happy good friday. i m bill hemmer. happy good friday to you. it s time to break out some colors, i decided, indeed. i m dana perino. this is america s newsroom. let s get you to the numbers. the united states added 236,000 jobs last month. that is the weakest growth since december of 2020. unemployment it ticked down to 3.5%. we re crunching the numbers. hello, steve. is this good? is this bad? what s it tell smart guys like you? what it tells you that things are beginning to slow. what is more important is what happened earlier this week, the report on manufacturing. report on surfaces, isns, purchase managers, a very good indicator of what s about to happen. manufacturing is in a serious decline. services, which have been a mainstay in terms of people being able to spend on services again after the lockdowns, that s beginning to show signs of weakening. people s savings are beginning to be run down. credit card debt is beginning to go up. the storm clouds are there
pounding air rescues like this one captured by the pasadena fire department. thisng an rv plunging into the santa clara river after teetering on the edge of a cliff. we re tracking where it s headed next. a fresh wave of violence across ukraine. overnight russia launching more than a dozen unmanned drones into ukraine exhausting air defenses according to ukrainian officials. now u.s. officials says china is weighing whether to send artillery and ammunition to help russia s campaign. the new response from china this morning. court is back in session in the alex murdaugh double murder trial. after blockbuster testimony from the defendant himself, how soon it could be in the hands of the jury. the extreme weather impacting millions of americans this morning. we re tracking damage in the central u.s. after reports of several tornadoes touched down in oklahoma overnight. california faces the possibility of more snow. in the aftermath of historic winter weather that brought u
good reason, and not really caring for the dodgers, if it is the yankees/dodgers, i, along with everybody else, will be watching that world series because of all the superstars on both of those teams. i mean, it does depend on who is in the series. it does, for sure. even by that, with a good matchup or a matchup with a big market, it s a tough comparison to the super bowl, effectively a national holiday. taylor swift is in the stands. you have usher. all the things that come with that. i agree, joe, the new rules from last year, seeing it this year, the games are moving. there s more action. there s base stealing, like you and i watched in the 80s. the game is on a good trajectory. steve rattner, thanks for the charts, as always. ahead this morning, as house republicans push forward with their presidential impeachment inquiry, democrats are demanding to see any shred of evidence of a crime. we have a heated exchange between the top members of the
shift, having the pitchers and batters not being able to play in the batter s box on the mound, where a batter would come up to bat, take a pitch, and go to miami for five days and come back to take the second pitch. they ve already shortened the game. the game has become more exciting. more base stealing, everything like that. it will take a while before fans realize. younger people will see how baseball should be played. my point was, if baseball can turn itself around, the country will. you ll see it in the 2024 elections. serious debate on what do we do with the tax code, spending, regulations, what do we do to stop the crazy roller coaster with the dollar, which is very, very disruptive. i m sorry to interrupt, but i want to get this into you here, this call for number three. what do we need to know about china and russia, the attempts to weaken the u.s. dollar? bloomberg says that china replaces the dollar as the most traded currency in russia.
rules. it will create more offense, more action so to speak. i like the speed of baseball. i like going out and making it an all day thing. reporter: other changes include those giant bases designed to promote more steals for players like john birdie. you ve lead the major league with 41 stolen bases. you re looking at this bag right here. it s nice. nice and big. so you like this? this is a good thing? yeah, i mean, hopefully it encourages more of the old school type baseball, more athleticism, more base stealing. reporter: it s a in era for a sport that owns a special place in american culture. and home plate remains the same size. the degree of subjectivity here, the umpire gets a buzz when that clock reaches zero, but the question becomes did the pitcher become his motion or not. the ball doesn t have to be in the air. he just has to start the motion. it s the same way for the hitters when they re in the batting box, are they engaging right here at eight seconds loo