Good Friday afternoon. Police say there’s been a deadly shooting at an Arkansas grocery store, the Supreme Court issued a major ruling on guns today, and Joe Biden and Donald Trump are entering the final weekend before their first 2024 debate. Here is what’s in our Nightly Rundown. |
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2 dead, 8 wounded in shooting at grocery store in Arkansas |
A gunman opened fire at an Arkansas grocery store today, killing at least two people and wounding eight others, state police said. Officers responded at approximately 11:30 a.m. CT to the incident at the Mad Butcher grocery store in Fordyce, about 70 miles south of Little Rock, state police said in a statement. One law enforcement officer was among those shot and has non-life-threatening injuries, according to the statement. Police said the shooter was critically injured after being shot by law enforcement, and has been taken into custody. |
Supreme Court upholds ban on domestic abusers owning guns |
The Supreme Court today upheld a federal law preventing individuals under a domestic violence restraining order from possessing a gun. The 8-1 ruling is the court’s first major Second Amendment ruling since it expanded gun rights by striking down a New York law in 2022. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts said that since the U.S. was founded, “our nation’s firearm laws have included provisions preventing individuals who threaten physical harm to others from misusing firearms." Justice Clarence Thomas was the lone dissenter, writing that “not a single historical regulation justifies the statute at issue."
The Supreme Court, which traditionally ends its term at the end of June, has yet to decide several major cases, including former President Donald Trump’s claims of immunity in his federal election interference case, and the battle over Idaho’s abortion ban. |
Dangerous heat wave shifts south, 65 million under alerts |
The brutal heat dome that’s been baking the Midwest and Northeast for days is shifting south, with 65 million people under heat alerts from the Ohio Valley to the Mid-Atlantic. Highs will be close to records this afternoon in cities such as Cincinnati, Lexington, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Trenton, and Harrisburg. On Saturday and Sunday, temperatures could hit 100 degrees in Baltimore and Washington, D.C., potentially breaking records. Philadelphia could hit 99 degrees on Sunday, breaking a record set in 1888. We’re also tracking two disturbances that could become tropical depressions over the next few days, one off the coast of Florida, the other in the southwestern Gulf of Mexico. |
Trump expects Biden to be a “worthy debater” after attacking his cognitive abilities |
Former President Donald Trump is raising expectations for President Joe Biden’s performance in the debate next week, after months of attacks on his opponent’s mental fitness. “I assume he's going to be somebody that will be a worthy debater,” Trump said on a podcast released Thursday. “I don’t want to estimate him.” With the showdown now just six days away, the candidates are preparing in very different ways, with Biden huddling with advisers at Camp David this weekend, and Trump taking a more informal approach with private policy sessions, according to the campaigns. The two rivals are also locked in a big money race, with the Trump campaign now reporting it has more cash in its war chest than Biden’s, fueled in part by tens of millions in donations after his criminal conviction. And NBC News has new reporting that two top contenders appear to have emerged in Trump’s Veepstakes. |
Judge in Trump documents case hears challenge to special counsel |
The judge in Donald Trump’s classified documents case heard a motion to dismiss the charges against the former president today, on the grounds that special counsel Jack Smith’s appointment was unconstitutional. The defense argued that the power to appoint special counsels could allow the Justice Department to create a “shadow government.” U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, appeared skeptical and pushed the former president’s attorneys to defend that claim. “That sounds very ominous, a shadow government. But what does that mean?” Cannon asked. Cannon’s handling of the case has come under scrutiny, with critics saying she has wasted too much time holding hearings as Trump tries to delay the trial past the election. |
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What else we're watching: |
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Ryan Watson, one of five American tourists arrested in Turks and Caicos after small amounts of ammunition where found in their bags, avoided jail time and was fined $2,000 at his sentencing today. |
A couple from Pennsylvania was killed after they were caught in rip currents off a Florida beach while on vacation with their six children, authorities said. |
For the second time this year, a U.S. tourist was killed by an elephant in Zambia. |
Justin Timberlake is scheduled to return to the stage in Chicago tonight, for the first time since his arrest on a DUI charge early Tuesday morning. |
In a video shared on Instagram, Taylor Swift can be seen using a fire extinguisher to put out flames that erupted in her New York City apartment. |
Look up into the night sky this evening, and you might catch a glimpse of the rare strawberry moon. |
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Watch us this evening at 6:30 p.m. ET / 5:30 p.m. CT on NBC, or check your local NBC station listing. After the broadcast, access Nightly News video on NBCNightlyNews.com or the NBC News app. |
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