Overnight. A major shakeup in the Catholic Church. About time. D. C. Archbishop Cardinal Donald wuerl is out. The pope accepting his resignation weeks after the report claims he covered up for predator priests. And how about a bounceback . Positive signs this morning after the dow plunges a painful 1300 points in the last couple of days. We are watching the markets with the opening bell happening this hour. You know this morning we must begin with the death and destruction by the new posttropical cyclone michael. Right now, the storm is heading away from the United States after leaving complete and total devastation across the southeast. Flash flooding is still a major factor in the carolinas and midatlantic states. At least 11 people are dead. But officials fear that that number could rise. As search and rescue crews struggled to sift through the ravaged areas. More than 1 1 2 million people, two days later, two days after the major storm hit, are still without power across virginia, north carolina, georgia, alabama and florida. This morning, measure starting to get the first images from mexico beach. It is extraordinary. A floridian town left in absolute ruins after taking a direct hit from michael. We have a great team of reporters in the hardest hit areas this morning. Starting with Gabe Gutierrez in mexico beach. Gabe, walk us through this. Because these are the first images we have seen and it is i mean, it looks postapocalyptic. Yes, stephanie, good morning. Ive covered a lot of hurricanes and this is among the worst devastation ive seen. This home behind me, the winds here with just so incredible but it was the storm surge that picked up this home and tossed it across the street. I want to show you, urban search and rescue teams from central florida, they just pulled out. This is where theyre staging right in front of us. Were seeing teams here from across the state. Weve seen them from orlando today, from south florida yesterday. I want to show you this debris field. It stretches on and on. And this is something were seeing all throughout mexico beach. This is a popular tourist destination. It was just flattened in many places by hurricane michael. The images weve been seeing coming out of here are just incredible. It was difficult to get here, stephanie. Yesterday, we were driving from april latch sha co apalachicola and the entire area was cut off. We were able to make it to port st. Joe, mexico beach. We drove a short distance that way. Part of the entire road has been washed out. Its difficult to get around this area because there are power lines down across all these streets. A major challenge at this point is communication. Even the first responders, they are having difficulty communicating out. The only way were able to come to you right now is through a satellite phone. Communication is down. Power lines are down. We spoke to some people in the neighborhoods and about 300 people decided to ride out the storm here in mexico beach. Several of the ones we spoke with told us they regretted doing so. Initially, we thought maybe a category 2 storm. When it intensified rapidly into that category 4. Some of them told us they feared for their lives. It was an incredible story of survival. This one man we spoke with, unfortunately, he hand bednt b able to speak to his wife since the storm. But the devastation here is so extensive. The communications here are down. Its going to be quite a while before this area is able to clean up. Right now, search and rescue teams are going house to house, whats left of them, looking for survivors, stephanie. Now lets head to panama city and nbcs tammy litner. That city is being described as unrecognizable. Tindal air force base was hit very hard. Walk us through what its like where you are. Yes, it looks like basically a war zone. Were driving down the main artery here in panama city. And there are complete blocks that are just basically gone. Theyve been flattened. Gas stations that are just pummeled. They have the roofs ripped right off of them. There were trees that were sheared off at the very base of them. Bill boorlds that have been completely gone, destroyed, flown into houses. Were approaching a Freight Train that is toppleled on to its side. Its dozens of cars and theyre just laying on their side like a toy train. The wind picked it up and just knocked it over. Now, we know that rescue crews are still going house to hughes. I spoke with rescuers last night actually. Very late last night. And they are doing a grid search. Theyre still looking for people. Hopeful if there are people trapped, they will still find them. We know the death toll has risen to 11. This particular rescuer i spoke with, he covered maria in puerto rico. He covered florence. He said this is, by far, some of the most devastating, just utter he didnt even have words for it. He told me hes shocked that there are not more injuries. Hes just hopeful that he will not find more people when theyre going house to house. One of the biggest problems here is just getting from house to house. The roads are still covered with debris and theyre still trying to restore power. Stephanie, back to you. All right, tammy, thank you so much. Those images, devastating. Another big story were watching this morning. After a very difficult week on wall street, the worst week since february. But, remember, since february, it has been an extraordinary run. But weve had a bad couple of days. The market obviously opening at 9 30 so our eyes are on it. Joining me, Brendan Greely, and my dear friend who i havent seen in ages, former democratic new jersey senator bob torricelli and msnbc political analyst and republican strategist rick tyler. All right, dr. Greely, to you first, things are looking up today when you look at futures. Step back. Was the last two days a little bit of volatility that we needed and its buying opportunity, or the Interest Rates and the threat of a global trade slowdown pushing us in another direction . First of all, im not a doctor, i only play one on television. But i dont think this is remarkable, what has been happening. When you look at what the fed has been doing, what theyve been doing is not extraordinary. Theyve been on a cycle you could interpret as neutral. Not doing anything good, not doing anything bad. Do you mean to say that j. Powell isnt local, hes not going wild . I actually find myself half in agreement with the president. I think the Federal Reserve culturally is too worried about inflation that they arent really seeing and not worried enough about preserving this tight labor market which is really good for workers. Were starting to see some wage gain. So i disagree with the fed. That said, what theyre doing is not extraordinary. What theyre doing is not loco, as the president has said. Theres a good argument to be made that they should be hiking at the rate at which theyre hiking. Particularly with tech stocks, right, you and i have easily talked for five years about how stocks are overvalued by any measure. When stocks are overvalued, its like a toddler standing on top of a dresser. You want to get the toddler down without the toddler falling down. Right now what were seeing is the toddler is kind of climbing down. We always have to remind our audience, stock valuationings are not based on amount of iphones apple is selling. It is the projected value that people believe the company is worth. You got a lot of Tech Companies out there now, now worth in the trillions. Bob, we need to remind our audience the market is not the economy. Corporate america, thats the market should and do feel great, because of the tax cuts, because of deregulation. But the economy is a different story. A tweet caught my eye that said this. We keep saying the economy is good and people are going to vote. Were forgetting about voters that matter. This woman writes, i dont own or understand stocks. We are a lower middle class family on a strict paycheck to paycheck budget. I budget 35 for gas each payday. Today, i paid 45. Last weeks grocery bill was 30 higher than were used to paying. Thats the economy. So when we say the economy is booming, inflation is really hurting americans. Inflations hurting americans. But so is the economic disparity. Were all talking to each other just like washington. 40 of the American People cant write a 400 check out of their Checking Account tomorrow morning. This prosperity is not across the board. Having said that, a word to my fellow baby boomers who are now panicking, going into retirement, watching these markets. Please dont sell into this downturn. Please dont sell. The market is still strong. It is going to rebound. The economy is still strong. I always worry about amateur investors getting taken in these downturns. A mistake though that the president very aggressively tied himself to the market and the economy . I mean, listen, weve had an extraordinary run in the stock market. No question. The president talks about it all the time. So does sarah sanders. So does ivanka. Suddenly for the president to say what is the fed thinking raising Interest Rates, you raise Interest Rates when the economy is good and every which day the president is saying how strong the economy is. The problem is his supporters are going to believe that because the fed is an easy boogie man because its sort of this mysterious building in washington, people arent clear what they to ado and hes going say its their fault. This say classic correction. I think its just a correction. And, you know, the stock market went down. It will probably go up a little bit today. All the fundamentals seem to be okay. The other thing about people 400, you know, i often hear you say on the show that half of america doesnt own stocks. That is true. Arrive at a time where everybodys invested so people can manage their money so theyre not just at 400. We need a culture to figure out how people can invest money wisely and safely. If you missed that last eight years, you missed a lot in your 40 1 k. Half the country does not own stocks. If the groceries cost more and suddenly Mortgage Rates are up, its going to hit people pretty hard. Questions about collusion. A source telling nbc news that the President Trumps lawyers, theyre now preparing to answer questions sent in by bob mueller. What could that signal about the special counsels sflaeinvestig . First, you know we got to mention it kanye west getting a lot of attention for his visit to the oval office. And you knew late night Host Jimmy Kimmel had details that maybe you didnt notice. The much anticipated lunch between kanye and his majesty donald trump turned into so much more than just a lunch. Not only was this a crazy conversation for this white house, this is the kind of conversation that would typically be held between people wearing hospital bracelets. I did say abolish because why would you keep something around thats a trap door . If you building a floor, the constitution is the base of our industry, right, of our country, of our company. Would you build a trap door that if you mess up and you fall and you end up next to the unabomber . You got to remove all that trap down out of the relationship. Broke the 13th amendment, and i think the way the universe works is perfect. We dont have trap doors, do we . Thats the president of the United States. On choicehotels. Com like this. Touchdown. Earn a free night when you stay just twice this fall. Or, badda book. Badda boom. Book now at choicehotels. Com but he has plans today. Ain. Hey dad. So he took aleve. If hed taken tylenol, hed be stopping for more pills right now. Only aleve has the strength to stop tough pain for up to 12 hours with just one pill. Aleve. All day strong. Welcome back. Ill Stephanie Ruhle. Today, new signals that the Mueller Probe could be nearing its end. I know ive said that before. The president s lawyers are preparing answers to questions submitted by counsel. The questions are focused on whether the trump campaigned colluded are russia during the 2016 election. This comes after months of negotiations between the two sides and a lot of close calls. Back in january, the special counsel and the president legal team or the team back then nearly reached a deal for an in person interview at camp david. At the last minute, those talks broke down. By march, mueller reportedly raised the idea of subpoenaing the president to get some of those answers. Then, in april, the New York Times reported that mueller had provided dozens of questions to trumps lawyers. Including questions about the president s ties to russia and his decision to fire james comey. And now we could be getting those answers, maybe. The president has repeatedly denied that any collusion took place and has also said that he is open to answering any questions under oath. He repeated that again just yesterday. Have you thought again about sitting down for an interview or written questions or any type of hybrid approach there . Well, it seems ridiculous that id have to do it when everybody says theres no collusion but ill do what is necessary to get it over with. Im going to say not everybody thinks that. Joining me not, nbc White House Correspondent kristen welker. What exactly do we know at this point about what the president s team is working on . Well, he did a good job of breaking it down. But a little bit of the backdrop here. According to sources who are familiar with these negotiations, the president s legal team is in the process of answering questions that were submitted by the team of special Counsel Robert Mueller. As you rightfully pointed out, theyve been going back and forth about this substance of these questions for months. So these questions are really a refined version, a retooled version, if you will, of some of these questions theyve been going back and forth about. Most of them do focus on the question of collusion. Of course, mueller has been investigating russias meddling in the 2016 election. The president has been insistent, has been very firm. There was no collusion. Weve heard him reiterate that again and again. It has been tough for these two teams to come to an agreement on an in person interview. Im told that is still in negotiations. As you know, the president s legal team isnt inclined to have him sit down facetoface with special Counsel Robert Mueller, going all the way back to the president s first legal team, steph, when john dowd says he was concerned about a perjury trap. Thats something weve heard Rudy Giuliani discuss and hes concerned about. President trump himself said hes concerned about a perjury trap about a he said she said. These negotiationings are moving forward and the process is moving forward. How close are they to the end . That is the big question. And theres still a big question, steph, about whether special Counsel Robert Mueller would ultimately subpoena President Trump for that in person interview if he feels as though one is necessary and the president s legal team wont comply. Thats a lot of ifs. Bottom line, its significant that the president s legal team has started to prepare answers to questions by special Counsel Robert Mueller. It underscores the fact this is now moving into a new phase, steph. Sounds like it is. Thanks, kristen. Joining me now, former u. S. Attorney barbara mcquaid. Okay, barbara, President Trumps team is finally answering some of muellers questions. What does it tell you . I think it tells us were fairly advanced in the investigation. Typically, you work your way up any sort of organization, criminal or otherwise, and so if they are asking questions of President Trump, that suggests that were in a very mature stage of the investigation. We have also seen a couple of the members of Robert Muellers team leave the team, which suggests to me theyre narrowing the focus. I think were getting closer to the end. It makes it hard to predict when the end will be. Well, lets talk about that. We still dont know where the end will be. Is it a negative for Robert Muellers team theyre going to be getting the answers written through the lawyers . You yourself being a lawyer know theyre going to perfect these answers down to the last punctuation mark. Yes, i think its far short of what they would like. When you get written answers as opposed to live answers in questioning, obviously, its the lawyers who are drafting these in connection with President Trump for his version of accuracy. But, you know, theyre careful in what they say and what they dont say. You dont get the opportunity to observe the demeanor of the person youre asking questions of. Their tone and their inflection, to see if you believe what theyre saying. It doesnt allow the opportunity for immediate follow up. I know Robert Mueller has reserved the right to follow up on some of these answers. Its the immediate follow up that i think can provide a window into questions. It seems mueller has a couple of questions. One would be to subpoena the president. That brings with it why wouldnt he go with that, right . Were this deep in. The president said on fox news yesterday, ill answer whatever questions you want. The clock is ticking. If youre Robert Mueller, why not say great, heres a subpoena, lets sit down . Yes, think many lawyers would. In fact, if i were on his team, i think i might be advocating for that. I think its a legal battle hes very likely to win. Robert mueller is known for someone who doesnt like drama. Who might want to take the path of least resistance. No caugdoubt it would result in further delay. It may be hes concluded whatever President Trump says, he thinks will be of marginal value but he feels the need to give him the opportunity to tell his side of the the story so this is a compromise way of doing that. It locks President Trump into a story. If he asks him, were you or were you not aware of the trump tower meeting in june of 2016, he has to say yes or not. Whichever answer he says, hes now locked into that answer. He cant say one thing now and Say Something later. So there is some value in doing this. It sounds like Robert Mueller has reached a conclusion that whatever President Trump tells him is likely to be of such little value, it isnt worth that big fight of a subpoena. Instead, lets get these answers, check the box and move on. All right. And is his conclusion to focus on collusion . Because based on our information it sound, like collusion is the focus of the questions, not obstruction of justice. Yes, and it seems like that was an area where the two teams were in disagreement. Trumps team versus muellers team about whether President Trump would answer those questions. So it may be this is the first round of questions that will focus on collusion. It may be that President Trumps lawyer has said were never going to answer questions about obstruction of justice. And if thats the case, then thats okay. They can move on. Robert mueller still retains the right to subpoena President Trump. I can understand why he would want to ask those questions. If hes not going to get information from President Trump anyway, he may either build a case without President Trumps involvement or maybe hes concluded that is not a viable charge. All right, barbara, as always, thank you so much. You always make us smarter. Coming up, chilling new developments, upsetting developments, in the case of the saudi journalist who walked into the consulate in turkey and never walked out. Now, potentially there are recordings. And these recordings prove that he was, indeed, murdered. Plus, we got to cover the markets. Were five minutes away from the market opening. Stocks are looking for a bounceback today after two days of punishing losses. Lets face it everybody hates fees. Now sofi has no fees on personal loans. Thats right no fees on loans to remodel your bathroom. No fees on loans to consolidate your credit card debt. See no fees just feels good. Boo yeah. If youve got the drive, you can do a lot with no fees on personal loans. Boo yeah. So lets promote our falle a homecomingtravel dealame, on choicehotels. Com like this. Touchdown. Earn a free night when you stay just twice this fall. Or, badda book. Badda boom. Book now at choicehotels. Com im all about my bed. This mattress is dangerously comfortable. When i get in i literally say, ahh. Meet the leesa mattress. A better place to sleep. This bed hugs my body. Im now a morning person. The leesa mattress is designed to provide strong support, relieve pressure and optimize airflow to keep you cool. Hello bed of my dreams. Order online. Well build it, box it and ship it to your door for you to enjoy. Sleep on it to up to 100 nights and love it or you get a full refund. Returns are free and easy. I love my leesa. Today is gonna be great. Read our reviews, then try the leesa mattress in your own home. Order during our fall mattress sale and save. For a limited time get 150 dollars off and Free Shipping too. Sale prices are available right now. Go to buyleesa. Com today. You need this bed. Can be relentless. Tremfya® is for adults with moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis. With tremfya®, you can get clearer. And stay clearer. In fact, most patients who saw 90 clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks. Tremfya® works better than humira® at providing clearer skin, and more patients were symptom free with tremfya®. Tremfya® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections. Before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection or have symptoms such as fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. Before starting tremfya® tell your doctor if you plan to or have recently received a vaccine. Ask your doctor about tremfya®. Tremfya®. Because you deserve to stay clearer. Janssen wants to help you explore cost support options. With pg e in the sierras. And im an arborist since the onset of the drought, more than 129 Million Trees have died in california. Pg e prunes and removes over a Million Trees every year to ensure that hazardous trees cant impact power lines. And since the onset of the drought weve doubled our efforts. I grew up in the forests out in this area and honestly its heartbreaking to see all these trees dying. What guides me is ensuring that the public is going to be safer and that these forests can be sustained and enjoyed by the community in the future. Welcome back. Im Stephanie Ruhle. Look at your clock. Were one minute away from the markets opening on wall street. After a very rough week. Joining me now, my dear friend dom chu. Cnbcs markets reporter. And Brendan Greely from the financial times. Dominique, to you first, is this selloff the first sign the markets are turning or just a correction, and lets be clear, were in need of a correction. Heres what we got. We have two massive days worth of losses and we know markets dont go up or down in straight lines. But still these were the biggest losses that weve seen in a twoday stretch going all the way back to the early part of this year, when inflation worries and an overheating economy worries were already playing out in the markets. This time around, we had some similarities. They werent exactly alike. However, because of the damage that was done, there is a sense that today could be a bit of a relief rally. Things had gone way too far too fast to the downside. There are folkings wis out thera shopping list. Today might be an opportunity. I wish i had a crystal ball to tell you this was the perfect time to buy stocks. However there are traders out there who believe that because things have gone down way, way further than they should have, that this might be a good time to buy some on sale. Again, theres a lot of head winds at play here. There are still issues about the economy and the markets are still trying to die jefts soges comments out of the treasury secretary earlier today. Saying in essence that the president s comments about Interest Rates directed at the fed are just that he wants to maintain independence at the fed but also that he believes low Interest Rates are the way to go. Lets just Say Something really quickly. The president doesnt believe in independence of the fed. He went out there and said they were loco. Said that j powell, who he appointed, was wild. We have to remind our audience, when president obama was in office and Interest Rates were so low, the president attacked it. He said it was hurting saverings. He said Janell Yellen was doing it to artificially support the stock market and hook up obama. He is clearly singing a different tune. Lets go a little broader, out of the micro of individual stocks and what we should buy. Christine lagarde, head of the imf, not only defended jay powell and actions of his team not being crazy, but the imf also predicted that this long drawn out trade war with china is going to hurt global growth. What do you think of that . Thats right. Thats one of the things thats been credited for this shift in the markets. We follow the imf predictions. When they change their predictions, its worth watching. Let me go back to something you said earlier about, you know, what the president believes in. Its important to draw a distinction between what the president said and what the president did. Those of us who watch the fed for a living have been quietly pleasantly surprised at the president s picks for the fed. Theyve been pretty sane people. Theyve been pretty good responsible centrist people who have made it on to the governors board. J. Powell is like janet yellyell 2. 0. These are all people who are sensible. The broader sweep of things is that weve been asking ourselves for ten years when are things going to return to normal, when are all the models going to work again . We may be approaching that. One of the things thats happening is returns to u. S. Treachery debt are rising back to something that feels like normal, right . The u. S. 10year returns over 3 now. That hasnt been true for a very long time. The stocks shouldnt be the only game in town return more, people rotate out of stocks. That is a normal thing to be happening. Normal maybe. Brendan, dom, thank you. As we watch the markets. What a start to the morning. Already two minutes in, up 378. Thats a big positive. Now we have to turn to a very big negative. New developments in the case of missing saudi journalist jamal ca khashoggi. We are learning this morning that several journalists media organizations and Business Leaders including aol cofounder steve case, New York Times columnist sorkin and publisher of the l. A. Times are pulling out of the future investment initiative. A very highprofile conference. Financed by the royal family that is slated to take place in saudi arabia in two weeks. The president spoke yesterday about the missing journalist and the future of our relationship with saudi arabia. Take a listen. First, i want to find out what happened. Were looking. Again, this took place in turk yig. Turkey. And to the best of our knowledge, khashoggi is not a United States citizen permanent resident. Permanent resident, okay. We dont like it. We dont like it even a little bit. As to whether or not we should stop 110 billion from being spent in this country knowing they have 4 or 5 alternatives, that would not be acceptable to me. Very quickly the president is overstating that Business Opportunity with the United States and saudi arabia. And while i mentioned a number of Business Leaders and Media Outlets who pulled out of that conference, treasury secretary mnuchin at this point is still going. Joining me, nbc chief Foreign Correspondent richard engel. What do we know about these recordings that are inside the consulate . So, before i get to that, theres just in the last few minutes, another story developing, that is related and unrelated. Its turkey related but it is part of this general tension that has been hurting the turkish economy, hurting relations with the u. S. According to multiple sources, the Prosecutors Office has ordered the american pastor andrew brusnan to be set free. Theyve lifted according to local reports here controls on his whereabouts. So he would be free to leave the country. That judicial controls on him have been lifted. This was a major Sticking Point between the United States and turkey. It was one reason the u. S. Imposed sanctions on certain turkish products, which sent this countrys economy tanking. And the reason i say its related and unrelated is that i dont think the timing is any coincidence. Right now, turkey is under a lot of pressure to improve relations with the United States. To get this pastor crisis past it. Because it is facing a potential another crisis with another powerful economic country and this is saudi arabia. So i think if turkey is now going to take a more confrontational stance with saudi arabia, which it seems to be, over what happened in this building right behind me it seems they wanted to clear up that other problem with the United States, that lingering problem of the pastor while they continued to address what happened or what allegedly happened in this consulate. So back to the recordings you were talking about. Washington post says the turkish government, that the Turkish Security agencies have recordings, audio and visual recordings, showing that jamal cash sh khashoggi, this journalist, walked into the building, never seen to leave, and once he was inside, was murdered, interrogated, tortured. All right. Walk us through, murdered, integrated and tortured. Walk us through where nbs is in all of this. There are reports the crown prince ordered this operation to lure khashoggi back to saudi arabia from his home in virginia. The crown prince is a wellknown figure. He is very close to jared kushner. Hes close to a number of american Business Leaders. I mean, take your pick. Which ceo do you want out there that most likely got a picture with nbs . We know this guy well. So going thats why, frankly, this story is so interesting. Not only is it just absolutely bizarre that a journalist, a wellknown person, columnist for the washington post, could go into a diplomatic building and then be butchered and tortured and potentially cut up into pieces and brought out on to chartered planes, not only is that mind blowing, but there are numerous reports this was ordered by the top levels of the saudi government, and that there is this report that earlier on, the crown prince, muhammad bin sulman who effectively runs country right now, runs it more or less as a oneman show, hes been arrested hundreds, thousands of critics, putting them under sometimes house arrest, sometimes under real arrest. Hes taken a hard line. That he had initially had a plot or wanted a plot to lure khashoggi back to saudi arabia with offers of reconciliation. Khashoggi has been critical of the prince. According to this report, nbs wanted to say, well, everything can be done, let bygones be bygones. But khashoggi didnt buy it. He was trying to keep his distance from saudi arabia until it was he went in on that fateful day into this consulate building. He needed some paperwork that he believed apparently he couldnt get anywhere else and never came outside. This story is not going away anytime soon. Were so lucky to have richard on the ground working on it. Were going to stay on it. Thank you so much, richard. Coming up, a major shakeup in the Catholic Church. Pope francis accepts the resignation of a highprofile american cardinal. Probably you could easily say the most important, the most senior catholic in the United States, after a damning report about child sex abuse. But first, check out this headline from the Associated Press revealing over the last year the u. S. Army discharged more than 500 immigrant recruits who enlisted as a pathway to citizenship. These young men and women were recruited from around the world for their language and their medical skills. Today is a good day to make a plan for your financial goals and your everyday ones too. Pnc can help. Well be with you every step of the way. Lets start today. To give you the protein you need with less of the sugar you dont. [grunting noise] ill take that. 30 grams of protein and 1 gram of sugar. Ensure max protein. In two great flavors. You see clear skin. Cosentyx can help people with moderate to Severe Plaque Psoriasis find clear skin that can last. Dont use if youre allergic to cosentyx. Before starting, get checked for tuberculosis. An increased risk of infections and lowered ability to fight them may occur. Tell your doctor about an infection or symptoms, if your inflammatory bowel disease symptoms develop or worsen, or if youve had a vaccine or plan to. Serious allergic reactions may occur. How sexy are these elbows . Ask your dermatologist about cosentyx. Lets do an ad of a man eating free waffles at comfort inn. They taste like victory because he always gets the lowest price on our rooms, guaranteed, when he books direct at choicehotels. Com. Or just say badda book, badda boom. Book now at choicehotels. Com. Or just say badda book, badda boom. King being king midas, i expectyou should too. Erything. And weve got all the top brands of tires. King yes indeed. Take these michelin tires, for example. King or these goodyear tires over here. I like this guy. Always a touch better means great brands at great prices. Now get up to 200 off select goodyear and cooper tires with the midas credit card. Request your appointment today. A bombshell in the Catholic Church this morning. Pope francis accepted the resignation of washingtons embattled archbishop Cardinal Wuerl. This following multiple calls for wuerls resignation over what he knew and when he knew it over allegations of abuse, rampant abuse, resulting in a coverup during his time as the bishop of pittsburgh. Joining me now from the vatican, nbc news correspondent claudia lavanga. The pope wrote a letter in praise of wuerl for stepping down. Its hard for me to get my head around any kind of positive note from the head of the Catholic Church at a time like this. Well, let me tell you, stephanie, weve been expecting pope francis to accept the resignation offered by Cardinal Wuerl at the beginning of september. September 11. Following his naming in the damning pennsylvania report in which he was accused of mishandling cases of sex abuse while he was bishop of pittsburgh from 1998 to 2006. What we did not expect, as you say, the warm affectionate supportive letter that accompanied these acceptance. Now, the cardinal posted the statement on the website of archdiocese of washington in which he apologized and asked for pardon. At the same time, the pope published a letter on the same website, the archdiocese, that said the cardinal did not cover up crimes but made mistakes and because of it, the pope thanked him and he was proud of him. And because he decided to resign anyway for the good of the church, the letter says. And that must be the reason why the pope decided to keep him as an administrator of the ar archdiocese in washington, despite the resignation, until a successor is found, stephanie. Thank you so much. Our other big story, an important one. We look forward to the february summit where the pope will be meeting with all the heads of the Catholic Church. I just cant figure out why hes not doing it sooner. We are just 25, 25 days away from the midterm elections and all eyes are on the georgias governors race. Democratic candidate stacy abrams say her opponent, secretary of state brian kemp, is suppressing votes. According to the Associated Press, more than 53,000 Voter Registration applicationings s listed as pending. Kemps office overseas elections. According to the ap, nearly 70 of those stalled applications are black voters. We should note those pending voters can vote if they bring the correct documentation to polls. The concern is poll workers might not know that. My guest is the author of the fight to vote. And of course bob and rick back with me. All right, michael, 32 of georgias population are black, but 70 of these applications that are pending are minority voters. What do you make of this . Its quite a coincidence. Or its not a coincidence. Or not. I would say there is an overall problem we see in georgia but we see it across the country. Of new laws and new practices to make it harder for people to vote, really for the First Time Since the jim crow era. And one of the problems is in a place like georgia. Youve got somebody whos the secretary of state in charge of Voting System and he stands to benefit from this. So who can stop this . Well, we should move to nonpartisan administration of elections in the country. But he and anybody who is doing these kinds of purges need to understand the right to vote is sacred. Its the heart of our democracy. And that its just wrong to fiddle with it in the heat of an election. Lets get real. How big of a crisis is this . Many, even republicans, say voter fraud is an issue. We know the one from kansas likes to say that. But this is not voter fraud. A lot of these policies are justified with the idea that, oh, there must be a huge amount of illegal voting out there. And the fact is, every court that looked at it, every study thats looked at it, has said that kind of voter impersonation is a minuscule problem. Youre more likely to be struck by lightning in the United States than to commit voter fraud. We should be finding ways for everybody to vote, only eligible voters, but every eligible voter. What do you make of this, bob . This didnt happen by chance. We solved this problem in 65. We had a votings right act. Decided in the states of the former confederacy if you were going to change your election laws, you were going to change these provisions, you had to get the approval of the Justice Department. It expired. So lets not just say this didnt just fall out of the sky. There was a policy decision not to extend the Voting Rights act provision on the old confederacy. Who made that decision . Who supported it . Where did it come from . The congress let it expire. Well, the Congress Actually voted overwhelmingly, 980 in the senate, to keep the Voting Rights act going. It was the Supreme Court of the United States in 2013 that gutted the act. Theres been a frenzy of purges in those Southern States but the congress could have done an extension with a president ial signature and continued it. The congress decided not to do it. Which is my point. This happened for a reason. Now given where we are, because i agree with michael, this is not just a problem with the old confederacy. People are now manipulating registrations across america to restrict the right to vote. Rallying back to 65, the fact is this should be nationwide. The right to vote is a federally protected constitutional right. If states are going to change their registration provisionings, in my opinion, they should have to get Justice Department approval. All right, well, lets state with the Supreme Court and talk in broader terms about the midterms. There was so much talk about the blue wave. When we all went through the kavanaugh experience in the last few weeks, many people said this is going to drive more democrats to go out and vote. If you actually look at the polls, theyve tightened. Theyve tightened. This kavanaugh situation has hurt democrats in the way they handled it. What do you make of it . I think its well, look, the democrats were already excited to vote. There wasnt the increase wasnt that much. The republicans on the other hand were not that excited. With the kavanaugh hearings, they became very excited. So it closed the gap. I would still say the blue side is more closed the gap. I would still say blue is more excited than red, but it is much closer. And polls always tighten up and republicans are more reliable voters in off year elections. And can i wsay one they can abi the georgia race . You can go to the registrar today and find out if you are actually registered to vote and if you arent, solve that problem now before election day. That will help. But think about the challenge of somebody who has a job that i realize that. But it is about winning and your sacred right to vote and you cant rely on administrators and people that play games. Take care of it yourself. Go back to the midterms for us. We knew democrats were excited. And now a lot more republicans are excited to vote. One of the things democrats have been pushing is they are sort of the moral leaders and they have been pointing the finger at republicans. And something sort of got muzzled in the last few weeks that when you sit down with even a centrist and you talk about the kavanaugh confirmation, they are quickly saying it is not just dirty politics on one side, but more and more people are saying they dont like the way democrats handled it. I know that i will happy from half the judiciary committee. But the Senate Democrats were incredibly ineffective in the kavanaugh hearings. They didnt crossexamine i, th did not make a good case. They didnt stand unto kavanaugh who insulted the process and they took it as a normal course of business. I think that depressed democrat feelings about the contrast between the parties. Otherwise i agree that drove a fire under the republican base. And in any case, polls have narrowed. I dont think enough that it jeopardizes the house. My guess is the democrats will take the house, about you close. But close. We have a seven point generic. So that is close. But the senate, there are four or five senate races where i thought democrats had an advantage up to a week ago that are now a flip of a coin. But in terms of democrats and democratic leadership, they have been pushing this idea that donald trump and i get it is an and i moral gmoral guy, h. But then i look at states like new jersey and i talk to new jersey voters and about the corruption that we see or the selfserving that we see, and they say, well, it is not just republicans. What about bob menendez, a democrat like you in the state of new jersey who is running again. And this guy was plagued with a corruption mistrial. If democrats want to run on being the moral authority, is it the right move to have a guy like menendez running again . The entire system has the downward spiral of deviance. But it doesnt have great people. Maybe not. But look at yesterday with kanye west. In the oval office where Ronald Reagan wouldnt take off his jacket because he thought it was disrespectful to the office. Look at where we are. In both parties. Look at this culture and what we have done to this country. This is now baked into the system. People think with Donald Trumps behavior, the things that you have cited, this is just the way it is. It shouldnt be. It doesnt have to be. But voters are responding that way. Donald trump s conduct is reprehensible, we know this. But are there any moral leaders right now . Can a party say were the good guys . Bob is right, people expect politicians to be saints . No. And donald trump is emblematic of that. But there is a difference between being a saint and being a reasonable person. And he is not a reasonable person. But as you point out, there are unreasonable people on the other side and it becomes this partisan game. And it shouldnt be a partisan game. And the replacement model will come when people just finally say it is always about leadership. And we dont know who it is and who will show up, but someone will capture the imagination of the country and hopefully you will have someone who is competent, who is trustworthy, who will replace this story. Because this is just part of the american story. And i have hope that we will swing back to rationality. Michael, last point. In any midterm election, but especially this one, i dont know that voters are looking for moral leadership from congress, but they want to know that there will be somebody to check whoever the president is. And that is certainly the general sentiment this time. And the question is over the next month with kanye west yesterday, with screaming at the fed and calling them loco and the is stock market crashing as a result in part, will people be reminded that above all else the issue is who will stand up as some kind of check tois histori unpo unpopular. Polls always tighten, but that will probably still be the overarching question for the election. The nonpartisan point was the best one, did you hear that america . Thank you all so much. You have to hear this one. No matter what, there is always good news and we think good news rules. Meet justin, a communications student, also a runner. And this week he became the first athlete with cerebral policy to earn a contract with nike. He found out after a run with his club, justin had been working with nike for a while and he helped them develop shoes for athletes with disabilities. At the end of his run, there was nike with a contract for justin. Congratulations. Isnt that an awesome story . Good for him, good for nike. Good for america. Remember, people are doing excellent things every single day. And were thinking about those people in florida right now. Coming up oh, gosh, im not leaving you. You have me for another hour. When we come back, it is con key issue in the midterms that could determine who controls congress and it is motivating people who have never been politically active until now. Were talking to voters in the state of ohio where President Trump will hold a rally tonight. [man 2] proof of less joint pain. [woman 3]. And clearer skin. [man 3] proof that i can fight psoriatic arthritis. [woman 4]. With humira. [woman 5] humira targets and blocks a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. Its proven to help relieve pain, stop further irreversible joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. Humira is the number one prescribed biologic for psoriatic arthritis. [avo] humira can lower your ability to fight infections. Serious and sometimes fatal infections, including tuberculosis, and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened, as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. [woman 6] ask your rheumatologist about humira. [woman 7] go to mypsaproof. Com to see proof in action. You might or joints. Hing for your heart. But do you take something for your brain. With an ingredient originally discovered in jellyfish, prevagen has been shown in Clinical Trials to improve shortterm memory. Prevagen. Healthier brain. Better life. So lets promote our falle a homecomingtravel dealame, on choicehotels. Com like this. Touchdown. Earn a free night when you stay just twice this fall. Or, badda book. Badda boom. Book now at choicehotels. Com 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. Im Stephanie Ruhle back with you for another hour while Hallie Jackson has the morning off. Right now the race to rescue and rebuild is all across the southeast. Towns in the Florida Panhandle have been totally destroyed. At least 11 people have died. And we are live on the ground. Here on wall street, stocks opened higher after six Straight Days of losses. Well look and see where the customer will settle. Plus Robert Mueller may get his interview after all before lawyers for President Trump are prepping written answers to questions submitted by the special counsel. Our team is set up and ready to go. And lets get you up to speed