response to our story. up next, on nightly news, and intense pollen season. what's making pollen tonight, the full 12-person jury now selected in donald trump's hush money trial, after two jurors were dismissed. the judge declaring, said we "we have our jury," after seating the 12 people that will decide the former president's fate, including an investment banker, a retired private wealth manager, and a speech therapist. and the two jurors that were dismissed, a nurse and i.t. worker. why they were excused. our team at the courthouse. also tonight, columbia university's

president calling in the nypd to arrest more than 100 pro-palestinian protesters a day after she testified before congress about anti-semitism on campus. the widespread 911 outage in four states. millions unable to call for emergency help. the cause now being traced to a single light pole. the 18-year-old arrested in maryland threatening to shoot up schools. the chilling 129-page document and more that led a friend to call police. the close call at reagan national airport. two planes nearly colliding on the runway. you'll hear the frantic call from the tower. 15 members of rfk jr.'s family sending him a sharp rebuke, blasting his presidential bid and endorsing president biden. and the southern rock legend and the co-founder of the allman brothers band. remembering the iconic dickey betts. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. good evening and welcome. the trump hush money trial appears to be speeding towards opening statements tonight, more quickly than many imagined, with 12 jurors now selected to hear the case. and one of six alternate jurors also

chosen late today. the rapid assembly of a jury panel came after the process appeared to suffer a serious setback earlier, when two previously selected jurors were dismissed from the case. one who had second thoughts about her ability to be impartial, the other over an apparent about her abilit failure to disclose interactions with law enforcement. the manhattan jury will sit in judgement of whether mr. trump illegally falsified business records as part of a scheme to conceal hush money payments to a porn star with whom he's alleged to have had an affair. allegations he denies. laura jarrett has late developments. >> reporter: tonight, a full jury of 12 now sworn in in former engineer, retired private wealth manager, speech therapist, physical therapist, someone in trump's hush money criminal trial. after the day began with drama surrounding

two jurors dismissed. the full jury now including an investment banker, security engineer, retired private wealth manager, speech therapist, physical therapist, someone in e-commerce, and product development manager. >> supposed to be in a lot of different places campaigning, but i've been here all day on a trial that really is a very unfair trialld not be impartial about mr. trump. and worried about her identity becoming public after loved . the whole world is watching this new york scam. >> reporter: mr. trump arriving with seven jurors sworn in, only to see that number quickly go down to five, after an oncology nurse who said during questioning that no one was above the law. i'm here to just hear the facts, tell the judge today, she had concerns she could not be impartial about mr. trump. and worried about her identity becoming public after loved ones figured out she had been impanelled. the other juror, an older i.t. consultant, who had called the nominee fascinating in court tuesday, excused today, after prosecutors said he was arrested for

tearing down conservative political ads decades ago and did not reveal it on his juror questionnaire. late today, those additional jurors selected to serve. among them, an investment banker who says he follows mr. trump's truth social posts and has seen quotes from his book "the art of the deal," but has not read it. the retired private wealth manager who says does he yoga every morning. and that speech therapist saying of mr. trump, "i tend not to agree with a lot of his politics and his decisions as a president." but said she can be impartial. at one point, a juror even apologizing to the former president for her past criticisms of him on deep blue manhattan where 85% of people voted for president biden. social media. she was dismissed. today's events underscoring the challenges of seating a jury in deep blue manhattan, where 85% of people voted for president biden. when the pool of 96 jurors was asked this morning if they could be impartial in judging the likely republican nominee, nearly 50 hands went up saying they could not. and were dismissed. this woman was among this is going to define so many things.. >> i couldn't be impartial. this is a historical case. and this is going to

define so many things. but at the same time, our job as a juror, right, is to be impartial. >> reporter: mr. trump sounding off about the jury selection process, writing he was given the second-worst venue in the country. he's accused of doctoring internal business records to hide a reimbursement payment to michael cohen, who allegely paid off stormy daniels ahead of the 2016 election so she couldn't go public about an affair. mr. trump denies any sexual relationship with daniels and has plead not guilty. >> and laura, the jury is seven men and five women. there was one alternate selected? >> reporter: that's right, lester. one alternate selected, five more to go, but one of the most remarkable moments, lester, happening at the very end of the day, when the prosecution said it would not turn over the names of the first three witnesses that it plans to call at this trial. that's something that's routinely done, so that the defense can prepare. but the prosecution here, lester, saying they're so worried that mr. trump will say something about them on social media,

and the judge in this we turn now to a stunning scene in columbia university in new york today. case agreed, lester. >> all right, laura, thank you. we turn now to a stunning scene at columbia university in new york today antonia hilton is there. . police in riot gear moving in to clear an encampment of students protesting the war in gaza. dozens arrested. antonia hilton is there. antonia, describe the scene for us. >> reporter: lester, right now, press isn't being allowed on campus. so, what you're seeing here are protests that have spilled over to the public streets. protests that, as you can see, appear to be far from over. confrontation at columbia today. police removing protesters from campus, citing extraordinary circumstances. the columbia university president

called in the nypd to clear out an encampment of pro-palestinian student demonstrators. the encampment set up wednesday morning, the same day she testified on capitol hill about anti-semitism on campus. >> we must uphold freedom of speech. because it is essential to our academic mission, but we cannot and shouldn't tolerate abuse of this privilege to harass and discriminate. >> reporter: in a letter to the university, she noted, protests have a storied history at columbia. where anti-vietnam demonstrators took over a building on campus in 1968. but in asking for help from the police, she said, the encampment and related disruptions pose a clear and substantial danger to the functioning of the university. >> we're risking our academic standing just to, like, show the administrators that we are not okay with their decisions. >> reporter: several demonstrators today stomping on an israeli flag. some students saying they feel unsafe on campus.

>> i feel as though people are kind of weaponizing anti-semitism. >> reporter: demonstrators telling us they plan to keep their protests going despite the police presence. do you feel this administration has clamped down on students and faculty members' free speech? >> 100%, yes. i believe that. >> reporter: new york city's mayor tonight saying police made more than 100 arrests on a campus severely divided. antonia hilton, nbc news, new york. the government is investigating why critical 911 centers in multiple states were knocked offline. experts say it exposes a critical national security vulnerability. here's tom costello. >> reporter: breaking this afternoon, honolulu police reporting a brief 911 outage in the city, coming after more outages wednesday night on the mainland. >> you may have difficulty reaching us internally. we're having difficulty receiving 911 calls, as well. >> reporter: 6:00 p.m. central time, multiple 911 centers cut off, in parts of four states. south dakota, nebraska, nevada, and texas. several call centers pushed out emergency alerts telling locals to use their cell phones or text for help.

>> to our knowledge, we have never experienced an outage of this magnitude or duration. >> reporter: service provider lumen technologies blamed three outages on a cut fiber line due to a third party company installing a light pole, writing, we restored all services in approximately 2 1/2 hours. >> we're dealing with 911 and last-century technology to ensure that our. we're in the 21st century. we need to ensure that our 911 systems are current technology. >> reporter: while an isolated event, at risk, sensitive data that underscores an urgent concern. >> 911, what is the on bucks county, pennsylvania, forced dispatchers t address of the emergency? in 2019, 911 centers in a dozen states were paralyzed.

now amid heightened global tensions and divisive election looming at home, concern that critical emergency >> reporter: u.s. cybersecurity has warned hackers want to exploit vulnerabilities to disrupt or degrade 911 service. at risk? sensitive data that could affect emergency responsibilities. >> was anybody injured? >> reporter: ransomware attacks on bucks county, pennsylvania, forced dispatchers to revert to manual systems. in 2017, 911 centers in more than a dozen states were paralyzed. now amid heightened global tensions and a divisive election looming at home, concern that critical emergency communications with easily be undermined. chris krebs is the federal government'snce. former cybersecurity chief. >> the homeland, as we say, is no longer a sanctuary. so, we really have to bake in cybersecurity resilience measures into every business plan, into every operational plan. >> reporter: tom costello, nbc news, washington. a maryland teenager is under arrest, charged with threatening mass violence. yamiche alcindor has more. >> reporter: tonight, 18-year-old alex ye is in custody, after maryland police say he threatened to shoot up his high school. all detailed in a 129-page memoir that discussed killing students. ye shared the document with a friend, but said it was a work of fiction. according to charging documents, that friend called the baltimore called t baltimore county police because they believed a school shooting was imminent. >> i'm worried.

i don't know what to think. i don't know who in this school is going through something that i may not see. county police, because they believed a school shooting was imminent. >> i'm worried, because now i don't know what to think. i don't know who in this school is going through something that i might not see. >> reporter: ye had been attending the high school virtually since 2022, and recently spent time in a psychiatric facility due to suicidal and homicidal thoughts, according to police. in the memoir, he detailed how he would do it. and who his ideal victims would be. the document opens by saying it is a work of fiction, but ye's friend told police the book's main character mirrored ye in many ways. they were both asian and felt bullied by other students. authorities detailed other red flags that led to the misdemeanor charge, including medical officials previously reporting that ye was preoccupied with self-harming, school shootings, and explosives. authorities say ye's instagram chat logs had a reference to wanting to be a famous serial killer. while ye's only firearm was a bb gun, police say internet searches included gun ranges near me, and

searches about over school shootings. ye's father said he was not concerned about his son's mental health status, and was aware that he was writing what he called a novel. ye is currently being held in custody where he awaits a bond hearing. lester? >> all right, yamiche, thank you. let's turn to the 2024 presidential campaign. today, prominent members of the kennedy family endorsed president biden, even >> reporter: today with his opponent stuck in court, president bi though robert f. kennedy jr. is running against him. gabe gutierrez reports. visions for america. trump's vision is about an >> reporter: today, with his opponent endorsement kennedy family members, even one stuck in court, president biden on the attack in battleground pennsylvania. >> the 2024 election is about two fundamentally different visions for family's e america. trump's vision is

one of anger, hate, revenge, and retribution. >> reporter: the campaign touting the endorsement of 15 kennedy family members, even though one of their own, robert f. kennedy jr., is running against him as an independent. >> the best way forward for america is to re-elect joe biden and kamala harris to four more years. >> reporter: responding to his family's endorsement of his opponent, today rfk jr. posted on social media, "we are divided in our opinion, but united in hour love for each other." the environmental lawyer and anti-vaccine activist first ran as a democrat, now, kennedy's independent campaign is polling above 10% in a few key swing states, where biden is also trailing trump. democrats are aggressively attacking third party candidates like kennedy, whom they view as a president to president biden's re-election, people involved tell nbc news. though it's not clear which candidate, biden or trump, would lose more votes to rfk jr. kennedy told nbc this in february -- >> i hope to drive equal numbers for both of them. i think at this point i'm drawing more from president trump. >> reporter: a source familiar with the biden campaign planning said the kennedy family endorsement was months in the making. notably, they didn't mention rfk jr.'s name once at today's event. lester? >> gabe gutierrez, thank you. now to washington, and speaker mike

johnson pushing ahead with a plan to pass new aid for israel and ukraine, despite backlash from some fellow republicans. ryan nobles is at the capitol for us tonight. ryan, is the speaker's job still in jeopardy? >> reporter: it may be, lester. the speaker was confronted today by members of the house freedom caucus on the house floor. they are not backing away from their threat ukrainian to attempt to remove him from office, if he moves ahead with a vote on these foreign aid bills, that include funding for ukraine. but the speaker is not backing down, and the house is aiming for votes on these measures as soon as this weekend. ukrainian leaders have said that their soldiers on the front lines are running out of ammunition. speaker johnson says that he supports funding for ukraine, even if it costs him his job. lester? >> ryan nobles, thank you. in 60 seconds, urgent calls from the control tower. >> southwest 2937, stop! >> as two planes on a

collision course avoid hitting each other with little time to spare.e pl fatal, dehydration, urinary tract, or genital yeast infections, and low blood sugar. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking farxiga and call your doctor right away if you have symptoms of this infection, an allergic reaction, or ketoacidosis. ♪ far-xi-ga ♪ ♪(voya)♪ there are some things that work better together. like your workplace benefits and retirement savings. voya provides tools that help you make the right investment and benefit choices. so you can reach today's financial goals and look forward to a more confident future. voya, well planned, well invested, well protected. breathing claritin clear is like... is he? claritin clear? yeah. fast relief of your worst allergy symptoms, like nasal congestion. live claritin clear®

back now with the scary close call at reagan national airport near washington, d.c. two planes nearly colliding on the runway. emilie ikeda now with what went wrong. >> reporter: a hair-raising moment today on one of america's busiest runways. >> stop, southwest 2937, stop! >> reporter: an air traffic controller frantically telling a southwest plane to stop. >> we stopped. we were cleared to cross runway 4. >> reporter: after it was cleared to taxi across a runway at reagan national in washington, d.c. >> clear at four. clear for takeoff. >> reporter: a jetblue plane was about to take off, according to the faa. but then also suddenly told to abort. >> and we're stopping. >> reporter: a source says the planes came less than 1,000 feet of each other. >> something went amiss, causing one

controller to clear the airplane to take off and another ground controller clearing the southwest airlines to cross that same active runway. so, to me, it looks like it's what the faa calls an operational error, involving an air traffic control issue. >> reporter: after a string of near-misses, an independent safety review found last year overtime is at an historically high level for air traffic controllers, and challenges including staffing shortages have caused an erosion of safety margins that must be urgently addressed. tonight, the faa reports serious runway incursions are trending down. >> stop, southwest 2937, stop! >> reporter: regarding the latest scare, both airlines say they're working closely with federal investigators to determine what went wrong. emilie ikeda, nbc news. and next, pollen season. what's causing such an eye-watering spring for so many?

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allergy sufferers, it is not your imagination. for many, allergy season really is getting worse. anne thompson explains why and what you can do about it. >> reporter: this is where david loves to be, outdoors playing sports. but his worsening allergies make fun, even school, difficult for the 8-year-old. >> his eyes are really bloodshot. he's just so uncomfortable that we've kept him home. >> hi, david! >> reporter: traineder will gists see him at

a clinic in new york. >> your eyes are itchy and watery? we have more patients coming in with severe allergy symptoms. they are coming in sneezing, congested. >> reporter: at university of michigan, allison steiner is putting up a pollen counter to track the trend driven by climate change. >> climate change is making pollen increase. it is increasing in magnitude of pollen and the length and duration of the pollen. there is an example of a birch pollen grain. >> reporter: steiner says the pollen season is already 20 days longer, and concentrations are up 21%. and the severe thunderstorms and a changing climate break up the pollen into smaller pieces that go deep into the body. >> while the large pollen grains are stopped by the upper respiratory system, the tinier particles can get into your lungs and they can trigger more respiratory distress. >> this is common ragweed. >> reporter: on the pollen grains, this clum gree professor sees more proteins, another trouble sign for allergy sufferers. >> if there is more of that foreign substance, you'll feel a stronger response. >> reporter: proteins making the pollen more potent, multiplied by

the carbon dioxide fueling climate change. the carbon dioxide is changing the chemistry of the pollen? >> yes. exactly. >> reporter: to keep the pollen outside, doctors recommend taking off your shoes before going in. washing your hands and face, and wiping down your phone, glasses, and sunglasses. david uses a tray of medicines to cope, as his mom worries his allergies will get worse. >> it scares me, because i see how much he suffers from it every year. >> reporter: with no relief in sight. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. and coming up for us tonight, he gave us "ramblin' man" and so much more. we'll remember guitar gunslinger dickey betts of the allman brothers, next. that helps treat and prevent, all in one. to those with migraine, i see you. for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura and the preventive treatment of episodic migraine in adults.

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. finally, tributes are pouring in for a rock icon, dickey betts of the allman brothers band, who passed away today. sam brock with more on the sound and songwriting he is being celebrated for tonight. ♪ lord, i was born a ramblin' man ♪ >> reporter: you might say dickey betts was born to play the guitar. and his music, the stuff of southern rock legend. ♪ i hope you understand ♪ ♪ i was born a ramblin' man ♪ >> reporter: an early guitar virtuoso and bedrock of the allman brothers band, he died at the age of 80 following a period of declining health

♪ don't catch me ♪. ♪ not gonna let him catch the ♪ ♪ midnight rider ♪ >> reporter: his hall of fame guitar skills and songwriting spawned timeless tunes. from "midnight rider" -- ♪ lord, i was born a ramblin' man ♪ >> reporter: to "ramblin' man." he found a kindred spirit in dwayne allman who, along with brother greg, created a group that would reshape the genre of southern rock, blending blues, country, and jazz. they were also touched by tragedy. dwayne allman died in a motorcycle accident in 1971. ♪ tonight, his loved ones saying he was larger than life, and his loss will be felt worldwide. and even the carter center weighing in, posting on x, "president carter loved their music, and the band campaigned on his behalf." >> you are truly a magnificent and great crowd. >> reporter: inducted into the rock 'n' roll hall of fame, his imprint on music will

be remembered as fiery, hell-raising -- ♪ lord i was born a ramblin' man ♪ >> reporter: -- and forever a ramblin' man. sam brock, nbc news. and that is "nightly news." join us tomorrow for our interview of iran's foreign minister. thank you for watching, everyone. i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night.

right now on "nbc bay area news tonight," accusations of bullying from a boss at the antioch school district. among them, a worker says his desk -- you see right there -- ended up on the roof. >> why do you think he put your desk on the roof? >> i asked tha