>> okay, friend, thank you. we will continue with this. this is quite a story, this hurricane. it is slow-moving. it has not met the expectations that we've had for it for a few days. take a look at this track. it is anybody's guess whether this is going to make landfall in the united states, in the continental united states. however, the bahamas has been battered by this hurricane. at first as a category 5, then a category 4. the damage there is devastating. but i want you to look at this thing. some people think that america may have dodged this hurricane. whatever happens, there are going to be tropical-force strong winds along the coast in florida and into georgia and alabama. but me going to happen. it's going to be a hurricane that hits the continental united states. storm surge warnings. more than 20 million americans

could feel the effect of this storm. local officials in parts of florida, in georgia, in south korea -- south carolina and at least a million people have been ordered to evacuate. keep in mind this track remains unpredictable. officials are urging residents to heed warnings and to get out while they still can. >> the water continues to rise here. and we're very concerned now because the water is about 8 feet up. but if anyone's decided to stay home, i don't know, it would be very difficult, hard to imagine them being able to leave with lives intact. >> attempt to evacuate to go by our neighbors, two stories up. wait, the car moving?

>> you can rebuild houses, you can't rebuild lives. my biggest concern is people look at that path and say it's not going to hit florida, it's going to go up and hit someplace else. even if it does hit florida and we get that storm surge, it's deadly. >> it's about to get started again. >> you really need to heed the advice of your local and state emergency managers. you need to take action now. if you're at risk, if you've given mandatory evacuation orders, you should not try to tough it out, you should get out. >> take a look at those pictures, particularly from the bahamas. michelle grossman is with me. we've been following this the whole time. this is devastating over the bahamas. it is hitting there and just getting, you know, dumping wind and water right over the bahamas. been doing that for more than 24

hours. >> it's going to do it for another 10. so destruction life-threatening continues to batter the island. it's almost hard to even understand what is happening. we saw some images that broke your heart and we're going to still see that over the next several hours. so, yeah, this is the enhanced satellite showing us where we are. this is the core right here. we're showing signs of some wobble. that's an indication maybe it's breaking down a bit. we are going to start to see some major changes over the next several days. and, we've been watching this for eight days and we are going to watch it for five days more. category 4 storm, that is a very powerful storm. i know we were categorying 5, but at this point it's semantics. we have rain and it is continuing to batter the island of grand bahama. florida, the carolinas and also georgia. so 105 miles east of west palm beach. gusting much higher than that. and we are still moving

painfully slow at 1 miles per hour. i want to tell you a little bit about that movement. it's terrible and nightmarish for the bahamas but it might be good news for florida. we are looking at a category 4 storm through tuesday. by wednesday category 3 storm. then as we move up the coast we could still see a category 2 storm by friday. ali, we are going to continue to watchi and be back with you at 3:30. >> joining me on the join is lena chandler who is riding out hurricane dorian in freeport, bahamas. lena, tell me where you are and who's with you. >> hi. we are located in queens cove which is on the north side of grand bahama near the airport. we have about 10 feet of water outside of our house. we are in a two-story home. and the water has come up upstairs a little bit, not a whole lot. we are okay at this time.

and the water hasn't really risen for the last two hours, but that's a blessing. we are hoping that continues. >> so where you are on your second story, how far are you above the water at the moment? >> uh, well, when i'm looking out of my window on the second floor, about maybe a foot. >> we are looking at video you've sent of violent winds whipping around your property. we are just looking at the trees and the way they are blowing the water getting whipped up. is it similar to what that video shows right now? >> yeah. there's probably 6 to 8-foot waves in our yard right now going out of i think what seems to be the southwest. and, yeah, it's pretty rough. and we had our living room floor was kind of coming up and down, the waves from under the house

were pushing the floor up. >> wow. >> so we do have an evacuation plan in order. we are just waiting it out. >> you're not really in a position to evacuate at this point? >> not evacuate. i mean leave the house if the house starts to cave in. >> i see. how will you get out? with that kind of water, how will you get out? >> well, the only way we really can at this point is either go to the roof or put on our life jackets which i guess if we went on the roof we'd have life jackets as well. and we'd tie ourselves together. >> have you been in contact with authorities? you have some sense of what is forecast, what's predicted to happen around you at this point? you have said that the water does not seem to be rising anymore, which is remarkable because i cannot imagine looking at this video that you've sent how frightening that must be to see that water level come up. and it's not like a lake rising. these are waves, the ocean has come up around your house.

what do you expect to happen? >> well, at this point we're not really sure. we are just praying that there isn't any more -- you know, there's no longer a rise in the level of the ocean, that it stays like this. and i guess in the next few hours hopefully calm down once we get past the back of the eye. i would definitely tell anybody who's now in the path of this storm in the u.s. if you have been told to evacuate, take heed, get out. we have been through many, many a storm from hurricane floyd on. we've been through them all. this is nothing like anyone has ever seen. >> wow. look, you really have been hit by a very serious hurricane. and i just want to let viewers know you're in freeport which wasn't getting the worst of this. so take a look at the video that lena has sent. this isn't the worst of what the bahamas got. that is a remarkably serious hurricane. lena, tell me again who's with

you and what is that plan you have if you have to go up to your roof? tell me what that looks like? >> i've got my husband and two sons and a friend who are here and two animals. and like i said, if we have to, we will get up onto the rope tied together with life jackets on. we also have coolers to float with, and, trust, me, there is lots floating in the ocean right now. we are watching people's roofs go by. we have watched a lot of our property wash by. it's just incredible. >> do you have any sense of what people around you have done, you know, how close are you to your neighbors, and do you know if many people stuck around? was there much of an option to leave? >> yeah, there was an option. we do have an immediate neighbor who is home on his own. he's in a two-story house. and some neighbors down the street who are also -- i think

there are five of them in their two-story home and i believe that's it. that's here in this neighborhood. >> we are looking at the video that you sent of inside your house stairwell that is filled with water. how far up from that first story is that water? >> um, it's -- well, like i said, it's kind of coming up the stairs now. we're 12 feet up. so like i said, and it's also coming in through the porch doors where the waves are crashing into the porch doors it's coming from the sliding doors there. so we're just -- we've got a little bit in the house but that's not really a huge concern. >> right. and i am just looking at pictures of this storm on the radar. you are still in for a lot of rain. is it raining where you are now? >> i think so. [ laughter ] i'm not even sure. i think, yeah, it is raining, and yes, because there's so much

of the ocean spray flying past our windows i'm assuming i'm not sure if it's rain. >> i hear you. when there's that much wind and water around, the distinction about what's coming from the sky and what's coming from the ocean becomes a little unclear. these pictures that we're looking at are amazing. you and your family, when you get through this, it'll be thought of as character-building. but i know it must be heroing. lena chandler, stay staf. if you need to execute on that plan, please go ahead. we are going to keep checking in with you. but remember talking to me is not your priority. but we'll stay in touch with you to make sure that things are going according to your plan. joining me now is the mayor of miami. frances suarez. looking at what's going on in the bahamas maybe miami misses

most of this stuff, but there is going to be rise in water levels. there is going to be heavy winds. tell me what's going on and what your plans are in miami. >> well, you have to understand that we're in the tail end of king tide, which is producing much, much higher than usual tidal waters. we have measured it at 11 inches higher than what has been predicted. and so that often times creates dry-day flooding. so without even having rains, without even having a potential storm strong force winds and these bands that are passing through the city of miami, we already experience flooding. it's something that we have been dealing with our $200 million of infrastructure work to make sure that miami is resilient enough to deal with not only king tide and of course heavier than normal rains but hurricanes which are catastrophic events.

this is a monster storm that is massive in size and category 5 for a long portion of it. and it looks like we are going to dodge the eye. and we are outside of the cone. but we are monitoring it to make that northerly tact that we've been waiting for it to make. obviously it's -- the eye is slightly north of miami and the west palm beach area which is a sign of relief for us. but it's obviously a concern for those in west palm and in the northern part of florida. we have our urban search and rescue teams, fire department which is ready to be deployed to help the rest of the state. we are already collecting in our fire stations relief aid for bahama and marsh harbour, freeport that have been devastated by this hurricane. >> well, that's a good position to be in. we often have to worry about what happens to people in miami because you've got the largest

population center in south florida. at this point the idea that you may be able to help others, you are talking about search and rescue. what else are you in a position to deploy and help with if you don't get the worst of this? but people in other parts of south florida toward central florida do? >> well, we have one of the most sophisticated urban search and rescue teams in the united states. we send them to puerto rico. we have sent them to the panhandle for hurricane michael. they're the best of the best. and they're essentially a portable fire department with special capabilities that is a federal task force. we also of course are collecting right now in our fire stations goods that we want to ship to the bahamas because we've been here, as you said we've been -- here during andrew and irma. and we understand what it is like to get the direct hit of the eye of this storm of this magnitude. it's devastating. it's very, very difficult to predict and prepare for.

you have everything from energy infrastructure going down. during irma we had 80% of our city without power to having, you know, massive flooding 6 to 8-foot storm surges. so i can't even imagine what an 18 to 20 foot storm surge must be like like they're experiencing in marsh harbour. and you have to understand that a lot of these islands in the bahamas are not as sophisticated in terms of their infrastructures as the city of miami. post andrew, we have probably the strongest buildings and the most wind resistant buildings on the planet. that's not the case in a lot of these islands. so you have a combination of this incredibly massive and strong hurricane, an infrastructure that's just not built to withstand it. >> some years ago when we talked about you can hads, we weren't all aware of the effect of climate change and the global warming of the oceans on hurricanes. this is something that you guys are intimately aware of in miami

because you have floods, you have water coming up through drain pipes on days when there aren't storms. you've had to think about flooding just because of rising water levels. absolutely. and you have to understand, too, that the number and intensity of the hurricanes is getting greater. so we have to not only plan for more intense rainfall than we've ever seen before. the five-year rain event or one event in five years we are seeing five times a year. so we are starting to see more intense than ever rainfalls. we are seeing dry day flooding from king tide and we have to deal with that, and obviously hurricanes which are becoming more frequent and more intense. so we have to deal with all these kinds of climactic phenomenon. we don't have the luxury of being able to put our heads in the sand. thankfully our residents have entrusted us with the resources that we need to rebuild our infrastructure and make it resistant to these kinds of events. >> mayor, good to talk to you. we will stay in close touch. he is the mayor of miami.

i want to bring in nbc simone boyce who lives in west palm beach, florida. simone, as a reporter, you have covered a lot of stories. i'm sorry, you're live there, you don't live there. you are in the place that this storm may get the closest to, given the current track. what's going on where you are now? >> reporter: that's right, ali. if you look at a map of florida, you will see west palm beach where we are right now. it juts a bit out further into the atlantic ocean. that eye wall of hurricane dorian is almost exactly 100 miles east of us right now. so as those outer bands of that category 4 storm continue to skirt the florida coast, we are going to be feeling those tropical storm force winds that rain we just got pummelled a few minutes ago with that rain completely soaked here. our crew is completely soaked. but still this weather, these conditions are not stopping

surfers from getting out there and enjoying that surf. of course that is not something that is sanctioned by local officials here. and by the way, local officials will be checking the identification of everyone who makes their way to palm beach island, where we are right now is just about two miles away from mar-a-lago. and so if you're not a resident of this area, you will not be allowed on this island after 5:00 p.m. today. this is one of the areas of west palm beach that has been under mandatory evacuation since sunday, ali. >> okay, simone, we will stay in close touch with you. if this thing juts one way or the other, west palm becomes the center of activities. simone boyce in west palm beach. let's bring in retired lieutenant general russell honare. he served as the joint task force during katrina. we've learned a lot over the last few years with some of these very big hurricanes that

we've had. what do you understand to be the planning right now? this is a tough one because we're not quite sure where it's going and who's being affected. we know that the bahamas has been battered by this. >> absolutely, sir. and as we speak, we start with the bahamas. under the commanding control, there is a task force with some marines that's out there floating in choppy waters ready to go in and help in the bahamas. when you look at the coastal arrival of dorian and you look through florida, that main effort right now is under the national guard prepositioning their assets, deploying their troops. there is a significant national guard in florida, about 11,000. about another 11,000 in georgia and 9,000 in south carolina and another 11,000 in north carolina. so the governors are positioning the national guard are literally maneuvering them in place for those areas that are most likely to be evacuated. behind that is the rest of the

mission of u.s. northern command which provide military support to civil authorities. and they're literally moving helicopters today in position. the first rule of response is you got to get there. so they're moving those helicopters states over. they've got truck companies, task force truck. they've got a task force engineer. the task force truck, hundreds of them ready to go in as well as engineer equipment as well as the u.s. corps of engineers with other assets to go in based on a request from the governors to back up the national guard who backs up the first responders in the county and is a well-trained first respond team in florida where it most likely will hit first. but a lot of the preparation is going on today getting stuff in position, ali and being ready to go in immediately. >> general, one of the things that you know about is that even when you know exactly where a

hurricane is going, and even if you know it's coming right to you, there are people of limited means or ill health who rely on assistance or don't have great mobility who sometimes choose not to move. in a hurricane like this where it's not really sure it's going to hit some of these communities with the strength that may have been expected a few days ago. it causes people, particularly those of limited means to make the decision to stick around because they don't have the money for the couple of tanks of gas or nights in a motel or figuring out where they're going to live. how do you deal with that in this kind of instance? because there are some mandatory evacuations, but there are a lot of people who think they have dodged the worst of this thing. >> if you take an example from katrina, the 1800 people that died in the storm, most of them were elderly, disabled and poor. they were alone literally at home. over the days we've seen a lot of effort by the mayors on

national television talking to their communities to make sure they reach out to people who may be isolated and give them the opportunity to go to shelter. and i don't know if anybody do this better than florida dealing with the old. they actually have a special task force that do this that deal with people with disabilities and the elderly to get them to shelter. but that is still a problem because some people do not want to leave their home. they are afraid if they leave, they will never get back. and we can't say it enough. now is the time for them to evacuate, call somebody. we even have uber giving free rides to shelters. so there is a lot of capacity now to help people before the winds arrive. we must encourage them if you're in the evacuation zone, you need to leave. and if you're thinking about staying, think about this. get your iphone, go on your front step, and look at the elevation to your house. if the local weather people are telling you there's going to be a 10-foot surge, see how that

relates to the elevation to the front step of your house because your iphone will tell you what's the elevation on your front step. if you come in below that number, you better move or you're going to get water in your house while you're in it. and it could have dark consequences, ali. >> right. and again i want to remind people the reason it's important to talk to you is there are two parts of any hurricane. there is the part while it's happening, the wind blowing, whether your roof gets blown off or something flies. then there's everything that happens afterward and more people get affected by what happens afterwards than what happens in the hurricane. more people die because of flooding than they do because of the force of a hurricane. >> and that's what makes this a disaster because a disaster, things get broke, and unfortunately people die as the consequences of it. that's why all of government local counties, city, the national guard and even federal

troops are prepositioned. but that will not help you if you don't evacuate when you're told to evacuate until they can get to you afterwards. so it's very important that people evacuate while there is time or ask for assistance because now is the time. and people can come in and get you to a safe place. they will get you there now. there is a lot of capacity to do it before the heavy winds come, ali. >> lieutenant general russell, former commander of joint task force for hurricane katrina. we are continuing to track hurricane dorian. it's a very powerful and dangerous category 4 storm now. here's a live look at cocoa beach in florida. the storm is beginning to make its presence felt. we are also following breaking news out of california. tragedy, multiple people are reported dead. dozens are unaccounted for after a boat caught fire overnight. we'll have the very latest in a live report next. you are watching msnbc. great riches will find you when liberty mutual customizes your car insurance, so you only pay for what you need.

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we're following breaking news out of california. the coast guard confirms four deaths with knbc in a boat fire near santa cruz island. 39 people were on board when the dive boat caught fire after 3:00 a.m. local time. five people who were all crew members were rescued. 30 people remain unaccounted for. nbc's jennifer berkland is in oxnard california. >> reporter: this is one of those disasters that you just can't prepare for.

3:30 in the morning on the water, fire breaks out on the boat. those crew members were in the bridge area. they saw the fire. they called mayday. the last thing that anybody heard on the radio was that "i can't breathe." and then all of a sudden the fire has engulfed the boat burned down to the water line. for all they know, all 30 people were still below deck when the boat submerged. they called coast guard. but as you can see it's foggy out here. so those helicopters that came in for the rescues were unable to get over the scene. so the rescue boats had to come in and start dowsing that ship with fire. but apparently it was too late and boat actually is submerged with part of the bow still sticking out of the water. so that's the latest we are hearing right now. the coast guard captain that came out and spoke to us a little while ago said they are still in rescue mode. they are in search and rescue

mode. they are doing a shoreline search all along santa cruz island. that boat was anchored just about 20 yards offshore in 64 feet of water. but the hope as time goes on is fading that they will find anyone alive. hurricane dorian continues to move very slowly to the west. the eye of the storm is right over grand bahama island at this hour. the outer rain bands are beginning to hit florida's east coast. we are going to hear from the director of the national hurricane center when we come back. you are watching msnbc. u are wac for adults with moderately to severely active crohn's disease, stelara® works differently. studies showed relief and remission, with dosing every 8 weeks. stelara® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections and cancer. some serious infections require hospitalization. before treatment, get tested for tb. tell your doctor if you have an infection or flu-like symptoms or sores, have had cancer, or develop new skin growths,

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welcome back to msnbc's special coverage. we are keeping a very close watch on hurricane dorian as it continues very slowly on its path. we are going to discuss why that's important in a moment. but right now the category 4 hurricane is basically stalled over the bahamas. the storm is crawling at about one mile per hour. it's carrying with it 150 mile per hour winds. and so far has completely inundated the bahamas with heavy rainfall and dangerous storm surge. storm surge watches and warnings now have been extended all along

florida's east coast and the u.s. geological survey says the storm will likely cause significant beach erosion from florida all the way up to north carolina through georgia, through south carolina. the storm has already wreaked havoc for residents in its path. >> we're very concerned about the hurricane. for the last four days our house has been flooded because of the king tide. and now when this hurricane comes and pushes everything on shore, we're leaving by the way, but we don't know what'll be here when we get back. >> and if you're ordered to evacuate, you need to do that.

get out now while you have time while there's fuel available. and you'll be safe on the roads. >> joining me now is ken grant. he is the director of the national hurricane center. ken, one of the difficulties with this kind of story is that people see maps that have a line that's sort of in the middle of that code of uncertainty. and the message a lot of people take from this is, whew, it's not hitting the continental united states. i've heard you for two days now telling people that's not the way to think about this. >> thank you so much for making that point. at such a critical point when we look at this storm, it's not just that center. we don't even connect these dots on our map. we don't do it on purpose because it's not justout that c. look at how large this wind field is. a good 140 miles. 30 to 40 miles the hurricane force winds. so even if it's offshore, you can still see those big impacts on land and on the coast especially with the storm surge and the winds. >> ken, explain to our viewers

what this means that it's moving as slowly as it is, a mile per hour. what's the relevance of that other than the fact that we're not going to know for some time what that path up the east coast looks like. >> well, this is that stall we've been advertising for the last three or four days right over the bahamas unfortunately. and you really draw a circle right around that center not moving at all. i mean, just absolutely stalled out. so we are waiting for that disturbance in the eastern part of the u.s. to get closer. and eventually we will start pulling this to the north. but it's going to be probably later on tonight and tomorrow morning before we start seeing that move. >> all right. and tell me about what you expect to be the effects on the coastal united states all the way from florida we see on that map at the moment that cone looks up to south carolina. but as the storm extends even going into north carolina. >> absolutely. with time impacting florida, georgia, the carolinas, virginia, and just moving right up the coast and speeding up.

the closerwer speed. this is thursday, this is friday, and then near cape cod basically on saturday. but look how close we are to the florida coast line there. that's why we have those hurricane warnings, those storm surge warnings. a little wiggle could put some of the core winds right on shore. that's why we are telling everybody, hey, this is still the cone. the cone says you can still have a little bit of air and that'll put it right on the coast. that's why we have to be ready for the winds and the storm surge as well. >> and those are some of the most populous parts in florida. >> could i ask a question? we are looking at wtvj's radio and we are seeing some pretty active thunderstorms. do you see issuing any tornado watches coming up out of this thing? >> yeah. we're looking at that risk. as this starts getting closer to land, you will start seeing some of those rain bands with that risk. as we start moving north what, happens is most of that risk is on those rain bands on the right

front quadrant, 90% of the tornados occur at that location. so with time you can see these rain bands coming on shore. that's where the danger is. and we will start looking at that risk and getting that risk information out because that's an important factor when you look at these types of systems. >> al, that's a really good point. i remember in one of the hurricanes ike or something like that, it was predawn and a guy had a million candle power light. he said he is looking for the tornado. i said the wind is 117 miles an hour, and he said, yeah, there are tornados inside hurricanes. >> that's one of the things you will see tornado watches especially in florida. you will see these tornado watches posted. and it's like insult to injury. >> it's an extra danger though because with a hurricane you will at least have some sense of here is where the wind's coming, i'm in a safe spot, i'm behind something that's secure. you have no certainty like that with tornados. anything can whip up. >> i want to come over in a minute and just talk to you

about the forecast on this one. joining me from jensen beach, florida, is nbc's gabe gutierrez. what's the situation where you are? we're starting to see winds whip up and some rain bands around florida. >> yeah, ali. we have been seeing the winds whip up pretty much for the last several hours we are getting the occasional rain band. behind me you can see the surf really kicking up now. the storm is still a watches offshore in that direction. but authorities here in florida are warning people to remain vigilant, mandatory evacuation orders in effect here and also in other communities up the coast brevard county, volusia county. 85 evacuation shelters are open right now according to the governor. and we actually just spoke with one of those evacuees a short time ago. she was an older woman. her and her husband were going there because they lived in the low-lying area. they thought there was a

possibility of flooding overnight and into tomorrow. they just didn't want to take any chances. she actually described this storm as -- she used the word stealthy. because this has been an unpredictable storm in that several days ago a lot of people here in florida expected this to cut right through the state. then of course it took that north and east trajectory. at least that was the projected path. a lot of people here though really want to see it take that northerly turn and they won't breathe a real sigh of relief until that happens. but as al and the director of the national hurricane center were saying this thing is moving at just one-mile-an-hour. it's slow and so many people here waiting and watching to see what happens. about 4500 members of the florida national guard are also prepositioned throughout the state. some 18,000 florida power and light workers, they are expecting extensive outages as well. so it's a question of the timeline of all this.

and as al has been saying whether it wobbles just to the we're or stays to the east. but right now we are just starting to see the wind kick up and those extreme outer bands. just start to rake the florida east coast here. >> stay safe as always. and you're right about that as i was walking up, al, as i was driving up on saturday i was in orlando, i went up to savannah and you saw those power trucks ready to go. but you covered this for long enough to know that a lot of these storms do unexpected things. i would almost say most of them do unexpected things. >> they do at lease at some point. this one has been frusz very frustrating in that it has taken its sweet time. i can't remember a storm crawling at this pace. since the 5:00 update 5:00 a.m., it's gone about ten miles. that's nothing. so it's kind of interesting. as we look at the radar, you can see we've got the hurricane

force winds extend out about 45 miles from the center. but the tropical force winds, and as this loses a little power but still a powerful category 4 storm, the tropical force winds are extending out further. so about 140, 45 miles from the center. and now you can see and we're starting to see some fairly heavy thunderstorms firing up from fort myers to naples. so look at this. this is affecting the west coast of florida. so it's a fairly compact system, but it's going to be very powerful. 105 miles east of west palm beach, florida. 150 mile per hour winds. where you got the warnings still up for the hurricane warnings for the bahamas, also west palm beach up north of melbourne. then again the reason this thing has been such a big problem there's been this ridge of upper ridge of high pressure. so it's got nothing. we are looking for it to break

down and kind of shoot through the break, get caught up in this trough and then take off. that's the good news. the thing as you know, ali, the biggest death toll happens in the storm surge. we've got those warnings 6 to 9 feet up into wilmington. that's going to be on top of high tides tomorrow. that'll be around noon and those winds just continue to wrap around the system and pile that water up. >> and they're tauctioning about the king tide. these unusually high tides right now in florida that are being compounded by this. >> that's right. and so all this does, these tropical force winds pile that water up on top of the high tide. so you've got a lot of the destruction possible. >> all right, al, good to see you. we will stay in very close touch on this. joining me is james. thank you for joining us. again, as i was just saying with al, this one's a hard one because it's moving slowly. it's not entirely clear how close it gets to the shore.

but you're going to have effects. you're going to have power outages. you are going to have floods and you've got people who are not sure what they're supposed to do about this because some people think they are dodging this. >> you are right, ali. and thanks for having us to continue to share this important message. when i look at the impacts in the bahamas right now first and foremost, our thoughts and prayers to all of those that are impacted there. but the slow movement of this storm and the uncertainty of where it could -- where the greatest impact will be, i don't want any of your viewers to become complacent. they have to take preparedness actions now. you heard ken grant talk about that cone of uncertainty. we have some 17 million people just within that cone of uncertainty about 5 million of those that are under some sort of mandatory evacuation order right now by their state or local officials. please, heed the warnings of those officials and get yourself to safety while you still have time. >> give us some sense of what fema does in advance of this storm arriving or getting very close to the u.s. coast.

>> well, for the last several days as you can see in the room behind me, i've had over a hundred of my colleagues working around the clock. and not just fem from employees, from the whole of federal government. nonprofit organizations such as the american red cross, the salvation army. we are here posturing and preparing for whatever the states may request of us. the local officials and states they are the first responders to this event. but as they identify any gaps that there could be as we talk about storm surge and impacts and the need to support shelters throughout these communities, we here at fema are coordinating with the whole of federal government to ensure that those resources are available and that we can help respond. there is emergency declarations that the president has signed that allows us to give direct federal assistance to these states as well. we are doing that for the states of florida, south carolina, and georgia at this time. >> tell me one quick thing about staging. where do you stage for storms like this? because obviously you're going

to need to get assets into place very quickly. i say you, i talk about fema, but i know this is the coast guard, this is the national guard, this is everybody. how do you think about staging for a storm like this? >> well, ali, one of the first things we do is we get personnel into the emergency operation centers of the states and they have been there for several days already. so in coordination with the states based on what the impacts could be, based on what the needs are, that's where we really identify where those staging locations should be. we obviously can't have a lot of assets right in the middle of the path. so we work very strategically with the states and we're not just doing that now in the day or days before the impact. we have been doing that, you know, on a blue sky day. we are working on planning with our state and local partners around the clock. >> james, thanks for being with me. he is with femma. and just as james was referring to and kent gram was referring to and al was referring to, this is the cone of uncertainty. if this storm shifts to the left, if it shifts to the west, you got melbourne, you got

jacksonville, you got savannah. you got charleston on coastal america. so america is not out of danger yet on this storm. maybe it will be. maybe it'll miss the worst of it and we hope that's the case. but our coverage of hurricane dorian continues. but first let's turn our attention to the mass shooting that left seven people dead in texas over the weekend. we've got brand-new information about what the suspect did before the shooting. you're going to want to hear this. it's on the other side of this break. you are watching special coverage on msnbc. u are watchinl coverage on msnbc. congestion's. i can breathe again! ahhhh! i can breathe again! ughh! vicks sinex. breathe on.

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welcome back. we're tracking hurricane dorian but also learning brand-new information about the mass shooting in texas that the left seven people dead this weekend. moments ago police in odessa, texas, police the suspect called odessa police and national tip line after being fired from his job at an oil field that morning. >> saturday morning our suspect went to work for journey oil field service. he was there a short time and terminated by his employer. right after that firing, he called 911, odessa's police department 911 and so did his lawyer. they were complaining because they had a disagreement. a short time before he makes

contact with the police trooper, he calls the fbi national tipline. but makes no threats. >> we're also learning it is unclear to officials how he obtained his firearm but they made clear the atf is currently trying to get to the bottom of that. the suspect is identified by police as seth ator, 36-year-old old man from odessa, texas. ator was, as you heard the spokesman say, recently fired from his job. the ages of the deceased were 15 to 57 years old. and just a warning, this is hard to watch. >> it's okay. it's okay, it's okay. you're gonna be okay. >> they're shooting! >> it's okay. it's okay. it's okay. are you okay? >> yeah. i got you. i got you, buddy.

>> we were hearing pop, pop, pop, pop. and i said be calm, be strong. she's describing what's happening and she was scared. >> when i looked over at our daughter she was covered in blood, so much blood. and i couldn't tell where she was hit. i started screaming, she was shot in the face. >> he was raising his gun to you my window. >> right when i steps on the gas and took that aggressive, evasive maneuver, there were three more shots and i'm pretty sure they were for me. i'm so sad inside, because i -- i knew what was coming towards people and i couldn't help them. >> just hours after that shooting new gun laws went into effect in texas, new laws to ease restrictions by removing the limit how many school marshals could carry guns, how

many residents could carry guns without a license and allowing gun owners to carry weapons in places of wore someplace unless otherwise indicated. joining me no robin thomas, gifford's law center executive director. robin, we don't have time to get past one of these shootings before you and i are talking about the next one. the absurdity here is that in the wake of the el paso shooting, texas saw fit to move forward with some easing of these laws because folks there still think that, you know, the good guys with the guns will take care of the bad guys with the guns. >> well, we know that's simply not true, that that is not how it actually works in reality. if anything having civilians that are armed makes situations like this and others far more dangerous. than not trained in how to respond in times of crisis like this. and they tend to shoot the wrong people or get hurt by law enforcement. it's such a ridiculous way to address those problems, to just put more guns in more hands.

if guns were removed, we would be the safest country in the world. and texas is one of the worst states when it comes to gun violence. i can't believe two mass shootings in that state in a mott and they're loosening gun restrictions. it's a pathetic show for them pandering to the nra and misinformation and fear. rather than taking the steps our communities need to become safer. >> we've been talking a lot about background checks and red flag laws and things like that. if you look at all of the mass shootings that have taken place, vast majority i covered over the years, this ar-15-type assault weapons seems to be the common thread in all of them. these are weapons that most hunters say you wouldn't hunt with. there was no particular need for a weapon of that kind of power and behavior for hunters, generally speaking for self-defense for having in your house. it's called an assault style weapon. it's got a military design to

it. do you think the consistency of the appearance of this type of weapon is going to move either americans or lawmakers to start thinking more seriously about a ban of that sort of weapon? >> it absolutely has already moved the american people to wanting to restrict these kinds of weapons. it used to be on the foens as to whether people wanted the restrictions as a whole but now it's clear the majority of weapons want these weapons to be restricted for civilian use. and you when you talk to people that have been on battlefields, they will tell you, these are weapons of war. these are weapons soldiers are given and intended to kill atim. these are not weapons that belong in the hands of civilians, certainly untrained civilians with no background checks. an 18-year-old in some states can go and buy one of these at a

gun show with no background check or training. it's absurd. we are seeing the impact with the increase in mass shootings and it's almost always assault-style weapons. >> you're right. robin thomas is the executive director of giffords. thank you, robin. joining us now from the atf and msnbc terrorism analyst. jim, the police officer said this guy called 911. so did his employer after he fired him and then called the national tip line and didn't leave a threat. i get it, the fbi cannot assume everybody who calls their tip line is going to go out and shoot people. tell me about the mechanics of all of this and why this guy with a criminal record again had a atf-type weapon? >> the police, 911, fbi, didn't do anything wrong. he's dissociative.

he lived in barely a metal shack and yet he has $700 to buy an ar-15 and lots of ammo. he probably needed to spend that money somewhere else. he's totally discombobulated. probably why he's fired from his truck driving job. and he has a dispute and it's telling both the employee and and employer called 911. when both sides call, you know it's heated. often you get a call from one side. so when both call, you know they're upset. this is an unusual move, he's upset so he called the tip line because he wanted to tell them i'm about to go do something or talk me out of it or this is the end. he's collected his grievances, he's mad. he's mad at society apparently because we know about his later actions he shoots up society. he doesn't shoot up his employer. he shoots up odessa at large.

so he's just mad at the world. he's got all of his grievances. but look, go to your second question with the ar-15 and what you were just talking about with robin, if he exited the vehicle or shot from the vehicle with a handgun, those two troopers would have been able to beat him in a gun battle. i have been in a few gun battles in texas and florida when i was an uniformed officer, it makes a difference if you have a pistol, rifle or shotgun. if he pulled a pistol, we wouldn't have seven dead and 21 wounded. we might have had an officer shot or two but he would not have been able to corral them. you can kill a lot of people with a handgun in close quarters but driving down the street, you're not going to be able to kill that many people because you cannot be that accurate from a moving vehicle and distance. so the weapon matters. the weapon really matters. of course, the ar is -- what

people forget about these rifles, colt designed that rifle for the military. it was made to be lightweight. made to have a handle on top for the soldier to be able to carry it through the jungle and desert, made to load fast and take big magazines and made to be reliable. there were a lot things made for t wasn't made for sport. it was made for war. like dynamite explosives, c-4, made for the soldier to be bullest resistant, work in higher temperatures, be pliable. dynamite not made like that, different purposes. and that's what the ar was made for, military. >> jim cavanaugh, former special agent in chargest atf. i'm ali velshi starting off noenkl hour for you. we continue to follow hurricane dorian as it pummels the bahamas with life-threatening storms and ca