Particular, what youre talking about, about j. D. Vance, i feel like thats more so more true than ever this year. Yeah. They dont typically matter. But this one may. Yeah. Ne and we dont know which j. D. Vance we may know but we really dont know which one will come Tomorrow Night. So, well see. Ive got a big Rachel Maddow Show style spiel, a big Story T that i think people dont know about vance coming up a little later on in the show. Va oh, good. Thats my Homework Assignment for tonight. Well be watching. T. Thank you, jen. Much appreciated. Thanks at home for joining us this hour. This is one of those News Day where everything is busting out all over. Er theres a lot going on. And a lot of the big news in the country and the world is still developing tonight. So, i have to tell you, tonightn we are keeping our eyes trained on the middle east. A significant expansion in the conflict between Israel And Hezbollah in hebb non. Hezbollah, of course, is the iranbacked Militia Group thats based in lebanon. They are a key ally of hamas. Hezbollah and israel have been Trading Fire for months across the border of those two countries since the Hamas Attack in israel last october. You will also recall that earlier this month, israel, sort of, opened a new foray there. They launched attacks in lebanon that killed dozens of hezbollah members, Injured Thousands of other people, including civilians. Israel then ramped up Air Strikes across lebanon, which killed hundreds of people and displaced hundreds of thousands. They then killed the leader of hezbollah. Well, earlier today, israeli troops were seen massing on the ground near the lebanese border. And now israel has reportedly launched a Ground Incursion over the border Inside Lebanon. This is a big deal. Two u. S. Official telling Nbc News that an israeli Ground Operation has, in fact, begun tonight Inside Lebanon. U. S. Officials have been blunt about the fact that they fear operations like this could sink the whole region into further l and more widespread fighting and chaos. But, again, the news tonight, the developing story, we are keeping our eyes on it. Israeli troops on the ground Inside Lebanon tonight. Ill keep you posted as we learn more. Here at home tonight, news of every imaginable Shape And Size. Tomorrow, of course, is the Vice President ial debate, which is always an interesting point, always, kind of, an unpredictable wildcard in any president ial election because of these two vp candidates this year. I feel like this time at least i submit for your consideration this time, that it will may be worth thinking a little bit harder than usual about this particular debate in advance before it happens. Eb so, as i mentioned to jen at the top of the hour, ive got a lot more coming up on that later on in the show this hour, in particular something that you might not know, something you might have heard about but you might not really know about j. D. Vance in particular. So, weve been working on that I Story for a long time. I have to tell you, ive debated with myself a long time about whether or not to do this story. But its the eve of the debate. Its time to do it. We are going to do it. Thats still ahead later on in the show tonight. We also got major News Today from the fbi, which Just O released its report on Violent Crime in america for the first S Half of this year. According to that new fbi is report, Violent Crime is significantly down in the country for the first half of this year, down by more than 10 . In fact, its down by every metric in the report. Aggravated assault down 8 , robbery down 13 , rape down 17 , murder down more than 22 . So, as donald Trump And J. D. Vance campaign for president and Vice President by saying that america is a crimeinfested hellscape because of Joe Biden and kamala harris, this new report from the fbi may play a role in the Debate Tomorrow, may play a role in the campaign in general. But regardless of the politics, it is good news for the country full stop. Were also watching the ports right now on the East Coast and on the Gulf Coast where the Longshoremans Union has a contract that expires tonight at midnight. And that is really important for the whole country. Theres about 47,000 longshoremen in that union. And in a lot of ways, they are a lynchpin in The American economy at large. The ports along the East Coast and the Gulf Coast that bring goods into this country, those ports literally cant operate without the longshoremen. E and it has been decades since this union has gone on strike. If this strike happens, if it is prolonged, it has real potentiai to cause serious Chaos And Disruption in The American economy, potentially leading to very visible consequences for americans doing their everyday shopping, shortages in the stores, price increases. And that of course would all be happening just a few weeks before the president ial ju election. If this strike happens, its estimated that it will cost the u. S. Economy about 4 Billion every day that it goes on. Again, unless there is a th lastminute agreement at the bargaining table, that potentially very consequential strike is expected to begin tonight at midnight. Like i said, news of every Shape And Size right now, including a lot thats going to be developing over the course of this evening. Weve also still got eyes on georgia, specifically on a gians toxic Gas Plume in rockdale ci county, georgia, east of atlanta. You probably saw the news early yesterday morning. There was a fire that erupted at a Chemical Plant in conyers, georgia. La that fire at the Chemical Plant produced this giant poisonous chlorine cloud. And this isnt out in the middle of nowhere. This is in very well populated georgia. In the immediate aftermath of the fire, Interstate 20 had to d be Shut Down in both directions. I20 has since reopened. But more than 24 hours after thn initial fire, there are still more than 90,000 people who are still under stayathome orders as of today, people who are being advised to not open their windows, not open their doors, not turn on their air conditioning, nothing, all to prevent exposure to these poisonous chlorine fumes. That said, that order has just been lifted, but it was in effect for most of the day today. A very consequential, again, Chemical Plant fire and toxic Gas Plume. And then of course on top of all of that, we have just been consumed in what has happened in the wake of hurricane helene, which has killed at least 121 people across six different states. It has left extensive damage in its wake, particularly in beautiful western North Carolina. The region that has endured what one local official described asf quote, biblical devastation. More than 300,000 people are without power in North Carolina tonight. R the epicenter of the damage in North Carolina appears to be Bunken County, particularly the lovely and historic city of asheville. Is at least 40 people have died in Bunken County alone. More than 600 Missing Persons reports were filed as of last night. Roads and bridges, homes and businesses, have just been washed away. Ha The City of Ashevilles Water System has taken extreme damage. Officials said today that full restoration of Ashevilles Water could take weeks. And as you know, a place without water is pretty much uninhabitable. The mayor of asheville has described Power Lines in The City as looking like spaghetti. Power down and all the other damage has knocked out cell service. That, in particular, has hampered recovery efforts. North carolinas governor, roy cooper, was on the ground in Asheville Today surveying the wa damage, meeting with first da responders. His assessment coming out of there was grim. He said, quote, the devastation was beyond belief. Te and even when you prepare for something like this, this is just something that has never happened before in western North Carolina. Joining us now live, im honored to say, is the governor of North Carolina, roy cooper. Governor cooper, i know you are really in the middle of it. Thank you for taking the time to be with us tonight to help us Understand whats going on. Thank you, rachel. Glad to be here. Weve all covered a lot of storms, a lot of hurricanes, a lot of devastating inland flooding. Even still it feels like the scale of this is just something qualitatively different. Can you tell us a little bit about how i guess the scale of it and how this compares to other things that youve had too contend with in your time in leadership . Ive seen a lot of storms and aftermath of storms. Ive never seen anything like this. S this is an unprecedented disaster. But we are meeting it with an unprecedented response. We have 92 Search And Rescue teams out now rescuing People Aa we speak. Were working closely with fema. Theyve been on the ground with me all day today. They delivered A Million liters of water, 600,000 meals, hundreds and hundreds of pallets are being air lifted to communities that are completely Cut Off from the ground because they are surrounded by water. We know that there are a lot of people hurting. When you dont have power, when you dont have Cell Phone Service, when you dont have water, this is a catastrophic situation for you. And we are coordinating federal, state, local nonprofits into helping the western part of North Carolina. You know, this is rugged terrain on beautiful Blue Sky days. But after these landslides and raging rivers like we have never seen before, some of our communities are completely wiped out. And its really emotional, particularly to people in North Carolina and people from all over the country who go frequently, just seeing the devastation here. But ive talked to people today. There is a real strength there. Nurses sleeping in hospitals, restaurants serving free meals, hotels offering their rooms to first responders, people working in the Parking Lot passing out water at churches. Hu people are pulling together. Were going to get through this. But we have a lot of work to do in the short term and a lot of recovery in the long term. Rescue comes before recovery, as you said. 92 Search And Rescue teams out. Tonight, as we speak. Is there any place that Search And Rescue teams are still having trouble getting to . Are there impassable are there places that they cant get to . Are there resources that could help, again, the Rescue Teams that you dont have that you T Need . Well, we have Rescue Teams from all over the country right now, from over 20 states, federal Rescue Teams. Our National Guard is deployed. We have over 700 activated. Were taking Phone Calls from people who havent heard from their friends or relatives and doing well checks on them to make sure they are okay. And if you cant get to them byh land, then we are using aircraft to get in there. There have been a number of aire rescues, actually hundreds of air rescues, because areas have been Cut Off. Were going to keep pouring in the resources. This is going to have to be a ce sustained response talking with the president A Couple Of Times today, talking with the Vice President , the Fema Director is on the ground. Shes going to stay in North Carolina. She and i will be in the western part of the state tomorrow. We know that this is going to require everything we have to get these roads open as quickly as we can, to get Cell Phone Service up, to get power on to people, to make sure that people have food and water, people are working around the clock, Real Heroes who have damage to their own homes are out there working giving medical assistance to people, working in first response. It is amazing, heartbreaking, and encouraging at the same time to see everybody working together so, so well right now. O North Carolina governor roy cooper, we know that your state is really right now. Thank you for taking time to help us Understand. R good luck. Stay in touch if there are things to get the word Out Abou or things to ask for that you ge need, let us know. To thank you so much, rachel. We do have word from the s White House that president biden, you just heard Governor Cooper say hes going to be back in western North Carolina tomorrow. President biden is scheduled to visit the state the day after tomorrow, on wednesday. All right. Up next, something that i have been debating for a few weeks now whether or not to do on the show. But i feel like, well, if not me, who . Its not coming up in other places. I, sort of, feel like we all need to know it. Fe so, now is the time. Ow on the eve of the Vice President ial Debate Tomorrow, i feel like now is the time, so were going to do it. Settle in. Right on the other side of thise break, i have a Story To tell you. It is one, i will confess right now, it is a Story That gives me the ughs big time. But weve got to do it. Ig got to know. That storys next. Introducing a revolution in Pain Relief. Absorbine junior pro, the strongest numbing Pain Relief available. Its the only solution with two Max Strength anesthetics for fast penetrating Relief Absorbine junior pro. Nothing numbs pain more. Okay. This is one of those stories. You ready for it . Here we go. His name was Charles R. Walgreen. He lived in illinois. As a young man he worked at a Shoe Factory. But in an accident at the factory, he got injured and lost a finger. Just a terrible thing. Because of that he had to give up the Shoe Factory job, so he started working instead as an Assistant Pharmacist at a drugstore in his hometown. He had to go off and fight in the Spanish American War in cuba. While he was in cuba, he got both malaria and yellow fever, neither of which is any fun. But he survived both of them. And he came back to the u. S. After the Spanish American War, came back to the Chicago Area and decided he would keep going with the pharmacy stuff. So, he opened up his own drugstore. But it wasnt just a drugstore. Charles walgreens big retail innovation was that, yes, he operated a pharmacy, but his pharmacy would also sell stuff other than drugs. Theyd be a place you could also get a sandwich or a Milk Shake or buy other stuff you mighT Need for your house. And with that model, mr. Walgreen was wildly successful. By the 1920s, he had over 100 Walgreens Drugstores by. By the 1930s, he had hundreds more drugstores. And by the 1930s, he was also very deeply freaked Out About his niece, specifically about his niece, lucille, being exposed to free love and communism. Charles walgreens niece, lucille, had gone off to the University Of Chicago, great school. But when she came home from school, she and her rich Uncle Walgreen apparently started having what he called frequent arguments. Heres the new york times, april 12, 1935 you see the headline. Cr walgreen takes niece from college. Charles r. Walgreen has caused his niece to withdraw as a student at the University Of Chicago and has written a letter criticizing the institution for its communistic influence. His letter was sent to president hutchins in the university. Copies were mailed to the universitys trustees. This turned into a big famous thing at the time. There was a whole bunch of Newspaper Coverage about it at the time. You can see the headlines here. Walgreen Answers University of chicago, asking facts. Promises proof of communism. Heres another. University of Chicago Head demands data on charge of radical teachings. Attack is called vague. Heres another. Legislators hear walgreen charge. He asserts University Of Chicago taught communism. Free love is also alleged. Oh, no, not free love they actually did Hold A Hearing in the State Legislature in illinois on this scandal of the Walgreens Guy taking his niece out of college. The drugstore Guys Niece was exposed to free love and communism, so the State Legislature had to convene a hearing. The hearing was dominated by walgreens Expert Witness who he had called to testify on his behalf. Her name was Elizabeth Dilling. And she really took over the hearing and turned it into a big spectacle. She demanded that no one be allowed to silence her. She said she would continue her testimony on the radio if they told her her time was up in the legislative hearing. She said she knew, she had lists of all the communists at the University Of Chicago. She also mentioned she had lists of u. S. Senators who she knew were communists as well. She said the president of the Board Of Trustees at the University Of Chicago, who was, like, a Millionaire Meat Packing guy. She said, he was not only a communist, but she said, he was a communist, of, quote, the