coming up on "early today," some actual good news on the ebola front to report with the pentagon strike force being assembled to fight the deadly virus. another nfl record shattered with this pass by peyton manning. a heart pounding rescue as a dad is pulled from a burning home. plus, hawaii's storm and surfers embrace the action. it is monday, october 20th. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm milissa rehberger. we have fast moving developments on u.s. efforts to contain ebola. but first, a new strategy to fight isis militants near the syrian border town of kobani. the u.s. military says it

conducted an air drop of weapons and munitions and medical supplies for kurdish fighters in syria saturday night. the materials were provided by kurdish authorities in iraq. the air drop is the first of its kind and comes after weeks of u.s. led air strikes in kobani. whether the air drop helped or not, it could jeopardize u.s. turkish diplomatic relations. the turkish president said as recently as yesterday he would oppose any arms transfers to fighters. the quarantine is over. thomas eric duncan's fiancee and family are all cleared. at the pentagon training for an ebola strike team is just days away. the team will be able to jump into action on 72 hours notice. nbc's tracie potts is live in washington. good morning, tracie. any specifics on that team's training? >> reporter: we know they're going to be training in texas, ft. sam houston outside san antonio. this is, as you said, a team that would be able to get on the ground quickly anymore there is

a diagnosis of ebola in this country. 20 critical care nurses, five doctors, and five infectious disease experts will soon be suiting up like these soldiers training at a texas army base to respond within hours to any ebola case in the u.s. today, hospitals are preparing for new guidelines from the cdc on how to care for ebola patients. >> one of the things that will be complete covering with no skin showing whatsoever. >> reporter: in washington, there is still debate over whether the obama administration should ban travelers from west africa. >> we should not have commercial airline flights coming to the us is. >> i would suspend the visas until we have this under better control. >> reporter: and criticism of the new ebola czar. ron klain, a white house insider, not a doctor. >> we don't need another white house political operative. >> you don't need to be a health

care person. you need to be somebody who is a good organizer. >> when you appoint this next individual, klain, who is a lobbyist and political hack, to head up the ebola crisis in this country, it doesn't give americans any confidence. >> reporter: lawmakers warning not to make this a political issue, because, of course, we are just over two weeks away from those congressional elections. >> tracie potts, thank you. just this morning, new images of nina pham's dog bentley, still under quarantine. so far he's symptom free, but he will be tested for ebola just in case. hand sanitizers are a popular item these days. ebola jitters are causing sales to jump 9% over the last four weeks. in belgium, brussels airport is ramping up passenger screenings, the reason for that, it is a hub for flights coming in from africa. joining me now is dr. debbie

from the nyu school of medicine. we just heard that thomas eric duncan's family is now clear. what will this do to ease people's fears? >> i think it will help people in terms of the mixed messages. we see people wearing hazmat suits, no skin showing and it increased a lot of alarm. most people traveling on flights, they don't have all this gear. they're very low risk, risk of catching ebola is very low. it is through bodily fluids. especially for these folks who are in close contact with duncan when he first started showing symptoms and stuff, the fact that they haven't developed any symptoms it actually very reassuring. the reason there is a difference is because when you first start showing symptoms, or even if you have some, you might not have that much virus in your bodily fluids yet. so even if other people potentially get exposed or it is on surfaces, they may not catch it as opposed to later stages where the nurses were taking care of him and there might be a lot more virus in the fluids. >> what do you make of the pentagon strike team? does it strike you as odd, no pun intended, that it is not the

cdc? >> who is organizing it? it does strike me as a little odd. i think it is the right move. we should have done this from the beginning, to have a team that knows how to treat ebola. i think they should do this in the home as opposed to the hospital. why risk somebody coming into the hospital, waiting in the er, you know, exposing people whether it is police, firefighters, paramedics to ebola potentially? why not have someone coming from west africa, if they're at potentially high risk, have them call a number where someone can go to their home and check them out and see if they might have ebola. >> you mentioned travel. let's talk about that. there is a lot of debate as we heard from tracie potts whether to ban travel, whether we should revoke visas. what is your take on that? >> that should be looked at every single day. it is a continuous question. we need more information to make the best decision. there is the compelling argument, they want to decrease people's fears, we don't want ebola to get a hold in this country. as we cut off travel, there is

two problems we might not be able to get humanitarian aid over there and might not be able to stop the spread of ebola. people go to other countries, can spread to other countries and bring it here, but the data we need, we need to know why are people coming here and why are people going to west africa? is it for humanitarian aid, what is the purpose, are people -- or something else. >> doctor, thank you very much. have a great day. >> thank you for having me. sunday night football on nbc, broncos, 49ers and peyton manning is in the record books again. later in the first half, manning threw his 509th record touchdown pass, the new all time leader in touchdown passes. here is a puzzled manning post game. >> i've always been a fan of quarterbacks, brett favre, dan marino, john elway, and so i'm very honored and humbled to join, you know, a pretty unique club. >> denver crushing the 42-17

victory over san fran. the broncos are 5-1. in one florida neighborhood, a falling crane sent everyone running for cover. the crane was removing tree branches when it tipped over. the crane's operator was able to jump off just in time. two parked cars, a travel trailer and a couple of homes were damaged. thankfully nobody was injured here. officials are investigating that accident. in california, a heart pounding moment as they rush to find a man trapped inside a burning building. watch. >> oh, my god! >> is everybody out? >> no, there is a man inside! >> the man was pulled out alive by a stranger. both men are ftruly lucky. after they came out, the home exploded in flames. runners battled hazardous smog at the beijing international marathon. thousands of people, many wearing face masks, ran 26 miles

on a day when children and the elderly were warned to stay inside. it was so bad, local news reports say the organizing committee had thousands of sponges along the routes, so runners can clean their exposed skin. tropical storm ana moved past hawaii. that didn't keep surfers from taking advantage of the big waves caused by the passing storm. the mayor said the state has, quote, dodged a bullet yet again. now for a look at weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> called paradise for a reason. they can even deflect hurricanes. >> the surfers are a hardy group. >> they liked the large waves. you get that on the northern facing shores of hawaii, this time the south facing shores, that's where the storm was located. we picked up 5 inches of rain in honolulu. the rain is finally ending in oahu after raining for good 48 to 60 hours. the storm is on its way out. we'll be done with it during the day today. so, again, it was close call but we lucked out.

the northwest, the wet weather pattern has set up. it will be with us all week long. another rainy morning commute for you here. as far as the front, it will clear through during the day today, showers this afternoon, steadiest rain this morning, going right now to the puget sound. portland, scattered showers and light rain, i-5 to eugene. further to northern california, good steady rain, we like this, even down to ft. bragg. this week, the rainfall bull's eye is the northwest. 2 to 4 inches likely in the cities that means the mountains will get more than that. wet pattern for sure. the weather has changed in the northwest from your dry northwe. and in california, the valley, in the 8 0s.

and oregon has been hit kind of hard by the drought too. hasn't been just california. so it is welcome rain there. >> kind of a wild ride these days with the weather. thank you so much. it is official, their royal highnesses have announced their new baby will arrive in april of 2015. kate continues to be affected by morn are sickness, but says her condition is steadily improving and, of course, we wish her and big brother george all the best. shocking new details on the search for a missing university of virginia student. plus, who is getting raises at work and who's not? details next. ugh. does your carpet ever feel rough and dirty? don't avoid it. resolve it. our new formula with a special conditioning ingredient softens your carpet with every use. because it's resolve, you know it cleans and freshens,

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than a month ago. tennis star serena williams is in singapore competing in the wta finals this week. she is also firing back at comments made by a member of the international olympic committee who referred to her as one of the quote, williams brothers, and also called her scary. williams called the comments, quote, very insensitive, extremely sexist, racist and bullying. he apologized for his comments, but only after being fined $25,000 by the wta. he's also the head of the russian tennis federation and is banned from tour involvement for a year. now before we go to our next story, we have to warn you, the video you're about to see is very graphic. in china, two pedestrians are lucky to be alive this morning. they were waiting to cross the street when this ambulance ran a red light and hit the tail end of this car. the collision caused the car to crash into those pedestrians. they suffered several fractures. the driver was fined the

equivalent to 33 u.s. dollars and got six points on his license, that does not sound like much. this is an overhead view of a woman stuck in a chimney in california. she had to be rescued by firefighters after getting stuck about eight feet down. the homeowner was away this weekend. he said they met online a few weeks ago but told her he was no longer interested after he met her in person a couple of times. >> it wasn't too many red flags. let her know i wasn't interested and even having her by my property at all. and i guess she tried to pay me a visit through my chimney. >> that is an awkward dating story. time to get down to business. apple launches a new one touch payment system called apple pay, it allows iphone users to make purchases using the device's fingerprint reader. consumer reports says sometimes it is worth spending a little more on products, specifically l.e.d. lightbulbs which cost several times more than others.

they tend to last longer and use less energy. also washing machines costing more than $600 do a better job at cleaning, more efficient and have a larger load capacity. did you get a raise at work last year? if the answer is no, you are among the 76% of companies that did not increase wages or salaries between july and september. and keep an eye on ibm for some big news before the bell. just ahead, big news from a busy sports sunday next. ah! come on! let's hide in the attic. no. in the basement. why can't we just get in the running car? are you crazy? let's hide behind the chainsaws. smart. yeah. ok. if you're in a horror movie, you make poor decisions. it's what you do. this was a good idea. shhhh. be quiet. i'm being quiet. you're breathing on me! if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance, you switch to geico. it's what you do. head for the cemetery! and discover an exciting combination of tastes.

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this morning on "today," school bus violators caught on camera. how some driver ignoring school bus signs are putting your kids at risk. now the latest in sports, the rams hosted the seahawks and pulled the trick play that pu fooled just about everybody. take a look. >> ryan punting it away. austin back deep. on the far side by steadman bailey. bailey down the sideline and he'll take it all the way! the seahawks -- >> that is how it's done. a perfect fake return against the super bowl champs that resulted in an 86 yard touchdown return. fourth quarter, rams up by two. this time they pull off a fake punt for a fresh set of yards to steal the win. the rams stun the hawks 28-26. the cowboys continue their winning streak against the nfc rivals new york giants.

demarco murray with 128 yards, the only player in nfl history with seven consecutive 100 yards rushing games. the cowboys win 31-21 and improve to 6-1. to the ice, the rangers set a new club record, scoringing two goals without an empty netter, they win a 4-0 shutout of the san jose sharks. the chase for the sprint cup continues. bred keselowski wins giving him an automatic pass into the third round. soccer star landon donovan played his last home game of the los angeles galaxy against the seattle sounders. it ended a 2-2 draw, but before the game, he received a special musical tribute from his favorite band boys ii men. ♪ end of the road until i can't let go ♪ ♪ it's so natural you belong to me ♪ ♪ i belong to you

>> thanks so much, for everything you've done. football and all that. >> still got it, don't they? just ahead, brad pitt beats ben affleck and katy perry strikes back against betty crocker? you wouldn't do half of your daily routine. so why treat your mouth any differently. brushing alone does less than half the job leaving behind millions of germs. complete the job with listerine®. kill up to 99 percent of germs. and prevent plaque, early gum disease and bad breath. complete the job with listerine®. power to your mouth™. also try listerine® floss. its advanced technology removes more plaque. hesomething awesome.dinner? cool. wisest kid, i need something awesome. to make it awesome, make it "mini." like campbell's® mini chicken pot pies. awesome, mom. get recipes at campbellskitchen.com

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$24 million, below estimates, but still enough to take the top spot. "gone girl" was next with almost $18 million. it was tops for two weeks before "fury" came along. the next movies were pg family fare with "the book of life" pulling in $17 million and "alexander" earning $12 million. katy perry's birthday is october 25th. she's not happy about a certain missing frosting. upcoming super bowl halftime act tweeted this, yo, betty crocker, why would you discontinue rainbow chip frosting? the outrage. what the heck am i supposed to put on my funfetti cake. how can i turn 30 now? you can imagine her frustration. well, as it happens, betty crocker tweeted back, one more week, bringing the frosting back is being explored. we would like to send you a bday gift. i wonder if that applies to all of us. i can see her loving rainbow

frosting. so her speed. one mom started a petition against toys "r" us. i have to say i can't argue with her here. they're selling breaking bad figurines. but a toy bag filled with cash and -- >> not like a lot of little kids going through the store. >> wait a second. it is a toy store. love this show. but -- >> like the gift you get for an adult, a joke gag gift. >> absolutely. like the perfect halloween costume. >> all right, i'm melisilissa rehberg er. this is "early today." we hope it is your first stop of the day on nbc. er. this is "early today." we hope it is your first stop of the day on nbc. [ high-pitched ] nailed it! [ normal voice ] you're right, that was really easy.

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leading the news in the associated press, expelled nazis paid millions in social security because of a legal loophole. dozens of suspected nazi war criminals have collected millions of dollars. according to government records, the nazi suspects agreed to leave the country, they could keep their social security. and on nbc news, viagra performs not only in bed, but also in the heart. new research shows the little blue pill can prevent heart muscle thickening and early stage heart failure. doctors say charge clinical trials are now needed to build on the new findings. other stories we're following today, over the weekend, pope francis said god is not afraid of new things. the pope has been pushing to make perishes around the world less rigid.

he said yesterday the church should not be afraid of change and new challenges. a group of scientists at columbia university in new york have tested hundreds of rats caught in the subway. so gross. they found an alarming number of disease causing bacteria. it includes 18 different viruses that were previously unknown to science. doctors say continued monitoring of the rat population is obviously needed. there have been more creepy clown sightings across -- >> that's one of the worst i've seen. >> this clown was spotted near indianapolis. they started in california last week. they have been reported in florida, indiana and new mexico. and i think i've seen one in new york. i've seen the same guy twice. and it is, in fact, creepy. it is not uncommon to see wildlife on a golf course. this eagle might be an exception. a golfer encountered the bird while heading toward his golf ball. the video has gone viral. you're about to see why.

the golfer comes closer, the eagle is seen playing with the ball. >> he thinks it is an egg maybe? i don't know. >> you can understand how hard the golf game is. he took off with the golf ball. they gave him a mulligan. i'm not a golfer. i think if there is any time for a do over, that would qualify. >> an eagle in golf, two shots under par and i would do anything for an eagle, but -- >> that bird was huge. i wouldn't go anywhere near that, no way. now for a look ahead, a federal court will be held the suspected ring leader in the 2012 benghazi terror attack. he has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to provide material support and resources to terrorists resulting in deaths. four americans including ambassador chris stevens were killed in that attack. we want to wish a happy birthday to john kra destine ski, 35 today. snoop dogg, 43, tom petty, 64. keep it here for more news,

weather and sports. i'm milissa rehberger. thank you for wa

let's check in with meteorologist christina loren with a look at your microclimate forecast. good morning. >> good morning to you sam, kris, everybody at home. if you're leaving any time between now and 7:00 a.m., you're