emilie ikeda, nbc news ilie iked. \s a powerful storm barrels toward florida's big ben we're tracking the movement as the sunshine state brace for impact the former president's legal battles begin in georgia his competitors are looking at one primary in martha could

conflict with his court date a south carolina student killed when he walked up to the wrong house. after a summer of many travel trouble, american airlines is facing legal backlash we break down with the airline will have to shell out million for keeping passengers on the ground and > and a a baear-bary bre "early today" starts right now good morning good to have you with us, i'm jessica layton >> i'm frances rivera. we begin with a familiar but ominous threat for the state of florida. tropical storm idalia is expected to intensify quickly before hitting florida as a possible category 3 hurricane. several have been urged to evacuate priscilla thompson kicks off our

coverage >> reporter: florida's gulf coast taking no chances when it comes to tropical storm idalia >> i come in for the bags that i need and they loaded it in my car. >> reporter: it could become the strongest hurricane to hit florida's big bend since 1950. how bad do you think's going to be >> it looks like it's going to be a bad one >> reporter: mandatory evacuations and school closures along the coast already issued from we >> we want everybody to make the best decisions they can for themselves and their families. >> what we always like to say is run from the water, hide from the wind >> reporter: residents and business owners in the fort myers area concerned and still rebuilding after hurricane ian hit nearly a year ago. >> it was real le harly hard toe

something you built destroyed in an instant >> reporter: gas contaminated with diesel. the contaminated fuel could cause damage to engines. meanwhile, residents are stocking up on supplies and lining up at sandbag locations >> i'm just afraid that our luck is going to run out. we're not going to be prepared one time, and that's when the luck's going to run out. >> reporter: cedar key, florida. >> our thanks to priscilla coming up, ang jiie lassman wil give us an update. a shooting at chapel hill sent the entire campus into lockdown as heavily-armed police swarmed the area students described scenes of terror and confusion >> immediately we all stayed heightened on the stalls

squatting on the toilet. >> later an arrest was made live on nbc station wral. the all-clear given around 5:00 p.m. local time neither the shooting victim nor suspect has been named by authorities yet. and the motive for the shooting is not clear the university police chief says the investigation will take weeks. classes at unc today are canceled the black community in jacksonville is expressing their anger towards governor ron desantis in the wake of this weekend's deadly shooting in jacksonville on sunday the governor was booed at a vigil for the three people killed by a white shooter in what police say was a racially-motivated attack. the desantis administration has been condemned for condemning diversity and equity programs. florida state senator chevron jones, who is black, connected the shooting to desantis' actions and questioned how much

longer they will allow him to keep his foot on our neck. in south florida a deadly helicopter crash was caught on camera the chopper was seen spinning out of control before crashing into an apartment building killing one man on board and a woman on the ground. nbc's tom costello has this report tragedy on a life-saving mission. a sheriff fire helicopter trailing smoke, then spinning out of control just 650 up the chopper's boom and tail rotor buckling under enormous strain, as it nosedived into an apartment building killed in the crash, fire captain paramedic terryson jackson and an unnamed female resident of the apartment building the chopper was responding to a traffic accident with injuries, when the pilot reported he was turning around >> we're having mechanical issues we're head back to our station >> a fire broke out on board

they did their very best from my understanding now, to try to extinguish that fire >> reporter: the pilot and another paramedic were injured in the crash as were two people on the ground. all now reported in fair condition. as the department mourns the loss of captain jackson. >> he was a rock star, one of the best of us, one of the brightest. he bled this profession inside and out all day long >> reporter: it is a copter like this one, used by police and rescue services around the world. >> this is a widely-used helicopter it's got a very good safety record >> among the questions, how and where did that on board fire break out? had the chopper recently gone through any sort of maintenance? had any pilot reported any problems with the chopper? both the fire and sheriff's departments in broward county, though, are mourning one of their own. another tragedy in the air military officials have identified the three u.s. marines killed in a ermt had

crash during a training mission in australia sunday. they were from arlington, virginia, belleville, illinois and jeffserson, colorado. three marines remain in the hospital, one in critical condition. the cause of the crash is still under investigation. judges in washington and georgia are setting the stage for two separate trials featuring the former president with one expected to bump up next to a major primary, this as one defendant in the georgia case is making a move to change the venue where he will be tried. alice barr has the story >> reporter: in a year that will be packed with political and legal significance, there's a new date to watch. march 4, 2024, the day before super tuesday. now the trial date for the washington, d.c.-based federal election interference case against former president trump the trump legal team insisting

that's far too soon for a fair trial, noting the millions of pages of discovery trump attorney john lauro saying he won't be able to provide adequate representation and adding that mr. trump is not above the law, but he is not below the law. the former president slamming the mid campaign timing. the defense had asked to push the trial to april 2026, after the presidential election. but ou.s. district judge tandya chutkan rejected that. the judge and legal analyst emphasizing the trump team is already familiar with the evidence >> most of this information, these witnesses, they already know about there was a january 6 select committee hearings they knew about that >> reporter: in a separate case, the former president and his 18 co-defendants are now set to make their initial court

appearances september 6th in georgia, where they're' accused of illegally trying to overturn the 2020 election results. mark meadows taking the stand as he seeks to move his case to federal court, arguing he was acting within the scope of his duties as a federal employee at least one member of the trump legal team watching on as they weigh whether to make the same move in washington, alice barr, nbc news it has been nearly three weeks since those deadly wildfires swept across maui. and now hawaiian electric is pushing back against multiple lawsuits the company has responded saying a fire that started early this morning was caused by power lines that fell. the fire was 100% contained. they say the power lines had been de-energized for more than six hours when another fire started in the afternoon that ravaged lahaina. the cause of the fire is undetermined hawaiian electric declined a

request for interview, but their ceo previously told nbc news they did not have a power shutoff program. we are of course tracking tropical storm idalia as it moves to the florida coast angie, good morning. >> we are still talking about a strong tropical storm eyeidalia it is going to peck up ick up p. we have plenty of watches and warnings up. a hurricane warning for sarasota stretching up into the big bend area that looks like the most impacted here. but tropical storm watches for parts of the carolinas and hurricane watches in effect for other parts of the state of florida. here's path. you see become a category two hurricane by the time we get into the afternoon hours today we are likely going to see rapid

st intensification. you'll see impacts across the state of florida ahead of that with heavy rain working across that area. and then we eventually will start to see the heavier rain wo, raleigh and charlotte. low 90s for montgomery and new orleans and plenty of sunshine this afternoon for dallas and shreveport that's a look at your forecast, ladies, back over to you >> see neyou in a bit philadelphia officials investigate a deadly dirt bike confrontation. and grieving a young life lost to gun violence ng life lost to gun violence. r alth indicators, including mental alertness from one serving. to help keep me sharp.

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early saturday morning and that community is absolutely reeling ree reeling with the loss. >> you lose somebody 20 years old, you know, and especially a local kid from hearing his name in sports and stuff, and not hearing his name anywhere else, you know he's a good kid >> reporter: the madison community still trying to understand the shooting death of 20-year-old nicolas donofrio in south carolina >> i fail for the family, his friends. >> reporter: columbia police responded to south holly street on reports of burglary but it was upgraded to shots fired. donofrio, a university of south carolina student lived on the same street and had attempted to get into the wrong house the shooting is still under investigation and is listed as a homicide >> there's a lot to say about nicki. he was my best friend growing up

ever since first, second grade >> reporter: scott shared the basketball court with donofrio from roughly the fourth grade until high school. he still remembers the night they hung up their back shoes. >> i remember the last time we played together my senior year we both very emotional because we knew it was the last time we'd be on the court together. >> reporter: they had been checking in with one another >> no one wants to go through this alone no one should. we're a big community, and we should stay together >> our thanks to kevin geist for that report. a road rage incident allegedly left a man dead in the heart of philadelphia feet away from independence hall, an area often filled with tourists police say a group of dirt bike riders had a confrontation with a driver of a cadillac and shots were fired one of the bikers was killed and the shooter was injured. a federal judge has

dismissed a lawsuit regarding a transgender sorority sister. they questioned whether the sorority rules allow ed a transgender woman. the judge argued that the sorority bylaws do flnot specif. who doesn't like national cinema day deals and why too much time on the tarmac is costing one airline millions of dollars. news by the numbers is next. ars. news by the numbers is next. mr. marbles will receive recurring deliveries for all of his needs in perpetuity, thanks to autoship from chewy. - i always loved that old man. - what's it say about the summer house? - yeah, the beach house- - the summer residence goes to mr. marbles. (mr. marbles chuckles) - plot twist! - i'm sorry, what?

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today's" break down where we're chatting about the big numbers driving today's headlines. it looks like audiences heard nicole kidman's message. about 8.5 million movie goers flocked to theaters for national cinema day on sunday at 4 bucks a ticket, it helped usher in $34 million in box office sales it's great to have this last push before labor day. >> i still need to see "barbie" and "oppenheimer." stuck in the plane on a tarmac we've all been there, too. no thanks. in its words, to enforce the rights of passengers, the department of transportation hit american airlines with a $4.1 million fine for excessive delays they say the airline violated rules by keeping passengers on the ground for three-plus hours

without the chance to deplane. american airlines says this was due to severe weather. yeah, not always stuff happens, but when you're there with no answers, no food, no drink, it is really ish taiting ta really irritating. >> would you rather be canceled? or wait like that? 3m company has agreed to a hefty fine for allegedly providing faulty earplugs th u.s. military. they will settle over 30,000 lawsuits filed by veterans and service members they say they suffered hearing loss. their manufacturing subsidiary tried to file for bankruptcy protection but that did not work it is no joke. >> when we come back, angie

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♪entyvio, entyvio, entyvio♪ welcome back do you notice anything about this map in yeah, we've got heat alerts, but they're not across parts of the south we to have them across parts of the southwest. but check out these temperatures finally some relief, kind of, for folks across parts of the gulf coast and the south, we'll continue to see high 90s for san antonio and houston, but that's better than the triple digits plus that we've been seeing for days and days. a little farther to the north and we're below normal in a couple spots detroit, 69 degrees, more than ten degrees below normal washington, tk ind.c. into the 80s. a fairly nice forecast for this region as we get through the next couple days and the south finally getting a

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of advanced hair complex. conquer hair thinning... ...and fall in love with your hair all over again. only from nature's bounty. simone biles proved over the weekend she is still at the top of the gymnastics world. winning a historic eighth u.s. championship nbc's emilie ikeda is telling us all about her victorious return to the mat >> reporter: in her first u.s. championships in two years, simone biles twisted, flipped and soared her way into another entry into the record books. >> she's the best in the world and back in a big way. >> reporter: reminding america why she's called the greatest of

all time >> nailed it >> reporter: with the encouragement from training mate jordan chiles, 10,000 fans erupted into a standing ovation as the 26-year-old clenched her eighth all-around title. >> my teammates, my family, everyone i just need to start believing in myself a little bit more. >> reporter: biles is the first person to ever win eight national titles. her first came in 2013 so long ago she says she can barely remember it >> it feels pretty good, but it hasn't really sunken in yet. >> reporter: now she's the oldest national champion ever, appearing to have shaken off the twisties from the tokyo olympics >> i just seriously can't believe i'm out here competing again. i just really can't. so i'm proud of myself for that. >> reporter: her commanding score making clear biles is back and continuing to pull off the impossible, like this vault no other woman can do as for what's next >> you don't want to tell us if paris is one of those personal

goals in. >> not yet >> reporter: the 4'8" dynamo is leaving fans on the edge of their seat emilie ikeda, nbc news >> so glad that she recognized that she's proud of herself. because she should be. she's been through a lot she took time away to take care of herself and she's better than ever >> and everybody is waiting for her to make that decision. maybe she has in her own mind, but we can't wait to see president biden and first lady jill biden dropped by an eighth grade math class to welcome students back for the first dave they of the school yr the first lady will be traveling later in the week to the midwest to celebrate teachers and highlight the mental health needs of students. now to a brave rescue in pennsylvania this is the moment park manager sara lindgren found that baby

bear on the side of the road look at his head stuck in a plastic jar. when she realized he was alive, she moved over to try to get the cub free she didn't spot the mother bear nearby he's got to be so scared after that, but at least free of that jar. thanks for watching "early today," i'm jessica layton >> i'm

right now at 5:00, the debate over school closures about to hit home in san francisco. ahead, we break down some of the missteps that brought the district to the breaking point, and the outlook for financially strapped schools already facing staffing shortages. an unexpected new turn in a tour that never took off. the creator of the doom loop tour is now making the unemployment line walk. new fallout following word of his identity and his surprising