Today, friday, may 24th, 2024. The rush is on. Tens of millions of americans are racing out the door for the long Holiday Weekend. But Severe Weather is threatening some of those plans. Were tracking what you need to know. Campus tensions. A new round of protests erupting at colleges. Demonstrators at ucla once again clashing with police and harvards Graduation Ceremony interrupted by a walkout. How University President s are defending their responses to the unrest. Game changer. An historic shift in College Sports, the ncaa clearing the way for schools to pay current and former student athletes. Why its happening now. And dont be salty. If it seems like everyone is on a Beach Vacation this summer and youre stuck at home, youre not alone. How you can avoid socalled travelfomo, fear of missing out. We begin this hour with holiday travel. Speaking of fear of missing out, were talking about the rush today. Millions of people from coasttocoast are scrambling to get to their destinations for the start of the memorial day weekend. Aaa says this is going to be one of the busiest travel days this year. An estimated 43. 8 Million People expected to be on the move during this long memorial day weekend from yesterday to monday. Weve got you covered from every angle today from the roads to the airports to the allimportant travel forecast. Lets begin with nbc news correspondent Priya Sridhar at atlantas airport, priya, talking air travel first. How is it holding up . Reporter yeah, thats right, this is the worlds busiest airport, and ive actually been here for about nine hours so far, and i can report that things are pretty smooth and steady, at least so far, kate. Lets take a look at the delays and cancellations being reported across the country. 3,446 delays so far, and 80 cancellations. Yesterday it was 888 cancellations. So things are looking a little bit better than yesterday, at least so far. But i know that there is some expected weather to occur later in the day that might impact things. Now, the busiest airports are atlanta, dallas, denver, chicago, and los angeles today. So if you happen to be departing from one of those airports, or perhaps passing through one of those airports, trying to catch a connection, make sure that you give yourself some extra time. I know that tsa, at least here in the atlanta airport, staffed up today, trying to open up more security lines, to try to get everyone through those security lines as quickly as possible. But, its always important to leave as much time ahead of your travel plans as possible, kate. All right, Priya Sridhar thank you. Lets go to nbc news correspondent Antonia Hylton watching the roads from new jersey. Most people are going to be getting around by car this weekend. How is the traffic . Reporter thats right, kate. In fact, of those about 44 million americans, more than 80 80 are planning to hit the roads, be aware of the fact that already its bumpertobumper traffic. Families have been trying to get to new york city or to the jersey shore, and theyve already been sitting at times in traffic for hours on end. Theyre coming to rest stops to get water and to get fuel. Fuel prices are the other thing that people need to have in mind right now. On average, were looking at about 3. 61 a gallon, thats up seven cents from where we were this time last year. Weve been talking to travelers who are factoring all the costs, what its going to cost them to sit at times in all of that traffic for hours. As you just heard from priya there, even people planning to hit the skies, they will face some challenges. We are seeing this major Summer Travel rebound in the years coming out of the pandemic at levels unlike anything experts have seen since 2005. Thats almost 20 years ago. That is the signal to everyone, no matter what route you are taking, to be prepared, to know where the rest stops are, and have a plan for your meals and your family. Thats the only way to make sure that this is a safe and fun weekend for everyone. Antonia, thank you so much. Lets get the forecast now for everybody. Nbc news meteorologist bill karins, bill, weve had some serious weather this week, weve had storms, middle of the country, is there a threat going into the Holiday Weekend, please say no. During the Holiday Weekend, not horrible today, but it looks like we could have two Severe Weather outbreaks, maybe even two tornado outbreaks saturday and sunday. Weve had some nasty storms in areas of the midwest, right now, chicago, youre all clear, that storm system has moved through. Later today well watch the Dallas Airport with significant delays, and large hail possible with those storms, not so many tornadoes. But this is already the map for saturday, upgraded this to a moderate risk of Severe Weather. This looks like another very dangerous situation that i35 corridor heading up to Oklahoma City to wichita, and surrounding areas. And then by the time we get through late afternoon, and evening, we should have numerous tornadoes, maybe even strong. By the time we get to sunday, heading into the midwest, st. Louis, paducah, and areas south of chicago. One thing we havent mentioned, bad weather on the west coast. Looking good saturday and not bad sunday. That might be where you want to head, out west. Bill karins, thanks so much. Were following a new round of protests hitting College Campuses across the country. At harvard yesterday dozens of students stage add walkout during the Graduation Ceremony, demonstrating against the schools decision to bar 13 student protesters from graduating. This semester our freedom of speech and our expressions of solidarity became punishable. In California Police once again clashed with demonstrators on the ucla campus. Nbc news correspondent Morgan Chesky joins me from there. Morgan, what have we been seeing today, and what happened yesterday . Reporter kate, a far different situation playing out on uclas campus today than what we witnessed yesterday afternoon. And this was a hot bed of activity. It really began, though, yesterday, kate, when Campus Police located what was going up as a second encampment of sorts from those propalestinian protesters at a hall about a quarter mile from where im standing. It didnt stand long. Hundreds of students that had gathered there in support filtered their way here to dodd hall where they planned to occupy it as long as they could. That only last add few hours before police cleared that building out. Important to note, the swifter response than what we saw back on april 30th when counterprotest groups really clashed with that propalestinian group, and police waited before getting involved. The blame spread from School Administrators to the Campus Police chief who has been since reassigned. A far different scene today, though, kate, right now no planned demonstrations here, but all quiet. Thats good news. Morgan, University President s once again defended their approach to these student protests, to the situation, testifying before lawmakers on capitol hill. What did we hear there . Reporter you had leaders from several universities, ucla, rutgers, northwestern all being grilled by lawmakers. And importantly here, i want you to hear what the chancellor o ucla had to say when pressed about how he handled that specific encounter on april 30th. Take a listen. During this period of time students are still attending classes. I should emphasize there is no encampment and theres no demonstrations that are problematic. Reporter youll forgive me he was in fact referring to what was happening yesterday and that stood out, kate, because he appeared to be unaware of the protests that took place yesterday afternoon. He also acknowledged the fact, though, that police should have acted sooner back in april. Meanwhile, both rutgers and northwestern said because of the violence essentially that they saw play out on uclas campus they chose instead to have a dialogue with students to figure out their needs, something they were criticized for from mostly republican lawmakers. Morgan chesky on that for us, thank you. Well, relief today for an american tourist arrested for bringing bullets in his luggage on a flight out of turks and caicos, a judge decided today that Brian Hagerich will not face jail time. He was detained back in february. He says he accidentally left the ammo in a bag used for hunting trips. Priscilla thompson has been following this for us. He was facing 12 years in jail. How did he avoid time behind bars . Reporter the judge set aside that sentence because of exceptional circumstances that she laid out, including that he says he had the ammo in his bag by accident, that he has no prior criminal history, and the impact that this could have on his 5yearold daughter. We saw a lot of tears and a lot of hugs in that courtroom earlier today, and he actually came out and spoke to our nbc producer on the ground there about what this moment felt like, take a listen. Absolutely elated. Cant wait to get home. I have two kids that just cant wait to jump into our arms. What did it feel like walking through the end of it . Overwhelming. Overwhelming. Just joy. This is what weve been waiting for, for the last 101 days. Reporter instead of that 12year minimum he got a oneyear suspended sentence, and a 6,700 fine, which as soon as he paid he was free to leave the country. Were told hes already on a plane back here to the united states. Kate . Priscilla, four other americans are facing similar charges over ammunition and luggage. Some of them were in court today to show support. What could this sentence mean for their cases . Reporter two of them were in the court today, and they came out and they said that they felt grateful and relief, and they hope this will set the tone for their sentencings and hearings. There are a total of four americans who are now facing this potential 12year sentence and hoping that a judge will find similar exceptional circumstances in their cases as they head toward their sentencing and hearings in the coming weeks. Kate . Priscilla thompson for us, thank you. Time now for todays cnbc money minute. Mortgage rates are on the decline. And you could be eligible for a settlement from apple. Steve kovach is with us now. Hi, steve. Mortgage rates declined for a third consecutive week. 6. 94 , according to data Mortgage FinanceAgency Freddie Mac released thursday. It comes as existing and new home sales fell last month and the number of new Housing Starts also dropped. 485,000 fidelity customers have over a Million Dollars in their 401 k at the end of the First Quarter this year, according to the investment giant. Fidelity reported an average balance of nearly 1. 6 million for those millionaires. But looking at the broader pool at fidelity the average First Quarter balance for all 401 k accounts hit 129,000, up 16 from the First Quarter. The median 401 k balance was 28,900. Iphone customers could get up to 349 in a settlement, part of a proposed 35 million settlement on a class action lawsuit, the suit claimed iphone 7 and 7 plus users had audio issues with their devices. But, apple has denied the phones are faulty and did not comment on the settlement. Kate, back to you. So do you have to have a 7, or would you say or used to have one, i guess. Used to have one, maybe look it up and see if youre eligible for being part of that. Cash in. Steve kovach, thank you. Coming up, for many shoppers, memorial day weekend means sales. How you can save big on some items this Holiday Weekend. Plus, altercation at the altar. Why a florida priest says that why a florida priest says that he bit woman a [tense music] one aleve works all day so i can keep working my magic. Just one aleve. 12 hours of uninterrupted pain relief. Aleve. Who do you take it for . And for fast topical pain relief,try alevex. Hepatitis c . Dont just treat it. Crush it with mavyret. Conquer it with mavyret. Cure it. With mavyret. Mavyret cures all types of hep c. In only 8 weeks. The virus multiplies daily and can damage the liver over time. Mavyret stops hep c and cures it. If youve had hepatitis b, it may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after treatment. 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A Seismic Shift for College Athletes today, for the first time in over 100 years, they could be paid directly by their schools. The ncaa is paving the way for universities to share the money they make on College Sports with their players. Nbc news correspondent Steve Patterson joins me now with more. Hi, steve. So, explain how we got here and how are they going to pay student athletes . How does it work . Reporter this came from a decision that the ncaa had to make. They were facing tens of billions of dollars in class action lawsuits, would have reverted or resulted, excuse me, in essentially bankruptcy and complete holistic restructuring. Instead, theyre like, well, lets settle, lets use 3 billion to avoid paying out tens of billions of dollars, and the most exciting part about this, is to prevent future lawsuits to establish a revenuesharing model. In the big payout, the 3 billion, 2. 77, manager sliek that, 14,000 athletes will take advantage, claiming they should have earned money because of these old rules now defunct. The more exciting part, again, the fact that theres a new model being established that will allow these universities to establish a model in which they can literally pay the athletes, the people who have been making these universities rich, for more than 100 years, will actually have a part of the business, a part of the pie. Its exciting. Yeah, it is exciting. Heres the big question. How are they going to decide how to disburse the money, to which athletes, who gets what . Reporter theres the rub. There are no rules. There was no guidance on how each school disburses the money. They came up with a formula which is about the average amount that each Athletic Department in these big power conferences takes in is about 100 million. They decided by whatever math formula that it is that 20 of that should be what is distributed on a yearly basis. So, in effect, im really bad at math, but 20 million or so. How that pays down to each athlete, to each program, it is completely unknown. And then how do things like title ix factor in, if you have 20 million, go 10,000,010 million for mens and womens sports. The Basketball Program and the Football Program makes all the money that people on the golf team and the Gymnastics Team and the Water Polo Team should make just as much money. I think it all has to be worked out. None of it is set in stone. It is going to be messy, it is going to play out largely in court and its going to take a long time before we get to a place where everybody is comfortable with this brand new world, brave new world. A whole new era. Steve patterson, good to see you, happy friday. Well, hunter biden was back in delaware courtroom today for the final procedural hearing before his federal gun trial begins next month. You might remember president bidens son was indicted last september for allegedly possess ing a gun while using narcotics. He pleaded not guilty. Ken dilanian joins me from outside the courthouse. This hearing wrapped up after, i think, about two hours. What did we hear and whats going on . Reporter well, kate, big picture here, hunter biden went from the state dinner at the white house last night to sitting inside a federal courthouse today here in wilmington, delaware where next month he will go on trial for felony charges of lying on a form when he went to guy buying a gun, when saying he wasnt addicted to drugs. Which evidence can be put in front of the jury was todays motions. Both sides were given much of what they wanted. The government wanted to quote from Hunter Bidens memoir. Shes saying thats okay. Shes excluding the defense from raising the issue of why wasnt this case prosecuted back in 2018 by state authorities when the actual crime took place . So, none of this is going to really affect the outcome of the case that much. Its just a reminder that hunter biden is in serious water. Special counsel david weiss wants to introduce the laptop of hunter biden. The judge allowed him to do that and theres 18,000 pieces of evidence as a part of that. But shes also allowing the defense to challenge the authenticity of certain emails. That will be litigated in front of the jury. Ken dilanian, thank you so much. Much. You