his attorneys are promising to appeal. trump is expected to deliver remarks at 8:00 this morning, and former president trump's attorney, todd blanche, is speaking out this morning on today. but the full interview for you will air coming up in just minutes at 7:00 right here after today in the bay the today show is just moments away, but we are continuing today in the bay on roku and other platforms. we're also live at eight. we're awaiting a news conference from former president donald trump. plus everything you need to know about purchasing an electric car. all right. no. all right. thanks so much for making us a part of your morning today. show starts now. go the verdict is in. history was made. >> and we are in uncharted territory now. good morning. it is may 31st. this is "today".

the jury has spoken. >> here we go. count one guilty. >> donald trump convicted 34 times over. the first american president ever to be tried and found guilty in a court of law. prosecutors praising the jury. >> the only voice that matters is the voice of the jury, and the jury has spoken. >> trump lashing out after learning his fate. >> this was a rigged, disgraceful trial. the real verdict is going to be november 5th. >> just ahead, could the former president go to prison? with sentencing set for just days before the republican convention. and his campaign for president full steam ahead this morning. we'll have complete coverage from the trial to the trail. and donald trump's lead defense right here with us live. danger zone. >> wow, dude. that is big. the south hammered with severe weather and tornadoes overnight.

the threat still not over. your full forecast for today and the weekend straight ahead. in the spotlight, the battle over evidence taking center stage in the idaho college murdered case. the lead detective grilled in court by the accused killer's attorney. families voicing frustration over their painful wait for the trial date. we'll have the latest. into the deep. less than a year after that catastrophic implosion, another billionaire is ready to launch a new mission to the historic wreckage. >> we will, under no set of circumstances, rush this project. >> this morning his message to critics who say it is too soon. plus, dallas dominates. >> what is going on here? >> the mavericks crush and end up punching their ticket to the finals in a showdown with the boston celtics. we have the highlights. and can you spell drama?

the national spelling bee ends in a nail biter. >> mycteric. >> a 12-year-old from florida grabbing the title. >> you are the 2024 scripps national spelling bee champion. >> and is joining us to today,r from nbc news, this is celebrate today, friday, may 31, 2024. from nbc news, this is "today" with savannah guthrie and hoda kotb, live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. >> hi there. good morning. welcome to "today." busy friday morning. >> our top story, of course that historic verdict. former president donald trump found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records. >> we have a lot to break down this morning, but it is truly an

uncharted era in the legal arena. trump faces a fine, probation or up to four years behind bars. his scheduling is set for july 11th, four days before the start of the republican national convention. >> so that takes us to the political aspect of this verdict. despite being convicted, trump remains the presumptive republican nominee. he can still run for president in what is a close race for the white house. trump saying the real verdict will be delivered on november 5th, which is, of course, election day. >> we have it covered from the courthouse to the white house, including an interview with trump's lead defense attorney. we begin with laura jarett who has been at the courthouse since the beginning. good morning. >> savannah, good morning to you. a case that almost didn't happen. a documents case revived by manhattan prosecutors telling a far more sweeping story, one that accused the former president and likely gop nominee of trying to hoodwink the

american voter. after that historic verdict, this morning political fallout falling along party lines with republicans rallying behind the former president. >> this is the most outrageous travesty i've ever seen. the seven men and five women entering a silent courtroom packed with reporters, but no cameras. mr. trump expressionless as the verdict was read swiftly, guilty 34 times. the former president craning his neck to see jurors as they were each asked to confirm their verdict. none appearing to make eye contact with him on their way out. each of their identities kept anonymous for their own safety. the presumptive gop nominee who did not testify in his own defense, vowing to fight. >> the real verdict is going to

be november 5th by the people, and they know what happened here. >> reporter: and overfinight, those backing mr. trump, as he left a fund-raising a resounding victory for prosecutors including alvin bragg, a democrat who campaigned on holding mr. trump accountable and the former president has repeatedly attacked as politically motivating. >> 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 codoors, following the facts and the law. >> reporter: the trial a b by-product of a years' long saga beginning with an alleged one-night stand between the reality tv star and a porn star, which mr. trump has vehemently

denied, a story that bubbled up at an inopportune time in 2016 with mr. trump in damage control after the "access hollywood" tape leaked, scrambling, any stories that could have hurt his election chances. his former fixer, mr. cohen, testifying he was directed to pay off this, and cover up the tracks through a phony paper trail. >> the documents speak for themselves. >> reporter: now set for sentencing on july 11th, facing the possibility of up to four years in prison to just probation. just four days before he's officially expected to accept the gop nomination. >> after that historic verdict, this morning, political fallout falling along party lines with republicans rallying behind the former president. >> this is the most outrageous travesty i've ever seen. >> reporter: while democrats argue donald trump's conviction

shows he's not fit to serve. >> reporter: while democrats argue donald trump's conviction shows he's not fit to serve. >> reporter: mr. trump aggressively fund-raising off the verdict, attending a dinner overnight. his campaign casting him as a political prisoner, saying a surge of donations crashed their fund-raising site. the former president's defenders include a laundry list of potential running mates, many who appeared alongside in court this morning as did house speaker mike johnson calling the conviction a shameful day in american history, from donald trump jr., disgust. >> guilty on all counts? give me a break. >> reporter: and ivanka, a former senior adviser in his administration but rarely seen in this campaign, writing simply, i love you, dad. but the former president's critics make the case it proves no one is above the law. from mr. trump's 2016 opponent, hillary clinton, at an event in washington, a not so subtle nod to the news.

>> thanks so much. anything going on today? >> reporter: some recent polls show president biden pulling ahead slightly if mr. trump were to be found guilty of a felony. but other numbers show about two-thirds of americans say they have already made up their minds. now, however, a conviction is no longer a hypothetical. it is the unprecedented reality, an x factor in key battlegrounds ahead of november when voters will decide. >> i don't see him as that much of a criminal. what he did, it might have been a crime, but i don't think it was that much of a crime. >> to me, it's justice. it's obvious. this is how our judicial system works. >> reporter: this morning donald the collision course will be on full display this summer with that sentencing date for mr. trump coming just four days before he's set to accept the gop nomination at the republican convention. back to you. >> joining us now, todd blanch, former president trump's lead defense attorney. good morning to you. it was a sweeping victory for the prosecution.

are you surprised at how quickly it came and the rejection of the >> good morning. >> nine hours of deliberation. the jury dispensed with this and it was a sweeping victory for the prosecution. are you surprised at how quickly it came and the rejection of the defense case in its entirety? >> i mean, surprised is probably the wrong word. that's what juries do. they can decide something in five minutes or five days. we don't know what went into that decision or why they decided what they did. this is a verdict we were expecting. we are going to appeal, and we will win in appeal. this is a step in the process of our justice system, and the goal is to appeal quickly and hopefully be vindicated quickly. >> we will talk about the appeal in a moment. but many, many people, analysts on both sides of the issue looked at this and regarded this as the weakness case of the flimsiest legal foundation for it, witnesses with tremendous baggage. are you surprised you couldn't convince even one juror to say,

i'm not sure i can convict here. >> well, a trial -- there is evidence of the trial and there is evidence that didn't come in at the trial. we fought this case for over a year before we started trial in april. and a lot of what came into trial in evidence, a lot of what didn't come in is the reason why the jury obviously reached the verdict they did. so shock and surprise at what happened, not really. we didn't think we were going to get a fair shake in manhattan, and we didn't. >> what's the evidence that you think you should have gotten in that would have made the difference? >> well, there is a lot of evidence that should have gotten in that didn't come in. we asked to bring in evidence, for example, of tax records of one of the witnesses. that was one of the theories of the prosecution. we weren't allowed to do that. there is a reliance on counsel theory that we believe would have been helpful to our defense that we were not allowed to bring in. the judge, as judges can do, limited in lots of ways or cross-examination of witnesses that made it a challenge. we don't know why the jury

decided what they did, but there was a lot more to the trial than just what happened in april. >> do you expect the d.a. to ask for prison time? it is available in this case. do you think the d.a. will ask it? >> i don't know what d.a. bragg is going to do in july. i would hope not. under the guidelines and the rules of the court and what normally would happen, president trump would not face a day in prison. putting aside the fact he was president of the united states, the conduct we're talking about is 7, 8 years old, 9 years old. he's a grandfather, a husband, a father. he should not go to prison. i don't know what the district attorney will do. >> what do you think the judge will do? for the lowest level felony, somebody with no prior record that's almost 80 years old, not the typical case where someone goes to prison. do you think the judge will depart from that? >> i hope not. we will fight. this doesn't end yesterday. when the jury comes in, it is just part of the process.

>> it is interesting because the judge now holds donald trump's fate and freedom in his hands. donald trump made no secret of his disdain for this judge. once again, called him conflicted, called him corrupt. he's in the past attacked the judge's family, witnesses, the like, been subject to a gag order. would you advise your client to dial down the attacks on the judge in light of the fact that the judge is holding his fate in his hands? >> it is not just president trump just complained about the judge. so have i. there is publicly filed motions about what we believe gave grounds to the judge's recusal. so it is not just president judge who has complained, it is his entire defense team. the president is trying to get elected. so it is not my job to tell him how to communicate to the american people about why they should view this case as something that is other than the

right thing and the right way that district attorney bragg should be handling cases and the judge as well. you're right. >> i mean, is it a smart strategy to go on the courthouse steps and rip the judge that will sentence you and decide your fate and freedom in six weeks? >> it's also president trump expressing his strong views about why he didn't get a fair shake. yes, it is a strong strategy. we have an argument to make to the judge who has been criticized, but we will still make that argument and i hopefully will be successful. >> you are confident on appeal. >> yes. >> what is your number one issue? don't give me a legal brief that you haven't written yet. >> i think it is meaningful. i think the statute of limitations, the background of why this case was brought is meaningful. i think the witnesses -- i do not think michael cohen should ever be somebody who can be relied upon to convict somebody. >> and finally, you are going down to florida. you have the federal case over the mishandling of classified documents.

is it your expectation that that case will not go to trial before election day? >> i have no -- i have no expectation. you're right. we will be down in florida with my team. we have a three-day hearing at the end of the month. there is a lot of work to do. and we'll see. >> what was the president's personal reaction behind closed doors and in the waiting room? >> i was -- i still am today shocked at how he reacted, in a very positive way. there is this public persona of president trump. he was stronger than everybody around him. everybody saw him when he walked out of the courtroom, he huddled around everybody. that wasn't us telling him what to do. that was him giving us confidence, he really was, of what he needed to do and what he needed to say. he went and he said it, and i was impressed at the way he handled it. he had to hear guilty 34 times standing there. i think he's committed and resolute.

i think he feels as strong today as he did yesterday about what's going to happen in november. >> thank you for your time on a busy morning. appreciate it. we did invite representatives from the manhattan district attorney's office to join us as well, but they declined. >> thanks. 7:15. good morning we welcome craig in now. >> good morning. good morning to you as well. from the trial to the trail now. peter alexander joins us now. president biden may not be responding. what about the campaign though? >> reporter: good question. no public reaction from president biden himself. he will be here hosting the super bowl champions the kansas city chiefs this afternoon. is there anything they agree on is that voters will have the final say on this on election day this november. that was the key takeaway from the campaign. they said the conviction shows that, quote, no one is above the law. there is still only one way to

keep donald trump out of the office at the ballot box, convicted felon or not. the white house, a spokesperson simply saying, we respect the rule of law. notably from the president's team there was no audible cheering, no satisfied grins. a democratic strategist tells nbc news that in their words mr. trump being a felon will not be a central message going forward. they really are focused in my conversations on a core set of issues, democracy, abortion rights and who they say is fighting for the middle class. and, of course, the end of the trial starts another clock, craig. less than four weeks until the first of two face to face biden-trump presidential debates. >> thank you. let's wrap this up with laura jarett joining us again. let's start with where peter left off with the politics

again. we talked about it in the waning moments of the courthouse day. we do not know. this is unprecedented for a former american president to be criminally convicted and then on trial how this is going to play. >> can i explain why there is? >> because there is polling out there on the hypothetical. what would you do if donald trump were to be affected? how would it affect your vote? we have independent voters from 10% to 23% in recent polling say they would be less likely to vote for the former president if you were to face a conviction here. 60% of them think these charges are serious. interestingly about 6% of trump voters, even, people that back the former president say if they were convicted they would be less likely to choose him next november. all of that said, there is a difference between what you would do in a hypothetical scenario and when it is a reality. this is the unprecedented reality we were facing. number one, the republican party, big-time rallying behind president trump. interesting to hear blanche say

he hopes this will move forward. senator mitch mcconnell, one of the top republicans in the senate, saying he also expects a conviction to be overturned on appeal. he is no fan of former president trump. both president biden and donald trump have a rare moment of agreement here. both of them believe a political verdict will come from voters in november. >> that's where we will spend most of our time in the next few months. the appeal is happening. they're confident on the defense side. this is not something that happens quickly. for example, you will not have the result of something overturned before election day, correct? >> no. i'm surprised to hear the judge want to move sentencing that quickly. the appeal, there is plenty of grounds there, and it was surprising to hear him articulate which grounds are strongest. i would have picked a different one. that is going to take weeks, months. we're in for a long haul. >> jail time is potentially there. four years for each count. >> unlikely.

>> explain that. >> no history. he's almost 80 years old. it is a nonviolent crime. it is a felony. it is low-level. very unlikely. >> let me end with my kids and many kids asked me. how is it that somebody who is a convicted felon can run for president? i explained to them our constitution has few eligibility requirements. >> our constitution did not contemplate that that would come up because they thought the political process would take care of it. you have to be 35, born here, a residency requirement. it doesn't say anything about being a convicted felon. >> in many ways, our founding fathers were thinking it was for voters to decide what makes someone fit for office. everyone seems to agree that this will be decided at long last on november 5th election day. stakes are high. all right. we have a lot more to get to, including another round of severe storms sweeping through parts of the south. a massive tornado spots right there near midland, texas this

morning. thankfully nobody was hurt there, but the tornado did do plenty of damage. and in dallas, flash flooding led to a dangerous commute for drivers. and that threat not over yet. millions of people still under flood watches. dylan is in for al with her eye on all of this. >> it looks like texas will be the area we're watching again today. look at this line of storms approaching houston, just exiting waco. within that line of storms, we could see damaging wind gusts over, say, 60 miles an hour. we could see large hail. so we have thunderstorm warnings in effect along that line of storms. so it is in this area in orange that includes most of texas into arkansas and parts of mississippi where we could see damaging wind gusts, large hail. can't rule out large wind gusts either. that is just off east of the rockies, the eastern slopes of the rockies where we could see those storms. as far as the heavy rain is concerned, it is this area where we could end up with three or

more inches of rain. that's a look at the weather across the country. we will get to your next forecast in the next 30 seconds. nope, definitely not you. save with drivewise and get a rate based on you. you're in good hands with allstate.

and that's the forecast. >> thank you. still ahead, new developments in the idaho college murders case. the lead detective facing tough questions from the accused killer's legal team. plus, the one-on-one behind the push to reach the wreckage of the "titanic." his message to critics that say it's too

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still ahead, a special "today's five things." >> this morning we're focussing on women's health. everything from your bones to your heart to managing your stress to help all women lead their best lives. but, first, your local news.

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enforcement teams are squaring off with protesters. good morning. i'm tom jensen on the uc santa cruz campus, where a huge police force moved in on the campus overnight just after midnight and told campers the palestine solidarity campers that they needed to leave. they began arresting people a short time later, and now we know that at least more than a dozen people have been taken into custody. as far as official arrests or what charges c-h-p has not returned our request for information. we'll try to get more details later this morning. back to you. all right. you're seeing these lanes reopen. look, a few more cones, and then we'll have the last two lanes open of northbound 101. the onramp still blocked by crash activity. that's the onramp from san antonio road onto northbound 101. with these lanes opening, we should see improvement on our maps. right now we see a slow drive actually back here into sunnyvale with 237 and 101. they come together in through mountain view and it slows up to the scene again. we should see good recovery. the south bay is

seeing 280 with more traffic, as folks do avoid that section of 101 though. carrie. that's a smart move. yes. and we're going to have another warm day for the inland valleys, but still nice and mild near the coastline. a lot of sunshine in our forecast for today, and we're getting ready for cooler temperatures this weekend. going from mid 80s today to upper 70s for the south for bay tomorrow. dublin will see a high of 73 and up to the low 80s for the north bay. ginger. thanks a lot carrie, and don't forget to watch our today in the bay live streaming newscast at 8 a.m. we're going to talk about what you need to know when purchasing an electric car. you can watch us on our platforms and nbcbayarea.com. we'll see y

look at that crowd. that must mean we have a great summer concert. all these folks eager to see summer global sensation anita. she will rock our convert stage.

she has a full half hour of great music. it is a little funk. it's awesome. >> concerts like this, just one of the many reasons we love our plaza. guess what? the plaza getting ready for the big birthday. they're about to turn 30. >> we will throw a special celebration to mark that milestone. >> our little corner of rockefeller center, we have seen it all, high kicks, concerts, don't even want to get into the halloween celebration. joining our crowd every day, rain or shine, we have done so much for that plaza, but the plaza does so much for us because that's where we get to meet you. a lot of surprises, a lot of fun. if you were going to pick any week, i think next week is a good one to come.

>> come, come. right now, though, we have more news to get to on this friday, including new developments in a closely watched case. the suspect in the idaho college murders was back in court yesterday. his attorneys questioning the lead detective in that case. >> nbc's liz kreutz joins us now with retails. >> yeah. bryan kohberger's lawyers say the prosecution has not turned over crucial pieces of evidence, including things like video th slow pace of this race with a surveillance. they called two witnesses to testify about that evidence. meantime, the family of one of the victims is criticizing the slow pace of this race with a trial date still not set. the lead detective in the case against bryan kohberger taking a stand for the first time at a pretrial hearing. kohberger's defense seeking to compel the state to turn over more evidence. >> i need to know everything they relied on to do their work. >> reporter: the defense attorney pressing the team's collection of video surveillance. >> how many video surveillance attempts did you make from businesses or homes on all of

those rounds? >> i do not recall, but it continued for some time. >> what did you find? >> nothing to my recollection. >> not one video depicting a car? >> to my memory, no. >> i need to know where these videos are. >> prosecutors insisting they have already turned over a mountain of material. >> to date, we've given 15,691 bates-stamped pages of discovery. we've given 13,758 bates-stamped photographs. discovery is being given to us as if we're living in a snow globe, and it is just swirling around us, and we're constantly having to put it together. >> police say video surveillance and cell phone records as well as dna evidence place kohberger near the scene of the murders when four university of idaho students, kaylee goncalves, ethan chapin, xana kernodle and madison mogen, were found fatally stabbed in their

off-campus home. the defense's second witness said 2% to 3% of cell phone data in the case was missing. >> that mistake has a ripple effect. is this just human error. it is just accidental. it is not intentional. >> the family of kaylee goncalves saying it is painful to watch with an endless lack of organization and accountability. >> okay, liz. let's go back to that cell phone data expert. so the defense will call him as a witness at trial. how does he fit into the picture here? >> reporter: as you know, kohberger long maintained his innocence. and his alibi, which has been questioned, though, is simply he was out driving as he often did at night hike or run to see the moon and stars. so what this cell phone data

expert does is uses pings that his cell phone sends to a cell phone tower to analyze where a person is at any given time. documents show he is going to try to make the case that based on those pings kohberger could not have been in moscow, idaho that morning. however, investigators believe kohberger's phone was either turned off or in airplane murder at the time of the murders. guys? >> liz, thank you. lots more ahead on a friday, including some big news from hollywood about a potential third "top gun" film. we will have more in "popstart". and behind the new push to visit the "titanic" wreckage site. >> while oceangate's deadly disaster last year is still being investigated, an ohio billionaire wants to send a new submersible down to the ship wreck. why he's pouring millions of dollars into the venture and the message he wants to send. stick with us. and with kisqali, i can have both. kisqali is a pill

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larry connor has soared to the international space station and down to the deepest parts of the ocean. but it is the billionaire's next adventure arguably turning heads. he wants to take this submersible to the "titanic" ship wreck. >> growing questions surrounding that deadly submersible accident. >> this was a disaster. but in our opinion, an avoidable one. in done correctly, we can demonstrate worldwide this type of exploration and submersible is safe. >> this was a terrible disaster, but in our opinion, an avoidable one, and if done correctly, we can demonstrate worldwide that this type of exploration and submersible is safe. >> the real estate and tech entrepreneur built a vessel for a research mission to the "titanic." it is roughly 13,000 feet under the sea, where water pressure is

hundreds of times greater than at the surface. >> these are dangerous conditions. why are the risks worth taking for you? >> i would reframe this. these can be dangerous conditions. we are going to go through multiple steps, multiple certifications, to ensure that this vessel and specifically the hull is safe and sound. >> reporter: the oceangate submersible imploded last june, instantly killing its ceo and four passengers. >> i have broken some rules to break this. >> there was intense criticism over the company's lack of testing and use of experimental materials, especially the carbon fiber composite hull. oceangate since suspended operations. among those to express concern before the implosion. but says he trusts tritan. what is different about this mission here?

>> the big difference here is we're using proven technology that's still innovative, but it's been done the right way. >> reporter: so you would go on this exploration? >> in a heartbeat. sign me up. >> reporter: reiterating his top priority. >> if you are asking, are we confident we can do it safely, the answer is yes. >> reporter: the estimated 13 to $15 million submersible is still being built with a goal of launching in the summer of 2026. but larry connor stressed if any safety concerns are raised that they will change or the project altogether will be scrubbed. in the meantime, a multi-agency investigation continues into the deadly incident last year. >> all right. thank you. 7:42. let's switch gears and get our weather. >> good morning. we do have a lot of our severe weather expected in the middle of the country today, mainly down south where we could see stronger storms across texas and flooding rain. 15 degrees above average in the southwest, but in the northeast and southeast, 70s and 80s. lots of sunshine.

and that's your latest forecast. >> all right. doesn't dylan look sparkly today? >> it's just pink. >> i think you look sun-kissed. your hair is giving palm beach vibes. i love it. all right. coming up next, major drama at the national spelling bee overnight. the champion decided by a rare rapid fire spell-off. we will meet the winner and get your morning boost, too, coming

up after this. s to live life be. - [narrator] through generous community support, we've connected warriors and their families with no cost physical and mental health services, legislative advocacy, career assistance, and life skill training for 20 years, and we are just getting started.

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he beat out 245 contestants, spelling words none of us could even imagine. in the end, it came down to a high-speed, tie-breaking spelloff. >> the 2024 scripps national spelling bee champion. >> 12-year-old bruhat soma creating quite a buzz last night. at the scripps national spelling bee. >> brouette. >> b-r-o-u-e-t-t-e. >> adelantado. >> a-d-e-l-a-n-t-a-d-o. >> in a lightning round tie-breaker, just the second one in the competition's history, the 7th grader correctly spelled 29 words most of us never heard of. >> sciniph. >> s-c-i-n-i-p-h. >> voussoir. >> v-o-u-s-s-o-i-r. >> and he did it in just 90 seconds. >> aposiopesis. >> a-p-o-s-i-o-p-e-s-i-s. >> abseil. >> a-b-s-e-i-l. >> posology. >> time! [ applause ] >> appearing stunned at his own accomplishment, his proud family cheering him on from the

gallery. >> what a performance from bruhat soma. >> bruhat soma giving new meaning to the old adage, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again. in 2022, he tied for 163rd place at the bee. just last year, he came in 74th place. >> i was pretty disappointed by my performance, and i knew i had to work harder. >> but the third time was definitely the charm. >> i just put a lot of time into spelling. and now i'm really happy that i won. i can't describe it. like i'm still shaking. >> wow. >> wow! >> so he takes home the trophy, $50,000 in cash and prizes. he will join us live in our 3rd hour. >> what is his technique there, craig. >> he uses his left hand to type out the word, to visualize it. >> can't wait to hear from him. >> all right. we have a fun "popstart" coming up in our next half hour.

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impossible. we're solving the meat problem with more meat. (♪♪) (♪♪) try dietary supplements from voltaren, for healthy joints. breaking and happening now. here's what we're working on for our upcoming 8 a.m. newscast. good morning. i'm tom jensen, the uc santa cruz campus where a huge police force moved in this morning and began arresting people after they started, locking arms, refusing to leave

the encampment that's been here on campus for the better part of the month, uc santa cruz officials say this encampment was unsafe, and they said that the demonstrators refused to leave, and that's why they called police in. we've reached out to chp for more details, but they have not responded back to you. well, all lanes are open again on northbound 101. this is near san antonio road in palo alto. this after an early morning deadly crash. chp saying that someone stalled in the lanes at around 3 a.m. and called 911 to report they struck someone on. now, soon after that, two other cars hit the stalled car and that driver died . the other two drivers were not injured. all lanes reopened about a half hour ago. let's get a look at our weather with meteorologist carrie hall. carrie? yeah we're waking up to sunshine. we're heading out to some mild temperatures. it's going to heat up again today and still be just as warm as it was

yesterday. and a lot of our inland valleys with mid to upper 80s, even a few low 90s. fairfield 91 the hottest temperature while in half moon bay will be in the low 60s for a high in san mateo, expect a high of 73 degrees for today. back to you. thanks, gary and make sure to watch our today in the bay live streaming newscast, starting in just minutes at 8 a.m. everything you need to know about purchasing an electric car you can watch on our streaming platforms, as well as nbcbayarea.com and from our app

♪ ♪ ♪ it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, guilty. >> here we go. we have our verdict, savannah. here we go, count one, guilty. >> donald trump convicted on all

34 felony counts in his criminal hush money case, a first in history for an american president. what's next? and how does it impact the 2024 race? we are live with the very latest. plus, give me five. in honor of women's health month, the doctors are in to share their best advice from heart health to menopause. the top tips from our experts straight ahead. >> then ready for takeoff? >> i feel the need. >> the need for speed! >> new details on another possible "top gun" movie. what the producer is saying about it coming up in "popstart". and anitta in action. the international superstar is ready to rock our plaza. ♪ >> she will perform some of her biggest hits and new songs for the first time. so get ready to dance, today, friday, may 31st, 2024.

>> all the way from brazil. >> for anitta on "today". >> here to celebrate karen's birthday. with anitta. [ speaking in a global language ] >> today is my first anitta concert! >> happy friday! >> we love you, anitta! india! >> ready for it! >> ready for anitta! >> hi, everybody. good morning. happy friday. our concert star's native brazil. so nice to have you along with us on a beautiful, sunny friday. >> oh, it will be a good concert out there. >> anitta on stage. she has a big crowd, too. much to tell you about. we will begin with that historic verdict. former president donald trump found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records. the first american president

ever to be tried and convicted of a crime. laura jarett covered this story from the start. good morning. >> good morning. we talked about this case as the hush money trial, but prosecutors hope this jury will see it as far more than that with the stakes sky high, an ambitious trial using a legal theory never tested against the world's most powerful defendant. this morning donald trump securing a new place in history, the first american president convicted of a crime. a manhattan jury finding mr. trump guilty of falsifying his business records to cover up a conspiracy to corrupt the 2016 election. >> the real verdict is going to be november 5th by the people. >> jurors deliberating for just nine and a half hours, after hearing from more than 20 witnesses over six weeks of testimony. mr. trump expressionless as the verdict was read swiftly,

guilty, 34 times. the former president craning his neck to see jurors as they were each asked to confirm their verdict. mr. trump's lead attorney speaking with savannah this morning. >> it is nine hours of deliberation for a seven-week case. the jury dispensed with this in rather short order. it was a sweeping victory for the prosecution. are you surprised at how quickly it came and the rejection of the defense case in its entirety? >> surprise is probably the wrong word. that's what juries do. this is what we were expecting. we are going to win on appeal. >> still, the outcome of resounding victory for prosecutors led by alvin bragg, who campaigned on holding mr. trump accountable and who the president repeatedly attacked as politically motivated. the trial a byproduct of a years' long saga, beginning with an alleged one-night stand between the then reality tv star and a porn star, which mr. trump

this is a nbc news special report. here is lester holt. >> good morning and we're coming on air with breaking news in new york. where former president donald trump is about to be hold to be billed as a press conference at trump tower. ins a historic verdict, guilty of 34 felony counts ever falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to adult film star stormy daniels in the final weeks of the 2016 campaign. mr. trump already blasting the verdict calling it a disgrace. the verdict pushing our legal and political systems into unchartered territory. a lot to play out here still. not only his sentencing which may or may not include prison time set for july 11th and how

this may impact the presidential election. notably, mr. trump's press conference is also set at the same place he announced his first campaign in 2016. this time under very different circumstances. let's go to hallie now, who is the athe scene there. >> reporter: hey, there, lester, we're here in the ate re of trur and former president trump is speaking out. it is not clear if he is set to take questions or not. you hear supreme courters cheering as mr. trump now has appeared in this unprecedented moment. i'll toss back to you. >> thank you very much, everybody. this is a case where if they could do this to me, they can do this to anyone. these are bad people. these are in many cases i believe sick people. when you look at our country, what is happening, where

millions and millions of people are flowing in from all parts of the world, not just south america, from africa, from asia and the middle east and they're coming from in jails and prisons. and they're coming in from mental institutions and insane asylums. they're coming from in all over the world into our country. and we have a president and a group of fascists that don't want to do anything about it. because they could right now, today, he could stop it. but he's not. they're destroying our country. our country is in very bad shape. and they're very much against me saying these things. they want to raise your taxes by four times. they want to stop you from having cars. with their ridiculous mandates that make it impossible for you to get a car or afford a car. make it very possible for china to build all of our cars. it is a very serious problem that we have.

we just went through one of many experiences where we had a conflicted judge, highly conflicted, there has never been a more conflicted judge. now i'm under a gag order. no presidential candidate has been under a gag order before. i'm under a gag order. nasty gag order, where i've had to pay thousands of dollars in penalties and fines and was threatened with jail. think of it, i'm the leading candidate, i'm leading biden by a lot and i'm leading the republicans to the point where that is over. so i'm the leading person for president and i'm under a gag order by a man that can't put two sentences together given by a court. and they are in total conjunction with the white house and the doj, just so you understand. this is all done by biden and his people. maybe his people more importantly. i don't know if biden knows too much about it.

because i don't know if he knows about anything. but he's nevertheless, the president so we have to use his name. and this is done by washington and nobody has ever seen anything like it. so we have a judge who is highly conflicted. you know what confliction is. nobody wants to write about it. and i'm not allowed to talk about it. if i do, he said, i get put in jail. so, we'll play that game a little bit longer. we won't talk about it. but you're allowed to talk about it. i hope you do. because there has never been anybody so conflicted as this. as far as the trial itself, it was very unfair. we weren't allowed to -- allowed to use our election expert under any circumstances. you saw what happened to some of the witnesses that were on our side. they were literally crucified by this man who looks like an angel, but he's really a devil. he looks so nice and soft.

he seems like such a nice man. unless you saw him in action and you saw that with a certain witness that went through hell. and when we wanted to do things, he wouldn't let -- let us do those things. but when the government wanted something, they got everything. they got everything they wanted. it is a rigged -- it was a rigged trial. we wanted a venue change. where we could have a fair trial. we didn't get it. we wanted a judge change. we wanted a judge that wasn't conflicted, and obviously he didn't do that. nobody has ever seen anything like it. we had a d.a. who was a failed d.a., crime is rampant in new york, violent crime, that is what he's really supposed to be looking at. crime in rampant in new york. yesterday in mcdonald's you had a man hitting them up with -- with machetes. a machete.

whoever can imagine even a machete being wielded in a store, in a place where they're eating and he's going rampant. and bragg is down watching a trial on what they call crimes. crimes. they're falsifying business records. that sounds so bad. to me it sounds very bad. it is only a misdemeanor. but to me it sounds so bad. when they say falsifying business -- that is a bad thing for me. i've never had that before. falsified -- you know what falsifying business records is, in the first-degree. they say falsifying business records, sounds so good, right. it means that legal expense, i paid a lawyer, totally legal, i paid a lawyer a legal expense. and a bookkeeper, without any knowledge from me, correctly marked it down in the books. a very professional woman. highly respected. she testified. marked it down in the books as a

lel expense. so a legal expense, paid a lawyer, is a legal expense in the books. it is not a sheetrock construction or any other thing. it is a legal expense. think of that. this is what the falsification of business records were. and i said, what else are you going to call it? what else are you going to call it? now i would have testified. i wanted to testify. the theory is you never testify because as soon as you testify, anybody, if you were george washington, don't testify, because they're get you on something that you said slightly wrong and then they sue you for perjury. but i didn't care about that. but i waned to. but the judge allowed them to go into everything that i was ever involved in. not this case. everything that was i involved in. which is a first. you could go into every single thing that i ever did, was he abad boy here, was he a bad boy there. and my lawyer said what did you need to go through and all you

want to do is testify sim mr. i on this case. because i would have loved to have testified. to this day i would have liked to have testified. but you would have been -- you would have said something out of whack like it was a beautiful sunny day and it was actually raining out and i very much appreciate the big crowd of people outside. that is incredible what is happening. the level of support has been incredible. so, the whole thing is legal expense was marked down as legal expense. think of it. this is my -- this is the crime that i committed, that i'm supposed to go to jail for, 187 years for. when you have violent crime all over this city at levels that nobody has ever seen before. where you have businesses leaving, and businesses are leaving because of this. because heads of businesses say, man, we don't want to get involved with that. i could go through the books of any business person in this city and i could find things that in

theory lets indict him, let's destroy his life. but i'm out there and i don't mind being out there, because i'm doing something for this country and i'm doing something for our constitution. it is very important. far beyond me. and this can't be allowed to happen to other presidents. it should never be allowed to happen in the future. but this is far beyond me. this is bigger than trump. this is bigger than me. this is bigger than my presidency. and the people understand it because i just see a poll just came out, the daily mail, that was the first one, came out and was done last night right after the verdict. where i'm up 6 points. six points from what we already were. we were leading fairly substantially. we're up six points in the daily mail poll. maybe other polls come out and say something differently. but a lot of people have predicted. because the public understands and they understand what is going on. this is a scam. this is a rigged trial.

it shouldn't have been in that venue. we shouldn't have had that judge. he should have allowed us to have an election expert. we had the best expert, most respected expert. head of the federal elections commission. he was set to testify. he was waiting for two days. and when it was his turn, bragg's people protested and the judge knocked them out. said you can't testify. he actually said you can't testify for anything doing with the trial. you can't testify. so essentially he wasn't able to testify. other people weren't able to testify. but with these people, they were able to use people, salacious -- by the way and nothing ever happened. there was no -- anything. nothing ever happened that they know it. but they were as salacious as they could be and it had nothing

do with the case. but it had to do with politics. and do you notice the timing. the timing was perfect. this case was dead. it was dropped by every agency, every governmental board, it was dropped by the highly respected southern district. they said no. there is no case here. it was dropped by federal election. and that is what it is about. this is about a federal election, not a state election. you're not even allowed to look at it. they took the state and the city and they went into a federal election. they're not allowed. people from southern district and washington dropped the case. everybody dropped the case. there was no case. cy vance dropped the case. and when bragg came in, he said this is the most ridiculous case and who would have a certain person -- a gag order, a person like this ever testify. he said this is essentially one of the worst people i've ever seen ever to testify. he said, the craziest case i've

ever seen. this is bragg. they want to announce that i'm running for president, a long time later, they decided to revive this case. and they got a judge. judge merchan, who was responsible for another case. so it was also brought, it destroys the life of a very good man, by the way. destroyed the life of a very good man. who went to prison once. and then they just put him in prison again because they said he lied. he didn't lie. i looked at the statements he made. in fact, he didn't remember something and they put him in jail. again, they've destroyed him. with me for many years. he was an honorable person, an honest man. and if you look at what he did supposedly, never happened. there has never been anything like this. over the education of his grandchildren. over he didn't report that he

had a car or two cars on his income. i don't know. i wonder how many people here have cars and said, gee, i have a car, it is worth x dollars and how do you figure it and i guess you do have to report it but probably almost nobody does. nobody even thinks about it. they put this man, they destroyed this man. but they put him in jail again because they didn't want him to testify. they didn't want him to testify. that is why he went to jail. they put him in jail twice. he's 77 years old. now normally would you say that is an old guy. but i don't feel 77. nobody ever said that about me. i'd like them to say, gee, we have to have a little sorrow for many than because they just don't say that about me. but maybe i'm better off that way. i think i'm better off that way. but they put him in jail twice. and you have to see what he was put in jail -- and he was threatened by the judge.

this man was told, you're going to get 15 years in jail if you don't give up trump. and he was told that. you're going to get 15 years in jail. and he made a plea deal because he didn't want to spend the rest of his life. and he was told that viciously. we're living in a fascist state. he was told that viciously. so you go to could jail for four months, five months, or you could get 15 years in jail. so do a plea. almost who wouldn't do that plea. everyone does those pleas. it is a horrible thing. there is a whole group of lawyers that fight that. it is so unfair. it is so unfair. but they destroyed his life. so many other things, you look at southern district didn't want to bring the case. nobody wanted to bring the case. an then you know who didn't want to bring the case most of all.

is bragg. bragg didn't want to bring it. but then he brought it. and they tried to make it a different case. they didn't say legal expense equal legal expense. again, if i wrote down and paid a lawyer -- and by the way this is a highly qualified order. but he's a sleaze bag. everybody knows that. took me a while to find out. but he was effective. he did work. but he wasn't a fixer. he was a lawyer. he wasn't a fixer. he was a lawyer. at the time he was a fully accredited lawyer. now he got into trouble not because of me. he got into trouble because he made outside deals and he had something to do with taxi cabs and medallions and he borrowed money and that is why he went. and then he pled to three -- three election violations. and as soon as i saw that, i said i wonder why he did that. he pled.

he took a deal. now he took a deal because he wanted to get off. in other words, i'll take a plea deal and i want to get off. and he wanted to make a deal with the southern district. and they wrote, the worst report i think eve seen on any human being other than the report that was written on james comey, by the inspector general, a great inspector general actually. wrote a report that was so bad. this one was possibly worse. the southern district. the judge didn't lets you use it. he said it is hearsay. i said it is not hearsay. he wouldn't let us use it. but he got if trouble for a very simple reason. he was involved where borrowing a lot of money and he did something with the banks, defrauded the banks, something happened and you know what it is. and then in addition to that he gave up that he wasn't guilty. they were going to testify to

that. the head of fcc, brad smith, the election expert, number one rated in the country was going to testify. he took a plea on three things anz just added them in because this gave them more borrowing power with respect to me. but having to do with the election and a little bit with me, they weren't crimes. they weren't crimes. nor is paying money under an nda. so we have an nda. none disclosure agreement. it is a big deal in nondisclosure agreement, totally good and acceptable and everybody has them. every company has nondisclosure agreements. but the press called it slush fund and all sorts of other things. hush money. hush money. it is not hush money. it is called a nondisclosure agreement. and most of the people in this room have a nondisclosure agreement with their company.

it is a disgrace. so it is not hush money. it is a nondisclosure agreement. totally legal. totally common. everyone has it. and what happened is he signed a nondisclosure agreement with this person, i guess other people, but it is totally honest. you're allowed to make the payment. you don't have to make it -- you could make it any way you want it. it is a nondisclosure agreement. and he signed that. and there was nothing wrong with signing it. and this should have been a non-case. and everybody said it was a non-case, including bragg. until i ran for office and then they saw the polls, i was leading the republicans and the democrats and everybody, and all of a sudden, they brought it back. it is a very sad thing that is happening in our country. and it is a -- it is a thing that i'm honored in a way. it is not that it is pleasant.

it is a very bad for family, it is very bad for friends and businesses. but i'm honored to be involved in this because somebody has to do it. and i might as well keep going and be the one. but i'm very honored to be involved because we're fighting for our constitution. the money that was paid, was paid legally. there was nothing illegal. in fact, the lawyer in creating the nda, because at that time he was a fully accredited lawyer. he wasn't a fixer. i nev thought of him as a fixer. the media called him a fixer or the prosecutors called him a fixer. he was a lawyer. and he was fairly good. later on i didn't like what he did. i didn't like -- for instance, i didn't like that when i became president, he went around and made deals with companies. when i heard that, he was gone. he was gone. and he had payments coming to him and a lot of this involved

things that are very simple. there was nothing wrong. this is standard stuff. this was standard stuff. all standard stuff. everything involved was standard. there was no crime here. in fact, i just watched a couple of the reports, you watch jonathan turley and and yu mccarthy and gregg jarrett, you look at mark levin, all very talents people, great people. many more, many more. and they don't know me essentially. they don't know me. they're legal scholars and experts. but i look at them and i watched turley this morning saying, there is no crime here. everybody said there is no crime here. except for this d.a. that has got this city out of control with crime. it is out -- it is absolutely out of control. so we have an nda that was signed. we have legal expenses. and here is the thing. on legal expenses, you have 100,

where they say, if they do a charge, i just recorded this out, falsification of business records, in the first-degree. it sounds so bad. i said, wow, and even my own lawyers, i get very upset with them, because they don't say what it is. they say, well falsification of legal records is only a felony. well that is a lot. it is only a misdemeanor. but they try to bring it up if it is a felony. they have all of the different things. they missed the statute of limitations by a lot. because this is old. they could have bring this seven years ago instead of right in the middle of the election. so they missed the statute of limitations. let me give you the good news. the good news is last night, we just got a report -- >> we're watching former president trump in his first

lengthy remarks after being found guilty on 34 counts of -- of document related charges. he's at -- this is taking place at trump tower. he's began his remarks with what could actually be regarded as political remarks about various things that are part of the campaign from immigration to car imports. but then his turn, of course, into guilty verdict and his interpretation of the case and in some cases factually incorrect which we'll get into in just a moment. we were told this is a news conference. we'll watch and wait to see if he takes questions. and in the meantime, and we'll continue to monitor his remarks. let me bring back laura jarrett, and legal correspondent danny cevallos and legal analyst. a lot to pars through here. a lot of claims here. let's pick one. >> let's start with the gag order. >> the gag order. he did make comments, obviously

referencing michael cohen. that is who he was discussing. michael cohen and the former president certainly covered by this -- >> see the purpose of the gag order, remember, is to protect the witnesses have being attacked. so that it doesn't influence their testimony. the purpose of the gag order, is to be in place for the duration of the trial. and when he was fined before, for his violations of the gag order, it was for making references about michael cohen. i'm interested to see now that the trial is completed, the attorneys asked for clarification, is he still under the terms of this gag order until sentencing. because there is an argument from the defense side to say now trielt is order, he should be allowed to say whatever he wants. i could see the prosecutors pushing back on that if there is still witness intimidation. that is a issue. we'll reach out to the defense on their position. but he's operating under the assumption that he's under the gag order. >> and we should note, he has

repeated several times that he wanted to testify, talking about the jeopardy that most lawyers will advise you, if you put yourself out there, but again maintaining that he wanted all along to testify. another point i think we have to deal with is he repeated the claim that this is all the result of president biden or the white house. democratic operatives who have made this happen. this was a state prosecution. >> a state case indicted by a state grand jury, and now a grand jury -- now a jury of 12 in new york finding him guilty. this was not a decision reached by a judge, this is not a decision reached by prosecutors. this is a decision reached by a jury. with no connection, no discernible connection to the white house or the justice department. it is a claim that he's tried to surmount for political reasons throughout this trial. >> and danny, let me ask you, he also went into a very long defense of the -- criticism of

the trial and what they wanted and what they didn't get. he said the government got everything it wanted. there terms of requests to the judge. is that a fair characterization? >> no, not exactly. defense won some points throughout the trial but one of his main complaints is they weren't able to call an election law expert. but even his own attorneys had to know that was going to be a challenge to get that expert on the stand. because while you can call experts on issues that are beyond the average knowledge of a jury, like blood spatter experts, firearms experts, fingerprints, things like that, something like an issue of law and justice merchan said as much, is an issue that the judge will instruct the jury on. you can't call generally an expert to tell jurors what the law is. that is the province of the judge. and that is why the judge did not preclude that expert. the judge instead limited the scope of testimony of that expert. and donald trump just acknowledged as much saying that there were areas that he would

have been able to testify about. they meat a strategic decision and decided not to call -- >> but is this all par for the course in a typical criminal trial. >> absolutely. you don't get to call experts to try to decipher the law. that is for the judge to do. >> i couldn't call an expert and he may be an expert and qualified as an expert but you can't turn to him and say tell the jury what the law is and what the defendant did is lawful. that is what the purpose of the jury instructions are. that is why they are instructed and that is exactly what the judge said. maybe not verbatim. but essentially, i will instruct the jury on the law. thereafter, these are limited areas that your expert could go into. >> and i talked about this case being only a mid. it was boosted to a felony. >> it was boosted to a felony in this case. and the way that they attach their wagon to a felony is novel. we have not seen that before. we have seen plenty of falsification of business records in new york and other places but the way that they

went about it, by sort of latching to a federal violation of campaign laws, that is novel. that is untested. and it hasn't been done before and it is one of the reasons that he's right, that many prosecutors didn't want to bring there case, including prosecutors in this very office in manhattan. but they ultimately decided that they thought that they could bring it and it was valid and legal. and le he's also right, the southern district of new york did not bring the case. he's wrong about why. because he was president at the time. and they couldn't prosecute a sitting president. >> let's bring in some guests who have worked for both the republicans and democrat administrations. hogan gidley worked for mr. trump's white house as former white house deputy press secretary. and symone sanders townsend, a former senior member of the biden-harris administration and served as chief spokesperson to vice president kamala harris. appreciate you joining us. hogan, what we've seen so far is the former president doing himself in favors?

>> well, what he's doing is trying to defend himself against what he deems a rigged process. we will see this play out over the course of the next several days and weeks. but we're talking about a town, new york city, in which they've never met a felony they didn't want to downgrade to a misdemeanor. and they wanted to make a misdemeanor into a felony. so i understand his rational and his reasoning there. what it will help with him, though, is something that he said, i think right before you cut away, is when he pointed out 34 different counts here in just a 12-hours he's raised $35 million off of this. many people in this country deem this as an unfair proceeding. forget the party. forget your political persuasion. so many people want fairness. and they don't deem this case as having been conducted fairly. that is what donald trump's talking about right here. of course, he's going to talk about issues as you pointed out right off the top. but right now he's frying to

explain to the people what he thinks happened in this case and why he's been unfairly targeted and that is the battle from now until election day. >> he's not allowed under the gag order to really go or make comments about the jury and you are and many others have called this a sham trial. is that not a direct repudiation of the work of the jury? how do you account for the fact that nine hours of -- they were able to look through this evidence and make the decision they did. >> well it is manhattan. so they don't like him here. that is pretty obvious. and a lot of people will call them a jury of his peers. okay. i would argue it is a jury of his political opponents. because they don't like him. the judge doesn't like him and quite frankly when i talk to reporters in the room who lean left whose names you know, national reporters at big entities called me and said it was obvious judge didn't like him and the jury didn't like him either. no one is surprised by this outcome. >> let me bring there symone sanders, former chief spokesperson for vice president kamala harris.

give me your thoughts -- we hear about the weaponization of the judicial system. how will the biden campaign deal with this going forward in terms of how much they could talk about it and how much they want to walk past? >> so i think you're going to hear two things. and first let me back up and say that, prior to my political career, i spent a lot of time doing juvenile justice and criminal rear form work and there are people that will criticize a system that is proven to be unfair to a number of different individuals, a lot of times black and brown young people, young men and women. and i don't think inherently criticism of the system is a degradation of the system. that all said, we watched and colors and i know laura and danny are sitting with you at the table, the trial and saw how the system bent over backwards

to ensure that the former president received a fair and impartial trial. judge merchan from the budge multiple times noted, i'm not going to decide if he's guilty or not. that is up for the jury to do. i think you'll hear the biden campaign and democrats at large lean into that piece of it. that this was a -- this was a trial that went forward, this was not something that the justice department, that biden himself ordered as people are saying. we all saw this may out, reading it with our eyes, watching it with our own eyes and hearing it with our own ears an now the jury has spoken and donald trump did not take the stand. i think you'll hear from democrats an the biden campaign and i think president biden and the vice president more specifically about trying to tie this into their argument about democracy. and this on top of other issues. it is not enough for the democrats to just talk about donald trump's legal troubles. whether there are many people out there that did not realize

that even though donald trump has now been convicted of 34 felonies, he is still on the ballot. there are none of these court cases that are going to bar him from being able to run for president or frankly even be elected president. the only thing that is going to keep donald trump from being the next president of the united states is what people do at the ballot box come this fall and that is something in my talking to democrats over the last 24 hours that we're going to hear them hammer on. >> simmon, let me ask you, is this good for democrats? not just the verdict but even the trial? the fact that this case was brought? is it helpful or does it hurt democrats in the long-term? >> i would say neither. it is not about is if helpful or hurtful for democrats. people bring trials and cases happen because people do crimes or. no -- or not. and then did they say that she should be charged and the answer to that question is yes and a

jury of 12 folks decided he was guilty of not one felony count but 34. so i don't think it benefits to to get into the nitty-gritty of the weeds of the minutia of his trial. donald trump has been convicted of 34 felonies. he could say whatever he waned about those felonies. but the paper does not lie. so our republicans have to make a decision about what they're going to do about that and democrats need to not downplay it right, because this is very serious. the united states now joins other western countries such as france, such as italy and israel, who have charged and gone through trials for current and former presidents. this is not unusual for the western world. it is unusual for america. so this is not -- this shouldn't be downplayed. but this is not going to win them an election in november and i think democrats know that. >> and hogan, mr. trump continues to make the allegation that this is all being driven by the biden white house.

that he's pulling the strings behind the curtain. is that something -- is that a narrative that you have adopted or is it strictly what mr. trump is saying? >> well, i would imagine a lot of republicans are going to adopt this. in large part because in the other cases you see back and forth with the prosecutors going to the white house and having conversations. >> right. but we see it here. >> even in the press conference right after this, alvin bragg was flanked by the number three person from the doj. so it is legitimate for the president to say, wait a minute, does biden know anything about this was there any other communication and panelists were pointing out the fact that the head of the fec was not allowed to testify and they made arguments for that. i'm not sure. i'm not an attorney. but michael cohen was allowed to testify on whether or not donald trump broke the law. he was able to assess whether he thought federal election rules were violated. but the defense couldn't mount the same argument. but simone is true about some of

them. a lot of this is baked into the final product. it is about the issues that the american people want to address. the wide open southesh border and spiking crime and drugs pouring into their communities and an economy where you can't afford gas and groceries. those are laid squarely at the feet of joe biden. the american people have been kick the in the teeth by the failed policies for four years and the democrats rightly understand that this latest knock on donald trump, to finally get him, is probably going to backfire and it won't amount to much moving forward. >> hogan, thanks very much. we should note, of course, there is no evidence that the biden administration is behind any of this. let me turn to laura. you were shaking your head at one point. >> just briefly, we should be clear that what michael cohen was there to testify about was the alleged conspiracy as he said he agreed with the former president to do this. as he was not there to opine on the law or to say that there was an actual violation of law in

his opinion as a lawyer. he was there to say, what we did together, what we conspired to doing to broke the law. that is a small distinction we should make. he was not there as a lawyer in that capacity. >> michael cohen was a fact witness and he would never have been qualifieds in an expert on election law and he's talking about his awareness ever whether or not what he is doing is criminal. that is not the same as describing what is and what is not illegal under the law. it is a totally different area of testimony. expert testimony versus percipient factual witness testimonych that is what michael cohen was. and he's the farthest thing from a legal expert because, of course, he's not even a lawyer any more. so that is not his role. it was never his role. he was a fact witness. >> and laura, we heard from todd blanche earlier today giving the outlines of what they might base an appeal on. is there anything that he said surprise you in. >> there is plenty of fertile ground here.

they've raised statute of limitations and the fact that stormy was allowed to testify at length about an alleged sexual encounter that they say never happened and the former president again denied it again today. that is a right ground for appeal there terms of prejudice. and the way that they sort of hooked this misdemeanor to another misdemeanor, to make a felony had never been done in the way that they did it in this case. and all of that could be grounds for an appeal. all of that is going to take weeks if not months, if not more than a year. >> we're going back to trump tower. hallie jackson is standing by. hallie, this was billed as a news conference. it was something a bit less than that. describe what just happened. >> reporter: it was not that. it was a statement. it was a speech essentially. by former president trump delivered to members of the media who have assembled here on this historic day. i want to give you some context of the room here. if you heard cheering and clapping, it came from a group of supporters in trump tower and outside you have another group

of trump supporters who are holding signs, one of them said trump or death. and understand, i couldn't help but think as i listen to its former president speak, that in some ways that is what we may have heard to a degree if he had taken the stand and testified in his own behalf. i know you've done some fact checking back athe studio at 30 rock. but he had the opportunity to do so, he said he would have loved to. he chose not to. but you heard him try to make his case, a case that the jury firmly and clearly rejected with those verdicts. guilty verdicts on those 34 counts here. this was in some ways the donald trump that i have cover and we all covered here for many years. it was an airing of the grievances. if this trial has been a trip down memory lane date back to 2016 and earlier, this was former president trump picking through his issues with, for example, his previous impeachment, his time in office, going after president biden in a way that we often hear at campaign rallies, lester. so more to come here. but the former president did one thing here, mr. trump cast the

stakes of this election saying that november 5th, election day, is most important day in american history. >> hallie jackson, thank you. that concludes this nbc news special report. we'll have much more ahead in our streaming network nbc news now. online at nbcnews.com and a full wrap up tonight when ifor "nigh" i'm lester holt in new york, thank you brazilian funk album. it was born in brazil, that's where i come from. so it is celebrating this culture. i think that's why brazilians show up so much here. it is the first time we have something like this here like showing off the culture. after the "access hollywood" tape leaked, scrambling to bury any stories that could have hurt it was so fun. it was a celebration of her career, her tour. we have a song together, a brazilian funk song together. and it was super iconic for her, for us.amazing.

>> i like your we had a pleasure to have that, and it was so amazing. >> i like your collabs. you have missy elliot, the black eyed peas. you choose a lot of great artists. how do you decide who to collab with. >> the one i love the most, snoop dogg, he was the one that reached out. i love him so much. or maybe cardi b. i reached out, and she replied right away. they are all so nice, missy elliot, black eyed peas, who came a friend of mine. they are all real and fun people that i had the pleasure to be friends with. >> we know snoop dogg, so we can help out, too, in that department. >> right now i will perform songs of my new album "funk generation." i'm actually doing a concert here in new york on sunday. it sold out sunday, so i'm just

saying i'll be here. >> all right. >> good. we look forward to it. all right. take it away, anitta. >> thank you.♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ ♪ i'm not trying to hurt you, but i see you call in ♪ ♪ i don't mean to be rude, but you keep on calling ♪ ♪ i don't do pick and choose, got too many options ♪ ♪ i just win, never lose, don't get too involved in ♪ ♪ don't wanna waste your time ♪ ♪ if we gonna cross that line, don't want to feelings attached, you know i'm bad, you want it bad ♪ ♪ you're not gonna change my mind ♪ ♪ my heart's so cold, and you ain't the first to try to get to to me, to me ♪ [ singing in a global language

♪ [ singing in a global language ♪♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] give it up for anitta. she's back with another performance, something special for her many fans. don't miss it. but, first, this is "today" on

♪ all right. welcome back. we are just loving this moment, this friday concert from global sensation, anitta. >> she has more music for us right now, performing a special medley of songs. make some noise one more time medley of songs. make some noise one more time for anitta. ♪

♪ ♪ don't you want to hit that ♪ ♪ got a little get back ♪ ♪ go ♪ ♪ i'm going to make you lose your breath, i'm going to make you lose your breath ♪ ♪ i'm going to make you lose your breath, breath, breath ♪ ♪ make you sweat, i'm going to make you lose your breath ♪ ♪ i'm going to make you lose your breath ♪ ♪ i'm going to make you lose your breath, breath, breath ♪ ♪ ♪ let's go ♪ ♪ ♪ know you want to hit that, got a little kickback ♪ ♪ i'm going to make you lose your breath, i'm going to make you lose your breath, i'm going to make you lose your breath, breath, breath ♪ ♪ make them sweat, i'm going to make you lose your breath ♪

♪ i'm going to make you lose your breath, i'm going to make you lose your breath, breath, breath ♪ ♪ [ cheers and applause ] ♪ ♪ i make it bounce if you got handle ♪ ♪ get it from every angle ♪ ♪ blow the candles ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ go, booty dancer ♪ ♪ ♪ drop it to the floor ♪ ♪ one more time ♪ ♪ >> let's go!

♪♪ >> thank you ♪ >> thank you so much new york! >> wow! >> anitta, let's give it up! >> i'm out of breath. anitta! >> thank you so much. >> anitta! anitta! >> you got everybody on their feet. >> savannah, savannah, i got something for you. okay. so hold on. we have a dance instructor here named marcella. anitta, just so you know, this dance instructor has been doing all of her classes just to your music. can we crank up a little bit of anitta's music and you can do your stuff? ♪ >> go, girl.

your stuff? ♪ >> oh, what, what? >> anitta, what do you think? she's got the moves. >> there is a saying in brazil that says, the best of brazil are the brazilians for sure. >> do you want to come up? >> oh, she's coming up. she's coming up. coming up. she's coming up. >> that's awesome. [ speaking in a global language ] >> we love you. stand right next to her, right

here. >> i'm so happy to be here. >> you are amazing. we really appreciate. and there will be one more song. >> i think you could be a dancer here. well done! >> yes! >> thank you so much. we've got a lot more coming up with anitta. but on a friday morning, you will get a check of your local news, our weather and these messages.

good morning. it is 856 on marcus washington. well, breaking news this morning in santa cruz. that's where authorities are dismantling a tent protest and blockade at the main entrance at the uc santa cruz campus. a pro-palestinian groups first set up the blockade. blockade. earlier this week, and it actually led to the campus shutdown during the overnight hours, tensions boiled over. this is after the chp declared it was unlawful assembly. and as the sun came up this morning, we actually started seeing law enforcement officers trying to disperse the crowd. the school is now saying that many arrests have been made, and at this point, we believe at least a dozen people were taken into custody. classes have been virtually ever since the protest began. but this morning, uc santa cruz sent out a statement saying protesters had been in and wanted to leave

multiple times. now, the school says in part in a statement, it is imperative that we restore full access to our campus and end other unlawful, unsafe actions as demonstrators continue to disrupt campus operations and threaten safety, even delaying access of emergency vicles, it was imehpo

this morning on the 3rd hour of "today," guilty. reaction to the historic decision in the hush money trial of president trump.