new charges leveled at the former president donald trump face as fresh round of indictments and is due in court tomorrow we break down what the new legal fight means for his 2024 aspirations. a powerful typhoon brings powerful flooding to china

20 confirmed deaths and dozens still missing. we have got the latest as china braces for another storm on the way. hope for hollywood talks set to reopen between the writers guild and studio executives lizzo's backup dancers say truth hurts, in the form of a lawsuit. they say the star harassed and verbally abused them ai is everywhere, and now one summer camp is making sure the next generation is ready for t th it they're learning what makes machines tick. "early today" starts right now >> good morning. i'm vinita nair. >> happy wednesday i'm jessica layton it was another historic legal development this morning a former president accused of defrauding the united states and subverting the electoral process. a grand jury in washington

indicted former president donald trump in connection with jack smith's investigation into trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election. the indictment charges trump with four counts, including conspiracies to obstruct the counting of electoral votes and to disenfranchise voters it also mentions six co-conspirators. a scheme in which seven states became targets of efforts by trump and his team to alter the results of that election >> for more we go to drew petramoix in washington. there is a lot in this indictment give us the bullet points from all of this. >> reporter: good morning, jessica and vanita the indictment is the third brought against former president trump this year. and it's made up of four counts, conspiracy to defraud the u.s., conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding and a conspiracy against rights. these charges stem from trump

and his allies' alleged actions leading up to and on the dave january 6, 2021. prosecutors say it was part of a criminal scheme to overturn joe biden's victory in the 2020 lix a le election with a possible 5 to 20 years in prison. he is not charged with inciting the riot at the capitol on january 6. here's what special counsel jack smith had to say about the charges on tuesday evening >> it was fueled by lies lies by the defendant, targeted at obstructing a bedrock function of the u.s. government, the nation's process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election. >> smith added that his office will seek a speedy trial trump set to be arraigned in

washington on thursday the former president is staring down the gauntlet of several civil and crimal charges between now and the 2024 election, with the possibility of more in ongoing investigations in a statement, the trump campaign referred to these latest charges as election interference, and likened the probe to authoritarian regimes, such as nazi germany >> we also heard you mention the allies of president trump. what is their involvement in this indictment? >> reporter: the indictment lists six co-conspirators who assisted trump in his efforts to overturn the election. so far, nbc news has been able to identify five out of the six figures, they include rudy giuliani, sydney powell and john eastman and jeffrey clark. these conspirators have not been indicted but prosecutors do not typically name co-conspirators who have

not been charged with any crime. in a statement, an attorney for rudy giuliani classified it as election interference and says it eviscerates the first amendment by bringing charges for questioning the results of an election. let's turn now to the dangerous situation growing out west the york fire burning in california's mojave desert is the largest the country has seen all year so is i isn in a remotea ar and is only about 20% contained. it is destroying protected joshua trees and threatening endangered animals as it grows and spills into nevad nevada, it is creeping closer to communities. 20 people have died in and around beijing more than 30 are still missing and tens of thousands have been evacuated. it's one of the worse storms to hit northern china this years. our janis mackey frayer is in

beijing reporting on the devastation. >> reporter: the rain has been relentless and the images gripping floodwaters rushing in more than a dozen districts of beijing, trapping cars, stranding people, rescuers using pulleys, cables and lifeboats to get them to safety a city of 22 million people inundated with tor s of water, from roads to rivers to airport runways in this mountainous district, more than 18 inches of rain in 48 hours and a flash flood forced the evacuation of 52,000 residents from inttheir home there's never been such a severe flood, say this is man, adding, we hid at home and couldn't come out. the water came heavy, and it came fast, with tons of mud and debris and nowhere to go water, power, and communications lines have been down here since monday

the mud is really thick. the water's starting to recede and revealing the damage this woman telling us, i've never seen anything like it before the downpours are the worst in a decade here. as the remnants of the typhoon unleashed on northern china. according to officials, at least 20 people are dead in beijing, and several are still missing. and warning that another powerful storm is on the way janis mackey frayer, nbc news, beijing. the pentagon has suspended the training of special forces in niger one week after a military coup in the west african country. the u.s. has about 1100 troops stationed in niger right now they're supporting local forces in fighting islamic extremist groups that is a key reason why the biden white house is holding off on formally designating the situation as a coup, since that could trigger an end to security

aid to a key african ally against both terrorist attacks and russian influence. pope francis is on his way to portugal on his first trip abroad since having intestinal surgery in june. in addition to celebrating mass and meeting with political leaders and diplomats, pope francis is also expected to meet with sexual abuse survivors. a portuguese commission found that thousands of children were molested by members of the country's catholic church over the past 70 years. police in muncy, indiana say they've made an arrest in a shooting the mayor announced that a 36-year-old man named john vance was arrested he has been charged with several felonies more details are expected at a press conference later on this morning. through this morning,

potential progress in the writers strike that has halted much of hollywood. allianc allie studios has requested a meeting. turning to the forecast now. a summer storm system is bringing powerful wind and rain to the midwest that could mean hail or flooding for millions of americans. nbc meteorologist angie lassman has her hands full with this one. good morning >> we've been talking about the heat that's going to stick around now we're adding in showers, thunderstorms and potentially severe storms striking the middle of the country. let's talk about where it's ramping up the rain in parts mov missouri, into iowa. it will be draped across parts of the upper midwest heavy rain on the table but also

stronger storms that could include wind gusts and hail in missouri and stretching into illinois and kentucky. meanwhile, heavy rain is going to be one of the biggest threats we'll have to deal with, with repeated rounds of thunderstorms. st. louis already has gflood alerts of t alerts arr sioux falls, and p minneapolis will deal with showers and thunderstorms. that's a look at your forecast, ladies, back over to you coming up, we have a live rte surprise credit downgrade for the united states.

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its workers. grant stevens from our kansas city affiliate has more on how the closure is affecting the entire trucking industry >> repor >> this is not a job this is a lifestyle. >> reporter: a lifestyle that's been much harder lately. >> look up the companies that have gone out of business. you're going to be shocked >> reporter: yellow corporation is the latest example. with yellow gone, that leaves the rest of the industry to pick up the slack, which could be good or bad news, depending on how these drivers see tit we found anthony at a truck stop he hopes his company picks up what yellow dropped. he's only seen his mileage cut where are you at right now >> somewhere in kansas >> reporter: we called jennifer lynchworth to get an independent driver's take. were you surprised to see that a big company is no longer

>> yeah. yeah, like you said, they've been around forever. i see yellow trucks all over the place. >> reporter: it's made her second guess offers to sign on with the company she's particularly glad she didn'take another driver's advice to sign with yellow >> i actually happened across her at a truck stop. >> reporter: despite a somewhat deflated disposition, the drivers we spoke with aren't going anywhere, except to the next load.>> i'm just going to what i'm doing >> reporter: yellow's closure is worrying, but someone has to keep on trucking >> with this job, i freakin' love it. >> our thank fosss to grant stes the united states has got and credit downgrade we're joinedo explain why haed and wha will mean for the markets.

good morning >> reporter: good morning, ladies shockingne sh shocking news overnight, the u.s.' credit rating has been downgraded they have cited expected fiscal deterioration over the next three years, a high and growing debt burden and the erosion of debt governance. but there has been push back we heard from treasury secretary yellen shortly after she released a statement, saying the decision was arbitrary and based on outdated data we seeing a bit of a negative reaction in futures. as for other instruments, fixed' eing money going intose instruments. the dollar is trading sideways the market reaction has been quite minimal, but the statement is quite significant the last time this happened was

in august 2011 afterwards you did see markets climb northwards, so they brushed it off back then >> it's interesting to see what happens for the remainder of the day. still to come, is it about that courtroom time for lizzo in the latest on the lawsuit filed against the singer and taylor swift enchanting the people behind her eras tour with a multi-million dollar thank you. a multi-million doll thank you. 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.

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we're back with this nbc news exclusive, as lizzo is facing some legal woes three of her former backup dancers are taking the grammy winner to court, accusing her of sexual harassment and weight shaming. this comes as a big shock to fans who have known lizzo to be a staunch advocate for body positivity while we don't flow hknow how m

money they seeking, they also blame her company. reps did not respond to requests for comment. if this is true, it is very upsetting. >> some of those dancers were interviewed exclusively by the "today" show speaking on the beeat of music. taylor swift can't shake off this headline. she has reportedly given away $55 million in bonuses while she's been on the road according to "people" magazine, she has gifted raises to her whole crew the tour that started all the ticketmaster turmoil kicked off in march, and she is planning on taking it overseas next year it's not the first time we have heard about her and bonuses. she is generous. >> i would say an opposite of the cruel summer and serena williams served up a out of this world gender reveal.

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>> three, two, one >> reporter: instead of roasting marshmallows, these high schoolers at princeton university's ai for all camps are programming drones >> there it is >> reporter: using artificial intelligence >> stay there, stay there. >> reporter: so what is this >> this is the drone simulation. >> reporter: you all learned all of this just in the past three weeks? >> yes week, did >> reporter: it's incredible here they learn how robots move and think, and even teach drones how to map out areas on their own. so they can dongs like monitor forest fires in places that humans can't reach. >> we use it to detective like illegal mining activities. >> reporter: it all started back if 2015 at stanford, uni univer as a way to close the gender gap in the artificial intelligence field. now it'sused to reach women an people of color.

there's a lot of fear around ai right now. and this is part of what's driving people away. they don't see role models that look like them they don't have a peer support network. and we try to address all of it, demystify some of the technology and reduce the fear. >> reporter: and in a data-driven industry, the data is striking. job posting for generative ai have increased more than 540% in the last three years, but industrywide, women make up just 30% of ai workers. do you see a lot of women who look like you? >> not a lot i wish there were more >> reporter: and it's a field where people of color are dramatically underrepresented. a trend these students say they plan to break. what would you say to other young women, other people of color who may be hesitant toaroe don'tmidate and be open mindeto learn new things.>s

>> yes >> repor a new generation, changing the technology that's changing the world >> be curious. our thanks to morgan radford for that report. coming up on the "today" show emilie ikeda takes a look at how the summer heat wave is causing an uptick m sin snake bites i'm gr i'm grad we're not showing that right now. >> thanks for watching "early today. >> have a great wednesday an stay cool out thd erstay right n

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