an explosive start to donald trump's historic hush money trial. both sides laying out their case, while the long-time publisher of the national

inquirer prepares to retake the stand this morning. we're live with what to expect this morning. including whether the former president violated his gag order. chaos on campus, clashing over the israel-hamas war. dozens more arrested overnight as another college goes removes in response to the heated demonstrations. the snag that could unravel a multi-billion dollar fashion merger. what the ftc is doing to block a deal to bring luxury giants under one roof. just in the nick of time, an unbelievable comeback against the sixers. tom brady braces for an all-out comedy blitz in a netflix special. and looks like he made it. behind the scenes of barry manilow's legendary run at radio music hall. it's april 23rd. "early today" starts right now.

good morning, i'm frances rivera. testimony will continue in a few hours in the criminal trial of donald trump. the first witness took the stand in the former president's hush money case after both sides wrapped up their opening statements yesterday. nbc's brie jackson joins us now with the latest. brie, how canddid the prosecuto outline this case for the jury? >> reporter: the prosecutors told the jury this is about more than hush money payments to silence stormy daniels. they accuse mr. trump of lying about his business records over and over again and say this was all part of a long-running conspiracy to hide damaging information and influence the 2016 election. prosecutors say the allegations will be backed up by an extensive paper trail, including bank records and text messages. in their opening statements, the defense team works to humanize mr. trump, describing him as a husband and father. they dismissed the 34 charges as just 34 pieces of paper, saying

the only thing trump did was sign checks for legal services. mr. trump's attorney also argued there is nothing wrong with trying to influence an election, saying, quote, it's call the democracy. the prosecution did call their first witness, david pecker. the former publisher of the national inquirer. the state believes that he was central to an effort to kill negative stories about mr. trump. pecker had not gotten to his relationship with trump before the day wrapped up yesterday. so he will be back on the stand today. but, before the jury comes in, there will be a hearing to possibly hold mr. trump in contempt of court. prosecutors accuse the former president of violating a gag order ten times. now, if mr. trump is found in contempt, the judge must decide on a punishment. and that could range from a warning to a fine to a short stay in jail. frances? >> brie jackson, thank you. the senate could finally send a foreign aid package to

president biden's desk today. over the weekend, the house passed a series of bills that include $60 billion for ukraine, as well as $26 billion that would go to israel's military and humanitarian aid for gaza. senate majority leader chuck schumer has said that the first senate vote would happen today. this package also includes the bill that could lead to a ban of tiktok in the united states. tiktok has said this would devastate 7 million businesses. nbc's savannah sellers spoke to a woman who sells handbags using the app. >> reporter: what percentage of your sales would you lose if tiktok were to be banned in the u.s.? >> overnight, probably about 60%. >> president biden says he will sign all of these bills if they are sent to his desk. >> reporter: outrage over the war in gaza is being felt around the world and across the country. here in new york, several people were arrested last night at nyu, protesting what they say is genocide of palestinians by the israeli military.

at yale university, dozens of protesters were also arrested. it follows the controversial crackdown at columbia university last week with students arrested and expelled for protesting. here's erin mclaughlin. >> reporter: tension across major american college campuses. >> if you do not leave, you will be arrested. >> reporter: students setting up encampments from the university of north carolina to m.i.t. harvard's yard closed until friday. all of it over the israel-hamas war, fury boiling over. as there is concern for anti-semitic hate speech, raising new questions about the line between hate speech and the first amendment. >> we're asking for the school to call for a cease-fire in gaza. >> reporter: police say at least 45 pro-palestinian protesters were arrested at yale university for violating yale's policies and instructions.

police say they were later released. in a statement, the university adding that yale does not tolerate behave year that threatens, harassed or intimidated others. meanwhile, at columbia, classes were online only, with the university's president calling for a reset to deescalate the rancor, while adding more than 180 safety personnel to campus after more than 100 protesters were arrested last week. but with videos like this emerging online, and another showing a young woman holding a sign pointing in the direction of jewish students, saying al qassam's next targets, andrew stein and alisha baker say they don't feel safe. on saturday night, stein says he was on campus for a pro-israel counter protest when this happened. you see him in the white sweatshirt filming as a group of pro-palestinian protesters yell expletives against israel. >> they started saying in arabic. [speaking in a global language] and they started saying we're

coming for you. no zionists on this campus. >> reporter: stein alleges the situation escalated. >> me and my friend had water physically poured in our face. my friend was abused in the middle of campus. >> reporter: faculty from bernard and columbia came out in support of the pro-palestinian students who were arrested last week. >> we're calling for divestment and cease-fire. >> reporter: they said think w t they were unaware of any threats toward jewish students. at rutgers, a man has been charged with a federal hate crime for breaking in to the university's center for islamic life and destroying property earlier this month. on college campuses across the country, students saying they don't feel safe. >> that was erin mclaughlin reporting. and this morning at morehouse college, some faculty members

raising concerns over the announcement of president biden as commencement speaker. administrators are worried professors may join students in protest of biden's speech. an e-mail from kendrick brown says he will convene a virtual meeting thursday to hear different perspectives on their selection. neither morehouse nor brown responded to requests for comment. the supreme court appears ready to keep in place local laws that crack down on homelessness. justices are reviewing a lower court ruling that says the city of grant's pass, oregon was in violation of the eighth amendment when it banned sleeping on public property. the eighth amendment bars cruel and unusual punishment. conservative justices seemed amenable to let local laws stand. and the high court on monday also agreed to take up the ghost gun issue to consider whether the biden administration is

within its right to regulate home-assembly firearm kits. the atf issued the regulation in 2022. the city of baltimore is demanding that the owners of the dali cargo ship be held fully liable for destroying the francis scott key bridge last month. the companies are attempting to limit their liability for the disaster, capping it just under $44 million, the value of the ship and cargo. in court filings monday, the city responded by calling them, quite, grossly and potentially criminally negligent and demanding a jury trial. six people died in the collapse. a spokesperson for the ship's owners declined to respond to the court filings or its specific allegations. the east coast waking up to a late-april chill. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking the drop in temperatures today. >> good morning, frances. a cold start to the day. you need a jacket as we head out. we're looking at temperatures into the 30s and 40s. 41 million people impacted by

frost advisories and freeze warnings. we're looking at temperatures chilly this morning. on the cooler side today and colder tomorrow in some spots. temperatures 37 in atlantic city. in the 40s, binghamton, pittsburgh. d.c., 47 and providence, 36 degrees. as we go throughout the rest of this tuesday, we'll see temperatures at or below normal in many spots. raleigh, you're below what's typical for this time of year. atlanta is two degrees below normal as well. look at these cold temperatures on wednesday. chicago, 50 degrees. that's 12 degrees below what it is typically this time of year. pittsburgh will end up around 57 tomorrow. we'll warm it back up by thursday and friday. saturday, into the 70s ii valle

nice and dry with lots of sunshine. temperatures into the 70s, 75 in jacksonville. that's your tuesday forecast. >> okay, michelle, thank you. >> mm-hm. turning now to the nba where playoff basketball at the garden never disappoints. >> out top to divincenzo, his shot won't go, hartenstein, the rebound, hartenstein gets it out to anunoby. divincenzo, a three, bang, bang! a one-point lead! >> the knicks and sixers battled all night long in game two of their series monday. philly held the lead heading into the final minute before dante divincenzo's epic three-point play capped off a frantic comeback for the kn knickerbockers. it's a best of four series that heads to philly on thursday. coming up, how donald trump could get a billion dollar wind fall today.

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could a blockbuster fashion merger soon unravel? the ftc is suing to block the $8.5 billion deal that i would kate spade, michael kors and versace all under one roof. let's get to charlotte reed. good morning, charlotte. >> good morning, frances. well, indeed, this is a rare anti-trust challenge against a high-end fashion group merger. the federal trade commission says the merger could deprive american consumers of the benefits of what they call the direct head-to-head competition between the two groups. it would impact prices and notifications between the luxury groups that includes michael kors, kate spade, jimmy choo and others. the merger which would have

33,000 employees could also reduce wages and employee benefits. tapestry in a statement said there is no question that it is a pro-competitive, and they misunderstand the market place and the way that consumers shop. tapestry wanted to form a giant to compete with european players. kroger and albertson offloading 166 more gross stores. now they tried to merge as well, a $25 billion deal there, but they're waiting to get regulatory approval. and the ftc is trying to block this, saying it could raise grocery prices. now the company says it will sell 579 stores in the hope to get regulatory approval. >> charlotte, thank you. trump is poised to receive over a billion dollars worth of

trump media stock by the end of the day. the company, which owns the truth social app set aside these so-called earn-out shares for the former president if the company's stockmet a minimum share price benchmark. the stock is down about half from its public debut at $35.50 per share, it is still above the $17.50 threshold. ftx's founder has agreed to participate in lawsuits against celebrities that include tom brady and larry david and shaquille o'neal. if approved, it would free bankman-fried from civil liability. this come just weeks after he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for fraud charges. the top names in the comedy world will attempt to channel their inner eli manning for the roast of tom brady. we have the first details right after this. e first details righ after this.

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performance at radio city music hall. >> reporter: at 80 years old, barry manilow is still breaking records. >> i just love making music. i love creating. >> reporter: holding the title of the most performances by an artist at radio city, after his 42nd show over the weekend. what does it feel like every time you walk out on this stage? >> well, can you imagine? this is what i see when i walk out. you think it would panic me, but it doesn't anymore. it's exciting. i never even thought i would have any kind of career in music, because where i come from, nobody ever wound up in music or theater or anything like that. but the music was coming out of my ears. >> reporter: manilow has sold more than 85 million records. when do you know that this song is a hit? >> i never do. >> reporter: you never do? >> i never do. i just write them. and if i'm lucky, i make a great record out of it. >> reporter: there was one song

he didn't think would take off. ♪ copa cabana ♪ >> we never thought it would get played on the radio, but we took it to a disco when there were discos and asked the deejay to play it, and everybody ran to the dance floor and started to dance like they were back in the 1940s. >> reporter: he has no plans for slowing down with a london residency and a tour for the summer. >> i say is there anybody out there? and i mean it. i'm so grateful that they still have a good time with me. [cheers and applause] i'll just keep going until i can't do it anymore. this is just playtime now. >> reporter: chloe melas, nbc news, new york. ♪ looks like we made it ♪ two pieces of rock 'n roll history are headed to the auction block, a custom-made and signed guitar for keith richards

used for recording in 1977. and a guitar used by george harrison. the auction begins on thursday. here's al roker with a look at what's ahead. this morning on the third hour of "today", the fall guy stars emily blunt and ryan gosling take us inside the world of stunt people. plus we're going to catch up about a new series, and some passover recipes with a twist, like a delicious mexican-style matzah ball soup, all coming up on the third hour of "today". athanks for watching "early to nice to meet ya. my name is david. i've been a pharmacist for 44 years. when i have customers come in and ask for something for memory, i recommend prevagen. number one, because it's effective. does not require a prescription. and i've been taking it quite a while myself and i know it works.

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