"top story" tonight. i'm tom llamas back in new york. stay right there, more news on the way. ews on the way. the scotus strike down sending shockwaves through colleges across the country.

ending affirmative action during the admissions process not guilty emotions high in the courtroom after scott peterson is found not guilty on all counts and no criminal charges for travis scott after his concert two years ago. what the district attorney said about the decision to not indie. a giant leap for virgin galactic we'll go inside the cabin, miles above the earth. and breaking ground on the pink ground outside the soon-to-be peppa pig theme park. when north texas can expect to enjoy the attraction we made it to the last day of june, and "early today" starts right now. and good friday morning to you i'm jessica layton >> and thanks for starting your morning and ending your month with us. i'm frances rivera the landscape of education in the united states has been forever changed by the supreme court. the court voted on a 6-3 margin to strike down the policy of

affirmative action, ending the long-standing consideration of race as a factor in the college admissions process the verdict came following a challenge to the policies of harvard university, and the university of north carolina, brought by a group led by a conservative activist. nbc's laura jarret has more details on the court's major ruling >> reporter: a landmark decision from a bitterly-divided supreme court, rejecting the use of race as we know it in college admissions chief justice john roberts leading the 6-3 majority to conclude programs at harvard and north carolina eye slviolated tw that they involved racial stereotyping >> the polarizing, stigmatizing and unfair jurisprudence that allowed colleges and universities to use a student's race and ethnicity as a factor

to either admit them or reject them has been overruled. >> reporter: praise there from the architect of the lawsuits. as the decision quickly began to set in on college campuses >> hadthis is a really disappointing decision for me and any student applying to college in the future. >> this has immediate impacts. >> reporter: the schools were accused of giving substantial preferences to black and hispanic applicants while discriminating against asian students. >> the score is biassed against asian-americans. >> reporter: since the late 1970s, the court had allowed schools to allow someone's race as one plus factor in admissions the justices offering starkly different views. justice jackson writing "with let them eat cake obliviousness. justice thomas firing back,

quote, experts and elites have been wrong before. the stakes are simply too high to gamble. >> we will comply with the court's decision, but it does not change our values. >> reporter: the path forward for colleges is still murky. the court said schools may consider an essay from a student about the impact of race on one's life, be it through discrimination, inspiration or otherwise. justice sotomayor reading her scathing dissent from the bench for nearly 20 minutes, calling the essay suggestion an effort to put lipstick on a pig >> for those that don't want to visit their own systemic barriers that they've presented, we're putting them on notice they want to continue those legacy admissions programs we're going to challenge them. >> and our thanks to laura for that report. the reaction from lawmakers over the ruling was swift. and echoed the court's

ideological divide on affirmative action both president biden and vice president harris decried the court for striking down a widely-supported policy. meanwhile, republicans cheered the decision, with one former president calling it a great day for america. nbc's kelly o'donnell has more >> reporter: a new fight president biden firing back at the supreme court. >> we cannot let this decision be the last word >> reporter: emphatic that discrimination still exists, and when asked if the justices are a rogue court, the president with this striking attack on the conservative majority. >> this is not a normal court. >> reporter: going even further on msnbc >> find it just so out of sorts with the basic value system of the american people. >> reporter: the vice president in new orleans >> it is about being blind to history. being blind to data. being blind to empirical evidence about disparities >> reporter: a majority of americans, 53%, say affirmative

action programs without quotas are still needed, according to an april nbc news poll but the republican 2024 class says the high court got it right by removing racial preferences gop frontrunner, former president trump, writing this is a great day for america. we're going back to all merit based, and that's the way it should be. and this phrase from senator tim scott. >> this is the day where we understand that being judged by the content of our character, not the color of our skin, is what our constitution wants. >> reporter: in ukraine, nbc's dasha burns with mike pence. >> the supreme court just struck down affirmative action. what is your reaction? >> there may have been a time, 50 years ago, when we needed to affirmatively take steps and to correct long-term racial bias in institutions of higher education. those days are long the biden

administration says it's been working behind the scenes for months to prepare new guidance for colleges and universities to navigate this changed admissions landscape. >> kelly, thank you. nearly two years after being identified, authorities have arrested a january 6 participant accused of assaulting a d.c. police officer 37-year-old taylor toronto was arrested near the home of former president obama, according to a law enforcement official police added that multiple guns and materials to make explosives were found in his car. fr toronto, who has posted videos of himself at the capitol on january 6 is the subject of a lawsuit of an officer who defend suicide after the attack on the capitol. h a former school security officer has been acquitted he learned that a jury found him not guilty he was facing seven counts, including neglect of a child and

perjury. peterson did not confront the shooter who went on to kill 17 students and teachers at marjory stoneman douglas high school he was forced to retire after that shooting. the u.s. is considering supplying ukraine with cluster munitions two senior government officials tell nbc news. an official announcement could come as early as next month. more than a hundred countries have banned the use of cluster munitions, but the u.s., ukraine and russia have not. ali, tell us what are cluster munitions, and why are they controversial? >> reporter: good morning, frances. that's right cluster munitions are surface-to-surface warheads that disburse bombs over a widespread area, making them much more dangerous than a single round. they are spread over a wide area they can be shaped, charged that

can hit armored personnel or they can fragment and hurt regular personnel with lethal force. now they're very controversial, because as you mentioned, they've been banned by 111 countries, including u.s. allies like france, uk and germany. and the reason they're controversial is because when they land, they may not go off, making them very dangerous for civilians, much like land mines, which is one of the reasons it shows the desperations of the ukrainians have, that they're willing to use it on their own territory, just to be able to push back the russians, but that's why they're so controversial, because if a civilian comes across them, it could explode and maim or kill them >> and ali, you can talk about how these weapons could possibly help ukraine on the battlefield. >> well, there's been a big push to get these onto the battlefield, because, you know, the u.s. has a massive stockpile left over from the cold war. these munitions can be put into existing artillery systems that

have already been preeoechded to the ukrainians, and it should significantly narrow the artillery advantage the russians have over the ukrainians and at the end of the tay. one. main points of this war is an artillery battle so it should give the ukrainians a battlefield advantage. kristine kingferris, the last surviving sibling of martin luther king jr. has died after her brother was assassinated in 1968, she worked tirelessly along with his widow, coretta scott king, to preserved leader's legacy. she was a founding member of the king center in atlanta and wrote two children's books about her brother and a memoir published in 2019. she 2009. she was 95 years old hi, michelle >> great to see you.

we're going to be hazy, hot and humid across the country at least. >> interpreter texas getting a little bit of a break. 64 million americans under a heat alert, including portions of the west. parts of the gulf coast states and into the mississippi valley, parts of the ohio valley we're looking at an excessive heat warning that includes memphis, jackson, new orleans. we are looking at widespread heat as far as st. louis 100 degrees, 12 degrees above what is typical for this time of year more warm air in place tomorrow. charlotte, 93. 99 in birmingham and we'll keep that heat in place over the weekend look at richmond bit it will be hy with theaz sr in e

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two indianapolis colts players, as wel well as dameet russ tayl are suspended. the colts released ferry and rogers following the news. the indefinite suspensions can be appealed. rapper travis scott will mott be indicted after the stampede at his concert at astroworld the decision does not impact the civil suit surrounding that night. scott and organizers live nation face lawsuits accusing them of negligence the "new york times" cites three sources that say new york police believe there is evidence supporting the arrest of the

woman who said jonathan majors hit her. the "creed iii" star was arrested in march after a woman says he assaulted her after a taxi ride. his lawyers say he was the one actually assaulted no additional arrests have been made overnight, "rolling stone" published a three-upon the investigation into majors. two dozen sources describe abusive behavior that goes back merely decades major vehemently denies all the allegations. still to come, an explosive new look at the "dune" sequel. and more on the generous move from beyonce e and kekelly rowland ththat has h-t-time sayg theieir name d d that has h h-tig ththeir name new w vibrant frfrom air wick can n truly elevevate their nameme e e saying their naname saying their r name o o saying their r name w sayingng theieir name n sayiying ththeir name eir name n sayiying their nameme vibranant from airir wick. toto 50 yearss with m my best fririend.

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he can destroy a thing has the real control with it >> timothee chalamet and zendaya are back and taking no prisoners in "dune part two" christopher walken, austin butler and more join the play bill for the star-studded sequel i feel like there's a void in my life because i have not jumped on the dune, because i love avenue single one of those actors >> meanwhile, two-thirds of destiny's child are giving a whole new meaning to the phrase hometown heroes. beyonce and kelly rowland are helping people experiencing homelessness in houston, texas the project will cost more than $8 million a larger press event is scheduled for when beyonce's renaissance tour makes its homecoming stop this september 31 units, peer counselors,

therapists, people to help with jobs on site pretty remarkable. >> what a difference they're going to make. and so many are not going to be asking about the third member of destiny's child. we know that's complicated the max comedy was canceled following allegation of abuse and overwork kelly and schneider were clear that any wrongdoing after a production investigation it features big ticket leads like molly shannon and wanda sikes. i have to say, in all of the comedies i watched, this is one. best it's crude, kind of crass, hysterical, though, a sleeper. >> it is unfortunate, though

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nasa's perseverance mars rover has rolled up on an interesting discovery. check this out a rocky doughnut-looking thing that may have fallen from the sky. the rover snapped a photo of a big stone with a hole in the center it could and large meteorite alongside smaller pieces, meaning it could have originated elsewhere before landing on mars >> yeah a gazillion light-years away when it happened, too you can now add virgin galactic to the companies sending passengers to sub orbital space and back successfully after reach ago high point of 275,000 feet, passengers were able to unstrap and experience

zero gravity i can't take my eyes off of this looks amazing. if you're traveling for the holiday, you want to pay attention here michelle grossmann is back and tracking potential storms that could impact travel. >> hi there guys, we're looking at soggy conditions in portions of the northeast into the tennessee valley, mississippi valley could see strong storms in the ohio valley, mississippi valley. looking at scattered storms throughout the northeast on sunday into the tennessee valley back to you guys >> okay, michelle, thanks. okay. ! charmin ultra soft is so cushiony soft, you'll want more! but it's so absorbent, you can use less. enjoy the go with charmin. joinin me in the finish 24 4 hour challene. start by cooking a lasagna. skip the rinse and load your dishes. 24 hours latater when your dishwasasher is full,l, let finish quantum clean your dishes.s. if the stains aren't gone, your lasagna is on finish. reready to shihine fromom the insidide out?

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october. linda vaccaro offers tips to best tackle loans and repayment. >> reporter: wife and mom bridget is in a celebratory mood these days, marking the end of her student loan debt. >> i have been out of school 20-plus years but we just recently finished my studentnt loan >> reporter: paying it off is what 37 million college loan borers o borrowers will have to do come october. it might be difficult for darrien rogers who owes $30,000. >> between working as a teacher and doordashing and being involved in my community to promote civic empowerment. >> reporter: the national association of student aid administrators >> we have income driven repayment plans.

that's a fregreat option for borrowers who may be struggling to make their repayment. >> i have also been looking into the public service loan forgiveness plan >> reporter: if you qualify you might have your loan forgiven after ten years of payments. you can use savings from a 529 plan, up to $10,000 in debt. >> i think we will be getting more information about additional safety nets put in place. >> reporter: the first step borrowers should take is going to student aid.gov find out who your loan servicer is and the options for paying the debt sooner rather than later. peppa pig is coming to north texas. a groundbreaking ceremony was held this week for the new peppa pig theme park the amusement park in north richmond hills is designed for children 6 and under and it hwil have themed play scapes and

shows for families to enjoy. it is expected to open ahead of peppa pig's 20th anniversary in 2024 if you didn't feel old going into the weekend, 20 years of peppa pig. >> and the british accents with the kids are still going strong. the british accents may be replacing the texas accents. i loved my kids have be a twang of that british accent >> it's so cute. thanks so much for watching "early today." >> we have made it to the weekend. have a great and safe one. grea.

right now at 5:00, violent arrests caught on body cam. the charges two san rafael police officers now face after this encounter. plus, the supremeou