Morning Joe - Morning Joe 10/10/24

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

Monster storm slams into Florida; deaths confirmed

Good morning. Welcome to Morning Joe. It is Thursday, October 10th. Let's get right to the latest with Hurricane Milton, which made landfall last night as a powerful Category 1 storm with maximum sustained winds of about 85 miles an hour. It's moved off the east coast of Florida just a short time ago. The hurricane battering the state with dozens of dangerous tornadoes as well, destroying an estimated 125 homes. In St. Lucie County, a tornado was deadly, killing at least two people in a mobile home retirement community. The sheriff there now says his county is in 100 percent rescue mode. As the hurricane moved through the region, Milton ripped off a portion of the roof, a Tropicana field home to the Tampa Bay Rays, which was being used as a shelter for first responders to aid with storm relief. Extreme winds also tearing down traffic lights, scattering debris across roadways,

and even sending a large crane into a building. More than 3 million homes and businesses now in the dark after power outages have been reported across the state. This hour, we'll be joined by the mayors of Sarasota and Fort Myers, Florida, to get a sense of what they're seeing as the sun begins to come up this morning. But first, joining us live from Fort Myers is NBC's Jay Gray. Jay, what's the latest on the ground there? Yeah, and let's talk where the storm is right now, Willie. We've just gotten word from the National Hurricane Center.

The eye of the storm has moved off the eastern coast. So that's good news. The storm is moving through. Much calmer here now, obviously, on the west coast in Fort Myers. It was a rough and tumble night, strong winds, driving rain, causing serious problems across the entirety of Lee County and really the entire peninsula as the storm moved through. We know there are more than three million people without power right now. Storm surge. We talked a lot about that before landfall. It did cause problems here in Fort Myers, pushing water into businesses along the coastline. And we'll know more about that as you talk about when the sun comes up. Standing water in downtown Fort Myers for a significant

amount of time as well. We know there were several high water rescues in the path of this storm and we know those tornadoes turned deadly on the east coast. More than two dozen tornadoes reported and one here in Fort Myers that ripped the roof from a home damaged several businesses as well. So again a better assessment when we get some daylight. Right now though we know that this storm has left significant damage, not only here, but across the state. Jay, we had worried about Tampa taking its first direct hit in more than 100 years. Some early reports suggesting that perhaps the storm surge not as bad as some is expected, not to say there won't be widespread

damage as we wake up this morning. But what are you hearing from the Tampa area? No, I think you're absolutely right. Look, for so long, the storm was tracking directly at Tampa. And that's something that doesn't happen all that often. It did jog just a bit before landfall. And it looks like that may have been a move that really allowed Tampa not to get the hit that they were going to see with this storm. Yes, there's been some flooding. Storm surge is an issue, but not to the extent of 15 feet like forecasters had feared as this storm was targeting Tampa. Also, though, remember, we've got issues not only with that storm surge, but freshwater flooding, flash flooding from rain. We've seen rain in some areas, including the Tampa area, well over 15 inches with this storm.

So water is still the primary issue. Wind has caused problems. You talked about the roof at Tropicana Field. There are several other areas where wind has done damage. But as we always see with these storms, it's the water that is the most significant problem. And it seems to be that way in Tampa and in other areas where this storm has moved through. All right. NBC's Jay Gray will let you get out and look around and some more. We'll talk to you a little bit later live from Fort Myers, Florida.

Jay, thanks so much. Let's head over to meteorologist Angie Lassman for a look at where the storm is and where it's headed from here. Angie, good morning. Morning, Willie. We've got still a Category 1 hurricane, but the good news is it's moving offshore. It's already seeing that center of circulation out over those Atlantic waters. Winds are still maintaining 85 miles per hour. This system stayed a hurricane from start to finish as it crossed the Florida Peninsula, and we're going to continue to see it move offshore. But notice, we've still got that heavy rain that we're seeing from those outer bands draped across much of the central and eastern portions of the coast of the state of Florida.

So Daytona Beach to Orlando, that's where we're pinpointing the heaviest of the rain right now. We've got ongoing, really strong winds as well. If we zoom in and show you exactly what we're dealing with as far as the rain is concerned, torrential rain from Daytona Beach just ending in Palm Coast, looking along I-94 towards Orlando. Still heavy rain there. We've got ongoing water rescues happening from emergency officials there. And this will likely be going on for at least another hour or so. But again, the system's moving fast. So it's going to start to wrap up here and we'll see better conditions on the way here for the second half of the day specifically. But even

by late morning, the system is well out over the Atlantic and not causing us much problems when it comes to especially the West Coast of Florida. We're still dealing with some storm surge. We know that we likely got double digit storm surge values across parts of the West Coast of Florida, Sarasota, Venice, places like that. We'll likely see those numbers come in today as we assess the damage with some daylight. But we've also got ongoing storm surge happening for parts of the East Coast, Jacksonville down to Melbourne, because we've got those onshore winds happening as the center of that system has worked offshore. So that'll be something that we watch. And then on top of that, this has been a big concern really since last night,

just impressive rainfall that we've seen across the state that was already saturated, by the way. But we've still got these flash flood warnings in effect for a good chunk of the central portions of the state. Notice the river flood warnings. This is the Peace River that you see right there. No surprise that we have those ongoing moderate to even flood stages happening with all that storm surge that has pushed into places like Port Charlotte. That's going to be one of the spots that we likely see some high amounts just with the geography of how Port Charlotte, places like Punta Gorda, will likely see some of the most impressive storm surges as well. When it comes to the flash flooding today, the good news, like I said, it's going to wind down. We'll still see

the potential for it here as we get those rain bands working through this morning, but nothing quite as impressive as what we were expecting in places like, say, St. Pete, as we went into the overnight hours last night. Here's some of the totals already. Over 18 inches of rain in St. Petersburg. Just ridiculous kind of rainfall hourly rates. Over five inches of rain was falling at one point between 7 and 8 o'clock last night. So the flooding concerns will be there. It'll take a little while for that water to recede as well. And of course, we can't forget about the wind.

This has been impressive. We've seen gusts over 100 miles per hour for the West Coast as the center of that system came on shore. We're still dealing with tropical storm force winds for a good chunk of the East Coast of Florida. But we've got hurricane force winds as well. Notice what Orlando is seeing right now. 72 mile per hour winds. We've got Daytona Beach at 78 miles per hour. So the ongoing rain threat and wind threat is still there. And it's going to take a little time, Willie, for that storm surge also to start to recede. But we have seen it peak with that high tide time coming around six o'clock for places like Tampa and Point South. Yeah, Angie, we're just talking to Jay about Tampa. There was so much concern. The mayor, Mayor Castor, who will be shortly later this hour, warned her residents that if you don't leave, if you're in one of these zones, you will die. She

said this is going to be unsurvivable. Do you have a sense from what you've seen and the numbers, the data you're getting in this morning of how hard Tampa actually was hit? Yeah, so Tampa escaped the worst, you know, what we feared when it came to the worst of the storm surge. If that center of circulation came on shore just 20 miles to the north at the mouth of Tampa Bay or even across St. Petersburg, we would be talking about a very different scenario for Tampa Bay. Instead, what they got was a different aspect of this storm that kind of added insult to injury. We had just ridiculous amounts of rainfall happening. So the flooding was widespread across that area. On top of that, we also had the worst of the eyewall work through there.

So that meant winds over 100 miles per hour. You've seen likely the visuals from St. Pete with Tropicana Field with the roof shredded. We've seen a crane collapse. And I think as daylight comes, Willie, we're going to continue to see all of that wind damage be quite impressive, likely a lot of trees down. We know the power outages were quite widespread as well. And that's just going to become more evident, I think. So they didn't escape it when it comes to damage, per se, but they did escape the worst of the storm surge. But unfortunately, for Sarasota and points south towards Venice, that's where we saw the worst of that. We'll, again, likely

see double-digit storm surge values by the time this is all said and done. We'll get a better sense when the sun comes up there. Angie Lastman. Angie, thanks so much. We appreciate it. Join us now, the mayor of Sarasota, Florida, Liz Alpert. Sarasota is just where Hurricane Milton made landfall last night. Siesta Key about eight miles away. Mayor, it's good to have you back with us. We spoke to you 24 hours ago. You were prepared for the worst. What are you seeing this morning? Well, surprisingly, it's, you know, at least from what we're able to get to, it's not as bad on the mainland. We have not been able to get out to the barrier islands. In Sarasota, the Lido Key, the bridge going out to the island there, the small bridge that we have,

the westbound lanes are compromised, so we are not going to be able to use those. The Florida Department of Transportation has to get out and check that out because of the rising water. Lots and lots and lots of trees down from what I'm hearing. So our first-in team has been out. A lot of power outages. You can see I've got some lights are working, some nights lights are not my no power in my building. And about 76% of the city doesn't doesn't have power. And, you know, it didn't seem, I live just right across the street from Sarasota Bay. It's, you know, not the Gulf, but the Bay. And water did not come over US 41 where I am. We didn't get any water in our parking lot, but, you know, out on the barrier islands, we fear that there was an

awful lot, a lot of wind blowing around, you know, so it was really a pretty horrific night. And I think once we're able to get out there, you know, we're going to find a whole lot of damage. I mentioned Milton Roared on Shore at Siesta Key, a beautiful island, a barrier island there, not too far from where you're sitting. Do you have any sense of how many people may have stayed on the island or did people heed the warnings to evacuate? We have not. What they told me at the Emergency Operations Center is that we actually had no calls for service, no deaths, no injuries as nearly as we can tell. We have had, you know, that's really unusual. Nobody called for rescue. So my sense is they must have evacuated. That's good news. So, Madam Mayor, we've a lot of talk ahead of the storm about the risk that disinformation and misinformation posed.

The residents there unsure of who to believe or what to do, sometimes being told flatly, blatantly untrue things by leading candidates. What effort did you take to sort of combat that and your level of concern here in the aftermath of the storm, the rebuilding effort begins, that that disinformation could still continue? We put a lot of information out on our social media, you know, a lot of, you know, constant posting. We put stuff on our website. but the major way that we've been communicating to everybody is through social media to get the word out, you know, send out regular email updates to our neighborhoods so had the correct information about what was going on and who to contact. We'll be putting out information now, again, as we did after Helene as to how to get disaster assistance. And if you need help, where you go and and what's going on. I understand, Mayor Alpert, that President Biden called you directly

last night to the extent you're comfortable. Can you share what what you two talked about? And are you confident that you will have today in the weeks going forward the support you need from the federal government? Yes, he was it was it was it was a surprise. I was glad I happened to pick up the phone. And he just said, you know, Mayor Alpert, this is President Biden. And and, you know, I was a little shocked. I wasn't expecting that. And he just said, you know, tell me what you need down there. Whatever you need. Well, you know, we'll get it to you. Just let let me know.

Gave me his phone number and, you know, said he was was thinking of us. So I thought that was really, really very nice of him. Very nice of him to call. And you're confident you'll have that support you need from the Biden administration and from FEMA? Absolutely. We've been getting the support. Secretary Buttigieg called me a couple of days ago. You know, Senator Scott had called me. The president's administration, the vice president's office has called me.

So, you know, they have been in touch. FEMA has been in touch. And so we are getting what we need from the federal government. Yes, we are sending our best to you and the citizens of your town. I know you've got a long day ahead. We appreciate you stopping through with us this morning. The mayor of Sarasota, Florida, Liz Alpert, Mayor Alpert, thanks for your time today. Thank you, Willie.

Still ahead on Morning Joe, we'll be joined by the mayor of Fort Myers, Florida, after a suspected tornado damaged several homes there before Hurricane Milton made landfall. Morning Joe's coming back in just 90 seconds. About 10 minutes ago, a tornado came ripping through here. This is a devastating tornado. It took out that 10,000 square foot red iron building with all of our patrol cars underneath it. Thankfully, nobody was in there at the time. This thing came through and took this out within a moment. We hear the winds going.

We're going to go ahead and step back and go back inside for some shelter. But again, if you're seeing this video and you're getting these warnings, take cover, take shelter. This is a real storm. This is a dangerous storm. Be safe and know that we're out here to get you. That is the sheriff of St. Lucie County, Florida, urging his residents to stay inside because of tornadoes in the area yesterday. The building behind him in that video was used to store patrol cars, vehicles, other

equipment used by the sheriff's office. According to the National Weather Service, more than 100 tornado warnings were issued across the state. This video shows a tornado touching down near I-75 in broward county along florida's east coast joining us now live from sarasota nbc news senior national correspondent tom yamas tom good morning what are you seeing there hey willie uh yeah we just got up now it's still obviously very dark here in sarasota florida this is some of the damage at a marina here. This was a houseboat, some kind of maybe a bait shack, but it was obviously turned upside down because of Hurricane Milton last night. We were up all last night reporting on this storm as it came in. It made

landfall just south of us in Siesta Key. The winds were north of 100 miles per hour, sustained winds for more than two hours last night. And we saw that storm surge as it came from nowhere to up to five to six feet. We're still waiting on some of the gauges. A lot of the gauges in this area weren't working last night because the storm was so powerful. So we're waiting on some of that information right now. Hundreds of thousands of as I walk over here, Willie, these are condos and hotels. You would see them all lit up at night. It's complete darkness. Only a few buildings have generator power or emergency lights on. There's about 230,000 customers just in Sarasota County without power right now. It was a very dangerous and wild night last night. This

was an evacuation zone, so hopefully people got out. But even when the eye was over us, which is a very calm time, it felt like any summer night when the eye was over us, which is a very calm time, it would actually it felt like any summer night when the eye was over us. People started leaving and driving out. And then suddenly the winds turned in the backside of the hurricane hit us. And that was really the most dangerous part of the night. And that was like that for maybe two to three hours. It's unclear the extent of damage, because as we said, it's darkness here and there's so many power outages. Once the sun rises, you get a better sense.

But really, last night you couldn't escape this hurricane, regardless of where you lived in Florida. We were on the air, you know, anchoring four or five hours last night. And we were talking to people in Daytona dealing with the threat of tornadoes, people in West Palm Beach, St. Lucie County. So if the hurricane wasn't hit you, which was massive, it was tornadoes hitting you. Willie? So, Tom, you mentioned the experience of being in it last night. We have some video of you and your team reporting really at the height of the storm as it made landfall and having to seek shelter. Can you share with our viewers who maybe have never experienced this what it's like to be in the middle of that? Yeah, so as I was telling you,

Willie, you know, we were in the eye. In the eye of the storm, basically, it's calm. There's no wind. There's not even rain. It's pretty incredible. It's a weather phenomenon that only happens in a hurricane. You can have chaos all around you. And yet, if you're in the eye, it feels like any regular Saturday night. People started to come out. They started to get a little reckless, doing donuts in their pickup trucks, that kind of thing. And then suddenly, the winds changed, and it got really dangerous really fast. If we have the clip here, we can roll that now with the sound. Welcome back to our live coverage of Hurricane Milton.

The situation here in Sarasota is starting to turn dire. At first we had – okay, we're going to go. We got to go. We got to go. We got to go. Yeah, so, Willie, right there what happened essentially is that we had just come out of a break, and the backside of the hurricane had started. I actually didn't even notice that the transformer behind us had exploded,

but I could see the reaction on our crew's faces, and it was time to go. Everybody was okay. We broadcast the entire night from a concrete structure, but it just goes to show that how within minutes we can go from absolute calm to chaos to that type of danger. And that as the storm surge was coming in as well. All right. We appreciate your coverage, Tom, you and your team there. And we'll let you get back out and survey the damage this morning. NBC News senior national correspondent Tom Yamas. Tom, thanks. Joining us now, Mayor Kevin Anderson of Fort Myers, Florida. Mayor Tom, thanks. Joining us now, Mayor Kevin Anderson of

Fort Myers, Florida. Mayor Anderson, thanks for your time this morning. As the sun just now begins to come up, what are you seeing and hearing there? Well, we're starting to see that the water is receding, especially in the downtown area. Haven't been able to really get out and do an assessment of the entire city yet. So the accounts last night as the hurricane made landfall in Siesta Key moved through to Sarasota. Hopefully what we're hearing early that maybe the storm surge, though large, isn't as large as was expected. What about in Fort Myers? Much less than I expected. What about in Fort Myers? Much less than I expected. I had been warning people this was going to be a seriously strong storm with a lot of storm surge. We probably got about the same amount of water in our downtown area that we got there in Haleen. So, Mr. Mayor,

reports of about three million customers in Florida without power. We know you're sitting there, appears to be in the dark. Can you give us an update as to what's happening there? How widespread are the power outages in your community? I can tell you in the city of Fort Myers, we're looking at a little over 18,000 people being without power. And to have rescue crew, have you got any reports to this point about injuries or people stranded? What's the 911 call volume been? The fire department and police department are out there working the backlog on the 911 calls.

I have not heard of any serious injuries or loss of life. All right. We certainly hope all of that holds up as you're able to get out and survey some of this damage. We're sending our best to you, sir. Mayor Kevin Anderson of Fort Myers, Florida. Thank you very much. Coming up, the former mayor of New Orleans, Mitch Landrieu, standing by. He took office, you'll remember, as the city was recovering from Hurricane Katrina and in the midst of the BP oil spill.

We'll talk to him about the politics of disaster relief straight ahead on Morning Joe. In the hours and days ahead, President Biden and I and our administration will continue to do everything we can to protect the people who have been in the path of this storm. And once the storm has passed, we will be there to help folks recover and rebuild as we continue to do for those communities in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina, and across the Southeast who have been devastated by Hurricane Helene. Vice President Kamala Harris speaking virtually yesterday at the White House ahead of the arrival of Hurricane Milton. The administration says President Biden was briefed on the situation in Florida shortly after Hurricane Milton made landfall last night. Earlier in the day, the president approved an emergency declaration for the state,

allowing thousands of federal personnel to be on the ground. That includes search and rescue teams, the president says, have been pre-positioned as close to the storm as possible. Biden says he also has been in close contact with state and city officials, as we heard just a moment ago. President Biden yesterday also called out Donald Trump and Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia for spreading disinformation. The former president has been lying about the federal response to Hurricane Helene, while Congresswoman Greene has been pushing absurd conspiracies online, like one that the federal government can control the weather. Over the last few weeks, there's been reckless and irresponsible and relentless promotion

of disinformation and outright lies about what's going on. It's undermining confidence of the people in Florida and incredible rescue and recovery work that has been undertaken. Literally, there are there are thousands of fellow Americans are putting their lives at stake and put it on the line to do the dangerous work that needs to be done now. And it's harmful to those who most need the help. Quite frankly, these lies are un-American, and there is simply no place for them, not now, not ever. Former President Trump has led this onslaught of lies. Assertions have been made that property is being confiscated.

That's simply not true. They're saying people impacted by these storms have received $750 in cash and no more. That is simply not true either. They're saying that money needed for these crises are being diverted to migrants. What the heck are they talking about? Stop it. It's outrageous. It's just not true. Now the claims are getting even more bizarre. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the congresswoman from Georgia, is now saying the federal government

is literally controlling the weather. We're controlling the weather. It's beyond ridiculous. It's so stupid. It's got to stop. President Biden speaking from the White House yesterday. Mike Barnicle joins the table. Mike, it is sometimes you have to stop and think about what we're talking. The president of the United States from the White House has to go on TV and address the American people to say the government does not control the weather. We had a Republican congressman from Western Carolina, a Trump supporter who had to put out a memo to his residence saying no and citing experts. No, the government does not have the technology to engineer a hurricane that would hit only red states or any state whatsoever. The $750 thing that Donald Trump has been talking about ad nauseum, they're only giving $750 to

people who need it while we're giving all this money to immigrants and to Ukraine and everything else. $750 is a new thing that the Biden administration put in a few months ago. That's the first step. Here's 750 to get you the diapers and the baby formula and clothes to get you back on your feet. There's more coming. We're going to go through more of this this morning. But it is you expect it from a backbencher conspiracy theorist from Georgia. Really, though, from from her. Yes, I do. Actually, from her, you expect those conspiracies. But from a leading presidential candidate, it's beyond dangerous. But this is the leading presidential candidate. And during

his term in office, tried to alter the map of where the hurricane came from because of disagreed because the path, the actual path of the hurricane disagreed. Changed it with a sharpie. Yeah. Yeah. And Marjorie Taylor Greene. I mean, what can you say about that? What can you say? I mean, you have people in this country who actually listen to her and find some credibility, perhaps, in something she says. There are people like that. It's beyond belief. It's beyond description. It's beyond even us talking about it. It's like crazy land. And it's another way of chipping away at American institutions. And I know some Biden officials I spoke to yesterday, just deeply afraid that the Trump supporters who listen to Trump and his claims aren't going to then heed the calls from

state and local federal officials because they're not going to believe them. They think it's going to be political and they might stay and put themselves in harm's way or refuse to get that federal aid from FEMA and the like. We saw that in western North Carolina after Helene. Fears it could happen here again in Florida. You know, what you just pointed out, Jonathan, gets to the actual contrasting the actual damage done by these hurricanes on the ground and the danger it presents Trump administration, the former president himself and people like Marjorie Taylor Greene, the damage they have done to the institutional faith that some people have in the government, that you're going to get your retirement check, that you're going to get your Social Security, that the government will perform for you, that the government will help you in

times of need or trouble, as we are witnessing here in Florida. That damage is lasting. It is. And I guess the good news is that, as we've been saying the last few days, the Republican leaders in these states where these storms are actually hitting have spoken out and say, no, the conspiracy theories are not true. You can trust FEMA. They are here to help. But as you say, so many people just take Donald Trump's word and run with it. Let's bring a national co-chair for the Harris-Walls campaign, Mitch Landrieu. He served as mayor of New Orleans, which was still recovering from Hurricane Katrina when he took office. Mayor Landrieu, great to have you with us again this morning.

You've lived this. You've been through this. Any mayor of New Orleans has. What does a mayor do in preparation when they know a storm of this magnitude is about to arrive on your shores? Well, thank you for that. You know, I was lieutenant governor when Katrina hit. Then we went through Rita. Then we had Ike. Then we had Gustav. Then we had the BP oil spill and then a whole host of other ones. When I was mayor of the city, I can tell you that if there was ever a time that the phrase out of many, we are one is necessary and important. It's during a potential catastrophic event might be some really good points before, because people are really at their

most vulnerable state. They're scared. They need good information. They need to be able to trust what it is that they're hearing. And the good responses involve clear command and control, clear communication and really excellent coordination between whoever the president might be, the governors, the elected officials, the EMS, fire, all these things have to hit in order for people to do the most important thing, which is to get out of harm's way. And it looks like really all of the governors across the southern states and, of course, Governor DeSantis in Florida did an excellent job of making sure that in working with the president, working with FEMA, people got out.

And so I just heard the mayor of Fort Myers say he doesn't think there was any loss of life. And that's critically important. The other side of that is when somebody tries to undermine that, when when somebody tries to use whatever agency they have, whatever power they have to turn people's pain against them for their own political purpose, that is not the kind of person you want holding the wheel when you've got a cat five storm barreling against you. And of course, that's the great danger and the pain. All the people in Florida right now that are out of power, they don't know what happened to the house. They don't know whether they lost everything that they have. They don't really know how and when they're going to get back. And they have to be able to trust the folks on the ground. And

that's why what Marjorie Taylor Greene said and, of course, what Donald Trump said, which should not surprise anybody. That's what the guy's character is. The guy turns everything he touches to dirt. That's the kind of leader we're going to have if we try if we put him back in the Oval Office again. And it's going to hurt people a lot. Yeah, Mr. Mayor, I guess I was thinking about you and Katrina and the storms you experienced down there kind of happened before this age of social media when conspiracy theories could spread so quickly. Now, there certainly were many conspiracy theories about Hurricane Katrina. We won't give air to those here this morning. But how different is it today than when you were overseeing relief for

Hurricane Katrina? Not just because of that, but because you now have a man at the top of the Republican Party who tens of millions of Americans trust and listen to who is pushing all of this bad information and they may get that instead of the truth. Right. Well, a couple of just some very basic things. If someone's got bad character and they're making the it causes them to make bad choices and those bad choices equal bad consequences. And that's what Donald Trump has displayed since the day he came down that golden elevator. And he's just getting better at being bad. And so it's a real problem. And when, of course, you have social media, which can actually be the fuel to actually make it go faster and harder, it gets that much worse. But I want to just caution the president of the United

States, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, her team with FEMA and the governors have done an excellent job here of getting people ready. But they just have to be able to listen to the folks that are on the ground that know the most and hope that most of the people will listen to them because it does have long lasting and damaging effects. But my question to the people of America is why would you want a guy that doesn't tell the truth about something so serious as a storm to be the guy that actually puts his finger on the nuclear button for the for the rest of the world. It just to me is is just seems to strain credibility. People know who he is. People now need to make a decision about what pathway they want to go. And the choice, from my perspective, is really, really clear. So, Melandro, that question that you just posed, you also have a dual role. You're campaigning across the country for the Democratic ticket for the vice president

to to win the presidency in November. What do you say when you're confronted with people around the country, good people, ordinary people who have lost faith in the government, who sort of halfway believe some of the things, preposterous as they might be, that come from the utterances of Donald Trump or people like Marjorie Taylor Greene? What do you say to them? Yeah, there are people, Mike, as you know, who are legitimately confused. They don't really know who to listen to. And this is where the hard work of democracy takes place person to person. You're just going to have to talk to people and convince them and re-earn that trust. It just makes it harder if you're pushing a rock up a hill instead of somebody getting behind you and help you push it. They're on the other side of it trying to push it down that is a matter of character that's a matter of someone who's really

either has the best interest of the country at heart or or their own selfish interests at heart and just the biggest point here to make it just as clear as possible donald trump has always demonstrated that he is for himself and if he has to use other people's pain for his purpose and his power so that he can then use it and help some of his wealthy friends. He's demonstrated time and time again that he's going to do that. And if he'll do it now, he will he will. There is nothing that he will not do. And it's really it's a damn shame, to be honest with you. But to the credit of the governors in the South, many of them are Republicans. They stood with Joe Biden. They stood with Kamala Harris. They told the people

what needed to be done. And even though there's catastrophic damage, both from Helene and, of course, from Milton, we're going to pull ourselves out of this like we do it. But we can only do it if we do it together. That's the big point. That's the big point here. Well, yeah, the lies really are appalling always, but especially in this moment when so many people need so much help. Let me ask you finally, Mayor, just your sort of snapshot, your state of the race here as we're under four weeks to go. What do you think it's important for the Harris campaign to be doing in these last couple of weeks to get over the finish line? Everything, everywhere. This is going to be a very, very close race. It really has not changed over the last eight, 10 weeks, really, even before that. This is a fourth and goal with no timeout left on the clock. And it's just going to be about who's got the best team, who's got the best message,

who has the most money, who's got the best ground game, who's the best organized, who's got the best strategy. We believe that we do. It's going to be a very, very close race. But I think everybody would agree the vice president has done an excellent job in the many weeks that she's been here. And I think we're going to pull it out. National co-chair for the Harris-Walls campaign, former lieutenant governor of Louisiana and the former mayor of Louisiana. Great to have your experience and expertise on this this morning. Thanks for being here. And join us now, the mayor of Tampa, Florida, Jane Castor. Mayor Castor, thanks for being with us this morning. All right. The sun is coming up there. There were great fears. You issued some dire warnings about what could happen if people stayed in place in Tampa.

What are you seeing today? Well, we're seeing a lot of wind damage for us. Best case scenario in a really bad situation. The storm hit south a bit rather than north of us. So we've got a lot of wind damage, about a half a million people out of electricity. Our first responders are out there clearing roads right now, answering hundreds of calls. But we didn't get that massive storm surge that was expected. So very, very fortunate in that factor. And thank goodness for that. We're getting reports from the Tampa Fire Chief that there were more than 100 rescue calls made overnight. Can you speak to some of those efforts? Yes, I know that fire responded to several houses with trees on those.

One individual actually sustained a head injury and they were able to safely transport him. Tampa Police Department responded to Tree fell on a home where they rescued 15 individuals, including a number of young kids, and were able to get them safely to shelter. So our first responders are out there doing an amazing job. We just can't have the community out there right now. And I tell you what, I can't say enough about FEMA and the federal government's part, the way that they have played in our preparation for this. I just got a text early this morning from Administrator Criswell saying, how did you do? What do you need? And so thank you to the feds. Thank you to the state of Florida, what they've done to help us. And now we have to respond to

all of the damage that is out there. But we'll get through this and we'll come out even stronger. Yeah, we've been hearing that message about FEMA and the state government from mayors up and down the coast this morning. The big fear, as you've been pointing out for the last several days, Mayor Castor, was about that potentially historic storm surge. How much storm surge are you seeing today? We haven't. So the rivers and everything are going to crest. So right now, and this is very tentative, it was at or below the Helene, and that was four to six feet. But they were talking about the predictions were 12 to 15 feet if that storm had gone up to the northern side of the Tampa Bay. And so we'll have storm surge damage, but nothing like what it could have been.

It could have been catastrophic for Tampa Bay. We're sending our best to you and the people of Tampa. We'll let you get out in the city and survey some of that damage. The mayor of Tampa, Florida, Jane Castor. And nothing in a helicopter right now. Thank you. All right. We'll talk to you.

Thank you, Mayor. Appreciate it. The aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton has left residents again scrambling for ways to fortify their homes. The cost of doing those so very expensive. NBC News correspondent Stephanie Gosk has details. In the middle of Hurricane Helene, we saw the water come into the house. We immediately filed the claims. ER pediatrician Dr. Megan Martin was already worried about insurance, showing the damage to her home on social media. And now you have Milton barreling in. Luckily as an ER doctor, you know, when the crisis hits, that's when I go into my focus mode. This is what her St. Petersburg, Florida

neighborhood looks like after Helene. What have your premiums been like in recent years? We've lived in our house for eight years and both our homeowners and our flood premiums have tripled in the time that we've lived there. Florida residents pay the highest premiums in the country, on average nearly $11,000 annually for homeowners insurance. Flood insurance is separate and it's not going to pay for everything. Dr. Martin says she is covered for $25,000 but facing $75,000 in damage. And that's all before Milton hits. Her neighborhood is facing a complicated thicket of claims. Helene was a water event. Milton is going to be a wind and a water event. Different insurance covers different things. How are they going to determine what was damaged by which storm?

Hurricane Ian from two years ago may be an indication of what homeowners are up against. After massive damage on Florida's west coast, a Washington Post investigation found that Hurricane Ian from two years ago may be an indication of what homeowners are up against. After massive damage on Florida's West Coast, a Washington Post investigation found that some policyholders received less than 20 percent of what they claimed in damages. Some insurers have even pulled out of Florida altogether. The director for the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University says the insurance market is under pressure due to climate change. We're seeing hurricanes intensifying more quickly, carrying more rainfall. And unless we get ahead of that, there's really no possibility of creating an insurance market when you're constantly being battered and having to have record payouts. Fixes, he says, include changing where and how buildings are constructed. But that's not

going to help Dr. Martin now. You have to brace yourself for the storm and then you have to brace yourself for higher premiums. Yeah, we're going to be pricing ourselves out of this community, unfortunately. Stephanie Goss reporting there. Joining us now, former Treasury official, Morning Joe economic analyst Steve Ratner and congressional investigations reporter for The Washington Post, Jackie Alomany. Good morning to you both. So, Steve, the the estimates are all over the place for how much the combination of Helene and Milton will cost the state of Florida. But suffice to say, it's in the maybe 200 billion dollars, something like that. So to the point of Stephanie Goss piece there, what does all that mean for insurance premiums for people who are trying to protect their homes if they want to stay in Florida? Look, we have a general problem with

insurance premiums, which have been going up pretty substantially for homes, for what we call property and casualty type of insurance. And it's because of all these abnormal and partly because of all these abnormal weather patterns, which have raised losses. And therefore, the insurance companies have to recover those losses. And so it's a very tough time on insurance. Insurance has been going up even before these two storms. Insurance rates, as every homeowner probably knows, have been going up pretty substantially, even in low double digits. And this is simply going to exacerbate that problem. Yeah. As the water continues to get warmer from climate change, the storms get faster and more powerful. How do insurance companies look at this? At some point, do they get out of the game?

Well, I was about to say they are starting to get out of the game. There are parts of the country that are susceptible potentially to more of these weather events where insurance companies are pulling back and literally not offering insurance. And so, yeah, it is a tough problem. It is part, it's all wrapped up in climate change. It's all wrapped up in all the things we've done to our environment. And now we're paying a price for that. And yes, homeowners are not only going to pay higher prices, but in some places they're going to have trouble getting insurance at all. So, Jackie, let's talk about Congress's role in responding to these hurricanes. President Biden suggested he might call them back to pass this relief fund. Give us the latest on the efforts there. And are we going to be looking at a partisan fight

over this relief as we're just a few weeks away from election? Well, lawmakers are staring down a post-Helene and Milton budgetary shortfall when it comes to FEMA. FEMA officials told our colleagues that the individual assistance program and certain short-term things, the way that FEMA is able to address emergency supplies, things like food, water, baby formula, that program is not facing a shortfall. They can respond to those immediate needs. But then in terms of the long term recovery, that's where the White House has been urging Congress to consider returning to pass emergency appropriations. And we should be

very clear, Congress is the only entity here that can actually appropriate money, despite what Republicans are peddling. Obviously, Congress passed a short-term bill that gave FEMA $20 billion a few weeks ago before they left for recess. But that did leave out the extra money that the White House had been encouraging them to pass for these longer-term recovery efforts. That puts in danger the public assistance program. That is the big problem here. And that's when the federal government will reimburse state and local cleanup. Lawmakers are not supposed to return to the Hill until November 12th, but that seems pretty untenable given the damages that we're already seeing. Mike Johnson, a speaker of the House, has said that we need to give states some time to assess just how much damage there is. But as you just noted, Joe Biden is already encouraging lawmakers to

consider coming back. They could, without coming back, pass something by unanimous consent. That would require all 535 members agreeing to some appropriations figure, which is bound to be a political fight, despite some of the accusations that you're seeing Republicans throw at Democrats over the lack of funding and lack of resources at FEMA, which is, again, right now, a lot of disinformation that's swirling around. So, Steve, on the insurance issue, what happens to potential homebuyers in these areas who want to purchase a home? They get a bank loan. The bank is going to want insurance. What if the insurance companies say, no, we're not insuring you, you're too close to the water or whatever? Yeah, look, that's a potentially huge problem. We haven't had too much of that problem yet in

the sense that some insurance companies will pull out of an area, then someone else will come in and so on. But why does someone else come in when the first guy pulls out? Partly because they see an opportunity to charge much higher rates because there's no competition anymore, because there's only maybe one insurance company that's offering coverage in that area. And so homeowners looking to buy a house are going to find, again, that their insurance bills are going to be huge. As I said, they've already been going up in double digits, I think, over the last couple of years as insurance companies price into their rates, the cost of dealing with disasters like this. And so it's another huge problem that

we're facing that really stems from global warming. Yeah, we just heard from the Florida resident in Stephanie Gosspe saying we're just going to get priced out of this area, out of Florida. We can't pay the insurance premiums. Another economic question, Steve, we're talking about the $750 payment that the federal government is giving to people who qualify under Hurricane Helene and now Milton. Donald Trump has attempted to make some political hay out of that, saying, can you believe they're just throwing crumbs at these people? $750. It's a program that was implemented not long ago, just a few months ago by the Biden administration, didn't exist before, a direct payment to get you back up on your feet. Can you explain what exactly that payment is and what could come after that for people suffering?

Yeah, I think this has obviously been completely misconstrued. This is an effort to actually make FEMA more able to respond more quickly and provide assistance to residents much more quickly by giving them something, as you said earlier in the show, so that they can simply buy the necessities of life. And then FEMA comes in with a full package of assistance. And from everything I've seen, read, heard, and people I've talked to, FEMA is executing this as well as anything has ever been executed. They're very much on their game. A full package of assistance will be available to all these people. As Jackie was just talking about, it's going to cost a lot of money, but it will get appropriated

because even in a divided Congress, we have a long history of aiding people in these disaster areas. So look, it's not something you wish for anybody to be on FEMA's assistance. It's not pleasant. But I think you're going to see FEMA responding with full assistance and ending up getting very high marks for how they're responding to these problems. So, Jackie, a theme has been the dangers of disinformation and misinformation when it comes to these storms. We heard President Biden earlier be sharply critical of Donald Trump. Also, Marjorie Taylor Greene. And let's talk about Congress. We've had a couple of Republican lawmakers have to put out statements

rebutting claims that these storms are engineered by the federal government and warning their residents of their districts to please listen to the federal, local, state officials and their warnings about these storms. Speak to us, if you will, about the just the frustration level of this divide within the Republican Party. You know, some are supposed to be so frustrated that fellow Republicans, including the leader of the party, are putting their constituents in danger. Yeah, you had Congressman Chuck Edwards of North Carolina, who replaced Madison Cawthorn, put out a statement that essentially said the government is not geoengineering the hurricane. I mean, this is extremely frustrating for the Republicans that are on the ground dealing with constituents who are reeling from this disaster.

And in a time like this, where individuals are so reliant on our institutions, the only thing that really makes things worse is this disinformation that people are putting out there for political expediency's sake. People like Marjorie Taylor Greene and a raft of these House Freedom Caucus types who are continuing a long trend of disinformation from everything from to the election to now Milton. But I think they're going to have to face a reckoning when it comes to the decision to actually appropriate it. As Steve said, there is a long history of Congress coming together to ultimately pass something. I believe during Hurricane Katrina, that's the last time Congress did come together for unanimous consent to approve funds,

emergency funding right away again as as an entire entity without returning to Congress. I'm not sure that's quite doable with this Congress, given the level of differences that we're seeing from lawmakers and the levels of disinformation that we're seeing. But it is going to put members on the spot. John, we discussed this yesterday. People like Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna, who's representing a district right now in a swing district that has been really hurt by the storm. St. Petersburg

after she's been attacking FEMA for the last few weeks, is she really going to vote against appropriating funds for her constituents and having to answer to them? I don't think that is the politically smart move for her or the right thing to do as their representative. The Washington Post, Jackie Alamany. Jackie, thanks so much. And Steve Ratner, thank you as well. Still ahead, we'll continue to bring you live reports from across the state of Florida as we're now getting a better sense, a better view of the damage left behind by Hurricane Milton, which now has moved out into the Atlantic. Morning Joe's coming right back.