Good Friday afternoon. States of emergency have been declared in the Southeast after a deadly tornado outbreak, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warns the U.S. will hit its debt ceiling next week, and we’re learning more about the death of Lisa Marie Presley. Here is what’s in our Nightly Rundown. |
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Search for survivors after tornado outbreak kills at least 9 in Southeast |
Rescue crews are searching for survivors in parts of the Southwest after a tornado outbreak killed at least nine people in the region. Seven of the deaths were reported in Autauga County, Alabama, northwest of Montgomery, according to emergency officials. A survey found at least EF-3 level damage in that county, and further north an EF-2 tornado was confirmed in Winston County, the National Weather Service said today. In Georgia, a five-year-old boy was killed when a tree struck the vehicle he was traveling in. The second fatality in Georgia was a Department of Transportation employee who was responding to storm damage, Governor Brian Kemp said in a news conference today. Both Kemp and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey have declared states of emergency after the storms struck. |
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Treasury secretary warns U.S. will hit debt limit on Jan. 19 |
The U.S. is projected to hit its debt limit next Thursday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned today, in a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Yellen said the Treasury Department would need to begin taking “certain extraordinary measures” to avoid a potentially catastrophic default and called on Congress to immediately take action to raise or suspend the debt limit. “Failure to meet the government's obligations would cause irreparable harm to the U.S. economy, the livelihoods of all Americans, and global financial stability," Yellen wrote. Democrats have raised alarms that House Republicans, who now control the chamber, will trigger a battle over the debt limit to pass spending cuts. McCarthy, however, told reporters yesterday that Republicans “don’t want to put any fiscal problems through our economy, and we won’t.” |
McCarthy invites Biden to give State of the Union as docs investigation ramps up |
President Joe Biden has accepted an invitation to deliver the annual State of the Union address on Feb. 7, the White House said today. The announcement comes a day after Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Robert Hur to investigate the classified documents found at Biden’s Delaware home, and an office he used after leaving the Obama administration. The White House, under fire for not disclosing the document discovery earlier, said today that it did not have advanced notice that Garland was appointing a special counsel to investigate the matter. Biden told reporters on Thursday that he is “cooperating fully and completely” with the probe. In November, Garland named special counsel Jack Smith to investigate the more than 100 classified documents found at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home. Here are some of the key differences in the two investigations. |
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Lisa Marie Presley, daughter of Elvis Presley, dies at 54 |
Tributes are pouring in today for Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley, who died on Thursday at the age of 54. “It is with a heavy heart that I must share the devastating news that my beautiful daughter Lisa Marie has left us,” mother Priscilla Presley said in a statement. “She was the most passionate, strong and loving woman I have ever known.” The Los Angeles County coroner is expected to conduct an autopsy on Lisa Marie, a law enforcement source tells NBC News. Presley is set to be interred at Graceland, next to her late son Benjamin Keough, who died in 2020, a spokesperson for her daughter, actor Riley Keough, told NBC News on Friday. |
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What else we're watching: |
The backpack of a 6-year-old boy accused of shooting his teacher at a Virginia elementary school was searched that morning, after a school administrator was alerted that he may have a weapon, but the examination came up empty, school district officials said today. |
The Trump Organization has been fined $1.6 million after it was convicted for a 15-year tax scheme, the maximum penalty allowed under the law. |
Ukraine is disputing Russia’s claims that it has captured Soledar, a salt-mining town in eastern Ukraine, after weeks of fierce fighting. |
The trial of a man charged with the 2017 murders of two teenage girls in Delphi, Indiana, will be tried locally, but jurors will be selected from another area, a judge ruled today. |
The jackpot in tonight’s Mega Millions drawing has risen to $1.35 billion, the second largest prize in the game’s history. |
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Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app. |
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