Evacuation orders. President trump is meeting with fema administrator to talk about preps for the storm. Were expecting to get video of that meeting, well bring that to you as it breaks. From the coast of the carolinas to our Weather Center here in new york, lets start this hour with michelle grossman. Whats the late sneft. Ali, thanks so much. Were looking at a strong storm. It really hasnt changed much in the past four days. We are starting to see it gain strength once again you can see that perfect eye right there. Were going to see this stay in tact over the next several days. Hurricane florence, 130 mile per hour winds. Kind of on the everyone of a strong category three, a weak category four. Here it goes throughout time moving at 16 miles per hour, by thursday, 140 mile per hour wind winds this is friday. We have seen it slow down a bit, we expect it to be a category three storm. I dont want you to get stuck on that number. Its still a major storm, a storm with very high winds and surge. That will be the problem. And tons of rain. Were looking at destructive rain as we head throughout the next couple days. I want you to focus inland as well. Were going to see this hurricane sit and spin over the same area for days and days. This is going to be a story that lasts a few weeks. We have a hurricane watch in place. Were looking at this right along the coast here in pink. The North Carolina virginia border. Down through South Carolina, you want to stay vigilant to your local forecast too as well. A storm surge watch, this is very, very dangerous, it could inundate. Its life threatening. Through the same areas down through parts of southern South Carolina, we are looking at storm surge very high, well go across those numbers in a few minutes. Your impacts, were looking at a wind threat, of course. Very high through cape hatteras, the purple still very strong as well about roanoke, charlotte, charleston. You are not out of the woods. I know we put the cone toward wilmington, you want to look to the left and right. The cone is 370 miles. You dont want to hone in on one spot. The storm surge heights 6 to 12 feet. Its going to cause beach erosion, destruction to Barrier Islands and homes right along those Barrier Islands. And a lot of the destruction will come east of the storm. If you live east of that center, youre going to see most of the damage. Its not just going to be a one time thing. We need to Pay Attention to your local high tide schedule. Also rainfall. These are unbelievable numbers. Were talking 20 inches of rain, 30 inches of rain, i can hear ali in the background here. Typically were thinking snow. Thats a lot of snow. This is rain, were going to see destructive rain flooding. Power outages, towns paralyzed for a few days. And were going to focus this over the next couple days. Well keep you posted on every development in the storm, thanks, michelle. Lets go to the area in the middle of that cone of uncertainty that michelle was talking about. Joining me from wrightsville beach, North Carolina right n r near reporter this storm is big, vicious. Along this barrier island, can you see most of the businesses are boarded up. All of the Barrier Islands in this state are now under mandatory evacuation. I just spoke to the mayor of wrightsville, people are telling me theyre dawning on the realization that this storm is coming here with all its power and mite. He reminded folks that Public Services will be cut off. The water will be cut off starting at 6 00 p. M. Today. Public safety will be cut off. If you decide to stay, youre out here by yourself, because theyre setting up a security perimeter outside of this island. Not even 911 phone calls are going to be taken in. Jim, you have been here for decades. Yes. What other storms have you seen and how does this compare . Ive been through quite a few in the last 26 years, fran, floyd comes to mind. They were significant storms, this one appears from all that were hearing to be much worse. This is your business were standing in front of . Yes, it is. You boarded up. Yes. Have you decided to evacuate. And did you evacuate from the prior storms . In the prior storms i did not. This one i am, im going to go inland. Its just it has the possibility of being a disastrous storm. So its better use caution. For the first time, somebody like you, 27 years here, this is the first time youre evacuating . That is correct. I hope you stay safe and your business stays safe. Thank you. Thank you. I wish everybody the same. Ali, even just in the day that ive been here, from the morning to now, the mood has significantly changed. In the morning, we saw families, we saw tourists, people taking photos of surfers, now its the reality is setting in, that realization that this could be a life changing storm for the North Carolina coast. This one could be very serious. Thanks for your reporting from wrightsville, beach, North Carolina. South in horry county, South Carolina, they have prepped four main evacuation routes. One of those evacuation lanes coming out of myrtle beach. Gabe gutierrez is just south of there in conway, South Carolina. Whats the situation where you are . Reporter behind me is the intersection of 501 and 544. This is one of the areas where authorities here in South Carolina have turned it into a four lane highway. Closed down one of the directions in order to keep traffic flowing. Weve been seeing a steady stream of cars here this afternoon. Mandatory evacuations kicked in at noon. Authorities have been trying to keep that traffic flowing. We have seen a few people, including this guy, gordon. Youve been having a tough time finding gas around here . Weve been looking around for about an hour. Most gas stations dont have regular gas. Theyre all closed. This one has a few pumps with premium. You havent been able to find regular unleaded anywhere . No, not anywhere. Thats something were seeing a lot here. This is something we expect as preparations continue. South carolinas governor saying that 1800 members of the National Guard are on alert ready to step in. Theyre directing traffic right over there. We expect the buildup to really get worse later on this afternoon. And into tomorrow as this massive, possibly historic storm battles toward the east coast. Speaking to the mayor of murt el beach today. Were not near an interstate. The labor reversal becomes important, they have to get people to the interstate, where there will be more traffic heading out of there. If youre in that area. Have you to go very far north or south to get out of it it. Thats right, the big concern. The concern is what hatchs if you drive two or three hours to raliegh, thats expected to get a ton of rain as well. You may be able to drive a few hours away from the coast and still feel the impacts of the storm. Something we felt earlier. Theres a lot of people protecting their homes, some hunkering down including a Retirement Community we spoke with. Others are taking these warnings seriously, and they plan to get out of town well before the storm. Is there any sense . And you may not know this from where you are, i was talking to the mayor earlier. Some people are resistant to leaving some people say ive waited storms out before, i can do it again. Are you getting any season of that around there . Yeah, some of the people weve spoken with, including some of those folks that were getting sandbags earlier. Theyre not heeding the evacuation. Not quite as often, powerful of a storm. Theres always those people that feel they want to stay, they want to protect their property, they may not think its an powerful of a storm as forecasters are saying. Authorities are saying, do not get lulled into a false sense of security. Theres some question about where the eye of this storm will hit. The european model is saying that theres a potential it could shift to the north South Carolina border. The prediction is it will make landfall just to our north in wilmington. Pretty much up and down the carolinas, major storm surge is expected. Authorities are warning people to heed those evacuation orders and get out of dodge. Gabe gutierrez in conway, South Carolina. Coming up, remembering 9 11. 17 years ago today the world changed when nearly 3,000 people lost their lives in the worst terror attack to hit the United States. How far have we come in the nearly two decades since. This field is now a monument to american defiance. This memorial is now a message to the world. America will never ever submit to tyranny. The attacks on september 11th, shattered the peace of that quiet september morning. Claimed the lives of 2977 men, women and children. 184 of them fell here. My brother, paul hanley keenan. We think about you every day. Your family misses you. My beloved son, joshua todd aaron. We miss you every day and we love you forever. [ bell tolling ] about medicare and supplemental insurance. Medicare is great, but it doesnt cover everything only about 80 of your part b medicare costs, which means you may have to pay for the rest. Thats where Medicare Supplement insurance comes in to help pay for some of what medicare doesnt. Learn how an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by United HealthcareInsurance Company might be the right choice for you. A free decision guide is a great place to start. Call today to request yours. So what makes an aarp Medicare Supplement plan unique . Well, these are the only Medicare Supplement plans endorsed by aarp and thats because they meet aarps high standards of quality and service. Youre also getting the great features that any Medicare Supplement plan provides. For example, with any Medicare Supplement plan you may choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. You can even visit a specialist. With this type of plan, there are no networks or referrals needed. Also, a Medicare Supplement plan goes with you when you travel anywhere in the u. S. A free decision guide will provide a breakdown of aarp Medicare Supplement plans, and help you determine the plan that works best for your needs and budget. Call today to request yours. Lets recap. There are 3 key things you should keep in mind. One if youre turning 65, you may be eligible for medicare but it only covers about 80 of your Medicare Part b costs. A Medicare Supplement plan may help pay for some of the rest. Two this type of plan allows you to keep your doctor as long as he or she accepts medicare patients. And three these are the only Medicare Supplement plans endorsed by aarp. Learn more about why you should choose an aarp Medicare Supplement plan. Call today for a free guide. Medicare supplement plan. This is moving day with the best inhome wifi experience and millions of wifi hotspots to help you stay connected. And this is moving day with Reliable Service appointments in a twohour window so youre up and running in no time. Show me decorating shows. This is staying connected with xfinity to make moving. Simple. Easy. Awesome. Stay connected while you move with the best wifi experience and twohour appointment windows. Click, call or visit a store today. Members of congress are calling for new action against russia, after u. S. Officials believe russia may be responsible for the mysterious attacks that injured a dozen diplomats in cuba and china. Colorado senator Cory Gardiner called for the senate to pass a a bill requiring the state department to consider designating russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. Officials say at least 26 employees at the u. S. Embassy in havana have been diagnosed with brain injuries, hearing loss and other medical issues since late 2016. Earlier this year, a worker at a u. S. Con sew late in china was diagnosed with similar symptoms. Ken dilanian helped break this story. People have been coming up with these symptoms and we havent quite determined what it is thats causing them . Thats right, its a huge mystery. The u. S. Believes theyre a little closer to solving the mystery, theyre not ready to say conclusively it was russia. A lot of evidence points to russia. Theres a massive investigation going on by the cia, the fbi, the u. S. Military, theyre trying to get to the bottom of what technologies were used here, they think they understand more about that. A sophisticated Microwave Technology was used. Russia has always been a likely suspect. Russia, china, cuba. And now theyre moving closer to saying it was russia, theyre not ready to definitively pronounce that russia did did. Thats why some of these calls for sanctions may be a little premature. Go we have . And is it the same group of people that are investigating what it is . Its a sonic attack of some sort . Its not a sonic attack. The victims thought they heard sounds. Thats why initially it was described that way. What our sources are saying, they believe microwaves were part of they can be deployed a certain way. They can make people think theyre hearing sounds. And this is a really sophisticated microwave weapon that the russians may have deployed. The military has done research on some of this technology as well. Now they think the russians have used it against our diplomats. In your story, you and your colleagues wrote, since last year, the u. S. Military has been working to reverse engineer including by testing various devices on animals. So theyre trying to figure it out theyre trying to figure it out. Theyre not 100 there yet. They have some leads, and we are told there were microwaves and a couple other technologies that were so secret. Microwaves are a common expression ken dilanian reporting on this, thank you. Coming up, hurricane floernsz is barreling toward the east coast as the strongest storm to target the carolinas in decades. With more than a Million People under mandatory evacuation orders. Expected to be slammed by florence up ahead. Youre watching msnbc. Fidelity is redefining value for investors. Introducing zero account fees for brokerage accounts. And zero minimums to open an account. We have Fidelity Mutual funds with zero minimum investment. And now, only fidelity offers two zero Expense Ratio index funds directly to investors. Because when you invest with fidelity, all those zeros really add up. So maybe ill win, saved by zero brushing only reacheslly add up. 25 of your mouth. Listerine® cleans virtually 100 . Helping to prevent gum disease and bad breath. Never settle for 25 . Always go for 100. Bring out the bold™ the Kenya Tea Development agency is an organization that is owned by tea farmers. Every week we sell this tea, we get paid in multiple accounts. We were looking for a bank to provide a safe and Efficient Technology platform to pay our farmers. Citi was the only one that was able to ensure that this was done seamlessly. And today, at the touch of a button, all the farmers are able to get their money, Pay School Fees and improve their standard of living. With citi, we see a Bright Future for our farmers and their families. Evil visited us on a cloudless tuesday morning. Courage and strength answers amid the fire and smoke in new york city over a pennsylvania meadow and in this very building. As innocent people from 91 countries were murdered on our soil. Secretary of Defense James Mattis speaking at the pentagon this morning where 184 people were killed 17 years ago today. In all, nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks, the worst ever in the United States. As we remember and honor all those who lost their lives, and the men and women who showed incredible bravery in the response. The question we have to ask is, are we safer today . To help answer this, im joined by ali safan. He was one of the lead investigators for the fbi. Even before 9 11, he was already focused on al qaeda and osama bin laden. Hes also the author of anatomy of terror. Youve been working on this issue much longer than most americans have been thinking about this, are we safer given what we didnt do right . Are we safer now rather than then. I think if you look at the way agencies cooperate and share information. Were definitely a lot better than we used to be before 9 11. If you look at the threat itself and how it mutated after 9 11 after the iraq war and the arab spring. The ideology is way more spread than it used to be on 9 11. Before 9 11. Osama bin laden had 400 people who pledged loyalty to him. Now there are thousands and thousands. Literally, that kind of cancer has spread. We think of these groups as smaller and less structured. Theyre much more diffuse. You dont have to go now to afghanistan and pledge your allegiance that way . You do an attack. Also, the mentality of these terrorist organizations, especially al qaeda, that was actually an order that was given to them by bin laden before the navy s. E. A. L. Bullets took him down, the calculus changed. Now instead of focusing on the United States and the west, they start to take advantage of local conflicts in order to recruit more. In order to rebuild the network. Before they did that in 1995, after they lost sudan, for example, and they took advantage of the conflict in afghanistan, and created an allegiance with the taliban in order for al qaeda to rebuild itself. After the arab spring, i think the calculous changed. And we saw them doing it in yemen and syria, and so many other places. After this network is rebuilt. And after we start realizing we need to take down these regional conflicts and have Peaceful Solutions for these regional conflicts. I think it might be a big possibility that they will lash on the west again. You were testifying on friday, about terrorism funding. Again, we used to talk about how isis would take over oilfields and sell it, the hostage taking and all that. How do terrorists make their money these days . They still do all the stuff you do. You still have the donors, the criminal activities, the terrorist organizations do across the world. Opium trade, looting of artifacts, oil, hostages, at the same time, the most important funding mechanism is these conflicts thats happening across the middle east. For example, look whats happening in yemen today, just as an example. Al qaeda and yemen, before the arab comb igs. The saudi coalition, less than 1,000. Today there is way more than 7,000. They have taken a lot of advantage of the conflict and theyre being aided directly and indirectly by the arab coalition. Guess what, they are fighting, also they are fighting the enemy of the enemy is my friend. Ali, stay there for a second. The attacks on the pentagon, the twin towers and in pennsylvania launched our country into two wars. The war in afghanistan rages on 17 years later, the violence is far from contained there, it continues in iraq. Its since spread to syria and yemen. For more on this, im joined by an Investigative Reporter for the new york times. To the point that ali was just making. We went into afghanistan to attack the taliban, which is supported by al qaeda, now we have diffuse terrorists all over the world and were still involved in this fight in afghanistan, its not clear that we have 17 years of success to show for it. Afghanistan has had a lot of drifts. From the initial operation, immediately after 9 11 to go and displace the taliban and pursue al qaeda, we took on a number of nation building projects. And tried a number of different strategies, many of which led us to drift. We do maintain a Counter Terrorism platform there, which is pursuing some of the terrorists that ali was discussing, and i think theres value in that. I think the larger question about what the National Interest in afghanistan is, is something we need to sort out as part of our strategy. Youre a journalist, a Pulitzer Prize winner. But you are definitely youve written a book about average regular people fighting these wars. So you are arguably sympathetic to those people there to ask a question like you just asked . How do you continue fighting a war when lots of reasonable people are asking that question . How do these people who you write about justify being there. Were really talking about, we almost have to cleve our brains in half. Separating the good people who show up in good faith with the Public Service intention of trying to prevent future attacks. And with defending the country, not just with terrorism, but many other threats. Terrorism is only one thing we need to worry about as a nation. To me, its felt for many years to be adrift and maybe not connected to realistic or achievable goals on realtime lines. The people who fight these wars they show up in good faith, take care of each other. Sometimes some of them wonder how this for instance, what theyre doing on a given patrol in afghanistan makes us more safer here. They sign up to do that. Like the good people of the fbi and the cia. They sign up to help their patriots, their lives are on the line, there are jobs you can do where you dont risk your life on a daily basis. They invest everything to try to serve the country. And we have a duty to connect their good faith and tactics that we engage them to to realistic strategy, thats where i see the disconnect. This book youre talking about is about the Human Experience of war. Wed like to have that connected to something that would make us all safer. Do you fear that 17 years later, we dont treat this with the same importance. These people you write about, some of them die, and sometimes the number publishes their name . I think theres clearly a disconnect between the fighting class and the rest of the country. And to a large extent between the fighting class and the body politic. Its all related in my view to not have a draft. We have a small population thats served in afghanistan and iraq. Less than 1 of our country. When we expanded out to include our family members. We do not get to 10 . We do not have skin in the game as a public. And because of that we dont hold our politicians to account. Operates under a condition that i call uninformed consent. Do you see a reason or an ability to justify to these people that cj writes about about why were in afghanistan . Were fighting for each other at this point. We gave them an admission to the taliban. I think our answer to the public. And to the political leadership. And its a political decision at this point. And i believe its a lot complicated to a lot of the different regional aspects with afghanistan, china, iran. Those folks are fighting for each other, for one another. Like toward the end of vietnam, i agree with everything c. J. Said. We there are soldiers, is there are people who have fought in afghanistan who have come back and said, maybe its time to end this war about we now have a situation when we get out of things, we create vacuums that leave space for those very groups that ali is talking about. While its tempting to say, lets get out of all these things, there seems to be a new natural interest that has developed in not having countries be governmental vacuums. You are presenting a puzzle to which i dont see an answer. And i dont see it as my job to provide an answer. Im not dodging the question. Thats a big big puzzle, and i dont propose that we instantly leave and expect a good outcome either. I think we need to engage more thoroughly. Can we articulate why were in afghanistan, when were coming home . What success looks like . We should be able to do that as a country. This is a tough decision, the discussion to have. 17 years later, were still having it, and we appreciate your input. The author of the book, the amat my of terror from the death of bin laden to the rise of the islamic state. And author of the fighters, americans in combat in afghanistan and iraq. These two books are crucial reads. Please pick them up and read them. We are going to be hearing from the president just moments from now. Hes been meeting with keeirsti nilsson. I received a briefing from secretary nilsson, administrator long and my senior staff regarding Hurricane Florence and other tropical systems that will soon impact the United States and its territories. The safety of American People is my absolute highest priority. We are sparing no expense. We are totally prepared, were ready. Were as ready as anybodys ever been. It looks to me and it looks to all of a very talented people who do this for a living. This is going to be a storm thats going to be a very large one, far larger than weve seen in perhaps decades. Things can change, but we doubt they will at this stage. Its a pretty late stage. We doubt theyre going to be very far off course. The places that are in the way, in the most jeopardy, would be virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, that area. And again, they havent seen anything like whats coming at us in 25, 30 years. Maybe ever. Its tremendously big and tremendously wet. Tremendous amounts of water. So ive smokin with the governors of South Carolina, North Carolina, virginia. Theyre prepared, were prepared. Were working very well in conjunction with the governors. Id like to ask brock long our administrator whos done so well for us, in texas and florida, we have something it could be similar to texas in the sense that its tremendous amounts of water. Texas was the one that had to this point, probably more water than weve ever seen in a storm or a hurricane. And it went out for seconds and thirds. Weve never seen anything like it, but fema as you know, did a fantastic job, and a fantastic job also in florida. And id like to ask brock if you would, to say a few words to the media as to where it is now, whats going to be happening and how well prepared we are. Thank you, mr. President. Unfortunately, Hurricane Florence is setting up to be a devastating event to the carolinas and virginia as well. Theyre forecasting a major land falling storm. The biggest hazard were worried about is storm surge. Thats the primary driver of the evacuations that are underway by the states of South Carolina, North Carolina and virginia right now. As this system comes in and makes landfall during the weekend its forecast to stall out, lose its steering currents and drop Copious Amounts of rainfall. Unfortunately, the remnants of gordon passed through the midatlantic over the weekend. And drop ped a lot of rain saturating rivers. Hurricane florence comes in in isolated areas to create a lot of inland flooding. Right now, were supporting the governors with achieving their life safety evacuation movements 37 were focused on mass care and sheltering, well be focused on helping them execute their response and recovery goals. What are the chance it veers off course and the hit wont be as direct. Unfortunately, i believe theres quite a bit of accuracy in the forecast. I think the expectation needs to be set with the citizens in this area, if youve been asked to leave, get out of the areas that are going to flood, and get into a facility that can with stand the winds, lets set the expectations as well. This has the opportunity of being a devastating storm, the powers going to be off for weeks, youre going to be displaced from your home and coastal areas, it will be flooding in the inland areas as well. These are going to be statewide events. The hazards will be statewide. This is a sevenday rainfall graphic, as you can see, the pink areas and the purple areas indicate 20 inches. Thats an average rainfall amount. You may see isolated amounts greater into the 30 inch range over virginia, the central portions of virginia, west virginia, these impacts are going to be through the midatlantic, were coordinating not only with South Carolina, North Carolina and virginia, but all other states on the way to delaware. It has been great coordination. Everybodys working together. The gov fwhers and all of their representatives have been absolutely fantastic. And fema, theres nobody like you people, i mean, what theyre doing is incredible. Do you have any questions for secretary nilsson or brock long . What happened in puerto rico. How do you apply the lessons i think puerto rico was incredibly successful. It was our most difficult because it was an island. We moved a hospital on to puerto rico. I actually think, and the governor has been very nice. Hell tell you what a great job i think probably the hardest one we had by far was puerto rico because of the island nature. I think it was one of the best jobs thats ever been done with respect to what this is all about. Puerto rico got hit not with one hurricane but with two. And the problem with puerto rico is, their from grid and their electric generating plant was dead before the storms ever hit. It was in very bad shape, it was in bankruptcy, had no money, it was largely closed. And when the storm hit, they had no electricity essentially before the storm, and when the storm hit, that took it out entirely. The job that fema and Law Enforcement and everybody did working along with the governor in puerto rico i think was tremendous. I think puerto rico was an incredible unsung success. Texas we have been given a pluses for. Florida weve been given a pluses for, i think in a certain way, the best job we did was puerto rico, but nobody would understand that. Its harder to understand. It was a very hard thing to do. Because of the fact they had no electric before the storms hit, it was dead as you probably know. So weve gotten a lot of receptivity, a lot of thanks for the job weve done in puerto rico. By the way, speaking of puerto rico. Theyre going to be affected pretty much, pretty soon by Something Else thats on its way . Potentially hurricane isaac is tracking south of the island, but we are we have several thousand people inside puerto rico right now working on long term recovery thats shifted to reresponsible mode as isaac passes to the south. We do not want to see hurricane isaac hit puerto rico. Thats all we need. We have a big hurricane out there, and its skirting along puerto rico. That would not be good. Mr. President recovery efforts. We have it currently. These are all unanticipated, so were going to congress, congress will be very generous, because we have no choice. This is the United States. Maryland could are affected. Very seriously affected. Just to add. Its a little bit outside of the path. South carolina, North Carolina, i think that any amounts of money, whatever it takes, were going to do. Were already set up, we have tremendous trucking systems, food systems. We have a lot of contractors waiting, for the most part its been handled by fema. Also, weve coordinated locally. We have food for days we have emergency equipment and generators for many days. We should be in great shape. Ive also heard it could be 21 and 22 inches, if you can imagine what that is. 22 inches of rain, its not something that weve had certainly weve never had this on the east coast. This storm is similar to hurricane hugo. Almost like a combination of hugo and floyd in 89 and 99. Successful Disaster Response and recovery is one thats executed, and federally supported. What fema is doing, is prepositioning the federal governments assets to support each one of those governors that are about to be impacted with achieving their goals. Thats the way Emergency Management works best. Id like to point out, what we learned last year, we have got to build a true culture of preparedness with our citizens here in america. This is a partnership, and it takes anything from neighbor helping neighbor all the way to the federal government when it comes to responding and recovery. Can we ask you about preparations. Fema doesnt own the power grids in any one of these states. A lot of them are owned by the private industry. We have Business Emergency Operations Center calls, were concentrating with the private vendors to make sure they have strong mutual aid, and we set up Incident Support basis to help stage power crews from other states. Its femas job to make sure Power Companies can get into these areas to set up their grid. Unlike puerto rico you have very strong Power Companies, theyre very powerful, very well managed in the sense that they have tremendous overcapacity. They are going to do a great job. They also have made contracts with other Power Companies that wont be affected and theyll be coming in to the various states that will be affected. Theyre going to be coming in very strongly, and theyre already lining up, theyll be here probably for the most part tomorrow or shortly before the storm hits. Theyre going to be in great shape. These are really states that have very, very strong Power Companies. Whats your response to people that have not eswrak u ated yet . Its very risky, weve never seen anything like this on the east coast at least. If it turns out to be bad we go out there, you have people that go fly through these storms. These are very brave people, but they fly through, from what im hearing, the sights theyre seeing have not been seen before on the east coast. You have to listen to your local authorities. Whether youre upland or downland, you have to listen and get out. Its going to be impack to have people get in there. Whether its Law Enforcement or fema or anyone else once this thing hits. Its going to be really bad along the coast. Anything else . Do you believe the reporter you shouldnt be talking about that right now because it doesnt matter. I really appreciate the book is a piece of fiction. Thank you very much, i think were very well prepared and thank you all very much. Appreciate it. Trade talks . Trade talks are coming along very well. Were dealing with china, as you know. Weve taken a tough stand on china, i would say to put it mildly. And with canada, they want to make a deal very much. Me, if we make it, thats good. If we dont make it, thats okay too. Canada wants to make a deal, well see if we can get them into the deal we already have with mexico. I think the deal with canada is coming along very well. Weve all been dealing in good faith. Okay . Thank you, everybody. Thank you, everybody. Do not adjust your screen, i am not ali velshi, im katy tur. Ali is catching a plane to go down to the storm zone. That was President Trump addressing the storm. The government is prepared, brock long from fema saying fema is prepared. Peter alexander is with us from the white house. Peter, the president also defended the governments response to puerto rico saying what a success it was. The current estimate for deaths in puerto rico according to the independent study done by George WashingtonUniversity Puts the death toll in puerto rico at 2,975 people. Yeah, katy, that was a striking comment. Lets start first with this storm were anticipating in the next few days now. The president indicating it is his top priority, the safety of the American People. They will spare no expense in preparation for this. Preparing the response necessary along the coastline. Within the last couple hours, declaring an emergency in the state of virginia, which frees up federal funds to help in anticipation of the storm. Hitting that area, but it was notable what youre referring to in, the president s comments now literally a matter of days after the official estimate for the storm that hit puerto rico was raised to nearly 3,000. The total number, 29,75. 46 times larger than the initial estimate, the initial death toll which had initially been indicated at 64 fp now approaching 3,000. The president saying it was incredibly successful, he would go on to say it was one of the best jobs ever done. Which was sort of a remarkable recasting of an event that all americans would agree was insufficient in terms of the response, given the death toll being that high. We heard from the president speaking in anticipation of this new storm, its going to be Something Like weve never seen before. When brock long indicated, this would be similar to storms like floyd and hugo, that hit several decades ago. The bottom line, though, this white house is trying its best to look like its being proactive on this, if youve received those warnings, you should get out. Katie . You have to question the level of preparedness. I had a Lieutenant General on my show last hour. He was in charge of katrina in the aftermath, and i asked him if this government is ready, if any government can be ready for a storm of this size. Peter, heres what he said. This storm has displaced the most powerful military force we have in the United States. Thats our east Coast Military starting up at the pentagon coming south to ft. Bell, quantico, the fbi training center, the Marine Training center. Langley air force base. And the entire hampton arsenal, part of our most powerful ships in the world are located. This is a magnificent storm, people need to listen. They need to evacuate. But i will not bet any money that we are prepared. Peter, i also asked Lieutenant General about the preparations that fema has talked about to usa today. 30,000 liters of water, 400,000 meals. He called that a joke, said the government shouldnt be First Responders in this situation. They should this situation but should be supporting local governments instead. You heard peter brock say that same thing. Do we have any idea, concrete idea, about how fema is supporting those local governments and what theyre doing to make sure that they have the resources they need in the aftermath of this storm . To make sure that people get running water, they get adequate shelter, they get food, et cetera . Reporter yeah, well, we are going to be hearing more from fema in terms of its preparedness for this hurricane. Youre referring to the fema administrator brock long who was there alongside the president demonstrating what the storms path looks like and what potential rainfall would be. Theyre going to be holding a Conference Call for reporters a short time from now, information that we will pass on to now as soon as we get it. The president as he frequently does trying to best state the facts as he views them, saying we are as ready as anyone has ever been here, but based on past experiences, sometimes its hard to believe the president s statements when his statements dont match the facts on the ground. We hope for a successful response this time around, certainly, katy . Lets just quote one last thing, the u. S. Government Accountability Office did a study on what happened last season with all the storms. They were critical of the government response. They say by the time maria hit puerto rico, they were down to the bottom of the barrel, fema, that is, they were having a struggle getting people there and not just people, but qualified people. Lets also note that there are 13 toplevel positions at fema that are currently occupied by acting officials, rather than permanent appointees. Peter reporter in the president s words, that was an incredible unsung success. Alexander. Thank you very much. Reporter thanks, katy. Joining me on the phone is wilmington, North Carolina, mayor, bill safo. Thank you for joining us. Are the people in your town heeding the evacuation warning . I feel they are. We have been disseminating the information to the citizens of this community as soon as we get it. It seems like people are taking this storm very seriously. People are evacuating, people are securing their properties. And preparing for the worst. In terms of what you need down there, in the aftermath of this storm, after its blown through and taken with it what could in some places be as high as a 12foot storm surge, not to mention, the many feet of water that could get dumped on towns like yours, do you have what you need to support your residents in the aftermath . Well, thats why theres a coordinated effort on a yearly annual basis between the local government, the state government, and the federal government. You know, we prepare for these storms, year in and year out. And we know that were going to be inundated with a lot of rain. Were going to have flooding. Were going to have storm surge. Were going to have debris. Were going to have downed power lines. When we get out after the storm to assess the damage that has occurred, we then, you know, contact or work with the fema folks and our state to make sure that we are getting the resources here necessary to to handle the situation here on the ground. We work very well together with the state and with fema. Weve had, you know, several storms that have hit this area over the last couple of years, and, you know, weve had a pretty Good Relationship with the federal government when storms like this hit our coast. And we hope that well have, you know, a similar situation, you know, after this storm passes. But we are constantly preparing. Were constantly working together. Were always communicating with teach other in our operations center, with the fed, with the federal government, the state government, and the local governments. And making sure that we have a concerted, unified, effort in how we deal with these storms, how we notify the public, and how we react after the storm passes. We hope things go as smoothly as possible, and that you do get all the resources you need. Good luck out there, and thank you for joining us, bill saffo. Thank you, katy. Thank you. Returning to our continuing coverage of Hurricane Florence, residents and tourists are not the only ones getting out of the storms path, so as you heard general honore say a moment ago, our military ships and planes. Nbcs hans nichols joins us from the pentagon with that part of the story. Hans, its unusual to have this sort of military array right in the path of such a powerful storm. Yeah, to what youre seeing at least from the navy side, theyre trying to move ships out to sea. They sent out the orders. Over 30 ships have been moved out. Theyve been sortied, in the official term, and want to move those to be a place where theyll be in position to help if recovery and rescue operations are needed. So theyll get out of the storms way. Youre seeing something similar happening with naval air assets over 100 air assets leaving the region. All throughout the government, youre seeing at least on the dod side, an effort to really be prepared. Secretary mattis came down, talked to us on 9 11, a small group of reporters. Heres what he had to say,ing. He said even on a day as sacred as this, the pentagon continues to function. The biggest immediate threat to our people, four storms at one time. Two storms out of the pacific, and of course the two in the atlantic that look like they may be heading to north america. You know, katie, i got to tell you, you talked to the National Guard. Every single state thats affected by this, they have plans. They have contingency plans. Theyre calling up members. I think virginia, latest numbers i have here, 1,500 National Guards, active duty, for North Carolina, 320 guardsmen. South carolina, 1,100. The pentagon is waiting for orders from fema to say, lets go ahead and do something, do something to help, and as soon as they do, the pentagon, the dod, will be positioned to try to help with recovery and try to make things a little easier for those citizens. Katy . 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Hungry eyes one look at you and i cant disguise ive got hungry eyes applebees new 3course meal starting at 11. 99. Now thats eatin good in the neighborhood. That will do it for the 3 00 p. M. Hour. Again, i know its weird. Im not ali velshi. Im katy tur. Ali had to run to catch a lastminute flight. Hes going to be in wilmington, North Carolina, tomorrow. Please do join him and all of us at msnbc as we follow this zo. Storm. In the meantime, deadline white house with Nicolle Wallace starts right now. Hi, everyone. Its 4 00 in washington. Donald trump is facing two monumental tests as his presidency is racked with the crisis of confidence from within. Some of the lowest Approval Ratings of his Job Performance since taking office. A category 4 hurricane is hurdling toward the carolinas where mandatory evacuations are under way. The storm is expected to make landfall thursday night with tropicalstormforce winds battering the area by thursday morning. The president s record on hurricane response, uneven at best. A deadly hurricane in puerto rico almost exactly one year ago, revealed that even natural disasters are processed by