♪ that our flag -- from coast to coast and across the pond, nfl players coming out in greater numbers than ever before to protest president trump's kneel attacks. >> over white house the white house bans travel from countries that are not predominantly muslim. >> new information on the shooter at a tennessee church. >> the island is set back decades. some good news with the airport reopening. >> and this is definitely not the way to get back to work. that train is going 70 miles per hour. "early today" starts right now. good morning, i'm fill i am men

a. archipelago good to be with you on monday. i'm frances rivera. the front page is filled with headlines ask silent demonstrations after a sunday full of protests. kansas, l.a., and london. players of all stripes took a knee, stood arm and arm and sat linked together peacefully demonstrating. some teams like the titans, steelers and seahawks stayed in the locker room as the star-spangled banner played. president trump deemed it unpatriotic, only to double down on his criticism in twitter post after twitter post calling on players to be fired if they disrespect our great american flag and country. he remarked on the issue again as he boarded air force one back to the white house. >> when you get on your knee and you don't respect the american flag or the anthem, that's not being true. >> are you claiming racial tensions? >> it has nothing to do with race.

i've never said anything about race. this has nothing to do with race or anything else. this has to do with respect for our country and respect for our flag. >> a week ago before trump's comments, just six players protested. this time, over 200 did and it seems as if the demonstrations are not likely to slow down any time soon, with protests crossing over into mlb and the wnba. morgan radulov fo morgan radford joins us. good morning. >> reporter: they have protested in solidarity taking a stand not only against the president's remarks, but also an exercise of their own free speech. ♪ >> reporter: a powerful display of protest, more than 100 nfl players kneeling in defiance of president trump. the day started off in london. players took a knee and locked arms during the national anthem. hours later, back home, players across the nfl showed solidarity.

♪ some sitting, others raising their fists. an han droe, a former army ranger was the lone teammate to take the field during the anthem. neither team took the field. tom brady who described the president as a friend stood with his teammates today linking his arm. this comes after the president doubled down on his call to end sports protest, taking aim at players like colin kaepernick who started the trend last year to stand against police brutality. >> wouldn't you love to see one of these nfl owners, when somebody disrespects our flag, to say, get that son of a bitch off the field right now, out, he's fired. he's fired! >> reporter: the president responded tweeting, great solidarity for our national anthem and country. standing with locked arms is good. kneeling is not acceptable. bad ratings. the administration saying the protests are an affront to

veterans. fans filed into stadiums across the country. some saying this isn't about disrespect. it's about freedom. >> it's not a protest against the military. it's a protest about inequality in this country. >> reporter: others sided with the president. >> i understand the freedom of speech, but also this is the players' jobs and ihop get to speak freely at my job all the time so they should have to follow the rules and respect our country and our flag. >> reporter: the protest not just limited to the football field. the first major league baseball player also took a knee. the oakland a's breus maxwell. even stevie wonder calling for prayer for national unity. act of defiance by so many now making the president's call to fire those who refuse to stand too costly. >> even though colin kaepernick has been unfairly blacklisted, you can't do that to every activist player. they are too valuable to the businesses the owners operate. >> thanks to morgan radford for

that report. another sports league is weighing in with several nascar team owners saying they would come down hard on any drivers who didn't stand during the national anthem. >> well, the suspect in a deadly tennessee church shooting is being held without bond. police arrested 25-year-old examine and charged him with first degree murder. he drove up to a church in tennessee, shot ask killed a woman walking outside and then went in and opened fire, hitting six other adults. police say the church usher tackled the gunman. during the struggle the gun went offshooting the suspect in the chest. according to authorities he pistol whipped the usher. the 22-year-old was still able to run out to his car, get a gun and then run back inside making sure no more shots were fired while waiting for police. they are now calling the usher a hero. >> he's the hero. he's the person that stopped this madness and so we are very, very grateful to him. >> police believe they have recovered four guns belonging to

the suspect who was released from the hospital. they found two pistols in the church and one pistol and a rifle in his suv. the fbi has opened a civil rights investigation into the shooting with no explanation or further comment. >> president trump has issued a new executive order banning or restricting visas for travel from eight countries to the united states. it keeps the original travel ban restrictions which were due to expire on five of the original six countries, libya, somalia, syria, yemen and iran. it affects three more countries, venezuela, north korea, and the central african nation of chad. announcing the order, president trump tweeted, making america safe is my number one priority. we will not admit those into our country we cannot safely vet. however, the executive director of the aclu criticized the order for banning muslims saying the original sin of targeting muslims cannot be cured by throwing other countries onto his enemy's list. >> this morning the new travel restriction isn't the only policy president trump is

pushing. he said this about his much promised tax plan just before taking off for washington. >> we have a tax plan that is totally finalized. i think it will be terrific. i think it's going to go through and it's a very -- it will be the largest tax cut in the history of our country. i hope the corporate is going to be 15% but we'll see. in the plan, we'll see what happens, but i hope it is going to be 15%. but it's going to be substantially lower so we bring jobs back into our country. this is a plan for the middle class and for companies so they can bring back jobs. >> the 15% corporate tax rate the president mentioned runs contrary to a plan being circulated by republican leaders which calls for a 20% tax rate for companies and on top 35% tax rate for individuals. the president said he would like that dropped to 10%. the plan, while still not finalized, is set to be unveiled over the next several days. >> and as the president looks ahead to taxes, he'll first have to deal with the issue that continues to vex washington

lawmakers, health care. as republicans make a last ditch effort to scrap obamacare with yet another revised bill being revealed this morning, with elite section by section of the bill showing sweeteners for the states of alaska and maine whose two leading senators have yet to make a decision on which way they'll vote. and with the clock ticking it is anyone's guess if the bill will make it to the president's desk. we are hearing from the top democrat chuck schumer who said the leaked bill appears to, quote, add money for a select few states and it won't be scored by the cbo in time for a vote. >> overnight thousands showed up to the star studded concert for charlottesville in virginia for a night of music and unity after the violent clashes in august that led to the death of one person. the concert was headlined by the dave mathews band who early in the night invited susan on stage. remember her? she's the mother of heather heyer who was killed protesting white nationalism. >> and raising our voices against hate and for unity, you

helped carry on heather's legacy. you make heather's death count and her too brief life matter even more. >> performeders included jups tin timberlake, pharrell williams and more. the concert was free to residents, donations were encouraged with proceeds benefiting victims of the violence and also first responders. >> let's bring in now meteorologist bill karins with a look at our weather week. good morning, bill. >> good morning. maria is still out there. it is going to be affecting the outer banks. that will be one of the weather stories of the week. still a large storm sending a lot of battering waves to the south east coast. people weren't able to swim on the beaches on this hot past weekend. it is about 85 mile per hour winds so down to a category 1 which is good. it is just going to lash the outer banks. i'm sure we'll have problems with overwash on highway 12 like we typically do. you can see the path lingers tuesday to wednesday and finally get rid of the storm by the time we get to thursday, friday as it heads out to sea. look at these temperatures

today. we had widespread record highs yeds, especially through areas of the northeast and the great lakes. today just as warm, 91 chicago, 90 in st. louis. and the nation's capital once again near 92. th's a latoo where the rain and thunderstorms will be, west texas and north texas this afternoon. now, the rest of the week looks kind of similar. the heat is going to hold for a while. >> like half the country is fighting fall, the other one is like okay we're ready for winter. bill, thanks. former congressman anthony weiner faces sentencing today for sending sexually explicit material to a 16-year-old girl. the estranged husband of huma abad in. he contends he's a changed man.

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look what drivers in australia witnessed. this amazingly dangerous stunt. you can see there that's 23-year-old man clinging to the back of a train speeding along at nearly 70 miles per hour. the dare devil appears to be pressing his butt against the wind screen holding onto the wiper. the man was detained by the police when the train arrived at the next station. >> just crazy. leading the news this morning the rhetoric is escalating between the u.s. and north korea with the asian nation saying sending rockets to the u.s. main land is now inevitable. the north korea's foreign minister addressed the united nations calling president trump mentally deranged and the president evil. it came hours after the u.s.

flew war planes off the coast of that country in a show of force. nbc's janice mackie frayer joins us. >> reporter: some believe this is digressing into a fight amongst kindergartners, this war of words that seems to be ramping up. the north korean foreign minister implying over the weekend that a strike on the u.s. was inevitable. president trump replied by pushing the rhetoric even higher. in a tweet he said, if he echoes thoughts of little rocket man, they won't be around much longer. now, it is unclear at this point and unsettling for a lot of people. they're wondering how much of this is all talk because analysts agree if this is a strategy, it certainly is a dangerous one. the concern is miscalculation that there could be a misinterpretation on either side and the results of that could be devastating. you add in the show of military force that happened again at the weekend. u.s. bombers and fighters flying

close to the north korean coast. and that's unsettling for china. that's watching this war of words around it. also waiting for sanctions to gain traction. china also announced that it was going to curb oil, though it's thought that north korea has been stock piling oil for months. publicly, officials in china are saying they are still calling for restraint and saying a return to negotiations is the only solution. there are others hoping that sanctions will eventually have calmer heads prevail. diplomatic measures are still trying to gain traction. as well there was the announcement for president trump that north korea has been added to the list of banned countries for visas starting next month. all visas will be blocked. philip? >> everybody hoping for a de-escalation. janice, thank you. >> still to come we'll tell you what's happening for the thousands left in a dire situation in puerto rico in the wake of hurricane maria.

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millions in puerto rico spent another night in the dark. many still struggling to contact family members on the main land after hurricane maria crippled the island's cell towers. dozens stopped on this road side outside san juan hoping to get through to relatives using a weak signal detected. >> but it is not just communication that's scarce. lines are fewer and hours long.

nbc's gadi schwartz has more. gadi? >> reporter: frances, there is always a chaotic scene in san juan, puerto rico until the sun comes up. this is a gas line, it stretches for blocks. over here there is another gas line at a gas station. that gas station just ran out of gas so now they are telling people they need to go home. the police have been going up and down the street telling people that they are now past curfew. and that curfew here in puerto rico goes from 7:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. it has been extended indefinitely by the governor here. he says it's a state of emergency. but people are just trying to get gas for their generators and this location and it's something they have been waiting for, this gas, for four, five, six hours. so, very difficult line between law and order when it comes to people standing in line to try to get enough petrol to power their generators. when it comes to cell phone

service, they're starting to see a little bit more connectivity. there are some stores popping up, but the scenes here in san juan continue to be pretty chaotic. back to you. >> the very basic. gadi, thank you. >> just ahead, a big weekend at the box office and a new number one movie. plus it was supposed to be a romantic marriage proposal but something went terribly wrong. we'll tell you about it. we'll be right back. ff with con. it's fda-approved to help adults who are overweight or struggle with obesity. contrave is believed to work on two areas of the brain: your hunger center... i'm so hungry. (avo) to reduce hunger. and your reward system... ice cream. french fries. (avo) to help control cravings. one ingredient in contrave may increase suicidal thoughts or actions in some children, teens, and young adults in the first few months. serious side effects are mood changes like depression and mania, seizures, increased blood pressure or heart rate, liver damage, glaucoma, allergic reactions and hypoglycemia.

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weekend, kings man unseated golden circle as the champion. the spy comedy opened with $39 million in domestic sales. the horror flick is still going strong. it took in $30 million domestically its third weekend and closing in on a billion dollar worldwide. the leg owe movie with $21.2 million. the batman movie opened with $35 million. >> i was just reading that movie it has been out for three weeks, but it is the highest grossing horr horror movie of all time toos. >> reboot, leading up to halloween you can see. >> halloween is more popular. a hot air balloon marriage proposal in california quickly went off course for one couple. after the groom's proposal, the balloon took an unexpected turn in the winds, missing its landing point. witnesses on the ground captured the balloon as it slowly drifted and lowered into a neighborhood. it eventually crash landed.

thankfully no one was hurt and the happy couple took it all in stride. >> this is like the best engagement ever. >> very memorable. >> yes. >> once in a lifetime experience. >> it made for a fantastic day. >> it did. >> there you go. at least they know they're going to have pretty much an unpredictable engagement, maybe marriage. maybe that is a good thing. >> absolutely, story to tell forever. >> one competition in australia can be described as simply medieval. you have eight self proclaimed nights who took part in the first ever world jousting championship. in sydney, they wore specially designed armor weighing more than 100 pountsds. of course there were the lance as well. what they did is got on horseback, charging 15 mields per hour with a goal of trying to unseat the opponent. 20,000 people turned out to watch that. pretty amazing. >> nobody jousts any more. >> no. >> this is "early today." oh...sorry i'm late sir...had a doctor's appointment.

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we want to take you to another world, hidden at the bottom of the sea and out of sight for tens of thousands of years. >> the remains of an ancient forest discovered recently in the gulf of mexico off the coast of alabama. nbc's kerry sanders recently got a look. >> reporter: along the alabama coast, we head to a secret spot. what lies here 60 feet below the surface, a remarkable discovery. an ancient forest, teaming with sea life. bald cypress trees that look like this. long concealed and preserved under a thick layer of sediment. scientists believe the forest here was uncovered by mother nature in 2004 when hurricane

ivan roiled the sea bed. that's 65 miles an hour right there. it wasn't until almost a decade later a fisherman over this spot looked at his sonar and noticed something odd. >> there are some stumps there. >> reporter: he then called scuba diver chass broten. could you figure it out? >> we didn't know what it was. that's why we wanted to get scientists out here. >> reporter: they documented the scientific expedition. >> you're in a fairy world almost. the stumps are called with anemanes and they're trees. >> reporter: radio carbon dated the wood back to prehistoric ice age. 60,000 years ago. researchers from louisiana state university estimate that the forest here was about a half square mile. that's because they believe where we see the gulf of mexico now, there was an island, and rushing around it a freshwater river.

so >> so the muck that's holding it down feels like play doh. >> reporter: it is decomposed. >> the wood is like brittle. >> reporter: scientists say these an checient relics could reveal how climate change has changed. >> it could be tied to sea level rise. >> reporter: the forest only starting to reveal its secrets. kerry sanders, nbc news off the cost of alabama. >> how cool is that, right? the stories in the water and above. >> beautiful images. >> let's get a check of our weather from bill karins. good morning, bill. >> plus kerry got to go scuba diving. that's a good assignment. the heat continues. summer like temperatures continue into the beginning of the week great lakes to portions of the east. burlington vermont 22 degrees above andrighetto above average at 90. chicago 91 today. so, you get the picture.

it is another very a.c. like day the eastern half of the country. >> bill, thank you. i'm frances rivera. >> i'm

well, i think the owner should do something about it. it's very disrespectful to our flag and our country. we have a great country. we have great people representing our country. our first responders, they should be treated with respect. >> president trump doubling down against nfl players kneeling in protest to the national anthem. find out which owners back him all the way. the gop is back on life support throwing money at certain states to gain yes votes. iran test fires a ballistic missile. how will president trump handle this, on top of north korea