Morning Joe - Scores dead, hundreds missing after floods in Nepal and Tibet

Episode Date: August 27, 2026

August 27, 2026: 8 am — Scores dead, hundreds missing after floods in Nepal and Tibet  To listen to this show and other MS podcasts without ads, sign up for MS NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Good morning and welcome everyone. It's Thursday, August 27th. We begin, Willie, with major news in the social media world. And it's the kind of changes that could be made if all companies get on board. That could be life-changing for young people, even life-saving. Yeah, this is the hope that this is the start of something. As you know, as I know, as John knows, this is the issue of the time for parents. And it is the front-page story in papers across the country, Mika, that meta. is backing down now in a multi-state lawsuit claiming it built addictive platforms that are dangerous for children. The company has agreed to pay billions and penalties, a fraction, yes, of the company's total valuation. It does not have to admit wrongdoing. Meta did make some important concessions to its products. MSNOS, Nick McCool, has details. I'm pleased to announce that Meta has reached an agreement. This morning, a landmark settlement.

Meta agreeing to pay up to $17 billion to settle their case against dozens of states over claims it built products that are addictive and harmful to kids than misled the public about them. The framework we've negotiated will empower parents to easily manage their children's access to our platforms. The parent company of Facebook and Instagram also agreeing to a series of protections for users under 18, including daily time and nighttime limits, muted notifications during school hours, and hiding like accounts on posts. In one sense, those are really impressive stipulations, but on another sense, if you look under the hood, a lot of them, I'm a little bit worried, are going to be pretty easy to work around. Medist says nearly a third of the settlement, roughly $5 billion, will be withheld unless other social media companies also pay penalties and change their apps. This framework will only work if all our peers join us. Because teens move fluidly across dozens of apps, we need an industry-wide solution. Is this social media's big tobacco moment?

North North. New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport was one of the lead AGs on the case. She says the fight for accountability will not stop with Mehta. Anytime profits are put over the safety of our kids, we're going to act. Critics of the deal say Mehta settled for far less than the hundreds of billions the states were seeking. But Davenport says the agreement secures vital protections much sooner than a verdict would. Meta, meanwhile, gets to end a proceeding that featured potentially damaging testimony before CEO Mark Zuckerberg was expected to take the stand. They got a pretty reasonable settlement here, but they really got dragged through the dirt in the court of public opinion.

I think a lot of people have pretty negative views of META right now. While this deal ends the attorney's general case against META, thousands of others press on against the company and its industry peers, despite the massive settlement for parents like Victoria Hinks, who blame social media for her daughter's suicide. No amount of money is ever going to bring my beautiful daughter back. got a misery every day. Both sides say META will be independently audited for compliance under the terms of the agreement. Meta's stock was up about 1% yesterday following news of the deal after taking a major hit around the start of the trial.

Back to you. MS now's Nick McCool reporting. And Mika, yes, $17 billion, a relative drop in the bucket for META, which is a company that's worth about a trillion and a half dollars. But the details, the concessions that they made, hopefully will set a standard now. for other companies that will follow suit. Well, I think what they're hoping to do is be a leader now in this. That's what we'll be watching for.

And there'll be a lot of questions about exactly how this is monitored, how success is assessed. But I can report exclusively this morning that people familiar with the conversations with the AGs and SNAP will tell me that SNAP will be accepting these new standards shortly, even possibly by Friday. So that's two companies now out of four that really could change the game for young people across the country around the world. And, you know, snap following Meta's lead. Now the question is, what about YouTube and TikTok?

Because if all four got on board, Meta says they'll bring, there's a three-hour time limit or, you know, several-hour time limit a day. I think it's two hours actually for teens. but they would bring it down to 60 minutes a day. If all four companies get on board, that would be life-changing, life-saving for teens and young people. But again, exclusively, we can say snap on board by Friday. That's what we're hearing from the conversations with the AGs. But the question is, where is YouTube and where is TikTok on this? So joining us now, Attorney General of Massachusetts, Andrea Joy Campbell, her office,

This was part of the nationwide investigation into Instagram's impact on young people that formed the basis for the initial lawsuit. And what I'd like to start with is the concept that META put out there in their statement, which is that for this to really work, other companies need to step up as well. What are you hearing about that possibility? And do you agree that it needs to be a collective set of actions to help make our. young people healthier instead of having them become very, very psychologically impacted by social media? First, good early morning, and I'm just really delighted to have been a part of this multi-state effort to hold better accountable. And let's be clear, they didn't come to the table willingly. It was the action of AGs across the country that forced accountability here. We launched our investigation

into Instagram in 2021, and then we filed a lawsuit against them in 2023. And earlier this year, Massachusetts led the way with a significant legal decision from our highest court here that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act does not prohibit them from our lawsuits. That was a game changer in leveraging this work to get them to come to the table, not only to give billions of dollars, of course, in resources to our respective states, but also to make design changes immediately that would protect our young people. But it is the first step. And the additional step is just making sure that other platforms also come to the table.

We have an ongoing lawsuit against TikTok, and so we're continuing to hold them accountable, and we'll force other platforms to do the same. And what cannot be missed, legislation, including here in Massachusetts, which is pending, is a critical tool to also hold them accountable, to force changes across all platforms. So Meda says they will be putting these processes and changes into place immediately. I think they're waiting for the judge to sign.

But what about these other platforms? Where are you in the litigation? Are they feeling like especially YouTube and TikToks? And Snap appears to be following Meta's lead here. Where are you with those other two platforms? Because to get them all working together, that's the real change. Absolutely.

And this is where advocacy of the public and, of course, AGs comes into play. Our active litigation against TikTok will be a unique opportunity to force them to also bring about protections for our kids. We also have legislation pending here in Massachusetts that can hold all platforms accountable,

not just meta. And YouTube is not out of reach either. And so we agree that we have to make sure we're holding all tech companies accountable and, of course, not only through our litigation, but through legislative efforts. And let's be clear, AGs did something that was remarkable. We acted when Congress couldn't. We, of course, acted when the president is not in any way looking to protect our kids from big tech.

And we'll continue that leadership. This is only the first step. And parents and educators and kids should know that. Attorney General, thanks for being on this morning. The next question is enforcement. When you think about Australia's ban last year, which made international headlines as the first national ban of social media for kids under 16. Studies recently have shown about 70% of kids in Australia

still find a way onto those platforms. They're smart. So how can we ensure that these will actually have teeth and that they will prevent kids of a certain age from being on these platforms for too long every day? We followed what was happening in Australia and when we came forth with these protections, including a new age assurance process to ensure those under

13 or 13 and under cannot use the platform. And then I should say under 13 cannot use the platform 13 to 18 that these protections are in place. We will hold them accountable. We have a monitor that we will set up to ensure compliance over future years. And we will continue to watch this progress in real time. We also recognize the benefit of these platforms to young people, including folks in our LGBTQ plus community.

That said, it creates community and relationship for them. but how can we have safe technology while also holding them responsible and accountable for any harms they cause our young people? So this is the first step in what will be ongoing work to hold tech companies accountable for harming our kids. First step in what could be a big movement now that protects kids, and I know a lot of parents, millions of them across the country, are grateful for your leadership and that of other attorneys generals across the country. Attorney General of Massachusetts, Andrea Joy Campbell, thanks so much for being here this morning. We appreciate it. Thank you.

So, John, we can talk about the politics of this, but I think we should talk as parents real quickly. We watch this. Our kids grew up in this era where they are native to this, that the head goes down immediately. When there's a moment of boredom or silence, you go right to the phone. We do our best. You keep the phone in the drawer. We love that our school doesn't allow phones and schools anymore. All of those things have been helpful.

But this has the potential, if enforced correctly, to be a massive swing in the way kids use social media and therefore protecting their mental health, among other things. It is harding to see how the sort of conventional wisdom on this has changed in recent years, no doubt. And that the school is a great part of it. I'm glad you highlighted that. But sure, you go on a, like my son plays soccer where we had some road trips. And at night, everybody at the phone has got to go away, got to go away. And there's grumbling, there's unhappiness, but it's the right thing to do because you're right.

There's so often one of our children has a moment to themselves. It's like, bang, scrolling aimlessly. And we're tough on this. We limit screen time. we try to limit this social media. But this is helpful. And it's an acknowledgement from a massive company forced to say, look, we get it.

This is a problem. So the hope is this will lead to others down the road. Yes, there's going to be enforcement questions, to be sure. We'll just have to see where the politics of this go next. But Mika, this is a heartening, a heartening change. Because we have talked on the show for years now about just how damaging, you know, social media can be. Also, how important it is, frankly,

a child to be bored. Like, that's when you learn to be creative. That's when you think when your imagination runs wild. You want to be able to learn how to interact with people in real life, not just on screens or via messaging. So this is, this feels like an important step. And let's hope we continue down this path. I mean, there are big questions about how to verify age, especially with much younger people.

But anyone with teens and college students knows that it's also the stuff that happens in the middle of the night, 24-hour social. media and the algorithms, which isn't addressed in this, but that they feed into and can lead to, as many have assessed and experts have assessed, depression, anxiety, even suicidal ideation. But here's, I mean, this is really worth framing out here because anyone with a teen or a college student or a young adult in their life knows how difficult this is. Meta's putting out this, for now, a two-hour daily time limit. turning off access to apps at night as a default, no notifications during school hours,

clear prompts and notifications to teens every 15 minutes of continuous screen time, new parental supervision control so parents can decide how teens use the apps. And again, META is saying they will go down to 60 minutes. Can you imagine a 60-minute limit on social media? That is life-changing in a big way. And the only hope now is, especially with this news on Snap, that YouTube and TikTok follow Meta's lead and step up here for children and young people who are really suffering and need this. Still ahead on Morning Joe, the president has come up with a new plan to win the midterms by making it all about himself. We'll run through that new reporting from the Atlantic.

Plus, we'll preview the president's trip to Texas today, as new polling shows, James Telerico, leading Ken Paxton in several key congressional districts. And as we go to break, a look at the traveler's forecast this morning from Acuethers, Bernie Rayno. Bernie, how's it looking? Some stormy weather across the northeast and mid-Atlantic today, Mika, you're active with a forecast, shower anytime. New York City photo if you're watching in D.C., then some drenching thunderstorms this afternoon.

Spotty thunderstorms this afternoon, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, beautiful weather, Chicago, Indy, St. Louis. Texas is hot and dry, drenching thunderstorms this afternoon from Charlotte, Tampa, toward Miami. That's where we're going to have travel delays here this afternoon along much of the east coast, not Boston, though, not until tonight. They help you make the best decisions. It'll be more in the know. Download the Ackyweather app today. President Trump promised to bring down Brices. You voted for him three times.

Very disappointed. Very disappointed. Why? Because the prices haven't gone down. I don't know. I don't know. I just, I'm over it, I think. Over the Trump thing. The Trump wagon, we were going to call it. You could talk directly to the president about the war, about the prices, about the economy. What would you tell him? Stop the bullshit. Make America great like you said. That's what I'd say. Well, that was one Trump voter in Iowa speaking with MS now's Alex Tabit. To that point, a new poll by strengthened numbers and ferrisite shows President Trump is underwater on every major issue heading into the midterms, even on border security. That was one of his strongest issues in the past. The poll finds Trump's net approval now at minus five. And yet, President Trump has come up with a simple plan to win. the midterm elections. More Trump. That's according to new reporting from the Atlantic. The outlet

reports the president gathered top political advisors in the Oval Office this month to discuss how to spend his super PACs $400 million ahead of the midterms before landing on the strategy of focusing on himself, ordering a series of television advertisements about his own record that will serve as backdrop to the hundreds of individual House and Senate contests. People familiar with the discussions tell the Atlantic, and ad blitz is set to be rolled out soon from MAGA, Inc. Joining us now, MS Now senior White House reporter Vaughn Hilliard, along with MS now contributor Mike Barnacle, and presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize winning author, John Meacham. Von, I'll just start with your reporting as you follow this out in the field. The president seems to think that he can

focus on himself. Let's not underestimate that because they've got a lot of money to spend. And the hubris of the president of the United States leads one to believe that he may actually believe that to be true, saying that if Republicans lose Senate and House races in November, it's not because of him, but it's because the country doesn't like the Republicans in Congress. This is the part of sort of the isolation of the president inside of the White House right now and the extent to which he is hearing

voices like that directly from Alex Tabett. And if you're looking at the coffers and the extent to which the president actually wants to help out Republicans down ballot, it's questionable. And while they are planning this ad blitz, we reported one month ago, literally today, that that $400 million dollar coffer

that MAGA Inc. has at Donald Trump's disposal, his own superback, they have spent less than a million dollars. And where did that money go? I went to Darlene Graham in intra-party Republican battle. And so when you're looking at the promises, you know, we've been talking repeatedly to folks that are working across the Republican apparatus trying to help these candidates. And the big question is, where is he going to spend the money? And now there's some details here from the Atlantic that he intends to spend it promoting himself.

And as he himself posted on True Social yesterday, in part, GOP's only path in November defend Trump. Donald Trump believes that to a certain extent. And now he's directing the allies that have the access to that cash to go and spend it that way. So John Meacham, I mean, we see candidates in Senate races, close Senate races across the country. Think James Talleyco, for example, in Texas, just hanging Donald Trump around the neck of their opponent. Ken Paxton has supported everything Donald Trump's ever done. and you see that in races all over the place. Democrats are happy to have Donald Trump at front and center of this conversation over these midterm elections.

Donald Trump, of course, does not have the kind of personality that would lend itself to stepping away and saying, you guys are right, I shouldn't be around. He can't help himself. The question is, does it cost perhaps Republicans the Senate this fall? I think one caveat we should state up front is almost everything we've predicted. about Donald Trump since 2015, has proven to be wrong. There are a lot of folks who at various points have declared the phenomena to be running out of gas. It's over. He's gone too far. And here he is. As he himself said in the most honest thing from the inaugural address in the

rotunda on that cold January day, can you believe this? Which is sort of not a bad way to capture the era. We are such a closely divided country. These are de minimis margins that shift these elections, that we are once again going to be, I think, in more of a turnout battle. I would argue, and again, take it for what it's worth, this notion of this vast democratic landslide coming feels to me to be premature, to say the least, if only because we don't live in an era of landslides when you step back from the country itself. These are incredibly close races and districts that are, in fact, competitive. A state like Texas is going to be, you know, for a Democrat to win theirs would be a remarkable thing. And President Trump, let's just be

honest, has a remarkable capacity for political resurrection. Now, can he transfer that? That's the question you're asking. Don't know. But if you're Donald Trump and you've gotten this far by being about Donald Trump, what in your life experience would suggest to you that you do something else? Coming up, we will turn back to the major changes underway for how kids use social media. Facebook and Instagram are revamping their rules, but will other tech titans also follow suit? California Attorney General Rob Banta joins us on the heels of his big win in federal court. That's straight ahead on Morning Joe. Turning back now to our top story this morning, Meta's landmark settlement over claims its platforms were designed to create social media addictions.

Meta has agreed to pay up to $17 billion and create. additional safety measures for younger users, including two-hour daily time limits. The tech giant, which of course runs Facebook and Instagram, is now calling on YouTube and TikTok to implement changes as well. Joining us now, Democratic Attorney General of California, Rob Bonta, his office was part of a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general that investigated Instagram's impact on young people, which formed the basis for the initial lawsuit. Mr. Attorney General, thank you so much for being with us this morning.

Certainly a landmark moment and certainly a victory for the states doing something that the federal government was unable to do. But let's just start here. Are you satisfied with what MEDA has agreed to do? What sort of impact will it make? What else needs to be done? Well, thank you for having me. We're very satisfied. We think this is a really a historic milestone.

transformative results that will help prevent kids from being harmed by social media platforms. It will reduce harm. And it puts in to place a number of very important practices from time limits to night blocks to blocks on notifications during school and nighttime when kids should be sleeping and studying instead of scrolling to ending beauty filters, ending likes and reactions to kids' posts and and more that really provide a blueprint for what the rest of the industry should be doing. So META is a major player in this industry. We have them now following very important practices that center our children and their mental health.

And we're now hoping to make sure that the rest of the industry follows suit. The injunctive relief that business practice is changing going forward is really the critical part of this. As a father, as the Attorney General for the largest state in the nation, my focus is on on the mental health and the health and well-being of our children, but the money will also help address mental health harms for our kids and help abate future harm going forward. So we think this is a great result. There's always more to do, but given what we could have,

the remedies that we could have secured through our litigation, this is historic landmark transformative result. I think history will judge it as an inflection moment in how we protected our kids from the harms of social media. Certainly more and more evidence has grown about the day. impact, the damaging impact of social media. Mr. Attorney General, what's the enforcement mechanisms here? The META follows through and that, frankly, then, children, you know, these restrictions are put into

place. And do you have hope that other social media giants will follow suit? We have a great enforcement mechanism that we sought and we secured, which is a court, the judge overseeing the ongoing compliance of META with the terms of this settlement agreement, which is now a consent decree, a consent judgment, the judge, a trial judge who we were before, where we were really taking it to the meta in trial, now will oversee their compliance with the terms of this settlement agreement. So that's a really important enforcement mechanism that we have in place.

If they violate the terms of the consent agreement, that a consent decree, they can be found in contempt of court. The court can issue orders to make sure that they do comply. And yes, this is a critical step. also a first step of more to come with respect to others in the industry. There are other players in the industry, TikTok, against whom we have a lawsuit now. And we now turn additional attention, focus, and prioritization to that case to make sure that it lands in a similar place to how we landed this meta case. We also are interested in Snap and YouTube, other

major industry players to make sure that they are following practices that are similar to what meta is committed to with this consent judgment. General Bonta, nobody with any sense or any children would be complaining about this agreement. I think many parents would wonder, though, why it took so long to get this done, but would applaud it getting done. But it also leads to a question about what else is out there. And I'm talking specifically now about AI and the potential damages or we don't know what AI will do or won't do. But is that going to be a level of concentration that you think of

from various attorneys general around the country? Yes. Let me just first say that for those, for parents, grieving parents, family members who saw the harm being visited on our children, the reason it took so long is because Matta fought it, tooth and nail. They knew about the harm. They doubled down on the features, products and designs that caused the harm that they liked. to the public about it. They could have changed this years ago. So this all lies at Metis Feet, but it was the AGEs who stood up and fought for our children, our families, and our future, and delivered this result. And yes, we are maintaining our vigilance as technology changes, as the social media platforms continue to design new products and new features, including

AI-driven products and features, and AI itself and the harm that it can visit on kids. We're vigilant now with respect to AI chatbots that teach kids how to kill themselves or have sexually explicit conversations with kids. We're vigilant now with GROC, which was helping create non-consensual sexually explicit images of people unlawfully. So, yes, we will continue to focus on new deployments of new products, designs, and features, including AI-driven ones that harm kids or otherwise harm. our society and violate laws. Democratic Attorney General Rob Bontza of the state of California. Mr. Attorney General, thank you for joining us this morning. My pleasure. Thanks for having.

Coming up here on Morning Joe, it's now the 25th anniversary of the birthright Israel experience. We're going to speak with the president and CEO of the foundation behind the program, including on how it is faring amid the ongoing war with Iran. You're right back. Live shot there of Jerusalem, 8.4. 34 in the morning here in New York, 344 there in Israel. Despite the ongoing war in the Middle East, thousands of young adults continue to travel to Israel for the birthright Israel experience. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the program, which sends participants on a free 10-day trip to

Israel. The organization is closing in on one million alumni worldwide who have taken part with many calling it the trip of a lifetime. Joining us now is the president and CEO of the Israel Foundation, Elias Saratowski. He was on that first birthright trip 25 years ago, quarter of a century. Elias, thank you so much for being here. Congratulations on the program's anniversary. So for those who don't know what this is, can you just get offers a brief primer as to the origins of this program and what it offers for young people? Sure. Birthright Israel is the largest Jewish educational initiative in modern time. As you mentioned, we've brought over or 950,000 participants.

The trip changed my life. And our mission is to bring young people to Israel, to educate them about this very complex situation in the Middle East, and to have them come home, being prouder, more confident Jewish young adults to lead on their college campuses and to leave proud Jewish lives. In addition to the knowledge on the Middle East,

we also want them to have a surge in their connection to their Jewish identity, which is more important than ever, given the rise in anti-Semitism right now. Yeah, I know a lot of friends of mine did this and loved it. Talk to us, though, about the challenges of this program in recent years, from what we saw from October 7th, of course, but then the ongoing war in Gaza and now the conflict with Iran. How is that complicating what you're doing? Are you seeing less interest in the program, or in some ways, is it becoming more vital? It is definitely becoming more vital. I'll even go back two years prior to October 7th. We had two years of a pandemic where it was very difficult to bring people to Israel, but we never canceled our trips. There was always a demand for young people to go to Israel. That's been the case since our founding. Safety and security is our number one priority. We make sure that when we bring young people to Israel, we keep them safe and secure. We've brought over 60,000 people to Israel on a birthright program. since October 7th. So the demand is there, and we anticipate if the situation remains quiet as it is right now,

we're going to have a surge of applicants for next year. How old were you when you first made the trip? I was 19 years old. So 19 years of age. What did that trip teach you about being a Jew that you did not know? That trip taught me that there were 4,000 years of Jewish history that preceded me. And I came home from that trip, feeling a sense of responsibility, to help write the next chapter of Jewish history,

I came home not only a more informed person, but I also came home feeling like I was better prepared to make the case to my friends and to my family about why the U.S.-Israel relationship is vital and why my Jewish identity makes me wake up and stand tall every single day. President and CEO of the Birthright Israel Foundation, Elias Saratowski. Thank you. Congrats again.

Thank you very much. And we'll be right back here with more, Morning Joe. This morning, rescue teams are searching for hundreds of missing people along the border of Nepal and China after a catastrophic torrent of mud and water tore through communities there. These videos are hard to believe, and they show just how little time there was for anyone to escape as a massive wall of water pours through the area, burying roads, knocking over buildings, and leaving a huge path of destruction in its wake. Look at these scenes here, truly terrifying. Nepal says that at least 165 people are

dead and 826 are missing after a glacial collapse triggered the deadly flooding. Rescue teams backed by helicopters are currently searching the hardest hit areas. More than 100 people have been airlifted to safety, though hundreds more are still missing. Experts say the disaster highlights the growing risks from warming temperatures that are destabilizing glaciers across the Himalayas, yet another tragic consequence of climate change. Of course, our thoughts are with was affected, we will keep you posted as we learn more. Mike Barclogle, we're down to our last minute or so of the show. What did you learn today?

I learned today that Mehta has lied and obstructed justice for a long period of time. A lot of younger children, unless their parents, have suffered through what they've been looking at surreptitiously on Facebook and things like that. And finally, META has been called to account for it. Yeah, no, it's a significant event. Now, we'll have to see about the enforcement mechanisms. We've seen the bans in Australia widely praised, but kids find a way around them. So let's see what happens here.

And the other big piece of this, of course, is will the other social media giants, TikTok, YouTube, the like, follow suit? We're also, of course, keeping our eye on President Trump heading to Texas today. Texas is a Senate seat very much in play. But Mike Barnacle, you and I are contractually obligated to end this show, noting that tomorrow, Red Sox and Yankees play four. I'm going to one of the games, too. play four massive games in the Bronx. Sox did lose last night, two and a half back of the Yankees, but this is a meaningful, meaningful series. Yes, it is early in September, but it really is. It's a big one. Yeah, and it's improbable that the Red Sox, frankly, have anything to play for right now,

considering where they started in April, May, and June. Yankees have another one with the Astros tonight, and then things pick off for four, including a double-header on Saturday in the Bronx. All right, well, that does it for us this morning. Mike Barnacle, thank you, so much for joining us. The pleasure, Jonathan. We'll do it again tomorrow at 6 a.m. Eastern for more morning, Joe. Money, power, politics with Stephanie Rule, is up next on MS now after a short final break.