Transcripts For MSNBC Andrea Mitchell Reports 20241009 : com

Category 4 Storm Hurtling toward the West Coast. Meteorologists warning that the Hurricane Zone is getting larger as it gets closer to florida. Officials ordering mandatory evacuations in some zones, telling everyone to get out while they can. A storm so big President Biden has canceled an overseas trip this week. If you are under Evacuation Orders, you should evacuate now, now, now. You should have already evacuated. Its a matter of life and death. Thats not hyperbole. Its a matter of life and death. Can fema handle backtoback storms . Alejandro mayorkas joining me and his fight against disinformation. Three of irans proxies attacking israel overnight. Israel hits lebanon again with unrelenting rocket and Drone Strikes against hezbollah targets. With four weeks to go until election day, could it all be decided in pennsylvania . We will talk to the head of the democratic national Committee And Senator Bob Casey who is fighting for reelection in the keystone state. Good day, everyone. Im Andrea Mitchell in washington. Hurricane milton, on track to strike Floridas Gulf Coast as the most powerful storm to hit the Tampa Area in 100 years on the heels of Hurricane Helenes devastation. Milton is now a Lifethreatening Category 4 storm with landfall expected tomorrow night. Moments ago, President Biden told floridians to get out now, as mandatory evacuations expand along the gulf. My priority is to increase the Size And Presence of our effort. As we prepare for another catastrophic storm about to make landfall. This could be the worst storm in over a century. God willing, it wont be. Thats what its looking like right now. Tampa is vulnerable. The Storm Surge could be as high as 15 feet. The Citys Mayor leaving no doubt about how dangerous it could be. Helene was a wakeup call. This is literally catastrophic. I can say without any dramatization whatsoever, if you choose to stay in one of the evacuation areas, you are going to die. Residents are racing to prepare. In addition to sandbags and plywood, theres an urgent rush to remove debris left behind by Hurricane Helene before it is picked up by miltons predicted 110 mile per hour winds, also massive flooding. The Florida Highway Patrol proviing an escort for dump trucks. Its terrifying to think what the next storm will do with that debris. It will be a war zone. Theres something about this one that im feeling very uneasy about. We begin with Nbc News Weather Anchor Angie Lanceman and tom brock. Even if it weakens, the storm is grows in size. Whats the latest . You are right. Thats one of the things we want people to focus on, not so much the category. This is a massive storm. It maintains category 4 strength. The impacts will not change if it weakens or strengthens over the next 24 hours and the fluctuations continue. Right now, it does look like it will expected to be a category 3 by the time it makes landfall wednesday night. Most likely after midnight. After dark. The exact location of where the center of the system goes, its in flux. We have about a 40 to 50mile spread in exact location of where that could be within the cone. Right now, is it south of Tampa Bay . Through Tampa Bay . North of Tampa Bay . Those scenarios will matter. It took a breath, got its act back together. We saw an expanding wind field. That means more damage across florida going from 200 right now to about 375 miles in covering the entirety of the state with tropical Storm Force winds as we get into landfall time and beyond. This makes a big difference with a larger storm when it comes to the push of water slamming up against the coast. The bigger the storm, the more water, more Storm Surge. Thats why we have warnings Up And Down the coast. 10 to 15 feet in Tampa Bay spreading down towards venice. This is what causes the most loss of life in these systems. Especially were going towards high tide time. We are not talking about a low tide timing with the landfall. 6 51 for high tide in Tampa Bay, very concerning when it comes to that worst of the Storm Surge in this region. Here are the areas we are most concerned from Tampa Bay to st. Pete. We have the potential for this a little farther south, sarasota. Any of these barrier islands, those are in mandatory evacuation zones. Those where folks should not be as we wrap up the day today, especially even as we get into the second half of day. The time for you to get out and evacuate is dwindling. We have concern for flash flooding. Rainfall amounts across the state, not just where the Land Landfall is, its going to make a big difference. We see Rain Bands from five to ten to 18 inches of rain possible. No surprise also, this was updated earlier this morning, notice where the Hurricane Warnings are. Not just where we expect landfall on the West Side of the state but also on the east side, stretching up into jacksonville. As that System Skirts across the state in a quick pace, we will see those wraparound winds bring onshore winds. Thats problematic on the east coast. Where the center is will make a big difference. We are talking 100 plus for st. Pete and sarasota, tampa. This will be a devastating kind of storm here as we unfold over the next 24 to 36 hours. Wow. Thats a tough forecast. The surge alone around tampa. Thank you so much. Sam, there you are, Evacuation Orders expanding. A major problem, Drivers Cant find gas. How do they get out . Reporter thats a great question. No one has the answer to that. I would say it bears repeating, it has been since 1921 the Tampa Bay area has taken a direct hit from a hurricane. A few hundred thousand people then. Now, Tampa Bay is one of the largest Growing Areas in the country. 3 Million plus people in the metro area. Evacuations keep expanding. Im at this Gas Station here. The boards behind me, some of the pumps do have plastic bags over them. I cannot tell you how many times in the last 30 minutes people have driven in and said, is there gas available . No, theres not. Theres confusion over that. Come over here, you see, you walk up to the pump. Pay the clerk inside. Okay. Pay the clerk inside. Pan over and see theres just plywood up over where the clerk would be. This is a snapshot of what is littering highways here. Theres a couple of major bridges. About five miles from here, they were jammed up yesterday. Right now, im not seeing dozens and dozens of cars on the road, perhaps many have evacuated. Many Others Cant get gas. Over my shoulder, another Gas Station. If you can see, theres a couple of cars. They have diesel. Nothing else. I had a conversation with a woman a second ago and asked her what does this mean . You have 250,000 people being asked to evacuate and mandatory evacuation zones. Here is what she said. You have to ride by. If theres no line or theres wrap over the pump, you know its no good. I cant get enough gas to be sure i can make it far enough to do any real help. Reporter one note on the gas, Governor Desantis says they are preparing Fuel Reserves here. They are in the range of 1. 2 million gallons of Diesel And Gasoline on the way. He says theres no shortage. This is what we are looking at on the ground. As far as the topography of tampa, one of the reasons the Storm Surge is so problematic, dangerous, 10 to 15 feet, is because the Continental Shelf dips going into tampa. The water has nowhere to escape. Its very different than many other areas of the country. On the east side, that shelf goes down. The water has a place to escape. Thats not the case here. Its why concern is so elevated. Sam, thank you for all of that. As Hurricane Milton strengthens, Femas Disaster Response is politicized. Donald trump is amplifying misinformation about fema with false statements about federal Relief Payments and insisting funds were diverted to immigrants. None of that is true. The biden administration trying to set the record straight. Fema is knocking down the rumors online. Vice president harris denouncing the lies as irresponsible. The president weighing in just moments ago. It misleads people. Puts people in circumstances where they panic, where they really, really worry. They think theyre not being taken Care Of. This is an old phrase, its unamerican. It is. People are scared to death. Joining me now is Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas who oversees fema. I wanted to ask, how does the Misinformation Impact Relief Efforts . Very significantly. Thank you for having me. Its extraordinarily damaging. Most of all, its extraordinarily damaging to survivors of Hurricane Helene, of natural disasters. Individuals lose trust in their government. They are reluctant to seek assistance that they need to meet their immediate demands. Food, water, shelter. They dont seek it. They are entitled to it. They need it. We implore them to ignore the false information that is being spread and to seek the help that we have available to them. It is also extremely demoralizing to our federal Emergency Response personnel, the state and local Emergency Response personnel who are risking theiR Lives in the service of those in need. When we reach into flooded zones, when we reach into a home thats been destroyed to assist another individual, we dont ask about their party affiliation. We are there to help. They need to understand that. They need to trust us. They can rely on us. We have assistance for them. That is what these extraordinarily heroic individuals are dedicated to doing. Something thats not a rumor as far as we know is how stretched and understaffed fema is. The new york times reporting that of the 50 Disaster Operation directors, only one was available as of monday. How is fema going to put all of this together with backtoback hurricanes . Fema prides itself on the slogan of flexible fema. We can meet the needs of Hurricane Helene survivors and the individuals who will be in need as a result of the devastating Hurricane Milton. That is what fema does. It does it in support of state and local officials. We have been directed by President Biden, by Vice President harris, to not only dedicate the fema resources, the resources of the department of Homeland Security, but the resources of the entire federal government. That is, indeed, what we are doing. When we look at the height of Hurricane Helene, there were 5. 1 million people without power. Thats reduced by 4. 8 million. At the height of Hurricane Helene, there were approximately 3. 4 million people without communication. That number has been reduced by approximately 3. 1 million. We have tens of millions of liters of Water And Food available in anticipation of Hurricane Milton. This is what the brave men and women of fema and all of the brave men and women in Emergency Response do for a living. They dedicate themselves to the wellbeing of others. We have the resources to meet the demand. You can say how much has been accomplished. Of course, for the hardpressed people in some of the mountain areas, for instance of north carolina, thats where it is critical. Do you need congress to come back in order to allocate more funds . Do you need a supplemental with backtoback hurricanes and congress out for the political season . They wont be back until january. Andrea, two things. One, there are people suffering from the devastating impacts of Hurricane Helene. One of the great challenges is the fact that the flooding has made areas very difficult to access. We have to save people. Life and safety is our first priority. Then we can begin in the hardest hit areas, the most remote area, to clear the debris and reach People In Need. The fact of the matter is we have been clear throughout. Let me reiterate. We have the resources we need. We have the funding that we need to meet the challenge of Hurricane Helene and the challenge of Hurricane Milton. But we are operating on a continuing resolution. That is not stable funding for the long haul. Therefore, we need a real budget and not a bandaid for the long haul. The Gravity And Frequency of extreme weather events have only increased as a result of climate change. Its reallife impact on the people of the country. Do you want congress to come back . The president noted correctly that he has asked congress to come back and provide funding so we have stability for the long haul. Thats what we plan for. Let me be clear again that we can meet the needs immediately. Because of climate change, do you think you have to rethink how fema is funded . Should a separate agency be handling this, the Climate Emergencies . Well, fema is an agency within the department of Homeland Security. Im aware of that. Fema draws upon the resources of the department of Homeland Security. We work seamlessly as one department, a cohesive force in support of the american people. We also reach outside of the department of Homeland Security as one united administration in the service of one united country. We have to put those politics aside and remember that we are one country. We assist People In Need regardless of politics. One final thing. Theres been a lot of politics here. We know whats been happening at the top of the ticket. There are significant criticisms by some republican governors who are not generally responding politically. They are responding because they dont think things were placed in the right position, they didnt have enough supplies. For instance, gasoline. The governor there says they have enough gasoline supplies. But you see there are empty Gas Tanks and people dont know how to evacuate in florida right now. Andrea, we support state and local officials. The governor has, indeed, stated publicly that they have the supply of gasoline that the people of his state need. We are in constant contact with state and local officials to understand their needs and to be able to deliver whatever federal resources we have available and that we have the authority to provide. We support the state and local officials regardless of politics, driven only by the needs of the american people. Thank you very much. Good luck to all of your teams in The Field. Thank you, secretary mayorkas. Thank you, andrea. President biden will be in an all important battleground state, pennsylvania, tonight for a private fundraiser for Bob Casey. He is in a hotly contested Senate Race. It could tip control of the senate. Jill biden is going to campaign in her hometown area, philadelphia suburbs, next week. Shes about to hit the trail for the first time in coming days for the woman who replaced her husband on the ticket. Joining us now, democratic pennsylvania senator Bob Casey. How tight is it going to be . You have talked to me about how close this is. You have a very well funded opponent, dave mccormick, republican. Yeah, andrea,