♪ baby bye, bye, bye it was child sexual abuse. >> the church asks you for forgiveness. >> a damning grand jury report is out with graphic details about some 300 catholic priests who sexually abused boys and girls over decades. c anic apoca scene as a massive bridgelapses and this morning the death toll rises to at least 35. >> new omarosaccusations lobbed at the administration as the press office cannot confirm whether or not the president has ever used the "n" word. >> democrats in vermont rally behind the nation's first transgender nominee for governor. plus the rest of the primary wi iers. >> todaythe first day of school for students at marjory stoneman douglas higch sool where new security measures hute

been in place. >> words werend exchanged a that's when things got a ltle t of hand with some late-night base-brawl. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'ml.marlie h >> and i'm phillip mena. the catholic church is reeling following a scathing new report including 300, quote, predator priests of abusing more than a thousand boys and girls for detdes. the replleges church leaders in six roman catholice diocn pennsylvania executed a massive cover up of sexual abuse claims to avoid scandal. >> at 1,356 pages, the report is being described as the largest and most comprehensive investigation into child sex abuse within the catholic church in the u.s. nbc's ann thompson has the details. >> reporter: in searing damning language, the grand jury report revealed the dark secrets of the catholic church in pennsylvania. priests were raping little boys

andirls and the men of g who were responsible for them did nothing: they hid it all. >> it was child sexual abuse, incling rape, committed by grown men, priests against children. >> reporter: the report found over a thousand child victims identified in the church's own records. the alleged crimes often described as inappropriate co bact orndary issues. >> i am so angry. >> reporter: julianne abobort s the church was hiring a private investigator. >> it wasn't him looking at, they were looking at me. >> reporter: the report finding ishops and mong church leaders. p e main thing was not to h children, but to avoid scandal. it names more than 300 predator priests in six diocesene end of the state to the other, home to more than 1.7 million catholics. almost every instance of abu

too old to be prosecuted, but the investigation did result in two priests being criminally charged with sexually assaulting children during the past decade. from the diocese, apologies. >> i ask yohe church asks you for forgiveness. >> reporter: but for some, words are not enough. >> people want total transparency. they want t bishops to report oiat happened, why it happened, and how they're to make sure that it never happens again. >> reporter: many of those same bishops and their past handling of abuse cases are implicate ed in this investigation, including cardinal donald wirl, the former bishop of pittsburgh. wirl now in washington said he acted with diligence to protect thctims and prevent future abuse. grand jury had them,endations four of including removing the statute of limitations which the grand jury says does more to protect predators than victims. and it also wants t get rid of

those nondisclosure agreements in criminal cases. marlie? >> thank fyou, ann, that report. >> the search for survivors continues in italy after a freeway bridge collapsed in the city of genoa. this morning the death toll rising to 35 with at least 15 others injured. it happene on a major highway connecting genoa to beaches on the ilian riviera and france's southern coast. all of this happening on the eve of a major italian holiday. nbc's chapman bell joins us now from london with the very latest. chapman, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, fep. and as you say, that death toll has now risen to at lst 35 according to local authorities in genoa. but they have found survivors. rescue teams working through the night -- take a look at this drone video released b the fire service in italy. this shows teams digginggh thr the rubble using heavy machinery, but searching very aarefully, lighting up the a surrounding that pile of concrete. that was until around this time yesterday, part of that freeway bridge. from sing thermal imagi that camera as they search for

survivors. that search operati continues this morning as hundreds of emergenc wkers including sniffer dogs methodically search for survivors. it's bsn described a search similar to that following in earthquakes, something tse italian emergency services will have experience in using winches and cutti a tools crawling through tight spaces amid the tons of concrete and twisted metal from the bridge, as well as vehicles that were caught up in that collapse. there are reports that authorities believe more tha 30 vehicles were on that section of road when it came crashing down in heavy storm. one survivor describing the scene on italian tv as something out of a film like an apocalypse, and saying as the road uppenderneath his car disappeared, he's lucky to be alive. philli >> devastating to see those images. chapman, thank you. >> president trump is lashing out against his former white house aide omarosa manigault newman over her explosive

allegations in her tell-all the president pushing back on charges he's been caught on tape using a racial slur by calling her a dog. but that's not thest fime the president has used this insult. >> we have a dirty dog like that who is no good, who is a failure. they were fired like dogs. you got rubio doing poorly k and he sweats a dog. i'm watchg marco sweating like a dog. >> romneych ed. he choked like a dog. mitt romney couldn't run for dog catcher. hillary cnton couldn't be elected dog catcher. i'm watching television and i see her barking like a dog. she's rking like a dog. what was that, is that a dog? >> we now go to nbc's susan mcennis withha more on escalating public feud. susan, good morning. >> hey, good morning, marly. that's right, this fiery back and forth between the president and his former top staffer j seems to continue most recently as you said, the accusations by

omarost the president regularly uses the "n" word. omarosa saying this time she actually heard it on tape, although she will not name the source. the president's spokesperson saying firing back quickly saying she can't guarantee there is no such tape, but says the president's comments are not racial. >> this has absolutely nothing to do with raceth and eveg to do with the president calling grout someone's lack of iny. >> reporter: and the president's comments have come ithe form of tweets saying that that word, the "n" word is not in his vocabulary. again, resorting to name lling, calling her a low life and as you said, a dog. the president's speci cnsel into the russia investigation has now taken an interest in omosa. this hasparked an interest in the russia investigation. omarosa said she haspoken with the special counsel. this could have to do with those hillary clinton e-mails and what the president knew about them and when.

she says he knew they to be released by wikileaks before they were. marlie? >> susan, thank you. >> a new school year starts today at marjory stoneman douglas high school. six months after a school shooting that killed7 people. dozens of newportable classrooms are installed this year since theuilding where the shooting took place will not reopen. the school has also enacted sevel new security measure including 18 officials fa trolling the campus every day. the south florida reports metal detectors were supposed to be in place, but those plans have been put on holdin as atrators workout the logistic. >> the polls have closed adds four more states complete their midterm praries. in vermont, voters made history nominating democrat christine for governor, the first transgender to win the party's nomination for offi. she faces governor phil scott in november. >> an easyor winovernor scott walker who earned the gop nomination as he seeks a third

term. he will face democrat tony evers who won an eight way primary . ra and two contenders emerged for paul ryan's 76-seat. democrat randy bryce will face-off againstli repn bryan steil. for more on the highlights let's go to nbc national political correspondent steveck kor >> another night of headlines, big one. minnesota tim was a presidential canned dapt in 2012. he h wante old job back, but he will not. pale palenti losing to jeff johnson for the primary of minnesota. who will johnson face on the democratic side? tim wall, the it will be wall versus johnson for governor of minute minuneso. another headline race. theational committee giving up his house 76-seat in congress t r attorney general. he was hit with accusations of domestic violence in the final days of this campaign.

he will be the democratic nominee, but that story figures to feature very prominently in the general election and one other headline from this primary night, it is the race for governor of kansas. the voting took place a week ago. but now tonight jeff kohlier, the governor conceding a very closeherace. concedes to crisco back. that happened and kobak candidate for governor. back to you. >> thank you for the update and your enthusiasm, steve. >> some nk city residents got a scare this morning when theyed this smoking manhole. officials now saying there wasn't an explosion. energy company s con edisons the smoking manhole caused a failure in their underground delivery service that resulted in unconfirmed outages in the mid town manhattan area. >> and the only thing we can take it happened in the middle of the night. would have made the traffic that much worse. let's hand it over to nbc meteorologist bill karins. good morning, bill. >> smoke coming out of the ground, walk over it.

>> you go the opposite direction. >> exactly. today we'll be watching flash flooding instead of philadelphia, new york and new jersey, now we're heading to the ddle of the country. we had heavy rain in oklahoma city last night. now that rain threat is moving into areas of missouri, illinois and eventually from chicago to . indianapol that will be later this afternoon towards this evening. here is the rainfall fore it's not all that high, but fort smith, a lot of rain yesterday in the ozarks. a chance for a little more there. maybe an inch of rain possible from evansville to dianapolis. will be isolated. that's a look at the big weather story of the day. now here's a closer look at your day ahead. so, we finally get a dry day and a nice summer-like day, too. temperatures in the upper 80s low 90s in many areas of the hest coast. especially northeast. there is your chance of showers and thunderstorms threat fromo chicagot. louis. and also watch out in south dakota. temperatures will be very summer-like. it's either soggy and warm sounds like august and feels like >> thank you so much, bill.

a family at newark librpty t had more fun traveling than they bargained for. a dance battle erupted. tsa officer joshua mccaul was getting t family through security. one of the three children started busting up in dance moves. then he challenged the airport worker. the new jerse director of tsa says mccl was all too happy to accept and kept the family flying safe. >> a dozen people missed their flight because of that. >> but it was fun. >> university of maryland speaking out about the death of one of their football players. m. i just want to find a used car without getting ripped off. you could start your search at the all-new carfax.com that might help. show me the carfax. now the car you want and the history you need are easy to find. show me used trucks with one owner. pretty cool. [laughs] ah... ahem... show me the carfax. start your used car search and get free carfax reports

at the all-new carfax.com. i've been making blades here at gillette for 20 years. there's a lot of innovation that goes into making america's #1 shave. precision machinery and high-quality materials from around the world. nobody else even comes close. high-quality materials now starting at $7.99. gillette. the best a man can get. mother...nature! nothing smells greater than the great outdoors... especially when you're in accounts receivable. only one detergent can give you a sniff like this... try gain botanicals laundry detergent. one of the many irresistible scents from gain.

leading the news, in colorado an endangered missing alert has been issued for a pregnant mother and her two ung daughters. 34-year-old shannon watts and her daughters ages 3 and 4 were reported missing monday. watts is 15 weeks pregnant. they were lt seenn the frederick area. police say the children may have medical concerns. the epipen, one of the girlsne s for her severe allergies

was found at home along with watts' car, phone, wallet and i.d.s. right now police say they don't have enough information to say whether this disappearance is suspicious. >> as the search continues for a missing university of iowa student, 20-year-old mollie tibbetts, investigators are now focusing their attention on five locations. the locations are in and around brooklyn, iowa where mollie went ssing after going for a job on july 18. they include a travel centers america truck stop and a dnm car wash. investigators say they have not ruled out any scenario including the possibility thatwa fowl pla involved. >> the university of maryland under fire this morning for the deh of aollege football player. the school's president wallace low apologizing for the tragedy and admitting to mistakes that led to the heat stroke death of jordan mcnair who collapsed at practice in may. the team's.j coach d. and members of his staff were all placed on leave. nbc's miguel almaguer has more

on this tragic story. >> reporter: as the university of maryland's football team resumed practice, the president of the university says the school accepts legal and moral responsibility for mistakes made in the death of a star player. >> you entrustrd jordan tour care, and he is never returning home again. >> reporter: in may, 19-year-old jordan mcnair o died heat stroke following the preseason workout in college park. the school says trainers never took mcnair's temperature or iced him down. both steps some experts say could have saved his life. the university investigating the football team's culturefter accusations head coach d.j. n rkin and members of his staff berated players wowing signs of exhaustion. >> we have changed how we practice and also how we train our staff. >> reporter: with durkin and members o his staff placed on leave, the school is parting

ways with conditioning coach rick court amid allegatns of a toxic culture. the university president meeting with mcnair's familyizoday to apol >> university of maryland killed my nephew. that training staff, them people, they killed my nephew. >> reporter: with ther mcn family attorney calling for the firing of the head coach, the am's first game is next month. a season dedicate today a stand-out freshman who had a promising future on and off the field. miguel almaguer, nbc news. >> just ahead, paying tribute to the one and only aretha franklin as she battles illness while fans plan vigil s for her later this morning. stay with us. you're watching "early today." ♪ and i'll be your friend ♪ ♪ i'll help you carry on ♪

♪ lean on me ♪ mmm... ♪ lean on me... ♪ mmm... ♪ lean on me. with target school blist assist.l ♪ come on! just find your school, find your grade, order your list, rgd pick it up at ta the same day. back to school, won and done. stop fearing your alarm clock... with new*! zzzquil pure zzzs. a drug-free blend of botanicals with melatonin ...that supports your natural sleep cycle... ...so you can seize the morning. new! zzzquil pure zzzs. (music) maybe i'm a division 1 athlete. or a father of two. maybe i run marathons. or a

startup. or nothing at all. maybe what i do doesn't matter. maybe all that matters...is what i do next. peloton.

♪ darling, darling, darling, darling, you are ♪ ♪ >> celebrities and fans pour out their well wishes for aretha franklin. her hometown church in detroit will gather to pray for the queen of soul. preparation is underway for a vigil this morning a 5:00 a.m. at the new bethel baptist church. there the pastorhu of theh where franklin got her start and the community are expected to fill the pews as they wait for word on the singer's illness. >> actress jennifer hudson returned home tohi chicago t week to host a back to school back pack evveaway. the t known as hatch day is in honor of her nephew julian

who was a victim of gun violenc7 atears old. julian washo fatally st with hudson's mother and brother in 2018 in their chicago neighborhood. hudsonnd aer sister julian's mother gave out school supplies and back packs to low ince families. the event is part of the julian d. foundation and iseld annually on his birthday. >> still ahead, southrlst aiines grounding some emotional support animals. plusai relentless r drenched the northeast. when will those storm finally move out in so at johnson's, we improved everything. we used 50% fewer ingredients. took out dyes, parabens, phthalates and sulfates. beat the top safety standards in the world and added one handed pumps. gentle means pure, gentle means safe, gentle means love. the new johnson's®.

i was on the fence about changing from a manual to an electric toothbrush. but my hygienist said going electric could lead to way cleaner teeth. she said, get the one inspired by dentists, with a round brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's gentle rounded brush head removes more plaque along the gum line. for cleaner teeth and healthier gums. and unlike sonicare, oral-b is the first electric toothbrush brand accepted by the ada for its effectiveness and safety. what an amazing clean! i'll only use an oral-b! oral-b. brush like a pro. ki i've been mang blades here at gillette for 20 years. there's a lot of innovation that goes into making america's #1 shave. precision ma minery and high-qualierials from around the world. nobody else even comeslose. now starting at $7.99. gillette. e best a man can get.

i wish i could tell ya how i feel about a mornin' like this. and that includes a good hearty breakfast. you need somethin' to kinda warm the whole body up and gets it going. it's a great way to kick off your day. when you're not strong ♪ ♪ and i'll be your friend. ♪ i'll help you carry on. ♪ lean on me. you got it from your parents. and they got it from theirs. it's your skin, and it can protect you from millions of things. so we're here to help you protect your skin. walgreens pharmacists and beauty consultants are specially trained to know what works for the health of your unique skin. walgreens. trusted since 1901. now all sun care products are buy one get one 50% off.

welcome back. torrential storms and flooding continue to plague large swaths of theast triggering more high-water rescues from swamped roads and anneighborhoods. in pennsylvania the flood waters are so powerful it ripped a local library off its foundation, pushing it onto the street. the water has begun torecede in some areas where residents are cleaning up the debris aftere some homes left in ruins. >> bill karins is back. tell us more about the stormy weather. >> yes, thankfully not in the east any more. we got a break for two days. northern new england has a chance of a merong storm. or little rock, paduka, and indianapolis. a little area of northern nebraska and portions of south dakota. >> bill, thank you. jun ahead we have the buzz the denver broncos freshman class. ♪ call on me brother,

♪ when you need a hand ♪ 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...

good morningearn. i'm eun yang. >> i'm aaron gilchrist. new clues to help solve the murder of a 10-year-old girl shot and killed in d.c. last month. shocking allegations against diocese. the washington catholic how he's responding to those claims. chuck? good morning. wednesday is off to a nice dry start. temperatur mostly in the es

good morning everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. m eun yang. welcome to your wednesday, august 15, 2018. thousands of kids are heading back to school today. >> melissa mollet is standing by

with a check of our commute. let's check in with chuck bell and sheena parveen. the kids need to know what? >> hi kids. hope you enjoyed your summer vacation. >> they look happier. th teachers or chuck bell? >> oddly, chucks very happy about other people's childrenbe g in school? >> children should be in school learning. it's all very selfish. fewer kids at the community pool this way. 's like adult swim time again >> the grocery store. i'm hap for you, chuck. congratulations. >> i'm happy for me. id think the will like the back to school forecast. >> i think they wiho. we'll them the bus stop. let's talk about your commute this morning, chuck. chuck's commute is going to be fine. let's talk about the kids, though. temperatures this morning, upper 60s through the suburbs. 73