the president and first lady spent a highly emotional sunday in uvalde where they met with families, teachers, first responders and others in the reeling community now faced with planning more than 21 funerals our morgan chesky talks withn uvalde teacher who spoke about what she did to keep her class safe when a gunman opened fire. paul pelosi the house speaker of nancy pelosi is booked on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. we will also check in to find out the latest on the baby formula shortage and what led to

this massive shortage. and meet the group that honored a veteran with no known veterans by delivering a proper burial ahead of this meme real day. "early today" starts right now good morning, i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. we begin this morning in uvalde, texas, where president biden and the first lady traveled on sunday to meet with first responders as well as the families of the victims of last week's school shooting the first couple laid flowers at a memorial for the 19 students and two teachers who were killed at robb elementary. >> after a request from the uvalde mayor the justice department will conduct a review of the police response to the deadly mass shooting according to a justice department spokesperson, the goal is to provide an independent account of law enforcement actions and responses and to identify lessons learned. the director of the state's department of public safety admitting police made the wrong decision by waiting to confront the shooter. and in the face of such unspeakable sorrow many are stepping in to help the grieving

community. the funeral costs for 29 is who died will be covered by an anonymous donor. texas governor greg abbott confirmed in a press conference that the unnamed person donated $175,000 meanwhile, a custom coffin maker a contributing personalized caskets to victims' families free of charge trey gannon along with his son and more than a dozen volunteers are working tirelessly to finish them in time for the funeral services. actor matthew mccon nay visited uvalde on friday to meet with families and others there in the community his mother taught at a school about a mile from robb elementary a teacher has new details about the property that unfolded inside the school. morgan chesky spoke with her about what happened right after she saw the gunman outside of her classroom window. >> i just kept bearing boom, boom, boom, it just kept going off and it felt like an eternity

that this was going on >> reporter: when nicole spotted the gunman outside of her window she told her kids to hit the floor seconds before they hit the floor. >> i had one student laying on top of me. >> what were you telling the kids >> i just told them pray pray keep praying. >> reporter: she and her students hiding in silence until officers evacuated them through bullet-riddled windows. >> there was glass on the window sill and i stayed and just kept getting kids out and then me and the last two kids jumped out the window and we just ran they kept telling us run, run, run. >> reporter: it wasn't until nicole made it out with her 15 students she realized many did not. >> i've gotten text messages from parents telling me that i'm their hero and i'm not a hero in any way, but i do love those kids very much >> i can see that.

>> reporter: with 21 crosses now filling her hometown square she is fighting to make sure hope triumphs hate. >> do you think you will ever be able to erase that image of the gunman walking towards your school >> i can close my eyes and i see that image of him and that gun walking up to my school and it haunts me, but at the same time i have told myself i will not live in fear and i want to do that and teach my own children that you can't live in fear. >> reporter: morgan chesky, nbc news, uvalde. tragedy struck in savannah, georgia, over the holiday weekend after a boat crash left at least five dead and fours others injured it happened saturday morning when the center son sole boats traveling in different directions collided. nine passengers were involved, two victims were pronounced dead at the scene, four out of the five victims were from the same family the georgia department of

natural resources say a 45-year-old man identified as mark stee gal was arrested sunday for boating under the influence. the department of health and human services is invoking the defense production act for a third time in a week hoping to speed up the production of baby formula. the order will give food corporation cargill priority for raw materials needed to produce formula. with widespread relief still weeks away, anger is growing at the mainak torse in this crisis, the fda and the manufacturer abbott here is jo ling kent. >> reporter: nationwide parents are desperate, the out of stock rate for baby formula skyrocketed to 70%. >> it's just not a good feeling to be on edge at every moment. is my baby going to eat today? >> reporter: and now both formula maker abbott and the fda are facing new scrutiny from congress abbott manufactures 40% of the formula in the u.s the company's voluntary recall and closing of its michigan plant helped trigger the crisis.

a sign of trouble came last september in a report to the fda, an infant who became ill with a rare bacterial infection had consumed formula made at the abbott plant in october an abbott whistleblower sent fda officials this 34-page document alleging that lax practices including regulatory violations were consistently overlooked and records were knowingly falsified on multiple occasions. in response abbott said this former employee was dismissed due to serious violations and since then has made evolving, new and escalating allegations, but the company says it will thoroughly investigate any allegations. it wasn't until january 31st that the fda sent a team to the abbott facility to investigate there they found evidence of bacteria in the powdered infant formula environment that can be deadly to infants. it took another two weeks before abbott issued a recall by now three other babies had been hospitalized, two of them

had died abbott says there's no conclusive evidence to link our formulas to the reported infant illnesses but the fda has not ruled out the possibility of a connection our thanks to jo for that report. real estate investor paul pelosi husband of nancy pelosi has been arrested in california on a suspected dui after a car crash. no one was hurt in the collision. bail was set at $5,000 representative pelosi's spokesman said, quote, the speaker will not be commenting on this private matter which occurred while she was on the east coast mr. pelosi could not be reached for comment. the pair has been married since 1963. the unofficial start of summer is here but it does come at a troubling time for the nation which is in the midst of yet another covid wave new data has found covid-19 cases here in the u.s. are more than six times higher than they were a year ago that's according to data from johns hopkins this data found that the u.s. is

averaging more than 119,000 new infections a day that figure held at 17,000 cases on may 28th of last year we do have some good news on the covid front, though, deaths are down from a year ago the country is currently seeing an average of 470 covid-related deaths that is a decrease from 637 deaths from this time last year. monkeypox continues to spread globally according to our world and data as of today there were over 400 confirmed cases of the virus in over 20 countries. outside of africa where the virus is endemic health officials say that the majority of new cases have spread through sex among men who have sex with other men but anyone can catch t on sunday the world health organization says that monkeypox constitutes a moderate risk to overall public health at a global level. a busy holiday weekend and it hats gotten each more chaotic for tens of thousands of americans. more than 3,70 flights were canceled over the weekend along

with another tens of thousands that were delayed. bad weather and staff shortages were among the causes for these cancellations. this as the tsa reported nearly 7 million people have flown since thursday, that's up 25% from last year, nearly pre-pandemic levels. let's check in with nbc meteorologist michelle grossman for a look at your memorial day weather. >> great to see you. we are looking at severe weather today, a big story because we are looking at the chance for long track tornadoes, giant-sized hail that's direct words from the spc center and we've already seen images of 6 inch hail in hearts of nebraska, gusty winds and heavy rainfall we're seeing that early this morning on radar as we zoom in closer we're looking at lightning, heavy rain where you see the darker colors, reds, oranges, yellow that is where we're seeing heavy rain falling. parts of the dakotas into minnesota and iowa we do have a severe thunderstorm watch in yellow and pink is your tornado watch.

we do have a flood watch as well because we expect the chance of flash flooding lots of lightning this morning, hearing thunder as well. this will be the theme all day long, we will be watching this very closely if you don't have your tornado plan in place you want to have that in place, be close by where you can get alerts 11 until in risk for for long track tornadoes, hail, damaging winds up to 80 miles per hour. tomorrow we will see it shift a little to the east and also to the south, so stretching into the southern plains where 12 million are at risk tomorrowh w looking similar, 99 today in san angelo. >> very summer like for many of us watching severe weather as well. we will look at the overall

memorial day forecast in just a bit. a special reunion for a ukrainian refugee who was reunited with her dog in what seemed like to her i'm shear forever. her own and her dog were separated for 28 days at the u.s./mexico border in april because of a month-long quarantine you see smiles and that wagging tail. >> i love the smiles. coming up, harry styles joins a chorus calling for action on gun violence. and maverick soars to a big win at the box office. tom cruise reaches a new milestone with the new "top gun. we're talking dental hall of fame... you want a sticker? for great checkups, crest has you covered... because crest pro-health protects 100% of your mouth for 24 hours. keep up the good work. now, from crest pro-health new densify. like bones, your teeth lose density overtime. but, crest has you covered. crest densify... actively rebuilds tooth density to extend the life of teeth.

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pledging at least a million dollars from his upcoming north american tour proceeds to the nonprofit every town for gun safety the announcement comes just days after the tragic shooting at robb elementary school in texas that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers. it's good to see one of the most popular acts in the world right now getting involved and helping out. >> especially now that the attention is there with his tour kicking off as well. powerful move right there. flying high at the box office, "top gun" the hollywood blockbuster has the biggest opening weekend of tom cruise's 40-year career maggie vespa has more. >> reporter: a heart-pumping throw back launching an industry comeback >> good morning, aviators. this is your captain speaking. >> reporter: and catapulting an iconic career to new heights. >> i just want to manage expectations. >> reporter: the highly anticipated "top gun: maverick" on track to rake in $151 million

it could even end up being the biggest memorial day weekend opener ever, but is already the highest grossing debut of tom cruise's 40-year career. the sequel comes 36 years after the original "top gun" and after years of covid-related delays. >> i kept having to push off the premiere and push off the release dates. i was like this film is going to come out on the big screen. >> reporter: his commitment holding strong even as more hollywood heavy weights turn to streaming. from tom hanks to denzel washington to the rock for theaters "top gun: maverick" is rocket fuel it's also poised to kick off the first normal summer movie season since the pandemic began after 2019 summer raked in $4.3 billion 2020 saw a meager $176 million. 2021 signaled a rebound at $1.8 billion. analysts see that trend continuing with upcoming releases like "jur rick world

dominion" and another thor movie. >> there's nothing like that magic that's created in the movie theater that's why it's coming back in a big way. >> here we go, in three, two, one. >> reporter: theater summer forecast all clear and ready for takeoff. maggie vespa, nbc news, hollywood. >> i can imagine it's amazing on the big screen. >> i'm curious about the sound track, too, because the original there's so many great songs coming out of it we'll see in this one as well. today we remember and honor our fallen veterans who gave their lives for our freedom. and in st. louis the community did just that. an unnamed veteran who served in vietnam received their final farewell what goes on it. usually. and in it. mostly. here to meet those high standards is the walgreens health and wellness brand. over 2000 high quality products. rigorously tested by us.

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received a flag placed exactly one foot length from its base. in st. louis an unnamed veteran is getting a proper farewell the vietnam veteran served from 1967 to 1972 reporter ryan henson of ksdk has the story. >> reporter: one final ride for a man who put his life on the line for our country. >> all veterans they signed their name on a dotted line, they committed to protecting our country, protecting our freedoms they all deserve their dignified burial. >> reporter: neil night hawk hill leads the band of patriot guard riders to the final resting place of an unnamed veterans who died in barnes jewish hospital care not much is known about the veteran and the office of decedent affairs said they looked for six months looking for loved ones left behind

the veterans connect group was side-by-side with patriot guard ride sneers when people leave the military the one thing they miss the most is those who served by his side we never leave a comrade behind and that's true even after we've hung up our uniform. >> reporter: the health care network says care doesn't stop after a person passes on after an unsuccessful search of loved one she was happy a caring community was there in the end >> make sure that you stay in touch with your family and so when this time comes that they're there to represent your loved one. >> reporter: a special tribute. >> and to be able to support this veteran as all of us did today and to receive that flag, it's very touching and all of us there were teary eyed. >> that's beautiful. our thanks to ryan for bringing us that story. still to come, michelle has the weather update for memorial day travelers out there. and millions in donations have poured in for uvalde

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welcome back on this memorial day feels like summer for so many of us from new england to the southeast, the south central states into the plains and that is going to spark the chance for some severe weather in the northern plains, also the upper midwest. we could see gusty winds, large hail up to baseball size, even a little larger than that and also the chance for tornadoes as we go throughout time throughout the day we will be watching that severe weather, that could cause some travel impacts especially in the air. minneapolis likely to see delays, seattle, portland, salt lake city, der ver, you could see delays as well showers and storms in miami. on the roadways i-90 to i-94 seattle to minneapolis probably a tough go, too, and portland to salt lake city. still to come an outpouring of support for uvalde from millions in donations to

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cascade platinum. there has been a flood of donations after the horrific school shooting in uvalde and the nonprofit group victims first has alone raised close to $5 million on gofundme, another fundraising page helps to support the family of joe and irma garcia. irma was a teacher at robb elementary school murdered on thursday her grieve-stricken husband passed away from heart failure two days later the gofundme has raced nearly $277 million. also an outpouring of grief centered at a memorial site in uvalde with people coming from near and far to mourn the 21

lives lost tom llamas has more on how they're being honored. >> reporter: in uvalde's town square you will find crosses and flowers and tears. grown men on their knees trying to make sense of what happened here and some too young to fully understand taking the first steps in saying good-bye 9-year-old angela was dismissed from robb elementary early in the day of the shooting, some of her best friends weren't so lucky. >> i knew a kid name eliana, we were outside playmates from outside of school. she died she was my -- my best friend. >> reporter: the mourning stretches across this town and the state. harry and jeannette cruz drove more than 90 miles from san antonio to pay their respects. >> when i have my granddaughter tonight i'm going to hug her and make sure that i protect her as long as i'm alive. >> reporter: a mother and

daughter making the journey feeling compelled to visit the memorial after losing a is son and brother to gun violence. >> bring the kids some flowers, a little animal, i don't know. when i lost my brother it was like the end of the world for me, that's how it was. so i had to come. >> reporter: so many coming to uvalde to show this community they are not alone kneeling in prayer, taking a moment and hoping that somehow when the time is right they can find the strength to move forward. >> in the midst of everything that is going on god is still in control and god will be with them through the whole process. >> thanks to fom for sharing the stories. before we go we'd like to leave you with "american idol" contestant singing the star-s"star-spangled banner" at u.s. capitol have a good day. ♪ ♪ o, the ram parts we watched were so gallantly streaming ♪ ♪ and the rockets red glare

nobody the bombs bursting in air ♪ ♪ gave proof through the night that our fla moving the bay area forward, that is why we investigate. >> it is about helping people, digging deeper.

right now at 4.30, another red flag warning going up for solano county as we deal with increasing winds and low humidity. i will be tracking that fire danger and exactly where and when we can see the increased threat of wildfire. source and emotional visit, president biden back in delaware after traveling to uvalde, texas. large gathin