secret negotiations revealed former u.s. officials at work with russians to pave the pass to peace in ukraine.

our d.c. team joins us with this exclusive report the mystery of a missing texas teen takes a shocking turn officials say the man gone for eight years was home the entire time how the discovery is now leading to even more questions and taking the temperature of the american economy. the july jobs report due to drop in a few minutes cnbc breaks down those numbers and what expect. one group still on the job, the eagles the iconic rock band getting ready to say a long good-bye to fans and are you feeling lucky this friday in $600 million up for grabs if can you beat those odds it is friday, july 7, and "early today" starts right now. >> and good morning. i'm jessica layton >> i'm steven romo flags are being lowered across new jersey today to honor two firefighters who died battling a large cargo ship fire. that ship at port newark was loading up more than a thousand

vehicles when officials say five or six of them caught fire for reasons that still aren't clear. just an hour into the response, two firefighters got trapped they were rescued but later ended up dying at the hospital one was a nine-year veteran and the other was a 16-year veteran. their firehouse, of course, devastated by the loss >> my thoughts are it's very sad. very emotional you couldn't ask for any better individuals, good firemen. >> crews are still working to put the fire out late into last night. officials are expected to give an update at 10:00 a.m. eastern time now to a nbc news exclusive, as the war in ukraine rages on some former u.s. officials have taken matters into their own hands, causing concerns over potentially alienating the war-torn country we go to brie jackson in washington >> reporter: on thursday, nbc news reported that a group of

former u.s. national security officials have held secret talks with prominent russian officials with the intent of laying the ground work for an end to the war in ukraine this news comes from half a dozen people, both current and former government sources, who were briefed on the discussions. their conversations have taken place alongside a number of figures in russia that are believed to have ties to the kremlin or president vladimir putin. one notable meeting took place in april in new york the group, which included former diplomat richard haas and experts on europe and russia met with current russian affairs foreign minister sergey lavrov, the country's top diplomat, this group talked about numerous sensitive issues pertaining to the war, including the status of territories occupied by russia, as well as an eventual off ramp to the conflict. two of the sources told nbc that these discussions were held with the knowledge of the biden administration, but they were

mott d not directed by them, adding that the group briefed the national security council following their conversation with lavrov. some in the foreign policy community have expressed caution on holding talks on the war in ukraine without ukraine having a seat at the table. former ambassador to russia, michael mcfaul said these back room discussions could undercut the biden administration's insistent that it will not be decided by secret deals between major powers nearly two weeks after the mercenary wagner group's open r rebellion against the russian state, the twists and turns in the story continue the founder of the group, yevgeny prigozhin was reportedly in belarus, but the country of that president says prigozhin is still in his home country,

specifically, st. petersburg >> what is going on here >> reporter: good morning, steven as you mentioned, last week right after the rebellion by wagner, the president, lukashenko said as part of the deal he managed to broker with vladimir putin, prigozhin would move to belarus, but now he said prigozhin is back in russia, that his mers cenaries are training in their own camps. russia has confirmed prigozhin is in st. petersburg, his hometown and vladimir putin's hometown a spokesperson for putin neither confirms nor denies the report they said they do not have the desire or means of tracking down

prigozhin p prigozhin's movement >> dramatic developments there, and claudio, i did want to ask you about another dramatic development in the war in ukraine. that strike on haveef whon lvive understand the death toll's rising >> reporter: at least ten people have now died after an apartment block in the city was hit by a russian cruise missile now emergency services are working around the clock to pull bodies from the rubble but the fear is that the death toll hwill rise. lviv is considered the safest city it's where the ukrainian refugees were going, but this was an atrocious and worst attack since the start of the war. an attack that was called by the

ambassador to ukraine as vicious. >> claudio, thank you. the u.s. military says that for the second time in less than 24 hours, russian jets did some risky fly bys past american drones in syria, dropping flares and coming too close for more than an hour a u.s. cent com spokesman called it reckless, unsafe and unprofessional there has been an uptick by russia against u.s. positions in syria this year. the deadly shooting spree in philadelphia is highlighting the dangers of ghost guns. police say two of the weapons used m th used in that rampage were ghost guns the city now suing two distributors of those types of guns >> reporter: police revealing new details days after a mass shooting in philadelphia left five people dead according to authorities, two

firearms recovered from the suspect were ghost guns. >> one was a ar-sa, th15, the o was a .9-millimeter. they were privately-made firearms >> reporter: this shooting the latest killing in philadelphia connected to ghost guns. >> we have seen a 300% increase in the number of ghost guns over the last four years which corresponds to rising crime on our streets. >> reporter: it's not known if these companies' components were used in the most recent shooting >> lawsuit filed against these distributors will hold them accountable for the harm they've caused in our city, due to their reckless and illegal business practices. >> reporter: ghost guns are sold as incomplete kits of components that can be assembled in less than an hour >> a ghost gun is built by the manufacturer and mailed in parts or kits which are then often

assembled by the purchaser and used on the streets of philadelphia to commit violent crime. >> reporter: they are untraceable and require no background check unlike traditional firearm purchases. "top story" investigated the surging market for ghost guns last march our vaughn hilliard used a hidden camera at a gun show outside of philadelphia, showing just how easy it is to purchase one of these kits. >> you don't need anything from me, right? >> money >> money in. >> yeah. >> but no id or background check. >> no. >> reporter: vaughn spoke to the ceo of jsd supply, one of the companies named in the lawsuit >> don't you bear some responsibility, then, when these guns get in the hands of criminals? >> no, because i'm not a criminal, and i didn't do it, just like ford doesn't have a responsibility when a car -- >> you're handing them a piece that they can build in a half hour and turn it into a gun. >> yeah, can you get keys and a pack of budweiser and drunk

drive, kill somebody, too, and neither one of those are responsible. >> reporter: we reached out to jsd supply, again, about the lawsuit. they declined to comment the other company, polymer 80 did not respond to our request in 2022, the philadelphia police department says they confiscated a 575 ghost guns, city hall leaders now putting these companies on notice. >> let this be a warning to these manufacturers. we are coming, and we will not stop until these weapons are eliminated from our streets. >> reporter: and philadelphia is not the only major city to pursue litigation against these ghost gun companies. at the end of may, the city of los angeles announced an a million dollars settlement against polymer 80, requiring the company to conduct background checks and add serial numbers to its products before they can be sold in california >> and our thanks to rahaima ellis for that story now to a stunning development in a missing persons case in texas.

25-year-old rud rudy was found outside a church after he supposedly vanished without a trace while walking his dogs his mom reported the then-17-year-old missing in march 2015, but investigators say he was home with santana almost the entire time >> based on what that young man said to me in front. detective, i don't she why she's not in handcuffs right now >> investigators say he and his mom had several run-ins with police over the years but gave fake names and birthdays, so he always remained a missing person right now there are no inccluess to why they would keep the lie going but police don't suspect foul play. turning to the heat wave gripping so much of the nation the extreme highs scorching the southwest expanding to florida and the northeast.

the heat combined with poor air quality from the canadian wildfires creating dangerous health conditions for millions >> i have asthma, so the air quality is really hard on my lungs. and then with the heat on top, it's like having a meltdown. >> we're having a public health issue of air and lung health and confinement and further isolation. >> so how hot is too hot for your health in new research from england found tha104 degrees ise point when your body might stop functioning right. it can cause confusion, dizziness or fainting. >> meanwhile other parts of the country are in for a very wet weekend. angie lassman is tracking some of these weekend storms. >> good morning, we finally e fd it to the en mad it to the end of the workweek. you see heavy rain working through places in at that same kind of region as we get through

the later parts of our morning we'll continue to see that we also have showers stretched across parts of the gulf coast heres' th heres here's the area for the greatest potential for strong storms. if you have outdoor plans in this region for your saturday, make sure you have a way to get alerts risk for11 million people at o 81, but unsettled weather from scranton and philadelphia and that is your local forecast, guys, back over to you >> angie, thank you. still to come, as jetblue principles to buy one airline they're e cutting tieses with anotother.

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welcome back jetblue has announced it's ending its partnership with american airlines and will next on acquiring spirit airlines this comes after a federal judge ordered the carriers to end the agreement. a 2021 lawsuit filed by the justice department, six states and the district of columbia called it anti-competitive american airlines says it will appeal the ruling. investors are all eyes on that june jobs report due out this morning the dow slipped over 350 points ahead of the release, amid fears that strong hiring could spur another rate hike. cnbc is here to tell us what to expect about this, good morning, air belay. >> good morning, these jobs numbers are highly anticipated yesterday's private payroll numbers could perhaps issue a warning sign as to red hot this

data is actually at least 1.6 million jobs have actually been added to the u.s. economy over the last six months or so. that is really telling it's a lot more than initially anticipated. 249,000 jobs anticipated to be added. and at that figure could still be low, considering that yesterday the private payrolls number is half a million, when you compare what was initially anticipated. jobless number, the unemployment rate is expected to drop from 3.7 to 3.6% but has been hovering in and around that mark to 3.4% for quite some time. those figures will be able to tell the fed still how rid hot the economy is, and perhaps induce another interest rate hike, unfortunately. it did hike ten times and take a pause, but they do look to hike all over again unfortunately >> don't like to hear that thank you so much. still to come, the eagles are booking one last day at the

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♪ are you satisfied ♪ >> my life is for the people >> do you really think this world will make it >> yes there's no other way ♪ ♪ >> wow, that was our first look at the legacy of bob marley, it prepares to hit the big screen the biopic follows his rise to stardom and covers the assassination attempt on him and his wife and the group bob marley, "one love" opens in theaters, january 2024 meanwhile, some contradicting reports have surfaced over whether taylor swift knew that ftx was trouble when it walked in. >> nice. >> there you go.

a source familiar with the dealings said the grammy winner had signed and agreed to a $100 million partnership with the defunct crypto exchange but ftx was the one who ended up pulling the plug the headlines are contradicting initial reports that swift was the one to leave after questioning if ftx's asset assee unsecured. moo moving on to the eagles. even life in the fast lane has to slow down, as the eagles brief for their farewell tour. the eagles have cemented their status as rock royalty, selling over 150 albums, earning six grammys and securing a spot in the rock 'n roll hall of fame. the band says more dates will be added. we know the tour kicks off september 7 here in new york

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vibranant from airir wick. welcome back finally friday, and the heat continues for parts of the northeast. we're going to feel a whole like like summer, 87 in new york. 92 for washington, d.c in the southeast, more of that warmth with triple digit feels like temperatures. feels like temperatures. with its diamond weave texture, charmin ultra strong cleans better with fewer sheets and less effort. enjoy the go with charmin. fefebreze! your batathroom... needs febreze small spaces... the always-on, odor-fighting aiair freshenener you set and forget. no outlets used,d, no batterers neneeded, no e effort reququi. so your babathroom statays contntinuously f fresh for 45 dayays. that's the power of febreze small spaces. wowoolite helplps molly fefeelt in h her go-to l leggings. she was eveven inspirered to t train for a a marathon.

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the group of catholic and protestant teenagers >> reporter: at mission arlington, the american ideal of freedom doesn't know borders >> i wanted to come on the project to, you know, see a different life, see america. >> reporter: david is here with the olster project arlington which brings them to north texas from northern ireland. >> so what's this, women's trousers >> reporter: where religion is sorted and separated like the donations at mission arlington >> we still have protestant schools and catholic schools >> when everyone first got here, i was trying to figure out who was who and what was what, and i'd if up to them, like you're catholic, right? >> normally, people don't ask that question, are you catholic

or protestant, because it can be a risky question to ask. in ireland, if you ask the wrong question, it sounds morbid, but you could get shot >> reporter: the project started in 1975, during what was called the troubles in northern ireland to bring catholic and protestant teens together >> bring them to america where we're this big melting pot of nationalities and things >> we're similar but we have to be taken away from whatever stigma was over there and be able to talk about it freely so back home i definitely try and influence other people, my friends. to keep a more open mind >> you need anything else? >> reporter: volunteers, side by side, to heclp future generation see eye to eye >> we're all just people at the end of the day >> our thanks to noel walker for sharing that story the countdown is on and the millions keep on climbing for the fortune. no one claimed the $557 million

prize, so the jackpot has soared now $590 million, with a cash option just more than $300 million. not too bad. it will be the 11th largest purse in powerball history, and you still have time to grab your ticket the next drawing is saturday at 11:00 p.m. eastern time. $300 million, i think that's okay >> it's a big chunk of change taken out, i'm not sure, no way. we're buying tickets for that. thanks for watching "early today. i'm jessica layton >> i'm steven romo have a great friday. we'll see you right back here on monday here on monday rk

stay right there there's more news on the way ney the record heat continues around the country a warning about how those extreme temperatures can affect your body and when we caex