priscilla thompson leading us off tonight. priscilla, thank you. >>> and that severe weather hitting just as memorial day travel is shattering records. our priya sridhar is at atlanta's hartsfield jackson airport where there was a ground stop earlier today. priya, how's it looking now? >> reporter: well, tom, the record number of americans who traveled this holiday weekend are trying to make their way home as that destructive storm system heads east. the flight aware misery map showing delays and cancellations along the east coast. as of now more than 5,000 delays so far. here in atlanta long lines as travelers try to make their way home. the tsa says it broke a record on friday with nearly 3 million screened. meantime, aaa predicted the biggest number of road trippers ever, some 38 million driving this holiday weekend. experts say the memorial day numbers indicate a strong summer travel season ahead. tom? >> all right, priya, we thank you for that. >>> now to another major story we're following tonight. the search for suspect

priscilla, have more folks had a chance to get back home yet, have a look at the damage? >> reporter: not necessarily, hallie. take this neighborhood, for example, the houses back there look virtually untouched, but this is what the roadway leading into this neighborhood looks like. you can see how high the water is on that sign. and officials worry that people will try to drive through this water to get to their homes, and that that could lead to more rescues. hallie? >> priscilla thompson, thank you. for more, let's bring in nbc news meteorologist bill karins. there are major issues coming up for millions of people. >> hallie, we have a dangerous monday afternoon/evening smack in the middle of the country. we're in a level 4 out of 5 risk. we call this a moderate. this red bull's-eye is where we expect the best chance for not just tornados, but strong tornadoes that will be on the ground for a long time. we call them long track tornadoes. the areas at risk will be from oklahoma city to witchta, heading up into northern kansas, and in the evening hours, heading towards t

priscilla's joining us now from houston. what does this mean for students who are supposed to go back to school tomorrow? >> reporter: hallie, despite massive transmission lines like this one going back up there's still dozens of schools without power. no word yet on what the district plans to do about those. hallie? >> priscilla thompson live for us in houston. priscilla, thank you. >>> new details now following the dramatic arrest of the world's best golfer hours before he teed off in the pga championship. tonight new questions about the video of the incident itself. jesse kirsch has the latest. >> he's ready to get home, no doubt. >> reporter: tonight, the world's number one golfer scottie scheffler coming up short at the pga championship. >> that's not good. >> reporter: capping off a shocking weekend in louisville, kentucky. >> guys, guys. >> reporter: early friday, scheffler was arrested after allegedly disobeying and dragging a police detective with an suv while heading toward valhalla golf course. >> right now he's g

priscilla, what are the big concerns heading into this evening?> reporter: lester, tonight 16 million people from the central plains to the midwest are at risk for high winds, damaging hail and potentially deadly tornadoes as severe weather is forecast across the country for the next three days. lester? >> priscilla thompson, thank you. >>> in 60 seconds, how the container ship that brought down that bridge in baltimore was finally moved. >>> and sean combs' apology after that video showed him attacking his former girlfriend. what her lawyer and others are now saying. stay with us. owsmile! you found it. the feeling of finding psoriasis can't filter out the real you. so go ahead, live unfiltered with the one and only sotyktu, a once-daily pill for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, and the chance at clear or almost clear skin. it's like the feeling of finding you're so ready for your close-up. or finding you don't have to hide your skin just your background. once-daily sotyktu was proven better, getting more people clearer skin than the leading

i can't do it. >> priscilla, what are conditions like there now? >> reporter: lester, there's still massive trees in roadways and officials say it could be up to two weeks before everyone's power is restored. the city now opening cooling centers as temperatures are expected to surge into the 90s this weekend. lester. >> all right, priscilla, thank you. >>> let's get right to bill karins. bill, this severe weather is far from over. >> severe weather and for the houston area, lester, they don't need summerlike heat and humidity, but that's what they have coming over the weekend and right through next week. every single day the heat index will approach 100 degrees so they have to get the power on for people, or they can't stay in their apartments or houses. it'll be way too hot. the tornado watch southern alabama, southern georgia. we have had areas that look like we've had rotation, no confirmed tornadoes so far, so that's good. as far as severe weather tomorrow, tallahassee all the way up to wilmington, myrtle beach, savannah also included in this e

. >> we have cnn's priscilla alvarez with more fallout from that report. but first let's go to cnn correspondent scott mclean, who is has more on the dire situation in gaza. scott, there has been more airstrikes targeting rafah. what do you know what's the latest right now? >> hey, jessica. yeah. so this is according to hospitals and rafah, they say that they were two airstrikes carried out in the city, some 15 people at this point have been confirmed to have died, including women and children. and what is especially noteworthy is that those strikes took place in in areas that were not ordered to be evacuated by israel. israel did order several parts of northern gaza and also of rafah, two evacuate today. at all in anticipation of a stepped-up ground offensive in rafah and renewed bombing campaign campaign in the north. and i say renewed because there have there has been restarted bombing there just this afternoon, according to the idf and it comes after there were several airstrikes overnight in northern and central gaza. these came without warning though

priscilla, good morning. >> reporter: savannah, good morning. these are the kinds of scenes that people are waking up to this morning. you can see this entire road is still covered in water leading into this neighborhood, and i'll zoom in on that flood gauge back there and give you a look, you can see the water is below six inches. it looks like it's sitting at around three inches. i will tell you, when we were here yesterday, that number was more like a foot and a half, so the water is receding, which is very good news for the people living in these communities looking to get back into their homes today. parts of texas under water this morning. >> oh, that was floating. >> reporter: after a weekend of deadly flooding ravaged the southeastern part of the state. new video shows rescuers near dallas desperately searching the high waters for four-year-old lucas warren who was swept away by raging waters. tragically, the boy was later found dead. rescuers used jet skis to pull a man and a dog out of water. it was among the more than 500 rescues and

you can do that now. >> priscilla joining us now.ere there any injuries, and what's the status of the oil leak? >> reporter: lester, officials say there were no injuries, and martin petroleum says that leak has been stopped. the ntsb and the coast guard are now investigating as tonight this bridge and the waterway remain closed. lester. >> priscilla thompson, thank you. >>> here in new york, opening statements today in the corruption trial of one of the most powerful u.s. senators, democrat bob menendez of new jersey. he's accused of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. jonathan dienst was in federal court. >> reporter: tudor today new jersey democratic senator bob menendez walking into federal court where prosecutors allege he put his own greed ahead of his country. in opening statements, calling him corrupt, accusing him of taking of hundreds of thousands of dollars in payoffs including gold bars, a mercedes convertible, and other items as part of a widespread bribery scheme. for years robert menendez has betrayed the

joining us from valley view, texas, is nbc's priscilla thompson. priscilla, good morning. where do things stand now? >> reporter: jose, good morning. right now in the hardest-hit areas there's devastation everywhere. we're here and you can see there's a car with its windows completely blown out. that car was actually in that gas station parking lot when this tornado bore down. this is where those 125 people the governor says were sheltering as the roof caved in on them. thankfully no injuries and no deaths out of this particular incident. they were all able to walk out of this alive. i spoke to one woman in there with her friend and a baby. she described just being on top of the baby and praying they were going to get through this. she told me she thought she was going to die. that is what we're hearing throughout this area. we went a few miles up the road and talked to folks in a neighborhood where they say some of their neighbors did lose their lives. just to give you a bit of context, it seems like this was a graduation celebration weekend. there were a number of people

priscilla thompson starts us off in oklahoma city which could be in for a rough night. >> reporter: the great american getaway is in full swing tonight and shattering records. >> i think it's pretty packed for 5:00 a.m. >> reporter: the tsa reporting the highest number of passengers ever screened in a single day friday, almost three million across the u.s. and it's not just the skies that are jam-packed. >> traffic has been really bad. it's backed up, and it's taking us a long time to get there. >> reporter: according to aaa, more than 38 million are expected behind the wheel this holiday weekend. >> it's been really bad honestly. >> three cars on fire -- >> reporter: this fiery crash inside a boston tunnel sent drivers running out on foot, backing up traffic friday just as some vacationers were leaving town. and the hottest destination for the 44 million traveling -- beaches. >> so nice to feel the sun on your skin. >> reporter: but it could be dangerously hot in places like texas where seven million are under heat alerts with temps expected to soar into the triple digits. and the outl

priscilla, what are the conditions like there now? well, lester, there are still massive trees like this one in roadways. and officials say it could be up to two weeks until everyone's power is restored. the city now opening cooling centers as temperatures are expected to surge into the 90s this weekend. lester. all right. priscilla. thank you. let's get right to bill karins. bill, this severe weather is far from over. we've got severe weather. and then for the houston area. lester. i mean, they don't need summer, like, heat and humidity, but that's exactly what they have coming over the weekend and right through next week. every single day the heat index is going to approach 100 degrees. so they have to get the power on for people or they can't stay in their houses or apartments. it's just going to be way too hot. so as far as the severe weather goes, tornado watch continues at this hour. southern alabama, southern georgia, we have had areas that look like we've seen rotation. no confirmed tornadoes so far. so that's good. as far as

priscilla alvarez traveling with the president in seattle, washington this afternoon. thanks so much for that reporting. joining us now is the former deputy assistant secretary assistant secretary of state during the obama administration, joel rubin, jolt really nice to have you on. thanks so much for being i'm here. >> thanks, jessica, my first i just want to get your take on this state department report and its implications on the us israeli relationship today yeah, this report is very hard-hitting report. it is one that describes the use of american-made weapons by israel and other countries as well. it derives, as you mentioned, from national security memorandum that the president signed back in february but, it's threads the needle appropriately, i believe because what it does is it calls out concerns, but it also says that it does not have evidence that israel is intentionally engaging. in efforts using those weapons to violate an humanitarian law in american loss. so it's, it's balancing a lot of equities here. and this this is, this is what we should expect fro

priscilla alvarez with the very latest there. thanks so much for that reporting and joining us now, former state department middle east negotiator and senior fellow at the carnegie dominant aaron david miller also with us is cnn at military analysts, retired lieutenant general mark hertling. great to have you both here. aaron, first, i want to start with you and get your reaction to the brain thinking news that priscilla was just telling us about the vitamin a striation pausing this ammunition ammunition shipment to israel. what do you make of that it's really hard to read. >> it's hard to imagine that slow walking because that's what it is if it's anything slow walking one shipment of ammunition represents a fundamental change or perhaps even a major signal that the biden administration believes it can actually do this and intended to do more unless the israelis comply with what the administration wants on any number of issues in march abc news reported that israeli officials, again raise the issue of the administration slow wal

>> all right, priscilla thompson in houston. priscilla, thank you so much. >>> let's bring in meteorologist michelle grossman. michelle, i know not only is texas in the cross hairs once again today, but there's a dangerous storm system set to move really across the entire country this week. what should we know? >> hi there, joe. great to see you. it's going to be a new week with a new round of severe weather monday, tuesday and wednesday. today, we are talking about heavy rain this morning. you can see that falling on radar. in the hard-hit area of texas and oklahoma, portions of louisiana, also arkansas, where you see the brighter colors, the reds, the oranges and the yellows, we are seeing heavy downpours. we will add to that river flooding. we are flood alerts this morning. 19 million people impacted. where you see the green, that is a flood watch. flash flood warning is in the red. that means that flooding is happening now or it's imminent so that is particularly dangerous. you want to heed any warnings you have locally. we'

>> priscilla thompson, thank you. let's get the latest forecast from nbc news meteorologist angie lassman. >> good evening. we continue to see the severe threat far from over. we've got a really robust forecast with plenty of alerts in effect, thunderstorm watches and tornado watches through the rest of the afternoon and into the evening hours. this is going to leave was another round of severe threat tonight as we go from texas to virginia, plus, on top that the risk for flash flooding. notice where the red is. that's the moderate risk where we're most concerned for the strongest of the tornadoes, plus, the really damaging winds and the tennis ball sized hail. nashville right in the bulls-eye of that. by tomorrow, memorial day still dealing with soggy weather across the east. we'll continue to see additional threat for strong storms for parts of the midatlantic stretching into the southeast. hallie? >> angie, thank you. >>> overseas, yet another midair scare, 12 people hurt in wild turbulence on a flight to dublin. s

priscilla alvarez, force at the white house. priscilla thank you.nd hollywood endorsements do go back quite awhile. watch with a wide open country in my in these jury for change tomorrow i'm with her if you freedom all right. so that obviously a parade of celebrities endorsing political candidates. i have always come from the school. that just doesn't really matter at all. perhaps taylor swift might move some people well, i don't know what do you think tara? >> yeah. i mean, that was the thinking in 2020 that taylor swift's endorsement of joe biden, i mean, you've activated some younger voters to actually go out and vote, but i do think that celebrities are aware that donald trump, they, they came out pretty forcefully against him in 2016 and he's still want 2020 he still want a very sizable amount of the popular vote, basically half the country still voted for them. >> and i do think ultimately they probably feel like this is also their careers and they're not sure if they're willing to put their names out on the line anymore to fight against this

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priscilla present the latest reporting on that. thank you very much. and joining us now is democratic congressman from new jersey, josh gottheimer, a congressman. thanks so much for making time today. we have pretty speciate it. >> i want to just first yeah. >> i just first wanted to get your reaction from the reporting that priscilla was just walking us through about this paused ammunition shipment. >> what's your reaction to that? >> live i've called them, reached out and asked for a classified briefing tomorrow but i'm hearing what you're hearing which is no one's confirming this report. it said so as for now, as far as i'm concerned, there there is nothing tied to any pause in delivery of any weapons of any kind right now. and the position of this white house, of course, toward our key ally has not changed. >> and if it turns out we had listened general mark hertling on last hour and he suggested that this could be a message that it was maybe even more than a slow walk. >> of course, we're still learning information, but that was just his assessmen

priscilla, what is this new reports say? and how is the biden administration? responding well, just got this was a high-stakes and highly anticipated report that just marks another stark moment between the us and israel over israel's war against hamas in gaza. >> now this report was put together by the biden administration, and it felt that it found that it is reasonable to assess asked, but us weapons have been used by israeli forces in gaza in ways that are inconsistent with international humanitarian law. but it did stop short of saying israel violated that law. and of course this sounds from that february national security memorandum that required a determination on this matter, and also whether for israel withheld humanitarian aid from gaza in violation of us law and while it is critical, it doesn't amount to any actions or mandate actions by the israeli government or mark any type of us policy change toward israel if that's biden administration officials have said that it marks it's another tool that they can use in their ongoing discussions with israel.

priscilla thompson has the latest.ell, it was a scary night for residents across the southeast, texas as those severe thunderstorms rolled in. >> we're in downtown houston, parts of which look like a disaster zone today. take a look at this building. you can see the entire the site has just completely crumbled. this is just some of the damage that people are dealing with today. there are also hundreds of thousands of people across the state and particularly this houston area who are without power. and sadly, we know that 4 people did lose their lives as a result of the storms. today, there are more than 1500 crews who are out working to restore power and clean up debris. we know that schools are closed across the city and in parts of louisiana and non-essential workers are being asked to stay home so that that working it can get done. but it comes as there's more bad weather on the way with this storm moving east impacting millions in places like louisiana, alabama and mississippi. parts of the gulf coast expected to g

. >> priscilla alvarez is live wars white house. and here on set we have cnn's alex marquardt as well. alex president biden has remained vague about what this red line is, what it would take for the us to reconsider sending certain weapons for use by the idf what do you anticipate he's going to relay today? >> well, i think it's unlikely that there's going to be any kind of reversal of position. >> i mean, that strike in rafah took place on sunday night that killed more than 40 civilians and when us officials came back after the memorial day vacation day off, they were firm in saying that israel had not crossed the red line and we've do we journalists have been badgering the administration about what this red line is and john kirby, the national security spokesman, summed it up as israel smashing into rafah and as far as the administration is concerned, that has not yet happened, despite the fact that we've seen numerous strikes that have killed scores of people what we're seeing is this operation from israel grow in a slower away i

priscilla thompson has the details. >> reporter: another scary scene on america's waters. >> a possible, they hit the bridge, a power line down and maybe fuel in the water. >> reporter: a barge crashing into a bridge. this time in galveston, texas, closing the only road to a small island community and causing an oil spill. >> our emergency management is requesting fire department hazmat. they're advising there's fuel oil leaking into the water. >> reporter: the barge holds about 30,000 gallons. officials say it's unknown hough ohow much oil has leaked. it broke loose from its tow and drifted into the bridge. the accident comes after the dali cargo shim crashed into the francis scott key bridge in march, plunging the bridge into the water killing six. the ntsb chair on capitol hill. >> yesterday, we released our preliminary report, which shows that the dali experienced four total power outages. >> reporter: investigators finding the pilots lost control of the massive vessel right before the collision. the recent rash of barge-bridge accidents, including pennsylvania and iowa all raising

priscilla alvarez. thank you so much joining us right now to talking about exactly this cnn political commentator care and finney, who is former spokesperson for hillary clinton's 2016 campaign, and matt gorman republican strategist and former senior adviser to tim scott presidential campaign. >> karen, you heard the reporting right there. i'm gonna read you a headline from a month ago, some headlines from month ago, president joe biden raised more than $90 million because reelection campaign and the democratic party in march, a whopping hall in a month that saw him pivot to a general election posture. the campaign announced it has a war chest of $192 million in cash on hand, describing it as the highest total mass by any democratic candidate in history at this point in the cycle now a drop in fundraising for last month, karen sign of a problem no. >> i think when you have $192 million cash on hand, you're doing just fine and as priscilla was saying, when you're looking at those grassroots small donatio

and the heat is not helping at all. >> and our thanks to priscilla for that report. >>> as the south works to recover more dangerous weather is working its way across the central united states. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking that threat for you. >> hi, frances. we're seeing that threat early this morning. we've been watching it for hours moving throughout the central plains, oklahoma and kansas. we're seeing a cluster of storms prompting severe thunderstorm warnings, we have a severe thunderstorm watch in the yellow but lots of storms extending into the midwest. this is going to be the bull's-eye of where we expect storms throughout this monday. millions under a severe weather threat from portions of the southern plains into the midwest, places like north platte, omaha, norfolk seeing the chance for strong storms. we're seeing the storms right now but that will extend throughout the day. 17 million people at risk, winds gusting up to 70 miles per hour, that could bring down some trees, power lines, causing power outages. could see large hail and also the chance for a

>> reporter: priscilla thompson, nbc news, austin. >>> we will take a break. and then coming up, alerting drivers when someone is going the wrong way. how it works, next. your pets and get a $30 egift card. enjoy more savings on more food, more toys, and more treats. more of everything they love, delivered right to your door. only with chewy. when 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. salonpas lidocaine flex. a super thin, flexible patch with maximum otc strength lidocaine that contours to the body to relieve pain

nbc's priscilla thomas starts us off. >> dangerous storms continuing a deadly tear across the country. >> and the fans have been told to exit the grandstands and seek shelter immediately. >> reporter: at the indy 500, severe weather delaying the start of the race. fans evacuating as lightning moved in. >> oh, there it is! go, go, go! >> reporter: it follows a violent night of deadly storms. >> when it hit, it was just so loud. >> reporter: dozens of tornadoes ripped across the heartland, from texas to arkansas, killing at least 15 people, including two children. >> we're in it, we're in it! i can't do anything! >> cover your head. >> reporter: in valley view, texas -- >> i don't have service. >> reporter: officials say as many as 80 people were trapped in this rubble when the gas station they were sheltering in crumbled. >> it's here, it's here, everybody running into the bathrooms and getting down, getting low. >> it was crazy. it was loud. >> reporter: the severe storms and tornadoes leveling entire neighborhoods. this is where the front steps of this house once stood. as you can se

back to you. >> priscilla, thank you. we will get the forecast from michelle coming up. >>> breaking overnight, israel a warning thousands of civilians do begin evacuating from the city of rafah in the southern gaza strip ahead of an imminent invasion. nbc news reports cia director burns is heading to israel this morning in a last-ditch effort to salvage truce talks between israel and hamas. it's happening at a critical time when the head of the world food program confirming reports of mass hunger in an interview on "meet the press" yesterday. >> what i can explain to you is that there is famine, full-blown famine in the north and it's moving its way south. >> let's go to nbc news foreign correspondent claudio lavanga. good morning. what's the latest? >> reporter: good morning, frances. the spokesperson for the israeli defense forces that are briefing confirmed there is an ongoing evacuation of about 100,000 people from eastern rafah. he didn't say how long this is going to take but he said this is not a wide-spread evacu

here is priscilla thompson. >> reporter: it's been three days since lauren and juan infante were left in the dark with no our conditioning. what was it like in that house? >> if you turn on your oven at 350 degrees and you open it up that's how it feels. in the house. >> you can go home and check on your insulin. >> reporter: unable to keep juan's insulin cold, they left, and are now spending their days a at cooling center. >> we just couldn't stand it anymore at the house, it was too hot. >> reporter: homes, businesses and schools across houston are still without power, days after a deadly windstorm tore through the area thursday night. >> oh, there it goes. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: hurricane-strength winds knocking down the frame on this house, leaving behind a 400-mile-path of destruction. and officials say killing at least seven. and now, another deadly threat. >> the heat's not going to get any less, it's only going to get hotter from here. >> that's all we got until we get our next delivery. >> reporter: alicia branley got one of the last bags of ice. >> it's extremely hot. w

priscilla thompson has this one. >> absolutely elated. can't wait to get home. >> reporter: american bryan hagerich walking out of court in turks and caicos a free man today after being detained for three months. a judge sentencing the father of two to a year-long suspended sentence and $6,700 fine after hagerich pled guilty to possession of ammunition that he says was accidentally left in a checked bag that he used for hunting trips. the crime punishable by 12 years in prison. the judge setting aside that minimum citing the act being unintentional, that he has no prior criminal record and the impact on his 5-year-old daughter. >> overwhelming just joy. this is what we've been waiting for for the last 101 days to be home and hug my kids. it's the best day. >> reporter: the financial toll, an estimated $100,000 a family spokesperson says. >> off we go. >> reporter: now hagerich is headed back stateside as four other americans facing similar charges in separate incidents await their day in court. >> we did it. got it. god did it. >> thankfu

>> priscilla thompson, thank you so much. let's bring in meteorologist angie lassman with a look at what's still to come. angie, good morning. i in the storms still hitting as they speak, aren't they? >> the robust storms are ongoing. joe, good morning to you. we'll continue to see this threat as we work through the morning hours and into the afternoon and evening hours. it will remain for the most of the midwest. you can see where we're expecting that line of thunderstorms to work through. it will be likely damaging with all of the threats on the table for 56 million people, specifically the strongest of the tornadoes that we're watching, the ef-2s, centered across paducah, poplar bluff and into the evening hours, we'll see strong wind gusts and hail up to tennis ball sized, too. as we head into memorial day, ample amounts of rain from the gulf coast to new england, and, you guessed it, more of that severe weather for memorial day. 33 million people are at risk of this with the strong to severe wind gusts possible. the most

>> priscilla thompson in dallas this morning. priscilla, thank you very much. >>> kristen welker is moderator of "meet the press." kristen, good morning. always great to see you. yes, testimony resumes tomorrow in the criminal hush money trial with michael cohen. the judge has signaled, could be ready for closing arguments as soon as tuesday, perhaps even a verdict this week. there's the legal side of it and then there's the fascinating political side of it, as you know, that parade of republicans, including house speaker mike johnson, showing up at the courthouse last week to show support for the former president. what is the sense of how all this may play into the campaign ahead? >> willie, good morning. it has been fascinating. so far this legal battle, the hush money trial, unfolding in new york hasn't really shaken up the state of the race. the race has been very stagnant. we have former president trump leading in several key battleground states, some within the margin of error. he has a narrow lead nationally, but our febru

nbc's priscilla thompson is on the ground in valley view, texas. also with us, nbc meteorologist michelle grossman. priscilla, what are you hearing from people on the ground there? >> reporter: chris, physically people today are trying to clean up their homes, salvage what they can. emotionally people are in shock. they are traumatized after what they experienced here, many of them having to shelter in their homes or, like the 125 people did here at a gas station when the roof literally caved in as that tornado bore down. i spoke to a young woman who was inside this gas station, elizabeth hernandez, with her friend. they also had a 1-year-old baby with them that they were trying to cover as all of this was happening. i want to play for you how she described what she experienced. >> i thought i was going to die. i'm in shock but at the same time, like, i know -- i believe in god. this was very scary, and it was like a nightmare. it felt like i was living in a nightmare. it was terrifying. >> reporter: that is what we've heard echoed by so many peopl

priscilla tell us more about last night's events well, as you saw there, the white house rolling outhe red carpet for hundreds of guests. and the honor of the kenyan leaders are there was also a brief appearance by foreign president barack obama. now of course, the state dinners are the highest diplomatic tools of the white house can employ to honor a top us ally that's exactly what they were doing. yesterday. this is a meticulously planned event that took place in a transparent pavilion on the south lawn. and we learned from the first lady's office that it was a adorned with more than 1,000 candles. now, they guessed enjoyed a three-course meal that we know include a chilled heirloom, tomato soup, as well as lobster and beef, short ribs and as you saw their entertainment headlined by brad paisley and the howard gospel choir. now, of course, this will book ending a critical visit by the kenyan leader was the first state visit by an african and african leader since 2008. and we heard from both president biden and the kenya the president over the course of the day yesterday, were the t

cnn's priscilla alvarez is here with us now and priscilla, the president, offered concrete examples of why these west point cadets are so valued here at home and in the world and those examples were directly tied to the ongoing conflicts that we are seeing around the world, for example, the war in ukraine and ongoing conflict that the president reflected on, including the strength of the nato alliance. and he also talks about the situation in the middle east, not only the ongoing us efforts to get aid into gaza the important role that the military plays, but also reflecting on the moment in the situation where he was surrounded by military leaders when there was that iranian missile attack against israel. so clearly underscoring how important these cadets are and will be in the future and saying so himself, take a listen women and men in uniform are hard at work stretching are alliances because no country has allies like ours invested into terms anyone who thinks they can threaten us. thanks again. defending our values by standing up to tyrants and safeguarding the piece. >> a protecti

priscilla thompson has been following this for us. he was facing 12 years in jail. did he avoid time behind bars? >> reporter: the judge set aside that sentence because of exceptional circumstances that she laid out, including that he says he had the ammo in his bag by accident, that he has no prior criminal history, and the impact that this could have on his 5-year-old daughter. we saw a lot of tears and a lot of hugs in that courtroom earlier today, and he actually came out and spoke to our nbc producer on the ground there about what this moment felt like, take a listen. >> absolutely elated. can't wait to get home. i have two kids that just can't wait to jump into our arms. >> what did it feel like walking through the end of it? >> overwhelming. >> overwhelming. just joy. this is what we've been waiting for, for the last 101 days. >> reporter: instead of that 12-year minimum he got a one-year suspended sentence, and a $6,700 fine, which as soon as he paid he was free to leave the country. we're told he's already on a plane back here to the united states. kate? >>

alvarez joining us now with more on his message to the class of 2024, priscilla while fred president biden thanked the cadets and took that opportunity to congratulate them on their achievements. and also called them the next leaders in civilian and military life. but without naming donald trump are really making a direct election year appeal president biden also under scored the values that he has previously said are at risk if his republican rival were to take a second term, for example, protecting democracy and also the nature alliance. now on that front, the president talked about us leadership on the global stage, including, for example, again, that nato lyon saying, for example, that russian president vladimir putin are testing his assumption that nato would not be able to unify and support ukraine from his invasion. saying quote, putin was certain that nato would fraction of course there speaking directly to the invasion of ukraine and instead, the president said, it is the greatest defense alliance in the history of the world. now of course, president biden has been a defende

let's go now to cnn's priscilla alvarez, who's traveling with president biden in an in seattle step. priscilla biden warned that he would stop some weapons shipments to israel if they follow through with that major offensive in rafah. what are you learning from them? as they traveled today that's right. >> fredricka, that's what he told cnn for the first time making the point that he would still continue defensive weapons to israel. but some other shipments i'm offensive weapons could be held back if real is to move forward with a major ground operation in rafah, that area that has over 1 million displaced palestinians. now. and what my his white house officials have been asked what that operation looks like and at what point it would cross the president's red line. they haven't been able to give that detail or give the parameters of what it would look like saying rather so that it would be obvious when it happens. but this, all of this coming against the backdrop of this report by the state department, it was a high-stakes report, a highly anticipated one that just marked another st

priscilla trying to reinforce among voters what the donald trump years looked like, trying to remind them of that you saw in that ad. >> the mention of the coronavirus pandemic by saying are trying to remind voters of what the president said about drinking and bleach as well as trying to capture that chaos and confusion under the republicans administration and also casting donald trump's presidential bid as revenge. so that captures where they're headed, but also in a memo, they laid out where they plan to ramp up their attacks especially before that june presidential debate. and that includes on abortion, on democracy, and also on the economy, arrogance. were they see weaknesses in what president biden's are republican, his republican rivals issues. now, of course, in this memo, jen o'malley, dillon said the following quote, the biden-harris campaign will zero in on trump's dangerous campaign promises and unhinged rhetoric. we will make sure that the voters who will decide this election are reminded of the chaos and harm trump caused as president and why they booted him out four yea

priscilla, looks pretty nice behind you right now. fountains there. sounds like could be the calm before the storm? >> reporter: yeah. kate, it's a bright and sunny 80-degree day here right now, but this area is currently under a tornado warning until 9:00 local time tonight, and that's because we are expecting severe thunderstorms to roll through at some point this evening. tornadoes are a possibility, but i'm told the real threat is going to be the high winds and potential for hail, and texas is among the states when we look at the map. also looking at maryland, extending up into georgia. 64 million people currently anticipating potential severe weather, and it comes after a week of hoar risk weather events. just last night, what happened in tennessee and tornadoes that touched down. we saw homes that were just destroyed. trees that were snapped like matchsticks and some of what we saw there, just put that in a larger context, yesterday alone more than 400 storms across the country, and when we look at tornadoes, yesterday was the fifth day there we

they're going to tip off tonight against the dallas wings, nbc news correspondent priscilla thompson, texas where clark will take the court. hawaii, priscilla. >> the countdown is on for when caitlin clark steps onto this court and makes the debut. the stands are expected to be packed. already, some opposing teams are moving their games to larger arenas to accommodate the fanfare as number 22 begins her next chapter. >> i'm just excited to get playing. >> reporter: a generational rookie, ready to take the court. for her very first game in the pros. >> i've been playing my best basketball of my life and, you know, hopefully, you know, just being able to replicate that in this league. >> number one overall draft pick, caitlin clark, making her wnba debut tonight with the indiana fever. in one of the league's most anticipated pre-season games ever. >> i feel like she's done like amazing for the game of basketball. >> reporter: after an iconic record-setting college career at iowa. >> the new career high. >> reporter: clark acknowledging the leap to the big stage may not be easy. >> peop