i know nothing about qanon. >> i just told you. >> the more president trump is president the more reckless he seems to get. >> the law as it is written. >> people should be very careful and prudent about social gatherings. good morning, and welcome to "sunday today" on this october 18th. i'm willie geist. president trump sin nevada as part of his whirlwind cross country scramble to win a second term as polls show he's trailing joe biden with two weeks to election day. the president in the crucial

states of wisconsin and michigan on saturday, attacking michigan's governor once again after federal authorities stopped an alleged plot to kidnap her. >> meanwhile, joe biden is in north carolina looking to add states to the map as he attacks the president's response to the coronavirus crisis. a live report. >> plus chuck todd's analysis just ahead. >> plus our sunday focus on what lies ahead in the coronavirus pandemic. with cases surging across the country, public health experts sounding aparms and some politicians taking alert from the first wave. >> and with an american league championship crowd last night, game seven and the world series just two days away, we'll introduce you in our sunday spotlight to the die-hard baseball fans finding creative ways to watch games in person during this strange major league season. >> then, a new sunday sit-down with legendary "saturday night

live" creator loern mirne micha taking us behind the scenes to show us how "snl" is pulling things together in these socially distanced times and reflecting on nearly half a century behind the helm. >> what do you think? >> i didn't sign up for this. it just worked out that way. >> a sunday sit-down with "snl" creator lorne michaels. plus, another life well lives later in the show. >> let's begin with the presidential election now just 16 days away. president trump in nevada today as vice president biden heads to north carolina. nbc's kelly o'donnell is traveling with the president in las vegas. kelly, good morning. >> good morning, willie. with polling, both nationally and in battleground states showing a consistent lead for joe biden, the president is trying to use a different metric right now to show his strength.

lots of rallies that attract thousands of voters. and he'll do that again today in nevada. on a three-day battleground tour, president trump arriving in las vegas late saturday. after chilly stops in the midwest, a rally in wisconsin. >> we win wisconsin, we win the whole ball game. >> another in michigan. >> nobody told me you could have 40-mile-per-hour winds today. >> the president taking on michigan's democratic governor gretchen whitmer after federal authorities foiled a plot to kidnap her. >>. >> and she blamed me. she blamed me. and our people were the ones that worked with her people. >> the crowd launched into chants of "lock her up." and the president joined in. >> lock them all up. >> governor whitmer responded. this is exactly the rhetoric that has put me, my family, and other government officials'

lives in danger. it needs to stop. running behind in polls, the president tried to explain his standings with women voters. >> the fake news keeps saying suburban wim don't like me because i don't sound nice. i don't have time to be nice. >> drawing sounds in jamesville, wisconsin, as the state confirms a dramatic spike in covid-19 and hospitalizations. the president joked. >> i'll kiss the big powerful men down there. i won't love it, but i will. >> joe biden who is headed to north carolina today but did not campaign saturday, criticized the president's trip to wisconsin and his handling of the pandemic. after virtually every turn, he's panicked and tried to wish it away rather than doing the hard work to get it under control. today, we will see something that is rare for the president. on his schedule, he's expected to attend church services here in las vegas, then make a quick

trip to orange county, california, for a high-dollar fund-raiser in the lunchtime hours and then back here to nevada for his evening rally. willie. >> all right, kelly o'donnell starting us off in vegas. thanks so much. chuck todd is nbc's political director and moderator of "meet the press." 16 days out, just over two weeks until election day. president trump going to states he won, the states that perhaps gave him the election four years ago. wisconsin and michigan. but also playing defense in places like georgia, states that he would like to have thought he had locked up. and boy, talk about locked up. these chants you're hearing at these events, it could be 20 sane all over again. president trump calling for the governor of michigan to be locked up. still hillary clinton to be locked up, and even his opponent, joe biden, to be locked up. what is the state of the race right now as he plays defense? >> yeah, he's even trying to

resurrect hacked emails that are connected to some russian intel operation. i mean, it is deja vu all over again. look, i look at the state of the race, and i'm just surprised at the things donald trump is not doing right now. he's not talking about issues. he's talking about grievances. well, that's not new. four years ago, willie, he was channeling the grievances of the people at the rallies. he was talking about immigration, talking about trade. he was talking about china. he was talking about obamacare. he may have been talking them in crude ways. it may have seemed divisive to some people, but he was channeling the grievances of others. it's all personal grievances for hill right no everything is a personal grievance. that to me is the big difference. he has no closing message. he has no closing message on what he's going to do in a second term. everything seems to be about, hey, if you don't vote for me, i'm never coming back. if you don't for me in florida, i'm firing the governor. maybe i'll leave the country.

it's all self reverential at a time when you're supposed to be telling voters what you can do for them. >> he has one more chance to debate himself to joe biden in the debate on thursday in nashville moderated by our own kristen welker. what do you expect to see thursday night? >> i have no idea. i'm not going to sit here and pretend we do know because it will be whatind of temperament the president is in, but i want to point out this inconvenient fact about this third debate. right now, over 26 million people have already voted. by thursday, that number could very well be at 50 million. so just think about the fact that a third of the entire voting electorate may have already cast their ballot by the time of the third debate, so the point is, i don't know if even the president makes this a debate like he's never held before, whether it can have that much impact when a third of the

american electorate has likely already voted. >> an election in so many ways unlike any other. one thing we know, kristen will do a great job. we look for much more on "meet the press" when chuck talks about politics and the pandemic with michigan's democratic governor, gretchen whitmer, who was the subject of the president's ugly taunts again last night. you can watch the final debate between president trump and vice president biden moderated by kristen welker on thursday night. that starts at 8:30 eastern right here on nbc. the senate is expected to vote on its coronavirus aid bill. mitch mcconnell says the $500 billion bill includes funding for schools, more unemployment benefits and another round of the paycheck protection program. this program is not likely to go far, though, as democrats are proposing a much larger plan. meanwhile, house speaker nancy pelosi and treasury secretary

steve mnuchin spoke on the phone for over an hour on saturday. speaker pelosi is calling on the white house to come to an agreement with the house of representatives in the next 48 hours. the largest wildfire in colorado's history is forcing thousands of people to prepare for possible evacuations this morning. winds close to hurricane strength have fueled the cameron peak fire. it's been burning for months now, fueled by high winds and warmer temperatures. the fire has burned nearly 200,000 square acres. there is some good news. lower winds and higher humidity are in the forecast. one half of the world series is now set. after the tampa bay rays took out the houston astros in a thrilling game seven. the rays won 4-2 to clinch the american league championship series over a houston team coming off of a cheating scandal exposed after last season. the rays' opponent will be determined tonight in another game seven after the los angeles

dodgers won game six last night over the atlanta braves by a score of 3-1. and new zealand's prime minister jacinda ardern has been elected to a second term in office with many voters in the nation of about 5 million people praising her handling of the coronavirus pandemic. nbc's sarah harman has more. >> it wasn't just a victory. it was a landslide. jacinda ardern delivering the biggest win for her labor party in half a searchry. >> this has not been an ordinary election and it's not an ordinary time. it's been full of uncertainty and anxiety, and we set out to be an antidote to that. >> many saw it as a ringer endorsement of her handling of the pandemic. new zealand currently has no community spread and people are no longer required to wear masks or social distance. on the campaign trail, ardern was greeted like a rock star.

her response to the chooischurch shootinged in 2019 got her noticed around the globe. new zealand automatically banning semiautomatic weapons. >> every semiautomatic weapon used in the terrorist attack will be banned in this country. >> she became prime minister in 2017 at 37 years old. less than a year later, she gave birth to a baby girl. during a 2018 interview here on "today," she spoke frankly about balancing motherhood and her political career. >> can i be a prime minister and a mother? absolutely. absolutely. will i have help to do it? yes. >> today, she showed she's just getting started. sarah harman, nbc news. and we're going to get a slight cooling in portions of the bay area, but we're still going to see 90s in the interior

valleys. so that means elevated fire danger will continue simply because it's dry. not as windy this weekend. as we head into next week we could see another wind event. microclimate highs for the south bay 80s and low 90s. a couple mid-90s for the interior valleys and some cooling around the coastline in san mateo. 80 degrees. san francisco in the upper 70s. low 80s for the afternoon. straight ahead, the highs and lows of the week, including the moment when a man woke his neighbor in the middle of the night with some news, about his nobel prize. >> and the absolutely harrowing hold your breath viral video of a mama cougar escorting a man away from her cubs. but up next, our sunday focus on where we are in the coronavirus pandemic. with signs across the country of the fall and winter surge public health experts have been warning about. and what's being done right now to thwart it. >> we're at a critical time

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many families across the country are beginning to have conversations about thanksgiving. the question we all are asking, is it safe to get everyone together for that sacred gathering, as cases of covid-19 spike again? this week, dr. anthony fauci

urged americans to consider the risks of doing so while warning we need to double down on mitigation efforts as we move deeper into fall and winter. there now are more than 8.1 million cases of covid-19 here in the united states, and more than 220,000 deaths. so what should you expect over the next six months, and what have we learned from the first wave? nbc's erin mclachlan has our sunday focus. >> this week across the country and around the world, fear and heartache. >> we are experiencing a tsunami of grief. >> a wave of sorrow overwhelming the country as the death toll approaches 220,000. >> we're at a critical time right now. we've got to daubl done on the prevention methods. >> the number of covid-19 cases surging again. since the start of the pandemic in march, this time shifting to the midwest and rural areas. and on the rise in most states.

setting weekly records for new cases and pushing hospitals to the brink. >> we are really struggling. people are doing heroic work, but they are really getting to the point where it's going to be literally unsustainable. >> in utah friday, one of the state's major hospitals ran out of icu beds, with potentially deadly consequences for non-covid patients. >> this is hard. >> last tuesday, stephanie's 47-year-old sister lori's heart suddenly stopped. she was rushed to a nearby hospital, but they didn't have the equipment to save her. because of covid-19, it took two and a half hours to find her a specialized bed. >> i don't know who was more scared, the doctor or me. he looked desperate. >> even though your sister took every precaution not to get covid-19, it still could have cost her her life? >> absolutely. and i don't believe people

understand that. the medical system right now is so precarious. >> saturday, thousands gathered in wisconsin to greet the president. many without masks. despite the state suffering a record number of new cases and hospitalizations. >> i have a mask. i might put it on if i sit down next to somebody, but i'm healthy. and i'm not that concerned about it. it's overblown. >> and in ft. lauderdale, florida, a party in a packed bar. no masks or social distancing. the very next morning, the state reporting the highest daily number of reported cases in nearly two month, surpassing 750,000. >> it's kind of crazy. scary. >> across the atlantic, there, too, is extreme concern. with the number of confirmed cases yet again spiking across europe. >> time is of the essence. each day that passes before action is taken means more people will go to hospital and

tragically more people will die. >> curfews and tighter restrictions announced throughout the count nent. in london, paris, rome, and madr madrid, as both europeans and americans worry about the upcoming holiday season and the potential for further spread. health officials say success against covid-19 depends on individual responsibility. >> how hard is this to do? how hard is this to do? it's not hard. it may feel like we're fatigued from this, but the point is, we have to do these things. >> and erin joins me now live from utah. erin, good morning. we have been told for months and months that we're kind of biding our time until a vaccine has been developed and made available. what is the status of the development of a vaccine right now? >> well, this week, we heard from dr. anthony fauci about that very question. he said we can expect a vaccine soon, by the end of the year,

perhaps early next year. he said that multiple vaccines are in the works, although he said that one probably won't become widely available, widely distributed until the third quarter of 2021, which is why health experts are telling me that those basic precautions, the masks, the hand washing, the social distancing, is expected to be with us for some time. willie. >> the doctor you talked to said it's not that hard. wear your mask. erin mclaughlin, thanks so much. >> coming up next, a new sunday sit-down, inside the famed studio 8-h with legendary "saturday night live" creator lorne michaels, and a behind the scenes look at the making of the iconic show in the age of covid-19. >> then, a life well lived. the man who fought all the way to the supreme court for one couple's right to be married and won a landmark victory over discrimination in america.

and as we head to break, our photo of the week, and a picture of a champion. lebron james smoking a celebratory cigar and facetiming with his mother as he lies on the floor of the locker room after leading the los angeles lakers to the nba championship over the miami heat this week. it is the fourth nba title of lebron's career, as he becomes the first player in league history to be named finals mvp with three different teams. here's what you need to know. joe biden will not raise taxes on anyone making under $400,000. biden will get rid of trump's tax giveaways for the super wealthy and make big corporations finally pay their fair share. biden will use those savings to help

working families and seniors, investing in lowering health care costs, improving education, and protecting social security and medicare. biden's plan - corporations pay more, you benefit. i'm joe biden, and i approve this message. biden's plan - corporations pay more, you benefit. it's time to take with best friends all along the sun is out. it's beautiful. turn up your favorite song! and head out for the open road to drive the whole day long. goldfish crackers. the snack that smiles back.

good sunday morning. it is 6:26. here is a live look outside, a beautiful look at the golden gate bridge. does she ever look bad? as we start another mild weekend morning. thank you so much for joining us. i'm kira klapper. vianey arana has a look at your microclimate forecast. it was quite hot yesterday, wasn't it, vianey? it was. we set new daily records. if you notice we are blue today which means no microclimate weather alert. that means the red flag warnings were allowed to expire yesterday. still hot and dry. of course there's always that

concern there. current temperatures 50s and 60s. take a look at your microclimate highs for the afternoon. mostly clear. again, slight cooling. san francisco 70s for today. even then it's still above normal. livermore, 93. full forecast coming up at 7:00 a.m. kira? >> we look forward to seeing you then, vianey. thanks. from the state capitol of san francisco, a day of action for women. >> who's here because it's your body, so it should be your choice? >> the march for our rights started at grove and larkin in san francisco and ended at embarcadero plaza. the protests filled the streets and delayed traffic. many issues were on display from the confirmation of supreme court judge nominee amy coney barrett to the black lives matter movement. some women came from out of town to be a part of this march. >> it feels like we're going backwards in a lot of key, important issues. and as a woman and as just a

voter and a citizen of this united states of america i feel as though we're divided and losing things that make us have human rights. >> i'm here to support all the women here. they deserve the rights of everyone else's rights. >> a contention week on capitol hill after the confirmation hearings of judge amy coney barrett. many see her as a threat to the women's right movement. a call to reopen classrooms. yesterday afternoon parents and students rallied in support of getting kids back on campus. they argue many students are not responding well to distance learning. protesters want the district to come up with a plan and justify keeping kids at home now that restrictions have eased a little bit, and that private schools have reopened. >> there are kids in private school going back this coming monday and they have plans. sounds like the school district hasn't even gotten a plan together. we need our kids back in school.

there's not a huge danger from covid for them. it can be done in a rational way that keeps everyone safe. >> the school district has added a special meeting this wednesday to discuss the push to reopen. it is just about 6:29. coming up on "today in the bay," a warning for people living in one particular neighborhood on the peninsula. this was captured on video, and it has some people on edge. we'll have that plus other top stories in vianey's forecast. we hope you join us. in the meantime back to "sunday today with willie geist."

laden is still alive. >> i didn't tweet it. it's a retweet which is short for a really smart tweet. >> you can't just do things like that. you're not just someone's crazy uncle? >> really, because this conversation is a preview of thanksgiving dinner at a lot of american households, so crazy uncles, stand back and stand by. >> that is alec baldwin back as president trump, and kate mckinnon playing our own savannah guthrie. on a new episode of "saturday night live." esa wray hosted the show with

musical guest justin bieber. >> 45 years ago this month, a new era of american comedy began with the words "live from new york, it's saturday night." chivvy chase, john belushi, and gilda radner were among the not ready for primetime players who started the revolution with a 30-year-old producer lorne michaels calling the shots. the show quickly became a cradle of stars and an appointment for the country every saturday night at avenue 11:30. "snl "new season comes in the middle of an intense presidential season and a pandemic. lorne and i got together inside the famed studio 8-h as "snl" scrambled to put on the show dearth another hectic week. >> live from new york. >> from new york. >> new york. >> it's saturday night. >> in a time when almost

everything seems out of place -- >> the only prescription is more cowbell. >> "saturday night live" is right where it belongs. for 45 years, the ground-breaking sketch comedy show and its star-studded cast have closed out the week on a funny note. >> and you're an idiot. >> making us laugh at the world. >> it works! >> its leaders. >> strategery. >> and even ourself. >> norman rockwell painting come to life, willie geist. >> at the center of it all is s "snl's" creator and producer, loern mi lorne michaels. >> after wrapping last season remotely, michaels began planning the show's return to the iconic studio 8-h. >> say what you will about 2020, but it's got moves.

>> was there ever any chance that you wouldn't start this season back in the studio? >> i think it was all i talked about all summer and leading up to it, i need an audience. because we're taking big swings and they're hard jokes, when you don't hear any sound, it throws the timing off. and things the oaudience does, it's the plug that makes the circuit work. >> i think you said we're not we can pull it off. >> we did. >> feel good? >> my curse is i mostly see the mistakes, and then six or seven hours after the show goes off, i start to realize, yeah, it wasn't bad. >> big government doesn't muzzle us with masks. >> just 48 hours later, michaels and his staff already were looking ahead to the next show. and testing new material at a socially distanced and masked up table read. >> wearing a suit tails, carry a big baton.

>> the read-through starts there and goes all the way to there with everybody at a table six feet apart and microphones. this room is now just a much bigger honest room. >> what are the chances of coming back to these spaces? >> first and foremost, protocol, everybody is tested as is everybody every day. wear the mask all the time. cast wear them up until the light goes on and then take them off. the audience is in masks. >> president trump, two minutes. >> i'm going to do ten. >> even before the pandemic hit, michaels was anticipating a busy 2020. >> let's do this. come hold my bladder, let's get at her. >> we had that debate on thursday night, and then friday when the president tested positive, it all changed. and it was being rewritten. the script changes had gotten into the control room and out to the cards. they sort of rolled with it. >> imagine your writers after

four years of this have a little bit gotten used to it knowing what you go in with the table read on wednesday is probably going to change. good most often, we don't even attempt it until friday. we have been doing the debates or anything political party night. fortunately the cast are good at it. and they can adapt. >> "saturday night live" has been adapting to the news and to the times ever since the can canadian-born michaels pitched a fresh comedy show to nbc executives back when gerald ford was in office. >> ford's popularity certainly is on a sharp rise here. >> november 11th, 1945, 45th anniversary, what do you think? >> i didn't sign up for this. it just worked out that way. >> so if you think about 1975, the tumultuous time in the country, obviously, so what was

sort of the ethos of the show when you started it, and do you still see it out on these stages today? >> what had happened then was most of the established institutions had been discredited, and that change led to people not knowing where or how to trust. so it was more important to try and be an honest voice. our job is mostly to entertain but to do it with a level of intelligence, but still make you laugh. >> i think if you start to think that you're doing important work, not a good sign. it's an early warning that you're about to be accepting a lot of degrees and luckturing people. >> i thought it was breathtaking. garth. >> yeah. >> "snl" has been an important touchstone for the country during difficult days, like the ones we're living through today. lorne, i'm interested in asking

you about "snl" at these times of tragedy. 9/11, who could forget the show where you stood there with rudy giuliani? >> can we be funny? >> why start now? >> how do you view the role of "snl" in moments where people are grieving and people are in pain? >> if you have an audience, you build up and earn trust. they know you're going to deliver. >> i know you're not terribly haughty about your show, but do you think it's important to be here in these times where people are not feeling great? >> i do, and not in any grand way. it's our job and what we do. >> what's the most important timing? >> after nearly a half century of running the show, he turned into an american icon, lorne michaels is beginning to consider life after saturday night. do you see a day anywhere on the

horizon where you're not sitting in that office anymore? >> my plan is to be here for the 50th. and by that point, i really deserve to wander off. >> that gives him another five seasons. "saturday night live "is in the middle of a run of five consecutive live in-person shows leading up to election day. that is something it has never done in those 45 years on the air. don't forget to subskriet to the sunday sit-down podcast to hear the full length interview with lorne michaels. you can find it on apple podcasts or wherever you get yours. >> and next week, a sunday sit-down with drew barrymore on her long extraordinary run in the public eye, her new role as talk show host, and why she loves that "snl" impression of her so much. drew barrymore nex a beautiful start to our sunday. a live look over san jose right

now. you can see the sun not quite poking through yet, but it will and our current temperature is 59 degrees right now in oakland. 50s in san francisco. your microclimate highs for this afternoon, we're talking mostly sunny, mostly clear, but it'll still be warm in through the interior valleys including livermore and concord in those 90s. oakland in the 80s. and 70 around the peninsula and san francisco. ahead on sunday today, our highs and lows of the week, including an update on a man who became a viral superstar by skateboarding while drinking cran-razzberry juice and singing fleetwood mac. stevie nicks herself has entered the picture. >> with the baseball season about to end without fans, the die-hards who found ways to watch the game in person. we're back in just 30 seconds. ♪ everyday it's a-getting closer♪

♪ going faster than a rollercoaster ♪ ♪ love like yours will surely come my way ♪ ♪ a-hey, a-hey-hey [music playing] ♪ love like yours will surely come my way ♪ y wooz told you earlier, the new american league champion tampa bay rays will take on either the los angeles dodgers or atlanta braves in the world series beginning on tuesday night. like every else this year, the baseball season has been strange, with a covid-shortened schedule of games played inside empty stadiums, but some fans locked out of those ballparks

refused to accept they could not watch the national pastime in person. nbc's steve patterson has our sunday spotlight. >> it's caught. >> it's the epitome of america's pastime. a beer and a brat at the old ball game. baseball is back, but now deep into the postseason, the atmosphere is mostly benched. big crowds are kept out to keep a safe distance, but here's the thing about fans. they always find a way. >> we would love to be in the stadium, but this is the next best thing. >> across the country, die-hards are doing all they can just to be around the game they love. from rooftops in chicago to hilltops in l.a. to fence lines in philly. >> right now, being at the ballpark means everywhere you can catch a glimpse of home plate. >> it seems absolutely congrew ntd with the reality we had to live because of covid. >> in san diego, it's location, location, location to the

outfield. >> we're being watched here. >> one of those watching, chip messenger. his backyard, a stunning panoramic view of petco park. >> dude. >> right? it never gets old. >> messenger calls his permanent bleacher seat a bachelor pad essential, but it still felt empty without the crowd, so when covid hit, he wanted to fortune by welcoming in other die-hard fans through social media. the response. overwhelming. not surprising. >> i tried to host people up at my place because people are hurting and they're missing baseball. when the pitcher throws the ball, hits the mitt, you can hear that. it's pretty outstanding. >> at the marriott nextdoor, fans fly in from all over the country just to see part of the game from the rooftop deck. what do you think so far, not bad. >> awesome. are you kidding me? >> i dont think there's a better way to watch a baseball game right now in the current state of the world than where we are right now. >> any way to experience that

stadium feel has been a hot ticket. >> how tough has it been as a baseball fan not to actually go to a game? >> we're making it work, man. >> part of the fun of baseball is having a beer, having peanuts, and hanging with your friends. if you can't go to the stadium, you make it work. >> in this era of anxiety, it's nice to know this, the bright lights of the old ballpark still serve as a constant beacon. >> baseball gives us romance and heroes and legends. >> in the air, center field. >> and when we plug into the who hits the home run to win the ball game in the ninth inning, we are in. >> while the gates may stay up for longer than we would like, they're never high enough to hold in the drama on the diamond in nine innings of normalcy. for "sunday today" steve patterson, san diego. >> got to get your baseball any way you can, steve.

thank you very much. game one of the world series is tuesday night in arlington, texas. and like the national league championship series being played there now, some fans will be allowed in the seats. this week, we highlight another life well lived. in the summer of 1958, the recently married mildred and richard loving woke in the middle of the night to police flashlights in their faces. as they lay in their own bed at home in caroline county, virginia. mildred says she told the sheriff, i'm his wife. the sheriff replied, not here you're not. it was the beginning of a story that would end in a landmark supreme court decision. the lovings were arrested and pleaded guilty to violating virginia's racial integrity act. which prohibited mixed-race marriages. facing a year in jail, they agreed instead to leave the state and not return for 25 years. by 1963, though, richard and

mildred wanted to move back home to virginia. they wrote a letter to attorney general robert f. kennedy, who passed it on to the aclu, where it landed on the desk of a young attorney named bernard cohen. 29 years old and admittedly inexperienced, cohen took the case. he was undeterred by the ongoing threats he received, as he and his cocounsel philip hirshcough, took loving v. the commonwealth of virginia all the way to the supreme court, where cohen argued a ban of interracial marriage violated equal protection and due process. the court agreed unanimously with chief justice earl warren famously writing that the law was odious to a free people. the case was the subject of a 2011 documentary and an academy-award nominated film where cohen was played by actor

nick krol. >> is there anything you would like me to say to the supreme court justices of the united states? >> yeah. tell the judge i love my wife. >> after loving, cohen continued his career as an attorney and was elected in 1980 as a member of the virginia house of delegates where he served for 16 years. the loving decision was cited as precedent in another landmark court decision nearly a half century later. when same-sex marriage was legalized in every state. bernard cohen, who argued and won the case that reshaped the country, died on monday in fredericksburg, virginia. he was 86 ♪ ♪ when disaster strikes to one, we all get together and support each other.

that's the nature of humanity. ♪ ♪ no one thought that they were going to do this before it happened, and everyone just did it. i think that's the way that human nature should be looked at. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

test. test. it is time for the highs and lows of the week, and our first high goes to stanford university professor paul milligram, who won the nobel prize in economics this week. a life-altering bit of news he learned from a neighborhood at 2:00 in the morning through a doorbell camera. the winners were announced in

sweden on monday night which is middle of the night in california. so when the committee could not reach the professor, his fellow winner, robert wilson, another stanford professor who happens to live across the street, walked over and rang the doorbell. >> paul. it's bob wilson. you won the nobel -- you have won the nobel prize. and so they're trying to reach you, but they cannot. they don't seem to have a number for you. >> we gave them your cell phone number. >> yeah, i have -- wow. >> will you answer your phone? >> the professors won the nobel prize for their work on auction theory, which i will not even attempt to explain this morning. they will share just over $1 million in prize money. i guess if you have to be woken up in the middle of the night, a nobel prize is as good a reason

as any. >> our first low goes to an absolutely heart-pounding six minutes for a hiker in utah who incountered an angry fellow traveler out on the trail. 26-year-old kyle burgess was on a ten-mile run in blake canyon when he began recording what he thought were four young bobcats. turns occupa s out, they were cs and their protective mother was not accepting visitors. >> no, no, no. go away. go away. please go away. come on, dude. i don't feel like dying today. >> ooh, that leap. the cougar stalked kyle for nearly six minutes, lunging at him several times with teeth and claws bared, as he tried to scare her off. eventually, he threw a rock and the cougar scurried away in the opposite direction. >> my adrenaline was pumping so much, right. so like, it was cool, exciting,

and then, okay, next is like, okay, what do i do? i thought i was going to get hurt. >> cool and exciting. experts say burgess did everything right, including standing tall, maintaining eye contact, and making loud noises while backing away slowly. also, chucking a rock helped. our next high goes to the tiktok superstar who is still skating along blissfully while sipping cranberry juice. nearly three weeks after he became an internet phenomenon. we infetroduced you to nathan wn he posted this glorious video skateboarding, drinking cran-razz juice, and lip-syncing to fleetwood mac. the video now has more than 55 million views and has spurred a social media challenge with stars like jimmy fallon, dr. phil, and shakira all getting in on the vibe.

mick fleetwood himself even hopped on a skateboard himself to participate, and this week, stevie nicks posted an ode to the video, lacing up her skates to sing her own iconic lyrics. and now, 43 years after its release "dreams" has risen, get this, all the way to number two on the top 100 chart. all thanks to nathan. meanwhile, ocean spray took notice of the bottle in nathan's hand, too. gifting him a new cranberry red pickup truck filled with his favorite juice. nathan says donations have been pouring in, and he's hoping to put a down payment on a home and finally move out of the rv where he's been living. >> i'm just making tiktoks, trying to make people smile. i stay grounded. i ain't nobody special. we're all human, you know. >> great video, great song, and by the way, cran-razz juice is criminally underrated. >> our final low goes to the redlands, california, treme

trimmer who suddenly found himself on a wild ride nearly 100 feet up in the air aboard a palm tree. >> ooh, boy. my guy catapulted through the air, clinging to the trunk for dear life as it whips back and forth. he cut the fronds off the 10-story palm tree to keep them from falling, and with they dropped the tree returned to its full upright and locked position. after a few terrifying minutes, he was able to climb down safely. that is a man who desveser before voltaren arthritis pain gel, my husband would have been on the sidelines. but not anymore! an alternative to pills voltaren is the first full prescription

strength non-steroidal anti-inflammatory gel to target pain directly at the source for powerful arthritis pain relief. voltaren. the joy of movement.

we got more of your "sunday today" mugshots. thank you, catherine in st. louis, celebrating her 100th birthday. thank you, elaine. ricardo and greg in clearwater, florida. ruby in hilton head, south carolina. mary ellen, elizabeth, and joe in phoenix. robert and nadia in buoy, maryland. newlyweds claire and john in ridgewood, new jersey. good looking couple from a good looking town. gordon, a 99-year-old proud world war ii veteran in rochester, virmont. thank you, sir, for all you have given the country, and marge in port angeles, washington, who celebrated her 64th birthday on friday. we're rooting for marge as he fights stage 4 lung cancer. marge's son calls his mother a ray of sunshine who always puts everyone else first. marge, we are with you. send us a photo of you and your mug with the hasht

hashtag #sundaytoday. you might see yourself next week. you can get that big sunday today mug at the nbc loin store. thank you for spending part of your morning

good morning. it is sunday, october 18th. 7:00 on the dot. as we take a beautiful look outside cotton candy skies over levi's stadium this might be the first sunday night football on nbc we haven't had to worry about the air quality at levi's stadium. a great way to start our sunday morning. thank you for starting yours with us. i'm kira klapper. vianey arana joins us with a look at your microclimate forecast. i know we're talking about ever so slight drops in temperatures, but, boy, yesterday still was a scorcher.