that to happen like that. >> she is a new report this morning that president trump against the advice of his own lawyers is pushing for a face to faceit interviewh special counsel robert mueller. ch>> football cing legend urban meyer is suspended pending an investigation w intot he knew about alleged domestic violence charges involving a former assistant. >> 65 years after the end of the korean war, the remains ofze of presumed u.s. soldiers arrive in hawaii.d anthe president sends a very personal late night tweet to north korea's president kim jong-un. >> we'll take you inside the ilg fated passe jet and talk to some of the 103 survivors. >> a friend's reunion in a revealing, intervi jennifer aniston says she fantasizes about one. >> what do you do if bear ppens to get inside your car? "early today" starts right now.

>> good thursdayrn g. i'm frances rivera. >> and i'm phillip mena. breaking news overnight, c black, police swarming a california hospital amid reports of an active shooter, but thankfully it turned out to be a false alarm. >> this incident involving an active shooter inside the mercy southwest here has been unfounded. want to report that there e re no injuries to any located inside. there was no evidence of any shots fired of any kind. >> over 100 emergency officials arrived within minutes after a code black was calledut for mercy southwest hospital in bakersfield. police say there is no threat to the 78-bed facility and roads around the area are being reopened at hhisr. now to president trump who is takling the mueller inveigation head on and raising new questions about obstruction of justice. he slammed the rinsian med probe in a tweet calling attorney general jeff sessions to stop the quote, rigged witch

hunt right now. the president although saying mueller is totally nflicted. nbc's peter alexander has the reaction on capitol hill. >> reporter: president trump tight lipped in person. >> sir, are you ordering thenv muellertigation to be shutdown? >> reporter: but explosive on twitter. for the first time calling on the nation's top law nforcement official to end the russia investigation, tweeting, attorney general jeff sessions should stop this rigged witch hunt right now before it continues to stain our country any rtr. the president's critics pouncing. >> these kinds of threats are no accident. they reflect a state of mind and intent t obstruct justice. >> reporter: but president trump's team is offering itsrewn intetion from the white house. >> look, the president is not obstructing. he's fighting back. >> reporter: mr. trump's lawanr rudy giu saying it was an opinion, not an order. >> he used the word should, he didn't use the word he didn't direct him to do it. and he's not going to direct him to do it. >> reporter: still, it's the latest in an extraordinary series of rebukes for the president againstis own

attorney general. a source close to the p telling nbc news mr. trump is constantly bashinges ssions in private for recusing himself from the russia inquiry, that he simply can't get sessions out of his mind. sessions in arkansas appearing to make light of it. >> send out orders pretty quick. if you kw any serious about it, wish you would. >> reporter: the president again unloading robert mueller right in the middle of trump campaign chairman tax fraud trial, charges unrelated to the 2016 election. president trump tweet being, why didn't the government tell me he was under investigation? slamming the case as a hoax. this morning the president's a back say they are i and forth with the special counsel about a possible trump interview. dy giuliani is calling on mueller to deliver his final report. his message? put up or shut up. frances? all right, peter, thank you. >> and about that, president trump is reportedly pushing for an interview with special counsel robertueller against the wishes of his legal team.

according to "the new york times" the president wo set up a meeting so he can clear himself of any wrongdoing.re for on that possible meeting with the special counsel, nbc's tracie potts joining us live frosh gton. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. according to the times report, the president has said he is eager to tell h story to the special counsel in the russia investigation. his attorneer not so e according to three people who were briefed on this, the president is now pushing again to sit in that seat to do his interview as part of the russia investigation. the big question, will he be asked about obstruction of justice. orthe latest r are that they are trying to pull together pieces of his public statements and tweet and private pressure to try to build an obstruction is lawyershat's what are concerned about so they've outlined the scope and the topics thatil they'reng to have the president discuss. but his lawyers and mostly his

chief lawyer rudy giuliani quite skeptical about this >> he's always been interested in testifying. it's us, meaning the team of lawyers, including me, that have the most reservations about that. i'm not going to give you a lot of hope it's going to en ha but we're still negotiating. we haven't stopped negotiating with him. >> reporter: now,y've been negotiating for eight months. the latest, a letter that was sent last tuesday outlining that scope and the topics that the president's team thinks that he could address without dealing with obstruction. we'll see where this goes. riillip? >> allt, as always, thank you so much, tracie. this morning one of college football's biggest names i on a paidinistrative leave amid reports ohio states's urban meyer may have known about v domestiolence accusations made against a former assistant. he denied knowing about a 2015 claim against wide receiver's coach zack smith who was recently fired after reports his ex-wife courtney was granted a domestic violence order of protection against him.

independentalist brett mcmurphy reports he obtained text messas from 2015. they are between courtney smith and the wives of other coaches ' including me wife discussing the alleged abuse. he sics the text ie coach meyer had knowledge of the situation. nbc news has not seen or verified those rsxts. the uniy said in a statement, it is conducting an investigation into these allegations. adding, we are folk used on supporting our players and on getting to the truth asou expediy as possible. meyer also issued a statement saying athletic director gene smith and i agree that being on leave during this inquiry will facitate its completion. i eagerly look forward to the resolution of this matter. >> after wting more than 60 years, some families of fallen soldiers who never returned from the korean war may finally have some closure. in a solemn ceremony u.s. militaryfficials escorted 55 cases of presumed u.s. remains draped in american flags at hanger joint base.

vice-president pence was there to welcome them and called this ho coming the beginning. >> today begins a new season of hope for the families of omi ing fallen and we pledge to you we will nev stop striving until every hero lost in the korean war is home. >> presint trump was not in attendance, but he thanked north korean leader kim jong-un on twitte for handing ove the remains, making good on his pledge from their historic summit in thjune. nly one set of dog tags, officials begin the painstaking process of identifying the spr experts say that could take months if not years. >> turning now to dramatic new afootage from inside aeromexico jet that crashed with 103 people on board, the u.s. state department confirming 65 american citizens were among the passengers. though dozens of people are still being treated at mexican hospitals, everyone did survive theng harrowi crash and now some of those survivors a talking about the frightening ordeal. nbc's tom costello has more.

>> reporter: cell phone video captures the moment aeromexico flight 2431 begins its take off roll down the runway. the weather outside growing worse by thend seco. suddenly just as the plane begins to lift, it's violently slammed back down to the grod. skidding off the runy into the desert, frantic passengerve stepping or each other to escape the burning plane. ramin parsa took the p video. ple were screaming and i was praying. i was praying to [ speaking foreign language ] jesus saved our lives. >> reporter: firefighters rushed to the scene as passengers and crew jumped down the emergency escape chutes. >> thet cabin j started filling with black at that point what we wanted to do was try to find the nearest exit. >> reporter: also on the plane father sanchez fm illinois and 15 friends celebrating his birthday. >> yes, i do think a it was miracle. >> reporter: fatheranchez now being treated for multiple arm fractures. skype from him by

his hospital room. te if the plane was traveling a little f before it hit the embankment, or flew a little higher, i don't think weld wou have walked out with all of us intact. >> reporter: in all, 49 people hospitalized including the pilot and a passenger in critical but stable condition. the regional jet, 190, was departing from durango in northwest mexico for mexico city. t just as weather suddenly turned violent,rain, high winds and hail.vi u.s.ation sources say the plane may h be been hity a micro burst rolling aoss the air field. had it been any higherhan 50 to 70 feet off the ground, there could have been fatalities. investigators have a lot of questions for this pilot,hief among them, why did he try to take off in this driving storm.e a lot oferts say they would have simply waited it out on the ground. but this video will be very important. they have the black boxes that will tell them really the dynamics and the specifics of what was happening in the cockpit. bu then in addition, video

helps them understand what was happening in the cabin and how did so many people survive and whns are the les that we can learn from that. phillip? >> we're tnkful they did. tom, thank you. >> now that the legal battle involving contral online conspiracy theorist, families of some of the 20 children killed at sandy hook elementary school are now suing jones over his claims that the massacre was faked. nbc's morgan radfoy. has the st >> i don't know exactly what happened. sandy hook is inconclusive. >> reporter: for years alex jones was behind the conspiracy theory that the sandy hookti sh was a massive hoax. >> they have o shot leaves blowing. you see the leaves blowing, they glitch. theye recycling a green screen behind them. >> reporter: a theory that they say turnees their l upside down. their 6-year-old son noah was lled during the mas shooting in 2012. ever since, th say they have en harassed.

the abuse so bad they've had to move seven times. now they're suing jones for defation. his lawyers are asking the judge to dismiss the case. she apoke to cnnut the lawsuit in april. >> if there is a choice that's made over a relentless period of years to peddle falsehoods and to profit from them, then there has to be a day of reckoning. >> reporter: in the lawsuit, de la rosa and poseener say he has disrupted their daily routine and caused a high degree o psychological pain. jones discussed his itcontroversial views megyn kelly last year. >> what do you do when they've got the kids going in circles i and outf the building with their hands up? i've watched the footage. it ldrks like a l. >> reporter: jones says he now believes sandy hook did happen but argues his comments are protected by the first amendment. spotify pulled multiple episodes of his podcast for violating its hate content policies.

jones's lawyers will be back in court for a separate defamation case related to the parkland shooting. morgan n radford, news. >> from hot air to raintorms, let's toss it over -- >> could have said much worse. >> i was trying to restrain myself. >> being nice. good morning, everyone. we are watching the flood threat continuing today. it wasn't too bad out there yesterday. we have an area of red out there. some of th higher elevations at most risk through the spine of the appalachians inclus anoke and nashville. the ground is alrea saturated. more thunderstorms are expected. anywhere in the blue could be isolate the, t and that goes for the northern portions of the gulf all the way to timing of it 8:00 a.m. this morning, numerous areas of rain but it spreads out by the we get to thursday this afternoon notice most of it is in the east of atlanta. hit and mis around washington, d.c. and then by the time we get to friday morning, still dealing with this area of moisture. then by friday afterno it arts to sneak a little further to the north. again, it's going to be wiarspread. just that umbrella and hopefully you can avoid some of

the flash flooding. that's a look at the big wea der story of t. now here's a closer look at your day ahead. so here's all the soggy spots that are at least possible today. just like yesterday the storms ndwill be in and out kind of hit and miss. not everyone will get rain, but some people could get as much an es of rain. if you get caught in those storms, areas of florida will be dodging thunderstorms today, too. we continue to watch that fire threat out west. the ht is not going anywhere unfortunately for them. >> really tough to hear that. all right, bill, thank you.r a b in colorado trashed the inside of a car that was left unlocked. watch here, while looking for food, that bear cub brokento the subaru. got trapped inside. throwing stuff out. they opened the car door allowing the bear to run away. after all that destruction, the grizzly found a banana leaving half of it behind. you know, a little too cold, not too thot. just right. >> i like that. just ahead, a hollywood taking on fox news, another a-lister.

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scorchingon wildfiresnue to burn up the west coast leaving behind a path of destruction. in oregon the so-caed south valley fire has burned over 3,000 acres. so far forcing hundreds o sidents there to evacuate. according to the state's department of forestry, a person started that fi. a washington state known as the milestone0 fire has grown to over 14,000 acres. firefighters havela thes 60% contained and some evacuation orders have beente l continuing to fuel the massive carr fire in california, nbc's a. miguel almaguer is there with more. >> reporter: this ferocious fire in mendocino county poised to make its bigst run. firefighters have been racing through this commu dty allay long, but the blaze here is finally getting to the endth of road.

17,000 homes across california under threat. in just a matter of minutes, this isne of several structures that we saw go up in flames. there's just nothing firefighters here can do. in reddin the damage is done. >> oh, honey. >> reporter:he kaplans lost it all. >> three children that were raised here and this is the only home they knew. > reporter: immense loss and looming fear. miguel almaguer, nbc news. >> still to come, jennifer aniston reveals a personal fantasy that may be shared by millions. we'll explain as "early today" rolls on for a thursday. ♪harry's meeting clients...♪

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in today's quickid hits, captures a chinese family charging an electric scooter. it's smoking. the man tried to disconnect the charger, but seeing the smoke get avier, he took his child and escaped just in time before that. >> goodness. according to variety, nicole kidman is in talks to play former fox news anchor grinch encarlson in the movie about thl former f of fox news chairman roger ailes.ro charlize t has signed on to play former fox host megyn kelly. >> she is teami up with steven spielberg to bring the woman's hours to the small screen. it is a book about women's fight for voting rights. clinton made the announcemen on twitter. >> just ahead playing video games on your car's dashboard?

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of three bottles of this other liquid. a drop of dawn and grease is gone. welcome back. ooh, another big sink the massive problem has been looming for five years in one north carolina town. the sink hole o up when a drainage pipe beneath it wore out after a thundersrerm. dents have been anxiously watching it cave in deeper and deeper. also triggering flooding fears with more rain. local officials are finally

working with the property owner to get it fixed. yeah, it's saying closed for repairs. we're heading out w wtre they would love a drop of rain. it's not going to happen. some are under fire weather watches. it's not just california. we have problems through many areas of the interior west. the biggest fires are in california, but the firefighters are plenty busy in other states especially like colorado and oregon. we are goingeo see a cha in the west. this is a much needed change for some, but not for all. th summer hea has been over the rockies today. no problem at all, redding 101. the pacific northwest, cooler ae a lit trough will kick in and temperatures in redding by inday should dip into the mid 90s whi a lot better. it was only about ten days ago they were about 115. >> i likethat, i like hearing a lot better. bill, thank you. still ahead for those of you wishing for a friends reboot, you may have your wish. and parents playing fortnight.

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news 4 begins with a team 4 weather alert. >> we begin this morning with a live look outside right now. another rainy night for the d.c. area. thunder and lightning lit up the sky for some of you.

pdlenty of rain fell, too. flood watches and warnings are in effect. heavy rain caused significant flooding in northern virginia. we brought you some o these images. this morning, there are more flooding concerns. it is 4:00 a.m. good morning, everybody. i'm aaron >> and i'm eun yang. good to see you. glad you're re. we're breaking news out of prince george's county. >> a diner caught fe overnight. firefighters are on the scene. chris lawrence is at theive desk. >> look at this fire. it engulfed a block of businesses in downto upper marlboro. we just got information from prince george's county fire and rescue. this started at al's country kitchen or