hurricane maria packing puerto rico destroying everything in its path. thousands riding out the worst in shelters. >> i've never seen devastation like this one. it's -- the human spirit is going to have to rise up real high. and i'm sure we have the strength to do it but we have to find it within ourselves. >> overnight frantic searches for earthquake survivors continue after the collapse of hundreds of buildings as stories of hope and rescues emerge from the ashes. a new "wall street journal" poll on the president.

remembering raging bull, made famous by robert de niro. hurricane maria is tearing through the caribbean leaving a wide swath of destruction. it devastated pr uerto rico wit heavy winds and rain.ty wary of the damage it brought to anyo dominica. 70% of homes had their roofs ripped off and the island is without water, power or cell phone service. >> we're dealing with it. it's a major category 3 hurricane. maria bearing down to the north of the dominican republic. as the storm worked its way over puerto rico, the eye looks more ragged, not as organized. but the winds are still strong. classifying this as a category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds right at 115 miles an

hour. the movement has slowed down. that's not good news. the longer it takes to move out, the more rain we'll see. we're still dealing with flash flooding. looking at the track, the impacts on the turks and caicos later today and possibly to the north of the bahamas by friday. and the weekend, so far, so good for the east coast. but something to monitor, absolutely as we go forward. this is not certain as we go forward in the days ahead. >> bonnie, thank you. as they wake up, puerto rico is reeling from hurricane maria, the storm raged in as a category 4 with maximum winds of 155 miles an hour. and brought extreme flooding. the devastation widespread. now the storm ravaged island is under a mandatory curfew issued by the governor. meanwhile recovery efforts have begun, crews working to clear the piles of debris and san

juan's mayor is sizing up the challenge ahead. >> the puerto rico and san juan that we knew yesterday is no longer there. we have to reconstruct, rebuild, reinvent it. we have to be resilient and push on. if not with our bodies with our hearts and soul. >> and puerto rico is not on its own. the coast guard is sending supplies and personnel and military helicopters are in place. tammy lightner is in san juan this morning. can you tell us how people are dealing with, assessing what's been done and what's left? >> reporter: not a lot has been done yet. the winds were really high yesterday. i think most people have not even ventured out. a lot of the roads are impassable. when they do venture out today and they are able to make their way around this is a very good idea what they're going to see. this building was completely destroyed. the sheet metal was ripped right off the building. the doors for the building were

just blown off. there's sheet metal wrapped around trees. and you know, this is the same thing that we saw when we made a short drive across the island after the storm let up. the freeways were completely flooded underwater, trees were down everywhere. power lines were down. and one of the reasons that they put the mandatory curfew in place is that first of all so that rescue crews can get out there, and cleanup crews can get out there but also because of the problem with looting. cleanup crews are out there currently. but rescue crews have not gotten very far on the island. we were with fema yesterday. about 300 rescuers and they were not able to go out. they told us they would start again today at first light. one of the other problem is, the rescue crews have been brought in from around the united states an they don't know the area or the streets. it's dangerous to go out in the

dark because of all the power lines that are down. back to you guys. >> still much more ahead this morning as they wake up there in puerto rico. and the race against time continues in mexico. rescue crews and volunteers dig for survivors from the earthquake. at least 52 people werie rescue by thursday afternoon. the 7.1 manager tuesday earthquake toppled dozens of buildings in mexico city including a school where crews are working to free children trapped inside. president donald trump called enrique pena nieto to offer his condolences. the white house will deploy search and rescue teams to the country. we are at that location at that school. and those rescue efforts are still taking place, steve. >> reporter: still very much taking place. we're in a sensitive area here. periodically you will see people

putting their hands up. that is the signal they need complete silence. it's eerie to see hundreds of relief workers to completely freeze in place and that's for a good reason. they think they've identified an area they need to get to and need complete silence because they think they can rescue a few more people here. what happened on tuesday when that earthquake struck, it flattened this school that you're seeing, four stories came down. it killed 25 people. that is 21 elementary school students, and then four administrators or teachers. they do believe there's an additional 30 people that are missing. right now they're focusing their efforts on a young girl they believe is a 12-year-old who was found in the rubble just a few hours ago. she has given some signal she is alive. they believe there is a small pocket of people they can save. that is the work that's being done right now. you see the volunteers pulling rubble hand by hand, piece by

piece, chunk by chunk in an effort to try to pull as much out of there as they can. so they can make another rescue here. but you can see the hands going up. obviously this is a sensitive scene and there's a lot of work to be done here. >> i can't manual how tough that is for the families who gathered there hoping for any signs of the children inside. steve patterson, thank you for the update there. new headlines on the russia investigation show the focus on manafort. manafort offered to provide briefings on the race to a russian billionaire closely aligned with the kremlin. manafort wrote if he needs private breechings we can accommodate. that comes days after we learn of the shock and awe tactics

employed by robert mueller. >> reporter: a spokesperson for paul manafort confirmed that manafort did offer to brief -- this is someone that manafort had worked for previously and someone who the russian president vladimir putin uses to get information about what's happening in the united states. again, those e-mails confirmed as authentic by a manafort spokesperson. the time headline of the e-mails is significant as we take a look. it was just a month after that meeting between donald trump jr. and a russian lawyer and before president trump was officially named the nominee for the republican party. meantime, more developments being reported by "the new york

times" saying that robert mueller, the special counsel for the fbi looking into russia is seeking white house documents related to president trump's actions since he's been elected. this is about the closest confirmation that we have seen so far that he is looking specifically at what the president did, including his firing of former fbi director james comey. he wants those documents as part of that russia investigation. >> even more layers being revealed. thank you. let's turn now to bonnie schneid whoev schneider who is looking at where maria is today. >> after making landfall in puerto rico, maria is not done yet. the eye of the storm is offshore. the center of circulation is north of the dominican republic. but you can see the rain bands coming into that island right now. unfortunately for puerto rico even though the storm is moving

away we're dealing with the flash flooding. it's just incredible the rainfall totals. some up to 40 inches. but the latest is it's a category 3 storm moving slowly to the northwest at 9 miles an hour and we'll watch for the storm to work its way away from thdsection. look at that. some spots in the 90s. it's still summer, almost. so we're looking at the track taking maria over the open waters of the atlantic, maintaining a major status over the weekend. the extra airline fees that customers are paying are adding up to a record amount. passengers paid $7 billion to check bags and change flights. the airlines have all kinds of

other fees but those are the two types they are required to report to the government. new polls that the president will be interested in. and remembering boxing legend jake la motta, the raging bull next on "early today" today, on a thursday. today, on a thursday. 1,200 workers are starting their day building on over a hundred years of heritage, craftsmanship and innovation. today we're bringing you america's number one shave at lower prices every day. putting money back in the pockets of millions of americans. as one of those workers, i'm proud to bring you gillette quality for less, because nobody can beat the men and women of gillette. gillette - the best a man can get. (cheering)

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the bronx bull. de niro issued a statement saying rest in peace, champ. leading the news after months of low poll numbers the president's approval rating is tick up. showing 43% of americans approving of mr. trump's job in office. that's up three points since august. 52% disapprove of his job. it's a stark contrast in republican circles. with 83% approving compared with 41% of independents and s10% of democrats. and 71% of respondents approve of the deal with democrats to keep the government over. but when asked of his time in office overall, 66% say that trump has accomplished only some

or very little as president. we are four months away from the winter olympic games but we got a look at the medals. they were revealed in new york city and seoul yesterday. they feature korean writing on the edge that translates to pyeongchang, winter olympics. the games start on february 9th. you can catch the action right here on nbc. some news from u.s. gymnastics as well. four u.s. women heading to the world championships next month. they are reagan smith, morgan hurd and ash ton locklear. just ahead, the president may have decided but the secretary of state didn't know he made an announcement. we've got those details, next. e. mom! so we switched to new charmin super mega roll. with more go's per roll, it keeps any busy bathroom...

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this morning we're learning president trump is leaning toward pulling out of the iran nuclear deal. the news comes after the president hinted he has made up his mind when pressed by reporters. >> have you decided what you will do about the iran deal? have you made up your mind? mr. president, have you decided? >> i have decided. >> okay.

can you tell us what your decision is? >> i'll let you know, i'll let you know. >> those comments from the president were made just as his secretary of state met with iranian officials. and he spoke about that meeting with reporters before turning to north korea saying the sanctions on pyongyang are in fact working. >> it was a good opportunity to meet, shake hands. the tone was very matter of fact. it was not -- there was no yelling. we didn't throw shoes at one another. we have some indications there are beginning to appear evidence of fuel shortages. and, look, we knew that these sanctions were going to take some time to be felt. and i think we will see latent evidence of the impact of the other sanctions that have been put in place. >> that was the secretary of state rex tillerson on north korea. just ahead, ivanka trump reveals her struggle with

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sides. witnesses say the girl was bleeding heavily as she was carried out of the stands. she was taken to a local hospital. we don't know how she is doing right now, though. after the game, frazier tweeted, today was tough watching that little girl. i will be thinking about her and her family. it is the third time that a fan has been hit by a ball or bat in the bronx alone. in 2015, the commissioner urged all 30 teams to extend the protective netting to the inner edge of the dugouts. the yankees have yet to comply. it is so scary and she is so young. really pulling for her. >> even when you are watching late in the game you are chatting and dealing with the kids. it's easy to get distracted. you don't know it's coming at you. >> and people are going for the ball and might be a child or somebody nearby. >> in this case, the grandfather was at the girl saying we don't know what extent right now.

we're pulling for her. hopefully the injuries are not too serious. really tough. celebrating birthdays today, ricki lake turns 49. faith hill celebrates the big 50. and bill murray is 67. and the master of horror, stephen king turns 70. still ahead, why a $338 million power baldwiner is in hot water. you win that much and you think all is good but not the case with this person and the accusations against him. and bill gates reveals his biggest regret and it may be something you may agree with. we'll tell you about it here on "early today." it got weird.

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hurricane maria now a category 3 storm with maximum winds at 115 miles an hour. the storm slammed into puerto rico yesterday and now it is off that area but unfortunately, it's still impacting the dominican republic. the storm is 50 miles north of the islands. and the movement of the storm to the northwest at 9 miles an hour eventually taking it over the open waters of the atlantic, impacting turks and caicos today. first daughter and senior white house adviser ivanka trump opened up about her struggle with post-partum depression on the "doctor oz. show."

>> with each of my three children i had some level of post partum. depression. it was a very challenging emotional time for me. i felt like i was not living up to my potential as a parent or as an entrepreneur and executive. >> trump and her husband have three children together. when asked why she opened up on the topic she hadn't planned to until asked. the winner of a $338 million jackpot is facing child abuse charges. he denies the charges and his lawyer says the alleged victim is a troubled person out for a piece of his lottery winnings. he won the power ball jackpot in 2013. taking the lump sum of $250

million. a explosion rocked a los angeles neighborhood on wednesday just after 3:00 p.m. in the neighborhood. the blast severely damaged the home, blowing out windows and scattering debris in backyard and nearby homes. the cause remains unknown but los angeles police say it may have been the result of a gas leak. an investigation is under way. bill gates is not usually one to look back. but when asked if he regrets making control-alt-delete a three finger key stroke. >> if i could make a single edit it would be a single key stroke. >> if you do that right now, it's so -- >> you do it innately.

>> it's so automatic. >> who thought of that question. i don't know. >> thanks for starting your who are these people? the energy conscious people among us say small actions can add up to something... humongous. a little thing here. a little thing there. starts to feel like a badge maybe millions can wear. who are all these caretakers, advocates too? turns out, it's californians it's me and it's you. don't stop now, it's easy to add to the routine. join energy upgrade california and do your thing.