Well talk to him shortly. Also, President Trump will view the damage in North Carolina. Hes currently talking to reporters in the white house. Well bring that to you as soon as we get it in the newsroom. Meanwhile, trump is expected to land at cherry point in havli k havlicek, North Carolina. Then the president will go 113 miles west to speak on the eve of a pivotal election for a seat in the u. S. House of representatives. Its shaping up to be a major test of the president s clout. Joining me in fayetteville will the president will be holding his rally. Is nbc anchor kristen welker. Kristen, glad to have you. The president , as i mentioned will be touring the damaged area from Hurricane Dorian at this hour. He will be with governor roy cooper. Hes then expected to head to a Campaign Rally where hes mobilizing voters for the North Carolina ninth congressional districts. Do we get a sense at all what we expect to hear from tonights keep America Great rally . What is the message this owning . Reporter well, i think the focus is going to be getting out to vote, ayman. The president as you just mentioned talked on the white house lawn before departing. Thats what he emphasized when he was asked about why hes coming here to fayetteville to campaign for the republican candidate dan bishop. He said hes a good candidate. He wants to see him in congress and this is all about getting out to vote. By the way, Vice President mike pence also in the state making the case for bishop. So, why is this such a critical test for President Trump . Well, you really touched upon that. This is of course, the last congressional race of 2018 but it has big implications for President Trump and 2020. The reason why, dan bishop is a republican candidate who has embraced President Trumps policies when it comes to immigration. When it comes to trying to paint democrats as socialists. In fact, hes tried to paint his democratic challenger dan mckreedz m mccready as a socialist. For his part, mccready is a businessman who is a moderate. Hes tried to distance himself from lawmakers in capitol hill. Hes really trying to run in the center. This race right now, neck and neck. Turnout could make the difference. President trump won this district by 12 points. If he loses or if its very close, thats going to be problematic for the president. Take a look at the crowd gathered right now, lined up waiting to get into this evening. You can see they are hire under ahead of President Trumps arrival. I can expect that youre going to hear a president who very fired up tonight when he takes the podium. Worth mentioning, democrats have poured millions of dollars in their get out to vote efforts. They see this as a critical race, too. Kristen welker in fayetteville, thank you. As the president gets a tour at this hour of the damage caused by dorian in North Carolina, the situation in the bahamas remains dire. Apocalyptic, that is alis description in marsh harbor of what hes season as the smell of death warms the air. Ali, good to see you on the ground. I first want you to walk us through what will youve been able to see. Describe what you say you saw, which is everything is the absolute death in the area. Reporter yeah, its the hottest part dft dof the day ri now. Its 88 or 90 degrees. And the wind shifts. When we cover disasters, there are ways we can frame a shot for tv that makes it most impactful. Jim, my cameraman, can put his camera on any part of this island. Its not all the same but its destruction. Take a look at this, this is a staircase for somebodys house. Theres no house. A vacuum cleaner. These are personal belongings in here. This is what the whole place looks like. On the coast now, the shore is just behind me, if you go in less than half a mile in there, its something called the mud. Its sort of a lower income area that a number of haitian immigrants lived in so the structures were not built nearly as well. Some structures were built well around here. They can sustain a category 5 hurricane but they were able to stay in a category 5 hurricane that hung around almost two days. Right behind that building is the mud. Its not like things are cleared here, ayman, so you can say, maybe there are bodies we havent found. Mostly all looks like this. Nothing has been cleared. Theres virtually no clearing activity going on. Theres bulldozers and they move things all of a sudden, the smell of decomposition becomes more prevalent and then you get search and rescue teams that go in. About an hour ago, right there next to that building, we walked down and two bodies were pulled out and recovered and put on a truck and taken away. We know theres a search and rescue team from virginia thats working that area right now. Thats what its like everywhere. Its not the, hey, weve generally cleared this island and were looking for things weve missed. This is the first go. Its been days and days and days. They cant get access to some of these places there are teams Like Team Rubicon in here, a military Service Organization thats helping. Theyve got chain saws, theyre going in and moving thing. There are a lot of people on the sound who left. A lot have tried to leave. Just over to my right, there are cars parked haphazardly. People just parked their cars and got out. There are virtually no cars that are not damaged. Everything is like this. Theres a shortage of petroleum and fuel on the islands. Theres a shortage of cars that actually work. Its impossible to fathom, ayman, how this goes from here on in. Were not in anything but recovery. Were not in repair. There arent places open to get things to start rebuilding your house, everything around here is destroyed quite universally. So thats where we are. It is useful for people to understand the degree to can which this place has been destroyed. The death to tolls coming out the government, look, its very hard, ayman, as you know, to accurately report whats going on. Communication is shut off and nobody even knows whose missing. Thats where were going, house to house, literally being guided by the smell and uncovering bodies around here. This has happened several times today. I was on the back of a truck with a former green beret and navy s. E. A. L. Who have come here from florida with a cadaver dog. They went out and found three bodies but they had to stop because they ran out of fuel and the car broke down. We were just at a port. Some diesel has come in, batteries, things have come in from florida, there wasnt a customs official to clear it so they could unload it. Thats whats going on here, desperation from basic fsupplie including water and fuel. Were not even close to understanding how bad it is let alone solving the problem. You hear the skom cope of 12 miles. Ali velshi, were checking in with you through the course of the hour, stay with us. If youd like to help as ali was mentioning there on the ground theres the american red cross, the Salvation Army and team rubicon, theyre trueing to deliver food and water to those there. This afternoon, acting Border Control mark morgan tried to clear the stance whether bahamians will be granted temporary status here in the u. S. Heres our own Hallie Jackson asking for clarification on that. Watch. I want to clear up, or at least, mark, i want to clear up something you said to one of my colleagues who asked about tps status being granted to bahamians. You said yes. Are we specifically talking to all bahamians affected by dorian will be granted status. Or are you talking expedited entry to the u. S. For those who qualify . There hasnt been any grant yesterday. Have you had that conversation with President Trump . Not yet. Do you plan to . I think so, i think it would be appropriate history shows, weve done that before, right . History shows that its taking a lengthy time to get the bahamas back to where these people can return to, im sure that will be the discussion well be having. All right. Lets get more from hans nichols at the white house. Hans, the question comes in the confusion as there were reports of people not being able goat on a boat from freeport to the u. S. Weve seen a lot of social media posts of folks being turned back, told to get off that boat. I want to get more from you on that . Well, we just heard from the president , he gatdeparted two minutes ago. He said were willing to help those affected in the bahamas. He said caveat, number one, he said everyone will need proper documentation. The president seemed to be saying that in a couple of different ways. He also said not all of the bahamas were hit. He also went out of his way to say there are people there who would have some sort of problems coming in because of criminal past and things in their history, would have problems coming into the states. So the president is still indicating theyre going to screen everyone from the bahamas, although open to the possibility of allowing some of them in, or more of them in as they deal with this disaster and catastrophe. I suspect well have the tape playback and listen to his words. I want to talk to you whether the president has made any comments on the taliban. Were expecting that tape in 45 seconds i may cut you off. President said as far as hes concerned the negotiations with the taliban are over. Theyre done. At the same time, ayman, the president is not saying that the u. S. Troops are going to stay there indefinitely. He still says he wants to withdraw u. S. Forces from afghanistan which was a campaign promise. Hes also weighing in on a decision to host then potentially secret meetings at camp david. The president saying the alternative was the white house. And he pointed out that nonpolitically correct people have been to camp david before. Well hear from the president here in just a few seconds, and well just listen carefully to how these defending his somewhat unorthodox decision to have this invite. All right, hans. Lets take a listen to President Trump as he leaves the white house. As you probably know, getting the world cup in 2026 for the United States, some of it is a partnership with mexico and canada. And its coming into the United States for a large percentage of the games. And were very excited about it. Plus, johnny and i just had a meeting on womens soccer and what everybodys going to do to make that even better and more equitable, et cetera, et cetera. So, johnny, thank you very much. We had a great meeting. Were getting the world cup in 2026. Thats a big thing. Johnny, thank you for being here. Thank you very much. Indeed, its fantastic to be here and to boost even more soccer in this country. Soccer was just the number one global sport. World cup 2026 taking place here. We start already now. Its the biggest event ever. Its more than 4 billion viewers all around the world. And well make it the biggest, not only sports event, but the biggest social event that we can think of. Soccer is a big part of this country as well. And womens soccer, well, you are world champion. There is much more to do with the president saying this to me, hes right. And were working with that and we will announce very soon new initiatives, thank you. Johnny, were going to have to extend my second term because 2026, im going to have to extend it for a couple of years. I dont think any of you would have a problem with that. But i hope youre going to remember me in 2026. Oh, for sure. Thank you very much. You take care of yourself. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. President say it. [ inaudible question ]. Theyre dead. Theyre dead. As far as im concerned. They thought they had to kill people in toward put themselves in a better negotiating position. When they did that, they killed 12 people. One happened to be a Great American soldier. A wonderful young man, from puerto rico. Family is from puerto rico. You cant do that with me. So theyre dead, as far as im concerned. And weve hit the taliban harder in the last four days than theyve been hit in over ten years. Thats the way it is. Say it, what . [ inaudible ]. No, actually in terms of advisers, i took my own advice. I like the idea of meeting. Ive met with bad people and a lot of good people during the course of almost last three years. I think meeting is a great thing. I think that meeting with you know, youre talking about war. There are meeting with wars, otherwise wars would never end, youd have them go on forever. We had a meeting scheduled. It was my idea and it was my idea to terminate it. I didnt i didnt discuss it with anybody else. When i heard very simply that they killed one of our soldiers and 12 other innocent people, i said theres no way im meeting on that basis. Theres no way im meeting. They did a mistake. And by the way, they are telling people they made a big mistake. Theyre saying it loud and clear that they made a big mistake. [ inaudible question ]. Well, camp davids held meets with a lot of people that would have been perceived as being pretty tough customers and pretty bad people. There have been plenty of socalled bad people brought up to camp david for meetings. And the alternative was the white house and you wouldnt have been happy with that either. So camp david would have been a good place but i dont want to meet under circumstances where they go around and try to make themselves a little bit more important by killing a soldier. By killing also a great nato soldier in addition to our soldier. And also a total of 12 people. I dont want that. But, you know, camp david has had many meetings that i guess people would not have considered politically correct. Yes. [ inaudible question ]. Well, were looking at that. And were thinking about it. You know, as ive said, weve been policemen there for a long time. And the governments going to have to take responsibility and do whatever it is they do. Ive been saying from the campaign that we want do get out at the earliest possible time. Were doing a very good job. Our soldiers are incredible. But theyre skerving as policemn to a large extent. I just made a statement on it. Yeah, wed like to get out. Well get out at the right time. What . [ inaudible question ]. Well, india and pakistan are having a conflict over kashmir, as you know. I think its a little bet less heated right now than it was two weeks ago. Im willing to help them. I get along with both countries very well. Im willing to help them if they want. They know that is out there. David . [ inaudible question ]. You know, i dont even know who they are, other than i know that i guess you could say, no, but i dont know them. I dont know them. I would say this, theyre all at less than 1 . I guess its a publicity stunt. We just got right a little while ago 94 popularity or Approval Rating within the republican party. So, to be honest, im not looking to give them any credibility. They have no credibility. One was a person that voted for obama, ran as a Vice President four years ago, and was soundly defeated. Another one got thrown out after one term in congress and he lost in a landslide. And the third one, mr. Tallahassee trail or appalachian trail. The tallahassee trail is nice too but i think it was the appalachian trail. But he wasnt on the appalachian trail, he was in argentina. Yeah, go ahead. [ inaudible question ]. Say it louder. Do you think the military is a Police Source . Right now, mexico has been doing a great job for us. And, frankly, were very appreciative. But weve also been pretty rapidly changing the regulation, the rules, winning in court. Weve had a lot of wins. We did it early on. But were having a lot of wins in court right now. The courts are backing us up. That has a lot to do with the success of the southern border. In addition, a lot of wall is being built. And every time we put up a mile of wall, that helps us a lot. [ inaudible question ]. So, were talking to a lot of different people on that. You know, were recovering from the hurricane also. Florida did get hit, not as hard as we anticipated. And you look at georgia, you look at south carolina, North Carolina. Im going to North Carolina right now. North carolina. To have a rally for dan bishop. But before i go to the rally, were going to be stopping at one of the sites that got hit very hard by the hurricane, so, were also recovering from the hurricane. But we have to be very careful. Everybody needs totally proper documentation. Because, look, the bahamas had some tremendous problems with people going to the bahamas that werent supposed to be there. I dont want to allow people that werent supposed to be in the bahamas to come into the United States. Including some very bad people and some very bad gang members. And some very, very bad drug dealers. So we are going to be very, very strong with that. Let me just explain. Large sections, believe it or not, of the bahamas were not hit. And what were doing is bringing the people to those sections of the bahamas that have not been hit. Weve done a lot of the usaid. Weve done a lot of work with our u. S. Coast guard and our fema who have been phenomenal. Theyve been phenomenal. Well see what happens. Well see what happens. [ inaudible question ]. Well, i saw a statement was just put out having to do with north korea. And that will be interesting. Well see. It just came out over the wires a little while ago. Well see what happens. In the meantime, in the meantime, we have our hostages back. Were getting the remains of our great heroes back. And weve had no Nuclear Testing for a long time. [ inaudible question ]. Yeah. [ inaudible question ] again what was the beginning . With the San Francisco judge that they provided immigration policies do you think i think its very unfair that he does that. I dont think it should be allowed. Well see what happens. Theres a lot of new law being made on that but we dont think that should be happening. Now, with that being said, were starting to do very well in the ninth circuit. Were starting to do very well all over. We won the lawsuit on the wall. We won the lawsuit on a lot of Different Things have to do with illegal immigration. Thats why a lot of strong points are coming out. In addition to mexico helping us, were ending up with great legal victories in illegal immigration. Thats one of the reasons were doing so well. [ inaudible question ]. Go ahead. [ inaudible question ] what . Go ahead, what . The premier between russia and do you think the United States should be join that part and germany france and ukraine within the talks called normandy format . I think the fact that the prisoner swap took place yesterday with russia and ukraine is a very big step. And its a very positive step, if they needed me to get involved, id get involved. But that really is a very positive event that took place there. [ inaudible question ]. Well, youre always concerned theyre temporary. But we now have much better legal protection. And wed have total protection if the democrats would get rid of the loopholes which are there, they could do it, as i say in 15 minutes if they would get rid of the loopholes and fix asylum. But they dont want to do it. The democrats want open borders. It means drugs and crime and human trafficking. And if they want to run on that, they can run on it. Our people and a lot of people in this country, and i would say a very large percentage of people, they dont want to have crossings illegal. They dont want to have open borders. Ive always said without a brother, we dont have a country. And without a country, ill tell you what without that border being strong, we are securing the border like it hasnt been before. And when the wall is built and its moving rapidly right now, its moving very rapidly, the lawsuit wins, the legal wins, weve won a lot. And weve won a lot in the courts over the last year. You know, if you look at the beginning, where we were losing, we will have about 180 judges approved over the next three or four weeks. 180. When i came in, president obama gave us a beautiful gift. He gave us 138 judges. That he wasnt able to get in or pick anybody or couldnt get them approved. 138. I took that. And when you add the other ones that came through attrition and other things that have happened, well have about 180 judges approved very, very quickly. In the election in North Carolina, how important is it for your reelection . Well, dan bishop is a great gentleman, a great man. I think hes going to be a great congressman. It was a very close race. I think its getting less close. If you look at the numbers from two weeks ago, i got involved about two weeks ago. And the numbers have gone way up. I think dan has a very good chance of winning the election. Again, im not running but i have a lot of respect for dan bishop. Im going there to help him campaign. Were doing a big rally tonight. Totally soldout, as usual. Totally sold out. There will be a big line trying to get in. Its all in honor of dan bishop, North Carolina. [ inaudible question ]. It could happen, it could happen. No problem with me. Iran should straighten out because, frankly, theyre in a very bad position right now and they should straighten it out because they could straighten it out very easily. [ inaudible question ]. I know nothing about it, sigh the cia responded perfectly. Whatever the cia said is fine with me. I heard they responded perfectly. I know nothing. [ inaudible question ]. Well, were dealing with democrats, were dealing with republicans. Were talking about a lot of Different Things as you call it gun control. Were talking about a lot of Different Things, but at the same time, we have to protect our Second Amendment very strongly. And we will always do that. Steve. [ inaudible question ]. Well, my decision was to have a meeting and i said, you know what, i dont like the concept of having it at the white house. That would be a step too far. There have been many very powerful meetings at camp david having to do with enemies. Real enemies, very big enemies, war. And i thought camp david would be good. And i still do. The only reason i cancelled that meeting is because they killed one of our soldiers, and they killed a total of 12 people trying to build up their importance because they think thats important. Except to me, it back fired. And theyre very upset. They feel they blew it. They said it loud and clear, they said they made a big mistake doing what they did. With human smuggling on the border looking very much at human smuggling and you look at trafficking, they call it, if you look at whats going on with the human trafficking, were bringing it down to a much lower level. It should have been done for years and years. But were bringing the human trafficking, as you can see by the numbers, were bringing it down. Mostly affects women and children. Its a terrible thing, its been going on for many years and were bringing it down. [ inaudible question ]. Well, i just came out over the wires thatho hed like to he a meeting. I have a very Good Relationship with chairman kim. Kim jongun. It just came out, i just saw it as im coming out here. It just came out that they would like to meet. Well see what happens. I always say having meetings is a good thing, not a bad thing. [ inaudible question ]. No, im not. Let people go in and help. The bahamas got hit like no thing that ive ever seen. Ive never seen a hurricane it was like a massive tornado more than a hurricane. It got hit like nothing ive seen. Anybody that wants to help. Thats okay with me, i think its a good thing. [ inaudible question ]. Well, thats always the question, how do you define victory . We meet them militarily, but as soon as we leave, it seems to form again. We would beat them very easily militarily, if we wanted to by doing certain things, and im not talking nuclear. We could have that over with very, very rapidly. But youd lose millions and millions of lives. And i dont want to do that. Ive got a very interesting situation. Weve been there for 19 years. 19 years. And were now really policemen in afghanistan. So whats happening is this. Were talking, were talking to the government. Were talking to a lot of different people and well see. But i cancelled camp david on the basis that they did something that they sure as hell shouldnt have done. [ inaudible question ]. No, i dont see it as a bellwether. They always ask that question. You never talk about the fact, as an example, in 18 that we won the senate. Nobody ever talks about that, the senate being very important because thats how im getting all the judges approved. It doesnt go through the house. It goes through the senate. Im getting all of these judges. As i said, well be up to 180 judges plus two Supreme Court judges. And i dont know if theres ever been a record like that. President obama gave me a beautiful birthday president when he gave me 138 judge that is werent approved. And frankly, how do you consider that being a great president when you hand to the opposition 138 slots of federal judges including Appellate Court judges and one Supreme Court judge. So, thats the story. Weve got two Supreme Court justices. And well have in a very short number of weeks, 180 judges approved, including appellate. And that number from 180 will easily and rather rapidly go over 200. And i dont think theres been anything like it. [ inaudible question ]. I would 97 tell you. Ill tell some people, but id never tell you. But we have a very specific number. We have a very specific number. [ inaudible question ] i dont see look, i have to run. Heres where it is. I think we did great in 18. Because the congressmen like andy barr and kentucky and others that i campaigned for, they won. Andy barr was behind. I went to kentucky. I campaigned for him. I held one for two rallies. And the great state of kentucky. And by the way, the same person that we defeated there is now running against Mitch Mcconnell for the senate. And hes going to win. Hes going to win. Kentucky is an incredible place. They know theyll give up the most powerful man in the United States senate for a freshman senator. You just dont do it. Kentucky is very smart. They know exactly what theyre doing. But i campaigned foresenator ee. We were supposed to lose the senate according to some of you. We ended up picking up two seats which is fantastic. I get no credit for that. If we didnt pick up those two seats, i just told you were going to have 180 judges approved. We wouldnt have had almost any judges approved from the point of the election. So, were very happy with the way weve gone. The 18 election, the big thing was i was not running. People say, oh, it was a referendum of trump. It wasnt. Im not running. People are running. But i will go and help dan bishop, im going to be there in a little while. I assume some of you ill be seeing. [ inaudible question ]. I havent found out other than when a plane stops at a Massive International airport and gets fuel, i dont own the airport. When pilots say i own a lot of different places, soon, youll find that out, because ill be at some point prior to the election, im going to be giving out a Financial Report of me. And it will be extremely complete. Im going to give out my financial condition. And youll be extremely shocked at the numbers and many, many times what you think. I dont need to have somebody take a room overnight at a hotel. So what is happening is the following. Every time you find a person landing an airplane within 500 miles of something i own, mike pence is an example, his family lives in doonbeg, ireland. Hes actually told me that he stayed there many years ago. I bought it years ago. But he was there before i bought it, i believe, he said, a long time ago. But he was in ireland, so, he said, you know what ill do, ill see my family. I didnt know about that. But i can say, he has good taste. [ inaudible question ]. I have nothing to do with that. No, because, look, the three people are a total joke. Theyre a joke. Theyre a laughingstock. I have nothing to do. The four states that cancelled dont want to waste their money. If there was a race, theyd certainly want to do that. Theyre considered to be a laughingstock, theyre asked to be a joke. And those four states dont want to waste money. Having primary campaigns and having a primary election is very expensive. [ inaudible question ] we havent discussed it. Im not looking to discuss it. We hit the taliban, and our enemy, in afghanistan harder than we have in over ten years so im not discussing anything. Are you going to be under partial retirement . Well, one of the things is that i disagree with the republican system. When youre the chairman of a committee, weve lost comphchai because they cant go from being a chairman to a regular congressman or woman. If youre a chairman of a committee, you can stay there forever like denny hoyer and others who is a goodman, by the way. Like a lot of them, theyre there forever. As republicans, you get six years. What happens is after theyre finished, they leave. I understand that. Frankly, theres good to be said about both and bad to be said about both, to use the famous expression. One of the other things i agree with the democrats on, i really think its better to have a longer term. Mr. President [ inaudible question ]. We have to stop technology. If you look at whats going on intellectual property theft with china. Just so you understand, our country is doing phenomenally well. Theres a chance, i dont want to talk about it, but over a very short period of time that well hit a yet new record. I think we have 118 new records hitting the top stock market. Two weeks ago the fake news was trying to convince people that maybe there was a possibility for recession well, a lot of things have happened very positive. Were doing very well against china and we could very well have a new high in our stock market. We have gained trillions of dollars of worth. And china has lost many, many trillions of dollars. Including 3 million jobs including companies that are leaving china. Yes, they want to negotiate very badly. Thank you, thank you, thank you. All right. You were just watching the president s remarks as he makes his way from North Carolina, speaking from the White House South Lawn before he boards marine one. Recapping a flurry of news, most importantly talking about the cancelled talks scheduled to take place over the weekend at camp david between u. S. Government and representatives of the taliban. Joining me now nbcs hans nichols at the white house. And here from the New York Times. Let me begin with you, hans. Lets talk about the big news of the weekend which was this supposed meeting that was going to take place. What did you make of the president s explanation, saying it was because of the willing of this american serviceman. And saying he takes his own advice, this was entirely his decision, no one elses . Look, the president has had defensive posture on his decision to have the taliban host them at camp david and then cancelled that meeting. There are really two separate tracks of news here. Number one what the president said about that owning, hes owning it, he said it was his decision to schedule that meeting and he said it was his decision to cancel it. Now, whether or not the decision to cancel was solely based on the american killed there in kabul, thats part that theres a little bit more reporting. We had some reporting the president had an understanding this might not go the way he wanted to. And theres, of course, infighting within his administration on the prospects of these peace talks actually being consummated. The president said almost three separate things. Theyre almost related. Number one, he said peace tox are dead. He also used his old rhetoric that the u. S. Can be the policemen there. That would indicate there would be a true drawdown there. And the third, specifically we was asked about a number. He wasnt going to share that. He seemed to have animus with a particular reporter that asked that question. My take is that the president still plans to withdraw the troops from afghanistan, he just plans to do it without a peace deal and the final number is to be determined. Ayman. Hans, in particular, lets take those terms. You got the president committing to wanting to withdraw. He said he made those comments going as far as back on the campaign. We always knew he wanted to draw down, as hans said we dont need to be the policemen in afghanistan. The numbers of Service Members being killed is drastically down. But at the same time, we dont have a Clear Strategy as to what were doing with the taliban or the afghan government. We know the Afghanistan Government is not happy about the talks. Where does that leave us today . The president has said very clearly that he wants to withdraw troops. That is the bargaining chip that we had. The american presence in afghanistan. When the terrorist fighters know that were trying to withdraw, then that leverage point that we had previously is no longer there. Now, what my sources are saying that the death of the soldier last week is a pretext to pulling outside of these talks. Actually whats. Happening is that the deal on the table would have been a humiliated defeat for the u. S. That we were not getting the concessions from the taliban. Do you know what those i apologize, do you know what kind of concessions were talking about here . I dont know the specifics. One issue thats been at the crux of these talks is to what extent is the taliban going to renounce al qaeda. Were now two days away from the anniversary of 9 11. 9 11 is what brought the u. S. Invasion of afghanistan because the taliban was providing a refuge to al qaeda back in the day. What ive heard on the table is that they will not allow al qaeda to plan and put into motion attacks on the west from afghan territory. But youre really sort of splitting hairs at that point. The past four u. N. Reports have said unequivocally that al qaeda remains in afghanistan, and general moda said as recently as may that the taliban continues to operate. And also the presence of isis as well in afghanistan. Complicating that field. Hans, give us the dynamics behind the scenes here. We know the president has been at odds with his policy with former defense secretary james mattis. Also in syria, a completely different theater. But at least they want the presence of the American Military in some of those battlefields. Surely, the president does not have the backing of everyone in his International Security establishment . There are clear faults line with the administration and afghanist afghanistan. The president has wanted to get out. The president almost under duress decided to increase forces from 8600 to 14,000. According to the reporting basically its pompeo, and joined by mike pence on this idea that peace talks would not work. This negotiated settlement didnt have enough enforcement mechanisms. That is one of the reasons they were also opposed to the idea of hosting a final summit, or at least a summit, to get everybody on the same page, reportedly, the Afghanistan Government at camp david. And mike pompeo and his ambassador leading his peace talks in doha. I dont know how you untie that and bring everyone to the same page. It seems that the president is willing to say were going to draw down. He didnt clearly say this but the indication is hell draw down troops without a peace deal. It seems as though the bolton side may have carried the day. Rukmini, when we talk about where we stand today, you had the former ambassador ryan crofter saying on the air, these peace talks were never about peace. They delegitimatized the afghan party. And about surrender. Afghanistan is facing elections later this year. Where does that leave afghanistan as a country . I think were leaving it worse than we found it. According to the foundation for defense of democracy, 60 of afghanistan is either right now either controlled or contested by the taliban. The only thing that is keeping that number from growing is the u. S. Presence there in support of afghan troops. As soon as we pull out, i think its a logical conclusion that the taliban is going to be able to push forward and perhaps take over the entire country. One issue that is getting too little attention, in my opinion, is the 50 of the population of afghanistan that happen to be women. They are the ones that are going to pay the price most dearly, all for the taliban being able to come back to power. Because if they do come back, theyre probably going to reimpose their version of governance which was very oppressive for women before 2001. Thank you both for breaking it down for us at this hour. Up next, after more than a month off, congress is back in session with a long todo list at the top of the democrats agenda tightening gun restrictions something that shows voters on both sides of the aisle overwhelmingly support. Youre watching msnbc. Of onceweekly ozempic®. In a study with ozempic®, a majority of adults lowered their blood sugar and reached an a1c of less than 7 and maintained it. Oh under 7 . announcer and you may lose weight. In the same oneyear study, adults lost on average up to 12 pounds. 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For a restless nights sleep. Pain settle theres a better choice. Aleve pm. The only one to combine a safe sleep aid and the 12hour painrelieving strength of aleve that dares to last into the morning. So you feel refreshed. Aleve pm. Theres a better choice. Welcome back, everyone. Congress has officially returned from their august recess. And in that short amount of time, americans witnessed the number of major Mass Shootings including those in el paso and dayton, ohio. Renewed calls for stronger gun laws are increasing. In fact we heard from lawmakers on capitol hill that urged Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell to take action. Heres what nancy pelosi had to say about passing universal background checks. Here we are once again asking the grim reaper, informing the grim reaper that these bills are alive and well in the public that public opinion, public sentiment will weigh in. But some of the gun violence prevention groups have made the ante up even further. To say if this bill is not passed, Mitch Mcconnell and the republicans in the senate and the president will have hell to pay. All right. So Senate Majority leader Mitch Mcconnell may face new pressure on this issue, now that new numbers reveal that americans in both parties support some of the more popular reforms being passed in straight legislators. According to monmouth university, 83 of americans favor comprehensive background checks which includes private sales of firearms. 3 out of 4 americans also favor what are commonly called red flag laws which give a Judge Authority to remove weapons from individuals deemed a threat to themselves or even others. More than half of americans support a future ban on assault weapons. Joining me now is Shannon Watts the founder of gun control policy. Shannon, its good to moving forward with gun control measures. But as you saw there from that clip from nancy pelosi, although voters are convinced that they want to see change, they may not actually get to see it because of the republican lawmakers who are blocking this. Do you have faith that leaders in this country, political leaders in this country can get something done . I do. And theres a reason were seeing every single candidate in 2020 elections kpeetd compete t who can be the best on this issue. They know women in particular support stronger gun laws. We want to see who is standing for the safety of our families. And weve seen everyone from executives at walmart to the republican Lieutenant Governor in texas stand for gun safety in the last week. It is time to see if senator Mitch Mcconnell will lead. We are asking him to do so. What is your understanding, shannon, as to why senator mcconnell and the republicans in the Senate Continue to block this with the overwhelming support of numbers that weve just gone through from both background checks, red flag laws, even potentially down the line of potential assault on weapons sales . Look, moms demand action volunteers have become a political powerhouse in statehouses across the country. But there are still some holdouts. There are still some lawmakers who are beholden to need to. Let me get your final thoughts on thursday you got ten democrats all running for the top job in the country. Theyre going to be on the stage there in houston in texas speaking to many of those that have possibly been affected by gun violence, not just in texas but across the country. What do you want to hear from those democrats on thursday evening . Well, this is the primary season, and this is when we talk about innovative, exciting ways to address this national crisis. You know, for too long this was the third rail of american politics. But now theyre digging into the data. And theyre coming up with innovative ways that we can address this crisis. And im thrilled to listen to all of them talk about how they will make this a priority in their policy platform. 100 americans are shot and killed in this country every day. Its not just the Mass Shootings and the school shootings. The its the gun violence that Devastates Community across the country every single day. And so i want to hear them keep talking about how theyre going to address this issue because frankly until our kids are safe, be its going to be difficult to focus on anything else. Yeah. We hope we certainly wont have to see another american, young or old, killed because of american violence. Thank you, shannon. Its always a pleasure. The New York Times is reporting that commerce secretary wilbur ross threatened to fire some of the top employees at noaa after the agencys Birmingham Office contradicted the president over his claims that Hurricane Dorian might in fact hit the state of alabama. It started with this tweet which reads in addition to florida, south carolina, North Carolina, and georgia and alabama, will most likely be hit much harder than anticipated. Well, just minutes after that tweet, the National Weather service in birmingham fired back putting out this tweet. Alabama will not see any impacts from dorian. We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane Dorian will be felt across alabama. The system will remain too far east. Joining me now one of the journalist whos just broke that story, peter baker. He is also an msnbc analyst. Peter, tell us a little bit more about your reporting that you just broke. Well, of course we all saw that statement that noaa which is the Parent Agency which is the Weather Service put out on friday chanitizing him for that tweet. That struck a lot of people as very surprising. Its a scientific organization, not usually a political organization, and this correction, if you want to call it that or reprimand came four days or five days after the original tweet. So the obvious question is what did the what motivated and what seems to have motivated was an Angry Administration that was really peeved that these forecasters in birmingham, alabama, would contradict the president , and the secretary of commerce calls up neal jacobson, the acting director of noaa and says that this has to be fixed and if not there will be people that will be fired. The result was that statement that you saw then friday afternoon. That statement that came out friday afternoon essentially backing the president s claim saying that the National Weather service should not have spoken in absolute terms. But talk to us, and theres been this kind of criticism to dismiss this back and forth about whether or not alabama was going to be hit. But this is a Significant Development when you have a member of the president s cabinet issuing these types of directives to a Government Agency seen as being apolitical. Pretty significant. Well, it is. The president s, you know, team using the power of government to back up a claim that was widely refuted and even ridiculed. And the weather forecasters arent supposed to be political. They are not supposed to be in the middle of a political battle. But here now they have been slapped down as a result of daring to provide information that contradicts the president. Now what the white house would say, what their people are sort of putting out there, they felt like the Alabama Office was off the reservation and was motivated by animus toward the president. But thats the way they saw it there. Clearly they felt under the gun. They felt besieged, and they were trying to push back against that, and they pushed back real hard. In fact the National Weather service at the time saying that they had to put that tweet out because of the flurry of calls they were getting from people asking whether or not alabama was going to be hit. All right, peter baker from the New York Times, thanks for that important reporting. I want to cross back over to marsh harbour, abaco islands. Ali velshi, youve probably heard this breaking news coming in from the New York Times and peter baker about putting some pressure on noaa. You are seeing the real consequences of this hurricane and how it played out for the folks down there. Reporter yep. Look, we have a long history of people either distrusting the media or officials about weather forecasts, and it does cause problems because you really have to take this stuff seriously. I will say a lot of people here in abaco took it seriously and left particularly in marsh harbour, but a lot of people couldnt. This is not the same as driving inland and staying with your relatives. This was two days of what was mostly a cat 5 hurricane with winds higher than what, you know, youre used to thinking about. You think about cat 5 hurricane, 150, 155 miles an hour. This was 180 miles an hour. There is destruction for as far as the eye can see including at the airport. And i will tell you this. We have seen several bodies being pulled today. But its not a bee hive of activity. There is a resource problem here. There is a shortage of people. There is a shortage of gasoline. There is a shortage of vehicles because most vehicles are destroyed. Most homes are destroyed. And people have left. So theres just a shortage of everything. But we continue to see bodies being pulled out. Obviously that takes a while before a body is pulled and theyre identified and that makes it into the death toll which is why i think we are not seeing an increase in the death toll, but extrapolating from what we are seeing, we expect that to increase probably dramatically. If you go to a place called hope town, we have been talking to people here who have family there and they dont know where they are. They dont have communication with them. There isnt communication on their side. So we dont even know how bad that is. Right here on this island, there are parts of the island that havent been reached. I was talking to a search team that had a cadaver dog that said we just cant get to places because we cant drive up the cars. There are parts of this island that are inaccessible to vehicles along with the shortage of vehicles, along with the fact that people dont have enough gasoline. So theyre worried about venturing more than 20 minutes or 30 minutes away because the gas stations are all destroyed and there is a shortage of actually being able to get gasoline for your car and money and water. So the scope of this is remarkable. We are standing in a field of destruction for as far as the eye can see. And there are parts of the bahamas that have not been accessed. We are constantly seeing helicopters flying overhead. They are inspecting whats going on. We have talked to team rub conand the coast guard so there is a sense of understanding how bad the destruction is. But when it comes to a death toll, we are probably sometime away from establishing what that is because it is just short of resources to get out there and go door to door and dig under this rubble and find out whats going on. Its hot, its been several days since this hurricane. Theres probably not a lot in the way of rescues going on anymore. But we are still probably just early into the stage of recovery here, eamon. All right, ali velshi live for us there in abaco island. Deadline white house with Nicolle Wallace starts right now. Hi, everyone. Its 4 00 in new york. Well, its no secret that Donald Trumps presidency is often defined by his own personal interiority complex when it comes to the accomplishments of his predecessors. It was still a shock to the system to learn that he planned to host the terrorist group. A plan that was sculpted according to the p