janis mackey frayer, nbc news, inhenesia. >>>upreme court begins its new term with just eight tonight tomorrow, and there are new details about who the fbi is talkingo as it conducts its expanded investigation into sexual sconduct allegations against judge brett kavanaugh. nbc news is reporting that deborah amida spoke with thebi today. she claims brett kavanaugh exposed himself to her at a rty in college. kavanaugh categorically denies all of the allegations, including thoir of his accuser, dr. christine blasey ford.r afer emotional testimony last week, the white house okayed the id estigation. ile this is a background investigation, not a criminal probe, democrats r aresing concerns. the white house limiting its scope. the white hse firmly denying that. >> the white house isn't in interv we're not micromanaging this process. >> the question is are we going get t kind of investigation that is erile. >> today sources close to d ford tell nbc news that her legal team has not yet been fbntacted by the >>> an annual tradition tu

nbc's janis mackey frayer has details. >> reporter: tonight, the urgentalive days disasters, an earthquake and a tsunami. it's unclear how many more are trapped but the number of confirmed dead is climbing. already hundreds of bodies are being buried in mass graves to ward off disease. rescue teams have yet to even reach areas believed to be worse than this. the massive earthquake toppled buildings. "i saw the ground here moving in a circle, spinning," he says. then came the wall of water. tsunami waves as high as 18 people. people desperately running for safety after the warning system here failed. nobody knows how many were washed out to sea. fresh water and fuel are now running low. food stores have been looted. and the damaged airport had to cancel flights today after hundreds of people swarmed the runway, begging to find a way out. eight agencies say nearly 200,000 people are in urgent need. but a priority, heavy equipment to lift debris, and rescuers, are running out of time. >> janis mackey frayer, thank you. >>> 12 million people are in the way of heavy rain fall, from phoenix to s

nbc's janis mackey frayer is in indonesia with the update. >> reporter: rescuers have yet to reach the worst-hit areas and access remains a huge challenge. today, most flights to palu airport were canceled because hundreds of people were blocking the runway, pleading toet out. the chaos complicating delivery of aid that is desperately needed. all along the coastline, it's a sea of debris and deva wation. rescueorkers are using their bare hands and what little equipment they have in order to rg at tble for survivors. how many people may be tw many were pulled out to sea byhe tsunami remains unclear, but the number of confirmed dd is beginning to surge. hundreds of bodies have already been buried in mass graves to stave off thel very r threat of disease. this is now a national disaster and the govt is pleading for urgent foreign aid. several countries are expected to answer the call of supp. the supplies of fuel and fresh water are running lo police are looting for food and police aren't doing anything to stop it. the big need now i heavy equipment in order to lift the debris to get at p

nbc's janis mackey frayer is there, and she'll tell us more about those rescue efforts. janis?porter: the death toll continues to surge here, yet days after the earthquake and tsunami, aid has yet to reach the people who need it. we arrived to devastation in every direction. at this hotel are using sniffer dogs in their desperate search for dozens of people still trapped in the rubble. >> so as long as the dogs are barking, you're going to keep looking? >> yes. yes. >> reporter: but there is so much rubble to search here. satellite images show how the earthquake and tsunami altered the landscape. buildings before and after. the town's entire coastline swallowed by the sea. the powerful quake and 18-foot wall of water striking with little to no warning. some homes just floating away. we felt aftershocks. there have been hundreds so far. and at the airport as we came in, scores of people were getting out. wounded and weary, boarding military planes to be evacuated from here. days after disaster struck, aid is still only trickling in to a place running urgently low on everything.

nbc's janis mackey frayer has late details. >> reporter: tonight along this mangled shoreline the urgent search for survivors. this woman found alive days after twin disasts, an earthquake and tsunami. it's not clear how many more may be trapped by the number of confirmed dead is climbing. hundreds of bodies being buried in mass graves to ward off disease. rescue crews haven't reached areas believed to be worse than this. the massive earthquakepp tod buildings. i saw the ground moving in a circle, spinning he says and then came the wall of water. the tsunami's waves as high as 18 feet. lypeople desperate running for safety after the warning system here failed. nobody knows how many were washed out to sea. fresh water d fuel are now running low. food stores have been looted. and damaged airports r ad to cancel flights aftendreds of people swarmed the runway begging to find a way out. aid agencies s nearly 200,000 people are in urgent need but a priority, heavy equipment to lt debris and rescuers are running out of me. >> thank you. >>> back in this country, some 12 million people are unde

nbc's janis mackey frayer reports from indonesia. >> reporter: the devastation is bad. rubble, twisted cars and debris. and in the scramble to find survivors, rescuers are using their hands to search because there isn't enough heavy equipment. it's unclear how many people are trapped or were pulled out to sea, but the number of dead here is surging. the walls started falling around us, says this woman, who escaped a shopping mall before it collapsed. the injured are being evacuated by military planes as disaster officials here struggle to cope. the instruction on the coast in palu is only part of it. areas closer to the quake epicenter are still cut off. what has happened to over a quarteril unknown. >> the bridges and the roads are damaged. it's very, very difficult. >> reporter: the island was struck by two powerful disasters. so the tsunami took experts by surprise. in this video, a man is shouting to people that it's coming. then the wall of water. >> it's unusual for an earthquake which generates a tsunami to be so close to land. so the shaking destroys towns and b

janis mackey frayer, nbc news, palu, indonesia. >>> and right now the opening bell of the new york stock exchange where things are looking really good. the dow industrial average climbing 152 points there, and right now the nasdaq advanced less than a percent with apple rising more than 1%. right now a lot of people are getting the presidential alert on their cellphones. we told you about this at the beginning of the midday show. this is just a test from the national wireless emergency system. this is just to let people know and check that system if a natural disaster should happen. >> exactly. and so we expect to have an emergency test warning as well on our airwaves. it is interesting. i had my phone on silent but i thought it would break through anyway. >> i did as well. >> because it would have to sound. it vibrated though as you were reading the story about the markets. it is true we got the emergency alert on our phones so far. did you get one on both phones? >> i got one on both of my phones right now. >> i didn't hear anything. >> i didn't either. >> i don't know if they did in t

janis mackey frayer is in indonesia with the developments. janis, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, hoda. access to the worst hit areas remains hard. flights were canceled because of this. hundreds of peoplblocking the nway, pleading to get out. the chaos delaying delivery of aid that is desperately needed. it is a sea of debris, mangled buildings and sorrow. rescue worrs are racing against time and a lack of equipment to find survivors lost in the rubble. this man says he tried to dig out his family but couldn't and had no help. early this morning, a woman was foundale, days after the massive quake. howor many m are trapped or were swept out to sea by the tsunami that roared ashore is unclear. but the number of confirmed dead is surging, with hundreds of bodies being buried in mass graves to stave off s thench and disease. areas closer to the quake's epicenter and more than 250,000 people are cut off. the bridges and the roads are damaged. it's difficult. >> reporter: the twin disasters were swift and powerful. asilot shot t video of w