a jury weighs the fate of former president donald trump. deliberations will pick back up in just hours in the historic hush money case.

we're live with what we learn from day one and how soon we could hear a verdict. a supreme court flap over flags. justice alito refusing to recuse himself from january 6 cases over a growing controversy in the days that followed the capitol riot. why he's pinning the blame solely on his wife. the world's top golfer gets a mulligan after his run-in with kentucky police. tired of high prices? walgreen's has just the prescription. inside the plan to roll back prices on hundreds of its most popular items. and meet the real top dog. the three-legged canine still fighting crime after losing a leg to cancer. it's thursday, may 30th. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm frances rivera. we begin with verdict watch at the manhattan courtroom where 12 new yorkers are deciding the fate of donald trump in his criminal hush money trial.

day two of deliberations will begin in just a few hours. nbc's brie jackson joins us now. how candidate jdid the judge pr jury? >> reporter: deliberations began yesterday after more than an hour of instructions from the judge. judge juan merchan telling the jury to set aside any biases for or against mr. trump and not to ignore any evidence, simply because they want the trial to end. the judge also walked the jurors through each of the 34 counts mr. trump faces for allegedly falsifying business records. the charges are normally misdemeanors, but they've been raised to a low-level felony, because prosecutors say the records were allegedly doctored to cover up other possible crimes, including campaign finance violations. the judge told the jury they do not need a unanimous agreement about what unlawful acts trigger the felony. the former president continues to insist that these charges are

baseless. >> mother theresa could not beat these charges. these charges are rigged. the whole thing is rigged. and i mean that. mother theresa could not beat those charges. but we'll see. we'll see how we do. >> reporter: and during more than four hours of deliberations, the jury did ask some questions, wanting a read back of testimony from publisher david pecker and from key witness michael cohen. a decision must still be made about which portions of the testimony they will hear. and the jury was told not to consider any possible sentences, because that is up to the judge. now, if convicted, mr. trump faces anything from probation to prison time. and he can still be elected, even if he is found guilty. frances? >> brie jackson, thank you. supreme court justice samuel alito is refusing to recuse himself from cases that involve january 6 and former president trump. that's even after reports about controversial political flags seen flying outside his homes.

here's nbc's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: a defiant judgment from supreme court justice samuel alito, refusing democrats' demands that he recuse himself from pending cases related to january 6 and former president trump. over flags flown at his virginia home in 2021, and new jersey vacation house in 2023. flags frequently used by maga followers who deny the 2020 election results. the incident sparking national attention just this month. alito repeatedly blamed his wife martha ann as solely responsible for the controversial displays and distanced himself in a pair of detailed letters to congress. i had nothing whatsoever to do with the flying of the nag. flag. flag. i asked my wife for several days to take it down and she refused. my wife was greatly distressed over a neighborhood dispute,

noting she is a private citizen with full rights. he is duty bound to reject the request. democrati democratic leaders have expressed outrage. >> samuel alito and clarence thomas are totally out of control. >> reporter: justice thomas' wife ginny has recently said she and her husband don't discuss their work with each other. alito is among the most conservative on the court but asserted ignorance that the flags are associated with anger and january 6. i was unaware of any connection between this flag and the stop-the-steal movement. neither was my wife. 18 democrats signed a letter to chief justice roberts, asking if this violates the court's code of conduct adopted last november and urging him to enforce that

code. secretary of state antony blinken is in prague this morning as part of a multi-day meeting with nato foreign ministers. earlier at a press conference, blinken made headlines by leaving the door open to a key shift in u.s. policy. allowing american weapons to be fired into russia-federated territory. >> we haven't encouraged or strike strikes outside ukraine. we are going to make sure sthey have the equipment to defend themselves. >> reporter: just a couple years ago, at the beginning of the war, the idea that the united states hwill allow ukraine to ue american-made weapons to attack russia was unthinkable. because president biden was repeatedly asking zelenskyy not

to do that, for fear of an escalation between nato and russia that could eventually lead to world war iii. but now the u.s. administration is sending some mixed messages. now you've got john kirby, the spokesperson for the national security council saying no, there is no change in that policy. just on wednesday, antony blinken said quite the contrary, saying the u.s. is ready to adjust and adopt according to the conditions on the battlefield, and the conditions on the battlefield in ukraine is that ukraine is finding it very difficult to fend off the continuous attacks by russia. now, the question is, what will russia do. now putin spoke to reporters on tuesday about this, and he said constant escalation can lead to serious consequences in europe. how will the united states behave, bearing in mind our parity in the feed of strategic weapons, and frances, with that of course he means nuclear weapons. frances?

>> claudio lavanga for us, thank you. new this morning, harvey weinstein may yet face new charges. prosecutors review more claims ahead of a scheduled retrial on charges of rape and sexual assault. in a shocking decision five weeks ago, weinstein's 2020 verdict in new york was vacated by the state supreme court after key testimony was ruled inadmissible. the prosecution said this time around they told the judge they'll need another month before they can update the court again. as convicted murderer scott peterson is having his case re-examined, a california judge has ruled that only one item from a list of several should undergo new dna testing. liz kreutz has this update on a story that captivated america. >> we have the testimony from -- >> reporter: scott peterson appearing in court from prison, 20 years after being convicted of killing his pregnant wife laci and their unborn child connor, the now-51-year-old who

is serving a life sentence without parole has the backing of the los angeles innocence project as he makes yet another attempt for a new trial. >> there's absolutely no -- >> reporter: his new attorneys asking a california judge to allow for new dna testing on several pieces of evidence they say was suppressed, including a burned-out orange van that was found in modesto the day after laci disappeared but not made known during the initial trial. his attorneys saying inside the van was a bloody mattress, and they want to know if that blood was laci's. >> could laci peterson's dna be found anywhere. >> reporter: but the prosecution pushing back, saying testing done in 2019 showed no blood on the mattress and only male dna. >> these are claims that have been previously adjudicated. >> reporter: peterson's trial captivated the nation, a jury finding him guilty after a trove of circumstantial evidence, including that laci and connor's

bodies washed up in the san francisco day, the same place he had gone fishing the day they vanished. and his affair with a woman he had told his wife had died. and after a hearing that lasted all day here, a judge has struck down the request for new dna testing of the van and mattress, finding it unrelated to the case. the judge will allow new testing of duct tape found on laci peterson's body but still not the outcome that scott peterson and the innocence project were hoping for. charges have been dropped against the world's top golfer. scottie scheffler tried to drive around an accident during the pga championship. he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a police officer. the prosecutor dropped the case, saying that scheffler's saying that this was a misunderstanding is corroborated by the evidence. suspects are in custody

after a chase in miami dade. cops caught a silver suv scoping out warehouses. when they ran the plates, they found out the car was stolen. after a dangerous chase where the suv weaved in and out of lanes at high speeds, police boxed in the car on an expressway and arrested the sus suspects a judge was left stunned when the defendant showed up for his virtual court hearing behind the wheel ofhis car. the judge seemingly in disbelief earlier this month. during the court hearing for that driver cory harris, he asked harris if he was driving and harris responded he was pulling into a doctor's office. the judge confirming multiple times that harris did not in fact have a valid license. he then revoked harris' bond and ordered him to turn himself in to police that evening, leaving harris in apparent disbelief. from behind the wheel. the severe weather is still refusing to let up this morning.

angie lassman is here with a look at the radar. >> the radar already active this morning. we're going to round out this workweek with more severe weather on the table. it's firing up across the plains where we're watching for thunderstorms to develop later today. but we could see strong storms across texas as the day goes on. by tomorrow, more of that heavy rain, of course more severe weather as we finish friday. 10 million people at risk, including a good chunk of texas, oklahoma, stretching up into kansas and colorado as well. 10 million people at risk. our biggest concern is that large hail, up to baseball size. but we can't rule out a couple tornados and of course strong wind gusts. by tomorrow, much of the same area still included in this with all of those same risks on the table for 22 million people. here's the deal for temperatures. we're on the cooler side of things, but it's not too chilly. 37 73 in new york.

lexington will hit 75. we keep those cooler than normal temperatures in the picture for tomorrow before we see a bit of a warmup, back to the 80 t from homaha to kansas city. lots of sunshine for chicago and green bay. back to you. >> thank you, angie. "early today" is back in a minute with the latest company to cut prices on hundreds of items. and can netflix find its own voice? they set their sights on music competition. heir sights on musi competition. so if you're frustrated with occasional bloating... ♪♪ [stomach noises] gas... or abdominal discomfort... help stop the frustration and start taking align every day. align probiotic was specifically designed

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thousand items. arabile gumede joins us with the details. good morning. >> yeah, good morning, frances. this is certainly going to be very positive for consumers, right? they've been wanting a few deals, that's for sure. post-covid recovery is beginning to wane a little bit, because consumers' pockets are getting a little bit tighter. higher interest rates have been eating up a bit of that spending. so 1300 items is pretty much what walgreen's is saying they will continue to decrease the priceson. it becomesi the latest retail event to keep customers coming through to retail stores. we recently heard from target who last week announced lower costs for thousands of items in their stores as well. at the same time we heard from walmart unveil ago ing an entir line of items costing $5 or less. need to get the consumers into

the shopping malls a little bit more. as we go over to the oil story as well in play here. conocophillips set to buy marathon oil, a deal that could ultimately reach new mexico, north dakota, adding 2 billion barrels of oil. it's a deal that could ultimately be absolutely massive, worth $17 billion. it changes the game across the united states. it's a massive deal in an industry that has obviously been at the background and the foreground, should i say then, of the u.s. economy. >> arabile, thank you. still to come, our latest look at moana 2. and netflix is kicking off their search for a super star. new details on their upcoming competition shows for aspiring musicians, right after this. ng musicians, right after this. o, ♪ ♪ berries, butter, coffee, cream, ♪ ♪ drippy fingers, deviled eggs ♪ ♪ and empanadas (red and green), ♪ ♪ fettuccine, grits and gravy, ♪ ♪ even hummus, ice cream too, ♪ ♪ jambalaya, jars of kimchi, ♪ ♪ lemonade and cheesy noods. ♪

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apiece. his agent has made it official. bronny james is staying in the nba draft. he is expected to get selected, more like ly in the second roun. the yankees' starting pitcher broke the mlb record for the longest record of allowing two or fewer runs and more impressively pulled off the streak without garrett cole. "early today" will be right back. e right back. did you know some dish soaps don't remove all the grease, even with scrubbing? whaaat? i just cleaned those! try dawn platinum. it removes 99% of grease and food residue. that's why dawn is trusted to save wildlife affected by oil. dawn platinum cleans to the squeak. when your gut is out of balance,

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be one of his unit's best trackers. andrew mcclung introduces us to boone. >> reporter: he's one of the most popular members of the wise county sheriff's office. >> he loves work. >> reporter: his name is boone, and he's a 1-year-old bloodhound canine. >> that dog is just motivated and has the abilities to hit a track and go straight to it. >> reporter: sergeant michael taber is boone's handler. >> with the dog, you're on call 24/7. >> reporter: and the two are always ready to go. >> ready to go? >> he's got exceptional drive. you can't make him not work. >> reporter: sheriff kilgore says that was until a few months ago. >> one day he gets this knot on his leg. >> reporter: that knot was cancer. >> your heart drops. you know, and you're just, scares you to death. >> reporter: vets removed the cancer which also led to the

amputation of boone's leg. he was set to retire with kilgore kil kilgore and taber already looking for a new dog. >> i was talking to the vet. and they said this dog's bouncing around like it has five legs. it does not know it's missing a leg. he's ready to go back to work. >> reporter: after getting the all-clear from the vet, boone was back doing the impossible. >> when the vet cleared him to come back into service, it's like, man, this is the greatest day ever. >> he was motivated. he wanted to get out there, and he wanted to find people. >> good boy. good boy. >> reporter: a few weeks after being cleared, he found a missing child. and within the next nine days, boone would find two more. >> three finds in ten days. that's just amazing work and in my opinion only comes from the greatest dog. >> reporter: who has some big pet-tential for his future. >> he's such a great dog.

i'm so kbgrateful he's pushed through it. the panda-moni u-um ums se begin soon with two pandas returning to the smithsonian zoo. they are upgrading the panda exhibit ahead of the new arrivals. coming up on the "today" show, one giant leap for al roker, his interview with the artemis ii crew as they prepare for the mission to orbit around the moon. thanks for waking up wit my name is caron and i'm from brooklyn. i work for the city of new york as a police administrator. i oversee approximately 20 people and my memory just has to be sharp. and i realized, my memory was just changing. i did my own research

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