things are not looking good there. and the top u.n. envoy in the country had only said a few days ago that the two sides didn't have the words negotiations or talks in their vocabulary. the hope is that that will change in the coming days and weeks to allow some relief for the sudanese people and any other international people that want to try and get out. lindsey? >> ali arouzi, thank you for that update. still to come, we're going to switch gears here. your favorite tv show may go dark as hollywood writers launch the first industry wide strike in 15 years. the sticking point between writers and studios ahead. breaking news moments ago, the white house is officially requesting troops to the southern border. the reason this is happening now

and the impact it could have on immigration. that's ahead. the impact it coul immigration. that's ahead are you tired of clean clothes that just don't smell clean? downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters keep your laundry smelling fresh waaaay longer than detergent alone. if you want laundry to smell fresh for weeks, make sure you have downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters. (vo) verizon small business days are back. april 27th through may 3rd. get a free tech check and special offers. like a free 5g phone. get started today with verizon business. it's your business. it's your verizon. ♪ ♪ [ cat purrs ] [ phone vibrates ] introducing astepro allergy. steroid-free allergy relief that starts working in 30 minutes, while other allergy sprays take hours. now with astepro fast allergy relief, [ spray, spray ] you can astepro and go. hustle harder they said. achievement takes sacrifice. the real secret to success? better sleep. but they won't put that on a poster, so purple put it in a mattress. purple is different.

soft and firm, in all your right places. the gelflex grid keeps you cool, while sleep does it's scientifically proven thing. you rise sharper. an overnight success. on purple. the mattress made for successful sleeping. ♪♪ avoiding triggers but can't keep migraines away? qulipta® can help prevent migraines. you can't always prevent what's going on outside... that's why qulipta® helps what's going on inside. qulipta® gets right to work. in a 3-month study, qulipta® significantly reduced monthly migraine days and the majority of people reduced them by 50 to 100%. qulipta® blocks cgrp a protein believed to be a cause of migraines. qulipta® is a preventive treatment for episodic migraine. most common side effects are nausea, constipation, and tiredness. learn how abbvie could help you save on qulipta®. meet stephanie... goodnight! and bethany... [guhhnnaaaghh] identical twins. both struggle with cpap for their sleep apnea. but stephanie got inspire. an implanted device that works inside the body

to help her sleep. unlike her sister. there's more than one way to treat your sleep apnea. if you struggle with cpap, look into getting inspire. inspire. sleep apnea innovation. learn more and view important safety information at inspiresleep.com. this week is your chance to try any subway footlong for free. like the subway series menu. just buy any footlong in the app, and get one free. everyone loves free stuff chuck. can we get peyton a footlong? get it before it's gone. on the subway app. ♪ma ma ma ma♪ [clears throut] for fast sore throat relief, try vicks vapocool drops with two times more menthol per drop*, and the powerful rush of vicks vapors for fast-acting relief you can feel. vicks vapocool drops. fast relief you can feel.

when i was diagnosed with h-i-v, i didn't know who i would be. but here i am... being me. keep being you... and ask your healthcare provider about the number one prescribed h-i-v treatment, biktarvy. biktarvy is a complete, one-pill, once-a-day treatment used for h-i-v in many people whether you're 18 or 80. with one small pill, biktarvy fights h-i-v to help you get to undetectable—and stay there whether you're just starting or replacing your current treatment. research shows that taking h-i-v treatment as prescribed and getting to and staying undetectable prevents transmitting h-i-v through sex. serious side effects can occur, including kidney problems and kidney failure. rare, life-threatening side effects include a buildup of lactic acid and liver problems. do not take biktarvy if you take dofetilide or rifampin. tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines and supplements you take, if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, or if you have kidney or liver problems, including hepatitis. if you have hepatitis b do not stop taking biktarvy without talking to your healthcare provider. common side effects were diarrhea, nausea, and headache. no matter where life takes you,

biktarvy can go with you. talk to your healthcare provider today. (vo) verizon small business days are back. april 27th through may 3rd. biktarvy can go with you. get a free tech check and special offers. like a free 5g phone. get started today with verizon business. it's your business. it's your verizon. it may be spring, but parts of wisconsin and michigan are facing a record-breaking snowstorm. take a look at snow covering this deck in northern wisconsin. just blanketing the outdoor furniture there. looks more like christmas than closer to memorial day. even for snow battered michigan, accumulation this late in the year is pretty unusual.

the state hasn't seen a snowstorm in may since 1990 when the national weather service says historic conditions brought two feet of heavy snow. pens down, picket signs up. today writers behind some of your favorite shows and movies will be protesting on the picket line after negotiations between their union and the alliance representing studios, amptp failed to strike a deal. it could have major implications for the industry. the first shows expected to go dark are the late night talk shows and seth meyers spoke about a possible strike last week. >> been through this before in 2007, 2008. it was a long strike when i was working at "snl" and it was miserable. i feel very strongly that what the writers are asking for is not unreasonable and as a proud member of the guild, i'm very grateful that there's an organization that looks out for the best interests of writers.

>> we should note that comcast, the corporation that owns our parent company, nbc universal, is one of the entertainment companies represented by amptp. and some employees of the nbc universal news group are represented by the writers guild of america. let's bring in marissa par from los angeles. this is, as we heard seth meyers say, the first major strike in more than a decade. what does each side want? >> reporter: for starters, from the very beginning of negotiations, writers have been asking for more pay. and a big reason for that, the headline from that was really this new world of streaming and they said that streaming has created some difficult conditions with a lot less pay than this industry for them used to provide. let's talk about the sticking points. we're talking about the things that those negotiations really stalled on, that they couldn't move forward on. so the studios and the writers were at odds with minimum number of weeks of employment for tv writers.

the studios didn't want to cave for that. studios proposed creating a day rate. writers didn't like that. and finally there was no movement on regulation of the use of artificial intelligence. so we've had a chance to speak to a few writers, you're going to hear from one in just a moment, about their thoughts on those sticking points. >> some of the most shocking ones seem like the most commonsense, we want protections from any future ai stuff. it's like, we want to make sure there's people in the room, not robots doing stories for us. and then they come out and say, we don't agree, but we can do a yearly seminar about the advances in technology and it's like, is this a joke? did monkeys write this? >> reporter: clearly a lot of contention there, lindsey. when we look at the theme of this, they're looking out for writers of today in this world of streaming, but they're also really trying to put protections in place for the writers of tomorrow with the advancements coming with artificial

intelligence and writers have said they will not go down without a fight. we're going to see them on the picket lines in just a few hours. they said they'll fight for however long it takes. >> okay. thank you. the faa now making a major move to ease congestion ahead of what is expected to be a busy summer travel season. what that means for you if you're planning to fly soon next. >> you save emissions and you save time. i think it's a win-win for everybody. start your day with nature made. the #1 pharmacist recommended vitamin and supplement brand. (vo) verizon small business days are back. april 27th through may 3rd. the #1 pharmacist recommended get a free tech check and special offers. like a free 5g phone. get started today with verizon business. it's your business. it's your verizon. moderate to severe eczema still disrupts my skin.

despite treatment it disrupts my skin with itch. it disrupts my skin with rash. but now, i can disrupt eczema with rinvoq. rinvoq is not a steroid, topical, or injection. it's one pill, once a day. many taking rinvoq saw clear or almost-clear skin while some saw up to 100% clear skin. and, they felt dramatic and fast itch relief some as early as 2 days. that's rinvoq relief. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal, cancers including lymphoma and skin cancer, death, heart attack, stroke, and tears in the stomach or intestines occurred. people 50 and older with at least one heart disease risk factor have higher risks. don't take if allergic to rinvoq, as serious reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. disrupt the itch and rash of eczema. talk to your doctor about rinvoq. learn how abbvie can help you save. this isn't charmin! no wonder i don't feel as clean. hurry up dad!

you've been in there forever! i'm trying! this cheap stuff is too thin! i told you not to get the other toilet paper. here's charmin ultra strong. ahhh! my bottom's been saved! woooo! with its diamond weave texture, charmin ultra strong cleans better with fewer sheets and less effort. what's everybody waiting for? this? ok hon, we know you're clean. we all go, why not enjoy the go with charmin. shingles. some describe it as pulsing electric shocks or sharp, stabbing pains. ♪♪ this painful, blistering rash can disrupt your life for weeks. a pain so intense, you could miss out on family time. the virus that causes shingles is likely already inside of you. if you're 50 years or older, ask your doctor or pharmacist about shingles. (vo) verizon small business days are back. april 27th through may 3rd.,

get a free tech check and special offers. like a free 5g phone. get started today with verizon business. it's your business. it's your verizon. [♪♪] if you have diabetes, it's important to have confidence in the nutritional drink you choose. try boost glucose control®. it's clinically shown to help manage blood sugar levels and contains high quality protein to help manage hunger and support muscle health. try boost® today.

how many times have you been stuck on the tarmac because your plane can't take off or you can't get to a gate to come home. the faa is making critical adjustments with the busy summer travel season around the corner. here's aviation correspondent tom costello. >> reporter: at the nation's airports, the countdown is onto the quasi official start of summer travel. and with passenger levels now at or exceeding prepandemic levels, the pressure is on to make that experience as smooth as possible. along the east coast, the faa says 169 newly activated high-altitude flight routes should make travel more efficient. one of the biggest changes, less zigzagging in the air with more direct paths. >> we time things down to the minute for a reason. at the airport, every minute counts. >> reporter: the faa says the

move should make trips between airports, including regional airports, more efficient by shaving off time helping to save fuel for the airlines and improving safety because the routes which are mostly above 18,000 feet use gps technology rather than ground radar. >> as you create new highways in the sky by using better technology, you de-stress the whole environment, the experience for the passenger gets better, you save fuel, you save emissions and you save time. so i think it's -- it's a win-win for everybody. >> reporter: it comes as united and delta have trimmed flights into new york and washington to help with congestion and the shortage of air traffic controllers. at nearly a dozen american airlines hubs on monday, pilots on the picket line after their union voted overwhelming to authorize a strike as it negotiates a new contract. >> every pilot on this line wants to have happen, we come to an agreement on a contract. >> reporter: but u.s. law prevents immediate action so a

strike is not eminent. still, the biggest variable for all airlines year-round, the weather. >> if we get a thunderstorm on the east coast, particularly in new york or atlanta, it's going to have a much larger impact with the number of aircraft that are going to be affected by that. >> reporter: tom costello, nbc news. and we have a lot to cover in our second hour of "chris jansing reports." let's get right to it. ♪♪ at this hour, a blinding dust storm. at least six people are dead, 37 injured after an out of nowhere dust storm hit an illinois highway. plus, the debt limit showdown. the u.s. may run out of money much sooner than expected and now one senator warns he is sick and tired of the drama. and nine days away from the end of title 42, the biden administration now confirming it will be sending u.s. troops to the southern border. we'll be watching for the latest