jeez. >> t thislearly is an act of terror, attempting to undermine our free pss and leaders of this country throu acts of violence. >> this morning a new look at the explosi devices mailed in waves to numerous targets. authoritie are desperately searching for the sender and also making sure there are no more bom incirculation. with just 12 daysth to e elections nbc news goes in depth over which political candidates are really working on your behalf when it comes to pre-existing conditions and your health care. aea flood ofion to megyn kelly's on-air apology for her ecomments about blackfac that set off a majorbacklash. a threatening message from a

stranger leads a new jersey mom to thwart a potential school massacre hundreds of miles away. plus all of 2018's stock gains may have been wiped out but will that deter online shop dprerz lo dprerz from looking for the best holiday deals? i'm phillip mena. >> and i'm marlie hall. this morning federal and local authorities are investigating a series of pip bombs mailed to several prominent democrats and critics of ptrsident p. one of the devices was sent to cnn's new york offices, prompting an evacuation. officipas say the ages were all nearly identical, made from pvc pipe, containing a timer, pyrotechnic powder, and likely shrapnel according t x-rays. >> lawmakers from all sides condemned the incident. new york mayor bill de blasio calling it an act of terror. vice president mike pence tweeting, "these cowardly actions are despicable and have no place in thi country." and president trump also weighing in from his rally in

wisconsin last night. nbc's tracie potts has the citest from washington. hey, t good morning. >> good morning. at this rally the president avoided partisan attacks and focused on the investigation of these pipe bombs and how and from whom they were sent. here's the presidentast night. >> any acts or threats of political violence are an attack on our democracy itself. the media also has aty responsibio set a civil tone and to stop thendless hostility and constant negative and oftentimes false attac and stories. >> reporter: those packages were mailed torr president barack obama, to hillary clinton. she was not home. she was in florida at the time. to congresswoman maxine waters and other high-profile democrats, many of whom have been publicly and frequently

crital of president trump. the device to brennan as you noted went to cnn's headquarters, and it was more on that later. mayor bill de blasio is calling this an act of terror. and of courseuthorities are investigating. and we are told taking a look at many of the places whese t bombs were mailed, to new york, to washington to florida. that authorities nowm have f some of those packages an important clue. they contain post-marks that postal inspectors can look at and get some sense of where the devices came from and startin lo at cameras at those facilities. most ofhem were mailed to mail facilities and got nowhere near thei intendedtargets. back to you. >> and for that we are very thankf,. trachank you. the devices also throwing a major media organization into chaos. the package addressed to former cia director john brennan was sent to cnn's offices in new

york, forcing an evacuation during liv television. here's nbc's rehema ellis. insiderter: an emergency cnn's new york headquarters. >> excuse me. that sounds like a fire alarm here. we'll keep y posted on that. >> reporter: alarms rang out live on theai minutes later the time warner center evacuated as thed bomb sq moved in. >> this clearly is an act of terror attempting to undermine our freeress and leaders of this country through act of violence. >> reporter: a chaotic scene outside as cnn anchors continued reporting. >> the lights shut off. we walked down six flights of stairsre we're out they're now moving us. >> reporter: anchor jim sciutto tweetingth photo o package containing the live explosive device. the device was removed and taken to a. secure locati >> i live down the block, and it's thfrightening. is not the first time this has happened. >> reporter: a close call with many questions still unanswered.

rehema ellis, nbc news, new york. and as the fbi investigates who sent these devices, there is the ng concern ove country's increasingly heated political rhetoric. >> george ros's sonriting in a "new york times" op-ed he sees the bomb threats as a o result the new normal of political demonization that plagues u.s. -- or pgues us today. nbc's andrea mitchell takes a look at just how threatening some of the rhetoric has become in recent weeks. >> reporter: just this week another fiery speech attacking his favorite targets, democrats. >> democrat immigration policies allow poisonous drugs and ms-13 to pour into our country. >> reporter: going after hillary clinton andhe media, especially cnn. >> if you want the fake news media to finally investigate -- [ crowd chanting "cnn sucks" ]. but if you want the fake news to finally investigate hillary

clinton -- [ crowd chanting "lock her up" ] >> reporter: and last week praising a republican congressman for attacking a reporter. >> any guy that can do a body slam, he's my candidate. >> reporter: while tre are no answers yet, president trump has the biggest megaphone are growing questions over how he's using it. cnn worldwide president jeff zucker saying there's a total and complete lack of understanding at the white house about the seriousness of their continued attacks on the media. words matter. anger now spreading in all directions a republican candidate in sacramento fighting off an anti-trump knife attacker. >> he's screaming "i'm going to kill you."at >> reporter: s ted cruz and his wife chased out of a d.c. restaurant. >> let my wife through. >> reporter: a republican dmnd pennsylvania tlaengt the democratic goverr in a video. >> because i'm going to stomp all over your face with golf spikes. >> reporter: raising the question is politics becoming dangerous? >> it's a time of deep

divions, and we have to everything we can to bring our country together. >> reporter: republican congressman steve scalise almost dying after a political shooting targeting republicans in a softball practice last year, tweeting "we must agree that this is a dangerous path and it cannot become the new normal. andrea mitchell, nbc news. we're just 12 days left until t midterm elections. democrats and republicans are battling it out over health care, making claims about who's really working to protecteople with pre-existing conditions. here's peter alexander with more. >> reporter: president trump touting his administration's progress against the opioid. epidem >> seized more than 2.8 million pounds of illicit and deadly drugs. >> reporter: the rate of s overdose deaeginning to slow down. but it's another health care claim for the president under rutiny. tweeting republicans will totally protect people with pre-existing conditions. a line he's repeated in recent days. >> republicans will always

protect americans with pre-existing conditions. we protect you. >> reporter: in fact, republicans and the trump adminiration are aggressively trying to undercutca obamare that guarantees protections to ople with pre-existing conditions. u wouldn't know it from watching these republican candidates' ads. >> earlier this year we learned our oldest has a rare chronic disease. pre-existing condition. we know what that's like. >> i support forcing insurance companies to cover preexisting condions. >>n wisconsin pre-existing conditions are covered. and as long as i'm governor, they always will be. >> reporter: but theirs were among 20 states that signe onto a republican-backed federal lawsuit arguing obamacare including its popular pre-existi pre-existing condition provision is unconstitutional. republican congressional candidates embraced the issue as well. >> everyone agrees we're going to protect pre-existing conditions. >> i'm fighting to protect pre-existing conditions. >> that's why i'm taking on both parties and fighting for those with pre-existing conditions.

>> reporter: but all three of those republicans voted to repeal obamacare. in response 15 republican setors are now co-sponsoring a bill to prohibit insurers from turning away people with pre-existing conditions. but insurers could exclude treatments for them. phillip? >> peter, thank you. if you're just waking up this morning, the powerball jackpot climbed into top five territory after there were no winners in last night's drawing. the winning numbers are 3, 21, 45, 53, 56, plus the powerball 22. now, the estimated jackpot rolls to $750 million with a cash value of over 428 million. seven tickets did win the solation prize c by matching all five numbers. but they failed to match the powerball. the next drawing is this saturday at 11:00 p.m. >> good luck.re meteorologistsalling it's strongest storm of 18 as it slammed into a u.s. territory in

the west pacific. the national weather service warned of devastating damage for the mariana islands, where super typhoon yutu brought category 5 intensity gusts with winds around 180 miles an hour. the storm has been described as one of the most intense e strikes on record fo the u.s. and he its territories. my goodness. >> bill karins is here. what else -- d >> it goesn as the fifth strongest worldwide ever to make landfall. 180-mile-per-hour winds. we'll see whathose pictures look like later on today. will probably be pretty ugly.le s talk this weekend forecast. nor'easter or the coastal storm. not a snowstorm. just a rain andind event. saturday we wake up to very rainy conditions d.c. to new rk. during the day it shifts all the way through the northeast. it will linger in areas of nht england rhrough saturday evening. notice that south of about philadelphia saturday night at ast it clears out. then on sunday the storm will kick to the north. minor coastal flooding. some minor power outages. not a huge impact nor'easter besides the airports. that could b problematic. that's a look at the big weather story of the day.

now here's a closer look at your day ahead. so for today that storm is located fwn along the gul coast. it's just a rainmaker from areas of new orleans to mobile, panama city to pensacola. and new england's off to a cold star, a chilly mornin t it's not goi warm up much this afternoon either. highs in the low 40s. we'll give you the rest of the t weekend forecoming up. >> all right. sounds good. thanks, bill. the red sox and dodgers faced off yet again. it was game w 2 of theld series on a very chilly night in boston. once again the red sox would strike first. left.insler lining one to xander bogaerts in from second to score. and then in the fourth the first three dodger batters all reached base and l.a. took advantage. they scored on a sac fly. and then this t-out single from yasiel puig.en they w up 2-1. it was their first lead of the series. didn't last long, othough. bottf the fifth with the bases loaded for the sox reliever ryan madsen walked in to tie the game there. a line drive from j.d. martinez would score two more. the red sox win 4-2. they now have a 2-0 series lead.

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daddy. hey. >> daddy. >> hey, buddy. did you miss me? >> -huh. >> yeah? are you surprised to see me here? >> mm-hmm. >> a double dose of surprise. on the sameha day t one soldier urprises his son with a homecoming, the entire family gets to share the moment when they welcome a fourth. and the family says it was more than they could have hoped for. marco finley was overseas with his army national guard unit while his wife cassidy was back in iowa counting dn the days to her due date. neither expected him to be home for the deliver but in a matter of moments everything changed for the best as they welcomed their new baby boy together. that's amazing. >> best day ever. leading the news, a mother in new jersey is being called a hero after stepping in to prevent school shooting by reporting a racist facebook to poli nbc's ron mott picks up the

story from there. >> reporter: erco bull is a mother of three biracial children in new jersey. so when she got a facebook message from someone in kentucky she didn't know threatening her kids she was concerned. >> basically used the n word a lot. he hoped that my children -- something in the back of my mind was do not let this go. >> reporte she called authorities and may have stond a school shooter in his tracks. police confronted 20-year-old dylan jarrell as he backed out of his driveway armed with a ev gun, kr vest, more than 200 rounds ofio ammun and what police say was a detailed plan avenue tack to carry out shootings in two different school districts in kentucky >> t commonwealth versus dylan jarrell. >> reporter: he pleaded not guilty to charges ofakg terroristic threats and harassing communications. in may kentucky state police says the fbi questioned him about threats to a school in tennessee. back on facebook new messages to colberly bull from kentucky. "everyone needs to be vigilant and pay attenti when something

doesn't feel or sound right. thank you." "you are our superhero." >> you didn't know your mom w a superhero? >> well. that part.new but i didn't know she would do something like this. it was that mama bear instinct. >> reporter: a potential tragedy avoided because one mom sawg somethnd said something. ron mott, nbc news. just ahead, a flood of reaction to megyn kelly's on-air apology for her comments about e blachat set off a major backlash. you're watching "early today."

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and while things are very unpleasant here on planet earth, president trump says there a good chance the space force could be up and running setime next year. that's right. if all goes according to plan, donald trump wilhave created the first ever branch of the military that is completely imveinary. >> butthing else is all too real. now to a story that concerns this network. nbc's megyn kelly issuing an apology on her show after comments she made tuesday about blackface wereh met wjor backlash. our morgan radford has the latest. two d i want to begin wit words. i'm sorry. >> reporter: megyn kelly apologizing for her controversial remarks a race. during a panel discussion about halloween costumes. >> it learned t given the history of blackface being used in awful ways by racists in this

country it is not okay for that be part of anye, cost halloween or otherwise. >> reporter: kelly's mea culpa coming after she defended the use of >> no, stupid. >> reporter: a once popular form of entertainment used to mock african-americans. >> but what is racist? because truly, you do get in troublete if you are a w person who puts on blackface for halloween or a black person who puts on whiteface for halloween. like -- backn i was a kid that was okay as long as you were dressing up as like a >> reporter: her comments received fierce backlash among critics and colleagues. >> while she apologized to the staff, she owes bigger apology to folks of colnd ar the country because this is a history going back to the1830s, minstrel shows, to demean and denigrate a race wasn't right. >> reporter: in a prescheduled annuallown h nbc news chairman andy lack said, "i condemn those remarks. there is no place on our air or in this workplace for them."

two black panelists addressed show.ntroversy on her >> for african-americans we know the history, and too many white americans don't know or won't accept it when the reality is it american history, yours and mine. >> reporter: a lesson in history with the hope of ogress. morgan radford, nbc news, new york. just ahead, happily ever after in the afterlife. the shocking secret at disney world. and a war for your wallet. how retailers are upping the ante ahead of the holiday season. that's because your home is filled with soft surfaces that trap odors and release them back into the room. so, try febreze fabric refresher. febreze finds odors trapped in fabrics and cleans them away as it dries. use febreze every time you tidy up to keep your whole house smelling fresh air clean. fabric refresher even works for clothes you want to wear another day. make febreze part of your clean routine for whole home freshness.

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could it already snowmobile season? the first snow of the sar. this i south oxford, maine.as this w yesterday. slippery road conditions obviously. some beautiful scenery. there. look at that. the gorgeous leaves changing with the snow peak on the t of the mountain. yeah. not even halloween yet. some areas got as much as 12 pches of snow. certainly lookstty except though when you see the accidents. all right. so let's get into the weekend forecast. this is not going to be a nor'easter with a lot of snow. only the highest of elevawions get some snow out of this one. but there's your rainy friday in the mid-atlantic, and thet we take t up the coast on saturday. saturday's a rainy windy day, cially in new englan and then by the time we get to sunday we kind of clear that out. ot a lot of other bad weather out there across tuntry. >> thank you, bill. just ahead, the happiest final resting place on earth. theck shog problem at disney world. ♪

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a woman's right to choose. jennifer wexton for congress. p independence u is responsible for the content of this advertising. good morning, everyone. i'm eun yang. >> and i'm aaron gilchrist. we're approaching 4:00 a.m. we wt to start with a check on your forecast and the commute. >> we begin with storm team 4

meteorologist chuck bell with a look at your forecast. it is cold out there, chuck. >> seat heaters again thiin mo for a lot of people, even me. even i turned the seat on.ater it's true. and it was only on for about two minutes. 30 right now in gaithersburg. 31 in manassas. a cold start to the day. wake-up weather keeps us in the 30s in most areas. bright sunshine will leave us with nice day to be outside, much like yesterday. today's high temperatures in the mid topper 50s. still cooler than average, but plenty of sunshine and less of breeze to contend with today. rain chances for your friday and saturdayin re near 100%. i'll time that out for you coming up in a bit. foronow, let's to melissa. happy thursday. >> happy thursday. looking at the beltway right now, no complaints. had some earlier roadwork, that has all cleared out of the way. as ye