my thanks to mara, mark, and the rev al, most of all to you for watching. some exciting news from our friend al sharpton, "politicsnation" is celebrating eight years on the air on saturday. so tune in as you always do. congratulations. thanks for being a part of this show. >> thank you. >> we're grateful. that does it for us. "mtp daily" with chuck todd starts now. ♪ if it's friday, a massive storm is coming. where will hurricane dorian hit? more importantly, how long is it going to linger? we've got a brand-new advisory from the national hurricane center. plus, who gets the last gaffe? biden pushes back after his latest campaign trail error.

but are fatal gaffes now a political relic in a trump era? and virtual reality. why we could be witnessing the beginning of the end of iowa's first in the nation status. welcome to friday. it is "meet the press daily." the friday before the labor day weekend. i'm chuck todd here in washington. we want to get the latest on hurricane dorian. it is turning toward florida's east coast. it's likely to become a 4. it's a massive one. an update has some potential optimism for some florida residents. let's go to bill karens with me now. >> we know now that half of the cone of uncertainty is an offshore track. yesterday was maybe a quarter of it. we were thinking maybe a 75% chance of a landfall. now we are thinking a flip of the coin. that is a great step.

is there potential that we can keep this just far enough off the shore that it's a glancing blow? that's still a possibility. so let me give you the new update. it didn't change much of the intensity. it is about 600 miles away from florida. so still has a ways to travel over the ocean. this is the new hurricane path. no changes at all in the first about 48 hours. it's heading pretty much due west. the turn is the whole key to this forecast, when does it kind of stall out and head northwards? the hurricane center has been nudging this a little further offshore over the last 12 hours. and you notice that really strict turn now. the hurricane center, the center line is still making a landfall. but as i said, we watch this cone of uncertainty. that cone of uncertainty is determined by past storms, the forecast errors. and so now we have the cone that goes all the way out here well into the atlantic, still includes miami, still includes most of the state of florida. but half the cone would be a

nonlandfall storm. so let me kind of show you why. and our models have been trending that way. so that's why the hurricane center is slowly trending that way too. each of these squiggly lines is kind of a representation of some of our computers. yes, some of them do slil slam it right through the later of central florida. but a bunch of them do slow and do that big turn right along the florida coast. that would be a devastating storm because it wouldn't weaken as fast. but if we can get something like this line, then it would just be a rough surf, erosion, and this would prevent us from a billion dollar weather disaster. in our european model, this is the one that really woke everyone up when it came in about 2:00 this afternoon. we were like, oh, wait, it stalls it out over the northern bahamas. for areas like freeport, it looks like this is going to be a storm no matter what. but then it doesn't actually take the storm towards florida. it keep it's just off the coast and actually parallels the coast line of south carolina and georgia and then takes it off areas off the outer banks.

we are still about 72 hours away from any potential landfall. we still have plenty of time. there is no evacuation orders yet or anything. let's hope that this trend further offshore continues. >> bill, you have foreshadowed this potential yesterday. we did with -- this is the -- michael, right? this is the michael path. >> michael was the one that went into the panhandle. matthew was the one -- >> matthew, thank you. that ended up hitting the carolinas became sort of a water event for them. but this one missed florida. >> yes. this is a huge wake-up call for all our friends in florida, georgia, and the carolinas because you're not out of the woods either with this. >> i wouldn't call that a good news forecast. it's good news for some in florida. >> if there's even a glimmer of hope, we can make this just a fish storm. >> we are all for that. bermuda, we are coming for you. all right, bill, thanks very much. we turn now to big political

story of the day as the democratic frontrunner joe biden responds to some blistering questions from the washington post who asked about his age and mental state. this of course coming after "the washington post" meticulously noted all the inaccuracies from a recent stump speech where biden seemed to jumble together three incidents about the heroism of a navy captain. >> it feeds into the narrative that joe biden makes things up, joe biden too old. joe biden isn't all there. how do you keep the narrative, the too old narrative from damaging your campaign? how do you break out of this narrative? can you? >> well, i can only break out of it when i win. >> what do you tell voters for whom this might be an issue? >> i don't tell them anything. i'm just going to out and say what i believe why i'm doing what i'm doing and how i'm going

to do it. >> the biden campaign today blasted out a cbs news story about how some democrats on the trail are not even bothered by the biden gaffes, which is what some of our campaign reporters have been hearing as well. and there's one big possible reason for this. you can't really have the biden gaffe conversation without also having the trump lies conversation. and, look, you can't really have the biden age conversation without also having the trump age conversation as well by the way. never mind bernie sanders and elizabeth warren. anyway, biden knows this, especially when it comes to his gaffes. he said last year when discussing the prospects of his 2020 bid, i am a gaffe machine, but, my god, what a wonderful thing compared to a guy who can't tell the truth. biden's strategy confronting questions about his age and his gaffes clearly echos one of his favorite campaign adages that they don't run against the almighty, they run against the alternative. as the press dogged him with questions about his most recent conflation of a story, he is running against an alternative

that a lot of democrats view as an existential threat to this country. >> we are in a battle for the soul of this nation, and it's the first and foremost reason why i am running. [ cheers and applause ] again, the words the president says matter. our children are listening. our silence is complicity. we all saw the direct line between president trump's language about immigrants invading us to the manifesto by the shooter in el paso who said i'm doing this because we have an invasion of hispanics trying to take over texas. >> i am joined now by the ap's national political reporter want to sommers, doug thornell, and daniel pletka. juana, i want to start with this, the sort of the question that biden's getting here.

look, biden is biden. is this news or not? and i get the hand ringing on this. is this news or not? >> that's a great question. i tried to ask joe biden the kind of the question capeheart asked. it was in the context of the remarks he made about 1968 in talking about, you know, imagine if president obama had been assassinated, what that would have felt like. and you weren't alive in the '70s and '80s as reporters. like, we didn't have the right context. so he truly believes that his comments are being taken out of context. >> let me ask you this, juana. did that ring to you true? did you think that was a fair explanation on his part? >> i think in some circumstances, there is certainly an argument that headlines that have been written or some of the 30-second clips of these things do not do

justice to what you see if you were out there on the ground. the more legitimate question is i think the story from the post about the way that he talks about this event and how there is this separate events, i think this is in kind of a different ballpark. i don't think this is the gaffe cycle. there's a real question as to how he remembers an historical event that he participated in. i just think it's different. >> some of us came of age with ronald reagan who would just make stories up and the country just ate it up. and sometimes i think with biden, reagan got away with it because, oh, that's just old grandpa. there is a part of biden, oh, that's just old uncle joe. >> i think biden has a certain charm. that has enabled him over the years -- this by the way, let's give it to joe biden. this is not a sign of old age. he's been putting his foot in his mouth his entire career. [ laughter ] >> it's a fair point. >> it's really true. >> he himself said it i'm a

gaffe machine. >> this isn't a gaffe as you sort of rightly said, juana, he didn't know what the truth was. i believe he actually believes the story is mostly true. >> he conflated three different stories. and by the way, and many a family member have probably done that in our lives. >> we've all been at thanksgiving dinner. the question really is for joe biden is is he going to generate enough enthusiasm? it's not enough to not beat donald trump. is he going to generate that? and i don't know. are you guys the political experts here? >> i want to play something for you before you react, which is as this story was being debated and written yesterday, here was donald trump in the rose garden yesterday doing the space command it. >> wasn't his finest hour. take a listen. >> we're gathered here in the rose garden to establish the united states' space command. it's a big deal. as the newest combatant command

spacecom will defend america's vital interests in space, the next war fighting domain. and i think that's pretty obvious to everybody. it's all about space. >> i mean, [ laughter ] i'm sorry, it's just like what is he talking about, like star wars? it's space. >> final frontier. >> it's the president versus the teleprompter is a common game. and that's the point. >> we could do this from here until next month of rambling, incoherent speeches by donald trump. >> and by the way it'll make the biden trump debate interesting. >> i think comparing the two isn't even fair. i mean, look, whether it is the lies that donald trump tells thousands and thousands based off of fact-checkers, whether it's rambling incoherent ones, the tweets that are full of errors and lies and mischaracterizations or racist attacks on people. you know, look, joe biden, you know, i think some of this is baked in, in terms of like he's going to make a mistake here and

there. what makes him so strong i think to democratic voters is the fact that they think he can beat trump and his authenticity. in the weird way the gaffes give him authenticity. >> let me just say, biden doesn't go out there and he doesn't look like some preprogrammed politician. he says what's on his mind. you can disagree with him and he makes his takes. but -- >> i think the way he handled jonathan's questions, those were some pointedly worded questions. he could have easily gone in many different directions, and he just i think smartly blew him off politely. >> i think you're right. joe biden's been doing this for a long time. when he answers these questions that are either confrontational or that he may not like, he knows how to handle it and brush it off his shoulder and answer well and move on. i think that long experience in politics, some people may see that in a negative.

but he shows how deft he is at answering those. imagine what you're going to hear in future debates as this field continues to narrow and if he is the general election nominee. >> let me put up this stat, though. the four most likely people right now if you believe the polls to become president are donald trump, joe biden, bernie sanders, and elizabeth warren. show me the numbers, ed. 73, 76, 70, 77. i remember when this was going to be a generational change election, doug, danny. >> well, maybe next time. look, i think that -- and this is one of the things that i think biden will be able to -- >> absolutely. >> he's surrounded by. i mean, what is trump going to -- if trump can't go after him in terms of his age. he will. but, look, there is plenty of evidence to really question trump's mind and his, you know, his sanity. >> i am so glad to see if the american presidential election

goes down to which candidate is losing its slowest. is that going to be what we're debating? >> i think ultimately it's going to be who do the american people believe is looking out for them. what i'm saying is, is that if trump was running against a republican or a jeb bush or a marco rubio, then it may be an issue. if biden was running in a field where the top contenders, maybe kamala gets up there. potentially could be an intern. but right now that's not where this race is headed. >> but that's not -- i mean, at the end of the day that's not what the question is going to be in the election. you sort of reeled off the low-hanging fruit about donald trump. the problem is that everybody knows that. i think we know that to a point about biden. but if you are looking for the enthusiasm of young people, which is what we see as really sort of the fire in the belly of the 2020 election. are young people going to come out and vote for uncle joe? i don't know, maybe. >> but, juana, the reason i

bring up the h-question is as much as right now it feels like it's going to be one of those four people who's going to be the next president of the united states, i look at that and i'm thinking somebody is going to successfully get the -- play the generational card. i don't know who it is anymore. it looked like it was beto. then we thought maybe pete buttigieg, julian castro. actually the first person we thought it would be was julian castro. i still think there's room for somebody to break through when you look at the fact that, yes, they're all over 70. i think you're absolutely right. and we have to keep in mind that it is still incredibly early. no one has cast a ballot. we haven't seen over the summer a lot of polls to give us a strong idea of how these candidates are actually doing in early primate states. also to your point about will they vote for uncle joe, one of the things i keep thinking about they surely showed up for uncle bernie. you see them out there for elizabeth warren too. but some of these older candidates, despite beak decades

older than these young voters, they are inspiring a level of enshoes zam. -- enthusiasm. elizabeth warren in fairness, some people are going, wow they're going to say of the four, well, she doesn't seem like a 70-year-old. she's done a great job i think of frankly i think of almost distancing herself from her own generation. >> she seems ageless. i was surprise when did i learned she was the same age as hillary clinton. i couldn't believe it. >> she does seem much younger. but also not just in physical looks. it's sort of the way she talks and thinks. it seems like a 21st century thinking. >> but isn't that a problem for joe biden as well that these two other people who got the votes that you rightly said, they came out for the burn, is joe biden going to be radical enough? that is what they came out for. he's mr. moderate. >> well, maybe not necessarily for that age demographic. i'm glad you brought up the point that bernie does solicit a tremendous amount of -- >> the youngest enthusiastic --

>> absolutely. but if you look at most polls of the democratic electorate, i think the party is generally moderate, and they want a candidate -- >> it's older than you realize. >> it's older and they want a candidate on some of these issues that they are dealing with, whether it's medicare for all. they want a candidate who is, you know, a bit more centered. now that may not appeal to younger voters who may want to go a little bit harder to the left. but that might be enough for someone to get 30% and win the nomination. >> you know, it is interesting in this same interview with jonathan capehart, joe biden sort of undermined his electability argument because he said, well, anybody can probably beat trump. the polls are showing that. and at what point, juana, do you think that that actually, could that end up hurting biden that the more vulnerable trump looks, the more free people feel in nominating whoever? >> i think that's a really great point because so much of japaoe

biden's argument. >> polls in it which i think is just crazy. >> he and bernie sanders are doing kind of the same argument that they believe that they are the singular person who can defeat donald trump. they are making that argument over and over again. i think that that's what people believe and polls tend to show that it's not just you, it makes your argument weaker. >> doug, i have a theory that the case for these candidates is flipped. people don't look at them to see if you can win. they look at them to see who is most likely to screw this up. i think that's subjective too. >> there's one difference though when you match trump up against warren when you match him up against buttigieg or harris, those folks are sort of right now your generic -- >> they are getting a generic number. they aren't as well known to the rest of the public. joe biden and sanders i think, but joe biden in particular is

very well known to the electorate. they know what this strengths are, his weaknesses. when you look at his number against trump, i believe that a little bit more than the numbers of other democrats because we just don't know how they are going to stand up once more voters know who they are. they could do better than biden. >> juana, doug, danielle, thank you. it's the end of another crazy chaotic summer. but with everything that's happened, has anything really changed in washington? the trump era, there's always noise and movement but no change. plus, the idea was to make a complicated voting process easier for iowans, well, it turns out the idea itself may be too complicated. the latest on the caucus chaos next. this was me six years ago... and this is me now! i got liberty mutual. they customized my car insurance, so i only pay for what i need. then i won the lottery, got hair plugs, and started working out. and so can you!

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boost turnout for their first in the nation caucuses just took a major hit when the democratic national committee recommended scrapping the stit's plan for a so-called virtual caucus. those virtual caucuses would have allowed potential caucusgoers to vote by phone in the days leading up to the actual in-person caucus. and if you've ever spent a frigid february in iowa, you would see why it may or may not sound so appealing. but it isn't just about the weather. showing up can be difficult if you work nontraditional hours or if you don't have childcare. that's why the democratic national committee mandated iowa and nevada to allow some kind of absentie voting. but now party leaders have security concerns with iowa's plan for call-in caucusing, especially in the wake of russian hacking efforts in the 2016 election. and that's skipping over the many lodge ischial questions about how the heck this virtual caucus was supposed to work in

the first place. iowa democrats say they are working on a new plan. >> our commitment remains the same, to ensure that these caucuses that the iowa democratic caucuses are the most successful in our party's history. i am confident that they will. >> iowa democrats have two weeks to finalize a plan the dnc will approve. why does this matter so much? because who votes in iowa determines who wins in iowa. and we know who wins in iowa makes a big difference in the entire race moving forward. at least as the process stands this year. we'll have much more on that when we come back. wayfair's got your perfect mattress. whether you're looking for a top-brand at a great price. ready to upgrade. moving in. moving on up. or making big moves. deliveries ship free and come with a 100-night free trial. no matter your budget. or your sleep style. we have quality options for everyone. so search and shop. save and snooze. and rest easy, knowing that we've got your back. literally.

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ask your eczema specialist about dupixent. to all the candidates who are out here who are running for president, you can count on them. you can count on the fact that your people whom you organized in this state to get your people out to the caucuses. we can guarantee you they are going to have a secure system to make sure that all of your votes are counted. >> welcome back. tom harkin and other iowa democrats are trying to reassure 2020 campaigns that next year's iowa caucuses will be fair despite the dnc's decision to recommend scrapping the state's plans for a virtual caucus. with me now is alex, a political reporter for the ap. certainly has done the rodeo with us. alex, good to see you and good to see you doing great work, even if it's another fine news

organization. let's start with plan b for the iowa democrats. they say they've got to have a plan out in the next couple of weeks that is approved by the dnc. will they get a plan approved by the dnc that doesn't -- that essentially is -- will the dnc allow them to essentially do the same thing they did four years ago now? >> well, that's the question. the iowa democratic party seems to be working under the belief that the dnc will give them a little bit of extra time to figure this out. morally, five months out from the caucuses and the dnc only just decided this. the lack of a plan b was very obvious at the iowa democratic party's presser earlier today where troy price, the democratic chairman basically said give me a week. i can't speculate on what that sort of alternative would look like because they haven't really thought about that. and i have to say the idp held a conference call with a number campaigns to sort of explain the process and to answer any

questions. and i've heard from a couple of campaigns a little bit of frustration with that fact, the fact that troy price got on the phone with them and really had no answers. it's up in the air right now. it's going to cause a lot of chaos for some campaigns that were relying on the virtual caucus. but we really won't know how until we know what the alternative is. >> but it certainly seems that the dnc's probably going to feel there is so much money and time has already been invested in iowa. they can't radically change things. one would assume the dnc is probably stuck with basically saying, well, at least run it the same way you did it four years ago. just try to, you know, try to make sure you don't make mistakes. >> right. they could offer them a waiver from sort of expanding access through a virtual caucus or early voting. but i've heard concerns from operatives in the state that if they accept that waiver, it will sort of fuel concerns about the caucus that have been going on for years. this idea that the caucus is too

exclusive and there's no way of opening it up to more voters. so that is part of what, you know, gives caucus critics reason to say iowa shouldn't go first, iowa shouldn't have a caucus. so that's the concern that they are running into right now. >> it seems like there's two radical solutions iowa could propose that the state democratic party could propose right now. radical solution number one would be to just add a second night, sunday and monday night to the caucuses, any way they would propose that. second would be to create essentially say, you know what, we're going to make it a firehouse primary, meaning they will pay for it, there's enough money these days in democratic politics to do it, and make it all-day voting on monday. is there any chance either one of those seems to be logistically the easiest way to sort of radically do what they want to do this cycle. >> sure. the other alternative i've heard is what the nevada democratic party is doing which they have

early in-person paper basically caucusing. people can offer their preferences via paper. but that would poerly move the iowa caucuses a little bit close to a primary. so these are all sort of questions up in the air. i mean, what was clear today is that the idp does not quite know how it's going to move forward. they rolled out this plan in february. they were expecting it to go ahead, and the dnc didn't weigh in until basically this past week. >> you know, look, we had this debate internally this morning. the caucuses made a lot of sense when people weren't that interested in how this process was done. it doesn't make a lot of sense in the 21st century. it is harder to defend. there's nothing wrong with letting iowa go first as a primary. sorry, new hampshire. alex jaffe with the associated press in des moines. it will be a great story to cover. thanks so much. the more things change, the

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welcome back. it's been a chaotic summer. but the more things have changed this summer, the more some things stayed the same. here is just a brief list of what we've seen. the el paso and dayton shootings, mueller's testimony, "sender back," trump's july 4th event. the continued trade war, the congressional gop retirements. it's a trickle turning into a drip turning into a flood. the two democratic debates including harris versus biden on race. but even after all that, not much changed politically. biden still leads the democratic primary race. president's job rating is still in the low 40s. and as we wrote today, ding, ding, ding, it's a defining feature of the trump era. a lot of noise and very little movement. let's bring back tonight's guests, juana, doug and danny.

that is a hallmark of donald trump, not just the trump era as a politician. donald trump is always a lot of noise, a lot of movement, a lot of perceived movements, but not a lot of advancement. >> a lot of sound and furious to signifying nothing. he used the expression defining deviancy down. and that's really what donald trump has done. he has defined down what our expectations are. and as a result nobody listens anymore. if you go out to the normal part of the world where i almost never get to go, you ask people about any of these outrageous, they don't know, they don't care and they think we're weird. >> you as an ap reporter actually talk to the regular america, right? >> i do all the time. and she's right, frankly. they are not paying so much of this -- i think it really hit me during mueller especially when i was asking folks about the details on the campaign trail. they're like, i'm sorry, what now? people are not dialed in, in the

same way weirdoes in washington and new york are. >> and that's why we talk about the biden gaffes, we have to keep this in mind. >> chuck, i was watching a focus group a couple days ago. it was in a swing county in michigan. obama, obama, trump voters. and they were asking, you know, they were asking these folks about all of these different things. and just didn't bother them. it sort of -- you know, they were pretty much all going to vote for trump again. and some of the things that bothered them, they didn't like the tweeting. you know, they had some concerns about the staff turnover which was really interesting and they didn't like -- >> so it goes to competency. i have sought that -- i actually think that's something that democrats don't go at enough. >> it was really interesting to listen. there were things about the cost of living that popped as well. but i was just -- i mean, for democrats who believe that this is a demographic that is going

to be easy to peel back, i think we've got a lot of work to do because they were almost making excuses for trump. oh, well, the tweeting, you know, it's just trump or, you know, it was just like they sort of exluzed it and went back to well, you know, i'm doing pretty well economically. >> this is the guy that -- one of the ways he learned how to deal with politics, trump, and by watching ed cotch. and there's something about the way, danny, that he used to say, ah, whatever, and sort of the new york tabloid press makes it seems like there's always a lot. i think trump in some ways has made the political press just feel like i'm just playing a part. so what i say doesn't always mean i believe it. i think he's convinced at least some of his people of that. >> i think that's a very shrewd way to think about this which is a lot of people are used to looking at donald trump on the tv playing a part. and i think that they still say to themselves even after years

of evidence there's kind of a serious president in there who's doing good things. >> and he's just doing this for show. he's not really a racist. he's just doing a show. there is that group of voters. that's what they convince themselves of. >> what democrats are going to have to do is give themselves a permission structure to move away from trump because i think in some ways he has a personal connection to i think a lot of their voters. and i don't think they necessarily want to admit that they made a mistake or that trump is this crazy racist. so they're going to -- democrats are going to have to peel them away. >> you're not going to get them by saying, hey, he's a racist. >> exactly. i think where we're going to be able to potentially get these voters is on kitchen table issues and that trump has broken promises on things he said he was going to do, the cost of health care, infrastructure, prescription drugs. >> it feels like exhaustion and

competency i think are the two biggest problem trump faces more than any of these other things. >> i think that's right. i take to heart something michael bennet said if you elect me as president, you won't have to worry about me being president. >> you are the third reporter who's quoted michael bennet. yes, the exhaustion candidate. >> but i do think you do hear from these voter where's they don't want to hear about the latest tweet to your point every day. they want somebody that makes sure their family can do better than the generation before. they want sure they can afford health care if they get sick that, they have a planet that's safe and inhabitable and they don't want to deal with all of these eruptions and the chaos and confusion. >> but we are contradicting ourselves because we just said that people tune this out. at the same time and so i get that what bennet said resonated. but why does it resonate with us? because we're the weirdoes again. but we would be doing it anyway. let's face it. >> these focus groups now, i am

jealous of the people who are getting the ability to take, you know, taking a couple months off of trump. >> but your secret's notwithstanding. the reality is i think that that's a very washington sent rick view and that the people who want him to stop distracting us every single day and making us exhausted weren't trump voters to start with. >> and i also -- don't underestimate how well trump has pitted his supporters against the media. i didn't hear a whole lot about the democrats in this focus group that may come up later. but it was a lot of like we are just so tired of the media going after trump. he's done this exceptional job as i think unhealthy as it is for our democracy of pitting his supporters against the media. >> he's exploited the fact that he's a product of an echo chamber that does regularly mislead people.

so, yeah, there's members of the media that mislead people. i always thought the whole thing, what his success has turned us all into problems. there's one other question i have for you, danny. and that is you worked on capitol hill. you know the ins and outs of this. johnny isakson, he's resigning for personal issues. sean duffy, he is resigning for personal issues. john decide that's just this week. let me put up the list of republican retirements or resignations. and this summer it's a drip that's starting to look like a trickle -- do you see something here that there's some people going, you know what, maybe i'm out. >> i think that it is going to turn into something more than a trickle. i agree about that. but i don't think that it's so much republican frustration with trump. i would like to think that it was. but in fact you have a bully pulpit on capitol hill to stand up to trump if you want to. the problem is they haven't.

the legislative branch is so weak. >> well, put up the list again because these are not the -- johnny isakson is a legislator's legislator. he enjoyed legislating. he was never a fire and brim stone guy. shimkus, they are sort of the cogs in the machine, sort of your everyday member of congress. i don't mean it to demean, but the rank and file in a good way. >> congress doesn't work anymore. >> they're like i can't get anything done anymore. >> also don't underestimate being in the minority to house republicans. that is a big deal. being in the minority in the senate you can live with it. but in the house you have no power. and i think the dccc has really done a good job with these folks of looking at the exit door and pushing them out. >> i get the sense that house republican leadership doesn't know how many more retirements are coming because they seem to

be hitting quicker than they expect. >> i take your point. i don't think we've seen the end of this yet and i don't think they quite know how to stop the bleeding. but it's clear that it's happening. >> and you're right. >> that would help stop the bleeding. >> you don't know whether it's trump-related. you don't know what it is, but they've decided i think i don't want any part of the 2020 ballot. >> and they've been home for five weeks with their family. that's going to be tough for them. >> juana, daniel, doug. up next in the room,elephant that republicans don't like to talk about. ♪ tide purclean, because it's made with plants. ♪ ♪ tide purclean, gets stains out his pants. ♪ ♪ tide purclean, it has nothing to hide. ♪ ♪ it's made with plants and ♪ ♪ has the cleaning strength of tide. ♪

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welcome back. kay ivy, the republican governor of alabama, is apologizing for wearing blackface while she was until college after an old audio recording of her and her then-fiancee resurfaced. the governor's press secretary told "the washington post" that the recording was discovered by auburn university's library as it digitizes old media. this doesn't appear to be an oppo hit, for what it's worth. the interview features governor ivy and her then-fiancee. you can hear him describing the racist costume.

take a listen. >> as i look at my fiancee across the room, i can see her that night. she had on a pair of blue coveralls and she had put some black paint all over her face and she was -- we were acting out this skit called cigar butts. >> the audio and the subsequent apology was released by the governor's office. the governor says she does not remember the skit or the interview and says she will not resign. juana, doug, and dani are back. let me -- let's put the full kay ivy statement up here and let me read it for the group here. even after listening to the tape, i sincerely do not recall either the skit, which evidently occurred at a baptist student union party, or the interview itself, both which occurred 52 years ago. even though ben is the one on tape remembering the skit, and i still don't recall ever dressing up in overalls or in blackface, i will not deny what is the obvious. as such, i fully acknowledge, with genuine remorse, my participation in a skit like

that back when i was a senior in college. so, how is hshe handling this? >> her office put out the audio, they put out the statement, she's trying to handle it as directly as one -- >> we found out from her. >> we're finding out from her. >> that does matter. >> we're not finding out from people like you and me who are reporting it. so far, we have seen no press conference in which she seems to contort herself ala ralph northam in virginia. so on the one hand, she's being forthright about it, but at the end of the day, we're talking about yet another american politician, i think this is four or five in recent months. and it's just -- i find it very alarming. the statement doesn't seem to address that painful history in a very direct way. >> well, both doug jones and terry sewell, the two leading democrats in this state, senator doug jones, congresswoman teri sewell, let me put up

congresswoman sewell's statement. governor ivey's actions were reprehensible and deeply offensive. alabama cannot escape its painful history without reconciliation. and governor ivey's admission today on the deepens open wounds. doug jones had a similar statement, but it was more of a -- he had a different -- almost like, it was a more positive, optimistic spin. i appreciate the way governor ivey has addressed this in a straightforward manner. accepting responsibility while accepting and expressing remorse are an important ways to move beyond our stakes. governor ivey now has a unique opportunity to do more than any alabama governor in recent memory to correct the injustices that still exist in our society. i hope she will seize it. i found that interesting. both congresswoman sewell and governor jones said the same thing. one was more pointed and one was running for re-election statewide. sorry, i don't mean to -- you can sort of see the tonal difference. >> and neither called for her to

resign. >> snow, only the naacp in the state so far has. >> and a few other politicians. it's a very interesting comparison to what happened with governor northam. where you had republicans and democrats, many democrats, calling for him to step down, but republicans, you had kevin mccarthy, the gop leader, the rnc chairwoman, rhona mcdonald, rick scott, and druted cruz, al said that ralph northam should resign. where are they now? are they going to say anything? consistency is important. when northam came out, you had a lot of democrats running for president, others who said, he should step down. he ended up not doing that for his own reasons, but republicans were out there calling for him to do the same. are they going to be consistent here or dani? >> this is a hard one, you know. on the one hand, this was a disgusting social practice, totally unacceptable. >> and no one seems to remember.

>> no, i wouldn't say that. >> it's amazing, the people that participate don't seem to remember. >> well, yes, of course. nobody remembered, but partly, people don't remember because i think first of all, it wasn't out of the ordinary. but all of these people also drank in white-only water fountains and went to white-only soda counters and sat in white-only buses. i think that actually kay ivey was much more forthright than governor northam, i have to say. he's my governor and i'm ashamed of him. i respect that she came out and said that and i think that the way that doug jones talked about it was much, much more productive. >> you know, juana, and i don't want to make short slift, but all of these incidents only reinforce the notion that the "new york times" report is right, there's a lot more to learn about race in america. >> it should be required reading for every household in america. >> that's all we have for tonight. we'll be back next week with more "meet the press daily." be sure to join my sunday for

"meet the press." we'll have the latest on hurricane dorian. look at the generational divide in the presidential race. among my guests will be somebody who would like to see that divide go in his favor. julian castro. "the beat" starts right now. chris jansing is in for ari. >> good to see you, chuck. i am chris jansing in for ari tonight. we're following a lot of stories. the walls are closing in. trump losing support as his trade war blows up and his administration got millions of dollars from fema. plus, more fallout as trump threatens to deport seriously ill children. i'll talk to one family whose 5-year-old is receiving life-saving care in the u.s., but has been told to get out. and the slow burn in the impeachment caucus. why dozens more democrats have come out in favor of impeaching trump since the mueller hearing. we'll get to all of it, but we begin with an update on hurricane dorian, as the monster storm barrels towards florida. nbc meteorologist bill karins is with us. bill, what should people be preparing for? >> that's the million-dollar question. you're prepared in case you're

to