time tomorrow. i'm ali velshi. >> and i'm stephanie ruhle. now it's time for "andrea mitchell report." we're tracking breaking news on two natural disasters. first, hurricane maria across puerto rico with winds at 150 miles an hour, driving rain causing millions to seek shelter. and the strongest earthquake to hit mexico in 33 years. already killed 225 people and forcing thousands from their homes. students and teachers found dead in a collapsed school. rescuers are digging through debris looking for people potentially trapped in a devastating earthquake that so far has killed more than 200 people. it's collapsed a dozen buildings, including that school where at least 21 children were killed. it's the second quake to strike mexico in as many weeks.

the second earthquake hit on the anniversary of another disaster, the 195 quake, which killed as many as 10,000 people in mexico. steve patterson is in mexico with the very latest. steve, tell us about the rescue efforts. >> reporter: andrea, first we have to tell you about the death toll, steadily rising since we first reported on this quake. before it was about 200, now 225. we can show you rescue operations as they're taking place right now. this is the heart of mexico city. that used to be an employment agency six stories tall until that 7.1-magnitude earthquake destroyed and crumbled it to the ground. you can see rescue workers right now combing through the wreckage. this is not a recovery effort. they are trying to rescue people who they believe are trapped inside there. we do know that there are people trapped inside there because we've been talking to people on the ground here, we've been communicating with family members. they tell us that their loved ones in different places in

pockets in that building are back inside there, and crews have done the work to pull them out. they've so far recovered about 30 people living from this building with about two dozen more to go that they believe are back inside there. however, this is far from the only scene not only in mexico city but around the region. but if we want to keep it to this city, a few miles to the south there is that school you mentioned, 21 young children, elementary school age, confirmed dead, crushed when that earthquake came and just crumbled that school to the ground. however, rescue operations well underway there. they're trying to save at least another 30 people that they believe are in there, also school age children, and they have had some success. volunteers were able to wriggle their way into the building that is already in ruins with the threat of an aftershock possible. very brave work to try to get back there and rescue more children. they managed to identify a young

girl whof was breathing. they said, if you're alive, do something, and she was able to wiggle her hand. that led to the rescue of seven more kids in that school. that operation is underway as we speak, as are several others around the region. meanwhile, power is at about 60% here in the city. you're talking about a city the size and magnitude of new york with nearly half the power out. meanwhile, state, city, local coordination has to be underway to get this rescue effort under control when you're talking about something of this magnitude with this many people. and again, the death toll steadily rising as they continue to rescue and comb through the wreckage that was left behind in that earthquake, andrea. >> and steve, i know you're going to be standing by as these brave rescuers risk their own lives to try to pull these possible survivors and our hearts just breaking for the children. as you continue to stand by,

they will be back to you momentarily. meanwhile, nbc's al roker is here with the very latest track of hurricane maria. al, what can you tell us now? >> here's the latest andrea. we don't even know the extent of the damage in puerto rico because they are still getting hammered by this thing right now, and they're not even close to being done. currently a category 4 storm. 25 miles west of san juan, although maybe a little bit further now because it is moving northwest. it's picked up some forward speed. 140-mile-per-hour winds. we've had wind gusts reported as high as 190. we look at the impact so far. we're going to continue to see very strong wind gusts. right now these are the current wind gusts and we're going to continue to see these for the next hour or two, but we could see gusts again up to 150 miles per hour. expect to see complete roofs torn down and probably structure failures as this moves along. the surge, which is where we get the most damage and sadly the most deaths, 6 to 9 feet of storm surge, water washing up

and into the inland areas. again, destructive waves. beach erosion is going to be a mess for that. extreme flooding. highway and road flooding going on right now. with all this rain, especially in the mountainous areas, just being funneled down into the urban areas with 20 to 25 inches of rain. as we continue on the path, what we expect to see by tomorrow, the dominican republic, a little bit of a break because it's going to be a little further away from them. so 50 to 75-mile-per-hour winds. a storm surge of 4 to 6 feet which can do some damage. turks and caicos, 120 to 125-mile-per-hour winds. category 4 close to the turks. that's why we have a storm surge reported at 10 to 15 feet. this is a big wall of water.

usually that water moovves at t forward speed of the hurricane, so if it continues moving to the west-northwest at 125 miles an hour, that's a big storm. you can float a vehicle with that. this is very, very dangerous. on monday it's between coastal united states and bermuda. now, what we're watching, hurricane warnings still in effect for puerto rico, the northern coast of the dominican republic, and of course the turks and caicos. we put this in and we put what is called an ensemble model. most keep it offshore, but a number of them keep it heading right towards long island and coastal new england. others start curving it out. we're going to have to continue

to watch this, but right now our main concern are the folks in the caribbean, and as this makes its way through puerto rico on into the dominican republic and then the turks and caicos, andrea. so we're not anywhere near done talking about maria at all. >> and the people there in puerto rico were people who were evacuated there from other islands during irma. >> that's right. >> so you've got the whole region in such a state of chaos, historic levels of storms. >> it's been almost a century since puerto rico has been hit with a hurricane of this magnitude. and already the island had been pretty well beaten up by irma, about 40 to 60% depending on who you talk to were already without power. it's still going to be 6 to 12 hours before we know the extent of damage, but you know it can't be good. >> one question. what is the hit on st. croix?

they had escaped the worst of the wrath of irma, but were they in a direct line? >> they weren't in a direct line. they have damage there, but the island that really took a hit was dominica. they estimated there is probably 50 to 60% of the buildings have been somewhat damaged or destroyed. so they've taken a major, major hit there. >> al roker, thanks so much. thank you for all of that incredible information. the coverage has just been amazing. and right in the middle of it, nbc's gabe gutierrez. in the milddle of san juan, gab, what are you seeing now? >> reporter: hi, andrea. we've seen torrential rain and howe howling winds. i can say in the last half hour, the rains have calmed a bit. we, of course, have taken shelter, though, for the past several hours. there is a concrete wall next to me so we've avoided the worst of the winds for the past several

hours, at least, andrea. but as we've been reporting, san juan's mayor offering a dire assessment of what this city is going through. they've seen roofs blow off from buildings. we, from our vantage point a little earlier this morning, we're seven floors up, saw this pounding wind and debris strewn all across the street, power lines down. we also satisfy pieces of building being torn off. our hotel had several panels blown off and also some of the floors have taken on water. so this is something we've seen over and over again in san juan throughout the day. but the real concern are some of the areas, some of these wooden structures that authorities had warned people to evacuate. more than 10,000 people, we're told, had registered in shelters, but authorities say that the likely number of people that ended up in evacuation shelters is likely much higher. but andrea, as you know, with this island, an island of 3.5 million american citizens, the hope is more people heeded those warnings and were able to

evacuate. frankly, right now we don't know how many heeded those evacuation warnings as irma came on shore and the southeast part of the island is a category 4 and lashed so much of this island, and the eye going through our southwest. but san juan being in the northeast quadrant being hit especially hard. again, the governor says that this is a catastrophic event. the mayor during her interview earlier today on msnbc said that half of san juan is seeing some flooding. again, we have not been able to go out and venture out and see some of this damage ourselves, but we have heard from fema officials that the damage is extensive. in their hotel where they're staying and are hunkered down, they'll have a hard time getting out of that hotel because of trees blocking the roads. the full extent of this damage may not be known for quite awhile. authorities here expect power to be out in some areas for four to

six months. again, that's a major concern right now, the issue with the power grid, the weakened infrastructure on this island. communications is very difficult. most of the cell phone carriers simply are not working. we ourselves had to switch to a different form of transition in order to bring this live report to you today. andrea? >> gabe, while we have you, and please be in a safe location there, what about the military? can the army corps of engineers and military relief bring in generators, bring in supplies? >> reporter: well, yes. that is certainly well underway. there are plans being made, as you know, andrea, from the federal government perspective. president trump has approved an emergency disaster declaration ordering officials to the island. the question is now when it can be safe for those resources to come in. we were speaking to the coast guard yesterday who were moving some of these assets as they often do in these types of hurricanes to a safe location. after the storm passes, of course, that's when they can

come in and help with these search and rescue missions. that is still an ongoing situation right now. many of these search and rescue missions won't be able to get underway for the next several hours. of course, local law enforcement here have told people once winds got to a certain point, and they do this in hurricane after hurricane. once the winds get to a certain point, local law enforcement is just no help. when people hunker down and take their lives in their own hands, puerto rico is especially vulnerable to this kind of thing. this is not florida where many of the building codes may have been improved after, you know, a powerful hurricane like hurricane andrew decades ago. here in puerto rico, the infrastructure is just not here. of course, it's an island that is going through a deep financial crisis, and so the question becomes how long will this recovery effort take and how will the infrastructure be able to hold up with this massive storm? as al roker mentioned, this is the strongest storm to hit this island in nearly a century,

andrea. >> gabe gutierrez, thanks so much for that report. of course the earthquake crippling mexico city. ron mott is there. where are you, ron, and what is the scene? >> reporter: it's hard to believe it was 24 hours ago this hurricane hit. there are people with hard hats on here. this is a convoy of relief supplies going from behind me back this way several blocks, and now, andrea, they're asking everybody to put their fists up because they want quiet. they have just found a person in a collapsed apartment building about a block and a half away. once the announcement went up that they did find someone, the crowd here erupted in applause, so everyone has their hands up. i'll try to speak as softly as i can while the searchers down there are going through the rubble of a seven-story apartment building that has collapsed. they do believe they still have signs of life there and they're asking everyone to be as quiet as possible so they can get anyone from there to here. >> we don't want to jeopardize

this rescue effort if you need to be quiet. let me know. >> reporter: i'm going to try to speak as quietly as possible. we saw an ambulance just drive into the rubble area about two minutes ago, and the ambulance is now starting to back out this way. we do believe they found someone alive in the rubble of that building. and now they're trying to part the road here so this ambulance can come out with what we believe is someone who has just been rescued now. 22 hours now, andrea, since this earthquake. a 7.1. and what's cruel about all of this, of course, is that it occurred on the same day a major earthquake hit in 1985 that killed nearly 10,000 people here. so far the death toll around mexico city and areas to our south and east is above 225 or so, and obviously a lot of attention is being paid to a school in town, an elementary school, a six-floor school where

21 people were found dead. at least six kids found in that first round of fatalities. unfortunately there are still close to 40 people still unaccounted for in that school, children and teachers, we believe. a lot of attention paid here. back to you. >> thank you, and god, the rescue effort is just so incredibly moving. joining me now is mexico's foreign minister luis del ray. thank you for being with us. first of all, our condolences, and on the anniversary of the 1985 earthquake. what can the united states do? what help have you asked for and are you receiving? >> first of all, i want to thank not only you, andrea, but so many friends, so many people from the u.s. that have expressed condolences to the people of mexico. a few minutes ago, president

trump and president bonito spoke, and the u.s. government is already providing support and help. we have very specific needs. as you can see, in the images for mexico city, our most important priority right now is rescue operations. there might still be people under rocks, under debris, and we are asking specific countries that have the capabilities, the technical expertise to deal with circumstances like this to provide technical help. experts, specific machines that can help us through these rescue operations. one of these countries is the u.s. other countries are japan and israel and some from latin america that already are providing help. the u.s. government specifically is about to send a group of people with strong backgrounds and expertise and also equipment to help in the rescue

operations. we're extremely thankful to the international community and particularly with our friends from the u.s. >> mr. foreign minister, i know of what you speak, that there is in fact a team in fairfax, virginia and washington. the israelis are really good at this. these are teams that went into iran and haiti after earthquakes in the past. but time is of the essence. are they going to get there quickly enough in these early hours to try to rescue people? >> i can tell you they are getting here very fast. they started yesterday. we got calls very early from the white house, from the embassy in mexico, and they were immediately doing preparations for that. we expect them in mexico later today or tonight. and as you say, the u.s. is one of the countries that has the conspiracy theory tea expertise, the teams and the

equipment. just yesterday i spoke to president netanyahu and he is sending a team, and japan happens to be a country with strong expertise on these unfortunate type of episodes. so we're getting help. we are extremely grateful, but right now our priority is the rescue operations. there might still be people under rocks, and our priority from not only the mexican government but all mexican people is to rescue the people that are now under this very difficult, very hard circumstance. >> after the 1985 earthquake, that incredible tragedy, and this, of course, was on the anniversary of that earthquake, the building codes were changed. how did that help you, your country, better survive this quake? >> this is a tremendous tragedy what we're going through today. since the earthquake happened yesterday, we're already talking about 225 people that we can

confirm as dead. that's extremely unfortunate. 32 years ago, exactly the same date, an earthquake that hit mexico city killed thousands of people. major buildings collapsed. right now we're talking about 50 sites. this is still a very dramatic tragedy and all of mexico is putting effort into the rescue operations. but it's clearly that particularly modern buildings, the tallest buildings that you see around mexico city held up very well. so the engineering codes, the construction codes, codes have clearly changed, and also the culture on how to react immediately to an earthquake. people in mexico are -- we are all very much aware of what to do in the face of an earthquake. i think that kind of response and the preparation was very evidently effective in preventing this from being a larger disaster. this is an immense tragedy.

it's going to take a significant effort to recover. we've lost over 200 mexicans. but certainly the changes that were made over the last 33 years certainly were effective in preventing the damage as larger. >> certainly there's been a lot of diplomatic attention between president pineto and president trump. you already had another earthquake only a few weeks ago. there's been a lot of argument over nafta. but in a crisis like this, do people come together? >> people come together, definitely. the united states of america is our neighbor, our partner, and what has become very clear, our friends. just as hurricane harvey hit texas and we were very concerned

about irma in florida. now that we're going through our own difficulties, the u.s., the people of the u.s., the government of the u.s. is there to help. we've also received many expressions of solidarity and condolences from states, from people in congress and the senate, and all help is welcome. this is a difficult time and it certainly puts things in perspective. we are now facing a truly important issue. this is a life or death issue, and certainly everything else comes into perspective, andrea. >> again, our condolences, our support and we will post on our website locations for assistance to mexico, to our neighbors, to our friends there. thank you very much for being there today from the united nations. >> thank you very much, andrea. sto . going back to mexico city to ron mott. there are rescues underway. ron, what's the latest?

>> you can see us going through a convoy of humans standing shoulder to shoulder with each other, and what they are doing is ferrying water to a school where they will be given out. folks have been bringing supplies, doing whatever they can to help. what's so remarkable about this scene -- the fist s have gone back up, andrea, so they're asking for quiet again. maybe two blocks down is where they're doing a lot of the digging. when we heard an applause go up here about six or seven minutes ago, i believe they found someone. like i said, there was a 7-story apartment building a block and a half, two blocks from here that collapsed completely. and we could see rescuers on top of the rubble. it's a pretty large mountain of rubble there, and they do believe they still have signs of life in that building. they're asking everyone to keep their voices quiet. andrea? >> and the organization is so

well done there. you can see this chain, the human chain to bring water in, and the possibility of more and more survivors. the foreign minister -- i don't know if you heard, the foreign minister said teams are already arriving from israel. they're going to get help from japan and also the united states, that the president spoke to his counterpart in mexico today. this morning we'll be getting a readout from the white house on that soon. but the fact is that there is an international rescue effort now underway with especially trained units in the u.s. and israel, japan and elsewhere, in earthquake zones with dogs and with others who have the equipment to help with this very delicate task. as you can see, the people here all gathered in the street. >> yes. in fact, when you're this close to an event like that, 22 hours just about since this hit, it's every person on deck, bring

whatever tools you can, and they are going as delicately as they can through piles of rubble here in this apartment building, a block and a half away from here, and 35 or so other structures that have collapsed around mexico city. it's a delicate operation and you don't necessarily have the time to wait for all the best gear to get there to go through the rubble. there are people here who have small shovels. down the block where you see the trucks parked down there, there are dump trucks taking the rubble from that apartment building bucket by 5-gallon bucket and sifting through that and getting put onto those dump trucks and out of the area. they're literally going through with pitchforks and small shovels and/or hands and grabbing whatever rubble they can. if they have heard any signs of life inside that structure, we don't have confirmation, but there was an applause that went up. the word got out that at least one person was found. we don't know if they have been found from the debris yet, but

they believe they have at least one person -- or signs of life in that building around the corner. i did speak to a gentleman who lives in this neighborhood earlier. he said he knows a few people who live in that building. he believes they're all accounted for, but obviously because of the nature of earthquakes and how damaging this one was yesterday, it could be another day or two before we get the sort of all clear on what the final death toll will be from this. already it's pretty striking that we're over 225 so far. andrea? >> i was in haiti for that earthquake, and the fact is. the human spirit, the possibility of survival, but it's such a delicate operation to try to find any sign of life, to try to listen for any sound. they have special equipment, obviously, that they bring in. one good thing, ron, that we were discussing with the foreign minister is that they have upgraded their building codes.

the infrastructure in mexico city is far better than in some of the worst disasters that we've seen in places like haiti. ron? >> right, and obviously the death toll from 33 years ago is historic, nearly 10,000, and part of it is due to the construction standards at the time and what ruled at the time in the mid-'80s. a lot of old structures that weren't built particularly well to withstand that kind of shake. yesterday wasn't nearly as powerful an earthquake, but still very powerful. there is video of office towers swaying very precariously for what seems like forever, 50, 20, 25 seconds. some of the larger buildings here in town obviously brand new or newer construction. we did see sporadic damages from broken glass and tile that has fallen off buildings to more

severe damage where you could see parts of the facade, good chunks of buildings that have collapsed. there are a lot of people out and about today doing what they can to help. so not a lot of folks going to work or school today, and they show up in neighborhoods like this and essentially are doing what they can and what they've been asked to do to try and help just move supplies from point a to point b. it's a remarkable scene here given what they went through yesterday here, andrea. >> i don't know if you can see that we are beginning to see from your camera some pictures of people who look like they are going in with supplies into that building. kristen welker is also standing by outside trump tower, i believe, where the president did earlier speak to president pena nieto. kristen? >> reporter: that's right, andrea, and we are getting a readout initially of the call. the president had a lengthy call. that's according to sarah

huckabee sanders with the president this morning, as well as a separate extended call with fema director brock long. sara goes on to say the president is monitoring this situation from hurricane maria and the storm from jose closely. we're expecting a more in-depth readout in the hour, andrea, as we continue to monitor this situation. of course, all of this comes as the president just signed off on hurricane relief to victims of hurricane irma. the destruction is expected to go up with irma, so this has really been a busy hurricane season, and of course now monitoring the wake of the earthquake in mexico. president trump has a very busy day here in new york at the u.n., his third day here at the u.n. he had bilateral meetings this

morning, he's having a lunch with african leaders and then he has more meetings this afternoon, including prime minister teresa may and the mayor of egypt. clearly he's also very focused on the hurricanes and the aftermath of what's happening in mexico. andrea? >> thank you to kristen welker and ron mott. we'll be back with both of you as things develop. i'm andrea mitchell. stay with us. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc.

today president trump in new york for those u.n. meetings was asked if he decided what to do about the iran nuclear deal which he calls an embarrassment. >> mr. president, have you already decided what you'll do about the iran deal? have you is already made up your mind? mr. president, have you decided? >> i have decided. >> can you tell us what your decision is, sir? >> i'll let you know. i'll let you know. >> that was a meeting with the palestinian leader. with us is analyst michael leitner. he joins me now. nice to see you, michael. this is quite the week for diplomacy and rhetoric speeches. there was a speech from president rouhani today. let's have a reality check of the very strong rhetoric in the

president's speech, possibly scrapping the iran deal and what potentially could be for people around the world and look at this and wonder about american resolve. >> i think on the iran deal, the president still has a very hard row to hoe, andrea, and that's because this isn't an american and iranian agreement. this is the peace 5 plus one with iran, and that was subsequently endorsed by the united nations. so for the u.s. to walk away, there's really nothing left, and as the president of france said, you can't simply walk away. it still goes on and something has to come after it. so when the other side of the united states is encouraging the united states not to withdraw, president trump has a really tough path to get to a better place. right now he's largely isolating

the united states against iran, and i think the success, even if the deal is not perfect, and i have real criticisms with parts of the deal. even if it is not perfect, it does -- and what we got out of it was based on that unity of opposition to iran's programs. we run the risk now of actually unifying everyone behind the deal except the united states and isolating ourselves. >> you used to run the counterterrorism center. the president's argument is this deal does not stop iran from supporting terrorism, from supporting hezbollah from its actions in syria. how do you counter that argument? >> the president, in my view, is exactly right about his ongoing criticisms of iran on many fronts. its testing, its support of hezbollah globally, its support of terrorism in syria, so there are lots of ways that iran is still a very, very bad and belligerent actor and is d

diametrically opposed to others around the world. he's got the substantive criticism right but he's pulling the iran deal into the deal. what it's likely done is made sure this iran deal is also associated with nuclear weapons. substantively right, but mixing those issues up into the iran nuclear deal isn't right, and his own state department is saying iran is, in fact, complying with the terms of the nuclear deal. things like missile testing are simply outside of its bounds. >> president rouhani has now tweeted in response to what president trump said yesterday, that ugly, ignorant words were spoken by the u.s. president against the iranian nation. full of hatred and baseless

allegations and unfit for the u.n. general assembly. john kerry, who has not been very outspoken since he left office, was on gma today and he talks about the president's view on iran with the way it's being viewed in pyongyang. >> if you go after the iran deal the way he did yesterday and you talk about throwing it out, you make your diplomatic efforts of solving north korea far more complicated. if that's the way america behaves in the world, throwing out something that works because you don't like it, but it works, you're actually inviting a much more difficult path. >> does he have a point about the way kim jong-un is looking at all this? >> i think secretary kerry is right, that effort in irffort,

effort, of iran and the president battling that unity effort is paramount. we think we reached an agreement with iran that they don't see it that way, but we're far from having that agreement with kim jong-un. and because we got that agreement in part because of pressure from allies, we need a set of allies on the north korean issue. i do believe the president's rhetoric was welcomed in part by southern japan, but i think the overall tenor was too bombastic certainly for china and russia, and in many ways, all of our colleagues in south japan. and anything that pulls that alliance part will make it harder in the long run to find a peaceful solution to north

korea. >> always great to talk to you. thank you so much. stay with us. hurricane maria pounding puerto rico at this hour. you're watching live reports on msnbc. cd's, baseball cards... your old magic set? and this wrestling ticket... which you still owe me for. seriously? $25? i didn't even want to go. ahhh, your diary. "mom says it's totally natural..." $25 is nothing. abracadabra, bro. the bank of america mobile banking app. the fast, secure and simple way to send money. i'm lucky to get through a shift without a disaster. heads up! you know what, don't worry about it. my bargain detergent couldn't keep up. it was mostly water. so, i switched to tide pods. they're super concentrated, so i get a better clean.

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breaking news at the united nations. the first lady speaking with -- listen. >> across the nation or across the globe. we claim our responsibility to the next generation to ensure they are prepared to accept the torch of leadership for the world of tomorrow. and make no mistake, this will always begin with us coming together to embrace parents' noble calling. nothing could be more worthy a cause than preparing future generations for adulthood through moral clarity and responsibility. to achieve this, we must come together for the good of our children, because through them, our future will be defined. therefore, we must teach each child the values of empathy and

communication that are the core of the kindness, mindfulness, integrity and leadership which can only be taught by example. by our own example, we must teach children to be good stewards of the world they will inherit. we must remember that they are watching and listening, so we must never miss an opportunity to teach life's many ethical lessons along the way. as adults we are not merely responsible, we are accountable. i hope you will join me in committing ourselves to teaching the next generation to live by and honor the golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, which is paramount in today's society . d

it is imperative to take responsibility for what our children learn. we must turn our focus right now to the message and content they are exposed to on a daily basis through social media, the bullying, the experience on line and in person, and the growing global epidemic of drug addiction and drug overdose. no children should ever feel hungry, stalked, frightened, terrorized, bullied, isolated or afraid with nowhere to turn. we need to step up, come together and ensure that our children's future is bright. in the coming months, i hope to reach out to each one of you here today, to call upon you for your support and guidance and look forward to joining you in cooperation to support and educate our next generation.

i'm asking leaders on social media who started market for their products and platforms as children as well, community and education leaders to join me in this fight for the hopes and dreams of our children. >> the first lady speaking at the united nations about children and an outreach through social media for children around the world. u.n. ambassador nikki haley was on the "today" show this morning defending president trump's threats against north korea in his first u.n. speech yesterday. >> i think what you saw was the president was responding to north korea's ballistic missile testing, their nuclear bomb test and their threats that they're going to reduce the united states to ashes as well as destroy japan. so what you saw was a very firm response to the kim regime, that they need to back off. and he had the entire international community with him. >> that, of course, was nikki haley. joining me now is susan rice, former ambassador to the white

house, u.s. ambassador to the united nations as well. good to be with you. you heard nikki haley say that the entire world was supportive of the president's speech. that's not what we heard from president macron and some others. what was your take? obviously you've been critical of the trump administration. >> well, let me begin with something less critical and give the president and ambassador haley credit for arriving at the united nations and underscoring that it is an organization that has potential, it's one we ought to work with and the initiatives they have pushed on u.n. reform are quite consistent with prior administrations and place proper priority on that. the speech, however, i think was a problem. >> why? >> it was internally inconsistent. it was full of bombast and threat. it was full of decades of

realizing that we don't live in an easy world. we live in a world of prosperity as others are. so the threat to north korea came across to many, as well as the international community and the united states, as being inappropriate and over the top for an american president, and more importantly, counterproductive. we have a serious problem in north korea. we have for many years, and that problem is getting worse. the question is what do we do about it? the president threatening to destroy a nation from the podium of united nations was probably not the best way to approach it. >> there has been a lot of support in conservative circles, the political base, for both a strong criticism of north korea and, of course, of iran. and the president now threatening to get out of the iran nuclear deal. north korea first. calling him rocket man and threatening to destroy the country. is that appropriate given the fact that he has used such

rhetoric rhetorical excess to kim jong-un and the united states? >> i don't think it's proper for kim jong-un to step up as a 30-year-old murderous dictator in north korea. we need to shore up our allies, shore up our defenses as well as missiles and other threats. we need to raise the costs for them, which means more sanctions. the way to deal with this threat is through traditional but very firm and clear deterrence. making it clear to north korea that if they were to ratchet up, indeed, the regime would be

annihilated by the united states. making that clarity policy clear draws the line that we need to draw. also, if they were to proliferate nuclear weapons or missile technology. but we need to do that in a sober, consistent, consistent, coherent way. and i think what happened yesterday and has happened in the past is the rhetoric has been overheated. the lines have been blurred. and by mocking kim jong-un as rocket man we degrade the seriousness and gravity of our own. >> should that be the precondition or should we go immediately into talks, including talks directly with north korea. >> i don't think we should set preconditions for talks. we must make clear they should denuclearize, that's the goal of talks. i think we found when we set all the preconditions that it's very difficult to get anywhere. i think for the moment, quite frankly, it is difficult to get anywhere. i don't think the north koreans

are ready to come to the table. but we have to leave the door open to that and we shouldn't put so many hurdles in the way to make it impossible. >> what about getting out of the nuclear deal? there are all kinds of signals yesterday as well as behind the scenes today that he may very well decide to get out of the nuclear -- iran nuclear deal or not certify their compliance, find some legalistic way to try to get out of it or put them on notice that we are going to get out of it. >> that would be a massive mistake. let's remember where we began with the iran nuclear deal. some years ago, the biggest threat we perceived from iran, our allies in the gulf perceived from iran is that it had the potential to acquire and deliver a nuclear weapon. we have taken that potential off the table. iran has had had multiple pathways to a nuclear weapon, now it has none. it has the most intrusive

inspection team ever. iran is not in position to secure a nuclear weapon. that's huge to our security and our partners in the region. it continues to engage in behavior that we find hugely objectionable from support to terrorism and destabling countries in the neighborhood. we need to work to counter that as well as their missile threat. but all those threats and challenges would be far worse if iran were to obtain a nuclear weapon. having solved that problem for the time being, and for the foreseeable future, we would be foolish to walk away from a deal that has accomplished a major security objective. and realize that if we were to do so, we would be leaving ourselves isolated, not iran. it would be us breaking the deal, leaving us isolated from our allies who helped negotiate it like germany, like france and britain, the european union, and from the other partners, russia and china. that would be folly. it would leaf iran free to

develop a nuclear weapon unimpeded and leave us with no ability to reconstitute the sanctions regime that put so much pressure on them to get to this deal. >> president rouhani was speaking at the united nations general assembly this morning. i wanted to play a little bit of that. >> translator: it will be a great pity if this agreement were to be destroyed by rogue newcomers to the world of politics. the world will have lost a great opportunity. >> but iran is still -- is also saying he won't agree to any renegotiation, any changes. should the deal be open at least to changes or amends -- >> no. >> there's a meeting tonight of all the countries where rex tillerson is going on sit down with foreign minister zahrif. should this be deal? >> it was a good deal, it accomplished our objectives, despite what president trump

says. there's no need to reopen it. there's value in discussing how to strengthen implementation, even though it's being fully implemented according to every objective analysis. but we could begin a process of dialogue to discuss what comes after this deal, sunsets or elements of its sunset. that's worth doing. we can't do that when we're hurling threats, threatening to walk out, acting like a spoiled child at the dinner table. if we sit down and develop relationships -- i'm glad the president is speaking with foreign minister, that relationship we had when secretary kerry spoke with him were needed. working with those who helped negotiate the iran deal to think about what may come afterwards is very useful. but we can only do that effectively in the context of upholding our octobers to stay in the deal so long as iran is complying, which it is.

>> will president obama be speaking out on this? this is a central part of his diplomatic legacy? >> i think president obama will continue to make his voice heard when he thinks it's necessary or addition. >> he's in new york now, as you know. >> he's not here to talk about the iran nuclear deal today. i do think, andreandrea, we hav world community that came behind this deal because they saw that it solved and addressed a very significant problem. that we need to stick with even as we continue to put pressure on iran for behavior we find objectionable, missile test, support for terrorism, and its role in syria ask yemen. >> your take on the state department diplomacy in the trump era? >> well, andrea, the state department is not an entity to be weakened and undermined and eviscerated as some might think. it's a huge asset along with our defense and development to project and ensure our strength on the international stage.

we need diplomats. so, we need people in confirmed positions that can do the business of diplomacy. we don't have that. we need an adequate budget. the president's budget would have cut the state department by 30%. fortunately, it seems that wiser minds on a bipartisan basis in congress will rectify that. we need to be active and engaged on the world stage. and not in a hunkered down posture. so i hope that having spent a few days here at the united nations, that secretary tillerson, president trump, will see the benefits of diplomacy when they engage in it in a sustained fashion and enable the day-to-day diplomats to have the wherewithal to do their jobs on behalf of all of us. >> ambassador susan rice, thank you very much. ♪ ♪

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thanks for being with us. here's craig melvin. >> good afternoon. craig melvin at msnbc headquarters here in new york. two major disasters we're following this hour. the death toll has climbed in mexico after that earthquake there leveled home, schools and apartment buildings. meanwhile, hurricane maria also ravaging the island of puerto rico at this hour with 155-mile-per-hour winds. the cat 4 storm packed those massive winds, it battered the coast, the capital city of san juan as well. while the worst of the storm may have passed, the danger most certainly has not. flooding and wind d