linical study, prevagen was shown to improve memory in subgroups of individuals who were cognitively normal or mildly impaired. stay sharp and improve your memory with prevagen. prevagen. in stores everywhere without a prescription. kamala harris continues her media blitz, including a sit-down interview with nbc

news. trump makes his last-minute pitch to voters as his former chief of staff says trump meets the definition of a fascist. secretary blinken urging israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to reach a cease-fire in gaza, while warning it must increase aid in the region. we've got a live report on how their meeting went. the former ceo of abercrombie & fitch arrested on sex trafficking and prostitution charges. he and two associates accused of recruiting men for sex parties, with the promise of modeling jobs. mcdonald's pulls its quarter pounder from some restaurants after dozens of people are sickened with e. coli. what the cdc says could be the culprit in the outbreak. and from the city that never sleeps to the city of brotherly love. philly get as newportal to connect to people around the world. it's wednesday, october 23rd. "early today" starts right now. good morning. glad you're with me.

i'm frances rivera. the countdown to the presidential election is now down to only 13 days. tonight, vice president harris will be in pennsylvania for a cnn town hall. former president trump will hold multiple events in georgia. and, we have a possible preview of election night. sources familiar with the planning say howard university is the leading contender for vice president harris' election night headquarters. for the latest from the campaign trail, here's nbc's brie jackson. >> reporter: millions of americans across the country eagerly casting their ballots as more states begin early voting. >> everyone is talking about this election. it's the biggest election in about eight years. >> reporter: former president obama campaigning in wisconsin to help kick off early voting there, as the harris-walz campaign unleashes its top surrogates. >> you hear from me. i'm asking you to vote. >> reporter: harris seeking to reach more voters on her own by

taking part in more media interviews. including with nbc news. >> last election the former president came out on election night and declared victory before all the votes were counted. what is your plan if he does that again in two weeks? >> we will deal with election night and the days after as they come, and we have the resources and the expertise and the, and, and the focus on that as well. >> reporter: former president trump doing outreach across voting blocs, holding multiple events with faith leaders and latino voters. >> i don't know, but, i don't know, but it's going to be close. >> reporter: trump is also attempting to raise doubts about this year's election while admitting he's seen no evidence of fraud. >> have either of you seen any cheating, incidents of cheating that lead you to believe that this election will not be fair? >> well, i haven't. >> reporter: election officials and law enforcement releasing this ad, warning of consequences for election interference.

>> but wehat will not be tolerated is acts of violence or intimidation. >> reporter: this voter expressed conf that their vote will be heard. >> i feel like my vote is safe. >> reporter: with voting under way in a tight race, officials stress there are systems in place to ensure every vote is counted. in waishington, brie jackson, nc news. donald trump's former chief of staff, john kelly has said the former president meets the quote, general definition of a fascist. kelly made the remarks in an interview with the "new york times." he also told the paper that trump viewed adolf hitler in a favorable light. >> i commented more than once that, you know, hitler did some good things, too. and, of course, if you know history, and, again, i think he's lacking in that. if you know history, you know what hitler was all about. you'd be pretty hard to make an argument that he did anything good. >> a trump campaign spokesman said in a statement that kelly

was retelling, quote, debunked stories about the trump administration. also the atlantic reports that mr. trump had said he wanted loyal generals, like hitler had, citing two people who heard him say it. a trump spokesperson called the atlantic's claim quote, absolutely false. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken met with prime minister benjamin netanyahu in jerusalem yesterday, urging israel to capitalize on the killing of hamas leader yahya sinwar by securing the release of hostages and ending the war in gaza. it comes the same day israel announced it this also killed hezbollah's presumed successor in a beirut airstrike eaier this month. let's turn to matt bodner, who is following the latest for us. matt, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, frances. the united states continues to ramp up its pressure on israel to end the warn gaza with secretary of state tony blinken traveling throughout the region this week, pushing for a truce that would bring an end to the fighting, both in gaza and in lebanon. earlier this month, blinken au..

secretary of defense lloyd austin told israel they want to see an increase of humanitarian aid delivered into gaza and u.s. weapons delivees would be curtailed if washington was not satisfied. now, as you mentioned, blinken met with prime minister netanyahu in jerusalem yesterday where he urged the israeli leader to capitalize on last week's killing of yahya sinwar in gaza and bring military operations against hamas to a close. according to the state department, blinken made the case to netanyahu that sinwar's death signified israel had achieved its war aim and that his death would make it easier to see a return of the remaining hostages that were kidnapped by hamas on october 7 of last year. israel has also been targeting hezbollah leadership in lebanon. last month, israel killed long-time leader hassan nasrallah, raising questns over who speaks for the group. one was his cousin. but the idf said yesterday he was killed in a massive

airstrike against hezbollah leadership in beirut earlier this month. hezbollah in lebanon has of course become the focal point of israel ales israel's attention in recent month. the idf continued to conduct airstrikes around beirut with one strike leveling a residential building. today blinken will continue his trip to the region. he's traveling to saudi arabia to meet with the foreign minister there. >> matt, thank you. federal investigators are still at the scene of sunday's helicopter crash in houston. an air tour helicopter crashed into a radio tower, killing all four people on board, including a child. investigators are now focussing on whether there were any issues with the safety lights on the tower. the crash also ignited a fire that spanned four acres. the former ceo of abercrombie & fitch has been arrested on sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges. mike jeffries and two other men are accused of recruiting men into sex acts at events around the world with the false

promises of modeling jobs. erica byfield with our new york station has this report. >> reporter: if these men are found guiltye the possibility of life behind bars. the feds are accusing them of running a sophisticated sex trafficking ring. shocking allegations of forced sex and drugs now have the former ceo of abercrombie & fitch facing federal charges. prosecutors laid out their case against michael jefferys and two other men on tuesday. >> sexuallysexuallysexually exp vulnerable human beings is a crime, in fashion, modeling or any other business is indifferent. >> reporter: they say he pulled off the scheme with the help of his life partner, matthew smith. while jeffrey operated the

store, store smith and others recruited men for sex events, around the world, italy, morocco, new york, often in the hamptons. all three men arrested in florida and jacobson in wisconsin. >> their sex trafficking and prostitution enterprise lasted at least from the end of 2008 until early 20. >> reporter: prosecutors say jacobson would fly domestically and internationally to interview men for sex events and often had them try out with him in paid sessions. the grand jury heard testimony that many of the victims felt tricked into these acts, under the beliefs that they would shirtless models. the government also said on occasion the victims got injected with prescription-grade substances meant to help them engage in sex acts that they couldn't or didn't want to do. the feds say they did it with

secrecy in mind, making these participants sign ndas and threatened action if they ever disclosed what happened. >> to anyone who thinks they can exploit and coerce others by using the so-called casting couch system, this case should serve as a warning. >> reporter: abercrombie declined to comment. jeffries and smith's attorneys are saying that they're going to address these issues in court. we've jet to hear back from jacobson's team, but previously his counsel said his client did not engage in or know about any de- deceptive or forceful behavior, all are expected to be transferred to new york to face the charges now to a consumer alert. the cdc has issued a food safety alert over an e. coli outbreak linked to mcdonald's quarter pounders. at least 49 people in ten states have gotten sick and one person has died. ten people have been hospitalized, including a child

who delivered a kidney disease. they are looking into the slivered onions and quarter pound burger patties as possible sources for the outbreak. the fast food chain says it will continue to work with the cdc. all right, it is finally starting to feel like fall,at least in some parts of the country. nbc meteorologist angie lassman is tracking the temperatures for us. i love when it's mild and warm. but we're well into october. >> yeah, it felt a little weird, yesterday, frances, when we were talking upper 70s to low 80s across the northeast. not a lot of difference. we're still running above normal, stretching from the northeast all the way down to portions of the south. upper 70s on tap for philadelphia, upper 70s for lexington, down through dallas, 92 degrees, not quite an october temperature. we'll see a cold front work through, but all that heat still stays centered across parts of the central plains and across the northeast.

nashn nashville expected to hit 76 degrees. notice what happens in new york city. we get to the 60s, but upper 50s as we kick off the end of our weekend and head back into the next workweek. if you're liking for a little rain in places like new york city or philadelphia, had a very dry stretch. unfortunately, it's not going to bring that, but it will bring cooler air that i just showed you into that region. we'll then turn our attention to toe next s o charleston. orlando hits 84 degrees today. dallas and san antonio into the low 90s this afternoon. and that's a look at your forecast, frances. back to you. >> okay, thanks so much, angie. still ahead, martha stewart cooks up something special for trick or treaters.

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the vaporizing daytime, coughing, aching, stuffy head, power through your day, medicine. my palms are sweaty, knees weak. i'm nervous, but i'm calm and ready. >> that was former president barack obama losing himself at the rally last night for vice president harris. the impromptu performance came after he was introduced by eminem in detroit. so for just about all of us, election season has turned into texting season. candidates sending a barrage of messages to voters, asking for donations and for the drive to turn out. from our kansas city affiliate, we look at how you can fight back against the flood of texts.

>> reporter: if your phone is anything like mine, these campaign text messages are flooding in, just inundating, overwhelming your device. s so i went to see if there's any way to stop all of this. >> gets very, very frustrating. >> reporter: voters can't stop. >> doug, kamala, the whole nine yards. >> i appreciate the attention, guys, but thank you. >> yeah, i don't like when i get them. who wants an unsolicited text message, right? >> reporter: kevin yoder ran in nine elections. he didn't use text messages much on his campaign, but this is what candidates do today. campaigns can directly reach voters, and it's easier to track voter engagement. >> they're always trying to find cost-effective ways to reach voters and share their message. >> reporter: yoder presumes most campaigns are getting phone numbers by requesting voter registration information or buying numbers from third-party groups. >> if they feel like they need to send that many messages in

this really critical election more power to them. >> the most effective way to get ahold of me is text message. so they're winning that part. >> reporter: you can reply with the word "stop", and the sender has to respect your decision to opt. out of future text messages. you can also forward a message to the number 7726, and that will report it to the fcc as spam. >> good to know. our thanks to charlie keegan for that report. still to come, for those about to snack, we salute you. u'll soon be able to feast like an emperor while watching gladiator two. we'll have the details right after this. the details right after this. —spray goodbye. —aaaaaaahhhhh! with an innovative power-jet to break through your toughest congestion. [groan] come on, man. congestion? nah, i'm good. spray goodbye to tough congestion. [scream] you're very talented! [eagle screech] new mucinex 2-in-1 saline nasal spray has arrived. with a gentle mist

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allowing this time to sort of disguise, to show off, to have fun and to transform. ♪ ♪ >> that's pretty. >> what about the earrings? >> okay, if you ring march that stewart's doorbell on halloween

night, you might get more than just fun-sized snickers in your pillowcase. the lifestyle icon talked about what trick-or-treaters will find if they stumble upon her front door. despite never being home on halloween she offers kids an assortment of candies and a little cash, too. >> oh. >> the mogul did not disclose how much money she gives out to those lucky trick-or-treaters, and i'm sure it is still a big mystery where she lives or which residence, i should say. and i'm sure it's a gated community, a big estate. >> now there's going to be a long line, once people figure it out. there's going to be a long line of trick-or-treaters waiting for marc martha's treats. a new popcorn bucket has entered the arena. the custom popcorn bucket for the long-awaited gladiator two was revealed tuesday. it is modeled after the roman coliseum and features a qr code to allow fans to be a mini glade

greater. it hits the screens on november 22nd. how creative. i didn't know we needed this, but very, very cool. >> it seems like all the big, big movies now are coming with their own merchandise. when you get there at the theater. this is cool, though, because it's the shape of the coliseum. and that's just the poster art from the movie. when we come back, how target is helping shoppers get into the holiday spirit. and honda's second major recall this month. s second major recal this month. 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

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includes all its frozen waffles and pancakes. all have best-buy dates to october 11, fi2025. the cdc still needs to recommend pfizer's rsv vaccine shot. target is lowering prices on over 2,000 items this holiday season. they said they'll cut prices on food and beverages, every day itemand hos liday gifts. y items and holiday gifts. pproves. nice reach! brooms can just push stuff around, but swiffer grabs dirt and even traps the hair. swiffer. the mother of all cleans. love it or your money back! ♪♪ 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.

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philadelphia, beaming out a live feed that shows everyone who stands in front of it. leah u leah uko has the story from our philly station. >> reporter: the way to connect with people online just got bigger. the bright, shiny structure you see here is allowing people to interact with others who are thousands of miles away. >> this is bringing people from all over the world together. that's a beautiful thing. philly needs that. >> reporter: the portal is what it's called. this one was relocated from new york. other installations are in lithuania, poland and dublin, ireland. in these cities, people can peer through, say and sign hello to each other on a live camera. >> i like it, i like it. >> reporter: for most onlookers, they connected with friendly strangers. but, for alexander levingood, he

spotted his sister. >> my mom didn't know it at all. i just called her and showed her. she started crying. >> reporter: his sister sophie is studying abroad on a three- day-break in dublin. >> she's my little she's my ste. >> reporter: it sets philly up perfectly for the international stage since they're preparing for america's 250th celebration and the world's cup and mlb all-star game all in 2026. >> pladelphia is not just the city of brotherly love. philadelphia is the city of global love. >> how much fun. our thanks to leah for that report. starbucks has released two new drinks inspired by "wicked".

one is flavored with peppermint and topped with green macha, foam and inspired by the wicked witch. all with the drinks, starbucks will offer wicked-themed gift cards. before we go, here's craig melvin with a preview of what's ahead on "today". >> we're going to talk about anti-aging skin care in today's checklist. plus, actor daisy ridley will stop by. and do-it-yourself halloween decorations. all on the third hour of "today." thank you so much for being th me onwi

and two weeks away, presidential hopefuls are making