. extremely critical fire conditions grow more dangerous as the santa ana winds whip up gusts to more than 70 miles per hour while evacuations spread. palestinians call for days of rage over president trump's recognition of jerusalem as israel's true capital. the growing chorus of senators calling for al franken's resignation will come to a head day. temporarily blinded by whileushing to an emergency seen leads to an re a impor h involving breast cancer in women taking birth control. "early today" starts right now. california is still seeing no relief from the deadliest and most destructive fire season of the year. >> as many as five wildfires are

tearing through los angeles right now, driven by fierce santa ana winds and dry conditions. the thick plumes of smoke are so dense, they're even visible from space. hu their homes in ventura county and los angeles. >> president trump offered his thoughts and prayers to those affected. schools have canceled most classes and residents are being advised to stay indoors due to the dangerous air conditions. and more evacuations have been issued. ride hailing app lyft is offering free rides amid fears that wind strength will strengthen today. scott, good morning. what are you seeing there? >> good morning, phillip. it's all about the wind. it kind of comes and goes. but the forecast is for those winds to pick up as the early morning hours go on. that's bad for firefighting. you combine that with all dry vegetation. and we're talking a fire risk that's as b thinbo

that 90,000 acre fire that's burning here in ventura county. that's 140 square miles, or roughly the size of the city oft 36 hours. and now with the fire risk escalating, it's all hands on deck. for some lge fire growth. on the north and west side of this fire in the next 24 to 48 hours. resistance to control is going to be very difficult because of the large probability of spot fires that will establish easily and spread rapidly and tend to confound control efforts. >> so fire crews are on the lookout for these so-called spot fires that come from embers that come from the main fire, and trying to knock those down as soon as possible so that the fires don't spread. of course this is one of about

five fires burning in southern california. these santa ana winds are expectedo continue blowing, perhaps peaking but continuing into the weekend. phillip, frances? >> all right, scott, thank you. we bring you nowssd gusts. at can you tell us about >> the problem is going to be as we go through the morning and tomotains, lower 40 eak, and as to 60 with extreme fire conditions for 20 million people, the spot fires and embers are possibly going to start new blazes. here are the peak gusts forecast for the cities themselves. again, it could be higher in the mountains. l.a. up to 45. santa ana around 60. oxnard around 50. again, they'll peak this morning, but they'll stay gusty right into the upcoming weekend. >> all right, bill. thank you very much. middle east rotests that have after president trump upended decades of u.s. policy by recognizing jerusalem as the capital of israel. demonstrations broke thought the west bank almost imdiaty.n the world, but across the globe

denounced the move as a detriment to permanent peace. but the president insists the status quo isn't working and something must change.nbc'sn jo with more. good morning. >> frances, the president is making a risky bet here, that doing something different will eventually end up productive for peace talks. but he is about the only one making that bet. this decision, which is not likely to be undone by future presidents someone of the most controversial and consequential of his administration. >> all challenges demand new approaches. >> reporter: seven decades of u.s. policy changed in an instant. >> today we finally acknowledge the obvious, that jerusalem is israel's capital. >> reporter: president trump will also move the u.s. embassy to jerusalem, which could take three or four years and which puts the u.s. on an island. every other country, more than 80 of them with an embassy in israel has theirs in tel aviv. >> well, previous presidents have made this apaigndeliver.

today i am delivering. >> reporter: there are reasons those other presidents change their views. like widespread consensus and united nations policyte one of the last decisions israelis palestinians. but this president made a promise. >> we will move therican embayr: and he wants to make good ondomestic politics a like a legal deadline, and pressure from evangelical leavi wiggle room, the president posi controversial question of whether or how jerusalem should be divided. and he says he is not ending u.s. support for a two-state solution. but in reality experts say any solution looks exponentially more difficult now. >> by giving this unilateral concession to the israelis today and getting nothing for it, the president has weakened the american position, made it less likely that we'll get progress from the israelis at the negotiating table.

>> as one of thet diplomatically diflt disputes now gets even more complicated. hallie jackson, nbc news, the white house. now to ron allen in jerusalem with reaction to the president's announcement. ron, where do we stand with the days of rage that were called for by the palestinians? >> reporter: well, phillip, there incidents reported in the west bank. we're in east jerusalem now. but in the west bank the police are saying there is an increase in rock-throwing incidents, an increase in molotov cocktails there have been some protest more people to go out intothere is there are shops that have been closed. some are open. it's something of a mixed bag. the big concern beyond today is tomorrow, friday. friday prayers when the masses go to mosque, and when the imams are delivering sermons, some of them very fiery. and all of that no doubt will be about jerusalem, and it will no doubt inflame some passions. and the result of that could be potentially confrontational

violence. the other thing i should say is we also spent some time on the west side of jerusalem. the israeli side. there there are saying godssnald trum. the people that we talked to were almost completely unanimous in their agreement and their applauding of this decision, saying that it's well overdue, that it's long overdue, and that jerusalem will always be the capital of israel. so apinions on one side and the other, but that's the story here. that's what's happening. that's the nature of the conflict that has been going on for so long. phillip? >> ron allen for us in jerusalem. ron, thank you. now with the growing number of sexual allegations being hurled at minnesota senator al franken, a staed lawmakers are now demanding that the democrat resign. that i y. onslaught onfollowing anotha misc accusing franken of attempting to forcibly kiss her three e

franken, according to politico, then reportedly telling the woman, quote, it's my right a rtainer. for more we go toc's tracie potts ws capitol hill. tracie, good morning. r: good morning. the tide is turning against franken among his own colleagues now. 35 democts they step down resign. and this groundswell happened after that seventh accuser came forward on wednesday. in a tweet, franken's office says no decision has been made, that he is talking with his family. he'll make an announcement in d.c. tomorrow. that today. but reports of a final decision at that point they said are inaccurate. as for that seventh cu ports, f te it's categorically not. and that he would claim right as an entertainer to forc he calls preposterous. he says he is looking forward to

cooperating with that ongoing ethics committee investigation. we'll find out today whether that's the case. meantime, one of the first democrats to come out against him was senator kerstin gillibrand of new york. >> enough is enough. this is a conversation we've been having for a very long time. and it's a conversation that this country needs to have. and i think when we start having to talk about the differences between sexual assault and sexual harassment and unwanted groping, you're having the wrong conversation. you need to draw a line in the sand and say none of it is okay. none of it is acceptable. and we as elected leaders should absolutely be held to a higher standard, not a lower standard. and we should fundamentally value women. and that is where this debate has to go. >> reporter: now franken may or may not draw that line on his career. we'll find out some time later today. frances? >> all right, thank you. the house approved a bill along party lines wednesday that would make it easier for gun owners to legally carry concealed weapons across state

lines with permits. a bill strongly backed by the nra. it's the first major gun legislation to move forward since the deadly mass shootings in las vegas and texas. the bill now heads to the senate where it is likely to face a much tougher battle. it also includes a measure to improve the federal background check system for gun purchases. but that faces an uncertain future. all right. turning now to our weather. and let's check back with bill karins to see what's in store, especially with these really critical fires. >> good morning again. i want to show you the maps. i want to explain why southern california is such a bad risk today. this goes back to march. this was after a very wet winter. look how green all the mountains were. so as we fast forward through this, and we go through the very dry summer, notice how brown all the map turns. that's all the vegetation drying up, some of it dying. and that has let to the extreme fire conditions. we have a lot of vegetation to burn. we have active fires and wind gusts today up to 60 to 70, maybe even 80-mile-per-hour winds. and that's why this has the potential to explode and burn so quickly. that's why the thomas fire is up

to 90,000st two days. and unfortunately, there is no rain at all over the next seven days in this area. so the wet season has been the opposite study affecting

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woman. seriously. the gas pump was there were no passengers on board the plane. now important medical news for millions of women who take birth control across the united states. ould increase the risk ose for breast cancer, the most common type of cancer found among women. researchers say it's a new cause for concern and something women need to talk about with their doctor. dr. john torres filed this report. >> reporter: doctors had hoped neworms of birth control using fewer hormones might be safer. but tonight's study reports they crease a woman's risk of study in a "new england journal of medicine" following nearly two million women! fou their breast cancer risk jumped 20%.n years, that risk grew to 38%. a special concern for women in their 40s since their risk of breast cancer is already greater than a younger woman's. this increase may seem like a lot, but overall, the risk oflo still relatively low. obesity raises your odds more than birth control.

>> millions of women are on hormonal contraceptives. it just means that each person really needs to look criticay at their reasons forit. >> reporter: the study also found it's not just pills that increase cancer risk, but any contraception that uses hormones, including the vaginal ring, certain iuds and the patch. other options for birth control without hormones include condoms, diaphragms, and one type of iud. >> i don't think that any woman should panic. >> reporter: doctors say the study does not mean women should automatically stop taking birth control, especially those taking it for other medical conditions. coming up, who topped th forbes lis highest paid musicians? we'll tell you about that. plus, you will not believe the size of this o. look at that. you're watching "early today." t. psoriasis does that. it was tough getting out there on stage. i wanted to be clear. i wanted it to last.

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through the ohio valley on saturday and even into sunday. looking at a pretty dry and calm conditions, but cold in areas there of the east. all right, bill, you know what? it's not too early. 1 you get wednesday over it's o ahead. especially i it's going to be we've got to make our plans. >> the indoor plans. >> that's right. >> if it does snow in the southeast, all bets off. >> that would be so crazy. i can't believe that. >> bf get it every once in a while for the kids and families who are not used to it, get the muffins out, the skarvegs itcarves. >> it's more fun than anything else. great to see that happen here. especially you grew up in that part of the country. so you know how it is. >> so rare, yeah. this is "early today" on a thursday. not too early to look ahead to the weekend. we'll be right back. >> that's right. well, here's to first dates! you look amazing. and you look amazingly comfortable.

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and the driver doesn't stop. >> the ultimate sacrifice. today people all across our are harbor. and why a mall wants a santa claus to tone down his acts. we haven't seen that, for sure. is is nbc 10 news today first look. a scold start today. let's get to bill henley with your first alert neighborhood forecast. >> it is cold and the wind is not helping much.

a little bit of a breeze is blowing to sea. we just get a little bit of a breeze to make it colder. windchill is 33 dries egrees in philadelph philadelphia. but the temperatures are still falling. even without the wind it's cold for most neighborhoods. 30 this morning. 36 in the suburbs, clinging to 40 degrees in philadelphia and 28 degrees to start with in the lehigh valley. we will see sun but the wind will be increasing during the day so a chilly one all day long with temperatures ranging from the low 40s into the upper 40s this afternoon. i'll break these forecasts down to show how it will feel as you're out and about during the day when i'm back in 10 minutes. this is a pretty serious accident that's affabilitying t

-- affecting the southbound lanes. the driver is in serious condns are tffic problems as a result. traffic is still getting by in that area so that's something we'll keep our eye . that video just came into our newsroom right now, so these are conditions on the roadway as we speak. let's take a look at the schuylkill and see how things moving there. we did see some police activity, but that hascleared. and if you're traveling mass transit, everything is on time. >> thank you. a school bus is caught on camera leaving behind a trail of damage. you can see the driver taking out car mirrors and tires in the neighborhood during the morning commute. we're joined there live this morning. the witnesses there say the driver never stopped. tell us more. >> reporter: never stopped and fortunately there was somebody behind that bus, a driver who had a dash cam in the window that captured