possible explosions on the bridge that connects russia to a ukrainian region they occupy

the latest reports from the area and how it could affect war efforts. extreme weather continues from coast-to-coast. flash flooding turns deadly in the east and triple-digit temperatures swelter much of the west how that weather can impact your day, and when it will be out of the forecast a border battle in the middle of the rio grande why mexico says texas's barriers in the middle of the river should not be there. the mission to get to the top of the box office was not impossible for agent ethan hunt. how much the action thriller made in its opening weekend. and all for ellie. how one neighborhood in washington state came together to give this 7-year-old an unforgettable birthday it is monday, july 17th. "early today" starts right now >> and a good monday morning to you. i'm jessica layton >> and i'm frances rivera. we begin with breaking news out of ukraine there are reports of explosions at the kirch bridge that connects occupied ukrainian

crimea to mainland russia. the governor of crimea says on telegram the traffic has been halted over, quote, emergency without elaborating. the telegram channel affiliated with the wagner mercenary group says there have been two strikes on bridge. for the latest, let's bring in el ali arouzi. good morning, ali, what more do we know? >> good morning, frances that's right the russians are saying two people are dead in what they call an emergency on the kirsch bridge they are stopping short of calling it an attack right now but there have been several unconfirmed reports of an explosion in the early morning hours of the morning this is a very strategic and important bridge, frances. it opened in2018 it gives rail and road access from russia to crimea. in october, it was partially closed following a major explosion on the bridge. but the russians worked very quickly to reopen it again in

february because it's so strategic. it provides food, fuel, and weapons from russia into crimea. now the head of the russian administration in crimea said that the bridge had been closed. traffic had been stopped, and that they were working very quickly to reopen it they also added that the supports of the bridge hadn't been damaged, and it was only the surface of the bridge that had been damaged but we're still waiting for more information to come out of there. >> and in other ukraine news, we understand that the landmark grain deal between ukraine and russia is set to expire. what can you tell us about that? >> that's right, frances today that deal that allows grain to leave ukrainian ports since it was brokered by the u.n. last year is set to expire today. now ukraine and russia worked very hard with a lot of intermediaries to make that deal because they are amongst the world's top grain exporters.

and there was a real fear of a major lack of grain around the world, in the middle east, in north africa if that deal fell through. right now, the russians are refusing to extend that deal so there are major concerns about grain supplies around the world, if the russians don't sign that deal again, frances. >> okay, ali, thank you. let's turn now to the extreme weather in the northeast. severe storms continue this morning. at least 200 u.s. flights have been canceled so far today that's according to flightaware. this after flash flooding turned deadly in pennsylvania official there kishling at least five people were killed, and they're still searching for two very young children who were swept away kathy park has this report >> reporter: tonight, terrifying weather causing heartache in eastern pennsylvania >> i can say as a witness to that, in my 44 years, i've never seen anything like it. >> reporter: flash floods

quickly moved into the greater philadelphia area saturday night. the national weather service estimated over 3 inches of rain at the height of the storm >> the sky just opened up and everything dumped out real quick. probably more than anyone could have possibly imagined >> reporter: in bucks county, five people have been confirmed dead while crews work around the clock to search for a missing baby boy and his toddler sister, visiting with family from south carolina >> we have recovered the mother, and she is one of the deceased also, the two children that we are looking for to bring home, we're continuing all efforts to find them. >> reporter: by daybreak sunday, asphalt cracked, trees downed and roads split in two cars flipped upside down eli weissmann and his daughter were swept off their motorcycle. >> ended up floating down the side of the road, clinging to trees, clinging to vines, clinging to whatever we could, a log, saw cars floating, saw a jeep flipped over. it was like nothing i've ever

seen. >> reporter: so you were clinging on the trees? >> oh, yeah. >> reporter: wow. >> i didn't want to die. >> reporter: devastation felt all across the northeast as communitities grappleded with the e sudden onslauaught of tororrential downwnpours. from scenes like in torrington, connecticut, to pouring rain in fitchburg, massachusetts the extreme weather canceling more than 1,400 flights nationwide as millions from virginia to maine brace for the threat of more flooding tonight. >> our thanks to kathy park for that report. meanwhile, there does is not seem to be an end in sight for the brutal heatwave. more than 100 million americans are about a third of the country under a heat alert or advisory the warnings stretch from the northwest to the southern tip of florida. another daily record of 118 degrees in phoenix but as our san diego station found, the temperatures of surfaces can be even more

dangererous. >> we're g going to get the e tetemperature rereading g of the susurface of this turf lelet's tatake a look here is it going to be the warmest one so far oh, my gosh, 166 >> the heat is also helping to fuel fires in california with the fourth wildfire now threatening homes near los angeles and prompting evacuation warnings the largest is called the rabbit fire it has destroyed over 7,000 acres and was only 10% contained as of sunday afternoon the hunt for a mass shooting suspect in georgia is over this morning. andre longmore was shot and killed during a tense stand off with police yesterday. investigators say the 40-year-old killed four people in a city just south of atlanta on saturday, sparking a statewide search that ended in a hail of gunfire. >> the monster is dead we engaged the suspect the suspect returned fire and hit the ground running we gave chase, reengaged the suspect. he produced a huygen and fired

the weapon gunfire was exchanged. the suspect was neutralized. >> a sheriff's deputy and a police officer were both hurt during that shootout police have identified the victims, but did not reveal any motive another manhunt for a suspected murderer in pennsylvania has also come to an end. fugitive michael burham is back behind bars after nine days on the run. burham is a known survivalist with a military background he is finally back in handcuffs, because a couple's dog wouldn't stop barking our george solis spoke to ron and cindy ecklund. >> what is it when you come face-to-face with the person everybody is literally looking for. >> oh, my. >> i was scared. >> our immediate thought was call 911 get them here. get him caught get him back where he belongs.

efforts to put up floating bare yoerns the rio grande would violate treaties an inspection team will be dispatched to see if the chain of buoys violate mexico's border rights the barrier could also impede the flow of water there. texas governor greg abbott began rolling out the floating barriers earlier this month. migrant advocates say the buoys put those crossing the river at risk of drowning now to the reverend jesse jackson who announced he is stepping down as president of the rainbow-push coalition, the civil rights movement he founded in 1971. he said at the annual convention that he continued to fight for social justice, adding that he is resigning, not retiring tributes poured in for jackson after the announcement reverend sharpton said he has been an anchor for him and many others. for the releonardo lentless

heat and record breaking rain, official grossman. >> heat alerts stretch from the west all the way portions of the south central states we're going to see temperatures into the triple digits in so many spots we could see some record br breakers as well 12 states affected today 62 million americans under some sort of heat alert into the southeast, where you see the pink here, an excessive heat warning. that includes portions of southern california, bakersfield, phoenix, also el paso we're going to see some record-breaking temperatures as we go throughout today sorry i ran over here. i'm out of breath. phoenix tying the record of 18 straight days of 100 degrees 110 or greater also looking at el paso, a record 31 straight days of 100 degrees. we're also looking at widespread records throughout -- excuse me, let me catch my breath here. okay, sorry. did a little sprint of here. amarillo 104

san angelo 108 corpus christi 99 degrees. sorry about this, guys and as we go throughout tomorrow, we're looking at record temperatures thursday, friday in fephoenix. corpus christi, same story, temperatures into the 90s. 90s also in new orleans. we're gog to seein tn orlando. 93 in jacksonville 93 in charleston all right, guys. that's a look at the heat. we're going take a look at the rest of the heat in a few minutes, and i will catch my breath. >> deep, deep, breath. temperatures aren't the only things heating up as the powerball inches towards the billion dollar mark after no winning ticket was drawn it soared to a whopping $900 million.

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meanwhile, dramatic rescue caught on camera in kansas body cam footage shows an heroic citizen and two police officers who saved a man who was trapped under water with time running out. aaron gilchrest has the stunning moments. >> reporter: a life-saving rescue caught on body cam. >> is there anybody still in there? >> yes, there is >> who, where? >> reporter: a good samaritan and two officers rushing to rescue a man submerged in a wichita lake josh hicks was visiting the city when he noticed something was going on he ran into the water while his daughter called 911. >> it was just a mad dash to do anything you think of. to try to get him out as fast as you can. >> reporter: minutes later, deputy clinton harris sees the scene from the highway and immediately pulls over deputy nathan kingery joins moments later. >> he started running down the hill and so i immediately saw what he was running to. >> reporter: the officers jumping into action, breaking

windows, and trying desperately to safe the victim from drowning with hicks' help, they eventually pull the unresponsive man from the van, giving him life-saving cpr until the ems arrives. the victim at the hospital in stable condition. >> i don't know if you could do anything differently it happened so fast and time seems to stand still when it's all happening. >> reporter: officers say hicks was in the right place at the right time to change what could have been a tragic outcome. >> that dude being there was no accident it lined up. >> reporter: hicks says he is no hero and commends the workers who do this day in and day out. >> the deputies and the em that showed up, they volunteer for it, walk into situations that they don't know what's going to happen every day >> and we want to thank aaron for that report. a bombshell in the fight for a video game mega merger sony has inked a deal with microsoft to keep call of duty games on playstation pour the

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♪ ♪ that will be in your head all day. brooklyn giving back to the heart of its city by paying homage to jay-z. the brooklyn public library opened its the back of hove exhibit celebrating the life and career of sean carter. the two floors showcase the

grammy winner's influence on business, music, social justice and more decorating the front of the library with his lyrics as a tribute. the exhibit, which was a surprise to the mogul was created with his rock nation record label it is free to the public when you bring your library card. getting back to the surprise part, he genuinely had no idea thinking thing is spectacular. all things jay-z, that's way to do it. well, well done. tom cruise scaled the box office kwunsonce again with "min impossible - dead reckoning part one. debuted at number one this weekend, grossing over $56 billion domestically the seventh installment serving as a key milestone in pop culture. it was the first movie to have its production shut down in 2020 due to the pandemic, and it's now one of the first to premiere at the same time as the sag-aftra strike so spectacular we've heard so much about it all these scenes with him doing

his own stunts as only tom cruise can do. >> yeah. >> well-deserved well-deserved dollar signs at the box office also well-deserved, taylor swift enchanting the charts once again, breaking new billboard records after dropping taylor's version of her speak now album, she is the first female artist to have at least four albums in the top ten of billboard's 200 chart. midnights, lover, and following lore trail behind speak now. herbal pert is the only artist to nab this record, and that was back in 1966 is there anything this young woman cannot do? >> i'm sure she'll be breaking records when it comes to the eras tour as well. good for taylor. michelle's got your monday forecast that's after the breck > and a ttlile later, ththe 7-7-year-old t that a whilile cocommunity wawanted to ceceleb. [c[camera shututter sfx] intrododucing ned'd's plaqaque psoriasasi. [camerera shutter r sfx] hehe thinks hihis flaky, [camerera shutter r sfx] rered patchess arare all peopople see. [camerera shutter r sfx]

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states we're looking at temperatures into the triple-digits once again. also, the northeast is clearing out in turns of the rain ball. that is good news. a couple days of drying. a chance of storms throughout the ohio valley and pars of the tennessee valley we could see some strong storms, some hail, gusty winds hazy sky in the northern plains, upper midwest with canadian smoke. by wednesday we're looking sunny and warm in portions of the west and still soggy in the tennessee valley back to you both coming up, a special 7-year-old gets a surprise party she will never forget. i used tn my d dishwasherr 'til itit was superer full. nonow— i runun it daily.y. weekdadays— weeeekends— you mighght think that's w wasteful, b but it's . eveven half loloads use 808% lessss water thahan handwashs. saving $ $130 on utitilities. cascscade. dare e to dish differenently. wantnt more fromom your vitat? get more e with naturure's bou. saving $ $130 on utitilities. from the f first-ever r tripe action s sleep supplplement.. to d daily digesestive suppop. to m more wellneness solutios evevery day. get more e with naturure's bou.

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our kate snow spoke with the family >> hi, guys! did you get bubbles? >> reporter: these were the moments just before the big reveal >> gather around with the signs with the big sign. >> reporter: in this neighborhood near seattle, the whole community turned out the celebrate one little girl. >> happy birthday! >> reporter: see her there in that car that's ellie hoffman, pulling up to her own surprise 7th birthday party. her parents justin and nicole had just moved the family there and were overwhelmed by the support. when you saw ellie's face, justin, that day, what was that like >> it was so exciting to watch her just explode with joy. >> because it's your birthday! >> it was very emotional it was very special, because i knew i couldn't do what i wanted to do for her. my friends, the fellow mommas in my community, my neighborhood, they all rallied with me >> i love it.

>> and the whole hoffman family, you guys are such an amazing blessing to this community, and we love you guys so much >> reporter: they rallied because nicole had been fighting cancer, and was too weak to plan the party of ellie's dreams. so instead she posted on social media, asking neighbors to send ellie a few cards. moms melanie panito and renae carter decided to do a whole lot more why did you feel you had to do more than just cards >> this is what people do. they step up and help each other out when things get tough. >> i looked at mel and can we do something different? let's throw her a party? and she said yep, absolutely and it really took off ♪ happy birthday to you ♪ >> reporter: for ellie, it was a day she'll never forget. what was your favorite part of that whole day, ellie? >> everybody made me have the best birthday ever >> reporter: a community united in tough times and showing the true meaning of friendship

>> it makes me feel so strong and able to keep -- to keep fighting, even if i live with cancer so it's just so special to know that i have some of my family to help me get through whatever comes. >> and some great news while nicole is still in treatment, she now says she is cancer-free. and our thanks to kate snow for sharing that story it sounds like with that news, even more reason to have another party. >> that's right. and definitely great medicine from those new neighbors who gave that party really for the family thanks for watching "early today. i'm jessica layton >> i'm frances rivera. ve a great monday. ha

wicked weather pouring down on the east coast. flash flooding in pennsylvania kills at least five.

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