If it's Wednesday, President Biden tours Helene's devastation in the Carolinas as his vice president heads to Georgia to speak about federal relief efforts with the death toll climbing and communities reeling.

Plus, the campaigns hit the trail with just 34 days to go after Governor Tim Walls and Senator

Jady Vance spar in their first and only vice presidential debate going toe to toe on the issues

and the records of their running mates. And President Biden backs new sanctions on Iran and

says Israel has a right to respond proportionally to Tehran's

massive missile attack as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu vows revenge.

Welcome to meet the Press Now.

I'm Kristen Welker.

We begin with breaking news as both President Biden and Vice President Harris assessed firsthand the damage caused by Hurricane Helene as it becomes the deadliest storm to hit the mainland since Hurricane Katrina.

Right now, the president is heading to North Carolina, where he's set to receive an update

on recovery operations. He left South Carolina a short time ago after taking an aerial tour

of impacted areas in South Carolina while announcing he had directed the Pentagon to deploy

up to 1,000 active-duty soldiers to help with the recovery efforts.

Now, the White House says the president will travel tomorrow to Florida and Georgia.

That's where the vice president is right now.

She is about to give an update from Augusta on the White House's response to the

disaster. We will be keeping a very close eye on her remarks, but she did speak to reporters

before being briefed by authorities. I've been reading and hearing about the work you've been

doing over the last few days, and I think it really does represent some of the best of what we

each know can be done,

especially when we coordinate around local, state, and federal resources,

to meet the needs of people who must be seen, must be heard.

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