a courtroom split screen, donald trump facing his hush money trial in new york while

the supreme court hears the former president's claims of immunity. we're live with the take aways in both cases and how it could impact the race for the white house. and the shocking reversal in the case that defined the #metoo movement. setting the stage tofor a retri. is tiktok counting the moments to departure? why it would rather shut down in the u.s. than sell it. and there's no such thing as a free gondola ride. we're live in venice. back from the final frontier. a piece of "star trek" memorabilia thought to be gone back after 50 years. "early today" starts right now. and good morning to you. i'm richard lui. testimony will continue in just a few hours in the hush money trial of donald trump. on thursday, a key witness described deals to silence negative stories about the

former president, while, at the same time, the supreme court heard evidence on whether or not presidents are immune from federal prosecution. brie, kborgood morning to you. what did the justices signal? >> reporter: there were a lot of concerns about the limits of presidential immunity. donald trump has argued that his entire election interference case should be dismissed due to presidential immunity, meaning that all of his actions related to the 2020 election were official acts. now most of ofthe justices did seem in favor of some prediction from charges but not absolute immunity. the prosecution argued that his actions were only for personal gain and should not be shielded from prosecution. justices raised concerns about how this would impact the presidency moving forward. >> could president obama be charged with murder for killing u.s. citizens abroad by drone

strike? could president biden someday be charged with unlawfully inducing immigrants to enter the country illegally for his border policies? the answer to all these questions is no. >> such presidential immunity has no foundation in the constitution. the framers knew too well the dangers of a king who could do no wrong. >> reporter: now donald trump told reporters that if presidents do not have immunity, then the role just becomes ceremonial. he said this from the new york courtroom where he is required to attend his criminal hush money trial. on his third day on the stand, former national inquirer publisher david pecker told the jury he refused to catch and kill a story from stormy daniels about her relationship with mr. trump. pecker said this was because he had already paid tens of thousands of dollars to kill other stories for trump. prosecutors are seeking to prove that mr. trump doctored business

records to cover up a payment to stormy daniels. mr. trump denies any relationship or wrongdoing. now cross examination will continue today, and the defense team, they have been challenging pecker's credibility and his memory. richard? >> brie, thank you so much for that. new this morning, more arrests on college campuses to tell you about. overnight, protesters were taken into custody at ohio state university. according to the columbus dispatch, hundreds gathered for a peaceful demonstration against the civilian death toll in gaza. they report that more than one dozen people were arrested. a university spokesperson confirming to nbc news that people who refused to leave after multiple warnings were charged with trespassing. this is just one example of a growing movement at colleges across the country. pro-palestinian protests are being held at more than 40 campuses in the u.s. and canada. the university of southern california now canceling this year's main commencement ceremony, which is usually attended by about 65,000 people. the university says it would

take too long to process thousands of guests with a new security measure put in place because of the protests. a shock decision here in new york city, with the court of appeals narrowly deciding to overturn the conviction of harvey weinstein. the disgraced movie producer was found guilty of rape more than four years ago. now he has the right to a retrial. kate snow reports. >> reporter: for the more than 100 accusers of harvey weinstein it was a shock. >> this is an act of institutional betrayal. >> reporter: the new york court of appeals finding weinstein is entitled to a new trial. his spokesperson speaking to chloe melas. >> what he did might have been unethical but it wasn't a crime. in order for them to bring it whack, back, they're going to have to have witnesses come back with actual crimes. >> reporter: he was convicted in 2020 of rape and sexual assault, but the trial also included testimony from three other women who made allegations that never led to charges.

the majority in the court of appeals concluding the trial court made egregious errors, erroneously admitting that testimony, calling it unnecessary. >> the jury was able to look at that and probably infer that he was guilty in the past, so he must be guilty now. >> reporter: and that's what this higher court said can't be allowed. >> that's right. >> reporter: the state court of appeals also said the trial court abused its discretion when it said weinstein could be cross-examined about the other three women. >> even if he denied that, just the fact of being accused of them could allow the jury to infer his guilt based on prior behavior. >> reporter: he decided not to testify. one of those women was dawn dunning. people ask me if i regret having testified, was it all for naught, and my answer was a resounding no. we spoke with other accusers not involved in the trial. >> all of the fear and panic and confusion from the original trauma comes back. >> i'm deeply concerned.

it's a setback for justice for survivors. >> reporter: in a dissenting opinion, three justices wrote, men who serially sexually exploit their power over women will reap the benefit of today's decision. >> we've already heard this refrain about #metoo has gone too far. i think there's going to be some people out there thinking, oh, good, now we've redressed the balance. and i don't think #metoo ever went far enough. >> our thanks to kate snow for that report. now to the battle over tiktok in the united states. president biden signing a law that would ban the app if the owners do not divest within a year. four sources tell reuters that tiktok's parent company, bytedance, would rather shut the app down in the u.s. than sell it. they say the algorithms tiktok relies on are core to their operations. it could be years before any ban takes effect as tiktok fights this new law in court. a big change for how you browse as the fcc revised net

neutrality laws. from speeding up access for those who pay more. the fcc chair says the prandemi made broadband a needed resource. southwest airlines halting operations and reducing flights to cut costs. it will begin in august at cozumel. and others. it comes with fewer than expected plane deliveries from boeing. venice, italy has long been one of the premiere tourist destinations in the world. the city has found a way to beat back foot traffic. the idea?

a simple fee. let's go to claudio lavanga. th this law has been in place for about a day now. how's it going so far? >> reporter: good morning, richard. let me just start by explaining how this works. essentially from now until july and on selected 29 busy days like holidays and weekends, anyone who comes to venice will have to register on a dedicated website. now it you're a tourist just coming here for the day, leaving by the evening, you're required to pay at least a $5 fee, which is a little more than $5 u.s. and if you have at least a one-night accommodation or a local, so residents, workers and students, you don't have to pay but still have to register. what you get in return is this. a qr code proves that you have registered. now there are no checkpoints, but if a ticket inspector in venice stops you and you don't have this, you're eligible for up to a $300 fine. the mayor of venice saying

they're not really looking to monetize this. they want to just reduce the number of hit-and-run tourists who come on those busy days. now he says that by thursday more than 100,000 people registered on that website. 10% of them were paying day visitors. he says that's the proof that the scheme is working andit did not go, well, dead in the water. >> claudio lavanga live in venice, thank you. severe weather stretching across a large portion of the country this morning. nbc meteorologist angie lassman is tracking how long the storms will stick around. good morning. >> we dealt with this yesterday. we're going to see it through the weekend too when comes to the severe weather potential. we're already ramting up the weather warnings. a watch is in effect for a little longer as we look towards oklahoma and texas. this is going to be kind of the stage we set for ourselves as we

get through most of the day today. this afternoon and this evening, 18 million people at risk for strong storms. the strongest look to be from omaha to kansas city. and we will be looking at impressive hail potential from omaha to dallas. tennis ball-sized hail will be possible along with strong winds and tornados. tomorrow an even bigger area. 33 million people will be included from the great lakes down to parts of the southern plains, all of those same hazards will remain. and especially looking at a big chunk of the country dealing with large hail again. it's all part of this same system that's going to work its way to the east. we will see heavy rain associated with this as well. so the flooding potential will be there. flash flooding looks to be lo thunderstorms in the

forecast. meanwhile plenty of sunshine for san ang loielo with highs close 90. that's a look at your forecast, back to you. two nasa astronauts getting a close look at the boeing spacecraft that will take then to the international space station. >> it's a great steppingstone as we're getting ready to leave lower earth orbit and go back to the moon. it has a lot of similar things that orion has. if i was a young astronaut thinking about going to the moon, i think i'd put my hand up and say i want to fly star liner. >> it is expected to lift off from cape canaveral next thursday, boeing's first crewed flight of that spacecraft. "early today" is back in a minute with a new sign that inflation is dragging the economy. the biggest surprises from night one of the nfl draft. from night one of the nfl draft. try the air wick way with air wick essential mist. infused with natural essential oils to fill your moment with immersive fragrance for up to 45 days.

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growth is off to a sluggish start this year. gdp coming in slower than expected, pushing markets to the red yesterday, the dow falling about 1% while the nasdaq tumbled about a hundred. it could potentially push back hopes for any rate cuts by the fed this year. let's get to cnbc's charlotte reed for the reaction on wall street. good morning. what are you seeing? and how will this week end? >> indeed, the data out yesterday giving concerning signals of the u.s. economy, as you were saying, those gdp numbers for the first quarter of the year growing at a surprisingly slow rate. they were expecting 2.4% between january and march. and the inflation was much hotter than expected. one metric closely watched by the fed showed underlying

inflation rose 3.7%, the biggest jump of the year. a slower than expected economy and hotter than expected inflation. the markets did slump on the news, and they've been watching for more data on inflation coming out today to try to get a hint of if and when the fed may be able to start cutting rates. but now on to a separate story. the federal trade commission setting $5.6 million in refunds to ring customers, it's part of a settlement. last year the ftc said that ring were allowing access, some private videos from some customers, and they asked ring to pay for a fine that is now being helping refunding some of the customers affected. >> thank you, and have a great weekend. still to come. quarterbacks, wide receivers and whatever the falcons are cooking

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with the first pick in the 2024 nfl draft, the chicago bears select caleb williams. quarterback southern california. >> yeah, that's one of the persons of being the commissioner. you get to do that, right? >> mm-hm. >> offense was the name of the game on the first night of the 2024 nfl draft. the chicago bears drafted usc quarterback caleb williams. chicago winning the right to the top choice after a major draft trade last year with the carolina panthers. they were followed by jaden daniels, selected by the washington commanders, and drake may set to kick off a new era for the new england patriots. a record six quarterbacks were taken in this first round.

the falcons pulled a stunner, picking michael penix jr., while the broncos landed bo nix at 12. so how about that? that was pretty good. >> definitely. >> and penix not expected. people were not saying atlanta was going to take him. the explosive top ten featured wide receiver talent. the new york giants added malik nabors at pick six. >> so many of those kids excited for what's to come in their new chapter of their career. and now turning to basketball. speaking of having it. a historic performance from joel embiid. he dropped a whopping 50 points in the sixers' game three win over the knicks. embiid becomes the first 76er to put up 50 in playoff game since allan iverson in 2003.

home-court advantage didn't extend to the lakers. the reigning champion nuggets slipped away. they are one game from sweeping lebron and company out. it's good to see joel back with the knee injury he dealt with so long. up next, we are navigating the twists and turns of national pretzel day. >> ooh. >> there's always some food day. and musicians strike a chord in the fight against ticket pricing. he fight against ticket pricing. this is not just a stop for allergy meds. ♪♪ this is a great price on what you need... to survive the season. ♪♪ quick question. backed by an expert. okay. this is value. right in your neighborhood. thanks so much. walgreens. ♪♪

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be finalized in may. did you know that it's national pretzel day? places like auntie anne's and more are giving away free pretzels to celebrate. it's the anniversary of the launch of the hubble telescope. they released a photo of the dumbbell nebula. we'll be right back. we'll be ri. feeling sluggish or weighed down? could be a sign that your digestive system isn't at its best. but a little metamucil everyday can help. metamucil's psyllium fiber gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down... so you can lighten every day the metamucil way. wanna know a secret? more than just my armpits stink. that's why i use secret whole body deodorant... everywhere. 4 out of 5 gynecologists would recommend whole body deodorant, which gives you 72 hour odor protection from your pits to your- (sfx: deoderant being sprayed) secret whole body deodorant. ugh, when is my allergy spray going to kick in?

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series has popped up more than five decades after it vanished. nbc's in-house trekkie steven romo has that story for us. >> reporter: when this grainy "star trek" intro first boldly aired on nbc in 1966, few could have predicted what a cultural juggernaut this series would become. but one iconic piece of the show'slegacy went missing in the 1970s. the original three-foot model of the uss enterprise seen here in the show's credits vanished. its mysterious disappearance almost worthy of a "star trek" plot itself. >> i have vague recollections of it being on my father's desk. >> reporter: rod roddenberry, ceo of roddenberry entertainment and son of "star trek" creator gene roddenberry says it is priceless. >> this isn't one of three or one of two, this is the original

enterprise model that was made. >> reporter: it went missing after his father lent it to the makers of 1979's "star trek" the motion picture. but then last fall, a plot twist. >> risk is our business. >> reporter: the model turned up online for sale on ebay, with a starting bid of a thousand dollars. causing quite a stir among fans, but, at the very least, clearing up rumors that rod was to blame for the disappearing starship. >> you may have heard about this, of me throwing some sort of model in the pool as a kid, which i emphatically denied. >> reporter: you are vindicated. >> i am vindicated. >> reporter: after the ebay listing got a ton of attention, the sellers took it down saying they found it in a storage building, they then contacted heritage auction house to authenticate it. so after all these versions of

"star trek," why this discovery feels so important. i really feel like "star trek" changed my life. started watching it as a 4-year-old. does it surprise you that people would care about thi about th 60-year-old model? >> i don't floknow if i'd be working on it. >> reporter: rod serves as executive producer for a new project. he is working to find a place to display it so trekkies can see it where no one has gone before. nbc news. >> ah, to see that after so long. really amazing. thanks for watching "early toda" go and havy. re.

more news on the way. s on the w. a major court day for donald trump across multiple fronts. the former publisher of the national inquire