He didnt say that until right now and he sees whats happening to him i guess hes no longer the frontrunner. The bitter back and forth just ahead. Wild weather, a potentially historic snowstorm now under way across the midwest more than a foot already on the ground with more to come while in the northeast, millions brace for what could be a dangerous noreaster, heavy rain, flooding and high winds. Al tells us what to expect. All that, plus breaking his silence, matt lauers blistering response to rape allegations by a former colleague. Power struggle, outrage across california after hundreds of thousands are intentionally d plunged into darkness. And rally its a grand slam. The Washington Nationals storm back to stun the dodgers in epic fashion, making history with an extra innings win, bringing them one step closer to the world series today, thursday, october 10th, 2019 announcer from nbc news, this is today with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb. Live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Hi, everybody, welcome to today on this thursday morning. Were happy youre joining us and we have another very busy news day we do nice to have you with us were going to start, of course, with the latest on that military offensive in syria that pits two u. S. Allies against each other overnight Kurdish Forces reported heavy clashes against turkish troops trying to enter their villages the u. S. Has now moved a number of high profile isis detainees out of the prisons in the area fearing they could escape in the chaos. As for that withdrawal of u. S. Troops, senator lindsey graham, normally one of the president s staunchest supporters, is urging him to change course and said this could be the biggest mistake of the trump presidency. Were going to break all of this down and well start with Richard Engel who made his way inside syria this morning. Good morning. Reporter here in Northern Syria this turkish offensive is now in full swing, with militias taking several villages that were under kurdish control u. S. Troops, around a thousand of them, are on their bases, powerless to stop it, with orders not to help their allies. This morning Turkish Forces driving deeper into Northern Syria, attacking u. S. Allies, the kurds with advancing troops on the ground while pounding kurdish positions from the air with f16s, dubbed operation pspring by the turkish government, days after President Trump abruptly agreed to pull u. S. Forces back from the Turkish Border the president defending the move. Were getting out of the endless wars have to do it. And eventually somebody is going to have to make the decision. Reporter many current and former u. S. Officials calling the president s decision a betrayal of the kurds who laid down their lives with u. S. Troops with battles against isis. President trump hasnt ended the war, hes created a war. Mike pompeo is refuting that President Trump gave the turks a green light. The turks have a legitimate security concern, a terrorist threat to their south. Kurdish troops accused them of targeting civilian areas. Worried the offensive could lead to ethnic cleansing and even massacres. Turkeys plan is to set up what it calls a safe zone inside syria to resettle Syrian Refugees on top of where the kurds have set up an autonomous enclave. Another danger as kurdish fighters rush to the front lines to defend themselves against turkey they can no longer properly guard detention camps packed with tens of thousands of isis members u. S. Forces have taken custody of at least two high profile isis detainees known as the beetles because of their british accents. Theyre allegedly part of a group of kidnappers accused of murdering american journalists and dozens of other foreigners and could be brought to the u. S. To stand trial. If they are guilty of human rights crimes such as torturing and killing our american citizens, they should spend the rest of their life in prison reporter turkey is very sensitive to how this operation is being portrayed with turkeys president erdogan threatening European Countries saying if they call this an occupation turkey will send refugees now living in turkey to europe also in turkey, more than two dozen people have already been detained for spreading terrorist propaganda over twitter. Richard engel in syria for us lets turn to jeremy bash, chief of staff at the department of defense and the cia. Good morning, savannah. The turks have come in by air first and followed up with ground forces, whats the likely outcome . Turkey is a first rate military theyve got fighters and air to ground, and sophisticated command control mechanisms the kurds dont have an air force. A highly motivated force on the ground by they dont stand a chance against the first rate Turkish Military. The president tweeted the turkish invasion is a bad idea the secretary of state, mike pompeo, says the u. S. Did not give the green light to turkey now, if turkish leaders are hearing those comments now as theyre in the midst of this offensive what do you think their response is, if any . Well, clearly turkey is not deterred thats why theyve launched this military invasion and they began to do it the minute President Trump hung up the phone with president erdogan on sunday night. The way the United States would have deterred this action is by maintaining a u. S. Presence there and by making clear to turkey that any invasion across the border would have been met with military force. The u. S. Took custody reportedly of two high profile, high value detainees out of isis prisons out of concern they could escape in all of the chs, which raises the question, what about all the other isis prisoners is there a Real Security concern there . Well, thats only two terrorist leaders, savannah, but there are about 10,000 more. As we recall from 2014 to 2016 isis launched a reign of terror across europe. Think the november 2015 paris attack that killed 130 think the brussels attack in 2016 the nice attacks in july 2016. And of course the Ariana Grande concert in the uk that killed 22 individuals. Thats what were looking at in isis gets out of prison, breaks out and spreads across the region and europe. Jeremy bash with breaking news overseas, thank you. And now to the impeachment investigation with the white house blocking witnesses and evidence from congress the president has predicted this fight could end up at the supreme court. This as democratic frontrunner joe biden using a blistering Campaign Speech to make his first direct call for impeachment. Nbc White House CorrespondentPeter Alexander is on the story for us peter, good morning. Savannah, good morning to you. A new poll is showing big jump in support for President Trumps impeachment and this one comes from the president s favorite news source, fox news, 51 of voters support the impeachment inquiry and removing President Trump from office. That is up nine points since july, 43 as you see there, do not, down seven. And among those speaking out the president s chief rival joe biden. Hello, folks. Reporter this morning former Vice President joe biden escalating his attack on President Trump, now for the first time explicitly calling for his impeachment. Hes already convicted himself in full view of the world and the american people. He should be impeached. Reporter biden taking his toughest stand yet after being targeted by the president for weeks. We all laughed when he said he could stand in the middle of fifth avenue and shoot someone and get away with it its no joke hes shooting holes in the constitution and we cannot let him get away with it. Reporter President Trump hitting back. Biden is dropping like a rock i dont think hes going to make it he sees whats happening to him. I guess hes no longer the front runner. Reporter biden is in an increasingly tight race with elizabeth warren, one of the first to call for the president s impeachment. Were not going to let donald trump pick the nominee for president , period. Reporter a clash with House Democrats after the administrations declaration it will not cooperate with what theyre saying is part of an illegitimate inquiry the president might change his mind if democrats hold a house vote to formerly open an investigation. If the rules are fair, i dont know exactly your definition, if republicans get a fair shake reporter the president also lashing out again at the whistleblower. Turns out that the whistleblower is a democrat, strong democrat, and is working with one of my opponents as a democrat that i might end up running against. The whole thing is a scam. Its a fix reporter the lawyers for the whistleblower dispute that, tweeting our client has never worked for or advised a political candidate, campaign or party. Peter, the president heads to minneapolis tonight, First Campaign rally since this impeachment inquiry was announced. What do you expect reporter savannah, youre right, the president does hold that rally in what is a democratic stronghold, minneapolis, hes hoping to create enough enthusiasm there to flip the state blue in 2020 a republican, by the way, has not won minnesota since Richard Nixon in 1972. And then back here at the white house on the impeachment front the president s aides led by his chief of staff are beginning a quiet Charm Offensive of sorts, tar getting Congressional Republicans including tramps to camp david intended to solidify their support behind President Trump. Peter alexander, thank you, peter. Craig joins the table of the called a hatefilled attack. The initial target a synagogue where worshipperin deadly terror attack overseas. A suspect under arrest after a heat filled attack the initial target, a synagogue where worshippers, including ten Young Americans, were celebrating the holy day of yom kippur germany with erin good morning. Reporter good mornin Erin Mclaughlin joins us. Reporter like the deadly mosque attack in new zealand six months ago the government gunman broadcast his deadly rampage live online. Posting to social mead nbc has chosen not to show that disturbing video which left two people dead and could have been so much worse. This morning a suspect is in custody after a brazen daytime attack in the german city of halle. The gunman was armed with at least two shotguns and explosives targeting a synagogue on yom kippur. A worshipper inside said when he heard the shots outside he and others barricaded the doors, a move that likely saved their lives. The attacker tried to destroy the door of the synagogue with heavy weaponry and thank god these doors were stronger than the attackers weapons there were at least 50 worshipping at the time, among them ten Young Americans who were visiting. The suspected gunman described as a young white male, had a camera mounted on his helmet the horrifying attack broadcast live on the streaming platform twitch, too disturbing to show the attacker shot a woman on the street this man was inside a shop he says he saw the suspect wearing a helmet and military gear, throw a hand grenade, which exploded in front of an elderly woman. The attacker raised his gun and began shooting, killing another. Following a shootout with police and a brief car chase the authorities were able to take the man into custody the streaming service twitch says the video was viewed over 2,000 times before it pulled it offline. Twitch posting the following statement on twitter ill read it to you in part saying we worked with urgency to remove this content and will permanently suspend any accounts found to be posting or reposting content of this abhorrent act. Erin, thank you. We are tracking a snowstorm. It could break records in the upper midwest. Theres also a dangerous noreaster thats taking aim at the northeast. Well check in with mr. Roker whos got it covered. Take a look, billings, montana, some areas picking up around there 18 inches of snow, and its not done yet. On the radar youll already see that weve got more snow developing it is going to start to pick up. The winds are going to be picking up as well weve got Winter Weather advisories, watches and warnings for 7 Million People, seven states under winter alerts life threatening travel conditions snowfall amounts upwards of two feet of snow but cant rule out maybe up to four feet of snow. This is a potent winter blizzard that could be developing were also looking at Severe Weather ahead of the storm system, 5 Million People at risk, tornadoes possible, hail, damaging winds, rainfall amounts, anywhere from two to three inches from texas all the way up into iowa and finally in the northeast weve got this noreaster developing along the coast, wind gusts already, nantucket 47 Miles Per Hours new york city, Atlantic City 10, rainfall amounts up to ten inches of rain near the cape. Coastal flooding, high surf and wind gusts that are tropical force winds. Airports concerned, snow delays for denver, kansas city, dallas, st. Louis, minneapolis for showers and thunderstorms. And boston and new york, looking for wind problems. A mess coasttocoast, guys. Thats why you need three maps today, al. Rolling blackouts in california that could plunge millions of people into darkness Utility Companies are protectively shutting off power to customers across the state out of concern its power lines could spark wildfires. But home and Business Owners are not happy. Nbc National CorrespondentMiguel Almaguer has the latest. Reporter some of the biggest wildfires in state history have been sparked by strong winds knocking down power lines or transformers which he en ignited trees and bushes hoping to avoid a disaster like that Power Companies are turning off electricity, but thats not sitting well with everyone this morning many people are waking up in the dark. Across fire prone areas of california its lights out in a historic move that the gas and electric, the Largest Utility Company in the nation, is pulling the plug on some 800,000 customers affecting millions of people as whipping winds threaten to spark wildfires from the companys Power Equipment. This is all in order to mitigate wildfire risk in california, which were seeing increase due to climate change. Reporter in parts of the bay area and wine country electricity has been cut to homes, schools and businesses, even Traffic Signals are out, creating problems on the roadways. This is not an inconvenience for us its life and death. Reporter but for seniors who depend on power to run medical equipment, and refrigerators to store insulin and other medications, the blackout could be downright dangerous. They tell me now we may be out five days. I have to keep making sure that all my medication for my diabetes is really going to stay put. Reporter with many warned they could be in the dark for days theres been a run on supplies at gas stations and Grocery Stores this, the largest preventive shutdown in california history it comes after some of the deadliest and most destructive wildfires the state has ever seen the fire in paradise, which killed 85 people and destroyed 13,000 homes, was sparked by faulty Power Equipment today with seven major wildfires burning in the state officials are not taking any chances this morning, hoping to flip the switch on wildfire risk, while millions are in the dark after the threat subsides in Northern California it could take a few days to turn all that power back on. Meantime here in Southern California the risk for powerful winds that fuels those fires starts today there could be more outages that are imminent perhaps a new normal for this part of the country and savannah we should mention there was a small wildfire that broke out in Northern California but its under control. Miguel, thank you very much. Baseball playoffs now, dramatic finish in the fifth and deciding game between the dodgers and those Washington Nationals. This is deep to center field. Bellingers back, its a grand slam, Howie Kendrick. And that grand slam came in the tenth inning from Howie Kendrick and gave the nationals a 73 lead they held on to pull off a stunning upset in los angeles. The nationals head to the National League championship series for the first time in team history theyll take on the st. Louis cardinals who beat the braves last night the nlcs gets under way tmorrow, big game, game five between the rays and astros and the winner movers on to take on the yankees in the alcs. Are you so happy about the nationals . I fell asleep, awakened in the middle of the night by my wife who oh, my god, the nationals its midnight im excited. Right after that she bought tickets for the game tuesday and friday. Oh, cool, love it. Of course after she sees that impress