NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas - Monday, April 7, 2025

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

Mixed day on Wall Street amid tariff turmoil; Business leaders speak out about President Trump’s tariffs; Deadly flash floods impacting multiple states; and more on tonight’s broadcast.

Tonight, the markets take a wild ride. Chaos and confusion from Wall Street to Washington. Markets today plunging, soaring and plunging again before closing mix for the day. Top business leaders warning of the economic impact of the president's tariffs, but Trump defending his plan and threatening to hit China with even bigger fees. Evacuations and rescues as deadly floodwaters threaten communities across the Midwest and South. The small plane that skittered off a runway in Oregon and ended up submerged in the bay. The Supreme Court weighing in, saying the Maryland father mistakenly sent to El Salvador's notorious prison by the Trump administration should stay where he is for now,

all after he was ordered to return to the U.S. by a federal judge. The growing worry in West Texas over the worsening measles outbreak, a second child dead. What Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now saying about vaccines. NBC News exclusive inside the Pennsylvania mine used for federal paperwork that Elon Musk's Doge team likened to the digital stone age. The daycare debate, should children be given melatonin to help with nap time without their parents' knowledge? And Ann Thompson on the penguins of a certain age and the special island made just for them. This is NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt. Good evening and welcome. The market still spooked by President Trump's tariffs took

investors on a wild ride today. Still, the Dow finishing in the red, shedding 349 points. The Nasdaq eking out small gains, the S&P 500 finishing at a loss, all after the president rejected pumping the brakes on tariffs and threatened to move forward with additional 50 percent tariffs on China if China moves forward with retaliatory tariffs of its own. The markets rallied early in the day on a false report that a 90-day pause might be in the cards. Instead, the president saying, we're not looking at that, holding fast to his belief that tariffs will level the trade playing field.

Mr. Trump also speaking of the tariffs as permanent, but leaving the door open to bargaining. Gabe Gutierrez leads off our coverage. After a rollercoaster day on Wall Street, tonight, President Trump is doubling down. We cannot be taken advantage of any longer. Now threatening even bigger tariffs on imports from China, 50%. If the country does not revoke its retaliatory tariffs on American products sold there.

I have great respect for China, but they can't do this. When countries don't allow us to sell our product, but we allow them to sell their product, those days are over. The Dow swinging 2,600 points, the most in one day ever, finally closing down more than 300 points. The Nasdaq up slightly. Markets had plummeted this morning. The S&P 500 at one point gaining back $2.4 trillion in market value

because of an incorrect report that the president was considering pausing some tariffs. We're not looking at that. We have many, many countries that are coming to negotiate deals with us. At least 50 countries, the administration says. You see a beautiful picture at the end. It's the only chance we're going to have to reset the table on trade. And when we do, we're going to have to reset the table on trade. And when we do, we're going to come out unbelievably well. We're going to have a strong country economically again. Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu became the first world leader to lobby the president in person after he slapped all countries with a baseline tariff of 10 percent,

with many charged much more. Israel hit with 17%. We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States. We intend to do it very quickly. The European Union is offering to slash tariffs on American-made cars and industrial products, even as it considers retaliatory measures of its own. Europe is always ready for a good deal, so we keep it on the table. Meanwhile, the White House is brushing off criticism from Democrats over the president playing golf in Florida over the weekend, as Americans worried about their retirement savings. President Trump, find a way to put down the golf clubs and pick up the papers, the financial papers. Take a real look at what's going on here, because it's anything but great.

Even key Trump ally Senator Ted Cruz is warning Republicans. If we go into a recession, particularly a bad recession, 2026 in all likelihood politically would be a bloodbath. But many Republicans are still backing the president's efforts to boost American businesses. I appreciate what the president is doing on tariffs, specifically in our home state of Wyoming. In terms of beef, the cattle producers, they're saying it is about time. Auto worker and union member Chris Vitale supports the president's plan. He thinks it'll help create manufacturing jobs in the U.S.

and that the market volatility will be worth it. This is just something to ride out. Trump's been consistent with a message for 40 years about the importance of a manufacturing base in a first world superpower country needs to have that. But in Florida, Emily Lay owns a small paper products company that imports heavily from China. She's now suing the Trump administration

and expects to pay more than $600,000 in tariffs over the next year. Is this sustainable? Absolutely not. I think what's happening is we're seeing ourselves being used as checker pieces in an international trade war board game. And gay President Trump made headlines today with some comments he made about Iran. Tell us about it. Yes, Lester, President Trump says the today with some comments he made about Iran. Tell us about it. Yes, Lester. President Trump says the U.S. will hold direct talks with Iran on Saturday to discuss a new nuclear deal, saying Iran will be in, quote, great danger if the talks don't succeed. He pulled out of the last deal in 2018, and negotiators from the two countries have not met face to face in a decade.

Lester. All right, Gabe. Thank you. Many CEOs have been careful not to publicly criticize the president. But tonight, some top business leaders are issuing warnings about the trade war. Christine Romans joins me. Christine, what are they saying? You know, billionaire Trump backer Bill Ackman calling tariffs a mistake and urging a 90 day pause on the new tariffs coming later this week. Otherwise, quote, we are heading for

a self-induced economic nuclear winter. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said, quote, the economy is weakening as we speak. And in a letter to shareholders, JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon said tariffs would likely worsen inflation and will slow down growth. Even Elon Musk over the weekend saying that Europe and the U.S. should be lowering tariffs to a zero tariff situation. Administration officials, though, on the airwaves downplaying the market turmoil as short term pain. All right, Christine, thanks. Tonight, urgent rescue is still underway as heavy rains and flash floods blast through states. Some of those impacted zones even setting records for rainfall. Maggie Vespa reports from hard-hit Tennessee. Tonight, a slow-motion disaster as widespread flooding swallows more communities across

America's Midwest and South. Six foot of water. This is not standing Tennessee water. This is six foot of water. Late today, authorities in Arkansas and Kentucky announcing three more deaths, including a 27-year-old man swept away by floodwaters Sunday, making for 24 people killed by severe weather in the last week. Among them, 9-year-old Gabriel Andrews,

also caught in a flash flood while walking to his school bus. Tonight, rescues stacking up. The state of Kentucky getting well over 15 inches of rain in four days, a new record. Remember, this event is not over until the waters have receded. Some already facing that aftermath. It's hard, but we're managing. We're okay. You okay? Okay. Okay. Okay. Shaquana Hart escaped her Hopkinsville home swimming through chest-high floodwater Friday. This is the mom of four's first time back.

What's the first thing you noticed? Damage. Just memories. It's material things. I still have my kids. They're alive. Devastation in a region already exhausted by days of deadly storms and tornadoes. Dawson Springs, Kentucky today still largely underwater. The police chief showing us the worst of it. How exhausted are people here? Very, very exhausted. And our community needs help. And Maggie Vespa joining us from Clarksville, Tennessee.

Maggie, the federal response getting some attention today. Yeah, Lester, that's right. President Trump has signed emergency declarations in several states, including here in Tennessee and in Kentucky. And today, that state's governor saying the Trump administration has been very responsive, but also blasting cuts to the National Weather Service, which he said saves so many lives. Lester. Maggie Vespa, thank you. In Oregon, scary moments after a small jet skittered off the runway and ended up in a neighboring bay.

Emergency crews rescued all four passengers and the pilot on board, taking them to a hospital for minor injuries. An investigation is underway. The Supreme Court has put on hold a lower court order that the Trump administration must return a Maryland man to the U.S. by midnight after he was deported to El Salvador in what the White House called an administrative error. Tom Costello is watching the fast-changing developments for us. In a late victory for the Trump administration, the Supreme Court today paused for now a lower court order that Kilmar Abrego Garcia must be brought back to the U.S. by tonight. The administration acknowledges an administrative

error was behind ICE agents mistakenly deporting Garcia to a notorious prison in El Salvador during a roundup of alleged gang members. ICE has testified, members of ICE, that he is an MS-13 gang member. Court documents show Garcia entered the U.S. illegally in 2011 and was later detained. A government informant identified him as a member of a violent MS-13 gang. Abrego Garcia's attorney denies he's a gang member. An immigration court ordered him deported but withheld deportation to his home country, El Salvador, citing threats to his life there. Now his wife is desperate to bring him home. I want to tell him that I miss him and that I'm fighting for him. Earlier today, an appeals court ruled against the administration,

writing the government has no legal authority to remove him from the country without due process. But then the Supreme Court issued a stay as it considers whether to vacate or uphold the return order. It's ridiculous that they're taking this case up to the Supreme Court. This is one guy. They made a mistake. They need to set it right. Tonight, the White House says, quote, the Supreme Court must continue to rein in the lower courts to ensure the rule of law prevails. Lester. Tom Costello, thank you. We turn out of the measles crisis and mounting frustration in Texas after a second unvaccinated child has died. Texas now saying the measles outbreak has expanded to include five more counties. Priscilla Thompson is in Lubbock. At the epicenter of the measles

outbreak in West Texas tonight, there's increasing worry. Does the mood feel more urgent today? Yeah, I mean, it definitely feels more urgent and we need to really double down. After this somber scene Sunday, when funeral services were held for the unvaccinated eight-year-old girl who died from the virus, officials say, and had no underlying conditions. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the ground, meeting with families whose unvaccinated children have died. Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic who has recently downplayed measles risk, later posting the most effective way to prevent the spread of measles is the MMR vaccine. More than 600 people have been infected with the rapidly spreading virus nationwide this year,

including nearly 500 in Texas alone. Shake, shake, shake. You want to shake it? Lena Scaff, who runs five early learning centers across the Lubbock area, thinks this will be a wake-up call. What it may have done is maybe made people say, oh, this is really real. And this is not just going to go away. Megan Messick, the co-owner of this daycare where six kids have been sickened, says more help is needed. I've had parents having to go to three to four different medical practices just to get tested. We need quick and accessible access to testing.

I mean, it would be great if you could have some kind of, you know, rapid test. I mean, that was a game changer with COVID. But it doesn't exist. It doesn't exist. And Lester, officials here say they'll likely see an uptick in vaccinations in the coming days as this virus, once eradicated in the U.S., tightens its grip. Lester. Priscilla Thompson, thanks.

In 60 seconds, our exclusive look deep inside a limestone mine where Elon Musk's Doge workers are on a critical mission to modernize literally miles of files linked to the federal retirement system. Back now with a major Doge project upgrading the federal retirement system. For decades, retirement requests have been processed entirely on paper at an old limestone mine. Our Garrett Haik was granted rare and exclusive access inside. Buried deep inside this mine in western Pennsylvania is a little-known government office that handles a critical mission for the federal workforce, now set to be overhauled by the Department of Government Efficiency. From the mine entrance, which they call the portal, we took some golf carts a few hundred feet down into the mine. You can feel the air change when you get inside. And you can see this is all just roughly cut out of the limestone.

This was once a limestone mine. And down here, this is where we find the OPM office, where a few hundred federal employees process all retirement paperwork for the entire federal government. It's an analog operation, all done on paper. It can take months for the Office of Personnel Management to process a case, potentially delaying retiree benefits. The facility has literally miles of files, some 26,000 filing cabinets filled with retirement paperwork, some of them stacked 10 high. Matt McIsaac runs the day-to-day operations inside. When you look out over all of this, what do you see?

I see people. I see careers. I see service. What do you mean a mine? When Elon Musk brought up the mine in an Oval Office appearance back in February as a target ripe for reform, McIsaac agreed. He's right. We have to improve the way that we do things for federal employees and for the American public. Musk asked billionaire Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia to take on the project of modernizing not just the mine's operation,

but the entire retirement system. When you look at a project like this, where do you even start? Well, how about here on File Academy 56? Gebbia says Doge engineers are working to create a fully digital experience with federal retirees, the hopeful, happy customers. Why can't we have an Apple store like experience in the government where you have great user experience, beautiful design, and up-to-date software? Aiming to upgrade a process long seemingly set in stone. Garrett Haik, NBC News, Boyers, Pennsylvania. We're back in a moment with an alarming report on how parents are warning daycares may be giving children a popular sleeping supplement without parents' knowledge. What we're finding out next. We are back with a look at the use of melatonin in daycares without parent permission.

The lack of regulation around the supplements has some parents concerned. NBC's Vicki Wynn reports. When Laura Putnam enrolled her sons at Apple Blossom Child Care in Falmouth, Maine, she never thought they'd be given melatonin supplements. They mimic a hormone that makes you sleepy. Have you ever given your children melatonin? No. Have you ever given anyone else permission to give melatonin to your children?

No. But last August, Putnam says she learned from a former daycare employee that he and others had been giving children, including her older son, then four years old, melatonin gummies. The employee showed her these texts he exchanged with the daycare owner. So she asked her son. He said, oh, it makes the babies go. And then he made a snoring sound. He told me he got them when he was younger and they made him very sleepy. I asked if his younger brother got them and he looked at me and said yes. In Maine, it's not illegal to give melatonin to kids, but daycares need written parent permission to do it.

Maine's Department of Health and Human Services launched an investigation looking into abuse, neglect and licensing violations. Four months later, Putnam says she was informed her older son was a victim of abuse neglect. I think I felt that, you know, I let my kids down. But last month, DHHS overturned its findings of abuse and neglect after an appeal. Owner Allison Lakin saying in part to NBC, Apple Blossom Child Care has earned and enjoyed an impeccable reputation for years, which has been and always will be based on conscientious care.

She's appealing the findings that she violated daycare licensing rules. It's maddening. It's nonsensical. Researchers say melatonin use is on the rise in kids. While parents should consult a doctor, pediatrician Rebecca Fisk doesn't recommend melatonin use in kids under five. We don't know what it does to growth and development. Is there any place for a melatonin supplement in a daycare? Not at all.

But just last year, child care staff in New Hampshire, Washington and Indiana made headlines for giving melatonin to children. One daycare director sentenced to six months in jail. Maine State Senator Teresa Peirce is introducing a bill to require daycare operators to notify parents if their center is under investigation. We need to protect kids and parents need to be informed. Putnam wants stiffer penalties. I would like to see some repercussions for mistreating children. And I don't feel like that has happened in my case.

A mom on a mission to expose melatonin misuse in children, often too young to talk. Vicki Nguyen, NBC News, Falmouth, Maine. And when we come back, we'll take you inside a retirement home for penguins. What researchers are learning from these birds of a certain age. The good news is next. There's good news tonight for the penguins at the New England Aquarium. The staff there creating a new island just for the older birds. Ann Thompson now with a retired life, penguin style. This is a fast crowd.

African penguins, the party animals of the New England Aquarium. But some are ready for a slower pace. So this is Geriatric Island? That's it, yes. This is the area we like to call the retirement home or assisted living community. Eric Fox is the human in charge. Separated by a mesh barrier from the younger set, the new island has flat spaces for older birds with arthritis or foot issues. Hi, buddy. Lambo. There's medical care like eye drops for vision problems and mealtime. There you go.

There you go. Nice job. Specially prepared fish are stuffed with vitamins or medicines according to each resident's needs. How many fish do they eat? It's really up to them. They're able to eat as many or as little fish as they want. All we simply do is record exactly what every penguin is eating. There are three couples on the island, most in their 20s and 30s. They mate for life. And now there's a new couple, 35-year-old Good Hope, the oldest penguin, and his wife, St. Croix. You can do the honors of opening up the carrier door and just swing it towards you

and let them do whatever they're going to do. Good Hope and St. Croix, welcome to your new home. Oh no, St. Croix first. In the wild, these penguins are endangered by pollution and climate change. Here, half of the 40 penguins will exceed their life expectancy of 15 years. The longer they live, the more we learn from them. And we're learning from these animals every single day. Penguins of a certain age, teaching and delighting people of all ages. Ann Thompson, NBC News, Boston. And that is nightly news for this Monday. Thank you for watching. I'm Lester Hull. Please take care of yourself and each other. Good night.