i feel clearer in my thoughts, my memory has improved and generally just more on point. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription. breaking news. powerful storms pound louisiana's parishes. authorities say a possible tornado killed at least one person in the state.

and tens of thousands are still without power this morning. meteorologist angie lassman is tracking the system. breaking news overnight from ukraine. secretary of state antony blinken making a surprise visit to kiev to reaffirm american support for the country. we're live withwhat the trip could mean for ukraine's war against russia. donald trump's former fictfixer turned foe takes the stand. how the defense is expected to fire back. an explosive step toward reopening. one of the country's biggest ports. a demolition crew using controlled blasts to clear the channel. when it could finally reopen. and finding her slois. how artificial intelligence is helping a young woman speak again after her battle with a brain tumor. it's tuesday, may 14. "early today" starts right now.

gorpg. i'm frances rivera. we again with the severe weather wreaking havoc across the south overnight. at least one person was killed in louisiana's st. martin parish, where officials suspect a tornado tore through. a twister was also reported in the lake charles area, leaving a trail of destruction. trees were ripped from their roots, and power lines were toppled. tens of thousands remain without power this morning. several parts of the state are also under water, after heavy rain. angie lassman willtell us where those storms are head next in just a minute. now to terrifying scenes in a church full of children receiving their first communion. church members confronted him and took him outside and called police. the church was evacuated and cops searched for an additional threat. and the scary scene in louisiana was caught on live stream. >> just get ahold of your child. go slowly. we did apprehend a young man.

>> the sole suspect was pay rested and taken to the hospital for a mental evaluation. he was charged with terrorizing and two counts of juvenile gun possession. there were no injuries. now to the latest in the criminal hush money trial of donald trump. michael cohen will be back on the stand in just a few hours. cohen will be describing his role to bury a scandal for his former boss. laura jarret is following the trial. >> reporter: a highly-anticipated courtroom showdown. prosecutors' star witness, michael cohen, telling the jury mr. trump directed him to pay off an adult film actress days before the 2016 election, to protect his campaign. >> is michael cohen a liar? >> reporter: everything required mr. trump's signoff, cohen told the jury, testifying mr. trump was feurious in 2016 when he learned stormy daniels was still

trying to sell her story of sex with the former president, telling cohen, i thought you had this under control. cohen explaining he'd managed to suppress daniels' story years before, but it resurfaced on the heels of the ac"access hollywoo tape. and he feared if it went public it would be catastrophic for the campaign. saying mr. trump told him just take care of it. this is a disaster. women are going to hate me. guys may think this is cool, but this is going to be a disaster for the campaign. cohen says mr. trump told him he met daniels at a golf tournament, describing her as a beautiful woman. mr. trump has denied he had sex with daniels daniels and h ae c legal expenses. he says there was no crime, that cohen was his personal attorney at the time, handling a matter

to avoid family embarrassment. he testified mr. trump did not want newspapers with details of a different hush money payment delivered to his home. he wasn't thinking about melania, this was all about the campaign. cohen adding, mr. trump told him, i want you to just push it out as long as you can, just get past the election, because, if i win, it will have no relevance. and if i lose, i don't even care. cohen testifying that he told mr. trump he would pay daniels as part of a non-disclosure agreement, opting to use money from a home equity line of credit. and mr. trump was appreciative, saying words to the effect of, don't worry, you'll get the money back. the state trying to show that the daniels' payoff wasn't isolated but part of a pattern. >> cohen admitting he secretly recorded his client while they discussed repaying the national inquirer which purchased the

story of another woman who said she had sex with mr. trump, which he denies. >> when it comes time for the financing, which will be -- >> what financing? >> reporter: prosecutors have presented no direct etched mr. tr evidence mr. trump knew about or told anyone. mr. trump never used e-mail because too many people have gone down once prosecutors obtain their e-mails. cohen now a disbarred attorney who has been convicted of lying under oath. the defense argues he's out for revenge after he didn't get a job in the white house. cohen testifying he would have liked to have been considered for white house chief of staff for his quote, ego. >> there's no fraud here. there's no crime here. this is four weeks of keeping me from not campaigning. >> our thanks to laura for that report. breaking overnight, secretary of state antony blinken has made a surprise visit to ukraine. here we see blinken stepping

offer t off the train in kiev. for the latest, let's go to chapman bell. do we know what's on blinken's schedule during his visit? >> reporter: good morning, frances. as you said, blinken arriving in ukraine in a previously unannounced visit, to a country that's in its third queyear of . this is the fourth visit by secretary blinken to the ukraine, to ukraine since that invasion. and the first visit since congress approved that long-awaited $60 billion military aid package last month. a state department spokesperson releasing a statement confirming mr. blinken will be meeting with president zelenskyy as well as other senior ukrainian officials and members of his administration, while there. and he will highlight the l higd

nations un united states' enduring support for ukraine. and it comes at a time when parts of the fighting in parts of the country are raging, particularly in the east, as well as in the northern area around kharkiv, where russia has seen advancements there. ukraine rushing reenforcements to the area to try to stable ice positions there. and while he's visiting, he's also set to give a speech on how to help ukraine win the future and bring them closer to their aspirations of nato and their european union. so this visit seen as a time to try to support ukraine and show them that the united states is still there to help them. frances? >> chapman, thank you. the fbi and home hand security are warning that foreign terrorist groups might try and target pride events next month. the alert issued on friday says

it's part of, quote, the current heightened threat environment in the u.s. and other western countries. it does not cite any new or specific threats. authorities encourage general vigilance for suspicious behavior around events and gatherings. demolition crews in ba baltimore removing most of the pieces that collapsed on top of the dali cargo ship in march. but they had to blow up a 600-ton chunk to free the vessel. the crew has sheltered in place since the crash. now it can be refloated and moved back to the port with the goal of fully reopening the channel by the end of the month. let's get a check of the severe weather in the south. angie lassman is tracking the system. >> we've got thunderstorms rolling through the gulf coast. this is the area we were watching yesterday. and we have a newly-issued tornado watch for florida and georgia until 9:00 a.m. this

morning eastern time of course. we have a big chunk of the country that has been dealing with the repeated performance of these storms. 9 million people, mostly florida, extreme southern portions of gaj. a georgia. tallahassee, tampa could see these storms. the severe risk for the southeast. and by tomorrow most of that rain will filter into the northeast. it lingers for parts of the carolinas as well. between now and tomorrow, we'll watch for the potential for flooding concerns. we've seen this number go way down as far as flood alerts are concerned. it does include 3 million people from mobile to the panhandle of florida. florida expecting upwards of

five inches in some of these spots. we could see likely flooding concerns for folks there as we we'll see plenty of sunshine from dallas to san antonio, with highs nearing 90. and that's a look at your forecast, frances, back to you. >> appreciate that, angie. thanks. coming up, the drake and kendrick lamar beef burns up the charts. but first, some parts of san francisco may make history today. ancisco may make history today. g huge. the bare minimum. anti-dandruff shampoo made with only nine ingredients - no sulfates, silicones or dyes and packaged with 45% less plastic - giving you outstanding dandruff protection and leaving hair beautiful and moisturized.

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bigad shaban of the bay area station has the story. >> water coming? >> reporter: luieutenant sadie s teaching the next generation of san francisco firefighters about what to expect on the front lines. >> there you go. our whole job is to work under pressure. manage your emotions and your fears and get the job done. >> reporter: regardless of how dangerous it may be. >> regardless. >> reporter: that includes the risks they can see and the ones they can't. sadie is a two-time cancer survivor. here in san francisco, female firefighters have a six times higher rate of breast cancer than the national average. for first responders, ongoing exposure to smoke and other chemicals is so serious, firefighting is classified as carcinogenic. the pfas are oradded to fire

clothing. they're known as forever chemicals because they don't easily break down once absorbed in the skin. >> to put something in the equipment for people who are already there to risk their life for you seems malicious. >> we're tired and dying. >> reporter: on the steps of san francisco city hall, behind a mound of uniforms, firefighters and lawmakers recently announced plans to enact a first in the nation ban on protective gear manufactured with forever chemicals. >> it is morally right, and it's financ financially right. >> reporter: but alternative gear that doesn't use pfas are still not widely available. they blame industry standards. saying they favor the use of fabrics that contain forever chemicals. in a lawsuit, the firefighters union accuses the nfpa of being

reckless, which the nfpa denies. they say they don't create or dick dictate rely oe ren expert volunteers. firefighters say so far, they're just as effective repelling flames. >> that char goes all the way through. >> reporter: chemists at nc state are currently testing if alternative fabrics are reliable with long-term use. >> we don't want to just trade one hazard for another. >> you can break it down. >> reporter: lieutenant sadie says she's fighting for pfas-free uniforms so firefighters can focus on saving lives instead of worrying about their own. >> this would affect the future. and if it changes, and legislation goes forward, then, yeah, it was all worth it. >> reporter: bigad shaban, nbc news, san francisco. still to come. netflix is finding itself in a

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♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ you can be for north side ♪ ♪ you run to atlanta when you need a few dollars ♪ ♪ ♪ >> kendrick lamar is wririding grade-a beef to the stop of the charts. this debuted at number one on the billboard hot 100, despite the two sides consistently trading barbs. the beefs have gone mostly quiet now since drake released his last response on the heart part six on may 5th. so it's almost like you don't pay attention, you'll miss a beat in the back and forth of

where this all stands. >> now the question is, is it all over? have they wrapped it up? who won? the internet will answer all thosequestions for us. >> when it comes to conflict, clearly, it's proving to be really, really successful for them. >> getting them those stroeams. ellen degeneris is taking the stand one last time and has some stuff to say. she had will return for her fin comedy special. she confirmed the finality of the set and saying, yes, i'm going to talk about it. this likely involves her talking about an allegation of toxic workplace. i think the question is, what is she going to say about it? i'm sure it will still be funny.

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find her voice again after it was altered by brain surgery. >> reporter: this sort of thing is probably a blip in your daily life. most of us wouldn't give the drive through a second thought. but, for alexis boguen, once ordering a coffee once seemed impossible. now, for the first time in a long time, she can do these things again, thanks to a.i. >> it's amazing to have, like, a thing in your back pocket that you can pull out and have it talk for you. >> reporter: the 21-year-old used to love singing along to country muse niic in the car bus left without a voice after a terrifying discovery. >> she had a brain tumor in the back of the brain. the size of a golf ball. it was very vascular. she had to go into urgent brain surgery. >> reporter: the ten-hour operation successfully removed

the tumor, but it damaged the part of alex he'f alex he's bra. >> i thought if i couldn't talk i couldn't be independent. >> reporter: so specialists in providence, rhode island using new artificial intelligence technology worked to create a digital clone of boguen's voice. >> we were given early access to the technology called voice engine, tak engine. taking 15 seconds of audio, it can recreate someone's voice. >> reporter: they used a clip well before the surgery where she talked about cooking. now, with just a few keystrokes on her phone, a.i. brings her voice to life. >> it feels amazing to get my voice back. >> reporter: an a.p. reporter, matt brian was there as she got her voice back. >> she kind of voiced some of

her feelings about this technology and how it was bringing back a piece of her identity that she felt she had lost. >> reporter: alexis is one of the first to get her own voice back using a.i. but those who specialize in the technology hope she's not the last. a medical break through,l throu alexis boguen rediscover something that always made her unique, her voice. >> now i can have my independence back because i have this technology. >> reporter: ellison barber, nbc news. >> we hear that voice loud and clear. thanks for waking up with "early today." i'm frances rivera. see you tomorrow. see you tomorrow.

but in our personal, world as well. right now, at five, mourning a