Meet the Press NOW — August 21

If it's Monday, catch me if you can. Former President Trump opens up a commanding 23 point lead in Iowa. We got new numbers hot off the presses in the first Des Moines registered NBC News media compole. Plus, state of emergency in California.

Tropical Storm Hillary slams into the state dumping historic levels of rain as a magnitude 5.1 earthquake shakes southern California. And President Biden prepares to land in Hawaii to see the first hand devastation in Maui as officials confirm for the first time that there are a staggering 850 people still missing after those deadly wildfires. Hello and welcome to MEET THE press. Now on Reno's in for Kristen Welker at the beginning of the busiest week so far in the 2024 Republican primary for the front runner.

And the at some point in the next few days, former President Donald Trump will have to surrender to authorities in Georgia after being charged in that racketeering scheme to overturn the 2020 election. Now, moments ago, several members of Trump's legal team responded, leaving the Fulton County Courthouse. They say they have, quote, just about finalized the terms of Trump's surrender. Of course, on Wednesday night, it's the first Republican presidential debate featuring at least nine of his primary rivals, but not Trump, who says he's not going to show.

And today we're kicking off the unofficial start of the Iowa caucus season with the first Des Moines registered NBC News Media Con poll, which just came out this morning. We also have some new numbers hot off the presses just for this show. So let's dive in right now. Right now, among likely Iowa Republican caucus goers for 42% say that Donald Trump is their first choice.

He's up 23% on his closest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. As you can see, no other candidate even cracks the double digits for Mr. Trump. That 42% of support tracks closely with the 41% of Iowa Republican caucus goers who say they want him to continue as the leader of their party.

26% say that he was a good president, but it's time to move on. This is an interesting number though. 31% say they want a clean break. There are more signs of strength for the former president in this poll.

65% of Iowan's polling have said they have a favorable opinion of him. Now that's higher than his standing in the Des Moines Register poll just before the 2016 Iowa caucuses, which he lost his head, Cruz. So Iowa Republican voters like Donald Trump, but our poll shows they also have favorable views of some of his rivals. Take a look at this.

Trump is Actually, the third most popular Republican running based on net favorability numbers behind him is South Carolina Senator Tim Scott and DeSantis, with Nikki Haley not far behind Trump. Now, the numbers suggest there is an opening for some of these candidates if the race ends up changing and Trump is weakened. So what weakens the former president among Iowa Republicans? Well, it's not more criminal charges, apparently.

Despite four criminal indictments, 65% of likely Iowa Republican caucus stories say that Trump has not committed serious crimes. It's also worth noting that the poll was in the field during Trump's latest indictment and his lead over DeSantis grew after that news broke. One more sign of strange for Trump in this poll, two thirds of Trump's supporters say their mind is made up and they are sticking with the former President Trump. The bottom line, if other candidates want to have a shot in Iowa and beyond, they're going to have to change this race and do it fast.

We've got a great team to break down the new Iowa Poll. NBC's Kristen Welker and Vaughn Hilliard are on Iowa. They've been talking to voters. Also with this NBC News senior political editor Mark Murray and then Seltzer, the president of Seltzer and Company, which conducted the Des Moines registered NBC News Iowa poll.

So, Kristen, let's start with you. You've been talking to these voters in Iowa. What are you hearing? What stood out to you?

Well, Ryan, we've been talking to respondents of that poll and they really reflect the diverse set of opinions that you essentially just laid out. I want to talk to you about two folks who we spoke with here in Iowa, Jordan Vandermolen, he is a cattle farmer here. He's a staunch Trump supporter. He voted for former President Trump in 2016 and 2020.

He plans to do so again. He says despite the four indictments for the former president is facing, he thinks that, that he's dismissing that. We also spoke with Rachel Murdoch. She is a college professor, a self described moderate, and she says it is time to move on from former President Trump.

She hasn't made an opinion yet about those indictments facing the former president, but she doesn't think he's the future of the party. Take a listen to what both of them had to say. Is there anything that could shake your support in former President Trump? Absolutely not.

I really don't think I would go any other way unless it wasn't an option. And he has a lead here in Iowa more than 20 points over his nearest rival. How confident are you that when President Trump is going to win the Iowa caucuses. I think without a question of doubt, he's going to be a Republican nominee.

I felt like President Trump caused chaos and was self serving in his office. He was. This is my opinion. I know there are people who disagree with me, but I did not feel like he was there to serve us.

He was there to serve himself and enrich himself and has not been entirely ethical. And that was one of the reasons I didn't like him from the first. I didn't think he was an ethical human being in the first place. Now, Rachel Murdoch there says she hasn't decided who she plans to caucus for.

We also spoke with White. He said he is someone who has supported former President Trump in the past in 2016 and 2020, but says after January 6th he no longer will. Right now, he likes Nikki Haley, but he says his mind is still open to the possibility of other candidates and notably Ryan. All of them, they have a diverse set of opinions, but their number one issue is the economy, high inflation, government spending.

So they have a lot of differences, but that is where they agree. And it really reflects and bears out the numbers that we're seeing in the new polling today. Ryan Wiseman once said it's the economy, stupid. Right.

So, Kristen, from what voters have told you, are they going to be tuned into this Trump List debate that's gonna happen later this week? They absolutely will be watching very closely. And again, Ryan, what is so notable and what is reflected in the poll numbers that you just talked about is the fact that so many Iowa voters are still keeping their minds open when it comes to who that ultimate choice is going to be. So they'll be watching very closely for debate who's the strongest on the economy and notably Jordan Vanderboel and who supports former President Trump, says he wishes he would be on the stage.

He says it's critical to participate in those types of events. He also thinks it's important not to be too confident at this point in the race. So they're going to be watching very closely, Ryan. All right, thank you.

Let's turn to Vaughn. Now. You also spent some time talk some of the actual respondents in this new Iowa poll. The numbers tell us one thing.

But what did these voters tell you about what they believe should be the role of Trump in the party? How did they describe that? Right. Right now, Donald Trump is the effectively the leader of this Republican Party.

Has he has been. He's been a figurehead for eight years now. And while he's dominating national polling here in Iowa on January 15th when the caucus comes around, it could completely scramble this race. And that's why I'm glad and all of us are, that we've teamed up with an seltzer for this poll because this is the indicator that these other Republicans were looking for.

And notably not just the Republican candidates, but also voters, including two of the folks you're about to hear from, Joey and Dennis, who said that they are hands down anti Trump being the future of this Republican Party. But for both of them, the question is who is the alternative and is that person viable come January 15th to take on Donald Trump? Ticklish. Do you believe the future of the Republican Party is being held up by Donald Trump?

I think it's being destroyed by Donald Trump in 2016. I had some hopes. Well, this is a four year blip and we'll be rid of it in 2020. But given his holding party, the 50 plus percent that stick with him no matter what, there are a lot of people like me that have been lifelong Republicans that will not vote for Donald Trump if he is the candidate.

And I voted Democrat last year even though I did not want to. I felt like it was the only choice I had. And so I'll vote for any Republican that gets on the ticket other than DONALD Trump. Ron DeSantis?

Yes. Tim Scott. Yes, any of them. I will vote for any Republican.

Would you vote for any of the other Republican candidates? I would vote for any of the other Republican candidates. Is there anything that you have seen so far that has merit when it comes to arguments here from others that want to move on from Donald Trump? I cannot think of any.

I think that what I've heard mostly are people, particularly in within Republican circles where I've heard that have listened to the narrative by the left and have bought it. Ryan, you said the number. Ryan, you said it right at the top of the show. Two thirds of Trump supporters said they will definitely cause for him on January 15th.

Bob, who you heard from at the end being one of them, but those other two, Jody and Dennis, they represent that more than 50% of the constituency who suggest the Republican Party should move in a different direction from Donald Trump. But can they coalesce around one candidate? That's an outstanding question here. It feels like that was the same conversation we were having in 2016 as well.

So speaking of Donald Trump, of one, we did get some news on the legal front regarding the former president of Fulton county ahead of Friday's deadline. What do we know about that? Right. We have news here in just the last few minutes that a $200,000 bond has been set for Donald Trump in Georgia.

We expect him to surrender to the Fulton county jump in the back half of the week. Terms of that bond include a requirement that Donald Trump is not able to communicate directly or indirectly unless and what his attorneys is present for those conversations with any of the other 18 CO defendants. Donald Trump, right as we're talking about being five months away from the Iowa caucus, is staring at the legal peril of these litany of cases that also await him here in the months ahead. Ryan.

All right, thank you, Vaughn. Let's bring in Mark now to talk more about this poll. I want to start with you and something that you said about this poll. You said, quote, I've been doing this for a long time.

We've had candidates who started low and ended up winning. Anybody can come to Iowa and win. Anybody. And you are no doubt our Iowa expert.

You know, Trump has a big lead here. Has there ever been a candidate who's made up this amount of ground based on the lead the Trump has here? I mean, what's your read on the state of the field right now? Well, my read is it's certainly a tough hill for another candidate to climb, but so many things can happen that shape the trajectory of the race that it's hard to sit here in August and say this is the way things are going to go.

We had George W. Bush back in 2000 who held a consistent lead all the way through. But it's more common that candidates go up and down and up and down. Now, we're in an unusual situation, and I would, I would couch President Trump's lead as dominating right now.

But there are other little tea leaves in this poll that said there's opportunity for other candidates to make a better showing, even in our next poll. Let's talk about that, because you've pointed out some of these openings for these Trump rivals. If the GOP race ends up changing and the things that traditionally changes, like criminal charges, for instance, they really haven't had any kind of impact. So what would it take for one of these candidates to take advantage of what does appear to be a little bit of a soft spotlight in some of these numbers, Ryan, the indictments actually end up making former President Donald Trump stronger, not weaker.

Overall, the poll has 65% of likely Republican Cox goers saying that, no, we don't believe these charges, these investigations, these are serious amounts of serious crimes versus just 26% who say that, no, they are serious. And I think notably the poll ended up showing that Donald Trump's lead got stronger in the days after the indictment rather than before the poll was conducted, right in the middle of what was going on in Fulton County, Georgia. But importantly, you mentioned there's going to be another Iowa poll right now is kind of the baseline we're going to see over the next five months, we'll be able to track to see has that actually changed? Do Republican caucus goers start to believe, you know what, after I've heard more about what's actually gone on, maybe things actually change.

And we'll be able to find out from this polling all the way up to the caucuses that start on January 15th. And do you think that that one question really kind of tells us the story of this primary so far? In a nutshell? Yeah.

Right. I think that overall, the primary has been about Donald Trump and whether it is the investigations, the indictments against him, whether it's the voters that Vaughn and Kristen end up speaking to, dealing with the do you want Donald Trump still to be your leader or not? I think that is right now the most important question going on in this Republican race. So to that point and 66% of Trump supporters, that they've made up their mind and that ends add up to about 20% of the vote, that would have been enough to win in 2016.

So something less, something radically changes. Is that Trump's floor in Iowa, is this where he has to build from? I don't like to talk about floors or ceilings, because what you have to keep in mind is the constituency that makes up likely Republican caucus goers. This is a, this is an evolving, changing, morphing pool of Iowans who are out there.

And from cycle to cycle, it can dramatically change in terms of just the raw numbers and their makeup. So the opportunity for these candidates who are not Donald Trump is to build new caucus goers out of people who maybe have a caucus before and maybe they're not completely tuned in and so outnumber that core that is very staunchly for President Trump and unlikely to move in terms of his stranglehold on a party market. Our poll, the numbers who just revealed this hour said that 41% of Republican caucus want him to remain the head of their party. That is pretty well in line with his favorability number.

So that's probably not coincidence. Yeah, not only his favorability number, but also his ballot position. It's 41%. Hey, hey.

We want Donald Trump leader of the party. 42% of likely caucus goes say we believe Donald Trump is Our first choice. And Ryan, you know, we were just talking about, like, what is that? Is Donald Trump the question?

I think this gets it really the zeitgeist of the Republican electorate right now. And interestingly enough, among those 41% who said, hey, I want Donald Trump to be the leader, overwhelmingly, Donald Trump is their first choice. Then on that second question, kind of middle ground, Donald Trump was a good president, but maybe it's time to consider other options. Ron DeSantis comes out on top when you look at the Republican horse race that way.

But number two is Donald Trump. And so it's almost going to end up being that if you do want to start picking off the half or more Republicans who wouldn't even consider a new leader, one of those candidates has to consolidate all of that vote to be able to beat Donald Trump. So we've seen some of these Trump rivals attempt to try and find an opening by reaching out to evangelical voters. Scott, in particular, really wanted instances on that as well.

That's a key. And Iowa. Right. It was probably part of Trump's downfall in 2016.

He's now their favored candidate among that group. What do you think has changed? Well, I guess. What do I think has changed?

I think. I'm sorry, who did you say was the favorite among evangelicals, which he led with in 2016 as well? What I think is interesting about evangelicals is that Mike Pence, I think he thought his play was Iowa and the evangelical sector. That makes up the likely caucus goers.

And he is no better among evangelicals than his overall number. So he has no traction, no special traction with that group. In 2016, they were the majority of people who showed up on caucus night. According to entrance polls, 64% were evangelical.

So that is their powerhouse, Democratic, in an area that Donald Trump has made a lot of inroads in. And we've run this bracket about a million times. The winner of the contested Iowa caucus has not won Republican nomination since 2000. And talked about George W.

Bush's win back then. The GOP looks a lot more like a Republican Party than it has in years past. This be the year where they break that trend. Yeah.

And again, I think 2000 is the one here. We haven't really seen a Republican candidate have a lead of this magnitude since George W. Bush was running in 2000. Ending up leading consistently in the Iowa poll.

Ended up winning the Iowa caucus in 2000. But you're exactly right. Ever since then, really, the person who's winning Iowa on the Republican side hasn't necessarily gone on to win the nomination. But I think the reason we're talking about Iowa, that Ann is polling about Iowa, is that this is really, I think the make or break contest, if you want to be able to defeat Donald Trump for the Republican nomination, has to start in Iowa.

You can't come in second or third to him in Iowa, come in second or third to him in New Hampshire and still have a really good slingshot to the nomination. So I think it really has to to start in the Hawkeye State if you want, if you pull off the upset. All right, Mark Murray and seller and tree for this a million times from NBC, folks. We're so glad to be partnering with you in the 2024 election.

We'll have a lot more conversations like this to come. Coming up, President Biden, he's on his way right now to the wildfire ravage Maui. We're live on the ground in Hawaii as the president prepares to tour the disaster zone and deliver remarks. But first, one of former President Trump's most outspoken critics on the campaign trail prepares to take the debate stage Wednesday night by one on one interview with former governor, current presidential candidate Asa Hutchinson.

He's next. You're watching Beat THE PRESS now. Welcome back. With our new Iowa poll showing President Trump's continued dominance, the Republican presidential primary, Wednesday night's first debate could be a chance for one of his rivals to try and change the trajectory of the race.

There's a few hours left to hit the polling and campaign donor thresholds, but as of right now, we expect nine candidates to be on the debate stage. Donald Trump confirmed it in the social media post over the weekend that he will not be among those attending. Joining me now, though, is one of those candidates, former Arkansas Republican Governor Asa Hutchinson, a governor, first of all, congratulations. You've now qualified for the debate stage, which is a huge accomplishment for your campaign.

What's going to be your strategy on that stage Wednesday night? Well, thank you, Ryan. And it is has been a good success story in which we were down 30,000 donors just weeks or a month ago. And now we've met the debate threshold.

So we're thrilled with that. You know, the strategy is to introduce myself to America. They really don't know me. I've been governor for eight years in the Bush administration, head of the dea.

And we've got a great track record. So we want to be able to focus on that level of experience that fits the needs of our nation. And so this is my opportunity to introduce myself in a new way to Americans all across the board. And so we're excited about it.

I think it will be a vigorous exchange, even though Donald Trump will not be there. He's obviously a topic of some of the conversation anyway. But we're going to contrast the ideas for the future that Americans want to be able to focus on. And it's interesting.

Bring it up. Do you think voters are more interested in hearing your track record, your experience, your accomplishments, or do you think they're going to be looking for a way for you to differentiate yourself from the front runner? Well, it all ties together whenever you look at the front runner of Donald Trump, of course, I'll make the case that we need to have a new leader of the party and a new direction. So that's a very specific case that we make.

And it's about he lost in 2020, we didn't do well under his leadership in 2022, and we're headed for disaster in 2024 if he's a leader. We got to make that case. And it resonates. I just spent a week at the Iowa State Fair, and what you hear on the ground is not reflected yet in the polls that you have recited.

I'm not disputing the polls, but I think you'll see that gradually change as they see experienced alternatives that can lead this country. What you mentioned the poll, so let's take a look at those numbers. According to our Des Moines registered News media. Com poll, you did not even crack 1% for the first choice.

You were the second choice of 2% of the respondents. 7% were actively considering your candidacy. But your net favorability is about 12 points underwater. You have been campaigning in Iowa for quite a while.

Are these the numbers that you expected to see? Well, you'd always like to see them higher, but the fact is we have not spent one dime in media advertising in Iowa yet. Many of the other candidates have. And you have not seen any movement on some of the other candidates that have spent literally hundreds of thousands of dollars in ads.

And I think what that says is that I was not ready to make a decision yet. They're still studying the landscape and they haven't had the opportunity to know me in a larger way. So we expect those numbers to change both. But they're going to have to change first for Donald Trump and then they're going to have to see where they're going to go after that.

We'll be making our case that we're the right leader for Iowa and America. But to that point, I want to show you Another set of numbers from this new Iowa poll, and there seems to be a major divide on net favorability. Candidates who've been loudly and openly critical of Donald Trump have negative numbers and you fit in that category. Those who held their tongue have positive numbers, if that's what the electric wants right now.

Do you think that you've a difficult case to the voters here or are you going to continue to be critical of the former president? We got to speak the truth. And if you ask me a question about January 6th, I'm going to give you an answer on it. If you're going to ask me a question about the seriousness of the charges that have been filed against him, I'm going to answer that.

And truth is important. And so this doesn't sit well with some people and you make it in a, in a way that hopefully will bring us all together after the primary election is over with. But you've got to make that case. The path to victory is going to be through Donald Trump.

I don't know whether the soft approach or whether hitting it head on is the right way, but we're speaking the truth. I think it's important. And that's the only way you're going to change those numbers in the end. As to whether I'm the beneficiary of that change, we will see.

But I think as they see the experience factor, my optimism for America and what we've done as a governor and as someone who served in times of crisis in our country, I expect I'm going to be a large share of those votes to that point over the weekend. Take a listen. We have a strain in our party that views supporting Trump as whether you are a rhino or not. And so you could be the most conservative person since sliced bread.

Unless you're kissing his rear end, they will somehow call you a rhino. If all we are is listless vessels that's just supposed to follow, you know, whatever happens to come down the pike on Truth Social every morning, that's not going to be a durable movement. Do you agree with those comments? Well, I think you're right.

We do a little bit of judging of each other in terms of name calling, and it's a purity test. You know, are you 100% pure behind Donald Trump or whatever the ideological movement is? And we have to have diversity in our party for ideas, for differing views and then be able to come together whenever the primary is over. That's the vision that I have.

And so sure, right now you've got Donald Trump in the key position despite the indictments that are against him. The question is, is that going to change? And I believe it will start changing in Iowa first. You won't see it probably until late fall or even early winter, but I do expect those to change.

And I will start that with less than 30 seconds. This may be a tough question to answer such a short period of time, but how do you fight through a field of nine other candidates on that debate stage? How do you make your mark and resonate with voters watching you be authentic, you be clear in your positions and you make sure that you communicate your difference. And there's gonna difference between the candidates.

We're going to showcase those differences. And I think that you'll see that what my message will be something that captures their imagination for the future. All right. Former governor Ace Hockey, thank you so much for being here with FORTUNE on the debate stage Wednesday night.

And be sure to tune in for me the press special after the debate Wednesday night at 11pm Eastern. Trouble have analysis and reaction with all star team of reporters, analysts and interviews with top campaign officials. Don't miss it. Fallout from the first tropical storm to slam Southern California in more than 80 years.

Watching Read the Press now. Welcome back. For the first time in decades, a tropical storm hit Southern California over the weekend. Five million people are under flooders right now after Tropical Storm Hillary made landfall on Sunday.

First responders arrested more than a dozen people from the San Diego river last night as the store toppled trees and flooded streets. The store broke virtually every daily rainfall record in LA and the surrounding areas. More than 50, 000 businesses and homes are without power across the state. And schools in Los Angeles, these are the second largest country are closed today.

At one point, even the 911 system in Palm Springs went out as a storm raged. In addition to the catastrophic flooding, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake also shook Ventura County Sunday. Fortunately, no deaths have been reported in the US from the storm or the quake. Meanwhile, up north in Washington, at least two individuals have died as multiple wildfires broke out this weekend.

Fires destroyed nearly 200 structures and scorched around 20,000 acres in Spokane county alone. Let me see who meteorologist Bill Karens joins us now to explain the latest on all this. Bill, first take us through what happened in Southern California this weekend and what is the latest on what you're seeing today? Yeah, so we've now had the sun out for about six to eight hours on the west coast and we were all kind of afraid what we would see because we know when we went to bed last night and when the sun set, you know, there were torrents of mud.

There was a report of flash flooding all over it with the peak of the storm. So we were afraid of what we see when we woke up. But we haven't seen neighborhoods that have collapsed downhill size. We haven't heard any casualties or any injuries in the US from this storm.

And it doesn't like we had any towns that had debris flows even go through them in a ruined like downtown. That's what all happened with past storms in California. So so far so good. We have a lot of cleanup.

A lot of roads are washed out, bridges washed out. We had debris, boulders everywhere. But we're not looking at homes that have been wrecked and the power outages are only at 40,000. So like the wind wasn't even all that big of a deal.

We considered to deal with the Santa Ana winds and all the high winds during this recent winter during El Nino, it's been ok. So let's go through the storm. Most of the flooding is over with just a little bit possible in northern portions of Idaho. We've dropped a lot of our flood watches.

Areas from Boise northwards has the best chance of getting some additional heavy rainfall. But even that's gonna be ending as we go throughout the night. And as far as the California storms go, there's been so much confusion in this throughout all the media. There's only been three tropical storms that have been over California at any given time.

This was the fourth one. The other two was Noor. That was the most recent back in 1997 and those both crossed the Baja just like this one did. And same with Kathleen in 1976.

So this storm, it's not unprecedented, it's happened before, but it's been a good 30 years or 50 years since anything like this has occurred. And now we're in a peak of hurricane season. We get numerous storms to watch, but the closest is the one that's developing, the Gulf of Mexico, likely tomorrow morning here. A tropical storm has made landfall in Texas.

That's how quickly things are changing here as this is heading towards the Texas coast. The hurricane center is watching it and they've already issued tropical storm warnings here for areas of South Texas. Right. So yeah, this is that time of year these storms pop up and hurry.

We also have Franklin out there, which will likely be a storm left. Watch closely to the east coast coming about a week from now. All right, Bill, Karen, thank you so much for. Appreciate it.

After the break, Powell White House is addressing the historic tragedy out of Hawaii amid an urgent need for housing and a desperate search for the hundreds of people still missing. You're watching the PRESS now. Welcome back. Officials have NOW confirmed that 850 people remain missing after the devastating wildfires in Maui.

This is the first time officials have released a firm number of missing since the fires began two weeks ago. Those 850 people are in addition to the 114 people confirmed to have died in the fires. And sadly, the death toll is expected to keep rising as search and recovery teams continue to work through the affected areas. And asset search for victims goes on.

President Biden for Lady Jill Biden are expected to land in Maui in the next few minutes. They will take a tour of the devastation and meet with residents, first responders and local officials. ABC News correspondent Data Griffith joins me from Maui ahead of the president's a Visit. A data 850 people now officially classified as missing in these wildfires.

How did the county get to that number? And what is the latest on the search and recovery efforts to find them? Yeah, Brian, that's a really great question. Officials have not yet explained their methodology for getting to that number.

We know earlier on during this disaster, a Google document was actually created and it helped a lot of families to see where their loved ones were if they were still missing. And that document I believe at this hour is at 799. So that may play a role in the numbers of missing. We're also told that the FBI has been assisting with us with that.

That count alone with some aid groups here on the ground. As far as the search and recovery goes, 85 of this decimated area has been searched so far. Officials tell us the next 15 will likely take weeks. And that's because a lot of these buildings are not structurally sound.

I actually spoke with a female representative. He says that they actually have to take some of these taller buildings layer by layer just to search the remains, just to search that for remains. So we're expecting to see that over the next several weeks. And it's going to be another slow, painstaking process.

And for people who are wondering how you have that high a number of people still missing, yet a majority of the burn area searched. We are told by officials, including Gunner Green, that this fire burned so hot it turned a lot of those remains to ashes. And he said, unfortunately, some of the missing will never be found. Ryan, that's heartbreaking.

Thank you. Housing, of course, one of the main concerns right now for survivors of the fire. And I'm joined now by Adrian Todd, who's The Deputy Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for the Biden administration. Thank you for being here, deputy secretary.

Nearly 2,000 buildings were destroyed in the fires, the majority of them houses. Can you give us an update on what the current housing and shelter situation is like on the ground there and does to have a plan for making sure that survivors have long term housing? No. Thank you.

And thank you for having me on. You know, first I want to express our prayers with everybody who's grieving today. I lost a family member, a loved one in this horrific wildfire in Maui county. And this administration and this HUD are ready to work with individuals.

I lost my mic there. To continue to work to make sure that we're doing everything that we can to help families now and in the future. You asked about what are we doing now, what can we do? So as you know, there's over a thousand federal personnel who are on the ground now supporting the people of Maori County.

And our partners at FEMA played a strong leadership role in getting that work done. But the president has made it clear his expectation that this is a all of government event. So HUD, Commerce, USDA, VA, SBA, all of us have a role to play to make sure that the Maori is rebuilt. One of the things that HUD has done is to provide maximum flexibility across our suite of programs to ensure that the governor and the mayor and all the leaders impacted are able to use our funds to provide shelter, to fix housing and really just meet the moment with whatever the people of Maui need.

Historically, FEMA has given housing credits to people who've lost their homes in natural disasters. But on Maui, affordable housing is really limited resource. Do these specific circumstances require different solutions than you would deal with in a mainland hurricane or fire? Well, certainly we're watching what the leaders of the state and the county would like to do with Hutch funds and with the vision they have for what comes next.

We have been providing aid assistance in terms of the short term housing needs, shelter, but we are standing ready to make sure that all the flexibilities, all the great ideas that are out there about new innovative housing types, that we are there to be a resource for the leaders and Hawaii, not just in terms of ideas, but funding as well. And you've already put into place a foreclosure moratorium for residents with federal loans and you're also providing a support package. What's the best way for residents to access these support benefits going forward? Absolutely.

So, you know, we join our partners, fema, in their disaster recovery center and make sure that there's information there as families are availing themselves and signing up for disaster assistance. There'll also be information about ways that they can protect their assets. And as you mentioned, Ahad has joined with all of our housing partners, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, fha. We're all come together to make sure that we are providing families with an opportunity to hold on to their land, hold on to their homes and creating a opportunity for forbearance so they don't have to worry about payments right now.

They can just focus on the path ahead and they'll love one. And you've already sounded the alarm on predatory real estate companies who are trying to buy out land from under survivors. The governor said that he'd like to put a moratorium on the sale of land. Is there any role that HUD can play on that front?

You know, look, we work with the private sector all the time to build housing and to improve housing supply across the country. But I've got to say there are people who are using this moment to take advantage of folks while they're at their lowest, while they're grieving families and loved ones, while they're trying to figure out what the future holds to take their land and home from them. I find that distasteful, quite frankly. And we certainly echo the governor when he says that this is not the moment that we need to make sure that the land which is so very precious to the people in Hawaii, that people are able to hold on to their land and be build in the future.

And how concerned are you about the displacement of the local Maui community? We did see thousands of people displaced from Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Many of them never came back. How do you avoid that happening in this particular instance?

Well, first of all, we have to give people hope that we will be there for them in the future. And that is certainly what the president seeks to deliver when he and the first lady land shortly, that we will be there for them now and we will be there for them during rebuilding. We're also going to provide funding and certainly our partners at FEMA are first in line and we'll be providing families immediate individual assistance. And HAU are disaster recovery funds which we are sure that we'll receive from the Congress at some point that will receive those funds and be able to provide leaders with the funding they need to build back in a more resilient way that really respects the tradition, the cultures and the land of Hawaii.

All right, Monumental task in front of you. Adrian Todman. Thank you so much appreciate you being here. And still to come, my new reporting on a rising Republican star with potential presidential ambitions.

And my Democrats are getting nervous. We're watching the press now. Welcome back. We have a new reporting about how off year elections in Virginia this November could shake up the 2024 race for president.

Virginia Democrats are raising alarms that the state's governor Glenn Youngkin could use momentum from possible state wide wins this fall to mount the presidential bid and that the White House and the national party aren't doing enough to stop him. Currently, Republicans hold a slim majority and Virginia House while Democrats hold an equally slim majority in the Senate. Recently I spoke to Virginia's Democratic Senator Tim Kaine about his concerns. Here's part of that conversation.

In terms of raising money at a national level as we have this time around, what type of village do you think he's having over these races? Look, I think you're right that he is going all in to win these races and it's heavily without a state fundraising. And you know, to the extent I have a little bit of concern standing here in August, a couple months before the election, I don't think think there's a there's the same national donor focus on Virginia as governor Youngkin is pushing on the Republican side. Joining me now to break down all this is my panel, the co author of The Washington Post early 202, Leanne Caldwell, Democratic strategist and Ms.

Cross and Republican strategist, NBC News political analyst Rick Tyler Sullyan. Should we be talking about Glenn Youngenkin? We saw these polls that show no one else breaking through the Republican field. Could he jump in at some point and shake things up?

He could. We'll see if he does it. I do know that his team has been and he has been working really hard in part as you've reported, to really ensure that Republicans do well in these off year elections. They're expanding ballot access, early mail in voting.

They're really trying to ensure that Republicans do well. And so we'll see. I'm talking to a bunch of Republican strategists who don't really believe the hype around Youngkin that he's going to be the savior but he might be setting himself up in case Donald Trump and the others collapse. Well, there's a more play here, Rick, than Joe.

Whether or not Youngton runs for president. What could happen here in the state legislature significant as well if he's able to flip both the House and the Senate that will allow him a governing agenda that he doesn't currently enjoy. That also makes the stage run to make an argument to national Republicans that he's able to do something in a purple state that many others can't. I think there's no doubt that they're having this argument.

The team is having this argument and Yunkin's having this argument and donors are having the argument. But he does have to win the Senate first. I think it'd be very hard for him to make a justification that he's a winning candidate if he doesn't win the Senate. If he does win the Senate.

I know this for a fact that there are a lot of Republican donors who are looking for an alternative to Donald Trump and they have not found it. Now, Youngkin's big challenge, of course, would be that he would have to forego the early stage. It's never been done before. That'd be really exciting, I think, for us at least.

Well, that's right. But he would have to literally sweep Super Tuesday, which I don't think. I think is unconventional, but not, not out of the possibility if we get through the first three states and it's a muddle and Youngkin looks strong. Well, right now it's not a muddle.

Right. Our poll shows that Donald Trump has a pretty commanding lead. And if these other Republicans can't take Trump down and he has a commanding lead up those first three states, not the model which Rick is describing, would there be any shot for Youngkin to command the last minute? It'll be extremely tough.

I mean, we have a situation where by double digits and even more at this point, 30% polls, some 40 where you're seeing Donald Trump basically come in regardless of the indictments in multiple jurisdictions. Glenn Young, though, I think that he could be a sleeper here because quite frankly, his fundraising in his own pockets are very deep. But in addition to that, he has won what I would consider an almost pitch perfect Republican leadership across the country when it comes to everybody's spotlight in Virginia, one, because he's used anti crt. He's used a lot of the cultural war issues himself, but he hasn't done it in a way that is as bombastic as what he's seen from Florida.

Ron DeSantis, he's been very smart about. He also won Virginia by essentially telling Donald Trump to stand back. He used a lot of Trumpy rhetoric in terms of the policies that came out of it. But he was very cautious as to not have Donald Trump there.

And I think that he's still extremely wise strategy. Well, it's interesting you point out that he hasn't had the same sort of agenda that Ron DeSantis has. Democrats argued that because he hasn't had the votes in the legislature. Right.

This is what Senator King told me about that. Could he potentially turn Virginia policy in a pretty far right direction as a way to establish himself as a national Republican? You think about DeSantis model, and you know, I think Governor Youngen has often talked about Governor DeSantis Florida as kind of a role model for him as a governor with two Republican houses. Look, you see efforts underway around Virginia in some local school jurisdictions to ban books, pull books out of school libraries, pull books out of public library system.

You will see an effort to end Virginia status as the only southern state that follows Roe v. Wade. And you'll see efforts to dramatically change voting rules, even though the expanded voting rules help Governor Young can win in 2021. He can't run for re election, Rick.

So could he just go all in on these Republican policies to make him a more attractive national Republican candidate? I think part of his, I mean, part of his attractiveness, as you outlined very well, by the way, is going to be that he is sort of an unknown. So when I say that a muddle after the first three states, I don't necessarily mean that Donald Trump's going to lose. He may or may not lose.

But remember, I was well shadowed because people get organizations there and then the rest is like people are semi organized in Virginia, they're not organized in South Carolina. And then it's Super Tuesday. Nobody's organized because there's no money to do the all. And he may, if these indictments go through and we have court dates, things could change very, very quickly.

And DeSantis, in my opinion, has already run his course as a second choice. He's not it. He's not going to be it. Nobody knows who the second choice is now.

And of course, the debates are going to try to figure that out. But Luka Youngkin is in a very good position, I think, to do that. It would be unconventional, but he might be able to pull it. All right, let's talk where things are established and our new politics today showing Donald Trump holding on to this commanding lead.

If you are the others in this Republican field, is there anything that you can take out of these numbers that would demonstrate any sort of hope leading in to these caucuses now, just a couple of months. Well, it's interesting looking at these numbers, especially the favorable versus unfavorable numbers, the people who are underwater, the candidates who are underwater are the candidates who have been attacking Donald Trump. Mike Pence, Chris Christie, Asa Hutchinson. And so maybe that is not the path to winning the Republican primary.

They may have alternative votives, especially Chris, Christine, Asa Hutchinson. But, you know, looking towards this debate on Wednesday, I spoke to a lot of Republican strategists over the weekend and they are unanimously in agreement that Donald Trump has sucked all of the oxygen out of the room. And how do you compete with someone who isn't even there? And so it's a huge challenge for all these Republican candidates to get beyond the power of Donald Trump's support.

And make sure when you look at those same poll numbers that we are talking about in terms of favorability rating, the candidates are at the top of this list. And some of who actually have better net favorability ratings than Donald Trump are all candidates that have been kind to Donald Trump. Nikki Haley, Tim Scott DeSantis, to a certain extent. Are they just running for second place?

Are they doing anything to distinguish themselves from Trump's the front runner? They're absolutely running for second place at this point. But even before this poll came out, they knew the base and the base is just a mocker crowd. The base is Republican voters.

And they knew that they do not support you with having Trump. So they were not going to go on the offensive extremely hard, which I think that we definitely saying from people who are at the bottom of this poll. But they weren't going to do that because they still have to court that base. But the issue they're going to have is how you separate yourself from the top dot.

Because aside from Donald Trump saying essentially that they will take place in his cabinet for Tim Stock, I don't know where the rest of them will end up. And I think that as this becomes more and more, you know, less steady, I guess, as we continue to go because we're still over a year out of the election. Anything happened between now and November. But by all all manner of reporting we've seen thus far, Donald Trump isn't losing his grip at all.

So these others, they've had to kill his yelling as much as they can because the base is going talking about him sucking all the oxygen out of the room. Can he suck the oxygen out of the room? He's not in on that base stage. Let me just comment on two things.

One is I think Ted Cruz was in single digits at this point, but there wasn't somebody else at 42%. That's true. The second thing is while, while it is true that the high negatives are corresponding. People attack.

I think that the unknown. Trump has always unknown how to run against, but he has a record. He does not have a conservative record. He has a Republican record as president.

The deficit didn't get smaller, it got bigger. The budget wasn't balanced. The border isn't better, it's worse. The trade deficit with China is not lower, it's higher.

All these things like what did he achieve? What Republican, what do I get as a conservative? My values, policy wise did Donald Trump deliver? And not only deliver nothing on policy, he delivered nothing politically.

He lost the White House. He lost the Senate twice, once willfully in the third time and he lost the House. So what do you get yet? Losing, losing, losing.

At this point, we haven't got any evidence that's resonating with Republican voters. We're going to leave it there. Leanne Rek, this will be a busy, busy, busy week. Thank you guys for taking awesome.

We appreciate it. Kristen will be back with you tomorrow with more of the press. Now. The NEWS now continues right now with Ali Jackson.

Now, I'm Craig. Mel. Cheers. Cheers.

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