the local media are calling her freda sophia. we don't know if that's her real name. she's somewhere between 9 and 13 years old. the rescuers have been able to communicate with them, passed through a small hole a cell phone where they're speaking to them. the children cannot figure out how to activate the gps to pinpoint their location. that's understandable. it's reported these kids are 5, 7 and 9 years old. i don't believe they brought any food in, but they have been able to bring in iv fluids similar to a pedialyte. this deadly earthquake was now 45 hours ago. >> andrea mitchell is with us now. under normal circumstances she would be starting her show at the moment, but andrea, i'll hand it over to you. sdplz thank y >> thank you so much. a dramatic moment, we hope a lifesaving moment in mexico city. i'm andrea mitchell and two days

after that deadly earthquake in under the rubble and the rescue continuing at this hour. focused on that elementary school where more than 22 student lost their lives during the massive quake. rescue crews are working hard to rescue at least three children, we believe, that might still be trapped. mariana is in mexico city to speak to people. mariana -- >> the fist just went up so she'll have to be silent. >> reporter: i'm here, andrea, and i can only whisper because the fists have gone up which means they're trying to communicate with some of the children trapped inside. the scene grew incredibly chaotic in just the past couple of seconds. they asked us to move and make way for what we believe is an ambulance that will be coming out. in the past couple of hours, we saw a large crane going to the scene and start to move very slowly, very meticulously into a

hole that they dug in the roof of this elementary school where these three children are believed to be located. i spoke to first responders, and they told me that they have been able to communicate with the children. they have even been able to hand them some cell phones, and that's how they know that they are okay. they have been also able to hand them some chocolate and some water through a hose. that is what two first responders straight out of the scene told me here now, andrea. but as you can imagine, as these fists go up, the entire country and the world is really looking at these images, these children trapped at the enrique busman primary school. they are believed to be between the ages of 5 and 9 years old, and they are under a granite table that has been able to keep them safe and alive up until this point. but just in the past couple of hours, it rained here in mexico

city. there's a fear of mudslides, the fear of gas leaks as well, so this rescue operation incredibly, incredibly dangerous and incredibly delicate. there is also a tent inside with a psychologist who is there with families, and you can just imagine what these parents are going through, waiting and seeing if it is, in fact, their children that will be pulled out of the rubble. they will be born again in a way after this devastating earthquake, magnitude 7.1, shattered mexico early this week. right now we're seeing rescue crews go up a ladder and trying to access that hole on the roof of that structure that they've dug. we've also seen rescue dogs barking, heard them barking. and, again, as the mexican flag sort of waves at us next to that crane, these people are adoing everything they can to pull

these children to safety. >> mariana, i know you can't speak loudly. we can hear you very well. we're following those pictures. your camera people are doing a great job zeroing in. we see the man who just climbed the ladder, we see the ambulance there, they've got ropes, as you've pointed out. critically water and chocolate has been lowered down through the hole that you described. the hope now, the nation, the world tracking this incredibly dramatic moment as mexico -- as we've seen, mariana, in past earthquakes in iran and haiti, we've seen miracle survivals. i remember myself in haiti when the hotel collapsed. people were panicked and found days later. just the incredible strength, and the fortitude of these children, the emotional

strength. important you pointed out they have counseling and the equipment they need. >> reporter: they're bringing in more supplies. >> i see the supplies. we want to you keep your voice down as low as you can. we can hear you. >> reporter: more supplies. we see paramedics coming out. there have been pediatricians on the scene that have been brought in. people just with everyday tools that have been asked to come to try to break some of this concrete in this school, andrea. the fists have gone back up again. i'm going to hand it to you. >> for the first time probably 15 minutes ago, they started to drill, a diamond-edged drill, it looked like really into the bars sort of on the bottom level. until then we just see people try to climb into that hole from above. as they're able to hear whether through the cell phone calls or directly from the voices of those children inside in that area known as the triangle of life, they are simply trying to

get closer. >> i've got a lot of people who know more about these things than we do who are tweeting that from the look of it, it looks like they're welding a brace on, it looks like an arc welder as opposed to a drill. they're putting something in place to lift up or get under or something. they're actually constructing something, so that's an arc welder you're seeing. you'll see masks over their face as well which is helping people identify that as an arc welder. >> and we have help as far away as japan. the technology that has been developed by teams around the world, especially earthquake zones, which is all converging on mexico city. president pena nieto has been in contact with netanyahu who has experienced this in other cities. >> a first responder spoke to us in the last hour who said even

though there is a crane there, they simply can't lift these slabs. it is like a puzzle. every piece that's pulled out -- >> and they're brittle. the idea of knowing that there are at least three people alive in there changed the dynamic entirely, because now you have to make sure that every little thing you move doesn't cause a collapse. >> and it's also a risk for the rescuers themselves. any one piece, which you can't engineer. you don't know how these large plates of cement -- the fact that these kids perhaps are protected by a concrete table or some sort of slab is unique. there are air bubbles and air pockets. yes, mariana? >> reporter: the barricade has gone back up. they're closing the perimeter once again, and it seems like that ambulance that was going to come out did not come out after all. we did see several more people, mexican federalis, go in.

they're asking more rescue workers to lock in there right now. but again, i guess what many were hoping to see was that ambulance come out with one of the children or the children. did not happen. they closed the perimeter back up, and the flurry of activity just sort of picked up and everybody has started talking again, which means the moment of silence is over. i want to see if you can make out some of the supplies. this is used for? so this is for the power lines, andrea, some of the things people are bringing out. we just saw a supermarket cart with supplies, waters, gatorade, we believe, for the first responders and the families who are in there who have been going on for more than 40 hours now waiting for these rescues to happen. >> mariana, what is the temperature there? how hot a day is it?

>> reporter: go ahead. >> how hot a day is it for the rescue workers as well? >> reporter: it is not really a hot day at all. mexico city is just starting to cool down this time of year. i believe it's about 70 degrees, it's cloudy, so not a bad time for rescue workers in that regard. however, i do want to point out it rained overnight and that made rescue workers here incredibly nervous because of the fear of mudslides. one told me this morning they had to stop the rescue efforts because some of these structures moved. and as we made our way here this morning, we could see sort of all the water, the puddles in the street from the rain, and it just goes to show that any factor here, a bit of rain, a wrong move, anything can really change sort of the very delicate balance that they're trying to strike here to be able to pull these children to safety. this is one of the rescue workers we spoke to before.

let me see if i can grab her. what's happening inside? nothing is happening. why did they ask people to step away? is there an ambulance that was going to come out? [ speaking spanish ] >> reporter: she said they were silenced and now nothing is happening. but i'm overhearing the ambulance will try to make their way out here again, andrea, so it looks like they might ask us to move to the side. it looks like they're bringing in some cables for power lines. let's see if we can keep our shot up. ambulances are going to come out? [ speaking spanish ] >> reporter: so the military told this first responder that ambulances will be coming out. [ speaking spanish ] >> mariana, i'm going to bring

in dr. azar just for her medical opinion who is in the studio in new york. doctor, tell us about the ability of these young children, who at least up until now, had done without food or water. there was an air pocket there and they did lower some liquids to them. >> the water and oxygen for now are the most important things. food they don't need to worry about right now. the kids can survive even up to a couple weeks, humans can survive without food. but it's really water, it's dehydration. it's keeping them calm, it's keeping them conscious to the ability that they can if they can try to communicate any particular injuries that they might have had, like a bone break or some, you know, if they have pain in any part of the body that would be unusual that would make them more concerned about a more serious injury. if we're just talking about the fact that they are sheltered underneath this piece of granite and they can get enough oxygen and they can get into them, i think we got information that they're getting sort of a

pedialyte type of liquid which is better than just plain water. plain water is obviously necessary, but things with electrolytes in particular will help with dehydration, kidney function, all those things. they are going to the bathroom, they're probably crying, they're losing fluid that way, so that is just the most important thing, i think, at this point. a couple days without fluid and that's when we start to see some real serious consequences. so, you know, we're at 40-plus hours into this ordeal. they are communicating with them, which is great. they have the ability, we think, through possibly tubing or a hose to get fluids and things like pedialyte to them. those are all very, very good signs. i think the biggest thing is the structural and the collapse and that barrier to them. >> with us here in new york as

well watching this dramatic scene is the spokesperson for secretary of state rex tillerson, heather nuart. we'll talk to you about other things coming up, but i know the president talked about the relief, the supplies that he's offered to the mexican government and what we're providing from around the world, really. this is a global effort. >> it absolutely is. the president spoke with president nieto earlier today. we had offered support. mexico accepted our support. the state department has some disaster assistance teams who are headed down there. they may have reached the location already, but i know they're headed down there and the state department is providing assistance in that. a number of things we'll bring, search and rescue dogs, heavy equipment and personnel. we work closely with los angeles fire and rescue. they often will respond to earthquakes all around the

world -- there is another team like that in virginia, in fact -- where they do so much to help out communities. our hearts are broken. i'm a mother of children that very same age, so it's hard to watch this, but we are all behind the mexican people. >> i know stephanie ruhle is still here. stephanie, you have children the same age. >> i do. >> i can't even imagine being a parent and manuimagining your children, thankfully, alive u d under a granite table, but how do you -- >> it's when superpowers kick in. you hear these stories of resilience, a 5, 7 and 9-year-old, they've been in there for 45 hours, and if you look at signs the first responders are holding, every hour they make a new sign with things they need. about an hour ago when ali and i started, they were really just asking for water and things like that, but now you just saw a sign asking for metal rods. they're now asking for more and more welding equipment which are

more positive signs that they know these kids are in there. the question is how are they going to get them out? >> dr. natalie azar just telling us they can survive for days. a as you see the hands go back up, that means they heard something else from inside, they think they can get closer. they've lowered the water, the pedialyte, whatever the liquid is, and that these kids are communicating something. mariana, can you still hear us? i'm not sure if you can speak softly if you've picked up any information they might have heard. >> reporter: i'm here, andrea. the fists, as you saw, have gone back up which means they are once again communicating with the children. so they're asking us to remain quiet but i can still whisper and we're pretty far away from the perimeter where you and i can still talk. there was an ambulance that was supposed to come out. that has not happened yet. we did see a doctor wearing

scrubs rushed in here about 30 seconds ago before the fists went up. as you were discussing before, still it amazes me that they're still asking people to bring anything they can to cut through this concrete, to bring hammers, to bring -- you see people around me with sort of household items here that have volunteered to cut through the walls of this elementary school. we're seeing one of the volunteers here. can i describe you real quick? this is my friend we've been catching up with. this is a bag filled with medicine for the children, andrea, that she's bringing. any medicine for children that they're asking for. is this for a fever, for -- for any pain. i'm going to let you go back inside because i know they need that. again, it's still a very volatile situation in terms of cutting through the concrete and

getting these children the supplies they need to be able to stay safe and be able to pull them out safely. andrea? now they're asking us -- as you see, they're asking us to stand by and they've placed a rope here, sort of a makeshift perimeter for the supposed vehicle that has been waiting to come out for sort of the past 15 or 20 minutes or so. >> we can see them clearing a path for the vehicle to come out. >> andrea, just think about almost the irony there. you could see on the screen a moment ago that fist in the air. it's truly a sign of hope. it's very, very difficult for them to understand exactly where the kids are. you mentioned it earlier. a three-story building collapsed. that's pancaked. it's not like there is an opening and they can simply walk in -- >> mariana, we see them backing a truck in with lumber. >> reporter: there is a vehicle

backing in and it has these wooden -- exactly. they just need to get these structures where they need to be in order to pull these children out. that means also maybe lifting some of the rubble and moving it where they need to move it for their bodies to be able to come out. that is what we're told the lumber is for. >> the procedure would be to use the crane to lift up part of the concrete, and as they do it, to prop up and create a space. >> it's like a mine collapse. >> they've barely used the crane so far. it hasn't lifted any real debris. >> andrea, when we talk about heavy equipment being brought down there, this is something the state department is helping to facilitate. that's what we do in a disaster, an emergency. we help our friend, help our allies, help our neighbors. very proud to have our state department and the good folks down there. there is a good chance, because we're there, because we can help and we can help provide that equipment. >> we've got the medical

supplies, we have what mexico needs. this is the second earthquake in a numberweeks. mexico has suffered so much. >> they could suffer aftershocks. a 7.2 earthquake, there could be tremors after. you have workers inside this rubble truly putting their lives at risk when you don't know what could be coming. >> that's a really important point. we see officials. if you look at the yellow hats, these are training officials. there are a lot of other people who are construction workers. mariana just spoke to a couple guys who showed up with their own tools to help. we saw this in harvey, we saw it in florida. this is the heroism of regular people who know there are lives to be saved in there, and they are endangering their own lives to go in there and try to get these kids out. we believe there are three of them and maybe more, and it's truly -- it is amazing to watch. >> it's also amazing they're using the most basic of drilling

equipment. maybe that's all they can use in a situation like this. again, as these kids are trapped in what they call this triangle of life, they're under that one granite table. one wrong move -- >> what kind of drilling equipment you use would be so critical. >> andrea, as i mentioned to you, i mentioned the l.a. search and rescue team that they work with. i just got word that they arrived at 5:00 a.m. today so they're here to assist in the rescue of these children. they do such tremendous work when they respond to earthquakes, building collapses and that type of thing to help out our fellow neighbors and friends. they're on the ground right now. >> just to give everyone a heads up, at some moment very soon, we're going to see president trump with his south korean and japanese counterparts, with the allies they are meeting to

discuss the crisis in north korea. we will bring that to you when it happens. he has already confirmed today in various photo opportunities that they'll be announcing unilateral sanctions by the united states against north korea as they try to tighten the noose. you see vice president pence is there already, nikki haley, and we just saw treasury secretary mnuchin and mcmaster. the secretary of state walking in. heather nuart is with us. that is her boss. you can see on the left as well this continuing rescue effort. i want to bring in very quickly, joining me by phone in mexico city s widespread reporter doug alt who has lived in the city for decades, for 30 years. how is the mexican government handling this rescue effort and this crisis, dudley? >> hi, andrea. these are difficult situations.

they're already buried in the recovery for the earthquake that hit august 7. they're always responding. it's never enough and they can receive a lot of criticism. the amazing thing, and you all have been talking about this, is the response from the public here, just the amount of volunteers that have turned out. actually, there's more volunteers than they need at these sites. they've actually told people, please don't come because most of us don't know what to do in these situations. everybody wants to help, but if you're not really helping, you're in the way. so now that there's other teams coming in from israel, the united states and the mexican earthquake recovery people know what they're doing in these situations. there's just thousands of people still lined up outside, not only the school but other places in mexico city where there's been collapses of buildings.

a lot of young kids, a lot of people in their young 20s that want to help, but they're just standing in solidarity. >> we're going to stand by because the president just announced the sanctions on north korea. let's listen. >> a new extraordinaecutive ord signed that expands our authorities to target individuals, companies, financial institutions that finance and facilitate trade with north korea. as i outlined at my address to the united nations general assembly, north korea's nuclear weapons and missile development is a grave threat to peace and security in our world, and it is unacceptable that others financially support this criminal rogue regime. the brutal north korean regime does not respect its own

citizens or the sovereignty of other nations. our new executive order will cut off sources of revenue that fund north korea's efforts to develop the deadliest weapons known to humankind. the order enhances the treasury department's authorities to target any individual or entity that conducts significant trade in goods, services or technology with north korea, and i'm very proud to tell you that, as you may have just heard moments ago, china, their central bank, has told their other banks -- that's a massive banking system -- to immediately stop doing business with north korea. this just happened, just reported. in addition to everything else, what we will do is identify new

industries, including textiles, fishing, information technology and manufacturing, that the treasury department can target with strong sanctions. and secretary mnuchin is representing the treasury department. he's here today. to prevent sanctions evasion, the order also includes measures designed to disrupt critical north american shipping and trade networks. for too long north korea has been allowed to abuse the national financial system to facilitate funding for its nuclear weapons and missile programs. the united states has had representatives working on this problem for over 25 years, they have done nothing. that's why we're in the problem that we're in today in addition to, frankly, other countries not doing what they should have done. tolerance for this disgraceful practice must end now. a new order will give the

treasury department the discretion to sanction any foreign bank that knowingly conducts or facilitates significant transactions tied to trade with north korea. again, i just want to say and thank president xi of china for the very bold move he made today. that was a somewhat unexpected move and we appreciate it. new authority in this area applies to any activity that occurs following my signature on the executive order which i have actually just signed. foreign banks will face a clear choice, do business with the united states or facilitate trade with the lawless regime in north korea. and they won't have so much trade. this new order provides us with powerful new tools, but i want to be clear the order targets only one country and that

country is north korea. the regime can no longer count on others to facilitate its trade and banking activities. many countries are working with us to increase economic and diplomatic pressure on north korea, but i continue to call on all those responsible nations to enforce and implement u.n. sanctions and impose their own measures like the ones i am announcing today. i must tell you that this is a complete denuclearization of north korea that we seek. we cannot have this as a world body any longer. in just a few minutes, prime minister abe, president moon and i are going to discuss what more we can do working together. we've had a very, very close relationship. i think our nations have become closer because of this. i know it's going to be a great

meeting, our alliance with south korea, and japan has never been stronger than it is today. we share a commitment in creating a world where strong and independent nations honor their people, respect the sovereignty, respect the sovereignty also of other nations and promote peace. thank you very much and i'd like to ask to start off president moon to say a few words, please. >> as we sit here, the president just announcing these sanctions. with me still the state department spokesperson heather nuart. heather, how will these sanctions squeeze north korea more dramatically, especially as the president just announced, if the bank is going to cut down the cheating? >> we have said all along that

secretary mattis even backed this up yesterday when he said, look, our first approach, our preferred approach is diplomacy. that's exactly what we're doing at the state department. we're pushing ahead with that. you've seen the u.n. sanctions passed unanimously, including china and russia. we've now seen unilateral sanctions that have been imposed upon entities, individuals, banks that are doing business with north korea. the president's executive order aims to do just that, focus on that. the whole point is to try to get money out of north korea, that money that would go into the illegal nuclear and ballistics programs. to starve north korea, if you would, of the money to fund is very realistic. they have had a series of conversations with china on this asking them to do more. china had been reluctant in the past. they have taken great strides and not only recognizing the threat of the dprk but taking

gralt strides and recognizing the start of that and clamping down the money. the president had an hour-long call with president xi this week. they're really stepping up to the table. >> there's been a lot of comment back and forth about the president's rhetoric, whether it would backfire. the chinese reportedly not happy about it. how do you balance how much to talk about the military deterrents, whether it's start to ridicule kim jong-un and how much of a focus he is today on economic pressure. >> i think the president is a plain-spoken man. that is a virtue in the united states to have a direct leader who makes it very clear to the american people and the world what our expectations are. the strategy in the past has not worked. this is a new strategy that is sped up, that's putting more pressure on countries around the world. i sit in some of those bilateral meetings with a secretary who speaks to leaders in algeria,

south africa, you name it. he says to them, we need to remove some of this money going into kim jong-un's regime. he tortures his people, he starves his people, he puts them into labor camps. that money goes into these weapons programs, so part of the campaign we work on hard. you have north korean guest workers here. they are essentially slave labor the. that is successful. this is diplomacy. you know it certainly well. it's succeeding. it doesn't happen overnight, it's taking some time, but we're pushing with that. >> do we have some time -- we saw the strength of the nuclear blast that last test, and that got a lot of people's attention,

clearly, as well as in beijing. >> and our allies, too. imagine that. you're japan, you're sitting there and you've had two overflights of ballistic missiles. how concerning is that? that's why we continue to have conversations with japan and the republic of korea saying, we are allies, we are here to help you, and we have your backs. >> before we go, i know you have new information about mexico city. >> yes. so the state department and the u.s. government, this administration, had offered assistance to mexico despite some of the stuff you read about in the papers, supposedly a frought relationship. we do have a close relationship with mexico. 60 members of that team on the ground, five dogs helping to sniff out power people who are trapped right now. we have 62,000 pounds of specialized equipment that can help in a situation just like this. it will be a 24/7 search that we

will. our prayers are with the people of mexico. they've certainly been through a whole lot. we're there and we have their backs. >> thank you very much for tracking that as well as what's happening in iran. john glock, a national security analyst and fred bo. john mclaughlin, one of your fellow representatives said they thought north korea would never denuclearize. is the best we can hope for is some kind of freeze, ca containment? >> i think that's probably the best we can hope for. what the president has just done, however, is significant.

the two interesting things in his announcement were, first, that the treasury department is now authorized to basically sanction banks that deal with north korea. this is exactly what we did with iran. it's called sec dear sanctions, skpl your bif was correct to say, that poses a bill. they can do that as well as dealing with the banking system, which is what the chinese have apparently agreed to do. i think this is geared toward mainly getting the north koreans to the table. when you look back over the history of this issue, the only time we've been able to make real progress in moving their nuclear programs backward are when we can get them to sit down at the table in negotiations. i believe secretary tillerson has been aiming for that. and to your first question, i really think we're at the point where they're far enough along

now that we can't be sure -- we cannot say with confidence that they don't already have the capability to launch a missile toward us with a nuclear weapon on it. so i think the military preemption option is, i think, now past, though no one is going to say that. >> just very quickly, do you think they quite possibly could not have miniaturized the warhead but resolved the reentry and targeting challenges? >> i think what we have to say prudently is we don't know that they haven't. i think that's an important point. we don't know that they have, but we don't know that they haven't. they're far enough along and other countries have different standards for success than we do. by our standards, i would say no, they probably haven't done that. bystanders in other countries, they frequently consider themselves close to done well before they've done all of the polished testing that we do.

so i think there is a better than 50-50 chance that they've accomplished those steps. >> ned price, briefly as we continue to follow the emergencies in mexico city, and we have yet to talk about the hurricane in puerto rico. in iran, the signals coming from rex tillerson last night, the president not happy about the political ramifications that iran is still doing, the support for assad, the training and weaponizing of terrorists and military units in yemen and syria and iraq, that he wants this iran nuclear deal to be strengthened with additional controls on iran's behavior. what is the prospect that the allies will ever get along with that, without blowing up the iran deal from the u.s. prospect? >> i think we've heard from our allies, the frerchnch, the brit

and the germans, to amend the iran deal, not only would you need to get the europeans on board, including china and russia, the iran deal is subject to monitoring that block all of its pathways to a nuclear weapon. that was difficult enough to achieve that for the iranians. i think the prospects are not only getting them to present a pa package but also by the critical leadership and the theological leadership. the broader point here, andrea, the deal was never about iran's nefarious activities in the region. yes, we should continue to apply pressure on them and their sanctions, but we have to imagine iran with a nuclear weapon. and iran with a nuclear weapon would make all these other

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breaking news as we continue to cover these rescue efforts at the elementary school in mexico city. joining us by phone, dan richards, the ceo of urban rescue group, and also on the phone, maurice witt, fire and rescue. experts both. dan, as you see the crane there, you know that water and pedialyte have been lowered to these children. we think they're protected by a granite table underneath that. what do you think of the equipment they have there now? >> andrea, in these situations time is of the biggest challenge. time works against you, because with each passing hour, people, and particularly the victim trapped in the rubble, food, water and any injury they might have sustained are getting

worse. so time is of the essence, and then obviously, the possibility of further collapse or shifting of the rubble. there is a possibility that as they try and get down to them that further debris may fall or that the supports that the rubble is resting on might become compromised and could result in further collapse. >> and chief witt, your montgomery county teams are participated in so many of these. we saw large pieces of lumber being brought in on a pickup about 20 minutes ago. presumably that would be if a crane can lift some of this to create some space and to prop up and create more space to get those children out with the lumber? >> yeah, a lot of times what you want to do is make sure the building doesn't move any further so you bring the lumber in, cut it to size to fit the spaces as you move other debris or other supporting material to ensure that as you're tunnelling

into those areas you don't cause any shifting or movement of the heavy load above it, to ensure again that nothing comes down on the people that are already in there and that the rescuers going in to get them. >> i know you helped in oklahoma city with the bombing disaster. >> correct. >> well, to both of you, we know that some of the teams, the l.a. team is there now, we believe fairfax is also there as well as in puerto rico with the devastation of the hurricane. these scenes are just so dramatic and extraordinary, and the prayers of the nation obviously of mexico and the world is with those rescue teams there. thank you so much for your expertise. joining me now is a member of the judiciary committee. you know the tensions we've had with mexico, but clearly all of that evaporates in an emergency such as this. >> it does. you think of those three little kids underneath that rubble.

their parents, how they're feeling right now, and to know that we have experts from our country helping, from the mexican government, that everyone is doing everything they can to rescue those kitds. obviously those kids are to us, to their parents, the most precious, precious, precious children. but to awful ll of us, it's an example of what we're seeing all over the world, whether it's texas or what happened with the hurricane in puerto rico or a burc bunch of the caribbean islands. these are very, very serious weather occurrences going on all over the world, and we know we're better at predicting them, but we still have the human cost and you still have those little children under that rubble. >> senator klobuchar, with all the discussions about budget cuts, and i've been reporting extensively about the vacancies at the state department and the proposed budget that has been

rejected by state appropriators, this certainly meets the need of diplomacy around the world. >> it certainly does. what what's happening with north korea, i am supportive of these additional sanctions. i think it was very good development today that the bank of china has now stepped in. but to think we don't even have an ambassador yet to south korea. we need to fill these positions and we also need to support aid. tom emer, who is a conservative republican congressman, and i came together a few months ago to support the contention of foreign aid because we have issues of the somalian population in our state, and we know how terrorists can walk into situations if america doesn't lead. >> i was going to let you go and we were going to talk about health care today. what is your opinion on whether the republicans can get to 50

votes next week and repeal obamacare before the september 30th deadline, obviously? >> i don't think anyone knows right now, and i'm really quite shocked in the middle of all of this that's going on, including these great bipartisan negotiations which have now stalled out because of this effort so repeal the health care act. here we go with another attempt to completely repeal it, opposed by the aarp, opposed by the children's hospital association, opposed by the people providing the insurance. it is unbelievable to me, and i'm hoping my colleagues that so bravely stood up last time, my republican colleagues, from joe manson to bernie sanders will do this again. or maybe others will join in given that republican governors of governor kasich of ohio and governor walker in alaska have

come out strongly against this bill. >> thank you so much, amy klobuchar joining us from minnesota -- oh, from d.c. pardon me, he thought you were back in minnesota. chris is here with search and rescue. chris, i think some of your colleagues are deployed in puerto rico. >> i have eight people with me on my team. we've been here since hurricane irma and we're in the process of doing some rescue efforts here in puerto rico and hopefully st. croix. >> you also have a lot of experience with earthquake rescue. what is the challenge now for your colleagues and the mexican teams in mexico city around that elementary school? >> yeah, you know, we don't have much availability of that here. we do know there was an earthquake and some other teams went there. we don't have much availability

on that now. >> the fact is you don't have -- the power is out, cell towers are out. generally speaking in terms of the hurricane rescue, what is your next mission? >> now we're checking hospitals and some of the local nursing homes. we have teams trying to make their way around the island just in areas where some events are taking place, working with the puerto ricans, trying to identify where they need help. we're trying to get aircraft to get up and do some areas so we can find those places as well as trying to get teams over to st. croix where we understand they need some help as well. >> well, good luck to you and thanks for everything you're doing there in san juan, and of course we also are thinking about st. croix which took such a terrible hit. thank you so much, chris schaaf. joining me now, peter baker,

msnbc political analyst and washington correspondent ann gearen. thanks to you both. there's been a lot of reporting in the last 24 hours by the "new york times" and the "washington post." first to you, peter. what is the latest on paul manafort on what the "new york times" was first reporting last night? >> i think paul manafort is facing some real issues here, obviously he has been told in the last few days that he's facing an indictment. "the washington post" talking about he's been offered a private briefing with the rush has been oligarch only re-enforced the notion that he had kept his close ties to the russian establishment even while he was campaign chairman with president trump, this was two weeks before president trump was going to accept the republican nomination, and the idea that manafort had a private briefing, certainly raises eyebrows. >> this offer for a private

briefing, he has a gru intelligence background, very close ties to the kremlin? and it was an implication of money to be made from this, or rather forgiven debts to him? >> right, there's a question about who owed who money here, but manafort was trying to get paid by the russian oligarch. he was hoping some of that money could be somewhe could be somehow wiped away. but clearly he was maintaining a relationship with a guy who cannot get a standard issue u.s. visa because he's on lots of banned lists, at a time when donald trump was proceeding toward the nomination. >> now we know from both your papers reporting that robert

mueller wants detailed information about president trump's meeting, what he said to the russian ambassador in that noted meeting that he -- where he discussed the circumstances for why he had just fired fbi director james comey, so peter he's looking into the president's activity in the white house, he wants all communications about paul manafort? >> it's also about things that happened while president trump was in the white house, it goes to the ability of a president to run a foreign policy, and now this criminal investigation raises issue, is that going to raise objections on the part of the white house to providing that information. you can see why robert mueller would want to know about it, if in fact as we reported, president trump said to the russian ambassador that president trump was a nutjob . d

>> the national security advisor h.r. mcmaster was on with savannah guthrie and matt lauer this morning and they tried to drill down on whether he's been asked for his personal communications. >> have you or your lawyer been contacted by the special prosecutor's office for evidence? >> this is not my area offense expertise, but we're also focused on very important meetings between two nations two whose sovereignty has been affected. but no, i have not. >> you have not received any contact from the special counsel's office? >> i have been busy with other things and have not been contacted. this is what i'm concerned about and i really have no basis to have your questions on this other topic. >> savannah guthrie and matt

lauer, they do it so well. >> but there are indications that at least sort of circumstantial indications that the mueller team is seeking perhaps phone records, records of contacts, from white house staff, to reporters and to others outside the white house and making lists. >> we know how that freezes things in the white house. an update on that dramatic rescue, the efforts s in mexi city.

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it's so fluffy! look at that fluffy unicorn! he's so fluffy i'm gonna die! your voice is awesome. the x1 voice remote. xfinity. the future of awesome. and as we continue to follow the breaking news, the dramatic rescue efforts in mexico city, nbc news medical correspondent dr. john torres joining me by phone, dr. torres, what is the possibility of survival for children that young trapped in the rubble? >> it completely depends on where they're trapped, how bad the trapping is and how much rubble is over the top of them. the same rescue workers have to

concentrate on number one, finding out if there's survivors, getting to them as quickly as possible. and also that as they start moving the rubble, that none of the rubble falls on top of them. and also they have to make sure that the child or the adult gets some type of hydration, because dehydration is going to be the big killer right here. they need some type of water, because as they lay still their muscles are going to break down which can cause kidney issues and other things that are life threatening as well. >> we do know that they did feed down some liquids, pedialyte or water or some other life sustaining liquids, so that is of course a hopeful sign. all of this breaking news continues, my colleague craig melvin is up here on msnbc. >> craig melvin, here at msnbc headquarters in new york, on an

incredibly busy news day, first of all, race to the rescue, that massive effort that's under way right now to pull a young girl and two other children buried alive out of the school decimated by that earthquake in mexico. we're live on the ground, and we're bringing you minute by minute developments. and president trump announcing tough new sanctions on the leader he calls rocket man. but what happens if these sanctions don't work. we'll take a look. and mueller closes in, asking the white house to provide documents providing a link with his campaign chairman and russia. we start right now where that desperate race against time continues,