there is the tennessee titans locker room. no players have come out on the field for either team, each team making a statement for social equality, for unity. >> something we've seen across the nfl. >> across the nfl landscape, players, coaches and owners linking arms, kneeling or sitt out the national anthem in a leaguewide response to president trump's critical comments. a sunday service had just ended when shots rang out. a gunman wearing a ski mask firing, but it was a brave usher who saved the day. the president's son-in-law under fire for using his own private e-mail account in the white house. jennifer lopez donates $1 million to puerto rico recovery, but that's not all. and just how good a driver are you? the drone race not for the faint of heart.

"early today" starts right now. good morning. i'm philip mena. >> i'm frances rivera. front pages across the country are filled with images and headlines of silent protests after a sunday of demonstrations from coast to coast. as nfl players of all stripes took a knee, sat arm in arm, and peacefully protested the president of the united states. some teams like the titans choosing to stay in their locker rooms altogether as the star spangled banner played. the steelers also staying off the field, except for this lone player and former army ranger, alejandro villanueva, who stood as the anthem was sung. the protests come after president trump said this about players who took a knee in protest. >> 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! [ cheers and applause ] he's fired! >> the players and coaches aren't just silently

demonstrating, they're also voicing their dissatisfaction with the commander in chief. >> collectively, we felt like we had to, you know, do something. >> there's only a few times in a man's life where you have a chance to stand up for something you believe in, make a statement. so today i thought that was our chance and i took it. >> there are no s.o.b.s in this league. >> the kneeling demonstration grew prominence after colin kaepernick started it last year, protesting police brutality across the country. the president doubled down with tweets calling for players to be fired if this "disrespect our great american flag or country." he remarked on the issue yet again before boarding air force one back to the white house. >> this 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 doesn't seem as if the

demonstrations are expected to slow down anytime soon with protests crossing over into major league baseball and the wnba. and this morning, another sports league is weighing in with several nascar team owners saying they would come down hard on any drivers who did not stand during the national anthem. well, the suspect in a deadly tennessee church shooting has been charged with first-degree murder. police say 25-year-old emanuel kadega-sampson opened fire at the church, killing a woman and wounding six other worshippers on sunday. nbc's pete williams has more on the suspected gunman. >> frances, the man charged with the shooting is in jail this morning after he was treated for an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound. the police say he shot himself after the church usher tackled him. the sunday morning service had just ended at burnett chapel church when a man with a ski mask drove into the parking lot and jumped out with the engine

still running. armed with a handgun, investigators say, he shot and killed a woman coming out of the church, then went inside and opened fire. >> dispatch, this is a mass casualty incident. >> people were just running and hiding and trying to get out, get away. >> reporter: police say the church usher tackled the gunman who beat him with a pistol and then another shot. >> during the struggle, the gunman shot himself, probably not intentionally, in the left pectoral muscle, in the left chest. >> reporter: a woman who was in the church says the man firing the shots never said a word. >> he came running in front of the church from the parking lot, and he was shooting, and then he came into the pulpit and started shooting more. i look to his left and that's when he came in the front, in the middle, and then this guy came on fighting with him and tackled him down. >> reporter: she says she works at a va hospital and helped control the bleeding on one of

the gunshot victims. police say that injured usher, 22-year-old robert engle, ran to his car and got a gun, then made sure no further shots were fired while waiting for the police to arrive. >> he's the hero. he's the person that stopped this madness, and so we're very, very grateful to him. [ sirens ] >> reporter: six others were shot inside the church, all adults, four in their 60s and two in their 80s. they were taken to a nearby hospital. police say the gunman is 25-year-old emanuel cadega-sampson from nearby muff riazboro. he will be jailed and face murder and attempted murder charges. nashville police aren't saying why they think this happened, but federal officials say the fbi will open a separate civil rights investigation, looking at whether race was the motive. frances? >> thank you very much. and this morning, the trump administration's latest travel restrictions are causing concern across the country after the white house issued a new executive order banning or restricting visas for travel from eight countries to the

united states indefinitely. the new order keeps the original travel ban restrictions which were due to expire on five of the original six countries -- libya, somalia, syria, yemen, and iran, and brings in three other 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." but this morning it's the president's much-promised tax plan that he's touting after telling reporters a deal had just been reached just days before rolling it out. for more on this, we go to nbc's edward lawrence in washington. good morning, edward. >> reporter: good morning, philip. yeah, some critics say the president should have been working on tax reform as his first agenda item, not health care. the "washington post" reporting this morning that republicans are floating the idea of dropping the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20%. they're also looking at dropping the individual tax rate for the top earners from 39.6% to 20%.

now, the president made tax reform one of his big campaign pledges. this is something that he wants to get passed. the president during his speeches saying that he would like to see the corporate tax rate much lower than 20%. >> we have a tax plan that's 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 rate's going to be 15% we'll see what happens, but i hope it's 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. >> reporter: as you heard the president say that his tax plan is ready to go. now, turning to health care, there will be a hearing on capitol hill today talking about that cassidy/graham plan that's put forward at the end of last week, going forward today. during that hearing, the big focus will be on pre-existing conditions, and that's one of

the things that senators want to make sure is covered in that. the administration says that the plan does cover pre-existing conditions. critics say, though, it gives folks or the states a waiver or the ability to get a waiver to bypass that restriction there, allowing insurance companies to either charge more for that group of people or drop that coverage altogether for those folks. now, this plan is expected to come up for a vote on wednesday here on capitol hill. there are some holdouts. senator john mccain, senator lisa murkowski, and also senator susan collins. we'll have to see what happens as this vote gets closer. >> another busy week ahead in washington. edward, thank you. this morning we are learning the president's son-in-law and top adviser, jared kushner, used his private e-mail account to discuss white house matters with top administration officials. that's according to kushner's lawyer after reports surfaced of the personal e-mail use. with attorney abe lowell issuing this statement -- "fewer than 100 e-mails from january through august were either sent to or returned by mr. kushner to

colleagues in the white house from his personal e-mail account." the private account was first set up during the transition last december but has continued to be used during kushner's time in the administration. this morning "the new york times" reports both former trump chief strategist steve bannon and former white house chief of staff reince priebus also used personal e-mail accounts while working in the administration. jennifer lopez says she's donating $1 million to relief efforts in puerto rico. the singer and actress made the pledge at a press conference with new york governor andrew cuomo, announcing a statewide initiative to help the island. lopez, who's a native new yorker of of puerto rican dissent, says she still hasn't heard from her family in puerto rico, which was devastated by hurricanes irma and maria. she and the governor are urging the public to donate money or supplies. we are still not done talking about maria. >> i'm done! >> you're done, but maria's still out there. >> yeah, all our friends on the outer banks are going to get a good battering from it, and they're used to it. they usually get a close call

every hurricane season, and this will be a close call. still a hurricane, but it's weakened dramatically over the weekend, now down to a category 1, so high pressure's not going to let it escape out of the water into the atlantic quite yet, not until about thursday. so it's going to drift off the koi coast and batter the outer banks. there will be some winds gusting enough maybe for isolated power outages, but we definitely will deal with large waves, beach erosion, probably some overwash on highway 12 there and just a little bit of storm surge. the other story out there today, just the incredible late september warmth from chicago all the way to the northeast. where south texas is hot and humid, north texas a lot cooler with a lot of rain in between. we'll look at the rest of the week coming up. >> thanks, bill. some other news we're following this morning, german chancellor angela merkel appears headed for a fourth term. merkel's conservatives beat

their rivals on sunday in an election that will also bring a far-right party into germany's parliament for the first time in more than half a century. and the atlas v rocket carried a spy satellite into orbit on friday. it was classified, but was in support of national security. and a speedy squirrel drew cheers from the crowd at the louisville/kent state game this weekend. the field-intruding rodent made a dash form. you are watching "early today." >> oh, my goodness! he same. turns out, they're really... ...different. who knew? i had no idea. so, she said look for... ...one that's shaped like a dental tool with a round... ...brush head. go pro with oral-b. oral-b's rounded brush head surrounds each tooth to... ...gently remove more plaque and... ...oral-b crossaction is clinically proven to... ...remove more plaque than sonicare diamondclean. my mouth feels so clean. i'll only use an oral-b! the #1 brand used by dentists worldwide. oral-b. brush like a pro.

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at only 9 years old. >> that is some cool stuff. >> uh-huh. >> cool vantage point, too. >> i love drones. >> leading the news, recovering efforts in puerto rico with flights now starting to leave the island, and in remote areas rescue teams are finally reaching survivors. nbc's gabe gutierrez has more. >> reporter: they bring all they can carry. wading through rushing water holding onto a dead power cable now an impromptu life line. this woman tells us everything on the other side is devastated. the need here is massive. rural parts of the island ravaged, including the mountain town. >> reporter: i'm tammy lightener. we've been driving community to community where people are desperate for water. they have jerry rigged a pvc pipe to get river water because there is no drinking water anywhere on the island. >> reporter: in northwest puerto rico engineers inspecting the

dam after finding a crack in it. if it bursts, authorities warn of life-threatening flooding. we rode along with a fema search and rescue team from south florida as it made its way to the central part of the island. greg bar host is a fire fighter from miami. he's worked hurricanes harvey, irma, and now maria. >> we spent the last hour trying to drive around trying to find out where to go and what needs to be done. it seems because of lack of communication, we are coming up with a dead end. >> reporter: as they meet local officials for the first time they are finding a similar story over and over again. no cell service and no communication is hampering rescue efforts. alfredo is a police officer. the hurricane destroyed his home, too. >> it's hard because i have to do two jobs at the same time. i have to work with the people that needs us and i also have to work with my own needs, you know? >> reporter: throughout the island, the hunt for fuel is growing more dire. >> these are people that come

from miles away. cars without gas, very tough, very tough. >> reporter: as the search and rescue teams clear the way for the island's long recovery, one mission at a time. >> that was gabe gutierrez reporting along with tammy lightener. >> still a lot of work to be done. just ahead, some sage advice from former president jimmy carter on how to best deal with north korea's kim jong-un. details on that next. after brushing, listerine® total care strengthens teeth, helps prevent cavities

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the rhetoric is escalating between the u.s. and north korea. north korea's foreign minister addressed the united nations over the weekend calling president trump mentally deranged and said an attack on the u.s. main land may be inovechkin tabl. speaking at his sunday school class in georgia, former president jimmy carter said the two nations should speak to each other and not trade insults. >> we need to talk with our potential enemies whenever we can to see what their problems are and see if we can't workout some deal instead of aggravating them. and i'm frayed if we aggravate kim jong-un, he may use weapons. >> what has been the reaction to this latest escalation? >> reporter: there is concern and mounting escalation and confusion over this continued

war of words, for lack of a better phrase, between north korea and the u.s. when north korea's foreign minister hinted that the strike on the u.s. was inevitable. president trump fired back with a tweet saying, if he echoes the thoughts of little rocket man, they won't be around much longer. so, there is this concern that it could be a lot more than talk, that this could be the policy that president trump is adopting. and it is a dangerous one. most analysts agree there is a very high risk of miscalculation at this point which could, of course, be quite devastating. u.s. bombers and fighters were also out in the weekend showing force off the north korean coast. that is unsettling for officials here in china. publicly, officials have been, again, calling for restraint and urging both sides to go back to the table. but there is a degree of worry and real frustration here at what appears to be this continuing downward spiral. frances, philip, back to you.

>> no one seems comfortable with the direction it seems to be heading. thank you very much, janice. >> former congressman anthony weiner faces stiff sentencing. didn't go too well for that guy. we'll bring you the details next. 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. not for patients with uncontrolled blood pressure, seizure history, anorexia, bulimia, drug or alcohol withdrawl, on bupropion, opioids, maois, allergy to the ingredients, or pregnant.

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gadell, something is horribly wrong. >> i love that show. all right. fast forwarding into our monday, former new york congressman anthony weiner faces sentencing today for sending sexually explicit material to a 15-year-old girl in 2016. prosecutors are seeking up to 27 months in prison, but weiner's attorneys are pushing for probation contending he's a changed man. >> a nonbinding vote for independence today, iraq's prime minister has warned he will take necessary measures to preserve the unity of the country. >> and megyn kelly today premieres this morning at 9:00 a.m. eastern. her guest will be the entire cast of will and grace. be sure to tune in. or set your dvr's. you're not going to want to miss it. >> ahead a shocking move by catholics against post francis. here on "early today." oh...sorry i'm late sir...had a doctor's appointment. so was your doctor's appointment at a steakhouse?

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welcome back to "early today." very slow weather pattern. that means if you've been hot you're going to stay hot. where the wet weather is going to remain it will be there a couple days. we could see some pretty good showers and thunderstorms popping up during the afternoon hours. north texas, kansas, through areas of iowa. this is the cold front that is slowly going to cool people off from this unusually warm weather we've had to end our september. that continues even into tuesday with some of that rain heading to the north. you can see it focusing in areas of north texas and western porti portions of oklahoma. 91 from chicago to tampa and upper 80s up the east coast. >> can't let go of summer. bill, thank you. some shocking accusations against the leader of the roman catholic church. in a letter more than 60 catholic theologians priests and scholars are accusing of pope francis of spreading heresy.

the 2016 papal document in which the pontiff loosens the church's stance or divorce. it is a small minority of the church and it is unlikely the pope will respond. >> the 87th national day this weekend and the new milestone. for the first time ever women were allowed into the national -- international stadium in the capital of riyadh to celebrate its founding. strict interpretation of islamic laws previously barred women from sports arenas. saturday's event included free concerts, folk dance and fireworks. part of the government's efforts to boost national pride and improve the quality of life. >> in new york, tens of thousands of runners pounded the pavement in the tunnel to towers 5k. participants were following in the footsteps of fire fighter steven on 9/11. he sprinted from a tunnel to brooklyn rushing to the world trade center while carrying 60 pounds of gear. the brave fire fighter was killed when the south tower

collapsed. money raised from the annual race goes to local initiatives supporting first responders and military personnel knowing how hot it was in new york city when this happened, more power to them for getting that done. >> absolutely. great event there. drivers in australia, they witnessed an amazingly dangerous stunt. a 23-year-old man was clinging to the back of a train. this train is speeding along at nearly 70 miles per hour. look at him there. the dare devil appears to be pressing his body to the wind screen while holding onto the wiper. the man was detained by police when the train finally stopped and arrived at the next station. my goodness, why in the world he would be doing that? >> and a lot of people do it, you know, not just for the thrill, but obviously somebody is there, you know, taping him. so they have that and they post it. they're the person behind it. >> driving right along there. you can see 70 miles an hour. >> high-risk, major. >> wonder if he'll do that again. thanks for being with us this morning. i'm phillip mena.

>> i'm frances rivera. the news continues on nbc and our nbc stations. see you later. joining us.

i )m laura garcia cannon. ==marcus/4sh== a very good monday morning to you. thanks for joining us, i'm laura garcia-cannon. >> i'm marcus washington. it is certainly going to be a warmer day. we want to start with traffic. there's activity going on in oakland. mike inouye has a better look at that. mike? >> the maps show green sensors. oakland, indeed, is where we track this police activity, marcus and laura. we heard about the buzz in the news room. police activity, high street at international boulevard, two major roadways, use san leandro or 42nd to get through it. we are tracking this. i hear a police cruiser is involved. a con