Lutnick agrees to testify about Nvidia and Microsoft outage hits millions: Morning Rundown

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick agreed to testify before a Senate committee about Nvidia. A Microsoft outage hits millions of users worldwide. And a deadly Washington, D.C., shooting followed a legal feud over mold in a condo.

Here’s what to know today.

Commerce secretary agrees to testify about Nvidia as national security concerns grow

01:59

Facing bipartisan pressure, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick has agreed to testify before Congress regarding the expanding Nvidia scandal.

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The announcement came hours after Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang resigned following reports that he had multiple extramarital relationships, including one with a suspected Chinese spy.

Earlier Thursday, Republican Sen. Tim Scott, chair of the Senate Banking Committee, sent letters to Lutnick and Huang asking them to “appear voluntarily” at a public hearing. Other lawmakers, including the top Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, have demanded answers from Lutnick about the Trump administration’s “approval of advanced AI chip exports.”

The White House has defended Lutnick and Huang has previously praised the commerce secretary for helping to advance U.S. efforts to maintain its leadership in AI.

The scrutiny surrounding Huang gained widespread attention after Nvidia said Sunday that it was investigating whether he had fallen victim to a foreign intelligence operation. Then The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Huang had also had an extramarital relationship with a married Nvidia executive who reported directly to him.

More on the mounting political pressure.

Related coverage on the Nvidia scandal:

• Who is Colette Kress? The company’s interim CEO has been its chief financial officer since 2013 and is a familiar face on Wall Street.

• For subscribers: What to know about the loophole that allowed Chinese companies to access Nvidia’s chips.

• For subscribers: Nvidia’s specialized processing chips lie at the heart of the AI boom. So what happens next?

• For subscribers: The honey trap, explained: The fake romance tactic stretches as far back as the Bible and has been used to ensnare congressmen and colonels.

Microsoft outage hits millions of global users

00:54

A massive global outage affecting more than a dozen Microsoft cloud services, including Outlook and Teams, stretched into Friday as the tech giant struggled to restore services critical to the daily operations of governments, schools and businesses around the world.

In an overnight update, Microsoft said it was “seeing positive results for server stability” and was “not aware of any malicious activity that is causing this incident.” The company had said in updates Wednesday afternoon that it was troubleshooting server problems.

Email traffic for many of the tech giant’s 450 million users ground to a halt around midday Wednesday, with email programs freezing or crashing and mobile devices unable to refresh inboxes or send messages.

Follow our live coverage.

Democrats look to reverse Medicaid and food stamp cuts

After taking control of Congress, Democratic leaders in the House and Senate said they would move quickly to reverse cuts to Medicaid and food stamps enacted under President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill.” But they may have to work with the president to get anything through, and his elevation of Stephen Miller to chief of staff has raised questions about his willingness to compromise. Democrats also fall short of the 60 Senate votes needed to overcome a Republican filibuster.

Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed of Michigan had one suggestion for winning the president’s support: Call the initiatives “Trumpcare for All” if that’s what it takes to secure his signature.

Policy experts warn that Democrats may have to settle for incremental changes, such as delaying the introduction of work requirements or expanding the list of exemptions. But with millions of people affected by the Trump administration’s changes, activists are urging Democrats to act quickly.

The “big, beautiful bill’s” effect on Medicaid and SNAP programs.

More politics news:

• Sen. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said he will run for Senate majority leader as calls grow for Democrats to select an alternative to Sen. Chuck Schumer.

• Democrat Sen. Cindy Holscher narrowly won Kansas’ race for governor against Republican state Senate President Ty Masterson.

D.C. shooting followed a lengthy legal fight

02:19

The suspect in Wednesday’s shooting in Washington, D.C., which left one person dead and four others injured, was identified as Matt Lambert, an emergency room doctor embroiled in a lengthy and costly legal battle with his condominium association. Lambert alleged that his home, valued at more than $1 million, had suffered mold and water damage.

As the shooting unfolded, one witness said he saw a person fall from a chair with “blood coming from his head.” Others said they did not initially realize what the noise was. After the shooting ended, Lambert was found dead inside his condo from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The person killed was identified as James Stuart, the building’s manager and a “central fact witness” in Lambert’s lawsuit against the condominium association.

Read more about Lambert’s legal feud.

Staff Pick: Cubans say they’re stuck living in collapsing houses

02:37

My colleague, Orlando Matos — based in Havana — and I have been documenting how life has become much more difficult for Cubans since President Trump imposed an oil blockade on the island.

Even before Trump’s return to the White House, Cuba was mired in a deep economic crisis with prolonged blackouts and shortages in fuel, medicine and food. With fuel in even more short supply, life has become even more challenging for the average Cuban.

We set out to cover the crumbling homes in Havana and were shocked at the dangerous conditions people are living in. Many Cubans remain in unstable homes that are near collapse because they have nowhere else to go and cannot afford costly repairs.

We never imagined that people were still living inside some of these decaying buildings. — Carmen Sesin, reporter

Read All About It

• New prostate cancer screening guidelines recommend regular testing for most older men as rates of the disease continue to rise.

• For subscribers: The day after an apartment building collapsed in New York City, desperate family members gathered at the site, hoping for news about their loved ones.

• For subscribers: While a series of heavy storms in the Southwest have raised Lake Powell’s water levels more than 20 feet, it’s not enough to quench the drought-starved Colorado River.

• From NBC Sports: Iconic broadcaster Dan Hicks, whose voice backed many memorable moments on NBC Sports over 34 years, has died at age 64.

• Oklahoma dropped a murder charge against Richard Glossip, a former death row inmate who was nearly executed multiple times, after being granted a retrial in a 1997 killing.

• Pop group Katseye’s Megan Skiendel performed sitting in a chair and wearing sunglasses while recovering from a concussion, sparking concern.

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