U. S. Virgin islands and puerto rico later tonight. The effects will be larger than any of us really anticipated. Look at the size and scope of this storm system, 420 miles in diameter. The Tropical Force Winds extend out in diameter 300 miles. Now along the florida peninsula, its only 140 miles across. It will have more storm surge than andrew and sure looks like it will barrel down. A mandatory evacuation is under way for tourists and residents in the keys this morning. This is not getting smaller. Its getting bigger. Prepare now. Stock up on emergency supplies. How worried are you about the storm . Extremely worried. On a scale of 1 to 10. Probably 13. One family narrowly missed harvey in houston and came here for vacation and now stranded. With fema set to run out of Disaster Relief money by the end of the week, the house of representatives is scheduled to vote on the Hurricane Harvey and aid package later today. The backlash is building over trd trumps immigration decision with protests from coast to coast. Mr. President how is the daca message i have a great heart for the folks were talking about. Hes probably ashamed of his decision. The president s action gives congress six months to pass a replacement. Mr. Trump tweeting late tuesday, if they cant, i will revisit the issue. This is easily the least popular thing donald trump has done. Name the last thing that 75 of Trump Supporters opposed that donald trump did . A number of major ceos have come out against the decision. Youre talking about children brought here without their consent, when they are one and two years old. We begin with breaking news, Hurricane Irma is smashing into land with millions of men and women and children in her path. The worst is likely yet to come. Right now the potentially kas strofic storm is hitting the caribbean islands and winds whipping off roofs and knocking off communication lines and sending debris flying. Listen for a second to the sheer power behind this [ winds howling ] i mean, that sounds like the gods screaming. Thats a crazy, crazy sound. Hurricane hunters are recording this very video as they flew through the raging storm and into the eye. The Virgin Islands and puerto rico could be next today. Florida is facing a coast to coast threat. Governor rick scott could not be more serious saying if youre told to evacuate, get out of town. The storm is wider than the peninsula itself. Its path subject to last minute pivots and were live across the impact zone with everything you need to know right now. Moments ago we received brandnew numbers on irmas strength and projected path. Nbc meteorologist dylan dreyer joins us now. Its over waters and here it is, moving about to approach the british Virgin Islands. I want to show the eye of the storm. If you were in space and could look down at the clouds, this is exactly what it looks like. You can see really that well defined eye and from a hurricane standpoint, this thing is about as perfect as it gets. Now, it does still have winds at 185 Miles Per Hour, just hearing that video you show, just shows you the intensity of winds that strong. Moving westnorthwest at 16 Miles Per Hour. Its looking like its going to stay to the north of puerto rico and north of hispaniola and north of cuba which means theres not a lot of land mass that will break this thing down and cause it to weaken. It is expected to maintain its strength as a hurricane five as it moves through turks and caicos and bahamas and even as it weak ens to a 4, that still has winds up to 145 Miles Per Hour. Extremely intense. That takes us to sunday morning. Lets talk about the storm surge. Because in the turks and caicos and also in the bahamas, we could see a 15 to 20foot storm surge in addition to the winds we are expecting. Lets take this out. As far as the computer models. We look at various different computer models to see where this storm is forecast to go. Remember, as we get into the sunday, monday, time frame thats still very far from right now. A lot will change. Heres where were seeing a lot of unity with these models through the turks and caicos as we go into friday. Then as we go into saturday, its going to basically go in between cuba and withbahamas an forecasting in northward turn, where it happens thats where we have questions in the forecast. Some models keep it to the east of florida. Some have it going through florida and up into the carolinas. Either way Hurricane Force winds extend 50 miles out from the center of the storm. Tropical Storm Force Winds extend 17 5 miles out. Even if this storm is not a direct hit, theres still a lot of impacts near the center of this storm. We really do have to focus on florida and georgia and the caroli carolinas, were not 100 certain who exactly will be affected but its the forecast we need to follow and make your plans now. Those warm waters, its like the magic evil ee lix ir for these storms. Thanks. Lets go to Morgan Ratford in san juan, purt reerto rico. Reporter this storm is no joke. We saw a huge band come through and in the past few minutes significant changes. The wind has picked up and waters are becoming choppier. Weve seen the shoreline rise about 2 or 3 feet. Just to give you a sense of things, as people are preparing for this storm, weve seen three things. One people have been in line wrapped around the grocery store, trying to get last minute nonperishables and those shelters are starting to fill up. Entire families are going to one of those 456 emergency shelters set up all throughout the island and bringing families for food and shelter and protection and water and backup generators and people here are stuck and stranded. Even those who tried to evacuate cannot get out. 150 flights have been canceled here coming in out of the city of san juan. Well keep you updated throughout the day as the storm moves in. People are hunkering down and preparing for what could be the harshest part of the storm later in the day and later this afternoon. The National Guard and fema said the number one priority is going to be saving lives and well keep you posted. Saving lives top prioritied. That was Morgan Ratford in san juan, puerto rico. Pld trump tweeting this morning. No rest for the wery, trump did not mention puerto rico, a u. S. Territory already feeling the effects. Governor Ricardo Rossello joins us. Thank you for being with us. What are you doing in puerto rico to be ready for this . Well, thank you for the opportunity ali and stephanie. Weve been working on provisional plans for the past five months, believe it or not. Puerto rico almost seems to be in the cross hairs of hurricanes. It was important as we got into the administration we had a team ready and able to executive. Weve implemented emergency protocols since last week and established 460 shelters of people that are in vulnerable positions and flooding areas and of course that would receive the brunt of the strong winds can actually move and be safe. That is the top priority. I am going around the island as we speak, making sure that the shelters are ready, that the people are moving in, making sure that seeing what the Energy Infrastructure is looking like for puerto rico so people can have information about that. But priority number one now is save being lives and making sure people are safe. Governor, without this storm, puerto rico was in serious financial strain, just last night i spoke to Real Estate Developers in san juan that said they are seriously concerned about the kind of support the u. S. Government will give to puerto rico if need be. Do you share that sent. And fear . Yesterday we read you had 15 million bucks prepared. That is nothing compared to what you could need. Right, well, internally on the local front, we have 15 million plus an additional 90 million for yesterday President Trump signed a prelandfall Emergency Declaration which facilitates resources coming into puerto rico, allowing us to be prepared and allowing us to make expenditures necessary at this juncture so we can guarantee one thing and that is the safety of the people of puerto rico. We already have the protocols in place as well during the storm and post storm. We want to make sure the people of puerto rico are aware that fema has been working hand in hand with our government that there are instruments such as the application that fema holds so that as with harvey, the people can make reclamations, with harvey, over half a million used that to make their reclamations and we feel there will be a powerful tool here as well in puerto rico. I know infrastructure is a worry and theres uncertainty about the storm. What we know its going to be strong. We hope it skips off a little bit off to the north but the most recent information actually has it coming closer to puerto rico. Were trying to make everybody aware of the seriousness of this situation. Making sure that people leave that live in housing that doesnt have the infrastructure necessary to support the high level sustained winds, that they can go to the shelters in place and making sure those people in flooding zones have been or will be evacuated within the next couple of hours. Governor, thank you so much. Please be safe, sending you and the people of puerto rico our best. Well stay on top of this throughout the entire hurricane no matter where it goes to report whats going on. Gabe gate feutierrez is live in keys. This is a place with a lot of touri tourists, they have a mandatory Evacuation Order and there are a lot of cars. Look behind gabe, thats it, in order to get to the keys, key larg go at the base, theres only one road in, one road out. Gabe . Reporter thats right, ali and steph. U. S. 1. This is the exodus, something weve seen throughout the morning. A steady stream of cars trying to get out of the keys. Schools are closed and they are evacuating tourists. The mandatory evacuations for all residents will begin later today into tonight u to our north in miamidade county, authorities have said they expect to start the evacuations as early as today. Now Florida Governor rick scott says that this is going to be a bigger, faster, stronger storm than hurricane andrew and around here that gets a lot of attention. Back in 1992, 25 years ago last month, category 5 storm, winds 165 Miles Per Hour. Irma were talking about 185 Miles Per Hour. You remember how much damage andrew did to places like homestead. There is concern here and authorities are saying that this could be just as dangerous. We have talked to a couple of residents on the ground here in key west. They do welcome the shift a little east. They seem to think that might work out better for them at least where im standing, however the authorities are saying, dont be fooled. Who knows exactly where its going to hit. It could affect the east coast places like miami and go up the east coast into georgia and carolinas. Millions across the east coast are watching this closely. You heard the reports there from morgan as puerto rico braces for impact. In the keys, what were seeing is this exodus happening throughout the day and seen a run on gas and supplies. Bottled water is getting tougher to come by, though Authorities Say stores are trying to restock. You have time to get supplies but if youre in a mandatory ee vak situation zone, you have to leave. As concerning as that exodus is, it should give you comfort that people so far ahead of time while skies are blue are getting out of town. Thank you gabe gutierrez. I was watching you on tv the governor of florida was saying its going to be bigger and faster and stronger than andrew. And remember a week ago there were people who didnt leave their homes ahead of harvey, some because they couldnt have afforded it. If the governor says get out, please follow his warning. Joining us is the mayor of monroe county, george nugent. Mayor, i understand you spoke to governor rick scott this morning. Tell me whats developed . You pretty much described most of it by your reporting. Ali, i want to thank you guys because hyperbole does not describe this storm. It is so devastatingly large, big and its something so we cant impress on our residents enough to get out of the florida keys, were so vulnerable to situations that can happen and were experiencing some fuel shortages that the governor pointed out but were trying to do restocking as soon as possible. I havent seen anybody eventually out of gas but the lines are long with the people that are evacuating. They are doing what were asking them to do. We have a mandatory evacuation going on since 7 00 a. M. Yesterday. So were preparing and the governor is showing the necessary attention to the most vulnerable place in the state of florida with the storm bearing down on us. Thats a good thing but we are prepared. The evacuation is going well and we pray for those people in puerto rico and other places who have already had the impacts of this storm. Mayor, can you speak to the challenges of the fact to get to the keys, theres simply one road in and one road out. When you look at traffic like that, that looks like a sunday afternoon, people going to alabama jacks but its not a nice sunday. People are desperately trying to get out of town. If that road gets significantly more backed up, then what . We think we still have plenty of time to evacuate those who are evacuating. We do not shelter in place with a cat 3 or above storm. So these people need to get out or they will wind up in weve had storms that have scared some people in the past that didnt evacuate. This storm has no comparison. Its going to be larger and stronger than andrew as you guys pointed out. So they need to get out of here and we will get them out of here and off the road but as long as this is a steady yesterday i was coming back from key larg go and it was just a steady stream of cars all night and starting again this morning of people leaving the keys. So right now thats not a big concern. We feel like that anybody that wants to evacuate will be able to do that. We hope they do. Mayor, thanks very much. We wish you continued good luck. Well continue to spread the word so people in there make the decision to do. George neugent of monroe county. President trump just made more comments about this hurricane, were going to be hearing from him but this idea they dont shelter in place above category 3. Put in per inspect i have been, today is the day congress is voting on relief funding for harvey. Harvey happened just a week ago. Many people havent even made it back to their homes. Their homes where they lost everything and now here we are looking at another major storm. Lets get right now to theed from whos making comments. Lets listen in. Thank you very much. We have the congressional leaders here with us today and we have a lot to discuss including the fact that theres a new and seems to be record breaking hurricane heading right toward florida and puerto rico and other places. Well see what happens. Well know in a very short period of time but it looks like it will be something that will be not good, believe me, not good. We have many, many things that are on the plate. Hopefully we can solve them in a rational way and maybe we wont be able to. Well probably know pretty much at the end of this meeting or the meetings that well be having over a short period of time. But our country has a lot of great assets and we have some liabilities we have to work out. Well see if we can do that. I appreciate everybody being here. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Nancy and chuck, thank you very much. And thank you. Mr. President , are you willing to the debt ceiling thanks, guys. Well see. No second thoughts. Congress do something about daca rerecipients . I certainly hope they do. Thank you. All right, no second thoughts when asked about the decision he made on daca, which is interesting because theres some reporting there might be second thoughts. Its confusing to what the president decides. I mean, when you think about the statement Jeff Sessions put out yesterday morning and it was all about law and order, Jeff Sessions making the arguments with the last administration did was violate the law. Then we heard from the president last night, suddenly it was hopes and dreams aej compassion. Im not sure where the white house stands. He was also asked whether congress is going to fix daca in the next six months and he said i hope they do. I certainly hope they do. And marco rubio said we cant do it without you, boss. John harwood, cnbcs editor in large listening with this. Theres a lot of president has got to get done here, john. Theyve got 11 more days. 11 working days. With a very big list that has to start with harvey relief, whatever happens with irma, government has to not shut down at the end of the month. They are talking about tax reform, president is giving a speech later today and talking about repealing obamacare by the end of the month because otherwise they have to get 60 votes to do it. Thats an impossible list for congress that actually gets things done. It is an impossible list. What we saw from the president a moment ago is that he is not sure of the path forward and to stephanies point, hes not sent a clear signal as to what he wants congress to do about daca. That revisit the issue tweet that he sent out last night undercut the position that he was establishing earlier in the day yesterday. What were now seeing is that you know, throughout this year, as donald trump has stumbled and made mistakes in the Republican Congress failed to repeal and replace obamacare, everybody said whats going to happen when there is when theres a crisis not of his own making, thats not selfcreated that hits him and hes got to respond to it. Were in that moment now. And its changing the calculus for Everything Else that has to be done. Its crowded the september agenda and money going to be needed, guys, to respond to harvey and respond to irma, is going to make it harder for them to pass a big tax cut because the democrats are going to have something to say about this. Theyve got to raise the debt limit and democrats are setting conditions on their cooperation. Take the democrats and put them aside. How about republicans . One of the Problems Congress faced with with regard to health care, republican ideals and what President Trump promised on the campaign trail were two very different things. Where are we going to stand . We know theres already divides within the Republican Party on tax reform. How about the Republican Party and what President Trump has offered to his base . Well, the problem that republicans have in governing, stephanie, which predates President Trump is the responsiveness and the reliance on a base that makes more and more zelous demands, were talking about older whites, especially working class whites. And the pressure they put on members who fear primary challenges have caused them to say things and advocate things that dont have Popular Support and dont have legislative support. So the promise of an easy and fast repeal and replacement for obamacare, that was not born out because there wasnt public support for it. The same is true of the president s plan to immediately roll back daca. He delayed that until now. And then when he rolled it out and there was tremendous pushback, he then sent out that second tweet last night. This is a president buffetted from moment to moment by how he feels and what response he gets from the audience that he is paying attention to at that moment. Then youve gtot a Republican Party enthralled to the base and has difficulty doing things with broad support in a diverse country that is simply different than what the base of the Republican Party once thought was its rightful control. Buff eted makes me think of Warren Buffett who signed on with Mark Zuckerberg who urged the president to save the dra d. R. E. A. M. Ers program. A lot want the d. R. E. A. M. Ers program and microsoft said if you want to come after d. R. E. A. M. Ers, youll have to go through microsoft. Theyll take care of the legal bills. While were on the issue of taxes, donald trump has tweeted out hes going to north dakota and talking retax reform and tax cuts thats not true, not true. Lets be clear on this. Were not even he may have meant to say the highest Corporate Tax rate in the world, which again is not true. I dont know why the president does this, it gets exhausted. Kellyanne conway was on cnbc and asked about it and said he must mean the Corporate Tax. To be clear, the u. S. Doesnt even have the highest Corporate Tax rate world. It does in the developed rate but its a statry rate which most dont pay. If you average it out its substantially lower. Peoples wallets and savings and moneys, millions vote based on taxes. It is extraordinary that the president is having yet another unforced error actively putting a tweet out there that needs to be qualified and corrected by his own team. Unbelievable. United arab emirates, they are high her. Joining us now, alberto gonzales, the author of true faith and allegiance. Service and sacrifice in war and peace. Thank you for joining us. Good morning. Lets talk a little bit about this situation with the d. R. E. A. M. Ers and daca. This has obviously been an issue. The children of undocumented immigrants into the United States who have been here a long time but came here illegally. Something that president s have struggled with for a long time. What are your thoughts on the approach this administration is now taking . Listen, i believe that these d. R. E. A. M. Ers should be provided an opportunity to stay in this country under some kind of legal status, or legal presence. I think majority of americans believe that. The question is how is the best way to achieve it. One way of course is through an executive order which is a temporary solution and i think there is serious questions as to the legality of the president exercising this authority. Much more i think a wiser, much more permanent solution is to have this dealt with through legislation and so the president put into place where its now the deference is to the congress where it should have been in the first laplace in my judgment. It affects our economy. It affect the very essence of who we are as a country. Im optimistic that congress will at the end of the day reach legislation and present it to the president. I think the president missed an opportunity. While its not my place to advice the president of the United States, he may have been better served in making this announcement and legislation that he would support and present to congress. That would start the debate as to what the president believes is appropriate in this situation. As it relates to d. R. E. A. M. Ers contribution to society, to the economy, weve heard from governors and heard from ceos who have said we would lose in the billions in terms of gdp. I want to talk about attorney general Jeff Sessions, he said the d. R. E. A. M. Ers program that president obama created back in june of 2012 is unconstitutional. According to sessions he says it violates the separation and powers and couldnt defend it in court. What do you make of that argument . If you look at the constitution, the questions relating to immigration and naturalization, they reside with the congress. Thats very clear. Now clearly congress can dell gate that to the president of the United States. No such delegation in my judgment appeared in this particular case. I think there are serious questions as to the legality of what president obama did. Obviously there are scholars who argue otherwise but lets eliminate the uncertainty and lets provide a more permanent solution to this issue and that can only be achieved through the legislative process. All right, former attorney general alberto gonzales, thank you for being with us. Thanks for having me. Millions of americans are about to be hit by a powerful category 5, weve got to say it again, category 5 Hurricane Irma, extraordinary. This thing is coming dangerously close to puerto rico, possibly haiti which certainly cant afford it and this thing could be hitting mainland usa within days. Well have the latest track and what to expect as this potentially catastrophic storm closes in. Youre watching quts vel svels live on msnbc. Stay with us. music plays throughout theres nothing more important than your health. So if youre on medicare or will be soon, you may want more than parts a and b heres why. Medicare only covers about 80 of your part b medical expenses. The rest is up to you. You might want to consider an aarp Medicare Supplement insurance plan, insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. Like any Medicare Supplement insurance plan, these help pick up some of what medicare doesnt pay. And, these plans let you choose any doctor or hospital that accepts medicare patients. 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The relief package is expected to pass overwhelmingly despite adding a bill to lift the debt ceiling that some republicans oppose. House and Senate Members will receive closed briefings on north korea and afghanistan this afternoon. The briefings come just days after south korean media warns of another potential long range missile test from north korea this week. New jersey senator Robert Menendez began his federal trial on bribery charges, accused of accepting extensive vacations and money in exchange for political influence. He says he did nothing illegal. Donald trump jr. Is preparing to meet with Senate Judiciary staffers that will reportedly happen tomorrow. Theyll be discussing any potential contact between the 2016 Trump Campaign and russia. Trump jr. Met of course with the russian lawyer in june of 2016 and hell be the First Campaign member from that meeting to speak with the committee. Lets go back to Hurricane Irma now. Different kind of storm. One of the most powerful hurricanes on record. Listen. [ wind ] look that, flootding and damage. That was the scene this morning in saint martin. As a category 5 when it came onshore. Were hearing reports the entire island has lost electricity. New video in from the last hour in puerto rico starting to feel effects of irma. The storm is 140 miles east of the u. S. Territory. Its expected to hit later today or early thursday. Florida governor rick scott is urging residents to prepare right now. It is bigger and faster and stronger than hurricane andrew and coaffect the entire state. Evacuation orders are up for the florida keys and more could be coming. Rehema ellis is in the abobaa mas where what is being called the largest storm evacuation in the countrys history. Youre in nassau, we saw people on the beach and people snorkeling. At this point whats happened . Reporter same thing, well have jeff pan over here. This is one of the most beautiful places on the planet. This is that is nassau, why people come here, Crystal Clear beautiful waters and people still frolicing in this. This is under a watch and the reason is because its in a hurricane lane. Its the reason that southeastern bahamas is being evacuated. Where are those people going . Many will be coming here to nassau. They are opening 26 Evacuation Center here in order to accommodate people and take care of folks in nasa a New Providence where they might feel the need to leave their homes. They are expecting storm surge winds of 20 to 25 Miles Per Hour to hit this area and this is a coastal community. Its low lying. They expect they are going to get pounded with flood waters as they did back with Hurricane Matthew just last year. What are people doing . They are getting prepared. Take a look at these pictures. We have shots of people boarding up houses and businesses. Stocking up on all kinds of supplies to get into their carts and cars and getting gasoline and were told there is enough gasoline to go around so there shouldnt be any gouging of prices and storing up on water. Theyve got big water tanks in the area and people bringing these 5 gallon water jugs in order to get themselves as much water as they can store in the event power goes down. They are afraid thats going to happen right here. Rehema em list in tllis, tha. Lets go to ft. Lauderdale. Mayor jack siler is standing by. Mayor, welcome to you. To be clear, youre a little farther up the coast there. What are you expecting and what are you preparing for . Are people evacuating . Is it likely to become mandatory . How do things stand up there. As of right now we havent instituted mandatory evacuations but were encouraging people that if they do have a safe area to go to with family and friends, to make those arrangements to move out by friday. But right now the mandatory evacuation has not been issued but we do have low lying areas and Barrier Islands and lower parts of ft. Lauderdale that we may be instituting a mandatory evacuations after we get the next couple of updates on this hurricane. Then people who are evacuating from say key largo, are they coming to ft. Lauderdale . Some are coming up this way. I think everybody is kind of watching this storm like you all are doing, doing such a great job covering it. Everybody is watching this storm. I dont think ft. Lauderdale will be the end destination for those evacuating the keys. When you look at the track of this, i think people probably will be heading farther north and right now it looks like its going to come across the miami ft. Lauderdale West Palm Beach area. Weve been here for. Ive been here all my life and been through a number of these storms but i would encourage people coming from the keys to perhaps go further north because we here in fort lauderdat. Laud low lying areas and we have enough issues were having to deal with but were ready, were prepared. Weve been prepared for this for many years. Got a lot of people in apartments in ft. Lauderdale and they may think they are safe because they are higher up. What are infrastructure issues that people maybe not from the area will be thinking about, services you may not have as a result of this. Great point. Weve talked about this and set up so many different ways for the public to be informed through social media, emails and code red system and alert system. Youre absolutely right, the infrastructure issues, weve had storm water issues here in ft. Lauderdale for years. Weve been addressing it and put over 200 valves in place in terms of addressing storm water during regular times and now with a surge that were seeing on television there, this could be a substantial storm surge and could impact water, sewer and our storm water drainage as well as some of the utilities that are here in the city. Remember, ft. Lauderdale is 106 years old as a city. A lot of our infrastructure was put in place years ago and we upgrade it and its an ongoing effort and were making sure that were testing everything today, tomorrow and into friday so that were ready for this storm. How is this storm different . Florida has faced many storms and tgs hurricane season. How is irma different . Just the size of it, the wind, the overall immense size of it. And the storm surge issue, many of you may remember sandy that hit up the coast east coast towards you all a few years back, well, just the storm surge from sandy, even though it did not come ashore in ft. Lauderdale actually washed out part of a 1a and we had the storm surge and those three factors took out a part of our a1a and took us a few months to fully restore that. So that alone can create serious problems. You add with it the wind and heavy rains and god bless what we saw in texas with all of that water. And were looking like this could have as much water. Were keeping those areas already affected in our thoughts and prayers as it moves across to florida. And just a week and a half ago dealing with the issues in texas. This could be the biggest storm that we faced in south florida in many, many years. Everybody is comparing it to andrew but at this point, this looks like its actually a bigger storm than andrew. Mayor, good to see you. We wish you the best. Well stay on top of the story with all of you in south florida. Thank you, sir. Thank you for keeping everybody informed. We want the storm to go east. Joining us on the phone is hector yavat, the head of Public Information for the Miamidade Police department. Miamidade, ft. Lauderdale is a little north of miamidade once you get past that lower border, youre now in miamidade, the most pop yyou lous area in all f florida. Lets talk about evacuations. How do you make these decisions about mandatory evacuations versus voluntary and what are you suggesting that people do . Well, those decisions are made by our county mayor, carlos jim thez they are going to be after press conference shortly where those decisions will be made. The main thing we want the community to know, if you are in an evacuation zone, sometimes people are not aware of, make sure they know if they are in a zone. If they have plans already in place to not weather the storm here, to go ahead and initiate those plans now and dont wait for the mandatory evacuation. But that determination once its made, we have systems in place to help get the traffic out orderly and make sure that people get to a safe location. Were seeing already long lines for gas in parts of south florida. Are officials monitoring gas supplies and looking for any sort of price gouging . We know what a focus that was in texas. Well, certainly thats one of the key messages we put out early was that price gouging is not going to be tolerated in miamidade county. Thats something thats regulated through the state attorney general and also the local state attorney here. Thats definitely something that we are keeping our eyes on. As a police department, were increasing our visible patrols and making sure that we are near the gas stations in those areas where people are going to get commodities like water and plywood to make sure everybody remains calm and we want everybody to prepare and to plan. Were at the ready phase. Its time to prepare and to initiate your existing plan. All right, major Hector Llevat from the Miamidade Police department. Everybody knows somebody in florida. Its important to have these conversations in light of harvey, that there are some mandatory evacuations and some are voluntary. But think it all through. Right, gas, will there be enough gas . Will there be power . You may not get water, but can you function . Do you need medication . Its just really worth thinking this out ahead of time. Last week in beaumont when the water supply went out. First you lose electricity, then you lose water supply. Some in the miami area who think i live in a high rise, ill be okay until the winds hit and lose electricity. If they are telling you to evacuate, please take that warning seriously. Next, the future of space in the trump era. The president made his pick for the next nasa administrator but many scientists and politicians are against his choice. Well speak with astronaut and Major General charles boulden, the most recent that nasa administrator. In light of the ongoing fight against confederate monuments in this country, we want to introduce you to monumental americans who may be deserving of a statue, katherine johnson, a physicist and math me tigs whose brilliant mind led america into space. Born in 1918 and showed early froms in math but had to attend a special high school because they only taught until the eighth grade. She graduated at 14. Graduated college at 18 and eventually she worked for nasa where she made pioneering calculations and was nicknamed the human computer. Her work led to the success of the Apollo Moon Landing Program and Space Shuttle program. She received a medal of honor from president obama in 2015. Today shes 99 years old. Looking for somebody to build a monument to, for, thats your lady. 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Call geico and see how easy it is to switch and save on homeowners insurance. The unpredictability of a flaree may weigh on your mind. Thinking about what to avoid, where to go, and how to work around your uc. Thats how i thought it had to be. But then i talked to my doctor about humira, and learned humira can help get and keep uc under control. When certain medications havent worked well enough. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Raise your expectations and ask your gastroenterologist if humira may be right for you. With humira, control is possible. Welcome back, these are satellite pictures of Hurricane Irmas eye coming from nasa. The eye is about 28 miles wide. The entire storm is more than 400 miles across. When were talking about the vast size of the storm and florida, and all of those caribbean islands, this thing is bigger than all of it. Thats the reason this is so scary. The category 5 storm will come very close to puerto rico later today or this evening. It is the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin outside of the Caribbean Sea and gulf of mexico. For decades nasa has been instrumental to provide disasters. Joining us now is Major General charles boldon, the nations most recent nasa administrator, resigned on january 20th. Thank you for being here. Great to see you. No particular importance of the date, january 20th. First of all, you were just in houston. You lived in houston for 20 years. What were your thoughts on harvey and what it has done to the city . Ali, first of all, thank you for allowing me to be here and the tribute to Catherine Johnson. I would say we really need for people to keep the focus of houston and to go through my neighborhood, the resilience of the people is what is most important. Everybody is saying it could have been worse. Everybody digging in and helping each other all up and down the streets throughout the communities. It could be worse in florida. The Johnson Space center in houston was relatively unscathed by harvey. The Kennedy Space center is along the east coast of florida and could face irmas wrath. How do you think theyre preparing . There are some sensitive equipment there. Bob cabana, the base commander there, the senator director, has been through a number of these. Hes got an Incredible Team in place. Theyre battening down the hatches and theyll be prepared to go through this. The big thing is to protect the infrastructure, the launchpads and the facilities, and im certain that theyre well ahead in getting that done. Lets talk about the role that nasa plays in predicting these kinds of natural disasters. One thing that makes it so much better than it was 100 years ago is nasa uses its technology to really help on day to day stuff. A lot of people think of nasa as space, and removed from all of the stuff we do, but a lot of this is nasa technology. It is. The thing that people fail to understand a lot of times is that we work in partnership with no noaa, other federal agencies. We provide the equipment and technology and they put it to use. We got dr. Peggy whitsen back from the International Space station after setting an incredible record for Long Duration there. Peggy was involved with her crew members in giving imagery down to us each day. You see every day, imagery that comes from the International Space station and whole fleet of nasa satellites fed to the National Weather service and our partners around the world. Lets talk more about the future Peggy Whitson is another person we talked about having a monument to, shes that impressive. Nasa gives us lots of impressive people. I would put Catherine Johnson first, Peggy Whitson second. I could give you a lot more. We appreciate that. Knowing about all the women who have been Ground Breakers and pioneers in science and space is go to be very useful. Thank you. I want to talk more, though, about the future of nasa. President trump just nominated Republican Congressman jim bradenstein of oklahoma. Hes a former executive director of the tulsa air and space museum and he served in the u. S. Navy. Now, im not asking you to criticize the guy who got the job after you, but there is a lot of criticism over his pick. Hes the first politician who could take over this post. Hes not a scientist. And in the past, hes suggested he doesnt believe in climate change. If youre asking for a comment, you know, stephanie, ill tell you, the folks at nasa are very professional, the career folk there. Nasa has been the best place to work in the federal government for five years running now. It is not because of any politician or political appointee who comes in, it is because of the workforce. They will continue to be very professional. He could come in and fold his arms, which would probably be a very smart thing and over the next two years the nation and the world will see nasa accomplish some things that we have been working on for quite some time now. And he will get the credit for it. I would say he has a Bright Future as the nasa administrator, if he will do what he learned in the navy, which is to listen to the chiefs, and take care of your people and theyll take care of you. Those are the two things i would tell him. Nasa is a slow burn in a lot of ways. It is hard work that has been done for decades there are people who are doing things that have been researched for a long time. President trump signed a bill to increase nasas budget to 19. 5 billion. He wants nasa to focus on human exploration of deep space and mars. Now that we have got the commercial space plans, which can help with shuttling things on commercial vessels, is that where nasa can go next . Nasa has been going to mars since about 50 years now. And were now focusing things to president obama and his support, focusing on trying to get humans to mars in the 2030s. Commercial space is a critical, important place plays an Important Role in that. We want them to take over the earths orbit so nasa can push out to do the deep space exp exploration. The decade of the 20s, working with the international partners, i cannot overemphasize the critical importance of our International Collaboration and that will be a challenge for representative bridenstein. That person is the voice and face of nasa around the world and it will be critical for them to be an internationalist and not think that nasa can do everything or the u. S. Can do everything. Major general, thank you so much for joining us this morning. Major general charles boldon. I can see a monument in his likeness. Hes an impressive, impressive man. A great american. Good to see you. Thank you very much. Breaking news, watching Hurricane Irma passing near puerto rico right now as a category 5. This hour, were going to have more indications around irma. This could hit the east coast of florida, including millions of people in miami. Well be right back. Time for your business of the week. Margarita making robots, dufrnk tanks filled with flames, founded by two friends who loved making interactive art, the Company Makes experiential entertainment for clients ranging from microsoft to pepsi. For more, watch your business weekend mornings at 7 30 on msnbc. 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Thank you for watching us. The chemistry with this guy somebody tweeted us saying we had bad chemistry. We have to talk about this. We have a meeting after the show. Thats it for velshi ruhle. Im velshi. Shes ruhle. Connect with our show. Right now, time for Andrea Mitchell reports. Speaking on my behalf, im ruhle. And right now, on Andrea Mitchell reports, monster storm, one of the strongest hurricanes ever seen in the atlantic closing in on the Virgin Islands now with 185 miles an hour sustained winds. As it barrels toward the u. S. , florida is bracing for impact. Issuing mandatory evacuations and warning residents to prepare for the worst. Look at the size and scope of this storm system. 420 miles in diameter. The Tropical Force Winds extend out in diameter 300 miles. Now, along the florida peninsula, it is only 140 miles across. And so theoretically we would be looking at a coast to coast threat. The today shows al roker joining us with the