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the middle east on edge after a dramatic escalation. israel launching a volley of strikes on hezbollah in lebanon as the militant group fires back. we're live with the race to prevent a wider conflict. a fund-raising frenzy on the campaign trail. kamala harris and donald trump both adding millions to their coffers in the sprint to the election. the massive influx of cash coming as abortion rights takes center stage in the race. hurricane hone hits hawaii. the strong storm pelts the big island with powerful winds and heavy rain, while in the southwest, flash flooding claims the life of a grand canyon hiker. our team is tracking the weather threat for us this morning. tipping the scales. an nbc news exclusive interview with the ceo of the company behind wildly popular weight loss drugs. we ask why they cost so much more in the u.s., and the long-term side effects. you better believe it. "ted lasso" is not done yet. why everyone's favorite coach could return for a fourth season.

it is monday, august 26th. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm richard lui. we're going to start with rising tensions in the middle east. israel striking hezbollah in lebanon, and what the idf is calling a pre-emptive strike targeting rocket launch sites. the militant group responded with a barrage of rockets and drones into israel that authorities say caused minimal damage. for the latest, let's go straight to claudio lavanga following developments for us. claude yes, as you know, the concern is will this escalate? >> reporter: that's right, richard. the concern is that the conflict between hezbollah and israel will escalate into a wider regional conflict. let me just go back to tell you what exactly happened. sunday morning, israel carried out what they called, as you mentioned, pre-emptive air strikes, around 100 war planes

targeting thousands of rocket launchers in southern lebanon. lebanon, hezbollah, responded by firing hundreds of rockets and drones into the north of israel and in the israeli-oped golan heights. now, israel says it was carried out -- those strikes to prevent what he said was going to be an imminent large-scale attack by hezbollah. hezbollah said it attacked -- then responded with an attack into israel in response to the killing of one of its founding members, talked shakur, at the end of july in ar air strike in beirut. my mid-morning sunday, the exchange of fire was over and both sides said they only targeted military sites with limited casualties. three militants confirmed dead in lebanon, and one israeli soldier. they also said they wanted to avoid further escalation. but there is no doubt that this was the largest and heaviest exchange of fire between hezbollah and israel since tensions rose in the

beginning -- about ten months ago at the start of the war in gaza and fear is it could lead to an all-out war. all this is happening while talks, cease-fire and hostage release talks, continue in cairo. there's no deal yet between hamas and israel. and hamas insists that it will not accept any new deal that is different from the one that includes a complete cease-fire and withdrawal. but the u.s. official told nbc news that the talks in cairo were constructive and will continue, richard. >> claudio, thank you so much for the report on the latest breaking news over the weekend. a man is in custody in connection to friday's deadly knife attack in germany. police say the 26-year-old suspect turned himself in yesterday. he was a syrian citizen who had applied for asylum in the country. the stabbing spree killed three people and wounded eight. others are in life-threatening condition.

isis has claimed responsibility for that attack. now we're going to take you to the race for the white house. former president trump will hit 94 battleground states this week as the harris campaign is reporting a record number of donations and volunteer sign-ups following the dnc. nbc's adrienne broaddus has the latest on the final sprint to election day. >> let's get out there, let's vote for it! >> reporter: it's an all-out blitz to the finish line. >> we must defeat kamala harris. >> reporter: with just 72 days until the election -- >> there will be time to sleep when you're dead. >> reporter: the presidential campaigns kicking into high gear. courting voters -- >> we need to be thinking about the future. >> we're a nation in decline. nobody is safe. >> reporter: and collecting cash. vice president kamala harris' campaign saying they've raised $40 million since her convention speech thursday. over $500 million since president biden dropped out july 21st. it's a battle for bucks.

the latest numbers for the trump campaign, it says it raised almost $139 million in the month of july. as donations flow, so does a bank of promises. both parties campaigning on reproductive rights. >> when congress passes a bill to restore reproductive freedom, as president of the united states, i will proudly sign it into law. >> reporter: on "meet the press," donald trump's vp pick j.d. vance telling kristen welker his running mate would not impose a federal ban on abortion. >> i think he would, he said explicitly he would. >> reporter: as the harris campaign builds on the momentum of its convention success, republicans hope to gain ground and energize their base. harris and walz will kick off a bus tour, while mr. trump will head to wisconsin and michigan thursday. all of this leading up to the

big debate next month. >> adrienne, thank you so much. nasa will call on spacex to bring home two astronauts who have been stuck on the international space station since june after their boeing spacecraft ran into problems with its thrusters. the mission was supposed to last just eight days but butch wilner and sunny williams will not be flying home in the february next year. spacex has another schedule to launch as early as tomorrow. polaris dawn will include the first all-civilian space walk, the highest humans have been since the last moon mission 50 years ago. hawaii had a close call with hurricane hone this weekend. the storm passed about 100 miles southeast of the islands, close enough to bring damaging winds and flash flooding. as much as a foot of rain was forecast for some areas, and there are nearly 20,000 power outages reported just this morning. meanwhile, more than 100 people

were airlifted from a popular tourist spot at the bottom of the grand can yore. dangerous flash flooding washed away entire campsites. the current was so powerful that 33-year-old shenoah knickerson and her husband were swept away. park officials report shinoah's body was found miles downriver from where she went missing. park rangers spoke about this dangerous condition. >> the waters were raging. rivers were washing out. there were a lot of people who were trapped. >> latricia told her, a friend told her if you hear thunder, get out, it is monsoon season. she said that warning saved her family's life. the southern heat, the wave we've been experiencing is spreading north. nbc meteorologist brittney shipp is tracking it for us. good morning to you. >> good morning to you as well.

a lot of kids are heading back to school in the middle of the heat. this is sticking around most of the week. 39 million people are at risk here from minneapolis stretching all the way down to kansas city. we'll see some of our heat index values all the way up to 115 degrees with a lot of these alerts staying in effect through your tuesday. so this is something we definitely are going to be watching as we head into the rest of this week. oppressive heat will continue. take a look at some of these values. minneapolis, your heat index up to 105 degrees. st. louis, actual temperature 99, but it will feel like we're at 103 degrees. places like omaha, conditions feeling like 108. the heat dome shifts to the east. atlanta, really warm temperatures. then eventually, we'll see

to omaha. 102 degrees. wichita at 99 degrees. we'll continue to keep you posted on exactly what you can expect. all right, we'll send it back to you. >> summer's still here with us. in the sierra nevada mountains this weekend, a rare dusting of snow. it's been two decades since they saw snow this early in the year. coming up, why you can start believing in another season of "ted lasso." and the company developing two of the popular weight loss drugs, what are the long-term effects and why is the price so much higher? dish spray. it removes 99% of grease and grime in half the time.

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now to our nbc news exclusive with the ceo of the company behind some of the most popular weight loss drugs. our megan fitzgerald asked him about the high prices on ozempic and wegovy, as well as the long-term effects. >> reporter: just an hour away from the bustling bike lanes of copenhagen sits a factory so big, you need a car to get around. blockbuster weight loss drug wegovy and diabetes drug ozempic produced here by danish pharmaceutical giant nobonore, a state-of-the-art factory churning out these pens while robots shuffle them to the next phase of the process. this facility is one of the few producing the medicines worldwide. because of the popularity of these drugs exploded, they've increased production, making millions of pens in facilities like this operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week. but that's still not enough.

across the world, even in the u.s., warnings that doses of wegovy are in limited supply. >> we have to some degree been overwhelmed by demand. >> reporter: it's a problem ceofurgard jorgensen says they're tackling. >> we've invested significantly, ramping up capacity. it's also fair to say we're still in the beginning. >> reporter: jorgensen spoke to us before the company's quiet period ahead of their last earnings. how do you describe what your company is producing? >> i think it's really an exciting moment in the company's history. we now see a very strong set of clinical data that we are helping people living with type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease. >> reporter: while wegovy has reshaped weight loss worldwide, it comes at a cost, and one many americans can't afford.

the list price for wegovy in the united states, $1349. the uk, $92. in germany, $140. why is novonordis prime discriminating in markets? >> in markets patients pay nothing or a very small co-payment. we work a lot with insurance companies, payors, in getting reimbursement. but it's much different country to country how that system works. >> reporter: novonordis says while the list price in the u.s. is higher and half of commercial insurance providers cover wegovy, the vast number of those insurance customers pay less than $25 a dose br but medicare is prohibited for covering the drug for obesity because it's considered a lifestyle medication, and other providers say they can't afford to cover it. the treasurer of north carolina

went as far as to accuse novonordis of operating like a drug cartel. what's your response to that? >> i think that's unfounded. and i would actually say, i think we need discretion around what's the value of these medicines? if you look at just the cost of obesity in the u.s., it's a disease that costs americans more than $400 billion a year. and we are actually providing products that's actually helping, taking that cost burden off. >> reporter: for those who have used it, the drugs have been life changing. what's unclear at this early stage is how effective it will be long-term, with many regaining weight once they stop the drug. >> we're talking about millions of patients, and we're learning there will probably be a different grouping of patients. some will have obesity that takes really efficacious treatment for life, because it's an aggressive form of obesity. but you'll also probably find

there are patients who, after a period of treatment, change their lifestyle, can actually do without the medicine. >> reporter: the treatment, requiring weekly shots, can be cumbersome. the next hurdle, creating a pill. and they're testing the drugs to see if they help with alzheimer's and kidney disease. >> we think that this is the start of another really exciting period with great science coming to patients. >> reporter: a company and a drug that's changing the shape of medicine. me megan fitzgerald, nbc news, copenhagen, denmark. still to come for you, "ted lasso" might be avoiding relegation. you want him to put the hammer down? find out what chris hemsworth was doing on stage with ed sheeran. why take 10 antacids throughout the day when you can take 1 prilosec. for easier heartburn relief, one beats ten. prilosec otc. one pill. 24 hours. zero heartburn.

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that's true. man, there ain't a whole lot of places like afc richmond, either. >> "ted lasso" fans are about to have their faith rewarded. "deadline" reporting that warner brothers television picked up the options for three of the stars of the beloved apple tv comedy ahead of a potential fourth season. that includes hanna wadding ham and brett goldstein. the studio is expected to reach out to more of the cast about new deals, including coach himself, jason sudeikis. you've watched a couple of seasons. you're going to be looking forward to more. >> i'm looking forward to it. i do have to get caught up. i can't believe they're already on season 4, actually. >> it's going by quickly. >> i have some work to do. we know he's worthy of handling a big hammer, but how did chris hemsworth do with a pair of drumsticks? on saturday, the "thor" actor joined ed sheeran on stage to play the drums at his bucharest

show of his "mathematics" tour. sheeran gave fans an up-close look in a video posted to instagram. will you make some noise for chris hemsworth! ♪ >> the team-up will be featured in hemsworth's disney plus documentary "limitless" which focuses on the concept of health and benefits of learning an instrument. he was very comfortable up there. >> he got it. he handled those drumsticks like a pro. you can never tell. up next, check your fridge. why walmart's recalling apple juice in 25 state. >> and babe ruth's most iconic jersey scores a record-setting meunt ctn. got a huge barbeque wing stain. this bottle says i need to pretreat. that stuff has way more water. a little bit of tide goes a long way, so you can save your shirt and maybe even a little money. moat the... library.s

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walmart recalling nearly 10,000 cases of apple juice sold in 25 states because it was harmful levels of arsenic in it. the fda says it can cause vomiting and stomach pain. serious health problems are unlikely. babe ruth's jersey from the 1932 world series where he famously called his shot sold for just over $24 million, making the most expensive sports collectible of all-time. ruth powore this jersey when he pointed to the stands and hit a home run right there. [♪♪] did you know, how you feel can be affected by the bacteria in your gut? try new align yogurt coated probiotic fruit bites. with a delicious apple and blueberry-flavored fruit center and yogurt coating, each bite is infused with added probiotics, to help promote a healthy digestive system every day. plus, they're packaged in individually-wrapped pouches, for daily digestive support on the go. look for new align yogurt coated probiotic fruit bites

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track and field power couple who went viral at the paris olympics as he cheered her gold medal win. and now as emily akata shows us, he's getting ready to try to bring home gold in the paralympics. >> it's her final jump here in paris. >> reporter: cara davis when it hall leapt to olympic glory in paris. her celebration with husband and three-time paralympian hunter won over america's heart. >> you're the olympic champion! >> reporter: what was going through your mind? >> he's going through it all with me. so jumping into his arms, that was the full relief of like, wow, i finally achieved my goal. >> reporter: now it's hunter's term. the 25-year-old will be sprinting towards the podium in the paralympics. >> i'm feeling really good. mentally and physically. >> reporter: tara and hunter met as high schoolers as a track

meet in 2017. >> after i told my mom, "oh, my god, mom, this guy's so cute." "thank you for loving me." >> reporter: the endearing pair now married, documenting life as professional athletes on social media, opening up about struggles with mental health -- >> i would just spill and cry and just hyperventilate and panic. >> reporter: sharing candid moments at training. >> it was not easy, but we got here. we got it done. >> reporter: and the many laughs along the way. >> it's hard being a champion, you know? >> reporter: here, hunter jokingly sporting his wife's olympic hardware. obviously you guys are very talented and have a great work ethic. do you feel like your relationship is another plus working in your favor? >> oh, a huge plus. >> absolutely. >> there's zero chance we'd be doing what we're doing if we didn't have each other. >> for sure. >> you're the olympic champion! >> love that story. it was a bunt that took the cake at the little league world

series championship. >> norton. he gets it down. oh, it's perfect. right there, he's got a win! the little league world series championship! >> lake mary, florida were crowned champs sunday thanks to that extra-inning bunt. it's the first little league world series title for the sunshine state, how about that. hundreds of sea lions are calling dibs on a popular beach in monterey, california. the city was forced to shut down indefinitely and put up barricades. officials warn, you can look but you cannot touch the sea lions. they're expected to stay at least the next three to four weeks if they're lucky. thanks for starting your week with "early today." i'm richard lui. ea ahead and have a gr

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