the race for the white house entering its final sprint.

both campaigns on a background blitz this morning, while the trump team fights to contain the fallout over his visit to arlington national cemetery. we're live in d.c. with the campaign's response to criticism that it was disrespectful. plus the fbi reveefing new de details of the shooter in the sn sn assassination attempt on donald trump. jiyelp is looking to mount five-star case against a tech giant. a toddler in a museum, how a 4-year-old managed to smash a 3500 year old jar, and the sweet response from the museum. and the soaring start to the paralympics in paris. we'll have a front-row seat to the opening ceremony and all the action to watch for, as the

games kick off this morning. it's thursday, august 29th. "early today" starts now. good morning. glad you're with me. i'm frances rivera. the trump campaign is trying to minimize the political fallout this morning after the former president's visit to arlington national cemetery monday that some veterans groups are slamming as disrespectful. alice barr joins us from d.c. there are also reports of an altercation at the ceremony. what more do we know about this? >> reporter: good morning, frances. the campaign was there to honor the service members killed at abbey gate during the withdrawal from afghanistan when they say a cemetery employee tried to physically block trump campaign staffers. a spokesperson for the cemetery says that federal law prohibits political or election-related activities within military cemeteries, including photography. sources tell nbc news, military police were called, and a report

was filed. some veterans are now speaking out about the photos and videos shared from the visit. >> i have never, in my life, seen a politician do a smiling thumbs up in front of the grave of a fallen marine. it's inappropriate. it's disrespectful. it's not disney world. it's arlington national cemetery, and it should be respected as such. >> reporter: the trump campaign is pushing back, saying they were invited by gold star families and releasing a statement of support from several of the families involved. ohio senator jd vance, the running mate for former president trump, defended the visit during a rally overnight in wisconsin. >> you're acting like donald trump filmed a tv commercial at a grave site. he was there providing emotional support to a lot of brave americans who lost loved ones they never should have lost. and there happened to be a camera there, and somebody gave them permission to have that

camera there. >> reporter: the harris campaign's communications director called this a sad episode and said that former president trump has a history of demeaning and degrading service members. the vice president has not directly commented on this herself yet. she and her running mate, governor tim walz spent yesterday kicking offer their bus tour of georgia, visiting a barbecue restaurant and speaking to students at a high school. and, today, vice president harris will hold a rally in savannah, and then she and governor walz are set to sit down for their first interview since moving to the top of the ticket. that will be on cnn, frances? >> thank you. we are learn new details about the attempted assassination of donald trump. the fbi releasing details about how the shooter assembled his gear. the searches he made, and how he had two undetonated bombs in his car. julia ainsley has this update. >> reporter: these photos just released by the fbi showing the weapons and gear used by the man

who attempted to assassinate donald trump, and the way he got up on that roof. this is the semi-automatic rifle he used. the fbi says he likely broke it down and stored it in this backpack as he walked around the rally in butler last month. and this picture shows the two undetonated homemade bombs found in the trunk of his car. the fbi now says he used this air conditioning unit to climb up on the roof where he opened fire. but, after nearly a thousand interviews, the fbi says the motive of the 20-year-old thomas crooks still remains unclear. >> the fbi has not identified a motive, nor any co-conspirators or any associates of crooks with advanced knowledge of the attack. and i want to be clear. we have not seen any indication to suggest crooks was directed by a foreign entity to conduct the attack. >> reporter: before the event, the fbi says the gunman conducted online searches, campaign events for both trump and biden, and the republican and democratic conventions.

>> when this event was announced, the trump rally was announced early in july. he became hyperfocussed on that specific event and looked at it as a target of opportunity. >> reporter: it seems this attack wasn't very sophisticated. does that surprise you? >> it does not surprise me. throughout the history of the secret service and assassinations and assassination attempts, they're all relatively unsophisticated activities, though they have deadly consequences. >> reporter: the shooter researched kennedy's assassination, searching, how far was oswald from kennedy, the fbi said. while the investigation continues, the fbi said crooks had no definitive ideology, but they are determining whether he wrote anti-semitic posts on social media. they analyzed his activity going back to 2019, when even then he was researching how to make homemade bombs, and the 30 days prior to the shooting, he made more than 60 searches reelated o

biden and trump. new this morning, the supreme court has issued another blow to president biden's student debt relief plan. the court has denied an emergency request to revive the plan after it was blocked this summer by a lower court. republican-led states challenged the program, which would help lower monthly payments for many borrowers. about 8 million people were enrolled. the spokesperson for the education department says the administration will keep pushing to lower repayment options. missouri's attorney general who challenged the plan says this is a huge win for every american who still believes in paying their own way. in nevada, a former politician has been found guilty of murdering an investigative journalist who had written critical stories about him. our morgan chesky takes us inside the courtroom where morgan telles testified in his defense to no avail. >> reporter: 47-year-old robert telles could only shake his head

as he heard the jury's verdict. >> guilty of first degree murder. >> reporter: the former administrator found guilty in the murder of investigative reporter jeff gearman, nearly two years after the prominent journalist was found brutally stabbed to death outside his home. prosecutors painting telles as a man out for revenge, after a series of articles by gearman, who uncovered bullying and f favoritism by telles during his time in office. >> the defendant murdered jeff gearman. >> reporter: the jury shown this security video capturing someone in bright orange clothing and a straw hat enter the year and lie in wait. authorities say when the 69-year-old walked outside he was attacked and stabbed multiple times. investigators finding partly-destroyed shoes and a cut up straw hat inside tell he's home. he alleged dna evidence was

planted by political enemies. >> i am not crazy. i am not trying to avoid responsibility. >> reporter: the two men, far from strangers. the journalist interviewing telles just four months before his murder. >> he wanted to take something from jeff. and that was his life. >> reporter: the penalty phase for robert telles is ongoing, with jurors hearing impact statements from the victim's family. telles faces 20 years to up to life in prison. >> our thanks to morgan for that report. at least ten palestinians have been killed and two dozen injured in israeli airstrikes in the occupied west bank. it is the largest assault on the territory in more than no20 yea. it's called part of a full-fledged war. the army, the intelligence services and police hit three towns in what they called a joint counter terrorism operation to stop imminent attacks. israeli officials say several wanted suspects were arrested,

and a number of weapons seized. there was tragedy in texas yesterday. four people dead after the van they were riding in lost control and rolled multiple times, throwing several passengers out of the vehicle. three people are in critical condition. police describe the tragedy as avoidable. >> every vehicle has a seat belt. and, if you use that seat belt, it's going to save lives, and, in this case, there was one person that wore their seat belt and was able to walk away. >> the victims are yet to be identified. officials say the van departed from florida, crashing at around 8:00 a.m. outside ft. worth, sending highway traffic into a stand still. a woman in colorado is safe after spending nearly 12 hours trapped inside a crashed vehicle. new images show first responders rescuing her after she swerved off a highway monday night while driving a small u-haul. the vehicle tumbled down a hill and landed on its side by a river. luckily, a bystander spotted the

crash and called 911. the woman was rushed to the hospital with serious injuries but is expected to be okay. all right, a break from the heat is finally on the way, but it could bring some storms along with it. let's check in with nbc meteorologist michelle grossman. what do we know? >> we're looking at a stormy start in portions of the northern plains into the upper midwest. then we're going to see those storms into the upper mississippi valley, and the midwest and then great lakes. we tracking storms early this morning in north dakota and minnesota. that's where we're looking at darker colors, even purple there that could indicate hail is falling as well. lots of lightning with these storms. and then, as we go throughout the day, that cold front is going to bring 6 million people at risk for strong storms, especially where you see the yellow. winds gusting up to 60 miles per hour. could see hail and a few tornados are likely. some of these downpours could

lead to flash flooding as well. a cold front is targeting the upper mississippi valley and the midwest. we're going to watch the chance for strong storms, and then off to the great lakes tomorrow. mentioned flash flooding as well. that will be a concern from duth, milunn houston, shreveport, with a chance of thunderstorms. all right, that's your thursday forecast. >> thank you, michelle. it is a museum nightmare come to life for parents everywhere. a child accidently knocked over an ancient artifact at a museum in israel. so that smashed jar was believed to be more thantho 3,000 years . the child pulled the jar slightly to look inside when it fell. the museum says it will restore

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but sometimes i can't help due to burning and stabbing pain in my hands, so i use nervive. nervive's clinical dose of ala reduces nerve discomfort in as little as seven days. now i can help again feel the difference with nervive. new details on that deadly listeria outbreak linked to deli meat. six more people have died bringing the total number of deaths linked to the outbreak to at least nine. 57 people across 18 states have been hospitalized. boar's head expanded the recall to include 7 million pounds of meat after a liverwurst meat tested positive for the illness. chatgpt is cashing in big on the a.i. hype. good morning, steve. >> love to see you, frances.

everyone's wondering is the a.i. hype about to evaporate? we just had massive numbers out from nvidia, and they were a little underwhelming. that's the big darling of the a.i. boom, but there's another darling, and it's open a.i. the funding could take place quite soon, $100 billion. is that a big number? consider the fact that earlier this year it was worth $80 billion, apparently. and last year it was worth $29 billion. so a three-fold-plus increase in valuation in the last 12 months. is the a.i. hype still there? looks like it's alive and well. elsewhere, a fascinating legal wrangle going on in the united states as well, because the doj recently won its landmark win over google, which has paved the way for more lawsuits, including yelp. yelp says google directs people in a way that should be

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coco gauff continues her title defense in queens on wednesday. overcoming a rough start so blank germany's tatiana maria in their second set. gauff will have her third round on friday. k novak djokovic took on his fellow serbian. and the match came to an end after his opponent who suffered a hip injury, threw in the towel. the paralympic games are officially under way after a spectacular opening ceremony in paris. here's emilie ikeda with the dazzling sights and the team usa stars to watch. >> reporter: paris promised another show-stop opening ceremony. >> welcome to paris! >> reporter: and delivered, with dancing, fireworks, and even a mascot-covered car to kick offer the paralympic games. athletes and fans from more than 150 countries are converging on

this historic street, the champs-elysees. and take a look at this. team usa arriving right now. usa! led by two flag bearers, wheelchair basketball's steve sirio and sitting volleyball's nikki nieves. and making history, the largest-ever refugee paralympic team. over the next 11 days, 4400 athletes will face off in 22 sports. the eiffel tower trading sand for turf, for blind soccer. pl played using a ball with bells inside so players can locate it. among the 225 members of team usa, legends like swimmer jessica long and wheelchair racer tatyana mcfadden. men's wheelchair basketball team going for its third straight

gold. >> the most influential moment of my life and athletic career wasn't the wins. it was the day i found wheelchair basketball. hopefully when people watch us compete it inspires them to start their impossible. >> reporter: a powerful message with the world watching. emilie ikeda, nbc news, paris. >> she breaks records as easily as she sinks threes, and sometimes they go hand in hand. caitlin clark is who i'm talking about. she made her 86th three-point shot of the year. number 22 now holds the record for the most three pointers made by a rookie in wnba history. she surpasses t85 made in '22. it's the latest record by clark in her remarkabl is on the way.

the harris campaign hits the