Author: Grace Thompson

For the second time this week, a federal judge temporarily banned a federal aid money freeze ordered by the Trump administration on Friday, siding with a coalition of 22 states. The broad mandate in the Office of Management and Budget memo that generated chaos and confusion this week in Washington and around the nation seemed to be illegal, according to the opinion of U.S. District Judge John J. McConnell in Rhode Island. "The Executive s action unilaterally suspends the payment of federal funds to the States and others simply by choosing to do so," the judge stated. "The Executive cites no legal authority allowing it to do so; indeed, no federal law would authorize the Executive's unilateral action here," McConnell continued, approving the coalition's request for a temporary restraining o...

In remembrance of Capt. Jonathan J. Campos, the pilot of the aircraft involved in the fatal midair crash, friends and family are sharing tales of his humor, love of flying, and commitment. All 67 persons on board both planes were killed when Campos' American Eagle flight from Kansas collided with an Army helicopter over the Potomac River near Reagan National Airport on Wednesday. Hector Campos, his uncle, told NBC News in a quick phone interview on Thursday that his nephew "was a great kid". "That s all I want to say." In an interview with Telemundo Puerto Rico, NBC's sister station in the U.S. territory, Campos' stepmother, Sonia Carrasquillo, requested privacy on behalf of the family. Hector Campos said the family was traveling on Friday to Washington, D.C. Reporter Catherine Silver of O...

In testimony before the Senate this week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made it apparent that he would prioritize chronic illnesses over infectious ones if he were confirmed as secretary of health and human services. Kennedy told the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions on Thursday that we have spent a lot of money on drug development and infectious disease research, but not much on chronic illness. Kennedy attributed the excessive expense of health care to the prevalence of chronic diseases in the US and said he was in a unique position to stop it. In his introductory remarks, he noted that the prevalence of chronic diseases in children should be given priority, along with the rising incidence of diabetes, cancer, obesity, and asthma. (The National Survey of Children's Healt...

Their plane struck an Army helicopter over the Potomac River only minutes before they were scheduled to land at Ronald Reagan National Airport, which is close to Washington, D.C. The deaths of the three troops on the Black Hawk chopper and all 60 passengers and four crew members on American Eagle Flight 5342 were sealed in a horrific moment that was caught on camera and broadcast around the globe. I don't think we will locate any survivors at this time. Following a desperate but fruitless search for survivors of the Wednesday night collision, Fire Chief John Donnelly declared Thursday that Washington, D.C. For real-time updates, click this link. The flight originated in Wichita, Kansas, and carried over a dozen passengers, including those returning from a training camp after the 2025 U.S....

What we know about the crash and investigation All 67 people aboard an American Eagle flight from Kansas and an Army helicopter were killed in a collision Wednesday night over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, officials said. The cause of the collision is unclear, and the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. A source familiar with the investigation told NBC News a single air traffic controller was atypically handling both planes and helicopters in the area. Investigators last night recovered two flight data recorders black boxes from the American Eagle jet and recovery teams are preparing to return to the river this morning. President Donald Trump implied that diversity, equity and inclusi...

After federal agencies were instructed to follow a White House directive to remove specific wording related to diversity, equity, and inclusion, certain government websites were momentarily offline on Friday. Among the pages that went blank were those for the Justice Department, the Census Bureau, and the Federal Aviation Administration. Later, the Justice Department and FAA returned to the internet. This week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order stating that the federal government should only recognize the male and female genders. By 5 p.m. Friday, all federal government references to gender ideology must be eliminated, according to a letter published by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) that NBC News was able to get. A request for comment on how long such website chan...

Although the investigation into the deadly accident is still ongoing, President Donald Trump hinted Thursday at his first press conference since the plane crash over the Potomac River that diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives may be the reason. Trump stated Thursday morning that we must appoint our most intelligent individuals to serve as air traffic controllers. It makes no difference who they are, how they speak, or how they seem. They must be gifted, gifted by nature. Geniuses. Ordinary folks cannot perform their jobs. This job cannot be performed by ordinary persons. We'll rebuild trust in American aviation, even though they can't. Trump talked extensively about the Federal Aviation Administration's DEI programs, especially those implemented under Presidents Barack Obama and J...

According to a WhatsApp representative who spoke to NBC News, an Israeli spyware outfit named Paragon Solutions is suspected of targeting about 90 customers of Meta's communication program WhatsApp with a spyware operation. According to the spokesperson, the hack specifically targeted users in more than two dozen countries, mostly in Europe, including journalists and civil society activists. They further stated that Paragon Solutions targeted the users by employing avector, a technique for gaining unauthorized access to a network, and that the vector included mailing a malicious PDF file and leveraging groups. The business has effectively blocked this avenue of exploitation, the representative continued. Following the string of attempted attacks, WhatsApp delivered a cease-and-desist let...

The administration is rushing to ensure it has space to lodge its inmates and fulfill President Donald Trump's pledge to deport them as the number of immigration arrests rises. Tom Homan, Trump's "border czar," told NBC News that Immigration and Customs Enforcement needs a total of 100,000 beds, which is more than twice as many as it already has. When Trump directed the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday to set up 30,000 beds at Guant Namo Bay for detainees he claimed posed the worst threat to American security, he was hinting at the need for additional space. According to Jesse Franzblau, a senior policy analyst with the National Immigrant Justice Center, the immigration detention room serves as the mainstay of the mass deportation strategy, where individuals ar...

The first solo female rapper to win a Grammy for lifetime achievement is hip-hop artist Roxanne Shant, who pioneered the genre as a teenage battle rapper in the 1980s. I never would have imagined that I would win a Grammy. Ahead of the presentation on Saturday, where lifetime achievement and other special honors will be given out, Shant, 55, told NBC News this week. I was done with music. It's incredible for me to get a lifetime award for my choices rather than my music, Shant remarked. Even if a lot of individuals chose to do the wrong thing by me, I'm here to support everyone else in choosing to do the right thing. Her narrative begins in the early 1980s, when hip-hop was just getting started. She was a mainstay of the underground rap culture in New York City by the age of ten, and by ...