new overnight. a california judge paving the way to parole for the menendez brothers. now one step closer for a chance at freedom. the star witness testifies in the case against sean "diddy" combs. his former girlfriend, cassie ventura, is detailing years of alleged abuse and what led to that infamous hotel fight.

president trump securing a major vestment in saudi arabia but facing growing backlash at home over his plan to accept a luxury jet from qatar. it's also his next step on his middle east trip. we're live with what to expect today. a hall of fame curveball. why mlb is removing pete rose from the ineligible list decades after his gambling scandal. and the pacers send the top-seeded cavs packing, while the thunder take a one-day lead against the nuggets. the highlights, plus the coach making history on the hardwood for the wnba as we tip off this wednesday, "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm frances rivera. after more than 35 years behind bars, the menendez brothers are now eligible for parole. it comes after months of delays and after the new l.a. county d.a. withdrew a recommendation to reduce their sentences. from our l.a. station, here's

robert kovacik. >> reporter: district attorney nathan hochman on the menendez brothers and the decision in a high-profile case with high interest. >> i'm certainly considering the concerns of the public on both sides of this sort of legal fence. >> reporter: erik and lyle menendez appearing through a video feed learned think had been sentenced to 50 years to life making them eligible for parole. >> they had tears and were smiling. >> reporter: brothers who earned college degrees behind bars and creating programs for inmates, including those who were victims of sexual abuse. >> the fact is, the menendez brothers have done remarkable work. and today is a great day after 35 years. >> reporter: hochman doesn't see it that way. >> these are two individuals who brutally shotgunned their parents. by the way, not just their father, but their mother as well. and then lied about it for 30 years and engaged in a cover up for 30 years and have never completely accepted responsibility for all their

actions. >> reporter: the case of the menendez brothers has been the subject of renewed attention through popular streaming series and documentaries, highlighting their claims of abuse at the hands of their father. the anticipated two-day hearing wrapped up on day one. >> any time you reach a ruling immediately after you've heard all the evidence, and you rule for about four to five minutes, you pretty much had an idea what you were going to say from the get-go. with that being said, the judge allowed both sides to present whatever arguments or evidence it wanted to, which is his job. and then he made his decision. >> and now we see the pot at the end of the rainbow, so to speak, or their freedom. and i'm hopeful and glad that we're one huge step closer to bringing the boys home. >> reporter: hochman tells me, not so fast. >> it's no guarantee that they will get parole as far as you're concerned. >> no guarantee. that's correct. >> reporter: the d.a. drawing a

parallel with another high-profile l.a. case, the assassination of robert f. kennedy. >> the parole board recommended parole. governor newsom reversed that grant of parole, keeping sirhan sirhan behind bars today, saying that because he had not completely accepted full insight and responsibility for all his criminal actions over those years that outweighed all the pro-parole factors. so we'll see if governor newsom applies that standard. >> thanks to our l.a. station for that report. r&b singer cassie is expected back on the stand today after giving uncomfortable testimony in the sex trafficking trial of sean "diddy" combs, the singer detailed allegations of physical abuse and control that included drug-fueled sexual encounters with male escorts under combs' direction. she testified she didn't want to engage in the encounters but felt like she didn't have a

choice. the singer explaining she first participated in the freak offs in 2008 when she was 22 years old and that they continued while she dated combs on and off until their split in 2018. she is the star witness for the prosecution. meanwhile, combs sat and listened intently during ventura's testimony and gestured to his family with his hands shaped like a heart. combs has adamantly denied the allegations against him. ventura's testimony could last through the week. president trump heads to qatar today, the second country of his tour of the middle east. he spent tuesday in saudi arabia where he was treated to a state dinner. it was a visit for business as well as diplomacy. mr. trump announced a $600 billion saudi investment in the u.s. and he met with the president of syria for more than after an hour. let's turn to alice barr in washington. the president met with the

syrian president as well, and that came after a surprise announcement. >> reporter: good morning, frances. president trump announced he was lifting sanctions on syria, saying that the civil war-torn country needs to, quote, have a chance at greatness. it's a controversial decision syria's current president used to fight the american occupation of iraq as a member of al qaeda. it was not mr. trump's only break with previous presidents. in a speech, he denounced interventions in the middle east, saying the people there should dece their own future. take a listen. >> the gleaming marvels of riyadh and abu dhabi were not created by the so-called nation builders, neocons or liberal non-profits like those who spent trillions and trillions of dollars failing to develop baghdad, so many other cities. instead, the birth of a modern middle east has been brought by

the people of the region themselves. >> reporter: the trip to qatar will be closely watched, after the announcement that president trump intends to accept a $400 million plane as a gift from the qataris to be used as air force one. he insists that it's both legal and in line with ethical guidelines, but it's drawing corruption and bribery accusations from democrats and from some republicans. aviation experts point out that it would cost something like a billion dollars and take years to upgrade the 747 to work as a secure air force one. the president also said he wants to strike a nuclear deal with iran to curb its weapons program, but he warned that time for diplomacy is running out, frances? >> alice, thank you. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy says he will attend talks with russia this week, only if russian president vladimir putin is also there. the kremlin is refusing to confirm who is attending the talks, which are set for tomorrow in istanbul, turkey.

president trump also offering to attend the talks if putin goes. nbc's matt bodner joins us now with more on that. good morning, matt. >> reporter: frances, good morning. donald trump is showing continued and increasing frustration with the lack of progress on ending the war. both putin and zelenskyy are making various moves to demonstrate to the american president that they are still engaged. this is all playing out in a very roundabout way. putin on sunday rebuffed a ukrainian proposal for a 30-day cease-fire, instead, pitching direct talks between ukrainian and russian officials in istanbul on thursday. trump told zelenskyy to accept the offer, which he did. zelenskyy has since raised the stakes saying that he would personally attend these talks in istanbul but only if putin attends as well. the kremlin so far has played coy. >> and putin has not accepted the offer. they are planning to send sergey lavrov and other senior officials. there is every chance that putin makes his decision at the last

possible minute. he's accountable to no one but himself. preparations for his travel to istanbul could very well be under way in secret. the white house for its part clearly wants putin to attend, as things stand, the u.s. plans to send marco rubio, steve witkoff and keith kellogg to istanbul. on fox business yesterday, trump said witkoff would go to the meeting if putin shows up. ukraine wants to discuss a 30-day cease-fire, he said, and added that putin, is, quote, scared of direct talks with me. frances? >> thank you. the trial against the man accused of robbing kim kardashian at gunpoint back in court this morning. the defendants allegedly stole $10 million in jewelry from kardashian nearly a decade ago. she testified against the group saying she believed she was going to be shot dead during the armed heist. in court, she tearfully accepted

the apology of one of the defendants. turning to a major league update, the mlb reinstating legendary cincinnati reds player and manager, pete rose. sam brock has the details. >> reporter: for baseball's all-time hit leader, pete rose. >> there it is! >> reporter: an end to a multi-decade effort to get reinstated into major league baseball after rose agreed in 1989 to go on its permanent ineligible list amidst the investigation into gambling in the sport. it's as unprecedented as mr. rose is the first person to die while still on the ineligible list. writing that a man no longer with us can no longer present a threat to the game. >> i want baseball and pete rose to be friends. that's all i want, so i can say i'm not an outsider looking in. >> reporter: rose, who died last

september acknowledged in an auto biography. >> did you bet on baseball? >> yes, i did. and that was my mistake. >> reporter: rose's attorney celebrating. >> he went through life as the scarlet letter of what happens when you bet. you could face a bigger price than he did. >> reporter: the player known as charlie hustle for years had many supporting his reinstatement, including president trump. the announcement included 16 other now-reinstated mlb figures. among those stained by the black sox scandal of 1919, including shoeless joe jackson. a dreary day for much of the northeast. >> it's a morning where you don't want to forget your umbrella. rain still in the picture stretching from philadelphia to new york and to the great lakes.

only a couple flood alerts at this time, but more so we're dealing with pesky rain that will interrupt some of those plains. out west across the central plains we'll w watch for thingso ramp up as a new cold front emerges. this is going to leave us with a couple days of severe weather until the end of the workweek but heavy rain across the midwest. elevated winds as will. and the rain showers will move to the northeast by the time we get to friday and give us the potential for strong storms to wrap up our workweek. here's the area we're watching. wind gusts going to be the main threat. a much more expansive area as we get into tomorrow. 41 million people included in this. wind gusts, hail and a couple tornados will be possible. and this same threat takes us into friday. temperatures from the no 80s and

in atlanta and nashville today. 88 and mostly sunny in orlando. and that's a look at your forecast, frances, back to you. coming up, airbnb wants to book you a chance to meet your favorite stars. and we're back in a minute with the good news on wall street after months of wild swings. ree after months of wild swings. ♪ febreze! ♪ your home is your happy place until you come back to bad odors. use febreeze plug-in. it has a microchip that alternates between two scents to fight odors and provide freshness for up to 50 days. try febreze plug. our brains are incredible. but memory can get complicated. that's why we created new neuriva memory 3d.

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overnight after the s&p rose 0.7% in sterday's session and the tech heavy nasdaq rose 1.6%. the s&p, as you say, is now again in positive territory. erasing those earlier losses that we've seen so far this year. and this as investors celebrate cooling inflation but also easing trade tensions. now inflation rose less than expected, 2.3% last month. that's its lowest level since 2021. however, the outlook does continue to look uncertain with investors pushing back prospects for a fed rate cut to september. meantime, microsoft has said it will be cutting 3% of its global workforce across all geographies, teams and levels. this accounts for around 6,000 staff with around one third of those cuts due to happen at its washington state headquarters.

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three, two, one. >> you can't imagine how physically punishing it was for tom to be on the wing. the wind distorts your vision. it's almost impossible to breathe. >> tom cruise sharing the secrets of the impossible before his final mission. the superstar appearing at a

tuesday tiktok eventt the cannes film festival, previewing the latest stunts in the latest mission impossible. he had to learn a kind of wing walking that he'd never done before, filming that sequence where he hangs onto the airplane. the final reckoning screens at cannes this weekend. it's stunning, the behind-the scenes secrets. >> how is he not scared? i like a thrill, but wing walking, a new kind, doing it for the first time seems a little nerve wracking. now toirbnb adding new star power, expanding its originals with a new set of experiences with celebrities. some of the early offerings include an anime-style adventure with megan thee stallion and a field day with patrick mahomes. it is teasing collaborations

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with indy's offense with tyrese haliburton dropping 31 points. they advance to their second straight eastern conference finals. oklahoma city stole the lead from denver in the final minutes of their own game five matchup. they have the chance to advance to the western conference finals tomorrow night. and the celtics had their worst fears realized. the team announcing that jayson tatum underwent surgery on the torn achilles he suffered in monday night's loss to the knicks. he will miss the rest of the season with his status for next season in question as well. now to a history first for the wnba. kathy park sat down with the head coach breaking barriers and inspiring a new generation of fans. >> reporter: with the golden state val kyries tip off their season, they will be making history. now lid by the league's first

asian-american head coach. how are you channeling the spirit of a valkyrie? >> i'm all about it. i've been fighting my whole life to get to certain spots. >> reporter: she is a third-generati japanese-american, a walk- at ucla who climbed the ranks from the l.a. clippers coaching bench to helping lead the las vegas aces to back-to-back titles. >> the reason i'm here is my dad. i was really lucky to have a parent that not only loved me unconditionally, but he pushed me beyond my limits.s. >> reporter: that tough love became her fuel. >> doesn't matter how tall you are. i'm 5'1"3/4. i've always been the girl walking into the gym with guys. no big dial. >> reporter: now her impact is reaching far beyond the court. do you feel like there is more responsibility now? >> yeah. you're impacting lives. >> what does she look like?

>> reporter: she kind of looks like us. >> it's phenomenal to see someone that looks like you and to say, yeah, i can do it. >> reporter: a reflection of the times with more fans believing in their own shot. kathy park, nbc news, san francisco. always changing the game, the way it looks for us. thanks to you for waking up with "early today." i'm frances rivera. have great w aed

>> thanks for watching top story. more news is on the way. the way. good morning. closer to freedom. lyle and erimenendez closer to freedom. a look at what prompted the judge's decision to reduce their sentences, and what comes next for the brothers. a bad rap.

the