The death toll has risen to at least 20 now as rescue workers are making their way to the most devastated areas of that island chain. Weather watches, weather warnings now extending as far north as massachusetts. Were checking the Current Conditions from our correspondents along the path of dorian. Al roker standing by for that 11 00 update. Well go to him in a moment. But we start in the low country of charleston, South Carolina. We start there. Dorian expected to get dangerously close today to the peninsula on which that city sits. Msnbcs ali velshi has made his way there. What are you seeing right now, buddy . Reporter well, were probably within the band of the worst of it for charleston right now. High tide is at 2 00, but weve got that northwestern part of the storm coming in pushing this surf in. As you can see, its a little choppy over here. You can see over there by the pier were within a few feet of the bottom of the pier. We probably have a little bit more water to come in here. As you know, craig, from reporting on these things and from your home state of South Carolina, this place gets wet. Its been saturated for the last couple of years. So there are three problems, right . Theres all this rain thats coming in that is saturating the carolinas. Theres the storm surge coming in, and now the high tide. The issue in a place like charleston always is flooding. Even when there arent storms of this condition theres a great deal of flooding. Theyve evacuated this larger area. Theres a bridge over there that goes to mount pleasant, evacuated mostly. If you look ahead of us, thats where the storm is. You cant see it. This is charleston harbor. That goes out into the atlantic ocean, fort sumpter and the storms on the other side of that thing. Probably within the next few hours it will get to the closest point its going to be. This isnt worst of it for us yet, but this may be the worst of the water coming on board and the high tide. Theres a lot of flooding through town. They generally try to evacuate most of town. Not everybody has gone, but pretty much everything was shut down by noon yesterday and those who were going to leave have left. Obviously theres no chance to leave now. And charleston is flooding. Is one of those places where the storm surge and the inability of the water go anywhere is going to result in probably in some parts of town several feet of flooding. Once im done here im going to investigate that but charlestons going to be in some trouble. Keep us posted there and stay safe as always. Well check in there in charleston in a little bit. Lets go farther north, myrtle beach, South Carolina, thats where we find simone boise. What are you seeing on the beach . Craig, were already starting to see some signs of flooding here. And this is just a taste of what is happening in other parts of myrtle beach. Were hearing reports of two feet of flooding. We are experiencing a Flash Flood Warning in this area. Something officials and residents here are going to be looking for later today. Were expecting high tide to come in within the next couple of hours. Take a look at these massive waves flashing around in the ocean out there. Of course when the high tide coincides with the power of this storm, that could be a recipe for disaster. Storm surge is something that were concerned about here in myrtle beach, craig, as is everyone along the eastern coast and in the carolinas right now. But, craig, ill tell you when it got really reem fal for us. At about 3 30 this morning we started getting texts, emergency alerts telling us we were in a Tornado Warning zone. I opened up my hotel windows. Were staying right here on the beach. I looked outside on the ocean because we were told there was potentially a waterspout out there heading west at about 40mileperhour. The scary thing about getting a tornado alert in the middle of the night is that you cant see tornadoes in the nighttime. Visibility here is already very poor. I want to show you some video, though, that an nbc affiliate here did capture later on this morning of a possible tornado or at least a funnel cloud touching down. And we know that some of these tornadoes have actually started to rip through apartment complexes here removing roofs and people had to be evacuated from those apartment complexes. So these isolated tornadoes, this stinging rain, this powerful wind, this is what we can expect for the rest of today, craig. All right. Simone, thank you. The National Hurricane center has just issued its latest advisory on Hurricane Dorian. Al roker standing by once again for us. Before we get to the advisory, youve been talking about the tornadoes for the past few hours. Looks like weve seen a few of those touchdown. We have and there are more Tornado Warnings. This is something we talked about yesterday that we were concerned about. It normally happens when you have a vigorous hurricane just offshore. This whole area for myrtle beach up to fayetteville, consistencyton, Cape Hatteras is under a tornado watch. But just outside wilmington we have a Tornado Warning and south of kingston we have a Tornado Warning as well. Charleston, we saw a 55mileperhour wind in the is going to be starting to continue to ramp up. Right now this is the latest from the National Hurricane center. 50 miles east southeast of charleston, South Carolina. 110mileperhour winds. Moving north northeast at 8 miles per hour. Now heres what we look at. Heres wherewe we we were talki about the tornadoes. National Severe Prediction Center issuing an enhanced risk for Severe WeatherCape Hatteras, moorhead city, wilmington and a little further to the north. Weve got a slight risk, this is where we could see severe tornadoes. Nantucket is under a Tropical Storm watch. We have Tropical Storm watches up into the del mar peninsula, hurricane warnings from the North Carolina virginia border all the way down to the South Carolina g carolina georgia border. Beyond that its Tropical Storm warning. Heres what we looked at as far as those impacts. In charleston today winds at 45 to 75 miles per hour. The storm surge, you heard simone talking about it, 4 to 7 feet. Were looking at high tide somewhere around 1 00 or 2 00 this afternoon. Rainfall, 5 to 9 inches. Myrtle beach, winds at 5585. 5 to 8 foot storm surge. 10 to 15 inches of rain. System moves past wilmington perhaps make landfall somewhere in between there, today, tonight and friday morning, winds up to 95 miles per hour. A storm surge of 4 to 7 feet. 8 to 12 inches. Passes over Cape Hatteras sometime friday morning. So its going to be a mess there with 100mileperhour winds as a category two. And then shoots up past new england late friday and saturday, strong winds for long island and cape cod. 35 to 55mileperhour winds. Probably Long Island Sound as well. Brief periods of heavy rain and minor coastal flooding. The hurricane winds extend 60 miles out from the center, Tropical Storm force winds 195 miles. You can see by early friday morning, those hurricane winds are onshore and then moving away and then finally well see a bit of a break. But continuing to push past new england ads we move into saturday. Heres the potential for storm surge from charleston, myrtle beach, wilmington, heres the high tide. Myrtle beach, 1 30. Cape hatteras, 2 19. As we move up the coast moving into friday, high tides Atlantic City 2 21, montauk 3 46. Up in boston about 6 00. So well watch that closely. Rainfall going to be really heavy. Thats another factor from charleston to kill devil hills. Were talking about 10 inches of rain, 6 to 10 inches. Isolated amounts up to 10 to 15 inches. Power out ages going to be a problem along the coast, charleston, wilmington, Cape Hatteras. But with those winds that extend out 195 miles from the center were looking at possibility of outages from salisbury, richmond, raleigh. Charlotte could be on that line depending if they wobble to the west or not. Were not out of the woods yet. Weve got a long time go, at least another 24 to 48 hours were going to be dealing with it. To be clear here, so far this storm, the effects that were seeing, this is a result of the storm hugging the coast. Ing youing had the coahugginge coast. The first chance we might see of landfall as we look over here, we might see landfall somewhere between wilmingtl min wilmington and Cape Hatteras. Its just hugging the coast. Category two storm, which is not a huge storm but still can do a heap of damage, especially folks who are inland should not be complacent because, as we said, you can these tropical force wind extend 190 miles from the center. So, please, do be vigilant. Mr. Roker, thank you, sir. Thank you, thank you. Well check in with you tomorrow morning or tonight on nightly news gnaws well. Thank you. Brenda bethune is with me now. Shes the mayor of myrtle beach, South Carolina. Thats where we saw simone live. Its also where we find significant winds it would seem right now. Mayor, thank you so much for your time. I know how busy you are. As you just heard from al there your area is facing some of the heaviest weather through tonight as that storm moves north. What are the biggest concerns right now, mayor . I think for the miryrtle bea area were most concerned about the storm surge, especially with the high tide. Thats something we really cant prepare for. Were just going to have to deal with it and get the word out that people need to not go like drive into standing water. Its just too dangerous at this point and we expect much more of it throughout the day. Have most of the people there in myrtle beach heeded those evacuation orders . Yes. We believe they have. We actually had about 100,000 people visiting here for the labor day weekend. So when governor mcmaster issued the mandatory evacuation for zone a, we feel very confident that the majority of those people did Pay Attention to those warnings. And what are we telling the folks who chose not to who decided to stay behind . Pay attention to changing conditions, stay inside. This is not the type of weather that people need to be out trying to get a photo op. This is the time to stay inside to Pay Attention to the weather and to updates and not take a chance. Shelters open there in myrtle beach . Are folks taking advantage of the shelters . Yes. We actually have over 20 shelters available throughout the county and they will continue to be open until we get to hurricane conditions. The reports of the tornadoes there in your area, what more do we know about those . Has there been any significant damage as a result of those tornadoes touching down . We have had sporadic tornadoes since about 3 30, 4 00 a. M. In different areas. Not any that i know of directly in myrtle beach. So we do not know what damage those have caused as of yet. We do have our crews that are already staged and ready with equipment so that first thing tomorrow morning they can get out on the streets, do some damage assessments, and begin the cleanup efforts. What about the Power Outages . I know that was one of the concerns as well that because of those winds that you guys are sustaining right now widespread Power Outages would occur. Have we started to see those . We have seen that already take place with the power. And expect much more of it. And i think that people who live here, were used to this so they are prepared for that. But we know that its going to get worse before it gets better. All right, mayor brenda bethune, the mayor of myrtle beach, South Carolina. Thank you so much for your time and our thoughts and well wishes are with the folks there in myrtle beach. Thank you, mayor. Keep us posted. Thank you. Msnbcs Marianna Atencio is in nassau, the capital of the bahamas where widespread devastation when the then category five storm just sat on top of the island chain, really stalled for north of 40 hours. We have started to see the devastation there, mariana. We know that the death toll right now is at least 20. Is that a number that they are expecting to rise . Reporter craig, the minister of health telling me just this morning that he does expect that number to increase considerably. But hes trying to get all the information. There are no coms in the devastated relief effort and the thats making it for challenging. Here in the heart of the relief effort, i want to bring in these two gentlemen. I dont want thank you both for your service. Theyre members of the u. S. Coast guard. Everyone here in the bahamas has been praising them for their work. You literally just came in from abaco and grand bahama. Tell me what youve seen. Its just been amazing devastation but at the same time weve seen bahamian people come together and theyre amazing people and ive seen the coast guard work in a tremendous way. Its a great service. Were all working so hard. Im really proud to be part of the coast guard right now, but at the same time this is just really a heart wrenching time. But were working hard as we can. What can you compare this to what youve seen . Can you describe it . This is my first hurricane that ive been through so i havent seen much. Ive seen videos of other ones, but actually being out there, its absolutely just devastating to see everywhere around here. So reporter you get on these shoppers that are flying out of here and you go to the devastated areas. How do people react when they see you . What kind of shape are they in . Theres a lot of critical patients where were going right now. Theres a lot of people that are in dire deneed of attention tha havent had water for days and food for days and have very severe critical injuries that need help. But at the same time they really are prioritizing, theyre not just trying to get a free helicopter ride. They really are, you know, helping their friends and their relatives, everyone get rescued to the best of their ability. So theres desperation, theres absolutely that. But at the same time you see a sense of community. Reporter what kinds of supplies . What are you taking to these ravaged areas . Currently the place were going back to theyve been out of water for a week i think they said theyve been out of water. Were taking as much water as we can to them and hopefully take back more critical people back here to get hope hep as well. Reporter i know you both have a job to do so im going to let you go. Thank you so much the josh and evan there, craig. Like they said, these communities need absolutely everything. One of them, evan, earlier compared it to Hurricane Michael in mexico beach. I covered on the ground there, craig, it was as if a bomb went off. But here the challenge is that you have 700 islands that comprise the bahamas all surrounded by water. And nassau, where theyre doing triage, where theyre helping these people, is a 45minute flight from there. So weve seen groups of five, eight people trickle in, desperate family members hoping to meet their loved ones. But, again, its very, very, very slow. Craig. All right mariana attention joe there atencio there. Thank you. Not letting it go. After holding up what appeared to be a doctored map to hold up his false claim that dorian was in his path, President Trump quad drup u quadrupling down this morning. And joe biden deployed selfdeprecating humor while talking about his slipups on the campaign trail. You going nuts . Look, the reason i came on the jimmy kimmel show is because im not. I mean, i [ laughter ] is it fair, is it fair or unfair to get after you because of your gaffs . I think its fair to go after a political figure for anything. Its going ok . Great. Now im spending more time with the kids. Im introducing them to crab. Crab . They love it. So, you mentioned that that money we set aside. Yeah. The kids and i want to build our own crab shack. Ahhh, youre finally building that outdoor kitchen. Yup with room for the whole gang. See how investing with a j. P. Morgan advisor can help you. Visit your local chase branch. Doprevagen is the number oneild mempharmacistrecommendeding . 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If we cant offer you faster speed or better savings than your current internet service, well give you 300 dollars for your time. Call now to get your comcast business 10 minute advantage. Comcast business. Beyond fast. We are back with a live look at the shore in cape fear, North Carolina. This is the scene as the eye of dorian moves closer there. Right now, though, rain, windstorm surge are lashing the carolinas. Well have another check on the conditions there in North Carolina in a few minutes. As Hurricane Dorian moves along the North Carolina coast, President Trump seems to be working off a doctored forecast map. Sitting behind in the oval office on wednesday, the president held up a map from last week showing the storms projected path. But, it appears someone drew a smaller black circle on that map to stretch out the projection to include alabama. Before dorian arrived, President Trump said and tweet had it could hit alabama, among other states. But alabama was never in the forecast track. You stay was going to hit not only florida, but georgia, going toward the gulf. That is what was originally projected. Well, with me now anna palmer Senior Correspondent with politico, kate dawson. Kate ill start with you because i know youre sitting in columbia. How is our hometown dealing with the worst of the storm right now . Its all good. In regard from judging ms. Williams for you this morning told me to tell you hello. And your guidance counselor from high school, said hole will he, were all good. You know what its like with storms here. The governors ready, myrtle beach is ready and thank you for all your skblern thank you there and tell everyone that i say hello. Heres the thing, kayden. All of this is happening off the coast and the president of the United States is holding up a map that one could reasonably deduce he doctored himself. Why . Well, you know, you could call it hurricane trump. Hes become a very smart politician. The one thing that he has in common is he won all those states he just talked about last time and needs to win them again. And there is a chance that could have been a storm in alabama, a very strong trump strait. And as we know, when you handle hurricanes and natural disasters properly politically, you get the reward. When you handle them poorly, you really get the damage to yourself personally. So the president s been out front, the Emergency Management stuff is here rolling. The trucks are rolling. You can visibly see the help. And politically it matters. And so donald trump gets that and i guess hell take the lashing for somebody having having expanded the area making the hurricane come straight through florida. But i think its extremely politically smart, craig. Anna, heres the thing. Granted we have perhaps grown a bit desensitized to certain things in this day and age. But this was bizarre even by Current Administration standards that the president would hold up a map that was clearly doctored using a sharpy to include a state that was never in the forecast track. It was odd. It definitely was. Unconventional. What even odder about it is the fact that hes doubled down, tripled down, quadrupled down. Theyre not backing off. This isnt a president that likes to admit he was wrong on something. Hes tried to find a way on twitter and public appearances to say that alabama could have been, you know, early reports indicated. But its really it seems kind of just odd in general and off base in terms of what he needs to be doing, which is kind of being that leader, being the strong president in times of National Crisis like a hurricane like this. Anna, nbcs also reporting this headline. Puerto rico devastated by hurricane maria, its about to lose 400 million more to the president s border wall. The pentagon is also delaying construction on 127 military projects as well reportedly. Anna palmer, this is a lot of money and a lot of local communities getting pulled away for the border wall. Has there been any meaningful pushback on the hill . I think whats going to be most interesting is what happens next week. Congress is still out of session so you havent had a lot of the senators and the house members who are going to have their communities impacted by this. Puerto rico is obviously feeling a big weight in this in terms of of the number, 400 million. But theres other states, utah, senator romney said he was disappointed in this. And the thing thats going to be really important is is there a Critical Mass of republicans who rise up against this Trump Administration decision . There has been times when republicans have been willing to take on the administration, very few of them. But when they do, the president often waivers. Kayden, meanwhile the Vice President , Vice President mike pence appears to be dealing with a controversy of his own making for staying at this trump hotel in that trip to ireland. Vice president pence stayed about 181 miles away from his meeting in dublin. First Vice President s chief of staff mark shorts, he said that the president suggested that he stay there. But then the Vice President s office later amended that saying that the decision was pences. What do you make of this back and forth . Well, ive been to doonbeg throw times and its a really nice place, craig. I can understand whyd want to say there. The highway system in ireland is not as you would expect it is in the United States. So, you know, i think this controversial come and go and the Vice President will stay there, i dont know what it costs. I mow its a toprate, extremely secure facility. When i was there last, the president was coming to visit and there was a tremendous amount of security. We left before the president got there, but but kayden, its 181 miles away from his meetings and its his bosss resort. What about just the appearance of impropriety . Politically correct it is not. Ill agree with that. Lots of places to stay in dublin for sure and in between dublin. But i think the damage is done and theyll try to explain it out and move on to the next trip. Kayden dawson, thank you. Anna palmer, thank you. Be well, guys. Dangerous flooding and Power Outages in the is a live look at the low country here. This is charleston, South Carolina. This is the scene there. You can see that the flooding has already started. Hurricane dorian storm surge a major threat. Well get a live update just ahead. I mean, if you havent thought about switching to geico, frankly, youre missing out. Uh. The mobile app makes it easy to manage your policy, even way out here. Your marshmallows. Get digital id cards, emergency roadside service, even file a. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. Whoa oops, that cheeky little thing got away from me. My bad. Geico. Its easy to manage your policy whenever, wherever. Can i trouble you for another marshmallow . Hi, im joan lunden. When my mother began forgetting things, we didnt know where to turn for more information. Thats why i recommend a free Service Called a place for mom. We have local Senior Living advisors who can answer your questions about dementia or memory care and, if necessary, help you find the right place for your mom or dad. We all want whats best for our parents, so call today. Applebees handcrafted burgers now starting at 7. 99. Now thats eatin good in the neighborhood back to our breaking news, Hurricane Dorians slow crawl up the southeast coast of the United States. It is a storm that just wont go away. Tens of thousands are without power as the storm storms now a category two, but lowlying coastal areas, they are still very much facing a storm surge and drenching rain threat. Right now more than a Million People are under mandatory evacuation orders in South Carolina, in North Carolina, and in georgia. But lets turn our attention now to charleston, South Carolina. Its 70 miles from the center of the storm. Hundreds of thousands there as we understand it, have already lost power. Kathy park is there right in the thick of it as she has been for several hours now. And, kathy, charleston is the area i know reasonably well. It is also an area where on a random tuesday afternoon if they get some serious rain those streets get flooded. I can only imagine what hours of torrential rain will do to charleston. Reporter craig, that is absolutely right. This area is already very prone to flooding and over the past couple of hours we have seen the water levels rise. I want to give you a better sense of where we are standing right now. So we are in downtown charleston. And you can see this road is now a river. And we have seen for the past several hours continuation of intense wind gusts as well as heavy rain showers and its led to flashflooding scenes across the area. Something else to point out while we have this wind gust going right now, you can see how much the traffic lights are moving. Something else that i thought was pretty shocking was the fact that a lot of drivers have actually tried to come through this roadway. Thats probably not a good idea. Officials are saying you want to stay home because the conditions arent great. Theyre deteriorating. You mentioned Power Outages, tens of thousands of people are still without power. Meantime rea meantime we are tracking very closely, but high tide is supposed to aprhappen at 2 00. So these communities could see more flooding. Dorian is packing quite the punch in the low country. I just saw a car drive behind you in the distance. Have you seen a lot of folks out on the roads there . Yeah, you know what . I probably have seen a handful of cars already. They are struggling to get through the water. Im standing in about a foot of water right now. But if you go a little farther north from here, i mean, the water gets a little bit higher and, of course, as rain continues to fall the water levels will likely rise, craig. Kathy park in charleston, South Carolina, gods country to the folks who live in the palmetto state. Stay safe. Thank you. Dorians slow journey up the u. S. Coast, a warning has been extended to include virginia now. Reports of tornadoes touching down as dorian claws its way up the carolina coast. That cat two storm expected to move out to shore over the next couple of days as a category one storm. But the hurricanestrength wind and rain continue to will continue to pound the area over the next few days. Im joined now by a former fema senior official Lars Anderson is with me. And, lars, when i believe it was yesterday. I believe it was wednesday people in the affected areas who decided to stay were told to be prepared, to be fortified for at least 72 hours. Dorians still a very strong storm. Whats your message to them now that dorian is coming closer to shore . Yeah, so my message to them now is if youre in a safe place stay where you are. When you just talked about people driving around be in cars, it is extremely dangerous. We are expecting to see record flooding in charleston. This is not a time to be outside of your house. If youre safe, in a safe location, stay there. Listen to local officials. You know with storms like this, as youve seen in some of the reporting, you know, we have tornadoes, we have waterspouts. Its really dangerous to be outside. If youre in a safe place, stay there. The damage that we are likely to see there in South Carolina, North Carolina as well, and in florida, that damage will most likely pale in comparison to some of the stuff that we have already seen come out of the bahamas. After a massive storm like dorian when it was a cat five where it just hung out over the bahamas for more than 40 hours, how long does it typically take to even get a real picture of whats needed on the ground . You know, it takes it takes a long time in these in these after these disasters. And, you know, one thing a lot of people out there want do the right thing to help the people in the bahamas. But really right now cash is king. You know, find an organization to donate to. There are a number of reputable organizations working in the bahamas. Cash is really the way to do right now. I know people want to gather things and send them to help folks. But really, you know, its going to cost more non ship it there. Then theres logistics on the other side. If folks really want to help donate to local organizations working on the ground right now. Sound advice there about the one of the problems, as you know, lars, with slow moving and constantly changing storms like dorian, one of the major problems is hurricane fatigue. Yeah. How do you get people how can local leaders keep their communities from going back to the houses and businesses too soon . Yeah, you know, i think its being honest and upfront, you know. I think part of the most local officials have done a good job at this saying, look, we know this is happening, be prepared now, take these steps now. And just be honest and upfront with people from the very beginning that this is going to be a longterm thing that, you know, youre going it get prepared, well tell you when you need to evacuate. And just be honest with people up front. I think a lot of the local officials have done that. I know you still have folks on the inside at fema. How are they doing . Hows the response going so far . They are good. You know, the folks over at fema, the professional staff are some of the best in the world. Ive been i have been in contact with some of them and, you know, they tell me that things are going well. They theyve prepositioned folks all throughout the east coast in anticipation of this storm. They have supplies ready to go. So people are working hard. Theyre working long hours. But they tell me, you know, please get the word out that, you know, listen to local officials. Thats the most important thing right now. Because those officials really know whats happening on the ground. They know their neighborhoods, they know the people in their communities and really listen to the local officials. Lars anderson former fema official. Lars, well leave it there. Thank you, sir. Thank you. Biden in the hot seat. Former Vice President spoke to Stephen Colbert about his recent shall we say missteps on the campaign trail. 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Followup question, are you going nuts . Well, look, the reason i came on the jimmy kimmel show is because i im not. [ laughter ] i im not. Nbcs mike has been following the campaign for us. And Adrienne Elrod say former adviser to the Hillary Clinton campaign. Shes also an msnbc contributor. Making light of it there, adrienne, does that help does that assuage some of the folks who might have been concerned or who may be concerned about the Vice President s flubs . Yeah, i think so. Think its smart that the Biden Campaign decided to put joe biden on Stephen Colbert last night. Because, for one had the any time youre trying to make light of something that could potentially be damaging in the future, its very commonplace that campaigns will put your the candidate in a setting that allows them to, you know, sort of ease the, you know, potential burden, ease the potential pain and, you know, sort of make light of this. Theres no better place do that than putting the candidate on the late show. We do this a couple times with Hillary Clinton on the campaign whenever theres the email situation, for example, which got so far out of hand it was a way for her to sort of make fun of it, make light of it but try to focus on the fact that shes moving on and focusing on the issues that matter most during the campaign i think thats what joe bidens campaign has done. Look, hes going to keep making gaffs. Hes been making gaffs for years. This is not unusual for him. Its something that is endearing to an extent to some of his supporters. They see it as something that hes been doing for a long time. They see a museum man element in some of the gaffs that he makes. But i think the most important thing is he doesnt go out there and flub or mischaracterize and opponents record. Its one thing to sort of mischaracterize something in light of a good intention. Its a totally different thing if youre going after a candidate and trying to mischaracterize their record in any way. There was good news for the former Vice President today. Theres this new pole from battleground, wisconsin, im sure youve seen it. It shows biden leading the president by nine points in a general election matchup. And that was a pole taken among 800 registered voters in wisconsin. You can see the information about the pole at the bottom of your screen there. It is, of course, a state crucial for democrats. President narrowly carried that in 2016. How significant is this poll and what are we hearing from the campaign about it . Of course we all take polls with a little bit of grain of salt remembering that there was also a poll by the same polster showing Hillary Clinton winning the state just weeks before the 2016 election. But these poll results really underscore the core argument for the Biden Campaign, which is that he can win, he is the best candidate to face donald trump in some of these Tipping Point states that switched from obama to trump in 2016. Theres also i think biden advisers pointing out another thing on the poll, among all of the president and his top democratic rooil democratic rivals is that joe biden is still well liked at a time when everyone else in that poll is viewed negatively. That reservoir of good will is something that helps him with stand these moments. But the problem with these gaffs is they sort of are selfreinforcing. Theyre in this narrative, immediate narrative, the Campaign Says its only a median narrative, not a voter narrative. One of the things that caught my attention last night, i saw the clip, was when joe biden was asked about precisely when he decided to run, how had he come to that decision. Heres what he said to Stephen Colbert. Charlottesville, when those folks came out of the fields carrying torches, when the president was asked about it they asked what he thought. He said i thought there were very fine people on both sides. No president , sitting president s ever said anything like that making a moral equivalence between haters and those folks who are saying, no, no, not in my town. And i realized that things werent going to change very much with this president. Is it enough, adrienne, is it enough to say that i want to return this country to pretrump normalcy . Is just that argument alone enough to get him across the finish line this time . Traditionally, no, craig. You always have to have a forwardlooking vision if youre running for the presidency. Youve got have something other than just i want to beat the opponent, i want to beat the republican. And i think joe biden does have that. But, this is a different era, right . There are so many people who just want to beat donald trump who will do anything and support anybody who they think is electable and has the viability to take him on in the general election. This is why joe bidens numbers sore strong in that category. Why his electability numbers remain sky high no matter the gaffs or some of the other minor flubs that have happened in the campaign. Well see if that trend continues. But, you know, youve got to have a twotrack message here. I think joe biden as the debates will go on, he and the other candidates will have a better chance to get their message out there, get their policies out there, talk more about what their forwardlooking vision is. But this is a Different Campaign cycle. People just want to return this country back to normalcy and thats where youre seeing the trend lines take place where youve got the Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders camp who want to take back the country and have some sort of revolution. Youve got some of the supporters in joe bidens camp who want to just maintain things back to where they were under president obama. Adrienne elrod, well leave there. Mike, thank you, sir. Talk soon. Thanks, craig. The slow recovery in the bahamas, officials are just now starting to reach the people who need help the most. Nbc news traveled with a u. S. Recovery team. Well take you along for the ride right after this. Great riches will find you when Liberty Mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need. Wow. Thanks, zoltar. How can i ever repay you . Maybe you could free zoltar . Thanks, lady. Taxi only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. And last check, Hurricane Dorian was moving at 6 miles an hour up the carolina coast. The storms outer bands have finally left the bahamas, where a massive relief effort is just now getting underway. That storm left 20 people dead. Thats a number thats expected to rise as the search for the missing begins. Nbcs Kerry Sanders travelled with a u. S. Government relief team to the hard hit abaco islands. Reporter choppers will be airporting again today. This is day three of search and rescue. U. S. Customs air and Marine Operations getting into those hardest hit areas. Its only a 45 minute flight from here to grand zero. Great abaco and grand bahama. We need help. We need help. Reporter amid so much misery this morning there are also signs of hope. For thousands at their breaking point, that help has finally arrived. Many have been stranded for days with no food, no water, and no shelter. With half of the homes on their islands destroyed by dorian. We joined a u. S. Customs and Border Protection air and Marine Operations on a search and rescue mission. For some survivors on the outreaches of abaco island, this was their first outside contact since dorian hit. Thats where i was. Reporter jim bell remarkably survived. Trapped under the debris of a collapsed home, while the storm raged and the water rose around h him. Did you think youd be here . I thought i was going to die. Reporter his neighbor steve harris, who road out the storm in the dark with his family did not know how big a storm they survived until i told them. It felt like hell. Reporter 8yearold sophie. It was terrible. Reporter and her 11yearold sister, samantha. It was scary but im glad were still alive and were safe. Reporter one of the survivors, a little girl called this the bomb shelter. This is where she rode it out with their family. A category 5, because of the poured concrete words and a Swimming Pool thats above us they were able to survive. Some of those who survived met rescue teams but wont leave the island. The water deliveries, a godsend. You can help, but, you know, its rough to see people in this situation. Reporter the u. S. Coast guard playing a critical role, flying dozens of victims to safety. Overnight, bahamas Prime Minister grateful for the international aid. I want to assure you that more help is on the way. Reporter bahamians also pitching in as much as they can. A first step on what will be a very long road to recovery. Were happy to be alive. Glad that my family is safe. You know, we can rebuild. We will re build. Reporter those who are being rescued are being staged at the airport in nassau where theyre all provided immediately some liquids. Because everybody shares the dehydration problem. Those that have been banged up by the storm or worse are getting immediate medical attention. That was Kerry Sanders. Thank you, do keep us posted. General james mattis will join my colleague Andrea Mitchell, next. Ly active crohn, stelara® works differently. Studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. Stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. Some serious infections require hospitalization. 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