we'll see you next time. it's wednesday, november 18th. coming up on "early today" breaking news over night once again the sounds of heavy gun fire and explosions in paris. french police targeting high level suspects in the dark of night. and bomb scares diverting two planes and another threat causing thousands to evacuate a soccer stadium in germany. what's to be done with the

syrian refugees. "early today" starts right now.fu good morning, we start with breaking news. these are live pictures of a raid still ongoing in france. justan outside of paris and located near the stade de france and overnight, they raided an apartment in a planned operation in connection with last week's attacks in paris. this is the scene earlier tonight. [ gun fire]

explosions. police say one person is still holed up in the apartment. there are explosives in the apartment that could bring down a building. and two suspects are dead. three men inside the apartment werepa arrested by special ops. a man and woman were also arrested nearby. three ofrts ficers and one civilian were injured in this raid. they believe the likely target wasy obdual abdul, the alleged master mind behind last week's paris attacks.

but first,di we want to bring in kelly who's on her way to saint-denis. >> reporter: as you said, we believe thise is an ongoing investigation. one of the ais spects, a woman who apparently killed herself, blew herself up at the beginning of the assaults. this happened at 4:30 a.m. local time. by 6:30 a.m., there were more explosions about two hours after it began. this is in an apartment building and there are apartment buildings and stores and all around. it'sar a densely populated area. neighbors are staying in their apartments in their homes. they have -- are hearing gun fire and explosions throughout

understandably very frightened. police have told people in the neighborhood beforehand, this is not an attack, this is going to be a raid, an operation but it's been an unexpectedly violent operation, according to some policeo sources and that is what people are reacting to now. as we said, still ongoing, we can't confirm the number of dead suspects or injured police according to a police spokes person. they saype this is still ongoing and they don't want to jeopardize investigations or operations in other parts of the city. dara. >> reporting live from france. a fierce political battle is heating up back home over allowing syrian refugees to enter inter the it u.s.

and some in congress want to change the progress of welcoming them in. >> i cannot think of a more potent recruitment tool for isil. than somee of the rhetoric that's been coming out of here during the course of this debate. >> nbc's ron allen is with president obama in the philippines. who is the president calling out o here? >> reporter: he isre calling out these republican governors who are saying they won't allow syrian refugees into their state and he's calling out a number of republicans on the campaign trail. he was very passionate on this issue and he says these are people who are playing to our

fears and to our worst instinct instincts. there are only 2,000 or so refugees in the country, the united states andhe the limit was going to be 10,000. that compares to europe countries like germany who have admitted 8 00,000 or so into country. and he says there's a process that takes anywhere from 18 to 24 months and so far, about half that have been admitted are children. thche president also said these are people who are also speaking out, he says, are candidates and others who are saying it would only take a tone to stop vladimir putin or to stop the threat of isis. the president is saying, this is something that is not american andn again, so far, it is republicans candidates, republican governors who are saying they won't admit these

syrian refugee sdwhz ee es and the president saying this is not who we are. late last night two air france flights were forced to maketo emergency landings after receiving phone-in bomb threats after takehr off. and flight 65 from los angeles to france with 497 people on board was diverted to salt lake city.. both flights landed safely. the planes were thoroughly inspected and cleared and resumed their flights. it's unclear if the final destinations would still be france. and thee attacks include fighter bombers and crews c missiles missiles. this comes. after a russian plan was brought down killing all 2244

and vladimir putin saying quote we will find them anyplace on earth and punish them. russia is offering a $50 million reward to anyone who knows who is responsible. governor nsjindal said it's not his time. and the new york times says two of his advisors are critical of his knowledge of the middle east and carson fired back saying one of them isn't really aneabut admitted he was on a learning curve. >> i know a lot more than i knew a year ago and a year from now i'll learn more. and i think it applies to every

especially in a rapidly changing world. c >> voters rank carson outside the top five, 28.7%. and good news for hillary clinton, she's earned a powerful new indorsement, the service employees international union who represents 2,000,000 workers. it's a blow to bernie sanders. who needs the support of organized workers. inor denver, severe snow and wind is leaving whiteout conditions. and trees coming down and leaving more than 6,000 people without power. and bill karins is here with your wednesday forecast. we have a tornado watch, thankfully, we have not had any

we still have a lot of moisture being drawn up into it.. this is going to be oo heavy rain producer in the days ahead. as far as today's heavy rain event, right now it's in new orleans and eventually it's going to move from mississippi to alabama. and here's the rainfall forecast, a widespread 1 to 2 inches of rain from birmingham to montgomery, about an inch possible up into the ohio valley and thursday's forecast will have heavier rain amounts right along i 95. from boston to norfolk and virginia areas p. . the cold air starting to show up in montana. now a closer look at your day ahead.

around panama city, and we could have an isolated tornado or two but wind damage is the greatest threat and clouds will be slowly increasing in the northwest. and -- northeast. and justrt ahead, an alarming increase in sexually transmitted diseases in the u.s. and a passenger trying to hopen the exit inexit ...one of many pieces in my life. so when my asthma symptoms kept coming back on my long-term control medicine, i talked to my doctor and found a missing piece in my asthma treatment. once-daily breo prevents asthma symptoms. breo is for adults with asthma not well controlled on a long-term asthma control medicine, like an inhaled corticosteroid. breo won't replace a rescue inhaler for sudden breathing problems. breo opens up airways to help improve breathing for a full 24 hours. breo contains a type of medicine that increases the risk of death from asthma problems and may increase the risk of hospitalization in children and adolescents. breo is not for people whose asthma is well controlled on a

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and positively radiant skin. aveeno positively radiant moisturizer... with active naturals soy. aveeno naturally beautiful results . welcome back. you're look at live pictures in an ongoing raid in saint-denis france. now to other top stories. at least 80 wounded from a suicide bomb in nigeria last night carried out by boko haram. and

. a woman on board a british airlines flight was arrested yesterday. they say she was drunk. she tried to open the plane's emergency door midflight and had to be restrained. >> at first i thought she was having a panic attack. it took six stewardests to get her subdued. this thanksgiving holiday, expect more traffic on the road in trains and in the skies. they're expecting more than 46 million holiday travellers. cheaper flights are spurring the increase. and stds on a rise in an alarming rate. and the highest yearly total of any std reported to the krds cdc.

and what would you do if an alligator showed up to your picnic? luckily, they were able to shoo the gator back to the lake after it was done eating. and amazon has made a big announcement. they plan to roll out deals every if i ever minutes starting this coming friday until black friday, the day after thanksgiving. and up to 50% off various toys. amazon prime members will get access to these holiday sales 30 minutes earlier than anyone else. and just ahead, an nbc news exclusive interview, actor charlie sheen admits to matt lauer that he has hiv. hiv. like how you thought you were covered for all this... when you're really only covered for this. hot dog? or how you may think you're

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this morning on "today" a rossen reports investigation, how the tsa is screening for weapons and how safe is air travel. charlie sheen has added his name to the list of those with hiv. he says he's paid up to $10 millions in hush money to keep it secret.

in fact hiv positive. >> reporter: charlie sheen has lived on the wild side and the diagnoses four years ago of hiv would be a life changing moment. >> it's a hard three letters to absorb, you know. it's a turning point in one's life. >> reporter: charley says he's decided to tell his story now because he was facing betrayal and extorgz from people who found out the truth. are you still paying these people? >> not after today. >> reporter: have you had unprotected sex on any occasion since the diagnoses? >> yes, but they were under the care of my doctor and were completely warned ahead of time. >> reporter: have you transmitted the virus to someone

>> impossible. >> reporter: his personal physician. >> we can't say it's zero but it's a very, very low number. >> reporter: do you know how you contracted the virus? >> sitting here today, not entirely, no. >> reporter: he understands some of the reckless things he's done up until now is partly why he's where he is today. >> you can only hear winning in the streets so many times. >> reporter: the stigma that's attached to this diagnoses is one of the worst parts about it. people don't take action, they don't get help because of the stigma. do you still feel that? >> i don't. no. i have a responsibility now to better myself and to help a lot of other people. >> for more of the full intervie, visit nbcnews.com.

just ahead, people magazine has announced this year's sexiest man alive. can you guess who? and george clooney, miley cyrus, they're all doing something huge for the holidays p.

now time for some entertainment news. people magazine has named david beckham 2016's sexiest man alive.

it was announced on jimmy kimmel live last night. dashing through the snow in a one horse open slay over the fields we go laughing all the way >> netflix has released a trailer for a "a very murray christmas." it will be released on the streaming service december 4th. and zayn said he wanted to work on his own projects. and last night jimmy fallon delivered the news on "the tonight show." i'm dara brown and this is

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square trim-a-tree! plus everyone gets $10 kohl's cash for every $50 spent! kohl's. leading the news on nbcnews.com, u.s. eyes travel of 800 potential foreign fighters. intelligence officials say 8 01 names in the u.s. terror base contain connections in france. and they're paying particular atengsz a attention to their travel attempts.

vandalized after paris terror attacks. in florida, two mosques received threatening phone calls. and after an event as horrific as the terror attacks in france, it can be hard for children to process what happened. and this is a viral video where a father found just the right words of comfort for his son. >> reporter: as paris tries to heal, it's hard enough for adults to understand why it happens. but what if you're seeing it all from down here like this little boy who told a french reporter

>> 10-year-old alexandra lost a teacher in the attacks. even the youngest seem to know. >> she tell me this time france lost the fight. i said, yes, it's true in a way. but this will never happen again. >> those words of reassurance just helped. >> trying to make sense of the world at a time of so much change. kelly, nbc news, paris. >> you know, it's so important these kids watching these things don't understand what is going

keep it right here on nbc for more updates. and we'll bring you those updates throughout the day. we appreciate you watching "early today." have a great wednesday.