Burgdorf. While Rescue Efforts are still under way, Mexican Crews Race to save people trapped beneath the crumblings. The u. S. Geological survey said yesterdays quake was centered near the town of san juan roboso. Officials have lowered the death toll to 217 after initially raising to over 250 overnight. Dozens of buildings were reduced to rubble or severely damaged in densely populated parts of the city. The president says roughly 40 of the capital is without power. Meanwhile Officials Say at least 25 children and adults after their school in mexico city has collapsed. 11 people have been rescued. Still others unaccounted for. This is video from our colleagues at telemundo of their
office in mexico, shaking during that earthquake. You see them bracing themselves agency the tv monitors begin to sway. President trump tweeted his support. Writing god bless the people of mexico city. We are with you and we will be there for you. Steve, good to talk to you this morning. Just an incredible tragedy following this earthquake. What are you seeing on the ground . Reporter incredible tragedy. Loss of life. Where we are right now, weve just gotten on to a seam. Its one of the buildings which you probably see, the video thats been playing and looping all day long. What it is, a massive humanitarian rescue, sort of in the middle probably maybe about hundreds of workers with masks trying to get into the seam here. Trying to pull people out of the
rubble. I cant get a look at the direct operations but i can tell you its massive seems like were having some technical difficulties with you, steve. Are you there, do we still have you . Reporter do you still hear me, yasmin . Yeah, go ahead. Reporter just incredible work efforts, incredible Rescue Efforts. Were having problems out here, obviously with the cell, and workers are pulling people from the rubble. Thats Whats Going On right now. Well come back as soon as we can. Yeah, clearly, the cell service is being knocked out by the earthquake. And the power being out of the city as the president was saying. Steve patterson, thank you. We continue to track Hurricane Maria lashing the caribbean with the warn to puerto rico, get out
or die. Bill, bring us up to speed. The small eye has become a larger eye, its caused a little weakening so now were down from a cat 5 to a highend cat 4. Instead of 175mileperhour winds were at 155. Still, the top end of the category 4 is still going to cause extreme damage throughout the area. You can ski where the eye is, this is the incas here. Bringing the center near umakao. The eye should be over san juan or the northern area. That will cause extreme damage to the most highly Populated Areas on the northern side of puerto rico. Lets go to san juan. We have nbc news news correspondent tammy leitner. Tammy, i imagine things are quickly deteriorating . Reporter yeah, you know, i can see the storm changing and
increasing ever ten or 15 minutes it just seems to pick up impact and pick up speed. The winds have gotten so strong. Were starting to see Debris Flying by us. Tree branches. Weve seen shutters ripped off of buildings. People on this building have been told evacuate or die. That is the message given to locals here. I can tell you not everybody has evacuated. There are about 500 shelters across the island with 50,000 people in them. Weve spoken with a lot of them who said they are going to ride out the storm in their homes. They have boarded up their homes and theyve hunkered down. Weve also spoken to tourists who are trapped on the island. I can tell you where we are here, this is where fema has set up their headquarters. This is where all the First Responders are, there are about 300 of them, standing by, waiting for the storm to pass by so they can go out and make rescues, inevitably, there will be rescues to be made. We spoke with some of those First Responders and they told us theyre ready to do this. Back to you, guys. Tammy, we wish you the best. You have about two hours before that northern eye wall gets to you. Well check back with you. Hearings the radar, the Northern Wall is there, and now getting that western eye. You can see where san juan is located here. The Stronget Storm theyve seen. Theres the eye. And now the eye is about 16 hours from how. And it will go through the island for the next eight hours. Praying for puerto rico right now. Turning now to the u. N. General assembly, President Trump making his first remarks there yesterday, as expected the president held nothing back regarding the ongoing crisis
with north korea. Take a listen. Now, north koreas reckless pursuit of Nuclear Weapons and Ballistic Missiles threatening the entire world with unthinkable loss of human rights. No nation on earth has an interest in seeing this band of criminals arm itself with Nuclear Weapons and missiles. The United States has great strength and patience. But if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy north korea. Rocket man is on a Suicide Mission for himself. And for his regime. The president went on to praise the United NationsSecurity Council for the latest rounds of harsh sanctions against pyongyang, specifically thanking china and russia for joining the unanimous wave. For also calling on the United Nations as a whole to step up. The scourge of our planet
today is a small group of Rogue Regimes that violate every principle on which the United Nations is based. If the righteous men do not confront the wicked few, then evil will triumph. The United States is ready, willing and able, but hopefully, this will not be necessary. Thats what the United Nations is all about. Thats what the United Nations is for. Lets see how they do. It is time for all nations to Work Together to isolate the kim regime until it ceases its hostile behavior. So, an Important Note for you, north koreas ambassador walked out in protest before trump began his speech. If youre wondering because a lot of people are, a senior official telling nbc news that trump added his nickname for kim
jongun rocket man into his remarks yesterday morning and that he coined the term himself. Joining us live from beijing on how all of this plays out, correspondent janet matthews. Tell us how the remarks may have been perceived in seoul, south korea, and across the region . Reporter well in this part of the world, people are trying to figure out if it was a threat, a message or a bluff, this vow to totally destroy north korea so far has been downplayed in south korea, half ignored here in china. In china, it seems to be well received. We have to remember it has flown over japanese territory and their Prime Minister shinzo abe is talking to the United Nations today. Here in china, the response was preable. They again called for adherence in resolution. There is the sense is that perhaps this message was meant
as much for xi jinping southwest kim jongun. That china using all of it intellers of oil to top itself as far as Nuclear Weapons. Xi jinping was not in the audience at that u. N. Speech. The most intriguing from the speech is from the regime itself. Theres the sense that perhaps President Trump provided the perfect sound bite for the north korean audience. Not as a threat but for the pursuit of Nuclear Weapons used against north korea. Were going to cross over to nbc news to ali arouzi who is going to join us with hard hitting action on iran and the iran nuclear deal. President noted his America First doctrine while addressing how that policy can coexist and are not necessarily separate entities. As president of the united
states, i will always put America First. Just like you, agency the leaders of your countries, will always and should always put your countries first. [ applause ] but making a better life for our people also requires to Work Together in close harmony and unity to create a more safe and peaceful future, for all people. As long as i hold this office, i will defend americas interests above all else. But in fulfilling our obligations to our own nations, we also realize that its in everyones interest to seek the future will all nations can be sovereign, prosperous and secure. Joining us In Washington is White House Correspondent rosca. Thanks for joining us. In the past the president has been critical of the United Nations. Now hes making this speech with the first first mantra, whats the reaction were hearing across the world in this regard . Well, i think it depends where you look, you have the israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu who said this is one of the best u. N. Speeches he had heard and that it was tough and on point. But then you have the Swedish Foreign minister saying this was the wrong speech, the wrong time and the wrong audience. So, i think it depends on where you stand on the world stage. I think it did rattle some World Leaders, to focus on America First. And sovereignty, there wasnt really an explanation of how that works cooperatively. And if everyone is looking out for their own interests, then how do you come together on these kind of big issues like north korea, et cetera. So i think that it was kind of mixed reviews. And i think there was some takeaway from some World Leaders that the u. S. Might not be willing to get involved in kind of any big projects. Yeah, its pretty interesting, ayesha. Lets switch gears and in reuters first to report yesterday that the Republican National committee is using funds from a Legal Proceedings account to actually help President Trump pay for his russiarelated legal fees. What more can you tell us about this . And more importantly, is this unprecedented . Well, its unprecedented. Now, its not illegal because President Trump did not use Public Financing for his campaign. He privately funded it. So, he is allowed to use Campaign Funds and rnc funds for legal investigation. But it is unprecedented in this day and age, to have a president
using his Campaign Funds for a criminal investigation. And not only do you have the legal implications, but you have the optics of a billionaire president using Campaign Funds to fund his response, his legal response to the russia investigation. While there are many on his staff, kind of lowerrung Staff Members who are struggling to pay their legal bills. Yeah, you have Michael Flynns family making that plea to help with support for his legal fees. Right. All right, correspondent for reuters, ayesha roscoe, thanks. Still ahead, jimmy kimmel weighs in on the Health Care Debate and calls out one leader who said lined his face. Plus, were tracking the path of the category 5 storm. Those stories and more when we come back. Democrats are sounding the alarm now that the grahamcaskey bill seems to be picking up steam. He feels the momentum, this as the Senate Leader is in the white house to shore up obamacare exchanges. Republicans are racing for that deadline. They need 51 votes. One major obstacle, they wont know the plans cost because they wont get a full cbo score until after the vote. And a Bipartisan Group of governors who came against the bill yesterday including bill walker whose pin could affect Lisa Murkowskis decision. Meanwhile, Senator Cassidy is catching flak from late night host jimmy kimmel, take a list. A few months ago after my son
had open Heart Surgery which is something i spoke about, a politician bill cassidy, a politician was on my show doesnt seem to be very honest. He seemed honest, when it came to health care for coming up with something he called, i didnt name it this, he named it, the Jimmy Kimmel Test Which was, in a nutshell, no family should be denied medical care, emergency or otherwise, because they cant afford it. He agreed to that. He said he would only support a Health Care Bill that made sure that a child like mine would get the Health Coverage he needs no matter how much money his parents make. And this guy bill cassidy just lied right to my face. Do you believe that every american regardless of income should be able to get regular checkups, maternity care, et cetera, all of those things that people who have Health Care Get and need . Yep. So, yep, Is Washington for no, i guess. [ laughter ] by the way, before you post a nasty facebook message saying im politicizing my sons Health Problems. I want to you know im politicizing my sons Health Problems because i have to. Well, the senator responded saying in a statement saying, quote, we have a September 30th deadline, lets finish the vote. There is someones whose Preexisting Condition will be addressed through the bill. Well hear from Senator Cassidy later this morning. Lets get to bill karins with a check on the weather. Bill, youre tracking Hurricane Maria, its a category 4 on puerto ricos door step and could potentially be delivering a severe below in san juan. Right now, roofs are being torn off homes and a lot of people in their safe rooms. So thats what theyre waking up to in puerto rico. Again, the eye, went through a Wall Replacement Cycle Last Night and that did bring it down
just a little bit. That is weakening it but instead of ten miles wide, its now 30 miles wide. That means the devastation is through a larger area but not as extreme. This red circle shows you, san juan got to 78. Thats when it does structural damage, trees are falling down, power is going out. And theres the center of the storm, about an hour, hour and a half away from landfall of a strong category 4 hurricane. They havent seen Something Like this since 1932 in puerto rico. Heres the eye. You can notice that the innerportion of the eye which was really pronounced kind of is falling apart. And this wider eye is taking over. Thats what i mean, we were tracking a tenmile wide eye and now its 30 miles wide. That means the wind field is expanding, too. Hearings the center of the storm. Notice now starting to get into the eye near the coast. From the center coming on shore there near humacao. You can see san juan getting in that those northwestern eye wall in about an hour or hour and a half from now. The worst of the damage is now beginning, the Flash Flooding is beginning. And extreme winds. A lot of people are with their children in their houses scared right now for good measure, this is a very serious storm. Its going to be a critical hour for the folks in puerto rico. Still ahead, baseballs alltime home Record Record falls and in the nba, one of the biggest stars apologizes for going after his former team, where else, but on twitter. Sports is next. That knows the weather down to the square block. This is a diamond tracked on a blockchain protected against fraud, theft and trafficking. This is a financial Transaction Secure from hacks and threats others cant see. This is a patients medical history made secure while Still Available to their doctor at their fingertips. This is an asteroid livestreamed to millions of viewers from 220 miles above earth. This is ai trained by experts in 20 industries. Your industry. Hello. This is not the cloud you know. This is the ibm cloud. Built for your business. Designed for your data. Secure to the core. The ibm cloud is the cloud for enterprise. Yours. Yours. Its not just a car, its your daily treat. Go ahead, spoil yourself. The es and es hybrid. Experience amazing. Every year we take a girls trip. Remember nashville . Kimchi bbq. Kimchi bbq. Amazing honky tonk . . I cant believe you got us tickets. I did. I didnt pay for anything. You never do. Send me what i ow