ew minutes with instant moisture from k-y ultragel. breaking overnight. three u.s. service members wounded in kabul after a large explosion. deja vu as hillary clinton reveals why she lost the election and president trump's emphatic response. the manhunt after two chicago police officers are shot. white south carolina police officer pleads guilty for shooting a black motorist in the back. and dash cam video captures a small plane crashing down on rush-hour traffic. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm gigi stone woods, francis and yasmin have the night off. we begin with breaking news. a deadly suicide attack wounded three u.s. service members in

kabul, afghanistan this morning. the car bomber struck a convoy. it killed at least eight afghan civilians and wounded another 25. the three americans' wounds are non life-threatening and they were in stable condition. isis claimed responsibility for the attack. developing overnight, a manhunt under way in chicago after two police officers were shot. authorities say two vehicles pulled along side them and started firing at the officers who were not in uniform. one was hit in the hip and arm and the other in the back. both officers were taken to the hospital and are in stable condition. authorities say they are questioning three male suspects in connection to the incident. they promise to catch the shooters. near dallas days after 15-year-old jordan edwards was fatally shot while leaves a house party, the officer who shot him was fired.

officials reviewed the officer's body camera video and say he violated department policies by shooting the teen's vehicle while it was driving away from him. in baton rouge protesters took to the street over the justice department decision not to charge two police officers for the fatal shooting of alton sterling. he was shot last year by police after officers tackled him to the ground outside after convenience store where he was selling cds. in south carolina former officer michael slager has pleaded guilty to violating the civil rights of the unarmed man he fatally shot. nbc's gabe gutierrez has the details. >> reporter: two years after the dramatic cell phone video shocked the nation, former north charleston police officer michael slager pleaded guilty a federal charge of using excessive force. >> michael slager admitted what he did. >> reporter: the family of walter scott cried as the plea was read in court. the defendant used deadly force

even though it was objectively unreasonable under the circumstances. scott was shot five times in the back in april of 2015 as he ran from a traffic stop. in a written statement slager's defense team said we hope that michael's acceptance of responsibility will help the scott family as they continue to grieve their loss. slager's trial had been scheduled to start in a few days. he faced civil rights charges, lying to investigators and using a firearm in a violent crime. even with this plea he still faces life in prison but could get much less. >> the victory was him admitting that he did wrong. >> reporter: last year slager went to trial on state murder charges. he told the court he was in total fear for his life when scott grabbed liss stun gun during a struggle. >> in my mind at that time people don't run. >> reporter: jurors could not reach a verdict. prosecutors vowed to retry the state. they agreed to drop those state charges as part of a plea agreement.

>> gabe gutierrez reporting. president trump and russian leader vladamir putin could meet face-to-face soon after the two held a phone call discussing syria, north korea and other issues according to the white house. the call coming hours before fbi director james comey set to testify on capitol hill. and happening as intel members were dispatched to cia headquarters to view evidence of russia's interference in 2016. interference hillary clinton flatly says cost her the election, as she cast blame on comey, sexism, and her opponent for her loss in her most frank comments yet. >> i'm now back to being an activist citizen and part of the resistance. every day that goes by we learn more about some of the unprecedented interference including from a foreign power whose leader is not a member of my fan club. i was on the way to winning

until the combination of jim comey's letter on october 28th, and russian wikileaks, raised doubts in the minds of people who were inclined to vote for me but got scared off. i mean you just can't make this stuff up. >> mr. trump responded tweeting comey was the best thing that ever happened to clinton. gave her a free pass for many bad deeds. the phony trump-russia story was an excuse used by the democrats as justification for losing the election. perhaps trump, referring to himself, just ran a great campaign. those tweets came hours after president trump lashed out after a budget deal to keep the government open was reached, even suggesting a shutdown may be exactly what washington needs. as republicans face new obstacles in the push to replace obamacare. peter alexander has more. >> reporter: president trump venting arguing the government

needs a good shutdown to fix washington's mess. the president upset at the perception democrats got the better end of a budget compromise that avoids a government shutdown. >> after years of partisan bickering, and gridlock, this bill is a clear win for the american people. >> reporter: mr. trump trying to recover a political victory from the spending agreement. >> we didn't do touting like the democrats did. >> reporter: taking heat suggesting the solution is a shutdown. >> how does the president define a good shutdown? >> if you want to imagine what a good shutdown was, one that fixes this town. >> in the last 800,000 federal employees were furloughed, 1.3 million required to work without knowing when they would get paid so. is that a good shutdown that fixes washington? >> back to your point every one of those folks got paid. >> reporter: house republicans appear on the verge of another failure for the health care plan, with more republicans defecting. missouri congressman billy long backs trump but not the bill. >> just because pre-existing conditions would be covered doesn't mean they can't price you out of the market.

>> nbc's peter alexander. we should probably mention this strange moment at the white house after press secretary sean spicer left the briefing room without subpoenaing to reporters, after the budget director left the podium. just watch. the next white house >> come on sean. sean. >> what about the putin call. >> sean. >> the next white house briefing scheduled for this afternoon. baltimore orioles outfielder adam jones received a different reception at boston's fenway park tuesday after he says some red sox fans hurled racial slurs at him the night before. nbc's dan sheneman has the latest. >> number ten, adam jones.

>> reporter: standing ovation for the orioles adam jones at fenway park. one day after jones said he experienced something much different at fenway. the all star said fans used the n word during monday's game. the fan also threw a bag of peanuts at him. >> things like this, they just don't have a place in the game. i thought we moved past that long time ago. >> reporter: the 12-year veteran said this is not the first time he heard racist language in boston. but it was the worst. boston's mayor was embarrassed. >> to have a fool, i'm going to call him a fool, her a fool, i don't know what it was, i'd like to say worse, to do something like that, disrespectful to all of us as a city. >> baseball commissioner called it inexcusable. boston residents said they are better than that. >> that's not boston. boston isn't like that. >> reporter: two fans were ejected for targeting jones, more than 30 others were also kicked out. police launched a criminal investigation.

dan sheneman, nbc news. this morning new dash cam video when a small plane crashed on a busy freeway in washington state. take a look at this as the plane came from the right side of the screen. clips that power line there. it crashed onto a stretch of highway. a fire ball exploding into the sky setting several cars on fire. it crashed immediately after taking off from a nearby runway. investigator says an engine anomaly was the culprit. amazingly there were no injuries. just ahead, the latest on the kate middleton topless photo trial. first, massive and widespread flooding outside st. louis. residents are racing against time to fill sandbags in an effort to stave off rising waters. bill karins is here with more wicked weather on the way. >> great weather on both coasts. all in the middle of the country, dealing with this huge problem. look at this shield of rain coming into missouri. you saw people trying to sandbag and get the water out from this weekend's flooding.

we have flood risk from indiana through st. louis, missouri especially and down into the northern portions of arkansas. 16 million people under flash flood watches. we're easily talking about the potential of another two to four inches of rain over the top of where the river s the 70s. look at death valley, 104, palm springs 104. >> ever wonder what the record is for the longest consecutive wheelly? that record has been broken in japan. abe crushed the previous best of 205 miles. two hours in it was a little iffy. he took some medicine while he was riding after experiencing

back pain and continued on for another 11 hours. 13 total. >> looks extremely uncomfortable to say the least. just ahead, the eagles are taking a big step towards protecting the real "hotel california." we'll tell you where it is. after multiple passenger incidents, the airlines are given an ultimatum to clean up their act, or else. details in two. left foot. right foot. left foot. stop. twitch your eyes so they think you're crazy. if you walk the walk you talk the talk. it's what you do. if you want to save fifteen percent or more on car insurance you switch to geico. hide the eyes. it's what you do. show 'em real slow. (vo) more "dper rollres for mom"

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according to the hotel's website, it was originally named hotel california when it opened in 1950. >> leading the news, u.s. airline executives hauled before congress tuesday to explain a string of viral videos that cast a black eye on the airline industry including this passenger of course being dragged off a united airlines flight last month. nbc's tom costello has details. >> reporter: members of congress told a panel of airline executives much of the country is fed up. >> so to you they may be your customers, to us they are constituents. >> reporter: american and united promising significant changes in customer service. >> our actions will speak longer than our words. we will do better. >> reporter: consumer advocates say among the problems, more flyers and less competition. over 12 years mega mergers have cut the number of big carriers from eight to four. meanwhile, it's the flight attendants who are very often left trying to keep the peace.

>> that's what we're doing is deescalating issues between passengers so we don't have a big problem in the air. >> we're all sitting closer together. >> all closer together, packed in like never before. >> reporter: in congress a threat if the airlines don't improve their customer service, congress could impose tough new customer service laws. >> seize this opportunity because if you don't, we're going to come and you're not going to like it. nbc's tom costello. on the same day as the hearing one mother is suing american airlines for losing her daughter's ashes. edie says the airline checked her carry-on bag without permission despite telling and employee her daughters remains were inside. when she got home to arizona the bag was missing. >> i begged american online every day to find the urns.

she left me twice. >> the bag was found 19 days later but the urn was gone. american apologized and offered her $250 for a future flight. she says that's not enough and is suing the airline for $10 million. just ahead, why your hamburger may soon cost you extra. but first, a new report from glass door reveals interns at some companies earn more than the average full-time u.s. worker. some of the best paying internships, facebook, making about $8,000 per month. micro soft actually pays them about $7,100, exxonmobil, sales force and amazon interns bringing in more than $6,400. you know what to tell your kids to go into. you're watching "early today."

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president trump welcomes palestinian leader mahmoud abbas to the white house. the two expected to address options for pursuing peace between israelis and palestinians. former president obama and his wife michelle will host a roundtable discussion in chicago to discuss plans for their library and museum. they are expected to unveil a model of the obama presidential center which is slated to open in jackson park in the year 2021. and brad pitt speaks out for the first time about his split from angelina jolie. details coming up on the "today" show.

wall street keeping a close eye on apple following announcement they will pay out the biggest dividend in the world. even surpassing exxon. cnbc's courtney reagan is here. >> good morning, thanks for having me. apple shares are tumbling after the company beat expectations on the bottom line, but reporting disappointed revenues and weaker than expected revenues. blaming leaks and rumors about the next generation of iphones for the slowdown in purchases. the most valuable listed company says it plans to double its services business by the year 2020. a weekend blizzard in the midwest sending beef prices soaring. cattle futures rising to their highest level in more than a year amid tightening supply and news a massive snowstorm might have killed thousands of animals. more than half of americans feed

lots are located in the area impacted by the storm. back to you. >> we may have to pay a little more for the hamburgers. thank you. just ahead, the donald trump civil war plaque that commemorates a battle that never happened. the trial over topless photos taken of kate middleton as the royal couple seeks millions in damages. you help ensure that children in the u.s. and around the world are safe, healthy and educated. this red nose day, swing by walgreens and get your noses on to help end child poverty. walgreens. at the corner of happy and healthy.

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in the french gossip magazine "closer" and circulating on the internet. a spokesman for the royals called it a grotesque and unjust find invasion of privacy and moved quickly to file a lawsuit in france against the magazine. nearly 5 years after the royal's alleged invasion of privacy prince william and duchess kate asking the paparazzi to pay. three photographers were in court tuesday for the first day of the criminal trial. the royals did not attend. but in a statement red by their lawyer, the photographs taken were shocking and breached their privacy. william has said the images were, quote, all the more painful given the memories of his mother princess diana who died in a crash being pursued by paparazzi. two of the photographers have denied any involvement and the magazine refuses to say who was responsible. stay with us for more on "early today." ur search at the all-new carfax.com that might help.

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welcome back to "early today." often when you get a huge storm in the middle of the country, you get a jet stream heading to the east. that means a ridge builds allowing the warmth to build. portland going up to 82 on thursday. san francisco 81 today. in phoenix, you're going to jump to 100 to 104 by the time we get to friday. the warmth is all in the west, gigi. that means the cool air and stormy weather is in the east. >> by now we've seen all the photos comparing inaugural crowds for president trump and obama. new information is showing president trump was directly involved in tracking down the park service employee who tweeted them. that tweet was quickly deleted.

information obtained that the president was concerned over the photos and contacted the national park service acting director about them. the white house has not commented on the latest report. more than 128 million tax returns have already been processed this year, and if you are one of the 75% of americans out there, it means you got money back from uncle sam already. according to the irs, the average tax refund given this year was $2,763. that's actually up 2% from last year. as of late april, the irs dolled out more than $268 billion in refunds to 97 million americans. pays to get it in early. the president got in hot water after a misstatement regarding the civil war this week. now "the new york times" has uncovered another inaccuracy after it was discovered that a trump golf course in virginia has an incorrect plaque commemorating the civil war,

purportedly marking the river of blood where a deadly battle took place. experts say nothing like that ever occurred there, with one historian calling the plaque outright strange. the only battle to have taken place happened some 11 miles away. in a phone interview the president said, if people are crossing the river and you happen to be in a civil war, i would say that people were shot, a lot of them. we have good news for new dads. more companies offering better paternity benefits to attract a new generation of male workers taking on child care responsibilities. parenting website fatherly shows netflix leading the list offering up to a full year of paid time off for new parents. etsy is number two with 26 weeks, american express, spotify and netflix. >> netflix is a whole year? >> there's hope for our society yet. i'm gigi stone wood. thanks for watching "early

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good wednesday morning, bay area. we start your day off here with a live look at downtown san jose. maybe a little helter-skelter here. >> i spilled my coffee. >/iy just one of many cities looking at 90 degree temperatures today as the '% summer-like heat sticks around. you're bringing the heat in the studio. >> i'm trying to be relatable. q ñ]iñmor? >> you don't even have to try. thank you for joining us. >> i'm laura garcia-cannon.c we need to fix the coffee. all over the floor down here. >> i can smell it. >> let's go to the forecast. >> hopefully you're out the door and getting ready for a beautiful day. but it will be another hot one. maybe some iced coffee today. here's a livexd