it's good to be back with you for this second hour of "chris jansing reports." at this hour, 38 million americans are bracing for a big april storm after the west coast took a walloping, from stranded drivers to a highway collapse, even a lightning strike on an airplane. we'll get a live report on the threat that's still ahead. baltimore bottleneck, the plans to give ships a new place to go as crews remove the wreckage of the bridge collapse piece by piece. dallas mystery, the questions swirling around an nfl wide receiver after a dangerous high speed crash.

we'll show you video of the accident. and fast food pay super sized, the big change in california. will it cost you more at the drive through? our nbc news reporters are following all of the latest developments. we begin with the monster storms wreaking havoc across the country. jesse kirsch is in cincinnati, ohio. what are we seeing so far? >> reporter: there were inches and inches of snow that dumped in areas, parts of the pacific coast highway that crumbled and there were, according to officials, hundreds of people stranded, at least two people taken to hospitals. moving forward as you alluded to, there are tens of millions in the pathway of potential severe weather. i want to talk about cities and timing, oklahoma city, dallas, st. louis, indianapolis are cities in the pathway, and the bulk of the threat is tonight

into the overnight hours. when we talk about tornadoes, of course nocturnal tornadoes, overnight tornadoes can be especially dangerous. that is something to be keeping an eye out for as all of this develops. this is really just the beginning of what is going to be days of tough weather across the country. where i am in cincinnati, ohio, we're looking out for the potential for flooding to start this afternoon. and that could carry over into this region tomorrow. there could be 2 to 4 inches of rain in this region. the east coast also could see a good amount of rain, and there's the potential for a nor'easter to bring near blizzard conditions to stretches of the northeast, and we could see a good amount of snow in new england, as we get closer to the weekend. all this to say, on april 1st, this is not an april fool's prank i'm talking about here. a lot of weather across the country, millions of people have to be keeping an eye out today. >> fair warning, jesse kirsch,

thank you so much. we know now that president biden is going to visit baltimore on friday in the wake of the bridge collapse. nbc's ryan nobles has more for us. that as crews set up for a new way to get chips around the wreckage, what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: yeah, chris, they are hoping in the next couple of days, they will be able to open the temporary shipping channel, which will dramatically increase the number of ships entering baltimore's harbor. right now, it is completely shut down. it will by no means be the harbor that they saw before the bridge collapse. it will be something to continue to allow that economic engine to continue to flow through baltimore. as they begin this pain staking cleanup effort. thousands and thousands of steel that still need to be removed from the harbor and taken off the ship before they can really fully begin the rebuilding process. while all of this is happening, baltimore's mayor is in the spotlight, brandon scott who has been under attack by folks on

the internet, particularly right wing people accusing him of being too focused on diversity, equity and inclusion, as opposed to the job of rebuilding the bridge. the mayor responded to some of the criticism over the weekend and called some of it racist. take a listen. >> i am a young black man, a young black mayor in the country. there are a lot of racist folks who don't think i should be in this job. we have to focus on the mission at hand and continue from my vantage point to prove people wrong about people that look like me, doing the job the best way i can and ignoring those who want to be divisive, and can be in control, be in power and actually be better at the job. >> reporter: and mayor scott isn't the only one who has been a victim of these attacks. the governor, wes moore, who's also african-american getting some of the same vitriol on social media and the internet.

both men say they are trying to tune that out. they have a monster job on their hands. and speaking of governor moore, we're expecting to hear from him this hour as the clean up process continue, and he regularly briefs the press on their progress. >> ryan nobles, thank you so much. police in dallas are reportedly looking for a kansas city chiefs wide receiver after a high speed crash that involved multiple vehicles. nbc's priscilla thompson is covering the story for us. what exactly happened here? >> reporter: i just spoke with the pio inside dallas police headquarters. they tell us they are still working to identify the suspects in this crash. what they say happened is that on saturday evening, there were two cars, a lamborghini, and a corvette driving at a high speed down the expressway. we have seen and obtained this dramatic dash cam video that shows the moment police say those drivers lost control of the vehicles. one of the cars slamming into

the center median. the other one appearing to spin out. in all, there were six cars that were involved in this collision and as you note, the dallas morning news reporting that law enforcement officials tell them they are looking to speak with rasheed rice, that one of those cars is believed to have been registered or leased to him. and what's more, if this video is not horrific enough. we also have obtained photos from tmz sports and videos showing the occupants of the two vehicles believed to be at fault, appearing to leave the scene. police say that they ran from the scene without checking to see if anyone was injured or providing their information. and, in fact, two people were treated on scene, and two people were taken to the hospital. thankfully all minor injuries, but police are asking folks to look at these videos, and if they recognize any of those occupants seen leaving to contact them so they can begin to identify who is responsible, and we have reached out to rice

and the nfl and we have not heard anything back. the kansas city chiefs president reacted for the first time earlier today saying that they are waiting until they see all of the facts. they don't want to jump to any conclusions, but saying that once they have seen all of the facts they do plan to take action accordingly, chris. >> priscilla thompson, thank you. now to california and a major new pay raise for fast food workers that could have a trickle down effect to you and your wallet. nbc's david noriega is in los angeles. talk us through this increase , what it means for workers and also customers. >> chris, so this increase applies to the large national chain, specifically fast food restaurants with 60 or more locations around the country. so think mcdonald's, burger king, subway, et cetera. it's expected to affect more than half a million workers, most of who are women of color, immigrants, a picture of the low wage work force in california.

there's an expectation it might also raise wages in a broader sense across the restaurant industry. even if you're a smaller restaurant owner, independent restaurant owner, you're going to have to compete now with the fast food wages. this is also going to have an effect on consumers. a lot of the major national chains, including mcdonald's, starbucks and chipotle have said publicly that they intend to raise prices as a result of this wage increase. the question really is by how much. they haven't said so. economists that i have spoken to that have studied past wage increases say we can expect something on the order of 2 to 5%. you know, a noticeable increase but the question is will that actually affect consumer decisions, you know, when it comes down to buy that big mac at the drive through. the people definitely going to feel the pressure here are individual and family franchise owners. a lot of these chains are franchise model businesses. they're going to have to make this work on their balance sheet. i spoke to a couple of them.

one says he no longer wants to expand his franchise in california. he's going to look to nevada. another who i spoke to who owns mcdonald's in the area, she's going to adapt to this without laying people off or cutting their hours. chris. >> david noriega, thank you. in 60 seconds, she was one of donald trump's closest aides and confidants, is hope hicks now getting ready to take the stand against him? ainst him? >> tech: at safelite, we'll take care of fixing your windshield. but did you know we can take care of your insurance claim? that means less stress for you. >> woman: thanks. >> tech: my pleasure. have a good one. >> woman: you too. >> tech: schedule today at safelite.com. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace. ♪ power e*trade's easy to-use tools make complex trading less complicated. custom scans help you find new trading opportunities, while an earnings tool helps you plan your trades and stay on top of the market. e*trade from morgan stanley. i know what it's like to perform through pain.

if you're like me, one of the millions suffering from pain caused by migraine, nurtec odt may help. it's the only medication that can treat a migraine when it strikes and prevent migraine attacks. treat and prevent, all in one. don't take if allergic to nurtec. allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. relief is possible. talk to a doctor about nurtec odt. breaking news, one of donald trump's closest white house aides is expected to testify in his hush money trial. hope hicks was by trump's side as his 2016 campaign press secretary during the final weeks of the election when he was trying to keep his alleged affairs off the front pages. she testified before the grand jury in march of 2023 and a source with direct knowledge of the situation now tells nbc news

she will take the stand once again. nbc's vaughn hillyard and msnbc legal correspondent lisa rubin are with me now. let's talk, first of all, vaughn, if we can about the relationship between hope hicks and donald trump. he broke with a lot of his former white house aides. what do we know about that, and what information she might have? >> hope hicks has been kind of quiet. >> very quiet. >> the last time we were talking about hope hicks is when one year ago she testified in front of the grand jury specifically to this hush money case. hope hicks, per federal court records dating back to michael cohen when he pleaded guilty, he contended at the time that there was a phone call in which she latched not only michael cohen but with donald trump together, and so there's questions about on october 18th, 2016, the day stormy daniels came forward to the "national enquirer" and said she was ready to tell her story, that there were conversations that hope hicks was allegedly a

part of and then we know she was on another phone call later that month on the actual day that michael cohen agreed to pay that $130,000 to american media, so the question is, does hope hicks have testimony to provide about the extent to which donald trump was signing off specifically on those payments. >> key question, what does she have to say. if the prosecution wants to use her, let's talk about her as a witness. we've talked about michael cohen, someone convicted of perjury, other people in trump's circle who could probably, i don't know if i would say easily, there would be pressure on their credibility as a witness. hope hicks is somebody who stood by donald trump for a very long time. >> for a very long time. but, and this is a critical but, if you look at the transcript of hope hicks' transcribed interview with the january 6th committee, you see a person who at the end of her white house service did break somewhat with

donald trump. she didn't leave as acrimoniously as other people did, at the same time, she didn't share his belief that the election had been stolen, and that at the time was headline making news. hope hicks said to him, mr. president, you and i don't see this the same way. she didn't leave his orbit on bad terms, at least not as bad as many others are left. it remains to be seen what hope hicks will be like in a courtroom if she testifies, what her demeanor is like with donald trump the defendant sitting right in front of her. >> but does that make her more credible? >> i think it does make her more credible in a way. i would liken her to ivanka, who when she testified at the civil fraud trial because she is no longer a participant in her father's political life, because she was known to have advised him in the days after january 6th, to be contrite, to do things that he didn't do, although she was evasive, although judge engoron did take

issue with the testimony, she was a much more credible witness as someone who's sitting in the courtroom to me than both of her brothers, for example, were. >> the other thing about her, and you touched on this, vaughn, she is not someone who has gone out, for example, again, we keep talking about michael cohen, but one of the attacks against him from trump world and presumably his lawyers in court is going to be he has made so much money off of donald trump, including the women who were involved in this. they have just used this as a money making machine. we have not seen hope hicks necessarily out there day after day, week after week, on cable activity, trying to keep her profile up. >> she hasn't put on her own podcast. she is somebody who has gone quietly since leaving the trump administration. somebody that nobody in trump world has ever questioned the loyalty to donald trump of. in 2016, he had such a small campaign. corey lewandowski, hope hicks, they were the right hands to

donald trump. corey lewandowski got kicked aside. new campaign managers and staff come in. who was there most of the time in the white house, it was hope hicks. it gets to the heart of the question. she had opportunities to go on the airways and tell her own story in a tell-all interview. she has never gone publicly to talk about whether donald trump knew that $130,000 was intended to go to stormy daniels. that's at the heart of the question. michael cohen says donald trump knew that's what he was paying for. donald trump says i know i was paying michael cohen, but he contends that he didn't know exactly what for. hope hicks may be that link and may have that answer. >> the other thing, vaughn, is the access. when donald trump trusts you and you're in that circle, you're there, right. so we don't know necessarily how much she knows or at least not publicly we don't know. >> and to what extent was she engaged in the phone calls between michael cohen and donald trump in october, and was she

listening in. clearly the prosecution heard from hope hicks when she went from the grand jury. they know that she has something to tell andthere's a reason they would be calling her back to the stand. >> hope being on the phone calls, irrespective of what contributed, the fact that she was a third party to the conversations situates her differently. one of the shortcomings of the d.a.'s case is that in many respects it will strike the public as a he said, he said. donald trump and michael cohen were alone and having conversations or in some cases were joined by allen weisselberg who is not likely to be a witness here. to the extent that hope hicks can say, this conversation happened, i was privy to it, that in and of it is a very big deal and a score for the manhattan d.a.'s office. >> donald trump is continuing

his social media attacks against the judge and his daughter. and he posted a link to a "new york post" article over the weekend. it included photos, not just of the judge. we know what he looks like, but also of his daughter, and claims she's making money off the case, something that is absolutely not been shown to be true. is he pushing the judge to go further with the gag order, which right now does not cover the judge or his family. >> he is. he's exploiting a loophole. the manhattan d.a.'s office asked judge merchan to confirm or clarify the judge's family, the d.a.'s family are subjects of the gag order. they want to short circuit a form of the case that leaves ms. merchan exposed during that period of time. they don't want to have two, three, four weeks of briefing about donald trump's first amendment rights. including her picture, for example, is one among many things that might push merchan

into a place where he says, this is out of bounds, this is over the line, and now that i've defined to you what the line is, if you cross it, i will, in fact, take up the invitation of the d.a. to hold you in criminal contempt as they suggested in the letter last friday. >> lisa rubin, vaughn hillyard, fascinating stuff, thank you both. still ahead, why the white house easter egg roll had conservatives hatching a new line of attack. the former president gets new snl treatment, thanks to his latest financial venture. >> that's right, it's easter, the time of year when i compare myself to jesus christ, it's a thing i do now. people seem to be okay with it. imagine how weird it would be if i started selling bibles, well, i'm selling bibles. insurance with liberty mutual. we got a bit of a situation.

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not even the annual easter egg roll at the white house is apparently immune from divisive politics that seem to have infiltrated every corner of american life. this is what the day is supposed to be about. you've got thousands of parents and their kids rolling eggs on the south lawn, listening to music, it's a tradition that started nearly 150 years ago. but over the weekend, it became a lightning rod for new political attacks from donald trump and his followers who are furious over what is a long

standing policy against religious images on those eggs. and they also blasted the administration for the fact that international transgender visibility day, which has been around for more than a decade, this year happened to coincide with easter. here's president biden speak to go nbc's al roker about it. >> i mean, i just think people are so tired of the negativity that is propagated. they want to get engaged. they want to change things. i'm optimistic, i really am. >> nbc's mike memoli is covering the white house, and tim miller, former communications director for jeb bush's campaign, and an msnbc political analyst. mike, talk about these republican attacks, what they are, what they're upset about, and what actually the truth is. >> well, chris, yeah, there's certainly a lot of outrage being manufactured on a holiday

weekend. let's start with the eggs because what we see is a number of right leaning outlets pointing to a flier that was given out to the children of national guard members, encouraging them to submit art work for an egg themed easter contest. that flier included language which included among other rules that these art contest submissions could not include overtly religious imagery. the suggestion was this was a new policy of the biden administration, not so according to the white house or the american egg board, which is a partner in the easter egg roll. it's a federally facilitated program to promote u.s. commoditied by eggs, they abide by all federal guidelines. a spokesperson saying this is standard nondiscrimination language that has been used since the carter administration. as it relates to the transgender day of visibility, we see a number of not just outlets and conservatives online but elected

republican officials suggesting here that the biden administration was intentionally choosing easter sunday to dedicate this holiday as a sort of affront to christians worldwide. now, that couldn't be further from the truth. this is, as you say, march 31st has been transgender day of visibility since 2010. the white house issued statements and proclamations marking several days, weeks, months, devoted to certain issues or causes or holidays, all the time. and it just so happens, as you know, the date changes each year. a spokesperson for the white house saying that the politicians who were promoting this are seeking to divide and weaken our country with hateful and dishonest rhetoric. president biden according to the spokesperson will never abuse his faith for profit. president biden as he kicked off the egg roll talking about easter being a time for love and grace toward one another. the president was asked about

speaker johnson's criticism of him over this. he said that the speaker didn't know what he was talking about. >> i'm noting here first of all, tim, that the easter bunny seems to have a new pair of glasses. i think i might miss the old glasses, but to a more serious point, you see the kids. it's such a fun event. the kids are taking their sticks, pushing the eggs around. it's a thrilling thing. for the rest of their lives, they'll have a picture. they were on the lawn of the white house. what do you make of just frankly gross misrepresentation of what the facts are, the rules that have been in place for the easter egg roll have been in place over the course of republican administrations as well as democratic administrations. it has been years and years and years that this day honoring the transgender community has been in place. anyway, just give me your thoughts on this.

>> yeah, they want to suck all the joy away from us, chris. that's what it comes down to. the people so committed to the culture war want to make sure that everybody has to care about all of the random fake grievances and outrages. to me what this ties to is two things, one, it ties directly to the trump bible grift that he was trying to pull, sell the $60 bible. donald trump is desperate to position himself as a candidate that represents the christians in this country. he's desperate to ensure he'll have excitement and turn out to the vote. they have successfully overturned roe v. wade, so i think there's concern about turnout there and energy behind donald trump, and so this is part of it, the idea is to make joe biden into something he's not, like a nonchristian or joe biden as anti-christian. it's just worth mentioning. i want it pull this up. joe biden sent out a statement,

about the promise of christ's resurrection this easter sunday. that was his statement. he is not a secular president. you could find an imaginary liberal. it's donald trump that doesn't go to church and joe biden that does. he's trying to deal with the contrast between the fake outrage. the other thing is the assault on the lgbtq community that the right thinks is a political winner. you see this in the schools, and you see this now with any opportunity they have to try to otherwise-ize and insult that community and this, having the transgender day of visibility is another opportunity to do that. >> there was something interesting that i think was worth pointing out in the most recent fox news poll, and some of this is targeted to the evangelical community. his support went from 73% to

68%. that is from october to march, a 5-point drop, wider than the margin of error. does that tell us anything? >> i mean, look, it's on the margins, but the margins matter here. i think that obviously speaking, broadly, the evangelical community is behind donald trump, and donald trump, there have been many books about this, people better suited than me to talk about how they have seen in their communities how enthusiastic evangelicals are frankly and so frustrating that is that they're so enthusiastic for donald trump, but there is a margin there. in 2016, when i was doing the anti-trump in the primary back then, we saw in the polling, people that go to church more than once a week, two time church goers, real devout folks, there was a lot of hesitancy in that demographic. they were the last people really to come around in the republican demographics, so it would not

surprise me to see that some of those folks, they still have their reservations about donald trump personally, they have gotten what they wanted, frankly, on abortion and the supreme court, and maybe they look at the race this time and say i could sit this one out. that could be the difference of five points. maybe not winning with joe biden, but donald trump losing altitude with the core base would be a problem. that's some of what is underlying with the bible grift and other nonsense. we have an update on breaking news we brought in our last hour. iran's ambassador to syria now says in a post on x that his residence until the area around the iranian embassy were hit with explosion in damascus today. there you see our first pictures. earlier syrian authorities said air strikes targeted the consulate. the idf declined to comment when asked by nbc news. iranian state tv is reporting

that a senior commander in iran's revolutionary guard was killed in the strike. u.s. officials say they are looking into the matter. with the future and potentially the lives of one and a half million people hanging in the balance, virtual talks are now taking place over israel's plans for an invasion of rafah. palestinians have been sheltering there. many of them after fleeing for their lives from other parts of gaza. nbc's gabe gutierrez joins us now from the white house. prime minister netanyahu has been intractable on the coming invasion, deepening the rift to a week ago israel canceled the high level delegation coming to washington. what do we know about these, i guess, teleconference talks today? >> reporter: hi there, chris. good afternoon, we have been reporting on the escalations of tensions between prime minister netanyahu and the u.s. government, and you just mentioned that virtual meeting scheduled for today. we don't have -- it's unclear if that meeting has wrapped up so far. we understand it was supposed to start earlier today, and it

would involve top officials from the u.s. and from israel. the u.s. officials including a national security adviser, jake sullivan. also secretary of state antony blinken. notably president biden was not expected to be a part of that meeting, and yes, as you said, chris, this comes after an in-person meeting was abruptly canceled last week by prime minister netanyahu after the u.s. had decided to abstain, to not veto a u.n. security council resolution calling for a cease fire in gaza and the release of hostages. now, with the white house press secretary was just asked about the virtual meeting today, a short time ago, she said that she didn't have anything to read out at this point, but israeli officials do say and u.s. officials say, too, there could be still the possibility of in-person meetings scheduled after this virtual meeting happens. and of course, chris, this meeting is centered on the idea that the u.s. is trying to talk

with the israelis for alternatives, rather than an invasion of rafah, chris. >> gabe gutierrez, thank you for that. >> and coming up, the house may be in recess, but politics are still at play for the house speaker. mike johnson's message to the lawmakers who want him out of a job. lawmakers who want him out of a job. welcome to the wayborhood. with wayfair, finding your style is fun. [ music playing ] yes! when the music stops grab any chair, it doesn't matter if it's your outdoor style or not. [ music stops ] i'm sorry, carl. this is me in chair form. i don't see you. -oh, come on. this one's perfect for you. but you. love it. i told you we should have done a piñata. i explained it so many times. um-hum. they're not sitting. -and it rocks... you need to sit down. ♪ wayfair. every style. every home. ♪

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congress may be on break, but no pause in the threats to house speaker mike johnson's

gavel. now, he is gathering up support in this fight, but you'll recall that fellow republican marjorie taylor green first filed a motion against him. johnson now says he has been texting with her, delivering a message like this. >> how does this motion to vacate help bring back a majority or a bigger majority? >> i don't think it does. i think all of my republican colleagues recognize this is a distraction from the mission. the mission is to save the republic, and the only way we can do that is if we grow the house majority, win the senate and win the white house. we don't need dissension right now. >> still not only has johnson's speakership been put on notice, he'll have the challenge of a one vote margin once congressman mark gallagher retires on april 19th. former president trump is fuming at gallagher and other republicans who have headed for the early exits, never forget our cowards and weaklings.

does trump lashing out suggest he has nothing to do with the shrinking majority? >> probably. i don't like when you do this to me, chris jansing, donald trump has a point there. mike gallagher should have stayed in congress and worked with democrats to fund ukraine or worked with fellow moderate republicans like brian fitzpatrick who are trying to do that. instead he headed for the exits before his job was finished because i guess it wasn't fun to be in congress. it's a shameful act by mike gallagher. it speaks to the dysfunction in the house. mike johnson is obviously in over his head. he has been unable to pass anything so far without the help of democrats. to get ukraine and other foreign aid funding passed he's going to need democrats again.

and there's some unhappiness on the right flank, including with, you know, the president who is, i think, to blame really ultimately, the former president, that is, former president trump is to blame ultimately for why we haven't had a vote on things like the border deal and ukraine because he doesn't want anything to get done in this congress. mike johnson is stuck between the forces. >> let's talk about ukraine aid, if we can, eugene. that could be the straw that breaks the camel's back if that's indeed what happened. i want to play what rendon bacon -- republican don bacon. >> some republicans oppose a ukraine aid bill on the floor. do you think he could lose his speakership over this, congressman? >> it's possible. i'm not going to deny it. we have one or two people that are not team players.

they would rather enjoy the limelight, the social media. >> that was a pregnant pause, i think we can say, before he answered that question. but i keep hearing different things. it's like no way they move against johnson, oh, i don't know, maybe it could happen. >> right. >> what are you hearing? >> well, green said it's a warning, and there haven't been a lot of far right republicans who have come out vocally to support her so far because what they understand is that the fact that nothing significant got passed in the past year, it's a bad look for republicans overall, even if they don't support more support for ukraine. but we have to remember that people like greene and johnson have two different agendas. greene told her supporters she would not support anything like ukraine or a leader that did support ukraine. johnson is focused on getting things passed, working with people in his party and working across the aisle which is the job of the speaker of the house. it doesn't seem personal very

often. johnson has come out and said greene is a friend, and that's why they're texting. her attacks on him hasn't been incredibly personal. they have two different focuses. >> you can tell listening to some of the folks on the hill how frustrated they are that the closer you get to election, the more next people get anyway, right? the house intel committee chair, mike turner, is clearly frustrated with far right colleagues. take a listen to that. >> unfortunately, the chaos caucus has continued to want to stop everything that occurs in congress. it's not as if they have an alternative plan. they can have radical fringe, individuals, who don't have an ideology or an agenda other than chaos that can cause disruptions and that's what we have seen. that certainly makes it difficult for people who just want to get the job done. >> so let's say, best case scenario for the speaker is that he stays.

even given that, eugene, is there any sign that likely anything is to change between now and the election? >> the fact that many far right republicans have not come out as quickly against johnson as they did with past speakers suggests that johnson might have a good chance at keeping things together for a little while longer. >> even beyond keeping the speakership, you think there's a good chance that, i don't know, that some sort of kumbaya comes together? >> i think it's possible. there are like six months until election, right? >> that's true. >> anything can happen. everybody wants to get reelected and these individuals are going to figure out what it is their supporters want them to do to make sure they stay in washington. >> a lot of these folks are not worried, right? there's not chance they're not going to win this their ruby red districts. do they care really enough about the majority to potentially step away from a promise that they think they have made? >> i think when we even look at the far right republicans, some are in districts that are more secure than others. while there are some who don't care that much, maybe like bob

good, there are others who realize that this district that sent me to washington is not as secure as it used to be. you showed stats of polling showing that trump and other republicans don't have as much support as they used to, and when you start losing 5 percentage points, that could get up to 7 and that could get up to 10, and you don't want to do anything that could keep things going, even if you think you have a secure race. >> eugene scott, tim miller, thank you, guys, much appreciated. and still to come, a terrifying close call that's caught on camera. the moment a man narrowly survived a saw blade spinning out of control. t ouof control

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and if you call now, you will also receive a free seven-year warranty valued at over $700.00. call or go online now to request your free quote. the state of michigan has officially overturned its criminal ban on using a paid surrogate to have a child. democratic governor gretchen whitmer signing that bill today and attacking the lack of republican support for a law that also offers protections for ivf and lgbtq parents. when this bill to decriminalize surrogacy comes up, only two republicans voted for it. it's incredibly cruel and anti-family. it's surprising. >> nbc's ali vitali is reporting on this. michigan is the last state in the country to decriminalize surrogacy contracts. i know you spoke to women directly affected by this.

what did they tell you? >> reporter: there's the policy impacts here, and then the larger political landscape that we're watching michigan operate within. of course, this is a niche decision that affects women in michigan trying to grow their families through gestational surrogates, but in my conversations with a family who was impacted by the michigan laws, some of them decided to just go out of the state to avoid surrogacy laws which in some cases can be criminalized by jail time. of course that has not yet happened, but certainly that's something on the books that would be parents are aware of. instead, alex and leah, the mother and surrogate who i spoke to, went through the process in michigan, but as they detailed, they consider themselves lucky, because their situation of getting a pre-birth order and thusly establishing parental rights of alex's biological child, that happened quite easily. it could have gone a different way. listen to them tell me part of

their story. watch. >> our pre-birth hearing was set for when i was 34 weeks gestation with barrett, and i went into pre-term labor, and very much sat in the hospital. we waited to hear if this pregnancy, which might suddenly very quickly imminently become, you know, this child outside of my body would have parents and it was agonizing. >> reporter: and, look, the reason there, chris, that you hear leah talking about this being an agonizing process is because leah, of course, is friends with alex, and for alex, the concern of not having parental rights established wasn't just a matter of could they walk out of the hospital with their biological child, it was also a question of did they have the right to make decisions about that child's health, especially if this pregnancy came to term a little bit sooner than they had been planning for it to. >> unimaginable situation.

ali vitali, thank you for your reporting. an oregon man is thanking his lucky stars after dodging a, wait for it, run away saw blade, by just seconds, even without knowing it at first. the entire thing was caught on camera. you can see him walk into a store, oblivious to the danger right behind him. then a moment later, the saw blade blazing through the parking lot, right into the building where he had been standing. apparently the blade came loose from a nearby construction site. the lucky man later joked to a news outlet, quote, i don't know if this is a joke, i need a beer. you can't blame him for that. still ahead, just one week until the solar eclipse, the emergency measures that whole cities are taking for the few minutes of total darkness. but first, beware of the jokesters, today is, yes, april fools' day. big brands are getting in on the fun like dole foods which offered a banana peel sleeping bag, made from actual banana

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community leaders from texas to maine are all urging people to stock up on food, on fuel before the crowds arrive for next week's total eclipse. nbc's morgan chesky has more. >> with just one week to go, eclipse excitement is shining bright. >> how could you miss that, it's going to be a cosmic event. >> next monday, the sun and moon will be perfectly aligned, creating a rare, total solar eclipse. the best views are expected in cities like dallas, indianapolis, cleveland and buffalo. in all, about 31 million people live in the past of totality, with millions more expected to travel to see up to four minutes of daytime darkness. >> scientists are saying this should be the biggest eclipse crowd for totality ever in north america. >> reporter: niagara falls

joining a growing list of cities that have declared a state of emergency, to allow for more resources ahead of the astronomical event. >> we are preparing for up to a million people visiting our city at the same time. which would be a record crowd. >> reporter: officials aren't burning any daylight preparing. residents in parts of texas, arkansas, and new york state being warned of potential shortages on food and fuel, s the solar surge is expected to take over rural times with prime views of the eclipse. texas expecting tens of thousands of tourists and mayor julie says they're ready. how do you plan years for an event that's five minutes? >> it's like an overgrown wedding in some ways. >> reporter: with $1 billion expected to be sent in cities along the path of totality, local businesses know this is their time to shine. many selling souvenirs and

specialty brews. even big brands are getting in on the eclipse craze from sonic's blackout slush float to sun chips launching a special solar eclipse bag. only available for the short duration of the event itself. all to ensure business won't be eclipsed by the dark side of the moon. >> morgan chesky, that was a good closing line. i have been planning this for a year. cleveland here i come. that's going to do it for this hour. make sure to join us for "chris jansing reports," we are here every weekday, 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. eastern right here on msnbc. our coverage continues with "katy tur reports" right now ♪♪ good to be with you, i'm katy tur. the presumptive nominee for the republican party is on the attack going after judges, their family members, prosecutors, and their teams. democrats running against him,