north carolina today. as you saw firsthand, north carolina has been hit hard. this disaster in western north carolina is catastrophic and unprecedented. today, the president and i via helicopter were able to see some of the damage, towns wiped off the map, bridges damaged and completely destroyed. critical infrastructure and water systems, electrical grids, communications, all remain seriously damaged. countless homes and businesses are lost. an entire region of our state is still in a dangerous situation. the good thing is that 92 search-and-rescue teams have saved countless lives and the search for people still goes on. we are grateful to the 18 states that have sent help. thousands of line workers and utility workers, transportation workers, all trying to bring this area back. more than 1000 national guard soldiers are rescuing people. they have rescued more than 1400 people so far and they are deployed in food, water, and other supplies. many thousands of pounds. we are grateful for the quick actions and close communications we have had with the president and with fema, mr. secreta

western north carolina is underwater. e happened as the president and vice president should ascend the second airborne to north condit that day. and instead the president's speech of vice president at a fundraiser in san francisco. what you need in times like this is you just need leadership. sir, you put it so well. one agency there's a lot of people working on the federal effort that are doing a good job are the best they can breed the print theproblem is all the burc incompetence. i was talking with elon musk about this a few days ago for elon by the way, was a centerleft democrat for your seo notes got dark maga hat. doctor guy his fist off about government incompetence. you've got the faa per you've got fema pretty got these relief agencies. you've got people who have been trained by the government of a bureaucracy at their job is not to cut the bs to help people is to basically act like the dmv. and unfortunately what that means in this case is you got a lot of people who could've been helped. a lot of lives that cou

north carolina and i feel confident in victory nationally. i worry a little bit. i'm less confident if i'm being honest with you about how well western north carolina is going to recover with a broken bureaucracy that's managing this process. so here's what we've got to do is number one for the people of western north carolina, we've got to make sure that they're getting the resources that they need to, you know, address their homes to fix their homes, to maybe get new homes because so many people have had their homes completely destroyed. to replace the belongings that were taken by the flood. and then of course, you know, whatever help they need because a lot of folks out there are grieving a loved one. frankly, a loved one that wouldn't, i think have passed away if the federal government had been smarter and quicker about the response. but the most important principle is, look, i've seen a lot of crazy theories out there on the internet. the biggest problem that i saw in the federal response to the hurricane. it was bureaucratic incompetence. it's that you've got eight different agencies, each of them with different pies of the re

to help these families, to help every family here in western north carolina. u cannot put words on what a value it is, and the fact that this is a strong community. this is a community of faith, and this is a community of family, and north carolina -- western north carolina is absolutely going to be back. they are going to be stronger than ever. and with your leadership, we will make sure that this part of the state, that this part of the country is never forgotten and will be back again. thank you, mr. president. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. and i'm also an north carolinian, but i grew up in new byrne. but for this storm to come up, the trajectory that i did in this area was nothing short of astounding. i'm so sorry. i had the privilege of a live time to serve as add minutes -- administrator in the a.b.a. and we would have been working getting their home lone -- loans process. so hopefully you're going to have that service. if you don't have that service, you will. thank you very much, mr. president. >> you do have any questions? >> mr. presid

and north carolina, western north carolina is absolutely going to be back.y are going to be stronger than ever and with your leadership we will make sure that this part of the state that is part of the country is never forgotten and will be back again. thank you, mr. president. [applause] >> thank you. >> thank you very much, and i also on north carolinians but i'm from eastern part of the state. i grew up in new bern. we were reduced to the strong stand there but for the storm to come up the trajectory that it did into this area was nothing, short of just astounding that happen and if so sorry. i had the privilege of a lifetime serving as sba administrator under president trump and i can show that sba's would've been on the ground with fema in this area working to get people back in their businesses getting their home loans processed because we want the economy to get back on track. so hopefully you are going to have that service if you don't have it now he will. thank you very much, mr. president. thank you. [applause] >> do you have any questions for us?

and in western north carolina is beyond because of the terrain. of the water infrastructure. small independent businesses have been the fabric of western north carolina for decades. we know from research 40% of small businesses never reopen their doors following a disaster like this. we went to buck that trend. we have created always asheville fund to support small businesses with emergency grants so that they can reopen and keep jobs for our local residents. that's always asheville fund.com. the heart of these folks have put forward in putting this concert together in less than 30 days is nothing less than miraculous for our region. arthel: it is so needed. again we want to mention always asheville.com fund. also the concert for carolina.com for the show starts at 5:00 p.m. eastern. tickets are $24.99 page you have the option to donate more. it's going right back there to the community where it is so needed. >> isley thank you so much we are praying for everyone in the region there in north carolina. thank you so much we will be right back. ot jus

will: interesting reports out of north carolina that early voting exceeding that from 2020 and this despite the fact obviously we've had a horrific storm in westernorth carolina. what are you guys seeing from inside the republican party about the returns on those early voting mail-in voting et cetera? >> well, i think you're exact think right, will. listen, i have felt a little bit like a broken record over the course of the past several months because all i've talked about, the messaging you've heard from donald trump, the messaging from the campaign and the rnc has been vote early, vote early and what we're seeing is that people have heard this and they are actually executing this and this is how we're going to win, guys. this is so big. you're talking about my home state, will, of north carolina. we have seen early vote totals there that are outpacing democrats, meaning the first two days of early voting which was thursday and friday, republicans had a thousand more votes than democrats coming out of the two days. we never see that it's like an 80/20 split in the democrats favor. go west in north carolina to a county yancy county, one of the c

will you and president trump promised to not forget western north carolina if you and the election? will never forget western north carolina. [applause] i do not doubt that you won't. i do not doubt that. the second question is more important. the second question is when can we sit down and have a legitimate conversation by overhauling the process of disaster relief in the united states? >> amen. >> understanding if i may, bureaucratic process of redtape that we have to cut through in order to get the funding directly to the people who need it most. it just simply takes too long. it's not the fault of any individual agency or federal government. [cheering] >> just a second period are we okay? [inaudible] kamala harris built the platform behind us. that's what happened. [laughter] are a good man? >> you can have my chair if you want. [laughter] go ahead, sir. >> the question is, can we have a conversation about revamping a national disaster strategy so that we can utilize retired veterans and special operation personnel who have been leading the charge hands down in western north caro

inland in many states, not just the state of florida, particularly in the mountainous areas of western north carolinaso we activated and stood up operation blue ridge, that is helping recovery and rescue assistance to the folks in western north carolina and eastern tennessee. we have florida division of emergency management, or florida state garden, florida national guard, transportation, mission wildlife, all on site. this morning we sent a convoy from florida department of transportation to deploy to north carolina, including temporary bridges to be able to erect those if necessary, and assist in roadway repairs. so we've got 7500 feet of temporary bridges that will be en route. it's difficult, the roads are not easy on a normal day and now you've got a lot of damage, a lot of the bridges are out. so we've already been making a difference, just yesterday at rescue team rescued a mother and her one-month-old infant and evacuated them safely to the hospital. over the last 24 hours alone, the florida national guards chinook assets have brought in 20,000 pounds of food into areas of critical need in no

we have been there supporting governor cooper and everybody across western north carolina. we had teams on the ground before the storm made landfall in western north carolina. and we are continuing to support our funding has not been impacted by any of those other needs across the federal government. it's dedicated to us and i can assure you that no funding has been thinking from the disaster relief funds fema administrator deanne criswell. thank you so much. and best of luck to you as hurricane milton gets closer, i want to talk more about the misinformation being spread, about fema and about storm recovery, misinformation amplified by forcing donald trump. that's next myasthenia gravis picture, would life could look like with viv guard high, true low a subcutaneous injection that takes about 30 to 90 seconds for one thing could mean more time i'm for you. this guard high, true? low can improve daily abilities and reduce muscle weakness with a treatment plan that's personalized to you that us vivek guard had truly, if you have a serious allergy to any of its ingredients, it

will you and president trump promised to not forget western north carolina if you and the election? orget western north carolina. [applause] i do not doubt that you won't. i do not doubt that. the second question is more important. the second question is when can we sit down and have a legitimate conversation by overhauling the process of disaster relief in the united states? >> amen. >> understanding if i may, bureaucratic process of redtape that we have to cut through in order to get the funding directly to the people who need it most. it just simply takes too long. it's not the fault of any individual agency or federal government. [cheering] >> just a second period are we okay? [inaudible] kamala harris built the platform behind us. that's what happened. [laughter] are a good man? >> you can have my chair if you want. [laughter] go ahead, sir. >> the question is, can we have a conversation about revamping a national disaster strategy so that we can utilize retired veterans and special operation personnel who have been leading the charge hands down in western north carolina pretty

to help these families appear to help every family here in western north carolina. you cannot put words on what a value it is and the fact that this is a strong community. this is a community of faith, and this is a community of family. and north carolina, western north carolina is absolutely going to be back, they are going to be stronger than ever and with your leadership we will make sure that this part of the state and country is never forgotten and we will be back again, thank you, mr. president. >> thank you very much, and i am also in north carolina in the end, but i grew up in the north side of the storm. for this one did, up and the trajectory it did to this area was nothing short of just astounding that that happen. and i am so sorry. i had the privilege of a lifetime serving at the sba administrator under president trump. and i can tell you sba would've been on the ground with fema in this area working to get people back in businesses and getting their home loans process because we want the economy to get back on track. so hopefully you will have that serv

in north carolina, the operation is also assisting floridians seeking rescue in western north carolina and in the surrounding areas. and if you want to fill out a request form, you can go to florida. disaster dot org backslash operation blue ridge. we you know, a lot of floridians go up there this summer. most leave by the time we get to september and so we talk with a lot of folks who who left before labor day. if this had happened in mid-august, there would have been way more. but there are some there and we've been providing help. people want to get out. we want to get you out of there. so we appreciate everybody that's been working hard. this is definitely going to be a really serious effort to help get these communities back on their feet, as you see behind us with what we've done today right here in horseshoe beach, all the state assets that we have available are being brought to bear to be able to help folks with their recovery. okay. we'll now hear from the congresswoman for florida's third district, kat cammack. thank you, governor. well, thank you, everybody, for being here.

it took way too long to get fema into western north carolina. sponding, too. i am working daily to address and get the people here in western north carolina the help that they need. once we get back into washington, d.c., i believe we need to have a much more broad discussion on how efficient fema is, or how inefficient i have seen that to be in so many cases here. >> you might have issue here with what the biden harris administration does in terms of spending on migrants, just to be very clear, there's no part of the fema budget that was redirected for anything to do with migrants? >> well, the term redirect is something that i think that is very specific. i have not seen a redirection, as many folks have alleged. fema has plenty of money right now to deal with the crisis at hand here in the short term. the house appropriations committee proved -- in fact, the house approved $20 billion before we adjourned for the october work period, which left fema with $22 billion. i don't think they are going to be out of money any times. in fact, the last t

chuck edwards of north carolina is taking it upon himself to try and debunk some of what's being pushed about, what's happening in his state. he represents western north carolina and thank you, congressman for being here because i was struck by your post today and you wrote that you don't think the fema response has been perfect, but you said the rumors are just so outrageous that they had to be addressed and you shoot down that helene was somehow engineered by the government that you say fema is not stopping trucks and confiscating supplies. the epa there is not restricting airspace from recovery operations. fema is not diverting disaster funds to the border, to foreign aid. how much of this were you hearing from your constituents? >> well, the rumors certainly have been growing no. i'm i'm not going to defend famous honor. they've made a lot of mistakes. they continue to make a lot of mistakes. and our recovery efforts here but i'll simply finding that all of the rumor, the falsities were more getting in the way of us trying to help the people here in western north carolina recover from helene. >> well, i think you can there was a world where

north carolina, using their own helicopters to fly in supplies think hurricane katrina, except in the mountains and with helicopters, not boats, keep them coming, guys. the hardest hit areas in western north carolina, with asheville seeing some of the most severe damage. high winds and floodwaters creating a city of debris along this road. household items and tractor trailers piled up high. this one up in the trees, wrapped in power lines, and the force of the floodwaters so strong that it pushed what appears to be a cow or a horse underneath that one. in nearby boone, one family's garage and three cars instantly wiped out by a river of mud cascading down the hill. >> everything is gone. it's all gone. it's okay. >> parts of interstate 40 shut down sections of the highway, nearly eroded by flooding. president biden vowing to travel to the impacted areas later on this week. >> i want them to know we're not leaving until the job is done. my first responsibility is to get all the help needed to those impacted areas. excuse me, i expect to be there later this week. >> for mark, this place was much more than just a music bar. it was a community. looking around you is just destruction. ho

north carolina. day two of early voting. crews work around the clock in hard-hit western north carolina to restore the very basics like the waterower after helene. fox weather meteorologist jane minar is on the ground there. i think you are in asheville, is that right? asheville, north carolina. hey, jane. >> good morning, ainsley. we are in swannanoa just outside of asheville. the road to recovery in north carolina is going to be a long one, quite literally. ndot saying nearly 7,000 roosdz and bridges have been damaged with early damage estimates up to over several billion dollars so far. secretary of transportation pete buttigieg was in asheville yesterday surveying some of that damage. listen. >> there's nothing like being here, seeing it for yourself and speaking with people who have been impacted. it redoubles our motivation to make sure that the federal government is doing everything that we can. that includes the work of fema. it includes, of course, the work of our department. we have got the first 100 million out to help with the immediate needs that the governor's team are meeting. but we know with 7,000 damage sites

the north carolina national guard on the move, loading up for western north carolina, and we're flyingget our safety briefing from the pilots. it's so nice to meet you. then we board the blackhawk. we're flying over mcdowell county to pick up a group of fema representatives. they direct us to lake james. we hover for close to 45 minutes to survey the damage. we're looking for a white box truck. they say it drove over the bridge and we're trying to find it. troops circling the swollen waters below before heading to hickory regional airport to refuel. as soon as we land, our second mission comes in. troops picking up medical supplies. >> we've sent out 2,000 pounds -- 2 million pounds of supplies in a week. >> reporter: swannanoa, this was the scene from the ground friday, and from above, the scope of the devastation even more clear. we land there, picking up generators and we drop them off in pensacola, north carolina, a tiny community that's seen its fair share of helene's wrath. the volunteer fire department running out to meet the guard. our next mission takes us the farthest, to hot

we are dealing with a situation that is unlike anybody's ever seen in western north carolina. >> reporter: floodwaters cutting off entire communities. more than 130 people dead across six states and hundreds more still unaccounted for.

but one thing that is happening is voting is happening in western north carolina. every early voting site is open. every precinct will be open on november 5th. the folks in western north carolina are going to have every opportunity to have their voice heard and if you want your spirits lifted, just go spend a couple of hours in any community, literally any community, i was in lansing this week. this little town in ashe county. and every morning, at 8:30, all the community leaders come together. nonprofits. small businesses, the fire chief. the police chief. the mayor. and they talk about what needs to be done today. what do we need to be doing today to help our people get to the next day and to get to the next week, to get to the next month? to get to the next year. and there has -- no one cares if you are a democrat or republican or unaffiliated voter. they don't care because they are rallying together and it's truly neighbor helping neighbor and it's inspiring. >> "the charlotte observer" lent you their endorsement this week. general stein, i want to read little b

and we have the people now lined up and a bit earlier, spoke to renee white and came from north carolina, westernth carolina in fact about why he's at her 47th trump rally and this was unique and back in july. watch. >> it was surreal to come back into town and like a bittersweet moment and finish what we started and fight and be here together and have the unity and to let trump know we have trump's back and he has ours and it's crazy and i came into town, it was an erie feeling and find the place that we parked and went through the town and went fight fight fight. we'll never surrender and, you know, let's fight harder but i'm here and trump we have your back. will: pete, one thing i'd love to hear, any time you can get a sense, i'm curious how many people will be there and what the estimation of the number will be and talking to people, are they from pennsylvania and all over and majority local and uroyous about that as you talk to -- curious about that as you talk to people throughout the morning. reporter: real quick but i've been to a lot and have a sense it's bigger and bigger earlier than

in western north carolina, which has really got hard hit by flooding in this storm, it's estimated that1% of the households were covered by flood insurance. what does that mean for the recovery? what does that mean for homeowners? what does that mean for the region? jeffrey: yeah, unfortunately, what this means is that for many of the people who are affected by the flooding, they're not going to have the additional funds that would be made available through their homeowner's insurance or business insurance or plans like that. there are some mechanisms through federal programs and federal assistance that we would expect to see, although that generally is at a much lower amount. and can generally take some of those programs can take a little bit longer to come to fruition. so it just means that people will have less access to some of those financial resources than those that were fortunate enough to have insurance. john: could that also mean that there's some places that just won't be rebuilt? jeffrey: possibly, yes. unfortunately, when we see disasters like this, we'll see areas that are

western north carolina is a republican area. there are pockets around asheville that are very democratic. we don't know. we have to focus on rebuilding, making sure people have a food, water, rebuilding the infrastructure in different things. could this make polling in north carolina harder in the weeks going forward? it could. there will be conversations about mobile vote centers or getting people absentee ballots in different ways. if they lost their id or identifications, north carolina, georgia. hard-hit. it's not just swing states. even if they aren't in the presidential mix, these are people in my family. i know people that have lost their homes and it is devastating. host: dave in larchmont, new york, a. good morning. caller: good morning ms. taylor. i want to know more about what you said about rick scott and another candidate that is wealthy and can write a check to their own campaign. i cannot make a contribution above a certain amount to a campaign. i am wondering how that works in terms of self funding and how it fit

we have sent out hundreds of palates to 20 different locations throughout western north carolina. we have a beautiful, beautiful mountains in north carolina. but they are rugged. sometimes to get through even on a beautiful day. after this catastrophic storm, it is very difficult to get to all of those places. that's why we are relying on airpower. i also talked to a lot of people. i went to a hospital, spoke with nurses who are working hard spending the night in the hospital. i went and talked with restaurant owners who are opening their restaurants and serving free food two people. i talked with people who are running some hotels who have just opened their hotels and they're letting first responders come to spend the night who have come from other states to help us. this is a strong community pulling together to help each other there's a lot to do in the short term. there's going to be a monumental task to recover in the long, in the long term do you have a sense right now of how many people are still missing or unaccounted for so we've had 2,900 calls over the entire time to our

our search and rescue teams from across western north carolina, with help of our friends, really? from across the us, we are checking everywhere and we won't rest until everyone is accounted for. whether that be with good news or bad news and i understand there are still areas that are difficult to access. >> can you give us some idea of how much of the county or of the area is still unreachable you know, it's one of our greatest strengths in north know our geography is. >> i mean, we have a beautiful mountains, but there are areas, even without a storm. >> i mean, you can be very close to someone and not be able to see them through you know, the leaves and the woods and a lot of people, you know call some of these back roads home and i think that's going to be something as we move forward to understand that no matter where you live in western, north carolina, you know, we have to get you the resources to recover, but also you know, as we move forward, do you want to build your house? you know, do you want to build back? do you want to move? this recovery needs to be equal across

were being abolished by the white house for this i would say it's time to make it right in western north carolina no water no freshwater in many parts of the area and western north carolina more needs to be done should not be a political issue they should get down to do the work that needs to be done it's clear the administration fumbled the ball. >> i think you're exactly right and is not misinformation the joe biden was at the beach and not misinformation kamala harris was at a hollywood fundraiser and they weren't talking about this at all but this is what this administration does and they always use words to censorship when they can't answer the ballot you talk about illegal immigration, mayorkas said it was misinformation that the border was open, every time they go right back to the same well, it's pretty scary if you think about it. thank you so much for that were obviously praying for the people of north carolina, working to take a quick break, will be back everybody. if you're living with dry amd, you may be at risk for developing geographic atrophy, or ga. ga can be unpredictable—and pr

of people still missing and more than half a million without power in eastern tennessee, western north carolina in dire need of food and water. >> dana: griff jenkins in western north carolina on the recovery but first mike seidel and florida where folks are bracing for milton. catch us up, mike. >> dana, the cleanup continues this is what is left from ten days ago. they took the scene off the beach is from the beach as to the street and back to the parking lot. it looks like covering a blizzard in buffalo in the streets are open and the power back on and storm surge watches. another big surge forecasts 8-12 feet and it will take sand back into town. the surge ten days ago was 9-10 feet and already the locals are back here until they are thoroughly disgusted with this and taking some of the sand and making sandbags. take a look at the satellite loop. no one has rapidly intensified going from 100 miles an hour to 125 category 3 up to category 4 sustained winds and hundred 55 early tomorrow morning. cat 4 status and before it makes landfall wednesday night or thursday morning. don't let your guar

so anywhere from the nation's capital into portions of western north carolina. and now they're light, but i don't want to reiterate that this isn't a another round of heavy rainfall, but the point being is that the ground is so saturated any additional rainfall according to the national weather service service coming out of the western north carolina region talking about landslides because the ground is unstable. so additional rainfall could cause some of that loose dirt and rock too slide quite easily. so isolated showers here through the course of the day today, some of the hardest hit areas western north carolina, into virginia. we're still talking about over a million-and-a-half custody simmers without power. i mean, it could basically see and track the exact path of where the storm made its way inland. and this is just concurrent with our warming world kasie, we talk about this so often well, we have a warming planet that allows the atmosphere to hold more moisture and that brings the potential for more frequent and more heavy rain events like we saw unfold

. >> reporter: north carolina's own republican senator thom tillis says issues on the border are not affecting the flow of resources of western north carolina. >> on this side of the house was the kitchen. >> reporter: stuart ppachecho's home was one of many that floated away in the flood waters. stuart says fema has been here and that they paid a visit just today, and says the baseless conspiracies are not helping those who are living through this. >> instead of sitting around and playing on your computer, you need to go help the people who need help. >> reporter: and late today, vice president kamala harris saying what trump is spreading after helene is, quote, irresponsible. she also warned americans to take this next hurricane coming very seriously. >> this one is going to be very, very serious, and i urge you to please just grab whatever you need, listen to the orders you're getting from your local officials. they know what they're telling you, and they know what milton is about to be. so please do that. the other point i'd make is there's a lot of mis- and disinformation being pushed out there by the former president ab

because the state board of election has allowed the county boards in the 25 counties in western north carolinad polling locations and websites for early voting in election day. that obviously starts october 17 there in north carolina for the early vote. >> that is thursday, right? you talked about the logistical challenges there and what you are trying to do for all of that but what do you expect, in terms of voter turnout to be? >> we have full confidence in our state board and county boards of elections that they will do everything they can but we don't know. that is something, you know, you never understand with a natural disaster like this or a national tragedy what the ramifications will be until november. we are just trying to make sure everybody understands what their rights are, what they have access to, there are resources that they need. folks right now can request mail-in ballots in person at any board of elections office in the 25 affected counties right now in north carolina and make sure people know their rights before going to vote this year is so important. if you have been dis

western north carolina still picking up the pieces after hurricane helene ravitch the southeast.the hardest hit areas was asheville. mcnichol is live with the latest on the recovery efforts. >> a very popular and beloved area for so many tourists to come. it sits just along the river. the devastation really whipped through this area. business owners we have spoken to say they have a long financial burden ahead. >> we knew it was bad, but we had no idea it would be this much devastation. we had to dig out probably 6 feet worth of stuff to either get into the office. >> just three weeks after the storm, early voting started here in north carolina setting voter turnout records. a question many people are asking at the polls is which presidential candidate will help heal and rebuild especially here where helene took most of the lives. the city of asheville is mostly democratic, the surrounding counties in areas tend to vote republican. it will be a close race in the areas most affected. according to up political scientist at the university, 2020 voting data shows and 13 counties hit

so i authorized air assets, national guard, state guard, highway patrol to go into western north carolina and it created this odd circumstance you have people there in western north carolina. we have a lot of floridians that go there over the summer. it wasn't like a random spot on the map for us. that is an important part of our state people where they go. but you have a situation where the first people that they come in contact with is some state guard unit from florida and not any of the federal assets? so the reality is, i don't think the federal assets were marshaled very quickly at all but the lesson that i think people should take for this we learned in florida long ago, we don't rely on fema to do any of that type of activity. we rely on fema to basically be a bank account. there is federal programs in place. we get our people qualified for individual assistance, reimbursement for some of the debris. but we take the matters into our own hands for the preparation and the rescue and response, and i just think it is sad this has come to it. but i have a lot of people up there now wor

and he described the people in western north carolina eastern tennessee all over georgia virginia, south carolina as quote very happy with what's going on there. i just finished my radio show. we've been taking calls all week. the people are not very happy there. they're furious. this is joe biden and kamala harris' katrina. and the fact he didn't address it and that he was barely asked about it by the white house press corps i think is not only a failure of biden come along but a failure of the media to let people know it's going on. >> reporter jackie was there. shouldn't get the chance to ask question. i would assume that was at the top of her list list. let's play the sound bite on what the president was asked last night about the storm first and let's but that against what he said today about what they are doing to help folks there and then go to leslie's. what do they need after what you saw today? >> the storm zone? >> which storm are you talking about? they're getting everything they need. we are very happy. >> going to cost a lot of money and i'll probably have to ask congress b

. >> the people living in western north carolina incredible patriots. they really are. i know that area well and they are still suffering immensely and we need to help them and we are going to help them as citizens in alabama, tennessee, virginia, and a couple of other places got a little hit, but in particular, these places and georgia was hit very very hard, but i want to thank elon musk for responding to my request. >> [applause] >> that star link he provided to north carolina, you know, and the lines roll down, they had no communication, you couldn't get to north carolina, the area that was hit and they were all saying, does anybody know elon musk? i said yeah, i do. i raised my hand. they asked that question and i said yeah, i do. what's the problem. they said do you think you could get him to get starlink, which is amazing, right? and i said i don't know too much about starlink, but if you want it we can get it and i called elon and they had so many people over there, tommy. they had so many people there so quickly and they have great communication now but it's a

they saw them move across western north carolina almost two weeks ago now.age the water infrastructure, took down power but i was able to meet with the governor again today i have been with him most days and he gave an update today and there is a lot of progress. some still have limited access but the power is being restored, waters being restored but there's definitely areas that have had the most impact, it's still going to take some time. >> and it talks about some of the rumors, one of them, the governors own person, fema is blocking people in florida preventing evacuations this is false, how much is the information mattering for the kind of work that you do an emergency response? >> it matters tremendously because they are deliberately trying to create distrust and when you create that level of distrust it just makes it harder to get the services and the support that these people that have either are going to experience, like piercing with milton, or have experience across all of the other states from hurricane helene, makes it harder for them to get th

of course our hearts and prayers go out to those in western north carolina.in our area, we go through a lot of flooding as well, especially heavy flooding. what can the federal government do to assist state and local governments and preparing and recovering from flood events that happened from an unnamed storm? sen. vance: a really good question. we have to have competence back in government. when these things happen you need someone who is paying attention and focusing and making sure resources go to the people who need it. you can't have a government where nobody is actually in charge and unfortunately that is what we have way too much thanks to kamala harris's leadership. two things in particular. when you have a crisis like what happened in western north carolina, obviously this part of the state has been affected by a number of storms too. you have so many different bureaucratic agencies. one of the things you've got to do is just have a leader who is saying all of you are empowered to save lives to rescue people. go get to work and cut out worrying abou

stook live in western north carolina, tell us about that business. we are in valley cruces, from boone county, center point for all that is happening in wat tonga county. it was erected and took on flood waters. there was river rise of 25 feet up sugar grove, which is 15 minutes from here before that gauge failed. i can tell you this shed has been picked up and tossed across the road and national guard is on the ground in the area and they are using horseback over in cove creek yesterday, another town to get up to hell people who were trapped and doing well, they were doing well checks. devastation is worst i have come across. cove creek feeds into the river, having 30 foot wise that overwhelmed everybody. it is heartbring i breaking and the people need help. >> steve: thank you for the live report from western north carolina. >> ainsley: conflict in middle east worse ebbing as israeli forces push deeper inside lebanon. >> lawrence: president biden call for israel to show restraint in response to latest iranian missile attack. >> the answer is no. i

part of south carolina still has houses with power out but were not nearly as devastated as western north carolina or eastern tennessee where a lot of our thoughts and prayers and were telling everybody to donate and help those people in need in western north carolina especially. maria: i know there has been a lot of talk about this administration using fema money, getting fema after mayorkas said it was running dry and they would not be able to make it to the hurricane season but the administration is calling it misinformation they are denying that they use fema money for illegal migrants despite the fact that karine jean-pierre said this two years ago, here it is, watch it. >> fema administrators have been meeting with city officials on site to coordinate available support from fema and other federal agencies funding is also available through fema emergency food and shelter programs to eligible local government and not-for-profit organizations upon request to support humanitarian relief for migrants we will continue to do what we can as the federal government to support the cities as they rebuil

just use north carolina as an example. people in westernf kelowna got slammed by hurricane helene. many got their homes washed away. they still have running water in many different areas western north carolina. they are showing up at the highest levels to support donald trump of his entire political career. i just got my radio show talking to western north carolina member of the 11th congressional district who said the numbers are bigger than they were in 2016 toward thing what they were in 2020. the enthusiasm off the charts for trump and the battlegrounds. democrats either assurance under quietly terrified. >> trace: i have no idea you had a radio show. we should promote that. your final thoughts on this megan. >> i think the harris campaign is under polling and the people are little nervous from 2020 and 2016 so i don't know the polls are accurate. i think the turnout and enthusiasm is great and i don't necessarily think it will go for trump look you are all saying but that's fine but i do think it's great to see people out there in the

number one effort now is going to finding and rescuing people in western north carolina. of western north carolina that haven't had access and been able to be reached yet. entire roadways have been washed away. climate change has truly derailed the entire geographic presence now that is out there in these communities. and what people even in those communities once knew and once traveled, you know, folks that are familiar with the terrain are actually having problems being able to find folks out there right now. so we trust the non-partisan board of elections in our state will do everything possible to make sure folks are voting securely. our first priority is to find everybody in north carolina. because we know every single person matters now. >> this is about human survival. i have to ask though, the former president trump is one to cry fraud when there isn't any. and when there was a deadly pandemic that resulted in mass death, he had no qualms about trying to weaponnize that. and you know, precautions, measures taken to keep the vote safe. and fair. and free and using t

. >> well, as people know, right now north carolina's western part of ouritate has been ravaged by hurricane devastation, and we are still in an active search and recovery mode right now. anyone in north carolina who needs help or assistance can go to help nc.gov and folks who have dealt with flooding devastation or the collapsing of homes in western communities of the state. we know people are out there needing help and yours. we are really appreciative of governor cooper and president biden and the resources that have been given to north carolina already, but our hearts are out there with the folks in the western part right now. >> our hearts are out there. and the devastation is staggering. preceding hurricane helene as such a critical state in the 2020 election, how optimistic are you local election officials get things up and running in time for voters to start getting things together in a matter of weeks? >> we have every confidence in our state board. our board of directors has actively called the state board of elections together to give emergency relief to the 25-plus counties that

north carolina thank you. just before it was good for the hard-hit communities in the western part of north carolina. that's where crews are trying to restore power and reach those residents who remain cut off. the many small towns and communities in the mountain area but "fox weather" correspondent brandy campbell is in north carolina with the latest from there. hi brandy. >> hey eric at the somber week here across the region with at least 232 people confirmed dead because of helene peart right right now search and rescue was still on going. from the devastation with us want to know her river just below us we are on a bridge in the koa campground. and above the river you can see this building structure. not sure where this came from. this is one of many sites. one you can see and buncombe county very devastating for so many residents and business owners here again. now in buncombe county with met a lot of people who said they are going to need help to get through this disaster. flood insurance, not something everyone has. fema are on the ground with around 5000 federal personnel. they say they have

, an area where _ western north carolina, an area where you — western north carolina, an area'd be hit by a hurricane whose _ you'd be hit by a hurricane whose house was caught up in that — whose house was caught up in that. awful events around hurricane helene last week and are still— hurricane helene last week and are still obviously going through the recovery. it is very— through the recovery. it is very hard, i think these days to predict— very hard, i think these days to predict precisely where it will happen, but what we need to do. — will happen, but what we need to do, what we need our governments to do is look at a much — governments to do is look at a much better flood protection, floodplains and climate action to make — floodplains and climate action to make sure that we are mitigating the risks of this in the future. its mitigating the risks of this in the future.— mitigating the risks of this in the future. ~ , i. , the future. as you rightly say, this is where _ the future. as you rightly say, this is where congress - the future. as you rightly say, this is where