You from the nbc news center here in los angeles. Welcome everyone to alex witt reports. We begin with the Breaking News, Tropical Storm hilary has begun lashing the pacific coast. Live pictures from san diego in the direct path of the storm we are heavy rain is beginning to fall in parts of california, and now under a State Of Emergency. Moving to las vegas, preparations for the orders are underway there. Storm drains are being tested, and potential for historic flooding there. Heavy rain could reach up to ten inches in some areas hit by the storms. So the impact could be catastrophic. The next two days will be crucial. Will hilary move north through california today and then into Northern Nevada by monday morning. A short time ago, the category one hurricane was downgraded to a Tropical Storm. But it is the first to hit california since 1939. Officials are warning, take this seriously. There would be Power Outages, make no mistake. There will be Power Outages across Southern California. The total rain amounts are not like what weve seen in some of the atlantic storms and gulf storms. But its gonna really be potentially devastating for them in these desert areas. And so, theyre gonna have impacts for sure. It is critical that angelina stays safe and stays home, unless otherwise directed by safety officials. Avoid unnecessary travel. If you do not need to be on the road, please dont get in your car. Weve got reporters in the field, and meteorologists ready to cover every angle of the storm for you. As i welcome you both, nbcs reporter joining us from san diego, which pretty much, it is in the Bulls Eye Of The Storm at this time. I mean, it looks okay at the moment, but give us an update. Alex, we are getting the first rain here in downtown san diego. Yes, we are right in the path of the storm. Now, we do have the city of twang in mexico and in sonata, which are large urban areas where the storm will come before it enters the United States. So authorities here of course have been talking about the flooding, the possibility of flash floods, and that is really what residents have been preparing for the most in the san diego area. San diego is a city with a lot of hills. Residents that live in those low areas know what they can expect with a lot of rain. Of course, we have been talking about the fact that no one here who is from san diego and and has always lived in san diego, no one practically lived through a Tropical Storm. They dont know what to expect. Authorities want people to protect their homes as best as they can. They have different locations where they gave away sand and sandbags for people to bring some of those home. They ask residents also to have food and water. And the power company, as you mentioned earlier, has communicated to customers about the possibility of outages. I spoke with a resident here yesterday who showed me a text message that informed him that those Power Outages could be extended once the storm arrives. For now, it is a lot of waiting here in san diego. And i will say that the east part of the county here, as well as the counties going into the northern part of Southern California, which is where palm springs is, San Bernardino area, they are expected to get the heaviest rain. The forecast indicates we will get a lot of rain here. But for some reason, it is the east part where they are expecting more rain. And there is a big difference, when you look at the geography in Southern California, alex, there is a lot of mountains and hills closer to the coast. Once you get over into the deserts, these are valleys that are flat. So, of course, the flash floods would be different. And thats where a lot of the customers, or the residents, that is, in those areas are very worried about. Were going to hear from someone who has been preparing in palm springs area. I wasnt worried until about an hour ago, and i started watching the news. And then i thought people here, and i started to get worried. In california, we never have this. I think this is a testament to the fact that they werent concerned at first, but as the news gets worse and worse, the national news, the local news, i dont want my house to be overflowing, Swimming Pool and authorities have not allocated the necessary resources here in california. The governor declaring that State Of Emergency, local governments in San Diego County and l. A. County also declaring a local emergency to make resources available, ready to go once the bulk of that storm hits Southern California. Alex . Okay, guad, thank you for keeping a very close eye on things in san diego, south of where i am right now. Lets go to and msnbc meteorologist Michelle Grossman whos tracking this storm for us. First question, how worried should people in the path of this storm the . Hi there, alex. We have a potentially lifethreatening situation. And it will be catastrophic in some spots. We are looking at up to ten inches of. Rain it will be three inches per hour in some spots. Were gonna start to see the rain picking up over the next several hours. Here is the latest on hilary, because we are looking at winds 70 Miles Per Hour. Thats where the difference between a hurricane and a Tropical Storm. We saw those winds decrease. We are still looking at the impact, really great as we go to the next couple of hours. We are looking at the movement northwest of 25 Miles Per Hour. It should pass over san diego later on this evening. It is about 20 miles south, southeast of san diego. California, where you see those darker colors, yellows, thats where we are seeing the heaviest rain falling. He was the timing on the storm, hilary, as we go throughout the afternoon evening hours. This is local time. Sunday, 5 00, right near san diego. Thats where we are expecting the heaviest amount of rain. And guad touched upon this. We are expecting heavy rain in the desert, specifically dangerous, because soil is really packed, its dry. Theres not a lot of vegetation to soak up this rain. So everything becomes runoff. And we are expecting up to ten inches in some spots. Because of that, we have 26 Million People impacted by those storms. They stretch from Southern California into arizona, also utah, nevada, as far north as idaho. In boise, idaho, also under a flood alerts, were gonna see this Rain Flooding to the north through tomorrow morning. Its not just this afternoon, this evening, it is into tomorrow morning where were going to see the impacts of this storm. As we look at radar right now, we are seeing some Heavy Rain Falling East of los angeles, east of san diego. But passing through the cities as well, again, where you see those brighter colors, yellow especially, that is where we are seeing the moderate rainfall. Were gonna see this picking up over the next couple of hours. How much are we expecting . The reds, the oranges, the yellows, that is telling us where we expect the highest amounts of rain. East of los angeles, east of san diego, in the desert, up to five inches, six inches, even ten inches. That would be isolated. But that would be really dangerous as well. As a result, we have a Flash Flood Risk for looking at river flooding, we are looking at flash flooding, we are looking at mudslides, landslides, debris flows as we go throughout the next 12 hours. When fall rates, up to three inches per hour, especially where you see that darker blue. That is a slight risk, thats a higher risk for flash flooding. And of course, we need to talk about when. Yes, they decrease. But we are still talking about winds gusting 70 Miles Per Hour in yuma, and certain point as we go throughout monday, san francisco, 43 Miles Per Hour. Remember, the ground is gonna be so saturated, trees coming down, power lines coming down as a result, were gonna see some Power Outages. Alex . Dow yeah, you gotta worry about the desert flash flooding. That is for. So im glad you gave us the heads up on that. Let me ask you quickly, though, what is the difference between this huge rainfall that you are getting right now, and you remember what Southern California but back in january, because that was a recordbreaking storm. I mean, the l. A. River adjacent to where i am in the studio in l. A. , i cant believe how high it was. Ive never seen it like that. I know. And you know, that was historic. And weve talked about it for months and months and months. And that was the difference. It was days, days, months event. So we had atmospheric rivers over and over again. That blocking pattern, that connection to Climate Change where things move very slowly, the jet stream moves. Down certainly like rivers in the sky. The difference was we had high amounts of rain. It was a rainy season. But it was a longer duration. So youve had days and days of rain that added up to a lot of historical rain. Now, in this case, we are looking at tropical moisture, it is like a sponge, you squeeze it out. And were gonna get a deluge of rain. Its gonna come quickly. In a day, we could see up to ten inches of rain. So, speaking of tropical systems as a sponge, they just hold a lot of moisture. And again, thats the Climate Connection as well. Were gonna have stronger, longer, more powerful storms. We are gonna see storms like never seen before. In this case, we havent seen a direct hit since authorities. Thats the main difference. Historic, but its gonna be really historic as well. And scary fascinating, as people continue to break in roadways, mudslides, landslides as well. Alex . Roadways the sponge analogy, is a very good explanation. Thank you, michelle crossbrook, following that. We have more news developing this hour, starting this new reporting in the Trump Classified documents case. Sources familiar with the matter tell abc news that former white house Chief Of Staff mark meadows told Special Counsel Investigators that he could not recall trump ever ordering the classification of or discussing the documents in question before leaving office. Now, this contradicts trumps Public Defense that he declassified all materials. In a statement to abc news, a trump spokesperson, without evidence, accused the Justice Department of selectively leaking incomplete information to impact the 2024 election. Now, nbc news has not yet independently verified this report. It has reached out to donald trump. Mark meadows, as well as the Special Counsel for comment. Trump, though, and his 18 codefendants now have five days to surrender at the Fulton County jail in georgia, on racketeering and conspiracy charges. As legal issues grow for the former president , a republican senator today is urging him to stop his reelection bid. Do you think that trump should drop out of the race . I think so. But obviously, that is up to him. I mean, you are just asking me an opinion. But he would lose to joe biden, if you look at the current polls. A new poll shows trump, though, holding his largest lead yet among republican candidates. 62 of that, likely gop primary voters, say they would vote for trump. That is a full 46 points, rather, ahead of the next candidate, ron desantis, who is there with 16. This comes as republicans prepare for the first president ial primary debate this wednesday, which sources say trump will not attend. Earlier today, trumps rivals getting their views on how important the debate could be. I think every one of us that have qualified for that debate stage, or beyond the stage, be willing to square off, answer the tough questions, and also draw a bright line contrast. Once this debate happens this week, its off to the races. Thats when you are going to start to see people really focusing on different candidates, looking at what their options are. And tomorrow, President Biden and the first lady will survey the damage from hawaiis wildfires. Earlier today, governor josh green gave an update, as rescue crews keep searching. More than 1000 unaccounted for, about 1050. It will take several weeks still. Some of the challenges are going to be extraordinary. 85 of the land has been covered. Now, we want to get to larger buildings which required peeling back some of the floors and structures. That last 15 could take weeks. Lets go to atlanta, nbcs Julie Tsirkin on trumps impending appearance at an atlanta jail there. Julie, welcome. What are we hearing from the georgia lawmakers today . We heard from two georgia lawmakers. They both border each others districts. The first one, congresswoman nikema williams, a democrat, of course, who represents the atlanta area. The second congresswoman, Marjorie Taylor greene, republican who represents the district that voters this one. And she, of course, is one of the former president s fiercest allies. You brought up the fact that hes not gonna be on the debate stage on wednesday. She, though, spanning to be there to stand up for the former president , as she did this morning on the sunday show. Take a look to what you have to say, and What Williams had to say as well. Watch. This is a conspiracy, a Grand Conspiracy by the democratic party, to use the Justice System at the federal level, but also in the states, using these state this week attorneys like in georgia, fani willis. They are using this giant collaboration, basically, to affect the 2024 election. What we know in Fulton County is that no one is Above The Law. My district attorney, fani willis, will hold donald trump and anyone else who breaks the law in Fulton County accountable. And, so we are gonna allow this process to play out. Llow thi now congresswoman williams also pointed out the Election Workers Ruby Freeman and shaye moss. We heard about them so much after the 2020 election because they were targeted with Death Threats for just doing their job. They are certainly involved in this indictment handed down to the former president on monday. To set the scene quickly as we are in front of the Fulton County jail, we still havent seen any of the 19 codefendants, not obviously the former president who plans to show up at the end of next week. But none of the 18 codefendants appear to be by the jail behind. Me they have until next friday noon to do so. Alex . Can i ask you quickly, when you say mtg is going to get there to the debate and stand up for President Trump, how exactly does she plan to do . That will she stand up and shout out the moderators, the candidates if she hears something she doesnt like . Is there anything she said this is how i plan to do it . Theres a couple things here, the rnc actually invited former House Members and senators to attend predebate events as well. But according to our reporting, she is planning to show up at this spin room to do some interviews and try to Counter Program the 2024 rivals on that stage and stand in the former president s corner. Obviously, he is not planning to take that stage himself. Gotcha. Okay, that makes a little more sense. Thank you so much, Julie Tsirkin. Meantime, a bombshell report about when mark meadows said to prosecutors about donald trump and those classified documents. Ranking member of the House Intelligence CommitteeCongressman Jim Hines will be joining me in 60 seconds with reaction. Reaction pano ai chooses tmobile for business for 5g solutions. Because tmobile helps pano ai innovate, so they can stop the spread of wildfires. Nows the time to see what americas largest 5g network can do for your business. Feeling sluggish or weighed down . It could be a sign that your digestive system isnt at its best. Metamucil gummies make it easy to get the fiber you need. Promoting your Digestive Health for a better you. Metamucil gummies. The easy way to get your daily fiber. Were back with our brandnew reporting. Sources tell abc News Former White HouseChief Of Staff mark meadows told Special Counsel jack smiths investigators he could not recall trump ever declassifying classified materials before leaving office and we want to know that nbc news has not yet independently verified this report. Again, that statement to the documents in question. Joining me now connecticut congressman jim himes, democratic Ranking Member of the House Intelligence Committee. Welcome, my friend. Im curious, how damni