Ahead of time, this from the New York times. The book reveals american intelligence showed that the chinese believed President Trump would launch a Military Strike to create an international crisis that he could claim to solve as a last Ditch Effort to beat Joe Biden. Milley convened a meeting with top commanders to remind them that the procedures for launching a nuclear called for his decision not just trump alone. A conversation between Milley And Nancy pelosi, pelosi said trump was, quote, crazy. Madam,he told her, i agree with you on everything. About Mike Pence struggled over what was publicly known about the election certification. Pence appeared open to going along with trumps plan to push the false claim that arizonas Voting Results were wrong and asked whether there was anyway he could delay certification. Finally, when pence said he planned to certify the results, trump told him, quote, i dont want to be your friend anymore if you dont do this. Youve betrayed us. I made you, you were nothing. Joining us is Mike Memoli who is traveling with President Biden right now in colorado. Also michael Schmitt And Peter baker and general barry mccaffrey. Welcome to the four of you. We have obtained our own copy of the book and we can verify the excerpts. Tell us more about this secret meeting that General Milley held in his Pentagon OfficeJanuary 8th to review the process for Military Action. This was two days after the Insurrection And Milley was concerned, according to costa and woodwards telling, that President Trump, the former president , had gone into a serious mental decline and was now all but manic. Yeah. Milley goes into a Command Post in the pentagon and assembles the top commanders there and goes over with them the procedures for how a Nuclear Weapon should be launched and the law that lays that out. And he reiterates to them to make sure they know that for a weapon like this to be launched, the order has to come directly from the president and that milley himself needs to be on the line. While the book doesnt say this, if you read between the lines, what i think milley is essentially saying is that he was afraid that someone else in Trumps Orbit may try and do this. Trump may tell someone else to launch some sort of strike and that they would actually go ahead and do this. This was a common tactic throughout the Trump Administration where trump would be afraid to do something else, so he would mention it openly in meetings and ask people to do it. He at one point even asked people outside the White House, Corey Lewandowski to try to fire his attorney general. Milley, having as good a sense as anyone about trump and his possibilities and his unusual views of power and his clinging and doing everything he can to hold onto his office, went around the table and made sure all the commanders understood what he was saying. General mccaffrey, if you can, sort of put this moment into context for us. We know that president ial transitions tend to be a vulnerable moment for this country. At the time, around the same time, General Milley was also concerned that china would lash it if it felt at risk from an unpredictable president. He made two Phone Calls to his counterpart in china, one before the election and one on January 8th. Help us understand what General Milley was thinking and the real threat that china poses. The worst thing that happened to general Milleys Life is to be the chairman of the jcs during this period of a lawless president. Let me put it in context. The chairman of jcs, the confidence four star chiefs are not commanders. They are advisors. The only authority to give operational orders to the u. S. Armed forces comes from the president and the secretary of defense, No One Else. At that time trump had fired all the top civilian officials in the pentagon, and we had a minor Functionary RetiredLieutenant Colonel who is a fan of trump as the secretary of defense. We were at a perilous moment. I thought this was the opening moves to a coup. I think the other thing, the chairman of jcs, who has a foreign Service Officer political advisor, routinely talks to all his counterparts globally, both friendly and adversarial. Its part of the stability of deterrence. Having said that, we were in trouble. Theres just no question that trump was, in my view, acting mentally unstable, erratic, violating the law. He was about to fire the cia director. So it was a pretty tricky moment and i think this place in history is going to be a pretty fabled one. The cia director, according to this book, had concerns of her own and warned milley we are on our way to a rightwing coup, the whole thing is insanity. We governorcovered the biden tr. I remember toward The End of december, beginning of january, for all that effort to obstruct the transition, we got word that the ugliest transition was happening at the pentagon. The pentagon blocked members of the Biden Administration from getting access to information about current operations, including the Troop Drawdown in afghanistan, even the covid19 distribution program. Its interesting to go back in my notes and look at that and then get a sense of these conversations General Milley was having given his own concerns about what the president could potentially do. What this new book really lays out quite starkly is the divide we were hearing often about from Biden Transition officials between some of the institutionalists who were being very cooperative faciitaing the transition and by loyalist who were Circumventing The Process and keeping the Biden Team out of the loop. The Biden Team was very specific about when they raised some of these issues. Even the bureaucratic recognition of biden as the president took some time. It was only much later in the process when we heard multiple times from Biden Transition officials about the fact that the pentagon specifically was where they were finding some of their most serious roadblocks. This was a critical point. The transition of power from one administration to the other is the most perilous moment for our democracy in normal times, especially when you have an outgoing president whos refusing to participate. It was during this time we were learning about the solarwinds hack. Now youre hearing that the Chinese Military was even concerned and raising the possibility of Military Action based on the clues and signs we were seeing from our own government requiring this unprecedented intervention from General Milley. It really speaks to what a fragile moment this was for our country. The fact that were going to be learning more over time about some of the concerns that the Biden Team had in counting down those hours and minutes to the swearing in when most of this was put behind them. Peter baker, i want to highlight an excerpt from the book in which Nancy Pelosi had a conversation with General Milley about Nuclear Weapons. We know from our own reporting on January 8th the House Speaker told her democratic caucus that she had gotten assurances that there were safeguards in place in the event that trump wanted to launch a Nuclear Weapon. Milley was trying to tell her the Nuclear Weapons were safe and she says, what im saying to you is if they couldnt even stop him from an assault on the capitol, who even knows who else he may do . And is there anybody in charge at the White House who is doing anything but kissing his Fat Butt all over the place . You know hes crazy. Hes been crazy for a long time. Milley responded, madam speaker, i agree with you on everything. Thats extraordinary, the third in line of succession having this conversation. It is extraordinary. I think it reenforces what a fragile moment. That was what we faced back in january of this year. Its something we dont see every day, obviously. Yes, transitions can be fraught at times, but not like this. This is an entirely different order. Were doing reporting for our own book that will come out next year on President Trump. General milley was genuinely concerned about a variety of possible scenarios. The nuclear option about china was there in the sense that he obviously felt the need to call the leader of china, call other leaders as well. What was really at the top of his mind, reporting shows, is iran. He was very concerned there would be some effort by the trump White House on the way out the door to take some sort of Military Action against iran that would leave us in a Big War In The Middle East all over again even as the new president was coming in. That was a big, big concern for General Milley. All of these conversations happening at that time underscore just how erratic players like General Milley, speaker pelosi felt how erratic President Trump was behaving. We havent seen that in modern times. The only historical comparison was in nixons final days. If theres any orders from the White House, you make sure to call me or Secretary Kissinger before you take them out to make sure there was nothing reckless in the final days of a presidency on the way out. I just want to get your perspective here. Im sure that General Milley will be criticized by some for overstepping his authority. There will be people who say these extraordinary measures were not his to claim as his own. What would you response be to that . The Countrys Survival was at stake. By the way, we need to rethink the ability of a president of the United States alone to order a nuclear strike. The chairman of the jcs has delegated authority to accept reports from the joint operational commanders and can transmit the secretary of defenses orders to them. The president of the United States can actually call the sec def and order a nuclear strike. We ought to be cognizant we ought to get two or three other constitutional figures involved in this process. We were in great peril in the waning days of the Trump Administration. General barry mccaffrey, thanks as always for that context and clarity. Thanks for your reporting and insight. Coming up next, california decides today whether to recall its democratic governor. Already republicans are claiming the vote could be rigged, which it is not. Also ahead, a Summer Surge of covid is now leading to a crisis in hospitals across the south where Icu Beds for the sickest of patients are now hard to find. Later in this hour, Tropical Storm Nicholas threatens to dump a foot of rain along the Gulf Coast, including areas still recovering from ida. Including l recovering from ida. Power, we can harness the energy of the tiny electron. We can create new ways to connect. Rethinking how we communicate to be more inclusive than ever. With app, cloud and anywhere workspace solutions, vmware helps companies navigate change. Faster. Vmware. Welcome change. If youre 55 and up, T Mobile has plans built just for you. Whether you need a single line or lines for family members, youll get great value on americas most reliable 5g network. Like 2 lines of unlimited for just 27. 50 a line. Only at tmobile. Every single day, were all getting a little bit better. Were better cooks. Better neighbors. Hi. Ive got this until you get back. Better parents. And better friends. No no thats why comcast works around the clock constantly improving americas largest gigspeed broadband network. And just doubled the capacity here. How do things look on your end . Perfect because were building a better network every single day. Believe it or not, its Election Day in america. There are more than 40 people on the ballot in california, but only one Politicians Job is on the line. The outcome could be a harbinger of things to come. Youre probably familiar with the republican effort to recall California Governor Gavin newsom. The Way California Law works, if you get enough signatures, you can force a recall vote. And there are two questions being put to voters today. Should the governor be recalled . And if yes, who should replace him . This happened back in 2003 when democratic governor Gray Davis was recalled and replaced in favor of arnold schwarzenegger. Despite multiple polls showing newsom hanging onto his job, a growing chorus of democrats is calling for the law to be changed. Its the aftermath of this race that could be the real sign of things to come. Like it or not, you win or lose. Will you accept the results of the election . I think we all ought to be looking at election integrity. Is that a commitment to accept the results . Lets all work together on both sides of the aisle to make sure the election is a fair election. Is that a commitment to accept the results of the election . Lets all work together to do that. That is not a commitment to accept the results of the Election Tomorrow . So that was the leading republican in this race, Larry Elder speaking with jacob soboroff. Theres echoes of Donald Trump. Elder appeared on monday to his supporters to use an online forum to report fraud, which claimed it had, quote, detected fraud in the results of the california Recall Election, quote, resulting in Governor Newsom being reinstated as governor. The only problem on monday, when the link was live on elders campaign site, the Election Hasnt even happened yet. Joining us is Jake Ward in huntington beach, california. Jake, the President Biden is selling this as a Newsom Versus Trump fight. Has that messaging been effective among california voters . At this point, its very interesting to be certainly in this voting center, to be here in huntington beach, california, orange county, 1. 8 million registered voters. Huntington beach, Republicans Outnumber democrats 40 to 31 . Its one of the few urban republican strongholds in the state. So when you speak to voters here, its very interesting to hear their sentiments. It is a general dissatisfaction with the way the country is going and dissatisfaction with high taxes, the high cost of living here. Have a listen to what voters had to say this morning. I think its time we stand up and make our politicians realize they cant be overstepping and failing to represent us. You voted republican . Oh absolutely. Why . Because of everything, everything. The costs in california, the homeless situation in california, the illegals. Were either going to have a place for decent people or were not. The Direction California is going in the current leadership, its less and less a place for decent people. While you mentioned the president s efforts to rally california behind its governor, that certainly does not seem to be the message thats reached the people we spoke to this morning. I want to draw from your reporting about Larry Elder claiming fraud before a single ballot has been counted. The fact that hes doing that basically gives away the game, does it not . I think thats exactly right. This has been the republican message since 2020, Donald Trump leading the charge. There was a lot of fears that now the republican base has been primed to believe there is this vast conspiracy between democrats and election officials, that every candidate going forward who loses a race will say it was fraud and it wasnt real. Heres Larry Elder before the race has even happened basically acknowledging, whether intentionally or not, that they were going to claim this is fraud. Unless they have a time machine, they are saying they used statistical analysis on the results. There are no results. Theres no reports of voter fraud. This was clearly the plan all along. Its especially notable for Larry Elder because he got in trouble when he first got into the race a month august for saying Joe Biden won the 2020 race fair and square. He got raked over the coals by trump supporters and he was raked over the coals by republicans. So he knows better than this. I want to play a clip from former california Gray Davis. The process in california is relatively easy to qualify for a recall, but it runs the risk of having a governor not meet the 50 threshold on question one. Question two, all you have to do is get one more vote than the next person. I propose that going forward after this election it should be just one question of the ballot. Everyone gets to run including the governor. If the governor wins, he gets to serve out his term. If he loses, he gets recalled and whoever gets the most votes wins. California is a state where democrats outnumber republicans 21. Yet twice now youve had this attempted recall in the case of newsom of two democratic governors. Will this system will changed . Absolutely. Theres already been so much talk about reforming the system. This recall is already costing almost 300 million. Other proposals include increasing the number of signatures required to place the recall on the ballot. California has among the lowest of states that has recalled. Theres a lot of talk about reform and theres many different proposals. The one thing that should be noted is that the recall is in californias constitution, so you Cant Wave a Magic Wand and make it go away. While voters in polling are very supportive of reforming the recall, theyre also reluctant often to give back power to the government. Its not guaranteed it would be successful. What are Governor Newsoms chances of hitting that 50 threshold in this Recall Election . If you look at the vote by mail and recent polling, hes in a better Position Today than he was a month ago. In the summer democrats were worried. With the emergence of elder with his track record, he recently said you should talk about reparations for slave owners, which i dont think anybodys ever heard before in california politics. He has a rich Treasure Trove of statements that newsom could point to say this is the guy whos going to be successful if the recall goes through. It has scared democrats into turning out the vote. In the vote by mail democrats are outnumbering republicans 21. There are 5 Million more registered democrats than republicans so at some point the math is going to become impossible. We just dont know if thats happening today. Well have full coverage on msnbc all night long. Coming up next, well go to a hospital that is about to stop delivering babies after dozens of its staff quit over mandate. Later a Sports Illustrated writer shares the story of Vaccine Hesitancy in his own family. Vaccine hesitancy in his own family we are hoping things will pick up by q3. Yeah. Uh. Doug . [ding] never settle with power E Trade. It has easytouse tools and some of the lowest prices. Dont get mad. Get E Trade and start trading today. Mission control, we are go for launch. Um, shes eating the rocket. 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The army just announced that it will require all active Duty Service members to be vaccinated by december 15th. Soldiers who refuse the vaccine will first be counselled by their chain of command. Continued failure to comply could result in administrative punishment, including relief of duties or discharge. Soldiers can request an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Meantime, the Covid Surge is straining hospitals across the south. 1 in 4 hospitals in the region now report that nearly all of their Icu Beds are occupied. They are 95 full. With hospitals running dangerously low on space, theyre once again finding themselves having to improvise to handle the influx of covid patients and to care for patients suffering from other life threatening conditions. Theres another problem forcing the Nations Hospital to make hard decisions. Staff who still refuse to be vaccinated. Joining us Kristin Dahlgren in New York and dr. Patel. Well start with you because youre at this hospital that plans to stop delivering babies because some Staff Refuse to get vaccinated. Its unbelievable. What went into that decision . Reporter right, jeff. And a difficult decision, as you can imagine, for the hospital. They say they really werent left with much choice. We just got some new numbers in, because were coming up against this new York StateVaccine Mandate deadline. This is a small hospital in Lewis County. They already were feeling the pinch of a Staffing Shortage like so many businesses during covid. Then came this Vaccine Mandate. Since then, 42 workers have resigned, six of them in the last 24 hours or so. And 125 of their staff is still not vaccinated and hasnt declared whether or not they are going to get the vaccine or leave by that deadline. Six of those at least were in the maternity department. So this hospital was faced with what they can do to preserve their staff and make sure Emergency Services and other things are still running. They opted to pause for now their maternity services. Heres the ceo. I will respect wherever people are, and if the Vaccination Isnt Right for them, i truly am not judging that. But i also know they Cant Work here. I will acknowledge their work and their service, but we have patients to care for. We have a vision and a mission that we try to live by every single day. I dont get into being disappointed by adults. You know, we have honest conversations. They make the decision thats right for them. And truly lets move forward. Reporter this is a mandate, though, so moving forward includes posting those jobs and hopefully hiring other people, he says. If anyone changes their mind and decides to get vaccinated, they will be welcomed back without any hard feelings. He also says he believes that the Vaccine Mandate is working, because he said that since the mandate, 56 workers have gotten the vaccine. And today he says the hospital is up over 80 vaccination rate. If you look at Lewis County here, its only at 46 . So he says the Vaccine Mandate, he believes, is working in this case despite what theyve had to do. Dr. Patel, i want to get your reaction. When President Biden said a couple of days ago that the vaccinated are fed up with the unvaccinated, how theyre basically changing this country. Thats my phrasing, not his. This is what hes talking about. You have this hospital in a rural area deciding to stop delivering babies. Where are people going to go . There was the case of the Alabama Man who had Heart Failure and couldnt get an icu bed. Across three states, 43 hospitals were filled up. Rural is being hit the hardest. It was where prepandemic we didnt have enough Labor And Delivery beds that could deliver babies safely. That just got exacerbated. We are dealt with this in Health Care locally and nationally. We all want as Health Care workers to breathe a sigh of relief knowing all our coworkers are vaccinated. This overlaps with what the army sees as fitness of duty. Now that we have a fully approved vaccine and will have more on the way, theres very little reason to not put a mandate in place. And we do this for other vaccines. This is not unprecedented. Not just for Health Care workers, but for children, for adults when we travel. We have requirements and we have not questioned those up until now. I Cant Help but think theres a political undertone, not to individuals, but to some of the rhetoric kicking up clouds around these mandates and requirements. Lastly, we talk a lot about the south, the Delta Surge in the south, but the Delta Surge is really everywhere. I was struck reading a story at our affiliate here in washington, d. C. Its about childrens national hospital. They reached full capacity over the weekend. How dangerous is it for people to think of this surge as a regional problem and not a national problem . Its not just covid. Its also rsv that kids are showing up with at hospitals. Yeah. By the way, showing up with that virus is also something we would never see outside of the winter season, very unusual. Youre absolutely right. Getting into this about local or regional thinking, we now know four to five surges into this, we know this is a national virus. I think many of us, myself included, talked about this being regional. That was a mistake. We have seen the entire united States Map Light up red with high case rates and unfortunately children driving a great proportion of these cases. I think that what americans need to do the top line message, though, weve got to keep some optimism. We have three vaccines that work against this variant. Our job is to make sure as many people can get it safely and as quickly as possible. There are more than 100,000 americans currently hospitalized with covid and most are unvaccinated. In his piece for time, Ross Dellenger shares a powerful story about the death of his beloved and unvaccinated aunt from covid, who he was forced to say goodbye to in an icu. He wrote this of his last text. I briefly mentioned that typy little shot. I was experiencing conflicting emotions, i wrote to her. I was sad, i was also angry and you know why, i texted. Finally i told her to fight, fight hard. When you get out of there, i wrote, your family will be waiting. She never responded to that text. Your loss echoes the experiences of a lot of families who have had Loved Ones who would not get vaccinated. You write about sports. Why did you choose to share your Aunts Story in this piece that you wrote . Well, it was something probably a little selfishly done. It made the hurt in me feel a little better. Im a writer and writing things down probably helps. For one, it was probably for selfish reasons. Two, it was for hopefully the greater good in the greater population. I wanted to take readers into what its like to have your family closely impacted by this issue. I wanted to take readers into an icu where 24 of 25 beds were occupied by unvaccinated people with covid, who had basically a 99 chance of not surviving. Your aunt passed on august 23rd, so not too long ago. So the pain is still fresh, i imagine. She was in her 40s, had a teenage child. What was she like . Well, its hard to describe someone like her. Theres No One Else in the world that ive met quite like her. As i wrote in that story, she could make you laugh as well as make you cry in a single sentence. You know, she meant more to me than just about anyone and her Personality Kind of rubbed off on me in a lot of ways. Its a tough thing, you know, when you love someone so much you want them to prevent illness in any way they can. So i fought with her and argued just like several members of my family for her to get the shot over the last few months. I wish now i would have pushed a little harder. Hopefully she doesnt die in vain and hopefully her story will save lives. I hear you when you say you wish you had pushed harder. Whats your message to other people who have holdouts in their families . What would you tell them . I have to say ive probably heard from over 200 people directly after this story has posted, whether its emails, texts, Phone Calls. Its been just an outpouring. Just overwhelmed. A lot of those people have said theyre now going to approach their family and friends about getting vaccinated. Several of them thanked me for writing that, for pushing them maybe to turn around and send the story to those who refuse to get vaccinated. I dont know when we stopped believing in the medical community. You know, when i get sick, i go to the doctor and usually it turns out well. I just wish we could move forward in this Country And Trust in medicine. Absolutely. Appreciate you and your willingness to share your story with us. Still ahead this hour, in the hot seat. For a second day in a row, the Secretary Of State faces questions about the u. S. Withdrawal from afghanistan. And later, Flood Threat. Tropical storm nicholas drenches the Gulf Coast. Tropical storm ns the Gulf Coast then i discovered sofi. Completely changed my life. Lower interest rate. My principal is going down. Sofi is a place where you can start to tackle those money goals today. Compared to where i was three years ago, im kinda killing it. Mm. [ clicks tongue ] i dont know. I think they look good, man. Mm, smooth. Uh, they are a little tight. Like, too tight . Might just need to break em in a little bit. You dont want em too loose. For those who were born to ride theres progressive. With 24 7 roadside assistance. Okay. Think im gonna wear these home. Excellent choice. Dont settle. 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And if you are or may become pregnant while taking rinvoq. Take on ra. Talk to your rheumatologist about rinvoq relief. Rinvoq. Make it your mission. If you cant afford your medicine, abbvie may be able to help. Oh. Oh. Whats going on . If oh, darn afford let me help. Lift and push and push there. Its up there. Hey joshie. Wrinkles send the wrong message. Help prevent them with downy wrinkleguard. Feel the difference with downy. Today was the second day of testimony for Secretary Of State tony blinken. This time he went before the senate. Todays testimony was at times heated as blinken defended the u. S. Withdrawal from afghanistan. And republican senators expressed their frustration with how that exit ended. We factored in everything we heard from our allies into our own decision making process. Just like you planned for every contingency, i got it. If i can continue its bureaucratic speak. Joining us is nbc News Correspondent Lanne caldwell. We saw a lot of grandstanding, a lot of posturing. What stood out to you the most from todays testimony . Reporter it was another difficult day for Secretary Blinken up here on Capitol Hill. He did receive a lot of tough questions, not just by republicans, who there was a lot of grandstanding, but also by some democrats as well. For example, the head of that committee, Senator Bobmenendez of New Jersey asked if the Administration And Blinken planned for a worse Case Scenario. Blinken said they did, in fact, plan for that. They just did not think afghanistan was going to fall within 11 days. That was something that was unexpected. Another interesting question by senator mitt romney, republican of utah, said that while blinken keeps blaming the Trump Administration for the deadline to withdraw troops to leave afghanistan, that the Biden Administration did push that deadline from May 1st to august 31st. Senator romney said, how could you move that deadline if your hand were tied . And Secretary Blinken said, well, we thought this was the best Case Scenario and this would give us more time, but we did not again think that afghanistan was going to fall. So that really ruined their plans, obviously. Secretary blinken stayed on talking points, insisting this is the best outcome, the best plan for the country in the shortterm for the United States in the shortterm and the longterm rather than committing what he said a third generation of americans to fight in this war, jeff. Leanne caldwell with a live update, thanks. Coming up next, Tropical Storm Nicholas unleashes rain and the threat of Flash Flooding on the Gulf Coast. Stay with us. F Flash Flooding on the Gulf Coast. Stay with us you dont become a runner, who breaks eight world records. After age 65, without a serious support system. Kathy martin has one in medicare from blue cross blue shield. She wont go a day without the right card. Because she cant go a day without running. 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So, switch to tmobile and get 2 lines of unlimited for only 27. 50 a line. Thats half the price of verizon or at t. Only at tmobile. The leader in 5g. A Pool Floatie is like whooping cough, its not just for kids. Whooping cough is highly contagious for people of any age. And it can cause violent uncontrollable coughing fits. Ask your Doctor Or Pharmacist about whooping Cough Vaccination because its not just for kids. Ask your Doctor Or Pharmacist about whooping Cough VaccinationAloha Isnt this a cozy little room . Sorry your Vacation Request took so long to get approved, so you missed out on the suite special. But lucky for you, they had this. When employees are forced to wait for Vacation Request approvals,it can really cramp their style. Im gonna leave you to it. Um, just with paycom, employees enter and manage their own Hr Data in a single, easytouse software. Visit paycom. Com and schedule a demo today. We have sad news. Norm mcdonald died. His death was confirmed to Nbc News by Management Firm and his long time producing partner who say that mcdonald had been receiving treatment for cancer for nearly a decade but was determined to keep his condition private. He was with snl from 193 to 1998 and known for his remarkable dry humor and his memorable take on burt reynolds. And as a foe of will ferrells Alex Trebek Character on celebrity jeopardy. Norm mcdonald was just 61 years old. All right. Were going to turn to Tropical Storm Nicholas which is drenching the Gulf Coast this afternoon. The storm which is moving slowly could bring a foot of rain to coastal texas. The national Hurricane Center is warning of the potential for life threatening flash floods across texas and louisiana. Joining us now is nbcs Vaughn Hilliard from lake charles, louisiana, and Michelle Grossman is back with us. Nicholas could unleash up to a foot of rain along the Gulf Coast. People have been d hit by ida, w are people preparing . So far we and our team are chasing this storm. We start off in houston. They took an impact of a couple inches of rain in more than 400,000 customers went without power because of Wind Wind gusts in the last six hours, half of those individuals had their power already restored. We then went to beaumont, texas. Were now in lake charles, louisiana. I think a lot of the story has to do with the impact that this storm is leaving on places that have been hit harder by other storms. That window is an impact from Hurricane Laura one year ago. You can see places luke lake charles, they were ready for a great amount of rain to come down. Weve only seen a couple inches despite warning thats it could be up to 14 inches here. Again, look over here. This is an old bank building. Still half the windows blown out from Hurricane Laura one year ago. I before you up past storms and the impact the hurricanes and tropical storms have on communitieses. Were looking at homa, greater neighborhoods o it side New Orleans where we spent the last three weeks. There are still homeowners that dont have power. A great number of them that still dont have roofs. That are filing insurance claims from idas impact that are now looking in these hours ahead over the next 24 hours more rain, more wind from this storm. Jeff . Mush he will, good to have you back with us. Circumstances aside. As vaughn points out, you know, this region is still not yet recovered from ida and now their expecting more rain. Hi there. So good to see both of you. Yeah, youre going to be seeing Rain Over the next several days. The problem is we have a tropical system and a tropical storm right now. A lot of water being fed by The Gulf. Has going to move painfully slow. So thats why we have this Flood Threat posted where you see green. That is your flash flood watch. You see that maroon there. New orleans is included. Seeing a flash flood warning. Flash flooding is imminent or happening. Were seeing one to three inches of rain per hour. You can see that with the radar. Those bands being fed off The Gulf of mexico where you see the yellows, reds, oranges. Thats where were seeing the heaviest rain. And, unfortunately, these bands are going to be set there for at least the next several days. This is the latest. The winds dont matter at this point. Storm surge, were really worried about the rainfall. Theyre moving eastnortheast at 7 miles per hour. Something really important. We have u. S. Land falling systems so far this year. 11 last year. That 19 total. And typically we see three in a year. St so typically we should see at this point. This is why we really need to keep alert swrechlt two systems were watching after this one. These are areas that we have seen so much rain as vaughn mentioned. It is still moving painfully slow, jeff. This is a system were talking about at least until friday. And then we do have two systems in the atlantic that were watching that probably will be a named system in the near future. Michelle grossman, thank you for that forecast. And Vaughn Hilliard, our best to you and your crew. Stay safe down there. Now one more thing before we go. Tomorrow well see the next big mission in this new era of space tourism. Spacex is scheduled to send first crew of private citizens into orbit. Jarrod isaacman booked the capsule last year and picked tleed people to join him. Isaacman wont say exactly how much the trip costs. Except that it was less than 200 million. Okay. His fellow passengers include a st. Jude physician assistant, a cancer vufror, a Geology Professor who dreamed of being a astronaut and a Data Engineer for lockheed Mart Whoun is a self professed space geek. Now the inspiration four crew will embark on a mission that is more perilous than those recently taun by Billionaire Space tourists Richard Branson and jeff bezos. 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