help them. >> you can reach me on social media at jd balart and watch clips on youtube at msnbc.com/jdb. thank you for the privilege of your time. chris jansing picks up with more news right now. happy memorial day, everyone. i'm chris jansing in new york. thank you for joining us on this holiday. this hour, at least 21 people are dead after a string of tornados ripped through texas, oklahoma, and arkansas. where the threat of extreme weather remains for tens of millions of americans today. plus, we're less than 24 hours away from the beginning of the end of the trial for the history books. what to expect from closing arguments as donald trump's trial moves towards completion. also ahead, an israeli strike on

a camp in rafah leaves dozens dead. breaking moments ago, israel's prime minister now calls that strike quote a tragic mistake. then later, a bipartisan group of lawmakers now putting china on notice while in taiwan meeting with their new president. so a lot to get to today and we begin with that breaking news right now. 21 people are dead. that's a higher number than we had just an hour ago and nearly 600,000 homes are without power across 11 states. 71 million people are still under severe storm risk from alabama to new york. eight of the deaths were in arkansas alone where hard hit neighborhoods now look like war zones, streets littered with debris. winds so powerful, they ripped off the front half of this dollar general store. in kentucky, take a look at this massive twister that touched down in edlyville, two hours

west of bowling green. governor bashir said one tornado was on the ground for at least 40 miles. in missouri, 20 minutes outside of st. louis, golf ball sized hail raining down, damaging homes. joining us now is nbc's priscilla thompson from valley view, texas, where an ef 2 tornado came through. what's the latest on the ground? >> reporter: people here are in shock after what they survived on saturday and you look at the devastation and you understand why. we are at a gas station where the governor says 125 people were sheltering when the roof caved in as that ef 2 tornado bore down. that gives you a sense of the strength of the tornado. one woman told me she was covering over a baby and just praying and less than a mile up the road, there were families in their homes doing the same. we spoke to a woman, monica

vazquez, who was in a closet with her five children and husband. the youngest child just 3 years old. so as you're in the closet with the kids, what was going through your mind? >> that i'm going to die. >> reporter: i feel you getting emotional. what's happening right now? >> because that's what i thought, me and my family were going to die. >> reporter: and so we're talking about folks that are traumatized after what they experienced and are now looking at their homes that have been completely destroyed. trying to salvage what they can and figure out how to move forward. that is a lot to deal with and just to give you a sense of the pattern of weather we have seen here in texas, there are 108 of the 250 some odd counties here under disaster declarations right now.

and this is the type of situation we're seeing across the country. across the south and the midwest as these tornados have just reeked havoc. chris? >> michelle, when can we start to see some relief here? this has been a devastating weekend to say the least. >> it has. it's been a devastating severe weather season so far. after a really tough weekend, a tough overnight, we're starting to see things slow down before they reignite. we to expect storms that aren't as impactful. we have the storms from new england, the mid-atlantic, northeast, carolinas into portions of the southeast. we're going to see really heavy rainfall, 4 to 5 inches in some spots, hail, damaging winds and a few damaging winds. in the west, we're looking at soggy weather with showers in the upper midwest and northern plains. if you have parade, picnic plans, you want to heed any local warnings you may have.

another big weather story, the record heat along the south, remember so hard hit over the weekend. we have power outages and we're looking at record heat. temperatures into the triple digits. 5 to 15 degrees above what is typical for this time of year. 71 million people impacted by severe weather or the threat as we go throughout the day. that's because we're talking about major cities from new york city to philadelphia, d.c., raleigh, wilmington, charleston, alabama. winds gusting over 60 miles per hour. that's going to bring down some trees, powerlines, certainly causing power outages. could see large hail, 2 inches or greater and yes, we are concerned about a few tornados as well. this is what radar looks right now. better than two hours ago. we're still seeing some storms. we have a severe thunderstorm watch. where you see the red boxes, those are tornado warnings.

notice that storm moving through. you're looking at purple. that's where we could be seeing hail. certainly seeing the lightning, hearing the thunder and winds howling as well. this is going to move off to the east. we're talking about anywhere along the east coast could see these storms throughout the afternoon and evening hours. >> michelle, as i was watching out the window, you could see the skies turning darker and darker over the last half an hour. people should take heed. thank you. to politics now. and the courtroom. closing arguments set to begin tomorrow morning in the first criminal trial of a former american president. donald trump's defense team will be delivering its summations first in the morning. joining me now, dasha burns, catherine christian, and former u.s. attorney and deputy attorney general, harry lipman. dasha, walk us through the timeline. what are we expecting tomorrow? >> tomorrow morning, defense, closing arguments. then the prosecution does their

closing arguments. this is not new evidence. these are not new presentations. this is both legal teams going through the key point of their arguments reminding the jurors what are the things they should keep in mind. then that's going to likely last most if not all of tomorrow. wednesday morning is a crucial moment for the jury because that's when the judge delivers his jury instructions. telling the jury basically what roadmap to follow. what they should and not take into account as they deliberate. now, this is a big deal. we left off last week with both the defense and prosecution kind of debating and arguing, making their case to the judge about what they think should be part of the jury instructions. and then jury deliberates. we could get a verdict next week. it could take longer than that. remember, this is 12 people, seven men, five women, who are going to have to come to some

sort of consensus, chris. >> catherine, let's start with the defense. they concluded their case with i think what was largely perceived unflatteringly as testimony from robert costello. some thought it was disastrous. so what's the challenge for todd blanche as he looks for i guess you could say a reset with the jury as he makes the case for donald trump? >> it will be for him a reset and he is going to hope that the jurors listen to the definition of reasonable doubt because it's a very long definition and the judge is going to tell the jury that even though the defense presented evidence, the burden is still on the prosecution. it remains with the prosecution. so their witness was just horrible. objectively horrible. so hopefully he's hoping the jury not is not left with that shifting the burden. so if donald trump allows the defense to make a reasonable doubt argument, there are holes that the defense can fill in.

if donald trump insists that the ridiculousness of stormy daniels never happened, he knew nothing of the hush money payment, they could go off the rails. they have a lot to work with and his name is michael cohen. so that in itself is a credibility because the prosecution, they don't have to rely totally on michael cohen and they are not and a lot of what he said is corroborated but he is a big part of this case. >> that's the reason, harry, that the defense is expected to focus on the question of michael cohen's credibility. but "the new york times" reports trump's team could dwell on the testimony of weisselberg. the cfo of trump org. he's currently in jail. they call him the star witness who never testified. they also note though the defense team didn't call him either. what would be the strategy behind highlighting this missing piece of what they see as the prosecution's puzzle? could it backfire? >> well, look.

it's at least a story and otherwise, it seems they're mainly left with poking holes at cohen, who's largely corroborated or maybe going at the law. this is the third man defense and it's a little bit sneaky because they know and the d.a. knows why weisselberg isn't there, but it's all fair as long as there's a little bit of evidence in the record to say why isn't he here? they could have called him. they're the ones who have the burden and there are a couple really key moments in the evidence. especially this first meeting in january where trump tells weisselberg and cohen, go work it out and you then have weisselberg's writing working it out where you could expect weisselberg to be the key person. so it's exploiting something a little bit dishonestly you could say, but not improperly. pounding the table and saying where is weisselberg? you could see it.

as i say, i've thought the whole few weeks what their real defect has been, they haven't had a story to present to the jury. this third man defense would be a story. >> okay. so catherine, let's turn to the prosecution. the state called 20 witnesses. they entered more than 200 exhibits. now they've got to weave it all together. how do you expect them to do that and is the biggest danger getting too complicated? give the jury a simple story they can understand. >> i was pleased to hear just not that i'm biased, but joshua steinglass is giving the summation. he has a good way of jurors and a good way of keeping it simple stupid. so he will, it's actually much easier for the prosecution. they're going to do a narrative and they're going to, he might remind them at the beginning during opening statements, his colleague said this was a conspiracy and let me tell you

how it started and you just focus back on mr. pecker who was the one who explained that he was the eyes and ears of campaign and members of the jury, he was always your eyes and ears to the conspiracy. so they will go through witness after witness who corroborated michael cohen, who, the executive assistant who talked about daniels being in one of the contexts in the trump organization in donald trump's contact list. so they will, witness after witness, piece of evidence after piece of evidence, then say and this is proof beyond the reasonable doubt that the defendant is guilty. so he will spend time reminding them, because it's been a week off, about the evidence that they heard and why it proves guilt beyond a responsible doubt. >> harry, you've watched this case from inside the courtroom. what do you see as the biggest potential pitfalls for the prosecution? >> well, the number one thing i would say is this legal tricky issue that the judge will brief

them on on wednesday, but i want to just add to one thing that the, in the prosecution's challenge. steinglass is excellent and he's a lot of material to work with. he will mainly recapitulate. he wants to avoid droning with the narrative. there will be a lot of visuals but he'll want to vary the pace so keeping a three-hour story compelling. he has that. that's the pitfall for closings. they just kind of go through soup to notes without grabbing the jury with a story teller's playbook. >> even catherine, if michael cohen wasn't the most credible witness in the eyes of the jury

and we have no idea how they view him, is ultimately the message from the prosecution, this is a document heavy case. even if you don't believe everything you hear, believe what you see. >> that will be the argument. but there might be jurors who can't overcome michael cohen. because i do think the jurors need to believe michael cohen on those two meetings he said he had in trump tower and the oval office where donald trump basically gave the thumbs up to the scheme he and weisselberg came up with. it's going to be up to josh steinglass to convince them what he said about that despite all of his baggage that he has, which they are not going to hide from the jury. but go through all corroboration. stormy's lawyer, the banker for michael cohen. all of, hope hicks talking about the access hollywood tape and how that was a crisis and then

boom, here comes stormy daniels and that's why they had to pay her off to conspire to unlawfully means the federal campaign violation. if i think there's one hole that the defense can talk about, there was really not a lot of testimony about this campaign contribution. this legal campaign contribution and that's why donald trump agreed that they had to like come up with this repayment plan and falsify the records. but it will be up to josh steinglass to sort of weave this story. i agree with harry. don't bore a jury to death. keep it simple. keep it tight. >> dasha, catherine, and harry, we have some interesting days ahead. thank you all for kicking it off for us on this memorial day. join us for special coverage kicking off 10:00 a.m. eastern tomorrow and don't miss our prime time coverage as well. that starts at 8:00 p.m. eastern. up next, decision 2024. two different approaches from the president and the former

president as the summer stretch of the campaign kicks off. we're back in 90 seconds. smile! you found it. the feeling of finding psoriasis can't filter out the real you. so go ahead, live unfiltered with the one and only sotyktu, a once-daily pill for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, and the chance at clear or almost clear skin. it's like the feeling of finding you're so ready for your close-up. or finding you don't have to hide your skin just your background. once-daily sotyktu was proven better, getting more people clearer skin than the leading pill. don't take if you're allergic to sotyktu; serious reactions can occur. sotyktu can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections, cancers including lymphoma, muscle problems, and changes in certain labs have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection, liver or kidney problems, high triglycerides, or had a vaccine or plan to. sotyktu is a tyk2 inhibitor. tyk2 is part of the jak family. it's not known if sotyktu has the same risks as jak inhibitors. find what plaque psoriasis has been hiding. there's only one sotyktu, so ask for it by name.

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personally. >> this week marks nine years since i lost my son, beau. our losses are not the same. he didn't perish in the battlefield. he was a cancer victim from a consequence of being in the army. pain of his loss is with me every day as it is with you. still sharp, still clear. but so is the pride i feel in service as if i can still hear him saying it's my duty, dad. it's my duty. >> before coming to arlington for those remarks, the president hosted gold star families at the white house. now to the 2024 race with donald trump's many legal cases depleting his campaign coffers and there's a strategy perhaps born of that necessity. instead of hosting his own familiar but expensive arena style rallies, trump is now going to where the crowds are already assembled. events where others are footing the bill. this weekend, he used a nascar race in battleground north

carolina as a campaign stop after a rocky reception in washington where he got booed at the libertarian national convention. joining me now, brendan buck, former aide to paul ryan and john boehner and donna edwards of maryland. both are msnbc political analysts. brendan, you and i have talked many times about how the cost of the criminal trials could hurt donald trump's campaign. are we starting to see its impact now or is he finding a clever way to get around it? >> maybe both. look, the reason you hold events like this or big events is to that you're in control. you control the narrative, who's in the room. all of those things. now there is an efficiency and a cost savings certainly to jumping on board and he's hardly the first person to show up to another event. but what you end up seeing is what happened at the libertarian convention. you're not in control of that crowd. and you end up getting booed. that's the last thing you want.

now, these big events are a hallmark of the trump campaign. i imagine he's going to figure out how to get back on there. i wonder if it's more than this is just a campaign that's distracted by what's going on in the courts and they're now able to hit the ground running and run the campaign they want to. maybe that will be shifting after this trial ends but certainly, you've got to imagine trump is eager to get back in front of the folks cheering him instead of booing. >> it seems it would be a slam dunk for a premade audience. there's all these memorial day parades. often presidential candidates will make appearances. there's nothing on donald trump's public schedule for today. and while money is obviously one part of what we're going to see from him, the other may arguably be stamina, right? a lot of folks who are observers in the courtroom talked about how exhausting it has been for him to be in the courtroom every day and on wednesdays, he was often doing events. how do you manage that stuff

when you're running a campaign and obviously by that stuff, we've never seen what's happening to donald trump right now. >> well, i think that's certainly true. look, it's really clear that these, the trial is taking its toll on donald trump and i think his ability to juggle between what he's doing in the courtroom in manhattan versus what he needs to do on the campaign trial. it is the reason you saw the organized rally in the bronx. something close by. near his golf course in new jersey. again, i think you know, trying to conserve his energy and his time to make space for these trials. it's not going to get easier as the calendar marches toward november. i do think that brendan is right. there is a money issue and he doesn't have the same kind of juice to draw those large crowds that he did back in 2016. certainly a lot less in 2020.

so he has to go to these prepared, preplanned events in order to maximize the time that he's spending out on the campaign trial. >> one major and free spot of publicity will come on a running mate. although there are a lot of people who might disagree with that. we know this race will largely be decided among the small group, largely in the middle. would a moderate be a smart move? it's not like the conservatives following him are going to jump ship at this point. >> certainly. i'm sure he'll take that under advisement but i don't think imagine he's listening to those folks. i'm sure he feels burned by picking mike pence, obviously because of what happened on january 6th. this was sort of a forced march with mike pence. like my old boss, paul ryan and

newt gingrich urging him to take someone to bridge those two worlds. traditional republicans and trump. i don't think he feels any need to do that anymore. i think he's going to pick whoever he thinks will do the best job, being loyal to him. repeating the messaging, whatever it takes. donald trump i think is beyond the point of trying to appeal to the middle. he's going to run his campaign the way he wants to. and so i obviously politically, that makes a lot of sense, but donald trump thinks very differently than i do. >> meanwhile, president biden had kind of i would say not so thinly veiled criticism of trump at his commencement address at west point. he told the graduating class their oath is to the constitution, not any political party or president. these are typically more apolitical speeches, but we have seen a little bit with biden a shift in strategy. he's been tougher on trump. he's been invoking his name more, for example, as a threat to democracy. it's still pretty early in the

campaign to be amping up, but do you think it's necessary on biden's part? >> i am really pleased with this new direction of the biden campaign. i think that the charges against donald trump have to become sharper and more focused. as it is we see in poll after poll that the american people are not really making the kinds of distinctions between president biden and former president trump. and in order to do that, in order to focus the public's attention, the biden campaign, president biden has to be much more sharp in its attacks against donald trump and telling the american people the threat that donald trump represents. because otherwise, it allows donald trump to just kind of whitewash the past and move on by things like january 6th on into this campaign. the biden camp cannot afford to let that happen. >> so let me ask you, brendan, about the high stakes week ahead in manhattan court.

we mostly talked about what it means for donald trump, but there have to be lots of conversations going on on team biden. what's the response? whether he's guilty or not guilty. do you just say, this is the way a democratic system works? the jury has spoken? or do you have a more significant, deeper, broader response to whatever happens? >> well, i've been relatively struck by the fact the biden administration, the democratic campaign apparatus at large has been awfully hands off over the last several weeks. >> yep. >> i understand why biden doesn't want to look like this is political, but it feels like the primary contenders running against donald trump did. let it hang out there, hope people see it and not turn against him. that hasn't happened. now, there needs to be some type of high level biden response, talk about the seriousness of it and try to take the high ground. but it's long past time for

democrats to take off the gloves against donald trump as it relates to his criminal activity. i understand not wanting to dive into the mud on it, but your opponent is on trial for felonies yet you are gains no benefit from it. at this point, they have to look in the mirror and say we may need to get more aggressive. >> we're out of time, but do you agree with that? i'm guessing you do, and if there is a conviction and we certainly don't know that. no one's been able to read this jury. but does the president and maybe it's also the debate coming up that's an opportunity. have to speak more forcefully. >> well, the president has to do two things. one, they have to absolutely stick with the line that upholding the rule of law and the constitution and the jury system. on the other hand, hit donald trump hard where it counts. we haven't had a president, a

former president, who's been indicted on felonies before. the biden campaign has to make sure the american people understand that. >> great to see both of you on this memorial day. thank you. israel's prime minister making a rare admission after a deadly strike on a camp for displaced palestinians in rafah. we've got that breaking news next. you're watching chris jansing reports only on msnbc. s jansing reports only on msnbc. type 2 diabetes? discover the ozempic® tri-zone. ♪ ♪ i got the power of 3. i lowered my a1c, cv risk, and lost some weight. in studies, the majority of people reached an a1c under 7 and maintained it. i'm under 7. ozempic® lowers the risk of major cardiovascular events such as stroke, heart attack, or death in adults also with known heart disease. i'm lowering my risk. adults lost up to 14 pounds. i lost some weight. ozempic® isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. don't take ozempic® if you or your family ever had medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2,

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a rare admission from the israeli prime minister after a deadly air strike that killed dozens of people in rafah. just a short time ago, speaking to the israeli parliament, benjamin netanyahu called the strike a tragic mistake. images from inside the encampment show palestinians standing in shock, salvaging what's left of their belongings. raf sanchez is live from tell a viv. what more did he have to say? >> reporter: yeah, chris, this is an unusual admission from the israeli prime minister. it comes at a time when israel is under the microscope. last week, you had the international court of justice ordering israel to halt its military offensive in rafah. israel giving no sign it plans

to comply with that order. then earlier in the week, the international criminal court chief prosecutor saying that prime minister netanyahu is accused of war crimes and seeking his arrest. now, in terms of the strike this morning, it happened in the very early hours. survivors tell our team in gaza, families were asleep in their tents made of wood, of plastic, in western rafah, when all hell broke less. the israeli strike came raining down. flames ripping through tents. people were in some cases, burned alive, according to the emergency services inside of gaza. and today, families are picking through the charred remains trying to salvage what they can. the emergency services say at least 40 people were killed in the strike. many of them were women and children. and the israeli military said earlier that the strike did succeed in killing its targets. two senior hamas commanders who the idf says were involved in

planning attacks in the occupied west bank. you had prime minister netanyahu going off in front of the israeli parliament not long ago and saying that this was in fact a tragic mistake. israel says that it is investigating this but this is perhaps one of the largest single losses of civilian life in rafah we have seen since the beginning of the war. >> we are waiting to see if there's any response from the white house. thank you for that report. meantime in the face of saber rattling from china, a bipartisan group met with the newly inaugurated president of taiwan today led by mike mccall. the congress members were bucking a warning as drills were conducted around taiwan. ryan nobles is the only television network correspondent

traveling with the group. he joins us from taipei. also with us, retired admiral. good to have you here, gentlemen. i know, ryan, you spoke with the chairman after his meeting with the new president of taiwan. what feels his read on the visit and what are the major concerns? >> reporter: well there's a long list of concerns, chris, that the chairman and the bipartisan delegation writ large has about china's looming threat here to taiwan and this region in general. and chairman mccall felt that it was very necessary to send a very strong signal to mainland china. that the united states is not going to turn its back on taiwan. it's going to continue to provide military aid. it's going to continue to provide resources and support to allow taiwan to conduct itself as a self-governing island. but still adhering to that one china policy, which has been u.s. policy for decades but at the same time, making sure that china doesn't encroach on the freedoms that many taiwanese

people have come to love and appreciate. part of that is this thriving technology economy that exists here on this island. taiwan produces 60% of the world's semiconductors and 90% of the most vital and important semiconductors. mike mccall was clear if an attack came from china, that industry could be crippled and with it, the world's economy. take a listen. >> if china were to invade today and own or brake companies like tsmc, it would literally shutdown everything. if you think covid was a bad deal, this would put us in a world of hurt. i think this is why the american people would see why defending taiwan and this need in this hour of peril so important. >> reporter: and this was chairman mccaul making the case it's a worthy investment to

provide the support to taiwan as a level of deterrence against china. when you think about semiconductors, almost everything, your phone, your car. the oven in your kitchen. these are all a vital part of day-to-day lives and if that that industry was interrupted, it could cripple the economy. >> ryan nobles, great interview, thank you for that. let's look at these two sides he's laid out. one is that the u.s. saying look, our support, on the other hand, you have a country that is holding the key to as he just pointing outside, to just about every modern product we use. who has the upper hand here? >> let's start by saying good job to the congress.

by the way, coming on the heels of the ukraine aid package which passed overwhelmingly. congress can work together and that's a good they think because here we come to your point. this is a vital part of the global economy. you know, there are only 23 million people on this island of taiwan. it's 100 miles off the coast of china. yet by itself, it's roughly the 20th largest economy in the world. as well as the manufacturer of the high-end chips that ryan eloquently described. so, yes, this is vital american interest. in my view, that means making sure they have access to the high-end military technology, providing a level, not to attack china, but so china does not attack them. >> let me ask you, just hours

before that meeting, taiwan detected chinese military activity around the island three days after the new president's inauguration, china conducted its so-called punishment drills. do you see this as just standard behavior by beijing or something more worrying? >> i see it as pretty standard behavior. let's go back to the last time we saw a really enormous spike in response to the visit of then speaker of the house nancy pelosi. that was hundreds of ships and aircraft. that was ballistic missiles in the air. a much bigger response. this one feels to me a bit performative on the part of beijing. they're not throwing a noose around the neck of the taiwanese. they're simply saying we don't like this new president. he should be careful how he postures his country. i think all of that is

worrisome, but i don't believe we're looking at a enormous spike. last thought, chris. believe me, beijing is watching what's happening in ukraine. they're looking to how the u.s. and our european allies have stood up to the russians. the more we send that signal about taiwan, the less likely it is that china ups its game and tries to really strangle or attack this island economy. >> let me go back to the breaking news at the top we talked about, which is netanyahu with a rare admission that there was a tragic mistake in these air strikes on rafah. yes, they may have killed, at least according to israeli officials, two of the leaders of hamas or two important members of hamas, but it's estimated in the fog of war, 40 civilians may have died going to places they were told to go where they could be safe. how much does this complicate

the situation for u.s. supporters of israel? >> quite clearly, it is an action that will be regarded as indefensible. in particular, chris, because of the awful quality of the video you're showing right now, we can all picture women, small children, elderly caught up in this. it's a tent camp on fire. >> burned to death. >> exactly. it is going to reverberate around the world and continue to contribute to protests. the arab street will be highly inflamed and even here in the united states, this will give great lift to the protestors. bottom line, israel has got to improve in not only collateral damage situations like this, avoiding them, but also getting the aid to these 2.2 million gazans. that's still not happening smoothly.

israel as the invading power has the responsibility, militarily, to care for these populations. that video puts a dagger in the heart of that mission. >> we are out of time, but i have to ask you, in the fog of war, mistakes happen, tragic, horrible mistakes. but could this, should this have been avoided? >> absolutely. i think the prime minister's admission talks to that. israel needs to continue to step up and take responsibility. that means accountability for whoever ordered these strikes and conducted them. >> admiral, our thanks to you and to all of those you have served with over the many decades on this memorial day. our thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their loved ones. thank you so much. >> thanks, chris. up next, tragedy in los angeles.

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the tragic murder of johnny wacter. according to police, he was shot while interrupting a crime in downtown los angeles. morgan chesky is here with the details for us. morgan? >> this is a stunning loss that is leaving a lot of friends and family members still very much in shock and police trying to track down the group of men they say are responsible for shooting and killing the 37-year-old actor. police say that johnny wacter walked up on this group as they were trying to steal parts from his car and that's when one of the suspects responded by opening fire. in los angeles, a young actor's life has been cut short. 37-year-old johnny wacter was fatally shot early saturday morning. authorities say he was killed after approaching three men who

were attempting to steal the catalytic converter from his car. he was best known for his role add brando on general hospital, appearing in 164 episodes of the popular daytime soap. his mother, scarlet, saying he was chasing his dreams. >> he lived life to the fullest. he was a light in a dark room and will be very missed. >> scarlet telling nbc her son was leaving his job at a bar later than usual when he approached his car with a co-worker wondering if he was being towed. his mother added that when a man with a mask looked up, he stepped in front of his co-worker and was then shot. in new york, an actor was attacked last month. while at the same time, women in the city were being attacked. >> i was literally just walking and a man came up and punched me in the face. >> now in los angeles, his

colleagues paying tribute after the shocking crime. general hospital posting he was truly one of the kind. his tv wife writing, my heart is so utterly broken. johnny was the absolute best. and his manager telling nbc he pursued his dreams and achieved them all the while remaining a good human being, caring for others. now, his family looking for answers. >> i hope they will catch whoever did it. i hope there will be some kind of justice for johnny. >> right now, police are stressing this is very much an ongoing investigation. they are only aware the group of men got into a vehicle and fled in an unknown direction. they're calling on the public for any help, any lead, anything that could help them track down those responsible. >> thank you. more sad news to report as the golf world mourns the death of 30-year-old rising pga star, grayson murray. murray's parents confirming now their son died by suicide just

four months after a career best first place finish at the sony open in hawaii. murray had been vocal about past struggles with mental health and alcohol and was competing in the charles schwab challenge in texas before withdrawing due to illness late friday. in a statement, his parents adding life wasn't always easy for grayson and although he took his own life, we know he rests peacefully now. if you or someone you know is in crisis, call 988 to reach the suicide and crisis lifeline. you can also call 800-273-8255 or text home to 741741. we'll be right back. i have upped my dish game auntie, in that dishwasher? watch me platinum plus gives you the highest standard of clean, even in your machine. clean enough for you? yeah! scrape. load. done. cascade platinum plus.

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people had to be taken to the hospital and it is investigating the incident. one passenger shared these photos from inside the cabin of the boeing 787 dreamliner where food was togethered into the aisle and splattered onto the ceiling. it comes days after one passenger died and others injured. millions are heading home after memorial day weekend comes to close with travelers flying in record numbers. tsa says it screened more than 3 million passengers on friday, the highest ever reported on a single day. this weekend marks the start of a busy summer travel season with u.s. airlines expecting record numbers of passengers. nbc's priya sridhar joining us from hartsfield-jackson. a lot of folks behind you. >> reporter: this is the busiest airport in the world. as you can imagine, we're seeing a lot of long lines in the

security checkpoints. tsa stepped up to create extra lines so people will be able to get through pretty quickly. record-breaking numbers. 18 million people screened nationwide between thursday and sunday, and many of those travel travelers will be heading home today. i got a chance to catch up with a passenger early this morning. let's listen to what her journey was like. >> i got here and went to go get checked in, and they told us our flight had been canceled and we wouldn't be able to get onto the next flight until tomorrow. i'm pretty anxious. we were already traveling on memorial day. to get here with all the people and then have to endure that -- >> reporter: nationwide we're seeing almost 3,000 delays so far and 277 cancellations. we are experiencing some extreme weather across the united states that could bring these numbers up over the next several hours.

as i mentioned before, if you're heading the the airport, give yourself enough time to not only get through the security checkpoint but check to see if your flights have any delays or cancellations. >> oh, boy, holiday travel as an endurance test. priya sridhar, thank you so much. i'll be back at the top of the hour to break down the strategy closing arguments on donald trump's hush money trial trial. go to msnbc.com/jansing and stay close. more "chris jansing reports" right after this. ose. more "chris jansing reports" right after this wear a lot of . my restaurants, my tattoo shop... and i also have a non-profit. but no matter what business i'm in... my network and my tech need to keep up. thank you verizon business. (kevin) now our businesses get fast and reliable internet from the same network that powers our phones. (waitress) all with the security features we need. (aaron) because my businesses are my life. man, the fish tacos are blowing up! so whatever's next...

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. welcome back to the second hour of "chris jansing reports" on memorial day. we are less than 24 hours away from the biggest day of the trump criminal trial so far. what will each side drive home in closing arguments? our reporter who