that wraps up this hour. more news with morgan radford. >> thank you so much. welcome to msnbc. i'm in for hallie jackson. puerto rico's is bracing for a direct hit. gaining strength as it barrels across the caribbean. putting the still recovering island directly in its path. president trump approving a state of emergency. local officials say they are as prepared as they can be two years after hurricane maria. >> there's one thing that we have this time we didn't have before. >> what's that? >> we're scared. >> on the 2020 trail, joe biden is back in south carolina today.

new poll numbers out just this morning showing back on top with a wide lead over his opponents. these new polls are also potentially the last chance for some 2020 democrats to qualify for next month's debate. did the new numbers push them over the edge and onto the stage? we have our team of reporters and analysts standing by. michelle grossman is closely tracking the path. mariana, let's start with you. how are the people of puerto rico preparing this morning? >> reporter: good morning, morgan. as we drove into the eastern part of the island, most of the people i have spoken to really caught off guard by tropical storm dorian shifting overnight, heading to the eastern part of the island. cities like humacao where i am

now, an hour southeast of san juan, one of the busiest places for tourism in the direct path of dorian. morgan, this city was directly hit. maria came in through here. a lot of concern. people starting to board up, evacuate. i was just at the emergency command center set up this morning by the mayor of humacao. he tells me it is an all-hands-o all-hands-on-deck situation. let's listen. >> hourpl came throuurricane ma here. how vulnerable is the city?

>> reporter: they said to brace for this storm. you just heard from the mayor. there are concerns that the power grid is not as strong as it should be. and he referred to those blue tarps an estimated 30,000 homes are under those blue tarps island wide. so still communities that are very fragile as they brace for impact later today. >> a relief to hear they are more prepared. michelle, can you give us an update where the storm is now? where can we expect it to make landfall? >> reporter: hi there, morgan. it will make landfall in florida. it will pass north of puerto rico. so i will take you through the whole time line. i think it is important to know puerto rico, the eastern part, will get tropical storm force winds much they are in a drought situation. it could prompt landslides.

let's look at satellite. still bigger than it was yesterday. the path changed drastically since last night. may continue to inning what the next several hours. we have we are looking at the outer bands now touching eastern parts of puerto rico. it pass over the eastern parts of puerto rico. not making a whole lot of landfall. looking at tracking dorian here. leeward islands seeing heavy rain. that will move off to the north and also the west, impacting puerto rico today. we will pay close attention. mentioning the blue tarps. houses are still not sound from maria. heed any warnings. you want to leave, evacuate wherever you have been told to evacuate. here is the biggest difference. yesterday the thought was it would pass over hispaniola, and it would lose its strength. that will not happen. we expect it to increase. 60 miles southeast of st. croix.

60 miles per hour. 74 miles per hour. that is a cat 1 storm. we are moving at 13 miles per hour. that is good news for puerto rico. we will move pretty quickly over the eastern part of the island. here with he go with tracking dorian the next several days. we expect 70-mile-per-hour winds. close to a cat 1 storm. there is that increase. we are over very warm waters of the caribbean. that helps to give the fuel to the storm. that's what we are expecting now. we're not expecting it to make the land mass interaction. that would have helped to decrease it. there is your category 1 storm north of the bahamas. discount it in terms of breaking up the storm. that won't happen. category 2. this is the biggest difference as we are nearing florida by sunday and also monday, category 2 storm. this is over the labor day weekend. we will follow this closely the next several days. >> all right, michelle. 60-mile-per-hour winds. that is nothing to play with. meteorologist my tkpwrel

grossman, thank you for being with us. today is the last day for 2020 democrats to qualify for next month's debate. we are breaking down who is in and who is out after the release of two new qualifying polls just out this morning. msnbc's steve core mackkornackie big board for us. and garrett haque ahead of joe biden's first campaign stop of the day. steve, let's start with you. break down the new poll numbers. what does it mean? >> let's take you about some suspense who would and wouldn't make the debate space. the final day to qualify for the debate. these 10 candidates hit the criteria. remember, you needed 130,000 individual donations and you needed to hit 2% in four different polls. these 10 candidates have qualified. the suspense, i can show you, was about two candidates in particular. actual say g

tulsi gabbard was two short. and tom steyer. he hit the donor threshold. he was three back. gabbard needs two polls and desire needs one. two new polls came out this morning. the first one that came out, "usa today". biden still leading warren and sanders. everybody 2% or above. you don't see the name desire. you don't see the name gabbard. with two polls coming out, gabbard needing to hit 2%. effectively, this eliminates her from the next debate. and then the second poll, here it is. quinnipiac came out about 8:00 this morning. biden, warren, sanders, everybody had 2% or above. you don't see desire's name. desire had two shots to get to 2%. and he did not do it in either one. so barring some unforeseen poll coming out between now and midnight in which tom steyer hits 2%, it looks like that's

it. it looks like he won't be on the stage, actual say gabbard won't be on the stage. it will be a one-night affair. one night, one stage, 10 candidates, everybody there together. no second night, no second stage. >> it should be interesting to see how that changed the content of that dynamic. if you have all of them on one stage. >> everybody has been talking about warren, biden. they haven't been together yet. >> down to garrett. what has joe biden been up to today? i want to know how the campaign is reacting to the new numbers. what's the campaign saying? >> reporter: it will be a firewall for him. he maintains very strong support in south carolina. built largely on the support he gets from the african-american

community. as for those two polls today, his campaign is in something in a mode this morning. remember, they spent the last few days trying to put out fires on cable news and twitter from folks that had shown a three-way tie at the top. they had been making the argument it was an outlier, that biden's support remains strong and a front-runner. including the two out today, that continues to be the case. including one of the polls in which he doubles up elizabeth warren, his next closest competitor. they are breathing a sigh of relief. joe biden is the front-runner in this race until somebody proves differently. >> garrett, thanks so much for being with us. with me now, republican strategist susan and danielle, host of woke af on sirius xm. thank you so much for joining

us. we understand from garrett that the biden team seems that that one poll that we saw earlier this week showing him in this virtual tie was just an outlier and these polls that show him at the heavy lead are more accurate. what do you make of that? >> i think the biden campaign still needs to pay attention to all the poll numbers and the conversations that are on the ground. there is an enthusiasm gap happening between the polls that we are seeing and between actual conversations with voters on the ground. they like joe biden as a person. they think he is america's security blanket. he makes us feel all safe and want to have a hug. i don't know if he will derive passion from people to get them to the polls. i wouldn't be in an i told you so move. i would be on my heels thinking to the next debate. he didn't show so well in the first two. now it is one night with all the heavy hitters. he still has a lot of work to do. >> danielle, let me ask you

something. you talk about this enthusiasm gap. we heard garrett talk about the stronghold within the african-american vote and how the community is still putting their support behind biden. do you foresee that changing? what would it take for others to make inroads? >> we have to understand who is in biden's camp. when we look at african-americans that are age 50 and up, they are staunchly supportive of joe biden. when we look at ages below 50 years old, not so much in his camp. and so right now i think african-americans are in a place where we are saying to ourselves, you know what, we need to get rid of donald trump. who will do the best to get rid of donald trump? i am fearful. i have anxiety. i ta you can to people every single day who tell me they are worried. who is going to ease that fear? right now for them the older folks it is joe biden. he has a lot more to do than just throw around words like race, white supremacy. he needs to showcase policy that

is going to really tell us that he is in our camp, that is looking at ways in which systemic racism has been at play in our policies and do more than a wink and a smile at a black church. >> i want to switch gears for a moment, something that steve was talking about and how dynamics could change if we have 10 candidates on the same stage, the same night. what shifts in that scenario? >> well, it would be very interesting to see the top three contenders on biden, warren and sanders on the stage together. there has been a bit of non-aggression pact between warren and sanders. i'm looking to see what elizabeth warren does with this opportunity. i think she'll probably stay on the course she's been having, make it about her issues, her campaign. i think danielle is absolutely right. joe biden has a lot to prove. some of the candidates will be a little more shy about attacking

biden on his years with obama because it had such backlash last time. but this is also an opportunity to see kamala harris and pete buttigieg stand out among all the candidates. they are stacked up in this theoretical fight against trump. biden has 54%. sanders, 5 %. warren, 52%. buttigieg, 49%. is that i'm the only elect knowledgeable that can beat trump by biden? >> that argument by former vice president biden has to be very careful about. it is like when trump talks about the stock market or unemployment numbers. up don't control them all the time. and things happen that can hurt him like they did in the monmouth poll. the only argument can be look at the polls, look at me.

i think what we see there in the head-to-head, the majority of americans are not satisfied with the job donald trump has done and they want to see him go. and these are the folks, any of them, are acceptable choices. stinhich is because if you look at that theoretical stackup, president trump comes in 40%, which is also roughly his approval rating. >> and it stays there. 49% to 50% from pete buttigieg up to joe biden. but donald trump stays at 38% to 40%. that's his number. that's where he is grounded. that reflects all the national polls, as you just said. so he's stuck there. now it's a matter of what he going to be -- depending who the nominee is, can he bring them down to his level? i'm betting no. >> it is still early. we will have to see what happens in the next debate. thank you so much for being with us. as hurricane season ramps up, money for fema and for the coast guard is now heading to the u.s./mexico border. just how much is being redirected to fund president

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the trump administration announced they're pulling more than $270 million in funding from agencies, including fema and other parts of the dhs. that money will instead be used to pay for temporary detention space, as well as hearing

locations for asylum seekers along the border. house speaker nancy pelosi issued a statement criticizing the moment saying stealing from appropriated funds is always unacceptable. but to pick the pockets of disaster relief funding in order to fund an appalling, in humane family incarceration plan is staggering and to do so on the eve of hurricane season is stunningly reckless. julia ainslie broke the story for us. julia, where exactly is this money coming from? >> reporter: it's a great question. we know there is a portion of fema money that is going toward expanding i.c.e. detention at the border. but then there is an even greater bucket, $155 million specifically from the disaster relief fund under fema, that's been rolled over for several years. a lot of this was first appropriated in 2006, 2007. but it is part of the pot of money fema would pull from now in a disaster. and that is the money they are taking to expand these temporary hearing locations at the border.

this is because of a trump administration policy where they are turning migrants back to mexico. they would have them do them at the border rather than transporting them into the interior of the united states. this is what they sent, telling them they were reprogramming this money. it is not up to congress to decide whether they can do that. instead of having 664 million in their coffers going into this fiscal year, they will only have $447 million. and their way of discussing this is they say absent significant new catastrophic events, dhs believes this is enough funding. but of course hard to say absent new catastrophic events in the face of what you have on the bottom of your screen with tropical storm dorian coming toward puerto rico. >> that is exactly what i was wondering. julia, thank you for your reporting. >> thank you.

white house officials are pushing back on new reporting from the "washington post" that president trump has directed as to fast track billions of dollars worth of construction contracts, taking private hrapbgd and land. he said take the land to build a border wall and make sure it is painted black by election day and promising to pardon aides of any potential wrongdoing if they break laws to get that wall built quickly. president trump has long campaigned on building that wall. but this morning the vice president's chief of staff came out and denied the "post" reporting. >> is the president telling people in the administration that he will pardon them if they break the law in order to get his border waugh built before election day? >> no. >> [inaudible question]. >> i don't think any of us in this administration would view

it as appropriate to break the law. we swore allegiance to the constitution. >> let's bring in roberta costa, national political reporter for the "washington post" and msnbc political analyst. robert, thanks for being with us this morning. i want to start with the "post" report. basically saying the president wants to complete hundreds of miles of border wall. and he doesn't mind what it takes in order to get that done, as long as he is able to fast track it. what do you make of that reporting and subsequently of the chief of staff for the vice president denying it? >> president trump, stymied by congress, continues to look to executive authority as a way to make an overture to his political base ahead of the 2020 election. the border wall was one of his signature pledges, and he wants to follow through as much as possible. for internal discussions as the "post" reports, he's talking through about how to pursue that objective as quickly as possible ahead of his re-election.

>> which is interesting. you mentioned his base. is that all about his supporters? the president just afraid they will leave him if he doesn't construct this wall? or is this really about winning? >> it's also about fighting congress. he has looked to congress for funds for months. but now that it is a divided congress, with the democrats controlling the house and the republicans controlling the senate, very little is expected to get done other than maybe the usmca deal. but a border discussion seems to be far away when you talk to most top people on capitol hill on both parties. you see this administration scrambling. >> you say he is scrambling also with congress. but there is another piece i want to focus on, one that says administration officials have stopped trying to talk him out of demands and the u.s. army core of engineers is instructed

to apply black paint or coat to go all new barrier fencing. is there really anyone left who can dial him back on this issue? >> the people who are running immigration policies are not necessarily at the agencies. it is president trump himself having his own fingerprints on a lot of this policy, along with steven miller, the top adviser on domestic policy at the white house. he used to be an aide to jeff sessions. hard liners on immigration are driving the policy. the president himself is trying to wrap his hands politically and policy-wise around the wall. that is shaping how everything unfolds. >> roberta costa joining us from the "washington post". thanks for being with us. >> thank you. the maker of oxycontin is offering to settle more than 2,000 lawsuits over opioids. but how much will it cost the company, and what could it mean for other companies who might get involved? more coming up next on msnbc. snc

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roxana: our students don't have part-time needs. so they absolutely cannot have part-time solutions. angelia: one of changes that we need is smaller class sizes. rosanne: we need a lot more school nurses, a lot more school counselors. rodney: counselors provide that social, emotional core that's needed. marisa: schools need to be safe places for our children to learn. ever: every student has the right to quality education. no matter what neighborhood you live in. angelia: we are cta. rosanne: we are cta. marisa: we are cta. narrator: because we know quality public schools make a better california for all of us. new today, a crack in a mystery that surrounded president trump since he was a candidate. the state of his finances. the president's biggest financial lender, deutsche bank, has confirmed in court filings they are in possession of some

tax returns. either for the president himself, members of his family, or his businesses. the bank was subpoenaed by the house financial services committee as part of a long battle for access to the president's financial records. joining me is msnbc political analyst, nick. how concerned should the president be right now? >> well, for now, it's sort of a muddle. it is not clear if the tax returns will ever be produced. it means there is a new pressure point opened up in this fight. someone else has those tax returns besides the president. the question is what kind of pain is deutsche bank prepared to undergo to prevent them from getting the records. people were not convinced that it made sense to hold back these records. somehow the contractual obligations of the trump family

out weigh a subpoena from congress. >> now that lawmakers know these records do exist, what happens next? >> well, it's possible for there to be some kind of compromise. it doesn't have to be all or nothing, said the judges. it is possible that some portions of the records could be released or all of them, or none. what we do know is for the trump organization, the family, the administration, it is a waiting game. they want to push this back as far as possible to get through the next year and a half without those records being public. >> you are saying the family wants to have this waiting game and push it back even a year and a half. give me a sense of the timeline. what is the earliest the government could get their hands on a record like this? >> i'm not sur the court fight could progress for months and months and months. they take a long time. there is this question of how urgent the democrats feel on the hill. how aggressive they're willing to be. you have heard a lot of complaints from the left. the democrats on the hill are trying to operate in a

bipartisan old-fashioned way. we will see how fast they want to push the train along >> thank you for joining us in studio. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> another money-related headline. purdue far tpa and owners are now offering billions of dollars to settle thousands of opioid lawsuits, according to two people familiar with that plan. the settlement could put the company into bankruptcy. although purdue says it did nothing wrong and denies allegations into ongoing cases. the family has not responded to our request for comment. this comes right after johnson & johnson was ordered to pay $500 million for its role in oklahoma's opioid crisis. are we at a turning point? >> one of the things you have to keep in mind is purdue phrma is

uniquely positioned and they never diversified their business. so the vast majority of their income came from opioids. these other companies that are being sued, like cardinal health or mckesson, are massive companies, as well as you mentioned johnson & johnson. and they don't have nearly as much pressure to either file for bankruptcy or to settle. >> but, i mean, do any of your sources indicate whether the states that are involved are likely to accept this settlement? >> from what i'm hearing, there is a variety of opinions among the states. some of the states have been hit so hard that they see a much greater need for relief and for the settlement funding. some of the other states are saying this amount of money is not enough. . >> all right. lau lau laura strickler joining us live.

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this morning new evidence that north korea may have a major breakthrough in their nuclear program. satellite images of a ship yard inside the gun suggests kim jong-un's regime is building what could be a new ballistic missile submarine. national security experts say the new images could suggest that north korea is preparing

for a possible test, but it is still not clear whether one seat belt imminent. i'm joined by courtney kube. courtney, what are the dangers of north korea developing a submarine like the one that we may be seeing from those satellite images? >> reporter: so, morgan, it wouldn't be a surprise. north korea has been trying to develop a submarine and submarine launch ballistic missile. they have even tried testing them the past four or five years. a submarine represents a new layer of obscurity. they can be difficult to track. if in fact, they have a submarine that could launch as many as three ballistic missiles, it would present a new way for them to quietly launch some sort of potential missile without any kind of notice. we have seen that in the movement that they have been making toward their ground launch missiles as well as with the missile launchers, things they can move around that might be on a track or they can move

to a location and set up a missile and launch it very quickly. the whole point of that is to surprise the u.s., south carolina, japan and adversaries who might be watch to go see when they may be launching some sort of a missile. >> you described this layer of obscurity. i want to switch gears. we are getting new information based on the wall street journal. it has an excerpt from james mattis from miss forthcoming book. he said, if you can see this full screen here. i did as well as i could for as long as i could. when my concrete solutions and strategic advice no longer resonated it was time to resign. that is strong wording from mattis, who has been reserved when discussing his time. how unusual if it for a former defense secretary to speak out. >> it is not unusual when you look at something like this. robert gates wrote a book where

he was candid about the process that he saw as overly bureaucratic and overly controlling from the national security council under president obama. secretary mattis has been very reserved. some of the pieces in the op-ed were similar to what we heard from him in his resignation letter that he released the same day he resigned last disease. it is not particularly surprising. in it he said once it seemed that president trump was not going to listen to his policy advice, that they were moving in divergent areas, i had was time for him to resign. what was interesting was, to me, reading this of someone who covered general mattis as a marine corps. general and secretary of defense, was for him to be very candid about the process of the day that he went to meet then president-elect stkprufpl vice president elect mike pence and how the conversation went. he said there's no way they are going to hire me because i

disagree on the importance of nato, on the issue of torture. but, in fact, president-elect trump walked him out to the front and said, hey, this guy is the real deal. that is a story we never heard secretary mattis tell in public. >> but it is interesting as to why that ability to disagree with the president turned, when it became professionally fatal in this case. >> that's right. >> courtney kube, thank you for joining us live from washington, d.c. >> thank you. the deadline for democratic candidates hoping to qualify for the next presidential debate. those not making the cut, well, they are sounding off. next we ta you can to montana governor steve bullock about the future of his presidential campaign. stay with us. future of his presl campaign stay with us with pronamel repair toothpaste, we can help actively repair enamel in its weakened state. it's innovative. with pronamel repair, more minerals are able to enter deep into the enamel's surface.

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democratic national committee. thanks for joining us this morning. >> thanks for having me. >> what do you say to the candidates who think they are being unfairly kept off the debate stage? >> well, that's not true. we have been very clear about where we stand with the rules. 2%, let me remind you, is not a high threshold. we are asking for 2% in four or more polls. there have been 21 opportunities to make the debate stage. and let me remind you, no candidate polled under 2% in 40 years in the fall before a primary and become the democratic nominee. so we have been very fair and transparent. we gave candidates five months notification about what the threshold would be. in other cycles, the gop has given candidates 35 days. they have given candidates potentially about two to three months. we have given them five months. so we have been very fair and transparent. we have included many polls in

this cycle. and we think that this is a process that has been fair and open to answer any questions from any of the candidates. >> ta ugg about the percentage points. what about the timing. some are saying they needed to wait for the state legislature to end. they're concerned with the timing. do you think the timing was at all an issue or too rushed? >> absolutely not. we notified candidates actually in december. we notified the public that we would start our first debates in june and july. one of the things we heard time and again from democratic activists from former dnc officials, democratic op seufs, previous presidential campaigns is that it started too late. we started them in june. we made it clear in december of this year. so candidates had plenty of time in plan that the debates would start in june and july. even then we have given them plenty of time to make the debate stage. >> just 2% shouldn't be kind of that hard is what you're saying.

and also you gave ample time. but also a few candidates called attention to how much money they have had to spend on getting 130,000 individual donations. so in hindsight do you think the criteria was misguided? >> absolutely not. when it comes to grassroots fund-raising threshold, people need to remember that donald trump does fund raise and he does bring in large grassroots donations. whoever our democratic nominee is, they will need to compete with donald trump. we must empower the grassroots. that is the only way we will win. if you have a message that resonates, 130,000 isn't necessarily a big lift. and just to give you a little bit of context, hillary clinton had nearly doubled that in june of 2015. so we're not talking about a heavy lift here. and based off of what is already public and what the candidates have said, 13 candidates have said publicly that they have met that 130,000 grassroots

fund-raising threshold. so that is not a high threshold. >> and when you talk about empowering the grassroots, having the candidates be this united front, especially for the party, are the democrats, though, being forced into spending money that really could have been used more effectively elsewhere? >> no. in order to spend money on the ground, in order to hire organizers, in order to talk to the american public, you need money to pay the organizers. you need money to go and criss-cross iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina and nevada and the entire country. and so, no, we believe empowering the grassroots only helps the democratic party and democratic candidates. and if you have a message that resonates, it shouldn't be costly. >> so it's interesting. i'm sure you have seen it. but the president tweeted about you earlier this hour watching just watch fox news. heavily promoting the democrats through their dnc communications director spewing out whatever she wanted with zero pushback by

anchor sandra smith. terrible considering that fox couldn't even land a be date. the dems give them nothing. what is your reaction to that? >> it is laughable. this man is running scared. the fact that he is attacking a democratic staffer and believes he has control of fox news is really something else. it just tells you a little about the relationship between donald trump and fox news. and frankly i have a lot of respect for some of the reporters there. and the reason i go on is because there's a very important audience to attend to. i thought the president had better things to do than to watch fox news during the day. >> the american audience is an important audience. thank you. >> thank you for having me. joining me is montana governor steve bullock. governor, i want to thank you for coming. and i know you could hear and listen to my interview just now. what are your thoughts? any reactions? >> yeah. and thanks for having me on, morgan. i mean, we're still five and a half months from voters actually

expressing a preference. and that's when iowans first go. you go back to when john kerry was running. 31 days out, he was at four points. al sharpton was points, alsha ss beating him. our rules ended up less inclusive than even the republicans. i think we've empowered places like facebook and google, but that is what it is. my focus is going to continue to be -- this week i'll be doing a 12-stop tour from the state house, the white house. we have about a third of our counties in iowa that voted obama, obama, trump. and we've got to win places like this if we're going to win this election. >> it's interesting you talk about your counterprogramming leading up to debate night. but would you consider participating in a nonsanctioned dnc debate? >> i think any time that i can be talking to voters, because at the end of the day that's what this is all about. i mean, you know, we've seen

that these debates, people go up, people go down, but we still have a long way to go along the way. so certainly any opportunity to actually be speaking to voters or getting our message out, we'll sure take a look at. >> it's also interesting because you've been critical of these debate rules. but one of your fellow candidates, andrew yang, was talking about the debate requirements earlier this week. and he actually kind of reiterated what we just heard xochitl say. he said if you were going to complain about the criteria, you'd want to complain about it a little bit earlier in the process to make it seem like it's not purely self-interested. what's your reaction to that? >> well, i think that, you know, when i'm traveling, we're still a long way from anybody making a decision. so there's a whole lot of folks, certainly, that aren't on those debate stages, not just myself, that it would be good to have that voice. it's like literally the only one in this field that one in a trump state realizing we have to

win back places we lost. it's the only governor remaining where you can't just give speeches, you actually have to do things. somebody off the coast. i do think this early on it's missing something by not having my voice. but, you know, again, it is what it is and i'm less concerned about sort of complaining debate rules now than making sure i'm talking to voters. because we got a long way to go in this. >> there is a long way to go, but it's interesting that you talk about being this voice. given this threshold, do you think with some of these voices like yourself who will not be on that debate stage, do you think there are issues that won't be covered will be missing? >> i have no doubt that there can be issues that won't be covered. as far as bringing in a rural voice, you know, when you look at two-thirds of the counties in this country, actually lost businesses over the last decade plus and folks feeling like they shouldn't have to leave their church or their synagogue or school just to make a decent living if the you look at really

the only one that's won in a red state, if we can't win michigan, wisconsin, pennsylvania, if we can't make a difference in those areas even that voted obama, obama, trump, it's going to be that much harder to win this election. so certainly think -- that's one of the reasons why i'm in it. i'm in some respects a single-issue voter, and that's making sure that donald trump isn't re-elected come next year. >> so the producers are telling me we have to go, but i have to get in one personal question here. why have you been so quick to rule out a senate run? you know the importance that -- of the chamber of congress. so why not consider it? >> yeah, i said long before i even got into this that i wasn't going to run for senate. we will have good candidates here and i'll do everything that i can to make sure that they win. i mean, part of it is i've served my whole time as an executive. part of it is i wish we were talking about places like also north dakota, indiana, missouri where we no longer are winning

as democrats. we can't just become a party of the coasts. and what better way to win those red and purple states than have somebody on the top of the ticket that's actually won those red and purple states. >> all right. governor steve bullock, thank you so much for joining us this morning. we appreciate your time. stay tuned right here to msnbc. we'll be right back just after this short break. nbc. we'll be right back just after this short break granted. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

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threatening puerto rico. let's go now to msnbc meteorologist michelle grossman who's been tracking dorian's path. what are you seeing now? >> we're seeing some strengthening. had is like the little engine that coo could. now we're seeing 70 miles per hour winds. you can see it has increased in size. we're looking to the north and west. we're looking at puerto rico now getting in that outer ring. but this is the big change as of the latest advisories. 70 miles per hour. that's very, very close to a cat one storm. 74ers that your marker for a category one storm. it will move out to the north and west. it's still moving quickly. at 13 miles per hour. let's look at what is happening in terms of the warnings. we have a hurricane watch and that is why this was issued yesterday. they did expect hurricane watch hurricane conditions. and that's what we'll see in puerto rico today. still a tropical storm, but we're going to see gusts over 74 miles per hour. and that is the story. so right now near saint croix

it's moving to the northwest. it will move over the eastern portions of puerto rico today. that's why we'll see the heavy rainfall, life-threatening flash load flooding there and just remember they still have tarps on a lot of the roofs. they have housing that is not adequate. if you do have those mandatory evacuations, you want to move out. then the tropical storm watch in the eastern parts of the dominican republic. let's go through the path because this is updated as well. just south of puerto rico, category one storm, really when it gets over the open waters of the atlantic, it's going to be interesting, though, over the next hour or so as it does pass over puerto rico to see if it does decrease in size first and then it's going to increase once it gets over those warm waters kind of giving it the energy it needs. >> all right. meteorologist michelle grossman following dorian's path. thank you so much. and thanks to all of you for watching this hour of msnbc live. i'm morgan radford. hallie jackson will be back tomorrow. and right now more news with my colleague and my friend craig melvin here in new york. how you dotion, mr. melvin?

>> i'm well, how are you? >> i'm good. i saw your took your kids first day of school. >> yes. >> fall is here. >> he did well. his mom and dad not so much. thank you, we'll see you tomorrow morning, radford. craig melvin here. msnbc news headquarters in new york city on this busy news wednesday. we just heard the latest forecast from the national hurricane center as puerto rico starts to feel the effects of tropical storm dorian. we will take you live to that still recovering u.s. territory will tens of thousands are still living with tarps as roofs. also, president trump reportedly promised to pardon aides to who break the law in order to fast track his border wall and he wants it done by election day. length that he's going to to deliver on that signature campaign promise to build that wall. we'll dig into that in a moment. but we start with the big news in the democratic primary and the