breaking overnight new details surrounding a story about a whistleblower inside the trump administration who reportedly heard something the president said to a foreign leader the subject of which is a closely guarded secret >> s ats of the missiles used to strike their oil fields. this morning iran is on notice, though will there be military retaliation?trovsy erupting in canada as photos emerge of prime minister justin trudeau wearing dark makeup on his face at an arabian themed party is an apology snuff? >> a forum at the sandy hook massacre is causing an uproar.

>> caught on camera as a bald eagle grabs some lunch >> and the beer money bed that turned into something no one could have imagined. "early today" starts right now good thursday morning. i'm frances rivera >> and i'm phillip mena. we begin with that breaking news concerning our nation's intelligence community a former u.s. official has confirmed to nbc that a whistleblower complaint was filed involving a phone conversation had by the president. this follows reporting from the "washington post" that two former officials said president trump's interaction with a foreign leader included a promise that was regarded as troubling. one of the authors of that report had this to say >> this is really, if not uncharted territory, then pretty close to it. an official who works for the u.s. intelligence community is troubled enough by what the president of the united states has said in a call with a foreign leader that he went to the intelligence community's

watch dog agency to report it. >> this matter became public on friday when house intelligence committee chairman adam schiff said that an unspecified whistleblower complaint was being withheld from his committee. shi schiff announced overnight the inspector general who determined it was urgent agreed to speak to the committee in a closed session this morni teigence joseph mcguire agreed to testify in open session next thursday. the post said it was not immediately clear which foreign leader mr. trump was speaking with or what he pledged to deliver. the white house did not immediately respond to a request for comment. >> the president says he is ordering tougher new sanctions on iran as tensions between d.c. and teheran continue to escalate now new evidence shows the remains of what was described as a misfired iranian cruise missile used at the saudi oil attack joinusm d.c. is craig boswell. craig, where do we go from here? >> reportera morng

good mngrm the president said he'll speak in more detail about iran as early as today he pledged to increase new economic sanctions on teheran following the attack on saudi o oil fields the president saying iran and the u.s. and mike pompeo saying they are to blame for the missile attack these new sanctions will be added within two days. here's the president >> we'll be adding some very significant sanctions onto iran. there are many options and there is the ultimate option and there are options that are a lot less than that, and we'll see we're in a very powerful position right now we're in a very, very powerful position. >> reporter: secretary of state mike pompeo called the bombing an act of war. the president's next moving highly debated here on capitol hill the president's top senate ally saying sanctions aren't enough listen to senator lindsey graham this attack on the oil

refinery by any reasonable definition is an act of war. it is attacking the world economy. the stability of the oil markets throughout the world >> reporter: president trump has acknowledged that military action is a possibility, but he has not given up on diplomacy. he said wednesday when announcing these new economic sanctions, frances, he would speak more publicly and more detailed within 48 hours back to you. >> hopefully we'll learn more when he does speak craig, thank you >> there are disturbing new questions over the recent arrest of an americaniranic to create work d collect overtime, is getting a second look nbc news justice correspondent pete williams has the details. >> reporter: federal prosecutors say when they searched the phone of an american airlines mechanic who worked in miami they found an isis video showing people being killed they say he forwarded that video to someone else and included a message, wishing that a law would use his divine powers to

harm nonmuslims. the judge called the new evidence disconcerting and said it suggests the mechanic could be sympathetic to terrorists >> it is the soft underside of airport security >> reporter: he was arrested two weeks ago charged with tampering with a flight sensor on an american 737 he told investigators he did it as part of a pe went sbolt plane's cockpit to be sure the problem would show up on the instrument panel, which it did so the flight from miami to the bahamas never took off >> the entire tower, american 2834, we've got a work and maintenance issue here the light came on. years.orter: alani is 60, a american says the safety is its top priority and he's been fired. the backgrounds of people who service airplanes on the ground at airports worldwide has long been a security concern. >> that requires ongoing monitoring, ongoing security checks, and background checks of

all those who are touching the aircraft and airport security. >> reporter: officials this morning say that while the discovery of the isis material on the mechanic's phone is disturbing, it's still possible that he tampered with the plane just to get overtime he ended up working on it. he did get overtime. but now they are investigating whethetivewere more complicated. his lawyer says that alani never intentionally put people in danger phillip? >> all right, pete, thank you. >> president trump took time from a fund-raising trip to visit a chunk of border wall in otay mesa, california. s and was invited to sign the wall, which he did with a sharpie. he boasted about the wall, calling it the rolls royce of border barriers. s wall can't be climbed. this is veryry hard. we had 20 mountain climbers. that's all they do, love to climb mountains. it's designed to absorb heat so it's extremely hot you can fry an egg on that wall. nobody is going over the wall,

but going over it is impossible, virtually impossible >> the section of wall trump visited was part of a $147 million replacement project stretching 14 miles. >> a week after firing john bolton as his national security advisor, president trump named roberto brian as his replacement. o'brien was the hostage envoy with the state department. meanwhile, mr. trump's fired advisor john bolton unleashed scathing criticism of the president at a private event he blasted the president's now scrapped idea to invite ths at signal and he slammed negotiations with north korea and iran as, quote, doomed to failure. the president threw inn was notk with anybody and a lot of people disagreed with his ideas guys like bolton and others wanted to go into iraq, and that didn't work out too well all ri toogh well. that was a horrible idea >> bolton did not mention trump

by name, buttt put two and two together >> this morning the new head of the faa, a pilot himself, is making news. he tells nbc's tom costello that he will not give the approval for the troubled 737-max to return to the air until he has personally flown the plane here's tom's report from las vegas. >> reporter: the 737-max has been grounded since last march after two fatal crashes killed 346 people overseas. boeing is expected to submit to the faa a software package for approval within weeks. but now the new faa chief himself a former fighter pilot and delta airlines pilot 27 years with thelie is safe befor again. >> i'm the final sign-off authority in the u.s., and i'm not going to sign-off on the aircraft until i would fly it myself or put my own family on t. >> reporter: you will fly the max before you certify the plane? >> i will fly the max. >> reporter: dixon reiterates

he's talking about flying as a pilot, not a passenger he'll be in a boeing simulator later this week. >> that was nbc's tom costello reporting. >> brownface has rocked justin trudeau's reelection campaign. now the canadian leader is saying he's sorry. the 2001 photograph first reported by time magazine shows him wearing a trur ban and robe with dark color on his hands, face and network he confirmed to nbc news it was part of a costume for an arabian night themed gala where he once taught he addressed the controversy calling it a dumb thing to do. >> disappointed in myself. i should have known better it was something that i didn't think was racist at the time, but now i recognize it was something racist to do >> the 47-year-old also admitted to wearing dark makeup for a high school talent show. >> after a controversial call at

a high school wrestling match, this new jersey referee has been suspended for two years. alan maloney made headlines last december after telling a student athlete he would need to cut his dread locks to compete state officials announced the punishment wednesdayf involved athletics across new jersey will have to participate in implicit bias training. >> i'm going on a fishing trip in ontario canada had a unique experience with a bald eagle he decided to play a game of catch with the gird waiting around to catch sc fishing goals right there for anybody. >> u.s. mainland right now and they are keeping our own nbc meteorologist bill karins extremely busy. what are you watching? >> imelda, three in the atlantic, three in the pacific this is the only one going to affect anyone here in the lower 48 it is aban ugly morning from beaumont east of houston, we have water rescues taking place. some areas have been picking up

about 2 to 4 inches of rain. an hour for like the last five, six hours. you can do the math on that. it's very ugly flash flood emergency continues for this region as we go throughout the morning as we said, it's not done yet. we could see an additional 3 to 7 inches of rainfall in this area, just north of i-10 yeah, right now first responders are out there trying to get that weekend in northern new england forecast coming up it will turnout to be a all the rainfall from imelda is going. >> thank you, bill >> prince harry announces a series for apple tv plus with tv icon oprah winfrey they can save lives and telltales of the human spirit

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febreze unstopables. breathe happy. fast forwarding into thursday, facebookwmaks to discuss the future o it'snalyca data scandal. >> the singer pleaded guilty is scheduled to b he could dpas 19 years in prison >> the washington monument will closed for repairs. first lady melania trump will be on hand for the ribbon cutting >> leading the news, word of four teens arrested for three separate school shooting threats. in wisconsin and west virginia, and with schools on edge, a group formed after the sandy hook massacre has released a shocking new psa nbc's kate snow has it for us. and a warning, it may be upsetting. >> this year my mom got me the perfect bag for back to school >> reporter: it's been watched

by more than 7 million wings their back to school gear then usingscape fro shooter in a b you >> -- >> reporter: nicole lost her 6-year-old son dylan at sandy hook why do a psa that is hard to watch? >> we don't want people to turn away from it pretending it doesn't exist is not helping to solve it >> these are socks they can be a real life saver. >> reporter: the psa tweeted out by nearly every democratic candidate for president as attorney general bill barr was on capitol hill talking to republicans about a proposal to expand background checks on some gun sales, though the president has not yet signed off on that >> there are a lot of people in the administration that are very supportive >> reporter: while lawmakers talk, community members are stopping attacks a 17-year-old in wisconsin and three teens in west virginia arrested for threatening to kill people at school joining a list of more than a dozer this

ho promise runs programs teaching students and parents signs to look for. you've stopped things from happening. >> yes, without a doubt we have. it's also heart breaking at the same time because it was too late for us. >> reporter: kate snow, nbc news, noshlg >> just ahead, an "american idol" reunion giving us flash backs to 2002. plus turn up the heat this stesf 19seesth this xit coum o20 you're watching "early today." y. but we're also a company that controls hiv, fights cancer, repairs shattered bones, relieves depression, restores heart rhythms, and keeps you healthy your whole life. from the day you're born we never stop taking care of you. from the day you're born ordinary tissues burn when theo blows.

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we found some great people that whole year, but when you delivered that moment on that first live show and when you sang that winning song at the end -- >> it was a game changer >> at the end, the finale, wow, this thing is really going to work i think that was the moment we knew >> yes, for me, all three original "american idol" judges appearing on the kelly clarkson show for a mini reunion. they credited kelly's talent establishing idol as must-see tv i have to agree with them. if it weren't for that first season, i don't think it would still be around. >> it's a fu to show some skin like a lot of people are, costume company yandi has some ideas. they released this year's lineup of sexy halloween costumes including risque mr. rogers called the nicest neighbor other costumes include beyond

burger sexy tariffs and also bob ross painting happy little trees and some happy little shorts it's one of those things, when you're out there, some people may not get it they're like, who are you supposed to be you have to explain who you're going to be, that's a fail >> it is but most people don't care >> at that point, yeah, you're looking like that. >> they don't care what it is. all right, more phone cameras, they have more sophisticated and selfies. snapchat launched a new featur mode to add depth depending on the angle. anyone can view the photo, but you have to have an iphone 10 or above to take them camera. >> all right still ahead, one man's plea for beeron t meyurns into an incredible outpour you're watching "early today."

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in today's top stories, intense video out of turkey shows people running for cover as an exploded storage tank is sent shooting sky ward, and then crashing hard back to earth. the tank exploded from a massive chemical factory fire. officials say two firefighters were injured after the tank exploded and seven other people were sickened by the fumes they are investigating what set it all off >> cornell university's medical school is joining nyu in an effort to cut student debt beginning this fall and everw scholarship program will offer free education to those who qualify for financial aid. >> a kansas man moved into an animal shelter to get a dog adopted. queen is a 3-year-old terrier mix and has been living at spca adoption center for over 400 days well, scott decided to move into the room to keep her company and he doesn't plan on leaving

until she is adopted scott says his goal is to find the right home for pets like queen. that is dedication to make sure queen gets a home. >> sure ais young man's beer s on live television that is now helping his community in a very big way. here's nbc's kevin tibbles >> reporter: during a college football pregame show, carson king raised his crudely drawn plea >> i just thought it was a joke. >> reporter: the 24-year-old iowa state grad wrote in sharpie, busch light supply needs replenished. his grammar, not mine. adding the handle for his cashn. >> this is a proud moment, my son is going to be begging for beer on national television. >> reporter: well, faster than you can say suds, beer money poured in. >> i had people from texas, idaho, lot of clemson people donated. i guess they like busch light, too. >> reporter: after 2 grand, carson decided to donate it

minus the cost of a case of buyer to the state of iowa family hospital right across from the stadium where during home games fans wave to the kids the last count, upwards of $40,000. busch beer called it inspiring, tweeting, we're going to match your donation and throw in some busch light. vinmo joined the party tweeting it too would match donations one man's quest forays brewsky quenches another >> great idea. >> celebrating birthdays today, trisha year wood is 55 mel rogers turns 67. inside the act or studio host james lip ton is 93. thanks for waking up with us i'm frances rivera >> and i'm phillip mena. the news continues right here on nbc. nbc. we'll see you morrowto

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and a good thursday morning, september 19. a live look out on the transamerica building as you see there. a friday eve if you like. >> i do like. >> another way to make you smile. i'm marcus washington. >> please your co-workers today. let's check that forecast with kari. another nice day. another sunny day as we go into the afternoon. we're starting out with clear skies and cool temperatures. a look at our temperature trend throughout the morning wh upper 50s to start. low 70s and our south bay high temperature is reaching into the low 80s. we'll talk about what's ahead as we continuto