♪ ♪ president trump in manila side by side with controversial philippine president rodrigo duterte while outside protesters made their feelings known. >> overnight a powerful eahquake strikes along the iran/iraq border. scores are killed and injured. >> if you are flying over the holidays, listen up. we've got new information that will save you time and money. >> and then a quick reacting truck driver saves the day. "early today" starts right now. >> good morning. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. president trump is in the philippines today winding down his 12-day asia trip. the trip focused on garnering support for united front against

north korea's nuclear threats and new trade deals with countries in the region. and a brief meeting with vladimir putin put it back into the headlines. kelly o'donnell brings us the latest from manila. >> reporter: the president's final stop and the first large-scale protest of his asia tour. spilling out in the streets near the u.s. embassy in manila, water canons kept them back. here to attend a second economic summit, wearing traditional philippine garb. side by side with the controversial philippine president rodrigo duterte, an tag nist of human rights groups and supporter of extra judicial killings. but as host, all the extravagant niceties. president trump, who has measured his words in public during this tour, poked north korea's leader on twitter.

why would kim jong-un insult me by calling me old, when i would never call him short and fat? i try so hard to be his friend. friend? an idea he was asked to explain at a news conference in vietnam. >> strange things happen in life. that might be a strange thing to happen, but it's certainly a possibility. >> reporter: perhaps a distraction from the president's provocative comments to reporters on air force one. after he met with vladimir putin where he defended the russian leader's denials of election interference. >> i believe that he feels that he and russia did not meddle in the election. >> reporter: but after he disbadi disparaged obama political chiefs as hacks for blaming putin. the president tried a clean up. >> as to whether i believe it or not, i'm with our agencies, especially as currently constituted with their leadership. i believe in our intel agencies, our intelligence agencies. >> reporter: in the planning for this trip, the white house had

considered not even coming to the summit here in manila to avoid the bad political optics of the president being seen with a violent authoritarian like duterte. but other asian leaders encouraged the president to reconsider and he's actually adding a day to his time here in manila. a sign of support for allies he needs on trade and north korea. frances? >> all right, kelly o'donnell for us. thank you. >> president trump is in the philippines this morning winding down his 12-day trip through asia and he attended the opening ceremonies of the association for southeast asian nations conference. participating in a photo op and joining hands with philippine president rodrigo duterte and other world leaders for the traditional cross-body shake. the president has just finished a highly anticipated meeting with president duterte who has overseen a bloody drug war. and now the big question is did he raise the issue of human rights? nbc's chris giannising joins us now from manila. chris, good morning. >> reporter: philip, thank you.

well, it depends on who you talk to. the white house says that human rights did come up briefly, but according to a spokesman for president duterte, it didn't come up at all. and, in fact, the president seemed sympathetic to the drug war here. it is a drug war that has been widely criticized, including by human rights activists who call these extra judicial killings no more than murder since they have them without benefit of judge or jury and they claim many of the people who have died here have nothing to do with the drug trade at all. but beyond that, the two men are talking trade. and let me show you the headline of the philippine star. trump to reenergize, a philippine u.s. partnership. that's what the president had to talk about today after the two men met about what he says will be free and fair and open trade, but also took the opportunity to praise what is going on back home. take a listen. >> the united states, since our election on november 8th, has

been moving ahead really brilliantly on an economic basis. we have the highest stock market we've ever had. we have the lowest unemployment in 17 years. the value of stocks has risen $5.5 trillion, and companies are moving into the united states. a lot of companies are moving. they're moving back. they want to be there. the enthusiasm levels are the highest ever recorded on the charts. >> reporter: one of the big headlines coming out of his 12-day trip overall is going to be the president's insistence it's a good thing that he builds relationships with leaders who are overseeing authoritarian regimes including xi in china. obviously his meeting with putin of russia, and now duterte who today he said he has a great relationship with. and, in fact, last night when they had that gala celebration, that gala dinner, duterte

saying -- he says that the assistant -- insistence of president trump a love song, among the leyrics, you are the light in my world. philip? >> all right, chris. trump was certainly a different approach to those relations. chris, thank you. >> both the house and the senate will each take up their tax reform proposals this week hoping to rap up a vote on the bill by the end of the year. nbc's tracie potts has more from capitol hill. tracy, good morning. will they be able to get it done? >> reporter: they're going to try. it is a tight schedule. there are some big differences in what the house and what the senate are looking at here. one of the biggest is whether or not people will be able to continue to deduct their property taxes. the house wanted to keep that deduction up to $10,000. the senate version of this bill would completely wipe it out. now, the head of the tax writing committee on the house side said, doesn't look like they are going to go along with that. he doubts that they will. they want to preserve that deduction for the middle class. >> i am convinced this is where we're going to end up because

it's important, again as i told you, chris, to let people keep more of what they earn, even in these high tax states. what we're working toward, what we worked so carefully with our lawmakers from new york, california and new jersey is to make sure we deliver this relief and i'm committed to it. >> reporter: he mentioned new york and california and new jersey because those are some of the biggest states affected because their taxes are so high. but that's not the only difference in the two versions of this tax plan. dropping the corporate tax rate to 20%, it is a significant drop. both sides want to do that. but the senate would delay that drop for a year. also, the tax brackets, where do you fall in terms of how much you pay in taxes? the house version had four tax brackets, the senate version had seven. so, to answer your question, frances, can they get it done by the end of the year deadline? possibly, but they do have some things to work out. >> all right, a lot to watch there. tracy, thank you. >> more than 200 people have

died after a powerful 7.3 magnitude earthquake hit near the iran/iraq border sunday. according to the official news agency. measurements say the devastating quake was centered 19 miles outside of the eastern iraqi city of halabja. they are evacuating malls where iraqi officials are still trying to reach the dead. >> a kurdish tv channel was live when the quake hit. you can see the visible in the studio. in baghdad, hundreds of miles from the epicenter of the earthquake, ceiling fans and lights swayed. part of a mountain close to a dam in northeastern iraq collapsed. >> hundreds crowded outside hospital entrances as they were taken in for treatment. some 2000 injuries have been reported so far and the death toll of over 200 is expected to rise. the state-run iranian news agency also said rescue work would continue overnight. >> here at home, it was a frightening scene in san diego when a stairway and platform

gave way at a play space injuring more than two dozen people, most of them children. we get more from nbc's steve patterson. >> reporter: a terrifying crash at a children's gym. >> potential structure collapse. not sure how many victims. >> reporter: investigators hoping to learn how a wooden platform crumbled injuring at least 20 kids and two adults. >> i heard it crack then it crashed down. people were screaming. >> reporter: it happened at san diego's vault pk, an acrobatic activity pau it silt. the platform collapsed as the children were running up the stairwell to get pizza. >> my hands were shaking, i was really scared because i didn't know if any of my friends were hurt or not. >> reporter: the injured rushed to hospitals, some spinal injuries, most treated for scrapes and bruises. quote, my heartaches for families who call vault pk home. we are working with authorities and continue to do so to resolve this.

a disastrous collapse turning a children's night of fun into an alarming scene. steve patterson, nbc news. >> nbc meteorologist bill karins joining us now with the latest on the deep freeze we've been feeling this morning. >> yeah, good morning. it was cold and it remains cold in a few spots. it is on its way out. you have to go to northern new england where it is in the 20s. all the big cities are in the 30s and 40s. it's almost back to average. how it kind of should be this time of year. but we do have a little bit of wintry mess coming through areas of pennsylvania and new york. it's not a big storm, but there may be a few slick spots especially high elevations going through pennsylvania. all rain down around richmond, d.c., light shower activity now heading into philadelphia. but again, the areas north of philadelphia here as you go through the poconos, areas upstate new york, maybe a little more in northern new jersey as you go throughout the morning. middle of the country to the

northeast. areas of the south still feeling plenty warm. a chance of shower or storm in south florida today. it's going to be an active week. we're going to see more storms across the country. we'll track for you later. >> bill, thank you. famed gossip columnist liz smith has died, known as the dame of dish, smith spent decades chron consolidating the highs and lows of new york society writing for the daily news and new york post among other tabloids. she spent time on wnbc winning an emmy for her work in 1985. she became a champion for those who couldn't read, raising $37 million for the cause of adult literacy. al roker said i was for the nat enough to work with liz smith. she was nothing short of fabulous. liz smith was 94 years old.

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we have this incredible dashcam footage of a big rig truck. watch that, narrowly missing a group of kids trying to cross the highway in norway over the summer. the just-released footage shows the green bus stopping to let passengers out while the children wait by the road side. two others run right into incoming traffic. the driver in the big red rig right there slams on the brakes just in time. wow, amazingly no one was hurt. >> the brakes on that vehicle, my goodness. >> wow. >> leading the news this morning, imagine the government preventing you from buying a home because you bought too many video games. well, that could be the case in china sooner rather than later. the chinese government plans to make a social credit system mandatory for all of its citizens by 2020. things such as purchase history, political leanings and social interactions would be used to calculate a person's trust score. according to author rachel bots man who writes about china's social credit system in her book, some of the perks of a high trust score would be hotel

discounts or being fast tracked to visas. but some of the consequence of a low trust score could impact where your children go to school and what jobs you can apply for. >> well, poland marked its national independence day this weekend, but the official events were overshadowed by a huge march through wausau. some held banners linking islam with terrorism. others carried banners with an anti-semitic group that goes back before world war ii. those who took part in the counter demonstration were greatly out numbered. >> a marine corps veteran who lost both legs ran 31 marathons in 31 days. he did not lose his fighting spirit. he traveled all over the country with the goal of running a marathon every day for 31 days with prosthetic legs. this weekend he completed his journey in the nation's capital where supporters were there to join him and support him. jones has raised over $100,000

for charity and he says he hopes to inspire other veterans with his story and he's inspired more than just other veterans. >> i was about to say. you wake up moving kind of slowly, there you go. still ahead, nfl commissioner roger goodell worth almost $50 million a year? and if you're planning on flying over the holidays, we have some news that could save you some time and money. that's next. er brother. thanks for giving victor the energy to be the rowdiest fan. and joseph, the ability to see monsters. when you choose walgreens, you choose to make a difference... like how every vitamin and flu shot you get at walgreens helps give life-changing vitamins and vaccines... to children in need around the world and here at home. so, really... happy thanks for giving! walgreens. at the corner of happy and healthy. hot...hot...hot! augh...augh...ahhh... the lg sidekick washer.

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with less than two weeks to go before thanksgiving, it is the season for booking those holiday airline tickets. at the peak, more than 2 million people a day will cram into those airline seats. >> is there a way to make sure you get where you're going on time? here's nbc news aviation correspondent tom costello. >> reporter: safe to say holiday travel is not on most people's bucket list. the cold, the crowds, the cancellations. >> i don't want to sleep on the floor or on a cot next to somebody snoring. >> reporter: is there a trick to avoiding the holiday travel blues? nbc news aviation data ploe vieder to run the numbers. get this. >> the best flights for performance tend to be the once least expensive. >> reporter: you heard right. the cheaper flights are the most reliable because they leave early. at 6:00 a.m. 88% of flights leave on time. by 9:00 p.m., only 62% leave on time. >> get up early, leave early. >> reporter: that's the secret? >> that's the secret, leave

early. >> reporter: since the weather is usually better in november, thanksgiving travel runs more smoothly than christmas. over the last three years the airports with the most departure delays over thanksgiving, newark with fewer than 79% of flights leaving on time followed by san francisco, laguardia, lax, o'hare and denver. over christmas denver has the worst delays with just 61% leaving on time. followed by big hub airports, l.a. x., newark, dallas, las vegas and chicago midway. experts advise fly direct and avoid the snow. if you're going to connect, your point is make it a longer connection and a southern city? >> yes. if you're going to connect, look at airports like atlanta. they have outstanding performance. >> reporter: another tip, when comparing airlines, look at which airline is building an extra pad time to ensure you get there on time. and if you can, avoid small regional planes. the bigger the aircraft, the more passengers, the less likely the flight will get canceled. >> if your flight gets canceled, my heart goes out to you.

it's going to be very, very hard this holiday season to get on another flight easily and quickly. >> reporter: and the start of this yearly ritual is now just a week away. come costello, nbc news, washington. >> already getting travel anxiety for the holidays. >> going to be very stressful, on top of it, delayed flights. they're paying a lot of money for these flights. those flights on wednesday before thanksgiving and the sunday to come back, 2, 3, 4 times as much as normal. >> hopefully that turkey dinner will be well worth it once you get there. >> that's right. just ahead we'll tell you why former vice-president joe biden has a very big day today. and star gazers will love this next story about venous and jupiter. you're watching "early today." no i have a couple of things to wash we got this- come on. even on quick cycle, tide pods cleans great 6x the cleaning power,

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use the tools at medicare.gov. or call 1-800-medicare. open to something better? start today. ♪ fast forwarding into monday, they are considering a contract for roger goodell. he is seeking a $50 million a year salary. also lifetime use of a private jet and health insurance for life. >> star gazers were out this morning for a real treat. venus and jupiter two of the brightest plan et cetera in the sky, they were rising close together in the night sky. look at them. >> this morning former vice-president joe biden will be on today to launch had i new book. he will appear on all four hours of "the today show." lilly.

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as we mark veteran's day this weekend, a reminder that not all those who serve still wear a uniform. >> nbc's lester holt reports on a veteran honoring fallen members of the military by standing up for the children they left behind. >> around this campfire, the bonds of military service, loyalty and honor are being passed down. >> what i want you to know is the last thing your dad was thinking about was you. >> to children who share the loss of a military parent. >> makes me feel like i'm not forgotten. and other people care. >> a soldier's child foundation was started nearly ten years ago by darryl macken, a retired navy cook who saw a need after a neighbor's son was killed on the battle field. >> these are boys and girls who

have lost a mom or dad during active military service. so, it's any type of death. it could be combat related, kia, heart attack, stroke, training accident, suicide. >> i like them dangling around my neck because it's close to my heart where i keep my dad. >> the charity maintains a schedule of outreach programs throughout the year, like this golf outing with veterans. the goal is simple. to let these kids know that despite losing a parent, they remain a part of a bigger family. >> another guy from my team. i wanted to come because there's a lot of people like me, like myself, where they have gone through the same struggle i have without a dad. >> they need to know that america's behind them. >> and an outdoor adventure came p held recently in tennessee. >> it makes you feel comforted you're not the only one going through the situation. >> loved, definitely loved. >> it brings them together and that's the magic. empathy. >> derek treats us like his own

kid. he makes that hole in our heart full again. >> and in the spirit of a soldier's ethos, leave no man behind, here no military child is left behind. >> what a wonderful story there. like the kids said, there is a hole in the heart left behind and it's filled by all them together in this way. that is the ultimate sacrifice obviously. they didn't sign up for this. their parents made this sacrifice and so nice to see that. >> the smiles say it all. >> absolutely. >> thanks to lester holt for that report. we'll turn to bill karins for a look at the foreskpaft week ahead. >> for some people it is a frigid weekend. there is warm air returning today and tomorrow, the rockies and the northern plains. this time of year the cold air doesn't grip us and stay with us all that long. so, even denver gets to 69 today, rapid city to 61. by the time we get to tomorrow, warm air spreads to north texas and the middle of the country. late knelt week we'll see temperatures warming up in areas

like atlanta. in areas of d.c. all week. >> bill, thank you so much. we thank you for starting your monday morning with . i'usm ♪

the reuben is back for a limited time at subway. so much reuben. a good monday morning to you. let's get started taking a live look outside fremont. a partly cloudy start, but not too bad for a monday. good morning. i hope you had a great weekend. i'm laura garcia. >> i'm marcus washington. it's a nice morning. >> nice morning. it's wet in the north bay and san francisco. we have seen those wet roads. a lot of showers have been moving out. this is a weak system moving in. not expected to give us major problems. as we look at the radar, we see a lot of green to the north of us and a little across the peninsula right now. that is moving closer to san jose with light showers. we have seen it move through san francisco. now it's farther down the peninsula and