house conservatives fuming at speaker mike johnson this morning after the passage of four foreign aid bills over the weekend, including aid for

ukraine and israel. we have a live report on what that aid means. for the two u.s. allies embroiled in separate wars. the first ever trial of a former u.s. president, all while his presidential immunity case before the supreme court looms just ahead. a michigan community in shock. two young siblings killed after an alleged drunk driver crashes into a children's birthday party. what police are saying this morning. today is earth day, and our brie jackson gives us a personal look at a coastal cultural community, taking on its toughest challenge yet as the climate changes. and stop right now. david beckham is all of us fan girling over an impromptu spice girls reunion at victoria beckham's posh 50th birthday bash. it's monday, april 22nd. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm frances rivera. glad you could join us.

we begin with that massive foreign war aid package that was passed in the house over the weekend. the chief beneficiaries are ukraine and israel. kyiv gets more than $60 billion, and israel more than $26 billion in emergency aid. president biden is urging the senate to also pass the bill. joining us now is nbc news fo foreign correspondent matt bodner. matt, good morning. what will this money do for either country? >> thank you, frances. this is definitely a major development over the weekend, especially for ukraine which for more than six months has essentially been begging for some kind of assistance in its war with russia. so let's look at what ukraine is getting. about $61 billion of that is set aside. 80% i think is worth pointing out of that $61 billion more or less one way or another funnels back into the u.s. defense economy. these are for things such as $23 billion just to replenish u.s. stockpiles that have already been given to the ukrainians.

there is of course also money for brand-new advanced weapons systems, about $14 billion. and these would be things such as long-range missiles for a himars missile launcher, something president zelenskyy has been asking for a lot. a lot of the things ukraine has been asking for, including artillery and other ammunition, very traditional things that ukrainians have been running into shortages on, on the front, and the russians have been capitalizing. israel also of course receiving a lot of money, around $26 billion. $5 billion of that going to replenishing iron dome. so that's in the package as well. i think one thing really interesting about this is a number of other proposals were tacked on to this bill, including the so-called tiktok ban, which will of course oblige the chinese owner of tiktok to divest its u.s. assets now within a year time frame. the previous bill which passed last month in the house had six months' time. this has been a long uphill battle, going to the senate this week. if it passes, frances, we're

expecting the white house to sign promptly. >> matt bodner for us. matt, thank you. now to an ongoing campus controversy in new york city. at columbia university, protests for palestinian rights continue, despite mass arrests and evictions of activist students last week. the campus rabbi warned orthodox jewish students to stay away from the school for the time being. now breaking this morning, the university president has now said all classes today will be remote, quote, to de-escalate the rancor. while jewish students do feel report feeling unsafe at columbia, protesters say they're merely objecting to the war in gaza. they specifically accuse israel of genocide after the israeli military killed more than 34,000 palestinians since the hamas attacks of october 7th. the international court of justice has ordered israel to prevent acts of genocide by its forces in gaza, but israel has described the allegations as outrageous. let's turn now to the busy legal schedule for donald trump

this week. opening arguments are set to begin soon in the former president's first criminal trial here in new york. and by the end of the week, the supreme court is expected to hear arguments about his presidential immunity defense. here is nbc's yasmin vossoughian. >> reporter: just hours from now opening statements in a criminal trial against donald trump in new york. >> opening statements really offer a preview of the facts to come. >> reporter: david perk, a trump ally and former publisher of the national enquirer among those called. other key witnesses could include adult film star stormy daniels, michael cohen, trump's former fixer, karen mcdougal, an ex-playboy model, hope hicks, trump's former white house communications director, and possibly mr. trump himself. >> are you going to testify? >> yes. >> reporter: the prosecution will make its case to a jury of

seven men and five women along with six alternates, alleging that this is a matter of election interference. >> how are you feeling this morning? >> reporter: mr. trump has met nod guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records, related to a $130,000 payment made to stormy daniels. prosecutors say it was made to keep her quiet about an alleged sexual encounter. the payment allegedly happened after his "access hollywood" tape leaked during the 2016 campaign. >> how are you? >> nice to see you. terrific. >> reporter: the former president has denied allegations of the encounter with daniels and the payment. >> this is a giant witch hunt. >> reporter: mr. trump is required to be in court every weekday except wednesdays, when court is not in session, limiting his ability to campaign. >> i'm supposed to be in a lot of different places campaigning, but i've been here all day. >> reporter: his north carolina rally canceled on saturday due to weather. >> i'm more devastated that this could happen. >> reporter: meanwhile, president biden

trimmed mr. trump's lead in our new nbc news poll. trump leading biden by just two points in a head-to-head matchup, down from five points. but with third-party candidates in the mix, biden leads trump by two points. >> and our thanks to yasmin for that report. the chicago police department is in mourning after one of their own was shot and killed while driving home after his shift. officials say cops responded to a gunshot detection alert and found luis shot several times. the six-year veteran of the force was transported to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. >> that officer was a victim of the type of crime that he was working against, to keep people safe in this city. >> his vehicle was stolen from the scene. a manhunt for his kill cerion going. now to a michigan community in shock after a devastating crash.

a suspected drunk driver is caught on camera saturday appearing to speed toward and crash into a boat club, driving about 25 feet through a children's birthday. 15 adults and children were hit and a young brother and sister were killed. the family identifying them as lana and zane. their mother moriah and their older brother jaden were also seriously injured. >> two of the victims were pronounced deceased at the scene. this includes an 8-year-old female and a 5-year-old male, >> police have only identified the suspect as a 66-year-old woman. they say she has been arrested for driving while intoxicated, and more charges are likely coming. an investigation is under way today after 15 people were injured at universal studios in a crash involving a tram on saturday night. one person was critically

injured. the tram tried to make a u-turn and hit a metal guardrail, ejecting several passengers. studio tours resumed on sunday with what they called reinforced protocols. nbc is the parent company of nbcuniversal studios. recalling over accelerator pedals. when high force is applied to the pad on the akccelerator peddle, the pad may dislodge and cause a pedal to be trapped in the rim. the problem has gone viral. the national high safety traffic said it first received a complaint on march 31st. the south waking up to freeze alerts across the region. michelle grossman is talking about temperature drop. good morning, michelle. >> good morning. great to see you. we have freeze and frost alerts throughout the midwest, the ohio valley and northeast as well. we're starting out cold in many spots and keep it below normal and throughout tomorrow.

the freeze and frost warnings are through tomorrow morning because we do expect another cold night tonight. 72 million people impacted. again, from the midwest to the great lakes. portions of the tennessee valley, into the northeast. and we're looking at temperatures in the 30s this morning. pittsburgh just above freezing at 34 degrees. 30s in charleston, lexington, indianapolis. it's chilly in rochester, 37. and we're look at 40s in chicago, also st. louis. so a chilly start there as well. again, we'll have another chilly night tonight. and we're going to keep it cool in the east. we have a bit of a temperature divide throughout the day. we're looking at temperatures well below normal in portions of the east. phoenix near 100 degrees. 11 degrees above normal. we're going to keep it warm tomorrow. tucson into the 90s as well. las vegas, you're going to end up around 90 degrees. it's going to be a warm day tomorrow as well. we're also watching the chance for showers throughout the earl.

temperatures in the 70s in dallas. lots of sunshine throughout shreveport, little rock and also memphis. all right. that's your monday forecast. >> okay. michelle, thank you so much. >> sure. on sunday, olympic gold med medal peres general crossed the finish line. the previous record was set in 2017 by mary qahtani. the race making history for equality. in a global first, wheelchair athletes and nondisabled runners competed for the same exact prize money starting at $55,000 for first place. coming up, the iconic artist who boogied into the rock & roll hall of fame sunday. but fit,rs we celebrate earth day with one creature's powerful fight to protect against climate

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a culture known for withstanding the test of time is facing one of its toughest challenges yet, the climate crisis. nbc's brie jackson helps us kick off earth day with a personal look at the community's effort to save their homeland. ♪ >> you can see how the little ripples. >> reporter: water, essential to all, but even more precious for gullah gitchi communities, working to maintain their distinctive way of life away from the mainland. >> that allowed our africanisms as others call it to continue to evolve here in this land, but to also amalgamate into this culture. >> reporter: we travelled to st. helena, south carolina to meet queen quet, chief tess.

they're known for their unique language and traditions like basket weaving. for decades, they retained their culture despite the landscape around them changing. >> the movement of the gullah geechee brought culinary traditions, food traditions, spiritual traditions to the rest of the united states. >> before the issue was bridges coming in and bringing people in who were overbuilding and displacing us. >> reporter: now one of the biggest concerns is climate change. increased storm surge and rising sea levels threaten their land and lifestyle. >> that causes more flooding. it's causing assault water inundation in places that were fresh water areas, which also impacts some people's farming ability. >> reporter: she tells me rising temperatures are also taking a toll. >> our oysters we won't have. nor shrimp nor crabs if the ocean acidifies. >> i'm geechee.

i grew up eating crabs. >> reporter: tia clark runs a business in charleston, south carolina focused on catching blue crabs, a key ingredient in gull will geechee cuisine. >> it has changed my life and put me in this place to come outside every day and share my culture. >> reporter: clark says the water brings her closer to her culture, but she has seen conditions for the wildlife decline. >> with climate change, if it stays this warm, then the crabs are around which is going to be a lot of pressure put on them by me and other people trying to catch them. >> reporter: to help, conservationists are building oyster reefs to create a habitat for creatures to survive. >> from here, how this reef is protecting the grass. when we start losing some of these resources and when it really starts hitting home and affecting more people is when some real change is going to happen. >> reporter: this is an effort to ensure survival? >> absolutely. every part of what we're doing is to ensure our survival as native gullah geechees and the survival of our tradition.

>> reporter: a fight against climate change to preserve their way of life. in south carolina, brie jackson, nbc news. still to come, the 2024 rock & roll hall of fame class revealed, and it's a spice world and we're just living in it. unn ate more on the brit pop reioth spiced up social media this weekend. pain means pause on the things you love, but... green... means... go! ♪♪ cool the pain with biofreeze. and keep on going. biofreeze. green means go.

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you ready for paris? >> i'm ready for paris. >> i'm ready to see you in paris. ♪ > ♪ real love, i'm searching for real love, someone to set my heart free ♪ >> the rock & roll hall of fame admitted they can't be without mary j. blige. the r&b legend someone of eight airtss making up the rock & roll hall of fame class of 2024. the list includes ozzie ost osborn, a tribe call quest and cher. this induction ceremony will take place in october.

every time i come without the names, it's only now? it's about tile. >> wow, am i that old? they are in the rock & roll hall of fame now. >> including foreigner, dave matthews. >> it was dave matthews that got me. gosh. he deserves to be there. now to country music's biggest star breaking his silence on the incident that got him arrested. in a post to x on friday, morgan wallen said he accepts responsibility after he was taken in on felony charges in nashville on april 7th. police say that wallen threw a chair from the roof of a nashville bar that night which landed close to two officers. wallen add head is not proud of his behavior and declared his respect for law enforcement. >> it's kind of a thing that he is getting used to with all the actions. >> yes. >> the apology that he usually goes on after. now to five pop icons proving that friendship never ends. the internet erupted saturday night when victoria beckham, aka posh spice posted a quick video

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news to kick off your week. [ cheering ] >> reporter: when makayla nolan finished her first boston marathon -- >> miakayla! >> there was a big surprise. her grandpa bill was waiting. he'd come from florida, watching her run to honor his late wife anne, the grandmom who always supported makayla's marathon dreams. >> i think she would have said she was so proud and so happy for me for me achieving this goal. >> there is a new chapter ahead too for michigan police chief scott burns. >> would like to recognize your devotion to this community and your dedication to this police department. >> he broke down in tears during the traditional last call, his final day on the force. it's so meaningful because the person talking was his wife

lisa, a 911 dispatcher. they'd been working together 24 years. >> you've had a long distinguished career, and i am honored and so proud to be your wife. i can't wait to see what the future holds. >> 100 copies. thank you, signing off. [ applause ] >> from jamaica! [ cheering ] >> and at west chester university in pennsylvania, the team helped make forward jordan kelly's hoop dreams come true. flying in his parents from jamaica, their first time ever watching him play. [ cheering ] the surprise set up by head coach damian blair. tell me how those moments were for you, jordan?

>> it was unreal. i've never once thought in my wife i would see my dad and mother. and this was the first time watching me play. >> coach, would you say in some ways jordan's taught you a number of life lessons as well? >> yes, yes, he has. i mean, he has been here for over seven years without his family. and it's taught me that when things are rough, i need to push through and stay positive and continue to work hard. i appreciate you for that. and love you, brother. >> love you too! >> our thanks to jose diaz-balart for starting us off with such joy this week. thanks for watching "early today." hope it's a yful one for you. jo

right now at 5:00, a battle over homeless encampments head to go the supreme court. we're live in washington this morning with a case that could