another day in lebanon. 20 are killed and hundreds injured by exploding walkie-talkies. we have a full report on the latest attack and what this means for the tense situation in the middle east. a vital union chooses to sit on the sidelines. the teamsters break with tradition and decide not to endorse a presidential candidate for the first time in decades.

what this means for the tight race for the white house. the fed makes a major move. the nation's central bank slashes interest rates for the first time since 2020. we're live with the impact on wall street and main street. faces both fresh and familiar are coming to studio 8h. snl reveals who will be taking the stage for the first episodes for the historic 50th anniversary season. and from hidden figures to honored figures. the woman responsible for launching the u.s. into the space race has their work kmen rated back on earth. it's thursday, september 19th. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm frances rivera. we begin in the middle east and lebanon where for a second day, wireless devices exploded all across the country, remotely detonated walkie-talkies killed at least 20 and wounded hundreds. the day before, at least 12 were

killed, including two children. two u.s. officials say israel was behind the attack. for the latest, let's turn to claudio lavanga. what more do we know? >> reporter: good morning frances. at least according to a news agency that is affiliated with hezbollah on wednesday, walkie-talkies started to explode all over lebanon to the point that "the associated press" said some of the explosions were heard at a funeral of four people that were killed the day before when pagers exploded all over lebanon. now the lebanese telecommunication ministry said all the walkie-talkies that exploded on wednesday were all the same model, produced by a japanese company called icon, which issued a statement, saying that they did ship these products to the middle east but not after ten, up until ten years ago before these products went out of order and out of production. so that means that this that

could have exploded could have been the original or a counterfeit product,pla that co produced anywhere and at any time. so even more recently, icon said all the products that they ship abroad are, go through official distributors, and also they go through very strict checks, and the lebanese communication ministry said these that exploded were not bought from official and authorized retailers, and they were not licensed by the ministry. all interesting information. vert v investigators are trying to find out where they came from. israel has not confirmed it is behind the attack, as two u.s. officials as you named claim that israel is behind the attack. yoav gallant said the center of gravity of the war is moving north to the border of lebanon. >> claudio, thank you. one of the most powerful unions has decided not to pick

sides in this presidential election. for the first time since the mid '90s, the teamsters are refusing to endorse a many nominee. >> reporter: the teamsters have a long tradition of backing the democratic nominee. the harris campaign responding to their decision, saying, quote, while donald trump says striking workers should be fired. vice president harris has literally walked the pickett line. the campaign also pointed out that they have the backing of many local labor groups saying just yesterday they were endorsed by teamsters in michigan, nevada and wisconsin. garrett haake asked former president trump for his reaction. >> mr. president, any reaction to the teamsters' decision not to endorse? >> no, it's a great honor. they're not going to endorse the democrats, that's a big thing. >> big difference in the industrial states you think? >> i think it will.

the teamsters carry a lot of weight. >> reporter: the union released an internal poll, showing 58% of its members support mr. trump. but, in a statement, they say they were left with few commitments from the candidates on top issues and found no definitive support among members for either nominee. today the former president will be here in washington, d.c. he's attending two events focussed on fighting anti-semitism and supporting israel. meanwhile, haven't hvice presids will be in michigan where she'll hold a virtual campaign event with oprah later tonight. >> >> thank you. breaking news. police in kentucky believe the search for a dangerous gunman is over. a body has been found in laurel county a week and a half after a shooting spree on a highway left people seriously hurt. two people led troopers to the body after they spotted vultures. >> there's about 50 vultures down there. we got our boots on.

started over the hill. i've had a cold the last five or six days. i can't smell something, and she said all of a sudden, oh, my god, i smell something. >> police believe the body belongs to the suspect, joseph couch because of items they found. official identification is expected today. harvey weinstein has pleaded not gylfiuilty to an additional charge in new york. it comes ahead of a separate retrial for rape. our anne thompson has this report. >> reporter: more legal troubles for harvey weinstein, already serving a 16-year sentence for a rape that occurred in los angeles. the one-time movie mogul returned to a new york courtroom to face a new indictment. charged with a criminal sexual act in the first degree, accused of assaulting a woman at a new york hotel in the spring of 2006. the 72-year-old pleaded not guilty. >> mr. weinstein has been very consistent from the time of his

investigation. he never forced himself on anybody. >> reporter: weinstein will also be retried on the sex crimes, including rape, he was convicted of in 2020. that guilty verdict a landmark in the #metoo movement was overturned this year. the state court ruled it was wrong to allow women to testify about allegations against weinstein that were not part of the case. weinstein sat in a wheelchair with officers behind him, just last week he had emergency surgery to remove fluid from his heart and lungs. louise is one of at least 80 women to accuse weinstein of sexual harassment or assault. >> justice looks like him being in prison and not able to hurt anymore people. >> reporter: both sides will be back in court next month to argue argue if these charges should be held together. sean "diddy" combs will remain behind bars for now. the music mogul returned to a

new york courtroom where he was denied bail again in his sex trafficking case. attorneys argued that the brooklyn jail where he's housed has horrific conditions. >> but prosecutors say he is a danger to the community and fear he would intimidate witnesses if released on bail. with this appeal denied, combs will remain in jail until his trial, which may not start for at least a year. hawaii's health department is warning of a norovirus outbreak on the island of kauai. dozens of people have gotten sick while hiking a popular trail on the island. the trail is now temporarily closed. at least 50 people have gotten sick there since early august. the state is still searching for the source of the outbreak but is asking anyone who hiked the trail since july to come forward. symptoms of norovirus include vomiting, tdiarrhea and stomach cramps. soggy day as the midwest braces for severe storms.

>> angie lassman is tracking it for us. >> we've got flooding concerns across the coast to the east coast that is. you can see 22 million people up and down the coast dealing with these really strong onshore winds. that means that those advisories are in place for coastal communities. we could see, especially around high tide time with that full moon in place, flooding for the water front areas. we have a low spinning on in shower activity across coastal new england. that goes for tomorrow, too. eventually that low will start to move away as we get into the evening hours. we mentioned the midwest in the strong storms, duluth to kansas city dealing with storms. the wind, the hail, that is what we laook for. a big picture look for your friday. a couple coastal showers and a few showers for the state of florida. otherwise, we look ahead to your shath. really warm temperatures for the southeast and strong storms for

the middle of the country lansing into your weekend. otherwise, a really nice day for much of the east. 0 degrees. upper 80s with mostly sunny skies in new orleans. showers and thunderstorms in orlando. that's a look at your forecast, frances, back to you. >> appreciate that, angie. coming up, new details about the oregon-bound flight forced to make an emergency landing. what caused the injuries to passengers. o passengers. honey. nyquil severe honey. powerful cold and flu relief with a dreamy honey taste nyquil honey, my life is full of questions... how do i clean an aioli stain?

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that half percent cut was unusually aggressive. what's the move behind the fed? >> some might say it's questions about whether there are a few worries that could be be in play for the economic factors across the united states. of course, we saw unemployment hit that 4.2% mark then. and the expectation then from the federal reserve is that that might hit 4.4%. so it might actually go higher. more people might become a little bit more unemployed. we've seen inflation come down to 2.5%. could that be on the road further down? the federal reserve thinks so. key factors among those were those two elements. look, one thing is for sure. the wage data to look out for across the united states, too. so all those factors are certainly in play. this, however, does mean that consumers will be paying a little less for their mortgages and some of their debts as well for the time being. the question mark here is

whether you'd see a sustained decrease in these interest rates then. and at federal reserve wasn't willing to commit to something like that at this stage. so we'll certainly see. the bets are that there could be at least two more interest rate cuts before the end of the year. on the other side, yeah. youtube bringing on a.i. features. it's go ing to be very interesting to see how it works out. the consumer base has been asking for a little bit more integration, and could it spark up a few more subscribers to youtube channels. more details about a delta flight forced to make an emergency landing minutes after takeoff. passeng passengers bound for portland, oregon were injured when the cabin failed to properly pressurize. >> reporter: this morning, new details of the terrifying moments 140 passengers faced minutes after takeofr takeoff f

sl slaigs /* /* salt lake city to portland. they were forced to make an emergency land back in salt lake. the aircraft was unable to pressurize above 10,000 feet. one passenger speaking out to our affiliate, ksl tv. >> it felt like somebody was stabbing me in the ear. >> reporter: passengers say they knew something was wrong, but the oxygen masks did not deploy. >> the plane would go higher and drop down. then it would go higher and kind of drop down. you could tell something wasn't right, but they weren't saying anything. >> reporter: some on board began bleeding from their ears and noses. >> i grabbed my ear, and i pulled my hand back, and there was blood on it. >> a row in front of my, a gentleman said can i get a tissue? and i looked over at him, and there's blood coming out of his ear running down his face. and it's like, man, this is not good. >> reporter: the plane circled

over the great salt lake before making that landing, with medical teams treating ten passengers on the ground. at least one says she's still recovering from a ruptured eardrum. >> it sounds like i'm under water when i talk. >> reporter: in a statement to nbc news, delta says it sincerely apologizes to its customers for the experience, adding the flight crew followed procedures and supported passengers with their immediate needs. veteran pilot john cox says events like this are uncommon, but he believes the pilots handled the situation properly. >> when you prioritize an event like this, it is not normal. and so we want to deal with it, but it's also not a full-blown emergency. up to the point that you realize that you have passenger injuries, and at that point, now i want priority handling back to the airport. >> our thanks to tom costello for that report. still to woman, our first still to woman, our first look at the last act of ellef ee

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congratulations, john, and let me be the first person to say, who are you? >> look, candace, you wouldn't know me. but, if you have a niece or a son who's bad at sports, they might. >> john delany returns to studio 8h for the 50th season of "saturday night live." he had headline with chapel rhone. coldplay will be there on the fifth. ariana grande takes on hosting duties on the 12th, followed by stevie nicks and michael keaton. season 50 begins on saturday with emmy winner jean smart making her hosting debut alongside jelly roll. i know a lot of prime time

specials, too, when it comes to celebrating this. for the next year, it's going to be a full-on extravaganza. >> a lot of fun. i'm really excited for ariana grande. we know how good she is at impressions, musical and otherwise. and chapel rhone, i'm excited for her. knew to another comedy legend and her own curtain call. >> let me see what else i can tell you about this, that's been going on. oh, yeah. i got kicked out of show business. >> oh, yeah. on wednesday, netflix dropped the trailer for ellen degeneres' final comedy special. it hits the streamer next tuesday. we know we'll get some juicy tidbits, or hopefully, and we flow it know it will be funny. >> especially if it's her last hurrah. she's going to all-out disappear, i guess. >> we'llsee. when we come back, a man

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with a morning jolt of instant cooling sensation. it's not cold and flu season. it's comeback season. here's what's making headlines this morning. florida officials just wrapped up their annual python challenge to combat an invasive species. participants had ten days to catch as many burmese pythons as they could. the winner caught 20 of them, walking away with a $10,000 prize. a rare collection prohibited to go on sale until now. the danish butter king's coin collection was barred from being sold for 100 years, it's now expired, and the first set of coins brought in $16.5 million at auction. all aboard a historic ride. union pacific steam locomotive known as big boy rolled through parts of texas this week. it's part of the railroad's heartland of america tour stopping in houston before heading to oklahoma and kansas.

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crest. ♪♪ vicks vapostick provides soothing non-medicated vicks vapors. easy to apply for the whole family. vicks vapostick. and try new vaposhower max for steamy vicks vapors. we are back with a high-profile honor for the nasa heroes best floknown as "the hin figures." >> reporter: for decades, their names were in anonymity, though their contributions were out of this world. >> their legacy will send us back to the moon. >> reporter: on capitol hill, a

congressional gold medal ceremony, honoring the pioneering women of nasa, from the 1930s to the 1970s who helped launch the space race, including dr. kristine darden. >> although we call them hidden figures, we shouldn't think of them merely as supporting characters in the story of american space exploration, they were the engineers and mathematicians who actually wrote the story itself. >> reporter: their story inspired a book, then. >> there's no mathematical formula for that. >> reporter: an academy-award-winning movie, among them, three honored posthumously. >> to see the impact that she made on the world, i just wish she were here to see it. >> reporter: their work on the apollo space program led to this. >> one small step for man. >> reporter: and, as johnson told us in 2016, john glenn insisted she verify the computer's calculations before his first orbit around the

earth. >> he knew if i had done it, it was right. >> reporter: her daughter was in awe. >> she would have said what's all the fuss about? i'm just doing her work. she was very humble. her work was important to her, and she did the best she could. >> reporter: a generation of women hidden no more. gabe gutierrez, nbc news, washington. >> i love that they keep getting honored and remembered. now to many americans who can now renew their passports online. it's currently only available for adults whose passports expired in the past five years or will expire in the next year. the state department hopes to expand the program over the next few years to potentially include americans living abroad, children's passports and those seeking to renew a second passport. always so tough, epts when you have a child. both parents have to be there. you go to the post office. wait. they're all fussy. so good to see those changes. all right, before we go, here's dylan drier with a look

at what's ahead. >> this morning, help for headaches. and "the ppenguin." >> a lot of good stuff for this thursday. mansion i'm frances rivera. have a great thursday and hope you're up early joining us again tomorrow, friday. have a good one. have a good one. hi, i'm greg. i live in bloomington, illinois. i'm not an actor. i'm just a regular person. some people say, "why should i take prevagen? i don't have a problem with my memory." memory loss is, is not something that occurs overnight. i started noticing subtle lapses in memory. i want people to know that prevagen has worked for me. it's helped my memory. it's helped my cognitive qualities. give it a try. i want it to help you just like it has helped me. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription.

new explosions in lebanon. this time walkie-talkies detonated. who the u.s. says is behind the attacks. breaking overnight, the search for a suspect s