we're not done yet. when the rain is over, that river flooding is going to be an

issue. peter. >> dylan, thank you. we are learning the death toll from the storm is climbing. it is now reached seven people. seven people have now been killed as a result of the storm. we learned two more who lost lives because of the damage. >> as dylan mentioned, the storm parked near myrtle beach, south carolina. let's go to tammy leitner with that scene. what is going on, tammy? >> reporter: good morning, sheinelle. myrtle beach appears to have been spared, but north myrtle beach, we are starting to see flooding as you can see. power is out here in north myrtle beach. about 160,000 homes in south carolina have lost power. one concern in the coming days are the main rivers could crest. the mayor tells us if that happens, it will cause catastrophic flooding. it could washout the main road leading in and out of myrtle beach.

the reason this is a concern is the stores were already depleted leading up to the hurricane. this means that no fuel trucks and no food trucks will be able to get in to myrtle beach. keep in mind, 60% of the county evacuated. this means none of the residents will return to homes. back to you. >> dangerous conditions. tammy, thank you. let's go to north carolina now. that rain and storm surge threat for communities is far from over. this is just hanging out over the area. nbc's kerry sanders is in carolina beach, north carolina. the fear is more water will come ashore is an issue. kerry, the winds where you are standing are still a significant issue. >> reporter: it is. it is an exhausting wind and it is continuing. the best way to demonstrate is to take you out to the beach. just beyond the sand dunes to the water there, we are at low tide. normally what we see is about 25

yards of sand. especially at low tide. the wind is pushing the water up. sand dunes doing their job because of low tide. at high tide, you can look here at carolina beach at the video we have. water in downtown. on the streets. further up north on the north end of carolina beach, the powerful surge and pressure from the constant waves have taken out a good portion of the pier here. the chamber of commerce president estimates 70% of it is gone. there is no water pressure. there is no power. as i said, no cell phones. holding tsystems are down. they have gotten few 911 calls. the few people who decided to remain do not appear to be in

jeopardy. as you know, this is still here. it is still going on. peter, i think it reminds you of your experience during wilma in mexico. >> you know, kerry, we were right. we talked about it earlier. sadly the people of north carolina and south carolina may experience for a while. wil wilma. this was cancun, mexico, on assignment. the storm churned and sat there on top of us and dumped rain for days. they did not have the resources we have here. i hope it is a better circumstance for people. kerry, thank you. wilmington, north carolina has received the brunt of florence's wrath. where the category one hurricane first made landfall friday morning. the question is how are things this morning? >> we get to the mayor of wilmington, north carolina. bill zapple. thanks for spending time with us this morning. we want to assess the scene and give us the latest on the conditions. more than 5 inches of rain have fallen. the flood water there s theredo

ed trees is significant. >> we have a lot of downed trees and power lines down. we are trying to get the crews out there. we are out trying to start to clear up and clean the streets to get people through. we want to get people back to the city. a lot of people obviously vac a waited the area. -- evacuated the area. until we get the streets clear and power lines up, i would advise you to wait until we get that done. i would say we have almost every street in the city impassible at this moment. >> as you are talking, we are looking at the pictures. the pictures are absolutely devastating. our hearts are still thinking about what happened on friday when we had the mother and 8 month old infant killed on friday. a tree fell on their home.

take us back a little built. we saw firefighters -- take us back a little bit. we saw the firefighters pause. can you talk about how they are coping and you are coping? >> i tell you, you know, the first responders. we had first responders yesterday that were fighting a structure fire in 90-mile-an-hour winds. incredible. these men and women just want to get out and help whoever is calling them. and just the level of emergency calls we're getting has been overwhelming. these folks have been working 24 hour shifts getting out and getting the job done. it was a really emotional day yesterday when the first responders came to the house. we had to bring in a fema crew because of the tree and the way it fell on the house. it demolished it. it was a heartbreaking situation.

my heart is out to the family and to the men and women that got out and saved the husband from the house. unfortunately we lost the mother and child. >> the stricken faces of the firefighters was crushing to watch. you said something that really struck me. the idea that basically every street in your city is effectively impassible right now. how long will it take before you can get out to help the folks in need and restore the power the people are looking for now? you cannot assess the damage in its entirety? >> i would say it is weeks before the power gets put back. the streets and our main concern is clearing the streets to get the first responders to and from hospitals if need be. we have isolated flooding that is taking place now. the system still has not fully left the area. we have to deal with this

aftermath of inland flooding we will deal with next week. we have a lot of work here to do. we have a lot of clean up to do. i want to assure the citizens that left the area. give us time to clear the major roadways. i know you want to get back to wilmington. give us time to clear the major thoroughfares to get the first responders to and from the emergency calls. >> mwilmington mayor bill saffo we wish you the best of luck. >> thank you. let's turn to other headlines. news shaking up washington after the former campaign chairman pleading guilty to federal crimes and cooperating with the special kourcounsel. we have kelly o'donnell with more. >> reporter: good morning, sheinelle. this is a turn around for paul

manafort who is telling investigators what he knows as the campaign chairman that could be used in the russia investigation. officials tell us manafort met with prosecutors days ago before his new plea deal was reached. that cooperation could affect the prison time he gets. what trouble manafort could cause for the white house is an open question. the newest cooperating witness. paul manafort's felony plea deal means he must tell-all to the special investigators about any one or anything in the russia investigation. with a th-- what that means important president trump is unclear. -- means for donald trump is unclear. friday, the white house distanced itself from manafort's conviction. this had absolutely nothing to do with the president or his 2016 presidential campaign. it is totally unrelated.

and manafort's lawyer. >> he accepted responsibility. >> reporter: stressing the financial crimes before the campaign. >> dates back many years. >> reporter: in federal court, manafort admitted money laundering from the foreign lobbying in 2006 and continued until 2017. manafort made millions advising the pro russian president of ukraine. the plea agreement allowed manafort to plead guilty to fewer charges. manafort signed his name and say i'm pleading guilty because i'm guilty. previously president trump praised manafort as a brave man and criticized so-called flippers. >> everything is wonderful and they get ten years in jail and they flip on whoever the next highest one is or as high as you can go.

it almost should be outlawed. >> reporter: manafort agreed to forfeit several properties and his apartment in trump tower. manafort who is 69 years old is facing years in prison for the financial crimes. he will not be sentenced until prosecutors determine he has given up everything he knows. his help could mean testifying at future trials. suggesting the russia investigation is not close to over. sheinelle. >> thank you. residents of several boston suburbs have more questions than answers this morning after a series of gas explosions in dozens of homes. those explosions rocked lawrence, massachusetts on thursday. this morning, residents still are not allowed back in homes as the investigation into what caused this moves forward. nbc's ron allen has the latest. he joins us now. ron, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, peter. they are hoping to jump start the investigation and the recovery here. the governor has taken the rare step of declaring a state of

emergency because the local gas company in charge of recovery wasn't getting the job done of fixing the system and getting people back safely in homes. now the federal government, the national transportation safety board and the new england power source is taking over the investigation over how something so terrible could happen. some 24 hours after the devastating series of explosions and fires, patience is wearing thin. dozens of homes and businesses gutted. 18-year-old leo rondan was killed when the tree crushed his car. >> -- when the chimney crushed his car. >> his mother is crying. she is going through a tough time. >> reporter: thousands of residents displaced with no idea when it will be safe to go home. >> i hope they are investigating it. this is absurd. >> it sun belieis unbelievable.

i cannot wait to figure out what happened. something like this should not happen. >> reporter: governor baker declared a state of emergency handing control to the largest power company and federal investigators. >> i believe this will lead to a better game on the ground. >> reporter: the challenge now is making sure the gas is shutoff in more than 8,000 properties one by one. authorities say less than half the job is done. the gas company is pushing back. >> i don't think anybody else managing would have been further down the road. >> was it a mistake? was it an error? what happened? >> the national transportation safety board is doing the vehicl investigation. they will make the determination. >> reporter: some allowed to return briefly. >> they are letting us pick up things. >> reporter: others getting a first look at how little is left. >> it is very hard. it is a family home. we got married behind there. we will rebuild. >> reporter: so expect more people to be able to go home

today, but they won't have gas or electric service. authorities are warning that will take weeks, not days. back to you. >> ron allen in lawrence, massachusetts. ron, thank you. one story of heroism coming from lawrence is that of a police officer who rushed to save people whose homes were exploding while his own was also on fire. officer ivan soto is with us this morning. officer soto, good morning. >> good morning. >> i want to get your gut take. you are standing in front of what is left of your home as you look behind you and acknowledge what has happened in the last 24 to 48 hours. what is going through your head right now? >> a lot of emotion. this is the first time i'm back since the fire. i'm speechless. not much i can say. i'm sad. >> officer soto, take us back in time. set the scene for a bit. you are responding to the fires from the gas line issue. how did you find out your own home was on fire?

>> well, i was actually on chickory road where the victim was and myself and other first responders arrived. we were trying to save the young man by trying to take the chimney off. we weren't able to do that. after that, i was running up and down the street with other officers trying to evacuate. i just thought about my daughter being in the house and thinking it may be happening over here. i gave her a quick call and said i'm not sure what is going on, but get out of the house. i continued what i was doing. a few minutes later, i called her again and she said our house is on fire. you know, it was really emotional. i was able to get a ride over from another officer. as soon as i knew she was okay, you know, i asked to get a ride back to the cruiser to get back to work and continue the evacuation. >> you are glad your daughter

was okay. i can only imagine what the experience was like for her. when you got to the house, what condition was it in? what did it look like? >> when i first pulled up, it was smoldering. there wasn't a fire at that point. it was smoldering from the windows. i didn't care about the house. i wanted to make sure my daughter was okay and my neighbors were out of the hou s houses. >> do you have two daughters? two teenage daughters? >> yes. one 15 and one about to be 13. >> ywere you able to salvage anything from your home? >> unfortunately no. everything was lost. also including our two pets. our two cats which is devastating. i don't really care about the house. our pets are gone and they are part of the family. that's the hardest part. >> officer soto, i know you probably don't want to mention it so i will.

there's a go fund me account set up for your family. some $42,000 has been raised already. talk quickly how the community has responded. not just to your family's loss, but fires overall. >> you know, honestly everybody has been so great. we have been getting calls from literally all over the country and world. we greatly appreciate everybody donating. you know, my kids are the ones who keep telling me about it. i really haven't been on social media. it is just overwhelming. i do have one message. i want to make sure people are donating to the victims' family. that's very important. again, being one of the first responders and being the first on scene, we tried to save him. we're really sad about that. i want people to help his family. >> you are a good man. >> officer -- >> thank you to everybody. >> we are grateful for what you

did to help so many in the community. officer ivan soto, thank you for spending time with us. >> thank you. there is more of our coverage of tropical storm florence ahead. but first this is "today" on nbc.

we will have more ahead this >> track this historic storm. >> it made landfall over 24 hours ago and it is sticking around. 650 miles wide with the ton of rain expected. we'll have the latest coming up. but first these messages. [ phone rings ] hey maya. what's up? hey! so listen, i was taking another look at your overall financial strategy. you still thinking about opening your own shop? every day. i think there are some ways to help keep you on track.

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that know which flu shot is right for you. protecting the world... over 60 million flu shots and counting. starts with protecting yours. walgreens trusted since 1901. . good saturday morning. it is 5:56. here's a live look outside. it looks pretty clear. hopefully no delays for anyone headed in own out of the bay area this weekend.

thank you so much for joining us. i'm kira klapper. vianey arana has a look at our mike crow climate forecast. >> some areas are seeing cloud cover. you can see san francisco but we don't have those deep clouds right now or that deep marine layer but we have just enough in san francisco. check out those wind speeds. 26-miles-per-hour wind speeds in san francisco, 55 degrees and today we are on tap for a breezy to windy day into the afternoon. not just for the coast line but for inland areas as well. san jose 55 degrees. wind speeds are much lighter at about 3 miles per hour. the current temperatures we're talking upper 50s for the interior valleys. our temperature trend towards today will be actually slightly cooler. our inland temperatures mostly topping out into the 70s. >> wow. >> i'll break it all down for us. >> thanks. an investigation is under way this morning after a woman

was pinned under a vta train last night. it happened around 9:30 near downtown san jose. southbound train hit the pedestrian near first and jackson streets. first responders were able to free her and rush her to the hospital. she was conscious at the time. the extent of her injuries at this time is unknown. september, by the way, is california rail safety month. we now know the identity of the man found dead near a hiking trail in niles canyon in alameda county. he's 26 years max lopez of fremont. we reported the body found last sunday and police are now saying he was killed. sheriff's deputy say two hikers found the 26-year-old's body near the railroad tracks adjacent to niles canyon road about a mile east. detectives aren't saying how he was killed but they say knowing his identity will help in their investigation. his brother reacted to his death. >> to find the guys or people

who did it, even if they get justice, this won't take pain -- this loss that we have. >> lopez worked at a bakery here in the bay area. his dream was to own his own business. if you have any information on where he was before he was found dead, contact the alameda sheriff's office. coming up this morning on "today" in the bay. we'll tell you how you can help people in need at his second annual bay area proud blood drive. that plus all your top stories and weather coming up at 7:00. back to "today."

breaking overnight, the furry of florence. the deadly storm that came to shore as a hurricane downgraded overnight to tropical storm. florence with sights set on north carolina bringing it with chance of catastrophic flooding. as rising flood waters keep many trapped in their homes putting many on their roofs. many thinking they should have

listened. effects far from over. we have days ahead of rain ahead of us. how bad is it now? we are live in the middle of the storm,today, saturday, september 15th, 2018. >> this is a special edition of today, the fury of florence live from studio 1 a in rocker fella plaza. >> thank you for joining us on this saturday morning. pet tear alexander is with us this morning. and dylan remains in north carolina. >> we are getting a better sense of the damage from the storm and barely halfway there, certainly in the carolinas. >> president trump has made a declaration. florence tropical storm of top sustained winds down to 50 miles

per hour. >> the det toll sadly is rising from the storm. officials no you say there have been at least seven related storm deaths, including a woman and her eight month old child. more than 500,000 customers out of power, the majority in north carolina, about a quarter of them in south carolina, that number likely to grow as this storm progresses. >> we have a team of creditor correspondents covering all of it. let's talk with dylan, what's it looking like? >> reporter: well, the storm will rain itself out. across this area we have been without power since the eyewall of the storm made its way on shore yesterday. we saw wind gusts about 105 miles an hour, now much weaker, but it's the rain that's going to be the big story as we go throughout the rest of this weekend. so let's take a look at the latest stats. the winds currently at

50-mile-per-hour. it is still a tropical storm and very well organized as it picks up the moisture off the atlanta and continues to dump rain in bands across north and some parts of south carolina. the yellow, red, oranges, that's the heavy rain. the problem is it's moving at 2-mile-per-hour. so it is going to set over some areas for hours. and that will continue the risk of flooding as this water has no where to go because the ground is totally saturated. as we go through the weekend we'll see this storm slowly track to the west. it will bring some of the rain across the western parts of north and south carolina. then as we zb into next week, we'll see the rain enter into pittsburgh as we go into wednesday. storm surge is still a threat. high tide just after 12:30 this afternoon and midnight tonight. that's where we could get two to 3 foot storm surge. the rivers will still

possibility of rising. floods still in effect. some folks do happen to be driving around, do not trust how deep those puddles are, because they could be deep and it only takes 12 inches of water to lift your car. flash flood effect is still across eastern and western south carolina and tomorrow inland into western south carolina that will be our main chance of seeing flooding tomorrow as the rain continues to pile up. we can see additional 15 inches of rain most of that falling today and that would put storm rainfall totals up around 30 to 40 inches of rain out of this whole storm system. so we'll have to deal with the rain. then when the rain stops going over the weekend, then behave to deal with the river flooding. because all of this water needs to go somewhere. it goes into the rivers and

overflow the banks. it's a mess. >> thank you. >> this is a monster storm leaving a path of destruction. craig is with us. craig, we have seen pictures, trees snapped in half. you have more rain to deal with. >> reporter: yeah, and you know what, peter, this is one of the larger trees that we have seen down here in wilmington. this is a tree easily more than 100 years old toppled from the hurricane force winds yesterday. the tree extends literally across the street, halfway down the block. it's that massive. and if you look, if you take a look there, the other big part of the story, power outages, power lines down all over wilmington as well. there are roughly 240,000 people in and around this city without power. and north and south carolina, close to a million. and now the cleanup begins. the wind came in hard, but it's

the water that's causing the most harm. >> chest of drawers is on top of two center blocks. >> reporter: the storm surge reached 7 feet in parts of north carolina, and is still climbing. help an arriving from around the count country. in new burn alone more than 3670 peop -- 360 people were rescued. those chose to stick it out stayed above water. getting around in the flood waters can be treacherous. >> and waters overflowing and to see an alligator. >> alligators out here. >> reporter: trees are down every where. blocking roads, crushing cars, taking out power lines. close to 1 million waking up this morning in the dark and smashing homes. this new bern family barely escaped a crushing blow.

>> we all kaecamped out in the l way. we had gone inside and heard boom, and it rumbled the house. >> reporter: but in wilmington, tragedy. firefighters struggled for hours to get it to three people trapped in their home. the father was rescued but his wife and their eight month old did not make it. the faces of the firefighters telling the story. some knelt in prayer. >> it hits home for all of us, regardless if you have kids or not or family or not, it's a human life. >> reporter: 25,000 horng shelters. atlantic city casino opened its hotels rooms to evacuees. and it's hard to say how long they may be waiting to go home. while the winds have decreased, the governors of both north and south carolina warning residents that florence is far from gone. >> we have days of rain ahead of us. >> we have to have patience. we have to be careful for a long time. and then we are going to have to

deal with a the lot of water after the winds leave. >> reporter: there was actually a curfew in place last night in wilmington. the mayor of women, north carolina, telling us that only people they wanted to see on the streets was emergency workers. i can tell you that hasn't been the case. we have seen people walking around. another big part, the litter that's also been tossed all over this city, rooftops, pieces of building all over wilmington. the clean up here is going to last several weeks, if not months, peter. >> another one of those dangers underneath the flood waters sometimes you don't know what debris is hiding. be careful out there. craig, thanks so much. >> reporter: that's true. >> hundreds of thousands people heeded the warning to evacuate. we spoke to some families today who decided to ride out the storm. earlier we spoke with jeanette

rivera decided to stay put but after the water rised under her hood she wished she and her husband had left. >> jeanette is back with us giving us a live look outside her window on facetime. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> get right to it. show us what you see there. >> okay. this is from my bedroom window right now. this is my neighbor's house over here. it's all under. >> oh, my goodness. >> this is still? the bedroom from my back window. that's the rest of the dock out there. >> so how far off the ocean was your home? i mean, obviously you guys are close to the coast, but this just rushed right past you. >> yes, it was a few hundred feet, i would say probably about 500 feet or so.

>> so how is the damage here? i'm trying to remember, did you say there is water damage? or do you already have water in your home? how is your situation where you are? >> its already on the bottom floor. it's also leaking from up top, from the windows, down into the second floor. and i don't know if you can see the big -- the wood structure out there. >> right. >> which is pretty far. that's normally where the water is. that's normally where we are at. so, obviously, i mean now you can see it's literally at our stairs by our house. >> jeanette, we asked you this earlier we were having trouble with our phone line. but i want to ask you again about this. obviously, there is a sense that people are invincible when the storms come, the sense that past forecasts may have been over flated and they are safe to ride it out. you told us that you will never do this again. can you just talk about the regret that you feel right now? you are effectually stuck on an island in this storm. >> that's it.

it's total regret. i wish we had left. i know that our decision, we had a lot of different reasons for it, but none of them make sense anymore. it just would have been best to get out. >> so we are looking at neighbors and what have you. are you the only ones in the area? have you been able to talk to anyone? obviously, would he know you are there. but do you have some sense of comfort knowing that we know you are there and okay for now. >> we do have two nabeighbors. one is right next door, the others a few houses down. they are completely bordered in. but our other neighbor who has a generator was wonderful, we were able to get over there last night, when it wasn't too dangerous to go outside. the water had receded a little bit and we could go over and eat some dinner so that was great. >> jeanette, give us a sense how long will it be before you get out of there? there is a lot of rain still coming obviously where you live. how long until you hope and anticipate that you might finally be able to head out? >> i have no idea, because we

haven't been able to hear from anybody. i don't know how the roads are. i've been hearing, you know, you can't get in, you can't get out. and so i'm hoping maybe days. i've been hearing we won't have electricity for a couple of weeks, so it's difficult to say. >> finally, jeanette, i'm haunted by what you told us a little early. i was asking about your experience overnight. you said it was pitch black. you hear the water rushing. how are nights? and what do you guys plan to do tonight? where are you sleeping? >> so we ended up putting our bed in the living room where the dining room is, actually, seemed to be the safe es part of the house because it's covered. the whole side of our house you can see upstairs. so if the roof had come in, we would at least be in one section. it seemed a little safer. so at night it's the noises, and

you have no idea, the house is shaking, it's moving, it's rattling, and it's loud, it's deafening because it's all you hear so you have no idea at what point, you know, what happens with the ocean. when you are surrounded by the ocean it's an incredible feeling. >> you can only imagine that fear as you sit there, you hear the sounds of the wind howling around you and fear your house is physically going to collapse into the ocean. >> correct. >> jeanette rivera, we are grateful we were able to talk to you on facetime. mostly glad you and your had us are safe. we hope you can get out of there soon. 0 hunker down and we'll be thinking about you until you get out. keep us posted please. >> okay. >> thank you. in jacksonville, north carolina, dozens of people had to be rescued and the rain still coming there as well. let's go to nbc joe frier in that area that morning. joe. >> reporter: yeah, good morning. right here what you'll see is the story across north and south

carolina throughout the weekend and into early next week, and that's flooding as these rain waters continue to come down. i'm standing on court street. this is basically where court street comes to an end. because as you look this way you can see for a few blocks this is a neighborhood that has been flooded. if you look in the middle of the street there, yes, that is a car mostly submerged with the trunk open. we can tell you when we were here last night we could not see the car, so it would appear the flood waters moved that car into that location. dylan mentioned a few moments ago only takes 12 inches to move an are ka. that's well over a foot right there. we know there have been at least 30 people needed to be be rescued so far in this city of jacksonville with more pektsed as the day goes along. and in the broader county we know at least 70 people needed to be rescued. where we are in jacksonville, about 20 mile drive to actually get to the ocean, but the city sits along the new river.

it is a rifrp that ver prone to. they knew they had the storm surge and high tide. and the big issue right now which is the rain that keeps coming down. this is an image that could be playing out in neighborhoods all across the carolinas. river flooding is going to be one of the big stories. >> right. in the water literally. thanks very much. >> one of the communities hit is new bern, north carolina, as water was rising they went to higher ground. let's go to nbc garrett. >> reporter: first responders working around the clock to get eve one in new bern, north carolina to safety after

hurricane florence slammed into the east coast. new bern overwhelmed with more than 10 feet of water. >> i've never been so terrified in my entire life. it was horrifying. >> reporter: officials rushed into the storm zone after receiving hundreds of calls asking for help. >> sergeant, what are you seeing in these neighborhoods? >> absolute total destruction. >> reporter: many residents going to higher ground, rescuers going door to door searching for anyone inside. >> water on the floor like this. >> reporter: up here? >> in the house like this. >> reporter: heavy winds and massive needing engulfed the town. some still in shock how much water consumes what they call home. >> we didn't think it would get that bad. water has come up before, but not into the house. >> reporter: this morning, rescuers still working to get the job done as the community waits to see what lies beneath the water. >> that was garrett hague reporting. >> as we mentioned rescue teams came from across the country to

help out. one of them, you may have heard of, they are called the cajun navy joining us by phone. people are grateful for your work. so give us a sense of who the cajun navy is and what you are focused on today. >> we are just pretty much grassroots organization. i kind of got together after all the continue all floods starting back in, katrina really and really picked up in 2016 after the floods in baton rouge. we got a lot more organized then. now we are in wilmington, north carolina making some preparations and plans on where we are going to go out today and try to get some rescues. >> what are your numbers? one said ten boats. talk about that. and also what's your biggest obstacle? >> right now the biggest obstacle is being in the right

position at the right time. so we are debating where we'll end up because these rivers are starting to back flow and everything is running down. so we are worried about them coming over the banks like they were saying before and just trying to get in the right position of helping those people what is going to flood first so we don't get stuck either. >> we know how bad the situation was in houston and harvey. is there any way to compare? the pictures we have seen it looks at least in bad in terms of the level of these flood waters? the rivers that have streets turning into rivers effectively right now. >> so now we haven't seen quite the amount of air yeah flooded that was in houston. but it's still pretty early on with this storm moving so slow and just making sure what's going to happen is the biggest thing. i wouldn't doubt if it gets to the same level that houston did since it is still this early and a lot of this rain still falling

and things are still filling up. it's going to have to go somewhere. and these rivers are getting close to many could go to the top. >> we still have a ton of rain on its way. >> absolutely. we have been talking with mayers and people like yourselves who are volunteering, firefighters. how are you holding up? >> good. we got to a church last night that opened their doors for us. no power but they had some food and supplies and some guys here with some local mileage. and we have people coming in and out throughout the night and again this morning that are going to assist us with getting with local officials, any other rescue teams, maybe some other volunteers, just so we can try to work as effectively as possible and keep everybody safe. >> jordy bled worth is with the cajun navy. thank you. so good luck the rest of the way, my friend. >> thank you. >> all in this together. >> for sure. >> president trump has been

monitoring from washington and praising first responders on the ground. and tweeting the death toll of maria and his disbelieve how high it is. kelly o'donnell is there with more on that. kelly what's the latest? >> reporter: well in the last hour the white house has federally declared federal emergency for north carolina which triggers assistance for people there. and says the president plans to visit areas damaged by florence this week when he can map out a trip without diverting the rescue operations so time and place to be determined. but what stands out this morning is president trump has been focused on last year's maria. he's disputing death toll. tweeting about the deaths in puerto rico this week, over many months 64 people, then like magic 3,000 people killed. they hired george washington research to say how many people

died in puerto rico. how would they not know this? this was not done with previous hurricanes because they know how many were killed. no way says the president disputes that on its face. so far this morning president trump has not acknowledged the loss of life just happened because of the current storm florence. and in this hour fema officials are also briefing reporters on the latest response. >> kelly, thank you. >> there is much more of our college of tropical storm florence. but first ahead this is "today" on nbc.

[ phone rings ] hey maya. what's up? hey! so listen, i was taking another look at your overall financial strategy. you still thinking about opening your own shop? every day. i think there are some ways to help keep you on track.

and closer to home. i'm all ears. how did edward jones grow to a trillion dollars in assets under care? thanks. by thinking about your goals as much as you do. us. it's what this country is made of. but right now, our bond is fraying. how do we get back to "us"? the y fills the gaps. and bridges our divides. donate to your local y today. because where there's a y, there's an us. with its historical records... ancestry's dna test ...you could learn you're from ireland... ...donegal, ireland... ...and your ancestor was a fisherman. with blue eyes. just like you. begin your journey at ancestry.com.

i hi was a little lonelycity i said 'yeah, why not? you know, i'll just go and see what happens.' we've been inseparable ever since adopt love at our national adoption event, this weekend at your local petsmart®. this flu season, and your sister-in-law's... tennis partner's... chatty coworker's... youngest daughter's... entire judo class. one shot can make a world of difference. walgreens has specially trained pharmacists,

that know which flu shot is right for you. protecting the world... over 60 million flu shots and counting. starts with protecting yours. walgreens trusted since 1901. . good saturday morning to you. it is 6:26. its not quite that bite outside. the cameras a little bit deceiving but it is a nice pretty clear morning out there.

thank you so much for joining us. i'm kira klapper. vianey arana has a look at our microclimate forecast to start the weekend. >> its a comfortable one, yeah, especially if you like the sunshine but don't really enjoy hot temperatures, today's your kind of day. we'll see a lot of sunshine but cool temperatures again in the bay area. san jose topping out into the 70s, but right now 55 degrees wind speeds right about 3-miles-per-hour and the current temperature throughout the entire bay area will remain in the 50s for maybe the next one to two hours before we start to see a warmup into the 60s and then we'll be slow to kind of warmup and eventually we will top out in our temperature trend into the 70s, but if you notice by about 1:00, we'll barely be in the 70 degree mark for san jose. we will get a couple of 80s further inland and i'll break all that down for you coming up in just a bit. >> 7:00, we'll see you then. an investigation this morning is under way after a

woman was pinned under a vta train last night. it happened around 9:30 near downtown san jose, a southbound train hit the pedestrian near first and jackson streets. first responders were able to free her and rush her to the hospital. she was conscious at the time. this morning the extent of her injuries is unknown. september, by the way, is california rail safety month. we now know the identity of the man found dead near a hiking trail in niles canyon in alameda county, he is 26-year-old max lopez of fremont. we reported the body last sunday. police are now saying he was, in fact, killed. sheriff's deputy say two hikers found the 26-year-old's body near the railroad tracks. this is about a mile east of palla morris road. detectives aren't saying how he was killed but knowing his identity will help their investigation.

his brother is reacting to his death. >> they need to find the guys or people who did it, even if we get justice, it won't take this pain, this loss that we have. >> lopez worked at a bakery in the bay area and his own dream was to own a business of his own. if you have any information on his death contact alameda county sheriff's office. coming up this morning on "today," garvin thomas is asking our own to give back by donating blood. we'll have that. hope you join us.

we are back on this saturday morning, september 15th, 2018. a live look at carolina beach where the surf is growing. effects of florence will be felt for quite some time. >> we want to catch you up on the latest of this storm. president trump has issued disaster for north carolina that's significant because it opens up federal money for people affected by the storm. catastrophic is expected in both states, north and south carolina. some 40 inches of rain. north carolina mayor is saying whole communities could be wiped out by the storm. >> local communities have rushed

in to help leading to hundreds of rescue ws the potential many more to come. >> as of this morning, more than 26,000 people have left home to ride out the storms there. where is florence headed? and how long will it be until the storm moves out? >> let's go to dylan in wilmington with that. dylan, good morning again. >> reporter: good morning. and the rain has picked up. we have been showing you the bands of rain outside of this storm. they are continuing to produce tear enshall downpours. this is still a tropical storm, while it has been dry in wilmington the heavier rain filled back in. let's show you the latest on the storm. still 50-mile-per-hour. it is still a tropical storm. unfortunate thing it's moving west at 2-mile-per-hour. and as long as that's the case, the folks within the heavy rain will stay within those heavy bands of rain as they just rotate around the northeast side of this storm. as we go through the day, it will start to move inland, but very, very slowly, so that flooding rain is likely across

north carolina and parts of south carolina today. then sunday starts moving western north carolina and south carolina then as we go moo monday start pushing up into ohio and opinions and northeast on tuesday. but in the piano time we still have a serious flooding threat. because as the rain continues to fall, the water needs to go somewhere, and eventually trickle down into the rivers. so we already have several rivers moderate to major fld stage. so as the water settles in, it will continue to keep the water above the banks. and cape fear river i'm near doesn't crest until thursday. winds are gusting 20 to 30-mile-per-hour. that on top of already weakened tree limb and saturated ground so we are not in the clear yet. tornado are in effect still possible especially within the orange and red bands there.

we have picked up about 2 feet of rain in hoor head city and see additional 10 to 15 inches of rain. all depends if you get stuck in the heavier bands. so still looking for the rainfall totals throughout the storm to be up around 30 to 40 in inches out of this one. you can see the cape fear river, not expected to crest until thursday. that's still the chance of seeing some of that flooding there. and the winds are starting to get a little gusty too. so we'll keep an eye out on here. the conditions took a turn in the last few minutes. >> just to keep perspective. storm is moving hat 2-mile-per-hour. 350 miles wide. thank you, very much. >> the rain refuses to let up leading to hundreds of rescues all over north carolina. let's go to joe in the thick of it. joe whaerks t joe, what's the latest with you? >> reporter: held sheinelle and

party. the rain has not stopped coming down. it's been 30 plus hours of rain now. i can think of a couple of times a drizzle but it's been like this or heavier. in fact this morning we have seen some of the heaviest bands of rain. i'm standing on court street in jacksonville. close to a foot of water right now. as you go farther down the street it gets much deeper. if you look all the way down you see a car submerged with the trunk open. last night that war was not there. so it appears the flood water wrs strong enough to carry the car to where it is right now. we want to show you some video we took about an hour and a half ago. in that same spot just in front of the car. we saw at least six deer crossing the road in deep water going right in front of that area moving through the water. we mentioned we saw deer here. also been told by a number of neighbors here to be beware there are alligators in the water to show some caution

there. jacksonville sits right along the new river. 20 miles from the ocean here but sit along the river. they are prone to flooding so they were expecting some kind of flooding here. but the question is how bad would it get. you have the storm surge, high tide, then all the rain that just keeps coming down. right now with no end in sight. i spoke with one man whose family lives in this na neighborhood. they have seen flooding before, but they shay what happened here was twice as bad far worse than what we have seen before. so far in jacksonville we have been told 100 people were rescued, majority were in a nursing home. in the broader county we know more people being rescued with more expected to happen today. the water where i'm standing right now has been rising since we've been here this rng mo, not too rapidly but it is a gradual rise. so this is the situation that's going to be playing out across much of north and south carolina in the coming days. sheinelle tan party. >> thank you, joe.

>> we heard from fema officials saying the messages don't drown, turn around. so for drivers this morning in the region, good advice to heed. we are seeing similar scenes throughout the area. nbc carry sanders is in carolina beach, north carolina where keeping an eye on the storm surge. carry, i feel you've been blown for 36 hours straight now. >> reporter: i'm exhausted. to set the scene where i am right now, still getting buffeted by the tropical force winds. this is where a portion of the eye came over 36 miles wide. so when it came over here we had a little bit of calm but the backstage saw the change to the surf because the wind is many coulding out of the east. if i step outfront way and take you in, this is low tide. and we still have the wind pushing the water right up to the sand dunes here. on a normal low tide at least 25 yards of sand. but here hammering the beach, in some places portions of carolina

have a little bit of storm surge needing. about 70% of the pier is gone. and just to understand where we are on carolina part of the geography, this is part of paradise island, and because of the winds the one bridge on and off the island is closed. and so marooned on the island, only good news is city officials say they have not had any emergency calls from people who needed help. those who decided to stay, maybe going a little stir crazy as this storm just sits here moving so slow, but at the end of the day no emergency response needed which of course is good. the one thing that is perhaps best as most people did evacuate. >> still on the ground still getting hammered by the storm. thank you. >> a lot of other news to get through this morning, another

powerful storm causing a lot of damage overseas. look at this, philippines hitting with this typhoon. janis is with us this morning. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning, sheinelle. this is massive storm system moving through asia. and it's hit this northern part of the philippines quite hard. about 20 hours now since it made man fall. about 12 deaths reported. and the storm isn't over yet. powerful winds. fierce rain. and wide scale destruction. typhoon mankut a monster category five storm went through the philippines knocking out communication, leaving officials unsure of its toll. >> this is nature. something you cannot predict.

what we can do the most is simply reduce the risk. >> reporter: with more than five million people living in the path, thousands were evacuated from their homes taking shelter in disaster centers. the we drove north along pummelled roads strewn with trees, lampposts and power lines. emergency crews using machetes to chop to clear the way. we have seen a lot of power lines down on the road. but one of the bigger risks facing people as they wait this storm out is flying debris. the strongest storm on the planet this year, punched with winds twice as strong as hurricane florence. this typhoon rain band, 550 miles wide. it weakens somewhat as it churns northwest, but destroyed crops, houses and huts. heavy rain could trigger landslides, flooding, and storm surges. the risk here still high, even as the eye of the storm has

passed. the fear here, of course, was that such a powerful storm was going to bring the sort of devastation that typhoon brought five years ago. it is now heading out to sea barrelling towards hong kong and southern china where millions were are at high alert. sheinelle, party back to you. >> janis, thank you. >> now to news shaking up washington after president trump former campaign chairman paul man fort. so what does it mean for president trump? white house correspondent kelly o'donnell is back with that story joining us now. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, party the. after fighting prosecution for more than a year, paul manafort is admitting guilt when he started telling prosecutors what he knows that can be used in the russia investigation.

the newest cooperating witness. his new plea deal has to tell all about anyone or anything in the russia investigation. what that means for president trump is unclear. for example, manafort as campaign chairman was part of the 2016 trump tower meeting with the russian lawyer. friday the white house distanced itself from manafort's conviction. they said absolutely nothing to do with the president or 2016 presidential campaign. it is totally unrelated. and manafort's lawyer. >> he's accepting responsibility. >> reporter: stressed the financial claims began long before the campaign. >> this dates back many years. >> reporter: they admit the money laundering started from his foreign lobbying in 2006 continued until 2017. manafort made millions advising the pro russian president of

ukraine. friday's plea agreement allowed manafort to plead guilty to fewer charges and avoid a second trial after he was convicted in a related case last night. signed his name declared i am pleading guilt because i am in fact guilty. previously president trump had praised manafort as a brave man for resisting prosecutor's pressure and criticized so-called flippers. >> everything is wonderful. then they get ten years in jail and they flip on whoever the next highest one is or as high as you can go. it almost ought to be outlawed. >> reporter: as part of punishment manafort gap up bank accounts including his apartment in trump power. manafort 69 years old will learn how many years in prison he will get after his cooperation is over. he agreed to testify before the grand jury or future trials if needed. and then prosecutors will recommend if he gets any kind of a lighter sentence.

peter. >> a little political storm at the white house today. kelly o'donnell thank you. earlier we spoke with matthew miller who served in the department of justice during the obama administration. now at msnbc security analyst. we asked what this means by president trump. >> so for paul manafort it is ends to the legal fight he's been waging for over a year. he's going to have to forfeit 46 million in cash. separate charges he's been convicted of in virginia. ultimately how long he serves will depend on how valuable a coop cooperator he is. >> one prosecutor said gaining his cooperation is the holy grail because it puts prosecutors in the room 2016 trump tower that the president's son hosted with the russian

lawyer who donald trump junior promised dirt on hillary clinton. why is this sorn if the crimes he's admitted to don't seem to relate to the russian investigation? >> what paul manafort pled guilty to in court is less important what he's telling bob mueller behind closed doors. he was key participant in the 2016 meeting promised information from the russian government about hillary clinton. he can testify about not just the president's knowledge but the involvement and knowledge of trump junior and he can connect the dots any other illegal activity that might have occurred during the campaign. whether anyone knew about the ultimate release of wikileaks f those eames. >> there is talk they want to pardon manafort. is that off the table or up for discussion? >> the ship has really sailed. i think when thinking of a pardon you would think that would be politically toxic for

the company. only 18% would support that. but it doesn't accomplish what the president would need at this point. foreman a fort to get this cooperation deal he will have already gone in and told bob mueller about the president's activity and the involvement everyone else around the president. there is no way for the president to unring that bell with a pardon at this stage. >> this is significant, robert mueller now gotten five individuals to all the charges they faced. paul manafort, president's personal lawyer, michael cohen, obviously some other names you can see on your screen that includes michael flynn as well. where does it go from here? >> you make a key point everyone that bob mueller has targeted has eventually cooperated. they may hold out at first and take one case to trial as paul manafort did. but eventually they come in and tell him what he wants to know. if you want to look where it goes necessary, obviously circling key adviser to the

president long time political adviser roger stone, someone who claimed to have knowledge of the wikileaks before they happened, next on the agenda. then the presidential interview whether the president will do that and the special counsel will subpoena him. those are the key things to look out for next. >> good information. our conversation with matthew miller earlier today. >> another major story, residents of borns sub bush residents of boston sub bush sub bushes. this morning residents still aren't being allowed to go back to the homes and the investigation hasn't said what caused this in the first place. ron, good morning. >> reporter: good morning party now a state of emergency.

this house belongs to lawrence police officer named ivan soto. he was on duty across town when the home started exploding and the fire started breaking out. at the same time there was an explosion at his home. his daughter was in here and got out safely. so also ivan sort of was across town trying to help the young man who was trapped under a chimney that had fallen off a roof of a house. the young man, leo, only fatality of this. incredible set of circumstances. complete loss. soto came rushing back here, rescued his daughter, his daughter was out fine. and today he came back to his home for the first time to see what was left of it. here's what he had to say when we met him here at his house. >> i don't know what to say. this was our house the last three years. aen to see it like this, you know, just speechless. >> reporter: because you've been

out doing your job being a police officer, helping other people, that's why you haven't seen it. >> yeah, i mean, that night i worked until about 8:00, until i was told i had to leave. captain called me and was like you have to go home and be with your family. >> reporter: just incredible set of circumstances and shows you how random all this disaster was. he was here. he was out trying to help people. his home is burning. just incredible thing that happened in this big, big story of this one public servant, this police officer who is trying to do so much and handle so much in the middle of all the craziness. party, sheinelle, back to you. >> watching homes literally explode around them. ron in lawrence. thanks. >> back to coverage of tropical storm. family and friends coming together. making sure each other is safe. >> it is similar story for a small church in north carolina

where every time a hurricane hits the parishioners come together to wait it out together. here with the story. >> reporter: at this small church surviving a hurricane is an expression of heritage. over the last 63 years, through almost every hurricane, 81-year-old marlo has sought shelter at the mission church in the eastern corner of north carolina. >> it took a lot of the scariness away for the older people. some people are afraid of the weather. >> reporter: they passed the storm cooking huge meals, singing and praying, watching tv, and sleeping on the pews. they call it fellowship. >> everybody is so nice out here. you feel like one big family. >> reporter: and now it's a legacy. >> my mom explained to me it's a hurricane, we have to go be safe, you know.

>> reporter: 24-year-old nicole randall grew upcoming with her mother and great grandmother. >> i had other friends to play with so kept my mind off being afraid. >> reporter: now she comes with her daughter aria. >> and i'll teach my daughter the same thing i was taught and my mom was taught. >> reporter: other places to go. red cross runs a shelter 15 miles away, but this is tradition. ever since hurricane hazel in 1954 took a church revival by surprise, forced indoors, and nearly broke north carolina's back, since then they have seen dozens of hurricanes, so has she. are you worried about the church? >> i'm not worried about it. because we had prayer last night. we have faith in god that i think he'll take care of us. >> reporter: they survived them all. tan they expect to survive this one, too. for today, matt bradley, north

carolina. >> beautiful story. and i understand they are together. >> yeah, power of prayer, no doubt. >> absolutely. much more of our coverage of tropical florence just ahd, butea f

i think the big message this morning we are still in the thick of the storm. >> yeah, this storm moving 2-mile-per-hour means we'll be at it watching the rain and some of the strong winds for what could be several more days. >> so hang with us this morning. much more ahead including the latest live from both north and south carolina as we track this historic storm. >> we will be here over the course of the morning. but first these messages. [ phone rings ] hey maya. what's up? hey! so listen, i was taking another look at your overall financial strategy. you still thinking about opening your own shop? every day. i think there are some ways to help keep you on track.

and closer to home. i'm all ears. how did edward jones grow to a trillion dollars in assets under care? thanks. by thinking about your goals as much as you do. us. it's what this country is made of. but right now, our bond is fraying. how do we get back to "us"? the y fills the gaps. and bridges our divides. donate to your local y today. because where there's a y, there's an us. with its historical records... ancestry's dna test ...you could learn you're from ireland... ...donegal, ireland... ...and your ancestor was a fisherman. with blue eyes. just like you. begin your journey at ancestry.com.

i hi was a little lonelycity i said 'yeah, why not? you know, i'll just go and see what happens.' we've been inseparable ever since adopt love at our national adoption event, this weekend at your local petsmart®. this flu season, and your sister-in-law's... tennis partner's... chatty coworker's... youngest daughter's... entire judo class. one shot can make a world of difference. walgreens has specially trained pharmacists,

that know which flu shot is right for you. protecting the world... over 60 million flu shots and counting. starts with protecting yours. walgreens trusted since 1901.

bay .... we have continuing good morning. i'm kira klapper. we have continuing coverage of tropical storm florence including where this storm moved overnight. plus a body found on a busy east bay hiking trail. the new answer investigators just revealed. and slightly cooler temperatures across the bay area. vianey arana breaks down our microclimate forecast for the weekend. and the bay area couple got a $4,500 bill for one fast food delivery. how we helped solve the case of the hacked food case? good saturn

francisco here is a live look outside -- good saturday morning. it is a live look for you outside in san francisco. some clouds there but pretty lovely as you look at the transamerica pyramid. you can even see the golden gate bridge. wow. i'm kira klapper. vianey arana has a look at our microclimate forecast. >> and you probably noticed outside it looks like its a little cool, it kind of is. we're in the 50s and we are expecting tee