well, you know, you got the senator from a small state. he is a free candidate. turns out people are prepared to take on the billionaire class. >> coming up, an exclusive live interview with presidential candidate vermont senator bernie sanders. swept away. eight people are killed when flash floods rush through a small utah town. the latest coming up ahead. and desperate journey. this hour, the wave of people escaping war find new barriers barring their safe passage in europe. we'll talk to senator john mccain about america's responsibility for the refugee crisis. >> we are human beings. we live in homes. we have homes somewhere. and that we came not -- we are not happy to be refugees of war. it's not -- it's not a matter of choice. we didn't make this choice.

good day. i'm andrea mitchell in washington. bernie sanders is rewriting the political playbook for democratic candidates after drawing huge crowds at two events in virginia on monday. more than 8,000 sanders supporters packed a rally last night just hours after the candidate ventured to liberty university, the conservative christian school founded by the reverend jerry falwell. sanders clearly spent time adapting his progressive message for the student audience. >> amos 5:24, but let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never

failing stream. justice, treating others the way we want to be treated. matthew 7:12 and it states so in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you. for this sums up the word and the prophets. that is the golden rule. >> vermont senator democratic presidential hopeful bernie sanders joining me now exclusively from capitol hill. senator, welcome. thank you very much. let me ask you, senator, were you surprised by the reception you received at liberty university? >> i was very happy at the reception that i received, the respectful attention that the young people paid. andrea, the reason i went there

is not to convince evangelicals there about my view on abortion rights. i have a 100% lifetime pro-choice record or my view on gay rights or gay marriage. i believe in that very, very strongly. i went to liberty university because i think it is important for a start for politicians to reach out and talk to people who have disagreements with them, but secondly, i think there can be common ground in people coming together in terms of addressing such issues as the collapse of the american middle class and the grotesque level of income inequality we are seeing in america today. when you have had in recent years a proliferation of millionaires and billionaires at the same time as we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of any major country on earth and we got millions of families struggling to put food on the table for their children,

that is an issue i believe that we can find common ground from a moral perspective. children in america should not be going hungry. many evangelicals, for example, are very concerned about environmental issues and climate change. i believe we can find common ground in saying that we must transform our energy system away from fossil fuels into energy efficiency and sustainable energies. many evangelicals share that goal. so i think at a time when we're living in a society where the people at top has almost all the income and wealth that is being generated, yes, i think we can reach out with people who may disagree with us on women's rights and on gay rights and say let us at least come together on these other issues so that the elderly can retire with dignity and kids can have enough food on the table. >> i have to say, just as we

were coming on the air, a new monmouth poll came out for new hampshire showing in the democratic race you at 43%, hillary clinton at 36%, joe biden at 13%. these numbers mirror the numbers we had in our own poll numbers. so again, you are doing well. it's next door to your home state of vermont but it's still a pretty surprising result from people originally predicting that you were not going to be gathering these crowds and polling better, stronger than hillary clinton in parts of the country. >> well, we're doing well in new hampshire and i'm obviously better known in new hampshire than many other states, because vermont borders new hampshire. we are doing our thing pretty well in utah as well and i think we are doing better all over this country. you know, when we began this campaign, the polls had us at like 3% or 5%. 80%, 85% of the american people

cannot ev didn't even know who bernie sanders was, let alone what i'm trying to do and the changes we want to see. i believe the more the american people become familiar with the issues that we are fighting for, i think we are going to do better and better in the weeks and months to come. >> now, today's "wall street journal" itemizes what they say would be the price tag of what you are proposing. the social programs. $18 trillion over ten years. is that sustainable given the economy, given where the budget is and the deadlock in congress? >> andrea, that is not the reality. we will be responding to the "wall street journal" on that. i think most of the expense that they put in there, the expenditures have to do with the single payer health care system. they significantly exaggerated the cost of that and they forgot

to tell the american people in that article that that means eliminating the costs that you incur with private health insurance. the truth of the matter is right now, as a nation, we spend far, far more on health care per person than do the people of any other nation and yet we continue to have about 30 million people who have no health insurance, many more who are underinsured and we pay, again, by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. no question to my mind that moving toward a medicare for all single payer program is the most cost-effective way to provide health care for all of our people. second point which they really didn't get into, we are going to demand that the wealthiest people and the largest corporations in this country do start paying their fair share of taxes. when we have massive income and wealth inequality, when 58% of all new income is going to the top 1%, when you have major

corporations in a given year paying zero in federal income taxes, yes, we need real tax reform to bring in substantially more revenue so in fact that we can make sure that every kid in this country who has the ability can go to college, because we are going to make public colleges and universities tuition-free. >> you say that people are responding to your message in places like lynchburg, virginia, because among other things, the feeling that there's income inequality, that people are sick of the rich getting what they get, the 1%, the billionaires. how do you explain the phenomenon of donald trump and the crowds he is gathering, and look at the crowd he had just last night in dallas. >> well, i'm going to leave the republicans to sort that out. clearly trump is touching a nerve. i think it probably is also a response against a number of the

establishment candidates that the republican party has put up. but you'll forgive me if i do not at this point at least get deeply involved into the nuances of the republican primary process. i will just say this, though. that i have really very strong concerns with trump and other republican candidates appealing to really some bad instincts in the american people. you do not call people from other countries, in this case mexicans, rapists or criminals. you don't categorize a people like that. that is racism. that should not be taking place in the year 2015. yes, we can have a serious debate about the need for immigration reform, but let's not make these derogatory and disparaging and racist statements about a whole group of people. that is not what america should

be about. >> speaking as to what america should be about, what is america's moral responsibility for the thousands and thousands of migrants fleeing from conflicts, some of which arguably the u.s. failed to resolve or contributed to creating? and now being shut out of places by the wall, the barbed wire going up in hungary. what is your responsibility to take in more than 1500 people as we did last year? >> i think that's a very fair question. andrea, way back when, when i heard what george w. bush and dick cheney had to say about their desire to see us invade iraq, i heard their testimony, their ideas, and i didn't believe them and i voted against the war in iraq. and if you check out what i said way back in 2002, 2003, when i was in the house, sadly, a lot of what i feared would happen in

terms of destabilization is happening. that is what we're seeing now with this horrendous humanitarian tragedy of tens of thousands of people leaving syria, leaving iraq with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, wheeling or carrying their children on their shoulders. so what i think is that europe, the united states and by the way, gulf nations like saudi arabia. saudi arabia is a phenomenally wealthy country and i think they and the united arab emirates and kuwait also have a responsibility to reach out to their brothers and sisters in the region in this time of need. but do i think the united states should be welcoming and bringing in refugees to this country, yes, i do. >> does hillary clinton share in some of the responsibility? and joe biden, who voted for the iraq war. >> well, i don't want to -- look, i think history has indicated that it was a terrible

mistake, one of the worst foreign policy blunders in modern history for us to do what we did. it's led to many of the problems we're seeing today. i voted against that war. others will make a judgment about hillary clinton or joe biden. >> thank you very much, bernie sanders, senator. good luck out there on the campaign trail. >> thank you. joining me now for our daily fix, jonathan capehart, msnbc contributor and julie pace, white house correspondent for the associated press. welcome, both. julie, how do you explain the decline in hillary clinton's polling, in particular in the "washington post"/abc poll where she has dropped 29 points among white women in just the last eight weeks? >> yeah, that data point is the most troubling for the clinton campaign, not just in a primary but if they're looking ahead to a general election, because her strategy has been to basically replicate and in some cases, particularly with women, build on the coalition that president

obama put together. and if she's dropping with women, that really calls into question that whole strategy which is what her data operation is built around. you know, i think that women are probably seeing the same thing that voters broadly are seeing with hillary clinton, which is questions about her honesty, her trustworthiness, her authenticity. you saw bernie sanders, he's really trying to capitalize on that as well. i think both women and men are having both those questions. >> jonathan, let's both of us and julie take a look at part of donald trump's extraordinary event last night. i don't know whether you call it a speech or stream of consciousness. this was donald trump in dallas. >> the silent majority, it's back and it's not silent. i think we should call it -- maybe we should call it the noisy, the aggressive, the wanting to win, wanting to win majority. that's what it is.

>> jonathan, how do you explain what is going on with donald trump? >> i wish i could tell you. clearly donald trump has tapped into a frustration, an anger that is certainly roiling within the republican party base but is out there in the nation in general. frustration with washington, frustration with the political elite. that's why i think you see a lot of people thronging to senator bernie sanders on the democratic side because they're looking for -- they're looking for someone who speaks to their deeply held emotions. now, if you look at donald trump's speech yesterday, i love the way you characterize it, speech, stream of consciousness, versus the interview you just did with senator sanders, what senator sanders, what you got was specific answers loaded with facts and a point of view to your questions. donald trump is still giving pretty much the same stump speech he's been giving since he

announced and if you try to sift through it for specifics, and certainly specifics that are workable, you don't get much beyond i'll get the best people, i'm a great negotiator, i'm going to build a wall and make mexico pay for it. and that's all people have to go on. now, i know donald trump is going to be giving a speech on his economic plan. he's going to be giving a speech on national security. and hopefully then, we will get some of the specifics that we have been hearing from other candidates on the republican side and certainly from secretary clinton and senator sanders on the democratic side. it's amazing that he's a front-runner based on very little in terms of substance. >> look who else is surging, jonathan. ben carson. julie, take a look at the "new york times"/cbs poll. 27% to 23%, almost neck and neck among republican primary voters. what does that tell you about

the hunger of people for anybody who is not a politician? >> well, the hunger is huge and it's interesting because carson has been going about his campaign at a pretty opposite way to donald trump. he's not doing a lot of big events. he's not doing as much media as donald trump is doing, but the thing they have in common is they are both outsiders. to jonathan's point about trump and his lack of specifics, i was just talking to a republican strategist who raised a really interesting point. they said that republican voters at this point are tired of people that they're voting for in congress or in the presidency putting out policy positions and then coming to washington and not following through with them. so they're not putting a lot of emphasis on the policy positions that people are outlining at this point because they don't think they could actually follow through on them if they came to washington anyway. it's a big counterintuitive. >> pretty interesting. thank you both for being here today. up next, we go out west. fatal floods, a wall of water killing at least eight people today, including mothers and

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in utah, the search is on for a missing woman and four children after devastating floods swept through a small town along the utah/arizona border. eight people died when a rush of water swept away two vehicles carrying women and children downstream. as rescuers were trying to help those trapped in the submerged vehicle, as you can see there. nbc's ron mott with more on these dangerous floods. >> reporter: this morning, a small town is picking up the pieces after powerful flash floods swept through southwest utah. the tragedy unfolding late tuesday in hilldale near the border of utah and arizona, where a powerful storm triggered the floods and mudslides.

>> we have stranded vehicles and hikers. >> have any idea on how many personnel they need? >> reporter: officials say two vehicles were washed off a road na a channel and swept downstream for hundreds of yards. >> wall of water 15, 20 feet tall. maybe 25, 30 years ago i seen something this big. never with this many people, of course. >> reporter: authorities say at least three of the vehicles' occupants survived. search teams are working to locate several people believed missing. after the national weather service issued a flash flood warning for the area, forecasters estimate about two and a half inches of rain fell in about two hours. hilldale, utah and its sister city of colorado city are home to members of a sect once controlled by warren jeffs, sentenced in prison for child sexual assault. the area hard-hit by saturating rains, volunteers and rescue workers struggling to recover. >> your heart gets ripped out of your chest and you hurt and want to do all you can.

that's what everybody here's doing. >> reporter: the weather is hampering efforts to find the people still missing. officials say thunderstorms have rolled into that area. the forecast for much of the day, one official said is making things very difficult and treacherous. let's send it back to you. >> thanks to ron mott for that. a deadly accident in houston involving a school bus killed two children this morning. three other students and the bus driver were seriously injured. a spokeswoman says the bus apparently drove off an overpass, rolled and landed on its side. the names and ages of the victims have not been released. the ntsb is investigating. decision points. what are joe biden's friends saying about a potential presidential run? coming up next after the break. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." ♪ i built my business with passion. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count. that's why i have the spark cash card from capital one. i earn unlimited 2% cash back on everything i buy for my studio. ♪

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hey babe, last one home cooks? ♪ ♪ ♪ another tie. order in? next time i drive. the right-sized nissan rogue. ♪ welcome back. in polls this week, hillary clinton is losing ground not just to bernie sanders, but to joe biden, who hasn't even declared that he's running.

i'm joined from delaware, biden's home state, by senator tom carper, ranking member of the homeland security and governmental affairs committee. i want to talk to you about foreign policy but first, there is so much news on the biden front because first of all, he is going to battleground california, michigan and ohio, speaking to women's groups this week alone. i've got to tell you, people in clinton world say this is a shadow campaign and that he is clearly testing the waters. what do you think is the likely outcome of this decision point for him? >> it's a big decision. he's run for president twice already and he's well qualified, certainly, to be president of our country. a lot of people around the country would like to see him run. not an easy decision given what his family have been through this year. this has to be good for his family. number two, in terms of his belief as to whether or not secretary clinton can win, they're good friends and this is

serious consideration as well. then the last one is the ability to raise the money, the financial support, if he decides to go for it. if his family's okay and he feels that hillary may not be able to win, then the question of being able to raise the money is there. heill make a decision i think by the end of the month. the shadow campaign, if it is that, will either turn into a real campaign or he'll bear down on his day job and help hillary get elected president. >> on the subject of foreign policy, which is of course one of his strengths and presumably one of her strengths as well, what about the iran deal and questions that are still being raised about iran's other bee i have hbehaviors, support for terrorism, sanctions being lifted once they get this money. how hard was this vote for you? >> it was not that hard. i spent literally not days, but weeks, talked to people, meeting people, reading a whole lot. one of the most important

meetings i had was meeting with representatives of five countries with whom we negotiated the agreement with the french, germans, brits, chinese and russians. the question is could we get a better deal. notice there was no push-back in any of those countries, just in this country from the leader of israel and some folks in israel. here's the deal. question is if the iranians cheat, if they don't abide by the deal, will we know it. the answer is yes, we will. not only would you be using your own intelligence in the iea but also the israeli intelligence which is quite good and will be quite helpful in all this. and if they cheat, will we be able to just by ourselves, just the u.s., be able to reimpose economic sanctions. the answer is yes. we don't need anybody else's approval. if that doesn't work, they decide they want to continue to cheat and have a nuclear weapons program, there are other options on the table. we have not taken any of those away. >> a lot of people are doubtful

about american intelligence with in fact word of what russia is doing, trying to establish an air base in the middle east for the first time. we have misjudged the russians and thought they were going to help us diplomatically. they helped us with the iran deal but in syria, they have been anything but helpful. >> well, they have been unhelpful in syria for decades. they have always been with assad and they are not changing their stripes any time soon. i think for the russians, not a fan of putin by any stretch of the imagination, but they were steadfast with us in this negotiation with iran. could we have done it without them? i suppose we could have. could we have done it without the chinese, maybe. but it was hugely helpful having both of them with us at the table, being firm, being strong with iran. for that, we should be grateful. got a whole lot of work still to do in syria. let's take them one at a time. >> thank you so much, senator carper. good to see you again. >> nice to see you. thanks so much. developing now.

a 15-year-old boy allegedly inspired by isis is under arrest on suspicion of plotting to attack the pope when the pontiff is here in the u.s. next week. we have the latest from the vatican. >> reporter: good day to you. the vatican today saying it knows of no specific threat to the pope and saying that the plan is to have the pope conduct some of the u.s. tour from an open top jeep. but even as the vatican was laying out its plans for that tour, news was emerging of an alleged foiled plot by a u.s. teen to target the pope and according to reports, that young man was inspired over the internet. confirmation that a 15-year-old boy arrested outside philadelphia last month is accused of planning an isis inspired attack on the pope. reports say the plan had been to target pope francis during his history-making u.s. tour. those reports quote a joint fbi/homeland security bulletin saying the assault would include multiple attackers, firearms and

explosives. that bulletin reportedly says the minor had obtained explosives instructions and was spreading them through social media. in new york, officials already gearing up for an unprecedented security test. the large screens at many police headquarters showing many high priority concerns during an exercise by homeland security. >> this event is going to be the largest security challenge that the department and the city have ever faced. >> reporter: the papal visit coincides with the 70th anniversary of the united nations which will bring 170 of the world's leaders to the city at the same time. >> we can say safely we have literally never seen something like this before and we welcome it. we embrace it. we look forward to it. >> reporter: this latest arrest illustrates how isis social media is reaching young people, even inspiring them to attack the pope while he's in the u.s. as with the vatican, new york authorities say that they know of no credible threat against the pope.

reports say that the plot by this young man was, it seems, aspirational in nature and the vatican is saying that it still does expect the president will meet the pope when he touches down in the u.s. for the first time. back to you. meanwhile, choke point. the refugee crisis with nbc's richard engel and then senator john mccain. [ school bell rings ] ♪ [ female announcer ] everything kids touch at school sticks with them. make sure the germs they bring home don't stick around. use clorox disinfecting products. you handle life; clorox handles the germs. you handle life; hey! let me help with that. [ music playing ] oh, thank you! [ laughing ] [ music continues ]

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building aircraft, the likes of which the world has never seen. this is what we do. ♪ that's the value of performance. northrop grumman. you're looking at live pictures, hundreds of migrants and refugees trapped in limbo in serbia now on the border with hungary because the border has been closed. that fence behind there has been closed. hungary has declared a state of emergency. authorities there have detained

60 refugees for attempting to breach the 109 mile razor wire fence completed only yesterday. nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel joins me with the latest from the border. you're on the hungary side, you were there as they were closing that barbed wire topped fence, chain link fence. what are the people there going to do? they are completely trapped in limbo. >> reporter: for the people here, not only are they trapped, a lot of them can't double back. they don't want to double back. they have arrived this far, they came from syria but also afghanistan, sub-saharan african countries, syria, the biggest group. they have spent in many cases most of their life savings. they are traveling often with children, sometimes they are expecting mothers. they got to here and now they have run into an obstacle. in some cases they don't have enough money to go back and they don't see why they are being

stopped. they don't want to stay in hungary. they want to transit through and make their way to germany. they are holding up pictures of angela merkel. they think germany is waiting like -- with open arms and that if hungary would just step out of the way, they could get there. but hungary has taken a position that is now, we are seeing in many different european countries where they are tightening border controls, they are re-imposing border restrictions and really ending the open border policy all across europe. there is also an interesting legal element aside from the emotional element that the migrants and refugees are certainly feeling. hungary says that even the people who were from syria, that they can be allowed into hungary only if they make a very good explanation of why they need to be in hungary. i was speaking to a government spokesman earlier today who said once they are in serbia, they are not being persecuted by bashar al assad, they are not

being persecuted by sunni/shia conflicts and they will be allowed in hungary only if they can give a very good explanation as to why they belong in hungary specifically. you can imagine that's not the kind of legal answer these people who have been traveling so far and risked so much want to hear. >> the human devastation, and once in hungary they are taken to detention camps and have terrible conditions, this really calls to mind, calls in question the whole political -- the political basis of a european union. already the economic basis has been challenged by what happened in greece. now you see this the political reason for a union, every country is in it for itself. they are making their own rules. >> reporter: a lot of countries are now re-imposing border controls, not just hungary. you are seeing border controls increased in italy, in slovakia, germany has tightened up its

border controls, so has austria. the entire idea of a borderless europe was so they could have one currency, they could travel in an unimpeded way. you could live in germany, have a factory here in hungary, and it would work and be to everyone's benefit. but when you saw this dramatic arrival of really, a river of people, a sea of tragedy, to mix a metaphor here, europe panicked and you saw the breakdown along national interests with the north and the wealthier countries, the destinations. while sometimes playing out on humanitarian grounds, also quite pleased that hungary is taking a hard line and stopping the flow here. >> richard engel, for all of your reporting, thank you so much. the stories of suffering that richard has been reporting, the struggle just seems endless. nbc's lester holt spoke with one syrian man who had just arrived in hungary. he and his family had crossed the mediterranean sea he said in

search of peace. >> reporter: why did you make this journey? why did you come? >> when i see my kids, my family, our friends. >> reporter: two of his children became sick on the journey. allowed to rest with their mother inside this aid tent. >> reporter: i am a father also. i have two children. >> you understand. >> reporter: i understand you. >> it's very difficult when you see your children that suffer in front of your eyes. >> arizona republican senator john mccain joins me now. you're a father. you have a very large family. you can relate to what this man is trying to express. the children are just heartbreaking. >> well, it is heartbreaking, andrea. it's doubly heartbreaking because it didn't have to happen. it happened because of the failed policies of barack obama.

our failure to stop bashar al assad's slaughter of his own people now over 230,000. we need to establish a no-fly zone. we need to tell bashar al assad we are going to shoot down any of his aircraft that bomb these people. i would imagine that tens of thousands have been killed by the barrel bombing which has made conditions impossible for these people and that's why they're fleeing. it's an abdication of american responsibility which has caused this tragedy and it's on the hands of barack obama. >> what would you say to those in both republican and democratic parties in congress who don't want boots on the ground, who don't want to send troops in, and who frankly don't say that they can't distinguish among which rebel groups to arm because of the potential of blowback. >> sure. if that's your view, then you're responsible along with barack obama for the situation as it is today. for four years.

lindsey graham and i have been saying look, this is going to happen, this is going to be a catastrophe. whenever a person like bashar al assad slaughters his own people, the other people are going to try to leave. that's very obvious. we have been calling for the arming of the free syrian army which the president turned down under advice of his national security team leaders. we have been begging to have a no-fly zone. he refused to do that. and now we are treated with -- it would be funny if it wasn't so tragic, of 60 people, 60, count them, who were trained at the cost i think of $50 million and now they are all either dead or captured. it's a colossal failure of american leadership. >> i want to ask you about russia, because the other piece of this is russia now expanding its air base, forward operating base in syria. this is the russia we thought would work with us on a

diplomatic solution to get rid of assad. >> this is a russia that is taking advantage again of american weakness. they are now left their traditional expansion of the near abroad to expanding their influence in iran. it's obvious -- i mean in syria. it's obvious that bashar al assad is very weak so they are going to bolster him up with his air power and troops and armor, and we will -- and bashar al assad will continue to slaughter his own people. the russians don't give a damn. >> well, can congress support more money to bring refugees here to go through the background checks? because i talked to many of these people. they are in limbo, also. they can't -- even those who get here can't get asylum status. they can't get any action out of the state department. we don't have enough people even doing the screening. >> well, i think we have to look at the situation. if i were baghdadi, i would be

infiltrating some young men of my own to try to get in with the refugees and do bad things in both europe and the united states. there at least has to be a screening process that we can rely on. but second of all, we are already taking 70,000 refugees a year and there has to be some kind of strategy to end this endless flow which is coming as you know not just from syria, although the majority, but from other countries that are also beset by isis and turmoil and carnage. so there has to be at least in my view, there has to be some strategy to not have to address the refugee problem at the end point but at the beginning. >> senator, i wanted to ask you about donald trump and his most recent comments about the iran deal. this was from dallas last night criticizing kerry, john kerry and the negotiators. >> secretary of state kerry, he actually may go down as the

worst because he made this deal. he may be the worse. he may top her because this deal is the all time worst. thin this is a guy that's in a bicycle race. 73 years old, falls, breaks his leg in the middle of our thing. takes two weeks off, goes back with crutches. the people from iran say what a schmuck, can you believe it? >> is donald trump going to be the republican nominee? >> you know, i don't know, andrea. i think all of us have been surprised at events as they have transpired. i think all of us who work here understand better the frustration that americans feel about washington. but for me to predict exactly what's to happen, frankly, you're asking the wrong guy. >> well, what do you think the republican party should do to try to have a more serious foreign policy debate?

>> i think we should demand -- i think all republicans, in fact all americans on both sides should demand a robust and specific plan to address the world in greater turmoil than it's been since the end of world war ii. that's the opinion of henry kissinger and madeline albright. more refugees at any time since the end of world war ii. we need to have a plan, a strategy that can be laid out and described to the voters in both parties. >> senator john mccain, thank you so much. >> thanks, andrea. for refugees trying to get to europe, the long trek from syria is indeed terrifying. as we have seen, even deadly. so why are so many thousands of men, women and children willing to take the risk? the answer to that question can be found in one family's story. it is difficult to watch. >> reporter: this is ahmed and

his two sons. one was killed with his mother and sister last month. what happened to his mother will be for some too painful to watch. the war in syria has driven around 11 million people from their homes. this is why. his family lived outside damascus in duma, a town held by rebels. and bombed almost daily by president assad's forces. he looks for what's left amid the rubble of his house. at the hospital last month, he says he found horror. his only surviving son, two years old, terribly burned, clinging to life. a kiss from dad. but the pain is agonizing. doctors encourage the child to walk to help his muscles recover. now two weeks later, he's improving. hope for a little boy who has been through hell. doctors say he will survive but with no home, no mother. why do families risk everything

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so the debate. i hear they're all going after me. whatever. whatever. no, i hear it. >> whatever. which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? nbc's peter alexander is there live at the reagan library in simi, california. they will all go after trump? it's a risky strategy. >> reporter: yeah, that's obviously proven to be a risky strategy so far.

you saw what happened to rick perry. we are barely 24 hours away from this debate here. the latest poll numbers show that the republican party is increasingly finding its support with those political outsiders, donald trump at 27%, ben carson at 23%. carli fiorina at just 4% but that means combined, those three outsiders with no political experience now have a majority of the republican support in this country, according to that latest national poll. so it will be interesting to see the dynamic among those outsiders. ben carson has time to wait but a lot of people anticipating that showdown between trump and carli fiorina. jeb bush, he and scott walker really can't afford to wait too much longer. trump -- excuse me, bush's trump card of sorts has been his money advantage. $114 million raised over the first six months, $20 million now being put into a new ad. we wait and see if he can stand up onstage next to the real so-called alpha dog of the republican party right now, donald trump himself. >> peter alexander, thank you very much. a foggy simi valley,

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that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." we'll have a big republican debate preview tomorrow with senator dick durbin, steve schmidt, vin weber, chris cillizza and amy walters. join us then. thomas roberts joins with what's coming up now. hi, thomas. >> great job with bernie sanders. of course, we will be talking about that big interview with bernie sanders andrea just had, as well as john mccain. we are also tracking major developments when it comes to national weather. we have this wall of water in utah, more rain expected today. officials will be updating us this afternoon. then the so-called valley fire in northern california. are crews finally closer to gaining ground? that's straight ahead. stick around. but i keep it growing by making every dollar count.

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right now on msnbc, flash floods and fierce flames. it's wild weather out west. in utah, a wall of water no one saw coming. eight dead, several still missing. residents describing this as the storm of the century and it is the opposite extreme weather ordeal in northern california. fires still raging, the flames barely contained, but officials believe they have reason to be hopeful. i'm thomas roberts. we begin with those flash floods in a small utah town. next hour we are expecting an update from emergency officials and more rain is expected in that area today. however, among those killed, eight people, mothers and children, swept away after a large wall of water hit a pair of vehicles carrying 16 people in all from behind. the cars were washed off a road into a channel and carried hundreds of yards downstream. >> the wall of water is 15, 20 feet tall and maybe 25, maybe 30 years ago i seen