♪♪ good day, everyone. this is "andrea mitchell reports" in washington. president biden speaking moments ago about tropical storm ida after the remnants that the storm brought deadly flooding to new york, new jersey and pennsylvania. the president will visit storm-ravaged louisiana where residents are still reeling and more than a million people without power after getting slammed by the storm earlier this week. these were the scenes last night. terrible scenes in new york and new jersey. 20 people have died after an entire month of rain fell in just a few short hour.

the 105-year weather event flooded the new york subway system. drivers in the tri-state area were trapped from highways to side streets and they've suspended their service between washington and boston today for the entire day. new york governor hochul speaking earlier about the devastating impact. >> even the morning after we are still uncovering the true depth of the loss. the human loss, simply in their cars, in their homes and basements succumbed to the brutal ravages of a brutal storm. this is the first time we've had a flash flood event of this proportion in the city of new york and outlying areas. >> the president also, of course, issuing that statement. he will be speaking momentarily. the flooding also swamping the philadelphia area in bridgeport, pennsylvania. this dramatic rescue by boats of people and their pets just hours ago, and a major blow to roe v. wade. the supreme court refusing to

stop a texas law that went into effect tuesday night in effect banning all abortions in the second largest state in six weeks when most women still don't even know they are pregnant and no exclusion for rape and incest. more on that. hurricane ida's final blow as it storms through the northeast. joining me now, nbc's anne thompson in new york and bill karins. 22 deaths reported in new york and new jersey absolutely devastating scenes. >> it really is. it's been a very tragic night and day here in new york city, and the tri-state area, andrea. here are the latest numbers we have on fatalities. the mayor of new york city says there have been nine deaths most in just two boroughs, queens and brooklyn, and in new jersey we have a report of six deaths. the new york city fire department said they rescued literally hundreds of people last night from roadways, from

buildings and from new york city's subway system. that subway systemed flooed in the storm where we had the biblical rains come down and new york's central park got more than three inches of rain in an hour, just a week ago it set a record for almost two inches. this week it sets another record. the subway systems here are not at full capacity today. many lines are suspended. there are delays. the mta is asking people if you don't have to travel today, don't do it. throughout the tri-state area, mass transit is snarled. there are delays on long island, in new jersey and connecticut and the metro north line here in new york. it is just a mess. new york city's three airports, the new york area's three major airports, laguardia, kennedy and newark are all dealing with delays and cancellations today. in fact, one of newark's terminals actually flooded last

night. in a word, it is a mess. as our aging infrastructure just proves no match for ida and climate change. andrea? >> and bill, tell us about this flooding and how strong is the storm? give us the stats here. >> andrea, it is important to note that this was a well-forecasted event. even the tornadoes were well forecasted. we knew going into this it was a possibility, but to imagine, to say it's going to rain up to eight inches in new york city is one thing. to see the result of it which is we've never had it before and we had nothing to picture this and now we know what it looks like. so, yeah, it's amazing, andrea and it's devastating. >> and bill, let's talk about where the storm is headed now. it's out to sea. is this all over? >> yeah. thankfully, this storm has exited off the coast.

it rained really hard this morning. we haven't shown you pictures of it because of such dramatic pictures, but we have railroads washed out in connecticut and we have roads that buckled and roads that are washed out in rhode island and cape cod had torrential rain. this was a huge, widespread event and the numbers ems thises, usually you get one spot that gets a really heavy rain. this is just from eastern pa all of the way through new jersey and connecticut. rainfall totals like this are pretty much unheard of from one single storm. as we were mentioning it was the intensity and how fast it came down. three inches in one hour, most ever in newark and new york. what's crazy about the new york central park number. it beat it by almost an inch. it's never been above two inches before yesterday's event and think of every thunderstorm you've ever seen in new york city's area or ever reported on, it's never done this before and on top of all that the rainfall

rates just got into the creeks and we have incredible records on all of these rivers. andrea, in the northeast irene in 2011 and floyd were the storms of record in 1999. this beat that. this beat some of the worst hurricanes we've ever seen for the river totals in the northeast and that picture that we showed you in philadelphia and the schuylkill river. the last time it was that high was the 1979 hurricane agnes and this beat that even. so, yes, this is unprecedented and unheard of. >> and briefly, let's go to pennsylvania where emergency officials have been briefing and the president will speak in a couple of minutes and we will take that speech fully. >> we also know ida has not only caused significant damages to home, businesses and public infrastructure and for some it has significantly disrupted lives and families as the governor indicated. during the planning and response

phases we have been concurrently planning for recovery operations of those who were adversely impacted. this process has many pieces, but starts with immediating the immediate needs that individuals and families have for shelter, temporary housing, food and security. volunteer organizations such as the red cross, salvation army, religious organizations and other voluntary organizations that are active in disasters are usually the organizations that meet the most critical needs most and they can be is up mremented by other programs through your local emergency management office. another phase involves a damage assessment for both individual damage and damage to public infrastructure and property such as roads, bridges and parks. this part of the recovery process is critical to justify federal aid and support. today throughout the commonwealth individuals from

your local municipality and the county will start the damage assessment process. currently, we actually have overflights occurring to be able to capture a larger area of imagery in some of the most impacted areas of the commonwealth. this is being done to be able to hasten the request process for federal aid. it is critical that if you've been impacted by this event that you report your damages to your local emergency management coordinator or management office. contact your insurance company as soon as possible to discuss your coverage and begin your claims process. take pictures of the damage you incurred for future justification. contact your credit card company or bank to report damaged, lost or stolen cards. save receipts for items you purchased in support of your recovery. identify items you wish to save and begin the cleaning process which may include hiring a cleaning or restoration company or as i discussed previously,

many of the volunteer organizations offer some assistance with muckouts and cleanup if your residence is adversely impacted by flooding. you can find these and many more tips in the after the disaster guide on the readypa website at ready.pa.gov. above all, we want those affected to know that there are many individuals working on all levels of government and within numerous organizations to hasten the recovery. the best way to know what is available and when it will be available is to stay informed by following local media sources or your county emergency management office on social media or other platforms. >> and we're going to the white house now where the president's going to be speaking about the storm and we expect he will also speak about the abortion decision. >> governor wolf of pennsylvania after last night's devastating storms and floods from hurricane ida. the fifth largest hurricane in our history. record rain fell on these

states. new york recorded more rain yesterday, the first day of september than it usually sees the entire month of september. we saw more than three inches of rain per hour fall in central park. the united states national weather service issued a flood emergency in manhattan, brooklyn, queen, the bronx, staten island and parts of lyle long island last night and this is the first time such an issue was issued for the city. people were trapped in the subways with the heroic men and women of the new york fire department rescued all of them. they were trapped. we're seeing the same story of heroism across new jersey and pennsylvania, as well. for now, 11 people in new york and new jersey died from the storm, and i want to express my heartfelt thanks to all the first responders and everyone

working through the night and well into the morning to get power back. there's a lot of damage, and i made clear to the governors that my people at the federal emergency management agency, fema, is on the ground and ready to provide all of the assistance that's needed. in fact, our fema director and administrator -- excuse me, janet griswell was a chief federal response officer after super storm sandy in 2012. she knows what to do. last night at the request of governor newsom i approved an emergency declaration for california for the -- for the caldor fire which is burning aggressively toward lake tahoe basin and into nevada. it is also one of the few fires that has ever burned from one side of the sierra nevada mountain range to the other. so far it's burned more than 200,000 acres.

tens of thousands of people have had to evacuate their homes. the fire has burned close to 35,000 structures and more than 4,400 firefighters from the state and my federal team are working to contain and suppress this raging wildfire. the department of defense has trained and is deploying additional firefighters to support our ongoing fire fighting efforts in california. this disaster declaration will help with evacuation including sheltering and feeding for those who have been displaced. i want you to know i've seen these firefighters up close. their courage is astound ing and they're some of the bravest people i've ever known. my heart goes out to them and my abundant thanks for what they do. now i want to provide an update to help millions of americans down south and recover and rebuild from hurricane ida.

we've been monitoring this hurricane closely and the devastation it's caused. to date, six deaths about a million hopes are without power in alabama and mississippi, while it is not as catastrophic as hurricane katrina 16 years ago, ida was so powerful that it caused the mississippi river literally to change direction of flow temporarily. the good news is that as a result of significant multibillion federal investment in the levy system around metro new orleans, it held. it was strong. it worked but too many people in too many areas saw a surge that was devastating. we saw reports of winds up to 170 miles per hour. it's not been confirmed yet by fema, but 170 miles an hour,

causing unimaginable damage with debris and down power lines making roads impassable and slowing efforts to save folks and property. the people continue to shelter in place. tomorrow i'll be traveling to louisiana to meet with john bell edwards as well as parish presidents and mayors and the locals representing affected areas. governor edwards encouraged me to come and assured me that my visit will not disrupt recovery efforts on the ground. that's what i wanted to be sure of. my message to everyone affect side we're all in this together. the nation is here to help. that's the message i've been making clear to the mayors, governors and energy and utility leaders in the region had which my administration has been working closely with in the last two days. working with governors in the area even before ida made

landfall i issued emergency declarations for louisiana and mississippi to help us respond quickly. fema pre-positioned more than 4.3 million meals and more than 3 million liters of water and other critical resources in the region before it hit. we deployed more than 250 generators and we are working to get more into the area especially to hospitals in desperate need of them. the department of health and human services deployed a 250-bed federal medical shelter in new orleans and five medical assistance teams available throughout the state. since the hurricane hit, more than 6,000 members of the national guard have been activated in louisiana, mississippi, alabama and texas, and others to support search and rescue and recovery efforts. for those that lost their homes, states have been working with

the american red cross to opal most 50 shelters across the gulf coast. we than there's much to be done in this response on our part. we need to get power restored. we need to get more fuel, food and water deployed. i get updates from fema well into the night and we'll be working around the clock until the critical needs of the roguon are fully met, and we will meet them. even as we tackle the core elements of the disaster response. we deployed new tools to help speed this recovery. things that have not been used very much in prior hurricane responses. working with private companies that own and operate the lifeline infrastructure like electricity and communications we've used the latest technology with cell phone service. it's beginning to get back up and a long way to go. for example, to minimize the amount of time it will take to

get the power back to everyone, i've directed federal aviation commission, the faa to authorize the use of surveillance drones to assist ida's damage -- to assess ida's damage to energy infrastructure while ensuring those flights do not disrupt aerial search and rescue missions. likewise, i've asked the pentagon, the department of homeland security and the department of energy, to immediately make available any satellite imagery they can help provide in assessing the damage. drones and satellites can get into the areas that are most desperately in need. they can identify where the lines are down, map the damage and help get the transmission lines back up and running in all of the parishes. the people, hardworking people, doing complicated and dangerous work. there are more than 25,000 linemen and clearance crews from

32 states in the district of columbia racing to restore power. in alabama two have died on the job. this is complicated and very dangerous work where, but we're moving as fast as possible to get it done. it is important to know that the region hit by ida is the key section of the oil production and refining infrastructure. that's why they wouldn't have refineries and moving the availability quickly and easing the pressure on gas prices around the country, i've directed the secretary of energy jennifer granholm to use all of the tools at her disposal including using the strategic petroleum reserve to keep gas flowing to the pumps in order to

get critical supplies to the region, i've directed the department of transportation to renew an energy declaration to provide flexibility on how many hours a truck driver can drive. most people don't know there's a limitation on the number of hours you can be on the road. the transportation department is broadening that to include transportation of gasoline and other types of fuel as well in addition to medical supplies and food. in addition, the environmental protection agency has approved emergency waivers for louisiana and mississippi that will expand the supply of gasoline that can be sold in those states and increase availability at such a critical time. these actions should help reduce the gas shortages and price increases as the result of a hurricane. >> we also know a lot of people lost cell phone service because their particular carrier's tower went down or got damaged.

a few days ago i asked the federal communications commission, the fcc and my white house team to work with the cell phone companies to allow customers to use roaming services. so that means that folks in the area should be able to get a signal no matter what carrier they're with. if one carrier is down, they can roam and use another they're not a part of and not signed up with. just think of the sons and daughters and moms and dads and loved ones trying to reach each other and the feeling of fear, maybe something happened just because they can't have the cell phones work. think of the millions of people reaching out for help been this is important and it is critical. a lot of companies are doing their part. today i'm calling on insurance companies not to evade the responsibilities they made to

their customers and the promises they made and help some folks who are hurting. here's the deal. fema is providing critical assistance, for example, to help the hotel bill you racked up because you couldn't stay in your home during the hurricane. the department of housing and urban affairs, hud, is offering assistance to families in impacted area, but right now we're hearing reports that some insurance companies may deny coverage for additional living expenses unless the homeowner was under a mandatory evacuation. so people pay their insurance premiums and they're supposed to get payment. the insurance companies if the face of the strongest storm since 1850 say no, no, we're not going to pay you what we owe you because the fact is parishes in louisiana like new orleans and

st. johns issued a voluntary evacuation order at first and may not have even had enough time to make a mandatory one because the storm moved in so fast. other parishes suggested that residents could try to protect themselves by sheltering in place against the ferocious winds. we can all understand why folks felt safest leaving their home and going elsewhere, out of the path of the devastating storm no one fled this killer storm because they were looking for a vacation or road trip or able to stay in a hotel. they left their homes because they felt it was flee or risk death. there's nothing voluntary about that. so i'm calling on the private insurance companies right now at this critical moment. don't hide behind the fine print and technicality. do your job. keep your commitments to your

communities that you ensure. do the right thing. pay your policyholders what you owe them and cover the cost of temporary housing in the midst of disaster. help those in need. that's what we all need to do. that's what we're trying to do. fema has pushed out $77 million to the people of louisiana so far, individuals. my message to the people of the gulf coast who i'm going to visit tomorrow. we are here for you and we're making sure the response and recovery is equitable. so those hit hardest get the resources they need and are not left behind. whether you're a homeowner, a renter, a parent, a small business owner, no matter who you are, if you live in an affected area, please visit disasterassistance.gov. go online to

disasterassistance.gov to find help now. that's disasterassistance.gov or call 1-800-621-fema, f-e-m-a. 1-800-621-fema, f-e-m-a-. that's 1-800-621-6662. i've tasked my senior adviser cedric richmond, new orleans mayor to lead this relief effort. he knows the area. he knows the people. he knows how to get things done. he knows they get things done when local, state and federal level are all working together alongside the private sector. the people of louisiana and mississippi are resilient and

resourceful. we will stand with you for as long as it takes to recover and allow you to rebuild. and to the country, the past few days of hurricane ida and the wildfires in the west and the unprecedented flash floods in new york and new jersey is yet another reminder of these extreme storms and the climate crisis are here. we need to be better prepared. we need to act. when congress returns this month i'm going to press for my build back better plan that will make historic investments in electrical infrastructure. modernizing our roads, bridges and water systems. sewer and drainage systems. electric grids and transmission lines and make them more resilient to these super storms and wildfires and tloods that

will happen with increasing frequency and veracity. this isn't about politics. hurricane ida didn't care if you were a democrat or a republican, rural or urban. this destruction is everywhere and it's a matter of life and death and we're all in this together. this is one of the great challenges of our time, but i'm confident we'll meet it. we're the united states of america and there's simply -- you've heard me say it before, nothing beyond our capacity when we work together. for all of those who are still in harm's way and all those struggling to deal with the aftermath of these storms and fires say god bless you. keep the faith. everyone working day and night to look out for their fellow americans is what this is about. we're going to get this done. thank you. the president talking about

the devastation not only in the northeast, of course, but earlier in louisiana when that storm first hit, and he'll be going to the region tomorrow. joining me now msnbc anchor and reporter jasmine vossoughian in new york city, lots of people surprised by the intensity of the rain and flooding. what are you seeing there? >> it's pretty devastating to say the least. i was talking to craig earlier and kind of took him through what we were seeing and i want to do the same for you and i want to show you what's going on across the street. before do i that, i want to talk to this gentleman. what is your name? >> stephen. >> stephen. he has a very cute baby. they live on the second floor. the water here, 11 feet high and the water was pushing up probably against the first floor of this building or something. what was it like last night? >> wild. the water came out of nowhere. it really was out of nowhere.

>> what was it like to be there with a baby? >> wondering how long we would be stuck in there. >> when you're watching this water come up at what point did you say when should we leave? >> i don't think we felt that way. at probably around 1:00 a.m. the water in the back of the building was coming up and if the patio was going to flood and coming into the apartment. >> and your wife, she is a new mom and she'll be going back to work in october and as all new moms know, breast milk is like gold out here and you guys don't have power right now so that could all go to waste. >> we have a deep freezer with about five and a half months of milk stored in it that we're waiting for her parents to come to pick it up with coolers and put it in their freezer. >> wow. how's the little guy?

how did he do last night? >> he was a champ. his noise machine has a battery in it so he didn't even know what was going on. >> i've been in that situation with the noise machine. hi, jill. what was it like to watch the water come down. >> it was chaotic and devastating and never did i think in a million years this would happen and i have, like, 500, 600 ounces of breast milk saved in my husband's freezer and i have to go back to work so i was freaking out, like, what am i going to do? >> pretty devastating to say the least. good luck with the recovery. it's devastating to see all of it. let me show you guys. i'm going to come into this hallway. this is the lobby. you come and get the mail here. look at the water line -- the water line goes beyond my arm. i'm 5'10", it's higher than that. j.p., watch your step. here is the garage.

the ceiling completely collapsed in this building, andrea and there is total and absolute debris here all throughout the garage. it is not usable. i mean, this is going to be a lot of clean up over a long period of time to get this thing back in shape and a lot of the residents had been warned knowing that they're near a river and possible flooding and they've never had anything like this before, but a lot of them took care in order to move their cars to higher ground ahead of the storm so they were able to get them out of the way, but nonetheless, this is pretty devastating and i want to show you one more thing as i'm wrapping up, andrea here. j.p., take your time so you don't trip because there's a lot of debris on the ground here. this is another building where the water came up 11 feet high and then, flip around, j.p., 180. look at the waterlog on top of that car. if we had been here last night

you wouldn't have known there were cars here because the water was so high and once the water receded that log is a remnant of just how high, andrea the water was so devastating stuff here with the recovery, forts happening in mamareneck in new york. in a 5-4 decision the supreme court refused to block the most restrictive laws in abortion ever to go into effect after roe v. wade, effectively banning abortion six weeks into pregnancy when women don't even know they're pregnant with no exceptions for rape and incest. john roberts joining three in dissenting saying this unique law enables the entire populous to become enforcers. the legislature has imposed a prohibition on abortion after roughly six weeks and essentially delegating

enforcement to the populous at large. the bounty awards $10,000 for anyone trying to get anyone to get an abortion. sotomayor called it flagrant and unconstitutional, accusing them having their heads in the sand. president biden calling it an unprecedented assault in a statement on women's constitutional rights and focusing on the bounty hunting provision. complete strangers will now be empowered to inject themselves in the most private and personal health decisions faced by women. the president directed the white house council to hhs and the department of justice all to see what feds the federal government can take. joining me now is julia ainsley and the aclu of texas and one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs in this case. adriana let's talk about your

reaction to the supreme court's decision that was just before midnight letting this take effect and it had taken effect and letting it stand. >> the decision last night was devastating to all texans who had had their constitutional right to an abortion, a right that the supreme court had protected for almost 50 years virtually stripped from them. >> and julia, texas now is a road map for other states on how to circumvent the constitutional issues because of the unique way because it is structured because the state is not the subject here. what will missouri and other states try to do. >> that's right. it is a road map. we can start to see copycat bills come through especially after they've been empowered by the supreme court decision last night. it was a 5-4 decision very narrowly split and clearly an indicator of where there is now,

andrea and one predicted after the death of justice ruth bader ginsburg and her replacement justice amy coney barrett who has a very different stance from her predecessor. instead of criminalizing medical providers for providing abortions after a certain period, this of course, empowers private citizens through civil lawsuits to sue individuals who are in some way connected to an abortion. it could even be an uber driver taking a woman to a clinic and just in the past 30 minutes we've seen a post from the attorney general on twitter stay saying that the justice department is deeply concerned about the senate bill in texas and that they're exploring all of their options to protect the women's health care including access to an abortion. so that shows clearly the justice department knows the fight they have ahead and this isn't the only case we expect going into the next term and the justice department will also be hearing about a case in

mississippi that bans abortion after 15 weeks. that was supposed -- was really what we were looking at eyeing as what would be the pinnacle of where the court stood on roe versus wade. the decision last night from the majority said that this did not -- their order did not weigh in on the constitutionality of the law. rather they thought that the challenges to it didn't answer certain procedural questions and it does open to more challenges that they think might be procedurally correct. so at this point the supreme court has not weighed in saying that this law is constitutional. there's a lot more arguments to be had, andrea and this is not the end of the road. >> meanwhile, 7 million women in texas the second largest state have no access to abortion effectively. julia, we've heard from merrick garland and we've heard from nancy pelosi. they're saying they're going to try to push legislation that will codify roe v. wade.

that would have support in the house. there are very few opponents in the democratic caucus and they can get that through in the house, but in the senate there are a couple of senators that might pose this. how quickly do you think they can get something like that done and would that get to the root of the problem as far as the people who favor at least having a choice of abortion rights. >> we've seen strong supporters like we've seen senator elizabeth warren and you would have a strong opposition. this is one of those issues that polarized so many people in this country. not only are elected members of congress, but also voters and have really empowered people in previous elections especially those who backed president trump wanting this exact outcome and so now, yes, if we turn to congress it could be that that would be a place that would take it out of the power of the supreme court, but going back decades, the supreme court has

been issuing the law of the land when it comes to abortion and it's not something that congress has taken up in so long because of how politically volatile this issue is, andrea, and as you said, right now the supreme court punted on this issue which is a change. there used to be a time when they would be very quick to put in some kind of injunctive relief to stop bills like this before they could weigh in on the constitutionality. now they're letting that time frizz out before they had restricted access in places like texas. >> joining me now yamiche alcindor host of "washington week" on pbs as well as correspondent on pbs. politically, this will energize both sides and the evangelical will be fired up for the midterms and many, many women on the other side, men and women on the other side of the debate on the democratic camp. >> certainly, there will be

political energy around this texas law and the supreme court ruling mid into the night yesterday. talking to democrats they feel like this is a sea change. women in texas effectively at this point don't have access to abortions. this is what democrats have been talking about and their fears essentially are being realized in the supreme court ruling. president biden just at the white house didn't take questions on this issue, but he did issue a pretty forceful statement saying this requires an immediate response. he's ordering a whole of government response looking at how to respond to the white house council office and agencies and i wanted to pose the question, what is the time line for the president's government response? what's the deadline for democrats to move on this issue? what's the immediate thing that the president wants to see done the white house has said over and over again that they want to see roe v. wade codified. democrats are the ones with the

power in the house and the senate so there are real challenges there. for republicans this is the long game really being played out and going in their favor. the 2016 election in some ways is just now starting to have its biggest consequences with the idea that mitch mcconnell made that unprecedented decision to not have a vote on merrick garland and those that spent a lot of time in legislatures around the country getting power saying why we're stuck with president trump and why evangelicals are stuck with president trump and with the supreme court not ruling completely, but there is a let of passion around this issue now. yamiche, stand by for just a moment. i want to ask if one of the attorneys have any options or hears the mississippi case or joins these cases. what could be done in the near-term?

>> we are exploring all of our options because our focus right now is to find a way to bring back the constitutional right to an abortion that was stripped of all texans. we are going to fight and continue fighting until this law is stopped and abortion rights are given back to texans. adriana, thank you very much. the democratic chairman of the house committee investigating the january 6th insurrection has taken the unusual step of naming republican congresswoman liz cheney to be vice chair. signaling his intention to be bipartisan. he is challenging the house republican leader kevin mccarthy's attempts to undermine his work. >> anne thompson is with us and

yamiche is still with us. let's talk about what they can do. >> this is a significant move by the chair of the committee, benny thompson by appointing liz cheney as vice chair. our reporting has shown for the last several weeks that democrats on this january 6th select committee have been really impressed by representative cheney. so there's always been talk about putting her as vice chair of this committee. it has happened now and it's happened now in part, we think, because there's a new member of the republican conference, representative biggs. he's not a new member, but a new ask from leader mccarthy to remove representative cheney and another republican from the committee, adam kinzinger and it is not to have them as spies within the republican conference and he doesn't want them on it

anymore. so her elevation to the vice chair of this is significant because it attempts to show the bipartisanship of this commit and there are also politics at play here as well as there are still lots of republicans in the house republican conference who are not happy with their role. andrea? >> and yamiche, what about the committee itself? how quickly can they get geared up because they've been in recess. the staff has been working and they've been sending out these letters to the tech committee -- tech community which, of course, kevin mccarthy has objected to strenuously and there will clearly be legal actions taken there. how quickly can they actually get to hearings and get started? >> based on my sources on capitol hill and i'm hearing that they can get started pretty quickly. this is a committee that understands, that really sees its work as essential to american democracy. you have in liz cheney someone

who is bucking her party and not vice chair which said how this could have happened? >> let's remember, this was also an act of terrorism, i would say on the grounds of the congress. so there are a lot of people who feel this committee's work is essential to how to prevent another january 6th as well as another rally on september 18th is around the corner. people have been calling these people political prisoners. from my sources you can expect they'll dobbing this in a diligent way and democrats don't have that much time to waste given that it is around the corner and they don't have much time to waste. >> abortion now, clearly, roe v. wade. thank you so much, yamiche. thanks, leigh ann and joining me now is debbie dingle of michigan. thanks for being with us. first your reaction to kevin

mccarthy's threat to the phone companies over saving the phone records. >> i think it was inappropriate. i think if he had been in charge and the democrats did something like that he would be screaming from the rooftops. as was just said these hearings really do matter. we are already hearing increased opportunities and opportunity is not the right word, many who were there on january 6th may be returning to washington on september 18th. there's a discussion of what security measures will have to be taken again. what happened on january 6th was an attack on democrat see and each those of us on the board didn't understand what was happening on the outside. we have to start pulling ourselves together. this constant fear and ignorance dividing us is really threatening our country. >> what kevin mccarthy did was

basically say, when i become speaker, if he becomes speaker i'm going to take action without specifying about the tech companies. >> whatever he's planning to do without specifying any aspect of it that's related to this investigation and into these subpoenas. >> it's a direct threat to those who have been subpoenaed, and he, i would hope, if he has not been, he should be supporting getting to the facts. all that they're trying to do is they're not going to get these companies in any kind of dangerous way. they just want to know what kind of conversations were going on that day that were contributing to what happened at the capitol. >> i don't want to let you go without asking you about the decision by the supreme court to help stand the texas law basically banning abortion for

most people in texas, or 7 million women in the state, second largest state, without exceptions for rape or incest? >> in rollity it's -- and it is a difficult decision and it's between a woman, her husband, her doctor and her faith and they are taking that away. you talked today about the many options that are going to be looked at. we can't go back to where we were 50 years ago and the kinds of things that were happening. so i think it will be very difficult to get legislation through the house. i suspect they account get it to get something quickly down into congress will be a challenge. so we will have to see what can be done through the executive branch, i think, for the

immediate future. >> congresswoman debbie dingle, thank you very much. pain and anger. the next steps moving forward with the taliban in charge. we'll talk to a u.s. colonel who fought against the taliban and then worked with them toward peace. this is "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc.

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with depression and anxiety. and, uh, i found cerebral. cerebral is an app that combines medication management and behavioral care, all in one nice package. i signed up. i got the video call. i got the pills shipped to me. normal therapy costs about 3 times as much as cerebral. getting this type of care online, it really is a lifesaver. join today for just $30 at getcerebral.com. speaking at the pentagon for the first time since the traps pulled out of afghanistan, the highest military officer shares the pain and anger of his fellow service members about the withdrawal and evacuation which cost 13 american lives. >> my pain and anger comes from the same as the grieving families and the soldiers on the ground. last night i visited the wounded up at walter reed. this is tough stuff. war is hard, it's vicious, it's

brutal and unforgiving and yes, we all have pain and anger and when we see what has unfolded over the last 20 years and over the last 20 days that creates pain and anger and mine comes from 242 of my soldiers killed in action over 20 years in iraq and afghanistan. and afghanistan. >> joining me, nbc pentagon correspondent courtney kube, retired army general. they fought in combat and engaged them in talks. his new book, what we're getting wrong about war. courtney. that was an unusual statement from general milley to hear that kind of emotion. for him, that was an emotional comment. >> reporter: that's right. we don't hear from military leaders overall that kind of emotion, and pain and anger that was in his voice. it was very real and very raw, talking about the men and women

he lost while he was serving in both iraq and afghanistan. i think it just underscores what we have been seeing and hearing here in the pentagon the last couple of weeks as we watched difficult scenes unfolding in afghanistan, people desperately trying to get out on evacuation flights, afghans who are terrified as the taliban takes over for the future of themselves and their families. there are a lot of active duty and veterans this resonated be, who served there, see this as men and women they served with, they knew who may be in very real danger. one of the big messages we got out of the briefing yesterday with general milley and the secretary of defense lloyd austin, your service mattered. that's what they wanted men and women listening in uniform and veterans, that's what they wanted them to take away. their service mattered. while this may be a difficult time for them, if you need help, reach out. we heard that specifically from secretary austin. if you need help, there are resources available and to reach

out. >> colonel, you resigned in 2014 over concerns about afghanistan policy. what were your concerns? >> well, mainly that we had no reasonable strategy to bring the war to successful conclusion, and we missed many opportunities along the way to do that. war is state sanctioned killing. to simply keep a war going with no reasonable prospect for bringing it to successful conclusion and in fact ignoring opportunities i just found to be deeply troubling and not acceptable. >> and what did you learn about the taliban from your dealings with them that would inform us as to what to anticipate now just by their protestations having changed. >> the taliban are saying a lot of the right things. we need to condition our relationship with them based on their actions and not just their

words. i have met taliban from all different parts of the taliban spectrum and they've got their spectrum from the sort of crazy, what we would consider wild eyed lunatics on one hand that tend to be more the junior soldiers and leaders to the taliban version of diplomats in doha that engaged in negotiations over two separate occasions. for the latter, i found that they want afghanistan to be successful and in three objectives that we've got, that we need to take care of right now, completing the evacuations of american citizens and siv applicants, second, the humanitarian and human rights and economic concerns in afghanistan, and third, the counterterrorism work. all three of those are better done if we keep an open channel with the taliban and america is worse off on all three if we

turn our backs in frustration. >> seth, what about the threat of isis-k? obviously responsible for the horrific suicide bombing. also, we believe for the vehicle loaded with explosives that they hit with the drone and then had all that whole family, all those civilian deaths. >> well, look, isis-k still has several thousand operatives probably in the order of magnitude of 2,000 or so based on u.n. estimates that are still obviously capable of conducting high profile attacks. they will be a threat i think moving forward. the taliban they view as an enemy, they have a different command and control structure. i think what we are likely to see over the next couple of weeks and months is competition

from multiple sides to the taliban resistance movement, those based in the pen sheer, we'll see isis-k pushing back and conducting attacks. i think some american policy makers continue to talk about the war being over but i think we're not going to see it over for some period of time. it has been going on since the late 1970s. in terms of the attack the u.s. conducted, definitely we're investigating for civilian casualties. i think any u.s. strike would as well. >> the pentagon just yesterday, top leaders, courtney, were saying that was basically justified, that's what happens when you work from over the horizon. the intel, ground troops is not as precise. courtney, what about also the state department confirming what

we already understood, that the majority of those who applied for special visas were left behind and that they only got out a minority of people in that category. what are the chances, what are the options for getting them out? >> reporter: the options are more limited now that there's not u.s. military and diplomatic presence in afghanistan but they're not completely shut off. basically there are two lines of effort the u.s. can use going forward to try to get americans and more afghans out under a taliban rule. the first one, i think what will be the primary line of effort is diplomatic. that will be most likely working through intermediaries. in this case, probably the qataris, to talk to the taliban and have them help get americans out safely out of afghanistan and hopefully also some afghans. the next line of effort is economic and i think they may end up running hand in hand. there are millions and probably more than millions of dollars in taliban, money the taliban would

want unfrozen. they need international funding to keep that government running in any capacity and they will need it soon. that's a major source of leverage the united states and the international community has over the taliban if they want to wield it to keep the airport open, allow people to leave, allow free passage of people in and out of there. the question is, what version of the taliban will we see, the wild eyed lunatics or diplomats. >> thank you so much. thank you for being with us. president biden will be traveling to louisiana tomorrow to see the aftermath of hurricane ida. morgan chesky is in new orleans where nearly a million people are still without power, morgan. >> reporter: yes, andrea, good afternoon. there are small signs of progress today. you can see these few trucks of thousands scattered across the region of louisiana, entergy, main power provider, said they restored power to 107,000

households, customers in louisiana and new orleans and neighboring mississippi. when as you said there are more than a million at one point were without power, there's a long way to go. louisiana governor john bel edwards said as part of a ride along, restoring the state's power grid is an absolute necessity. he says this is a catastrophe in that eight transmission lines were knocked down by powerful winds from ida. he says there has to be reinvestment, some sort of weatherization to reinforce that system because as we know in louisiana, the next hurricane is just around the corner. it was sobering to fly over the path of ida. it was absolutely heartbreaking to see the damage it leaves behind. you have areas in grand isle that are called for the time being uninhabitable. as you make it north where ida was somewhat weakened, st. charles parish had roofs ripped off, blue tarps over a lot of

residences already. people trying to protect their possessions however they can. yet, meantime you have a power disaster playing out in new orleans and across the entire area where people are facing upwards of 90 degree temperatures, food is running low, water in short supply, and people that can afford fuel are constantly worrying about where it is going to come from next to keep the generators going, offering them the smallest bit of relief. hopefully help can come from federal resources as president biden mentioned sooner rather than later. >> thank you so much. that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." follow us online on facebook and twitter at mitchell reports. chuck todd is up with "mtp daily" only on msnbc.

welcome to "mtp daily." i am chuck todd. we are following two historic stories that have broken in the last 24 hours. one the ruling by the supreme court allowing what is apparently near total ban on abortion in texas to take effect. a major clue that roe's days are likely numbered by the court, could put the issue of abortion front and center in future elections up and down the ballot. president biden is vowing whole of government effort to this decision. we will begin with the historic and deadly toll that remnants of hurricane ida have taken on the northeast. another reminder we live the climate change nightmare many warned about decades ago. the flooding and aftermath killed more than a dozen people, including a two-year-old boy in new york and new jersey after dumping more than a half foot of rain on the region. both states remain under state of emergency as te