new signs that israel is gearing up for a ground

incursion in gaza after another bloody day in the war with hamas. president biden revealing that 20 or more americans are still unaccounted for in the region. he issues his strongest condemnation of the surprise attack yet the president also vowing continued support for israel's iron dome which has already stopped thousands of hamas rockets. but how does the world's most vaunted missile defense system work george santos hit with another round of charges the new indictment alleging the republican stole the identities of his donors and racked up charges on their credit cards. is there a beer shortage on tap? good gourd, the gargantuan pumpkin that smashed the record at over 2700 pounds. it's wednesday, october 11 "early today" starts right now good morning and gralad to bothe with you again

>> i'm phillip mena. pure, unadulterated evil, that's how president biden described the attacks on israel. the president forcefully condemned the actions of hamas fighters >> this is terrorism this is an act of sheer evil more than 1,000 civilians slaughtered. slaughtered. in israel. among them, at least 14 american citizens killed. parents butchered, using their bodies trying to protect their children so, in this moment, we must be crystal clear, we stand with israel >> earlier, the families of americans believed to have been taken hostage by hamas held a press conference they called on the u.s. and israel to rescue their loved ones in his speech, the president said americans were captured and

the u.s. has offered expertise to help get them freed >> at least 1200 israelis have been killed, most of them civilians. the death toll is soaring on the palestinian side, too. at israeli air force pummeled gaza in retaliation, and as tanks and troops amass on the border bloody ground invasion seems likely let's go live to chapman bell. >> reporter: you mentioned that retaliation. overnight, the idf, israeli defense forces continued their massive air campaign on the gaza strip. three main waves in the last 24 hours hitting 450 targets overall, the latest according to the idf saying that an area described as terror hub for hamas has been attacked. and this of course all following that attack on saturday by hamas. and we had the first look inside

one of these areas where gunmen attacked, where journalists were allowed in for the first time to see idf soldiers still searching for gunmen and finding more people dead from those gruesome attacks that we've heard president biden describing earlier, a massacre as many say. not a military campaign, but a massacre and we've also heard from prime minister netanyahu of israel, who released this video of him speaking to president biden for the third time since declaring war, and he had this to say to the president. >> we've had hundreds massacred. families wiped out in their beds in their homes they mowed down these youngsters at a nature festival and like put five jeeps around depression in the soil and like mowed them down, you know, making sure that

they killed everybody. this is, we've never seen such savagery in the history of the state. and they're even worse than isis they're even worse than isis, and we need to treat them as such >> reporter: now as we heard earlier, president biden reaffirming his support for israel and the right to defend themselves, showing his support by putting the ships in the region also, though, a humanitarian corridor is being discussed to try to lower the civilian casualties in and around gaza. this being discussed as we see troops amassing at the border, tanks amassing at the border in what would be the first ground assault on gaza since 2014 and really trying to limit those civilian casualties that we've seen on both sides, frances? >> chapman, thank you. in a show of support for a close u.s. ally, secretary of state antony blinken will travel

to israel today. a spokesperson says the trip aims to engage with israeli partners directly about the situation on the ground. transfers of advanced ammunition from the u.s. have begun arriving in israel at least 14 u.s. citizens have been kill in the hamas invasion with an unknown number of americans taken hostage in gaza of the state department said it's talking to airlines about setting up flights home for americans who want to leave israel in his speech, president biden said the u.s. would keep providing support for israel's iron dome. that's the missile defense system they are relying on right now to protect against airstrikes our molly hunter explains how this system works. >> reporter: up in the sky, that's a rocket arcing over the southern israeli city of akca lon. see that that's the dome in action. it might not seem like more than a blip in the sky. but take a look at the view at

night. each of those, a thwarted rocket attack the israeli company that developed the iron dome system says the system has destroyed thousands of unguided rockets since 2011 but the iron dome isn't really a dome though it's meant to create a force field effect, they're movable batteries, attached to missile launchers that look like this and here's how it works. it radar senses a rocket when it gets close, anywhere from 2.5 to 43 miles away according to ratheon. then the control center kicks into gear, quickly analyzes whether a rocket will hit populated areas. p if it determines it will hit a town or city, it tells it to deploy a missile to hit it if a rocket is headed for an unpopulated area, the iron dome will let it land in the desert

or sea officials say the system is extremely effective. the israeli defense forces reported that it intercepted more than 95% of rockets during an operation last may. over the last few days, the israeli military says 4,500 rockets were fired from gaza, and the iron dome has intercepted many >> now we're hearing it again. now you'll start to see the iron dome system taking them off again. again, rockets, many interceptions, not much damage >> reporter: but it doesn't catch every single one the u.s. has given almost $2 billion for the iron dome. and that's inaddition to the money sent every year. >> we're sending interceptors to replenish iron dome. we want to make sure israel

dmots does not run out of these critical assets. >> reporter: molly hunter, nbc news new fraud charges this morning against embattled congressman george santos. a new federal indictment accuses the thork republican of stealing the identities of campaign donors and using their credit cards to make contributions to his campaign worth tens of thousands of dollars and transferring some of the money to his personal bank account santos declined to comment on those charges. the coast guard has recovered more wreckage from the titan submersible. they were able to recover more debris from the vessel as well as what they believe are human remains. the evidence will be analyzed to try to learn more about what led to the catastrophic implosion that claimed all five lives on poured >> board. >> reporter: hurricane lydia made landfall on mexico's coast,

as a category 4. while the system continues to weaken, it is expected to remain at hurricane strength. partsof the south are bracing for a downpour today angie lassman is tracking that system >>i had, g >> hi, good morning, guys. it's going to bring a lot of moisture and potentially into tomorrow for florida you'll notice where it's raining, parts of texas, louisiana, stretchingna into pt of the florida panhandle by the time we get through thursday, widespread amounts, one to three inches are possible with higher amounts centered across florida where we'll see more rain as we get into tomorrow too meanwhile, frost and freeze alerts are up. 18 million people are under these advisories with temperatures in the 40s, columbus, buffalo, even state

college at 50 degrees. we've got a coast-to-coast storm that will work its way across the country. it will bring rain and the rainm charlotte down through atlanta to montgomery. new orleans will see showers and thunderstorms today. and that is a look at the forecast, guys, back over to you. ang we are band we are back in 60 seconds with a m uixp at a cemetery dr. garcia? 60 seconds with a mix up at a cemetery g we are and we are bac 60 seconds with a mix up at a cemetery we are and we are backn 60 seconds with a mix up at a cemetery we are and we are back 0 seconds with a mix up at a cemetery e are and we are back i seconds with a mix up at a cemetery are and we are back in0 seconds with a mix up at a cemetery are and we are back in seconds with a mix up at a cemetery re and we are back in 60

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company responsible for burying their loved ones our nbc station in washington has the story. >> reporter: this is the feet over gregory johnson and his family on september 29 as they buried the family matriarch in sunset memorial guards denise johnson had battled cancer for years before her death but didn't stop her from her mission to feed homeless people but days later, mr. johnson got a call his wife had been buried in the wrong place. her casket would have to be moved. >> did a lot to my emotions. you know, i'm crying at night. >> reporter: hard enough to lose her and then to have this. >> yes yes. i'm trying to be strong for the family oh, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy. and now i got to go through this all over again >> reporter: the terrible mistake was discovered by another family, the medinas who had gone to visit their son's

grave. >> my husband had come home and told me that he thought that they had buried somebody on the plot that we own >> reporter: he was right. denise johnson had within buried in a plot the medinas had bought for their son right next to their resting place. she posted about ton social media. >> losing a child is a hard enough thing, and then to see somebody had been buried in a plot we had bought to be buried next our son was devastating >> reporter: sheerhere's what s said they told her >> back in 2017, the employees in place then didn't keep any records, and they had no records. >> reporter: cemetery management contacted mr. johnson to give him the news his wife would have to be moved. but for days he heard nothing more until today he and his sons went to the cemetery to watch as a new grave

site was prepared. his wife's casket disinterred and reburied >> i felt really, really horrible for the family. >> reporter: while mr. johnson is satisfied that the new soite sets aside room for him and his sister they are contacting an attorney we're told we've been working with the families privately to come to a resolution, and we offer our apology for any disturbance this has caused the families she would not say whether either family would receive compensation >> our thanks to julie carrie for that report. still to come, could a possible beer shortage be in our future and it's a bear-y special week i'm feeling better. all in one and done with new mucinex kickstart. headache? better now.

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so we're back to break down the latest in culture and trends if you can believe it, the holiday shopping season is her here, at least for some people, according to a new shopify gallup survey. more than one in four people have already started buying gifts by the end of september. but 59% plan to wait until november or tease december to sp their shopping if holiday sales started earlier, they say they'd likely shop sooner, but 80% say they wouldn't change their habits this is a question for you, especially now that you have a new addition, are you shopping for the trextra kid? >> before i got married, i would wait until the week of christmas. but my wife gets to get a jump and she gets it all yearlong every holiday has a sale

as soon as we think about somebody we set it aside we don't wait for the holidays >> you're used to the girl toys. now santa's got a boy in your household that he's got to give boy toys to. >> yeah. i have spent a lot of time in those toil ay aisles lately. a new study shows climate change could affect europe's hop harvest up to 18% by the year 205 2050 the hop yields have declined since 1995 but the issue may not arrive in the u.s. at least not yet. the project's director told "usa today" the hop producers here have been developing more resilient varieties, which thankfully has increased production i mean, by 2050. we're talking about people who haven't been born yet are going to be feeling the hurt >> and i know you with your ipas, that's going to be tough

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ian call tells us about the hefty world record title >> reporter: for 50 years now, growers from all over the globe have come to half moon bay each fall to see who grew the biggest pumpkin. >> 1499! >> reporter: it's not only big bragging rights but big prizes in the safe way world championship pumpkin weigh-off nick kennedy from fair oaks, california was second to last to weigh in the crowd of loving the drama. >> the pumpkins are unreal it's got to be on your list. >> whoa! >> reporter: kennedy's pumpkin smashed a tait record, coming in at 2,497 pounds, but the celebration was short-lived, because the defending champ, travis gingher brought in this year's yield, and it tipped the

scale to 2,749 pounds, and that's a new world record. >> pretty enamored by that weight i was not expecting it, but i'm so glad it happened, you know, worked my whole life to do that, yeah >> reporter: gingher has won three of the past four years now. it took him 33 hours to drive his rised pumpkin from his home in minnesota to the competition, after months of caring for the giant gourd. >> we nurtured it for 184 days you're giving it 150 gallons of water a day and checking on it daily. it's like a first-born child type thing >> reporter: he takes home $30,000 in prize money and for the first time ever a championship ring. >> our thanks to ian cole for that report. i don't know what else besides water they feed those pumpkins >> i'm glad he said it's like a

new-born baby. i was gone the same amount of time, i could have grown a big-ass pumpkin. >> dominoes announced a new program to lift the spirits of their customers. they're offering everyone a free emergency pie. if they're having a particularly rough day. either place a digital order or online and sign up for rewards, and voila, the medium pie is yours over the next 30

right now at 5:00, the new conflict in the middle east rages on. this morning, a sobering update on