we thought fibers that caused unwanted gas.gular not go. then we switched to new mirafiber. only mirafiber supports regularity with dailycomfort fiber and is less likely to cause... unwanted gas. finally. try new mirafiber. from the makers of miralax. good afternoon. i'm katy tur. we are following two major stories at this hour. donald trump apologizing after being caught on a hot mike bragging that he could grope, some say sexually assault women, because he is a celebrity. >> i gotta use some tic tacs

just in case i start kissing her. you know, i'm automatically attracted to beautiful -- i just start kissing them. it's like a magnet. i don't -- and when you're a star, they let you do it. you can do anything. >> whatever you want. >> grab 'em by the [ bleep ]. and hurricane matthew bearing down on the carolinas, bringing the threat of severe flooding. we'll bring you the latest from there, coming up. but we start out with new fallout this hour over donald trump. right now you're looking at a live picture of wisconsin. it's fallfest 2016, you're going to see that picture in just a moment. that's where the republican party is holding a picnic headlined by house speaker paul ryan. donald trump was supposed to join him, but was disinvited late last night, this after audio leaked of offensive comments the trump made about women back in 2005 while on a hot mike with "access hollywood," which is owned by nbc universal, the parent company of nbc news and msnbc. the trump campaign staid governor mike pence would attend the wisconsin event instead, but

now he's not going either. pence releasing a statement in the last hour saying he was offended by trump's words and actions and does not condone and cannot defend them. this story is still snowballing, trump's 90-second midnight apology, which turned the tables on hillary clinton, so far is not enough for some in his party. as many republicans say the damage has already been done. that includes mitt romney in las vegas earlier today. >> the tape where mr. trump is revealed not just offensive language, but offensive conduct. and i've already said something, and i don't have something to add, other than i -- i want to express on the behalf of myself and my party how much we love all the people in this country, regardless of gender or ethnicity or religion. and i was offended and dismayed by -- by what was said and done by mr. trump. i think it's degrading to our

women, to our daughters, our granddaughters, to future generations. >> romney joins more than two dozen republicans who have condemned trump's comments, since last night. a few have even rescinded their endorsements and some are asking trump to step aside. but trump is not backing down, telling "the wall street journal" there's, quote, zero chance he'll quit, and that he's getting unbelievable support. first, we are going to start in wisconsin outside the gop fallfest with jacob rascon. the state did not go for trump during the primaries, but the crowd seems to be backing trump regardless. tell us about it. >> reporter: we have a tale of two republican parties here. you have those who showed up to see paul ryan specifically. and they say, for example, trump and pence coming would be a plus, but they stand behind paul ryan, in their words, in standing behind and standing up for women. but then you have those who came

specifically to see trump and who are severely disappointed that is not coming and who we had to break the news to them that pence is not coming. all of them, eight, nine, ten of them who came for trump are upset with ryan and all republican leadership that distancing themselves from trump, and saying that we have to stick together like the democrats, is the way they put it. and they say that they're not offended as much by what trump said as they are by what hillary has done. that's the way they look at it. we talk to five, six women, some of whom have daughters or granddaughters, and while they say it was definitely a mistake, what trump said, they say, look, it was ten years ago and we're talking about trillions of dollars in debt, isis coming and spreading like wildfire, we have bigger issues to deal with and donald trump is still the person we believe will do the better job. but it's a very interesting, as i mentioned before, a tale of two republican parties right here in wisconsin, and a lot of

people who undoubtedly are not showing up and are going to come for him just to see trump. >> nbc's jacob rascon with the tale of two different voting blocs in wisconsin. >> i know i've said stuff. >> but you're not running for president. does that make a difference in his conduct behind closed doors? >> no. no. >> that was one woman, i believe we were just hearing, one of the people we've talked to and asked about what she thought about trump not coming. she and other trump supporters said they're staying, even though pence will not be here, because they want to heckle ryan. they want hymn to know how they feel. katie? >> they are going to be able to do that in just a moment. jacob rascon in wisconsin, thank you so much. as you guys would imagine, we have team coverage on this story. joining us now, the moderator of "meet the press" and nbc news flil director, chuck todd. nbc news's hallie jackson, fellow road warrior, outside of trump tower. and cnbc's chief washington correspondent, john harwood. chuck, i want to start with you. we're seeing a snowballing

effect, more and more republican leaders, republican voices coming out and saying that they cannot support donald trump. some even saying that he should step aside. where do we go from here? >> that's unclear. we're obviously in uncharted territory. and yes, more is coming. i've talked to, i know to expect more congressional republicans, both on the senate and house level, particularly in races where they were already feeling as if trump was a problem, a bit of a drag. you will see a bunch more take some form of the condemned, can't vote, condemned, unendorse, things like that. there are also a couple of u.s. senators, particularly those that have been most aggressive against trump from the get-go, that are actually trying to whip the united states senate republican conference here, and trying to create as large of an anti-trump public bandwagon as possible, believing that if some sort of show of anti-trump

support in the republican senate may be, somehow, a way to save some of these republican senate candidates in some of these swing states. that's a big if. people i've talked to all say it's a big if. but the bottom line is this, katy. the presidential election, as far as many republicans are concerned, is over. it's now about what kind of collateral damage the party is going to take between now and election day. >> -- speak in wisconsin. any sense that he might address this? does he need to address this any further than just disinviting him from this event? >> paul ryan, are you referring to on that one? >> yeah. >> i think you -- there is -- i would expect this. paul ryan and mitch mcconnell will not do anything on their own at this point. paul ryan and mitch mcconnell will do whatever is coming next from them, if something is coming, they will be doing it in concert, whether it's actually together or basically one by one. so i think -- i wouldn't be surprised if we don't see ryan

for a while, until something happens. but i think there's -- whatever -- there is a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes, on that front. as for trump, i would imagine he's got to come to the conclusion that they've got to do something more, because this didn't work. >> we're expecting to see paul ryan at this wisconsin event at any moment. i want to go to hallie jackson. hallie, you've been standing in front of trump tower all day long. you've seen people come and go. donald trump donald trump's own advisers come and go, his campaign manager. what is the sense behind the scenes there? are they taking this seriously? do they think this is a big deal? are they trying to adjust or are they trying to push this off and say, no worries, we're going to get past this? >> reporter: oh, publicly, they're saying, no worries, katy. you know how the campaign has reacted after controversies. it's funny, you say standing in front of trump tower, we've been running back and forth. as you know, there's multiple entrances, we've seen people going in and out, people like chris christie, rudy giuliani, kellyanne conway, as well. i'm told by one person who is familiar with the conversations,

aisle going to read this, that the, quote, mood not great. which is probably a bit of an understatement here. you hear the campaign talking about debate prep, for example, getting ready for tomorrow, and that is going to be extremely significant. how does donald trump react tomorrow night? what does he come out and do? what does he come out and say? and it's my understanding there's strategizing going on behind the scenes. how he needs to handle this, how he needs to come out tomorrow night, when we go to the debate in st. louis. i'll be heading there tonight, i know you're going there tomorrow. i think it's significant, as chuck's talking about, when you look at the down-ballot races and look at what could happen with these very vulnerable republican senators. it's very notable that john kasich came out and said within the last hour that he could not support donald trump, that he's not going to vote for him. that's not a surprise, katy. anybody who's followed this race over the last year could have seen that coming. but why is it significant? kasich's a flepopular republica governor of a crucial swing state, a state that is essential for trump come november. and this is going to have

repercussions, not just in ohio, but potentially nationally, given kasich's position in the party and given what we're seeing from other congressional leaders. >> and already illinois senator mark kirk saying that trump should drop out, hugh hewitt even saying that he should step aside. and now we're getting a statement from governor pence, donald trump's running mate, saying he can't condone this or can't defend this. just the other day at his debate, when senator tim kaine said he was trying to -- he couldn't defend a man that he's asking people to vote for, governor pence brushed that off. this is a change in tone from the governor, even from yesterday, who went out on stage after these comments came to light and said donald trump was stronger than ever. where do you think that governor pence stands right now and is there any threat that he might want to take himself off this ballot? >> reporter: well, so there's been no indication from pence

yet that that is the case. you've talked about the statement that came out. and katy, here is what was most notable to me in that. was the sort of look-ahead warning to tomorrow night. donald trump's running mate saying, i'm going to see how he performs on that stage at that town hall tomorrow night. that's a real indication of where a lot of folks in the party are. we've been seeing reports that pence's team is sort of besides themselves. they're devastated by what has happened. and there's a lot of discussion, one of the common threads you're seeing from some of those republicans that you mentioned coming out and saying they can't support donald trump is praise for mike pence. senator kelly ayotte saying she is going to write in senator mike pence's name on the ticket. so there's a question of, and we've been talking about this for a week and change now, ever since that presidential debate, is pence maybe positioning himself for 2020? he has been a faithful alley to donald trump ever since he got on the ticket, defending him, in some cases, denying that trump has said what trump has actually said. so the fact that he is so clearly concerned about it, that in that statement, he said, it is indefensible, he can't come

out and defend him, i think is going to have some repercussions, and it's a signal to the rest of the party. >> i want to cnbc's john harwood in a moment, but let's first play donald trump's apology from last night. it came at midnight after a growing chorus and it lasted just about 90 seconds. take a listen. >> i've never said i'm a perfect person nor pretended to be someone that i'm not. i've said and done things i regret and the words released today on this more than a decade-old video are one of them. anyone who knows me knows these words don't reflect who i am. i said it, i was wrong, and i apologize. >> and just a few seconds later, donald trump went on to turn the tables or try to turn the tables on hillary clinton and bill clinton, bringing up their marriage, calling bill clinton an abuser and hillary clinton essentially an enabler. john, do you get the sense that this is something he's going to bring up tomorrow at the debate? and does it behoove him to do

so? >> well, he can't avoid it. it's going to be there. and the challenge is, what exactly could he possibly do? you saw in that video, katy. did you see humility and contrition on his face? i didn't. that video sounded more like a threat than an apology. a threat that is trying to somehow turn up the heat on president clinton and secretary clinton as a result of their marriage. i think as chuck said earlier, when you talk to pretty much any republican outside of trump tower, they think that he has lost the ability to win the presidency, and the only question is how many more people go down with him. one of the people that's got to make that calculation is mike pence himself. because every day that mike pence now campaigns with donald trump has an element of personal humiliation. when you consider who mike pence is, he's a conservative christian, what his values are, what he has stood for, throughout his career. this puts him in a very difficult spot. i just got an e-mail a few

minutes ago from a former member of congress, a close ally of newt gingrich, a close ally of reince priebus, who said, mike pence should resign from the republican ticket. that's a different take. many people are saying donald trump should step aside. donald trump says zero chance of that. but mike pence has it within his power to take care of his own future and reputation and the question is going to be, when he come office that debate tomorrow night, what is his calculation when he thinks about 2020 and his career going forward? >> and does he risk losing the christian conservative base? >> yes, he does. >> one last question, chuck. let's talk about the voters for a second. does this do anything to make donald trump's supporters leave him, abandon him? my sense is no, but is he essentially, if he brings up hillary clinton and bill clinton, trying to keep voters from going out and casting their ballot for hillary clinton. and ultimately, will this be some kind of arms race.

who can rally up their base of support more? and who has more in november to put them over the edge? >> i don't -- i don't see it. i don't think -- i agree with you, katy, i think the core supporters of trump, nothing is going to dislodge them. but i think you will see some fade. i think you will see, particularly among women, you know, one of the things, and ill highlight this tomorrow, but one of the things in our nbc news/"wall street journal" survey, his negative rating with hem, he's actually always performed better among women voters than his personal rating. hillary clinton's done the same thing. i wouldn't be surprised if people that have a negative view of trump, but found themselves pulling the lever for him, especially among women, i don't think you're going to see that. i suspect you could see a -- and the more he goes on, it demoralizes his supporters, because they think they can't win. and then i think you will see some erosion among the women supporters that he had already. >> chuck todd, hallie jackson, and john harwood, thank you so

much for joining me on my inaugural day behind the anchor desk. >> that's why i'm here! darned right. >> also today, guys, decades-old accusations of sexual misconduct against trump are resurfacing. in a interview with "the new york times," jill hart, a former pageant promoter and business associate of trump is standing by claims of attempted rape. hearth says in 1993, trump cornered her and groped her in her daughter's bedroom during a group tour of his florida mansion. trump has denied the claim, which were initially made in the 1997 lawsuit. hearth eventually dropped that suit amidst a separate business dispute with trump, but in a july interview, harth said she came forward again after trump continued to deny her claims. >> the first opportunity, when he was asked about it, he said, i was a liar. and i'm speaking up now. i am defending myself and i am standing up for myself.

you can believe it or not, but i went through hell and i still have to relive this again. >> earlier this year, the trump campaign released e-mails from harth, in which he praised trump and offered professional makeup services. joining me now is lucia graves, a columnist for "the guardian" who conducted that interview, and mark murray, nbc news's senior political editor. i want to first place harth's specific account of the incident before we get into this. take a listen. >> he pulled me aside in the children's room and made another sexually aggressive advance on me, where he tried to make his move, he pushed me up against the wall and had his hands all over me and tried to get up my dress again. >> given those e-mails, lucia, did you find anything to be amiss with her story or was -- has her story been generally consistent so far? >> i actually find her story to

be very credible. this is a story she has stood by for 20 years now. she dropped her initial lawsuit for money, but has stood by the claim ever since. and i also interviewed her partner, romantic and business partner at the time, george hermaney, and they haven't spoken in years, but their accounts match perfectly. and they also match the original deposition that she gave in 1997. >> and what do you make of today -- or yesterday's revelations with that new audio? does that do anything to gird this story or are you hearing any new revelations that could be coming out? >> absolutely. the "access hollywood" tape tracks very closely with what jill harth was telling me. she was saying, he thought -- he thinks everyone is in love with him, he assumed that i wanted it, because he has star power,

but i was a married woman. and in those comments, he's talking about another woman, he calls her nancy, but it's the exact same situation. he's saying, i forced myself on a married woman and i failed, but she wanted it, because i have star power. >> now, harth's attorney, lisa bloom, addressed the new audio in relation to these allegations earlier with my colleague, joy reid. i want to play that for a moment and then we'll talk to mark murray on the other side. >> there's, you know, ample proof of his misogyny, but really, it took the revelation yesterday for people to give jill harth some credibility, and i think that's very sad and it shows how far we have to go. >> mark, he already has a gender gap, a pretty large gender gap between donald trump and hillary clinton. does this make that gap larger or is it pretty much solidified where it is? >> well, i think it has the potential to get even wider, katy. and you know, to me, oftentimes, when you end up having controversies or scandals, sometimes it isn't the first controversy or scandal that knocks you out, sometimes it

isn't the second one, it becomes the third. and the talking about we're talking about this harth situation right now is, you know, after the revelations that people on "the apprentice" heard, lewd and crude comments from donald trump, then all of a sudden the 2005 "access hollywood" audio from yesterday. now this. at some point, and why you might end up seeing more and more republicans abandon ship and cut ties with donald trump is because yet there might still be yet another one that ends up happening on sunday. or maybe another one on monday. and these revelations keep on drip-dripping. and that's what becomes unsustainable for donald trump, his candidacy, and also the republican party. >> and mark murray, you're in st. louis right now. is there any sense that this is going to come up at the debate tomorrow. could it be a question for the audience, or will hillary clinton try to get this in there? >> reporter: oh, yeah, so, katy, you can never predict what is going to be the first debate question, uh i imagine this will be at the very top. and all of the reporting seems to suggest that hillary clinton

will bring it up. of course, i'm sure donald trump will bring up the wikileaks revelations from yesterday as well. but this is what debates are, it's sometimes fodder to fight over current news and current events and i would imagine that this might -- if it's not the first question, it will be at the very top. >> and mark, just a moment ago, alaska senator dan sullivan is saying that donald trump should step down. so amid all of these allegations, we are still hearing more and more from republicans who are basically abandoning ship. meanwhile, lucia graves of "the guardian" and mark murray, thank you very much. >> thanks, katy. turning now to today's other big story, hurricane matthew. the storm is barreling into south carolina coastal areas and they are bracing for severe flooding. the very latest, coming up next. e credit car you ly earn double miles when you buy stuff from that airline. wait...is this where you typically shop? you should be getting double miles on every purchase! switch...to the capital one venture card. with venture, you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase, everywhere, every day.

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turning now to hurricane matthew, where the storm has

made landfall in south carolina. so far, matthew has left four dead in florida, two of which are due to power outages. up to 14 inches of rain has fallen in some areas in south carolina. and the category 1 storm remains life threatening. as of now, 4.5 million people are underwater -- excuse me, under flood warnings, as it slowly makes its way north. nbc's morgan radford joins us from charleston, south carolina. morgan, how is it looking right now and how is the flooding, specifically? >> reporter: well, katy, these winds are pretty strong. and you can see where some of this floodwater is still here. we're in the heart of downtown charleston, and this is usually a bustling area on a saturday noon, but now, not so much. you can see where some of these trees are down in the middle of this road, and they've just been in the past hour moved to the side here. but i want to show you some of the damage. now you can see that this water is finally starting to recede in parts of downtown, but even the gas station up the street, the water has been moving into this

gas station area. people were filling up their tanks. there's not a lot of gas left in the city, because people filled up their tanks the before they went to evacuation shelters. lots of shelters scattered throughout charleston, like north charleston high school where people were hunkering down. but what's most interesting, the way this city has come together. uber has decided to cap their surge pricing, and air b&b said they would waive the service fees for people who wanted to stay in this area. but governor hailey said, now is not the time to return home. not today, not tomorrow, because people are still worried about the aftermath of this storm. we do know that the storm landed between here and myrtle beach, but in the meantime, people are still hunkering down and trying to stay safe, katy. >> nbc's morgan radford, thank you very much. and we return with presidential politics next. donald trump apologizing after a video surfaces of him making lewd comments about women. we'll get reaction from the clinton campaign, next. will your business be ready when growth presents itself?

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back now with more presidential politics. in the last 30 minutes alone, donald trump has lost the entire senate delegation in alaska. republican senator lisa murkowski saying he has forfeited the right to be our party's nominee. and alaska senator dan sullivan saying, i'm withdrawing my support from the candidate. susan collins of maine also coming out with another statement. she was not supporting donald trump in the first place, but now adds, he has never been my candidate for office, and i wish he had been defeated in the primaries or taken himself out of the running long ago. meanwhile, the clinton campaign is out with a new and blistering response to trump's comments from 2005. >> pregnancy is a wonderful thing for the husband. it's certainly an inconvenience for a business. the look obviously matters. like, you wouldn't have your job if you didn't have your looks. i moved on her like a [ bleep ],

and she was married. >> mr. trump, women will be the reason you weren't elected to be president. >> casie hundred kasie hunt joi site of the debate. the clinton campaign is responding almost immediately. what is the mood like for them? are they anticipating that trump will go after bill clinton and their marriage in the debate tomorrow? >> reporter: katy, i think, overrule, the clinton campaign is trying to restrain its glee. this is a story that could not get any better for them, from a strictly tra lly tactical persp. now, you're right, they do have to make sure they're prepared for whatever donald trump is going to launch at hillary clinton tomorrow night. and obviously, he has telegraphed that that is going to involve bill clinton and bill clinton's sexual escapades, if you will. now, she has been preparing to deal with that. they were prepared to deal with it in the first debate. obviously, trump touted the fact that he restrained himself, i

know he talked to you about that, in the spin room afterwards. but they have been focusing on figuring out how to turn any discussion along these lines to policy. that's where she feels like she's on solid ground, and they feel like they can, you know, make the argument, hey, we should be talking about issues here. but i do think that they are anticipating a much sharper debate than before. i think one question is, how does the town hall format play into this, if there are regular voters focused on these questions. do the exchanges prove to be as sharp as the ones we saw in the first debate. >> and this is blunting headlines the for the clinton campaign they must be happy about. hackers revealing new what they believe to be e-mail correspondents and excerpts from hillary clinton's paid speeches. those excerpts that bernie sanders himself was trying to get hillary clinton to release during the primaries. are they feeling like they're breathing a sigh of relief because that is not the main headline today? and also, is there anything to those releases? >> reporter: the timing

certainly works to their advantage, that's for sure. because this would have been a very big story that fits right in line with many of the things that we've been talking about that has damaged hillary clinton's candidacy all the way along, lack of transparency, public speak, right? she -- according to these transcripts or notes about these transcripts of these speeches, and we have not confirmed their authenticity, the clinton campaign has not confirmed their authenticity either. so with that caveat, it does show if they are, in fact, authentic, the clinton campaign preparing to deal with a lot of the things that she said behind closed doors. one of which was that it's important to have a private position on issues, and a public position on issues. so that kind of underscores what a lot of americans are already -- already ready to believe about hillary clinton and whether or not she is being political and calculated in every move that she makes. so, you also had the u.s. government coming out and talking about russian involvement in this hacking, so

i think, you know, the clinton campaign has been focusing on that piece of this, as they try to push back. >> yeah, the donald trump campaign, no doubt, trying to seize on this idea that there i a different hillary clinton in private than there is in public. nbc's caskasie hunt, thank you much for joining me. >> great to see you, katy. today, donald trump tweeted, "certainly has been an interesting 24 hours!" after a videotape surfaced of trump making lewd comments about women. that's an understatement. next, where his campaign goes from here and what about the debate tomorrow night? mom, i have to tell you something. dad, one second i was driving and then the next... they just didn't stop and then... i'm really sorry. i wrecked the subaru. i wrecked it. you're ok. that's all that matters. (vo) a lifetime commitment to getting them home safely. love. it's what makes a subaru, a subaru.

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hollywood." for more reaction, i want to bring in msnbc contributor, charlie sykes, wisconsin radio talk show host on tmj, 610 a.m., and also with us, yamiche alcinder. do you have any sense that paul ryan is going to come out and address this at that annual picnic? >> well, i don't know what he's going to do today, but i will say that the republicans i've been talking to, the mood ranges from being distraught to fullout panic. and what you saw, you know, last night, with the disinvitation of donald trump, i mean, it was cold and it was harsh. and i think that what paul ryan and other republican down-ballot came to the conclusion yesterday was that to be on the stage with donald trump right now is the photo op from hell. so i don't know what paul ryan is going to do. short of withdrawing his endorsement. i don't know that he could have struck a harder blow against the

nominee. and you kind of wonder if there's another shoe that drops, if there are more revelations, if that debate tomorrow night is even more of a disaster than the first debate, what will paul ryan do? because, i mean, what you are seeing right now, and you have been reporting all morning has been, you know, something very, very close to a breaking point, a jailbreak among republicans who just do not want to be associated any longer with donald trump. >> yeah, we're hearing this from republicans across the board, and also from commentators. hugh hewitt, who was a trump supporter, tweeting, it's time for donald trump to step down, but what about the voters, specifically in wisconsin. we heard jacob rascon mention this, that some are saying that hillary clinton is worse, that she has done things that are just as bad as what donald trump has done or at least bill clinton has, and they can't support her. are you getting a sense that wisconsin voters are going to end up standing behind donald trump or are there going to be -- is there going to be a significant portion that decides to stay home? and does that favor donald trump down the line? >> well, here in wisconsin,

donald trump has always been a tough sell. he's never been popular. he lost badly here in the primary. and here in southeastern wisconsin, where this event was supposed to be held, his approval ratings were very, very low, and he's had a specific problem with republican women. and i think there are a number of voters here, we're going back and forth. okay, never-trump, okay, you know, he can't be as bad as hillary clinton, what about the supreme court? this development, i think, is going to have an effect. to the exstent that wisconsin was ever in play, and i'm skeptical about that, i think you take that off the table. but i also think that what happens over the next 48 hours, the next 72 hours, as, you know, well-known trusted, conservative republicans basically say, okay, enough, we've had enough with this man. he's not fit to be president. you know, let's save ourselves, let's switch the focus down-ballot. that's going to have a significant impact on voters here in wisconsin, who are very, very savvy and very engaged and,

you know, frankly have never really warmed up to donald trump. >> and yamiche, you were reporting that some republicans were scrambling to see if they could replace donald trump. was that pressure coming from gop donors or was it coming from down-ballot races? and is there any potential for them to find a way to do it, if they can't get donald trump to step aside willingly, can they possibly force him out? >> from my understanding, there are no rules and the sources i've talked to say there are no rules in place for the gop to ask donald trump to step down, or at least to actually remove him. they, of course, can ask him to step down, but it's going to be completely up to donald trump whether or not he wants to voluntarily say, i'm going to withdraw from the ticket. you can see in all the people that are pulling their support from him, the people that are saying that he should step down, they're saying he should step down, they're not saying that the gop should remove him, because from my understanding, the gop cannot remove him. that said, when this news broke, the rnc and the people within that building in d.c., they were

really, really concerned, nervous, and really running around the entire day, late into the night, meeting and trying to talk about what to do if this possibility does happen. and donald trump does step down, there's been talk about whether or not mike pence would then become the top of the ticket. and it's really unclear to me and unclear to a lot of my sources what would happen if donald trump actually stepped down. >> and yamiche, donald trump has said there's absolutely zero chance of him doing so. he told that both of "wall street journal" and "the washington post." yamiche, thank you so much for joining me, charlie sykes, as well, good luck up there in wisconsin. we're following breaking news, meanwhile, with hurricane matthew lashing the coast of georgia and the carolinas. a live update is next. and richard lui is here in the next hour. he'll talk to fema administrative craig fugate about the federal government and how they are responding to the hurricane. your moderate to severe plaque psoriasis. be the you who shows up in that dress. who hugs a friend. who is done with treatments that don't give you clearer skin. be the you who controls your psoriasis with stelara®

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welcome back. thousands of residents in georgia are still without power and half a million people have

been evacuated from coastal counties after hurricane matthew unleashed record-breaking storm surges. nbc's rahema ellis joins us from savannah, georgia. rahema, it looks like the storm has passed you by. there is damage there, but when can residents expect to return to their homes? >> reporter: it's a good question, katy, because look at this. the sidewalk is not where it's supposed to be, because this tree took it down when it went down, about 2:00, 3:00 this morning with the thunderous sound. you can see some lines here, this is not a power line, but there are power lines out all throughout georgia and throughout this community, along the coast. authorities are saying to people, because you have obstacles like this and you have roads closed, you have gas stations, stores, department stores and restaurants all closed because they have no power, they're telling people they should just stay in place for a while, until they can assess the damage and remove the obstacles and make it possible for people to come back to these

communities and come back safely. so, the answer to your question is, they do not know yet when they'll be able to tell people, it's all clear and they can come home. >> well, hopefully soon. nbc's rahema ellis, thank you so much. next, we go back to presidential politics. more republican lawmakers -- lawmakers, breaking with donald trump. one of them even speculating on finding a replacement as of 2:35 p.m., 14 elected officials calling on him to step aside. we'll be right back.

this is a decision that only donald trump can make and i don't -- this is unprecedented and i don't know what the process would be for replacing him. >> senator susan collins of maine, a staunch anti-trump republican, openly speculating about the process of replacing trump in the unlikely event that he steps away from the presidential race.

joining me now is basil smikle, executive director of the new york state democratic party, caitlyn burns, and ed martin, former chair of the missouri republican party and a donald trump supporter. ed, i've got to ask you right now, are you still supporting donald trump? >> oh, you bet, more today than ever before. we need donald trump's vision for america. and i'm glad he apologized. you know, i have two young daughters and two young sons, and i really think that donald trump needed to apologize. i'm glad he did. i expect we'll hear more from him. but we have -- 31 days from now, we have a decision to make about the future direction of the country, and i think donald trump's vision for the future is better than hillary's, so, yeah, i'm very supportive. >> ed, you're losing ground here with a number of your fellow republicans, who are coming out and asking him to either step aside or saying that they won't vote for him. at least 21 have condemned him. do you have anymore to say about those comments about women from 2005? and since you do have young daughters, how would you are

describe these comments to them? how would you explain them to your daughters? >> yeah, first, with all due respect to senator susan collins and others like her, they weren't supporting donald trump's vision for america. they are supporting the status quo, which is hillary's vision, they really have been. but you're head-on, the question for my daughters. we have -- we live in a culture now where we've seen president clinton have to address what he did to an intern. we've had hillary clinton's -- audio of her getting of a rapist off of a charge of rape because of her job. it's a coarse culture. i'm glad donald trump apologized. i think that his banter was sort of really unseemly and coarse and vulgar and i agree with all of that. but we have an election in 31 days. you drop this kind of political hit, that doesn't excuse it, but it's dropped because donald trump is surging across america, he's uniting democrats, republicans, and people that want america first, and that's why he's winning, and that's why you do this kind of hit.

hillary wants to talk about donald trump's weakness. we want to talk about what donald trump's america could be, because hillary clinton's actions have been worse for america, her words are bad enough, but her actions have been worse for america than anything we've seen in a long time. >> ed, i want to stop you right there. he is not winning, according to the polls, as of this moment, and there are a number of elected officials, that are not those who you would deem to be never-tru never-trumpers. he's lost the entire senate delegation from alaska. he's lost a lawmaker in utah -- >> he's going to utah, anyway. >> the sitting governor there, the former governor there, the senator there, a representative there. is there anything donald trump could say going forward that would be a bridge too far for you? >> well, look, i don't speculate. is there anything that hillary clinton could say or anything that barack obama could say? what i will say is this, we deserved -- we were owed an apology. he gave us one. i think he should talk more about it, that's fine.

but we should pivot back to, what's at stake in the election? i'm not electing either hillary or donald trump to be my sunday school teacher. i'm not. i'm asking about their vision for the future. and when paul ryan or others object, part of the objection that they have is that they are concerned, they've said this, about the vision he has. bill kristol of the "weekly standard," he's concerned about the vision donald trump has, because donald trump is saying, let's protect ourself, americans first. that's what's at stake. and i think you're seeing democrats -- look, hillary clinton offended lots and said terrible things about bernie sanders supporters. but people said, look, i'm going to support her or not support her. it's a big moment, i'm not downplaying that, we need an apology, but now let's get back to who's going to lead america going forward. and i think that there's real issues at stake and we're going to hear about that. >> not electing a sunday school teacher, you sound a lot like corey lewandowski, donald trump's former campaign manager, who said the same thing yesterday on cnn. caitlyn, i want to ask you this, 15 elected officials, and that doesn't include hugh hewitt,

have called for donald trump to step aside, at least 20 have condemned him. he's down ten points among independents. what does this do for the down-ballot races, kelly ayotte and rob portman, who have ran a pretty strong race so far. are they at risk of losing their seats? and is this more important to the republican party? >> i think that's a huge question going forward. and the question also is whether the rnc and republicans move resources from the top of the ticket down-ballot. kelly ayotte is a great example, facing a really tough re-election fight, as we know. i talked to a strategist in new hampshire today who said that this is a huge distraction for down-ballot candidates. and even when the focus now is saving the senate or saving some of these house seats, this makes it very difficult. and donald trump has not done anything to signal that he will make a change or help them out. and i think that's really significant here when you're looking at the other -- the fallout of trump and these

down-ballot candidates. i was in new hampshire earlier this week, and he was really touting the fact that some of these candidates were doing better, rob portman is a good example. the reality is that that trump has been lagging in some of these key battleground states, where a lot of these races are happening. >> and basel, is the clinton campaign and hillary clinton expecting donald trump to bring up her marriage in the debate? and will she address it? how is she going to try to redirect that attack line? >> if we look at the things that donald trump has said, i think you -- you can expect it, because he's just going to go that low. look, i -- i think the comments that he made were abhorrent. if you add that to the things that he's said about communities of color, and i actually go back to the point where he was at the event and used the n-word -- or excuse me, he did not. i want to be clear, he did not, but don king did, and he -- >> don king's an african-american -- >> -- and others were behind him laughing and smiling. to me, this sort of locker room

conversation and discussion is what seems to inform his view of america. and what i would like for hillary clinton to do on sunday is say that enough is enough. the -- having these locker room conversations imbue our politics and our policy, there's no place for that. and very quickly to caitlyn's comments about the down-ballot races, we're doing that today. we're talking about, we're calling on leaders of the republican party here in new york and hopefully others are doing it in other states to say, do you really stand with this person? because if you stand with donald trump, then, then we need to -- you need to re-think your politics. >> and we're going to find out. i'm sorry, we've got to leave it there. we're going to find out how this all plays out tomorrow in just about, a little more than 24 hours tomorrow in the st. louis debate. caitlyn, thank you. basil, thank you. ed, thank you from st. louis. we'll see you there tomorrow. that's all for rom me for this hour. richard lui picks up our

coverage next hour, including an interview with fema administrator, craig fugate.

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