news on the way. breaking overnight. new york city police in riot gear, clearing out a columbia

university building taken over by protesters. nearly 100 arrests as campus pro protests against the war in gaza continue to escalate. stringent new abortion restrictions now in effect in florida. the impact of the six-week ban on floridians and people across the southeast and what it could mean come november. a major shift from the federal government whether it co when it comes to marijuana. the heroic effort by two nurses who sprang into action to save a man who collapsed during a recreational basketball game. what those nurses are now saying about those harrowing moments. and meet the newest buffalo bill, who's never even played a single down of american football. how the nfl is recruiting talent from rugby leagues around the world. it's going to be may 1st that is. "early today" starts right now.

good morning. glad you're with me. i'm frances rivera. breaking late last night, the nypd moving into columbia university to clear out anti-war protesters. cops retook the occupied hamilton hall on campus, arresting nearly 100 people. there are no reports of injuries. and this is just the latest clash on american campuses over the israeli war on gaza. let's go to matt bodner, who's following developments for us. good morning. bring us up to date on the latest. >> reporter: frances, good morning. dramatic images from columbia overnight. police were called by the campus administration yesterday evening. they showed up on campus at 9:00 p.m. and declared campus cleared by about 11:00 p.m. local. now the university says that they called the nypd because of a serious escalation on campus, that of course being that seizure of hamilton hall on campus. special police actually had to enter through a second storey window to get access to the building, and they say they

arrested about 40 people inside. now that group that seized hamilton hall, they of course used furniture and stuff to set up barricades and block entrances. we've seen photos, images of a lot of damage throughout the building. overall, the nypd says they have detained 100 people on campus, who were taking part in all of this. now the nypd says there were no injuries. columbia says that it made this decision because that it felt that the protest was no longer student led. it had essentially been taken over by outside agitators. and they are already coming under fire from faculty, from students for making this decision. of course there are many people on campus who feel that their speech rights have been curtailed over the past six months, speaking out against this war. and so, you know, this is ongoing. the nypd has been asked by the campus administration to remain on campus through graduation on may 17. so clearly some expectation that is not exactly over yet.

and columbia, i should say, is obviously not the only campus in the country dealing with these things right now. and even just last night, the e nypd was called to the campus of the city college of new york. that is a developing situation we're following right now. we'll keep an eye on it, frances. back to you. >> classes and graduations being impacted all across the country. thank you. this morning, secretary of state antony blinken will meet with benjamin netanyahu in israel. blinken said earlier he will insist to the israeli leader that much more needs to be done to ensure that enough humanitarian aid gets into gaza. it comes as cease-fire talks with hamas falter and that netanyahu promises to go ahead with an incursion in rafah. aid organizations have warned of disaster if the war goes further into rafah. arizona state senators are expected to vote today to repeal the civil war-era ban on nearly all abortions.

the state supreme court sparked an uproar when it upheld the law last month. the governor has vowed to sign the bill. meanwhile, in florida, a six-week abortion ban takes effect today. as marissa parra reports, it's led to a scramble at clinics across the state. >> reporter: abortion clinics in florida stretched to the limit, squeezing in double, even triple the number of patients before the abortion ban takes effect. >> a lot of patients will be taken in for their consult and be told that they can't be treated. >> reporter: you can't treat them. >> you can't prepare for that. >> reporter: she says a third of their patients come intfrom oute florida, that's because some of them have the strictest laws in the country. >> we're looking at an abortion desert now. >> reporter: mike beltran was one of the ban's sponsors. >> we're a conservative state. we shouldn't be allowing

abortions and providing abortion tourism for other states in the south. >> reporter: he points out the law has exceptions for rape, incest and human trafficking up to 15 weeks and for the life of the mother and fatal fetal abnormalities. >> when they are born, how are they going to be taken care of. >> reporter: kathy is pregnant. she didn't want us to share her last name. she told us she can't afford another baby, so she started the process of ending her pregnancy. what is it that you wish they understood. >> i wish they understood there is more to having a baby than just birthing it. >> reporter: floridians will vote o on a proposed amendment. >> reporter: by the end of this week there may be women two weeks further along than you are and wouldn't be able to get the same procedure. >> i would really feel for them, because it's just not right.

>> reporter: marissa parra, jacksonville. the biden administration is planning to reclassify marijuana as a schedule three drug. that puts it on par with drugs like steroids or tylenol with codeine. it's currently a schedule i drug like heroin and lsd. it would make it easier to study for potential health benefits and reduce legal penalties. the proposed change still has to go through a public comment period and would not become official for at least 60 days. donald trump will be back on the campaign trail today, holding rallies in wisconsin and michigan. they are the first since the start of his hush money trial in new york. that trial is on break today, after the judge fined trump $9,000 for multiple gag order violations. tuesday also featured testimony from a former lawyer for both stormy daniels and karen

mcdougal. they both said they had affairs with the former president. vaughn hill jariard has more. >> reporter: the beginning of the second week of testimony, provided is part of this criminal trial against former president trump. taking the stand, keith davidson who worked as attorney for karen mcdougal and stormy daniels. two women who alleged to have had relationships with donald trump and whose stories were bought and silenced ahead of the 2016 election. now the allegations are from the district attorney's office is that donald trump was the ultimate one who directed this scheme in which he reimbursed his personal lawyer at the time, michael cohen, to go and make this transaction. keith david son responding to text messages in which he documented in real time the effort from michael cohen as well as the national inquirer editor in chief to purchase the

rights of these stories. and what ultimately went into that being signed off on by michael cohen. again, the stormy daniels payment coming just two weeks before the 2016 election. testimony from keith davidson is expected to begin when court resumes on thursday. back to you. >> hilliard for us, thank you. at least five people were killed and 32 injured in a russian missile attack that struck a private law school in odesa, ukraine. the academy seen here was mostly destroyed in the strike. dramatic footage captures the moment of attack with a series of blasts ripping across the city's port area. among the injured are two children, a pregnant woman and the academy's president. a man is in custody after going on a deadly rampage with a sword through the streets of london. police say the suspect killed a 13-year-old boy and injured four others. officers chased him down using tasers to subdue him and take him into custody. the motive is unclear, but

police do not believe it was a targeted attack or terror related. turning to kansas where a tornado tore through the small town of westmoreland on tuesday, killing at least one person. three others were injured. the twister destroyed at least 22 homes and three rvs. another 13 homes were damaged. the american red cross is operating a shelter for impacted residents, and the risk for severe weather continues today. let's bring in nbc meteorologist angie lassman, who's tracking all of this for us. what a week so far. >> we've got another round of that potential severe weather that we'll have to contend with today. unfortunately across some of the similar spots we've been dealing with for days and days. here's the setup. we've got thunderstorms across the southern plains, this is what we're going to watch as the day goes on. not just the chance for strong storms to develop later in the day, especially parts of the southern plains, but we've also got the flood threat to deal request from texas to iowa with

heavy rain on tap. by tomorrow the flooding will be even more likely, especially the further south you go, and strong storms on the table as we get into your day. here's the severe threat for the day today. notice that hail is going to be hobble up to 3 inches in size. 14 million on alert for this. straight line winds, hail, all possible. this is something we wat for onch n and st. louis. denver heads to the low 70s. colorado springs ends up with 70 degrees and mostly-sunny skies. and that's a look at your forecast, frances, back to you. >> angie, thank you.

coming up. how dave and busters plans to parlay betting into big business. heroes on the hardwood. how nurses saved a basketball player mid game. ed a basketball player mid game. tough messes. so it makes it look like i spent hours cleaning, and you know i didn't. it makes my running shoe look like new! it's amazing. it's so good. it makes it look like i have magical powers. magic eraser and sheets make cleaning look easy. this charmin ultra soft smooth tear is soooo soft and soo smooth. charmin ultra soft smooth tear has wavy perforations that tear so much better for a smooth more enjoyable go. charmin, enjoy the go. wanna know a secret? more than just my armpits stink. that's why i use secret whole body deodorant... everywhere. 4 out of 5 gynecologists would recommend whole body deodorant, which gives you 72 hour odor protection from your pits to your- (sfx: deoderant being sprayed) secret whole body deodorant. sometimes your work shirt needs to be for more than just work. like when it needs to be a big, soft shoulder to cry on.

which is why downy does more to make clothes softer, fresher, and better. downy. breathe life into your laundry. we are back with a terrifying moment caught on camera at a california basketball game. a man chancing on ollapsing on and losing consciousness. emilie ikeda has more now from the pair now being hailed as heroes. >> reporter: it was a race against time on this bay area basketball court. >> he just didn't look great. he wasn't really moving. >> reporter: nurses doreen thrash and marcus walton were both off duty, enjoying a sunday afternoon at a gym when a player at a rec. league game suddenly collapsed, twice. the pros knew they had just seconds to act. >> so they're trying to wake him

up. and i just immediately got up. i just wanted to make sure he was okay. >> reporter: the stakes truly life or death. less than 6% of people who suffer cardiac arrest outside of a hospital survive. compared with about 24% in a hospital, according to a study from the institute of medicine. >> all of a sudden, he's not breathing. i don't feel a pulse. >> i only have one job to do at that point. to get his pulse back. so i started compressions. >> reporter: thrash performing cpr, while walton called for the gym's aed or automatic external defibrillator to restart the heart. >> i press the button. i gave him a shock. and he jolted and immediately eyes woke up. he's breathing. normal, and i was, like, this, this is a miracle. >> reporter: amateur videographer caught the moments on camera. >> they are heroes. because without even hesitating

they sprung into action and let all of their training kick in to save someone else's life. >> reporter: walton says it shows the importance of getting cpr training. >> it's a wealth of knowledge that you can apply in a lot of situations. and, i mean, you can save somebody's life. >> reporter: it was largely techniques like the ones you learn in those classes, he says, that he used on the court, and many aeds will help you offer first aid. >> you turn it on, and it had di will direct you, whether that's compressions or applying the pads. it will tell you what to do. >> reporter: now the two nurses happy to have been able to help that man beat the odds. >> when you have a community like we had in that gym, everyone came together and helped. and it was very fast, and we saved a life. and we saved a family. >> reporter: emilie ikeda, nbc news. still to come, kendrick lamar dishes out another round

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♪ you heard mr. morale ♪ ♪ you're not a rap artist ♪ ♪ you're a scam artist ♪ ♪ tommy hilfiger stood out ♪ >> this is just part of it. the beef between kendrick lamar and drake. the six-minute track sees him attack drizzy. and he refers to himself as the biggest hater. this is just a snippet. we don't have time to go on and on on, on the back story, how this is not ending any time soon.

>> we had j cole. turning from the high-stakes rap beats to the great white way. the nominations for the tony awards were announced with two shows emerging as favorites.s f. stereo phonic, about an up and co coming '70s band was one of them. i'm so bummed. i haven't seen these. i just need to get to broadway and see those. >> that just opened. there's a whole lot of time and audiences. the outsiders, the stage remake of the '80s movie also up there with the nominations. now to an oscar nominee's observation on life and finding your own way. appearing on the podcast, table

for two, jeff goldblum talks about the lessons he's learned from his own upbringing and applying them to his own children. he added that he's not going to do it for them. the 71-year-old has two boys, ages 6 and 8. the actor will be starring in "wicked" later this year. he's saying figure it out, but they've got some time. when we come back. you want to check your pantries, fridges and freezers if you bought walnuts in the last six months. and soon, you'll be able to place a wager on your friend's next skee ball game. our friend' next skee ball game. [car door shuts] [paparazzi cameras] introducing, ned's plaque psoriasis. ned, ned, who are you wearing? he thinks his flaky red patches are all people see. otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. ned? otezla can help you get clearer skin, and reduce itching and flaking.

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despite never playing competitive football. kaylee hartung has the story. >> look at that. that is awesome. >> reporter: with the union jack flag wrapped around his shoulders, travis clayton was welcomed to the nfl. >> the buffalo bills select travis clayton. >> reporter: even though he's never played a down of competitive football >> go to buffalo! >> reporter: has it sunk in? you are a nfl player? >> i think i probably pinch myself. >> reporter: the former english rugby winger has spent four months honing his skills. at 6'7", the bills say his 40-yard dash is the fastest they've clocked in ten years. how steep has the learning curve been? >> oh, wow. extremely steep. i think coming in on the first day, not knowing anything really about the sport, i just climbed up and just learned everything

possible. >> reporter: and, in march, welsh rugby star, lewis signed with the kansas city chiefs. they are products of the nfl's international player pathway, a program designed to seek out talent from around the world, like eagles' left tackle jordan mailata. are you ready to stepan onto a l field right now? >> 100 percent. king charles iii has returned to public duties. the 75-year-old monarch visited patients and staff at a cancer treatment center in london. he was there to raise awareness of the benefits of early diagnosis and treatments of the disease. the event marks the king's first formal public engagement since his brief hiatus due to his own

diagnosis. one man found a deal that was too good to be true. because of a glitch on carat /* /* a website, he was able to buy diamond ears for $14. the actual price was $14,000. after months of whacback and fo the man was able to keep the earrings. thanks for cruising into wednesday with "early today." we'll see you back here tomorrow ere tomorrow..

getting tough on violators and promising more enforcement. we're live this morning in the city with the differences. you mightot