ready to testify. supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh's accuser says she will speak to the senate but only if her terms are met. another twist in the russia investigation. what president trump's long-time lawyer michael cohen reportedly had to say to the mueller team. good luck grabbing these on a shoestring budget. the yoits rarout rag outrage of sneakers. we'll break down drunk estates from the bottom up. "early today" starts right now. i'm marley hall. >>'m phillip mena. republicans are bracing bombshell. brett kavanaugh's accuser now

says she's ready to testify. however, sources tell nbc news she won't be ready until thursday at the earliest, which would mean missing the monday deadline set by senate republicans. dr. christine blasey ford has accused kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her at a party in the 1980s, an accusation kavanaugh has fiercely denied. president trump is still vouching for his nominee. >> brett kavanaugh is one of the finest human beings you will ever have the privilege of knowing or meeting. so we'll let it play out. and i think everything's going to be just fine. this is a high-quality person. >> while kavanaugh has the president's support, he's losing ground with voters. according to the latestpoll, moe people oppose his nomination than support it. he's the first water in that history of that poll. peter alexander has the latest

from capitol hill. >> reporter: that new offer from brett kavanaugh's accuser, christine blais e christine blasey ford. her lawyer saying ford would be prepared to testify next week as long as senators agree to terms that are fair and which ensure her safety. noting she's been receiving death threats. as for monday, the hearing date set by senate republicans, ford's lawyers saying it is not possible and the committee's insistence that it occur then is arbitrary. ford's lawyer emphasizes it's ford's preference that an investigation be completed before her testimony but does not demand an inquiry into her accusation. it >> i really hope that she doesn't pass up tt

a source involved in the been a regular visitor all week. confirmation process telling nbc news on tuesday, kavanaugh spent about two hours behind closed doors with a small group of senior staff, preparing for a hearing, grilling him about his past, his dating life and ford's accusation. kavanaugh and his family have also received threats and hateful e-mails. but the source says kavanaugh remains determined and hopeful. top republican chuck grassley saying kavanaugh has already been interviewed under oath by staffers, grassley saying we have no reason to doubt his truthfulness. >> we believe christine ford! >> reporter: but senate republicans are under fire, protesters outside their offices, accusing them of trying to rush kavanaugh through. >> that was peter alexander reporting. more possible trouble for kavanaugh. a prominent professor advised student on their physical appearance if they wanted to seek a clerkship for kavanaugh.

at the time he was a judge on the u.s. court of appeals. a yale student was reportedly informed kavanaugh liked his clerks to have, quote, a certain look. while the guardian reported that it was, quote, no accident his clerks looked like models. in a letter, the law school dean called the allegations quote, of enormous concern. the russia investigation is getting haep fr getting help from michael cohen. mueller's team has sat do you know wiwn wh cohen for multiple interviews. >> reporter: cohen spoke with the "new york times," and they are reporting that he has had a long interview with the mueller team. of course they are trying to figure out if he's going to cooperate in the russia investigation. now that we know that the president won't be speaking to them at length, the big question here is whether or not cohen is

going to flip and cooperate with the government and reveal any details that they were not familiar with. the times also says that cohen didn't express any loyalty to president trump and said he would put his family first. this, from a lawyer who has represented cohen in a tweet saying that they are providing critical information or good for him for providing critical information to the investigation without having a deal in place first. that no one should question cohen's honesty, veracity or loilts to the country over the president, and in fact, the "new york times" backing that up with cohen telling them that his family comes first. he is being investigated for financial crimes related to his work as t personal lawyer, all of this coming after the raid on his home and office earlier in the year. back to you. >> of course we learned this week that paul manafort also speaking with investigators.

thank you. three people have been killed and multiple others injured after a maryland woman opened fire on her co-workers before fatally shooting herself. police say the horrific rampage happened at a rite aid distribution center in hartford county and have identified the shooter as a 26-year-old woman who worked at the facility. dan shanman tells us more. >> reporter: just after 9:00 in the morning, in aberdeen, maryland, the shooting started. >> we have the active shooter at perryman road. >> reporter: inside and outside a rite aid distribution center, workers suffered gunshot wounds. worried workers reached out to loved ones. alexi sharman herd frard from h mother. >> there was a shooter in the building and she was hiding. >> reporter: alexi's mother was safe, others were not. four were killed, the shooter among the fatalities. >> our suspect is a lone female suspect. she has died at this hospital

from a fatal injury, self-inflicted gunshot wound. >> reporter: police have identified that lone suspect as snochia mosley, 26 years old from baltimore county maryland. >> we do not have a motive for the senseless crime. >> reporter: the shooting is over, the investigation goes on. dan shanman, nbc news. the u.s. department offing ais investigating a widespread coli outbreak linked to packaged beef. 17 people have been sickened in four states nationwide. the supplier is recalling all 132,000 pounds of affected ground beef sold under various labels and packaged by cargill meat solutions. meanwhile, you'll soon be paying more to fly. more airlines are boosting

baggage fees, and it's going to cost you unless you're traveling light. >> reporter: the price of checked bags taking off. american airlines the latest carrier to announce a price hike. all bumping up luggage fees in the past 30 days. your first checked bag will be $30, up from $25, while the second will set you back another $40. southwest now the only major domestic airline not charging to check. >> even though they're making billions, that's into the enough f -- not enough for them. >> reporter: baggage fees are already big money for airlines. up 7% fromongrs pushingor regulation, senatord markey passengers to absolutely gouging them. these travelers agree. >> people are getting squeezed all over the place. >> it makes me angry. i don't want to pay extra. >> reporter: many complaining the skies are no longer friendly

or free. nbc news, new york. we'll sigh ee if we have ot problems with air travel because of rain. >> into the south, in texas and oklahoma, heavy rain in west texas. flood watches go from new mexico into little rock. and it will go for 15 million people up through the coming weekend. here's the rainfall predictions. the heaviest rain from the dallas-ft. worth area. three to four inches of rainfall. and eventually, as we go through the weekend, toward sunday, this will spread into isolated tornado watch out, pennsylvania, ohio and western sections of new york state later on today.

take a look at the wesrest of t forecast coming up. last minute preparations are under way in munich for the oktoberfest. it attracts millions of tourists who consume millions of liters of beer during the two-week stan. increased security measures will ensure a safe party. it kicks off tomorrow. when you see october written with a k, it's beer time. >> it's good weather and lots of beer. what a way to spend theeekend. get out to germany. a taste of royalty. meghan markle debuts hercobook. and a hangup over phone scams. to you and to us. so at johnson's, we improved everything. we used 50% fewer ingredients. took out dyes, parabens, phthalates and sulfates. beat the top safety standards in the world and added one handed pumps.

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that's a lot less bulky. looks like good things really do come in small packages. always discreet. for bladder leaks. mexico's massive volcano erupted twice on saturday near mexico city. video shows the mountain side shaking as ash and smoke shoot 10,000 feet into the air. the second eruption rattled

about three hours later, a popular tourist spot feeling double the wrath of mother nature's fury. leading the news, the devastating impact of hurricane florence is still rocking the north east. flooding continues to be a concern with rain-swollen rivers expected to continue rising through the weekend. with cleanup under way, the new owner of the nfl's carolina panthers, david tepper, could be assisting in disaster relief efforts. the team's donation packa a $1 donation to the american red cross and $450,000 to regional food banks. now to the battle against an epidemic. spammers calling your home and cell phone, non-stop, from phone numbers that look like yours or someone you might know. and soon, a report finds half of all calls made will be robocalls. and some critics say there is a fix available to stop them. so why is it not being used?

here's nbc's kevin tibbles. ♪ >> reporter: a virtual explosion in annoying robocalls. estimated by next year, half the cell phone calls you receive will come from scammers. >> do you trust your phone? >> not at all. i don't ever answer it. >> reporter: telephone industry programmer, alec, shows us how easy it is for the robocallers to swoop in. >> you can call anywhere in the world pretending to be anyone else in the world. >> reporter: the industry has found a solution, stir/shaken, it's called. >> it's not a major change of the telephone network. >> reporter: phone companies can use stir/shaken to identify the call with a digital fingerprint. calls without that special i.d. may be flagged or blocked. problem is, it appears to be on hold. the fcc tells nbc news, we

believe this industry-led effort is the fastest companies will implement it within the year. a spokesperson says users should see improvements by late next year. but a consumer advocate wants to know who will pay for it. >> we want the fcc to ensure that it's free for consumers. >> reporter: with consumers scammed out of more than $9 billion last year alone, returning trust to the phone network is critical. kevin tibbles, nbc news, atlanta. [ phone ringing ] ♪ when you need a hand ♪ lean on me, when you're not strong ♪ ♪ and i'll be your friend ♪ i'll help you carry on ♪ mmm... ♪ lean on me...

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i saw that president trump is on the campaign trail. and he's spending the night in las vegas. which means tomorrow he'll wake up in a hotel room with a tiger, a baby and a face tattoo. i've heard trump is campaigning for the midterms in las vegas and out of habit, the moment he walked into a casino, it went bankrupt. >> we all know president trump does not have a good history with casinos, but, he also doesn't have to worry about hangovers. it's one of the benefits of not drinking. would you buy a new pair of shoes with dirt and tape already on them? this is a thing, everybody. this is a thing. and these things cost $530. theoo sneakers, aka, the superstar taped sneaker that looks like it's falling apart with a hold it all together tape

and grungy sole, the italian brand says they're all sold out online. they received backlash online of course, because what else is new, everything receives backlash because some people say it mocks homelessness. i don't know about that. you think it does. you're nodding your head. >> no. i just wouldn't buy them. they're not cute. >> you've got $530, maybe donate it. meagan markle hosted an event in london to launch her new cookbook for charity. she was accompanied by her mother and prince harry, and it debuted reces called "together." >> that's what we're talking about in terms of coming together to really engage and talk and to be able to celebrate what connects us rather than what divides us. >> she went on to say how grateful she is to live in a

diversity like london. a lot of great food in london. >> i've never been, but she is still my vote for having the best 2018 of anybody around. back here in the states, many of us americans enjoy an after-work drink here and there, but which city drinks a little too hard. they have identified both the 20 drunkest and driest cities in the united states. and drum roll, there it is, the cheese heads in green bay, wisconsin named the drunkest city in america. congratulations green bay, 26.5% of you report excessive drinking there. if you ever watch a packers game you'll believe t tit. u appleton. provo and orem are the driest. so it's utah and wisconsin. and they handle things very

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his way from philadelphia to becoming the king of his own media empire, why he spills everything from his personal life onto the stage and a hilarious dissertation about the loud pants he's wearing in our interview. plus the latest news and politics as always on sunday today. set your dvr to watch anytime. phillip and marley, i will see you on sunday. >> we will see you then. had me at "loud pants". >> now i'm curious. >> that's like an old seinfeld episode. so we are turning cooler as we welcome in fall. today was the last full day of summer. it feels like it from nashville to tallahassee. enjoy. (vo) for a nasty cold,

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hundreds of people gathered in the puerto rican capital to remember the nearly 3,000 people who lost their lives in the aftermath of hurricane maria. one year after it ripped through the island, the u.s. territory is still struggling to recover. we have the untold story from one of the heroes who risked his life to save the lives of others as the storm slamm>> i'm a true. you know, i carry my island in my heart. >> reporter: a year ago, as hurricane maria closed in, carlos benitez says he was the last helicopter in the sciky on frantic mission. >> my cell phone never stopped ringing, you know. >> reporter: at that point, did you think it was life or death? >> it was life or death. >> reporter: the monster storm left the island under water and

without power. but risking his own safety, carlos got back in the air. there was no air traffic control? >> no air traffic coal. -- control. >> reporter: you feel like you were all alone out here? >> i feel like we were in another world. >> reporter: he rushed food, supplies and medicine to remote areas, evacuating sick patients. now he's returning with us to that same area for the first time. how does it feel to know that some of these people right here might have survived because of you? >> well, blessed. generatorr: in the distance, he brought them. one year later, the power of maria is still overwhelming. >> just give me a second. i feel blessed that i had the

opportunity to give everything that i had in my heart. i think hurricane maria made everybody stronger. hurricane maria changed other life. >> reporter: nbc news, puerto rico. >> sounds like a movie, right? >> truly a hero. >> nbc has turned it into a documentary. amazon wants to be in every corner of your home and beyond. the tech giant has unveiled a bunch of new alexa products, including a microwave, a wall clock and echo products. it also introduced an echo auto, for your car, even when you're on the road, alexa we everywher. >> it's not just big brother watching, it is big sister. thanks for waking us. >> your news continues right near on nbc and your nbc stations.

are ad lib live picture san

francisco . and good friday morning to you. 4:30 right now, as we take a live look out this beautiful side? san francisco to get a start with our day, the last day of the work week. sounds good to me. thanks for starting your morning with us. i'm marcus washington. >> i'm kira klapper in for laura garcia and the last full day of summer and we're dressed accordingly i see. >> it's going to be a hot day for the bay area and it was so hot yesterday, and we won't be much cooler today. here's a live look outside in fremont as you get ready to head out oand our temperatureslgreesf sunshine. here is a look at our highs today, reaching into the low 90s