politics put aside for the night as baseball took center stage after wednesday's horrific shooting as members of congress come together and honor steve scalise. trump administration revoke an obama era immigration program intended to protect parties. captured. the escaped georgia inmates have been caught. a new bomb shell in the mueller investigation of possible obstruction of justice. and honoring the late adam west. "early today" starts right now. good friday morning, i'm frances rivera. the pentagon is sending more troops to afghanistan

another 4,000 americans in harm's way. that would put the total number of u.s. service members to 12,000. this is the largest deployment under president trump so far. these additional troops are being cents in order to break the stalemate in the 16 year war. most will train and advise afghan forces some will be assigned to counterterrorism operations. house majority whip steve scalise remains in critical condition after being shot in the hip after a baseball practice. yesterday he had a second operation to address internal injuries and a broken bone in his leg. he is improving but will require further surgeries and will be in the hospital for sometime. matt mika also remains hospitalized. his family said he was alert and communicating through notes. despite the shooting lawmakers proceeded with the

national park last night. jay gray has more. >> reporter: pre-game players knelt at second base where skeef s -- steve scalise would have been playing and where he was gunned down at a practice field in virginia. a lot of players wore purple and gold f gold. scalise remains in critical condition in d.c. hospital but never far from the minds of colleagues and the crowd. david bailey threw out the first pitch and then as the game got under way at nationals park the teams were a little older, a little slower than tans are used to seeing here but no less determined. >> it's baseball. it's america. when america gets punched america punches back. >> reporter: they are not playing for a pennant but

purpose one shared by thousands of fans who showed up for tonight's charity game. >> let's see some good baseball but people are coming together after a tragedy. >> reporter: a unknity. >> doesn't matter when you're democrats or republicans we're all americans. >> reporter: players from both sides of the aisle come together to enjoy america's pastime. jay gray, nbc news, washington. breaking news. the leader of isis may be dead as the russian defense ministry issued a statement saying that they have information that abu bakr al baghdadi was killed in one of their air strikes. we go to london for more. >> reporter: well, i should caution that we must take this news with a grain of salt. this is just the information we're getting from the russian military. they said as you say

late may there was a meeting with abu bakr al baghdadi and other senior members of isis in a southern suburb of raqqah. raqqah is the de facto capital of the so-called islamic state in syria. they say they got this information, he was in the southern corridor and drones confirmed the data about the time and venue of this isis leaders' meeting and carried out this strike they claim on may 28th between basically 12:30 in the morning and 12:45 in the morning. again, we really do have to take this with a grain of salt. abu bakr al baghdadi has been claimed to have been killed in the past. that information hasn't panned out. it's difficult to verify this kind of information. some experts suggested he may have not have been in raqqah at this time. raqqah is in the midst of assault, u.s.-led forces, kurdish force, syrian fighters so it would

practical place for him to be. where else he could escape to nobody knows but this is information we should take with a grain of salt. this is coming from the russian military. they informed the united states about this strike. no confirmation at this stage from any u.s. officials about whether this information is accurate. >> thank you. there's new development in special counsel robert mueller's investigation into alleged ties between the trump campaign and russians. "the washington post" reports mueller is now looking into the finances and business dealings of president trump's son-in-law jared kushner. the fbi reportedly been examining the finances of former campaign chairman and carter page. nbc's white house correspondent has more on the investigation. >> reporter: a major bomb shell in the russian probe. robert mueller is launched a criminal investigation

president trump for obstruction of justice. >> do you believe you're under investigation now? >> reporter: not holding back on twitter calling it the second greatest witch-hunt and in rare afternoon tweet storm tried to shift the focus to hillary clinton, crooked h. destroyed phones with hammer, leaked emails had husband meet a,g. days before she was cleared. fbi cleared clinton of any wrongdoing. last week james comey was asked whether he believed the president's request to back off the investigation into national security adviser michael flynn amounted to obstruction. >> that's a conclusion i'm sure the special counsel will work towards to tuned what the intention was and whether that's an offense. >> reporter: the former intelligence source says mueller requested interviews with top intelligence officials including

capitol hill in a closed session. >> there's really a smoking gun. a prosecutor tries to string together a pattern of conduct, to paint a picture of someone who has tried to stop an investigation. >> reporter: trump surrogate newt gingrich tweeted should be clear mueller is the anti-trump special counsel but other republicans defending the probe. >> it's not a witch-hunt. he's got a job to do. >> reporter: the criminal inquiry coming 146 days into mr. trump's presidency starting earlier than any other president. >> thanks. vice president mike pence has retained an outside counsel to represent him. pence's new private attorney is richard cohen. the two escaped georgia inmates are back in custody captured in tennessee. te

ricky dubose and donnie russell rowe after they allegedly tied up a couple and stole their car. the pair led police on a highway chase firing around 20 shots at them after wrecking the car they ran into the woods and tried to steal another car from a private home. >> the homeowner stepped out. and held the people there by gunpoint until another neighbor came to assist him and at that point in time the sheriff's department was alerted and arrived on scene and aprespend two suspects without incident. >> authorities released these fots. they are being held in tennessee until they can be extra indicted georgia. they are accused of killing two correction officers. today is day five of jury deliberation in the bill cosby sexual assault trial. on thursday the jurors told the judge they were dead locked. cosby's legal team made a motion for a mistrial which the judge denied

he then extent jurors back to deliberate further. constand accuses bill cosby of drugging and assaults her in 2004. a historic heat wave is building as we head into father's day weekend. bill karins has our weekend forecast. >> so hot. severe storms. for today we're worried about severe storms in the midwest. this area could get very large hail producing storms and wind damage. saturday look how hot. oklahoma city 101. san antonio 100. phoenix 110. we'll deal with severe thunderstorms on dat. 35 million at risk from chicago to kansas city once again large hail is a problem and damaging winds. father's day, this is when the crazy heat starts to begin. 114

near 120 as we go through monday and tuesday. here's a closer look at your day ahead. so you can see where the extreme heat starts omaha southwards. today in the mid-90s. few spots in west texas could approach 105 including san angelo, phoenix and tucson 105 also. a family was at it again. this time in niagara falls. mrs. wallenda hanging from her teeth. she broke the record by her husband when he was suspended 250 air. the stunt was on the fifth anniversary of her husband's tight rope walk. >> healthy teeth and gulps there. just ahead a bat size tribute for adam west and president trump made a major m

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last night los angeles was transformed into gotham city. the city paid tribute to actor adam west. west was best known for playing the caped crusader on the 1960s tv show. he died last friday at the age of 88. first victim has been named in london's deadly high rise fire. the 23-year-old was a syrian rfrg studying civil engineering. his brother said they became separated trying to escape the

>> i said come outside with me. 17 people have been confirmed dead in the blaze that number expected to rise. some reports 65 people are missing or feared dead. families say they are growing increasingly frustrated about the lack of information about their loved ones. it could take weeks to search the building. the trump administration revoked an obama era program for immigrant parents. homeland security secretary john kelly cancelled the deferred action for parties program or dapa. it was meant to protect parents of u.s. citizens and legal residents from deportation. it would provide them with a work permit for years. president obama introduced dapa in 2014 but it never got off the ground. 26 states sued over the program and blocked by a federal judge. some scary moments

u.s. open golf tournament a blimp crashed right into an open field. huge explosion there. sending smoke pouring in to the air. the pilot was able to escape. officials say he suffered serious injuries and burns. cell phone footage captured the moments before the crash. no one on the ground was injured, the faa and national transportation safety board are investigating. certainly a busy day ahead for president trump who is about to enact a major reversal of president obama's cuba policy. and a lot of choices at the movies for this father's day weekend. you're watching "early today". yap yap yap yip is your dog trying to tell you something? allergic itch in dogs is a medical condition that's more common and treatable than you think. that's why there's prescription apoquel: the revolutionary medicine that's giving millions of dogs the relief they deserve. apoquel goes to the source of the itch to provide relief in as little as 4 hours.

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fast forward to friday president trump will be in miami to announce a revised cuba policy. the president wants to stop the flow of u.s. cash to the country's military and security services while maintaining diplomatic relations and allowing u.s. airlines and cruise ships to continue service to tiled. at the box office this weekend "cars 3" is expected to knock "wonder woman" from the number one spot. debuting, "all eyez on me". and it's divers versus sharks in the under water thriller "47 meters down". still ahead a bizarre gift that

korea's leader kim jong-un and surprising number of adults in america who really think that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. can you believe it? i'll tell you about it next. i tried lots of things over the years. but i didn't give up. i kept on fighting. i found something that worked. that still works. now? see me. see me. i found clear skin that lasts. see if cosentyx could make a difference for you- cosentyx is proven to help people with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis... ...find clear skin that can last. don't use if you're allergic to cosentyx. before starting cosentyx, you should be checked for tuberculosis. an increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms. or if you have received a vaccine or plan to. if you have inflammatory bowel disease, tell your doctor if symptoms develop or worsen. serious allergic reactions may occur.

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familiar what spies call trade craft. >> did you say that i have [ bleep ] kevin durant? really wasn't that hard. >> many times i think about [bleep] >> oh. >> it always came out. >> i think the president that i know because he and i have [ bleep ] >> when was the last time you pleep >> last night >> a week with unnecessary censorship. this week we've been covering dennis rodman and his trip to north korea. when he got there he arrived bearing gifts. yesterday dennis showed what he was giving the authoritarian leader. it included basketball jerseys. you see bath soaps. and then two "where's waldo books." this is also kinds of interesting a mermaid puzzle. he likes mermaids. and this is what's funny as

a copy of president trump's book "the art of the deal." so maybe there's a hidden symbolic meaning. >> you think he maybe already has that book or somebody gave it to him to know what's in the mine of our president. >> i'm thinking it's some kind of a hint. >> the mermaid thing is the weirdest. >> one of those mermaid blankets. might as well just do that. >> you teased this earlier. startling number of american adults think chocolate milk comes from brown cows. makes sense. a lot of white cows running around. 7% of american adults surveyed think that chocolate milk comes from brown cows. no word about where they think strawberry milk comes from. and some adults admitted they have no idea where milk comes from. >> my husband wld

survey and go brown cow. >> i think this is utterly ridiculous. >> you missed it. totally missed the utter joke. >> all right. >> it's friday. >> went right over your head. you want to tell it again? >> no. i have no other cow jokes. >> maybe we'll get that. father's day is coming up. >> a big day along with the baseball game. >> that's it? >> that's all i know. >> kids got something up their sleeve for you. >> breakfast in bed and then i have to clean the sheets. >> more work than it's worth. speaking of got a father's day tribute. plus breaking news on the possible death of the leader of isis. we'll go live to london. that's next here on "early today". the carolinas. whether you golf or not, geico could help score you some great savings on car insurance.

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"news 4 today" starts now. and at 4:26 we say good morning on this friday morning. i'm david culver in for aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm erika gonzalez in for eun yang. we will get you caught up on all of the news. start first with a few crashes that could impact your commute this morning. >> to do that we'll head over to melissa mollet before we get this to the forecast from chuck bell and lauren rickets. >> as you're headed into the district this morning, breaking news benning road shut down between oklahoma avenue and 295. very hard to see this in the distance. th i

inner loop between little river turnpike and gallows road, blocking the left lane. outbound river road after little falls parkway, have some road work happening there. some lanes on the left sometimes are blocked and then one on the right so just be careful as you're headed that way. guys? thanks, melissa. quiet start for the day today. rain chances creeping up a smidgen. >> yes, and humidity creeping up as well, and the heat. >> and the other thing, if we could just find our clicker. lauren is going to push the button because i'll be doggon if i can find the remote control to move the maps this morning. like looking for your glasses in the middle of the night. where is the darn thing. radar showing your maps down in virginia. increasing rain chances. we go through the remainder of the day. most of the rain is still south of charlottesville. it will sneak its way in our direction. plan on a pretty stormy second half of the

high today 85 degrees. we'll take a look at the weekend coming up in a few more minutes. >> you're looking at a rare show of unity. democrats and republicans huddled there together to pray for the country and victims of the shooting that happened wednesday morning. then it was time to line up for the annual congressional baseball game. it's where house member steve scalise would have been playing. >> he remains in critical condition but he's improved. he represents louisiana. regularly decked out in lsu team gear. last night members sported purple and gold in support of steve scalise. it is a sense of unity people hope will last. >> it's wonderful. any time the democrats and

it's just a great day. >> for me even though it's democrats and republicans coming to play together, it's more about bringing the community together. >> there was so much of last night that was so moving. officer david bailey threw out the first pitch. the game raised $1 million for charity. the democrats beat the republicans 11-2. we mentioned house majority whip steve scalise is still in critical condition. matt mika communicating through written notes. the other victims are expected to be okay. >> erika this morning, investigators know a lot more about the shooter, james hodgkinson. they say he had been living in the van since march. they now have his phone, computer and camera. investigators found legally purchased guns, two of them. his wife says he was angry at president trump

she said that may be why he came to the d.c. area from illinois. >> he wanted to go up there and work with people to change the tax brackets. he made preparations for leaving. >> what kind of preparations did he make? >> he sold almost everything he owned from his business. she revealed a lot more information about hodgkinson. you'll hear from justin finch at 5:00. this is a story we will continue to follow. you can get the developments with us on air and on the go with the nbc washington app. disturbing image discovered montgomery village. somebody hung a noose from a tree. it was hanging in a common area near the parking lot. montgomery county police are asking anybody with information on this to please speak up. today president donald trump expected to make it more difficult for you to visit cuba in the future. he's going to announce new travel restrictions later today. that's going tope