my friend offered to give me a tie. he said where is your tie. >> somehow -- it was in my pocket. i'm getting ready. i never do this. i was getting ready to put my tie on. >> the mystery of the tie. >> it's a blue tie with specks. i think it's in the building somewhere. >> if you ever need a tie, go to my office. good afternoon. it is 11:00 a.m. out west, 2:00 p.m. in the east. we begin with hurricane dorian. at last update dorian was forecast to hit somewhere along the florida coast in the next few days possibly as a major category 4 hurricane. joining me now with the latest, what have we learned about the storm's forecast in the last hour or so. >> >> at least it wasn't his

pants. he can do without the tie. let's get serious and talk about the storm. we have big-time changes. it's increasing in strength. the next advisory comes out at 5:00. we are looking at the storm in the open waters of the atlantic right above the virgin islands. we are at a category one storm. it started as a tropical storm and then increases with every single advisory. we are looking at 220 miles northwest of puerto rico. 85 miles per hour winds moving northwest at 13 miles per hour which is a pretty fast clip. it's been at that clip over the past 72 hours. we want it to keep moving fast so it will not leash as much rain as it will. look look at the national hurricane forecast. right now a category 1 storm b. tween now and friday we will see it blossom into a category 3 storm.

it has nothing to run into. there is no land interaction to shred the storm. it's over the open waters, the warm september waters giving it the fuel to help it blossom. and then take a look at what happens between saturday and sunday. this is new as of that latest advisory, a category 4 storm. and we expect it to stay a category 4 storm before it makes landfall in florida. let's pay attention to the bahamas. we anticipate a hurricane watch issued later tonight, early friday morning. we'll keep you posted. you want to prepare and have your hurricane preparedness plan in place as early as today. i know the weather looks perfect in these places right now. you want to prepare. then it makes its way into the coast. this will be ironed out as early as tomorrow. right now we are looking along the coast of florida. we will watch this closely.

>> thank you, michelle. turning to politics where the stage is set for the next democratic debate leaving half of the field scrambling to decide what happens next. ten contenders have qualified for the upcoming debate set next month in texas. a total of 20 candidates remain in the race. as one of my next guests writes, the democratic a candidates stage is about to feel smaller even if not everyone will go quietly. one candidate who is going quietly, senator kirsten gillibrand. other candidates are taking a slightly different route, instead, digging in their heels. justifying why they are not dropping out yet. >> obviously, the debates are a great platform to be able to reach a lot of people across this country, but it's not the

only way to be able to talk to voters and to be able to spend time with them. that's what i'm doing here in iowa. >> we are moving forward. this is not going to stop us at all. i think the metrics are such an artificial barrier, i think, to the natural flow of a campaign. i mean, we're picking up endorsements left and right. >> they are not alone in their decisions to stay in the race. montana governor and former congressman have agreed to keep campaigning despite not coming close to qualifying for the debate stage. our big question today is how long can lower tier 2020 democratic candidates keep their campaigns going? joining us now steve kornacki, republican strategist, "new york times" politics reporter reed epstein and christina reynolds.

steve, let me begin with you. give us the big picture. is there precedent for candidates who don't make the debate stage or struggling at this part of the race to have a breakout moment and go the distance? >> what's different now i think from the past is there is a lot higher interest. you're talking 10, 15 million people tuning in. there didn't used to be this much intense early interesting. i think it is important to qualify for the debates to be visible that way. if they are not making the september stage i think it's still very possible for a bunch of these candidates who didn't make the september debate to turn around and qualify for the next one in october. stier is going to miss this one.

there is a scenario here where i think there is a big crunch now down to one stage for september. in october, it expands back to two. after october there is a chance the criteria will be raised again. i think you have to be viable by that point or otherwise it's hard to see it. >> let me play for you what tim ryan had to say. >> bill clinton got into this race in 1992 in october. it's august now. this race hasn't even started. i think to try to win over the field or tell somebody they shouldn't run, that has no effect on my decision. >> as you heard him there, a lot of folks like to cite bill clinton and john kerry having the late surge. there was talk about stacy abrams entering the race well beyond the summer. there is an appetite, if you will, for someone to enter the race. could that actually still be a

factor entering in the race this late. >> there is a historical precedent for everyone. it used to be harry truman. clinton one in '92, i have to say, that was such a unique example because in the early 1991 there was the gulf war. after the gulf war popularity hit 91% in the polls. politics in this country shut down. in 1991 for about six months politics shut down. every big-name democrat, they all said they weren't running for president. bill clinton got in in october, but basically nobody got in until that point. there wasn't a debate until december 15, 1991. that's an outliar. >> there is all this predated scrutiny of social media and the intensity of a campaign read.

let me read more of what you wrote. you write while party officials spent the summer humoring the no-shot candidates, patience among some democrats was running low. has the dnc had enough of this? how long do they want this to go on with so many candidates who continue to poll at one, two, or three percent? i'm talking about what you're hearing behind closed doors. >> if you talk to democratic officials especially in iowa who have spent the better part of a year entertaining a lot of these candidates, they are ready for this to be about a race between the people who might be president. and for the michael bennetts, at this point, there seems to be a consensus that they're uning interesting campaigns. they are very smart people and have thoughts that people want

to hear. they're probably not going to be president. that bar is between three and seven candidates. >> i think back when the republicans had well over a dozen people on the stage and some heavy hitters to kind of win the nomination before donald trump shook things up. is there a concern that the dnc looks exactly the opposite of the rnc four years ago and that they are trying to get rid of lower tier candidates? >> four years ago the rnc put the lower tier candidates at a kids table debate. they sort of shuffled them off to anonymity to begin with. the dnc let 21 candidates stand on stage together over four nights to debate the front runners on the same stage. i think the dnc has done the best they can with an incredible

and large democratic field. >> i guess there is a question, the double night debates. that's what we have seen every night so far. even with ten candidates, is that still too much for one night? should dnc insist on dividing the ten candidates? >> i don't think they can do that now even if they wanted to. >> should they have done snat is there an argument to be made for that being the case? >> this is a really difficult process to come up with and figure out what the rules should be. they set them out. they weren't wrong. i think the dnc did a pretty good job tlmpt are some people in this game who wouldn't be on a debate stage under any other circumstance if not for the thresholds being so low that the dnc put out there. but you've got to wonder like if you are senator bennett from colorado like what's andrew yang

doing up there? a lot of these candidates are just not connecting. there is also candidates who will stay in even if they don't make a debate because they're in waiting. >> how do you explain andrew yang connected? what is it about andrew yang that has made him break that threshold? >> i think he broke it at average of three percent. it's not like he's coming in in high single numbers. he is still at the bottom. but i think he's an outliar candidate. i think that he had a good operation. he's just completely different than everybody else. he's just someone out there. >> he's definitely authentic. he's got character to him. i think three percent, okay. that's still not endangering

anyone's chances. >> we'll see what happens after this debate stage. let me get your thoughts on this joe biden story that has just come out in the "washington post" because it is somewhat controversial. the "washington post" reporting that joe biden has jumbled the details of a war story that he tells getting basic facts like time period, location, military branch and the act itself wrong. his campaign is pushing back noting that the vice president believes honoring our military to be one of the most solemn. is this a big deal given the story at the heart of what this is all about? or are these kind of gaffs bake aed in for biden that voters are simply going to accept. >> the biden campaign is right. he is fundamentally honoring the troops. as a marine brat, i'm for that. i'm glad that he's doing that. i think that this is a thing that biden has dealt with in the past. and what's going to be important

is to see how the media reacts to that and how voters react to that when you are contrasting with a president who i believe the story noted has told at least i think several thousand, maybe 12,000 mistruths or lies. there is just no contest here. so the question becomes how do we contrast those two? and how do voters react to that? >> president trump hit the former vice president on gaffs. is this something that voters are willing to overlook given the fact that he remains a front runner and the most electable candidate as he likes to say? >> i think they both kind of put each other away. that's fine. biden is running in a primary. he has 30% of primary voters right now. i think the gaffs are not this particular one, but many of them are not just a bidenism anymore. they are more of a reflection of

age. that's what people are making it a reflection of his age. i think you're going to see other primary candidates whether sanders or warren or someone to pick up on these and going after him a little bit on it. it can hurt him in the primary, not against donald trump necessarily but certainly in the primary. >> the irony is a president who is prone to make gaffs that didn't hurt him making his way through the primary. it seems like a slightly different standard for joe biden. >> donald trump is truly unique. thank you very much. we are keeping an eye on florida where dorian remains on track to make landfall in the coming days. we take you live to miami where preparations are already underway. another day, another planned roll back of an obama administration rule on climate. first, breaking news, the

d.o.j.'s inspector general releases the result of the multi year investigation into james comey and the president just weighed in on twitter. [dog barking] [dog barking] [dog barking] [dog growling] [horn blaring] [cat meows] (vo) the subaru crosstrek. with starlink remote horn & lights. dog tested. dog approved. i like to make my life easy. ( ♪ ) romo mode. (beep) (bang) good luck with that one. yes! that's why i wear skechers slip-ons. they're effortless. just slip them right on and off. skechers slip-ons, with air-cooled memory foam.

there's brushing and there's oral-b power brushing. oral-b just cleans better. it's the one inspired by dentists... with the round brush head. oral-b's gentle rounded brush head removes more plaque along the gumline... for cleaner teeth and healthier gums. oral-b. brush like a pro. and now for their service to the community, we present limu emu & doug with this key to the city. [ applause ] it's an honor to tell you that liberty mutual customizes your car insurance so you only pay for what you need. and now we need to get back to work. [ applause and band playing ]

only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪

today the justice department inspector general released the results of its investigation into james comey. the i.g. found comey violated fbi policies when he leaked memos detailing his conversations with president

trump, but the report found no evidence that comey or his attorneys released classified information to the media. he claimed vindication saying i don't need a public apology but a quick message with a sorry we lied about you would be nice. to all of those spent two years talking about me going to jail ask why you trust people who gave you bad info for so long including the president. since being fired, comey has been a frequent target of the president who branded him corrupt and untrust worthy among other things. >> no collusion, no obstruction. he's a leaker. comey is a leaker and he's a liar. and not only on this stuff. he's been leaking for years. he gave it to a friend to leak classified information. it's all classified. it was totally classified.

>> moments ago, president trump responded to the reports finding saying perhaps never in the history of our country has someone been more thoroughly disgraced than james comey in the just-released inspector general's report. he should be ashamed of himself. joining me now -- ken, let me begin with you. it was in june of 217 when comey testified before congress and admitted for the first time that he gave those memos in question to a law professor friend. here's why he said he did it. watch. >> my judgment was i needed to get that out into the public square. so i asked a friend of mine to share the content of the memo with a reporter. i asked him to do because i thought that might prompt the appointment of a special counsel. i asked a close friend of mine to do it.

>> what about that move violated fbi policy according to the inspector general. >> it's against policy to leak internal government documents to the news media. he took four of them home and he gave one of them to a friend who transmitted it to the "new york times" and that included information about a pending criminal investigation of michael flynn which is not something the fbi is supposed to talk about in public. that said, every government official who discloses government documents, internal documents to the news media violates some policy or other including dhs employee whose are almost regularly providing information about donald trump's disputed border policies. comey may have committed a technical violation. that's why critics are likening it to giving a speeding ticket to a fireman. this report really says almost nothing about the overall context in which comey did this

which was he thought the president had obstructed justice. he believed the public needed to know this and caused a special counsel to be appointed. >> one can make it the argument of it falls under the umbrella of whistleblowing. ken, lay out the difference between information that is sensitive and information that is classified. >> so the definition of classified information is information if disclosed would cause harm to the nation's security, the national security. comey thought that none of his memos implicated anything like that. it turns out when senior fbi officials reviewed the memos, they found some things in them that met the definition of classified information particularly comments about other countries. comey disagreed with that. critics will point out that this is what happened with hillary clinton. they were found to have classified information. comey called her handling of the

e-mails extremely reckless and irresponsible. >> comey seems to be claiming vindication. it's not surprising that republicans have had a different reaction to the news today. lindsey graham tweeting the inspector general's report is a rebuke of a former director of the fbi. jim jordan, house of representatives, now we know why comey didn't want to prosecute clinton. he didn't see a problem mishandling sensitive information. after clearing here, he did it too. whether or not james comey is culpable depends to be dependent on where you stand politically. >> for the last couple of years now, anytime you mention the name james comey it's a political football. each party has a distinct view of this man and whether he has conducted himself in the proper way as a public official. the report documents a lot of

criticisms of comey even though it doesn't document anything that could be criminal or that rises to the level of the way trump has characterized it. it's not exactly a flattering report in terms of his behavior. one thing that's important to point out is that justice department officials reviewed this and decided not to prosecute comey. they did not find any criminal wrong doing here or anything that rises to the level of a crime. >> does this do anything to disrupt the president's narrative about james comey and the fbi? or is this more ammunition for the president as 2020 begins to heat up again? >> i don't know that this really changes much. it's fresh ammunition for both sides frankly. it gives comey a chance to say you were wrong about me. i don't belong in jail. it gives trump and allies a chance to say here's proof that comey acted against sort of the guidelines and the rules of the fbi and the justice department. but i don't think it's going to

change the broader sort of narrative or the direction of the story. >> thank you both for joining us this hour. and next we go to our breaking news tracking dorian down in florida, bracing for impact with the storm forecast to possibly hit as a category four hurricane. we'll go live to florida right after the break.

♪ when you have nausea, heartburn, ♪ ♪ indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea ♪ try new pepto liquicaps for fast relief and ultra-coating. ♪ nausea, heartburn, indigestion, upset stomach, diarrhea ♪

get powerful relief with new pepto bismol liquicaps.

florida is looking ahead to the possibility of a major hurricane, projections suggest that hurricane dorian could gain strength over the weekend, possibility hitting as a category four hurricane. the state's governor has already declared a state of emergency. now for the entire state. residents are stocking up on gas and other supplies ahead of the storm. joining me now msnbc correspondent and the director for center of disaster preparedness. you're down there on the ground. give us a sense of how folks are preparing where you are. is there a sense of urgency given the fact that this is still two to three days out? >> reporter: still two to three days out, but i can tell you

that absolutely from the folks i have spoken to, it's an all hands on deck situation here in miami and miami beach. people are not taking this lightly. as you mentioned, this is a very wide storm. forecasters say it could be potentially the worst storm to hit central florida. here in miami, already with hurricane irma it was raining for days. people are making preparations especially here in miami beach which is a low lying area. i want to bring in the director of public works. tell me what is the sentiment here on the ground? is there a sense of urgency? >> there is a sense of urgency. we are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. we are a low lying barrier island and subject to flooding. we're preparing for a direct hit. >> how is the city preparing. >> we're installing portable

water pumps all around the city in the low lying areas. so when we receive any type of surge we'll be able to recover quickly. >> reporter: how many people are we talking about just here in miami beach? >> we are 90,000 permanent residents. on any given weekend we have 250,000 visitors here, also. this is a holiday weekend coming up, so our city is full. >> i know you have a lot of work to do. we'll be touching base with you. >> reporter: thank you for joining us. 90,000 residents just in miami beach. and 250,000 people transient community here looking for a potential landfall on labor day weekend from hurricane dorian. >> that was the perspective there on the ground in miami beach. i want to get your perspective here in a moment. let me play what the president said today in an interview about our preparedness. >> they're going to be totally ready and puerto rico is totally

ready. fema and first responders did an incredible job with puerto rico. we were ready in puerto rico. we're very ready, also, in florida. >> so objectively, how prepared are we both in puerto rico and in florida? where are we most vulnerable? where are we the strongest? >> no question about it that florida is very prepared relatively speaking. puerto rico i would not say that at all. there are still problems. they're still recovering from hurricane maria. there are lots of issues from politics to the fact that they rebuilt the electrical grid that was destroyed. there are lots of vulnerabilities there. the other thing which is really important in florida and puerto rico is that lots of people living economically, very insecure, very disadvantaged,

poor people have a great deal of difficulty getting ready. >> it costs money to board up your house, to stock up on fuel and food and getting out of the area. >> everything costs money. it's very difficult for people living in poverty. fema is in pretty good shape generally. i am impressed thatnema has become a really effective agency. what i am worried about in florida, there is many hazardous waste sites. there are two nuclear power plants, over 150 other power plants, some places where the electrical grid might be more unstable. there are hospitals, 89 hospitals in the state of florida. are those prepared? are they ready to evacuate. people in prisons and nursing homes. so the reality of preparing

effectively is very complicated. >> you brought up fema. i wanted to get your thoughts on this because the department of homeland security is diverting $271 million for the border, 155 million will actually come from fema's disaster relief fund. that announcement drew a lot of criticism. how do you evaluate that? does that effect fema's response when you have $155 million diverted away from its disaster relief efforts? >> i think the actual dollars that fema does have available are sufficient right now. this movement from one agency within homeland security to another agency which includes everything having to do with the border, this has happened before. it's not ideal. i don't think any of us in the business are actually worried that fema won't have the resources right now. what happens if it is another storm or two?

>> what happens then is that the congress will have to do an emergency appropriation. i don't think that we would actually see fema depleted to the point where they can't respond. >> sometimes i feel like people have hurricane fatigue from the preparedness and warning signs. thank you very much for your time. next, why georgia could be a game-changer for democrats as they look to retake the senate in 2020. so chantix can help you quit slow turkey.rkey. along with support, chantix is proven to help you quit. with chantix you can keep smoking at first and ease into quitting so when the day arrives, you'll be more ready to kiss cigarettes goodbye. when you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. stop chantix and get help right away if you have changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, depressed mood, suicidal thoughts or actions, seizures,

new or worse heart or blood vessel problems, sleepwalking, or life-threatening allergic and skin reactions. decrease alcohol use. use caution driving or operating machinery. tell your doctor if you've had mental health problems. the most common side effect is nausea. talk to your doctor about chantix. with tough food, your dentures may slip and fall. fixodent ultra-max hold gives you the strongest hold ever to lock your dentures. so now you can eat tough food without worry. fixodent and forget it.

republicans now have two senate seats to defend in georgia come 2020 after the surprise resignation of senator johnny isakson. he wasn't up for reelection until 2022 and will step down later this year due to health problems. there was already going to be one senate race in georgia for the seat held by senator david purdue, but for democrats who are facing a narrow path to retaking the senate, a race for isakson's seat makes that path wider. democrats need three seats to seize the senate chamber if they also win the white house. joining me now the director of the university of virginia center for politics. great to have you with us. democrats haven't won a seat in

georgia in almost two decades. could we see things change this election cycle? >> democrats sure hope so. the democrats have gotten closer and closer to the statewide victories. david purdue won his first term in 2014 by eight points. trump won the state in '16 by five points. democrats are edging closer and closer. with a high turnout presidential rate, can republicans hold them off. >> the georgia governor's race extremely close, a point and a half difference separating them. then there is president trump's net approval rating in the state. the number is still in the positive but barely. it's decreased by double digits from 18 to just 2, i believe. you have moved georgia into republican status in your crystal ball map. is the shift advanced enough for us to see at least one democrat

win a senate seat there? >> well, it's possible. we're a year and several months ahead of the election. it's impossible to say what the conditions will be in the fall of 2020. but as greg was just suggesting, states evolve politically, partisanly. we have seen it many times. colorado and virginia hit their tipping point into the democratic column in 2008 and neither state has really moved away from the democratic party for very long since. so georgia is one of those states, georgia, texas, arizona. you can maybe add north carolina. there is going to be a year that's a tipping point year. and that's going to be a year when the state votes for the first time in decades for the democratic nominee for president and elects a senator or more. let's remember, though, that the senate seats today tend to go the way of the presidential election even when it's close. that's doubly true for a double

header which is what you are going to have in georgia in 2020. >> greg, the democratic party in georgia has been criticized for possibly not being able to field a strong bench or a deep bench. stacy abrams made it clear that she will not run for the senate. have there been names floated around that have the kind of name recognition and the platform that stacy abrams has among the georgia democratic party that may jump into this race. >> there are other big names that are looking at this race or at least haven't ruled it out. one of them is sally yates. we haven't heard whether she ruled out a run for biden's seat. there are lots who are kicking the tires on this race. we can see multiple candidates. we have three candidates in the purdue race.

we can see multiple candidates in isakson race and really transform this election. >> do you get a sense that the democratic party on the national level when you think of senator chuck schumer and others are making a push that the senate is politically important for them to try to compete in some of the races? you're not necessarily hearing of a nationwide recruiting effort in some of these key battle ground states. >> they're trying. they have to try harder because let's say a democratic president is elected and the democratic house is maintained in 2020, we all know because of the extreme polarization we have today that most proposals from democratic president even supported by the democratic house will go nowhere unless there is a democratic senate, even if it's 50/50 with the tie breaking vote of a democratic vice president. they better focus on recruiting better candidates, stronger candidates in these two races in georgia among others if they're going to have a pathway to

taking a majority. >> money may also be a stumbling block for the democrats in georgia although i believe the sixth district race was one of the highest or most expensive races for a house seat in the history of the country. if they're trying to be competitive in places, how much money is going to be available to compete in the state of georgia? >> it's going to be a record-shattering election. the governor's election was record breaking and went well over $100 million in total spent. this race will shatter those records. of course, they're also competing with presidential candidates who want to contest georgia in a way they haven't. georgia last flipped blue in 1992. democrats are swearing that they won't compete in georgia. these candidates will compete for interest, time and treasure. >> i have seen georgia being described as the firewall. georgia can set the course for the rest of the southeast of the

united states. thank you both for joining us this hour. the trump administration is set to roll back yet another obama-era rule that protects the environment. the impact it could have next. h age-related macular degeneration, which could lead to vision loss. so today i made a plan with my doctor, which includes preservision. because it's my vision, my love of the game, my open road, my little artist. vo: only preservision areds 2 contains the exact nutrient formula recommended by the national eye institute to help reduce the risk of moderate to advanced amd progression. man: because it's my sunset, it's how i see my life. it's my vision. preservision. (announcer) important message for women and men ages 50 to 85. right now, in areas like yours, people have already called about life insurance through the colonial penn program and received their free beneficiary planner. have you received your free planner? if not, i encourage you to pick up the phone and take advantage of this free offer.

in addition to your free beneficiary planner, you'll also receive free information on affordable whole life insurance that has a lifetime rate lock that guarantees your rate can never increase for any reason. if you did not receive your free beneficiary planner, call this number now. please stand by to learn more. i'm alex trebek, here to tell you about a popular life insurance plan with a rate lock that locks in your rate for life so it can never increase. did you get your free information kit? if not, please call this number now. this affordable plan through the colonial penn program has coverage options for just $9.95 a month. your rate is locked in and can never go up, and your acceptance is guaranteed with no health questions. see how much coverage you can get for just $9.95 a month. call now for your free information kit.

with tough food, your dentures may slip and fall. fixodent ultra-max hold gives you the strongest hold ever to lock your dentures. so now you can eat tough food without worry. fixodent and forget it. wayfair's got your perfect mattress. whether you're looking for a top-brand at a great price.

ready to upgrade. moving in. moving on up. or making big moves. deliveries ship free and come with a 100-night free trial. no matter your budget. or your sleep style. we have quality options for everyone. so search and shop. save and snooze. and rest easy, knowing that we've got your back. literally. that's what you get, when you've got wayfair. so shop now.

we have new pictures from space showing the smoke and heat generated from one of maench wildfires. these images released by nasa show the skies above bolivia. as you know brazil is working to contain fires charring parts of the amazon as the country's president continues to refuse millions of dollars in international aid to help speed up the process. the president's personality in politics have been compared to that of president trump's just announced his son will meet president trump soon in the united states. the trump administration is seeking to eliminate another obama-era environmental restriction. the e.p.a. announced intentions to roll back to monitor and repair methane leaks, oil and gas sites being the primary source and methane making up nearly ten percent in the united

states according to the "new york times," it has an 80 times the heating trapping power of carbon dioxide in the first 20 years in the atmosphere. joining me now, former energy and climate aid jake, great to have you with us. help explain this for our viewers. a lot of people may have a hard time wrapping their head around this. but how exactly is the epa trying to loosen this methane regulation, and why does it matter? >> sure. thanks, eamon. it's great to be here. this is a major rollback on the climate front. and epa isn't really just lowering the standards, they have basically just thrown the entire bar out. and these are standards relating to the certification of oil and gas facilities, monitoring of methane emissions and leaks at these sites. and it's these precise tools that were put in place by the obama administration to try to

understand what types of methane emissions are happening at the wellhead and at oil and gas upstream and transmission facilities that we suspect to be contributing so much to climate change. and that data that we have been able to discover through those types of monitoring programs tells us exactly that, which is that methane is being leaked and admitted at a far greater rate than we previously understood, and it is quite dangerous to the climate. >> so here's the thing, jake. and i think what some viewers may have a hard time wrapping their head around is that the epa claims that this roll-back will save the industry millions of dollars. but major companies, major companies have spoken out against this roll-back, and they're not just any companies. we are talking about oil and gas giants, exxon, shell, bp america that have all come out against this setback. why is the epa doing this if these companies actually want and have stated their support

for environmental regulations? >> yeah. this is a really important point, and it really just points out the irony of this rule altogether. how often is it that you have environmentalists and oil majors in agreement on epa regulation? not that frequently. and the oil companies, the oil and gas companies have been opposed to this roll-back because they know that this is the fastest and cheapest possible way to reduce methane emissions and to have an impact on climate. and, you know, natural gas has always sort of historically been thought of both by industry and environmentalists as a kind of a bridge fuel that could help bridge dirty fossil fuels like coal to something a little bit cleaner like renewable energy. but now that we've got more and more research and data coming out that show that these types of methane leaks are actually hugely damaging to the environment and to our climate, the status of natural gas as a

so-called bridge fuel is very much in question. i think that the oil and gas companies are afraid that if the trump administration gets rid of these common sense types of regulations in and monitoring procedures, it's going to be a dark day for natural gas, and they're going to have trouble selling that to consumers. >> here's another interesting poll. and this just came out in the last hour, jake. quinnipiac university poll showing that 56% of voters overall, 84% democrats, 81% of republicans actually think that climate change is an emergency. 67% of voters say more needs to be done about it. when you look at the response coming from both parties, the democrats and the republicans and some of the contenders, what is it going to take for the voters' concerns to actually be met in washington with whoever wins the white house? >> great question. $64,000 question, i guess. and i think that we have a general problem that we're seeing across a whole host of issues, not just climate change,

but issues like a gun violence for example, where, you know, voters have clearly indicated their preferences. and we just don't have representation in washington that seems to reflect what voters want. and i think that in terms of climate change, as the impacts, which have been ubiquitous across the united states and across the world in which impact people regardless of their political party, as those continue to unfold, i think and i hope that washington will finally wake up and start making some change on this. >> all right. and just before we go, clarify that 84% of democrats say that it's an emergency, 81% of republicans say it is not. 56% of overall voters say that it is an emergency. jack levine, thank you very much for your time this afternoon. >> thanks, eamon. bye-bye baby. one more thing next.

diarrhea?! new pepto diarrhea to the rescue! its three times concentrated liquid formula coats and kills bacteria to relieve diarrhea. the leading competitor only treats symptoms. it does nothing to kill the bacteria. treat diarrhea at its source with new pepto diarrhea.

but dad, you've got allstate. with accident forgiveness they guarantee your rates won't go up just because of an accident. smart kid. indeed. are you in good hands? that could allow hackers devices into your home.ys and like all doors, they're safer when locked. that's why you need xfinity xfi. with the xfi gateway, devices connected to your homes wifi are protected. which helps keep people outside from accessing your passwords, credit cards and cameras. and people inside from accidentally visiting sites that aren't secure. and if someone trys we'll let you know. xfi advanced security.

if it's connected, it's protected. call, click, or visit a store today. all right. one more thing before we go. the president's trade war with china could soon cost the national zoo in d.c. its most beloved attraction as tensions rise between the u.s. and china over trade, the pandas that thousands flock to see eat bamboo could be sent to china which technically owns them. the vulnerable species only on loan here in the u.s. the most famous is 4-year-old cub bebe. here he is celebrating his birthday a week ago today. now under the zoo's current agreement with china, he is to be sent back to china in a few

months, and the 20-year-old lease on his mom and dad is up late next year. the zoo says it has not started discussions with china about the lease but are confident that they will reach an agreement or a deal of sorts. losing the pandas would be a loss for many reasons, but it would also be a break in a long-standing diplomatic goodwill tradition. >> when nixon went to china in 1972, first lady pat nixon told chinese premier how much she liked the pandas. that april china sent the united states two young pandas. >> i think pandemonium is going to break out right here at the zoo. [ laughter ] >> nixon's reaction even recorded in a call on those infamous white house tapes. >> just checking to see how the panda thing went. i've been in a meeting. >> oh sh they were just darling. everybody raved about them. >> pandemonium did in fact break out. losing these majestic creatures over a trade war after seeing

little bebe grow up before our eyes would be for visitors and animal lovers unbearable that. wraps up things for me this hour. ali velshi picks things up right now. i see you still have -- >> i was looking for my tie. we gave you an hour off to go find a tie. >> i don't know where it could've gone. today i don't know what compelled me to do it, but i came in without it. i put it in my pocket and i'm ready to put it on. this is why -- i am a creature of habit. and the minute you break from habit -- >> this is what happens. >> this is what happens. . >> i am a mess. it's thursday, august the 29th. dorian is expected to remain an extremely dangerous hurricane through the weekend. that's the warning coming from the national hurricane center. right now dorian is a category one hurricane. but it is likely to strengthen a lot. in fact, possibly up to a category four as it moves closer to the united states threatening to hit florida. f