and thanks for being with us on this thursday. i'm raj mathai and i'm jessica aguirre, 34, counts all guilty. the former president set to be sentenced in new york this summer, just days before he's going to be announced as the official republican nominee for the presidency. that jury in new york city reached its decision after two days of deliberations. after hearing from more than 20 witnesses over more than six weeks, prosecutors charged mr. trump with falsifying business records in an attempt to cover up hush money payments he made to former star stormy daniels. this was during the 2016 election. mr. trump did not testify. reacting to the verdict tonight, though, attacking the trial as a partizan prosecution in a deep blue manhattan state, he's expected to appeal. and we'll keep fighting. we'll fight till the end and we'll win because our country has gone to hell. we don't have the same country anymore. we have a divided mess. crowds outside of that courthouse in manhattan

reacting with boos and cheers. the manhattan district attorney defending the jury tonight, while this defendant may be unlike any other in american history, we arrived at this trial and ultimately today at this verdict in the same manner as every other case that comes through the courtroom doors. so here's what happens next in terms of the legal part of all of this, sentencing is set for july 11th. mr. trump says he's planning to hold a news conference tomorrow morning at trump tower in new york city. we're following all this now. tonight, let's start with in washington with nbc's alice barr , with the reaction on capitol hill. alice so we have heard a whole lot pouring out from capitol hill, a lot of former president trump's republican allies have just had, you know, terrible things to say about this verdict. we heard from house speaker mike johnson that it's a disgrace saying that this

was a political exercise and not a legal one from the biden campaign. we have heard that what we saw today was that no one is above the law. they said that donald trump always believed that he would not be held accountable for breaking the law for his own benefit, and that he has now been proven wrong. but interestingly, they zeroed in on the fact that the only way they say to prevent former president trump from getting back into the oval office is at the ballot box, that, regardless of the fact that he has been convicted, that doesn't mean that he has to stop running for president, doesn't mean that he couldn't hold office as a convicted felon and that exact thread is really what you heard. former president trump himself hit on when he walked out of the courtroom today, and he said that the true verdict will come on november 5th by the people. so whatever happened today in that courtroom is in many ways sort of just the backdrop for what is to come over the next several months. and we do know from recent

polling that roughly two thirds of americans surveyed said that whatever the verdict was going to be, it wasn't necessarily going to affect their vote, perhaps at all. alice, we know the president, the former president is going to be, sentenced just a couple of days before the republican national convention. do you anticipate that even though he is getting republican support right now, that you'll see some cracks forming as we get closer to that convention? hard to say, but probably not. i mean, the reality is that, you know, this is a this is a candidate for president who has had enormous support among his republican fellow, fellow republican lawmakers and politicians and who has a very strong hold over the republican base. so it's difficult to imagine a scenario where that would really get dislodged and as i just noted from polling, it doesn't seem that this verdict is likely to shake the american public's

support for him immensely. and if that's the case, then you're not going to see changes coming from the politicians. his fan base is certainly energized. alice barr reporting from capitol hill. alice, thanks for being with us. well, the conviction today came as a shock to local republicans and democrats as well. the president's sentencing, as i just told you, four days from the start of the republican national convention, which is raising some concern for san francisco republican party chair john dennis, who says he plans to go to the convention. but he says he's confident, as alice just mentioned, that the party will continue to support the former president in his return to the white house. if anything. i mean, it's hard to tell what the effects of this are going to be. by all measures, it's shaping up to be a close election in the fall, one thing i'm fairly certain of is that the republican base will be motivated by this. mr. trump is scheduled to visit san francisco next week for a high dollar campaign. fundraiser campaign

has already started using today's conviction as a fundraising tool, telling nbc news they're having trouble keeping a website running smoothly because so many supporters have tried to go log on and donate just since this afternoon. this verdict presents some big questions for constitutional law. scholars can he run for president? and if elected, would it defer any possible prison sentence? nbc's velena jones continues our coverage velena. well, raj, it's important that we note first that even legal experts don't all necessarily agree on all the answers to those questions. that's because this has never happened before. so it's leaving everyone to make their best educated guess of what happens next. today, we have the most important voice of all, and that's the voice of the jurors. they have spoken, donald j. trump has been convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records, found guilty on all 34 felony counts. former president donald trump now becomes the first president ever convicted

of a felony. this is one of those historic moments. that's a first time ever moment, and we're just starting to think about, well, gee, what are all the consequences and what should we do in the future? a felony conviction can prevent mr. trump from buying guns and voting in many states, and even joining the military. but uc law sf professor rory little explains what it won't prevent is his run for president. but legally, there's no bar on him holding office. the constitution sets very minimal requirements. you just got to be over 35 and a natural born citizen, little explains. there are no rules preventing the presumptive republican nominee from once again holding office for two reasons one, this has never happened before. we're just not prepared for it. that's one answer. i think the other answer and the deeper answer, the legal answer is, this is a democracy. and the theory of the constitution, the theory of the, democracy, is that the people get to choose who is their

president. some have asked if the 14th amendment would prevent a run, but a recent supreme court ruling determined that amendment does not make trump ineligible able to appear on a ballot. however, little explains that doesn't mean lawyers in some states won't try to find a way around that ruling. states do not have the authority to regulate a federal election. if you extrapolate from that ruling, you might say nothing could keep him off the ballot for november of 2024, but as i say, i think lawyers are paid to be creative, paid to push the law. a guilty verdict for former president now likely to set precedent over who can and cannot run in all future elections. barnsdall art park now, assuming that this conviction is not overturned at some point, little says you can expect to see lawmakers on both sides of the aisle bring legislation forward to address possible convictions and

consequences for future nominees . in the east bay velena jones nbc bay area news. okay, thank you very much, velena. let's dig into this topic a little bit deeper. moments after that verdict came down, the trump campaign already rallying supporters with new ads. joining me from the newsroom is doctor melinda jackson. she's a political science professor at san jose state. doctor jackson, thank you for being with us. all right. former president, using that familiar rhetoric as he did throughout the whole trial, calling it rigged. he said the real verdict, as velena just mentioned, will come on november 5th. his supporters are certainly going to buy into that. but what about those independent voters? what about those nikki haley voters? yeah, i think that's where we really might start to see some some movement and some weakening of his support in the polls. up until now, this has all been hypothetical. we've heard trump's claims for the last four years, really, that he's been targeted, that it's a political witch hunt, that he's been treated unfairly, his hard, hard core supporters believe that already this is not new information for them, but for

those more moderate republicans in some of those critical battleground states like pennsylvania and michigan and wisconsin, this is a big deal. this is having a felony conviction. is going to hit differently for many of those more moderate and less partizan voters. this really does come to the issue of possibility versus reality. hetty i mean, voters, potential trump voters that were polled before this said they would still vote for him. but does it change? does it translate differently now that there is that 34 count? you know, conviction in? i think it does. and you know, we've seen so many scandals and court cases related to trump over the last few years. and nothing has has ever, you know, been proven he hasn't been found guilty of anything before. so the fact that it was such a decisive verdict as well, that the verdict came in quickly and unanimous, guilty on all 34

counts. i think that this is going to make some voters take another look. and so i'll be looking at the polling that comes out in the next couple of weeks. now that that people are processing this information. so the white house being very circumspect up to now, they did issue a statement earlier today saying that that no one is above the law, that this is what this ruling means. but what does president biden do now, given what's happened today? what kind of a fine line does he have to walk, to be able to win those voters that might be on the fence now. yeah. well, both candidates really should be focusing on the general election at this point. and again, speaking to those those independents, those moderate voters, you know, the folks in the middle and i think biden has to be careful to you know, not not focus too much on this one issue, but to think about it in terms of the broader character issue, but also to focus on the policies, the economy. he, you

know, prices is reproductive freedom, you know, college loan forgiveness, these kinds of things. because if trump continues to only talk about, you know, his court cases, many voters may be wanting some more substantial, you know, policy information about the candidates. and, you know, we'll have to see whether trump is able to pivot. but i think if biden can keep his focus on his track record and the policy issues, as well as the overall character contrast between him and trump, that would, you know, be my advice to him going into november, staying above the fray, staying out of the drama. exactly. all right, doctor jackson, thank you very much for being with us. you're welcome. the court of public opinion is being shaped in real time right now on social media. we've been poring over some social media accounts since this news broke this afternoon. let's bring in chris kamara, who's tracking some of the notable posts. what's catching your attention

chris raj. we're going to start with harmeet dhillon. and you have seen her on our airwaves. forgive us for the slight error here in our screen. but harmeet is an attorney with a law office in san francisco. she is integral to the republican party. she posted a picture of donald trump and said this verdict is a disgrace and makes me ashamed of the new york legal system where i started as a lawyer over 30 years ago. and next we'll move on and we have sam liccardo, who's currently running for congress here in the south bay. he says congratulations to the jury and to district attorney bragg and his team for delivering justice today. as a former federal and local prosecutor, i know what this verdict means, a solemn reminder that our nation stands at risk of being led by a man willing to break any law. and he goes on after that. and so then next, we're going to take a look at what david saxe is saying. we made a reference to saxe earlier. he, as cnbc is reporting, will be hosting donald trump. he is a longtime donald trump supporter up in san francisco. he said there is now only one issue in this election whether the american people will

stand for the usa becoming a banana republic. raj we're going to be looking for a more reaction. we'll have it for you throughout the night. yeah. david saxe hosting mr. trump next week at his home in san francisco. our nbc network team, also with a lot more coverage ahead of the verdict and the political fallout. lester holt is going to join us at 630 on nightly news. up next. where's the money going? questions in san jose over how $300 million for the homeless crisis a apparently is missing. and they're finally free. an update on those pelicans starving pelicans across california on our coast. that biologist rushed to save. i'm chief meteorologist jeff ranieri. a warm day out there. we did get up to 91 in concord, 90 in livermore. what's ahead for torrow and right omin

it spent hundreds of millions of dollars meant to battle

homelessness. this comes weeks after a state audit shows millions of dollars in homeless funding is unaccounted for. nbc bears robert honda has more. reporter the first today, a group of san jose leaders proposed a city audit of the money spent on homelessness and did it near the infamous encampment called the jungle. the group will propose a massive internal audit at the june 11th city council meeting and demand san jose spell out its exact responsibilities in dealing with the homeless. a recent state audit of san jose found more than $300 million unaccounted for. i would be very clear. san jose has spent millions of dollars on program that i believe are the responsibility of other jurisdictions. their announcement was interrupted by homeless advocates who called the city hypocritical for demanding an audit while continuing to spend money on sweeps and inadequate shelters. a council member tried to appeal to the advocates to join their call. my plea continues to be please use your time wisely,

constructively and to work with us to solve the life of some of the people who are standing next to you. the audit is fine, but it's also like we're going to spend more money on an audit to find out where money went. and at the same time, we still give contracts to the same three vendors the mayor and the downtown business association support the audit. i've called on the city manager to produce public dashboards that account for where every dollar goes. it's really looking at the money that's available, how it's being spent, how it's being allocated. so despite some civil behavior by both sides, after the shouting back and forth, they even posed for a group picture together. it appears there will still be plenty of arguing. at the june 11th city council meeting on how to tackle these homeless issues in san jose. robert honda, nbc, bay area news. okay thank you. robert. police say they've arrested two people in connection to a shooting in marin county. happened at 230 on saturday afternoon this past saturday in san rafael. police say they

responded to reports of a crash involving several vehicles. two people ran away before they arrived, though police found a man had been shot taken to the hospital. at this point, we don't know his condition. investigators say the suspects were later arrested and booked into the marin county jail. we have some good news here. many of those wayward and hungry pelicans are now back in the wild. they were recently found starving and disoriented, not just in the bay area, but across the state. here's nbc's jodi hernandez. this was the scene at fort baker in sausalito. this afternoon, as wildlife experts released eight brown pelicans back into the wild. we are very excited to have a very one of the very first releases of pelicans from this massive starvation stranding event for the past month and a half, dozens of starving, disoriented and cold pelicans have been pouring into the international bird rescue, where wildlife experts have been working hard to nurse them back to health.

they come in really starving. we hope that they will put on weight and eat well. a lot of the birds also came in with secondary injuries because they were chasing fishing line or doing risky behaviors, landing in a road, etc. there is a bird in short left center. the pelicans plight got a publicity boost when a disoriented bird landed in left field during a giants game. the odd behavior a sign of the problems the birds have been facing, but fortunately, the weeks of feeding and care are paying off. these birds have made immense progress. you know, when we do our checks, they are. they're gaining whole kilograms essentially, which is a lot of weight for a bird who only weighs about four kilograms. wildlife experts say there are several theories for the wave of weak and hungry birds, including warmer waters leading to fish swimming too deep for the birds to reach. but scientists still aren't sure. there's a lot of very, very smart, scientific minded folks talking about this, and i think it'll be a while before if ever, honestly. but

the birds are bouncing back and rescuers plan to release all of them in the coming weeks. good luck to them. yeah. in sausalito, jodi hernandez, nbc, bay area news two. pelicans like really warm weather. it's hot. what's the vibe for them? yeah maybe maybe we know they like you know after the giants game for sure. they were hanging out oh man. yes hot out there today. and we are going to see those numbers starting to change as we head through tomorrow even right into this weekend. so if it was a little uncomfortable for you today, those numbers are going to be trending down. let me show you more details right now on that microclimate forecast. and if you're doing anything outside, obviously it has been warm right now. still hanging on to 85 in santa rosa, 91 in concord and 88 in livermore. look at the difference though. coastal areas here with that ocean breeze and some fog and half moon bay. just 55. so out here in livermore, we'll hang on to 80s through the next hour. then we'll drop into some 70s here. eight and 9:00 and then

some 60s coming in later on tonight. now, all of this heat coming in from this area, high pressure. but by tomorrow the storm track is going to move just a little bit more off towards the south. and that's going to help to knock down the heat a little bit and really a sign of some larger changes coming on in as we head through this weekend and also for part of next week. so let's go ahead and get it into tomorrow morning. temperatures here in the mid to upper 50s. this will put us to 56 in the south bay. just a chance of a little bit of patchy fog near the coast and also the bay 54 here for the east bay and 55 for the north bay. daytime highs for tomorrow. dropping off a couple degrees but still going to be a hot day outside if you can get away with shorts and a t shirt at work tomorrow, it's going to be one of those days right here in cupertino, 8587, in morgan hill. that's a nice boss if you can get away with shorts and t shirts. all right, 79 here in vallejo down to pleasanton, 87 back to oakland 74 over to the coastal areas. will stay in the 50s tomorrow down to redwood city 80 san francisco low 70s in

downtown down then to the outer sunset 67 and up to the north bay 86, in santa rosa, 79 for mill valley. the other thing we've been tracking is severe weather. if you're doing any traveling tomorrow, another round. this is like our eighth week in a row here of some strong severe weather. looks like any connecting flights in dallas could be delayed from some strong storms, maybe even some isolated tornadoes. on my 7-day forecast, 60s come back to san francisco this weekend, and then eventually we'll go back up to some low 70s next tuesday and wednesday. other thing i'm watching out for is next monday could feel a little strange. clouds are going to increase and with that warm 84 and feel a little bit odd out there, we're going to be tracking a storm to the north that will bring rain to the california oregon border. i've got my eyes closely fixed on that. we see anything change? i'll let you know about that. but right now looks pretty good next couple of days. it looks great. thank you jeff. well up next ucsf taking a big leap into artificial intelligence. how the hospital is leading the way on using the tech when it comes to

medical care

will create a platform to monitor ai technology in use in hospitals across the country. the hospital says right now, there's no way to properly monitor artificial intelligence technologies that can lead to problems that go undetected. its new platform will be called

empac. the team is also planning to build a dashboard so patients can see when ai is used in their care. all this made by made possible by a $5 million gift to ucsf by the red cross, needs you to roll up your sleeve. the nonprofit says the number of people donating blood is dropping dramatically and they're concerned that the shortage will impact the summer months when car crashes are more prevalent and the need for blood is higher. red cross says it needs 20,000 donations to fill the national blood bank. it's asking people to go online, make an appointment to donate. if you donate before june 9th, you'll get a free t shirt. up next, there's a new effort to clear the shelters. we'll tell you how the state is trying to get more pets into forever homes. we're back in a moment a slow network is no network for business. that's why more choose comcast business. and now, we're introducing ultimate speed for business —our fastest plans yet. we're up to 12 times faster than verizon, at&t, and t-mobile.

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are offering free pets free. it's this saturday. this is video from yesterday. an animal shelter visited our nbc studios to give us some puppy therapy. 160 shelters across california are offering free pet adoptions, which includes shelters in the bay like the humane society and the spca. shelters say the goal is to find homes for 2000 pets. they say they're dealing with an overload of animals to a nationwide shortage of vets. inflation and of course, pet friendly housing restrictions. tonight at seven, there might be money waiting for you. millions of dollars in inflation relief

money is unclaimed. to how find out if some of that is yours by the june 1st deadline. that's coming up at seven. up next on nightly news, the coverage of former presidentrump's gui tonight, a watershed moment in this nation's history. for the first time, an american president convicted of criminal conduct, all in the middle of an election season. donald trump convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records after a manhattan jury deliberated for 9 1/2 hours. will the former president face prison time or just probation for the low-level felonies in the hush money case? and how will the judicial system handle the unprecedented case of a former president with secret service protection? the political fallout. how will this impact donald trump's campaign for the presidency? >> the real verdict is going to be november 5th. >>