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breaking overnight. a heartwarming return. greeted by president biden and vice president harris at joint base andrews just around midnight eastern time. we have team coverage on their return. former president trump facing backlash after doubling down on questions about vice president kamala harris' race. musicians evening the score with a.i. anything but the same old song and dance for artists, harnessing the new tech for themselves. simone biles shines, scoring the all-around gold for a second time. her show-stopping performance and the record-shattering day for swimming super star katie ledecky. and you don't have to wait until the next episode. lester holt sits down with the ultimate hype man and one and only snoop dogg. it's friday, august 2nd.

"early today" starts right now. good morning, happy friday. i'm frances rivera. we begin with a lhistoric homecoming. three americans are back on u.s. soil this morning after being released in the largest prisoner swap with russia since the cold war. their families along with president biden and vice president harris greeted them when their plane landed at joint base andrews overnight. >> nothing beyond our capacity when we act together. nothing, nothing, nothing. you know who the hell we are, we are the united states of america. >> for more on this, let's bring in matt bodner. good morning. what a monumental result of diplomacy. >> reporter: that's right, frances. i think there's really no understating the achievement of diplomacy here. three wrongfully-detained americans are free. 13 other persecuted individuals, many of them russian opposition figures are free and safe. for the united states, the trade secured the release of paul

whelan, a former u.s. marine detained in central moscow in 2018 and accused of espionage. next, we have evan gershkovich, the "wall street journal" reporter arrested in march 2023, last week sentenced to 16 years in a prison camp, also on charges of espionage. then there's a russian-american citizen working for radio free europe. she was arrested while visiting her aging mother in october 2023. the u.s. also negotiated the release of a green cardholder, and he is one of the most prominent living russian opposition figures. in total, between the russian and western sides of this, 26 people were traded, making it one of the biggest trades since the height of the cold war. russia received eight convicted cyber criminals and spies as part of the trade, including a man president putin has wanted for some time, a russian assassin. he was arrested in 2019 for the

assassination of someone in broad daylight. take a look at this. this is evan gershkovich embracing his close friend, andrew ross. he was one of the last people to see evan as a free man inside russia. there are other americans still in russian custody and the work continues to bring them home, too. >> matt, thank you. much of the world may have been surprised by theis prisone swap, but behind the scenes, there were long and complicated negotiations that made it possible. what is the white house saying about this deal with russia? >> reporter: good morning, frances, aides say he was on the phone working this deal an hour before he announced that he was dropping out of the election. overnight at joint base preside difficult thing was to ask other

countries to do things against their self-interest. >> i still get it done even if i was seeking a second term. you're stuck with me as president for a while, kid. there's no way out, okay? you got me for at least another 90 days-ish. it's the opportunity, convincing one last country to say okay, they'll step up. >> reporter: earlier in the day, the family members of the three prisoners were in the oval office. the white house shared this emotional video of them getting the phone call with their loved ones who were on their way home. this does have its critics. top republicans in congress saying trading hardened russian criminals does little to discourage putin's behavior. and former president trump responded online calling the negotiators an embarrassment. but national security advisor jake sullivan defended the deal,

saying the benefits outweigh the risks. frances? >> including spending their first night on u.s. soil. former president trump continues to face fallout over his comments about the vice president's race. nbc's garrett hakes take has th latest. >> reporter: backlash over the former president's claims about the racial identity of vice president. jd vance defending trump. >> trump's point is that she is a chameleon. she present as different face depending on the audience she speaks to. you don't want a person like that as president of the united states. >> reporter: trump made the statement during a panel interview with black journalists. >> she he was only promoting indian heritage. i didn't know she was black until a number of years ago when she turned black, and now she wants to be known as black. >> reporter: harris is the daughter of indian and jamaican immigrants and attended a historically black college, but trump continued to push his claims, writing thank you,

kamala for the nice picture you sent from many years ago. harris largely shrugging off his comments at a black sorority conference. >> it was the same old show. the divisiveness and the disrespect. and let me just say, the american people deserve better. >> reporter: republican maryland senate candidate larry hogan calling trump's comments unacceptable and abhorrent. and this from a top trump ally. >> she's always embraced her heritage proudly as she should. >> reporter: meanwhile, vance. >> kamala harris came into office making promises, and she kept those promises to open the southern border. >> reporter: slamming harris for migrants and high levels of fentanyl coming into the u.s. >> there are moms and dads out there who will never see their kids walk down the aisle because of what kamala harris has unleashed at this border. >> reporter: harris' vetting team has met with six potential running mates ahead of a vp

choice to be announced by tuesday. >> thanks to garrett for that report. now to an update on the arrest of alleged sinaloa cartel co-founder known as el mayo. he appeared in a texas federal court yesterday, facing seven federal charges on accusations he ran the criminal enterprise. he has pleaded not guilty. he was arrested alongside el chapo's son after arriving on a private plane in new mexico last week. his attorney claims el chapo's son kidnapped him and forced him onto a plane with a bag over his head. wildfires are still burning out of control in california. the largest is the park fire. firefighters have made some progress, getting to 18% containment, but the hot, dry weather continues to make conditions very dangerous out there for the crews. so, will it be a weekend washout across east coast? let's check in request nbc meteorologist, angie lassman.

i'm hoping to hit the beach. we'll see if we can do it. >> you and a lot of other folks, frances are going to have to keep a lot of eyes on the radar. right now most of that centered across the great lakes, working through ohio, parts of pennsylvania, michigan. that's where we see the storms right now. the good news is today we're not looking at a whole lot in the way of severe weather. we could see general thunderstorms, gusty winds. the tornado risk is on the very low end through the day today. meanwhile, heat alerts, they stay with us. 99 million people across the east coast, and even out west dealing with heat alerts for folks across the northwest and southwest. temperatures out west into the triple digits. salt lake city expected to hit 101. denver, you're not far behind that with the high 90s. feels-like temperatures into the triple digits for a lot of folks, and we don't see a whole lot of relief as we get through the weekend. we're going to be keeping a

close eye on this tropical disturbance sitting to the north of haiti at this time. there's a lot of uncertainty with the timing, intensity. as we get into the weekend and early next week, we will b d mob. plenty of sunshine in charleston with a high of 94 degrees. thunderstorms for tampa and miami. back to you. bill and ted are getting ready for another excellent adventure. keanu reeves is returning for a broadway revival of the classic comedy, waiting for gotto. coming up, we'll have all the action of the day from team

usa in paris. and we're back in a minute with why some musicians are singing a different tune when it comes to a.i. [crowd noise] i bet allison doesn't get jelly on her shirt. urgh! i bet noah lyles doesn't get smoothie on his jersey. aw, come on. i bet carl lewis doesn't get tomato sauce on his jacket. dang it. urghh! ♪♪ stains happen to the best of us. when they do, tide's got you covered. pasta in paris? when in rome! it's got to be tide. america's #1 detergent. pain means pause on the things you love, but... green... means... go! ♪♪ cool the pain with biofreeze. and keep on going. biofreeze. green means go.

looking for a smarter way to mop? try the swiffer powermop. ♪♪ an all-in-one cleaning tool, with a 360-degree swivel head that goes places a regular mop just can't. ♪♪ mop smarter with the swiffer powermop. the battle between a.i. and the music industry is heating up again. two a.i. companies are now being sued by the recording industry. some are singing a different tune. brian cheung explains. >> reporter: jae'sean's got the hardware to prove it. and his biggest chart topper, the 2009 hit "down". ♪ baby, are you down, down, down, down ♪ >> 20 years ago, when i first saw it, people were still lining up outside record stores for an autograph and cd. >> reporter: but times have

changed. >> i've seen songs on tiktok, i did not sing this. i didn't write this. i didn't sing this. but i'm like, it is a good song. >> reporter: and it sounds like you. >> maybe i should have written this. >> reporter: a.i.-generated music taking off when a drake and weeknd track went viral last year. it was taken down at the artist's label's request. >> i do think people are going to do it regardless. get some control. beat them to it. the ball's back in your court. >> reporter: enter hooky. they want to allow musicians to open up their voices for aj.i. generation but on their terms >> we build a model with that artist, then that artist can share the model with the user base. and, in that sharing, they get to decide, one, what their royalty split is. >> reporter: in the tool, a person could sing a verse in

their own voice. ♪ see you when you change your ways ♪ >> reporter: and convert it within seconds into the voice of someone else. ♪ see you and change your ways ♪ >> reporter: jae'sean thinks it's pretty good. that sounds like you. >> it sounds like my. imagine how freaky that is for me. >> reporter: more importantly, jae'sean gets the final okay. so, if someone wants to publish a track. ♪ couldn't maintain the flame ♪ >> reporter:it will need jae'sean's approval first. >> i get to listen to it, and i just go deny or approve. it's as simple as that. >> reporter: and he gets paid. in his case, 25% of what's earned on the recording. wri artist rights activists are working on it. >> these are laws specifically geared toward preventing

unauthorized deep fakes and voice clones. use of an artist's or any individual's name, image, likeness, voice to be replicated without their permission. >> reporter: while jae'sean is playing nice with the new technology, don't expect to hear a.i. on his next album. what we're going to on that album -- >> this is the old me singing. a.i. does not make anppearance n this album. >> still to come, team usa rakes in the gold. we recap a historic day of olympic action, including the epic career-defining performance from simone biles. the right ingredients make all the difference. ♪♪ herbal essences sulfate free is now packed with plant-based ingredients your hair will love. like pure aloe and camellia flower oil. and none of the things it won't. hair feels deeply nourished,

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♪ ♪ >> there's the g.o.a.t., delivering an olympic performance for the ages at the

women's gymnastics all around final just days after winning gold in the team event. simone biles found herself in a tight race with brazile's rebeca andrade. she had another stellar performance across the beam and the show-stopping floor routine. and suni lee took the bronze medal. the g.o.a.t. stories continued in the pool. katie ledecky officially became the most decorated female olympian in history. and kate douglass added another goal for team usa with her win in the 200-meter breaststroke. with all these women representing the stars and stripes, congrats to them. it was so fun and exhilarating to watch them nail that, event after event. >> and the smiles on their faces after they win. i mean, they just incredible. now believe it or not, there's more than just swimming and

gymnastics at these olympics, the u.s. women's fencing team won its first-ever gold medal after a hard-fought battle with italy in the women's team foil event. it's the second for kieffer and first for lauren scruggs. and back on the water, the u.s. men's rowing team ended a medal drought. the crew took the top prize in the four rowing event with a photo finish victory against runner-up new zealand. aja wilson and brianna stewart once again powered the u.s. women's basketball team, clenching a spot in the quarter finals. yesterday was so jam-packed full with good events. >> it's tough to get through the day. you're so distracted. youwant to catch all of this. after the first full week of olympic action that wraps up today, the u.s. men's soccer team will take on morocco. and the starting gun is about to go off for track and field events. we'll get our first glimpse at

sha'carri richardson making her olympic debut in the women's 100-meter event. and we're getting there, taking on a double digit lead over the host nation, france, including the four aforementioned gold medals. here we are. just keep racking up those golds. >> we'll take more. there's new legal action against crowdstrike following the massive software meltdown last month. and flavor flav sharing some gold with olympians. allison! (restaurant noise) ♪♪ [announcer] introducing allison's plaque psoriasis. she thinks her flaky, gray patches are all people see. otezla is the #1 prescribed pill to treat plaque psoriasis. over here! otezla can help you get clearer skin and reduce itching and flaking. with no routine blood tests required. doctors have been prescribing otezla for over a decade.

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a lot of celebrities on the sidelines of these olympic games, but none has made quite the splash like one famous rapper. lester holt got in on the fun and spent the day with snoop dogg. >> reporter: it turns out you don't need a medal to be an olympic star. not when you're snoop dogg. snoop is a crowd pleaser in paris and making fun an olympic sport of its own. i stepped into snoop's world at judo. >> nice, nice close range. come on. >> reporter: you've been doing your homework. it's clear he respects the games and the fans. >> watch out now. >> reporter: his commentary on point. >> got him. got him with the okeydoke. >> reporter: i sat down with snoop to talk about this new chapter in his career. you are living your best life right now. >> i am, i am. i am having fun. let he me stop lying. >> reporter: did you expect any

of this? >> never, as a kid watching these olympics. >> reporter: i ran into you at beach volleyball the other day. >> yes. >> reporter: you were leading the crowd. you're america's biggest cheerleader. >> i'm the biggest kid in the crowd. >> reporter: he's been everywhere. >> i put on a fencing outfit and i fought against one of our medalists. >> reporter: don't say fought, it's a sport. >> well, i sparred. we'll use that. >> reporter: he's done commentary for badminton. >> give me that, no, i need that. >> reporter: swam with michael phelps, rode a train with lebron james. i love it the other day when the american gymnasts spotted you in the crowd. did you realize what was happening? >> i was dancing, right? and then i'm just having a good time. then i look, i see jordan, simone, they see it's me, and then it's kinetic. >> reporter: still to come. getting up an equestrian event with his palo, march that

ste >> i don't know who say it, dressage? i want to see the horses that dance and give them horsapples carrots. >> i was the voice of peace for that moment in time. >> snoop needs to be a permanent fixture at the olympic games. coming up on "today", olympic royalty, suni lee, will be talking about her bronze medal win at the all around competition along with her teammate jordan chiles. and olympic gold medallist allyson felix will break down the track and field competition as it gets under way in paris. thanks for kicking off your friday with "early today," i'm frances rivera. have a great weeke. peou y