Updated
Summary
Jan.6 hearing postponed due to Hurricane Ian. Roger Stone talks election challenges in new doc clip. Secret Service took cellphones of 24 agents involved in Jan. 6 response & gave them to investigators. Sedition trial begins for Oath Keepers tied to 1/6 riot. Texas A.G. Ken Paxton fled home to avoid subpoena. Florida braces for Hurricane Ian. Lawmakers prep congressional stock trading ban for floor.
Transcript
LAWRENCE O`DONNELL, MSNBC HOST: Somara Theodore, thank you very much for that report. I really appreciate it.
And on this day exactly 12 years ago, this show was born. I want to close tonight by thanking the brilliant staff of the Last Word who have gotten us this far. And to thank the audience for joining us these nights. That is tonight`s “LAST WORD”. THE 11TH HOUR with Stephanie RUHLE starts now.
STEPHANIE RUHLE, MSNBC HOST: Tonight, the special master in the Mar-a-Lago investigation isn`t making it easy for teen Trump. Did they get more than they bargained for? Then the Texas Attorney General running from the law, driving away from officials trying to serve him a subpoena in an abortion lawsuit. Plus, Florida Republicans deny climate change as a monster storm barrels towards the coast. Property loss could be in the billion`s human costs still unknown, as THE 11TH HOUR gets underway on this Tuesday night.
Good evening, once again on Stephanie Ruhle. We are tracking Hurricane Ian tonight as it closes in on Florida`s west coast. We just got the 11p.m. forecast from the National Hurricane Center. And we`ll bring you the latest on the huge storm`s path in just a moment.
Meanwhile, the January 6 Committee has postponed tomorrow`s hearing because of the storm. So far, the hearing has yet to be rescheduled. But we are getting more video from a Roger Stone documentary that the committee is likely to feature once the hearing does happen.
In one newly released clip Stone is heard talking about challenging the election results even before the election happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROGER STONE, LONGTIME REPUBLICAN OPERATIVE AND CONFIDANT TO FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: What they`re assuming is the election will be normal. The election will not be more. Oh, these are the California results. Sorry, we`re not accepting them. We`re challenging them in court. If the actors show up at the Electoral College armed guards will throw them out. I`m the president, (bleep) you. You`re not stealing Florida. You`re not stealing — I`m challenging all of it. And the judges, we`re going to our judges, I appointed you. (bleep), you. You`re not stealing the election.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RUHLE: High appointed, Roger Stone, as a private citizen. And right there, it sure seems like Roger Stone knew beforehand, Trump wasn`t going to win. Now, he called the committee`s evidence out of context, saying it is not credible. But earlier today, former January 6 committee advisor Denver Riggleman had this to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DENVER RIGGLEMAN, FORMER 1/6 COMMITTEE ADVISER: He`s full of crap, because here`s the thing about data, can`t be manipulated or edited. You know, people say a can and you have all the weird conspiracy theories. Stone is in trouble. And, you know, when every time they open their mouth, they`re lying, and the Committee knows this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RUHLE: And we are now waiting for the next steps from the Committee. There are still unresolved questions, big ones, whether this next hearing will be the last, how will possible criminal referrals be handled? And what is that final report going to look like?
Meanwhile, NBC News reports that Secret Service leadership has confiscated the phones of 24 agents involved in the Jan. 6 response. They were handed over to the Department of Homeland Security`s inspector general back in July, shortly after he launched a probe into those missing text messages from the 6th.
We`re also following the start of the oath keeper founders to Rhodes` trial. Jury selection began today for Rhodes and for other Oath Keepers who are all charged with seditious conspiracy in connection with the January 6 attack.
With that, let`s get smarter with the help of our leadoff panel tonight. Carol Leonnig joins us, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Investigative Reporter with The Washington Post, Hugo Lowell, Congressional Reporter for The Guardian and Neal Katyal, Department of Justice Veteran and former Acting Solicitor General during the Obama Administration.
Carol, we all know it the January 6 hearing now delayed. The Committee has already made huge advancements, huge progress, they have cracked wide open for us to see so much of what went down on January 6, they still have long ways to go, is the clock working against them?
CAROL LEONNIG, THE WASHINGTON POST INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: You know, Steph, that`s a great question. The Committee has said over and over again, they want to bring into the living rooms of Americans what exactly happened on January 6, a lot of it, we saw on television, right? But they want to make clear to them over and over again. What was President Trump doing before January 6, what was he doing that day, what they do after.
And that they`ve brought home in a painful sometimes way to see that the President was, for example, apparently comfortable with the fact that there were supporters of his that were carrying weapons as they entered or tried to enter his rally and he was fine with them being armed, although that is a felony on the National Mall. And he was fine with also heading up to the Capitol himself essentially leading an armed band of individuals who are angry and ready to riot, that was something that this committee brought to us.
[23:05:04]
However, the Committee in the meantime has learned a lot of things and learned a lot of things they don`t have the answers to. And that`s why they went back to the drawing board, back to the investigation, back to more records, including some of those Secret Service records you mentioned, to try to answer some critical question. There`s been some dispute Secret Service agents saying, oh, I don`t remember Donald Trump, that he really wanted to go to the Capitol that badly. I don`t remember him trying to attack anybody in his limousine. Those questions the Committee is still trying to answer, and it`s true. The clock is ticking. There`s only so much time left. And we`ve heard disparate points, but some people say this may be the last hearing.
RUHLE: Neal Trump`s one serious, legit, credible lawyer, Chris Kise, that`s the guy who required a $3 million payment upfront before working with Trump. He has reportedly been sidelined in the document`s investigation. Why is that? He was his one guy who knew what he was doing?
NEAL KATYAL, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW PROFESSOR: I mean, you never know when it comes to Trump or his lawyers. I mean, there`s any number of possibilities. It might be that he just refused to, you know, continue some of Trump`s lies out of court, inside court. I don`t know. I mean, I think the special master litigation right now, Steph, is something that is spectacularly blown up and Donald Trump`s face.
Now, special masters are not things you normally get. You and I would never get a special master. But Trump`s lawyers basically told this judge in Florida, Judge Cannon that he should get special rights and get this special master. So, he got it but the person that they named Judge Dearie is clearly not playing ball, the way that Judge Cannon wants, and has basically called Trump`s bluff. And in effect, what this special master has done and say to Donald Trump, look, it`s time to put up or shut up. So, if you think the evidence is planted Trump lawyers tell me what evidence is planted, identified and explain why. If you think this evidence is privileged, either, you know, Trump privilege, executive privilege, attorney client privilege, whatever you want to make up, you know, tell me which documents specifically and why. And it`s clear that he`s not going to let Trump peddle these absurd conspiracy theories, which is why it`s blown up because if he didn`t, Trump didn`t seek the special master, he could give his rallies and say the evidence is all planted and he declassified everything in his head, and that the FBI and the Justice Department are abusing his rights. But he tried that in court in the court of appeals last week for the 11th Circuit, our nation`s second highest court, with two out of the three judges being very serious.
Trump appointees, blew off all of the — not blow up, but just rejected flatly, every one of those arguments inside the investigation was legitimate. This whole classification story that Trump was peddling is nonsense and legitimated the prosecution saying there was no legitimate the investigation saying there was no abuse of his rights. And so ultimately Steph, if — you know, I think that this really almost forces Merrick Garland, given what the Court of Appeal said last week, to do — to indict Donald Trump there say — the Court of Appeals saying, this is really serious, there`s no abuse of rights. And, you know, we all know if it were anyone else having this kind of sensitive top-secret material, not just in the storage room, but in his office unsecured, that person will be in jail.
RUHLE: So where does come go from here, Hugo, it`s easy to lie on TV, much harder under oath. To Neal`s point, Trump and his team have until Friday, to prove to Judge Dearie their claims that the FBI planted evidence. And thus far we`ve heard Trump and his lawyers talk, talk, talk about this on TV, but none of them have said word one in front of any Judge, where do they go from here?
HUGO LOWELL, THE GUARDIAN CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER: Look, I think they have a real problem. I mean, when I was down in Brooklyn, for the first special master hearing, Trump`s lawyers kind of said, an open court. You know, we don`t want to get into this stuff about whether, you know, certain documents were declassified or not, or whether, you know, the FBI, put additional documents at Mar-a-Lago and then saying, you know, this was scooped up in the search. Because these are potential arguments you want to save in case of a potential indictment. And I think that`s really telling, they have been boxed into a corner now. And they know it because they now have to make these kind of arguments. They have to tell the judge under oath, what Trump really is doing, and a lot of this has come from Trump himself. And I think and I wonder if some of the Trump lawyers are now going back to the former president saying what do you want us to do? Because you put yourself in this position by going around saying, you know, you can declassify documents I spoke thinking about them. It`s just such an absurd, absurd kind of notion. And that, you know, you`ve been going on Fox News and saying that these documents are appointed by the FBI.
[23:10:04]
You put yourself in this position, what do you want to do? And I don`t think there`s a very clear way forward for them.
RUHLE: Well, it seems like everything John Dearie is asking Trump to do. Trump is objecting. Is he realizing that, oh, Dearie doesn`t work for me. He`s not one of my judges. And if so, Neal, does he no longer want Dearie? And can he now say, oh, forget it? Can we cancel the special master plans?
KATYAL: I`m sure if he could, he would. But it`s really hard to give him what his lawyers have asked and said how important it is. I think what they`re going to try and do, Steph, is try and get as much out of Dearie. And back to Judge Cannon, the judge who wrote the ridiculous truly ridiculous opinion, saying basically, Donald Trump is former president gets special rights, including a special master.
I mean, she was basically trying to trying to crown a king and say that he gets these privileges for the rest of his life. It was absurd. It was flatly rejected before. And so, but nonetheless, that is someone who, at least in the past, has done Trump`s bidding. At the end of the day, though, I think, Steph, this all is going to move to Washington D.C., where I think you know, I think it`s very hard for Merrick Garland at this point, not to indict Donald Trump in federal court. He is, you know, looks like the evidence shows. He`s committed really serious, incredibly serious crimes, and the rulebook kind of requires it. And Trump isn`t just committed those crimes. He`s lied about it through his attorney saying, well, I`ve returned all this information when it`s clear he did.
RUHLE: Please note, it`s now been seven weeks, Trump and or his lawyers have not explained once, why they took the documents in the first place. Carol, you literally wrote the book on the Secret Service. How big of a deal is it that the agency turned over 24 phones to the inspector general?
LEONNIG: It`s a big deal. It was also a big deal that the Secret Service leadership, Steph, allowed most of this information during a critical moment in our nation`s history. You can`t imagine a more historic moment than January 6, in my lifetime, in my reporting career. It was an amazing mistake for the Secret Service leadership to allow all of that information from that time period to be wiped off of Secret Service phones.
And so, the turning over the phones now is kind of a little too late. Much of this information is not going to be restorable. However, I`ll say there`s one benefit that I`ve been hearing over and over from sources. And that is because of the egg on the face mistake the Secret Service made in wiping critical evidence and information that the government agencies are required to maintain as part of not just like, oh, let`s look back at our history book, but like, let`s keep government records because they`re important evidence. And they`re important about how we go forward and knowing what we did in the past.
So that huge mistake has led to the Department of Homeland Security, the parent agency and the Secret Service, turning over a ton of records now. While not the text turning over a ton of records to the January 6 Committee, and that is going to form the basis of some pretty interesting revelations. I just say stay tuned about that. But there`s a lot of information that`s going to come from that information, from those that corresponded, even though it`s not the magic tech. It does hold some important.
RUHLE: Interesting, underline, underline, underline exclamation point and highlighted. Neal, jury selection got underway today in the trial of the Oath Keepers` founder for seditious conspiracy, we keep hearing that term, what are these charges and what could the consequences be?
KATYAL: So seditious conspiracy is one of the most serious charges in the entire Federal Code. That also is one of the hardest for prosecutors in generally to prove, because it requires prosecutors to prove that two or more people agreed to use force to delay the execution of a law or to overthrow the government. And so here, the claim is that the January 6 insurrection, that Stewart Rhodes, who was the head of one of these groups and others did was to delay the execution of the counting of votes on January 6.
Now, the prosecutors are helped very much by the fact that a lot of this is on video, and even the Secret Service has to raise the video. So, you know, there`s a lot that they can show the jury about the direct involvement.
Now, I think the harder question is, does this extend beyond the folks who invaded the Capitol actually on January 6, as it reached into the Trump White House, does it reach into Donald Trump himself? That`s obviously the kinds of questions that the January 6 committee is looking at what Carol`s referring to, about the Secret Service part. They may be looking at that as well.
[23:15:03]
But it is going to be I think hard for prosecutors to link Trump at least directly with seditious conspiracy, as opposed to some of the other charges that have already been levied against him by, for example, a federal judge in California, like regular conspiracy or obstruction of an official proceeding. Those are both federal crimes. They`re very serious, not quite as serious as seditious conspiracy. But Donald Trump is facing that as well as Mar-a-Lago. And as well investigations in Georgia in New York, I mean, he`s attracting investigations like lies.
RUHLE: I want to talk about the Georgia investigation, before I let you go. Hugo, today in Georgia, former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was supposed to testify to a grand jury about efforts to overturn the 2020 election there, it is not clear if he testified, what are you hearing?
LOWELL: Yeah, Meadows has been really silent on a lot of his activities before investigators both with DOJ, and in this case in Georgia, and I`m told that because his defense attorneys are telling him not to talk to reporters, and it`s not exactly clear whether that`s because he`s cooperating with federal prosecutors or if he`s cooperating with investigators elsewhere.
But I do think it`s interesting that, you know, he`s kind of got on the ground, typically, you know, having covered Congress and having covered, you know, members of Congress and how they interact with reporters. Typically, when they stop talking about things, it`s an indication that they are doing something that they don`t want, you know, reporters who know about their whereabouts to start sniffing around. And I think that`s potential indication as to what he may be doing. I mean, we already know he cooperated with the January 6 committee to some extent. He turned over all of those text messages that are on the roadmap for that investigation. And I think it`s certainly possible that if he is cooperating with the Georgia attorney there, any worse than potentially there are some additional cooperation.
RUHLE: Good comparison, when and if lawmakers do anything good or positive, they are shouting it from the rooftops, calling any reporter that will listen.
Carol Leonnig, Neal Katyal, Hugo Lowell, thank you for starting us off tonight.
When we come back, the top law enforcement officer in Texas has decided to run from the law. What Ken Paxton is saying about fleeing from a subpoena. And later, an update on Hurricane Ian`s path as the massive storm moves closer to Florida`s west coast. We`ll be talking to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez about the growing threat climate change poses to his state and why he`s bucking his party to talk about it. THE 11TH HOUR just getting underway on a Tuesday night.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:22:20]
RUHLE: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has decided to run from the law in his own state. According to court documents., Paxton allegedly fled his home in a car driven by his wife to avoid a subpoena, that subpoena ordering him to testify in court over lawsuit for groups seeking out of state abortion care for Texans.
In a post on Twitter, Paxton said he left over concerned about the safety and well-being of his family. This morning, a judge granted Paxton`s motion to quash the subpoena.
Back with us tonight, two top politics, Robert Gibbs, former White House Press Secretary and Senior Campaign Adviser to President Obama and Michael Steele, former Chairman of the RNC and former Lieutenant Governor of Maryland.
Michael, jumping in a getaway car and avoiding a subpoena, it`s just the most recent thing we`ve seen out of Paxton. He has been under indictment for securities fraud for seven years. He is also the subject of a whistleblower investigation, put all of this together and explain to me how this guy just soared through his primary and will likely be reelected. What does that tell you about Texas voters?
MICHAEL STEELE, FORMER RNC CHAIRMAN: They don`t care. They don`t care.
RUHLE: Why?
STEELE: He does their bidding. He reflects their attitude about government and politics and public service. They`re not looking for a higher standard. They`re looking for a standard that they`re comfortable with that they agree with. And so, Paxton and many others that we`ve seen around the country fit that bill. That`s why, you know, going into the selection, as much as we are concerned about our — the state of our democracy, and that fight continues. A lot of voters are like, I don`t get what the big deal is. And unfortunately, they probably won`t till it`s too late. Paxton knows that he can do what he`s done. Because the voters won`t pay — he wants to pay a penalty with the voters. And as long as politicians don`t have to pay a penalty with voters, the ish that you see happen in places like Texas and out in Arizona and Pennsylvania, that only gets worse. It doesn`t get better.
RUHLE: Robert, what do you think?
ROBERT GIBBS, FORMER OBAMA WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, look, I think polling in Texas has shown this to be a much closer race and you`ve seen other races in Texas. And I think voters in Texas know that their attorney general isn`t just familiar with the judicial system, because he`s the Attorney General, he`s familiar with the judicial system, because he`s a defendant. And I think, you know, the idea of running from a subpoena is remarkably ironic and rich given the fact that this is a man seeking to prosecute women who are leaving the state of Texas to seek their own reproductive health care, yet doesn`t want to answer questions with his own judgment and based on his own opinions.
[23:25:17]
And so, I think that level of hypocrisy does ring true for voters. And I think it will be interesting to see how tough this race is. I`m not altogether surprised he sailed through a Republican primary. But I think suburban voters, particularly in Texas, are going to wonder why their attorney general is spending a lot more time as a defendant than he is as a prosecutor.
RUHLE: Well, let`s talk about suburban voters in Pennsylvania, which for quite some time was considered a swing state. And now I`m wondering, I want to play some sound from Doug Mastriano, the Republican candidate for governor back in 2019.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Would that woman who decided have an abortion, which would be considered an illegal abortion be charged with murder?
DOUG MASTRIANO, (R) PENNSYLVANIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: OK, let`s go back to the basic question there. Is that a human being? Is that a little boy or girl? If it is it, it deserves equal protection on the law?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So, you`re saying yes?
MASTRIANO: Yes, I am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RUHLE: Could be charged with murder. As I said, last I checked, Pennsylvania was considered a swing state. Did I miss something here, Michael?
STEELE: No, you did know what has been happening gradually, for some time is the rhetoric and the concepts that first animated, a lot of individuals in the prolife community had had been degraded. So, we`ve now watched in a very short period of time, the movement of what away from life of the mother rape and incest, et cetera, into absolutely under any circumstance, the woman would not be permitted to have an abortion. She would therefore be a criminal under the law.
Now, this was toward 2019, Roe versus Wade was still the law of the land at that time. And so, you know, Doug was already sort of telegraphing where this narrative was going to go. And so, we`re now in that moment, a lot of people have used the analogy of the dog catching the car, but not only have they caught the car, they slammed into the back of it, because what Kansas has shown us and what the polling has shown us since the leak, actually, of the opinion — of the Alito opinion back in April, is that Americans, broadly speaking, Republican, conservative, female doesn`t matter or like no. And so, whether or not that`s going to translate at the ballot box that remains to be seen whether people look at it in that context, that remains to be seen. But yeah, I mean, this has been a trend line for some time. There`s so the degradation of the argument to the point where, under any circumstances, a woman could be hauled off to jail, because her life was threatened by a pregnancy.
RUHLE: You know, who deeply understands Republican polling, Republicans — one Republican who has been in office in power for years, and years. Robert, Mitch McConnell, how do you think Mitch McConnell is doing right now? Because last I checked, Donald Trump has been going after him day in and day out, what`s McConnell thinking and doing right now?
GIBBS: Well, I think Mitch McConnell is concerned as he`s enunciated two big thoughts. One, he said many, many months ago that the only group that could screw up Republicans, taking control of Washington was Republicans. And Michael, and I can probably both tell you, Republicans are doing a pretty good job of exactly screwing that up. You know, Donald Trump has inserted himself into this election. And as Michael just talked about the Dobbs decision that that leak in may fundamentally change the shape of the election. You`ve also heard McConnell talk about the quality of his candidates or I should say the lack thereof, a number of top tier, particularly Senate races, places like Arizona, that should be really at the at the center of the strategy for control of the United States Senate are slipping away from Republicans. It`s no longer considered a toss-up race.
Yet states that Trump won by eight points, like Ohio, have seen the Republican candidate, J.D. Vance, who advanced only because of Trump`s endorsement struggle mightily in a place like that. So, I think, you know, look, as we sit here tonight, Senate control is basically a coin flip. It`s going to come down to three or four seats. And if you`d have told many Republicans and Democrats that just a few months ago, they would have called you crazy and now it`s very realistic that the Democrats could hold control the Senate in six weeks.
RUHLE: Politics less than six weeks to go Robert Gibbs, Michael Steele, thank you both for joining us tonight.
When we come back, the latest forecast on the state storm surge threat from Hurricane Ian, as it closes in on Florida`s West Coast. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is here on how his city and his state are dealing with climate change.
[23:30:11]
And later, one poll showed a whopping 70, 70% of voters support restricting lawmakers from insider trading. So, what`s the holdup with Congress taking a vote on it? That`s when THE 11TH HOUR continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:35:03]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, (D) U.S. PRESIDENT: My administration is on alert and in action to help the people of Florida, have approved Florida`s requests for emergency assistance immediately upon receiving it from the governor when I received it, and I directed my team to surge federal assistance there before the storm hit. We`re here to support them in every way we can.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RUHLE: The White House says President Biden and Florida`s governor have spoken by phone as people on the west coast of Florida get ready for a Category 3 hurricane. Florida Governor DeSantis has made more headlines for cruelty than governing lately, in a state where the property insurance market has almost collapsed as insurance companies have folded or leave the state completely.
Climate change making storms bigger and more costly, while Florida`s Republican legislators mostly ignore the threat completely. We`ll get to that in a minute with the Republican mayor of Miami who has not ignored climate change. But first, the National Weather Service just posted its latest forecast for Hurricane Ian and I want to bring in NBC Meteorologist Somara Theodore. Somara, you just got the 11 p.m. update, would do you learn?
SOMARA THEODORE, NBC NEWS METEOROLOGIST: Well, I`ll tell you this with each update, including this one, my concern for our friends south of Tampa continues to grow. Let`s go ahead and take a look right now. So, it remains a Category 3 hurricane. But don`t let that fool you. We still have a little bit of time here. We could see this continue to strengthen once it hits 130 miles per hour. That`s when we`re talking a Category 4 already starting to see strong storm surge in parts of the Florida Keys.
So, here`s the timing. Right now, we`re anticipating this to make landfall tomorrow evening into tomorrow night. We could start to see this make landfall a little bit earlier. The farther south this line trends. If we get a more northwesterly trajectory, that`s when we could see it coming in later Wednesday night into Thursday, regardless, you`re running out of time tonight, you want to make sure you`re where you`re going to be and you have everything you need. Nonetheless, this is making landfall near Port Charlotte and Fort Myers just south of Sarasota as a major hurricane, Category 3.
In that cone of uncertainty, we could still see it sway just a bit. Nonetheless, everyone on that Florida western coastline has to be prepared. We see it then drive into Central Florida, bringing heavy rain into areas like Orlando, up towards Palm Coast and even towards Jacksonville. And the deadliest part of the hurricane is the storm surge.
Right now, we`re expecting anywhere from eight to 12 feet of storm surge for areas like Fort Myers out towards Port Charlotte, in their harbor there and even up towards Sarasota. The other thing I want to mention is the rainfall, we could pick up 24 inches of rain. We`re talking two to three months` worth of rain in two to three days. And that`s going to impact Sarasota, Tampa, up into Jacksonville down towards Daytona Beach.
So, there`s a lot of moving parts to this storm system. We`re not just looking at the heavy rain. We`re also looking at that potential threat for tornadoes. We`ve already seen tornado warnings going off through the evening hours down in southern Florida. And then the winds are going to start to pick up tomorrow. And that is going to really cause some power disruption. So, we`re going to see major power outages across Central Florida. Stephanie.
RUHLE: Somara Theodore, thank you for the update.
Forecasters are already warning that storm damage could cost billions of dollars. And they say climate change is supercharging storm systems like this one. Some Florida Republicans have been totally ignoring the threat to the state, even as the cost is so immense, but not the mayor of Miami.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, thank you for joining us. You have been warning, you have been on this show warning us about climate change for years. But now here we are, another year, another major storm. Is Florida taking the offseason actions to be prepared for this kind of stuff?
FRANCIS SUAREZ, MAYOR OF MIAMI: Well, I can tell you that Miami certainly is we have a program called Miami Forever, which is a $200 million resiliency program that was actually voter-approved, right on the heels of Hurricane Irma in 2017. And that is an infrastructure program where we are spending a significant amount of money to make sure that we can be as water resilient as we are when resilient post Hurricane Andrew drew in 1992, where we got 200 mile an hour wind, you know, wind event.
So, we have gotten some money from the state, we`ve gotten about $50 million in addition to the 200. And we`re obviously hoping to get some money from the federal government as part of the infrastructure bill that was passed recently. So, you know, in Miami, we like to say that the environment is the economy. It`s not the environment or the economy. And so, we feel that protecting our environment, whether it`s our drinking water, whether it`s making ourselves more resilient, whether it`s our coral reefs, that all goes to having a healthy economy, and we`re eighth in the nation in green jobs. So, it`s something that we`re proud of and we think it creates high paying jobs in our community in addition to protecting our environment.
RUHLE: You might be but other Florida lawmakers including your government laugh about the idea of green new jobs, how do you work with them?
[23:40:07]
SUAREZ: Well, I think you have to try to the best of your ability to de politicize the issue. And to make it about, you know, the things that we see, I mean, you`re talking, you know, the person might be, for me was talking about eight-to-12-foot storm surge, I mean, that is catastrophic. We had four-to-six-foot storm surge during Irma, and that was — it was incredible. Brickell was three to four feet underwater. So, I mean, these are things that are undeniable. The impact of these storms cannot be denied.
And so, what we`ve known, and what we`ve learned, is that for every dollar that you spend prophylactically, before the, you know, the storm, you save seven to $8, post storm. So, it makes all the sense in the world to spend the money upfront, and upgrade your infrastructure to make sure that you can manage these kinds of events.
RUHLE: But they are undeniable, your governor denies them.
SUAREZ: Well, you have to ask him when he denies or doesn`t deny, I can tell you that what`s happening is undeniable right now, right? I mean, it`s undeniable that we`re about to get hit by Category 4. And I say we loosely, Florida, and certainly it`ll impact Miami at some level. But we`re about to get hit with a Category 4 hurricane, which is going to create a significant amount of damage. Hopefully no loss of life, but certainly the risk of loss of life. So that, you know, it`s undeniable that these storms are intensifying, that they are more frequent. And it`s undeniable that we can`t put our head in the sand any longer, pretend that they`re not happening.
RUHLE: Insurance companies can`t even stay in business in Florida anymore, because of the cost of these storms. Is that something that government needs to get involved with?
SUAREZ: Well, I can tell you in terms of Miami, and I can`t speak for the entire state of Florida, but in terms of Miami, we were recently actually downgraded by FEMA, in terms of our risk profile. So, what that means is that the investments that we`ve been making, whether it`s increasing sea walls, whether it`s a pump stations, whether it`s outflow or backflow preventers, which prevent water from flowing back into the city, all of those measures that we`ve taken have actually reduced our risk profile. And FEMA has reduced our risk profile, which is actually saving our residents money on flood insurance policies. It`s something that I don`t think anyone could have predicted in terms of, you know, thinking that we`re actually less risky, according to FEMA, but it does mean that if you do — if you`re conscientious and you do make investments, you can lower the profile of risk for your community and reduce costs.
RUHLE: Thoughtful risk management, always a good idea. Mayor Francis Suarez, thank you.
And we are sending our best to everyone across the state of Florida. And stay with MSNBC for continued coverage of this powerful Hurricane Ian as it heads toward the Florida coast.
Just ahead, something we`ve been spending a lot of time talking about here, three days until Congress goes to recess. And still no word on when the congressional stock trading ban will go to the floor. I got one question, why? When THE 11TH HOUR continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:47:46]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ABIGAIL SPANBERGER, (D) VIRGINIA: At this juncture in our country`s history, any step forward we can be taking to say that we are working for you, not our stock portfolio is so vitally important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RUHLE: If it is so vitally important, why in the world is it taking so long? The New York Times recently looked at stock trades by members of Congress and their families. It found nearly a fifth of those members, 18% had potential conflicts with those trades and their committee assignments. This is something we have been reporting on here for months but House leadership just released the language on the stock trading ban bill tonight, A few hours after the second ranking Democrat reportedly said he might not support it.
Kate Kelly covers money influence and policy at the New York Times. And she joins us tonight. Kate, let`s start with the language, we have been waiting for this bill to come out. And now that it has, I`m looking at tweets from Walter Shaub, formerly from the Office of Government Ethics. And this thing appears to have more holes in it than a hunk of Swiss cheese. Nancy Pelosi is basically endorsing blind trusts?
KATE KELLY, THE NEW YORK TIMES CORRESPONDENT: Well, it`s interesting, Steph. I mean, on the one hand, a lot of what`s in this bill is What House committee on administration Chairman Zoe Lofgren, who, of course, Speaker Pelosi tasked with developing this promise would be in there. I mean, it is an outright ban on stock ownership commodity, cryptocurrency and other digital assets for members, their spouses and dependent children.
However, there are as you alluded to, just now a number of questions that I have about the details in this and, you know, what`s going to be allowable and what are going to be the exceptions. For instance, there is an exception, as you said, for a qualified blind trust. We knew that we expected that divestment or a blind trust would be options for dealing with individual stocks.
RUHLE: OK.
KELLY: There`s also some interesting — yeah, go ahead.
RUHLE: So, she can bring this thing to a vote because supposedly it has 67 sponsors and huge support from the American people. And it`s now two nights to go before recess and they haven`t voted yet?
KELLY: Well, it`s unclear how many sponsors this bill is going to have because it only just was released tonight in terms of the actual text and as I was reporting on this in the last few days or a week, most members were telling me, we don`t really know what to react to. I mean we got a dear colleague letter last week but we have no idea what the text is going to look like.
[23:50:11]
As you noted with Abigail Spanberger in that clip you played, she has 70 co-sponsors for her trust in Congress Act, which is very simple and sort of a blunt instrument. It`s essentially put your assets in a blind trust, right? It divests or put your assets in a blind trust. This has many more facets to it, and deals with some other elements as well. But interestingly, Steph, Ro Khanna, whose wife and Children`s Trust makes him the most active filer in Congress, according to our analysis, 10,500 trades reported in a three-year period, he actually just signed on Spanberger`s bill just the other day. And from what I understand, it`s not the perfect bill in his eyes. I think actually, the Lofgren text might potentially protect the activity that his family is doing now, where Spanberger is wouldn`t. But as a matter of principle, two thirds of polled Americans want to see an outright ban. I think that`s why he`s putting his name to it.
RUHLE: How about Steny Hoyer, right? According to Punchbowl News, he is not going to go for this he wants something stricter. But do you really buy that? Isn`t the answer, let`s get something done while we can.? Steny Hoyer knows how government works. He`s been in it since the 1960s. And if you can`t get something basic done, you sure as hell can`t get something major done.
KELLY: Yeah, I don`t know quite what to make of that, Steph. It was in Punchbowl. He also gave an interview to Politico saying that he thought the current laws on the books, The Stock Act, and I guess the Ethics and Government Act from 1978, before it covered what we needed to cover.
But again, the American people strongly disagree, two-thirds of people polled by Morning Consult want to see an outright ban on stock trading by members and similar trading by members and their spouses. The public opinion on this is super clear. And trust in Congress is 7%, according to a Gallup poll from over the summer.
So, this seems like a simple step that could be taken that constituents want to see. I think the wrangling over the details of this, which I would agree it`s complicated. You have some existing members who have spouses that are maybe in the investment business, not just active traders, but in the business and there are career issues that would need to be dealt with. There are fine points to wrestle with here. However, I think the fact that this is not potentially getting done is exactly the kind of inside the baseball stuff that drives Americans crazy.
RUHLE: Are they basically slow playing this until we stop paying attention? Because we`re now seeing it Tuesday night, they go home on Friday, and we haven`t even mentioned the Senate. So, is this all just a show?
KELLY: You know, I don`t know what to make of it. I mean, Pelosi gave herself a pretty tight deadline. She said this would come to the floor for a vote before October 1. That means this week, by putting out the text tonight, and I understand it`s not totally unusual to put the text out 24 hours before they go to a vote or start whipping votes in earnest. Maybe they can queue to that calendar.
On the Senate side, Jeff Merkley, who is tasked by Chuck Schumer with developing a democratic consensus bill there said most recently, we`re not going to even handle this until the lame duck. So possibly, the House can pass this, although that`s a big possibly, because I think there`s a lot of dispute within the Democratic Caucus as to how this should look and whether it should even happen. And we haven`t even talked about the GOP, which many members are adamantly opposed to the inclusion of the Supreme Court, which it looks like this bill would cover. So, it`s possible that the House could pass it, kick it over to the Senate. And then who knows. I think the midterms are certainly going to reshape the chessboard and then who knows?
RUHLE: Congress just can`t figure out how to get something done that the majority of the American people want that could possibly cost them some extra cash on the side. Stunning, we`ll keep covering it here. Kate Kelly, thank you.
Coming up, when a legend says something from the Library of Congress is freaking cool, you better believe we listen and so we you, when THE 11TH HOUR continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[23:58:20]
RUHLE: The last thing before we go tonight, Lizzo plays history. A few days ago, the Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden tweeted this. The library has the largest flute collection in the world with more than 1800 that includes President James Madison`s 1813 Crystal flute. Lizzo we would love for you to come see it and even play a couple when you`re in D.C. next week.
Like your song, they are Good as Hell. Well, Lizzo is in town. D.C. was her latest stop on her special tour tonight. And, of course, she plays the flute in her performances. Well, Lizzo saw Carla`s tweet and she responded. I`m coming Carla, and I`m playing that crystal flute. In honor of the occasion, the Library of Congress even put up a special sign that simply read flute guest. Well, Lizzo did one better than just playing James Madison`s 1813 Crystal Flute at the library. Watch this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can do it.
(APPLAUSE & CHEERING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We love you.
(MUSIC)
(APPLAUSE & CHEERING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RUHLE: Apparently, there were bodyguards onstage surrounding that flute and we say way to go Lizzo, it is about damn time somebody played that thing.
And that absolutely beautiful note, I wish all of you a very beautiful night. From all of our colleagues across the networks of NBC News, thanks for staying up late with us, I will see you at the end of tomorrow.