it's wednesday, june 24th. coming up on "early today," one person killed as storms hit the northeast after battering the midwest. a line of storms are forecast today. and sales of confederate battle flags surge. and freddy gray suffered a high energy injury. >> escape tooled smuggled into prison hidden in raw meat. and a new fast and furious thrill ride to supercharge the senses and spectacular grabs as "early today" starts right now. good morning. extreme weather pounding parts of the u.s. in the past 48 hours, violent thunderstorms have pounded the northeast.

in new jersey a violent thunderstorm 70 miles per hour winds. a lot of damage. part of a mall roof ripped right off. shoppers were forced into the basement and in new jersey pounded. in the parking lot a honda civic was flipped upside down. >> it was scary. the rain just came in, lightning right in front of me. >> signs for businesses flapping round. unbelievable. >> in maryland a lightning strike sparked this apartment fire. in poolsville the storm turned deadly there. a driver in a pick up was kill ed after a truck fell on the road. and reports of more than 600 lightning strikes in a 15 minute period and heavy winds took down trees and cut power. in the midwest, it is now confirmed the national weather service says 9 tornados hit central illinois monday and tuesday. and flag fury is growing. more than 500 people at a rally. they want the confederate stars

and bars removed from the south carolina state house. state senator paul thurman, son of strom thurman, said he's aware of his ancestors but says he doesn't believe his ancestors always made the right decisions. >> our ancestors were literally fighting to continue to keep human beings as slaves. and continue the unimaginable acts that occur when someone is held against their will. i am not proud of this heritage. meanwhile, near ferguson missouri hillary clinton also spoke against the flag and what it represents. >> recognizing it as a symbol of our nation's racist past that has no place in our present or our future. it shouldn't fly there, it shouldn't fly anywhere. >> supporters of the flag are passionately defending their position.

they say it's a means to honor those who died in the civil war, not the banner of racists. >> they stole it. they dishonored that flag. that flag never had anything to do about slavery. >> big companies are dropping confederate flag merchandise, walmart, sears, google, and a nascar says it supports the removal of the flag from the state house. and in the state house, law makers held a moment of silence for the victims of the massacre. and this morning, we're learning new details about how two convicted murderers escaped from maximum security prison. according to the clinton county district attorney joyce mitchell told police she hid hacksaw blades drill bits and even a hole punch inside ground

beef and smuggled them into the tailor shop in the prison. the meat was then delivered to richard matt and david sweat. palmer put on administrative leave. and he didn't know what he was doing. joyce mitchell also told the d.a. he didn't know what he was doing. police continue to search near owls head new york, where dna from both men was found in a burglarized cabin. and president obama expected to announce changes to the administration's policy for dealing with hostages held overseas. some experts worried that given into the demands of hostage takers might make matters worse. >> reporter: it is a concern and that's why the u.s. is holding strong on this policy. but when it comes to these families and how they deal with the hostage takers looks like

the administration is going to bend a bit and give some latitude for those families to take action in hopes of keeping their loved ones alive. today the white house is expected to announce the government will look the other way and not prosecute families who pay ransoms to terrorist groups like isis. it comes after the administration spent months concerning the families of hostages like cara mueller, james foley and sergeant beau bergdahl. >> we also wanted to improve the process of communicating with families who have loved ones who are going through this terrible situation. >> reporter: that means setting up an interagency fusion center at the fbi to keep families better informed but not a hostage czar and the u.s. government will still not pay ransom directly to isis. >> some will pay 10s of millions of dollars from isis and that has only fuelled more terrorism.

>> reporter:fear allowing families to pay could be dangerous. >> ultimately, i think you are likely to at least marginally increase the incentives to kidnap americans. >> reporter: now if families did get an early look at that report as they talked with administration officials on tuesday about what went into it. we'll all get a look at it sometime later today. new documents posted by wiki leaks show the communications include discussions about a top united nations appointment, and the euro crisis. a spokesman for wiki leaks told the press that he is confident that the documents are authentic. and an aid for french president

he considers avenue eavesdropping unacceptable. there are new details on the autopsy of 25-year-old freddie gray. it shows a high energy injury. according to the baltimore sun which obtained a copy of the report. the state medical examiner's office also found that he was not belted in while in a police van but his wrists and ankles were shackled making him at risk for an unsupported fall during acceleration or deceleration of the van. the medical examiner concluded that the most significant injury was to the lower left part of his head. he died a week later. and the medical examiner's report was completed the day before criminal charges were announced against six officers. the report faulted the officers for quote acts of omission and

ruled the death a homicide. all six officers have entered not guilty pleas. attorneys representing the six police officers say neither they or the officers have ever seen the autopsy report. nbc meteorologist is here with our forecast today. >> more severe weather today. we're talk to talk about the heat wave for the northwest. severe weather yesterday. almost 300 reports of wind damage. high gusty winds in southern portions of new jersey the hardest hit. we could have a flash flooding problem in illinois. ground is super saturated and additional wet weather coming into this region. 20 million people including the chicago area and northern portions of illinois late thunderstorms for you, maybe an isolated tornado or two and

isolated wind damage is almost a sure thing. hot temperatures this weekend. boise 109 is your forecast on sunday. hottest temperature ever forecast in boise is 111. we're close. reno and salt lake city could be 101 over the weekend. are going to feel almost chilly compared to the temperatures this weekend. >> i bet the movie theaters are going to be filled just because of the air conditioning. ever suffered from e-mail

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welcome back everybody. alarming new statistics after children poisoned from putting those laundry pods in their mouth. since 2012 there was 32,000 incidents involved children under five. and 30 children a day need medical attention after ingesting a pod. >> they can have lung damage, to the point of needing to be placed on a ventilator in the icu. >> kids between the ages of 1 and 2 are at greater risk of swallowing those candy like pods. >> in people magazine sean diddy combs was arrested at an athletic facility on monday at

ucla. he allegedly attacked the football team's strength and conditioning coach with a kettle bell. he was visiting his son when it allegedly happened. combs represent says any actions taken by mr. combs were solely defensive in nature to protect himself and his son. he's charged with assault with a deadly weapon and terrorist threats. newly released video of a horrifying head on collision. a motorcyclist was wearing a go pro camera when he came around a blind curve and hit a truck. he survived the wreck but suffered broken bones and memory loss. and google has an unsend button. it gives users the option of setting a time delay between five and 30 seconds.

netflix is planning a seven for one stock split next month. shareholders invested in the idea. and lexus claims it's developed a working hover board that can float about an inch above the ground. it uses magnets an super conductors. and ford is getting into the car sharing business. it's launching a pilot program in in six u.s. cities. customers who finance their car with ford motor credit can then rent them out when they're not being used. just ahead tom brady's

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this morning on "today," with the search for those new york fugitives entering day 19, a look at one of the ways police are trying to track them down. they put search dogs to the test later on "today."

and royals in seattle taking on the mariners. mike montgomery facing the team that outed him and he made it look easy. four hits and ten strikeouts. and tom brady finally got the chance to sit down with roger goodell to appeal his four game suspension. brady and his attorney spent 10 hours meeting with the commissioner and representatives from the nfl player's union. now it's up to goodell to decide whether his sworn testimony was convincing enough. in cleveland, a young indians fans makes a great play on a foul ball. he's yelling i got your back at first baseman. and cabrera gave a nod as he recognized the effort and he gave the young kid a bat, batting gloves.

and look at this great catch. andre gonzales and it's robbed by a man holding a baby. the man just leaned over and snatches it away from gonzales. fans gave the dad a standing ovation, however, the play was reviewed and the batter was called out for fan interference. and an ultimate frisbee fires a.j. nelson chases down the frisbee and makes a sensational lay out grab. whoa, he caught it. so, just ahead, the entertainment world mourns the passing of a beloved tv dad and who will we the next spiderman? find out when we come back. the beast was as long as the boat. for seven hours, we did battle. until i said... you will not beat... meeeeee!!!

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well welcome back. we will get some severe storms over the next couple of days. strong storms from missouri to west virginia is a possibility. as far as san francisco goes the coastal areas aren't really going to see the peak of this heat. you peak out at 80 on thursday. this is an interior story for the most part. seattle and portland will be very hot also.

tom holland will star in the next spiderman movie. he's best known for the british run of "elliott." and dikck van patten has died. he was 86. and universal studios unveiled the new fast and furious ride. they have simulators that make you feel like you're racing with vin diesel. it opens to the public today. universal studios hollywood is part of our parent company. and in case you missed this week's episode of the bachelorette, the roots have you covered. the two reenacted a scene on the

tonight show. >> i don't think we're here for the same reason. >> so, you don't think i'm here to find husband? >> i feel like you're here to make out with a bunch of dudes on tv. [ laughter ] >> my blood is boiling a little bit right now. i am super offended by you. you have in no way appreciated the person that i am. >> too funny. >> if you close your eyes it's kind of spot on. >> i think we have a whole new series like reality redo. that would be awesome. people would tune in. this is "early today." we hope it's just your first stop of the day on nbc. ♪ ♪ food should be good. strawberries should sing.

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leading the news in the denver post, study finds medical pot isn't proven but colorado is launching studies. there is no scientific evidence that proves marijuana helps ailments it claims to treat. so, what does medical pot relieve? severe pain and nausea related to chemotherapy and symptoms related to multiple sclerosis. in the "new york times" the inventor of the pink flamingo in plastic dies in 1979. he was just out of art school when a plastics company asked him to design the lawn ornament

that became the 60s craze. and check out this gorgeous view of the aurora borealis known as the northern lights. it happened in minnesota. the northern lights are actually a burst of solar wind from the sun and you're seeing the charged particles as they reached the earth's magnetic field. >> breathtaking. >> yes. and in seattle 11 new rainbow cross walks were unveiled saturday. just in time for seattle's gave pride week. how much do these cost? each was a cool $6,000. this has since gone viral and has been viewed over 9 million times.

it's been viewed over 9 million times. now we've seen some interesting contests from around the world. this one is pretty bizarre. and a city in russia hosted a wife carrying contest, male contestants had to carry their wives through a series of obstacles and the first couple to finish won a prize equivalent to about $900. >> you're not on the grass. they're on pavement. >> that would be an ouch factor. >> my wife would blame me for purposely dropping her. and today a federal judge expected to formally charge dzhokhar tsarnaev to death. and the victims expected to speak and a chance the court will hear from tsarnaev himself.

=kris/vo= new problems for the new span. troubling crack new problems for the new span. troubling cracks putting the safety of the bay bridge in question against. >> swift change, what berkeley city leaders want to do light of last week's deadly balcony collapse. >> breaking news. someone in a car shot along a bay area freeway for the second time in less than a week. the includes investigates have gathered so far. from nbc bay area this is "today in the bay." >> midway point of the week. good morning on wednesday, 4:30, i'm sam brock. >> i'm kris sanchez, in for laura garcia-cannon, lots to get to but you've heard talk of a warm-up. we want to get right to meteorologist kari hall. good morning. >> good morning. the heat is one day away so this is