pay for that -- wall. >> reporter: and the embassy that often provides briefing and support to candidates for on for trips, this time staying on the sidelines. trump's team didn't reach out. trump's visit to mexico a gamble. >> he didn't know what the president of mexico would say. given the position he's in, he needs to gamble here or there. >> reporter: whether that gamble paid off is tonight up for debate. >> with donald trump hoping to appear presidential, tonight, inviting the presidential candidate to this country. trump says he shares five goals with mexico, including keeping wealth in this hemisphere and dismantling the drug ca cartels. >> miguel almaguer starting us off. thank you. a big day and night for trump set to deliver his signature speech on immigration and 11th a lot of people wondering where exactly he stands on some issues, even some about trump's high stakes speech. >> reporter: donald trump, heading back across the border as his mexico city meeting overshadows the biggest policy speech of his campaign so far on immigration. what to expect? clarity presumably what he will do with the 11 million undocumented immigrants still living here. >> does he still plan to round up and deport every last living immigrant starting on day one. >> you will hear how he plans tdd >> reporter: trump said he's not so softening up. >> i had people say it's hardening. >> reporter: even some of his advisors argue for a more moderate stance. >> wholesale importation is a log gist call impossibility. >> reporter: he won't support in contrast to hillary clinton. he tells "abc news", trump will go after her hard tonight and oversatisfying. >> we will build the wall. >> reporter: building the wall on the southern border has been trump's most consistent pledge. on this side of the border, his attacks on mexico and rhetoric on immigration have turned off many hispanic voters with democrats working to turn them out in november. that includes voters like maria, a housekeeper in vegas. >> in more than six years that i vote, this is the top. i feel like we are undertt trump. >> donald trump needs to be worried not only about his paltry numbers with latino voters, also how his position really affects independent and moderate republicans. those are voters who are also turned off by his hard line stance on immigration. >> reporter: while trump doesn't have much support from the hispanic community, a new poll just out s shows nationally he's closing in on hillary clinton's lead. tonight, in phoenix, a key test, how and if in mexico with the more fiery one we see from him on the campaign trail. savannah. >> hallie jackson, thank you. lots to chew on. moderator of "meet the press," chuck todd. i think you agree this is a pretty high risk move, did it pay off? >> as political theater goes, gentyes, it paid off for donald trump and we will learn how it went after the speech in totality. it does matter, what is his position and do with the 11 or 15 million undocumented folks here. does he soften his stance and is his tone truly different how he wants to tackle immigration. that we learn tonight. i have to say the bar is extremely low for trump when it comes to staying on message and things like that. i thought he exceeded that bar and looked presidential. the thought i have what was the mexican president thinking? i think he's in more >> chuck, thank you very much. with many polls s showing a tightening race now, hillary clinton was on the trail as well today making her pitch to veterans even as she continues to grapple with sinking favorability ratings. here's nbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: tonight, hillary clinton at attacking donald trump for his drop-in visit to mexico. >> it certainly takes more than trying to make up for a year of insults and insinuations by dropping in on our neighbors for a few hours. spotlight south of the border, clinton trying to win over veterans at home, arguing to the american legion trump is wrong about the military. >> i completely reject any, including my opponent, who calls the american military, and i quote, a disaster. >> i like what she had to say and i think she might just have my vote in november. >> i'm a 1,000% trump man. i just don't believe i to veterans coming as clinton's favorability is dropping showing more americans view her unfavorably than ever before. among women favorability down nine points. >> madam secretary, just a few minutes. >> how are you doing, andrea? when do you think you might go to mexico, madam secretary? >> reporter: clinton in public for the first time in almost a week spending most of her time with big donors raking in almost $23 million in speech certainly overshadowed clinton's speech today and trying to reassure ret vans. >> a state of emergency declared in florida as a gathering storm gains speed. tropical storm hermine closes in and hurricane watches are up. that is not the only trouble brewing, also bracing for impact. gabe gutierrez. >> reporter: tonight, what was once tropical depression number 9 has strengthened into tropical storm hermine, slogging towards florida's gulfcoast. >> the risk we have right now is we know we will have storm search. it's anticipated to be 3 to 5 feet, however we have the risk of up to nine feet of storm surge. >> reporter: the system threatening to dump up to 15 inches of rain in parts of of emergency and some places travel already treacherous, a driver rescued after this car was swept off the road. nearly 11 years since florida's last hurricane. fred mets ler is already pumping water out of his gulfport restaurant at high tide. >> trying to keep it where it's not a s swimming pool. >> reporter: hermine expected to continue to threaten the east coast with dangerous rip currents through the holiday weekend. half a world away, windows boarded up, fema flying supplies to the big island and hurricane lester not far behind and partnering with nasa to fly a global hawk drone the same once used for the military for spy missions now capturing these images off florida's coast. >> it flies higher than traditional aircraft do and flies l longer. we can stay on station over the storm a l longer per o surge expected to be a major problem up florida's gulfcoast. right now, there are mandatory evacuations under way in franklin conti, the florida panhandle and several coastal communities starting to flood even before this storm makes landfall. >> thank you. al roker is here with us, a real busy time in the tropics, i see a mess on your map there. >> we've been talking about this system two weeks and will be 45 miles an hour winds and stationary but you see the rain bands already pushing out. we look for landfall sometime in this florida panhandle late thursday evening and continues up the coast. look at the cone of uncertainty. this is the latest we've gotten from boston, new york, philly, providence, washington, all have to worry about this system going into labor day weekend. we have hurricane watches from destin to the bay. look for hurricane watches, we have in florida into georgia where we have the risk of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes from savannah all the way down to tampa. rainfall amounts, 5-10, 12 inches of rain, but 7-8 inches all the way up to the carolinas and georgia. and we've got rip currents from port st. lucie all the way to nantucket and we also have madeline 95 miles south of he low, it stays to the south and lester to the north >> your plate is full, definitely, al. thank you very much. history was made high in the sky today with the first commercial flight from the u.s. to cuba in more than 50 years. it's a new chapter in the thawing relations to cuba after ties were restored last year. nbc's kerry sanders take us aboard. >> reporter: jetblue flight 387 made history today. a celebrated takeoff in fort lauderdale. the last directly scheduled direct service to the island, 1961. among the 150 passengers on this inaugural flight, 16-year-old sophia compton from chicago. >> i think it's really historical. >> reporter: the flight today is really remarkable, you think back to 1962. right now, we're over the same waters where the tense relations between the united states and cuba led to a u.s. naval blockade island. making the landing at 11:57 a.m. today, that much more momentous. in the coming weeks, at least eight u.s. airlines will be flying across the u.s. to various cities here displacing the expensive and complicated charter flights. >> you have to be prepared to go to cuba and know it will be the equivalent of c camping out. >> reporter: the cuban american martinez family traveled to cuba today to get married. >> we'll come again, ma o government hopes more americans will follow. kerry sanders, nbc news. still ahead, nightmare flight. it happened yet again, a plane forced to make an emergency landing as turbulence leaves them with cuts and bruises and broken bones. we're back with terrifying moments with passengers and crews on a flight from lop don and the plane had to make a stop at ireland after severe turbulence over the ocean. 12 people were injured including women and children. >> reporter: the united flight met by injured in the terminal. it was early in the morning when the boeing ran into trouble over the atlantic. without warning, violent turbulence. >> a very huge drop in altitude, one right after the other. >> reporter: with at least a dozen people injured the pilots diverted to shannon, ireland. >> i want to confirm. >> there are no control problems. tweeted emergency landing in ireland, a few people had broken bones. others described the scene on board. >> it was like one of those "star trek" epi episodes, you go through a field of rocks in the space and banging against everything, actually banging against things. >> most of them that weren't buckled in, they hit the roof, the ceiling. there was one next to me that hit the floor and some injuries due to that. turbulence forced a flight to make an emergency landing in indonesia, 31 people injured, some seriously. clear air teachers usually occurs when the fast moving jet stream the planes often use as a tailwind suddenly collides with very slow moving air. >> the problem for pilots, you can't see turbulence on radar. it is a high altitude phenomenon, because there are no thunderstorms associated with it, radar won't pick it u.s., the faa reports last year, 21 people were injured in severe unexpected violent turbulence, why flight attendants and pilots remind all of us to always keep those seatbelts fastened. >> tom costello, thank you. when we come back, a hair raising close encounter caught on down a ruling this morning that could have a major impact on the upcoming election. in a 4-4 tie, the court refused to reinstate a controversial law requiring north carolina vote others to show a photo id. a lower court had struck that law down ruling it was making it harder for african-americans to vote. that lower court decision now stands. big change in brazil tonight. just over a week after the end to the olympics in rio, that country's president, been ousted by the senate for breaking fiscal laws while managing the budget. it has been going on a year for now and she called it a coup and repeatedly denied those charges. a woman got a surprise when she looked up from her phone and came face to face with a black bear. she was sitting in her driveway when she suddenly noticed the unexpected visitor inches away. and warned it off. wildlife police are now warning the public and now trying to find and track that bear. when we come back, finally for us tonight, all the fun of going on vacation with none of the stress of having to actually plan it, adventurous travelers are embracing this kind of get away, all the arrangements are done for you but one key piece to the mystery is left until you arrive at the airport. >> reporter: they're heading off on vacation and they have no idea where they're going. go somewhere will alex but i had no way and no time to plan. >> reporter: they're trying a new travel start-up called "pack up and do," which leaves the destination a surprise. go online, set a budget, dates and type of trip. >> if you like spas or kraft beer, pull into restaurants, and tell us anything else we need to no. >> reporter: then pack up and go gets to work. a week before departure, clients get an e-mail with the open at the airport. >> so where do you think you're going? >> we got the weather of where we're going so we could pack appropriate clothes. >> we know the city is very scenic, to bring a camera. we know we had to bring hiking shoes and a bathing suit. >> reporter: other travelers have tracked everywhere from austin for barbecue to nashville for brewery, chicago for first year anniversary, san diego and new orleans and mississippi. mille millennials. >> we've had couples celebrating 70th birthdays or 30th anniversaries or women best friends for 45 years. >> reporter: what are your final two gu guesses? >> nashville. >> portland, maine. >> reporter: portland, maine! that's amazing. >> boom. no cheating. >> reporter: there they go with a custom i 10 air aye in hand. >> this is nice, so ex exciting. so many great places to eat. make this journey as delightful as the destination. nbc news, pittsburgh. >> that will do it for us, i'm savannah guthrie in for lester. i will see you tomorrow morning on "today." for all of us at nbc news, thanks for wa watching and have a >> announcer: today on the meredith vieira show. what is "what's hot now". and why can the teen son of david and vicitorial beckam have answers to protect you and your family. and hit show younger, debbie madoff. it -- mazar. all now on meredith. [applause] >> meredith: thank you, everyone. we have a great show today. there is a lot health and zika virus. and the reason why doctors are warning health fors. we brought in an expert and first it is time for "what's hot now". [applause] >> meredith: i mention zika virus, i get nervous. we have an expert to talk about. taking heat for a job he shot as a photographer for a fragerance campaign. it is not what you know but who you know and it is totally unacceptable. and they say gee, i worked all of my life. is it a fair criticism, do you think? i am hearing the yeses. if you flipped the anyone made a phone call, it is up to you to get the job or introduced you to someone to further advance your career. >> meredith: he's getting heat? >> i think he's getting extra heat. as i started out as a 21-year-old producer. >> yamaneika: that is you. a lot of people don't have an >> meredith: she had to work hard to get that meeting. no one placed a phone call. >> lilliana: in this industry growing up a latino in texas. i am no one in television or the industry. and i had to claw to get in the job. nepotism may open the door, but doesn't keep you in the room. hard work and real talent keeps you up for the jo >> meredith: it can back fire. say he is a good budding photographer. people are thinking, the only reason you got it is because of your name. i talked about my middle son in journalism never wanted to it be associated with us. he never wanted anybody to assume and judge him unfairly.