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

shutdown doctors using stem cells to treat epilepsy and believe it could unlock cures for other brain disorders. we go inside the operating room for this life-changing treatment. bruce willis' wife sharing a heartbreaking update on the beloved actor's health the exclusive interview straight ahead. history made on the football field. meet the young athlete tackling stereotypes. it's tuesday, september 26 "early today" starts right now good morning, i'm jessica layton >> hi there, i'm frances rivera. your favorite show and movies are one step closer to returning to air the tentative deal could put wga member o members back in writing rooms. but sag-aftra continues to strike with no deal in sight miguel almaguer reports from los angeles. >> reporter: in its last

chapter, the writers strike is getting its hollywood ending after nearly five months on the picket line, a tentative deal between the writers guild and the alliance that represents major studios means a big step towards resuming stalled production but the deal is still private, as the wga tells members, though we are eager to share the details of what has been achieved but, we cannot do that until the last i is dotted >> it's expected that it will happen very quickly. but i am hearing from people who have seen what the deal is and heard what the deal is, they are very happy >> reporter: finally flipping the script on a nearly 150-day walkout. it's believed writers will earn higher residuals from streaming shows and gain better protections from scripts using ai that could threaten future jobs >> this is not about people drinking tropical drinks, driving jaguars. we're talking about the middle class of our union, and we're

just trying to keep our head above water. >> reporter: after shutting down studio's cross tinsel town, writers at late night and daytime talk show could return to work in just a matter of days but new episodes ofyour favorite scripted shows may not be back on the air until january. the wga now encouraging its members to join actors and its union, sag-aftra, who remain on the picket line, fighting for some of the very same benefits >> the momentum is there, studios and streamers are locked in to make a deal. >> reporter: actors are left waiting for their cue, writers are set to ink their deal. >> and our thanks to miguel for that report. a judge if gen georgia is tn steps to protect the identities of the jurors in the election interference case. the request of fani willis was

granted, to keep the names of the jurors secret. the jurors would likely be doxed if their identities were publicly available supporters of former president trump posted the names and addresses of grand jury members. sidney powell and kenneth chesebro will be the first to go to trial in october. the gop frontrunner is running for a government shutdown, posting on truth social sunday, former president trump calmed on tled on the mem his party to shut everything down unless they get everything they ask for this aligns him with the far-right members of his party in congress who are refusing to budge on passing spending bills unless deeper cuts are made. house speaker kevin mccarthy, who has attempted to unite his caucus on keeping the government open said monday congress is much stronger when we stay open.

>> with that potential shutdown just days away, there's been very little progress in congress to force a stopgap spending bill garrett hake has more. >> reporter: at a washington warehouse, volunteers are preparing for the practical impact of the political impasse looming five miles south on capitol hill >> we know that when budgets are stretched, food is the first thing to go. >> reporter: the capitol area food bank is now planning for a possible surge of 100,000 people in the d.c. region, needing food assistance soon if the government shuts down this weekend. >> think about the cleaning crews, the food service, those who have food trucks outside government buildings and offices. >> reporter: it would divide some employees into two groups essential workers, including active duty military, border patrol and air traffic controllers, expected to keep reporting for work and furloughed workers, simply

sent home. neither would see a paycheck until the government reopens >> we're doing a lot of belt tightening >> reporter: wisconsin social security claims specialist, she expects to work without pay. this has to be hard to discuss with your family >> yeah, i have a 11-year-old son who has been asking to go to disney world for most of his life we're looking at having to postpone that trip in order to just stay afloat during this shutdown period. >> reporter: a shutdown would also slow services like food safety inspections and applications for passports and small business loans the white house claims 10,000 kids would immediately lose access to head start and funding for wic, a nutrition program that helps low-income women and children would dry up within days. members of congress who will continue to be paid have until midnight saturday to strike a deal >> never quit, even when the time runs out.

>> reporter: speak er mccarthy' plan is to pair government funding with conservative border policy, h policy hoping to earn votes on something he knows democrats ultimately won't support a shutdown only makes their negotiating position weaker. >> garrett, thank you. now to houston where police say a texas highway patrol trooper shot a man he thought was trying to enter his apartment late last night. in the >> the suspect we believe was trying to get into are the apartment. and the trooper did give several commands for him to get away >> reporter: does that mean he shot him through the door? >> yes >> officials say the 35-year-old man who was shot was hit in the right shoulder and he is expected to survive. the name of the trooper has not been released. texas rangers are helping with the investigation. as covid concerns continue to rise this season, some people are still feeling the effects of

long covid, but a new study out holds new clues to identifying and even treating the condition. here's enbc's anne thompson. all right cello is joshua roman's pleasure and profession. but long covid has made it difficult to play lengthy pieces what kind of difference has long covid made in your career? >> long covid has forced me to only do the most important things >> reporter: it impacts 6% of adults, according to the cdc, symptoms including brain fog a new study offers clues david patree know is the lead researcher >> individuals with long covid had significant and measurable differences in this blood. >> reporter: and what were those differences? >> a mixture of hormone

dysfunction, immune dysfunction and reactivation of past viruses. >> reporter: specifically, 50% lower levels of cortisol, , t-cl exh exha exhaustion >> this isn't a simple illness >> reporter: it examined the blood of 268 people. some who recovered from covid, some never infected, some with long covid like roman who needs to not need reminders like this and to have total recall of the music he lost. anne thompson, nbc news, new york the first of thousands of residents have been allowed to return after a wildfire destroyed most of a hawaii town in august. for others, this is the first time returning to the charred site of what was once their homes. three devastating fires killed

at least 97 people and destroyed nearly 2,000 buildings in maui the northwest is getting pummeled by an atmospheric river, and a lot more of us are still needing umbrellas this morning. angie lassman has her eye on the wet weather. >> we're going to see showers starting to dwiend down. we wind down yes, the atmospheric river event that we are so closely watching, as we go through the day today with our second low that's going to work onshore, bring another big batch of rain that's going to leave lots of folks in the southwestern or in the northwestern parts of the united states with some soggy weather, but also some gusty winds. we could see gusts gusts up t50 miles per hour we could see a good amount of

rain with another low behind that it won't be quite as intense but bring additional rainfall. when it's all said and done, up to three inches in some spots. we'll watch for flood concerns, especially in those areas with burn scars from wildfires. we would see flash floods. so that will ba few shower left over plenty of sunshine across parts of maine that's a look at your forecast, ladies, back over to you u >you. hope for those suffering from epilepsy. >> why stem cells could hold the cure for other brain diseases. he cure for other brain diseases. e somethin' on yuh face. needed a quick shave. quick shave? respect the process! it ain't my dad's razor, dad,

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epilepsy can cause a seizure at any moment, making it very difficult for those who suffer from it to do things many of us take for granted but ka new experiment treatment has people with a different story. >> some days, you know, when you're having seizures so often you just, it's just hard to know how's my life going to go. >> reporter: in 2014, annette was diagnosed with epilepsy. but despite taking four different medications was still having 14 seizures a month globally, 50 million people struggle with seizures, and a third are like annette medications don't work >> it can be really devastating. i have patients who had to quit their jobs because they lost their driver's license i have patients with young

children who can't feel comfortable taking care of their own young children alone >> reporter: but now doctors are testing a first of its kind therapy, using stem cells. >> this therapy offers us the potential to essentially restore that balance of excitation and exhibition in that part of the brain to calm or ideally stop the seizures, and currently, we don't have a therapy that allows us to do that. >> reporter: seizures can happen when some parts of the brain get too excited and start to fire unexpectedly but a neurotransmitter, gaba helps. i got a chance to see the procedure first hand when i went into the operating room in san diego and watch a third patient ever to have this done early data presented shows promising results. a 90% reduction in seizures in the first two patients treated so arefa >> people think of patients oh,

it's one to two minutes, two to three times a month? six, seven eight minutes out of your life in a month but the people spend 99% of their time trying to avoid those six, seven, eight minutes, and that impacts their quality of life >> reporter: the company plans to see whether the treatment can help other issues like alzheimer's. >> i think these patients are incredibly brave to be part after trial when we don't know what the end result is >> reporter: since she started in october she's had one seizure since and finally has her life back >> we're capable of doing the things in life that we haven't been confident to do over the last, you know, since 2014 >> wow our thanks for that report still to come, another monday, another doubleheader in the nfl. highlights from both high-profile games plus with days left in the regular season, the push for the

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he is now back in the game on second and sixth. makes the cut, go mixon! the knights' first touchdown >> we break down the bengals and rams on monday night football. the rams pulled within three on the road against the bengals but couldn't recover the one sidekick in the final minute, cincinnati gets the win, 19-16. and earlier in the night, jalen hurts and the eagles soared. philly hands tampa bay their first loss this year 25-11. when you talk about, still early in the nfl, but undefeated, you've got dolphins, 49ers, and eagles >> dolphins already incredible

swinging over to baseball. a high-stakes showdown in seattle. alvarez extended the astros' lead and justin verlander took a scoreless outing into the eighth inning houston holds on to beat the mariners and the wins keep them ahead fort if the season ended today, the astros would be in the playoffs and not the mariners yankee fans not looking forward to october they have been officially eliminated because of those games last night now to some history on the football field for haley van voorhees the shenandoah football player became the first woman to play at a ncaa game in a non-kicker position she pressured the quarterback and van voorhees spoke to hoda and jenna on "today", telling them words couldn't really describe that very moment on the field, also saying, when you see this moment right there. that is huge, but all the work

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when we come back, we're learning more about bruce willis' state of health, as the actor's wife tells about his ongoing journey with dementia, when "early today" returns ♪ did you know 80% of women are struggling with hair damage? 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. bruce willis was first diagnosed with dementia earlier this year, and his wife is sharing an important update on his dementia and how they're coping as a family emilie ikeda has more on the story. >> reporter: the star of action-pac action-packed hits, bruce willis

has been a formidable force. >> welcome to the party, pal >> reporter: but last year he stepped away from his illustrious acting career, spanning more than four decades, after his family announced he was first diagnosed with aphasia and then frontotemporal dementia, or ftd which affects parts of the brain related to personality and language >> is that something he's aware of >> hard to know. >> reporter: the actor's wife, emma hemming willis, opened up about her role as a care provider >> dementia is hard on the person diagnosed it's also hard on the family and that is no different for bruce or myself or our girls >> reporter: the 58-year-old shares three children with demi moore and two young children with hemming willis, who says

pinpointing the diagnosis was a blessing and curse >> to finally understand what was happening. it doesn't make it any less painful, but being in the know of what is happening to bruce just makes it a little bit easier >> reporter: while a disease with no cure, the family continues finding their strength in willis. >> he is the gift that keeps on giving love, patience, resilience >> reporter: emilie ikeda, nbc news >> we have rooted for him on the screen for decades, and we are rooting for him now more than ever >> and the family. >> and the family. a 2-year-old girl has been found after disappearing from her michigan home. her mother reported her missing around 8:00 p.m. wednesday night and volunteers launched a search party to find her along with state troopers and police dogs around midnight thursday morning the toddler was found asleep in the woods nearly three miles

away from home the girl was with her two dogs whom she apparently used as a pillow while she slept heart sinks as a mother. but thank good nuness she is sae a >> and those little furry guys >> her watchdogs >> literally her watchdogs thanks for watching "early today. >> we thank you so much for being with us today. we'll see you tomorrow 'll see yw

right now at 5:00, a south bay bus driver injured in a shocking attack. the investigation now under way. we're live this morning with new details on what authorities say happened and the suspect who is now in custody. in a matter of hours, air force one touches down here in the bay area. we'll have the latest on president biden's preparations and his visit, and the planned stops o