Ashley Anderson was hiking in with her two kids and her dogs on Memorial Day when she heard yelling.
“I look over and I didn’t even know what I was looking at at first,” she said. “It took me a second to register that it was a body.”
A 64-year-old grandfather had fallen 20 feet down waterfall in Utah’s Adams Canyon. Anderson, a school nurse, sprang into action and used her training to help him.
She told NBC affiliate KSL of Salt Lake City that the man had an “obviously broken” leg and that his head was “sliced open and bleeding.”
A hiker is airlifted to safety in Utah.Layton City Fire
When Anderson arrived, she and other hikers who had pitched in to help moved him out of the cold water that was covering him. She then began first aid.
She said she told the group she needed something to stop bleeding on the man’s head.
“This guy rips off his shirt and throws it on me, so we put that on his head, and several of us picked him up and moved him to a dry area over on the rocks,” Anderson recalled.
Rescue teams responded, using a helicopter to drop rescuers into the canyon before they lifted the man back up to safety.
Authorities said that the man was hiking with his children and grandchildren and that he fell after they got separated, KSL reported.
Anderson told the station the man’s family said he slipped and fell into the canyon. The station reported he shattered his kneecap and broke his femur but is expected to make a full recovery.
“I kind of think that I did what anyone would do,” Anderson said. “I don’t feel like I did anything like more heroic or more incredible.”
At his restaurant in Beijing, Geng Xiaoyun used to offer a special dish of salt-baked chicken feet — or “phoenix talons” as they are called in China — imported from America.
With prices climbing 30% from March due to tariffs, the owner of Kunyuan restaurant had to pull the Chinese delicacy from the menu.
“American chicken feet are so beautiful,” Geng said. “They’re spongy so they taste great. Chinese [chicken] feet just aren’t as good.”
Geng can now source chicken feet from Brazil or Russia but said they just don’t stand up to the American ones. He keeps a small stash for himself but hopes to serve his American phoenix talons once again.
“The price of American chicken feet will come back down,” he said, “as long as there are no big changes in the world’s political situation.”
But the 90-day tariff pause agreed by China and the U.S. in Geneva in May is now under threat as both sides have accused each other of breaching the terms.
On Monday, the Chinese Commerce Ministry responded to President Donald Trump’s claim that the country “totally violated its agreement.” The ministry pointed at recent U.S. artificial intelligence chip export controls as actions that “severely undermine” the Geneva pact.
As the world waits and watches, American agricultural products have been vanishing from Chinese stores and restaurants and losing ground to other imports.
U.S. Department of Agriculture grade beef has been a draw for years at Home Plate, a Beijing restaurant known locally for its American-style barbecue. However, staff said the restaurant stopped serving American beef last month.
Dishes like “The Great American” burger are made with beef imported from Australia.
Australian beef has zero duty under the terms of the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, though China does maintain the right to a safeguard limit on those imports.
Liu Li, a beef supplier at the Sanyuanli market for three decades, said the tariffs have disrupted supply, hiking the price of U.S. beef by 50% compared to before the tariff fight.
“U.S. beef is fattier and tastier,” Li said. “It’s a shame we’re in a trade war. The high price is just too much to bear.”
The combination of social media and legalized betting have created some distinctly antisocial outcomes.
The latest high-profile example happened in Major League Baseball. Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. received death threats after a rough outing last month against the Reds.
Via TheAthletic.com, the Houston Police Department determined the threats came from a “resident overseas.”
The man, who has not been identified, said he lost money betting on the Astros and was “frustrated and inebriated” when he made the threats.
No charges have been filed. Given that the person resides in another country, it would be complicated, to say the least.
Far more complicated than the effort necessary to make online death threats.
It happens far too often. And it’s important that the threats be investigated and, where possible, prosecuted.
“It’s been a tough evening,” McCullers said after it happened. “I understand people are very passionate and people love the Astros and love sports, but threatening to find my kids and murder them is a little bit tough to deal with.”
It won’t change unless those who make those threats are held accountable. The proliferation and ease of legalized gambling, where anyone in any jurisdiction that allows it can place wagers on their phones, makes it important for threats made via digital technology be handled no differently than threats made in person, over the phone, or through the mail.
It’s an issue for all sports, including the NFL. Once those who make those threats realize there’s a price to pay for it, they’ll knock it off.
Acting Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator David Richardson was joking when he said at a meeting Monday that he was not aware of the upcoming hurricane season, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
Reuters reported that Richardson said at a briefing that he was not aware the United States has a hurricane season, confusing staffers. The report, which said it was unclear if Richardson was serious or joking, cited four unnamed sources familiar with the situation.
“Despite meanspirited attempts to falsely frame a joke as policy, there is no uncertainty about what FEMA will be doing this Hurricane Season. FEMA is laser focused on disaster response, and protecting the American people,” a spokesperson for DHS said. The spokesperson added that Richardson is “activated in preparation for Hurricane Season.”
Richardson took the reins at FEMA last month. The previous acting administrator, Cameron Hamilton, was removed from his job after he told lawmakers at a congressional hearing that he did not believe the agency should be eliminated. DHS has denied that Hamilton’s ouster was related to his testimony.
FEMA is responsible for coordinating the government’s emergency response to areas affected by natural disasters, such as hurricanes. Hurricane season runs from June through November. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted there is a 60% chance of an above-normal season this year, during which the United States could get six to 10 hurricanes, three to five of which could be “major.”
Democrats blasted Richardson following the report about the meeting.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., referred to the Reuters report when he wrote on X, “And I’m unaware of why he hasn’t been fired yet.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., also took aim at Richardson, writing on X, “Bare minimum requirement for the leader of FEMA: know when hurricane season is.”
President Donald Trump and his allies have repeatedly floated the idea of terminating the emergency disaster agency.
During a visit to North Carolina in January to survey the damage of Hurricane Helene, which swept across the state late last year, Trump suggested overhauling or doing away with FEMA, calling it “very bureaucratic” and “very slow.”
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has also suggested that FEMA should be eliminated. But without an alternative plan and with hurricane season approaching, Noem has also quietly made efforts to keep the agency running, sources familiar with the situation have told NBC News.
Gabe Gutierrez
Gabe Gutierrez is a senior White House correspondent for NBC News.
In 2021, T.J. Watt held in at training camp while waiting for a contract extension. He was present to avoid daily fines, but he did not participate in the on-field work to avoid injury.
Watt ended up signing a four-year, $112 million extension three days before the start of the season.
It could be headed that way again.
A day after a report that the Steelers have made a “pretty substantial” offer to Watt but “probably not” what Watt is looking for in his new deal comes word that nothing is imminent. Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that the sides are talking with the “expectation they will come to some agreement . . . before the start of the regular season.”
The sides might have “some resistance and not-so-minor stumbling blocks along the way” to a deal, Dulac adds.
The Steelers have a club policy that ends all negotiations once the season begins, so they have three months to iron out an agreement.
Watt’s new deal is expected to top the four-year, $160 million extension the Browns gave to edge rusher Myles Garrett.
Watt, 30, led the league in sacks three of the previous five seasons, including matching the NFL’s all-time single-season record (22.5) in 2021. He is a seven-time Pro Bowler and a four-time All-Pro.
It was a day of celebration (and perhaps some tears of joy) for fans of the Big Bear, California, eaglets as Sunny took flight and left the family nest for the first time.
For the last couple of months, animal lovers have become enamored and fascinated with wild female and male bald eagle couple Jackie and Shadow’s journey. From the laying of their eggs to the hatching of three eaglets, to now one of their offspring flying off to explore its surroundings.
Sunny, the Big Bear eaglet, took its first flight Monday.Friends of Big Bear Valley
One of the eaglets, Sunny, had a major milestone moment on Monday, when she flapped her wings and flew from the nest.
“At 10:46 am this morning, Sunny flew from the upper Y-branch right out into the world! She put up her wings to catch the wind and then jumped up and let those beautiful wings carry her,” Friends of Big Bear Valley wrote on its website and Instagram page. “She circled back around toward Shadow and Jackie’s favorite roost tree…Gizmo watched the whole thing from right beside Sunny.”
The video shows Sunny making the big leap, with the camera angle changing and finding the eaglet perched near the top of a roost tree.
The organization noted that Sunny “may return to the nest…Jackie and Shadow’s previous eaglets have all done that. It is all up to her at this point.”
By 2:45 p.m. PT, Jackie and Shadow were seen in the nest with Gizmo eating some food they caught.
At publishing time, Sunny had yet to return to the nest.
News of Sunny’s first flight comes days after FOBBV determined that the two eaglets were females.
During the last few days, Sunny had been venturing out further onto the branches of the tree where the nest is, at times hovering just above. On Saturday, the cameras captured the brave eaglet hovering for about 2.5 seconds.
With June 1 arriving, it’s easier for certain trades to be finalized from a cap perspective. Not coincidentally, the 49ers have announced the anticipated trade for Eagles defensive end Bryce Huff.
The Eagles will receive “a mid-round pick” in the 2026 draft. (Why be coy? Just tell us the round, Niners.)
The trade, like every other trade, hinges on Huff passing a physical.
The trade reunites Huff with former Jets coach Robert Saleh, who has returned to San Francisco as the defensive coordinator.
Huff signed a three-year, $51.1 million deal with the Eagles in 2024, after spending his first four years with the Jets.
In his only season with the Eagles, Huff appeared in 12 games with six starts. He had 2.5 regular-season sacks.
Huff was a healthy scratch in the Super Bowl.
The arrival gives the 49ers a pass rusher who is familiar with the team’s defense. For the Eagles, the deal represents a willingness to acknowledge a rare mistake and move on. Which is always better than stubbornly doubling down.
The Trump administration has been turning to DNA technology to help find and arrest immigrants, including children, but immigration advocates say it has been slow to spell out how it’s using and overseeing the genetic information.
Three groups sued the Department of Homeland Security on Monday after trying to get records about the data collection program since last summer, during the Biden administration.
The plaintiffs are the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy & Technology, part of the Georgetown University Law School that focuses on privacy and surveillance law and policy; the Amica Center for Immigrant Rights and Americans for Immigrant Justice, both immigrant rights groups.
The groups describe in their lawsuit their back-and-forth with DHS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection since they originally requested information about their DNA collection from noncitizens on Aug. 1, 2024.
Since 2020, DHS has expanded its DNA collection program and increased DNA contributions to the FBI’s database, CODIS, by 5,000%, becoming the largest contributor, according to the Georgetown center. The DNA database of the FBI can be accessed by police across the country for criminal investigations, the plaintiff groups said in a statement.
Stevie Glaberson, director of research and advocacy at the Georgetown center, said in a statement that DHS is expanding its database by “collecting DNA from people accused of no crime and while operating with none of the constraints that are supposed to be in place before the government compels someone to give over their most sensitive personal information.”
He said Americans deserve more visibility on the program and said DHS’s lack of transparency is unacceptable.
NBC News has contacted DHS for comment.
Daniel Melo, senior staff attorney with Amica’s Immigration Impact Lab, told NBC News that previous administrations have also collected DNA. A 2005 law mandated federal agencies collect DNA from people in custody, including noncitizens.
Privacy and civil rights groups have long had issues with the government’s DNA collection program. Melo said the public should be concerned whether people are being advised of their rights and how the information is being collected and used.
“This information could tentatively be used in all sorts of ways to map full communities, to basically build a more intricate web of surveillance around noncitizen communities,” Melo said.
He said if DHS can continue to collect the DNA of noncitizens, essentially “experimenting” on them, “then they are able to refine these technologies and deploy them in new and interesting and probably really dangerous and scary ways on the rest of us.”
Emily Tucker, the Georgetown center’s executive director, said in a statement that “it is a mistake to think of DHS’ DNA collection program as ‘immigration enforcement.’”
“Trump is using immigration powers to justify the activities of his militarized federal police force because there is so little institutional or judicial oversight or accountability for executive enforcement actions that invoke ‘immigration authority,” she said in a statement. “This program is one part of a massive surveillance dragnet that sweeps in information about everyone. They will use it for deportation, but they will also use it to intimidate, silence, and target anyone they perceive as the enemy.”
Welcome to the online version of From the Politics Desk, an evening newsletter that brings you the NBC News Politics team’s latest reporting and analysis from the White House, Capitol Hill and the campaign trail.
Happy Monday and welcome to our first edition of June! The Senate is back this week and will begin the process of taking up the “big, beautiful bill” the House passed. Sahil Kapur breaks down the challenges facing GOP leaders as they try to send the legislation to President Donald Trump’s desk by July 4. Plus, Scott Bland digs into the archives for a quote from the 2016 campaign trail from a Republican that provides a guide for Democrats today.
Senate GOP leaders face spending squeeze on Trump’s big bill
By Sahil Kapur
The House-passed legislation for President Donald Trump’s domestic agenda is moving to the Senate, where Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., is facing a squeeze from opposing party factions about how to modify it.
Spending and the debt: Some Republicans say they want steeper spending cuts to offset the debt increase as a result of the tax breaks and funding bumps for immigration enforcement and the military. That includes Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., both of whom have said they cannot support the bill in its current form as it adds an estimated $2.3 trillion to the debt.
“It’s wrong. It’s immoral. It has to stop,” Johnson said Sunday on Fox News. “My loyalty is to the American people, to my kids and grandkids. We cannot continue to mortgage their future.”
Medicaid: On the other hand, Thune must navigate worries and political considerations from senators about the existing spending cuts in the legislation — particularly on Medicaid, SNAP and clean energy funding.
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, voted for the Senate’s initial budget blueprint to begin work on the bill, but later objected to a revised version, citing concerns that it could impact her constituents who rely on Medicaid coverage.
Collins is up for re-election in 2026, along with Sens. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., and Joni Ernst, R-Iowa. All are likely to face attacks from Democrats about the stricter burdens for Americans to stay on the health care program.
And at least one solid Trump ally from a red state is warning against rolling back Medicaid. “I’ve got some concerns,” Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told reporters recently. “I continue to maintain my position; we should not be cutting Medicaid benefits.”
Hawley notably told NBC News last month he’s fine with “coverage losses” resulting from the work requirements and anti-fraud measures. So he may ultimately get in line with the bill, as Trump and Republican leaders are portraying the Medicaid provisions as program integrity measures, instead of cuts to rescind coverage.
Regardless, Hawley’s vocal support for preserving Medicaid benefits creates a potential land mine for Republicans to maneuver around, making it harder to cut deeper than the House bill if they want more savings to appease spending hawks.
Clean energy: As part of the spending caution, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, says there is a faction of GOP senators who opposes the “termination” of the clean energy tax credits passed by Democrats in 2022, which Republican leaders have put on the chopping block to finance their bill.
Getting technical: And there’s a procedural hurdle Thune must navigate: The so-called “Byrd bath.” Senate rules limit bills under the “reconciliation” process — which Republicans are using here to bypass Democrats in the Senate — to budgetary measures that are primarily about dollars and cents, not policy changes. Democrats are preparing to challenge a host of provisions in the package.
In the end, the three-vote margin for defection may give Thune the breathing room he needs to pass the bill. But any changes the Senate makes need to go back to the House for another vote in the paper-thin majority.
And Thune is on deadline, as the Treasury Department has said Congress needs to pass a debt ceiling increase — which is part of the broader package — no later than July in order to prevent a catastrophic default.
Up until now, the GOP’s deadlines have all been fuzzy. But this one is real.
A key lesson Democrats can learn from 2016 candidate Marco Rubio
Analysis by Scott Bland
Donald Trump and Marco Rubio during a Republican presidential primary debate in Detroit on March 3, 2016.Paul Sancya / AP file
Democrats are in regroup mode after losing the 2024 election, acutely aware of the party’s low standing with the American public and thinking through everything from their policy platform to where and how they talk to voters — like the $20 million pitch reported by The New York Times for a research project titled “Speaking with American Men: A Strategic Plan.”
More power to them, if someone wants to fund it. And Democrats desperately want to do something to move forward right now.
They might want to consider some long-ago advice from one Marco Rubio about what really matters for a political party’s viability — and why it could take an excruciatingly long time to get there.
When Rubio — currently President Donald Trump’s secretary of state — was running for president in August 2015, he gave a prescient response to questions about then-candidate Donald Trump’s rhetoric about immigration. Asked by CNBC whether the way Trump and others were talking about immigrants would hurt the Republican Party in the 2016 general election, Rubio said, “This is not the Republican Party. These are individual candidates who are responsible for their own rhetoric and what they say,” adding, “The face of the Republican Party is going to be our nominee.”
Rubio hit a similar theme days later, speaking to Bloomberg News in New Hampshire: “Ultimately the Republican Party will reach out to all voters based on who our nominee is. And I don’t believe Donald Trump will be our nominee.”
Don’t be distracted by the admittedly big thing that Rubio got wrong. The broader point is that American political parties are shaped and defined by their candidates.
The biggest and best thing that the Democratic Party can do to change voter perceptions of itself is to nominate a national candidate that voters see more favorably. The party can’t just erase former President Joe Biden’s struggles and former Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss to Trump — especially among the slice of Democrats fed up with their own party right now, a big contributor to those record-low poll numbers. That’s just stuck to the Democratic brand right now.
Of course, Democrats aren’t going to nominate another presidential candidate for three years or so. Perhaps that’s why some are itching to get that contest started sooner rather than later. Even formally nominating the party’s next slate of congressional or Senate contenders is a year or so away.
It’s no wonder that research and investment efforts are getting a lot of attention — on the long road to fixing a party brand, that’s what’s available right now.
🗞️ Today’s top stories
⚫ Boulder attack: A man who shouted “free Palestine” and used a “makeshift flamethrower” on demonstrators marching in support of Israeli hostages held by Hamas was charged with a federal hate crime and first-degree murder in Colorado. Follow live updates →
⚖️ SCOTUS watch: Trump’s agenda is shaping the Supreme Court’s traditional monthlong ruling season, as consequential emergency cases flood the docket. Read more →
⚖️ SCOTUS watch, cont.: The high court decided not to hear two big gun cases, a decision that allows restrictions on assault-style weapons in Maryland and large-capacity magazines in Rhode Island to remain in effect. Read more →
⚕️ Obamacare wars: Congressional Republicans are facing new pressure to extend expiring tax credits under the Affordable Care Act. If the money lapses this year, 5 million Americans would be expected to lose coverage and others would face premium hikes. Read more →
🍎 Big Apple battle: New York Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado launched a primary challenge against Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul. Read more →
💰 2028 watch: Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., launched a new national political action committee to fight back against Trump and the GOP. Read more →
🤖 Conspiracy corner: Over the weekend, Trump reposted a baseless claim on Truth Social that former President Joe Biden was executed in 2020 and replaced with clones or robots. Read more →
On Sunday, four witnesses told NBC News journalists in Gaza that the Israel Defense Forces opened fire on a group of Palestinians receiving food from a collection point in Rafah, in the south of the enclave. At least 31 Palestinians were killed and more than 200 were wounded in the event, according to Gaza hospitals director Mohammed Zaqout.
Witnesses who spoke to NBC News described a chaotic scene.
Ahmad Abu Labdeh, 28, said an Israeli tank had fired into the crowd.
“They told us to come and collect aid, and when we gathered, they opened fire on us,” he said. “It was hell.”
The reports were vigorously denied by the IDF and the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, the U.S. and Israel-backed organization that was distributing the aid.
In a statement issued Monday, the GHF said “there were no injuries, fatalities or incidents” during their operations on Sunday.
“We have yet to see any concrete evidence that there was an attack at or near our facility yesterday and that evidence-based reporting should be at least the minimum requirement for news outlets,” the GHF said.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee blasted the media for their reporting on the incident, saying the outlets are contributing to “the antisemitic climate” in the country.
