it is friday november 13th. coming up on "early today," breaking news. u.s. counterterrorism officials tell nbc news jihadi john, the man behind many gruesome murdered was directly targeted by a u.s. air strike. and donalump doubles down talking about ben carson and he gets specific on fighting isis. >> i would just bomb those suckers. and that's right. i'd blow up the pipes i'd blow up the re -- i'd blow up everything single inch. there would be nothing left. >> acquittal for a good fella that leaves no convictions for one of the biggest cash heists in u.s. history. plus breezy blasts around the nation and wild waves in

michigan and much more on a busy friday. "early today" starts now. good morning everyone. i'm alex witt. breaking news e overnight. a u.s. air strike targeting the notorious isis terrorist known as gentlemen hadi john. jihadi john is a kuwaitty born british mill tint seen in a number of propaganda videos that show the execution of westerners. right now a official tells nbc news there is no definitive proof yet he was killed. and moments ago british prime minister david cameron spoke to reporters. >> we cannot yet be certain if the strike was successful. but let me be clear. i've always said that we would do whatever was necessary. whatever it took to track down and stop him taking the lives of

others. we have been working with the united states literally around the clock to track him down. this was a combined effort and the contribution of both our countries was essential. he is a barbaric murderer. he was shown in the sickening videos of the beheading of british aide workers. he posed an ongoing and serious threat to innocent civilians not only in syria but around the world and in the united kingdom too. he was isil's lead executioner. and let us never forget that he killed many, many muslims too. and he was intent on murdering many more people. so this was an act of self defense. it was the right thing to do. today i want to thank the united states, the united kingdom has no better friend or ally. if this strike was successful

and we still await confirmation of that it will be a strike at the heart of isil. and it will demonstrate to those who would do britain, our people and our allies harm we have a long reach. we have unwavering determination. and we never forget about our citizens. >> and as we learn more about jihadi john in syria, american and its allies simultaneously engaged in a major operation against isis in iraq. kurdish fighters backed by u.s. led air campaign are pushing to retake sinjar a an artery between the islamic state's biggest strongholds. tracy potts is life from washington with good morning u we have late breaking developments. >> exactly. we've understood as of this morning, isis has been pushed out of sinjar and now the kurdish fighters are trying to figure out just how many explosives they left behind, that is what they are trying to dismantle as of this morning.

this operation, is happening south on the other side of the border in iraq, in northern iraq which is an area isis has had a stronghold for some time now. they went in, walked into the city literally. and now taken about 58 square miles around that area we're told. and also the kurdish fighters have set up positions loc s alo highway that is a major supply route out of raqqa into the northern part of iraq. in other words this is how isis gets it supplies, weapons and ore supplies from raqqa to iraq. and all of this is happening amid the backdrop of president obama and secretary of state john kerry heading to turkey for the g 20 summit where there is going to be a lot of talk how to deal with terrorism and specifically isis. >> i believe it is topic a. thank you so much. now to the race for the white house.

he's occasionally aggressive, sometimes outrageous comments. don't often come as a surprise but this time donald trump may have outtrumped himself. it started with the president obama slamming the billionaire's immigration plan saying it wasn't realistic. then trump appeared in this one-on-one interview and that is when it started. a bold attack on ben carson with a controversial comparison. >> he said he's pathological. some said he has pathological disease. others said he said in the book and i haven't seen it i know it's in the book that he's got a pathological temper or temperament. that's a big problem. because you don't cure that. that's like -- you know, i would say. they say you don't cure an as an example child molester. you don't cure these people. there is no cure for it. pathological there is no cure for that. >> but trump wasn't done. speaking to a crowd of about 1500 in iowa he again launched into a wild no holds barred

assault on ben carson. >> he took a knife. and he went after a friend. and he lunged. he lunged that knife into the stomach of his friend. but lo and behold it hit the belt. it hit the belt. and the knife broke. give me a break. how stupid are the people of iowa? how stupid are the people of the country to believe this crap? what the hell have we come to? what have we come to? when we have to believe this kind of stuff and we're going to put somebody in office who considers himself to have pathological disease. >> well the response to that in the carson campaign simply, the campaign has no comment. carly fiorina got into it on facebook. donald sorry i've got to interrupt again. you would know something about

pathological. how was that meeting with putin or whart p orb your self funded campaign. all the money in the world won't make you as smart as ben carson. but that wasn't it for trump. his tirade arrived at some plans for isis. >> isis is making a tremendous amount of money because they have certain areas of oil they took away. i would bomb the [ bleep ] out of them. i would just bomb those suckers. and that's right. i'd blow up the pipes. i'd blow up the re -- i'd blow up every single inch. there would be nothing left. >> and this morning ben carson is dealing with a much more personal issue about his close friendship with a convicted felon. chris jansing reports. >> he calls him his very best friend. owner of a italian resort where

carson often vacations. he's also a convicted felon. he fled guilty in 2008 to scamming from insurance companies. nbc spoke exclusively to the prosecutor. >> caused the insurance companies to finance the expansion of his business. >> as first reported by the associated press in a bid for leniency, ben carson wrote a letter to the judge saying next to my wife of 32 years there is no one on this planet that i trust more. they became friends because our value systems were almost identical. adding i love him. >> fraud is fraud. and dr. kosta pleaded guilty to fraud. >> he avoided prison getting three years probation, including a year under house arrest in this mansion. and even that sentence was reduced by a year because of his work with carson's charity. four years after carson appealed for leniency for his friend he

advocated the opposite for others. not advocate chopping off people's limbs but stiff penalties. no less than ten years in prison and loss of all of one's personal possessions. no comment from carson arriving at a fundraiser. but in a statement of kosta, i know his cart. i have proud to call him my friend. i have always and will stand by him. that is what real friends do. after two years an aging mobser is waking up a free man. a jury found 80 years vincent asaro not guilty in connection with the lufthansa heist. it became part of pop culture in the film good fellas. among the witnesses was his cousin, who wore a wire and testified. after he was asked what he

thought about valuenty. >> 50 miles per hour winds are causing intense waves on lake michigan. with as well as reaching as high as 20 feet on the lake. they such down the pier and advised people to stay away from the coast. flooding and power outages may occur across the area. and here's meteorologist rafael. >> good morning. still very windy across the great lakes. that could cause travel issues later today. it is going to be very breezy from the great lakes to the northeast. winds gusting 40 and even 50 miles per hour. watch out for delays in that part of the country. also on the pacific northwest a stormy day, heavy rain along the coast. and snow for cascades. temperatures 40s and 50s across the midwest. saturday the week standarrts ou. the chilly in the northeast.

and as we head towards sunday, finally some of the rain spreads into northern california. beneficial rain there and we are worming up from the midwest to the northeast. back to likes skroemt and lots f sunshine in san francisco with temperatures in the 60s.acramens of sunshine in san francisco with temperatures in the 60s. >> when is it not nice in l.a.? >> it usual is. >> straight ahead. rex ryan gets his revenge. plus on the heels of the missouri protest. college students from over 100 schools are fighting for financial relief. details next. bed all day.

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a utah judge ordered the removal of an infant because her foster parents are gay. judge scott johansson felt the child should be raised by a heterosexual couple. they had been raising the couple for the past three months and were shocked by the ruling. >> we know he didn't like same-sex couples but we didn't expect this to happen. >> now they and the division of child and family services are challenging the judge's decision. there is no new interim president at university of missouri. michael middleton was tapped after the previous president resigned over incidents on campus. meanwhile three 19-year-old missouri students have been charged with terrorist threats. they threatened to shoot others at college campuses throughout missouri. one of the suspects faced charges yesterday and was denied

bond. throughout the united states protests spread to 110 college campuses. rallying against a number of issues including rising tuition and student debt. some are calling for abolishing tuition all together? in honor of guiness world record day, records were being broken worldwide. in japan, the record for the fastest 100 meters running on all fours. and then in delhi, this indian man the most little candles in his mouth and the most match ex tongue in one minute. he did 30. all right. and here's landon dowdy. >> good friday morning. stocks may struggle to end the week after falling sharply on thursday. back in the red on a sharp drop this oil. gold hitting lowest levels since

2010 and different comments about the need for a rate hike next month. facebook is going after snap chat's tur. the social media giant is experimenting with memories t mt disappear after an hour. users can screen capture the window to save the message. and check out this liston. an 11 bedroom home in south florida can be yours for $159 million. among the amenities. gold leaf balcony, ice skating rink and a bowling alley. >> such a deal. just ahead, if you turned off the bills lsh jets thinking it was a blow out? you were wrong. if he tried. he's beached here, gazing out on an unforgiving landscape. for while the people who come in here use quilted northern,

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now for some entertainment news. >> i've bnt wanting to drop the hassle from my life for years. now i have made it official. david hoff. >> there you heard it. david hasselhoff is now officially david hoff. even though he's been known as "the hoff" for years. and accusing taylor swift of stealing lyrics to one of her songs shake it off. at least for the moment the defendants have shaken off the lawsuit. cute. missy elliot released her new song "wtf," meaning where they from. ellen degeneres celebrated her 2,000th show yesterday. surprise visits from jennifer aniston and justin timberlake.

and christie brinkley spoke about timeless beauty, and she says she wouldn't even make it in the modelling industry. she says it is getting thinner and thinner. and jimmy fallon discusses ben carson on the a tonight show. >> he compared today's america to the clash of the roman empire. and our decline is partly because we're too arrogant. yeah, we're too arrogant said the man who owns a fainti ipain himself and jesus. we're too arrogant. >> i didn't know where he was going to go with this. as soon as i saw that i went ooh, busted. >> so much material to work with. >> absolutely. >> i'm alex witt and this is "early today." eatest nation, it's your responsibility to solve the world's greatest challenges. this is why we search for the best and brightest.

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leading the news in usa today, defense secretary's aide fired amid allegations. thursday ash carter fired his aide after learning of allegations of misconduct. announcing the removal of army lieutenant general ron lewis these allegations were not described. and in the washington post, time for gop panic? establishment worried carson or trump might win. republican elites fear that nominating ben carson or donald trump will have a negative impact on the gop ticket which would ensure hillary clinton the presidency and increase the odds of the senate falling into democratic hands. some strategies have been suggested and they are even

considering mitt romney again. >> army captain received the medal of honor. his instincts kicked in saving the lives of over solders in afghanistan. >> he grabbed the bomber by his vest and kept pushing him away. and all of those years of training all came together in those few seconds. he showed his guts, he showed his training how you put it all on the line for his teammates. that is an american we can all be grateful for. that is why we honor captain florent groberg today.

♪ >> bag pipes in space. that is a first as far as we know. astronaut brought special bag pipes along on his trip to the international space station. he did it to honor a former astronaut instructor who died in october. a galaxy forar far away as e family builds a massive death star atop their home. it is lit with strategically placed leds. >> beautiful. will they be able to make it more holiday closer to christmas? >> good point. objectio okay. >> let's get to some birthdays. whoopi goldberg is 60. and from sex and the city and law and order, turning 61. hp birthday.

have a great friday and cornered-- but not giving in to

cornered but not giving into demands. what happened next could have been deadly. plus, the british prime minister is calling it a strike at the heart of isis. the masked man countless isis beheading videos could be dead this morning following air strikes in syria. a familiar pattern for the bay bridge. took dozens of delays and now a longer wait to get the old version down. "today in the bay" starts right now. good friday morning to you, thank you so much for joining us, i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm sam brock. kari hall joining us on this friday. another cool start. >> very chilly as you head out, once again.