a georgia community grieving after a senseless act of violence. two students and two teachers killed in a mass shooting at a high school. authorities revealing overnight that the teenaged suspect had previously been investigated for making threats online. the tragic update this morning. in the race for the white house, the debate rules are set. we're live with what to expect from kamala harris and donald trump's first face-to-face showdown. the boeing starliner finally charting a course back to earth, but not with its crew on board. what's next for the company's troubled spacecraft, and the astronauts still on the international space station. testing their mettle, president biden can soon block the steel company takeover. and get ready for some football. the nfl season returns tonight on nbc. we're live at arrowhead stadium

with a preview of the showdown. "early today" starts right now. glad you're with me, and good morning. i'm frances rivera. the end of summer should mark the beginning of routine and back to school for students. but for the small community of winder, a senseless shooting claimed the lives of two teachers and two students at apalachee high school. friends and family coming together last night to mourn the lives lost. overnight, investigators released their names. two young students, 14-year-old mason schermerhorn and 14-year-old christian angulo. math teacher, richard aspinwall. and 53-year-old math teacher, kri christina irmie. the suspected shooter was a

14-year-old student. the georgia barr ureau of investigation says he was investigated last year for threats. >> there was no probable cause for arrest or to take any additional law enforcement action. this is not recent. this is in the past. >> investigators say the gunman used a ar-style weapon, but don't know yet how he obtained the firearm. nbc's dan scheneman brings us more. >> reporter: at school, they had just started near atlanta when shots were fired. >> it was just like a loud boom as if a locker had slammed. so my teacher thought it was some kid acting foolish. so she took a peek outside. and we heard repeatedly the banging again. that's when we could identify it was a gun. >> reporter: law enforcement swarmed to the scene, while students sheltered in their classrooms. >> the hard lockdown was placed. and then we ran to the back of the classroom, turned off the lights. i was shaking.

>> reporter: authorities say there are four dead. two students, two teachers. soon after officers arrived, they took the suspect into custody. >> he is a 14-year-old student here at the high school. again, he has been taken into custody. he will be charged with murder, and he will be tried as an adult. >> reporter: after a lockdown was lifted, parents and guardians arrived. students were released. >> i feel sorry for the kids, that they've to experience such evil. >> reporter: kathleen hardrick checked on her neighbor. >> he's like, they're shooting, they're shooting, right across from my classroom. >> reporter: now a school and community wait for an answer. dan scheneman, nbc news. in israel, thousands are still protesting on the streets, demanding a cease-fire and hostage deal. but prime minister benjamin netanyahu is offering no concessions. in a new press conference, the

hard-liner still insisted on permanently putting israeli troops at the egypt-gaza border, a non-starter for hamas in gaza. let's go to claudio lavanga who's following developments for us. what else did netanyahu have to say to journalists? >> reporter: good morning, frances. netanyahu had that press conference and said he wants israel to continue to control the philadelphi corridor on the border between gaza and egypt, because he doesn't want to give hamas a lifeline after the war. he also said that he's against the temporary withdrawal of israeli forces from there, because he said they won't be able to go back there because of international pressure. now, nbc as raf sanchez was there and asked him why if the philadelphi corridor is so important to him, why did it take so long, to seize it. this is what he answered. >> well, it's critical also to destroy hamas, to kill about 20,000 of their operatives.

this was the military plan that the military and the political echelon agreed upon. >> reporter: netanyahu has been under increased and intensifying pressure from the families of the hostages to accept the deal, to change his mind. and one mother of a hostage even accused him of sacrificing their relatives on the altar of the philadelphi corridor. this is what he answered about that accusation. >> i can understand the internal, the great torment that the mother of this murdered hostage feels. i understand her rage. i can understand her sorrow. i'm committed to getting all of them out. >> reporter: now, according to five people who are familiar with that discussion, the american families of the hostages have asked the u.s. administration to consider to strike a unilateral deal with

hamas. while the u.s. administration says they're open to all options, of course, but the one that includes israel in it, of course, is the preferable. frances? >> claudio, thank you. the biden administration is sanctioning more russian companies over alleged efforts to manipulate american public opinion ahead of the presidential election. attorney general make garland also announced charges against two employees of a kremlin-funded media network, r.t, accusing them of money laundering and acting as unregistered foreign agents. the doj seized 32 domains that allegedly spread bogus news stories. the rules for tuesday's presidential debate are set. the harris campaign sending a letter to abc agreeing to the final rules for a showdown with former president trump on tuesday, including muting the mics when a candidate is not speaking. nbc's brie jackson joins us now. good morning, brie, even before

that dispute over microphones, the former president has suggested he might back out of the debate. >> reporter: that's right. mr. trump had threatened to back out of the debate, because he felt abc news would not be fair. and the former president continued some of those attacks last night at a town hall hosted by fox news in pennsylvania. mr. trump called abc the most dishonest network, saying people will be watching to see how unfair they are tuesday. mr. trump also continued to accuse vice president harris of not doing enough interviews. some of his attacks were personal. >> this is a woman who is dangerous, i don't think too smart, but let's see. but she loses her train of thought a lot. that's why she doesn't want to do interviews. >> reporter: according to former congressman liz cheney, donald trump is the one who's dangerous. the prominent conservative said

last night at duke university that she would be voting for kamala harris in november. mr. trump's running mate, senator jd vance responded by saying people like cheney will be laughed out of the oval office instead of rewarded. the vice president was in new hampshire yesterday, where she detailed more of her economic policy, proposing a series of new benefits for small business owners including up to a $50,000 tax deduction for startup expenses. the trump campaign says that this plan would raise taxes. today vice president harris will return to pennsylvania where she will spend time preparing for the highly-anticipated debate. frances? >> brie, thank you. there are new developments in the fatal shooting case involving actor alec baldwin. the lawsuit was dismissed by a new mexico judge in july. but now a prosecutor's asking the judge to reconsider that decision. baldwin was on the set of the western film "rust" when a gun

he was holding went off, killing halyna hutchins. baldwin has always denied pulling the trigger. let's turn to the return flight for the starliner, the troubled boeing spacecraft is set to come back to earth friday but without any astronauts on board. here's tom costello. >> reporter: three months into what was supposed to be a ten-day mission, astronauts butch wilmore and suni williams are now preparing to close the hatch and send their boeing starliner home without them. just after 6:00 p.m. on friday, nasa will remotely undock the troubled space sship from the space station, then guide it back to earth, as williams and wilmore settle in for another fi five-month stay on the station. >> they understand the plan forward. >> reporter: still haunted by the challenger and columbia disasters that killed 14

astronauts, mission managers decided last month they will not risk putting williams and wilmore on a starliner with engine thrusters that could potentially malfunction on re-entry. >> nasa has decided that butch and suni will return with crew 9. next february. >> full power, and liftoff! >> reporter: the spacex crew 9 mission will launch later this month with two astronauts rather than four. williams and willmore will fill the empty seats on return. until then, they'll continue working on the station and doing long-duration cardio and strength exercises, but nasa insists the crew is not stuck in space. since they could ride starliner home if the space station were in danger. >> in my view, they were never really, they're never stuck or stranded. they always had a way to depart the space station. >> reporter: but that would only be if the space station had an emergency. >> 170 meters, and looks like

good separation. >> reporter: to send starliner home without the astronauts, nasa plans to use the troubled thrusters to gently back away from the station, to avoid causing any damage. >> and that's just to take the starliner away from the station and then immediately start going up and away, and eventually, it will curve around to the top and d de- orbit. >> reporter: it will land in the new mexico desert just after 12:00 a.m. saturday. summer temperatures still not going anywhere out west. nbc meteorologist angie lassman is tracking all that heat. >> some incredible heat this late in the season across parts of the west, as you mentioned. >> 52 million people stretching from the piacific north west.

phoenix has had more than 100 days over 100 in a row. more of the same for tomorrow. unfortunately, if you're looking for relief, it doesn't arrive by this weekend. we'll still be dealing with triple digits across that region. the heat sticks with us. so does the rain across the gulf coast. 5 million people impacted by flood alerts as more heavy rain scoots in along the coast, and the showers, the thunderstorms, they'll all be there with the potential for flash flooding over the next couple days across this area, from texas to florida and across parts of the southeast. we'll look for tha . 80 degrees in washington, d.c. full sunshine for cleveland and columbus, a high of 87 in indianapolis. and that's a look at your forecast, back to you. hold onto your pick ax.

we'll have a first look at the minecraft movie. and why president biden could stop the u.s. steel takeover by a japanese rival. (♪♪) nothing is proven more effective for 24-hour, non-drowsy allergy relief in 1 pill. live claritin clear. (♪♪) i'm adding downy unstopables to my wash. now i'll be smelling fresh all day long. [sniff] still fresh. still fresh! ♪♪ with downy unstopables, you just toss, wash, wow. for all-day freshness. if you're frustrated with occasional bloating... [stomach noises] or gas... your body is giving you signs. it's time to try align. align probiotic was designed by gastroenterologists to help relieve your occasional digestive upsets. when you feel the signs, it's time to try align. i'll be honest. by the end of the day, my floors...yeesh. but who has the time to clean? that's why i love my swiffer wetjet. it's a quick and easy way to get my floors clean.

wetjet absorbs and locks grime deep inside. look at that! swiffer wetjet. u.s. steel shares are plunging this morning, down over 17%, after the "washington post" reported that president biden is preparing to block the nearly $15 billion takeover by japan's nippon steel. in an interview with "the wall street journal," the ceo of u.s. steel said the company would likely have to close plants if the deal is blocked. for the latest on the fight, let's get over to cnbc's charlotte reid. good morning. >> good morning, frances. the biden administration this morning is reportedly basing the decision on national security risk. both companies were hoping to close the deal by the end of the year. now nippon steel had previously

pledged to move its u.s. headquarters to pittsburgh where u.s. steel is based, that would invest $3 billion in union represented facilities. nippon steel also said key management positions and the majority of board seats would be held by u.s. citizens. now yesterday u.s. steel warned that thousands of jobs were at risk in pennsylvania if the deal fell through, and that there were no national security issues associated with the transaction. now nippon steel spokesperson said the acquisition would revitalize the american rust belt. now the white house decision would come as kamala harris is stepping up her campaigning for blue collar votes in pennsylvania. >> charlotte, thank you. still to come, minecraft leaps off of computers onto movie screens. we are breaking dawn with the latest news of twilight's netflix debut. t me shr edded.

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anything you can dream about here, here, you can make. >> who are you? >> i am steve. >> yeah, jack black is crafting an epic journey across the overworld in the first trailer for the minecraft movie. he stars as steve alongside jason momoa and daniel brooks and a whole bunch of creepers. the film digs its way into theaters on april 4th. we have to wait a little bit. it's next year. and how awesome is jack black to play the role of steve? >> i didn't know i missed seeing him on-screen so much. and i'm not minecraft fan, but i will be watching it if jack black is in it netflix announced they were officially sinking their teeth into adaptation of 2020's

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in kansas city. nbc's jay gray is there at arrowhead stadium where the chiefs will host the ravens, and it looks like you are all set. >> reporter: yeah, frances. look, we are ready for the gig. we snuck into arrowhead stadium a little bit early. i can tell you an hour ago when we came in, there are already people lined up outside this stadium getting ready for tonight's big game. they, like everyone, know there's just something special about the start to the nfl season. practice is over, and now, for the chiefs and the ravens, it's finally game day. >> i'm ready to go. i've been going against my guys for weeks, you know. it's time to go against someone else. >> reporter: that someone else is the twoen ha-time super bowl champion kansas city chiefs. >> i'm excited. get to play another year of football. fresh slate. get no prove to ourselves and the chiefs kingdom that we're

one of the top dogs. >> reporter: fans in kc don't need much convincing. the city awash in red, gold, and an unflagging support for this champs. streets lined with banners, buildings wrapped in the team's logo. and the chiefs faithful lining up hoping for a three-peat, something that's never been done in the history of the nfl. >> i think it's probably the best chance of any team that could. i feel like mahomes, kelce and reid are pretty determined. >> reporter: determination that those who play the game say comes with a different kind of energy and excitement on opening day. >> you're going to be nervous, you're going to be anxious. >> reporter: and the only place you'll see it is right here on nbc. yeah, and look, now to the most important part in all of this, frances, will travis kelce's

girlfriend be here this evening? we know that taylor swift is on a two-month break from her concert tour. we also know that she attended 13 games last year. of course 13, tay tay'slucky number. we all know that. but get this. we also know that kelce went to 13 of her concerts during the international eras tour. it looks good. she could be in a bunch of games. it all starts tonight. should be a lot of fun, frances. >> because of that, you got the necklace, the ring, but you're missing the friendship bracelet just in case she does show up there, right? >> reporter: i know, i know. i know. i got to work on that. i got the stuff. i'm going to start beading as soon as we're done. >> all right, thank you. and we'll keep the party going with the "top

story." stay right there. more news on the way.