it is thursday november 12th. coming up on "early today." wicked weather thursday. it is being called the witch of november. and this system is packing the punch. mother nature also hitting hard in others ways including this brush fire. and then an exclusive nbc investigation how a man lost his life in police custody after officers discharge their tasers 20 times. and fan duel and draft kicks fight back against the government. and one dad spends 77 million on these gems for his seven-year-old daughter. "early today" starts now. i'm dara brown. meteorologists call it the witch of november. and it's flying across the middle of the country today. result of ab intense low

pressure system colliding with a pocket of high pressure wreaking havoc. intense rains and high winds pounding the midwest. chicago's willis tower even played lightning rod to the storm. from canceled and delayed flights at denver international to an suv lifts up on an uprooted tree in iowa, the witch is making her presence felt. and she's not done yet. bill karins will have more on what to expect in just a few minutes. and we have breaking news overnight. the u.s. and its allies are taking the fight to isis. right now our baghdad producer confirms iraqi kurdish fighters are pushing to retake sinjar. it sits right between the islamic state's two biggest strongholds. seizing back control would cutoff a key supply line.

over 7,000 peshmerga fighters are involved. right now the city is surround sod isis can't get support or aid into the city. they t took sinjar last year, forcing thousands to free to refugee camps like this one here. surveillance video captured a deadly house explosion in new jersey. if you watch the upper part of your screen you can see the roof being blown right off the home. a 24-year-old man was killed and 15 people were injured. two critically with severe burns. the gas company says a preliminary investigation found no indication the blast was gas-related. though the mayor of elizabeth says several people had reported smelling gas. republican candidates are back on the trail this morning, defending their stances from tuesday night. now there is focus on their differences and how they lead their party and the country they

are fighting to lead. ben carson was at liberty university yesterday warning student of secular progressives. >> the secular progressives don't care whether you agree with them or not. as long as you sit down and keep your mouth shut. >> meanwhile, ohio governor john kasich is continuing his theme from the debate, saying republicans need to be less extreme and more pragmatic if they want to beat the democrats in 2016. but neither kasich or carson can count on help from this man charles koch. the billionaire industrialist told us today he's unlikely to support anyone in the primaries but is likely to help in the general election. tracy potts, good morning. donald trump is once again defending his policy on immigration. >> reporter: that debate now spilling over to the campaign

trail and we're seeing the front runners are being pressed for specifics. >> tough policy issues that stump the front runners in this week's debate. >> they don't discuss in the agreement. >> china's not part of this deal. >> continue in new hampshire. donald trump offering few details on how he'd humanely deport 11 million imgrants. ben carson o who now says he supports boots on the ground isn't elaborating on his debate comment that china is involved there. >> i would have to refer you to some other people to get you the actual data. >> ted cruz and marco rubio tend or the gearing up for a face-off. >> when the fight was being fought, where did you stand? >> rubio doubling down on tough talk against russia's leader. >> and that is what he is. he's a gangster. >> and jeb bush is targeting donald trump's promise to send

syrian refugees home. >> wow. is that the america that represents this extraordinary country. >> now playing out on the campaign trail. >> so bush came out of that debate earlier this week hoping after doing pretty well for a boost for his campaign. he may have gotten one. he's now been endorsed by former republican nominee bob dole. a university of missouri student will appear in court this morning, charged with making terroristic threats. amidst the racial tensions over the past week, 19-year-old hunter park was taken into to custody 90 miles south of the school. allegedly posting i'm going to stand my ground tomorrow and shoot every black person i see. adding don't go to campus tomorrow and we will kill you. some students just packed their bags. security was increased on

campus. meanwhile the influence of protests at mizzou may be spreading. at new york at ithaca hundreds stanld a lock out over race issues calling on their president to step down? in california a braush fire has been stopped. fire crews say it is fully contained thanks to the quick work of about 100 firefighters aided by helicopters. there is no word what started the fire. nbc meteorologist bill skarns is here with the latest. good morning. >> crazy stuff with all the wind reports and wind damage we saw. we had ten tornados. thankfully none of the big huge ones that do a lot of damage. all the blue dots show a lot of wind damage too. so this big huge wind machine is now up in the great lakes. it is going to continue through the day today. lot of airport cancellations.

chicago, detroit, cleveland, indianapolis, all the major airports in the midwest. a lot of high wind warnings and advisory. check out the current gusts. behind the backside of the storm is strongest winds. 45 in davenport. chicago 40 to 50 all morning long. and o'hare, 50 miles per hour cross-winds? those lands will be bumpfings w. this is a good soaking rain here. most of it misses oregon and will be up here in washington state. the southern half of the country looks he warm spots in the

country and there's not many is the southern arizona in the upper 70ed. just a little behind florida who is in the 80s. pretty good sized storm and a lot of rain. >> thank you bill. we'll show you what one dad brought his 7-year-old daughter for $77 million. and an nbc news investigation. one man died in police custody after authorities dischach charge their tasers 20 times. "carpe med diem." that's almost latin for "seize the day to get more out of life and medicare part d." from one-dollar copays on select plans... ...to now reward points on all prescriptions, walgreens has you covered. so drop by and seize the savings! walgreens. at the corner of happy and healthy.

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>> starting at a motel complex, where police found 46-year-old man unarmed hallucinates, paranoid and cooperative. they took him to a local er for treatment. but video shows lambert suddenly kicking out the police car window. then charging the hospital entrance where officers tased him repeatedly as he lay on the ground. officers never took lambert inside for treatment. instead they bound his legs and tased him again after restraining him back in a police car. each tase carries 50 thousand volts. ari melber led the investigation. >> the taser logs for these

officers show they discharged their tasers 20 times in half an hour. we don't know exactly how many hit lambert. >> by the time lambert arrived at the jail he was unresponsive. >> hey. >> medics took him back to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. >> now his younger sister is suing police. >> they paid him no mind. he was not a citizen to them. and then tide his legs up. where was he going? >> the police department denies all of the claims saying the taser use was appropriate and necessary because lambert damaged property and was a danger. >> it just hurts me to watch officers do that to the guy. >> former ntsb agent jimmy cavanaugh. >> overall i'd say it's excessive force through excessive use of a taser on a prisoner who is is in a dire medical condition and is restrained already. and that is very disturbing.

>> the autopsy lists the cause of lambert's death as acute cocaine intoxication. >> today there is a hearing in federal court. the criminal investigation remains open. pointing a laser as a plane or helicopter is a federal crime. and dhaz what workers in new york soon found out. they pointed the laser nearly blinding a reporter and his pilot. >> we're talking about a h helicopter that weighs almost two tons. imagine that coming down because the pilot's vision is impaired. >> two restaurant workers were taken into custody. one was arrested. >> san francisco on high awlerpt a gunmen climbed on top of a building in construction and pointing his rifle at a hospital. the shooter fired at san francisco police and three officers fired back. the gunmen was shot dead.

earlier in the day the suspect robbed a sporting goods store and stole a rifle and ammunition. and this shows two women twerking and groping a man standing in line. the man called police after the man repeatedly ask them to stop. police are still searching for a second woman. and in lima pe view a bulldog named otto broex a guiness world record. the dog skated through the legs of 30 humans and right into the record books. what a cutie there. let's get down to the business now with landon dowdy. >> good morning. toys are making a comeback. the industry is expected to have its strongest in a decade with sales projected to right 6% and nearly $20 billion. and that follows several years the kids on the forward video games and apps over toys. toys being tied to block buster

moves now such as star wars. walmart will offer the same block buster deals online and in stores this year, starting thanksgiving day at 3:00 a.m. eastern time and will end at 6:00 p.m. it will also roll out all of the deals at the same time? and a jackpot this week for auctioning often rare diamonds. both gems bought by the same man. hong kong tycoon. just ahead a growing international fight involving the past two olympics games. did russia cheat? plus magic on the hard court. nba buzzer beaters never get old. sports is up next. he's beached here, gazing out on an unforgiving landscape. for while the people who come in here use quilted northern, a toilet paper that works so well they completely forget their experience...

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fun. why let someone else have all the fun? that's no fun. unleash the power of dough. give it a pop. this morn orn today. the latest in the hacking of america series. the your personal information can held for ransom online. the steps you need to take. let's get caught up with sports and shannon. good morning. >> fan duel and draft kings are fighting back. new york's attorney general has told them to stop operations in the state. the ceo signalled their 500 million customers should keep

playing. comcast is among investors in fan duel and draft kings. new york's ag's legal analysis is flawed some say. russia's vladimir putin ordered an internal investigation into the world's allegations that russian athletes used performance-enhancing substances in 2012 and 14. the warriors have still perfect. golden state remains 9-0 with 11 00-84 win. and the pacers beat the hometown kreltices, 102-91. and this 18 footer at the buzzer lifts the magic to a win over the lakers.

that's sports dara. back to you. >> thanks so much. just ahead we have huge "star wars" news about princess leia. and adele's song is already a block buster. what else does she have planned for her next act? we'll have the details next. y. when your cold is this bad... ...you need new theraflu expressmax. theraflu expressmax combines... maximum strength medicines available without a prescription... ...to fight your worst cold and flu symptoms... ...so you can feel better fast and get back to the job at hand. new theraflu expressmax. the power to feel better.tm at hillshire farm, spice is the spice of life. that's why our craftsmen season every sausage perfectly. so you can coax out great flavor effortlessly. hillshire farm. because it's worth doing right.

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next news story the weather is going to be making is the pacific northwest. this big system is focused on

vancouver and british columbia. eventually it is coming areas like seattle, portland. just the beginning now but it will continue over the next couple of days and this system will move through as we go through the upcoming weekend. high winds on the coast and as we mentioned, very heavy rain in high elevations. flood watches through the weekend. >> thank you so much. now for entertainment news, members of the original willie wong kah reunited after 45 years.ka reunited after 45 year. and princess leia will no longer be known as "princess." she'll now be general leia organa solo. and kate hudson takes on the nae nae. and adele wants to take up

acting. she enjoyed making the video for her latest video so much -- >> how about she sings more because we enjoy it so much. as long as she sings while she acts. >> and billy crystal joins jimmy fallon to deliver the monologue last night. >> and hillary is too old. when she hears 2016 she yells bingo. so hold the first political political scandal was deleting all her telegraph messages. so old she remembers when jimmy fallen had hands. >> i'm dara brown and this is "early today." oh no... (under his breath) hey man! hey peter. (unenthusiastic) oh... ha ha ha!

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leading the news in u.s.a. today. target accused of trivializing mental illness with ocd sweater. they are getting criticism for the christmas themed sweater that says obsessed christmas disorder. although there are no plans to remove the item, a target smoexmen has apologized saying quote they never want to zpoinlt any of our guests. and a medal of honor. captain goburg was serving in 2012 when he detail came under attack. >> i was always going to join the military.

>> why the army? what motivated you do join the army? >> war. i mean, we're at war and i felt it was my duty to go out there and wear the uniform. >> what kind of mission were you engaged in. >> that day going to the security meeting, we're walking down this road we had walked many times prior. >> when did you notice something was wrong? >> right off the bat i felt weird. you know you have been there. you step up and it is just that day doesn't feel right. i knew something was really wrong when we saw the motorcycles coming towards us. i immediately looked to my left and there is a guy who is walking backwards, parallel to my patrol. i took off. my position. i grab him by the chest and, you know, the vest. >> he had a suicide vest on. >> all i could think of at this point is just get him away. i got to get him away from the rest of the guys. push him, threw him. he just lands at my feet and

detonates. i remember waking up and laying there and my leg, the fibula is sticking out. the leg is burning and foot's all messed up. and i'm like oh i must have stepped on ied. they lifted me out. and i told them stop. i still skbot a good leg. they picked me up and that's when i saw they were all killed in action. and i in the truck and they're like sir, you got this. i got this. that was the end of my war. >> did you find yourselves thinking of the other guys? >> all the time. i have this bracelet with their names on it. when i got a phone call saying you are going to be receiving the medal of honor, i felt like, you know, the mixed emotion. this medal belongs to the true heros. you can attest to this. the guy whose never make it home and their families. >> truly remarkable. thanks for watching "early

today." we hope you have a terrific

terror in the mission wednesday--- in br nchsh terror in the mission wednesday in broad daylight. a man stalks the roof of st. luke's hospital armed with two guns. what motivated him to put an entire community on edge. new details at the santa clara main jail. a former inmate will release a claim today saying what he says is proof of a brutal beating. the crackdown on vaping. the public space you might not be able to reach for that e-cigarette any more. "today in the bay" starts right now. and a good thursday morning, thank you for joining us, i'm sam brock. >> let's get straight to weather and here's kari. >> as we get a look at some of those temperatures and a lat