2024 race is neck and neck, as we enter the final three week stretch until election day.

we're live with the latest nbc news polls and the investigation under way after a man tried to enter a trump rally with guns in his car. the u.s. is bolstering israel's defenses as the region braces for retaliation against iran. the new anti-missile system ready to deploy, along with dozens of u.s. troops to operate it. a firsthand look at milton's deadly aftermath. president biden surveying the damage in the sunshine state after the category 3 hurricane bulldozed across florida. the administration's new promise to help rebuild. and morehead winds for boeing. the company cutting thousands of jobs as a machinist strike hits its bottom line. how boeing is aiming to pull up out of its tailspin. it's one giant leap for spacex, how the company made mystery with an extraordinary catch on its launch pad. and the bengals show their stripes in a sunday night thriller against the giants.

we will have all the highlights from week six in the nfl as we kick off your monday. "early today" starts right now. good morning, i'm christina ruffini. we're going to begin this morning in the middle east where israel says four of its soldiers were killed by a drone strike on a military base in the north of the country. dozens more were injured, seven of them severely according to the idf. hezbollah has taken credit for the attack. the idf is investigating how the drone was able to reach the base from lebanon without being detected. and the u.s. will send an anti-missile defense system to israel along with troops to operate t the terminal high altitude area defense system commonly called thad can intersect both long, medium and short range ballistic missiles. the pentagon says it will help bolster israel's air defenses ahead of a possible escalation with iran. israel has vowed to retaliate

against iran's ballistic missile strike from the 1st of october. there are only, believe it or not, 22 days left in the countdown to election day and the race could not get any tighter. new polling from nbc news shows a statistical dead heat between vice president kamala harris and former president donald trump. nbc's alice barr is joining us now. alice, good morning. when you dig into this poll, what else does it tell you about the state of the race? >> christina, good morning. we are seeing a major gender gap between the two candidates. vice president harris is head with women by 14 points while mr. trump has a 16 point advantage among men. also razor thin margins in those all important battleground states that the campaigns have been so focused on. on the issues former president trump continues to dominate when it comes to immigration and the economy, while vice president harris is stronger on the issue of abortion and more voters are seeing her as the candidate of change. there was another security

concern for former president trump sunday at his rally in coachella, california. we're learning new details about the armed man who was arrested a quarter of a mile away from that event. 49-year-old vem miller was taken into custody. officials say he had a legal possession of a loaded handgun, shotgun and a high capacity magazine. in an interview by phone with fox news miller says he always travels with firearms and that he supports donald trump. miller was released on $5,000 bond and a law enforcement source tells nbc news this is not being investigated as an assassination attempt. the local sheriff explained why miller was seen as a threat. >> what we do know is he showed up with multiple passports with different names, an unregistered vehicle with fake license plate and loaded firearms.

>> vice president harris spent sunday campaigning in north carolina at a packed rally she accused former president trump of not being transparent with his medical records after she released a report that includes a physician's note saying she's in excellent health. a spokesperson for mr. trump says the former president trump is in perfect health and pointed to his busy campaign schedule, and on that note both harris and trump have campaign events later today in pennsylvania. christina. >> alice, hoping you are in good health, too. thanks for getting up early. >> you, too. florida is still reeling after hurricane milton barrelled through the state last week. there have been 17 confirmed deaths and nearly half a million people are still without power, but more help may be on the way. nbc's stephanie gosk has more fro from florida. >> reporter: florida residents are picking up the pieces. president biden touring the damage in st. petersburg promising over $600 million to

restore and upgrade the grid. >> thankfully the storm's impact was not as cataclysmic as we predicted but for some individuals it was cataclysmic. >> reporter: like for hundreds rescued from flooded homes throughout the state, and the residents of manasota key. >> i don't know if i will be able to see them or not. >> reporter: a devastated sliver of land between fort myers and sarasota. >> that was a house? >> that was a house. >> reporter: officials escorting our team to areas still restricted from the public. >> i have never seen anything like this and most people living here have never seen anything like this either. >> reporter: the shear power of milton on full display. these are the front steps to a house that are obviously no longer here. the best thing we can guess is that the house that was here was picked up by the water and deposited here. it's one of those two. time-shares in this hotel now filled with sand. >> this would be the bedroom of the actual hotel. >> this is a bedroom.

>> yes. >> and we can't stand up. >> no. >> reporter: weary and heartbroken residents made their way on foot. >> my grandmother lived here. >> reporter: the destruction overwhelming. >> it's not just a property, this is your family history. >> this is my life history. uh-huh. yeah. >> reporter: for the hagers this time share hotel was where the whole family gathered. >> i hope and pray that things can get turned around because we just -- we want to continue our family memories. >> our thanks to stephanie for that report. a man accused of posing as a utility worker is now charged with murder in a home invasion in suburban detroit on friday. the oakland county sheriff says two intruders tied up a 70-year-old woman and took her husband down to the basement where police later found him dead. investigators say the couple owned a jewelry and pawn shop and may have been targeted for that reason. >> that's going to be a continuing part of our investigation, what put them on that door for that particular

tragic moment. >> the suspect was arrested in louisiana and is now awaiting extradition. the second suspect is still on the loose. and one man was shot and nine other people were wounded when gunfire broke out after a tennessee state university homecoming parade on saturday. two groups started shooting at each other as the crowds were thinning out according to nashville police. three of those shot are children between 12 and 14 years old, although none of their injuries are thought to be critical. it's not clear how many people fired the shots but police believe at least one shooter was hospitalized. now to some dangerous moments at an international balloon fiesta in new mexico. a hot air balloon hit power lines and caught on fire near a construction site. fortunately the fire crews quickly put out the flames and nobody was hurt. earlier in the festival a balloon hit a radio tower and caused it to collapse. that balloon was able to land

safely. now, fall is finally in the air, at least along the east coast, and nbc meteorologist michelle grossman has a look at your weather for the week ahead. michelle, we want good news, we want lattes and pumpkins and fall things. >> all the apple picking all of that stuff. we will feel like fall throughout most of the workweek in the northeast, new england chilly in some spots in new england this morning, mountain snow there. also looking at the chance for showers throughout the interior parts of the northeast. chilly start in the northern plains, 5 million under freeze alerts, frost advisory, starting out at or below freezing. feeling like summer in the south. the pumpkin picking may be put off a little bit. looking at temperatures in the 80s, even into the 100s once again in the desert southwest. the pacific northwest looking at rain showers and that will move off into the inner mountain west by later tomorrow. western wet and cooler in california, more record warmth in the intermountain west.

a fall chill from new england to the northeast, mid-atlantic, temperatures only in the 40s and 50s. you see blue right around the great lakes, we will see more snow in the upper parts of the upper mountains of new england g temperatures. lots of sunshine warming us up into the 90s. 90s in san angelo. all right. that's your monday forecast. >> michelle, thanks so much. all right. right down the stairs from us the rockefeller center skating rink is now open. for the fall and winter season this year there is also an unlimited skating pass that will get you all the access you could possibly want for the ice for the entire season but it will cost you around 600 bucks. "early today" is back in a minute with a halloween scare for retailers.

and blasting into history, spacex makes aunecn predented catch on the launch pad. a chewyy for (interrupted by dog)... (dog howls) roo. who can speak for himself. but can't shop for himself. so when he gave his roo of approval of the food dad bought on chewy, dad put it on autoship. so it always gets delivered, right on roo's schedule. the flavor roo loves. the savings they love. (dog howls) for automatic delivery and 5% savings. for life with pets, there's chewy. can neuriva support your brain health? mary. janet. hey! eddie. no! fraser. frank. frank. fred. how are you? support up to seven brain health indicators, including memory. when you need to remember, remember neuriva. using these type of cleansers could be damaging and stripping your skin. i use new olay cleansing melts every day. just soak, activate and wash. to clean,

tone and refresh. that's a 3x better clean. olay. a spooky spending trend is hitting retailers this halloween, but first, more turbulence for boeing as the machinist strike drags on. cnbc's karen tso is here with all the details. good morning. what is going on? >> christina, good morning to you. yes, after a litany of problems over the years boeing is now lightning the load. it will slash 17,000 jobs a fairly hefty 10% of its workforce. the chief executive fired off an email on friday spelling out that the cuts will fall across the organization from executives to managers and other employees. the downsizing has been described as necessary to align with financial reality and it does come amid that ongoing strike with 33,000 workers on

the west coast which is holding production of keyaircraft. the company says it will now also delay the rollout of it's 777 x plane to 2026. the response is that boeing is caught in a doom loop even with a new ceo. elsewhere retailers are feeling spooked already ahead of the holiday season with halloween costumes and consumption seeing some declines out there with further trending down in terms of spending patterns. spending overall for the season is expected to fall by 5% to $11.6 billion this year according to the national retail federation. splurges over the season seen as quite key to the retailers. this is where you're seeing some pull back. i mentioned costumes, but also greeting cards expected to see declines, still high costs and unemployment levels edging up, this is impacting consumption for heavily indebted retailers facing competition. back to you. >> maybe everyone's mom is making their costume like mine used to.

spacex is making history yet again with a catch. the company's rocket booster stuck the landing right on the launch pad. nbc's steve patterson has the story. >> four, three, two, one. >> reporter: the ingenuity of men making the stars seem just a little closer. the most ambitious spacex uncrewed mission yet, starship, blasting off for its fifth test flight, but this time there isa big catch. >> are you kidding me! >> reporter: the world's larger rocket sending a ship into orbit. >> gorgeous view of planet earth. >> reporter: but this new chapter in space history is what happened back on earth. >> you can see it coming down through the plume. >> reporter: all for a moment once thought impossible. the rocket guides down to the launch pad where it is literally caught by giant metal pincers. this former astronaut was in disbelief. >> wow. they did it.

>> i don't doubt anything that they say they can do because they've been delivering on these very, very ambitious objectives. >> reporter: the program in partnership with nasa aims to reuse equipment for manned missions to the moons by 2026 and even as far as mars. another giant leap for mankind. >> this is absolutely insane! >> reporter: steve patterson, nbc news. a new clown has clawed its way to the top of the box office. the independent slasher film " "terrifi rechlt r 3" was in third place. joker fell to third bringing in just over $7 million in its second week. up next the giants and bengals go toe to toe in a sunday night showdown and the dodgers stepped right up and beat the mets, to put it kindly. the nlcs kicks off with a

blowout in the city of angels. bloating iberogast thanks to a unique combination of herbs, iberogast helps relieve six digestive symptoms to help you feel better. six digestive symptoms. the power of nature. iberogast. this charmin ultra soft smooth tear has wavy edges. it's no ordinary square. charmin ultra soft smooth tear has wavy perforations that tear so much better, with more cushiony softness. enjoy the go, with charmin. what do you talk about? the news? sports? a little family gossip maybe? nah, you don't do that. right? here's another topic for you: as they get older their risk of getting really sick from a respiratory virus like flu, covid-19 or rsv goes up.

a lot. so talk to them about getting this seasons' vaccines... because you've still got so much to talk about. that grimy film on your teeth? dr. g? ♪♪ it's actually the buildup of plaque bacteria which can cause cavities. most toothpastes quit working in minutes. but crest pro-health's antibacterial fluoride protects all day. so it stops cavities before they start... crest. sometimes jonah wrestles with falling asleep... ...so he takes zzzquil. the world's #1 sleep aid brand. and wakes up feeling like himself. get the rest to be your best with non-habit forming zzzquil. ♪ ♪

on the bottom of the screen, joe taking off. oh, he's got a ton of room. might take it all the way. inside the 10. to the pylon. joe burrow became joe turbo as he opened up scoring for the bengals on sunday night football against the giants. new york's defense stifled cincy over the next two quarters before tracy tied the match up in the third. daniel jones couldn't finish the job on offense and a late touchdown from chase brown sealed the win for cincinnati 17-7. now, the competition may have already ended but chicago made sure london got a taste of fat bear week sunday. first overall pick caleb williams fed his receivers with four touchdowns as the bears mauled the jaguars across the pond 35-16. over in the big easy the points came big and pretty easy for the

buccaneers. baker and the bucs dropped 51 points on the saints, spoiling the first start for spencer rattler. in the battle of the dmv it took an mvp to top one of the hottest rookie qbs lamar jackson and the ravens putting an end to jayden daniels and the commanders' four-game win streak 40-23. and the detroit lions had a solid answer to the question how about them cowboys. they dismantled dallas in front of their home crowd scoring five touchdowns and picking off dak prescott twice. it was the fourth consecutive blowout loss for the cowboys at home. sunday sports blowouts weren't limited to just football. the dodgers dominated the first game of the nlcs against the mets. l.a. scored nine runs with three coming in the fourth while pitching held the mets to just three hits, tying the record for scoreless innings in the post season. the amazins will look to rebound from the shut out start in game two tonight. but leave it to the ladies

to provide sunday's one bright spot for new york sports teams. the new york liberty rebounded from thursday's heart breaking game one loss to the minnesota lynx in the wnba finals. breanna stewart led her squad with 21 points while new york went on a 12-0 run in the final minutes. the series moves to minnesota for game three on wednesday. when we come back, some of hollywood's biggest names have made their way into the baseball hall of fame for super fandom. and who runs the wldor? girls. the runner who just made history in chicago. ♪ a certain kind of light ♪ ♪ that always shines on me. ♪ ♪ there's a way ♪ ♪ everybody say. ♪ ♪ oh... ♪ ♪ you must know what it's like. ♪ ♪ baby, you must know what it's like ♪ ♪ to love somebody. ♪ ♪ to love somebody. ♪ ♪ the way i love you. ♪ ♪♪

[♪♪] did you know, ♪ there's a detergent ♪ that gets your dishes up to 100% clean, even in an older dishwasher? try cascade platinum plus. for sparkling clean dishes even on the toughest jobs. just scrape, load and you're done. switch to cascade platinum plus. donald trump handpicked his white house team. now, the people who knew him best say he's too unstable to lead. here's his national security advisor: “donald trump will cause a lot of damage.” and his defense secretary: “do you think trump can be trusted with the nation's secrets ever again?” “no. i mean, it's just irresponsible action that places our service members at risk, places our nation's security at risk.” take it from the people who knew him best. donald trump is too big a risk for america. i'm kamala harris and i approve this message. can neuriva support your brain health? mary. janet. hey! eddie. no! fraser. frank. frank. fred. how are you? support up to seven brain health indicators, including memory. when you need to remember, remember neuriva.

(nicole) welcome to blue buffalo's one taste is all it takes. (jeremy) ruka likes food that tastes sugood. up to seven brain health indicators, including memory. she won't eat anything that she doesn't want to eat. she's a headstrong little lady. there's no faking it with her. (nicole) we sent you blue tastefuls dry food, and... (jeremy) she loved it. i was super surprised. i want food that's healthy, nutritious, and something she'll love. (nicole) what's for dinner tonight? (jeremy) it's tastefuls from blue buffalo for this little girl. (vo) pick up blue tastefuls and find out why one taste is all it takes. available in dry, wet, and singles. sometimes your work shirt needs to be for more than just work. like when it needs to be a big, soft shoulder to cry on. which is why downy does more to make clothes softer, fresher, and better. downy. breathe life into your laundry. ♪ to make clothes softer, like a relentless weed, moderate to severe ulcerative colitis symptoms can keep coming back. start to break away from uc with tremfya... with rapid relief at 4 weeks.

tremfya blocks a key source of inflammation. at one year, many people experienced remission... and some saw 100% visible healing of their intestinal lining. 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. healing is possible with tremfya. ask your doctor about tremfya today. ♪ here is what's making headlines this morning. tom brady is expected to be approved as the minority owner of the las vegas raiders at the week's nfl walk meeting in atlanta. the finance committee plans to bring brady's bid to the other owners for a vote so he could be days away from purchasing approximately 10% of the team. lakers fan jack nicholson, clippers enthusiast billy

crystal and knicks disciple spike lee have taken their rightful places as super fans in the basketball hall of fame. runner ruth chepngetich shattered the world record in sunday's chicago marathon. she crossed the finish line at 2 2:09: 56 two minutes faster than the previous winning time. noah lyles got engaged over e weekend. weeks after the pair competed at the paris games. can a body wash transform your chest,

arms, legs? it's olay body wash with skin care ingredients and 10x more vitamin b3 complex. so, in 14 days see visibly better skin. olay body wash. discover yours. if you're frustrated... ...with occasional bloating or gas... ...your body's giving you signs, it's time to try align. align probiotic was specifically designed by gastroenterologists to help relieve your occasional bloating and gas. when you feel the signs, it's time to try align. perhaps the number one rule of parenting is to expect the unexpected. a new florida mom learned that lesson last week when she gave

birth to her son during hurricane milton. nbc's steve romo has her story. >> reporter: as hurricane milton was bearing down on florida's gulf coast, this woman was bearing down in laner. >> we were very nervous that i was going to be in labor during the hurricane at home. >> reporter: and dad was nervous, too. >> at 4:00 a.m. she woke me up saying i'm having contractions. >> reporter: not just because her contractions had kicked in as the hurricane was approaching but because hurricane irma they lived through a painful experience trying to get medical care for a loved one. >> back in 2017 my dad had a massive heart attack because the ambulance could not come out to us during the storm, so he later that day passed away. >> reporter: with that concern looming over them and milton not far behind, the port charlotte couple decided to travel to a hospital in venice, knowing they may be sent home if labor wasn't

far enough along. >> she was so far and having contractions that they went ahead and admitted us. that took a lot of stress off of my shoulders. >> reporter: and as she labored they watched the storm from the hospital's windows. >> i'm like, oh, that tree looks like it's going to fly out of the ground. we were just watching the storm and the wind and the rain go crazy. >> reporter: after more than ten hours in labor, and an unplanned c section, their first child, dewy bennett iv was born. >> he is the cutest baby. >> i always told myself that i would never name my kid dewy until my dad passed away. >> reporter: while one hurricane contributed to the depth of dewy ii hurricane milton would be remembered for the birth of a brand-new dewy. >> i feel like it was fate. >> reporter: steven romo, nbc news. >> our thanks to steven romo for that report. coming up on the "today" show an nfl tradition. kaylee hartung goes inside the game, taking a look behind the

scenes of the new york giants pregame flag unfurling. that's ahead on "today." and a replica dragon forged iron throne from the hit show, what else, "game of thrones" sold for $1.5 million in a six minute bidding war last week. the heritage auction events in dallas featured over 900 items and made a total of over $21 million. the replica tlhrone was molded from the original and made with plastic, metal paint and jewel embellishment. well, winter is coming at some point. thanks for starting your day and week with us on "early today." i'm christina ruffini. have a great monday.

the u.s. approved sending troops and an anti-missile system to israel to help defend against attacks from iran.

th