we are going to in the strongest possible terms encourage the residents in the low lying areas as they say, get out of dodge. >> breaking overnight, harvey roars towards texas. a looming shutdown, lawmakers chime in as the president threatens to shutter the government over his wall. and a brawl clears out the dugout three times overshadowing america's pastime. we preview what is expected to be one of the most lucrative and widely watched fights in history. guess who's back?

>> people ask me why are you doing a rally only eight months in, folks, it's never too early to campaign for 2020. mike pence is already doing it. >> "early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. millions are preparing for devastation as hurricane harvey hurls to the gulf coast. the winds are reaching over 100 miles an hour and expected to bring torrential rain and widespread flooding. at least ten critically ill babies were evacuated from a hospital out of fear that the power outage can shut down the machines that they need to survive. they were flown further north to wait out the storm. meanwhile, many are scrambling to prepare for the worst and some refineries are shutting down completely. gas prices have spiked since wednesday, with one expert

forecasting a 10 cent increase in the eastern half of the country. and take a look at what the folks aboard the international space station are seeing. it could be the strongest hurricane in over a decade. maya rodriguez has more on where the wind and rain is starting to pick up and how's it looking over there, maya? >> reporter: well, phillip and frances, we have had a lot of rain and wind coming through. this is a taste of what hurricane harvey is expected to bring to corpus christi later today. it's not the only sign of a major storm approaching though. we have had people filling up their gas tanks, getting out of town. we have some of the courts that are closed here. garbage pickup has been suspended. right now we're under voluntary evacuations here in parts of corpus christi that are low lying. this is a very vulnerable spot, beyond that, we have a barrier island and beyond that island is the gulf of mexico. so again a very vulnerable spot for people who live in some of the low lying areas.

take a listen to what the mayor had to say. >> we are going to in the strongest possible terms encourage the residents in the low lying areas as they say, get out of dodge. >> reporter: now, i'm not sure if you can hear m over that, but we have had lot of first responders just within the last ten seconds or so coming by our hotel. they appear to be heading towards the beach. the waves have been picking up as hurricane harvey gets closer to town. phillip and frances? >> hopefully, not too many people are left over there, because the first responders are not going to be able to make it there once it gets really bad. thank you. >> yeah. a familiar sound from here. now, let's turn to meteorologist bill karins with the latest on the storm track. >> the storm is strengthening and that's to be expected. we thought we'd be dealing with a category three and it looks like we will be at landfall. it's shy of that, hurricane two. it is headed to the coast line.

you can see on radar, it's clearly -- watch the eye wobbling to the northwest. it will head somewhere between corpus christi and port lavaca and to the north and west of that is the worst of the storm surge. to the south of that, a lot of rainfall and a lot of water. so today is the damaging winds. storm surge and then we deal with at least maybe five or seven days of an incredible amount of rain. this is the 5:00 a.m. east coast edition, the next one comes out at 11:00 a.m. friday at 1:00 p.m., category three. 120, landfall somewhere around 125 miles per hour. again, just to the east of corpus christi. kind of the target zone right now. corpus christi has about 300,000 people. we really want that eye to miss corpus christi and areas like port lavaca have 10,000 people. we wish them the best too because they could be in the heart and center of it. again, we'll continue to watch the developments of this. it's about wind and rain and surge and then all next week we

could be tracking just historic rainfall. >> thank you. well, back in washington the u.s. chamber of commerce has come out swinging against the president. that as fellow republicans rebuke him for threatening a government shutdown over his much promised border wall. and blaming his own party's congressional leaders for what he calls a mess with the debt limit. but just why is the president openly feuding with the very lawmakers he needs to get his agenda passed? nbc's kristen welker brings us up to speed. >> reporter: a clash of the political titans. president trump is digging in on his threat to congressional leaders, fund the border wall or he'll force a government shutdown. a warning he unleashed earlier this week. >> believe me, we have to close down our government we're building that wall. >> reporter: the president attacking gop leaders by name. taking direct aim at house speaker paul ryan and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell on twitter. the white house publicly down playing the tensions. >> i think the relationships are fine. >> reporter: but behind the scenes, some white house officials privately worry the

attacks could hurt the president's agenda. and one top republican senator calling the ultimatum disruptive. still, one senior administration official tells nbc news, mr. trump sees his tough tweets as a tactic to hold lawmakers' feet to the fire. now republicans are firing back. >> i don't think a government shutdown is necessary. i don't think most people want to see a government shutdown. ourselves included. >> shutting down the government would be a terrible mistake. counterproductive. >> reporter: and the president promised mexico will pay for the wall. >> who's going to pay for the wall? >> mexico! >> who? >> mexico! >> reporter: so will mexico still foot the bill? >> how is that not a concession from the white house that mexico isn't actually going to pay for this wall and american taxpayers will? >> again, this is something the president's committed to. >> reporter: in border states they're watching the battle closely. texas republican congressman will hurd's district is along the border. he insists the wall is the wrong move. >> we should be using technology

and man power in order to secure the,000 miles of the border. that is a fraction of the cost of building concrete structure. >> reporter: and there's concerns about crime and drug. >> if we can do a partial stoppage with the wall, why not? >> it's a misguided use of money. >> reporter: white house officials say they're working with congress on a compromise short term funding bill that would keep the government open for a few months without funding the wall delaying a showdown that's sure to come. >> all right, thank you. the sole winner of wednesday night's jackpot has come forward. mavis wanczyk claimed the prize and she still hasn't sunk in. >> when i was driving here, i was like this can't be. now it's like -- um, i am a

winner. >> wanczyk says now that after she's worked for 32 years at a hospital, she is ready to sit back and relax. america's pastime turned into a straight up base brawl between new york yankees and the detroit tigers at comerica park. gary sanchez got hit with a pitch, presumably for hitting the fourth home run of the series and then one inning later, this happened. >> oh! that ball thrown behind miguel cabrera. cabrera now will -- oh, there's a fight at home plate. >> that's cabrera trading punches with austin romine. both were ejected and then the bad blood continued as a batter was drilled in the head. the tigers retaliated. in all four batterser with hit and eight people were ejected. the tigers took the game 10-6.

of course, major league baseball is expected to hand out fines on both sides. a spacex rocket successfully lifted off from california and found its way back home with pinpoint precision. the falcon 9 rocket separated into two stages after takeoff. the second stage launched the satellite into the orbit, while the first stage executed a series of maneuvers to touch down on a drone ship floating in the pacific ocean. the video link froze momentarily, but reappeared with the rocket safely on board. down near sarasota, florida, an amazing sight was caught on camera. two waterspouts right next to each other. while hundreds strike florida every year a double waterspout like this is pretty rare. >> now nbc's meteorologist bill karins has more on the powerful hurricane threatening the gulf coast. >> we'll be talking about this storm a week from now. an ultra marathon of a

hurricane. so the storm surge, this is going to be tonight and a little bit tomorrow. we have storm surge warnings that consist of much of the texas coastline. five to seven foot storm surge, 6 to 12 feet is possible. that's enough to do some significant damage. less up near the galveston area. we'll talk about the long range foreca all through the intermountain west. and everyone is hoping and wondering where fall is at this point. so i'll just tease it up to say that our european long range computer model i'm going to show you later makes more than one landfall in the next week. >> what? >> i have to feel for everybody out there and for you too because you'll be covering it all. thank you. all right. these very guys got a chance at

a new home. 200 dogs were airlifted from puerto rico to be put up for adoption in the u.s. puerto rican shelters have struggled with overpopulation for years due to lack of funds and low spaying and neutering rates. well, this effort is believed to be the largest number of dogs saved in a single trip by animal welfare advocates. just ahead, saying good-bye to an emmy winning actor and radio host and las vegas oddsmakers have this fight 6-1, but will it live up to the hype? they say glory awaits at the finish but what about the start? that moment you suck up all that doubt that fear all those reasons why not and decide to begin. get your game on with under armour. now at kohl's.

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appearances on late night and he hosted a show on sirius xm. he was 69. floyd mayweather jr. and conor mcgregor will face off in las vegas tomorrow night. but will this fight live up to all the hype? nbc's blake mccoy is here with us with a preview. good morning, blake. >> reporter: good morning, so far it is. it's been called the money fight and we're talking million dollar bets. floyd mayweather jr. is the greatest boxer today, undefeated. his record is 49-0 and conor mcgregor is someone that he wouldn't fight. he's a mixed martial arts fighter that allows kicking among other things but for this fight mcgregor has to play by the boxes rules. vegas oddsmakers are favoring mayweather 6-1. but so many small bets are pouring in for mcgregor, that if he pulls off a victory, sports

books could lose millions. it could be the single biggest loss in history. that's what mcgregor is hoping for and he's using social media to hype the fight. this viral video with his son jack is going viral this morning. both are talking trash. >> we are prepared for 12 three-minute rounds of nonstop pace and i'll put the pressure on him and make this man. trust me on that. we are more than ready. >> one thing that i can do. i can fight. i can give it and i can take it. but for me to be 49-0 it's obvious i'm not receiving it, i'm giving it. >> reporter: most of us can't afford a last night flight to vegas so if you watch it at home it will cost you $89.99, $10 more for hd. whoever wins, both stand to make a lot of money for this fight. it would cool to see the

underdog pull this off. shock the world. >> i wonder how many rounds they'll go too. >> maybe the distance, but if mcgregor does win, then they're going to definitely be another fight and that's even more money. they're getting $200 million. >> let's get through the first one before we start predicting fight number two. >> right. a lot of money. just ahead, it's about to get cheaper because of amazon. and gas prices are rising as harvey gains strength. cnbc's landon dowdy has the lowdown next. important to dentists is to make sure that that enamel stays strong and resilient for a lifetime the more that we can strengthen and re-harden that tooth surface, the whiter their patients' teeth are going to be. dentists are going to really want to recommend pronamel strong and bright. it helps to strengthen and re-harden the enamel. it also has stain lifting action. it's going to give their patients the protection that they need and the whiter teeth that they want. ♪ how dixie ultra plates?roved

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wall street is keeping a close eye on hurricane harvey and just how much economic damage this storm will bring with it. >> cnbc's landon dowdy is seeing an impact. good morning, landon. >> good friday morning to you both. that's right. we're watching oil and gasoline futures are rising today as hurricane harvey bears down on texas and the gulf coast. it could impact one-third of the u.s. refinery capacity as energy companies shut the facilities in the path. the retail gas prices can rise by 5 to 15 cents in the next week but they say storms that cause major long term disruptions are rare. hurricane katrina was the last storm to undermine u.s. gas supplies. amazon will cut prices at whole foods once its purchase of the supermarket chain closes on monday. you can expect to see lower prices on items such as bananas, avocados, organic brown eggs,

lean ground beef and almond butter. prime members will get in-store benefits and you'll be able to buy the store brand products on amazon, amazon fresh and amazon now. also watch shares of snapchat snap, it may be struggling among facebook competition, but there's one key area where it's thriving -- with younger users. a report shows that snapchat is the third most popular app among 18 to 30-year-olds, two spots ahead of instagram which is owned by facebook and trails only youtube and facebook and instagram is still big we are more than 400 million users and snapchat has 173 million. back over to you. >> that battle going to rage for a long time. just ahead a hollywood battle of the sexes is brewing behind the "wonder woman" blockbuster and james cameron. that's next.

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you have ryan gosling kicking it off and then jay z as the musical guest. taylor swift is back with some attitude. ♪ after months of waiting swift released a new single late last night. the title "look what you made me do." it's the first in nearly three years and we wondered if it would be against kanye west. >> yeah. we give you our take on it. a war of words here over "wonder woman" that started when james cameron calmed it a -- called it a step backwards for women and patty jenkins says it's surprising he wouldn't understand what it means to women everywhere and if women aren't free to be multidimensional, we haven't come very far. you're watching "early today." >> stay here.

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right now hurricane harvey is bearing down on the gulf coast, putting millions at risk with torrential rain and the potential for massive flooding. >> some residents are readying sandbags and battening down the hatches while others choose to evacuate from the area. sarah dallof has more. >> reporter: yeah, we're getting a very small preview of what is expected later today. or early tomorrow. it's been nearly a decade since this area was hit by a major hurricane. and this morning, a warning to those in harvey's path. get out now.

>> hurricane winds over 74 miles per hour. >> reporter: churning across the gulf of mexico, hurricane harvey has texas in its sights. and officials in emergency mode. >> the only thing predictable about the storm is it's unpredictable. >> reporter: the governor of texas declared a state of emergency in 30 counties ahead of harvey's arrival. as residents shored up their homes and stockpiled supplies. >> so i got four things of water and some formula for the baby. and some canned chili to see how far we can make it. >> reporter: texas hasn't seen a major hurricane since 2008 when hurricane ike killed more than 20 people across several states and caused billions of dollars in damage. and forecasters caution harvey brings with it the potential for more mass devastation including widespread flooding. harvey could stall inland for days, dumping more than two feet of rain in already saturated areas. >> it's going to be a dangerous storm.

it has the potential to be catastrophic impact. >> reporter: while harvey is likely still days away from impacting new orleans, emergency managers are scrambling to get turbines and pumps down for repairs back on line to handle the expected floodwaters. >> the public needs to be alert and prepared. >> reporter: all hands on deck. as harvey closes in. and all the counties along texas' coast are under a mandatory evacuation order. meanwhile, a run in stores on key supplies including food, flashlights and fuel. frances and phillip, back to you. >> sarah, thank you. nbc meteorologist bill karins has been tracking hurricane harvey. we saw the rain is already starting to fall. >> you may go to her six days from now and it will still be raining and gusty winds too. the european model brings it in, brings it back out and then loops it back possibly with an extra landfall up in northern east texas by the time we get to next week.

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a live look outside at san jose.. it's friday morning. good morning to you. we made it through the workweek. a live look outside of san jose. a beautiful morning. a beautiful morning nonetheless. >> just about. one more day. >> you can't leave right now. get up, get your coffee going. i'm kris sanchez in for laura garcia-cannon. we'll help you get out the door. >> as we look at what's going on, a little muggy outside. >> looks pretty good, though. it's going to be a hotter day. you'll feel the difference this afternoon. yesterday was so pleasant. today we will see t