a new executive order will cut off sources of revenue that fund north korea's efforts to develop the deadliest weapons known to humankind. >> the nuclear war of words. north korea hits back against the president's most aggressive sanctions yet. devastated i darkness. puerto rico and the caribbean islands look for a way to recover. digging through the rubble. rescuers desperately search for signs of life in feet of debris in mexico. plus jimmy kimmel takes on both critics and gop lawmakers. customers get their hands on the first iphone 8 to hit the shelves. and an honor decades in the making. early today starts right now. good friday morning to you.

>> and i'm phillip mena. we begin with news breaking overnight. an ominous threat and dire warning straight from north korean leader kim jong un, responding to trump's tough talk this week and hithd tting the commander in chief even harder way rare direct statement, hurling a number of insults at the president, calling him "mentally deranged," ainto a frightened dog and a dotard, blasting this statement. "i am now thinking hard about what response he could have expected when he allowed such eccentric words to trip off his tongue. whatever trump might have expected, he will face results beyond his expectations." >> that statement comes after president trump met with the leaders of south korea and japan, announcing his toughest sanctions yet on pyongyang. >> today i'm announcing a new executive order i just signed that significantly expands our authorities to target individuals, companies, financial institutions that finance

with north korea. a new executive order will cut off sources of revenue that fund north korea's efforts to develop the deadliest weapons known to humankind. >> for more we go to nbc's janice fryer in beijing. we're hearing of another threat to north korea this morning. >> reporter: those economic measures that president trump outlined in the executive order, they imply that he is still looking at financial pressures in order to isolate pyongyang, in this kay cutting north korea out of the international banking system, as opposed to taking any military actions at least for now. here in china the central bank has instructed chinese banks to stop doing new business with north korea and also to wind down old loans. this is in keeping with united natio nations sanctions. the u.s. treasury secretary steve mnuchin did make a point

however, there has been a very harsh and unusual reaction out of pyongyang today with kim jong un making a direct and personal statement in response to president trump's latest measures and also his speech to the united nations. he says -- he implies that he's insulted by president trump's threats and also justified in making his own. and these are very serious threats that he's making, that there are more powerful weapons that are in the works. north korea's foreign minister also hinted that there could be the test of a powerful h-bomb in the pacific ocean. he said it as an off-the-cuff remark but said they would need to wait for the orders of kim jong un. kim jong un also adding that president trump would, quote, pay dearly for what he said in his speech.

even higher from the latest developments. the rescue mission from the earthquake in mexico ends a critical fourth day. that's how long authorities believe any survivors can stay alive. the death toll now at 273 according to one government agency. and confusion arose at a collapsed school. workers initially searching for who they believed was a child trapped but still alive. the mexican navy now says all children enrolled in the school have been accounted for. but rescuers continue to work tirelessly there and across the country in hopes of finding anyone else alive. joining us is steve patterson in mexico city. steve, you're at a very active scene there. what are you seeing? >> reporter: it's an incredibly active scene. we're at an area right now where there's probably about 1,000 workers. and if you can hear the level of my voice, it's because most of them are completely silent. that is because they found something in the rubble behind me to indicate that there may be somebody in there. this happens periodically. it happens often.

communication is incredibly crucial at this juncture. you're seeing what used to be a textile factory. it was about three stories tall. collapsed on top of itself during the earthquake. so rescuers have been working for nearly four days straight now, digging through the rubble, searching for survivors. mexican officials, mexican local television in this area reporting about 21 dead inside there. there are likely to be many more. yet they have been able to find signs of life. in fact, we were here when they pulled two people out of the rubble alive. it was a moment of pure joy for crews who had been exhausted and working for several days and hours straight with absolutely no breaks. when in th site is active you will see people with sledgehammers, backhoes with cranes in the air and rubble being pulled away. however, right now it's one of those periods where crews think they've identified a location where there may be somebody de

so we'll stay with this as this scene continues. back to you. >> all right. hoping and praying that they're able to pull someone out there have alive. thank you very much, steve. now to puerto ricans who are picking up the pieces after hurricane maria tore through the island causing widespread damage, ripping apart buildings and creating extensive flooding. many residents climbed to their rooftops to avoid rising water. emergency teams are working across the island, helping storm victims while millions are without electricity. the hurricane completely wiped out puerto rico's power grid. president trump spoke about the damage. >> puerto rico was absolutely obliterated. puerto rico got hit with winds, they say they've never seen winds like this anywhere. but their electrical grid is totally destroyed. and so many other things. so we're starting the process now. >> nbc, tammy leitner is in san juan this morning. bring us up to date. >> reporter: hey, phillip and fran

and they're not showing any signs of getting better anytime soon. yesterday we spent the entire day out touring around, getting where we could get, talking with people, and i want to show you some of the video that we shot. most of the streets that we encountered in various neighborhoods have turned to rivers, and people were waiting in knee-high, waist-high deep water. many of these people had to out of their home just to get anywhere. at one point we saw a boat going down a main street, towing a car out that had gotten stuck. we spoke with a lot of residents who said they had stocked up on supplies knowing that the hurricane was coming but they never thought it was going to be this bad for this long. they're being told that their power may be out for two, three, four months. now, this is not only not having power and air-condition, this is having no way to cook food no, way to store food. that's the biggest concern out here. there's been a real run at the grocery stores for people who didn't stock up before. there's nothing left on the grocery store shelves. yesterday we went to one

those stores. three-hour line just to get what few things were left. back to you guys. >> wow. just something else to hear those stories there. how everybody's coping. tam tammy, thank you. back in washington, the russia probe is reaching new levels as special counsel robert mueller and congressional investigators set their focus on paul manafort with an increasing number of headlines raising eyebrows on the investigation. this morning including these two from the "wall street journal." "special counsel investigating possible money laundering by paul manafort" and "u.s. monitored manafort after he left trump campaign." the question is what if any connection investigators could make that would lead them all the way back to the white house. for more on this we go to nbc's edward lawrence. we're hearing other news outlets are reporting on a specific moment. counselor mueller is looking, is that right? >> exactly. phillip, the special counsel seems to be drilling down on this response that the president wrote for his son about a meeting at trump tower last year th

now donald trump jr. set that up meeting and what was discussed sort of changed, evolved over time. politico is now reporting that the president actually -- or mueller, the special counsel, would like to see the phone records from air force one. during that time the statement was sent out, the president responded for his son, the "washington post" reporting the president personally dictated the statement which donald trump jr. said that he and the russian lawyer primarily discussed a program about the adoption of russian children. now, e-mails made public later showed that this meeting was actually set forth by trump jr. because he believed he was going to get dirt on hillary clinton for the campaign to use. now, meanwhile, corey lewandowski, the former campaign manager, making news of himself, telling the "washington examiner" that he hopes if anyone, anybody, paul manafort, roger stone, rick gates, carter page, anyone attempted to influence the outcome of the u.s. election, "i hope they go to jail for the rest of their lives." still, this ies

tightening around paul manafort as it goes forward. frances, phillip? >> edward lawrence for us. edward, thank you. let's get an update on hurricane maria from nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> unfortunately still in puerto rico, still have at least one area of flash flood warning. the flash flood warning continues. believe it or not, they could get an additional four to eight inches of wran from some way outer bands of maria and that could cause some additional flash flooding concerns. some areas could end one a total of near 40 inches of rain. that's incredible. it's not like houston where it was flat. this is hilly terrain. you can imagine the runoff problems. still hurricane warnings north coast of dominican republic, turks and caicos and southern bahamas. we will be watching the dominican republic improving today as the eye in the center of maria continues to head to the north. right now the worst is over the turks and caicos, they are getting that storm surge currently and this is the possibility of up to nine to twelve foot storm surge. you can imagine the damage that will do. the turks and caicos gets the double whammy there. they of course got hit really hard by incrediblea and now they're

125-mile-per-hour winds. that's a look at the big weather story of the day. here's a closer look at your day ahead. well, you can see jose still keeping it kind of cool and breezy and windy there in portions of eastern and coastal new england. the heat, though, continues in the midwest right through the great lakes. very unusual to be this hot this time of year. 94 in st. louis. here's the best news of all. we are safely keeping maria off the east coast, at least for the next five to six days. >> after everything we've been through with hurricane after hurricane -- >> a little break. >> nice to have it, bill. thanks. in cade today's quick hits, overnight apple began releasing its much anticipated iphone 8 to cities across the world. fans in australia were some of the first to get their hands on the next generation smartphone. faster speeds, wireless charging and a about thor camera. ryan air is apologizing as it was forced to cancel more than 2100 flights because they scheduled too many pilots for vacation. it affected 350,000 passengers. halloween is soon, 40 days away and it's estimated consumers will

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i should not be the guy you go to for information on health care. and if these guys like inbred john kennedy would tell the truth for a change, i wouldn't have to. i see these comments from these angry people. they say, what qualifies you to talk about this stuff? you're a comedian. go back to being not funny. and i feel like it's my duty to remind these people who are so concerned about my qualifications, the guy you v t voted for for president, his job qualification was this -- >> meatloaf, you're fired. >> okay? he fired meatloaf on television. [ cheers and applause ] and then you put him in the white house. so i'm going to say it again. it's more important than ever to call your senators and tell them not to gut american health care, not to turn their backs on people with pre-existing conditions. >> that was an impassioned jimmy kimmel for

night, going after the senate gop's latest repeal -- attempt to repeal obamacare sxurnlging the public as you heard him to take action and call their senator. new developments in the russia probe this morning after facebook agreed to turn over 3,000 of russian-linked ads to investigators in the russian probe. bowing to pressure from congress after the social media giant was accused ofot n doing enough to stop russia's influence. mark zuckerberg says he is outlining his company's plan to fight future attempts to influence the election. this morning twitter will also meet with congressional staff next week to talk about the 2016 election. just ahead, a major league baseball under growing pressure to do more to protect fans. plus, what latin music's biggest stars are doing for hurricane and earthquake victims. you're watching "early today." just walk right in and pay zero dollars with most insurance. plus, when you get a flu shot at walgreens, you help provide a lifesaving vaccine to a child in need through the un foundation.

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major league baseball is under growing pressure to do more to protect fans after a horrifying incident involving a child. nbc's anne thompson has more. >> reporter: the an bish guish their faces -- >> just cross our fingers and hope everything's okay. >> reporter: tells the story of the impact. >> i think it might have struck a young fan. >> reporter: new york yankee's todd frazier's searing foul ball clocked at 105 miles per hour injuring a little girl. >> they're going to get help for the person that was struck by the baseball. >> reporter: the minnesota twins and the yankees visibly shaken, including frazier, a fr

know. i have two kids under 3 years old. and i just hope she's all right. >> reporter: the little girl's grandfather went to the new york hospital where she's recovering. after carrying her out of the stadium in his arms. baseball commissioner rob manfred now vowing to redouble efforts on this important issue after the 2015 recommendation to increase netting to the near end of the dugouts and within 70 feet of home plate. ten teams have gone even farther, but not the yankees. this is at least the third time this season a fan's been injured here. a boy with a piece of bat. this man with a foul ball. and now the little girl. >> i don't care about the damn view of a fan or what. it's all about safety. >> reporter: the yankees offered thoughts and prayers for the child but no word on whether they'll do more to protect fans. anne thompson, nbc news, new york. >> we're pulling for that little girl, and hopefully that

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sprawled out to where it looks like a civil war battlefield. they won't sit like you or i might just sit like this. they'll be like this. you know? just texting. just like this. you know, just like -- [ applause ] >> i've noticed that at airports. i never noticed it as a millennial thing. but now i'll start paying attention. >> yeah, looks like all the kids in front of 30 rock waiting for jimmy fallon tickets. they look exactly like that. >> at least they get a better payoff waiting than at the airport. >> that's right. latin superstars marc anthony and daddy yankee are asking fans for help. both entertainers posted videos to social media urging fans to donate supplies and aid for victims of recent natural disasters in their native puerto rico. daddy yankee announced he will be collecting water, batteries, diapers, and other necessities for survivors of hurricane maria and the earthquake in mexico at his upcoming concerts in new york, connecticut and

united for puerto rico, an effort started by the country's first lady. so they're really doing their part to try to help. >> yeah. nice to see. and daddy yankee, one of my favorites. good to see him out there helping out. "snl" announced their second and third show line-ups for the upcoming season. we note premiere will be hosted by actor ryan gosling with musical guest jay-z. now we know that "wonder woman" actress gal gadot will host episode 2 with pop crooner sam smith. and the third episode will be hosted by "silicon valley" and "the big sick" actor kumail nanjiani with performances by pink. a lot to look forward to. >> as long as they've got some more alec baldwin come to go. >> hopefully. ahead, bill karins will be back with our weekend forecast. plus a world war ii vet gets an honor decades in the making. you're watching "early today." the smoother the skin, the more comfortable you are in it. so find a venus smooth that contours to curves,

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. . . . meteorological fall began on september 1st. september, october, november, our autumn, from a meteorological perspective. >> that's a lot to remember. >> no. it is just easier on the calendar. the sun goes south as of 4:02 this afternoon. otherwise, quiet. >> is sure did feel like fall out there this morning. >> you are not kidding. it feels a whole more like summer. 88 degrees yesterday. we will be every bit that warm this afternoon, temperatures in the 60s and low 70s. not quite as cool as we were yesterday. plenty of 50s in the shenandoah valley. they forecast them for your day. the four-part planner. sun is up at