israel ramps up its offensive in gaza. the prime minister announcing an expansion in the country's ground operations. we report on the latest from the ground and international efforts to halt the violence he was once first in line for the presidency now mike pence is stepping back from his own white house bid we'll have the latest as the 2024 election lineup begins to take shape

hurricane otis ripped through mexico's pacific coast now the people who survived this storm are struggling to stay alive. what comes next for recovery efforts in acapulco? severe drought in the u.s. is impacting spooky celebrations farmers say climate change is hitting their halloween harvest. and a staple of spooky season, spirit halloween we go inside the massive nationwide effort to open 1,500 stores each year it's monday, october 30th. "early today" starts right now good morning i'm frances rivera >> and i'm phillip mena. it's been just over three weeks since hamas in gaza launched a surprise large-scale invasion of southern israel. more than 1,400 people were killed in 24 hours

most of them civilians an unprecedented horror in a country that has seen its share of atrocities. but since then, the israeli response has caused five times as many deaths on the gaza strip, according to health ministry in gaza most of them, too, are believed to be civilians. >> reporter: israel continues to pound the gaza strip the israeli defense force now says it has hit 600 targets across the gaza strip since the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu announced the second phase of its air and ground operation. in the south of gaza, the red crescent says 44 aid trucks have crossed that border. but it says that is nothing like enough and thousands of palestinians have stormed an aid warehouse there. in northern israel, israel says it has hit hezbollah targets in lebanon and a military building in syria the iranian president ibr

ibrahim raisi. the united nations on friday voted with a majority of 120 for a ceasefire. today the security council will meet again, calling for a ceasefire. there's no sign that israel is listening. guys >> keir, thank you president biden spent much of his sunday making calls trying to get more aid into gaza nbc's brie jackson joins us now from washington d.c. brie, good morning so what do we know about the diplomatic efforts being made there from washington? >> reporter: good morning, phillip. the white house says president biden spoke to leaders in both egypt and israel yesterday one message he gave to both is that humanitarian aid into gaza needs to be accelerated and increased significantly. the united nations says the amount making it through the egyptian crossing is not nearly enough when the president spoke to israeli prime minister netanyahu, he reaffirmed that

israel has the right to defend itself against terrorism, but that the flow of assistance to civilians in gaza needs to happen the white house says the two also talked about efforts to secure the release of more hostages taken by hamas and other groups israeli officials believe 239 captives are still being held in gaza a former u.s. official tells nbc news that negotiations with hamas over the hostages have stalled. the source who has knowledge of the ongoing talks says hamas is objecting to the release of captives until israel stops cutting off the fuel supply to gaza meanwhile, the new house speaker mike johnson is trying to get more aid to israel he says the house will consider a stand-alone funding bill this week, which ignores president biden's request for a much larger spending package, that includes funding for ukraine johnson says that the stand-alone bill for israel has bipartisan support, and he seems

confident that it will pass. phillip? >> that'll be one of the first orders of business from the new speaker. brie, thank you. not with a bang, but with a whimper. former vice president mike pence dropped out of the presidential race he made the surprise announcement over the weekend at the annual republican jewish coalition convention in las vegas. pence said on stage that, quote, it's become clear to me this is not my time. the former veep has consistently polled poorly since launching his candidacy in june. donald trump remains the frontrunner for the republican nomination, according to nearly all polls. ohio is set to vote this november on whether or not abortion should be protected in the state's constitution the head of that vote, misinformation on the ballot measure, is spreading. and some inflammatory language targeting reproductive rights is on a government website. it's on a blog posted by the republican-controlled state senate

groups backing the amendment say it's improper use of a taxpayer supported site a spokesperson for the state senate says the blog doesn't cost taxpayers anything because it's hosted on an existing government platform. republican congressman george santos is facing his most serious challenge since allegedly bluffing his way into congress last year the new york representative pleaded not guilty to fraud and theft in a federal court and gop supporters falling away as other new york conservatives move to expel him. our julie sirkin has the story >> reporter: blowing a kiss and waving to screaming protesters a smiling george santos departing a new york courtroom, where he plead not guilty to ten federal charges for allegedly sealing campaign donors' identities, and running up thousands of dollars on their credit cards with last month's superseding indictment, the first-term congressman has now been hit with 23 total counts

the government accusing him of embezzling cash and colluding with a former aide to forge campaign donations santos denying all of it but thenew york republican is facing even more trouble outside of court less than 24 hours earlier in washington >> house resolution 773. >> reporter: his gop colleagues filed a resolution to expel him from congress, citing those criminal charges and the slew of lies santos told voters to get elected. >> and whereas as a result of these actions, george santos is not fit to serve his constituents as a united states representative >> reporter: the resolution is privileged, which means the full house is required to vote on it in the coming days and the lawmakers behind it are confident it could pass. >> i think we're getting two-thirds there seems to be a good sentiment out there that enough is enough. >> reporter: for his part, santos says he's not resigning

in a post on social media thursday, writing, quote, i'm entitled to due process and not a predetermined outcome as some are seeking. the new speaker of the house mike johnson agrees. >> we're going to expel people from congress just because they're charged with a crime, then, you know, or accused, that's a problem >> our thanks to julie for that report in an attempt to deal with the continued influx of migrants, new york city has established what the mayor calls reticketing center it's a place where migrants can get a free airplane ticket out of town. and since the program was launched last week, "politico" reports that people have already gotten free flights as far away as morocco more than 130,000 migrants have arrived in new york city since last year, creating significant pressure on educational, health, and social services. in a widely criticized move, the city recently shortened shelter times for migrant families frost on the ground for millions of americans this morning. that's thanks to a cold front

move across the country. nbc meteorologist michelle grossman is tracking the freeze. >> we're looking at temperatures in the teens in some spots and it's feeling like the single digits once you factor in the windchill because we're going to see some pretty windy conditions as well. it's bringing freeze and frost alerts from the south central states all the way to the northeast where you see this hot pink color we're looking at freeze warnings, 65 million americans impacted by frost and freeze alerts this morning. temperatures so chilly this morning, we're going to need the winter coats, especially in denver, 18 degrees right now it feels like 6 once you factor in those winds feels like 24 in oklahoma city look at dallas feeling like just 29 we're cool as we head towards the great lakes, ohio valley, cincinnati, we're looking at 50 degrees right now. we're going to keep it cool behind this cold front today anywhere from 10 even 25 degrees below what is typical for this time of year, especially denver, 21 degrees below average there but ahead of this front we're so

warm d.c., 77 degrees in late october, that's 14 degrees above average. we're looking at 80s in raleigh and panama city. the cold front is going to bring the cooler air we're looking at philadelphia, 54 degrees tomorrow, that's seven degrees below average. really chilly behind this front. we're looking at just 37 degrees in kansas city could see some rain, could see some heavy rain at times also we're going to factor in that cold air, looking at a chance for snow and mixed precipitation. locally up to 6 inches that's especially where you see the pink and purpl especially e, looking at temperatures only in the 20s. 28 degrees today in bismarck >> and that's your chilly monday forecast >> all right, michelle, thank you. with all this unpredictable weather this year, many farmers have felt the effects of climate

change in texas, new mexico, and colorado this year's drought and extreme heat stunted the growth of many pumpkins and other crops, causing some farmers to lose about 20% or more of their inventory. pumpkins can survive hot, dry weather to an extent but they also rely on cooler weather to harvest or they will begin to decompose some say this is the worst drought in years style to come here on "early today," residents in acapulco are being forced to take extreme measures to survive after hurricane otis battered the ty that's whenever you want it to be. it has derm-proven retinol that targets vital cell turnover, evens skin tone, and smooths fine lines. with visible results in just one week. neutrogena® retinol sometimes jonah wrestles with falling asleep... ...so he takes zzzquil. the world's #1 sleep aid brand for a better night sleep. so now, he wakes up feeling like himself. the reigning family room middle-weight champion.

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world-famous thriving tourist destination, now in total ruin the coastal city home to nearly 1 million people taking a near direct hit from hurricane otis, a monster category 5 storm the mexican government says otis has killed at least 27 people while four remain missing. despite the 13,000 troops deployed to the scene, some people now looting grocery stores, desperate for food, water and other essentials store shelves left completely bare this tourist in mexico city says she tried asking military soldiers for help. the soldiers just stared at me like i was crazy, she says they told us to go steal from a store. it grew from a tropical storm to a cat 5 storm in just 12 hours, leaving little time to prepare or evacuate. [ speaking in a global language ]

>> reporter: this 28-year-old and his girlfriend capturing this video in the early overnight hours. emerging to find their world torn apart the destruction leaving beachfront resorts unrecognizable from the air. the soccer complex inundated with floodwaters landslides destroying acapulco's main highway, leaving families scrambling over the muddy mess the airport so badly battered, it had to shut down. the mexican president vowing government aid is also on the way. but those who still haven't heard from loved ones fear the number will be much higher >> our thanks for that report. still to come, everyone's a winner

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i do whatever he did bagent, fell down and couldn't hold on. fell down and couldn't hold on >> it was that kind of night for the bears. chicago struggled to get their offense going with backup quarterback tyson bagent under center they got rooted by the los angeles chargers l.a. bounced back from a two-game skid from justin herbert who tossed three touchdowns including one to austin eckler. the chargers get the win 30-13 >> both of these teams have really, really been struggling this season. there have been rumored that the coaches are going to get fired, the chargers didn't win this game the bears are, unfortunately, kind of used to some rough time.

but this guy bagent was a division ii player who got a chance and shined last week. but he kind of came down to earth last night >> when you're early in the season, though, but here we are almost halfway through so got to get on it. >> it really was a wild sunday of nfl action. in denver, the wildest perhaps of all the games a nearly decade old curse done they earned their first victory against the kansas city chiefs, the first one since september of 2015. it was a huge win for them we'll talk about that a bit later. earlier in the day in charlotte, the carolina panthers and the top pick in the nfl draft this year, bryce young, they got in the win column for the very first time all season. that was a walk-off field goal from kicker eddie pineiro propelling the panthers over the texans and the second overall pick in the draft cj stroud. they lost that one 15-13 the minnesota vikings, they walked away with the win over the rival green bay packers. that wasn't the big story.

it's what they had to sacrifice to get that win. the espn is reporting that vikings' qb kirk cousins tore his achilles in the victory and is likely out for the rest of the season this is one of the most durable quarterbacks for the last decade and it's the exact same injury that aaron rodgers got in week one. >> broncos, chiefs, my husband's a huge broncos fan, but of course we're talking about -- who wasn't in the stands and why maybe they lost. >> we've been on this taylor swift thing the whole thing, everybody tunes to see if she was in the box she was not yesterday. and now they're in the loss column >> she was in new orleans and now she's going to start her international -- she's not going to be able to be in the stands for the chiefs until december. maybe a while. turning now to baseball. the first two games of the fall classic have given us everything we could have wanted from a world series game one on friday saw the rangers mount an epic extra innings comeback with a game winner coming off bat.

the diamondbacks were in control for game 2 saturday with a dominant 9-1 victory over texas. with the series tied at one game apiece, the action moves to chase field in arizona for game 3 tonight. and we'll see after tonight with this kind of play, is there going to be a game 4, 5, 6, 7? >> i'm excited about it all. we'll be right back. the fda is warning parents once-daily pill for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis... for the chance at clear or almost clear skin. it's like the feeling of finding that outfit psoriasis tried to hide from you. or finding your swimsuit is ready for primetime. dad! once-daily sotyktu is proven to get more people clearer skin than the leading pill. don't take if you're allergic to sotyktu; serious reactions can occur. sotyktu can lower your ability to fight infections including tb. serious infections, cancers including lymphoma, muscle problems, and changes in certain labs have occurred. tell your doctor if you have an infection,

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but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. spirit halloween has been a longtime staple for this spooky season, and with the holiday just hours away, we take you behind the scenes of america's most popular halloween store brian cheung has more. >> reporter: whether you're looking for ghosts or ghouls or anything of the like, this iconic store is once again rising like a zombie to get us all in the halloween spirit.

more specifically, the spirit halloween. the ceo gave us a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most unique business models in all of retail >> we start from zero every year >> reporter: that's going from zero stores to this year, 1,500 stores, more than macy's or best buy in a matter of months. step one, find a host, an empty storefront free for just a short period of time >> we have people flying all over the country, we have people stationed all over the country >> reporter: spirit halloween has draped its banner over former gymnasiums and clothing stores and bed bath & beyonds. leases are locked in as early as the spring and as late as the first week of october. while a regular retail store will take months or longer to open, spirit halloween stores go from empty to ready to open in less than two weeks. next, they staff up. >> we build on a foundation of

the nucleus of people that, year-round, 24/7/365 halloween >> reporter: hiring some 40,000 temporary employees this season. and, finally, they have to fill those shelves, often having to predict months in advance what the hot costumes will be >> we've been doing this for 40 years. add experience, a little intuition, and a lot of data analysis >> reporter: this year's big sellers, barbie and ken, wednesday adams, and teenage mutant ninja turtles the store's pop-up popularity has become a pop culture sensation. >> we've become that name. we've become that place where if it was vacant for any period of time, we're swooping in. >> the studio was empty for so long, nbc converted to a spirit halloween. >> reporter: for spirit halloween super fans, though, it's no joke >> every day we pick him up from school, he asks to come.

>> reporter: for others, though, it's not even about spending it's just getting in the spirit. brian cheung, nbc news, egg harbor, new jersey >> and they really are, like, zombies feeding off these dead hosts that only show up during halloween and then disappear >> and if you're a

gaza to get in humanitarian aid that is desperately needed. a devastated community tries to come to terms with sudden senseless tragedy. we will have the latest from lewiston, maine, after last week's mass shooting. as mexico comes to terms with the destruction after hurrican