breaking overnight. hurricane helene crashes into florida as a category 4. the monster storm packing historic surge and life-threatening winds up to 140 miles per hour. the hurricane leaving more than a million in the dark. we're live with the first look at the damage. angie lassman is tracking the path of helene as it hurtles into georgia. campaigns clash over the border. vice president chkamala harris heading to the southern wall for the first time as a democratic nominee. we're live with the trip, and donald trump's response. new york city mayor eric adams set to face a judge for the first time after his bombshell indictment. what we could learn from court. and, cnbc's steve sedgwick is live with a looming port strike that could send shockwaves through the economy. it's friday, september 27th. "early today" starts right now.

good morning, glad you're with me. i'm frances rivera. we begin this morning as hurricane helene rips across florida after making landfall on the gulf coast's big bend region overnight as a category 4 storm. the monster storm packing winds of 140 miles per hour, knocking out power to more than a million customers. the impacts of helene felt long before its aarrival. on thursday a driver in tampa was killed after a sign fell onto their car. florida's governor warning the death toll is likely to increase. the storm is now downgraded to a category 1, as its eye makes its way into georgia. two people are dead there after an apparent tornado touched down in wheeler county. back in florida, a storm surge warning is in effect for almost the whole west coast. nbc's kathy park was in tallahassee as it came ashore. >> reporter: frances, we are here near downtown tallahassee, and right now we are probably seeing the worst conditions we

have seen so far today. we were anticipating a possible direct hit from hurricane helene, but we have just learned that we have narrowly missed the eye wall, which is the strongest part of the storm. but we are still feeling the impacts of the storm. heavy bands of rain. the wind is starting to pick up. we've actually seen some transformers blowing out, just over there in the horizon. now going into the storm, really, the biggest concern was extreme wind damage. here in tallahassee, there are a lot of trees. and officials are worried that a lot of those trees would topple when you have 100 mile-per-hour winds, not just the trees, but power lines as well. and that would ultimately lead to prolonged power outages. earlier today we had a chance to speak with residents who decided to leave their homes and hunker down at emergency shelters. a lot of them have livered through several storms in this area, but nothing quite to this scale. officials here in tallahassee, they have been preparing for

days ahead of this storm. they are leaning on mutual aid, resources from all across the country. and, when we have a little bit more light come tomorrow morning, they will begin assessing the damage as the cleanup begins. frances? >> tough aftermath there, kathy, thank you. nbc's jay gray is also live in it tallahassee. we'll check in with him coming up. for now, let's get to angie lassman for the latest on where the storm is heading next. good morning. >> good morning to you. we have a weakening storm system still maintaining murk shurrica strength as at cat 1. it works up through georgia. notice how expansive all of that rain is. we still have the issue of wind at this hour and of course tornados are something we contend with all day long. we've got tornado watches in effect for parts of the carolinas, stretching down into florida. those going to go through at least the early morning hours if not extended as spinups are possible as the system works to

the north. we're going to continue to be watching for this specific area, from charleston to norfolk for some of those fast-moving and r rain-wrapped tornados. the winds have been impressive, t too. now as it's weakening, still dealing with tropical storm force at the very least, if not hurricane-force winds across parts of georgia. this will be something that likely will continue to knock out power as the system works its way to the north. as far as the rain is concerned, it's been impressive already. out ahead of it. and, as it moves more of that big batch of moisture across the region, we'll likely see more of that flooding happening. we've already had multiple reports of multiple inches of rain. >> angie, thank you. we'll check back with you in a bit. now to the campaign trail where immigration will be in the spotlight.

vice president kamala harris is heading arizona where she is heading to the border. brie jackson joins us now. good morning, brie. immigration and border security have been a top platform of the trump campaign. >> reporter: a campaign aide said harris will continue to highlight the former president's role in stopping a bipartisan border security bill, and she will paint him as dangerous on this issue. mr. trump has made immigration central to thhis campaign, sayi he has plans for mass deportations. ahead of her visit today. mr. trump criticized the vice president's record on the border. >> there's nobody saying, oh, gee, she's done a fabulous job. she's done the worse job probably in the history of any border, not just our border. she keeps talking about how she supposedly wants to fix the border. we would merely ask, why didn't she do it four years ago?

>> we do have a broken immigration system. >> mm-hm. >> and it needs to be fixed. and, if we take a step back, months ago, some of themost conservative members of the united states congress came together with others, proposed a border security bill. donald trump got word of the bill, realized it was going to fix a problem he wanted to run on and told them to kill the bill, don't put it up for a vote. >> reporter: today, while vice president harris is in arizona, former president trump will be campaigning in michigan, where he plans to focus on his plans for manufacturing and the auto industry. in michigan, voters are already able to start sending in absentee ballots. frances. >> brie, thank you. in just a few hours, ukrainian president zelenskyy will meet with former u.s. president donald trump. in new york city. he net wit meth president bided

vice president harris who said their support is unwavering. >> reporter: good morning, frances. well, the unwavering support just over a month before the u.s. election came in the form of an $8 billion support package for ukraine. vice president kamala harris, the democratic nominee, has echoed president biden's staunch support for that country. >> there are some in my country who would, instead, force ukraine to give up large parts of its sovereign territory. they are not proposals for peace. instead, they are proposals for surrender. >> reporter: now harris there appearing to reference the republican presidential candidate, donald trump, who has, was not previously expected to meet with zelenskyy, and, as you know, he's been quite critical of u.s. aid for ukraine. and here's what he said ahead of his meeting with the ukrainian

leader. >> it's not a surrender. what my strategy is to save lives, i'll meet with president zelenskyy, and we'll see what happens, but i believe i can work that out. >> reporter: and you might remember during the debate with harris, trump was asked twice whether he wanted ukraine to win the war. both times ducking the question. instead, saying he wanted the war to stop. >> daniel d prime minister benjamin netanyahu is denying reports of a cease-fire agreement. he says the idf would not stop striking hezbollah with full force. however, he said an american delegation is in involved with talks.

israel says it's trying to target hezbollah forces and weapons facilities. iran-backed hezbollah has been firing rockets into northern israel in support of hamas since the october 7th attacks. new york city mayor eric adams will be arraigned in a manhattan federal court today after being indicted on five criminal counts, including bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy and soliciting contributions from a foreign national. nbc's laura jarrett has more. >> reporter: the first sitting new york city mayor in modern history indicted on federal bribery charges. >> i followed the rules, i followed the law. >> reporter: adams vowing to fight and stay in office as prosecutors revealed immigrations in a sweeping 57-page indictment hours after a predawn search of his official residence at gracie mansion. >> the conduct alleged in the indictment, the foreign money, corporate money, bribery, years of concealment, is a grave breach of the public's trust. >> reporter: adams accused of accepting free or

deeply-discounted trips to sri lanka and other countries, bribes prosecutors say adams illegally accepted from wealthy foreigners and at least one turkish government official, all in exchange for political favors. >> year after year, he kept the public in the dark. he told the public he received no gifts, even though he was secretly being showered with them. >> reporter: among the allegations of favoritism, in 2021, adams was informed, it was quote his turn to help turkey. so he pressured the city's fire commissioner to green light approval of this building, despite serious safety concerns from the city, all because turkey wanted it opened in time for that year's united nations general assembly. after the approval went through, prosecutors say that unnamed turkish official wrote adams, you are a true friend of turkey. >> these are bright red lines. and we allege that the mayor crossed them again and again.

>> reporter: prosecutors also accuse the mayor of masking illegal donations from foreigners, secretly routing their money through small-dollar donors in the u.s., so-called straw contributions. and they say his campaign took advantage of a program that matches smaller contributions to steal public funds, raking in $10 million. but his defense team says the evidence will exonerate him. >> there are e-mails with mayor adams telling this staffer, all of them, do not take foreign money, period. >> reporter: the policeman turned politician, has lived under a legal cloud for over year. one growing darker in recent weeks, as members of his administration have come under increasing scrutiny in several different investigations. the city's police commissioner, top lawyer and school chancellor have all resigned. but adams has steadfastly maintained his innocence. >> i ask new yorkers to wait to hear our defense before making any judgments. >> reporter: some democrats now

calling for adams to step aside. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: as he headed back inside gracie mansion. protesters shouting after him. >> resign! resign! >> and our thanks to laura for that report. in addition to watching wherehelene is heading next, let's check in with angie lassman. >> if you're liking for warm weather, i know it's fall, but it isn't feeling like it at all. places like phoenix and las vegas are going to be once again over 100 degrees. denver running warm, mid-80s for minneapolis as well. the heat stays with us into tomorrow and through really the rest of your weekend. we'll still be dealing with record potentials. it will be a little more comfortable for the northeast and midwest with temperatures topping out in chicago by the time we head into the next workweek into the mid-70s. louisville right around the same range, getting a little warmer as we kick off our nex and new

york city. mostly sunny conditions in boston this afternoon. and that's a look at your forecast, frances, back to you. >> thanks, angie. coming up, the giants and cowboys face off in a thriller. and we're back with a possible port strike that could wreak havoc on the economy ahead of the holiday season. nomy ahead of the holiday season. ♪ upbeat music ♪

♪♪ ♪♪ with claritin, relieving your allergies is a walk in the park. get fast, all-day relief of your worst allergy symptoms like nasal congestion. (♪♪) live claritin clear. boeing workers head back to the bargaining table while port workers from maine to texas could soon hit the pickett line. good morning, steve. >> it's a tale of two strikes, almost lyrical, isn't it? the first side in the port workers dispute haven't talked to each other since june. and we're days away from the end

of the contract. port workers are looking for a better deal on wages and concerned about automation of port cranes and trucks that could lead to job losses. they're asking a federal agency for immediate relief, requiring the union to resume bargaining. this is four days before the ila's six-year contract expires. you would think they could have got together earlier. thankfully, boeing and its workers are getting together. there's a new offer from boeing, a 30% increase in pay. the workers want 40% over three years. hopefully we can end this strike. it's costing them a lot of much-needed production time. have a lovely weekend, back to you. >> and to you, steve. appreciate it. thanks. still to come, start spreading the news. aaron judge inches closer to a record-setting season as the yankees secure home field for the post season. re home field f

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hurricane hell even weakening to a category 1 storm as it moves across georgia. it made landfall on the gulf coast of florida, and the threat remains in what's being called a multi-state event. residents dodged a direct hit from the storm where jay gray is, what's the latest? >> reporter: we had a rough and tumble run last night, but not what we expected initially with the storm, as jogged just a bit. i can tell you, though, we know there's extensive damage, not only here but across the entire state of florida right now. here, power outages, a lot of trees down on structures. we'll have to wait till the sun comes up to see exactly the extent of the damage. let's talk about the overall picture with helene, which was a massive storm. in fact, it's the strongest hurricane to ever make landfall in the big bend region of

florida. and that's saying something. a lot of storms pass through that area. two others in the last 13 months. this is the third in just over a year to move through that area. it's also one of the largest storms, one of the largest gulf storms in the last century. so this is a massive system, extensive damage across the state as we talked about. flash flooding a very serious issue. we know there are more than a million people in florida without power. right now about 800,000 in georgia. that number is going to climb as the storm continues to push through. and you talk about the magnitude, the intensity of the storm. and frances, you said it. it's still at hurricane strength, well inland and into georgia. we know that this is going to continue to be a problem over the next several days along the path of helene. right now, you've got at least 65 high-water rescues that took

place in pascoe county. and you've got warnings and watches for 60 million people right now across 12 states. so, again, flash flooding, water always the biggest problem with these tropical systems, and that's been the case to this point again. daylight in a few hours. we'll have a better idea of what helene left behind. but it's not going to be nice, especially along the coastline where this thing first rushed onshore. >> it's going to be a tough go the next 24 hours and beyond in the weekend. jay gray for us, thanks so much. coming up on "today", we will have continuing coverage of hurricane helene, plus a ticketmaster executive goes on the record about april's massive data breach and how the company is cracking down on scams. something you don't want to miss. a lot of people still looking for a whole lot of answers. thanks so much for waking up with "early today" and ending your workwk withee