♪ add-on advantage. discounted hotel rates when you add on to your trip. only when you book with expedia. you are looking at live pictures battering the east coast as the carolinas facing strong winds and steep storm surges. it is a slow moving storm that could sit over the region for days causing major flooding. we'll go to bill karen just a moment to get a live report from the coast. normally a hurricane making land fall would be the loan focus of the morning. this morning, there are multiple breaking news stories that we are also covering. paul manafort may be closing on

a plea deal with robert mueller. plus, a top senate democrat shakes up the supreme court confirmation process. diane feinstein gave the fbi information about brett kavanaugh but she's not saying what it is. one after another, homes in massachusetts went up in flames as gas line explosions tore through several communities. what caused it? could it happen again? and the story that has us out of the studio this morning. here we are in oxford, mississippi, today for a closer look at the not one but two senate races down here that could and won very real possible scenario decides the balance of power in the senate. we have many of the candidates on the show live this morning. we'll hear from the voters as well. some newscafascinating answers trump supporters in a conversation that we had

yesterday we are going to play for you. and also is there a football game or something? >> i don't know. >> the football game. >> vanny at notre dame? >> no, it is alabama and old miss. >> it is going to be impossible to keep joe from talking about. it is one of those days here on "morning joe." a ton is happening all at once and we'll get to all of it. we are live in oxford, mississippi, mississippi is a state no danger to the devastating effects of the hurricanes. on the gulf side seeing the likes of hurricane katrina ravaged the state. let's get to the storm. this may be just the beginning. despite a mandatory evacuation

order. the city of new bern has recorded more of 10 feet. officials tweeted over night at least 150 people were awaiting rescue and warned residents, you may need to move up to the second story or to your attic but we are coming to get you. nearly 5 million people could see 10 inches of rain over the next few days. some areas could see up to nearly 3.5 feet. >> bill, so a couple of days ago, we heard this is going to be a category three or four storm, it hits land and it is a category one and winds are down. of course, still a great chance of a lot of flooding. tell us what's going on. >> it is all about the water. the winds are doing their thing and it is causing damage right

now. we just had a wind gust of 84 miles per hour. as bad as it is going to get right now with the winds. we got strong winds that's why we have 200,000 people plus without power. the water issues as we go throughout the day. here comes the land fall over the next hour or two hours or so. right around top topsil beach. the high tide that's expected around 11:00 a.m. this morning. they already broke the record at midnight for the highest water levels i have seen topping hazel back at 1954. this one is expected to be higher. that's one of the developing stories. over night new bern area, 10 feet storm surge and well in land of the water there. here is the new bern area.

they sent this image out of where the water was located when they were at 10 feet. you can see the water is spilled into town. that's where they have people being rescued and people are still waiting. we know and we heard there are people that are at rooftops that are awaiting forest cu rescues. those rescues are taken place right now and responders have been out there all night long. it is a slow jog north of myrtle beach. we'll follow the storm micah. one of our computers said we only have 28 more inches to go. the flooding in north carolina is going to last into the middle of next week. >> we'll get live report from

the coast. bill karins. thank you very much. >> let's introduce our panels, i believe you are an alabama fan, right? elise jordan. >> i am 30 minutes away from home. >> we brought you home elise. eddie glaud is with us and mike barnicle is with us on wellington road and wily has the top political story this morning. >> hold on. eddie, another mississippi guy. >> which by the way, speaking of hurricanes, we would come over from pensacola for about everyday africa trinter katrina you feel for the people. >> absolutely. >> it is frightening. >> like you, i have lived

through three others. it is a horroring experience. >> this one looks like it is going to set up shops over the weekend. >> the flooding going through and not reaching its peak until tuesday. sometimes we get to the category system and you wake up thinking it is cat one and it is not the case as all. >> the power of water. >> yeah. >> and eddie, it appears that i have three choices of mississippi jersey to wear. >> i think you look nice. >> i picked the one that's offensive to you >> i love oxford. >> i am a mississippi state fan. >> mississippi state fan and don't forget jackson state. >> so i had four choices and i picked up. >> you will be able to go home wearing that? >> yeah, i can go home wearing it. >> i will be wearing it in alabama. i want to show everybody i am

wearing crimson tide colors tomorrow. >> this is the prelude. >> president trump is facing criticism from democrats and several republicans this morning after questioning the number of deaths attributed to hurricane maria last year. an apparent tweet yesterday morning, the president wrote, 3,000 people did not die in the two hurricanes in puerto rico. when i left the island, they had anywhere from 6 to 18 deaths. the president argued the report puts the death tolls of 3,000 was done by democrats to make him look bad. rick stcott verified yesterday. i disagree with potus.

>> a lot of huge races in florida. you are looking at the governor race and senate race in florida, florida, florida. >> absolutely. >> puerto rico is a huge issue in the state of florida whether it is republicans or democrats or in central florida. when you see rick scott coming out and when you see paul ryan coming out and when you see, of course, the governor of puerto rico who's really trying his best to be as positive towards the president through this whole process everyone thoun though t president is --it is causing the republican of the state of florida discomfort. >> that's a central issue with the governor's race coming up snoch. >> they're americans. >> thaey're going to vote.

>> top republicans on capitol hill offering mixed reactions to the president's tweet. >> i was in puerto rico, it was devastated. i have no reason to dispute those numbers. those are the facts of what happens when a horrible hurricane hits an isolated place like the islands. >> it was a tragedy and difficult problem for all of us here in the country. we should do everything we can to help people in those kinds of circumstances. >> i would hope he's not saying that democrats are blamed for the death toll. there has been a rush of trying to mistake a katrina moment for the president to say that was toxic for president bush how he handled the storm so let's see if we can do that to president trump as well. >> well, ei don't know the numbr of deaths but certainly it was

more than 16. there is certainly a difference of 16 and 3,000. i don't know who picked the number 3,000, i would like to know more. >> the white house puts out the statement. the president says every death frs hurricane maria is a horror. president trump was responding to the liberal media and san juan mayor who sadly have tried to exploit the devastation by pushing out a constant tropical storm hermine of missing information. >> that was an independent study conducted by george washington university and it is unclear why the president wants to dredge up the story that was horrible for the people of puerto rico and not a good one for the president. >> it goes back to the central theme that it is all about donald trump. no matter how many people died

or how many people and families have been affected by a horrific tragedy, he brings it back to how it makes him feel. that's very sad. it is a very sad moment for our country. >> mike, republicans have an uphill battle for this fall. >> thank you. >> yes, the president's approval numbers are back down in the 30s. we got double digit congressional ballot test and intensity up there. everyday republicans on capitol hill at least the ones that i am talking to or others haelping hm campaign wishes that he would stay away. like this florida races, it is tough. >> i stop reading most of them. if you are a republican trying to get elected especially in the state of florida, the president just put you behind the eight balfour the entire news cycle. >> let's say i am running in the

state of mississippi, you got a good economy. unemployment is down and the future looks brighter than today does and all of a sudden the president of the united states proves once again that he's a very small man. >> yes. >> a lot of people and republicans and democrats and independence, you eventually get tired of the tweets and you get tired of being tired of his sense of victimization. it is always all about him. >> i also think that what we learned of the conversation that we had in knox ford of the wonderful dpr wonderful group here. >> a lot of trump supporters. >> pat, she said bless your heart. >> i got to wink. >> she got a wink. >> it was like one of those -- >> the wake is a night twisted.

>> micah, you are a yankee. the center of this presidency is maybe what you said but also on the truth being so devalued that everything is in question. former president joe biden also weighed in on the president's claim of the death toll as a result of puerto rico. that was on the topic of labor in the economy. biden mocked trump for his comments. >> my dad had an expression for real, he used to say, joey, don't compare me to the all mighty but the alternative. i guess that's the only reason i am looking okay these days because of the alternatives.

by the way, there are no problems in america, everybody is doing well and things are fair and decent and no one died in puerto rico. >> eddie, we are talking about puerto rico this morning. it matters and it is going to matter in the state of florida. there is a hurricane that's crashing on shore in north carolina. that's what a lot of people are concerned about. we think back past the hurricanes, the failure of george h.w. bush in south andrew and in florida caused him dearly and we know katrina and what that caused george w. bush. i am not sure where puerto rico fit in there. you have several studies where thousands of people have died and republicans are saying thousands of people have died and just seems that somebody can get to the president and say if

anything, just do no harm. let these republicans run their races without you making it h harder for them everyday. we are in the fight of our lives, mr. president. if they lose, nancy flpelosi is going to have the power of subpoena. >> you would think that. i tend to hold a view that donald trump struggles to be decent. that's about as generous as i can say it. this moment to lack empathy and think of the disaster that's burying down on the carolinas and not think about that and instead think about whether we are here to blame the disaster that happened in puerto rico suggests that kind of

narcissium. when you read the book or the stuff, you think the administration is dysfunctional and you combine that dysfunction with the i am pempending disast. he's talking about who's the 16 and we know close to 3,000 people died. i am worried and with others whether or not they are prepared to deal with this. >> what this is a lot like is the entire question of russia and collusion. i think the president is finally cracking the code over a year and a half because -- if you talk about russia interference in the election, he would say no collusion and there was no such thing and now most of his top aides were terribly frustrated. you could have won the

presidency but russia could have tried to interfere the election. he has never been able to figure out. same thing as puerto rico, you ka can't have 2,000 or 3,000 deaths as him taking as personal failures on his front. at least ton the russia front, he's now talking about punishing countries that's interfering american democracy. >> there is a lot more ahead this morning. new developments on former campaign chair paul manafort, is he angling for a pardon? democrats launch, stalling the president's pick of brett kavanaugh. and we are following florence, land fall isimminent. live to our reporters on the ground. you are watching a special edition of "morning joe."

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so they're ready for anything. welcome back to "morning joe," we want to go back to the liquidat latest hurricane florence. joining us from oak island msnbc's correspondent, maria mariana atencio. what can you tell us? >> reporter: this is the largest and as florence makes land fall in wilmington. this is about 40 minutes south and we'll feel the full effects of this category one storm here on this island. you have seen the wind pick up. we have seen the rain start to fall much faster and these oak trees that basically this whole island surrounded by then starts to sway much more.

that's something that worries authorities because this barrier island is vulnerable on all sides. 150 yards away from the intercoastal water way and about a mile from the beach. as the storm passes, if it passes north, it is good news for the beach because it is a south facing beach. we won't know until the storm goes by. they're worried authorities of that storm surge and especially that historic flooding and also because this storm got downgraded to a category two and a lot of residents decided to stay and may not be prepared for flooding. mika. >> mariana atencio. >> thank you. one person is dead after a series of gas line ripping through the community in massachusetts. it happened yesterday in

lawrence and dover and north andover, massachusetts. setting homes on fire and an 18-year-old was killed and sent a chimney crashing into his car. they say another 25 people were hospitalized with injuries and as many as 80 homes were burned or damage. residents impacted by the educati explosion could be out of their home indefinitely. authorities are looking at the possible connection between the blast and a notice sent earlier of the day to customer of columbia gas saying the company will be updating natural gas lines. >> mike, tell us about the area. suddenly and all of these houses on fire.

>> multiple explosives. >> this is an older community, right? >> lawrence, massachusetts, it is an old community and andover joins lawrence. the gas company in this case has not been forthcoming of what they were doing or how the initial explosion began. news report and i talked to a couple of people late last night, looking at a war zone one street after another, explosion and explosion after at explosion. kept going through repeatedly different neighborhoods. >> yeah. >> and spread across a major interstate of route 495 to andover and the gas explosion continued then. we still have not gotten details from the company. >> that's a problem. >> they had evacuations a month ago.

this is an ongoing problem. >> maybe infrastructure? it seems and gosh, you had 20 homes burning at once and other buildings and explosions and everybody evacuated. schools evacuated and hospitals have evacuated and people not knowing for hours if they can go back in. >> over a fairly wide region. >> my god. >> coming up, new york governor, andrew cuomo cruises to victory. >> i thought that was going to be closer. >> i thought it was a fascinating question along the way. there is still big questions of his popularity. we'll talk about that and paul manafort. "morning joe" is coming right back.

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welcome back to "morning joe." this is apart of the show where -- >> oh no. >> you may want to put your kids to bed. >> we should issue a bawarning.

>> yeah right. >> all right. he's going to spein tails now o the french indian war. >> it is an important war. >> mika, have you been south? >> i cover stories all throughout the south. >> south washington? >> she once got down to cherry hills >> did you get your passport? >> i called the immigration people for you >> oh, you did. >> we have been talking about it and we had a little not quite focus group but conversations with trump supporters and some others. >> this is fascinating. >> she was winked at. >> got to bless your heart.

trying to explain. >> well, the other thing i know you are trying to find a court for mika. >> of course. >> so let's talk about a quick anniversary today that a lot of people don't focus on but you brought it up earlier to me. on september 11th, we are talking about rudy giuliani. regardless of whatever people think of rudy giuliani right now. there were several days where he was not only america's leader but america's voice in those throw or four days before george w. found his voice. he had a little trouble finding his voice. >> he did. >> today is the day where president bush not only found his voice but actually not just for americans but for all the world. >> it was in a formal moment first at the national cathedral. his eulogy of the victims of the

attack was a remarkable document for the presidency and then he goes to new york and he stands down the rubble and it is classic george w. bush. he rose to the occasion because he was being challenged. we can't hear you. well, i can hear you. it is a bad habit. >> pretty good. >> so bush 41 talking to bush 43 -- he pushed back and in that moment became president. that's a cliche but it is absolutely -- >> it is the truth. >> i remember sitting in new york city with people so skeptical of him. it was immeasurable and they thought he's someone that can get us through. >> in a way of george w. bush, i

wrote a column about him and he made terrible mistakes but if you look after 9/11, he reached out muslim americans and that part of his presidency, he reminds me almost of harry rue m rue -- truman. he left off in the '20s. wait a sencond, harry truman, dd important things. >> the remark he made at the national sla national islamic center, this is not a war against religion. he said this the first 72 hours or so. >> right. >> it hurts me to say but we all agree that it is damn near

unimaginable. george w. bush affirmed the americans first. >> and part of the reason it was a powerful moment that no one saw but i heard about it from bush staffers there waycro-- he supposed to go in for a quick visit and he stayed for hours and he went around and he hugged every family and he spoke to them. he really empathized with their loss and you see the public side of why he said we hear you and the world is hearing you. >> symbolism sometimes is looked at a little mushy. when you look at a moment like that and weeks later he was at

the yankees moment and through a dark metal down the strike. >> what did dear rrek jeter tol him? >> he says mr. president, don't bounce it, they'll boo you. >> how did he respond? all right, i will throw a strike. >> there was also the wonderful moment where he's driving with rudy giuliani up on the upper west side and everybody is out and rudy giuliani looks out the window and he says every one of these people, mr. president, they voted against you. >> the story i remember, bush looked out and said usually they're waving with one finger. >> that's then and this is now. donald trump thinks he's doing a terrific job as president. do his supporters agree with that? we gathered a group of voters here in mississippi yesterday. some backed trump and some

didn't. there are plenty to talk about. here are some of impressions of president trump's after 600 days in office. >> what's donald trump's best quality? the fact that he'll identify the problem and believes he's right. he does not sidestep it. he does nod sidestep it. he goes full head on with how he believes should be happenndled he does not seek for anyone's approval. >> he's a strong charging man in terms of trying to move forward his agenda. i don't find him to be the person holding his finger up in the air to see which direction the wind is blowing. that's an admirable quality.

>> he has -- he conveys the sense that he's certain of his position. >> what's his worst qualities? >> his self-centerness. he didn't run as republican. he was not a republican candidate. he basically was coopd-oped int the fox news machine. he needed it because he needed a sense of coherence and policy and approach to politics. they provided that for him. >> what's the president's best quality and worse? >> the fact that he believes wholly himself and what he can do but i would also argue that

it is his worst qualities as well. so many times he's ill-informed and he refused to seek out counsel whether it is a lawyer or engineering or anybody else. he refused to listen to them and what they have to bring to the table. why do we have to have mistakes with the president. >> inception. for example, when you look at the economy and he's taking credit for the economy. we know when obama inherited the company, we were in a session and overtime we are merging out of that session. now, you know donald trump is taking credit for us being where we are and that's deception. >> you like that middle name of his? >> his worse quality is

division. >> his ability to just deny and deny and never accept and never admit to having done something because you know the past politicians if something like that of the "access hollywood" tape comes out, they would come out and apologize and admit it. well, with trump, oh, it is locker room talk. when he did that i started realizing that actually work. if you don't admit to something, you can move forward as a politician and it won't ruin your careers as so many others. that's beneficial to him in many circumstances i think. worse quality, i would have to go with his narcissism because he finds it difficult to

disentangle of what's good for trump and what's good for america. he can't really see when he's doing something that's beneficial for him. he cannot see the damage that's causing to the country as a whole. >> mika, the most interesting take -- the four people that voted for trump are still with trump and even one of them -- >> they'll vote for him again. >> they said they would vote for him again in the general but -- >> caveats. >> every single one. i said what if mike pence or nicky hailey ran neagainst him the primary, which was interesting, you would not gotten that with barack obama of 18 months or george w. bush

supporters. everyone who said we are behind donald trump, yeah, if nic. >> that was the most surprising take away of sitting down with this group of voters. i listened to 50 or 60 focus groups of voters around the country. i have never really seen that shift to looking at the prospect of supporting another candidate for the republican nomination from voters who identified as strong trump spoupporters. i would say it is a fall line where president trump should be aware of going into midterms and the next two years as he looks to his reelection. >> yes, that does usually happen with incumbent presidents in certain parties. again, these same trump supporters willing to say that he lied or saying anything

that's racially insensitive. you go down the list, it sounded like they're going to defend him but you get the real impression that it was -- we'll defend trump instead of nancy pelosi or hillary clinton. at the same time you can hear they're republicans. one of them said john mccain. hero. mueller, fact finder. they had positive things to say about a lot of the people that donald trump has been critical of. you know what i saw out of that at the end of the day republicans, republicans who had a chance to beat hillary clinton and don't want pelosi to be speaker of the house. >> the great primary challenge is for ray began against kennedy and against carter, both set up

defeats, would not stun me to see the same dynamic. the divide between the elements of the party is more profound now. listening to him sounded like in the room, it sounds like they're describing their kid has stolen a neighbor's car and wrecked it but they still love the kid. >> yeah. >> you see what i mean? >> yeah. >> yeah, we know he's doing drugs but he's a good kid. >> i asked him for stormy daniels and it was like the answer -- the answer we got a couple over is that i do not want my spouse to do that. >> this is the question i want top ask. joe, you were saying they were republicans and in the context of the conversation, you get a sense that the country that the well being of the country was

more of a concern than their identity. >> what trump is doing -- >> and pat, the one that kept on winking at mika saying bless your heart. she believes that america is in trouble and donald trump is the only one fighting to revive the country and i know elise -- i don't know if you are a fellow former republican, at one point we are both republicans most of our lives. the great frustration of republicans, we elect our republican presidents and we knock on doors for him and we have blood and sweat and tears for these people and we contribute to them and they appoint liberal justice or then they back down and try to make a deal on immigration with ted kennedy or make a deal with him on education. they do all these things they

told uls they's they're not goi. they tell us that. they all ends up being a lie. an an analiese, this guy is doing what he's going to do. >> he's delivering ton the economy. they like the job numbers and the tax cut overall. one question was striking illustrating how we arrive to this moment. that's when you are asking the sources of media. that everyone listen ed to or read. they were talking about their habits from reading local newspapers and now to watching strictly fox news. we had this cycle of super polarization that if we just insulate and go further ento inr

own caves that the country is going to be this crisis of ra ranke rankers. >> i saw something happening with the truth in this conversation. i ask several trump supporters when he lies and tweets and they said -- what do you mean? president obama wire tapping trump tower, well, did he or did he not? and you think of the tweets of puerto rico. for me someone at least wants the truths not to be in question -- >> let's face it willie, democrats did that with bill clinton. then he finds out thatt bill clinton lied about monica lewinsky and he shifted and decided to stay.

all parties do this. republicans did this with george w. bush. he doubles the national debt. democrats did this with bill clinton. it does seem like a hell a lot of extreme with donald trump. i am not sure if donald trump is not just the logical conclusion of a lot of dysfunction that we have been seeing over the 30 years. the hard core donald trump supporters are harder core than election day. they believe he's under assault from the media and the democrats and the justice department of the investigation. i am interested that republicans took a fly on him because they did not like hillary clinton, where are they today? bill karins has the storm track coming up and we'll tell you manafort is entering a plea deal.

we'll tell you what rudy giuliani is saying about that. "morning joe" is coming right back. >> pat, she winks at me. >> is that okay? >> i like it. >> that's a good thing. >> let me tell you since you're a you, since you're a a yanke she says bless your heart. >> if you say bless your heart and wink i'm leaving. i'm leavig when my hot water heater failed, i'm leavig she was pregnant, in-laws were coming, a little bit of water,

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we're back. mika, how excited are you to be in oxford, mississippi? >> i'm very excited. i love it. >> this is a great town. isn't it amazing. even barnacle, the boston yankee. >> he was out yesterday teaching classes. >> did they have to have subtitles. >> barnacle, this is a year abroad. when did you realize you weren't

going to oxford, england? >> oh, i still think i'm here. >> okay. >> all right. really quickly new york governor andrew cuomo has secured i had nomination for a third term last night after fending off actress turned political activist cynthia nixon in the democratic perimeter. the associated press projected cuomo as the winner a half hour after the polls kwloeclosed wite than 90% precincts claiming. he was endorsed by hillary clinton and joe biden and tom perez. nixon struggled to raise money for her campaign and in a poll at the end of the race more than a quarter of likely democratic voters said they didn't know enough about her to form an opinion. this november, cuomo will face

off against the republican but heavily favored to win his third term. >> the question is, she had some real strong moments. i guess the question is why didn't she run for mayor of new york? i think that would have probably been a better -- >> probably because de blasio occupies the lane she's in. andrew cuomo was going to win this race. the polling before election day had it like 40 points. came in somewhere about 30. he's got the state wire. he has for a long time. i'm interested, john and i were just talking if this emboldens him and draws him into the presidential race in 2020. >> cynthia nixon had some strong moments. >> she did. coming up both barack obama and joe biden take it to president trump at an event they held yesterday. we'll play their marks and much more. hurricane florence drenching the carolina coast. right now the storm hasn't even made landfall yet.

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days. bill karins has the very latest in just a moment we'll get reports from on the ground. for the latest on conditions along the coast. we're also tracking a number of major stories this morning. former trump campaign chairman m paul manafort may be close to a plea deal. and dianne feinstein is tight lipped on what information she gave to the fbi about supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. >> let's just stop there for a second. mike, they get a letter and say we're not going to tell you what's in the letter. but democratic staffers leaked to the press a source, we don't know if it's true or not but leak it at the last second. this is a guy who has been, whose life has been examined by the fbi and has been screened a lot of times in his life.

this looks like a cheap last minute trick by democrats, whether you're for kavanaugh or not. but this is why a lot of people don't get involved in public service. >> first of all, are you surprised at this? >> no, i'm not surprised by it at all. for the democrats who are doing this -- >> yes, i agree. >> they are only hurting their cause. >> i agree. >> you just feel like, okay, if you're going to make an accusation that is devastating to somebody's character, you are going to smear somebody's character, don't say i have a letter, i'm not going to tell you what is in it but i'll send it to the fbi. bad form. >> there were two problems. you raised one of them. why would anyone put their name forward for a public office or put their name forward, obviously allow their name be put forward even for the supreme court because you know what you have to endure. at the conclusion or near the conclusion of the process now

judge kavanaugh, we don't know what the accusation is because it was made relatively anonymously. >> but they've leaked what the accusation is, which is not even worth us repeating on this air because we don't know. it's just a leak. >> right. what they leaked, the true danger of it is what they leaked was a whisper. a whisper. >> that the fbi is not pursuing. it was referred to fbi and the fbi is not pursuing it. >> let's get to the latest on hurricane florence. we're going to go to bill karins right now. bill, what is the latest track on this storm? >> we're watching the landfall. we're watching for declaration from the hurricane center any minute now. the story overnight was in new bern, north carolina, 10-foot storm surge. at one point the city had 150 people requesting water rescues in the middle of the night with

60 mile-per-hour winds and some people had to go on top of their roofs. we go there now. >> reporter: a lot of people are going to be happy to see the sun come up here this morning after a very long, very wet night here in new bern. we had to evacuate as did a lot of other people did because that water came up and came up so fast. now in the light of day and in the break here between high tides, we're seeing city officials, seeing first responders start to get out and starting to rescue those people. there are pockets of flooding like this around me here even a mile away from the river where some intersection, some streets are completely washed out and impassable. even now we have not seen this primarily as a wind event. we have gotten some strong gusts but primarily a storm surge event here and it's been a rain event here and that rain has been steady all night long and that's been the problem. for the next 24 hours or so, the city and the police here are

extending what had been an on curfew all day. 7:00 a.m. this morning to 7:00 a.m. tomorrow they are saying stay off the roads, stay in your homes, if you dodge have to go anywhere. if you chose to stay with us. put for another 24 hours while the first responders get people out but had no choice but to wait to get evacuated out of their homes. >> you see that mini bus behind you. water levels had have dropped two feet since the peak but another high tide coming before noon where the water could rise. here's the center of the storm making landfall as we speak right over the top of wrightsville beach, heading over the top of wilmington. a lot of people lost power quickly when the winds picked up when the eyewall went through. we're seeing winds pick up on the southern portion here down here towards sunset beach. one area we're seeing conditions dramatically getting worse is in oak island. give us the latest.

>> reporter: so i'm about 40 minutes south of wilmington, and as the storm makes landfall in that area, in the wrightsville area we'll definitely feel the effects of that south over here. this is a barrier island where as you can tell the conditions have worsened. the bridges in and out have been closed since 8:00 p.m. last night. in order to be able to stay here overnight and report for you guys early this morning we had to hunker down with a local resident. we're coming live from this man's porch. i was just texting the mayor of oak island. she says i don't know when the bridges will re-open. there's a curfew. everybody should hunker down. that was actually one of the main reasons people stayed is not being able to access their homes because of the historic flooding we might be facing. >> be days before people can get back in. going to take that long to clean things up for the first responders to get in there. the story of the day as we go

throughout the morning the next high tide cycle, how bad the storm surge will be on the beaches from wrightsville beach back up through cape look out and emerald isle area. some of the highest totals will be in wilmington to fayetteville, far inland could see high totals too. this is a developing story through the weekend. one river that runs through this region won't crest until tuesday evening. this is a long duration, ultramarathon hurricane. wow, bill karins we'll be checking back with you. thank you very much. willie. >> so, while we were going through all of that and, by the way, thank god it's a category 1, not a category 4, i've been through a lot of these. i know it will still be very wet, a lot to be concerned about but a difference between a 1 and 4 is massive.

but still a lot of ken when it comes on shore, a lot of tornadoes will spin off. you'll have a lot of flooding. it was looking a lot more frightening three days ago. we had john meacham playing confederate -- colonial. it was colonial history, jeopardy colonial history. >> john meacham plays bar trivia. he's like tom cruise as a hustler. >> you're talking about new bern. >> new bern was the colonial capital of north carolina like williamsburg of virginia. there's a big -- actually you go to the palace you see why there was a revolution. the british had this amazing place and we didn't. >> mika, i was wondering, john

has a cigar, and he takes it out on break -- can i start smoke cigar? >> if that let's willie get us to our top story you can do whatever. >> okay. >> okay. >> i want to go faulkner's house. did you go to faulkner's house? how was it? >> he wasn't home. >> really? >> but it was a pleasant visit. >> i would love to go. >> barnacle has better quality cigars than i do. i save my money from bar try va. >> gentlemen have joyce vance here. >> hi, joyce. are you disappointed? >> i was very surprised to see that. >> i'll be wearing crimson tomorrow. >> outstanding. >> new reporting on a possible plea deal with former trump campaign chairman, paul manafort. abc news cites three sources as saying a tentative deal has been reached with special counsel bob

mueller. the network reports it will be announced in court today. reuters citing sources familiar with the matter reports a deal is near. one of the sources say it's close but not quite there yet. nbc news has not confirmed eritrea of those news reports. they can't say whether manafort's cooperation in the mueller probe but what deal would head off manafort's d.c. trial which was set to begin next week. he already has been convicted on eight counts of bank and tax fraud in virginia and, joyce, it seems to me this is an interesting story. the more interesting point is whether or not a plea deal includes his cooperation with bob mueller. >> that's the interesting point that we'll all be looking for when they go into court this morning. but before we even get to that point it's important to remember there's a lot of distance between saying you want to enter into a plea agreement and actually have the court accept it. paul manafort will have to stand up in court and publicly say

he's pleading guilty because he is, in fact, guilty as charged. he has to say he's doing it voluntarily and without any exalternatival pressure and have to disclose everything he's getting from the government in exchange for his plea. this could be a pretty interesting scenario. >> it's not even over when they start doing that. obviously gates, his associate proffered, made a terrible mistake, lied to robert mueller. don't lie to robert mueller never ends well for you. what does mueller and the team have -- a lot of people saying this will deal with the d.c. trial. why would he strike that deal? >> sure. there's some good reasons that a plea might be in everybody's best interest. paul manafort saves a lot of money. by the same token mueller done have to run through the trial the second time. doesn't have the risk that a juror might hold up or vote to acquit. short circuit is an appeal process manafort agrees not to

appeal. even with that cooperation both sides see it as beneficial. >> manafort is going to jail for most of his life. so why not strike a deal? >> well, it's an interesting question. for one thing by not striking a deal manafort potentially preserves the option to be pardoned down the road. he stays in alignmen with the president and maybe that's what he sees as his best option. in order for manafort to cooperate, he doesn't get to selectively pick what he tells mueller's investigators. he has to fully cooperate on any issues that they ask him, be prepared to testify. manafort may not be able to do that. so we'll find out. >> if manafort accepts a deal later today, deal or no deal from the government, is that the end of his legal path? can mueller take him back to a grand jury immediately upon his -- >> sure. so this is the question that always comes up. do you lose your fifth amendment privilege once you pleaded guilty and you have no further

exposure. in manafort's it's more difficult because he faces potential state charges happen his lawyers might try to say even after pleading guilty to federal charges he can't be compelled to testify in a grand jury because he has further exposure. we'll have to see how that one plays out. >> at the same time if you think you're going to do the pardon deal, and i'm his lawyer, even though, you know, i was such a terrible lawyer. you would say to your client hey listen, donald trump could pardon you and the next day they bring state charges and you're in jail in a state prison instead of a federal prison and not so sure you want that either, paul. >> he's chasing his own tail and hard to see where it ends. the best case scenario for mueller is trump does issue the pardon and then that issuance of the pardon becomes additional evidence they are using against the president but manafort faces state charges. >> what's your sense of the

situation. if joe were manafort's lawyer would he elect for the electric chair? >> if joe was manafort's lawyer he should start running now. i could go in and talk to state farm, take care of the damage. by the way -- >> joe has a neck brace at all times. >> no, no, it's on the other side. speaking of terrible lawyers -- >> we've got one. >> so donald trump's lawyer rudy giuliani says the president -- >> i set the whole thing up. it was a slow roll. self-deprecation. then boom. all about rudy. >> like the deconstruction of the joke. >> you walk him through it. can i get the chart. >> rudy giuliani says the president is not worried, though, about paul manafort

cooperating. giuliani tells politico, quote, there's nothing to cooperate about and we long ago evaluated him as an honorable man. giuliani also said quote i think it's pretty clear if they are going to get anything from him they would have gotten it already. >> what? >> yeah. wow. >> they got a lot from him. >> he also confirmed to politico there had been regular contact or a joint defense to share confidential information. >> prosecutors hate this. joint defense agreements let a number of defendants and their lawyers during an investigation, during a trial coordinate in ways that they might not otherwise be able to. they can essentially line up their stories. this is a really interesting disclosure from giuliani that says the president's lawyers have been talking all along to paul manafort's lawyer. although the joint defense agreement limits the conversation really to the subject of the investigation, it's easy to contemplate there could be side discussions about

pardon, perhaps in a very opaque way. >> john, while we were talking yesterday to the focus go up the republicans for the most part just didn't care about the robert mueller investigation. wouldn't even offer an opinion on robert mueller himself. you just have to always keep going back to watergate, and i've always told the story about my father. it was a week -- the tapes came out at the very end. wasn't until then that my father was like wow, if he's done half of this, the guy should be out of office. stayed with him right to the end. >> i think the supreme court decision was july 24th and he was gone in three weeks. the break in is june 17th, '72 until july 24th '74 and it takes that long. 50% or more of republicans approved of nixon. part of that was the oil shock. the economy went south. that undermine his support. the other thing to remember is a

month after the have you no decency sir in the andrew mccarthy hearings, joe mccarthy had a 30% approval rating nationally. so if trump gets flown back to moscow, you know, and is given a dacha somewhere, he'll have 30% of the country with him. this is not a political conversation about getting 90% of the country to think something. it's about getting 65 or 70 to think something. >> all right. still ahead on "morning joe," mississippi hasn't sent a democrat to the u.s. senate in more than 30 years. but mike espy is hoping to change that. we'll talk to him about his chances next on "morning joe". we'll be back live from oxford, mississippi.

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all right. joining us now former u.s. congressman and agricultural secretary in the clinton administration and now candidate in the special election to fill that conference u.s. senate seat democrat mike espy who has some supporters in the room here today. >> thank you. >> how is the race going? >> can i first say, hotty-toddy. i see a picture of eli manning. my son played for ole miss for four years before he wasn't to washington redskins. he's a wide receiver. so i picked my spots, you know, where i'm going. i carry mike with me. he's very popular. he's going add 10%. >> okay.

>> race is going well? >> going well. we're very pleased. people like george will came. we met at a restaurant. wrote a column and he quoted william faulkner and said illusions are really just as powerful and just as real as bones or blood. so many people will get mississippi a democrat from mississippi an african-american from mississippi san illusion but george will according to william faulkner illusions is just as real as bones and blood. we'll get enough votes to win. failing that there's a runoff three weeks later and i got polling, recent polling that shows that we'll do very well on november 6th. if we don't get that 50% plus one we'll move on and show we're beating the incumbent. either way i win. >> that's what's so interesting. one of the reasons we're here in

mississippi there's a possibility, as tight as the race is for control of the united states senate as it looks seven, eight weeks out, that there's a possibility that if it ends up in a dead heat, and then you have a special election three weeks later whoever wins mississippi will control the united states senate. >> that would be interesting. right now all i'm doing, i can't speculate on that. we don't know what's going to happen to other races. i'm keeping my head down. we're in the bushes. we're getting every vote we can. we have a turn out of the african-american. no doubt about that. also have to have enough cross over votes to compliment that and win. we're doing it in every space. joe, you were in congress. i was too. >> i don't like to talk about it, but go ahead. >> think about this. we've been every year -- cochran

didn't resign until march. so others have had two years, six years to prepare. we've had seven months. we're doing very well in that seven months because people remember me. they remember me as someone as a member of the historic congress of john lewis. the thing that's different and i hope that, you know, i hope that my race will show is that things are so dysfunctional and cynical and chaotic and people are so tired of the reality show that they remember someone like me who came in as a 30-year-old never won a race, never ran a race and won with 85% black vote, 11% white vote in 1986. in 1992, for re-election i had 95% black vote and 40% white vote. so people remember that i did things, i responded to people. wasn't about race. it was about responsiveness. so we did that from '86 to '92.

>> as you talk about taking on trump agenda this state went by almost 20 foirnts donald trump in 2016. >> yes. >> what do you say to trump supporters, you're hoping to cross over and win their vote. if you're talking about going in and challenging his agenda they like what he's doing, what do you say >> i'm not running against trump i'm running for u.s. senator. i'm a democrat. i acknowledge that. i caucus with democrats. i'm an independent, small "i." i don't care where the idea comes from. i'll pro-minute. if it comes from the administration and well meaning and not ill will i'll support it. but the reverse is true. i do not care about gender, about race, about religion, about party. i care about getting the job done. so wherever the idea emanates it makes sense i'll be there. i've proven that in 1986, 1988, 1992 and even in the usda.

>> you would vote with the president if it's a good idea. >> if it's a good idea, yeah. not everybody on the other side is stupid. not everybody on the other side has ill will. not everybody on the other side -- everybody has value. but we have value as well. people remember me from that time. so we're doing that. >> so folks remember you, but looking forward. there's the past. then there's the future. the future is really important because it seems like it's in danger. we saw what happened in alabama with doug jones and we saw the turn out. we know particularly black women leading the charge. what are you specifically doing to get the 38% of black vote who make up the state of mississippi to come out and support you? >> i'm not going to lead with the idea what they remember. but what i'm promoting right now. i was secretary of agriculture, right? which is the mayor of rural

america. every town in mississippi, not every town but except for three or four, every area is within 30,000 people or fewer. and all of those communities were serviced by usda, rural water, rural sewer, rural homes. rural broadband. they all remember what i did then and what we're doing now. but also i've not run into it years but i'm chairman of the board of a $200 million nonprofit. the "wall street journal" gave us a national award of the most innovative nonprofit in our sphere which is going into low-income districts in mississippi, alabama, tennessee, louisiana and arkansas and building the wealth in those low-income communities. we give mortgages up to $110,000. for mika and joe that's a closet. >> what are you talking -- wow.

>> you have that populace thing going. $110,000 is a pretty good 3,000 square-foot home. we go to areas where there's no do, we build clinics. we go to areas with service stations where people buy groceries. we build green grocery stores. lastly what we do we now go into public schools building, putting in credit unions in public schools, building wealth. i'm the chairman of the board for that for the last 14 years. >> first, i want to give a shot at eddie. i want everybody to know, we got a cultural exchange program going on here. i'm wearing ole miss gear and my brother brought an alabama pin for me to wear and eddie has slapped it on. >> thank you, eddie. >> how does it feel? do you feel the aura of how many national championships? >> oh, lord. >> 17 national championships? do you feel the greatness.

>> oh, lord. >> joyce -- >> when eddie runs for office in the state he'll run an attack ad. >> you watched jones pull off the special election in alabama no, one expected to see a democrat win in beam. does that tell you that there's a powerful movement for change down here or do you believe that was just one off race? >> no, i don't think it was a fluke at all. doug jones is a friend of mine. he talked about issues. you know, in mississippi just like alabama we have a lot of health issues and health ills. we have these rural hospitals closing because of the lack of medicaid reimbursements. so we talk real issues, rural development, promoting health care. we're here at objection trd, ole miss, i talk to students about the brain drain, student debt. they just want to graduate without all this burdening debt.

go to rome, go to greece and sow their oats here in mississippi. know the women out in rural area, latisha brown. the things she knows what to do. we have to help her. she's with us. >> all right, mike espy -- >> he's about going to greece, go to rome, sow your wild oats. willie and i went to turkey and ended up in prison for 14 years. >> they made a movie about us. >> next hour we'll speak with one of the other candidates in this special election republican chris mcdaniel and much more on hurricane florence as the powerful storm nears landfall on the carolina coast. "morning joe" is coming right back live from oxford, mississippi. ght back live from oxford, mississippi.

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i . we want to turn back to our top story as hurricane florence hammers the carolinas, wilmington, north carolina is

getting hit especially hard. nbc news miguel almaguer is there and filed this report for us just minutes ago. >> reporter: i'm miguel almaguer in wilmington, north carolina where heavy bands of rain and hurricane force winds have been blowing through this area for the last several hours. the wind speed is just one concern. what they are really worried about in the coming days is going all of these bands of heavy rain dropping upwards of four feet of rain. flooding concern will be exacerbated over the next several days. the mayor of wilmington tells us they are worried up to four feet of water will submerge homes and businesses in the area. right now it's too dangerous for first responders to venture far away. we're only about five feet away from our building, a fortified hotel where it's safe to be.

first responders are going down the downtown area responding to an emergency call at this hour would simply be too risky. i can tell you the wind is blowing sideways. rain is swirling. it's very difficult to see her. i need goggles to keep my eyes open. these conditions will stay this way over the next several hours. >> wow. >> okay. miguel almaguer in the storm. coming up more from our discussion with mississippi voters, including what trump supporters think about his constant attacks on the media. >> one of my favorite parts is you do word association, fox news. and then every time you go msnbc i would start -- they would be very polite. which is because we're in the south. we're taught -- are we not taught be very polite. occasionally break out the bless their heart. >> i got a lot of that. you're watching a special edition of "morning joe" live

from oxford, mississippi. we'll be right back. mississippi we'll be right back.

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oh boy. wi-fi fast enough for the whole family is simple, easy, awesome. in many cultures, young men would stay with their families until their 40's. welcome back to "morning joe," live from oxford, mississippi. more now from that conversation we had yesterday with a grouch voters down here in oxford. some backed trump for president and some did not. here's their thoughts. >> the president has called the press an enemy of the people. do you think the press sometimes acts in ways that makes them the enemy of the people. >> i don't think that they are the enemy of the people. sometimes i think that they have been given a bad rap in presenting not only just the

facts but their opinions as well. >> right. and do you think, pat, that the press is the enemy of the people? >> i would say the press should be the guardian of the people. they are the fourth state and supposed to be the guardian of freedom and liberty. i think the press, particularly the national media tends to incorporate its own opinion and own agenda in a number of stories. so it's difficult to find that trust factor you're looking for when you sense that opinion being put forth as opposed to just the facts. but your role is to be the guardian of liberty. >> so ashton, you're in the press. what do you think when you hear the president talking about the press is being the enemy of the people? >> it just kind of makes me think that he doesn't really understand democracy and at least liberal democracy as, you know, as written into our constitution. makes me think he doesn't understand the value of the

first amendment and, i mean the press is protected in the very first amendment of the united states constitution. when he calls us the enemy of the people it makes us feel he doesn't understand us. having gone around and interviewed trump supporters, you know i often will ask, i have great conversations and, you know, they will seem to like me and say they like me. i get to the point do you think we're an enemy of the people, do you think i am. they say yes. it throws me off. >> disconcerting. >> i'm just a little small town guy. journalism is a big job. you don't get paid a lot. and everybody hates you. >> well joining us now journalism professor at the university of mississippi and fellow at the center for southern journalism and politics, curtis wilke and political reporter for "mississippi today." good to have you both.

>> curtis, you had barnacle come to your class yesterday and teach class. they understand a word he said >> he did a great job but i had to do a little of the sign language like he used to do for me in boston. >> that's okay. >> so, we had most of the people there were polite. mika and me, even when people disagree where we stand, we get out there and people are always polite to us. but there is -- others are not quite as fortunate and there are shouts of enemy of the people, there are threats of violence, the "boston globe" itself had a threat of violence. what's happening out there, the relationship between the fourth state and the people? >> it's very ugly. it's poisonous. not helpful. frankly i resent what president trump is saying about the work of my lifetime and thousands of other people, call us scum, and sleaze and liars.

i resent that. it's been very divisive. i think that's the last thing this country needs. >> well, also do you think that the devaluing of the truth from the podium of the presidency could have an impact on our democracy? >> it's not helpful. of course, it's not. and sure sometimes opinion creeps into some stories but basically opinion and news stories it's the separation of church and state. and, you know, i was always taught and i try to teach my students that our best position is our credibility. if we lose our credibility, we become worthless. that's what trump is trying to do, he's trying to undermine our credibility. >> adam, do you agree? >> absolutely. as a reporter in mississippi i'll say, you know, long before president trump took office

there were leaders especially in the deep south, particularly republican leaders who attacked the press. you know, this is not new for us in mississippi. i remember a tweet, i can't remember who sent this out, the morning after the 2016 presidential election, but the tweet was something like good morning america, welcome to mississippi. you know, this is the kind of stuff that reporters in mississippi have been dealing with for a while. and, you know, curtis is right, my job as a reporter isn't to, you know, extend sort of that information gathering and portrayal farther than, you know, the facts. >> exactly. >> and, you know, that's all i can do. you hear trump supporters constantly, if i'm across the state interviewing them, talking about oh, well the fake news stuff, you know, we know how it is. i just keep doing what i'm doing and that's all i can do. i just have to focus on the facts. >> that's the president's side

of it. we asked this question yesterday of bob word ward. what about the journalist side of it. i think you would agree the press has become more adversarial. there's more opinion. places for that opinion. what should be the posture now in going forward with the press with the presidency? >> i think the president is right in rising to the challenge and trying to hold him accountable for things he says and so much of what he says is demonstrably untrue. that's one of our roles as reporters is to try to get to the truth. sometimes it's not easy. and no question that, you know, some opinion that it's going naturally as human beings we have opinions, we have resentment -- it's extraordinary what's going on down there. never seen anything like it.

there was always adversarial relationship between the press corps and the president. i covered eight presidential campaigns. it's a natural thing. but this one is really, it's incredibly ugly. the press is good to basically to stand up for what we stand for. >> curtis, you've had a stored life and a storied career, born in mississippi, graduate of university of mississippi. you were here in 1964. it was a very different mississippi, very different oxford back then. you return here, you've been here now back 15, 16 years. talk about the difference between the then and now here culturally, socially. >> the state has changed so much. i left the state in the late '60s. i was unhappy with what was going on. i wouldn't be back if i weren't

very happy with what's going on in this state. when i left there were no republicans in the state. i think it's healthy to have, you know, two parties,holds, th so much that republicans dominate the state. but it's much better tan it was. look where one party state back then. we were so racially divided and we're not anymore. i'm very proud of everything that's going on at our university. so much diversity in rising enrollment, african-americans, who have major leadership roles on campus. i'm very proud of what's going on. it's so much different. you know, when i was a studenting faulkner walked the streets of position ford. it was totally different. farmers were selling produce on the courts behind us here.

and oxford is a very cost po po -- cosmopolitan place, glad to have you guys. you property these people back. john meacham's wife keith, we're glad to get these mississippiians back. >> first of all, you are saying you are responsible for bringing other republicans to mississippi? >> i fled when the republican tide began rising. >> yeah. yeah. also, the thought of faulkner walking the streets to john meacham, southern culture on the scare, that's hysterical. >> he was our commencement speaker here. >> was he, really in. >> good stuff. >> all right. >> adam, i was going to ask you, we had my guest here, you have been covering that special election race very closely. what is your handicapping of that race? does it get to the runoff? if so does espey have a shot? >> etch says it will.

automatic polling shows there will be two of those three main candidates in that race who will run off on november 27th. conventional wisdom, of course, would say it will be espey versus either cindy hyde smith or christy mcdaniel. i know wisdom doesn't mean a we'll lot. but espey, certainly there is a path for secretary espey. but i think it's also important to know just how difficult it will be for a democrat to win if mi in mississippi. i will try to cannell by pest with steve kornacki here. if you look at the last three elections, state wide elections for federal races in mississippi. 17 counties of the 82 counties across the state make up 52 to 53% of the electorate. 16 ofs to 17 counties state wide went republican the closest a democrat came in any of those 16 counties was three points the next closest was 11. >> wow. >> it's tough.

i've made this comment earlier, you know, republicans in mississippi are kind of like the alabama football team. they just win. you know, that being said, secretary espey there is a path. it's going to take two main things i think. it will take some national money. you know if you look at the southern senate races that are competitive right now. you have phil brettson in tennessee and beto and o'rourke in texas. they have national money coming in. senator espey doesn't have that. >> that's some good kornacki right there. >> republicans in alabama were like alabama. they just one until of course doug jones won. those of us who have been around a long time and have lived in mississippi, alabama, georgia, northwest florida, you just look across those states. this is the first time in my lifetime that there is a possibility that, in mississippi, you can have a

plaque senator. in alabama, we got a democrat. then you look at the georgia and florida races. boy, we have been talking about the new south for a long time. there's a chance that there is like a revolution as far as politics goes in the deep south with what's happening in the florida governor's race, gillum ahead right now in the georgia governor's race. doug jones in alabama and now, of course, mike espey here. >> that's the president that i think we're looking at in mississippi is alabama and doug jones see lex. marquespy -- mark espey, he reaches out. he's got -- he can bring in, you know, plenty of white people. he's got a record of having worked with republicans when he was in office and it's a possibility, you know, it's like

doug jones, it's going to take a divided republican party and possibly an unpopular candidate who gets in with espey. >> all right. >> ingredients are there. it's a possibility. >> curtis wilke, thank you for being on. >> thank you, guys. we appreciate it. all right, and coming up on "morning joe" ahead, hurricane florence made landfall moments ago with trim wind gusts. the center hits wrightsville beach, north carolina, bill weerns kearns joins us with that in just a moment. paul manafort's trial has been delayed twice. it's not set for later this morning. there are reports that a plea deal could be announced. you are watching a special edition of "morning joe" from oxford, mississippi. ♪ ♪ ♪ oxford, mississippi.

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for days. bill kierans is going to have the very latest in just a moment. we will get the latest from on the ground just along the coastline as well. we are following a number of other major stories this morning. while we are here live in oxford, mississippi, we're looking at not one but two senate races in that state that could have major ramifications on the balance of power in that chamber as president trump enters the second half of his term. we will speak to candidates and play for you, what voters told us about the man currently occupying the white house. bill. >> we got the official landfall. we know we have taken care of that. it's along the coast. it will take a ton of moisture and throw it on carolina for 38, 46, 48 additional hours. it will be the story that plays out through the weekend.

still a category 1 with 90-mile-per-hour winds, it's barely walking at five to six miles per hour. as we go throughout the forecast path, you can see it took a west turn from here, it's heading south of due west. it's going to parallel along the coast, now it's on its way headed towards the general direction of myrtle beach. in the meantime, all of these rain bands continue into the areas of the outer banks and newburn, north carolina to jacksonville. this area was hit hard with the last high tide cycle. we're concerned with the new one between 10:00 a.m. and find today that. could be the worst part of that the rainfall totals, so far, the highest i've heard is about a foot. by the time we're done with the weekend, some could be 40 to 50 inches. we're over 300,000 people, well over 300,000 people without power right now throughout this region here's the forecast track from the hurricane center.

we drifted from the west today into saturday, into saturday afternoon. and then after that we'll start to send it and make it head towards western portions of the state. the storm surge later today, right around the time of high tide at about 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., still could be 7 to 11 feet. we have houses with a lot of water because of that. the additional problem after that will be the heavy rainfall, which some of the totals as we mentioned could be upwards of 24 to 36 inches of rain. wilmington, north carolina, one of the hardest hit areas this morning. that's where craig melvin filed this report for us earlier. >> reporter: i'm craig melvin in wilmington, north carolina, where you can see the winds have picked up considerably. can you also see behind me the consequence of those windsch this was a full tree just an hour ago. those branches have been snapping off throughout the

morning. power outage is a major part of the story here in wilmington. tens of thousands are without power if north carolina right now. more than 325,000 are without power. we've actually lost power here in our hotel as well the winds, 70, 75 miles an hour the rains are relenting. expected to continue for several hours, flash flooding very much a real concern here in wilmington, north carolina, specifically. that's the very latest. we'll send it back to you. >> craig melvin, pretty incredible stuff. it can look like that in wilmington all day, through this evening, this is the river forecast for the cape fear river. this is going to go two feet above flood stage. then we're going to continue it above flood stages above the record set with floyd in 'fine, which we thought we would never top. this would be water levels through tuesday and wednesday

we've never seen before in this area. we want to check out south. that's where it's headed. maria. >> reporter: so, bill, i'm basically 40 minutes south of wilmington. we're already starting to feel the brunt of florence right here. i'm going to ask my crew to start driving so you can see what the barrier island the largest beach in north carolina is so vulnerable from the wind. i'm about a mile from the beach. the beach is to my left. to the right is the intercoastal waterway. that's where you can possibly get this flooding that is so dangerous. i also want you to look at the street behind me. look at all of those oak trees. this is called oak island, after all the pair telling pe that those trees falling is some of her biggest concerns, just as the storm passes, and throughout the next couple of days. bill, back to you. >> tanks so much.

jo joe and mika, you get the picture, a lot of reporters will be out there with the damage. it won't be until a couple days until we get the full scope of how much damage and what it will take to clean up. >> thank you very much. back here, still with us the former aid to the george w. bush white house and state departments alease jordan. >> her mom is here. if elise isn't on set we're getting cut aways of her mom. >> oh, there you go. >> by the way is has called ari. >>. >> very good. >> eddie is with us too. >> eddie, how is that alabama working in. >> it's working. >> if you don't run state wide. >> cleaning off your jacket. >> what is rogers professor of presidency? john meacham? >> because one of the important

things was the university is trying to recover from the geist years the chancellor stepped in, said we really feed you. >> they've haved me not to come back to camp. >> look apt this, joe. >> what? >> we have with us from washington. >> oh, it's big. >> former republican governor of mississippi. haley barber joins us from washington, d.c. good to have you on board this morning. >> thank you, mika. >> all right, hayley, it's great talking to you. so we got obviously you and i have grown up in the southeast. we've always heard about the new south the new south. so some interesting things are happening, espey here running in a competitive race. obviously, doug jones won. then the georgia and florida races for governor are races unlike anything that wie have

seen. try to put it in perspective for us as that man that knows more about politics than anybody. >> thank you, by the way, i can't see you. i was look a while ago, i do like your wardrobe, you and mika look good if your ole miss outfits. >> hottie toddy, you know, my dad lived, we all lived in mississippi when archie manning was quarterback. so he was my first hero, i figured i should wear this on friday before i go crimson red on saturday. >> he was in school with me a classmate of my wife's. while he was out on the field, i was up in the stands drink old bourbon like most ole miss people. look the that plex has changed. the democratic party moved to the left the republican party hasn't moved so much on policy

but has become much more purist if you will and you're seeing that developing in the south. doug jones got to run against the only person in alabama he could have beat. and did in a very, very close race when a republican candidate was somebody that had some verying very serious accusations against him that many people believe were accurate and weren't going to vote for him. they didn't vote against roy jones, they voted against roy moore. i saw you had mike espey on. our pamlys have been friends for generations. his grandfather was a customer of the bank my grandfather started. but i think mississippi will continue to have two republican senators. we've had two republican as far as after 30 consecutive years, and i think we'll continue to do that. over if georgia and florida, you got two very close governors

races, where the democrats have nominated african-american candidates who are getting a lot a lot of outside support. the democratic candidate in georgia has had announced or actually given more than 35 million dollars from very leb ral donors around the country. i just saw where gillum, the candidate if florida also is getting huge amounts of.from liberal groups. those are going to be competitive races, and it's consistent with the democratic party's move to the left nationall nationally. >> governor, john meacham. >> hi, john. >> to what extent do you think this -- how are you, sir in. >> all right. >> to what extent do you think this is a cultural shift and what role economics plays in that? because in my home state, we

have, some of our big investments are nissan and volkswagon. if south carolina, bmw. i'm sure there are mississippi examples. it seems to me we're in the south is in a global economy even tow when it is tracking towards trump, it tends to be saying, well, actually, we want to be more protectionist, at least rhetorically. can you unpack that for us? >> john, i think we're like tennessee in the sense we have toyota 50 miles from where you are. the newest u.s. plant is there, nissan, airbus. we got other big american once like huntington inguelalls, the build ships for the coast guard. our ag culture, we export most of our ag cultural products. we were once the place where

cotton was king. today it's soy bones and corn and timber for that matter. though that's not exported as much. so, yes, we're a part of the global xi. i do think a lot of people in mississippi, particularly farmers, understand that the trump administration's main focus is to try to make the chinese stop cheating. the chinese have been in the debt world trade organization since 2001 more or less. they've cheated ever sense. we had two administrations, one republican, one democrat, that's never done anything about it. trump is trying to do something about it. it's never going to be easier, john, because tear economy in china is growing and growing and growing and for some of those years, it was very much approaching capitalism. today, the communist party is

powerful almost as it was under mao. and it's crunching down on american businesses if china and trump rightly wants to do something about it while we still can. >> gaffe bore ber, willie geist. wish you were here with us. i want to ask you about the race. you mentioned mike espey, a long time friend the republican, cindy hyde smith and senator mcdaniel joining us here on set shortly, are vowing for the support of hyde-trump. she was scheduled to do an event before the hurricane struck. he decided to stay home. what should they be saying about donald trump in a state where he is very popular? >> well, let me just say i'm for cindy hyde smith. so is president trump. as you said, he was coming to

mississippi actually today to campaign for her. i'm sure that or believe that will be rescheduled. and i think that is a plus for him. trump is popular in mississippi. he carried mississippi by a pretty good margin. and i think most mississippiians approve of his policy, certainly approve the tax bill and more importantly they approve of the results of the tax bill, where our economy has grown twice as fast as it was during the obama administration. for a lot of the heart land, including a lot of the mississippi in the obama quote recovery on pain street, you couldn't tell a difference between the recovery and the recession. when the national xi is growing 2.1% the commission of the parts of the heartland, between the bicoastal built areas, they weren't growing at all.

you know, for that with the xi growing 4.2, you are seeing growth out in the heartland. so that's why mississippiians, for the most part, support trump's policies. he says some things that people don't like to hear or don't agree with. and i'm a free trader, myself. though i do recognize the correctness of his view that if we're going to ever make china stop cheating and abide by the rules that they agree to, then it's never going to be easier tan today. so i think most mississippiians are like me in that regard. >> all right. hayley barber, thank you so much. it's always great talking to you. we really appreciate you being with us. we hope you come see us back in the granola builds. >> i want to tell you welcome to you alabama fan, joe, and

remember what i've told you before, you know what the rebels and the moon have in common? have what's that? >> they can both control the tide. we sham see. >> wow. okay. there thank you so much, hayley. great talking to you as always. >> thanks. >> so, eddie, what do you think? do you, what do you think about haleys description of southern politics and what's happening in mississippi? >> i found it very interesting. he described the democratic party as moving to the left. >> right. >> but he described the republican party as moving to a kind of more purity, more purists. that's odd. >> that's something, though, that haley is nothing a fan of in the past. he was no fan of donald trump.

>> right. >> no fan of this hard line republican that's taken over. >> what'ses that nateing to describe that thrust as purist. >> right. >> what is its content? what does chris mcdaniel represent? >> he's coming. >> i can't wait to ask. what does he represent in terms of the republican party? then i want to talk to -- it's one thing to say their families go back a football of generations. >> it's complicated. >> it's complicated. i would love to hear what governor barber has to say about the deep racial division in the country. >> that and not just simply racial division. it's the way in which donald trump to echo my friends john meacham here appears to our worst angels, the effect that it's having. in the south, it's a crucial space for. that mississippi for me is the

metaphor for america, it's beauty, it's contradictions, it's ugliness, it's dark side. it's possibility. this state represents everything that's so complicated. >> william faulkner having a complicated relationship with the south and mississippi as well. elise, what itself so interesting is you can talk about populism in mississippi all these other things, but i've always looked at mississippi and south carolina as the oldest and deepest part of the south, like, for instance, especially party structures. you know, it's like chris mcdaniel, he's more lined up with donald trump. but donald trump ain't endorsing chris mcdannel. it doesn't surprise me in part because of the guy we had there. there are a couple estates where the republican establishment still is basically holding serve and holding firm. >> well, our governor, governor bryant hasn't endorsed chris mcdaniel.

he's a big cindy hyde smith supporter. i found governor barber's description of the democrats today to be interesting talking about their leftward shift. because in the south you see some of the opposite with pike jones and doug espey who actually endorsed haley barber if his run for governor back in the day. so here you see success when local candidates are adangt and they are running as a national democrat and they're responding to what the local communities are wanting and needing. there it is so interesting though, if florida, gillum is more progressive. yet, he's ahead in every poll that's been out so far. so it's going to be really hard to tell how these races break over the next few weeks, anything is possible. >> still ahead, as mentioned, we'll talk to one of the republican candidates in one of

the mississippi senate races, chris mcdaniel. you are watching ""morning joe"." we'll be right back. we'll be right back. making my dreams a reality

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stay with their families until their 40's. [ music playing ] we are live in oxford, mississippi, with a special edition of ""morning joe"." >> if we're if oxford, mississippi, which is eddie wearing a crimson tie? >> only the lord enos. >> in office we got that on camera. >> it's all right. it's okay, eddie. thanks for being with us. >> i'm sorry. poll. >> being with us in the u.s. election, state for chris mcdaniel. >> chris, thanks for being with us. we just interviewed haley barber, i said no matter how disruptive donald trump has been, a couple states where the

gop establishment still holds firm. you would think normally with your position that donald trump would endorse you. he's not, he's endorsing your opponent, he's got haley and everybody else lined up. i'm curious in 2018 -- >> right. >> -- does that help you the establishment's againstu. >> they have been against me. we ran this thing in 2014, the establishment spent money to stop us. we were successful if so many ways. we don't see that as an issue. our point is this, we are principled conservatives. we have been for some time. our position is we have to learn to fight. our party has not been the courageous party i grew up f. i cut my teeth with reagan, before that i was a goldwater guys, i wasn't alive, his philosophy the consciousness of the conservatives is one of the most beautiful things i read, i went back to where the republicans

should be. my concern is my party has moved away from those traditions. we're trying to save the platform. the establishment seems to be inclined to work for the donor class and acquisition of power, we're trying to stop the establishment on both aisles of the question. >> this lobby is a very critical race. you could have a senate split down the middle and a run offafterwards. >> yes. >> do you think you will be if that run off? if so, who do you think you will be running against if. >> no question, i do believe i'll be in the runoff. in 2013, we were on the same path. everybody counted out out. we knew the mood of the people. i'm not stuck in a bubble like some if d.c., leak some if jackson. i'm out there among the people the in convenience stores,co ops. >> what are they telling you?

>> they're fired up, more angry than in 2013. they think mitch mcconnell is obstructing trump's agenda and utilizing it to get endorsements and otherwise. my position is mitch has to be replaced. not only mitch, i think they need a whole lot of few blood in washington. so we found ourselves in a different position. we are trying to implement change against a very powerful system that's not easy to change. i believe change is necessary in this country. >> it wasn't a focus group the type elise runs, we had a group get together to talk about the issues that matter to them. one we heard yesterday was supreme court justices, very important to the trump supporters and the republic -- is that one of the top issues you are hear something what are you haring out there? >> it's a combination, i think for mississippi we desperately want the wall built to the southern border. we want to nam necessity, i

could say most republicans agree with that, once again mitch mcconnell foregoing spending until after mid-terms. that's washington speak for saying he has no intention of spending money on the wall. we have control of the apparatus, the executive, it's time to fund the wall. mississippi expects that, the supreme court justices youd standing. originally for the most part, we're very pleased. >> one thing i have a question about, though, you were talking about balancing the bug, which clearly we have to do. it's out of control, 20 trillion. it keeps getting bicker. so how do you propose paying for the wall if. >> a couple ways. first of all we have 51 billion in foreign aid we give to countries who for the post-part don't like us very much. there is money to be saved there. there there is there are 110 in d

duplicative services. the wall will cost about $25 billion. that's worth more than the investment to stem the bleeding from immigration the wall feeds to be built right now. >> senator, i would ask you how disappointing you were donald trump, president trump a guy joe says on paper lines up well with you. when he endorsed your opponent in this race, he was supposed to do a big event if jackson. he postponed that. were you surprised when the president didn't endorse you? >> in all fairness, he endorsed me three times in 2014 there not the time. >> so far one, i brought him three-to-one. >> this is the one you need today? >> i like president trump, i love what he's doing for the country. i thereof tax cuts. i love the judges. i love the regulatory reform the economy is improving as a result. what we have to do now is find people that can stand with him so he doesn't have to beg from mitch mcconnell. >> can i stop you right there because when you say the president is begging pittsburgh

conne mitch mcconnell, you are saying he is looking weak? >> no, i am saying there is no other question for to him endorse mick romney unless there was some game in play. romney was hateful no the president. john mccain so bless his soul. joe ryan, it appears something is if play the establishment has a game in play. trump is strong, he also needs to do one vote in the senate. he is trying to do the best he can to govern with a slim ma yoert in the senate. we get that. i think ultimately he will be much more pleased for conservatives to fight as opposed to those that lay down and takes shots. >> the argument with mitch mcconnell, we need to endorse sen dihyde smith. if espey wins. >> that will be his argument. mitch mcconnell will say things that make no sense. that's the establishment way.

it's a very conservative very red state. mr. espey might be a nice guy, but he was a clinton appointee, strike one. let's face it. just after hillary was defeated in this state. streak two he had the misfortune of being indicted in office and had to step down. i will be clear, mississippi is not sending a democrat to the u.s. senate. our director said that a few days ago. the democrats can think they win this state. we hope they do. we hope they put millions in this state they will be putting it here than somewhere else. >> 38% of mississippi is plaque? >> yes, sir. >> i'm from moss point. you were elected to the u.s. senate. are you supposed to represent the whole state? >> yes, sir. >> your position around the confederate flag and hip-hop as a source of gun violence. your position around robert e. lee. i can go on and on and on. >> please do. >> how do you convince black

folk in this state are you not a dong tore them. >> the story you talked about the hip-hop connection to violence, that was a study from berkeley, berkeley is not a conservative institution. that was berkeley, not me, i was cited on the radio show. number two, our flag has been here an awful long time. in 2001, 65% of mississippians chose to keep that flack the thing about flags like every boll is they are subject to interpretations, if 65% of the people have voted to keep that flag, we should respect their wishes. the flag can be offensive to some. i recognize that but almost all symbols are offensive to someone. at some point the majority has to control that decision. that's what we did. ly stand with the majority in that instance. if thecy city of mississippi want to start another referendum, i will stands for that flag because the people have today for that flag. >> so how would you speak to those 38% of this state?

>> i'm going to ask them, after 100 years of relying on big government to save you, where are you today? after 100 years of begging for federal government scraps, where are you today? we have been dead last for 100 years. i live in the state of mississippi, i'm talking mississippi. we have been dead last for 100 years. if we keep depending on that economic model, we will always stay last. our state depends heavily on state funds. because of that we aren't able to create the prosperous environment to grow. >> how do you do that? how do you move mississippi up in categories, whether it's education or health care, how do you do that as a senator. >> it's a combination of several ways, first of all from a culture stand point, we have enforce the importance of education. we don't talk about education enough as people. my father was a professor. i believe strongly in that.

every mississippiian should be able to get a good job and a good education. if we create an environment for economic prosperity, every mississippiian, every one of us can have jobs in the future. what i would say to that 38%, i would say the candidate i am is the candidate that wants to expand your liberty, who wants to give you opportunity, to make out old ways the state has always done business. if we break out of those old ways there will be opportunity. we can't keep doing at this time same way and get different results. >> i would argue getting rid of the mississippi state flag that it attracts business. because you've seen pa lot of states and how it's been harmful these symbols that don't mat for much but it keeps us from getting a new power plan. i personally care more about economic prosperity than symbolism. >> here's the thing, though. >> by the way, elise' mother is in the audience. so you know, she's leading the cheering sex.

so. >> i understand. >> invite your family. >> context. >> here's the answer to that, we hear that argument from time to time. i have been serving in the state senate 11 years, we talk to business all the time. not one i have seen has backed out because of thetate flag. if you can fame one, i'll be happy to speak to them. we had this conversation. if we create the right economic environment for everybody, they will come. we can do that. that's the point i was making earlier, change the exdoctor, find government reform, one good way would be to produce income taxes in this state. you note tennessee has no state income tax, florida. businesses will rush to those places because it's friendly for business entrepreneurs. we should experiment with that, that's what i'm references. >> state senator chris mcdaniel, thank you so much. >> we appreciate it. up next, we'll talk to a democrat running in mississippi's other senate race

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when hurricane katrina struck the u.s. in 25, it was ranked as the costliest natural disaster in u.s. history. in the wake of the storm, katrina claimed more than 1,800 lives and destroyed more than 800,000 housing units. a family lost their home and everything they owned when katrina hit the gulf coast and david joins us now. he's democratic candidate for one mississippi's senate seat trying to unseat incumbent roger wicker. thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> how is the campaign going so far? >> it's going very well. everywhere we go we get a crowd like this it's wonderful. there is an enthusiasm gap we have on our side, on the democratic side of the aisle for the first time in my adult life. i get the kind of enthusiasm

everywhere i go. folks are ready for change in mississippi for 30 years. we get the same results. i think mississippians are finally ready to turn the corner and make some changes. >> how do you navigate president trump if your page? >> i heard secretary espey on your show earlier. as he said, i'm not running against president trump. i'm rung against someone who won't step up when they make bad decisions that hurt mississippians. >> give us a bad example that hurts mississippian zpls the tariffs are bad for soy bean farmers, our automobile industry, our ship building industry, jackson county where i came from and the professor as well, it is going to hurt us in mississippi. these tariffs are already hurting us. that's why he's tried to bail out the folks who are hurting from it. >> do you feel that you are getting much support from the democratic national committee? >> well, the democratic national

committee puts its money into the state parties. we're given support from the state parties to help field personnel and help these votes get energized and out to vote. that's the key. we need to have a great turnout in the state of mississippi. we hope we will get that because of this type of enthusiasm you see right here. >> twa are some of the challenges your campaign faces and does it have anything to do with president trump? are there parts of president trump's message and the way he leads that resonate with the people of mississippi? >> well, certainly there are. you heard senior chris mcdaniel talk about the wall. which is a very 15th century idea i think. i want to ask, does that come with a moat or does that cost extra? we have the ability to secure our border without building a wall that costs $30 billion. we have a combination of electronic security, fences,

some walls, and then, of course, armed security on the border. we don't need to do that. a lot of people think it's a great idea because it sounds good. when you dig in, talk to these folks behind us what we would not be able to fund if we put $30 billion into a wall, then they start to think about that decision and rethink it. >> professor. >> so, first of all give a shout out to jackson county. i went to school with his sister. >> oh. >> elise and i went to school together. the south is changing. that's what we want. demographically it's changing, there are always assumptions about what we stand for, what alabama, georgia, florida. is mississippi ready for someone like you? >> i think mississippi is ready for someone like me. i can tell you, you all know my story the hurricane prompted my entry into politics. a year a month after hurricane katrina and where we lost everything, we lost our oldest

child. when you have a double whammy like that, it knocks you to the ground. when my wife and i picked ourselves up, we decided we want to invest in our community and turn outward and help our fellow mississippians, so every day if politics, i have gotten up, said, be yourself, be who you are. don't try to sell out for votes or for money or for anything else. i've done that people have responded very well. that's why i have been elected three times in a district that votes five% republicans votes for our governor, 75%, votes for donald trump 75%. people respond to authenticity and the issues that i talk about resonate with most mississippian, not all. there is a 30%, 35% out there that's going to stick with our president no matter what he does, but our issues and our message is resonating with a lot of mississippians. we have an internet ad up right now. i think we have over 50,000 views in something like a week, which in mississippi, it's huge.

it might not be huge in new york, it's huge in mississippi. >> we heard a bunch of democrats took look at alabama in the race last fall as an exam of what a democrat can do in the south if doug jones. wasn't that a case of doug jones running against one of the worst candidates in the history of politics and catching a break that way or do you think there is something transferrable and happening in the south right now in. >> i think it's both. judge moore was an awful candidate. no question about that. what is happening in alabama is happening in mississippi, that is someone mentioned la tasha brown earlier and the organization of plaque women in alabama. that's going on in mississippi, in addition to that the naacp is in our state working harold to register and energize the african-american voter base. there are other groups that are working, including the dnc, putting.into mississippi for the first time in a long time so we can hire field personnel and do that work. then my campaign has done that

work. i have been endorsed by the legislative plaque caucus. i serve in mississippi legislature. i have 42 of my endorsements of my colleagues. i'm the elected minority leader. all of my colleagues didn't just lends me tear names. they went back into their districts. they worked to turn out the voted for me in the primary and the runoff, which i won by 18 points. we built a network to go out into their areas and energize people and get them to the polls in november. we feel it oak the polls may not reflect. that speaking of polls, my opponent hasn't gotten above 50%. if you have been there for 40 years and can't get there. >> are you going to ask for a debate with roberting with fer. >> i have asked for one the miss miss bar association, crickets from roger wicker.

i ask him again today, let's debating roger, let's talk about the important issues. >> all right. thank you very much. and up next, just as residents up and down the east coast have done for days ahead of florence's arrival the college football world has taken precautions headed into this weekend, while also doing tear part to pitch in and help however they k. we'll tell you how next on "morning joe." l telu how next on "morning joe." benjamin franklin

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as we watch hurricane florence make landfall this morning, it's also having an impact on week three of the college football season with a number of games scheduled in the carolinas, virginia and surrounding areas moved or canceled altogether. the games featuring ranked teams no longer taking the field, number 18, ucf at north carolina. number 14 west virginia at nc state. and number 13, virginia tech, which was supposed to host east carolina.

second ranked clemson and number three georgia, like many other schools, will now shoot for an earlier start time to hopefully avoid the weather. in the meantime, espn reports clemson team buss have been recruited to aid in evacuation efforts. and colgate, whose game was canceled, has really pitched in, donating their hotel accommodations to the relief effort. they still purchased all the meals the team would have consumed had they played the game and sent along instructions for the food to be distributed wherever it could do the most good. good for you, well done. one game we know is full steam ahead, the one right out here, tomorrow's alabama/ole miss matchup. joining us now, the host of "the paul finebaum show," and football analyst, the legend himself. >> life complete, on the set of "morning joe." >> you are here, you are here. >> that is big. >> so handicap the game. you've got alabama, ole miss,

neutral, alabama and vanderbilt. so what's going to happen tomorrow? >> i think alabama is going to win. >> wow. >> the question is whether it will be more than 21 for anyone keeping score at home. >> wow. >> i think this alabama team is unstoppable, willie. they have the best offense i've seen, joe, in modern time. quarterback maybe in a couple generations. so ole miss, which has absolutely no defense, will not -- they have a really great offense. the most interesting part of this game, you have a battle of two quarterbacks from hawaii. >> wow. >> in the state of mississippi. >> that doesn't happen often. so paul, i've been following you, been reading you, following you since the 1980s. and we've both seen an alabama team that can't beat southern miss, that loses homecoming games at home to vanderbilt. it's been a struggle through the years. we seem to have particular problem from time to time with

ole miss. we lost in '87 in tuscaloosa. i was there and we lost a couple times here. this used to be a great rivalry. and it's got new life over the past two, three years. >> you had two states who have a lot of similarities. unfortunately, most of them were unfortunately bad when it comes to the national scene. but i think that's all changed. i'll leave the politics to you guys considering where i currently work. >> thanks a lot. >> but you had famous shootouts in the late '60s between archie manning and scott hunter. it was 33-32, something like that. it was the first prime-time game on abc. you don't have to go very far back, joe. two years ago on this weekend, ole miss had a three-touchdown lead over alabama. had they held on, it would have been three straight. no one has beaten nick saban three straight. i happened to see hue freese who

is the coach last night. it's remarkable. he built a career on beating saban twice. it's remarkable. this program was rolling until probation hit last year and then the unfortunate firing of coach freese as well. >> speaking of rolling alabama, they've gotten to a point now where, again, we've seen the ups and downs of alabama since the '80s. but right now, they do seem about as unstoppable as any college team. what has nick saban done through the years? how has he gotten it to a point in this competitive field to just have a number one team year in, year out? >> joe, what he did, which is very difficult to do no matter where you are, is take total control and just -- he walked in and said i'm in charge. i'm not going to listen to anyone else. and he did that at a school where almost every other coach had failed because they were living in the shadow of paul bryant. not only did saban exceed that dilemma, he may have surpassed

bryant. paul bryant's grandson, mark tyson, whose son just signed or committed to alabama a couple of weeks ago, called me not long ago and he said nick saban is the greatest coach in alabama history. that's the grandson of the person in 1982 when i was a cub reporter wrote, paul bear bryant, the greatest coach in college football history, has died. he was the best coach ever. and now a man in the same city, at the same school, has eclipsed him. >> paul finebaum, thank you for being on. paul, you bring up great coaches. we want to thank one of our great coaches here on the set of "morning joe," live in oxford. it's alex corson's birthday. bring it in. we're up against a hard break. we got a lot of breaking news. but this is for you. i almost lost your cake. don't worry. we really salute you, alex. everyone should sing you happy

birthday. but we're going to thank him for having us here today. he's giving me a thumb's up. of course we are continuing our live coverage of hurricane florence. of course. straight ahead on msnbc. but thank you so much for everything. >> happy birthday, alex. >> thanks to our great crowd. you're turning onto the street when you barely clip a passing car. minor accident - no big deal, right? wrong. your insurance company is gonna raise your rate after the other car got a scratch so small you coulda fixed it with a pen. maybe you should take that pen and use it to sign up with a different insurance company. for drivers with accident forgiveness liberty mutual won't raise their rates because of their first accident. liberty mutual insurance. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty ♪

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good morning. i'm ali velshi in myrtle beach, south carolina. msnbc special coverage of hurricane florence continues here. we have reporters fanned out across the area that florence is hitting. it made landfall at about 7:30 this morning in wilmington, north carolina, where a number of our crews are stationed. that's that way, up the coast. we're going to be having a presser from fema in about 15 minutes. we know about half a million people in the carolinas are now already without power. here in myrtle beach, it has not hit with all its power yet. we're just getting increased winds right now. we're at about midtide. we're at about two hours away from high tide there. and that storm is still way up the shore from where i am. let's go to