Transcripts For MSNBCW Morning Joe 20200827

Latest stations that a tv and tower has collapsed. Let me take you through some of the concerns we have with the storm. Right now the eye, whats left of the eye, you can see it clearly north of lake charles, thats where were getting destruction, some damage to roofs, to trees. And even in alexandria winds are kicking up strong too. Alexandria wind gusts 49, gusts here the eye near 82 miles an hour, thats enough to do significant damage. We have a little over half a Million People without power. That number will continue to grow as the storm heads up towards shreveport, the closest the storm is to you will be at about 1 00 this afternoon. Youll be on the backside, the winds should be anywhere between 50 to 70 Miles Per Hour. And then the storm holds together as a rain and wind event through the areas of the southern ohio valley. Saturday, watch out through d. C. And portions of new jersey, we could see gusty winds and a rainy saturday afternoon for you. The peek wind gusts shreveport 65 or so. The one thing i didnt talk about and the mystery, how bad was the storm surge . It happened in the middle of the night, in a swampy unpopulated area. Theres a chance we had the epic historic storm surge but it didnt happen over populated areas, it happened over the swamp. So i havent heard reports of destruction from the storm surge yet. So well wait until the helicopters get up at sun up to know for sure. Bill karins, thanks for that. Hurricane laura a category two storm. Lets bring in sam brock, live ne near beaumont, texas. Reporter there were strong wind gusts of 50 to 60 miles an hour about an hour ago. But now the rain and wind have calm. I spoke with the mayor yesterday i should say mayor of port arthur they were expecting billions of dollars of damage, burr thats not whats happened. You are seeing, tons of Power Outages. There are the arbitrary nature of storms who does and does not get hit. This is i10 over my shoulder here, a major thoroughfare, no lighting in that direction. Go a few blocks and you see places that have light. 60 to 70,000 customers with no power right now. Thats a lot of people, multiply that by three or four people in a house hold, thats a lot of people without electricity. But measured against loss of life, thats not a bad situation. In beaumont theres about 118,000 people, port arthur, collectively they have 200,000 people. So all of those folks had to be evacuated. They were successfully for the most part. We talked to a few people who said im staying behind to ride this out. Man did they get lucky. Port arthur is a mile or two from the gulf of mexico, that could have been bad. But they were able to get buses in this age of covid, to get them out in time there was a major storm. Right now on the weaker side were about 60 or 70 miles away from where this made landfall. Its looking okay. In the light of day well be able to better assess the damage but a better case now in beaumont. Its early, but well take the early reports of good news from beaumont, texas. Sam brock, thank you so much. Mika . Throughout the morning as the sun comes up well check in with city officials in the gulf coast and getting complete updates as the story develops. Meanwhile, were learning more details surrounding the shooting of jacob blake. The Wisconsin Department of justice said a knife was found in the 29yearolds suv after the sunday incident. According to the Department Officers had unsuccessfully deployed a taser when blake walked to the other side of the vehicle, opened the drivers side door and, quote, leaned forward. Blake told investigators about the knife he had in his possession. They did not say if the officers saw the knife or knew it was there. An eyewitness told nbc news he heard the officers yell drop the knife before shots were fired. Police responded to an incident in which a man was at the home of a woman who was not supposed to be there. But they would not say whether it was jacob blake. The officer who shot blake seven times has been identified as rusten sheskey. Meanwhile, protests continued in the city overnight as the governor sent in an additional 500 members of the States National guard to support local Law Enforcement. The citys curfew was moved up an hour to 7 00 p. M. , which will be in effect through sunday. Willie . And police now have arrested a 17yearold man who allegedly opened fire late tuesday, killing two and wounding another in kenosha, wisconsin. Kyle rittenhouse facing charges of first degree murder after allegedly firing into the crowd. This next video is disturbing. The sound of gun fire was heard before midnight, tuesday. Which shows a man aiming a rifle at protesters. At least one person was shot before the shooter fled the scene. Nbc news cannot confirm what happened leading up to or after this video was taken or whether the incident is the same shooting described by police. Before the shooting the daily caller conducted an interview with the suspected gunman in front of a boarded up business. Speaking before the arrest was announced, they said the gunman was believed to be part of a Vigilante Group that came to protect property in the area. According to the Associated Press, much of rittenhouses Facebook Page is devoted to praising Law Enforcement with references to blue lives matter. Theres a video on a ticking to be page that appears to show him sitting in the audience of a trump rally in january. Lets gribring in Gabe Gutierre from kenosha, wisconsin. What can you tell us about what happened there . Reporter this was another night of protests here in kenosha. But this was relatively peaceful, thankfully. This came after the governor authorized 500 extra members of the National Guard. President trump tweeted they were sending in more federal resources but local officials said they were already bringing in more resources. This burned out truck behind me, that happened several days ago. Protesters had been gathering here at the county courthouse and thankfully things remain peaceful overnight, no major clashes. Several new developments in the investigation. The u. S. Department of justice has confirmed its opening a civil rights investigation into the blake shooting. And yesterday we heard from the Wisconsin Attorney general talking about several things, including identifying the officer for the first time who fired the shots. Rusten sheskey has been an officer here in kenosha for seven years. And the attorney general saying a knife was found in blakes car. Now blakes family attorneys said that should not make a difference, the officers should have found a way to deescalate the situation. Theres also a separate investigation into the shooting that happened one day ago, last night, the previous night actually where two people were killed, one person injured. Kyle rittenhouse, a teenager from illinois was arrested yesterday. His social Media Presence seems to suggest a strong support for Law Enforcement. He was interviewed shortly before the shooting and he explained why he was armed. Take a listen. People are getting injured and our job is to protect this business. Theres somebody hurt, im running into harms way thats why i have my rifle, to protect myself, honestly. I also have my med kit. Now rittenhouses public defender has not commented yet. He has an extradition hearing scheduled for friday. But the investigation into the blake shooting continues, the officers remain on administrative leave. No timetable yet for that investigation, no charges filed yet. And it continues again, there were peaceful protests here overnight after several nights of violence, willie. Nbcs Gabe Gutierrez, a lot to comb through there. Mika . Lets bring in professor and author, eddie glaude jr. So much to worry about and be deeply disturbed about here. What are you thinking so far about what is happening in kenosha . Well, im trying to make sense of it. You know, we get a stark contrast mika. A man who supposedly had a knife in his car is shot in the back 17 times. A 17yearold white teenager kills two people, injures another, talks down the street with an ar15, and hes not approached by police in an aggressive way or the like. So you get a sense of the ways in which bodies are policed. Thats the first thing. The second thing is sometimes we are concerned about the violence of protests. I want to say we need to shift the concern. That is to say, what are the reasons behind it. We need to think more carefully about who are we more concerned about in these instances and we have to finally address this. The last point i would make is this. The country binges on black grief and suffering like a show on netflix. We have to go through this so much. And, mika, its some people can watch this and then go about their business. Those of us who are black, we have to then worry about our children, we have to worry about our loved ones. It creates this environment of deep stress. Because we are afraid. Were afraid of what the police will do. And then that is happening. That fear is happening against a backdrop of what mike pence said last night and this call for law and order. James baldwin, he meant it provocatively. He said this about policing in the united states. He says, we continue to live under the slave codes. Isnt that something . What does he mean . The terms of how black bodies are valued, how Police Approach us, what they think of us. We have a lot of work to do, mika. A lot of work to do. And then the violence, the protests in the wake of inflamed racial tension erupted again in minnesota last night. The governor activated the National Guard to subdue the unrest that broke out in minneapolis. It followed misinformation about the death of a black male homicide suspect. The Police Released the information, but it did little to quell the protesters. I want to ask you about the violence, but also when you think of the words of jacob blakes mother, you i feel like this is what were lacking in the leader of the free world, because somebody has to restore calm and there has to be a sense of hierarchy and leadership that we can trust and were not getting it. Might it even be being stirred up . Pnchts well, definitely. When we hear calls for law and order in the way we heard last night. Without mentioning jacob blake, didnt even cross Vice President pences lips. We know what hes doing, appealing to white fear, white resentment, grievance and the like and mobilize those fears for trumps political gain. Lets step back. We dont want people looting and burning down businesses. We understand that. What does it mean we turn there first . Lets turn to what is precipitating this, mika. Why do we have to continue to ask the question about violence when were not asking the question about what precipitating it. Why are we concerned that were playing into the hands of donald trump in this instance, when we should be asking the more fundamental question, why are police doing this . And why are we in an environment where even the hint, the misinformation around police action, can lead to the spark of protest in this instance . In other words we need to get to the heart of the matter. Its clear for mike pence and donald trump black people dont fall within the sphere of their moral concern. But we have to shift the gravity of our concern as we grapple with the issue in this particular moment. We know why donald trump and mike pence talk that way about these continued and these ongoing incidents. Because they believe it picks them up a few extra votes that may swing the election. But lets put that aside and go back to the heart of the matter. After george floyd we all stopped in our tracks and said this has to stop. How do we do better . Lets make some change . Again we saw the nba step up and say were not going to play in the playoffs until something changes. So how do we do better at taking that next step toward change rather than just talking about that change . What needs to happen right now . So willie, we need to begin to talk seriously about the nature of policing in this country. The idea of safety without the rhetoric around the you know, the rhetoric and misinformation and bad faith around the debate about defunding the police. We need to understand what happened to jacob blake, what happened to george floyd is a consequence of daily policing. The way in which our communities are overpoliced and oversurveilled and under protected. So we need to talk about decriminalization of the code. We need to talk about qualified immunity. We need to begin to have a serious conversation about the nature of safety in our communities. And that conversation used to translate into concrete actions. We have legislation currently, but its very difficult to get there, willie. This is key. When we have to convince our fellows that something is profoundly wrong with the nature of policing in this country. People believe to say the way in which Police Officers, white, black, green, purple or yellow, interact with black communities, contains or evidences a deep systemic racism theyre denying the truth. The facts are what they are. When we cant agree on the facts it becomes difficult to mobil e mobilize. So we have to face who we are. This is the problem we keep sticking our head in the sand. We dont want to believe who we are. There is this. This story is now reshaping professional sports as we know it. Led by the nba, boycotts are disrupting Major League Baseball, soccer, even tennis as athletes take a stand against systemic racism. Well speak to mike toe ririco nbc sports. Also well get tonight three of the Republican National convention where Vice President mike pence tried to make the case for President Trump. Jonathan lemire joins us live from the white house with his latest reporting. Plus ongoing coverage of the dangerous storms striking the gulf coast right now. Well have the latest pictures from that region as they come to light. Morning joe is coming right back. Light. Morning joe is coming right back the open road is open again. And wherever youre headed, Choice Hotels is there. Book direct at choicehotels. Com. You can adjust youriggest sacomfort on both sides. Eep your sleep number setting. And wherever youre headed, Choice Hotels is there. Can it help me fall asleep faster . Yes, by gently warming your feet. But can it help keep me asleep . 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And wherever youre headed, choice h tels is there. Last week joe biden didnt say one word about the violence and chaos engulfing cities across this country. So let me be clear. The violence must stop. Whether in minneapolis, portland, or kenosha. Too many heroes have died defending our freedom to see Americans Strike each other down. We will have law and order on the streets of this country for every american of every race and creed and color. Yeah, actually, mike pence, earlier that day joe biden did condemn the violent protests. Take a listen. What i saw in that video makes me sick. Once again a black man, jacob blake, has been shot by the police in broad daylight with the whole world watching. I spoke to jacobs mom and dad, sister and other members of the family earlier, and i told them justice must and will be done. Put yourselves in the shoes of every black father and black mother in this country and ask, is this what we want america to be . Is this the country we should be . As i said, after George Floyds murder, protesting brutality is a right and absolutely necessary. But burning down communities is not protests. Its needless violence. Violence that endangers lives. Violence that guts businesses, shutters businesses that serve the community. Thats wrong. Lets unite and heal, end the violence and systemic racism in the country right now. If you want to make a big applause line about something joe biden didnt say, maybe check whether or not he said it. Not sure the Republican Party cares. More from Vice President mike pences speech last night in which he looked to rebut joe bidens claim that President Trump has failed to protect americans against the coronavirus pandemic. Take a listen. As we speak, were developing a growing number of treatments, known as therapeutics, including convalescent plasma that are saving lives all across america. Now last week joe biden said that no miracle is coming. But what joe doesnt seem to understand is that america is a nation of miracles. And im proud to report that were on track to have the worlds first, safe, effective, Coronavirus Vaccine by the end of this year. After all the sacrifice in this year like no other, all the hardship, were finding our way forward again. No. No were not. The u. S. Death toll how has hit 180. 180,000 people. Maybe the miracle was in january joe biden knew the coronavirus was coming and the Obama White House had a Pandemic Task force that you broke apart. Joe biden did spell out clearly in a usa today opinion piece that maybe Vice President pence and President Trump should read warning america of the coming pandemic and all the lives that could be lost. Now we have lost them and were losing more. Were at 180,000 deaths. And youre going to trump pathetic potential vaccines and therapeutics that may or may not work. No, no, no. You cant claim victory after 180,000 deaths. Many of which could have been avoided had this been handled better. And everyone knows that. Especially those who are doctors and scientists and who are leading the way. Or those serving on the front lines. They know this didnt have to happen. And that people working on the front lines didnt even have the proper equipment and ppe to fight this pandemic because this government, this president did not give it to them. Pence also claimed that democrats dont want to talk about their agenda. My fellow americans, were passing through a time of testing. But soon we will come to a time for choosing. Joe biden has referred to himself as a transition candidate. And many were asking, transition to what . Last week, democrats didnt talk very much about their agenda. And if i were them, i wouldnt either. The Republican Party, for the first time in its 166year history didnt issue a policy platform this year. In fact, it was really hard to keep up with the lies. Joining us now White House Reporter for the Associated Press, jonathan lemire. First of all, how is the white house feeling about how the convention is going so far . And the Fact Checking along the way was a little bit impossible, would you agree with that . Certainly, mika. The white house to this point, theyre pleased with how things have gone so far, its all building towards the president s speech tonight. As of last night they said there was no plans to postpone the schedule despite the hurricane making land in the gulf coast. To pick up on the sense of unreality that has permeated this convention, particularly on the pandemic. You heard the Vice President defend the administrations handling of that, but even the setting itself, that was a live audience. Several hundred people there. Some wearing masks, not many. They were not socially distanced. And reporters there talked to people in the crowd and many said they were not tested for the coronavirus before they arrived. And you saw video earlier, the Vice President and the president sort of worked the rope line a little bit after the speech. Vice president pence was seen giving out hand shakes and fist bumps. Potentially being exposed to someone who was not tested for the virus. And last night was an attempt to be a tightly scripted narrative, trying to shore up or win back support from women voters and a tribute to Law Enforcement. And while that was happening, the hurricane was raging outside and also the protests from kenosha. As much as the Vice President and other speakers last night talked about Law Enforcement, there was barely a word for the black victims of police violence. I want to pick up on Something Else the Vice President said about a vaccine. He quoted joe biden as saying no miracle is coming then he said this is a nation of miracles there will be a vaccine by the end of the year. This joe biden saying a miracle was in reference to President Trump saying the virus will disappear in april like a miracle. Is there evidence that there will be a vaccine at the end of the year or is this them dangling a vaccine as a means to get reelected. Administration officials are confident, not making guarantees, theres an optimism there will be a vaccine break through by years end. Whether its before the election or not remains to be seen. Those close to the white house hope that is the case. There will be an announcement if not a vaccine itself but perhaps an acknowledgement theyre close to having one. Theres a difference between having a vaccine and being able to distribute it to everyone who needs it. But what we saw over the weekend raises credibility with such announceme announcemen announcements. The convalescent plasma over the weekend had to be walked back. The fda head to apologize for overstating its effectiveness. Has it shown some evidence of helping, yes. But not nearly the degree it was portrayed on sunday night here at the white house. Where it was suggested it was the latest almost miracle treatment that could save scores of lives, thats an overstated development. We have seen that time and time again, particularly from the president himself as he suggested that the virus will go away or touted various unproven and dangerous medications. When the vaccine does come, whether its an announcement in october, november, december, this administration is going to have credibility issues when it comes to whether people believe its safe to take, whether people think the vaccine is real because of the false promises along the way and some will suspect it is an election ploy. Then theres its kind of hard to keep up, but theres this, the white house chief of staff, mark meadows yesterday, dismissed what many have called the administrations blatant violation of the hatch act by speaking at the Republican National convention saying, quote, no one outside the beltway really cares. Nobody outside of the beltway really cares. They expect that donald trump is going to promote Republican Values and they would expect that barack obama, when he was in office, that he would do the same for democrats. And so, listen, this is a lot of hoopla being made about things mainly because the convention has been so unbelievably successful. Meadows went on to tell politico that critics are applying the law beyond its original intent, quote, what its really designed to do is make sure people like myself and overs try to use their political position to convince other federal employees or employee they need to vote one way. We take it beyond the original intent of the hatch act. The hatch act prohibits use of t taxpayer funds for political activity. Which critics argue using the white house as a backdrop for an rnc event as well as the Convention Speech by secretary of state mike pompeo while in jerusalem in his official capacity. Politico reports the office of special council which investigates violations of the hatch act said areas of the white house grounds are exempt from the ban on political activity including the rose garden where the first lady gave her address on tuesday night. Jonathan lemire, this is come on, this is a joke. Again, to say that people dont care. Well, i would argue that some people actually do care. Mika, theres nothing more overtly political than the Political Convention that happens every four years. Mark meadows there he is voicing what the white house statement has been throughout. Theyre trying to walk a thin line here. Theyre suggesting government portions of the white house say the oval office or pieces of the west wing, yes, that would be off limits but they say the south lawn or the residence or the rose garden would be less. The president himself and the first lady are largely, largely, exempt from hatch act violations. Thats been the case throughout. They have embraced in fight throughout. We have seen not just secretary of state pompeo give a political speech while on an official trip to the middle east, israel. But even the smaller things, the trappings of the white house, where we saw the marines opening the door from the president walking from one part of the white house to the other. That shouldnt be allowed either. Their likeness shouldnt be used in political moments. Yes, theyre banking that the average american doesnt care, but we dont know thats true. There are times that the interests inside and outside the beltway dont line up. But there are americans who care about following the law. This white house is claiming it doesnt matter now. I think we should expect a number of lawsuits from Good Government groups in the coming days over how the white house has tried to stage their convention on one piece of federal property after another. What a terrible argument from mark meadows you can extend that as far as you want to, americans dont care about ethics rules, our families being involved in businesses. That could go on forever, if you numb the people enough, say its not sexy, not in the headlines they dont care we dont have to follow the laws. Thats a garbage argument. I digress. Lets move on to Something Else. This idea that President Trump and Vice President pence are going out and focussing on whats happening in the streets of kenosha, portland, seattle, not focussing on the incidents that spurred the violence weve seen but focussing on the violence itself. Its a cynical play we know that. Eddie has condemned the looting and reverend al sharpton and everyone else who has come on the show has done that but they ignore the spirit of the protests, the reason for the protests and focus on the violence that has come out of it. This is a play for suburban votes, to scare people, do we feel its working . We know there are people who listen to that, see the pictures on tv and say i dont want that coming to my city. The president trying to underline that this week . This is a theme the president has struck since George Floyds death. Theyve leaned into support of the law and order piece of this. Depicted what has been largely peaceful protests as violence, riots, the president used the word thugs to describe those engaging in peaceful protests. There have been acts of violence but theyve been few and far between in the duration of the protests. Certainly the white house and the Trump Campaign, this is furthering their argument. The president has been saying for a while now, look at the chaos in the streets of portland and seattle. That will come to a town near you. And a republican strategist said kenosha that feels like a town near you. These arent just big cities were seeing these moments come to smaller jurisdictions. The Trump Campaign said that is a good thing, those images help the president s argument in terms of needing a tough pro law and order chief executive here to sort of quell this. To bring stability back to american streets. But youre right, theres been, including yesterday, well see about today, very little discussion of those who suffered, who died at the hands of police, the moments that sparked these protests to begin with. West wing aides said they previewed some of the president s remarks, were told dont expect it to be as dark as his carnage speech hes going to draw a juxtaposition between the radical left, joe biden, and what hes doing. And hell define himself as the barrier between those forces and the american way of life. Look for that and an ode to patriotism to be his themes tonight. No hatch act violations for him so far. No. Coming up mike torico joins us to discuss a season of athletes demonstrating for social justice. Morning joe is back in a moment. Ce morning joe is back in a moment vo because we know you want to get back to going your speed. Steering life at 10 and 2. Youre prepared for this. And so are we. Soon youll get back to skipping the counter without missing a beat. Back to choosing any car in the aisle. Back to being the boss of you. Go national. Go like a pro. I got this Mountain Bike for only 11. Dealdash. Com, the fair and honest bidding site. An ipad worth 505, was sold for less than 24; a playstation 4 for less than 16; and a schultz 4k television for less than 2. I won these bluetooth headphones for 20. I got these three suitcases for less than 40. And shipping is always free. Go to dealdash. Com right now and see how much you can save. Joe. The Police Shooting of jacob blake in wisconsin sparked boycotts and postponements across the world of professional sports yesterday led by the nba when the bucks refused to take the floor against the magic. The last months have shown a light on the Racial Injustice across the country. Citizens have used their voices to speak out. Despite the plea for change there has been no action. So our focus today cannot be on baseball. Basketball. We are expected to play at high level, give maximum effort and hold each other accountable. We hold ourselves to that standard and in this moment we are demanding the same from lawmakers and Law Enforcement. The bucks team reading a statement there. The move which prompted the nba to postpone all three playoff games scheduled yesterday comes with the support of the bucks owners even though they did not know about it beforehand. While the senior Vice President put out a statement reading quote some things are bigger than basketball. The stand taken today by the players and organization shows that we are fed up, enough is enough. Change needs to happen. I am proud of our guys and we stand 100 behind our players ready to assist and bring about real change. The protest flowed beyond the nba to several other sports leagues including games in the wnba, Major League Baseball and soccer. The wnbas three scheduled games for last night were postponed after players declined to compete. Baseball games between the Cincinnati Reds and brewers in milwaukee, the padres and mariners and the giants and San Francisco were called off hours before they were set to begin. And all but one of Six Major League soccer matches yesterday were postponed after one or both teams decided not to play. The nfls Washington Football Team confirmed it cancelled todays scrimmage. And tennis star, naomi osaka said she will not compete in todays match citing her position as a black woman in a majority white sport. Lets bring in mike tirico from nbc sports. Yesterday i was thinking it was the fourth anniversary of the anniversary of Collin Kaepernick sitting on the bench for a preseason game, he was effectively run out of the league for that. Now here we are four short years later with the most framous athlete in america, lebron james, leading the nba in a walkout. Great to be at the table with all of you this morning. It is so stark, the reality of the impact of what you just said. This is across sports. This is not one nba team that plays in wisconsin saying were not going to play. This spread through the players in orlando in the bubble and then the wnba and baseball and naomi osaka in tennessis. I cant think of a widespread protest in sports we saw in prosports. We saw it in mexico city. But this is so widespread and grass roots as it took off. Even the day before, the Detroit Lions didnt have their practice. They had a full conversation about these issues. So this is sports using its platform and voice in a way we havent seen on this scale before. Mike, as you know, these guys in the nba and across sports this is what they live for, the playoffs and the chance to win a title, lebron james would love to get another title but he has said im willing to not even play because some things are bigger than this. There was reporting last night that the lakers and clippers had preliminary talks about boycotting the rest of the season, just walking away. That has not been made official yet. But at least thats on the table. How significant is it for lebron james to be the voice of this . Some people have said hes the de facto commissioner of the nba, you but he holds as much influence as anybody in the league. If he says were not playing whats in the nba . Its a fascinating what if. Well get the answer in the next couple days. Thats one advantage of them being in orlando and playing, theyre in the same bubble. So the players and coaches who wanted to come to the meeting last night were able to do so. To the lebron point. Willie we all are fans of sports and we think of Michael Jordans reticence to take a stand in a political race because he was advi advised. Charles barkley talked about not being a role model. Athletes have put the pause buttbut button on in terms of activism because of their fans. I think a couple of things have changed. One the players have their phones, their social media, they have voices, and they have as we all know whats the click bait game, followers. So their followers can follow their lead if they politically activate. And i think the amount f of money the players are making theyre not going to be potentially impacted forever by a stand they may take in a post Collin Kaepernick world, four years. You put those things together and they can make statements like this. If they dont go on with the season, therell be next season in their minds. We talked yesterday about doc rivers the coach who spoke about what happened in kenosha. We saw again yesterday across Sports Television just amazing commentary off the cuff. And one came from former nba allstar and university of Michigan College basketball legend chris weber, heres what he had to say. We know vote. We keep hearing vote. Everybody vote. But im here to speak for those that are always margin almargin. Those that live in the neighborhoods where we preach to tell them to vote and walk away. Charles barkley came to my high school. Just seeing him in the locker room, seeing his hands and his body, that inspired me. You cant see something, you cant be something till you see it. And when i tell you the little kids that have called me upset. I have a god son that has autism and i had to explain to him why we arent playing. I have young nephews i had to talk to about death before theyve even seen it in a movie. If not now, when . If not during a pandemic and countless lives being lost, if not now, when . Thats what i want to hear the rest of the night where everybody is pontificating, thinking, soap boxing. Nothing is going to change, we get it. Martin luther king got shot, risked his life. We see it in our heroes being taken down. We understand that does not end. But that doesnt mean you dont do anything. Dont listen to these people telling you dont do anything because its not going to end. You are starting something for the next generation to take over. Do you have to be smart . Yes. Make sure you have a plan . Yes. Be articulate about those plans . Yes. Thats what youre going to do. Theyre professionals they know how to be the best of themselves. So i applaud it because it is the young people, it is the young people leading the way and i applaud them. Eddie, chris webber was so impressive last night, as was Shaquille Oneal and kenny smith who walked off the show to join along with the players. Im a huge sports fan, these guys have lived on tv, on a poster or a different plane and were seeing their shared humanity and experience, and what theyve been through in their own lives despite their fame and stardom now. These incidents are showing us the shared experience. Absolutely, willie. We cant forgot theyre human beings that have children, loved ones. Lebron james expressed it, he was afraid for his children. Right. So this is important. Mike, i want to ask you a question, put on your syracuse Political Science hat along with your knowledge of sport. What do you make of the political potential of these athletes, leveraging their platforms in this moment at this time . We know what donald trump will say. But what do you think of the potential political effects of what are in essence wildcat strikes in some ways . Thats the right term for what happened last night. I would go back to the answer i just gave willie. I think the followers, that number that everybody the number of how many people are following me on this platform or that platform, will those followers follow the lead of the players . What does that mean . Does that mean protests, get involved in their communities, vote a certain way. All of those could be answered yes and that would be the act evaluation. I think weve seen word given by mouth to get out the vote. I think were seeing actions from players, were seeing actions from if teams as well. Thats where its significant because this isnt a black america or White America issue, it is an american issue. When you see teams opening up their stadiums on election day for the ability to have polling places in a safe, centralized place where maybe it might not be the case because of a variety of reasons during the pandemic. That says a lot that everyone is trying to get the vote out however folks might vote in whatever way, whatever candidate. So i think the activation is happening. What you hear from chris weber and the other players, thats the experience they had. We see them as star athletes. We dont see if theyre in a police stop or other things that happen, and we hear veteran players advise their kids what to do if theyre in a situation like that. Thats where its become raw when they share those experiences because in the past they have not. Some people have told the nba players to quote shut up and dribble in years past. In fact, theyre doing just the opposite now on something thats so important to them. Thank you for your insights, mike tirico. Still ahead tracking the path of hurricane laura as the storm moves inland. Well go live to louisiana where the state is being slammed with powerful winds and heavy rain right now. Youre watching morning joe well be right back. Youre watching morning joe well be right back. At Cancer Treatment centers of america, treating cancer isnt just what we do, its all we do. And now, were able to treat more patients because were innetwork with even more major insurance plans. So, if youve been turned down before, call us now. The open road is open again. And wherever youre headed, Choice Hotels is there. Book direct at choicehotels. Com. At choicehotels. Com. Im a verizon engineer, and im part of the Team Building the most powerful 5g experience for america. Its 5g ultra wideband, and its already available in parts of select cities. Like los angeles and in new york city. And its rolling out in cities around the country. With massive capacity, its like an eight lane highway compared to a two lane dirt road. 25x faster than todays 4g networks. In fact, its the fastest 5g in the world. From the network more people rely on. This is 5g built right. Only on verizon. Welcome back to morning joe. It is thursday, august 27th, hurricane laura made landfall along the texas, louisiana border around 2 00 a. M. Eastern this morning as a powerful category 4 storm hitting the region with powerful winds, storm surge, flash flooding. Its since been downgraded to a category 2 storm, but there is probably a lot of damage to report. Lets bring in nbc news correspondent, katy beck from lake charles, louisiana. How is it going . Reporter its a lot better now than it was in the past few hours of the storm passing by us. We were on the east side of the storm so we saw the most direct and most severe impact. We saw winds up to 134 miles an hour here. This storm making landfall at 150 miles an hour, basically making history with that landfall speed. So the winds here have been relentless as has been the rain and then on the backside of the storm we saw some pretty significant structural damage as well. We are standing outside of a resort and casino here in lake charles and we have seen pieces of this building, flying debris shooting across the parking lot all morning long. We know its going to be a significant cleanup effort once the sun comes up today but in terms of storm surge thats the silver lining. There was a significant storm surge predicted 15 to 20 feet here in lake charles were not seeing a lot of standing water at this time. High tide is yet to come but a sigh of relief that most of st. Charles doesnt appear to be under water. Power crews will be working throughout the coming days as hundreds of thousands are without power and probably more to come as the storm moves north. The conditions are dying down a little bit but keep in mind even the fact this is a category two still and more than 50 miles inland. Gives you some idea about how ferocious the storm is and the billions of dollars its going to take to restore the area once the damage can be assessed. Katy beck, thank you very much. Willie . Lets bring in trevor riggin. Where is the focus of your effort right now . Thanks for having me on. My heart goes out to every resident in harms way right now as the storm continues to come ashore and batter communities like lake charles like we saw in the clip. Our focus is louisiana and texas, those communities going through high winds and destructive surge coming 30 miles inland. More than 5,000 people were in hotels in louisiana. And also in texas, supporting more than 10 shelters across the states. But were watching as the deadly storm continues to move onshore. I know you get constant updates about where the storm is and where the need is greatest so you can allocate your resources, what are you hearing right now about where youre most needed . There are heavy rain bands and the wind still moving up through louisiana. As the storm moves through well focus on places we need to get to quickly. We know the red cross will be needed for shelters for people who have lost their homes. The search and rescue does their work, the red cross needs to be there to provide support to families who may have lost everything. Trevor, real quick. Covid19 i imagine complicates matters for you in terms of your interaction with people. How have you had to do things differently this year . It does change what we do, although it doesnt change our mission. The red cross is needed more than ever before in communities as the impact of covid19, the economy and so many effects of the last several months to those trying to evacuate and care for their families in the case of a destructive hurricane. We now mandate people wear face masks in shell shelters, we provided ppe to our volunteers. We moved supplies to make sure everyone has what they need. Keep cots further apart, cleaning more, and changed the timing were feeding meals. But it has not changed the tradition of service to our clients. Trevor, thanks for being here and thanks for what you all are doing. Appreciate it. Lets turn to meteorologist bill karins. We talked to you an hour ago, it was a category 2 storm. How is it looking right now . Its still weakening. I think by the time we get to the end of the morning were down to Tropical Storm. And the lower it ticks, the less tree damage and additional Power Outages well get. Id say at least 80 of the damage has been done. But we have more to go. We know it made landfall, one of the most powerful hurricanes in louisiana history. The fact this was almost category 5 shows you how incredible it was as it rapidly intensified yesterday. Now were dealing with heading into central ports of louisiana with whats left of the eye. Its shrinking and about to fall apart completely. Thats good because then the winds come down. We nay see more in Power Outages. Notice the winds are in the 30 to 40 mile per hour range. The storm is moving quickly. Notice the rain bands are almost done in the areas hit hard down on the coast. Probably even have sunshine this afternoon down on coastal areas of louisiana. That will help rescue crews or people who need to get in assess how bad it was. Little rock later tonight, then just a rain event across tennessee, kentucky and rain and wind in the mid Atlantic Region for saturday afternoon, keep that in mind for washington d. C. And the jersey shore saturday. We dont know how bad the storm surge was. I didnt hear any reports or stories of 15 to 20 feet of water. Hopefully that holds true as we see the sun come and see the damage pictures later today. Well be following that, the after effects of hurricane laura. Well go back to the white house and talk about the Republican National Convention Last night and looking ahead to the final night tonight. First, kenosha. We are learning more details around the shooting of jacob blake. The department of justice said yesterday a knife was found in the 29yearold mans suv after the incident. According to the Department Officers unsuccessfulfully deployed a taser when blake walked to the other side of the vehicle, opened the drivers side door and, quote, leaned forward. Blake told investigators after the shooting about the knife he had in his possession. They did not say if the officers saw the knife or knew it was there. An eyewitness told nbc news he heard officers yell drop the knife before officers fired. Police responded to an incident involving a man that showed up to a womans house that was not supposed to be there. They did not say if that man was blake. The officer who shot blake in the back seven times has been identified as rusten sheskey, a sevenyear veteran of the Kenosha Police department. He remains on administrative leave during the course of the investigation. Meanwhile, protests continued in the city overnight as the governor sent in an additional 500 members of the States National guard to support local Law Enforcement. The citys curfew was also moved up an hour to 7 00 p. M. , which will be in effect through sunday. Willie . Meanwhile, mika, police have arrested a 17yearold man who allegedly opened fire late tuesday, killing two and wounding another in kenosha, wisconsin. Kyle rittenhouse faces multiple counts, including first degree murder, after allegedly firing into a crowd gathered to protest the shooting of jacob blake. We want to warn you this next video is disturbing. The sound of gun fire was captured, and a video posted to twitter that shows a man aiming a semiautomatic rifle at protesters. At least two people were shot before the shooter fled the scene. Nbc cannot confirm what happened leading up to or after this video was captured or whether its the same incident described by police. Wisconsins Lieutenant Governor said the gunman was believed to be part of a individuvigilante that showed up to help protect against looting in the area. According to the Associated Press much of rittenhouses social media is devoted to praising Law Enforcement. And in a tiktok account run by rittenhouse theres video showing him sitting in a rally for President Trump. Thats been confirmed by a cspan video of the event. President trump said he is sending agents to kenosha, wisconsin to help control the violent protests following the Police Shooting this past weekend of jacob blake. Trump tweeted we will not stand for looting, arson, violence, or lawlessness on american streets. My team just got off the phone with governor evers who agreed to accept federal assistance. Portland should be the same. Today i will be sending federal Law Enforcement and the National Guard to kenosha to restore law and order. In Kenosha County where the president won by fewer than 200 votes in 2016 they told the New York Times that the events of the past few days have reinforced their conviction that this is the man for the job. But some voters who were less sure of their choice said the chaos in their city and the inability of elected leaders to stop it were currently nudging them towards the republicans. Some democrats told the times they were nervous about condemning the looting because they said they understood where the anger was coming from but were worried that was happening in their city might backfire and aid the president s reelection prospects. Eddie, i want to ask you about that. At this point its very convoluted but theres troubling strains here. I want to put out there in the story we started this entire conversation with, and that is that there was potentially a knife found in the car of jacob blake. And i just i understand that that is a development in the story. I dont understand how a man gets shot seven times in the back, whether a knife existed or not, just putting it out there. Right. He wasnt facing officers with the knife. He it wasnt a life threatening situation. It seems to me. The officer had him by the shirt and shot him in the back. You contrast that with the 17yearold white teenager who just shot three people walking down the street with an ar15 you get a sense of the different kind of policing of particular bodies. And then mika, when we think about folks who are looking at what happened whats happening in kenosha and portland and the like and saying this is driving them to the republicans. For me theyre using that as an excuse to vote for donald trump. They wanted to already. It seems to me that it doesnt follow, at least to my mind, what were witnessing should drive you to someone threatening the foundation of democracy. Ill say this quickly, meekika. Last night during the convention, the governor of south dakota likened the violence in the streets to the violence that led up to the civil war, she was referencing the 1850s. He didnt talk about the violence. She didnt talk about what the conflict was about, the battle against slavery, what was dri driving it. Here were talking about the violence but not whats driving it, whats precipitating it. Its the same thing. Not in terms of the content but what people are emphasizing to the reasons why people are in the streets. Eddie, you spoke to this last hour. I think its worth revisiting sort of the contrast in the way jacob blake was handled by police and a 17yearold whos holding a semiautomatic rifle walking through the streets, come in from out of state he says to help protect businesses from looting. Those two Police Interactions in stark contrast. Yeah. You know, you think about dylann roof, you think about we can give you examples of police showing patience, exhibiting training when it comes to our white fellow citizens. But when it comes to black folk there is this rush to lethal violence. Seven shots in the back, willie. In front of three kids. Three babies. 3, 5, and 8. It makes no sense, right, on a certain level. So part of what we have to do is get at the heart of the matter. Ive been sitting here struggling with this as weve been talking about it. How much are black people supposed to take, willie . How much are we supposed to take . You dont have to worry about your child when you watch Something Like that. I have to worry about mine. Right. It seems like its like were being taunted. How might human beings respond to this . And we saw it in the passion of doc rivers. We heard it in chris webber, we saw it with kenny jet smith walking offset in the nba. How much are we supposed to take when its so clear and then White America, at least trumps america, is concerned will america be america . We were defending law and order as he breaks the hatch act. We have to convince them this stuff is real. How much are we supposed to take, willie . Thats a question i have to ask. How much . It is a good question. And god, i hope we have answers soon. I hope what leaders in the sports world are doing will have an impact. I think it will. I think itll get to people. Youre right, how much more of this does america have to endure. Were going to be coming up after a break Fact Checking the Republican National Convention Last night. I say that with a slight smile because its almost impossible. Theres so many lies and sort of things that were framed in an untrue way that its almost impossible. Also coming up on morning joe, President Trump is calling for a drug test before the president ial debates after suggesting that joe bidens performance against Bernie Sanders in the last democratic debate was suspiciously better than his other showings. Youre watching morning joe, well be right back. Youre watching morning joe, well be rightac bk. At Cancer Treatment centers of america, treating cancer isnt just what we do, its all we do. And now, were able to treat more patients because were innetwork with even more major insurance plans. So, if youve been turned down before, call us now. vo with even more because we know you want to get back to going your speed. Steering life at 10 and 2. Youre prepared for this. And so are we. Soon youll get back to skipping the counter without missing a beat. Back to choosing any car in the aisle. Back to being the boss of you. Go national. Go like a pro. Book two separate qualifying stays and earn a free night. The open road is open again. And wherever youre headed, Choice Hotels is there. Book direct at choicehotels. Com. Andso youre a smallheaded, choicbor a big one. Ere. You were thriving, flourishing, but then. Oh. Ah. Okay. Time to think, plan, pivot. How do you bounce back . You dont, you bounce forward, with powerful connectivity. Serious and reliable internet that lets you go bigger and better, with more sharing, more making. Whoa. More that. More talking. The entire time, you got this okay, less talking and more doing. All driven by the largest gig Speed Network in america. And even if the power goes down, your connection doesnt. But what if no ones in the office . Bring the office to them. But is it secure . Sure its secure. Okay, sounds great. So how do i do this . You dont do this. We do this, together. Bounce forward, with comcast business. Yesterday marked six months since President Trump claimed that coronavirus cases in the u. S. Will be close to zero within a few days. When you have 15 people and the 15 within a couple of days is going to be down to close to zero, thats a pretty good job weve done. Nope. Actually terrible job. Since then the u. S. Has tallied nearly 6 million cases. And just hit a grim new milestone of more than 180,000 deaths. And yet, here is Vice President pence last night literally putting blinders on at the rnc so he can deliver the lies and try and act like he really believes it when he knows that 180,000 people have died and that this Pandemic Response has been botched every step of the way. The president has lied every step of the way. He has pushed crack drugs from crack doctors that dont help, they actually hurt. He has claimed that there are miracles around the corner and it will go away. He has been wrong about it every step of the way. At one point he showed up not wearing a mask at the cdc, saying anyone who wants a test can get a test, when that was not the case, not even remotely close. And then a couple of months later he said i dont want to do testing because more testing means more numbers and Tropical Storming testing has not been aggressive and as a result our ability to test the public, have rapid tests so perhaps businesses can reopen, doesnt exist. Its nonexistent compared to other countries who have been able to mitigate the virus and get to a play they can reopen safely. We dont have that. We have kids doing to schools and schools becoming super spreader events because of President Trump. We have people getting sick after going to his rallies where he squished people together. He was so slow at even pushing masks and still isnt clear on it. And then he moves that to mailin balloting being bad, everyone on his staff using mailin balloting hes using the virus and his politics to try and sow doubt in the election. He hasnt done anything to help this pandemic get moved in the right direction. And yet, here is mike pence last night. As we speak, were developing a growing number of treatments. Known as therapeutics, including convalescent plasma, that are saving lives all across america. Now last week joe biden said that no miracle is coming. Well, what joe doesnt seem to understand is that america is a nation of miracles. [ applause ] and im proud to report that were on track to have the worlds first, safe, effective Coronavirus Vaccine by the end of this year. After all the sacrifice in this year like no other, all the hardship, were finding our way forward again. Okay. To a mostly maskless audience. Joining us now, msnbc National Affairs analyst, executive editor of the recount john heileman. And White House Correspondent yamiche alcindor. John heileman, ill start with you. Vice president pence believes in miracles. Like his boss, mika, he believes in miracles. But, you know, thats consistent with the way theyve talked about this all throughout. I do think as we think about the fall and think about where were headed here. This has been a convention in which the consistently the message has been that coronavirus is basically behind us. Theres been i at least give Vice President pence credit for addressing it in some direct way. We saw almost no one in the convention address that covid19 had hit the country, there had been the impact its had the last five months so at least he acknowledged the reality thats out there in the world. But i think what the convention is trying to tell us if we look at the last three days, is this thing is under control. The worst is in the past and we are going to have, as Vice President pence said well have a vaccine by the end of the year. Im certain by election day well hear from President Trump that a vaccine is at hand and its being fast tracked. And i think its a dangerous thing for the democrats or for joe biden, knowing theres so much desperation out there in the country, ive been out a lot these last few weeks as the circus started up again, traveling more than i had been for the past five months. You can see how frustrated people are with the way of life covid19 has imposed on us and how desperate they are for good news. You can see the white house, Vice President pence saying it last night, you can see exactly where a thinkre headed. Theyre going to, whether its based on fact or fiction. Theyre going to stoke that desire that people have for a vaccine and try to play it to their political advantage. Thats one of, im sure, many october surprises. And one everybody should get ready for, because given the nature of how desperate people are for that hope its a card they are going to have to play and one the other side is going to need to be ready to counter act when they play it. Yamiche, two themes this week at the rnc as we head into President Trumps final speech of the convention tonight. Number one is that the coronavirus, this pandemic is behind us. Some of the speakers talking about it in the past tense, at the least there will be a surprise vaccine to save the country without expressing in any detail about what that is or how soon it will be here or how theyre developing that. The other track is that joe biden is a tool of the radical left, if you elect joe biden youll have more scenes in the streets like we see in portland and kenosha, misat a tistating s to defund the police. And mike pence saying joe biden hasnt spoken out against the violence in the streets when he did that a couple hours earlier. You can tell me about your reporting, the speech will go on as planned despite hurricane laura washing ashore in texas and louisiana tonight, what will tonight look like at the white house . First we should really i guess paint the scene of what people are going to see. Im told there are going to be 1,000 to 1,500 people gathered at the white house. Theres no mask requirement according to sources at the white house and as a result President Trump is going to be delivering the speech in front of a number of people who are going to be chanting four more years, going to be excited and in a lot of ways violating the recommendations from his own cdc. Well hear president talk about economy, immigration, race. I think well hear a lot of what we heard in the night previously, the two big topics, the virus and race. The virus people have been talking about it as if its in the past tense, notably, larry kudlow, the top economic adviser saying essentially its behind us. We should note there are some the u. S. Is really the worst doing much worse than many modernized industrialized countries when you look at deaths per captain ta. Were second to india when you think of new cases on average, more than 40,000 cases a day. Youre not going to hear that from President Trump, well hear, i tried everything i could do, i was the person to ban china, i have the economic success to bring back america. And when it comes to race, its going to picture protests and democrats as dangerous. He wont acknowledge, i dont think, that africanamericans are two and a half to three times more likely to be killed by police instead of white people. Instead youll hear we need to take back our streets, have Law Enforcement. Mike pence spoke for 30 minutes yesterday and we did not hear the names george floyd, jacob blake, breonna taylor, victims or people who have been killed or shot by police we can expect an ignoring of the elephant in the room which is what africanamericans are fed up. Were not seeing nba games, because youre hearing black men and women saying the answer to injustice is justice. If you want peace in the streets theyre saying stop allowing Police Officers to kill black people at higher rates than white people. We heard yesterday joe biden and Kamala Harris have spoken to jacob blakes family, his parents and sister specifically. We havent heard President Trump, correct me if im wrong, mention jacob blake and express any sympathy to what happened to him or to his family. We heard him talk about the aftereffects of whats happened in the streets in kenosha, but have we heard anything in the white house about jacob blake himself . Has the president spoken to the family . Based on my reporting i have not heard President Trump say the name jacob blake. I could be mistakenan, i could have missed it. When i put the question to Kellyanne Conway here at the white house yesterday, do you think what happened to jacob blake was wrong and possibly attempted murder. She said she was one of the First White House officials to say george floyd was murdered so they were out front on that, at least in the way they were talking the same way that most democrats and black lives matter activists were talking about george floyd. She was also asked if the president had spoken to jacob blakes family, and she said she didnt think he had spoken to the family. That was yesterday afternoon, so maybe he spoke to the family between now and then. But this is the president who has made himself as someone against the protests in all 50 states. The president has said these people are terrorists, anarchists. He has not tried to address the racism in the Law Enforcement community. I want to clarify what you said about the president s speech tonight or event. Its going to be at the white house and there is not a mask mandate and will people be will they have their temperature taken . Are they signing something or clicking on something saying they cant sue if they get the coronavirus . Whats the safety precautions being taken here given that were in a pandemic where 180,000 people have died . Well, often reporters have been coronavirus tested when theyre going to be close to the president but were not sure if theres going to be covid19 tests for these 1,500 to 1,000 people who are showing up at the white house without masks. As a reporter im doing, im expecting to be tested as part of the reporters covering it. But from my understanding were not sure about tests. I am sure based on my own reporting there will not be a mask mandate. Yesterday we saw people gather for Vice President mike pences speech, most were not wearing masks. The night before, when First Lady Melania Trump spoke there were not a lot of people wearing masks. So i doubt well see mask wearing for tonights speech. Up next well speak to an official who is now throwing her support behind joe biden ahead of the november election. Morning joe is back in a moment. Ber election morning joe is back in a moment book two separate qualifying stays and earn a free night. The open road is open again. And wherever youre headed, Choice Hotels is there. Book direct at choicehotels. Com. Proof i can fight moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. Proof i can fight psoriatic arthritis. With humira. Proof of less joint pain. And clearer skin in psa. Humira targets and blocks a source of inflammation that contributes to joint pain and irreversible damage. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. 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Those words gave permission to White Supremacists to think what they were doing was permissible. Thats a new testimonial from the Group Republican voters against trump. The woman you saw there, elizabeth newman, quoted extensively in a recent politico report on how dhs officials tried to warn the Trump Administration about the growing threat of violent domestic extremists only to be ignored. Absolutely want to hear about that because were in a dangerous place in my estimate. But first, ive read about and can understand the arc of your change in who youre going to vote for. But could you help explain those who stand by a lot of what we just laid out introducing you and continue to support President Trump . Absolutely. And thank you for having me on. Thats actually the real reason i decided to speak out is i really wrestled for quite a long time trying to decide what to do with my vote. It became clear to me late last year that i could not vote again for this president. I had already reluctantly voted for him in 2016. That was a hard decision. I had assumed that he would maybe assume is too strong a word. Hoped when he entered the office he would rise to the occasion, he would bear that mantle of leadership, walk into the oval office and give it the respect it deserves. Historically i voted policy, and policy being emunanimous in that, so things like prolife was important to me so in 2016 that kind of won the day. But what ive seen in the last three and a half years now, is that character and competence absolutely inform your ability to implement policy. So to me its not even an argument of whose policy, whose platform you like, which by the way, the republicans decided not to have a platform this year so it makes the decision for me a lot easier. So youre really judging against character and competence because the president has already proven that he doesnt have the competence to implement the policies he said he stands for. So thats how i got to the Decision Point and i wanted the opportunity to perhaps have discussions with people that are struggling with that vote. That feel that something is not quite right to vote for this man again. I want to help them feel permission that its okay not to vote for him if youre a republican. Its okay if youre a christian to not vote for him. There are many things over the coming weeks i hope we can dialogue about looking at the totality of what it means cradle to grave to be prolife, to offer people dignity as human beings. All of that flows into this man, President Trump, does not have the character for this office, doesnt have the competency for this office. And therefore, quite frankly, the policy matters less to me. Yeah. And i wonder in your conversations, you mentioned christians, whether it be the Stormy Daniels situation or even the Jerry Falwell jr. Situation that just broke in the past week. Im lost as to where they are getting the feedback that theyd want that the Christian Community would want from a president like this . I think there are a lot of christians that are outraged, but their voices arent the loud voices. And i think its time for those voices to speak up and one of the great things about Republican Voters against trump is its creating a safe way for those voices to be heard, which increasingly encourages others to speak up. But my suspicion is there are a lot more of us discouraged by what we see as a blending and medic meldding of the church and politics. The church has its own mission, it needs to be about jesus and his words, not about electing donald trump. It doesnt have to be about electing anybody. But whats sickening is to see this blending of a support for a president who is an actual antithesis to everything the bible says a person is supposed to be. I want to focus in on your focus during your time at dhs on domestic terrorism. What you say was a reluctance by the administration to confront a problem where you were waving the flag and sounding the alarm for a couple of years. Who would you go to to bring up these problems and what would they say . In other words, how could an administration turn its back on something that clearly was so serious you had an entire effort focused on it, that the director of the fbi, christopher wray, under testimony, said that is the biggest problem facing the fbi. How did this process work and what was the argument back to you to say, actually, were not going to focus on that . The process was absolutely broken. Thats part of the challenge. Where i point to the competence issue. If you have a National Security Council Process thats broken, when you have emerging threats its much harder for all the agencies that have a role and responsibility to combat that threat to be coordinated and on the same page. So the good news for the American Public is that there are dedicated professionals that coordinated amongst themselves and did the best we could to build Prevention Strategies to go after the threat. The bad news and the reason i felt i needed to speak out is that we should have been doing this earlier and with more urgency. But that only happens in government when you have a top down directive. I was blessed at the department of Homeland Security, even though we had five secretaries in three years, all five of those secretaries have been focused on this issue. Starting with john kelly when we saw antisemitic vandalism at cemeteries in 2017, he prioritized it. Then we had charlottesville, that in my mind is the most when we should have as an inner agency launched a process to better understand the domestic terrorist threat. That doesnt happen in the white house but then within the department we started it. Kirstjen nielsen was sworn in december, thats one of the first things she asked the council to take on, they rebuffed. They were focused on other issues. Im not saying they werent important, dealing with isis and iran, they were important but we had a growing threat inside the homeland. By july 2019 we had an attack at the pittsburgh synagogue and then Christ Church happened in march of 2019. And thats the point at which we had already been having conversations with our allies overseas we were seeing networks, a globalization of this threat, which is scary, but by the time Christ Church happened, its here. This is happening now. And we turned to the white house, said we need to get on top of this. We need to reexamine our laws and our current practices and what the Law Enforcement community because what we do to combat International Terrorism over seas is different than what we can do in the homeland. Theres constitutional protections, rights to free speech, rights to unlawful search and seizure. But we wanted to think outside the box and make sure we were doing everything we can to prevent a Christ Church from happening in the united states. And there wasnt the leadership and desire to drive that at that senior most level. And then, of course, you had el paso happen. Thats the moment when the white house did try to do some policy work. They were looking at things Like Mental Health and gun control. And they listened to our proposals on prevention and were very supportive. But heres the challenge. What i was told is, were going to talk about in this in terms of countering violence, not domestic terrorism. We werent going to talk about the White Supremacy issue or the White Nationalism issue. Any time you do a terrorist strategy or threat strategy, you start with what the threat is. You have to identify what the problem is before you can mitigate it. To me, i was happy they were supportive what they were trying to build. It allowed us to get funding, bipartisan support from congress, there is great work happening at the department of Homeland Security, the fbi to address this threat. But i thought it was a lost opportunity to clearly call out this growing threat at the highest levels because quite frankly, its people aligned with White Supremacy that seem to be supporting the president. If he would call it out and condemn it, it would push them back under the rock from which they came. And possibly an opportunity purposefully missed. Elizabeth newman thank you very much. She worked at the department of Homeland Security under President Trump. Shes now speaking out in support of joe biden. Lets get back to the stand that the professional athletes and full teams are taking in protest of the Police Shooting of jacob blake in wisconsin. The nba led the way with the Milwaukee Bucks yesterday refusing to take the floor in their first round playoff series against the orlando magic. The move prompted the nba to postpone all three playoff games scheduled yesterday and a number of sports leagues followed with similar boycotts or cancellations of games and matches. I think this could be quite impactful. Willie . No question about it. John heileman you and i are big nba fans been to a bunch of games together over the years. To have lebron james, the lakers and the bucks, led by giannis and the biggest stars of the games step out saying were not playing until something changes. There are reports that the lakers and clippers are in discussion of forfeiting the rest of the season, forfeiting the chance to get another title, the reason these guys play. How big a deal do you think it is, especially obviously if they yank the whole season . I think its a huge deal, potentially, willie. For a couple of reasons. Just already in the context of this republican convention, right, if youre donald trump and his team, the reason the Convention Matters so much is that its your attempt its your opportunity to have control over your message for your straight days, nights on national television. And this story from the moment that jacob blake was shot, this story has been looming in the background, obviously weve seen the outrage weve seen the outrage around the country. Weve seen the violence in kenosha. Donald trump has tried to push it up and give it more prominence as an issue of law and order. But yesterday, when the nba stepped out the way it did led by the players on the bucks and then by other players and then by the league itself, the nba pushed this story into the foreground. And now we have a split screen where on one side, you have the Republican Party talking about this issue as in racially tinged at a minimum as a law and order issue, as an issue of democrats are for anarchy, this is about riots and looting. And then the other side, this is about Police Brutality and with racial justice. But with the nba amplifying that side of the argument with someone like lebron james who is a more popular figure in america than donald trump stepping out, and this issue having now become the foreground in some ways, it complicates the politics of this question enormously for donald trump. Here you have a whole league vastly popular in the country populated by black athletes and by the people you just named, like lebron, like giannis, who have incredible popularity in the country. They are now saying effect ily, shut up and dribble. They are effectively saying, no, were not going to shut up and dribble and were going to claim this issue and frame it the way we want to frame it. And that is as powerful a counter argument as anything democrats could make and it puts a lot of weight on that side of the argument and, as i said, complicates the politics of this for mike pence, donald trump and the Republican Party not just in this week, but going forward. The nba has been out front on these issues led by its players for years now. Ar eric garner was killed, they had the i cant breathe tshirts. We were talking our last hour with eddie and mike, i noted that yesterday was the fouryear anniversary of the first time Colin Kaepernick sat on the bench for the anthem. He wasnt yet kneeling for it yet. He was run out of the nfl. He was a pariah. Now you had yesterday, the players and the entire league in the middle of a playoff run saying we are not going to play this game until something is improved in this country. Remarkable. Its remarkable, but africanamericans have been at the forefront for a long time. The criminalization of black bodies, death by police because of the color of your skin. What happened yesterday was a sea change. We are not your entertainment right now. We are hurting. There was a comment by doc rivers that stuck with me and stuck with a lot of people, talking about its amazing we continue to love this country can when this country does not love us back. What the nba players are doing is exactly what people on the streets have been doing for years. Especially after the deaths of george floyd, jacob blake, breonna taylor. Theyve been saying this country has to change. This country was founded on the fact that africanamericans were enslaved, terrorized for decades, generations of wealth lost, generations of lives lost. Here we are in 2020 and people are saying, what gives . When are we going to see some change . I think a lot of people are watching the Republican National convention and theres been a lot of frustration because weve heard a lot of support for Law Enforcement. Weve heard a lot of people saying there should not be violence in the streets. But we have not heard the names mostly of people who have been terrorized frankly by the police. There has been some mention of strive in this country. Its not a coincidence that this is happening while you see people like mike pence saying if donald trump is elected you will be safe and now if joe biden is elected you will not be safe. I think this may change a lot of things, but there are a lot of people that are scared, that maybe this will be a fleeting moment and well talk about these things and well go back to a life where black people are still killed at higher rates by the police. Coming up, were going to go live to the latest where a 17yearold has been arrested and charged with homicide after a shooting that took place during protests in kenosha, wisconsin. Gabe gutierrez joins us with that. Plus, coverage of hurricane laura as it hammers the gulf coast. Former fema administrator brock long will join us. And well get an update from two mayors in threatened cities. E fo mayors in threatened cities. Where Everybody Knows someyour name ant to go and theyre always glad you came applebees. Now thats eating good in the neighborhood. Where you can find games, news and highlights. All in one place, right on your tv. The xfinity sports zone. Use your voice to search every stat and score. Follow the teams you love. And, even get notifications with breaking news alerts and more. With the xfinity sports zone everybody wins. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Say xfinity sports zone into your voice remote today. I decided that i wanted to go for Electrical Engineering and you need to go to college for that. If i didnt have internet in the home i would have to give up more time with my kids. Which is the main reason i left the military. Everybody wants more for their kids, but i feel like with my kids, they measurably get more than i ever got. And i get to do that. I get to provide that for them. All right. Welcome back to morning joe. It is thursday, august 27th. We begin this hour with hurricane laura. Moving inland right now after making landfall along the texas louisiana border around 2 00 a. M. Eastern this morning. The storm hit as a category 4, but it has been downgraded to a category 2. Powerful winds along with heavy rain and flooding are still a major threat to the region. Lets bring in nbc news correspondent morgan chessky live in lake charles, louisiana, just a bit north of where the storm made landfall overnight. Morgan. Yeah, mika, good morning. We are getting our first glimpse at some of the devastation laura left behind. This storm struck overnight with 30 miles inland and it did not feel like it struck this area area. We know there is significant damage to speak of and we havent seen the worst of that storm surge that were told its peak has yet to come. And this is what was happening just outside where our crew was staying overnight. Fortunately this building was intact, it was strong. It did lose power briefly. But when we heard crashing outside, we had several exterior buildings collapse from the power of that wind and this is likely what youre going to see almost everywhere you look in the farther of laura. We knew it was an incredibly fast hurricane, but it packed an incredible punch. It was just 7 miles an hour of being shy of a category 5 strength storm. The bigger concern now is on those low lying areas, were told there were 150 people that chose not to evacuate ahead of this storm and thats despite knowing this storm surge has been described by the National Weather service as, quote, unsurviveble. That is what is being forecast ahead of this storm. Now that weve seen it facetoface, we knew they were not kidding around in the least. People here, they remember hurricane rita back in 2005. Thats the one that still has a lot of painful memories. The governor of louisiana saying this is worse. This is more powerful and were starting to see reports from lake charles all across louisiana of the damage its left behind. We know theres a hospital here that suffered significant wind damage. Weve seen a r roost ripped off of apartment buildings. Again, the big concern right now, mika, is that storm surge going to come and how high is it going to be . Mika. Nbcs morgan chessky, thank you very much. Well be watching that. Lets bridge in nbc meteorologist bill karins. Where does this storm stand now and what exactly did you see happen overnight that concerns you . Yeah. I hope morgan is still listening, too. Were not going to see that storm surge in the lake charles area. The storm went over the top of lake charles instead of going to the left. And it made a difference. It was only a different of maybe ten miles, but that shift prevented that southerly winds from flooding and sending the water from the gulf up towards like charles and into the water that we had. We do not expect lake charles to flood. The highest water levels have been reached throughout that region. So let me take you into what hatched with this storm. This was the second you know, think of the history of louisiana and all the hurricanes. This tide, for the strongest winds rch reported, 150 at landfall. Here are some of the records. Officially goes down as the strongest landfall in louisiana in 164 years. It ties a storm in 1856. And it was the seventh storm to make landfall this season. The peak of the Hurricane Season isnt until september 10th. 137 Miles Per Hour winds, 134 at the airport. And if those hold true and those are verifying, those will go down as some of the strongest wind gusts ever recorded in lake history. Usually these wind instruments fail when these stores come on shore. Currently, the storm is quickly weakening. That is where the strongest winds are now located as the storm begins to wind itself down. And even in the last hour, an 81mileperhour wind gust. So there is still damage being done when you see winds like that. Bill karins, thank you. Mr. Long, thank you for taking some time with us this morning. What are you hearing . Obviously, the sun is just coming up in the central time zone. What are you hearing so far this morning . A tremendous amount of damage along the coast. But hurricanes are not just a coastal problem. Laura is going to move through most of the state of louisiana and maintain hurricane strength. You can see Hurricane Force winds through arkansas today and tomorrow. Im concerned the damage will be inflicted around tennessee and kentucky particularly in the mountainous regions as it dumps 10 inches of rain. Right now, fema has a lot of teams and equipment to support the governor with his efforts to aid local governments. This will take some time to get into the damaged area. I know there have been staffing shortages over recent years with fema. Do you think fema has what it needs to tackle this problem . Yes, fema could benefit from more staff and a more robust budget. However, its more than that. Weve got to be able to create a true culture in our industry, which does not exist. I think Congress Needs to be more emphasis on predisaster mitt gait investigation funding for state and local governments, but local governments and state governments need to do their part to also implement sound, mitigation strategies to reduce the impact going forward. So what is fema doing at this hour . What is happening as we speak this morning at fema . As soon as its safe to do so, first of all, its life safety. Theyre going to do search and rescue to support operations to make sure we can save asble lives as possible for those who made the poor decision to stay behind and not heed the warnings. Pharmaceuticals, critical supplies that they need to sustain life. What theyll focus on next, what youll see, its not just going in and helping structure. Weve got to be able to work very closely with them to get fuel running again, to get Grocery Store supply chains running again and to try to establish a new normal. All right. Brock long, its great to have your experience, perspective on this. Thank you for being with us this morning. Joining us now by phone is craig prem, from galveston, texas. Mr. Mayor, first of all, what are you hearing about galveston and how its doing in light of the storm . Fortunately, we have escaped the brunt of hurricane laura. We thought it was coming at us and at the last moment, of course, as we were told, it turned north and went into more of the louisiana area. Virtually no damage here. Were canceling our Evacuation Orders this morning. Were welcoming everybody back on to the island and were open for business. That is wonderful. How effective were the veekdz orders and what are you hearing about the surrounding areas of galveston . First of all, the orders were very successful. We had a lot of our residents evacuate. Those that needed assistance, we provided buses and ambulances for those to move them to safe ground. Around us, were hearing anise, texas, and over to our east and, of course, in louisiana theyre having a hard time of it right now. Weve instructed our fire chief, our police chief and other administrative staff of the city to contact their counterparters to our neighborhoods to the east, offered assistance and see what we can do to help them. All right. Thank you very much. Im glad you did not bear the brunt of this storm, for sure. There were some powerful winds overnight that did damage in other areas. Still ahead, well go live to wisconsin for more unrest following the shooting of jacob blake. Plus, the remarkable, unprecedented response from professional athletes and entire sports leagues led by the nba. Youre watching morning joe. Well be right back. Atching mor. Well be right back. Cancer wont wait. It wont wait for appointments to open up or test results to come back. 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This meter shows how much stuff, or dissolved solids, gets left behind. Our tap water is 220. Brita . 110. Seriously . But zerowater let me guess. Zero . Yup, thats how i know it is the puresttasting water. I need to find the receipt for that. Oh yeah, you do. Iredefined the wordng thschool this year. Its why, at xfinity, were committed to helping kids keep learning through the summer. And help College Students studying at home stay connected through our university program. Were providing affordable Internet Access to low income families through our internet essentials program. And this summer, xfinity is creating a Virtual Summer camp for kids at home all on xfinity x1. Were committed to helping all families stay connected. Learn more at xfinity. Com education. Welcome back. Were learning more details surrounding the shooting of jacob blake. Lets bring in Gabe Gutierrez. What have you got . Hi, mika, good morning. Its a much calmer night here, thankfully. A relatively peaceful protest as wisconsins governor authorized about 500 extra National Guard members to help protect the city. The u. S. Department of justice is actually just opened a federal civil rights investigation into the blake shooting. Now, mika, we just heard for the first time from wisconsins attorney general who said several things. First, he identified the officer who shot blake in the back multiple times, rustin shevsky has been with the department for several years. State investigators found a knife in the floridaboard of blakes car. Now, attorneys for blakes family have repeatedly said that shouldnt make a difference, that officers should have deescalated the situation in some way, but still a lot of questions remain about that. Were learning more details about a kyle rittenhouse. Accused of shooting two people here wednesday night. The public defender has not explained what led up to that shooting. Shortly before that shooting, he gave an explanation of why he was harmed. Part of my job is theres somebody hurt, im running into harms way. Thats why im again, that was the previous night. Thankfully, a much calmer night here even after the attorney general authorized the National Guard members here. We expect to hear from local authorities here in kenosha a little later on. Thank you so much for that update. Twilly. Now to the stand professional athletes and full teams are taking in protests due to the shooting of jacob blake. The move prompted the nba to postpone all three playoff games scheduled yesterday. The protests moved well beyond the nba to sports leagues, including games in the wnba, Major League Baseball and major league soccer. Plus, tennis star naomi osaka says she will not compete at the western and southern open. Lets bring in Jason Johnson and stephanie rhul. Good morning to you both. Jason, i want to start with you. The nba players will meet again this morning at 11 00. They had a closed door meeting. Just your reaction, jason, to what you saw not just from the nba but across the world of sports yesterday. I think its fantastic. I think everybody is recognizing that theyre actually labor, that they are black men and women, white people, asian people, hispanic people who have gotten together and told this country that sports are a gift. Theyre entertainment and they are a gift. They are a gift to a functioning society. And when we no longer have a functioning society, when we no longer have a government that will protect its citizens, when we no longer have a government that listens to the basic needs of men and women Walking Around on the street. When a basic need of being protected from 17yearolds who run around and must black people and then get to do interviews that maybe we dont deserve sports. And i hope they take whatever kind of aggressive means they want to take. If they want to end the season, end the season. Maybe that will get some of the politicians and right wing maniacs who run this country to Pay Attention to how we are a on broken government and we need to do something about it and im glad these athletes are at the forefront of this discussion. The feeling was articulated well by a number of nba players, current and former. We heard two days ago from doc rivers in an emotional discussion, in an emotional monologue he gave after his game. And last night, it was chris weber. Chris weber was an nba all star and an iconic member of the fab 5 University Basketball team of the early 90s. Here is how he explained last night in a Live Television moment how he and so many other people are feeling right now. We know, vote, vote, everybody vote. But im here to speak for those who are always marginalized. Those that live in these neighborhoods where we breach and tell them to vote and walk away. Charles barkley came to my high school. Just seeing him in the locker room, seeing his hands and his body, that inspired me. You cant see something, you cant be something until you see it. I have a god son that has autism and i had to explain to him why we arent playing. I have young nefg ewes that ive had to talk to them about death before theyve even seen it in a movie. If not now, when . If not during a pandemic, and countless lives being lost, if not now, when . That is all i just want to hear from the rest of the night why everything is pontificating and soapboxing and all of that, we know nothing is going to change. We get it. Martin luther king got shot and risked his life. Weve seen this in all of our heros constantly taken down. But that does not mean, young men, that you dont do anything. Dont listen to these people telling you dont do anything because it is not going to end right away. You are starting something fort next generation and the next generation to take over. Do you have to be smart . Yes. Do you have to be articulate about that plan . Yes. But that is what youre going to do. You have to be the best of yours. So i applaud it because it is the young people leading the way and i applaud them. Part of the reason that hits me so hard is chris weber was the biggest, baddest man in basketball. And to see that level of humanity and to see that level of shared experience and to bring them down off of posters and pedestals as black men who share an experience with every black man in this country i thought was incredibly moving. Yeah. I you know, willie, there is not a black person in this country right now who hasnt been talking about this all night. The Sacramento Kings were my favorite team. I think if there is one thing i need to understand in this particular moment, it doesnt matter how rich you are. It doesnt matter how educated you are. This kind of racist state sponsored violence is a threat to over single black person in this country. Im sick of pea people saying, if there was just calm, no rioting. I lost a friend and i have flashbacks in that moment when i had the 17yearold has protesters and was brought back alive. But a black man that is shot in his car with his kids trying to break up a fight, this is why people are angry. This is why people tear down buildings. In a functioning society, in a functioning environment, well be addressing this pain rather than fighting about narratives. And im proud of chris and im proud of kenny and im proud of anybody else that is listening. 23r9 business aspefrom the b this, to have the players and the teams come together and say, you know what . Were stopping. Were going to wait until this situation finally is addressed in a real way. I cant imagine anything more compelling and i cant imagine a better opportunity for america, especially given the leadership that we have right now. Stephanie. Mika, its extraordinary. Were almost four years exactly to the day when Colin Kaepernick taking a knee garnered national attention. But whats happened to Colin Kaepernick since then . He has a contract with nike, but hes not playing in the nfl. What were seeing now is the best players in the nba all getting together and saying, were the boss. I spoke to team owners from the bucks, from the houston rockets, i spoke to mark cuban who owns the dallas mavericks. In a bucks locker room yesterday, they were on the phone with the attorney general and the Lieutenant Governor of the state of wisconsin. They are saying were actually the boss. We have control and were going to demand change. Now the players were in a very unique situation because they are all in the bubble down there in orlando. Theyre never in that situation. But last night there was a players meeting. Today there will be one at the same time and a team owners meeting. And the team owners said what we want to do is make this more than a moment. What theyre waiting for is what is the ask . Well see what they do. But when you see someone like lebron james, shut up and dribble, they are not shutting up and dribbling. And its going to be very interesting. Even in the last few weeks, weve heard so many voices say let those College Football players who want to play play, despite the pandemic, they should be able to do it. Are those same people going to say let these nba players have the control they want, demand change . Its an extraordinary time to see the players controlling this. Not the owners, not the nba, its the players. Its really moving. Stephanie ruhle, thank you very much for your reporting. And still ahead, the latest weekly jobless claims reports just about to cross. Were going to have those new numbers next on morning joe. Were going to have those new numbers next on morning joe. I wanted more from my copd medicine, thats why ive got the power of 1,2,3 medicines with trelegy. 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Now, only in the subway® app or online, any footlong is a five dollar footlong when you buy 2. Even the new bbq rib. Subway®. Eat fresh. Even the new bbq rib. Oh yeah, you going to place it . Not until im sure. Why dont you call Td Ameritrade for a strategy gut check . Whats that . You run it by an expert, you talk about the risk and potential profit and loss. Couldve used that before i hired my interior decorator. Voila maybe a couple throw pillows would help. Get a strategy gut check from our trade desk. Were waiting for the jobless claims to come out. As we do, there are some other business stories that youre looking at, dm. Yeah. The jobless claims will factor into the market data, the back drop. It is going to be virtual this year, given the virus pandemic. The event is closely watched by wall street. The fed is likely going to trying to get more predictable information. Fed chairman jay powell finds himself in a very predictable situation now. I will say now that we just got the numbers coming in here. It looks like we were just about as expected. It comes in at 1. 006 million. So well call it just about in line, but it highlights this idea that a Million People per week are filing for initial unemployment benefits. Thats something the fed will be watching, for sure. Tiktok chief executive kevin mayer is stepping down from his role at the video sharing platform. He was just on the job for four months. There is maybe no more company that is emblematic. The Trump Administration has deemed it a National Security threat and is forcing tiktok to sell its business in the u. S. And other key markets around the world. In a letter he says the Corporate Structure of the company would look very different in the future. Mayer is a disney alum, most recently the head of its streaming division which include eggs that wildly successful platform. He worked on lucas arts and lucas film, also pixar animation, marvel studios. He was a possible heir to disneys ceo bob iger before they gave that job to bob chapick. A lot of moving parts. But still, the economy, the fed, tiktok is very much in the discussion, guys. Back over to you. All right. Dominic chu, thank you so much. And this, the if i know yesterday announced it has no evidence of coordinated plans for fraudulent activity related to mailin ballots. At a security briefing for reporters held by the department of Homeland Security, the fbi and the director of National Intelligence office high ranking officials speaking on the condition of anonymity dispelled voter fraud claims made by the president. He and attorney general bill barr have repeatedly said mailin balloting is ripe and fraud and susceptible to tampering by foreign governments. An intelligence official told reporters we have not seen to date a coordinated National Voter fraud. Intelligence officials said there is no evidence of attempts to print counterfeit ballots and attempts of foreign governments and others to hack into u. S. Election systems. They have been mostly unsuccessful so far because states have better defenses and the federal government is sharing intelligence more widely. Meanwhile, in an Oval Office Interview with the washington examiner, the president appeared to shift his blame for potential fraud in the upcoming election from the post office itself to, quote, elections offices. When asked about the post offices ability to delivered ballots, he said no, its not the post office, its the elections office. Even if mail delivery were a day lace, according to the president , that is not the problem. The problem is when they dump all these ballots in front of a few people counting them, theyre going to count them wrong. The post office is not to bram. How many different ways do we need to hear that there is no widespread fraud in mailin voting . The fbi had a press briefing yesterday to effect live i sa i the argument the president is making is not true. Mitch mcconnell said the same. Senator tim scott came out and said no, im not worried about that. The president s own Campaign Manager has said as much, as well. The president is on an island on this idea that there is going to be fraud through this voting in this election. At this point, if he keeps moving the goal post this far, were going to be out of the stadium. What this boils down to is donald trump was always highing. What it speaks to is what ive recognized after the first of the rnc. This is not a president who is concerned about the actual election. Dlt downtown just wants to stay in support. Hell attack local secretaries of state. To say campaign offices, if its a mysterious mays next to the dmv and mcdonalds doesnt make any sense. Youre talking about secretaries of state from both parties who have a compelling reason to make elections work. But the president doesnt want anyone to vote. He simply warrants to stay in power. Thats why you hear these arguments week after week after week. Even if Mitch Mcconnell says he disagrees. President trump calling for a drug test before the president ial debates. What nobody thought is that he was going to win. He had debate performances were so bad, you know, frankly, his best performance was against bernie. Were going to call for a drug test, by the way, because his best performance was against bernie. It wasnt that it was winston churchill, because he wasnt. But it was a normal, boring debate. You know, nothing amazing happened. And we are going to call for a drug test because theres no way. You cant do that. What do you think was going on . Well, i dont know how he could have been so incompetent in his debate performances and then all of a sudden be okay against bernie. My point is, if you go back and watch some of those numerous debates, he was so bad. He wasnt even coherent. And against bernie, he was. And were calling for a drug test. So this is like a prize fight where beforehand you have a test . Well, it is a prizefight. Its no different than the gladiators except, you know, we have to use our brain and our mouths. And our body to stand. You know, i want all standing, you know, that was they wanted to sit down. So, willie, because just im curious, maybe donald trump ought to take a look at a tape of himself. Theres so many times where he doesnt make sense at all. Its almost as if hes projecting. But you also get the feeling he just thought of that. Like in the middle of that conversation and decided to go with it. Of course. I mean, i dont even know what to say about that. Theres not going to be a drug test. I think its probably best to ignore that, but maybe it shows, again, that hes worried about these debates. Hes maybe worried about the speech he saw Vice President biden give at the Convention Last week. Perhaps hes not as anxious and excited to get into the ring with joe biden as he says he is. Jason johnson, your thoughts . Yeah. This is not mayweather versus mcgregor, right . Theyre not going to fight. And as entertaining as it might be to see who 70yearold guys fight on a stage for 27 minutes, thats not what is about to happen. And what kind of drug test is he talking about . It doesnt make any sense. The thing that annoys me about this is why do people allow the president to go off on these rifts that he cant enforce that make no sense . That is the most disturbing thing. And i think the reporter should have pushed back and said, thats crazy. Yeah. I couldnt agree with you more. Still ahead, thousands of homes are without power as hurricane laura moves through southeast texas. Well get an update from the mayor of beaumont, next on morning joe. Beaumont, next on morning joe. Us. Its what this country is made of. But right now, our bond is fraying. How do we get back to us . The y fills the gaps. And bridges our divides. Donate to your local y today. Because where theres a y, theres an us. Yeah. This moving thing never gets any easier. Well, xfinity makes moving super easy. I can transfer my internet and tv service in about a minute. Wow, that is easy. Almost as easy as having those guys help you move. We are those guys. Thats you . The truck adds 10 pounds. In the arms. Okay. Transfer your Service Online in a few easy steps. Now thats simple, easy, awesome. Transfer your service in minutes, making moving with xfinity a breeze. Visit xfinity. Com moving today. Welcome back to morning joe. Weve been tracking the path of hurricane laura hitting landfall overnight. This is video from beaumont, texas, which did pretty well. Joining us on the phone actually, that was galveston that did pretty well. Lets hear hour bow monday did. The mayor is on the phone with us, mayor becky ames. Thanks very much for joining us. How did your city do, maam . Good morning. Thank you for allowing me to be on your show this morning. We actually did pretty well, also. Weve not had a chance to assess the entire city, but we have set up a website and a phone number for people to call it. Weve got multiple Power Outages and some streets down, but compared to where we thought we would be, we are in very, very good shape. That is really good news. Did you issue an Evacuation Order . How effective was it . Were looking at video of some significant damage and are hospitals reporting any injuries . Not yet and, actually, you know, our First Responders stopped rolling when the winds reach a dangerous level. And we let people know that decided to stay that they would not have Emergency Response during a certain period. It was pretty extended and we didnt have any calls. We were very, very pleased with that. I think at first we were disappointed that a lot of people were staying but then yesterday when we saw that the storm could hit us dead on, people did start leaving. So it was probably not as many as we would like, but its manageable. All right. The mayor of beaumont, texas, thats great news. Becky ames, thanks very much for being on the show with us this morning. Lets get a final check with nbc meteorologist bill karins. Bill, how is it looking right now . We still have people losing power now in central louisiana. We just had an 81mileperhour wind gust. Very impressive in alexandria. Were not completely done with the destruction and devastation. Im starting to see a lot of pictures out of the lake charles area. It looks like an ef2 tornado went through the region. That is how extreme is wind gusts are. Near the center of the storm is where we still could see some minor damage done. Here is kind of the wider view and the latest from the hurricane center. They still have it. 100mileperhour winds, category 2, moving to the north at 15 Miles Per Hour. Notice the area hit the hardest overnight, the rain is completely done. The weather will be quickly improving in areas that need the most help. That is Cameron Parish, up towards the lake charles area. Today, up towards little rock by about midnight. Notice it weakens them to a Tropical Storm. It still should be a hurricane by the time its parallel to shreveport and that will be around 1 00 central time. Then the storm will be a rain event, maybe flash flooding possible. And it could even be strengthening. Notice that 45mileperhour wind gust possible near areas of cape cod. Well have to keep an eye on that. As far as any additional wind gusts go, we could see the highest gusts heading up into arkansas later on tonight, mika. We have a chaps of tornados and with all of these Tropical Storm systems, we could see some of that, too. A lot of damage has already happened. Coming up, yet more conflicting guidance from the Trump Administration when it comes to testing for coronavirus. Well explain that, next on morning joe. Ruvis. Well explain that, next on morning joe. Book two separate qualifying stays and earn a free night. The open road is open again. And wherever youre headed, Choice Hotels is there. Book direct at choicehotels. Com. To soccer practices. And new adventures. You hope the more you give the less theyll miss. But even if your teen was vaccinated against meningitis in the past. They may be missing vaccination for meningitis b. Lets help protect them together. Because missing menb vaccination could mean missing out on a whole lot more. Ask your doctor if your teen is missing meningitis b vaccination. Ask your doctor if your teen find your getupandgo. Find pants that arent sweats. Find your friends. Find your sense of wander. Find the world is new, again. At chevy wed like to take you there. 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In the days leading up to the 2018 midterm election, Trump Administration officials reportedly toyed with the idea of using a microwave heat ray to deter migrants from crossing the border. The New York Times reports that officials reportedly floated the idea in a meeting with tom leaders of the department of Homeland Security in october of 2018, the same day that the white house stressed in a separate meeting with the dhs secretary that extreme action was needed to stop migrants according to the paper, the heat ray was designed two decades ago to make peoples skin feel like it was burning. The times reports that the device had been abandoned it over concerns of , and the Homeland Security secretary denounced the suggestion and asked that it not be brought up. Whether its unclear if the president was aware, he has suggested the ideas including fleshpiercing spikes on the board are border wall, building a motor filled with snakes and alligators, and shooting migrants in the legs. Willy . If i didnt know better, that story would read like a parody of somebody doing the more immoral things on the border. We also have an update on the naturalization two of the women sworn in as citizens told wall street journal they did not know video of the ceremony would be used at the rnc. One of the women said, while she filled out a Media Release form, she does not remember being informed about being a part of the convention. Both women, by the way said they did not mind being featured at the convention, and of course theyre still celebrating their citizenship. This is a piece of the conversation weve been having about the hatch act. Obviously if they had werent told about that, thats goes that they were being used in a beautiful ceremony personally for them, but this is a larger conversation about using the white house. Well see it again tonight as part of the Political Convention, a clear violation of laws, acts and rules and mohr that have been in place for years. Willie, if you think about the report of thats how he feels about people trying to come to this country to find a better life. Its another demonstration of how the president not only doesnt care, but will use the very same people he says comes from countries and dont deserve the dream, he will foist those people upon the public, using my tax money, mind you if i want to vote for trump, he can vote for trump, but i dont want him taking my tax money to promote his campaign, but thats a violation of the realize for the i just last night after Vice President mike pences speech at the rnc, the audience crowded a rope line closely together, mostly without masks, to greet President Trump, to greet the first lady, mike pence, second lady karen pence, something we havent seen in months. While its unclear exactly who is in the audience, whether they were tested for covid19, heres what we do know about testing at the first ladys address on tuesday night. Not all attendees at the rose garden address were tested for coronavirus ahead of her remarks, according to white house and campaign officials. Guests who were in the first few rouse for her speech and interacted either with the president , the first lady, Vice President or second lady, were screened prior to the remarks, but others were not. Chairs were slightly apart, but not separated fully at six feet. The protocols that have been in place at the white house are expected to be applied to President Trumps acceptance speech tonight on the south lawn where more than 1,000 people are anticipated. Nbc news has asked whether the Trump Campaign or white house has conducted actual testing for that and who covered the costs incurred, because its a campaign event, but have yet to receive a response. I just want to point out, as i to say to you, willie, any of these events are superspreader events where the virus that kills people is passed from person to person and theyre doing this at the behest of the Trump Campaign, doing this to see their president , i dont know how else to see it excepts the president endangers the lives of his followers. It fits into the narrative of the convention, that the pandemic is largely behind us and President Trump is the one who stopped it, which of course is not true whatsoever. 180,000 people are dead. 30 Million People are out of work. Is sends the signal that weve done the job and it is behind us. Meanwhile, Trump Administration officials are defending a new cdc recommendations that calls for people without covid19 symptoms to abstain from testing even as up scientists warn, as School Reopening and a fall wave looms. There are conflicting reports over who is responsible for initiating that order. According to New York Times, two federal Health Officials said the shift came as a directive to the cdc from higherups at the white house, and the department of health and human services, but admiral bret giroir, the administrations testing czar called it a cdc action. He did acknowledge the revision came after a vigorous debate of the task force. According to an axios report, dr. Fauci was under surgery when the task force approved the revisions to the cdc recommendations last thursday. Dr. Fauci was asked about it later and said it was an unfortunate coincidence that he was in surgery when that decision was finally made. Jason, as we wrap the show and wrap the Rnc Convention tonight with a speech from President Trump, what is your takeaway from this week about the message republicans want to put out about the country . Willie, they dont have a message. Usually an election is between two parties who agree on the rules and theyre going to seek votes. The democrats are trying to have an election. The republicans are trying to destroy the usps. This week has been nothing for a performance but a dictator in training. People need to get ready to get rid of this guy and vote. He does not care about your vote. He only wants to stay in power. That does it for us this morning. Stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. Thanks, mika. Hi there. Im stephanie ruhle. We must start this morning with breaking news. Hurricane laura pounding the gulf coast as we speak, slamming a huge section of louisiana with floodwaters and 100mileanhour winds, this is a lifethreatening storms, the likes of which they have not seen in more than 160 years. This storm means bill. It came into the Cameron Parish overnight. We are starting to see some signs every flooding in southern louisiana, while the National Hurricane center has says the storm surge could flood areas 40 miles from the coast. So far we see windows being pulled out, rain and wind blowing sideways. More than half a Million People were under orders to evacuate. Most of them did it, but remember, this is happening during covid, which makes everything a whole lot more dangerous. We have reporters in the middle of this covering it for you. I want to go straight to my colleague Chris Jansing i