it's helped my cognitive qualities. give it a try. i want it to help you just like it has helped me. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription. we have more news coming up right on the way. right on the way. breaking overnight, julian assange and the u.s. reach a plea deal, ending a years-long

saga. assange now a free man this morning. we have a live report with the details. newly-released video showing an american being taken hostage by hamas on october 7. what his parents are saying about the fight to get their son back home. a dam near minneapolis in imminent threat of failing as days of heavy rain swells the river. parts of the plains and midwest already inundated with more flooding expected. michelle grossman has the latest on how much moerre rain the regn could get. and a look inside a powerful ef-4 tornado. how the data can be used to save lives. and back from the brink. the panthers taking their first-ever stanley cup in game seven. "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. good morning, assange still has to make a stop in port before he can go home to australia. what do we know about this hearing? >> reporter: good morning, frances. that's right. yesterday julian assange was seen boarding a plane in london where he spent the last five years in a high-security prison. and he's now on his way to the northern mariana island which is u.s. territory in the pacific ocean. as part of the deal he struck with the u.s. justice department, he's expected to, once he gets there, to appear in a u.s. federal court there, and he will plead guilty to the one charge under the espionage act

for conspiring and ob obtain national defense information. he was sentenced to 62 months in prison which he has already served. he would be free to return to his homeland, which is australia. wikileaks, he founded, and they found leaks and disclosed almost a half million documents, most of them u.s. military, confidential reports on the wars in afghanistan and iraq. now he was then issued an international arrest warrant, spent seven years in the ecuadorian embassy in london, then he was arrested, spent time in prison while he was trying to avoid extradition to the u.s. where if found guilty, he could have faced 175 years in prison.

a national security spokesperson says this was a decision made independently by the u.s. justice department and that the white house had no involvement in it, frances. >> claudio lavanga for us. thank you. this week marks two years since the supreme court overturned roe versus roe vers. awade. and the biden campaign is hosting several events to put the blame squarely on former president trump. >> reporter: on the two-year anniversary of the supreme court decision that overturned roe versus wade, the battle over abortion rights taking center stage once again in the 2024 campaign. >> in the case of the stealing of reproductive freedom from the women of america, donald trump is guilty. >> reporter: the biden harris campaign using it to hammer donald trump for nominating the

three supreme court justices that helped overturn rowe. biden saying in a statement, if given a chance, there's no chance donald trump will work to ban abortion nationwide. with or without the help of congress. kamala harris and jill biden rallying voters. >> donald trump hand-picked three hem members of the suprem court because he intended for them in to overturn roe versus wade. and as he intended, they did. so it was premeditated. >> reporter: the biden team also releasing a new ad, featuring a woman who says she was denied abortion treatment in louisiana. >> he's now a convicted felon. trump thinks he should not be held accountable for his own criminal actions, but he will let women and doctors be punished. >> i feel like i have fewer rights in terms of reproductive rights than my mother and grandmother who were born in the '40s and '60s. >> i cannot support acandidate who doesn't support abortion.

full up. former president trump, who's voiced concern that abortion is a liability for republicans in november is doing something after political high wire act on the issue, taking credit for overturning rowe and saying the states should decide abortion rights, though he has yet to say how he will vote as a florida resident on that state's ballot measure to ensure abortion access, and he's not taken a position on access to abortion medications. and trump is not supporting a national ban, as many conservatives want to see. >> we did something that was amazing. the big problem was it was caught up in the federal government. but the people will decide. and that's the way it should be. >> some of us in our group are torn on trump. we want a federal abortion ban, and obviously, he wouldn't support something like that. but we're hopeful that if he surrounds himself with the right people, and because he has been the most pro-life president in our lifetime, you know, a lot of us are still supporting him because of that. >> reporter: in the two years

since the dobbs decision which overturned rowe, abortion rights have appeared on the ballot in seven states and won every time. and data shows nearly 28 million women live in states with bans on abortion. >> w >> when congress passes a law that restores the reproductive freedoms of rowe, our president, joe biden, will sign it into law. >> reporter: they hope to boost their campaign against trump, who is leading the president on many other major issues, from the economy to immigration. but recent polls show abortion is the top issue for only 4% of voters. >> there's muir ore of us than e are of them. >> reporter: i this year'shis y

hotly-contested election draws closer. a lawsuit has been filed in louisiana by families who say it the law about the ten commandments interferes with their their th theirs rights. the families are backed by civil rights groups including the aclu. the governor said he can't wait to be sued over the law. now to the middle east where newly-released video shows an american abducted by hamas. matt bradley spoke to the hostage's parents about the fight to get their son back. first, a warning. there are disturbing images in the report. >> reporter: newly-released video shows three israeli hostages taken by hamas during the october 7 terror attacks. they're pushed into the back of a pickup truck and covered in blood. hamas terrorists pointing

weapons at them after kidnapping them from a music festival. can you see 23-year-old american hersh pollen. his arm amputated. we spoke to his parents. you still haven't seen the video? >> no. >> reporter: do you expect to see it? >> i don't know. i feel like i've lived in this parallel universe of anguish for 262 days, and i've seen the video of hersh being stolen, initially, just dealing with that is hard enough. and i kind of thought i don't know that i have to throw myself completely off a cliff. >> reporter: like many here, the family is angry that months of negotiations haven't freed their son. >> this is our son. >> reporter: prime minister benjamin netanyahu told the israeli parliament, he's still committed to a potential

cease-fire deal backed by president biden but will not completely end the war until hamas is eliminated. meanwhile, mideast tensions sparking new violence in the u.s. president biden condemning this i incident in l.a. where protesters clashed and blocked access to a synagogue. the president writing a statement. meanwhile, there are critical meetings this week, including on the deal to try to get hamas to release the remaining hostages. let's turn to the flooding disaster unfolding right now in the upper midwest. at least two deaths have been reported in iowa and south dakota, where days of heavy rain has caused rivers to rise to dangerous levels. roughly 30 waterways are expected to reach major flood stage. in iowa, vevacuations 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, authorities issuing a dire warning that a dam in blue earth county is in imminent danger of failing. the dangerous situation could quickly turn catastrophic, warning anyone downstream to evacuate. and there were more storms in the forecast overnight. let's get an update from michelle grossman. >> we're starting out stormy this morning. we have summer storms in the forecast all day long, and also some summer heat, too. taking a look at radar their. >> mo. you see clusters of storms, especially moving into wisconsin right now. here's that cluster. lots of lightning. heavy rain falling where you see the darker colors. where you see the yellow boxes is a severe thunderstorm watch through this morning. as we go through the afternoon hours, we'll continue to see the threat for storms. we're looking at heavy rain this morning. where you see the red is a flood warning, that means flooding is

happening now or it's imminent. also a flood watch in the green. and we are looking at the chance for severe storms as we go throughout the later part of today. 31 million people impacted in this yellow shading area. chicago, des moines, kansas city, springfield, indianapolis, and we're looking at the possibility for large hail once again. could see a few tornados as well. and we are still concerned about heavy rain as we go throughout the afternoon hours. could see hourly rainfall rates s in phoenix, tucson. 101 san angelo, 99 in dallas. all right, that's your tuesday forecast. >> appreciate it. thank you, michelle. coming up, the florida panthe panthers skate to their first-ever stanley cup victory.

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it breathes life into your laundry. we have had a turbulent tornado season across the country this year. and this morning we're getting a rare look inside an ef-4 tornado with winds topping 300 miles per hour. maggie vespa spoke to the brave team of scientists who gathered the data. >> reporter: as america's onslaught of severe weather rages on, a fearless team of storm-chasing scientists is shedding new light on the power of last month's deadly ef-4 twister that leveled parts of greenfield, iowa. wind speeds topped 300 miles per hour? >> yeah, so with our radar we calculated wind speeds over 300 miles per hour, which is very fast and very strong wind speeds. >> reporter: 300 miles per hour, only the third tornado with

winds that strong ever reported. and it was twice a twister's typical speed. the jaw-dropping data courtesy of nine scientists courtesy of the university of illinois who dropped their sensor-equipped pods into the path of the storm. a feat typicallyreserved for hollywood. but this devastation was all too real. >> i've never seen a tornado like that. >> reporter: on the ground for more than a mile. officials said the tornado destroyed more than 150 homes and left four people dead. the scientists' mission to better understand how twisters move and form and develop warnings with detail on strength and timing like those for hurricanes. >> there might be more tailored ways to safety, either take shelter, because you only have a minute, or it's not so strong, or you should really take the five or ten minutes and get to a really ruggedized community

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panthers managed to neutralize the offensive onslaught that brought the edmonton oilers from a 3-0 series deficit, keeping them to just one goal. florida avoids the dreaded reverse sweep and wins the stanley cup for the first time in their 30-year history. we are racing toward the paris olympics, and some of the world's fastest athletes have already punched their ticket. >> reporter: the two biggest names in usa track and field heading to the olympics and running for redemption. >> sha'carri richardson! 10.70! >> reporter: wink the 100 meter. do you speak any french? >> no, but i wish i knew how to say "i'm going to paris." >> reporter: richardson qualified for tokyo but couldn't compete, having tested positive for thc. now running up to the stands to

hug the grandmother that raised her. >> i just feel like all the times through my life my family has always been there through good, better, bad, worse. >> reporter: and noah lyles, winning the men's 100 meters, fueled by his bronze finish in tokyo. >> i wasn't happy with bronze. i have never been happy with that medal. no, i always want more. bronze is just the kick in the pants to get plea me to keep go. >> reporter: more than a thousand athletes competing in eight days of competition at these trials. tokyo gold medallist athing mu still fighting for a spot on team usa. this may be the u.s. trials, but some of the fastest in the world are here in eugene, oregon. regardless of your record or ranking, you have to finish in the top three to make it to

paris. >> reporter: cracking the top three would be a dream for quincy wilson. >> what do you think when you hear the entire stadium going nuts for you? >> it's amazing. >> reporter: he's just 16 years old but fast enough to make it into the 400-meter final. you're scared? you're running against your heroes here. >> no, sir. it's really no pressure. we all put our shoes on the same way. no matter their age, no matter what they do, to all a fair race. >> reporter: that olympic spirit alive and strong in team usa. tom llamas, nbc news, eugene, oregon. >> quincy didn't qualify for the 400-meter but could ma theke

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