Craig, take a look at this. This eye is about anywhere from 10 to 20 miles wide, and these are these Barrier Islands. This storm literally has the capability, the possibility of changing the geography of the coast of florida. We could be talking about some of these Barrier Islands actually disappearing under this storm. And of course, you can see as it comes in, we always have to worry, especially to the east of the eye for tornados. We have a wide swath of tornado watches from panama city up into albany, georgia, valdosta, all the way down just to the northwest of tampa, florida. Heres what weve got as far as the latest. It is a category 4 storm. It is now 60 miles south, southwest of panama city. 45 Miles Per Hour winds. Its moving now north, northeast at 14, so its forward speed picking up a little bit. At that rate, this may very well just go to the east of panama city, but make no mistake. It is still a massive system. Just to put this in perspective, if this were a tornado it would be an ef 3 tornado about five to ten miles wide. Thats the kind of devastation this possibly has. It will make landfall sometime between, id say, 1 00 and 4 00 this afternoon as a category 4. Its still a category 2 this evening into southwestern georgia, continuing as a 2 right along the georgia, South Carolina coast and tropical system moving out by friday morning. The biggest impact, storm surge. Thats where we have the greatest loss of life and destruction. Were talking inundation of coastal locations. A 9 to 13 foot storm surge. That is massive. To put it in more perspective, as the winds push that wall of water onshore, were talking three feet is about right on your porch level. Six feet is just about im six feet. Im less than six feet. Im 57. Now im covered. Nine feet goes to the second floor of a home and can push miles inland. Were also going to see an impact from the winds. Wind gusts of 100 Miles Per Hour or better just near the eye of the storm. Thats going to mean significant Power Outages from panama city down to tampa, brunswick, charleston, all the way up into wilmington through tomorrow and into friday, and of course the rain. Were talking about heavy rain for the coast and inland. Flash flood watches are going to be issued now. Weve got isolated totals of up to 12 inches of rain. We continue, craig, to see these rapid intensification storms. Again, people dont want to necessarily believe this. This is the effect of climate change. Were not talking about were not talking about an increase in the number of storms, but were talking about the increase. These storms keep rapidly intensifying in a matter of 24 hours, and its very hard to protect against anything like that. I remember during the last storm one of the concerns was the timing of landfall as it related to high tide. Right. This could be rather significa significant. The high tide along this part of the coast is going to be later in the evening, later in the afternoon into the evening. So as that happens, were going to see that storm surge, but were also going to see those winds coming around, back and around that system, and then theres a secondary storm surge that would come in. So this high tide around apalachicola, 6 10 tonight, 10 30 around panama city. Once that system moves through, theyre not out of the woods as far as storm surge is concerned. When was the last time we saw a storm like this headed towards . Never. There has never been a category 4 storm to hit the Florida Panhandle. This is unprecedented. For the people who decided to wait this out, bad idea. Very bad idea. At this point, i know well get another update in a few hours, theres no reason to believe this is a storm that is going to weaken . And even if it does, lets say it does, it goes from a 4 to a 3 or a weak 4, thats still a massive storm system with an incredible storm surge and still the destructive power of those winds. Lets say they drop down to 130 Miles Per Hour, i mean, that still can cause massive devastation. Al roker, thank you so much. We were just talking about apalachicola, Gabe Gutierrez is in apalachicola where the waters, as i understand it, are already starting to rise there . Is that right . Reporter yeah, hi, craig, were really starting to see the raw pour of Hurricane Michael. A short time ago i was here on water street the water was rising. We had to leave that area, and they expect the storm surge to be potentially catastrophic. Behind me is the apalachicola river. Even in the last half hour or so, this area where were standing was mostly dry. You can now see the water really start to pick up. Were about to move here to higher ground. Authorities here say if you havent gotten out at this point, it is too late. They figure that this is going to get progressively worse over the coming hours. Weve already seen the wind and the rain really start to pick up here. Again, as youve been talking about, craig, and as al has been mentioning, the potential for this deadly storm surge, at least nine feet expected here in apalachicola could be made worse by the tide later on today. But hundreds of thousands of people in florida ordered to evacuate. We spoke with the mayor yesterday, he estimated about half of his town decided to stay, but again, apalachicola, Historic Town here in the Florida Panhandle. At this point its a ghost town. Youve seen a few people that decided to ride it out. As conditions get worse, it is going to erode. Theyre going to be impassable. Earlier you mentioned that your hotel had been evacuated. Are you guys okay now . Reporter we decided to evacuate because our hotel was on the water. Its three floors. We could have stayed if we had decided if we had decided to do so, but we decided to leave because it was starting to get cut off. We do know some people did decide to stay, decided to ride out the storm there. Basically a lot of the businesses here in the downtown, theyre boarded up. Theyve sandsandbagged. The back of the hotel was a little further inland, and once the rain, the wind rather, starts to pick up here as the storm officially makes landfall in the next few hours, we plan to ride it out there. As you can see, the water here is really starting to get rough, and the waters really starting to kick in to the downtown, potentially damaging all of the businesses in this historic area, craig. Gabe, be safe and make sure the crews safe as well. Just west of gabe, nbcs Mariana Atencio in port st. Joe, florida. What are conditions like there ahead of this thing . Reporter craig, im about 30 minutes northwest of where dave is, as you said, and you can just see the conditions start to deteriorate by the hour. We just drove up here from cape sandblast. Security over there, the cops basically told us we had to get out of that area for security concerns. Driving around youre already starting to see debris. Youre starting to see those trees topple. Because this storm has a sort of ridge, its a river of fastmoving water, especially when youre talking about wind gusts of 40 and 50 Miles Per Hour, and thats why were going to start to get the effects of that storm here in this area about an hour south of panama city where its likely to make landfall from one to four p. M. Today. I want you to look at this water behind me. That is st. Joseph bay, and further on out is the gulf of mexico. The storm is going to come in through there. Were going to start to see that storm surge potentially up to 14 feet, something unprecedented in this area. When you look behind me here, this is the marina here in port st. Joe. You can already start to see many of the docks pretty much under water already, and they are a couple of feet high, craig, and were still hours away from this thing making landfa landfall. Gabe told ryou he spoke to the mayor of port st. Joe. Ive been on the phone with him all morning as well. He told me the hospital closed at 5 00 p. M. Yesterday. There is no shelter in the area, and hes very concerned that people did not evacuate in time because, frankly, people in this area, they talk about storms like opal in 1985 or kate in 1985, opal in 1995, excuse me. Theyre not used to seeing Something Like this. This is unprecedented and could leave as the governor has said, many of the areas in the panhandle unrecognizable after it passes. Well come back to you in a bit as well. Lets go a little farther west along the panhandle coastline to mike thomas. He is the mayor of Panama City Beach. Mayor thomas comes to us by phone now. Mayor, what can you tell us about conditions right now . What can you tell us about preparations underway . Well, all the preparations that could be made are already made, but the conditions are worsening some. Were getting quite a bit of wind now. The surf is amazing. Ive been here all my life, and ive never seen the water hit the end of the pier the way its doing. Its high out there, and its going to make a mess before were finished with this. I understand that youre actually standing on a pier . No, im out here by it. Im not quite that stupid. Im dumb but not that bad. Did people in the city heed the call to evacuate . Not as many as i would have wished. There are quite a few people here still. Thats what i was doing, riding through the neighborhoods looking and seeing what kind of cars. Weve got quite a few people. Were fortunate that were high enough in a lot of areas that ive ridden through, but this wind is going to be a problem. Were going to have a mess. Im afraid were all going to get a lot of damage, but weve been damaged before, and well build back. Whats the chief concern right now, mayor, there in Panama City Beach of the concerns that you have . And i know you mentioned the water and the surge. Whats the number one concern right now . Well, there are a lot more people than i thought would be. And were just in another hour or two, these winds are going to get where we cant send people out to help them. Somebody has some medical problems or something, were just not going to put our people in danger. The governor has done a magnificent job preparing around us, and theyve got a lot of equipment around already to come in and help, but while this is going on, theres not anything you can do except just be safe best you can. Just wait and pray . Theres a lot of that going on in this community right now, and ive had a lot of calls from people that have been through this before, other government officials from other areas offering help and understanding. If youre going to live in a beautiful place, theres always some kind of problem. Even now, im on the beach here behind the motel looking at some things, and this has got to be one of the most beautiful sites in the world. Its just a shame that its so destructive. Mayor michael thomas. I know youve got a lot to do. Ill let you get back to it there. Mayor michael thomas. Well check in with you a little bit later as well. The mayor of Panama City Beach there on the phone. Much more to come on this storm as the Florida Panhandle braces for what is shaping up to be an historic impact. Veteran storm reporter Kerry Sanders, you just saw him there getting set up. He is going to join us live from where the storm is expected to make landfall just hours from now. Plus, trump on the stump. In his busy week of rallies, exactly who is the president who is he trying to help . And 2020 vision. Why democrats gear up for the midterms, many eyes are on the run for the white house in 2020, but does the party have the leader that it needs to funnel the bases energy into big wins . Whooo want to take your next vacation to new heights . Tripadvisor now lets you book over a hundred thousand tours, attractions, and experiences in destinations around the world like new york from bike tours, to bus tours, to breathtaking adventures, tripadvisor makes it easy to find and book Amazing Things to do. So you can make your next trip. Monumental read reviews check hotel prices book things to do tripadvisor you can do things like change your settings, learn tips and tricks, troubleshoot, and even manage your account. Finding your Xfinity Username or wifi password, restarting your equipment, or paying your bill is easier than ever with x1. X1 help. Another reason to love x1. Say teach me more into your voice remote to get started. Now to politics and president trumps hyper personalized pitch for the midterms. The president hitting his second midwest stop tonight near erie,. Two broad notes, first fear of a democratic takeover. The democrats have become totally unhinged. Theyve gone crazy. No, theyve gone crazy. Now the democrats, or as some people would say, the dims, the dims. Theyve become frankly too dangerous to govern. Theyve gone wacko. Last night featured a con cincinna constant refrain that every vote is a vote for donald trump. A vote for david is a vote for me. A vote for cindy is a vote for me. Shes got tennessee values. A vote for marsha is really a vote for me. Bob vander plaats is a conservati conservati conservative commentator. If all politicals is local, bob, why is the president making this midterm a referendum on himself and on his best day he cant get his disapproval numbers under 50 . I think everybody would agree that every media source in the country is making this all about donald trump. This is a national election. Whether its about the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh or whether it be about trumps policy on trade or trump himself in his tweets, but this election in particular, the 2018 Midterm Election is all about donald trump and his leadership, so i think hes right when hes saying a vote for david young is a vote for donald trump. A vote for rod bloom is a vote for donald trump. I think everybodys seeing this as a referendum on trump. This is his midterm Progress Report so to speak. This is the headlines from New York Times today. Orourke may benefit from an unlikely group, an unlikely support group, white evangelical women, they talked to a group of evangelical women in texas. Quote, the women who are all in their 30s describe mr. Orourke as providing a stark moral contrast to mr. Trump whose policies and behavior they see as fundamentally antichristian, especially separating immigrant children from their parents at the border, banning many muslim refugees and disrespecting women. How real is the possibility that mr. Trumps personality may be costing your party some female voters . Well, theres no doubt about it. Theres a lot of times ive called him out on some of the things that he has said, things that go more to the personality versus whats being the product, whats being produced. Because if you take a look at what he has actually done as president , this midterm shouldnt even be close. I mean, with record employment, a dow jones thats skyrocketing, religious liberty, the confirmation of justices. Why not run on two of those things you just mentioned, the confirmation of two conservative justices and the economy, why not run on those two things versus a vote for Marsha Blackburn is a vote for me. Why not make it about those two things, if you know that those things are resonating with your base . Well, craig, i think youre right. As a matter of fact, i think you took the words out of my mouth. You stay focused on the issues and the things that have been accomplished under this administration, and i think thats our best chance of winning. If we make this about personality, i think thats where the democrats have an opening. They have a shot at it, but when you take a look at isis on the run, when you take a look at our alliance with the nation of israel, the confirmation of Supreme Court justices, and the list goes on and on. A lot of good things have been done in this administration, and i think if we stay focused on issues, thats an opportunity for conservatives to win on november 6th. Lets talk about nikki haleys future in the Republican Party for a moment, especially as it pertains to the president. This is something that my colleague over at cnbc wrote. Also raising eyebrows inside the white house is the fact that haley is leaving the administration before the election rather than after. That gives her the possibility of campaigning for other candidates and boosting her own Political Base before the election. Do you see the ambassador as someone whos building a new conservative brand outside that of the president s . Well, i dont know what nikki haleys goals are, but what i can tell you with our conservative base in many ways nikki haley is a rock star. We like what she did as the ambassador to the united nations. We like what she did as governor of South Carolina. She has shown herself to be a bold and courageous leader. I would say her future is a long ways from being done, and so what happens with nikki haley, nikki haley is going to have to show us those signs, give us those indications, but we like nikki haley a lot. Well leave it there. Bob, thank you. Thank you, craig. God bless you man. Right now we are watching live pictures right now from the florida gulf coast. Waves in sunset beach, florida. Hurricane michael making landfall in just a matter of hours. Were going to head back to the coast where theyre bracing for the storm amid some dire warnings from fema. Those who stick around to experience storm surge, dont typically live to tell about it, unfortunately. Coaching means making tough choices. Jim youre in but when you have high Blood Pressure and need Cold Medicine that works fast, the choice is simple. Coricidin hbp is the 1 brand that gives powerful cold symptom relief without raising your Blood Pressure. Coricidin hbp. About the Colonial Penn program. Here to tell you if youre age 50 to 85 and looking to buy Life Insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three ps. What are the three ps . The three ps of Life Insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. A price you can afford, a price that cant increase, and a price that fits your budget. 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Now with 2 times more geographic detail than other dna tests. Order your kit at ancestrydna. Com Hurricane Michael expected to slam into floridas gulf coast this afternoon. The powerful category 4 storm now has winds of more than 140 miles an hour. It could begin to roar across the low lying shoreline just about two hours from now. Panama beach city, florida, directly in the path of this monster storm now just 60 miles south, southwest of the city. Residents there were ordered to evacuate yesterday. Veteran hurricane watcher nbcs Kerry Sanders is, of course, right in the thick of it for us. First of all, how does it feel where you are right now, kerry . Reporter well, craig, were beginning to get buffeted by some of the tropical force wind. This is not the Hurricane Force winds. I think what is most dramatic is what we have seen over my shoulder out here in the gulf of mexico. When you look at the gulf of mexico, which traditionally is as flat as a lake that you could go water skeeiiiing on, its rey dramatic to see that. Of course the wave action is going to continue to push on to shore with those 140, 145 Miles Per Hour winds whipping across the surface of the water, thats whats going to build up the storm surge. We have a category 4 with that sort of wind strength, why the storm surge here is going to bring the wave action possibly up to 9, even 12 feet up over the sand dunes potentially and then inland here. One of the things i found interesting, on a good day this beach is about 100 feet wide. Its already been cut down to about 50 feet wide, and understand that high tide isnt until 9 00 tonight, so all of this is in anticipation of the arrival of Hurricane Michael. Unfortunately, there were mandatory evacuations, but everybody did not heed to that. This community has about 48,000 residents, 24,000 of them by estimates by the city manager decided to stay. Theyre a little flat footed because they went to bed thinking this is a category 2. Weve been through that before. They woke up and found out it was a category 4. Theres Three Bridges that get on and off this Barrier Island here. All those bridges are closed. Folks who decided to stay they have a last minute decision to try to get out. If they dial 911, craig, you know, youve heard it before. The fire officials, the police say youre on your own. Well deal with you afterwards, but not during. Hard to believe half the city according to their own estimates, decided not to evacuate. For our viewers who are watching, kerry, upper lefthand corner of the screen theres this wind meter. Can you tell us exactly what that is . Do you have the wind meter on your person . You dont have it . Reporter you know, i dont have that. I dont have that device with me, but the gusts here, theyre just tropicalforce gusts. If we had a 25 miles an hour gust so far id be surprised. Its not that strong here yet. I do have a little bit of protection from a building here, but im in the path of where the wind is coming in from. Were going to definitely feel it, but not right now. The wind meter right now showing gusts of close to 40 Miles Per Hour, kerry. We expect at some point here in the next few hours to see that, at least double if not triple. Kerry sanders do be safe. Joining me now on the phone, christy allen. Christy allen is a resident of port st. Joe who decided to hunker down and ride out the storm. Christy, i understand that you just lost power. Describe for me the conditions that youre experiencing in port st. Joe right now. Hey, craig. Actually, its a lot like kerry described, you know, just wind gusts and the wind bands and the rain coming in. It will be calm for a few minutes, and then next thing you know were getting belted, you know, with the wind and the rain. So, yeah, we just lost power. It started raining here in port st. Joe about 1 30 a. M. This morning, and its been can you not ever since. Christy, let me ask you sure. And not to offend here, but you were ordered to get out. Why didnt you evacuate . Whyd you decide to stay . Actually, i wasnt ordered to get out. Im not in the evacuation zone. Im about a mile inland, so all the businesses along 98, highway 98, and beachside are in the evacuation zone. So i wasnt required to leave. And im not in a flood zone, so and also, you know, craig, we werent expecting a category 4. Like this whole storm happened in like a two to threeday, you know, period. We were expecting a cat 2, so, you know, i think it caught a lot of people, you know, by surprise. Caught you by surprise. If you had known it was a cat 4, would you have gotten out . Oh, absolutely. Id much prefer smaller storms. You could get more than a foot of storm surge there in port st. Joe. Whats your biggest concern as the storm makes landfall shortly . Is it that storm surge . Not so much the storm surge for where were taking shelter. I do have a business downtown and im concerned about that, and then of course, you know, there are residents that were in the evacuation zone that didnt get out. This is a small town, you know, Everybody Knows everybody so thats a concern, you know, making sure that everybodys safe. We probably have an estimated population in the city of port st. Joe about 3,000 people maybe, so very small. We all know each other, and you know, a lot of my friends, you know, that decided to stay just like i did until last night 11 00, midnight when they realized, you know, and they started getting that cat 4, you know, probability, they left. So they left at last minute, but the problem is the gas has already been taken up. You know, shelters are already full, and theres hotel rooms like birmingham is already full, alabama. Nowhere to go. You have to go far away and then you have to deal with the possibilities of the tornados that are coming from that. Lots of things to consider. How are you going to pass the time now that youve lost power . What are you going to do . Well, were expecting landfall in the eye in the nebs t next two, three hours. Were just going to hunker down. Thats about it. Christy allen, ill let you go, christy. I dont want you to lose all your battery juice talking to craig melvin. Tell everybody i said hi, savannah i watch you guys every morning. Thanks for watching us and be safe. Thank you. Bye bye. With the Midterm Elections 27 days away, candidates in florida they find themselves balancing Campaign Mode with storm prep as Hurricane Michael barrels toward floridas panhandle. Republican congressman neil dunn of florida joins me now via phone as well. And congressman, i understand that you are at the dade county operations center. Whats the situation there . Are you guys prepared . Well, youre right, sir. This is one of the ground zero operations. Its one of our most populous counties, and we have been camped out here for the last 24 to 36 hours. Our efforts have been to get the word out to people just like your previous caller that this is, in fact, a category 4 storm, a very strong 4, not just a minimal 4. Its accompanied by the biggest surge that anybody in this part of the state has ever seen in history. It is literally an unprecedented storm, and at this point that young woman is about shes minutes away from being in the hurricane winds, and we are anticipating hurricane winds here shortly. Were already over 55 miles an hour. But the wind is bad. Its going to be a catastrophic wind at 145 miles an hour, but the surge is worse. Your district covers the panhandle where michael is expected to be making landfall. I want to ask you about something while i have you. Hurricane michael getting ready to barrel down on the panhandle there in florida. Governor rick scott was running a campaign ad touting his response to the storms. Heres part of that ad. Florida governor rick scott warned about the significant storm surge. And my direction all tolls have been waved across florida roadways. Im activating another 900 guard members. The governor is getting out in front of this. We can rebuild your home, but we cannot rebuild your life. Should the governor be Running Campaign ads like that right now, congressman . I think that that campaign ad was on before because hes actually had a great history with hurricane responses. Hes been working on this for about six years in the state, and florida has gotten to be a heck of a lot better than it used to be. If we look at the response we had in maria and irma, it was really outstanding. We want to duplicate that kind of effort again for this storm. Im sure that he did not intend to campaign during the hurricane because ive heard him say hes not doing that. Hes working, and by the way, he was here last night, and we had a chance to visit with him, and he said exactly that. So thats one of those its on auto pilot kind of things. Last hour here in our network, tallahassee mayor responded to the fact that his opponent, rob desantis has decided not to pull some negative ads during the hurricane. Heres part of that ad. And we cant recall a time where candidates for statewide office have not pulled down negative ads during hurricane season. Youve got a whole region of our state where folks are fleeing for their lives anticipating what is a lifethreatening event impacting this state. I again, would encourage my opponent to just subside with the politics. Well have plenty enough room beyond this storm to compete between our ideas. Congressman, do you think that all candidates should pull their ads down in light of what we are about to experience there in florida . You know, i dont tell other candidates what to do. I dont have any ads up on this. Ive been pretty busy with this thing now since sunday. So. Okay. Your chief concern right now there where you are, whats top of the list . So our biggest concern is the surge, and its worse as you go farther east from us up in the app la chi bay. These are cities that are always low lying, and when they face a historic surge, im, you know, terribly concerned about what that means for them in the long run, and i hope that everybody has evacuated. I fear they have not. Congressman neal dunn of florida. Congressman, our thoughts and prayers are with you. Okay . Stay safe. Thank you. Well be keeping you informed. We are staying on top of Hurricane Michael. This is a live look from water sound, florida. Were going to check in with a man who coordinated the military relief efforts for hurricane katri katrina. Well talk to him about how you prepare for a storm that really did gain strength so quickly. Also turning energy into votes, does the Democratic Party have the leadership right now that it needs to capitalize on the momentum in its base . I feel happiest when im out enjoying my favorite things, like spending time in my garden. Thats why i need a humana Medicare Advantage plan. Many humana Medicare Advantage plans cover everything from Emergency Care and hospitals stays, to Doctor Office visits, and Prescription Drug coverage. In fact, last year, humana Medicare AdvantagePrescription Drug plan members saved an estimated 6900 on average on their prescription costs. Humana has a Large Network of doctors and hospitals. Plans that include vision and dental coverage. And most plans include silver sneakers fitness and a rewards program. 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I want to bring in dan boss, chief correspondent for the washington post. Always good to have your insight, thank you, sir for being with me. You wrote an indepth story on the partys issues recently. The headline here, will the democrats wake up before 2020 . You make the point, one of the points you make rather, theyve got no clear leader. No unifying message. How is that a blueprint to success in 2020 or the midterms . Well, you know, in a sense we have to separate the midterms from 2020, almost regardless of what happens in the Midterm Election, its no clear predictor of whats going to happen in 2020. We know that president reagan lost Midterm Election in 1982, won a landslide in 1984. Bill clinton had a bad election in 1994, won a reelection in 96. Barack obama same pattern, so success in the Midterm Election is no guarantee of something in the future. Were in a moment in a Midterm Election where the focus is entirely on donald trump, the president , a referendum on him. Once we get past that there will be Big Questions on who is able to lead the democrats, and who is the unifying message they have not just for their base but for the country as a whole . The president s approach when it comes to the democrats seems to be and perhaps not surprisingly attack, attack, attack. This is just part of what the president said at a rally in iowa last night. Democrats want to raise your taxes, impose socialism. Dismantle law enforcement, eliminate i. C. E. , and get rid of american borders. You want to get rid of the borders, right . And ive been saying this, and i mean it, democrats are the party of crime. They are. See, thats part of the president s midterm message. The other part is now he paints democrats as this sort of angry mob calling them wackos at one point at another rally. Is this message, is it resonating with midterm voters, dan . Its hard to tell, craig. I think its certainly going to resonate with the hardcore of the trump base, and hes doing everything he can to motivate them because up until now, all the evidence has been that democrats are somewhat more motivated than republicans, and that could be telling, particularly in the house races. But once you get beyond that, i mean, i think that part of what were hearing from the president is what we will hear in his Reelection Campaign should he decide to run for a second term. And democrats are going to have to, a, figure out a way to counter that, but i dont think they can be completely obsessed with what donald trump is saying about them. They have to lay out for the American People something affirmatiaffir affirmati affirmative, something aspirational, something positive in order to say to the public at lard that we are a party that knows what we want to do. We are not simply trying to defeat donald trump. We want to lead the country for a particular set of reasons, and i think at this point they are not fully in agreement on what that message ought to be or how it ought to be framed. And youve also got to wonder how much of the future leadership of the party is going to depend on the message of the party. Theres a new poll out, i dont know if youve seen it, but it took a look at womens support for democrats. It remains strong, 63 of women say theyll vote for a democrat. Men more closely divided, half backing republicans. That poll was taken after the kavanaugh controversy erupted. Are the democrats taking advantage of that edge with women voters . Theyre hoping to. I mean, in many ways women in particular College Educated women are becoming much more a part of the democratic base. The gender gap is the biggest weve ever seen. Thats in large part, i think, because of president trump, and democrats are going to have to figure out how to take advantage of that. But one of the issues is how do you maximize the various elements of the democratic constituency without simply just kind of paying lip service to them, taking them for granted as opposed to making them, in a sense, at the table, decisionmakers, people whose voices i listen to, and i think that thats part of the challenge that democrats are going to go through when they begin to pick a nominee for 2020. Michael bloomberg, perhaps you heard that today he reregistered as a democrat. Does Michael Bloomberg fill a void in the Democratic Party . Its hard to say. I mean, one of the things about Michael Bloomberg is that he has chosen to be what he wants to be when its been particularly politically useful to him. I think hes taking a page from Donald Trumps book, which is that its very difficult to run and win the presidency as an independent, which we know hes thought about doing. He has the resources to be able to do that, but its not nigh on impossible to win the presidency as an independent. He is deciding that his best bet would be to run as a democrat. I think the question ask everybodys clear on this, is does he fit the Democratic Party of 2019 and 2020. Is he too moderate . Is he too much of a new York Business person . Too closely aligned to big money and interests at a time when the party is clearly, at least the base of the party, is clearly rejecting that . I think that he has attributes. I mean, he has a record in new york that hell be able to draw on, but whether hes a good fit for the Democratic Party is going to be left to the democratic voters in the primaries. And he wont have to raise any money. No, he will not. Dan bot, chief correspondent washington post. Thank you. Last few minutes, the National Hurricane center updated its information on Hurricane Michael yet again. The maximum sustained winds now sitting even higher, close to 150 Miles Per Hour. You can actually see the wind whipping up the water in this live picture from sunset beach, florida. Much more on this and some new information that were getting in on Power Outages already. Next. Welcome to the place where people go to learn about their medicare options. Before theyre on medicare. Come on in. Youre turning 65 soon . Yep. And youre retiring at 67 . Thats the plan well, youve come to the right place. Its also a great time to learn about an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by Unitedhealthcare Insurance Company. Heres why. Medicare part b doesnt pay for everything. Only about 80 of your medical costs. This part is up to you. Yeah, everyones a little surprised to learn that one. A Medicare Supplement plan helps pay for some of what medicare doesnt. That could help cut down on those outofyourpocket medical costs. 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In advance. Discover. O. I like your card, but im absolutely not paying an annual fee. Discover has no annual fees. Really . Yeah. We just dont believe in them. Oh nice. You would not believe how long ive been rehearsing that. No annual fee on any card. Only from discover. All right. Live look here at the apalachicola, florida, and you see the wind gusts there at north of 170 Miles Per Hour. In the last few minutes, we have been told by the National Hurricane center that they have issued a special statement and they dont do it often but they have increased the maximum winds to 150 Miles Per Hour. That is a very strong cat 4. In fact, at 157 Miles Per Hour, it would become a category 5 storm. This is the storm that is barreling down now on the Florida Panhandle. Already some 24,000 customerspo the hurricane is two hours away from landfall. I am joined by the Lieutenant GeneralRussell Honore who led the response to hurricanes katrina and rrita. Unlike the hurricane a few weeks ago, th ago, this is a rapidly moving storm, and how do you prepare when a storm intensifies as quickly as this one has . Well, you do the best you can to keeping the people in place, and once the storm winds start to affect the coast. And then you try to go inland as much as you can, and get the people into the shelters who are not into the safe structures. My advice to the governor and the mayor of tallahassee is to get more shelters e open. As of 8 30 this morning, the governor said that he had 57 shelters open, and that is a very small number for the type of the damage that a category 4 can do once it hits landfall, and while we are expecting the landfall in the next couple of hou hours, we are looking at places like tallahassee and points north where the people are in up safe structures and trying to get them into Solid Structures that can with stain the 100mileanhour winds that may be going in as far north and north of tallahassee and that is the big concern now. You have just about lost the fight at the beach, because you are starting to get the sustained winds there that prohibit the people from moving around. But we have the look further inland and see how we can get the People Better prepared. What kind of damage . What kind of devastation do you expect base whoond we have seen so far . If it does not reduce, the category 4 will take out much of the infrastructure. And you know, when we were talking about florence, we said that fit came in at a category 4 in that area, it would be in some cases like a weapon of mass destruction, and category 4 will take out the grid inside of the cone, because the topography there and the vegetation is so heavy in that part, and the forest to the left, the apalachicola fortoast the west, and the powerlines and roads are going to be hard to the access. If you are going up towards tallahassee and the beautiful city there of tallahassee a lot of tree damage. And not only will the service go down, but the big distribution lines that you can see atop the tall towers and that type of the wind will take much of that the out along the coast. And embedded in the storm, people have to remember up to the 150 miles on each side, you will be having the tornadoes coming down and we know the devastating effect of the tornadoes. So people have to stay on the ps and the qs and stay inform and listen to weather warnings and the local weather reports. General Russell Honore and, gener general, thank you. An army medic who stepped in to help in Hurricane Florence is taking the kindness that he received from others and pays it forward. Is now in session. And. Adjourned. Business loans for eligible card members up to fifty thousand dollars, decided in as little as 60 seconds. The powerful backing of american express. Dont do business without it. Youre in the business of helping people. Were in the business of helping you. Business loans for eligible card members up to fifty thousand dollars, decided in as little as 60 seconds. The powerful backing of american express. Dont do business without it. New sleep number 360 smart bed. It senses your movement and automatically adjusts to keep you both comfortable. Its the final days of our fall sale. The queen sleep number 360 c2 smart bed is now only 899. 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The officials are warning that the damage could be catastrophic and making some areas uninhabitable for i days and weeks. Next steps with the Ambassador Nikki Haley heading for the exhibits, the questions swirl about