Walloped the south lashed by yet another round of powerful storms and tornadoes. That same system blamed for a deadly stage collapse in mexico overnight. Well have the very latest and what you can expect today and this weekend. Train trouble. Amtrak passengers across the northeast facing delays this morning after downed power lines disrupt service. A rough start to the busiest Memorial Day Travel weekend in nearly 20 years. Just ahead, what you need to know before you hit the roads, the rails, and the airports. Under fire. The flag controversy surrounding Supreme CourtJustice Samuel alito, only growing. A second symbol carried by rioters on january 6th seen flying outside one of his homes. This morning, the mounting calls for his remove from any case tied to the 2020 election. Breaking their silence, Nicole Brown Simpsons sister speaking out for the first time on the recent death of o. J. Simpson. The one thing i could not protect her from was the monster she was married to. Why they are finally ready to share their sisters full story, decades after her murder. All of that, plus, ticket v reportedly set to face a major lawsuit, being acc turmoil. Concert giant live nation reportedly set to face a major lawsuit, being accused by the government of running an illegal monopoly in the wake of that taylor swift eras tour debacle. I just really wanted to see taylor. Inside the legal battle that could shape how you get a seat to see your favorite stars. And fantastic finish. Corner three for the win dallas defeats minnesota in a wild back and forth game with the road to the nba finals heating up. Today, thursday, may 23rd, 2024. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb. From studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Hey, guys, good morning good to see you, welcome to today. Its a thursday morning and were happy youre with us. And it is the thursday before memorial day. People are planning for their big weekend getaways. Many are getting a head start already. Some might be hitting a little snag. This was the scene at penn station right here in new york overnight. Thousands of commuters were left stuck after downed power lines suspended train service. We have a complete look at memorial day, the weekend travel forecast, coming up. Well, it was another night of Severe Weather. Take a look at these frightening images. The winds so strong at this event in mexico they caused the stage to collapse. At least nine people were killed there. It was all part of a dangerous system that caused major damage there and across a large portion of the United States. And its not over yet. Tens of millions on alert today and into tomorrow. Dylan will have the latest on that storm threat in just a moment. But first, nbcs jesse kirsch is in greenfield, iowa where tornado cleanup is entering day two. Hey, jesse, good morning. Reporter hoda, good morning. You can see whats left of these homes behind me, in chunks on the lawn, a bed frame and a mattress, sticking out of whats left of that wall. And these structures are actually more in tact than others in this community. N the other side of the block what was other structures just just piles of take a look over here, just on the other side of the block, what was other structures now just piles of debris, tree limbs tipped over as well. This community continues with its cleanup efforts as other parts of the country were hit overnight. Overnight, terrifying moments in mexico after strong winds caused a stage to collapse at a pack political rally for a president ial candidate. You can see people running for cover as the massive structure, including a large video screen, came tumbling down on to the stage and on top of people in the audience. According to the local governor, at least nine people are dead and around 50 are injured. Those dangerous high winds part of the same weather system also impacting multiple southern u. S. States overnight, with arkansas and texas taking the most serious hit, including strong winds and hail battering communities. A reported tornado slamming temple, texas. A couple there capturing this video of a funnel charging towards a neighborhood. Late wednesday, the local red cross opening a shelter for those impacted. Im glad to be alive. Reporter meanwhile, the cleanup underway in greenfield, iowa, after a deadly twister ripped through this Small Community on tuesday. Officials say at least four people were killed, with more than 30 injured. The devastating storm tearing houses apart. Maggie masker telling us her family would have sheltered right here if they were home. You just think like, thats where your safe spot is. And its not safe. Anymore. Never was. Reporter from above, you can see much of greenfield reduced to rubble. It is just horrific. Its hard to describe, until you can actually see it. The devastation. Reporter Officials Say a local lumberyard became a makeshift hospital. I dont have words for it. Im still in shock. Ive never seen anything like this in my life. N auto shop befe a tornado blew it away. A community of just over 2,000 now trying to rebuild as it grieves. This damaging weathe reporter mechanic David Griffith was living his dream, running his own auto shop before the tornado blew it away. A community of just over 2,000 now trying to rebuild as it grieves. This damaging weather continues to have impact. In texas, there are more than 100,000 Power Outages still being reported this morning. And of course, back here in greenfield, iowa, lives have been changed forever. Hoda . Jesse kirsch in iowa. Thank you. Dylan is in for al, watching this ongoing storm threat. Theyve really had a hard time there. Its been really bad. I want tyke you through the next four days. Those are the days were going to see some severe storms. The next two days, well lower the threat of tornadoes, but as we go into saturday and sunday, well increase the threat of tornadoes again. We do have some thunderstorms moving through just west of knoxville, but its the second round of storms that were going to see later on this afternoon that could produce large hail and also damaging winds. But we have a lot of cloudtoground lightning approaching little rock, heavier downpours, too, but in this area that includes omaha, nebraska, where we could see 2inch diameter sized hail, thats baseballsized hail and wind gusts up to 75 miles per hour. Its in this whole hatched area here with the lines. Thats where we have threat of the largest hail today. Tomorrow, the threat of severe storms include chicago, indianapolis, st. Louis, all the way down to dallas, including memphis. Again, large hail, damaging wind gusts, but an isolated tornado. Then as we go into saturday and sunday, well increase that tornado threat again. We could see another tornado outbreak, right through the central and Southern Plains on saturday, and on sunday, the threat moves farther to the east, including st. Louis, louisville, paducah, kentucky, even including nashville, where we could see some tornadoes begin to develop as well, hoda. All right, dylan, thank you. Now, lets focus on that Memorial Day Travel rush getting underway this morning. So people from coasttocoast are ready for the unofficial start of summer. Just be sure that you pack your patience, from the airport to the roads, to the rails. Its expected to be a very, very from atlanta. Hey, priya, good morning. Reporter hoda, good morning. Yeah, if youre planning to head busy weekend. Nbcs Priya Sridhar joins us from atlanta. Hey, good morning. Reporter good morning, hoda. Yeah, if youre planning on getting out the door any time soon, things just got a little stickier. This morning, state transit Officials Say that you can expect more delays and cancellations. As millions hit the road for the start of the busy travel season, overnight, thousands of commuters left stranded along the east coast after a power outage. We just want to get out of here. Were done. Hours along the busy northeast were toast. Reporter the disruption caused by downed power cables leaving travelers waiting for hours along the busy northeast amtrak corridor, from new york city, all the way to washington. It comes amid the official kickoff to summer. And with that comes long lines at airports and bumpertobumper traffic on the roads. I come from savannah, 25 miles out of macon, dead stop, bumpertobumper. Reporter this year, aaa says road tripping is how americans are choosing to travel, with a potential recordbreaking 38. 4 million expected to hit the roads on thursday or friday. In terms of road trips, those are really booming. And that gives people just more flexibility. The National Gas Price average is at 3. 61, about the same as where it was this time last year, and a price point many travelers say is reasonable if they want to head out of town. The Biden Administration announcing this week it would release a Million Barrels of gas from a reserve to drive those prices down even further, but its unlikely to make a big difference this weekend. It goes up, it comes down, its not a factor for us. Not outrageousoutrageous, but definitely noticeably higher. Reporter if you do plan to travel by car, experts say the best time to do it is early on thursday or friday, and try to avoid returning home on sunday or monday during afternoon hours. And its not just the roads that are expected to see a spike in travelers. Airports are also bracing for an influx of passengers, even as some airlines are cutting back on future flight schedules, citing production delays from boeing, as it faced intense scrutiny for safety concerns in recent months. Some 3. 5 million americans are still opting of fly this Holiday Weekend. Memorial day is really the kickoff to the Summer Travel season. Reporter a little bit of good news from amtrak this morning. They are saying that all service has been restored and back on schedule in the region, at least so far. Hoda . All right, like to end on the good news there. Priya, thank you so much. Also this morning, calls are growing louder for Supreme CourtJustice Alito to recuse himself from any cases related to january 6th. This comes after another image has surfaced, showing a second controversial flag on display at one of his properties. Nbcs senior washington correspondent, hallie jacksons got the story this morning. Hallie, good morning. Reporter hey, savannah, good morning. We are seeing a fresh chorus of criticism from democrats this morning. And it comes as the Supreme Court is set to decide key cases this term, related to the Capitol Attack and election interference, including whether former President Trump is immune from prosecution, for trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Reporter another Supreme Court controversy this morning, involving Justice Samuel alito, over a new report of a flag flying outside of his new jersey beach house, according to the new york times. The socalled appeal to heaven flag, a green pine tree on a white background. A symbol carried by some rioters outside the capitol on january 6th. You see it here and here. Photographs it obtained from outside of alitos property from last summer, along with accounts from a halfdozen neighbors and passersby, as well as this google street view picture from last august. The flag, rooted in the revolutionary war, has more recently become a symbol of support for Christian Nationalism and for donald trump. But now, renewed calls from the democratic chair of the Senate Judiciary committee for alito to recuse himself from cases related to the 2020 election, calling the incident yet another example of apparent ethical misconduct. Other democrats agree. At a very minimum, he has to recuse himself from these cases now coming before the court that will determine whether or not trump is held accountable. It really encapsulates all of the problems weve had with this rogue Supreme Court and its refusal to accept any rule of law. Reporter its the second time in less than a week alito has faced questions, after the justice confirmed another provocative flag, an upside down american flag, flew outside of his Northern Virginia home in the days after january 6th, telling the times, i had no involvement whatsoever in the flying of the flag and that it was briefly placed by his wife in response to a neighbors use of objectionable and personally insulting language on yard signs. The upside down flag, long considered a distress signal, but its been adopted by some Trump Supporters backing the former president s Election Fraud lies. Some republicans after that report dismissing calls for recusal. I dont think that he should be recused. I think it was a mistake. But ill leave it up to him to explain it. We should note that Justice Alito did not respond to the times request for comment and the court did not respond to nbc news, savannah. Another note from 2024, Donald Trumps former rival, nikki haley, who was fiercely critical of him, has now, essentially, endorsed said shell vote for donald trump. What do you know about that . Its a huge shift, savannah. Shes coming out now, publicly saying that she will vote for the former president this fall. Very different from how she described him during the primaries just a few months ago, when she was running against him. Thats when she called him unstable and unhinged. She said, hes not qualified for the office. That he cannot win a general election. That he didnt deserve a drivers license, much less the white house, after he jabbed at her husbands military service, but now she says shes making this decision because, in her words, while donald trump is not perfect, President Biden, she believes, has been a catastrophe. She also hopes the former president does some outreach to her supporters rather than just assume that theyll fall in line behind him now. Savannah . Okay. Hallie jackson, thank you so much. 7 13. A lot more to get to. Craig joins the table. Hoda, savannah, good morning. Good morning to you, as well. The Uvalde School shooting, one of the deadliest in u. S. History is back in the spotlight this morning. Victims families are now filing a new 500 million federal lawsuit, seeking damages against the responding officers and the school district, insisting more should have been done to save lives that day. Nbcs Morgan Chesky has that story for us. Morgan, good morning. Yeah, craig, good morning. In this lawsuit on behalf of those 19 families names more than 90 texas officers for what they call shocking and extensive failures during the response at robb elementary. And it comes just one day shy of the second anniversary of that tragic shooting, and some family members now saying that their calls for justice are finally being heard. Reporter torn apart by tragedy, one of the worst School Shootings in u. S. History. The families of uvaldes victims remaining united in their resolve. There was an obvious systemic failure out there on may 24th. The whole world saw that. Reporter their anguish and heartbreak, now powering legal action in the form of a new lawsuit over the shooting at Robb Elementary School in 2022, that took the lives of 19 children and two teachers. The 500 million suit naming 92 texas dps officers, the school district, and staff. Including the thenschool District Police chief, Peter Arredondo as defendants. These were the last lines of defense for these children. But they were failed long before the shooting. Reporter more than 300 officers from local, state, and federal agencies were on scene that day. But they waited more than 70 minutes before taking down the gunman. The district acknowledging the lawsuit, sharing its open to exploring a resolution. The suit following a stunning doj report in january, which found cascading failures of leadership, tactics, and training. Body cam footage inside the school shows officers fumbling with keys, hesitating to move in, and waiting in hallways, as children were killed inside classrooms. Following the dojs report, i spoke to belinda ediola, who still wonders if her 10yearold granddaughter could have survived . They had the opportunity to go in and they didnt. Reporter the family said they have also agreed to a 2 million settlement with the city, which has pledged to work with the department of justice to develop enhanced training for police. This has been an unbearable two years. Reporter now, xavier, who lost his 9yearold daughter, jacqueline, is hoping this marks the start of a new chapter. Weve been let down so many times, the time has come to do the right thing. Reporter now, the Texas Department of Public Safety has not returned nbc news request for comment. Back in 2022, arredondo did defend the Police Response to that shooting. Meanwhile, the city of uvalde has now agreed to mark may 24th, the day of the shooting, as a day of remembrance. Craig . All right. Morgan chesky for us this morning. Morgan, thank you. A federal judge in california has postponed Hunter Bidens tax trial until september, because it conflicted with his gun charges trial, which is scheduled to begin in june. His defense lawyer said they needed more time to prepare. The president s son has pleaded not guilty to both indictments, which his lawyers have c