a senator convicted. new jersey's robert menendez found guilty on 16 federal counts. how he's responding amidst calls for his ouster from congress. the one-time adversaries of former president trump are now lining up behind him. nikki haley and ron desantis voice their support for the man they say, who they ran against in the second day of the rnc. we're live from milwaukee. is your two-factor authentication on? karen tso joins us to warn of scammers. american homer stories. jaren duran goes yard as the a.l. reinstates its dominance. and if you are willing to brave the heat on the east coast you might see a one of a kind floral arrangement. it's wednesday, july 17. "early today" starts right now. thanks for being with me.

i'm frances rivera. a dramatic verdict in the corruption trial of democratic senator bob menendez, found guilty tuesday on all 16 federal counts he was facing, including bribery, extortion and acting as a foreign agent. the verdict is also turning up the pressure on menendez to resign from the senate or face threats of expulsion from democrats, including chuck schumer. jonathan dienst has more. >> reporter: senator bob menendez left federal court a convicted criminal. >> i'm deeply, deeply disappointed by the jury's decision. >> reporter: that jury finding him guilty of 16 counts, including bribery, extortion and acting as a foreign agent. >> i have never violated my public oath. i have never been anything but a patriot of my country. >> reporter: now majority leader chuck schumer is joining a group of more than 30 democrats calling for the senator's resignation. prosecutors spent nine weeks

proving menendez accepted thousands of dollars in cash, gold bars and a new mercedes in exchange for actions that in part benefitted the egyptian and qatari governments, all part of what the fbi says was a wide-ranging bribery scheme. >> this was politics for profit. his years of selling his office to the highest bidder have finally come to an end. >> reporter: prosecutors accuse the democrat of using his office and power as then chair of the foreign relations committee to help two new jersey business men secure lucrative overseas business deals. they were also found guilty. a third businessman he helped flipped, after pleading guilty to buying menendez a mercedes. he testified against the senator during the trial. photos the fbi took inside menendez' house showed cash stuffed in jackets, shoes and bags which he tried to explain. >> i have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account, which i have kept for emergencies and because of the history of my family

facing confiscation in cuba. >> reporter: the defense said there were no bribes and that some of that money belonged to his wife, who they said took hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gold as gifts from friends. she pleaded not guilty, but her trial is delayed due to her breast cancer. senator menendez remains defiant. >> i have every faith that the law and the facts did not sustain that decision, and we will be successful upon appeal. >> reporter: sentencing is in october, and he could face years in prison for what was a years-long scheme. no word yet whether he plans to immediately resign and end his reelection bid. jonathan dienst, nbc news, new york. let's turn now to milwaukee where republicans have wrapped up day two of their convention. former president trump again joined his family and his new running mate upon the convention floor to listen to the prime time speeches. brie jackson joins us now from milwaukee. good morning, brie. republicans have been talking a

lot about unity this week. and that was on full display last night. >> reporter: that's right, good morning, frances. even some of the former president's harshest critics took the stage to rally behind him last night. mr. trump was in attendance with his new running mate, senator j.d. vance, and they watched many of mr. trump's former primary rivals took the stage, including nikki haley, who was a late addition to the lineup. she spoke directly to her supporters who may be moderate republicans on the fence about donald trump. >> there are some americans who don't agree with donald trump 100% of the time. i happen to know some of them. take it from me, i haven't always agreed with president trump. but we agree more often than we

disagree. >> reporter: and ron desantis gave his empathetic endorsement to trump last night but used much of his time to attack democrats, zeroing in on president biden's age. >> america cannot afford four more years of a weekend at bernie's presidency. [cheers and applause] >> reporter: and, as the convention continues tonight, donald trump's new running mate will be in the spotlight. ohio senator j.d. vance is scheduled to speak. vance confirmed in an interview that he had a call with vice president kamala harris. vance signaled that he would be willing to debate harris, but it so far does not seem like the two sides have reached an agreement on when that would happen. frances? >> brie jackson for us, thank you. meanwhile, tensions remain high in the areas around the convention after a homeless man was killed on tuesday in an officer-involved shooting about a mile outside the rnc's

security perimeter. fi five ohio security officers fired shots at a man with a knife. they say he failed to follow orders to drop the weapon and charged at a man. it was unrelated to any activity at the convention. this comes after a man was arrested on monday in milwaukee, spotted by capital police blocks from the rnc in a ski mask with a large tactical backpack containing a hidden gun. the suspect does not have a legal concealed carry permit in any state. president biden is back upon the campaign trail visiting battleground nevada. the president participated in an economic summit and addressed the naacp. in his speech, he explained that he won't let the events of last weekend stop him from holding his opponent accountable. >> just because we must lower the temperature, our politics

are very divided, doesn't mean we should stop telling the truth. who you are, what you've done. what you'll do. that's fair game. >> nbc news has also learned that president biden told lawm lawmakers he is considering backing major changes for the supreme court. resources say this includes endorsing term limits for justices. the proposals would need to be approved by congress where they face slim odds in a republican-controlled house. the white house declined to comment. the war in gaza turns on with dozens of palestinians killed by israeli strikes. at least 23 were killed in an attack on a u.n.-run school where refugees were sheltering. hamas accused israel of targeting civilians in designated safe zones. for the latest, let's go to daniele hamamdjian. what do we know about these attacks? >> reporter: good morning, frances. there were strikes in several parts of the gaza strip

yesterday. the death toll, according to local health officials, at least 57 dead. as you mentioned, one of the strikes was on a u.n.-run school that was a temporary home to displaced families. this was in the nuseirat camp in central gaza. keep in mind since the conflict began, thousands upon thousands have had to relocate at least ten times with whatever belongings they have left. among those killed was a local journalist, taking the total number of journalists killed so far to 160. the israeli military says it had tried to mitigate the risk to civilians. nbc news cannot independently verify this. on tuesday, the idf claimed it had eliminated half of the leadership of hamas' military wing. this is the al qassam brigade, with about 14,000 fighters wounded or killed since the war

began. hamas on the other hand, has accused israel of stepping up attacks in the enclave to try to derail efforts by arab mediators and american mediators to try to reach a cease-fire deal. frances? >> okay, thank you. now to thailand where authorities are investigating the deaths of six people, including two vietnamese-americans after they were found dead in a luxury hotel room in downtown bangkok. police are still searching for a seventh person who also booked a room with the group. at this time, the cause of death is unknown, but police say poisoning could be a possibility. the bodies of three males and three females were reportedly discovered by a maid, foaming at the mouth but with no signs of struggle. new york's governor declared a state-wide emergency as severe storms caused major damage. officials ordered no unnecessary travel into or out of the city of rome in new york. the dangerous conditions reaching the northeast after

spawning multiple tornados in the midwest. the national weather service confirming at least 17 tornados touched down over two days, including one that hit downtown chicago. hundreds of thousands of people from the midwest to the northeast are still without power this morning. let's turn now to nbc meteorologist violeta yas who joins us. violeta, those power outages are really, really tough, given it's so hot outside and people have no electricity or ac. >> that's exactly right, frances, and there's no relief overnight because temperatures stay quite warm. unfortunately, another scorcher here across the country with 76 million people impacted by these heat alerts. you can see they're kind of scattered but a little bit more concentrated along the i-95 corridor with excessive heat expected around the philadelphia metro area, extending up into parts of north jersey. we will once again very likely be seeing heat indeces into triple digits. there is a break on the way, but we do have to get through this afternoon. notice highs will yet again be

in the 90s from hartford to raleigh. heat indeces into triple digits. with the passage of the front, temperatures do come down a little bit. i wouldn't call it a refreshing day, but we will start to notice temperatures moderate into the weekend though. it does start to get a little warmer, not quite as hot as what we've been seeing. meanwhile, a front approaching, this is what's bringing the relief. it's unfortunately going to touch off thunderstorms today. expect the severe threat from virginia to new hampshire. you can see the storms on the the 90s, if not triple digits up across parts of the region. and that's a look at the weather across the region.

back to you. >> violeta, thank you. still ahead, signs that an interest rate cut could come as soon as september. and a warning about possleib scams as amazon's prime day deals continue. lysol knows little hands, learn best when they're hands-on. that's why we're donating science kits to schools in need. [kids chattering] and helping teachers keep their classrooms protected by killing 99.9% of germs. because little hands, deserve big protection. lysol. here for healthy schools. you are bountiful. your skeleton can support two times your weight. it's in your nature to stand strong. supplement your bones with high-absorption magnesium. nature's bounty. it's in your nature. a mystery! jessie loves playing detective. but the real mystery was her irritated skin. so, we switched to tide free & gentle.

it cleans better, and doesn't leave behind irritating residues. and it's gentle on her skin. tide free and gentle liquid is epa safer choice certified. it's gotta be tide. it's the second day of prime day, and experts are warning about possible scammers, but first, traders are seeing very high hododds of a fed interest e cut in just a few weeks. karen tso has those details. >> good morning, frances. yes, the odds of a rate cut have now risen to almost 100%. there's a rate decision later this month, but it is one on the 18th of september that the markets are banking on where we could see the 25 point basis reduction. in terms of the market and what it's banking on, the cpi last week was tipping the odds of the rate cut, but it was really cemented this week thanks to fed

chair jerome powell talking about not needing to get back to the 2% target before rates are reduced. meanwhile, watch out tor scams for scams. there are fresh warnings around scams to watch out for, monitoring platforms say there are phony e-mails from people impersonating amazon, pfishing attempts tend to ramp up. and look-alike websites too good to be true. social media ads, unsolicited e-mails and calls. >> always someone trying to take advantage. thank you. elon musk says he is moving headquarters from california to texas in protest over a new transgender law in california. on monday, democratic governor gavin newsom signed a law that bars schools from telling parents if a child changes pronouns to protect trans kids.

musk will now move both spacex and x formerly known as twitter to texas. spacex did not immediately respond to our request for more details. still to come. all the action from the lonestar state, and what ingrid andress isay sing about her viral national anthem performance. el can be affected by the bacteria in your gut? try new align yogurt coated probiotic fruit bites. with a delicious apple and blueberry-flavored fruit center and yogurt coating, each bite is infused with added probiotics, to help promote a healthy digestive system every day. plus, they're packaged in individually-wrapped pouches, for daily digestive support on the go. look for new align yogurt coated probiotic fruit bites online and in the digestive care aisle of your local retailer. brand power, helping you buy better.

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to the nl after a close-loss in last year's contest. it is the a.l.'s tenth victory in the last 11 all-star games. so, you know, depending on who your faves are, it's still fun to see them all together. you have the home run derby and then this, overall some great mlb action. >> it's great to see the professionals acting like kids out there and having a great time. >> all-star week was making headlines before a first pitch was thrown. county artist ingrid andress went instantly viral for her rendition of the national anthem at the home run derby. ♪ gave proof through the night ♪ ♪ that our flag was still there ♪ >> andress who caught theire of the internet quickly addressed the situation and admitted she

was drunk during her performance and that she'll be checking herself into rehab. we wish her the best. you don't want to hear that. i think everybody noticed something was a little bit off. it's rough dealing with all that criticism and whatnot. hopefully she's able to work through that. >> you got to hand it to her for being up front and honest right after it happened. when we come back, nasa makes hip-hop history thwi missy elliott, and how you can own a piece of apple history. it ain't my dad's razor, dad. ay watch it! it's from gillettelabs. this green bar releases trapped hairs from my face...

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to instagram to announce their engagement. nasa was able to transmit missy elliott's song to deep space. it is the first hip-hop song to be beam told venus ever. taking about 14 millions to make the 158-million-mile trip. the first generation apple computer is up for auction at christie's in new york, right from steve jobs' death. it was taken after he left apple in 1976. it's expected to go for between $500,000 and $800,000. the live auction is on september 10th in new york. when you smell the amazing scent of gain flings... time stops. (♪♪) and you realize you're in love... steve? with a laundry detergent. (♪♪) gain flings. seriously good scent. you are bountiful. your skeleton can support two times your weight. it's in your nature to stand strong. supplement your bones with high-absorption magnesium.

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it has been a banner year for hydrangea heaven. the weather on the east coast might have been trfrustrating f those who live here, because it's been so hot, but it's made the high ydrangeas bloom like n before. >> reporter: they are a summer staple along the eastern seaboard. and this year, the unmistakable mop head flowers are blooming and booming in an abundance not seen in years, from connecticut to new jersey to massachusetts. >> blue in the front and pink in the back. >> reporter: pamela vasquez and her team tends the 5,00 5,000 hydrangea plants at this inn. >> we had a really mild winter, our buds were protected. then it was a rainy, wet spring. that helped the ground. we flew knew it was going to be show. >> reporter: in boston, the

temperature dropped to 14 degrees last winter. the year before, negative 10. officials say this sea of color is now drawing crowds of its own like never before. >> had to stop, because they take your breath away. they're beautiful. >> reporter: is it worth the trip? >> absolutely. >> nothing says cape cod like hydrangeas by the sea. it just evokes that feeling. >> reporter: with the curtain soon closing on this summer's hydrangea show, so many already dreaming of the next. >> there's never enough hydrangeas for this property. i hope every year is as fabulous as this year. >> reporter: emily ie ikeda. chatham, massachusetts. >> they're so beautiful throughout the rest of the year. you're running out of things to watch on netflix? how about trying out some shows that started out on, you know, cable? they signed a deal with amc to

bring 13 original shows to the platform. it includes several spinoffs of "the walking dead," the interview with a vampire. it's the latest partnership between the cable and streaming giants. the first shows debut on august 19th. a lot to watch there, including breaking bad, too. we're ready for a re-watch of that. before we go, here's a look at what's coming up on "today", with the unity of the republican party, the rnc looks ahead to day three as ohio senator j.d. vance takes center stage. savannah guthrie continues to lead team coverage of the rnc. and thank you for being with us here on "early today." i'm frances rivera. have a great wednesday. see you back here early thursday morning.