do you want some more? wait till you see me on the downhill. see you at home. enjoy advanced safety at the lexus golden opportunity sales event. this morning at a russian courtroom, closing arguments in the brittney griner case where she'll face ten years in prison or will a diplomatic deal bring her back to america. alex jones admits under oath that the sandy hook massacre was quote, 100% real, plus a bombshell from the opposing attorney as the jury gets the case show of military might china using live ammunition begins unprecedented military

drills around taiwan mayors around the nation including new york city and washington, d.c. are sounding the alarm over migrants being bussed to their cities bit federal government with no discernible assistance and say it ain't so. a beer shortage could be on the way because of new supply chain issues it's thursday, august 4th. "early today" starts right now i'm phillip mena >> i'm francis rivera. wnba star brittney griner could soon learn her fate. today she'll be back in court. she face ten years in prison over less than a one gram of cannabis vape cartridges her ordeal has become an international diplomatic incident with the u.s. offering a prisoner swap that russia has not officially commented on. for more on this, we go to nbc's jay gray good morning what can we expect in cordurt today? >> reporter: we expect closing

arguments, though a member of griner's legal team says there could be more hearings in this case we'll have to find out if this is actually the close when this takes place a little later in the morning. the wnba star's russian lawyers have spent a ton of time in the courtroom talking about the medical qualities of cannabis, specifically, to treat pain. and stressing that she packed in a hurry when she was leaving the country and really never intended to break russian law. there does continue to be speculation about some type of prisoner exchange that could bring griner, along with american paul whelan home. the u.s. has reportedly offered russians, russian arms dealer that is right now being held in the u.s. victor bout

>> we're watching and waiting. in a display of overwhelming bipartisanship, the senate as voted in favor of nato membership for sweden and finland. with josh hawley casting the only no vote both nations are geographically lowe close to russia. today house speaker nancy pelosi is meeting with south korean leaders, on the heels of her controversial trip to taiwan which led to a show of military force by china >> reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi turned and gave a final wave before leaving taiwan after a brief but controversial trip

>> our delegation came here to send an unequivocal message, america stands with taiwan >> reporter: china's response, a show of force, sending fighter jets through the strait where they are conducting live fire exercises. china stay will brlock some imports from taiwan. >> we knew this was going to happen again, it doesn't change our policy we are going to monitor. and we will manage what beijing chooses to do. >> reporter: the tensions have the world watching closely taiwan produces half the globe's p processor chips, a component in smartphones and cars the ou.s. has long supported

democracy in taiwan, but china claims taiwan as its own territory and promises to bring the matter to a heel >> we salute the successes of taiwan >> reporter: members of both parties are expressing support for the trip >> i don't think the chinese get to tell members of congress where they can go. >> reporter: after initially showing concern about pelosi's trip, the white house is making a point to say that the u.s. policy toward taiwan is unchanged. in washington, nbc news. the fate of alex jones is in the hands of a texas jury this morning. during closing arguments, the far right conspiracy theorist finally admitted that the sandy hook shooting was real, after calling it a hoax for a decade >> do you understand now that it was absolutely irresponsible of you to do that >> it was, especially since i've met the parents. it's 100% real

>> jones has already been found liable for defaming the parents of a 6-year-old among the 20 students and six educators killed in the 2012 massacre in new town this defamation trial will determine how much he will have to pay to sandy hook parents yesterday he was also accused of perjury by the plaintiff's attorney >> your attorneys messed up and sent an entire digital copy of your entire cell phone with every text message you sent for the past two years and as of two days ago, it fell free and clear into my possession and that is how i know you lied to me. mr. jones, in discovery, you were asked, do you have sandy hook text messages on your phone, and you said no, correct? h you said that under oath >> i was mistaken, but you've got the messages right there >>parents are seeking $150 million in damages from jones.

flags at the capitol are at half-staff this morning for congresswoman jackie walorski. the indiana republican was killed in a car crash north of indianapolis yesterday police say another vehicle crossed the center line and hit her car head on. two members of her staff were also killed. she had served in congress since 2013 the cause of the crash is still under investigation this morning. turning now to eastern kentucky where the desperate search tfor survivors continues after catastrophic flooding killed at least 37 people. many homes and businesses in that area destroyed by those storms nbc spoke to residents still reeling from the disaster. >> reporter: in isom, kentucky, this grocery store has nothing to sell. >> it's just devastation total devastation. >> reporter: deadly floods gutted the supermarket >> we can tell about where the water came up because look at this shelf looks like nothing ever

happened and everything else, mud >> what you have to understand is our customers were our family the people who work in these stores are family. we know each other we know each other's pain. >> reporter: neighbor natasha york lost everything >> i have no belongings. i have no home i have nothing >> reporter: one week after this horrific natural disaster began, residents still lining up for basic supplies neighbors haeping each other pick up the mud edy shattered pieces >> all we can do now is rebuild. >> reporter: but many lost something you can't replace. among the 37 killed, gabriel hensley. the 30-year-old was heading home from the overnight shift when the floods swept away the father of five. other families are still looking foreclosure. >> he's my everything. >> reporter: tracy richey hasn't

heard from her dad since the flood reduced his house to concrete blocks. now she's waiting to see if her dna matches a victim >> i'd give anything to give my dad a hug and say good-bye that would be wonderful. i don't think that's going to happen >> reporter: grief, compassion and perseverance rising from the brutal force of nature oand now to the weather and the heat alert stretching from texas to maine michelle grossmann is tracking it all >> that includes parts of kentucky we're going to see heat advisories there with temperatures into the 90s feeling like 100 in some spots we're looking at dangerous heat from texas to new england. 66 million americans under heat advisories that's because we're ogoing to see temperatures soaring again 96 in baltimore.

you factor in the high humidity, it had feel like 103 it will feel like 100 in new york city. by tomorrow, still warm, 92 in new york city, feeling like 99 and we're feeling like 99 by tomorrow afternoon in d.c. the heat goes on we're staying toasty in the central mains, southern plains, into the ohio valley 90s in st. louis, same thing in memphis. dallas, 38 triple digi well. you factor in the humidity, it's going to feel pretty terrible. 96 in scranton

still steamy for many of us today. we're also tracking storms we'll do that in just a few minutes. here's another reason that our planet may be warmer you might remember when the island of tonga was devastated this past january by a volcanic eruption, right? nasa scientists say a massive amount of water vapor was blasted into the stratosphere, equal to more than 58,000 olympic-sized swimming pools that could raise temperatures by trapping heat and it may be five to ten years of about that vapor fully dissipates "early today" is back in a minute with why cities far from the southern border are seeking help with a migrant surge. and why the nfl is fighting the suenonspsi ruling for quarterback desean watson. no, he's switching his choice cash back category to home improvement, so he earns more on a new doggy door. extra large. with the bank of america customized cash rewards card, you just can't stop getting rewarded. welcome to my digestive system. it's pretty calm in here with align probiotic.

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by a disciplinary officer. commissioner goodell will decide who hearse the appeal, whether it's himself or someone else the players union urged the league to accept the decision. a man sentenced to 30 months in prison. retired schoolteacher robert fairing threatened to blow up new york's historic bar, stone wall inn and threatened to place explosives at new york's pride march in 2021 knamong other incidents. cities farther from the border are feeling the effect of migrants they're pleading for help as resources are being stretched. gabe gutierrez has more.

>> reporter: far from the u.s. southern border, the mayor of washington, d.c., a democrat, has asked the national guard to help handle more than 4,000 migrants recently bussed to the nation's capitol >> i've asked for the deployment of the guard as long as we need the guard to deal with the humanitarian crisis. >> reporter: the request comes after texas' republican governor in what democrats call a political stunt started sending migrants to d.c., but republicans blame the biden administration after a record number of illegal border crossings in may also, according to internal documents reviewed by nbc news, 73 migrants, including 13 children, were found living in stash houses operated by human smugglers in northwest d.c >> every single community in america is now a border city this is a national crisis. >> reporter: new york's mayor is also asking the federal government for help. his office says about 4,000 asylum seekers have entered the homeless shelter system since

late may >> if there was ever an all-hands-on-deck moment, this is it. >> reporter: have you ever seen numbers like this? >> no, really. >> reporter: catholic charities in new york city is busier than ever >> right now, this is new. >> reporter: they say they're from venezuela why did you come a better life for my daughter, she says they were among those bussed to the northeast from texas after a grueling journey through central america. my daughter said she trusted us, but it was hard, she said. because at one point we almost ran out of food. now migrants arrested at the border did drop 14% in june after the all-time high in the month of about still to come, opec agrees to pump more oil but will it actually drive down prices at this pump? anthe d nation's largest retailer feels the squeeze from inflation.

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it was green across the board as stocks bounced back from two days straight of losses the dow surged over 400 points while the nasdaq was up more than 2.5%. markets are flat this morning as investors await the critical july jobs report tomorrow. >> but we are seeing signs that consumers may be spending less even as gas prices may be easing a bit. morning, mandy >> good morning, phillip we're watching what's happening with oil prices as you rightly say after opec plus decided to go ahead with a very small increase in output, and i mean really small it's just not going to move the needle at all, and the united states had wanted them to try to supply the market with quite a lot more than they did to try to

bring prices down further. the big news for the american consumer is that prices have been coming off the boil anyway. you mentioned gas prices a moment ago what the average price at the moment for a gallon of gas is $4.16. this is lower than the $4.81 which was the high a month ago and lower than june, which was about $5 for a gallon of gas mind you, it's a lot higher than what we were paying one year ago. there's another concern with regard to u.s. consumers showing sign of pulling back and it's relating to walmart they are laying off employees. a week ago, walmart did slash their profit outlook because they do see signs of, because of the high cost of living, the high inflationary environment, american consumers are starting to pull back on things like discretionary spending

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t that requires 80 pounds of co2. >> we have another day or two. if we don't receive shipment by thursday, we're out of luck. >> reporter: the latest worry, this burn in the supply chain could slow the flow. >> just checking in to see how the supply of co2's looking. >> reporter: it's why they're on the phone here twice a day to check on deliveries. >> yes, we've definitely got you covered for the co2. >> reporter: any concerns? >> i'm worried about what comes out of ukraine >> reporter: carbon dioxide is used in beer and commercial swimming pools, in soda pop, and even by welders. it's mostly a byproduct from the manufacture of ethanol and oil so without co2, what is this >> flat beer, and we do not like that in america. >> reporter: not an american taste.

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right now at 4:30. behind bars. the suspected shooter is now under arrest. new details we are learning about the suspect in three separate shootings he was involved in. a testing stigmata. some communities are being singled out and not getting tested for monkeypox. the changes that have to happen. year-to-year we have zero cases. when you see and increased number of cases then it's important to figure out if