from the storm and, at least for the time being, disaster relief is one place where, temporarily, partisan politics set aside. that's good to see. mike allen, thank you for being with us. thanks for getting up "way too early" with us on this thursday morning. "morning joe" starts now. why did you evacuate? >> this surge, man. if we had been in your property, we would have been flooded in, wouldn't have been able to leave. >> didn't know what to do until these guys showed up. i was going to stay in swim in my house. >> my heart dropped when they said the house is on fire. we prepared for a flood, not a fire. >> those are some of the firsthand accounts from people impacted by hurricane idalia. the first major hurricane to hit florida's big bend in more than a century. we'll have the latest on the storm's path, the destruction it has left behind, and where the storm is this morning, up into south carolina and north carolina. plus, another unsettling moment for senate minority

leader mitch mcconnell while he was answering questions from reporters. how his team is responding to growing concerns about the republican's health, including from some leading republicans. also ahead, rudy giuliani's lies about the 2020 election are catching up with him legally and financially. we'll explain yesterday's ruling by a judge. meanwhile, two of donald trump's co-defendants in the georgia election interference case now are requesting separate trials. we'll have the latest on a possible timeline in that case. good morning. welcome to "morning joe." it is thursday, august 31st. i'm willie geist. with us this morning, the host of "way too early," white house bureau chief at "politico," jonathan lemire. we do begin again this morning with tropical storm now idalia. it weakened overnight but still making its way through the carolinas, dropping massive amounts of rain, flooding streets, causing widespread power outages. charleston, south carolina, recorded its fifth highest tide ever as the storm surge there exceeded forecast, reaching more than 9 feet.

the city also experiencing significant flooding as peak tides swelled over the seawall for some time. meanwhile, the national weather service is warning tornadoes and storm surges in some areas of north carolina. over 300,000 people across florida, georgia and the carolinas are without power this morning. while the carolinas will bear the brunt of idalia today, the storm is forecast to move offshore in just a few hours. one death has been reported so far. a man in florida who crashed his car into a tree while driving during those extremely rainy and windy conditions. the state inundated by rain with clearwater beach and chiefland both seeing more than 9 inches. officials inspected and cleared every bridge affected by the storm, adding search and rescue teams are making good progress finding and helping people trapped by floodwaters. let's get to meteorologist angie lassman. good morning. what is the latest on where the storm is and what damage it might still do?

>> good morning, willie. we're seeing this system weaken, but the images from yesterday are hard to miss across social media and beyond. we've seen, of course, the wind damage, the water damage. the storm surge now starting to, of course, subside in places like florida. we're still dealing with this system. it hasn't completely weakened or moved offshore just yet. we've got a tropical storm still with winds at 60 mils per hour at 5:00 this morning. northeast movement, 21 miles per hour. it is dealing with vertical wind shear. that means it is trying to weaken. we don't have great conditions for it to continue to maintain its strength, but we're only going to see gradual weakening from here through the next couple days. the good thing is we are going to see this move offshore, but we have to deal with the heavy rain in place across parts of north carolina and stretching into virginia this morning. moderate to heavy rain really closer to the coast. you can see stretch back to greenville. lighter rain to wilwilmington.

we have a hurricane effect until 7:00 a.m. you can see the outline in pink. cape hatteras in the bull's eye of the area, as we have a little spin in the atmosphere as the center starts to continue to move farther away. meanwhile, the flood alerts continue, as well. flash flooding, especially coastal areas, we're still dealing with heavy rain working through and the potential for the storm surge. i'll show some of the latest numbers in a moment. we could see isolated rainfall totals up to 6 inches here as we get through the rest of the day today. i think it's only going to be a couple more hours we have to deal with the heavy rain in this region, so you'll find fooinfin able to get out and find out what happened across coastal ares of north carolina. south carolina, georgia, we're looking for improvements. the flood risk will be there for the region dealing with the rain right now. the latest numbers on the storm surge, i know this was a big deal across parts of the big bend yesterday, parts of north carolina and south carolina yesterday. we're still seeing the potential

for some of the coastal flooding for residents in these areas here as we get through the day today. eventually, this is going to move offshore later today, and we're going to see the winds go with it, as well, willwillie. we'll see quieter conditions for folks in the region, and the cleanup will begin. >> good news they need. angie lassman, thanks so much. let's go to morehead city, north carolina, where julia ainsley is along the crystal coast. what damage are they seeing? >> reporter: winds are certainly picking up right now, willie. we're really in the remnants of the storm. as you mentioned, that flooding in charleston, that's the fear here. they're worried about storm surges up to 4 feet. last night at high tide, we saw a lot of water come across these roads here. as we look throughout the carolinas, we know nearly 60,000 people are without power. they're still urging people to stay off the roads. they've canceled schools here today. they've canceled schools even as far west as raleigh.

what they're telling people here, they should stay inside and they're still under the tropical storm warning. they are still waiting for some of the worst to come through this area today as this storm weakens and heads out to the coast. we've seen a lot of flooding throughout the carolinas, and that remains the biggest fear. wind toppled cars on the highway in south carolina. really, the fear here is that storm surge. luckily, the high tide was last night, but as these rains continue to come through in bands, sometimes it is unpredictable. it can be calm and dry one minute, windy and pouring the next. that's what they're worried about now. further flooding, especially if people try to get on the roads, willie. that's why they're urging people to stay home in this area. >> let's hope everybody stays safe there in north carolina. nbc's julia ainsley. julia, thanks so much. president biden says the federal government will play a key role, of course, in helping states to recover from hurricane idalia. biden said he has spoken with the governors of all affected states. adding, responding to this

hurricane is not about politics. a sentiment later echoed by florida governor ron desantis. >> believe it or not, i know this sounds strange, especially how the nation of politics is today, but, you know, i was down there with the last major storm. i spent time with him, walking from community to community, making sure he had what he needed to get it done. i think he trusts my judgment and my desire to help, and i trust him to be able to suggest that this is not about politics, this is about taking care of the people of his state. >> we have to deal with supporting the needs of the people who are in harm's way or have difficulties. that has got to triumph over any short-term political calculation or any type of positioning. this is the real deal. you have people's lives that have been at risk. we don't necessarily have any confirmed fatalities yet, but that very well may change.

then you have people whose livelihoods have been turned upside down, so they need support. we're going to work together from local, state, federal, regardless of party, to be able to deliver results for the people in their time of need. >> jonathan lemire, it has to be said, if these numbers hold up, if there's only one death and a traffic-related death in the storm this powerful, that is extraordinary and speaks to the preparation, the warnings, and the response, that 75% at least of the rescue and recovery efforts have been made. 300,000 people have had their power restored. florida knows how to do these things. and you saw adult behavior, frankly, on both sides, from president biden and governor desantis over the last couple days. >> first of all, the storm still going, of course, but not as bad as feared. the impact in florida at least. sort of fortunate it hit an area that's not nearly as densely populated, and the population in the stretch of the big bend doesn't live right on the coast. there's a lot of marshland in between the surges of the water and people's homes. that is good news indeed. florida obviously has had a lot of practice going through storms

like this, including the devastating one in fort myers last year. that's what the president was talking about. he met with governor december -- desantis last year. north of miami, the bridge collapse killed many people. these are rivals and they're sharply critical of each other at times, but they can set that aside for moments like this, which is refreshing to see. let's be clear, the white house is going to spend as much federal response as they need. the fema director, who we are talking to later on in the show, is in florida. unclear if the president will travel. that decision gets made days later. we know what a diversion of resources it is any time a president travels to an area where there has been a natural disaster. of course, this will be an issue of some debate, disaster relief funding, when congress returns in a couple week. so far, it is good to see politics being set aside. let's hope the impact in georgia and the carolinas also less than expected, as it was in florida. >> the state of our political

times, that we have to note adult behavior during a hurricane, but there was some. we'll come back to this story, of course. we're going to be looking more at south carolina. talk to mayors of cities affected up through the coast and down into florida as we assess the damage from this storm. we will turn to rudy giuliani. a federal judge ruling yesterday that giuliani defamed two election workers in georgia following the 2020 election. the ruling means he is liable for damages which will be determined at a civil trial. ruby freeman and shay moss sued giuliani over his claims that they committed election fraud. they testified to the january 6th committee, saying their lives were turned upside down by the false allegations. >> now, i won't even introduce myself by my name anymore. i get nervous when i bump into someone i know in the grocery store who says my name. i'm worried about who is listening. i get nervous when i have to

give my name for food orders. i'm always concerned of who is around me. i've lost my name, and i've lost my reputation. i've lost my sense of security. >> a lot of threats, wishing death upon me. telling me that, you know, i'll be in jail with my mother, saying things like, "be glad it's 2020 and not 1920." >> were a lot of these threats and vile comments racist in nature? >> a lot of them were racist. a lot of them were just hateful. >> giuliani conceded in a court filing last month he had made false statements about freeman and moss. he also failed to produce any evidence during the discovery portion of this case leading to the judge's defamation ruling. in a statement, freeman and moss said the ruling brings them one step closer to rebuilding their lives.

spokesperson for giuliani says he has been, quote, wrongly accused. let's bring in nbc news justice and intelligence correspondent ken dilanian and political reporter for "the atlanta journal constitution" greg bluestein. guys, good morning. greg, i'll start with you in atlanta. to remind our viewers about the allegations rudy giuliani made against these poll workers, suggesting they were passing some kind of a drive with votes on it between them. turned out that was a breath mint. that led to things like people coming to homes of their relatives looking for them, trying to push their way into the house, looking for these two people that rudy giuliani had villainized falsely. >> yeah, willie, it was absolutely heart wrenching testimony we just saw. it reminded me of going through all that in 2020. these were not public officials, right? this was -- it's bad enough when our publicly elected officials and high-ranking politicians get targeted with this vitriol. these were just rank and file election staffers, the cogs of

our democracy, the people working in elections officers to make sure we have timely and accurate election results. they were being accused by rudy giuliani and other trump allies in terms of rudy giuliani in a legislative hearing in the georgia capitol of doing something nefarious. when, as you mentioned, there was no sort of usb drive. it was a ginger mint that ruby freeman and shaye moss were passing to one another. >> let's talk about this case, ken, and the liability now rudy giuliani faces and why he is facing it. he wouldn't produce documents for discovery. says, "well, the fbi took my phone. i don't have access to a lot of that stuff." why didn't he provide that information? what happens from here? what are some of the consequences? >> they're huge, willie. first of all, i should just say, this is such a profound example of the human impact of these election lies. >> yes. >> really the most egregious we've seen. we could see the racist

overtones in the allegations made against these women. judge howell here in washington, d.c., just decided rudy giuliani was playing games with the process. he was refusing to engage in what's known as civil discovery, where someone sues you, the judge rules the suit is legitimate, and you have to turn over documents, including secret financial documents, and he wouldn't do it. she gave him extension after extension. finally, she imposed the ultimate penalty, which is she entered a judgment saying that he was essentially liable for defamation, for civil conspiracy, and for punitive damages. there were a couple interesting lines in her ruling that i wanted to read to you. she said, "just as taking shortcuts to win an election carries risks, even potential criminal liable, bypassing the discovery process carries serious sanctions." she also said, "donning a cloak of victimization may play well on a public stage to certain audiences, but in a court of law, this performance is only served to subvert the normal

process of discovery." the bottom line here is that these women do not have to prove their case anymore. it's proven. it's been established. now, there will be a trial as to how much money rudy giuliani has to pay them. he owes them $90,000 according to this judge for their legal fees. it's a big blow to mr. giuliani. of course, it's one of a long line of things he's facing, including criminal liability. you know, there are reports he's got a debt of $3 million in legal fees. his life essentially is falling apart. he is losing his license to practice law. just add this to the list of legal woes for rudy giuliani. >> greg, let's talk about some of the other legal woes. he, of course, was just indicted a few days ago for the matter in georgia. a steep fall from grace for the man once known as america's mayor. talk about how this matter in georgia, this case here with the finding he defamed these two election workers, could that

impact the criminal trial that he faces also in fulton county? >> yeah, and this is front page news in georgia because it hits, obviously, so close to home, those allegations, those lies and conspiracy theories that rudy giuliani promoted during three separate hearings, two person and one virtual in the state capitol in 2020, kind of at the root of all of this. he is being accused of being part of this far-reaching criminal enterprise that fani willis laid out, the district attorney laid out in her 51-count indictment. and it is very closely watched here in georgia. extensibly, we're thinking anything said in open court could be used in these ongoing proceedings here in georgia. so that is why this case is particularly being closely watched, not just because, of course, it's a local case, but it could directly pertain to the criminal indictments. >> let's talk about the timing of this case from d.a. fani

willis in fulton county, you have sidney powell filing a motion, the former attorney for president trump who is at the center of these false allegations and this attempt to overturn the 2020 election, filing a motion to sever her case, like mr. cheseboro did, and to go earlier and go alone, saying she has no connection to the other 18 co-defendants. how is this going to shake out? fani willis is saying, all right, we'll have all 19 of you go quickly. speedy trial, here it is. how is this going to play out with 19 defendants? >> well, that's not going to happen, willie. donald trump and others are going to resist having this super speedy trial as soon as this fall. they're probably going to win on that point. that really actually presents a devilish problem for the district attorney down there. then she's confronted with the prospect of having to put her case on and give donald trump a preview of it, essentially. having multiple trials and having these early defendants go first, she has to essentially present the case, then donald trump gets a crack at all the

witnesses. he gets to hear what they're going to say. there was an interesting op-ed in "the new york times" the other day by an atlanta lawyer who was really sort of criticizing the way this case was structured, saying that it was overly complex. some of these charges were really sort of marginal, and it puts the case in peril, or will make it take a really long time. it contrasts with the streamlined case that jack smith brought here in washington, d.c., against only donald trump. again, we'll have to see how this plays out. there is a racketeering case in georgia, as people know, where they're still picking a jury after eight months. so this one could take a while, particularly to see donald trump in a courtroom down there. >> as difficult as it is to keep up with all this legal trouble around donald trump, let's add something to the mix. a federal judge has ruled against former trump adviser peter navarro in his claims of executive privilege when he ignored a subpoena to turn over documents and testify before the january 6th committee last year.

the ruling sets the stage for navarro's trial on charges of criminal contempt of congress. navarro, who has written and spoken extensively about his role in the efforts to overturn the 2020 election, had claimed trump told him to invoke executive privilege over any potential testimony or request for documents. judge, though, said there was no evidence presented that trump directed navarro to cite privilege, so he ruled navarro cannot make that argument to a jury. navarro's trial is set to begin next week. he faces two criminal contempt charges. he has pleaded not guilty to both. if convicted, navarro could spend up to two years in prison. ken, let's remind everyone who peter navarro is and what role he played. what was the play called? >> green bay sweep. >> they were going to -- they had a whole play designed. he was explicit about it. this wasn't a secret memo. he went on tv and talked about this plan to overturn the election. how much trouble is he in now? >> significant amount, willie.

let's remember, like many people in the trump administration, peter navarro was sort of -- i mean, he was considered a bit of a fringe economist, but kind of, i mean, somewhat mainstream, right? he was a china hawk, and, remember, he played a significant role in the trump administration's pandemic response. even got some praise for doing that. so he's not a wacko, but now he is finding himself absolutely under the criminal spotlight here. what's remarkable about what the judge ruled here is, you know, did these people think they could claim executive privilege without donald trump ever telling them to assert it? and how difficult would that have been for mr. trump to just say, "yeah, please don't testify. i'm asking you to invoke executive privilege," except he never did that. he left these people completely exposed in their decision not to -- in navarro's decision not to provide information to the january 6th committee. now, he could have charges that

can land him in prison. it's not a hard case to prove, and now mr. navarro will go on trial starting next week. we'll see what happens. >> the green bay sweep, john eastman was vince lombardi. they needed mike pence to take the ball and do his thing, and he refused to carry out this plan from peter navarro. >> mark starr was the quarterback of the packers then. >> very good. >> dated reference, perhaps, for the trump white house there. to ken's point, we've seen a number of occasions where the claims of executive privilege have fallen apart. trump and his allies tried to excerpt in a blanket way not deemed acceptable. they're not able to use any of that. it is also a reminder of how the

rot here was so deep within the west wing. in terms of nearly every person involved, with few exceptions, around trump, there in the last months of his term, played at least some term in the plot to overturn the election. mark meadows has become a central figure and made a number of court appearances in recent days. we know that, by the end, a lot of these so-called grown-ups had left the administration. either just before or after the election or were sidelined because of a covid outbreak that had swept through the offices there. those that were left were the michael flynns, sydney powells, rudy giulianis and peter navarros pushing forward this scheme. we are seeing now, some years later, that that is catching up with them in a court of law. >> the bill is coming due. ken dilanian. the "atlanta journal constitution's" greg bluestein, thank you, both. ahead on "morning joe," mitch mcconnell freezes again speaking to reporters. it is difficult to watch.

new questions again about his health and how lawmakers in his party are reacting openly. new reporting on nbc news from congressman james comer, the republican leading the probe into hunter biden. new details we're learning about his political ambitions for higher office. how that connects with what's happening with mitch mcconnell right now. "morning joe" is coming right back.

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barnicle and u.s. special correspondent for bbc news, katty kay. people are going to think i'm making this up, but mike barnicle walks into the studio, spontaneous slow clap of applause. respect for the legend, mike barnicle. >> yeah. it started at the table, but the entire crew joined in. it was a remarkable moment on the last day of august. >> we were actually booing, but then the crew broke into applause. >> yeah. >> drowned out. >> i think the applause was for the fact i was actually walking. >> you can still get to the chair? >> yeah. >> well, we're happy you're here, mike. let's turn back to washington now. new concern again this morning about the health of senate minority leader mitch mcconnell after the kentucky republican appeared to suffer a medical episode during a news conference yesterday. this is the second time just over a month this has happened. the longest serving leader in senate history froze while fielding questions from reporters in his home state. >> what are your thoughts on running for re-election in 2026? >> for what?

>> running for re-election in 2026. >> oh. >> did you hear the question, senator, running for re-election in 2026? all right. i'm sorry, y'all. we're going to need a minute. >> that's difficult to watch. yesterday's incident came on the heels of similar one in late july on capitol hill, where mcconnell froze for about 20 seconds during a press conference. in both instances, a spokesperson for the senator chalked up the freezing to light-headedness, exhaustion, dehydration, were some of the words we heard. a aide later added yesterday the leader, quote, felt fine, but would be consulting a physician before his next event as a prudent measure. in march, the 81-year-old mcconnell suffered a concussion and a broken rib after falling at a hotel in washington. mike, it gives no one any joy to see these moments. in fact, it is painful to watch.

we've seen this with mitch mcconnell now in the last couple months. there are calls now from some republicans that he step aside. we'll see if that happens. similar to the calls we've heard from some democrats about senator feinstein in california. >> well, it's more than painful to watch. it's disturbing to watch. obviously, you don't want to make any judgments on what's going on because we don't know what's going on. but, jonathan, twice now in five or six weeks, this has got to raise questions within the senate about the succession to mitch. he is 81 years of age. as is dianne feinstein on the other side of the aisle. elderly people in the situation like that, in powerful jobs, you've got to pay attention. >> yeah, and it's sort of been discussed about washington for months now. after his fall, senator mcconnell does seem diminished, moving slower. his aids acknowledge his

schedulehas been pared down. senator thune is seen as the likely heir apparent, but there will be a leadership fight. there are calls by republicans to maybe not resign the senate seat but step away from the leadership post. katty kay, that would have major implications. there's one place who wants mitch to stay where he is, and that is the white house. the leader and the president has friendship which has held for decades. he is a bulwark as well as a key ally on ukraine funding, which is about to become center stage again. talk to us about the implications if mcconnell isn't able to continue in the post? >> it was interesting yesterday, wasn't it, to hear the president say, look, he is my friend, and then understanding the audience might say, yeah, really? republicans and democrats aren't friends again in washington. he said, seriously, he is my friend, and i am going to try and reach out to him.

they do have this relationship, particularly on the funding in ukraine when it comes to policy. and the occasions where mitch mcconnell has stood up against donald trump, which takes a certain amount of independence, if you want to put it like that, in this republican party. the white house certainly appreciates that. but the reality is, i think this raises something that perhaps might be less comfortable for the white house, which is it raises the issue of age all over again. there was just this poll out in the last couple of days, this poll where they asked a free and open question of democratic and republican primary voters, you know, "what do you think of both of the candidates?" the issue that came up for joe biden was the issue of age and how, you know, mentally competent and how firm he was on how physically competent he would be and whether he was frail. 69% of democrats basically said that age was a problem for them when it came for joe biden. i wonder whether having mitch

mcconnell and having these incidents, as mike just said, you know, there has to be questions when somebody is 81 and in a position of power. you have to question whether they were competent and able to do the job. do incidents like this just re-bring out the whole question of age in a way that might not be comfortable for the white house? >> 77% of americans believe joe biden is too old for a second term. almost 7 in 10 democrats believe he is too old for a second term. though, on the follow-up, they say, "yes, of course we'll vote for him if he runs against donald trump." let's bring in reporter for nbc news, scott wong. he has reporting about the political future of another republican, james comer, and how that fits into this conversation about mitch mcconnell. we'll talk about that in a moment, scott. let's start here with mitch mcconnell. what are you hearing, perhaps privately, on capitol hill among republicans about concerns for mcconnell's health and what may happen from here?

>> we're hearing a lot of silence, in fact, on capitol hill. that is not unusual. in the last episode with mcconnell's freeze up moment, we saw much of the same things. his allies are sort of rallying behind them and maintaining this sort of wall or cone of silence. what we do know is that a number of his leadership team did reach out to him yesterday, spoke with him on the phone. they're all sort of saying the same thing, putting out the same talking points that mcconnell is fine, that he sounded himself. we saw that a senate hopeful from indiana, jim banks, the congressman, posted a picture on x yesterday meeting with mcconnell. this was the second event of the day mcconnell had, and said heo mcconnell on issues that affect

their putting up a united front so far. there's not a whole lot of rumblings behind the scene about folks making moves, trying to succeed him. we do know the three johns, thune, cornyn and boroso are seen as potential successors. right now, john thune. there are no outward signs of jostling to try to replace mcconnell at the moment. >> there was actually a rush to project that he was okay. john thune, the senator from south dakota, of course the minority whip, said, "the leader sounded like his usual self and was in good spirits" after a phone call follow loing that incident. some republicans, people you might expect, bomb throwers saying things publicly, that it is time for mcconnell to go. privately, people suggesting they have to look at his leadership position. let's talk about your piece now that's up this morning about james comer leading the gop biden probe, says the headline,

insisting he is bipartisan as he flirts with higher office. does he have his eye, perhaps someday, maybe someday soon even, on senator mcconnell's seat? >> well, we have to remember that james comer is a very ambitious man. he ran for governor back in 2015 in the primary against matt bevin, falling just 83 votes shy of winning that primary. if not for those 83 votes, he very likely could be the sitting governor of kentucky today. that's sort of the backdrop. i spoke with him before the mcconnell episode, and what he told me, you know, i asked specifically, "are you interested in running for governor again? are you interested in running for mitch mcconnell's seat, whenever that becomes available?" he would not rule that out. he says, "well, i can't predict the future. you know, who knows what's going to happen in the future?" very clearly, he is not shutting the door on that.

i spoke with a number of democrats who know comer well from his days back in kentucky. what they told me was he was seen as somebody who was bipartisan, who was pleasant to work with, who reached across the aisle to democrats to work with them on parochial issues affecting the state of kentucky, including an effort to legalize industrial hemp, which was one of his sort of projects. so they said that has all changed, of course, in the wake of his becoming the oversight chairman, and as he has led this investigation into hunter biden and the biden family. james comer pushed back on the democrats saying he had lost his bipartisan touch. he rattled off a litany of record, you know, touting, his bipartisanship over the years, including saying he wants to work in the future on ethics

reform legislation with progressives on his committee, including aoc and ro khanna, which was surprising to me. >> yeah, it's hard to see democrats accepting that he could still be in any kind of bipartisan position after his hunter biden investigation. i just don't think they're going to buy that. can i ask you, scott, one more question on mitch mcconnell? i mean, who is it -- i'm starting to hear from republicans a little bit they're frustrated they're not getting more information out of the leader about his health conditions. i'm wondering if you are hearing that. if so, who is it he is talking to? people in kentucky who would have a better idea of actually what's going on and what his doctors are saying? >> yeah, in fact, his spokespeople yesterday said that he would consult with a physician, not going so far as to say that he would actually go see a physician. that was interesting to me. you know, right now, what we are hearing from senators going back

to that previous july episode and this episode, is that mitch mcconnell has been ceding some of his responsibility as he has been dealing with some of these health issues. specifically, we may not be seeing that in the public, but behind the scenes and some of these closed door meetings, weekly lunches they have on capitol hill where they all gather and discuss the week ahead, he has been ceding some of those responsibilities to folks like john thune and his top deputy, you know, when it comes to answering questions about policy from the rest of the gop conference. so we're seeing more and more of that. a big question is going to be when they come back next week, will mitch mcconnell, you know, be front and center at their weekly press conference? will he field questions from the press? there's going to be a lot of questions about his health and whether he can remain leader of

his conference going forward into this congress. >> yeah, those are painful moments to watch. we'll see how things go forward. senior congressional reporter scott wong. you can read his piece about james comer at nbcnews.com. thanks so much for bringing it to us. appreciate it. coming up next, new york's attorney general of accusing donald trump of inflating his net worth by billions of dollars. we're digging into some new court filings and what it means for the former president's legal troubles. and we continue to follow the path of tropical storm idalia. we'll be joined by the mayors of myrtle beach, charleston and savannah, georgia, to talk about the impact of that storm. "morning joe" is coming right back.

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center field. he's at the wall, and it's gone.

>> bryce harper hitting his 300th career home run yesterday. a big milestone with a two-run shot to put the phillies ahead of the angels in the eighth inning. but the angels spoiled the party, scoring three in the ninth to beat the phillies, 10-8. in denver, the mlb best braves beat the rockies, 7-3, to set a franchise record for home runs in a season. orlando's two shots in the eighth marked the 250th home run of the season. the braves have 30 games left to play, including a big test against the dodgers this weekend in los angeles. a little playoff preview there maybe. the dodgers in l.a. racked up their 24th win of the month, beating the d-backs 7-0. they have a chance to match the overall franchise record for wins in a month against the braves in a four-game set. in seattle, the mariners closed out the winningest month in team history yesterday by beating the a's, 5-4.

mariners went 21-6 in august. first place in that tough a.l. west. mariners there are a mere percentage point ahead of the houston astros. astros completed a three-game sweep of the red sox yesterday, while the texas rangers dropped to third place in the division with a loss to the mets last night. rangers having a good season, john, but slumping a little at the wrong time. that's a great division. >> great division. potentially sending three teams to the playoffs. rangers have cooled off, lost seven or eight in a row earlier this month. the astros hit the skids. mike, they got healthy at fenway park, where it seems like the red sox's fleeting playoff chances were finally extinguished the last couple days. >> yeah. not a surprise. not a surprise at all. the astros are very strong. they have pitching and hitting, defense, all things that the red sox lack. >> don't have. >> yeah. but the braves and the dodgers,

those two clubs stand out, at least to me, as the two best clubs in major league. >> that certainly looks like an nlcs preview. you could argue between the two teams, they have the four top candidates for mvp, with mookie betts, freddie freeman, acuna junior, some of the best players in baseball. that'll be a really fun series. >> the yankees get hot at the right time, just torching a path through detroit. >> yeah. >> they've shaved the deficit to 18 games in the a.l. east. >> if the season went through thanksgiving, yankees we have a chance at the wild card. >> only ten games out of the wild card now. they're cutting guys on tv. it's just -- oh, my gosh. >> bringing up dominguez. >> youth movement there in the bronx. >> there he is. >> i feel pretty confident that the yankees will overtake the red sox fight before fourth. captivated this set if nowhere else. >> three behind the white sox.

>> hear the footsteps. >> against the red sox. >> fighting over who is going to be in last place. >> fight for fourth. how about the scene last night in lincoln, nebraska? this is incredible. the nebraska cornhuskers set a world record for attendance at a women's sporting event yesterday. it was a volleyball match. 92,003, for good measure, fans gathering at memorial stadium to watch the school's five-time ncaa champion volleyball team beat omaha. oh, my, what a spectacle this was. incredible. i don't know what you want to compare it to, john, but alabama football, nebraska volleyball, they have a great program. the support by the fans, they had to build a new arena. they sell out anyway. to get 92,000, the equivalent of a nebraska/oklahoma football game in the stadium last night. >> nebraska is the top women's volleyball state in the country and has been for a while. they went into this, like, let's set a record, and they did with

ease. they filled the stadium, 90,000 plus. remarkable. there was -- >> how did you know that? >> i did some research before the last couple of -- before the show, mike. >> that is great. >> i do my homework. >> 92,000 for women's volleyball. that is a great, great scene. >> they did it up right there. good walk-in with the whole thing. congratulations to nebraska, their fans, and the great volleyball team there. still ahead this morning, we'll have an update on the areas dealing with the remnants of now tropical storm idalia this morning. plus, republican presidential candidate vivek ramaswamy makes a trump-like claim about how he would handle relations with russia. what he said, just ahead on "morning joe." you've evolved. ♪ you've changed. so have we. that's why dove body wash now has 24 hour renewing micro moisture for continuous care.

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live picture of myrtle beach, south carolina. looking pretty good so far this

morning as the sun comes up there. let's take a look at the morning papers. in maryland, "the capital" report on a sewage spill after a nearby pipe broke. more than 300,000 gallons of sewage poured into the waterway. the public works department said the pipe was fixed again and in working order. portion of the creek where the spill occurred expected to remain closed to the public until saturday. in louisiana, "the daily advertiser" reports on steve scalise's cancer diagnosis. he represents the state and said in a statement yesterday, he was diagnosed with a rare type of blood cancer after irregularities were detected in his bloodwork. the congressman adding, though treatment will be challenging, his outlook appears to be good since doctors were able to detect the cancer early. we send our best wishes to the congressman. and an investigation by "the detroit free press" revealed state lawmakers had errors in their caucus biographies about their education background.

state representative john roth's campaign website notes he graduated from northwestern michigan college, but although he attended the school, he never earned a degree. meanwhile, state rep gina johnson listed a bachelor's and master's degree, but she only obtained a bachelor's degree. know you know that. idalia making its way through the carolinas. the mayor of myrtle beach will join us to talk about the impact of the storm. "morning joe" is coming right back.

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believe it or not, i know this sounds strange, especially how the nation of politics is today, but, you know, i was down there at the last major storm. i spent a lot of time with him walking from community to community, making sure he had

what he needed to get it done. i think he trusts my judgment and my desire to help, and i trust him to be able to suggest stuff. this is not about politics. it's about taking care of the people of his state. >> we have to deal with supporting the needs of the people who are in harm's way or have difficulties. that has got to triumph over any type of short-term political calculation or any type of positioning. this is the real deal. you have people's lives that have been at risk. we don't necessarily have any confirmed fatalities yet, but that very well may change. then you have people whose livelihoods have been turned upside down. so they need support. so we're going to work together from local, state, federal, regardless of party, to be able to deliver results for the people in their time of need. >> in fact, just one, so far, confirmed fatality as a result of the storm. extraordinary given its power. that was president biden and florida governor ron desantis

putting politics aside for a few days as they work together to help everyone impacted by hurricane idalia. welcome back to "morning joe." it is thursday, august 31st. last day of august. jonathan lemire, katty kay, mike barnicle still with us. idalia weakened to a tropical storm overnight. still wreaking havoc across north carolina now this morning. 60 mile an hour winds whipping through the state while heavy rain continues to fall, causing moderate flash flood risks on the coast. residents across florida, georgia, south carolina waking up to the storm's aftermath. nbc news senior national correspondent tom llamas reports on the storm's impact on local communities across the region. >> reporter: our first look at the incredible fury of hurricane idalia. powerful bursts of wind. relentless sheets of rain. devastating storm surge, combining into a destructive force of historic proportions. >> i didn't think anybody expected it to be this bad. >> oh, my god! >> reporter: the category 3 hurricane is the strongest to

hit the big bend area in more than a century. landfall came at keaton beach with sustained gusts of 125 miles per hour. homes here didn't stand a chance. in nearby perry, this gas station toppled by fierce winds. across the region, roofs ripped off buildings. >> oh! oh, my gosh! >> have you ever seen anything like this in perry? >> absolutely not. nobody is going to get power for weeks. >> reporter: the governor touring hard-hit perry. >> what's your message to floridians who are trapped or stranded right now? >> well, if you are in distress, you can call 911. there will be rescue efforts that will commence. the storm is passed. the first responders are active. >> reporter: in steinhatchee, water is everywhere. the town under curfew, and neighborhoods completely inundated by the rising tide. because of that storm surge, many communities were cut off. people were stranded or trapped

in their homes. units like this one from the national guard have been deployed because of their high water vehicles and those rescue boats up top. the keim family is safe, but their yankee town home is underwater. why did you evacuate? >> this surge right here, man, if we had been in our property, we would have been flooded and wouldn't have been able to leave. >> tree just went down. >> reporter: with trees down and roads submerged all over the area, moving can be as treacherous as staying put. already, two separate car crash fatalities reported by florida highway patrol blamed on the weather. a total that would have grown if not for daring swift water rescues that saved dozens outside of tampa. >> didn't know what i was going to do until these guys showed up. i was going to actually stay and swim in my house. >> reporter: florida's first responders pushed to the limit. the president offering help. >> anything the states need right now, i'm ready to mobilize that support of what they need. >> there goes the power lines right there. >> reporter: as officials

feared, idalia overpowered the big bend area's electrical infrastructure. hundreds of thousands of homes affected, even the governor was left in the dark. >> that's going to be legitimate surge. it is going to be a big, big deal, and going to be very, very dangerous. and there we go with our power here. >> rest in peace, inn. >> reporter: other local landmarks weren't lucky. this bed and breakfast in cedar key engulfed by storm surge. some of idalia's worth impacts happened in this small town of less than 1,000. in pasco county, several homes burn ed in electrical fires. >> we prepared for a flood, not a fire. >> reporter: back in perry, one family lucky to be alive. idalia knocked down these massive trees, crushing their home. huddled inside of this car, we met two of the survivors. mom, summer. baby emilia. >> it was terrifying, honestly.

>> reporter: summer told me how her husband, brandon, heard the tree snap and jumped on top of them. >> you could hear it cracking, collide on top of the house. >> reporter: brandon telling me he did what anyone would do who loves your family. >> does it hit you, what you did? >> not really. i think it's what anybody would do. >> tom llamas reporting from florida. joining us from perry, florida, that you saw in the piece, correspondent maggie vespa. good morning. as the sun comes up the morning after, tell us about the destruction there in perry. >> reporter: yeah, willie, you can see it behind me. you saw it in tom's piece, as well, but it is breathtaking this morning. this is a former store in perry. you can see the wreckage around it. the roof came collapsing down. huge chunks of the building and kind of of sheet metal and what have you, having been thrown across the parking lot. there are scattered scenes like this throughout perry. we saw a truck going by with a bobcat on it. the heavy machinery needed to clean up things like this is on

its way into town. the sun just rose, like, five minutes ago. the other issue across the states that have been impacted by idalia and continue to be impacted is the massive power outages. 100,000 plus in both florida and georgia, each with more than 100,000 plus still without power this morning. a combined sort of 50,000 plus without power in the carolinas, which is obviously where the storm has moved overnight. while those power restoration efforts continue, we also hear about the injuries and the sort of concerns about, obviously, potential rescues that are still ongoing. that includes in the tampa area yesterday. we want to point out, i know you heard tom in the piece asking governor desantis his message to those who are stranded. basically, we just want to be clear, we checked with our team. there's no official count right now of anyone who is missing in the area. again, we heard about the rescues yesterday. we knew people were calling 911 from flooded areas. that being said, we don't know of any sort of needed rescue missions this morning. that being said, the national

guard, again, is in this area. 500,000 plus on the air and in the ground as of yesterday, kind of going through, especially a lot of the areas that were cut off, roads that were closed yesterday, going in to see what they can find, to see who needs help. again, a key headline, a heartbreaking headline from yesterday, this storm indeed has turned fatal. the florida highway patrol saying at least two deaths, both cases car crashes, can be are blamed on the weather. a lot of recovery emotionally, physically, and when it comes to infrastructure, basically lies ahead of the people here in the south as idalia continues to make its way across the country. >> clean up work begins. maggie vespa in perry, florida, thank you so much. let's turn to meteorologist angie lassman. good morning again. what are the areas of concern today with this tropical storm idalia? >> basically, north carolina and virginia, that's the only spots we're continuing to see impacts. what a difference 24 hours has made, especially for places like charleston, south carolina. all is calm there right now.

we actually just hit a fifth highest record for the water levels there, just below hurricane matthew water levels into the evening hours last night. we've seen major improvements for folks there. it is, of course, tropical storm idalia with winds coming in at 60 miles per hour and continuing the northerly movement. notice, we still have the rain draped across the same regions i mentioned. virginia and north carolina. places like myrtle beach, charleston all looking at much quieter conditions today. of course, across most of georgia and florida, we're seeing major improvements in a much quieter day ahead for folks there for cleanup. here's the track. the center of the storm is already offshore, and it is going to continue to move away. we will slowly but surely see this weaken. it'll still maintain tropical storm strength well into the weekend, then we'll look at potential impacts for folks in bermuda, as far as a tropical storm is concerned. we have to watch for their impact into saturday and potentially sunday, finally moving into the northern parts of the atlantic. right now, we're still expecting

some potential storm surge in some coastal areas of north carolina, cape hatteras, 1 to 3 feet. beaufort, we're talking 2 to 4 feet. this is going to subside as the day goes on. we've really gone past the worst of it when it comes to idalia. we're going to continue to see the winds coming down as well. tropical storm force strength, as far as the winds are concerned, for places like myrtle beach, wilmington. hatteras looking at 50-mile-per-hour wind gusts. significant gusts happening. we still, of course, have the tornado watch we're concerned about with a little bit of the spin in the atmosphere and the heavy rain working across that area. that'll all be gone by the time we get to the afternoon hours, willie. >> good news. it is moving through. angie lassman, thanks so much. joining us now, the mayor of myrtle beach, south carolina, brenda bethune. people worried about your city and your state with this tropical storm moving up north through florida yesterday. how'd you do in myrtle beach? >> we actually faired very well,

thankfully. when i look at the pictures you're showing of florida, i just want them to know our heart is with them. we're here to help if needed. >> so what did you see? you had high winds, some rain in myrtle beach. any damage to your city? >> no damage, thankfully. we had one tree down that blocked a road. that has since been cleared. areas for our neighbors to the north, cherry grove, that's where they believe a tornado touched down, and there is damage there. our fire department is on standby to go help if needed. our crews are already out this morning cleaning up the streets, cleaning up the sidewalks. our beach did very, very well, which we're so grateful for. we lost so much of it last year during hurricane ian. we're ready for cleanup and great weather this weekend and welcome some visitors in for the labor day holiday. >> how's the power? >> power held up.

>> wow. you faired very well then. no damage, one tree down, you kept your power. it is going to be a good labor day weekend in myrtle beach. the mayor of myrtle beach, south carolina, brenda bethune, thanks for your time. that's a lovely back splash there in your kitchen. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. have a great day. >> appreciate it. let's turn to legal news. a federal judge ruled yesterday rudy giuliani defamed two election workers in georgia following the 2020 election. ruling means he is liable for damages which will be determined at a civil trial. former poll workers ruby freeman and shaye moss sued giuliani over his baseless claims they committed election fraud. both testified to the january 6th committee that their lives were turned upside down by those allegations. >> now, i won't even introduce myself by my name anymore. i get nervous when i bump into someone i know in the grocery store who says my name. i'm worried about who is

listening. i get nervous when i have to give my name for food orders. i'm always concerned of who is around me. i've lost my name, and i've lost my reputation. i've lost my sense of security. >> a lot of threats. wishing death upon me. telling me that, you know, i'm -- i'll be in jail with my mother, and saying things like, "be glad it's 2020 and not 1920." >> were a lot of these threats and vile comments racist in nature? >> a lot of them were racist. a lot of them were just hateful. >> giuliani conceded in a court filing last month he had made false statements about freeman and moss. he also failed to produce any evidence during the discovery portion of this case, which led to the judge's defamation ruling here. in a statement, freeman and moss said the ruling brings them one

step closer to rebuilding their lives. spokesperson for giuliani says he has been, quote, wrongly accused. joining us now, former u.s. attorney, msnbc legal analyst joyce vance. to say it turned their lives upside down puts it mildly, is an understatement. they had death threats, as you heard from their testimony in front of the january 6th committee. this goes to a video rudy giuliani claimed publicly showed them passing a usb drive containing votes back and forth. he said they were passing it, his words, like a vile of cocaine. dog whistle for you there, as well. it turned out to be a mint. she was passing a mint between them. now, rudy giuliani is facing the music for what he did. how much trouble is he in here? >> well, this is a civil case, not a criminal case. but it is just such an overwhelming implication here about the way that the big lie was perpetrated. these are two individual women. i mean, it is tough, willie, to

think of anything more american than a mother and a daughter working the polls together, working for democracy together. what happens? rudy giuliani and then president trump make them the focal point of their allegations that there was voter fraud in georgia, in a way that destroys their lives. you could see the devastation in shaye moss, the daughter's face, when she testified. this notion of losing your name, of no longer feeling secure. this will be a monetary judgment. the judge has entered a default judgment as the result of dpul giuliani's effort to be too cute by half with his discovery strategy, trying to hold out enough to preserve some issues on appeal, while trying to slide by in discovery. all that's left is to decide how much he will have to pay these two women in damages. of course, the judge's parting shot on the way out the door was to require giuliani to pay their attorneys' fees, as well.

>> joyce, we know from this that the law does work eventually, and it has worked in this case. a judge finds him liable for defamation. but my question to you is the time involved now. these women have already lost a lot, including, as you pointed out, their reputation and the fear of just going around the town that they live in. what happens to rudy giuliani in terms of the time he's going to be given to find some money to pay them, whatever the fine, whatever the judge assesses, and what will happen to him in terms of the punishment, other than the fine? >> sure. so that's a legitimate issue here. giuliani, at some point, the court will enter a final order, then giuliani will owe these women money. he will undoubtedly file a notice of appeal and try to delay the inevitable. that means he'll have to put down an appeal bond in order to ensure that these women will ultimately receive the award that the court has given them. but it could be a matter of

additional time here. you know, some folks in this situation would do the right thing. i think we're well past the point where we expect that of rudy giuliani, who has financial difficulties to boot. but what these two women walk away with in a very concrete sense is the notion that they have been found to be in the right here. giuliani was wrong. he defamed them. it may not seem like a lot, the issue of being right and having a court make this determination. but in this setting, this lets them reclaim their name, reclaim their lives, and it is an important step in their recovery. as for giuliani, he now goes on to face criminal charges in georgia in connection with the conduct here. we don't know whether he'll be in an early tranche or later tranche for trial. might he try to conclude a guilty plea or make the effort to conduct with the government? that all remains to be seen. this is the civil part of the

case we learned about yesterday. the criminal part is ongoing. >> that's true. john, when i asked how much trouble rudy is in, i mean financial trouble. he is in a $3 million hole on legal bills. he has gotten donald trump to hold a fundraiser at bedminster to help with the legal defense fund. rudy giuliani is in a bad place right now. >> very bad place. steep fall from grace for the man who was once america's mayor. one of the things that got rudy in trouble, he is going to be going on trial in fulton county, georgia. i wanted to ask about the headline to the d.a. there, fani willis made recently, where we know a couple of people who have been charged. cheseboro and sidney powell asked for a speedy trial. and she responded saying, let's get everyone a speedy trial, pushing for october for nearly 20 people there. how realistic does that seem,

that that could happen? if you had to hazard a guess for this state case, often taking a backseat to federal matters, when do you think this actually will go to trial? what is the d.a.'s play? trump is his team are suggesting this is politics. >> right. the d.a.'s play is she is ready to go. she took the extra months that folks complained about after she said her indictment was imminent, and she apparently used that time to be prepared to go to trial. if not the minute the indictment dropped, not long afterwards. she gives every appearance of being serious and committed to trying this case. but there is some dueling legal principles in place. in georgia, and this is a little bit of an unusual rule, when a defendant makes a request for a speedy trial, they're entitled to that within the next two terms of court. a failure by the district attorney to try the caselimits e

gets dismissed. for folks who made the speedy requests, unless they revoke them, they will go to trial on this fast timeline. by the same token, willis' request that everyone be required to go to trial on that same timeline is a little bit unrealistic. some of the defendants will make arguments that they need more time to prepare. the volume of discovery, willis has indicated she'll be turning over 2 terabytes of discovery around september 15th. there will be others who say, "i need more time." the judge, i think, will have to split the baby into at least those two groups. the people who want to go fast, and the people who want more time. meaning that willis may not get her big show trial with 19 defendants. >> joyce, still on this issue of scheduling and timing, and can we broaden it out a little bit? i keep getting asked by people whether we're going to be in a situation that donald trump is convicted, sentenced, behind bars by the time it comes to

next year's election. we now have the date from judge chutkan here in d.c., of march the 4th. can you just kind of run through quickly the prospects of where we could be by november in any of these cases? because even if that case were to go ahead, and i think there's some slippage possible still on that march 4th date, but clarify that for me, presumably do you then have the sentencing stage and then the appeals stage? what are the realistic possibilities for trump and his legal status come november 2024 and the election day? >> this is a really great question because there are always inherent delays in the criminal justice system. for instance, if trump were to posture some sort of an issue where he got an adverse ruling from judge chutkan and he were able to take an appeal to the court of appeals, that could really impact this march trial setting and slow things down.

that would be, in essence, the district judge at the mercy of the court of appeals. now, look, i think as a practical matter, the courts will be ready to rule quickly if that sort of thing happens. we're still talking about a consequential delay with the parties given time to file briefs and the court taking time to make its decision. even if that doesn't happen, there's always the possibility of pretrial issues, a witness gets sick, there's some other form of delay that drops trial back a little bit. the government has said six to eight weeks for its case. we don't know how long the former president's case, if any, would take, but that extends us out several months. then to your point, if there is a conviction, sentencing doesn't follow immediately on the heels of the jury's verdict. there's time that's taken by the probation office to write what's called a presentence report. they have to gather evidence, put that extensive report together to aid the judge in

sentencing. then, following that sentencing proceeding, there is the people who are convicted, in this case in washington, it'd be only trump who is a standalone defendant. he would be able to take an appeal. he would have the opportunity to argue that he should remain free on bond pending appeal. if he could satisfy the court that his appeal was taken for reasons other than just delay and that he had legitimate arguments that had a chance of success on appeal, then he would get an appeal bond. that would wipe off the map any possibility that he would be in custody at the time of the election. of course, lots of moving parts here. four different cases. we still don't know precisely who goes first. there's some overlap in the trial settings and the requests from prosecutors. but, again, i think we have to be very hesitant about thinking that we will see trump, candidate trump, running from prison. >> former u.s. attorney joyce vance, a lot to sift through

there, explaining it so well, joyce. thanks so much, as always. mike, on the rudy giuliani miss of it, this is another time the bill is coming due. trying to please donald trump. trying to stay relevant to be in tv, to be in a position of power. he is portraying himself now, rudy giuliani, as the victim of this prosecution and persecution in the civil case. judge howell said yesterday, of giuliani, "donning a cloak of victimization may play well on a public stage to certain audiences, but in a court of law, this performance has served only to subvert the normal process of discovery in a straightforward defamation case." so it's donald trump. it's the co-defendants. they are the victims. they are martyrs of persecution. no, it turns out if you commit a crime or alleged crime, there are consequences. it might take a couple of years, but that bill will come due. >> you know, two elements here. one about rudy giuliani and what he's been assessed and what the judge said, what judge said

yesterday, it proves no one is above the law. it is a trite phrase, but it proves no one is above the law. the mayor of america, america's mayor, as jonathan said, is now guilty of something. the other thing is not so healthy. it's the continued onslaught of stories about donald trump's 91 indictments. it is going to be with us every day the next year, year and a half. of all the damage this man did to the country while he was in office, the damage he's done since he left office, beginning with -- well, prior to leaving office, january 6th and everything we'veered as a culture, a society since that time will be with us for decades, all because of one man's arrogance, his selfishness and his devotion only to himself, donald j. trump. >> i think that's right. even after trump is off public

stage, whenever that might be, i mean, the damage he's done to the nation's institutions are going to be with us a long time. it is not quite clear how he recovery from that. in the short term, he is not going anywhere. he made clear, no matter what indictment comes, he will be continuing his campaign for office. they've rejected out of hand the idea he would take some sort of plea deal that would keep him out of prison, but he'd have to abandon his quest for the white house. you could see it in his truth social posts and talking to some of the people around him, there is an almost desperation to this. he knows winning the white house is his best and maybe only chance to stay out of prison. >> and the impact it has on the ordinary citizen, they're sick of this. every single day, it's with them every single day. they're trying to make a living, putting their kids in school, hoping the kids' lives are better than their lives. every single day, donald trump's damage overlaps their lives. >> yet, polls suggest he is nearly in a dead heat with president biden to win the white house next year. >> that's why he remains defiant. he thinks this is working for him. we'll see if that changes once

the trials get going here next year. still ahead on "morning joe," another health scare for mitch mcconnell as he freezes again while speaking in front of reporters. we have the latest on his condition and the reaction across capitol hill. plus, our next guest says the republican party is, quote, primed for another charismatic phony. "vanity fair's" molly jonge fast looks at 2024 presidential candidate vivek ramaswamy. you're watching "morning joe." we'll be right back. my husband and i have never been more active. shingles doesn't care. i go to spin classes with my coworkers. good for you, shingles doesn't care. because no matter how healthy you feel, your risk of shingles sharply increases after age 50. but shingrix protects.

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because we the people means all the people, including you. so call now or go online to my aclu.org to become a guardian of liberty. i'm sure the boogeyman white supremacist exists somewhere in america. maybe i'll meet a unicorn sooner. maybe those exist, too. >> republican presidential candidate vivek ramaswamy, that comment at a campaign event last week in iowa. yesterday on fox news, he was pressed on his foreign policy positions. >> i would freeze the current lines of control.

i would further make a hard commitment nato will not admit ukraine to nato. that is enough to get putin to do the deal. but i will require something even greater in return, jesse. russia has to exit its military alliance with china. right now, we're pushing russia further into china's hands. the russia/china military alliance is the single greatest threat that the united states faces today. >> president ramaswamy flies to moscow, sits down across the table from vlad and says "you're going to give up your alliance with china," and vlad is going to say, "okay"? >> he'll say okay because i'll say, we'll reopen economic relations with russia. further, we'll end the ukraine war. also, make sure nato never admits ukraine. >> even though the economic relations with china is much more valuable to russia? >> the reason it is more valuable is because we've wrongfully cut off russia from the west by bombing the nord stream 1 and 2 pipelines and sanctioning russia. if we can reopen the western economic relations with russia,

russia has less of a reason to be in partnership with china. >> there is a lot in there. he is going to be the one to flip vladimir putin. joining us now, special correspondent at "vanity fair," host of "the fast politics" podcast, molly jonge fast. a new piece, "from trump to vivek, the gop is primed for another charismatic phony." molly, good morning. good to see you, as always. he was on that debate stage last week. people said, "well, it was his night," because he commanded so much of the attention. if you listen to what he was saying, he was talking about completely cutting off ukraine from aid, climate change is a hoax, issue a preemptive pardon to donald trump, questioned whether we should support israel, drawing the ire of republicans. even sean hannity had it out with him on that issue. it is important to listen not just to how he is saying things but what he is saying. >> i mean, he is really cut from the same cloth as donald trump, though he did not like donald trump in his book, right? now, he loves him. but luckily it was hidden in a

book, so nobody has seen it. i would say -- in his book. i would say that it is an interesting -- you know, this guy is all style and no substance, which is very trump by, right? he is a charismatic guy. what i think a lot of people were responding to during that debate was his style, right? his charisma, his ability to speak fast and sound like he knows what he is talking about. but it is very clear that there's a lot of stuff that he is either, you know, flip-flopping on or just blatantly lying about. >> i mean, he is effectively, in many ways, doing an impersonation of donald trump. there is a sense he is a smart guy and this is all cynical and he knows better on a lot of it. we might complain about what he said at the debate, but to the base, he is pushing all the right buttons. >> well, i think what's scary is this base has been tipped into unreality by donald trump. donald trump -- i think it is important to think about donald trump as a sort of new kind of

politician. we are used to politicians who lie. we are used to politicians who embellish. what donald trump did was he said things that were so blatantly untrue, that he tipped his people into unreality. he said things like, i found this thing he said in 2020 at a speech. he said, "we are going to have the best health care replacement for obamacare. in fact, we already have it. it's already starting." that's not true. that was never true. but he sort of lied in such a blatant way that he kind of took the base a little bit further into unreality. >> when jesse waters is asking your foreign policy plans, you know you've perhaps gone a little far. it was striking at the debate, how it was very clear how ramaswamy raised the ire of the rest of the republicans on stage. >> yeah. >> they were annoyed by him, putting it mildly. but they are the ones who seemingly, to your point, are the ones out of step. they're the ones who are polling in the single digits. they may be rejecting him because he's questioning republican orthodoxy, like

strong foreign policy, yet, that's not where the base is at all. >> right. i also think it is important to realize this is not about policy. if it were about policy, desantis would be the heir to trump, right? he ran on trumpy policies but more right wing. this base cares about style, charisma, cares about someone who is going to tell them the things they like. you see in the jesse waters clip, which is amazing because you have a candidate gotten by jesse waters, right? like, think about that for a minute. but you see that he works in things that -- there's no evidence that america bombed the nord stream pipeline. that is a crazy conspiracy theory, and he works it in like it is some normal stuff. >> is there a larger issue here, though, more so than just this annoying creep, vivek, isn't the larger issue really what has happened to our politics? he was on a stage with seven

other people, some of them pretenders, running for the presidency. >> yeah. >> we pay enormous amounts of attention to this guy. there's something wrong with this guy. i mean, he's got a method, but the method is madness. yet, we cover him as if it is legitimate. >> well, i think donald trump primed us for this, right? we had a reality -- >> donald trump had one thing, only one thing that vivek does not have. donald trump was funny. >> right. >> this guy is not funny. >> but he is charismatic. i mean, i agree, i think part of what's working for vivek is that it is the slow season of august. he's come about at a time when, you know, that debate was really about people running for vice president. i think there was some good things where it seemed like nikki haley was a little bit sane. any sanity in the party should be rewarded because it is so unusual. but i think he came in a big splash, and he was able to suck up some of the media. i don't see him as, like, a

long-term -- at least i hope i don't see him as a long-term political figure. >> molly, katty has one for you. >> molly, picking up on that. look, is this just the kind of ten minutes of fame vivek ram ramaswamy is having, saying things that are not true, contradicting himself, saying one thing one day, and something else, saying he is not woke or something. but what interests me is the degree to which fox has decided they are going to turn on ramaswamy. from sean hannity to "fox and friends" in the morning to jesse waters, one fox host after another, one fox contributor basically calling him crazy and saying he is about to surrender. i just wonder fox's relationship to ramaswamy, it is interesting. why have they decided to do this? complicated and strange place. they had a dominion case, settled it. there are producer suits.

we have this with rupert murdoch and donald trump. i wonder with fox, is there, like, a larger strategy, or are these, like, people just irritated with ramaswamy? i think it's impossible to know. >> he is also trapped in 9/11 conspiracy theories, conspiracies around january 6th. it is an ugly laundry list of places he's gone. so what is his objective? what's the end game here? it is unlikely he is going to win this race, unless there is some event around donald trump that keeps him from getting the nomination. donald trump has lavished praise on vivek ramaswamy. he is intelligent, great up there, because he sounds like trump. what is vivek's end game in the primary? >> again, who knows what is in his head? my sense is he would like to be vice president. that seems unlikely. it is hard for me to imagine donald trump sharing the attention with someone like that, especially because vivek seems like someone who does not play well with others, from the

way he was on that debate stage. so i don't think he will be the vice president. but, again, you know, these people, fame is a currency for them. it's a podcast. it's a fox news deal. it's a, you know, an oan show. >> it's relevance to a certain audience. glenn beck asked donald trump the other day, would vivek be a good vp? he said, he is a very, very, very intelligent person. he has good energy. i tell ya, i think he'd be very good. donald trump on vivek ramaswamy. special correspondent, "vanity fair," host of "the fast politics" podcast, molly jong-fast. good to see you. idalia threatening the carolinas after pounding florida and damaging thousands of homes there. hours from now, officials will visit the hardest hit areas in florida to survey the damage. one of them joins us live from tallahassee. we'll speak with the fema administra administrator, deanne criswell. you're watching "morning joe."

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we haven't had a storm take this path at this level since the 1990s, to hit this part of florida. this is something that is a really big deal. not that you ever want to do, but there's parts of florida that have had these things happen, and they've built up infrastructure in response to it. well, this start of the state hasn't necessarily seen a storm like this in some time, so that's going to present challenges. but i appreciate everybody rallying around, people stepping up and i really the resiliency i'm seeing throughout all these counties, particularly in the big bend region of florida. >> governor ron desantis speaking yesterday in perry, florida, reminding residents it'll take time to rebuild from the hurricane. today, he and fema officials will tour some of the hardest hit areas. joining us from tallahassee, the state capital there, fema

administrator deanne criswell. thank you for joining us again. when we spoke about 24 hours ago, we feared the worst here on this very powerful storm as it began to make landfall. as you wake up this morning, what's your assessment of the damage? >> good morning, willie. the reports that we're hearing in the initial damage assessments that have gone on is there is definitely some damage along the coastal communities. also, some reports of damage as you track the eyewall of the hurricane and some inland flooding. that's exactly why i'm here today, to be able to join the governor and go assess firsthand so i can see what the level of impact is to these communities. then we can determine whether or not additional federal assistance will be needed to help support these communities on the road to recovery. >> is it true, administrator criswell, the information we have this morning, there's only one storm-related death so far. we haven't gotten out to the areas, but that obviously would be an extraordinarily low

number, given the power of this storm. >> i think those are the same stories i'm hearing. i think there's a few other stories in the media. one confirmed fatality seems to be what i heard from the state yesterday. what that tells me is that people really heeded the warnings of the local officials, which is great, right? we wanted to get people out of harm's way, and so i really appreciate, you know, you and all the other media outlets helping us get that message out there. to have people move a little inland. i think it's made a big difference in the amount of impact to people personally and saving a lot of lives as the storm went through. >> administrator, the biggest warning before this storm, the greatest fears were about the historic storm surge perhaps, which was forecasted in a number of areas. give us a sense as to what happened there. did it meet projections? secondly, what will be the timeline to get rescue crews and first responders into those areas just to assess the damage

but also potentially to find survivors? >> the first responders have been out all day yesterday going into the areas. they've been answering 911 hauls. the heroic actions of our first responders, you know, are continually amazing, as they go in and help people that chose not to evacuate or were still in harm's way. they were doing rescues throughout the day yesterday. the information i got from my brief when i was on the ground last night is they expect to be done with the secondary assessments by friday. it says people heeded the warnings of the local officials and got out of harm's way. the storm surge itself, yes, there was definitely some significant storm surge along the coastal communities. i haven't heard what an official measurement of the total height of that storm surge was yet, but i think it came close to what the expectation was in the higher portions of the big bend area that were expecting, i think, up to 15 feet of storm surge. we'll get those numbers as the days go on. i think the most important piece is, again, people recognize the

significant threat that this faces, that they face from this, and they listened and they moved out of harm's way. >> ms. criswell, could you please speak to the stress that fema sometimes falls under? i mean, fema was just in maui. they're still in maui, and now this. we've had a summer of forest fires around the country. the stress that is on fema in terms of showing up and doing the job. >> yeah, i think, you know, you may have heard me say, you know, the climate crisis is the crisis of our generation. what fema is experiencing and what we are seeing is we don't have a traditional busy season any longer during the peak of hurricane season. our operational tempo is year round, right? we started with the atmospheric rivers in california this year. to the wildfires and the tornado outbreaks that we had, multiple tornado outbreaks we had in the midwest in the spring. this is putting a strain, right, on the ability to continue to go

out and support. but we have great staff. we have great disaster response staff. we also have a layered staffing approach, where we can reach back into our career personnel that are normally at headquarters, and we also can rely on the dhs surge capacity. we can bring in members of different components from homeland security to augment our operations as needed. right now, our staff and all of these different events, they're still supporting maui, florida. they're in north carolina, south carolina, as well as georgia, as a liaison to help understand what the impacts are there. we'll continue to make sure that we have the staff on the ready to respond to future events we're going to face throughout the rest of this year. >> 65 federal disasters or emergencies have been declared since april 1st, including nine in the last week alone. that's more than occurred in any full year from 1953 to 1995, which is why you've been pushing for more money to be added to the disaster fund.

fema administrator deanne criswell, thank you for your time this morning. we'll let you get back to work. we appreciate it. >> thank you. we talked about the storm surge, a concern about tampa. tampa general hospital, they put up an aqua fence to protect that level 1 trauma center. the only in the area. such thanks for being with us. first of all if you could explain to our audience the idea of that aqua fence and how it did hold up yesterday. >> morning. thanks for having me. yes, the aqua fence is a deployable flood wall system. we store it here on campus, and when we see the threat of a storm, no matter the size or impact of that storm, we want to be prepared, and we opened those crates and my team takes them out one piece at a time and

props them up into that "l" shape you see on the screen, and the innovation of the system is that the weight of the floodwater actually supports the wall system. so the more water it gets, the stronger that system becomes. we set it all up this week. we ended up getting about a foot and a half to two feet of water on part of the wall and we were dry on the other side. >> that was good news given some of the concerns and the projections of that king tide yesterday. how does yesterday's rush of water that you experienced compare to others in recent years? you have had some big storms in there. >> it's interesting. last year we had hurricane ian, and it ended up hit a little bit south of tampa, and what that does for us is it actually drains water from tampa bay, and we had no water around the island at all, and so this dorm landed north of tampa, and it pushes water into the bay. so this is the first time since we have had the aqua fence that we have actually had water pushed onto the island.

in the past it actually goes the other direction. >> and any problems at the hospital yesterday? did the operations continue smoothly? >> no problems at all. we continued just as normal and had full operations throughout the storm, and immediately after. >> well, that is absolutely great news and that aqua fence is amazing and you may need it more as the years go on here. vice president facilities construction at tampa general hospital dustin pastor, thank you so much for being here, we appreciate it. >> thank you. coming up, new york's attorney general says donald trump routinely inflated his net worth. surprise, surprise. he told financial institutions he was worth as much as $2.2 billion in one year. we'll have new details from an unsealed court filing ahead of trump's upcoming civil fraud trial. "morning joe" is coming right back. trial. "morning joe" is coming right back to severe plaque psoriasis. now i feel free to bare my skin, thanks to skyrizi. ♪(uplifting music)♪

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being middle class right now, it's tough making ends meet for sure. republicans in congress say if we just cut taxes even more for the biggest corporations the money will eventually someday trickle trickle down to you. right. joe biden would rather just stop those corporations from charging so damn much. capping the cost of drugs like insulin. cracking down on surprise medical bills and all those crazy junk fees. there's more work to do. tell the president to keep lowering costs for middle class families.

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the rock here on our building at 30 rock center just at the top of the hour on a thursday morning, and still ahead here, rudy giuliani's lies about the 2020 election catching up with him, specifically the lies about two women, two poll workers in georgia now catching up with him legally and financially. we'll explain next on "morning joe." plain next on "morning joe. i'm barbara and i'm from st. joseph, michigan. i'm a retired school librarian. i'm also a library board trustee, a mother of two, and a grandmother of two. basically, i thought that my memory wasn't as good as it had been. i needed all the help i could get. i saw the commercials for prevagen. i started taking it. and it helped! i noticed my memory was better. there was definite improvement.

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wind gusts, i'm told are over 100 miles an hour, and we are really feeling the brunt of this storm. an unprecedented storm hitting the area. >> that is gabe gutierrez in the thick of it with us yesterday in perry, florida as then hurricane idalia was slamming the area. gabe is just fine this morning, our excellent reporter. welcome back to "morning joe." it is thursday, august 31st. we continue to cover tropical

storm idalia. it weakened overnight, but crossing north carolina this morning. 60-mile-an-hour winds whipping through the state while rain continues to fall causing a moderate flash flood risk on the coast. residents across georgia, south carolina waking up to administration to idalia's aftermath. more than 300,000 across the southeast have no power today. we don't know yet when it will quite return. the city of charleston recorded its highest tide ever as the storm surge reached more than 9 feet, and caused significant flooding as they swelled over the city's seawall. the storm took the life of at least one man who crashed his car due to those rainy conditions yesterday. some areas of the big bend almost completely underwater this morning due to heavy rain. that has led congressman jared moskowitz to say big bend may

never fully recover. >> this is a category 4 storm, right? it hit just on the cusp. it was a very strong category 3 storm whit made landfall. you know, that eyewall came through these areas that have not been hit by a hurricane in over 100 years. in those areas, a lot of those are physically constrained and they don't necessarily have the resources. some communities will never look the same, and some others might get rebuilt and look slightly different. this is a life-changing event for some of these counties. >> let's bring in meteorologist angie lasmus. very powerful, serious storm will you florida yesterday and today up in the carolinas. >> yeah, and in weakening. that's the most important thing as we get through the rart parts of our morning and early afternoon. we'll see major improvements and this system will be out of our hair and we'll watch it work through the atlantic and down through bermuda. in wilmington, north carolina, this is one of the spots being impacted by rain.

that's one of the main threats. we have plenty of rain working across north carolina stretching up vap. you see places like norfolk dealing with that moderate rain, but moorhead city, and stretching down toward quieter conditions the farther south you go, but lighter rain across the coastal areas of north carolina. 60-mile-per-hour getting out of the picture as we get to the later parts of today. the center of the storm is offshore. we have to get that rain working away as well. down the line, i mentioned quickly bermuda will have to deal with potentially a tropical storm. we won't see quick weakening with this, but gradual as we get into saturday and sunday. they'll deal with some rain potentially and tropical storm force wind gusts down the line, but we're not expecting this system to restrengthen in any way. in the meantime, it's the rain we'll have to watch for. we've seen improvements when it comes to the tornado expired. we're not looking at that tornado threat impacting folks in north carolina through the rest of the morning, but of

course, we have to deal with those flash flood concerns across this same region that's dealing with some of that rain, and the storm surge will have an improvement here as well as we get through the later parts of our morning. isolated amounts when it's all said and done today. closer to maybe 2, 3 inches of rain, upwards of 5 inches of rain is possible, but i think that will be smaller areas of this -- north carolina that will see those kind of totals, but don't let your guard down whit comes to the flooding concern. that's still going to be possible the closer to the coast that you go. i mentioned the storm surge. anywhere from 2 to 4 feet is going to be some of those higher places that you'll see. maybe beauford could see those conditions, but as this moves away, we could see that chance become a little less and we'll see some recession of that water here as we get into the later parts of our afternoon. really we've only got a little longer to deal with this, willie. we're going to see some major improvements by the time the afternoon comes around and that will be when we get to see some of the look at the damage across this region. >> we're happy to report officials we have been talking to this morning in north

carolina, south carolina, even down in tampa did much better they say than they expected given the severity. angie, thank you. joining us now, commander for the u.s. coast guard 7th district, admiral douglas skofield. you all were clearly prepared for what was coming. what's your assessment today? >> yes, good morning, willie. yeah, it was a big storm. it's certainly hitting the southeastern seaboard that started in florida yesterday b but i really applaud the men and women of all the first responders getting the call out early to get folks out of the way of the storm's approach, and then afterwards, a quick response. so as you could see, lots of flooding. i'm seeing the pictures here. lots of inland flooding, certainly in the big bend of florida area, the south where i am here in tallahassee in the florida emergency operations center. the teams worked really hard yesterday to do initial assesses

to make sure all those that are near the water or on the water were safe. we did have 17 search and rescue cases yesterday and assisted 12 lives throughout the southeast region related to the storm. the good thing though, willie, is we did not have a lot of extreme safety of life issues yesterday. so people did stay out. we have a long way ahead. as you know, this inland flooding is going to be a concern for the utilities, for folks to get out of their homes if they were still there, and to get back and reconstitute their lives in those local areas, and we are working hard right now, willie, to get our ports back open. that's the lifeblood of the nation, and it's really the life-saving commerce of our economy. we're looking forward to working that today to get those back open. >> do you anticipate today, admiral, more search and rescue or do you feel like you have gotten to the people who need rescuing at this point? >> i think, willie, that's a

great point. i think we're going to continue to have calls and challenges locally. i say major concerns from a search and rescue were down, but we're assessing right now certainly in south carolina and north carolina as the storm's passage there, we're continuing to monitor and help those in need, and then of course, any of the inland flooding causes challenges on the rivers that feed towards the ocean as well. so we are working that, and we have a lot of teams out supporting all our state and federal partners in this endeavor. again, it's all about saving lives and this is what we do. we're really excited to be helping each and every american out there. >> admiral, just talk to us about some of the challenges about -- from this particular storm because we kept hearing from officials as it was approaching that it was unique, that it was hitting an area of the florida coast that doesn't usually get direct hits from hurricanes, and that have been dumping a ton of rain on regions that also aren't used to or equipped potentially to handle

that kind of precipitation. so talk to us about how that complicated some of your efforts. >> yes. it certainly does. so that inland flooding and those areas and what has really happened so far, there were a lot of folks that were evacuated. we had flights immediately following the approach of the storm into south florida and into georgia and south carolina. so we worked that really hard yesterday, but the positive side here is the storm was fast-moving so we did have a lot of rain, but we didn't have a day of rain in a lot of those areas that would have been worse. so the state and local partners are working heavily inland on those flood-prone areas to the east of the storm's approach, and those counties and then the western -- the big bend side of

florida certainly saw a lot of inland flooding. so we're continuing to work that, and it's great to partner with all agencies to continue to work that effort. >> the fact that 24 hours after landfall, we can only report one confirmed death from a storm of this size to attribute to your preparation and to officials there. so we appreciate the work you've done, and will continue to do today and throughout the week. commander for the u.s. coast guard 7th district, douglas scofield, we appreciate it. >> great to be on with you, willie. looking forward to it again. >> we'll see you soon. still ahead on "morning joe," rudy giuliani suffers a major legal loss as a federal judge finds him liable for defaming two georgia election workers, putting them in danger. we'll have expert legal analysis, plus new reporting about house oversight committee chairman james comer who has let those investigations into hunter biden potentially seeking higher office and how this may factor into a disturbing incident for mitch mcconnell yesterday. you're watching "morning joe."

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health care back. a federal judge ruled yesterday rudy giuliani defamed two election workers in georgia following the election. the ruling means he is liable for damages which will be determined at a civil trial. former poll workers ruby freeman and shaye moss sued giuliani over his baseless claims they committed election fraud. both testified to the january 6th committee that their lives were turned upside down by those false allegations. >> now i won't even introduce myself by my name anymore. i get nervous when i bump into someone i know in the grocery store who says my name. i'm worried about who's listening. i get nervous when i have to

give my name for food orders. i'm always concerned of who's around me. i've lost my name, and i've lost my reputation. i've lost my sense of security. >> a lot of threats wishing death upon me, telling me that, you know, i'm i'll be in jail with my mother and saying things like, be glad it's 2020 and not 1920. >> were a lot of these threats and vile comments racist in nature? >> a lot of them were racist. a lot of them were just hateful. >> giuliani conceded in a court filing last month he had made false statements about freeman and moss. he also failed to produce any evidence during the discovery portion of this case leading to the judge's defamation ruling. in a statement freeman and moss said the ruling brings them one step close tore rebuilding their

lives. spokesperson for giuliani says, he has been, quote, wrongly accused. let's bring in nbc news justice dilanian and and greg bluestein. greg, i'll start with you down there in atlanta, and just to remind our viewers about the allegations rudy giuliani made against these two poll workers suggesting they were passing a drive with votes on it, and it was a breath mint. it comes from the homes of their relatives, trying to push and their way into the house looking for these two people that rudy giuliani had villainized. >> it's heart-wrenching testimony we saw. these were not public officials. it's bad enough when our publicly elected officials and high-ranking positions get targeted with this vitriol. these were just rank and file election staffers, the cogs of our democracy, the people

working in elections offices to make sure we have timely and accurate election results, and we were being accused by rudy giuliani and other trump allies in terms of rudy giuliani in a legislative hearing in the georgia capitol of doing something nefarious when as you mentioned, there was no sort of usb drive. it was a ginger mint that ruby freeman and shaye moss were passing to one another. >> so let's talk about this case then, ken, and the liability now that rudy giuliani faces and why he's facing it. he wouldn't produce documents for discovery and he says the fbi took my phone and i don't have access to a lot of that stuff. why didn't he provide that information, and what happens from here? what are some of the consequences? >> they're huge, willie. and first of all, i should just say this is such a profound example of the human impact of these election lies. >> yes. >> really the most egregious that we've seen, and we could all hear the racist overtones in the allegations that were made

against these women, and judge howell here in washington, d.c. just decided that rudy giuliani was playing games with the process. he was refusing to engage in what's known as civil discovery where someone sues you. the judge rules the suit is legitimate and you have to start turning over documents including secret financial documents, and he just wouldn't do it, and so finally, you know, she gave him extension after extension and finally she imposed really what is the ultimate penalty which is that she entered a judgment saying that he was essentially liable for defamation, for civil conspiracy, and for punitive damages, and there were a couple of really interesting lines in her ruling that i wanted to read to you. she said, just as taking shortcuts, bypassing the discoveries carries serious sanctions and he also said, donning a cloak of victimization may play well on a public stage to certain audiences, but in the

court of law, this performance has only served to subvert the normal process of discovery. the bottom line here is that these women do not have to prove their case anymore. it's proven. it's been established. now there will be a trial about how much money rudy giuliani has to pay them. he already owes them $90,000 according to this judge for their legal fees. it's a big blow to mr. giuliani. of course, it's one of a long line of things that he's facing including criminal liability. there are reports he's got a debt of $3 million in legal fees. his life essentially is falling apart. he's losing his license to practice law, but just add this to the list of legal woes for rudy giuliani. >> so greg, let's talk about some of those other legal woes. he, of course, was just indicted a few days ago about -- in that matter in georgia. a fall from grace indeed once known as america's mayor. talk to us about how this matter in georgia, this case here with the finding that he defamed these two election workers, how could that impact the criminal

trial that he faces also in fulton county? >> yes, and this is front page news in georgia because it hits obviously so close to home those allegations, those lies and conspiracy theories that rudy giuliani promoted during three separate hearings, two in person, and one virtual during the state capitol in 2020 and are kind of at the root of all of this. he is being accused of being part of this far-reaching criminal enterprise that fani willis laid out, the district attorney laid out in her 51-count indictment, and it is very closely watched here in georgia, and extensively, we're thinking anything said in open court could also be used in these ongoing proceedings here in georgia. so that is why this case is particularly being closely watched, not just because of course, it's a local case, but also it could directly pertain to the criminal indictments. >> ken, let's talk about the timing of this case from d.a. fani willis down in fulton

county. you have sydney powell now, the former attorney of trump, filing a motion to sever her case just like mr. chesebro did, and to go earlier, to go alone saying she has no connection to these other 18 co-defendants. how is this going to shake out? fani willis saying, we'll have everybody, all 19 of you. speedy trial. here it is. how is this going to play out with 19 defendants? >> well, that's not going to happen, willie, because donald trump and others are going to resist having this super speedy trial as soon as this fall, and probably going to win on that point and that really presents a devilish problem for the district attorney down there because then she's confronted with the prospect of having to put her case on and give donald trump a preview of it essentially, having multiple trials and having these early defendants go first. she has to essentially present the case, and then donald trump gets a crack at all the

witnesses. he gets to hear what they're going to say. there's a really interesting op-ed in "the new york times" the other day by an atlanta lawyer who was really sort of criticizing the way this case was structured saying it was overly complex, that some of these charges really were sort of marginal, and that it puts the case in peril or it will make it take at least a really long time. it contrasts with the streamline case on the same side of facts that jack smith brought in washington, d.c. against only donald trump. you know, again we'll have to see how this plays out. there's a racketeering case in georgia that a lot of people know where they're still picking a jury after eight months. this one could take a while to see donald trump in a courtroom down there. >> as difficult as it is to keep up with all this legal trouble around donald trump, let's add this to the mix. a federal judge has ruled against peter navarro in his claims of executive privilege when he ignored a subpoena to turn over documents and testify before the january 6th committee last year. the ruling now sets the stage

for navarro's trial on charges of criminal contempt of congress. navarro who has written and spoken extensively in his role to overturn the 2020 election claimed trump told him to invoke executive privilege over any potential testimony or requests for documents. the judge though said there was no evidence presented that trump directed navarro to cite privilege so he ruled navarro cannot make that argument to a jury. navarro's trial is set to begin next week. he faces two criminal contempt charges. he has pleaded not guilty to both. if convicted, navarro could spend up to two years in prison. so ken, let's remind everyone who peter navarro is and what role he played. what was the play called? >> the green bay sweep. >> the green bay sweep where they had a whole play designed and he was explicit about it. he went on tv and talked about this plan to overturn the election. how much trouble is he in now? >> a significant amount, willie,

and let's remember, like many people in the trump administration, peter navarro was sort of -- he was considered a fringe economist, but kind of a -- i mean, somewhat mainstream, right? he was a china hawk, and remember he played a significant role in the trump administration's pandemic response and he even got some praise for doing that. he's not, you know, a wacko, but now he's finding himself absolutely under the criminal spotlight here, and what's remarkable about what the judge ruled here is that, you know, did these people think that they could just claim executive privilege and without donald trump ever telling them to assert it? and how difficult would that have been for mr. trump to say, please don't testify. i'm asking you to invoke executive privilege. he never did that, so he left these people completely exposed in their decision not to -- mr. navarro's decision not to provide any documents or testimony to the january 6th committee and he's now facing felony charges that could land him incarcerated for some period of time as we all remember that

steve bannon was also convicted for the same -- on the same charges in the same set of circumstances. it's not a hard case to prove, and now mr. navarro is going to go on trial next week and we'll see what happens. >> the green bay sweep, john eastman was vince lombardi in that case. they needed mike pence to take the ball and do his thing, and he refused to carry out this plan from peter navarro. >> bart starr was the quarterback back then. >> that's right. >> a dated reference perhaps for the trump white house there, but to ken's point first of all, we have seen on a number of occasions where their claims of connect executive privilege have fallen apart. he tried to assert in a blanket way that it was not deemed acceptable, and nor were they given permission from the executive, joe biden to retroactively use any of that. it's also just a reminder of how the rot here was so deep within the west wing in terms of nearly

every person involved with few exceptions around trump who were there in the last months of his term. they played at least some role in this plot to overturn the election. we know mark meadows has become a central figure and made a number of court appearances in recent days. we know by the end, so-called grown-ups had either left the administration before or after the election or had been sidelined because of a covid outbreak that had swept through the offices there, and those than left were the michael flynns, sidney powells, and peter navarros that were pushing forth this scheme and we are seeing now some years later that that is catching up with them in a court of law. >> the bill is coming due. nbc's ken dilanian, the atlanta journal constitution's greg bluestein. we appreciate it. still ahead, senator mitch mcconnell freezes again while speaking to reporters in a moment that frankly is difficult to watch. new questions today about his health, and how lawmakers in his

own party are now reacting very openly. plus, new reporting from nbc news on congressman james comer. the republican leading the probe into hunter biden, and new details we're learning about his political ambitions for higher office. how that connects to what's happening with mitch mcconnell right now. "morning joe" is coming right back. now. "morning joe" is coming right back ♪ it's a little pill with a big story to tell. ♪ ♪ i take once-daily jardiance, ♪ ♪ at each day's staaart. ♪ ♪ as time went on it was easy to seee. ♪ ♪ i'm lowering my a1c. ♪ jardiance works 24/7 in your body to flush out some sugar! and for adults with type 2 diabetes and known heart disease, jardiance can lower the risk of cardiovascular death, too. jardiance may cause serious side effects including ketoacidosis that may be fatal, dehydration, that can lead to sudden worsening of kidney function, and genital yeast or urinary tract infections. a rare, life-threatening bacterial infection in the skin of the perineum could occur. stop taking jardiance and call your doctor right away

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let's turn back to washington now. new concern, again this morning about the health of senate minority leader mitch mcconnell after the kentucky republican appeared to suffer a medical episode during a news conference yesterday. this is the second time in just over a month this has happened. the longest serving leader in senate history froze while fielding questions from reporters in his home state. >> what are your thoughts on running for re-election in 2026? >> about what? >> running for re-election in 2026. >> oh.

>> did you hear the question, senator? running for re-election in 2026? all right. i'm sorry, you all. we're going to need a minute. >> that's difficult to watch. this came on the heels of a similar time that came in late july on capitol hill where he froze for about 20 seconds. in both instances, a spokesperson chalked up the freezing to lightheadedness, exhaustion, dehydration for. soft words we heard. added yesterday, the leader, quote, felt fine, but will be consulting a physician as a prudent measure. the 81-year-old mcconnell suffered a concussion and broken rib after falling at a hotel in washington. it gives no one any joy to see these moments. in fact, it's painful to watch. we've seen this with mitch mcconnell now in the last couple

of months, and there are calls now from some republicans that he step aside. we'll see if that happens, similar to the calls we've heard even from some democrats about senator feinstein in california. >> it's more than painful to watch. it's disturbing to watch. obviously you don't want to make any judgments on what's going on because we don't know what's going on, but twice now in five or six weeks, this has got to raise questions within the senate about the succession. he is 81 years of age over dianne feinstein on the other side of the aisle. elderly people in a situation like that, in powerful jobs, you've got to pay attention. >> yeah, and it's sort of been discussed around washington for months now that after his fall, senator mcconnell does seem sort of diminished, moving slower. his aides acknowledge that, that his schedule than really pared down, and there are questions about whether he can maintain his leadership position. senator thune of south dakota,

seems his likely heir apparent. there would be a leadership fight, but there are some calls from republicans even if he's not to resign his senate seat, but maybe should step away from the leadership post, but katty kay, there's an unlikely place that they want him to stay where he is. that's the white house. he was a villain for so long, but he and the president have a friendship. the white house views him as a bull to some of the more trumpian forces in the republican party. and ukraine is about to become center stage again. talk to us about the implication ifs mcconnell isn't going to continue on that post. >> it was interesting to hear him say, look. he's my friend and then understanding that the audience might say, yeah, really republicans and democrats aren't friends anymore in washington. he said, no really. seriously he's my friend and i'm

going to reach out to him, and they have a relationship when it comes to funding ukraine, and when mcconnell has stood up against donald trump when takes, you know, a certain amount of independence if you want to put it like that in this republican party. the white house certainly appreciates that, but the reality is i think this raises something, that perhaps might be less comfortable for the white house which is it raises the issue of age all over again. >> yeah. >> there was just this poll out in the last couple of days, this poll where they asked a free and open question of democratic and republican primary voters, you know, what do you think about both of the candidates? and the issue that came up for joe biden was the issue of age and how, you know, mentally competent and, you know, how firm he was and how physically competent he would be, and whether he was frail, and 69% of democrats basically said that age was a problem for them when it came for joe biden. so i wonder whether having mitch mcconnell and having these incidents as, you know, mike

just said, there has to be questions when somebody's 81, and in a position of power. you have to question whether they are competent and able to do the job, and do incidents like this really just rebring up the whole question of age in a way that might not be that comfortable for the white house in this particular moment? >> that poll katty is mentioning, 77% of americans believe joe biden is too old for a is second term and almost 7 in 10 democrats believe he is too old for a second term, and on the follow-up, they said, we'll vote for him if he runs up against donald trump. let's bring in scott wang. he's talking about the future of james comer and how that fit sboos this conversation about mitch mccome. we'll talk about that in just moment, skovt, but let's start here with mitch mcconnell. what are you hearing privately on capitol hill among republicans about concerns for mcconnell's health and what may happen here? >> we're hearing a lot of

silence, in fact, on capitol hill. that is not unusual in the last episode with mcconnell's freezeup moment. we saw much of the same things. his allies are sort of rallying behind them and maintaining this sort of wall or cone of silence. what we do know is that a number of his leadership team did reach out to him yesterday, spoke with him on the phone. they're all sort of saying the same thing, putting out the same talking points that mcconnell is fine, that he's sound himself, and we saw a senate hopeful in from indiana, jim banks, the congressman posted a picture on x yesterday meeting with mcconnell. this was the second event of the day that mcconnell had and said he looked forward to working with mcconnell on issues that affect their state. so they are putting up a united

front so far. there's not a whole lot of rumblings behind the scene about folks making moves, trying to succeed him. we do know that the three johns, thune, cornyn, and barasso are seen as potential successors. most likely thune, but there are no signs of jostling to replace him at the moment. >> there was a rush to project that he was okay. john thune, the senator from south dakota, of course, the minority whip said the leader sounded like his usual self and he was in good spirits after a phone call following that incident. some republicans, some of the people you might expect, some saying it's time for him to go, and privately people suggesting they have to at least look at his leadership position. let's talk about your piece now that's up this morning about james comer leading the gop biden probe, insists he's bipartisan has he flirts with

higher office. does he have his eye perhaps someday -- maybe someday soon even on senator mcconnell's seat? >> well, we have to remember that james comer is a very ambitious man. he ran for governor back in 2015 in the primary against matt bevin, falling just 83 votes shy of winning that primary, if not for those 83 votes. he very likely could be the sitting governor of kentucky today, and that's sort of the backdrop. i spoke with him before the mcconnell episode, and what he told me -- i asked specifically, are you interested in running for governor again? are you interested in running for mitch mcconnell's seat whenever that becomes available? he would not rule that out. he says, well, i can't predict the future, you know, who knows what's going to happen in the future? and so very clearly he is not shutting the door on that. i spoke with a number of democrats who know comer well

from his days back in kentucky, and what they told me was he was seen as somebody who was bipartisan, who was pleasant to work with, who reached across the aisle to democrats to work with them on parochial issues affecting the state of kentucky including an effort to legalize industrial hemp which was one of his sort of pet projects, and so they said that has all changed of course in the wake of his becoming the oversight chairman, and as he has led this investigation into hunter biden and the biden family, james comer really pushed back on some of these democrats saying that he had lost his bipartisan touch. he rattled off a litany of record, you know, touting his bipartisanship over the years including saying he wants to work in the future on ethics reform legislation with progressives on his committee

including aoc and khanna which is surprising to me. >> i just don't think they're going to buy that. can i ask you just, scott, one more question on mitch mcconnell? who is it -- are -- i'm starting to hear from republicans they're frustrated they're not getting more information about his health conditions. who is it he's talking to? is it people in kentucky who would have a better idea of actually what's going on and what his doctors are saying? >> yeah. in fact, his spokespeople yesterday said that he would consult with a physician, not going so far as to say that he would actually go see a physician. that was interesting to me. you know, right now what we are hearing from senators going back to that previous july episode

and in this episode is that mitch mcconnell has been seating some of his responsibility as he has been dealing with some of these health issues, and specifically we may not be seeing that in the public, but behind the scenes in some of these closed door meetings, their weekly lunches they have on capitol hill where they all gather and discuss the week ahead, he has been seating some of those responsibilities to folks like john thune and his top deputy, you know, john barrasso when it comes to answering questions about policy from the rest of the gop conference, and so we're seeing more and more of that. a big question is going to be when they come back next week, will mitch mcconnell, you know, be front and center at their weekly press conference? will he field questions from the press? there's going to be a lot of questions about his health and whether he can remain leader of his conference going forward into this congress.

>> those are painful moments to watch. we'll see how things go forward here. nbc news senior congressional reporter scott wong. you can read his new piece about james comer. thanks for bringing that to us. appreciate it. coming up, new numbers out about inflation this morning. we'll bring those to you right say head. -- ahead. you right say head -- ahead trying vapes to quit smoking might feel like progress, but with 3x more nicotine than a pack of cigarettes - vapes increase cravings - trapping you in an endless craving loop. nicorette reduces cravings until they're gone for good.

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he's at the wall, and it's gone. >> bryce harper hitting his 300th career home run yesterday. a big milestone with the two-run shot to put the phillies ahead of the angels in the eighth inning, but the angels spoiled the party scoring three in the ninth to beat the phillies 10-8. in denver, the mlb best atlanta braves beat the colorado rockies 7-3 to set a franchise record for home runs in season. orlando had a two-run shot in the eighth to mark the 50th home run of the season. this breakout against the dodgers this weekend in los angeles. a little playoff preview there. where are the dodgers in l.a.? racked up their 24th win of the month last night beating the d-backs 7-0, and got a chance to match the overall franchise record tonight for wins in a month against the braves in the opener before game set. meanwhile in seattle, the red hot mariners closed out the

winningest month in team history yesterday by beating the as 5-4. the mariners went 21-6 in august. in first place in that tough al west. the mariners are a mere percentage point ahead of the houston astros. they completed a three-game sweep of the red sox yesterday while the texas rangers dropped to third place in the division with a loss to the mets last night. rangers having a good season, john, but slumping a little here at the wrong time. that's a great division. >> great division, and potentially sending three teams to the playoffs. the rangers have cooled off. they've lost i think seven or eight in a row earlier this month. the astros had also hit the skids, but mike, they got healthy at fenway park. it seems like the red sox' fleeting playoff chances were extinguished. >> not a surprise. not a surprise at all. the astros are very strong. we have pitching, hitting, defense. all things that the red sox lack. >> don't have. yeah.

>> but the braves and the dodgers, those two clubs stand out at least to me as the two best clubs in major league. >> yeah. i mean, that certainly looks like an nlcs preview. you can argue between the teams they have the three or four top candidates for mvp. mookie betts, freddie freeman. >> the yankees get hot at the right time, just torching a path through detroit. they've shaved their deficit to 18 games in the a.l. east. only ten games out of the wildcard now. they're cutting guys on tv. >> they're bringing up dominguez dominguez. >> there he is. >> i feel confident that the yankees will overtake the red sox in the fight for fourth. >> they're only 3 1/2 behind the

red sox right now. >> at fenway against the red sox. >> this is a deeply sad conversation. we're fighting over who's in last place. how about the scene in lincoln, nebraska? the cornhuskers set a world record for attendance at a women's sporting event yesterday. it was a volleyball match. 92,003 fans gathering at memorial stadium to watch the what a spectacle this was. incredible. i don't know what you want to compare it to, but they have a great program. the support by the fans -- they had to build a new arena. to get 92,000, the equivalent of a nebraska/oklahoma football game in that stadium last night. >> nebraska is the top women's

volleyball state in the country. they filled that stadium with ease. >> how did t is great. >> they had the walk-in and the whole thing. congratulations to nebraska and their fans. coming up, we turn back to the aftermath of hurricane idalia. julia ainsley joins us live from the coast of north carolina. plus, meteorologist angie lassman is tracking where that storm is heading today. >> the top of the roof just caved in on me and my three kids and my grandson. my daughter is five months pregnant. she was laying on the side of the bed where the roof was coming in and it fell on her, but i was able to pull her out of it. t i was able to pull her t of it.

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earlier in the day, of ruby freeman and shea freeman moss surreptitiously passing around usb ports as if they were vials of cocaine. >> what was your mom handing you on that video? >> a ginger mint. >> rudy giuliani making false, outrageous claims about two election workers in georgia. his lies about what they were doing that day are going to cost him financially. also, ahead an update on a possible timeline for the election interference case in fulton county as two of donald trump's codefendants push for their own separate trials. speaking of the former president, getting a better idea of how much he tried to inflate his own wealth. we'll go through that new

development out of new york and potential consequences. plus, another disturbing moment on camera for senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. we're also keeping an eye on wall street this morning as there is new data on a key inflation measure that is very important to the federal reserve. welcome to the fourth hour of "morning joe" just before 6:00 a.m. out west, 9:00 a.m. here on the east coast. jonathan lemire, mike barnicle and katty kay back with us. idalia is a tropical storm moving up the east coast. the storm weakened overnight, but has triggered flooding in some areas and left thousands without power. tom llamas has the latest. >> reporter: this morning, the eye of hurricane idalia has moved on from florida, becoming a tropical storm overnight, but still wreaking havoc in the carolinas. in charleston, south carolina,

tide levels reached more than 9 feet, charleston harbor overflowing, while nearby severe winds sent this car flying. the storm surge also flooding the isle of palms. idalia left behind major flooding in florida as well, turning streets into rivers. >> it's going to swallow up the whole town. >> reporter: it made landfall as a category 3 that spanned 350 miles in diameter. homes and boats were submerged. strong winds ripping a roof off of a home, while high tides causing violent waves to slam onto highways and at one point in cedar key the storm surge purr passing 10 feet. >> it was the biggest we've ever seen. >> reporter: maximum winds at landfall were near 125 miles per hour. the big bend area has not seen a

hurricane of that strength in 127 years. this is a giant pine tree that has crashed into a home here in perry. there was a family inside with a baby. >> it was kind of terrifying, honestly. we heard one of the trees start to crack and our eyes got wide. he came and jumped over top of us. >> so your husband put his body over you to protect you? >> mm-hm. >> we haven't had a storm take this path at this level since the 1890s. >> reporter: what's your message to floridians trapped or stranded right now? >> if you are in harm's way or in peril, you call emergency and there will be a response. >> reporter: the governor's wife tweeting that his mansion in tallahassee also saw some damage from a 100-year-old oak tree, the family uninjured. as florida reels through the aftermath of idalia, the storm barrelled through parts of georgia with winds reaching 90

miles per hour. >> there's been a heavy impact in south georgia with heavy rainfall and winds. >> reporter: before moving to the carolinas. this morning, new concerns over flash flooding along the coast as the wrath of tropical storm idalia sweeps through the southeast. >> let's turn over to meteorologist angie lassman for the latest on the path of this storm or what's left of it. >> we're still dealing with a tropical storm, but the impacts are slowly moving out of the picture. still a little bit of rain over parts of north carolina. this is a view of wilmington. the next couple of hours will see major improvements for a lot of these areas. the rain mostly focused over portions of southeastern virginia as well as that lighter

rain across parts of north carolina. again, this is moving away. the center of the storm has already pushed offshore. we're going to continue to see it moving to the northeast. it's not going to be long until we have all of the rain out of the picture. still, 2 million people remain under flash flood alerts. that could linger for a little bit as we need time for that water to recede. by the time all is said and done, i think another couple of inches of rain as this storm works its way offshore. the further towards the coast, the better chance of potential flooding not just from the rain, but still maybe some surge left over as those onshore winds continue on the backside of that system. again, we're making major

improvements. the wind is still over 30 miles per hour across some spots, but those are going to continue to die down and give you a chance to get outside and see if you have any damage. >> we have some good reports from public officials up and down north carolina and south carolina on our show this morning saying this certainly was not as bad as it could have been. turning to washington now, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell appeared to freeze for about 30 seconds yesterday while speaking with reporters after a speech in covington, kentucky, the second such episode in recent weeks mcconnell has suffered on camera. ryan nobles has details. >> reporter: for the second time in two months, a health scare for mitch mcconnell, the senator freezing after being asked a

question yesterday. >> what are my thoughts about what? >> running for reelection in 2026. >> oh. that's -- >> did you hear the question, senator? >> reporter: he was unresponsive for more than 30 seconds. >> i'm sorry, you all. we're going to need a minute. >> reporter: the senator was said to be momentarily light-headed, but he felt better later. earlier he froze at a press conference on capitol hill. he was led away by fell senators, but later joked about president biden sum bling at an event earlier that month. >> the president called to check on me. i told him i got sandbagged. >> reporter: this time, it was

the president offering mcconnell his support. >> he's a good friend. i'm going to try to get in touch with him. >> reporter: echoed by senator bernie sanders, who at 81 is the same age as mcconnell. >> i hope he makes a full recovery and does what he thinks is best for the people of kentucky and himself. >> reporter: he suffered a concussion in march. he's one of many leaders in washington facing questions about their age and health. california senator dianne feinstein missed three months after a bout with shingles and has at times appeared disoriented at hearings. and a recent poll shows that 77% of voters feel president biden is too old for the job, a liability the president often jokes about. >> i know i'm 198 years old. [ laughter ] >> katty kay, some of the whispers around mitch mcconnell just as they did about dianne

feinstein have grown into public comments, with some republicans suggesting it's time for him to step aside least from his leadership role. john thune coming out yesterday and saying, i just spoke to mitch mcconnell, he sounded great, he's in good spirits. you do wonder how many of these republicans will go through before they start asking more serious questions. >> yeah. i think at least they would like more information. there's republicans on the hill saying privately he does owe it to us to say what the medical situation is. now mitch mcconnell's staff have said he's going to go see a doctor before his next event. maybe they will release a little bit more information. the age dynamic in the senate is really interesting. the average age of the u.s. senate is 64, which is getting pretty old. so when you've got elderly senators, it's been interesting to watch when some of them have had health issues like design

feinstein, for example, that there's been a hold back on the other side, not criticizing them too much, at least not openly in public or asking them to step down in public, because they realize they have age issues on their own side as well. they all tread slightly carefully around this age issue, because they don't want to get called out on it themselves. with that recent poll showing people are concerned about joe biden's age as well, including 69% of democrats saying they think he's too old even though they are going to vote for him, i think it puts the whole spotlight back on politics and whether it's time for a new generation. >> there's certainly a lot of attention given to the president's age, but he's far from alone. nancy pelosi is in her 70s,

chuck grassley is pushing 90. this is a moment where leadership for both parties is increasingly senior citizens. is this something we should reconsider as americans? >> i think definitely so. given the tone and tenor of politics today, you'd have to wonder without being accused of ageism that it might be time to look at term limits seriously and employee term limits for senators and members of the house of representatives. the president of the united states is already term limited to two terms. what about three terms for a united states senator? the idea that so many united states senators today are 70 years of age and above and have been there for quite some time, it might be time to inject some new blood into the united states senate and the united states congress. it might help to reduce the

extreme partisanship that has been going on for the past ten years or so. you're going to get new people in there and new ideas. >> that's an idea that some members of congress have floated, term limits not just in congress but even at the supreme court as well. we should add donald trump's name to the mix. he's 77 years old. we're getting new details about his finances and how he's said to have exaggerated the value of his assets over several years, according to leticia james. the estimates came in newly unsealed court filings ahead of the october civil fraud trial against him, his adult sons and the trump organization. the attorney general's office alleges trump falsely boosted his assets every year to attract favorable loan agreements. in one instance the ag says trump tripled the square footage

of his manhattan apartment to raise the value. prosecutors also allege trump's leased property at 40 wall street in new york city at times was valued at more than twice the appraised value. during his first year in office, prosecutors claim trump overstated his personal wealth by over $1.1 billion. trump's lawyers say the trump organization's financial statements were not misleading and the case should be dismissed. the fact is he's still very wealthy. maybe even could be paying for his own defense, but that's an entirely separate matter. we're rightly focused on all the federal cases against him and the case in georgia, but this is on the calendar too this year. >> donald trump exaggerated his wealth? that's hard to believe. this is the least surprising story of the morning. like so many things, it's now

one where trump may face consequences for something he's done for so long. those of us who have known and covered trump when he was a real estate developer here in new york, know he's always exaggerated. but because of his political career, that now is subject to potentially legal action. this is another moment where trump will face consequences in a way he didn't think and another complication on a calendar that is already very, very, very full. >> it's not shocking, but it's real and it's accountable. donald trump at his root has always been a grifter in nearly everything he's ever touched, including the presidency has been involved with scams that he runs. here is a guy who when he was president of the united states was running people through his then hotel in washington, d.c., never declared the fact that his

businesses were going to be independent, nothing like that during four years in office. and it continues each and every day. this is not a surprise that he has exaggerated his wealth, his holdings, the square footage of his apartment. not a surprise at all. >> in addition to everything coming down the pike next year, this civil trial falls in october in addition to another defamation trial with e. jean carroll. before we even get to the complications of next year and the primary and caucus schedule, donald trump will be in court here in new york. >> yeah. i think one of the best paid members of president trump's team next year ought to be his scheduler. they're going to have to bounce between primaries and campaign events and all of the different court hearings he's going to be facing, some around the 2020 election and others around his

financial dealings and the sexual assault case with e. jean carroll. we're going to have a year unlike any we have ever seen in politics in america in terms of the intersection of law and political campaigning. trying to keep our heads straight around all of this next year, good luck to all of us. >> this one's only a month away. it comes right after the second presidential debate as well. coming up on "morning joe," the latest out of fulton county as two of trump's codefendants in the georgia election case push for separate trials. plus, a jury is set now to decide how much rudy giuliani will pay two georgia election workers in punitive damages after he was found legally liable of defamation. liable of defamation ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ what do we always say, son? liberty mutual customizes your car insurance... so you only pay for what you need. that's my boy. now you get out there, and you make us proud, huh?

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atlanta, georgia, 9:17 in the morning on this last day of august. now to the latest on the timing of the georgia election interference case. two of the defendants want to receiver their case from the group. sidney powell is asking to completely separate her powell. her lawyers wrote, the case is so weak, a trial judge would dismiss the charges before it reaches a jury. quote, contrary to widely publicized false statements in the media, sidney powell did not represent trump or the trump campaign. powell's team is asking for an evidentiary hearing on the filing. kenneth chesebro also filed a motion yesterday to receiver his case. he was already granted a request for a speedy trial. his court date is october 23rd. fani willis asked the court this week to move the trial of all defendants to that date.

joining us is former district attorney for dekalb county, georgia, gwen keys fleming. explain to us all this all works. d.a. willis saying let's just do them all at the same time. obviously that's highly unlikely to push it into october, too soon. how does this all shake out? >> i think what you're seeing is what we estimated, that there would be several defendants that would look at their cases, talk with their lawyers and come up with different strategies, one of which is to file a speedy trial demand, the other is to start to receiver their cas sev the other defendants. they do this when there is a risk of a codefendant tainting the first defendant's case or defense or strategy at trial. and all of this is left to the

judge's discretion, which is why i believe an evidentiary hearing would be appropriate. the problem is that all of these defendants are charged in one count of rico, so it is about the connectivity between all of their actions. >> let me ask you this. as you look at a slate of 19 codefendants, is there a chance at this point in the process that one or several could come forward to the d.a. and say, let me help you out here with donald trump or rudy giuliani, in other words, turn and help the prosecution? >> i think that's always possible. again, we may start to see that once the defendants get a chance to look at the d.a.'s discovery. she has indicated there are terabytes of information available for them to review. perhaps after that review, we might start to see some of those decisions being made. >> the d.a. has outlined a pretty aggressive timetable here to bring potentially all of

these trials to court. what is in your estimation a realistic time frame? there are so many defendants. there are possibilities that maybe even some could flip. what feels like a right timeline to you? >> at least one case, possibly more, will start on october 23rd. i think it's going to take while to strike a jury, to make sure you have folks that have an open mind and will be able to judge the evidence fairly. i think after that for possibly one defendant it might take four weeks or so. but, again, the d.a. is ready on all 19. many people questioned why she took so long with the investigation. i surmise it's because she anticipated getting a speedy trial demand and knew she would have to be ready in a short amount of time. >> sidney powell's lawyer has

filed with the the court part of the following motion, quote, asouping the prosecution does not realize its error in indicting her and agree to dismiss this wrongful prosecution before trial immediately, if she does go to trial, she slould receive a judgment of acquittal when the state rests. given ms. powell's public pronouncements for months on end about this case prior to her being charged, what do you think the reaction of the judge could be when he reads this motion fully? >> again, i'm not surprised about the motion. what it's asking for is a directed verdict after the d.a. puts on its case. the challenge is the d.a. has yet to put on her whole case. so the judge is going to let the d.a. do what she's going to do in terms of calling her

witnesses, presenting her case, and then the judge can make a decision as to whether there's sufficient evidence to move forward and have the case go to a jury or have the defendants put on their own evidence. yesterday it was ruled rudy giuliani defamed two election workers in georgia following the 2020 election. the ruling means he is liable now for damages, which will be determined at a civil trial. ruby freeman and shea moss sued giuliani over his baseless claims they committed election fraud. they testified their lives were turned upside down by those allegations. >> now i won't even introduce myself by my name anymore. i get nervous when i bumped into someone i know in the grocery store who says my name. i'm worried about who's listening. i get nervous when i have to give my name for food orders. i'm always concerned who's around me.

i've lost my name and i've lost my reputation. i've lost my sense of security. >> a lot of threats wishing death upon me, telling me that i beal in jail with my mother and saying things like be glad it's 2020 and not 1920. >> were a lot of these threats and vile comments racist in nature? >> a lot of them were racist. a lot of them were just hateful. >> all of that sparked by false comments made by rudy giuliani. he conceded, in fact, in a court filing last month he had made false statements about freeman and moss, also failed to produce any evidence during the discovery portion of his case. in a statement, freeman and moss said the ruling brings them one step closer to rebuilding their

lives. a spokesperson for giuliani said he's been wrongly accused. moss and freeman had their lives ruined by rudy giuliani saying they were passing a usb stick like a vial of cocaine and there were votes on the usb stick. it was not a usb stick. it was a mint. this is a civil case. obviously rudy giuliani isn't going to go to jail over any of this. but what happened when the judge made that strong ruling and said, rudy giuliani, you are not the victim in this case as you try to portray yourself. it's ms. freeman and ms. moss who are the victims here. >> justice comes in many forms. that's why we have civil and criminal aspects of the law. the civil case will move to a stage where if it can be quantified there will be some reimbursement for the pain and

suffering that both suffered. again, this is part of how our justice system works. these are all viable avenues for folks who feel as though they've been wronged in one way or another. >> and another message that there are consequences when you casually throw out these outrageous allegations. the "new york times" has a new piece that says the trump trial date is a big mistake. quote, under ideal circumstances the trial of a major presidential contender would be completed. but instead we're headed for a world where the trial and campaign are fully intertwined with each primary associated with a different snapshot of the case's progress. the pileup of trials still seems like a boon to trump's

renomination effort. there's another bloc that rallies to him when he's perceived to be liberalism's major target. challengers would be part of that bloc to resist the rallying impulse and swing their way instead. so timing trump's prosecution but not the final outcome of the trial to some of the most important primaries seems more likely to cement his nomination than to finally make his poll numbers collapse. we should point out it's not liberalism pursuing trump. it's the justice department pursuing him for his alleged crimes. there has been concern primarily because of that date on the eve of super tuesday that feeds into his argument that this is an attempt to keep him from being the nominee and sideline him on the eve of super tuesday. >> we don't know why judge chutkan chose that particular date, but it's very easy for donald trump supporters and for

trump himself to say it was chosen in order to stop me being out on the campaign trail in what is one of the most important moments of the nominating process. its reminds me of something jack goldsmith wrote about a month ago saying it's so important in this process not only that justice be done in this particular case, but also that the american justice system survives all of this and the pressures this is putting on the justice system and perceptions of impartiality around the justice system is also a critical issue. the timing of this might lead to even more stress on those perceptions of independence in the justice system. i think americans have to be able to say, look, we not only had the trump issue and that was dealt with fairly, but our justice system survived the whole process intact and with

credibility left over. this is the kind of thing that makes it easy for donald trump to say this is a political process and i'm part of a political witch hunt rather than be able to say this wasn't a fair legal process. i don't know why that date was chosen. >> there's a good way to keep your legal calendar free, and that's not to commit a whole bunch of very serious alleged crimes. coming up, fresh inflation data gives us a good look at where the economy is right now. t where the economy is right now kidney disease... there are places you'd like to be. like here. and here. not so much here. if you have chronic kidney disease, farxiga can help you keep living life. ♪ farxiga ♪ and farxiga reduces the risk of kidney failure, which can lead to dialysis. farxiga can cause serious side effects including dehydration,

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overcast start to the day as you wake up in l.a., 6:33 in the morning. an inflation measure closely tracked by the federal reserve ticked up slightly again this month. prices rose .2% from june to

july. tell us more about this number. >> this number keeps climbing. our central bank is fighting to bring down inflation. the latest data you talked about shows prices kept climbing in july. this is the personal consumption expenditure index. it jumped 3.33% in july from a year ago. at this time when it was around 7%. even if we strip out the volatile gas and food numbers, that inflation number still jumped in july compared to june. we have to keep in mind that the fed's goal is 2%. when inflation keeps climbing, it gives them incentive to keep hiking interest rates to cool down the economy. when interest rates climb, debt becomes more expensive for all.

. i've got to talk about the trade war. last october the united states imposed import restrictions on certain ai chips to china. now those restrictions are expanding to some companies in the middle east. nvidia which is the darling of artificial intelligence said in a regulatory filing this week that the restrictions to the middle east would not have an immediate impact on the results, but reuters is reporting the same restrictions will be apply today amd. these export controls in general are for national security reasons. the united states doesn't want china or any middle east military to use our more advanced ai chips made here in the united states. and visa and mastercard are planning to increase swipe fees that merchants have to pay every time a customer uses a credit card. last year merchants paid a

little over $90 billion in fees to visa and mastercard. that number tripled in the last decade. the fees could increase again in october, mostly for online purchases to start, and then it could expand to in stores. we often don't see these fees because retailers eat the cost or increase their prices to include those fees or they offer cash discounts to avoid the fees all together. it's been a major source of contention over the last year between credit card companies and retailers. visa and mastercard told me these fees cover fraud cost and innovation, so it's a good thing. it depends on which side of the equation you're on. let's go back to the inflation story. no doubt it has cooled some, but it's remained stubborn.

it's something a lot of americans are still feeling. those in the white house, democrats point to good economic numbers and say largely the economy is going in the right direction. this is remaining stubborn. >> you can tell inflation has lessened a bit considerably more than a year ago at the grocery store. prices have come down at the grocery store. the bill killer is when you put gas in your car. gas has still gone up quite a lot since a year ago. what do you do during the summer? you drive more during the summer and put more gas in your car. that registers with you. that, i think, is possible partially for a lot of people thinking inflation is still killing us. >> president biden's first chief of staff ron klain said he would start every day with checking

the price of gas. though inflation is still stubborn here in the united states, it has definitely cooled some and significantly better than other parts of the world. >> it's half what it is in europe where it's about 6%. the u.k. was at 9% until figures came out a week ago showing it was done as well to 6%. europe and the u.k. certainly doing much worse than america is. it's still higher than it was when president biden took office. even though it's coming down -- and you're right, i've had those same conversations with people in the white house saying every single day they want to know what people in the white house and administration are doing to bring prices down for the american public. prices are still up on where they were when president biden got into office. that is still hurting people. you know, the white house hopes that by the time we get into next year, if inflation carries on coming down, we may still

have another interest rate hike. if prices come down, then maybe president biden will start seeing some kind of return on that in terms of his opinion poll numbers. let's turn to some of the other stories this morning. the u.s. department of health and human services has formally asked the drug enforcement administration to ease federal restrictions on marijuana. hhs says marijuana should not be classified in the same category as drugs like heroin and lsd. the recommendation asks the dea to move marijuana from a schedule one drug to a schedule three drug under the controlled substances act. president biden asked the country's top health agency to review the drug's classification last year. now, there is a horrific scene unfolding in south africa

today, where dozens of people were killed overnight when a fire ripped through a five-storey building in johannesburg. witnesses say as many as 200 people may have been inside this broken down building which was used by homeless people who were desperate to get off the streets. no word on what sparked the inferno. back here in the united states, as the southeast grapples with the effects of hurricane idalia, officials in maui are now getting help from hollywood in their efforts to recover from their own natural disaster. sam brock has that report. >> reporter: this morning, some relief for the people of maui from two of hollywood's biggest stars. >> we've been meeting with community leaders for the past couple of weeks and just trying to figure out what we could do.

>> reporter: oprah and the rock coming together to aid communities impacted by the wildfires, launching a fund with an initial donation of $10 million, but asking for more help. >> in this time of need, you want to take care of the people and that's giving them money. >> reporter: the two reflecting on the devastation. >> oprah lives here. i was raised on these islands. my family are buried in these islands. it's going to take a long time to rebuild. probably get a little worse before it gets a little better, but we're here. >> reporter: all this as maui is reeling but working to rebuild weeks after the fires ripped through lahaina. search and rescue crews have all but finished their operations while the death toll stands at 115 with fewer than half of those victims identified. those searching for peace want answers about how and why this

happened. residents say they had no warning of the fire. >> we see tremendous value in incorporating more tools into our arsenal. >> reporter: this latest briefing contentious. >> let me finish, brother. >> reporter: the mayor requested about who was calling the shots at the emergency management center as lahaina was burning. >> i'm not sure who was in charge. i think herman was in charge. he just wasn't present. he was in contact with his team, i guess, by phone. >> reporter: president biden pledging $90 million to rebuild infrastructure and harden hawaii's electric grid. >> we're doing everything we can to help you rebuild and return to your lives. coming up here on "morning joe," a new expedition is set to retrieve items from the titanic's wreckage, but now the u.s. government is fighting to stop it. what we're learning about the new court battle over who can salvage artifacts from the

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the terror of hitting an iceberg in the dead of night portrayed in blockbuster movies. >> in an hour or so, all of this will be at the bottom of the atlantic. >> reporter: among the artifacts recovered, shoes, silverware, fine china. now the u.s. government is trying to block the recovery company from doing more. in a court filing rms titanic says it hopes to return next year and may recover free-standing objects from inside the wreck, including objects from inside the marconi room, the radio room. the wreckage is now a memorial and cannot be disturbed. the government insists the company is not free to disregard this validly enacted federal

law, though that is its stated intent. >> the companies do all of the exhibits that have the actual artifacts from the titanic. >> reporter: david gallow is a strategic advisor to rms titanic. we talked to him in june before the government's challenge. >> the rules are there can be no more recovery of artifacts. >> reporter: in 1996 a titanic survivor told us of the night she lost her father. >> i'll never forget it. see all the dead bodies floating in the sea. it was terrible. >> reporter: since 1985, roughly 250 people have visited titanic. then in june, tragedy. five people died when their submersible imploded. researcher katie croft bell has dived to the site herself. she now thinks it should be

treated with the reference of a cemetery. >> are we learned anything new about it? is that the reason to recover artifacts? or should we just leave it alone? we have a lot of things already. let's just call it a day and leave it with respect. up next, we'll explain the story behind this piece of video. yep, that is a bull riding shotgun. because i switched to every-other-month cabenuva. for adults who are undetectable, cabenuva is the only complete long-acting hiv treatment you can get every other month. it's two injections from a healthcare provider. now when i have people over, hiv pills aren't on my mind. don't receive cabenuva if you're allergic to its ingredients, or if you're taking certain medicines, which may interact with cabenuva. serious side effects include allergic reactions, post-injection reactions, liver problems, and depression. if you have a rash and other allergic reaction symptoms,

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welcome back. and we end this hour of "morning joe" with a very bizarre scene out of nebraska. now take a look at this video. that is a massive bull named howdy doody riding shotgun in a compact car. officers received calls that a man was spotted casually driving down the highway with the bull's gigantic horns sticking up from where half the roof and windshield used to be.

the passenger side was replaced with a metal guardrail that is typically found in a cattle enclosure. we're told that his owner takes him to parades and fairs around nebraska. officers did perform a traffic stop and chose to give the man merely a warning asking him to take the animal back home and leave the city. so mike barnicle here. i'm curious as to how they got this footage of you driving around worcester. >> well, never mind that. that's the second thing you'd wonder about. you'd wonder did anybody help me get the bull in the car. >> that doesn't seem like a one-person job. katty kay, please offer your thoughts here about this scene from your adopted homeland. >> i'm looking at the back of the car. did anyone notice how mucky it was and who's going to do the cleanup job? yeah, something not to be done even on a hot august day. >> yeah. >> public service announcement. >> and clearly not the first time he's done it and clearly since he got off with a warning,

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right now on "ana cabrera reports," tropical storm idalia leaving a trail of damage, the carolinas still feeling its impact this morning, even as florida contends with destruction from the storm's surge. we'll have breaking coverage of idalia and its aftermath. plus, another health scare for mitch mcconnell. the senator appearing to freeze again while addressing reporters. >> what are your thoughts on running for re-election. >> what are my thoughts about what? >> running for re-election