Latest news with #MeetthePress'
NBC News
3 hours ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Army says Trump's military parade could cause $16 million in damage to Washington streets
The cost to repair Washington, D.C., streets after the upcoming military parade celebrating the Army's 250th anniversary could cost as much as $16 million, according to U.S. military officials. That's part of an estimated $45 million total cost for the June 14 military parade, which coincides with President Donald Trump's 79th birthday. The cost estimates have fluctuated as planning continues. In an interview with NBC News' 'Meet the Press' earlier this month, the president defended the cost of the parade, calling it 'peanuts compared to the value of doing it.' 'We have the greatest missiles in the world. We have the greatest submarines in the world. We have the greatest army tanks in the world. We have the greatest weapons in the world. And we're going to celebrate it,' Trump added. The parade will be part of a massive celebration in downtown Washington that includes a number of events, historical displays and a demonstration by the Army's famous parachute team, the Golden Knights. The parade itself will include about 130 vehicles, including 28 M1A1 tanks, 28 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 28 Stryker armored fighting vehicles and a number of vehicles towing artillery launchers. More than 50 helicopters will also participate in an 'extensive flyover' in the nation's capital. The event will also bring more than 9,000 soldiers from around the country to Washington, about 7,000 of whom will march in the parade itself. The event will also include at least eight Army bands, and some troops will ride on the nearly three dozen horses and two mules expected to march as part of a historical section of the parade. The soldiers visiting Washington for the parade will be housed in government buildings, including the Department of Agriculture building and a General Services Administration building. A few thousand others will bunk at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland. The troops are expected to eat military rations called meals ready to eat, or MREs, during their stay. Trump had long wanted a military parade during his first term. But it was canceled over concerns about cost and the optics of a military parade in the nation's capital that could be seen as akin to the kind commonly seen in Moscow, Beijing or Pyongyang, North Korea. The inclusion of tanks in a potential parade also drew concerns about what their tracks might do to the streets of Washington. The Army is preparing for the potential harm to Washington streets with several measures it hopes will avert damage. These include using 1-inch-thick steel plates, some as long as 20 feet, at places along the parade route where the tanks must turn and where those turns could cause the most damage to the streets. The addition of the steel plates is expected to cost the Army about $3 million, officials said. The tanks are also being outfitted with new track pads to create separation between the metal track and the ground, the officials said. Army officials said they believe these measures will keep the damage to a minimum and bring the cost of repairing any damage down significantly. 'We are targeting those areas that we have concerns, which primarily are areas where the tracked vehicles are going to have to turn sharply,' said Col. Jesse Curry, the executive officer for the Army Corps of Engineers. 'We are not particularly concerned that this staging area and the routes have been selected to really minimize the risk from weight and damage. But really, those areas where tanks have to turn, particularly the areas where the surface of the pavement, we typically receive an exaggerated level of stress.' The parade route itself will follow Constitution Avenue along the National Mall from 23rd Street to around 15th Street. The roughly 50 aircraft will include Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters, including several special operations variants. Also planned to fly are several historic aircraft, including World War II-era B-25s, P-51s and Vietnam-era helicopters. The parade is expected to last roughly 90 minutes and will be broken into eras: the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, WWII, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the Global War on Terror, the modern Army and the future. The Army's Golden Knights will jump during the presentation about the Army's future and plan to deliver an American flag to Trump. In the early-May 'Meet the Press' interview, Trump defended himself against claims that the military parade was for his birthday, reiterating that the Army's 250th birthday and Flag Day are also on June 14. 'My birthday happens to be on Flag Day,' he said. 'I view it for Flag Day, not necessarily my birthday. Somebody put it together. But no, I think we're going to do something on June 14, maybe, or somewhere around there. But I think June 14. It's a very important day.'
The Hill
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Cory Booker to expand record-breaking Senate speech into book
Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) will expand on his record-breaking Senate floor speech into a forthcoming book titled 'Stand,' to be published by St. Martin's Press in November. 'This book is about the virtues vital to our success as a nation and lessons we can draw from generations of Americans who fought for them,' Booker said in a statement, according to the Associated Press. The news comes about two months after Booker's 25-hour Senate floor speech, which broke Strom Thurmond's oration opposing the Civil Rights Act of 1957. In the book Booker will reiterate points from his speech, which spanned March 31 and April 1, focusing on the damage being done by Trump administration policies. The senator and former presidential candidate previously published three books, including 'Cory Booker's Speech of the Century: The complete text of the inspiring speech that broke the record.' Booker is up for re-election in 2026 and has amassed more than $11 million in his campaign war chest. He has been evasive on the possibility of a 2028 run for president. NBC News's Kristen Welker asked Booker about potential White House aspirations during a 'Meet the Press' interview last month. 'I'm focused on today and my reelection in '26,' Booker said. 'I've already announced to the people of New Jersey. I'm hoping they'll allow me to be their senator for another six years.'
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Loneliness as deadly as obesity and smoking pack a day, top health expert warns
Elvis Presley sang it in Heartbreak Hotel and now a top voice in American health says the classic song's chorus has become an alarming reality: Americans are feeling so lonely, they could die. Vivek Murthy, the former U.S. Surgeon General, is warning that the negative health impacts of chronic loneliness are comparable to some of the nation's biggest killers. 'The overall mortality increase that can be related to social disconnection is comparable to the mortality impact of smoking and obesity,' he told NBC's 'Meet the Press' on Sunday. 'That's how powerful and how important loneliness is.' He cautioned that loneliness and isolation can raise people's risk for dangerous health conditions Murthy astonishingly said he found that chronic loneliness is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. 'Well, it turns out that our connection with one another, this is not just a nice thing to have, it's biologically an imperative for us,' he said. 'It's something we need for survival, just like we need food and water.' Raising awareness about the loneliness and isolation epidemic was a large part of his work during the Biden administration, releasing an advisory to call attention to the issue in 2023. The guidance included a six-pronged plan of action, including to enact pro-connection policies, reform digital environments, conduct more related research, and cultivate a culture of connection. Murthy said then that the consequences of poor social connection with others include a 29 percent increased risk of heart disease, a 32 percent increased risk of stroke, a 50 percent increased risk of developing dementia for older adults, and a 60 percent increased risk of premature death. It is also connected to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Those were only some of the physical repercussions. In addition, the risk of depression among people who report feeling lonely is more than twice that of those who rarely or never feel lonely. Loneliness and social isolation in childhood also increase the risk of depression and anxiety. In the U.S., about one in three adults report feeling lonely and around one in four report not having social and emotional support, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Certain people and groups are more at-risk, including low-income adults, young adults, older adults, adults living alone, immigrants, people with a mental or physical challenge, people who are victims of violence or abuse, people facing the loss of a love one or unemployment, and people in the LGBTQIA+ community. Murthy said that kids struggle the most. 'We tend to think, 'Oh. Kids are on social media. That's great because they're connected to one another.' But, no, we have to recognize there's a difference between the connections you have online and the connections you have in person,' Murthy said. As more relationships have shifted online, more kids are struggling with an 'intense' culture of comparison, are trying to be people they're not, and don't have as many in-person friendships as we need. 'One student [who] I talked to at a college, as I was traveling the country, he said to me ... 'How are we supposed to connect with one another when it's no longer the culture for people to talk to each other?'' Murthy recalled. 'And, I saw that on college campuses,' he said. A national survey from Harvard University previously found that 73 percent of those surveyed selected technology as contributing to loneliness in the country. 'Parents do have good reason to be worried right now,' Murthy added.
NBC News
6 days ago
- Politics
- NBC News
Five years since George Floyd and Zelenskyy criticizes the 'silence of America': Weekend Rundown
For 9 minutes and 29 seconds on May 25, 2020, Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin pressed his knee and the weight of his body against George Floyd's neck, killing him as people watched. The murder prompted vows to deal with America's deep-seated racial injustices. Five years later, many lawmakers, companies and institutions have rowed back on those commitments, and in a previously nondescript area of Minneapolis, hardly anyone can agree on whether things have changed for the better. 'That's a challenging question,' said Andrea Jenkins, the City Council member for Ward 8, where the tragedy occurred. 'There have been a number of changes, and yet it feels like things are very much the same.' Samar Moseley, who drives a city bus in Minneapolis, said the 'whole city is still suffering from PTSD after George Floyd.' Relations with the police are 'easing up some, but there's still tension,' he added. Charles Adams, a North Minneapolis police inspector who has been in law enforcement in the area for 40 years, said the incident 'put us back to the 1960s.' Adams said that he was 'surprised' by the number of Black recruits who have joined the force since then but that 'the good news is that they say they want to be a part of the change.' Zelenskyy attacks 'silence' from U.S. as Russia launches massive wave of strikes Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized the United States and the international community for remaining silent after Russia unleashed what Ukrainian officials described as the largest aerial assault on the country since the war began. Russian forces launched a massive overnight barrage Saturday night as 367 drones and missiles targeted more than 30 cities and villages across Ukraine, including the capital, Kyiv. 'The silence of America, the silence of others in the world only encourages Putin,' Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. 'Every such terrorist Russian strike is reason enough for new sanctions against Russia.' The attack came shortly after a prisoner exchange in which each side released hundreds of detainees. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow would give Ukraine a draft document outlining its conditions for a 'sustainable, long-term, comprehensive' peace agreement once the prisoner exchange had finished. Meet the Press Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy accused Congress of failing 'in its responsibility to protect our kids' from the harms of social media, calling for legislation to force social media apps to include warning labels about their harms to children. Murthy told moderator Kristen Welker on NBC News' 'Meet the Press' that the current approach to social media is 'the equivalent of putting our kids in cars with no seat belts, with no air bags, and having them drive on roads with no speed limits and no traffic lights. And that is just morally unacceptable.' Former Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., who is now a mental health advocate, told Welker he believes the United States 'is falling down on its own responsibility as stewards to our children's future' because of lack of action on the issue. Politics in brief Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., said there is enough opposition in the Senate to hold up President Donald Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill. Former President Joe Biden attended his grandson's high school graduation, making his first public appearance since he announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. A Texas bill to require posting the Ten Commandments in public schools headed closer to Gov. Greg Abbott's desk. The Trump administration's decision to dismiss lawsuits and drop accountability agreements with several police departments could undo momentum to curb excessive use of force, proponents of federal oversight say. Texas is poised to become the second state to enact an across-the-board ban on social media for minors before its state legislative session ends in a little over a week. Letters shed light on Eleanor Roosevelt's long-rumored romance with reporter A new biography sheds light on Eleanor Roosevelt's 30-year relationship with trailblazing journalist Lorena Hickok after decades of speculation. In her research for 'Hick,' author Sarah Miller read about 3,500 of the letters the two women exchanged, sometimes twice daily, from 1932 until Roosevelt died in 1962. 'They loved each other. They were physically affectionate with each other. It was a romance, for sure. Whether that included sexual intimacy is probably something we can't know,' Miller said. While there appears to be consensus among historians that Hickok was romantically interested only in women, some past accounts have portrayed her correspondence with Roosevelt as a deeply intimate friendship, rather than a romance. Notable quote 'Why re-erect a symbol of something that hurt so many people?' The fire that destroyed Louisiana's Nottoway Plantation prompted a reckoning with the past and reignited the debate over how places born from slavery should be viewed — and how they should function today. In case you missed it A 28-year-old man was arrested at John F. Kennedy Airport in New York on Sunday following an alleged attempt to firebomb a branch office of the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, the Justice Department said. Thousands of people have been slaughtered and 12 million have been forced from their homes as Africa's largest war tears Sudan apart. Consumers are hunting for cheaper vacations — and road trips are one way people are keeping travel plans despite economic gloom. The path to freedom began behind a toilet. The escape by 10 inmates from a New Orleans jail exposed the city's prison's security failures. A man was arrested Friday and accused of kidnapping an Italian tourist and torturing him for weeks in a Manhattan home in a bid to steal the alleged victim's Bitcoin. Lando Norris won Formula 1's iconic Monaco Grand Prix
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Patrick Kennedy Slams ‘Addiction-for-Profit' Social Media and Gambling Companies: ‘We Are Losing the Fight'
The United States is failing its children by failing to protect them from addictive products, former Rep. Patrick Kennedy told 'Meet the Press' host Kristen Welker Sunday. 'We've got to stop all of these intrusive addiction-for-profit companies from taking our kids hostage. That's what they're doing,' Kennedy charged. The solution, he added, is to fight. Welker and Kennedy focused on the Kids Online Safety Act Sunday, which proponents argue would require social media platforms to take the safety of children under 16 more seriously. Concerns about censorship as a result of the proposed bill have been raised by both First Amendment advocacy groups and LGBTQ+ communities. 'Our country is falling down on its own responsibility as stewards to our children's future. We are commercializing marijuana across the country,' Kennedy told Welker. 'How in the world, with kids' anxiety rates and depression rates, does it make sense to add to the addiction crisis by having more access — you know, access to addiction products?' Sports betting is another problem, he added. 'Our states are becoming addicted to the revenue of sports betting. And I can guarantee you, just like you're playing that story about that young woman who's getting targeted, we already know the algorithms for these betting companies are targeting people who are high risk. And we are gonna see a high correlation between people with gambling addiction and suicide.' 'And so what I'm saying, Kristen, is we can't just pass these bills,' Kennedy added. 'We've got to stop all of these intrusive addiction-for-profit companies from taking our kids hostage. That's what they're doing. This is a fight. And we are losing the fight because we're not out there fighting for our kids to protect them from these businesses that their whole profit motive is, 'How am I going to capture that consumer and lock them in as a consumer?'' As Welker pointed out, the last time the issue of online safety and children was addressed by Congress was in 1998 when the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) was passed. Welker noted the lengthy period of time that has transpired since and asked Kennedy why the issue hasn't been addressed more frequently. 'Well, the power of the social media giants and their money, there's going to be a bigger settlement by Meta and all the big social media companies than even was tobacco or Purdue combined,' he answered. 'You know, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. We, as a country, have seen these companies and industries take advantage of the addiction-for-profit. Purdue, tobacco. Social media's the next big one. And unfortunately, it's going to have to be litigated. We have to go after the devastating impact that these companies are having on our kids.' The American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Psychological Association have called on Congress to pass the Kids Online Safety Act. The proposed bill also had the support of former President Joe Biden, who wrote in July 2024, 'There is undeniable evidence that social media and other online platforms contribute to our youth mental health crisis. Today our children are subjected to a wild west online and our current laws and regulations are insufficient to prevent this. It is past time to act.' Speaker of the House Mike Johnson slowed the progress of the bill in December. 'Look, I'm a lifelong advocate of protection of children…and online safety is critically important…but we also have to make sure that we don't open the door for violations of free speech,' he advised Republicans at the time. The post Patrick Kennedy Slams 'Addiction-for-Profit' Social Media and Gambling Companies: 'We Are Losing the Fight' | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
