the benicia bridge. thanks so much for joining us this morning. >> don't forget to join us for our midday newscast. the "today" show is coming up next. have a great morning. good wednesday morning. we have been talking about it all week, this early taste of wintertime. >> and it's about to get even colder. it's october 19th, 2022. this is "today." record lows. temperatures plunging even further this morning. now gripping much of the east coast. tens of millions of us waking up to bitter cold. >> it ain't right. it's not halloween yet. it already feels like christmas, man. >> al's got the full forecast and a warmup on the horizon.

pressure at the pump. gas prices rising yet again. the president set to announce new steps today aimed at lowering costs. what you need to know straight ahead. breaking overnight, mass evacuations ordered across southern ukraine after more than a week of deadly attacks. and in russia pressure mounting on president putin. thousands of men fleeing to avoid being drafted. some sharing their stories exclusively with nbc news. >> every people you talk to is a humans. they are humans. >> reporter: humans? >> yeah, right. it doesn't matter are you russian, ukraine, american or it doesn't matter. >> we are live in moscow with the very latest. 'tis the season. millions of americans already on the hunt for holiday bargains with rising costs impacting how and when they shop. how is the nation's largest retailer gearing up? our exclusive live one-on-one with the ceo of walmart u.s. plus, his story.

"friends" star matthew perry speaking out and getting-candid. what he is revealing for the first time about his decades long struggle with addiction and what's giving him hope now. and moving on. >> a drive to right center field. back near the wall. and gone! >> the yankees finish off the guardians to advance in baseball's postseason. and in the national league -- >> a breaking ball, he was ready. how far does this go? >> the phillies defeat the padres to move a game closer to the world series. today wednesday, october 19, 2022. ♪♪ >> announcer: from nbc news, this is "today" with savannah guthrie and hoda kotb from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. good morning, everybody. 7:00 a.m. on the west coast. glad you started your day with us. >> we are.

a lot of yankees fans are happy. a lot of padres fans. we'll have more to come. and something you probably noticed. gas prices are creeping up again. higher from a month ago. and even higher in california. >> it's a busy travel season. and tom costello is going to break down the new effort to reduce gas prices. we start with the brutal cold affecting much of the country. nearly 100 million people waking up to a freeze advisory, including areas not used to being cold so soon. >> look at this map. these were the temperatures one week ago across texas. mid-90s and even 100 degrees. areas that are not used to being so cold so soon. >> look at this. we will get to al ahead. let's start in dallas with morgan chesky. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. that first cold snap of the season always feels a little bit colder.

certainly the case at the state fair of texas. over the weekend we were breaking 90 degrees here. people hopping on the rides in shorts and t-shirts. today a different story. we are still hovering in the 40-degree range as of right now. that's officially labeled cold here in texas. not breaking any records here in dallas, that wasn't the case across the country. this morning a fall freeze causing chills weeks before halloween. 99 million americans under freeze alerts. >> this is usually like christmas, not halloween. >> let me eat my thanksgiving food first. >> reporter: in the midwest temperatures plunging up to 19 degrees below average. a cold snap also hitting the east coast. further down south, including fall. the team taking extra care.

>> it's how texas weather rolls. >> you never know what you're going to get. >> reporter: the owner says a few degrees can make a huge difference. adding he would have expected this kind of forecast a month from now. >> so every pepper we are looking at here going indoors tonight. we will bring all these in to be safe. we put up sides on the greenhouses.