>> bye. the storm is dangerous and if you don't follow warning from officials, this storm could kill you. >> satellite images of hurricane michael as it spins toward the florida coast line, packing wind gusts of 155 miles per hour ando a massive surge. >> and that storm surge could send walls of water inland, causing catastrophic flooding and billions in damage. >> breaking overnight, "the new york times" reports turkish security officials say a missing journalist was assassinated and dismembered on the orders of top saud leadership. >> ambassador's exit strategy,o onew trump administration officials to resign in a positive light, nikki haley plots her next move. ♪ ♪

>> and taylor swift cleans up at awardsrican music but that's not all. "early tod" starts right now. >> good morning. i'm marlie hall. >> and i'm phillip mena. it's being called massive, monstrous, and with just hours until hurricane michael makes landfall, t storm has now intensified to a potentially devastating category 4.io prepar are underway as residents in the southeast brace for flooding rains, 155 mile per ur wind gusts a a life-threatening storm surge of up to 12 feet in some areas. >> the national hurricane center now says michael could be the strongest hurricane to hit the florida panhandle in over a century. the agency warns that locations hit hardest may be uninhabitable for weeks or even months. meteorologist bonnie schneiderhe is tracking storm for us from here. what's the latest? >> well, marlie and phillip,ri t now this hurricane michael is a major storm. a category 4 intensifi overnight. that's what happens when it goes

over the gulf of mexico with those warm deep water. unfortunately this storm is jus barrelling right towards the florida panhandle. the dtance at thi hour, 180 miles to the south, southwest of panama city. look at the winds, 130 miles per hour, a category 4. looking at the forecast track making on shore landfall later n this afternoon, but those rain bands start today come in as early as this morning. then the storm zips out thickly. is one difference from florence where the storm lingered and moved slower. something to keep in mind the tropical storm force winds are coming in and we're likely to see powery outages the tens of thousands because we're still looking at some populated areas that will be impacted. unfortunately those winds will hit the carolinas. and obviously dealing still with flor ce, they're going to ha to deal with more wind and rain in that area, too. >> just rentless all summer. bonnie, thank you. one of the most life-threatening aspects hurricane mic will bring that that potentially devastating 8 to 12 foot storm surge. officials are warni coastal

residents to get out while there is still time and say the effects of the storm would start wellefore landfall. the u.s. gs warns hurricane michael could erode 75% of the florida panhandle's beaches. nbc's kerry sanders is in panama city beach with the latest on thisooming danger. good morning. >> reporter: from panama city beach. >> evacuation, leave. >> reporter: theare preparing to face down a stunning storm surge of 8 to 12 feet. >> there is no way to hide from storm surg it is impossible. how prepared do you feel the city is? >> the city is read >> reporter: we've seen the storm surge before. >> it's a flash moving fast flood with the power of the atlantic ocean behind it. foot storm a surge would knock me off my feet. at 6 feet it's near the top of the sand dunes. once it overtops them, it can cause those dand do you knows to breach allowing floods water to rush inland submerging homes,

buildings and streets. 23 years ago,ne hurri opal's storm surge was devastating. the beach disappeared and that was a problem. so the city i piped sand from deep offshore, extending the beach line from the dunes out to the high tide mark going from an average of 10 feet wide to 12 feet. it raised 7 feet. evenf he sizethe grains of sand carefully selected to reduce the severe impacts of the storm surge. building codesn have also b strengthened. >> it's coming. there's nothing ug do to stopit you just prepare the best you can. >> reporter: the structures here in bay county are built to withstand 140 mile p hour winds, and those cranes that you see on this construction project,well, they're now free flowing. they'll spin in the wind and they'reig dd to hold in winds up to 120 miles per hour. after that, it's unclear if they'lldoome crashing , phillip. >> all right, kerry, thank you. >> drug pricesac at the pha

are about to get a bit more transparent. president trump is expected t sign two bills today that would lift so-called gag orders on pharmacists. the new laws will allow pharmacists to tell customers if it would be cheaper for them to buy a c drug at theh price rather than use their insurance. the new legislation will apply to both medicare and private insurance. >> president trump is pounding the campaign trail ahead of next month's midterm elections and his latest stop, iowa where he stumped forke republicans l in a trio of tight house races. the president flaunted his successes, including the confirmation ofre s court justice brett kavanaugh. even joked about attempts to impeach him. >> the democrats are even talking about doing really bad kavanaugh. to justice last week they're saying, we'll impeach him. impeach him for what? for what? besides that, i have to go

first, right? don't i have to go? >> president trump is speaking in erie, pennsylvania tonight. that will be the first time in's been there the 2016 campaign. >> a surprise shake up in the inump administration. as a r republican star announces her departure, nikki haley is leaving her post as ambassador to the united nations at the end of the year. while she laughed off a possible 2020 bid, republican strategists and polsters told the washingn post, haley could still pose a threat to the president even if she doesn't run. in part, because of her elevated profile within the part nbc's peter alexander has more on the cabinet shuffle.r: >> reporte nikki haley's abrupt resignation costing president trump one of his marquee stars, his u.n. ambassador and one of a few women cabinet. >> it was a blessing to go in with armor everyday and defend america. i'll always do that. but i think is time. >> reporter: the president

praising haley, the is south carolinaovernor who during the campaign was a frequent trump critic. >> she's done fantastic job, she's done a good job. >> reporter: some gruldling she shave waited until after the midterms. her resignation letter obtained by nbc news ised dat last a nesday, the same day highwayly met privately with the president. the daughter of immigrants dismissing political a her own.f a for those of you with questions about 2020, no, i'm t running i2020. what i can tell you is i'm be campaigning for this one. >> reporr: and going outs of her way to compliment the president's daughter and son-'t-law. >> i cay enough good things about jared and ivanka. jared is such aidden genius that no one understands. >> reporter: so why now? that'sunclear. late last month before president trump mocked christine bfosey 's testimony of her alleged sexual assault by brett kavanaugh, an accusation kavanaugh denies, haley argued accusers should be heard. >> it's not something that we want to do to blame the accuse

error to try and second guess the accuser. >> reporter: and weeks earlier haley shot down speculation that she's the anonymo senior official who authored that explosive op-ed claiming to be part of the trump resistance. insisting, when i challenge the president, i do it directly. ambassador haley says she will stay until thend of the year, then who replaces her? the president says his daughter ivanld be incredible, but acknowledges he'd be accused of late tuesday, ivanka trump tw'tted, it won be hurt. marlie? >> peter, thank you. >> breaking overnight, two people are dead andwo others injured in ft. myers, florida, after a shooting in a shopping nter. office responded to reports of multiple gunshots at the bell tower shopping center and quickly closed down that area to traffic. >> we will need at least t ses, at least two buses, we have three victims. one is critical. >> deputies say two people died on scene. two others were taken to the hospital. their condition isun own.

they say the shooting appears to be isolated. >> it appears to not be a random act of violence. we're going to be working ghthrough the please give us that time. and again, it does not appear to be a random act of violence. >> one witness tells ouraf liate wbbh she was celebrating her birthday at a restaurant when someone shot her husband in the chest and then shot and killed her son as he ran away. we wil bring you the latest as it develops. >> now to new questions about the limo involved in the crash that killed 20 people in upstate new york, there were somber moments tuesday as hearstes carried victims to a funeral home. investigators are now asking if the 2001 ford excursion was legally modified to stretch limo size. it failed an inspection last month. the company says it had fixed any defects. >> after getting absolutely blown out on monday night, the new york yankees were looking force a game five against the boston red sox, but it was another quick start for boston, going up 3-0 in the third, and

then a solo home run by christian vasquez the next inning. that would make it 4-0. but in this rivalry as yogi berra wrote say, it ain't over till it's over. let's go to the bottom of the 9th. 4-1, sox closer hits with the bases loaded that. would walk in a run sack fly by gary sanchez would make the score 4-3, gettin closer here. all hope now on rookie torres who knocks a ground ball to third. dard owe nunez throws to first. they say he's out. the ump say he's out. with that replay, the yankees' season is over. boston wins. they will face the houston astros in the championship series. >> bonnie is back with michael. storm surge a huge concern. >> it is a concern, especially when you look at the topography of thisarea. you'll see major storm surge because of this category 4 storm. michael maximum winds at 130 miles per hour.

and you can see the track is taking it on shore later this afternoon. that's a look at the big weather story of the day. now here day ahead.look at your temperatures are very war across much of the southeast. still feeling like summer with highs in the 80s. we'll look for stormy conditions, a little bit cooler but not by much in the northeast. overcast skies and definitely warm. there hasn not b a category 4 storm ever to hit this part of the tuntry. s will be a first. we had two category 3s in the past, but not this>> strong. wow, bonnie, thank you so euch. people across ountry are hoping their numbers will be drawn as they wake up this morning to find out there were no wners for last night's mega millions jackpot. and as tonight's powerball drawing gets closer, tight you ve a chance at winning the $282 million powerball or you could bring haye fr a ssive $548 million m millions together that's a combined $830

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breaking news in the search for a saudi journalist who mysteriously vanished at the country's consulate in istanbul. "the new york times" ts reportin top turkish security officials have concluded jamal khashoggi was assassinated on the orders of top saudi leadership. a senior officiallleportedly g the times he was killed and dismembered by a team of saudi agents. the journalist and washington post columst has been a critic of crown prince muhammad bin salman. saudi has denied the allegations. lucy kafanov is joining us. >> reporter: they employed a 15-man hit squad to lay in wait for the journalist inside the istanbul consulate.

among this team reportedly a forensic expertho bought a bone saw to dismember khashoggi's body. the times alleging that he was killed within two hours of arriving at the consulate and that this 15-person t turkey a few hours later. now, a senior official who descrid this plot to "the new york times" described it as being like something out of the fi pulp fiction. the saudis have denied any volvement in this incident. they have called the claims outrageous. have expressed some concern for the missing journalist. we do know turkish security forces were hunting for a black van that may have carried khashoggi's body as well a two saudi chartered jets that left istanbul rport. the british foreign secretary has told the saudi ambassador to the u.k. they need to providean ers, but a somewhat muted response from the u.s. so far. secretary of state mike pompeo has called on the saudis to support a thorough investigation. president trump said yesterday he does not know anything about

khashoggi's disappearance, but that he would potentially speak with saudi officials at someou point the situation. phillip? >> we are all hoping, especially his family, to get to the bottoi of lucy, thank you. >> just ahead, mr. west wing. kanye prepares to meet the president and from the courtom to the octagon, why lawyer michael avenatti is challenging don junior to an mma fight. i can't believe it. that everything sticks to stefon diggs's hands? no, i can't believe how easy it was to save hundreds of dollars on my car insurance with geico. cool, huh? yeah. he plays football, huh? yeah. believe it. geico could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. ayep, and my teeth are yellow.? time for whitestrips. crest glamorous white whitestrips are the only

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we just wanted to tell you that we will miss you. we'll be speaking over time, but we will miss younevertheless. you have done a fantastic job and i want to thank you very much. >> thank you, thank you ver much. thank you. >> mostly thank you in advance for not writing a book about me. the book, by the way, is cled haley's vomit. my time -- >> clever, real money in writing books if you've been in that trump administration. >> haley's vomit, i like that. >> nine towns in virginia are cracking down on trick or treating. is an effort to make the night safer for kids so they put in some guidelinestho enforce it laws will make trick or treating hours from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. and kids 12 and under are allowed to participate here. teenagers between the ages of 13 and 18 have to have their parents with them if they want yo get some candy. anyone found gui will get a small fine, no more than 100 bucks, but they could spend even if it's a small time, they could get some time in jail for that. you like the idea? >> well, the teernagers having

their parents with them, that's not coot' >> t why they want less people out there. i think they should be out there. ly defini could the next hot fight ticket be these two? nbc reporr dylan buyer said on twitter he was having lunch with michael avenatti who said he would have a fight with don junior. he said he'd give half the proceeds to rebuilding puerto rico and the other half to the anti-sexual violence group rain. so far no wd from don junior. i would pay to see that. >> i have never purchased a ufc ght in my life, but i would absolutely pay whatever necessary for them. >> that would be the first one. >> full blown suits, all right, kanye west is going to visit the white house tomorrow. i have to repeat kanye west is going to visit the white house tomorrow. look at those two together. "the new york times" reporting that kanye will meet with

president trump and his son-in-law jared kushner. they are going to have lunch and reportedly going to talk about job opportunities for former convicts the hip-hop icon received some mixed reviews for his support om president trumt recently after that appearance on saturday night live where he wore that make america great again hat. well, his wife, you may kardashian, made news earlier this year, when she also met with president trump at the white house. here we are. aylor swift, a former country star, going against the republicans and kanye and president trump. brs. >> well, still ahead on "early today," we'll take you to the american musich awards wit last night's biggest and best moments. of course i have- because national l lose nting the wait at the counter... ...and choose any car in the aisle. and i don't wait when i return, thanks to drop & go. c at national, lose the wait...and keep it off.

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and it uses an all-natural propellant to leave behind a pleasant scent you'll love. use anywhere odors can spread. freshen up, don't cover up. febreze air effects. hurricane michael, a powerful category 4 storm bearing down on the florida coast line at this hour with maximum winds of 130 miles per hour. e of the biggest problems with this storm will be storm surge, up to 12 feet in some areas, particularly here in and around florida.end of so a dangerous situation as wind will pile up the water as we watch for landfall to occur later this afternoon. so, phillip andmarlie, we' going to be seeing landfall sometime in the early afternoon hours. bonnie, thanks. just ahead, an alabama institution. we'll have a behind the scenes look at alabama state's marching band. i'm alex trebek here to tell you

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good morning, everyone. i'm eun yang. >> and i'm aaron gilchrist. he's acced of assaulting a young girl and hitting a woman trying to save her. >> this morning,k a l the man behind bars. get ready. hurricane michael is making landfall this morning. i'm going to have the latest impacts on that historic storm and i'm tracking a

"news 4 today" begins with breaking news. experts say this could be the most powerful hurricane ever to hit the florida panhandle. right now hurricane michael with winds and pnding rains only just beginning to make its

presence known along the gulf coast. just about 4:00 a.m. good morning, everybody. i'maron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. hurricane michael moved into a category 4. toda might be a day that no one living on florida's gulf coast t fo >> this morning we have live coverage and we'll begin with a check on the morning commute and our travelforecast. >> melissa mollet is standing by and we have amelia. >> it's another mild start out there with temperatures in the 70s.im veryar to monday and tuesday as well. take a look at your morning planner. we're going to stay in the low to m 70s until 10:00 a.m. plenty of clouds artnd. after t we'll see sunshine developing. it's another humid ay. onin we'll be tracking temperatures 10 to 15 degrees abov. norm as you're heading out the door and getting the kids ready, it is t-shirt weather. you'll want to grab the sunglasses. i can't rule