>> all right. thank you. and thank you as well for joining us on this thursday morning. craig melvin here. he's in. after much speculation former vice president joe biden announcing his third presidential bid for the white house. he wasted no time going after president trump. using images from charlottesville saying we're in a battle for the soul of this nation. will the president be his biggest challenge in 2020? also, this is quite the image. it's a summit between vladmir putin and kim jong-un. and they were talking denuclearization. breaking news on this thursday. 32 people hospitalized because of an ammonia spill just north of chicago. this is the scene. we're going to go to chicago live as crews are going door to

door to warn people who live nearby. we are keeping a very close eye on the situation in chicago. let's start with the biden campaign. a few hours old now, the former vice president focusing his early attention on penn. both for fundraising and the swing states' union votes. his entry assured it would drop eventually. biden's entry marking the unofficial end of the early phase of the 2020 campaign. a few lesser known candidates may still wait in the wings. it feels like the last guest has arrived for dinner. this one bringing big endorsements. he brings a video message this morning that takes on president trump, far more directly than the other candidates have done in their opening message. let's start with our nbc reporters in wilmington, delaware. we're expecting the arrival of vice president biden any moment

now. carol lee is in washington. she's covered the vice president for years. also with me here in the studio, "the new york times" shane go goldmach. tell us what we should be expecting in the next few days and let's talk about the focus on charlotteville in that new video. >> reporter: do me a favor. if you see a taller gentleman walking down the stairs that looks like joe biden, give me a shout so we can talk to him. he's on a train from washington this morning. the way his campaign is framing this announcement is hitting on three pillars. the first time is that announcement video talking about this fight for the soul of america. that is going to be followed on monday with the former vice president in pittsburgh, pe pennsylvania, and then that third pillar is about bridging the divides in america. that will be in a big public

rally on may 18th in philadelphia. he's going to be a little bit of fundraising. that's on the agenda for tonight as well. let's talk about that video, though. the first words out of the vice president's mouth as he announced his candidacy. charlottesville, virginia. he talked about the fact when he left the white house with president obama. they wanted to give this new administration space. stay quiet, let them have the time that the bush administration afforded them to begin on their policies. joe biden has said the breaking point for him was charlottesville when we saw the white supremacist demonstration, the loss of life and the president's response to it. that was what the vice president is hitting on. it's a message not just about hi his eagerness to take the fight to the president, but also the democrats. get on board, get on my back. >> all right. stand by for me if you can. let me know, especially if mr.

biden does come down that escalator. carol, for folks whose may not have caught it and for our listeners on sirius satellite radio as well, let's play a part of biden's announcement video here. >> if we give donald trump eight years in the white house he'll forever and fundamentally alter the character of this nation, who we are. i cannot stand by and watch that happen. >> carol, this much more direct comparison to trump than we've heard from the other candidates who have gotten in this thing so far. mostly they want to talk about healthcare and pocketbook items as well. what's biden doing here? what's the thinking? what's the strategy? >> reporter: well, if you look at that line that you played as the key line to me in his -- in that video, because it gets at the heart of what he's trying to do, send the message that he's running because he feels like we need to take something back

that's being taken away from the country by president trump. he's clearly playing for the democrats who above all else say they want somebody who can beat president trump in 2020. the question i think that he faces in the days to come is whether or not that's enough. whether he needs to -- because the party is moving to the left, certainly far to the left of where he's been. can that message of taking on president trump and that he's the one who can beat him in an election for various reasons. he appeals to the voters who put president trump over the top, is that going to get him through the primary? we're still very early in this. that's a very open question. whether democratic voters want someone like the former vice president versus somebody who

has more leftist views and is something that seems more of the future. i think what the vice president has decided his argument is going to be, is that we need to not give donald trump the country needs to not give donald trump another eight years in the white house. if that happens, it will be as he said, you know, fundamentally change the character of the country. he's the one who can bring things back a reset for the country. that's his argument and we don't know if it's going to be enough. >> shane, quickly e a, presiden trump wasted no time going after mr. biden. before i read this, i should point out that like little marco rubio or low energy jeb, the president's nickname for joe biden is apparently sleepy joe. so some context there. president trump tweeting, welcome to the race, sleepy joe. i only hope you have the intelligence to wage a successful primary campaign. it will be nasty. you'll be dealing with people who have sick and demented

ideas. if you make it, i'll see you at the starting gate. what do we know about how worried trump's people are about the entrance of joe biden ? >> from the beginning of the administration people around president trump have thought of joe biden as one of the potential threats to the votes that helped power donald trump to the white house. working class white voters, working class white men voters in particular. certainly the word sleepy is not one that's typically been applied to joe biden. he's an energizer bunny. his aides have struggled for years to get him out of events because he wants to shake hands with every single person. >> carol, you've been covering joe biden for long time. at least a decade. a big question, though, carol,

the big question i would argue a lot of folks have been asking since this announcement became apparent, has he missed his moment? does a democratic base that is young and progressive and apparently somewhat desperate for an outsider, do they want someone like a joe biden, older, centrist, the consummate insider if you will? >> reporter: you know, that's what biden is going to have to figure out how to thread that sort of needle. you can see they've tried to do that in various ways, people around him, can they freshen him up. how is he going to raise a lot of money in the way some of the other candidates have raised money. the vice president i think, you know, having covered him for a long time, he's banking on the fact in his view, his brand is in this candid, you know rnoff e

cuff, says what he means, in some ways would commit a lot of gaffs, but that sort of character and way of campaigning is really appealing now. and so that's one of the things i think you're going to see him get out there and showcase, is that he is the kind of politician that will stay a long time in the room and shake every hand and greet every person. and so, you know, whether or not that's going to work for him and whether that's going to be, you know, once this race really starts to kick off he's in the honeymoon period, obviously, because he just entered. i just don't think we know. we haven't seen something like this before given the number, the big field -- the incumbent that the democratic nominee is going to face. and the fact that, you know, the party is kind of yearning for something a little bit different. you have this old school politician coming in. >> one of the metrics by which

vice president biden will likely be measured, at least in the early days, weeks and months, f fundraising. there's talk there are concerns that joe biden is not going to be able to raise the kind of money we've seen from beto o'rourke, senator bernie sanders. according to your newspaper it would take joe biden raising $100,000 every day between now and christmas to match what bernie sanders already has. how does a joe biden -- how does he compete with the fundraising prowess? >> the concerns have been voiced by him to donors. his number one concern isn't that he won't have enough money to compete, the money he'll raise quickly won't make him look competitive. he's concerned with not just raising the money, but who he raises it from. joe biden doesn't have a

network, he hasn't built an online army in recent past campaigns. and so he's going to have to do it at least at the beginning with big checks and those cut both way. >> small dollar donations, in addition to giving candidates the appearance of momentum and things like that, you can also go back to the well time and time again until you hit the max there i'm joined now -- stick around for me if you can. again, feel free to interrupt us if america's happy warrior descends on the escalator. senator tom carper joins me now. he's one of a few u.s. senators that have endorsed joe biden. he threw his support behind joe biden a few hours ago. thanks for your time. what does a joe biden offer that a bernie sanders or kamala harris or mayor pete buttigieg

doesn't offer snu. >> a lot of people are running for the president, people i know and like and admire. here's i i thiwhere i think he out from pack. he can win against donald trump. people listening inside the white house, they've got to be worried about a joe biden opponent more than anything else. joe can unite our party, not just our party, i think he can unite our country. he's someone who knows the world, knows the leaders of the world. they know him. he can help restore our standing in the world. the other thing is, nobody's talking about this, i've known him for 40 years. the people that work for him, he surrounds himself with good people, good hearts, work heart. kind of people you'd love to have a beer with. he's especially good at getting those kinds of people around him and then getting people to work -- you know, he'll never compromise on his principles. he'll compromise on policy to

get the right outcome for our party. >> senator, i want to go back to something you just said there, the idea that president trump and his supporters should be most worried about joe biden. why? >> i seen polling data that indicates he runs well across the country. people -- he's spent a lot of time in his life in places like south carolina, in places like alabama and texas, iowa and places like that, michigan, wisconsin. places where's we need to be able to run and do well. that's not everybody that's out there running for office, frankly is well known. nobody is well known as he is. nobody is as well received in the kinds of places democrats need to run well in order to win. >> what would you say to folks who are somewhat reluctant right

now to hop on the biden train because of his support for the war in iraq in 2003, because of his support of a crime bill back in the mid 90s, which a lot of folks are fairly certain led to mass incarceration in this country -- there's joe biden. let's watch and listen, perhaps. >> reporter: if you're the best choice for the democrats in 2020, why didn't president obama endorse you? >> i asked president obama not to endorse me. he doesn't want to -- whoever wins this nomination should win it on their own merits. welcome to delaware. >> made this about the debate about president trump, you're going to have to get through the democratic primary first, why are you the best choice? >> that will be for the democrats to decide. >> what do you think about the mueller report -- >> all this stuff in time, okay. >> is the case against president trump strong enough for

impeachment? >> guys, guys, guys. come on. >> all right. there you have it. senator joe biden, vice president joe biden making his way there through the amtrak station in delaware. he took two questions there, the first question being why did president obama not endorse you, and making a bit of news there because apparently according to the vice president he asked his former boss not to endorse him. again, this is a live look outside that train station there in wilmington, delaware, as the vice president makes his way to launch a presidential campaign. the third one he's launched in his lifetime. the first of course in 1988. then there was the campaign in 2008, a brief campaign there. now joe biden trying again in 2019. we should also note -- there's

been a fair amount made of the timing chain. some folks saying that joe biden got into this thing a little too late. maybe there's already to much money that's gone to other candidates. the infrastructure for a successful campaign may not be able to be put in place. donald trump actually got into the race later. by about two months if my math is right. later than joe biden has gotten into this thing. what do you make of that assessment that perhaps he waited too long? >> i think he may have waited long in this cycle, but this is one of the earliest starting presidential races ever. yes, he is still in the race. there's plenty of time. i think though that one question, the first question he took about president obama is super interesting. joe biden wants to run as the continuation or the restoration of the obama legacy. and it's a challenge for him to not do that with barack obama backing him. yes, obama's staying neutral, yes, he's saying he asked him not to endorse him. i think that is a real challenge.

can you be the obama/biden ticket without obama? >> senator, as you likely know, mr. biden over the past few weeks especially has received a fair amount of criticism for a number of interactions with women. none of them sexual in nature but a number of women have come forward and said that joe biden made them feel uncomfortable. a number of women over the course of his decades in public life. senator, how much do you think that could perhaps hurt joe biden specifically with female voters? >> i think he's handled the issue well. the concerns raised well. in delaware, we have a state motto, we're the first state to ratify the constitution. unofficially i think of delaware's state motto is friendly but you'll get used to it. i hug people. i hug men, women, children. i kiss babies. that's the way they do things in delaware. and the behavior is commonplace and welcoming in my state may

not be received well in other places. i think joe realizes that. he knows he has to be careful in understanding the way -- what people may feel and respond to may not work well with everybody. we need to pick up those signals and respect them. i think he knows that. he's already done that. >> the unofficial slogan for the state of delaware, i had not heard of that. friendly but you'll get used today it. mike, let me come back to you. i don't think we missed anything that vice president biden said, did we? we managed to capture it on tape i believe. he took those two questions, right? >> reporter: that's right. i tried to get one more question as he was turning towards the exit, which was what about the case for impeachment for donald trump. he's making a strong argument for replacing him at the ballot box. the vice president did not answer that question. i have to tell you, once it got out that the vice president was on a train heading here

potentially to wilmington, there was just -- the crowd here in this joe biden train station grew significantly, not just among us reporters who wanted to ask him question, but also both the train station employees but also potential supporters. we actually just talked about to a couple here who came specifically just to this train station for the chance to potentially see joe biden. one of the people who was around us was screaming senator ballot. still to them, he's senator biden. >> 40 years. longtime share of the senate foreign relations committee as well. where is he off to next? where is he headed there in delaware? >> reporter: he's probably heading home. of course he has a home in washington where his wife continues to teach at the local community college in northern virginia, but still here in

delaware. we know he keeps close counsel not just with his campaign team, a lot of whom are based in d.c., and his sister has always been the head of his campaign. perhaps to check up with him before he heads up to philadelphia tonight where we know he has that high dollar fundraiser with a lot of top state democrats from pennsylvania. >> carol, i want to come back to you for a moment just to follow up on something the senator said. the people with which the senator associates. his circle. his group of advisors. what do we know about that group? >> reporter: in terms of the vice president's -- the people around him, you know, he has -- one of the things about joe biden that the he has people who have worked for him who are very loyal. who have been with him for a really long time. he has a number of people who are supporting his campaign wwho he kno he kno he knows very well. and so he has this -- and he

also, you know, 40 years in public office and public life, you know, he has a long, long list of people who he knows who are sort of waiting in the wings to support his campaign. one of the questions hanging over his campaign, however, is what a lot of the obama folks will do and, you know, there's obviously a number of them who have committed elsewhere. the vice president is gathering his own team based on people who have worked for him for a long time who are loyal to him. as mike mentioned, you know, his sister has been a close advisor for a long time. his campaign and the way he operates is a very family oriented operation in the sense that he relies on and consults with members of family. it's not necessarily just political operatives and communications directors and things like that. >> carol, thank you. senator, thanks for your time as

well. and mike, appreciate you being so nimble as always. shane with me here, thank you. it happened. vladmir putin, kim jong-un held their first summit ever. they talked denuclearization. what it all means for the united states of america. or even trouble with recall. thankfully, the breakthrough in prevagen helps your brain and actually improves memory. the secret is an ingredient originally discovered... in jellyfish. in clinical trials, prevagen has been shown to improve short-term memory. prevagen. healthier brain. better life.

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a high stakes meeting

between two world leaders puts russian president vladmir putin in a position of perceived peacemaker. eight weeks after kim's summit with president trump. kier simmons is live in vladivostok, russia. let's start with the headlines from today's summit, what is it? the incredible image of these two men who traditionally are america's foe whose president trump has called friends.

he had been told by kim that he should share their conversations with america. that is exactly what president putin -- exactly where he wants to be, on the world stage. not able to be sidelined by america. and i think for kim jong-un, the aim has been to try to get leverage to get around those sanctions and say to president trump you're not my only friend in the world. >> in the past 11 months, kim has had meetings with the leaders of the united states, russia now. >> reporter: well, i think kim jong-un will be delighted being on the global stage and take the view i think privately that his nuclearization has helped him

get there which gives you a picture of the challenges of trying to get him to denuclearize. that's one point. another point is i think the fact he's meeting with president putin now, the timing is -- earlier this year. another point, isn't it amazing, that whoever is elected president in 2020, be it joe biden or president trump reelected that we are in thhave of the leaders the president will face. what we don't know are details and that will be crucial. >> kier simmons. vice president becoming the 17th democrat to make a bid for the white house. that depends on how you're keeping count. by our count, 17. mr. biden has a long track record to examine. we're going to dive into that.

we're also going to talk specifically about his role in the anita hill hearing. what he told me a few months ago, which included the explanation for how he handled that process. this is msnbc. pnc bank has technology to help make banking easier,

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back to our breaking news. joe biden is back officially in the 2020 race now. he talked to reporters a few moments ago in wilmington, delaware, for the first time as an official candidate. >> if you're the best choice for the democrats in 2020, why didn't president obama endorse you? >> i asked president obama not to endorse. he doesn't want to -- whoever wins this nomination should win it on their own merits. >> why you? >> welcome to delaware. >> you made this about the debate of president trump. why are you the best choice for democrats? >> that will be for the democrats to decide. >> what do you think about the mueller report? >> all this stuff in time, okay? >> biden walks into this campaign with nearly 50 years of public service in washington, a long track record to examine.

and with a long track record, comes baggage. baggage he's going to have to address. he was sworn in as a senator in 1973. nine years before mayor pete buttigieg was even born. i sat down with him a few months ago. our conversation turned today anita hill and how she was treated during the clarence thomas confirmation hearing in 1991. >> anita hill was vilified. i wish i could have done more to prevent those questions, the way they asked them. i hope my colleagues learned from that. she deserves to be treated with dignity. it takes enormous courage for a woman to come forward in the bright lights of millions of

people watching and relive something that happened to her. she should be treated with respect. >> you were chairman of the judiciary committee back in 1991. you were criticized for not doing more during that hearing. looking back on that, specifically, how would you advice senators to proceed next week? how do you balance the rights of a woman who is making accusations like this versus the presumption that a person is innocent until proven guilty? >> i think the presumption should exist, but what should happen is the woman should be given the benefit of the doubt and not be, you know, abused again by the system. my biggest regret was i didn't know how i can shut you off as a senator and you were attacking anita hill's character. i can't gavel you down and say you can't ask that question. she got victimized again during the process.

and i believed here when she came forward. i encouraged her to come forward. we were in a position where we got the fbi to do an investigation. and i voted against clarence thomas. he got seven yeses, seven noes, tie vote in the committee. i hope they understand what courage it takes for someone to come forward and relive what they believe happened to them and let them state it. treat her with respect. ask tough questions, who said what et cetera, but don't go -- not the character assassination. >> it seems like you get it no versus back in '91. >> i think i got it in '91. people have their own opinion. thaf that's why i wrote the violence against women act. during this period. the second reason i insisted the next time out two women come on

the committee. they didn't want to come on the committee. i campaigned on the condition that if she won she'd come on the committee. it's important. it's important that people understand -- i think people do now understand how hard it is to come forward. i always say to men, why so hard? how about if you've been abused? you've seen the movie deliverance. if you were the guy strapped to the tree, would you want to relive that? i'm serious, i'm deadly earnest. >> let us bring in the aforementioned senator, the first african-american woman serving in the senate and a democratic strategist. thank you for your time. the former vice president mentioning you in that interview. you were, as i understand it, in part at least driven to run for office by your senate presces r

predecessor's support for clarence thomas. should that impact his candidacy now? >> if it does, it can start right here. because i'm happy to endorse his candidacy for president. i worked with joe biden as a colleague for six years. i served on the senate judiciary committee at his ujirging. i can testify as a person who has been there with him that this is a hard working man of great character and will be a fabulous president for this great country. >> do you think he's been judged too harshly by some for his performance during those hearing. >> people reach their own conclusions, of course. but the fact is that joe biden has been a change agent and a leader on all these things. before the anita hill hearings, there was no such thing as a me too moment.

women were terrified to come forward for fear that they would be not just treated like anita hill, but worse. and so there was no venue for women to speak to their own truth and their own realities. joe biden made it possible. and by getting me and dianne feinstein on the judiciary committee after the hearings were over, i think he set about changing the institution in a positive and constructive way so that now we have all these women running for president, which i think is wonderful. >> you heard vice president biden explain himself in that interview on anita hill. is that an explanation that's going to resonate with younger voters specifically? >> well, here's what i think that i know myself and certainly younger voters want to hear. joe biden's got 50 years to be able to defend and to talk about. but the question becomes, what is he proposing moving forward?

this is a question for all the candidates. i believe that young people and all of us should be asking. what's interesting to me about vice president biden's video clip this morning announcing, is that he used this backdrop of racism and white supremacy to define why he's running and to really try to show his values as being very racial justice oriented. i think that's interesting. we're coming off the heels of yesterday having a forum that msnbc partnered on and broadcast online talking about issues that women of cuolor and black women care deeply about. and what's interesting to me, is that there's a lot of rhetoric to be had around racial justice and equality, et cetera. but the question becomes, who fundamentally understands the structural disparities, the way that race has been used as a lever in policymaking and who has ideas to be able to dismantle those isms that are

continuing in america. those are policy ideas, those are substantive plans that need to come forth. not just a strategy of telling communities, hey, you know i care about black folk, but i think we'll be looking to see who says this is my plan to bridge gaps and to equalize conditions for people in america. i didn't get that yet from joe biden. i don't know what he's going to present over his 50 years of accomplishment. that's what i'm going to be looking to. right now, elizabeth warren is the only person who is saying i've got plan, here's what we would specifically do to bridge the gap, which is frankly more than just rhetoric of racism is bad. >> senator joe biden's arguab arguably -- one of his signature piece of legislation is the 1994 crime bill. it's widely regarded as a mistake. the marshall project on the 20th

anniversary of the law reported the crime bill did not inaugerate the era of mass incarceration but it escalated the scale of its impact. decades later, many americans understand we incarcerate excessively and that racial disparities throughout the criminal justice system are intolerable. you along with all but two democrats by our count supported that bill. again, roundly criticized by even a lot of folks in your own party for its disproportional impact, especially on african-americans. how is joe biden going to square the support of that bill with black voters? >> i think, frankly, he can square it very well. to answer the question about who's the most qualified candidate of all and who has got a plan, joe biden not only has a plan but he has a record of service. and i think that's really important. the best indicator of what somebody's going to do is what they have done over time.

joe biden passes every litmus test on race, on gender, on caring for working people that you can possibly come up with. that's why i think his candidacy for president is so important for all of us. does he have a plan? of course he has a plan. i don't want to talk about it right now, because he needs to have a chance, it's his campaign. i'm here as an endorser to say having served and worked with this man closely, i can tell you first-hand -- i've always been a fighter for civil rights. i marched with dr. king. i have been involved with the struggle from the very beginning. i passed legislation in my time in the state legislature. i hold my civil rights and my advocacy for black women against anybody in the country. i've been there on the front lines working for these issues over the last several years. and i can tell you that joe biden gets it. he's been there.

he's been supportive. he understands in his heart what is going on with the condition faced by black women, women of all races, all orientations, et cetera. he can speak to these things and doing something about it . >> to be clear, your commit to the cause and struggle, well documented. >> thank you. >> really quickly here, you know, it would seem to me, at least, that perhaps there is a chasm between how generations see joe biden. i mean, you've got folks -- no disrespect, senator, folks whose view him a certain way based on his legislative record. there are others who know joe biden as barack obama's vice president. how do we think millenial voters see joe biden versus their older contemporaries? >> this is reflective of a chasm

within the party. you have a older guard generation who has we've got a record and have done some things. we passed bills, moved some measures. i'm going to keep doing that because i'm always on the right side of the constituencies of the base. and then you have young people, in 50 years the outcomes for our communities, be they black communities, women and so forth, the outcomes are still the same, the disparities persist. just saying i'm going to keep doing right by the lip service and the things we did in the past for these communities isn't quite enough. we're looking for innovative solutions to actually change the outcomes for communities and improve the lives of more americans. that to me is the chasm. who is going to try new things

versus who going to say i've always been your friend. and i think that people are going to look to the folks in the race like others who have long records and ask that question and have that as more of a litmus test, more so than oh, yeah, he was obama's guy and we all loved him and have affection for him because we liked him. i think there is that chasm where people want to see different types of outcomes and results and are looking for who is going to do that in the future. >> policy prescriptions. always enjoy your insight, thank you so much for coming on. senator, open invitation for you as well, come back anytime, thank you as well. >> thank you, my pleasure. >> we should note why we're talking 2020 democratic candidates, candidate tulsi gabbard will join me tomorrow. we're following breaking news near chicago. 31 people rushed to the hospital. there's has been an ammonia spill there.

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we're following breaking news on this thursday out of illinois regarding a dangerous ammonia chemical spill. more than 30 people have been treated at local hospitals so far. it happened in beach park, illinois. it's about 50 miles north of chicago. nbc news correspondent ron motte

joins me now. what do we know about this area? >> this happened around 4:30 local time this morning. someone driving a john deere tractor carrying two containers filled with chemical ammonia, liquid ammonia. one of them sprung a leak and sort of vaporized and put up a cloud of smoke in the area. the initial call in to authorities they thought they had a vehicle fire. two police officers were the first to respond. they were so overcome they couldn't help. the firefighter department are getting some water on that to contain the vapors. they closed off one mile radius and asked people to shelter in place for a number of hours. that was just lifted. folks are able to come and go as they please. for the next hour or two officials are going door to door to make sure there's no one inside a home or business who have been so overcome they can't call for help.

more than three dozen people hospitalized. all of them in serious but stable condition. obviously if you breathe enough of this stuff in, it can be fatal. ammonia is a household cleaner. don't know the application here but given it was drifven by a john deere perhaps it was going to a farm the be used as a fertilizer. we do not believe any of the 37 people that are hospitalized are in any sort of life threatening condition. >> please keep us posted. let's us go to the border where american communities are struggling to deal with the surge numbers of families crossing into the united states. a church in san diego is working with i.c.e. and acting as a makeshift maternity ward for pregnant migrant women. they had to shut down because they were so over crowded they were found in violation of building codes. we went to the church to see how it's helping all these women and

what's next? what are you seeing there? how are they helping this influx of migrant families? what's going to happen now that they are shutting down? >> reporter: this shelter has been operating for over ten years. but because of the most recent surge in migrant families, these pregnant women that are being dropped off here, as you mentioned, the pastor sometimes asks himself am i running a nursery or maternity ward here. just to put it in perspective, there's been one baby born every two weeks to a mother here which is crazy to think about. the pastor took in so many people that he's over crowded and the city is telling him he has no shut down because of building code violations. he says that doesn't mean he's closing this operation. he's already relocating many of the moms. the big picture that i want our audience to take away here is that the city of san diego is overwhelmed because of these numbers. from the top levels of

government down to every day people and the pastor, every one here is feeling the pinch. mothers like cindy who gave birth to her baby boy this month depends on this shelter for everything. let's hear from her as well as pastor jenkins for what the city is facing. >> what does this place provide? they've given us everything. they allowed us to live here. we need support. we hear this place will be shutting down. >> where would you guys go? we don't know where we would go. >> what's happening here is that we are a microcosm.

we're next to the busiest land crossing in the world. it's shame there's only two shelters in all of southern california. it is bursting at the seams right now. we have seen waves before. we do the best we can to get through the wave. >> the best we can, craig. that's what city officials tell us they are doing. i.c.e. says their transportation is completely overwhelmed. cbp used the word strained. that's the situation of many of these cities. when you look at numbers, it doesn't seem like it's going stop any time soon. >> thank you so much for shedsing light on all of that. live team coverage is next. she'll be talking to former pennsylvania governor. governor rendell host a fund-raiser for biden tonight.

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we want to honor our friend and colleague andrea mitchell who joins me here in new york on this thursday. tonight, andrea will be receiving a lifetime achievement award for the women in washington jousrnalism award. congrats. flowers. >> oh, my god. >> i know you sustain your existence on m&m's. a pack for you. >> thank you so much. >> you are great man and a good friend. >> have a good show. >> thank you. right now on andrea mitchell report, northeast. j he's in. joe biden makes it official and describing the race as a fight for the soul of america. >> the core values of this nation are standing in the world, are very