i want to bring in hallie jackson, in addition to the legal risks there is the political risk for mr. trump as this trial plays out. >> reporter: yeah, that's right, lester, listen, he hopes to use this case to his political advantage, and that worked for him in the primary. we saw his legal issues rally republicans around him. they helped him raise money. he's even fundraising off of this case again tonight. but, keep in mind, we are in the general election now, and this is where he's got to appeal to independents. about half of them say they believe these charges are serious. and other recent polling suggests if mr. trump is convicted it's president biden who could get a boost. we're seeing tonight mr. trump clearly frustrated that he has to be at court for these proceedings, but all of it highlights just how extraordinary this moment is. a block buster collision of the court and the campaign trail that makes donald trump the candidate indistinguishable from

. >> announcer: this is n"nbc nightly news" with hallie jackson. >>> good news on a couple of fronts. millions of moments of unity. with millions getting ready for the solar eclipse hours away. we'll have more on 245 in a second. >>> but it's a different star front and center tonight. that's caitlin clark, and what feels like a game-changing moment, not just for her, but for women's sports period. south carolina beating clark's iowa in a college championship game for the ages, with the drama capping a record-setting ncaa women's play-off, delivering monster ratings. just one fine four game friday night saw more viewers than any of last year's world series games, more viewers than the most recent nba play-offs, more viewers than the last decades' worth of daytona 500s. all of it proving these women are undeniably unmatched. our jesse kirsch has a front row seat. >> perfection with a touch of sweet rede redemption. >> reporter: tonight south carolina women's basketball is perfection. >> they made history. they etched their names in the history books when this is the unlikeliest group to

. >> and laura is here with me on the set alongside hallie jackson. laura, let me begin with you. the first witness on the stand right now, does it give us any hint where all this is leading? >> yes. tabloid mogul david pecker is at that 2015 meeting at trump tower as we mentioned. he's useful for prosecutors because he puts mr. trump in the room for this alleged plot. he's also useful because his name is not michael cohen and his testimony will continue tomorrow, lester. >> all right, laura, thank you. and hallie, this is a partisan prosecution in the opinion of mr. trump. >> yeah, that's what his campaign's been saying. and in some ways what we just heard in court, what laura has laid out, echoes what we have also heard from mr. trump himself on the campaign trail. his defense, casting him as a fighter, aggressively attacking central players in this case. familiar themes. now, the trump campaign's trying to show that the former president can kind of walk and chew gum at the same time by setting a meeting with the former japanese prime minister after court wraps tomorrow. but for

i'm hallie jackson. for all of us at nbc, thanks for watching.here next week. ♪ footloose ♪ ♪ kick off the sunday shoes ♪ ♪ please, louise ♪ ♪ pull me off of my knees ♪ >>> right now at 6:00, keeping tents off the streets. the case the supreme court is set to hear that could have a big impact on how california cities handle the homelessness

here is hallie jackson. >> reporter: a new aggressive push tonight from the president. >> if donald trump gets back in power, what freedom will you lose next? >> reporter: a new ad blitz pinning the blame on his predecessor for arizona's controversial abortion ban. >> your body and your decisions belong to you, not the government, not donald trump. i will fight like hell to get your freedom back. >> reporter: on the arizona ruling that reinstates an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions, with the exception of those to save the mother's life, the biden campaign is looking to put republicans on defense as mr. trump acknowledges overnight democrats have the political advantage. >> the only issue they have, the only issue they think they have is on abortion, and now all i say is the states are handling it. >> reporter: the former president accusing democrats of trying to distract from the economy and immigration, both consistently the most important issue for voters with polls showing americans prefer mr. trump to president biden by about 20 points on the economy, 30 points on the border. eve

here is hallie jackson. >> let's dance!utting the basin high school on the map. these scenes shot there 40 years ago, but you know who has been working so hard? the current students who weren't even born when "footloose" came out. and now after a year's long bacon to pason online campaign kevin bacon is back. >> it's been a long time. it's amazing the power that this movie has had to just kind of bring people together. >> reporter: just ahead of the prom night and just before the school's torn down next year, bacon telling "today's" kaylee hartung what it means. >> all the effort they put in, what finally put you over the edge? >> i think seeing the commitment to turn it into a day of giving and fundraising and good positive energy. you just can't turn that down. >> reporter: like wren bacon is on a mission, uniting the community, filling care bags for his 6 degrees charity and then, yes, at prom the students who worked to get bacon to the building, following his "footloose" footsteps. ♪ >> everyone danced to "footloose" at

for all of us here at nbc, i'm hallie jackson.ove seeing these guys out here. >> love seeing these guys out here. ♪ >>> right now at 6:00, an emergency at sea. crews race to save four people off the san francisco coast. details of the rescue and how the people are doing tonight.

thanks to hallie jackson for that report. >>> coming up on today, the new recommerce phenomenon.ts on return or overstock items at stores across the country. we'll tell you how you can take advantage. >>> thanks for waking up wit we are tracking overnight developments in the middle east and word of a new israeli airstrike in gaza. we're live in washington with the latest including a new hopeful sign of progress in gaza. relief efforts

thanks to hallie jackson for that report. >>> coming up on today, the new recommerce phenomenon.ts on return or overstock items at stores across the country. we'll tell you how you can take advantage. >>> thanks for waking up wit >>> deadly tornadoes tearing through the south, leaving a trail of destruction. at least five people killed in the outbreak tearing apart entire neighborhoods in oklahoma. we're tracking where the severe weather is headed next. >>> the

here is hallie jackson. >> reporter: a new front in russia's information war against the u.s.kremlin shifting its focus to the war between israel and hamas, trying to inflame existing tensions in america, nbc news has learned, from two sources familiar with the intelligence reporting and independent researchers. they say the kremlin is using fake social media accounts and bots along with propaganda pushed by state-run outlets. look at these posts attacking the u.s. government's response to campus protests. what is russia's end game here? >> so russia at times just wants to create more chaos. so this is just a win for russia any time there is a conflict in the u.s. >> reporter: experts say the kremlin is trying to position itself as a champion of palestinians while condemning the u.s. for supporting israel. >> this is an opportunity for them. this is a chance to divert attention away from their invasion of ukraine and to focus the world's attention on israel's offensive in gaza. >> reporter: researchers warn not to overstate the influence of the russian campaign. >> these prote

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let's bring in senior washington correspondent hallie jackson and nbc news legal analyst danny cevallos. we will hear from danny pecker but the aforementioned michael cohen, the president's former fixer, a man who wrote a book called "revenge" about his former boss. he is also a convicted felon. >> much has been made of his lack of credibility and he has that problem, but prosecutors routinely use cooperating witnesses with much worse character issues than michael cohen. you will have trials and i have had these where the cooperating witness comes in in shackles and prison gear. the point is prosecutors often go to other bad guys to get testimony against the defendant bad guy that they want to convict. this is nothing new. the prosecution's already been seeding the jury, prepping them for the fact, hey, you may hear from people who have credibility issues in this case, but the state here as a lot of corroborating evidence. i think that comes a lot in the form of david pecker, who i think is quietly going to be really the government's star witness here, not so much michael cohen. >> hall

here's hallie jackson. >> reporter: a new, aggressive push from the president. >> if donald trump gets back in power, what freedom will you lose next? >> reporter: a new ad blitz pinning the blame on his pred scissor for arizona's controversial abortion ban. >> your body and your decisions belong to you, not the government. not donald trump. i will fight like hell to get your freedom back. >> reporter: on the arizona ruling that reinstates a 1864 law banning nearly all abortions with the exception of those to save the mother's life, the biden campaign's looking to put republicans on defense, as mr. trump acknowledges democrats have the political advantage. >> the only issue they have, the only issue they think they have is on abortion, and now all i say is, the states are handling it. >> reporter: the former president accusing democrats of trying to distract from the economy and immigration, both consistently the most important issue for voters, with polls showing americans prefer mr. trump to president biden by about 20 points on the economy, 30 points on the border. even though mr. t

hallie jackson begins as anchor of "nightly news sunday."traordinary journalist and can't think of anyone i'd rather share the weekend with. please tune in. >>> i'm jose diaz-balart. thank you for the privilege of your time, and good night. >>> right now at 6:00, people across the bay area feeling some shaking today. two small earthquakes rattling the east and the south bay. >>> plus, the rain is getting ready to make a comeback. we've got the updated timeline. >>> plus, the high end car used in a high end chase ends like that. why the police are still monitoring the site several hours later. >>> the news at 6:00 starts right now. thank you for joining us. >> okay, you may have felt a small jolt, depending on where you were today. two small earthquakes rattled the bay area. the most recent quick hit 20 minutes ago in the hills south of gilroy. it was a small magnitude 2.5 quake, but our size mow graph right here picked up a little something, you can see. one of our nbc bay area staffers said it was quick,

hallie jackson will be with you tomorrow. i'm jose diaz-balart reporting from washington, d.c. the privilege of your time. good night. washington, d.c. thank you for the privilege of your time. good night. >> an emotional moment. right now it's six. a letter carrier robbed at gunpoint on the peninsula. thieves are not just targeting the mail they have on them. there's now a massive reward to catch whoever did it. plus, protesters taking no breaks as the weapons pointed at them. and they're being physically abused, beaten and shoved on their routes. plus, protesters taking no breaks as they continue to camp on bay area campuses. the latest on the situation for stanford and sonoma state, and a traffic nightmare in the north bay and east bay highway shut down for roadwork. what you need to know to dodge the worst of it.

here is hallie jackson. >> it's so good to see you. >> reporter: they're all grown up now. >> how areyou. >> reporter: but to his former students -- >> fritz killian. >> mr. moriarty. >> you animal. >> how are you? >> pat moriarty will always be mr. moriarty their former earth science teacher at spry junior high in rochester. that's where in his first year teaching in 1978 he flagged his students about an eclipse way down the road in 2024 inviting them all back to watch together. >> i said hey, why don't you circle this april 8, 2024 eclipse and you know what? we're going to get together then. >> you said that in 1978? >> '78, and my kids looked at me like i was crazy. >> reporter: he did the same thing every year for the next 16 years, every class. then some four decades later, posted a reminder online. >> good to see you too. >> reporter: that's when this happened. >> rick, class of '79. >> chuck o'brien, class of 1982. >> andrea malafeew, class of 1988. >> reporter: one by one they showed up. >> rick, how are you doing, buddy? >> you look different. >> yeah! >> reporter: dozens jus

here is hallie jackson with the story. >>> when we come back, there's when dorrey and rich powers adoptedhing special. >> what was it about spencer that first drew you to him? >> he was just so sweet and unassuming. and once i picked him up, i just did not want to let him go. >> reporter: an angel, they called him. but for thousands more, he was also a hero. two years after the marathon bombing in 2015, spencer began spending every year, rain or shine, roadside, cheering on runners with a flag, boston strong. reminding the athletes that they were too. >> spencer was like the marathon mascot for so many people beyond just your family. >> mm-hmm. >> he faced a lot of challenges. he had some severe health issues, and he miraculously bounced back, and he just took his spot every year. and he was such a symbol of hope and inspiration that people could latch on to. >> reporter: and latch on they did. people stopping for snuggles and selfies. spencer so beloved he became the marathon's official dog. so when he died last year, it broke hearts in boston and beyond. sympathy cards pouring in. his o

>> hallie jackson, thanks. >>> we're tracking severe storms moving up the east coast tonight, after producing a confirmed tornado today in northern florida. powerful winds tearing through this backyard, whipping around lawn furniture and debris. first responders using boats to rescue stranded residents. those storms moving north, causing flooding in charleston and savannah. >>> let's turn now to our exclusive reporting on a potential terror threat here at home involving a man on the terror watch list who crossed the southern border, but was arrested, then released into the u.s. and he is not the only one. here's julia ainsley. >> reporter: tonight, an alarming development on the border crisis. among the record number of migrants crossing the southern border was a member of an afghan terror organization who was released into the u.s. by border agents, according to u.s. officials. 48-year-old mohammad kharwin illegally crossed into california in march of last year. his name is on a u.s. terror watch list, identifying him as a member of hig, a terror group that's killed americans in afghanistan.

hallie jackson will be here tomorrow night. i'm jose diaz-balart.f your time, and good night. >>> right now at 6:00, smoke seen for miles across the south bay. crews rushed to put out a fire before it reaches a nursing home in downtown san jose. >>> san francisco may have canceled the celebration of 4/20, but that didn't stop these people. more from hippie hill. >>> and a sendoff of legacy trains as part upgrades to new cars. >>> the news at 6:00 starts right now. thank you for joining me at 6:00. i am terry mcsweeney. >>> a massive fire sends smoke into the air, seen for miles around. the flames broke out in do

my colleague hallie jackson will be here tomorrow night. i'm jose diaz-balart.♪ >>> right now it 6:00, the war in the middle east expands. the latest on the growing conflict and have united states is responding. >>> businesses in san francisco are blaming a bike lane for slow business and one owner is using a hunger strike to draw attention to the issue. >>> we had a wet and chilly start to the weekend. strong rains in the bay area and snow in the sierras. you can see raindrops, clouds from san francisco down to san jose. these current conditions, how long will they last? >> well, i

hallie. state of the race, ms. jackson. >> close, very close, our new polling shows that president biden is ticking up a little bit in polling, getting a little bit closer to the former president's lead, but big caveat, it is still all within the margin of president biden takes the lead, inside the margin of error. you look forward, it takes money to run a campaign, we are now learning from some new fec filings, the committee that's been paying the former president's legal bills only has about $4 million left right now as of the beginning of the month, aft error, it is million left rights of the beginning of the month, after spending about that much in march. >> all right, thank you, ladies, thank you so much. >>> we turn to capitol hill now, some republicans are calling on the speaker of the house to resign. passing a $95 billion package that provides aid to ukraine and israel. nbc's ryan nobles joins us from capitol hill. ryan, good morning to you, just a few weeks ago, it seemed like this was impossible. >> reporter: th

hallie jackson, nbc's senior washington correspondent. let us know where things stand right now. >> so, hoda, at the moment here's where arizona. >> so, hoda, at the moment, here's where things stand. that civil-war era law is still set to go into effect in arizona later this spring after these republican lawmakers at state house blocked a push to repeal it for the second time in two weeks. this is after that explosive ruling you mentioned by the state's highest court that reinstated this 1864 law, which bans nearly all abortions, no exceptions for rape or incest, only for the life of the mother and it punishes doctors who perform the procedure with prison time. in arizona, on the state senate side, some republicans did join with democrats to start process to try for a repeal, but that's not going to go anywhere if house republicans keep opposing it. if this law is not rolled back through the statehouse, it could end up in the hands of voters come november. abortion rights supporters say they're confident they have the signatures to get a

hallie jackson joins us with how that decision could impact the presidential race.tion laws. 1864, before arizona was even a state, makes no exceptions for rape or incest, only for the life of the mother. doctors could face prison up, up to five years before performing this procedure. democrats are furious. >> the devastating impact of this ban that it doctors could face prison up, up to five years before performing this procedure. democrats in arizona, including the governor, are furious. >> the devastating impact of this ban that it will have on health care for women across this state is just unconscionable. >> no woman or doctor will be prosecuted under this draconian law. >> that's the state's attorney general there. antiabortion advocates are celebrating this ruling as a win. but president biden calls it cruel and blames what he describes as the extreme republican agenda. mr. trump, for his part, said through his campaign that these are decisions for people of each state to make. abortion rights supporters are confident they will get an initiative on the ballot

. >> leading us off is hallie jackson and legal analyst charles coleman. clearly a big day, opening statements, the first testimony, what are your big takeaway and couple of things here the prosecution, because they really went after the central claim of this case. we all shorthanded the hush-money trial. the prosecution's trying to say no, this is actually -- they're using a phrase that mr. trump likes this this is illegal election fraud, they're coopting that phrase in a different context trump uses it. they're trying to make the case this is broader election interference if you will, now the defense did a couple of interesting things n some ways what you heard from donald trump's defense team is what we hear from donald trump on the campus trial, attacking some of the people central to this, michael cohen and stormy daniels, sure we acknowledge he's larger than life, former president, he's a guy, a father, a husband, the defense team trying to establish that rapport with the jury. >> charles from a legal perspective, you heard the opening statements how

nbc's senior washington correspondent hallie jackson has the very latest. good morning. >> hey there, craig, good morning to you. for all the reasons you mentioned, arizona is really the epicenter of this political earthquake. with new fallout now, statewide and nationally, to that ruling banning nearly all abortions in this key battleground, for opponents of the ban, anger now turning to action. in arizona, a scramble this morning. [ chanting: shame on you ] >> reporter: state republicans choosing not to vote on an effort to repeal the controversial abortion ban yesterday, met with protests on the house floor. [ chanting: hold the vote ] >> reporter: it comes after the state's supreme court reinstated an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions, no exceptions for rape or incest, only for the life of the mother, and doctors who perform the procedure could face prison time, even after saying he would leave abortion to the states, former president trump says this goes too far. >> i'm sure that the governor and everybody else are going to bring it back into reaso

tune in tonight as our friend hally jackson takes over as anchor of "weekend nightly" every sunday. here next week on "sunday today." >>> good morning. it is sunday, april 7th, and this is today in the bay. we're taking a live look at foster city there and all across the bay with slightly warmer temperatures and even hotter ones are on the

with me here we have senior washington correspondent hallie jackson, and nbc news analyst, danny cevallos. the former president has been defiant. he has used these criminal matters. there are four cases pending against him. this is the first to see trial. he has used them to his advantage in the republican primary. now we're in a general election. how do you think this plays? he has to be in court every single day for this criminal trial. >> super important point because what we're about to see now from these hallway cameras is what we are going to see from the former president for weeks to come. he has an opportunity to stop, to talk to reporters, to be visible, to be present. it's not a campaign rally but it's the collision of the campaign trail and the courtroom. that is how he has tried to use it to his advantage. i'm told by a senior adviser, the former president feels defiant, as he has for months and years now, convey all of these legal issues against him as the idea as he sees it, a victim of political persecution. in the republican primary, this was gang busters. he did well from

i've been hearing about for these arguments today is that doctors feel under legal constraints, hallie jackson interviewed a doctor from idaho that moved to colorado because they are not even sure that they can do a d and c, routine procedures for women that aren't even involving a fetus. they are concerned about criminalization. this is an issue in texas. so that is a real chilling effect. and i don't know if that came up in today's argument because we couldn't hear it realtime, but isn't that major issue here? >> absolutely. doctors have to have a certain amount of discretion to make a decision about what is this the best interests of their patient. and so how certain do you have to be that but for this abortion their patient is going to die. and under idaho law, the consequence for failure to make that assessment correctly is criminal prosecution and imprisonment. and so if you are a doctor, you won't go even close to that line because you don't want to risk it. and when are you certain your patient will die unless they have this. do they have to be in sepsis, do they have to be in some sor

that was nbc's hallie jackson reporting. >>> still ahead here on "morning joe," we've got a live reportse in lower manhattan ahead of opening statements this morning in donald trump's criminal hush money trial. >>> and we'll have the latest from capitol hill after the house passed a package of foreign aid bills over the weekend, but one key issue was noticeably missing from all of that legislation. that's all ahead on "morning joe." we're back in just two minutes with a packed 8:00 a.m. hour. sup? -who are you? i'm your inner child. get in. listen, what you really need in life is some freakin' torque. what? horsepower keeps you going, but torque gets you going. what happened to my inner child craving love and acceptance? how about you love and accept this? p-p-p-p-powershot! when can i drive? you already are! the dodge hornet r/t... the totally torqued-out crossover. >>> this trial is really wearing on donald trump. i have been watching him. oh my god, because people get to talk about him. he has to sit there for hours without saying anything. [ laughter ] kind of like he did on january

hallie jackson is right outside the courtroom now with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: hey there, hoda. good morning to you. later on this morning, the court is set to hear arguments in a case that is seen as a challenge to one of the strictest abortion laws in the country, all of it coming across the backdrop of a presidential election where the political stakes are enormous. a new flash point this morning in the battle over abortion rights with the supreme court set to hear arguments in a potential blockbuster case. the question whether a federal law guaranteeing emergency care for patients overrides an idaho law banning most abortions with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. biden says that federal law should take precedence arguing that idaho's law says to wait until the health of the mother gets worse before deciding to perform an abortion. idaho's attorney general in a statement accuses the administration of showing a reckless disregard for idaho's right to protect life. >> the biden administration is trying to use fe

nbc news senior washington correspondent hallie jackson reports. >> reporter: a new flash point this to hear arguments in another potential block buster case. the question, whether a federal law guaranteeing emergency care for patients overrides an idaho law banning most abortions with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. the biden administration says that federal law should take precedence, arguing idaho's law requires doctors to wait until the health of a pregnant patient gets worse before deciding whether to perform an abortion. idaho's attorney in a statement accuses the administration of showing a reckless disregard for idaho's right to protect life. >> the biden administration has twisted this law. they're trying to use federal executive power when the law does not support it. >> reporter: with idaho allowed to enforce the near total abortion ban, for now, many ob/gyns are leaving the state. she says idaho's law has created a dilemma for doctors. >> the position on the ground is being stuck having to decide do i act now so she doesn't have any irreparable har

hallie jackson has the latest. >> reporter: in arizona, a scramble this morning -- >> shame on you!esterday, met with protests on the house floor. >> hold the vote! >> reporter: it comes after the state's supreme court reinstated an 1864 law banning nearly all abortions, no exceptions for rape or incest, only for the life of the mother. doctors who perform the procedure could face prison time. former president trump says this goes too far. >> i'm sure the governor and everybody else are going to bring it back to reason. >> reporter: a ban this strict is unpopular in arizona and unpopular nationwide, a political reality mr. trump appears to understand, as he says he would not support a national abortion ban. as president, mr. trump had backed a national abortion ban at 20 weeks, and just last month signalled openness to a ban after 15 weeks. >> i'm thinking in terms of that, and it'll come out to something that's very reasonable. >> reporter: now the former president acknowledging overnight democrats see a political advantage. >> the only issue they think they have is on abortion. no

nbc's hallie jackson has the latest. >> reporter: new fallout this morning over a bombshell ruling ine on health care for women across the state is just unconscionable. >> reporter: the state supreme court's decision reinstating a law put in place more than a century ago, 1864, before arizona was even a state. it makes no exceptions for rape or incest, only for the life of the mother. once the law goes into effect, which could be in the next couple of months, doctors could face prison time, up to five years, for performing the procedure. >> our state legislature and our judges in our state feel that people in the year 2024 want to go back to 1864 when slavery was legal and women didn't have the right to vote for 50 years. >> reporter: the state's attorney general says she has no intention of enforcing the law. >> no woman or doctor will be prosecuted under this draconian law. >> reporter: anti-abortion advocates celebrating the ruling as a win, but president biden calling it cruel and posting a photo of former president trump with the caption "trump did this." a nod to the supreme cou