santa?aid at the end, got that, that's how you breaking overnight, an nbc news exclusive. the veterans affairs department tells capitol hill it will not repay underpaid g.i. bill benefits recipients. nbc news has learned what mp president tru told robert mueller about that infamous trump tower meeting with his sons and thessians. ts morning investigators want to know what caused a house to be blown to snith reason in an explosion fel for miles around. major fallout after the washington redskins sign a player just days after he was arrested for alleged domestic violence. now, don't get mad at'sme, but t a new study that found dogs are reallyot that smart. christmas season is officially under way. now that the rockefeller center

christmas tree has been illuminated. "early today" starts right now. >> goodmorning. i'm marlie hall. >> and i'm phillip mena. we begin this morning a with exclusive update about a story we first told you about last month. the department of veterans affairs blaming software issues for a backlog of incomplete g.i. bill payments with promises to fully pay affected veterans. now the department says it won't be reimbursing those veterans at all. the issue stems from a change in housing allowances under president trump's forever g.i. bill. computersere unable t process the change, leading to underpayments. and in someases month payments at all. nt competence yaitd the v.a. delayed impleg the new allowance to december 2019, promising to retroactively give veterans their due increase. but now two aides tell nbc news the v.a. said on a call it cannot make those payments without an audit causing further delahe andfore will not give underpaid veterans what they're owed once the system is made right. fen asked comment a v.a.

spokesperson did not address the issues directly. insteadhe reiterated agency is delaying payments set by the forever g.i. bill. the v.a. undersecretary for benefits is scheduled to testify to the house committee for veterans affairs later thi morning. this morning we're beginning to learn some of the president's answers to questions from special counsel robert mueller in the russia probe. sources familiar with the matter say the president told mueller he did not know about a trump tower meetingen his son donald trump jr. and a russian attorney. nor dide know aboutlans by wikileaks to release stolen democratic e-mails. and he says a pardon for paul manafort is n off the table. nbc's pete williams has more. >> reporter: sources familiar ttwith the president's w answers to robert mueller's questions say he wrote that former campaign adviser roger stone did not tell him in advanceilhat wikeaks plan to release e-mails about the clinton campaign hacke democrats. and he said he did not know mforehand about his son don jr.'sting in trump tower with russians who promised to

bring dirt on hillary clton. heanswered, the sources say, to the best of his recollection. meanme, rudy giuliani of the president's legal team says a lawyer for paul manafort was in touch with him even after he pleaded glty and agreed to cooperate with mueller's team. such an arrangement with lawyers for other people under investigation is so rare ehat many legerts consider it a sign manafort wanted to stay on the president's good side hoping for a pardon. >> nafort, who is a career criminal, was playing all the angles. he was both tryg to get a pardon and he had agreed to cooperate with the prpiecutors, hong in return for some lenienc leniency. the problem is he got caught again playing all the angles. >> reporter: asked about a pardon for manafort the president told post," "it was never discussed, but i wouldn't take it off the table." as f mueller, president trump suggested to the wshtd wsht th t h has no plans to fire the special counsel. he said "he's still there. he doesn't have to be but he'se, still thero i have no

intention of doing anything." bu the president retweeted this fternet meme that asks, "when dot trialsor treason begin?" showing a collection of his political enemies behind bars along with mueller and deputyal attorney genod rosenstein. things are moving quickly for anafort now that his deal with mueller has collapsed. the judge has called a hearing for tomorrow to set a sentencin date, which will likely end up being early next year. marlie >> pete, thank you. president trump heads to argentina today to attend the g20 summit protests are already breaking out ahead of the meeting. thousands marched in buenos aires accusing g20 leaders of of the o take advantage region. president trump is scheduled for several bilateral meetings including one with russian presidentn vladimir putpi that meeting potentially in question. with the president threatening to cancel. and in the wake of killing of udi journalis jamal khashoggi argentina is now preparing to take action with moves tveard an igation into the saudi crown prince, who is also attending the anre with more on this is nbc's

sarah ha in london this morning. sarah, good morning. it reporter: phillip, good morning. been a rough couple of months for the saudi crown prince. his governmt murdered a wshtd wsht journalist and then massively botched the cover skrup. the case sparked international outrage. the cia assesse it was likely the crown prince himselfor who r khashoggi's murder. now as he arrives in argentina for the g20, the host country says they're considering investigating him for crinss ag humanity. this is related to the saudi-led war in yemen, which has killed thousands of civilians and left children starving.ed it's also rel to the torture of saudi citizens, including jamal khashoggi. now, to be clear, this isn't likely to end with the crown prince in jail, but it is pretty embarrassing. so far the only leader to confirm a one-on-one meeting with the crown prince is russian putin.nt vladimir and guys, speaking of embarrassing, listen to this. ton, d.c. neighborhood commission has voted to rename part of the street in front of the saudi embassy to jamal

khashoggi way. that proposal now goes to the d.c. council. phillip? marlie? >> that would be quite a reminder every day to pass by. sarah,hank you. a growing rift this morning between stormy daniels and her t emd lawyer michael avenatti. the adult film actress now saying avenatti ued preside trump for defamation without her permission. >> the two entered the nat nal spotlight with their fight to free daniels from a national disclosure agreement sheeeigned to kp quiet about her alleged affair with mr. trump. nbc's kristen welker has more. >> reporter: in a dramatic twist stormy danieays her attorney, michael avenatti, sued president trump for defaming her against her wishes and alleges avenatti withheld information from her and launched a new crowd funding campaign without her permission. daniels saying in a statement, "i haven't decided yet what t do about legal representation moving forward. avenatti responding that he's stormy's biggest champion. "i have personally sacrifice an enormous amount of money, time, and energy toward assisting her

because i believe in her." avenatti says daniels agreed to pay him $100 under their original aeement and all other money raise would go toward his legal fees. >> my attorney and i are committed to making sure everyone finds out the truth. >> reporter: in a separate suit daniels is suing the president and hisna former perl attorney michael cohen over a hush money payment, claiming cohen paid her $130,000 just before the 2016 lelection about a sex encounter with mr. trump in 2006, which the president denies. kristen welker, nbc news washington. new jersey investigators are searching for answers after a massive house explosion is for miles. fortunately, nobody was at home, but questions still remain about the cause of the blast. nbc's stephanie gosk explains. >> reporter: it's tough to tell th he was ever ase there at all. after an expsion late tuesday night. thankfully, no one was home at the time.

the jolt shook people three towns over. flying debris damoced the high school and landeds afar as two miles away. >>d this big l crash. >> i first thought it was an eartteuake. >> rep so far the gas company says there's no reason to believe natural gas is to blame. which is what officials suspe caused this explosion in minnesota last week, damaging the entire block. gas was also to blame for dozens of elosions and fires in massachusetts in september. for now officials in september are investigating. the cause tonight remains a mystery. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. now to the growing controversy swirling over an nfl player dropped from a team after a domestic violence arrest and quickly picked up by other. the move is sparking plenty of negative reaction. nbc's miguel almaguer has details. >> reporter: feared on the field for his brutal blows, it's off the field where police are investigatingllegations of violence against nfl linebacker reuben foster.

>> your ex-yfriend did what? >> took my phone and broke it and slapped me in my face. >> repter: over the weekend foster's ex-girlfriend, who recanted an earlier claim of domesticusiolence, aed the 49er of attacking her. foster, who couldn't be reached for comment, was released by the team but was picked up on waivers by the washington redskins. >> i think the move by washingtt is best tone deaf and at worst an insult to every female fan who roots for the team. >>r: facing a storm of criticism on social media, "beat a woman, get a job in the nfl," the redsk ps responded it by saying, "reuben will have to go through numerous steps including the full legal process, an investigation isd potentialpline from the nfl before he can play." >> the biggest issue for the league right now is holding the line aga domestic violence. >> reporter: after tmz sports released video of ray rice knocking out his then fiance in

2014, the nfl toughened its stance on domestic violence. but some say redskins have fumbled with a player they should have pasd on. miguel almaguer, nbc news. the fed is fueling the biggest market rally in eight months. the dow surged 600 points after federal reserve chairman jerome powell said interest rates are close to neutral,ng a stark c in his comments from two months ago. futures right now pointing t a slight dip at the open. the rally coming as tobacco giant eyes the future. according to the "wall street journal," altria is in talks to take a significant minority stake in juul. the controversial e-cigarette company was vald at $16 billion earlier this summer. juul has come under fda scrutiny over teen usage. not even december yet but the holidays have officially started here in new york city. >> five, four, thre two, one!

[ cheers and appiluse ] >> vo the iconic rockefeller christmas tree is now lit. it will be on display until january 7th. thousands braced the wind chills to witness an 80-year-old chairman. a star-studded line-up graced the stage including pences by diana ross, tony bennett and john legend. and an unexpected guest gave a show o hisown. this man entertained the crowd with some window moves above the rink as new york christmas by rob thomas played below. an nypd officer spotted this dancer. he posted a video on twitter telling rob thomas,"i think he is a fan." i want to know, where you were, bill karins w rob thomas was playing last night? what's your alibi? >> i have some of those moves. not all ofthem. i save them for later. this is one of the biggest storms we've seen in about eight, nine months moving in through california. heavy rain over the northern portions of the state including irwhere the camp was. and now we're going to watch some of this rain going down catoward southerfornia of course. that's where we had the woolsey fire and the other blazes too. we are worried about the

possibility for the flood threat in areas where we had the burn scars. we're also going to see that rain down toward san diego by aby.t noon to so southern california finally getting into some of this action. then by later this afternoon a lot of this mess starts to move through into the intermountaist showery after that. that's a look at the big weather story of the day. here's a closer loo at the day ahead. so in areas of the eastern half of the country it's pretty much just a temrature forecast. still kind of chilly out there and raw. especiallyhe great lakes. e warm air, though, it's returning to areas of the southern plains and through the south. temperatures in the 70s with a few showers and storms late today. that's one of our concerns. threat severe weathe coming tomorrow into areas of the deep south. talking about that coming up. >> thanks, bill.'l check in in a few. a recent break-in at a tax office in arkansas had workers saying oh, dear. caught on camera, a deecr hing through the window of the building. it's not known why the animal had to take such a forceful entry rather. after all, the tax deadline is

in april. the window will cost some big bucks to repair, but tax uz p with your dough will help with that. the deer was set free. just ely for your taxes. >> that was a lot of puns there. a lot. a hero emerges from a fiery school bus crash. and a high school hazing incident is pretty graphic. neutrogena® rapid wrinkle repair® works in just one week. with the fastest retinol formula available. it's clinically proven to work on fine lines and wrinkles. one week? that definitely works! rapid wrinkle repair®. and for dark spots, rapid tone repair. neutrogena®. see what's possible. sometimes a cough gets in the way of a good night's sleep. that's when he needs vicks vaporub. proven cough medicine. with 8 hours of vapors, so he can sleep. vicks vaporub. goodnight coughs.

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a driver in tennessee is alive this morning thanks to a quick-thinking state trooper. a schoolbus slammed into an suv so hardt burst into flames. luckily the trooper was in the right place at the right time. he saw the fiery crash and pulled the driver out. the bus driver is facing two traffic citations. no kids were on bo od at the tithe accident thankfully. now to an alleged incident of high school hazing. it's so hnsrific the t are going to be charged as adults. a community rockedt by w authorities happened in the locker room. nbc's katie beck has more. but first we want to warn you you may find some of the details disturbing. >> reporter: the locker room lights were turned off.

thenre terrifying tor began. new court filings describe allegations of arutal sexual assault involving teenagers. parents reacting. >> this makes me sick. it really does. >> you feel like this is unacceptabrd. ress of the age. >> reporter: an attack prosecutors call aonishingly cruel. the four 15-year-old jv football players at damascusigh school in maryland are now charged as adults facg life in prison. their victims, four fellow teammates. >> these boys were victims of criminal acts. they were not victims of hazing. they weref victims first-degree rapes anded attempe s. >> reporter: prosecutors say the victims were punched and s before the assault began. some details of the attack so brutal chey't be aired. one victim says when he told his attacker to stop they replied that it wastradition. >> will we be looking at and examining the potential that this happened in prior years? the answer is absolutely yes.

>> reporter: the alleged attack at a school where the football team has won thr state championships since 2005. now a school community in turmoil. news.beck, nbc just ahead, mariah carey just did something that's got the interne buzzing. plus a new study on just how smart your dog is. stay with us. a whole new way to care for newborns is born new johnson's cottontouch™ wash and lotion made with real cotton and enhances your gentle touch a new soft a new touch a new gentle

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♪

♪ underneath the christmas tree ♪> >>hat's roc and roe showing off their vocal skills wle nging backup to their mom's holiday classic "all i want for christmas is you." they really can sing. >> how about those names? >> they're interesting. >> i love it.ot sometial bad news for dog lovers out there. a newtudy published in the journal learning and behavior suggests your beloved pets are not as smartou as think. as much as we don't want to believe, it the new data shows th canines do not have exceptional cognition when compared to other carnivores.ch reses used wolves, cats, and dolphins among other animals to make theseon compar but good news, dogs score above average when it comes to social taking commands from humds. you're a cat person, right? >> right. cat.he proud mother of a so i'm fine with that study. well, payless fuld a fast one on some fashion influencers in santa monica.

they opened a fake luxury store calling it plessy. people offered up hundreds of dollars for what they thought was luxury. then we learned the truth. >> i would pay 400. 500. yeah. people would be like, where did you get those? those are amazing. >> these are actually from payless. >> shut up. are you serious? >> it was actually a marketing campaign. now these influencers did get their money back and got to keep the shoes. the company said they wanted to remind customers that you can still get affordable fashion that looks great. >> ask anybody who shops at tar-jay. it's not what you wear. it's howit you wear >> yes. confidence. just ahead, hackers trying to turn donuts to dollars. what dunkin' customers need to know about a new data breach. hrs tries to get in my way? watch me. ( ♪ ) mike: i've tried lots of things for my joint pain. now? watch me. ( ♪ ) joni: think i'd give up showing these guys how it's done? please.

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just about 4:00 a.m. now on this thursday. good morning, everybody. gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. if you're a fan of all this cold weather, this cld be the week for you. it's definitely not the week for

us. >> if it's your sort of thing, yeah. freezing yesterday, literally, around here. we're maybe looking for a repeat of that today.a melillet is standing by with a check on the roads. let's start with chu bell and the numbers. >> i think you'll find today chilly for sure. the wind is far less of a factor today than it was yesterday. still, with temperatures down at or below the freezing mark pretty much areawide, only annapolis above freezing now. but what little bit of a breeze is left is shaving a few degrees off the feels-like factors. feels like it's in the upper teens and low 20s. you'll definitely need your warm fighting you won't be a ferocious wind today. winds will be out of the nohwest, much more easy to take. 10 to 15 miles per hour. the wind will lay down a little later in the day. enough sunshine today to get most areas back upnto the 40s. that's at least some improvement. although, it's still almost 10 degrees colder than ave.