we will update you on the traffic, and of course we will have the latest updates at 11:00. have an absolutely wonderful day. ♪ good morning, the hot zone that massive heat wave gripping more than two-thirds of the country just getting warmed up this morning temperatures on the rise again warnings issued in dozens of states, nearly 200 million people coping any way they can al's got what to expect today and through the weekend. rallying cries the president takes his campaign against four democratic congresswomen on the road. >> they don't love our country i think in some cases they hate our country. >> just ahead why the president thinks running against the so-called squad is a political

winner for him and the democratic attempt to impeach him in the house failing after the party divides. breaking overnight, deadly fire, at least 23 people feared dead, dozens more injured in a suspected arson attack at a popular animation studio in japan. survivors saying a man stormed in, setting the crowded building on fire, leaving workers trapped inside we'll have the very latest in a live report. those stories, plus outrage. >> it's absolutely outrageous. >> jon stewart sounds off after one senator stops the 9/11 victims fund on capitol hill. bombshell, how the sexual assault case against kevin spacey suddenly unravels. and about face it's the hottest app on the planet, but what exactly is the russian company behind it doing with your photos and private information? today, thursday, july 18th, 2019 from nbc news, this is "today," with savannah guthrie, and hoda kotb.

live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. hi, everybody, welcome to "today." nice to have you with us on a thursday morning if you think it's hot out there, guess what, it's just getting started. >> you ain't seen nothing yet. it is hot. dangerously hot in certain parts of this country. >> it's become a huge story. an oppressive coast-to-coast heat wave, 200 million americans are sweating it out. complete coverage. we'll start with the forecast. and, al, craig's right, this is dangerous. >> it absolutely is, guys, in fact, as you take a look, we've got right now 29 states under heat advisories, watches or warnings, this stretches 2,000 miles. what's causing it? we've got a semipermanent area of high pressure, the bermuda high off the coast, it is pumping up tons of tropical moisture temperatures way above average but that bermuda high with that humidity makes temperatures feel up to 15 degrees hotter. you can see half the country oppressive humidity. and that's the problem

so for today the combination of heat and humidity makes for feeling like 110 in st. louis. 105 in chicago today same in raleigh. 100 in atlanta 103 in dallas. as we move into tomorrow, 104 in new york city. that's the heat index. 109 in cleveland 110 in chicago 109 in oklahoma city and then we move into the real meat of the weekend, we're talking about triple digits for kansas city, memphis, knoxville, detroit, chicago and lexington moving into saturday in the northeast, same thing. look at these triple digits. it will feel like 112 here in new york city. 111 in richmond. as we move into saturday you can see, and sunday, again those triple digits continue we are talking records as well as far as air temperature through sunday a forecast expected to be broken in 19 cities, forecast within two degrees of a record in 25 cities of course, the elderly, the young and the pets most vulnerable so please make sure you check those folks. craig?

>> al, we'll come back to you. how are folks handling the heat what's being done to help them cope kathy park is north of us in central park with that part of the story. kathy, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, craig it's already a muggy 75 degrees out here the day is just getting started. here in central park it's a great place to cool off because of the all the shade health officials say indoors during a heat wave because of the extreme heat and humidity can become life threatening. this morning from the steamy -- >> too hot, too hot. >> reporter: to the sizzling streets of the not so windy city of chicago. >> definitely stay indoors. >> reporter: an oppressive heat wave is making life miserable for millions. >> it's very, very, hot, it's hot. >> reporter: nearly 200 million people across 40 states are under heat alerts with those real feel heat indexes breaking triple digits in many places,

the summer scorcher buckling roads in wichita, and slowing trains in chicago, where officials fear the heat could impact the tracks. >> the expansion of the rail at any speed is a potential for a derailment >> reporter: in new york city hundreds of cooling centers are now open. >> we're entering a heat emergency. >> reporter: while utility workers are making sure the power grid doesn't take another hit after a weekend blackout left more than 70,000 customers in the dark for hours. >> we want to make sure we balance the need for people to stay cool with the amount of electricity that's being used in the city. >> reporter: extreme heat is one of the leading causes of weather related death. health experts say it's important to use common sense. stay in air conditioned buildings, drink plenty of fluids, take cool showers or baths. keep an eye on the very young or elderly. if you have to go outside, limit physical activity, wear plenty of sunscreen and never leave

children or pets in hot cars another precaution to pass along, pay attention to how you feel if you're experiencing dizziness, nausea, rapid heartbeat, call 911 right away. >> kathy, thank you. president trump took shots at the so-called squad overnight. the north carolina rally coming on the heels of yesterday's failed attempt by some democrats to impeach the president in the house. nbc's white house correspondent peter alexander has the latest good morning. >> reporter: president trump overnight debuting a series of new attacks on those four democratic congresswomen, previewing a divisive reelection strategy that focuses on framing them as dangerous and hateful. all of it as the crowd roared its approval. >> representative omar blamed

the united states. >> reporter: it was the defining moment of the president's rally wednesday night in north carolina >> send her back, send her back. >> reporter: the raucous crowd unleashing a new chant, send her back. >> send her back, send her back. >> reporter: a new spin on donald trump's 2016 rallying cry against hillary clinton. >> lock her up, lock her up. >> reporter: the president zeroing in on minnesota congresswoman omar his recent attacks on those four freshman democratic women to go back to their home countries, even though three were born in the u.s. and all four are u.s. citizens the president trying to cast them as radical and un-american in the face of the democratic party. >> if they don't like it let them leave, let them leave. >> reporter: omar tweeting her response, a poem by maya angelou, you may shoot me with your words, you may cut me with your eyes, you may kill me with your hatefulness, but still,

like air, i'll rise. >> and they want to try and impeach, it's a disgrace. >> reporter: the president claiming vindication after the house voted wednesday to shoot down an attempt to impeach him. >> the resolution, how stupid is that, on impeachment. >> reporter: the vote revealing just how divided democrats are on the topic, most opposing the resolution spearheaded by a single congressman al green of texas who argued mr. trump's racist attack on those congresswomen of color disqualified him from being president. >> if you did what the president has done you would be punished. >> so now we've seen where the votes are in the house for impeachment right now. what does this tell us about how divided the democrats are on this issue >> reporter: savannah, it is an important question, this vote really does highlight the number of democrats open to impeachment. it's a group that's large and now based on that vote appears to be growing. 95 democrats voted to advance that resolution. that is more than previously said

they were open to starting an impeachment inquiry. what it means is that the party's caucus is nearly split over this issue that could impact next year's elections nancy pelosi has counselled democrats not to rush towards impeachment, saying it could distract from the agenda and work to the president's advantage. breaking news overnight in japan where investigators are on the scene of a deadly fire at an animation studio dozens of people have been killed or hurt and survivors say it was set intentionally today's senior international correspondent keir simmons has that story. >> reporter: the numbers of fatalities keep changing this morning but are horrific 20 people dead others unaccounted for 36 injured the associated press reports the japanese prime minister

calling it murder by arson at an animation studio the producers work beloved around the world. the intensity of the bla visible through windows today, an inferno that killed people in their own office, ten may have died trying to escape on a staircase according to reports this morning and this is the suspect being arrested according to japanese television, a man in his 40s who was screaming you die as he burst into the offices witnesses say, starting the fire and spraying an unidentified flammable liquid firefighters climbing into the blackened building looking for survivors. at one point it was thought as many as ten people were trapped on the third floor it's now feared few of them survived from a distance smoke could be seen pouring from the kyoto animation studio it produces movies aimed mostly at a teen audience most of the production takes place in the building that officials say was set on fire. fans of the movies taking to social media to express horror

at the suspected arson this studio has been so dear to my heart for many years, one fan said another, our thoughts and our hearts are with the kyoto animation studio, praying for you during this difficult time the japanese prime minister tweeting the gruesomeness of it all, i'm at a loss for words the suspected arsonist was wounded according to witnesses, any motivation still a mystery he didn't work at the studio, reports say. around 70 people were inside the offices when the blaze began at 10:30 in the morning now forensic teams looking for clues and removing badly burned bodies after a horrific fire, apparent arson with no clear motive a terrible day for japan there are acts of kindness emerging that restore a little faith. an online appeal has been set up and has already raised over $260,000. >> keir simmons, keep us posted. new protests in puerto rico,

thousands took to the streets, this time joined by some of the island's most famous performers, they're demanding the governor step down. gabe gutierrez is in san juan for us gabe, good morning >> reporter: good morning, savannah, this is where protesters stormed the barricade. the governor's mansion is right over there, authorities fired tear gas, pepper spray at those protesters it was a chaotic scene the political firestorm here is now escalating overnight heated clashes between police and protesters in old san juan

for a fifth day demonstrators demanding puerto rico's governor resign amid a growing scandal. >> he's destroying the future of our people, of our children. >> reporter: thousands of protesters have crammed here in the cobblestone streets of old san juan and right now authorities have added more police around the governor's mansion. the massive protest started earlier in the afternoon. >> the governor should resign, he's a sexist, he has run this country into corruption. he does not care about his people at all. >> reporter: in san juan ricky martin joined in with other well-known artists while in new york -- hamilton creator lin-manuel miranda. >> about the peaceful transition of power >> reporter: the daily demonstrations hurting tourism, a second royal caribbean cruise ship has cancelled its visit to the island due to safety concerns wednesday's protest once again ending with tear gas the governor has been under fire

since nearly 900 pages of a private group chat were leaked and published by the center for investigative journalism in puerto rico. the reported messages include personal attacks on rival politicians, sexist comments and anti-gay slurs despite the growing protests he insists he won't step down. >> i don't think it's business as usual however i do have to operate the business of running government and that is what i'm doing and that is what i want to communicate. >> reporter: here in historic old san juan there is graffiti and boarded up businesses everywhere the scandal here in puerto rico is now being referred to as shaft gate or ricky leaks. but the governor insists that his chats were inappropriate, but not illegal. >> the pressure is on for sure gabe gutierrez in san juan for us, thank you, gabe. new outrage this morning after an attempt to reauthorize a fund for 9/11 victims hit a new roadblock on capitol hill. it has its most high profile supporter jon stewart once again lashing out at lawmakers nbc's chief white house correspondent hallie jackson has more on that.

>> reporter: ultimately this bill to help sick and dying 9/11 first responders is expected to pass overwhelmingly. but when just two senators blocked it from getting done more quickly one of the nation's biggest advocates for this victim's compensation fund took notice and took some swings. jon stewart not pulling punches on fox news wednesday. >> at some point we have to stand up for the people who have always stood up for us and what rand paul did today on the senate was outrageous. >> reporter: he's slamming senator rand paul, one of two senators to delay a procedural vote temporarily blocking an extension of the september 11th victim's compensation fund. >> there's some things they have no trouble putting on the credit card but somehow when it comes to the 9/11 first responder community the cops, the firefighters, the construction workers, the volunteers, the survivors, all the sudden, man,

we've got to go through this. >> reporter: it comes weeks after stewart, who's a long time advocate for 9/11 responders, blasted congress members during a hearing to reauthorize the fund. >> your indifference cost these men and women their most valuable commodity, time. >> reporter: senator mitch mcconnell saying this at the time. >> we've never failed to address this issue we will address it again i don't know why he's all bent out of shape but we will take care of the 9/11 victim's compensation fund. >> i'm not bent out of shape i'm fine i'm bent out of shape for them these are the first heroes and veterans and victims of the great trillions of dollars war on terror. >> reporter: for his part rand

paul says this time around he's not blocking the bill, tweeting overnight that he's simply asking for a vote on an amendment to offset the costs. >> we need to at the very least have the debate. >> reporter: stewart acknowledging the vote is procedural but is still taking him to task. >> pardon me if i'm not impressed in any way by rand paul's fiscal responsibility virtue signaling. >> reporter: so what is the timeline here for next steps the house of representatives, keep in mind, has already approved the money and senator mitch mcconnell has pledged to vote on this before lawmakers leave for their august break you should expect to see action sometime in the next two weeks. >> hallie jackson for us at the white house, thank you. we turn back to al we've been talking about this heat wave for days, it's kicking into high gear this weekend. >> we've got other weather to talk about hot and dry out west as well a few showers are making their way through the pacific northwest, severe storms pushing through the great lakes. that heat wave really sticks into place and does not move over the next several days now we've got strong storms firing up down through the appalachians and also looking at wet weather making its way down through florida. that's what's going on we're going to get to your local forecast coming up in the next 30 seconds on. we'll look at your local forecast coming up in the next

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weather, guys. >> al, thank you coming up the latest on that bombshell in the sexual assault case against kevin spacey, why the case was just dropped by prosecutors. and what that could mean for spacey's future. also ahead while everyone is having fun seeing their older selves, what is the russian-based company behind face app actually doing with all of our photos? what you need to know this morning if you have that hit app on your phone. first, this is "today" on nbc. first, this is "today" on nbc.

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you got this. good morning to you. 7:26. breaking right now, san francisco's embarcadero station closed all all muni traffic after muni says a drainage system failure led to water pouring everywhere, and the bart platform is one level above muni, how is this affecting the trains? >> at one point that water caused trains not to stop at the embarcadero station, and bart has restored all service including that station, and muni we have two issues, the underground service for muni not

going on because of the issue at the embarcadero station. use the montgomery station. there's police activity on market street near fifth and that will be a disruption for muni lines above ground, so a number of issues affecting mass transit. surface streets jammed, of course. freeways showing a lighter volume. a crash north 680 in walnut creek causing a slowdown. as we get out the door this morning, we have clear skies in the inland areas. san jose starting out with some sunshine. nice and cool temperatures. seasonable for the afternoon with a high of 83 degrees. concord, expect a high of 85 with napa today reaching 80 degrees. cool and foggy in san francisco with highs in the lower 60s there. we catch a break from high heat for the next couple of days and

then slightly warmer just in time for the weekend while san francisco stays mostly in the 60s. we will have more local news in half an hour.

♪ we are back now, 7:30 on this thursday morning. and there is a look at the potomac river, the nation's capital as you can see in the distance. it is already 80 degrees in washington, d.c. much of the country going to be experiencing record or near record temperatures over the next few days. >> but it's a wet heat. it's going to be hot, wet, sticky and dangerous. in fact, these extreme temperatures are the top of our headlines this morning. this heat wave. scorching much of the u.s. in recent days that's just getting warmed up. temperatures will soar to dangerous levels through the weekend, nearly 200 million people across 40 states are under heat alerts. the national weather service

estimates more than 100 local heat records will fall on saturday. al's going to be back with the late forect in just a few. we're awaiting a key ruling this morning in a case against jeffrey epstein. a federal judge here in new york city is set to decide whether the 66-year-old will remain behind bars while he fights sex trafficking and conspiracy charges. his defense team is asking a judge to let their client stay under house arrest in his luxury $77 million manhattan mansion. the federal prosecutors say he used a foreign passport with a fake name to enter several countries back in the 1980s. epstein's lawyers say he got the passport for personal protection against kidnappers and terrorists. to an extraordinary display of team work that helped save the lives of dozens of whales. this was the scene in georgia. crowds of beach goers rushed

into action to help 30 pilot whales from beaching themselves. they pushed them out back to sea. three whales did not make it, but the rest were saved. pilot whales are often involved in mass strandings like this because they have a very social nature meanwhile, a new twist this morning in one of the biggest stories borne out of the me too movement, prosecutors in massachusetts have dropped their criminal charge against oscar winning actor kevin spacey nbc's senior national correspondent kate stone has been following this story. she joins us with the latest. >> kevin spacey has been accused of wrongdoing by multiple men. some allegations go back decades. so far this nantucket case was the only one that led to a criminal charge of indecent assault and battery, a charge that spacey pled not guilty to on sunday prosecutors met with the accuser and his family and

decided to ask the judge to drop the case this morning, a blockbuster development in the case against a-list actor kevin spacey. prosecutors in massachusetts dropping the charge against him, citing unavailability of the complaining witness. that witness was 18 years old when he says spacey groped him at this nantucket restaurant. >> my son was completely star struck. >> reporter: his mother describing the alleged scene to me in 2017. >> it wasn't until kevin spacey put his hand inside his pants that he really knew he was in trouble. >> reporter: you say he didn't consent to that. >> absolutely not. >> reporter: but the case took a stunning turn last week when her son testified for the first time at a pre-trial hearing. >> your honor, we could not locate the phone. >> reporter: the young man's attorney saying the phone the alleged victim used to text friends about the alleged assault was given to police and now is missing spacey's attorney questioned the accuser and his family about deleting messages.

>> did your mother ever advise you, did she ever say to you, you need to get rid of some of those text messages? >> reporter: i don't remember, but i don't believe so, the accuser replied. his mother testifying she removed some items that concerned her as a mom but weren't relevant to the case before giving the phone to police. >> you turned it over because it was central to the case, after you were able to manipulate certain things on the phone. correct, yes or no >> i deleted a couple of videos. >> yes or no. >> well, you're making it sound sinister and there was no intent on my part. >> reporter: spacey's attorney suggested the accuser could be guilty of a crime if he tampered with evidence. the accuser then abruptly invoked his fifth amendment rights and stopped answering questions. now prosecutors saying the case is over. in a statement wednesday the accuser's attorney said my client and his family have shown an enormous amount of courage

under difficult circumstances. spacey was last in court in june. >> so we're not done, no matter what anyone says >> reporter: his last public comments, a video in the style of his "house of cards" character frank underwood. >> you wouldn't rush to judgments without facts, would you? did you? no, not you. you're smarter than that >> reporter: kevin spacey has not commented on the charges being dropped. prosecutors have asked the judge to drop, i should say. the family has dropped a civil suit against spacey saying in court there was no settlement. there are still, by the way, open investigations focusing on spacey in both london and los angeles and we're told, guys, that prosecutors in l.a. will make a decision soon about whether to file charges there. >> kate, thank you so much this brings us to ari melber, our legal analyst and a lot of people are scratching their heads and saying, okay, what just happened here obviously the complaining

witness, the primary accuser saying i'm not going to testify because i don't want to self-incriminate, there goes the case how did this all come about? >> what appears to have happened is that the phone has become paramount. either you believe that there was some kind of attempt to tamper with the evidence, that's the allegation, or the phone has just been used to sort of scare off the witness. either way prosecutors are saying if he's clammed up they don't have a lot of evidence left. >> where does all of this leave kevin spacey >> well, there's these other investigations in many of the cases we've reported a lot of times, the question is how old are the charges and for local charges they're often too old to pursue. as kate mentioned there are other investigations out there. >> it seems strange to me that this got so far if it's going to ultimately end up with a witness on the stand who's supposed to be the accuser against kevin spacey suddenly saying gosh i better assert my right to a fifth amendment. did the lawyers kind of do a

number on him on the stand how did this -- what happened? i don't understand -- i really don't understand how this could have happened. >> at a minimum, as you say, savannah, it's effective lawyering. it's also possible that the prosecutors were caught by surprise often, in these types of cases, a strong prosecutorial team will really act in a way as a kind of a warning and a protector of the accusers, obviously ultimately in court facts are supposed to be found but that witness, that accuser is the case. so it seems here that they ended up feeling, and we saw a little bit of the excerpt, feeling on the stand like they were under pressure maybe that was a surprise to prosecutors as well and then it was too late to unspool it. >> really quickly, what if anything can we take away from

the fact that the family has dropped the civil suit as well with apparently no settlement. >> what we take away from that is either the family and the witness here just felt this was all too much and walked away from the pressure and the heat. >> yeah. >> which doesn't mean we infer anything about the underlying allegation, right, higher burden of proof in court. or it is possible the other interpretation is that there was something that was so helpful to mr. spacey and so problematic for the accuser in these allegedly deleted text messages that they didn't want to go forward in either venue, civil or criminal, craig. >> interesting resolution here ari, thank you very much. >> thank you. the big story today, the weather, mr. roker standing by for the forecast what are we looking at, al >> we're worried about hot car danger let's say we're starting with an 80 degree temperature like this morning. well, you leave a car out in the sunlight within ten minutes it's up to 93 degrees. you go to about 30 minutes, it's up to 109. and then within an hour you're at 127 degrees extrapolate that with a temperature that's 95 or warmer and you can see how hot and how dangerous leaving anybody inside that car would be. so we're also looking at the remnants of barry moving offshore, brought heavy thunderstorms and strong winds last night into the northeast. well, for today we've got a slow moving frontal system, a lot of moisture, daytime heating, we generate storms and we could be looking at, again, pretty good downpours in the northeast locally, one to two inches of

rain that's what's going on around the country. good thursday morning. i am meteorologist, kari hall. let's head outside in dublin with a hazy view outside, and temperatures still staying nice and cool. we will be a touch cooler today with the tri-valley reaching 85 degrees, and 89 the high if antioch. morgan hill, 83, and 80 today in napa. san francisco reaching 62. it looks the same, mostly cloudy there. upper 80s for the weekend. that's your latest weather, savannah. >> al, thank you so much. still to come the christmas in july deals heating up in the wake of amazon's biggest prime day ever what should you be shopping for this morning the celebration of our 50th anniversary of apollo 11, what they're still to learn from the rocks gathered during that historic mission one of those rocks, a legit rock star in our studio.

the first look behind the scenes of the "cats" movie featuring taylor swift and other big stars. we're going to answer all of your questions about face app, the connection to russia, what's being done with all of our photos and how safe is it to use the hottest app on the planet. that's right after this. th hotteste we're k12. and we're giving families an online option for public education. where schools provide students with the personalized attention they deserve. students can thrive, find their passion, and learn in an environment that encourages discovery at their own pace. these schools may not be for everyone, but they are here for anyone. k12 education for any one but dad, you've got allstate. with accident forgiveness they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident. smart kid. indeed.

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what did you find? >> it's all fun and games until somebody reads the fine print. in the case of this latest craze, face app using aging filters or any other filter means you've handed over your rights to your pictures to a russian company to do whatever they want with them. that's raising a lot of questions. while millions of face app users wonder what will i look like decades down the road? >> oh, my gosh there's just wrinkles everywhere in places i didn't know you get wrinkles. >> reporter: lawmakers are wondering what this russian company is doing with your photo. calling for an investigation into whether personal data uploaded by millions of americans into face app may be finding its way to the hands of the russian government a democratic national committee warning presidential campaigns not to use face app because it was developed by russians. >> russia requires the companies there to cooperate with the authorities in way that would make most americans uncomfortable. >> reporter: in a statement the company says user data is not transferred to russia. but in the company's terms of service users agree to the transfer and storage of your information in and to the u.s.

and other countries, and that by using the app you give the company irrevocable royalty free permission to use your photos and data, even in advertisements for the application. meanwhile, face app is the number one download for iphones and android with more than 100 million installations, famous users like the jonas brothers, mindy kaling and kevin hart. >> what we are all doing is essentially creating a surveillance technology industry that's going to be worth billions of dollars and we'll always know what you look like >> reporter: think "minority report" where tom cruise walks by stores that recognize his face and target him with ads

when it comes to the era of profiles and social media privacy advocates say it gathers less info on you like facebook and twitter which not only know your face but track everything else about you the server deletes most photos after two days. >> so gadi, i know you were in on this yesterday. we like to see ourselves old, i guess. what do you do if you want to make sure now they're not just keeping your photos and your information? >> well, the company says you can request to have all your data removed from their servers. but the process is a little tricky i'm going to show you right now. we've got my phone mirrored up here this is face app we're going to go to this up here that is settings and then down here you go to support and then report bugs and send logs. right there you're supposed to type in privacy and then something like please delete all my user data from your servers they say their support team is currently overloaded but eventually they're supposed to get to it. >> that doesn't sound reassuring you have to ask them to delete it and then trust that they will. >> they said eventually they'll get to it. >> we forgot. >> your call is important to us. >> thanks, gadi. >> i'm going to ask them to make me look a little better. >> if you're going to steal my

face -- >> i keep pointing out, this is probably a good time to remind folks that everything, amazon, google, all that -- >> the info we give to -- every day when we buy things online is much more invasive than just a face it's out in the world anyway just ahead, a summertime scare here the dangerous bacteria that you can get just by swimming in warm water, with temperatures rising and more cases popping up, what you need to know right after these messages need to k no ...used almost everywhereema, eon almost everybody. like the hands of a hairstylist. or the calf of a cutie. prescription eucrisa... ...works at and below the surface of the skin. it blocks overactive pde4 enzymes... ...which is believed to reduce inflammation. and it's steroid free. do not use if you are allergic to eucrisa or its ingredients. allergic reactions may occur at or near the application site. the most common side effect is application site pain.

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still ahead, bargains galore, a christmas in july retail war being fueled by the success of amazon's prime days >> and the stars of "90210". more excite than fans for the revival of the show. after your local news. exactly, nothing. they're completely different people, that's why they need customized car insurance from liberty mutual. they'll only pay for what they need! [ gargling ] [ coins hitting the desk ] yes, and they could save a ton. you've done it again, limu. only pay for what you need.

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♪ good thursday morning. right now at 7:56, we have a hazy view over san jose right now, and starting out with sunshine as we check out san francisco, mostly cloudy and drizzling right now but we will start to see things clearing up just a little while today. it's going to stay cool with a high of 62 degrees there. in oakland expect a high of 72 while concord reaches 85. we will see low 80s in the south bay as well as much of the north bay. temperatures come down a couple degrees today and tomorrow and then heat up again as we go into sunday. we will reach up to 88 degrees, and even hotter for the middle of next week, reaching 89. for san francisco, not changing much but we will see a little more sunshine in the forecast tomorrow. let's head over for a live update on the commute. >> still have problems at the

embarcadero station in san francisco. for mass transit there's no underground muni service because of a water issue there. bart restored service after the water issue on the tracks below and above on the streets, on the map, there's police activity at market and so the tracks are being stopped right there, and you can find out about that from your muni line as well. meanwhile the roadways getting in town, a light volume. and then muni has their hands full with the leak at the embarcadero center. a drainage system failed during a test, and we are posting updates on our twitter feeds. supportive crowds during a campaign rally last night, one day after the house dlawmakers

voted to condemn the president's tweets. we will have more local news coming up in half an hour.

♪ it's 8:00 on "today. coming up, feeling the heat. more than two-thirds of the country waking up to dangerously high temperatures. >> too hot too hot. >> the unrelenting heat wave only getting started just how bad will it be? al's tracking it all. plus, rock icon. we'll get an up close and personal look at the ultimate space souvenirs. >> this is it. this is the very first sample collected on the moon. >> just ahead what scientists are still learning from moon rocks 50 years later. then, beverly hills reboot.

>> this new "bh90210" puts us all back together again. >> what they're saying that has fans so excited. today thursday, july 18th, 2019. ♪ >> here for anna clara's 25th. >> i'm turning 60 today. >> in arizona, happy birthday to my mom in michigan. >> "today" show cafe in universal studios all the way from nashville, tennessee. >> we're from pottstown, pennsylvania. >> celebrating mom's 60th. good morning, welcome back to "today. nice to have you with us on a thursday morning and it's already hot out there. good reason to come back tomorrow a great party.

kacey musgraves, one of the biggest stars in country music right now is going to be right here singing songs for us on the plaza. let's get to the news at 8:00, the weather's at the top for us, warnings, the heat and humidity, dangerous levels across much of the country al, sorry to say it, it's going to get worse. >> unfortunately, guys, when you look at the heat indices map we're looking at 29 states under heat alerts, 2,000 miles worth of this and we've been seeing this heat building through the month of june. june was really a new record, breaking the record globally all across the world, 1.7 degrees above average and, in fact, greenland ice shelf is near a record june melt severe european heat wave. extreme warmth in siberia and closer to home the heat is on. dangerous combinations of heat and humidity it's going to feel triple digits in st. louis, chicago, minneapolis, wichita, dallas, atlanta, raleigh and washington, d.c. and then for tomorrow new york, cleveland, chicago, kansas city, little rock, nashville and

charlotte all triple digit heat indices. no relief in sight for the weekend. chicago, detroit, oklahoma city. as we move into the northeast the triple digits and this moves right on into sunday unfortunately. we have no relief coming so make sure you take care, lots of water and please check on the elderly and the young and of course keep your pets hydrated as well, guys? >> al, thanks. one day after the house condemned his twitter attacks on four democratic congresswomen president trump used the dispute to fire up the crowd at a reelection rally in greenville, north carolina last night. the president portrayed the so-called squad of lawmakers as un-american radicals when he singled out minnesota's

ilhan omar, the crowd responded with a chant. >> representative omar blamed the united states -- >> send her back, send her back. >> earlier that night the house killed a resolution by texas democrat al green to impeach the president because of what green called the racist nature of his tweets about the congresswomen. >> we've got an update now on that rare but potentially deadly flesh eating bacteria that can be contracted simply by taking a dip in the ocean nbc's kerry sanders joins us with a closer look how you get it and how to avoid it kerry, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, savannah we all know there are dangers when you go in the water, sharks, jelly fish, rip currents but until recently you'd be hard pressed to find anybody who was afraid to go in the water for something so small you couldn't see it without a microscope, flesh eating bacteria. 56-year-old gary evans is the

most recent victim of the flesh eating bacteria. his family says doctors believe the father of six died after he was exposed to the water borne bacteria while crabbing at magnolia beach in texas. another victim on the gulf coast, 66-year-old dave bennett of memphis according to social media posts from his family bennett, who had a compromised immune system because he was battling cancer died after swimming in the gulf off destin, florida. >> it could have killed me, absolutely it could have killed me. >> reporter: leanne sibita believes she's lucky to be alive. she says her doctors think she too came into contact with bacteria while swimming in the gulf. >> it was probably a ten, excruciating pain. >> reporter: the bacteria causes 80,000 illnesses and 100 deaths in the u.s. every year now hospital labs are on high alert, checking on patient samples. before going into the infectious disease lab at baptist hospital miami they asked us to put on protective gear, gloves included, and that includes the camera crew. this is what leads to the flesh eating bacteria?

>> yeah, this is the actual bacteria. >> i'm safe here >> we are perfectly safe >> reporter: dr. stacy baker says symptoms of exposure usually include at least one black spot on the skin like this one that appeared on leanne's foot only hours after being in the gulf of mexico it usually happens near a cut or a scrape that was there before contact with the bacteria in that saltwater why do we see more of this bacteria in the gulf of mexico now? >> it is probably related to the higher temperatures of the water. >> reporter: as the waters go up this bacteria likes that >> exactly. >> reporter: and scientists note that we have seen increased temperatures in the gulf of mexico, about a degree or so, over the last 40 years, a reflection of climate change it's important to note this is not just going on in the gulf of mexico there are recent increased number of cases in delaware bay. bottom line, as you heard the doctor there, referencing about open cuts, or a severe scrape. if you have them best to stay out of the water because that is the entry point that this bacteria can lead to so many

complications. interesting, the early, early response from a doctor, savannah, is critical here antibiotics can solve the problem. >> you've got to see it and notice it. kerry, thank you, good advice this morning. 8:06, how about a boost? >> 11-year-old seth parker wanted to get people's attention with his take on the traditional cold drink or lemonade stand and it worked. it worked too well police in brigham city, utah, started getting call about the boy advertising ice cold beer for sale when officers arrived, they took a look yeah, he's selling beer, root beer, people, there in the fine print all along. everybody had a good laugh and i think we have a genius marketer on our hands right there. >> genius. officers bought a lot of that root beer too. coming up christmas in july. did you miss out on the amazon prime day deals? we've got a roundup on big sales going on right now. how cool is this check this out we have rocks from the moon

right here in studio 1a. and 50 years after neil armstrong's first steps, their secrets are still being unlocked the incredible story right after this the secrets are still being unlocked an incredible stories right after this this is not just a headache. this is not just a fever. this is not just the flu. it's meningitis b... and you're not there to help. while meningitis b is uncommon... once symptoms appear, they can progress quickly and can be fatal... sometimes within 24 hours.

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prime day and said it was the largest shopping event in the company's history. >> officially a thing. but if you missed out there is still time to snap up deals with other retailers jumping on the frenzy vicky nguyen has more. >> amazon prime day primed the pump for consumers and has led to an explosion in retailers capitalizing on everybody's shopping mood, online and in stores it used to be you heard about black friday on thanksgiving now it's black friday in july. what you can still save money on right now. from airpods to instant pots, consumers are enjoying the spoils from amazon prime day an estimated $5.8 billion spent worldwide this year on amazon. a whopping 175 million items sold, more than black friday and cybermonday combined with consumer wallets wide open other retailers are basking in the afterglow of prime day more than 200 offered massive discounts to compete and many places like target are still

offering big savings many of the target deals have a catch, they want you to buy it online and then come to the store to pick it up to get the dis count. check out this lego star wars set, regularly $139.99, if you buy it online, it's only $111.99. kitchen aid mixer normally $349.99, on sale for $259.99, a savings of $90 plenty of deals on home supplies too where you save now and get a gift card for later. and target is running a special on household supplies. tide detergents, good time to stock up need hair products check out ulta offering discounts on shampoo and conditioner. if you're stocking up on gifts for later, game stop has discounts through the end of the week on games and head phones. and don't forget, there are deals online e-bay, michael's, wayfair,

lowe's and dell. all offering online-only deals through the end of the week. keep an eye out for electronics, home goods, vacuums and smart watches. things like that will still be on sale. >> reporter: finance expert kelsey sheehy says there are some products you can wait to buy. >> if you are not seeing the price you want on things like a laptop, outdoor furniture, appliances, hold out for a couple of weeks. you're going to see the prices drop during back to school sales. and especially during labor day sales. >> reporter: the christmas in july sales have caused stores to ramp up their savings for the season kohl's and jcpenney already looking for seasonal workers, a summer jump start. many of the deals we showed do end this weekend if you're hoping to cash in, do it soon. some of these deals are online only but a lot of them have that free next day. >> lots of tips, any more for us

>> if you find a great deal and it's sold out, get a screen grab and see if another store will match the price. a lot of stores have loyalty programs now if you sign up it's usually free and you' get ather discount. >> okay. >> thank you that was fun al, what you got >> again, we've been talking about the heat we've got that also looking at strong storms firing up through the upper midwest. hot, dry, out west, more wet weather down through the gulf on into florida and hit or miss showers and thunderstorms making their way through the northeast later today. that's what's going on around good thursday morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. here is a live look outside from oakland looking from the airport across the bay. it is mostly clear there. temperatures heading up to 72 degrees. in concord a little warmer reaching 85 and 83 the high in san jose. santa rosa reaching up to 81 degrees. san francisco staying cool while the inland areas will top out in the mid 80s today, plus some upper 80s for the weekend. but staying in the 60s throughout the next several days.

running out of the house, don't forget, catch us on "today" show radio. >> jenna bush hager in the house, good to see you how you feeling? >> every day a little bigger. >> well, me too, me too. >> summer, yes. >> it is summer. >> contain your excitement, folks, time for pop start. for all you harry potter fans, exciting announcement to make. harry potter and the cursed child has seen massive success after it opened in london it came to broadway in 2018 receiving rave reviews, taking home six tonys fans can learn all about the show's journey to the stage in the new book harry potter and the cursed child, the journey behind the scenes of the award winning stage production that's a mouthful as a title of the book in addition to the cover we're going to get an exclusive first look at the inside pages from the book as welch include images from the play and candid backstage moments. potter fans can pick up a copy

on november -- >> it's a book about a play. >> about the making of the highly successful play. >> like hamilton. >> another thing to collect. >> up next, another broadway show, cats andrew lloyd weber's musical is headed to the big screen the film is packed with all-star cast members including dame judi dench, taylor swift, james corden new clips yesterday, we get a behind the scenes look at what went into the making of this film. >> top of their game doing it, you raise your bar as well. >> people coming together through all different corners of

entertainment. >> you have some of the best hip hop dancers and royal ballet, some of the best tappers in the world. >> everybody's working really long hours, rehearsing every day. and it's fun. >> the designer, oh, my god, what is this so spectacular it's just so much fun to play in. >> the scale of this film is huge, three or four times bigger for the cat perspective. >> it's a massive undertaking. >> too bad they couldn't find any talent idris elba, that's my guy. >> rebel wilson, that's our gal. we love her. >> and cats are my felines. >> from universal pictures, our sister company, hitting theaters december 20th. good timing for that but the first trailer, by the way, will drop tomorrow. maybe we'll have it here in pop starts. >> when does the book come out on the movie >> good idea, two years. finally, less than a month away from the premiere of one of the most anticipated reboots, bh 90210 and in a new promo clip we get a glimpse of scenes and hearing from the cast what it was like to work together again. >> the show is definitely going to have a strong element of nostalgia. >> remember when we used to make out to this song >> getting to work again with my old friends has been one of the highlights of doing the show.

>> i love when we're all together. >> we have a very special unique connection together that no one else will have. >> before you say anything -- i'm sorry. >> we're just really lucky we get to go back and play around and have fun together again. >> you can tell they're connected there. they're excited about the reboot if you want to watch the full clip and learn more, head to today.com. >> what is there to learn? >> bh 90210 premieres august 7th. >> we don't know if the peach pit made. >> reality, peach pit was not real. >> it was real, savannah. >> it meant a lot to you. >> thank you, carson. >> go to the website, guys, you seem to have questions go to today.com, it's all there. and now to more of our special series, one giant leap we are celebrating the historic apollo 11 moon mission. >> 50 years later. it's what the crew brought back that scientists are still studying. >> that's right. the apollo astronauts returned

with over 800 pounds of moon rocks and soil most of those rocks are carefully stored at the lunar sample laboratory in houston except for today we've got three of them exclusively right here in studio 1a before we get to the rocks, a tour of the real deal. the special vault and lab that stored these priceless samples in an unremarkable building at johnson space center, behind a bank vault door, lie some of our nation's greatest treasures. look closely at these cabinets and you'll see simple labels, ap 16, ap 17, ap 14 one for each of the apollo missions, including ap 11. apollo 11. >> this is it, this is the very first sample collected on the moon. >> reporter: that sample is called the contingency sample. a lunar rock neil armstrong should have popped into his pocket right after taking that one small step, guaranteeing scientists had something to study if the mission suddenly

aborted, or so went the plan ryan ziegler is the curator. >> he didn't quite do it away. he took a minute to take in the amazing environment around him. >> neil, this is houston do you copy about th contingency sample >> going to get to that as soon as i take the picture. >> they were yelling at the screen to get a sample getting the sample back was the most important thing >> reporter: neil got that sample and during their two and a half hours on the moon armstrong and buzz aldrin gathered nearly 50 pounds of rocks. before armstrong sealed up that rock box he did one more thing, an afterthought with a major payoff. >> neil armstrong decided it looked empty he put five shovelfuls of dirt it's the most widely studied sample. >> the box full of moon arrived with a police escort, flashing

red lights and traffic held back to let it pass. >> reporter: 50 years after arriving in houston, there are some apollo rocks that remain unstudied, pristine. >> it's actually sealed under a vacuum on the moon, and has remained that way ever since. >> reporter: nasa is now prepping to open those samples for the first time and analyze them with technology that didn't exist five decades ago they hope to unlock clues for how the soil could be used in future moon missions. >> one of the things you need to keep the astronauts alive is water and oxygen to breathe. if they can make some of it while they're there, utilizing the soil that's already on the moon, that would be really important. >> reporter: the next mission is slated for 2024 and ziegler for one is counting down the days. >> i can't wait five years from now to get to open the next set of samples, my best day at work, my best day ever. >> ryan ziegler joins us you brought not one, but three of these special lunar artifacts

that are normally under lock and key in houston is this a rock that neil armstrong himself grabbed? >> absolutely, right near the end of the apollo 11 mission neil armstrong collected this. same types of rocks they have in hawaii this is incredibly aged, over 3.5 billion years old. older than every rock on earth, basically. >> wow. >> and this one's particularly special because this actually went back, the only sample that went back into space and came back we had a -- >> did that alter it at all? >> shouldn't have, no. this case is specially designed to protect it from everything. >> today we're on the moon for about two and a half hours, were they good geologists >> they were that's not just me saying that only one professional geologist, went to the moon -- jack schmidt on apollo 17 and i've heard him say that other than him, of course, neil and buzz were the best geologists. >> so cool to see this in

person what about this one? >> this one is different this is from the apollo 17 this is called an impact melt breccia. it formed through when an asteroid over 100 kilometers miles across hit the moon and a crater, a molten rock landed at the apollo 17 site it was formed through a completely different process, also line gent, over 4 billion years old. >> essentially the moon got in its way. >> it probably saved the earth the moon probably saved the earth from that impact. >> did the rocks and soil that they brought back did it have a particular smell to it >> if you believe the astronauts, they all say they had a gun powder smell and a lot of them had a reaction to it, lunar hay fever. the particulate matter >> allergic? >> they didn't swell up or anything, runny nose breathing in the dust caused a little bit of a reaction just like breathing in dust here

would do as well. >> what does our newest technology show us >> that they have water in them. 's the biggest difference. we used to think these were dry. we have better instrumentsow we know they have a few hundred parts per million water in them which isn't a lot. >> does that tell us anything else >> it tells us how the moon formed what the conditions were for it, stuff like that. >> wow. >> oh, cool. >> most of these are under lock and key behind the glass but this one is a rock people can touch. >> one of our rules is to keep the samples safe for a few cases, this is our ninth lunar touch stone. these go out to museums. >> craig, are you -- >> can i >> he has lotion on his hands. he had an orange earlier. >> go ahead. you're the first person to touch that i touched it on the way here and the guy who made it. but other than -- >> wow, craig. >> are you serious >> i am serious. >> i wouldn't have done that if

i'd known that. >> you can all touch it. >> oh, my gosh. >> you've got these not only around the country but around the world. why do you deploy them >> we find people have a better connection to things when they can touch them it makes it more real. >> is this cut from an otherwise bigger rock? >> yes, much bigger. a very good morning to you. it is 8:26. i'm laura garcia. breaking news. san francisco's embarcadero station is closed to all traffic after yuni says a drainage system failure led to water pouring everywhere. this is video from the b.a.r.t. platform which runs on the level below muni. muni says it actually happened as crews were conducting flooding tests. we'll look closer at the impact. how is it affecting muni and b.a.r.t. this morning? >> they were attempting -- the b.a.r.t. system, it was actually running through the system not stopping at embarcadero for a while but they have since

reinstated all service for b.a.r.t. at the embarcadero station. there is a separate problem now with b.a.r.t. because of an equipment problem so that is a minor issue. now affecting the muni system itself where the water tests were going on there is no muni underground service at the embarcadero station. that continues because of the drainage repair work or whatever has to be done. they're checking it out. on the surface streets you would take muni on market but at market and 5th there is police activity also a problem. plan for delays there. the freeways are moving well. the bay bridge, minor backup at the toll plaza. crash clears from the 680 at stone valley road, southbound direction. back to you. >> thank you very much. i'll be back with a local news update in half an hour. this is fred. he's dancing like nobody's watching.

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seth has the jonas brothers, new tonight. and we're back, 8:30 here on the east coast 1:30 at royal port rush in northern ireland where golf's open championship is under way, a live look there, carson daly, i bet you wish you were there. >> all eyes on rory mcilroy, the young star on the island

rory off to a rough start, quadrupled the first hole. >> is this the golf channel? >> we're all watching it graeme mcdowell there, minus 2 exciting few days in northern ireland.app. first time the tournament's been there since '51. all of the coverage on the golf channel here on nbc, i'm watching it on my app. big weekend for the golf fans. >> we know where to find you, in your man cave. >> guys, i want to introduce you to some friends i'm about to meet sarah lane and ronny from columbia, south carolina, there you are, hi, guys, how are you >> we're wonderful. >> you're from south carolina, there's someone you wanted to see. >> we want to see craig. we have things for him. >> craig, come on over. >> they came from columbia and they brought you presents. >> we came from meryl's inlet. >> oh, i'm excited.

>> we have peaches >> oh, i love peaches. >> we have grits from the ferry. and i have a poem for you. >> can you read the poem >> i can recite it. >> great >> we love you in columbia, we love you in nyc -- now i forgot. you've made the palmetto state as proud as we can be. we'd love to say hello and take a selfie too because we have to start each morning with a daily dose of you. >> that's a great poem. >> get a selfie. you should bring them inside for that. >> we should bring them inside. >> welcome, guys we'll get you inside to get your pic. thank you, honey how cute is that that might be our first poem on the plaza. >> craig's such a romantic, it's perfect. >> i know. >> that's beautiful. straight ahead we're going to separate fact from fiction when it comes to hair loss a little too late for me check out the over the counter product that can actually help. an award winning chef is here to give us a taste of his

creative creations. wait until you see what he does with ramen coming up in the third hour after topher grace talk abouted his thought provoking performance in "black mirror". on the fourth hour it's thursday, ambush makeovers plus deals we love because we love to save you money. >> we do so much al, a check of the weather >> we know what it's doing here but let's show you what's happening as far as your weekend outlook. and we are looking at hot, humid weather on friday in the northeast, sunny and dry out west, extreme heat in the midsection of the country extends into the east on saturday steamy through the gulf. sunshine the western third of the country, wet weather through the southeast. sunday, sunday, a lot of wet weather in the eastern half of the country, less humid in the plains out west awfully nice. but showers and thunderstorms through the lower and mid-mississippi river valley that's what's going on around good morning. i'm meteorologist kari hall. live look outside in san jose starting out with sunshine and as we look at san francisco, we

can see that there is some clearing but clouds also all across the bay. as we get a look at our high temperatures for this afternoon we're heading into the low 80s in the north bay as well as the south bay. upper 80s for inland east bay while san francisco stays in the lower 60s today. the forecast warms up going into the weekend for the inland valley and staying hot into the middle of next week. and that is your latest and that is your latest weather. now let's head back inside. nice and dry inside, uncle al, thanks so much coming up next we're all about hair dr. michael wolff over here tells us how to keep your hair on your head and what to do if you thought the loss of your hair is keeping you up at night. might have new technology we're going to learn about here in just a bit first, this is "today" on nbc. going to learn about here in just a bit. first, this istoday" on nbc. "

hair loss affects millions of men and women across the country. it comes with side effects including the loss of confidence and self-esteem. >> there's options for hair restoration and those options are greater than ever now. here to talk about the myths of hair loss and the latest advancements. plastic surgeon and hair loss specialist dr. michael wolf is here with us >> good morning. >> let's start with this first myth this one took me by surprise i always heard that male baldness comes from your mother's side. >> look at your mother's father. >> not true. >> that's not true at all. actually, hair loss comes from both sides of the family so you really have to look at your mother and your father's side of the family to see where you stand. >> very cool. >> let's slide down and get to this next. i wear a hat every day of my life, a baseball hat that is a lot of people think hats can cause baldness, true or false. >> that's false also that's been around a long time, hats do not cause baldness if you wore a hat tight over a long period of time may cause a little bit of loss but that's false.

hats do not cause baldness. >> and last but not least, the third myth, you can be too old for hair restoration, not true >> not true. each individual patient, health status, past medical history, expectations and see if they're a good candidate for a hair restoration procedure. it's each individual patient. >> before we get to the products and the half million dollar machine over there, is there a cure for hair loss for men and women? >> no direct cure for hair loss but there are medications and treatments that can help to reduce hair loss and thicken your hair and there are treatments such as a hair transplant that can give you permanent hair restoration. >> let's start with these over the counter products rogain i've heard of. >> yes, that's been around for many years over the counter it's indicated for men and women and it can help to thicken your hair. >> at what point should someone start to use these products? >> when you're starting to notice hair loss, better to start early. that's where you'll get the most benefits

>> what about shaving your head? you see that a lot people thin out and they just sort of -- is that kind of just throwing in the towel? >> sometimes people shave their head when they don't need to there are options available such as medications or hair transplant procedures. i would see a specialist first before you go that route >> what else do we have here >> we have a vitamin supplement. it's over the counter, all natural. there's over 20 ingredients, antioxidants, anti-inflammatories, stress modulators and that can help to decrease hair loss and thicken your hair ask well you have a shampoo, called nizoral. over the counter, a main ingredient helps to decrease inflammation and also helps to thicken hair >> you try the over the counter stuff. it's not working you start to think about treatments what do you think about before you get into the treatment world? >> before you get into the treatments it's best to go see a specialist to see what may be available. there are also prescription medications that can also help if you're using them and you're

still not completely satisfied then maybe a hair restoration. >> if i'm in my late 20s and i come to you with thinning hair, what are you looking for what makes me a candidate? >> if you have good donor hair, we take permanent hair in the back and the sides of the scalp, that's the hair we take and transplant to the balding areas. >> donate to yourself. >> look at that salad. this one's not having any problems >> let's talk about this robot here. >> what's this >> this is next level. >> sure. this is robotic hair transplant system and within it there's built in artificial intelligence there's multiple high definition cameras. it can actually select the best and the healthiest hair to remove from the back of the head to transplant to the balding areas. this machine can make the little holes where the hair goes into and it can also implant the hair into those little holes. >> is this a prototype or an actual machine that's in use every day. >> this is an actual machine we're doing these procedures

every day. it's the newest innovation in hair restoration it's really changed the game. >> is this your machine? >> it is mine. >> how much did you pay? >> a lot of money. >> how expensive is the procedure? >> the procedure, it depends on how much hair we're transplanting. >> ballpark. >> ballpark, between $8,000 and $12,000, sometimes more. >> it looks like a slow tattoo process. >> yeah. >> is this a painful procedure >> what i tell patients is that you're going to have some -- you're going to get some numbing medication at the beginning. that's a minimal discomfort and then the procedure is painless the patient is laying flat on this table it's like a massage table throughout the procedure no discomfort at all. >> looks like this guy has bigger problems than hair loss. >> just being a head. >> thank you, doctor, appreciate it. >> you're very welcome. the master mind behind the spy thriller of the summer, there he is, but first, this is "today" on nbc thriller of the there he is, but first, this is "today" on nbc. - hey, mike.

check out this time-space wormhole i created. - how's it work? - let me see your togo, and i'll show you. - burt! you have my lunch. - introducing togo's new hot chicken trio. the new brewpub chicken with grilled chicken, bacon, and fresh avocado. the hot buffalo chicken with frank's redhot wings sauce. and the tangy barbecue. the new hot chicken trio at togo's. how far would you go for a togo?

when a young woman is abducted from her fancy swiss boarding school it sets off a series of international events that includes united states russia, the crown prince of saudi arabia, and the murder of a journalist. sound familiar? we're actually describing the new girl. it's daniel silva's 19th novel featuring israeli spy master gabrielle ilan, and 19th novel wow. you are prolific. >> i am. i have been publishing a book a year since my early 30s. people ask me, how do you do it? my short answer is i don't do anything else other than write and try to spend as much time with my children as possible but it's a labor of love i love writing

i'm one of those people who can't not write and that's very fortunate. >> fortunate for all of us because the books are always fantastic. here's the thing, we say this every time, your stories are ripped from the headlines. >> sure. >> but this time, as i understand it at least, the headlines actually forced you to scrap the bulk of the book and start over. >> i had to start over in october. i lost two and a half months of the writing year i wanted to write a book about like a character like mohammad bin salman of saudi arabia, this man promising to bring remarkable change to saudi arabia in the middle east. i'd been thinking about featuring him in a novel for some time and this special relationship he had formed with israel and i started working on the book and in early october saw the little tiny item on the internet that jamal khashoggi, the contributing columnist from the "washington post" was missing, a few days later we

learned he'd been murdered inside the saudi consulate in istanbul, a few days later we learned that mbs had probably given the order for that i had to completely start over. >> mbs, mohammad bin salman, the crown prince of saudi arabia, how much is he like the main character in your book >> well, there are obvious similarities both the young crown princes of saudi arabia but my character is very, very different from mohammad bin salman i want to say that at the outset he's a much more redeemable character. he's educated at oxford. he speaks the king's english, british accented english he's a much different character. but clearly, as i say in the foreword of the novel, they share similarities and the story you're going to read in "the new girl" is inspired by events surrounding khashoggi's murder. >> what does daniel silva read when he's not writing? >> daniel silva has to do a

tremendous amount of research for each of his books. you know, as you might have guessed i'm somewhat of a nerdish character, not as cool as you are i spend all day either writing a book or reading a book that's the best way to describe it >> no beach reads, no mindless thumb turning? >> i have a couple of beach read authors that i really like but i do so much heavy lifting for each novel that i really spend a lot of time reading pretty serious stuff and i'm a commercial writer. but in many respects i'm a literary novelist, masquerading as a thriller writer and i read a lot of good literature as well. >> do you ever fantasize about leading the kind of operation gabriel does >> i would be the worst person in the world to be part of that. i'm not one of these guys that thinks of myself as my character. i could never do the kinds of

things he does and there's simply no way that i would have wanted to be a part of -- i'm the last person you want around an operation. >> why >> because, i would sort of be the -- you know, the woody allen of the operation i don't like to fly. i don't like hotel rooms you know, i'm a germophobe you don't want me around any kind of secret operation. >> you should probably stick to writing. >> thank you so much >> thank you the book is called "the new girl" and find more on it at today.com/shop. i'm here with a chef who's about to treat us to an incredible meal. lobster ramen and a flavorful salad. the repea -- recipes, too, coming u orst, this is "today"

oh, it smells good in here we're excited this morning

indonesian flavors made simple chef cedric grew up in the restaurant business. but he's made a name for himself in kitchens all around the world and now he's the chef/owner of the french indonesian restaurant here in new york city. along with his wife who i just met and who is also here you guys just got back from indonesia, i understand. >> a couple days ago. >> good to have you. >> thank you. >> you're french, you grew up, culinary school, classic french trained. >> classic french training >> also here in new york. >> in new york as well a couple travels here and there. >> your wife is indonesian how did these flavors come together >> the last ten years we've been traveling quite a bit in indonesia. we bring our kids over there and i love the flavors so much and i think you can't get some of those flavors in new york city there's a goal to bring it back. have a little restaurant, a project in new york city >> what are your ingredients. >> the first course we have a lobster noodle so we start with ginger and garlic render that in oil.

>> so far things we are familiar with. >> you can get that here have that nice and golden. now it's getting trickier. you can still find these ingredients. black fermented beans or soya ye beans. this gives you a funky, shrimp paste flavor, umami flavors. black peppercorns. >> whole corns. >> we're going to blend it later on. >> regular soy sauce and this is an ingredient from indonesia. >> what if you can't find that >> you can find it in most of the stores it's palm sugar that's been diluted in soy sauce. >> go to the restaurant and order it. >> all that together and reduce it down and this is how it looks like. >> beautiful. >> at this point we'll put it

into a blender. >> okay. >> with a bit of butter. >> okay. >> french aspect of the dish some chili, a bit of seaweed, which you can find in the store as well. >> or at the beach. >> or at the beach we blend this. okay. >> may not even be plugged in. imagine. what did you think of the flavors of indonesia as a trained chef when you went there? >> explosive so much going on between chilis and lemongrass, kefir. from a french traditional base, this is a lot. toss in the noodles as well as the lobster of course. we have some claw. >> you're eating it. >> we're loving it it's so unusual. >> indonesian french flavors. >> really good. >> we'll put in some gruyere cheese >> all the other stuff you'll never find in a market that's

from indonesia, delicious. >> we stir it and go and plate a dish there you go. >> beautiful we only have a minute and a half break out your second dish. >> absolutely. >> looks like a lovely salad of sorts. >> next course it's a salad nicoise i grew up in the south of france and this is my take, indonesian. we have here turmeric, ginger and garlic we have grapeseed oil to sear it so it kind of cooks lightly. the garlic and the shallots. but not truly. then add a bit of soy sauce. >> this ramen is ridiculous. oh, my gosh. >> so good i know it's not like a college ramen at all. >> lime juice. >> this is your dressing dress the salad here. >> okay. >> and whatever's at the market, cherry tomatoes, olives, some soft boiled eggs. >> those eggs are so bright, the

yolk, beautiful. >> a few shitake mushrooms that we grilled on top of it. >> al, how is the salad? >> here we have sashimi. salmon >> al, how is that salad >> crazy good, so fresh. >> really special. >> and crispy garlic and shallot which is really popular in ind knee as a. >> what about french influence of wine, chef, what would you pair this with the salad or the lobster ramen >> champagne will be great for both or a glass of wine we also serve some beers. >> we'll go to that restaurant. >> thank you, chef. >> thank you so much we have more on the dishes at today.com. that was so good the recipe is there. but first -- we've got more coming up in just a little bit i'm sure you've got extra recipes people will want to check out or check out the restaurant >> we're open for lunch and brunch as well. >> lunch and brunch. there's your champagne, guys. >> spend the whole day

we've got a lot on the third and fourth hours of "today." you'll enjoy that. eat up chef, thank you. we're back first, a check of your local news and weather ur it's 8:56 right now. it's been busy with the commute this morning. >> look at this waterfall at the embarcadero b.a.r.t. station. that is why we had trains just running through for a period of time. this has been cleaned up enough for them to restore service. i'll lay it out in print. we have a ten-minute delay for

b.a.r.t. but a separate problem. muni still no service at embarcadero. there is police activity for an investigation that continues around market and 5th so that is a problem for folks taking above ground service as well. across the bay an overturned big rig on the richmond parkway. also happening now, we're monitoring the situation at the embarcadero that mike just mentioned. we'll have a live update in the midday newscast. also in midday the u.s.s. hornet has a special event to mark 50 years since the first moonwalk. the ship played a key role in the historic moment. supportive crowds echo president trump's racist assault on four congresswomen during a campaign rally last night one day after house lawmakers voted to condemn the president's racist tweets. on our twitter feed full details and reaction in washington.

live from studio 1 a, this is the thi"3rd hour of today." >> i'm with michelle, hey, shell, good to see you, how are you? it's so good to see you. jill martin is with us, dylan is on her way across the pond to cover the british open. and the fabulous jill dylan, big announcement, baby number two. >> it was such a