preparing with top advisers. all week long hillary clinton is grueling day of her political career today. testifying before the benghazi committee. with joe biden out of the race, clinton's poll position has already risen to an almost unstoppable status. new arrests in the load rage case that e eed in the shooting death of a 4-year-old girl. plus firefighters held hostage at the scene of an ohio fire. and the new york mets, they are headed to theorld series. early "today" starts right now. good morning, everybody. thanks for joining us. i'm betty nguyen. in a matter of hours hillary clinton will appear before the committee ononbenghazi. whether it's a drilling for answers or a political witch hunt, the next few hours could be the mostignificant of her campaign. andrea mitcher reports.

lawyers and former aides. clinton's game plan unli last time -- >> at this point what difference does it ke? >> reporter: this time she'll try to stay cool and play up republican mistakes. >> it is a partisan vehicle as admitted by the house republican majority leadede mr. mccarthy to drive down my poll numbers. big surprise. >> reporter: but the benghazi controversy could still drag on. >> we are overrun. >> reporter: a movie coming soon all but blames clinton for the tragedy.y. a grieving mother whose only son shawn smith was among those killed also blames clinton. >> it was her department. how come she let my son be kill snd how come? she knene this was happening. >> let's bring in tracy potts who is live in washington for us today. today? >> her strategy is to try to set the record saight from her perspective yetagain.

this will be the first time she's testified before this select committeehat's only looking at the benghazi attack. we're expecting eight hours of testimimy. so this could go very long today. one of the things the committee wants to know is why weren't the requests for more security in benghazi heeded earlier. they n n have 000ages of e-mails from ambassador chris stevens who was one of the four killed in that attack. they have not been able to question her on these e-mails before much less her own e-mails. she is expected today to push for more diplomacy in risky areas and ask congress for money for a diplomatic training facility that so far they have t to fund. >> it t going to be interesting. tracie, thank you so much for that. joe biden's decision to stst

making waves. in a new poll trump is seen a most likely to win the gop mination. top democrats had nice things to say about biden on twitter. but bernie sanders was a bit more critical. >>e need a political revovotion. weweeed to mobilize tensnsf llions of people to begino stanup aig back and now owned by big money. do think tt was the work -- was that the goal o o the president and the vice president? i don't think so. so i think we've got to go further. >> for the latest on biden, we go toristen welker. >> i believe we're out of time -- >> reporter: andith those words, vice president joe biden closed the door on his life-long goal of running for president. bowing out but delivering@a call to action and taking a swipe at hillary clintotowho has moved

away f fm some of obama's policies. >> this party, our nation will be making a tragic mistak if we walk away or attempt to undo the obama legacy. >> repepter: biden said the grieving process over his late son beau was pivotal. >> i've said all along what i've said time and again to others. that itt may very well be that that process by the time we get through it closes the window on mounting a realisticampaign for president. that it might close. i've concluded it has closed. >> reporter: but biden said he won't sit on the sidelines. >> but while i will not be a candidate, i will not be silent. >> reporter: clinton called biden after his speech and tweeted the vice president is a good friend and a great man. todaand always inspired by has optimism and commitment to change the w wld for the tter.

he came to this decision reluctanly one of pauau ryan's conditions to run for speaker of the house has been met almost. yesterday members of the freedom caucus said they have a supermajority to support his bid. because it failed to reach 80% they will not formally endorse him. a source says john boehner convinced ryan to move forward. in a statement ryansaid, i'm grateful for the support. the vote for speaker is scheduled fonext thursday. a person of interest in the road rage incident that killed a 4-year-old girir isow in custody. police arrested tony torres yesterday. he's accused of shooting at a pickup truck caring lil ingnginin lilly

garcia and her family. she was killed. more e-mail trouble for the cia director. wikileaks is spilling some contents from his accounts days after hackers bragged about stealing it on social media. pete williams has details. >> repter: through twitter messages, the hackershemselves left behindome of the best clues to their identity as the e-mails they stole show up elsewhere. in a memo drafted in 2007, john brennan advising the obama campaign renlded that the next president tone down the rhetoric on ahmadinejad and have a direct line with iran. that's's stolen from his aol e-mail account by hackers. including one that called himself crackand compares himself to edward snowden. the hacker tweeted, hey, russia, if you're reading this, was

out with a place to stay. and he tweeted what are those flashing lights. the hackers had already revealal some of those. including names and social security numbers of some officials and claimed they got into a comcast account of jeh johnson. >> the one thing i'l'lay is don't believe everything you read in the newspaper because a lot of it is inaccurate. >> reporter: the hackers say they used a phohy verizon employee codee to trick verizon reset the password on his aol account and take it over. computer security experts say the cia director of all people should have known better. today presesent obama is expected to issue a rare veto of the annual defense policy bill. the $612 billion measure authorizes defense spending and meets spending levels the

but the president claims it skirts spending caps without increasing domestic spending first. republicans accuse him of playing politics with national security. >> the bill providess our troops with the resources they need to keep america safe. and it meets the funding levels that the president requested. yet the president has ved to veto it. 's time to put our troops first. it's time to stop playing political games. >> this will be the fifth veto of the obama presidency. a man is in custody in a hostage situationnn ohio last night. after arriving on the scene, authorities found a man burning leaves. he was ordered to stop. that's whehe pulled out a rifle. two were held hostage. made demands for alcohol and prescription medication. he surrendered afterer two hourur

kardashian are giving their marriage another chance. it can be refiled at a later date. right now odom is recovering in an l.a. hospital. he was found unconscious at a nevada brothel last week with multiple drugs in his system. a source close to the couple say there are no immediate plans for him to be dischahaed although he is more coherent. the new york mets, how about em. they brought t chicago cubs back from to the future prediction that really didn't happen. today's reality is they are not going to the w wld series. it was strong pitching and a record sixth home run in s consecutive games by daniel murphy. the mets, thehehave swept the cubbies in wrigley. >> and strike three called. they haven't been to the wld series since 2000.

back. >> the new york mets will face either the royals or the blue jays. congratulations to them. you can still hear people in new york city so excited about that. in eastern parts of new mexico, not excited about this. heavy rain, powerful winds. motorists traveling through treacherous conditions. let's get the latest on the weather. bill cairns is here. >> that was day two. we're going to go five days of this. already this morning flash flood warnings are up. we have a squall line heading across the state of texas right now from san angelo to wichita falls. essa under flash flood warnings this morning from the slow moving storms. as far as the flood watches go, we have a flood watch whichjs huge and also a tornado watch. we haven't really had anan but

an isosoted one or two is possible. this tornado watch will continue until about 4:30 local time. as far as the flood watch goes, it goes from carlsbad through dallas, ft. rth. we're goinin to have rounds of thunderstorms for the next three days. widespread 2 to 5 inches of rain. levels could head up to 10 inches of rain. our three-day rainfall totals, notice we fococ the heavy rains back towards san angelo and lubbock. that's the focus point if we get major flooding. that's where we could see it. now here's a closer look at the day ahead. obviously showers and thunderstorms widespread throughout the deep south all the way into oklahoma. dry from little rock at least today. your rainfall, better chances of thatver the coming ekend. also a cooler, chillier rain towards colorado. and betty, also yesterday our government announced that septqmber on the globe w the warmest we've rerded. ever in the hihiory?

>> yes. it goes back 1600 months. 1880 is when the records began. >> that's a long time. thank you. marijuana use among american adults has doubled, but that is just the beginninin plus a brazen smash and grab at a california jeweler. details next. you're watching early "today."ay." take a look at these bbq trophies: best cracked pepper sauce... most ribs eaten while calf roping... yep, greatness deserves recognition. you got any trophies, cowboy? whoomp there it is uh, yeah... well, uh, ll there's this one. best insurance mobile app? yeah, two years in a row. well i'll be... does that thing just follow you around? like a little puppy! the award-winning geico app.

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been released. according to a recent report from the nih, adult marijuana usage has doubled in the last decade. 30% of users meet the criteria for addiction. check out this surveillance video. a dramatic smash and grab at a jewelry store in california. four thieves smashed cases and stole jewels and watches during the minute-long heist yesterday. rolex watches were being thrown from a car on the freeway. the stolenn watches reportedly had tracking devices. time to get down to business. a lego shortage at christmas? say it isn't so. the reason? demand is so strongg that there willll likely be a lego shortage in european countries. get ready for youtube red. what is it? well, it's an ad-free subscription-based service that

laches on o oober 28th for $9.99 a month. it will include access to original shows and movies and much more. making its debut on the new york stock exchange, ferrari, the ultra hotnd luxury car maker raised about $893 million. finishing the day 6% from its initial pric beauty of a car. just ahead, two teens with an opportunini to punch a ticket to the world series. only one took advantage. plus grip it and rip it. the world's longest drive competition. next in sports.ts. we take away your stuffy nose. you keep the peace. we calm your congestion and pain. you rally the team. we give you relief from your cough. you give them a case of the giggles. tylenol cold helps relieve even your worst coldld flu symptoms. so you can give them everything you've got.

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this morning on "today," wrangler's hitting the road ass part of his guide dog trabing. and today he's taking the lone star state by storm. follow awe paw-some adventure. the mets will have to cool their jets. started with the second inning score to get on the board. at the world long drive championship in oklama, $150,000 on the line. it started with 64 contenders. then each has just under three minutes to grip it and rip it.

in the end tim burke's drive was enough for him to grara his second belt and big check. in akron, ohio, lebron james was joined by michelle obama at a reach higher rally. thousands of students and parents from the lebron james family foundation for education is part of the promotion for college education. just ahead, find o who the highest paid c cedians are. plus it is life imitateing art. michael j. fox reveals sneakers

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nog to entertainment. chris rock will host next year's oscars. this is his second hosting gig. he did it back in 2005. on the new forbes list of highest paid comedians jerry seinfeld is tops at $36 million. howeveve the list does not include ananwomen. adam levine and maroon 5 are in talks to play the half-time show of the super bowl next year. sesame street is introducing an autistic puppet. there she is.

writer expins thise hotel was based on trump. and n nki introduced the self-lacing sneakers. michael j. fox was given the first pair. he laced them up on jimmy kimmel lili last night. they arrive in 2016. >> 2015 kind of sucks. get back to the job at hand.

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have been on the streets. tyrone howard charged in the shooting death ofnypd officer. he has a 16-year rap sheet and was wanted for previous crimes. his next court appeararae is later this month. disputed nasa study finds 99.9% chance l.a. will soon face a major earthquake. that's not od. researchers predic theassive ake will occur between now and april 2018. it's expected to be 5.0 or greater in magnitude. all right. big newsrom the irs. it will recognize same-sex marriage's in the u.s. regardless of whether states have legalized them. in which marriage is a aactor including filing status, standard deductions, and employee benefits.

florida stateark on monday. the iuries were from a gator attack. the 12 foot gator was later trapped and killed. this is the first alligator attack at the park in 23 years. the secret to a happy marriage is "thank you." that's it. gratitude, it's got to be honest and genuine gratitude though. it influences a level of commitment in a partner. apprecection for a spouse is more significant than financial well being and communication style. now, that says a lot. >> thank you, betty. thank you for telling me this information. >> thank you, bill, for everything you do. >> we'll get along now.. >> genuinenes the key. pumpkin fever is high in this town. 100,0,0 pounds of pumpkins and gourds. the last day to catch the festivities is saturday so you don't want to miss it.

now here's a look ahead. hillary clinton is expected to testify before theouse selt commmmtee on benghaha. e former secretary of state will be the star witness in the republican-led investigation into the deadly 2012 attacks. it will be a marathon. a grueling eight-hour grilling. she is expected to turn the tables that this is a political witch hunt. i want to say happy birthday to jesse tyler ferguson who is 40. jeff goldblum, 63. and christopher lloyd turns 77. happy birthday, everybody. now, keep it here for more news, weather, and sports.

have a great day, everyone.now on today in iowa: a big moment today for hillary clinton.

she's testifying on capitol hill