breaking overnight. new york city mayor eric adams expected to face federal charges. his fiery response, plus, what

we could expect from the indictment, amid growing calls for the city's leader to step down. hurricane helene gathering steam as it hurtles towards florida. the monster storm now expected to make landfall as a category 4, sparking evacuation orders along the coast. meteorologist angie lassman is tracking the looming threat. the race for the white house del delivers duelling economic visions, how both candidates plan to fight inflation. a nightmare on the streets of los angeles after a city bus is hijacked at gunpoint. the heroic driver who helped bring the chase to an end. and it's a fest for "bridgerton" fans. and the suns scorch the fever. caitlin clark's rookie season comes to an end in a playoff heartbreaker. "early today" starts right now. good to be with you this morning. i'm frances rivera. we start with breaking news.

new york city mayor eric adams is expected to face federal charges as early as today, according to two sources familiar with the matter. it would be the first time in history a new york city mayor has been indicted while in office. nbc new york's jonathan dienst has more. >> reporter: mayor eric adams set to be the first new york city mayor to face federal criminal charges, according to two sources familiar with the matter. details of the expected criminal counts not yet known, but the mayor and his administration have been under scrutiny amid several ongoing criminal investigations. among them, a campaign finance investigation where questions have swirled if the mayor's past campaign took foreign money from individuals in turkey and whether the mayor had played any role in that matter. the mayor has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and issued a statement. >> my fellow new yorkers, it is now my belief that the federal

government intends to charge me with crimes. if so, these charges will be entirely false, based on lies. >> reporter: as for the expected criminal charges, a spokesman for u.s. attorney damian williams, declined to comment. spokes people for the fbi and the department of investigation also did not comment. in recent days, questions grew as to whether charges might come this week, with the mayor's criminal defense lawyers not responding to questions, whether they had recently tried to talk the justice department out of moving forward with any criminal charges. on the federal court docket, there are several sealed indictments listed as being handed up on wednesday, all day, reporters were asking which, if any of these, might touch upon the adams administration. the criminal charges not yet public and today no one else has been accused of any wrongdoing. >> i have been facing these lies for months. >> reporter: the expected charges against adams come amid

questions about possible improper overseas fund raising, as well as five other investigations surrounding city hall and the nypd. those include questions of how contracts may have been awarded by some of adams' city hall aides, who deny any wrongdoing. the nypd and any special treatment regarding nightlife enforcement under the previous nypd commissioner. the fbi search on winnie greco's home and possible fund raising questions. she has not returned requests for comment. a federal subpoena of a brooklyn church looking looking into bus busdeals. and the recent search of the new nypd commissioner to see if he improperly held onto documents from his job with the fbi 20 years ago. he denies wrongdoing. as for the mayor, he was defiant while also asking for support.

>> you elected me to lead this city and lead it i will. i humbly ask for your prayers, your patience as we see this through. >> our thanks to jonathan dienst for that report. the israeli military says it is preparing for a possible ground invasion of lebanon, calling up two reserve brigades to the northern border. hundreds hundreds of thousands of lebanese have been displaced. the u.s. and several allies are proposing an immediate cease-fire. what do we know about the cease-fire proposal? >> reporter: good morning, frances. that's right. the joint statement is being led by the united states and france and calling for an immediate 21-day cease-fire across the lebanon-israel border, to allow for negotiations. the statement itself was negotiated on the sidelines of the u.n. general assembly in new

york, where world leaders are meeting this week. it's being backed by a number of countries, including the uk, australia, canada, the eu, saudi arabia and qatar. benjamin netanyahu leaving tel aviv for new york this morning, a he's made it clear that the return of tens of thousands of israelis to their homes would be a war goal and the guarantee would need to be their return. thousands of lebanese civilians have also been displaced, and the death toll there as you just mentioned, more than 600. as for hezbollah, it would not be a signatory. the deal would only apply to israel and lebanon. but american officials say they would use the pause to restart negotiations for a cease-fire

between israel and hamas in gaza. the war there of course has been going on now for more, for nearly a year. frances? >> danielle, thank you. let's turn to the race for the white house. vice president harris outlining more of her vision for the economy, promising $100 billion in tax breaks to boost manufacturing, as she spoke in pennsylvania. brie jackson joins us now. good morning, brie. donald trump also offered his own vision for the economy. >> reporter: that's right, good morning, frances. and this may be the closest we get to seeing another debate between these two candidates. outlining their competing plans in duelling speeches. take a listen. >> middle class tax cuts are just the start of my plan. we'll also cut the cost of childcare and elder care and take on, in addition, corporate landlords who are hiking rental prices. investments for strengthening factory towns. this is so important.

>> the center piece of my plan for a manufacturing renaissance will be a 15% made-in-america tax rate. if you don't make your product here, then you will have to pay a tariff when you send your product into the united states. >> reporter: and last night, in an interview with msnbc, vice president harris reacted to mr. trump's plan. >> you don't just throw around the idea of just tariffs across the board. and that's part of the problem with donald trump. frankly, i, i'm go, and i say this in all sincerity. he's just not very serious about how he thinks about some of these issues. >> reporter: the trump campaign responded by saying harris left many of trump's tear ariffs in e and even expanded them. now the next issue in the spotlight is likely going to be immigration. vice president harris plans to visit the southern border in arizona tomorrow. frances?

>> that split-screen debate. thank you. new this morning, a bill has been sent to president biden to avert a shutdown. the house and the senate overwhelmingly passed house speaker mike johnson's funding bill. president biden is expected to sign it well before tuesday's deadline. it will add over $230 million for the secret service and does not include proof of citizenship voting requirements that were pushed by former president trump. this will keep the government funded through december 20th. hurricane helene is barrelling towards florida after slamming cuba and mexico. it is expected to strengthen to a category 4 storm before hitting the hitting gulf coast later today. storm surges could reach up to 20 feet. officials pleading with locals to evacuate the entire region. marissa parra spoke to florida residents who shared their concerns. >> some people say the whole

state of florida can be like a flood zone now if we get enough rain. >> i'm very worried. >> water, you can't run away from it. it comes on you before you even know it. >> fema is preparing for a multi-state event with tropical storm warnings stretching into parts of alabama and western north carolina. let's bring in nbc meteorologist angie lassman, who is tracking helene's path. >> good morning, frances. we've got a really busy 48 hours ahead of us with this system as it continues to churn in the gulf of mexico at 85 miles per hour. it is bringing outer bands to parts of the gulf coastal region. we're likely going to see their become a category 4 before making landfall tonight around the 8:00 to 11:00 time frame around the big bend area. that is where we'll see plenty of impacts in terms of storm surge, wind, and rain. it works to the north at a speedy pace.

parts of georgia under tropical storm warnings. they extend well out from the system into parts of the southeast. there's the wind speeds we're expecting. 90 to 120 closer to the places in the center. tampa bay ending up to 50-70 mile-per-hour winds. the power outages will be expansive as will wind damage. also, unsurvivable storm surge, 10-20 feet new york to boston. 80 degrees with mostly sunny skies in philadelphia. that's a look at your forecast. back to you. >> important information, thank you, angie. motley crue drummer and his wife had an unexpected visitor

at their home. a ring camera captured the terrifying moment that coyote snatched their dog. she ran after the coyote and was able to pull the dog out of the coyote's mouth. the dog did not suffer any deep wounds and is okay. coming up, a deadly bus hijacking in los angeles. what we know about the suspect after the break. after the break. camilla tried the new scent of gain relax flings and it changed everything. (♪♪) hey dave, don't knock it 'til you smell it. new gain relax flings.

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the bus at gunpoint. >> this operator continued to operate the bus in as safe a manner as he could. >> reporter: police say the bus came under assault shortly before 1:00 a.m. the hijacker, identified as lamonte campbell, shot one passenger, sending others running from the bus. >> the operator initiated emergency protocols on the bus. >> reporter: police say the driver remembered a piece of life-saving training, pressing a panic button to display a distress message on the message board, 911, call police, emergency, spurring the police into action. deploying spike strips, funneling the bus into a trap. the s.w.a.t. team surrounding the bus. >> this is lapd! you're surrounded! come out with your hands up! >> reporter: storming in, pulling the driver to safety, arresting the suspect, alive and unhurt. >> he surrendered immediately, and there was no use of force at the end of the pursuit.

>> reporter: police say one passenger was shot multiple times. the victim later died at the hospital. no one else was hurt. a small wonder, police say, thanks to the quick thinking of the man steering away from danger. >> they are civil service heroes. >> reporter: courage under fire, calm behind the wheel. steve patterson, nbc news, los angeles. >> what a valuable feature in those buses, too. now to a man who's in custody this morning accused in an explosion at a california courthouse. santa barbara county officials say he threw a bag with an explosive device into a santa maria courthouse, injuring at least three people. none of the injuries were life-threatening, and the suspect was immediately detained. he was due in court on a gun charge, he is facing charges of attempted murder and held without bail. the kentucky sheriff charged in the fatal shooting of a judge has pleaded not guilty.

shawn stein was arraigned on first degree murder charges. he's accused of shooting the judge after an argument. stein had recently been deposed in a lawsuit, accusing one of his deputies of sexually abusing a woman in one of judge mullens' chambers. still to come, caitlin clark's court campaign concludes, courtesy of connecticut. find out who the sun will be movi facing as they move on to the semi-finals. right after this. semi-finals. right after this. emerge as you, with clearer skin. with tremfya®, most people saw 100% clear skin... ...that stayed clear, even at 5 years. serious allergic reactions and increased risk of infections may occur. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms or if you need a vaccine. emerge with clear skin. ask your doctor about tremfya®.

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thomas, going to work again, fading away. alyssa thomas! >> the sun had no problems sweating out the fever in the wnba playoffs. the connecticut sun advanced to the semi-finals on wednesday, thanks to 19 points from alyssa

thomas. the sun sent caitlin clark and her fever packing, despite a 25-point game from the rookie of the year. and from the early exit of a rising star to what might have been final game for a legend. diana taurasi and the phoenix mercury are heading home after falling to the minnesota lynx, powered by a 42-point performance by mafeesa collier. taurasi has yet to announce if her season will be her last. sad to see caitlin clark go, i mean, after an amazing season, her first time with the wnba. you know, she said her team got a taste of what's possible whether iwhen it comes to the future. and she finally gets a little break after back-to-back, college to pro. >> a much-deserved break for the entire team. and it's a historic day for baseball, one that the a's fans have been dreading.

the oakland athletics will face the texas rangers in their last game at the coliseum this afternoon. it closes out the 56-year run for the stadium and they plan to move after failing to secure funding for the ballpark in the area. the city will soon be without a sports team following the departure of the warriors and other teams. they'll move to vegas, of course, oakland fans, i'm sure, are not happy about this. >> this kind of change, some will argue, is not good. coming up, why the epa will be looking into fluoride levels in drinking water. and a new batch of emojis on the way. s on the way. nothing comes close to this place in the morning. i'm so glad i can still come here. you see, i was diagnosed with obstructive hcm. and there were some days i was so short of breath. i thought i'd have to settle for never stepping foot on this trail again.

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comparing it to the likes of the fyre festival. yasmin vossoughian explains. >> reporter: dearest gentle readers. outrage over a "bridgerton"-themed ball. >> is this really a ball, let alone "bridgerton"? >> reporter: organizers marketed an evening of grace and historical charm with ticket prices $150 and up, hoping to draw fans of the hit netflix show with their costumes. instead, lackluster food, cheap decor, bored guests and a pole dancer. >> are we watching the same "bridgerton"? i'm so confused. >> reporter: guests were expecting classical music throughout the night and were shocked when it turned out to be one violinist playing for three

floors. that violinist saying she's a high schooler and had issues on getting paid. >> i don't know why she's paying my on wednesday instead of sunday. >> reporter: the event's organizers responding on instagram, saying in poart, our goal is to create a magical evening. but we recognize unforeseen challenges impacted the experience for some guests, adding non-refundable deposits led to losses on their end. the organizers did not respond to our request for comment. but, for some attendees, an apology is not enough. the whole incident drawing mm to compare it that viral willy wonka experience in glasgow, scotland earlier this year. and the infamous fyre festival in 2017, when thousands of festival goers found them severs stranded in the bahamas, with barely enough food, no music and no festival. >> due to overcapacity on the island, we need to cancel the flights to ensure the safety of our guests. >> reporter: and just like those

fiascos, which led to anger from participants and the whole world laughing, the "bridgerton" ball attendees, not so tickled. >> you all scammed these people. these people flew in for this event and spent hundreds of dollars on tickets, dresses, hotels, rental cars, airbnb, and they why ripped off. >> reporter: looks like lady whistle down will have a lot to write about. yours truly, lady vossoughian. >> that food looked good compared to the fyre festival. but yeah. en much better. have a great thursday. ve a grea.

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