east. 4:00 a.m. in the west. first up, daybreak in the carolinas. tropical storm florence is no longer a hurricane. we're giving you a live look at myrtle beach, south carolina, the coastline there. the rest of the city is still in peril as flood waters will grow. high tide coming at noon. the worst is yet to come in some places, widespread flooding, sweeping rains measured in feet all still on-going. the latest track of the storm is ahead. the other headline, a bombshell plea. he must tell all to robert mueller and including what happened at the trump tower meeting. we have all of the details next on msnbc live. but it is just about sunrise in the carolinas. people wake up to a pounding from tropical storm florence. people are still waiting for help in new bern, north carolina. that's one of the many coastal or river areas that can get up

to 40 inches of rain. also a jump in power outages in north carolina, up to 786,000. 138,000 without power in the south. first responders continue to rescue hundreds trapped in many corners of carolina coastal towns and now moving inland. >> big bang. the roof went. and all of the ceiling fell down on us. >> i have never been so terrified in my entire life. it was horrifying. >> five deaths were reported in north carolina, including a mother and her 8 month old in fanlt child when a tree fell on this home in wilmington. our coverage includes garrett hague, tammy light ner from myrtle beach, mariana tense i don't see, and shawn a men deole a. welcome to you all and good morning.

garrett in new bern, i know first responders are answering calls for help throughout the night. water rescues has to be the big problem posed there. we know many are still in need. what more can you tell us? >> reporter: alex, in the last two days the neuse river jumped banks and invaded this town, bringing storm surge to the doors of people that have been here a long time. they have seen nothing quite like the water level we got in this town. that's what led to so many people being stranded in their homes, in need of rescue. we're told at least 385 people plucked from homes by boat or by high water trek. as of last night, over 100 awaiting rescue. i suspect the number will be lower because as the storm moved south it pulled storm surge back with it. it has been like water draining from a bathtub here. the place i am standing

yesterday would have been waist deepwater. you can see the effects of storm surge dropping the boat behind me, all up and down the block there are pieces of dock and boats and things that rushed in from the river and deposited in the town. as water receded today, we'll see clean up effort get back under way in addition to rescues and fortunately for people here, looks like the power companies are getting some power restored in a town of 30,000. two-thirds of folks lost power, 15,000 have it back. 7,000 or so or maybe more are waiting for power this morning. a mess. >> garrett, can you ask the cameraman to pan and show us that boat. i could not figure out what that was in your live shot. it is a uniquely shaped boat. >> get more of a shot of the boat here. i think this is a tug. for use on the river.

i can try to get out here a bit. it is up against a power pole, alex, though i am confident the power is out, i'm not getting too much closer than i am already. this is part of the dock complex. we can't make a shot of this, but i have to tell you, there's one sailboat that pulled into the river and dropped anchor in the river, it is the only piece that hasn't moved. boats and cars were tied up closer that ended up in front launls and across the street. we are looking at the one sailboat that managed to ride it out. everything on this stretch, a mile up and down the river, waterfront property, got a more liberal definition of waterfront in the last 36 hours. >> garrett, i always wonder why boats are not removed from perches there from docks in the marina, in this case there's not necessarily anywhere to go, it is flat land.

not like there's higher ground to tow the boats to. >> reporter: sure. some people moved boats further up river, some moved them to dry dock. the same reason we don't see everybody leaving. just because you have a boat, doesn't mean you can afford to move it in the face of a storm coming down. alex? >> thank you so much. thank the cameraman for showing those pictures. let's go to myrtle beach, south carolina, where correspondent tammy light ner is joining us. we spoke a little bit ago. it was dark. the light allows you to see more fully what's going on. has it changed the impression that myrtle beach, the commercial district, seems to have escaped massive damage? >> reporter: hey, alex, no. the good news is right now myrtle beach appears to be spared. crews will get out here in a short while on the ground and

start assessing the damage. we have not seen a whole lot of damage at this point which is good news. power is on in this area, about 160,000 without power in south carolina. one thing this happens when a storm passes through, wildlife can be displaced. some reported seeing an alligator crossing a road in a residential area which actually is quite a serious thing, can be dangerous. wildlife officials are concerned about snakes coming out of waterways if they flood. and they're very concerned about waterways, the rivers in this county flooding that they could crest in 3 to 7 days and wash out the main road coming into and out of myrtle beach, and that will cut off all supplies coming in and out. the mayor is very concerned. we have spoken with her. >> those rivers if they were to crest and flood, would it hit the area you're in?

i know she's concerned about residential areas, but the commercial district as well? >> reporter: not where we are. it is more of a concern with the road leading in and out of myrtle beach and what it will do, it will cut off access completely. 60% of this county they evacuated. even though they have mandatory evacuation for all of south carolina, it is still in place. people want to come back into this area, and right now it is not safe. >> you bring up the point about wildlife. we're going to speak with president of the american humane society not only about pets but touching on that, the snakes, alligators and the like that could be in the water. pretty dangerous stuff. tammy, thank you. our meteorologist is tracking the storm. what's the latest. hasn't moved too much, has it? >> not at all. you look at 24 hours ago, slow movement in the storm. 5 miles per hour pace. looking at rainfall in the same

areas. that's the case as long as this storm is in the same position. we're going to see it take a turn to the northwest tonight. all day long still getting a lot of rain in the same neighborhood. slow moving storm will bring rain to the coast lines and inland. let's take a look at what happens tomorrow. we'll see a transition to the northwest. it starts to weaken into a low. there's weakening in terms of wind but not rain intensity. a lot of heavy bands around the storm bringing that heavy rain and gusty winds to the areas that haven't gotten rain yet. if your neighborhood is dry, you may see some of that rain coming up, including charlotte, north carolina that hasn't seen much at all. that's an area we are watching. we expect 15 inches of rain in that neighborhood. monday at 9:00, still looking at a lot of rain.

we will continue to watch some of those saturated areas compile rain because the ground is wet already from the storm surge that moved on shore from sea water, in addition to rain falling from the sky. here are rain totals. some neighborhoods approaching two feet of rain already and more to come, at least 15 inches for some of these neighborhoods. we're going to follow that as this is a slow mover and big storm, regardless whether it is a hurricane, tropical storm or a low. >> that rain doesn't have anywhere to go. okay. thank you very much. mary ann a is in one of the hardest-hit areas of north carolina. when we spoke with you last hour, you said residents haven't lost power but that in no way means they're out of the woods yet. i believe you have paul with you, one of the residents on oak island to talk about what he experienced. take it away. >> reporter: so the people here in oak island, it is an island of 8,000 people, definitely not

out of the woods. we are expecting more rain. we're going to be hit by bands later in the afternoon. this is an island where both bridges are closed, nobody goes in, nobody goes out. they have been closed by the authorities since before the storm hit. you might be asking yourself how were we able to get in here, hunker down, be able to report for you from here for our msnbc audience. it was thanks to paul, a local resident that took us in. i was so impressed when i first met you, how prepared you were for the storm. can you briefly tell me how you prepared to hunker down? we still may see flooding and rain for several days here. >> prepared by having all provisions we needed, a generator, well for water if needed. just didn't know what we were in for. thankfully it has not been as bad, but this is still pretty

severe. today we're looking for more impact. >> how did you think the island faired overall, what concerns you most for the next couple of days? >> well, i don't know exactly how the island faired, haven't gone around and looked. but some reports, it is not major damage. next couple of days, i don't know. i think people probably need to stay away. from what i see from this location, we have a lot of downed trees. a lot of high standing water. >> hopefully the power won't go out. that's something some neighbors said is of concern. paul, thank you for taking us in and making sure we could report on these images the past three days from oak island. >> you're welcome. >> people are not out of the woods yet. sunrise is beginning now. we are going to drive around, see what the extent of damage

is. no reports of injuries just yet. we will start to get pounded by more rain through the rest of the day. >> thank paul on my behalf for taking such good care of you and for showing viewers the kind of preparation that is required. he is a good example of that. thank you so much. the other big story, paul manafort pleads guilty, agrees to cooperate with robert mueller. the legal implications for the white house next. hi.i just wanted to tell you that chevy won a j.d.power dependability award for its midsize car-the chevy malibu. i forgot. chevy also won a j.d. power dependability award for its light-duty truck the chevy silverado. oh, and since the chevy equinox and traverse also won chevy is the only brand to earn the j.d. power dependability award across cars, trucks and suvs-three years in a row. phew. third time's the charm... p3 it's meat, cheese and nuts. i keep my protein interesting. oh yea, me too.

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expected to grow when high tide hits at noon today. up to 40 inches of rain could fall in coastal areas. in washington, a major development in the special counsel probe that's making waves. paul manafort, once the chairman for the election campaign, reached a plea deal with mueller's team, admitting guilt to federal crimes, agreeing to cooperate with the investigation. kristin welker has the latest. >> reporter: after first fighting criminal charges, paul manafort is now cooperating with special counsel robert mueller. the plea agreement says manafort must cooperate with the government in any and all matters. >> tough day for mr. manafort, but he accepted responsibility and he wanted to make sure his family was able to remain safe. >> reporter: in court, mr. manafort told the judge i plead guilty. the charges conspiracy against the united states and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

in a statement from the press secretary, sarah sanders says it had absolutely nothing to do with the president or his victorious 2016 presidential campaign. it is totally unrelated. court documents show manafort's financial crimes stretch from 20006 to 2016. he pushed false stories. in one example he floated stories about anti-semitic ties to his opponent. >> if anyone were to know whether or not donald trump was involved in any way with russian interference in the 2016 election, one would have to think his campaign manager would be the one to know that. >> reporter: mueller will undoubtedly zero in on the trump

tower meeting between donald trump jr. and kremlin linked attorney which manafort attended. mr. trump consistently down played manafort's five month stint in the campaign. more recently, questions mounted about whether the president would pardon him. >> are you considering pardoning paul manafort? >> i have great respect for what he's done in terms of what he's gone through. >> paul manafort touches so many circumstantial pieces of evidence that have been hanging over this investigation. if he is now the chief dot connecter, my guess is that is not good news for the president. >> reporter: manafort is the latest in a string of people linked to mr. trump who pleaded guilty and are cooperating with the special counsel. we're learning he has already spoken with mueller's team. >> all right. thank you for that. joining me, legal analyst danny cevallos and katie fang. good to see you both.

these documents that were filed by the special counsel, manafort not only admitted to everything but he's already offered info to the doj, pled guilty to 2 of 7 counts. interpret all of this. how do you read it? >> the dates are important, alex. the plea agreement has a date of september 13th, thursday. we know he did an open court plea yesterday on friday. what's also included with that net plea agreement is the fact the original proffer, the original plea negotiations and cooperation dates as far back as tuesday this week. frankly at this point if i'm donald trump, i am nervous. i have several guilty pleas from key people that surrounded me, including the national security adviser, the cfo of the trump organization with immunity, and michael cohen is also in talks with the mueller team. so the deal has been done, the

information provided by someone like paul manafort has to be crucial to links between the trump campaign and possible russian conspiracy to influence the outcome of the presidential election. >> to katie's point, danny, do you think paul manafort is the biggest fish if you will that's now significantly cooperating with bob mueller? >> possibly. but that's based on the inference we can draw that if paul manafort this late in the game was able to impress federal prosecutors with whatever story he has such that they were willing to enter into any plea agreement, offer any kind of cooperation agreement to paul manafort, that he must have had something they find very interesting. it might be donald trump, it might be the trump tower meeting where he was apparently present, it might just be about russians. who knows more russians than paul manafort who has pleaded guilty so far. paul manafort is not just a window into the trump administration, he may be more

of a window into russians in general. and this investigation has resulted in the indictment and conviction of americans, but it's also resulted in the indictment of a large number of russians, and that's mueller's original mission. is it most consequential for president trump? remains to be seen. >> we look back to the infamous trump tower meeting, june 9th, 2016. manafort attended that meeting. how does this cooperation deal and guilty plea, how does it change the dynamic of mueller's investigation? >> you have to assume, alex, that the fact that manafort was there with not only trump jr. and jared kushner back in june of 2016 suggests that he's already shared details about what happened in the meeting. remember, there were talks a few weeks ago there was a proemeetig

to that where manafort was present. it suggests the information imparted to the mueller team could include actual facts behind what was the purpose of that trump tower meeting. was it really about russian adoption. we all know that's not going to be the case and that it had to do with the fact there was dirt from the russians on hillary clinton. paul manafort was the campaign manager when wikileaks release of the dnc e-mails came out. there's so much coincidence, and then that becomes reality. that's what we'll find between links between manafort, the campaign and the russians. >> how long, danny, until we find out what paul manafort knows and what has been shared? given the vacuum seal around this investigation from the mueller team. will we know anytime soon? >> for at least the foreseeable future, the only information we have is what mueller said in open court and what is in the plea agreement and what is in

the superseding information that was filed this week in court because it is possible at the end of this, this will all go into mueller's report, not be in open court. that will be submitted to congress and from there who knows where it goes. but this is certainly less information than if it had come out in trial through mouths of witnesses on the witness stand. >> katie fang, danny is he, thank you. this is the wake of tropical storm florence. look at that. there's still something going on with pounding surf and flooding. we'll take you there after a short break.

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power. south carolina had 139,000 power outages. gabe gutierrez is in myrtle beach and migel almaguer in wilmington. gabe, let's go to you first. lots of winds there and rains coming down. >> reporter: hi there, alex, good morning. more than 130,000 customers in south carolina are without power. we have some wind. overnight this playground was tipped over, but that's not the big story. myrtle beach is under storm surge warning. you can see choppy surf behind me. the concern among local officials is the potential for flooding. we have been getting drenched overnight. the problem could be the next several days, local rivers are expected to rise sharply, crest near record flood stages. we have been seeing damaging

effects of florence up in north carolina. now we're getting hit with the tropical storm florence. at the same time, the concern is the next several days as rivers continue to rise, places in and around myrtle beach could see devastating effects. >> gabe, i spoke with the mayor of myrtle beach and i know tammy leitner has been there in the more commercial district. the point of concern from those rising waters of rivers is that cut off myrtle beach, right? there would be no access to get help. >> reporter: that's what the mayor is saying. there's concern the next several days by mid next week, three to five days, rivers could rise. then depending how bad that is, it could choke off this part of myrtle beach for days to come. so yes, the mayor is asking for supplies to be brought into this area, but it really depends on how quickly rivers rise whether or not that actually happens. it is a concern for local officials in south carolina.

we didn't get to see thankfully the harsh hurricane force winds north carolina has, all of the trees that were toppled there, the major flooding in the new bern area. we haven't seen it in myrtle beach yet, but because it is a slow moving storm, the concern here is the next couple of days. >> gabe gutierrez, we're going to take our cue from you and head north to migel almaguer. i know tragedy has struck there. there have been fatalities in wilmington. let's update how things are there. >> reporter: yeah, alex. the family was inside a home when a tree came crashing down, killing two members inside that family home. the big concern here was a flooding issue. that didn't turn out to be the case, it was downed trees that have come down across this area. downed trees blocking major intersections and roads. first responders aren't able to easily navigate through the area. power crews haven't gotten to most residential streets.

we saw yesterday many downed trees that split through homes. one woman we spoke to said she was sleeping on a couch when a tree slashed through her home, cutting it into two. she was nearly injured, fortunately escaped. and there was the other family killed inside their home. officials are dealing with that. we know that 775,000 people without power. that number could continue to climb as we get more rainfall in wilmington. the concern will be how quickly can they restore power with all of the downed trees. when we were driving around town yesterday, we saw trees that sliced through homes and were bringing down power lines. it will be an infrastructure issue here. they probably won't get back on their feet for several weeks. >> what's concerning, you talk about dawned power lines, there's -- downed power lines, there's no reason for crews to put orange cones or things that can alert people saying stay away. you have a