breaking overnight. wikileaks founder julian assange will soon walk free. we're live with a plea deal ending his years-long standoff

with th with the u.s. the u.s. bracing for another blast of deadly weather. in minnesota, a critical dam on the brink of collapse. we're tracking the storms and the heat threatening millions across the south. tragedy in hawaii. a legendary surfer killed in an apparent shark attack. what first responders say happened. time to face the music. how major record labels are taking the fight to a.i.-generated music. and the panthers bring home the franchise's first title. it's tuesday, june 25th. "early today" starts right now. good morning, i'm frances rivera. we begin with breaking news. the man behind one of the largest leaks of american military secrets has been released from prison.

wikileaks sharing overnight that julian assange is free. they say he left a maximum security prison in the uk after having spent 1901 days there. nbc's claudio lavanga joins us now. assange still has to make a stop in court before he can go home to australia. what do we know about the hearing? >> reporter: good morning, frances. that's right. we saw julian assange boarding that plane in london yesterday after spending five years in a high-security prison. now he's on his way to the northern mariana islands, which is a u.s. territory in the pacific ocean, where at least as part of the deal he struck with the u.s. department of justice he will attend a court hearing in the, in a u.s. federal court there, and he will plead guilty to one charge under the espionage act, which is conspiring to unlawfully obtain and disclose national defense

information. he is expect ked to be handed a 62-month sentence, which he will have already served. let's recap very quickly how we got to this point in 2010. how wikileaks, the website he founded, released and leaked up to half a million documents, mainly u.s. military reports, confidential reports on the wars in iraq and afghanistan. an international arrest warrant was issued against him, and eventually he was arrested and spent time in prison where he was trying to avoid extradition to the u.s., where, if he was found guilty would have faced up to 175 years in prison. a national security spokesperson said this was an independent decision by the u.s. department of justice and that the white house was not involved. frances? >> claudio, thank you. police are increasing their

patrols outside a s outside a s los asynagogue where protesters blocked access to the synagogue. police are investigating two reports of battery. president biden condemned the incident writing that intimidating jewish congregants is anti-semitic and gun-america. former president trump and president biden will face off in their first debate on thursday. we tell you how both sides are preparing for the high-stakes showdown. >> reporter: just days away from that crucial first debate, both campaigns are preparing very differently. >> mr. president, how is debate prep going? >> reporter: president biden hunkered down at camp david, huddling with advisers with no public events scheduled this week. >> he's now a convicted felon. >> reporter: while his campaign is out with a new ad,

highlighting former president trump's legal problems. a senior advisor tells nbc news the president is expected to be increasingly punchier against trump and they hope to break through to a larger audience yet to tune in to the election. leading the prep is ron klain. biden's personal lawyer, bob bauer is playing trump during the prep sessions. >> to be honest, it's hard to say some of the things that he says, some of which are, you know, very fact-free. >> reporter: it's a stark contrast from former president trump, who's holding informal policy discussions with advisors but no mock debates while still holding public events. the former president fund raising in louisiana after campaigning in pennsylvania over the weekend, mocking his opponent for not leaving camp david. >> he's sleeping now. but they want to get him good and strong. >> reporter: trump teasing that he's already chosen his running

mate and says the person will likely attend the debate in atlanta. >> in my mind, yeah. >> do they know? >> no, nobody knows. >> reporter: among the top debate topics expected, the economy, immigration and reproductive rights. >> what both candidates need to do is talk about what they're going to do for the american people, how they're going to show us as leaders. >> reporter: people familiar with president biden's debate prep say it's taking into account whether trump will be his usually bombastic self or more disciplined. the campaign says it wants president biden to be the adult in the room. back to you. >> gabe, thank you. and you can catch our complete coverage on the first presidential debate starting thursday night at 9:00 eastern. in louisiana, nine families are filing a federal lawsuit over the state's new law requiring public school classrooms to display the ten commandment. the families say the law interferes with their first amendment right to raise their

kids in whatever religion they prefer. they also say it unconstitutionally pressures students into adopting the state's favored religious scripture, those groups are backed by the aclu. jeff landry has not responded to nbc's request for comment but previously said he can't wait to be sued over the law. the national transportation safety board has issued a report over the devastating derailment in east palestine, ohio last year. an executive summary of the findings will be released after today's meeting, and the full report will be published in the coming weeks. the cargo ship that crashed into a baltimore bridge nearly three months ago is on the move this morning. the dali left virginia to

undergo further repairs. the accident killed six construction workers and paralyzed the port for weeks. the ntsb is examining key electrical components from the ship to figure out why it lost power before the crash. hawaii is mourning the loss of a legendary surfer killed in an apparent shark attack. nbc's stephanie gosk tells us what happened. >> reporter: born and raised in hawaii, he suhr rfed off of oah numerous times. he was attacked by a shark while surfing near goat island. he was bitten multiple times. >> hon olulu ocean safety responded by jet ski and brought the victim to shore. >> reporter: but there was nothing they could do. the injuries were too severe. his friend says he was salt of the earth and a man of faith.

>> he was genuinely a good person and embodies aloha. >> reporter: he was a world-class surfer and had the occasional movie role like in pirates of the caribbean and blue crush. most recently, he worked as a lifeguard at the bonsai pipeline, one of the most dangerous and demanding lifeguarding jobs in the world. what does it say about your skill if you're a lifeguard on that beach. >> >> simply put, there is no higher mountain to climb than being a lifeguard at pipeline. >> reporter: shark attacks are rare in hawaii, averaging only eight a year. there have been five fatalities in the last decade. >> if it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone. he's the most competent waterman i know. he was doing what he loved and was surfing at a spot he loved since childhood. >> reporter: and very few people understood as well as he did how dangerous the ocean can be.

stephanie kbgosk, nbc news. let's turn to the flooding disaster notice upper midwest. at least two deaths have been reported in iowa and south dakota where heavy rains have caused rivers to rise to dangerous levels. roughly 30 waterways are expected to reach major flood stage. evacuations are under way for several counties. >> the city has deployed many pumps through the area, but unfortunately, we just can't keep up with a river that is flowing at that pace with that much water. >> in minnesota, a dam is in danger offai failing. and there were more storms in the forecast overnight. let's get an update from michelle grossman. good morning. >> we're watching those storms this morning, and we're going to see another batch moving on through later today. you can see active storms moving through wisconsin into michigan.

we have severe thunderstorm watches in the yellow. warnings are in the orange. heavy rain is falling. lots of lightning with these storms, especially where you see the darker colors. that's prompting flooding as well. as we go throughout tonight, we're going to see a second round of storms that develop this evening due to this front sinking to the south. we could is see large hail, winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour. a brief tornado is possible as well. 30 million people at risk especially in the yellow area. also indianapolis could see strong storms. in addition to the summer storms, we're looking at summer heat as well. once again throughout the plains into the southeast, we have heat advisories, heat warnings, because we're going to see temperatures soaring into the 90s and triple digits. look at thes the south central

st states, 101 in san angelo. that's your tuesday forecast. >> appreciate that, michelle. thank you. the fight over a.i.-generated music gets real. we're back in a moment with a new lawsuit from record labels. and highlights as the panthers claw back to win their first-ever stanley cup. n their first-ever stanley cup. en are struggling with hair damage? just like i was. dryness and frizz could be damaged hair 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. [♪♪] how you feel can be affected by the bacteria in your gut. try new align probiotic bloating relief plus food digestion.

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3403 models being learned by a.i. chatbots and other technologies as well are perhaps beginning to, according to the music levels, universal, sony music, are infringing on their record labels, and on the data that they've of course, acquired over a number of years. this includes voices, of course, that have been remade then by the artificial intelligence bots as well. all of those are really getting a bit of a hit now. the record labels now finally putting in a lott then in the federal court, in u.s. federal court, then, against these a.i. companies saying they can no longer tolerate it. speaking of a.i. nvidia, the largest chip company, they are the largest company in the world, in fact, they've lost around 13% since reaching that high last week, which saw it actually top the

$3.1 trillion market valuation. it has lost 13% of its shares now, wiping around 500 $500 bil in that same time as well. does that mean the party is over? only time will tell. the fundamentals haven't changed. after finding themselves in a spot no team wants to be in, the panthers won their moist important game in three decades. >> it was free in the crease. there's reinhart on the counter. sam reinhart, scores! >> and the climactic game seven, the panthers managed to neutralize the offensive onslaught that brought the edmonton oilers back from a deficit keeping them to one goal. florida reverses the dreaded reverse sweep and lifts the

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maura barrett has the story. >> reporter: the saying, what's old is new again is ringing true for how young people are looking to date. >> i'm not saying dating apps are bad, but i think we broke it. we need to go back to the old-fashioned way for a little bit. >> reporter: gen z is seeking more interest in meeting people naturally. marking a notable rise in speed dating. >> attraction doesn't work in the way we use them on dating arche apps where you make a snap judgment on someone in less than 30 seconds, and that's not how things work in person. >> reporter: it led ariana to make a space for couples, curating dating events in person. >> what took our events to the next level was the interest that people want thad in-person connection. that has only strengthened with the decline of the use of dating

apps. >> reporter: it's a trend across the country. a variety of young voters say it feels more genuine and safer than a potential cat fish online. a sociologist who previously worked for te tefortin bumble. >> they are going to learn the skills they need. >> reporter: these two became fast friends. >> putting yourself out there in the room as important as having a deep one-on-one connection with one person. owen and i started getting along really well. maybe we could be friends. >> reporter: the business of creating community is proving difficulty. match group and bumble have lost

over $40 billion in market value since 2021, according to the "new york times." the apps, starting to shift gears. just last month, the founder of bumble teased that the app probably won't be centered around dating in a few years, and instead, can you meet anyone with similar interests. >> we're really entering new territory. and i would like to think we're not necessarily reverting to old ways but forging a new path ahead. >> reporter: daters taking a swiping sabbatical and hoping to meet the person person in person. >> thank you for waking up with "early today." i'm frances rivera. have a great tuesday. seyou back here early e hi, i'm greg. i live in bloomington, illinois. i'm not an actor. i'm just a regular person. some people say, "why should i take prevagen? i don't have a problem with my memory." memory loss is, is not something that occurs overnight. i started noticing subtle lapses in memory. i want people to know that prevagen has worked for me.

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