joining us now from germany is nbc news reporter claudio lavanga. atest on the cleanup efforts? [ inaudible ] all right. we're try to go back to claudio when we can. meantime, the effects of climate change here in the u.s. are drying up the western united states, scorching temperatures and severe drought are taking their toll on farmers and cattle ranchers. in arizona, ranchers are facing tough decisions in the face of a water shortage, some forced to sell off parts of their herds. nbc correspondent cal perry, what have you been told about drought conditions out west and what are ranchers telling you about the problems they're facing? >> reporter: and keep in mind we're talking about a 21-year extensive drought. it is a mega drought, affecting the entire west of the country. cattle ranchers are selling their cattle because they don't have the water to keep them alive and rather than having them die on a ranch, they're taking them to a market that's driving prices down. this is the part of the country that feeds the rest of the country. you go west to

claudio lavanga reporting. >> coming up, the retaliation begins.icans in texas strip the top house democrat of his leadership role while threatening arrests for others. how the battle over restrictive voting bills is taking a turn in the lone star state. the lone star state. or is that the damp weight of self-awareness you now hold in your hand? yeah-h-h. (laugh) keep your downstairs dry with gold bond body powder. in this family, everyone does their own laundry, but they all do it a little different. keep your downstairs dry honestly, i add a couple of tide pods and just stuff everything in. it works. and of course, everyone thinks their way is right. i stood in line for hours to get this. it has to be washed on delicate. it has to be cold water, it's better for the planet. the secret is, with tide pods it all works. of course it does. told ya! they're going to do it their way, and i get a break from the laundry. no matter how you wash, it's got to be tide. the passing of a champion of civil rights and so-called good trouble. one of his core votin

joining us now, claudio lavanga from rome. claudio, good morning. what more do we know about this operation? >> reporter: good morning, phillip. well, all we know is what the vatican has been telling us so far, which is arguably not much. yesterday out of the blue they told us the pope was going to be taken to the hospital for surgery. what was surprising about that is only a couple of hours earlier he was delivering his traditional sunday prayer right behind me looking perfectly well they said it was a scheduled surgery. didn't get much more information apart from that it was for a diverticular stenosis which is a problem with the intestines. later on yesterday at about midnight after the operation they simply said, as you mentioned, that he reacted well. we are used to the vatican and the policy here being particularically cryptic when it comes to the health of popes, but this very short statement, of course, raises more questions than answers we don't know, of course, how long the pope is going to recover, stay in the hospital, how long it will t

for more on the recovery efforts we turn to nbc's claudio lavanga live in hemerscheim, germany claudio, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, phillip. the chancellor of germany angela merkel visited the area yesterday and she called what she saw surreal, which is how i would describe what we've been seeing around here for the past three days since we arrived in this part of western germany what you see behind me used to be a train station about a week ago. now it is a pile of rubble you can see to my left destroyed cars, car wreckages scattered around uprooted trees to my right that's a pillar that used to hold a pedestrian overpass that had to be brought down by the authorities here because it became too unstable. really it looks like time stood still since wednesday last week, when a river like this, the ahr, one of many rivers like this, they became from gentle waterways into monstrous walls of water that just left behind a trail of death and devastation and now the cleanup has just started. we saw just about an hour ago the authorities were towing away all these destroyed cars t

let's go to our correspondent, claudio lavanga standing by for us in germany.out, the visuals are just extraordinary. >> reporter: that's right, alex. after days of uninterrupted a run fail that brought upon these floods, finally the clouds have cleared and the water is finally at long last receded, but it left behind a trail of death and destruction. as you mentioned, right behind me it used to be -- this used to be a train station. the train station here in the western germany, one of the most affected areas. now it is a pile of rubble with car wreckage scattered on and across it and on the rails as well. i don't know whether you can see it. this is how powerful that wave coming from the flood was. it just brought upon all of this rubbish, all of the car wreckage. there in the distance you can see two enormous giant concrete pillars. those used to be a walkway, a bridge over which people will cross from one side of the river to the other. well, that had to be brought down because it became unstable. now, one of the residents just living next to this live posi

are sifting through debris for the missing while also salvaging what they can we turn to nbc's claudio lavanga who is live in sinzig, germany claudio, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, frances. five days after the flood devastated this part of western germany, this is what this village still looks like today there are mountains of debris piled up by the roadside and this is a mix of the debris that was washed up here by the floods, rocks, branches, leaves, mud, but also a lot of household items that have either been destroyed or rendered unusable by the floods that was at some stage so high that it was ten feet high. you can actually see that water line there that is about ten feet, so it completely flooded the ground floors and rendered basically villages like this ghost towns because of course those houses are destroyed. a lot of houses collapsed. they were even washed away at some stage but even people on the first floors will not even be able to come back for weeks or months because the infrastructure is down >> just astounding, three months worth of rain falling in just 24 hours. c

for the latest we turn to nbc's claudio lavanga who is live in hemehscheim, germany claudio, good morning. >> reporter: yesterday the chancellor of germany angela merkel visited the area and she described what she saw surreal, which is the word that i will use to describe what i have seen for the last three days. i've been here reporting on this story. now, what you see behind me used to be a train station only a week ago now it is a pile of rubble with as you can see to my left cars just washed away here on the riverside. to my right is uprooted trees. those are everywhere then you see a pillar there. that used to hold a pedestrian overpass that had to be brought down because it became too unstable and this is it looks like literally that time stood still for the past five days since the flood, since the torrential rain transformed this river which used to be a gentle waterway, this is the river into a monstrous wall of water that left behind death and destruction. well, now the clearout is just literally started. we saw only half an hour ago the first wrecked cars were towed away now, a

nbc's claudio lavanga is in rome. how much of a surprise was this? >> uses my, it was a big surprise, especially to the pilgrims listening to the prayer from the pope, as you said. it was about nine hours ago when he was looking absolutely fine. at the end of the prayer, he said, as he always does, pray for me. he always says that, but this time i'm sure pilgrims will be playing a little harder. only two hours after that prayer, the vatican sent a surprise statement, the pope has been taken to a hospital where he's undergoing a scheduled surgery for what the condition is called diver particular stenosis. we learned that's a narrowing of the colon ar the pouching in the colon get infected, which can lead to intestinal blockage. that's probably what happened to the peep. the statement from the vatican was short and now when it comes to the vatican, we are used to cryptic messages, so you really need to read between the lines, or read the number of lines. there's only three lines, mean the vatican was trying to downplay the gravity of the situation. in

>> claudio lavanga in erfstadt, thank you so much.where a week of deadly protests have left a hundred people dead and thousands arrested. after jacob zuma. it's deployed 10,000 troops and requesting another 15,000. nbc's kelly cobiella joining us live from johannesburg. what is the government doing to respond? >> andrea, first off, they're making more arrests into why this started and how it started and deploying more troops adding to the 10,000 who are already on the streets and that's after a week of scenes in which it seemed as though police were overwhelmed and outnumbered in many cases. residents forced and business owners forced to defend their property on their own, in many, many cases, unsuccessfully in these two very heavily populated provinces in south africa. the south african president said that these -- this violence suggested anyway that the violence was deliberately provoked. he said that instigators wanted to spread instability and there had been a lot of reports in local press, unconfirmed by nbc news, that this was i

. >> all right, claudio lavanga for us in germany.ery much for that report. >>> coming up next. an increasingly desperate situation in cuba that is fueling a political debate in that country and here in the u.s. as well. n that country and here in the u.s. as well she'll want a plan to reach them. so she'll get some help from fidelity, and she'll feel so good about her plan, she can focus on living it. that's the planning effect, from fidelity. gillette proglide. five blades and a pivoting. flexball designed to get virtually every hair on the first stroke. so you're ready for the day with a fresh face for a fresh start. for a limited time get a 5th cartridge free. ♪ ♪ when technology is easier to use... ♪ barriers don't stand a chance. ♪ that's why we'll stop at nothing to deliver our technology as-a-service. ♪ >>> welcome back. the streets of cuba have been mostly quiet since last sunday's massive anti-government protests, as the white house criticizes the country's violent crackdown against demonstrators. still, from inside cuba, th

claudio lavanga, thank you so much. >>> i will see you again tomorrow at noon eastern. our coverage continues with joe fryer in for yasmin. ♪ ♪ >>> good afternoon. i'm joe fryer in for yasmin vossoughian. a lot going on today. the events of january 6th continue to reshape american politics, but we're still learning from that moment. even today, more than six months later. we will show you the new destruction, items stolen and how the next sentencing will shape what is in store for others facing legal trouble. >>> winning the hearts and minds of cuba. demonstrations inside and outside that communist island are happening right now with a familiar face we haven't seen since his retirement. we are on the ground in ha van vana with the layest. >>> plus another back and forth fight over daca, the program that shields those brought to the u.s. illegally as children. how a new ruling is putting pressure on congress and the biden administration to come up with a permanent fix if they want to continue the program. >>> we begin this hour with breaking news about an alleged plot to