here's gordon. thousands are without power as the deadly storm makes landfall overnight with torrential rain bands pushing inland wit famed journalist bob woodward has created a firestorm from the white house. along with incredible revelationsbout what is going on inside the trump add mac georgia. t for the future of the supreme court and how democrats are battling to shelf the hearings until more documents are released. >> and another night of upsets at the u.s. open. it went deep into this morning. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm phillip mena. >> and i'm marlie hall. tropical storm gordon's siege of heavy rainfall may have just gun, but it has already claimed its first life.

just hours ago, the national hurricane center announced gordon made landf alabama/mississippi border with sustained winds of over 70 miles .r >> authorities report those winds from the storm's outer bands caused a tree to fall onto a mobile home in pensacola, killing a child. nbc's jay gray has been chasing this storm and joins us now from gulf port, mississippi. jay, good morning. >> reporter: hey there, good morning, phillip. gordon made landfall just before midnight just west of the mississippi/alabama border, bringing with it strong winds. 80 mile an hour gusts, driving rains and a storm surge. flood h flooding has been a serious issue and continues to be as it moves inland throughout the day. we've seen because of the strong wind power lines down. tens of thousands without power. crews getting out when and where they can to try and reestablish that. this system continues to push and will through the week. up through the middle of the

country, the midwest in jeopardy as well because it is going to bring rain to an area that's already been dealing with flooding there. here, the clean-up will begin in ernest once things calm down a bit. and gulf port right now, no real rain to speak of. we have had some strong winds at times. we've seen a growing surf, but again, the situation right now seems to be the worst. just across the mississippi line into alabama where they took the brunt of this storm, that is the latest from here in gulf port, mississippi. i'm jay gray, nbc news. >> bill karins is here tracking gordon. what else can we expect? >> the winds are no longer much of a concern. down to 40 miles per hour, not going to see more wind damage. we will see a chance of an isolated tornado, winds to watch. the rain slowly moves toward the sorthwest a flash flood warnings continue from jackson, alabama through pensacola. flash flood risk into areas of arkansas. additional rainfall the next three days, many areas have a

chance of 3 inches, isolated areas could get 5 inches including southern areas of arkansas. we have rainfall concerns. the storm surge and the wind concerns are now diminishing. >> all right, good news there, bill. thank you, sir. bob wood wards sploes. new book fear president trump unloading overnight on the legendary washington post journalist famous for breaking the watergate scandal. the president claimed in a tweet incendiary tweets attributed to mattis and kelly were, quote, made up frauds, a con on the public. wood wards responded by saying, i stand by my reporting. he didn't speak with the president for the book saying his requests went unanswered. and he backed that up with this phone call from last month. >> sorry we missed the opportunity to talk for the book. >> well, i just spoke with kellyanne, and she asked me if i got a call. i never got a call. i never got a message. who did you, who did you ask about speaking to me? >> well, about six people.

>> they didn't tell me. >> senator, i talked to kellyanne about it 2 1/2 months ago. i've got to go talk to people and see them outside of the white house and outside of their offices, and gained a lot of insight and documentation and, you know, it's a tough look at the world and your administration and you. >> right. well, i assume that means it's going to be a negative book. you know, i'm sort of 50% used to that. that's all right. >> nbc's tracie pots joining us from capitol hill. i can't imagine the white house is too thrilled with this book here. >> reporter: the details of the book are certainly telling as you heard the president say it's all made up. bob woodward said it's not. it comes from unnamed sources, deep sources who are familiar with what's happening in the white house. the title of the book, fear, he says actually comes from an

interview that was done in 2016 with president trump where he said that real power is fear, and thus the title of the book. in it, accounts of a white house where staff members are trying to pull things together, describing it as crazy town, a white house on the verge of a nervous break down. the former economic advisor, according to the book, swiping a letter off the president's desk to keep him from pulling out of a trade agreement with south korea. the book talks about the chief of staff john kelly calling the president an idiot. he denies that. the defense secretary james mattis refusing to kill syria's president on an order from president trump. this from the washington post's robert costa. >> on trade, on foreign policy, you see mattis, the secretary of defense, gary cohn the former top economic advisor, trying to even pull documents off of the president's desk so he forgets about them andruss investigatio

according to the book, has this white house nearly paralyzed, the russia investigator robert mueller willing to take some written responses now from president trump instead of a sit-down interview. back to you. >> tracie pots live for us in washington this morning. tracie, thank you. >> a primary night stunner in the state of massachusetts. progressive ayanna pressley upset ten term representative michael capuano. the long-time congressman conceded overnight and voiced his support for pressley. she is now set to become the first black woman to represent the state in congress. her surprise win is the latest blow for the democratic establishment. pressley's path to d.c. is cleared. there is no republican on the ballot for the state's 7th congressional district which was once represented by john f. kennedy. >> the contentious confirmation battle over supreme court nominee brett kavanagh will

pickup again in just hours. in the first day of hearings, democrats showed up ready for a fight. they were trying to throw a wrench in the proceedings by immediately calling for a vote to adjourn. and interruption from dozens of protesters only added to the chaos as nbc's chief white house correspondent hallie jackson tells us more fireworks are expected in the coming days. >> reporter: no delaying the drama as democrats demanded one just seconds into the hearing. >> we cannot possibly move forward, mr. chairman, with this hearing -- >> i extend a warm welcome to judge kavanagh. >> we believe this hearing should be postponed >> mr. chairman, i move to adjourn. >> reporter: protests erupting. 70 people ultimately arrested: in the audience, the father of a parkland school shooting victim who says brett kavanagh brushed him off when he introduced himself. the white house says the judge escorted by security didn't know who he was. kavanagh's opponents plan to pepper him about gun rights and abortion rights rulings and where he stands on investigating a sitting president.

democrats furious the white house has not released more documents about kavanagh's work under former president george w. bush. >> what are we trying topouring. >> i'm still disappointed it's not hillary clinton making this appointment. >> reporter: republicans will defend donald trump's pick who could reshape the supreme court for a generation. >> judge kavanagh doesn't hate women and children. he doesn't luft after dirty water and stinky air. >> reporter: if they stick together by the end of the month, judge kavanagh could end up a justice. >> i'm not a pro prosecution or pro defense judge. i am a pro-law judge. >> reporter: we are also now learning who will take the senate 76-seat of the laseat fo. john kyle was appointed by the governor yesterday. kyle has been on the hill the last couple of months shepherding brett kavanagh through the process.

phillip, back to you. >> halle, thank you. in tennis down went another giant. >> game, set and match. chaion sloane stephens ing u.s. was knocked out by anastasia struggling with the heat and humidity. stevens just couldn't find her rhythm on the hard court and her opponent took advantage. she falls 6-2, 6-3. now to prime time action, serena williams on center court trying to keep her championship hopes alive. after dropping a few games early on, williams firing up the jets to come from behind and take the first set and from there it was just too much serena. she advances to the semi finals winning 6-4, 6-3. finally a five-hour thriller giving fans exactly what they paid for. top seed rafa nadal taking on dominique time a

dominique thiem. nadal showing his experience on the stage and took advantage of late unforced errors. it would go on to a 5th round tie break. >> bill, what can we expected to? >> i can't imagine five hours playing in that humidity. it was grossly humid. 30 million people at risk. it will feel like 100 degrees once again just like it did yesterday. the heat relief will come eventually wit but not for will be 100. also. boston and providence a ler. not vericet a slight cool new york city close to that down as we head towards the weekend th roncerns in areas of iowa and wisconsin this morning with heavy rain and thunderstorms. we'll talk more about that heavy rain threat and rain event

going on right now in wisconsin coming up. >> thanks, bill. >> fast forwarding into wednesday, facebook's chief operating officer sheryl sandberg and twitter dorsey will testify on capitol hill. try and calm lawmakers concerns over the social media platform. >> senator john kyle is expected to be sworn into the senate after being appointed toil 76-s senator john mccain. 76-year-old kyle is a three-term republican senator from arizona who retired in 2013. >> today is national cheese day with discounts and specials to be had at most major chains. we'll be right back. you're watching "early today." er after moisturizer but there's one... that blows them all out of the water. hydro boost water gel from neutrogena®. with hyaluronic acid it goes beneath the surface to plump skin cells from within and lock in hydration leaving skin so supple, it actually bounces back. the results will blow you away!

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that one. no way! i'll be darned. the complete air wick essential oils collection. leading the news, nbc news is defending the way a story was handled by this network. nbc news chairman andy lack e-mailing every employee of the news department about ronan farrow's initial investigation into harvey weinstein. and now ronan farrow is allegat that nbc news blocked reporter ronan farrow from doing a sto employees writing, in part, at

no point did nbc object instruct farrow's reporting. last week farrow's former producer rich mchugh who has left the network accused nbc of a massive breach of journalistic integrity. lack says an independent group of the most experienced investigative journalists in our organization evaluated farrow's reporting, concluding the story was not ready to air. the e-mail repeatedly states that farrow at the time did not have a single victim or witness willing to go on the record. attached to last night's e-mail was a ten-page report which details more than 20 occasions when harvey weinstein or his lawyersing the investigation. lack writes, the persistent contact played no role in our decision making. he says it was farrow's decision to pursue the story elsewhere. two months later farrow's pulitzer prize winning report was published in the new yorker magazine. farrow has long maintained his work while at nbc was

reportable. he is now disputing lack's e-mail saying it contains numerous false or misleading statements. and insists the suggestion to take the story to another outlet was first raised by nbc. one weinstein accuser emily nester states, i had tentatively offered to attach my name to the interview in silhouette, or potentially even re-shoot the interview with my face visible. however, they were not interested. nbc news says they were never told she was willing to be named. ultimately, lack says the news division parted ways with farrow because of a disagreement over journalistic standards. and farrow's urgency to get the story published. lack writes, if some believe that decision a failure of our competitive instincts, so be it. stephanie gosk, be in news, new york. >> just ahead a florida student gets the surprise of a lifetime at a beyonce jay z concert. and we're loving it. the hilarious mcdonald's prank

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ou volunteer in the community. you coach youth bahe sort of pe of us would like to have as a friend and a colleague. you also apparently like to eat pasta with ketchup. [ laughter ]

>> it was going so well. forget the supreme court. that would disqualify you from working at olive garden. pasta with ketchup? what? >> injecting some levity into a tense situation. that's what comedy is all about. >> trump, what's the problem? he famously likes his well done steak with ketchup. there you go, ken drindrede of . collect it out. >> schooler ship from beyonce and jay z. >> and another one. d.j. khalid surprising her with the huge scholarship. he hopes to one day become a lawyer. beyonce and jay z announced they will be giving away scholarships worth $100,000 to students in 11

stops on their on the run tutor. morgan is one of four winners named so far. how about that? >> yeah, he looks so excited. >> yeah, 100 g, that's crazy. good for him. >> well, two mcdonald's customers in texas have gone viral in their attempt to address the problem of under representation. both men are filipino american they noticed their local mcdonald's had tons of posters with models of different races but none including asian people. so they took on a secret mission.d up and we see there's a blank wall so we decided -- then we looked around and saw there was no asians in any posters in mcdonald's. so we decided to do it ourselves. and i guess the rest is history. >> and the poster that they made and hung up without anyone noticing has now been there for 53 days. and it looks so official. it's no wonder the restaurant didn't notice. >> yeah, i know. i wonder if they're going to take it down. i hope they don't. mcdonald's is probably listening at this point. well done, guys. the former cosby act or shamed

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[stomach gurgles] ♪when you have nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea... girl, pepto ultra coating will treat your stomach right. nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea.♪ try new pepto with ultra coating. comedian john stewart stops by studio with 9-11 first responders to champion the cause. >> bill karins is back with the rainy forecast. >> it won't stop raining in wisconsin, kansas, iowa, too. we have flash flood watches. that continues numerous flash flood warnings in wisconsin, northern michigan. you can see why the heavy rainfall. some embedded thunderstorms in

this, too. we're not done yet. still more coming out of nebraska into iowa. the rain call forecast calls for an additional 1 to 3 inches from quincey to peoria. that's the chance of flash flooding during the day today. >> thanks, bill. the international space station sprung a leak. russian officials are claiming sabotage. you're watching "early today." to emerge your best every day, you need to power your wellness. new emergen-c probiotics plus.

purposeful probiotics to help boost your microbiome, plus vitamin c to support your natural immune defenses. new emergen-c probiotics plus. emerge and see. your hair is so soft! probiotics plus. did you use head and shoulders two in one? i did mom. wanna try it? yes. it intensely moisturizes your hair and scalp and keeps you flake free. manolo? look at my soft hair. i try head and shoulders two in one. he's a familiar face who made audiences laugh as a sitcom star. recently actor jeffrey owens went viral. someone on social media shaming him after he was spotted working at a trader joe's. others are rising to his

defense. now he has a new job offer from a big hollywood name. here's nbc's kristen dahlgren. >> a little snack before our movie marathon. >> reporter: on the cosby show actor jeffrey owens was the always sincere elvin. so some were surprise today see pictures of the actor working a cash register at a new jerseyhag quickly turned into a spotlight on the meaning of hard work. >> what is my job? >> reporter: messages of support pouring in. actor terry crews saying, i swept floors after the nfl. if need be, i'd do it again. actress justine bateman adding, the people taking his picture and passing judgment are trash. owens has played many roles since cosby. >> nobody ever has. >> reporter: including more recently on the affair, divorce, and elementary. he says he worked at the super markbity so he could still audition. owens says he's left trader joe's because of all the fuss. but adds, there is no need to feel sorry for him. in fact, director tyler perry

has already offered him a job. but whether you next see owens in a hit production or a produce aisle, it doesn't matter. he's now most famous for teaching us the value in every job.ten dahlgren, nbc news, new york. >> could the recent air leak found on the international space station be sabotage? that's the theory coming from russia's space agency. the hole in the station was originally thought to be caused by a small meteorite but now russia's space chief says it was drilled by a human hand, possibly on purpose. it has since been patched up and nasa said the six people on board are not in danger. however, the agency declined to comment on the new russian claims. >> wait a minute. what? vengeful aliens? they're all up there together. i don't get it. guinness book of world records has certified a japanese couple as the oldest married couple with a combined age of

208 years old. 100-year-old and 108-year-old, they are happily living together in a retirement home in western japan. they've been married for over 80 years. they say a key to a long lasting relationship, patience and endurls dure endurance. they are part of a family of 60 and had great grandchildren. >> relationship goals. here are famous faces who will turn a year older today. activist rose mcgowan turns 45. award winning actress raquel welshad lib live picture -

transamerica pyramid. good morning and thank you for joining us. schez -- in for good is so typical for this t of year. thanks for joining us. laura garcia is we start off with clear skies as >> anotherea area. we take a live look outside right now and head over to

sunnyvale with temperatures that will start out with low 60s and head to the 70s by early afternoon. make it into the low 80s briefly before we take a dip later this evening. mike, you're keeping an eye on a high speed chase. >> it i