powerful storms and tornados continue to barrel across the country, slamming alabama and

tennessee where at least one person was killed. and this morning flash flooding concerns. angie lassman is here with the latest on the severe weather threat. president biden drawing a line in the sand, saying he will not supply the weapons for a major operation in rafah. how israel is reacting. questions this morning over a fatal shooting of a u.s. airman by police. a witness telling civil rights attorney ben crump that police burst into the wrong home before shooting the 23-year-old victim. the federal government finds a texas school district violated the civil rights of students and will seek action after reports of racist and homophobic discrimination. the new developments coming after years of nbc news reporting in the district. and a volunteer ems dispatcher in new york is honored for her 47 years of service, just shy of her 100th birthday. it's thursday, may 9th. "early today" starts right now.

good to be with you this morning. i'm frances rivera. we begin with the latest onslaught of vicious weather. this time pummeling the south. at least two people were killed in tennessee, and another in north carolina. a possible tornado touched down south of nashville, leveling homes. multiple people were injured there. but officials say they don't have an estimate just yet. >> something you see out of a movie. the twister, i mean, metal wrapped around everything, your house is gone. you have nothing left. you have nothing left. i have my clothes and my crocs on my feet. that's it. it's all gone. just everything is gone. we had to scream for help. and finally they came with chainsaws and was able to dig us out. >> according to the national weather service, there were 13 reports of tornados in seven states wednesday. in huntsville, alabama, forecasters warned residents to seek shelter as a twister

touched down. and millions remain in the path of more severe storms today. angie lassman joins us with the latest. this seem like a daily thing now. >> yeah, a repeat performance if you will. the good news is -- good morning to you -- the good news is we're going to see a lower risk of tornados across the region that we're watching today, but we still do have tornado watches from arkansas to the carolinas. we've seen an active overnight period. we're going to continue to see active storms this morning. and the severe threat will be quite expansive through the afternoon hours. the biggest threat, we're talking wind gusts, damaging hail and of course a couple tornados possible. that's from texas all the way to new jersey. here's the area where we're watching for those really strong wi winds,75 mile-per-hour or higher, from texas to georgia. but strong wind gusts up and down this region as we get through the day today.

and on top of that, the flooding concern. 8 million people under flood watches. flash flood warnings across kentucky and tennessee. this is going to continue through the morning hours, and we'll likely see more flooding concerns through the south as we get through the afternoon today. frances, back over to you. >> we'll see you in a bit, angie, thanks. happening today, ben crump will hold a press conference in florida over the fatal police shooting of a u.s. airman. ben crump accuses the sheriff deputy of entering the wrong apartment in fort walton beach. the senior airman was face timing with a woman who said there was a loud knocking on his door. when fortson saw no one there he became concerned and went to arm himself. that's when cops burst in, saw him with a gun and shot him. the deputy was responding to a disturbance call where he encountered an armed man. an independent investigation is under way.

new charges for the man accused of killing laken riley. a grand jury formally indicted jose ibarra on sten charges. he was also charged with a peeping tom offense for an alleged crime before riley's murder. he is an undocumented immigrant from venezuela and is accused of killing the nursing student while jogging in february. a warning to israel from president biden. the u.s. will halt weapons shipments to israel if the netanyahu government launches a full-scale invasion of rafah in the south of gaza. the president broke the news in an interview with cnn, where he also admitted that american bombs have killed innocent gazans. here's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: in a stinging rebuke of a close american ally, president biden halting a weapons shipment of 3500 bombs to israel just as israeli troops are targeting rafah. >> they go into rafah, i'm not

supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with rafah. >> reporter: fearing israeli forces could drop 2,000-pound bombs on rafah as it did last fall killing civilians. >> we have concerns about what that would mean for the civilian population there, when you look at the way israel has conducted its operation in the past. >> reporter: but the move angering many republicans. >> i think it's a hugely irresponsible decision. there should never be any question about america's commitment, united states' commitment to israel. >> reporter: an israeli official telling nbc news, there is deep frustration over the u.s. decision, and also a rift over humanitarian aid. with the rafah border crossing now occupied by israeli tanks, aid not getting through. the state department calling that unacceptable. it comes despite secretary of state blinken's repeated urgings about aid to gaza, as he told me in israel last week. >> and it's imperative that they

get the food that they need, the water they need. >> reporter: and new reporting, cia director william burns is back at cease-fire talks in cairo after meeting with prime minister netanyahu. u.s. officials telling nbc news israel wants rafah to be excluded from any cease-fire. an israeli official denies it. still, the state department says an agreement that could halt the fighting and bring home the hostages is within reach. donald trump's hush money trial will continue today in new york. stormy daniels will be back on the witness stand after tuesday's explosive testimony about her alleged sexual encounter with trump in 2006. she will face more cross examination from trump's defense attorneys. the former president is expected to have a political ally by his side today. a spokesperson for rick scott confirms to nbc news that the florida senator will be in the courtroom, saying he will reveal his reason for being there later this morning. meanwhile, donald trump was handed a legal victory in his

georgia election interference case. a court has given mr. trump permission to appeal a decision from march, that kept fani willis on the case. president biden made another campaign visit to wisconsin where he announced a new $3.3 billion investment by microsoft to build a new a.i. data center in re sacine. in 2018, donald trump announced a $10 billion project with a company called foxconn. the plan was later drastically scaled back. president biden accused his predecessor of failed promises. >> he raises hundreds of millions of dollars of your state and local tax dollars to promise a project that never happened. foxconn turned out to be just

that, a con. go figure. >> the trump campaign did not respond to our request for comment. a new report raising questions about the health of another presidential candidate. the "new york times" reporting that in 2010 doctors found a dead work in robert f. kennedy's brain. overnight in a radio interview, kennedy said he did experience memory loss and brain fog back then but it all cleared up after he was treated for high mercury levels. and he explained how multiple doctors thought he had a brain tumor, but it was actually a parasite. >> it's a parasite very common in india where i had done a lot of environmental work. and it comes from eating undercooked pork. >> kennedy's campaign tells nbc news this issue was resolved more than ten years ago and that he is in robust health. let's get back to angie lassman for an early look at the weekend and your mother's day

forecast. >> we've got the middle of the country finally rain-free by friday. that's going to be welcome relief for folks there. plenty of warmth across the west. and spring storms to contend with across the region for friday. mother's day forecast looks really great. there is still some rain. that means places like oklahoma city, kansas city, dallas, maybe breakfast in bed for mom, movie marathon. rain expected in parts of new york and baltimore, too. but the good conditions are settled across the west and southeast. 80 degrees in atlanta. perfect for a picnic. mid-80s expected through mobile. expecting thunderstorms.

dallas, too, with highs into the low 80s. and that's a look at your forecast, frances, back to you. >> thank you, angie. the music world mourning the death of a legendary music producer steve albini. he produced albums for the pixies, nirvana and pj harvey. he was a co-founder of the band shellac where he sang and played guitar. he was 61. "early today" is back in a minute with a probe into a controversial texas school district. and another curveball in a mlb gambling scandal. how much time shohei otani's former interpreter could face behind bars. bars. (♪♪) looks right. [thud] [rushing liquid]

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reporting on accusations of racist and homophobic bullying at schools in south lake, texas, the feds are calling on the district to address claims of civil rights violations. we get more now from antonia hylton. for over three years, nbc news has investigated the picturesque south lake school district where some told us about a culture of racist and homophobic bullying. what happens when they don't feel entirely at home? >> i think it strips them of their identity. i think that they leave a shell of the person that they once were. >> reporter: documents reviewed by nbc news show that this week the department of education notified southlake's carroll schools that it plans to negotiate with the district over four students' civil rights complaints. >> when the department of education's office of civil rights notifies the district that they're invited to negotiate, it means that they

have made a formal finding that they violated the rights. >> reporter: christian had left the district when we met in 2022. what were kids saying? >> they were using gay slurs, and, like, being very rude to me. >> reporter: southlake was thrust into the national spotlight in 20082 2018 when a of students chanting the n-word went viral. >> by the time my youngest was in ninth grade, he was getting called the n-word pretty regularly. >> reporter: mom, angela jones, filed one of the federal complaints. >> i knew that my children's civil rights had been violated. but no have the department of education come out and say they agree, that meant the world to me. >> reporter: southlake's carroll sk school district did not respond to request for comment. but in 2021 we sat down with the

superintendent. is there racism in southlake and car c carroll isd? >> let me think about that question. i'm going to stop there. i think it goes back to people understanding each other, almost from an empathy standpoint, just being able to understand varying perspectives and differences. >> reporter: angela's children have already left the school. >> i can't sit here and let those children face the exact same thing my children faced. that's not being a good citizen. >> our thanks to antonia for that report. and the district will have to negotiate an agreement to remedy the situation. and, if they don't cooperate, legal experts say they could lose federal funding or face judicial proceedings. now to an update to a story that rocked mlb. the former translator of baseball super star shohei otani has agreed to plead guilty to bank and tax fraud charges.

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coming up on the halfway point of this quarter. oh! jalen brunson, deadeye. >> after being shridelined, jal brunson battled back to do what he does best for the knicks. new york took game two over the pacers on wednesday, behind the clutch buckets, they will look to rebound from the deficit. the series heads to their home court on friday. and just before the game,

denver's nikola jokic took home his third mvp title. the super human serbian led the nuggets to the second seed this season, averaging 2.4 rebounds and nine assists per game. joker becomes the ninth player in nba history to win the award at least three time. back to the drama during the knicks and pacers. the pacers' coach was ejected late in the fourth about yelling about the foul that was reversed. >> and every now and then, the yankees like to remind people how they got the nickname the bronx bombers. >> deep to left field! there, it's gone. oh, it's gone see ya. >> giancarlo stanton went yard,

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we have the story from our new york station. >> thank you for coming. >> reporter: mary's voice is unmistakable here at the huntington community first aid squad. >> you can ask any person in this second battalion, and they'll know exactly who that is. >> reporter: for years, mary's grandson has heard that voice calmly echoing over the dispatcher's radio here. mary is on duty directing ambulance crews avenue monday. and before that, she was an ambulance crew leader, a volunteer here for 47 years. >> i loved the work we do. it's a certain breed that volunteers. >> reporter: mary, it seems, fits her own description. next week, this long-time volunteer will turn 100 years old. >> she's setting the bar very high for me. this mean i've got to be doing this for another 35 years.

>> reporter: son mark talked his mom into joining him as a volunteer here. and now six members of mary's family serve the first aid squad, including granddaughter, pam. >> it's priceless to be able to share this relationship with her. she's a pioneer in her field. >> reporter: that pioneering spirit is nothing new with mary brenner. during world war ii, she stepped in for the men and worked the midnight shift at a defense plate l in lake success. the town board honored mary brenner for her life of service. >> 100 years lived like that. >> reporter: you going to keep going as long as you can? >> absolutely. they can't kick me out. >> reporter: nothing, mary brenner says, will ever replace hearing a family member's voice on the other end of that dispatcher's radio. >> on the air. my heart just beats. i'm so proud of them.

and they're mine. >> reporter: huntington residents are glad they have mary, too. >> come on now, she's a hundred? i would buy 75, tops. our countdown to the paris olympics is heating up. a sea of fans welcomed the olympics flame that arrived after 12 days aboard a historic ship from greece. it will light the cauldron at the ceremony. i'm frances rivera, we'll see you back here tomorrow when it's friday. have a good one. have a good one.

soon be going up even higher. a live report on the key vote happening today, which