break overnight.

a horrific chopper crash in houston. several people are dead, including a child after a private helicopter hits a radio tower, collapsing into a ball of fire. what we know at this hour. with just over two weeks left in the 2024 race, kamala harris and donald trump continue their stops through battleground states. the new rules some of the states are adopting to count the vote faster. federal officials are investigating an apparent leak of top secret documents talking about israeli preparations for attacks against iran. we're live with the latest detail. the miracle rescue off the coast of hawaii. a 17-year-old boy stranded alone at sea with just a kayak, found safe after an exhaustive search. we hear from the offduty lifeguards who pulled the boy to safety. and the fall classic gets a classic matchup. the los angeles dodgers advance to the world series, where they will face the new york yankees for a record 12th time in

baseball history. it's monday, october 21st. "early today" starts right now. good morning. glad you're with me. i'm frances rivera. we begin with breaking news. authorities say several people, including a child are dead after a helicopter crashed into a radio tower in houston. it happened shortly before 8:00 p.m. local time in the city's second ward neighborhood. police are not providing an exact death toll, but four people on board the robinson r-44 helicopter. no one on the ground was hurt. the crash sparked a fire that spread as far as three blocks before it was stopped. the ntsb and faa will investigate the accident. now to georgia, where seven are dead and six critically injured after a gangway collapsed on saturday. the gangway was part of a ferry dock. officials say they believe the structure suffer advocate strofk failure, plunging at least 20 people into the water. hundreds were gathered on sapelo

island for a cultural festival when tragedy struck. investigators are looking whether the extra foot traffic that day contributed to the collapse. police say the sapelo island ferry will reopen this morning using a different dock. now for an update on the presidential election, which is just over two weeks away. vice president harris has a busy schedule today with events in three different battleground states. while former president trump will hold a rally in north carolina. harris' running mate, governor tim walz, will be on a media tour today with appearances on "the view" and the "today" show. and viewers of saturday night football may have spotted mr. trump as he watched the steelers game in pittsburgh. the former president is facing backlash for comments he made at a rally there in pennsylvania. here is dasha burns. >> reporter: former president trump taking questions from pennsylvania voters at a town hall. >> we're going bring them over directly. >> reporter: after taking over the fry cooker at a mcdonald's in the suburbs outside philadelphia, looking to push

his unsupported claims that vice president harris lied about working at the fast food chain when she was this college. >> she talked about the heat, it was so tough. she never worked at mcdonald's. >> reporter: his attacks against harris increasingly dark and profane, saying this at another pennsylvania campaign event on saturday night. >> we can't stand you. your an [ bleep ] vice president. the worst. you're the worst vice president. kamala, you're fired. >> reporter: harris responding to those comments on msnbc. >> what you see in my opponent, a former president of the united states really is -- it demeans the office. >> reporter: trump also making headlines for kicking off that rally in the town of latrobe with a 12-minute monologue about hometown hero golfer arnold palmer which took a bizarre turn when trump described the late palmer's anatomy. >> when he took showers with the other process, they came out of

there, they said oh my god, that's unbelievable. >> reporter: with 16 days to go, tech mogul elon musk making a surprise pledge while stumping for trump in the keystone trump, launching a million dollar giveaway for voters who sign his petition in favor of free speech and the right to bear arms. >> we're going to be awarding a million dollars to -- randomly, to people who have signed the petition every day from now until the election. >> reporter: pennsylvania governor josh shapiro chiming in on "meet the press." >> you are a former attorney general. this legal? >> i think there are real questions with how he is spending money in this race, how the dark money is flowing, not just into pennsylvania, but apparently now into the pockets of pennsylvanians. . >> and our thanks to dasha for that report. and tomorrow night, tune in for hallie jackson's exclusive interview with vice president harris on "nightly news" at 6:30

p.m. eastern. israel launched a series of air strikes in lebanon's capital on sunday, targeting branches of hezbollah's financial arm. this as u.s. officials investigate the apparent leak of two top secret intelligence documents on israel's plan to attack iran. let's go live to nbc foreign correspondent claudio lavanga. good morning, claudio. what's the latest? >> good morning, frances. well a financial association as an alternative to the traditional banking system in lebanon. it does provide financial services to regular citizens, but at the same time it is considered to be hezbollah's de facto banking arm. and that's why israel decided to target its branches. now on sunday, the israeli defense forces warned residents living in lebanon, living near the branches of the al hassan, which happens with banks, they ron the ground floor of

residential buildings, u.s. residential area, prompting widespread evacuation. and shortly after that, they carried out air strikes in beirut and elsewhere in lebanon. now as per that intelligence league leak that you mentioned, u.s. officials did confirm an investigation open on the leak of two top secret u.s. documents allegedly describing or assessing israels attack or imminent attack on iran in response to iran's attack to israel. well, now the documents first appeared on the telegram channel of the middle east spectator, which described itself as an independent news aggregator and is considered to be pro-iranian. one document describes how the israeli air force continues to make preparations for an attack in iran with a large number of aircraft while in another document, it says that israeli defense forces continue the preparations for the munitions in what, and i quote, certainly will be an attack on iran,

frances. >> claudio lavanga for us. claudio, thank you. death row inmate robert roberson may testify today at a texas legislative hearing on his case. roberson was set to be executed last thursday, but obtained a temporary restraining order with only hours to spare. now he is expected to testify, challenging his conviction in a controversial shaken baby death case. over the weekend, the texas ag asked the supreme court to dismiss roberson's subpoena, suggesting the state may not produce roberson for the hearing. two navy aviators have been declared dead after a fighter jet crashed in washington state. the crash happened east of mount ranier last week during a training flight. officials say rescue and search efforts have now shifted to a recovery operation. the identity of the service members will be released after their families are notified. hurricane oscar made landfall in cuba as the country continues to struggle with

blackouts. the country's electrical grid collapsing again sunday, plunging the country in darkness for the fourth time in two days. schools have been canceled. only essential workers should report to work today. oscar brought strong winds and rain to the island's northeast. cuba warned of, quote, an extremely dangerous situation. back here at home, new mexico's chaves county is under a state of emergency after historic flash flooding left at least two dead. the national guard continues search-and-rescue efforts. more than 300 people were rescued from the treacherous waters. a stranded dog was also pulled to safety. 38 people were taken to hospitals for injuries. nearly 6 inches of rain fell in roswell in just a matter of hours, breaking the previous record set in 1901. water levels have started to recede in some areas emain dangerous, and police are warning residents to stay off the roads. all right. let's get a check now on the october heatwave hitting much of the country.

nbc meteorologist michelle grossman tracking the temperatures in the northeast, where some of us felt like hey, summer again. >> it felt like we plunged right back there. and it's not just in the northeast. we are looking at the warm temperatures stretching to the midwest, even the northern plains. so much of the country above normal for this time of year. take a look at some of these numbers. look back to the midwest. minneapolis 82 degrees. that's 27 degrees above what is normal for this time of year. so we're anywhere from 10, even 30 degrees above normal. chicago 83. buffalo 71. warm in the northern plains, 75 in rapid city. that's 15 degrees above normal. in memphis, 79. philadelphia, you're warm too, 80 degrees. we're going keep it warm tomorrow as well as temperatures into the 70s and 80s once again. 15 degrees above normal tomorrow. 80 in rochester. indianapolis 77. st. louis, you're going to be warm too, 81 degrees tomorrow. 16 degrees above normal that won't last. we're back into the 50s an in th.

so better there. and temperatures in the 80s in texas as well. all right. that's your monday forecast. >> okay. we'll see you in a bit. thank you so much, michelle. >> sure. back with a race to count every vote on election day. plus, the dodgers and the tsme miracle run and punch their tickets to the world series. only when i see flakes. then i switch back to my regular shampoo. you should use it every wash, otherwise the flakes will come back. he's right, you know. is that tiny troy? the ingredients in head & shoulders keep the microbes that cause flakes at bay. microbes, really? they're always on your scalp... but good news, there's no itchiness, dryness or flakes down here. i love tiny troy. and his tiny gorgeous hair. make every wash count! and for stubborn dandruff, try head & shoulders clinical strength.

the first time you try bounce, it hits you. your laundry feels way fresher, softer. so you start to wonder. if i put a sheet of bounce on the finance guy, will it make him softer? bounce can't do it all but for better laundry, ♪ put a sheet on it with bounce. ♪ there is a different race under way with just over two weeks until election day, the race to count ballots. in 2020, it took late into the next day for michigan and wisconsin to tally their votes. this year, one of them is moving to speed up that count. shaquille brewster has the story. >> reporter: they're two battleground states, michigan and wisconsin, whose late into

the night vote counts four years ago descended into chaos, but only one has made major changes to help avoid this. >> count the votes! >> what we see here is essentially an increasing mob-like scene. >> reporter: protesters harassing poll workers in detroit, scrambling to count the surge of absentee ballots. >> my life was threatened. my staff's life was threatened. >> reporter: now a new law in michigan gives clerks a head start, allowing them to process absentee ballots well before election day. >> i think it will show voters that the process is clean, that the process is open. >> reporter: the changes will likely limit a so-called red mirage on election night. that's what happened in 2020, when many cities reported in-person voting results first, which tended to favor republicans. but absentee ballots, which were more democratic-leaning, took longer to count. >> 100% reporting didn't take

place until wednesday morning. >> reporter: trump's lead in michigan vanished later that morning when detroit's wayne county reported nearly 150,000 votes. predictable changes that were used to fuel false claims of illegal ballot dumps. >> and then boom, all of the sudden i go from winning by a lot to losing. >> reporter: with this new law, when will detroit have its results posted? >> we'll have our results posted by 11:00 news. 90 to 95% of our results will be posted by them. >> reporter: in the week before election day, you'll actually see these envelopes opened and the ballots put into vote tabulators here in michigan. while in wisconsin you may see results come in later. that's because absentee ballots stored here cannot even be ozone watched until election day. >> regardless of the efficiencies we make, just the sheer number makes us be one of the last people, if not always the last jurisdiction to report results. >> reporter: in 2020, milwaukee finished counting at 3:42 a.m.,

pushing biden ahead in wisconsin. do you have any projection for when milwaukee will have its vote reported this year? >> i don't. i think what we should expect, though, not before midnight. >> reporter: 43 states allow clerks to process ballot envelopes before election day. but despite bipartisan efforts to change election laws, that doesn't include critical battlegrounds pennsylvania and wisconsin. >> if the american public wants to see our results sooner, there has to be legislative change. >> reporter: a change to speed up the count in the most competitive states. shaquille brewster, nbc news, detroit. still to come, the last undefeated team in the nfl is exactly who you think it is. and life, liberty, and the pursuit of a championship. one of the originawnl ba franchises finally takes home a title. mptoms can keep coming back. start to break away from uc with tremfya... with rapid relief at 4 weeks.

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touchdown, pittsburgh. >> russell wilson taking the jets for a turbulent ride on sunday night football that touchdown pass to george pickens started a run of 31 unanswered points by the steelers. despite the addition of davante adams, they struggled to get their offense going in the second half. pittsburgh gets a convincing win, 37-15. so now the jets have lost four straight and sit at 2-5. given all the changes they have made, that's got to be a tough loss. >> especially for aaron rodgers. at the tail end of his career. well, seven weeks into the season, and just one nfl team remains undefeated. the vikings suffered their first loss with an epic clash with the lions thanks to a go ahead field goal from jake bait. 31-29. and that makes the chiefs the last team without a loss. this time there was no need for a kc comeback on sunday's super bowl rematch with the 49ers. mahomes and company punched in

four scores on the ground while their defense put san francisco down in the 28-18 win. and they were out from the beginning. it was like no coming back. it was not the greatest game to watch. >> no. but for kc fans, they made it happen. all right. the fall classic is going coast-to-coast. >> it all happens. there is a bouncing ball to second. taylor's got it. los angeles and they're headed to the world series! >> dodgers took the national league pennant, ending the run. it sets up a clash between the dodgers and new york yankees who punched their ticket saturday night. they kick off their first world series matchup since 1981 at dodger stadium this friday. this is the dodgers' fourth world series appearance since 2017. remember, they won in 2020. the yanks haven't been back since 2009. >> that's a long time. it will be a good matchup for

both teams. and the yanks will look to follow in the footsteps of the big apple's latest champion from a divisive game five of the wnba finals, the new york liberty engineered another comeback to force overtime against the minnesota lynx. once in the extra period, the liberty needed just seven points to pull away for good. and the franchise, one of the founding members of the wnba wins its first title in its 27-year history. john paul jones, who led with 17 points with the win was named finals mvp. no complaint about this. this is so exciting. and for so many people to this organization. >> yeah, new york is flying high. except for the mets. when we come back, we've got a recall alert you'll want to hear about before you fire up your toasters this morning. and the blue light special is slowly flicri okengut as the end of a retailer ra nears.

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boeing has reached a tentative deal with its machinist union that could end the strike that has stretched over a month. the proposal includes 35% wage increases over four years and a higher 401(k) contribution. tree house foods is recalling hundreds of frozen waffle products with possible listeria contamination sold on a variety of brand names at retailers like walmart and target as well as private labels like kodiak. the last kmart store in the u.s. is closing. rk fstn,ewin bridge hampto n yoir opened 25 years ago. they have a smaller store in miami. then i switch back to my regular shampoo. you should use it every wash, otherwise the flakes will come back. he's right, you know. is that tiny troy? the ingredients in head & shoulders keep the microbes that cause flakes at bay. microbes, really? they're always on your scalp... but good news, there's no itchiness, dryness or flakes down here. i love tiny troy. and his tiny gorgeous hair. make every wash count!

and for stubborn dandruff, try head & shoulders clinical strength. i've wanted an eternity with you from the second i met you. [dog happy panting] (♪♪) 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. . the team is on a road to

recovery after a dramatic rescue off hawaii's coast. a 17-year-old kayaker got separated from his high school group and spent 12 hours treading water and clinging to his kayak. now the teen and the offduty lifeguard who saved him are speaking out. maggie vespa has more. >> reporter: this grainy black and white video from the u.s. coast guard in hawaii shows a teen stranded at sea after clinging to his capsized kayak all night. he is then saved by a family friend who joined the frantic search. you call this a miracle rescue. >> yeah. it's a miracle that he survived the night. >> reporter: authorities say strong winds and currents off honolulu's waikiki beach separated 17-year-old from his high school paddling team wednesday, leaving him stranded without a life jacket. the u.s. coast guard launching an exhaustive 12-hour search. also individualable in that video, nolan kkealano's beach.

>> i felt i was looking for my own son. that's what i run through my head. >> reporter: following wind patterns, he ended up in the exact right spot when the coast guard plane spotted kawhi and dropped a flare. >> i called his name. and he replied. yes? and i'm like -- i was -- i was went into shock and turned into a big crybaby. >> reporter: kealana pulled the exhausted teen from the water. >> i was glad to see a familiar face. >> reporter: kawhi suffering from extreme dehydration and exhaustion, reunited with his mom and taken to the hospital. >> uncle nolan is a great waterman that really, like, what saved me. >> reporter: one man's determination turned miracle rescue. maggie vespa, nbc news.

>> just incredible. so great to have that ending. now to one minnesota orchard as every type of pumpkin you can think of. green, orange one, lopsided and pumpkins even with the warts. that's because the owners of ferguson minnesota harvest say ugly pumpkins are becoming a popular purchase. the farm grew 30,000 pumpkins this season with up to 40% being imperfect on purpose. co-owner andy ferguson says there is even a deeper meaning behind the different variations of gourds. >> the square pumpkin is a popular children's character that promotes anti-bullying themes. i think there is kind of that theme with the pumpkins itself. if every pumpkin looked exactly the same, that wouldn't be very

with just 15