We are coming on the air tonight with the extraordinary scene here in New York. Former President Trump, now criminal defendant Trump, on trial, facing those felony charges with jury selection set to pick up first thing in the morning after just wrapping for the day. Mr. Trump, late tonight, characteristically defiant. We're going to bring you what he just said live outside the courthouse on this historic day In just a sec, we're also live in Baltimore, where we're learning about a new federal criminal investigation into that deadly Bridge collapse. What sources are telling us about whether that cargo ship's crew knew their boat had problems before it smashed into those pillars. Plus, an Uber driver, dead now after finding herself in the middle of a scam gone wrong. Why an 81-year-old man says he thought the driver was in on it. Plus, in New Mexico, the woman who handled weapons on the set of the film Rust, getting the max prison sentence denied for her role in the cinematographer's death. We'll have scenes from the emotional sentencing just months before actor Alec Baldwin faces charges in the case. And later on, the most highly anticipated draft in women's sports history.

What is next for this woman, Kaitlyn Clarke, as we take you Live to the center where it's all going down a little bit later on in the show. Hey there, I'm Halley, and we have never seen before what we're about to show you tonight, what we're about to talk about tonight here. A former President seated among potential jurors, a former President who faces a arrest if he does not show up for court in his own case, even as he's actively running for President. Just the last 15 minutes, we've seen Donald Trump on his way out of court, characteristically defiant, claiming that this is a scam trial. You're seeing the hallway outside court. We can't show you inside because this trial isn't on TV, but we do have some still pictures. You see them here, Mr. Trump watching as his lawyers hash things out with prosecutors and the judge. You're about to see those, actually. Remember why we're here? The former President says he is not guilty on 34 for felony charges of falsifying business records, basically making up records to cover up alleged hush money payments he made to former adult film star Stormy Daniels, all of it to try to stop a sex scandal right before the 2016 campaign.

On day one, both sides getting some big wins for the prosecution. The judge, Mr. Trump attacked for months, says he will not recuse himself. The prosecution can bring in key evidence, like one of the witnesses, Karen McDougal, part of an alleged so-called Catch and Kill Scheme. They can talk about tabloid stories and some of the details from the infamous Access Hollywood tape. The prosecutors can quote the tape. However, they cannot actually show the tape to the jury itself. And that is a huge win for the Trump team. Also wins for them. The other side cannot use Mr. Trump's deposition from a separate civil sex abuse trial and can't bring up certain arguments like when his wife, Melania, was pregnant. This is the deposition, other arguments they can't get into. There's a lot to break down tonight. Danny Savalas is going to get to the legal piece of it in a second. But I want to start with John Hilliard, who is live outside court. Because let's be clear, Von, this is the blockbuster collision between criminal court and the campaign trail and all of the spectacle that would entail. Let's start with what we just heard from former President Trump.

Listen, he has to be there. He faces arrest if he is not at court. I mean, he's got to be in those seats unless the judge excuses him. He is not happy about that. Talk us through it. Right. He went on the attack against district Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office is the one that brought this indictment. In are the ones that are going to be questioning the witnesses, including those that were so close to Donald Trump throughout his life, from Michael Cohen to David Pecker to former Trump aid Hope Hicks. You saw him also go on the attack against Judge Mershaw Morshawn, who if Donald Trump is found guilty, this is what is unique. You don't necessarily see this from a criminal defendant, but attacking the judge repeatedly upon leaving the courthouse is unfair. Now, let's see. If the fact is that you were to be found guilty, it'd be Judge Morshawn, who would be the one in charge of sentencing. That is where for Donald Trump, the stakes are so high because you said it. It's not just the legal, but this is also a political stage for him in the ability to make the mass appeal to the electorate at large, no matter what those future 12 jurors determine inside the courtroom about his guilt or innocence.

For him, the greater jury is the American electorate come November, because if he were to win the White House, that would keep him from ultimately having to serve that prison time inminently, Ali. There's It's also been this spectacle. Listen, and I think we can't overstate the extraordinary moment here. Whatever you think of the case, and we're going to get to that in a second, the legalities of it and the strength of this case. It is for the first time a former President facing these criminal charges, going to trial and watching jury selection happen. You're seeing people by the dozens coming in. They're getting asked a series of questions. Some of them are saying, I cannot be impartial, essentially. They are getting excused. Watching this unfold has been remarkably dramatic late this afternoon. Absolutely. For these jurors that were coming through, you're looking at about two-thirds of them that were ultimately dismissed, saying that they could not be partial or fair in this. That is where you are watching what is going to be a lengthy process here play out. Jury selection could take very well two weeks. They were just still working through that first batch of 96 of them.

We're looking at potentially hundreds going through before they settle on these jurors here. Donald Trump, he In a fundraising, not only emails, but also a text message, one just sent out moments ago. He said, I just stormed out of court. They think I'm finished, but I'll never surrender. Again, for Donald Trump, he is trying to use this to the best of his ability under the circumstances, because as a criminal defendant, he is going to have to be inside of this courtroom, whether he likes it or not. There is a chance, though, Vawn, that this particular legal issue, and we should know here, it is the one that seems most likely to wrap up before the November election, may not be as beneficial to former President Trump as he thinks. No. You look at just this weekend, a New York Times-Ciena College poll that was released that showed a majority of Americans, including independents, view the majority that these charges against him here in New York are either very serious or somewhat serious. When you're looking at that, it is hard to wrestle with some of these facts, especially ones that are so sensitive, so personal, like Sorme Daniel's allegations information that she had an affair with Donald Trump while Melania Trump was pregnant with Barron, right?

That necessarily is not what is being litigated inside the courtroom. Donald Trump isn't being found guilty or innocent on whether Stormy Daniels was paid hush money payment or not, or whether he cheated on his wife, soon to be expecting wife. But those are details that are going to be coming out throughout this process, that the prosecutors are going to ask these very difficult questions and are They're going to bring it to light on a daily basis what they believe is evidence from the past that will undercurrent Donald Trump's reputation with this jury. It makes them question whether Donald Trump is actually innocent in this particular case on these 34 counts. Super quick, Vawn. I want to get to Danny on the legal stuff, but just vibe check, right? I mean, it is a zoo down there. Lower Manhattan, first day of trial. There's a billion members of the media. There's a bunch of Trump supporters, Trump opponents out there, right? It's loud. There's supporters, There are protesters, and there are folks that are coming by that have been honking their car horns throughout the day. To give you an idea, we're just one block away, Halley, from where his civil fraud trial took place just a couple of months ago here.

It's deja vu, but that was a civil trial. This is a criminal trial. One thing that we can say over the course of the last nine years is that the support and the anti-protests of Donald Trump, they haven't calmed down, they haven't gone anywhere, and it's only eating up. We're still six and a half months away from a general where that is only going to be heightened even more, Halley. Von Hilliard starting things off tonight for us there in downtown Manhattan. Von, thank you. Danny Sivalos joins us now. Okay, so let's talk through some of this from the legal perspective. What we have seen unfold today. First things first, jury selection. We have seen a solid number of jurors be dismissed, be excused here. Our sources are suggesting that potentially thousands of people could end up called in over the course of the next couple of weeks, maybe that long, as they try to figure out which 12 people, six alternates are going to sit on this jury. Is it Is it normal that that many people end up dismissed from a jury? No, and they're not dismissed that easily. In fact, normally the sense is that jurors come in, potential jurors, and they want to get out of jury duty, and the judge is trying so hard to keep them in.

But in this case, he's got to presume that people who are raising their hand and saying, I will be biased, I cannot be fair and impartial. He's presuming that they're telling the truth. That's not the way it normally works. Anybody who's been called in for jury duty, I remember having this experience. The judge makes a big point to say, there's very few excuses good enough for you to get out of jury duty. Like, I'm busy, I got a vacation. That ain't the bar. That's not going to cut it here. But there's a different standard in this case. I've seen this dance a million times. People come in, maybe they think their work is important or they have a big business meeting coming up. They have child care issues. You're absolutely right. Normally, the judge is inclined to keep people and pressure them to stay on and not use these excuses. This is different. I think Judge Mershon realizes that when people in this case identify as someone who cannot be fair and impartial about this particular defendant, the most infamous or famous defendant in criminal history, then they're going to have to just let them go and keep searching for fair and impartial jurors.

That's why they're burning through so many. That's why they called so many to the courthouse. Now we are in for the next indetermined period of time, probably days, a couple of weeks, what you could colloquially call grind land, just the grind, the slog, churning through these jurors, trying to narrow down this pool of thousands to just a couple of dozen or just a dozen or so here. But what will happen coming up next week, next Tuesday morning, is critical because that is when the judge is going to make a decision on whether Donald Trump violated a partial gag order when he went after somebody who was going to be potentially one of the star witnesses in this case, his former fixer, Michael Cohen, who's testifying against him. Yes, he's setting the standard early and making it clear that if Donald Trump misbehaves with the gag order or plays around on the fringes, he's going to be called in for a hearing. Who's to say he doesn't go right back to the well and mis behave online or in a speech out in front of the courthouse. This is a good line to set for the judge so that Donald Trump doesn't continue with violations or perceived violations of the gag order.

Halley, I'm so glad you brought up that other thing, which is that jury selection is normally incredibly tedious. It was exciting today because we had some motion hearings in the beginning of the day, but now it's going to settle in to what I consider, and a grind is a perfect word for it. I am not a fan of jury jury selection. It is boring but also terrifying because you never know if you just let on some juror who's going to torpedo your entire case. That's because all of jury selection, in my view, is astrology. Yes, lawyers can tell you about their generalizations about this particular job or where this person lives, but it's all generalization. In my view, jurors will surprise you. They're individuals. I think the other thing that will surprise all of us, especially all of us here, is that you will be amazed. Even with a defendant like Donald Trump, you're still going to find some people who don't read papers, don't watch the news, and know vaguely who he is. I know it sounds astounding, but those jurors exist. They're out there somewhere. The judge just has to find them. What is so interesting about this case, though, is the historic nature of it.

How many times can we say the word, This It is unprecedented, but in this instance, these three words are actually true. It is unprecedented. You talked about those motions hearings this morning. That's the procedural piece of it. Both sides came away with some wins. How do you see it? The judge has to make some of these decisions here about what evidence is going to be what evidence is not going to be allowed. Did he play it down the middle in your view? He did. When it comes to the character evidence issue, that is always a fight in every criminal case. As a defense attorney, I'm a little biased. I often think too much character evidence comes in. To simplify, you can't normally introduce evidence that somebody did a bad thing to prove that they committed this crime. But what clever prosecutors do is they introduce that evidence for some other purpose, like modus operandi or identity or something else like that. So definitely some wins from both sides, but this This is always a contentious issue at the start of every trial. Danny Sivalis, thank you so much. Lots to watch. Lots of headlines here at home.

Thank you. And also a lot of headlines overseas, because right now, the world is holding its breath to see what Israel could do next. With more military action may be imminent, According to one official there, after that Iranian aerial attack, hundreds of missiles and drones launched on Israel just about 48 hours ago now. The Israelis are facing, you see some of the video there. The Israelis are facing growing pressure from these top world leaders to basically have some restraint to avoid fueling an even bigger conflict. We're committed to a ceasefire that will bring the hostages home and preventing conflict from spreading beyond what it already has. Listen, while these Iranian strikes, you can see the flares here. They weren't super successful. Israel managed to deflect, I think 99% of them, roughly, they say. It is the first direct assault from Iranian territory into Israel ever. So today, again, after another meeting yesterday, the war cabinet got together and Israel huddled with an Israeli official telling NBC News, The country will respond. When or how? That is the question. Remember, these new Iranian strikes, retaliation for the attack on its embassy in Syria that killed some of its top military commanders at the beginning of the month.

Iran blames Israel. Israel is not claiming responsibility. Rafe Sanchez is on the ground for us live in Tel Aviv. So Tehran says it doesn't want any further escalation, that it would essentially leave this issue here. Potentially, of course, that could change depending on what counter attack Israel decides to launch. One expert, former national security official suggested to me that perhaps it would be maybe something like a cyber attack, something that wasn't so aggressive or immediate, if you will. Do we have any indications or hints from the Israelis as to what's to come? Well, Halley, what they are saying is that whatever is coming, it is coming soon. An Israeli official, after that war cabinet meeting wrapped up earlier today, told me the consensus among those key Israeli decision makers is Israel's response needs to come swiftly. This was an unprecedented attack by Iran. Unprecedent, as you said, for Iran to attack directly from its soil, but also just the scale of this, Halley. 350 drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles. The feeling among Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's inner circle is Israel needs to be seen to respond soon. One possibility is a cyber attack. Another possibility, air strikes, something blow for blow as to what Iran did on Saturday.

What complicates that, Halley, is Israel would have to fly through the airspace of its Arab neighbors, some of those neighbors who helped fend off that attack on Saturday night. You talked about the pressure that the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, faces, Rafe. He has some domestic politics at play, too, in Israel here between some of his more far-right cabinet members versus those more moderates. That's right. So some members of the far-right in his cabinet are saying Israel basically needs to go crazy, that they need to be seen to strike back hard, that escalation be damned. But on his other shoulder, Halley, he has President Biden, who told him on Saturday, while this attack was still underway, take the win. That's right. Israel has succeeded in fending off the overwhelming majority of these missiles and drones. There is no need to escalate further. And so Prime Minister Netanyahu is going to have to walk that tightrope. It's notable, he has actually been very, very quiet in the 48 hours or so. Since that, attack, hasn't done any press conferences, hasn't done any public speeches. And that suggests to me that this is a leader who's trying to keep his options open.

What's the sense you're there in Tel Aviv, Raph? Even throughout the war, and I have far less I've never experienced there than you, obviously, but people tend to go about business as usual. Can you give us a sense of what it's like tonight there now, 48 hours after the attack? It is obviously over. There is a concern about fallout here, but what is day to day life like? Yeah, Halley, you've been exactly here where we do our live shots. We're looking out over one of the main streets in Tel Aviv. It's late here, but it's been quiet, calm all day. There were restrictions for the civilian population in Israel imposed by the military. Schools were closed. There were limits on the number of people who could gather. But the military actually has lifted those restrictions now, which was widely seen here as a sign that Israel was not planning to retaliate anytime soon. But the military tonight saying, while those restrictions are lifted for now, they could be reimposed if this situation escalates. Halley. Raph Sanchez, live for us in Tel Aviv tonight. Raph, good to see you. Thank you so much for that new reporting.

Another new report, finding that the suicide bombing at Kabul Airport in Afghanistan back in 2021 was not preventable like some thought at first. The bombing happened, of course, at Abbey Gate during those final chaotic days of the US's withdrawal from Afghanistan. Thirteen US troops, 170 Afghans were killed in that attack. But the US Central Command is releasing some of this new info today confirming that the person some US service members saw the morning of the attack who they thought was the bomber, actually was not. This was the so-called bald man in black. Service members had seen. They thought they had a chance to take him out. They did not get approval to do it, which led to a lot of criticism that nobody had been held accountable for this attack. Courtney Qby is joining us now. So CENTCOM, as it's known, has this additional investigation into this attack. Got a lot of heat of what we just talked about. Go through the details in this report, what we're learning and the fallout here. So the original review or investigation found, as you said, Halley, it went through everything about the attack, what happened, where it happened.

One thing that that initial investigation, which, by the way, was released about a year ago, it never identified the bomber, the suicide bomber. That is one thing that's different about this review that CENCOM officially released here today. They are identifying the person who they say US intelligence has determined was the bomber that day August 26, 2021, as Mohamed Al-Lehgari. Now, he was an ISIS Khorasan or ISIS K operative, who we also learned from this report or this review was in a coalition prison up until just days before the bombing at Abbey Gate. And he was one of the prisoners who was released by the Taliban in their run up to Kabul in those last days before that evacuation, Halley. The initial report also concluded that the attack was not preventable. But who was the bomber, right? I mean, what is it telling us about the identity here? Yeah. So he was an ISIS K operative. The difference between him and the photo that you showed earlier, the so-called bald man in black, who's also identified in this review, the US military, just to ensure that these US Marines, specifically Tyler Vargas Andrews, a former US Marine sergeant who has claimed in the last year or so that he had this man in his sights, the suicide bomber, in his sights.

This review determined that, in fact, the man who Sergeant Vargas Andrews was looking at was this bald man in black. And they did a review or an analysis of both of their faces and determined with almost complete certainty that there was no way it was the same person who actually US intelligence now says was the bomber, Halley. Courtney Kuby, live for us there at the Pentagon Court. Thank you. Thanks. To Baltimore now where the FBI is opening a criminal Full investigation into that deadly Baltimore Bridge collapse that killed at least six people. Sources tell NBC News that the feds are now looking into whether or not these crew members on board that ship that crashed into the Bridge knew about any problems with the ship before that catastrophe, essentially, when the ship plowed through one of the pillars there on the bridge that runs over the Patapsco, taking the whole thing down. According to two senior law enforcement officials, federal agents went on the board that ship in just the last few hours with search warrants. It comes as attorneys for two of men killed, and one survivor now alleged those men got no warning in the critical seconds before the collapse happened.

He got zero warning. He had no idea. He watched everybody go into the water. So they were not warned. They were actually sitting in their cars on break. Tom Castello has been following this from the beginning. He is joining us now. Tom, we'll get to what else we're hearing from the victim's attorneys in a second. But start with this FBI investigation here, and this news that perhaps there were search warrants executed on board that ship. Yeah, that's right. Our NBC news justice team is reporting that, in fact, the FBI did have search warrants to go onto the dolly. That's that massive container ship that crashed into the bridge a month ago. And what are they looking for? It would appear that they want to talk to members of the crew, maybe review the documents on board the deck on the bridge of the ship. Specifically, was there any indication that the crew had any prior knowledge that there were problems with power systems on board the ship, with either the lights going in and out, with the electricity on board going on and off, and also any information about the quality of the fuel. As you know, there have been rumors and discussions about whether there might have been contaminated fuel.

All of that is part of the NTSB investigation, the Coast Guard investigation. But now that the FBI is coming on board, that would suggest a criminal element to this, at least a criminal investigation. That may be pro forma given the nature of this this disaster and the fact that six lives were lost. And by the way, it falls under US maritime law. Okay, that's Bucket One, which is this investigation, which is the details there. I want to get to Bucket Two, which is what we're hearing from the victims the attorneys, the idea that they were sitting in their cars and had no warning. Initially, when this collapse first happened, we heard from officials at these news conferences in the minutes and the hours after the crash that there was at least some degree of a warning for folks who were coming onto the bridge, stopping, essentially. How do we reconcile these pieces of information? What do we know or what do we don't know? I think it really is consistent with the narrative from the very beginning, because really, from the minute that the captain on board or the pilot on board that ship said, We've got a problem, we've lost control, they radioed the dispatcher involved and responsible for that bridge, the dispatcher immediately told the police on either ends of the bridge, Shut the bridge down.

They shut down traffic going over the bridge, but the construction workers were stuck on top of the bridge and did not have, it appears, did not have radio contact. So they never heard the imminent warning that there may be a possibility of the ship being out of control. And then suddenly, they went into the water, 90 seconds to 2 minutes after that initial warning. So it is consistent with the fact that the police got traffic stopped, but on the bridge itself, those workers didn't know. Tom Costello, live for us there back home in Washington. Thank you very much for that. You bet. Out West, the armorer from the movie Rust. Tonight has been given the max sentence, 18 months after being found guilty for involuntary manslaughter over the death of the movie's cinematographer. Hannah Gutieras-Reed, addressing the court before this sentence came down. Look at these emotional moments. I am saddened by the way the media sensationalized our dramatic tragedy and portrayed me as a complete monster, which has actually been the total opposite of what's been in my heart. You see Gutieras' read here at the moment that the judge handed down that sentence, referencing what was described as her lack of remorse.

Before the hearing, the state-detailed calls Gutieras' read allegedly made from behind bars as she was waiting for her sentence, calling the jurors and the special prosecutor derogatory names. You see it there, saying the jury was so, in her words, allegedly, effing stupid, effing idiots, that she was insulting people, said that she thought the judge was getting paid off, and saying that Hannah wants them to put Alec Baldwin in jail as well. Remember, cinematographer Helena Hutchins was killed when the gun that Baldwin was holding, a prop gun loaded with live ammo, went off on set. I want to bring in Dana Griffin with more super emotional in court today. Dana, talk us through it. Yeah. So emotional. We saw recorded video statements from Helena's mother, sister from Ukraine, and also her attorney read a statement from her father who said that he doesn't want revenge, but he wants her to be held responsible. We also heard from several of Halina's professional friends, and they described her as the type of friend that any of us would be lucky to have. Listen to some of what they said today. Last four words she ever said to me.

I believe in you. Those four words will forever echo in my soul. Your death will count for something more than this sadness and regret that it's left in its wake. She was complicated and talented and beautiful and caring and kind and funny and committed and charming and weird and fearless. She was all of my favorite adjectives. All of her favorite adjectives. We also heard from Director Joel Souza, who was also injured in that shooting. He says that he is still feeling pain and says that he wants to be the person that he used to be, saying, One moment, the world made sense. The next moment, it didn't. And, Halley, this is also interesting to know. The judge gave her 18 months, the max sentence here, even though the defense asked for probation. And part of it was because she brought up those disparaging comments that she made during those jail phone conversations, and also that during Hannah's own statement in the courtroom, the first time we've actually heard her speak, she did not take any accountability for her actions. I also want to talk about Alec Baldwin here because we know that his defense team is watching every moment of this trial, and possibly will be making decisions about what they do next.

Do they try to reach out and take another plea deal, or do they go to trial in July, knowing that he is facing the exact the same charges that Hannah Gutier is reed faced, and we now know how much time she's getting in prison. Halley. Dana Griffin Live for us there out West in LA. Dana, thank you. We've got to get to some breaking news just coming into us in the last couple of minutes here. We're learning the Supreme Court is letting Idaho enforce its ban on gender-referming care for transgender kids, a law that could potentially put doctors behind bars if they give a child under the age of 18 hormones or puberty blockers or any other gender-referming care. Lawrence Hurley is joining us now. Bring us up to speed. Yeah. So basically the Supreme Court, divided with the three liberal justices dissenting, has allowed this law to go into effect almost fully. What they're saying is that the two transgender teens who challenged the law, they can still pursue their claim and it's not going to be enforced against them. But a district court went too far in saying that the entire law had to be blocked.

And so that means that it can still be enforced against other people. And one key provision, which is one concerning a ban on surgery, which will remain blocked, too. And the court says, among other things, that the two teens in this case had not said that they were requiring surgery anyway, which is one of the reasons why the law shouldn't be blocked as a whole. Those two teens were getting puberty blockers and estrogen, and they will still be able to get the care that they need. But anyone else in the state who maybe needs that care or would like surgery, who's in that same position We'll not be able to get it for now. Lawrence Hurley. Thanks for scrambling to the camera with that. Lots to watch, of course, on that front in the months to come. Appreciate it. Coming up here in the show, why police are charging four people in the disappearance of two moms who never showed up for a kid's birthday party. Plus, invasive mosquitoes found out in California why officials warned they could carry a potentially deadly disease. Officials in Oklahoma tonight saying two mothers from Kansas, missing since the end of March, are dead.

Four people, including the grandmother of one of the victim's kids, have been charged with murder in this case, being held without bond. And the allegations here, this violent custody dispute. Two bodies have been recovered in a rural part of Oklahoma. No official ID from the medical examiner yet, but officials say the women, 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Gillian Kelly, were driving through the Oklahoma Panhandle on their to pick up Butler's children. The two women never showed up. Later that day, their car was found abandoned on a highway right near the Oklahoma, Kansas state Line. Marissa Para is joining us now. This has been a mystery that has been out there now for days. Bring us up to speed about what we're learning from some of these documents in this news conference today. Hey, Halley. So we got a lot of twists and turns today from the documents that were released and just some really shocking stuff. But I want to start first just laying out the relationships between everyone. So these are the four people that were charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy. So one of the women charged, you can see Tiffany Adams.

This is the grandmother of Veronica Butler's children. And there was a year's long custody battle over Butler's children. There were tense relations between Tiffany Adams and Butler, described in the affidavits, these documents that we got our hands on today. And unfortunately, the other victim here, Kelly, it appears to be she was just collateral damage in this year's long and contentious custody battle. Now, all four of these people that you saw on your screen just now were part of a religious group. The court documents saying that this was an anti-government group, and they self-identified themselves as God's misfits. That is a direct quote, self-identification there. So some of the details that we've learned, I want to warn viewers, it might be difficult to hear. They are disturbing. But among the many things that investigators laid out were evidence that led them to these four people. They describe finding blood outside of that abandoned car. They found a broken hammer. They describe matching up cell phone tower evidence along with search history that Tiffany Adams had searched for gun shops. She bought five stun guns in the days before the disappearance. But one of the most shocking parts, Halley, was an interview done with the daughter of one of those people charged.

They referred to this daughter as CW. This daughter told investigators she had heard of discussions of attempts to kill Butler in February, that she had heard the plan was to throw an Anvil through Butler's windshield to make it look like a traffic accident. And I want to bring you to this quote from the document here. They had told this daughter they were on a mission, and they came back later and said things didn't go as planned, but that they wouldn't have to worry about Butler again. So, Halley, so many other things to unpack, but I want to end with something that's just as important here. Remember, this all centers around those children, the children at the center of this years long custody battle here, the children that were supposed to be picked up by these mothers. And so as this family, these families are searching for closure. The one thing we can share is that those children, while their whereabouts are not being disclosed, they are safe, Halley. Marissa Para, thank you very much for that update. A difficult one, of course, tonight. Let's get you over to the five things our team thinks you should know about tonight.

Number one, police in Sydney, Australia They say a 15-year-old stabbed a bishop who is delivering a sermon today during a livestream service at a church. Other people were hurt. You're looking at some of the aftermath there, that scramble. Fortunately, everybody, including that bishop, are expected to be okay. The suspect is now in today. This happened days after a different stabbing in the same city where a man killed six people. Number two, top scientists at Noah say coral reefs around the world are going through this mass bleaching for the fourth time ever because oceans are getting warmer. It's climate change. If the bleaching is really serious and lasts a long time, the coral can die. Number three, potentially some turmoil at Tesla with Elon Musk telling employees in a new memo it'll be laying off more than 10% of its workers. That's something like 14,000 employees who could be losing their jobs. Musk says it's all part of a push to cut costs and make productivity better for the company as they grow. Tesla shares have taken a hit in the last few months, falling just about 30% this year so far. Number 4, Canadian singer Grimes, giving fans a long apology on social media after a messy Coachella said.

Some video from over the weekend shows her yelling into her mic at one point because stuff just kept breaking down. She said it had to do with tech problems. She promised she would do better at this weekend's Coachella Round 2. Number 2, take a look at this video. The moment a driver tried to turn a car into a residential street, ended up in the air, crashing into somebody's house. The whole thing, look at that. It's literally sailing over that other car right into the garage. That's the aftermath there. A neighbor You said the doorbell camera captured it. Officials said the driver was taken to the hospital but was not seriously hurt. Health officials in California tonight, sounding some alarms after discovering a dangerous mosquito that can carry dengue fever. These mosquitoes are Coming up all over California with some red flags on that because the outbreaks are raging down in Latin America and the Caribbean, including some big spikes in Puerto Rico. Part of the problem, according to experts, this hotter, warmer climate, which creates a really good breeding ground for these mosquitoes. There have been nearly five million cases this year in the Americas, according to an agency within the WHO, most of them further south, where their summer is starting to wrap up, right as ours heats up.

That number is more than the total cases of any year on record that they've had with that agency. It's only April. Dengue is usually pretty mild. You can get it and not even know you have it, but it can create fever, headaches, nausea, etc. The list goes on. A lot of times it gets better after a week, but in some instances it can lead to hospitalization and obviously it can be fatal. Dr. Aksha Seyal, our MBC Medical Fellow, joins us now. As always, please give us a context check, a gut check. Should we be freaking out as mosquito season approaches or is there a reason to be optimistic here? No, we should not be freaking out, Halley. I think- That is a good headline, Dr. Seil. Thank you. Being aware but not being flicked out is, I think the takeaway, Halley. But on a broader point about mosquitoes. So the National Academy of Sciences, Halley, just months ago, had a big meeting. They brought together all these experts in mosquito and tropical-born diseases. And they're really saying the overall theme, Halley, is that The US is just not prepared for this. One of the things they talked about was we're watching this happen in other countries, and we're just standing by and like, Oh, that's interesting.

We're not prepared to track these things. We're not prepared to fight these things. And if it's happening there, there's no reason it can't happen here down the line. You We talked about as the climate gets warmer and it gets hotter and more humid, these things could potentially be a threat. And it's not just dengue virus, right? We're talking about malaria. We're talking about chikunguna, West Nile, these things that these mosquitoes can carry. There's a little concerned that we're not adequately prepared to fight these things. What about, as you talk about the issue with mosquitoes here, it's an El Niño year. Does that play into it? It does. These climate shocks, right? These extreme weather events, these warmer, more humid events. And it's not just mosquito-borne diseases, right? You and I talked a few months ago about Lyme disease and alpha-gal syndrome, where you can get allergic to red meat. These ticks are migrating where it's warmer and more humid, too. So there's a whole host of things we should be watching for. For those out there who are wondering, what can I do it, at least at a local level, to fight mosquitoes-Let me guess.

We're repellent? We're repellent, we're bug spray, but that's not going to cut it. We need to do a little bit more. One of the things we can do is if you have stagnant water, you have water lying around to make sure you're emptying that in your pots and your saucers and flour vases, pet bowls, and really outside, check for rainwater that can collect. Oftentimes, we can forget about that, overlook that. So make sure that's emptying as well. But good news, Halley, I know I've been a little bit more somber today, but the good news is there is a vaccine in development for Dengate. It's showing about 90 % effectiveness in early stage trials in Brazil. So something to look forward to there. When could that actually be out for availability for shots in arms? There's a little bit of skepticism here in the US with prior experiences with Dengue vaccines. They have had some serious side effects. So until it becomes a real big threat here, I wouldn't expect it to be approved just yet here. Dr. Aksha Syal, thank you so much. Good to see you. Anytime. Lots more to come here on the show, including how a scam, allegedly targeting an 81-year-old man, may have ended with an Uber driver shot and killed.

Plus, Park rangers in Arizona want felony charges for two men hiking on centuries-old rocks. We'll explain. 81-year-old man now charged for shooting and killing an Uber driver he says he thought was part of a scam. Video from the victim's car, Lalithah Hall, shows her walking to William Brock's home to pick up a package. This is like an Uber delivery situation. Look at this video. A couple of minutes later, Brock confronts her with a gun. You see him here holding the gun. She's walking around her car. When she tries to get away, he allegedly shoots her several times, according to the Sheriff's office. They say Brock told them he thought Hall was part of a scam. Somebody had been calling him, demanding money, saying what if Brock's family members was in custody? The Sheriff says Hall had no idea about any of this and never threatened him. Maura Barrett is following this for us tonight. What in the world happened here? Talk to us about the charges Brock faces and what else police are saying. Halley, it's just a terribly tragic situation. Basically, Hall got involved in this just because she was doing her job. She was responding to Uber calls, and that call that you were referring to with the person impersonating an officer, calling Brock, basically, as police described it to us, they said that after it escalated into this ransom situation, the person who made the call or one of their accomplices offices ordered this Uber in which Hall was then called to Brock's house to allegedly pick up what they were hoping would be a package of money.

That's when this confrontation happened. You can see him threatening her with the gun, and then he ultimately shoots her allegedly three times. He sustained a head injury at one point, and that's when he called authorities. But she was unfortunately transferred to a hospital and passed away there. This all unfolded about a month ago. We're learning details now because there was a grand jury presentation today. Brock was charged three counts of murder, one count of felonious assault, and one count of kidnapping. He'll be arrained on those charges later this week. Now, as for Uber's involvement, Uber released a statement saying that it's a horrific tragedy. Our hearts continue to be with Lalitha's loved ones as they grieve. We've been in contact with law enforcement and remain committed to supporting their investigation. Uber also tells NBC News that the account for the person that ordered the Uber, the one that brought Hall to Brock's home, has since been banned. Officials haven't revealed who that person is, what their name might be, or if there's been any other arrests associated with this whole incident, Halley. Maura Barrett, thank you very much for that update. Nbc News covers hundreds of other stories every day.

And because it can be tough to read or watch or listen to them all, our bureau teams have done it for you. This is what they tell us is going down in their regions in a segment we call The Local. Out of our Southern Bureau, police in New Orleans say they're looking for a shooter who killed somebody and hurt 11 other people. Police on the ground describing the panic, the chaos, when folks heard gunfire around midnight at a club just steps from Bourbon Street. As of right now, no arrest yet. Out of our Western Bureau, Park Rangers in Arizona want your help finding these two guys caught on camera messing up these rock formations that are centuries old at the super popular Lake Mead National Recreation area. Look, what are they doing? They're struggling. They're trying to get these chunks of sandstone dumped over. Not ideal, which is why they could face federal prison time on felony charges if they're caught. And back to our Southern Bureau. Look at this wild video. A guy driving his SUV right into a garage door belonging to a sheriff's deputy in Florida. Then gets out of the car, starts shooting at the deputy and his family.

The deputy returned fire. Fortunately, nobody was hurt. Police said the two had no prior beef. They called it a targeted attack on law enforcement. The suspect now faces first-degree murder charges. Still to come, security concerns may be pouring some cold water on plans for what would be a historic opening ceremony for the Summer Olympics in Paris. We're talking about the new backup plan in just a sec. So the French President tonight says there is a backup plan for what should be an opening ceremony that makes history at this summer's Olympics. Plan A. Okay, this is plan A. All the athletes, all the heads of state from around the world, set to sail down the iconic Seine River right through the heart of Paris. Look at that. It would be the first time an Olympics opening ceremony will be held outside of a stadium. But there is also a plan B now now apparently being considered. The reason? Potential security risks, possibly ramped up more with wars in the Ukraine, excuse me, with wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Kira Simmons is joining us now. Okay, to say that an opening ceremony is a huge logistical undertaking is an understatement any year in any city, but especially this year, especially in Paris, especially with the plan they have in place, right?

That's right. That's so right. And add to that, too, Halley, the President of France has enormous power. It's the nature of the system. And the impression we've got today is that President Macron has thrown his officials for a loop by making this statement, because up until now, they have been insisting, despite everything you've laid out there, that the opening ceremony would go ahead on the Seine. Now, to be fair on President Macron, and there's often rarely a reason to be fair on politicians, but let's be fair, he did say that likely the opening ceremony will happen on the river there. Here's what the plan is, if that is still going to be the plan, there'll be 160 boats, 10,500 athletes, 3.5 miles along the Seine, 300,000 spectators. That's fewer than had been planned of 600,000. But you can see why, Harry, it is worrying for some because it's so sizable. And that's why there's this increased security. So 45,000 French police and security forces, 20,000 private security personnel now, 15,000 military. And they now say, the French, that they're going to get support in the security operation from 45 countries. So if the opening ceremony isn't all these folks sailing down the Seine, what is plan B?

Does it move indoors? How do you satisfy the concerns with these security potential issues with delivering something that is, as people come to expect from the Olympics, spectacular? Well, there is a plan B, apparently, and also a plan C, according to President Macron. Just in terms of plan A, by the way, people on balconies like the one I'm on right now in Paris, if they are overlooking events, they are going to get a visit from security services, we're told. But then the opening ceremony itself on the Seine, it finishes at the Trocadéro, and a lot of the events will happen there. But a plan B would be to have all of the opening ceremony there at the Trocadéro, perhaps on boats that don't actually move along the river. Then the And then the plan C, according to President Macron, is to go back to the traditional inside the Olympic Stadium opening ceremony. I mean, it would be a disappointment, wouldn't it? I mean, it's one of the things we've been really excited about. And I do get the impression from officials here, and of course, from what the President said, that they do really, really want this opening ceremony to go the way they have planned it, which is on the river.

An incredible television spectacle. And for those who get a chance to see it, the first time it would ever have happened outside an Olympic Stadium. And in so many ways, Keir, setting the table, if it does happen, for the city as the venue itself, if you will. Keir Simmons, Live First there overseas. Keir, thank you so much in Paris for us tonight. Lots more back here at home to come, including Kaitlyn Clarke, going pro tonight, expected to be the top pick at the WMBA draft in Brooklyn. It's not just Clarke, by the way. Cameron Brink, Angel Reece, some other big stars are in the draft as the league hopes to ride this record wave of popularity from the college tournament that, as we've talked about here on the show, it's set records all over the place, capped off by that Championship game where nearly 19 million people watched Clarke in Iowa lose to South Carolina. So the highest rated basketball game, period. Like, period. Wmba, NBA, whatever since 2019. Clark's been doing the rounds. Here she is in New York. She even popped by SNL. Stephanie Gosc, she was where I was in 30 Rock this weekend.

She's, I think, going to be where you are at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where the draft is going to go down. They're selling tickets this year to the drafts for the first time ever that sold out like that. Give us a vibe check. Yeah, they sold out in 15 minutes. I spoke with the Commissioner for the WNBA earlier today, and she would be quick to tell you that that national Championship Game at its peak was 24 million viewers. And they're really confident at the WNBA that they're going to be able to take that excitement, that energy, and translate it into excitement and energy for the WNBA season. But We've been obviously talking a lot about Kaitlyn Clarke, but as you mentioned, there are some pretty awesome players in this draftee class. I had a chance to talk to them. They are dressed to the Nines tonight. And keep in mind, they've been working for this for years. They had a lot to say about the excitement and just how happy they are to be here. Take a listen. I want to be a great player, of course, and just be a sponge. It means so much.

My mom played basketball at Virginia Tech, and she would not have gone to BT because of Title IX. And so she was the first person to graduate College and her family. And so it just means the world that we've come from that to millions and millions of people watching games. It means the most to me. It just tells me that all the hard work that I went through, all the hard work I put on is paying off right now. And I'm just so proud of myself. They're really ready to just ride that wave into their pro careers. Outside of this building today, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, you have fans. And the fans split it to two groups. You have people who have been watching women's basketball for a long time, and then you've got a whole group of newbies that are out there as well. It is a big tent of fans, and there's a lot of excitement. Listen to what they have to say. I think it's amazing. I think the discourse around basketball, not just being men's this year, has been really cool to see. So often, women are just left in the shadow, and there's no stars or there's no one who can.

But clearly, the talent has been there. They just need the media to act on it. For a lot of women in this game who've been playing or coaching or whatever it is, they'll tell you, this has been an exciting game to watch for a long time, but they are very happy to welcome the new fans, Halley. I love that. What else did Clayton Clarke tell you? Because she is like, and you're right, there's a ton of players. I mean, listen, Angel Rees has been all over my For You page over the course of the college Championship, the College Playoffs there. But it is Clarke that seems to be capturing in so many ways, the lightning in a bottle here. Yeah, she really has, Halley. And you can understand why, even without knowing anything about basketball, just watching one of her games, watching her launch one of those logo threes from the middle of the court and sinking it, the records that she has broken, the scoring records, those three-point records. She has galvanized interest in this sport and has translated into actually big money, not just on the collegiate level, but now going into the pros.

She's going to most likely be drafted by the Indiana Fever. Right now, season tickets for the Indiana Fever are up astronomically. People are buying them. There's a lot of room to grow. The Commissioner also told me today that some of the teams she's playing against or that the Fever would be playing against have changed their venues to larger locations to accommodate all the fans for her games, Halley. That's bananas. I mean, it feels like there just hasn't been a moment like this for women's basketball before. Yeah, it's remarkable whether you are new to this sport or not to see this excitement and energy, something that you can probably equate to women's soccer, that national energy around it. It's going to be a real... Yeah, It's going to be a really fun proseason this year for the WMBA. And don't forget, you have the Paris Olympics as well. There's a good chance Kaitlyn Clarke is going to show up there as well. How could we ever forget Stephanie Gosc? I'm sure we'll be talking about that more in the weeks and months to come. Thank you so much, Steph. Have a great time tonight. I wish we could be hanging out with you there.

It'd be a fly on the wall. Appreciate it, Steph. Still ahead. The legacy of one golden retriever/mascot lives on on this Boston Marathon day. How folks there are honoring Spencer by being Boston Strong. Big celebrations up in Boston tonight with Helen O'Beerri from Kenya and Cee Salama from Ethiopia, winning today's marathon in Boston. And among the thousands cheering them and others on in the streets, a special group carrying on a tradition that's inspired runners for years, with the legacy living on of one man's best friend becoming a hometown hero. When Dory and Rich Power adopted their golden retriever, Spencer, in 2009, they knew he was something special. Dory, 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. 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.

He was just such a symbol of hope and inspiration that people could latch on to. And latch on they did. Post after post of people stopping for snuggles. 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 obituary in the New York Times. And now... Here we come. A statue right along the marathon route where Spencer always stood. I can't thank you enough. This boy meant the world to us, and he meant the world to a lot of people. And where today, a new guard was out to greet Boston Marathon runners. Meet Jimmy and Jade. Atta boy, attta boy, good boy. Does he live on in these new puppies that you have? I think so, yeah, definitely. They're so sweet, and they have a mission, and they're going to do it. Like Spencer, they're training to become therapy dogs, part of Spencer's legacy in a way, honoring a hometown hero this community cannot forget. He was a symbol of hope and resilience and an inspiration for so many that we want this to go on for generations. He was just a symbol.

You can do way more than you think you can, and you can do it. I mean, we love to see it. That is for sure more of that reporting on Sunday Nightly News. I will see you there every week over on your NBC station, 6:30 Eastern on Sunday. That does it for us for this hour here on NBC News Now. We've got more coverage picking up right now. We are coming on the air tonight with that extraordinary scene here in New York City. Former President Trump, now criminal defendant Trump on trial facing those felony charges. A moment that is making history. Jury selection set to pick up first thing in the morning. Mr. Trump, characteristically defiant tonight in this unprecedented moment. We'll bring you what he said live outside the courthouse in just a sec. Also in the Middle East tonight, a lot of breath holding as we speak with the world bracing to see if Israel will respond after Iran's first ever direct strikes. How this could all escalate in a millisecond when we take you live to Tel Aviv. We're also out in New Mexico, where the woman who handled weapons on the set of the movie Rust is getting the max prison sentence for her role in the cinematographer's death.

Seans from the emotional sentence in sing in what it could portend for Alec Baldwin's trial coming up. Plus, in Oklahoma, police saying they found the bodies of two mothers who went missing on their way to a kid's birthday party. The four people, including a relative, they're charging tonight with murder. Plus, the discovery of Dengue fever freeing mosquitoes, raising concerns about an explosion of cases in this country this summer. So should you be freaking out? Spoiler, our health expert says no. More on that in just a sec. Hey, I'm Halleigh, and we have never seen before what we're about to show you tonight, what we are about to talk about tonight. A former President seated among potential jurors who will decide his fate. A former President who faces arrest if he does not show up for court in these criminal proceedings, even as he's actively running for President. In just the last hour, we have seen Donald Trump there speaking on his way out of court, calling this, in his view, a scam trial. It's a scam. It's a political witch hunt. It continues forever. And we're not going to be given a fair trial. He's alongside his lead attorney there.

That's the hallway outside court. We can't show you inside because the trial is not on TV, but we do have some of the still pictures you're seeing here. Mr. Trump, watching this moment, taking it in as his employers hash things out with prosecutors and the judge. He says he's not guilty on these 34 felony charges of falsifying business records. If he's convicted, he faces up to two years in a New York prison. All of it is related to alleged hush money payments he made to former adult film star Stormy Daniels to try to stop a sex scandal from coming out right before the 2016 campaign. On day one, you had both sides getting some wins. For the prosecution, the judge said he will not recuse himself. Remember, Mr. Trump has been going after him for months. The prosecution can also bring in key evidence, like the testimony of Karen McDougal, part of a so-called catch-and-kill scheme, allegedly. They can talk about certain tabloid stories, certain details from the infamous Access Hollywood tape. They can quote the tape. They can't actually show the tape to the jury itself. And that is a win for the Trump team.

You see it here. Also wins for them. The other side can't use Mr. Trump's deposition from a separate civil sex abuse trial, and they can't bring up certain arguments like when his wife, Melania, got pregnant. We're going to talk through all of it, including the politics with Von Hilliard in just a sec. But I want to start with a legal piece of it with our senior legal correspondent, Laura Jarrett, who is also outside court. So court is ending tonight, Laura. It is shutting down for the evening. Picks back up tomorrow with jury selection. You've got hundreds of people waiting to hear their names, potentially thousands of people coming through, and this process will be painstaking. It will be a slog that could last for a couple of weeks. Talk us through it. Halley, it's painstaking on process as a purpose, really, because the process is to vet out and to make sure that people can be fair. And today already, over roughly 50 different people raise their hands to say, I can't, I can't do it. I can't be impartial. They were dismissed, no questions asked. The judge then going through with the remaining people 42 different questions, everything from their background, their media habits, what podcast they like, if they ever attended a Trump rally, all to suss out who is actually going to be on this jury.

It's a process, as you said, that's going to take several days. But it was remarkable just to see how the mundane everyday process for every other criminal defendant is playing out in such an unprecedented way. These people, obviously, are going to have to eventually sit in judgment of the presumptive GOP nominee, the former President. It's never been done before. They already got a taste of what this case is like, but really just the first scratch at that. As you laid out there, a lot of information, the sourd details people are going to be transported back to 2016 in the thick of the campaign when this alleged hush money payment was made. And then the former President, in prosecutors's telling, doctored his internal business records to try to all cover it up. So that's all going to come out in the days and weeks ahead. But for now, the process is a slow one picking taking this jury. You make the point it is 2016 vibes all over again. A very similar cast of characters as the people we were talking a lot about at the end of the former President's campaign, right before he won the White House.

In so many ways, the mundane becoming extraordinary, and that includes some of the decisions that the judge has not yet made that could become really consequential. Let me ask you about two quickly. First, the former President in just the last 30 minutes or so is out on his true social platform, very frustrated. He says that he's not going to be able to attend his son's graduation. The judge has not made a ruling on that, right, Laura? Because Donald Trump has to be in court. He faces arrest if he's not unless he gets a special exception. Exactly. So, Halley, the judge laid out in open court, which I thought was an interesting move, Something that sometimes you just see just written. But the judge laid out for him, look, you have to show up here in court every single day unless you get some special dispensation. And if you don't show up, you could be arrested. A stark warning, again, for the former President. He's talking about the son's graduation. The judge didn't say for one way or another that he won't be able to go. He said he's going to defer that and rule on it later, Hal.

He's also going to rule on whether or not the former President violated a partial gag order, right? Yeah, and that has to do with his continual attacking of witnesses online, posting on True Social all over the weekend. The judge isn't saying you can't attack the judge or even his daughter, but he can't attack witnesses under the gag order. That's what prosecutors are saying he has violated. They want $3,000 in fines, and they also want the judge to issue a warning to former President Trump. If he violates the gag order again, he risks prison time, Halley. You were inside, I think. Were you in the overflow room, Laura? Give us a sense of what it was like. We can't go in, right? Our cameras can't be in the courtroom there. You can be. Tell us more. Yeah. So many eyes focused on the former President today. When we're sitting in the overflow room, we don't get an up-close view. People are trying to figure out, is he stern? Is he dialed in? Is he sleepy? Everyone's trying to to figure out and read the tea leaves there. But it's really hard to see from the overflow room.

But what was clear from that room was the judge's tone. And, Halley, I have to tell you, I think he was really trying to set a stern warning today that he's not going to be bullied. The former President wants to attend a hearing in We see next week on his immunity arguments. The judge saying, no dice, you're not going. Laura Jarrett, Live First there in downtown Manhattan. Thank you. Von Hilliard is not too far from her talking the politics of it all, which is not too far from the legal piece. It is the blockbuster collision now between court and the campaign trail, and it is a spectacle outside. People were supporting the former President, waving these big flags, Trump MAGA. There's one that said Trump or death. You had opponents marching against him with signs that said not above the law. There was like a guy playing a flute or something, also a Trump impersonator, etc. All of this is, some of it, I should say, is part of what the former President wants to see. People rallying around him and what he sees as a political persecution. You can't disconnect it, Halley. In Donald Trump doesn't want to be disconnected.

It's not like Donald Trump, the defendant, some people may be charged with a crime or not tell people about a speeding ticket or some offense that led them to have to go and actually go before a jury. But Donald Trump is a little different. Donald Trump is taking it onto the campaign trial. I was at the rally with him in central Pennsylvania just this weekend where he's blasted the judge that is overseeing this case. The judge who, if he has found guilty, would be in charge of determining his sentence. There's a risk involved with that. But he's also attacking the district attorney, and as part of that is on the political front, Halley, that he's got an election for the White House just six and a half months from now. I don't think we should be flippant when we talk about potential prison time for a former President of the United States by any means, but it's very real. It's trial trial is underway. For Donald Trump, the potentially, if he's found guilty, the best way to avoid having to serve any time would be winning the White House. For him, so there's the jury inside.

It's going to be 12 folks determining his guilt or innocence. But the political jury is the American electorate at large, especially in those key battleground states. Donald Trump has made it clear, even through this trial, he wants to continue to hit the campaign trail to at least take his case to the best that he can through the microphone that he is able to control. There is a potential political risk here. It is not one that we saw play out in the primary when the former President saw that his legal issues actually helped him raise money, millions of dollars. He saw that his legal issues coalesced Republicans around him. But if you look at polling more recently in a general election, which remember, that's what we're in, there are some question marks to the impact this could have for him as we get closer to November. Right. Just this weekend, a New York Times-Siana College poll came out showing that Donald Trump has a five-point lead. But when you can look at it and compare that to when folks are asked if Donald Trump is found guilty of felony convictions, that lead shrinks to just two percentage points.

And a majority of Americans, including independents, say that they have serious or somewhat serious concerns about these charges that are being levied against him. Look, Halley, Donald Trump is trying to also fundraise off of this, sending emails today, text messages. That's right. Just one of them read in part, I just stormed out of court. They think I'm finished, but I'll never surrender. For Donald Trump, these two are intrinsically tied together, and he has to do what he can to win the battle and win the hearts and the public opinion outside of the courtroom because he only has so much control over what is actually comes in forward in the form of evidence and testimony during the actual trial, Halley. Von Hilliard, we will see you, I am sure, regularly for the course of the next six weeks, maybe two months. Thank you very much for your reporting, friend. Appreciate it. Thanks, my friend. Right now, the world is holding its breath to see what Israel could do next. With more military action may be imminent, according to one official there. After that Iranian aerial attack, hundreds of missiles and drones launched on Israel just about 48 hours ago now.

You see some of the video there. The Israelis are facing growing pressure from these top world leaders to basically have some restraint to avoid fueling an even bigger conflict. We're committed to a ceasefire that will bring the hostages home and preventing conflict from spreading beyond what it already has. Listen, while these Iranian strikes, you can see the flares here. They weren't super successful. Israel managed to deflect, I think 99% of them, roughly, they say. It is the first direct assault from Iranian territory into Israel ever. So today, again, after another meeting yesterday, the war cabinet got together and Israel huddled with an Israeli official telling NBC News, The country will respond. When or how? That is the question. Remember, these new Iranian strikes, retaliation for the attack on its embassy in Syria that killed some of its top military commanders at the beginning of the month. Iran blames Israel. Israel is not claiming responsibility. Raaf Sanchez is on the ground for us live in Tel Aviv. So Tehran says it doesn't want any further escalation, that it would essentially leave this issue here. Potentially, of course, that could change depending on what counter attack Israel decides to launch.

One expert, former national security official, suggests It's interesting to me that perhaps it would be maybe something like a cyber attack, something that wasn't so aggressive or immediate, if you will. Do we have any indications or hints from the Israelis as to what's to come? Well, Halley, what they are saying is that whatever is coming, it is coming soon. An Israeli official, after that war cabinet meeting wrapped up earlier today, told me the consensus among those key Israeli decision makers is Israel's response needs to come swiftly. This was an unprecedented attack by Iran. Unprecedent, as you said, for Iran to attack directly from its soil, but also just the scale of this, Halley. 350 drones, ballistic missiles, cruise missiles. The feeling among Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's inner circle is Israel needs to be seen to respond soon. One possibility is a cyber attack. Another possibility, air strikes, something blow for blow as to what Iran did on Saturday. What complications states that, Ali, is Israel would have to fly through the airspace of its Arab neighbors, some of those neighbors who helped fend off that attack on Saturday night. You talked about the pressure that the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, faces, Raaf.

He has some domestic politics at play, too, in Israel here between some of his more far-right cabinet members versus those more moderates. That's right. So some members of the far-right in his cabinet are saying Israel basically needs to go crazy, that they need to be seen to strike back hard, that escalation be damned. But on his other shoulder, Halley, he has President Biden, who told him on Saturday, while this attack was still underway, take the win. That's right. Israel has succeeded in fending off the overwhelming majority of these missiles and drones. There is no need to escalate further. And so Prime Minister Netanyahu is going to have to walk that tightrope. It's notable he has actually been very, very quiet in the 48 hours or so since that attack, hasn't done any press conferences, hasn't done any public speeches. And that suggests to me that this is a leader who's trying to keep his options open. What's the sense you're there in Tel Aviv, Raph? And even throughout the war, and I have far less experience there than you, obviously, but People tend to go about business as usual. Can you give us a sense of what it's like tonight there now, 48 hours after the attack?

It is obviously over. There is a concern about fallout here, but what is day to day life like? Yeah, Halley, you've been exactly here where we do our live shots. We're looking out over one of the main streets in Tel Aviv. It's late here, but it's been quiet, calm all day. There were restrictions for the civilian population in Israel imposed by the military. Schools were closed. There were limits on the number of people who could gather, but the military actually has lifted those restrictions now, which was widely seen here as a sign that Israel was not planning to retaliate anytime soon. But the military tonight saying, while those restrictions are lifted for now, they could be reimposed if this situation escalates. Ali. Raf Sanchez, live for us in Tel Aviv tonight. Rafe, good to see you. Thank you so much for that new reporting. Another new report, finding that the suicide bombing at Kabul Airport in Afghanistan back in 2021 was not preventable like some thought at first. The bombing happened, of course, at Abbey Gate during those final chaotic days of the US's withdrawal from Afghanistan. Thirteen US troops, 170 Afghans were killed in that attack.

But the US Central Command is releasing some of this new info today, confirming that the person some US service members saw the morning of the attack who they thought was the bomber actually was not. This was the so-called bald man in black. Service members had seen. They thought they had a chance to take him out. They did not get approval to do it, which led to a lot of criticism that nobody had been held accountable for this attack. Courtney Kubi is joining us now. So CENTCOM, as it's known, has this additional investigation into this attack, got a lot of heat of what we just talked about. Go through the details in this report, what we're learning and the fallout here. So the original The initial review or investigation found, as you said, Halley, it went through everything about the attack, what happened, where it happened. One thing that that initial investigation, which, by the way, was released about a year ago, it never identified the bomber, the suicide bomber. That is one thing that's different about this review that CENCOM officially released here today. They are identifying the person who they say US intelligence has determined was the bomber that day, August 26, as Mohamed Al-Laghari.

Now, he was an ISIS Khorasan or ICIS-K operative who we also learned from this report or this review was in a coalition prison up until just days before the bombing at Abbey Gate. He was one of the prisoners who was released by the Taliban in their run up to Kabul in those last days before that evacuation, Halley. The initial report also concluded that the attack was not preventable. But who was the bomber, right? What is it telling us about the identity here? Yeah. So he was an ISIS-K operative. The difference between him and the photo that you showed earlier, the so-called bald man in black, who's also identified in this review. The US military, just to ensure that these US Marines, specifically Tyler Vargas Andrews, a former US Marine sergeant who has claimed in the last year or so that he had this man in his sights, the suicide bomber, in his sights. This review determined that, in fact, the man who Sergeant Vargas Andrews was looking at was this bald man in black. And they did a review or an analysis of both of their faces and determined with almost complete certainty that there was no way it was the same person who actually US intelligence now says was the bomber, Halley.

Courtney Kubi, live first there at the Pentagon Court. Thank you. Thanks. To Baltimore now, where the FBI is opening a criminal investigation into that deadly Baltimore Bridge collapsed. They killed at least six people. Sources tell NBC News that the feds are now looking into whether or not these crew members on board that ship that crashed into the bridge knew about any problems with the ship before that catastrophe, essentially. Eventually when the ship plowed through one of the pillars there on the bridge that runs over the Patapsco, taking the whole thing down. According to two senior law enforcement officials, federal agents went on the board that ship in just the last few hours with search warrants. It comes as attorneys for two of the men killed and one survivor now alleged those men got no warning in the critical seconds before the collapse happened. He got zero warning. He had no idea. He watched everybody go into the water. So he was They were not warned. They were actually sitting in their cars on break. Tom Castello has been following this from the beginning. He is joining us now. Tom, we'll get to what else we're hearing from the victim's attorneys in a second.

But start with this FBI investigation here and this news that perhaps there were search warrants executed on board that ship. Yeah, that's right. Our NBC News Justice team is reporting that, in fact, the FBI did have search warrants to go onto the dolly. That's that massive container ship that crashed into the bridge a month ago. And what are they looking for? It would appear that they want to talk to members of the crew, maybe review the documents on board the deck on the bridge of the ship. Specifically, was there any indication that the crew have any prior knowledge that there were problems with the power systems on board the ship, with either the lights going in and out, with the electricity on board going on and off, and also any information about the quality of the fuel. As you know, there have been rumors and discussions about whether there might have been contaminated fuel. All of that is part of the NTSB investigation, the Coast Guard investigation. But now that the FBI is coming on board, that would suggest a criminal element to this, at least a criminal investigation. That may be pro forma given the nature of this disaster and the fact that six lives were lost.

And by the way, it falls under US maritime law. Okay, that's bucket one, which is this investigation, which is the details there. I want to get to bucket two, which is what we're hearing from the victim's attorneys, the idea that they were sitting in their cars and had no warning. Initially, when this collapse first happened, we heard from officials at these news conferences in the minutes and the hours after the crash that there was at least some degree of a warning for folks who were coming onto the bridge, stopping, essentially. How do we these pieces of information? What do we know or what do we don't know? I think it really is consistent with the narrative from the very beginning, because really, from the minute that the pilot on board that ship said, We've got a problem, we've lost control, they radioed the dispatcher involved and responsible for that bridge. The dispatcher immediately told the police on either ends of the bridge, Shut the bridge down. They shut down traffic going over the bridge, but the construction workers were stuck on top of the bridge and did not have, it appears, did not have radio contact.

So they never heard the imminent warning that there may be a possibility of the ship being out of control. And then suddenly, they went into the water 90 seconds to 2 minutes after that initial warning. So it is consistent with the fact that the police got traffic stopped, but on the Bridge itself, those workers didn't know. Tom Costello, live for us there back home in Washington. Thank you very much for that. You bet. Out West, the armorer from the movie Rust. Tonight has been given the max sentence, 18 months after being found guilty for involuntary manslaughter over the death of the movie's cinematographer. Hannah Gutier as read, addressing the court before this sentence came down. Look at these emotional moments. I am saddened by the way the media sensationalized our dramatic tragedy and portrayed me as a complete monster, which has actually been the total opposite of what's been in my heart. You see Gutiérrez's read here at the moment that the judge handed down that sentence, referencing what was described as her lack of remorse. Before the hearing, the state-detailed calls Gutiérrez's read allegedly made from behind bars as she was waiting for her sentence, calling the jurors and the special prosecutor derogatory names.

You see it there, saying the jury was so, in her words, allegedly, effing stupid, effing idiots, that she was insulting people, said that she thought the judge was getting paid off, and saying that Hannah wants them to put Alec Baldwin in jail as well. Remember, cinematographer Helena Hutchins was killed when the gun that Baldwin was holding, a prop gun loaded with live ammo, went off on set. I want to bring in Dana Griffin with more super emotional in court today. Dana, talk us through it. Yeah. So emotional. We saw recorded video statements from Helena's mother, sister from Ukraine. Also, her attorney read a statement from her father who said that he doesn't want revenge, but he wants her to be held responsible. We also heard from several of Halina's professional friends, and they just described her as the type friend that any of us would be lucky to have. Listen to some of what they said today. Last four words she ever said to me. I believe in you. Those four words will forever echo my soul. Your death will count for something more than this sadness and regret that it's left in its wake.

She was complicated and talented and beautiful and caring and kind and funny and committed and charming and weird and fearless. She was all of my favorite adjectives. All of her favorite adjectives. We also heard from Director Joel Souza, who was also injured in that shooting. He says that he is still feeling pain and says that he wants to be the person that he used to be, saying, quote, one moment, the world made since the next moment it didn't. And, Halley, this is also interesting to know. The judge gave her 18 months, the max sentence here, even though the defense asked for probation. And part of it was because she brought up those disparaging comments that she made during those jail phone conversations. And also that during Hannah's own statement in the courtroom, the first time we've actually heard her speak, she did not take any accountability for her actions. I also want to talk about Alec Baldwin here because we know that his defense team is watching every moment of this trial and possibly will be making decisions about what they do next. Do they try to reach out and take another plea deal or do they go to trial in July knowing that he is facing the exact same charges that Hannah Gutier Reid face, and we now know how much time she's getting in prison.

Halley. Dana Griffin Live for us there out West in LA. Dana, thank you. We've got to get to some breaking news just coming into us in the last couple of minutes here. We're learning the Supreme Court is letting Idaho enforce its ban on gender-referming care for transgender kids, a law that could potentially put doctors behind bars if they give a child under the age of 18 hormones or puberty blockers or any other gender-referming care. Lawrence Hurley is joining us now. Bring us up to speed. Yeah. So basically, the The Supreme Court, divided with the three liberal justices dissenting, has allowed this law to go into effect almost fully. What they're saying is that the two transgender teens who challenged the law, they can still pursue their claim, and it's not going to be enforced against them. But a district court went too far in saying that the entire law had to be blocked. And so that means that it can still be enforced against other people. And one key provision, which is one concerning a ban on surgery, which will remain blocked, too. And the court says, among other things, that the two teens in this case had not said that they were requiring surgery anyway, which is one of the reasons why the law shouldn't be blocked as a whole.

Those two teens were getting puberty blockers and estrogen, and they will still be able to get the care that they need. But anyone else in the state who maybe needs that care or would like surgery, who's in that same position, will not be able to get it for now. Lawrence Hurley, thanks for scrambling to the camera with that. Lots to watch, of course, on that front in the months to come. Appreciate it. Coming up here in the show, why police are charging four people in the disappearance of two moms who never showed up for a kid's birthday party. Plus invasive mosquitoes found out in California why officials were they could carry a potentially deadly disease. Officials in Oklahoma tonight saying two mothers from Kansas, missing since the end of March, are dead. Four people, including the grandmother of one of the victim's kids, have been charged with murder in this case, being held without bond. And the allegations here this this violent custody dispute. Two bodies have been recovered in a rural part of Oklahoma. No official ID from the medical examiner yet, but officials say the women, 27-year-old Veronica Butler and 39-year-old Gillian Kelly, were driving through the Oklahoma Panhandle on their way to pick up Butler's children.

The two women never showed up. Later that day, their car was found abandoned on a highway right near the Oklahoma, Kansas state line. Marissa Para is joining us now. This has been a mystery that has been out there now for days. Bring us up to speed about what we're learning from some of these documents in this news conference today. Hey, Halley. So we got a lot of twists and turns today from the documents that were released and just some really shocking stuff. But I want to start first just laying out the relationships between everyone. So these are the four people that we're charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping, and conspiracy. So one of the women charged, you can see Tiffany Adams. This is the grandmother of Veronica Butler's children. And there was a years-long custody battle over Butler's children. There were tense relations between Tiffany Adams and Butler, described in the affidavits, these documents that we got our hands on today. And unfortunately, the other victim here, Kelly, it appears to be she was just collateral damage in this year's long and contentious custody battle. Now, all four of these people that you saw on your screen just now were part of a religious group.

The court documents saying that this was an anti-government group, and they self-identified themselves as God's misfits. That is a direct quote, self-identification there. So some of the details that we've learned, I want to warn viewers. It might be difficult to hear. They are disturbing. But among the many things that investigators laid out were evidence that led them to these four people. They describe finding blood outside of that abandoned car. They found a broken hammer. They describe matching up cell phone tower evidence, along with search history, that Tiffany Adams had searched for gun shops. She bought five stun guns in the days before the disappearance. But one of the most shocking parts, Halley, was an interview done with the daughter of one of those people charged. They referred to this daughter as CW. This daughter told investigators she had heard of discussions of attempts to kill Butler in February, that she had heard the plan was to throw anvil through Butler's windshield to make it look like a traffic accident. And I want to bring you And I'm going to go to this quote from the document here. They had told this daughter they were on a mission, and they came back later and said things didn't go as planned, but that they wouldn't have to worry about Butler again.

So, Halley, so many other things to unpack, but I want to end with something that's just as important here. Remember, this all centers around those children, the children at the center of this years long custody battle here, the children that were supposed to be picked up by these mothers. And so as this family, these families are searching for closure. The one thing we can share is that those children, while their whereabouts are not being disclosed, they are safe, Halley. Marissa Para, thank you very much for that update. A difficult one, of course, tonight. Let's get you over to the five things our team thinks you should know about tonight. Number one, police in Sydney, Australia, say a 15-year world stabbed a bishop who is delivering a sermon today during a livestream service at a church. Other people were hurt. You're looking at some of the aftermath there, that scramble. Fortunately, everybody, including that bishop, are expected to be okay. The suspect is now in custody. This happened days after a different stabbing in the same city where a man killed six people. Number two, top scientists at Noah say coral reefs around the world are going through this mass bleaching for the fourth time ever because oceans are getting warmer.

It's climate change. If the bleaching is really serious and It'll last a long time, the coral can die. Number three, potentially some turmoil at Tesla with Elon Musk telling employees in a new memo, it'll be laying off more than 10% of its workers. That's something like 14,000 employees who could be losing their jobs. Musk says it's all part push to cut costs and make productivity better for the company as they grow. Tesla shares have taken a hit in the last few months, falling just about 30% this year so far. Number 4, Canadian singer Grimes, giving fans a long apology on social media after a mess Cee Coachella said, some video from over the weekend shows her yelling into her mic at one point because stuff just kept breaking down. She said it had to do with tech problems. She promised she would do better at this weekend's Coachella Round 2. Number 2, take a look at this video. The moment a driver tried to turn a car into a residential street, ended up in the air, crashing into somebody's house, the whole thing, look at that. It's literally sailing over that other car right into the garage.

That's the aftermath there. A neighbor, the doorbell camera captured it. Officials said the driver was taken to the hospital but was not seriously hurt. Health officials in California tonight, sounding some alarms after discovering a dangerous mosquito that can carry dengue fever. These mosquitoes are coming up all over California, with some red flags on that because outbreaks are raging down in Latin America and the Caribbean, including some big spikes in Puerto Rico. Part of the problem, according to experts, this hotter, warmer climate, which creates a really good breeding ground for these mosquitoes. There have been nearly five million cases this year in the Americas, according to an agency within the WHO, most of them further south, where their summer is starting to wrap up, right as ours heats up. That number is more than the total cases of any year on record that they've had with that agency. It's only April. Dengue is usually pretty mild. You can get it and not even know you have it, but it can create fever, headaches, nausea, etc. The list goes on. A lot of times it gets better after a week, but in some instances it can lead to hospitalization and obviously it can be fatal.

Dr. Aksha Sahal, our MBC Medical Fellow, joins us now. As always, please give us a context check, a gut check. Should we be freaking out as mosquito season approaches or is there a reason to be optimistic here? No, we should not be freaking out, Halley. That is a good headline, Dr. Sahal. Thank you. Being aware but not being, you know, flicked out is, I think the takeaway, Halley. But on a broader point about mosquitoes. So the National Academy of Sciences, Halley, just months ago, had a big meeting. They brought together all these experts in mosquito and tropical-born diseases. And they're really saying the overall theme, Halley, is that the US is just not prepared for this. One of the things they talked about was we're watching this happen in other countries, and we're just standing by and like, Oh, that's interesting. We're not prepared to track these things. We're not prepared to fight these things. And if it's happening there, there's no reason it can't happen here down the line. You talked about as the climate gets warmer and it gets hotter and more humid, these things could potentially be a threat. And it's not just dengue virus, right?

We're talking about malaria. We're talking about chikunguna, West Nile, these things that these mosquitoes can carry. There's a little concern that we're not adequately prepared to fight these things. What about... I mean, as you talk about the issue with mosquitoes here, it's an El Niño year. Does that play into it? It does. These climate shocks, right? These extreme weather events, these warmer, more humid events. And it's not just mosquito-borne diseases, right? You and I talked a few months ago about Lyme disease and Alpha Gal syndrome, where you can get allergic to red meat. These ticks are migrating where it's warmer and more humid, too. So there's a whole host of things we should be watching for. And for those out there who are wondering, what can I do it, at least at a local level, to fight mosquitoes-Let me guess. We're repellent? We're repellent, we're bug spray, but that's not going to cut it. We need to do a little bit more. And one of the things we can do is if you have stagnant water, you have water lying around to make sure you're emptying that in your pots and your saucers and flour vases, pet bowls.

And really outside, check for rainwater that can collect. Oftentimes, we can forget about that to look that, overlook that. So make sure that's emptying as well. But good news, Halley, I know I've been a little bit more somber today, but the good news is there is a vaccine in development for Dengate. It's showing about 90% effectiveness in early stage trials in Brazil. So something to look forward to there. When could that actually be out for availability for shots in arms? There's a little bit of skepticism here in the US with prior experiences with Dengue vaccines. They have had some serious side effects. So until it becomes a real big threat here, I wouldn't expect it to be approved just yet here. Dr. Aksha Sahal, thank you so much. Good to see you. Anytime. Lots more to come here on the show, including how a scam, allegedly targeting an 81-year-old man, may have ended with an Uber driver shot and killed. Plus, Park rangers in Arizona want felony charges for two men hiking on centuries-old rocks. We'll explain. Tonight, an 81-year-old man now charged for shooting and killing an Uber driver. He says he thought was part of a scam.

Video from the victim's car, Lalithah Hall, shows her walking up to William Brock's home to pick up a package. This is like an Uber delivery situation. Look at this video. A couple of minutes later, Brock confronts her with a gun. You see him here holding the gun. She's walking around her car. When she tries to get away, he allegedly shoots her several times, according to the Sheriff's office. They say, Brock told them he thought Hall was part of a scam. Somebody had been calling him, demanding money, saying what if Brock's family members was in custody? The Sheriff says Hall had no idea about any of this and never threatened him. Maura Barrett is following this one for us tonight. What in the world happened here? Talk to us about the charges Brock faces and what else police are saying. Halley, it's just a terribly tragic situation. Basically, Hall got involved in this just because she was doing her job. She was responding to Uber calls. That call that you were referring to with the person impersonating an officer calling Brock, basically, as police described it to us, they said that after it escalated into this ransom situation, the person who made the call or one of their accomplices ordered this Uber in which Hall was then called to Brock's house to allegedly pick up what they were hoping would be a package of money.

That's when this confrontation happened. You can see him threatening her with the gun, and then he ultimately shoots her allegedly three times. He sustained a head injury at one point, and that's when he called authorities, but she was unfortunately transferred to a hospital and passed away there. This all unfolded about a month ago. We're learning details now because there was a grand jury presentation today. Brock was charged with three counts of murder, one count of felonious assault, and one count of kidnapping. He'll be arrained on those charges later this week. Now, as for Uber's involvement, Uber released a statement saying that it's a horrific tragedy. Our hearts continue to be with Lalika Aditha's loved ones as they grieve. We've been in contact with law enforcement and remain committed to supporting their investigation. Uber also tells NBC News that the account for the person that ordered the Uber, the one that brought Hall to Brock's home, has since been banned. Officials haven't revealed who that person is, what their name might be, or if there's been any other arrests associated with this whole incident, Halley. Maura Barrett, thank you very much for that update. Nbc News covers hundreds of other stories every day.

And because it can be tough to read or watch or listen to them all, our bureau teams have done it for you. This is what they tell us is going down in their regions in a segment we call The Local. Out of our Southern Bureau, police in New Orleans say they're looking for a shooter who killed somebody and hurt 11 other people. Police on the ground describing the panic, the chaos, when folks heard gunfire around midnight at a club just steps from Bourbon Street. As of right now, no arrest yet. Out of our Western Bureau, Park Rangers in Arizona want your help finding these two guys caught on camera messing up these rock formations that are centuries old at the super popular Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Look, what are they doing? They're struggling. They're trying to get these chunks of sandstone dumped over. Not ideal, which is why they could face federal prison time on felony charges if they're caught. And back to our Southern Bureau. Look at this wild video. I A guy driving his SUV right into a garage door belonging to a Sheriff's deputy in Florida. Then he gets out of the car, starts shooting at the deputy and his family.

The deputy returned fire. Fortunately, nobody was heard. Police said the two had no prior beef. They called it a targeted attack on law enforcement. The suspect now faces first-degree murder charges. Still to come, security concerns may be pouring some cold water on plans for what would be a historic opening ceremony for the Summer Olympics in Paris. We're talking about the new backup plan in just a sec. So the French President tonight says there is a backup plan for what should be an opening ceremony that makes history at this summer's Olympics. Plan A. Okay, this is plan A. All the athletes, all the heads of state from around the world, set to sail down the iconic Seine River right through the heart of Paris. Look at that. It would be the first time an Olympics opening ceremony will be held outside of a stadium. But there is also a plan B now, apparently currently being considered. The reason? Potential security risks, possibly ramped up more with wars in the Ukraine, excuse me, with wars in Ukraine and the Middle East. Kira Simmons is joining us now. Okay, to say that an opening ceremony is a huge logistical undertaking is an understatement any year in any city, but especially this year, especially in Paris, especially with the plan they have in place, right?

That's right. That's so right. And add to that, too, Halley, the President of France has enormous power. It's the the system. And the impression we've got today is that President Macron has thrown his officials for a loop by making this statement, because up until now, they have been insisting, despite everything you've laid out there, that the opening ceremony would go ahead on the set. Now, to be fair on President Macron, and there's often rarely a reason to be fair on politicians, but let's be fair, he did say that likely the opening ceremony will happen on the river there. Here's what the plan is, if that is still going to be the plan. There'll be 160 boats, 10,500 athletes, 3.5 miles along the Seine, 300,000 spectators. That's fewer than had been planned of 600,000. But you can see why, Harry, it is worrying for some because it's so sizable. And that's why there's this increased security. So 45,000 French police and security forces, 20,000 private security personnel, 15,000 military. And they now say, the French, that they're going to get support in the security operation from 45 countries. So if the opening ceremony isn't all these folks sailing down the Seine, what is plan B?

Does it move indoors? How do you satisfy the concerns with these security potential issues with delivering something that is, as people come to expect from the Olympics, spectacular? Well, there is a plan B, apparently, and also a plan C, according to President Macron. Just in terms of plan A, by the way, people on balconies like the one I'm on right now in Paris, if they are overlooking events, they are going to get a visit from security services, we're told. But then the opening ceremony itself on the same, it finishes at the Trocadéro, and a lot of the events will happen there. But a plan B would be to have all of the opening ceremony there at the Trocadéro, perhaps on boats that don't actually move along the river. And then the plan C, according to President Macron, is to go back to the traditional inside the Olympic Stadium opening ceremony. I mean, it would be a disappointment, wouldn't it? I mean, it's one of the things we've been really excited about, and I do get the impression from officials here, and of course, from what the President said, that they do really, really want this opening ceremony to go the way they have planned it, which is on the river.

An incredible television spectacle. And for those who get a chance to see it, the first time it have happened outside an Olympic Stadium. And in so many ways, Keir, setting the table, if it does happen, for the city as the venue itself, if you will. Keir Simmons, Live First there overseas. Keir, thank you so much in Paris for us tonight. A lot That's more back here at home to come, including Kaitlyn Clarke, going pro tonight, expected to be the top pick at the WMBA draft in Brooklyn. It's not just Clarke, by the way, Cameron Brink, Angel Reeve, some other big stars are in the draft as the league hopes to ride this record wave of popularity from the College tournament that, as we've talked about here on the show, it's set records all over the place, capped off by that Championship game where nearly 19 million people watched Clark and Iowa lose to South Carolina. So the highest rated basketball game, period. Like, period. Wmba, NBA, whatever since 2019. Clark's been doing the rounds. Here she is in New York. She even popped by SNL. Stephanie Gosc, she was where I was in 30 Rock this weekend.

She's, I think, going to be where you are at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where the draft is going to go down. They're selling tickets this year to the drafts for the first time ever that sold out like that. Give us a vibe check. Yeah, they sold out in 15 minutes. I spoke with the Commissioner for the WNBA earlier today, and she would be quick to tell you that that national Championship game at its peak was 24 million viewers. And they're really confident at the WNBA that they're going to be able to take that excitement, that energy, and translate it into excitement and energy for the WNBA season. But So we've been obviously talking a lot about Kaitlyn Clarke, but as you mentioned, there are some pretty awesome players in this draftee class. I had a chance to talk to them. They are dressed to the nines tonight. And keep in mind, they've been working for this for years. They had a lot to say about the excitement and just how happy they are to be here. Take a listen. I want to be a great player, of course, and just be a sponge. It means so much.

My mom played basketball at Virginia Tech, and she would not have gone to BT because of Title IX. And so She was the first person to graduate College and her family. It just means the world that we've come from that to millions and millions of people watching games. It means the most to me. It just tells me that all the hard work that I went through, all the hard work I put on is paying off right now, and I'm just so proud of myself. They're really ready to just ride that wave into their pro careers. Outside of this building today, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, you have fans, and the fans split it to two groups. You have people who have been watching women's basketball for a long time, and then you've got a whole group of newbies that are out there as well. It is a big tent of fans, and there's a lot of excitement. Listen to what they had to say. I think it's amazing. I think the discourse around basketball, not just being men's this year has been really cool to see. So often, women are just left in the shadow, and there's no stars or there's no one who can.

But clearly, the talent has been there. They just need the media to act on it. For a lot of women in this game, we've Playing or coaching or whatever it is, they'll tell you, this has been an exciting game to watch for a long time, but they are very happy to welcome the new fans, Halley. I love that. What else did Clayton Clarke tell you? Because she is like, and you're right, there's a ton of players. I mean, listen, Angel Reece has been all over my For You page over the course of the College Championship, the College Playoffs there. But it is Clarke that seems to be capturing in so many ways, the lightning in a bottle here. Yeah, she really has, Halley. And And you can understand why, even without knowing anything about basketball, just watching one of her games, watching her launch one of those logo threes from the middle of the court and sinking it, the records that she has broken, the scoring records, those three-point records. She has galvanized interest in this sport and has translated into actually big money, not just on the collegiate level, but now going into the pros.

She's going to most likely be drafted by the Indiana Fever. Right now, season tickets for the Indiana Fever are up astronomically. People are buying them. There's a lot of room to grow. The Commissioner also told me today that some of the teams she's playing against or that the Fever would be playing against have changed their venues to larger locations to accommodate all the fans for her games, Halley. That's bananas. I mean, it feels like there just hasn't been a moment like this for women's basketball before. Yeah, it's remarkable whether you are new to this sport or not to see this excitement and energy, something that you can probably equate to women's soccer, that national energy around it. It's going to be a really fun proseason this year for the WMBA. And don't forget, you have the Paris Olympics as well. There's a good chance Kaitlyn Clarke is going to show up there as well. How could we ever forget Stephanie Gosc? I'm sure we'll be talking about that more in the weeks and months to come. Thank you so much, Steph. Have a great time I wish we could be hanging out with you there.

It'd be a fly on the wall. Appreciate it, Steph. Still ahead. The legacy of one golden retriever/mascot lives on on this Boston Marathon day. How folks there are honoring Spencer by being Boston Strong. Big celebrations up in Boston tonight with Helen O'Beerrey from Kenya and Cee Salema from Ethiopia, winning today's marathon in lost in. And among the thousands cheering them and others on in the streets, a special group carrying on a tradition that's inspired runners for years, with the legacy living on of one man's best friend becoming a hometown hero. When Dory and Rich powers adopted their golden retriever, Spencer, in 2009, they knew he was something special. Dory, 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. 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. Don't know if you said 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.

He was just such a symbol of hope and inspiration that people could latch on to. And latch on they did. Post after post of people stopping for snuggles. 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 obituary in the New York Times. And now... Here we come. A statue right along the marathon route where Spencer always stood. I can't thank you enough. Boy meant the world to us, and he meant the world to a lot of people. And where today, a new guard was out to greet Boston Marathon runners. Meet Jimmy and Jade. Thanks for watching. Stay updated about breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or follow us on social media.