a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the united states and all around the world. i'm max foster in london. just ahead -- >> conviction rate in russia is very high, about 99%. in terms of sentencing, judges in russia have tremendous discretion. it is not like in the u.s. where you have sentencing guide lines. >> your attorney is messed up sending an entire digital copy of your entire cellphone with every text message you've sent for the past two years. >> 20 hours later, she is back on the plane, she's out and chinese ships are surrounding

taiwan in six different locations opening fire. so what is the cost/benefit analysis of this trip here? >> live from london, this is "cnn newsroom" with max foster. >> it is thursday, august 4, 9:00 a.m. here in london, 4:00 a.m. in washington and 11:00 a.m. in moscow where closing arguments are expected in just a few hours in the trial of u.s. back star brittney griner. it is the second hearing so far this week for griner who was arrested at a moscow airport back this february. she is being held on drug charges after being caught with cannabis oil in her luggage. griner pleaded guilty to the charges against her in hopes of securing a lighter sentence. the u.s. has attempted to broker a prisoner swap with moscow, but so far no agreement. fred pleitgen isle following the developments for us from moscow. and this could be the final day, we could get the result.

>> reporter: we could indeed. certainly something that is not set in stone and isn't necessarily on the official agenda. but something that brittney griner's legal defense team could happen. they said that they expect today to have the closing arguments and then there could be a verdict but it doesn't necessarily have to be the case. but in any case, certainly a big day for brittney griner as this trial is sort of moving towards coming to a close. we heard the final witness two days ago, an expert witness trying to cast doubt on some of the original forensics that were done. and in general if you look at the strategy of the legal defense team, they say that they believe they have done pretty well so far despite, you know -- in light of the fact that of course this is a russian court, it does have a lot of discretion as to sentencing and verdicts. they have tried to have brittney griner show respect, remorse, and also had some character witnesses on as well to show that brittney griner is a model

athlete and someone who has done a lot for the sport of basketball, not just internationally but specifically here in russia as well. they hope that all of that will lead to a lenient verdict. but we heard in the open of the show that the conviction rates here are very high and that it really is up to the court what kind of sentence brittney griner will get. at the same time, we always have to point this out, looming over all of this is the fact that the u.s. has said that it has put forward that very big offer to the russians, substantial offer as the u.s. said, for a possible prisoner exchange. again, unclear where all of that stands. but certainly it is something that looms over this trial even though of course it is not something that is mentioned in the proceedings themselves. >> fred, thank you. sweden and finland are one step closer for joining nato. the u.s. senate voted 95-1 to

ratify nato membership for the two countries, a rare display of overwhelming bipartisan support in the u.s. congress. the official ratification document now goes to president biden for his signature. one u.s. senator said that russia's vanks of ukrainvasion ukraine underscored the urgency. >> it has changed the way we think of the world's security. so i support them joining nato. >> both countries must still get unanimous approval from all 30 nato members. according to the alliance, 23 of those countries have given the green light so far. the white house reportedly believes that russia will try to frame ukrainian forces for prison attack, at least 50 prisoners of war were killed at a blast in a prison in the occupied east last week, but a

u.s. official says russia may suggest that ukraine hit the prison with rockets. meanwhile ukraine says although russia is pounding the east with airstrikes, ground attacks have been repelled and down south russia claims its air defenses have repelled ukrainian attempt to strike a key bridge near the city of kherson. ukraine has been hitting the bridge for weeks now trying to cut off russian supply route in the region. nic robertson is standing by for us live in ukraine. what do you make of the latest movements, nic? >> reporter: well, specifically when it comes to the contention over the prison investigatio n where 50 p.ow.s were killed,

journalists showed on social media and on television there and they showed that pictures of what they allege were parts of himars missiles. so this does fit in with what we are hearing from the white house, the white house saying that they think that russia is going to try to spin this as a ukrainian attack, while the ukrainian officials say that they firmly believe that this was something that was a false flag operation, if you will, that this was done by pro-russian forces, indeed they blame the pro kremlin military contractor wagner for it, they were responsible for the prison and ukrainian authorities say flammable substances were used there. it will be difficult to get to the bottom of this. international committee for the red cross say they have only made one visit to the detention facility in may to drop off water containers. they have not per the geneva convention been given access to the prisoners one-on-one. they had demanded access and they haven't got it yet. the u.n. secretary-general is

calling for a mission to investigate what happened there, but he has said that that will need the signoff of russia, that russia will need to sign off on the terms of any investigation. so i think the hopes of getting clarity from the killing of those prisoners of war, many of whom are from the azov battalion, last holdouts in mar pal several months ago, taken prisoner and held there, prisoners of war, i think the hopes of trying to get to the bottom of what happened and get clarity is going to be very difficult and it will be a long running narrative, if you will, certainly for a good while longer that ukraine firmly believes that russia did this and is blaming it on -- trying to blame it on ukraine. now, release of those pictures of himars weapons parts may actually work against the russians because forensically there will be serial numbers put in the public domain that may

give -- provide ukrainians with accountability on their weapon systems. but this is a war, max. and we're going to see an awful lot more of russia and potentially ukraine of obfuscating on less obvious facts, if you will. there will be a lot more things that happen like this that are going to be difficult to get to the bottom of. horrific, horrendous, and the international community is in essence if it happens on russian-controlled territory, pretty powerless to get to the bottom of. >> nic in ukraine, thank you. ukrainian officials are dismissing meanwhile suggestions by former german chancellor that moscow wants a negotiated solution to the war in ukraine. he made the remark wednesday after meeting last week in moscow with the russian leader. he cited the recent grain deal as a possible starting point

towards the ceasefire. but schroeder has had close ties to vladimir putin for many years now and his comments didn't sit well in kyiv. take a listen. >> translator: it is simply disgusting when former leaders of major states with european values work for russia, which is at war against these values. >> let's bring in clare sebastian who is here in london. obviously a very sensitive matter. and it won't go down well in kyiv, but we don't know enough about the negotiations really, do we? >> we don't know that any are taking place at all apart from the specific issues like grain. and this is a sensitive issue for ukraine because of course they were critical of taking too soft a line at the beginning of the war, and reliance on energy supplies, historical sties. so yes, this revives those

concerns. and some of the things that he has come back with, the messages that he's come back with from moscow aside from the fact that he said moscow wants a negotiated solution to this, which the ukrainian foreign minister described as nothing more than cynical. but he is taking a different attack from the current chancellor on the issue of turbine and gas supplies. he said that there is no technical -- they said it was a technical and bureaucratic problem the reason why the turbine hasn't yet been delivered back to gazprom and there are no reasons why it hasn't been delivered. and so it is sort of problematic. he said that he has refused to criticize putin, and apologize for this meeting saying that he hopes to continue to be of help. i think that is not the case yet that he has been of help. >> clare, thank you. after years of claiming the

sandy hook elementary school massacre was fake, alex jones is facing the stark truth of his lies could cost him big. latest on the high profile case just ahead. plus the justice department reaches deep into the trump white house, what it expects to find in its probe. painful fingersticks, helps lower a1c, and it's covered by medicare. before dexcom g6, i was frustrated. all of that finger-pricking and all of that pain, my a1c was still stuck. my diabetes was out of control. i was tired. (female announcer) dexcom g6 sends your glucose numbers to your phone or receiver without painful fingersticks. the arrow shows the direction your glucose is heading: up, down, or steady, so you can make better decisions about food and activity in the moment. after using dexcom g6, my a1c has never been lower. i lead line dancing three times a week, i exercise, and i'm just living a great life now.

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jury deliberations are set to resume in the defamation case against radio host alex jones. jones admitted in court that the sandy hook mass shooting was not a hoax as he had insisted for years but collecting millions in damages could prove difficult as drew griffin reports. >> repo >> the whole thing was fake. >> reporter: now in direct testimony an about-face, right wing conspiracy theorist alex jones who for years repeatedly suggested that the 2012 sandy hook elementary school massacre was a hoax now admitting the truth. >> i think sandy hook happened. and i think it is a terrible event. and i think that we need to protect our children from

mentally ill psychopaths and i think that there was a coverup because they had warnings, the fbi knew about it, they knew he was planning to attack a school. that has been in the "new york times." >> reporter: but too late for apologies or explanations as to why jones perpetuated the lies. after four years of failing to comply with legal demands, jones and his company were found lie only, this case is about damages who begged jones to stop and he refused. >> i can't even describe the last nine and a half years of the living hell that i and others have had to endure. >> reporter: the pltsparents ofn 6-year-old jesse lewis told the jury that jones through his media organization info wars tarnished their son's legacy and tormented them for years. in a remarkable moment in court, jesse lewis' mom scarlet spoke to jones directly. >> jesse was real. i am a real mom.

>> reporter: from the stand, jones told the parents that he didn't sbend intintentionally tt them, that the internet had a lot of questions and so did he. but the tapes of info wars shows years of statements like this -- >> the official story of sandy hook has more holes in it than swiss cheese. >> reporter: even while this case has been going on, jones has been on his show trashing the jury as blue collar no nothings and absurdly trying to link the judge to pedophilia setting up this awkward moment. >> you're telling the world not to believe what happens in this courtroom because the judge worked with child protective services who you say is involved with pedophilia and child trafficking, correct? >> i said i don't not stand behind it, i need to see, not just clips. the judge is the fire burning lady liberty, it is not -- the judge he is consuming freedom.

>> reporter: and jones who told attorney he is had no texts involving the sandy hook case was confronted with this. >> your attorneys messed up and sent me an entire digital copy of your entire cellphone with every text message you've sent for the past two years. that is how i know you lied to me when you said that you didn't have text messages about sandy hook. >> reporter: and take trove of text messages could prove harmful for jones in an upcoming trial in connecticut involving parents, but also in the congressional investigation of the january 6 committee looking into jones' role in the insurrection. jones pled the fifth to the committee. for now, the jury is focused on money and damages as cnn has reported, jones info wars conspiracy based empire makesis money by selling supplements fueled by fear, former workers have told cnn it is a ceo for the right wing. court [ vcv qvc for the right wing, g

up to more than $165 million in revenue over a three year period. in court today jones who claimed his company is bankrupt admitted some days he can pull in more than $800,000 in a single day. >> some days you are making $800,000, $745,000 a day. right? >> this was cpac, because i remember these numbers. >> reporter: the case is now in the hands of the jury which is being asked to decide if alex jones should pay up to $150 million which is what the parents of jesse lewis are asking for. complicating matters, jones' company filed for bankruptcy last week which makes recovering any potential damages difficult. drew griffin, cnn, atlanta. sources tell cnn the secret service may disable text messaging on employees' phones. some agents' texts related to

the january 6 u.s. capitol riot were deleted despite being requested by lawmakers. meanwhile the federal investigation into the riot is digging further into the trump white house. cnn's jessica schneider has more on that story. >> reporter: the justice department escalating its investigation into january 6 with cnn learning of two new key subpoenas to the former white house counsel and his deputy. pat cipollone and patrick philbin will the highest officials to be subpoenaed so p far. >> probably bad for former president trump. >> reporter: prosecutors are already deep into their investigation of plans for trump allies to overturn the 2020 election. two top aides to vice president pence appeared before a grand jury last month. subpoenas have already been served to several people who schemed to create fake slates of electors saying trump won the 2020 election in several twswin

states and fbi lawyers seized eastman's home and raided jeffrey clark's home. >> it shows that this is more than, you know, what did john eastman do, the attorney that basically came up with that crazy scheme to overturn the election. and it probably it a deep interest in on what the president did. >> reporter: cipollone was in the west wing on january 6. >> i think that i was pretty clear there needed to be an immediate and forceful response statement, public statement, that people need to leave the capitol. >> reporter: cipollone sat for several hours of a closed door deposition with the january 6 select committee, careful not to deto divulge any private conversations with president trump. >> donald trump might try to claim executive privilege in front of a grand jury. but there is a difference between claiming executive privilege and actually winning on executive privilege.

this is actually exactly what happened in the richard nixon tapes case back in 1974. >> reporter: nixon's tapes were ultimately ordered released by the supreme court. the chairman of the senate judiciary committee dick durbin is now calling on the pentagon inspector general to investigate these missing texts from senior officials at the defense department. the pentagon has responded saying they are aware of the requests but they are still waiting to get an official ask from senator durbin. jessica schneider, cnn, washington. and senator kyrsten sinema has emerged as a key holdout on her party's economic package, the only democrat not to pledge her support after chuck schumer and joe manchin reached a deal last week on the bill. sinema has been raising questions about some of the bill's proposed tax increases such as a 15% minimum tax on corporations. she has also expressed concerns about raising taxes on so-called carried interest which would impact private equity and hedge

fund managers. scisinema has apparently relayeo top democrats that she wants that provision out of the bill. a new economic survey is suggesting the u.s. is not in a recession which was welcome news on the wall street. all three major u.s. indices closed in the back after a survey, it said that the service sector grew last month reinforcing the view that the recession is not under way. the dow gained more than 400 points or almost 1.3% and the nasdaq and s&p 500 were up by even bigger margins. let's check on the markets currently. if we look at the futures, they are all down. i think those concerns about interest rates still weighing around the world as we take you through the other markets as well, asian markets are up off the back of the wall street

gains. and here is how europe is looking. only london shares down by 0.2%. gasoline prices in the u.s. are headed to the opposite direction than the markets which is good news consumers. wednesday was 950th the 50th consecutive day of declining prices. national average a $4.16. 86 cents below the record set in mid june. and u.s. crude oil prices have also tumbled below $91 a barrel, lowest levels since before the russian invasion on ukraine. ideally just how small or large should your airline seat be? the u.s. federal aviation administration is taking public comments about the size of commercial airplane seats but there is a catch here. the survey is limited to safety considerations only. the faa stresses things like how the dimensions of seats might relate to comfort or convenience

are not part of this request. comments are open to the public until november 1. up next, tensions rise in the taiwan strait as china reacts to the u.s. house speaker's high stakes trip to taiwan. the latest in a live report just ahead. and later, voters in one u.s. state have their say on abortion rights. we'll explain why the record turnout in kansas shocked almost everyone. i'm jonathan lawson here to tell you about life insurance through the colonial penn program. if you're age 50 to 85,

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there are growing tensions over a china and taiwan after u.s. house speaker nancy pelosi's visit to the island.

china launched military exercises today in response including live fire drills in the taiwan strait which taiwan is criticizing as an irrational act take that could damage refugee apstability and the defense ministry says china has fired multiple missiles near the island. beijing's action follows repeated threats over pelosi's trip to taiwan. but the warnings did not stop the house speaker who praised the island's commitment to democracy and said her visit should be seen as a strong statement that, quote, america stands with taiwan. pelosi is now in south korea where she met with her south korean counterpart. japan is the next stop on her visit to asia. steven jiang is in beijing and blake essig is in tokyo. let's first go to steven. a lot of action there around taiwan and concern about, you know, the scale of this exercise and how close it is coming to the island.

>> reporter: that's right. they say all missiles hit intended targets. earlier we have seen the pla fly drones over an outlying island and also sending a larger than usual number of aircraft for incursions into the air defense zone. obvious i will the pla has promised a lot more including practicing a blockade around the island and also potentially conducting live fire drills inside taiwan's territorial water and also firing missile that could fly directly above the island. all of that of course considered a major provocation by taipei and washington, but from the chinese perspective, all of this is very much justified and part of their long promised forceful response to pelosi's visit. but remember it is also worth noting that some analysts say this is also part of beijing's political psychological and information warfare, at least partly aimed at implicating

their own domestic audience after they have been fired up by days of threats from beijing officials against taiwan and the u.s. but one thing many people seem to agree, this is unlikely just to be a few day of drills and then everything goes back to normal because the pla could seize the moment by enforcing china's claim over the entire taiwan strait, obviously that could have major implications for the u.s. and its allies that routinely send warships and warplanes as part of their freedom of navigation operations. >> and blake, the talk continues of asia, very high profile, but taiwan obviously in the back ground of these other visits that the speaker is conducting. >> reporter: although nancy pelosi and her delegation continue their tour of asia, the impact of their surprise visit to taiwan continues to play out around the self-governing island

of taiwan which is now left to deal with the fallout of her visit militarily. and while tensions between taiwan and china continue to escalate over the ongoing live fire drills that steven talked about, house speaker nancy pelosi has moved on to south korea, she arrived late last night. and this morning she met with south korea's national assembly speaker, her counterpart of course, concerns over north korea were a big part of the conversation, specifically the increased threats posed by north korea with both speakers agreeing to maintain strong and extended deterrents. pelosi also spoke on the phone with south korea's president who is currently on summer vacation according to the presidential office, both the president and speaker highlighted the importance of the u.s. republic of korea alliance. and while pelosi is still in south korea, she is expected to arrive here in japan much later

tonight for the final listed stop on her tour of asia, japanese officials still working on pelosi's schedule for tomorrow in tokyo and that includes who she will meet with. and that all being said, the chief cabinet secretary said that he welcomes the speaker to japan and that her visit will further strengthen personal and parliamentary cha e exchanges b united states and japan. they wouldn't comment on the surprise visit to taiwan, but the chief cabinet secretary did express concern over the live fire military drills and urged a peaceful resolution of the cross-strait issues. he said that china's exercises could undermine peace and stability in the region and directly impact the security of japan and its people. this is just 110 kilometers east of taiwan. >>i inokay. steven and blake, thank you both

very much. voters in kansas have overwhelmingly rejected an attempt to weaken abortion rights in the state's constitution, the first major elector cal test since weiroe v wades was overturned in june. here is how president biden reacted to that development. >> in a decisive blow in, a decisive victory, voters made it clear that politicians should not interfere with the fundamental rights of women. voters of kansas sent a powerful signal that this fall the american people will vote to preserve and protect the right and refuse to let's they will ripped away by politicians. >> jeff zeleny explains what the vote in kansas could mean for the upcoming midterm elections. >> reporter: a surge of kansas voters sending an overwhelming message to protect abortion rights. it was the biggest sign yet of the backlash to the supreme

court's decision to send the question of abortion back to the states. and here in conservative kansas, voters delivered their answer loud and clear. >> we don't want the government making our pre-productive health care decisions for us. >> reporter: and this democratic congresswoman says kansas has watched as neighboring states have enacted abortion bans. >> i think there is a lot of energy to make sure that we maintain our rights and that our children and grandchildren have as many rights as we've had. >> reporter: the measure drew historic turnout for an august election with more than 900,000 voters casting ballots, dramatically outpacing primaries in 2018 and 2020. it was a question of whether voters wanted to amendment the kansas constitution to allow lawmakers to further restrict or ban abortion. a resounding 59% said no. 41% said yes with a coalition of some independents and republicans joining forces to preserve access to abortion. three months before the fall

elections, outcomes reverberated across the political landscape with democrats expressing fresh hope that support for abortion rights could be a motivating force in november. across the country on tuesday, more pieces of the midterm election puzzle fell into place with supporters of donald trump who have embraced his false claims about the 2020 election scoring wins at the ballot box. in arizona kerry lake leading in a divisive race over karen robson. arizona has been a hot bed of denial about the 2020 election with mark finchum winning for secretary of state. the top election official in arizona. >> arizona has sent a message loud and clear. >> reporter: blake masters writing his trump endorsement to becoming the senate party nominee setting up one of the most closely watched senate contests against mark kelly.

in michigan a conservative commentator becoming the challenge of gretchen whitmer. and peter meijer olosing to joh gibbs whose candidacy was boosted by democrats with hundreds of yyou thousands of dollars in tv ads. and in missouri, attorney general eric schmitt easily winning the republican senate contest blocking a political comeback from former governor eric greaitens who resigned fou years ago amid a sex scandal. >> god has a plan. it doesn't always work on our time line. >> reporter: no doubt that abortion rights are a motivating factor for some voters has was shown here in kansas. that coalition of democrats, independents, libertarians and even some republicans joining forces to protect abortion rights by a wide margin. the question is whether it will

overtake over issues driving the midterm election conversation like the economy and inflation. republicans clearly want to keep their focus on that. but democrats believe that they have learned a new playbook here in kansas. jeff zeleny, cnn, over land park, kansas. and mother nature is not letting up on kentucky. just ahead, how the flood ravaged state now faces stifling hot temperatures and kentucky is not alone. 80% of the u.s. population is facing 90 degree heat the next week. geelt the latest from pedram javaheri. so you both stay cool. our smart sleepers get 28 minutes more restful sleep per night. save $500 on the sleep number 360 c4 smart bed queen now only $1,299. lowest price ever.

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officials in kentucky are still looking for survivors and assessing the damage to areas hard hit by recent devastating floods. and if that weren't enough, they are now battling with a heatwave.

heat indexes are expected to be at the upper 90s today and heat advisories are in effect throughout the evening. dianne gallagher reports from kentucky. >> reporter: the governor has touted improvements to getting people back with power, getting water turned back on in some areas and better connectivity. the death toll did not change, but he has cautioned that it likely will and the biggest concern right now, the heat. it is hot. it is in the 90s. it feels like 100 at this point. and a lot of people don't have power right now. there are cooling stations that have opened up, but we're seeing situations like this right here, this is the only grocery store in the entire town here. it is destroyed. absolutely. we can't go inside right now without health officials with us and respirators on. we went in there earlier, the smell that is permeating out of there right now just gives you an idea of all of the food that

is rotting, that is spoiling, that people really could use at this point. and they can't. and this is just emblematic in what we're seeing in every town throughout southeastern kentucky. it is the grocery store, the post office and the bank. it is the school. it is the fire department in almost every city. just down the road in jeremiah, we saw the fire and rescue center completely destroyed. the tanker that you see there, that yellow one out frond, we spoke with the chief -- the fire chief there, and he says that he has spent 15 hours through the flood on that tanker. he got a call in the middle of the night, told the station is flooding, you need to get here. he said that his pickup truck got swept up. he was able to steer it into that yellow tanker, ram it in there, but he couldn't get the door and the window open. here's what he said. >> i reached and found my pistol

in the back seat and i shot the window out of my chevy. and as the window was going out, i dived hands up. i followed it out and jumped up on the tanker. had a lot of time to think about a lot of things, you know. and how quickly that life can go by you, you know. next day i seen my kids. that made it worth it. >> reporter: that fire chief says that in those moments, he texted his mom and dad, didn't know if he was going to survive, but now he wants his community to survive and everybody here says they need the same things. they need water, they need power, they need supplies, they need money. but really they say they need attention. they don't want people to forget about them. this sign says hometown pride. they saulall say they will rebu but it will be a long and difficult journey especially with the heat and potential rain again on the horizon.

dianne gallagher, cnn, kentucky. and more heavy rain in southeastern louisiana. a flash flood watch for downtown st. louis has been lifted but warnings are still in place for the southern suburbs. police report stranded motorists, flooded roads and flooded basements, creeks are rising too and exceeded levels they reached last week. let's turn to pedram javaheri. it feels like so many new records are being set by this recent bout of weather. >> it is remarkable. yeah, we're talking about nine days, a span of nine days, three historic floods having taking place in an area that has been so walloped with heavy rainfall. and you look at a span of six hours, some areas picking up 3 to 4 inches, some in just a matter of a few minutes with incredible frequency of lightning strikes in this region as well. speaking to the intensity of these storms. as you noted flood alerts in

place and warnings. south of st. louis, as it migrates away south, of course historic flooding last week occurred on the western side of st. louis. and in the span of 12 hours upwards of 75,000 lightning strikes scattered about the region here in the united states. so again, showing you just how intense this line of storms has been. rainfallment as just since midnight local time pushing up over 3.5 inches in a few spots. anytime you see these sorts of numbers, you know that you will see devastating flooding. water levels will rise to significant values especially when the soil is as saturated as it is. the system will migrate farther toward the east. there is a risk thursday and friday, a generally slight risk for potential for excessive rainfall again on areas that have already seen so much rainfall. in the town of hazard, one of the communities very hard hit, thunderstorm possibilities in place, heat may not look as hot as it is because you have to factor in the humidity.

it will feel considerably warmer than the middle and upper 80s. and speaking of heat, look at the northeastern united states. washington, philly, new york, boston, heat indices in this region up to 106 freesdegrees i afternoon hours. so that will have impacts. we expect a cooling trend possibly early next week as we get multiple systems that push in. but very active pattern with historic heat, historic flooding and fires widespread as well that we've covered in recent weeks. >> paededram, thank you very mu. and wildfires continue in the western united states. red flag warnings cover large portions of washington, oregon and montana. in northern california the devastation is monumental. the mckinney fire scorching the earth leaving charred buildings and cars in its wake. but officials say lower temperatures as well as rain

have slowed down the fire's spread helping firefighters to make some progress at least. temperatures are scorching parts of europe too with some places topping 104 degrees fahrenheit. and the heat is expected to continue owe the next few days. and will spread into central europe on thursday. temperatures will continue to be in the mid-90s to low 100 degrees. and while parts of northern europe such as germany will see some relief on friday, parts of the iberian peninsula to the southeast of europe remain well above average throughout the weekend. check out this tweet from some of the enormous hail that has fallen this week in the canadian province of alberta. the chunks of ice were grapefruit size we're told, one of them alone measured 5 inches across and weighed more than half a pound. the storm shattered car windows and dented doors, it caused three accidents and some minor injuries in the area known as hail storm alley.

unexpected result of climate change, high temperatures in florida are causing 99% of sea turtles born on its beaches to be born female. scientists say the temperatures of the sand eggs are bury fld determines the turtle's sex with eggs incubated at high temperatures producing females. they warn if the trend continues, there won't be enough males to keep the population growing. and file this under the bad idea column, police in utah say that man accidentally started a wildfire after trying to kill a spider with a sgcigarette light. the governor tweeted don't do drugs, kids, don't start spiders on fire during a drought. over in california, a journalist was dominating the mckinney wildfire when all of a sudden he saw a glimmer of hope.

>> come here, buddy. are you okay? are you okay? how you doing? are you good? oh, are you happy to see somebody? >> that face. a lost puppy emerging from the ashes. after giving him water, he posted the video on twitter and was soon able to reunite the puppy with his family. we'll be right back. sure, he's the 76-year-old guy who still runs marathons, right? sadly, not anymore. wow. so sudden. um, we're not about to have the "we need life insurance" conversation again, are we? no, we're having the "we're getting coverage so we don't have to worry about it" conversation. so you're calling about the $9.95 a month plan -from colonial penn? -i am. we put it off long enough. we are getting that $9.95 plan, today. (jonathan) is it time for you to call about the $9.95 plan?

i'm jonathan from colonial penn life insurance company. sometimes we just need a reminder not to take today for granted. if you're age 50 to 85, you can get guaranteed acceptance whole life insurance starting at just $9.95 a month. there are no health questions so you can't be turned down for any health reason. the $9.95 plan is colonial penn's number one most popular whole life plan. options start at just $9.95 a month. that's less than 35 cents a day. your rate can never go up. it's locked in for life. call today for free information. and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner, so call now. (soft music) ♪ hello, colonial penn?

tributes are pouring in for the long time voice of the dodgers. fans are leaving flowers on the vin scully vin scully star. dodgers will be wearing a black patch to honor scully. it features a microphone and the word vin. and the national football league is appealing a six game suspension handed down to deshaun watson saying that it is not harsh enough. dozens of women have alleged sexual misconduct during massage sessions with watson when he was with the texans but with one of those civil suits -- but all but

one of those civil suits were settled privately. on monday, a judge denounced predatory behavior. watson denies any wrongdoing. and phil mickelson along with ten other professional golfers have filed an anti trust suit against the pga tour calling it a monopoly. this is after the tour suspended mickelson and other golfers who joined the controversial saudi-backed liv golf series. that meant that they could no longer play in pga events. the lawsuit denies that the pga is denying them an opportunity to earn an income. the pga commissioner said that they would defend themselves and portrayed liv golfers as free riders. and a former ukrainian star part of the defense forces is

auctioning two valuable rings he earned during his career playing in the u.s. he was with the los angeles lakers during their second and third straight championships in 2001 and 2002 alongside kobe bryant and shaquille o'neal. the rings that the players get are always value only, but this one was earned when the lakers won three championships in a row.only, but this one was earned when the lakers won three championships in a row. the auction ends on friday. on the website the goal has already been surpassed. currently the bid is about 80,000 and the 2002 ring at around $60,000. many thanks to joining me here. i'm max foster in london. "early start" with erica hill is next here.

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good thursday morning. it is august 4, i'm erica hill. first on cnn, patrick philbin former deputy counsel to president trump subpoenaed in the federal criminal vehicles of the insurrection, sources tell cnn that prosecutors want his testimony and documents. he work in the white house counsel office under pat cipollone who has also been subpoenaed. philbin did not immediately respond to cnn's request for comment. but let's brin