sort of a cruel coincidence that this earthquake hit on the day it did yesterday. >> ron mott for us there in mexico city. ron, we'd like to check back in with you a little bit later as well. keep us updated on the search and rescue effort there. josh is the mexico bureau chief for "the washington post." he's on the phone with me. he's also in mexico city. he's at the school ron referenced where they've been trying to rescue people all morning long. josh, bring us up to speed on the rescue effort at that school specifically. >> yeah, this school is in southern mexico city. it's a private elementary school that a large portion collapsed. a three-story building. from what rescue workers say, it was an "l" shaped building and the shorter leg of the school collapsed where there was kindergarten, first and grade classes, as well as the teachers and cleaning staff that was in there. like you said earlier, i think the numbers are at least about two dozen confirmed dead with possibly much more still to be found in the school. right now the police have basically sealed off the blocks around th

ron mott, nbc news. >>> we'll take a short break here. we're back in a moment with the suspect's brazen escape attempt from inside a police car. how much money do you think you'll need in retirement? then we found out how many years that money would last them. how long do you think we'll keep -- oooooohhh! you stopped! you're gonna leave me back here at year 9? how did this happen? it turned out, a lot of people fell short, of even the average length of retirement. we have to think about not when we expect to live to, but when we could live to. let's plan for income that lasts all our years in retirement. prudential. bring your challenges. >>> here's something you have to see to believe out of texas. a shoplifting suspect caught on camera slipping out of her handcuffs in the back of a police suv, then climbing into the front seat and shocking officers by stealing it and driving off. she led lufkin police on a chase for more than 20 minutes speeding up to 100 miles per hour before crashing. officers then broke through the driver's side win

nbc raps ron mott has more on that now from san juan. >> reporter: the usually lush, green u.s. virgin islands are a lifeless dull brown tonight. paradise torn apart by irma. many homes damaged or destroyed. looting and burglaries reported. american service members arriving to help clean up. >> still a mess. home invasions have been high, armed robbery. that's a big concern. lots of people walking around arms. >> reporter: brittany gonzalez who evacuated to mississippi, worried about her husband still there. >> it's not going to be the same st. john. and we don't know if it can even be our home again. >> reporter: further south on st. martin, the hurricane is said to have destroyed more than 90% of the island. american medical student mike thrashavoulis shot this video. cars tossed around the parking lot. finally able to leave on a military plane. tonight he's in puerto rico. >> there were plenty of times, you know, that night and also throughout the week where i really wondered, geez, you know, how is this going to end. >> reporter: now cruise ships are arriving to take others

ron mott, nbc news, mexico city. >>> we're going to continue to follow the developments in mexico andtrous hurricane in puerto rico. you can see more on the "today" show tomorrow morning. that is "nightly news" for this wednesday night. i'm lester holt. and for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night. rescues and recovery. we )re live in mexico city as it reels from the powerful earthquake. ==raj/2-shot== the news at 6 starts now. good evening and thanks for joining us. i )m raj mathai. ==jess/2-shot== and i )m jessica aguirre. jess/vo one day after the 7-point-1 earthquake shook mexico to its core... the search >>> good evening. thanks for being with us. >> one day after the 7.1 earthquake shook mexico to its core the search for survivors has intensified. more than 50 people have been pulled from the debris alive. we learned that 230 people are now confirmed dead. one of the more gut wrenching developments is that 21 children and four adults were killed at an elementary school in mexico city. desperate rescue workers continued to sift through the rubble looking f

. >>> this is ron mott on st. thomas, where weary survivors lined up for ready-to-eat meals delivered by the army national guard. how long is this food going to last you? >> all this food here? >> reporter: yeah. >> two days. >> two days. >> reporter: basics still hard to come by. power mostly out. debris everywhere. and a sense by some the local government wasn't quite ready. >> it's in pretty bad shape. >> reporter: andrew capteville's room with a view both stunning and harrowing, thankful for his survival. on antigua and barbuda, clear destruction. families struggling to find supplies and strength. "nothing left" this woman cries. animals left to wander. on tortola, 90% of homes and businesses gone. for some, it may be gone for good. >> i don't know if we'll ever make it back to live on st. john again, and that breaks our heart because it was a wonderful place. >> reporter: tonight this cruise ship behind me will set sail for san juan, puerto rico, with yet another group of tourists and evacuees off st. thomas

ron mott, nbc news, mexico city. >>> we're going to continue to follow the developments in mexico andricane in puerto rico. you can see more on the "today" show tomorrow morning. that is "nightly news" for this wednesday night. i'm lester holt. and for all of us at nbc news, thank you for watching and good night. >>> now on "extra" -- the woman at the center of kevin hart's $10 million extortion plot faces the cameras. >> i'm not a stripper. >> how the harts are coping behind the scenes. >>> america's new sweetheart evie clair wowing the agt judges a week after losing her father. >> i just had the really strong feeling i should come back. >> we're with evie and the entire crew. >> i really, really loved it. >> now fashion emergency right before going live. >> i hear she needed your -- >> plus breaking "american idol" news. >> selena gomez in the running to be a judge? >> j. lo and a-rod making it a red carpet date night. telling tanika why they're a perfect match. >> plus halle berry breaks her own couples news. who is her new british boyfriend? rene's new a-list interview with jerry

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 in

nbc's ron mott has the story. >> high drive.> reporter: as rivalries go, red sox/yankees is as passionate and intense as they come. but according to "the crossed a high-tech line after the yankees complained there's video of boston trainers using their apple watches in the dugout to receive the hand signals from yankee catchers. then relaying those to sox hitters who would know what pitch is coming next. yankees manager joe girardi speaking out tonight. >> this has been a concern about mine in baseball for a long time. electronics is the world we live in today. you know? it's changed the world we live in, and it will continue to, you know, change as we move on. >> reporter: of course, stealing signals is nothing new in sports. a long-standing tradition really. >> we actually do not have a rule against sign stealing and it has been a part of the game for a very, very long time. >> reporter: in return, the red sox countered with a complaint of their own. suggesting the yankees do the same thing with its yes tv network. >> we compl

ron mott, nbc news. >>> we'll take a short break here. back in a moment with the suspect's braz kevin, meet your father. kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin kevin trusted advice for life. kevin, how's your mom? life well planned. see what a raymond james financial advisor can do for you. but prevagen helps your brain with an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. the name to remember. a heart attack doesn't or how healthy you look. no matter who you are, a heart attack can happen without warning. a bayer aspirin regimen can help prevent another heart attack. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. bayer aspirin. mom,on my car insurance of money by switching to geico. i should take a closer look at geico... you know, geico can help you save money on your homeowners insurance too? great! geico can help insure our mountain chalet! how long have we been sawing this log? um, one hundred and fourteen years

ron mott, nbc news, mexico city. >>> we're going to continue to follow the developments in mexico andhurricane in puerto rico. you can see more on the "today" show tomorrow morning. that is "nightly news" for this wednesday night. i'm lester holt. and for all of us at for watching and good night. ralph northam: i'm ralph northam, candidate for governor, and i sponsored this ad. they're studying for 21st century jobs. but ed gillespie supports donald trump's plan to take money out of virginia public schools and give it to private schools. as a washington dc lobbyist, ed gillespie worked for lenders trying to keep student loan rates high. and ed gillespie's plan to cut taxes for the wealthy ed doesn't stand for education. >>> olivia, you look amazing. how are you feeling? >> do you think bill cosby is the greatest comedian of all time? >> you've had a target on your back, so how do you handle that? >> three huge interviews with the questions and fascinating answers only access can deliver. >> i'm pretty lucky, really.

ron motte is in st. thomas.hat's the biggest concern this morning. >> reporter: well, power is obviously a huge concern. that's going to make things a lot more convenient and comfortable for people as they go through this recovery. right now just a limited portion of the island has restored power, mostly where we are, right downtown. but outside the downtown area, generally speaking, if you deponent have a generator, you're sleeping in the dark. it is very warm and humid here in st. thomas in late september. so people are really suffering. a lot of mosquitos, too. food and water supply is okay. some of the stores have reopened. there are very long lines for people to get basic supplies to get through the day. then we're talking about travel. the airport was hoping to be open to commercial travel today. that did not happen. they then pushed it to tomorrow. that's not going to happen. it looks like it's going to be next week before the airport on the west end of st. thomas is open to commercial traffic. why that's

nbc news correspondent ron mott.ming up, the ad lib and the reaction it caused when the president spoke to a group of leaders at the u.n. here in new york today. we're back with that after this. >>> last thing before we go here tonight. the president hosting a gathering of african nations at the u.n. it starred off well enough with the president listing nations in attendance. >> i'm greatly honored to host this lunch to be joined by the leaders of codid he vier ethiopia, approximate began that, beginee, nam bea, senegal, uganda and south africa. >> the problem in that list is there's no nam bea. that's not a place in africa or anywhere else. he said it again later when complimenting no, ma'am bea's health system. then came an ad lib during the portion of the speech about african prosperity. >> africa has tremendous business potential. i have so many friends going to your countries trying to get rich. i congratulate you. >> and that didn't go over well. to quote the "washington post," trump seemed to think the remark

virgin islands is nbc's ron mott, and ron, we can see a little of the scene around you there. you really are in the area hit the worst. describe what the scene is like down there. >> reporter: well, hey there, steve. good evening. you can see people trying to get off the streets here. we had a thunderstorm cell pop over in the last 15, 20 minutes. a curfew in effect here in st. thomas that begins at 6:00 p.m. and goes until tomorrow morning at 10:00 a.m. what folks are trying to get today, while they have a few hours are the bake supplies. food and water. pampers for the baby. formula for the babies. things like that, that have been basically absent here over the past eight days. generally speaking, the people are in pretty good spirits. although i spoke to a number of people today including one on the north side who has a couple of children. he says he wants to make sure that the government understands he appreciates what they're doing but says they could do a lot more. especially as it involves the curfew. a lot of people are still going to work every day trying to take care

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>> ron mott, thank you for that. in puerto rico, more than 3 million people are without power.ricity could be out for months. we go live to puerto rico next. >>> the entire island of puerto rico is without power tonight after hurricane maria made landfall as a category 4 earlier today. topping trees, tearing off roofs and causing widespread flooding. as more than 3 million americans assess the devastation, officials are warning the island could be without power for months. nbc's gadi schwartz is live from puerto rico. what's it like there? >> reporter: chris, you were just talking about the lack of power here. i have to apologize, the picture may get pixelated. the power is out all around us. it's very dark. we just got out of the hurricane shelter where we spent 24 hours bunkered down. this is a classroom. i want to show you this, this is basically wrought iron windows boarded up and the flame just blew out from the strength of these hurricane-force winds. in fact, over there there is a cooler, some type of swamp cooler that is hanging on by a couple of wires, a very dangerous

>> ron mott, thank you for that. in puerto rico, more than 3 million people are without power. electricity could be out for months. we go live to puerto rico next. ♪ ♪ and suddenly make it all seem worthwhile? ♪ ♪ well it's you girl, and you should know it. ♪ with each glance and every little movement you show it. ♪ you're gonna make it after all. ♪ it takes a long time to get to the top... you're gonna make it after all. ♪ but with america's best you're gonna make it after all. ♪ bumper-to-bumper limited you're gonna make it after all. ♪ warranty, the all-new volkswagen tiguan will be there every step ♪ ow! ♪ of the way. i enjoy the fresher things in life.o. fresh towels. fresh soaps. and of course, tripadvisor's freshest, lowest... ...prices. so if you're anything like me... ...you'll want to check tripadvisor. we now instantly compare prices... ...from over 200 booking sites... ...to find you the lowest price... ...on the hotel you want. go on, try something fresh. tripadvisor. the latest reviews. the lowest prices. >>> the entire island of puerto rico is without power tonig

ron mott is on st. thomas, part of the u.s. virgin islands.e haven't gotten a lot of reports, what can you tell us firsthand about what the situation's like there? >> reporter: one of the reasons we haven't gotten a lot of reports out of st. thomas and st. john is simply it's hard to get here. we got here a few hours ago. the u.s. coast guard helping us get here, three hours ago. police lights behind me, there is a curfew in effect. we spent the evening getting cleared to work and bring these reports to our viewers outside the curfew. the cure few from 6:00 p.m. to noon the following day. this is one of the reasons why the government wants to keep people off the streets. there's a giant power pole here that has been on the ground here since last wednesday. since the eye of the storm passed just north of st. thomas, maybe 20, 30 miles. so they got the brunt of the winds here. especially on the north side of st. thomas. st. john, less populated, but took on even more damage. within the past hour i spoke to lieutenant governor potter who says the

. >>> i want to turn to the attention facing puerto rico, the dire situation where ron mott is standing by at the port of san juan and ron, i know there is a lot of headlines about the dialogue and this public spat between the mayor there and the president, but there was the bigger story the other day about this port and containers that were sitting idle of goods that people could be utilized right now. so give us an update of what is going on with the port. >> reporter: well, hey, there, thomas. the manager of freight services telling us that the reporting about fema hurricane goods sitting here in the port and no one coming to pick it up is grosslia grossly exaggerated. he said they started with 40 foot long containers and in 20 minutes they are expecting to shut the port down for the day and they say, we'll have to check, they are able to get all 214 of those loads out here. the sport has been accepting barge loads since last saturday, after hurricane maria blew through puerto rico and those containers have been moving out. now where they go from the port, we don't know. and now we s

nbc's ron mott is at a relief distribution center in the central part of the city. ron, what are you seeing there? >> reporter: it's a little different scene than marianna is experiencing. in is a frantic scene getting relief spl relief supplies. all the private donations coming in here are being sorted by need, by community. we've got toilet paper, clothing, tents on the other side. everything is getting organized and bagged up. as requests come in, there's a control center here putting all the needs together into one delivery and then they have runners who will take these out into the community. earlier we spoke with a woman who organized this. this is ad hoc put together tuesday afternoon. she said they don't trust the government will get it to the people in a timely fashion and, b, they don't think the government will get the supplies to people who need it, period. they've been set up for three days now. one thing we stumbled upon that we found interesting is this group over here working this tent, which is new beginnings, and it is essentially being run by some

if they were able to land here at king airport we can get supplies to people quickly. >> ron mott. a reminder, fema has a lot of work to do. it's not just florida, text, it's the u.s. virginian islands and puerto rico. thanks ron motd. back in 60 seconds with more "mtp daily." >>> we are back. let me bring in tonight's panel. maria theresa cue marrs, john pot horts, and katy tur, who is author of a new book that's out today. what's it called? it's unbelievable. my front row seat to the craziest campaign in american history. welcome to you all. we'll do some book plugging later. i promise. get the amazon number up. look, i want to start -- my thesis at the start of this show, john, it actually began in a conversation we had internally which said we will know if the republican party is truly completely fractured if they can't do tax reform. because if they can't unite on taxes there is nothing let for the parties to unite on. is that a core issue. >> there are two issues. the policy issue and the procedural issue. the policy issue is it's easy if the republicans if the republicans had

virgin islands are facing after hurricane irma, but tonight ron mott is there in the u.s. virgin islands. >> reporter: this afternoon in puerto rico, a coast guard loading up with supplies heading for some of the islands irma hit hardest. on board bringing everything they can to keep this relief effort going. there are tsa officers on board with a goal of getting the airport in st. thomas back up and running. virgin islands whipped with category five winds. >> for a place once completely green and lush, everything now looks dead and bleak. >> reporter: tonight, still largely cut off, no cell phones, limited fuel. >> long line right here. this is a gas station and everything. there are so many people. >> reporter: the devastation on the u.s. virgin islands of st. thomas and st. john almost unbelievable. >> you could not even see the street in some areas because it was covered in trees and roofs and just every kind of debris imaginable. >> reporter: from the air, stunning images emerging. pieces of hill on hillsides. boats piled up. >> this section of my mom's room, the roof

>> ron mott in mexico city, thank you very much for joining us. really appreciate it. >> reporter: okay. >>> hurricane maria knocked out power to puerto rico after making landfall as a category 4 hurricane, the strongest storm to hit the island since 1928. the mayor of san juan says no drinkable water in most of san juan and it will be four months before power is restored on the entire island. >> the puerto rico and the san juan we knew yesterday is no longer there so we have to reconstruct, rebuild, reinvent it. we have to be resilient. but i -- i'm just concerned that we may not get to everybody in time. and that is a great weight on my shoulders. >> hurricane maria is now a category 2 storm and is expected to hit the eastern coast of the dominican republic tomorrow. nbc's gadi schwartz joins us by phone from san juan. what is the latest there? >> reporter: hey, lawrence, yeah. emotional day for the mayor there. we left a larger shelter in san juan where she was and first time out in 24 hours. we were effectively there on logdown and while we we

branson already helping with the relief effort. >> that was nbc's ron mott.ight's "last word" is next. >>> we have breaking news, "the (burke) at farmers, we've seen almost everything so we know how to cover almost anything. even a swing set standoff. and we covered it, july first, twenty-fifteen. talk to farmers. we know a thing or two because we've seen a thing or two. ♪ we are farmers. bum-pa-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum ♪ whuuuuuat?rtgage offer from the bank today. you never just get one offer. go to lendingtree.com and shop multiple loan offers for free! free? yeah. could save thousands. you should probably buy me dinner. no. go to lendingtree.com for a new home loan or refinance. receive up to five free offers and choose the loan that's right for you. our average customer could lower their monthly bills by over three hundred dollars. go to lendingtree.com right now. >>> we have breaking news, "the daily beast" said russia used facebook vents in the quite last year. russian operatives used facebook's event management tool to remotely organize and promote politic

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ron mott is in st. thomas with how they're trying to recover there. to you, ron. >> reporter: hi there, alex. well, it was ten days ago hurricane irma slammed into st. thomas and probably feels ten times longer for the people who live here. while they are very patient by and large, that patience has been put to the test. >> yikes. >> reporter: karen kline and her mother, donna, in survival mode. their roof giving way to rain, though their spirits still high and dry. >> so i feel blessed. and we've got life. and this is all material stuff at the end of the day. >> reporter: more than a week after irma's crushing punch, virgin islanders like the klines are adjusting to a new reality. ravaged roadways, battered boats, longer lines, fewer essentials, and a future overflowing with uncertainty. >> thank god i'm okay, but there are others that you see everything has gone. yet they keep on doing whatever needs to be done, standing in line, doing whatever they need to do, you know, to keep on surviving. >> reporter: governor kenneth mapp seeking help from all

ron mott in mexico city.e'll be walk with the latest on murck maria which has knocked o out power on the whole island of puerto rico. you're watching "hardball." chronic dry eye symptoms, chat with your eye doctor and go to myeyelove.com it's all about eyelove, my friends. feeling the love? are your eyes dry, itchy and gritty? blurry vision at times? grab some face time with your eye doctor and show your eyes some eyelove. whfight back fastts, with tums smoothies. it starts dissolving the instant it touches your tongue. and neutralizes stomach acid at the source. ♪ tum -tum -tum -tum smoothies! only from tums we are the tv doctors of america, and we may not know much about medicine, but we know a lot about drama. we also know that you can avoid drama by getting an annual check-up. so go, know, and take control of your health. it could save your life. cigna. together, all the way. what should i watch? it could save your life. show me sports. it's so fluffy! look at that fluffy unicorn! he's so fluffy i'm gonna

nbc's ron mott is in the u.s.irgin islands how they're attempting to pick up the pieces. >> reporter: hey, good day to you. you can see, a lot of debris here on st. thomas. one of the things they want to do, get the roadways open. an 18-hour a day curfew, which is for the most part being observed. folks are able to get out, starting at noon, and then at 6:00 have got to get back into their neighborhoods and off the streets. you can see the traffic is flowing. we did a quick tour around the island this morning. massive damage. a lot of trees down, power poles down but people for the most part seven days into this in pretty good spirits. relief folks coming in to get mres and water to get through the next couple of days. and one of the big prors early after the storm security. especially st. john's more devastated than on st. thomas. caught up with the assistant police commissioner. what he had to say from a security standpoint now. >> we didn't have any mass looting incidents or -- serious violence. most of the cas

rescue team to our nbc's ron mott. and you seen the crane behind me. it was brought in an hour and a half ago. it is trying to lift the top layer of the building to reach these people as soon as possible. because it is quite literally day five, a race for life and death at this point. here at this employment center, 46 people are believed to be missing. according to government officials, 200 people are still unaccounted for nationwide. the death toll nearing 300. and to put this into perspective, only 69 rescues have happened in addition wise. but at this employment center they think they can get to these people. they're doing everything they can do reach them. and just to give you some local context, this is a neighborhood called colonial romo. it's popular among young people, several nightclubs, restaurants here. and this employment center is at the heart of it. and today it is the site of the last fran tatic effort to save lives here in mexico city. >> let's hope that's good news. thank you so much. >>> tens of thousands are expected today at the gl

. >> that was nbc's ron mott reporting. >>> as the president continues to monitor irma's path of destructionhis former chief strategist steve bannon is busy making headlines that have roiled the west wing saying the biggest mistake of the president and warg on the gop. >> someone said you described the firing of james comey, you're a student of history, as the biggest mistake in political history. >> that would be probably -- that's probably be too bomb bass tick even for me, maybe modern history. the establishment is trying to nullify the 2016 election. that is a brutal fact we have to face. >> bannon's website breitbart followed up going after trump, the vice-president, jeff sessions and others. for more we'll go to nbc's tracy potts. bannon is showing how much pressure he can put on the white house now. >> reporter: pressure on the white house, pressure on the party just as they are facing some big decisions, frances. but here on capitol hill, bannon's message not resonating so much. listen to what john mccain, a republican, said when asked about steve bannon and his comments on the firin

. >>> for more on the devastation in the caribbean, we just got on the phone with ron mott.at between puerto rico and saint thomas on his way to the virgin islands. what's going on, what do you see? >> we're making our way to st. thomas, probably a good 45 minutes from the island. we're traveling with the u.s. coast guard. what they're doing is bringing in extra personnel to help relieve some of their folks who have been working around the clock literally since they started going over there thursday or friday of last week. also there are tsa officials here whose main job is to get to the airport as soon as we get there this afternoon to get the screening equipment tested. they would like to try to get the airport open some time this weekend. we do know that the cruise ships, there are two cruise lines, norwegian and royal caribbean, are bringing ships in today to start ferrying people away from st. thomas. one ship is going to miami. i believe that should be leaving within the next hour or so, and then the royal caribbean ship is going to overnight. folks can come down and r

nbc's ron mott reports. >> reporter: in puerto rico, a coast guard cutter loading up with supplies, heading for some of the islands irma hit hardest. they're bringing everything on board they can to keep this relief effort growing. tsa officers on board with the critical goal of getting the airport on st. thomas up and running. whipped by category 5 winds. >> for a place that was once completely green and lush, everything now looks dead and bleak. >> reporter: still largely cut off, no cell phones, limited fuel. >> long line right here. this is a gas station and everything. there's so many people. >> reporter: the devastation on the u.s. virgin islands of st. thomas and st. john almost unbelievable. >> you could not even see the street in some areas because it was covered in trees and roofs and just every kind of debris imaginable. >> reporter: from the air, stunning images now emerging. on tortola, pieces of homes strewn across the hillsides, boats piled up. >> this section of my mom's room, the roof came off. >> reporter: you can see it from space. st. martin before and now after irma cam

nbc's ron mott remains in mexico city for us. ron, good morning. >> reporter: craig, good morning to you. this is the critical fourth day of search and rescue, after which experts say the chances of finding survivors drops dramatically. overnight, they brought in this crane. they'll lift off large concrete slaps to get down to where they think people are. this is a life and death race against time. a fight for life with time running out to save victims trapped under a mountain of concrete on the second floor of this pancaked employment agency building. members of the los angeles department's urban search and rescue unit joining the mission. >> there are missing people. we have a floor plan, told where the six were. >> reporter: rescuers scooped disturb the rubble. >> there's five massive players -- layers of slap that collapscollaps cod h rorr:hicoleng tof lyitup. really bad shaking started happening, and we're standing there on the roof, just looking at each other not knowing what we're going to do or if we're going to be alive i

nbc's ron mott traveled to the epicenter 75 mile from mexico city. >> the damage is significant. everything from this 300-year-old church to 2,000 homes damaged or destroyed, even a crucial roadway in and out of town. one businessman says it will take decades to rebuild. >> reporter: the heartbreak is why they need hope. tonight this country watching more than just a rescue. this is a fight for survival. here at the rescue pit, they are pushing some first responders away. they're concerned that this school could collapse on rescue teams below. meantime, they are still looking for any signs of life inside that building below. they say survivors can only last about four days in the rubble. lester? >> all right, miguel almaguer tonight. thank you. >>> president trump imposed new economic sanctions on north korea today in an effort to drive the regime to the bargaining table to negotiate its nuclear program. kim jong-un with a fiery response late tonight calling trump's u.n. speech mentally deranged. our white house correspondent kristen welker has details. >> reporter: a united fron

nbc ron mott remains in mexico city. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. this is the critical fourth day after this experts say the chances of finding survivors drops dramatically. overnight they brought in this crane. they'll start lifting off large slabs to get down to where people are. this is literally a life and death race against time. a fight for life with time running out to save victims trapped under a mountain of concrete on the second floor of this pancaked employment agency building. members of the los angeles fire department's urban search and rescue unit joining the mission. >> that's the only location where there's still missing people. we've got a floor plan. we were told where the six were. >> reporter: for days rescuers have scooped debris into pails trying not to disturb the rubble. the death toll could grow to more than 300 including the wife of american photo photojournalist alexis bosley, the couple running to the roof. >> really bad shaking started happening. and we were standing there on the roof looking at each other not knowing wh

. >> that was ron mott reporting. >> irma hit georgia on sunday.river hit her brakes but still slammed into the trunk. she was shaken but is doing okay. >>> folks in florida looking to get back to business following irma. we look at what business owners are facing following the storm. irma uprooted massive trees and scattered smaller ones across the roadways, toppling other ones onto cars. it piled sand onto the broad walk against boarded up businesses. by daylight they took stock. a florida keys resident and small business owner was trying to get back. >> my entire property was 5 feet under water. >> today he got an urgent request from his city manager. >>. >> to start trying to get them back up online. >> reporter: transportation is a big headache. gasoline in a short supply and they are begging the governor to help. >> i have a friend in miami we are going to stop by. he has cans of fuel for me. >> so when the lights are on business is booming. 911 foot food never even closed during irma. >> if we can open we'll open. >> two cranes collapsed dur

ron mott reports from mexico city. >> reporter: this is one of the search and rescue missions still underway, now 30 hours after this earthquake hit, a 7.1 rattler that rattled nerves and cost more than 200 lives behind me, this is a former employment agency, we know there are survive nerts building officials have been able to speak to them, have been able to get water and food to them you have anxious relatives and friends waiting all day long for good word that their loved ones have been brought out alive. more precarious is on the second floor of this building, there's one survivor there you have to consider there's three or four levels of concrete and mortar on top of this one individual, but that person is alive. his family has been notified of that a lot of attention has been focused on that elementary school where we have already had a confirmed fatality count there approaching two dozen with still some three dozen school children and adults unaccounted for that rescue effort goes on as well today we got word of another building collapse. we have also gotten word that there is another