a monumental moment in american history. former president donald trump found guilty on all counts. now he's forever the first commander in chief convicted on felony criminal charges. the political fallout already

under way as he awaits sentencing. from the courthouse to the campaign trail, we have team coverage on this unchartered era in presidential politics. the storm-battered south can't catch a break. after a deluge of rain, hail and hurricane-force winds, may is going out with a bang. we're tracking another round of severe weather. could your dream house come with a dream mortgage? how some home buyers are skirting sky high rates. and the mavs are shipping out to boston to take on the celtics. luka doncic dominates the wolves on the road to the nba finals. we have all the big plays. and, can you spell champion? the 12-year-old wordsmith crowned king at scripps national spelling bee. it's the last day of may and the last day of the workweek. "early today" starts right now. and glad you're with me. i'm frances rivera. webegin with that stunning verdict delivered in a manhattan

courtroom. donald j. trump, the 45th president of the united states found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records. that makes him the first american president to be convicted of a crime. mr. trump is calling this a rigged, disgraceful trial, saying the real verdict will be delivered on election day. he remains the presumptive republican nominee in a close race for the white house. the former president's sentencing is scheduled for july 11th. it's just four days before his party is scheduled to hold its convention to officially declare him the candidate. laura jarret kicks off our coverage. >> reporter: former president donald trump found guilty, convicted by a manhattan jury of all charges. now the first american president everybody ever convicted of a crime. jurors finding mr. trump guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying his business records to cover up a conspiracy to influence the 2016 election by hiding how he reimbursed his former fixer for paying off a porn star before

the election. the manhattan jury of seven men and five women included two lawyers, two in finance and the foreman in sales. and reached their decision after two days of deliberations, after hearing from more than 20 witnesses over six weeks. the prosecution's case largely came down to whether jurors would believe the word of michael cohen, mr. trump's former attorney and self-described fixer. cohen was the only witness who directly tied mr. trump to the alleged crime of falsifying business records. he testified mr. trump directed him to pay off stormy daniels so she couldn't derail his campaign. she'd alleged a sexual encounter years before. but mr. trump vehemently denied it. prosecutors argued at trial the former president was desperate to keep her smiling, panicked ach the after the release of the "access hollywood" tape, and had a scheme to cover up the $130,000

payoff. the defense team called cohen the mvp of liars with an ax to grind against mr. trump, while prosecutors argued mr. trump chose mr. cohen for the same qualities that his attorneys now urge you to reject his testimony. mr. trump, who did not testify, reacting to the verdict, attacking the case as politically motivated. >> it's a rigged trial. a disgrace. they wouldn't give us a venue change. we were, had 5% or 6% in this district, in this area. this was a rigged, disgraceful trial. the real verdict is going to be november 5th by the people. and they know what happened here. >> reporter: outside of court, boos and cheers. district attorney alvin bragg reacting to the verdict. >> 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, by following the facts and the law. >> and our thanks to laura for that report. for more on donald trump's next steps, let's turn to nbc's vaughn hilliard. vaughn, good morning. >> hey, good morning, frances. in just a number of hours from now, donald trump, the former president, will address cameras about the 34 felony charges that he was convicted on by a jury of 12 new yorkers yesterday. at trump tower, he will be holding a press conference at 11:00 a.m. eastern time to address the conviction. for him, this is significant. it only raises the stakes of the 2024 presidential election just five months from now. his sentencing in this case is slated for july 11th. this summer, which is just four days before the republican national convention. he could face multiple years in prison, but the prosecution could also just seek probation or a fine. it is up to not only the

prosecution what they seek but also the defense to propose what they think the punishment should be. it would ultimately come down to judge merchan to make that determination. if he were to be sentenced to any time incarcerated, that would likely be suspended till after if he were to win, win the election and of course these are state charges that he was found guilty of. he would not be able to pardon himself. so this election, the stakes of it are even higher. his own allies, his two sons, eric trump as well as don jr., as well as his campaign and social media posts and e-mail has suggested that november 5th is going to be the real verdict day, right? this is the day of the court of public opinion. these 12 jurors headmade their decision after six weeks of testimony brought before them and after deliberating for nine hours they ultimately made the determination. but for donald trump, he has every intention of going and litigating the case outside of this courtroom from here as his legal team seeks the potential appeal of the verdict that came

out from that lower manhattan courthouse, frances? >> okay, vaughn, thank you. it is unavoidable that this verdict will have an impact on the campaign trail and capitol hill. brie jackson joins us now from d.c. with the political fallout, and brie, what reaction did president biden have? >> reporter: good morning, frances. so we have not heard directly from the president, but in a statement the biden campaign said that this verdict shows no one is above the law. saying, donald trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain. the campaign is also fund raising using this message. there's only one way to keep donald trump out of the oval office. at the ballot box. republicans are rallying around the former president. house speaker mike johnson calling this purely political, a purely political exercise, not a legal one. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell saying these charges

should have never been brought. and he expects them to be overturned on appeal. and senator tim scott, who is a possible running mate choice for mr. trump shared a video, calling this trial a sham. >> i can't believe the hoax, this sham, this absolute injustice justice system d.a. bragg and the judge should be astha ashamed of themselves. this isn't just ridiculous. this actually erodes the confidence that americans have in the justice system. >> reporter: and new polling out just before the verdict shows roughly two-thirds of americans said a conviction would make no difference in their vote. donald trump, he spent the evening at a fundraiser. the trump campaign says their fund raising site crashed soon after the verdict, because of an outpouring of support. frances? >> all right, thank you so much, brie. turning overseas to the war in ukraine. two american officials tell nbc

news, president biden secretly gave ukraine permission to use u.s. weapons to strike inside russia. it comes a day after secretary of state antony blinken seemed to leave the door open for the policy shift. the officials say biden's decision only applies to the area around the northeastern city of kharkiv. that's where russia launched a new offensive in recent weeks. and says they could strike back if russia attacks. a brooklyn man is facing attempted murder and hate crime charges after police say he drove his car onto the sidewalk in front of a jewish school on wednesday. surveillance video captured the terrifying moments. authorities say he tried to mow down people outside the school while yelling anti-semitic words. thankfully, nobody was injured. turning to texas where dangerous flash flooding hit the dallas-ft. worth area wreaking havoc on roadways.

a worker had to be rescued after his truck was stranded in floodwaters. this as 200,000 remain in the dark. in west texas, the national weather service confirm add tornado in midland. and the threat continues today. meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking what's next. hi, michelle. >> hi, frances. great to see you. we're looking at the chance for more storms this morning. we have lots of lightning, hearing the thunder as well. you can see on radar storms stretching from midwest to the central plains and southern plains. that will be the theme throughout this tfriday. it's all due to a cold front moving slowly into the mississippi valley. best chance for severe storms into texas, louisiana. that includes the threat for damaging hail, winds, heavy rainfall that could lead to nash flooding. then we'll see showers and storms stretching from the braix

to great lakes to the gulf coast. 17 million people at risk once again for severe weather through tonight, especially where you see the yellow shading. so san angelo, houston, alexandria, shreveport could see the chance for severe storms. and with that, we could see heavy, heavy rainfall, and that will lead to more flash flooding, including waco, shreveport, little rock into springfield. we're looking at 2 t f sunshine. a stormy day once again in the southern plains. 70 degrees in oklahoma city. that's your friday forecast. >> michelle, thank you. coming up, the mavs punch

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high interest rates are weighing on the housing market. last month, pending house sales hit their lowest levels since the start of the pandemic. and with rates hovering around 7%, some are turning to a creative home buying maneuver called an assumable mortgage. and it's helped some score rates around 3%. is it too good to be true? brian chung takes a look. >> reporter: homeowners aren't holding their heads high. >> may i suggest a treehouse? >> everybody talking about you need to buy a house. buy a house. that mortgage rate just went up. >> reporter: but for some home buyers, hope. christopher and ashley sutton purchased this home in northeast maryland in february, even though mortgage rates are around 7% now, the suttons were able to

pick up the previous owner's mortgage rate of 3.4%. >> something called assumable mortgage. never heard of it in my life. >> reporter: john is the remax realtor who got creative to make it happen. >> assumable mortgage is where the buyers assume the existing mortgage that the seller already has in place, instead of the buyers going out and getting their own mortgage. >> reporter: after qualifying and agreeing with the buyer, they were able to take over the previous owner's mortgage, who had bought the house when rates were in the range of 3%. so, in 2024, the suttons picked up this house at a rate about half market rates. meaning big-time monthly savings. do you have an estimate for how much you saved by going with an assumable mortgage versus outright buying? >> a thousand dollars. >> maybe a thousand dollars or

$1500. >> reporter: many v.a. loans are eligible for assumable mortgages. but many conventional mortgages are not. another challenge. the borrower needs to cover all the equity already built up in the house. for the suttons, it worked out, because the previous owner had only built about a year and a half's worth of mortgage payments before having to move to florida for work. >> it was just one of the stars that had to align for it to work. >> reporter: it may not work in the previous owner had paid off a lot already. in the end, it landed them their dream home. what's your favorite part of the house? >> blue. >> that it's blue. >> that it's blue. >> that was brian chung reporting. still to come. the nba finals are set. a dominant performance by luka

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14 for luka on the logo, good! doncic again, another three. got it! he's a flamethrower. >> luka doncic put the city of dallas on his back. the mavs cruised to the decisive game five victory over the timberwolves behind a dominant 20-point first quarter from the slovenian super star. he and kyrie irving were un unstoppable, each dropping 36 points on minnesota. the mavs head to boston. the eastern conference finals in hockey return to madison square garden on thursday, but a tied game five soon turned into a nightmare for the blue shirts.

>> score! >> the florida panthers rode another late surge with back-to-back goals from anton lindell and sam bennett, while the rangers managed their own last-minute score, it couldn't prevent the panthers from taking a one-game series lead. the series heads back to florida on saturday where new york faces the threat of elimination. and now to blow back on the baseball diamond. the mets' georges lopez, he threw his glove into the stands at citi field after he was ejected during the team's 10-3 loss to the dodgers. lopez generated further controversy after he appeared to say in a post-game interview that he played for the worst team in the mlb. the pitcher took to instagram on thursday and explained he was actually saying that he felt like the worst teammate in the league. mets manager carlos mendoza did not specify whether the roster move had anything to do with

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terminal brain tumor. he's now been sworn in as an honorary officer at over 800 agencies, including 15 in louisiana just this week. our shreveport affiliate brings us his story. >> every time i get sworn in, it makes me feel great. >> reporter: 12-year-old daniel and his father theo tis have been all over the united states raising awareness about childhood cancer. they stopped by the sheriff's station. >> this young man, you talk about courage. >> reporter: he was diagnosed with brain cancer. shortly after, he told his dad he recognized the hope law enforcement provides to those in need and wanted to be an honorary officer. since then, he's been sworn in at 822 agencies across the country. >> ooh, i miss you. >> reporter: when the bosier sheriff heard about it, he jumped in to help. >> we ended up with 15 law

enforcement agencies here today to swear him in and give him a badge. >> reporter: dj's been through 13 brain surgeries, and he doesn't know how much time he has left. so he's making days count. >> as you see that light leave your eyes, that's when you know god's calling you home. on my 11th brain surgery, i woke up on a cloud. god told me i was doing his work. >> it's not just about being selfish. we're in a big village. we all need to learn to live together and support each other. >> law enforcement is not always fun. but this is something we feel like we're really helping somebody. it's been a positive experience for us as well as this young man. >> what a difference he's making. our thanks for that story. there was no stumping bruhat soma at the scripps national spe spelling bee. >> your first word is brouette.

>> adelantado. >> hmycteric. >> no idea what any of these words mean. the 12-year-old was crowned the champion on thursday after besting his opponent in a rapid fire tiebreaker. bruhat correctly spelled 29 words. he takes home over $50,000 in cash and coming up

guilty on all counts. the jury in the hush money trial of former president donald j. trump delivered a verdict of