it. >> iike it. /s breaking overnight. new reports this morning that paul manafort's legal team was siefing president trump' lawyers about what manafort was tellingobert mueller. >> foreign policypoker, today the secretary of state will testify about the khashoggi rder and supporting the saudis. while the president's planned meeting with vladimir putinay be canceled over the ukrae's sea controversy. >> to the gender reveal that went terribly off track as a fire scorched over 40,000 acres and will costve one man or $8 million. >> plus, the adventure-seeking hang glider who survived a death-defying accident after his pilot failed to tether him. >> and meet the man handing out thousand dollars checks to lift the spirits of hundreds of students and faculty in

paradise, california. "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm phillip mena. >> and i'm marlie hall. for theirst time ever, mississippi has voted to send a woman to the senate. cindy hyde-smith is projected to beat democratichallenger mike espy in a runoff election marred by race related controversies. earlier this month, hyde-smith sparked a firestorm after saying she would attend a public hanging. but despite the controversy, she pulledar ahead by a comfortable margin. nbc's national pcoitical espondent steve kornacki is breaking down the results for us. steve, good morning. >> it is oicial in mississippi. cindy hyde-smith, the republican wins the senate runoff there. she holds off mike espy 546. just a scattering of precincts left right now. for the democrats, if silver lining in this, they'll tell you, hey, this is about as close as they ever get inss sippi these days. probably the closest they've come to winning a senate race in 30 years to actually getg this thnto single digits. strong support for espy in black

areas in the stome, also cross-over votes in suburban areas of the state. but, you know what? mississippi, there just aren't many suburbs in mississippi. it's a very rural state. in the age of trump in particular, republican strength particularly pronounced in rural areas, heavily white rural areas. hyde-smith in the northeast pt of the state, did very well there. enough to hold off espy. it means all the senate races are now finished. republicans will close out with a 53-47 majority in the senate. back to you. >> all right, steve, thank you.g >> this mornin secretary of state mike pompeo and defense secretary jim mattis are set to testify before the senate. on the latest developments with saudi arabia in the wake o journalist jamal khashoggi's killing, the classified briefing is set to begin at 11:00 a.m. this briefing comes as the senate prepares to take up a resolution that wou end u.s. involvement in the saudi-led war in yemen. that wrar and khashoggi's killing has led several lawmakers to criticize president trump's embrace of saudi arabia

an raise questions on whether the u.s. should pull back on its alliance with the kingdom. but secretary pompeo argues in a new "wall street journal" op-ed that the u.s./saudi alliance is vital. he writes, the kingdom is a powerful force for stability in the middle east.no ng its role in securing iraq's democracy, building ties with israel, and contributing millions to fight terrorism. he also says the u.s. doesn't condone the khashoggi killing and will consider further punitive measuresac if more come to light. >> as president trump prepares for the w g20 summit thisk in argentina, he is now saying one highly anticipated meeting may not happen. the president telling the washington post he macon sell his sit-down with russian president vladimir putin aer its seizure of ukrainian naval eessels and sailors in the black sea. ncident is creating an international crisis with ukraine's president seeking to declare marshal law. he is now calling on the united states to send a pointed message to russia.

nbc's sarah harman is in london with the latest. good morning, sarah. >> reporter: marlie, good morning. will he or won't he? that's what everyone is sndering this morning after president trumpaid he might cancel his meeting with putin in actions offrussia's the coast of crimea. one person who seems to be hoping that meeting goes ahead iskrainian president poroshenko. he's counting on the u.s. to support him. here's what he told richard engel. >> reporter: what message would you like president trump to deliver to vladimir putin? one, the minsk agement, the de-escalation agreement is off, and the occupation of crimea and many, many other things. to make long story short, in two words, ukraine.et out from >> reporter: russia has had designs on ukraine for a long time. they annexed crimea four years ago, a move that got them international condemnation and

sanction. the latest development seizing ukrainian vessels and sailors in a waterway they are supposed to be sharing, it's very serious. u.n. ambassador nikki haley strongly denounced russia'ss acti at a security council meeting on monday, but president trump told the washington post he is awaiting a full report on th incident before he decides whether to go ahead with the meeting. president trump and putin last met in july inhelsinki. that meeting lasted for more than two hours wit only their translators in the room. marlie, phillip? >>sarah, thank you. >> just a day after federal prosecutors say broke his plea deal agreement, more stunning hevelopments. ew york times" reporting that manafort's lawyers briefed president trump's legal team on whate's been telling special counsel mueller and what they've been asking manafort. and earlier in the day, anotherl bomb the guardian reporting manafort met with wikileaks founder julian assange multiple times. here to break it all down for us is nbc's tracie potts.

tracie, good morning. this is coming after mueller's teamt accused manaff lying to them. what do you think this is going troubles?or his legal >> reporter: it certainly doesn't put him in good graces with the russia legaleam that he's trying to cooperate with to stay out of jail. now, "the new york times" is reporting that his legal team, manafort's legal team, repeatedly briefed president trump's lawyers on their client's discussions with s.deral investigat this was after manafort agreed cooperate with the special counsel. ow, briefing them is not illegal, but it certainly seems to suggest that manafort or at least his legal team was trying to play bot sides. you saw there the guardian report showing also a second development that manafort was holding secretalksith julian assange of wikileaks before wikileaks dumpe all of those clinton campaign e-mails. manafort saying that he has never even met julian assange. he says the story is false and deliberately

liableous. he said he's never metta sang or anyone connected with him. now threatening legal action against the guardian forhat report. phillip? >> all right, tracie potts in washington for us. tracie, thank you. >> a falseau alarmd a panic at walter reed medical center. news of an active sho d.c. area military hospital spread like wildfire and triggered a msive law enfoement response. patients and staff scrambled to get to safety as security teams cleared building 19 where they believed there was a shooter. whilehe fear was real, the alarm was a mistake. the navy gave the all-clear for the facility saying the alert system was inadvertentlyva acd without including the words, exercise or drill. >> three u.s. service members were killed and three others wounded in afghanistan the road side bombing which also injured an american contractor marks the deadliest attack on u.s. forces there in over a year. nbcentagon correspondent hans nichols has the details.

>> reporter: ther attack n the embattled city of gozni a massive road side bomb killing three olericans. theers traveling in a heavily armored vehicle, taliban insurgents qui claiming responsibili. the first lady offering condolences. >> today's tragic o news o afghanistan only drives home the need to support the men andn won our military and their families. >> reporter: the americans' death bringing the total killed in afghanistan to 12 this year. the deadliest toll since 2015. this monthdy alone alr two deaths, army sergeant leand jasso and brent taylor, a utah mayor. president trump escalated the war he inherited bringing the number of troops to 14,000. >> a lot of progress has been made. >> reporter: his own chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said the taliban is holding their ground. >> they are not losg now. >> reporter: a deadly reminder ter 17 years of fighting the u.s. is still at war in

afghanistan. hans nichols, nbc news, the pentagon. a california millionaire took giving tuesday to new heights after heersonally handed out $1,000 checks to hundreds of reparadise dents. bob wilson arrived at paradise high school with two suitcas full of checks. he was able to helps 980 stude and 105 staff members. the 89-year-old says after reading the new of the camp fire's devastation, he wanted to do something to lift their spirits. the camp fire's death toll is 88, with 158 people still missing. legendary singer stevie wonder also plans to help. on december 9, he is throwing a benefit concert t raise money for the california fire victims. good to see you so many people helping out. >> like mr. rogers said, in times of crisis look for a lot of helpers there. good morning, bill. >> going to need help shoveling in vermont. some picked up 15 to 18 inches snow. it's still snowing in some areas. the storm is located over maine. laken hansoned snow a over the place on the map. hrill dangerous driving new york

stategh way, south of buffalo, winter storm warnings. everyone else has been downgraded to advisories because we only expect additional snowfall amounts in the lower end, maybe 2o 3 inches in some cases, and that will be about it. so the forecast for today, very cold still in the great lakes and chilly morning in the southeast, but in the southeast you warm up nicy in the afternoon. that's a look at the big weather story of the day. now here's a closer look at your day ahead. well, we're going to continue to watch temperatures average.ll below only struggling into the low 30s in the ohio valley, stillusty winds and snow showers included with that. so careful on the roads and sidewasts. the souths chilly, but as i said this afternoon a little better. the rest of the week stays chilly in the east. not till the weekend do we warm iterp. >> ano reason to look forward to the weekend. bill, thanks. >> krispy kreme is getting into the holid spirit and bringing some fun traditions to some doughnuts near you. they unveiled thi year's limited edition holiday treats. some of the flavors include cinnamon swirl donut which is

hand tossed in cinnamon sugar andre topped with cheese icing. the festive designs include ugly sweater, holiday plaid and san at this belly. the new flavors are on sale now through december 24th. now you can have your uy sweater and eat it, too. >> that time of year for all that. pop quiz for you. the highest paid celebrity is under 30? we'll tell you when we come back. plus the hang gliding venture, went all wrong. olay regenerist hydrates skin better than creams costing over $100, $200, and even $400. for skin that looks younger than it should. fact check this ad in good housekeeping. olay regenerist. now try olay hydrating eye. hydrates better than the #1 prestige eye cream. our discoveries have changedo st. jude? how the world treats and defeats childhood cancer. t reas? me! yes!

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with mark ran son and miley cyrus. the singer shared teaser clips to her new video with mark on her instagr on the same d as the snl announcement. >> and if you're thinking about possible baby names, baby center dropped its annual list of most popular names of 2018 for girls. the winners are shia, olivia, emma, ava and isabella for boyshe names that top the list are jackson, liam, ah, aiden, and kaydin. phillip didn't make the list. >> phillip with two ls, maybe next year. i wan to show you a video now rop all making jaws across the country. it is not exactly a situation where you want to hang you get my drift here. an american touri taking to the air on a hang glider with at instruor when he realized something wasbl terri wrong. nbc's kristen dahlgren tells us what happened. >> repter: chris gursky knew hange gliding would b a rush. but he never thought he'd be literally be hangingn for deef

life. he jokingly titled it swiss mishap.lo you see the fda man taking off from a mountainn switzerland with an instructor, only gursky's harness isn't strapped anything. he quickly realizing there is nothing holding him up.wr he es, i remember looking down and thinking, this is it. i was losing grip with my right hand. the pilot was trying to make a b-line to the landing field. for two minutes and 14 seconds, gursky dangles t grippinghe bar and the instructor's pant legs. he gripped going 45 miles an hour.cr ibly he escaped with a broken wrist and torn bicep tendon. what may be the most incredible part of the story, he says he'll hang glide again. explaining, i didn't get to enjoy my firstlight. kristen dahlgren, nbc news. >> he's going to do it again. ionder if the same instructor. >> not the same pilot. well, just ahead, the s

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>> netflix is bringing the boss to your living room. that was the first trailer from springsteen on broadway. the debut on the servicefter the rock legend's final performance onroadway december 16. it looks like an intimate look into his life. >> i really, reall wanted to see that on broadway but the tickets were like a thousand dollars each. yeah. netflix is going to have to do. >> yeah. >> newlyweds in boca raton florida were posing foredding photos when their special day got an added celebrity surprise. adamer san happened to be playing basketball nearby and the groom says the comedian happily agree to join them for a picture. edlm beach photography tha sandler on facebook for his cameo appearance saying he hopped right in and made that day even more remarkable for wthem. picturh adam sandler. >> he looks like he's in character with that basketball outfit. >> wedding singer, how appropriate. >> the internet is saying holy cow, this larger than life bow vine named nickers has gone viral.

the beefy steer hails from western australia and stands nearly 6" tall and weighs over 3,000 pounds. that's double the weight of an average steer. good news for .nickers, thou his owner says he's too heavy to be sold, so the friendly giant wie happily ever after on his farm. he is huge. >> it pays to be that big. so big it couldn't if thea fit n facilitessing >> they couldn't handle him. >> being so big saved his life. one tex one texas legislator het filed a billen the longhorns and the aggies. the rivalry dates back to894, but the two teams haven't faced off since011 when texas a. and m. jumped ship. the congressman and a&m. owe owe it texans to bring back this store i had rivalry. how about that? this lawmaker, he wants to make it a law to make these unpaid

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going to be dealing with in lifornia. as far as tonight goes, it's going to be a great show. temperatures are going to bebl comfor in the 40s. that's not blad. it's going to be dry. it will be cold ask blustery that makes the lights on the trees shimmer more andlow around. should be nearly perfect for christmas in rockefeller center. >> an exciting night, bill. thank u. membering the mind behind one of the most beloved cartoons of all time. you're watching "early today." i ok'll admit. i didn't keep my place as clean as i would like 'cuz i'm way too busy. who's got the time to chase around down dirt, dust and hair?

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good morning, everyone. i'm eun yang. >> i'm aaronhr git. confusion and fear. this morning still more unanswered questions following yesterday's false alert of an active shooter at walter reed medical center. >> the possible explanation and what one lawmaker now wants to know chuck? >> i'm chuck paris, chucker, chuck bell. we'll figure out who we a

we begin with live weather alert. the wind is whipping. you can see heres. from the fr

it will be for you as well. cold temratures are settling in and the wind will make it that much colder. >> feels like the dead of >> i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. it is a good dayo break out a puffy coat, hat, gloves, scarf. omlissa mollet is standing by with your cte and we want to begin with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. it is brutal out there. even i wore my puffy coat into work today. serious. it i a frigid northwest wind out there this morning. one of our weather watchers saw snowflakes flying this morning. this cold northwest flow could bring in a quick little passing snowflake or two. they won't have time to settle down on the ground but they may be flying through your field of view. you can see snow showers confined to th