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hitting millions of americans. the crack down on fake pornography. russia and north korea strengthening ties. the historic pact signed by vladimir putin and kim jong un that could have a major impact on the war in ukraine. paying a steep price to see loved ones. the new lawsuit targeting jails that allegedly banned in-person visits for profit. lester holt spoke with one sheriff who admitted i was wrong to back the policy. and the killer queen deal. the eye-popping sum for the catalog. it's thursday, june 20. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm frances rivera. the first official day of summer is kicking off with extreme heat and severe storms. eastern mexico getting the direct impact of the first named storm of the season.

tropical storm alberto triggering a disaster declaration in texas. the storm surge bringing flash flooding to the southeastern part of the state. sam brock spoke with first responders, struggling to reach communities. >> reporter: trying to get your ambulance intoes these communities, how difficult is it? >> very difficult. there's very few houses we can get to on our own. >> reporter: meanwhile, millions across the midwest and northeast are being broiled by a heat wave. many cities are expecting their heat index to reach triple digits today. let's get an update on the path of tropical storm alberto. >> we have our official first drop tropical storm of the season. alberto will make landfall in the next couple hours in mexico. right now, 120 miles east-southeast of tampico,

mexico. west at 9 miles per hour. we do expect landfall in the next nfew hours. we're looking at 40 mile-per-hour wind as it makes landfall. and then we're going to see weakening as it goes over the mountains of mexico. tropical alerts are in effect from lake jackson, corpus christi and south padre island. we're looking at the winds, the chance of coastal flooding as well. million people impacted by flood alerts. corpus christi, you're under a flash flood warning, that means flooding is happening now or it's imminent. best to stay home this. >> mo. and we're looking at the flash flood risk as we go throughout the morning hours. this is going to improve as we get through the later part of thursday. also talking about the heat wave in just a few minutes. >> lots more to cover. vladimir putin and kim jong un have signed a mutual defense pact between russia and authority korea. the two leaders pledged to come to each other's aid if either is

attacked. the agreement was sealed at a summit in pyongyang. north korea is bunch one of rus key suppliers of arms. what do we know about the agreement? >> reporter: good morning, frances. vladimir putin called it a truly break through agreement that raises relations between north korea and russia to a whole new level, especially when it comes to security and military cooperation. as you mentioned, the two leaders pledged to come to each other's help in case they are attacked. but the immediate impact could be that north korea will expand the number of munitions that it's already providing to russia to use in its war in ukraine. in exchange of a trans ofer of military technology. the fear is that that technology could involve nuclear submarine technology and ballistic missile

technology that has the potential of course to accelerate, enhance north korea's nuclear and missile programs, therefore posing a real threat to the asia pacific region, including u.s. allies there and u.s. troops statione there. le now after the le now vo vladimir putinthen then tr to vietnam. a state sddepartment spokespers said no country should give putin a platform to normalize his atrocities. frances? >> claudio, thank you. lawmakers are working to aggress the growing number of a.i. pornographic videos and images circulating online. and the images aren't just big-name celebrities but teens,

too. savannah sellers has new information. >> reporter: texas republican ted cruz and minnesota democrat amy klobuchar joining together to discuss the trend of non-consensual images shared online. >> this is increasingly affecting and targeted at minors. >> reporter: deep fake porn production up last year. a.i. technology can make realisticing l reali realistic-looking images of anyone. others affected include scarlett johansson and taylor swift. >> i was thinking this is my photo from my instagram. why would there be a body that's not mine on it.

>> reporter: she was 14 when fake, explicit images of her, created by a classmate in her texas high school spread. snapchat says it has zero tolerance. but her mother says it was eight months before the social media company took action. the new bipartisan bill puts the onus on tech companies, requiring them to remove non-consensual imagery within 48 hours of receiving a complaint. and it makes it a federal crime to publish the images. a crucial step. >> distribution is important. making sure that any person who is thinking about doing this to another person thinks twice, because they might have to face really serious consequences. that's key. >> reporter: innocent victims

like alston barry hope help is on the way. in louisiana, the ten commandments will now be displayed in disp displayed in every public school classroom. louisiana becomes the first state to mandate such a requirement. opponents call the law unconstitutional, vowing to challenge it in court. let's turn now to new mexico where two wievldfires turn to grow. the governor calling this one of of the most devastating fires in new mexico's history. officials in california also shared a new warning about this early start to the fire season. reporting the number of acres burned so far this year have skyrocketed, compared to past years. and, while those fires burn out west, the east coast is also burning up. let's check back in with

meteorologist michelle grossman hadgrossman, who is here with the latest on the heat wave. >> we're going to continue to bake throughout friday and into the weekend into early next week. so we are waking up, 64 million americans under heat alerts, heat warnings. from the great lakes to the ohio valley into the northeast, also new england. new england, you're getting hit hard with real hely hot temperatures. re we're looking at temperatures into the 90s. burlington, 92, bangor, 96. it will feel hotter than that. and pittsburgh, 92. the heat stays in place on friday. temperatures well into the 90s. the record in the ohio valley.

92 in philadelphia. 92 i >> that's your thursday forecast. >> thanks, michelle. coming up, another one bites the dust. queen the latest rock juggernauts to sell the music catalog. the jails forcing people to use video calls. that can't retain moisture. new pantene miracle rescue deep conditioner, with first-of-its-kind melting pro-v pearls... locks in moisture to repair 6 months of damage in one wash, without weigh down. guaranteed or your money back! for resilient, healthy-looking hair... if you know, you know it's pantene. you are bountiful. your hair can grow 590 miles over your lifetime. it's in your nature to grow. grow thicker fuller hair with one capsule a day of advanced hair complex.

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makira harris dudley and her children. separated by less than two miles and by a jail policy that doesn't allow in-person visitation. her parns, phillip and brenda, have been caring for her children. >> where's mama? when she coming home? >> it must make for some rough moments with the kids? >> oh, yes. oh, yes. >> right now granny's mommy and i'm going to hold you. >> reporter: replacing three in person visits with costly video calls has become the norm in hundreds of jails across the country. here a 25-minute call typically costs $10. >> it just costs too much and it's not even guaranteed that it's going to work. >> reporter: now the policy is at the center of two lawsuits in michigan, including one of them here in genesee county which is fighting it arguing there's no

constitutional right for in-person visitations, but civil rights attorney disagrees and says video only visits are painfully inadequate. >> we think there's a constitutional right for children to hug their parents. >> reporter: the video calls are operated by for profit telecommunications companies but counties like genesee get to pocket some of the revenue. it's called a kickback scheme. >> the theory behind these contracts seems to be if you stop kids from visiting their parents in person, these separate families will be forced to spend more money on phone and video calls. >> reporter: this is raquila's first time in jail. she said her son's father physically abused her. she's accused of violently retaliating against him after she says he attacked him. >> it was a fight or flight moment. i never thought the probability of doing anything like this.

>> reporter: raquila couldn't afford bail so this screen is the closest she can get to seeing her children. >> reporter: how does it feel that someone is making money off this? >> it feels disheartening. it feels criminal. >> i feel it's greed. greed. >> reporter: sheriff chris swanson runs the jail and was a strong supporter of the policy when it began ten years ago. he is personally named in the lawsuit. >> reporter: how much money is the county making throughout the video business right now? >> over 400,000. >> reporter: what was the reasoning behind it? >> money. that came under a sheriff in 2010. we had to cut 10% of the budget. when it came to the revenue, it was very attractive. we're going to change that. >> reporter: by change that sheriff swanson meant now. in our interview he told us he believes he made a mistake. regardless of how it ruled he's

reversing cords and reinstating in-person visits. >> we're going to restore to re-insert in-person visits. >> reporter: you're leaving money on the table. >> it's money i don't need and it's money that doesn't come from the inmates, it comes from the families so you're penalizing people and i see that now. >> reporter: you were one of the guys that was a proponent ending in-person visits. you've made this turn. >> the person i am today is not the same person i was in 2012, 2014. >> not long ago you were celebrating the dollars come in. >> i accept that. >> why did it take a lawsuit to make this turn? >> it didn't have to. >> but it did. >> it did. >> after spending more than 100 days in jail she finally made bail last week able once more to hug her children unlike thousands of others in jails across the country.

>> and our thanks to lester for that report. still to come, kendrick lamar sends l.a. into a state of euphoria. the rapper returns to the stage to deliver the first live edition to this culture shaking disk track. so his doctor prescribed austedo xr— a once-daily td treatment for adults. ♪ as you go with austedo ♪ austedo xr significantly reduced dan's td movements. someeople saw a response as early as 2 weeks. with austedo xr, dan can stay on his mental health meds— (dan) cool hair! (female vo) austedo xr can cause depression, suicidal thoughts, or actions in patients with huntington's disease. pay close attention to and callour doctor if you become depressed, have sudden changes in mood, or have suicidal thoughts. don't take if you have liver problems, are taking reserpine, tetrabenazine, or valbenazine. austedo xr may cause irregular or fast heartbeat, or abnormal movements. seek help for fever, stiff muscles, problems thinking, or sweating. common side effects include inflammation

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(sfx: deoderant being sprayed) american woman ever. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> there is kendrick lamar celebrating juneteenth by taking a victory lap with his closest friends and fans. he held a one-night concert called the pop out at the forum in l.a. on wednesday night. k dot performed the first live performances aimed at drake. he closed out by playing his number one hit "not like us" five times in a row.

there were several guest appearances including steve lacey and others. this is the way you do it when you're going to culminate those disk tracks. >> drake and him keep going back and forth. back and forth. a citing said sony acquired the catalog for a billion pounds. the deal does not extend to the revenue from live performances which will be held by brian may and roger taylor. the label is no stranger for splurging for classic music libraries. sme dropped money for bruce springsteen, bob dylan and michael jackson. a lot of money. >> hundreds of millions. in this case hit billions in u.s. dollars, which is just astounding. well worth it when it comes to their music rights. coming up, juneteenth

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walker, celebrating juneteenth in the nation's capital is historic. >> i feel honored and appreciated today as a veteran. >> reporter: both served during the vietnam war. the two married in 1971. they started the day joining some of america's finest heroes on a trip from atlanta to washington, d.c. the trip, the first of its kind. the honor flight network bringing together these 26 black veterans, paying tribute to those who served and marking the end of slavery in the u.s. veterans greeted with a water cannon salute and a warm welcome. what's it feel like to be here on juneteenth? >> first of all, i would have never imagined being here at all. let alone juneteenth. i'll cherish this moment for the rest of himy life. >> reporter: since 2005, they have flown nearly 200,000

veterans into d.c. the group visited a number of war memorials, making a stop at arlington national cemetery, laying a wreath with 101-year-old calvin kemp, who served in world war ii. >> i broke down in tears. >> reporter: for the walkers, a day of reflection. >> i see other men who served their country bravely and courageously and with honor, and now they're here, and they're celebrating. >> reporter: yamiche alcindor, nbc news, washington. now to another day, another dominant performance by katie ledecky. >> tokyo three years ago, katie ledecky somehow still keeps it fresh and continues to wow us all. >> ledecky swam to her third olympic trial victory on wednesday. the seven-time gold medallist finished well ahead of any of her competitors in the women's 1500-mile freestyle.

on the men's side, it was a different story for caleb dressle. he had to settle for third in the men's 100-meter freestyle. he finished within mere hundreds of a second behind chris juliano. the games kick off july 26 on nbc. coming up, tips to keep you and your family safe in the water this season. thanks for watching "early today," i'm frances rivera. have a great thursday. see you for friday. see you for .

breaking right now at five. shots fired at a celebration near lake merritt in oakland ahead. new information. we're learning from police overnight about the chaotic scene following a sideshow in shooting involving multiple