weird questions and interviews. >> i did, i m it, and i'm l . i really want to see her. i really would want to see what she has to say. i can only say he is such an outstanding man. very hard for me to imagine that anything happened. pressure building. deadnes loomin will democrats succeed in slowing the process, or will f republicansorce a vote without an fbi investigation or public dhearing? allas mavericks billionaire owner mark cuban donates millions on the heels of an investigation thateaindsrs of sexual harassment within his very pire. after a visit from superstar drake and a life saving heart transplant, we check in with 11-year-old sofia. meet the gator hunting great grandma who slayed a 12 footer.

and is this the disco of the future? an underwater dance party with the world's deepest dance t flo. "earay" starts right now. good thursday morng. i'm phillip mena. >> and i'm marlie hall. the clock is ticking this morning t in supreme court confirmation battle. republicans now turning up the pressure on brett kavanaugh's accuser to testify before the senate judiciary committee. in a letter to christine blasey ford's lawyers, committee chairman chuck grassley shed has until 10:00 tomorrow morning to submit hermo prepared tes if she plans to testify monday. but ford has requested that the fbi investigate her allegation before she speaks to the committee, saying she's received death threats since coming forward about the incide, whichates back to their high school days. it all comes as president trump ontinues to stand up for his nominee. nbc's kristen welker h the latest. >> reporter: the hearing in

limb after christine blasey n fbi ays she wants investigation into her allegation of sexual assault against judge brett kavanaugh as a first step. president trump urging her to testify on monday.ll >> i'd r want to see her. whaally would want to see she has to say. >> reporter: and answering the critical question, does he believe her? >> i can only saythis. he is such an outstanding man. very hard for me to imagine that anything ephappened. >>ter: but notably, leaving the door open for a change. >> if she shows up and makes a credible showing, that will be very interesting and we'll have to make a decision. >> reporter: blasey for has received death threats, her lawyer says, forcing her to move out of herome with her children. >> any talk of a hearing on monday frankly is premature because she just came forward with these allegations 48 hours ago. >> reporter: kavanaugh has allegationdenied the for more than three decades ago. in this case, only the white house can ask for an fbi investigation.

mr. trump showing no signs he'll do that. well, itould seem that the fbi really doesn't do that. they've investigated -- >> they would have if you asked them to, mr. president. > they've investigated about six timesbefore, and it seems that they don't do that. >> reporter: but in 1991, former president george h.w. bush did call for an investigation into anita hill's allegations of xual harassment against clarence thomas. >> the hearing questions need to have a frame, and the investigation is the best fraat for >> reporter: one of blasey ford's longtime friends says she has no rson to doubt her. >> no one would bring this down themselves if it weren't a reality for them. >> reporter: kristen welker, nbc tws, white house. on capitol hill, top republican leaders appear ready to move forward with a vote on kavanaugh's nomination if forde ot testify next week. but some within the party worry eaout the potential fallout and what it could for the looming midterm elections. nbc's kasie hunt has more on the

growing rift between republicans. ter: republicans are scrambling to make a plan for dr. christine blasey ford to testify. >> where i'm focused right nowi doing everything that we can make dr. ford comfortable with coming before our committee. >> reporter: judiciary committee chairman chuck grassley even offering to send staffers to california, wre dr. ford lives, to take her testimony. but like the president, he said there was no need to reopen the fbi investigation or delay the hearing, writing in a letter to ford's lawyers that heop she'll testify, quote, either privately or publicly on monday >> the allegations are made. you can't put the genie back in the bottle. >> reporter: dr. ford's reluctance -- to pushnd ahead argue that if she won't testify, the kavanaugh vote should proceed. ednator bob corker tweeting, republicans extend hand in good faith. if we don't hear from both sides

on mondaylet's vote. and republican susan collins, a herical swing vote, telli local radio station -- >> i just don't understand why the hearing shouldn't go forward. >> reporter: but the politicaln calculats still delicate. all the republicans who would consid dr. ford's testimony are men. >> our thanks to kasie hunt for that report. aing rampage in wisconsin left several people wounded and others running for their lives when a man opened re at the offices of a software company. three people were injured. one of them critically. and one other person was grazed by a bullet. orcording to auies, police arrived at wts paradigm within ndur minutes, shooting killing the heavily armed shooter. they say it was clear the ofcers, quote, prevented a lot more bloodshed from happening. although a motive hasn't been determined, gulice say the an was an employee of the company and it wasn't unusual for him to be at the office building. ow we turn to pennsylvania where police are saying no district judges were targeted ia wedns deadly courthouse shooting that left an officer in the hospital and the gun dead.

police say a man who was scheduled for a hearing on domestic violence ran into the court building, opening re. four people were injured, cluding the ficer. that's when officials say the shooter was killed in an exchange of gunfire with another officer. the cop shot in the hand is expected to recover. investigators have not disclosed a motive in the shooting but witnesses say the shooter appeared to be chasing a woman. accordg to theun violence archives there have been 260 mass shootingso r this year. one of the nba's most notable franchise owners, mark cuban, agreedeo don $10 million to women's and domestic violence after a scathing report detailed widespread sexual misconduct within the sports empire he mavericks.dallas we get more information from nbc's gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: he's the brash billionaire and owner of the dallas mavericks, who has even hinted at a presidentialrun. but mark cuban is apologizing. >> just never in my wildest dreams did i think that this was

happening right underneath me. >> reporter: in a bombshell report in february, sports illustrated first detailed the allegations of sexual misconduct mavericks.e the team then launched an independent investigation. it found sexualsm hart by several mavericks employees over 20 years. most notably, improper workplace conduct toward 15 female employees by the mavericks former president and ceo, terdema ussery, including inappropriate comments, touching, and forcible kissing. nbc news could not immediately reach ussery for comment, but investigators said he denied inappropriate kissing or uching and only acknowledged complimenting women. >> it is really impossible i f think n me standing here to overstate to you how devastating it is forn organization when the ceo is the person who is engaged in sexual harassment. >> reporter: cuban himself did not face any misconduct allegations but the report finds that several of his disciplinary decisions constituted significant errors in judgment. since the allegations bame public, he's hired a new female ceo. >> we have a ulspeak-upre

now. >> reporter: the report recommends that the mavericks hire more womenat and c a formal process for emploes to report misconduct. gabe gutierrez, nbc news, new york. diabetes is still an epidemic in the u.s. a new report from the centersis forease control estimates one in seven adults now has diabetes. that's around 30 million americans. among that alarming number, nearly a third don't even knowa they it. the cdc report published every two years shows the number of diabetics has over 12% of americans had the disease in 2015. in 2017, 14% of u.s. adults developed diabetes. an incredialy close caught on camera in north texas. it all happened while a cop was sponding to an accident on a blind curve. while he's talking with that stranded driver, a truck comes careening around a the corner smashes into the crashed car. luckily the officer was able to yank the driver out of harm's way just in the nick of time. nobody was seriously injured.

presint trump visited the carolinas wednesday to get a firsthand look devastation from florence. the president met with storm victims and handed out food. while touring new bern, he asked a man if a shipwrecked boa h behind he was his. that was a comment some criticized as being insensitive. >> is this your boat or is it r boat? did it become y at last you got a nice boat out of it. >> meanwhile, the catastrophe is still unfolding with waters that are still rising in some areas, and new rescues days after the rain stopped. olthe death has now risen to at least 36. today the president will be heading to las vegas for a make america great again rally. nbc meteorologist bill i karins here with an update. good morning, bill. >> good morning. all our weather probles today arow in the midwest. we're getting soaked with just a ton of rain and thunderstorms, and we have flash flood problems in this area and even some flash flood warnings near iowa falls and just north of buque.

the heaviest rain will be as we go through this morning. then another round lhis afternoon and evening. 6 million people at risk. even a few tornadoes. then tomorrow we take the severe weather threat into the northeast with 26 million people at risk mostly o wind damage. that's a look at the big weather story of the day. here's a closer look.s where it' not stormy, it is down right hot. temperatures continue to be well above average for time of year. much of texas, louisiana, right through the southeast. if you want a taste of fall, you have to go all the way north dakota today. high only in the 50s. and a look ahead at the weekend forecast coming up. >> that's what we like to hear, ll. thank you. to the diamond now where jason kipnis just lived every baseball player's backyard dream as a kid. bottom of the ninth, indians down one against the white sox. bases loaded. ian hamilton throws one to r kipnisight over the middle, pad he whacks it dead right center out of the. that was a walk-off grand slam. not only gave his team the 4-1

victory, but it was also his 1,00h career hit. > just ahead, one last trip to detroit rock city. detail on kiss' final tour. and grandma mayor gator slayer. meet the politician bringing a whole new meaning to draining the swamp. thanks to move free ultra 2in1... i run after this guy...

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kellogg's chocolate mmm chocolatey mmm mmm mmmmmm yeah, chocolate! chocolatey. crunch into chocolatey gr-r-reatness. they're gr-r-reat! the winner of the $1 million and the star of the headline show in las vegas is -- shin lim! >> magical night on america's gothealent as t show crowned its 13th winner. 26-year-old self-taught magician shin lim from massachusetts takes home a cool 1 million. he also gets his o show in las vegas. he performed his final card trick for agt hos tyra banks and the hosts of american ninja warrior. li is the second magician to win agt. the show started out with kiss performing detro rock city

before making a huge announcement at their next tour will be their final one. they join a growing list of musical legends that have announced their retirements this ar. politicians promised to drain the swamp. in texashey actually take action. judy cochran hunted down a 12 foot alligator believedo be responsible for killing a horse on her property. from our affiliate in houston, kprc has the grandma mayor gator slayer's impressive story. l it's big. >> reporter: thet time judy cochran was within range of this gator, she was firing at it on her oranch. shot, and he went under. >> reporter: gators are no strangers to this ranch. l the in ponds there. but this 12-foot, 580-poundal gator was act prime sus in a mystery. >> about three years ago, we came up missing a miniature itrse, and we highly suspect a gator got >> reporter: so this year, they

wanted to track this big boy down. but in polk county, there are rules. >> you can only hunt and kill a tor between september the 10th and september the 30th. and you have to he aermit and a tag. >> reporter: cochran says they had the permit and tag. >> i am a nuisance trapper. >> reporter: they brought out stephen moye to trap the male gator. he says he tried many a meal to alligator.t >> tried pork liver, offer wild boar. finally road kill raccoon. >> i underand well seasoned raccoon was the bait of choice. >> reporter: once he had the gator hooked, the mayor got a call. her day job, t running city of livingston. >> you can't just abandon your office. i did thosehings and ranome and changed clothes. e> that's a monster. >> reporter: with shot, she ended the problem. all in a day's work. >> this head is going in my office. >> reporter: that goes from running livingston to running a ranch. >> i becameayor in may and

great-grandmother on friday and killed the gator on monday. >> what's next in. >> waiting to see what i can get into next. >> wow, she does it all apparently. that was kprc reporting. >> that crespondent be more texas right there if it were florida. just ahead, what's on the menu at hollywood's flaming hot pop up shop. and italy driives back into disco. tennis partner's... chatty coworker's... youngest daughter's... entire judo class. one shot can make a world of difference. walgreens has specially trained pharmacists, that know which flu shot is right for you. protecting the world... over 60 million flu shots and counting. starts with protecting yours. walgreens trusted since 1901. what's the #1 new skincare product in 2018? olay whips. absorbs faster than the $100, $200, and even $400 cream.

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look, i tied him to the rear bumper when i was packing the car. it was very confusing. i must have forgot. i -- i'm very sorry. i feel terrible. >> how do you think that little dog feels? poor little guy. probably kept up with you for a mile or so. tough little mutt. >> yeah, yeah. >> well, an arizona truck driver almost accidentally reenacted that classic scene from nationa lampoon's vacation. thankfully, thankfully a volunteer deputy noticed the driver's dog was sll tied to the tractor-trailer's bumper. oh, my gosh, you can see that there. wow, just in time the deputy spedoo the rescue, managing stop the truck before it cruised onto the highway. the d verunderstandably, incredibly grateful, telling the deputy he was distracted and forgot to untie his dog. this could have gone all sorts of wrong. >> poor i'm glad he's okay. >> i don't think we would have showed it otherwise.

a pop-up restaurant in vihollywood is s up flaming hot cheetos in ways you'd never imagine. at the flaming hot spot, you uld start off wit dishes such as the flaming hot frie for tain course, there's the five alarm cheetos steak or the hot schee towsrr o. to finish off, how about the chesters cheetos s.chur >> i've been on this. eighth grade. cheetos oeverything. >> including dessert? >> that's right. well, it was breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert when you're in middle school. pour that cheese on it a swimming pool in italy is making waves with a new kind of dance club. hundreds of music fans dove 137 feet in the dworld'seepest swimming pool for this very trippy experience called deep house wit a deejay performing through a sub aqua from a viewing tunnel. partygoers were able to turn up

on the dance floor with their special diving helmets. desperado's beer company say this is the first of its kind. that is something different. >> that's one way to party. just ahead, an update. the young heart transplant patient who charmed drake now healthy and outer of h hospital bed. you're watching "early today." d♪ ♪ 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... your digestive system has billions of bacteria but life can throw them off balance. re-align yourself with align probiotic. and try new align gummies with prebiotics and probiotics

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went to when i was 12. here's my question. when do we play spin the bottle with oprah and ruth bader ginsburg? >> that's actually not a bad idea. i do that. >> honestly jimmy, you'r you're like the pumpkin spice latte. you're a little too sweet, but ove white people you. it's one of those weird things. >> that is funny. >> pretty spot-on. the same i think could be said of kevin hart as well, though,r t? good line, though. let's get into the weekend forecast. as we click into fall, can youa believe we are worried about heavy rain in oklahoma. could have some flash flooding wsues. thl be an event that's friday and your getaway day. even glass and fort worth could get some of that rain. moving into arkansas. a nice weekend for the plains. the northeast looks fantastic. that rain threat continues all the way to sunday in the deep south. we'll be right back here with more on "early today."

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morning, everyone. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eunth yang. morning, both officers are in the hospital and expected to survive. >> justin finch joins us live from the scene with details. what can you tell us? >> reporter: that's right. at this time we're hearing those officers are in the hospital right now. at least oneould be on h way to surgery. here on the scene, still seeing a heavy policeresence. officers in uniform, others in plainlothes. crime scene investigators also here on the scene, as you can see behindwe me. e still looking at a very active police-involved shooting as you mentioned, nine officers were initially on scene last vight, part of a special operations team s a warrant to a top-level apartment here off the 2700 block. we're told they knocked on that apartment door, announced themsees, and got no answer, so the had to use a device to open that door. inside, they found arm maned with a shotgun. we're told he then