remembering hugh hefner, the man who built a multi-billion dollar adult magazine. fueling a sexual revolution, and impacting generations. it's called a middle class miracle. this is a revolutionary change. and the biggest winners will be the everyday american workers as jobs start pouring into our country. >> new details and specifics of president trump's sweeping plan to overhaul taxes. but what does it mean for you? we'll break it down. in the midst of struggling for food and clean water in puerto rico, a team of first responders searching for missing families. explosions at o

largest ammunition depots. "early today" starts right now. good morning. breaking overnight, hugh hefner, the legendary founder of "playboy" magazine passed away from natural causes at his home. tributes are pouring in on social media. with one playmate tweeting, sad tonight with the passing of the revolutionary hugh hefner. larry king praised hefner as free speech and civil rights saying, he was a true original. and he was my friend. rest well, hef. erica edwards has more on the legacy of this american original. >> reporter: hugh hefner was never far from female companionship or controversy. >> hugh hefner built his empire off of selling the idea

to be bought and sold. >> reporter: but by hefner's own account, what he sold in his issues of "playboy" magazine was sophisticated anti-puritanism. >> it's good for business. but also says a great deal about how unsophisticated we are in terms of sex. >> reporter: he and hess magazine were born in chicago. the first issue of "playboy" quickly sold out when it hit newsstands in 1953, thanks to a nude photograph of marilyn monroe included as the centerfold. subsequent editions had similar success. they were selling 1 million copies a month. hef moved west buying a home in los angeles that became known as the playboy mansion. the wild parties at the mansion became notorious for their scantily clad guests and risque behavior. but the '80s saw a switch

he married kimberly conrad, his second marriage after a failed one some 30 years earlier. >> this is a unique celebration. >> reporter: the couple separated in 1998, but remained married until the youngest of their two sons turned 18. during a separation from conrad, hef rebounded by dating up to seven women at once. but eventually narrowed it down to three. in 2005, the group starred in a popular reality show. it reignited hech ner's lifestyle to a whole new audience and made his mansion the hangout of a new breed of hollywood a-listers. hugh hefner was a figure of unchecked hedonism. no one could deny that hef left an indelible stamp on publishing and culture. erica edwards, nbc news. one week after hurricane maria decimated

residents still find themselves with no power, food or supplies. only 44% of the island has clean water. raising concerns about a looming public health crisis. relief distribution has been slow in some areas because of heavy damage. our own gaudi schwartz got this look. >> reporter: we're in a mountain county in puerto rico. this is where a home once stood. you can see what's left of that home was blown off this hillside. in fact, there's a roof over here in this ravine. it's down there. when this area was hit by the hurricane, there was tremendous amount of flooding. in fact, there's a road right over there. we understand that's a critical road in getting gas and getting supplies up to this area. for now, that road is impassable, much of it collapsed. you see a lot of the collapses happened with mudslides. that's a mudslide over there. there's a mudslide over here. all the foliage ripped off the trees.

that look there. the desperate wait continues for any word from loved ones. tammy lightner captured this amazing story. >> reporter: phillip, some people still don't know if their loved ones are safe, and we're still seeing dramatic rescues across the island in some communities that are still isolated. time is critical. this team of first responders from new york city searching for a family of six. not heard from since hurricane maria wiped out this bridge. >> they need water. >> reporter: this town, one of 11. no one has been able to reach. gabriel desperate to find his relatives, leads a team of rescuers up a muddy mountain. some parts barely passable. >> we've been talking about 15 minutes. it's slow going, because there's trees down, power lines down. >> reporter: finally, he spots his sister in the distance.

the entire family together again. gabriel's sister and husband pack up a few things, his parents choosing to stay behind. >> she can't make the walk down. >> it's going to be temporary. you know? but to see my little granddaughter, not going to be with me for a while. >> reporter: the reunion cut short. another storm making the dangerous journey down the mountain more treacherous. still so many challenges. but for now, a moment of relief. gabriel believes his family would have been trapped for many more teams if not for that res tu team. we've seen rescue teams from all over the united states, and they're all working with puerto rico emergency personnel to get people out of their homes. phillip? >> thanks to tammy leitner for that report. after monthf

the president unveiled his most ambitious legislative proposal yet, calling it the largest tax cut in u.s. history. >> democrats and republicans in congress should come together finally to deliver this giant win for the american people and begin middle class miracle. it's called a middle class miracle. once again. it's also called a miracle for our great companies. a miracle for the middle class, for the working person. >> it would mark the first overhaul of the tax system since 1986. while the proposal still has a long way to go, that didn't stop gop lawmakers from outlining their objectives in this nine-page document. >> just some of what we know about the blueprint so far. the plan would simplify and cut individual income tax rates from seven brackets to three. it would slash corporateax

to 20% down from 35%. it would eliminate the so-called marriage penalty, raise the tax credit for children under 17, and provide a new $500 tax credit for nonchild dependents. while nearly doubling the standard deduction for individuals and married couples. the big winners in the plan are those corporations and individuals who would see their taxes slashed. but the president cautions that top earners like him wouldn't be the victors here. >> you wouldn't benefit under your tax -- >> no, i don't benefit. in fact, very, very strongly, as you see, there's no -- i think there's very little benefit for people of wealth. >> but the democrats are crying foul. >> as i said, the president talked the talk. he said we're going to aim this at the middle class. he ain't walking the walk. this is aimed at the wealthiest people in america. they do far and away the best. >> the analyst at the tax policy center fact checked the

president and the wealthy would most certainly benefit from the new plan. >> while the white house looks to focus on taxes, there is another controversy dogging the administration. health and human services secretary tom price is under fire and facing scrutiny from his former congressional colleagues over the number of flights he's been taking on private jets instead of flying commercial. he wants taxpayers to pay the tab with president trump unleashing this warning. >> i was looking into it. i will look into it. and i will tell you personally, i'm not happy about it. i am not happy about it. >> what are you going to do about it? >> i'm not happy about it. i'll let him know it. >> let's bring in tracy potts to bring us up to speed. tracy, good morning. >> good morning, yeah, the president said we'll see. this politico report raising lots of questions about whether or not the health and human

for example, when he went to georgia, from an official event in north carolina, he was speaking in georgia, but he landed there a day and a half early, and he went straight to an island where he and his wife own property. should that trip have been commercial, should that trip have been shorter. and should it have been paid with taxpayer funds. the questions being asked this morning. also, politico reporting at least two dozen charter flights in many instances they found there were commercial flights with very similar schedules that would have been a lot cheaper. politico found prices more than $400 dhou$,000 on travel since may. democrats and republicans reacting to that. >> whether you're republican or democrat, you have a responsibility to be a good steward of

>> really, we've got abuse here. and we have got to address it. >> health and human services said secretary price has broken no rules, that they've taken a look at his travel. the questions being asked this morning, frances, whether or not his travel was legal. whether or not it was ethical. >> a lot of questions. tracy potts for us, thank you. bill joining us with september's active hurricane. >> we put together the calendar to show you how we've been tracking the storms this month. every single day we've had at least one hurricane in the atlantic basin. irma was in the ormg, jose in the blue. katia, and maria. from the 17th all the way where we are currently. pretty crazy. we get a little bit of break as maria exits out into the atlantic. we have this little area that could form near cuba and possibly drift up towards florida.

here's a closer look at your day ahead. well, this is the air mass people have been waiting for in the northeast after unusually humid period in late september. and that cooler air made it down to oklahoma. we'll see beautiful weather today in areas like memphis. we had a little bit of a break from the tropics. >> and our a/c is getting a break. >> no more hum. >> thank you. o.j. simpson could be released from prison as early as monday in las vegas. the prison spokesman said wednesday the plan for his release must be finalized. the 70-year-old spent nine years behind bars for robbery and kidnapping convictions. he's waiting to be transferred from las vegas where he could be free. or would be freed. thousands of never before seen top-secret documents surrounding jfk's death may soon be

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could you see a scenario where you would not come back? >> definitely. i don't know what my future holds for me. >> he's still recovering in the lumbar fusion surgery he had in asmt it's been nearly eight months since his last competitive golf shot. he said his back pain is now gone. this is woods' first press conference since his arrest in may for a dui in florida. woods pleaded not guilty but agreed to enter a program that would have the charges dropped. president trump could be releasing documents about president john f. kennedy's assassination. a 1992 law requires the archives to release thousands of never before seen documents by october 26th. that is, unless thesi

insight into the movement of jfk's killer in the weeks before the assassination. the president has the authority to stop the release if doing so could harm the country. the white house has not yet made any comment. the owner of one melbourne service station avoided a robbery thanks to the automatic doors. a brief struggle to get into the store, the robber jumps the counter, and he steals the cash register. as he tries to flee, the doors stump him again, this time trapping him inside. he throws the cash register at the door sending all of the money flying. the thief ultimately manages to get out but left with nothing, thankfully no one was injured in the robbery. >> he's like, what was the point of that. straight ahead, new details surrounding the death of otto warmbier health captive by the north koreans. i want to talk about years.

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this morning, the mystery is deepening over what happened to american student otto warmbier who died after he was released from captivity in north korea. >> after his parents broke their silence and claimed he was tortured, information from the coroner who examined his body is raising new questions. nbc chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell has more. >> reporter: the coroner going public for the first time about

22-year-old american otto warmbier's mysterious death days after returning from captivity in north korea. >> there were a few small scars we documented. >> reporter: she says there's evidence of a breathing tube. notes scars on warmbier's knees, arms and scar, and tracheotomy scar. >> could that be torture at the time? we don't know what happened to him. that's the bottom line. >> reporter: his parents describing his horrific condition to fox news tuesday. >> they kidnapped otto. they tortured him. they intentionally injured him. >> reporter: only days later he died from complications of a long-term brain injury caused by lack of oxygen. the parents also say their son's teeth were damaged. >> it looked like someone had taken a pair of pliers and rearranged his bottom teeth. >> reporter: the coroner said the dentist saw no evidence of that. at the parents' request, no autopsy was performed, but the

not reveal more than their rig ross postmortem exams, including a ct scan. >> i wish we had some answers, and, you know, i know the family is looking for answers. but at this point, we're never going to know. >> i'm only human. >> reporter: unless his captors come forward and reveal what they did to otto warmbier in prison. andrea mitchell, nbc news, new york. coming up, how president trump is responding to the gop's latest failed attempt to repeal and replace obamacare. plus, will grace, jack and karen, back in the groove after 11 years. you're watching "early today." just walk right in and pay zero dollars with most insurance. plus, when you get a flu shot at walgreens, you help provide a lifesaving vaccine to a child in need through the un foundation. it's that easy to get your flu shot and make a difference.

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great rates for great rides. fast forwarding into thursday. fema, the government of puerto rico are scheduled to hold a news conference this morning on response and recovery efforts which have been widely criticized as slow and inadequate. president trump says he plans to sign an executive order possibly next week that would allow individuals to buy health insurance across state lines. after 11 years, will, grace, jack and karen are back in the return of "will & grace," it airs tonight at 9:00, 8:00 central here on nbc. can't wait for that. >> so much to have them all together. this is "early today." another anti-wrinkle cream in no hurry to make anything happen.

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it is 3:58 now. we're working for you on "news4 today." we're learning about the shooting in fairfax county. more on the man responsible and how children were trapped inside. good morning. i'm storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. a change in the seasons is arriving today. a mild start this morning, but

breaking right now, hefner has died. we look at his 91 years. plus, shots fired inside an ce

daycare. we're learning who police say was behind it. the chicago cubs are n.l. central champions! >> the cubs clinch a post-season spot and will be taking on our nats. you can earn tickets today for the game against the world series champs. good morning everybody. i'm chris lawrence. thank you for waking up early with us on this thursday morning. got a lot of news to bring you. first, i know a lot of you have been sweating it out. let's look at the weather center. when is this heat wave going to break sf. >> done. it's already done. chris, it hasn't felt -- you probably haven't noticed it yet. the cooler air is on the way. it will arrive later into your thursday. skies mostly clear at this point in washington. current temperature, a really mild