a jury hand down their historic verdict. hunter biden guilty on federal gun charges. the president's son now facing possible prison time with a separate tax case months away. we're live with how the verdict could shake up the race for the

white house. under the backdrop of wars in ukraine and gaza, president biden heads to italy today for a critical -7 summit. the high-stakes meetings for world leaders. plus the response from hamas to a new cease-fire proposal. the sunshine state drenched by storms. homes and roads hit with heavy flooding. meteorologist angie lassman is tracking how long the rain could last. a one-two punch of economic news. a key inflation report could show if relief is on the way for your wallet, while the fed could forecast whether any interest rate cuts are on the horizon. cnbc's arabile gumede will tell us what to expect. a dogfight that's tough to stomach. why competitive eating legend and reigning champ joey chestnut won't get to defend his title at the hot dog eating contest next month. it's wednesday, june 12th.

"early today" starts right now. good morning, i'm frances rivera. glad you're with me. we begin with another historic first for our justice system. the child of a sitting u.s. president has been convicted of a crime. a jury in delaware finding hunter biden guilty of three federal counts related to the purchase of a gun. nbc's brie jackson kicks off our coverage. >> reporter: hunter biden, president biden's only surviving son found guilty on all three charges tied to the possession of a gun while using narcotics. special counsel david weiss, appointed by attorney general merrick garland brought the charges. >> no one in this country is above the law. everyone must be accountable for their actions, even this defendant. >> reporter: during the trial, prosecutors argued hunter knowingly lied on a federal form, checking a box claiming he was not an active drug user when he purchased a gun. >> it was these choices and the combination of guns and drugs

that made his conduct dangerous. >> reporter: hunter biden has admitted he's struggled with addiction, but claimed he was not doing drugs at the time. he has previously called the charges politically motivated. one of the 12 jurors said that's not the case. >> for us, it's not politically motivated. our politics never played in anything that we said in the jury room. >> reporter: after his conviction, hunter biden released this statement, saying, i am disappointed by the outcome. recovery is possible, by the grace of od. first lady jill biden has been by her son's side for most of the trial. president biden did not address the verdict during a previously-scheduled gun safety event, but, in a statement, the president said, i will always be there for hunter, nothing will ever change that. in washington, brie jackson, nbc news. >> for the president, this case

is deeply personal. and it also comes as he runs for reelection. nbc's alice barr joins us now for more on the political fallout from this conviction. good morning, alice. how could this verdict impact the race? . >> reporter: the outcome could seriously undercut one of the key talking points that former president trump has been making on the campaign trail. the former president of course was recently convicted of 34 felony counts of his own in his new york hush money trial. he has often said that the justice department has been weaponized against him without presenting evidence, but now of course the doj has won a case against his rival's son. and president biden says he will not issue a pardon for hunter. a spokesperson for the trump campaign called this trial a distraction from what they allege are other biden family crimes, although a republican-led investigation has produced no evidence to support that. the president's son does have

more key legal moments ahead that will collide with the heart of election season. his sentencing date for these gun charges has not yet been set, but the judge noted it is usually within four months of the verdict, meaning hunter could be sentenced in october, right before the election. he does face the possibility of prison time. but the judge will take into consideration that he is a first-time offender. however, this conviction means hunter biden will have a criminal history when his next federal trial begins in september. he has pleaded not guilty to charges of tax evasion in california, where prosecutors say he failed to pay taxes on millions in foreign income. his attorneys argue he ultimately repaid the taxes. if convicted in that case, he faces up to 17 years in prison. frances? >> alice, thank you. new this morning, at least one person was killed after a commuter bus was hijacked in atlanta. miss say a gunman held 16 passengers and a driver hostage,

leading cops in a chase. it caused damage to several cars. the bus later stopped and former convict joseph grier was arrested. one person was found on the bus with a gunshot wound and later died from their injuries. it's not clear if that was a driver or one of the passengers. also in atlanta, four people were shot in a rampage in the middle of the day in a food court. the gunman shooting four people before being shot by police. >> all of a sudden, people were sprinting out of there in all different directions. and we were like, what is going on. and somebody screamed, there's a shooting. there's a shooter, like run. >> an off-duty officer shot the gunman who was a convicted felon and could not legally own firearms. eight men were arrested who were suspected of ties with isis.

all eight are from the central asian country of tajikistan. sources say they crossed the southern border going back more than a year. raising no terrorism database alerts at the time. they face removal proceedings but have not been charged in connection with any alleged plots. the arrests bear similarities to a case we reported on nbc news last month involving an uzbek migrant with suspected isis ties. both the fbi and dhs say the u.s. in a heightened threat environment for terrorism. president biden leaves for the g-7 summit later this morning in italy. hamas has formally responded to a truce proposal, and the white house still evaluating that response this morning. the u.s. is asserting that israel accepts the current proposal, despite prime minister netanyahu publicly voicing several objections to the deal. andrea mitchell spoke to secretary of state blinken on the last leg of his latest

mideast tour. >> reporter: eight months into the war, hostage families demanding the return of their loved ones. out front of the secretary of state's hotel in tel aviv. america's top diplomat telling them. >> beerwe're working every minuo bring everyone home. >> reporter: i spoke exclusively with several families, including the mother of one who's been told her son was killed, but she says she won't believe it until hamas returns his body. >> we didn't have a burial. we don't have a grave. we did not see the shiva. >> reporter: it comes after the dramatic rescue mission, four israeli hostages being released. this woman was later released, but she's scared that the military operation may make it harder for the other hostages still held by hamas.

>> they're going to be nervous. and take it all out on the hostages. >> reporter: hamas responded to the israeli cease-fire offer. the white house says it's still evaluating what they said. secretary blinken has demanded the leader of hamas accept the deal. >> are they looking after one guy who for now may be safe? ten stories underground in gaza while the people he purports to represent continue to suffer in the crossfire of his own making? >> reporter: it comes after the "wall street journal" obtained messages from yayhya sinwar saying he believes more deaths work to his advantage, calling civilian deaths necessary sacrifices. the white house's john kirby. >> it should surprise and shock no one that a beast like mr. sinwar would actually take glee in it. >> reporter: the secretary's final middle east stop in qatar. the key negotiator with hamas to assess next steps. and our thanks to andrea for that report.

now to a legal win for transgender patients in florida. a federal judge has overturned a ban on puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors, also striking down restrictions on how trans people of all ages can access care. the judge says florida can regulate as needed but cannot flatly deny safe and effective medical treatment. governor desantis supported the restrictions. he says his office plans to appeal the ruling. meanwhile, much of south florida is under water this morning after heavy rain drenched both coasts of the state. it caused dangerous flooding conditions on roadways and submerged many neighborhoods. a flood mitigation plan has been utilized to use pump stations to alleviate flooding. multiple sewer trucks are working to clear debris. and the wet weather isn't letting up. let's bring in angie lassman to see how long the storm is expected to stick around, when they can get the sun back.

good morning, angie. >> it's going to be a while. we've got more of the flooding concern through the day today. likely seeing travel delays because of it. already waking up this morning to rain, specifically across central florida. notice how unsettled it is across the region. we've got the flood watches up for 7 million people. notice over the next couple days we're still going to see the stalled front leaving us with plenty of unsettled weather and that tropical moisture to tap into, bringing that ample amounts of rain. the storms are redeveloping over similar areas that have already picked up a substantial amount of rain. anywhere from 3 to 6 inches is what we've received so far. but notice we've got another 5 to 7, maybe even up to 10 inches or a foot of rain expected by the time we get to the weekend. heat alerts out west are still in effect. 18 million people including las vegas and phoenix as well as sacramento. the heat is going to continue to

spread to the east, including parts of the midwest and northeast as we get thro 90 degrees in atlanta with plenty of clouds overhead and showers and thunderstorms from tampa to orlando. and that's a look at your forecast, frances, back to you. >> thank you so much, angie. "early today" is back in a minute with a health alert for the millions taking statins for heart disease. and is inflation finally e sing? thkey report due out this morning as we await news on what's next for interest rates. like when it needs to be a big, soft shoulder to cry on. which is why downy does more to make clothes softer, fresher, and better. downy. breathe life into your laundry. so rich. so indulgent. it's indulgent moisture body wash

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will meet and set expectations on what's next for interest rates. cnbc's arabile geu umede is hero break it down for us. good morning. >> good morning, frances. you're quite right. that inflation is going to be important to the market overall and to the fed's interest rate decision making of course as they meet today and deliberate a little later on, on whether to cut interest rates in september or later on. the expectation for inflation figures just before that announcement then on rate cuts from the fed is in anticipation of the overall figure coming in at 3.4% which should be ultimately the same as the previous month, but it's the co-inflation number which strips out all the energy costs and fuel costs, et cetera. that is anticipated to sit at around 3.5% versus the 3.6 that that figure had been in the month of april. so those are the key aspects to really look out for. and what that commentary then means for the fed as they look out for interest rate cuts later

on this year. let's move on to the equity space, then, and really with regard to mergers and acquisitions. sky dance and paramount, that's not happening anymore. that was scheduled to be some sort of merger, it would have been an $8 billion deal. but charlie redstone, the heiress decided to scuttle that deal, saying they couldn't ultimately reach a solution. it was a big surprise, considering that it looked like in recent days that there was a deal on the table. but, it looks like it's no longer paramount to have sky dance own either of those companies. >> what a turn. arabile, thank you. the american heart association's new heart disease risk calculator may result in fewer people being prescribed statins. doctors prescribed daily pills like lipitor and crestor based on 2013 guidelines. according to a study, researchers determined that

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from the finals of the last olympics. >> lots to watch with that. now to the nba finals where boston may be losing one of their stars again. kristaps porzingis is questionable for tonight's game three after a rare injury to his left leg. the team said the injury happened in the third quarter of game two sunday. porzingis returned from a month-long absence due to a calf strain last week. up next, a serious health scare for yoeoprah, and back one clock. if advanced lung cancer has you searching for possibilities, discover a different first treatment. immunotherapies work with your immune system to attack cancer. but opdivo plus yervoy is the first combination of 2 immunotherapies for adults newly diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer that has spread, tests positive for pd-l1, and does not have an abnormal egfr or alk gene. opdivo plus yervoy is not chemotherapy, it works differently. it helps your immune system fight cancer in 2 different ways.

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writing her comeback story. >> shall we go for it? >> reporter: telling nbc's hoda kotb about the devastating equipment pact stiff person syndrome has had on the singer's career. >> there is no cure. you will live with it your whole life, am i right? >> correct. >> so what does it look like on a day-to-day basis, living with this condition? >> one step at a time. ♪ ♪ ♪ the one who wants ♪ >> reporter: the rare neurological disorder can cause slurred speech, painful muscle contractions and debilitating stiffness. >> i'm going to go back on stage, even if i have to crawl. even if i have to talk with my hands. i will. >> reporter: as demonstrated in a new documentary out on amazon later this month, her journey is difficult. ♪ it's like i know you ♪ >> that's what happens. ♪ it's like i know what i want to do ♪ ♪ and how you can show me,

yeah ♪ >> and that's hwhat happens, an it's very difficult for me. >> reporter: the first signs appeared in 2008, but it would take more than a decade to diagnose as she dealt with her husband dying of cancer, raising three boys and making up excuses for canceling shows. >> i will thad to be a hero, fe my body leaving me, holding onto my own dreams, and lying for me was, the burden was like too much. >> reporter: she announced her diagnosis in 2022. now facing her changed reality. ♪ courage, don't you dare fail me now ♪ >> reporter: trying to reclaim what is uniquely hers. anne thompson, nbc news. >> can't wait to applaud her when she takes the stage again. wo h how would you keep your privacy if you won the lottery? winners have revealed themselves

as the breakfast club. while keeping their identities a secret. the cash value of their prize is $452 million. it was the fifth largest in powerball history. coming up on today, a trip to the past. we'll get a behind-the-scenes look at the ancient city of pompeii in one of the biggest archaeological digs in years. that's ahead on "today." for now, thanks for waking up with "early today." i'm frances rivera. have

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