Develop a coronavirus vaccine. One of the first human trials showing signs of potential. This is a promising, encouraging, first step. What the doctor leading that trial is telling us this morning. Demanding answers. Congressional leaders set to be briefed on intelligence that russia paid to have u. S. Troops killed. And from moscow, breaking news overnight, as the power play by Vladimir Putin could keep him in office for 16 more years. Back to work . Todays monthly jobs report smashing expectations. The u. S. Economy adding nearly 5 million jobs in june. The Unemployment Rate falling to 11 . With restaurants and businesses can it last . Wet wedding. A couple taking photos for their big day in california washed out to sea by a large wave. Inside the dramatic rescue straight ahead. Those stories, plus, batter up the boys of summer return to the field. Our firsthand look at what the teams are doing to bring back baseball. Today, thursday, july 2nd, 2020. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb, from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Hi, everybody. Welcome to today. 7 00 a. M. On the west coast. Hoda has the morning off. I did enjoy my time with you, craig, in studio 1a. I want to see my kids, so im working from home again this morning. We are starting with the Stunning Development in the Jeffrey Epstein case. This is a day a lot of people waited for. We learned his long time friend who is accused of having involvement in his crimes has been arrested in new hampshire. Lets get to justice correspondent pete williams. Good morning to you. Were just learning about the arrest and charges. The charges have been unsealed. We got word from federal Law Enforcement officials, they arrested gill an maxwell, confidant of Jeffrey Epstein, youngest daughter of the british publishing executive Robert Maxwell and lived for years with epstein, but many young women said she played a role in facilitating his recruitment of young woman who were sexually abused, and claims about her role came into sharper focus last fall when Court Filings were unsealed, they included former ma sues, people regularly in his houses and described her in Court Documents as chief enabler of Jeffrey Epsteins sexual predations. She described the allegations as rubbish. He was found dead in a jail cell last august where he awaited trial on sex trafficking charges. Authorities believe he committed suicide. He was charged with seeking out young girls, some as young as 14, paying them for sex at his townhouse in new york city and vast estate in florida. Even with his death, prosecutors said they were determined to carry on the investigation looking at anybody who may have been involved in recruiting or facilitating sex with minors. Federal Officials SayGhislaine Maxwell was taken into authority at 8 30 this morning living in bedford, new hampshire, savannah. Pete, thank you so much on the breaking news. Prosecutors are going to have a News Conference later where well learn about the charges. Our reporting is that conspiracy is one of them, conspiracy and sexual abuse of minors. It is a significant development. Savannah, heres the thing, someone whos covered this from the beginning, you spent time with one of epsteins accusers, it is hard to understate how significant a development this is. It is huge. When you talk to accusers, i interviewed many of them over the years, they said she was not just a recruiter or enabler but a participant in sexual abuse and trafficking of minors with epstein. The accusers waited all this time for something to happen with regard to her. Many said why hasnt she been charged, whats the holdup. After Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in jail and many accusers felt like justice was stolen from them, for some the arrest will provide some sense of that justice. They wanted to see her in court. Judging from the charge, conspiracy, it is a substantive charge, not a technical she was involved in the sidelines, it is a serious charge. As mentioned, the federal prosecutors are expected to say more later. Should know more about the evidence in a few hours at a News Conference. Thats one big breaking news story this thursday morning. The other is coronavirus cases. Yes, and theyre skyrocketing, particularly out west. The country set a new record yesterday. The fifth time in eight days, craig. As cases explode, reopenings are being rolled back from coast to coast. Overnight curfew. In california, theyve shut down bars, indoor eating and movie theaters in 19 counties. In new york city, theyre postponing plans for Indoor Dining indefinitely. And of course, meantime, the Trump Administration is moving ahead with plans for a massive fourth of July Fireworks display in the nations capitol. 300,000 masks will be available on the national mall. People will not be required to wear them. We have a live report from los angeles in a moment. We start with another hot spot, miami. Kerry sanders is there. Good morning. Good morning, savannah. The growing National Crisis is reflected at Jackson Memorial hospital in miami. They cancelled future elective surgeries and are advertising for 80 additional nurses. Urgent need as spread of coronavirus is reaching belief the virus will fade away. I think well be very good with the coronavirus. I think at some point thats going to sort of just disappear, i hope. Arizona reporting a staggering record, 4877 new positive coronavirus tests in the last 24 hours. Nurses in phoenix overwhelmed. Hospitalizations in the state hitting the highest level since the pandemic began. Starting to look a little like new york did. The same stress felt at icus in california. No good news to share, just sadness. Weeks after reopening, the governor locking the state down again. Shutting all bars, indoor restaurants and movie theaters in 19 counties for at least three weeks as california notches another high. 6,402 new cases in one day. Please, do not take your guard down. It is one of 14 states tallying record highs in the last week. In tuscaloosa, alabama, some students have been attending dangerous covid19 parties with the intent of spreading the disease. Theyre putting money up and purposely trying to get covid from the person that has covid, and apparently whoever gets it first gets the pot. In miami, businesses that dont follow safety guidelines could be shut for 30 days. Lines to get tested so long it can take a full day of waiting. Among those increasingly in line, people in their 20s and 30s. You can have it and you feel fine, but you can pass it along to somebody else. People are asked to keep a list of those attending a barbeque making tracing easier if someone gets sick. New york is showing caution as they delay Indoor Dining scheduled to start next week. The holiday cancellations ruining a favorite summertime ritual for many. I want to be out here. They say the greatest concern is this weekend, people will ignore social distancing, go without masks, the fear is theyll begin to see people show up at hospitals like this about two weeks later. Thats typically the lag time. Kerry sanders for us in miami, thank you. There is some encouraging news this morning though in the battle against the coronavirus. New hope for a potential vaccine, and the Science Behind it could be revolutionary. Nbc National CorrespondentMiguel Almaguer joins us with details on this. Miguel, good morning to you. Reporter hey, craig. Good morning. This experimental vaccine from pfizer really is cuttingedge medicine. It hopes to work by manipulating the virus genetic code to boost the bodys immunity. Now, preliminary data is showing promising results. This morning, new evidence we may be one step closer to an effective coronavirus vaccine. On wednesday, pfizer and its german biotech partner biontech releasing data on their experimental vaccine, showing spurred immune responses in Healthy People. 45 Healthy People between 18 and 55 took part in the trial. 24 were given two doses of the vaccine, all developed higher levels of antibodies than typically seen in recovered patients. Nyu chief of infectious disease, dr. Mark mulligan, is leading the trial. What we found is it produced an antibody response, including neutralizing antibodies, in 100 of people that received the vaccine. This is a promising, encouraging, first step, but its not a slam dunk. Reporter more than half of patients who received a dose reported side effects, including fever and sleep disturbances deemed nonserious by pfizer. Yoga instructor melissa hahnkanen was one of the first Healthy Volunteers to get the injection. After the second dose, i felt a little achy and my temperature was elevated. I took a tylenol and felt better. Reporter pfizers trial is 1 of 17 currently in effect around the world. It alters the genetic code, making the body make antibodies without exposing people to the virus itself. Still to be determined, whether higher antibody levels lead to immunity to the virus. That takes time. You have to watch for a period of time before you can tell. Its too early to say yet. Reporter two more larger trials are needed before possible approval. Researchers say further testing is also planned on a more Diverse Group of volunteers, including the elderly, people of color, and pregnant women. We need to do fullscale, phase three Clinical Trials in order to get a full sense of the safety of these vaccines, as well as their ability to actually protect against infection. Reporter pfizers final phase will test the vaccine on 30,000 people in the u. S. And europe. Itll take months to determine, though, if those vaccines given were protecting people, compared to those who got the placebo. Pfizer also hopes to have approval by the end of the year, and says it can make up to 100 million doses by then. More than 1 billion by the end of 2021. Savannah . All right. Miguel, thank you so much. Some breaking news tied to the economic toll of the pandemic thats encouraging. Department of labor released the monthly jobs report. Employers added 4. 8 million jobs in june, the Unemployment Rate fella second straight month to 11. 1 . Stephanie ruhle joins us to break it down. These were good numbers. They reflect june, the month that just passed. What do you think . Listen, theyre good numbers. It is good to see the economy start to recover, but remember, we lost 22 million jobs in march and april. Thats the bottom. 7. 5 million came back in june. Those 7. 5 million jobs are important, especially to those people and families that are back to work. But this is a long road ahead. The fact you remind us it is june is why it is important. Think of what we have seen in the last two weeks. June is when we saw some levels of reopening across all 50 stal states and Seasonal Hiring and the ppp loan, people were spending and hiring. Much of that support will run out in the month of july. In the last two weeks, you have been discussing it the last 15 minutes with other reporters, were seeing spikes and closures again across the country. So you cant look at this number as the president does as a rocket ship, were coming right back. Yes, we are in a recovery phase but it is a really complicated time. And people are very hopeful that the economy will continue to go up, but it depends on what happens with the pandemic. You mentioned and just briefly, do you know what might happen with some of the government benefits set to expire in july . Listen, its going to be interesting. Weve heard from many republicans, they said people getting the 600 a week is incentivizing them not to go back to work. At the same time, treasury secretary steve mnuchin, jay powell said the country needs more support, more stimulus. Congress is going to have to come together, make some sort of decision. Come this month when federal housing evictions expire, when people have to pay their taxes, when we lose that extra 600, youll see a big negative impact. With the election five months away, the president isnt going to want to see that for the american people. Stephanie ruhle, our Business Correspondent on breaking news, thank you. 15 minutes after the hour. Craig, to you. Lets turn to the latest on russias bounties for killing u. S. Troops in afghanistan. And when the Trump Administration knew about the intelligence. This morning, the demand for answers is growing on capital hill. The president is also now weighing in. Peter alexander is at the white house for us. Peter, good morning to you. Good morning. The cia director and director of National Intelligence are scheduled to deliver the highest level briefing about the u. S. Intelligence to the gang of eight, group of bipartisan house and Senate Leaders expected in an hour from now. Democrats nancy pelosi and Chuck Schumer on an issue the president dismisses as a hoax. He is yet to say what it could mean to his relationship with Vladimir Putin. With congressional leaders set to receive an intelligence briefing on reports that russia offered cash to taliban fighters to kill american troops in afghanistan, President Trump in his first Public Comments is explaining why he says he was not initially briefed. This didnt rise to the occasion, and from what i hear, and i hear it pretty good, the intelligence people didnt even, many of them didnt believe it happened at all. I think it is a hoax. I think it is a hoax by the newspapers and the democrats. Still, the white house, state department, and some members of congress knew about it months ago. O des say has now been briefed insists if the intelligence is true, the u. S. Will respond. If it did happen, the russians would hear about it and anybody else would hear about it that was involved. While President Trump casts doubt on the credibility of the intelligence, his National Security adviser says senior officials took it seriously enough to warn the pentagon and allies, and to prepare for a possible response. If this information turned out to be true, now we may never know, if it turned out to be true, we had options ready to go and the president was ready to take strong action as he always is. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls for tougher sanctions on russia over the alleged tion of he has undermined any credibility he may have had as commander in chief if he could call a possible assault on our troops, our men and women in uniform by the russians a hoax without even wanting to read about it. The National Security adviser says the information was in the president s written Daily Briefing but it was the decision of the president s intelligence briefer, a career cia analyst, not to brief him verbally on unverified intelligence. Still, current and former National Security officials tell nbc news intelligence is almost always unverified and they argue it is not credible that a career Government Official would have ahead of the fourth of july as many cities across the country cancel celebrations due to the surge in coronavirus cases, the president tomorrow heads to south dakota, set to attend a fireworks display at mount rushmore. The governor says masks will be handed out, but not required, says social distancing will not be enforced. Peter alexander from the white house this thursday morning. Thank you. It is 7 18. Lets get a check of the weather. Most of the country has above average temperatures. Out west, it is comfortable. A little cloudy and gray in seattle area with moisture coming in on shore, but we are going to see lots of sunshine from the coast of oregon, down the coast of florida, too. Inland areas dealing with warmer temperatures. Obviously gets above 100 degrees in las vegas and phoenix, but along the coast, San Francisco, 62 degrees. Med ford oregon, 68. And we have some clouds. Today we continue with a lot of sunshine for most of the west coast, unsettled in the pacific northwest. Tomorrow, well see pretty much more of the same. A good amount of sunshine for the western third of the country the western third of the country and scattered showers in the the western third of the country and scattered showers in the now is the time to support the places you love. Spend 10 dollars or more at a participating Small Business and get 5 dollars back, up to 10 times with american express. Enroll now at shopsmall. Com. Good thursday morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. Lets head outside with a live look out there in the east bay checking out walnut creek. Were starting out with Cool Temperatures this morning and will actually be a little bit cooler today along with a stronger ocean breeze kicking up for today as our high temperatures in the trivalley reach 85. Well reach 82 in san jose and some low 70s in oakland. As we go through this forecast, it will warm up in time for the fourth of july. Thats your thats your latest forecast savannah all right, dylan. Thank you. Just ahead this morning, were going to head to spring training in the summertime, with players now reporting. Teams are showing us how theyve prepared for baseballs safe return well have a live report from yankee stadium. Als