from san diego to london and points in between, a show of unity as u.s. football players respond to president donald trump's view that players who kneel during the national anthem should be fired. plus, new u.s. travel restrictions unveiled after the trump administration's revised travel ban expired on sunday.

we'll tell you which countries the administration is now targeting. and for the first time in more than 50 years, a far right political party will be represented in germany's parliament. what this historic election means for that nation and the european. >> hello and welcome to our viewers here in the united states, and of course all around the world. i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm george howell from cnn world headquarters in atlanta. "newsroom" starts right now. fair to say it has been a busy weekend for the u.s. president. on sunday, the white house announced new travel restrictions for people in eight countries trying to reach the united states. the president is tying that move to national security. he said this in a statement from the white house. quote, following an extensive review by the department of homeland security, we are taking action today to protect the safety and security of the american people by establishing a minimum security baseline for

entry into the united states. >> the president is also keeping up his feud with u.s. football players. his call for nfl players who kneel in protest during the national anthem to be fired. on sunday, many more kneeled in a mass rebuke to the president. >> kneeling is a right in the united states. protesting is. we'll have more on those nfl protests in a moment. but first, let's focus on these new travel restrictions. they were announced right after the president's controversial travel ban expired and cover many of the same countries. cnn's laura jarrett has this report for us. >> reporter: well, the trump administration has unveiled new travel restrictions on certain foreign nationals from eight countries. this time chad, iran, libya, north korea, somalia, syria, venezuela, and yemen as a replacement to a central portion of the controversial travel ban which expired on sunday morning. now these new restrictions varied widely by country, and they also include a phased in approach. so most of the limitations won't

go into effect until mid-october. for last three months the trump administration has used an executive order to ban foreign nationals from six muslim majority countries from entering the u.s. unless they have a, quote, bona fide relationship with a person or entity here in the country, in the u.s. individuals with that bona fide exception, like if you have a grandparent here, they can still apply for visas until october 18th. but after that date, the new restrictions on travel will begin. and in some instances, travel for immigrants will be broadly suspended across the board, like in north korea, nobody can come in. where as for others, like iran, those on student visas will be able to apply to come into the country. now i should mention, anyone with a current visa or a greencard can always come in. their documents will not be revoked. the supreme court is expected to hear arguments on the legality of the current travel ban next month.

so that's moving full steam ahead. and president trump already tweeting about the ban on sunday, saying make america safe is my number one priority. we will not admit those into our country we cannot safely vet. >> and that was our u.s. justice reporter laura jarrett. let's get more now on the new restrictions from our senior international correspondent ben wedeman following the story from tokyo. good to see you, ben. so north korea is a rather interesting addition to this list, isn't it? not many north koreans travel to the u.s. except for the rare official. so what is the practical purpose of adding north korea? >> before we get to north korea, just to let you know, i've been in contact with friends in the middle east who say this is really just another permutation of the same travel ban that went out back in january. many people still remember quite vividly in the middle east in

the muslim world what president trump, then candidate trump said when he said a total and complete shutdown of muslims entering the united states is what he was looking for. essentially what i'm hearing from people in the muslim world is -- these are my words, not theirs. it's just more lipstick on the same old pig. now as far as north korea goes, yes, the fact of the matter is that the only north koreans who travel the united states are likely foreign minister of north korea, who was in new york over the past week to attend the united nations general assembly. and that's his right as a diplomat. however, ordinary north koreans cannot go to the united states given this situation they have to endure in their country. rosemary? >> all right, ben wedeman following the story there for us from tokyo. many thanks to you. we are also following a

historic election in germany. and that is where we take you live now. a news conference under way from the leaders of germany's far right party, the alternative for germany, afd as it's commonly called there made major political gains on sunday's election. >> just as chancellor angela merkel secured her fourth term in office, but t. let's listen in. >> we will discuss this. we'll stand for a constructive working party in the german bundestag, and we would like to thank the voters for giving us this mandate. thank you. >> translator: there is no need to add a lot. you can read it in the newspapers. of course, firstly, it's our success. but it's also about the failure of the others. i read today said yes, the union

party had let for the right wing party a lot of space. but i grew up in a different environment. sadly, it is not possible to govern the country properly, including spd. mr. gabriel, when he was in government, had a welcome button there. and then a couple of days after, he said the refugee policy was wrong. what do people think about this? i know that a lot of people trust us very much, and we will try our best to keep up from this. but it all depends very much on the other.

in the bundestag, we want to be a clear opposition. bundestag parliament must again be the reflective body for the community. yesterday i made clear and also during the election campaign that i remember the debates of others about armament, nato, and the policy. he said something similar. tell me one proper debate about russia espionage saving the euro. no, there is none. they just say okay. we want to have a debate culture in the german bundestag so that people know why certain decisions are taken and who is for that.

this is our task and we will fulfill it. >> the vote there for germany, listening to the leaders of the alternative for germany party. cnn's senior correspondent fred pleitgen has been closely following the election. >> fred is live in berlin this hour. fred, let's talk about this. a moment ago we just heard the co-leader of the alternative for germany party pointing out the refugee policy, saying that it was wrong. the question for people who vote in order particular party, was this a protest vote or is there indeed a surge that is fuelling this right-wing party? >> yeah, george, i think one of the interesting things as some of the party leaders said, on the other hand, they believe it was their own program that propelled them to the very big election result they got. but at the same time they also felt it was the weakness of overs. so certainly it seems to be quite a realistic view. i want to give the question you asked me ou on to here from the school of governance, which is a

very important school here in berlin. and what do you think? looking at this right now, they are afd, the third strongest force in german government. can we still call this a protest vote or is this a realignment? >> i'd say it's both. it's a protest vote, but it's also a vote for the program, program, quote/unquote, the afd stands for. what the larger parties, what the coalition parties, the city of did not do during the campaign, they did not address the needs and the desires of the citizens. the refugee crisis, the consequences of the ref fiji crisis. if you have a look again, it really wasn't an issue. and i think that is really something people care for. people want solutions for. and that's one of the reasons the afd got so much support. that's on the contents side. and second point, you're absolutely right. it definitely also is a protest

vote against the grand coalition. one of the interesting statistics we've been talking about is among men in the former east germany, this is the strongest party. and generally in east germany, it's the second strongest party. and yet

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test. he tweeted someone that wrote that a players it. the president again making the case that america should not stand for this. listen to more to what he had to say. >> i think that the flag has to be respected. our country has to be respected. there is plenty of room to do other things. but our country has to be respected. and i've always felt very strongly about that. and by the way, most people agree with it. >> one more interesting note from one of the gaggles that the president held with the press on

sunday. he says that race has nothing to do with this issue of players kneeling during the national anthem, that this is purely about people respecting the flag, people respecting their country. if you go back to august of last year when colin kaepernick first started kneeling during the national anthem, and many players followed suit, he made it very clear that the reason he was protesting the national anthem was because he felt that police officers in this country did not respect communities of color. so at least to many of the players, this is about race. to the president it is apparently not. let's put this in context. this re-igniting of a controversy by the president on friday night and into this weekend comes at a very interesting time where the white house is dealing with a lot of issues. not only on the legislative front with another attempted repeal and replacement of obamacare, and a tax reform roll-out set for later this week, but also escalating tensions with north korea. at one point over the weekend,

the president tweeting out that north korean leadership may not be around much longer. so it's certainly curious that the president would pick this time to focus on this issue in this way. boris sanchez, cnn at the white house. >> joining me now to talk more about u.s. politics is cnn political commentator and democratic strategist dave jacobson. and on the other side of the political spectrum, ben ferguson. welcome, gentlemen. good to talk with you both. >> good to be here. >> so let's get started. a lot to cover. over the weekend president trump took aim at protesting nfl players who kneel in protest during the national anthem, saying they should be fired. but then players hit back with a show of defiance and unity by kneeling, locking arms and raising fists. dave, to you first. is this an effort on the part of mr. trump to perhaps distract from the many issues plaguing him right now, including north korea, the russia probe, the

health care, the kushner e-mails and in just the last few hours, the travel restrictions? >> i think that's precisely what it is. this is another deflection. the president knows he is a bull in a china shop. he is using this opportunity to stoke racial tensions even further than they are. obviously it came on the heels of his friday night speech. for a candidate who stands to lose the alabama special elections this coming tuesday to the incumbent senator who was appointed recently. and i think it's reflect offensive of the fact that the president understands fundamentally with john mccain coming out, saying no to the aca repeal, ted cruz, susan collins leaning heavily no, he simply doesn't have the vote for this health care bill. moreover, he is dealing with challenges in iran and north korea. and he hasn't -- he has failed to deliver anything meaningful in terms of legislative victories through the congress. and so this is a pivot opportunity for him to change the conversation. we're clearly talking about it right now. i think it's strategic. but i think it's a mistake.

because the president who is hovering around 37% approval rating at this point really needs to start finding ways to unify the country, not further dividing us. >> all right, ben, to you. a giant distraction on the part of mr. trump or a real issue for the embattled president? >> no, no, no. if you know the president or you have been around this white house, this is definitely not as a distraction, what he saw was something that was very clear. you have a lot of americans that are in the american that are disrespecting this country. you had american football players that went overseas and knelt during the national anthem overseas but then stood for "god save the queen." when you're going around the world, you're representing the national football league of the united states of america. that's not the time to be unamerican. so i think the president should talk about this. i also think he can talk about the other issues. look, he is very focused on tax reform, for example. he doesn't want to take away from that. talking about north korea. he doesn't want the take away from that issue.

he has been very clear on how he has been dealing with north korea, and been very bold and blunt. to say somehow this is a distraction from those issues. and let's also be clear about the affordable care act, repeal and replace this week. it was always going to be a tight vote. one or two votes was where it was before they even started talking about it. because that's how close the majority is for the republicans barely over the democrats there. the republican senators, the same ones that have not helped him in the past, the same ones that aren't helping him this time. to somehow say the comments that he made in alabama were to distract from his legislative agenda is just incompetence. the president's agenda, he is focused on now more than ever because he does actually need these wins that you just heard him talk about a moment ago. but to somehow say he doesn't want to focus on winning, and therefore he is focus thong is absurd and not understanding the politics of this white house to the president. >> all right. let's get to one of those other issues, then. starting with the new travel restrictions, the white house just announced a few hours ago.

dave, to you, how significant are those changes to what was a ban, now these restrictions affecting eight countries? >> clearly the president understands fundamentally that his initial ban has struggled through the courts. we've seen many times sort of gone through this process. and the president has continued to fail in the courts. so i think part of that was because it was emblematic of a muslim ban. and so he is trying to pivot away from that narrative, and trying to draw attention in making this more about certain countries that are essentially enemies of the united states, or perhaps have individuals there who are affiliated with terrorist organizations. and so i think that was sort of the pivot to include nations like north korea into sort of this process because he knows it's going to be a steep hill to climb when this effort goes before the supreme court. >> ben, your response. >> i think it's an issue of national security. and that's where you see the president changing and adapting

here, bringing in things like north korea. let's be clear. the majority of these countries are either direct threats to this country or they are countries that have aided and abetted isis and al qaeda or the biggest one, the majority of these countries, the majority of the countries that have been named don't even have a centralized government that we can cross-check people coming into the u.s. as a refugee status. you cannot take that risk when we know that from findings that we found of isis and al qaeda online, and also through raids, that they have talked about basically using this loophole to their advantage to say look, you say you're a refugee, they cannot check with a government in this country because there is no central government that knows who these people are, or knows that they've been in trouble or in prison for they're murderers or rapists or anything else. use this to your change, the refugee status. the president was smart to change and adapt here. and i think he'll be much more successful this time around.

>> and dave, we're learning from the lawyer, senior white house adviser jared kushner, the son-in-law of president trump used a private e-mail account for correspondence with fellow administration officials. how significant do you think this is? >> the hypocrisy is simply boundless. this coming from somebody so closely aligned with the president who railed against hillary clinton. i'm not condoning hillary clinton for having the private server. but i think it's totally disingenuous for jared kushner to be working in the white house and communicating on a nonsecure private e-mail account independent of the white house server, which is set up to protect and enhance security for those within the building. >> ben, your response. >> look, i think there needs to be one e-mail account used if that's what the rules say. let's be clear. we don't know if this was nonsecure, secure e-mail. that was set up by jared kushner. so to imply that it is unsecure is not true yet because we don't know the facts on the that. the second thing is the majority

the correspondence was in response to people that e-mailed him to his private e-mail. and we're talking about seven e-mails, or 7.2 e-mails on average per month since he got sworn in at the white house. so this is nothing compared to what hillary clinton is doing. now, let me make it also clear. i think that if you need to have one e-mail address, it needs to be a government e-mail address, make it clear. i think these e-mails should be open to anyone in the government who wants to look at them to make sure there is nothing here that broke any rules. we also have no indication that any of these e-mails were classified in nature which is what tens of thousands of hillary clinton's were. these are two different circumstances. >> ben ferguson, david jacobson, thank you, gentlemen, for joining us. we appreciate it. >> thanks for having us. >> thank you. now to senate republicans in making their last-ditch effort to retool their health care bill in order to win over more members of their own party. a new version of the grand cassidy bill was circulated on sunday. senators john mccain and rand paul have opposed the latest effort to scrap the affordable care act, obamacare.

their colleagues susan collins and lisa murkowski also have deep reservations. we'll take a short break. more on donald trump's sparring with the nfl, and hear from a sports journalist. we're back with that. my "business" was going nowhere... so i built this kickin' new website with godaddy. building a website in under an hour is easy! 68% of people... ...who have built their website using gocentral, did it in... ...under an hour, and you can too. type in your business or idea. pick your favourite design. personalize it with beautiful images. and...you're done! and now business is booming. harriet, it's a double stitch not a cross stitch! build a better website - in under an hour. free to try. no credit card required. gocentral from godaddy.

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and a very warm welcome back to "cnn newsroom." i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm george howell with the headlines we're following for you this hour. the white house has announced new travel restrictions targeting people from eight different countries that are meant to replace part of a controversial travel ban that was signed earlier this year. north korea, chad and venezuela now join a list of five muslim majority nations that were

already under a restriction. sud sudan, though, is no longer included in the list. in germany, chancellor angela merkel has secured her fourth term in office. at the same time the anti-immigrant party, alternative for germany is set to become the third largest group in the federal parliament. protesters are furious. it will be the first time a far right party enters the bundestag in over half a century. britain and the european union will resume brexit negotiations monday. both sides have important details to sort out. this includes the rights of millions of migrants and the divorce bill written will pay to the eu. the british parliament approved a bill this month that ensures european laws will not apply to the united kingdom once brexit is completed. iraqi kurds are casting their votes right now on a referendum on independence. the u.s., the uk, iran, and turkey oppose the referendum, fearing it could spark new

violence, while the battle against isis continues. here in the united states, the national football league is getting political. players and owners protesting recent comments by the u.s. president. mr. trump says that players who kneel in protest, again, protesting a right for people here in the united states. but those people should be fired if they do so during the national anthem. now earlier, players had to say they were calling attention to racial and social injustice. but on sunday, many more player, and even some owners joined together, kneeling or locking arms in solidarity at every single game sunday. even so, donald trump still thinks these players should lose their jobs. >> the nfl has to work out their own problems. their numbers are way down, and thing is a big reason why their numbers are way down. i'm just telling you from my standpoint, i think it's very disrespectful to our country.

>> let's bring in christine brennan, a sports columnist with usa today. it's good to have you on the show with us this hour. this sunday before every game in the national football league, the national anthem took front and center. national networks gave full coverage to it, paying very close tattention to how the players would react to the controversy protesting social and racial injustice. we saw many more players kneel. others locking arms as a sign of unity. >> absolutely. we saw some teams not even show up for the anthem. the pittsburgh steelers and also tennessee and seattle were playing each other, and they all just decided to stay off the field completely in a sign of solidarity. and i think also a sign that a lot of players didn't want to be out there for the anthem. donald trump, if he was hoping to get their attention, he got it. i'm not sure he wanted to get the reaction that he did. because when you think about it, everyone was concerned about colin kaepernick a year or so ago. and now we're talking about

probably over 100 players who actually took a knee, or some other way protested the national anthem. not to mention almost every other player, george, who was at least linking arms with his teammates or his coaches. so it was a very big show of force. the nfl basically telling donald trump i think exactly what they thought of his comments in alabama on friday. >> this movement started by colin kaepernick to protest social and racial injustice. but with president trump making himself personally part of this debate, he himself has become a lightning rod for protests among these players as well. >> oh, absolutely, george. in fact i think just -- i've not interviewed these players yet and we'll find out a lot more. but i think the protesting now is more anti-donald trump than it is about the issues that kaepernick, the very serious issues that kaepernick and some of the other players were protesting for over a year,

which was their concerns about police brutality and violence against african americans and other issues involving african americans, race relations, et cetera. those are very significant issues. whatever you think on the topic. that's important societal conversations that we should be having. but that i don't think was what this particular sunday was about. to me, this was the nfl protesting against donald trump. now, again, by having solidarity or by taking a knee, they may in their own mines have something. but the fact that we saw the magnitude that we did, it is because of trump's comments on friday. and the strong reaction from nfl commissioner roger goodell, from the union, and from player after player on twitter, social media, and now when it gets to the field, when the games start, on the field itself. they really did take it right there. and i do think we should interpret it as a strong message against donald trump, and everything that he said, the

terrible comments, the incendiary comments, the son of a blank comment, all those things and more were wrapped up in the nfl protests on sunday. >> what do you say to those who are critical of the president's motives who say that the solidarity that was shown on the football field, it gives way to imagery that the president can later turn around and later turn around and use as red meat to rally and rile up his base? >> i am of course a sports journalist. i'm not a political reporter. however, i also am an american citizen whose had her eyes opened over the last since november 8th, the election, or even before that. so my interpretation as an outsider looking at this, not as a sports journalist is when he was doing that on friday, it sure sound like he was playing to some group of people by using that term "sons of blank," by being critical of african american players, again, i have no idea what donald trump's motivation.

i don't think any of us can guess. but just from an outside view, as a journalist looking at it, it sure seemed that he was playing to his base. and i guess that's worked so far for him. i'm not a political scholar, so i have no idea. however, i do know this that the nfl may well have a bigger mega phone and as much as a presence on the national stage as donald trump. if there is anyone that can kind of go tit for tat with donald trump in terms of publicity, in terms of social media exposure, in terms of television coverage, the nfl is probably it. so after donald trump has been so critical of others over the last few months and gone after this or that group or what have you, you know, he may have picked on a group might just be able to handle him. and so far it looks like they are. so, again, if there is political capital for donald trump, maybe. but in terms of the sports end of it and the cultural end, i think this is a big loss for

donald trump after the first weekend. >> christine brennan, we appreciate your time. thank you. >> george, thank you very much. still ahead, germany's far right party is celebrating its success in the country's election. but already there appears to be dissension among the parties' leaders. details on an awkward press conference that just happened moments ago. stay with us. my name is jeff sheldon, and i'm the founder of ugmonk. before shipstation it was crazy. it's great when you see a hundred orders come in, a hundred orders come in, but then you realize i've got a hundred orders i have to ship out. shipstation streamlined that wh the order data, the weights of , everything is seamlessly put into shipstation, so when we print the shipping ll everything's pretty much done. it's so much easier so now, we're ready, bring on t.

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welcome back, everyone. now earlier we brought you a press conference from the leaders of germany's far right party, which made major political progress at sunday's general election. the alternative for germany, or the afd is set to become the third largest party in the federal parliament. but during the conference, the leadership problem of the afd became pretty evident. >> awkward moments here. the party's chairwoman said the afd should address the dissent within its own ranks, and that

she won't be the party's chairwoman in parliament. she had walked out. let's get to straight international senior correspondent fred pleitgen following this situation as well. fred, what do you know? >> hi, george. certainly anybody who says german politics is boring has probably learned their lesson today. this was really even -- even the party itself said a bombshell when one of the leaders of the party walked out of that press conference. and you could see the other party chairpeople who were also at the podium there, three of them, trying to get her back, saying they don't approve of what they call this behavior. now she was saying that she believes the party needs to address the dissent within the party. we do know that this party, the alternative for germany does have sort of several different strains. it was originally founded as a party of euro skeptics, really an antagonism towards the euro was one of its key points. it was founded by economics professors who felt that was often the main things. now what's happened since then is that it's obviously latched

on to the immigration issue. if you look at the podium, you you've saw ua member of the mod ral and then alexander gauland, much more of that fundamental wing who had some of these things that he said about migrants, that said that germans should be proud of their soldiers who fought in world war ii, just things that many people who are more moderate in that party did not approve of. and she is clearly one of them. certainly this does show some of the fissures within that party that they do need to address. she is quite frankly a very powerful member of that party as well. she is a head of the wing in saxony that got the best results for that party in this election. this is going to be certainly something folks will be speaking about here. and as they themselves said, a bombshell right after this big election news that this party has had. >> right out of the gates. not a good start. senior international correspondent fred pleitgen live in berlin. thank you, fred. in iraq, iraqi kurds are

voting on an independence referendum at this hour. the united states, the united kingdom, iran and turkey all oppose the referendum. they're worried that it could spark fresh violence. the u.s. backs kurdish fighters in the battle against kurdish militants. turkey says it doesn't recognize the referendum, fearing unrest among its own kurdish minorities. in erbil, not a lot of support for this independence referendum from the international community. what are the expectations there? and what could an independent kurdish region mean for that part of the world, and of course the fight against isis? >> well, you can also add iraq's central government to that very long list of people who are not particularly big fans of kurdistan's experiment in self-determination. but they are going ahead. the kurdish leader barzani has already cast his vote. the expectation is that this

will give them a mandate as they continue to spar with iraq's central government. as you know, rosemary and george, there have been a lot of concerns over the years about the sectarian nature of the shia dominated government, the sectarian nature of the iranian backed mobilized forces that have been a big part of the fight against isis. but kurdistan itself is also a key, key strategic player. and that's what can't be underestimated here, that they know they're playing with a very good hand. the u.s., as you said, backs the kurdish peshmerga forces. and even as we are here observing the first votes being cast in the referendum, there is a push to take back one of the key remaining isis strongholds. and the kurds' permission to allow access through kurdish territory is a big part of the facilitation of that fight. whatever happens next, the kurdish leadership know their people here are behind them there is a lot of support and a

lot of emotions running very high as these votes are being cast. many of those that we're speaking, to rosemary and george say we know this isn't the best time. but if not now, then when. >> indeed. nima elbagir monitoring and watching very closely that vote. many thanks to you for your live report. we'll take a short break here. but still to come, with no power and little cell service, we will show you how people in puerto rico are trying to communicate with the loved ones after hurricane maria.

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albreakthrough withyou back. non-drowsy allegra® for fast 5-in-1 multi-symptom relief. breakthrough allergies with allegra®. welcome back to "newsroom." the u.s. territory of puerto rico, so much damage, devastation there. they still don't have running water or power. this, of course, after hurricane maria ripped through that island. >> and not only that, many residents are having a hard time reaching their loved ones because most of the cell phone towers are not working. we get the latest now from cnn's leyla santiago. >> reporter: from above, the images tell the story of maria's destruction. but on the ground, the faces tell the story of its desperation. as many on this island of 3.5 million people struggle to reach their loved ones.

>> this is the only place where we can get signal. >> reporter: on this highway overpass, dozens pull over, hoping that this spot is the one to reunite family, if only by voice. jose flores drove for hours to get here, to get to cell service, to get to tell his daughter in florida one thing. >> so she'll let my family know that we're fine. >> reporter: for others, borrowed satellite phones are their last hope. people are trying anything they can to reach out. this note handwritten was passed along to our photographer in hopes that it would reach a loved one. it says, among other things, tony okay. tony at frank's house and love you all. >> thank you, thank you, thank you. >> reporter: later that day we were able to get a call out to his girlfriend in new york. >> so it was just such a relief. neither i nor his family has slept all week just worrying about him. >> reporter: an fcc report found

96% of cell towers in puerto rico are not working. the government here says it's trying to figure out which towers need generators and fuel to start working again. a small sign of hope on this island with so much to rebuild. for many year, the first chance to talk is the first step to recovery. leyla santiago, cnn, san juan, puerto rico. >> tears in her eyes. just so telling. >> exactly. and while maria is a grim memory for the caribbean, that storm is still out there, moving north. and our meteorologist derek van dam joins us now with the latest, just back from the region, of course. but what's happening with that storm going forward? >> can you believe it's been nearly two weeks and we're still talking about hurricane maria? unbelievable. coming from san juan and puerto rico, major humanitarian effort under way there. and it should continue. because no electricity for the

majority of the island. no communications, as you heard in that package just a minute ago. and also many locations not having any running water. now as we move into the atlantic ocean, we're still talking about maria. but the good news is there has been some slight weakening overnight from a category 2 to a category 1, according to the national hurricane center. 140 kilometer per hour sustained winds. that's 85 miles per hour. it's a large storm. so we do believe the outer fringes of hurricane maria will actually reach the east coast of the u.s. that's why the national hurricane center has hoisted tropical storm watches across the cape hatteras region, anywhere along the outer banks of north carolina. that's where you see that shading of the yellow. the reason for this is because we have tropical storm-force winds extending well over 150 kilometers from the center of the storm. which by the way will stay well offshore. so that means no direct landfalling hurricane. but uthat's not -- that doesn't mean that we won't have the effects. you can see the large wind field

will impact the cape hatteras region, into nags head, for instance. all the outer banks by late tuesday and into the day on wednesday. that's not the only concern. large swells oon the open ocean 6 to 9 meters. that equates to waves on the beach about 7 to 10 feet. well above head level. that means they're there is dangerous rip currents from orlando, florida, all the way to cape cod. rain will stay offshore. that's the good news. so no flooding expected across the east coast. but if that storm track just shifts a little further to the west, we know how these things are a matter -- it's a game of miles. we've talked about that. and so that could definitely alter our forecast. so stay tuned. >> thanks for keeping an eye on that, derek. appreciate it. and thank you for watching "cnn newsroom." i'm rosemary church. >> and i'm george howell. the news continues on cnn right after this break.

thele nfl fights back in a show of unity after president trump called on team owners to fire players who kneel during the national anthem. >> time is running short for the republican health care bill, opposition to the bill growing by the day as a new version attempts to target -- >> expanding the travel ban expanding it to north korea and venezuela. good morning everyone. welcome to "early start." nice to see you. >> good morning, i'm in this