morgan chesky, nbc news, los angeles. >>> in 60 seconds, essential information for parents. new study out. when is the right time to introduce peanuts to small children to reduce the risk of dangerous allergies, next. cbrfl r coblbe cbrfl pnt t r coblbe cbrfl t pnt t >>> we are back now with a new study that parents need to know about on preventing dangerous peanut allergies in children. our nbc news medical contributor, dr. natalie azar, is here. dr. azar, the guidance on this issue for parents has changed over time. >> yeah, that's right, lester. the guidance really changed in 2017, and today we have even more evidence from an nih study that says this is a simple and safe strategy that can prevent tens of thousands of cases of peanut allergies each year. researchers found that introducing peanut products from infancy to age 5 reduced the risk of peanut allergy by as much as 71% in adolescents. the key is to follow the guidelines. if your infant has severe eczema or egg allergy, it may be possible to introduce peanut-containing foods at four to six months at home or in a do

here's morgan chesky. >> reporter: this ballpark in wichita, kansas, feels more empty than it should.nuary, thieves cut down a beloved statue of barrier-breaking all-star jackie robinson. the league 42 baseball fields founded for underserved city youth now robbed of their hero. >> was sickened by what you saw, even in a state of disbelief. >> reporter: the bronze cleats left behind, now on display at the negro league's baseball museum. >> you want to wave the white flag and throw your hands up and say, okay, i give up. and the minute you're ready to do that, the good people step in and they step up. >> reporter: donors raising more than . now, a skilled team at art castings of colorado is hard at work, carefully painting and pouring. >> so this is part of jackie's jersey. >> reporter: all part of the process to rebuild the iconic dodger using the original molds, crafted by the late sculptor, kansas artist john parsons. his wife carol calling jackie his most important work. throughout the entire process, he was always talking with the robinson family? >> yes. >> reporter: he wanted to

here's morgan chesky. >> reporter: this ballpark in wichita, kansas feels more empty than should.down a beloved statue of barrier-breaking all-star, jackie robinson. the league 42 baseball field founded for underserved city youth now robbed of their hero. >> sickened by what you saw. even in this state of disbelief. >> reporter: the bronze cleats left behind. now on display at the negro league's baseball museum. >> you want to wave the white flag and throw your hands up and say okay, i give up. and the minute you're ready to do that, the good people step in, and they step up. >> reporter: donors raising more than $100,000, more than enough to rebuild the monument. now, a skilled team at art castings of colorado is hard at work. carefully painting and pouring. >> so this is part of jackie's jersey. >> reporter: all part of the process to rebuild the iconic dodger, using the original molds crafted by the late sculptor, kansas artist john parsons. his wife carol calling jackie his most important work. >> throughout the entire process, he was always talking with the robinson family? >

his family telling our morgan chesky he died protecting a co-worker. >> reporter: tonight, a stunning murder in downtown los angeles of soap opera star johnny wactor. police say they're searching for three suspects after the 37-year-old was fatally shot early saturday as he encountered thieves trying to steal his car's catalytic converter. wactor's family tells nbc news he was leaving a job at a downtown bar later than usual, walking with a co-worker when he noticed a man near his car. wactor's mother said her son asked if he was about to be towed. but when a man looked up wearing a mask wactor shielded his co-worker with his body and that suspect shot him. >> it's just such a senseless thing. >> reporter: scarlett wactor spoke to us by phone. >> i hope that they will catch whoever did it. i hope that there will be some kind of justice for johnny. >> i want you to tell me. >> reporter: wactor was best known for his role as brando corbin on "general hospital," appearing in 164 episodes of the popular daytime soap. wactor's colleagues remembering a dear friend. "general hospital" postin

morgan chesky, nbc news, los angeles. >>> in 60 seconds, essential information for parents.ew study out. when is the right time to introduce peanuts to small children to reduce the risk of dangerous allergies, next. mall c whhien my doctor gave me breztri for my copd things changed for me. breztri gave me better breathing, symptom improvement, and reduced flare-ups. breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed. breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ask your doctor about breztri. a lot of new dry eye patients in my office tell me about their frequent dry eyes, which may point to dry eye disease. millions of americans were estimated to have it. they've tried artificial tears again and again, but the relief is temporary. xiidra can provide las

>> all right, morgan chesky for us. >>> we want to head to the middle east now. an israeli airstrike hitting a tent camp leaving dozens of palestinians dead. prime minister benjamin netanyahu calling it a, quote, tragic incident. raf sanchez has more. >> reporter: tonight grief and anger across southern gaza after an israeli airstrike hit a camp for displaced people in rafah, sending flames ripping through tents and killing at least 45 people, many of them women and children according to the emergency services in hamas-run gaza. the idf said it hit a hamas compound and killed two commanders. prime minister benjamin netanyahu today calling it a tragic incident and promising an investigation. the white house calling the images heartbreaking, saying israel has the right to pursue hamas but must protect civilians. "children were in the streets screaming," this woman says. meanwhile, u.s. military vessels delivering aid from an american-built temporary pier broke free from their moorings in heavy seas. this is one of the small military boats that washed up on the beac

morgan chesky, nbc news.chesky, nbc news. >>> before u my doctor and i chose breztri for my copd, i had bad days. [cough] flare-ups that could permanently damage my lungs. with breztri, things changed for me. breztri gave me better breathing. starting within 5 minutes, i noticed my lung function improved. it helped improve my symptoms, and breztri was even proven to reduce flare-ups, including those that could send me to the hospital. so now i look forward to more good days. breztri won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. it is not for asthma. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking it. don't take breztri more than prescribed. breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. can't afford your medication? astrazeneca may be able to help. ask your doctor about breztri. this charmin ultra soft s

nbc news correspondent morgan chesky joins me from there. an, what have we been seeing today, and what happened yesterday? >> reporter: kate, a far different situation playing out on ucla's campus today than what we witnessed yesterday afternoon. and this was a hot bed of activity. it really began, though, yesterday, kate, when campus police located what was going up as a second encampment of sorts from those pro-palestinian protesters at a hall about a quarter mile from where i'm standing. it didn't stand long. hundreds of students that had gathered there in support filtered their way here to dodd hall where they planned to occupy it as long as they could. that only last add few hours before police cleared that building out. important to note, the swifter response than what we saw back on april 30th when counterprotest groups really clashed with that pro-palestinian group, and police waited before getting involved. the blame spread from school administrators to the campus police chief who has been since reassigned. a far different scene toda

morgan chesky is here to break this down. let's start with the boeing news.. >> reporter: because the doj filed a letter yesterday because they believed boeing reneged on a 2020 deal. now the reason for that is because the doj says they didn't uphold their end of the deal because they proved through their actions and as a result of events that they hadn't put a program in place effective in keeping incidents from happening. . door came off of that alaska airlines flight, multiple whistle-blowers have come forward alleging a real systemic problem within boeing production. that led to unsafe issues out in the field. >> morgan, let's talk about that staffing sthorj, the faa is warning about, what does that mean for us planning to fly this summer? >> reporter: important to note here that the faa said that this should not impact the flyer should we hop on an airplane here, the faa said in order to be properly staff they would need to hire around 3,000 air traffic controllers. they have 11,000 right now, but a lot of those staffers, some of them are working ten-hou

>> morgan chesky for us there in l.a. an, thank you. >>> we move on to the latest on former president trump's criminal trial. his former fixer michael cohen on the stand tomorrow after facing tough questions from the defense. we've got two reports starting with nbc senior legal correspondent laura jarrett. good morning. >> savannah, good morning to you. there's no one else that matters more than michael cohen in this trial. he's the one that takes it from trump tower to the oval office. the defense has a mountain of material for cross-examination, all the more reason his a spraw crack at michael cohen. mr credibility is key. this morning, signs donald trump's criminal trial is coming to a close after his defense team took a sprawling first crack at michael cohen. mr. trump's lead attorney offering jurors a grab bag of reasons to question cohen's motives, from money, fame and media attention to jealousy and a lighter prison sentence, all an attempt to argue cohen, the only witness who directly ties the former president to t

a summer travel rush where more eyes on the skies is welcome. >> our thanks to morgan chesky for thatr his life after being shot. news outlets say he had been greeting members of the public when the shooting started. nbc news has not independently verified the reports. photos and video show what appears to be a man detained at the scene. another man was carried off into the car by security staff. >>> secretary of state antony blinken on a surprise trip to ukraine today announcing $2 billion in new military financing for kyiv. it does come at a critical moment in the war with american weapons and ammo just beginning to trickle in. russian forces are making major gains on the battlefield, pushing toward kharkiv. at a basement bar in kyiv last night, blinken picked up a guitar to deliver a message to embattled ukrainians and perhaps to president putin. keep on rocking in the free world. ♪♪ nbc's matt bradley joins us now. with the understand that ukrainian president zelenskyy has canceled all of his foreign visits amid this new russian offensive. what do we know about the seriousness of

his family telling nbc's morgan chesky he died protecting a co-worker. >> reporter: a stunning murderlos angeles, of soap opera star johnny wactor. police say they're searching for three suspects after the 37-year-old was fatally shot early saturday as he encountered thieves trying to steal his car's catalytic converter. wactor's family tells nbc news he was leaving a job at a downtown bar later than usual, walking with a co-worker when he noticed a man near his car. wactor's mother said her son asked if he was about to be towed. but when a man looked up wearing a mask, wactor shielded his co-worker with his body, and that suspect shot him. >> it's just such a senseless thing. >> reporter: scarlett wactor spoke to us by phone. >> i hope that they will catch whoever did it. i hope that there will be some kind of justice for johnny. >> i want you to tell me. >> reporter: wactor was best flown known for his role as brando corbin on general hospital. wactor's colleagues remembering a dear friend. general hospital posting, he was truly one of a kind. his tv wife writing, my heart is so utt

morgan chesky for us on the campus there.nk you. >>> the ncaa reached a historic agreement paving the way for schools to pay student athletes. senior business correspondent christine romans is here to break down exactly what this means. good morning. >> good morning. this is a seismic shift in college athletes. for the first time in its 100-plus-year history in college sports, the ncaa has agreed to allow schools to pay their division one players. an attorney representing the athletes telling us both sides recognizing this is a major landmark settlement. overnight, a revolution in college sports. the ncaa has always viewed student athletes as amateurs, but college sports exploded in popularity becoming a multimillion dollar business and launching superstars. >> and your new star, caitlin clark! >> athletes have been speaking out for years. >> i think they should be paid some portion of money so that their basic needs are taken care of. >> reporter: the ncaa allowing schools to pay division one players for the first time in 10

>> morgan chesky for us there in los angeles. hank you. >>> coming up, we've got a fitting story for you on this o an memorial day. we are going to introduce you to an 11-year-old kid on a mission to educate young people and make sure that we never forget about pearl harbor. >> looking forward to that one. >>> but up next, we're running down all the memorial day deals out there. brian cheung is here to help us save some serious money. >> good morning, guys. there are a lot of deals to be had. we will separate out which ones you might want to buy into right now, and which ones you might want to wait a little longer on. coming up later on "today." ds a♪ [find my chime] ♪ ♪ i wanna see all my friends at once ♪ ♪ [find my chime] [in unison] - hey! ♪ [thud] ♪ ♪ i wanna see all my friends at once ♪ an alternative to pills, voltaren is a clinically proven arthritis pain relief gel, which penetrates deep to target the source of pain with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicine directly at the source. voltaren, the joy of movement. uber ea

morgan chesky for us this morning. rgan, thank you. >>> a federal judge in california has postponed hunter biden's tax trial until september, because it conflicted with his gun charges trial, which is scheduled to begin in june. his defense lawyer said they needed more time to prepare. the president's son has pleaded not guilty to both indictments, which his lawyers have claimed are politically motivated. >>> let's go to the nba playoffs now. with game one of the western conference finals as an indicator of what kind of series we're going to get. we are in for a treat. >> doncic, irving, corner three for the lead! good! what a shot by washington! >> dallas taking the lead with just under two minutes to play. it was back and forth for a while, but the mavs would hold on to steal game one on the road. the score there, 108-105. game two, tomorrow night. >> it's big. game one in the eastern conference finals ended in overtime. looks like we're in for a treat, yeah. >> love it. all leading to the finals. let's bring in dylan

we get more now from nbc's morgan chesky, he's been following this story. a. anita joy writing that she is heartbroken over the loss of a very dear friend and stressed that above all, the continued push for justice. >> this morning, the coworker there for the final moments of soap star johnny wactor's life speaking out. anita joy sharing her story for the first time, since the 37-year-old soap opera star was fatally shot last week. joy revealing that she is the colleague wactor shielded from deadly gunfire, following their bartending shift in downtown los angeles, when the pair walked up on a group of car thieves, who authorities say were attempting to steal the catalytic converter from wactor's car. joy posting on instagram, that when they approached the man, wactor asked them to leave, adding, quote, johnny kept his cool, hands open at his side in peace, then the shooting happened with wactor in front of her. johnny was between me and the man who shot him. as i heard the shot ring out into the night, he forcefully tumbled back into my arms, and as i grabbe

nbc's morgan chesky joins us now with the very latest. talk to anyone who knew him, they will tell you johnny wactor was determined to make his hollywood dreams a reality and so incredibly kind. which is one reason why his death over his catalytic converter hits so hard. now his family is speaking out about those final moments and what they want the world to remember about their beloved brother and son. this morning, as police hunt for the suspects that gunned down johnny wactor in downtown l.a., his mother and two brothers now sharing new details about the 37-year-old actor weighs final moments. >> never going to get to talk to him again. >> his family sharing wactor was leaving a second job at a downtown bar later than usual and walking with a coworker when he noticed a man near his car. >> johnny thought he was being towed. he said, hey, man, you towing my car? when the person looked up, they had on a mask and johnny stepped in front of the coworker, and he was shot. >> when you heard johnny's final act in life was to protect someone el

morgan chesky is here with the details for us. morgan?tunning loss that is leaving a lot of friends and family members still very much in shock and police trying to track down the group of men they say are responsible for shooting and killing the 37-year-old actor. police say that johnny wacter walked up on this group as they were trying to steal parts from his car and that's when one of the suspects responded by opening fire. in los angeles, a young actor's life has been cut short. 37-year-old johnny wacter was fatally shot early saturday morning. authorities say he was killed after approaching three men who were attempting to steal the catalytic converter from his car. he was best known for his role add brando on general hospital, appearing in 164 episodes of the popular daytime soap. his mother, scarlet, saying he was chasing his dreams. >> he lived life to the fullest. he was a light in a dark room and will be very missed. >> scarlet telling nbc her son was leaving his job at a bar later than usual when he approached his car with a co

nbc news coimportant morgan chesky has more. >> reporter: police hunt for the suspects who gunned downtor in downtown l.a. >> reporter: he was walking with a co-workers, when he noticed a man near his car. >> johnny thought he was being towed. >> when the person looked up, they had on a mask and johnny stepped in front of the co-worker and he was shot. >> when you heard johnny's final act in life was to protect someone else's. >> i mean, you know, i use the word hero and thankful that person is okay. and that when he died he wasn't alone. >> reporter: scarlet wactor says according to police three men were trying to steal the catalytic converter off her son's toyota prius. it is one of the most targeted models nationwide for this kind of threat and number one out west. the reason, experts say, high levels of valuable metals inside the hybrid's converter. when you found out that all of this stemmed from a catalytic converter? >> this person is evil. >> this will take me a minute to re-learn how to just live. >> reporter: wactor was best known for his two years playing his role on "genera

nbc news correspondent morgan chesky has more. >> this is a stunning loss that is leading a lot of friends and killing the 37-year-old actor. police say that he walked up on this group as they were trying to steal parts from his car and that's when one of the suspects responded by opening fire. in los angeles, a young hollywood actor's life has been cut short. 37-year-old johnny wactor was shot saturday morning. he was killed after approaching three men attempting to steal the catalytic converter from his car. he was known for his role as brando on general hospital appearing in 164 episodes. his mother, scarlet, saying he was chasing his dreams. >> he lived life to the fullest. he was a light in a dark room and he will be very missed. >> she told nbc he was leaving his job at a bar later than usual when he approached his car with a co-worker wondering if he was being towed. his death comes amid a crime surge in major cities. in new york, an actor was violently attacked last month while at the same time, women in the city were being attacked. zpl i was just walking and a man came up and hit