>> it was beautiful. she is happy. >> cheers. i'd like to thank president trump. it's time to get to over the next three month, i'm going to do everything i can to keep america great again. >> i tell you what, can you believe how close this is?e >> one s claiming victory, but nbc news says this one is still too close to call, in what many callel aether race for the president. breaking overnight, two police officers ambushed, shot whil sitting in their vehicle at a red light. we'll have the latest. california's facing the largest fires in the state's history. but is this just a signti of th s and a new normal for much of the planet? the bizarre police chase that ended when a herd of cows helped pinpoint and track a suspect on the run.

and meet the 6-year-old who is earning $11 million a year as one of the nation's most popular toy testers. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. an election night nail-biter still too close to call in ohio. the special election i the state's 12th congressional district is neck and neck withd crat danny o'connor trailing republican troy balderson. separated by about 9/10 of a percentage. the winner will replace republican representative pat tiberi who resigned to work f a busines group. >> both sides watching this race closely as a barometer for the midterms. the district hasn't elected a democrat since the 1980, but ndlderson got a big last-minute boost this wee when president trump came to town to campaign. nbc's garrett haake has a closer look at the race. d morning.tt, g >> there are long nights in politics and then there was last night. we knew this race wld be close. we knew it would go late.

we did not know it would end up too close to cl with few than 2,000 votes separating republican candidate troy balderson and democratic candidate danny o'connor here in ohio's 12th isdistrict. as been a reliably republican district for more than 30 years. it's elected john kasich, whohes now governor of ohio. republicans just don't lose here. and in fact, they rarey have clraces. but in the age of donald trump, a lot of this common knowledge is being turned on its head, and a democrat gaveat a g race here. but what we're going to find out now is how much of this is transferrable to november. pes this race end in a recount, which it'ssible once all these ballots are counted. so a race that has transfixed the political world since at least thisast weekend when president trump inserted himself in it with a rally here in ohio. we'll continue to do so while c thnt the votes. and phillip, by the way, one person claiming credit for a victory that isn't quite a victory here yet, donald trump tweeting last night ttt was his visit to ohio that put troy balderson over the top.

we will see when all those votes are counted. >> credit claimed as usual. garrett haake working overtime for us. thanks voters headed to the polls in several key primary, including the kansasl gubernatormatchup. pitting incumbent j governorf coyler againstba kris . kobach has a narrow lead of about 700 votes thismornle. he is an immigration hard-liner and served as vice-chairman on president trump's mmte fraud sion. he had key endorsements from the nra and kansas political icon bob dole. democrat will face state senator laura kelly in november who easily nabbed the democraticnomination. meanwhile, no major surprises out of the primaries in michigan, missouri, or washington state. breaking news out of new jersey. ant is under way for at least one suspect who ambushed two police offirs in camden.

fortunately, both officers aren't expected to survive. police say a gunmand approac two plains clothes delved inside an unmarked vehicle sitting a a red light and fired as many ass 25 round in an unprovoked attack. one of the officers returned fire as the spect fled the olice in a white van, but say it's unclear if the suspect was hit. the shooting happening the same night as nional night out. it's a nationwide effort to bring police andommunities oser together. the camden police chief expressing frustration at the tragic turof events. >> unfortunately, on a night when we're supposed to be celebrating safety, two of our detectives were engaged as victims. i could tell you every this land would say we'd rather visit us than the citizenry. but it's just anev unfortunate t. >> the officers are being treated at a hospital for their injuries, and an investigation is under way. mounting leg woes for michael cohen this morning, according to a new report from "the wall street journal." president trump's former

personal attorney is under investigation for possible tax fraud. sources famil with the investigation told the paper that federal prosecutors re looking in the income cohen made from his taxi medallion business. federal authorities are also investigating a $130,000 hush oh money payment made to adult film star stormy daniels alf of then candidate donald trump in 2016. meanwhile, more courtroom e firewoxpected today in the paul manafort trial as rick gates returns to the stand for a third day of testimony. the defense spent day two anlentlessly grilling manafort's former right-hand in an attempt to chip away at his credibility. nbc justice correspondent pete williams was in thcourtroom. >> reporter: in two days of testimony, rick gates has said at he never told account the actual amount of money paul manafort made because manafort told him not to let them know how many millions of dollars dre paid for the political consulting work th for ukraine's president viktor yanukovych.

when the work dried up and manafort's income fell, he was hit with a big tax bill in 2014. he mailed gates, quote, i just saw this, wtf? how could i be blindsided like this stand in gates said he made up fake documents to help manafort get bank loanon the s houses he bought with all that ukrainian money.t bunafort's defense lawyers went on the take. he said he used money he stole from manafort to lead a secret carrying on an affair in an apartment. and he admitted helping an n investors vegas falsify financial documents. when he had trouble recalling what he told robert mueller's prosecutors about his past frauds and lies, defense attorney kevin downing said haven't they confronted you with so many lies that you canyt remember af it? after manafort left the trump campaign, gates stayed on to work on the inauguration. he said it's possible he submitted personal expenses there. manafort's lawyer, kevin downing was upbeat at day's end.r. >>anafort had a great day. >> but prosecutors reveal that

manafort kept asking for favors from gates. manafort e-mailed that a banker who helped him get a loan should y be considered for secret the army and get tickets to the trump inaugural.il peteams, nbc news, alexandria, virginia. president trump addressed rn cali's historic wildfires while welcoming a host of business leaders to dinner his new jersey golf club. president trump says he and his administration are monitoring the multiple blazes. the situationrin very closely. my measure is in constant ngntact with everything g out in the state. and with the local authorities. >> on twitter mr. trump had previously criticized california authorities claiming bad environmental laws are making the wildfires worse. firefighters are battling a new uncontrollable blaze, the so-called holy fire, already torching over 3,000 acres of orange and riverside counties. it's only 5% contained,

according toofficials. >> that's just one of multiple fires scorching california right now, including the mendocino complex inferno. it hasxploded into the largest wildfire in the state's recorded history. with thoseampant flames showing no signs of stopping, nbc's anne thompson tells us more. >> reporter: wildfires are no longer contained to a season in california. this is now a .year-round batt >> i think this is the new normal that we're going to see in california.ni >> fng the flames, scientists incasingly point to climate change, emissions from cars, planes and power plants making our world warmer. >> you take epic drought. youombine i with high temperatures. you've got all the ingredients for unprecedented >> 14 states from alask to arizona, large fires are burning. researchers at columbia university and the university of idah say climate change creating warmer and dryer conditions more than doubled the forest fire areaes in thern u.s. since 1984. this summer, europe is burning

too. sweden, rtugal, and greece, where more than 90 people died. record heat therend here caused by a loopy weakened jet stream that's not moving hot a along. and yes, sciimtists blame e change too. >> when you melt the ice in the arctic and you change the temperature patterns in theat sphere, you actually change the jet stream. and you change it in a way that you slow it down. >> firend heat altering landscapes in the northern half of the world. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. en police oftook to the public for help in c suspects on the run, but never like this. florida officials were chasing the two suspectin a stolen vehicle when they crashed into a ditch and then build a out anda d running on foot. one of the suspects ran into a cow pasture.ma you canne here, and you can see an infrared video. the animals quickly chased after her, corralling her and evenally herding her over to

authorities. the other suspect was also arrested. a massive water break submerged worcesttr, massachu in over a foot of water. the break inundated most of the city. at least onean stuck in his car had to be rescued. official says water service has been restored to be 50,000 residents. but for some, that water i rusty, and others may still bet without anyall. the city says the water, though, is safe to use. police pere warningple to avoid the areas. crews worked to clean up that . me >> that's rough, with no water and the potential heatwave that's going to be hitting some of us. here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with that. good morning. >> good morning. day three for many people. we added hartford, providence and st. philadelphia, richmond down to virginia beach. the sweltering heat today. boston will be about 87.de the heat in the low 90s. new york city with 89 and extreme humidity, about 97 in philadelphia. the heatndices about 100 later

on this afternoon. we get the cold front coming through. a little relief on thursday. still summer like, but it will feel like 90 instead. that's look at th big weather story of the day. here is a closer look at the day ahead.ea well, the and humidity of course is with us in the southeast. that's not going to change. our cold front is reall to stall out there from little rock to memphis, triggering showers and thunderstorms thi afternoon. and everybody in pretty much the ohio valley and new england wite hit and miss s this afternoon. and that's a look at your wednesday forecast. >> all right, bill. thank you. new on nbcnewsom this morning, usc's president has a icially stepped down amid sexual abuse scandal involving a former school necologist. max nikias initially agreed to resign in may after 200 professors acced him of failing to grasp the severity of the abuse. at the time a resignation date had not been set. > federal investigators arrested five people who allegedly smuggled 300,000 pairs of fake air jordans into the new york area. the knockoffs can asset $190 a pop.

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leadinghe news, twitter's ceo is defending its refusal to ban infowar's alex jones. chuck dorsey explained the decision in a series of tweets saying we know that is hard for many, but the reason is simple. we hasn't violated our rules. we'll enforce if he does. we're goiol to jones to the same standard as we do every akcount, not one-off actions to make us feel good in the short-te. in the last few days facebook, youtube and spotify have removed jones. an exclusive nbc news report has revealed a new plan within the white house that could target over 20 million immigrants living in the u.s. legally. the program would make i hder for legal immigrants to become

citizens or get green card that's according to four sources with knowledge of the plan that could be announced b the end of the month. the effort led by stephen miller could make citizenship or legal status difficult to obtain if they or anyone in their household has ever used popular public assistance programs like obamacare or food stamps. and the administration couldth all by itself. it does not need congressional approval. the u.s. trade war with china is escalating with the inistration announcing it is moving forward with tariffs on $16 billion worf chinese goods. it will be the second round of tariffs enacted by the u.s. this year. it will place a 25% tax on 279 products, including motorcycl and electronics. the new tariffs go into effect on august 23rd. anwhile, the trade war is having an immediate impact here at home. the south carolina tv plant says it will cut 126 jobs and possibly shut down completely. element electronics blames the tariffs saying they are shooting at the price of key components

needed to build tvs. the layoffs will happen in octor, and elements says it hopes it can reopen within six months. >> just ahead, good luck keeping up with this kardashian. kylie jenner's unbelievable daily eaings, and a true godsend. how onewoman's prayers were answered by sending her most personal thoughts to the heavens. ♪ lean on me, when you're not strong ♪ ♪ and i'll be your friend ♪ ♪ i'll help you carry on ♪ ♪ lean on me ♪ mmm... ♪ lean on me... ♪ mmm... ♪ lean on me. ♪ if you love me, love♪ like you say ♪ darling tell me all the ways ♪ ♪ tell me all the ways ♪ all the ways get more to your door.

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they landed right in mnd ha i mean, practically. >> this is what he's talking about. he s needed dorm supplies before starting her freshman career in collase. bu a single mom she wasn't sure how she would get what she needed. that's when she wrote a letter to god and attached it to some jeremy jones who we heard from found thealloons while working at a nearby construction site. he then tracked her down and delired a comforter and a mini fridge right to her home. talk about paying it forward. really doing the work of god. >> yeah talk about having hope. >> yes. >> that's where you send it out. i guess it can hurt. look what happened. >> love that we're hearing more and more about the stories like people helping at random. we hope this next person will help a lot of other people. kylie jenner is on track to be the youngest self-maid billionaire was, but a stung ow richs proves just she really is. according to forbes, the beauty mogul made over $166 million

between june of 2017nd june of 2018. that breaks down to roughly 0 $19, every hour. the median annual salary of al typimerican worker is around $45,000. but jenner, she can make that in about two hours. and how much would it take an average american to make what t she makes in je day? ten whole years. w about that for some motivation as you get your clothes on and get ready to go to work. >> what she going to do when she is in her 30ss and mid life? it's unbelieveo believe me. >> her and jeff bezos are going to tell us all whato do. here is a job you can stick your teeth into. reynolds wrap is seeking a chief grilling master. one person wl spend a week traveling to u.s. cities known for barbecuing while posting dishes on the company's website and socl media channels. the lucky worker will receive a $10,000 stipend, plus prepaid travel and lodging. reynolds is accepting teapplications on its web through august 13th.

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the comet was i discovered bac 2017, but it broke up into n,eces in late july as it got closer to the giving it that bright green color. well, this marks the first time eme comet has ever come to the inner solar >> that's really cool. unfortunately on the west coast right now the visibility is really hard. stargazing is not really con duce alternative that at all. >> it's a layer of smoke that covers so much of the west. blocking the sun. ot we're stilltoday, but we got rid of the excessive heat warns in phoenix andle los an death valley, barstow. areas to the north and the northwest, this is our two-day heatwave. it's going to be very impressive today. sirtland, exc heat warning. interior section of the northw10t. in boise. and seattle 93. that's hot for seattle. >> ah, seattle. >> thank you, bill. still ahead, this guy taking over the toy aisle at t nation's largest retailer. how he made another million.

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a maryland father says his ughters ran away from home this weekend it's what they did not take with them that has him worried. here are the red flags. lauryn ricketts is tracking the chanc for another wet afternoon. >> sheena and i are both doing it. we have her forecast coming up. wee talking about'r

eeks of wet weather may have helped bring down a massive tree in northwest washington. today, more rain cld be on the way. a red district in ohio could be red no more. this morning, election officials are still working figure out if the president's push was

enough to keep a rublican in office. a father in silver spring believes his young daughters ran away over the weekend. it'shat happened online after they left that has him more worriedor their safety. it is 4:00 a.m., good morning everyoi'. aaron gilchrist. i'm eun yang. thanks for joining us hday. th and muggy weather in august is notnding anyime soon. >> melissa mollet is back with > us. elcome back, melissa. >> thank you. we're tracking more storms this afternoon, ladies. >> we had storms yesterday afternoon. severe weather. >> i think more later on this afternoon. >> little mor widespread today. you know, we're going to see some into the eveningte ially. this could be a late evening. we're going to be wating it throughout the day. still sticky outside. patchy a little bit of fog around this morning too.