Im Andrea Mitchell in washington. With the new details of the storm barreling towards the atlantic coast, florence is a category 4 hurricane, and the latest update from the National Hurricane center says it is on a collision course with the carolinas. So far the governors in north and South Carolina and virginia and maryland all declaring states of emergency. A massive evacuation is under way. More than 1 million residents and tourists are expected to flee the coastal areas ahead of a powerful storm surge anticipated over the next few days. This is still a very dangerous storm. We must take it very seriously. The weatherman here and others are all predicting that this is a unpredictable storm. We must be vigilant. We are in a very deadly and important game of chess with hurricane florence. Joining me now is msnbcs Marianna Atencio along the North Carolina coast, and msnbc michelle grossman, and michelle, first to you, and looking at the storm track, and what are we preparing to, and then to marianna. Hi there, andrea. Yes, we are looking at a category 4 storm, and right on the borderline of the cat 3 and 4 and it did weaken, and it is go ing through the eyewall replacement, but it is going to change. As the next couple of hours, it is go ing to strengthen again, and encountering nothing to slow it down. So we expect it to remain on the path. This is what it is looking like right now, and just a huge storm, and the eyewall is a t textbook hurricane. And you open up the book, and this is exactly what you would see and not good news for the southeast coast of the u. S. We are looking at winds at 130 miles per hour, and we will see the winds strengthen as we head through the next couple off hours, and later on wednesday, 150 miles per hour, and this is what we are expecting. We do have a little bit of a change. We expected a late thursday and early friday landfall and now we are expecting friday morning, and so it is slowing down a little bit, and that is not good news along the coast. We will have a high storm surge that is going to be causing a lots of erosion and home destruction and beach destruck shn, and then moving inland, and the problem is control block, and it is going to act like a roadblock and keep it to the south, and keep it spinning for days over the area, and we will be seeing the drenching rains, and when i say drenching rain, i mean, 20 to 30 inches of rain, which is going to cause a lot of problems. Hurricane watch from virginia all of the way down to parts of is South Carolina, and that is including myrtle beach, and wilmington, and it is looking like wilmington is going to be the landfall in terms of the national waeeather hurricane center, but still some room to play with, because there are 320 mi miles within the cone. So anywhere in there we could see landfall, and that is why we want to keep everybody on guard. Pay attention to the path over the next 72 hours. So in terms of the impacts, we are looking at the winds, and looking at extreme winds, winds that will start as early as 72 hours. So we are seeing it in the pink high risk, and wilmington and Cape Hatteras and charleston, i dont want to discount you, and some very, very strong winds. Protect your home there, and also, the storm surge. Storm surge is one of the deadliest weather events. It is something not to take lightly at all. Prepare yourself now. Wilmington, 6 to 12 feet. When you have a landfall in terms of the hurricane, most of the destruction is on the east side, so again, even if you have the landfall here, you will have a rot of the destruck shn on the north and the east side, and again, something to keep in mind there, and the rain, that is going to be a big, big story and i mentioned 20 inches and up to 30 inches of rain where we could see it where we are seeing the the darker colors. This is something to mention, the National Hurricane model, but we want to show you the european model and the u. S. , because it is showing a a difference, right . So you want to stay on guard. Wilmington agrees with the National Hurricane center, and the european model is one that we look at in terms of the reliability, but the zus showing farther no the north and the east, and we will watch that, too. And we want to point out that it is a active tropic season n. Terms of the ingredient sws we e warm water, and wind sheers to break up the storms that you want, and we have low wind sheer, and that why we have the hot tropics right now, and nothing to slow down this development. Certainly watching it over the next kocouple of days, hour to hour, because we could see some changes by friday morning. Thank you for that, michelle, and Marianna Atencio, you are there watching the preparation, and first of all s there enough time for people to get out . How are the roads, how clogged is the traffic . These are a critical couple of hours cocop coming up. And today is the last day to have people gas ip and leave town, andrea. The roads were clear around the wilmington area when we drove the Wrightsville Beach this morning, but the gas stations are pretty much out of service. At least five of them as we were driving over. As you can see behind me in Wrightsville Beach, they rick mag the preparations using the cranes to rip off these lifeguard stands that when you are getting the 130mileanhour winds that michelle was talking about, they can act as projectiles and be potentially deadly for the homes that are here along the coast. So the city definitely making those preparations, and as michelle was saying, andrea, if that european model is indeed the path, this storm take, wilmington, which is ten miles inland from here stands to get a direct hit, and Wrightsville Beach is where this storm would ram through. I want to bring in tim owens, the city manager, and our Andrea Mitchell is asking how critical the next two hours and how is the city preparing . We started friday and we knew it was a bad storm, and we started with the operation, and we are in voluntary evacuation now, and turns mandatory the at 8 00 a. M. , and after 8 00 p. M. , nobody is on or off of the island as of 8 00 p. M. And 911 available for the folks here . We will do what we can servicing the customers with the 911, with the fire and the police, but once it is 50mileanhour sustained, we cease all operations like that. And tim, it is critical to be out and about and we appreciate your time here. A and andrea, with once the winds reached 50 miles per hour, not even 911 calls will be answered. So he is telling the people, if you are going to leave, leaf now and if not, hunker down, and make sure that you can stay in your home with inland flooding for the nextt couple of days. An dree ya. If you is any risk at all of being, you know, shut in that way, get out now while the roads are still clear. 8 00 a. M. , marianna, 8 00 a. M. Is mandatory evacuation, corr t correct . 8 00 a. M. Tomorrow, and then by 8 00 p. M. Wednesday, nobody is going to be able to go in or out of the Barrier Island and so those decisions need to be made today today. Important warning. Thank you, Marianna Atencio, and you stay safe along with our colleagues. And now to the msnbc special report of who may be responsible for the medical mystery that sickened all americans in cuba almost two years ago. Intelligence now believes it is russia and no accident. According to three u. S. Officials and others briefed on the condition, backed up with the highly secret intercepts. Joining me are the former deputy security adviser to george w. Bush, and Senior National security analyst, and political reporter josh leaderman who did a lot of the reporting. Josh, you and the team have been working on to this for a long time and i was in havana last october talking to intelligence officials there, and there have been suspicions all along, but you honed in on russia being the prime suspect according to the officials, and no evidence or proof to accuse russia diplomatically, but they are the real suspects . Yes, a that is right. Russia had been a suspicion from the start due to the large presence on the island of cuba and the advanced military capabilities and as you reported from havana, the cubans acknowledged that is a possibility, and now, andrea, this is more of a theory, and the main suspect, and it is backed up with some information from some communications intercepts known as the signals intelligence that the officials tell nbc news that they have developed. But andrea, it is not conclusive enou enough for the u. S. To take a dramatic step of formally accusing russia of being behind the attacks, so that the United States will continue to develop evidence, and try to hunt this down both who was behind it, and exactly what the technology was used to effect these diplomats. And josh, i talked to foreign secretary john kerry about how russia would be involved, and this is what he had to say. Well, russia has been there for a long time, and that is nothing new that russia is there for cuba, and they have been the lifeline for them for a long period of time. That is not going to change either. And what he said is that russia is there, and what has happened, juan, is that first of all to safeguard our people there, they were pulled back, but it also fit, lets say coincidentally or conveniently with the Trumps Administration desire to change the obama opening to the cuba and shut down the relations, and that is what has happened a son we have left the field, and russia is all over the island with intelligence gathering, and the u. S. Is without any real weapons. Yes, the reality is that the cold war never ended for parts of the cuba government and part of the russia government, including putin. So they have never left cuba and they sent signals that they will not be absent not only from cuba, but venezuela and the region. This is coming at a time when russia is much more aggressive and acting without impunity around the world. You have the nerve agent acts in london and the Cyber Attacks on our election systems in eastern europe, and the provocative military exercises happening now, and the largest in recent modern memory, and eastern russia, and so, this is another demonstration. If it proves to be right, and if joshs reporting is correct that the russians have taken another step to use asymmetric attacks to effect u. S. Interests whether it is sonic weapons, and electromagnetic weapons or microwave weapon, you have the u. S. Having to confront another vector of attack from the russians. And another thing that is coming out of the new reporting is that this is not an accident or a microwave listeninging device gone bad, but it is an attack the against american diplomats and Intelligence Officers. And it was target iing them. Absolutely. There are a number of factors that you are looking at, andrea, and any investigative or Intelligence Officer would look at. So you have the number of attacks that happened in 2016 and began to reoccur in 2018 and so it is not random. It is also not part of some rogue operation that we have indications that it may have happened in china as well. You have a number of officials targeted and the facilities target and the diplomatic fac e facilities and the intelligence officials, and so this is not an accident and those who think that it is a rogue operation, you are operating in a fantasy world. This is target and led by a fist sophisticated likely state actor, and if joshs reporting is right, all roads lead back to moscow on this. And josh, one of the things that you and i have both seen and cover in cuba for years and the u. S. Diplomacy or lack of it is that after the opening, there is may well have been some hardliners and is secretary tillerson is saying that we are not blaming cuba, but that cuba being the kind of the government that it is, it must have known. And so they could have had some h help, and it should have been the inside job from some people in havana who were not happy with the obama and ray yule cast raul castro opening. Right. Some say that it is not possible for russia to carry this out entirely on their own without some cooperation or the tacit consent from the cuban government given that it is a small island, and they are a heavy surveillance on the island and the fact that, you know, this would have had to have been pretty, with the knowledge of the cuban government for it to take place in the hotels such as the hotel nacional. And one quick question, juan, where were you on 9 11 . On the treasury department, looking over the potomac watching the smoke rise. We were watching what was happening in new york on the tv and evacuated from the treasury department. We raced and a core group of us race f raced to the secret Service Headquarters and frankly watching the sky, praying to god that another plane was not heading towards the capital or towards the white house. And as we later learned that one would have been if it werent for the heroism for the crew and the passengers on the flight 93. Thank you so much. Thank you, andrea. Thank you, juan. Thank you, josh. And coming up, never forget, and remembering the thousands lost on 9 11 17 years later. You are watching Andrea Mitchell reports right here on msnbc. In the u. S. Its americas most popular street name. But allstate agents know thats where the similarity stops. If youre on park street in reno, nevada, the high winds of the Washoe Zephyr could damage your siding. And thats very different than living on park ave in sheboygan, wisconsin, where ice dams could cause water damage. 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We close our arms to help you shou shoulder your pain and to carry your great, great sorrow. Your tears are not shed alone. For they are shared grief with an entire nation. President trump in shanksville, pennsylvania, honoring the victims of flight 93. The 40 passengers and crew on september 11th who rose up and fought back against the hija hijackers to prevent them from reaching their intended target, the nations capital, and this morning the somber Memorial Services to remember those in grou ground zero at Lower Manhattan and at the pentagon and shanksville. James mattis was leading a brigade in afghanistan weeks after the attacks. We dedicate ourselves with the life that might have been and keep faith with the innocent who perished and take solace on the deaths, that they were not in vein, for in the passing they empowered us forever with our enduring sense of service, and remember that hatred with false religious garb will not prevail. Joining us is msnbc analyst kristen welker, and former nypd commissioner bill bratton. And commissioner bratton, you were in new york city that day, and tell us about your response, and what it inspired you to do. 9 11 was a primary election day in new york city, and i had just voted and i had gone back to my apartment to get my briefcase and i had the tv on and the first plane had crashed into the tower. It was the beginning of the horrific day for me. I was not in the Public Sector at that time, but part of the inspiration to come back into Public Service and help the lapd to create the new Counter Terrorism capabilities that america had to create after the events of 9 11. And in fact, we are a lot safer in large part certainly in new york is because of the Counter Terrorism efforts by you and others, your are predecessors and your successor s in the nypd and some extraordinary state and Department Officials who joined in that effort. That is correct. Where we are right now is light years away from where we were on 9 11, the day of the attack, but the threats are constant the ly changing also, so it is not something that we can be co complacent as we had after the First World Trade Center bombing. And we made the arrest and incarcerated the perpetrators and thought it was off. We did not heed the warnings from al qaeda and Osama Bin Laden when he waged war against us, and we paid the price of unpreparedness. And kristen welker, the president today was commemoratin