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killed hundreds, as president biden returns to the u.s. and tensions rise here at home. leaders in the region are questioning america's assessment. israel's missile defense system is one of the best in the world. stopping thousands of hamas rockets. we get up close to the inner workings of the country's iron dome. new concerns rise from the ashes of lahaina. reports suggest the air itself might not be safe. what parents are asking about the lurking danger. a nerve-wracking wnba finals went down to the wire let's go dad. the viral moment this dad was cheering on his daughter matching her squad's every step. "early today" starts right now. good morning, i'm phillip mena. >> glad you're with us, i'm frances rivera. there are increasing signs that a deadly blast near a gaza

hospital was not caused by an israeli airstrike but a rocket from the group palestinian islamic jihad that misfired. palestinian officials say hundreds were killed tuesday and blamed israel. but while visiting tel aviv yesterday, president biden told the israeli prime minister that it appears it was done by the other team, not you. >> what evidence does the president have to lead him to that conclusion? >> reporter: good morning, guys. president biden is basing his conclusion on evidence that was provided by the u.n.'s defense department. but nbc news made its own assessment by consulting with four military and munition experts. we showed them tens of photos of the blast and also the aftermath of the attack at the hospital, and they all concluded that it's unlikely that israel was behind that attack, based on the fact that the marks left behind by the missile, they say, are

inconsistent with the weaponry that israel has used until now. and obviously, this is just an assessment. but it matches the one by the u.s. and israel and it's unlikely it will convince the arab world that israel was not behind the attack. yesterday there were hundreds of people protesting. also lawmakers in the region seem to have no doubt that israel was responsible for the attack, including the foreign minister of jordan who spoke to lester holt and told him that nobody in the region buys the narrative that it was an islamic jihad missile that went astray. and they blamed the israeli military of not being credible. on the diplomatic front, the u.s. yesterday vetoed a resolution of the u.n. security council that caused for a humanitarian pause to allow

humanitarian aid into the gaza strip by claiming, the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. said that one of the reasons was in that resolution the right of self-defense for israel was not mentioned and said the u.s. is on the ground doing the hard work of diplomacy anyway. all the members of the u.n. security council did not take that veto well, including china, saying it's nothing short of unbelievable. and russia saying that by that, the u.s. is showing double standards once again. the middle east conflict is having ramifications around the world, including in the u.s. the department of homeland security is warning of an increase in threats against jewish and muslim americans and their places of worship. our maggie vespa has this report. >> reporter: authorities in the u.s. ramping up security, amid warnings about potential violence mounting nationwide

over the israel-hamas war. in new york, the nypd ordering officers to be uniformed and ready to deploy. nbc news told extremists are flooding social media with calls for attacks on jewish communities and other targets, and neo-nazis seeking to exploit the war. a homeland security official saying that there is a heightened threat environment in the u.s. the fbi also on high alert. >> we stay laser focussed on mitigating those threats. >> reporter: the public's help sought for this man who they say punched a woman in a subway station saying he did it because you are jewish as protests continue across country. in washington, d.c. dozens were arrested at the capitol during a rally of jewish americans

calling for cease-fire. and in suburban chicago, more than 1500 people packed a vigil for a palestinian-american boy. >> he was a child. a child filled with love, not any hate. >> reporter: prosecutors saying the 6-year-old was stabbed dozens of times by his family's landlord who they say was angry about the hamas attacks. joseph czuba faces murder and hate crime charges in illinois and has not yet entered a plea. a child taken and a country on edge as war wages on a world away. maggie vespa, nbc news, chicago of the president biden will make a prime time address to the nation tonight. the white house says the president will speak about foreign policy issues, including the terror attacks in israel and russia's war on ukraine. president biden already announced a $100 million aid package to help palestinians in gaza and the west bank. >> people of gaza need food, water, medicine, shelter. this money will support more

than 1 million tis displaced, including emergency needs in gaza. >> coverage of the president's speech will begin at 8:00 p.m. on nbc. the speaker's office remains vacant. jim jordan failed to shore up support of his colleagues, only garnering 199 votes, less than he received during the first round of voting. a third vote is expected to be held at noon today. while squorden says he is staying in the race, his fraying support raises questions about the future of his candidacy. the house has less than a month to another shutdown. a man has been arrested in connection to a deadly crash in california. it happened on dead man's curve. the man lost control and crashed

into parked cars on the side of the pacific coast highway. four young women standing between the parked cars were killed. two others were hurt. the four women who died were students at pepperdine. the driver is facing manslaughter charges. a former prison nurse has been sentenced for 30 years. he worked at the state's only prison for women. the abuse carried on for about five years. 17 women testified against him at trial. attorneys for kline say he has consistently denied wrongdoing. this they plan to appeal the conviction. school in lahaina reopened this week. new reports show higher levels than expected of arsenic. daryl huff from our hawaii affiliate reports on concerns for children's safety.

>> reporter: ash has been sifted at many homes like these in kula. but the health department is now discouraging sifting, after tests of kula ash found higher level of toxins than expected. >> the arsenic which is the greatest concern is 140 times above the environmental action level. >> reporter: arsenic at more than 3,000 milligrams per kilogram was likely due to termite-tweeted wood. similar levels or higher can be expected in lahaina, with three schools east of the burn zones opening this week, the superintendent said there are filters in every classroom and office. >> in the event that we do need to utilize them, those filters, filter air, particulates out within the classrooms. >> reporter: but the reassurances weren't enough even for some elected officials, especially after department of health maui health officer

lauren pang said children should be asked about scratchy throats. >> i would like to ask that of the school children. >> i'm not sending my kids back. i'm not going to do it. >> reporter: while pang pointed out for the council that monitors have shown the air to be consistently safe around schools, he also cast doubt about can do is pull it up from the air. it's called a sniffer. test that. that's in the air. so i ask for that. >> so we're waiting for ash, and yet our kids are going to school. that's concerning. >> reporter: it also didn't seem clear to pang whether ash samples from lahaina were tested. >> i kind of don't know what meetings to attend. >> reporter: many saw it more simply. a chilling reminder about proper ppe. >> especially when i see politicians in the area, and they're not wearing ppe, not a good example.

>> our thanks to daryl huff for that report. bad news for weekend plans in the northeast. we're in for yet another wet weekend. a system is moving through the great lakes right now. angie lassman is tracking it. >> a thursday that will be quite soggy, portions of illinois and indiana, we are dealing with rain as the system works its way a little farther to the east. that's what it's going to do through the day today. mainly impacting folks along the great lakes. we see it move to the northeast. another coastal low will develop offshore pushing more moisture, adding to the soggy conditions as we get into your saturday. and on top of that we could see breezy conditions, too. notice peak wind gusts, 20 to 30 miles per hour across much of the region.

we'll keep an eye out for minor power outages and we'll see plenty of sunshine for the west coast. and we keep that pattern really going through saturday as well. a gorgeous day across the pick northwest. we'll see mild conditions across parts of the mwest and waridm l dallas to san antonio. 82 in orlando. and that's a look at your forecast, guys, backs potentially saved thousands of lives. stevens. they say she can make things appear out of thin air. hey! you guys want to come in? my mom made dinner. make your table legendary, with country crock. are you tired of clean clothes that just don't smell clean? downy unstopables in-wash scent boosters make your table legendary,

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while they're in the air tom haw mllamas got to see the technology up close, and here's his report from southern israel. >> reporter: much of the fighting in this war has been in the skies overhead day and night. where israel has a massive advantage. but hamas has launched thousands of rockets some say israel's iron dome is the world's best defense against missiles we were given access to see it up close that's one of the batteries that makes up this system this technology was develop bid israel, and the way it works is that when is fired fro gaza, that launches another missile that crashes midair to make sure the people stay safe it's a combination of a radar unit monitoring the skies and the direction of the incoming missile. a control center determining if that rocket will strike a population center and a battery able to launch dozens of missiles that can destroy an

enemy rocket launched from up to 43 miles away. >> last about ten days hamas has launched over 6,500 rockets. >> reporter: 6,500 >> over 6,500 rockets in ten days we would have thousands of casualties unbelievable destruction, injuries we would be living in a very different reality. >> reporter: hamas can't match israel's firepower, but training videos published online show they are stocked with rockets. and in 2020 this video shows them digging up pipes to convert them into projectiles. israel says the iron dome is 90% effective. but during the attacks on october 7, hamas overwhelmed the system most of the time the iron dome works, but there are rare occasions when rockets fire prd gaza are so many that a few get through, like here in ashkelon where a rocket hit this building with people inside this couple was home when the rocket hit what has the rocket barrage been

like >> reporter: they say the missiles come like rain and they wouldn't be here without the iron dome. tom llamas, nbc news, tel aviv still to come, a nail-biter with a championship on the line. a thrilling finish in the wnba final. and the astros shoot for the moon trying to get back in the alcs ♪ vicks vapostick provides soothing, non-medicated vicks vapors. [exhales] easy to apply for the whole family. vicks vapostick and try vaposhower for steamy vicks vapors. to give your teeth a dentist clean feeling. start with a round brush head. add power. and you've got oral-b. round cleans better by surrounding each tooth to remove 100% more plaque. for a superior clean. oral-b. brush like a pro.

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this a hot going on in sin city swinging over to baseball. jose altuve took max scherzer deep into the third inning to give houston a 4 h-0 lead. jong jung pulled the rangers within three the astros hold on to win game three, 8-5 need to see that on altuve another one tonight. >> all right they're making it a series, you know they're not defending champs for no reechblt dason down to nba. james harden was a no-show and he was not giving a reason request. the former mvp had requested a trade out of philly and said the relationship with the team president is beyond repair reporters were told that whether or not harden shows up they still have the preseason finale. james harden has tried to bail

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from water supplies. a high school student in mississippi has received more than $1.4 million in scholarships day dana boulden wants to be a trauma surgeon underneath those friday night lights, one cheer dad is not hiding his spirit. more of this viral video after the break. they say she can make things appear out of thin air. hey! you guys want to come in? my mom made dinner. make your table legendary, with country crock. having triplets is... -amazing -expensive. so, we switched to the bargain detergent, but we ended up using three times as much and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back with tide, and the clothes are clean again. do 3x the laundry and get a tide clean. it's got to be tide. looking for a bladder leak pad that keeps you dry? when i'm at work, i need to feel secured. what i'm looking for in a pad is,

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special reunion with us. >> reporter: a meeting 70 years in the making. but for 92-year-old lee and harry, it was picking up where they left off. >> you don't need that, do you >> i joined the marine corps in 1950 i was 18 years old >> reporter: he was serving in europe when the korean war broke out. >> one marine said where in the hell is korea? never heard of it. >> reporter: they fought in the battle of chosin reservoir >> it was cold 40 below zero. a lot of marines died. and a lot of them president.

>> reporter: they are two of three marines left from their platoon that made it home. >> i was for one year. i saw a lot of action. i was there. >> reporter: but after 70 years. >> he was a baby then, see he didn't hang around with the guy whose drank beer >> reporter: time stood still. >> you have a babyface >> we went around the world. and i mean around the world. >> reporter: for two marines, friends and brothers >> semper fi >> our thanks to carlos flotus for that report. truly a lifelong bond. we thank them for their service. >> and that memory, too. one cheerleader is shining the brightest in her dad's eyes.

[ laughter ] that's andre simmons, and while he has multiple sons carrying on his football legacy, he's right in step alongside his daughter as the squad cheers the team on. his wife shared the video saying little did they know he's waited his whole life to be a cheer dad, and he's a pretty good cheer dad at that. that is the way to do it right there. with every move, he's got down >> that is taking support to the next level i mean, i wish -- i don't have the rhythm for that. but appreciate him and all he's doing for his daughter there good dad thanks

president biden returns home after his brief stay in the middle east. the new financial help he's promising israel and the message he plans to deliver in a primetime address. get ready for a fall scorcher in a