coming up on "early today," president obama cancels another day's schedule to focus on ebola as alarming new questions arise about officials' ability to stop the spread of the deadly disease. >> i directed the cdc to do is that as soon as somebody is diagnosed with ebola, we want a rapid response team, a s.w.a.t. team essentially, from thedc to be on the ground as quickly as possible. and how do you know the difference between ebola, the common flu and the frightening enterovirus? stocks around the globe are taking huge hits on economic uncertainty. and storms are brewing on both coasts. it is thursday, october 16th. "early today" starts right now.

good morning, everybody. i'm betty nguyen. thank you for joining us today. right now fast moving developments in the ebola epidemic. inside the u.s., the race to contain it, 76 texas hospital workers might be added to the tsa's no fly list. in dallas, a possible ban on all transit, this after infected nurse amber vinson took a frontier flight from dallas to cleveland. the cdc okayed it, despite her 99.5 fever, just shy of their 100.4 threshold. here is what a dallas official told nbc's kate snow. >> the cdc did not direct presbyterian or anyone else to restrict travel. >> the cdc did not tell the hospital to tell their staff not to travel? >> the staff that was under self-monitor. >> so where is that plane this morning? take a look right there. it is at cleveland hopkins airport. the jet is sitting inside a hangar after it flew five more

flights. the plane will be cleaned for a fourth time. >> we ask the leaders to sit down and say is it worthwhile to consider a travel restriction now. >> yet more problems for the cdc. this image is sparking a whole lot of concern on live television, a man without a hazmat suit on helping nurse vinson board a plane for an atlanta hospital. we also go live to washington and nbc's tracie potts. the cdc will be back on the hill today. is this just a pr move to calm americans or can we really expect to see some answers and actions today? >> reporter: well, what we know we can expect to see today, betty, are a lot of questions about what the cdc has and has not been doing. this is a testimony from dr. thomas frieden, 13 pages in which he explains what they had been doing but the questions for the cdc is whether or not they have adequately prepared hospitals to deal with ebola. four more airports start

temperature checks today at atlanta, washington, chicago, and newark as congress holds a hearing to determine whether the cdc is doing enough to stop ebola. we have learned that amber vinson, the second nurse infected, flew from dallas to cleveland with a low grade fever. >> she should not have been on that plane. >> reporter: that plane has been scrubbed, twice, after stops in atlanta and ft. lauderdale. 132 passengers are being notified. >> anxiety is high. every time one or more passengers arrives on an airplane now with a stomach ache or a headache or a high temperature, it becomes national news. >> reporter: air travel is now banned for people being monitored, some in congress are pushing for an all-out travel ban to and from west africa. but president obama says that will make it harder to fight a virus that he insists is not airborne. >> i shook hands with, hugged and kissed not the doctors, but

a couple of the nurses at emory, and i felt perfectly safe doing so. >> reporter: in texas, soldiers headed to africa are learning how to use protective gear, but nurses on the front lines here claim they have not been trained or protected. >> we were sold that we don't have goggles, they said that they couldn't afford the goggles. >> putting on personal protective equipment of this nature does require practice. even if you watched a video, you still may not be able to do it. >> reporter: and that's something that the head of texas health systems, the head of the clinical area is going to talk about. and his testimony here today, he will apologize, say they did make mistakes and say they learned some things like making sure they don't just communicate to employees about ebola, but actually prepare them and train them to deal with it. betty? >> thank you, tracie. inside the epidemic zone, a grim request. liberia is in desperate need for

body bags. nearly 80,000 more, in fact, over the next six months. u.s. says it will send 5,000. and images of hope, liberian and u.s. soldiers setting up ebola training units. they were brought in by the u.s. military. >> two weeks to get to this stage, maybe another two weeks to be fully operational. >> so back here in the u.s., a message from ashoka mukpo, the camera sending good thoughts to those two dallas nurses. an update on nurse nina pham's dog. bentley has a new home this morning. it is now at a decommissioned naval air base. so far the dog is showing no signs of the virus. with ebola on the minds of so many people right now, every cough, every sneeze, every sniffle is being scrutinized. part of that fear is because ebola entered the u.s. at the start of flu season and the rise of enterovirus d-68. there are some very clear distinctions here. take a look at your screen.

flu presents symptoms like chills, sore throat, and fatigue. enterovirus d-68 causes a severe respiratory problem and like the flu is brings on body aches. but ebola is drastically different. people with ebola experience heavy sweating, diarrhea, vomiting, and unexplained bleeding and bruising. shift gears now, political debates usually tackle same sex marriage, jobs, health care. but this morning everyone is talking about a small electric fan used during florida's gubernatorial debate, called fangate. for four awkward minutes, charlie crist stood alone with a small electric fan at his feet with no sign of incumbent governor rick scott, the moderator was actually forced to explain his absence. >> somehow there is a fan there and for that reason, ladies and gentlemen, i am being told

governor scott will not join us for this debate. >> well, governor scott finally made it out there to the stage as you see right there. pretty soon, #fangate started trending on twitter. one user posted this clever picture and tweeted, i'm a fan of charlie crist. crist reportedly used the fan during a 2006 gubernatorial debate when he was running at a republican. he says the fan keeps him from sweating. major storms have two tropical paradises bracing for impact. look at this, first we're talking about deadly hurricane gonzalo expected to hit bermuda tomorrow. right now it is a category four storm with maximum sustained winds of 140 miles an hour. and look at this image here. it is massive. this is a view from aboard the international space station of hurricane gonzalo. in the pacific, there is ana. right now it is a tropical storm, but warm water could make

it stronger. and let's get you a little trivia this morning, bill, i'll bring you in now, when is the last time a storm made landfall in hawaii at hurricane strength? >> a couple that threatened recently, none of them made landfall, so probably back to at least 20 years? >> 1992, yes. >> even longer than that. 22 years. >> you know what it was? >> iniki. >> i can't stump you. >> that's the famous one. the benchmark hurricane for the hawaiian islands. that did the most damage of any storm in hawaii history. so ana is not going to do that. we're watching bermuda. this could be a benchmark storm for bermuda unfortunately. the forecast worse overnight. gonzalo is now looking at most intense band, well defined eye, grew bigger in size and the forecast path is going to take this storm right over the top of bermuda. looks like near the eye wall itself. so they have 24 hours to prepare in bermuda for what should be a devastating blow from hurricane

gonzalo. now, as far as ana goes, only a tropical storm, could become a hurricane, looking pretty disorganized. not a big powerful wind storm, big waves of course. but it is most likely to be a low end category 1, strong tropical storm, as it approaches south of the island, this puts the island on the stronger side of the circulation and this would also mean a lot of rain. and with the high elevation that peaks, it will take that moisture and wring it out and so we're going to watch flash flood potential as we go through the weekend. much of the rest of the west, we have another storm, we'll talk about thats. that will cool things off. it does unfortunately look like another cold front and rain coming on friday. i'll give you the timing coming

up. >> thank you, bill. exciting. so it has been 29 long years since the royals have been to the world series, but, my friends, that wait is over. >> grounder to first. they come to the placement and the ball gets away. kicked out of his glove. two runs score! fly ball. deep left. gordon back to the wall. he did catch? he did catch that ball! grounder to third. fair ball. and 29 years of frustration have ended. >> the royals win 2-1, sweeping the orioles in four. they become the first team ever to win their first eight post season games. take you to the giants and cardinals, giants ride a sixth inning rally to win 6-4, one victory shy of advancing to the

world series. game five is tonight at 8:00 eastern. snakes on a train? yes, it is an image you have to see. plus, new developments in hong kong may lead to constructive talks, even as tensions rise between police and activists. you're watching "early today." ♪ ♪ this collection is close to my heart. it's inspired by the city i love. and these little angels build in strength. and that little angel says, "weeeeeeeee!" 60% more sheets than charmin. everything you want and the value you love. angel soft.

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all right, stories making news this morning. a victory from voting advocates. the arkansas high extort struck down the state's voter i.d. laws calling it unconstitutional. it is unclear, though, if the ruling will be in effect when early voting begins on monday. in the middle east, kurdish forces fighting against isis militants are starting to see progress. the highly scrutinized air strikes are helping their efforts to regain control of the syrian city of kobani. a georgia court ruling took that a precedent for how parents are held liable in cyberbullying cases. it found patients of a seventh grader negligent after their son

failed to take down defamatory facebook page until a year after it was flagged. two new studies will make you rethink living on mars. mit found colins wanting to make an oxygen surprise, that would start dying after 68 days. and nasa astronauts are about to embark on the longest mars simulation to date. they will be inside of this 1,000 square foot dome in hawaii for eight months, conducting a psychology study of long-term missions. here is a possible sequel to the movie snakes on a plane. yep. snakes on a train. a new york city train, that is. a local radio producer took these pictures of a subway rider who let one of his snakes slither all around the overhead pole while the other snake laid casually on his leg. i don't know what scares me more, rats in a subway or these snakes. no thank you to both. ebola is having an impact on airline stocks as investors are

pulling away. the dow jones dropped a whopping 460 points in late trading on wednesday. but recovered a bit to close down, over 170 points on oil and worldwide economic uncertainty. in hong kong, police used pepper spray to disperse protesters. this morning hong kong's chief executive said he's ready to start talks with student leaders next week. the clashes worsened a bitter rift between law enforcement and activists who have taken over key roads and streets. back here at home, netflix shares fell 24% or $107 a share in after hours trading. that's a lot as it fell short of estimates. holiday shoppers are predicted to spend $804 per person this year and that is a 5% rise over last year's $767. speaking of the holidays, amazon will hire 80,000 seasonal workers to staff warehouses. just ahead, the sudden death of a modern family actress. those details ahead. ugh.

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this morning on "today," he's one of the greatest boxers in sports history. but a new documentary takes a look at muhammad ali, the dad. his daughters are live in studio. want to turn now to sports and the annual sports woman of the year award has a winner. it is 17-year-old american gymnast simone biles. she has nine career world medals

in two appearances and became the first u.s. woman to win five medals including four gold medals at a single world. you may remember this memorable bee attack on the podium at the gymnastics world championships. to the ice. bruins and red wings ended in a shootout after staying tied at 2 in overtime. the bruins net two to win 3-2. and the flames stop the blackhawks in overtime with less than 30 seconds on the clock, michael sneaks one past the goalie to get the 2-1 victory. a dramatic finish in the preseason game tied. with .6 left on the clock, that lifted the raptors to a 92-89 victory. and even more impressive, a student made a shot from half-court during the basketball season opener. sinking that shot earned him half off tuition for next

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we head through the middle of october, to the end of october to november, we start getting more active weather pattern here in the west and here it comes. another storm system will be riding in. again, not going to have a lot of rain for california, but will it get a chance for some? today, showers ending and a decent day in the west. this arrives as we go throughout friday. friday afternoon, heavy rains for portland, coastal areas, that rain will start into friday morning. again, your thursday looks nice. clearing out, rain for friday. >> friday. in time for the weekend. thank you, bill. now for entertainment news. warner brothers made headlines by announcing 16 of its upcoming movies. there are ten super hero films on tap, including wonder woman, two justice league movies and an aquaman film. >> my favorite, by the way. it is going to be a horrible movie. >> you haven't seen it yet. >> not really a superhero. >> also announced were three

harry potter spinoffs and three separate lego adventures following the huge success of the lego movie. after hosting both the emmys and tonys, neil patrick harris is slated to host the oscars. it airs february 22nd. actress elizabeth pena sadly passed away after suffering a brief illness tuesday. she was known for her roles in jacob's ladder, labamba and also as sofia vergara's mother on "modern family." actor steven collins is formally being investigated by the l.a. county sheriff's office. he faces allegations that he exposed himself to a 13-year-old girl in the 1980s. and jimmy fallon is the king of late night. his youtube channel surpassed jimmy kimmel by over 70,000 followers. congratulations to the new king. i'm betty nguyen. this is "early today." we hope it is your first stop of the day on nbc.

taking a look at ebola headlines from around the globe. from "the independent" ebola virus, winning the race against the world u.n. official warns. the international response to the ebola outbreak has not been nearly enough. from al-jazeera, w.h.o. finds 70% ebola mortality rate. the world health organization says the outbreak in west africa kills seven out of ten victims. in "the guardian" ebola crisis, british army medics due to arrive in sierra leone. 91 nurses and doctors will join another 40 soldiers in the country helping to fight the outbreak. >> from "elle pais" ebola victim able to drink liquids has spoken to husband by phone. doctors say a nurse contracted ebola after treating a patient from west africa.

she's still in serious condition and, quote, doesn't remember a lot of things. from reuters. france to screen passengers on flights from ebola-hit regions. the announcement came yesterday, the czech republic ordered similar screenings. some other news that we are following for you today. a company in connecticut is producing high-risk ebola kits and delivering them to new york's emergency responders. each kit contains a facemask, gloves, a gown, biohazard bag for infectious materials. the owner says business has been nonstop. australian prime minister tony abbott says the country is preparing for a potential ebola outbreak there. he's been pressured to send medical teams to west africa. he says today the government has given $18 million to help fight ebola internationally and now the focus is being prepared in australia. at least one school in cleveland, ohio, is being cleaned overnight. a teacher may have come in contact with the nurse from dallas who is now infected with ebola. that teacher is being asked to stay home today. two other cleveland area schools

are closed today as well. now for a look ahead, we want to take a look at lawmakers on capitol hill. they'll be hearing testimony on the ebola crisis. dr. thomas frieden, the director of the cdc is going to be speaking to a house committee. president obama had planned to travel to rhode island and new york. he canceled those trips citing the ebola response. we expect to learn more about the president's agenda on ebola later this morning. a lot of talk today about that issue and we'll continue to follow it for you. we want to do this. that is wish a happy birthday to actor tim robbins who turns 56 today. actress suzanne somers, you remember her. >> ageless. >> she looks just as great. what was that show? "three's company." >> are you kidding me? >> i was a huge fan. >> you're not convincing anyone. >> i was. mr. roper. see? there you go. and murder she wrote actress angela lansbury is 89 today. happy birthday to all of you. keep it right here for news, weather, sports.

i'm betty nguyen.

it's 4:30. i'm sam brock. >> and i'm laura garcia-cannon. lots to get to today. it's thursday morning. hi, christina. >> the weekend is upon us. just about. just about. good morning to you. we have really interesting weather changes to go over as we get into your thursday. i have to tell you, temperatures are going to be cool for today. showers return as we get into tomorrow. so today's kind of a transition day and then we have below-average temperatures for you as we get into that weekend. so stick around. we're going to take you through the changes in your microclimate. and yeah, we have pretty good looking rainfall totals to