Morning Joe - Morning Joe 9/30/22

Episode Date: September 30, 2022

Hurricane Ian strengthens as storm takes aim at South Carolina after devastating Florida

My chimney came down. I was afraid it was going to come through the roof and crush me. There's just debris everywhere. My yard looks like a war zone. You know, it looks disastrous. I came here in the mid-70s. I was on the police department for almost 25 years. Saw a lot of storms here.

This is by far the worst storm I have ever witnessed. I promise you I'm never going to stay for another storm ever again here. However, I am one of the lucky ones. Just some of the survivors of Hurricane Ian after the storm decimated wide sections of Florida. And now the storm is on track to make a second U.S. landfall, threatening the Carolinas and Georgia. Good morning and welcome to Morning Joe. It is Friday, September 30th. Joe is off this morning, but we'll get right to the latest with Ian,

which has intensified into a hurricane again, heading towards South Carolina after leaving a trail of devastation in Florida. It is expected to make landfall near Charleston around noon today as a Category 1 storm. The National Hurricane Center is warning it could unleash life-threatening storm surge, floods, and strong winds. A state of emergency is in place for the Carolinas, Georgia, and Virginia. The damage from Hurricane Ian is coming into clearer view in southwest Florida. At least 12 people have been killed across the state due to the storm, with President Joe Biden warning it could be the deadliest hurricane in state history. Officials say some of the hardest hit areas are Fort Myers, Sanibel and Punta Gorda.

Governor Ron DeSantis says some of the homes in Fort Myers Beach are, quote, wiped out. Two and a half million people still are without electricity across Florida this morning. Officials say the electric grid for Lee and Charlotte counties will have to be completely rebuilt. Cell service is also down for the majority of the area. And many people don't have access to the Internet. This video shows a section of the causeway linking Sanibel Island to Florida's mainland has now been destroyed and washed away. Let's go to Naples, Florida.

That's where you find NBC's Chris Pallone. Chris, how are things looking there this morning? Yeah, Willie, it's going to be another day of assessing damage and cleaning up here in southwest Florida. It's really remarkable the whims of Mother Nature. When you come into a disaster zone like Naples here, some streets have power and driving down them, you really wouldn't know there was a storm. And then you turn a corner and you see homes wiped away. You see boats in yards, trees down, power lines down, broken glass everywhere. It's really just an incredible dichotomy. And as you go up the coast, that's what you see all the way another 40, 50 miles up the coast of Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach. And then a little further

on where this storm actually made landfall. You mentioned Sanibel. Yesterday, search and rescue teams were combing this entire region, trying to figure out if people who called during the heart of the storm, saying they were trapped, seeing if they were still in their homes. That was what was going on in Sanibel Island because that island was completely cut off. It only has one road, a causeway that goes onto the island. That bridge has been destroyed. And so the Coast Guard was running helicopters over to the island. They were also taking boats over there. They found a lot of residents who were still trapped, who wanted to be rescued and brought back to the mainland. And then there were others who said, hey, we're OK.

We'll be able to ride this out until we figure something else out. So another day of cleanup and damage assessment here, Willie. Yeah, those pictures from the sky this morning are just extraordinary and difficult to take in. NBC's Chris Pallone in Naples, Florida. Chris, thanks so much. We appreciate it. A big concern, hospitals as well in Florida now working to restore services and to protect their patients amid power outages and critical disruptions to water supplies. At least 16 facilities across the state have been evacuated or now are in the process of moving patients. That's according to the CEO of the Florida Hospital Association.

FEMA reported yesterday nine hospitals are without water. Several hospitals were forced to move patients to other floors as wind and rain flooded wards. The CEO of Lee Health, one of the largest hospital systems in the country, gave an update on the dire situation the Florida health system is facing. Two of our hospitals do not have running water. And as you can imagine, we cannot take care of patients without running water. Not only do we have four adult hospitals, we have a children's hospital embedded in one of our hospitals. So we're going to be having to transfer tiny neonates also. Joining us now, emergency room physician at Tampa General Hospital, Dr. Jason Wilson. Dr. Wilson, thank you for being on with us.

I guess, first of all, how did Tampa General fare through Hurricane Ian? Well, we were very prepared and we were also obviously very fortunate compared to our neighbors down south. Our team members were all here. The aqua fence was up and fortunately we sustained very little damage. Really now we're trying to assist other hospitals and making sure their patients can stay safe and get those patients here if needed. So exactly. Tell us how you're able to help at this point. We understood at the height of the storm, there were up to nine hospitals in Lee County without water, one hospital that had significant damage. What kind of needs are you able to meet to help other hospitals that bared the brunt of this hurricane?

This is where, fortunately, relationships and regional networks really pay off. We have a transfer network built throughout the state of Florida, the central Florida area. We're a large quaternary care hospital. We receive transfers from Lee all the time, our neighbors down south in Fort Myers, Punta Gorda, those areas. So we're well equipped and we understand how to bring in those transfers. At a facility like ours with trauma surgeons, neurosurgeons, really any type of specialty that you could imagine. We heard the CEO mention neonates and NICU. We have the ability to transfer those patients here as well. So we're working hard to get those patients here if needed. So you're transferring patients still right now.

How many patients are you taking in and from where? Yeah, I can't comment on specific numbers. I just don't know where we're at right now, but we always are bringing in patients to those areas. And specifically in those areas, hardest hit where our CEO is working with those other CEOs to help arrange those transfers through our established transfer networks, including Lee County. Got it. Yeah. Dr. Wilson, good morning. Thanks for taking some time with us today. I'm curious. I know it sounds like you all fared relatively well and you dodged a bullet as the hurricane turned south a little bit. Can you describe a little bit what some of these other hospitals are going through? We sort of say in shorthand they had to evacuate their hospitals,

but my gosh, that is quite an undertaking. What does that look like for those hospitals that have had to do that in the last couple of days? Yeah, so I'm sure their hospital was prepared, but probably not quite as prepared as we were because we were in the warning area. They were in the watch area. There's a level of difference of intensity of how the Hurricane Team A is sort of activating, get ready for this. You see our aqua fence up there. We were really barricaded in. We came into the hospital on Tuesday evening and most of us stayed here until well into Thursday afternoon or Thursday night, ready to take care of patients. Just to give people an understanding, when an ICU patient is being cared for, it's a one-to-one nursing ratio with a team of physicians taking care of that patient.

There's pumps that are plugged in. These electronic pumps delivering medications 24 hours a day. There's a ventilator that's plugged in delivering breathing, critical things the patient must have to live that require power supplies. These hospitals have generators, but the manpower that it takes to care for one patient is intense. So thinking about not just one patient, but a unit, an ICU unit, which might be 10 to 14 patients in a given space, that's going to require a large amount of manpower to be able to safely move those patients out of that unit. You mentioned, Dr. Wilson, the aqua fence, and we put up a picture of it just a second ago. You all at Tampa General have taken extraordinary measures in the last decade or so to really change the

way you think about defending yourselves against hurricanes. Can you explain a little bit about what that is, if we might see it at other hospitals, and some of the other things you all have done to protect your hospital? Absolutely. So for some historical quirks, our hospital is actually on an island in the Bay in Tampa, in Hillsborough Bay in Tampa. And in 1985, there was quite a bit of flooding in a low level area in the emergency department. A lot of lessons learned from there made the generators move up to the top of the hospital. The emergency department now sits over the 100 year floodplain over, you know, it's very high up in the air. And you see this aquafix, which can take on 15 feet of surge, storm surge, and over 100 miles per hour of wind. It's held up well. We tested it in Ita in 2020 and prevented quite a bit of flooding when the

rest of the area had flooding. And so we feel very good about the ability to maintain power. There's a power plant, a power supply at the hospital itself. And we know we can ride out these storms for a long period of time in a safe way for our patients and our team members. Emergency room physician at Tampa General Hospital, Dr. Jason Wilson, thank you very much for being on this morning, taking the time. And more than 2 million people in Florida lost power due to Hurricane Ian. More than 900,000 residents in Tampa alone. Power companies are working to try and get the power back on amid major rescue efforts that are still underway and cleanup operations as well. Joining us now, spokesperson for Tampa Electric, Sherry Jacobs.

Sherry, I guess, first of all, thank you for being on. How many people are without power as far as you guys can tell? So as of this morning, we have about 185,000 customers who are remaining without power. So in the last 24 hours, we've restored more than 100,000 of our customers. So and what's been the damage to infrastructure? What will be the most challenging part of this in terms of getting everybody back online, getting everyone's power back? Were there some areas that are going to need a little bit more of just getting the power back on, perhaps infrastructure being rebuilt? So comparatively to our friends in the South, we were so lucky. You know, the

original track of this storm had a big bullseye on the Tampa Bay area and it did turn South. So our damage comparatively is not as bad as we expected. We do see a lot of downed trees and a lot of downed lines. And there are some areas with localized flooding. But overall, our infrastructure fared much better than we initially anticipated. So how long for people who are Tampa Electric customers to get their power back, all of them? I know that's a very anticipated question for the folks who don't have power. And we are working around the clock. We've brought in 3,000 workers from other states as far away as Oklahoma and Indiana. And we are working as fast and as quick and as safely as we can to get folks' power back on.

We hope later this morning to have estimates on when we can get those last customers restored. Okay. So we're talking days, weeks, do we know? Yeah, so days, not weeks. Luckily for us, it's a shorter restoration. Okay, spokesperson for Tampa Electric, Sherry Jacobs, thank you very much. Willie?

And it was not just Florida's West Coast that experienced that record flooding. In Orlando and other central cities, cars and homes fully submerged. Authorities say parts of Orlando were hit with nearly a foot and a half of rain, causing lakes to overflow and flood that area. Video shows people trying to escape to dry land by boat. Across Orange County, several nursing homes had to be evacuated, with many residents being taken to safety by boat.

Rescue efforts are ongoing in those heavily flooded areas. Let's bring in meteorologist Michelle Grossman to talk about where this storm is headed now. Michelle, this is just extraordinary. You had this massive hurricane move into the West Coast, go down to a tropical storm over Florida, and now reconstituting and becoming a hurricane again, making its way up the Atlantic. Yeah, I know. And all those images are devastating. They're heartbreaking. And we saw a tropical storm for about 13 hours. Then it jumped into the Atlantic and it regained its strength to a Category 1 storm. That is what we're expecting at landfall. Later on today, the landfall is expected between Myrtle Beach and also Charleston. So really remains a very strong storm, a powerful storm.

And we are looking at a tough day in portions of the Carolinas today, especially in South Carolina. So here are the latest stats. We're looking at 85 mile per hour winds. That is strong. We're looking at moving at northeast at nine miles per hour. It's going to pick up speed as we go throughout the hours here today. The location not far from Charleston, about 145 miles south southeast of Charleston. And you can see on radar already seeing that really heavy rain.

Most of the rain with this storm is on the northern edge. So we're seeing that already where you see those brighter colors, the reds, the oranges, the yellows. That is where we're seeing the heavy rain falling. So portions of Virginia seeing that as well. North Carolina, South Carolina and a bit of Georgia seeing that as well. As a result, we do have a flood watch that is in green for portions of Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. Also looking at those flash flood warning, that means flash flood or flooding is happening at this moment. So where you see the red, that's where we're seeing the flooding happening. And you saw that on radar where we see those darker colors. 15 million impacted by these flood alerts today. And we are concerned for life-threatening flash

flooding. We're concerned for life-threatening storm surge once again. It has been such a water story with Ian and will continue to be so. 13 million people impacted by tropical alerts today. Where you see the red, that is a hurricane warning. We are expecting hurricane conditions later on today in South Carolina. That includes Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Pawleys Island, all up and down the island. So here is that storm surge threat. It was such a devastating scene in Florida. We're seeing images upon images of what storm surge can do, the power and ferocity of water. So we're concerned about that today. The location of the landfall somewhere between Myrtle Beach and Charleston, probably around Georgetown, South Carolina, the timing late afternoon into late

evening. And we're going to see high tides early this morning around 11 o'clock in Myrtle Beach, also in Charleston, and then later on tonight. So those are the two times that we're going to watch because that's going to raise that sea rise. What storm surges is a wall of water from the ocean and goes on to dry land. And that is very powerful and it creates a lot of problems. Here's the impact of rainfall, lots of rainfall across the area, stretching from the Carolinas into the mid Atlantic, even to portions of the Northeast. We could see up to a foot of rain still with this storm. So we're going to be watching that very closely. We're also watching the threat, the threat for severe storms. Back to you. You're talking about some heavily populated areas there,

too, with Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Savannah, and by the way, some of the most beautiful places in the country. We hope they do well. Michelle, I'm curious, in your experience, how unusual is this or how extraordinary is it to see a storm like this start in one body of water in the Gulf of Mexico, go over land, become a tropical storm, and then come back as strong as it has in the Atlantic Ocean, an entirely different body of water? You know, Willie, we've seen so many rarities this season. We've seen storms go from the Atlantic to the Pacific, back to the Atlantic. And with this storm, you know, I think what stood out, it started out as, you know, a weak storm and then just rapidly intensified. We don't see that that often. And that is a connection with climate change. So

we're looking at the warmers, the water's being warmer, the water's being warmer a little bit further north. So that's what we're seeing. It holds a lot of water. The atmosphere, when it is warming, we can hold a lot more water. That's why we're seeing this story being about the water. And that's how most people die when it comes to hurricanes. It's all about the sea rise and it's all about that fresh water falling. So that is the problem. And it's becoming more and more normal. And that's a problem, too. And a problem also, we'll look ahead, Michelle, but whether or not insurance companies cover damage due to storm surge versus the storm doesn't seem fair. Meteorologist Michelle Grossman, thank you very much. And still ahead on Morning Joe, we're going to speak with the secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, about

the federal response to Hurricane Ian. Plus, the latest from Russia and Ukraine. Vladimir Putin admits mistakes in the way Russia's recent military draft is being carried out, while also taking a key step in the process of annexing part of Ukraine. We'll have reaction from President Biden and the Trump appointed judge overseeing the special master in the documents case spares Trump from having to prove his claims that the FBI might have planted evidence at Mar-a-Lago. You're watching Morning Joe. We'll be right back. We'll have the latest on the hurricane in just a few minutes. But first, we go to Russia, where Russian President Vladimir Putin appears to be acknowledging mistakes and how his draft has been carried out. The New York Times reports his comments came during a televised address to

the country this week. While stopping short of recognizing whether he himself made any mistakes, Putin reportedly said the draft had raised, quote, many questions. Specifically, he talked about citizens who were wrongly drafted despite being eligible for deferments, including fathers of three or more children, men with chronic diseases, or men above military age. Putin added, quote, those who were called up without proper reason should be returned home. The concessions are believed to be linked to the massive and frequent public protests Russia is currently experiencing as its war on Ukraine escalates and more Russian citizens try to flee the country. I think maybe, Willie, it's possible Putin got the message that some

people in his country are not buying this war. Yeah, a little bit of a crack in the facade for Putin, though. We'll see what it means, because he signed those decrees yesterday, recognizing the independence of two Ukrainian regions, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. The move serves as a precursor now to the annexation of those territories, along with Ukraine's Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Putin is expected to announce those moves today. The annexation follows a series of what the West is calling sham referendums, where more than 95 percent of the

vote favored joining Russia, often at gunpoint. Putin has previously warned of a nuclear response if any threat is made against its own land. That potentially could include those four Ukrainian regions after they're annexed. President Biden yesterday addressed Russia's plans. The United States will never, never, never recognize Russia's claims on Ukraine's sovereign territory. This so-called referenda was a sham, an absolute sham. The results were manufactured in Moscow. And the true will of the Ukrainian people is evident every day as they sacrifice their lives to save their people and maintain the independence of their country. Russia's assault on Ukraine in pursuit of Putin's imperial ambitions is a

flagrant, a flagrant violation of the U.N. charter and the basic principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity. That's President Biden yesterday in Washington. Joining us now, President of the Council on Foreign Relations, Richard Haass, and the host of Way Too Early, White House bureau chief at Politico and the author of the bestseller, The Big Lie, Jonathan Lemire. Good morning to you both. Richard, again, the beard is incredibly strong

on a Friday morning, but let's put that to the side. I just can't not mention it because it's right there in front of me. Let's talk about more serious matters, though, and Russia and this ceremony today that Putin's going to hold in Red Square, something of a mission accomplished ceremony saying, look, we've brought these four regions home. Our mission to bring them back has been a success. And here we are celebrating that. Where are we right now with Vladimir Putin fold in the Nord Stream pipeline, this annexation, these sham votes, the call up of 300,000 reservists? What's the state of play in Russia right now? Well, Willie, what I think we're seeing is the fact that on the battlefield in Ukraine, Russia continues to slowly lose territory. Ukraine is gradually clawing it back.

So what we're seeing then on the Russian side are responses to it to change the narrative. One is the political one with the referendum, the annexations. This is the illusion of gains against the reality of loss. You have the sabotage against the pipelines. You have a return to what we would call indiscriminate shelling or intentional, purposeful shelling of civilian areas. This increasingly is the strategy. The Russians can't win military on military. So they're turning to an entire other set of tools or responses to try to change the narrative at home, to try to weaken Western

support for Ukraine. And that's where the threats of nuclear use come in. So this is, I think, what we can expect to see for the foreseeable future. And Jonathan Lemire, let's talk about the White House reaction. It appears President Biden keeping that strong, clear, focused message about Russia. Yeah, certainly President Biden has not wavered in his support for Kiev, as well as keeping that alliance together to do so, even as Europe stands ready to be tested by a cold, dark winter. And we saw the far right-wing candidate just come to power in Italy. But it's also bipartisan support.

And there's been, even domestically, there's been very few cracks in the facade. And yesterday, it was by the Senate, Senators Graham and Blumenthal, Republican and Democrat, announced the measures that would have real sanctions and punishments for any country that did recognize those territories as part of Russia here. So now, they're standing firm. But Richard, obviously, this seems there was some speculation early in the war that Putin might do something like this, try to claim some sort of victory and use it as an off ramp to say, hey, we got what we wanted to do. We're going to leave now. Seems like that that has really tamped down. People think this is rather him locking in Russia into the combat. Tell us your assessment of that, but also give us a little more as to why you think the Nord Stream pipeline sabotage believed, not proven, believed to be Moscow, moved so importantly. I don't think it's

an off ramp because I don't think either side is thinking of off ramps. I just don't see the raw material for diplomatic compromise here. The minimum Russia could accept is not even clear. And Ukraine's not willing to give anything like that up. There just is no overlap. So diplomats could work 24-7. They will have zero to show for it. I think both sides are settling in for a long war. I think that's the reality, not just through the winter, but long, long beyond. I think this is going to stretch on and we need to set our internal clocks to that. The reason I think it's sabotage is Putin understands that Europe is moving away from gas and oil dependency on him. That's already happened. Actually, more has happened in the last two months than people realize. Europe is making some significant progress.

So Putin didn't have a lot to lose. His exports in the future are not going to be to Europe. They're going to be in other directions, to India, to China. He has to build the infrastructure on gas to do it. He's already doing it with oil. I think it's his way to maximize the pain this winter. He is hoping, I think hoping against hope, that this winter could be a critical breakthrough. He has had the Italian elections, maybe now putting extra energy pressure on Europe to get Europe to crack, to reduce its support for Ukraine. I don't think he's going to succeed, but that's what I think this is all about. He's essentially taking a bit of a gamble to maximize his chances for European weakness this winter. I don't think it's going to work.

And a report, Richard, as we reported on the air yesterday of another explosion of the Nord Stream pipeline in a different place that makes four total. That'd be some coincidence. So, Richard, if there is no off ramp, if Vladimir Putin doesn't have a place to say diplomatically, we can settle this and I can feel like I've gained something and I've won this war that's gone so poorly for me. Where does that leave him? Where does that leave Ukraine? Where does that leave the West? What's in between what's in between him admitting defeat and getting something out of this? Well, I don't see him ever voluntarily admitting defeat. I think, you know, at some point he needs to have a narrative that this has all been worth it.

To use an old phrase of Pat Moynihan's, the former senator, he'll define success down. And maybe it would be that he can keep these provinces in the east and the south, the four provinces plus Crimea. I just think there's zero chance in God's green earth that any Ukrainian leader would ever accept that. That would be political suicide. It would simply be, it's just not on. So I don't think he has a strategy. I think his feeling is less is bargaining chips.

He wants to sit on these areas and see what happens. Again, it's easier for both sides, Willie, to play a long game here. It's much tougher for either side to sign an agreement where they would have to admit they didn't get what they wanted, what they say they need. So that's why I think we're looking at a long war. It might not be as intense as we've seen. My guess is the pace of battle, the intensity of battle, the scale of losses will dial down, particularly as we hit the winter. But I think over time, again, it feeds a long war scenario. Again, this is going on for eight years. So if we think of this less as something that began this February, something

more that began eight years ago, I think this fits into that larger narrative that each side is trying to simply strengthen its hand for the long haul. And Richard, amidst the continuation of this war in Ukraine, the different escalations, nuclear threats, and obviously the huge story here in the United States with the hurricane, the death of a woman in the hands of the morality police in Iran for not wearing a hijab. There have been massive protests there as well across the country, including many women. Do you think this will move the meter at all in terms of modernization of the morality related issues in Iran? The short answer is I don't think a lot, Mika. The base of support for the regime is not, you know, urban women. It's much more conservative and rural. What's interesting,

though, is this is it's a much more significant widespread pushback against the regime. The economy is not doing well. At a time, the supreme leader is on his deathbed, based on all reports. So Iran faces multiple challenges. It doesn't look like the nuclear deal with the United States is going to happen, which would have transferred a lot of resources to Iran. So I think they're they're battening down the hatches. But I think the regime will most likely hang tough. But I don't see much of a positive future there. I think the Iran we've seen over the last several decades is the Iran more or less we're likely to get. And they're really going to be focused on maintaining control at home in this very conservative, repressive order and expanding their footprint around the region, focusing most recently, obviously, on Iraq, continuing in Syria,

continuing in Lebanon. It's an imperial Iran strategy, and they're going to do what they have to do to keep the lid on at home at the same time. Richard Haass, thank you very much for coming on this morning. And I think it looks very erudite. It does. It's good. It's a good. It's a good. Yeah. I have one number for you. Sixty two. Sixty two. Oh, that's a good number. It's a wonderful number. We're all getting a little old. All right. Coming up, the wife of a Supreme Court justice meets with the January 6th committee. We'll tell you what she had to say about the 2020 election. Plus, more storm coverage from Florida, where amid all the destruction and devastation

were moments of true heroism. That is straight ahead on Morning Joe. A re-energized Hurricane Ian is now on track to make a second U.S. landfall in South Carolina today, with impacts being felt well beyond that state. The storm was downgraded to a tropical storm after pummeling Florida, but then regained strength after moving across the Atlantic. At last check, the National Hurricane Center reported the storm was about 145 miles south-southeast of the port city of Charleston, South Carolina, and moving northeast at nine miles an hour. Officials are warning about the possibility of life-threatening storm surge and hurricane conditions along the Carolina coast,

with flooding rains extending up into southwestern Virginia. Amid all the destruction, the heartbreak, the pain we've been showing you for the last couple of days, there has been more of what we often see during these hurricanes, neighbors helping each other. NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt has the stories of Floridians working to help each other. In our darkest moments, we sometimes struggle to find the light, but it was at first light that the helpers came. Volunteers and first responders raced into floodwaters, pulling people from submerged cars and homes. During a live broadcast from Naples, Australian cameraman Glenn Ellis rushed to help a family struggling to walk through floodwaters. We're just just helping some people through the water here. That's our camera operator. In Orlando, that piggyback of a lifetime from a local reporter for the nurse

whose car became stuck on the way to work. Poor kitty! And it's not just people who are in need of assistance. A shivering cat rescued from rising waters. And this good boy was carried out of the waves and wind. Help is coming from far and wide. I was coming down here to check the area. Deputy Jason Patch is from Yorktown, Virginia. He came across a man stranded on the roof of his truck. He called for help and an airboat was dispatched

and while we are just scratching the surface of the heartache and damage that Ian inflicted, time and time again, we are seeing humanity at its best. Lester Holt reporting. We always marvel at the heroism shown by first responders and just regular people helping out after these storms. When we come back, we will take a turn to politics before we continue our coverage of Hurricane Ian. And it is a hurricane again now as it makes its way to the southeast coast of South Carolina and North Carolina as well. But Ginny Thomas, the wife of Clarence Thomas, Supreme Court Justice Thomas, did sit before the January 6th committee yesterday, continuing to make claims that

the 2020 election was stolen. We'll have more when we come right back on Morning Joe. Welcome back to Morning Joe. 54 past the hour, a live look at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Of course, the Carolina is now bracing for a tropical storm in all the way up to Virginia. States of emergency have been declared. This is not over yet, as we haven't even begun to assess the damage in southwest Florida. We'll be continuing to follow that throughout the show this morning. It's time now for a look at the morning papers. In Missouri,

the Fulton Sun reports that six Republican led states are suing the Biden administration in an effort to halt its plan to forgive student loan debt. According to court documents, the Republican states argue the administration's plan is not tailored to address the effects of the pandemic on student loan borrowers. It is at least the second legal challenge this week to the proposal laid out by Biden last month. In Massachusetts, the Boston Globe leads with the FDA's decision to approve an experimental treatment drug for ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. The newly approved therapy is designed to slow the disease by protecting nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The FDA's decision was based on a single clinical trial that showed people who took the drug lived about 10 months longer than those who did not. To California now with a record searchlight reports, an increasing number of fake prescription pills are helping drive overdose rates to record levels in the U.S. In the last five months,

federal and state officials around the country seized more than 10 million fentanyl pills and hundreds of pounds of powder. According to the Gazette, Iowans struggling with opioid addiction will soon have access to expanded treatment and recovery support services under new federal funding. The state will receive nine million dollars in opioid response recovery money as part of the Biden administration's nationwide effort to help states combat the opioid epidemic. It will also allow states to invest in better overdose education and increase accessibility to overdose reversal drugs. Willie. Yeah, Mika, there was a highly anticipated NFL game last night, but that is not the story this morning. Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagviola was taken to a hospital after his head slammed against the turf after he was sacked. You can see Tua's head violently hit the ground as he

is sacked in the second quarter. And then this is hard to watch. The quarterback's arms and fingers seem to seize up immediately. He was taken off the field on a stretcher after laying on the field for almost 10 minutes. After the game, the team's Twitter account posted that Tua was expected to be released from the hospital and fly home with the team. This morning, we've learned that he was, in fact, discharged from the hospital. Many are now asking whether Tua should have been playing at all, given what happened just five days ago. This is on Sunday against the Bills.

Tua's head hitting the turf after he was pushed to the ground. You can see here he gets up wobbling and then stumbles down to the ground before going into the locker room. The Dolphins said, curiously, it was a lower back injury and not a concussion, despite what you're seeing right here. And Tua was allowed to finish the game. The NFL Players Association responded by saying it is launching an investigation into the Dolphins handling of concussion protocols. Last night, the NFLPA wished to a speedy recovery, said its investigation is ongoing. NBC has reached out to both the Dolphins organization

and to the NFL for comment overnight. Jonathan Lemire, this is very, very difficult to watch. And when you put those two pieces of video together, you watch him staggering and falling after taking a hit on Sunday to go through the concussion protocol. And then the official word from the Dolphins was it's a back injury. He's OK. He's going to play five days later. And then to look at that video of him lying on the ground with his arms and fingers seized up after another blow to the head. This is raising big questions about what that concussion protocol really is in the NFL. Yeah, no question. When the Dolphins declared

on Sunday that that was a lower back injury, it was met with derision throughout the football world and in the media. There's no question. You can see on the video there against Buffalo, he hits the back of his head on the ground. When he gets up, he's trying to shake the cobwebs off. He's shaking his head. And then, of course, stumbles and falls. And then they had the quick turnaround playing Sunday to Thursday. And now last night, when his arm sees up like that, that's what's believed to be called a fencing response, which is what happens when you have head trauma. Head trauma, a concussion is head trauma.

And we know science says that if you have concussions, subsequent concussions in a short period of time, in this case, over just four or five days, that leads to significant potential permanent damage. This is very scary stuff. We certainly hope that he is okay. I'm not quite sure the rush to discharge him from the hospital to have him fly home. Not sure why he wouldn't have benefited from some more observation there.

But it's going to raise a lot of questions for the Dolphins and the league as a whole. They've tried to move beyond head injuries. This is bringing that story back to light. And Gene, because it was a Thursday night game, it's the only as a whole. They've tried to move beyond head injuries. This is bringing that story back to light. And Gene, because it was a Thursday night game, it's the only game being played. The rest of the league is watching that game. And you can see immediately on social media, players, current and former, saying this is outrageous.

Tua should not have been in that game, thinking about their own health and whether or not the NFL really takes concussions seriously. Yeah, I was watching that game last night. And it was he shouldn't have been on the field. I mean, you know, it's hard to come to any other conclusion that that this was a serious and potentially life threatening mistake that that the Dolphins made. And I think that the thing now is to insist that there be a thorough and, I think,

somehow independent examination of his condition before he's allowed to put back on the field again. You know, this is potentially very serious, as Jonathan said. This can be serious, long-lasting, perhaps lifelong damage from this kind of injury. And it's now been aggravated. I think they're just really, they need to be careful. This is a young man's life we're talking about. Yeah, Mika, he is such a wonderful talent. Had a great start to the season, played at Joe's alma mater, of course, at Alabama.

But the big thing here is that you can't leave it up to the player saying, I feel good, coach, put me in. Because any player, especially in the NFL, does not want to miss snaps, does not want to sit out and run the risk of being replaced by somebody else in a league where contracts aren't guaranteed. There are all kinds of things that go into this decision. There has to be leadership at the top that steps in and says, we see what happened on Sunday. You're not there. You're sitting out tonight.

Well, not to be predictable here, but I'll pull back even further and say, you know, I understand football is part of American life, our history, our culture, our economy, our education system. But this sport is flawed. It's people slamming against each other. And so, yes, you can take concussions seriously. But if you have a sport that's based on body checking each other every two seconds, I think it's the big picture that ultimately for parents who have young athletes, it's going to be a question. And I see already my friends thinking, I don't think I want my son to go into football.

It's a conversation we've had a lot here on Morning Joe, and I think we'll be revisiting it for sure.