it's election day. we break down the key races to watch, including a vote on abortion rights in ohio. we're live from washington with a preview. there is no cease-fire in sight. instead, israeli forces encircle gaza city for a push into the hamas heartland. as the palestinian death toll tops a staggering 10,000. donald trump took the stand in his fraud trial, and it went about as well as you'd expect.

we'll tell you what was said and shouted in the manhattan courtroom. wework, not anymore. once valued at $50 billion, files for challeng chapte bankruptcy. "early today" starts right now. hi there, i'm frances rivera. >> i'm phillip mena. it is election day. we may be one year out from the presidential election but there are results to watch out for today. we could see big political shifts in leadership in state-wide races and it could be seen as a preview for what's to come in the 2024 races. we are joined by drew petramoix. what should be on our radar

today? >> reporter: good morning phillip. ohio is one of the states that will be sending a message that will be heard nationwide. voters will go to the polls to decide whether abortion rights should be enshrined in the state's constitution. several states have held similar votes since the court overturned roe versus wade. it is expected to be a big issue in the 2024 campaign. it's also playing a role in the race for governor in kentucky. democrat andy beshear is facing republican challenger cameron. cameron's defending a near total abortion ban and bashir is opposing it. the bashir campaign shows only 12% of kentuckians support the ban. there's another close race for governor in mississippi. republican governor tate reeves is facing a strong challenge from the democrat.

but the mississippi governor race hasn't been this competitive in 20 years. an investigation is ongoing into the misuse of millions of dollars of welfare funds that happened when reeves was the lieutenant governor. he has not been charged with any crime in that case and denied all allegations. in virginia, glen youngkin has been on the campaign trail, even though he is not on the ballot. all seats in the assembly are up for grabs. the governor and his allies are hoping to flip the senate their way today. >> hot tlot to keep an eye on. we're also keeping an eye on the 2024 election. our own lester holt and kristen welker will host the republican presidential debate tomorrow. senate republicans are trying to tie ukraine aid to the border battle. they are calling for changes to existing rules, including racial

the standard for fear or persecution, making it harder to get asylum. they want harsher penalties for those who cross illegally. republicans are being urged not to play domestic politics with the defense of ukraine. a caravan of hundreds of migrants is heading to the border from mexico. this group is expected to join a larger caravan that left on foot a week ago. about 7,000 people are expected to arrive at the u.s. southern border. this is reportedly the largest caravan s car caravan so far this year. gazans authorities say nearly 12,000 have died. our richard engel has the latest from the region. >> reporter: israeli tanks and troops have encircled gaza city

and are expected to soon enter the urban areas. the hamas-run health ministry in gaza says the death toll has passed 10,000 and could rise with an advance into gaza city, which is full of hamas tunnels, fighters and several hundred thousand palestinian civilians. secretary blinken is pushing israel to pause. but there's no sign that's coming. as anger in the middle east against the u.s., israel's main backer, is growing. before blinken arrived in turkey, protesters tried to storm a nato base housing american troops. a second american aircraft carrier strike group arrived in the region. in a warning to iran and its proxies. as u.s. officials tell nbc news that recent attacks by iranian-backed militias have injured at least 35 americans on bases in iraq and syria. the base increasing with ten attacks since thursday. none of the injuries were

described as life threatening. in gaza, s.eisrael says it has t open a corridor for civilians to escape from the north to the south, but it's not safe in the south either. our crew followed an ambulance to a group of buildings just hit by an israeli strike. a boy is under the rubble. he's trapped, head down and struggling to breathe. over several hours, rescue workers managed to get him oxygen, remove debris and turn him over. finally, they pull him out. he's rolled onto a stretcher and taken to an ambulance where we learn his name. he is a 13-year-old. his leg and hips are broken. at least six others were killed in the same strike. this girl is also trapped in gaza. she's 3 years old and was kidnapped with her family by

hamas on october 7 from kibbutz beeri. i met her uncle. are all these people interest y from your family? >> this is my family. this is my mother, this is yula, only 3 years old. we're talking about a little girl who was never away from her mother. they sleep together. i don't even know if heshe is hugging her now. we don't know if they have food f thefood, if they have water. i can't think about what's happening in gaza. it breaks my heart. i want my family back i want to know they're alive. >> reporter: as israeli troops push deeper into gaza city we can expect much more street fighting, clearing buildings, far more dangerous for them. lethal for anyone around.

casualties almost certainly will go up. >> richard, thank you. today the supreme court will hear arguments in a critical gun case. justices will consider whether a 1994 federal law that bars domestic abusers from owning a gun violates the second amendment. the case stems from the 2021 prose2020 prosecution of a gun owner in texas. a defiant donald trump took to the witness stand to defend his business empire. the republican frontrunner brought campaign energy to the civil fraud trial, causing the judge to remind him that the courtroom was not a political rally. nbc's lindsey riser is falling the case. >> reporter: donald trump testified in the civil fraud trial here in new york state. and we heard a lot of the defenses we heard in hit video

deposition in this case. for example he relied on other people who compiled the information in the statements of financial condition. those are the documents the attorney general's office says contained overvalued properties. and he saidreiterated that his valuable asset wasn't cloud in t included in the valuation, his brand. there was a lot of sparring between trump and the judge many times the judge telling chris kise, trump's attorney to control hissaying if the form pt

would continue these answer he would take a negative inference from that. there's no court tomorrow. the state is expected to call up ivanka trump on wednesday, and then they're expected to rest their case. the defense says they will begin their case on monday and should be done around december 15. lindsey riser, nbc news. we've got very unfall-like temperatures expected this morning. nbc meteorologist angie lassman is here to tell us more about that weather. there's going to be people in shorts putting up christmas decorations? what's up with that? >> i think you're exactly right. i'm painting the picture in my mind. we've got temperatures in the 80s, the shorts antd tee shirts have to be broken out. all those spots could tie or

break a record by the time this afternoon rolls around. dodge city will head 2083. st. to 83 degrees. looking at tomorrow, we're still above normal. birmingham at 83 tomorrow. 82 in new orleans as we get into the day tomorrow as well. the end of the week looks a little more seasonal. upper 50s in indianapolis. new york, upper 50s for us to finish off our weekend and head into the weekend. mid-50s, and then we hit tsunsh

denver. san angelo, 8degrees by this af 89 degrees by this afternoon. "early today" is back in 60 seconds with the last dance for tiktok's $2 billion creator fund. and wework, going from the most valuable startup to bankruptcy. now what's going around is 12-hour cough relief. and the giggles. the family that takes delsym together, feels better together. are you tired of clean clothes that just don't smell clean? downy unstoppables in wash scent booster keep your laundry smelling fresh way longer than detergent alone. get 6x longer-lasting freshness plus odor production with downy unstopables. try for under $5. the right age for neutrogena® retinol? that's whenever you want it to be. it has derm-proven retinol that targets vital cell turnover, evens skin tone, and smooths fine lines.

with visible results in just one week. neutrogena® retinol oh... stuffed up again? so congested! you need sinex saline from vicks. just sinex, breathe, ahhhh! what is — wow! sinex. breathe. ahhhhhh! tiktok is pulling the plug on a $2 billion creator fund which kicked off in 2020, just months after introducing a new fund to address users' earlier concerns. what was intended as a way to support creators by distributing money into that fund for them over the span of three years, a lot of creators say it made monetization more difficult. from a $47 billion valuation to chapter 11, wework was once the country's most valuable

startup but now filing for bankruptcy. steve sedgwick tells us what went wrong. >> good morning to you. i spent a lot of my career looking at this company. i can tell you, frances, what went wrong? everything went wrong. seriously, it's a property services company that was masquerading as a technology company. and all the other property services company are going what are we missing that this company's worth $47 billion. so it had tech sector valuation, but it was a real estate services company. the funding model was very strange. it was relying on cheap money. it was a product after funny money era. we don't get those so much anymore. the pandemic to be fair to wework. that clearly wasn't their fault. but it add ano it add ano added another problem.

so frances, phillip, in short, the answer to your question is everything went wrong. it won't happen again. >> all of that condensed in your report and in a documentary, too. steve sedgwick, as always, thank you. >> a good show about it. still to come, sticking points still remain in the negotiations between striking actors and hollywood studio s. oe somethin' on yuh face. needed a quick shave. quick shave? respect the process! it ain't my dad's razor, dad, it's from gillettelabs. gillette...labs? gillette's ultimate shaving experience. this green bar releases trapped hairs from my face. gamechanga! while the flexdisc contours to it. lookin' smooth. feelin' even smoother. how 'bout hookin' me up with some gillettelabs? check your texts. you're the best. nah, you're the best. the best a man can get keeps getting bettuh. the next generation of shaving is gillettelabs. new nature's bounty hair growth. clinically shown to help grow thicker, fuller hair

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new we're back to break down the latest in entertainment. studio 8-h will look a lot like the desert planet in the coming weeks. it was announced that jason

momoa will host snl. he's joining timothee chalamet who's taking over hosting duties this weekend. they have different styles, but they're pretty funny, and they've done this before. >> they're supposedly going to promote "dune." but it's being pushed back to march. he's got "wonka" coming up and "aquaman" coming up. either way, entertainment live on snl. after having the weekend to look things over, sag-aftra responded to the latest and supposedly final offer from the studios. they said in a letter to members that they have yet to reach an agreement on several issues, specifically artificial intelligence. the two sides are expected to meet again today but no definite

time has been set. the ai thing and the way technology and actors and ai is changing everything. >> a big deal. it's going to be an agreement that sticks for many years. like you were talking about on the previous story, it has a cascading effect on the strike. wecan all feel it. the las vegas strip is getting a new addition. new edition. they announced a six-show residency. it's going to run from february 28 to march 9. and bobby brown said the group hopes the new show will be a more intimate experience for fans than their most recent tours. the band performed in a tribute of fellow r&b group the spinners at this year's rock 'n roll hall of fame. for a certain crowd, they were where it's at.

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of routine. >> all right, everybody, welcome to bingo on this wonderful day! >> reporter: like a bin go card to a senior living community, anticipation. >> that's winner right there. grand prize. >> reporter: can sometimes fade. >> we have our first bingo for a whole dollar, woo! >> reporter: but just because a game can be predictable doesn't mean life has to be. >> all right. down. >> reporter: inside jackie gresham's class, the only thing old are the tunes. >> more elvis. >> reporter: because even when the average age is in the 80s, her students are rock stars. >> i've never been told that before. >> reporter: at 98, janet clark is one of the oldest drummers in a class ran by good samaritans society at loveland village. >> i'm all shook up. >> reporter: a space to learn something. for carla bender. >> i'm all shook up.

>> reporter: it's a place to let loose. >> after the very first class, i said, oh, this is something i want to do. >> reporter: at almost 806789. 80. >> keeps us young, keeps us healthy. and that's really important when you get to be a senior. >> i saw drumming on youtube. so we got buckets and big exercise balls and real drumsticks. so we just started the class, and it really took off. >> reporter: >> reporter: jackie's class has come to be a big hit. >> the music is awful. >> reporter: it gives an older generation opportunity to try something new. >> it's good for, just not just getting the heart rate up but also for brain health. you're learning patterns, which

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