nbc sunday night fooevall eryone, have a here's gordon. thousands are without power as the deay storm makes landfall torrential rain bands pushing inland with gusty wind >> fear the new book by famed journalist boboodward has created a firestorm from the white house. wong with incredible revelation abot is going on inside the trump add macon, georgia. >> to the fight for the future of the supreme court and how democrats aretling to shelf the hearings until more a documentsre released. >> and another night of upsets at the u.s. open. it went deep into this morning. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm phillip mena. >> and i'm marlie ha. tropical storm gordon's siege of heavy rainfall may have just gun, but h it already claimed

its first life. just hours ago, the national hurricane centeou aed gordon made landfall west of the alabama/mississippi border with sustained winds of over 70 miles per hour. >> authorities report those winds from the storm's outer bands caused a tree to fall onto a mobile home in pensacola, killingd. a ch nbc's jay gray has been chasing this storm and joins us now from gulf port, mississippi. ja good morning. >> reporter: hey there, good morning, phillip. gordon made landfall just befor midnight just west of the ississippi/alabama border, bringing with it strong winds. 80 mile an hour gusts,riving rains and a storm surge. flood h flooding has been a serious issue and continues to be as it moves inland throughout the day. we've see becau of the strong wind power lines down. tens of thousands without power. crews getting out when and where they can to try and reestablish that this system continues to push and willhrough theweek. up through the middle of the

country, the midwest in jeopardy as wellecause it is going to bring rain to an area that's already been dealing with flooding there. here, the clean-up will begin in ernest once things calm down a rt. and gulf portht now, no real rain to speak of. we have had some song winds a times. we've seen a growing surf, but again, the situaon rightow seems to be the worst. just across the mississippi line into alabama where they took the brunt of this storm, that is the latest froul here in port, mississippi. i'm jay gray, nbc news. >> bill karins is here tracking gordon. what else can we expect? >> the winds are no longer much of a concern. down to 40 miles n per hour, going to see more wind damage. we will see a chance of an isolated tornado, winds to watch. the rain slo ty moves towar northwest as we go throughout the next three days. flash flood warnings continue from jackson, alabama through pensacola. flash flo risk into areas of arkansas. additional rainfall the next three days, many areas have a

tednce of 3 inches, iso areas could get 5 inches including southern areas of arkansas. we have rainfall concerns. the storm surge and the wind concerns are now diminishing. >> all right, good news there, bi. thank you,ir. bob wood wards sploes. new book fear is gripping the white house. president trum unloading overnight on the legendary washington post journalist mous for breaking the watergate scandal. the president claimed in a tweee incendiarys attributed to mattis and kelly were, quote, made up frauds, a con on thepu ic. wood wards responded by saying, i stand by my reporting. he didn't speak with the esident for the book saying his requests went unanswered. and he backed that up with this phone call from last month. >> sorry we missed the opportunity to talk for the book. >> well, i just spoke with kellyanne, and she asked me if i got a call. i never got a icall. never got a message. who did you, who did you ask about speaking to me? >> well, about six people.

>> they didn't tell me. >> senator, i talked to kellyanne about it 2 1/2 months ago. i've got to go talk to people and see them outside of the white house and outsidef their offices, and gained aot of insight and documentation and, you know, it's a tough look at the world and your administration and you. >> right. well, i assume that means it's going to be a negative book. you know, i'm sort of 5 used to that. that's all right. >> nbc's tracie pots joining us from capitol hill. i can't imagine the white house is too thrilled with this book here. >> reporter: the details of the book are certainly telling as you heard the president say it's all made up. bob woodward said it's not. it comes from unnamed sources, deep sources who are familiar with what's happening in the white house. the title of the book, fear, he says actually comes from an

interview that was done in 2016 with president trump where said that real power is fear, and thus the title of the book. in it, accounts of w ate house where staff members are trying to pull things togescer, bing it as crazy town, a white house on the verge of a nervous break down. the former economic advisor, according to the book, swiping a letter off the president's desk to keep him from pulling out of a trade agreement with south korea. the book talks about the chief of staff john kelly calling the president a idiot. he denies that. the defense secretary james mattis refusing to kill syria's fromdent on an order president trump. this from the washington post's robert costa. >> on trade, on foreignli , you see mattis, the secretary of defense, gary cohn the former top economicadvisor, trying to even pull documents off of the president's desk s he forgets about them and moves on.

>> reporter: and new from the russia investigation, which according to the book, has this white nearly paralyzed, the russia investigator robert mueller willing to take some written responses now ft m presidump instead of a sit-down interview. back to you. p >> tracis live for us in washington this morning. tracie, thank you. >> a primary night stunner in the state of massachusetts. progressive ayanna pressley upset ten term representative michael capuano. th long-time congressman conceded overnight and voiced his support for she is now set to become the first black woman to represent the state in congress. her surprise win is thees l blow for the democratic establishment. s essley's path to d.c. cleared. there is no republican on the ballot for the state's 7th which wasnal district once represented by john f. kennedy. >> the contentious confirmatio ttle over supreme court nominee brett kavanagh will

pickup again in just hours. d in the first of hearings, democrats showed up ready for a fight. they were trying to throw a wrench in the proceedings by immediately calling for a ve to adjourn. and interruption from dozens of protesters only added to the chs as nbc's chief white house correspondent hallie jackson tells us more fireworks are expected in the coming day >> reporter: no delaying the drama as democrats demanded one econds into the hearing. >> we cannot possibly move forward, mr. chairman, with this hearing -- >> i extend a wm welcome to judge kavanae . >> wlieve this should be postponed >> mr. chairman, i move to adjourn. >> reporter: protests erupting. 70 people ultimately in the audience, the father of a parkland school shooting vretim who says kavanagh brushed him off when he introduced himself. the white house says the judge escorted by security didn't know who he was. plan to s opponen pepper him about gun rights and abortion rights rulings and where he stands on investigating

aitting president. democrats furious the white house has not released more docunts aboutkavanagh's work under former president george w. bush. >> what are we trying to hide? why are we rushing? >> reporter: republicans deriding it all as political posturing. >> i'm still disappointed it's not hillary cnton making this appointment. >> reporter: republicans will defend donald trump's pick who could reshape the supreme court for io gener >> judge kavanagh doesn't hate womenhi andren. he doesn't luft after dirty water and stinky air. >> reporter: if they stick together by the end of the month, judge kavanagh could end up a justice. >> i'm not a geo defense judge. i am a pro-law j >> reporter: we are also now learning who will senate 76-seat of the laseat fo. john kyle was appointed by the governor yesterday. kyle haseen on the hill the last couple of months

shepherding brettavanagh through the process. phillip, back to you. >> halle, thank you. in tennis down went another giant. >> game, set and match. >> three seed and defending u.s. open champion sloane stephens was knocked out by anastasia struggling with the heat and humidity. stevens just couldn't find her rhythm on the hard court and her opponent took advantage. she falls 6-2, 6-3. now to prime time action, serena williams on center crt trying to keep her championship hopes alive. after dropping a few games early on, williams firing up the jets to comem behind and take the first set and from there it was just too much serena. she advancesem to thei finals winning 6-4, 6-3. finally a five-hour thriller giving fans exactly what they paid for. top seed rafa nadal takingn

dominique time a dominique thiem. nadal showing his experience on the stage and tk advantage of late unforced errors. it would go on to a 5th round tie break. >> bill, what can we expected to? five hour imagine playing in that humidity. it was grossly humid. 30 million people at risk. it will feel like 100 degrees once again just like itid yesterday. the heat relief will come eventually with that cold front. but not for today. d.c. heat and d.c. will be 100. new york city c tse tot also. boston and providence a little cooler. not very nice in west virginia. finally we get a slight cool down as we head towards thero weekend hout much of this region. that's a look at the big weather story of the day. now here's a closer look at your day ahead. we're still going to be watching obviously what happens with gordon, iwe get any isolated tornadoes and rain threat in southern mississippi

and arkansas. we have our own flooding kansas, in areas of iowa and wisconsin this morning with heavy rain and thunderstorms. a we'll talk morut that heavy rain threat and rain event going on right now in wisconsin coming up. >> thanks, bill. >> fast forwarding into wednesday, facebook's chief operating officer sheryl sandberg and twitter dorsey will testify on capitol hill. try and calm lawmakers concerns over the social media platform.j >> senatorn kyle is expected to be sworn into the senate after being appointed to fill the 76-seat left by vacant late senator john mccain. -year-old kyle is a three-term republican senator from arizona o retired in 2013. >> today is national cheese day with discounts and specials to be had at most major chains. we'll be right back. you're watching "early today." er after moisturizer but there's one... that blows them all out of the water. hydro boost water gel from neutrogena®. with hyaluronic acid it goes beneath the surface

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e-mailing every employee of the news department about ronan farrow's initial investigation into harvey weinstein. and now ronan farrow is responding. here's nbc's stephanie gosk.in >> reporter: f allegations that nbc news blocked reporter ronan farrow from doing a story on disgraced movie mogul harvey weinstein, nbc news chairman andy lack sent an e-mail to employees writing, in part, at no point did nbc object instruct farrow's repoeeing. last farrow's former producer rich mchugh who has left the network accused nbc of a massive breach of journalistic integrity. lack says an indendent group of the most experienced investigative journalists in our organization evaluated farrow's reporting, concluding the story was not ready to air. the e-mail repeatedly states thatth farrow atime did not have a single victim or witness willing to go on the record. attached to last night's e-mail s a ten-page report which details more than 20 occasions

whr harvey weinstein his lawyers contacted nbc news executives during the investigation. lackwrites,he persistent contact played no role in our decision mang. he says it was farrow's decision to pursue the story elsewhere. two months later farrow's pulitzer prize winning report was published in the new yorker magazine. farrow has long maintained his work while at nbc w reportable. he is now disputing lack's e-mail saying it contains numerous false or misleading statements. and insists the sugge to take the story to another outlet was first raised by nbc. one weinstein accuser emily nester states, i had tentative offered to attach my name to the interview in silhouette, or potentiay even re-shoothe interview with my face visible. however, they were not interested. nbc news says they were never told she was willing to be named. ultimately, lack says the news division parted ways with farrow because of a disagreement over journas.stic standa

and farrow's urgency to get the story publishe lack writes, if some believe that decision aailure of our competitive instincts, so be i stephanie gosk, be in news, new york. >>ea just ahd a florida student lifetimesurprise of a at a beyonce jay z concert. and we're loving it. the hilarious mcdonald's prank that's also promoting diversity this morning. you're watching "early today." i. yup, he's gone noseblind. he thinks it smells fine, but his mom smells this... luckily for all your hard-to-wash fabrics... ...there's febreze fabric refresher. febreze doesn't just mask, it eliminates odors you've... ...gone noseblind to. and try febreze unstopables for fabric. with up to twice the fresh scent power, you'll want to try it... ...again and again and maybe just one more time. indulge in irresistible freshness. febreze unstopables. breathe happy.

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coming up later on today, comedian john stewart stops by studio 1-a with 9-11 first responderso champion the cause. >> bill karins is back with the rainy forecast. >> it won't stop raining in wisconsin, kansas, iowa, too. we have flash flood watches. that continues numerous flash flood warnings in hesconsin, no michigan. you can see why the heavy rainfall. some embedded thunderstorms in this, too. we're not done yet. ill more coming out of nebraska into iowa. the rain call c forecastls for an additional 1 to 3 inches from quincey to peoria. that's t chance of flash flooding during the day today. >> thanks, bill. the international space station sprung a leak. russian officials are claiming sabotage. you're watching "early today." to emerge your best every day,

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good rning. i'm aaron gilchrist. i'm eun yang. a massive local home catches fire overnight. news 4 is on the scene where a hundred firefighters worked to put out the flames. wednesdayo off steamy start. sizzling sunshine and heat indexes near an100.

breaking news. 100 firef bhterstled an overnight fire in bethesda. good morning. ip aaron gilchrist. i'm eun yang.

angie goff has more from the live desk. >> one of the firefighters that you mentioned is hurt. we're working to learn the extent of that injury. take a look. this is a picture of that house on fire. it required a massive response from montgomery county fire and you can see significant damage caused by this fire. officials saying the home was under renovation and nobody was living in it of the this is a really busy area. whittier ulevard. you cut through to get to bradley boulevard, you can from the map, whitman high school up the road. molette green is t headedt way and will have the latest in the 5:00 hour. we'll stay on top of it. we're in for another day of blazingot temperatures. it feels like it's 200 degrees humidity. h the >> it might as well. >> we're in weather alert >> melissa mollet checking on the commute for us. we'll start with chuck and shna and a look at this