what he's going through, 36 years ago this happened. i had one beer, right? i had one beer. well, you think it was -- nope. it was one beer. oh, good. how did you get home? i don't remember. how did you get there? i don't remember. where is the place? i don't remember. how many years ago was it? i don't know. i don't know [ cheers and applause ] >> president trump using the testimony of christine blasey ford to rally the crowd. this after some controversial comments directed at boys and men on the heels of the fbi's investigation on brett kavanaugh that could wrap today. to an exhaustive report by "the new york times" on the inner workings of the trump family finances and questionable dealings with the irs.

to the pentagon where moment letters containing ricin were intercepted before they got to the secretary of defense and others. a new alertinour cell phone that will have hundreds of millions of phones blaring at the conquered for a world record by a fearless female surfer. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm phillip mena. >> and i'm marlie hall. president trump switching gears as he defends his supreme court nominee and taking aim at brett kavanaugh accuser dr. christine blasey ford. at a mississippi rally last night, mr. trump took a turn from the generally measured tone he's taken toward ford, instead openly mocking her. >> 36 years ago this happened. i had one beer, right? i had one beer. well, you think it was -- nope. it was one beer. oh, good. how did you get home? i don't remember. how did you get there? i don't remember. where is the place? i don't remember. how many years al wgo was it?

i don't know. i don't know. and a man's life is in tatters. a man's life is shattered. >> ford's attorney blasted the president' vicious, vile, and soulless attack, adding she is a remarkable profile in courage. he is a profile in cowardice. >> president trump also alluding to lateohn cain and his unexpected vote on obama care. >> we had it repealed and replaced. a little shocker took place early in the morning. we would have saved a trillion dollars. think of it. our country would have saved $1 trillion had we gotten that extra vote. >> that rally happening as the fbi continues its renewed background check on judge kavanaugh with sources saying it sooner than this friday's deadline. for more on that, let's get to nbc's tracie potts. good morning. what do we know about this investigation thus far. >> reporter: what we know from a

couple sources familiar with that investigation, phillip, is that it could be as soon as today. we heard last night that last night they could be done with their work days ahead of friday's deadline. the fbi apparently interviewing a number of people, at least four that we know of so far including classmate mark judge, who dr. christine blasey ford says was in the room when she was attacked. the second accuser, deborah ramirez, and a couple of classmates. according to mark judge's attorney, in a statement saying that mr. judge completed his fbi interview, but they're not commenting on the questions that were asked by the fbi. notably, not on that list of people being interviewed, dr. christine blasey ford. sources telling us that the white house believes her testimony was sufficient. keep in mind republicans are calling for a vote to happen sometime this week. that process would have to gett. whend mull over the testimony from last op

terms of his temperament. we're also now hearing hillary clinton talk about the tone of that hearing. >> i think for anyone who believes there's such a thing as a judicial temperament and that we want judges, particularly those on our highest court, to approach issues, approach plaintiffs and defendants with a sense of fairness, that there's a lot to be concerned about. >> reporter: so two things to look out for today, whether or not the fbi announces they are done with this probe, the report would go to senators, we're told, not go public, at least not immediately. and also look for whether or not republican leaders start the process of that vote, which is a several-day process. but it would need to start today if they want to try to gee vote ineavi some time on the clock. thank you. in his defense of kavanaugh, president trump also appealing to women at h allegations.

that studies consistently showing low levels of falseom toughhere's nbc's krh more. >> reporter: president trump putting the focus on young men. >> well, i say that it's a very scary time for young men in america when you can be guilty of something that you may not be guilty of. >> reporter: his comments coming a day after his son, don junior, sent a similar message. >> i got boys, and i got girls. when i see what's going on right now, it's scary for all things. >> who are you scared most for? your sons or your daughters? >> right now, i'd say my sons. >> reporter: with the kavanaugh story front and center, sexual conduct is being talked about by families across the country. in kansas cimissouri, college freshman brady johnstone says he's spoken to his parents about it. >> they would turn to me and say something, you know, you know like what's going on here and everything. one small mistake, your career can be over. you just need to be conscious and smart and be respectful. >> reporter: parent and pastor trevor atwood in tennessee says

he's tried to teach his sons what is and isn't appropriate behavior. >> i'm going to teach them to choose to do the right thing, to treat women with honor and dignity and respect. >> reporter: still, ray allen, the father of three sons who lives in maryland, thinks the focus shouldn't be taken off women. >> i think it's a scary time for both young men and women. >> what is your message to your younger sons going to be once their old enough to understand this moment? >> the message is the same. no means no. >> reporter: parents across the country trying to turn this flashpoint into a moment of learning. kristen welker, nbc news, washington. president trump's finances facing renewed scrutiny this morning after a bombshell article by "the new york times," reporting an exhaustive investigation by the paper, 18 months in the making, diving deep into mr. trump's wealth and concluding that he engaged in suspect tax schemes while reaping riches from his father. the 13,000 word article is based on tens of thousands of confidential records including tax returns and financial

audits, many from the family patriarch, fred trump, and his vast array of companies. ultimately the times found that mr. trump received, quote, at least $413 million in today's dollars from his father's empire, much of it through tax dodges in the 1990s. the report also refuting one of the president's favorite claims he told on the campaign trail. >> it has not been easy for me. you know, i started off in brooklyn. my father gave me a small loan of a million dollars. i came into manhattan, and i had to pay him back, and i had to pay him back with interest. but i came into manhattan. i started buying up properties and i did great. >> the times alleges that small loan of a million dollars was actually closer to $60 million and was never repaid. nbc news has not independently seen those documents or confirmed the claims made in the article. the white house meanwhile slammed the report, saying it is a misleading attack against the trump family. and in a statement to the times, a lawyer for the president called it 100% false and highly

defamatory. meanwhile new york state tax officials tell nbc news they're now reviewing the allegations and pursuing, quote, all appropriate avenues of investigation. more than a year after the violence in charlottesville, four men described as members or associates of a militant white supremacist organization are now under arrest. they're accused of flying from california to virginia with the intent to incite a riot and commit violence at the unite the right rally. prosecutors say they assaulted a black man, two women, and a minister. federal officials are investigating a scary scene caught on camera. a police helicopter called in to help with crowd control at a football game, but fans say the chopper got way too seriously miguel almaguer has the video. an investigation after football fans say this police helicopter flew dangerously low, thrusting projectiles through the air as

thousands gathered for a penn state football game. >> what the [ bleep ]. >> i thought i was going to die. terrified of maybe it landing. maybe something happened with the helicopter and hitting one of us. >> reporter: police say it unfolded saturday when a tailgating crowd became unruly. >> move! >> i just got stepped on. >> reporter: after an officer was injured, the pennsylvania state police helicopter was called in. >> my first instinct was to hit the floor and cover my head because there was a ton of debris flying around. >> reporter: flying an estimated 50 feet off the ground, tents, trash, even grills flew across the field. >> i would never use this tactic. at 50 feet, you're going to be on the ground in two to three seconds if you lose the engine in that helicopter. and you're going into the crowd. >> reporter: after commands were ignored to leave, police insist it is rare to resort to these expanded interventions. a tactic some are calling more dangerous than the crowd itself.

miguel almaguer, nbc news. remnants of tropical storm rosa have drenched parts of the desert southwest, prompting flash flood watches in arizona. though it's been downgraded from a hurricane, rosa dumped almost three inches of heavy rain onto phoenix, a record amount for the month of october. some areas such as towers mountain experienced 6 1/2 inches of rain with more in the forecast. over on the northeast, conditions aren't much better as rounds of thunderstorms marched across southern new york and new jersey. in pennsylvania, a powerful tornado with 115-mile-per-hour winds damaged a nursing home. facility workers confirmed there were no serious injuries, but two people were hospitalized for unrelated issues. let's see what's going on today. let's get a head up on this wednesday. >> we saw those storms rolling through pennsylvania. they headed through the northeast overnight and those storms are just about finally going and exiting cape cod. but a lot of people were up when those storms went through, areas

of southern new england. today we're going into the northern plains. a new cold front is coming down. wisconsin an enhanced risk of severe weather. we may even get some tornadoes out of this, especially areas of central and northern wisconsin. it's all with this storm system that will move through the region. the timing of the strongest storms from 3:00 to plains. pretty classic clash of the air mass type of event later today. how about how warm it is in the south? it looks like these warm temperatures are going to stay with us right into the weekend for many people. also some heavy rain too. well, first lady melania trump continues her first solo international trip in ghana today as she tours four african countries to promote her be best initiative aimed at tackling cyber bullying.

accompanied by ghana's first lady, mrs. trump visited a children's hospital. mrs. trump will continue to her week-long trip in kenya, malawi and egypt. up next, a new disaster in indonesia to tell you about just days after a devastating quake and typhoon. plus this is just a test. the buzz around the presidential alert going out to every phone today. that's crazy! olay regenerist whip. olay whips absorbs faster than the $100, $200, and even $400 cream. i feel like it just melted into my skin better. it's really smooth and it's not heavy. i really really love this. i will 100% swap up my moisturizer. can i have it? olay whips. try whips with spf 25. finally, sun protection that feels light as air. tthdelicious.i-wheat.ir. but it's more than that. 10 layers of crunchy wheat to fill you up on big days. whether your day involves steam, mountains, or woah- fire...

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earthquake and def safetying tsunami less than a week ago. the mount soputan volcano has spewed ash 19,000 feet into the air. so far no evacuations have been ordered but officials are warning to stay away from that area. in the stricken city of palu, the death toll has now risen to over 1,400. nbc's janis mackey frayer is there, and she'll tell us more about those rescue efforts. janis? >> reporter: the death toll continues to surge here, yet days after the earthquake and tsunami, aid has yet to reach the people who need it. we arrived to devastation in every direction. at this hotel are using sniffer dogs in their desperate search for dozens of people still trapped in the rubble. >> so as long as the dogs are barking, you're going to keep looking? >> yes. yes. >> reporter: but there is so much rubble to search here. satellite images show how the earthquake and tsunami altered the landscape. buildings before and after. the town's entire coastline swallowed by the sea.

the powerful quake and 18-foot wall of water striking with little to no warning. some homes just floating away. we felt aftershocks. there have been hundreds so far. and at the airport as we came in, scores of people were getting out. wounded and weary, boarding military planes to be evacuated from here. days after disaster struck, aid is still only trickling in to a place running urgently low on everything. little is known about dozens of villages where 280,000 people are cut off. police are now protecting aid convoys from looters and people here are desperate. >> thanks for that report. just ahead, rambo heads west in a surprising twist for the classic franchise. you're watching "early today." that's why there's otezla. otezla is not an injection or a cream. it's a pill that treats differently.

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♪ we've done so much. point after point. i will not do this to you, but after page after page. ♪ >> earlier this week when trump was like, imagine if i was a drinker what i would be like. don't have to imagine thanks to jimmy kimmel. we've seen this oscar winning actor as the dark knight. now he has pulled off another transformation.

check out this uncanny resemblance here. christian bale will be starring as dick cheney in an upcoming film called vice. it chronicles cheney's life as the former vice president under president george w. bush. the movie will be always amazed what they can do with makeup there, plus bale's talent. british guy playing a guy from wyoming. >> he actually gained 40 pounds for that role. the italian stallion is heading into the wild, wild west, celebrating the start of production, sylvester stallone shared these photos. the actor clearly letting the og fans know there will be a slightly different feel in the new flick. the new rambo is set to debut in the fall of 2019. now, with the upcoming creed movie coming out and this, he's keeping really busy at 72. >> he couldn't be an old rocky, so an old rambo. i like it. still to come, surf's up, way up. the incredible video of a surfer shattering a world record.

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everyone grabs and tosses on the floor. i could also see kids like poking holes in them and playing with them. >> they didn't know what to do with the tide pods. today the warm and mulg gi conditions continue across the southern half of the country. dallas will feel like 92. jackson will feel like 93. nashville feeling like 91. still humid on many areas of the east coast right into this weekend. stay tuned for more on "early today." complicated relationship with milk? pour on the lactaid. it's delicious 100% real milk, just without that annoying lactose. mmm, that's good. lactaid. the real milk that doesn't mess with you. and for chocolate lovers, try rich, creamy lactaid chocolate milk. in the beginning. fresh but that plug...quickly faded. luckily, there's new febreze plug.

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they were stopped at a mail sorting facility separate from the pentagon itself, addressed to defense secretary james mattis and the chief of naval operations john richardson. a similar letter was sent to the white house but was intercepted before it got there. another was sent to the houston campaign office of senator ted cruz, but tests there for now hing hazardous turned up fed by a danus a brazilian o fas woman. and she did it in the same place where she had one of the scariest moments of her career. nbc's stephanie gosk has the story. >> reporter: off the coast of nazare portugal, the ocean converges on an underwater canyon 1,000 feet deep. it's where sea swells turn into monster waves and surfers come to break records. on january 18th, brazilian surfer maya gabeira caught the break she was waiting for. on monday, the world surf league

and the guinness book of records called it. that ride broke the record for the biggest wave ever surfed by a woman. 65 feet tall, more than six stories, and gabeira nailed it. what makes the moment even more incredible is where she was five years ago. this same spot, sucked under and lost in the whitewater. she described the moment to outside tv. >> i was going down a really big , of the amount of speed. it put me on the borderer line of unconsciousness because of the tim the surface. unconscious, it took two minutes of cpr on the beach to revive her. >> i chose my path, and i was focused enough and lucky enough to be able to chase my dreams and make it a reality. >> reporter: now she has a world record to go along with all that resilience. stephanie gosk, nbc news. >> the mental toughness it takes to overcome that because in a sport like that, even an ounce

of timidity, that means bad news. >> talk about never giving up. amazing story. well, celebrating birthdays on this wednesday. singer songwriter and on again, off again coach on the voice, gwen stefani. tommy lee is 56. the reverend al sharpton turns 64. and rock and roll legend chubby checker is still performing at 77. >> that number surprised me too. only 77. but given the fact the twist came outwatching. mmehalfway through the week.

ad lib live picture - emeryville cam and it is wednesday morning, 4:30 for you right now, and we have made it half way through the workweek, taking a live look and the bells ring throughout the bay area this morning. thank you for starting your morning with us on "today in the bay." >> let's check that forecast. expecting spotty showers today? >> what we'll see. if you missed out on it yesterday with the rain, today is your chance.

this will be rain focused mostly south of the golden gate bridge today and storm ranger, mobile doppler radar, zoom into the south bay. a little spotty, light rain, but we are seeing better downpour coming up 101 just near, just north of morgan hill and gilroy. tracking that going through the