breaking overnight an active shooter situation at the university of virginia a suspect is still at large, and there were multiple injuries late details just ahead. to ukraine, where there is a sense of hope in kherson, where russian troops have withdrawn and people are celebrating our richard engel is there a mid-air explosion of world war ii aircraft that collided mid flight during an air show as hundreds watched from below. the battle for power in

washington is more settled with the senate remaining in democrats' control but the house is still undecided. "wakanda forever" rules the box office with the highest box office ever, at $180 million let's get started. "early today" begins now >> good morning. i'm phillip mena. >> glad you're with us i'm frances rivera breaking overnight students and faculty at the university of virginia are advised to shelter in place after reports of a shooting near a parking garage on the school's charlottesville campus police say they are looking for christopher darnell jones in connection to the shooting they are said to call 911 if he is seen and not approach him >> and uva's police department has tweeted that jones is a black male wearing a burgundy jacket, blue jeans and red shoes.

he may be driving a black suv with a virginia tag of twx 3580. the school's vice president and dean of students emailed a campus wide letter that read in part please, please take shelter and police commands seriously. the suspect is armed and dangerous. if you're not inside and safe, immediately seek safety. university of virginia emergency management tweeted out an emergency hotline for students and families turning now to overseas, where this morning president biden is meeting with china's xi jinping. it is president biden ace first meeting with xi since he took office as he hopes to strengthen ties with beijing. for the latest, let's turn to nbc correspondent janis mackey frayer there is a lot at stake here when it comes to things like trade, technology, human rights. take taiwan, for instance. will mr. biden be able to mend ties amid these tensions

>> reporter: frances, the stakes going into this meeting are very high it's the first time that president biden will meet face-to-face with xi jinping since mr. biden took office. they've talked on the phone before but the list of issues that ar friction points is a very long one, and they will be dealing with them face-to-face things like train, semiconductors, taiwan, russia and ukraine, human rights. these are all very contentious issues and coming together over the course of several months, and very difficult negotiations to make this meeting even happen. a senior white house official saying that the goal, what the u.s. wants is to ensure that competition with china does not veer into conflict with china. so underscoring the sense that it's not a cold war, but it certainly has the optics and feel of one. for xi jinping heading into this meeting, he does so with having reconciled near absolute power

here he is surrounded by loyalists and advisers who are not going to question his policies, meaning he alone is going to decide the path forward with the u.s. and the consequences of that are significant, including the potential for military confrontation over taiwan. unifying the self-governed island is a policy centerpiece for xi jinping it's not an aspiration, but for him an actual plan both leaders have also warned of deepening economic rivalry and diplomacy for the most part just hasn't been happening, especially since nancy pelosi's contentious visit to taiwan that triggered those unprecedented military exercises and prompted officials in beijing to call up any sort of communication or talks that have been happening on issues like climate so all of these things coming to a head, face-to-face today as these leaders meet in bali frances? >> closely watching the words exchanged as well as the level of tensions there too.

janis, thank you it's been nearly a week since election day, and control of congress is still up in the air. nbc's projection for the house shows republicans with a slight advantage, but with a margin of error of four, either party could still win the majority by a very narrow margin with a victory in nevada, nbc news projects the democrats will hold on to control of the senate, with a runoff election still to come in georgia and while the results are still coming in, newly elected members of congress are arriving on capitol hill for their orientation. for more on the balance of power, here is nbc's allie raffa. >> reporter: democrats triumphant after sealing her senate majority for the rest of president biden's first term. >> i'm incredibly pleased by the turnout. and i think it's a reflection of the quality of our candidates. >> reporter: after five days of waiting, senator catherine cortez masto fending off trump-backed a dam laxalt in nevada. >> the democrats will retain

control of the united states senate. >> reporter: the last tranche of mail-in ballots delivering masto her reelection >> so when far right republicans said they knew better, i knew we would prove them wrong, right? and today we did the victory is for nevada and all of us. >> reporter: democrats now taking a victory lap, defying history and expectations, on track to theirbest midterm performance since john f. kennedy was president. >> this is a very happy day. >> reporter: democrats will now control the upper chamber, regardless of the outcome of georgia's senate runoff on december 6th >> congratulations to my colleagues but our ssage is the same. >> i want to thank you for being in this fight with me. this is a fight, and we're going win this fight i want you to know that. >> better at 51. the bigger the numbers, the better. >> reporter: holding the senate gives president biden and his party control over the legislative agenda, and critically, judicial confirmations, including another supreme court seat if one opens

up all eyes now on which party will control the house. the balance of power on a knife's edge, with nearly two dozen seats still up for grabs. >> there are so many votes still out. so we'll see where this takes us >> our thanks to allie for that report at least six people are dead and more than 80 wounded in istanbul after what authorities say was a terrorist bombing in turkey's biggest city. the interior minister says one person is in custody, suspected of planting a bomb on a busy shopping street. authorities for a time shut down local media coverage of the event, blocking videos of the blast and the aftermath from being broadcast. the same street was bombed back in 2016. five people died in that blast, which happened in a period of attacks by isis and kurdish ougrps in ukraine, after months of russian occupation, the joy of liberation as ukrainian forces rather retake the southern city of

kherson, after russian troops withdraw last week our richard engel is on the ground >> reporter: driving into kherson past miles of destruction, the roads still littered with the ruins of war you're soon greeted by the universal and unmistakable sign of liberation. children coming to the roadside to say thank you and welcome to their victorious city. the russian occupation here was brutal with allegations of rape, murder, and looting over eight months so the joy and relief now is profound everyone wants to show gratitude to ukrainian soldiers. and collect autographs there haven't been many scenes like this in europe since american gis helped defeat the nazis in world war ii. how you feeling today? >> today i'm very happy. i'm very, very happy that united

states assist for ukraine. thank you very much. >> reporter: they cheer as a captured russian rocket launcher is towed away. a ukrainian soldier named olle was one of the first into kherson, rushing to see his grandmother, his babushka, who collapses to her knees we found the grandmother lydia, without power or internet, she hadn't seen the video until now. what was that moment like? >> translator: i was so, so happy to see him my grandson, that he is running to me, that he is alive. she watches the video again and again and kisses olle on the screen and months of fear and uncertain well up and come pouring out it was overdue "thank you, thank you for everything," she says. i had no words.

kherson was the first city russia captured after it invaded. president putin then annexed it, declaring the conquered territory to be forever bonded to russia. it turns out forever had a time limit. richard engel, nbc news, kherson. a new memorial is open in newtown, connecticut, honoring the victims of the sandy hook elementary school massacre there is no official ceremony for the opening.