a presidential strategy session. the focus tax reform. and donald trump wants congress to have it on his desk by thanksgiving. >> today we may learn the fate of sergeant bergdahl who pleaded guilty to endangering his comrades. >> with three people murdered in ten days, police in tampa search for a possible serial killer. >> severe weather including tornadoes in oklahoma, damaged down power lines. >> that's not all. "early today" starts right now. good to be with you. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. the florida congresswoman who has been trading barbs with president trump over his alleged comments to the widow of a u.s.

soldier is demanding an apology from general chief of staff john kelly. she told joy reid general kelly is a puppet of the president saying he lied in a press conference last week when he claimed the congresswoman took credit for the naming of an fbi building for two fallen algts. video of the dedication ceremony later showed wilson made no such remarks. >> the character assassination that he went through to call me out of my name an empty barrel and all the work that i've done in this community. not only does he owe me an apology, but he owes an apology to the american people because when he lied on me, he lied to them. >> the women of the congressional black caucus echoed wilson's demands for an apology from kelly saying he must take responsibility for his reckless and false statements. neither the white house nor general kelly have responded. >> president trump is turning up the pressure on house republicans to get moving on tax reform. he says he wants a bill overhauling the system on his desk by thanksgiving. and he warns that failure to

pass a major tax package would hurt republicans during next year's midterm elections. nbc's kelly o'donnell has more. >> reporter: the president to his virginia golf club. not long after the motorcade was rolling back, president trump turned to business by dialing into a house republican's conference call. a strategy session on tax cuts. on the same page with a pep talk from majority leader mitch mcconnell. >> we're going to score a big legislative accomplishment here on tax reform in the very near future. >> reporter: legislative wins have been elusive. the president claimed past defeats are leverage now in an interview with fox business. >> i will say the fact that health care is so difficult, i think makes the taxes easier. the republicans want to get it done. >> reporter: making the rare move of going to congress, the president heads to capitol hill tuesday, to join gop senators for a private session. despite his pattern of in your face swipes at those very

lawmakers, claiming it's a tactic. >> i think actually sometimes it helps. sometimes it gets people to do what they're supposed to be doing. >> that was kelly o'donnell reporting. >> the sentencing hearing for army sergeant bo bergdahl begins today. bergdahl faces life in prison after pleading guilty to endangering his comrades when he an abandoned his post in afghanistan in 2009. the judge is expected to hear testimony about servicemen who were seriously hurt searching for bergdahl who was captured by the taliban and held captive for five years. now in an exclusive interview with britain's sunday times magazine, bergdahl says coming home was harder than those five years he spent as a hostage. nbc's matt bradley has more from london. matt, what else does bergdahl say in this interview? >> reporter: well, as you mention bergdahl's interview describes a young soldier who basically jumped from the pan into the fire. and this interview was published exclusively at the sunday times here in london ahead of what's expected to be a very dramatic set of sentencing procedures

today. bergdahl describes how being detained by the u.s. military was as tough as being detained by the taliban in afghanistan. even though the taliban beat bergdahl over his five years in captivity and confined him to his small box-like cell for much of that period, now bergdahl said it was the shame and the politics of his case at home that has been so unbearable. bergdahl told the times, at least the taliban were honest enough to say, i am the guy who is going to cut your throat. here it could be the guy i pass in the corridor who is going to sign the paper that sends me away for life. now, last week the 31-year-old bergdahl pled guilty to charges of desertion and miss behavior. the latter charge of miss behavior, that carries a sentence of up to life in prison. bergdahl was captured as you mention by the taliban in 2009 after he had walked away from his remote army outpost in the middle of the night. bergdahl said he had planned to walk to a neighboring army camp in order to report problems in his unit and some psychologists

from the military and otherwise have said that bergdahl seems to suffer from personality disorders that may have impacted his dangerous decision to leave that outpost. frances, philip? >> it is a fascinating story. matt, thank you. >> a florida community is on edge after a series of three murders over the span of just ten days. police believe the crimes are linked, but now say it may not be the work of just one person. and overnight the darkness shadowing the tampa neighborhood was pierced by the light of hundreds of candles. residents marched through the streets honoring the three victims of the brutal murders. nbc's mya rodriguez has more. >> reporter: the tampa police are searching for a possible serial killer. >> they are obviously able to vanish very quickly. >> reporter: vanishing without a trace, leaving the community on edge. >> there is no rhyme or reason. so we all feel a little shaken and concerned that we could be the next victim. >> reporter: in the past two weeks three people have been killed within blocks of each other. each while walking alone.

october 9th, benjamin mitchell gunned down while walking to a bus stop. two days later monica hoff a shot and killed in a vacant lot. and ten days after the first murder, anthony naboa shot and killed after getting off at the wrong bus stop. police say although the victims did not know each other, they have linked the murders through their similarities, and undisclosed evidence. >> you have my word these cases are connected. >> reporter: is this the work of a serial killer? >> we're not willing to use that term yet because we don't know enough. i have purposely avoided labeling that because i don't want people to focus in on one person. we don't know if it's more than one person, a team of people. >> reporter: for benjamin mitchell's family, his death is hitting them hard. >> it's so farfetched you can't even wrap your head around it. you don't think something like this would be so home, close to home. >> reporter: police released this surveillance camera footage identifying this individual as a person of interest. but so far no suspect and no

motive. >> we have very little information. we don't know who is doing this. >> reporter: ms. whitley heard the gunshots during the second murder. the body of monica hoff a found lying in an empty lot across the street. >> this is like too close to home, right across the street from your house. i'm up all night looking out the windows, trying to see what's going on. so, it's very scary. >> thanks to myra rodriguez for that report. >> we could soon learn more about the kennedy assassination. they are scheduled to release 3,000 files never seen by the public on john f. kennedy's 1963 murder. the decision what guests released rests with president trump who tweeted over the weekend that subject to the receipt of further information, he will be allowing the release to move forward. intelligence agencies have reportedly been pressuring the president to hold back some of the documents arguing they could damage national security interests. though some in congress are pushing for the release, republican senator chuck

grassley earlier tweeted that it's time to let the american people and historians draw their own conclusions. jfk's great nephew democratic congressman joe kennedy iii was a bit critical of the process for this decision. >> i absolutely tend towards disclosure of governmental documents. that being said, it would have been nice if there was some communication between this administration and members of our family. >> now to president trump who will help white house and former campaign staffers foot the bill of mounting legal fees from the ongoing investigations in a russia election meddling. first reported the news, they confirmed saturday the president plans to pay at least $430,000 out of his own pocket. that is roughly the same amount the republican national committee has spent to pay lawyers representing the president and his eldest son donald trump, jr. the white house officials say the president's pledge is not meant as a reimbursement to the rnc. few details are known about how

the money will exactly be spent, but the money will not go toward ousted national security advisor michael flynn or former campaign chairman paul manafort. >> parts of oklahoma are recovering this morning from severe storms. as many as four tornadoes hit swerns and central oklahoma this weekend causing damage to buildings and cars and bringing down power lines and trees. one of them struck a casino during a beach boys concert but there are no injuries reported. >> crazy to have those tornadoes. we are nowhere near tornado season, right? >> not usually. in the fall you can get one or two events. we will have a severe weather threat later today and we'll be watching one of the largest storms in a while. not intense, but rainfall from the great lakes to the southeast. currently chicago, nashville, atlanta, that's where the wet weather is "early today." this afternoon we're going to push that to wet weather into the carolinas. here's the timing. 10:00 a.m. today, strong storms into the great alexis. strong risk of severe weather. north carolina, virginia, there

could be an isolated tornado or two. that is going to be out ahead. there are those squaulz going through. watch out through charlotte to north carolina. heavy rain especially later today in areas of michigan. so, again, one of the bigger weather storms we've had in a while. a lot of grass and the lawns needt. ds will be increasing before the rain arrives tomorrow. well, now we have a kind of bizarre incident, an unknown local wins the venice marathon after the racing favorites took a wrong turn. the leading group of runners were 16 miles into the race when the motorcycle guiding them, well, made a wrong turn. the fix is in. the six leaders covered about several hundred feet before being made aware of the error.

italian soon found himself in the lead and became the first italian to win the race in 22 years. do you take that win? >> yeah. >> it's not his fault, right? >> no, money is still green. >> all right. keep it right here on "early today." dates. you look amazing. and you look amazing...ly comfortable. when your v-neck looks more like a u-neck... that's when you know it's half-washed. add downy to keep your collars from stretching. unlike detergent alone, downy conditions to smooth... ...and strengthen fibers. so, don't half-wash it. downy and it's done.

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the patriots beat the falcons pretty bad, 23-7. they're not going to get the benefit of the doubt. >> pretty clever fans there with those one liners on the tweets. leading the news, the hilt reports russian interference in u.s. politics began long before the 2016 election. fbi evidence shows the russians tried to access hillary clinton, her husband and members of their inner circle as early as 2009 when she was secretary of state. in one instance, a female russian spy posed as an american accountant to win a job at as a major democratic donor and gain intelligence on the department. he the spy was arrested after being caught. there is no evidence suggesting the clintons or their piers do anything illegal. sources familiar with the fbi evidence said, quote, there is not one shred of doubt the russian targeted clinton's circle because she was the quarterback of the obama russian reset strategy and the assumed successor to president obama. >> senate minute ofrt leader chuck schumer told meet the press sunday all 48 democrats in the senate are on board with the

bipartisan health care deal. republican senator lamarr alexander and democrat patty murry negotiated the bill after repeated failures to repeal and replace obamacare. schumer said the bill is also supported by 12 republicans and would, quote, pass overwhelmingly. he had this to say to senate majority leader mitch mcconnell. >> i would urge senator mcconnell to put it on the floor immediately this week. it will pass, and it will pass by a large number of votes. >> now, to some official news when it comes to the super bowl. justin timberlake will head the halftime show for super bowl 52. it is a super bowl's third time performing at the super bowl and his first since remember the infamous wardrobe malfunction thing in 2004? timberlake promises nothing like that will happen but he did give some insight on what's in store. >> i really want to do is take the opportunity to put together a performance that feels like it uniidentifies. i feel like that would be the ultimate accomplishment and then the icing on the cake is at some

point within the 12 minutes that everybody is shaking their booty. >> i think that's going to happen. super bowl 52 and the halftime show are on february 4 right here on nks. >> can't wait. just ahead a new hollywood mogul accused of 38 women of sexual harassment. the details ahead here on "early today." it's open enrollment. time to open the laptop... ...and compare medicare health plans. why? because plans change, so can your health needs. so, be open-minded. look at everything-like prescription drug plans... and medicare advantage plans from private insurers. use the tools at medicare.gov. or call 1-800-medicare. open to something better? start today. ♪ shatters the competition. hydrating skin better than prestige creams costing over $100, $200, and even $400. for skin that looks younger than it should. fact check this ad in good housekeeping.

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there is a disturbing new report on dozens of sexual harassment allegations. this time against hollywood writer and director james tobak. >> he is reportedly denying the acsayings which came from 38 women 31 of whom spoke out on the record. nbc's steve patterson has the la latest on this sexual harassment scandal. >> reporter: dozens of claims are sur fashifacing against jam tobak. l.a. times reporting 30 women's have come forward portraying a man who for decades used his position to harass women, those who aspired to be in his films or simply those he met on the street. nbc news spoke with three women who say he sexually harassed them in new york years ago. >> he came over to me when i was sitting in a chair and he started rubbing his groin against me. >> i basically called him out. i'm like, what do you think, that i'm stupid, i was born yesterday?

this is so casting couch. >> he also robbed up against my knee and said that he needed to stare into my eyes. >> reporter: when contacted by the l.a. times, he denied all of the allegations. none of the women alleging harassment contacted police at the time. but now from hollywood to washington, more women are speaking out against sexual harassment, sharing personal experiences with the #metoo. on meet the press four democratic senators shared their stories of harassment. >> he's chasing me around the desk, trying to get his hands on me. >> pretty much put his finger in my face and said men will always beat their wives and you can't stop them. >> did you bring your knee pads? >> we need to put a stop to this. >> reporter: the demands for change getting louder as each woman speaks out. steve patterson, nbc news, hollywood. >> still ahead, a question for you. what are americans most fearful of? we have this year's list and

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rescue animals, paws, look at this little guy. you know, puts the competition to encourage people to see rescues in a different light and then adopt them. that is a good one, too, beast from beauty and the beast. >> it's really cute, with the exception of the last shot we saw. they didn't look too into it. in time for halloween, they released the survey of american fears. survey asked 1200 americans how afraid they are over 70 scary subjects. in the top spot was government corruption followed by health care, water pollution and financial security. 2016 versus 2017's top five seems to be the most affected by the trump administration and new legislation showing an increase average of 18% rounding out the bottom of the list were clowns, blood, zombies, ghost, animals rats and dogs. clowns an increase from 1%, zombies dropped almost 5%. we'll be right back. you're watching "early today."

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north korea delivers heated anti-u.s. rhetoric almost daily. hearing from the people of north korea is rare. nbc's keir simmons got a chance to do that on a state sponsored visit to a temple nestled in the mountains north of the capital of pyongyang. >> reporter: hidden in the heart of north korea a devoutly atheist country, something rarely seen by outsiders, a buddhist temple 1,000 years old. perhaps offering lessons for today. this is bufrl. the temple was bombed by the u.s. during the korean war. she tells me. this is such a peaceful place. do you worry that it will see another war soon?

>> translator: another war won't happen because we are a nuclear super power, she tells me. the u.s. should wake up from its war dream. the temple attracts many visitors in a country that discourages religion. inside, prayers to buddha, and another belief often expressed in north korea, that north korea's supreme leader will keep them safe. there's a lot of talk of war right now. kim jong-un will protect us, the monk says. i ask him about the nuclear weapons kim jong-un is developing. he says sometimes it's okay to kill if it saves more lives. at all times our government minders look on. these are tense times in north korea. there are so many aspects of this country closed off to the outside world, not least the sheer beauty of the place. standing here it's hard to take in that the leadership of north korea has said a nuclear war

could break out at any moment. keir simmons, nbc news, north korea. >> fascinatesing glimpse inside. also the perspective. let's let's get a quick check of a monday forecast with nbc's bill karins. how is it looking, bill? >> california, dangerous fire weather, hot conditions and dry santa ana wind event over the next two to three days. winds gusting 50 miles per hour. the temperatures will be skyrocketing. also they're going to have the world series starting in los angeles on tuesday. anaheim supposed to be 104, l.a. 101. daytime heat 25 degrees above average. possible record high. so, it's going to be uncomfortably hot, but the real concern is if any fires do form, they would quickly rapidly spread with the temperatures like this, dry conditions and humidity 5 to 10%. that's why we have 17 million people at risk of the critical fire weather. we're watching. hopefully no fires form.

>> fingers crossed. thank you, bill. we appreciate you being with us. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. leaving you with video from

today, we may learn the fate of army sergeant, bowe bergdahl, who pleaded guilty to endangering his comrades by deserting his posts president trump will allow the long classified jfk files to be released to the public for the first time. some of hollywood's bigge stars speak out about the harvey weinstein scandal. get ready for hidden spy cams in plain sight watching your every move. early today starts right now. good to be with you. i'm frances rivera. >> i'm philip mena. the florida congressman that has been trading barbs with president trump over his comments to a