the stage is set for the next republican presidential debate, but not everyone managed to qualify which candidates made the cut? and who will be watching from the sidelines? senator bob menendez is not backing down the new jersey democrat defying calls to step down even from within his own party we have a live report from washington president biden heads to michigan today, showing his

support for auto workers on strike we're live on the ground ahead of president's planned arrival believe it or not, holiday travel is right around the corner but before you go panicking over the potential price, we have some tips to help save you time and money this season. meet the newest member of the nypd where the official robo cops will patrol and how soon they'll hit the streets. "early today" starts now good morning, i'm jessica layton >> i'm frances rivera. an atmospheric river is drenching the pacific northwest, but there is a silver lining to all the rainfall climate experts say all the rain works to quench a region under severe drought conditions. record rain can bring flooding and other hazards, but the rain is intense enough there might not be flooding from this storm. the other positive outcome, an end to wildfire season washington saw several destructive and deadly fires,

while much of the northwest has dealt with wildfire smoke this summer this record round of rain will likely diminish any fires. angie lassman will join us in few minutes. senator bob menendez is staying defiant, making his case for staying in office even as he's facing a sweeping indictment but to do that, he'll have to ignore growing calls from within his own party to step down we go to drew petramoix in washington good morning of course we heard directly from the senator on monday. what did he have to say? >> reporter: well, good morning, jessica. for the second time in his career, senator bob menendez is facing criminal charges. the new jersey democrat and his wife are alleged to have received bribes, including cash and kboilgold bars. investigators said they found many of these items, including $480,000 in cash, while

searching menendez' home last year menendez is chairman of the senate foreign relations committee, a position he has temporarily stepped down from. speaking monday for the first time since the indictment, he maintained his innocence >> allegations leveled against me are just that allegations. for 30 years, i have withdrawn thousands of dollars in cash from my personal savings account. which i have kept for emergencies. i firmly believe that when all the facts arepresented, not only will i be exonerated, but i still will be the new jersey's senior senator >> reporter: in pledging that he will return to capitol hill, menendez is rejecting calls from his fellow democrats to step down from his senate seat. sherrod brown and peter welsh joined john fetterman in calling for menendez' resignation, while former house speaker nancy

pelosi candidate same thing on msnbc. he has lost the support of many democrats in his state, including phil murphy and andy kim. kim announced he would mount a primary challenge against menendez the lineup is set for the second republican presidential debate tomorrow night. seven of the eight candidate whose appeared at last month's do debate met the gop's criteria. the one absence is former arkansas governor asa hutchinson, who failed to meet the party's 3% polling threshold. hutchinson told cnn that he intends to continue his campaign with a goal of reaching 4% in polling by thanksgiving or the next deebate former president trump will be skipping the debate as he did last month we're taking a closer look into the crisis at the southern

board, as record numbers are hit again. more than 11,000 migrants were encountered in the span of just 24 hours julia ainsley has more from texas. >> reporter: the border crisis up close our cameras there as this group of hundreds of migrants illegally crossed the rio grande into eagle pass, texas border patrol removing razor wire installed by texas governor greg abbott. behind me, border patrol coming in to rescue some of these migrants carrying young children to try to keep them from crossing here and getting cut on this dangerous wire. border patrol says the wire can pose a humanitarian and drowning risk federal agents start cutting the wire, allowing the migrants to enter the u.s. most of these migrants are from venezuela, heading to cities throughout the country we meet this family with a 6-year-old son who just cut his arm on the wire. what we've gone through on this journey, it's not worth it, he tells us

why do you say that? what's happened? deaths along the way, brlackmail they rob us. this woman says she was sexually assaulted in mexico. they gather with hundreds of migrants under this bridge dhs officials tell us most are processed and released into the u.s. over 300,000 migrants in august crossed the border, the highest monthly total ever in the last 24 hours, over 11,000 migrants were encountered by customs and border protection the mayor of el paso sounding the alarm. >> we look at a breaking point right now. >> reporter: republican texas congressman austin fluger blames biden border policies. >> the president needs to close the border stop abandoning us this is not normal >> reporter: the biden administration says they're working with mexico to ramp up enforcement there so the mexican government can stop more

migrants from even reaching this part of the border but dhs officials say they're watching the numbers and more migrants are come prk venezuela and central america and they're u.s. bound they expect the numbers here to continue to rise >> julia, thank you. the man who killed 23 people at a walmart in el paso agreed to pay more than $5.5 million to his victims' families. he was sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences it is unclear when or if the victims' families will receive a dime the shooter, who was 21 at the time of the rampage has been relying on publicly-fund attorneys. he still faces a charge of capitol murder and could be facing the death penalty a teenager was rescued who was kidnapped and held for ransom for four days the 17-year-old was found at a

motel 6 about 200 miles from where weighs taken the suspects orchestrated a car accident to snatch the teen as he was looking at the damage his mother got a call demanding ransom of half a million dollars. doorbell video was used to help track down the victim. three men are facing federal kidnapping charges the war in ukraine has entered the 20th month ukraine's military says it has killed the commander of russia's black sea fleet. chapman well joins us with the latest this would be one of the highest-profile deaths this war has seen so far. >> reporter: that's right, frances, and, you know, ukraine has stepped up their attacks on occupied crimea area, since the full-scale invasion began. focussing particularly on russian naval assets around sebastopol and headquarters of the russian black sea fleet.

now ukrainian special forces posting that after the strike on the headquarters of the black sea fleet 44 officers died, including the commander of the black sea fleet, adding another 105 occupiers were wounded and the headquarters building canno be restored. and while he has not been named directly, if true, he would join a long list or substantial list of top russian military generals and admirals killed since their full-scale invasion began. nbc military analyst and retired admiral posted online that if this is true it would likely be the highest-ranking naval officer killed in combat since world war ii now elsewhere, we've seen intensified strikes around the city of kherson. six people have been killed in the last 24 hours due to russian shelling we've also seen overnight drone

attacks on the port city of odesa, as russia focuses many of their attacks around that area but you know intensified fighting around crimea frances? >> not surprising that counter offensive and counter attacks. chapman, thank you the first of thousands of residents have been allowed to return home after a wildfire destroyed most of this hawaiian town back in august. some had gone back to look for belongings and try to assess damage before officials blocked the roads, but for others, this was the first time returning to the charred site of what was their homes. and these devastating fires killed at least 97 people and destroyed more than 2,000 buildings on maui. we mentioned the atmospheric river hitting the northwest this week but that's not the only part of the country in for a wet start today. angie lassman is tracking rain across the country and that elusive, that bright yellow thing up in the sky that we used to see all the time. >> oh, you mean the -- what's

that called again? the sun. the northeast had evewill event get that back again. heavy rain for parts of the southeast, including florida we're going to see an unsettled couple days there, but we're watching the next system move through into parts of the northwest. we're dealing with an atmospheric river here so we've got plenty of moisture to tap into. this is the second low to workiwork its way onshore. it will be moving to the cascades into wednesday. but even still, we've got another one behind it. not quite as robust by still bringing additional rainfall and we know some areas we most were concerned about are the wild f wildfire burn scar areas temperatures running way above normal across most of the country. wichita in the upper 80s dallasl dealing with a few shows

lingering for places like philadelphia and new york city but partly cloudy skies expected in detroit and this's aat's a look at your forecast, ladies we are already saying it tis the season for travel. >> we have a few tips to help you save the cash for the presents you save the cash for t presents ya got a little somethin' on yuh face. needed a quick shave. quick shave? respect the process! it ain't my dad's razor, dad, it's from gillettelabs. gillette...labs? gillette's ultimate shaving experience. this green bar releases trapped hairs from my face. gamechanga! while the flexdisc contours to it. lookin' smooth. feelin' even smoother. how 'bout hookin' me up with some gillettelabs? check your texts.

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♪ ♪ breaking the bank over the holidays is not. so i've got three under-the-radar travel hacks for you to help you save money one if you've yet to book. one if you've already booked, and one in case a future flight you take happens to get delayed. first, if you're looking at future travel, right maonow is a good time to snatch a bargain. and you might want to save this cheat sheet. for christmas time, plan a little further out, eight to 11 weeks. and how about one bonus tip from one very frequent flyer. >> i'm brian kelly i use google flights you can look by calendar search and be flexible by one or two days it can save you dramatically >> reporter: now the travel hack airlines don't want you to know about. with prices close to their

lowest point in 18 months, can you ask for a rebate if the price has gone down since you've booked it depends on the airline and the kind of ticket you've booked even if you can't get cash back, it's worth asking, many will give you vouchers. this works for hotels, too check back in on advanced bookings and finally, with delays happening more and more at u.s. airports, there may and way to get reimbursed for surprise costs related to delays. >> airlines are not legally obligated to give you compensation, but credit cards are. if you are delayed for a long time, flight cancellations, always ask your credit card company to reimburse the hotel, rental car and all the extra fees >> reporter: not to mention the me me meals, clothes and toiletries. noah pransky, nbc news

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burroug burrow taking the field. a high-stakes showdown in seattle. alvare alvarezer homered. houston hanging on to beat the mariners 5-1 and by the the the yankees are e not going to the playoffs. >> tough go for yankees fans now to history on the football field for haley van voorhees she pressured the quarterback in the first quarter of their game saturday she told the "today" show, words could not describe the moments on the field and you can't imagine the work that goes on behind it you see the video there. she did it all throughout high school so she's paved the way for herself. >> great to see her out there

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provide one free bus route for each of new york city's five boroughs in exchange for new taxes and more mta funding an update from michigan on the striking auto workers when "early today" comes back rkers wn "early today" comes back strug? dryness and frizz that keeps coming back, could be damaged hair that can't retain moisture. you need pantene's miracle rescue deep conditioner. it's filled with pro-vitamins to help hair lock in moisture, visibly repairing six months of damage in just one use, with no weigh-down. guaranteed, or your money back. for hair that looks healthy and stays healthy. if you know, you know it's pantene. there's something going around the gordon home. good thing gertrude found delsym. now what's going around is 12-hour cough relief. and the giggles. the family that takes delsym together, feels better together.

oh, hello! hi! do you know that every load of laundry could be worth as much as $300? really? and your clothes just keep getting more damaged the more times you wash them. downy protects fibers, doing more than detergent alone. see? this one looks brand new. saves me money? i'm starting to like downy. downy saves loads. president biden will travel to nirkmichigan in just a few hs for the first time in history we could see a sitting president join the picket line he says he will stand in solidarity with the union workers who walked off the job for better pay and benefits. >> jay gray joins us just outside where union members are striking

you've been following the strike since it started what do you expect today >> reporter: yeah, frances, jessica, we expect to see more of those striking union workers join those on the line here. you can see they're still blocking the gates at this ford plant. you talked about it. walking off the job, and perhaps later today, along with president joe biden, washing i walking into history >> we will fight until we win! >> reporter: the fight is getting political. later today, president joe biden expected to be the first signature sig sitting president to join the picket line. >> i think they gave up an incredible amount back when the industry was going under and i think that now that the industry is roaring back, they should participate in the

benefit. >> reporter: his trip to detroit comes ahead of the visit from former president and current frontrunner for the 2024 republican nomination, donald trump, who continues to question the biden white house commitment to electric vehicles >> electric cars are going to be made in china. the auto workers are not going to have any -- i tell you what the auto workers are being sold down the river by their leadership, and their leadership should endorse trump >> reporter: shawn fain has said another trump presidency would be a quote, disaster of course the vote that both sides in this contract are most concerned with is on a new contract and right now they seem nowhere near a deal. and look, negotiations are continuing union leaders quick to say they could call for thousands of additional workers to leave the production line for the picket line if both sides can't find some common ground

frances, jessica >> tough all around. jay, thank you tough to see those ramifications. and they happen politically. we're starting to see that today. the economic ramifications that we'll see down the road. >> so many layers, and so much uncertainty for those workers and their families right now all right, thanks so much for joining "early today." i'm jessica layton >> i'm frances rivera. have a great tuesday see you back here early wednesday morning. y morning. "tt

stay right there more news on the way more news oy writers strike a deal with studios, as they wait for the ink to dry actors are left on the picket line how soon your favorite shows could be back on the air o. wi with days to make a deal, the impact of a government