can a woman beat donald trump? look at the men on this stage. collectively, they have lost 10 elections. the only people on this stage who have won every single election that they've been in are the women. amy and me >> a fiery finale before the first votes are cast candidates clashed in their last debate before the iowa caucuses. not weeks but days when the senate impeachment trial of president trump could finally get under way as new evidence emerges in the ukraine scandal. mending the royal rift what's next for prince harry and meghan markle and their

departure from the royal family p. the new privacy warning that could have you swiping left on all those popular dating apps. we have lift-off the united states space force welcomes its first member. "early today" starts right now good morning i'm frances rivera >> and i'm phillip mena. we begin in iowa, where six democratic candidates held their last debate before the caucuses, working to set themselves apart from each other and also showing how they might take on president trump. >> donald trump is taking us pellmell toward another war. >> i'm ready to take on donald trump because when he gets to the tough talk and the chest thumping he'll have to stand next to an american war veteran and explain how he pretended bone spurs made him ineligible to serve >> i've been the object of his affection now more than anybody else on this stage i've taken all the hits he can deliver and i'm getting better in the polls >> whoever is going to beat mr. trump is going to have to beat him on the economy, and i have the experience and the expertise

to show that he's a fake there and a fraud. >> senators bernie sanders and elizabeth warren also got a chance to address a feud that's been escalating. let's bring in our nbc's ali vitali who's in iowa this morning. where does the sanders-warren friendship stand this morning? >> reporter: yeah, well, phillip, friendship and politics are often a pretty tough mix, especially when you're running for the same job of course we had seen sanders and warren have a sort of alliance of sorts both on the debate stages and on the campaign trail but we knew that eventually this was going to have to end. and given the chance to escalate the feud they didn't go there but there were clearly some simmering tensions left over listen to how this manifested after elizabeth warren used an opportunity to talk about their 2018 meeting to instead pivot tie larger argument about her own electability after that clearly still tense let's listen >> i defeated an incumbent

republican running for congress. >> when? >> 1990. >> wasn't it 30 years ago? >> i beat an incumbent republican congressman >> and i said i was the only one who's beaten an incumbent republican in 30 years >> well, 30 years ago is 1990 as a matter of fact but i don't know that that's the major issue of the day >> reporter: and phillip, the one thing that we didn't talk about on the debate stage but that's innate in both warren and sanders' answers is they're telling two different stories about this 2018 meeting. they're both effectively saying on the record that one said that they didn't think a woman could win and that the other said they did think a woman can win. clearly at a certain point we're going to have to figure out who's telling the truth here of course that's going to be hard because the only two people who were in that room are telling two different stories.

but of course the seminal moment of this debate came from elizabeth warren out of that feud and now that we get back on the xhan trail a lot of questions about where this duo goes next in terms of their relationship i can't can tell you in terms of where they're physically going it's not here in iowa it's back to d.c. for the impeachment trial you were just talking about. >> the one thing we don't need answers, we all know now it has been 30 years since 1990 ali vitali from iowa this morning. thank you. talking more about that impeachment trial, after weeks of delay that trial of president trump is likely just days away. speaker nancy pelosi is expected to send the two articles of impeachment to the estimate today if the house approves. she will also name the impeachment managers who will present the house's case the president lambasted democrats for pursuing impeachment during a rally in milwaukee last night >> our opponents say we're not going to win, let's impeach president trump.

that's the greatest economy in our history. our military has been totally rebuilt. let's impeach him. >> nbc's tracie potts joins us with the latest from capitol hill tracie, now that we've got this ball rolling, this trial could start as early as tuesday. >> reporter: that's what we're hearing from the senate, frances. that's the plan. everything moves over to the senate late today, they can take care of some preliminaries like swearing in the senators as jurors keep in mind that four presidential candidates will serve as jurors since they also serve in the senate. getting that outof the way so that the opening arguments for both sides can start according to senate leader mitch mcconnell next tuesday now, they have yet to decide if there will be witnesses at all in this trial, any witnesses that decision now to come after opening arguments. >> if the existing case is strong, there's no need for the judge and the jury to reopen the

investigation. if the existing case is weak, house democrats should not have impeached in the first place >> the american people want a fair trial in the senate the american people know that a trial without witnesses and documents is not a real trial, it's a sham trial. and the american -- >> reporter: -- against the president from lev parnas. you may or may not be familiar with the name. he came up during the inquiry. he is an associate of president trump's attorney, his personal attorney rudy giuliani he's also facing prosecution there's new evidence including text messages and handwritten notes suggesting that rudy giuliani was seeking a private meeting with the president of ukraine to push this investigation of joe biden and his son with the express knowledge and consent of the president. frances? >> another layer we are going factor in. tracie potts for us. tracie, thank you. at least 60 people are

recovering from minor injuries this morning after a mid-air emergency in los angeles officials say a china-bound delta plane with 164 people on board started to experience engine trouble only minutes into the flight the plane's pilot declared an emergency and dumped fuel over three schools as it flew over. students and staff who were outside were exposed to jet fuel and fumes and had to be treated for irritation nobody was hospitalized. according to the faa, the plane was returning to l.a.x. when it needed to reduce weight before it could land. that plane landed siefly after releasing the fuel fire officials said they don't expect there to be any significant side effects the deadly wildfire crisis in australia continues to rage on the tragic blazes have burned more than 15 million acres, killed at least 27 people, and destroyed more than 2,000 homes. the flames and smoke and thick haze are affecting air quality in the country, which is making it tough for tennis players to compete in the australian open. here's nbc's janis mackey

frayer >> reporter: thick smoke over melbourne, literally choking players at qualifying matches for the australian open. >> unable to continue. >> reporter: some questioning why matches were held with such poor air quality the wildfires here unrelenting >> all hands on deck >> reporter: as more american firefighters join the front lines. >> we're going to do what needs to be done >> reporter: more than 15 million acres gone, thousands of people and countless wildlife now homeless we traveled to kangaroo island, where an estimated 25,000 koalas are feared dead. it's hard to grasp the scale of the destruction here but think, this island is about the size of delaware and nearly half of it has burned. all of these animals still at risk of starvation survivors treated at a makeshift hospital >> how hard is it to

>> it's very hard. but we will help every single one that comes here. >> reporter: in sydney the fires affecting the suburbs with nasa saying the smoke has almost completely circled the globe >> nbc's janis mackey frayer thanks for the report. more fallout from the mlb sign stealing scandal. alex cora is out as manager of the boston red sox after an xloefgs investigation into the houston astros labeled him a ringleader in the scheme cora was their bench coach during their world series run. he was mentioned 11 times in the report which revealed how houston used a camera to decorrode captured signals to pitchers and then relay that information to batters earlier this week the astros parted ways with manager a.j. hinch and their gm jeff luhnow it is back to business for the royals as aides scramble behind the scenes to finalize a deal for harry and meghan. prince william was back on royal duties, representing the queen as an investture ceremony at

buckingham palace. he honored figures in sports, politics and television. he also got a chance to show off his sign language skills as he present aid sign language expert with a royal honor joining us from london is chetman bell everybody's question they have is are they still going to be on the payroll and what's going to happen with their titles >> reporter: well, that depends on what you consider the royal payroll. harry and meghan have said on their website as they step back as senior members of the royal family and no longer receive funding through the sovereign grant they will become members of the royal family with financial independence and it's something they look forward to but what is the sovereign grant? basically, last year the queen surrendered about $430 million from the crown estate to the government in exchange they give her back about 100 million to cover the costs for official expenses across the royal family. according to their website, this covers just 5% of costs for harry and meghan specifically it's used for their official office expenses however, 95% of the funding they

receive for their office, the other 95%, is from his father the prince of wales and it's generated through his estate, the duchy of cornwall. currently they are prohibited from earning any income in any form so the question remains will they continue to receive this money from prince charles as they consider themselves financially independent? >> it may take some time to hammer it out. chapman, thanks for breaking it down for us. nearly a month after it was signed into law as part of the 2020 defense authorization act space force the sixth military branch, now has its first leader >> i john william raymond do solemnly swear that i will support and defend the constitution of the united states p. >> i will support and defend -- >> general john raymond was sworn in by vice president mike pence as the chief of space operations raymond is the first commander of the u.s. space force, which was created to train and equip

military personnel on space operations let's talk about some things closer to home in our atmosphere here's nbc meteorologist janessa webb with a look ahead >> good morning. good morning, everyone we have this storm system. it's going to be a quick mover across miss hiss and tennessee valley making its way across the northeast. this will cause some scattered storms even for the mid-atlantic this afternoon behind the front, though, there's a lot cooler air and even some ke effect la going to change for the deep south. we're still in the mid 70s so this will just be a quick shot of snow we have a bigger storm system on the way. i'll talk about that coming up p. >> going to want to know about that all right, janessa, thank you so much in today's quick hits after eight nfl seasons panthers

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earlier tonight in iowa it was the first democratic debate of 2020. of course the top candidates are still joe biden, bernie sanders and elizabeth warren could we see them?

they look like a '60s folk band that reunited for one final tour all right. well, brad pitt, he has graced us with his iconic presence in more than 40 films but which one is the best? vulture took the time to rank every movie on his resume, and "the assassination of jesse james" topped the list his most recent film "once upon a time in hollywood" is ranked third. brad scored a golden globe for the role az cliff booth in the retro masterpiece and he's also the odds-on favorite to win the oscar for best supporting actor too. he was really good in that >> i need to see that one, knock that one out >> and i've never seen the jesse james one. but tyler durden of fight club by far number one. there's a new study that hints that mid-life crisis may be worse than we think this is the happiness curve. you see that tienly blue dot at the top? according to this new economic study it's where misery peaks,

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we are back with an nbc news investigation into a popular dating app this morning a warning about the highly personal information you might be sharing and where it could kind up. nbc's keir simmons has our exclusive report >> reporter: an alarming warning from national security officials about the personal information you put on your dating apps. >> if there is an interest to see it, assume that somebody could see it >> reporter: our investigation begins in europe where transparency laws give us a window into just how much of your personal data is at risk. this is victoria been on a few dates? >> yep >> reporter: an american who

recently moved to london here, unlike in the u.s., european law requires dating apps to turn over data they keep on users if requested. we had three people living in europe request their data. we found that hinge collected a stunning 250 pages of data on victoria in less than six months nbc news looked at these four dating apps and found they collected personal information including everything from exact location data to sexual preference some collecting users' chat messages and grindr collecting hiv status >> it's made me rethink using the app. >> reporter: assistant attorney general for national security. how long does that data live for? >> it could live forever >> reporter: justice department officials tell nbc news they are concerned about grindar, the popular dating app for gay men it's owned by kunlun tech, a chinese dating company, sparking concerns the data could be turned over to the chinese government

do you have insight into how the chinese government can obtain data from, say, a chinese-owned app? >> what we know is chinese law requires a chinese company to share any information that it has with the chinese government if it's asked. >> reporter: arnoldo crestis used grindr. >> when you're using it it's not something you really think about that it's being tracked. >> reporter: now officials warn the personal information you put on a dating app could be accessed and put you at risk >> the information that is on a dating app is of great interest to a foreign country's intelligence service >> reporter: you know that >> we know that because it's of the type of data that they would want to paint the picture of your life. >> that was keir simmons reporting. nbc news reached out to grindr who told us "the privacy and security of our users' personal data is and always will be a

core val yooum for them. i don't know how many times you say, it you put your information out there it can and lk used against you. >> you are out there in more ways than you think. >> it's how bad do you want that service they're going to provide.

. right now at 4:30, growing coal concerns as the city council in contra costa county made to help clean up the air. >> plus -- >> we would like for you to peacefully leave if you can. >> that is the reason why this movement had to happen. >> a look inside of the east bay home illegally taken over by two mothers after sheriff's deputies arrested them. and a big storm coming our way. when is it about to hit? this is a live look at satellite imagery showing what is to come. all clear on this wednesday morning. thanks for joining