hurricane irma is barrelling toward united states and is expected to mack a potentially cat traffic strike on florida. we want to go right to bill karins for the very latest. bill? >> when they say people won't be able to return to their homes for weeks, maybe even months. that's how serious it is. that's because of the wind damage and the possibility of the storm surge could even wipe away buildings that are existing on the coastline. overnight not a lot changed with this storm. we want to show you comparison images. hurricane andrew 25 years agos the storm of record. that had 16 mile-an-hour winds.

right now irma is about twice the size. it could be andrew-like but bigger. a lot of the northern islands, we still have this horrendous video, barbuda, they say 65% of the homes can't be occupied. this is before the eye went over the turks and caicos for four straight hours. we're still waiting for reports and at daylight we can find out just how bad ffs as they went through the northern eye wall. here's the latest on the storm. there's the clear eye. the thing that developed last night is it was start to develop an eye wall replacement sickle. there as a nashville is starting to take over. that has reduced the intensity

down to a category four. that's good, we want a weaker storm but if it does the eye wall cycle, it can regenerate before it gets to the coast. it could easily be a five at landfall. here is a clear picture of the zoomed in eye. this is crooked island here in the southern bahamas. let's get to the all-important pass of the storm. this is the critical time here, 2 a.m. sunday. you notice the cone, still a very slim chance it misses to the east and to the west. florida is right in the direct center of cone. we don't know yet will this shift a little bit to the west and be a wrs blow more storm and they have tornadoes ahead in

area of the east. a lot of people have been to west palm beach, if you've been standing on the ba picturing where you were standing, ten feet of water, another five to six feet with dre from miami to fort lauderdale and all the way through the keys. we till get five to taken feet and we've been doing this for the laos couple of dawes commonwealth are can the jefr glades covers this section here. if the american model happens, that's a more damages path right through southeast florida, mika.

there are still some questions to be answered. we're about 48 hours away from the landfall. >> also, a massive earthquake off the coast of mexico. >> what else, right? >> i know. >> this was just off the south shore of mexico. it was relatively shallow. there were tsunami warnings up overnight. the highest i heard of was about a three-foot tsunami. 8.1 are very rare. usually on this planet we only get about one per year. anything near the epicenter they consider it violent to severe shaking and all the structures and pictures you see here, when we get to daylight, i think these pictures will get about a hundred times worse. >> bill karins, thank you. with us on morning joe, we are

mark halperin, john heilemann and in washington nbc news capitol hill correspondent kasie hunt joins us. joe, this morning the pending strike from irma, the heavy toll left by hurricane harvey weighing over capitol hill. todays the house votes on a plan that guarantees nearly $8 with 17 votes against, all from republicans. >> what we're doing in this body today is not draining the swamp. what we're doing is running a whole bunch of hoses to the edge of the swamp, turning them on to the highest possible volume flow and turning our backs and

shouting your stnts know who prngs made himself the most powerful man in america for december. chuck schumer and nancy pelosi now is most of the cards. >> i was a little surprised quite frankly. i think negotiating against ourselves, now other than that, sprchs and i think he did what he thought was right and he didn't talk to a lot of people. >> still, the president savored the deal. politico reporting he was upbeat

and chuck schumer and nancy pelosi thursday morning, iium fl and indicated he'd been "watching." >> and he referred to democratic sfrm senator schumer and it was a very bipartisan meeting. we could have done a longer deal th that. >> f sintity andys to frp -- it

was a meeting that we all wanted to get together and do something. i think the primary reason is you look at north career,ia, at the hurricanes and i said frankly it's time that we walk out and shake hand and have a deal. and they agreed and i will tell you, there was a lot of spirit in that room, a lot of good spirit. >> and, willie, you look at health insurance happening with north korea, you look at what's happening with irma, you look at what's happened of course out in texas, you look at the debt ceiling fight, you look at all the other things that are lined up in front of this congress i do agree with ben sass but this

is a repeal that but actual will find is vote somewhere frrnl sfurjs angry that a republican-controlled promise couldn't get through a seg sure promise and his signature promise federal budget frngs -- by the way as we were watching the peech, there was. i understand why raspberry are upset about it, if but for all

nuchlt. bipartisanship. that's what happened a couple days ago. the democrats got together with the rab president to get something done, to help people in exas. it, if ship mere. we don't need the government to shut down. it's almost like this happened and a lot of people didn't know what to do with themselves because everybody's gone to their corners for showing that when you actually have a republican president and democrat being leaders talking together, it still doesn't rojster, but i'll say it again. for americans who are like running to pick up their kids school and then running home and ten running back to work and they just hear on the news "republican president got together with democratic leaders," to make sure america

doesn't republican. >> ands that what donald trump thought when he hit the newsstand we're getting. i reached across the aisle. >> case in point, many surprise about the president tweeting, f for, if between the house and the house moochbl immigrants, andy did with that tweet. >> she called this morning.

i said thanks for calling. people need reassurance from you, mr. president, that the six-month period is not a period of round. i reported to my colleagues and boom, boochl, boom, the tweets appeared. so that was good. >> and humor has removed a rule peacekeepers. i agreed to come to thefrnl conservative republicans.

>> if he works with fwrchl, the established likes other me jol ji. sfrnl halloween, if the president works with democrats and maybe iion. in ang ffrpgs nfrm, the public'sin bt nchblt they really, truly never saiding in

nnk bare guess who was there. donald trump. this is not easy to figure out. and paul ryan has given frfrm. in is. just totally confused as to what happened because they never had one. they need to say it when it's wrong. when charlotte still happens, they need it say it. n because us that how who work,

if, if it's not about insult. . votes they said they were going to be able to dofr. f, almost getting things done sound dirt oo f ideology aside. republican leaders came together on top nrchl dparchlt

and i understand why of the f joint breed fuvgtle ffrmt got to the in a room. the reality is a drp sfchlt and then desooded to put cot f this is a situation where republican leaders hoar could -- they said

we know you're not really a conservative, we know you're not really a republican pu we think we could use you pr prng -- i'm doing the this evening whatsoever. and you guys can't be a vehicle for what i want to get done? i'll fine another, if. i don't think there are a lot of issues where those votes will become available. they can make the deal on these kind of things for drumm. it will know you a lumors to grp

frrnls to 90%,ff and then that fnchtsd that's something that sprch bon derring the number of republican -- personal rm frrchl

will they get it? will republicans agree that we figured out how to get major, look, i think it's begin will, if gill being lks sfvgs about but behind the scenes, they've felt like they haven't taken the prz seriously. >> okay, from furks. >> the freedom caucus talking

about replacing the speaker. steve bannon permanent there as opinion a ton of chaos. this wp that and shaken up the way that the country is governed legislative lie. it is has you'llly pap. in that this so-called republican has made is for the democrats. all bets are off in the predictions we're making who know nrnlt in the pafs fuchls.

>> o see a drpt is more comfortable hanging around guys lo look, if, you got 17 ra republicans and who to what pnk 40, 45 contracts, you want be. >> sfrm. >> i was going toll number. you can get democrats and republicans on board.

why did (like years. egot frrngs mean, i know, he's a democrat. but your gut had it from the get throw fnks ffrm. you're. >> haumd stop whipping and f

sfchlt and the republicans weren't able it dlif it. and there he is. there are another kruts in ticket, that, in can got votes and they are sm things. cram fruchlt. >> hard to imagine, we had 20, 30 democrats voting with us. you had to write tax reform, not something that just is a giveaway to theismest american prngs, you'll get 300350 people voting on it. there are deals to frnl frm and

you know what? one of the reasons why donald trump may have given up on the republicans, because it is fchls. >> and so everything we've heard from him, you got the votes. you got to start with health care. i'm not mocking him. i'm trying to plane the moment of donald trump. y department wrote "i'm going to completely flip and become a kate men o ". >> so for seven or amonths -- >> we'll know this will be a real thing or not, will he give the democrats what they want and daca? and you think most obvious will he give them what they want on

tax reform? dick durbin made it clear yesterday he's willing to work with the president on tax reform. and changing it will make the healthy relieved. >> still ahead,er governor jb mau maush. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪

steve bannon may be out of the white house but his impact is certainly be felt. according to reports, he still offers outside advice to the president and he has new and blistering commentary for mitch mcconnell in an interview with "60 minutes." >> the republican establishment is trying to nullify the 2016 election. that's a brutal fact we have to face. >> republicans. >> the republicans are trying to nullify the 2016 elections. >> who? >> i think mish tch mcconnell a to an extent paul ryan. it's as obvious as night follows day. >> give me a story that illustrates that. >> mitch mcconnell said i think in one of the first meetings in trump tower with the president

as we were wrapping up, he said i don't want to hear any more of this drain the swamp talk. he goes a guy up on capitol hill can't buy a coke unless it's got to be reported, i can't hire any smart people because everybody's all over him for the pay, for the scrutiny. you got to back off that. the drain the swamp thing with mitch mcconnell was day one, did not want us to go there, wanted to us back off. >> you are attacking on many front people who you need to help you. >> they're not going to help you unless they're put on notice they're going to be held accountable if they do not support the president of the united states. they do not support the president's program. everybody in the city knows it. >> and so, therefore, now that you're out of the white house, you're going to war with him? >> absolutely. >> all right. john heilemann, absolutely.

john heilemann, it's funny how that interview's aged in just a couple of days because you can look at that now and say two days ago, everybody would be oh, it's horrible, they're attacking mitch -- now you look at it and go that steve bannon, even though he doesn't like the policy probably loves that donald trump stuck it to mitch mcconnell and paul ryan. people told me around bannon that the guy would love donald trump to be an independent president. he certainly took a step closer to that by the triangulation routine he did a couple of days ago. >> that is a man who has been liberated. you can say he got fired and can be liberated. this is stuff he's been saying privately and publicly for years. he's a true believer in his vision of nationalist, populist,

not partisan politics. i actually think probably he's better suited into this role that he's now in and just being an outsider, a bomb throw are,nd i have no doubt he has more antipathy for ryan and shum are and he'd be perfectly happy to see donald trump make deals with democrats on things like infrastructure, on tax reform that was tough on the rich. the idea that there is just going to be a straight forward tax cut that gives breaks to rich people is nol if thin trade and other issues, too.

>> you can almost see steve bannon's glee after being out of the white house. remember that first interview he said, yot, i have my weapons being. they talked to kone. particularly as it relates to congress. it's an odd mentality for an equal branch that is first supposed to be loyal to the president. >> look, what steve bannon said there about mitch mcconnell i find to be incredibly interesting and the fact that he would share that story publicly will get the backs up among those folks. he said essentially that the majority leader feels he can't get anything done, he can't hire good, smart people. it's very easy to deliver these

lines, drain the swamp, throw them all out. it's terrible. >> country needs congress to be charles ear dent just announced he's not going to seek his eighth term in congress. that's another person who wants to get these things done and, frankly, he is reflecting deep and more of them will are pushed to leave and honestly the government potentially breaks. >> mika if you look at where we are as a country, where congress is an institution, we talked about it for a very long time. we're no longer at the place where tip o'neill controls all

the democrats and bob michaels controls the republicans, you have to deal with those two people. you now have over 500 independent actors. so donald trump is much more likely to be able to go al a carte. i can get tax increases maybe i'll go a little more bannon's way. maybe i won't just give tax cuts to the richest of the rich. so you can pick up some democrats in one vote that you can't pick up in the next vote. you have that freedom because they're all independent actors now. >> and the loyalty oath, i mean, i think can you tell who's taken it and you end up looking weak and pathetic actually. >> it's not about loyalty. >> but chuck and nancy didn't tab the loyalty oath and they're doing just fine today.

>> you might want to give it. >> the reason why is at the can and most republicans are going to stay with donald trump because as he has seen, most of his base stays with donald trump when he makes deal. that allows his base to go on twitter and say, you've got a law that donald trump can sign. that formula works every time. >> coming up, the hurricane irma is wider that be the entire state of florida and people are being told to get out. we'll have an update on the drp

eric wallwell who says negotiations are under way

as far as syria is concerned, we have very little to do with syria other than killing isis. what we do is we kill isis and we have succeeded in that respect. we have done better in eight months of my presidency than the previous eight years of isis. so isis is rapidly disappearing, as you know, and that's because of our great military. the military's been absolutely incredible in terms of what they've done with isis in iraq and in syria. >> joining us now, columnist and associate editor for "the washington post" david ignatius. joe, take it away. >> so, david, let's put that in perspective. there's no doubt that the obama administration was ramping up, a

problem that some of us had been ignored for too long, and were starting a campaign that was very effective, james mattis came in and they continued on that success. tell us where we are now in our fight against isis and parse donald trump's words for us if you will and tell us what's right and what's not right. >> president trump is basically right in saying that the campaign against isis has been accelerated. the pace of operations under obama was increasing but he's really delegated command authority down the commanders in a way that's had a lot of impact. the administration just this week has made a decision that's going to be very important, which is that after the u.s. and the so-called syrian democratic forces, the kurdish-led militia has what been sweeping through

raqqa and central state, when they're done with raqqa, they're going to go further south to the lower euphrates. in the southeast corner. it's very strategics, the area iran would love to dominate. secretary mattis and tillerson have made a decision to go further. i think that's reinforcing the president's confidence on this main part of the mission he's going to keep going and get it done. >> let me ask you about something you brought up. it reminds me of an argument i read before where donald trump was asked about a certain campaign, should they go into a village and he said, well, what do the people on the ground say and they gave him advice. he said, well, why are you asking me they or there? donald trump was criticized by some for doing that but that seems to be the antithesis of

what we were taught growing up that the vietnam war was a nightmare because you had the lyndon johnson at night looking for targets to bomb. what's the pentagon's attitude towards the president's hands-on approach of operations? >> i like it. i've heard 50 times complaints about the degree to which decisions were subject to 11th hour review in the situation room, interagency discussions. command authority really has been pushed down in this fight since trump took office. it's allowed more flexibility in operations and more rapid movement in syria. you have to remember eight months ago when president trump took office, it wasn't entirely clear that we had a force that had a -- that force came together, moved quickly.

i was just in syria in july and saw the way in which our special forces are able to move and adapt as the battle situation changes. so a lot of problems with president trump's syria strategy. in fact, some people think it's not a clear strategy for the future of syria at all. on this particular part, let's go do isis i think the president basically is telling us what's going on. >> hey, david, it's willie. the president had that joint press conference and he made pretty clear the military options are on the table for north korea. and you made point thoo tat the president had been talking, talking, talking for 25 years and that none that had worked. i'm not suggesting there should be a military strike but isn't he correct that all the talking hasn't yielded much?

>> he's right that carrots haven't worked, stick haven't worked. i don't think you should take at face value the statement, okay, we're sick of diplomacy, it's military options that we're focused on now. i just have spent the time in the last couple days talking to senior state department officials to get a sense of how secretary rex tillerson is looking at this. there is an extensive behind-the-scenes diplomatic situation. the u.s. idea continues to get china to impose an oil embargo on north korea to really turn the screws. the north korean channel indicates they are interested in

some kind of option. >> david stays with us. we'll be drilling down into exactly that and bring in bob woodward for that discussion. ♪ can i get some help. watch his head. ♪ i'm so happy. ♪ whatever they went through, they went through together. welcome guys. life well planned.

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euphrates. back to "morning joe." seven-term republican congressman charlie dent surprised many yesterday when he announced he will not seek reelection next year. the co-chairman of the tuesday group who has been critical of president trump and declined to support him in last year's election said he reached his decision earlier that's summer and noted the political climate in d.c. was an impact on the decision. dave reich effort's decision also deciding not to seek e reelection in 2018. but another one earlier this year, republicans will be forced to defend three open swing districts in next year's midterms. charlie dent, the kind of guy you hoped wouldn't leave

washington. you want more of that moderate view and a dying breed, perhaps, in the united states house. >> as long as they allow gerrymandering to go on the way it has and the courts allow it to go on, people like charlie dent who can work with the republicans and democrats become a dying breed. more specifically, though, john, what will means for the republican party, 2018 was going to be a tough enough year anyway. >> right. >> just historically, a bad year for republicans. you start getting guys like this and open seats down in miami, an open seat, it makes the republicans' job that much harder. 2018 does not seem like it is going to be a republican trending year right now. >> that was almost certain to be case as you know. it's an up hill struggle for democrats to retake the house. but with every one of these members who decides not to seek reelection, it gets a little bit less uphill.

>> willie, it does get more difficult, and it becomes increasingly difficult now that you have donald trump not only if you're charlie dent going after you which highway has in the past, but also going after mitch mcconnell and paul ryan. again, for some members suddenly it does become three dimensional chess and they go, enough, i'm going home. >> i think that's right. and kasey, you cover charlie dent and the hill every day. any word on why he decided to step away. you'd hope someone like him would rise and help out. why is he stepping away? >> put the ree legs concerns aside for a second. the underlying reality here is that a lot of these people who came to washington to try to govern are miserable. but this president has made it worse. they don't know -- every day

we're sticking cameras in their faces saying what do you think about this thing that president trump said about charlottesville, about neo-nazis? you name the subject and meanwhile nothing is really happening on capitol hill. they don't feel like they can make the kind of contributions they want to, and people are just kind of throwing up their hands in a lot of frustration here and saying you know what? maybe i can make a bigger difference on the outside now. i think it's one of the sad realities that's driving. there is, i think, an increasing talent challenge on capitol hill, whether it's the members or people who work for them. fewer and fewer really good people are coming up to capitol hill. >> coming up, we'll continue to track hurricane irma less than 48 hours away from land fall in florida. we'll talk to two people who know a lot about preparing for hurricanes in that state. plus the chairman of the conservative house freedom caucus. mark meadows, his thoughts on

the president's deal with democrats, and we'll ask about his reported meeting with steve bannon. "morning joe" is coming right back. dad: molly, can you please take out the trash? (sigh) ( ♪ ) dad: molly! trash! ( ♪ ) whoo! ( ♪ ) mom: hey, molly? it's time to go! (bell ringing) class, let's turn to page 136, recessive traits skip generations. who would like to read? ( ♪ ) molly: i reprogrammed the robots to do the inspection.

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already been blamed for at least 12 deaths across the caribbean. overnight hurricane irma pummelled the turks and caicos and parts of the bahamas. the storm is on track to make a potentially catastrophic strike on florida this weekend. starting today, all public schools including state colleges and universities across the state are closed through monday. more than 650,000 residents in miami dade county were ordered to evacuate yesterday jamming highways up and down the state. irma has been compared to hurricane andrew which hit florida in 1992. at the time andrew killed 65 people and became the costliest storm in u.s. history. hurricane irma is bigger, stronger, and could be much more devastating than andrew. let's get the latest from our nbc meteorologist, bill karins. good morning. overnight we've had minor tweaks to the forecast.

things look just as bad for florida as they did when everyone went to bed. i want to show you a new thing that changed. this is our european versus american model. we've been comparing them all week to see what they say. they are now in agreement in the american model has now caved in to agree with the european model. advance it a little bit. this shows you the center. this is at 7:00 a.m. sunday. close to each other and making land fall over the central keys. through the morning taking it straight up to the north. this is over the everglades with the center. yesterday we were thinking the possibility of the usa model was over the top of miami. now it's a little west. this forecast is a little worse for areas like marco island, fort myers and it's a slight improvement for west palm beach and miami. here's the reason why. when we walk about the eye, you don't want to go through the eye of the storm. that's going to be about 30 to 40 miles wide. if that's the center there, if we draw the line to miami, it's

about 38 miles. that's close. maybe still in the eye wall. maybe not. but, again, that little shift to the west can help the highly populated areas of minneapolis. it's at the expense of the west coast of florida. that's why we've been saying we can't win with this storm. someone is going to get really hard. we're not sure who. here's the forecast path of the storm. this is the latest update. they have it right down the middle. this agrees perfectly with the american model and our european model. we're now about 4 hours away from the land fall -- 48 hours away from the land fall. they're usually good within this time frame. there's high confidence in this forecast. the only really thing now to watch is it look like the path is set and what the intensity of the storm will be. there's a chance, at least a little bit of a chance, i'll move this up a little bit. this point right here, later on tonight into tomorrow morning is very close to cuba.

the hurricane center has it off the coast. the european model brings it right along the coast. if the it goes onshore in cuba, obviously bad for them. then the storm would weaken a little bit more and it would be a little bit weaker storm by the time it got to south florida. joe, that's one of the things we're going to be watching. obviously we don't wish for cuba to get hit the hardest by this. if it did go into cuba, it would be a weaker storm for south florida. >> well, and we've talked about this before, bill, and it certainly, we saw it in i think it was 2005, or 2004 with hurricane ivan. you and i were going through the night tracking this thing on air. and as it went up, we saw it take a slight tilt to the right. and i knew immediately that was horrible news for my hometown. so let's take thatnology you have and apply it here. from what you're telling me, this push to the west that right now the american model and the

european model have the hurricane doing, that could make a huge difference for people on the east coast of florida, especially as we see sometimes when they start drifting that way it's quite possible that drift continues. >> we still have 48 hours. >> yeah. right now very bad news. that drift would be very bad news for people on the east side of florida, but actually might spare -- the eastern coast of the worst affects of this storm. >> yeah. and the key will be kind of where the eye goes. the eye will have the worst path of destruction. the eye is 30, maybe 40 miles wide when you consider the eye and then the band around it. the florida peninsula is about 150 miles wide, and so from fort myers heading to west palm beach, it's about 120 miles wide. the eye won't cover that whole

sliver. it will only be about half of that, and that will track who gets the worst of it. that's why all the people -- that's why yesterday they ordered the evacuations in areas of coastal counties outside of tampa. they know if we get a drift to the west, we could be talking about more of a direct hit almost like a charlie type storm in areas on the west coast of florida or maybe wilma. that's where wilma made the first land fall. florida is narrow. the storm from the south, there will be effects of hurricane force winds throughout the entire state. we're trying to pinpoint who is going to get the worst winds. who is going to get the category 4 winds? who is going to have their houses destroyed that won't be able to get back in them for weeks or months? that's what we're going to try to pinpoint in the next 24 to 48 hours. >> bill, thank you. >> we'll speak with the former florida governor on his state's preparations for the storm. with us now, senior political analyst mark halperin, national

affairs analyst, john hailman, kasie hunt, david ignatius, and nick con if i sorry. >> the pending strike from irma and the toll left from harvey are looming on capitol hill. a plan that guarantees nearly $8 billion and billions more for disaster relief in the future. the deal also raises the debt ceiling and continues the budget for the next three months. it cleared the senate yesterday with 17 votes against. all from republicans. >> what we're doing in this body today is not draining the swamp. what we're doing is running a whole bunch of hoses to the edge of the swamp, turning them on to the highest possible volume flow and then turning our backs on the swamp and shouting there's nothing to see here.

that's what we're doing. we're doing the opposite of draining the swamp today. >> well, i was a little surprised. i think negotiating against ourselves. now the debt ceiling doesn't get the markets the long term certainty we need, and the -- other than that it was a pretty good deal. >> i think he did what he thought was right, and he didn't talk to a lot of people. >> thank you, mr. president. >> does this show bipartisanship? >> i think it does. i think we will have a different relationship than you've been watching over the last number of years. i hope so. i think that's a great thing for our country, and i think that's what the people of the united states want to see. i think you really saw it yesterday loud and clear. the people of the united states want to see it coming together, at least to an extent. we're different parties.

we have different thoughts and feelings and ideas, but i think you're going to see a much stronger coming together. >> it wasn't quick. i mean, i think that's maybe one of the reasons i decided to share so much with you this morning. i was reading on tv we went in there, put it on the table, boom, out the door. it wasn't like that at all. it was a very long, intense conversation. now, i'm an appropriaappropriats proud of the senate democracy leader chuck schumer. he could speak new york to the president. >> you've been in washington for quite some time, david ignatius. talk to us about the latest change. it may only last until lunchtime, but if donald trump

wanted to do something that really disrupted washington and changed the way washington did business, working with people in the other party would be a pretty radical thing to do right now. >> joe, i think you put your finger on it. the great disrupter has disrupted things again. you could just see through the summer he was fed up with the republicans. he was blaming them for health care and for the stagnation on capitol hill. his very personal bitter comments toward mitch mcconnell and senator corker surprised all of us. we all wondered what's he doing? he see he was in a process of a deeper reassessment of where he was. you can see it in his face. he feels animated. he's reached out to chuck schumer as nancy pelosi said. chuck schumer talks new york. two deal makers from new york who have known each other for decades, and the sense on

trump's face, now i'm going to get something done. now i'm going to move beyond the republicans and all their problems and begin to make deals. whether the democrats will stick with him, whether they'll be with him headed toward midterm elections is another question. i think he's being overly optimistic about keeping democrats as his partner. >> the republicans for the most part stayed with him. mike pence was smiling next to him. paul ryan had dinner with him last night. most of the trump supporters online i saw were blaming republicans in the house and the senate and not donald trump himself if that stays the case, then this would be a winning legislative formula for him. >> there's always been the possibility that a president, whatever he or she called himself as terms of party, not beholden to either party, could shake things up with public support and an exciting media narrative.

donald trump didn't do anything in the first two months to take advantage of that possibility. almost nothing. with one meeting he now has put himself in a position to say to both parties, republicans, i'm not beholden to you. you couldn't provide me winning votes on anything but a supreme court nomination. it didn't look forward like you could provide me with winning votes. and saying to the democrats, the b bah zar is open. he has a world of possibility before him, but it's going to take months of execution to make it something his supporters see results from, but they will give him slack. you could imagine a world in which this would bring supporters crashing down. there's no indication of that. instead, i think this as a guy headachie shaking things up. that's what they wanted from him. >> joe, i'd say the constraint here is as david ignatius

suggested, how much of the democratic party is willing to make these deals with donald trump in a lasting way. there will be constraints on nancy pelosi and chuck schumer because of the base feels for donald trump. in the same way that john boehner and other republican leaders were constrained in terms of their ability to make deals with barack obama. the conservative bay hated barack obama so much they didn't want to give him any victories nature put constraints on john boehner and others. chuck schumer and others, it's easy to cut a deal on hurricane relief and the debt ceiling. it's harder to cut a break on tax cuts and tax reform and other issues where the democratic base says wait a minute, we don't want you to be given victories to donald trump, the sagreat satan. that's something the democratic leaders will have to negotiate on a case by case basis going forward. >> i think that's the key. if donald trump, again, decides

to carry this strategy past lunchtime, and i keep saying that as a caveat because i know every time we talk about a long term strategy there will be people who will say he'll change in 15 minutes. if he does not, it goes on a case by case basis. there's sometimes nancy pelosi and chuck schumer can go all in with him. there will be other times where he can get get others and democrats who need to vote with him on let's say tax reform. it really changes the game and takes it away from what i called the 33% solution where you just depend on your 33% base and instead you look at the whole political world that's in front of you and say, well, i can pick them off in this bill. i can pick them off in that bill and bring everybody together on infrastructure. >> that's right. the debt ceiling debate in some ways was perfect for him.

it's among the stupidest debates in washington every time it happens. this is congress saying well, we've already passed a budget and handed out the money, but then in a second step will refuse to authorize the borrowing to pay for the budget we already agreed to. so there's really no point to it. and there's a good argument, it shouldn't be there in the first place. when congress passes a budget, congress is passing to pay for the budget too. and it hasn't got the kind of policy content that stands to rile up republicans and his base or democrats who might be angry at pelosi and schumer for getting on board. but if it comes to actually giving policy wins on stuff that's actually in trump's agenda, i think it is a lot harder as john said, but an obvious one is infrastructure. if they can combine some mix of the tax cuts that the real estate guys want and some kind of spending that democrats want,

there simply isn't any reason that can't be a deal. >> you know, kasie we heard nancy pelosi say chuck schumer was able to speak new york to donald trump, but there's a lot of truth to that. donald trump is in a foreign land. this is a new place to him. he sees a guy he knows and recognizes, and it shows how malleable he is when chuck schumer can go from being the head clown as donald trump called him in a tweet to now being his partner and buddy in congress to get things done. do you think this is lasting? >> we've been fooled before when we think this is the new way of doing business in washington and then a minute later something flips it on its head. do you think donald trump because he could not count on his republican colleagues, mitch mcconnell and paul ryan to get obama care replaced, something he thought would be easy, do you think he turns and says i am going to work with chuck and nancy? >> look, i think if he keeps putting wins on the board, there's no reason to stop doing

it. i mean, look, chuck schumer and donald trump have both lived in the tabloid world of new york. chuck schumer reacted to being called a clown differently than a lot of republicans who got tagged with names. schumer was just like whatever. we've been there before. i've had worst said about me in the new york post. look, i think the challenge is going to be for democrats in particular. schumer behind the scenes at the beginning of this was saying sure, i'll do a big infrastructure deal with donald trump. i'm going to make it a democratic bill. the challenge is for schumer to thread the needle. democrats can't be seen doing too many deals that will eventually give trump a platform on which to get reelected. but on the other hand, there are a lot of people who voted for obama who turned around and voted for donald trump in 2016, and they need to get those people back. schumer is trying to navigate that. that's going to say as much about how this proceeds as what the president decides.

>> very good point. and mark halperin, not only does chuck schumer and donald trump speak new york and may be more comfortable culturally together. they've been on the same side politically longer and also, again, in chuck schumer, it's obvious by what donald trump said about mitch mcconnell and paul ryan, he looks at schumer as somebody who can get things done. he looks at mitch mcconnell and paul ryan, again, as two people who have been promising to get rid of obamacare for seven years, and they can't even get enough votes even though they control the house and the senate, and they have a president that will sign literally anything that they put on his desk. he'll sign it. there are no preconditions. get me a bill that gets rid of obamacare, i will sign it. he sees chuck schumer. he's looking at mitch mcconnell.

he goes if i listen to mitch mcconnell, this will be no, we won't do this or that. if i go to chuck right now, i got a deal done by the end of the day. for donald trump, after eight months of waiting for his first big deal, that is an easy choice to make. >> easy choice. he wants deals. he wants good coverage on health care, on daca, on tax reform, on a budget, on infrastructure. it appeared increasingly likely, i believe, to the president that there was no such thing as deals with republican votes that would get things passed to his liking. it's clear that there are such things on every one of those issues with democratic votes. democrats will say how can you make deals with this guy and help him politically. republicans will say you're moving far left on all these things. i'll say again the president doesn't feel beholden to either party. if he's getting good prez and legislation is moving, he won't mind both parties being upset.

it's going to take a lot of consistency and tough choices about how to sequence the deals. one you do the first, the next one, you're going to really shake things up in a way that's going to have repercussions. but he'll get positive prez for it, and i think that will trump everything else. kasie hunt, thank you for being on this morning. still ahead, much more on hurricane irma. jeb bush joins us for a live interview. plus florida faced a crisis in 1992. bill nelson was in charge of fixing it. he joins us next as a new monster storm bears down on florida. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. your old magic set? and this wrestling ticket... which you still owe me for. seriously? $25? i didn't even want to go. ahhh, your diary. "mom says it's totally natural..."

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what should i watch? show me sports. it's so fluffy! look at that fluffy unicorn! he's so fluffy i'm gonna die! your voice is awesome. the x1 voice remote. xfinity. the future of awesome. >> the republican establishment is trying to nullify the 2016 election. that's a brutal fact we have to face. >> the republican establishment? >> the republican establishment. >> wants to nullify the 2016

election? >> trying to nullify the 2016 election, absolutely. >> who? >> i think mitch mcconnell and to a degree paul ryan. they don't want the nationalist agenda to be implemented. it's very obvious. it's obvious as night follows day. >> give me a story that illustrates that. >> mitch mcconnell, when he first met him, he said, i think in one of the first meetings in trump tower with the president as we're wrapping up, he basically says i don't want to hear anymore of this drain the swamp talk. flat out. he goes a guy on capitol hill can't buy a coke unless it's got to be reported. he said i can't hire on smart people because everybody is all over them for reporting requirements and the pay, et cetera, and the scrutiny. you got to back off that. the drain the swamp thing was mitch mcconnell day one, wanted us to back off. >> i mean, he's going to have more access to the president because he's appearing on tv,

joe. >> well, yeah, and they're still talking to each other, and watching steve bannon be steve bannon in this "60 minutes "interview and stale getting his message out unfiltered for the first time in a very long time, nick confisori, it raises the question why did he stay in the white house as long as he did? why did he fight the internal bureaucracy there when he now can go to breitbart and get his message out every morning that he knows the president is going to see and go on "60 minutes" and deal in retribution to establishment republicans that neither he more donald trump have any use for. >> it's funny. i haven't seen him do an on the record interview on a camera ever. i'm not sure he has before. it was fascinating to watch him in his voice. all we hear is secondary steve

bannon. he's right. paul ryan and mitch mcconnell do not support higher taxes on the rich which bannon does. bannon is a critic of unfettered free trade, and the speaker is not. but on the other hand we're seeing here kind of a really fascinating fight over what conservatism should be, and i think it's fascinating to watch bannon take it kind of outside the walls of the white house. typically a movement is trying to get to the white house. to have control over a policy. and with bannon, he's saying i'm going to have more power outside as an insurgent. i'm not sure that's true. i'm sure there will be more power in shaping the conversation. ultima matly if the nationalist movement can't get pass bills, it's a protest movement. i think in the short term, we're going to see a lot of him, and

it's going to be a thorn in the side for the conventional republicans. >> mika, think about the timing of this week, and think about the things coming together. you have steve bannon criticizing republican leadership on "60 minutes". you have donald trump throwing that republican leadership under the bus because they haven't been able to deliver for him for over eight months. you have steve bannon that's been talking about the type of tax reform bill that people like gary cohen also would never support. we actually may see some things coming together here where some of steve bannon's views on trade and on taxing the rich may actually be coming together with donald trump moving more toward the center. we'll see. the timing, though, is fascinating. >> it is. and there some patterns developing that some might argue you predicted. next hour we'll speak live with the chairman of the house freedom caucus, mark meadows who

reportedly met with others this week. joining us by phone is bill nelson. what's the latest you're hearing first of all in terms of the power that this storm might have in we're hearing comparisons to an cr andrew, and they're not good as this could be far worse. >> absolutely. you think 25 years ago to andrew, the state was not prepared. the federal government was not prepared. i think that's the big difference today. i think the coordination between the state, local, and federal governments are all there. the mistake in new orleans and katrina, for example, where the u.s. military and the louisiana national guard were on separate pages, i think that has been

taken care of now with a coordinator between the guard as well as the u.s. military. there seems to be the coordination in all the emergency operation centers which i've been over several, and i think florida is prepared, but when you get 155 blue miles an hour winds, nobody is going to be prepared for that kind of destruction. >> bill, we've been through too many of these. i want to ask you about your particular expertise when andrew came to shore. obviously understanding your primary concern and all of our primary concern is the safety of the florida people. but you were the insurance commissioner, and you saw what a heavy toll andrew took on ultimately insurance rates not

only for florida residents but all americans because of the massive costs of that storm. can you even begin to calculate the impact on insurance rate payers when you put together what happened in houston and now what's going to be happening straight up the center of florida next week? >> it's definitely going to have an effect. the good news is that in andrew 25 years ago, there was no insurance backup, or in other words, a real insurance fund. as a result of andrew when snurn companies went bust, when they fled the state, when the two big ones state farm and all state were shedding policies right and left, there was such massive insurance losses that the entire state of florida was paralyzed

for homeowner's insurance. the correction to that that is now in place is a reinsurance fund, the florida catastrophic hurricane fund that has billions of dollars of reserves that will insure against the insurance companies going bust. so it's much better, but your point with texas and now florida, fema is really stretched in all of it resources. they've actually had to pull people out of texas and preposition them for florida, same with supplies. so whatever has improved sets andrew 25 years ago, we're really going to get a strain this time. >> we're also looking at a lot of pictures as you're speaking of people's houses that were literally blown to thousands of pieces during hurricane andrew. it remind me of another example

of how government and regulations have their place. i remember after andrew a rigid new set of building codes that were implemented not only in south florida but across the entire state. how big of an impact do you think that will have when we have to face a cat 4, cat 5 storm? >> joe, you obviously have great insight. that was one of the biggest lessons learned from 25 years ago. i'll never forget being in a helicopter over ground zero which was downtown homestead florida. i saw only two buildings left. one was the bank building, and the other one was an old florida cracker house which had been built back in the 20s to withstand the winds, and everything, i mean everything, was levelled.

it was because there were no building codes. since then you'll remember in the pan handle in the 90s, you could go along the beach in a helicopter after those hurricanes. there would be one structure that was virtually untouched because it had been built to the new building codes and right next door would be a completely demolished structure. >> yeah. >> senator bill nelson, thank you so much -- >> a radical difference. >> -- for being on the show this morning. this is really a terrible time for florida. we'll be watching up. coming up we'll speak to the former florida governor jeb bush. "morning joe" is coming right back. haven't you ever wanted something more barry? watch your step. a pilot like you should be serving your country. you're c.i.a.?

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still ahead on "morning joe," donald trump says he has, quote, new and beautiful military equipment, and hopefully he doesn't have to use it, he says, against north korea. we'll play you his latest comments on the nuclear crisis when we are joined by others in the conversation. keep it on "morning joe."

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you know i've always cited governor jeb bush as the best example of leadership i've ever

seen up close or from a distance in natural disasters like hurricanes. as a resident of florida, i road through a lot of them when he was governor, and again, leadership was extraordinary. we have him with us this morning, and jeb, it's always great talking to you. tell me, at this step in the process what do you do? what did you do as governor? what should others do as a category 5 storm comes barrelling toward the heart of florida? >> well, joe, i think governor scott's done a really good job at preparing people, giving them the information they need as have local officials. i'm down here watching tv and there's -- your show right now shows the line that everybody focuses on, but this storm whether you're to the east or we of the storm, is going to be hurricane force winds. and if you don't have a sturdy home, you should have evacuated.

if you're in the storm areas, you should have evacuated, but now it's a little late. people now need to prepare for what will be a devastating storm no matter where it goes, and as a governor, the focus needs to begin to shift on saving lives after the storl and begin -- storm and beginning the efforts to get the state pack on its feet as quickly as possible. power generation obviously is one element of that. making sure that gasoline gets into the retail outlets, making sure that the storms, the shelters are working and operational. all those things, governor scott is going to have a lot of work on his hands over the next few months? >> willie. >> governor, appreciate you being on this morning. we've got a missive population center in play here. if this storm tracks the way it looks and it holds, miami, the metro area, 5.5 million people

right in the center of this storm. what is your greatest concern there when you have a big city bearing the brunt? >> it's just the overwhelming destruction of infrastructure makes it harder to recover. and, look, these storms -- it's generally the case the most vulnerable are the ones that suffer the most. one of the things that i think is really important is to -- once your own family is secure, to make sure your neighbors are okay. there are a lot of people that just live their lives in isolation of one another, and the post storm time is for all of us not to say it's the government job. it's our job to make sure we take care of our family and our friends and our neighbors. you do that, and it gets a lot better, but this is going to be an overwhelming challenge, because of what you brought up which is this is a densely populated area. a lot of people that live in

poverty that are one paycheck away from having real problems. we won't have power. it means you won't have food. all of these things come into play, particularly for people who have little resources. and so this is a time for all of us to step up. >> former governor jeb bush, thank you very much. we'll all be praying for florida at this point. >> thanks a lot. moments ago fema said it's not a question of if florida will be impacted but how badly. we're going to check back in with bill karins for the latest track in just a moment. now to the crisis with north korea. and during his joint news conference with kuwait at the white house yesterday, president trump touched on his options for dealing with pyongyang. >> military action would certainly be an option. is it inevitable? nothing is inevitable. it will be great if something else could be worked out. we would have to look at all of

the details, all the facts, but we've had presidents for 25 years now. they've been talking, talking, talking, and the day after an agreement is reached, new work begins in north korea. continuation on nuclear. so i would prefer not going the rout of the military, but it's something that could happen. >> joining us now, bob woodward and richard hoss, and richard mcgregger. he has a new book, "asia's reckoning". david ignatius is still with us as well. joe, a lot of discussion about north korea in the past few

weeks. two options, and the question is are there any others? >> that's what we start with bob woodward on. bob, the president talks about how there's been 5 25 -- 25 years of talking with the north koreans. it's gotten us nowhere. if we talk for another two or three years and nothing positive happens and north korea has the ability to kill tens of millions of people on the west coast, possibly. so what is the third way between more talk that leads us nowhere and military action? >> first of all, i think there is a lot going on behind the scenes in the government on these so-called talks between north korean officials and former officials in the united states. we really shouldn't at this point given the monumental problem if there is a war, this would be -- i think in many

ways, trump is faced with one of the biggest decisions, a president might make in the last 70 years. so the third way is the negotiation track. and it's not something to abandon or disparage. there are drafts of letters flying around that are not official yet, suggesting that trump send a letter to the north korean leader saying let's sit down and talk. let's not be incumbered by the past history. >> what do we want from the north koreans that the north koreans will give us? we tried the carrot. we tried the stick for a quarter of a century, and we see now that they're in a position where they're going to be able to wipe out seattle if they choose to.

so what do they want that we can give that will make them stop this disastrous path they're on? >> i don't think anything, joe. it's not that the north koreans don't want things from us. they'd love to see sanctions reduced and a peace treaty that officially ends the korean war. they'd like to have diplomatic -- they want the sense that the regime is secure. but talking is not going to solve that. it's not going to get rid of their nuclear weapons and missiles. sanctions, no matter how much they're ramped up, are not going to persuade the north to get rid of their missiles. we can talk about third options but the answer is we're still coming down oh to the a choice of of one way or another living with or managing north korea that has some nuclear weapons and missiles that can reach us. or we're talking about using military force. but there's no solution that

will get rid of north korea's nuclear weapons and missiles? >> richard -- >> can i -- >> david ignatius, there's also another horrifying option, and that is that the north koreans o start selling tear nuclear technology to isis and other movements. they would love nothing more than plant a nuclear device in time's square and detonate it. >> reporter: that's one reason the continuation of the status quo is dangerous. i will just note that it's dangerous most of all for china. for china to have this very unstable, erratic, now nuclear power on its border, is i think more and more clearly the chinese leaders, a strategic liability and if there is a hidden dimension of the trump administration's policy, it's that they are talking almost every day with the chinese about

how to draw china more closely into a process that would eventually lead to a negotiation. you wouldn't begin with the issue of denuclearization as richard says, that's not going to happen right away. but there are back channels that are working now to pass messages as bob woodward said earlier, those are significant, the north koreans are asking questions about the u.s. positions on different issues, i think when president trump talks about military options, he's sending a message overwhelmingly to china. if you don't deal with us, help us deal with us, you are going to have your worst nightmare on your border, which is military conflict. >> richard mcgregor, you have written in your book about how limit thad policy can be, how limit thad stance can be with china. because they have a vested interest in some forth korean stability. explain that a little bit.

>> well, i mean, david is right to talk about north korea being a strategic liable to china. but, just look at it from one minute from the other side t. bigger pick sheer about the unwinding of all america'sa in east asia stept years at the end of the war. up with of the big legacies on the korean peninsula is of course the u.s. troops, 27, 28,000 troops are still there. can north korea be used by carolina in some respect or can north korea use it's own growing produce tore gain leverage in a way to sort of clear the korean peninsula of u.s. troops in i think in the back of the chinese mind, that's one thing when north korea can work for them there do you think there is any chance, for example, coin cuts off oil to north korea, as some have suggested? >> i don't think so. i mean, if they did cut off oil the first people that would suffer would be the north korean people t. north korean military will have stockpiles for a year,

a year-and-a-half and it's such a despottic society, they can just forget about other people and concentrate on military resources. >> so then i wonder, bob woodward, as we talk about this possible third path, isn't that in some ways being worked on right now and how do the decision-making patterns of this president play into this crisis escalating quickly? >> that's a great question. you and i, we were talking on the phone a couple of days ago and you referenced your late father father's jimmy carter's national security adviser. your late father always made the point when you establish a policy, you have to think about what are american interests and in you look at the possibility of some sort of war on the

korean peninsula, i mean, that swob so horrifying, there is no way it is in the interest of the united states to have that war. now, if you go to the intelligence people now and ask that question, what does kim want? there are some answers and it can get a little squishy and vague, but he wants respect. he wants some sort of engagement. a lot of people say he wants normalization of relations, it would be folley to take a path where you only have the choice of war to solve this problem. >> so richard haase, it seems that policy-makers starting with those inside the white house have to balance the horror of

war with the north koreans and what that means not only to americans but also to our allies there, hundreds of thousands of death, many people suggest, versus the concerns about hundreds of thousands of deaths again across america's west coast. if there is a third way, what is your recommendation if you've got the president's ear, if you got the white house' ear today? what would that recommend aics be? >> it's what it has been for the last seven, ache months. put forward a proposal where you try toy freeze north korean missile and nuclear weapons testing and we put on the table something we can live with, some combination of sanctions relief, perhaps adjustment downwards if our military exercises. i think otherwise, we're not going to solve this problem, at best, joe, we're being to have to live with it and manage it again where we have to essentially avoid having the

obvious possible war. we will have to live with exactly the risks you layout. >> can we live with those risks for north korea? >> well -- >> can we live with the risks of kim jong-un, somebody as unbalanced as him being able to reach soeshlths portland, los angeles with a nuclear weapon? >> it won't be that, if we don't stop tear production of warheads and missiles, they will increase the amount, the number of american citizens and cities they can hold at risk. that's why it will be a controversial decision between using force or living with that strategic risk you talk about. >> richard haase, bob woodward, thank you all, david ignacious, thank you all, david mcgregor, your book is "asia's reckoning, china and japan in the fate of the u.s. power in the pacific century" still ahead, we will speak live with mark meadows, he

reportedly had conversations with steve bannon about potentially replacing paul ryan as house speaker. and much more on hurricane irma. the storm triggers what could be one of the largest mass evacuations if u.s. history. we'll have the latest forecast for florida next on "morning joe." we come into this world needing others. then we are told it's braver to go it alone. ♪ that independence is the way to accomplish. ♪ but there is another way to live. ♪ a way that sees the only path to fulfillment- is through others. ♪ that our time here can be deep beyond measure. ♪ no one who chose interdependence

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carolinas the radar images show why. hurricane irma is barreling towards the united states and is on track to make a potentially catastrophic strike on florida this weekend. we want to get right to nbc meteorologist bill karins for the very latest. bill. >> reporter: mika, we are getting closer now, within 48 hours of the expected landfall and the impacts in south florida. today is the last day to make final preparations. once we get to saturday afternoon, it will be time to shelter in place as the storm approaches. let me show you what happened to the turks and caicos. that was the latest island to get hit by this category 5 storm overnight. it was a category 5 in the turks and caicos iechltd we'll find out later this morning when we get the picture how bad they were hit. so farce what we are dealing with here, it did go down to a 150-mile-per-hour wind. we're going down a little bit. this is still a horrendous

proceed, it's a catastrophic storm. it may even instead of weakening get a little stronger before landfall. we have hurricane warnings as you'd expect in south florida, bahamas, hurricane watches. these will be expanded later on today t. whipped field is huge, this is much bigger than andrew was t. tropical storm force winds are if yell loaf. now, if you get into tropical storm force winds, that's when you lose power, 70 miles per hour, you can get structural and roof damage and the serious stuff and life threatening stuff. that when you go through the eye ap the hurricane force winds, 185 miles wide from the center. florida is 140 miles wide, everybody will get the tropical storm force winds. so let's get to the actual forecast path. this the a 5:00 a.m. update the next will be 11 of the a.m. it halls it at 150-mile-per-hour

wind, sunday at 2:00 a.m. this is overnight into sunday morning landfall worse event. when the storm rises, it should be west over land already. when the sun rises, that's when we will have the worst damage, we have the cone of uncertainty, it could shift off the east or the west coast. we're just as vulnerable. it doesn't favor who will get it worse. a forecast in the middle. 48 hours to go. everybody from tampa, sarasota to ft. meyers, down into flawed, west palm and miami, everybody needs to be prepared in case the eye of the storm comes over you, again, it's only a shift of 20 to 30 miles makes all the difference. let's try to get into the what to expects. now we are getting close enough. down in the bahamas, with independent won't be that bad. it looks like the worst of the storm will stay to the south t. first really bad effects as i mentioned sunday morning the

peak of the storm, kindz winds can be 150 to 175 miles an hour with the gusts throughout the keys and areas of south florida. rainfall, not too concerned with na, we'll have minor issues with it. >> that storm surge up to 10 feet, maybe a little higher in some spots that will go into some homes and wash them pack into the ocean, further to the north, a lot of people have taken shelter, and kissimmee and around orange county here, a lot of hotel there is for the theme parks, you could get 100 mime per hour winds and dealing with rainfall at 18 to 16 inches on the coast the space coast is where we could see a storm surge of three-to-five feet. everyone that's into the orlando area you, yourself, will have to deal with power outages look you did with charlie many years back, further to the north and georgia, that tornado threat, we have to keep ap eye on that, that can always be a problem with land falling stmts, you get the picture here? it is just a dire zone, when 87

e everyone went to bed from miami to tampa, orlando, back up to jacksonville, we will see a lot of damage from this storm. we are trying to pinpoint who will get it who. >> bill, thank you so much. we will check in with you later this hour. with us here on "morning joe" we have political analyst mark halperin national affairs analyst for nbc news john heilemann and in walk, nbc news capitol hill correspondent casey hunt joins us, joe, this morning the pending strike from irma, the heavy toll left by hurricane harvey, weighing over capitol hill where the president is one chamber away from getting the first major deal of his administration, today the house votes on a plan that guarn tees nearly $8 million in hurricane harvey aid, raises the debt ceiling and continues the budget for the next three months, it's easily cleared the senate

yesterday with 17 votes again all from republicans. >> what we're doing is turning them onto the highest flow and turning the backs on the swamps and shouting there is nothing to see here. that's what we are doing here. we are doing the opposite of driening the swamp today. your constituents know that chuck schumer, whose title is minority leader, not majority leader, just made himself the most powerful man in america for the month of december. chuck schumer and nancy pelosi now have most of the card for when we get to december. this is an embarrassing moment for a republican-controlled coming and a republican administratio administration. the long term certainly we need

and democrats have that. other than that the president has the deal. >> does the president still have the party here? >> i think he did what was right and he didn't talk to a lot of peopl people. >> calls for senate majority chuck leader and nancy pelosi thursday morning, trump raved about the positive news coverage it received according to people familiar with the calls. he seemed very pleased with his decision. trump specifically mentioned tv segments praisings the deal and indicated he had been watching in a call with schumer. later in the day, during a meeting the president referred to the democrating lead, by name as they looked ahead to a new chapter of bipartisanship. >> we had a great meeting yesterday with senator schumer

and nancy pelosi, it was a very bipartisan meeting. we could have done a longer deal. >> that would have affected the military as you know, we kept it for three months because of the military. we have a great respect for the sajtty of the debt ceiling and chuck does, nancy does, we all do. i thought it was a very, very friendly meeting we all wanted to get together and do something. i think the primary reason was because you look at north korea. you look at the hurricanes, what's going on in the meet, and i said, frankly, it's time that we walk out and shake hands and have a deal and they agreed, i will tell you, there was a lot of spirit in that room a. lot of good spirit. >> willie, this is something we talked about yesterday. you look at what's happening with north korea, with irma, you look at what's happened, of course, out in texas, the debt

ceiling fight, all the other things lined up in front of this congress and this president, i think getting a couple things out of the inbox is pretty necessary moving forward. i do agree with benefit sass, it is embarrassing for the republican congress. this is a republican congress that had been promising to repeal obamacare for seven years and neither chamber had the votes at the end to do a deal that both could agree on. so at that point, what do you do but actually find vote somewhere if you want to make things happen in washington? >> i think that's exactly the right point, joe, people yesterday said the president of the united states was so frustrated, annoyed and angry a republican-controlled coming couldn't get through its signature promise during campaign to repeal and replace obamacare, he said if you can't get that done, i will go another way. by the way, as we watched the president speakers went a

thought bubble over mike pence's head, as he talked about his new buddy thes. i understand why republicans feel left out of the process, why they feel democrats have the leverage in december. but for automatic people in washington and all the people like us on tv who have lamented the days of 2i7 and ronald getting together and bipartisanship to get a deal done. that what happened a couple days ago. the democrats got together with the republican president to get something done to help people in tngs. >> it seems likes idea locks on both side didn't get. that even liberals who have been saying we need to get both sides together. we don't need the government to shut down. we don't need the debt ceiling. it's almost like this happened and they, a lot of people didn't know what to do with themself, everybody has gone to their corners for so long that when you actually have a republican president and democratic leaders talking towing, it still doesn't

register, but i'll say it again, for americans who are like running to pick up their kids from school and ten running home and then running back to work and they just hear on the news, republican president got together with democratic leaders, to make sure that america doesn't default news, in side news, republicans are mad, turn offer the. >> reporter: ill that go, we're glad washington is finally working. >> yeah, absolutely. and that's what donald trump thought as he read the newspapers yesterday morning, he talked to nancy and chuck, did you see the coverage we're get sfg we struck a deal? i reached across the aisle it said on the front page of the new york post and the "new york times" the question to sui whether this deal is a seen of more collaboration between trump and the democrats, case in point, 'surprised by the president tweeting yesterday morning, for all of those daca that are concerned about your status during six-month period, you have nothing to worry about,

no action! apparently during the morning call yesterday between the president and house minority leader nancy pelosi, pelosi asked the president to reassure the children of up documented immigrants and he did with that tweet. >> he called this morning, i said, thanks for calling this is what we need, the people really need a reassurance from you, mr. president, that the six month period is not a period of round up. boom, boom, boom the tweet appeared, so that was good. >> boom, boom, boochl. yesterday, president trump and senate minority leader chuck schumer perceived a deal that congress repeatedly reach the debt ceiling. they report the idea was discussed at their oval office meeting on wednesday. trump and schumer along with house minority leader nancy pelosi reportedly agreed to work together in the coming months to finalize a plan t. white house

said trump has encouraged congressional leaders to find a more permanent solution. mark halperin, that's obviously a very unpopular idea to conservative republicans, they want to have to raise the debt ceiling to control spending. >> let's talk about this idea the president liking the coverage. one thing we know about the president he likes good coverage. >> who doesn't? >> this will get good coverage if he works with democrats for as far as the eye can see, produce more liberal policy, which a lot of people in the media like. it produces a clang in the story line, way lot of people like t. establishment media likes bipartisanship over medology. it could go on for a good long time. he will get more coverage, the press likes covering failure. we are getting stuff done, so i think that through halloween he works with democrats and beyond, he can get positive coverage and respond and they can't stop him

from working with the democrats. it's easy for him now to work with them. >> still ahead, does freedom caucus mark meadows have a new idea for house speaker? we will ask him when he joins us live. later from the democrats, a comingman, we will talk to about the gripeing about nancy pelosi has died down in light of that deal she helped broker with the president. plus, steve kornacki, eugene robinson, susan page jim vand high join the political roundtable. you are watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. stay with me, mr. parker. when a critical patient is far from the hospital, the hospital must come to the patient. stay with me, mr. parker. the at&t network is helping first responders connect with medical teams in near real time... stay with me, mr. parker. ...saving time when it matters most. stay with me, mrs. parker. that's the power of and.

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>> the swamp is in full control as far as we're all concerned, all right. both sides. >> so is the president a part of the swamp now? is that what you believe? >> no, he couldn't get what he wanted done. >> you don't like him because he couldn't trust the republican leadership, so i will work with

these guys? >> i within go that far. i would say the swamp is win physical terms of the forgotten man. >> a freedom caucus member, speaking with chuck todd yesterday. now the washington post reports that members of the freedom caucus are weighing a challenge to speaker paul ryan. the paper says that for weeks the group's leader congressman mark meadows of north carolina has been meeting with ousted white house chief strategist steve ban none at the capitol hill office of ban none's website breitbart in conversation with friends and associates, bannon reportedly described the potential move against ryan as the giving of a war against the republican establishment. and with us now is the aforementioned chairman of the house freedom caucus republican congressman mark meadows. good to have you on board. thank you. >> it's great to be with you. thank you. >> have you been having meetings with steve been bonn and does

paul ryan need to go? >> no, i can tell you, i've had conversations with steve ban none, reince priebus, both within the last 48 hours or so. and i can tell that you we're laser-focused not on a leadership change but making sure that we change washington, d.c. yesterday we had a meeting with the speaker in a cross-sectional meeting, which brings in all the leadership of the different caucuses, probably the best cross-sectional meeting we've had. it's all about making sure we change it on behalf of the american people, so a lot of the focus is on leadership, really where the focus needs to be is on doing what we said we would do, that's delivering on the trump agenda to make sure we give washington, d.c. back to its rightful owner and that's what we're committed to do. >> joe. >> so, congressman, do you feel like the president betrayed the freedom caucus? do you feel like he betrayed conservatives with his deal with the nancy pelosi and chuck

schumer yesterday? >> no, the president wasn't given a whole lot of options, joe, you have been here, you know how this place works. i understand you would have been a freedom caucus member before there was a freedom caucus member, we will give you an honorary member. >> you guys are a little moderate for me, go ahead. >> i'm glad to hear that, here's the thing is, because of the hurricane relief, there wasn't a whole lot of options, when you look at this you either had an 18-month clean debt limit or what was agreed to, a three-month clean debt limit. so when given two bad options, obviously, you can't be too critical of anybody, but i can tell you what it was, was really our grass roots are very confused. they're saying, is this the president going to cut deals with democrats from here on out? and i would suggest that that's not the case and that's based on talking not only to the president but also talking to

speaker ryan and others, this was a unique situation because of the devastation in texas, hopefully, we can put forth some conservative ideas soon, joe. >> so obviously the frustration mark has to do a lot with the president. it has to do with the fact that republicans have promised to repeal obamacare for seven years and they weren't able to get the votes to do it in their own caucus, alex or ep put together a clip of things we have been saying a trpd table for the past four months. i want you to tell me how republicans get past this problem. go ahead, run the clip. >> sure. >> the more they gave in to the freedom caucus the more they were linkedinment going to lose from main stream republicans? the freedom caulk success not going to support an expansion of medicaid. in the senate, good luck getting the republican senate to support anything that guts the medicaid portion of this bill. it's just not going to happen. >> whatever the senate passes with democrats is going to lose the freedom caucus in the house. >> they want to go further

right. there is no way mitch mcconnell's senate would ever pass that in a billion years. >> so, mark, if you didn't have a monitor, that's me with a lot of different ugly hairstyles and jackets, basically saying the same thing, which is the further, especially on medicaid, that's where the rubber hits the road. if medicaid is expanded, it's really tough for guys leak you and other people in the freedom caucus to support it. so the question is, instead of meeting with ban none, shouldn't you be sitting down with lisa murkowski and john mccain and susan collins an say, okay, do we want to physical this out or do we want nancy pelosi and chuck schumer to figure this out? >> well, maybe breaking news on two fronts, one your hairstyle is better than tray dowdy. we'll give you that. >> oh, god that is damming with praise if i've ever heard it. >> but we'll go with the second part of that and up with of the

interesting things is the only thing that has passed the house was actually something that was worked on with more moderate members with the freedom caucus, john macarthur and i coming toke to put something forward we passed out in the house, as it relates to medicaid and working on some of those issues, i probably have had a meeting with no less than 12 different senators. the most promising thing right now, joe, is senator lindsay frame and cassidy working on a block grant issue that deals with that medicaid portion. it doesn't repeal all the tax, it gives power pack to the states, allows most of the state, if not all of the states to do better on that medicaid portion. so even though that may be the narrative that plays out in and plays real well with some of your viewers, i can tell you that it doesn't match the facts here oak. i was working on medicaid expansion issue with steve danes, probably six months ago, so it's all about, yes, coming together and making sure that we

do it. but, yet, my district is very different than perhaps lisa murkowski stay or susan collins' stay, but in that give-and-take you have to find the pete is spot. i'm optimistic you can do that. >> congressman med co-s, it's willie geist. let me ask you about speaker ryan, those meetings you have with him. i know you like him, i know you respect him. >> i did. >> we can get that out of the way. as a speaker trying to push through a conservative agenda, do you believe paul ryan has been an effective speaker of the house? >> i think, here's the interesting thing, as an effective speaker the only thing can you judge that on is results. one of my favorite quotes is no mat how beautiful the strategy, we must occasionally look at the results. and the results and the time remaining for that jury are i to make a judgment call on those results is running out. so we got about two or three months to make real decisions.

i believe the speaker is up to the task. i know members of the freedom caucus and the tuesday group and every group in between is willing to work with him on that, but we have to do that and make sure that we put things on the president's desk. ki tell you my constituents don't understand why we didn't have a repeal and replacement deal on the president's desk on january 20th. we have been talking about it for a long time. it's all about making decisions, getting, you know, really getting that time frame shortened and i'm hopeful based on a meeting even as recent as yesterday that we will do that. >> congressman, you talk about results. there haven't been results. >> that seems to be the indication. is the reporting accurate that you and members of your group and the freedom caucus have been putting out feelers for a new speaker the names newt gingrich and rick santorum put out? are you all looking to recruit a new speaker? >> i can tell you, there is no plan, there is nothing there and i can tell you, that i was working on a plan to depose the

speaker. you wouldn't be reading about it in the press. and so, you know, at this point the american people could care less who the leaders are of the republican senate majority or in the house. they care about one thing, getting things done. and to that end, it's not just about the speaker's job, it's about my job. if we don't get it done, we're all going to be sent home. so it's critical we deliver on those campaign promises. >> roger that. john heilman i have to correct one thing, one caveat to the congressman said, somebody did actually work with a group of people to depose a speaker, several years ago you would be reading in the press to depose newt gingrich and lindsay would be outside, there's a secret meeting. well, i don't know. >> i can tell you on any too many i have been involved, you haven't read about it in the press until after it's happened.

so that's a point well taken. >> that's because lindsey graham is not in your group. >> that explains it. john heilemann has a question for you. >> sure, john. >> congressman it seems like maybe the centerpiece of getting things done will be tax reform him i'm curious what your broad thoughts about what that bill should look like and if there are any non-negotiable items, things that must be in that bill for you and your colleagues to be satisfied? >> well, we had a meeting yesterday and with the speaker yesterday. in terms of lines in the sand, we got to be very, very aggressive in our corporate rates so if we're looking at a corporate rate of 25%, that's a non-starter for most of us. we have to make sure that the hard working american taxpayers, that they get the break, too, not just special interest groups. we need to make sure that those momss and dads that need to put

money back in their pocket that it flows through to them. lastly, i think the biggest part of that is making sure we are competing globally to make sure that base erosion as you would call it, where multinationals are not going abroad, they're creating good paying, high paying jobs in the united states, all of those things are principles him i don't know worry that far apart in talking to our leadership and the leadership in the west wing, we're very close, the real fly in the ointment right now is making a decision and getting the senate on board, hopefully we can do that in the coming weeks. >> congressman, we always us appreciate how calm you are and how smooth. but i'm totally baffled. why are you not freaked out or are you secretly freaked out by the president striking a deal with chuck schumer and nancy pelosi. how can this not freak you out, a republican handed a huge amount of lever annual of major spending issues and immigration

issues to nancy pelosi and chuck schumer? how could you not be here in a freaked out mode? i don't get it. >> i don't get sfreek e freaked out much about anything, what's incumbent on me is to come up with a plan to make sure i get back in control of the situation. so obviously is december 15th or th the date that was cut a negotiating disadvantage for me? without a doubt. does it concern me? sure, it concerns me, but the other part of that is, is the unique situation. remember, in order for anything to come through, it has to be brought to the floor with the speaker of the house or the leader of the senate in this situation you have hurricane relief that would prompt a bill that would normally not be supported by conservatives in the house being brought forth. i don't see that happening. if there is another super storm or something like that in december, perhaps it creates a different issue. right now i think this is more of a one off than a trend that we're going to be looking at

going forward. >> congressman mark meadows, thank you, today we understand is your nimplts we appreciate your coming in. congratulations. >> thank you. appreciate it. thank you. >> all right. up next, a no nonsense judge overseeing the trial of senator bob menendez, nbc's steve kornacki joins our table, plus, jim vand high, his colleague reports the president was quote hate watching "morning joe" the morning after striking that deal with democrats and was -- >> it happens. >> i'm not saying this. i can't say that. >> no, it happens, done say it. we'll be right back with more "morning joe." thank you so much for being with us today. dad: molly, can you please take out the trash? (sigh) ( ♪ )

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tliv past the hour. joining us national correspondent for nbc news and ms nbc steve kornacki and associate editor of the washington post, you jean robnson, co-founder of axios jim vand high and walk chief to usa today susan page. we will get to jean's column. i want to get to menendez, you

write this trump's betrayal of the republican leaders should surprise anyone? does it surprise anyone he betrayed the republican leaders who have been trying their best to carry water for him on capitol hill and playing footsie with their democratic rivals? it shouldn't. one thing that should be plindingly obvious by now, is that political loyalty for the president is a one-way street. ryan and mcconnell have no one to blame but themselves, trump is many things, but he is not nor has he ever been a committed republican. he seized control of the party in a hostile takeover, his campaign positions on trade health care entitlements and other issues bore no resell balance to gop orthodoxy. he has instinct, some oddious, what we can intute about his race and culture, his world feed was transaction am, six am, fought idea lodge cam. and i feel like we have been saying these things throughout the campaign as well.

>> yeah, and before. >> he won. there are people who voted for him that we fully respect and understand, but it actually doesn't match what's happening in washington from no, it doesn't. and you know, if you look at what's happened in washington, from his point of view, he's dpoot republican majorities in the house and the senate, who have been saying long before he started saying it really, repeal and replace obamacare. we got to get rid of it. these are the reasons why we have to do it. they go through this whole rigamarole. first they deliver union idea that's not his idea of health care. then the senate can't deliver anything. and so here he s. so what's he going to do? how he's continue fronted with the debt ceiling situation. which i think he does understand how ridiculous it is, and so, you eknow, he says, well, let's try it this way. is this to punish mitch and paul by hanging out with the cool new

kids chuck and nancy or is this a sign of a broader and longer lesson strategy? and i got no idea on that. >> joe. >> yes. so, jim vandehigh, people have been talking about bipartisanship for the past 200 years. is it a good thing? do you believe many writers think it's a good deal struck on hurricane relief and the debt ceiling. >> there is no doubt to get that out of the way. congress was going to get the funding done for the hurricane victims. you got to get rid of the debt limits. it rattles the markets and gets fixed anyways. what is interesting is trump was on cloud nine yesterday, he was so jazzed. he watched others, he saw people praiseing him, chuck schumer was jacked up. nancy pelosi asked him to tweet something positive about daca.

he does it. it's like a movie t. guy is just loving the last 24 hours. so is this a long-term strategy? i'm with you, you jean? who knows he likes the instant gratification of the results he's getting. >> and the language with the rex tillerson there, it's fantastic? watch, he is going to try to do it on immigration, he will try to do what president obama couldn't do and get a permanent solution for the kids here, because their parents came here illegally. he's going to do it with democrats. he's basically boxed himself in. he has to do it. he september out a tweet saying we have to fix it. now he has to fix it. he thinks he has leverage to get a wall. he has no lever annual. he finds himself in a box to get that done. i think people like that result very much. >> conservatives skeptical from donald trump the minute he came down the escalator as a republican and thought his whole conservative routine was, in fact, an act during the campaign and he would sort of think of

during an interview what was the conservative thing he was supposed to say. i'm thinking of that interview with chris matthews, he said, you think women who had aabortion should be punished? he said yes it should be because he heard that. those people are saying, yes, of course, what happened this week happened. he's not a principle core conservative. he goes with the wind. he wants to make a deal. he wants to look good from the press, nobody should be surprised he sided with the dra itself. >> during the primaries, it was not an act. i think it fit the politics at the moment. he's in a different situation right now. say he septembers daca. that would suit the september imt of about three-quarters of americans to allow these kids to stay in this country legally. so that is the kind of third party president. there was always the potential for donald trump to be, given the base of his support that is devoted to him personally, not

is much him on policy, although there are a few policy issues they care about. politically this pages all the sen in the world. >>. >> well, you know, for the first time in seven-and-a-half month i agree with susan, his actions make political sense, where he's doing what 75, 80% of americans want their president to, do whether it's on d.r.e.a.m.ers. whether it's on fought building the wall. you look at the polls and again this is the first time he hasn't been playing that 33% gain. so, yeah, he makes a lot of sense that the rewards would be, remember how he said, if you cope sticking your hand on a stove, it's going to keep getting burned. this is doing the opposite. this is doing what two-third, three-fourths of americans want you to do. ? steve kornacki, i'm sure donald trump would think it would be a lot more helpful instead of 52

senators, republican senators perhaps 53. could that happen in the next couple of weeks? >> well, i think it's unlikely, you are talking about the situation with bob menendez, he's on trial, if you look at the weight of the everyday the prosecution put forward, there is a decent likely hd he won't be long for the u.s. senate, obviously chris christie, the republican senator in new jersey, theoretically would replay menendez the interest is timing. chris christie's second term is up. he can't seek re-election, le will be out of the office by the second week of january. if he were to get a conviction of menendez in the near term future the challenge, i'm almost sure he would do this and democrats in the senate would have his pack in doing this, could he hang on for a couple months until a democrat becomes governor of new jersey? the democrat runing is 30, 35 points ahead, barely even a race in new jersey, to the extent there is a precedent on this,

you can find a precedent for anything the last senator convicted of bribery was 36 years ago, in new jersey, in the same senate seat, harrison williams, he was convicted in april of '81, he resigned in the spring of '82, he hanged to hold on a year, if that's a precedent at all. i think dra itself can get menendez the hang on a few months. >> do you think it looks look he will get convicted? >> the parallel is the case with bob mcdone and. he dependent convicted and got it tossed out. basically the judge ruled he needed to have a clearer connection between the actions of the election e elected official took and the favors that were done. in menendez' case the volume of favors were a lot bigger, the volume of action were bicker. >> mika the president is tweeting. if you look at this video. >> what did he say? >> he is making a point since we made at 3:00. previously. he says, republicans, sorry, but i have been hearing about repeople and replace seven

years, didn't happen. even worse to send a filibuster rule. worry waiting for the second part of that. too. >> say say. >> joe, that's exactly what we said at the top of the show. donald trump made a decision he's been trying for seven months to get something done with the leader scholarship of paul ryan and mitch mcconnell. he said i gave you time to get this repealed and replace. it should be easy, you couldn't get it didn't. so i'm going to my buddies, chuck and nancy. >> oy. >> if they have the votes on the hill, whether donald trump spent the first eight months in the south of france or he was in the white house really didn't matter. they have nobody to blame but themselves they have been promising it for seven years, mark meadows is exactly right, his constituents are exactly right. >> that i should have had the repeal and replace bill on donald trump's desk on january 20th, 2017, instead, here we are

seven-and-a-half month has las e months later, no deal done. let's turn to donald trump jr.'s meet income june 2016 with the russian lawyer and some other people n. his prepared remarks before meeting with senate investigators yesterday, donald trump jr. said he was interested in the offer of russian sourced research on hillary clinton, but he insists he did in the collude. quote, to the extent they had information concerning he in theness, character or qualifications of a presidential candidate, i believed that i should at least hear them out. >> joining us now from capitol hill, a member of the house permanent select committee on intelligence democratic congressman from california. >> good morning. >> good morning. >> so what do you make of what donald trump jr. said about why he went to that meeting?

>> it's time for donald trump jr. and the trump family to come clean about what was the prologue and what what was the epilog with their relationships with russians. so far, it seems like if you are talk about the relationships with russians, it's that side effects may include complete memory loss. because from jared kushner to now donald trump jr., there is a lack of recall that fits into a larger pattern of failing to disclose and then when acknowledged or when confronted by overwhelming evidence, they team to have no memory of what occurred. >> congressman, do you think that americans are going to be able hear donald trump jr. make these explain aches in public? do you think he will be forced into public testimony addressing request es from senators or others? >> i think they should. the best way to get to the bottom of this would be i believe public testimony. he doesn't have any classified

information to offer to intelligence summits. so there is really no need from my perspective to have him testify in public and have that sort of shield. >> change mop, i'm curious what you make of your party leader, nancy pelosi, striking this deal with donald trump. i know the theme of the democratic base is resist, resist, resist, your leaders are cutting a deal with them. >> reporter: it's the right thing to do. we have to keep it opened and provide relief in harvey's way. we also have the energy of the american people behind us. we have a very weakened president so despite being in the minority, you will see a majority of republicans will vote keeping government opened, which puts us if a much better position to act on behalf of our constituents. >> could he finish his thought? >> it looked like the president finished his thought the senate

filibuster rule will never allow them to pass. eight dems control will get 60 votes, it's a repug death wish writes the president. >> fantastic. all right. congressman thank you very much. >> ply pleasure. coming up, we'll have more on hurricane irma heading to florida. we'll be right back. for the holidays, we get a gift for mom and dad. and every year, we split it equally. except for one of us. i write them a poem instead! and one for each of you too!

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this is a complex forecast. anybody from alabama to north carolina should be watching this storm very closely. it's not a question of if florida will be impacted, it's a question of how bad florida is dwoipg to be impacted. i can guarantee you i don't know anybody in florida that's ever experienced what's about to hit south florida. >> fema this morning warning how severe irma is expected to be when it makes landfall in florida. as that storm heads to the eastern seaboard we'll get a live report from on the ground in texas as home owners there return to their battered

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as hurricane irma barrels toward florida, texas still reeling from the devastation of hurricane harvey with thousands of homes still under water. particularly in small towns. lewis bergdorf went to one of the hardest hit areas. heres a a look. >> reporter: just outside of beaumont, this small town of rose city still submerged you were water. many of the residents even today unable to come home to pick up the pieces. >> i am more fortunate than 70% of the people from this point that way who have nothing to salvage. >> i know they're going to be

devastated when they see this, they think ghoek in there and save something, but i don't think there's anything in there you can save. >> reporter: you lost a lot. >> like i said, i now have from this home for 21 years, i have two bags. two bags. >> i really don't think it's hit me yet. today's our first day we're allowed to come back. here we are totally wiped out. i of been through this before so i know what i'm look forward to. i think that helps you the process too. if you experienced it -- i experienced it right here in the same house. i can't believe there's mold already. the bible. nobody expected this. nobody. >> i've never been whooped by a name harvey and i'm not going to now. i went to my house. i saw it. the american flag was still flying. i took it down and i put it on my boat. that's what we're about. >> a lot of memories gone, but

we're going to get through it. we had home own ears insurance. we didn't have flood insurance. total we have six kids in there that lost everything. >> everybody was so worried about houston, you know, pause it was so bad there that nobody realized, well, hey, it's real huh bad here too. >> i took, you know, a change of clothes for the kids, and that's all i took. >> this is your driveway. >> yeah. looks like a bayou, doesn't it. we saved up far long time to buy a motor home. bought that nice 35-foot, and to superstorm sandy it under water like that is just sickening. it was a beautiful property. oh my god. >> this is your photos, you're trying to dry them out. >> these are our photos. wedding pictures, you know? this is a very meaningful moment to me. i mean, even when i saw that they pulled that out, i thought, wow, that's great. we only got two girls and i'm

glad to still have them. >> you have all walks of life, all color, all race and folks are coming in and pitching in and helping folks out. >> we are one. we are americans. and we're all texans. we're not divided by state lines, county lines, city lines. everybody needs everybody. >> at this time, as we look ahead to yet another ravaging storm, joe, final thoughts this morning. >> we look at these pictures and louis really showed us how you can talk about category 5s and the number of people, all the number of people affected and how much it costs but it's the personal stories. this is gene, as you know, being from the south a coastal state, every loss is a personal tragedy. people losing everything they've

ever had including pictures of their children when they're young, wedding pictures. so many sad stories out there, but a silver lining and really seeing people coming together. >> yeah. that's white about. as you watch that hurricane -- i was looking this week at the pictures from those caribbean islands, it seems far away, we associate those places with, you know, sand and sun and then you look at the devastation and you realize every single destroyed house that looks like a bunch of sticks now, that's somebody's life. that's somebody's family. and that's somebody's future. >> jim vandehei. >> one of the things that gets lost in our shared obsession with politics is in times like this, like that story pointed out, it's a sad toir, but it's kind of remarkable that most people do do the right thing when it's hard. and i think that gets lost because we sit here looking at a couple political figures who

don't, but most do. >> steven kornacki. >> thinking of my cousin in miami who's right now planning to stay. i'm thinking of people like him town there right now. you think of harvey last week, don't take a chance. >> head out. susan page. >> it also is a reminder even if you believe in small government there are times when people rely on the state and the local and the federal government to be functional when there's crisis and they need help. >> all right. that does it for us this morning. we're praying for florida. stephanie ruhle picks up the coverage right now. >> thanks, mika. thanks, joe. good morning. i'm stephanie ruhle. we of got breaking news. irma crushing the caribbean, killing at least 17 people. now a category 4. the massive storm taking aim at the state of florida. >> it is wider than our entire state and could cause major life-threatening impacts from coast to coast. >> panicked americans try to get out of the path of the storm but