hurricane beryl re-strengthening to a category 3 storm overnight as it tears

through the caribbean and now taking aim directly at mexico. michelle grossman tracking that storm. the united kingdom waking up to a brand-new prime minister after the labour party handed a huge landslide defeat to the ruling conservatives. we have a live report from britain. first responders sounding the alarm after multiple network outages prevent users from calling 911. as a nation of immigrants celebrates its independence. some new u.s. citizens talk to "early today" about what it means to be american. and the missouri muralist bringing patriotic charm to his town with a depriiction of histy bigger than life. it's friday, july 5th. "early today" starts right now. very good morning to you. i'm richard lui. hurricane beryl continues its deadly onslaught in the caribbean, now claiming two more lives in jamaica. both victims in their 20s.

this raises the death toll to nine. and after tearing through the cayman islands, the storm approaching mexico this morning after re-strengthening to a category 3, with maximum sustained winds of 115 miles per hour. the yucatan peninsula now under a hurricane warning. bracing for dangerous and damaging storm surge. mexico's president saying that landfall is projected to hit the resort town of tulum, and he urged people to move to higher ground or shelter elsewhere. president biden spending the fourth of july hoping to reassure the nation that he is ready and able to serve a second term in office. the president hadwill do a high-stakes interview today as he faces calls to get out of the race. >> reporter: president biden celebrating our nation's history. >> happy independence day! >> reporter: with his political future on the line. as sources tell nbc news the next few days of his campaign are critical, after last week's

disastrous debate performance, which the president acknowledged in a radio interview. >> i screwed up. i made a mistake. that's 90 minutes on stage. look what i've done in 3.5 years. >> reporter: mr. biden insisting he's committed to staying in the race. >> you got me, man. i'm not going anywhere. all right. >> reporter: the public confidence comes as nbc news has learned the president is privately torn between defiance and acceptance amid calls to step aside. according to four people familiar with the matter. signaling in some conversations with allies, aides and family members that the blow back may grow too large to overcome. >> he just quit, you know. he's quitting the race. >> reporter: former president trump made those false claims in a video he shared on social media, in which he also speculated over vice president kamala harris becoming the democratic nominee. >> i think she's going to be better. she's so bad. she's so pathetic. she [ bleep ].

>> reporter: the biden campaign slamming those comments writing, no, donald, what is bad is running on a campaign of your retribution. >> i believe in this man. i believe in his character. i believe that he has been one of the moist transformative presidents in our collective lifetimes. >> reporter: california governor kb k ga gavin newsom campaigning in michigan, confirming details of the meeting, saying that president biden says he will limit events to ending earlier in the evening. >> no, he was not checked by the doctor. we're going to turn to a major political shakeup across the pond. the labour party is poised to take power, ousting the

conservative party after 14 years in power there. starmer is set to replace sunak. let's go to claudio lavanga. good morning to you. this was a landslide that was not ever seen in history before. >> reporter: absolutely, richard. all the polls before the election gave the labour party a healthy lead, but this turned out to be a massive landslide victory, which makes, as you mentioned, keir starmer, the leader of the labour party most certainly the next prime minister of of the united kingdom. take a listen. >> tonight, people here and around the county have spoken. and they're ready for change. to end the politics of performance and return to politics as public service. the change begins right here. because this is your democracy. your community and your future. you have voted.

it is now time for us to deliver. >> reporter: now the latest exit polls suggest that lay bore in t bay labour party will win, which will be the worst defeat for the conservative party since its founding in 1843. the outgoing prime minister rishi sunak conceded defeat early on friday morning and accepted his responsibility, even though he did gain enough votes to retain his seat in parliament. later on friday afternoon, keir starmer is expected to be received by king charles before he is the next prime minister of the united kingdom. >> thank you. turning now to the latest developments in the war in gaza. president biden spent part of the fourth of july speaking to

israel's prime minister benjamin netanyahu on the latest iteration of a cease-fire proposal. a senior u.s. official says there has been a breakthrough on a critical impasse and that the operation in the city of rafah has put new pressure on hamas to make a deal. matt bradley with more. >> reporter: israel's prime minister telling president biden that israel will send negotiators to another round of cease-fire talks and now studying a hamas response to his proposal. hamas still holds the power in gaza, but our nbc news team there discovering growing signs it's losing public support. this woman has just seen the body of her slain son. he was killed by an israeli bombardment, but she directs her anger at hamas, whose october 7 attack sparked the invasion. i hope that god will destroy you like you destroyed our children. this was once rare in gaza and

still risky, but as the war enters the tenth month, frustration is overflowing. this man seeks to a stunned crowd in front of a hospital. we have a filthy leadership. we got used to our bloodshed, he says. this man regularly conducts polls throughout the palestinian territories. >> the hamas popularity among the populace who are actually living now in shelters, in tents, in makeshift, you know, communities is declining. >> reporter: for many here, this is hamas' war, and they're sacrificing gazan civilians. this opposition activist says we refuse to continue the war over our kids and women's bodies and blood. and as israel ease assault continues, the hamas-run ministry of health there said the death toll has just surpassed 38,000 since those october 7th attacks. >> matt bradley, thank you. the fbi now investigating a deadly shooting in yellowstone national park in montana. park officials say rangers were responding to reports of an

armed person making threats at canyon village in the park. in the central area. they exchanged gunfire with that person who was then killed. a ranger was also hurt but is expected to be okay. neither the suspect nor ranger have been identified in this incident. >> re crews in northern california making much-needed progress getting the thompson fire under control. it is over 30% contained. crews finally able to make progress after a day of favorable winds. at least four first responders have now been injured with multiple structures destroyed. the heat has been rising. over 140 million americans in fact are under heat alerts across the country. the national weather service warning of a prolonged extreme heat event for up to 12 days, the longest in 18 years. let's get an update now on hurricane beryl's track from nbc's meteorologist michelle grossman. you know, michelle, first of all, we say beryl is picking up

team and going where a lot of americans go, tulum and cancun. >> that's right. we're already starting to feel the effects in the yucatan peninsula. and this storm continues to overachieve. we're back to a major hurricane status, a category 3 storm. winds at 115 miles per hour. now we're going to see it impact the yucatan peninsula throughout the day today. it's going to quickly weaken as it crosses the yucatan peninsula, but still feeling the impacts, a very large storm surge, damaging winds, damaging waves as well and heavy, heavy rainfall. right now we're looking at tropical alerts dotting the yucatan peninsula. tropical storm warnings and also tropical storm watches. that will be the story as we go throughout the day. then it had crwill cross the yu peninsula and weaken to a tropical storm. but the waters are still warm. notice the increase back to a category 1 by sunday at

6:00 p.m. then it has its eyes on northeastern mexico or southern texas. either way, we're going to feel the ilpampact in southern texas. the heat across the d it's a ho south. temperatures in the triple digits in many spots. that's your friday forecast. >> michelle, thank you for that. coming up, first responders sounding the alarm as frequent cell phone outages leave people unable to call 911. what you can do to stay connected. but the real mystery was her irritated skin. so, we switched to tide free & gentle. it cleans better, and doesn't leave behind irritating residues. and it's gentle on her skin. tide free and gentle liquid is epa safer choice certified. it's gotta be tide. pain means pause on the things you love,

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call 911. it's a growing concern for call centers around the country. our brian cheung takes a look. >> reporter: in an emergency, you know to call 911. but what happens if you can't? that nightmare scenario recently playing out several times across the country. >> nationwide cell phone outage. >> what if i can't call 911? what do i do now? that's what causes me sleepless nights. >> reporter: just last month, 911 emergency systems were down across massachusetts for hours. and in april, an installation of a light pole cut out service, leading to issues calling 911 in at least three states. most notable this year, a nationwide outage in february cutting at&t service for thousands of customers for about half a day. at&t apologized to customers and said it was implementing changes to prevent a repeat. >> as soon as a call comes in, it shows up on this map. >> reporter: tony rose is the director of emergency services in charles county, maryland.

he's noticed problems becoming more frequent. >> because we've transitioned from old technology, the old copper phone line system to this new ip network world that we live in, right? with smart devices. >> reporter: so where are these problems coming from? >> could be human error. it could be a cyber attack. it could be a mechanical failure. >> but either way, are outages across the board increasing in frequency in your point of view? >> yes. >> reporter: authorities are taking a look as well. in an investigation, new york state said it would probe the telecom provider as well. verizon wireless would pay over $1 million for a 911 outage in 2022 that prevented thousands of calls from completing, putting pressure on the companies to improve. >> it's a matter of investment on the part of the carriers to ensure greater network reliability.

>> reporter: rose says families need to plan for emergency situations where you can't reach 911. among the recommendations, a land line, wi-fi calling, using a phone on another carrier or the sos feature on fines if available, which basically uses roaming or satellites in emergencies. >> it's nowhere closest the police station is at. >> reporter: don't call 911 just to test if it works. that could clog up resources. rose says, just like dial wildialing 911 has become an instinct, so should planning for the worst-case scenario. >> typically with a hurricane you have at least 72 hours of notice. in a 911 disruption, there's no notice. >> our thanks to brian for that report. still to come for you, what does it mean to be an american on this independence day weekend. "early today" speaks to some immigrants turned american citizens, reflecting on journeys toward a better life. n't help due to burning

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the u.s. is often described as a nation of immigrants. and just last year, the u.s. welcomed over 800,000 new citizens through naturalization. as we celebrate our independence day weekend, "early today" talked to some of those immigrants to get their perspective on america. >> reporter: so you have a beautiful story on how you get to emigrate to the u.s. can you share about that? >> well, the short answer is sweden. i came to this country in 1996 on a student visa. >> yeah, so i moved to the u.s. when i was 7, about to turn 8. i emigrated from haiti after the earthquake in 2010. >> and i am, i was actually born in the philippines. i emigrated here for college in

2013. >> my family is from -- >> actually last year i became a u.s. citizen. before i couldn't vote, and i know there's an upcoming election. so i think being an american for me is just the possibility to express my opinion. >> for me, being an american means being able to fight for your opportunities. i know people always say america is the land of opportunities. >> it is very, very important to me. the depth of diversity that this country has is unparalleled anywhere else. the people come from all over the world. >> it definitely is the land of endless opportunities. america is a land of grimmigran, right? it's a beautiful thing. a beautiful chapter to unravel. and i encourage everyone to give it a shot and work hard toward this drea

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in as little as seven days. now i can help again feel the difference with nervive. and here is what is making headlines this morning for you. a great grandmother in pennsylvania celebrating a huge win, taking home a $5 million prize from a scratch-off lottery ticket. the win comes right after she finished treatment for breast cancer and celebrated her 75th birthday. a 75-year-old american swimmer swam in paris' seine river yesterday to highlight the efforts to clean up the murky waters ahead of the olympic games. hours after diving in, authorities released data showing the water quality has improved over the past week, and events can take place there. tijuana, mexico is marking the 100th birthday of the caesar

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celebrating the nation's history. the man behind the murals spoke directly with our kansas city affiliate. >> people in the midwest may not know me, but they know of me. i'm ray harvey, and i paint large-scale patriotic murals. they are anywhere from 50 to 100 feet wide. the scale is huge. i like that my art goes to the people. it allows these small towns to have a big voice. when one small town sees what i'm doing, they want something too. you want to talk about return on investment, how do you put a dollar value on civic pride? it becomes theirs, they'll say hey, come look what we did. >> i'm probably the most prolific muralist in missouri. over the last 35 years, i've painted close to 600 murals. i find that people in concordia are the most down-to-earth, sincere, generous and honest people i've met. eventually, we'll have 10, 12 murals here.

i'm doing my sixth. we're halfway there. i think the american flag in concordia is my favorite. what we do, how we live, what we feel. our families, our future. this will be here, 12, 15 years. you come across a town like concordia, hannibal, bowl wilbowling green, there you see this large piece of art, and it shows that the town is relevant. the town cares about their own streets. my happiest time of day is to be up on a lift, painting a big-scale mural, beautiful weather. the paints mix just right. people are honking and waving to me. i really appreciate that. it's just fun. i couldn't have a better job. i don't know what i haven't painted. i like the murals that have the most impact. the ones where people say oh, you're the one that did it, man, i love that mural. i love that paint, thank you. who the heck said i knew how to paint. i never have taken a painting class in my life. i'm self-taught. when i'm working on a mural, standing in front of the mural, i've got the paintbrush in my

hand. every mural i've ever painted, somebody will walk up and say "are you painting that"? i get it done one way or the other, and bewe have solutions r all the problems with the walls. the most important factor is sun exposure. i've learned a few things and gotten to the point where i'm comfortable. when i sign a mural, it's not for notoriety, it's to say i approve it. i did the best job i could. and at that time that i hand it over to the community. concordia, it's yours. >> great stuff. our thanks to our affiliate in kansas city for that story. thanks for watching "early today." i'm richard lui. go out and have a great weekend. . ,

ends with a bang as people set off thousands of