ur next meal. finish dishwasher cleaner clean dishwasher. clean dishes. charging the president with a crime was therefore not an option we could consider. >> if bob mueller had determined there was a crime, he would have had a moral obligation to report it. >> many constituents want to impeach the president, but we want to do what is right and what gets results. >> this morning the fallout as the white house and congress must decide on how to proceed and if impeachment is now inevitable. more tornadoes and severe weather, including torrential rains that made already flooded regions even more dicey. with a survival rate of only 9% for pancreatic cancer, alex trebek's announcement is

stunning news. a heart stopping play at the cubs-astros game when a line drive foul ball into the stands strikes a young child beyond the safety netting we'll have the latest. then to the performance that shocked and surprised fans from coast to coast a busy thursday ahead, and "early today" starts right now good morning i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. the country has now seen two straight weeks of violent weather. yet another massive tornado caught on camera this time spotted in canton, texas, a city just east of dallas there have not been reports of serious injuries, but plenty of damage and here's something you don't see every day. a funnel cloud forming behind these baseball players in iowa the person who shared this with us says it was a ways off in the distance and there was no wind, rain, or lightning in their area as the game went on as scheduled. commuters in the new jersey turnpike near philadelphia had a similar view as powerful storms also hit the northeast meanwhile in the midwest, a slow motion disaster.

flooding in more than a dozen states, parts of mississippi now seeing the longest lasting flooding there in almost a century. in some areas of oklahoma, the only way in or out is with help from the national guard. nbc meteorologist janessa webb is tracking all of this for us this morning good morning >> good morning. that one in kansas, we haven't seen an ef-4 in 67 years so the severe weather threat continues here across the midwest. really going to diminish in the next 24 hours. in the last 24 hours, 23 reports of tornadoes here. and from our composite radar, you can see shreveport dealing with some straight-line winds but this storm system really starting to fall apart here. but unfortunately that severe weather risk really going to continue throughout the afternoon across texas into portions of the northeast for ten states, 26 million with possibility of damaging wind also that large hail, isolated tornadoes. one more day but hold on. >> all right hopefully going to end the month on a high note

after more than two years of silence, we have finally heard the voice of special counsel robert mueller but the question now is what comes next in a surprise speech, he laid out a chilling warning about the russian attacks on our country while underscoring his findings laid out in his report mueller did not clear president trump, instead saying he never considered charging the president because of a long-standing justice department rule nbc's pete williams has more >> reporter: in the only public statement he has ever made about the investigation, robert mueller was clear he intended it to be his last >> i hope and expect this to be the only time that i will speak to you in this manner. i am making that decision myself no one has told me whether i can or should testify or speak further about this matter. >> reporter: he left little doubt he has no intention of testifying before congress >> i would not provide information beyond that which is already public in any appearance before congress. >> reporter: most of mueller's

nine-minute statements took no questions, summarized his 448-page report. but he removed one lingering mystery about the investigation into whether president trump obstructed justice he said he and his team made a decision at the very beginning of their work that long-standing justice department policy would not allow indicting a president. >> charging the president with a crime was therefore not an option we could consider >> reporter: but the attorney general says he asked mueller in early march whether if not for that justice department policy, the report would have found that the president committed a crime. >> and he made it very clear several times that that was not his position >> reporter: that's no contradiction, a mueller associate says because the policy prevented his team from even considering whether the evidence amounted to a crime. >> we concluded that we would -- would not reach a determination one way or the other about whether the president committed a crime. >> reporter: mueller's summary of his own investigation of any trump campaign involvement with the russians was more limited

than the way it was explained by the attorney general >> the special counsel's report did not find any evidence that members of the trump campaign or anyone associated with the campaign conspired or coordinated with the russian government. >> reporter: mueller did not say that his team found no such evidence in that part of the report >> this volume includes a discussion of the trump campaign's response to this activity as well as our conclusion that there was insufficient evidence to charge a broader conspiracy >> reporter: but in a statement unusual for any prosecutor, mueller did not clear the president either >> if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. >> reporter: and he tellingly noted that the same justice department policy says a president can be impeached. >> the opinion says that the constitution requires a process other than the criminal justice system to formally accuse a sitting president of wrongdoing. >> reporter: at age 74, he's

clearly ready to get back to private life members of his staff say he intended this to be absolutely his final word on the subject of one of the most famous investigations in modern history. frances? >> pete williams for us, thank you. >> mueller's comments leave democrats in the house with a major decision will they pursue impeachment proceedings using the case laid out in the special counsel's report nbc's tracie potts joining us from d.c. with more. tracie, good morning despite these growing calls, speaker nancy pelosi still isn't bowing to the pressure from some even in her own party. >> reporter: no, she's not we know now that there are at least 40 democrats and one republican, michigan's justin amash, who say that impeachment proceedings should start in other words, that the process of charging a president that mueller made it clear he could not do needs to begin in the house of representatives but as you said, house speaker nancy pelosi not quite onboard with that yet.

she's pumping the brakes, saying that what congress needs to do at this point is continue to investigate. >> many constituents want to impeach the president, but we want to do what is right and what gets results, what gets results. >> reporter: so while there are growing calls for impeachment, for starting that process, it doesn't look like the leadership is onboard to go there just yet. meantime, the white house, president trump again taking this statement as they did with the initial rollout of the report as a victory, saying that it's pretty clear that nothing was found here and that congress needs to move on >> there was no collusion. there was no conspiracy, and we consider this case closed. he completed his investigation now he's closed his office, and it's time for everybody to move on he's going back to his private life, and we think everybody else should too. >> reporter: so bottom line

here, there is discord among democrats who are in charge of the house of representatives on where to go next while there are calls for impeachment, the leadership isn't inclined to go there just yet they're still divided. phillip? >> meanwhile, the clock is ticking. tracie potts, thank you. conflicting stories this morning on whether the white house wanted the "uss john mccain" out of the picture during president trump's trip to japan. "the wall street journal" reported it had reviewed an official email with the directive, "uss john mccain" needs to be out of sight cnbc later acquired the same correspondence according to the journal, a tarp was hung over the ship's name on the president's arrival. and sailors aboard the destroyer were given the day off but the navy chief of information denied that, in a tweet saying it's proud of that ship, it's crew, its namesake and its heritage despite his public feud with the late arizona senator, the

president said he was not informed about anything having to do with the ship. meghan mccain also responded saying trump won't let her father rest in peace, so she has to stand up for him. a very scary moment during the cubs-astros game in houston last night it's highlighting fan safety concerns chicago outfielder albert almora jr. drives a foul ball into the stands and it strikes a young girl, sending slivers throughout the stadium. the girl received first aid and was taken to the hospital for treatment. you can see almora overcome with emotion after the play the astros put out a statement saying they are not yet able to disclose any details of the child's injury fans and players are now calling on the mlb to extend safety nets almora's teammate, chris bryant was joined by many on social media who believe more should be done to protect fans. let's check back in with janessa webb on today's weather. >> for the last two weeks here,

we're finally going to see a break. one more day give me 24 hours wooer going to see this front make its way across midwest. cleveland, ohio, you're going to see the brunt of these storms this afternoon into the northeast here for your evening commute, pittsburgh, new york, boston, you're going to see some heavier downpours, potential of that flooding here. and that lasts until your late evening. now, accumulation totals, they don't look impressive. we're under an inch in most locations here, but these downpours could see some torrential rain. possible foso southeast, we're still in the upper 90s. so we'll look forward to the transition of this severe weather just pushing out here and finally a little bit of a break. >> what a relief so many people are needing that.

janessa, thank you. in today's quick hits, on june 5th, sephora stores will be closing their doors. the beauty retailer is holding a morning training session for its 16,000 employees on inclusion and brand value. their goal is to begin a dialogue with employees about diversity. for students who experience stress before big exams, there may be a solution. new studies show that the presence of a dog can decrease stress and anxiety before and during a test. and the "jeopardy!" nuger knot wins again. james holzuehar extends his streak to a total of 30 consecutive wins so you can enjoy it even if you're sensitive. delicious. now, i've heard people say lactaid isn't real milk. ok, well, if it isn't real then, i guess those things over there can't actually be cows. must be some kind of really big dogs, then. sit! bad dog.

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she's doing it again. two scoops meet real banana slices. (vo) no cover up spray here... it's the irresistibly fresh scent of febreze air effects. cheaper aerosols can cover up odors, burying the smell in a flowery fog. switch to febreze air effects! febreze eliminates even the toughest odors from the air. and it uses an all-natural propellant to leave behind a pleasant scent you'll love. use anywhere odors can spread. freshen up, don't cover up. febreze air effects. leading the news, louisiana is poised to become the fifth state to pass a fetal heartbeat abortion ban lawmakers voted to ban the procedure after six weeks once a heartbeat is detected. democratic governor john bel edwards has said he will break away from his party and sign the ban if it crosses his desk joining states like mississippi, ohio, kentucky and georgia.

disney is poised to become the latest company to ditch production in georgia over their abortion law the company's ceo, bob iger, said it would be very difficult to continue filming in the peach state if the abortion law is implemented, adding he doesn't think employees will want to work on projects there losing disney would be a huge blow georgia has been a major hub for box office blockbuster like black panther and "avengers: endgame." instead of being on a movie set, actor ashton kutcher spent the day testifying in an l.a. courtroom. in the case of the so-called hollywood ripper, kutcher is one of several witnesses connected to the victim, a young woman he was dating who was brutally murdered back in 2001. miguel almaguer has the details. >> reporter: appearing nervous on the stand, ashton kutcher described arriving to the crime scene. this los angeles home where he was set to meet his date, ashley ellerin, in 2001 i knocked on the door. there was no answer, the actor said i assumed she had left for the night. i didn't really think anything

of it. through the window, kutcher said he noticed red stains on the carpet, thinking it was spilled wine but inside, the 22-year-old was dead, stabbed 47 times as she was getting ready to meet kutcher. the man who prosecutors call the hollywood ripper, michael gargiulo, has pled not guilty to her grisly murder and other attacks just like it >> all of the victims were young, outgoing women. >> reporter: a rising star at the time of the homicide, kutcher learned of the murder the next day in court, kutcher said he was freaking out when detectives told him what happened here. his fingerprints were on the door years later, after the suspect's dna was matched to another stabbing victim, michael gargiulo was linked to ellerin's homicide police called him a serial psychosexual thrill killer who now faces the death penalty. miguel almaguer, nbc news. still ahead, a florida teacher lands in hot water for handing out the wrong kind of

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died in 2017 before ever recording any lines. so the directoris now revealin that with the support of the comedian's family, they went through 25 years of audio, including outtakes, video games, theme park recordings, and other projects to make sure rickles made it into the new show. that's fascinating to know that. >> that technology is amazing. the best insult comic to ever live right there glad we're going to hear his voice again. mtv real world fans, you can now own a piece of tv history. the loss that kicked off the first season of the real world is now up for sale the co-op is listed for $7.5 million winston churchill's daughter actually bought this after the series aired and she paid $990,000 that was back in 1995. much more expensive now. the soho duplex is 6,500 square feet it's got a master suite, four bedrooms, two full baths, two

half baths, a kitchen with a butler's pantry. all you need now is just seven strangers to live with you. >> or just be rich and by yourself with an amazing new york loft. >> incredible to see that. a million bucks each if you got it. a florida high school teacher is in hot water for allegedly writing a slang term for a curse word on a student's homework assignment. the student's mom says that she was shocked to see the quote wtf is this written across the top of her son's science homework. the mom is calling for the teacher to be held accountable but the school's principal hasn't released the teacher's name, saying they're taking the necessary steps to deal with the situation, adding the teacher is sincerely apologetic and distraught over the incident need we say, what was the teacher thinking >> well, you're right. here i'm thinking the high school kid's heard much worse. you're right he should know better. >> if they say it, it's impulse. actually pick up a pen and write

the letters wtf. come on. >> i think he thought he was being funny and trying to relate to his students. if it was an elementary school kid, i can see >> it's a teacher. i'm not with you with this. >> you're right. i don't have any kids. a new bill in texas just passed making it legal to carry certain self-defense items it's soon going to be legal to carry brass knuckles, clubs and self-defense wilat key chains. according to texas state representative joe moody, too many people were being charged for owning a self-defense item the supporters of this legislation see it as a part of the state's commitment to the second amendment the new law will go into effect on september 1st as someone from texas, they like their weapons. >> they do even those wildcat key chains. still ahead, what is a positive prognosis we've got the good news that "jeopardy!" host alex trebek calls mind-boggling. you're watching "early today."

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across to gunder son, he scores the blues win in overtime. >> that's right. game two of the stanley cup final between the blues and the bruins was an overtime thriller. the blues win a very important road game, tying up the series at one game apiece the 3-2 victory is the first stanley cup final win in blues franchise history. now the series moves over to st. louis for game three that's scheduled for saturday night. you can watch that on the nbc sports network, nbcsn. we have been rooting for him, and now some incredible news from "jeopardy!" host alex trebek after being diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in march, he says he is in near remission

according to his doctors the 78-year-old shared the health update with "people" magazine, saying some of the tumors have already shrunk by more than 50%, calling the prognosis kind of mind-boggling. trebek has continued to work while undergoing chemo he says he still has several more rounds of treatment to hopefully get into full remission. we know how this has taken a toll on him despite his being able to look and sound and do his job. again, we're rooting for him >> encouraging news. now to an "america's got talent" contestant who is quickly becoming a national phenomenon kodi lee captured the hearts of millions after his powerful performance brought the judges to tears and the audience to their feat our very own savannah guthrie has his unique story. >> reporter: the moment 22-year-old kodi lee walked onstage with his mom, he won over the crowd >> welcome to "america's got talent." what's your name >> i'm kodi. >> hi, kodi. >> reporter: kodi is blind and has autism.

>> i'm going to sing a song for you on the piano >> reporter: he also has an extraordinary gift ♪ i've been so many places in m life and time ♪ >> reporter: the judges were awestruck. the crowd on their feet. actress gabrielle union rewarding kodi with the golden buzzer, sending him straight through to the live shows later in the season. >> he'd always say, i want to perform for thousands of people, and i'm like, kodi, you're proving for millions of people >> reporter: kodi's mom, tina, says music saved her son's live. >> you put him onstage and all of a sudden it's like the flip of a hat, and he has no disabilities onstage ♪ >> reporter: kodi is on top of the world and grateful for his millions of new fans >> are you excited that the live shows are coming up?

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ad lib live picture bay bridge . thursday, may 30th. taking a peek outside arc live look at the bay bridge. the toll plaza, it is opened. you have your eye on the morning commute, marcus and i are here to deliver the news. good morning. >> let's get started with the day. let's talk about that weather. how is it looking? >> a little busy, a passing storm nearby. the current temperatures, not a huge difference all week long. you can see we're in the 50s right now. as you head out the door, it's looking a little cool as we head in the afternoon, i