Locker room. Harvey weinstein turns up at a public event in new york city d isonfronted by multiple women. Nobody is going to say anything . Nobodys really going to say anything . How it all went down from the people who were there. Walking free. Felicity huffman going to be released. And eddie murphy about to make his highly anticipated return to snl. They want to see me do buckwheat and mr. Rogers neighborhood. And he could finally land an academy award. Today, friday, october 25th, 2019. Announcer from nbc news, this is today with Savannah Guthrie and hoda kotb live from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. Hi, everybody. Good morning. Nice to have you with us on a friday morning. Weve got two big weather stories unfolding as we speak. Wildfires have erupted across california, forcing Mass Evacuations this morning. And to prevent even more fires from breaking out, power has now been cut to hundreds of thousands there. Meantime, a tropical system in the gulf of mexico is set to bring soaking rains to the south today and through the weekend. Were going to get als forecast in minute. Were going to start with the fires. Joe fryer is in santa clarita. Good morning. Good morning, guys. First of all, im wearing the goggles because the winds are so strong theyre blowing ash all over the place. The fires, they are starting suddenly. They are moving quickly. And theyre leaving behind a path of destruction like the house you see behind me there this is a scene that is playing out all across the state. Weve got hot, dry weather mixed with the whipping winds. A recipe for disaster. Overnight north of los angeles, the tick fire exploding, wind driven flames ripping through neighborhoods, devouring homes, charring thousands of acres and pushing firefighters to the brink. The high winds and high heat, this was very quick to burn. More than 50,000 people forced to evacuate with very little notice. When i first saw it, i didnt realize how it got that big so fast. Reporter multiple freeways shut down as a precaution making the evacuations even more complicated. Crews calling for extra help to fight flames propelled by stiff santa ana winds. We can not let our guard down. Were going to fight this aggressively. Go. Go. Reporter its a similar scene in Northern California, flames racing through parts of wine country, wind gusts topping 70 Miles Per Hour. All that leads to fire behavior that is erratic and moves quickly. When that happens, Fire Fighting is essentially ineffective and turns into a mass rescue. Reporter wildlife cameras monitored by several universities capturing a sudden burst of flames in the distance that is believed to be the start of the kincade fire in a they ma Sonoma County. 2,000 people have been forced to evacuate and dozens of structures destroyed. Many here already without power after pacific gas and electric issued preemptive blackouts to customers hoping to prevent fires. On thursday, pg e filed a report with state regulators saying one of the high voltage transmission towers which was still operating malfunctioned around the time the fire started. Though the fires cause is still under investigation. The fact that we found it or cal fire and are investigating doesnt tell us what caused the fire or where it started. Reporter this morning from rural vineyards to subdivisions, unpredictable fires are burning through california, a new normal for the golden state. Right now weve got at least a dozen fires burning right now across california. And conditions are ripe for more fires and flareups throughout the day to day and the weekend. Wind gusts still today could top 50 Miles Per Hour. In fact while we were driving to this location, the highway h fire jumped highway 14, a very scary situation. That prompted more evacuations in this area. We also saw more houses catching on fire this morning. Another dangerous situation, the wind is a huge worry because the embers can blow from one house to another house catching those houses on fire. That is one reason not too long ago we had fire crews out right here, there is a hot spot in this house behind me, they put that hot spot out to try to keep the fires under control. Meanwhile in Northern California, they are expecting a little reprieve today, but the windy conditions are expected to return again this week end. They are not out of this yet. Back to you guys. Be careful out there. So scary. One of the fire officialsed to us the three fires in that l. A. Area just became one overnight. And al is here with more. Good morning, guys. You can see weve got a wide area in Southern California that has the potential for fire rapid fire spread and extreme risk to the west i should say east of san diego. Well watch that. This other system developing, were going to have a 70 chance of this becoming a tropical system, whether it does or not, its going to impact the eastern half of the country. You can already see the rain now, heavy rain from houston into new orleans. This thing is going to get caught up in this front. And it will be pushing to the east. Heavy rain, very heavy rain for the gulf. Flash flood watches going up now. Saturday, downpours move from ohio into mississippi with enhanced threat for flooding. And then sunday we look for heavy rain, northern new england, new york, all the way down to washington, d. C. Travel delays. This stretch is all down the i95 corridor. Heavy rain up to five inches in the lower and mid Mississippi River valleys. As far as roads and airports, take a look. Today, it is for houston, new orleans, memphis, nashville, and atlanta by late in the afternoon. For tomorrow, cleveland, cincinnati and chicago, the roads a mess. In the morning, washington, d. C. Afternoon, Late Afternoon and evening, new york and boston back to pittsburgh and charlotte. A real mess, savannah. Al, thank you. Well get to your forecast in just a minute. Now to washington. Nbc news confirming this morning that the Justice Departments inquiry into the origins of the russia investigation is now a criminal investigation into itself essentially. Nbcs White House CorrespondentKristen Welker has the latest on this as well as the impeachment developments. Good morning to you. President trump long attacked the russia investigation as a witch hunt and a hoax. And now this major development, his own Justice Department investigating whether the origins of it crossed legal lines. Overnight, democrats cried foul accusing the president of using the Justice Department for his own political purposes. Reporter this morning, a bombshell from the Justice Department. Now investigating it according to a person familiar with the matter, the russia probe into the 2016 russia interference resulting in the Mueller Report is a criminal investigation into the very agency that was conducting it. Led by u. S. Attorney john durham who now has the power to subpoena witnesses, empanel a grand jury file charges all against his own officials. Former director of National IntelligenceJames Clapper reacting overnight. I found the timing interesting given the increasing heat around the impeachment inquiry. Reporter democrats blasting the inquiry and attorney general william barr who is overseeing it. Where is this investigation going . It makes no sense. So bring it. Bring it attorney general barr. Reporter jerry nadler tweeting that it has become a vehicle for President Trumps political revenge. For more than two years, President Trump repeatedly tried to discredit the russia investigation. Total witch hunt. The entire thing is a witch hunt. Reporter calling for an investigation into the origins of the probe. And theyll be able to see how this hoax, how the hoax or witch hunt started and why it started. Reporter while former special counsel Robert Muellers investigation found insufficient evidence of a conspiracy, he reported 140 contacts between the Trump Campaign and russians and outlined ten instances of possible obstruction of justice by President Trump. It comes as republicans escalate their assault on the house impeachment inquiry. One of the president s closest allies Lindsey Graham introducing a resolution backed by over 40 republican senators calling the process i illegitimate, demanding a floor vote and due process. I think if we were doing this youd be beating the [ bleep ] out of us. Im saying there is a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it and this is a dangerous way to do it. Lindsey graham calling for the proceedings to be open. Back in 1998, then representative Lindsey Graham said he supported closed door depositions. Its also worth noting that it is typical for lawmakers to hear from witnesses in a closed setting during the early stages of any congressional inquiry and democrats say they are planning to hold open hearings soon, savannah. I know there is a new poll out about the impeachment inquiry. What are you learning about it . Our new nbc news survey showed a nation divided. 49 of respondents said he should be removed from office. The exact same amount, 49 , are against it. But heres the other notable take away. Voters are very sharply divided along party lines. 90 of republicans and republican leaning independents are against impeachment and 89 of democrats are in favor of it. Craig joins the table. Surprising concerns about the most downloaded apps. Yeah. We were talking about tiktok this morning. It is popular between tweens. Some are worried that app may pose a threat to National Security. Hallie jackson joins us to explain. What are we talking about . Listen, we hear a lot and talk about the leaders of facebook or twitter getting grilled on capitol hill. Tiktok may be next. That is after a letter from Chuck Schumer and tom cotton calling the app a potential counterintelligence threat. The app that has taken teenagers by storm now facing a storm of a different kind accused of posing a possible security risk. With more than 500 million active accounts around the world, tiktok lets them post short edited video clips from cute pets to epic fails and even celebrities. But now all eyes are on the people behind the app. Two top senators targeting the Chinese Tech Company that owns tiktok in a letter to the director of National Intelligence asking for an investigation into tiktok and other chinese based companies warning they may pose a National Security risk. This is a threat to American Security when china has data on 110 million americans, who knows what they do with it the terms of service say the company will automatically collect a users location, browsing history and information from messages sent within the app. But users browsing for viral videos can opt in to share gender, age, phone contacts, even Payment Information creating a digital profile for users which lawmakers worry could end up in the hands of the Chinese Government the senators also warn the platform could be a target for foreign influence campaigns like those carried out by russia during the 2016 election in a statement, the company says in part, we store all tiktok users data in the United States with backup redundancy in singapore. Were entirely outside of china and none of our data is subject to china law it is not first time that tiktok faced controversy. The wall street journal reported that theyve been used by Islamic State militants to spread isis propaganda the videos removed for violating the tiktok policies adding growing concern the platform may share more than just a quick laugh. So what is the likelihood that tiktok cooperates with lawmakers . The company says it is committed to being a trusted and responsible Corporate Citizen in the u. S. Which they say includes working with congress and all relevant regulatory agencies craig . Hallie jackson in washington, thank you. Former president s bill clinton and barack obama are among the dignitaries paying tribute at the funeral for elijah cummings. He spent more than two decades in congress. He was a life long civil rights advocate more recently he also served as a key figure in the impeachment inquiry of President Trump as the chairman of his committee. Cummings died last week at the age of 68 from complications of long Standing Health issues. Cummings was the son of share croppers he had a career as lawyer. Elected to congress. Nancy pelosi called him our north star and yesterday cummings became first africanamerican member of congress to lie in state at the u. S. Capitol an honor he richly deserves the world series resumes tonight. But a move made by the Houston Astros yesterday is dominating the headlines. The teams assistant general manager fired over inappropriate comments directed at a group of female reporters nbcs kathy parks is at the Nationals Park with more o this good morning. Hoda, good morning. Game three of the world series heads to nats park later on this evening. There is a lot of excitement and energy in the air. But its been tempered a bit by the controversy with the astros. It has shaken up the front office and now the teams on damage control reporter this morning Houston Astros assistant general manager Brandon Taubman is out of a job, fired for making offensive comments to female reporters after the team clinched the American League pennant. His behavior was inappropriate and not representative of who the astros are and our culture and what we stand for. Reporter Sports Illustrated reported that taubman turned to a group of three female reporters and yelled half a dozen times, thank god we got osuna im so glad we got osuna they picked up Roberto Osuna while he was still serving a 75 game suspension for Domestic Violence criminal charges against him were dropped as part of a plea deal then the team criticized the report accusing Sports Illustrated of attempting to fabricate a story where one does not exist. But on thursday, the astros general manager reversed course and apologized it was incorrect. It was wrong and thats all we can really say at this point. Reporter but he called taubman a valued employee whose comments were out of character he personally apologized on tuesday saying his comments were unprofessional and inappropriate. Major League Baseball has launched its own investigation but so far has not released any findings on tuesday, the league saying in a statement in part, everyone in baseball must use care to not engage in any behavior that could be construed as minimizing the egregiousness of the act of Domestic Violence. The controversy casting a cloud over the start of the world series the astros manager hoping now that they can just play ball were very sensitive as a club to everything thats gone on but i would like to we have our hands full getting to game three and getting a win in this series and we reached out to Brandon Taubman for a statement. We havent heard back. The mlb also had no comment on his release. But on a separate note, if there is a game five in the world series, it will be here at nats park and President Trump acknowledged to reporters yesterday that he plans to attend but stopped short of saying hell be throwing out the first pitch. Guys, back to you. All right kathy at the Nationals Park, thank you. Lets go back to the weather. Well get the Weather Forecast busy day for you it is were looking again at the santa ana winds. Were going to look at what is happening at the beginning of next week. Were not out of the woods yet a flood threat through the Mississippi Valley beautiful weather across the great lakes and northern plains. Nice day along the midatlantic coast. Rain in southern florida were going to get to your local forecast in the next 30 seconds. Good friday morning. Im meteorologist kari hall. We will see smoke drifting into the bay area. Its a spare the air alert today. Well see the thickest smoke into parts of San Francisco as well as the south bay later on this afternoon into the evening. After seeing another hot day into the low 90s, well still have another hot day tomorrow, but not as windy. Then the winds pick up late on saturday, as we prepare for a high wind and fire event. And thats your latest weather. Coming up, the moment that Harvey Weinstein showed up at a new york city event and confronted by several outraged women. And then Felicity Huffman scheduled to be released this weekend. What is next for her plus the new evidence revealed in the Lori Loughlin case. First this is today on nbc hey. Hey. You must be stevens phone. Now you can take control of your home wifi and