conversation on our website, morningjoe.msnbc.com. that does it for us this morning. chris jansing picks up the coverage right now. >> i'm, i'm in for stephanie rhule, we start with breaking news. tropical storm elsa slammed cuba and now it's taking aim at south florida. the outer bands of rain and wind already making an impact and that's making it tough on rescue crews in surfside as they look for survivors in the rubble of the collapsed condominium. 28 people confirmed dead, 117 missing. i want to bring in sam brock, meteorologist bill karins and morgan chesky in surfside, florida. sam, what's the latest where you

are? >> reporter: chris, good morning. overnight and certainly into the early morning hours here in key west, we are seeing storm conditions pick up as elsa's bands are lashing key west. the most noticeable change is wind speeds which are 35 to 40 miles per hour. we had a wind gust overnight that hit 62 miles an hour. the florida straits here, the water is choppy and kicking up, breaching the sea wall. the businesses, where i'm standing right now, at an institution in key west, luis back yard. it was closed yesterday, again today, all flights around key west have been cancelled through 2:00 this afternoon, which is

problematic for the july 4th revers that came out here. there were no mandatory evacuations but people were encouraged if they have rvs or mobile homes to get away from the water and move more inland. it's the hurricane watch right now for parts of the west coast of florida that everyone is concerned with as we have sustained projected wind speeds of 70 miles an hour right now as elsa is now headed towards the west coast, the gulf side of florida. storm surge there, especially around tampa, is around 3 to 5 feet. those are the projections. we know, chris, in tampa they opened up an emergency shelter for anybody who doesn't feel safe. they also spent all weeks preparing for this, as power outages they have not been an issue here on the florida keys this morning, most certainly could be in the tampa area. we'll follow there, of course,

throughout the day. that's the latest in key west. >> stay safe out there, sam. bill, let's look at the weather if we can in south florida. what's the latest on the path? >> sam's as close to the center as he's going to get. this is the worst of it in key west. what you see in key west is what we expect later tonight in tampa. it's not a devastating tomorrow that people couldn't be outside in and stand up. it's not going to blow you over or anything like that. this is the sun rise over the storm. starts black, obviously, when we didn't have the sun. the sun comes up, it illuminates the clouds, especially over key west, where the heaviest rain is. this is the radar view that shows the rain drops falling, where you see the orange, yellow, red, those are the heavy intensity. it's not raining in south florida and not that windy, winds are 15 to 20 miles per hour in surfside, palm beach,

it's not windy in naples or fort myers. this is a small storm. this is not a big, huge monster storm we had last year. i do not expect much, if any, wind damage with the storm. some ponding of water, not concerned with the rain, though. what i am concerned is high tide later on tonight when we get the storm surge what happens. because the angle of approach, south to north, the winds go counterclockwise with these storms so we'll see the southerly wind piling up into fort myers, tampa bay, and that's when the water could build up. we get the storm surge, high tide, that's 6 feet of additional water that could bring water to places we don't typically see it and could cause damage. even if it does make a category one hurricane i don't expect any damage in florida. all these lines are the projection of our computer

models. they're in pretty good agreement. landfall may be around cedar key tomorrow morning. in the orange is the greatest concern, three to five feet of storm surge. we should be able to handle, you know, that type of storm surge. we'll wait and see if the storm has any surprises for us during the day. if there is one concern, even with the tropical storm that is quick moving it is tornados. these are unpredictable with the storms. some produce more, some less, we'll wait and see this afternoon how it develops but in the yellow covering, tornados are always the wild card with these storms. any tornado can be life threatensing. >> more began we saw video of the search and rescue crews working in the wind and rain. what's the plan there? are they going to plow through

as best they can with the storm? >> reporter: that is the plan. they're talking about what would be the max wind speed which they would need to pull crews off the pile. they've already pulled 4.4 million pounds off. i spoke to a leader yesterday, they said the concern is not really the rain not even the wind. their main concern at this point, are lightning strikes. should any strike happen within 2.5 miles here, they are forced to pause search and rescue for 30 minutes until they can return to the pile. they say every second, especially now, is absolutely precious. so they're keeping a close eye on the weather here. they're fortunate that elsa did trend to the west part of the state. as of right now, it's 24/7 crews, which number about 400 members, are still on site, working in 12-hour shifts. yesterday we heard from the

mayor of surfside, who said because that demolition was so successful. they've been able to search every section of the grid that they've broken this collapse up into. and within that grid they're able to get closer into them, some of the lower areas where bedrooms of those apartments could be where survivors could still potentially be hiding. >> thanks to all of you for that. also, developing now, president biden set to speak in just a couple of hours. renewing his push for covid vaccinations after a record number of travelers head home from the holiday weekend. at least 67% of adults have gotten the shot, short of president biden's 70% goal by the fourth of july. this morning, the urgency is growing. a new report out of israel shows a drop in the efficacy rate of

the pfizer vaccine in preventing coronavirus infections due to the delta variant and easing of restrictions. we're following all the latest developments. gabe gutierrez, ralph sanchez and also joining us is medical contributor dr. uche blackstock. good to see you all. gabe, tell us about the push for vaccinations and what we're expecting to hear from president biden. >> reporter: yes, as you mentioned several states are lagging behind in the vaccination rate. especially significant issue over the weekend because with nearly 50 million americans on the move, it was the busiest weekend for travel since the pandemic began. according to triple a. remarkably, last month, in june, the covid was the seventh leading cause of death in the

u.s. that is a remarkable drop since early this year. as you mentioned, several states are lagging behind in vaccination rates, 14 of them, in fact, chris, are under 40% for adults that are fully vaccinated. you can see the graphic, that's less than first dose of the covid-19 vaccine. less than 40% of adults in those states have gotten that first dose but president biden and the administration is making the renewed bush because of the delta variant. and they're hoping to see an up tick in vaccination rates when more workers, adults might be headed back to the office in september, or when more parents are preparing to send their children back to school. >> the new report out of israel

suggests the pfizer vaccine is less effective against the delta variant. what are you hearing there? >> reporter: preliminary data suggesting the pfizer vaccine only 64% effective at stopping infection with the delta variant. that's down from more than 90% with earlier versions of the virus. and we are seeing that reality reflected on the ground here in israel. every day more than 100 of these so-called break through cases. that is somebody fully vaccinated with the pfizer vaccine, who still tests positive for the coronavirus. now that is the worrying data. the better news, and israeli authorities would say the more important news. this report also finding the pfizer vaccine still effective at stopping you from getting seriously ill, more than 90% effective. and that too reflected on the grounds here. across all of israel right now, there are only 35 people in hospital with serious covid.

authorities say that is a sign the vaccines are working. i spoke earlier to a leading israeli scientist who advises the government. he said, this may be the next phase of the pandemic, people are still testing positive, the virus is still circulating but a manageable and low number of people are getting seriously ill. take a listen to what he had to say. >> i think what we will see in israel, the u.s., uk, in countries where a high fraction of the people were vaccinated, we will see that the vaccines are very effective at reducing mortality and reducing severe disease which means that the governments will be able to resume back the normal day-to-day life and treat the virus as any other disease. >> reporter: chris, israeli's so-called coronavirus cabinet is meeting tonight to discuss the rising cases in the country.

but the health minister said a couple hours ago he's not planning to impose any major new restrictions right now. >> doctor, how concerning do you think this study out of israel is? >> thank you for having me. this is preliminary data, we don't have a full paper yet. this is an observational study. it is concerning. we do need to know more specifics. i will say this doesn't necessarily mean the vaccines themselves are less effective. it could mean that vaccinated people are changing their behavioral patterns. we know restrictions have been lifted in israel and maybe vaccinated people are going indoors, crowded areas and putting themselves in more risky situations. so we'll need to get more data on this. we know that the delta variant is highly transmissible. but as your reporter had said, we know these vaccines still are incredibly effective at preventing severe disease,

hospitalizations and death. what we need to know is whether asymptomatic people who are vaccinated and infected can pass it on to other people who are unvaccinated and we need to know whether vaccinated people who are infected can go on to develop long covid symptoms. so those are studies that are needed to be done to give us more information. >> the president, as you know, dr. blackstock, is going to renew the vaccine push in a speech this afternoon. i'm wondering at this point what does he say or do to get the people who haven't gotten vaccinated yet, vaccinated? if. >> right. >> my experience is mostly new york but i travel quite a bit, it's like every street corner you want a vaccine you can get it. what do you say to people? >> i think it's less what he says and more about what's happening on the ground locally. we know a lot of people who are -- who remain unvaccinated

have serious concerns about safety of the vaccines. we know that fertility issues are also a concern. so it should be an extensive public health messaging campaign to address that misinformation out there about the vaccine so hopefully that will push the needle we know among some groups that once the vaccines receive fda approval that will also make a difference. and then also for some people getting the vaccine from their primary care physicians or from trusted health care professionals also can make a difference. but i also think ultimately employer vaccine mandates are going to be necessary to push the needle. we know that san francisco is mandating that for all of their -- the people who work for the city. and we know that some health care establishments have done that, as well as some airlines. so i think employer vaccine mandates are going to make the difference. >> doctor thanks to you. appreciate it.

experts think it could be the biggest ransomware attack on record and new pressure to get president biden to act now. we'll talk to one of the people leading the response to the attack. plus it is six months to the day from the january 6th insurrection and a new report shows how we could still be dealing with the fallout well into 2022 and beyond. ell into 2022 and beyond le's had a heart attack. i needed him to be here. your heart isn't just yours. protect it with bayer aspirin. be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen.

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believe it or not, it is exactly six months since the

january 6th capitol riot this morning. and we have new court video showing what it was like for first responders there. we do want to warn you, though, what we're about to show you is disturbing. >> you can see from the first responders' point of view it's hard to see or focus on what's facing them. more than 500 people have been charged in this riot so far from nearly every state in the country and with a congressional investigation getting away. acting chief pitman released a letter remembering the officers lost in the attack and the department is improving its

training and intelligence sharing. joining me is scott mcfarlane, ashley parker, jake sherman. thank you all for being here. >> those clips are being shown to hold some of these defendants in pretrial detention. that should give you an indication where we are. we're closer to the starting line than the finish line. we have 500 arrested and charged so far. there could be hundreds more but at this moment they're litigating who should be held in jail. trials, they're a long ways off, chris. the first big trial scheduled in the accused oath keeper's case scheduled for late january 2022. there's a long road ahead and nobody knows where, with what and most is interestingly with whom that road ends. >> as you have the legal side working its way to the courtroom let's talk about the house committee looking into this,

kevin mccarthy can pick five members but it gets nancy pelosi's approval. who should we watch out for, when might we know what he's going to do. >> reporter: last week, kevin mccarthy told garrett haake, that when there was news he would say it. it's been five days since then and no update on what kevin mccarthy is going to do. republican sources are telling me that his team has been very tight lipped about what his strategy is going to be. now leader mccarthy has some choices to make. first he hasn't even said if he's going to appoint those five republican members to the select committee. if he does, what sort of republicans is he going to appoint? are they going to be january 6th deniers or are they going to be members of the republican party who would take this investigation seriously so who he picks is going to be scrutinized.

there's not a lot of republicans who have stepped forward and said they want to join this committee, other than, of course, representative liz cheney, who speaker nancy pelosi chose. so we are still watching. but the reality is that democrats on this committee have already started their work. they're planning to hire staff this week and do the background that is needed to get this under way. they have a quorum, so they can run this committee without mccarthy's picks. so it's going to be mccarthy, a decision on what sort of role he wants republicans to make. >> yeah, leann is right. the only republicans i've seen are those deniers people like marjorie taylor greene, essentially. you covered donald trump's role on january 6th, how much do you expect his influence to be scene in what kevin mccarthy decides to do. give me your sense of where that is right now. >> at the very least his

influence will be seen broadly on a macro level, which is that he has so politicized the events of january 6th, leading up to it on that day, of course, and even now going forward that you are seeing republicans who are terrified of crossing him. he has perpetuated what the critics called the big lie that the election was somehow stolen. i know it's important to say it was not, it was a free, fair, transparent election that president biden won. but you have republicans now, even at the local level, who are getting pushed off of party committees because they had the audacity to recognize joe biden as the president. yet at the same time they are saying we need to do more for election security because voters don't trust the elections. that's circular. they don't trust the elections because the de facto leader of the republican party, donald trump, is saying falsely the election was stolen.

but you are going to see the forces at play in this committee. >> and jim clyburn did not rule out having former president trump testify. watch this. >> if it comes to that, if it goes wherever the facts lead. i would not want to see a former president testify in a situation like this, but if that's what it takes in order to get to the bottom of this. >> jake give us a reality check. any chance that happens? >> probably not. i don't imagine so. there are a lot of witnesses the committee can and will call that are not president trump, namely kevin mccarthy who would then demand that nancy pelosi testify about her interactions that day. of course, mccarthy had an intersection with then president trump on january 6th. there's been report about that. and i have to imagine there's a host of people. people are also forgetsing this

committee is going to focus not only on political issues but on police preparedness, why the national guard didn't come in time. this is going to be a committee that focuses on issues of what they see is indemocrat you can issues in the of the security apparatus. we are so divided as a congress and country that the security bill, the money that congress has approved to fortify the capitol, $2 billion, has not gotten through the senate six months after the insurrection. so i would have to imagine that mccarthy, with this committee, he has no say. republicans have no say. the democrats could call donald trump without republican approval. so it's a little bit out of their hands. >> and pedaling trump's false election fraud claims, as you say, let's say it again, there

wasn't election fraud, joe biden won a resounding victory. it's still this major loyalty test for republicans and several house candidates are running on them headed into the midterms already. clearly this isn't going away. >> absolutely not. it's become a litmus test in primaries and it's not just house candidates, but it's also state attorney generals, secretaries of state, governors. these are people who in different ways actually influence how states determine elections. and what slate of electors they send. so you're seeing it not just rhetoric, people who say it but don't really believe it, they're trying to please the dangerous party of one. but you're also seeing people who potentially do believe it and how their states handle elections going forward. >> jake, let me ask you about

something else in punch bowl this morning. we've heard about one democratic congress person who moved her office because she was concerned about the proximity to the republican office. you write the u.s. capitol police is opening field offices in florida and california to investigate members of threat to congress. >> astounding chris. it's really astounding. florida and california are kind of regional centers, probably 75 members of the house between those two states so it makes sense to do that. but the dignitary protection division, which protects members of the leadership, members of congress as well, is expanding to a point we've never seen before to protect rank and file members subject to threats by the public or other members of congress in some cases. but again, this is a vast expansion of the capitol police department to protect rank and file members. just astounding and unprecedented. >> thanks to all of you. still to come, that major

ransomware attack being felt around the world. affecting businesses in at least 17 countries. up next, one of the people leading the response to the hack joins me with how the u.s. can get ahead with the attacks rather than just play defense. as rather than just play defense.

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right now hundreds of companies are scrambling after the biggest global ransomware attack we've ever seen, russian group r evil the same group that

took down jbs hacking into kasaya and demanding $70 million in bitcoin. the company's ceo said last night 1800 to 1,500 businesses were hit around the world. this comes after president biden directed intel to investigate what happened three weeks after he confronted vladimir putin about hacks by russian-based criminals. and new pressure on president biden to do something and fast. >> this is the time when president biden needs to pick up the phone and call vladimir putin enough is enough. vladimir putin is capable of arresting these people this weekend and demanding they turn over the keys so we can unlock the data impacted here. >> ken dilanian did that interview with the cyber expert. also with us is charles carmichael, leading the investigation into the attack. good to see both of you. a lot of pressure, obviously, on president biden to do something.

what are the options both in and out of government? >> the most obvious thing president biden could do is what he was called on in that bite you played, confirm the attack was launched in russia and demand that russian president vladimir putin arrest those behind it. the group that claimed responsibility is a russian-speaking hacking ring inside of russia that appears to have been given free rein to commit crimes in the united states. so far this morning, the biden administration has been radio silent about whether they believe this attack came from russia and whether they intend to do anything in response. if they do confirm this came from russia, the president has a menu of options raning from more sanctions to a military cyber attack on r evil, assuming his agencies can find them. >> we mentioned that jbs got

heat, they paid $11 million, now the same hackers want 70 million. where do you stand on this? >> look, unfortunately this is a problem we're dealing with every day. organizations across the globe are dealing with a continuation of ransomware attack that are disruptive to them. a lot of organizations feel compelled to pay because they have no other operations they can't conduct business operations when you think about health care, for example, they can't treat patients, they need to divert patients to other hospitals. it's bad right now and a continuation of a big problem. >> r evil asked for initially 45 grand from each of these companies and went for, what looks like a smaller number of $70 million in bitcoin to let it all go. that changed. does it tell us anything? >> from my perspective, it's interesting to see how they publically asked for $70 million

and privately asked for a different amount, a larger amount of money from organizations that might have been willing to pay. i think there's a little bit of fear from the organization based on the changes we've seen behind the scenes through private conversations with the threat actor but $70 million is the largest known ransom demand by a threat actor. it's hard to know if they're going to get paid. but most victim organizations are not paying right now, choosing to wait it in, in the event that keys may be published because a government or law enforcement may apply pressure or perhaps one organization chooses to pay. >> we're seeing how many vulnerables there are right now, charles, one attack after another after another. a very serious situation. so if cyber warfare is our new normal what are we not doing to get ahead of this? >> one we need to do a better

job learning through these intrusions. when companies get hacked it's an opportunity for other organizations to learn what occurred at the victim organizations dealing with those impacts. we need to do a better job as a cyber security community to protect os out there. organizations have lots of priorities and cyber security is one of them. and then government can certainly do more from a defensive perspective, from a foreign policy perspective, but also i think we need to start to explore a little bit more about what can the government do from an offensive cyber offensive to help protect organizations across the united states and across the globe. >> you talked about president biden already, but where is this on congress' radar. >> it's high. i'm reaching out now to the chairmen of the intelligence committees to see what they think the administration should do. but there's a consensus across washington that this has become a top tier issue not only do we

need to improve defenses but the united states needs to figure out when to go on offense. we have incredible capabiliies and they're rarely used and calls in congress perhaps they should be used more often. a controlled implosion, a storm on the way. the desperate search on the rubble in surfside and what's at risk right now. at risk right now and mine's unlisted. try boost® high protein with 20 grams of protein for muscle health. versus 16 grams in ensure high protein. boost® high protein also has key nutrients for immune support. boost® high protein. ok, at at&t everyone gets our best deals on all smartphones. let me break it down. boost® high protein also has key nutrients you got your new customers — they get our best deals. you got your existing customers — they also get our best deals. everyone. gets. the deals. questions? got it. but, why did you use a permanent marker? because i want to make sure you remember. i am going to get a new whiteboard.

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back to south florida now where we are expecting a new briefing from officials in surfside just about 20 minutes away. it comes as crews try to dig into areas they had not been able to get to before, hoping against hope they can find someone alive. as they do that, they will be keeping a close eye on the weather, gusting winds and thunderstorms from tropical storm elsa expected to hit the area and could force crews to suspend their efforts.

28 people are confirmed dead, 117 others still unaccounted for. i want to bring in craig, the former fema administrator and also chief resilience officer at the company one concern. good to see you. how does potentially flooding and rain impact the search at the site which is already so difficult and so complicated? >> you know, the rain is not going to be that big of a problem. lightning, high winds and tornados, which we could see in the outer bands probably the biggest problem is water is getting into areas they're trying to search right now as they move through the pile. but they're not going to stop unless they have a safety concern for teams there, their primary concern is going to be lightning, tornados and if they see high gusts of wind, particularly for some of the equipment there they may have to slow down or shutdown operations. otherwise they're going to keep going through the rain. >> as we watch what elsa does talk to me about the new phase

of the search. the crews looking for crawl spaces that they could not get access to before. help us understand how that part goes. >> again, they were looking for where people were in the building when it collapsed, thinking that a lot of people were in their bedrooms when they began looking at how the structure collapsed. those were the areas that were difficult to reach and very dangerous because of the instability of the remaining tower. once that tower came down, they can now get into these areas and this is where they're hoping that there was some voids or spaces that people could be in. i think we also have to be focused on right now that this is an operation that is really centered around giving families information, closure, and making sure that nobody is left behind in this response, that we're going to recover everybody. >> we heard from many of those first responders, they are resilient, remarkable and also

in many cases, emotionally, mentally, physically exhausted. are there ongoing risks to their health as they go into the second week very soon. >> this is why they keep a safety officer part of the job to make sure teams are being rested, people rotated out, people are given time to decompress. this is something that these teams are trained for. they have people in those teams that their job is to make sure those members are getting rest. that they're checking their mental health, people that need time out need breaks or just need to get away from the scene, they'll do that. and they're bringing in new fresh teams to keep the process going. >> local officials can continue to insist, craig, this is a rescue operation. we're not at the recovery phase yet we do know there have been instances around the world where people have been found even longer who have been buried. but as a very real sort of operational instruction, do

those things mean different things? does it affect how the work gets done if you're in rescue or recovery? >> not really. and i think really the terminology we use is kind of irrelevant. what's important is that families are given the information, it's about them coming to terms with what has happened. it's about teams working safely to rescue and recover and give closure to families. so we get wrapped around the terms rescue and recoveries. i think this is really something we need to respect, that the families are going through this, they need to come to terms. i think the officials are being very careful not to give any false hope but they're continuing the operation and they're not going to stop until they have given closure to all the families. >> if you were managing this operation today, what would you be looking for, watching for, hoping for? >> well, to get into the voids and see if we can find anybody

there. that was, i think, a big reason why when they were looking at these areas that they called them no search areas because they were too dangerous, the structural engineer said it's too much instability, once that tower came down -- now, this will be, i think, the big push now to get in these areas, see what they can find. you see the dogs running in and out of the pile. these dogs are highly trained to look for the living. it's important that these are the dogs used to find the living because it's actually that's their job. that's what they do. part of it is getting these dogs in these areas. we found probably better than any other technology is the dogs have been amazing at being able to find people in these horrible situations. >> craig, with a little bit of hope for all of us. thank you so much. we do appreciate it. up next, the u.s. health care system has been struggling we know this with burned out

doctors and nurses. so why are u.s. military medics struggling to find work? struggling to find work?

the sports world is in shock this morning after 24-year-old

of the columbus blue jackets died after a fourth of july fireworks accident. in a touching moment before last night's stanley cup final, the nhl community paused for a moment of silence honoring the young goalie. i want to bring in nick montaselli from nbc detroit. it's a tragedy beyond what we know. tell us what we know so far. >> let me walk you through it and set the stage a little bit. it's confusing for those following the story. matiss was at a former detroit red wing's house and now the goalie coach for the columbus blue jackets, at a fourth of july wedding. they were in the hot tub when fireworks were going off and one of the fireworks are mortar style shell tipped over and starting firing towards the hot tub and that's where matiss was. the original reports from the

nolai police department he was trying to jump out of the hot tub to get away from the fireworks, slipped and hit his head and that was the original thought how he died. then the autopsy came out which just came out yesterday and the coroner from oakland county, just outside of detroit said no, it was that firework that hit him straight in the chest and the autopsy results said it was a percussive injury with horrible, massive internal injuries and that is what killed him. it was shock waves throughout the hockey community, columbus not far from detroit only a three-hour drive so a lot of people trying to stay on top of this and understand what happened and how a young life, 24 years old, could be gone so suddenly. >> so horrible. nick montacelli thanks so much. we appreciate your reporting. hospitals and clinics across the country have been turning awayment so of the nation's most qualified health care workers at a time when they're desperately needed. nbc's aaron gilchrest has been

looking into this and joins me now. we are talking about veterans that served as medics and come into civilian life and not getting hired? >> it's all about paperwork. the civilian health care world needs to see the paper, the licenses, the certifications and rightly so to show the folks have experience but you have army medics and navy corpsmen who developed all this great experience in the field and they just don't want all that experience to be ignored. as an enlisted sailor, eric dodson spent 11 years in the u.s. navy working on the front lines assisting with surgeries and mass casualty incidents. >> hey, we have 20 people coming in, take care. find someone to take care of them. >> reporter: after his military service, dodson volunteered as a registered nurse at a covid field hospital in new york. >> once that was over because the mission had finished i was applying for jobs as an er tech and told i wasn't qualified.

>> reporter: did anyone ask about your work experience, your life experience? >> a lot of it was very much hey, this is impressive resume, we love this, we'd love to have you but you don't have the right certifications. >> reporter: dodson's problem is not unique. >> at a time of great need for health care workers, we're turning away some of the nation's most qualified experienced health care workers. >> reporter: according to the call of duty endowment, a handful of states have clear pathways for military health care to civilian healthcare jobs. >> you're confronted with the bewildering regulations and sometimes a loft the folks just give up and find other careers, which is a real shame. >> reporter: the military has found a way to address this problem, now all enlisted medical personnel come to one place where they learn, they train and they're able to take those skills and certifications into the civilian world. colonel richard villareal is the dean of acdemmeices at the defense department's medical training campus. >> tactical field care, let's

go. >> over time, it's better if we can provide each individual soldier, sailor and airmen with something they can take to the civilian community. >> reporter: the military provides certificates and college credits that transfer into the civilian world, too. >> they at least have a pathway using one of these bridge programs. >> reporter: the military shifting to help veterans help more people here at home. so we're seeing the help come from the military on the front end. we have the nonprofits trying to help vets find jobs and make sure they can at least read through some of the red tape but it's really going to take the people who write the regulations to change some of the rules to at least try to see all of the experience. >> where does that land? whose responsibility is that to write those regulations? >> if we're talking about ems, about someone wants to be an emt, there are hodgepodge rules, different rules in different places, the basic national registry certification the emts

need in most places but not the case in every place. they need to cut through some of the confusion or limit it. >> this is crazy. we need people who have the experience. they're there and we can't figure out a way to do it. important reporting. thank you so much, aaron. we really appreciate that. aaron gilchrest. that wraps up this hour. i'm chris jansing. yasmin vossoughian has reporting from richard engel who got exclusive access to afghan commandos on a mission to hunt down the taliban.

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as we come on the air, officials in surfside about to give an update at any moment, where search and rescue efforts stand at this hour as crews are not only fighting time but now wind and rain from the outer bands of tropical storm elsa. we're going to take you there live to surfside, whenever that begins, which is expected to be spared a direct hit but florida's west coast is not. we're closely tracking elsa's path, skirting past the florida keys as we speak dumping heavy rain and dangerous winds before taking aim at florida's gulf coast next. i'm yasmin vossoughian, everybody, in for hallie jackson this morning. we are, in fact, going to begin in florida, with nbc's vaughn hillyard and catie beckton in cam