hillary clinton versus donald trump. who packed the biggest political punches and who won the night? >> you called it the gold standard. >> well, i -- >> you called it the gold standard of trade deals. >> and you know what -- >> you said it's the ft >> and then you heard what i said about it, and all of a sudden, you were against it. >> well, donald, i know you live in your own reality, but that is not the facts. >> overwhelming reaction from social media and the morning's headlines, straight ahead. plus, it's described as the worst bombing syria has seen in five years. and an overwhelming moment and tribute to a fallen teammate. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm ayman mohyeldin.

>> i called these visine mornings, a little less sleep. >> and the nation wakes up this morning taking stock of the first head-to-head debate between hillary clinton and donald trump. and headlines across the country say it all. for example, the "washington post" -- attacks fly as clinton puts trump on the defensive in the debate. >> and from "usa today" -- the return of fiery trump. "associated press" -- clinton gets under trump's debate. >> and "daily news," face of the nation, trump covers himself in bumbling blabber. >> and temperament heart of the clinton/trump debate. >> an overnight poll shows clinton as the clear winner, 62%-27%, as both battled fiercely over taxes, terror and race. >> you called it the gold standard. >> well, i -- >> you called it the gold standard of trade deals. you said it's the finest deal

about it, and all of a sudden, you were against it. >> well, donald, i know you live in your own reality, but that is not the facts. donald was one of the people who rooted for the housing crisis. he said back in 2016, gee, i hope it does collapse, because then i can go in and buy some and make some money. well, it did collapse. >> that's called business, by the way. we have no leadership. and honestly, that starts with secretary clinton. >> all right, you have two minutes on the same question to defend tax increases on the wealthiest americans. et of this evening i'm going to be blamed for everything that's ever happened. >> why not? >> why not? yeah, why not? >> but the most contentious moments in the debate came between not the candidates, but between them and the moderator, nbc's lester holt. >> stop-and-frisk was ruled unconstitutional in new york because it largely singled out black and hispanic young -- >> no, you're wrong.

>> mr. trump, a lot of these are judgment questions. you had supported the war in iraq before the invasion. what makes your -- >> i did not support a war in iraq. >> 2002 -- >> that is a mainstream media nonsense. i was against -- wait a minute -- i was against the war in iraq, just so you put -- >> the record shows otherwise. >> the record does not show that. >> trump told nbc he believed holt did "a great job." however, it was trump's response on his facebook's top moment of the night. >> my question was -- >> no, no, you didn't hear what i said. >> -- why is your judgment any different than mrs. clinton's? >> well, i have much better judgment than she does, no question about it. i also have a much better temperament than she has, you know? i have a much better -- she spent -- let me tell you -- >> here was one of clinton's most talked about moments, following trump for his previous comments on women. >> she doesn't have the look,

to stamina, but this is a man who has called women pigs, slobs and dogs and someone who has said pregnancy is an inconvenience to employers -- >> i never said that. >> -- who has said women don't deserve equal pay unless they do as good a job as men. >> somebody who works as hard as the fact-checkers. they had a busy night after several months. nbc counted some 20 lies and half-truths throughout said millions of jobs will be lost when ford moves its car manufacturing to mexico. united autoworkers union tweeted -- fact check, ford is not moving jobs out of michigan. our agreement services agreements for effective plants. and then trump said murders spiked across new york city and that stop-and-frisk helped tamp down violent crime in the city,

decreased nearly 97% in new york city since 2011. crime, murder and shootings have decreased significantly during the same period. and when trump originally said he opposed the war in iraq, which politifact says is false. twitter is celebrating last night's face-off as the most tweeted debate in history. and for a breakdown of how the event played out on social media, we go to nbc's gigi stone woods. gigi? >> thank you, ayman and frances. you're absolutely right, it is nowff debate in history. and the two candidates as polarizing and as headline-making as trump and clinton, it is easy to see why. according to google, these are the highest moments of search interest for both candidates with interest spiking when trump referred to climate change and when clinton steered viewers to her website, which had live fact-checking. then there was trump's stop-and-frisk moment, his response on cyber attacks and his answer when it came to the war in iraq. on facebook, the top issue of

economy and crime. here is twitter's top tweeted moments from the 90-minute debate. trump's temperament response, his comments on stop-and-frisk and his exchange with clinton over isis all making the top three. ayman, frances? >> gigi, thank you very much. and while the debate ended with each candidate promising to accept the eventual winner, after the debate, trump walked into the debate spin ro telling the crowd he handily won the night, vowing to square off against clinton next month, while clinton followed up her performance by stopping by a local watch party, urging supporters to step up their game ahead of election day. nbc's tracie potts is live from the debate site at hofstra university. tracie, good morning to you. how are the candidates following up the performances today? >> reporter: so, frances, it's back to the battlegrounds and it's back to the base. last night was all about trying to get those undecided voters in the middle, but today with these

hillary clinton in north carolina. and in fact, she's going to be speaking at a community college, giving her the opportunity to build on some of those family themes that she talked about at a post debate rally last night. donald trump is going to be rallying later this evening in melbourne, florida. florida is a battleground state. it's also a state that's very much affected by immigration, which has been one of his big issues. interestingly, immigration and the wall an issue that did not come up in largescale last night. so are going to be today on national registration day, when they all really try to work hard to get out the vote with their base, with those people already supporting them. and by the way, hillary clinton's team already out with a new web ad about her performance last night, focusing on those comments that we've just heard about women. frances? >> all right. nbc's tracie potts for us. thank you, tracie. >> all right, while most people were probably watching the de debate, the new orleans saints and atlanta falcons continued

after the national anthem, players and coaches from both teams formed a circle in the middle of the field and linked hands. espn reports that the idea came from the head coaches, who left it up to their quarterbacks to decide exactly what to do. players said it was a way to show support without detracting from the anthem and was inspired by the latest police shootings in charlotte and tulsa. just ahead, the late-night shows had a field day with the debate. we've got all the highlights for you. but first, mandatory evacuations are under way after a brush fire broke out near california. officials say the 850-acre blaze is 0% contained. and in iowa, 17 counties are under states of emergency as the cedar river is expected to crest at 23 feet this morning. thousands of residents in cedar rapids have been evacuated, and they're hoping a temporary flood wall will hold back the river. meanwhile, torrential rain in san antonio, texas, led to a number of water rescues. nbc meteorologist bill karins is tracking this extreme weather. bill, good morning.

san antonio. now we're just seeing steady rain moving through areas of new england this morning. a lot of this will be gone by the peak of the morning rush hour, so here we are 7:00 a.m., but still boston and providence will deal with it and then central virginia into richmond. the good news for the northeast, it clears out during the day today. this afternoon, showers and thunderstorms on a stalled front through the carolinas. here's a closer look at your day ahead. you can see the rain will be clearing out of new york city early this morning. same for il lingering in the southeast. that will spark some afternoon storms from raleigh to charlotte to charleston to columbia, south carolina. and the rest of the country looks fairly nice for this tuesday. "early today" back in two. looks fairly nice for this tuesday. tuesday. this tuesday. was quivering in f. because it knew an ordinary tissue was near. the fiery tissue left her nose sore and red. so dad slayed the problem with puffs plus lotion, instead.

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...non-drowsy claritin every day of your allergy season. claritin provides powerful, non-drowsy 24 hour relief... for fewer interruptions from the amazing things you do every day. live claritin clear. before taking his team to state for the first time... gilman: go get it, marcus. go get it. ...coach gilman used his cash rewards credit card from bank of america to earn 1% cash back everywhere, every time. at places like the batting cages. ? [ crowd cheers ] 2% back at grocery stores and now at wholesale clubs. and 3% back on gas. which helped him give his players something extra. the cash rewards credit card from bank of america. more cash back for the things you buy most. please bow your heads and reflect with a moment of silence. >> the miami marlins have a tough task of playing a game a

fernandez died in a boating accident. all marlins players wore fernandez's number 16 jersey. the team circled the mound before the game for a prayer. and as you can see, it was emotional for both teams as the mets somberly hugged marlins players before the game. now to the game. and lead-off hitter dee gordon, a lefty, took the first pitch batting righty in honor of fernandez. then back to his normal style, he crushed a home run over the right fie well, he would say after the game that it was one of the best moments of his life, homering for fernandez. he was overcome with emotion as he rounded the bases and crossed home plate and was welcomed by his teammates, a fitting tribute and quite a moment, indeed. an investigation continues this morning into the gunman who randomly opened fire at drivers near a houston strip mall. nine people were hurt, six of them from gunshot wounds in an attack that lasted 20 minutes.

explosion inside of my car and glass everywhere. i heard a few pops, maybe two or three. could smell the powder and hot air from the bullets just flying by. >> police eventually killed the gunman in a shoot-out. he was found wearing a military-style uniform and armed with over 2,000 rounds of live ammunition. nazi emblems were found on some of his belongings, among other old military items, according to police. while a motive has yet to be determined, police say the suspect having issues with his law firm. this morning in syria, residents and rescue workers in aleppo are sifting through the rubble from what's being described as the worst set of air strikes throughout syria's five-year-long war. the violence continues to accelerate with more than 200 civilian deaths in just the past week. kelly cobiella is live in london with the latest for us. kelly? >> reporter: ayman, good morning. international groups and activists inside syria say the

bunker-busting bombs, affecting underground hospitals and shelters in eastern aleppo, these places of last refuge for the population there. hospitals are already under tremendous strain in eastern aleppo. there's a shortage of blood and medical supplies. and save the children says children are actually dying on the floors of hospitals because of a lack of antibiotics and other medication. that bombardment you mentioned that has blown craters into neighborhoods, families having to dut hand. now, the syrian army and their russian allies have said they're only targeting militants, but dozens of children have been killed over the past week since that cease-fire ended. over the weekend, the u.s. and great britain called an emergency security council meeting to try to push for a stop in the bombing yet again, but that turned ugly. the u.s., uk and france accusing russia of barbarism, of targeting hospitals and rescue workers.

sides, both sides accusing the other of violating the cease-fire earlier this month. and ayman, remarkably, despite all of this and the near constant assault on aleppo, syria's foreign minister actually said last night that a deal to stop the bombing was still possible. ayman? >> all right, kelly cobiella live for us in london with that heartbreaking report. fast-forwarding, today is national voter registration day. volunteers, celebrities and others will be out allve country at venues to raise awareness about voter registration. today the world health organization releases a report that says a staggering 92% of the world's population lives in areas with excessive air pollution. that contributes to problems like stroke, heart disease and lung cancer. and coming up on the "today" show, reaction from vice presidential nominees tim kaine and mike pence to last night's debate as they prepare to square off against each other one week from today. we'll be right back. prepare toe off against each other one week from today.

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this morning on "today," tom hanks stops by to talk about hidden heroes, a new initiative to help military caregivers who take care of injured service members or veterans. investors overseas were up overnight watching the clinton/trump debate as the tight race keeps markets on edge. cnbc's karen tso is following it for us. >> good morning.

the up side. asia ahead, europe firmer. and dow futures suggesting some gains this morning. one of the big gains on wall street yesterday was twitter as m&a taking continues to flush out new suitors with the likes of microsoft and disney, potential bidders likely to join salesforce.com and the google parent alphabet as potential bidders. meantime, something a bit cooler for uber from carpooling as it considers new flying tech w into something a bit like a helicopter and a plane, so we stand on top of the buildings instead of the curb waiting for our uber. ayman and frances. >> that's a quick way to get to work, right? >> we could use that around manhattan to get through some of of this traffic. thanks. just ahead, late night weighs in on the first presidential debate. plus, reunited and it feels so good. after ten years, "will & grace" are back. you're watching "early today." are back.

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nivea in-shower body lotion after washing apply and rinse 24 hours of moisture with no sticky feel. then get dressed and go. delight your senses with in-shower cocoa butter. available in the body lotion aisle. ? tomorrow's the day we'll play something besides video games. a gift especially for people with heart failure. but today there's entresto?- a breakthrough medicine that can help make more tomorrows possible. tomorrow, i want to see teddy bait his first hook. in the largest heart failure study ever, entresto? was proven to help more people stay alive and out of the hospital than a leading heart failure medicine. women who are pregnant must not take entresto?. it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby.

or aliskiren. if you've had angioedema while taking an ace or arb medicine, don't take entresto?. the most serious side effects are angioedema, low blood pressure, kidney problems, or high potassium in your blood. tomorrow, i'm gonna step out with my favorite girl. ask your heart doctor about entresto?. and help make the gift of tomorrow possible. please join me in welcoming undecided voter charles hanson of columbus, ohio. thank you for being here. you clearly have not put enough thought into this. do you think you'll be able to choose by election day? >> don't count on it. >> well, there are two more presidential debates. do you think those are going to help? >> outlook not so good. >> mr. henson, are you answering

ball? >> all signs point to yes. >> hopefully, a lot of people out there not going to be that way. >> yeah, i hope they're a little bit more informed than that guy. of course, celebrities were engaged in the debate via twitter as well. a lot of notable names weighing in. actress kristen bell said of donald trump "if i had been audited for 15 years straight, i guess i'd brag about it, too. it's pretty unique." and shonda rhimes tweeted "it's likelb to have a thoughtful discussion with biff tannen from "back to the future." and ellen degeneres saying "they say 100 million people are watching these debates. if you're interested enough to watch, i hope you're interested enough to vote. we need you." and today is voter registration day as well, so. >> well, here's another way to get people out there to vote. it's with the cast of "will & grace." they reunited for a new scene of their hit show with a new message, to get out there and

course that would be jack, to pick their favorite candidate. >> can you believe this is the world we live in? >> no. it's criminal. >> how is it possible that donald trump is a nominee for president of the united states? >> oh, not what i was reading. >> champ, champ, champ, champ! make america great again! >> i still haven't heard the one thing that would convince me to other! >> katy perry likes hillary. >> and bingo was her name-o! >> great to see them all back together, but don't get your hopes up too high. >> they've still got it. you can see the chemistry between them is still amazing. >> it's ten minutes, not a full episode. this is "early today." amazing. >> this is "early today." little dakota's nose was quivering in fear. because it knew an ordinary tissue was near.

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law enforcement in arapahoe county are looking for this woman. 88-year-old helen roup was last seen last night at a phillips 66 gas station in deer trail. someone at the gas station says she appeared confused and disoriented... and had to be given directions on how to centennial. she drives a dark blue toyota camry with colorado license plate 136- jlo. if you see her--please call the number on your screen. good morning... thanks for joining us on 9 news at 4-30.. gary and corey here with you today.. and marty has our first look at the weather -- looks