history and perhaps know something about donald trump's own record. >> jim messina and charlie sykes, thanks. we'll have to have a longer conversation about this in the next couple of days, and then after the big choice and big day in philadelphia on tuesday. and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." thanks for being with us. remember to follow the show on social media @mitchellreports. and you can watch the best parts of our show on youtube. just go to msnbc.com/andrea. "chris jansing reports" starts right now. ♪♪ good day, i'm chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. an annual convention with an unconventional twist. any minute now, donald trump will square off with black journalists, an opportunity to make his case to black voters that he's their best bet come november. that message did show some traction when biden was still in the race, but what about now? plus, for the second time in

two days, the death of a terrorist leader is fueling calls for revenge. this time it's iran blaming israel after the assassination of a hamas leader inside tehran, with increasing concerns of an all-out war is there anything the u.s. or anyone else can do to stop it from happening. and torrential rains in vermont, unlike anything they've ever seen. two months' worth of rain dropping in a single morning turning roads into rivers is and tearing homes into pieces. the downpour obliterating the area's record for rainfall, which was set more than 110 years ago. and by the way, it's still coming down. but we start with the battle for black voters, and donald trump heading to chicago as recent polls show his support with them slipping. today he's sitting for a live q & a at the country's largest annual convention of black journalists. it's the first time any republican presidential candidate has attended the event in 20 years. trump had boasted of making

inroads with black voters while joe biden was still in the race, but he is now facing a very different landscape. >> the momentum in this race is shifting, and there are signs that donald trump is feeling it. >> well, whether or not the former president is feeling it, we are seeing it in polls like these showing harris tied or leading in five of the seven swing states, though most are within the margin of error. biden had led in just two of those states in that same poll earlier this month. it's the latest sign of how harris has transformed the democratic campaign for president drawing 10,000 supporters just last night in atlanta with more forced to wait outside. the de facto nominee having fun with the crowd and daring trump to go one on one. >> i do hope you'll reconsider to meet me on the debate stage.

[ cheers and applause ] because as the saying goes, if you got something to say, say it to my face. [ cheers and applause ] >> nbc's dasha burns is in harrisburg, pennsylvania, where donald trump will hold a rally later tonight. michael hardaway has worked for hakeem jeffries and illinois senator dick durbin, lanhee chen served in the george w. bush administration and was policy adviser to mitt romney's presidential campaign. good to see all three of you. dasha, tell us about this event and about trump's political strategy to reach out to black voters. >> reporter: well, look, he had been very bullish on his ability to not necessarily win the majority of black voters. that's of course very unlikely, but he felt he could chip away at that democratic base. they had a pretty robust, and still do have a pretty robust

strategy to reach out to those voters. you've seen him going to places that republican candidates typically don't go, places like the bronx, he had that event at chick-fil-a. he's been going to places like philadelphia, urban areas, making connections with rappers, black churches, making inroads with communities where he felt that he could, you know, make ties to influencers that could bring people into the fold. that dynamic, of course, has changed now that biden is no longer at the top of the ticket. harris at the top of the ticket is a different story. it's a different game. you can see them now trying to figure out a new strategy for a new opponent, and the harris campaign really leaning in to new states. she was in battleground georgia, a place that the biden campaign had all but written off. so this is a new dynamic. the trump team still bullish on their ability with minorities, but they know that this is going to be a different challenge. >> there's this new ap poll out that we saw a little bit of. it shows about seven in ten

black adults and about half of hispanic adults would be satisfied with harris as the democratic nominee. that's a marked increase from earlier in july with joe biden, and you know, trump had been working to peel off some of those voters. he seemed to be making some inroads, for example, with young black men, so it is a different game, but is it necessarily a predictable one, and how important is what he's doing today? >> so here's -- this is the main issue with donald trump and the reason he'll never, ever get a significant number of black people to support him, which is he'll come to an event like this. he'll spew a litany of lies and mistruths, he'll completely ignore his history of discrimination against black people, of disrespect toward black journalists and certainly the dean of the political spectrum for black journalists in april ryan, and so it won't be effective because he doesn't truly understand that black voters are educated and informed and make decisions based on policy, not on style.

he assumes that disappearing here or bringing black voices out or faces out on his behalf will get black support, and that's not the way it works. we vote on substance, and we know that his substance is bad for our beliefs in our community, and that's why he'll never ever get black support in an overwhelming way. >> here's how people argue the other side from what we just heard michael say, which a lot of democrats will argue to you. for example, look at the think tank of black futures lab. it shows fixing the economy and reducing violence in their communities are the top issues with black voters. we know that republicans have had some success using that against democrats, using that against joe biden, and when we've done panel discussions with young black men, those economic issues keep coming up again and again and again. does kamala harris necessarily change that, or does she need to speak to that very clearly and

very forcefully? >> i think it's important for the vice president to speak to those issues because, by the way, those are issues that don't just concern african american voters, they concern voters across the spectrum regardless of your racial or ethnic background, and i think for voters, those are going to be the two most dispositive issues in this campaign. we've been through a really momentous time in terms of news over the last couple of weeks. we've seen a ton of developments in this presidential race, but if you look at the polling, what is striking to me at least, chris, is the degree to which voters are still focused fundamentally on those key issues. the issues of the state of the economy, cost of living issues, and beyond that also immigration you've noted as well. i think the question will be to what degree does trump take the imagery and what he says today and try to amplify it beyond just this event and just this community? >> and michael, that event, frankly, trump doesn't do a lot of these things, taking

questions from journalists, but kamala harris had a scheduling conflict here and they are working on seeing whether or not she can do some q & a with them in september, but big picture, okay, it's only been, what, nine or ten days, but does she need to get out there? does she need to answer questions as well? >> absolutely, and she has a stellar record to the point that we just made about economics in the country and the black community, black wealth is up 60% under the biden/harris administration. she has to communicate situations like that. black business creation is up at a historic level. black unemployment is historically low. she has to sell those things and not assume that black voters will come out and support her just because she's black, and i don't think she makes that assumption. as you look at today, she unfortunately had to travel to texas for congresswoman jackson lee's funeral, which is tomorrow, but i think she certainly should and will engage with the black journalists here and have a real conversation

about why she should be our next president. >> one of the arguments lahnee that we're hearing from republicans is that she's not got great policies, that she's been flip-flopping on policies, and this is what an article in "the hill" said, quote -- this is her -- how the republicans are poised to jump on her, because she no longer supports a ban on fracking, a campaign official said, nor does she support expanding the supreme court. she no longer backs a single payor health care system after previously endorsing a medicare for all proposal the campaign official confirmed or a government-run gun buyback program. harris also supports additional border funding, a break from her 2020 primary stance. look, she's obviously not the first vice president who's run for president. there's always a little bit of trickiness, right? separating herself from the policies of her boss's administration, and also, sometimes separating yourself from previous years ago ideas

that you might have had, but again, does she need to get ahead of this? does she need to define herself and her policies before the other side does? >> yeah, no question. that is going to be the big challenge for her is can she define herself before the trump campaign defines her. if the trump campaign defines her, which they are working to do with a lot of ads in a lot of swing states right now around, you know, being too progressive, too liberal, too san francisco, if you will, for the rest of the country. if they're able to place that frame around her, i do think that that will be damaging with swing and independent voters in some of these key states. so she's going to have to figure out how she walks away from some of these positions she's had on fracking, a position that could be very damaging in pennsylvania, on public safety issues. on medicare for all, which is something that i think could potentially be a problem for her. all of these issues, she's going to have to figure out how she defines herself differently

because, remember, chris, most americans, they don't know much about kamala harris. they don't know what she stands for. so at this point it is a race to definition, and if the trump campaign can define her first, that will be a problem for her and the democratic ticket. >> so far, as you know, michael, her appearances have been raucous, i think is a fair term. in fact, "the new york times" wrote this after last night, the size of her rally dwarfed mr. biden's 2024 campaign events in both scale and enthusiasm, rivaling the types of crowds mr. trump regularly draws for his rallies in similar spaces. every candidate has a stump speech. the stump speech is designed to get people riled up, but is that also an opportunity for her to maybe hit on some of the issues that are not typical maybe for this stump speech or any other and say, look, this is who i am. this is what i stand for. >> absolutely. the key here is you have to hit

on substance and style. she's got the style in terms of her ability to drive energy and bring out significantly massive crowds. that's important. you also have to include the substance. in terms of outlining the things that she and the president have delivered, 15 million jobs, right? that's an important conversation to have. inflation is now 3%. it was 9% two years ago. they've driven that down. she has to educate voters on who she is and what she has done, and i think that's what you'll see from her. she understands that she is in a position where she has a great opportunity to communicate all these victories that she's been a part of with the president and out loud what she can do for the american people after next year. >> lanhee chen, it's good to see you, and michael hardaway, please stay with me. in 90 seconds, growing fears of an expanding conflict in the middle east, following the highest level of assassination since the israel-hamas war began. the stark warning we're now hearing from iran. we're live from tel aviv right

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♪ with my arms wrapped around... ♪ knock, knock. #1 broker here for the #1 hit maker. thanks for swingin' by, carl. no problem. so, what are all of those for? ah, this one lets me adjust the bass. add more guitar. maybe some drums. wow, so many choices. yeah. like schwab. i can get full-service wealth management, advice, invest on my own, and trade on thinkorswim. you know carl is the only frontman you need... oh i gotta take this carl, it's schwab. ♪ schwaaaab! ♪ have a choice in how you invest with schwab. iran's supreme leader is vowing to avenge the death of hamas's political chief who was killed in an apparent assassination in tehran overnight. iran and hamas blame israel for what would be the highest level assassination since the war in gaza began. now, israel had not publicly commented, although right now

israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu has begun delivering some remarks. israel did take credit for another strike, and that was just hours earlier that they say killed a top hezbollah commander in beirut. both strikes raising fears of a spiraling conflict in that region. nbc's raf sanchez is reporting from tel aviv. also with us, retired admiral james stavridis, former supreme allied commander of nato, and an msnbc chief international analyst. raf, what more do we know about this killing in tehran, and what more are we expecting from netanyahu? >> reporter: chris, it has been really notable. the israeli government has refused to confirm or deny its involvement in that strike in tehran, which killed the political chief of hamas. that is in line with long-standing israeli policy. they often don't comment on these elaborate overseas operations, wu we are waiting to see if the prime minister, who is speaking right now acknowledges -- i'm looking down just because i'm getting a feed

here -- it sounds like the prime minister so far anyway is not acknowledging israel's involvement in the killing in tehran, so most of what we know is coming from iranian state media. they say around 1:45 a.m., a missile hit a building where haniyeh, that attack coming just a couple of hours after haniyeh met with the supreme leader of iran. this is a deep, deep embarrassment for the iranian regime that they were unable to keep such a high profile figure safe in the very heart of their capital, and the iranian supreme leader ayatollah khamenei is saying iran has a duty to take revenge. so we are closely watching to see what that looks like. the other big question, chris, is what impact this alleged israeli strike has on those deeply fragile cease fire negotiations. we spoke to the grandson of an

84-year-old hostage who has been held in gaza for 299 days now, and he told us he's deeply worried that this killing could derail these hostage talks. there is a big diplomatic effort underway led by the united states to try to keep these talks on track. we heard from the prime minister of qatar a little earlier who's been the key mediator in these negotiations and he effectively threw up his hands in frustration saying how can we be expected to mediate when one side of the negotiating table is killing the other. >> admiral, what do you think the impact is -- let's start there -- on those talks which raf points out have been at the very least fragile? >> yeah, let's put these two events together, the killing in lebanon of fa ud shakur was someone who had been behind the attack of israelis on the golan heights just days ago, but he

was also the mastermind who killed almost 300 americans in 1983, the beirut bombing. the second one, the killing of haniyeh in tehran that we've been discussing, you know, whether israel acknowledges or not, it seems pretty clear they're behind it, and this is an example of israel doing what israel does very effectively. think munich olympics 1972. it can take israel years sometimes to track down killers of israelis, eventually they do and will. so what does it all mean? i think, chris, unfortunately it elevates the chances of this becoming a wider war in the region. before those two killings, i would have said cease fire was 50/50 and the chances of a wider war may be down around 10%. since those two killings and the

possibility of iran really stepping up, you have to say to yourself chances of a wider war probably approaching 20%. so that's 80% chance it won't happen, 20% it could. that's worryingly high. and final thought, it really does put the cease fire negotiation on ice at least for the time being. >> yeah, even at 20% those hostage families have been through so much and the hope and then dashed, hope and then dashed. we just got a translation of the key parts of benjamin netanyahu's comments. they were very brief, they are over now. just a few minutes long, he said much to your point, that israel has delivered crushing blows to iranian proxies, he says, and that israel will exact a heavy price for any aggression toward it from anywhere. that's basically the crux of his conversation. so what at this point, if

anything, do you think, admiral, the u.s. can do to help turn down the temperature? >> turning down the temperature will be hard, but what we ought to do in this time is publicly stand with israel. the more that we do that in this moment, it creates deterrence in the minds of the mullah. this is a good time to be providing israel more intelligence, more cyber capability. the ability to defend themselves in air defense, upping the number of iron drone missiles that we send to them. it is a good time, for example, for an american aircraft carrier to be in the vicinity, as we did after october 7th, we had two carriers in the eastern mediterranean. i'm sure the pentagon is considering all of those options because the best way to turn temperatures down is to create deterrence in the minds of

iranians. >> let me go back to raf sanchez. i understand, raf, you've been able to see a more complete look at exactly what benjamin netanyahu had to say. so tell us more about what his message was and maybe what he didn't say as well. >> reporter: what he didn't say is really notable, chris. the prime minister speaking for just a couple of minutes of prime time here in israel, and he made no mention of the story the entire world is talking about, the death, the assassination of hamas's political chief in tehran. that is consistent with what we heard all day. they are refusing to say in beirut yesterday are, that it struck the houthis in yemeni last week, after the -- he

acknowledged that many of israel's enemies have a special reason to take revenge right now following that assassination confirmed in beirut, following that assassination unconfirmed in tehran, and the israeli prime minister says we have complex days ahead, and we are ready for any scenario. chris. >> so let me ask yo finally, admiral, in spite of the lack of mention of any israeli involvement in that just the fact of what benjamin netanyahu ben did say that there would be a heavy price to pay and the fact that they have given some indication of capabilities and intelligence. is that really the message that they're putting out there, whether or not they say it more explicitly or not? >> it is absolutely the message, and think back to april when israel killed a couple of senior iranian commanders, iran launched 300 cruise missiles and drones at the state of israel.

air defenses knocked all of them down. israel responded by flying a very precise drone right into the heart of iran. it'd be as though a burglar went into your house and put a yellow sticky on your closet. i can come here anytime i want. today the israelis underlined that message by taking out this terrorist in tehran during the presidential inauguration. i think netanyahu was speaking quite directly to the mullahs. he wants to make it clear that israel can respond at scale or israel can get very personal in who it takes out. >> raf sanchez and admiral james stavridis, really a power pair to help us understand the implications of what's happening in realtime. thank you both so much. as the white house scrambles to keep a lid on the rising tensions overseas, nbc news has extensive new reporting on how kamala harris might approach foreign policy if she becomes commander in chief. nbc's courtney kube joins us

now. so just how much daylight is there between how harris sees foreign policy and president biden? >> reporter: so that was the exact question that we set out to figure out here, chris, and what we learned from speaking to about three dozen individuals who work with vice president kamala harris right now or have worked with her in the past specifically in the national security and foreign policy space is publicly there really is not much daylight between the policies of president joe biden and those of vice president kamala harris, but as we dug a little bit deeper, we did get a little sense of what she is like behind the scenes. so in meetings about critical issues related to foreign policy and national security, such as the withdrawal from afghanistan, when russia invaded ukraine, even to october 7th, and the many, many issues that the white house, pentagon and national security apparatus have had to deal with in the wake of those attacks. what we have learned from, again, nearly three dozen officials is that vice president harris earlier on didn't quite

ask as many questions as she does now. it seems that the officials say she has grown into this role. they say that behind the scenes in these meetings she asks questions much like a prosecutor would. they are targeted. they are pointed, but at the end of the day, the policies that she seems to be promoing mind behind the scenes are similar to those of president biden. detractors would say that shows she doesn't have much of a foreign policy. supporters say that is her role as vice president. the role is to amplify and support the policies of president biden, and when you are vice president to president joe biden, someone who has been in this foreign policy for so many decades and who really holds that up as one of his strongest assets, it can be difficult to try to outshine him or even ask questions, chris. >> courtney kube, thank you for that. up next, the vice president reportedly set to announce her running mate before rallying with whoever it is on tuesday.

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we now know we are just days away from finding out who kamala harris's running mate will be. a source familiar with the campaign tells nbc news that the vice president will appear with her running mate for the first time in philadelphia on tuesday. the new democratic ticket will

then hit the ground running through the other critical battleground state, wisconsin, michigan, north carolina, georgia, arizona, and nevada. just yesterday harris said she has not made a final decision yet, but we do know that these faces, the ones you see here remain the most likely contenders. back with us right now is michael hardaway. look, i mean, whoever she chooses, should they be elected is a heartbeat away from the presidency, so let's not under value that, but in very real terms, getting to the white house, how important is this decision? >> it's incredibly important. and if you look at her options here, she has a litany of really qualified people who can do this job and really add value for her in a number of ways. we've got tim walz from minnesota, who is an exceptional messenger, and she's also polling all of minnesota and being up eight points. that's helpful. jb pritzker in illinois is an

underdog, but i love his overall presentation and his understanding of the issues that americans deal with, and he is a midwesterner, which also helps her. and then of course mark kelly in arizona. he provides a beacon of strength in terms of her ticket and issues surrounding the border and issues abroad. if we're looking at the white house under president harris and looking for a beacon of strength, he would be that person, and so they all have different, you know, things they bring to the table. gretchen whitmer, obviously, is also a good option here as well, and so she can't miss. she can't lose with any of these options. >> let me go to nbc's chief white house correspondent peter alexander. what more do we know, peter, about the vice president's search for a running mate? >> chris, we do know that as we speak right now, there might be a critical moment in the course of that deliberation taking place, president biden, kamala harris, the likely new nominee for the democratic party are set to be having lunch together.

unclear whether that lunch is already underway. she's scheduled to leave the white house for an event in houston within the next couple of hours. presuming they are sitting down together right now, president biden told reporters a couple of days ago, we'll talk in regards to his conversations with the vice president about the topic of a potential vice presidential pick of her own here. so i think that's an interesting point to make note of as we look ahead to the events taking place next week. obviously this is a process that has to winnow down very quickly, next tuesday as we have reported here at nbc. we are told that kamala harris and her newly named running mate will be on the trail together beginning a tour of battleground states. that first stop on tuesday being in philadelphia, pennsylvania. i was just on the phone as you two were speaking with a campaign source who made it clear to me that we shouldn't read anything into the fact that this is taking place in pennsylvania, meaning governor

josh shapiro isn't necessarily the choice. to the points you've been making, mark kelly, josh shapiro, governor walz of minnesota are getting a lot of attention. andy beshear, his recent visit to forsyth in georgia, rural georgia further out from atlanta where kamala harris was yesterday was notable in the eyes of a lot of campaign officials and harris allies because he was able to speak o'to some of those critical southern voters in ways that resonated with them. i'll tell you what was striking with me, and i was traveling with the vice president yesterday, i was at that rally. aside from the raucousness of the event there and the sort of night and day difference between a biden campaign event and a new harris campaign event, this one was at least twice as big as anything that biden has held this cycle, is what i was hearing from people outside of the event in the suburbs, the critical suburbs of atlanta right now, some of those key suburban voters who could be

crucial in places like georgia where president biden won four years ago by roughly 11,000 votes is many people who were democrats or independents said they like joe biden, but were unsure if they would vote for him. they're very excited about kamala harris, but others said they weren't that into joe biden. they're not going to vote for donald trump. they're going to give the next four to six weeks to make the decision for themselves whether they are willing to vote for kamala harris, whether they say she can lead, can bring americans together, can be less liberal, perhaps, than she had campaigned in the past perhaps. more moderate like biden was. that's the space to watch as we go forward, what she has does to swell the enthusiasm among some of those independents, whether she can woo them back into the fold that they're satisfied and impressed by what they see that they decide to show up for her going forward, chris. >> michael, it is interesting because obviously the vice presidential nominee plays a role in that too, right? going out and making the case,

trying to help woo those voters, but of course this isn't just about who harris is going to be hanging out with for the next 97 days, it's potentially who she could spend the next four to eight years with making momentous decisions and even doing regular lunches like peter just said that joe biden and kamala harris is doing. in some ways, this is by nature a fraught relationship, right? two powerful people, but one of them always gets the last word, always gets to make the decision so how important is chemistry? how important is approaching the job in a similar way? talk about looking for someone who you feel you could be working with for eight years. >> you know, there has to be a real energy. in basketball the point guard and the shooting guard have to be working together, and that's the way that i see this. you have to have a president who's a real leader and can drive the agenda. but a vice president who's working with them in partnership isn't really angling for a better role but is really

helping the president move that agenda forward, and again, as i look at the candidates here, they're all very qualified. i think jb pritzker is interesting in that he's got the governmental experience, but also he was a business leader and has private sector experience and the buy-in that could be helpful to her as she drives this economic agenda of hers over the next four years. i think it's incredibly important to find someone who works in partnership with you versus someone who maybe has aspirations for a higher office later down the road. >> you know, michael, republican vice presidential nominee j.d. vance admits now that he's had a rocky rollout, and he told nbc news, quote, you have to take the shots and i sort of expected it, but i think as we watch vance try to do cleanup for some of the things that he said, it does beg the question of whether the trump campaign didn't see this coming, didn't vet

properly. what do you think it says about the trump campaign? many people say it is by far the most professionally staffed of his three runs for president. >> they weren't paying attention because obviously you can never trust a grown man who goes by two initials. that's the first thing to remember -- >> now, now. >> the second thing to remember is the guy has no real record. if you look at what he's done in the public sector and the senate, he's got no record of delivering anything for the working people or the american people. if you look at his private sector experience, you know, he's got a significant amount in silicon valley and his rich friends out there, but in terms of a record for delivering for the people that he claims to represent, which is working class people, he's done nothing. and so the other part of this is if you're donald trump, why would you pick someone who gives you the exact same constituency that you already have? the maga right was already going to be there for donald trump, and so j.d. vance coming in does nothing for him in that regard, and so it's an interesting pick. the numbers speak for themselves. his polling has been in free

fall since picking j.d. vance as his vice president, and so we'll see where that goes. >> michael hardaway, thank you so much for sticking around. we appreciate it. a critical u.s. senate rate in the battleground state of arizona is now set. nbc news projects that kari lake has defeated two other contenders to win the state's republican primary. in her acceptance speech she thanked donald trump for his support and framed the state of american politics as the battle between good and evil. lake goes up against ruben gallego, the closely watched race to succeed senator kyrsten sinema. the matchup could play a role in determining which party controls the senate. up next, an unprecedented situation in vermont as apocalyptic floods wreak havoc, washing away roads, tearing down trees and decimating homes. >> around 4:00 a.m. we heard a lot of crashing and i woke up and i think i woke up because i heard our neighbor was in the water. we got a call from the state

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are returning to find their homes destroyed. the area is rural and doesn't have a government infrastructure so there will be a serious need for outside aid. the park fire is one of 89 currently burning in the u.s. in a season cal fire says is already 2,816% more active than just last year. yet another flood watch just started in the last hour in vermont where people say the situation is apocalyptic after yesterday's relentless record-breaking rain. the hardest hit town got two months of rain in just four hours setting off a once in a thousand year catastrophic flood that knocked buildings off their foundations, tore through roads, and railroad tracks and left behind a trail of thick mud. one local newspaper reports that the owners of a store in st. john's bury are still operating out of their muddy warehouse, helping employees dig out the merchandise. and man who lives nearby told the nbc affiliate he was

determined to help neighbors three weeks after watching a man drown in flood waters during hurricane beryl. when the storm hit, he went outside with a flashlight and a head lamp, evacuated a family and grabbed their vital medications just 20 minutes before their house splintered in half. nbc's erin mclaughlin is reporting from lindenville, vermont, what are you seeing right now, erin? >> reporter: hey there, i want you to take a look at this destruction. this looks like it could be the work of an earthquake, a hurricane, but this is, in fact, the product of a single freak summer thunderstorm that set records 8 inches of rain falling in this area in a matter of hours triggering flash flooding. the water just swept through this area, speaking to one local resident who was telling me that it was about 2:45 in the morning, that's when he was getting off his overnight shift at work. he came home to find the water up to his window sill.

he immediately knew he and his family needed to evacuate. he grabbed his kids, his animals and also alerted two elderly women in that home over there. everyone got out safe and sound, but they returned the next day to find this. take a listen. >> i feel like i'm in a night mare. i'm just waiting to wake up. there's really no other way to describe it. her house, my other neighbor's house, my house is torn to shreds. my roof's there. my house is over there. my bedroom walls are down there. absolute disaster. >> reporter: as you can see, they're working now to clean this place up, and it really is a race against time because more rain is in the forecast. speaking to local meteorologists and they're telling me that that kind of thunderstorm that they saw is very difficult to predict. they don't know when it's going to hit. they don't know how hard it's going to hit, so folks here are bracing for the worst. back to you. >> erin mclaughlin, thank you. coming up, attorney general

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yesterday on capitol hill, what chances does -- what changes does the secret service need to make to keep this from happening again? bring in ken dilanian who had the exclusive interview and georgia public safety director and msnbc senior law enforcement analyst sedrick alexander. start with that. donald trump vowed to keep going to outdoor venues. what needs to happen now? can something happen quickly to start the ball rolling? >> it's very clear something very different has to happen. there cannot be anything left for chance. but we have to be realistic and understand that no particular security profile is going to be 100%. you try to minimize or alleviate pockets much as you can. what you're going to see going forward, i think, during former

president trump's outside rallies, a much more engaged secret service. you're going to see more person until probably in and around those venues. you're going to see much more in-depth planning and most importantly, you're going to see a better coordination between the secret service and the local authorities which there appears to have been some breakdown in finger-pointing in that regard. >> i want to play four what the acting secret service chief thinks mabe may have contributed to how this all happened. take a listen. >> i think this was a failure of imagination. a failure to imagine that we actually do live in a very dangerous world where people do actually want to do harm to our protectees. i think it was a failure to challenge our own assumptions. >> i think some people might listen to that and say, isn't

that the whole job, to imagine these scenarios? but i wonder what you make of that comment. >> well, certainly it is. you take care of precautions that you can. you come up and arrive at different scenarios that may appear at that point seem unreasonable. i tell you, we do live in a very challenging time, and a time where we have a great deal of separation and adversity in this country, which we had not seen before. and as you heard, the u.s. attorney, merrick garland, state. this cannot be a democratic society. if people are bent on hurting or harming each other merely because he don't have the same philosophical, ideological views around politics. so a lot is going to have to be done going forward not just during this campaign but going forward, period, even with other former presidents and the

current president. this country's going have to be a much more tightened security profile that works very, and closely, collaboratively, as much as they can with local authority, because your strength is only as strong as your weakest link. so i think it becomes apparent to all of us that it needs to be very differently done and you so director of secret service it's very much on point and he sounds truly committed, which i'm quite sure he is and i've worked with him over the year, they're a committed organization and i think you'll see some changes there. >> can the attorney general have been warning about politically-motivated vile, for a -- vil violence for a while. >> he told me he's seen a scary increase in violent threats

against public officials over the last two years. take lachb. >> listen. >> we have seen a quite scary increase in threats over the last two years. the justice department has prosecuted around 700 threats cases. about 400 of those are threats against federal judges, state judges, federal prosecutors, state prosecutors. federal members of the legislature. state legislators and federal law enforcement agents and cops, local and state. we are going to continue to find in-person who makes these threats and hold them accountable. >> i have to say, chris, we have heard from local election officials who complain they think doj is not doing enough to pursue people who are threatening them. one poll showed as many as a third of local election officials have been threatened in some way. garland pushed back on that, said they're trying to do the

best they can. hard cases to make. but that is a concern we've heard out there in the land, chris. >> thank you both. coming up, the federal reserve today expecting to hold interest rates steady, but will this be the last time in its two-year postpandemic inflation fight finale? we know wall street is watching, hoping for a senate for a september rate cut. we'll explain, ahead. did laundry... no, i add downy light so the freshness really lasts. yeah, most scented stuff gives me a headache, but this is just right. and i don't like anything. but i like this. get a light scent that lasts with no heavy perfumes or dyes. ( ♪ ♪ ) (aaron) i own a lot of businesses... so my tech and my network need to keep up. with no heavy perfumes or dyes. thank you, verizon business. (kevin) now our businesses get fast and reliable internet from the same network that powers our phones. (aaron) so whatever's next... we're cooking with fire. (vo) switch to the partner businesses rely on. it's odd how in an instant things can transform.

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