you don't believe the whistle-blower is a political hack, do you, director >> i believe that, as i said before, mr. chairman, i believe the whistle-blower is operating in good faith. >> i just watched a little bit of this on television. it's a disgrace to our country it's another witch-hunt. here we go again it's adam schiff and his crew making up stories and sitting there like -- >> total panic that's the headline coming out of the white house as the administration struggles to find impeachment footing and the case begins to take shape then to the growing firestorm surrounding the president's personal attorney. did rudy giuliani go too far the joker firestorm, what

many movie theaters are now banning after warning that screenings could be targeted for mass shootings the endangered species act is no more a whole new set of rules have been put into place by the white house, but at what cost? >> the transcript was loaded into a separate electronic system that is otherwise used to store and handle classified information. when she saw that, hillary clinton's apple watch, your heartbeat is off the charts right now. >> "early today" starts right now. good friday morning. i'm frances rivera a watershed day in the democrats' steady march towards impeachment. over 90% of the caucus in the house now back the proceedings in the wake of dramatic testimony from the acting director of national intelligence, joseph maguire and the release of the explosive whistle-blower complaint that ignited impeachment talks. the documents detail not only president trump's request for help from ukraine's president, but also an effort by the white

house to lockdown records of that phone call. with all the new developments, democrats believe they have their strongest evidence yet for impeachment. while republicans dismiss it as a partisan take down >> reporter: within minutes of the whistle-blower release, sparking clashes on capitol hill >> our president sacrificed our national securitour constitution for his personal political benefit. >> this latest gambit by the democrats to overturn the people's mandate is unhinged and dangerous. >> reporter: in the nine-page complaint, the whistle-blower makes a series of bombshell allegations, writing, i have received information from multiple u.s. government officials that the president of the united states is using the power of his office to solicit interference from a foreign country in the 2020 u.s. election, including pressuring a foreign country to investigate one of the president's main domestic political rivals. pointing to that july phone call

between president trump and ukraine's president. the whistle-blower who acknowledged they were not a direct witness to most of the events described, adding, white house officials who told m>>e did the right thing. i think he followed the law every step of the way. >> reporter: the acting director of national intelligence joseph maguire who served more than three decades as at turnover the complaint sooner given the inspector general found the allegations represented an urgent concern that appears credible. while noting the whistle-blower showed signs of an arguable political bias >> the inspector general found that serious allegation of misconduct by the president credible did you also find that credible? >> i did not criticize the inspector general's decision on whether or not it was credible >> reporter: democrats are zeroing in on this allegation from the whistle-blower. i learned from multiple u.s.s dd to lock down all records of the phone call, that they were directed by white house lawyers to place it in a separate system

for classified information and that this was not the first time under this administration that a presidential transcript was placed there solely for the purpose of protecting politically sensitive rather than national security sensitive information. >> did that reaction to the transcript seem to you like a recognition within the white house that the call was completely improper? >> congresswoman, i have no firsthand knowledge of that. all i have is the knowledge that the whistle-blower alleges in his allegation >> reporter: and asked whether he spoke to the president about the complaint. >> my conversations with the president because i'm the director of national intelligence are privileged. >> reporter: some republicans expressing concerns about the president's call >> concerning that conversation, i want to say the president, this is not okay that conversation is not okay. >> reporter: still president trump's allies are dismissing the complaint. >> when i think of whistle-blower complaint, i think of somebody who saw

something that was wrong and came forward to >> reporter: house speaker nancy pelosi, taking aim at the white house. >> the complaint states that the white house tried to lock down all records of the call. this is a cover up this is a cover up >> that was peter alexander reporting. the white house is struggling to find its footing in the wake of the whistle-blower complaint behind the scenes, sources tell nbc news there is a sense of, quote, total panic, with another person describing the mood among staff as shell shocked mr. trump is facing blow back for going afternoon the source of the whistle-blower complaint. nbc's hallie jackson has the details. >> reporter: for that high-profile hearing, viewer, and aggrieved. >> i just watched a little bit of this on television. it's a disgrace to our country it's another witch-hunt. here we go again

it's adam schiff and his crew making up stories and sitting there like pious, whatever you want to call them. the democrats are going to lose the election they know it that's why they're doing it. and it should never be allowed what's happened to this president. >> reporter: publicly, the president's blasting democrats after privately doing the same for the anonymous whistle-blower at a diplomatic event in new york the audio obtained by the los angeles times. >> basically, that person never saw the report i want to know who is the person who gave the whistle-blower -- who is the person who gave the whistle-blower the information because that's close to a spy. you know what we used to do in the old days when we were smart, spies and treason. we used to handle it a little differently than we do now >> reporter: treason is a crime punishable by death, with the president making those comments with children in the audience, according to a person briefed on those remarks. now inside the west wing, there

appears to be rising anxiety, unease, and concern as one source close to the white house described the mood another painting a picture of shell-shocked staffers, with growing fears impeachment pressure could trigger erratic and unmanageable behavior from the president. that said, some allies i talked to said the president can survive this politically if he and his supporters work to undermine the whistle-blower's credibility by seizing on the fact they have no firsthand knowledge of the allegations in question back to you. >> halle, thank you. he is facing is serious scrutiny for pushing ukrainian officials to investigate joe biden and his son. on fox news last night, giuliani said he was no lone wolf >> the whistle-blower falsely alleges that i was operating on my own well, i wasn't operating on my own. i went to meet mr. zelenskiy's aide at the request of the state department

they basically knew everything i was doing. i think i should get some kind of award >> nbc's kristen welker has more on the fallout forge >> reporter: rudy giuliani is again at the center of the storm. democrats demanding answers. >> rudy giuliani should be held to account for his role in this. >> reporter: giuliani is mentioned in the whistle-blower complaint more than 30 times it alleges the president's personal lawyer was in contact with ukrainian officials as he tried to investigate joe biden and his son's activities according to the whistle-blower, multiple u.s. officials were deeply concerned and two state department officials had spoken to giuliani to contain the damage in an interview with nbc news, giuliani fired back, calling nbc news thiine curt volcker whd reached out to him as discussed, connecting you here with andrej yermak who is very close to president zelenskiy. i suggest we schedule a call together the state department has acknowledged volcker put

giuliani in touch with the top ukrainian aide but a spokesperson said giuliani does not speak on behalf of the u.s. government. just last week, giuliani contradicted himself about his conversations with the ukrainians >> did you ask the ukrainian to investigate joe biden? >> no. >> so you did ask ukraine to look into joe biden? >> of course, i did. >> reporter: some lawmakers are urging that giuliani testify before kopcongress when we asked if he would do that giuliani said, would i testify in front of frauds i don't go in front of kangaroo courts >> that was kristen welker reporting. a pittsburgh gas station is closing down after a video of a violent assault of two women went viral the images may be tough to watcs three people beating the women last week. the confreon station started over a gas pump that wasn't working. when the women demanded a refund, the owners refused and things got physical. police called it disturbing and the prot rsthe attackers were arrested on assault charges and the lease e

investigatckinre at a school 12-year-old ann-marie allen said three boys cornered her and cut off some of her locks. and here is how she describes the incident >> the boys came up to me and they ambushed me sort of, like caged me in. and so they put their hands over my mouth they put their hands on my back and started cutting my hair and saying that was ugly >> the emmanuel christian school reported the allegations to law enforcement and said they have a zero tolerance policy on bullying and abuse this is the same private school where the wife of the vice-president karen pence teaches two days a week. the office of the second lady has not commented on the incident uber is rolling out a lot of new changes to their app over the next few months. the redesign combines a ride hailing and food delivery services and adds new safety featureers riders will be able to update a verify my ride feature

the driver cannot start the trip until they are given a 4 digit number also they are adding the ability to send a pre-written text to 911 with information about the ride and also drivers will be prompted to perform specific movements like blink or smile to verify that they are the right driver and their identity. now to thursday night football and lambo field, the undefeated green bay packers take on the struggling 1 and 2 philadelphia eagles the game would be a back and forth shootout aaron rodgers throwing for 422 yards. devontae adams with a career-high 180 yards on ten catches. the eagles took the lead early in the fourth quarter as jordan howard picked up his third touchdown on the night and with 20 seconds to go, nigel picked off a tip aaron rodgers pass in the end zone for the eagles still a big one in green bay, final score 34-27. all right. nbc meteorologisn so many are s there is snow on the other part of the country >> we have a flash drought that's developed in areas of the south. it's so hot and dry the last

couple weeks here's how it is setting up the battle of the seasons. record cold with a snowstorm in the rockies. record heat yesterday, we had a record high in atlanta of 95 raleigh had a record high, macon, georgia, had a record high all over the place we'll do it again today. atlanta should be near the record 93. montgomerie, bam, 98 talking about the upcoming weekend, this is no joke cup bank, great falls expecting over a foosunday little cool this morning early in northern new england. it will b we're also going to have severe weather to deal with and thunderstorms. i'll have the details coming up. >> we want to hear about that, bill thank you. they've been married over a year justin bieber and hailey baldwin are getting hitched again.

according to people and tmz, the two will be wed in a traditional ceremony in south carolina on sunday the original stars of jurassic park are set to reunite. they will play their roles in jurassic 3 in theaters june of 2021 police in estonia are offering a choice. a speeding ticket or opt out to a time-out up to an hour the drivers need to have can ivg cord we'll be right back. s i would le 'cuz i'm way too bu. who's got the time to chase around down dirt, dust and hair? so now, i use heavy duty swiffer sweeper and dusters. for hard-to-reach places, duster makes it easy to clean. it captures dust in one swipe. ha! gotcha! and sweeper heavy duty cloths lock away twice as much dirt and dust. it gets stuff deep in the grooves other tools can miss. y'know what? my place... is a lot cleaner now. stop cleaning. start swiffering. but one blows them all out of the water.

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masks anything that conseals the face while landmark theaters ban costumes outright. this week the military warning of a potential threat surrounding the movement i's release. officials first sending an internal email then a memo about the possibility of a mass shooting at an unspecified theater. the army later saying they are not aware of a specific credible threat to a particular location or venue the charged atmosphere, the film's message could trigger survivors of the aurora theater shooting director todd phillips asking people, watch the movie first. >> the movie makes statements about lack of love, childhood drama, lack of compassion in the world. and i think people canhandle that message >> reporter: joker hits theaters next week. steve patterson, nbc news. >> still ahead, the pop icons takingr age at the sho ae will's rlnew netflix show gets serious star power next on "early today."

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appear as series regs. cast member steve carell who is also the show's coe creator and executive producer netflix green lit the workplace comedy months after president trump had plans to create a space force. the series will center around the people back on earth who have been tasked with creating this sixth branch of the military it is set to premiere 2020 when it comes to star power it doesn't get much bigger than this promoters of the superbowl halftime show haveboth shakira will perform in miami during superbowl liv on february 2nd. bill's travel forecast is still ahead, plus the trump administration facing legal challenges in 17 states. it's a roll back of the endangered species act there's a reason why this is early. being here matters but the cold and flu keeps some students from being here up to 60 million days every year.

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still fresh... ♪ unstopables in-wash scent booster ♪ downy unstopables for national hispanic heritage month, nbc latino is featuring 20 achievers from celebrities to c.e.o.s and activists who use their talents, voice and passion to empower the latino community this year's list includes acclaimed novelist elizabeth acevedo and ricky martin go to nbc 2020 latino. we go to bill karins for storms in some parts >> people at risk for severe storms afternoon and evening hours, kansas city traveling later today, downpours

also in areas of northern illinois some storms we get to chicago with possible downpours this evening, too, for your friday evening activity other highlights our travel forecast today, just plain old hot throughout many areas of the south. yesterday was 100 in montgomery, alabama. today should be close to that, 98 >> man, summer is not letting go thank you, bill. when we come back, new backlash to the white house roll backlash to the white house roll ba of endangcker just between us, you know what's better well i switched to swiffer wet jet and its awesome. it's an all-in-one so it's ready to go when i am. the cleaning solution actually breaks down dirt and grime. and the pad absorbs it deep inside. so, it prevents streaks and haze better than my old mop. plus, it's safe to use on all my floors, even wood. glad i got that off my chest and the day off my floor. try wet jet with a moneyback guarantee and it's a disc. the future of laundry is here - the persil proclean disc. one disc cleans more tough stains better than any of these detergents. and it delivers our next generation of deep clean.

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platt. i got to meet him this weekend as he got ready for radio city music hall dear evan hanson to his latest opposite gwyneth paltrow in the highly anticipated netflix series, "the politician. our sunday sit down with ben platt plus latest news and politics on "sunday today. you can catch us in the morning or set the dvr and y like. for now i'll send it back to you, frances, and i'll see you on sunday morning. >> that's great. he was amazing in dear evan hanson willie, thanks 17 states are suing the trump administration trying to block the white house from making sweeping cuts to the endangered species act nbc's susan mcinhe is has the details. >> reporter: the beloved bald eagle, grizzly bear, logger head sea turtle all saved from extinction by the endangered species act. >> the endangered species act is a success. very few have gone extinct >> reporter: the decades old law faces a threat of its own.

the trump administration is moving to dramatically weaken the law which protects more than 1600 species in the u.s. and its territory. the move would end blanket protections for threatened species, allow the government to consider cost when deciding whether to protect them, and could allow authorities to disregard the impact of climate change on endangered animals the commerce secretary says the changes are in line with the white house mandate of easing the regulatory burden on thet sacrificing our species protection and recovery goals. proponents, including cattle ranchers, say the changes are merely aimed at making the law more efficient >> our guys care for animals professionally in most cases, if you talk to a rancher, they are the expert on the species that are in their backyard they are the conservationist in that environment >> reporter: but critics argue the move is only about money and say the big winners will be big industries like oil and gas, ranchers and developers. the losers, they say, species like these >> all these rules are about is

making it easier for corporations to move faster, not take wildlife or nature into consideration so they can make more money faster and it will be devastating for wildlife >> boiling this down to dollars and cents, completely misses the fact most people who are in artt as a generational life-style business >> reporter: the white house protected. susan mcines, nbc news, washington >> thank you so much for being with me this morning i'm frances rivera tomorrow catch the global citizen festival with performances by queen, pharrell, alicia keys and others have areat one g

a very good friday morning to you. thanks so much for joining us. i'm laura garcia. >> and i am eamarcus washington. we have a traffic alert because of a wreck on a major east bay freeh way it. >> "today in the bay's" sharon katsuda is live along 680 and pleasant hill this morning. we understand this crash is in a construction zone? >> reporter: well this area was backed up for miles, but fortunately you can see right behind me that traffic is

finally moving. they had four lanes shut down because of this accident. let's take a look at some of the video from earlier this morning. the chp says the accident involved a dump truck and white car at about 2:00 this morning. you can see the horrific scene with the car