airborne gummies have 50% more vitamin-c than emergen-c... plus our crafted blend of vitamins, minerals and herbs. airborne. bracing for impact the key witness testimony in the impeachment inquiry as the president tweeting up a storm. but now his choice of words "lynching" is creating another firestorm. >> it's very painful >> given the history in our country, i would not compare this to a lynching anonymous is at it again first an op-ed from a purported trump insider. now a tell-all book. our angela mitchell investigates disturbing new images. massive cracks found in a pedestrian bridge days before it collapsed and killed six people on a florida college campus.

were the warning signs missed? today there will be a viewing held in honor of the late congressman elijah cummings martha stewart weighs in on the latest charges surrounding lori loughlin and the college admissions scandal and one fisherman is getting just a little too close for comfort. we'll explain. "early today" starts right now good morning i'm milissa rehberger. >> good to be with you i'm frances rivera after a truly explosive day in the impeachment inquiry, house lawmakers will now hear from the top pentagon official in charge of overseeing ukraine policy laura cooper is scheduled to testify later this morning behind closed doors. she's expected to ced light on the military aid to ukraine that was initially blocked by the trump administration it comes on the heels of devastating testimony from the top diplomat to ukraine bill taylor nbc's peter alexander has more >> reporter: explosive and zurk. that's how house democrats are describing the closed-door testimony of bill taylor, the top u.s. diplomat in ukraine,

detailing the events surrounding that july phone call between president trump and ukraine's leader according to his opening statement taylor testified official ukraine policy was undercut by irregular efforts led by the president's personal attorney rudy giuliani who'd been digging for dirt on the bidens and allegations of ukrainian interference in the 2016 election. with ukraine's president zelensky wanting a white house meeting and u.s. military aid, taylor testified that gordon sondland, the u.s. envoy to the european union, told him everything wasdependent on zelensky announcing he would investigate, including security sachbs, adding sondland said that president trump wanted president zelensky in a public box by making a public statement about ordering such investigations, all of it directly contradicting the president's repeated claims there was no quid pro quo. >> you know, when this came out, it was quid pro quo. well, there was none >> reporter: the new allegations coming as president trump is under fire for tweeting about

the house democrats' impeachment inquiry. "all republicans must remember what they are witnessing here -- a lynching." that word igniting outrage >> it is painful and it is a distraction that america should not accept or tolerate >> to compare the constitutional process to something like lynching is far beneath the office of the president of the united states. >> reporter: many republicans critical too >> given the history in our country i would not compare this to a lynching. >> reporter: other allies defending president trump, who has a history of racially inflammatory comments. >> this is a lynching in every sense. this is un-american. i've never seen a situation in my lifetime as a lawyer where somebody's accused of a major misconduct who cannot confront the accuser, call witnesses on their behalf, and have the discussion in the light of day so the public can judge.

>> reporter: we asked the white house about that choice of words. >> the president's not comparing what happened to him with one of our darkest moments in american history. >> what's he doing >> he's just not >> you know that's not true and i know that's not true he used the word "lynching" which has a dark record in america's history. >> people are upset about president trump's words all of the time but what you can't argue with are the results he's put forth for the african-american community. >> reporter: overnight the white house said that taylor's testimony was "more triple hearsay and selective leaks. still, taylor testified he stands by his characterization that withholding military aid for help in a political campaign is "crazy. franc frances? >> peter alexander for us. peter, thanks. joe biden is apologizing for his previous use of the word lynching during the 1998 clinton impeachment. he tweeted, "this wasn't the right word o'uto use and i'm soy about that trump on the other hand chose

his words deliberately it in his use of the word "lynching" and continues to stoke racial divides in this country daily. unprecedented. 9 author is the anonymous senior official who wrote that anonymous "new york times" op-ed last year that described resistance inside the white house. here's bc's angela mitchell. >> reporter: from the shadows the voice of anonymous the trump insider identified by the "new york times" last year only as a senior administration official writing the president was impetuous, adversarial, petty and ineffective. now expanding that critique in a book titled "a warning." >> president trump is going to want to get to the bottom of who this official is he's already felt there are leakers and traitors in his midst. we've seen him freaking out over the last month about the anonymous whistle-blower who filed the complaint that triggered the impeachment proceedings. >> the day the column appeared president trump erupted. >> if the failing "new york times" has an anonymous editorial, can you believe it? anonymous.

meaning gutless. a gutless editorial. >> reporter: he later tweeted "treason?" and the hunt was on. the white house and reporters trying to decode phrases in the column, looking for patterns without success. then came the denials from mike pence, mike pompeo, the entire cabinet, including many now gone like james mattis, kirstjen nielsen, nikki haley, dan coats and jeff sessions. white house press secretary stephanie grisham said, "it takes a lot of conviction and bravery to write a whole book anonymously. due to be published next month, the book will come out just as the president is trying to defend himself from the impeachment threat >> that was andrea mitchell reporting. lifestyle guru martha stewart is offering some advice for actress turned inmate felicity huffman huffman is currently serving a 14-day prison sentence for her role in the college admissions scandal. while atengdtending a "vanity f sum nit in los angeles, stewart was asked about huffman and whether she could offer any advice >> do you think she's learned anything

>> she should style her outfit a little bit more. she looked pretty schlumpy >> well, stewart went on to say huffman made a horrible mistake. public scandal and served five months at a minimum security federal prison back in 2004. meanwhile, actress lori loughlin and several other parents involved in the college scheme have been hit with another felony charge. here's nbc's miguel almaguer >> reporter: the federal grand jury in boston has leveled a new charge of conspiracy to commit bribery against actress lori loughlin, her fashion designer husband mossimo giannulli, and nine other parents entangled in the college admissions scandal now facing more prison time if convicted, the additional charge comes as the group of wealthy and privileg parents refused to plead guilty as four others did monday the government is turning up the pressure by adding even more charges with the superseding indictments. sooner or later, most defendants

in federal court plead guilty. arrested in march, loughlin and her husband already face fraud and money laundering charges that carry a maximum combined sentence of 40 years the new charge carries an additional five. prosecutors say the couple bribed usc employees to facilitate their children's admission into the school as rowing recruits. the university now confirms both daughters are no longer enrolled >> anytime a federal criminal defendant proceeds to trial, it is a massive gamble. the stakes are so high the federal criminal defendant has to consider pleading guilty before proceeding to trial >> reporter: denying any wrongdoing in court, the question for loughlin's team, will she change her plea or go to trial believing a jury will buy her story. miguel almaguer, nbc news, new york in syria just as a u.s.-brokered ceasefire ended russia's vladimir putin stepped

in announce a deal of his own, one he made with turkish president erdogan. the agreement cements their power in syria and is a major blow for u.s. allies the kurds joining us from theturkey-syri border is erin mclaughlin. the question is what's going to happen with the kurds? >> reporteood moing, frances. the kurds will have to withdraw from more territory along the syria-turkey border. today we expect to see syrian and russian troops move into the area to help facilitate that withdrawal they had about a week to do that meanwhile, turkey has cemented its gains, maintaining control over a 75-mile stretch of area from ras align to tal abyad, which erdogan says he's going to push forward with his plans to resettle millions of syrian arab refugees into that area, something that the kurds say is the equivalent to ethnic cleansing. meanwhile, vladimir putin emerging as a major power broker in the region, not only that but

russian troops will now have a permanent presence along the rd of a nato ally. frances? certainly a crucial turning point after that ceasefire erin mclaughlin for us erin, thank you. now to the washington nationals who took down the houston astros during game 1 of the world series the big game kicked off in houston near a local farm that thought the team was out of this world. the nats' trey turner got things started after he stole second base, winning the nation free tacos from taco bell at the top of the second the nats came back swinging. veteran ryan zimmerman crushed the heater right in the middle of the zone. that cut the astros' lead in half then it was this next moment at really made history >> third youngest player as you saw to hit cleanup in a world series, and he just cleaned up if you don't know now you know

21-year-old rookie juan soto cleaning up for the nats he became the second youngest player to hit a home run during the world series washington takes game 1 of the world series 5-4. and the two teams will face off again tonight. >> 20 years old and already a legend >> bill care sinz here with our forecast good morning >> big weather toir in the next few days will be the santa ana winds kicking back up 37 of course it's only a big story if new fires form and they spread rapidly. hopefully they won't we have a critical fire risk today in northern lifornia and then tomorrow and it looks like friday is when southern california will be most at risk. the travel forecast around the country you're perfect in texas, enjoy, it you have rain coming your way tomorrow. that storm's now in the northern rockies. we do have a little bit of rain still left over in the northeast. it's over with in d.c., philly and new york but it's still raining in boston and the heaviest rain will be shifting up to maine during the first half otoday buf cold air

wyoming and all the way through the dakotas, even in montana and that cold air is going accompany some snow in areas of colorado we'll talk about that coming up. >> susan b. anthony, elizabeth katie stanton and sojourner truth are breaking the bronze ceiling. the three women's rights activists will be featured in a new statue going up in central park the while the park is home to 23 monuments honoring famous men this new statue will be the first to celebrate the accomplishments of non-fictional women. >> you've got that in central park, the fearless girl downtownheadg the right directi. still ahead health scare for former president jimmy carter and staying in srelyupme good shape. justice ruth bader ginsburg opened up to us about her worked routine. that's next. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair's

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one! [ cheers and applause >> it looked like new year's in that bar northern ireland was the only part of the uk that did not have marriage equality. restrictions on abortion were also lifted. former president jimmy carter is in the hospital this morning after another health scare. the 95-year-old fractured his pelvis after falling at his georgia home earlier this month he took a tumble that left him with a black eye, requiring stitches. a spokesperson says he is in good spirits and is looking forward to recovering at home. >> he is just incredible well, just ahead, the nba's china spat hangs heavy over opening night. and then a shocking report into what went wrong in a deadly bridge collapse at a florida university new house is hauntedy casper the friendly ghost? hey jill! hey kurt! movies? i'll get snacks! no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on our car insurance with geico. i got snacks! ohhh, i got popcorn, i got caramel corn, i got kettle corn.

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the world champion toronto raptors were presented with the largest championship rings in nba history before their season opener game. that massive ring features over 650 individual diamonds. the raptors also gave out 20,000 replica rings to fans at scotia bank arena and two custom rings to super fan drake >> that is some bling. a scathing new report revealing that dangerous signs were missed just days before last year's deadly pedestrian bridge collapse at a florida university nbc's gabe gutierrez has that story. >> reporter: the dramatic collapse in march of 2018 killed six people near florida international university the ntsb revealed these stunning

images of cracks engineers say were 40 times larger than what's acceptable >> oversight of the project like the bridge itself collapsed. >> reporter: the ntsb chairman says the cracks seen days before the collapse should have prompted contractors and fiu to close the road and that the florida department of transportation should have done more >> i don't think i've ever seen one where there's more finger pointing >> reporter: the university said in part "fiu is committed to transparency and accountaty." the bridge's designer denied accountability saying a flurg in the construction process was the fundamental cause of the collapse the state called the accidental absolutely heartbreaking saying it had already tightened regulations to close public roads. whenever there is a risk to life, health, or safety. >> it makes you angry. >> reporter: but for the family of 18-year-old alexa duran, who died in the collapse, the report is painful >> wounds gets opened when you know that someone could have

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plug hole. that looks like some kind of movie animation. that's crazy this is in derbyshire, england a couple who was out on a walk spotted the close encounter. don't worry, they were able to safely move away from that >> wow >> it's the craziest thing all right. let's get into this -- frances is just staring at it. as we watch the snowstorm going down today through the rockies into colorado, we are going to see snow breaking up but it won't be during the day today in colorado it's mostly going to be as we go into the night tonight and then we'll see some snow we've been shipping into areas of northern new mexico by 6:00 tomorrow morning it's pretty much over with. and then it turns into a soaking rain event through much of texas, dallas and even areas of eastern portions of oklahoma so yeah, we're going to dig deeper into the plug hole. >> distracted. googling it right now. all right. still ahead, try this on for size would you wear a chicken sandwich outfit? w much you clea,

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the new logo for the paris 2024 olympics was just revealed. check it out ooh. i like it. it's better than the original design, a baggeuette smoke a cigarette. can we see the logo again? something about the logo looks familiar yeah can we turn it sideways? yeah, that's it. there we are >> one of those things you don't see at first but now that jimmy fallon put it nour head -- >> now you can't unsee it. >> right in today's top stories the life and legacy of congressman elijah cummings will be celebrated in baltimore today. morgan state university is hosting the first public viewing

for the lawmaker and civil rights activist. the university says it was the congressman's wish for the campus to serve as a venue for all of baltimore to pay their lastrespects the late congressman will now lie in state tomorrow at the national statutory hall of the u.s. capitol new turbulence at boeing this morning as the company struggles to return the grounded 737 max into service the top executive in charge of that effort, kevin mcallister, is leaving his unit has been in crisis mode since two 737 max jets crashed and killed 346 people. senator elizabeth warren rallied with teachers who are on strike in chicago. the democratic presidential candidate joined a protest where she showed support for the teachers union warren recently rolled out an $800 billion plan to reshape public education chicago classes are canceled for a fifth-day today as negotiations continue over issues like teacher pay and class sizes. well, your bar tab can certainly add up but it turns out a night of drinking can be costing you in more ways than

one. according to a national survey by the laguna treatment center the average american loses almost $200 worth of personal items while drunk. that could mean anything from leaving your phone in the cab home to forgetting your wallet at the bar intoxicated north dakotans were the biggest offenders averaging almost $400 worth of misplaced iemg items. >> yikes don't take anything with you if you're going to have more than a glass. the whole popeye's chicken sandwich craze, remember it was sold out the sold out sandwich is getting the sexy halloween treatment the retailer yandy has a sold out chicken sandwich costume available on its site. it retails for about 80 bucks and features a flesh tone strapless body suit made to look like a burger with a strategically placed sold out stamp. all that for 80 bucks. >> sexy thing has gone a little

too far. well, we hope your day's off to a great start. i'm milissa rehberger. >> and i'm frances rivera. thanks so much for watching "early today." coming up on the "today" show olympic gold medalist ryan olympic gold medalist ryan lochte wilsit down with crail g i see you found the snacks. mmm, delicious! i need this recipe. everyone thinks i made them, but it's actually d-con. what was that? judy? d-con. mice love it to death.

good morning to you on this wednesday. live pictures across the bay area as we brace for more high winds, dry conditions for wildfires. we've issued a microclimate weather alert and all morning we'll have live team coverage for you. thanks so much for starting your morning here with us. i'm marcus washington. >> and i'm laura garcia. we'll get to the morning commute in a moment with mike. let's check in with kari and talk about these concerns. >> we'll see high fire danger starting at noon today. a red flag warning for elevations above 1,000 feet, includes the north bay, east bay as well as the santa cruz mountains and so that will go throughout today as well as tomorrow with hot and dry