story." more news on the way. re news ony the country grapplinge1 wit the holiday week stained by mass shootings. new developments frome1 louisia

and washington. plus, what we now know about the suspect in a deadly philadelphia rampage. 5a■ rising tensions in the ss above syria. threads. one of tennis' tope1 stars s taken to the limit. and a daring rescue down under. more on the crew thatçó helped free a whale from a shark net. "early today" starts right now. good morning. thanks for being here, i'm steven romo. >> i'm jessica layton. if it seems like this summer has been hotter than ever before, you're really not imagining things. monday andr the hottest days ever recorded

on thee1 planet. emilie ikeda kicks offe1 our 4k. >> reporter: a crippling heat presses on, fueling fires in the western u.s. and baking residents in northern california in triple digit temperatures for an eighth day in a row. >>çó drinking a lot of gatorade water, staying hydrated. >> reporter: tampa, el paso and portland alli] threatening reco highs and aok staggering 109 degrees in tucson. >> we stepped out of the apartment. >> reporter: that sweltering heat isn't unique to the u.s. many new highs set in canada and peru. and beijing charted ninee1 days topping 90q degrees.t( it wast( the highest temperatur since recordkeeping began. scientists blame climate change and el nino, a natural warming of the central pacific ocean typically occurring every twoe1o seven years thatñi u

atmospherexd andd the planet hotter. >>q it's almost certain that net year will be the globallye1e1 warmest year on record. we're pushing our ecosystem into a new level. and that is alarming. >> reporter: and whil-■] 30 million are facing heat alerts, others are cleaning up from a deluge of wind, hail and rain that continues to dampen the holiday week. denver already surpassing its annual rainñr total. and the twin cities getting nature's version after fireworkq display. millions in thet( midwest braci for another boute1q@$f severe e1 weather, continuing an unrelenting start to summer. >> our thanks to emilie for that report. a fourth victim has been found dead after a louisiana mass shooting.

>> police in washington, d.c. are also searching for suspects after nine people were hurt in a drive-by shooting. two of the victims only 9 and 17 years old. they all expected to survive. the group wase1 standing byçóxdd 1:00 a.m. after the fourth of july. police say the shots weree1 fird from a dark-colored suv and they are searching for that vehicle. those are two examples of the long list of cities devastated by shootings. there were at least 17 mass shootings over the extended holiday weekend. and that includeq3 the attack i

a philadelphia neighborhood when a heavily-armed person killed five people in the street. our george solis has the latest1 >> reporter: new details ÷-c(em appeared in a philadelphia court, facing multiple charges g;j the july 3 rampage that killed e1five, including at 15-year-oldçó daujan brown. his grandmotheoç heartbroken, saying her grandson was killed while trying took help anotheru what's going through your mind? >> it's horrible. just to know that my baby's gone for no reason. >> reporter: two children were also injured, when according to police the shooter fired more than 50 rounds e1aimlessly, including at a jeep. inside a mom and herfá three yog children. >> her twin boys in the back seat. one of them suffered injury from the glass, and the other

suffered gunshot wounds to his leg. and thñ@810-year-old daughter wo was not struck, thankfully. >> reporter: the shooter was heavily armed with añr ar-15-ste rifle and handgun and a bulletproof vest.lp some who lived with carriker said he frequently wore a bulletproof vest. and now the shell casings recovered at the scene match shell casings found at the home, along with ammunition and a wiá,f4 >> i believe theye1 thought he s ihq agitated as the days were passing, and their way of dealing with it was to avoid itñi and note1 interfe with him. >> reporter: according to the city, in philadelphia, theree1 have been 190 fatalq shootings this year. philly mayor jim kenny calling for gun reform at a news conference that was planned before theq shooting. >> the proliferation of guns in e1ñr an >> the proliferation of guns in our the common denominator in every single shooting. >> reporter: another victim was

31-year-oldñi■k joseph wamah jr. >> he was gorgeouse1 inside and i really am. >> your hearts go out to them. and our thanks to george solis for that report. the military says russian5a jets harassed american drones in syria they havee1 on slateopera syria for years now. give us a play by play of what happened. >> reporter: as you mentioned, important to note here that this isn't the first time we have seen russian jetsçó in thefá airspace of syria,fá harassing u.s. jets, but i want to get to this video released by military officials which appears to show this russian fighter jet coming

way too close, dangerously close toq a u.s. drone, and other im images in this video appear to show jetse1 dropping flares, ev using the afterburn, whene1 you see the fire coming from the ql. the concern is that could impact the ability of the drone operator to successfully operate the device, but also it increases the propensity of this thing crashing. as you mentioned, we have hundreds of united states military officials in siria, as they are working with the kurdish-led syrian forces to try and defeat isis. jessica? >> that video was unbelievable. one more thing, switching to another conflict where russia and the u.s. are involved, of course ukraine. we understand both are accusing the other of planning something dramatic. what can you tell us about that? >> reporter: earlier this week we had accusing the other of planning an attack on thexd zaporizhzhia

nuclear powerc plant, which is the largest in europe. back in ñrmarch, when the war, early days of the war, we know russia seized control of it. since then, there's been back and forth allegations of shelling at thew3 plant. but lately, we mow that the international atomic energy agency officials have at( presee inside that plant, as they have not sounded the alarm for any imminent threat of anything that they could see, but they are requesting from russia more access. >> allfá right, megan, thank yo. alp secret servicefá spokes confirmed wednesday that the substance foundñr at the white house on sunday was in fact cocaine. thee1 service is still investigating to figure out who left that bag in the west wing. an investigation, they say, could take about two weeks. the substanç8 will still undergo a full chemical analysis, while the bagw3 will also be tested f dna and fingerprints. white house press secretary karine jean-pierre isñ

the manq took a plea deal and ws sentenced to life in prison. he will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years. meanwhile, steps are being

taken to protect abortionfá accs iné@■ ohio.fáe1 reproduction rights advocates are working to get an amendment onxd the ballot. they say they delivered more thanc 700,000 signatures to sta1 officials, which is nea2sf twice what they needed. a law in ohio that bans nearly áate judge. former president clinton returned to the vatican on wednesday for the firstlu)sq in almost 30 years. clinton, who is currently visiting rome m met withth poxx francis at hihis residence. the pontiff and former commander in chief exchanged a numberer o gifts, including a tray with the presidential seal. the 42nd president visited in june of w31994e1 where he waslp received by pope john ii. threads was released

overnight. meta ceo mark zuckerberg revealed overnight that the new app was downloaded more t&i' 10 million times in the first seven hours after launch. and that may be just the beginning here. threads is built on public instagram's existing base which has over 2 billion users. thisxd is a short workweek, ending with more stormyñi skies. michelle grossmann is tracking potentially dangerous weather for us. >> we'reçó looking at severe weather, even at this hour. we're goiuwñ to continue to see this as we go throughout this thursday. tomorrow also. w look at r cluster of storms moving throughout the middle of the country. that's bull's eye this afternoon for strong storms, but we can ñ into the mid mississippi valley and the southeast as well. storms in the great lakes asqe1 well. as we go throughoutfá time here6 million people at risk for damaging hail two inches orón larger, that's baseball-sized hail. damaging winds, winds gusting up to 75 miles per hour.

tornados are likely especially where you see the orange shading into the yellow,çó rapid city■i1 denver. we're lookinge1 at theq chance severe storms. we'regoincentral plains, temperatures in the 90s. all right, guys, we're going to talk about the heat across the country, also air quality concerns in a few minutes. thanks so much. still to come on "early today," the fda approved the first ofçó its kind blood test for pregnant women. ç determine if

they should befá in the hospita or be discharged. a new study has found that having a higher5a■ bmi isn't necessarily associated with a

higher risk ofok death. the data is the latest in a growing body of evidence that sugo0ts a person's bmi alone is not an accurate inda9tor of their overall health. it showed5a■ no significant increase in mortality risk for those 65 and older. the same was true for younger adults withe1 bmi ofe1ñrlpçó 22 27.4. >> a san diego man was found dead in death valley. he was found infá his car 30e1 s rif officials responded to the scene saying the driver most likely died of heat-related illness after temperatures soared t(e1er

126 degrees. still to come, the home run derby bracketw3 is set. ä.ç swinging ferñ the fences in seattle next week. kpayayrñ and from the diamond t esescort, thehe thrilliling higs from a a wedneesday =9=99 3 c1 emergency care? prescriptions? with the new law, 4 out of 5 customers can find a plan for $10 or less per month with financial help. healthcare.gov is here for you. enroll today for coverage starting the first of next month. what's the website again? healthcare.gov wawant luxury y hair repaiar that doesnsn't cost $5$50? pantenene's pro-vivitamin formula repapairs hair.. as w well as thehe leading l ly bondining treatmenent. for softneness and resesili, withthout the prprice tag. as w well as thehe leading l ly bondining treatmenent. if you knonow... you knowow it's pantntene.

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and we're back withñi an intense match att( wimbledon. dominic thiem gave his opponent all he couldñi handle. but he kept his composure and would win the match and heads to andyr bringing it back to america where the baseball world is gearing up for a big-time home run derby rematch.5a■ last year mariners' rookie julio

rodriguez upset pete alonso m in the semi-finals. and here is that full field for the derby. the winner will face the winner of mookie betts ande1 thefá der tees off just after 8:00 p.m.jf eastern on monday. andt( de la cruz of the cincinnati reds doesn't need the derby. he put on a show of his own. umpires removed a piece of his bat knob in the second inning, even though the reds say they baseball earlier in the season - to use it. he had a 455 foot home run to the upper deck. he was allowed to put the piece back on the bat later on. the fourth homer of the season m up 9--2789 m up 9-27878 k thm up 98

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>> we don't go out too far, because i know they're coming close. but we're stille1 swimming. >> reporter: mom dana baldwin wasn't afraid to take her 2-year-old into the water. his life jacket was decorated with, what else? a shark. >> i think you have to respect the ocean, but just know that stuff is out there. >> reporter: since monday, five confirmed or suspected shark bites have been reportedó[■u drones were back on shark patro( overe1 long islanénl■ southlp s. but park police lieutenant alex goodman andxd his team locateno danger. >> thisñr is a whole safetyñr

network. >> reporter: on the air, on land and in the water, shark watch is in highe1e1 officials have been expecting more shark sightings this summer, but this week's activity has still been surprising. >> that is extraordinarily unusual, five in a two-day period. >> reporter: so far, beach attendance has not been impacted bit shark activity.e1 >> i swam out to the buoy three times already today. >> reporter: robert says he's not worried aboutñi sharks, but gerald phillips tells me she's staying a little closer to shore. >> and our thanks for that report. a good samaritan came to the rescue of at( skunk whose head 1 stuck in a cup. he was able to finally able to get theq animal free, and

importantly, without gettingñi sprayed. simpson said i wish people would top littering. that was a nice little thank you for thati] skunk. >> that's a brave man, though. i don't know if i. sea world work/r?■ pulled of a dramatic rescue in queensland( australia, rescuing a whale tangled in netting. the nets are designed to deterx sharks. >> a lot of brave people coming to animals' rescue. thanks for watching "early today." i'm jessica la%,mn. fwlim' steve romo. uave a great th

those detectors aren't working. i walked through there. >> a big break in the levi stabbing