where am i? sophia? sophia. please. come on. wake up! you... belong... with me. summon your scream squad to universals halloween horror nights. featuring stranger things the exorcist believer the last of us and more. secretary of state antony blinken heads to israel for the third time since the october 7 attack this as dozens of americans make their way out of gaza through the newly-opened rafah crossing. we'll have a live report with the latest .

>> refrepublican infighting in e senate a north dakota woman charged with a plot to kill her long-term boyfriend all over an inheritance police say might not even exist euphoria, white lotus and "house of the dragon" will all return to your screen, but the question is when this morning we're finally getting some answers there's a massive, decades-long effort to restore habitat near the colorado river. but the first step might surprise you why conservationists are stripping the land bare to save birds. "early today" starts right now >> and a good friday morning to you. i'm jessica layton >> i'm phillip mena. secretary of state antony blinken has just arrived in tel aviv for his fir 24thir4d visito

israel since the war began >> reporter: the secretary of state arrives as a sign of the u.s.'s continuing support for a key ally and its ability to defend itself following the october 7 terror attack that killed more than 1400 israelis but blinken pushes leaders to minimize the harm to innocent civilians. he will also call for pauses in fighting to allow more humanitarian aid in to help innocent palestinians and to allow for goegss to continue to release some 240 hamas-held hostages >> as we said fromthe start, israel has not only the right but the obligation to defend itself and also to take steps to try to make sure that this never happens again. we've seen in recent days plip civilians continuing to bear the brunt of this action and it's

important that the united states is committed to making sure everything possible is done to protect civilians. >> reporter: also on the docket, according to secretary of state blinken is discussing with the israelis what a long-term peace would look like once this war is over phillip, jessica, over to you. >> that's the question at the heart of this all. thank you. meanwhile, the rafah crossing connecting the gaza strip to egypt has been opened after spending weeks living under siege, hundreds of foreign nationals are finally evacuating this active war zone and that includes dozens of americans. chau clau claudio lavanga joins us with an update. what is the latest >> reporter: good morning, for the second day in a row, hundreds of people were allowed to leave gaza, including 74 americans, bringing the total number of americans who now manage to leave gaza to 79

the egyptian foreign ministry said all in all, about 7,000 foreign nationals from 60 country the, including of course the u.s., will be allowed to leave in the coming days among the americans who managed to leave already, there is dr. barbara zind, a pediatrician who was in gaza on a humanitarian mission to help critically ill mi palestinian children she spoke to nbc news about her ordeal >> we were right next to a hamas center in one of the u.n. sites, so there was some, there were some bombs dropped not too far away the hospitals that were hit, they're really running out or ran out of medications and with the fuel, there was problems with the ambulances getting fuel problems keeping generators going and really the hospitals are running with the bare minimum. >> reporter: in the meantime, israel's military say they now

encircled gaza city, targeting outposts, headquarters, tunnels and rocket launchers from hamas trying to minimize civilian deaths but at least according to the gaza health ministry, palestinians continue to die there. the number, the death toll has risen dramatically to more than 9,000, including several thousand children. but the tension continues to rise in the north of israel at the border with lebanon. today n ain a few hours, at 9:0 eastern, we expect the leader of hezbollah to make his first address since the start of the war and whether hezbollah will enter the war. >> that could be a huge update thank you. the senate is finding ways to circumvent a long-standing blockade on military nominations. on thursday, the chamber held individual votes to overwhelmingly confirm three senior officers.

it comes as one republican senator is facing backlash from his own party over how his hold is affecting military readiness. nbc's ryan nobles has more >> reporter: senate republicans turning on one of their own. >> it's simply a, in my opinion, an abuse of the powers we have as senators. >> if this is the norm, who the hell wants to serve in the military when your promotion can be canned based on something you had nothing to do with >> reporter: after alabama senator tom tommy tuberville's d has led to a backup over the last seven months. . >> if i thought there was any problem with readiness we wouldn't be doing this >> reporter: tuberville has used his power to object over a pentagon policy that allows service members in states with

restrictive abortion laws to travel to other states it happens as the u.s. military is increasing its presence in conflict zones like the middle east >> we going to look back and be stunned at what a national security suicide mission this became >> reporter: a charge tuberville, a former football coach rejects. how would you respond to that? >> i don't flow wknow what he's talking about. he's been in the military. i have not >> reporter: the stress on military families is only growing. the commandant of the marine corps suffered a heart attack this week. kate marsh's phone is filled with texts with families still waiting. >> this is the first time where they are being used as political pawns. >> our thanks to ryan for that report a new study finds that the number of high schoolers vaping

is going up in smoke according to the 2023 youth tobacco survey, e-cigarette use dropped from 14.1% to 10% over the last year. it comes as we've also seen a continued decline in tobacco smoking among the same age group. according to the fda and cdc that is. despite the new record low for high schoolers, the study shows overall tobacco consumption increased nearly 2% for kids in grades 6 to 8. a top climate scientist has shared a new dire warning about our planet james hanson is the lead author on a new report that found that the earth is warming at a much faster rate than previously predicted. it warns that the world is quickly reach ing a threshold that will be much harder for humans to adapt to and to the forecast now.

the west coast is in for a really wet weekend we hear but the eastern half of the country getting one last warmup before winter really sets in meteorologist angie lassman has her eye on all the weather, coast-to-coast >> we have chilly temperatures across the southeast stretching into the mid atlantic. even the midwest gettingna into the cool conditions. 29 in columbia moral of the story is, grab the layers for the early morning hours. we'll see more typical temperatures in the next couple days here's what we're looking at in the middle of the country. 64 for kansas city dodge city to the upper 60s. a bit of a temperature swing little bit of a rollercoaster ride when it comes to the temperatures here over the next couple days. tomorrow the warmth spreads a little further to the east new york will hit the low 60s, that's about where we should be. by the weekend we're a little

warmer some temperatures ending up in t in 70s like memphis. the pacific northwest is where the rain will be even throughout weekend. an atmospheric river event is unfolding and heavy downpours along the coast. we could see snowfall in the northern rockies as well we'll watch for flooding thoserns and icky travel in o jackson. temperatures in the low 70s. albuquerque heads to 71 and corpus christi hits 79 this afternoon. that is a look at your forecast. back to you. >> thank, angie. enjoyyour weekend. we are back in one minute with a murder mystery.

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officials in north dakota are investigating a plot by this woman who allegedly poisoned and killed her long-time boyfriend using anti-freeze. >> police say the alleged murder was a scheme to access the man's inheritance money, but now they're revealing that money may never have existed >> reporter: a north dakota woman accused of poisoning her long-term boyfriend with appoint fr anti-freeze. according to arrest affidavit, she told police the man had been drinking all day, had heatstroke and lost consciousness she had made comments about wanting to poison him before and an autopsy showed ethylene

glycol in his system >> we hreceived phone calls fro so victims friends who believed that he was possibly poisoned by ina. we started the investigation at that point >> reporter: anti-freeze used in car radiators isr radiatdorlesd colorless and can often taste sweet. >> one was a beer bottle they had anti-freeze in them >> reporter: friends say riley believed he was about to inherit $30 million and was going to leave her, and she believed she was owed part of the money because she had been with him for ten years. >> there was a belief that if he wasn't in the picture she would be entitled to any settlement money through that common law

marriage that kind of changed as the investigators informed her that we don't have common law marriage in north dakota >> reporter: police also revealing there may have been no money after all. >> everything that we have indicates that that settlement doesn't exist. there wasn't a long-lost rich relative or any other type of settlement that would lead to $30 million going in the direction of the victim. but that was the belief. both parties believed that, and had discussed it with friends, discussed it with family members. >> reporter: this is just the latest case in a string of alleged poison plots connor bowman in court for the death of his wife betty bowman he's accused of killing her with a drug used to treat gout. and in utah, kouri richins awaiting trial for allegedly poisoning her husband with fentanyl for life insurance

money before she wrote a children's book about grief. she has denied those allegations. >> our thanks for that report. and still to many could, ryan gosling ditching the dollhouse and starring in a brand-new action thriller. and mariah carey may lose her holiday spirit after facing another lawsuit. irit after faci another lawsuit. dr. garcia? crest reality checkup. that grimy film on your teeth? it's actually the buildup of plaque bacteria which can cause cavities in months. and your toothpaste just isn't cutting it. most toothpastes quit working in minutes. but the antibacterial fluoride in crest pro-health protects for up to 12 hours. so i can stop cavities before they start? mmm-hmm. can i get a latte? the #1 toothpaste brand in america. crest.

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and it look entertaining everything this guy does lately is a must-watch. >> when you go from ken to stuntman that is pretty versatile hbo hit shows are making a comeback but it may not be as soon as you think or as soon as you want the third season of euphoria has been pushed back to 2025 attributing that delay to the sag-aftra strike and revealing that production will resume next year hbo also plans to release other series like game of tloens, the l throw thr game of thrones >> the pandemic pushed everything, too. so there have been these things out there for so long, but like you said, there's so much to watch, there's no shortage of things but sometimes when you watch some of these and they take two years you forget what happened

right? >> you have to watch the whole season prior yeah >> the little previews aren't enough to catch you up it is almost mariah carey's favorite time of year, but she might be singing the blues these days after a lawsuit was re-filed accusing her of copyright infringement of "all i want for christmas is you. andy stone claims that she copied the 1989 song released under the same name. he's seeking $20 million once you sigh tee this is a juggernaut of a song and catapulted her to another level. christmas has become a whole new industry just for her. >> we're all singing it, no matter what happens. coming up, why microsoft is under fire for a.i. generated polls. how a massive drought is leading to fascinating new discoveries of ancient works of art down in brazil works of art down in brazil.

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and we're back with some of the stories you may have missed this week in your report rewind. a federal judge issued a temporary order telling border patrol agents to stop cutting the razor wire at mexican border crossings in texas the ruling says it can only be cut during medical emergencies human faces sculpted into rocks along the amazon river in brazil were spotted after water levels dropped to record lows. they're estimated to date back from 1,000 to 2,000 years ago. microsoft launchedlaunch investlaunched an investigation over its polls of the don't forget to set the clocks back an hour tomorrow night. a bill to make it permanent and end the biannual changing of the

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just without the lactose. delicious too. just ask my old friend, kevin. nothing like enjoying a cold one while watching the game. who's winning? we are, my friend. we are. in the last 50 years, america's bird population has dropped by nearly 3 billion. it's due in large part to habitat destruction. brad hicks with this american land shows us the effort to restore land and save menative birds. >> reporter: terry murphy. >> we're about 70 miles north of yuma, arizona. >> reporter: is driving to a

place few people go. where the federal government is scraping the land bare on the banks of the colorado river. >> once we've cleared it, we'll convert that over to a cover crop, something like alfalfa >> reporter: thirsty alfalfa a crop blamed for many water woes of the west you'll see why it makes sense in a moment for years, the national audubon society has warned about the lack of birds, where migrating species species cling to the only water-source for miles >> the riverside habitat supports some 40% of all bird life >> reporter: so the loss of habitat here is crucial. >> they need stopover areas to wherethey can continue to feed they use a lot of energy >> reporter: which brings us back to the bare earth this is part of the bureau of reclamation's program, a

visionary plan to create forests and wet lands with native plants along the lower colorado but first they need to get rid of the invasive ones that have no habitat value >> then we shape and contour >> reporter: and then the alfalfa that improves the soil chemistry and keeps invasive species from coming back >> gives us better survivorship of native trees. >> reporter: after ten years of site preparation they plant, native cotton woods, willows and mesquite and it's working >> the birds are back, yes >> reporter: nancy meister has been bird watching here for more than half a century. and her wednesday bird group is busy the wetlands where they meet is one of 18 conservation areas terry murphy and his team have created along the lower colorado and with funding through 2055, they have no plans to stop. >> ten years, you will see a

lush, green forest that will look like it's been here forever. as most of the country is getting ready for the extra hour of sleep, the daylight saving debate is heating up again this morning on "today", tom costello looks at the latest legal attempts to put the practice to rest those with us with kids know it really doesn't matter. they wake up whenever they want to >> or if you have hours like this this all feeding your dog nutrish's whole health blend with fish oil, lean proteins and whole grains helps support their mind, body and energy. electronic voice: outside. by giving them everything they need. electronic voice: pet me. pet me. well, almost. good boy. (bark)

guilty on all counts ftx founder sam bankman-fried gets his verdict from a federal court. we look back at the rise and fall of the one-time crypto king a massive explosion in new york nearly leveling an entire building 15 people injured, including several children what we know this morning about the cause behind this fiery