russia unleashes a new wave of deadly strikes against ukraine, making it the first big attack in 51 days. pence's testimony. the former vp guess before a grand jury, marking a critical

flash point of the january 6th investigation involving donald trump. stubborn inflation causing concern among experts with the latest in gdp numbers. plus, the new risk plaguing sea turtle hatchlings on florida beaches. "early today" starts right now >> good morning. i'm phillip mena. >> and i'm frances rivera. we begin with the breaking news from ukraine after 51 days of peace, fears of an attack on kyiv. [ siren air raid sirens once again ringing out in the capital ukraine's military says 11 cruise missiles and two drones were destroyed in the city's airspace over the city there have been no reports of any missiles hitting targets in kyiv, but it does appear that residential areas have been hit in other cities. according to the ukrainian national police, throws eight people have been killed in predawn missile strike across

the country. three children were rescued from the rubble of this nine-story residential building after a months long attempt to obtain his testimony, former vice president mike pence made an appearance before the grand jury investigating former president trump's role in the events of january 6th. for more on this, we go to nbc's brie jackson in washington brie, good morning it looked like trump was doing everything that he could to prevent this testimony those efforts ultimately failed. so what do we know about what pence said >> good morning, phillip well, special counsel jack smith scored a major coup on thursday. former vice president mike pence sat down before the federal grand jury connected to the investigation of former president trump's role in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election nbc news reported that two black suvs entered the courthouse in washington around 9:00 a.m. and left the building around 4:30 p.m. judge james boasberg, who is

overseeing the grand jury proceedings, declined to comment on the day's events when asked by reporters a and the spokesperson for the special counsel also declined to comment. jack smith was appointed in november by attorney general merrick garland to investigate former president trump's role in the january 6th attack on the u.s. capital initially resisting the order, pence said in early april that he would ultimately not be appealing the request. meanwhile, former president trump proved unsuccessful in his numerous attempts to prevent his former running mate from testifying before the grand jury on wednesday, a federal appeals court rejected trump's efforts to block pence's testimony here is what trump told nbc's jonathan allen about these developments on thursday.

>> mr. president, what do you think of mike pence testifying today? >> oh, i don't know what he said, but i have a lot of confidence in him. >> pence has been selective in speaking out about the events of january 6th since leaving office at the gridiron dinner back in march, pence said that he had no right to overturn the election and that history will hold donald trump accountable now nbc news has reported that the special counsel jack smith's team is particularly interested in trump's efforts to block the certification of the election. back to you. >> all right that's brie jackson reporting from washington this morning brie, thank you. west virginia governor jim justice is hoping to flip joe manchin's senate seat with his bulldog named baby dog by his side the popular republican officially entered the republican race. he touted his record as protecting the second amendment, school choice and strict abortion law >> you've seen exactly where i stand for life you've seen it where we have

absolute crafted laws against abortion in this state that are the toughest of the toughest >> democratic senator joe manchin has not announced if he will seek reelection next year, but he told reporters, quote, he will win any race i enter. bills banning abortion failed to pass in two coervative led states on thursday in nebraska, legislation that would ban the procedure around the xth week of pregnancy fell one vote short of brecking a filibuster after two senators abstained from voting. opponents of the bill cheered outside of the doors of the legislative chamber after the last vote was cast it's now unlikely to move forward this year. this is the second year in a row that efforts to restrict abortion access in nebraska failed d a 22-21 vote in south carolina's senate marks the third time a near total abortion ban has failed there since the supreme court overturned row last summer. the chamber's five women, three

of whom are republicans, filibustered the bill and criticized the senate's male majority for pushing debates on abortion over other pressing issues it was an emotional second day in the civil trial against donald trump e. jean carroll faced cross-examination from trump's legal team joe tacopina asked why she didn't scream during the alleged rape she said i'm not a screamer. i was in a panic, fighting >> she started to cry, and then tacopina realized may have gone a little too far and said do you need a moment. and she said no. it was almost like she was daring him if you think you're going to make me weak in this moment, that's not going to happen >> she is set to continue cross-examination when the trial rumts on monday. trump has said the alleged incident never happened. now to a confrontation at the border between peru and chile. hundreds of migrants stalled at the peruvian border, unable to cross into the country

many of them are trying to return to their home countries of haiti and venezuela, but authorities aren't letting them pass because they lack proper documentation. it is a dire situation not only do they lack food and water, but it's also blazing hot during the day and freezing cold at night officials in the nearby border town of arica have declared a migration emergency and have vowed to provide resources for them. >> the state department has announced new sanctions against both iran and russia over their continued detention of u.s. citizens the action specifically targets russia's federal security service fsb and the intelligence wing of iran's islamic revolutionary guard corps. let's go to london where raf sanchez is following the story for us raf, good morning. what is the u.s. hoping to achieve with the latest sanctions? >> frances, good morning the state department says the gel of the sanctions is to pressure both russia and iran into releasing current u.s. hostages, but also to deter them

from taking future ones. in both cases, these sanctions aimed at the security agencies which the u.s. says are responsible for targeting, arresting, and then imprisoning these americans to use them as diplomatic pawns i want to read you just a little bit of the statement from u.s. secretary of state antony blinken yesterday. he said "our actions are a clear and direct warning to those around the world who wrongfully detained u.s. nationals of the potential consequences of their actions. now in russia, these sanctions were aim at the fsb, the domestic security agency there are two american citizens currently being held unlawfully in russia, according to the state department paul whelan, a former u.s. marine, and evan gershkovich, the 31-year-old "wall street journal" correspondent who was arrested last month. and of course we all remember wnba star brittney griner held for nearly a year in russia after being arrested towards the start of the ukraine war in iran, there are three u.s.

citizens being held. they are all in evin prison, a notorious prison in the north of tehran and we are hearing from their families they are praising this new wave of sanctions, but they hope the u.s. will go further. and they say they hope president biden will find time to meet with them. >> when diplomacy turns to action in the form of sanctions. raf, thank you let's turn now to virginia the school district where a teacher was shot by a 6-year-old is now trying to get that teacher's $40 million lawsuit dismissed. the school board says because abigail zwerner was clearly injured at work, her injuries fall under the state's workers compensation act but they say the 25-year-old who was shot in the hand and chest by a first grader has refused to accept comp. zwerner accuses the school of ignoring multiple warnings the day of the shooting. the school says in a perfect world, no teacher would ever be injured by one of their

students, however, unruly and bad behavior are all ual too common wnba star brittney griner spoke extensively about her confinement and got through it andrea mitchell has more on the emotional press conference >> reporter: the 6'9" wnba superstar getting emotional, sharing how she stayed strong for ten grueling months in a russian jail. >> you know, i'm no stranger to hard times so you made me cry. just digging deep, honestly. you know, you're going to be faced with adversities throughout your life this was a pretty big one, but i just kind ofof relied on m my hd work >> reporter: and never giving up >> when i did lose my hope, looking at photos of my family that brought my hope back. >> reporter: the seven-time all-star and two-time olympic gold medalist rejoining the phoenix mercury after more than

a year away from professional basketball, but saying she won't play overseas again unless it's for the olympics that would be the only time i would leave the u.s. soil. and that's to represent the usa. >> reporter: griner and her team unveiling a mural in support of other americans still being held in places like russia and iran, and sending them this message. >> stay strong keep fighting. don't give up. you know, it hurts it hurts because no one should be in those conditions. >> reporter: major newspapers are running full-page ads, calling for the white house to step up efforts to bring home american "wall street journal" reporter evan gershkovich, with russian again denying an embassy request to visit him next week the biden administration is now sanctioning security agencies in russia and iran for not releasing americans. but those agencies have been sanctioned before to little effect >> andrea, thank you all right. let's get over to angie lassman who is tracking some severe weather in the south angie, good morning. >> morning, guys

i sound like a broken record, right? we've been having days and days where we deal with the strong and severe storms draped across the south. spring is usually like this. we have severe thunderstorms we're going to expect in the east coast and southeast in dallas, waco, austin, san antonio, those are some of the hot spots where we could see a greater potential for some of the stronger storms to develop into the afternoon hours as a second system starts to workin and brings potential for large hail we're talking tennis ball sized hail in all of those areas san antonio to dallas, out towards long view. we'll have the chance for that this afternoon and into the evening hours. as we jump ahead tomorrow, more strong storms. now they're focused towards the gulf coast, and they do include parts of the panhandle and into parts of georgia we'll watch for the tornado threat to be low and the hail and the winds are going to be something to keeok to

detroit with 55 degrees, and some showers in the forecast for parts of the midwest and midatlantic. and the weekend is so close, guys, we've got some warm weather out west, and we've got some flooding of course with all of that snow melting we'll talk about it coming up. >> sounds good thank you, angie signs are pointing to a slowing economy. coming up, cnbc is here with how that could affect you. and jenny craig could be facing massive layoffs we've got the details on the company's cutbacks, next and d i use thisis. febrezeze uses a m microchip to digitally control how much scent is released so it doesn't fade. ooh. does mine have a microchip? - uh-uh.h. - - oh. fefebreze stayays first-day y fresh for r 50 . - uh-uh.h. - - oh. ththat is a shshockingly longng time. - uh-uh.h. - - oh. fefebreze alsoso has a refillll reminder r lig. - uh-uh.h. - - oh. it even remiminds you toto refill itit? so i nevever miss a daday of freshshness... it even remiminds you toto refill itit? your h home is so o fresh!

upgrgrade to febebreze plug. want luxurury hair repepair that doeoesn't cost t $50? pantntene's pro-o-vitamin formula rerepairs hairir. asas well as t the leadingng ly bondnding treatmtment. for softftness and r resili, wiwithout the e price tag.. if you k know... you knknow it's papantene. for softftness and r resili, wiwithout the e price tag.. one e prilosec o otc eachch morning b blocks hearartburn all l day and all l night. one e prilosec o otc eachch morning b blocks prilosec otc reduces excess acid for 24 hoursrs, blblocking heaeartburn beforere it startsts. one pipill a day. . 24 hours. zero h heartburn.. now to an nbc exclusive. jenny craig will begin to close its weight loss centers as the company looks for a buyer. that's according to an internal document dated tuesday and viewed by nbc news the memo circulated among employees says that the, quote, winding down of physical operations will likely impact all employees in some manner the company was acquired bay

private equity firm four years ago and operates around 500 centers in north america jenny craig incorporated did not respond to requests for comment. let's get an update now on the state of the u.s. economy. a new measure of the gdp shows economic growth slowed considerably during the first three months of the year cnbc joins us now with more on what the signs mean for consumers. good morning >> yeah, good morning. look, this number is certainly a little bit of a scary one. it means that consumers who have been hard pressed by the higher interest rates are certainly feeling the effects a little bit more 1.1% expansion, or growth in the economy between january and march. the expectation was that it would have grown 2% then so it is less than anticipated and we had seen growth at 2.6% in the final three inquiries, or final three months, should i say of 2022. so it gives you a clear indication that things are slowing down just a little bit

more than the u.s. would have wanted certainly as president joe biden would have wanted, who is trying to galvanize that economy as much as expected consumer spending did manage to hold up, however, so you are seeing that growth come through on that front. that's because the labor market or the jobless market is still holding up pretty well 3.5% unemployment rate at present. so that is still a cap in the feather, or rather feather in the cap i should say and it does mean that because of that, the u.s. was able to avoid a recession then going into 2022 but things are getting a whole lot more difficult of course, the technical definition for a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative growth. but the u.s. does it a little bit differently. a committee has to necessarily tell you that things that gone in that direction. but for now, the figure certainly not impressive, but still managing to eek out a growth of 1.1% >> all right it's crucial update. thank you for providing that for

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ya ya the panda has made a big return to china. the popular panda has been trending on social media some users were outraged by their thin appearance and patchy fur, and that caught the attention of many animal welfare groups ya ya, who is 22 years old now, arrived in the u.s. 20 years ago at a memphis zoo as part of a loan agreement with the chinese association of zoological gardens. the zoo has denied any mistreatment of ya ya. after a 16-hour flight ya ya has returned home to shanghai and was welcomed there with open arms it is not usually the appearance you expect to see when you think these fuzzy, beautiful creature. >> she is back home the china.

but it's complicated they call it panda diplomacy kind of reflecting china-american relations so you know all the complications and tensions with that hopefully had a nice smooth flight fed ex is the way ya ya flies to get back to china. >> who knew. >> yeah, but lots of bamboo, i'm sure now where she is home >> precious cargo indeed all right. when we come back, angie is here with us. she'll be back with the latest on our weekend forecast. and it looks like keanu reeves is taking a a break from fifighting badad guys toto make young g fan's day.y. go on... well, what if you papartner with ibm a and red hatat, use a hybrbrid cloud s solutin to cononnect dataa across m multiple sysystems globallyly, then analylyze all thahat daa with watatson. okokay, but ththis needs to meet t our... securityty standardsds? yuyup. compliliance standndards? mmmm-hmm. so thehey get the insisights they y need... yup.p. inin real timeme... chececk. . ....to make quick decicisions? check.k. aaaandnd check. that's t the hybridd clououd solutionon ibm and a a global banank create. what will l you createte? ibm.m. let's crereate. want a wororry-free waway to kill l bugs?

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palm springs we could see some record highs notice the middle of the country mild, sunny. it's going to be a great spot to be on the east coast, though, an umbrella day, maybe a movie day. frances, i don't said a pajama day. >> the jamas part of the vernacular. >> new word. when committee we come back, we'll didive into whwhat's washg onon the floririda shores and h it's's affectingng sea turtltles asas well as t the leadingng ly bondnding treatmtment. for softftness and r resili, wiwithout the e price tag.. if you k know... you knknow it's papantene. for softftness and r resili, wiwithout the e price tag.. hi. i keepep my home f fresh with febebreze fade e defy . and d i use thisis. febrezeze uses a m microchip to d digitally c control and d i use thisis. hohow much scecent is releled so it dodoesn't fadede. ooh. does mine have a microchip? - uh-uh.h. - - oh. fefebreze stayays first-day y fresh for r 50 . - uh-uh.h. - - oh. ththat is a shshockingly longng time. - uh-uh.h. - - oh. fefebreze alsoso has a refillll reminder r lig. - uh-uh.h. - - oh. it even reminds youu toto refill itit? so i nevever miss a daday of freshshness... it even reminds youu toto refill itit?

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this threat. >> while they might be graceful swim. >> when they come onshore -- >> every time they reproduce, they come up on to the beach and there they're kind of awkward. and they're not really good at crawling over obstacles. >> reporter: with the threat of sargassum seaweed coming ashore possibly in great quantities as the bloom in thely tonight "atlantic" is the biggest ever seen, it could pose a threat to the sea turtles and hatchlings >> if there is big piles of sargassum on the beach, those could provide obstacles. i think it's especially a problem potentially for the hatchlings the hatchlings are so small and so awkward, that i think they could get hung up. >> reporter: possibly preventing them from getting to the water, but also exposing them to predators. it's not just the physicals on cams that the sea turtles and the hatchlings will have to contend with it's the odor of the sargassum itself and the impact it could have on the sea turtles.

instinctually, sea turtleses returnrn to the beach on which they were born to lay egg of their own. >> if you have a strong rotting smell overwhelming the beach, that could affect maybe the imprinting on that beach. >> reporter: studies have sown that nesting sea turtles will avoid beaches with sargassum but if they have to travel far to find the right beach -- >> getting to their beach and laying eggs, all that takes energy and if they have to divert for more than a few miles, they're using up energy that would go into the egg laying that could become a stress problem that affects their reproductive potential. >> and our thanks to scott for bringing us that story this week keanu reeves made the day of a 9-year-old fan at an autograph signing in los angeles. >> you're probably my favorite actor in the whole world. >> oh, my gosh thank you. you see toy story 4? >> yeah,he is my favorite character. >> the greatest of man i'm glad you liked it.

i really liked it. >> that's so cute. i want to him to say like did you see bill and ted >> that's what i would have been excited about. that's when i became a keanu reeves fan i don't know i never knew he was a duke of boon >> but out of his entire category of everything he has done, that's what that kid loves. and he has fans that young. >> and that old. >> so true. >> who doesn't like keanu reeves come on. john wick and bill and ted and everything in between. >> 100%. thanks for kicking off your friday wit

right now at 4:30, a shooting at a downtown san francisco walgreens is under investigation. ahead, what witnesses are revealing about the moment it happened. >> plus -- >> the positivity and love she spread,