hurricane beryl barrelling towards jamaica. the powerful storm tearing through the caribbean, flattening homes and killing at least seven people. our meteorologist angie lassman

is tracking the chances of it hitting the united states. president biden standing up to calls to step aside. we're live with how his campaign is circling the wag ons after hs debate struggle. plus the new sentencing delay for former president trump in his hush money case. with july 4th travel set to smash records, we get a rare look at how the tsa keeps dangerous weapons from flying the friendly skies. the new blockbuster merger talks sending shockwaves through hollywood. and it's not a scene from the new fast and furious. the legal fallout for a youtuber whoever a fourth of july stunt featuring a lamborghini, helicopter and plenty of fireworks. it's wednesday, theth third of july. "early today" starts right now. good morning. thanks for being up early with me. i'm frances rivera. we begin this morning with a deadly storm battering the

caribbean with drenching rain and life-threatening winds and storm surge. hurricane beryl has now killed at least seven people and is racing toward jamaica as a category 4. it is the worst storm to hit the country in nearly two decades. the prime minister calling it an impending disaster. the cayman islands also bracing for impact. beryl had been a category 5 storm with winds up to 165 miles per hour. it's the strongest hurricane to ever form in the atlantic this early in the season. that's due to warming waters from climate change. so far, beryl has left a trail of destruction in st. vincent and the grenadines. the prime minister there call the situation grim. venezuela is also feeling its wrath. let's bring in now nbc meteorologist angie lassman who's tracking the storm for us. good morning, angie. >> it's jamaica next on deck to see the impacts from beryl. unfortunately, that's going to

happen here as we go through the day today. well' l we'll likely see the arrival of the tropical storm-force winds and conditions will continue to deteriorate. you see hurricane watches and watche wher where you see the red is the impact to jamaica. sitting just to the east-southeast of kingston, jamaica, moving about 22 miles per hour to the northwest. it does have a weakening trend, but that's not going to matter for the impacts to jamaica. we likely will see 6 to 9 feet of storm surge, the potential for additional rainfall, heavy rainfall at that. it will likely lead to flooding concerns and landslides. we'll watch for this to weaken and impact folks across the yucatan peninsula. >> the trend, that's going to make a distance on what happens

down the line and whether we see potential impacts later in the weekend for the texas coast. >> i know you'll be watching closely with the holiday forecast. the fallout continues after the first presidential debate. voters are waiting and watching to see what's next after the president's poor showing durin the face-off against donald trump. how is the white house responding to the skeptics? >> reporter: the white house says it wants to get the president out there. tonight, president biden is scheduled to speak with democratic governors to shore up their support. and the white house chief of staff has scheduled a call with all of the white house staff. a source familiar with the plan tells nbc news he will instruct the staffers to weather the storm and keep their heads down. the president is also expected to be calling party leaders in congress. now this outreach comes as lloyd doggett of texas becomes the

first democratic member of congress to call on president biden to withdraw from the race. >> i hope that he will put country first. i know trump would never do that. he will put country first and decide to step aside. give us a fair, open, democratic with a small d, convention and the lead up to that convention. >> reporter: and white house says it wants to turn the page after the debate. white house press secretary karine jean-pierre defending the president as physically and mentally fit. blaming the president's bad debate night on a cold. four sources tell nbc news that hunter biden has joined white house meetings with his father this week and has stayed close to him since the debate. the white house says hunter biden came back with his father after a trip to camp david and joined the president as he prepared to give a speech about the supreme court. now the president is scheduled to do an on-camera interview on friday and hold a press

conference next week. frances? >> brie, thank you. donald trump's sentencing for his hush money trial conviction has been postponed. it was supposed to be next week, just days before the republican national convention. now the earliest it could happen is september 18. lawyers for mr. trump asked the judge for the delay so they could review how the supreme court decision on presidential immunity affects the case. they also want the judge to set the conviction aside. prosecutors did not oppose this delay, but they say this legal argument will not hold up. the judge says he will issue a ruling on the question of immunity on september 6th. we have new developments this morning in the case of an american tourist missing for two weeks in the bahamas. new photos taken by the missing woman's family show the tent where taylor casey was staying when she vanished from a yoga retreat on paradise island. her mother even finding her daughter's bible. >> i was just crying, and crying out for taylor, you know, and

feeling my child. >> the royal bahamas police force says they also found her phone in the ocean. this week, police in chicago where casey is from, issued a missing persons alert. they are pleading with american authorities for help, specifically the fbi. the u.s. marshal's service says it has recovered 200 missing children in a mission called "we will find you part two". the majority of those save d wee endangered run aways. merrick garland praised the agencies involved that spanned seven districts. the travel rush is on with a record number record number of americans on the road and in the air. road an. here's tom costello. >> reporter: early morning at reagan national and airport

police are responding to a tsa checkpoint where a gun has been discovered in a passenger's carry on. >> first thing that came to my attention, there were bullets inside of a square-like item. >> reporter: a foldup gun. >> the passenger knew exactly why the belt stopped. he said oh, i forgot to check my gun. >> reporter: at washington dulles airport, a .38 caliber handgun inside indiana congresswoman's carry on. in a statement, her office says representative sparks accidently carried an empty handgun in her suitcase with no magazine or bullets. it happens every day at tsa check points. >> anywhere from 15 to 30 a day across the country. >> reporter: and they're almost always loaded. >> often times with a round in the chamber ready to go. not secured. not locked. >> anything in your pockets, please place them in the bins. >> reporter: it comes as a record 32 million passengers, nearly 3 million a day, are flooding through tsa checkpoints

over the extended july 4 stretch. average wait times, 30 minutes for standard screenings. but it's not just liquids, gels and guns that can slow down a rein. this is just a sample of some of what they've collected today alone at this checkpoint. lots of nieknives. here's a taser, they've got a switchblade. and this may look like a comb. it's also a knife. meanwhile, the government reports the flight cancellation rate, the lowest in nearly a decade. the faa says air traffic controller shortages slowed flights on thursday at newark. >> and our thanks to tom for that report. okay, so will weather put a damper on your holiday travel plans? let's check back in with angie lassman. it's all important for the holiday, angie. >> lots of folks hitting the roads and heading to the airport. we've got a couple trouble spots. a couple thunderstorms that you might run into across the

midwest. the parts of of the plains. the east coast looks great. boston to washington, d.c. sunny, warm, and speaking of warm, it is quite warm out west. record warmth is something we'll deal with over the next couple days. there's some of the airports you'll have to watch for for the scattered thunderstorms. detroit, new orleans and down across florida. as we look ahead to the interstates today. i-70 today potentially, i-10, those are the spots you'll likely have slowdowns due to downpours. thunderstorms for the south. those will be the spots we'll watch the foth of julyur d salt. denver hits 90 this afternoon. rain for st. louis.

and that's a look at you are why forecast. >> we'll be making our plans. a young bear relocated weeks ago ended back in a busy area of southern california. she was spotted napping in a tree. wil wil wildfire she was safely reloc to the wild. "early today" is back in a minute with a twist in the paramount merger saga. and the youtuber facing fireworks over an explosive stunt battle between a lamborghini and helicopter. en a lamborghini and helicopter. ♪ ♪ these diamonds, diamonds on my teeth ♪ ♪ brand new whip is what they see, yeah ♪ ♪ in my bag like a bunch of groceries ♪ ♪ all this cheese and greens just come to me ♪ ♪ look at me on the go. always hustling. eyes on me ♪ ♪ all eyes on me, brand new drip is what they see ♪ ♪ these diamonds, diamonds on my teeth ♪ ♪ brand new whip is what they see, yeah ♪ freedom you can't take your eyes off.

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were saying paramount and sky dance are reportedly close to a merger agreement. potentially, it's quite a plot twist coming weeks after talks already fell apart at the last minute. now under the tentative agreement, sky dance would pay $1.75 billion for control of paramount through national amusement. they would aquarcquire half of shares at $15 per share and contribute an additional $1.5 billion toward paramount's debt. paramount's special committee is said to be currently reviewing and voting on the deal. there is no certainty on the deal, which also includes a 45 period in which others may smit proposals. they declined to comment. but the shares did surge around 10% yesterday on the news.

>> thank you for the update. now to this fourth of july stunt that looks like it's straight out of the grand theft auto. he's facing charges while he's driving a lamborghini and a helicopter shoots fireworks toward the sports car. >> reporter: it was supposed to be the quote, craziest fourth of july video. a lamborghini, a helicopter and loads of fireworks filmed on a dry lake bed. but the high-flayying stunt landing the creator in court. he's charged with placing explosives in an aircraft without acquiring a permit. he pleaded not guilty in federal court. the original video now removed from youtube feature choi wildly driving the lamborghini outside los angeles in a dried-up lake bed while two models inside a helicopter shoot mortar-style

fireworks relentlessly pounding the sports car. an exhilarating chase sequence like something out of a movie, one that could land choi in prison for up to ten years. we reached out to choi's leader but did not receive a response. >> i am asked not to comment on anything by my counsel, so i would love to tell more stories about it, but only after the case is over. >> >> reporter: he filmed a tesla jumping over a hill or offloading in lamborghinis. if convicted, he would be the latest in a series of creators who've documented their own illegal stunts and posted they will on youtube for views. like trevor jacobs, sentenced to six months in prison for this video titled, i crashed my airplane. he pleaded guilty to concealing

evidence after prosecutors say he lied to the faa about the incident. and in 2017, this minnesota woman pleaded guilty to second degree manslaughter after she fatally shot her boyfriend in a youtube stunt where she so the a handgun at an encyclopedia he was holding in front of his chest, claiming it was all his idea. the pursuit of online clicks landing content creators in serious trouble. dana griffin, nbc news. an update from a classic rock icon. and the last son of krypton is paying tribute to his dad on the big screen. bute to his dad on te big screen. the personal ekg device, you can check it from home using your smartphone. i use kardiamobile every day. sometimes twice a day. every morning i check, make sure i'm in good shape. and it makes me feel pretty good about my heart condition. it's a complete game-changer. i mean, you might as well be in a doctor's office. there's a way i can communicate with patients now in a way i never could before.

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>> reporter: jose iglesias is having a season unlike any in baseball. turning homers and double plays, but one stat no one can match, he just hit number one on the latin pop charts on itunes. ♪ oh, my god ♪ >> reporter: over the weekend, he performed at citi field after the mets game. his teammates dancing along and cheering him on. jose, talk to me about that moment, right, the lights go down on citi field. there's more than 30,000 fans. your song comes on. and you're in the infield singing. >> it's a dream come true. it was an incredible experience, you know, singing in front of over 30,000 people. it's a dream come true. >> reporter: that positivity part of the inspiration for his song omg. >> if you look at the lyrics and listen to it. it talks about positivity. bring good things to your life. fight for your dreams if

possible. you know, personally to me as an immigrant who came over from cuba when i was 18 years old. >> reporter: a cuban american immigrant who defected while playing for the national team. he has poured his life story into his music, and he looks to other great cuban-american artists like pitbull, the late celia cruz and gloria estefan. jose wants to keep winning games. his teammates, his biggest fans, who've been telling him the news when he hit number one. >> the guys are like, hey, you are number one. and i'm lieke really? let's get ready, let's win today. it brings good energy to the team. it's about stay positive. and i'm just glad, you know, the guys and the fans and the people connect with the song. and it's a dream come true. >> for sure, that's the team's song of the summer. our thanks to tom llamas for

bringing us that celebration. finally, the bronny james era has officially tipped off in l.a. the lakers introduced james along with first-round draft pick dalto daltonn caknecht. they emphasized that bronny earned his way onto the team not because of his father but through his hard work. have a great wednesday. hope you have a great early start to the holiday. we'll see you ba here again. youh

the white house and biden campaign still doing damage control after last week's debate performance. what they're doing to try and ease c