who put this broadcast together each evening good night from nbc news headquarters in new york. >> it is a new and seems to be recordbreaking hurricane heading right toward florida and puerto rico and other places. we'll see what happens. we'll know in a very short period of time, but it looks like it could be something that will be not good, believe me. not good. florida under a state of emergency. hurricane irma slammed across the caribbean causing catastrophic damage, and it's taking aim at the united states. plus, president trump cuts a deal with democrats. his debt limit decision reportedly leaving top republicans livid. new reporting that facebook has turned over information about a russia influence operation that spent $100,000 on political ads in the height of the 2016 election.

good morning. it's thursday, september 7th. this morning hurricane irma is churning across the caribbean leaving a trail of destruction in its wake. the interior minister says the storm has reft at least eight people dead and 23 injured on the french island territory. hurricane irma lashed puerto rico with powerful winds and flooding, including rain. the island's electric utility said last night that over one million customers were left without power. more than two-thirds of the people who live on that island. two american tourists who were visiting san juan road out the storm in the parking garage of their hotel, and hurricane irma, as we mentioned, made landfall in the caribbean yesterday. early yesterday, in fact. the island of barbuda is now said to be practically

uninhabitable following the storm. according to the prime minister 90% of the island structures are severely damaged or, in fact, destroyed. hurricane irma is expected to graze the dominican republic in haiti before heading towards the bahamas and ultimately florida. >> let's get the very latest on the track of hurricane irma. nbc meteorologist bill karins is standing about i. already so much destruction in the wake of this hurricane, bill, and then really looking ahead, so many americans want to know what's going to happen this weekend? >> and it's going to be such a hard call. i mean, the difference in that turn for south florida of about 20 miles will be the difference between billions of dollars of disaster and a glancing blow with minor problems for miami, west palm beach, fort lauderdale. it's going to be almost a repeat of what we had with matthew last year. that was a huge piece too. it just missed and hit the bahamas. you can still see the storm is now pulling away from puerto rico who at a glancing blow

category one or two. a million people without power on the island. here's the update. still amazing. now a two-day straight here of category five strike. typically the storms only maintain category five status for maybe one day, two days. the record is three days. the next big one will be 11:00 a.m. this morning. it does take it clear of the mountains. it's no longer -- it doesn't look like any chance at all that the mountains of cuba or of the dominican republic in haiti will weaken. turks and caicos, direct hit later on today. category five. they're going to get crushed. then the new forecast path from the hurricane center, i mean, this is about as bad as a forecast path as you'll want to see. again, the cone of uncertainty still has the whole west coast in a miss, but the center is getting a little more narrow now, and the hurricane center has about 2:00 a.m. close to a landfall of 150-mile-per-hour hurricane almost over the top of miami. this would be almost worst case scenario for south florida.

that is still in the cards. it still could swing east. that's our hope. we still have about 60 hours for that to take place. i'll deep dive into the models and show you the intricacies coming up. >> when we were looking at the spaghetti model, things were trending east, but now this looks like it's heading straight for miami now. >> this is the forecast from the hurricane center. there are some that are trending further to the east. i'll get into this now. this is the european versus the american model. you can see the center of the storm here. this is not a big disagreement. this is only about 30 to 40 miles. you can see the hurricane center center line is buying more the european model with that direct landfall towards miami, where the american model is actually off shore. this would be just a glancing blow for southern florida with barely hurricane force winds.

>> dicking off on that point that bill was raising, regardless of which model, florida is obviously bracing for this hurricane. how are folks down there preparing for irma this morning? >> people aren't taking any chances even though there's a lot of uncertainty yet. this is the line for canceled flights at 5:00 in the morning. people trying to make other arrangements, trying to leave miami any way they can. we already know that certain airlines have canceled flights already. for now miami international airport will remain open until sustained winds reach 35 miles per hour, but as you see, people are trying to skip town, and that's because the governor of florida is already calling this category five storm

life-threatening, already saying it is bigger, it is stronger, it is faster than hurricane andrew, which pounded south florida 25 years ago. now, i've been on the ground here in miami for a day now. if you drive around many of the streets, you start seeing these long lines for gas. many other gas stations that have already run out to start looking like ghost towns. families already buying the supplies they need, water, flashlights, carrying sand bags to their homes if they can find them. yesterday we were in miami beach as people were carrying sand bags home. the advice from the mayor of miami beach, get out of the beach if you can. do not take any chances. that is what we're seeing here at the airport this morning. >> again, coming on the heels of hurricane harvey, folks in southern florida are watching what's happening there and not taking any chances. marianna live for us in miami this morning. thank you. let's turn back to washington. seven months into his presidency donald trump has made the art of the deal, but shocking republicans, it was with democratic leadership. in a landmark oval office

meaning the president agreed with a plan including hurricane harvey relief. a debt ceiling increase and a three-month -- to fund the government, defying his own leadership. it gives democrats lench forcing two unpopular debt ceiling votes by year's end, instead of just one. it all began earlier in the day, and the democrats put out a news release calling for a three-month funding bill, which got an icy reception from paul ryan to say the least. take a listen. >> it emz so like they're trying to extract something. >> i think that's a ridiculous idea. i hope that they don't mean that. let's just think about this. we've got all this devastation in texas. we've got another unprecedented hurricane hitting -- about to hit florida. they want to play politics with the debt ceiling? i think that's a ridiculous and disgraceful, and to play politics with the debt ceiling like schumer and pelosi apparently is doing i don't think is a good idea. >> nbc's casey hunt reports

inside the oval office. republicans argued first over an 18-month debt limit hike until after the midterm elections. then they offered six months which the democrats can. steve mnuchin argued for a longer term debt limit extension. the president cut him off and sided with the democrats. multiple sources said. mitch mcconnell said they also add a three-month government funding bill, an agreement reached. here's how the president and the man he once called crying chuck reacted afterwards. >> the whole republican leadership group, and i'll tell i you what, we walked out of there, mitch and paul, everybody, kevin, and we walked out, and everybody was happy. not too happy because you can never be too happy, but they were happy enough. >> reaction was disbelief among many republicans. in fact, senator ben sass made it clear who the deal belonged

to, saying, "the pelosi, schumer, trump deal is bad." senator james langford tweeted "we should have raised the debt ceiling without reform or cuts. that's the purpose of a debt limit. the deal doesn't do either." "a three-month debt ceiling? why not do a daily debt ceiling? he is the best deal maker ever. don't you know? he has a book out." others like lindsey graham were willing to go along with whatever mitch mcconnell agreed to, but behind the scenes aides were dire. matt fuller was told at the huffington post the pelosi-trump-schumer deal equals ptsd for the rest of congress. here's what kellyanne conway said. >> some republicans on capitol hill say you defied the party by striking a deal with democrats. how do you respond to that? >> that is just false. there's no deal struck with democrats. this is a deal on behalf of the american people. donald trump is a consequence

mat deal maker. what that means for people in washington who have been living and working in the swamp for too long is that they're just not used to the trump pace of getting things done. >> let's talk about this. joining from washington daniel lipman, co-author of the political playbook. good to see you this morning. what seems like the democrats put this deal out there thinking it would not get done. paul ryan confident that he could actually get something done. this was going to be the republican's moment. instead the opposite happened. your co-author, jake sherman, reporting that the president is having dinner with paul ryan tonight. what happens, daniel, in this meeting? there's definitely some love lost between the two gentlemen right now. >> yeah. he is going to have to rebuild the relationship with ryan, who feels betrayed by his fellow republican. remember, ryan and trump have had a tough relationship over the years. ryan said last year after the ""access hollywood"" tape that he wouldn't defend trump anymore, and a lot of republicans i talked to -- i talked to one republican

operative last night, and that person reminded me that trump is a former democrat, so it's almost like his natural habitat is to deal with democrats, but republicans are just infuriated today. >> so as we've been talking, obviously, we've heard republicans have some real misgivings about president trump's deal, regardless of how you slice it. how confident are you that this deal will actually hold together? is there anything that can be done to break it up, so to speak? >> i think it's pretty likely that the deal is going to pass this month, but it just delays the pain for republicans in december because it gives democrats all these bargaining chips that they can hold republicans up at the end of the year, and that will make it much harder for republicans to get their priorities in terms of cutting spending and taxes at the end of the year because democrats now have this, you know, december 31st deadline

where they can basically try to get what all they want and so it doesn't seem like trump fully realized the -- what he was doing with this. >> let's talk about sort of what you said cutting that deal when it comes to tax reform specifically. the white house legislative director saying the hope was it was going to clear the deck for tax reform. what's really the likelihood that that's going to happen? he gives a little bit to schumer and pelosi, and then it's easier to make a deal on tax reformulator. memories are somewhat short in washington as we've seen. >> mark short, the director of legislative affairs for the president, is kind of right in terms of that it gives congress breathing space to spend september and october and november working on tax reform, but the issue is that the trust levels between republicans and trump are now at an all-time low. that makes it much harder to get tax reform through, and, remember, the contours of a potential deal with still tough because you have a lot of disagreement among the various

constituencies in both the republican and democratic party who just don't know if we can get tax reform. >> live for us in washington d.c. this morning, daniel lipman. good to have you with us. one of the subplots from yesterday's meeting came after the president struck that deal with democrats. an aide tells nbc news that towards the end of the meeting, it ivanka trump opened the oval office to say hello, and the meeting careened off topic. in fact, republican leaders were said to be visibly annoyed by her presence. the white house aide said the president invited ivanka to the meeting to discuss her child tax credit proposal and that it was quick and productive. the house speaker's press secretary says that the notion that republicans were annoyed is false. the first daughter and presidential advisor also accompanying her father to north dakota yesterday where he made another push for tax reform. this time we can confirm that he actually did careen off topic. in fact, one second talking about jobs, and the very next calling his daughter on stage.

take a listen. >> by the way, ivanka trump, everybody loves her. [ applause ] come up. should i bring ivanka up? come up. sometimes they'll say, you know, he can't be that bad a guy. look at ivanka. now, come on up, honey. she's so good. she wanted to make the trip. she said, dad, can i go with you? she actually said, daddy, can i go with you? i like that. daddy, can i go with you? i said, yes, you can. where are you going? north dakota. i said i like north dakota. hi, honey. >> first daughter spoke for about 30 seconds, thanking the people of north dakota for "treating us very well in november." still ahead, donald trump jr. heads to capitol hill today. we're going to preview his

meeting with senate judiciary staffers. later, new fall-out after president trump's decision to scrap daca. now teps are planning to sue. those stories and more coming up next. every year we take a girl's trip. remember nashville? kimchi bbq. kimchi bbq. amazing honky tonk?? i can't believe you got us tickets. i did. i didn't pay for anything. you never do. send me what i owe. i've got it. i mean, you did find money to buy those boots.

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welcome back. facebook shedding new light on possible interference into last year's presidential elections. the puppet master, a source inside russia. >> now, bogus accounts are based there. purchase $100,000 in political ads and other social media. in fact, the company revealed yesterday that the group with reported ties to the kremlin bought roughly 3,000 ads from june of 2015 to this past may. the company went on to say that the majority of the ads actually didn't specifically reference one of the presidential candidates or the other. rather, polarizing views on topics including immigration, race, and gay rights. speaking yesterday, the top

democrat on the house intelligence committee congressman adam schiff said that paid russian media trolls were pushing stories designed to have an influence on voters during the election. we're going to hear more from congressman schif coming up on "morning joe." >> the senate judiciary committee will hear from the president's son today. donald trump jr. said to be interviewed by senate judiciary staffers. some like dianne feinstein said they should not suggesting their term will come later. >> we will have a public hearing with mr. trump at an appropriate time. >> do you know when? that could be this month, do you think? >> well, i do, but i'm not announcing it. >> but he has agreed to a public hearing? >> i can't answer that. that would be the chairman.

i don't know, but the agreement in that we had is there will be a public hearing, and if they don't come, they'll be subpoenaed. >> then in an interview with nbc news russian lawyer natalia -- said she has not heard from special counsel bob mueller, but then two months after the meeting -- more than two months, excuse me, after the meeting from june 2016 with trump campaign officials, including trump jr. was publicly revealed. still ahead, out in flushing, it's an all american affair. the woman's semis for the first time in 36 years. sports is next.

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yours. welcome back, everyone. time now for sports. it's all about the u.s. open tennis championships where it's an all american woman's semifinal for the first time in a major tournament since the 1985 wimbledon championships. 15 seeded madison keys made it a clean sweep for the united states with a straight set victory last night. she's been a number 20 ranked in the world. cocoa van doway who -- the other final four match-up will be decided between ninth ranked venus williams and 83rd seeded sloan stevens. an upset on the men's side at flushing meadows has third ranked roger federer falling to 24 seeded juan martin dell pocho after four sets. he now faces top seeded rafael nadal in the upcoming semifinal.

meanwhile, andy murray, who withdrew from the u.s. open with a hip injury, says he will likely skip the remainder of this season in order to recover. las vegas police are launching an internal investigation after seattle seahawks defensive end michael bennett said officers there used excessive force pointing a gun to his head and threatening to kill him during an incident last month. while police deny race had anything to do with the encounter, bennett says he believes he was targeted because of the color of his skin. the incident was partially caught on tape in this video obtained by tmz sports. bennett says it happened after he attended the floyd mayweather conor mcgregor fight. he said people heard what sounded like gunshots and ran. police officials say they were responding to an active shooter call, that bennett was handcuffed and detained for ten minutes and then ultimately released. in a twitter post yesterday bennett wrote, "officers singled me out and pointed their guns at me for doing nothing more than

simply being a black man in the wrong place at the wrong time." bennett was emotional during a news conference yesterday. >> it's a traumatic experience for me, my family, and it sucks that the country that we live in now sometimes you get profiled for the color of your skin, and it's a tough situation for me. i try to tell my daughters every single day that they matter and that, you know -- >> bennett has hired a prominent civil rights attorney and is considering filing a lawsuit. his head coach pete correll said what happened to bennett is a classic illustration of the reality of inequality demonstrated daily. turning now to major league baseball where things remain high for the red hot cleveland indians as they match a club record win streak earning their league-leading 14th victory in a row with a 5-1 win over the white sox. in chicago last night cleveland,

which now leads the al central by 11 games, reduces its magic number to clinch the division to just 13 more to go. don't miss tonight's nfl kickoff game right here on nbc. reigning super bowl champs, the new england patriots, would face off against the kansas city chiefs. that's tonight 7:30 p.m. eastern only on nbc. >> a lot of people firing up wings for tonight. that's for sure. still ahead, republican senator bob corker standing by his recent criticism of president trump, but it hasn't seemed to affect their relationship. >> plus, we continue to follow hurricane irma's trail of destruction as the storm moves towards florida. we're going to get a live report coming up next. anted something more barry? watch your step. a pilot like you should be serving your country. you're c.i.a.? shh... based on an incredible true story... we need you to deliver stuff for us. of the c.i.a.'s biggest secret. is this all legal? you trust me? no. on september 29. c.i.a., d.e.a... pablo escobar. i made a fortune working for them boys. there are bills blowin' around everywhere. i'll rake it up in the mornin'.

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welcome back, everybody. it is the bottom of the hour. let's start with the morning's top story. this morning reports of devastation are coming in from across the caribbean in the wake of hurricane irma. the category five storm knocked out power throughout the islands, destroying buildings and flooding streets. france's interior minister said the storm has left at least eight dead across french island territories. the island of barbuda is now set to be practically uninhabitable following the storm. 90% of the island structures are reportedly damaged or even destroyed. in fact, today hurricane irma is expected to graze the dominican republic and haiti before heading towards the bahamas, and ultimately making its way to the united states. speaking of that, let's get an update on the very latest with hurricane irma with nbc meteorologist bill karins. obviously, that is the question everyone is asking this morning. very tough for the folks on the

island overnight, but this morning everyone wants to know what is going to happen with the path of this hurricane. >> south florida and the entire southeast coastline. the first thing is the storm has peaked in intensity overnight, and it's actually going through a little bit of a weakening trend. still a huge beast, but it's no longer intensifying. that's good. winds 180 miles per hour, dhs still a huge category five. we want to see that weakening trend. that will help. here's the latest forecasted path. the turks and cake yoesz today. then south of the bahamas north of cuba, saturday morning at 2:00 a.m. notice, they drop it down to a category four storm, and then they have it dangerously close to south florida sunday at 2:00 a.m. this is when the hurricane force winds would arrive on the keys and slowly here approaching areas of miami and then, unfortunately, the hurricane center still has worst case scenario path right up through southeast florida which if this took this turn, then the eye wall would rake the coast from just south of miami through miami, fort lauderdale, west palm beach, up to jupiter and

fort pierce, and the melbourne area. again, this is the cone right now, and the one thing that they want to tell everyone is this point right here three days from now, the average air is 120 miles. florida is only 140 miles wide. we still have concerns from the west coast to the east coast, and we still could get a swing and a miss. we have about 60 hours. i want to go now to miami international airport where nbc news correspondent marianna is standing by. good to talk to you once again. how are people feeling on the ground there? >> people are trying to make the most of those 60 hours ahead of when this storm could potentially hit south florida. i've been talking to passengers all morning. many of them are stranded. they've spent the night here. they're trying to get out of miami when they can. many much the people here, they had flights to l.a., dallas, san francisco, south america. all of those flights canceled right now.

>> we put in portable generators. these kind of precautions are no match for a hurricane of this strength. we've been pruning trees, making sure there's no debris, stopping construction projects. reaching out to our homeless people in the city, seniors, letting them know where they could potentially evacuate to. most importantly, i've been telling everybody since yesterday if you can leave the city, leave the city. >> for now it is only a voluntary evacuation that they're advising, but broward county, miami dade county looking to move into mandatory evacuations in the next couple of hours. back to you, guys. >> all right, mariana.

thank you. switching gears just for a moment. the fall-out over president trump's plan to end the immigration program known as daca continues with 15 states and the district of columbia filing suit to block that move. the democratic attorneys general who brought on the lawsuit claimed the president's plan to end protection against deportation for young immigrants was motivated by prejudice against mexicans. the attorney general cited the president's previous statements referring to some mexican immigrants as rapists and his decision to pardon former arizona sheriff joe arpaio late last month. he was convicted of contempt for a court order to stop traffic patrols that targeted immigrants. >> all right. joining us once again from washington is politico's daniel lipman, co-author of the political playbook. good to talk to you once again. this morning as we've been talking to you about sort of frankly surprising deal that the president reached with top democrats and hurricane harvey relief, the debt ceiling, and, of course, the budget, here is what he said just yesterday about getting to a deal on daca.

take a listen. >> what do you say to those that are saying there are mixed signals over daca? >> congress, i really believe, wants to take care of the situation. i really believe it. even very conservative members of congress. i've seen it firsthand. if they don't, we're going to see what we're going to do, but i will tell you, i really believe congress wants to take care of it. we discussed that also today, and chuck and nancy would like to see something happen, and so do i. >> so put this into context for us given what the white house has said about daca in particular in the last 48 hours. it is also sort of part of that bigger budget deal. >> now, a lot of people in washington feel like there's a huge case of whiplash with the president because he seems to constantly change his mind on this issue. it was reported that he spent months thinking about what to do with these kids and young adults, and i think there is a

concern by immigration advocates that this basically puts 800,000, you know, people in the u.s. -- you know, their lives are kind of upended, but to keep immigration in the news and this basically means that trump gets to feel like he is doing something for his base on immigration, but in reality these people are going to stay in the u.s. this does seem to be a little bit of a -- like a -- for that phrase to be used. >> let's go back to the deal that was actually struck yesterday on the issue of the debt ceiling and the continuing resolution. in fact, one top congressional aide described it like this when he was talking to politico. he said, "the president of the united states just handed a loaded gun to nancy pelosi and chuck schumer." explain to us a little bit about the balance of power between the president and his own party, how this particular deal tilts that balance of power to favor the democrats in the words of that

aide. >> yeah. we're in washington, and it's an all republican d.c., and so for democrats basically to walk away with a huge victory on this front, that makes republicans infuriating. you know, they feel like they should be in charge of actually making the deals, and so they feel -- they think that trump should be negotiating with ryan and mcconnell and not with chuck and nancy, to use trump's phrase. i think republicans feel like trump has not, you know, been by their side. they don't have -- trump does not have their backs because he just wants to make deals like kellyanne conway said earlier, and he doesn't seem to stick up for the republican agenda when it matters in this case. >> it makes you wonder what chuck schumer and nancy pelosi must be thinking. they must be scratching their heads saying what does the president want from us? >> i'm sure they were popping champagne last night. >> i can't help but think that tides are going to turn once

again because there has been no consistency as we've seen so far. daniel lipman for us. thanks again. >> thank you. leaders met with paul ryan to vent their frustration with the republican legislative agenda. the washington post citing two people familiar with the discussion reports that ryan met with the group's chairman mark meadows of north carolina along with representatives jim jordan and scott perry of pennsylvania. the group was reportedly "frank" about their mounting concerns and warned ryan that they and others in the house congress conference could desert him in the coming months if they fail to enact conservative policies. yet, one republican lawmaker close to ryan dismissed that meeting, stating, "those guys are always unhappy. god bless paul for sitting there and listening to them." meanwhile, the paper also reports that chairman meadows and former white house chief strategist steve bannon have begun discussions on possible replacement for ryan as speaker. according to several people close to both men. however, those discussions

remain informal for now. president trump extended a lifeline to one of the most vulnerable democrats in next year's midterms, inviting u.s. senator heidi hidecamp to join him on stage and officials in north dakota yesterday and praising her by a state he won by 36 points, seebing hidecamp's backing for tax cuts. take a listen. >> senator hidekamp, come on up. these are great people. they work hard. they're for you 100%. we just want their support because we need support. you see that with what's happening in congress. nobody can get anything through congress. we need support. thank you, senator. everyone saying what's she doing up here? i'll tell you what, good woman, and i think we'll have your support. i hope we'll have your support. thank you very much, senator. thank you for coming out. > >> both of the reagan tax cuts were passed by a democratic majority in the house. a democratic speaker and a vast

majority of democrats in the senate, including a democratic senator from the great state of north dakota. it can happen. you listening, heidi? yes, heidi is listening. yes, she heard that. thank you, heidi. we're not going to put her on the spot. i'm not putting her on the spot. >> pretty surprising day for washington to say the least. in a statement she said trurp's remarks were encouraginencourag know the devil is in the details as tax codes are complex and we need to know what those details are. >> senator bob corker is defending the critical remarks he made by president trump. here's a reminder of what he said last month following his comments yesterday. >> the president has not yet been able to demonstrate the stability nor the confidence

that he needs to demonstrate in order to be successful. >> he also recently has not demonstrated that he understands the character of this nation. >> he hasn't demonstrated the stability of congress. >> you know, i don't make comments without thinking about them. >> you talked to the president after he raised -- >> the president responded to the senator's original remarks about a week later just as texas was bracing for hurricane harvey, and the president tweeted saying, "strange statement by bob corker, considering that he is constantly asking me whether or not he should run again in 18. tennessee, not happy!" the senator says the exchange was just the two men being direct and that it has not affected their relationship. senator bob mendez, democrat of new jersey, was in court yesterday for the first day of his trial on corruption and bribery charges. menendez is accused of accepting

lavish gifts, political donations and expensive trips from a florida eye doctor in exchange for using the power of his office to lobby on the doctor's behalf in addition to other favors. yesterday in their opening statement federal prosecutors describe menendez as selling his office for a lifestyle he couldn't afford. menendez's lawyers argue that the gifts were actually based on a long friendship and were not bribes. and the senator has pleaded not guilty. yesterday an emotional menendez spoke outside the courthouse. >> never, not once. not once have i dishonored my public office. i started my public career fighting corruption. that's how i started. and i have always acted in accordance with the law, and i believe when all of the facts are known, i will be vindicated. >> all right. still ahead, more on facebook disclosing that shadowy russian company purchased political ads amid the presidential election.

plus, how critical comments about president trump by his top economic advisor may be costing him a high profile gig. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ wow! nice outfit. when i grow up, i'm going to mars. we're working on that. some people know how far they want to go. a personalized financial strategy can help you get them there. see how access

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welcome back. well, we'll turn to business now, and the role facebook played in the 2016 election involving the possible spreading of "fake news." cnbc's jim atkins joining us live now from london. good to talk to you this morning. the social media company revealing yesterday that $100,000 or so of political ads was purchased by a person with pro-kremlin ties. >> well, facebook is indeed saying it's likely that around $100,000 was spent by russian messages, and about half of that amount was thought to be earmarked specifically to influence u.s. politics. now, let's be clear. these messages didn't exclusively mention any candidates or elections themselves. they wanted instead to bring up the divisive issue such as race or immigration or gun control or lgbt rights.

now, the latest is that reuters is saying that robert mueller, who is the special council who has been appointed to investigate whether the trump campaign had links to the kremlin had been handed all of this information from facebook. now, let me turn to another story. this one regards the fed. the "wall street journal" has been saying that gary cohen, who is currently donald trump's chief economic advisor, is now unlikely to replace current chair of the fed janet yellen when her term expires in february 2018. cohen's chances have seemed to have fallen off a cliff effectively since he criticized the president's reaction to the riots last month in charlottesville. back to you. >> certainly a major change there. thank you. still ahead, the very latest on hurricane irma as it rips through caribbean islands leaving a path of destruction potentially said to be the same right here in the u.s. >> we're going to go live overseas as a growing refugee crisis takes shape in myanmar with tens of thousands fleeing the ongoing violence there. when it's time to move to underwear

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welcome back, everybody. we want to start with the very latest on hurricane irma. a lot of americans tracking that had your canadian, certainly people in the path that of hurricane. bill. >> still on the table is still on the table, a category four, maybe category five, right into and through the miami area.

150 mile-per-hour winds late saturday night into sunday morning is when the worst of it will be arriving in south florida into the miami area. the cone of uncertainty includes all of florida. we can't forget our friends in georgia or south carolina. they will get landfall, almost guaranteed, category two and category three. this is a lot of lines. don't look at any certain line, just get a general trend here. up see the concentration is into south florida. there are still a couple that drifted off so there is still some hope. the spread gets a little uncertain as we get to north carolina and south carolina but the concentration is heading towards south carolina. this is our american model and this is the european model. the european mod e takes it

right into miami as a category four or five. the usa model is a little unsure. the offshore would be a little weaker. this is still worst case scenario. and here are some of our other squiggly lines. this is the key to the whole forecast, when does that north turn occur? earlier it goes to the east, later it goes right over the state of florida. we'll be able to pinpoint that tomorrow. it won't be until it turns that we'll be able to say how quickly. >> his one who is torically has been the more accurate? >> the european. >> there you go. >> we want to shift your attention to a story that is quickly becoming a nightmare for southern asia.

more than 150,000 rohingya refugees have thread myanmar. sky the situation for us and how it got so bad so fast. >> you mentioned aid agencies are calling it a crisis situation. theycy it's reached a breaking point, especially in bangladesh, they're a minority muslim people living in myanmar. they've been fighting for rights in that country. they are not classified as citizens, they are not treated equally. the violence does spike. on august 25th, a number of police stations were hit and this was the reaction from government forces in myanmar and it has pushed 150,000 people into bangladesh, many of which are caught in a no man's land

between the two countries not able to enter bangladesh and not able to leave myanmar. we are relying on firsthand accounts over the phone, relying on igtcy videos. you add to that there is, photos of war crimes that have happened heerd decades ago. we're talking about 150,000 people ins did pratt need in that year. >> people have used the word penetration fors. >> o, if, representing the number of people killed in

america's longest war. two members. cia's elite paramilitary force who according to the times were killed during a firefight with ice and members of the fight in the country. the first american killed was al also. and now rivals those killed in the war in vietnam and layoffs. >> coming up next for more as residents brace for a potential impact from the storm. >> and donald trump jr. prepares to meet with the senate judiciary committee on russia's role in the election. >> and adam shift waying in in

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welcome back, everybody. let's get a check on the stories you're going to be hearing about in the day ahead. president trump is expected to speak to the amir of kuwait today. >> and donald trump jr. is expected to meet with the judiciary committee today, the focus is supposed to be a meeting he had with russians and others near the end of last year's campaign. >> and the house armed services committee will hold meetings on the incidents at sea recently. >> there's a new and record breaking hurricane headed toward puerto rico and other places. we'll know in a short period of

time but it looks like it could be something that could be no good. believe me, not good. >> good morning. it is thursday, september 7th. welcome to morning joe. with us veteran columnist and nbc contributor mike barnicle, mark halperin, jim vandehei and in washington, at "usa today" pryzbyla. i have to call my daughter. we're going to get to the major hurricane headed towards florida in just a moment. but first, what happened yesterday politically? give as you quick read. >> donald trump did yesterday we were been saying for two years he'd be most natural doing. he dealt with nancy pelosi and chuck