m tom llamas, we thank you so much for watching.

president biden and former president trump going head to head in the first presidential election. squaring off on the border, the economy and reproductive rights. after oklahoma's supreme court rejected religious charter schools, a different tactic is tried. ordering classes to teach the bible in most classrooms. nbc news gets an inside look at the secret rescue mission to evacuate children sick with cancer from gaza and get them desperately-needed treatment. it's months after the death of matthew perry, the people who provided him with ketamine before he died could face charges. >> and like father, like son. bronny james is drafted by the los angeles lakers in the nba

draft. along with several players from across the pond. it's friday, june 28. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm frances rivera. we begin on this friday in atlanta, where we areaction is l rolling in after the first presidential debate of 2024. president biden getting off to a difficult start while former president trump repeatedly made false claims. president biden's performance has some democrats in a panic. and the president has a cold. and the president did get this attack in against his opponent. >> how many billions of dollars do you owe in civil penalties? for molesting a woman in public? for doing a whole range of things? of having sex with a porn star, on the night, while your wife was pregnant? what are you talking about? you have the morals of an alley cat. >> do you have an answer? >> i didn't have sex with a porn

star. >> for more on the biggest moments of the night, here's brie jackson. >> reporter: a historic rematch, four years in the making. president biden and former president trump taking the stage for the first presidential debate of 2024, hosted by cnn. squaring off on the top issue for voters, the economy. >> he didn't do much at all. by the time he left, things were in chaos. literally chaos. >> he has not done a good job. he's done a poor job. and inflation is killing our country. it is absolutely killing us. >> reporter: the two oldest candidates to ever run for president sparring over decades-old issues, including reproductive rights. >> what i did is i put three great supreme court justices on the court, and they happened to vote in favor of killing roe versus wade and moving it back to the states. >> if i'm elected, i'm going to restore roe versus wade. >> reporter: on concerns about immigration.

>> he opened the borders, nobody's seen anything like. we have to get a lot of these p people out and out fast. >> when he was president he was taking babies from mothers and putting them in cages ms. >> reporter: each taking their stance on domestic issues and setting out clear differences on for be policy. >> every time that zelenskyy comes to this country, he walks away with $60 billion. he's the greatest salesman ever. >> he has no idea what the hell he's talking about. by the way. i got 50 other nations around the world to support ukraine. >> reporter: the president directly accusing trump of inciting the january 6 attack. >> this man is responsible for doing what was done. he didn't do at that damn thing, and these people should be in jail. >> what you have done, how you have destroyed the lives of so many people. >> reporter: two presidential candidates with two very different visions for the future. in washington, brie jackson, nbc news. now to a major dissputs over

state-level abortion bans left unresolved by the supreme court. the justices temporarily cleared the way for women in idaho to still get abortions if their health is at risk. but some doctors are still worried about the future. >> now we will need to be in this waiting pattern again. >> i would say our health system in idaho's collapsing under the weight of this. >> that's because the high court avoided a broader ruling that would have decided a key issue around abortion. namely whether federal law supercedes state law when an abortion is needed to protect a mother. all hospitals receiving federal funding, the biden administration argues is responsible for providing the care. but idaho's exceptions only allow it in cases to protect the mother. just days after the oklahoma supreme court ruled

publicly-funded religious charter schools unconstitutional, the education superintendent issued a new edikts. >> every teacher, every classroom in the state will have a bible in the classroom and will be teaching from the bible. >> superintendent ryan walters now requiring all public schools to include the bible as part of the curriculum in grades 5-12 effective immediately. they will be expected to refer to the bible and the ten commandments as having influence on our constitution. civil rights supporters accuse him of using his office to impose his own religious beliefs. now to gaza where the war rages on. for months, nbc news has been tracking a behind-the-scenes effort to evacuate critically ill and starving children from the war zone. andrea mitchell has the story.

>> reporter: desperately ill children rescued from gaza. most doctors say with treatable cancers but unable to get chemotherapy and drug transfusions because of the war. our crew was there as they boarded a bus and ambulances. children like this 11-year-old, know no longer able to lift a bottle of water, his mother says he's losing weight, needs a blood transfusion and is scared and in pain. unable to walk, he's carried to an ambulance. >> and 6-year-old juri, treated for brain cancer in a hospital in gaza until it was bombed. losing strength because of lack of medicine and food. >> even for a few days or hours could result in death in many of these children. >> reporter: since november, nbc news has been tracking this mission exclusively, as the white house, working secretly

with egypt, israel, palestinian doctors and doctors from st. jude in memphis helped save 140 children from gaza. but that came to a halt when israel launched its offensive in rafah on may 6, closing the only crossing to egypt. since then, getting cleared by the warring parties, a huge challenge for the children and parents. >> these kids have been without the chemo they need. supplies are not getting in. they couldn't get out. >> that's right. and they're obviously at critical stages of their treatment. and they weren't able to get that life saving, that critical medical attention that they needed for their care. so now they had. >> reporter: 5-year-oldfy faez traveling with his grandmother, his mother unable to leave. >> and our thanks to andrea for that report. in a major crack down, the j justice department charged

nearly 200 people in a fraud scheme worth $2.7 billion. they aaccuse aaccused of usingo wound care that was not necessary. assets were also seized in relation to the alleged fraud cases. a courtroom blitz against the nfl this morning. a los angeles jury ordered the league to pay nearly $4.8 billion in damages in a case over sunday tickets. the jury ruling that the nfl violated anti-trust laws in distributing out-of-market sunday afternoon games. they say the league broke the law by selling sunday tickets at inflated prices. they plan to contest the decision adding that the claims are baseless.

now to the devastating situation in the midwest. even more rain is expected across the region, further pummeling regions still recovering from a week-long disaster. michelle said after she saw the water rising on a walk she got her dogs and drove away. her home is now a collapsed pile of rubble. >> is there a future for you here? >> i don't see a future for me here. and it's devastating. i love my neighbors. i love this area. but i mean, if i'm quite honest, i don't know that where i live will ever be buildable. >> meanwhile, new sat late images have been shared showing the damage. it shows the difference between 2011 and two days ago. time now for an update on today's forecast from nbc meteorologist angie lassman. how we looking this morning, angie? >> we still have more of these thunderstorms in the forecast here. and some of them are going to be centered over some areas that

have really sat rated soil and continue that flooding concern through at least the next couple days. we do have the potential for strong storms centered across parts of the midwest and plains. wind gusts at at 735 miles perr 75 miles per hour. des moines, kansas city included in this, stretching as far back pass green bay. you can see the brighter pink is the major flooding. the good news is most of the heaviest of the rain that we're going to see over the next day or so through tonight at least is going to be a little farther south than all of those. but we're still going to see potential concerns with river flooding at moderate or minor flooding stages right now. the tropics, very busy. this is the areawe're watching to potentially develop int or de

afternoon with showers in the forecast from minneapolis to green bay. and that's a look at your forecast, frances, back to you. >> thanks so much, angie. in illinois, a huge sinkhole opened up and swallowed part of a soccer field. it was all caught on surveillance camera. in just a few seconds, the sinkhole swallowed bleachers, and a light pole and a big part of the soccer field. it was caused bidy an undergrou mine in the area. luckily, no one was hurt. it is all in the family for the lakers. but first, why we could soon see charges in the death of "friends star", matthew perry. '6 star", matthew perry. '6 just like i was. dryness and frizz could be damaged hair that can't retain moisture. new pantene miracle rescue deep conditioner,

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will be filed in the death of actor matthew perry. the friends star was found unresponsive in his hot tub last october with drugs in his system. kaylee hartung has new details from the investigation. >> reporter: new details on potential charges in the death of actor matthew perry. a law enforcement source familiar with the investigation into how he obtained the ketamine that contributed to his death telling nbc news, several people who supplied perry with the drug could face federal charges. perry was found unresponsive in a hot tub at his pacific palisades home last october. the l.a. county medical examiner's office said he died from the acute effects of ketamine, a powerful anesthetic approved by the fda to treat depression under supervision, but one that can also be used recreationally. he was on the therapy for depression and anxiety, something the actor described in

his 2022 memoir. >> ketamine felt like a giant exhale. >> reporter: but the autopsy report say the ketamine in his system could not have been from his last therapy session, which was a week and a half before he died. the level found in his blood was equivalent to the amount used for general anesthesia. perry had always been open with his long struggle with addiction. >> it wants you sick, and then it wants to kill you. >> reporter: he rose to stardom on "friends" as chapdndler bing. his co-stars opening up about the loss of their friend. >> oh, god, don't make me cry. >> reporter: jennifer aniston moved to tears when asked what it's like to watch the show now. >> it's happy tears. >> reporter: courteney cox says she still feels his spirit. >> he visits me a hlot, if we believe in that. i talk to my mom, my dad, matthew. i feel like there are a lot of people that guide us.

>> reporter: while lisa kudrow says she's now rewatching the iconic show to help keep perry's memory alive, telling the hollywood reporter, it's just celebrating how hilarious he was, and that is what i want to remember. >> our thanks for that report. country music fans are remembering one of the genre's most colorful figures this morning. kinky friedman has died. he got hess is start in the '70. he appeared at the grand ole opry. later in life he wrote novels and notably ran for governor of texas in 2006 with slogans like, my governor is a jewish cowboy. he was 79 years old. what is taking a major l. a jeopardy contestant opens up. . always recommend all free clear for sensitive skin. it's free of dyes and perfumes.

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i had a plan. >> it's the end of days. no more people. no more new york. >> that's why it won't be a quiet weekend at the movie theaters. deadline reported that a quite place day one scared up $5 million to $6 million in thursday night previews. the estimates for the horror prequel outpaces its two predecessors which made 4.3 million and 4.8 million on the opening nights. so many trailers on this one, too. you've got kevin costner's epic western, and then of course "inside-out 2." >> i heard that great things about "inside-out 2". this one is a little too scary for me. i can't be involved in any

horror films. now to one jeopardy contestant making the wrong kind of admission, he ended with minus $2 $7200. as she was in the red, she was unable to play in final jeopardy but did take to reddit to tell her side of the story. she owned up to her own issues with the buzzer, calling it uniquely frustrating to know answers but not be able to ring in for them. while she first called it a day to forget, she still called it a good experience. this is not the all-time lowest score. that was set back in 2021, with minus $7400. >> so she missed that one by 300 dollars. just a bit. up next, summer travelers are setting new records at airports across the country. and a little less conversation. a little morbidie bidding on th blue suede shoes. g on the blue suede shoes. [thinking] why always the couch?

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it is a family affair in l.a. on thursday, the lakers selected bronny james with the 55th pick in the nba draft. bronny, who played just one season at usc will join his father at the crypto.com arena. they will be the first father-son duo to play in the league at the same time as long as as the elder james decides to stay with the lakers. it come with a new generation of overseas players looking to make their mark on the league. we have more on the french phenomes on the hunt for everything from nba title to olympic gold. >> reporter: you might call it the nba's french revolution. >> the atlanta hawks select zachars zachary risacher.

it wasn't just risacher. the washington wizards use the number two pick for another french teenager, alex sarr. >> to be a topic now, it's real special. >> reporter: in fact, four of the first round's 30 picks hail from france. >> so they're doing something over there, maybe it's in the water. >> there's just a lot more competition and balance in international basketball than there was in the days of the dream team. there's definitely their outpouring of french talent in particular, coming into the league right now. >> reporter: and the excitement is likely only to grow with the olympics this summer in paris. with all those first-round picks, some are asking what's going to happen to the olympics? could france give team usa a run for its money? the french team will likely be led by super star victor wembanyama, the 7'4" center was last year's number one pick and

fresh off a record-breaking rookie season. a growing french force on the court. tom llamas, nbc news, atlanta. >> yeah, and the paris olympics are less than a month away. and, on the track, it will be all eyes on the fastest woman in the world. sha shakarri richardson. she punched her ticket to the summer games. her high school coach was there for the big moment. >> i'm just so proud of sha'carri. i'm always proud of you, regardless of what the outcome is. to see how hard she's worked and she's really earned it. nothing was ever given. >> you can watch sha'carri richardson and the other stars july 26 right here on nbc and our nbc networks. thanks so much for watching "early today." i'm frances rivera. have a fantastic weekend. see you monday.