there you go, one new inhaler! nice did you get my refill too? maybe healthier is auto refills and delivery made easy. you're a lifesaver. have a nice day. . developing overnight, supreme court justice samuel alito says the leaked abortion opinion made conservative justices, quote, targets for assassination. economic catastrophe ahead, that's the word from president biden's labor secretary, but he's not talking about a recession or more inflation. secretary walsh says it comes down to one key issue. 13 days to the midterm elections, and the democrats' best opportunity to flip a senate seat with the pennsylvania race seeing john fetterman struggling at times to explain positions during a

debate with dr. oz parents, listen up your kids' obsessive gaming may actually be providing positive effects for cognitive development compared to those who don't play video games the trifecta of viruses that have doctors worried this fall "early today" starts right now >> good morning. i'm phillip mena >> i'm frances rivera. we begin with new disturbing details about monday's school shooting in st. louis as the community mourns a sophomore and beloved teacher. >> reporter: a trove of evidence shedding light on what may have driven a 19-year-old to storm his alma mater, gunning down a sophomore and teacher and injuring at least seven. investigators discovering a letter in the suspect's car parked outside central

performing arts high school. >> he spoke about his desire to engage in this incident, to conduct the school shooting. >> reporter: the handwritten note reads in part, i don't have any friends, i don't have any family i don't have a girlfriend this was the perfect storm for a mass shooter a shooter who claimed the life of a beloved teacher and student. the sophomore's dad calling it a nightmare. >> no matter how i felt, coy ti coul talk to her, and it was all right. that was my baby >> reporter: armed with an ar-style weapon and 600 rounds, the shooting rampage could have been even worse. >> it could have been a horrific scene. it was not, by the grace of god, and that the officers were as close as they were >> reporter: officers who happened to be in the area for another event, say they arrived

on scene within five minutes of the first 911 call and made it to the gunman on the third noor within another eight minutes the suspect shot dead. police would not say how the man broke into the school. when you got there, what did you see? >> it was chaos. >> reporter: michael bishop applauds the police's rapid response but knows the trauma will follow his daughter and her classmates. >> she's going to second guess going into any school, any building with people for who knows how long and it's heartbreaking >> reporter: police say the suspect did not have a criminal history but may have been suffering from a mental illness. law enforcement underscoring the importance of see something-say something, encouraging people to speak up if they hear someone making concerning comments or someone who is struggling. still a community in shock, as school it will likely be weeks before students can return here for in-person

instruction. back to you. >> emily, thank you. we saw something new at the pennsylvania senate debate closed captioning was on the stage to help john fetterman, who's recovering from a stroke the screens helped him understand the questions and responses from mehmet oz as he deals with an auditory issue fetterman addressed his health right at the beginning >> let's also talk about the elephant in the room i had a stroke he's never let he fme forget tht i might miss some words during the debate, mush two words together might knock me down, but i'll get back up. >> the question now is will the debate make a difference brie jackson joins us from d.c it might have been one of the most significant moments leading

up to the midterms >> reporter: with pat toomey retiring, democrats are hoping to flip the seat in the evenly-divided senate, and this was the first and likely only time voters will see these candidates face each other one on one moderates pressed fetterman about releasing his full medical records. he would not commit todoing so and reiterate thad that his doc believes he' serve oz spent time accusing fetterman of being soft on crime >> as a physician, i've been in the room when there's some difficult conversations happening. i don't want the federal governmentinvolved with that a all. i want women, doctors, local, political leaders letting the democracy that's always led our dem democracy to thrive. >> if you brelieve that the

choice for abortion is between you and your doctor, that's what i stand for. my campaign would fight for roe versus wade, and if given the opportunity to codify it into law. >> just after midnight, fetterman's campaign manager said that in the three hours since the debate ended, they'd ra raised $1 million. pat toomey said it was sad to see fetterman struggling during the debate and said he should take more time to recover. pennsylvania's other senator, bob casey, is supporting fetterman and says he has a clear record of public service phillip? >> one of the most important races, not just in pennsylvania but for the whole country. brie, thank you. supreme court justice samuel alito said supreme court justices were quote, targets for assassination after the leak of the opinion to

released it gave people a rational reason to make people think they could prevent it from happening by killing one of the justices. alito authored the draft and the final opinion that removed constitutional protections for abortion, triggering bans on the procedure across the nation. in 2005, though, when alito was seeking senate confirmation during his nomination to the supreme court, he assured senator ted kennedy of his respect for roe versuswade the late senator recorded a recollection in his diary, which included a quote, "i am a believer in precedents i believe that there is a right to privacy". kennedy went on to vote against the confirmation marty walsh says the u.s. is headed to an economic catastrophe if we don't pass

immigration reform to bolster the american workforce walsh said business leaders agree with him that the u.s. should create pathways for visas and citizenships to maintain the necessary labor pool walsh says he expects labor to grow through 2023 with no mass m wage would depend on the midterm results. a trio of respiratory viruses are creating a surge in hospitalizations it comes as president biden gets his latest covid booster t boos encourage everyone to get their shots. >> it's incredible effective but the truth is, not enough people are getting it. we've got to change that so we can all have a safe and healthy holiday season >> reporter: it comes as doctors brace for what some are calling

a possible triple-demic, a big early surge of potentially deadly viruses, the flu, rsv and covid. hospitals in rhode island, delaware, maine and washington, d.c. report 90% of their pediatric beds are full. many patients battling rsv, something that can be very dangerous in children under 2. >> we're not even in winter. it's still only fall as the winter hits, as flu starts coming, where are we going to put these kids? >> reporter: to stem the surge, the white house says the young and old should get the flu and covid vaccines as soon as possible >> those vaccines keep kids, they keep adults out of the hospital >> reporter: among those who have spent anxious days and nights in the hospital, the parents of george, now home after a scary battle with rsv. >> we were definitely scared,

especially when she had to have the tubes in her nose. >> reporter: chris pollone, nbc news, washington the next time your kids beg to play just one more round of fortnight, you might want to let them a new study published in jama shows that video games may be associated with better cognitive performance in children. researchers looked at data on adolescent brain function and found those that played more than three hours a day have better memory and control over motor skills the study also found there was no major difference between the mental health of kid whose played games and those who did not >> what about the grades, though that's a whole other story >> let's turn to your national weather and michelle grossmann we made it to hump day, how are we looking >> looking really good in the middle of the nation we're looking at unsettled weather in the west and a cold front that continues to move

throughout the east. the cold front stretches from the great lakes to the southeast. we're going to continue to watch that as we head throughout the day. then also a secondary low pressure system is going to bring heavy rain to maine. ahead of the front we're looking at rea70s in some spots. e forecastth plains. 75 in shreveport all right, guys. we'll take a look at wednesday's forecast when i come back in just a bit having trouble staying army strong we're back in 60 seconds with the military recruiting woes and the guardians of the holiday. the marvel stars align for a the marvel stars align for a christmas special.

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. leading the news, the latest figures from the u.s. army show a serious recruitment problem. pentagon correspondent courtney cuby has the story >> reporter: the u.s. army fell short this year, something leaders like army secretary krist kristine warmut have warned about. the army missed its target by 25%. following the terror attacks on 9/11, a flood of americans raised their right hand to serve. but after two decades of amerhas been wha concerns? >> the biggest concerns really is deploying they're afraid of deploying. am i going to russia to deploy and stuff like that. >> reporter: a lot of people are

stilar in iraq and afghanistan. of parents had concerns about the idea of sending their child off to war we have to do a better job of telling the army story so we can change some of those per essentials >> reporter: now a pilot program at fort drum is doing just that. >> i get a letter from a teacher in pennsylvania. can you help us with a class for leader development >> reporter: general beagle did more than that, inviting sarah rosen krantz and her students to visit the base they learn about the army. for many this is their first exposure to military hivelife bn what they know from pop culture. >> they come in and see that you have over 150 job specialities they're blown away, anywhere from veterinarian to lawyer. >> reporter: and their brainchild is growing with other

bases around the country creating mentor programs only 23% of americanare eligible to serve. the future prep course is helping. >> we have young men and women that want to serve, that have some challenge on the academic and physical side, we want to give thes 90-day mini boot camp helps them meet standards. the army chief says over time, today's recruiting shortfalls will impact readiness. >> we have the soldiers that we need to product the nation what i'm concerned is long term, you know i'm looking over the next two to three years. >> reporter: some members of congress have questioned the pentagon's priorities and whether they are hurting recruiting. >> we've got time to embrace critical race theory, to do mandatory pronoun training the biden administration is

trying to destroy our military by force-feeding it wokism >> reporter: another issue, the mandatory vaccine. the army alone has discharged nearly 1800 soldiers for refusing the vaccine >> what we need to focus on in the army is remaining apolitical, and that they can have confidence that our army is loyal to the constitution of this country, not to a particular political party >> thanks to courtney for that report from saving the universe to saving christmas the guardians of the galaxy team back up for their first ever holiday special. >> we're still talking holidays. starting on a high note, mariah carey reveals her big christmas concert plans. s her big christm concert plans. it has built-in technology to digitally control how much scent is released to smell first day fresh for 50 days. ♪la la la la la♪ think he's posting about all that ancient roman coinage?

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see all day. a rhino having the time of his life in the texas rain the big guy stomping his way through the puddles in front of visitors at the ft. worth zoo. just showing off there >> let's see what kind of day that rhino's going to have any rain on the radar? >> not where he is but in the northeast we have some rain. that was so, so cute and we will continue to see this moving through the northeast and mid atlantic but we are quiet in portions of the central plains higher elevation snow, we could see up to ten inches of snow in some spots, especially in the rockies, also the cascades as we look towards the weekend, heavy rain, the rhino's going to get the rain back. showers continuing in the northwest. we just continue to be so unsettled there. coastal rain on saturday in the north west back to you guys you know the magic school bus, but have you heard of

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