his abusive use of missiles and his nuclear threats show that he is begging for war. >> what exactly is north korea's kim jong-un preparing for? and could it lead to all-out war? or can diplomacy save the day? >> harvey may be gone, but the houston region now faces $180 billion in damage and years of rebuilding. >> that as florida and the caribbean prepare for category 4 hurricane irma. >> to california and los angeles, where the la tune owe canyon fire has forced 1400 to evacuate. >> plus a couple of lobster men from maine predict six more weeks of summer, according to lobster passy pete. we'll explain. "early today" starts right now.

good morning. i'm phillip mena. >> great being with you. i'm frances rivera. this morning puerto rico and florida are under states of emergency and the u.s. virgin islands are facing hurricane warning as hurricane irma, a category 4 storm, continues to grow stronger. residents in florida are already stocking up on supplies like food, water and gasoline before irma hits the main land. one home depot already running out of key supplies. governor rick scott said he spoke to president trump who promised full federal resources. in puerto rico, the head of the island's power authority says it could take up to six months for electricity to be fully restored after irma sweeps through. the power of irma was captured by hurricane hunters from the ocean atmosphere administration as they flew directly into the storm to check the strength and very ross it of the center of the hurricane. >> hundreds of thousands of young immigrants could see the ground shift beneath them today when the white house announces its expected decision to scrap the obama here a program

shielding young immigrants from deportation. otherwise known as daca. many of those young immigrants took to the streets this labor day to protest, speak out and march against that impending decision. in major cities like los angeles and atlanta and while the decision to end the program would fulfill the president's long-held campaign promise, today it will not be mr. trump announcing that move. for more on this we go to nbc's tracy potts. good morning, tracy. >> reporter: hi, philip. good morning. we learned late last night his attorney general jeff sessions is holding a news conference in just a few hours later this morning to make an announcement about daca, that obama-era policy that could leave hundreds of thousands of these children, many of them now adults, up in the air about whether or not they may be deported. president trump himself has been up in the air about what to do about this. in fact, he reportedly said to his aides that he wanted to wait out of this dilemma. that reported by "new york

times" that he was looking for a way out and at least two sources have told nbc that if he ends daca today, it may include a six-month delay to give congress a chance to do something about it. check out this tweet by republican steve king saying that ending daca now would give the chance to restore the rule of law. conservatives want to see it go away, but republicans are split. others like house speaker paul ryan have said that daca should stay. meantime, the president in the past has told these dreamers, children who were brought here illegally, not to worry. listen. >> we're going to show great heart. daca is a very, very difficult subject for me. i will tell you. to me it's one of the most difficult subjects. they were brought here in such a way -- it's a very, very tough subject. we are going to deal with daca with heart. >> the dreamers need to be worried? >> we love the dreamers. we love everybody. thank you very much. >> reporter: so, mixed messages

from the president, split among republicans here on capitol hill. and an announcement coming later this morning. philip? >> all right, tracy, thank you. >> texas is counting on major federal support to recover from the widespread devastation caused by harvey. late last night texas governor greg abbott announced that fema will be offering community disaster loan assistance. the governor called these loans critical to providing cities with resources and flexibility to recover. john cornyn promised to get more support from congress. >> the first order of business is to make sure that we do everything we can do to make sure the federal government is providing the support that's needed for texas and texans to heal. >> and as far as that healing, nbc's miguel almaguer has more on what is ahead for houstonians. >> reporter: nine days after harvey's land fall in west houston, the water is still rising. thousands of evacuations ordered over the weekend. >> everything is lost.

>> reporter: families pouring out as over flowing reservoirs are partially drained. >> we just started evacuating the kids, getting everybody out. that was our situation. >> reporter: harvey is gone, but this region remains imperiled. an estimated $180 billion in damage. rebuilding will take years. with houston getting back to work, businesses big and small like this day care are trying to stay afloat. >> our center is very important because the parents have got to get those kids back so they can get back to work. >> reporter: but roads and homes are under water. in houston alone, 75 schools suffered serious damage. >> do you need water? >> reporter: cities like beaumont are struggling to provide drinking water. many evacuees still have nowhere to go. 33,000 in 284 shelters. the small things making the biggest difference. >> i've been stressed the whole week so this makes me happy. >> reporter: tiny communities like row city may be hurting the

most. no electricity for weeks, just the power of neighbors. across texas, a sea of destruction and a river of tears. a salute to sergeant steve perez killed in the storm. >> this is your lives. >> that's my whole life here. >> reporter: and prayers for the families who have lost so much. >> i'm just trying to comfort her. >> thanks to miguel almaguer for that report. >> now let's turn to my colleague mariana who is tirelessly covering this story for us. you are in houston this morning. what is the issue, the biggest issue facing texas right now as it confronts this just enormous amount of damage? >> reporter: i'm in houston now, but i've been traveling through the eastern part of the state for the past five days. and as we just heard from our miguel almaguer, places like

rose city, i was out there yesterday, and it is hard to believe 11 days after the storm hit there are still search and rescue missions going on. everybody is not accounted for at this point. city officials in places like rose city going out to their cities for the first time just in the past couple of hours to survey the damage. and it's about people, it's also about animals. yesterday we saw 30 cattle stranded in rose city surrounded by flood waters. there are also really big structural problems in many of these smaller cities, places like beaumont having challenges to provide drinking water for their residents because the city's water pumps got flooded in. and here in houston, in shelters like the one behind me, we still have 1500 people, that was the last count. so, a lot of people here in need of help. of course, on a day where daca announcement may possibly come as well this morning and a lot of undocumented people, a lot of

dreamers here waiting for that announcement as they pickup the pieces and work to rebuild after harvey. philip? >> it's doubly hard for those people. our hearts to go out to them, mariana. thank you. >> exactly. the world is responding to north korea's latest nuclear test and its claim to have a nigeria bomb that can be carried by a inter-continental ballistic missile. the u.n. security council met in an emergency session. american ambassador nikki haley condemned kim jong-un's behavior. >> his abusive use of missiles and his nuclear threats show that he is begging for war. war is never something the united states wants. we don't want it now. but our country's patience is not unlimited. >> nbc's janice mackie frayer is in beijing this morning. good morning to you. what is the latest on this military standoff? >> reporter: good morning, frances. there are reports that north korea is preparing to launch another ballistic missile.

this is entirely possible given the schedule that we've seen the north on over the past six months in wanting to perfect its technical capabilities. south korea is continuing to keep its military redder for all options. conducting fire drills with war ships. there will be more drills throughout the week. as well, the u.s. is allowing south korea to have bigger war -- missile warheads as well as agreeing in principle to a multi-billion dollar arms and equipment deal. part of this is the u.s. also trying so extend security assurances to its ally, especially after tweets by president trump that took swipes at the south's policy of appeasement toward the north. the big question, of course, what will china's next move be. it holds the power to be able to cut off oil shipments to north korea. that would effectively shut down the north korean economy, but what is being weighed here is beijing does not want regime collapse. it would mean refugees across the border and longer term a

reunification of the koreas would put an american ally at china's doorstep. at this stage china appears to be looking at that -- at the option of having a nuclear capable neighbor as opposed to other considerations. frances? >> all right, janice, thank you. >> now let's check in with nbc meteorologist steve who is tracking hurricane irma as it approaches the caribbean and, steve, that is one ominous looking eye there. >> this is one that you see in the textbook, guys. you can see that big and powerful hurricane barrelling now to the west. so, this is the real deal here for the u.s. and the virgin islands here. hopefully they have made their preparations. we are seeing an extremely dangerous category 4 storm. this is what we call our spaghetti plot. usually, oops, like a pot of spaghetti. when you see this straight uncooked stack of spaghetti moving in a straight direction, that is very concerning so we are looking out for this storm throughout the week. again, category 4 storm winds of

145 miles per hour, if it would make land fall in areas of florida it would happen closer towards the weekend. and storms in the atlanta area all the way down to miami. this is one we'll be following very closely this week, guys. >> just the sound of saying category 4 hurricane really is state your naming. all right, steve, thanks. fast forwarding to tuesday, white house officials tell nbc news president trump will meet with big 6 to discuss tax reform. they include steve mnuchin and national economic council director gary cone. >> tomorrow pope francis begins a five day visit to colombia, first papal visit in 31 years.

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so swing by your local walgreens today. walgreens. at the corner of happy & healthy. this was the scene in charleston, west virginia as bells range during a women's contribution for world war ii. it was for rosie the riveter, an icon of women working to support the war efforts. similar events took place across the country. >> leading the news, police in philadelphia say they will now file a dui charges against a driver who plowed through a block party on labor day. surveillance video shows the moments as the cara tempted to back out of the frantic scene. this as people scrambled to help their loved ones. police say the woman driving the car claims her brakes failed when she dried to get around the party. eight people were injured. one of them a preg woman. cell phone video shows medics on

the scene carrying the injured away on stretchers. none suffered life-threatening injuries. >> fire officials in california say they made progress in the la tuna fire in the los angeles area. crews stopped the spread of the fire, but are still working on containment which stands at 30%. over 7,000 acres have been torched in at least four homes destroyed. cooler temperatures helped fire fighters gain the upper hand monday, but one official warns it could reignite at any time. >> we need to be very diligent to ensure that all the hot spots, all the internal heat, the large logs and the large pieces of material that are smoldering are completely extinguished. >> the blaze now under control, the fire department says it may send some fire fighters to help battle other wild fires in the region. >> the university of louisville baseball team is taking the trick shot to a whole new level. check this out. it is an annual tradition for the team. this one took a trampoline, a slide, pool, and 11 guys to pull

off. teammates took turns passing the ball to each other. including two passes to both the slide and the trampoline steadily making its way to the final guy who nailed it. no word how many tries that took, but one player said on twitter the hardest part was the second pass to the slide. >> and get everybody koryo graphed to do it. >> so cool, though. >> just ahead, turning stray dogs into a neighborhood watch program. this you have to see. plus the bizarre excuse for murder, the cough syrup defense. we'll explain next. when you don't get enough sleep, and your body aches, you're not yourself. tylenol® pm relieves pain and helps you fall fast asleep and stay asleep. we give you a better night, you're a better you all day. and for your daytime pain relief, try tylenol® extra strength.

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we turn now to a bizarre story out of north carolina. a man accused of stabbing his new wife to death. >> and he tells police he thinks too much cough syrup made him do it. nbc's blake mccoy has the details. >> reporter: matthew phelps and lauren married just ten months ago, but in a harrowing 911 call this weekend, phelps says he may have killed his new wife. >> i have blood all over me and there's a bloody knife on the bed. and i think i did it. >> okay, do you think she is beyond any help? >> i don't know. i'm too scared to get too close to her. >> reporter: raleigh police altered the caller's voice, department policy, but you can hear phelps explain he woke from a dream to find his wife dead. he blamed cold medicine.

>> i took, i took more medicine than i should have. >> reporter: he said to help him sleep. phelps has no criminal record. he worked for a lawn service after graduating from bible college. >> she didn't deserve this. why? >> reporter: on monday lauren was remembered at a memorial service for her kind heart. her husband now charged with murder makes his first court appearance later this morning. for "early today," blake mccoy, nbc news. >> just ahead, the term watch dog just got taken to a whole new level. plus what do you think is the most beautiful country in the world? a new list is out. let the debate begin. you're watching "early today." honey? can we do this tomorrow? (grunts of effort) can we do this tomorrow? if you have heart failure symptoms, your risk of hospitalization could increase, making tomorrow uncertain. but entresto is a medicine that was proven,

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and also remix the sounds. you have that in 3-d i'm sure you have people in the audience doing every single move. full-on experience. >> i was ready for it. i was a kid when it first came out. it freaked me out a little bit. bring it on. it's so cool now. >> 3-d. >> scotland has been voted the most beautiful country of the world by rough guides. canada came in second followed on the list third place was new zealand. how about that? so, what do you think most beautiful country that you've seen? >> i think good old us of a, we have everything over here. canadians may argue, we deserve to be number two. i don't know about us americans here. >> canada, need to do some exploring up north. >> gist ahead, big decision that will affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of i am grant dreamers. plus the disruption in boston that had the purr fect outcome. up to a gillette shave. and at our factory in boston, 1,200 workers are starting their day

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and welcome back on this tuesday morning. back to work and back to school for many kids here. not feeling like fall in the northeast today. another day where you're sweating it out. shorts and t-shirt a good option with mid-'80s there. late day thunderstorms. meanwhile cool and refreshing in the upper midwest. look at that, seattle, 96 toasty degrees this afternoon. so, all the heat bottled up out west, guys. >> looks like summer not going anywhere yet. thanks a lot, steve. all right, this morning as the white house prepares to hand down a decision on an obama-here a program that protects hundreds of thousands of young immigrants, it also looks to make headway on issues ranging from tax reform to funding the government. it is a series of major developments and not lost on the president who tweeted overnight, big week coming up. nbc's kristen welker has more

from the white house. good morning, kristen. >> reporter: philip, good morning to you. white house sources tell nbc news the president will likely end daca today with a six-month delay for congress to come up with a fix. the program protects so-called dreamers, young immigrants brought here illegally by their parents from being deported while they work or attend school. now, sources caution the decision isn't finalized yet, but forcing the president's hand, nine states have threaten to sue the administration unless the president scraps daca. he campaigned on the promise to end daca. once in office took a more compassionate tone. a jampacked agenda, tomorrow congress will take up a bill for hurricane harvey relief package vote allege $7 billion. among the other must-do items this month alone, congress needs to raise the debt limit, fund the government, and reauthorize several other government programs, all underscoring the steep challenges of finding a solution for daca. and also today, the president will meet with the big six on

tax reform. that's another big item on the fall agenda. philip? >> all right, kristen, thank you. >> massachusetts state police are calling it a rescue that ended purr-fectly. this kitten was seen wandering around 90 route connector in boston. multiple motorists called to alert the police and they stopped traffic so the animal rescue league of boston could rescue the cat. the female kitten is doing fine, although she lost some fur from an apparent burn. she'll soon be up for adoption but police are looking for some ideas for a name. r-90, the connector there, big dig is what they call that? >> something like that. it's a famous cat now. tweet us, let us know what you think the name should be. but yeah it's a famous cat now. >> and some families, too, are going to be very, very happy when they're the ones who take her home. >> quite a story. thanks for joining us. i'm phillip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. thanks for watching "early today" on this tuesday morning. have a great one.

it is tuesday morning, believe it or not. a live look outside at the golden gate bridge. many of you coming off an extended labor day weekend. it may feel like monday. look at that. already a day in the books. good morning to you. thanks for joining us. i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> and i'm marcus washington. more people getting on the roads already seeing some issues on the road. >> there is an issue on the cal train tracks. mangled metal. that is the vehicle that was hit by the caltrain supply train, from what i understand, on the tracks in redwood city. pete suratos will come up in just a couple seconds. we are talking about this crash