breaking news this morning. face-to-face in helsinki. president trump and vladimir putin are just moments away from meeting one on one amid rising tensions between russia and the u.s. what's at stake in this morning's summit. freedom in sight. when the thai soccer team will finally leave the hospital. plus a new controversy for elon >> the fee for speed. a driver wrecks his $300,000 sports car just one day after driving it off the lot. an end t extinction. how the san diego zoo is breathing new life into endangered species. "early today" starts now. >> good morning, i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera.

we begin with breaking news out of helsinki, finland. vladimir putin just landed minutes ago for his high stakes summit with president donald trump. the world is now anxiously waiting for the highly anticipated meeting expected to happen in just moments, but putin already seems to have the edge, keeping his counterpart waiting. his plane touched down almost an hour late. earlier mr. trump and first lady melania sat down at the finnish president's residence for breakfast ahead of the meeting. >> still no agenda, it's anyone's guess what each president will walk away with, as mr. trump's bashing of the eu, slamming of the british prime minister, repeated media, robert mueller's latest round of indictments against russian hackers in the background. ahead of their meeting, president trump had this to say about putin. >> i think we could probably get along youer friends or competitors, but for russia and the united states and, frankly, the uk and other places to get along with russia and china and

all of these other places, that's a good thing. it's not a bad thing. it's a really good thing. >> the summit just about to get under way. it's the 2016 election that's on the president's mind. here's what the commander in chief tweeted a few hours ago without ever mentioning putin. "president obama thought crooked hillary was going to win the election, so when he was informed by the fbi about russian meddling, he said it couldn't happen, did nothing about it. when i won, it became a big deal and the rigged witch hunt strzo" let's get to jeff bennett in helsinki with more on this and what we can expect today. good morning. >> good morning. president trumps and putin are set to make their way to the finnish presidential palace for this highly anticipated one-on-one private meeting. the president so far dialing down expectations for the meeting, saying, in fact, he has low expectations for what might come of it. of course, the one thing hanging over their sit-down is russia's

attack on the 2016 election. an issue made all the more urgent by s ties of bomb shell indictments from our own justice department against this group of 12 russian agents who now stand credibly accused of hacking democrats and a state election board in the run-up to the 2016 election. it's the reason why you have lawmakers, both democrat and republican, calling on president trump to really press vladimir putin on this issue. but it would appear based on the president's own statements, both on twitter and to that interview he gave cbs, that his instinct is to blame america first. you saw how he is blaming democrats, attacking former president obama, not at all condemning russia on that issue. we do expect them to talk about that, as well as russia's land grab of crimea, the evolving situation in syria. they might even arrive at some sort of arms control deal. now, after these meetings, we do expect the two men to hold a joint press conference and we're going to be paying close attention to the interactions between the two men. in particular, how president

trump responds to vladimir putin. if putin dismisses questions about russia's election interference, how will president trump respond? will he defend the american electoral process, the american justice system, or will he defer to vladimir putin and refer to the federal counterintelligence investigation into russia's nefarious act. will he refer to that again as a witch hunt? phillip and frances. >> geoff, thank you. after the indictments of 12 russian military intelligence officers, concerns are rising about whether russian hackers will try to influence the upcoming midterm elections. with president trump overseas meeting with the russian president for that highly anticipated one-on-one summit, election hacking is becoming a top concern here at home. tracie potts joins us live from washington, d.c., with more on that. good morning. >> good morning. good morning, everyone. big questions here in washington about what president trump will talk about at this meeting. as you heard, he's been tweeting about it this morning, blaming

president obama. now it's his turn. will president trump ask russia to turn over intelligence officers charged with meddling in the 2016 election? >> your first request of vladimir putin needs to be, tell us which airport we can pick up the 25 russians that tried to interfere with the fundamentals of our democracy. >> well, i might. i haven't thought of that, but certainly i'll be asking about it. >> hacking social media, tinkering with voter registration. is russia trying to infiltrate the ballot box again in november? homeland security says there's no hard evidence, but intelligence officials are concerned. >> we are just one click of the keyboard away from a similar situation repeating itself. >> we better wake up, because this is a warning shot for our next elections atere ready. >> i think we need to really step up our game. >> we should now spend our time

protecting ourselves. >> is the u.s. ready? >> the president's determined that we're not going to have any outsider interfere with the integrity of our electoral process. >> homeland security says it's ready to foil attacks. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. turning now to the scare in the air that left passengers first frightened and then frustrated after the flight made a rapid descent. gadi schwartz responds how the airline is responding. >> reporter: terrified passengers trying not to panic after alarms sounded, oxygen masks dropped, and ears began to bleed. >> the worst feelingll thinking going to die. >> they were on a flight from dublin to when it began a rapid descent, 26,000 feet in seven agonizing minutes. the plane made an emergency landing in germany, where 33 passengers were hospitalized, many furious saying they were provided with little food, a few cots, and no solid answers on

what happened. >> we didn't feel we were being treated like humans. >> reporter: ryan air admitted a shortage of available accommodation. a frightening experience capping seven minutes in the skies. passengers won't soon forget. gadi schwartzs, nbc news, london. a wild fire has exploded overnight to 4,300 acres as officials mourn a firefighter killed on the front lines. authorities say raging flames there on the ferguson fire prompted the evacuation of nearby communities and forced the closure of highway 140 into the park. cal fire announced heavy fire equipment operator braden varney was tragically killed, leaving behind a wife and two small children. according to officials a blaze broke out friday night and is only 2% contained. >> of course, the heat is not helping with that. here with us to talk about that is michellegrossman, good morning. >> good morning. we have the heat and humidity and that's going to continue for

days. we have excessive heat warnings in much of the west and also heat advisories where you see the orange. so chico, reno, places like that will see temperatures very high today with heat indexes up to 110 degrees. certainly, not helping to fuel those fires today. so as we go throughout the day, we're also talking about some wet weather and that's in arizona, the places that doesn't need it. so flagstaff got up to two inches of rain in just an hour yesterday. it's monsoon season, just a wind shift where it brings the moisture on land and we could see that again today. if you're in the areas, get the flooding rains, pull over, turn around if you can and be careful of the roadways. the next couple days through tuesday, anywhere from a quarter to half inch generally, but again up to an inch or inch is

the state of arizona with the threat of the monsoonal flooding and pleasant along the coast in california. yeah, that wet season in arizona where they get the flooding rain out of nowhere and that's what we need to watch through wednesday. >> thank you so much, michelle. the fairfax county police department sending a strong message how speeding can cost you, literally. the department shared this photo on facebook of a mclaren 720-s wrapped around a tree one day after it was purchased. get this, that car had a price tag over $300,000. they say the driver was going way too fast down a two-lane road in virginia. thankfully, nontroversy and rec. the recast in hollywood as scarlet johansson drops out of a transgender role. you got it from your parents. and they got it from theirs. it's your skin, and it can protect you from millions of things. so we're here to help you protect your skin.

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intelligent. >> sony's "hotel transylvania 3" took the number one spot with a monstrous $44 million, squashing marvel's "ant-man and the wasp," earning $142 million through the second week, after bringing in $29 million over the weekend. that was enough to topple dwayn over $25 million. leading the news out of hollywood, scarlet johansson is making headlines for a role she stepped away from. the backlash comes after a lack of representation for transgender actors. nbc's steve paterson has the story. >> it's a hollywood casting coup. this week scarlet johansson stepping out of her role as a transgender man after a broad backlash of industry activists, initially fighting critics, then releasing a statement saying in

part, i have decided to respectfully withdraw my participation in the project. >> i think it's one of those moments where audiences just are no longer allowing things like this to happen anywhere. >> the film "rub and tug," which hadn't even started production, is the take on pittsburgh pimp donte text gil, who was born a woman. the controversy in response to a trend. >> do you like this dress? >> award winning roles played by sis genderesentation is microscopic. >> broadly speaking, we feel as if transgender people are real, as if transgender men aren't real men. i think we are beginning to see a change in thetr >> myles says earning roles as a transgender actor is an uphill battle. >> it's extremely frustrating, i won't lie. auditions are few and far between for trans actors. >> he hopes this moment is a turning point. >> i think it changed a couple

people's minds, got the conversation going. it's about not letting that die. >> a setback for scarlet johansson may be a step forward for larger representation. out of the cave and nearly in the clear. the 12 boys and their soccer coach rescued from a flooded cave in thailand are expected to leave the hospital thursday. on saturday the team paid tribute to the former navy s.e.a.l. who sacrificed his life during the rescue. meanwhile, elon musk, who offered assistance, is under fire this morning after lashing out against one of the rescuers. in a now deleetted tweet he mada claim about a, qu it a p.r. stunt. overnight he responded to musk's comments,ed out legal action. a traffic stop gone wrong. the suspect sped off when police tried to pull him over for driving without headlights. that's when the car dragged the

trooper for a mile down the city street. the 22-year-old suspect stopped momentarily to toss a gun out the window. he ended up with minor injuries to his back and shoulder. later the driver turned himself in. >> just terrifying. all right, i know you enjoy a good burger. here and there. here and there. how about these masterpieces here. would you eat these? best burger joints in america. does that lookempting at this hour? not this hour? >> too much, i think, for me. i don't care for a sunny-side egg. >> this is from al's burger shack in chapel hill, north carolina. here's the rest of the list, brooks gourmet burgers and dogs, honest abe's burgers and freedom. and grumps burgers. a quick look at the rest of the best that made the cut, trip adviser came up with this list based on millions of recues, so not just one person.

>> i like a basic lettuce, tomatoes, onions, mayo, though, mayo and ketchup. >> mayo, mustard, jalapenos, i'm in for that. still ahead, trump's baby balloon prepares to float across the pond. plus, click until you drop as amazon prime day kicks off. yeah... but popping these things really helps me...relax. please don't, i'm saving those for later. at least you don't have to worry about renters insurance. just go to geico.com. geico helps with renters insurance? good to know. get to know geico. and see how easy homeowners and renters insurance can be. well, here's to first dates! you look amazing. and you look amazingly comfortable. when your v-neck looks more like a u-neck... that's when you know, it's half-washed. add downy to keep your collars from stretching.

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in today's quick hits, kate upton is expecting her first child with her husband justin verlander. the supermodel made the surprise

announcement on instagram. the trump baby balloon, which debuted in london during the president's uk visit, could be coming to the u.s. activists in new jersey have raised $6,000 on go fund me for their own blimp so they can fly it outside of trump's national golf club in bedminster. a bakery at a baltimore market reopened after a rat was caught on cell phone video roaming a cookie display stand. they shut down friday to get cleaned up, inspected, and make sure all those rats are out of there. >> hard to watch that. all right, well, p markets? that story as well as a preview for amazon's prime day. good morning. >> good morning to you. wall street is set to open modestly higher aspr invident t russian president vladimir putin in finland. oil traders are watching the summit in case they discuss oil prices and global production. also in today's watch list a report on retail sales and

earnings just out from bank of america, beating the street's expectations. meanwhile, amazon's prime day event starts at 3:00 p.m. today and runs for 36 hours, but the online retailer will not be the only place to find good bargains. a few major chains, including bed bath and beyond, jcpenney and lowes plan to match prices. they say their policies apply to items in stock, identical, and are sold directly from amazon and not by one of its third party sellers. and prices at the pump holding steady this summer. the average price of regular slipping a penny to $2.94 a gallon nationwide. that is 63 cents higher last ye. analysts say prices may continue to tick lower, partly due to weaker demand for fuel. frances and phillip, time to take the summer road trip with the kids. >> now is a good time. thank you. still ahead, how the san diego zoo is working to end extinction. plus, still a splash brother

in the off-season. why steph curry took a dive into lake tahoe. ahoy! gotcha! nooooo... noooooo...k, the quicke! bounty picks up messes quicker and is 2x more absorbent. bounty, the quicker picker upper.

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whatever you have out there, because we are looking at temperatures across the country pretty much in the 90s for most of us, especially in the southwest, 104 in phoenix, even the pacific northwest, usually on the cooler side, looking at 90 degrees in seattle. yeah, if you can get to a pool today, i would do it. >> nice idea. thank you so much, michelle. when we come back, coming back from the edge of extinction. the groundbreaking new the groundbreaking new technology being used from the first moment you met, it was love at first touch. and all you wanted to do was surround them in comfort and protection. that's why only pampers swaddlers is the number one choice of hospitals to wrap your baby in blanket-like softness and premium protection. so that all they feel is love. pampers the number one choice of hospitals, nurses and parents

and they got it from theirs. it's your skin, and it can protect you from millions of things. so we're here to help you protect your skin. walgreens pharmacists and beauty consultants are specially trained to know what works for the health of your unique skin. now all walgreens brand sun care products are buy one get one half off. for thousands of years, humans have been changing the earth's ecosystem and some would say we mostly had a negative impact on the world's animal population. >> but now as matt bradley reports, scientists at the san

diego zoo are hoping to reverse the alarming declines using new high-tech tools. >> at the san diego zoo, it's not just about protecting endangered animals. rying to giv i time. >> and how long can that last? >> indefinitely. >> really? >> think of the frozen zoo a>>e game to prevent extinction. >> dr. oliver ryder stores dna from over 10,000 different animals. this small room, one of the most biodiverse places on earth. >> we may be able to genetically rescue some species that had their gene pools shrink to gene puddles. >> the mission is crucial. decline of about 60% since 1970. scientists say poaching and pollution has driven extinction rates 1,000 times higher than they would be without human intervention. the urgency to perfect the

technology came in march when a northern white rhino named sudan, the last male of his sub species, died. is this one of the last specimens of him? >> it is. he team hopes fertilization men after the skin capab of fertilizing a northern white rhino egg. >> this is also the first time 'v alied this broad range of advanced technology to saving a species. >> the embryo would be implanted in a host rhino capable of giving birth. >> that's our ultimate goal, to have a self-sustaining herd of northern white rhinos back in the wild. >> conservationists here are trying to correct for the human impact on the environment, but also grapple with an ethical question. can more human intervention correct for past human mistakes? >> i think the mass intervention is the destruction of habitat, the poaching to extinction of species. this is a well thought out, reasoned, scientific

intervention to reverse the damage that we have done. >> a hope that with new technology, extinction may become extinct. matt bradley, nbc news, san diego. >> i like the intention there, but 99% of all species that have ever existed on earth are extinct now. >> we have ourselves to blame, but we can also maybe do phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. we leave you with the incredible fireworks display in paris celebrate

breaking news, one-on-one win helsinki. president trump and vladimir putin preparing to meet face-to-face amid escalating tension between the u.s. and russia. we're live with what to expect from this morning's summit. the light at the end of the tunnel. when will the boys rescued from the flooded thai cave last week finally leave the hospital? king of the grill.

where you can find the best burger in america according to the experts at trip advisor. and the best deals of amazon good morning. i'm philip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. we beg