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

is set to meet with democratic governors later today. hurricane beryl slows to a category 4 storm but still powerful enough to leave a path of destruction and killing at least seven people, as it takes aim for the island of jamaica. meteorologist angie lassman is tracking the latest. just days after an apparent failed coup in bolivia, the president stands accused of staging the whole thing. a mississippi paper that exposed millions in misused welfare funds is now facing a lawsuit from the state's former governor. why the pulitzer-prizewinning journalist is willing to face jail time. and the olympic village is set to welcome thousands of athletes in just a few weeks. we get an inside look at how paris 2024 plans to feed them all while staying environmentally friendly. it's wednesday, july 3rd. "early today" starts right now.

good morning, and welcome. i'm frances rivera. the white house is determined to bounce back after the president's poor debate performance. president biden is scheduled to meet tonight with democratic governors, hoping to shore up their support. and the white house chief of staff will hold an all-staff call today. a person familiar with the plan says staffers will be instructed to weather the storm. for more, here's nbc's kelly o'donnell. >> reporter: president biden's political future at the center of a storm. >> we're going to face a tough summer. >> reporter: as his own late public events focussed on weather and emergency management. he has not answered reporters' questions. >> mr. president, will you drop out of the race? >> reporter: he has relied on scripted remarks using a teleprompter. >> we have invested more than $50 billion. >> reporter: the white house says it wants to turn the page after a debate performance that

some democrats say has raised questions. >> i think it's a legitimate question to say, is this an episode? or is this a condition? >> reporter: the first public call to exit the race from a house democrat. >> we must call on him to give the ultimate sacrifice of saying that he will step aside, because that's the best way to stave our country. >> reporter: another democrat with a warning. >> i just want him to appreciate at this time just how much an impact on just his race but all the other races coming in november. >> reporter: at the white house briefing. >> he had a cold and a bad night. i would not see this as an episode. >> reporter: under repeated questioning, karine jean-pierre defended the president as physically and mentally fit. >> is anyone in the white house hiding information about the president's health or his ability to do the job day to day? >> absolutely not. >> reporter: the "new york times" reports that in closed-door meetings, several current and former officials noticed the president increasingly appeared confused

or listless or would lose the thread of conversations. nbc news reports that first son hunter biden joined meetings with the president and senior staff this week in the west wing. reaction from senior staff described as what the hell is happening? the white house had this explanation. >> he came back with his dad from camp david. he walked him into the speech prep, and he was in the room. >> reporter: the white house says it wants to get the president out there. he is scheduled to do an on-camera interview friday, and they say a press conference next week. he will also be holding a video conference call with democratic governors and talk with top congressional leaders for the first time since the debate last week. >> kelly, 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 18th.

lawyers for mr. trump asked the judge for the delay so they can review how the supreme court decision on presidential immunity affect 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. rudy giuliani will no longer be allowed to practice law in new york. the former mayor of new york city has been disbarred.n disba. an attorney for giuliani says his client is disappointed, and they're weighing options to appeal. now to bolivia and a story growing stranger by the day. last week, a bolivian army general was arrested for leading a failed coup, but it turns out the dramatic scenes of armored vehicles ramming in palace doors might have been all for show. and there's growing suspicion

that the country's president arce staged the coup against himself. >> reporter: former bolivian president morales has accused his rival and sitting president luis arce of staging a coup in an attempt to boost his popularity. he is the latest to make such an accusation. the coup itself was short-lived but dramatic. armored vehicles laying siege to the presidential palace with the president still inside. as the general was taken away, he claimed to the crowd that he had been set up and that the president had asked him to stage the coup to boost his ratings. morales, a former ally has

turned against him saying arce lied to the bolivian people and to the world. the united states itself being very careful in addressing the coup in bolivia. u.s. state department has told nbc news they are aware of these various claims that have emerged in recent days and they, too, welcome an independent analysis of the situation. arce is doubling down on his claims of a coup. at least 21 people have been arrested. and the general could face up to 20 years on charges of terrorism and starting an armed uprising. arce is up for reelection next year. and his main opponent, morales. we have new developments this morning. the case of an american tourist missing for two weeks in the bahamas. new photos taken by the missing woman's family showed the tent where taylor casey was staying when she vanished from a yoga retreat on paradise island. her mom even finding her daughter's bible. 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 families for help, specifically the fbi. turning now to the deadly storm battering the caribbean with drenching rain and life-threatening winds and storm surge. hurricane beryl has killed at least seven people and is now racing racing toward jamaica. it's expected to be the worst storm to hit the country in nearly two decades. and officials have issued a hurricane warning of jamaica's prime minister calling it a potential disaster. it 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 calling the situation grim, and venezuela is

also feeling its wrath. let's bring in angie lassman, who is tracking this all for us. good morning, angie. >> very busy when this comes to the tropics. notice the alerts up now. parts of hispaniola, the cayman islands under these alerts. here's the deal right now. a category 4, 145 mile-per-hour winds. the system sitting just to the south of haiti. we are expecting it to pass near or over jamaica here as we get through the day today. specifically the later parts of the day. notice the general weakening trend that we'll watch as it approaches parts of mexico, the yucatan peninsula. we'll likely see a category 2 hurricane on approach. as it enters the gulf of mexico, where it goes from there, we have a lot of uncertainty with that. but we could be looking at impacts to the texas coast down through the weekend. it is quite toasty across the west.

this is going to be problem attic fproblematic for folks who have outdoor plans. we keep the heat going into tomorrow. 97 for memphis, 10degrees for 0 80s for green bay. showers and thunderstorms from st. louis to indianapolis. and that's a look at your forecast, frances. back to you >> an important one at that with the holiday week ahead. thanks, angie. the fda has approved the second drug to stretreat alzheimer's, designed to slow decline in memory. it works by targeting certain proteins in the brain considered a hallmark of alzheimer's.

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exposed a huge scandal. $77 million in welfare funds intended for children in need went instead to multiple pet projects, including this horse ranch, this volleyball arena and to sports celebrities like hall of fame quarterback brett favre. favre was never charged, but the reporting led to eight criminal indictments and journalism's biggest prize. adam is the editor of the paper. >> you can't just win a pulitzer unless there's real impact. >> two days after the pulitzer announcement we got the first threat of legal action. >> reporter: former mississippi governor phil bryant who was in office when it occurred is suing the newspaper, wolf and other staffers saying mississippi today wrongly accused him of a crime. allegations in court documents suggest bryant was among those who demanded the spending but maintains he did nothing wrong. >> i wasn't pay waware of the

wrongdoings of others. >> reporter: how do you explain the overall scandal? >> it doesn't say that he did anything illegal. this is an agency under the governor's office. i mean, he has control. he has oversight. >> reporter: bryant did not initially sue over the newspaper's prize-win reporting. instead, he brought the case over how the reporting was later described, including when the newspaper's ceo said bryant embezzled funds, which was not true. he was never charged, and there's no indication he's under crim cri criminal investigation. >> here we are to give, one of their favorite words, accountability to the situation. well, the rabbit's got the gun now. we'll see who's going to be accountable. >> reporter: the ceo apologized, but brointyant was not satisfied got a court order saying mississippi today must give a judge files to determine if wolff acted out of malice or

reckless disregard for the proof. >> we didn't expose them for exposing $77 million worth of fraud. that's not what the suit is about. the suit is about defamation. >> reporter: mississippi today is asking the state supreme court to overturn the judge's order. if that doesn't happen, they say they'll look to the federal courts. what's at stake for the free press? protecting confidential sources. are you willing to go no jail? >> yeah. >> it's real. it's scary, but something we feel very strongly about. >> reporter: as you know, there's a long history of reporters going to jail to protect their sources. >> perhaps they will here. all i want is the money. >> reporter: meanwhile, advocates like fitzgerald, who have worked on behalf of mississippi's children for decades remain outraged by the scandal and grateful for the

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kitchen. >> reporter: the scenery changes quickly as you drive out of paris, and it's here. the french country side which holds a big key to these olympics quite literally going green. [speaking in a global language] we met the president of paris 2024 and olympic gold medallist at a potato farm talking about meals for the summer games. that's because according to the u.n. one third of global emissions can be linked to food. >> that's why we took into considerations all the main aspects of the project where we have a huge contribution. so we decided to double up the vegetable parts of those meals to reduce the carbon foot print. we decided to have local food. >> reporter: sourcing 80% of all meals from within france. getting the food from these farms to the olympics is another important piece of keeping emissions low. about a fourth of the farms are within 150 miles of paris.

but no matter how far away they are, all of the food is going to be delivered using electric or green hydrogen trucks, all clean energy vehicles. paris 2024 worked with athletes and french chefs to create more than 500 recipes for the games. and 60% of them are entirely plant-based, which drastically reduces their carbon footprint. how do you get this to have a lasting impact once the olympics are over? >> i think it all comes down to sharing knowledge. sharing data, but you have to do a lot of communication. you have to take the people by the hands. your own staff, your own volunteers, the general public and explain them, the vegan vegetable vegetable tarrian footprint with be a clean one. >> i like sweets. >> reporter: during a conversation, team usa divers

emphasi emphasized importance of food selection. >> what is my body telling me it needs? does it need trfruit, protein, water? i try to do as much from the earth as possible. so trying to avoid processed food in america is hard to do that. >> reporter: but once they're in france, olympic athletes may well be eating potatoes from this farm. and for an athlete, knowing where their food comes from and that it's healthy will bring even more confidence when they compete as the summer olympics begin july 26 on nbc. chase cain. eating well and playing well, too.

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