president biden heads to saudi arabia for a high-stakes controversial meeting. the goal to convince the kingdom to ramp up oil production and bring down gas prices but at what cost? remembering eviivana trump. the tributes from her three kids with the former president. the scandal rocking a south carolina town. the attorney, murdaugh now indicted for the murders of his

wife and son the fallout from the crypto crash. and a hump in the road that unbelievable sight in a texas highway. it's almost the weekend. "early today" starts right now i'm frances rivera >> i'm phillip mena. all eyes are on president biden on the last leg of his trip to the middle east. he had meet with nine heads of state including the saudi crown prince there's no other way to put it this is g, given everything that'sin going on >> reporter: while president biden is facing political land mines on the human rights front as he gets ready to meet with mohammad bined bin salman or mbs

khashoggi fiance called the trip a betrayal, asking why are they given a pass, is that the price of oil president biden doubled down defending his human rights record >> i always bring up human rights but my position on khashoggi has been so clear. if anybody doesn't understand it, they haven't been around for a while. >> reporter: he insist his purpose is to promote u.s. interests, including getting the kingdom to ramp up oil production, hoping to bring down vl gas prices here at home. now to former president trump who as announced the passing of his first wife ivana. the former president called her a wonderful, beautiful and amazing woman who led a great and inspirational life he said her pride and joy were her three children

donald jr., ivanka and eric. she fled communist czechoslovakia to canada and then new york. she worked on projects like trump tower. they divorced in 1992 but recently said they were on fgood terms and spoke once a week. she was 73 years old tarehere are new developmen in the january 6 investigation the secret service ereased messages from january 6, 2021 and the previous day the secret service says the insinuation that the messages were deleted maliciously is

false. before any inspection was opened they had bee gun to reset their mobile phones to factory settings alex murdaugh has been indicted in the murders of his wife and son according to the indictment, murtau murdaugh used a rifle to shoot his wife we have more on the bizarre case >> reporter: family made 54-year-old alex murdaugh prominent in south carolina. he's indicted for murdering his wife and their son at the family estate near charleston in june 2021 he called 911 saying he came home to find them dead outside >> my wife and my son. >> are they in a vehicle >> no, ma'am, they're on the

ground out at my kennels >> reporter: one of a series of bizarre events that have the center of the prominent family behind bars. within months of the killing, the family law firm accused murdaugh of stealing millions of dollars. they say he asked a former client to kill him but murdaugh was only wounded. murdaugh is accused of financial crimes, including keeping millions mil millions of dollars that were supposed to go to the family of the housekeeper. now they are re-examining her 2018 death >> he's an extremely dark individual, evil >> reporter: murdaugh denies all the accusations, saying he did not have anything to do with the murders of maggie and paul, that he loved them more than anything in the world

a family's reputation in the courtroom now sees one of its own on trial one week after pleading guilty to drug charges, wnba supers superstar brittney griner is back in a russian court with russian witnesses testifying on her behalf >> reporter: brittney griner joined by russian character witnesses pleading for leniency now that she's pleaded guilty to drug charges a russian teammate for the past seven years was among those who testified telling the court she's a true role model and leader for many in russia saying we miss her very much. we miss her energy i was very happy to see her. and i hope this trial will be over soon and with a positive outcome. the team's director told the court she was an outstanding player and played a big role in the club and russian basketball.

to spraexplain the vape cartrid, the russian team doctor telling the judge she suffers from adhd and scoliosis and had never failed a drug test gr griner's lawyers are not predicting an early outcome. >> my experience is that it doesn't effecin fact make it wo. it keeps the people in front of the authorities. >> reporter: a big celebrity supporter, labrownebron james ia trailer for his show >> i would be feeling like do i even want to go back to america. >> lebron later said i wasn't knocking our beautiful country but saying how she was probably

feeling. a devastating fire is out if northern california after destroying a dozen buildings and scorching over 300 acres firefighters were able to contain the peter fire, thanks to a drop in wind and temperatures crews have restored most of the power and hikelectricity arounde power. >> are we in for another weekend of sweltering heat >> the answer is yes we are going to see these temperatures continuing for quite a while. an area of high pressure stuck if in place for the next week and a half we're going to see temperatures pack i back into the upper 90s. when you factor in the humidity, it feels warmer than it actually is 111 in phoenix same story tomorrow. we kick off the weekend with scorching summer temperatures. 101 in tulsa will feel like 105.

memphis 100. near 100 in st. louis. now we're looking at the chance for storms as well we've seen this at least the past few days. it's been scattered showers here the past week, really going on to two weeks we're going to see more scatters storms with a slow-moving front. th hot one mt. soin the south central states, air conditioners going full force. it's almost the weekend. we'll talk about the full forecast in a little bit tiktok is trying to get out information queen bea has

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the question now is where. >> it is over. >> you have not seen what i have seen >> i have seen pmy share >> youe not seen what i have seen >> now we've seen it

getting ready to head back to middle earth at that was the first look at amazon's new "lord of the rings" show it is set thousands of years before the events of the classic book crypto currency is to the just at the center of a debate, it's at the center of a racial debate >> we gave them all our cash, and they gave us back this and this is nothing. >> reporter: this is sampson williams, talking about crypto currency crypto is not new. >> you see the whole thing was a scam >> reporter: but williams, who invested in crypto fivs says the emphasis on brlack

investment is dangerous. according to a recent study, 25% of black americans own crypto currency, compared to 15% of white americans. and in june, crypto hit new lows crypto dropping below $23,000 for the first time since december 2020. williams says this crypto crash disproportionately affected br black americans, 19.5% who already live below the poverty line >> what that means suis you area prime target for being exploited. without the foundation you can't get financial inclusion. >> reporter: others like jefferson noel are less

skeptical. he runs barbershop speaks. they discuss crypto. in miami, philly, new york, and orlando. >> we bring in people who have lot of experience in crypto who come to the shop >> reporter: their audience, mo mostly black and brown men in their 20s and 40s. one says his portfolio is not doing well, but. >> markets always go up and down that's why it's important never to invest more than you're willing to lose. >> reporter: and the conversations expand beyond barbershops, even reaching to local governments. elijah is part of the crypto task force working to make miami-dade florida the first to accept crypto as payment in fall 2022

>> employees' salaries and retirement accounts can be converted into crypto. >> reporter: he has a warning. what do you say to people, specifically black people holding on and say in 2022, i can still make a lot of money off of crypto. >> before you give up your hard-earned cash for this, do your homework. to your research >> our thanks for that report. coming up, michelle grossman is back with a look at our weekend weather. and the animal kgdinom takes over a north texas highway drivers couldn't brief what they saw. all...the...symptoms. need to deal with this. so your doctor tells you about trintellix, a prescription medicine for adults with depression. okay, feeling relief from overall symptoms. hmm. and trintellix had no significant impact on weight in clinical trials. so there's that. trintellix may increase suicidal thoughts

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100 homes were damaged cleanup and damage assessments have begun now that the floodwaters have bee gun to recede >> it is great news, and we are going to start out with good news here, too we're looking at conditions in the upper 70s and low 80s in new england. parts of the northeast not looking bad either but we tracking more heat and downpours in the southeast at that will continue to kick off our weekend here hot and humid conditions if the central and southern plains, the r rocky kos break more records by sunday we're looking at very hot conditions continue. we're stuck in this pattern and going to see it continuing throughout the foreseeable future and we are looking at showers from the ohio valley into the northeast. back to you guys >> michelle, thank you coming up, livestock on the loose.

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for long-lasting freshness... grab febreze touch. a simple drive home suddenly turned into a safari for a couple in texas. a vehicle carrying livestock crashed on the highway and several animals escaped, among them a camel and zonkey. >> reporter: chisholm trai parkway is 27. asphalt. it can put lane >> somebody's horses, camels and

other animals got out this evening. >> reporter: but it made some drivers come to a stop >> saw camels running down the road >> i think this might be the first time i've ever seen a camel walking down the toll way. i've work add ed a lot of hoursd i was like, am i seeing what i think i'm seeing here? >> reporter: his 6'4" frame and her camera frame came in handy >> this camel was walking around we are in texas. i don't know i mean, but a camel is just weird. if it was a cow i would have never taken a picture of it. but a camel is a little bit different. he was just walking right in front of my car. didn't have a care in the world. >> yeah. >> the donkey was in the fast lane >> reporter: actually, a zonkey, a cross of a donkey and zebra. >> i call might mom after we

passed through and i'm like, you're not going to brief what we just saw. a camerl, a donkey and a steer. >> he was like, i got their one, another one down the road. we're like, we know. >> reporter: with a picture to prove it >> none of the animals pay their tolls, so they're all in the pen right now. >> thanks to noel for that report i'm phillip mena >> i'm frances rivera and this very important team member here. the reason why we're dressed in hawaiian theme, avenue friday she wears this, but it's her last show. she's retiring after 26 year >> she's been with msnbc for 26 years. talking olympics, elections. her favorite show was always

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it was our only transportation and there goes our dog and i'm thinking come i'm 13 hours from home. i live in indiana and there goes everything. >> just a heart wrenching plea for help. a visit to the bay area takes a terrible turn. one family's beloved dog stolen at gunpoint and what that woman is willing to do to bring the pup home. a huge retail theft bust. a stock pile of stolen goods