government reported a second straight quarter of negative economic growth. so this complicated picture is why president biden is pushing back against talk of a recession. with both senator schumer and manchin. that s consistent with the transition to a stable steady growth and lower inflation, but if you look at our job market consumer spending, business investment, we see signs of economic progress in the second quarter as well. joining us now to take a closer look at this, cnbc senior economics reporter steve liesman and ben white, politico chief economic correspondent and host of the politico money podcast. steve, when you take all of this data into account, all these indexes, what does it tell you about the state of the economy right now? it tells us that for sure the economy has slowed. remember, we did like 6% growth in the fourth quarter and now we ve come off two quarters in a row. the first quarter we came off because of what was happening with inventories. thi
31 past the hour. moments ago president biden approved a disaster declaration for kentucky. the governor described what they are going through is, quote, one of the worst most devastating flooding events in kentucky s history. unprecedented rainfall led to flash flooding wiping out hundreds of homes and leaving residents stranded on rooftops, some even hanging from trees. many people are still unaccounted for, and more rain is expected this weekend. the governor providing an update this morning. we have now lost at least 15 kentuckians though that number is going to grow, probably more than double. we know that some of the loss will include children. we may have even lost entire families. joining us right now on the phone with the latest from jackson, kentucky is nbc s jesse
one town being described as an island. we ll talk with the mayor of duluth straight ahead. sandusky bombshell. an adopted son of the penn state coach claims he too was molested by his father, and he s offering to testify. will new charges be filed? we re live at the courthouse. plus oh, my god. you re so fat. karen, you re fat. southwest airlines reached out to us today. they d like to send you and nine people to disneyland in california. you ve got to be kidding me. the bullies who taunted and teased karen klein humbled today after the jokers fess up and say we re sorry. karen is stunned by all the support. happy friday. newsroom begins right now. good morning to you. i m carol costello. we begin this morning with your money. less than 30 minutes from now, wall street tries to rebound from a double whammy. one of its worst days in months. major american banks slammed by ratings agency moody s. bank of america, goldman sachs, jp morgan chase, morgan stanley,
plays such a huge role in this brush fire. you mentioned jumped i-95. that s how vicious the winds were blowing yesterday when this storm farther to the north was at its peak. and just taking that smoke and moving it sideways as opposed to moving it up. and that obviously reduces visibility and, well, that s why they had to shut down that roadway. i look for improving conditions later on this afternoon. but this warning is going to be a dicey situation all around. guys? thank you. you bet. from florida, the mid south and the midwest now a powerful winter storm is being felt this morning. the effects of it continue to be felt. as the snow melts, this is what it looked like in knoxville, tennessee. this is what it looks like right now in knoxville, tennessee. heavy rains yesterday spent rivers of water down streets. police say dozens of people had to be rescued from their cars. in franklin county, tennessee, along the state s border with alabama, more severe flooding wiping out hom