mix up at a california birth to someone elsetwins,ot related to them, not even related to each other, raising new questions about the industry. a tric puerto rico, a death from a window ther held her. new about cruise ship safety. the new warning about a phone scam hitting record levels, criminals claiming to be from the government going after your money, what to do if you get calls. and the triumph and return of america's super star. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt. >> good evening everyone. former high flying fancier jeffrey epstein was indicted today on charges of sex trafficking involving underaged girls. epstein remains behind bars tonight after prosecutors reveal thef young looking women in his new york

townhouse. xual exploiting nsthat critics say was far too generous to epstein. our stephanie gosk reports. >> reporter: billionaire, hedge fund manager, socialite, accused sex trafficker. >> the alleged behavior shocks the conscience. >> reporter: federal prosecutors say jeffrey epstein created a network of dozens of victims, some as young as 14 who he sexually abused from 2002 to 2005 at his estate in palm beach, florida, and mansion in new york city. according to documents, the fbi seized a vast trove of lewd photographs of young looking women or girls during a search epstein was arrested aris he was charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy to traffic minors for the purpose ex victimweco increasingly sexual in nature. victims, all

underaged girls at the time of the alleged conduct, were given hundreds of dollars in cash after each encounter either by epstein or by one of epstein's employees. >> reporter: the 66-year-old has palled around with some of the most powerful in politics and business including bill clinton and president trump. today he pleaded not guilty to the charges which many including some officials and alleged victims say should have come more than a decade ago after a similar investigation by law enforcement in florida. but in 2008, florida u.s. attorney alex taor, brokered a secret last-minute deal. epstein avoided serious charges by s leading guilty to including soliciting prostitution from a minor. he had to spend 13 months in jail and register as a sex offender. >> it's such a shocking disparity between what hul evidence and show, and what he was allowed to get away with. allegations seemed to >> reporter: during a

confirmation hearing, he said it was the best deal given the evidence. >> it was a broadly held decision. >> reporter: the deal became the focus of an explosive report last year. several of epstein's alleged victims speaking out for the first time. >> i was 16. >> i was 16. >> i started going to him when i was like 14, 15. 14 turns 15. >> reporter: today the u.s. attorney said investigative journalism y hped in court. nie,rosecutors are arguing that epstein be held without bail. why? >> reporter: two asons, lester. he owns two private planes. also they say he's a risk to the community, citing the photos they seized at his apartment over the weekend. according to prosecutors, he is not reformed, he is not repentant. lester. >> thanks. another breaking

story, we're following the first flas flood emergency ever issued for washington, d.c. earlier today. torrential rain hit with force rarely seen in the nation's capital overwhelming roads and forcing rescues. >> reporter: during d.c.'s morning rush hour, commuters competing with rushing d became a river. >> reporter: torrential rain bringing flash floods, washing out roads and stranding cars, kids carried to safety by adults.gtoneceiving a month's worth of rain in a single morning, 3.3 inches in one houran , more inch of rain in the previous daily record set in 1958. a stream in virg houin backyards looking like lakes. and pools morphing into muddy ponds. and in the metro system, a water fall cascading from the ceiling while the elevators at the pentagon stop looked like shower plus. some took risky chances requiring

dozens of rescues. >> people made the mistake of trying to drive through high water. >> reporter: no deaths were reported and residents keeping a sense of humor. >> you trying to go fishing? hans nichols, nbc news washington. and tonight also developing in washington has president trump firing bafttish ambassador to the the united states. in a brutal critique of president trump going back two years, telling downing street the president radiates insecurity, calling his administration inept and uniquely dysfunctional. the president tweeting today i do not know the ambassador, but he is not liked or well thought of within the u.s. we will no longer deal with him. the good news for the wonderful united kingdom is that they will soon have a new prime minister. the front runner to become prime minister, the president's favorite, boris johnson. contrary to the president's tweet, the

ambassador's highly thought of british officials. >> i dt thoughtsing .se leak atck either from and looking inside to russia or iran. this as the u.s. and britain face a new threat from iran set by the iran nuclear deal moving a step closer to possibly a n nuclear weapon. president trump abandoned the deal last year and is threatening more sanctions. here in southern california the after shocks in the two major earthquakes are still being felt tonight both on the ground and in peoples' minds. miguel almaguer reports from the epicenter. >> let's go, let's go, let's go! >> reporter: triggering shockwaves of panic and fear. >> oh, my god. oh, my god. >> reporter: the two massive back to back tremors rattled ridgecrest and were felt across southern california. a 7.1 magnitude earthquake friday after a 6.4 the day before.

but even after buckling homes, and crumbling roads, no fatalities. >> it was a really bad one. >> reporter: tonight despite the size of the quake, damage is not catastrophic but families are on edge. >> my kids are really scared. every truck that drives by, they think it's another after shock, another big one. >> reporter: with building inspectors overwhelmed as they check on homes and businesses, families are picking up the pieces of their lives. >> very heartbreaking. >> reporter: april rodriguez's house is in shambles. >> this is our childhood home. any time in our whole lives that we didn't feel safe, this is where we came. >> reporter: with new tremors every day, a seismic shift is under way. >> the fault lines and fractures especially here in the desert are growing. geologists say they may be up to 30 miles long. in the coming months and even years we may

still be feeling earthquakes here. tonight with more than 5,000 quakes reported, many rattled, living on shaky groun all of the avenue afshksere aren't helping with the damage. the good news at this home and so many others, what you see here can be repaired. the bad news, the tremors are sending shockwaves of fear as they rattle roofs and foundations. many people have decided to sleep outside. >> thanks. and in a region where the occasional small tremor is quickly shrugged off, the intensity and length of a holiday weekend quake hasbb attention of a lot folks in the los angeles area. i can tell you firsthand they grabbed mine. years of pleas for earthquake preparedness are resonating loudly. >> reporter: the two major earthquakes uncomfortably close to los angeles surfacing anxiety tonight that many californians haven't felt for more than 20 years about

the many fault lines that straddle below this region of some 18 million people. >> what are we looking at? >> we are going to be looking at almost certainly fatalities because we have a lot of people and bad buildings, electricity, water are likely to be gone for quite a while. >> dr. lucy jones is a seismologist who worked for the usgs for three decades. >> we know 7.1, very strong earthquake at the epicenter. here in 100 miles away, what was it? >> there's no way there was damage in los angeles at least physically. psychologically, coming out of the blue going on for so long, that scared people. >> you liked the fact that some people are scared. >> it doesn't hurt. this is the quietest 20 years in southern california history and it can lead to some complacency or at least individuals not knowing what they should be doing. this has gotten peoples' attention at least and they're thinking about the problem again. >> that psychological damage from last week's quakes that dr. jones speaks of is having at least a temporary effect.

more people seem to be talk about getting these emergency go bags with critical tipg hads likeandther importan suppliesnd athis l.a. area home depot. has it got you to thinking about your own earthquake safety >> yes, definitely. in my trunk,e water. >> the quakes also orcu jolt. kenneth o'dell is a structural engineer. this has been retrofitted. what's been changed? >> here you can see these two columns towards the middle are larger than the column at the end. those columns have been strengthened. >> as images from a california quake disaster zone reveal the risks are not theoretical. >> i think when people look at earthquake, we tend to overestimate the risk to our lives, and we underestimate the risk to our pocketbooks. uld economically i think is underappreciated.

>> i learned a lot talking to experts like dr. jones today and they remind that clean water is one of the first casualties of a major earthquake and they stress the need to ke h more ahead tont including the heartbreaking tragedy during a family vacation, a toddler slipped out of her grandfather's arms at a cruise ship, falling more than 100 feet to her death. gabe gutierrez reports. >> tonight in puerto rico an investigation is under way how a apparently slipped from her grandfather's hand. police say she fell to her death sunday from the 11 story window of a cruise ship in san juan landing on the dock. it was a very tragic scene adding the toddler was traveling with her family from indiana aboard royal caribbean's freedom of the seas. the police chief of south bend says the girl's dad is officer allen weegann and is asking the mmunitto pray for the entire family.

over the last ten years, about 240 le he fallen from cruise ships and ferries. fewer than 1 in 5 have >> what's alagboar and the abs of systems for identifying that in fa over board. >> but the cruise line says ships have gotten safer pointing out while capacity has grown 55% over the past decade, over board incidents have dropped by 35%. royal caribbean says it's deeply saddened by the tragic accident. another story a lot of us are watching today, late today the u.s. women's soccer team got a hero's welcome as they brought the world cup championship home. but they still have battle off the field for equal pay. >> reporter: tonight arousing welcome home for the women's soccer world champions. back in the usa after their incredible win against the netherlands, a victory they celebrated all night. >> just cloud nine. i woke up just like --

just crazy. >> reporter: in new stage is almost set for wednesday's ticker tape parade. at this soccer summer camp kids taking no >> she works hard and she's a off the field. >> reporter: learning how to play while watching their heroes. >> i feel like they were really good and they're brave. >> a lesson in a level playing field too. >> it keeps showing that girls and boys are the same and they can play just the same way. >> reporter: but the fight to pay the same way is now the womens' next challenge as they confront u.s. soccer for the same money the men get. >> with back to back world cups and the world's attention, the a little more leverage in that fight. both sides have now agreed to mediation. lester. >> kelly, thank you. just ahead tonight the shocking mistake. a woman says she gave

birth to other peoples' babies after a fertility clinic mix up. and a new warning about a phone scam hitting record levels. toothbru. but my hygienist said going electric could lead to way cleaner teeth. she said, get the one inspired by dentists, with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's gentle rounded bruea m line. for cleaner teeth and healthier gums. and unlike sonicare, oral-b is the first electric toothbrush brand accepted by the ada for its effectiveness and safety. what an amazing clean! i'll only use an oral-b! oral-b. brush like a pro. but dad, you've got allstate. with accident forgiveness they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident. smart kid. indeed. are you in good hands? (roosevelt)smoking just messed thaup your lungs. i never thought that at only 45 it would give me a heart attack. my tip is; do your heart a favor, and quit now.

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next tonight a prominent fertility clinic accused of anstake. one woman says an ivf mix up next tonight a prominent fertility clinic accused of an outrages you mistake. one woman says an ivf mix up led to her giving birth to other peoples' babies. >> reporter: on its website, the clinic calls itself "world renowned" with facilities in seoul, south korea, and los angeles posting happy testimonials. but a federal lawsuit filed by an unnamed couple alleges the cha clinic mixed up their embryos showing reckless disregard, causing severe emotional distress. according to the learn that after years of

trying to conceive they had success. but in march the couple was shocked when she gave birth to escent using embryos belonging to two other couples. they had to turn over the custody of the babies according to the lawsuit and they don't know what happened to their embryos. the cha clinic has not responded to the lawsuit or nbc request for comment. >> i'm not all that surprised that these mistakes are reported. no state or federal or professional association monitors or regulates closely. just ahead how to protect yourself from a growing phone scam. t this is hal. this is hal's heart. it's been broken. and put back together. this is al and this is hal's relief, knowing he's covered. are from blue cross blue shield does for hal.

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we're back now with a new warning for consumers. scammers claiming to al irs or social security demanding money, and it's happening at s.>> reporter: the scam robo call. >> we have received trails often starts with a of information in your name. he> reporter:

googled the number, it came back at social security, so she called. the person on the other end already knew her social security number and address, then said fraudulent bank accounts had been opened in her name. >> you're so scared in that moment that they're saying you're going to go to federal prison. you're like oh, my god, no, how do i stop this from happening? i will tell you everything. >> reporter: the scammer said she should act quickly to safeguard her money, transfer into a digital wallet using google play gift cards and he stayed on the phone as she drove to a nearby store where thankfully an alert manager recognized she was in trouble. >> she said you are being scammed, i cannot sell this to you in good >>eporter: the federal trade commissions says the scams are exploding. 200,000 comptsmosteople hang u and never report the scam, but those who are scammed lose nearly a thousand dollars on average. the scammers are very convincing scaring everyday americans into thinking they'll be arrested if they don't pay up immediately. >> if you get one of he

number one advice is hang up. the government does not call you to threaten you. the government does not demand payment from you by gift cards or anything like that. >> i was going to lose the contents of my bank account if it weren't for that manager. >> reporter: now julianne is paying it forward warning others to be aware and report it if you get a call. tom costello nbc news, washington. up next for us tonight the american stars who have taken europe by storm at wimbledon. with all day comfort for all day fun...

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shocked the world's number one player. here is blaine alexander. >> reporter: it was the wimbledon run that kept the world watching. coco gauff, a 15-year-old rookie toppling tennis giants. >> i'm a fighter. anything is possible if you work hard. >> reporter: but even after her fourth round loss here at wimbledon for so many people cheering her on, coco is still a winner. on social media a celebrity cheering section. >> joe ellen posted me, beyonce posted me! >> reporter: enough to send this teen into a fit of giggles. while coco's run is over, another american, alison riske, upset the number one seed today claiming her place in the quarterfinals taking on serena williams tomorrow. and for the teenage phenom who's been at it since age six, back in florida she's a

homewno show the world she's just getting started. blaine alexander, nbc news, london. >> and congratulations to both on "steve" -- they want answers. >> we've been together for years. >> what do you do to keep your sex lives exciting? the truth? handle >> location, location! >> don't try everything at once. 50 --ore you hit >> not necessarily. [laughter] steve: this is marriage real talk. a world class wheelchair athlete. steve: you're in great shape, man! all right! >> ladies, i'm single! ♪[music] hands together for your host, steve harvey! [cheers and applause] ♪ every day is a good day ♪ ♪