hurricane michael is forecast to be the most destructive storm to hit the florida panhandle in decades. >> monstrous storm. evacuations have been ordered as hurricane michael strengthens, potentially reaching a category 3 storm and taking direct aim at the gulf coast. a desperate rescue is under way in texas where emergency crews are searching for four missing men swept away by floodwaters. an emotional vigil was held overnight for the victims of that deadly limo ride that claimed 20 lives. this morning new details about the super stretch and the man behind the wheel. the child health warning that every parent needs to hear. 16 states reporting a mystery illness that's causing partial paralysis in children. then to afl new record as drew bre surpasses peyton

manning as the greatest passer of all time. and the close call involving a deer, a passing car, and cyclists, all caught on tape.ay "early tod starts right now. good morning. i'm marlie hall. >> and i'm phillip me. time to leave may be running out as hurricane michael gains strength and b toward the florida panhandle. the storm is expected to make landfall later tomorrow. emergency officials are anticipating a two to four-foot storm surge in some areas. >> cuba and mexico are already feeling michael's wrath with 90-mile-per-hour winds and heavy rains responsible for at lea 13 deaths across centr america. nbc's kerry sanders has the latest as the southeastraces for impact. >> reporter: the state of emergency in alabama and along florida't. west >> hurricane mike sl a monstrous storm and the forecast keeps getting more dangerous. >> reporter: supplies and gas already on high demand. >> i'm gassing up to make sure i can gho me. >> reporter: satellite photos

reve the fast-moving hurricane taking shape,ith the edges of the growing storm drenching the far western edges of cuba. emergency magers in low-lying gulf county, florida, taking no chances, ordering a mandatory evacuation. businesses, schools, and universitiesclosing. >> we want to get things done, get the propane, extra water, make sure everything is taken care of by the time the storm actually comeers e a. >> reporter: residents across the state bracing for what could be a dangerous and destructive storm. >> let's get to meteorologist michelle grossman. >> right now it is 4 55 miles south of panama city. it's moving quicker than atyesterday. aory 1 storm. it's over the gulf of mexico, which is very warm. it's like bath water. that will only help to fuel this system. we do expect it to blossom into a category 3 storm today. let's lookt the timing. later on tonight, 115 miles per

hour. that will me it a category 3 storm. then by wednesday, 120-mile-per-hour winds. this will be the time frame to watch because we are expecting landfall sometime on wednesdaf butt speeds up today, it will be later on tonight. if it does slow down, it could be as late as thursday. right now this track is showing us it l will makdfall tomorrow. then it will eventually affect the carolinas and the northst as we g towards the weekend. so it's a very fluid situation. we're going to watch it over the next 24 hours. as it stands, it looks like landfall will be tomorrow. >> thanks, michelle. an urgent searchffort is under way for four men who went missing after their r.v. was swept away by swift floodwaters in west texas. ement office man says about a foot of heavy rain caused the south llano river to overflow its banks in junction outside of austin. so f no fatalities have been ir cod. in this dramatec rescue, the

s game wardens used a helicopter to air lift two people and their d from a tree. the river has gone down but is expected to rise again. an upstate new york coftittee left reelinger a horrific limo crash took 20 lives. hundreem gathering to rr the victims at a candlelight vigil. the limo was carrying fily and friends for a 30th birthday celebration whether it crashed. the ntsb till return to scene of the accident this morning as investigators try to piece together what went wrong. nbc's tom costello has the latest. tom, good morning. >> reporter: phillip, good morning to you.ic the state p here in new york are very much running the criminal and forensics vestigation here. the ntsb is involved in trying to put all the pieces together and determine what, if anything, can be learned. they have a lot of questions to answer. as ntsb drones flew over thece crash to document where 20 people died, investigators spent the day focusing on the limo

operator, prestige limousine chauffeur service. federal records show it had failed 80% of its inspections over the past two years. the driver,3-year-old scott lisnicchia died in the crash. >> the driver of the vehicletid have the appropriate driver's license to be operating that vehicle. second, that vehicle was inspected last month and failed inspection and was not to be on the road. >> reporter: the stretch limo, a modified 2001 ford excursion. witnesses say it waspeeding when it came b reling down route 30, blowing through a stop sign at a t-bone intersection, then careening across a country store ati driveway, h a parked car and killing two pedestrians before slamming into a heavily wooded ravine. the 17 passengers who had rented the limo for a birthday celebration died. two newlywed couples, four s.sters, two brothers, family

and frie >> i just hope they didn't suffer. i want to believe it was instant. that they never knew what happened. >> reporter: axel and amy steenburg were justarried in june. axel rented the limo for amy's ryonebirthday to take e safely to an upstate brewery. they never made it. karina halse's older sister, al amanda died. >> i've never felt this type of pain before. i wouldn't want anyone else to go through what i'm going through, what my family is going through. >> reporter: also killed inhe crash, three parents, leaving behind three young children. >> one of the things that we hope to beble to determine is what the speed of the vehicle was at the collision, and i think we have the technology to do that. >> reporter: the ntsb says no skid marks on the the limo company involved, prestige limo. ey are offering their condolences to the victims and offering to fully cooperate with authorities. but in a very strange twist,

phillip, it turns out from government sources that the owner of that limo company, uashahed hussain, ay cooperated as an fbi informant on several anti-terror inphstigations. lip, back to you. >> i'm sure authorities will surely vet that odd tom, thanks. the supreme court is back in session today with newly confirmed justice brett kavanaugh taking the bench. kavanaugh taking his oath in a ceremonial swearing in at the white house after a bitter fight to get him confirmed. the new associate justice promising to list en to each cae with respect and an open mind. >> reporter: another legacy-making moment for president trump as heelcomes the second new supreme court justice of his administration. >> i want to apologize to brett and the entir kavanaugh family for the terrible pain and suffering you have been forced to endure.

>> reporter: brett kavanaugh sworn in by the justice he's replacing after days of denying the sexual misconduct allegations against him. >> what happened to the kavanaugh family violates every notion offairness, decency, and due ocess. our country, a man or a woman, must always b presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. >> reporter: the president now hopes tourn hisolitical win into a victory for his party in november by high lhting his success with kavanaugh. >> a man that did nothing wrong. a man that was caught up in a hoax that was set up by the democrats. >> reporter: he hopes to keep his base galvanized with four campaign stops in the next five days. a trip to florida, and a rarest special gn air force one, deputy attorney general rod rosenstein. >> what did you say to rod rosenstein, mr. president? >> we just had a very ne talk. we actually get along. >> reporter: president trump's apparently not bothered by that blockbuster report rosenstein denied two weeks ago, that he

privately talked about removing the president fm office. now, no changes, the president says, to the position that he oversees special counsel investigation. >> i think we'll be treated very fairly. >> reporter: rosenstein was at the white house last night for that ceremonial swearing i of brett kavanaugh. the new supreme court justice insists he is unchanged after that highly charged and intensely emotional confirmation process. marlie, back to you. >> hallie, thank you. and with the kavanaugh battle now over, is hitting the road, hoping to turn his supreme court win into a victoryn the midterms. meanwhile, democrats are hop to fuel a blue wave. let's get more from nbc's tracie potts. where is president trump headed this week? >> reporter: he's headed to four states with four key races. starting today in iowa. then the president moves on to pennsylvania, ohio, and kentucky, hoping to keep the firet. republicans say this nomination battle over now justice

kavanaugh has energized their voters in an way e they did not expect. on the other side, democrats are saying the same so we could see a showdown over this kavanaugh issue at the november. president trump, though, says he thinks that republicans will win in november because he thinks they may win over a lot of democrats. a i think it's an insult to the american public, i think you're going to see a lot of things happen on november 6th that would not have happened before. i think a lot of democrats are going to vote republican. >> reporter: now, will it be democrat or will it b republicans, or will it be women? a lot of experts are saying that the issues that came out in the kavanaugh nomination have energized women on both with some of the polling showing that already having effect on house races. phillip. >> we're less than a month from finding all of that out. tracie, thank you.

a terrifying moment was caught on camera by a cyclist in north carolina. one of the riders captured a deer being struck b a car while trying to cross the road. take another look. the animal barely missing one of thecyclists. fortunately no one was injured but officers say this is a good reminderor drivers to stay vigilant because deer are more active this time of year. that's tough for me to watch but glad the cyclist is okay. >> i wasn't expecting that. > michelle, bigger problems than deer on thet. gulf co >> yes. we are talking about michael and we are talking about storm surge. this is ourrn biggest con with this storm. remember, 49% of deaths from tropical cyclones come from storm surge. you cannot outrun storm surge. let's take a look at the watches. that's in the purple including st. petersburg, also panama city in the warning. we could see a storm surge up to 12 feet in some spots. that's a look at the big weather story of the cy. here'sser look at the day ahead.

all right. we are talking about floodrag s once again in the plains today. we have rounds and rounds of that for the past few days. could even see the potential for severe storms as well. it looks likee could get some damaging winds. winter weather on the back side of this, could see temperatures in the 30s in some we're going to talk more about michael. it looks to b landfall sometime tomorrow. >> thanks so much michelle. well, it's wedding bells for a former first daughter. barbara bush tied the knot i a secret ceremony over the weekend to screenwriter craig coyne at the family's compound in kennebunkport, maine. president george w. bush walked his daughter down the aisle while her grandfather, president george h.w. bush watched. her twin sister jenna served as the matro on honor. congratulations to the happy couple. >> great to have grandpathere. just ahead, bradley cooper makes the jump from the silver screen to the billboard charts. and the growing fear over a mysterious polio like illness.

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a reminder. tonight's mega millions jackpot is an astounding $470 million with a lump sum option of $265 million. it's the fifth largest in the drawing's history. tomorrow night's powerball jackpot has grown to has the saying goes, you got to be in it to win it. i know i'll be in it. may not win it. >> we w usually don'tin it. leading the news this mo ing, a child health warning that every parent needs to hear. states have reported cases of a mysterious illness that can cause partial paralysis in children. nbc's kristen dahlgren reports on what families can do to prevent it. >> reporter: within a week, quentin went from being an gntive 7-year-old to a hospital bed, ded with a rare polio-like illness that at least five other i kids minnesota now also have. >> doctors are telling you this is sometng that we don't know much about.

there's no known cure. that's when the bottom really seemed to drp out. >> reporter: it's called accuse flasity mility its. doctors believe it's linked to virus viruses. >> they can cause hand foot mouth disease, common cold symptom. in rare cases, they cause neurologic disease. >> reporter: in 2014, there were 120 afm cases in 34 states. in 2016, there was another spike. so far this year, there are 38 cases, including the recent cluster in minnesota. sytoms can inclu sudden limb weakness, drooping eyelids or face, and troubleg swallow or slurred speech. in some cases, it can lead to paralysis or even death. doctors recommend hand washing to prevent virus spread. while they don't know if quentin will regain normal use of his arm, his parents say he's doing better. >> he's as happy and a playful ever. >> reporter: what's often called a one in a million illness now striking fear i parents across the country. kristen dahlgren,ne nbc .

straight ahead, meghan mccain makes her emotional view." to "the plus sparks fly as taylor s ft targets republicans and how shake nt trump tried t it o you're watching "early today." chatty coworker's youngest daughter's entire judo class. one shot can make a world of difference. walgreens' specially trained pharmacists, know exactly which flu shot is right for you. protecting the world... over 60 million flu shots and counting, starts with protecting yours, today. walgreens, trusted since 1901.

i'm jennifer wexton, and i approve this message. female announcer: seen barbara comstock's fake ad? male announcer: jeifer wexton backed a dea leading to massive tolls on 66. fejennifer wexton foug. blatany false. and let'the waythis plan that it' rolled out. it's highway robbery. there's also healthcare robbery.

barbara comstock vot to sabotage the healthcare market, hiking premiums up to 64%. barbara trumpstock -- everything that's wrong in washington. ♪ tell me something good ♪ are you happy in this modern world ♪ >> that is bradley cooper. he and lady gaga joined forces

in the new movie "a star is born" and delivered this powerful duet called "shallow." not only was this actor, bradley cooper's direct ta toriadebut, he also scored his first hit on the billboard hot 100 landing at number 28. as i trip over myth words e, i was thinking how talented this guy is not only being able to arect this sing and act. you know, they thought he's going to win an award for this, an oscar. >> he g hasat voice. >> did you know that? >> no. votingegistration nationwide and? tennessee spiked after singer taylor swi shared this rare political instagram post endorsing democratic candidate phil reddisen. according to vote.com nationally there were over 51,000 new registrations in just 24 urs. tennessee, 2,811 registrations in september ickly rose to about 3,500, more than that, for octobero

far. and their page has sn over 155,000 new unique visitors alone. but of course her message wasn't received well by eryone. aring about the post, president trump said, let's say that i likeaylor swift's music about 25% less now. i thought that percentage mig have bee higher. >> you're right. he must have really liked her if it's only 25%. she's got a lot of reach and she's on tour, so spreadi the message. so taylor got some support recently from meghan mccain who returned to the view after a leave of absence after the death of her father, senator john mccain, in august. mccain vowed to carry on the work of her fathe who denounce the partisanship, and she also singled out some of her closest friends who were there for >> god is real. i wouldn't be here without my faith. but i also wouldn't be h je withou biden and joe lieberman. those men have carried me thugh this experience, and i want to thank them for being uncles to me.

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he turned around the naacp. businessman. ben jealous. "marylander of the year". he's helped grow twenty companies and a thousand jobs. ben's vision: medicare for all. a plan to lower prescription drug costs and fully fund our schools. the sun says jealous has "the stature and gravitas" to lead maryland. we can do much better on jobs,

on education, on healthcare. but it means we've got to believe in each other. ben jealous. governor.

just about 4:00 a.m. good morning, everybody. >> we're kicking things off with a check on your commute and your forecast. >> melissa has details on what's

happening on the roads right we now. l start though with amelia draper and a look at where things stand now weather wise. >> yesterday was a foggy start on your columbus day. that's really not an issue. you can see the visibility now half a mile. it's ah dry start w no drizzle. we should be starting off this time of the year with temperatures in the0s and even 40s out there. 00 a.m. we're at 68 degrees. we'll fall a few more degrees over the next coupl ofours before the sun comes up. by 8:00 a.m. it's a mild 72 and by 10:00 a.m mostly cloudy skies. a temperature of 74. new information coming in on ae