the countdown to the showdown is nearly over. the presidential candidate set to debate head-on tomorrow. we have a live report from d.c. on how both candidates are preparing and the endorsements kamala harris just picked up. authorities in kentucky,

they warn of an armed and dangerous man on the run after they say he shot and seriously injured five people near a highway. the latest on the urgent manhunt. a state of emergency and thousands forced to evacuate as a wildfire outside los angeles doubles in size. and that's not the only area facing a wildfire threat. a thrilling kickoff to sunday night football. who came out on top as the rams and lions went into overtime in detroit. plus, why a dolphin star was detained ahead of miami's game. and meet the ax women of maine, showing off their competitive chops while highlighting the history of women in logging. it's monday, september ninth. "early today" starts right now. and good morning. i'm richard lui. we're going start with less than 48 hours away from the first debate between former president trump and his new opponent, vice president kamala harris. nbc news learning new details

about how each campaign is preparing. nbc's brie jackson joins us live. brie, good morning to you. >> good morning, richard. the candidates seem to be taking two very different approaches. vice president harris has been hunkered down in pennsylvania since thursday. sources familiar with the preparations tell nbc news that the harris campaign has been working on ways to weave her biography into her policy answers. they also say the vice president is prepare fog interest possibility that mr. trump could make derogatory comments about her. the trump campaign has been preparing by holding meetings with advisers. the former president, he held a rally in wisconsin this weekend where he gave this prevent of the debate. >> we're run by suped people. stupid people. and we found that out at the debate with joe. how did that work out? and we're going find it out

again on tuesday night. if i destroy her in the debate, they'll say trump suffered a humiliating defeat tonight. no matter what. >> meanwhile, vice president harris has picked up the endorsement of gold star father khizr khan. khan, whose son was killed in iraq first criticized donald trump in 2016 during the dnc. now he says he feels the former president has gotten worse. and on friday, former vice president dick cheney announced he will vote for harris. former president george w. bush has no plans to endorse any candidate this year. his office tells nbc news he retired from presidential politics years ago. >> thank you so much. a lot of news happening over the weekend. you can watch our live debate coverage right here own nbc and on our streaming channel, nbc news now. that's going to start at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow. do not miss that. congress will be back in session today where lawmakers face another shutdown showdown.

the next government funding deadline is at the end of this month. republican leaders have released a stopgap bill that would avoid a shutdown through march. it is tied through a bill that would require proof of citizenship to vote nationwide. something democrats oppose. now if an agreement cannot be reached, a shutdown could take effect five weeks before the election. i want to go now to kentucky where the hunt for a gunman has been suspended until daylight. 32-year-old joseph couch is suspected of shooting and wounding five people with an ar-15 on the side of a highway on saturday night. here is priya sridhar. >> reporter: an urgent manhunt ramping up in kentucky for an alleged gunman considered armed an dangerous by police who is now on the run. >> multiple gunshot victims. the shooter, they don't know exactly where he is. >> reporter: multiple law enforcement agencies searching a remote wooded area all day. hours after officials say gunfire erupted off an exit near

interstate 75 in laurel county, kentucky. >> we've got drones. we've got helicopters. we've got dogs. we're doing the best we can. >> reporter: that shooting leaving five people seriously injured after nine vehicles were shot at, according to authorities. officials say all five of the injure ready expected to survive. negative, one was killed from this. thankfully. >> reporter: authorities identifying 32-year-old joseph couch as a suspect after finding his car parked near where the shooting took place and recovering an ar-15 that couch allegedly used in the shooting. >> he has had to walk on over toward the interstate, entry we recovered the weapon at. >> reporter: christina denadeau was with her friend driving on i-75 when they heard a loud noise. >> i would assume that the white truck that was next to us got shot and the bullet ricocheted off and hit my vehicle. >> reporter: what went through your head? >> it was very scary and

surreal. >> reporter: in nearby london, kentucky, the community on edge. officials urging people in the area to stay home and not approach the suspect if he's spotted. ophelia riley is visiting her hometown. how do you feel right now? >> oh my god, i'm scared. i'm going to be praying for the community and first responders. >> reporter: priya sridhar with that report, thank you. three former memphis police officers will stand trial on federal charges over the killing of tyre nichols. nichols was severely beaten by five cops after a traffic stop last year. he later died in the hospital after medics failed to administer aid. tadarrius bean, demetrius haley and justin smith have all pleaded not guilty to civil rights violations, conspiracy to tamper with evidence and obstruction of justice. two other former cops involved in the case have accepted plea deals so far. hundreds of protesters gathered in seattle this weekend in memory of a dual american turkish citizen who was shot and

killed friday in the west bank while protesting israeli settlements there. eyewitnesses say 26-year-old was shot in the head by idf soldiers. demonstrators marched through downtown seattle on saturday demanding a ceasefire between israel and hamas. the idf says it is looking into ag's death. her family has called for an independent investigation. three israelis were shot to death at a keyboarder crossing sunday. they were all workers at the allen b. bridge crossing into jordan in the israeli occupied west bank. the gunman was a jordanian truck driver who was shot dead by security forces. all civilian and land border crossings and the west bank into jordan were as a result shut down over the incident. for the latest, let's go to nbc's claudio lavanga. what do we know? >> good morning, richard. well, the israeli authorities are saying that the shooter was a jordanian national who arrived

in the truck of the commercial cargo area of the bridge crossing the border between jordan and israeli occupied west bank. once he arrived there, he opened fire with a handgun, killing three israeli workers before he was shot dead by israeli security forces. now he has been named as mahed aljaz i. the land crossing into jordan, they will probably reopen at some stage today. in the meantime, the death toll in gaza continues to rise. the health ministry in gaza says that that at least 16 people were killed in israeli air strikes on sunday across the enclave, including the deputy director of the gaza civil emergency services, which issued a statement saying that with

this theft, the number of members of the gaza civil emergency services that were killed since the start of the war has now risen to 83, richard. >> okay, claudio lavanga, thank you for that report. we're going to turn now to the raging wildfires in california that's forcing thousands to evacuate. california' line fire devouring over 20,000 acres. san bernardino county in the southern part of the state now under a state of emergency as more than 35,000 homes and buildings are in harm's way. northern california's lake county, the boyles fire there, destroying more than 40 homes and 30 structures, displacing around 4,000 residents. it has scorched so far 90 acres there, and is 10% contained. >> there is no other county in the state of california that has been impacted by wildfire more than lake county. it is devastating. >> another state being affected

nevada. the 6500 acre davis fire prompting an emergency decoration south of reno. more than 6,000 customers are still without power after lines were de-energized for safety. and extreme heat as well in the region. that's been adding fuel to the fires, and it continues today. that's why we have nbc meteorologist ryanhanrihan. you also have a tropical system to watch in the gulf too. >> we've got a lot going on. the heat continues out west. los angeles today back well into the 90s. let's start in the gulf of mexico because we've got this storm system that is just beginning to organize. it doesn't have a name yet, because it has not formed into a tropical depression or tropical storm. but it is expected to. so we've got this front that is sort of stalled out over the gulf of mexico. and that's going to bring some scattered showers and thunderstorms today, especially to portions of florida. but it's what's south of texas

that comes to the north that is expected to strengthen over the coming days. and that's going bring some heavy rain and some winds to the coast of texas and louisiana. and right now the national hurricane center is expecting this storm to become a hurricane by wednesday as it heads towards the coast. a tremendous amount of rain expected all up and down the texas coast into louisiana. the heat continues out west. excessive heat warnings in effect from los angeles down through san diego. temperatures today around l.a. back into the 100s. 90s across most showers in south texas as the tropical system comes to the north. and that's today's weather. richard, back over to you. >> ryan, thank you. i want to move to demolition if you want to stick around to

watch this. the iconic capital one tower in lake charles, louisiana. it became severely damaged back in 2020, racking up 167 in damages after a four-year vacancy, hertz investment group decided to tear the building down. and that's what you got see there. the tower came down, crash in a matter of seconds after a series of explosions were set off of explosions were set off inside . - bye, bye cough. - later chest congestion. hello 12 hours of relief. 12 hours!! not coughing? hashtag still not coughing?! mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from chest congestion and any type of cough, day or night. mucinex dm. it's comeback season. 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.

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to cooper kupp to take the lead before they sent the contest into overtime. that's where the lions put the game in the hands of running back david montgomery, who pounded through the rams defense to punch in the game-winning touchdown. and a pregame controversy to tell you about now in miami after dolphins star tyreek hill was stopped and handcuffed by police as tyreke was headed to the stadium for his first game of the season. nbc's shaquille brewster has that for us. >> they put him in handcuffs. >> reporter: hours before kickoff, cell phone video shows wide receiver tyreek hill on the ground in handcuffs just a block away from the miami dolphins home stadium. >> that's tyreke. >> reporter: in another aichele, you see officers standing hill up, walking him from the street where an officer appears to forcefully sit him down on the curb. the miami dolphins writing on x hill was briefly detained by police, adding that several teammates saw the teammate and

stopped to offer support. why do you believe the police put you in handcuffs? >> i have no idea for real, no idea. >> i wasn't disrespectful, you know, because my mom didn't raise me that way. didn't cuss, didn't do none of that. like i said, i'm still trying to figure it out, man. >> reporter: hill's agent telling espn the star was ticketed for a moving violation. >> how things escalated into the situation they were in handcuffs and being held on the ground with police is mind-boggling to me. >> reporter: but he did not share any details about what happened. in a statement, miami-dade police director stephanie daniels said she initiated an internal affairs investigation, and that one of the officers involved in the incident has been placed on administrative duties. by kickoff, hill was back on the field with an 80-yard touchdown in the dolphins' comeback win. the start to a dramatic first sunday of football. >> he is a ghost! 80-yard touchdown.

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of the year and the second highest total for a september release in history. summer blockbuster "deadpool & wolverine," that's still around. continues to hold in second place while the presidential biopic reagan came in at number three. beetlejuice taking us back i don't know how many decades. >> an old reboot. oldie but goodie. >> for sure. >> the nfl season just got started, but we all know who will be stepping to at the super dome in february just before kick awe on sunday, the nfl announced that tend rick lamar will be headlining the halftime show for super bowl lix in new orleans. he already appeared in 2022 along with dr. dray and snoop dogg and eminem. i don't think drake will be performing with him that will be a lot of fun. >> you never know who might show

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from our portland affiliate, here is amanda hill. >> the sounds of a chainsaw firing up and a crowd cheering, and the smell of freshly cut pine, all part of the ax women loggers of maine show traveling to fair, competitions, all over new england and beyond. >> it's a competition. so the ladies that we have here are world champions, collegiate champions, world record holders. it's not a scripted show at all. >> reporter: it's a race to chop, saw, and toss as quickly and as accurately as possible, an ode to the work done by hand by loggers before them. >> it's a sport that grew from an actual job in the woods. we're chopping logs because that's how they used to do it to bring manageable sized logs out of the forest. >> reporter: alyssa weatherby started the ax women in maine. it's since grown to more than 40 teammates in other parts of the country, even world. >> we have law enforcement. we have doctors. we have lawyers. we have scientists. we have veterinarian. >> spending time with women who

are strong and competitive and who also support each other in a sport is just -- it's really incredible. >> reporter: when ashley and hannah joined the team, neither one was expecting just how much that support would stem into their lives. this sport has pushed ashley to lose more than 100 pounds and get healthy mentally at the same time. >> it's changed my life for sure. >> reporter: and hannah has 5 kids, including twin 4-year-olds. in the midst of a busy life, she makes this a priority. >> when your kids watch you, what do you hope they take from that? >> i hope they see -- i don't know. i'm going cry. i want them to see that they can be empowered and find something that they love and, you know, don't stop. >> reporter: the sport is growing for women, despite women having a part in it decades ago as lumber jills. yet until last year a campaign

sparked by alyssa, you couldn't find lumberjill in the oxford dictionary. she is still pushing for merriam webster to use the term, widely used in both world wars. in the meantime, she and her teammates are happy to be a part of the movement getting more female representation at shows and competitions. >> we did an ax woman show, and one of the little girls said to me, i want to be an ax woman some day. and i thought i was going to cry on the spot. that was like one of the best moments i've had competing ever. >> take away there, lumberjill. amanda, thank you for the story. inanks for watch

the run in kentucky. police searching the woods and warning nearby towns looking for a man they say shot five people near a highway. urgent evacuations in the west. thousands