prescription. breaking overnight. savage storms break across texas and knocking out power to tens of thousands. our weather team is tracking that system as it pushes through the south. cross examination gets heated in donald trump's hush

money case. the defense accusing michael cohen of lying on the stand and appearing to catch him off guard over that payment to stormy daniels. where the case could go from here. a south florida neighborhood turned into a war zone. the shocking security camera footage of an all-out gun battle in the middle of the street, and the search for the suspect. a move on capitol hill sure to strike a chord. congress strikes up its fight against hidden fees on concert tickets. and no back-pedaling. how cities around the world are reenvisioning the morning commute. "early today" starts right now. good morning, i'm frances rivera. breaking overnight, parts of the south battered by another round of deadly storms. water logged texas facing dangerously

dangerously-high winds and flooding. the city was blasted by hurricane-strength winds reaching up to 100 miles per hour. the gusts tearing windowg win skyscrapers. the trees and power lines toppled. hundreds of thousands are still in the dark across texas and louisiana, which was also struck by severe weather. and the region is facingmore dangerous weather this morning. let's bring in nbc meteorologist michelle grossman, who is tracking the system for us. good morning, michelle. and we'll turn to her a little bit later. but, for now, we want to turn to donald trump's hush money trial. the former president will have a day off from court today to attend his son's graux of graduation. it's a break from his trial with michael cohen. trump's defense team confronting cohen about a history of lies. here's laura jarret. >> reporter: star prosecution witness michael cohen, facing a

scathing second day of cross examination. as former president trump's defense team tries to paint him as a spurned former employee, desperate for pay back. >> i truly [ bleep ] hope this man ends up in prison. >> reporter: the jury hearing his podcast, appearing in search of vengeance. >> revenge is a dish best served cold. >> reporter: tension in the room building to a dramatic moment. todd blanche accusing cohen of lying about a key part of his testimony. just two days ago, cohen telling the jury unequivocally that keith schiller passed the phone to mr. trump on october 24, 2016 at 8:02:00 p.m. cohen says he informed mr. trump at the time the deal to pay off stormy daniels would be done. blanche raising his voice saying "that was a lie", showing the jury never-before-seen text

messages suggesting the call was for something else entirely. he reached out to schiller for help dealing with a 14-year-old stalker. the defense's clear implication, the phone was never passed to mr. trump. cohen appearing blind sided. blanche grilling him. that was a lie. you did not talk to president trump. you talked to keith schiller. you can admit it. cohen responding, no, sir, i don't know that it's accurate. cohen adding, i believe i also spoke to mr. trump about the stormy daniels matter. blanche shooting back, we are not asking what you believe. this jury does not want to hear what you think happened. cohen's credibility key to the state's case, as he's the only one who has testified the former president had advanced knowledge of the plan to pay off daniels to protect his campaign and then signed off on a scheme to pay cohen back, allegedly falsifying

business records to disguise his reimbursements. mr. trump has pleaded not guilty, as his defense attorneys have argued nothing was falsified. and once again, challenging prosecutors' theories that the former president only cared about shielding his campaign from daniels' damaging story. blanche pushing cohen about mr. trump's reaction the first time the former president learned of daniels shopping her story. blanche asking, the first thing that president trump said to you was that his family wouldn't like that very much. cohen saying, that's true. the self-described former trump fixer turned foe maintaining his composure on the stand when pressed at length about his criminal history. cohen has been convicted of lying under oath and disbarred. the defense arguing, he has a motivation to lie now and a history of doing it. quote, you lied under oath, correct? branch asking him? yes, sir, cohen says. the defense saying, cohen is also not telling the full story about his desire for a white house job, which mr. trump never

offered him. were you were disappointed that after all the work hundryou had done trump nine and a half years, no one offered you a job in the white house. >> it was a very interesting day, a fascinating day. and shows what a scam this whole thing is. >> our thanks to laura for that report. president biden asserted executive privilege to keep congress from getting records of his interview with the special counsel. special counsel robert hur referred to the president as a well-mean elderly man with a poor memory. the written transcript has been published, but lawmakers want the audio recording. the white house counsel wrote that republicans want the tape to use for partisan political purposes. separately, news organizations, including nbc, are part of a lawsuit seeking the release of this audio under the freedom of

information act. let's turn now to texas, where governor greg abbott has issued a pardon to daniel perry. perry was convicted of murder in the shooting of a black lives matter protester in austin. he was legally carrying a rifle when he approached an intersection was perry was parked. perry shot foster from his vehicle, later claiming self-defense. governor abbott says this is justified by texas' stand your ground law. and a board unanimously voted in favor of a pardon. the district attorney calling it a mockery of our legal s.t.e.m. > st system. homes and cars were riddled in bullet holes and marissa para has the story. >> reporter: a barrage of gunfire terrorizing neighbors in

south florida. 15 seconds straight, the gunfire deafening and unrelenting. sp sp sparks seen lighting up the street as a silver car streaks past. the terrifying meoment caught o home surveillance cameras. nearby houses and cars bearing bullet holes, caught in the crossfire. >> there were at least 50 rounds. >> reporter: luis heard it all from his couch. >> i run to, you know, to the bedroom. i told my wife, my girl, my little one, stay down. >> reporter: he says his daughter, 6 years old, had just gotten home from cancer treatment. >> she was scared. she was crying. she didn't know what was happening. >> reporter: seconds after the gunfire quieted, this silver car crashed into his fence. three people seen stumbling out in different directions. police still searching for answers on the shooting that shockingly, they say, left no

injuries. >> our thanks to marissa for that report. the biden administration just took another big step toward easing marijuana restrictions. the justice department will publish an official notice that opens a two-month period for the public to comment on a proposed change. if the rule goes into effect, marijuana will join a category that includes ketamine or testosterone. let's get a check on the severe weather and where it's heading next. michelle grossman is tracking the storm for us. good morning. >> good morning, frances. it was a tough weather day yesterday. it's going to be another tough one today. we're we're looking at the same scenario. and also, on top of that, the threat for severe storms. can you see heavy rain falling this morning? you can see the lightning and strong storms this morning. the rain stretches all the way to the interior parts of the northeast and ohio valley. the south is getting soaked and will continue to get soaked. some of these spots, 300 to 800%

above normal in terms of rainfall. 16 million people under flood watches from texas to the gulf coast. dallas, lufkin, alexandria, mobile looking at the chance for flooding today. especially where you see the pink color in louisiana and alabama. and this is why. heavy, heavy rainfall, up to 6 inches through sunday. that's on top of very saturated grounds. now, as we're looking at the severe weather threat, we're looking at the same spot, from texas to louisiana, across the gulf coast states, especially where you see the yellow there, that's wre we'rehe chance of se

throughout the gulf coast states. 83 in houston. all right, that's your friday forecast. >> appreciate it. thank you, michelle. coming up, a divided congress finds harmony on tickets. harmony on tickets. health, but less than 10% of us get enough each day. good thing metamucil gummies are an easy way to get prebiotic, plant-based fiber. with the same amount of fiber as 2 cups of broccoli. metamucil gummies. the easy way to get your daily fiber. new herbal essences is packed with naturally derived plant based ingredients your hair will love and none of the stuff it won't. our sulfate free collections smell incredible and leave your hair touchably soft and smooth. new herbal essences. 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-

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florida. the district fire chief there says he has very personal proof, blood on ambulances saves lives. >>ly >> i had to be carried. >> reporter: several days after having her tonsils out, she lay bleeding in her father's arms, losing blood. >> reporter: without the blood, she would not have made it to the hospital. it is the blood that comes directly out of a donor's arm. >> 30 seconds after that first pump, izzy went from being unconscious to being alert and looking around. how were you before you got the blood? uh-huh. and when you got the blood, how were you? >> reporter: how many izzys might be saved by putting universal donor o-negative blood on rescue vessels nationwide? >> conservatively, tens of thousands.

probably more than that. 40,50, 60,000 people. >> reporter: dr. john holcomb is a combat-seasoned trauma surgeon and spent 23 years in the army. >> what we've learned from the battlefield is that whole blood, far and away is the best product for bleeding patients. >> reporter: the latest research boosts them up. but many hospitals and blood banks do not routinely keep whole blood in stock. instead, they store blood's component parts. is there any credible medical opinion that you're aware of that opposes the use of whole blood in trauma situations? >> no. >> reporter: dr. jeffrey kirby is a former air force trauma surgeon and is considered one of the nation's top trauma doctors. >> where you live should not determine if you live, after an injury. >> reporter: so why is this intravenous water packed with

electrolytes not whole blood the standard of care. why do most hospitals use this? >> because it's tradition. it's cheap. and it's available. not because it's the best for them. >> reporter: no doubt in your mind. >> none. >> reporter: so why are we still doing this? the answer in large part is money. neither medicaid or medicare or private insurers pay for blood given on the way to the hospital. >> we need to stop thinking in terms of reimbursing our ambulance services for the transport they provide. we need to reimburse them based on the treatment they can provide. >> reporter: and that treatment can be life saving. because a patient can bleed to death in less than 15 minutes. >> these darker areas are where you're more than an hour away from a trauma center. >> reporter: a map shows 40 million americans live more than an hour from a trauma center. >> if this were a map of cell coverage, people would be losing their minds, essentially. >> reporter: instead, people are

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we thought this could reinvigorate the movie-going business. >> i went to the movie theater, 428 times. >> movie pass doubled the revenue in theaters. >> we were worth $80 million plus. >> we had a product no one could stop. >> remember that? it was touted as the savior of the movie-going experience. now hbo is giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at movie pass. the new documentary "crash" features interviews with key figures behind the subscription

service and promised unlimited access to movie tickets before the collapse in 2019. it premieres on hbo and max on may 29. to the government changing how we buy tickets. the house of representatives passed the ticket act. it would require sellers of tickets for live events to list total costs, including fees and provide refunds in the event of a cancellation. it follows years of outrage against ticketmaster. now it heads to the senate, which is also considering a similar bill. when we come back, after years of population decline, one midwest city may finally be seeing some growth. and the age-old debate. would you consider a taco as a sandwich? an indiana judge has an answer. an indiana judge has an answer. . so if you're frustrated with occasional bloating... ♪♪

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home. >> reporter: in this 2,000-year-old city, paris is going back to its roots, literally. planting 300,000 trees as part of its efforts to fight climate change in advance of the summer olympics. >> we need to invest now. we need to transform now. there is a need to be a green city to make the city more sustainable for the future generations. >> reporter: paris' deputy mayor gave me a walking tour to see how the city says they've reduced car traffic by more than 40% while doubling trips on bikes and all that cuts emissions. they are translating these to bike streets, where people have the priority over cars. basically, it's making it a nicer place to get around. >> reporter: by 2026, paris plans to be 100% bikable and walkable. and they say that's a goal more american cities should also embrace. >> if you look at the cities around the world that are most

visited by american tourists, internationally, they are cities that are walkable, that are interesting to explore. so i think there's a clear economic case for redesigning cities. >> reporter: she studies sustainable cities at yale and points out that local businesses do better in pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods and people are healthier and happier, too. >> if we redesigned our cities for climate, we are actually redesigning our cities for health, human well-being and social cohesion. i want to underscore, this is how cities have been designed historically. >> reporter: which is why some of the most walkable cities in the u.s. are some of mesh's oldest cities. boston, new york, san francisco, chicago. buteven in more car-centric, florida, miami beach has converted streets to pedestrian malls and built miles ofbike lanes. cars were created to allow humans to go where we wanted. but we're starting to remember

that we really like these kinds of walkable neighborhoods. in miami, we see a high demand of people who want to live in south beach. it's an enjoyable place to be. personal vehicles amount for 15% of heat-trapping emissions in the u.s. every time we walk or ride a bike instead of getting in the car, it's our own little step for climate action. in paris, chase cain. >> hope you have a good walk today. thanks for wrapping up your workweek with "early today." i'm frances rivera. have a great weekend. see you back here monday morning. nday morning.

right now. at five, at least one person is dead after an overnight crash on an east bay interstate. shocking new details from a witness. and the update on those closures. sentencing day for the man who attacked nancy pelosis husband in their pacific heights home. we're live in sanra