story. more news on the way

nearly all the country hammered by wicked weather we're sharing stories from the hardest hit. a deadly shooting in new zealand, hours before the country kicked off the women's world cup. what we know about the shooter and out country is dealing with the tragedy. the carlee russell story takes a turn she says she was abducted but police say they can't verify much of her story. >> reporter: pokey mmon fans we to bed with a new app. could it be the sleeper hit of the summer and a hop, skip and jump into the record brooks for a teebook for a teenager good thursday morning. i'm frances rivera >> i'm jessica layton. president biden approved a disaster declaration for oklahoma after the state was pounded by a series of storms

and tornados in june this cops as the u.s. is seeing no relief from a prolonged bout of severe weather, with oppressive heat and devastating storms wreaking havoc during the summer.nth of maggie vespa and erin mclaughlin report from kentucky and arizona with the latest. >> reporter: dueling hallmarks of this summer's severe weather stretch. >> trees are down all over >> reporter: in north carolina, a confirmed ef-3 tornado near rocky mount. wind speeds up to 150 miles per hour, wreaking havoc on a highway and destroying part of this manufacturing facility owned by the drugmaker, pfizer >> we really don't fknow what th exact of amount of injuries. >> reporter: further west, kentucky, the latest to get slammed with violent flash floods in hard-hit mayfield, nearly a foot of rain falling since midnight if verified, it would smash the

decade-old record for the most rain in 24 hours water swallowing neighborhoods and submerging cars. >> opened up the back door and it started gushing inside the house. >> reporter: jeremy martin scrambled to get his fiance and five kid s out. no injuries have been reported kentucky's governor declaring a state of emergency, urging people to heed evacuation warnings >> remember,que we can rebuilde and replace stuff, we don't want to lose lives. >> reporter: the city still recovering from the tornado that killed close to 60 people before christmas. weather-ravaged communities brace once again as signs of our climate crisis intensify >> reporter: i'm erin

mclaughlin the deadly heat creating chaos at harry reid international in las vegas. several exiting a delta flight by stretcher after being stuck on the tarmac in unrelenting heat for hours >> they was visibly shaking, like shaking >> reporter: the robinsons were on the flight with their 1-year-old baby when they saw fellow passengers become ill >> looked like their cognitive skills were in decline eyes rolling in ththe back of t head >> reporter: doctors say that's the sign of potentially deadly danger delta is investigating the matter, this as the valley of t sun breaks another record, with a nighttime low of 97 degrees the city's sprawling concrete, experts say, is partly to blame as it stops urban areas from cooling down

across the country, 77million people are under heat alerts it's not just humans who are suffering. at a phoenix zoo, it's all hands on deck to make sure the animals are comfortable and cool >> they're not quite used to these temperatures, and we're constantly monitoring them >> reporter: it's the dog days of summer with no end in sight aaron erin mclaughlin, nbc news nbc has learned that the letter that former president trump received cites three federal statutes under which he could be charged, including conspiracy to defraud the u.s., deprivation of rights and tampering with a witness while a target letter typically foretells a coming indictment, it is not clear whether he will be charged senate majority leader chuck schumer says democrats will not

block the stand-alone votes sought by tommy tuberville on the abortion policy in the military the alabama republican has held up more than $ $t 250 milit 250 promotions his tactics have been widely criticized, including by other republicans. good news for some student loan borrowers the biden administration announced plans to forgive $39 million of student debt. this comes weeks after the supreme court struck down the white house' plan. we're learning more about the u.s. soldier who while serving in south korea dashed across the border into north

korea. travis king had several run-ins with the law and was accused of punching a man in a nightclub and fined for doing damage to a police car his family is distraught, and they say this behavior is not like him >> i want to know what was going on in his mind because that, i can't see him doing that >> north korea so far has been silent about king's status the white house says it is working to learn where king is being held and more about his condition. three people are dead and at least six injured after a shooting at a construction plant in auckland, new zealand many the shooter is among the deceased found dead after a shoot out with police. the city is hosting the fifa women's world cup and the attack happened close to hotels where international teams are staying. for the latest, let's bring in claudio lavanga. what do we know about the

gunman >> reporter: the gunman was a 24-year-old man who worked at that construction site in the capital, auckland, where in the early morning hours he opened fire, killing two people and injuring five others, including a police officer as shortly after the police stormed the building, the attacker was also found dead it's unclear whether he shot himself or whether the police shot him dead. now the hotel, the construction site, as you mentioned s very close to a hotel where several socce soccer teams playing in the female world cup were staying, including norway, which is playing new zealand in the opening game of the tournament which started just a few minutes ago. but the organizers say it will carry on as planned, because the attack was not related to the world cup itself. it was more related to personal reasons. now new zealand banned automatic weapons back in 2019 after a gunman killed 51 people in the

worst mass killing in the nation's history but the ban does not include other weapons like pump action guns, which is what police believe the attacker used. >> claudio, thank you. former minneapolis police officer derek chauvin is expected to ask the u.s. supreme court to review his conviction for second degree murder in the killing of george floyd. this comes after minnesota's supreme court denied his petition, letting his 22 1/2-year sentence stand floyd died after chauvin pressed his knee on his neck it happened after noid ffloyd to use a counterfeit $20 bill netflix added nearly 6 million new customers during the second quarter netflix reported lower than expected revenue in the q2

earnings report, which sent shares tumbling about 8% after trading hours the and for those still sharing the count, netflix said it will start cracking down on the rest of its customers this week. it's shaping up to be the summer of severe weather michelle has her eye on impacts coast-to-coast e coast-to-coast we're talking heat alerts, storm alerts the southwestern states into the southeast, in 90s. you factor in the humidity, it will feel over 100 millions once again in heat alerts 5 million impacted by flood alerts alerts heavy rain, areas of illinois and kentucky it could lead to flash flooding as well because the ground is so saturated. we have a few spots that could

see flash flooding from the interior parts of the northeast, down through the tennessee valley, especially where you see the darker blue color where we could see rainfall rates exceeding one inch per hour. that's a look at the billing weather story of the day here's a closer look at ur dayyo take a closer look at how high those temperatures are going to get and also where we're going to see those storms. >> michelle keeping busy, thank you. new details and more questions s surroundining a mis alalabama womaman. rroundnding a alabama wowoman. nonow, i dish h differentlt. i run it daily. weekdaysys... weekendsds... sometimes afafter a big snack.

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went missing many questions remain about what happened to carlee russell who says she was abducted at night on a stretch of highway in alabama. now police say they can't verify most of what she said. nbc's sam brock reports. >> reporter: after days of questions, police say they're still investigating where carlee russell went over a 49-hour period >> what we can say is we've been unable to verify most of c carlee's initial statement need to investigators, and there is no risk to the public. >> what is he wearing? >> it's a white tee shirt, and it doesn't look like he has any pants on looks like a diaper. >> reporter: but the police chief said as the call was being made, data from carlee's phone

spay says she drove 600 feet. >> a toddler, 3 or 4 years old would travel six football fields without getting in the highway or crying? >> reporter: law enforcement laid out a timeline which included her taking toilet paper from work and purchasing snacks which were never found she searched online, including, do you pay for an amber alert. a search for a one-way bus ticket and a search for the movie "taken." police adding that carlee told investigators that a man with orange hair came onto the roadway and made her go over a fence, pulling her into a car and then a 18 wheeler. she says she was then able to break free, only to be abducted again. russell's parents standing by their daughter earlier this week >> do you believe there is an abductor still out there >> absolutely. absolutely we have no reason to believe

there wasn't or isn't. >> reporter: nbc news reached out to the russell family following police press conference, but they declined to comment. did you speak to carlee's parents? and why do you think they are so adamant at that there was an abductor >> i think the parents are believing what the daughter is saying >> reporter: how would you characterize what happened here? >> that's the hundred dollar question the president of stanford university has announced he will step down next month following an inquiry into his past research as a neuroscientist in a statement, he said he was cleared of quote any fraud or falsification of scientific data but made the decision to step down for the good of the university a report bit univy the trustees that five papers that he was an author on that had either engaged in inappropriate manipulation of research data or

engaged in practices that resulted in major flaws on those papers one of the country's most indigenous universities said legacy status already played a negligible role in admissions. other elite schools have already dropped legacy admissions, dropped legacy admissions, including amhurst and t and just between us, you know what's better than mopping? anything! hifrm.m.i.t. pokey y momon fans arere brd anand bushy tatailed ns a are brd and bushy y tailed a absorbs dit and grime e deep insidide. and it helelps preventnt ststreaks and d haze. wetjetet is so wororth it.

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we've got the break down in trends and entertainment, and what better way to start than comic-con. it will be light on star power this year as the sag-aftra strike caused the cancellation of two dozen celebrity panels. fans will be able to explore the merch though the strike is just impacting so much that people may not even think about. >> i feel for the fans who really were hoping to meet some of the stars, and they won't be able to. turning now to one biggest media franchises on earth, pokemon is out with a new app. pokemon sleep released in the u.s. yesterday users just have to fall asleep to play. their smartphones will record and measure sleep patterns and when they wake up, new pokemon will be in the app that's something us or if you are up at home may not be able to play. >> put the kids to bad with that

incentive. kind of like the "let's be quiet" game. and investigators in australia are looking at an object that is a size of a small car washed ashore on a remote beach. the space agency is in contact with other space agencies around the world to try to identify where it could have come from. >> have to be careful. it might be hazardous. this thing is massive and so old. could have carcinogens so so beware. still to come on "early today," are you up for a barben-h-heimer doububle feature barbenen-heimer dodouble featute suffffer like ththat. d i started d cosentyx®®. fifive years c clear. i started d cosentyx®®. real peoeople with p psorias i started d cosentyx®®. look andnd feel betttter with cosenentyx. dodon't use ifif you're alallc toto cosentyx.x. bebefore startrting get chched fofor tubercululosis. dodon't use ifif you're alallc toto cosentyx.x. an i increased r risk of ininfection, s some seriouos and a a lowered abability toto fight thehem may occuc. tetell your dodoctor abouout an infecection oror symptoms s or if you u d a vaccinine or plan n to.

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rather than splitting audiences like an atom, theaters are offing offering double feature. >> reporter: one tells the story of the creation of the atomic bomb the other, the bubble gum pink tale of a classic doll both "barbie" and "oppenheimer" hit theaters friday. and many have decided the best way to see them is back to back. a movie odd couple dubbed barb barben-h-heimer. this manan bought hihis s ticke about three weeks in advance >> for me, it's my love of cinema of and i think that's a lot of people, too >> reporter: and he's not alone. amc theaters confirms more than 40,000 fans have bought tickets for the double feature "oppenheimer" produced by the parent company of nbc. how big a boost is this for the

industry if light of the fact that we have two major unions on strike >> everyone is up in the air it's an affirmation that there's so much val tu ue to actors >> reporter: but barben-heimer is a commitment. you'll be at the theater for over four hours.s. >> the mood you have leaving "oppenheimer" is different than the mood you will have with "barbie. >> reporter: no matter, it is expected to score big at the box office >> the world will remember this day. >> reporter: savannah sellers, nbc news, new york >> you and i were talking about it, like such a big commitment i don't know if we can do it i'm doing half i'm going to see "barbie." >> that's a lot of popcorn and sour patch kids. a southwestern japan native

jumped his way to a guinness world record this week the 15-year-old broke a record after he completed what is called a jump rope octuple-under. it took him 50 minutes and 28 attempts before successfully landing the trick. the previous record was held and called an suptupl-under. >> you can't even see the rope, it's going so fast never even heard of such a trick. and here we breaking records thanks so much for watching "early today." i'm frances rivera. >> i'm jessica layton v a great thursday see you tomorrow see you tomorrow