it's wednesday, june 22nd. the rhetoric is heating up as the campaign gets hotter than the blazing midwest wildfires and high temperatures. dangerous weather is ahead today. over 60 million americans are at risk of severe super cells and more pr. new details in the investigation as the attorney general visits orlando and reports of bizarre plane tickets purchased by the shooter. plus, the republicans are messing with fire in cleveland. the u.s. is schooled on the pitch. and reuniting soldiers separated after battle. "early today" starts right now. good morning, everybody. i'm betty nguyen. thanks for joining us today. new fallout from the trump campaign's

hi trump went on twitter calling himself, quote, the king of dead before going on the "today" show to say he is ready and willing to fund his presidential bid. >> i spent 55 million dollars of my own money to win the primaries. 55. now, you know, that is a lot of money by even standard. i may do that again in the general election. i have -- excuse me, matt. i have a lot of cash and i mae do it again in the general election. >> those comments moments before trump sent out an e-mail to fund-raisers he would match their dollars, dollar fordollar. 51% of americans say trump has a better handle on internet connections. yesterday, clinton set her sights on trump's economic strength and business recordnd

>> he has written a lot of books about business. they all seem to end at chapter 11. he bankrupted his companies, not once, not twice, but four times. we can't let him bankrupt america like we are one of his failed casinos. rumor vp candidate elizabeth warren also went after trump. >> donald trump is a fraud, a cheapskate and he is a bully. why do you pay your taxes but donald trump doesn't? if donald trump doesn't even believe in paying his fair share for government, we shouldn't put him in charge of the government. >> trump responded to those jabs last night. >> they have used brilliantly the laws of the country. and not personally. just corporate. and if you look at people like myself that are the highest levels of business, they use many of them have done it many, many times. >> any average americans pay the price, though, for that. >> i'm running a business. you have tond,

business for myself and my company and my employees and my family. hillary wouldn't have any idea how dodd that. somebody has to understand debt and she doesn't understand debt. >> the billionaire did his best to shore up support within his base. not just with donors but can conservative christians who may be the key to electing him president. he used a private meeting with those christians to question clinton's religion despite her methodist faith. >> how about hillary in terms of religion? she has been in the public eye for many years, yet there is nothing out there. just like nothing out there. >> it's a tactic trump used against rivals from ted cruz and president obama to former republican nominee mitt romney. now new questions about the candidate's campaign spending. including golf courses,

resort. while clinton will outline her economic policy in north carolina this afternoon. the clinton camp is reeling from reports that russian hackers infiltrated far deeper into her affairs than was originally thought. the clinton foundation, the former first lady's family charitable organization, is now believed to have been hacked by the same group that went after the democratic national committee and the clinton campaign. three private security firms have concluded the hackers are russians. while some security specialists suggest it may have been carried out by russian intelligence trying to interfere in the election. the democratic party previously has said this is part of a disinformation campaign, but the clinton foundation cautions against the news saying it has not been notified of a cyberattack. meanwhile, the rnc dethroned king james ahead of

convention. the icon of the basketball giant will be removed just days after the cavaliers won their first championship in 52 years. it will come down just in time for donald trump's own coronation. sherwin williams, the owner of the building adjacent to the rnc convention will replace james with this sign in celebration of the company's 150th anniversary and in time to greet gop convention go-ers. a petition to let the poster stay, it got more than 7,000 signatures. following the news, clinton spokesperson sarcastically tweeted, quote, this should end well. the lebron poster is expected to be back up in september. a daring mission is under way at the bottom of the world this morning. rescue crews are working to evacuate a sick researcher from a station in the south pole. yesterday afternoon, a small plane arrived at the remote antarctic base after a 50

cold. the conditions are so extreme and dangerous, one pilot compared it to a journey to the international space station. >> you're the only aircraft operating on an entire continent and flying ten hours to the south pole in darkness. cold temperatures. if anything happens on that flight, you have to support yourself. >> rescuers are now preparing for their return flight amid temperatures dipping below minus 70. good luck to them. thousands of firefighters out west are facing a two-prong battle between heat and fire as searing heat wave fueled dozens of wildfires across california and arizona and utah. hundreds of thousands of people forced from their homes. overnight firefighters focused on two brush fires. nbc's miguel almaguer has more. >> reporter: in the hills outside of los angeles, a firefight in a heat

the conditions extreme. the fire explosive. >> nearly 800 homes have been evacuated. >> i was just sobbing. i didn't want to lose everything. >> reporter: this inferno refused to lay down. two fires merging into one monster blaze and threatening neighborhoods. >> i'm really feeling kind of scared because i've had to leave my home and i don't know what is going to happen. >> reporter: the air attack here is critical. they are using helicopters to reach hillsides and firefighters on the ground can't. but the resources are spread thin. those helicopters are going from fire-to-fire. across the west, some 8,000 firefighters are on the front lines of 20 huge wildfires. a searing heat wave making the battle more difficult. it's all hand on deck, facing fire and heat. this fierce summer battle is just beginning to explode. the orlando nightclub shooter bought plane tickets to travel to california just two days after the

the family trip was reportedly to visit omar mateen's ailing mother-in-law. it's unclear why bought the tickets if he was planning the shooting. federal officials say mateen went to pulse the night around the massacre and left two hours before returning and opening fire. with what he was doing gh that two-hour period is under investigation. a source close to mateen's family tells nbc news he sent his wife a text message during the rampage asking her, quote, do you see what is happening? she continues to cooperate with investigators and has not been charged with any crime. yesterday, attorney loretta lynch met with victims of the shooting and met with people inside city hall and also talked about the investigation. >> i cannot tell you definitively we will ever narrow it down to one motivation. people often act out of more than one motivation. this was clearly an act of terror and an act of hate. storm chasers in wesrn

it was so bad, it cracked the car windshield in several places. you see that there. some of the hail was the size of baseballs. meteorologist bill karins is watching this. >> i'm guessing they were not happy to get caught there. >> dangerous, though. that big of hail falling down. >> oh, yeah. that is dangerous. not typically deadly but what we are dealing with today could potentially be deadly and that is the big concern today. already, flash flooding a huge concern right now in areas of iowa. then this afternoon, we are dealing with the potential of tornadoes, maybe a strong tornado or two. outbreak severe weather starts in southern wisconsin and rush through illinois and indiana and overnight into ohio and possibly as far south as west virginia. a few strong tornadoes are possible and most likely up in northern illinois and southern wisconsin. could get 70-mile-per-hour wind out of this as the s

lafayette and central indiana and dayton and cincinnati and columbus the overnight period. the red is a strong risk of severe storms. the tornado threat is greatest as we go throughout the more or less the early evening. the timing of the storms doesn't look that impressive. a lot of people are struggling with how this is all coming together. around 8:00 p.m. from chicago to this area and overnight these storms are moving through areas of ohio so the timing of it. you can expect the worst and most dangerous weather in your area. that is the a look at the national weather. now a closer look at your day ahead. the other story is the heat. 102 today in st. louis and heat index 110 to 115 and heat advisories up in

and those are the ones that are the most deadly. up next, a cash thief inside a major tunnel leading to new york city. why you shouldn't "horse" around at a dui checkpoint. you're watching erled. "early today." oday." if you have allergy congestion, muddling through your morning is nothing new. ...your nose is the only thing on your mind... ...and to get relief, anything is fair game. introducing rhinocort® allergy spray from the makers of zyrtec®. powerful relief from your most frustrating nasal allergy symptom* ,all day and all night. hasn't your nose been through enough already? try new rhinocort® allergy spray. muddle no more® no, no, no, no, [music] people are both soft and strong... yey! which is why our products are too. angel soft.

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search is under way off the florida coast for a 29-foot sailboat carrying a man and his three teenage children. they were last heard from sunday morning. the man called his brother that afternoon and saying they were in distress off the coast of englewood. coast guard prompted a search and more as the story develops. three people arrested on the new jersey side of the holland tunnel on tuesday. police found multiple ploguns. they were pulled over for

cracked windshield. an investigation is under way. north korea launched two mid-range ballistic missiles in defiance of u.n. sanctions. the first launch was considered a failure by south korea's military and it dropped into the sea after 90 miles. the second flew nearly 250 miles. the pentagon said the u.s. is prepared to defend its allies in the region. later this morning, michigan attorney general bill chuty will announce several charges with the flint contaminated water. it comes two months after three people were charged in the crisis. a fast food worker was arrested after a milk shake order. hf complaining about the drink, a worker made two replacements and then the customer began throwing things and then leaped over the counter to chase the woman. the 62-year-old says she is afraid to return to work and hopes someone recognizes the man so police can arrest him. and it was a first f

golden, colorado, dui checkpoint. several riders on horses galloped up. the officers checked i.d.s and made sure the riders were sober before they moosied off into the night. the unidentified owner of this picasso purchased it in 1973 for around $486,000. if you think that is a lot, it just sold for over $63 million! that is a good return of investment. facebook has signed deals worth about 50 million dollars with 140 media companies and celebrates and include gordon ramsey and kevin hart and others who will provide content for its new live feature, facebook live. stock futures are higher at the moment. on whether the uk will remain a part of the european union or whether they will opt out. how did the u.s. men's soccer team fare against the

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this morning, on "today," hallie jackson sits down with the cast of "west wing." is a possible reunion in the future? tune in to find out. to sports. the u.s. men's soccer team faced the world's best player messe and his team from argentina in

goal and two assists as argentina routed team usa 4-0. cavaliers fans prepare for the first championship parade in half a century, many are marking the moment for all eternity. local tattoo parlors are busier than ever. the paper normally sells 36,000 copies. the majors. the white sox chris sale is the first majors winner so far. the lakers welcome luke walton as the takes over the second worst team in the nba. which power player just joined the snap chat community? the queen has some tricks up her sleeve. you're watching "early today." y" ♪

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ank you, bill. to entertainment news. first lady michelle obama has joined the snapchat community and comes ahead of her let girls learn campaign overseas. james corden made it on the first lady's account and teasing her upcoming carpool karaoke appearance. she is accused of bringing more than 10,000 australian dollars into the u.s. and not reporting it and first charged last year for trying to hide 775,000 dollars from the lifetime network reality show during her bankruptcy claim. it turns out the queen of england is savvy in social media. she tweeted a thank you message to those who wished her well on her birthday and if you don't believe it was really her look at this picture here. they have a picture to prove it. the royal palance promptly postd this picture of the queen tweeting on her ipad. they are among the high

stance on the issue. on tuesday, beckhams said they will remain with the eu. the latest report on donald trump made the rounds on last night's comedy shows. >> i a new election commissioner report came out saying the trump campaign isn't doing so well financially and is practically broke. it's not good on. i mean, in fact, today trump stole a bunch of towels from his own totally. >> i can't believe trump has so little cash. i always knew those huge skyscrapers were overcompensating for something in his pants. i just never imagined it was his wallet! >> crazy to say a billionaire is broke? >> bankruptcy? billionaires kind of don't go together. right? i'm betty nguyen and this is "early today." it's not a quick fix. it's my decision to make beauty last. roc retinol started visibly reducing my fine lines and wrinkles in one week.

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>> good morning, i'm angie. out of the san gabriel mountains, two fires rocking the area. the problem, closer to each other. take a look at some of this video here. together they have managed to scorch 5400 acres. also new, progress being made in fighting that sherpa fire in santa barbara. it is 80% contained. officials say they are going to have this under control by midnight tonight. eun? >> thank you. >> former house speaker, dennis haster will report to serve a 15-month sentence. he took a plea deal in october admitting he broke banking laws