fighting an economy that enriches people like donald trump at the expense of workers lester >> maggie vespa in michigan, thank you. >>> in his address to the united nations today, ukraine's president zelenskyy warned of the impact of russia's aggression tonight, richard engel takes a look at the devastation in one ukrainian village under siege. >> reporter: the town of chasiv yar is not near the front line it's on it russian troops are firing artillery from less than three miles away serhiy chaus is the mayor here and keeps his broken town running. nearly every house has been damaged by russian fire all the water and power lines are broken every day, chaus delivers is s supplies to the town center. 13,000 people used to live here. now, just 900, so worn down by the war, they no longer notice the artillery. >> there is no -- >> reporter: i can tell there is a lot of fire, because people barely frin ch flinch. so they've just gotten used to it "yes, it's gotten really bad, because people are losing their fear, and fear can save your life," he says for a year and a half now, people have been l

maggie vespa is at a plant in ohio. maggie, what happened today? >> reporter: lester, autoworkers here striking against chrysler owner, stellantis, learned today that the company plans to lay off a combined 350 nonstriking employees from a nearby machining plant and two facilities in indiana. stellantis saying in a statement that those layoffs are, quote, a consequence of strike action in a similar move by gm today, who announced the temporary closure of a kansas assembly plant immediately and indefinitely sending home, they say, most of the 2,000 employees at that facility saying, there's basically no work to be done at that facility because it relies on parts made at a striking plant. in the meantime, the uaw holding strong to its demands. among them, a 40% pay increase and the elimination of pay tiers, and then new tonight, the union saying, they have received a new offer from stellantis, but they're releasing no details on that offer, and, remember, looming large over all of this, the union's president saying, come noon on friday, barring any s

nbc's maggie vespa has a closer look at the devastation. >> reporter: this morning in the wake of idalia's deadly wrath, a stunning new look at coastal florida communities utterly decimated by the historic hurricane, entire blocks torn to shreds where the category 3 made landfall wednesday with pieces of homes scattered and trucks submerged in murky water. >> we didn't expect it to be this bad. >> reporter: before and after satellite photos show the storm's disruption in florida. president biden who on thursday thanked staff for their response to the maui wildfires will survey the damage in florida. >> to people in florida and throughout the southeast, our nation has your back. >> reporter: the president promised coming alongside a series of updates on the strupg l to recover. >> seeing a lot of damage and also seeing a lot of resiliency. >> reporter: long lines growing, with families desperate for donations and supplies. idalia downgraded to a tropical storm wednesday night but still wreaked havoc in georgia and the carolinas leaving behind a landscape of flooded communities, georgia offi

tom. >> maggie vespa and her team in the storm zone tonight. >>> we're also following a developing story out of ohio. authorities there have released body cam video showing the fatal police shooting of a pregnant black woman. police say she was accused of shoplifting and drove her car at an officer miguel almaguer tonight with the video and a warning, the images are disturbing. >> hey, out of the car. out of the car >> reporter: the deadly shooting unfolded roughly 24 seconds after police near columbus, ohio, first ordered ta'kiya young out of her car >> get out of the car. then get out. >> reporter: as two officers approached, the pregnant shoplifting suspect in a supermarket parking lot, young refused their repeated commands >> out of the car. >> for what? >> they said you stole stuff. do not leave. >> i didn't steal. >> get out of the car. >> reporter: the officer in front of the car drawing his weapon, then firing a single fatal shot. >> get out of the car. >> shots fired. >> reporter: after the vehicle appears to move forward >> stop the car. stop >> reporter: young was taken to a h

maggie vespa, nbc news. >>> back in the u.s., there are signs police in pennsylvania may be closing inn on the run now for ten days. george solis is on the ground with the latest. >> reporter: tonight, pennsylvania state police confirming two new sightings of convicted kill danelo cavalcante. police also saying the search area for the fugitive has been cut in half, from eight square miles to four. the search now focused around chester county's longwood gardens property. the area of the two newest sightings reported to police on friday. the garden's website describes their grounds as 200 acres of plush formal gardens, open meadows and winding paths. law enforcement searching by air and land. earlier this week a trail camera on the garden's property captured these images of cavalcante. >> would you say we're in the end game now? >> cavalcante, he's on borrowed time. now that they're squeezing in on him, he has less of a chance to be breaking into homes and try to steal food or other resources that he needs. >> reporter: the search is now in its tenth day following cavalcante's escape fro

nbc's maggie vespa is outside a stellantis plant in center line, michigan.re do things stand in the negotiations as far as we know, and what are some of the strikers telling you about the president's decision to come? >> yeah, so essentially what we're hearing from people on the picket lines here is they will take all the support they can get. they don't care about the politics behind this. they don't care about the infighting between president biden and former president trump who's expected to visit 24 hours later on wednesday. we have known that for the past week or so. they just want anyone who is willing to come here and stand on the picket lines with them, perhaps point a bigger spotlight at this and put more pressure on the big three. of course gm, ford and chrysler under stellantis. keep in mind the context behind this. you asked about the negotiations. we're at a stalemate. we're a week and a half into this. the uaw says they are at a standstill, last week, like gm and stellantis. this is a stellantis parts distribution facility. this is one of the 3

joining us now from horseshoe beach, florida, is nbc news correspondent maggie vespa. here. i know there was, you know, folks were grateful that this thing didn't hit a big population area like tampa, but it still had such an impact on some of these smaller more remote communities in big bend. >> yeah, peter, exactly. it's like small communities. huge impact. you can see that house or what was a house clearly behind me. now it's just basically concrete pillars and the metal roof on top of it with some of the wooden foundation in between. a couple of updates, nbc news confirming there has been a fourth death attributed to this storm. that one out of south carolina where officials say a man crashed into a tree as idalia rolled through. we're getting visuals, a new look at the worst of the storm's damage. this as president biden as you said promises to come to florida to see the devastation for himself. this morning in the wake of idalia's deadly wrath, a stunning new look at coastal florida communities utterly decimated by the historic hurricane. entire blocks torn to shr

maggie vespa joins us now from toledo, ohio. what do we know about the negotiations?: based on what the president said in that video, basically gm and stellantis are not making enough progress. i want to point out, it's 38 locations in 20 states under those two of the big three only. in other words the uaw announcing they're not taking further action against ford, the third member of the big the, saying they have made progress in the negotiations. you can see the bullet points they highlighted from each of the companies. ford they say has given them the right to strike over plant closures in the event of layoffs, job security for two years. you can see their grievances with gm and stellantis. it's a lot about job security including talking about the big three investing long term into evs. as you said, this strike, which largely has been concentrated in the midwest, about to go coast to coast. talking through that would have been useless. about to go coast to coast. people are so fired up out here. the facilities closing are from california to pennsylvania. these are p

joining us now is nbc news correspondent maggie vespa who's with the picketers in center line, michiganresident biden joining the pick the line? do they think that's going to be a good thing for them? >> reporter: basically the picketers who broke for lunch just in time for live tv, they basically tell us they will take the support wherever they can get it. they're excited to have president biden come down here, regardless of anybody's politics, frankly because it points a larger spotlight, a brighter spotlight at these negotiations. we have been hearing from people, whether it's president biden, president trump, regardless of the infighting in between the two of them and their two campaigns, they will take, again, whatever support, whatever boost, and whatever attention they can get on this dispute and these negotiations, especially when you're talking about gm and stellantis, two of the big three where workers say they have a long way to go. the union says they have a long way to go. here's some of what we have been hearing today. you can hear a supporters out here. here's some of wha

nbc's maggie vespa is reporting from wayne, michigan, where workers continue to picket outside a ford plant. what are they telling you about the visit by the former president? >> reporter: yeah, so chris, they say they see some merit in some of the comments that the former president gave at that nonunion autobody plant in detroit. he spoke for an hour to a crowd of 300. it contained some uaw members in the crowd, about a handful of which told our team they are members on strike. the president used the bulk of the time to go after the former president, going after the current president, joe biden, and his push to electric vehicles, which former president trump says he believes will chill union jobs. the white house has repeatedly refuted that. people on the picket lines, that is a concern for them. they're concerned about the long-term job security when it comes to electric vehicles. that is something they're negotiating with on the big three. we talk about job security stipulations in the contract talks. that's a lot of what we're referring to. we will note, one of a handful of times

. >> maggie vespa is with us from belleville, michigan, now.istinction in optics from the union leaders when it comes to trump's planned speech versus president biden's visit yesterday. >> reporter: yeah, exactly, it will be an interesting contrast to say the least. we're standing in front of the plant where the president came yesterday. just look at the video from yesterday, the president on the picket line with uaw members wearing a uaw hat taking the bull horn first, giving a speech for a couple of minutes. two members there saying things like you've earned a hell of a lot more pay than you're getting now. and then giving the bull horn to uaw president shawn fain. he spoke for several minutes. the president listening arm in arm with members and then the president speaking a second time, kind of bookending the union president, union leadership. people here say the optics was not lost on them, the enormity of that moment was not lost on them. they were really inspired having the first sitting president to ever take to the picket line. supporte

nbc's dasha burns and maggie vespa are covering all of that for us.mer chief strategist for the bush/cheney 2004 campaign and senior msnbc political analyst. so i don't know, matthew, it was a little feistier, i think, than the first debate, which suggests that the candidates maybe know time is running out, and they're feeling some pressure, but they did spend far more time attacking joe biden than the guy they have to beat to actually get to the point to take on biden. let me play a little bit. >> i'll say this, joe biden should not be on the picket line. he should be on the southern border working to close our southern border. >> only when we get the border secure should we ever look at putting any more money into this. our money should be about keeping americans safe. we're not doing that. joe biden's not doing that. >> joe biden doesn't belong on a picket line. he belongs on the unemployment line. >> that wasn't planned at all, matthew. what do you think? is the race different than it was? is there someone you think emerged looking more like a rea

nbc's maggie vespa joins us from wayne, michigan. how was trump received?: so ana, mixed reactions basically from what we're hearing on the picket lines this morning. just to put it in context, donald trump spent the majority of his more than hour-long speech really hammering president biden. he never even mentioned his gop rivals by name. he went in on the president's push in particular to shift the industry toward electric vehicles, which president trump says will kill union jobs. the white house has repeatedly refuted that claim. people out here on the picket line after last night's speech saying, yeah, that is a very real fear. it's something they're cognizant of, during their union negotiations, but they bristled at a line, he told workers i don't think you're picketing for the right thing, and then he called for the uaw's endorsement. take a listen. >> joe biden claims to be most pro-union president in history, nonsense. do me a favor, just get your union guys, your leaders to endorse me. >> reporter: and we should note no official response to the uaw

maggie vespa has the details. >> reporter: tonight one of the highest-paid coaches in college footballined amid an off the field scandal. >> i have suspended mel tucker without pay. >> reporter: calling it an interim measure, michigan state university sunday suspending head coach mel tucker over an allegation he sexually harassed victims advocate brenda tracy. her claim dates back to april of last year after she spoke to the team about preventing sexual violence. according to a "usa today" investigation citing her title 9 complaint, she claimed she was later on the phone with the coach when he made sexual comments about her and masturbated. in a statement tucker said "tracy's allegations of harassment are completely false," characterizing the phone call as "a mutual private event between two adults living at opposite ends of the country. nbc news has not independently reviewed the complaint. >> so this morning's news might sound like the msu of old it was not >> reporter: michigan state leaders said new developments prompted them to suspend tucker less than two years into his $95 milli

senior white house correspondent gabe gutierrez is in wayne, michigan, maggie vespa 35 miles away in center line, michigan. gabe, start us off. the white house says president biden, the first president in modern history to visit a picket line will be there shortly. talk about why the president wanted to make this trip, which we should note comes ahead of trump's speech to uaw workers just tomorrow. >> reporter: yeah, ana, good morning. the white house is denying that both things had anything to do with one another. they say the president is coming here to show his support for autoworkers. president biden, of course, has been -- considers himself the most pro union president ever. he went to a picket line back in 2019 as a candidate, but, again, as you said, this is very significant because this is his first time as a sitting president, coming here. i want to show you where we're at. we're in wayne, michigan, a ford plant where the workers have actually been out here since this morning for the better part of two weeks and actually i had spoken with this worker here, jr, right? you wor

maggie vespa, thank you. >>> so if you owe student loans, this story may be for you.ar pause, due to the pandemic, borrowers will have to restart those payments on those loans starting this sunday. this will directly impact more than 43 million people here in the u.s. nbc news business and data reporter brian cheung is following this for us. brian, what do people who owe these student loans need to know right now, especially if they're worried about making those payments as early as there weekend? >> i will give you some options in a second but to rehash as you mentioned 43 million people are going to be impacted by this. the median borrower has between 20 to 25,000 dollars in outstanding debt. the average monthly payments are expected to be about 203 dollars. this is very significant. and even more significant when you consider that students loans are the largest nonhousing debt. so if you're not including mortgages, that most households will face, more than auto loans, more than credit cards, more than other types of loans. the red line here. $1.7 trillion in studen

. >> i want to go to nbc's maggie vespa who is joining us from toledo, ohio.the uaw president in this announcement. what more are you learning? >> yeah, so essentially he is still making his announcement as we speak. basically shawn fain just telling the world and the big three including media, obviously, 38 locations, parts distribution facilities for specifically gm and stellantis. not ford, 38 locations for two of the big three across 20 states will close down at noon today. parts distribution facilities. you've got to think about the major wrench that that throws in the big three's ability to ship the parts they need to other facilitys that they have and also to where they would eventually be sold. the idea to take this nationwide, we're talking as far west as colorado, as far east as michigan and, again, we want to reiterate no new facilities that are operated by ford. this is now gm and stellantis in specific. shawn fain went on ten minutes talking about how they've made serious progress with ford through there. this morning outside stellantis through th

maggie vespa joins us this morning. has there been any movement this morning?ningful as shawn fain put it telling msnbc he was blunt and said it's status quo, slow progress but, quote, they have a long way to go and put it on the companies to continue to bridge that gap. you can see day four of the strike continuing, hear people honking, support here in detroit. this is a targeted strike as you pointed out with plants here in michigan, ohio and missouri. that's where we're seeing the walkouts. as you point out we had talks resuming over the weekend, but as far as what avenue heard on specific offers and numbers, the union calling a lot of offers or conversations they've been having a no go or saying nothing really acceptable has come their way. specifically on saturday, stellantis offering a 21% pay increase and the uaw president immediately called that a no go, the union would not go for it. they want 40% hourly pay increases. it's not the only sticking point in the negotiations. you see a list there. the company is calling their offers historic, economically

maggie vespa has the latest. >> reporter: day five on strike and a new deadline >> this is our generation's defining moment. so be ready to stand up. >> reporter: united auto worker president shawn fain demanding the big three auto makers, gm, ford, and stellantis, give up major ground or this targeted strike will expand all three companies say they want this resolved quickly >> we'll continue to sit at the table, work through things to try to find the common ground. >> reporter: among the union's demands, 40% pay hierks pay hik. the impact already rippling through the industry some parts suppliers say they'll have to lay people off something the ceo at michigan's cascade dye casting is scrambling to avoid. >> we're going to go to our people and sit down with them and ask for volunteers to take time off we expect the strike to impact as many as 50 to 100 employees, and those are all people that have families to feed. >> reporter: among the 13,000 auto workers on strike, jacob desean, now stuck at home instead of heading to his shift at ford. >> want to be on the line making vehicles >> repo

nbc's maggie vespa is live from horseshoe beach. i can see behind you just the utter destruction. how much time and money do they think recovery might take in florida? >> reporter: i'm sure you can imagine given the destruction behind me, and i'll step out of the way so you can get a closer look at the house. officials have yet to put a time line on it. they are also a little bit jarred by the unsurmountable task before them. the homeowner actually put it up on 4 foot stilts but that wasn't high enough. the storm surge came in 6, 7, up to 8 feet in the area, and it came in fast. you can see the results of that. i'm going to step in and talk about the money. the other headline of the day, $20 billion according to moody's analytics is the initial estimate as to how much damage was basically done by this category 3 storm. category 3 when it came, made landfall on wednesday. we have been talking to people all over horseshoe beach. this is a small, kind of rural, coastal community, a very pretty community, and very tight knit, including one man who had just moved into his house a coupl

the deepening impact of the strike by the united autoworkers against the big three carmakers and maggie vespa is at a plant in ohio. maggie, what happened today. >> reporter: autoworkers striking against chrysler owner stellantis learned they'll lay off 350 nonstriking employees from a nearby machining plant and two facilities in indiana. stellantis saying those layoffs are, quote, a consequence of strike action. in a similar move by gm who announced the temporary closure of a kansas assembly plant immediately sending home they say most of the 2,000 employees at that facility saying there's basically no work to be done at that facility because it relies on parts made at a striking plant. in the meantime, the uaw holding strong to its demand, among them a 40% pay increase and elimination of pay tiers and new tonight the union saying they have received a new offer from stellantis but they're releasing no details and looming large the union's president saying come noon friday barring any serious progress this now targeted strike at three plants will expand. lester. >> maggie, thank you. >>> here

nbc's maggie vespa is in wayne, michigan for us. maggie, what did the former president have to say?reporter: hey, savannah, good morning. former president trump spoke for more than an hour last night to a crowd of roughly 300 people by our estimates. including some uaw workers, a handful of those telling our team they are actually on strike. mr. trump during his speech repeatedly blasting president biden who was on the picket lines, of course, on tuesday. some people in that crowd telling our teams that they are uaw members. only a handful telling our teams they are actually on strike. during his speech, the former president repeatedly blasting president biden who was on the picket lines, of course, on tuesday. and also blasting the president's shift or push to shift the industry to electric vehicles, which the former president says kill industry jobs. in fact, quote, telling autoworkers directly on the picket line, quote, i don't think you're picketing for the right thing. and after he said that, he called for the union's enforcement. take a listen. >> joe biden claims to be the mo

thank you, maggie vespa. >>> meanwhile, senate leader mitch mcconnell has been cleared to resume hisivities one day after some houses levelled peter, good morning to you what is the doctor's note saying. >> it is from the senate's attending physian,icade public yesterday. the doctor's name is brian monahan. he consulted with him and determined that mcconnell is medically cleared to continue his work schedule. this note is significant because this is the first time that mcconnell's team publicly acknowledged that these staring spells or on camera freeze spells could be from when mcconnell fell and missed a month from work. occasional lightheadedness is not uncommon in concussion recovery and could also be expected as a result of dehydration. to be clear here, dr. monahan does not say whether he himself examined mcconnell in person they have also not yet said when his next public appearance would be. >> with that said, what's the latest reaction from both sides of the aisle >> you have leaders from both parties expressing their support from mcconnell but there are real concerns, i thin

maggie vespa is in michigan for us, maggie, tell us about the president's visit so far and what union members are saying about it. >> reporter: members are saying essentially to see a president walk the walk, instead of talking about supporting union members and workers instead of talking about supporting the middle class, to see a president travel to an active strike and join the picket line and as you said, the first time a sitting president has ever done so, the enormity of this is not lost on people here. they basically they knew that the white house wanted to get involved, was talking about sending a team last week, friday when union members learned that the president was planning to travel here himself, a lot of them maybe weren't quite ready to bet on that until they saw him here and today he made good on that promise to travel to the detroit area and again join union workers on the picket line, this time at gm parts distribution facility in bellfield, michigan. what workers on the front lines are saying about his visit. >> he said he would walk the picket line. he is. other pr

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joining us, gabe gutierrez and maggie vespa. >> reporter: from a soggy michigan where the president,as we said, is expected toland in a short time, and the president, of course, saying that he wants to veer pro union. he considers himself the most pro union president ever. yesterday he was asked if he supported the uwa's demands in the strike, and he said he always supports the uwa. and the president is not trying to antagonize the auto companies, but over the last few days, he has thrown his support increasingly behind the uaw. clearly the trump campaign says it's aggressive in courting rank and file auto workers, and he called it a photo-op on the part of president biden, and arguing the push for electric vehicles could cost union jobs, and the white house is trying to stress the president is behind these workers, and for some it might be a tough sale. some workers on the picket line this morning, we spoke to one this morning and said she wished the president would have showed up sooner. >> how are workers on the ground reacting to the high-profile visits? >> workers tell us regard

maggie vespa is outside the ford plant currently on strike in wayne, michigan. what are key sticking points? the union demanding a 40% hike and stellantis, over the weekend, offering a 21% hike. fain immediately calling that a no-go. leer's more of what he had to say this morning on morning joe about the status of talks right now. >> they'll have to address ending tiers and the pay rates, cost of living allowance, the majority of our workers now don't have any retirement security, that's a big issue, then you have our retirees and, you know, there are several issues to move on, job security issues, this transition to ev, there's a lot of concerns with this. >> reporter: the transition to ev, experts say those take less labor essentially to build and that's big long-term concern of the unions, what happens as this trend continues which is being pushed by the biden administration. lot of sticking points still to be worked out. >> maggie, four days in now, already seeing changes as a result of these failed contract talks. the ford plant, i understand it announced i

maggie vespa joins us now with more.'s actually a link or just being extra cautious here? >> reporter: they're looking into this tip for sure. they kind of hesitate to say right now to end any more credence to it, they don't have any physical everyday beyond the tip. they're taking it very seriously. she was last seen in may 2017, and basically her adult daughter came forward to investigators in south carolina, after watching the news, she believes rex heuermann he's the guy who i saw with my mom the night before she went missing the man she saw with her mom, she didn't know at the time in 2017, having a car similar to one linked to heuermann. investigators in asking taking this seriously but cautiously going step by step. take a listen. >> thus far, the connection is zero, we have hearsay, whether or not that man was rex heuermann we have yet to be able to determine, just because we want so badly to find the whereabouts of julia doesn't mean we can presuppose anything. we have to operate in the world of facts. >> that b

. >> joining me now is nbc maggie vespa in toledo, ohio. and debbie dingell is also joining us. how is this announcement playing among the strike striking workers? >> they expected the announcement and they say they had no idea which facilities -- support is huge out here -- which facilities would go on strike, how many would go on strike. almost immediately as the announcement came out at 10:00 a.m. this morning, the energy here ramped up exponentially. people have been playing music, they have a fire going in one of the trash cabs, honking is nonstop. we have a food truck handing out barbecue. people are telling us no one wants to be out here, but the energy is absolutely skyrocketing. people also -- this is a stellantis plant, and so people are learning a lot about the negotiations which have kept tightly wrapped and hearing that their workplace, stellantis, still not this good standing with the union. you have to think facility to facility, these workers depending on who they work for just kind of got an update about these contract negotiations. again, we're talking about 38

maggie vespa joins us from wayne, michigan. where do negotiations stand? >> reporter: yeah.he stalemate continues after revived talks as you know stalled between both sides. more workers may be joining the strike, the picket line, right now is on day five the uaw overnight ramping up pressure with president, union president, shawn fain, saying in a new video unless there's, quote, serious progress by noon friday, more local chapters will be called to walk out. adding, quote, we're not messing around and this morning, ford is also responding to that video saying they're working on contingency plans in the event of more walk-outs to basically keep ford cars on the road and it's also worth noting you might have seen headlines overnight, autoworkers at ford's canadian plants nearly also went on strike, but that was actually temporarily averted after the union said they received, quote, a substantive offer before that deadline but that's something else that we're watching this morning, savannah. >> and if this drags on, maggie, consumers will start to feel it. >> reporter: yeah.

maggie vespa is many michigan with us where president biden joined the picket line yesterday. before you tell us about trump's speech tonight, there's breaking news on potentially even more strikes, right >> reporter: yes, that's right thein last hour the uaw, a source within the uaw come friday morning, 10:00 a.m., uaw president shawn fain will take to facebook live and announce more strike targets, they'll call per workers to walk off the job barring any serious progress, again, in these contract negotiations. a supporter there. with the big three ford, gm and stellantis. a repeat performance of what we saw last week. we could see all three again we don't know the size or number of facilities we're talking about. back to former president trump's visit tonight, once again we expect to see a very different scene that we saw with the president yesterday. president biden was here, he was the workers, giving speeches, grabbing the bull horn, tonight former president trump we expect to see him at a non-union parts facility, a plant basically just north of detroit talking to worker

joining me now, nbc's maggie vespa in wayne, michigan. h us, matthew dowd chief strategist for bush-cheney 2004, and an msnbc political contributor. maggie, what is happening there right now? where do negotiations stand today? >> reporter: first and foremost you can see the picketers, the workers back out on the picket line day four. you'll hear throughout the segment honking as drivers go by. the strength of the union does not seem to be waning nor does public support. here comes the honking as we speak. we've seen a hockey team showing up with signs on hockey sticks. we have a guy dressed as where is waldo on the picket line so people doing what they can to get eyes on this. you talked about the negotiations and stellantis offer over the weekend a 21% pay bump uaw's president calling it a no go the union demanding a 40% pay raise with a number of other demands, big three, a number again, separate contract talks with each of the three companies, but shawn fain summed it up this morning on "morning joe" saying as a whole, they have, quote,

nbc's maggie vespa has our "sunday focus." >> reporter: call it an eerie sense, a pandemic deja vu, asith the virus on our radar. covid numbers are once again rising with big names falling ill. >> the president was with the first lady yesterday. he will be masking while indoors. >> reporter: the white house on alert this week after first lady jill biden tested positive monday with mild symptoms. the president later masking up for a medal of honor ceremony and repeatedly testing negative ahead of this weekend's g20 summit. sports fans, meanwhile, noticing a marked absence from the start of this year's u.s. open with tennis legend turned commentator john mcenroe initially out with covid. >> as you can see, whoopi is not here. she has covid. >> reporter: whoopi goldberg also sidelined. the virus forcing her to miss "the view's" 27th season premiere. in arizona rock band metallica postponing this week's show after their lead singer tested positive. also on the list of recent infections, a d.c. resident. for her part of an exhausting routine. how many times have you had covid? >> i've actua

joining us now from wayne, michigan, is nbc news correspondent maggie vespa.they are still not at a deal, these two sides. is there any wiggle room that we're seeing so far? anything where the auto companies are willing to relent? >> reporter: you know, katy, last week it was reported locally that uaw had brought their pay demands down from 40% to the mid-30s. it dropped about 5%. uaw president shawn fain reiterated they are demanding a 40% pay raise. we know as of last week, and these sort of numbers are being leaked incrementally, the big three are offered pay raises in the 20% range. stellantis offering 21% last week. shawn fain said in the beginning that was definitely a no go. so we haven't seen a lot of wiggle room in that key demand. you see the numbers, the difference there. all of that in the low 20s ballpark at this point. and again, we're on day four of the strike. you see the workers back out on the picket line. just as many as they were on day one. you hear the support, you hear the honking as drivers go by here. we haven't heard, you know, any so

maggie vespa has been following this for us every day. what's the latest there? >> reporter: hey, savannah. good morning. i'm looking down at my laptop right now as you might be able to see because as we are looking for the update on facebook live. they were supposed to go live at 10:00 a.m. eastern. they had a technical issue. we're still waiting for the announcement, but suffice it to say, support for the picketers this morning -- suffice it to say, once again the headline of the day is we are expecting per a source with the uaw, the announcement from feign this morning of a new round of walkouts. kind of a rinse and repeat of what we saw last week. we don't know who will walk out, which facilities, where they are, which of the big three. all these details, and you can see picketers looking at their phones. they're watching this livestream because they don't know who among their, you know, fellow members of the union will be walking out or how big this next round is going to be. again, last week it was about 5,600 workers from all of the parts distribution faci

nbc's maggie vespa on the story. she's on a picket line in toledo this morning. t with those layoffs. maggie, what do you know? >> reporter: yeah. savannah, basically a tough warning for so many families and automakers unequivocally blaming the strike. first it was stellantis who laid off a combined 350, non-striking employees from a plant here in ohio and two in indiana. then it was gm, who announced they're temporarily closing an assembly plant in kansas, immediately and indefinitely, sending home close to 2,000 non-striking employees there. in a statement, gm saying, this is, quote, a negative ripple effect of the strike and pointing out that that plan -- that support gets parts from a plant currently shut down by the strike. in the face of all of this, the uaw holding strong against its demands sticking to that noon deadline by tomorrow saying if they don't see serious progress, more workers will walk out of more sites. but in a possible glimmer of hope, they also say they've gotten a new offer from stellantis, they're not revealing details on what exactly is

maggie vespa has been following the strike from the beginning. she joins us now how much bigger could the strike get and what does it mean for negotiations going forward >> reporter: those are the questions of the morning but union leadership clearly keeping everyone guessing since the last minute, including its own members. they have been telling us they have no idea how many more members will go on strike and where those new strikes will be. we are talking about 13,000 uaw members on the picket lines from three plants that deadline at noon today. all of this, by the way, comes amid leaked private messages reportedly from uaw leadership obtained by the detroit news and not independently verified at this time by nbc news. the paper reporting a spokesperson talked about using bargaining sessions to inflict recurring representations damag, a key advisor to and operational chaos, adding, if we can keep them wounded for months, they don't know what to do i reached out to that spokesman, a key adviser. so far no response executives at ford, gm and ste

nbc's maggie vespa is at the picket lines at the ford plant in michigan. good morning to you. we understand you have been talking to suppliers who are talking about layoffs now because of the strike. what are they telling you? >> reporter: yeah. so, craig, basically they tell us they're not wasting any time. they expect the strike to go on. they expect it to grow you can see the picketers out this morning they don't see the big three, gm, ford and stellantis getting any ground any time soon this is a targeted strike right now at just three plants including this one in the detroit area, but come noon on friday the uaw is saying more workers will walkout of more sites. we don't know how many more workers or which sites those will be. but for the suppliers that make parts for these plants, they say they already have to start thinking about layoffs u.s. steel saying they are idling a blast furnace at a st. louis area plant what does that mean? the local steel workers telling our affiliate, up to 350 workers could be laid off as a result at least temporarily. i also talked to the c