investment to make the future happen. if you look at the history of the civil rights movement, similarly, time of despair. you had to be able to imagine a different future. i think helping young people to see that there have been moments in history where we have had to imagine something very different than the status quo and very different than what we expect to be happening. >> okay. lemire when we start doing the things we have to do that we know we have to do on climate change i'll have been proved mercifully wrong. thank you very much. that does it for us this morning. chris jansing picks up the coverage right now. chris? thank you, katty. i am chris jansing in for stephanie ruhle. it is friday, august 30th. any minute now we ekts petke to hear from the governor of florida, ron de-santos as his state prepares for hurricane dorian. couple of pieces of worrisome news about this storm which is now a category 2 hurricane. it is expected to strengthen to a category 4 as it barrels toward florida's east coast and to slow down considerably that

could mean sustained periods of damaging winds, heavy rain, and destruction when the storm makes landfall in the coming days. >> yesterday, we submitted a request to the federal government for prelandfall declaration for assistance for protective measures. we anticipate a positive response. that has been endorsed by the entire florida delegation in the u.s. congress and we appreciate them for their support on that. floridians need to be prepared. the bad news going forward is it could potentially have impact before it reaches landfall but you have time to prepare if you have not done so. we urge all floridians to seven days' worth of food, medicine, and water.

this is potentially a multi day event where it will churn slowly across the state. it creates a whole host of issues but if you are in an area that has an impact from this storm you should assume you'll lose power. if you are in an area that flooded during hurricane irma and you are impacted by this you should assume you'll see flooding again after this storm. be prepared. be prepared for potentially a multi day event. now, lookal officials are making determinations i think today about evacuations whether to issue evacuations and how you'll do those. we are asking floridians please heed those directives from your local folks. they are considering a variety of factors and obviously monitoring the storm's path. so those decisions are not made lightly. if you in an evacuation zone and ordered to evacuate, please do so. put your safety first.

better to evacuate and not end up hitting you than to remain be in there and end up being in jeopardy of loss of life. if you are in an evacuation zone know which zone you are in and your evacuation route. we, in terms of highways here, the florida department of transportation has already cleared the shoulders of all our major highways. i-95 and i-75. and so they've been swept, cleared, and we will open those shoulders for traffic once evacuation orders are handed down. as of right now the d.o.t. has not identified any abnormal traffic patterns but obviously we know that, you know, once counties make determinations for evacuation orders you'll see people start to get on the road. nonessential lane closures that reduce capacity throughout the state are being opened to deal with the storm. fuel is an issue.

there are gas stations that have run out of fuel. we in the emergency declaration waive service and truck rates for fuel trucks so we can increase the capacity of fuel that is being brought in. we're also going to be, starting today, implementing florida highway patrol escorts for fuel trucks to facilitate refueling in critical parts of the state. there are some parts of the state where you have major lines and it makes it more difficult for trucks to get in and replenish the gas supply. we think the escorts will help with that. we have a lot of fuel in florida. we just have limited capacity to bring it to the gas stations because you can only have so many trucks at one time doing that. so recognizing that we've worked with fema to get fuel from out of state, so fema and jerod have worked with mississippi, alabama, and georgia to waive

their service and truck weights so we can facilitate fuel coming in from out of state. that is happening as we speak. in terms of nursing homes, obviously an issue in the past, the agency for health care administration is making site visits or calls to all facilities where the state does not have updated info about generators. we now have a website through the agency of health care administration where you can go in each county and see who's got the generators, who doesn't. and so we think it's statewide, about what, 120 that we don't have the information for. so there's going to be site checks. there's going to be phone calls to make sure that they have a plan to deal with folks that are in their care and then once the storm passes, there will be spot checks with the department of health to see where there may be needs after the storm and who

has lost power. the website for the generator is fl-generator.com. we've been putting that out to the local folks in our counties and the emergency offices there so that they have a sense of where they may need to offer assistance and encourage everyone to take a look at that. today at my action volunteer florida activated the official private fund established to assist florida's communities as they respond to and recover during times of emergency or disaster. to donate visit www.volunteerflorida.org or text disaster to 20222 to make a $10 contribution. we appreciate that. the florida fish and wildlife conservation commission is preparing officers and resources for potential deployments in the coming days using a variety of specialized equipment including shallow draft boats, atvs, air

boats, four wheel drive vehicles. jerod has also requested vehicles from the federal government that be able to navigate some potentially flooded streets. obviously the general is sensitive to that, as well. you're looking at potentially significant water event throughout major portions of the state. we want resources to navigate that. there had been a number of school closures, daytona state college, eastern florida state college, indian river state college, valencia college, seminole state college, university of central florida, florida atlantic, florida polytechnic, florida international and the university of central florida have issued closures starting today through tuesday. the school districts in martin county and veil oubra county have announced closures for tuesday, september 3rd. monday is labor day so schools were scheduled to be closed anyway. our florida department of economic opportunities is

extending the deadline for local governments to submit applications for the $85 million rebuild florida infrastructure repair program. and visit florida has activated the expedia visit florida hotel accommodation web portal so that if there are evacuation orders you can get a sense whaf would would -- a sense of what would be available in terms of accommodations. we have close to a million gallons of water. jared has requested i think another 2 million for fema. we have almost 2 million meals ready for distribution. now, we have not necessarily received requests for that yet but we stand ready to distribute the meals when we can. and the state, we're also working with some of the retailers like publix and walmart to make sure their stores are re-shelved. a lot of people are preparing which is good but the flip side is the water is going off the

shelf and requires restocking in a quicker fashion. if you want up-to-date information on hurricane dorian please visit florida disaster.org/info. for local media updates and updates as we do, you can do my twitter account. you can also do the state emergency response twitter account which is@flsert. the state is also activating a toll free hotline for floridians to receive information and that number is 1-800-342-3557. so this is a major event. we still have some degree of uncertainty. but i think if you look at the different forecasts you see potential major impacts from places in south florida potentially going all the way up the coast of florida. some forecasts have it going through the center of the state. similar to kind of what irma did in terms of going up the middle

and you still have some forecasts that say it's going to go across the state and end up in the gulf of mexico. we just have to be prepared for all those circumstances. i think the probabilities of all those are not necessarily equal. but it's much better to be prepared and then not have to face it than to go into one of these things unprepared. finally, i did speak with the president on wednesday night and the administration has been great and they've assured us they'll provide all the resources we need. the president was scheduled to leave the country and has canceled that trip because i think the administration recognizes this is a really, really serious event. with that we'd be happy to take some questions for myself or jared or the general. >> what is the status of the national guard, general? >> they're mobilizing. >> we are mobilizing as we speak. we expect about 2,000 soldiers and airmen from the florida national guard mobilized by end of day today. by tomorrow probably doubled by about 4,000. we're trying to be responsive

but not over zealous in implementing whatever requirements the department of emergency management levies on us. we are prepared to respond. woo he have 12,000 soldiers and airmen in the state and every one of them that is able and in the state, not deployed, will be ready to step up as needed. in addition, we have emergency management assistance compacts with various states in the southern region especially to be able to fill in any avoids that we have or gaps in our formations that might need specialties like aviation, engineering, high water vehicle transportation and those kinds of things. >> we also, the general is talking with other states. we anticipate getting support from other states. i know i spoke with the governor of alabama and she authorized national guard personnel from alabama so that is ongoing. i'm sure we will provide those updates once we get them. >> governor, just observation, i notice a lot more fema personnel

and the trucks previously across the street at dfs are now here in the parking lot. is this a change with the new administration or just happenstance? is it a new approach? >> this is just what we planned, right? >> yes. >> i'm not sure exactly how fema did it before i was here but when we did the hurricane exercise, this is how we've anticipated it happening and jared has developed a really good relationship with folks in fema and they appreciate all the hard work he is doing so i think we're on the same page and will be able to work constructively together. >> this is your first major hurricane as governor and i am wondering if there was much of a learning curve going into this and do you see your political future tied to how this state performs during this? >> i don't view it politically at all. we're trying to protect the state, protect people, and assist these local folks who are

out there, and they're all activated now as best we could. i grew up in florida so i'm not a stranger to hurricanes and of course we've had a number of active hurricane seasons recently. as a u.s. congressman we had hurricane matthew where my district was the district most affected. it could have been worse than the path it ultimately took. obviously hurricane irma affected almost everybody in the state. you know, i have a lot of experience understanding how some of the wheels go in motion. we've done a lot with hurricane michael since i've taken office. this is something we didn't want to see a hurricane this season. i know jared and i both did what we thought we could in different respects to head that off but we also prepared for one. you know, and did a major hurricane exercise, you know, i would ask jared, hey, what's it look like in the caribbean? what's this? because we knew this is something that could potentially happen. so at the end of the day we'll be working really hard to do our

best to help the folks in the state of florida. >> what can you tell us about cell phone coverage and how long people should expect it to go out? that was a big problem for some providers after hurricane michael and that's what everyone is on and wants to know about. >> obviously i think in michael it was a major problem. it really hindered the ability for folks to be able to take protective measures after the storm. but we've spoken with companies like verizon, you know, they have a plan. they are implementing the plan. they recognize the threat from the storm and are taking action. that is really at the end of the day, these are private companies. we've talked to them, and said, look, the state believes having a plan and being able to take action to restore lost service as quickly as possible is very important. helps with recovery efforts,

helps with people whose livelihoods are at stake. i think they all get that and recognize some of the problems in the past. i would say the same with the utilities. i've met with a number of the heads of the utilities, companies like florida power and light, and they are executing their plans. you're seeing a lot of assets being brought to bear in florida right now. not necessarily for sure where those are going to ultimately be deployed but there is going to be a capacity to do that. and restoring the power once it goes out to as many people as quickly as possible helps jared, me, helps the general, it helps with the recovery effort and the response. so we are sensitive to that. the facilities have plans and are executing those plans. resources are being brought to bear. i think that's a responsible thing to do. >> facebook has a new tool for first responders to alert

communities. do you have any idea if the state or local governments might be using this? >> mayor ron de-santos of florida with a press conference showing and really explaining how incredibly complex logistics are for planning for a storm like this. but also issuing a pretty severe warning, assume if you're in the path of this storm he is saying that you could lose power. there could be flooding. this will be a multi day event. decisions being made even as we speak about vac evacuations. let's check in with our team on the ground in florida. one of the things we just heard from the governor is that you still have time to prepare. that's his message and, clearly, that's what the folks behind you are doing. >> reporter: yes, chris. when you hear from the governor they need to have these folks on the ground, supplies for around seven days, that is what

floridians are preparing for. at this costco that just opened its doors here in palm beach gardens the line, chris, wrapping around the building. people here many not considering evacuating now. one gentleman from new jersey in line summed it up best. he said where am i going to go? this looks like it could hit the entire state at this point. some ladies in line born and bred floridians tell me they've been through hurricane andrew in 1992, hurricane irma two years ago, and they know how to hunker down. but for that you need your list of essentials and that is what folks are getting here. most of them lining up for water, lining up for those nonperishable items, looking to buy gas canisters to fill up with gasoline and especially generators, chris. some of them were lining up at a home depot since 5:00 in the morning. generators there ran out. now they're hoping to get their hands on them here at this costco. we're about 14 miles north of west palm beach.

the storm looks right now like it could be headed straight here. chris? >> thank you so much for that. morgan, obviously any time you have a three-day weekend it's a busy travel weekend and i wonder what that means there. >> reporter: chris, certainly shaping up to be a much different labor day weekend here in florida, where airports are making plans ahead of the flights here. a lot of folks either cutting vacation short or changing plans all together here. not wanting to take any chances with this hurricane as its path has continued to be determined as it approaches the state of florida. we do know that a lot of the major carriers, united, delta, southwest, are offering waivers for travelers who may be changing their flights ahead of dorian, specifically here in the florida and southeast area so that is good news for travelers who might want to just play it safe and stay home or go to a different destination right now. we have checked in with popular resort universal orlando ahead of the arrival of the storm. they say that currently they're open for business. conditions have not changed at the park.

but they're keeping a very close eye on the arrival of dorian to see if and when it impacts that area. we have also reached out to disney world, obviously very popular this time of the year but we've yet to hear back. as far as we know they are still open for business. in the meantime another industry that's taking a potential hit, cruise lines, so far the only cancellation we've seen is royal caribbean and a bahamas cruise but everyone saying the same thing right now, keeping a very close eye on dorian to see where it ends up ahead of this busy holiday weekend. >> morgan chesky and maria mariana atencio thank you both and take care out there. let me go to msnbc michelle grossman who has the latest on the storm's path. and to his point where is it going? >> hi, chris. we are talking about a very powerful storm and only getting more powerful. the path is to be determined. we'll see several changes. we are still four to five days out from landfall so you can bet on some changes. we have a strong possibility this is going to be a very strong storm where it does make landfall. the latest category 2 storm,

northeast of the bahamas. winds at 110 miles per hour. keeps getting stronger with every advisory. it is moving quickly at 12 miles per hour and has maintained that speed over the past three days but that will change, too, and is not good news. let's look at the path between saturday and sunday we expect it to blossom into that power house of a category 4 storm. sustained winds at 130 miles per hour. gusting higher than that. you always want to think about the gusts. then by monday at 2:00, right over the blaahamas we have a hurricane watch already posted. 140-mile-per-hour winds again gusting higher than that. let's expand it a little more making landfall. this is the national hurricane center's forecast where we see southern florida getting that landfall at a category 4 storm, lightning surges, heavy, heavy win and very destructive and damaging winds. then it will make its way toward central florida. we do have other models that we look at. you hear about the european

model. you hear about the american model. this is the national hurricane i just showed you. as we go throughout time here we have a little difference and that is because we are still four days away and we need to fine tune this. the american model, moving it more toward the north, the european model pretty close to the national hurricane center. so it probably is a good bet that we'll see the southern landfall. as we go throughout time here let's talk about the wind. we'll switch sides and show this box over here and we are looking at the potential for some catastrophic winds possibly over the bahamas. you see this dark pink here over the bahamas and that's why we have the hurricane watch posted already. you want to prepare if you're in this area, prepare if you're in the eastern coast of florida because even though we're still four to five days out it looks nice today. we saw the live shots. beautiful sunshine. things are going to change. and we're looking at heavy rain as well. isolated amounts up to 12 inches of rain in some spots. so definitely watching this very, very closely over the next four to five days, chris. >> thank you so much for that. president trump has canceled

a trip to poland to stay at the white house and monitor hurricane dorian sending vice president pence there instead. and putting out a video from the white house. >> we're ready. we have the best people in the world ready and they're going to help you. we're shipping food. we're shipping water. but it may be that you're going to evacuate. we're going to see what happens. we're waiting. >> hans nichols is at the white house for us. tell us a little more about what we know about this decision and exactly what the administration is doing. >> reporter: good morning, chris. the ultimate decision by the president to cancel that trip was made after you had the realization this hurricane would make landfall as a category 4. that's when they finally made the decision, the president called his counterpart in poland and decided to send mike pence in his stead. the president will get updates through the next 24, 48, 72 hours from fema. you just heard from the governor there talking about potential prelandfall declarations. there are things you can do to maybe prep the area a little bit

more and make everyone aware that federal funds would potentially be available. early wednesday the president did something similar for the virgin islands. canceling or changing a trip isn't that uncommon. it is a little different because it is a foreign trip. i remember before sandy president then obama went down to orlando. there was going to be a big rally. he had to cancel that and head back up to make sure he was monitoring it. in that case, president obama was actually trying to stay ahead of the storm. this it looks a little more optical not actually tactically on where the president is going to be but we'll update you throughout the day as the president gets updates and potentially gives us some guidance. >> hans nichols, thank you for that. joining me now to talk about it eugene scott "the washington post" political reporter, former florida congressman carlos cabello and senior reporter for "the hill." congressman, since you were in office and had to deal with storms during that period of

time tell me how you see this, how important is it for a president and, truly, logistically, what is his role in all of this? >> well, i think the white house made the right decision. the president made a wise decision. the worst thing a president can do in the face of a natural disaster, which is what we're going to have here in florida, is to seem insensitive or detached and traveling abroad would certainly convey a lack of solidarity with the people of florida. people here are very anxious. a lot of gasoline stations around here have run out of gas. some supermarkets have run out of water. so there is a lot of anxiety. floridians are used to this. but that doesn't make it any easier. so the president made the right decision and governor de santos his first press conference for a major hurricane was a success. floridians expect their governors to convey clarity, to show they are in charge, to send

clear messages about what people should be doing. i think the governor gets high marks for this first press conference. >> eugene, you heard the president say they are preparing. they are ready. but critics would point out this is also the president whose administration just pulled millions from fema. this is the president who threw paper towels at the people of puerto rico after hurricane maria. will this time be different? >> we'll see. this certainly will be a test for the president to see if he has learned anything from the criticism he received following hurricane maria. we knew he is hypersensitive about that. he actually spent the beginning of the week criticizing puerto rican politicians and even went as far as to say he himself was the best thing to happen to puerto rico. and so how he handles things in florida, things in puerto rico, will give voters a key and idea of whether this is someone they can entrust natural disasters to for four more years. >> because there is an

undeniable political aspect to this. americans depend on their government as carlos just pointed out with the governor. they depend on them to be there, to be clear, to let them know they have things in place and, amy, i'm thinking about katrina, what we saw after that disastrous situation, and here we're dealing with a state that's critically important for 2020. there is no denying that. let's be clear. the most important thing here is what's at stake, is people and property, but beyond that how fraught are the politics? >> quite fraught. especially president trump has ties to the state. you know, he has property there. >> yes. >> that obviously is important to him. that matters to him. >> including doral which he has talked a lot about. >> yes. mara largo is very close to palm beach gardens which could be in the eye of the hurricane. this is personal to him. so he is going to make every effort to seem like it's personal. then of course there are the 2020 politics and this is a state that he needs and a state

where he continues to get support by a lot of people and so he wants to sort of drive home that point that he does care there. >> and, congressman, i sometimes wonder if this is a situation for any president frankly that what you're trying to do is essentially do no harm. you want to make sure that the federal government operates the way it should, that you're not subject to criticism. you don't necessarily get credit for that. but you certainly get a lot of demerits if it doesn't go well. >> that's right. if people are satisfied, they probably won't even notice or comment about the federal government's response. but if things go wrong, people immediately start looking for scape goats and, again, it's just a very anxious time. i remember during hurricane irma a couple years ago we had an issue with shelters opening in south florida and people looking for who to blame. so for the president, especially the federal government, which has a supporting role, because state and local authorities, of

course, are responsible immediately after the storm, then the federal government comes in. the most important thing is to not make a mistake, to show competence, and, most importantly, and i think that is why the president has canceled this trip, to show solidarity. to not be insensitive. to understand, to show that you understand what people are going through psychologically. >> we're certainly thinking about all the folks in florida. do you have your seven days of supplies? >> we are ready. >> okay. >> we -- i should say we're almost ready because my wife hears me say that we're ready, she might question that. but we do have to go out and get some more food and water but we feel very safe in our home. thankfully we won't have to evacuate. many people throughout the state will have to. >> thank you for coming on the program. we appreciate it. eugene scott as well. amy, i think you're going to stick with us for a bit. coming up 2020 front-runner joe biden under growing scrutiny

this morning after a war story he told on the campaign trail turns out to be wrong. but first, the justice department's inspector general releases a report critical of former fbi director james comey. so why are both comey and president trump celebrating its release? this is anne marie peebles her saturday movie marathons are a never-ending montage of comfort. [where have you been all my life?] namaste? namaste right here on the couch. but then, anne laid on a serta perfect sleeper. and realized her life was only just... sorta comfortable. where have you been all my life? not just sorta comfortable. serta comfortable. save on the pressure-relieving serta perfect sleeper at the labor day sale.

both president trump and james comey this morning claiming vindication after a 61-page report from the justice department's internal watch dog

sharply criticized the former fbi director's handling and release of memos detailing his interactions with the president. the inspector general said comey's goal in disclosing one of the memos seeking an appointment of a special counsel to investigate trump and his aides did not justify the o violations but also found that comey never released any classified information to the public and so comey will not face prosecution. the president isn't dropping it, tweeting twice in less than an hour including writing the disastrous i.g. report on james comey shows in the strongest of terms how unfairly i and tens of millions of great people who support me were treated. and calling comey a dishonest fool. joining we now the former u.s. attorney and former federal prosecutor and msnbc legal analyst glenn kirschner perfect gentlemen to have with us this

morning. greg, you worked directly with james comey. in the tweets over the last hour the president also said what this report shows is that a.g. barr is fair and reasonable. it also shows that he did some stuff wrong. how do you read it? >> i read the report as documenting the fact that this fbi director found himself in an unprecedented situation. he thought he had been a witness to potentially a criminal conduct on the part of the president. he created memos to memorialize those conversations with the president. as it turns out the i.g. report finds that director comey didn't handle those memos in exactly the right way under d.o.j. and fbi policies. the i.g. in so finding was simply doing its job but also found director comey did not intentionally violate policies, did not break the law, and did not lie about any of this.

not much of that is surprising frankly to most people. i think that the focus really should be back on the substance of the memos and not the process foul that the oig found. >> the other side of this, glenn, clearly is what does this say to the fbi going forward? because what the i.g. found is that the argument that comey made that these were exceptional circumstances and so it warranted the leak given the stakes just isn't so. >> you know, i largely agree with greg, chris. i think there are two important takeaways. i think the -- one of the main points is that the ends don't justify the means. and that's a message that the i.g. was pretty clear on in the last ten pages of his report. i think the i.g. wanted to send a signal to all government officials that even if you think it's really important that you get information out and what could be more important than a president who is potentially

engaged in criminal obstruction of justice, you still need to follow the rules and procedures. the other thing, chris, i think we should pay attention to here is that the president's statements and tweets can't be credited when you read the i.g.'s report. because how many times did he tell us, james comey leaked classified information? >> at least ten by "the washington post" count. >> james comey is a criminal. what did we learn from the i.g.'s report? those things are untrue. so the president can try to play cleanup in his more recent tweets but let's remember his statements and tweets are inaccurate, untrue, and can't be credited because comey didn't leak any classified information and he didn't commit any crimes. >> and so it sort of touched off this mini twitter war on one side you have trump tweeting and this was from yesterday although again he has tweeted on this a

couple times today. perhaps never in the history of our country has someone been more thoroughly disgraced and excoriated than james comey but then comey responded, i don't need a public apology from those who defamed me but a quick message with a, sorry, we lied about you, would be nice. is either of them really vindicated by this report? >> i think this is a great example of how litigating these issues by way of twitter really is not productive. there is no winner. >> on either side, right? >> that's true. trying to go up against this president in a twitter war is a losing proposition. it's probably just not productive. but i think director comey is in large part vindicated in the fact that, again, when confronted with an unprecedented situation he did what he thought was right. that turned out to not be in conformance with doj and fbi policy but, again, no finding of leaking any classified

information, of breaking the law, or of even intentionally violating the department policy. he simply had, you know, no good choices. he chose to preserve the evidence in the way that he thought made sense at the time. and it turns out the oig disagreed with the details of that. >> greg brower, glenn kirschner, great to talk to both of you. thank you. coming up, controversy erupting after joe biden tells a moving war story on the campaign trail. but gets most of the details wrong. plus, the stage is set and it's going to be fascinating. we'll show you who's standing next to whom and what it could mean for the dynamic of next month's democratic debate. or hee look like? it looks like jill heading off on an adventure. jill has entresto, a heart failure medicine that helps her heart so she can keep on doing what she loves. in the largest heart failure study ever, entresto was proven superior at helping people stay alive

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that's why there's ocuvite. screen light... sunlight... longer hours... eyes today are stressed! but ocuvite has vital nutrients... ...that help protect them. ocuvite. eye nutrition for today. this morning joe biden on defense after a new report identifies multiple inaccuracies in a story he is telling on the campaign trail. >> young navy captain, navy, up in the mountains in afghanistan. one of his buddies got shot, fell down a ravine about 60 feet, four star general asked me would i go up into the fob. everybody got concerned the vice president going up in the middle of this.

we can lose a vice president. we can't lose many more of these kids. this guy climbed down a ravine, carried this guy up on his back under fire, and the general wanted knee pin the silver star on him. i got up there and god's truth my word as a biden he stood at attention. i went to pin him. he said, do not pin it on me, please, sir. do not do that. he died. he died. >> but as "the washington post" was first to point out biden got the time period, the location, the heroic act, the type of medal, the military branch, and the rank of the recipient wrong as well as his own role in the ceremony. biden visited konar province in 2008 as a u.s. senator not as vice president. the service member who performed the celebrated rescue biden described was a 20-year-old army specialist not a much older navy captain and that soldier kyle j. white never had a silver star or any other medal pinned on him by

biden. at a white house ceremony six years after biden's visit white stood at attention as president barack obama placed a medal of honor, the nation's highest award for valor ks around his neck. nbc road warrior garrett haake is in south carolina where biden continues on a campaign swing. what does joe biden have to say about this? >> reporter: hey, chris. good morning from georgetown, south carolina. i'm at a bernie sanders rally this morning, an interesting opportunity six months out in this race to see both of the two front-runners on back-to-back days. for the biden campaign this story essentially could step on what was otherwise a very positive, productive trip for him here in south carolina. that's why the biden campaign is essentially dismissing it making the argument this is one of those things where they believe the press gets wraps around the axle about the vice president misstating something but the point of the story was still clear. you heard that from joe biden himself yesterday in an interview with "the washington post." this is how he described the whole situation. >> i was making the point how

courageous these people are, how incredible they are, this generation of warriors, these fallen angels we've lost. and, so, i don't know what the problem is. i mean, what is it that i said wrong? >> and, chris, that's one of these situations where we have to wait and see how this plays out over a longer time period. as you pointed out the sergeant at the center of all this was not offended by biden's handling of the issue, said he felt biden understood him. the military community is not the first to get upset about this, it is unlikely it goes much further than that. i have to tell you from talking to voters in the early stages, how folks feel about joe biden on this kind of issue, on the gaffes, is pretty well baked in. folks who are worried that perhaps he might be too old for the job already felt that way. and the folks who feel like he speaks from the heart and sometimes trips over his feet continue to understand that is just part of joe biden being joe

biden. i have not yet seen any of these stories really step on the vice president's momentum particularly here in south carolina which remains his strongest early primary state. though as you're hearing behind me bernie sanders getting a very strong welcome this morning, too. >> they are chanting for him. garrett haake, thank you very much. joining me now is a political reporter for the post and cur err in charleston, south carolina. back with me former congressman carlos carbello and you've just spoke with vice president biden and heard our reporting that voters at least the ones we've talked to haven't seemed overly worried about it. is that sort of the biden camp's feeling? is that what he told you? he is unconcerned about how people view this? >> yeah. garrett is exactly right. i spoke to him, to the former vice president yesterday and his remarks were fairly similar to what he said to "the washington post." look, the essence of the story was right, that the point of the story was accurate. you know, i did try to ask him,

did you mistake some of the details of this story? he said that there are multiple stories that he likes to tell on the trail. he described some of them. i said, did you conflate the details of some of these stories which is what "the washington post" seems to report? he said, no. i don't think so. he had not read the story at that point. the story actually published while he was speaking at clinton college in rock hill. but garrett is right that, you know, voters across south carolina for the most part don't care about these kind of, you know, small errors or, you know, gaffes as we like to call them, misstatements. some of them when you talk to them they find it kind of endearing and relatable. they don't expect, you know, biden to be perfect. they've known him for very many years. they feel like they know him on a personal level. it did not really seem to have any effect on his supporters here and his polling numbers in

south carolina have remained rock solid since the day he got into the race and they've remained higher in south carolina than they have in any of the earlier primary states or national polls, too. >> amy, some people pointed out this one incident kind of points out what is both the biggest strength you could argue about joe biden and the biggest risk. the risk being the gaffes and will they have a cumulative effect. but the empathy that he has. when you have the person at the center of this saying, i looked at him. i felt him. and you saw that crowd when he was telling the story. you could hear a pin drop. >> right. >> that is his strength. his relatability. people's belief that he understands them. >> and he comes, i mean, his son served in the military. this is also personal to him. he speaks from the heart on these issues. i think that is why when people ask why are you talking about this he's like what do you mean? this is all part of his story. he seems very empathetic at

times. and this is what people really like about him. on the other hand, i think that as we get closer to iowa, as people start paying more attention, i think this drip, drip, drip of inaccuracies and gaffes and verbal flubs will begin to hurt him. that does concern a lot of his allies which is why they have told me in the past he should maybe slow down, that he should take some breaks, call his family. the campaign trail is grueling as we know. >> brutal. it is absolutely brutal whatever your age is. so, congressman, look. i mean, this also raises the age issue, right, he would be if he were elected i think the oldest president ever sworn in. and to amy's point, as the primaries go on and certainly in a general up against a president who has no problem in hitting somebody even as someone himself who has at the very least a complicated sort of relationship with the truth, could this become more of a problem,

congressman? >> chris, joe biden's political opponents are trying to tie these gaffes to his age but the truthage. but the truth is this is nothing new. the vice president has a long history of gaffes, misstateme s misstatements, exaggerating for dramatic effect. this is just who he is. i think he should own that. yeah, i get it wrong sometimes. sometimes i exaggerate. but the point i'm making is in this case these young soldiers we should admire and respect. i don't think this is going to be a major issue. a lot of voters expect this. and if it even up being joe biden against donald trump, eloquence is not going to be a major factor in the race. they are both prone to these mistakes. they are had he both broken to gaffes that they later get called out for. . >> joe biden has a big event. coming up two weeks from now, i'm talking about the debate.

he will be centered. look at this lineup on either side. bernie sanders and elizabeth warren. a lot of people have, as we have legislationed to joe biden, the critics saying you will not hear it from elizabeth warren or kamala harris. when you look at this lineup, what are you thinking? . >> brutal. he's right in the center of it all. obviously senator sanders is going to come after him on medicare for all. elizabeth warren and bernie sanders are still going to put up a united front. that is also going to be hard for the former vice president because he sort of is in the middle of the united front. i do expect her to defend herself when she is attacked. i think it will be very interesting how he handles everyone in the heart of it all. >> you have been on the debate stage before. it is a nerve inducing to say the least. what are you looking for?

. >> well, the best thing joe biden can do is be himself. not apologize for his record. own his flaws. everyone is going to attack him. even though his numbers have fallen recently, he is still the front-runner or perceived to be the front-runner. he is the partnership in leadership of one of the most popular presidents of all time. he should be comfortable, cool, calm, collected, be himself. i still think this is his primary to lose unless he gets defensive, unless he falls into the trap of apologizing for his long record of service. . >> thanks to all of you. coming up, new questions about the conditions inside those migrant detention centers. a studisturbing new report said they are fighting the spread of a highly infectious disease.

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public health officials are voicing serious concerns after the cdc found nearly 900 cases of mumps among detainees and workers in 57 facilities operatored by u.s. immigration. the numbers from 2018 and 2019 expose an incredibly huge risk. professor of public health

telling buzzfeed an i.c.e. detainee had a 4,000 fold greater risk of getting mumps than non-detainee in the united states at large. julia ainslie joins me now with more. what do we know about this and what's the response been? >> this is a startling response from the centers of disease control that sent 900 immigrants have had mumps. we have known there was an outbreak. i.c.e. officials said they have had to quarantine. from november of last year to august 22nd of this year, 900 cases. we're not just talking about the border. there are i.c.e. facilities around the country. one outbreak was in new york. they're all over the country. to think this is just a border problem would be wrong. this is something happening in a lot of places. one of the reasons, if you speak to people, first of all, a lot

of immigrants are not vaccinated as we are in the united states as children. but also just how many people are in these facilities. now, they do all have beds in i.c.e. facilities. it's not like what we saw at border stations this summer. but also max capacity they have ever been. 52,000 in detention. >> and there's another controversy. the "new york times" has the story about a 24-year-old woman with a rare disease who got notice she could face deportation if she did not leave the country within 33 days, an order described by her doctor, lawyer and mother as tantamount to a death sentence. you previously reported on a woman denied deferred action after her husband died. is this new policy going to send more cases to i.c.e. and backlog the system and are more people

going to be in danger? what are we seeing here? >> yes. there will be more of a backlog because of this. they have had deferred action for people who might follow through the cracks. some people who would not get the medical care they need if they were deported back to their home countries. some lived here legally but because of a break in the system, they lost their legal status but otherwise have been paying taxes, upstanding citizens. they are no longer reviewing any of those cases. they're sending them all to i.c.e. here's the problem, i.c.e. had no idea they were doing this. this was a complete surprise. they have no plans in place to review the cases. an update on the woman i interviewed, she is been told she has to leave in october. >> thank you so much. that will wrap up this hour. see you back here at 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. eastern. >> my god, you're working for it today, chris.

appreciate it, my friend. we are about to get an update on dorian, which is getting bigger and stronger and may be closer to clockering florida as the most powerful hurricane to hit the state in nearly 30 years. evacuation could come as soon as today. millions psychiatric bell to go grab emergency supplies. here's ron desantis within the last few minutes >> floridians need to be prepared. the bad news of the storm going slower is that could potentially have negative impacts once it reaches landfall. >> we have our team covering the state with the latest developments and all of the day's top stories. we want to get started with the latest track of dorian. michelle, i know we're getting an update on the track in just about 50 minutes to an hour here. but this thing is dangerous because it could