dreaming fl to college >> breaking overnight, a high school bus transporting a girls' basketba team smashes into a tractor-trailer. ateast one person is dead, and ere are multiple images. we'll have the latest. get ready for a blast of winter from coast to coastor including tntial rains, flooding and some snow as we head into the weekend. george herbert walker bush was america's last great soldier statesman. >> the most decent honorable person i ever met was my friend gebush. one of nature's noble men. his haepitaph, perps just a single letter. the letter l for loyalty. >> today the 41st president of

the united states is lying in repose in his beloved state of texas, where a final ceremony will be held befe he is laid to rest next to his wife and daughter robin. to the pacific, where early this morning a marin refuelin plane and a fighter jet crashed off japan's coast. seven marines went down. the latest on the search eaahd. then our lester holt goes one on one with the legendary steven spielberg, who is on a mission and talking about one of his most impactful films, "schindler's list." "early today" starts now. good thursday morning. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. breaking overnight, illinois state police confirming that two adults have been killed and multiple people injured after a car crash involving a semi truck and also a school bus. >> the initial report is tha s thei truck was traveling the wrong direction on the interstate and struck the school bus head on. >> the accidentappened on i-74 near downs in mclean county, illenois. the atic director for normal

community west high school tafls our local liate that the bus was carrying their jv giets' baball team. they were on their way back g fm aame in champaign, illinois. the school district says there were 11 people on the bus and that all of the students were taken to localospitals but with no serious injuries.te iowa sta police say the 34-year-old truck driver was killed as well as charles crabtree, a 72-year-old passenger on that bus. now to a frantic search for a handful of missing u.s. ic ocean n the pac after two military aircraft crashed during a m -air trainission. two marines have been rescued but five others are still unaccounted for athi hour. nbc's sarah harman has the latest from london. sarah, good >> reporter: frances, good morning. another major u.s. militaryde ac in asia. this time two planes, a fighter jet and a refueling aircraft, collided mid-air and crashed into the pacific ocean off the coas of japan. so far two people have been found. one of them is believed to be in able condition. a second marine, though, was

found about ten hours after the crash, and we don't know anything about his or her condition. the searchs now on to find and save thee other fivpeople. now, frances, these are marines we're talking about. they are a tough bunch. but hope is fading withhavery hour passes. the exact o circumstanc this crash are now under investigation. but it's the latest ia string of troubling military accidents in the region. last month a navy fighter jet sashed into the off the coast of okinawa. fortunately, both of its pilot werescued. but back in october an mh-60 skae hawke crashed into the philippines sea just after keoff injuring dozen sailors. the u.s. has more than 50,000 troopsased in japan. so incidents like this one are verytr bling. frances, phillip. it hopefully they'll have some developments there that. sarah, thank you. the remains of president george h.w. bush are back home in houston this morning lying in repose at his long-time church,

st. martinur episcopal. rs lining up to pay their respects throughout the night. funeral service is scheduled there later thimorning. and from there his casket will board a special f locomotiv a funeral procession to the george bush presidential library and museum where hwill be buried. this morning's service will be the second for president bush after theom and circumstance of a state funeral at the washington national cathedral. it was attended by nearly 3,000 family members,ds and dignitaries. nbc's peter alexander has fulle coverage of emotional farewell. >> reporter: marking the end of an era. george h.w. bush remembered as the nation's last great soldier statesman, who put service before self. the late president's hearse passing his former home on pennsylvania avenue. ♪ his arrival at the national cathedral heralded with thef highesterican honors. the bush family looking on. inside, partisan politics taking a pause. a rare moment of unity.

president trump greeting president and mrs. obama. faceito face his predecessor and the clintons for the first time office.taking then george w. bush paying a visit. handing candy to michelle obama. every living president together to remember 41. he was the last commander in chief from the greatest generation, the world war ii fighter pilot shot down over the pacific. president bush would frequently ask, why me? why was i spared? and in a sense the rest of his life was a perennial effort to prove himself worthy of his salvation onhat distant morning. orter: biographer and friend jon meacham recalling bush's sense of humor. >> he grabbed the hand of a department store mannequin, asking for votes. when h realized his mistake, he said, "never know. got to ask."

you can hear the voice, can't you? as dana carvey said, the key to a bush 41 impersonation is mr. rogers trying to be john wayne. >> reporter: long-time friend senator alan simpson reminding americans of the values bush lived by, now perha in washington in short supply. >> he never hated anyone. he kw what his mother and my mother always knew,re h corrodes the container it's carried in. the most decent and honorable person i eve w met my friend george bush. one of nature's noble men. ♪ our father te >> rep the ceremony both powerful and poignant. the most personal tribute from a son about his father. >> we tested his tience. now i did.

but he always responded with the great gift of unconditional love. last friday when i was told he had minutes to live i called him. i said, "dad, i love you and you've been a wonderful efather" and ast words he would ever say on earth were, "i love you too." >> reporter: w recalling his dad's signature adventurous spirit. >> at age 90 george h.w. bush parachuted out of an aircraft and landedds on the gro of st. anne's by the sea in k kennebunkpo kennebunkport, maine. the church where his mom was married and where he worshiped often. mother liked to say he chose the location just in case the chute didn't open. >> reporter: an eternal bond with barbara, his beloved wife of 73 years. in his old age dad enjoyed watching policeho reruns, the volume on high.

all the while holding mom's hand. after mom died, dad was strtg ll he really wanted to do was hold mom's hand again. >> reporter: celrating his father's extraordinary life, one defined by family, faith, and loyalty. >> well, dad, we're going to remember you for exactly that m anh more. and we're going to miss you. your decency, sincerity, and kind soul will stay with us forever. so through our tears let us know the blessings of knowing and loving you, a great and noble man, the best father a s or daughter could have. and in our grief i just smile kning that dad is hugging robin and holding mom's hand again. >> reporter: that powerful moment punctuated by theentire cathedral breaking out in applause. so many movin speeches o wednesday. jon meacham revealed that he 41 ually read his eulogy to

before he passed. characteristically, bush said, "that's a lot about me, jon." humble to the very end. >> such a beautiful service and remembrance of a great man. thank you, pet. all right. let's take a turn now and check in with nbc meteorologist bill karins to see who's going to get what today. >> wve got this major storm coming. not today. it's going to start friday and head into the weekend. rain threat friday into saturday, flash flooding threat san antonio into houston. we're going toee possibly river flooding and flash flooding. then the back side we get some snow out of this. first i then snow. enough maybe to plow between amarillo and lubbock.la ma city looks like ice over to a little bit of snow. and then for the possible historic portion of this storm, that's western north carolina. got my eyes on you in charlotte, the queen city, upstate south carolina and asheville to boone to greensboro. we could get hit with a foot of snow in som cases. that's a lot of snow for western north carolina, even in the high atelevations. a look at the big weather story of the day. here's a closer look at the day ahead. well, the coldest air -- well, i

don't like to say of e season but the coldest air we've seen in a while is coming down through the nor today.ains look at oklahoma city. 41. we're setting the stage for our icy snow winter event in the days ahead. we'll break down the complete weekend forecast coming up. >> all right, bill. see you in a bit. in day's quick hits, north korea, they are reportedly apanding and upgrading missile base according to new satellite imagery studied by independent researchers.ve the team bel the base is capable of hosti long-range missiles that couldtrike the u.s. french president emmanuel macron is bowing to protsters. officiold the associated press the leaders are abandoning a fuel tax hike that sparked riots in paris over the weekend. leaders hashing out a plan to punish saudi arabia over the murder of jamal cash okay cy. thea hope to the deal by monday. the legislationould serve as a rebuke to president trump who has cast doubt on our government's version of the crown prince's role in the murders. buffalo wing's been a.

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glass door has released its 2019 list of best places to work. according to employees bain and k. came in on the consulting firm is based in boston but has 50 global locations. following is zoom. then in-n-out burger. software company pro core technologies a also boston consulting group made the top five. in the top ten some familiar faces linkedin number 6 then facebook, google, lululemon and southwest airlines. the ceo of general motors is back in th hot seat on capitol hill today defending the any's decision to close several plants and lay off nearly 15,000 workers. mary barra testified before wmakers yesterday and today she will meet with both ohio senators to hear their proposed olutions to save the automaker's plant in lordstown. gm is shifting truck and suv production to mexico a focusing on new electric vehicles while ending proction

on some sedans like the chevy cruze. the cuts come just eight years after taxpayers gave the company a multibillion-dollar ngbailout. ss is considering a plan that would remove corporate tax incentives for moving jobs overseas. leading the news this morning the bombshell new allegations against former cbs chairman les moonves including not just shocking claims of sexual misconduct with morehan a dozen women but now reports he may have lied to investigators for cbs, destroying key evidence. let's turn to nbc's gadi schwartz. >> reporter: it's an explosive report detailing not just a pattern of sexual misconduct but an elaborate cover-up. the leaked draft investigation into former cbs chief les moonves obtained by the "new york times" reveals the disgraced mogul may not get millions because he misled investigators. the report saying he was evasive and untruthful and deliberately the report also saying moonves engaged in multiple acts of serious non-con sensual sexual misconduct involving 17 women including at least four cbs

employees. a lawyer for moonves responded saying he denies having any non-consensual sexual relation and cooperated fully sxensivelyt with inigators. but according to the "times" moonves deleted text messages and turned over his son's ipad to investigators instead of his own. now more women are saking ot. >> he jus stuck his tongue in my mouth. >> reporter: julie seeley says she had traumatic encounter with moonves more than 30 years ago when he was a development head ary 20th cen fox. >> i was really shocked. and it was gross. it was very unappealing. >> reporter: cbs spongd, saying in part "our work is still progress and there are bound to be many facts and assessments that evolve and change." eyone who may h disclosed draft information to the "new violation did so in of their obligations. cbs's board is scheduled to meet with investigators next week. if moonves is found to be in violation ofis contract, he stands to lose a severance package worth $120 million. gadi schwartz, nbc news los angeles. just ahead, duped by dunkin'.

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go! >> oh, my goodness. all right. all right. here we go. oh. oh, my goodness! >> the harlem globetrotters are at it again.s that i not busta rhymes. that is hammer harrison. and he's doing this for world

trick shot day. pulled off this heart-stop shot in las vegas. strapped to a bungee jumped off e top of the stratosphere there. that fall was 855 feet. a few adjustments mid-flight but he nailed the dunk and also set the record for the world's highest slam dunk. look how thankful he is on the ground safely. >> i'mdqually as impres he kept his language clean coming down. >> >> because some of us not necessarily would. portland, maine welcomed a new trendy coffee shop called sip. many came in to try the free lattes on opening day. but what the customers did not know was that sip is actually a dunkin' in disguise promoting their new espresso drinks. so when the truth was revealed, look. they're taking the cups out and see the real deal. well, they were pleasantly surprised. >> it's a big step up from what they've done before. this is amazing. >> tastes great. >> i'm sold. i may have to actually buy some and keep it in my house. >> every time i see coffee -- >> so for you coffee snobs out

there you knohe moral of the story. don't judge a cup by its cover. classic ce right there. >> we saw payless shoe stores do this just a couple weeks ago. they changed the name. people still paid hundreds of dollars f payless shoes. >> and you paint the bottoms red. fanc yeah, you do. louboutins. >> oh, man. people overpay. my goodness. it i actress diane keaton's one of her most iconic movie scenes. check it out. >> oh. oh, god, annie. well -- oh, well. la-di-da. la-di-da. la, la. >> is that where snoop got that one? anyway. a digression there. the annie hall star whose real name is diane hall. she got a big surprise when a stranger found a wallet that she had lost 50 years ago. 50 years ago. a treasure hunter in upstate new york found it in an old storage locker. so keatonutound out a it and asked him to slide it into her

dms there so she can go get it back. inside was that picture there, an old family photo. that's her with the bangs on the right. she was ao -- thereas also an old driver's license inside there. and her actor's equity card been awhile. >> yeah. and that's really cool. you'd like to thk that after l those years something will come right back. and hopefully he got a little reward too. >> yeah. makes one heck of a throwback thursday pic. >> you and ieed to watch "annie hall," thou m. that's theal of the story. still ahead anxclusive interview with hollywood legend steven spielberg on his most personat film. you'reing "early today." it looks like emily cooking dinner for ten. ♪ the beat goes on. it looks like jonathan on a date with his wife. ♪ la-di-la-di. entresto is a heart failure medicine that helps your heart... so you can keep on doing what you love. in the largest heart failure study ever, entresto was proven superior at helping people stay alive and out of the hospital. it helps improve your heart's ability

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nbc will commemorate black history month in 2019 by fnoring contributions from black womenm all walks of life. the series is called "she thrives: black women making history today." amazinghighlight t women from across generations, occupations and regions. so somebody may come to mind. you want to nominate a leader from your community just go to nbcnews.com/shethrives. entries are due by december 's13th. l toss it over to bill. >> fridayat morning today morning the flood threat from houston to san antonio. icy stuff begins friy night into saturday. then we're going to continue that right into saturday afternoon. the real big snow portion of this storm, though, will be in western a north carolin virginia, guys, on sunday into monday. >> thanks, bill. just ahead, why steven spielberg says "schindler's list" is more important today. , but ruin my day.

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good morning, everyone. i'm eun yang. >> and i'm chris lawrence if n r aaron. another chillyday. >> melissa mollet is standing by a with check on your commute,

but we begin with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. oh, my gosh. it'sou brutathere. >> well, you know, eun, we have to save the word brutal. what are we going to call it when we're 15 degrees? >> are we going to get down to 15? >> curxa words. >>ly. i got a four-letter descripter for that. skies are mostly clear now, bil clouds thicken up later in the day today. don't plan on a whole lot of sunshine. that'll keep from much of a warmup. it's certainly cold. 32 now at dulles airport. afternoon temperatures today, we'll see temperatures climb into the low 40s acro most of the area. again, clouds thickening up a little later on in the day. no rain ornow chances for today. more about that snow chance for later in the weekend coming up. good morning, melissa. >> good morning, mr. bell. looking right now at video of a water main break in bowie. annapoli r