It has dropped 50 millibars in ten hours. Um i apologize, this is just horrific all right. Joining us now with the latest on the ground in tampa. Cnn News News Source correspondent Ivan Rodriguez. Ivan, good morning to you. What are you seeing down there trying to get out of the Tampa Bay Area and weve been hearing it all morning long. And also yesterday, officials pleading with millions of people that now is the time to evacuate and do so before conditions begin to deteriorate. We want to show you these live images here of Traffic Bumper to bumper, getting out of this Tampa Bay Area. We know that across the state of florida tolls have been suspended on these major highways as well to assist with the evacuations and also the state is allowing for Hurricane Evacuees to drive on the shoulder in order to keep that traffic moving all day yesterday. Casey, we saw traffic also backed up on several highways here in the Tampa Bay Area, and it really seems like people are taking this seriously especially on the heels of Hurricane Helene, which caused so much devastation across the florida big bend region, specifically here as well. But another concern from officials is also all the debris that is left behind in so many neighborhoods here in the Tampa Bay Area. When Hurricane Milton does make its landfall, all that debris could end up in the air and as a projectile. So its something to keep a close eye on here. As well. All right Ivan Rodriguez for us this morning. Ivan, thank you very much for that. Coming up next here on cnn this morning, new 2024 polling showing a very close race. But some movement for Kamala Harris. Plus politics complicating Storm Preparations as florida braces for a direct hit from a second hurricane. The Governor And Vice president publicly feuding it is selfish, and it is about political gamesmanship. 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We work hard and we pay our taxes, but billionaires are getting away with paying less in taxes than we do. Donald trump gave them a huge Tax Break and wants to give them another one. The rich as hell. Were going to give you tax cuts. Well, im not rich as hell. Kamala harris will cut taxes for working people and make billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share. Trump is fighting for rich guys like himself, kamala is fighting for us pacs responsible for the content of this ad. Im going to give you this designer bag. If you can prove to me that you know your finances. Lets do it. How many subscriptions do you have . Probably just netflix and spotify. All right. Its saying you have 13 subscriptions, which is costing you around 270 a month. What the app is telling you all of this, it shows you all your expenses in one place, and it can even help you create a budget, which i think you need coming from me. But okay, dont worry about those 13 subscriptions you didnt know you had. 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Com and use the Promo Code on your screen to receive 25 off your entire order, plus weve got free shipping and a 30 Day Money back Guarantee Www Dot particle men dot com. Because seeing is believing too many projects and insane deadlines sink most renovations. The project is three months past the deadline, but this is when alison is at her best. I love it, im just in awe. Windy City Rehab all new tonight at eight on hgtv more breaking coverage as people in tampa continue to flee a monster storm. The Traffic Bumper to bumper right now heading out of that city. Whats expected to be the most powerful storm of 2024 is approaching the Gulf Coast of florida at this hour. Heres The View of Hurricane Milton from the international space station. Wow, look at that. Its expected to make landfall late Wednesday Night into Thursday Morning mandatory evacuations ordered in parts of nine counties. Thousands jamming highways looking to get to safety. Forecasters expecting milton to hit cities like tampa with up to 15ft of Storm Surge that is double what Hurricane Helene delivered less than two weeks ago. Lets bring in former Fema Administrator brock long. Brock, good morning to you. Thank you very much for being with us this morning. Obviously the Tampa Bay Area is still reeling from Hurricane Helene. Fema is stretched pretty thin. What are the challenges here and how do you think the preparations are going for this . What do you what are you preparing for . So this is the most dangerous storm scenario. This is a this is a catastrophic Planning Scenario within fema. This this track, if it holds and it will um, is extremely dangerous. I cant say that enough for for the for Tampa Bay and, you know, communities to the North And South of Tampa Bay. Um, people really need to heed the warnings. Um and i dont think that people realize that most of the Evacuation Planning is centered around Storm Surge. Its not necessarily the wind as much as it is the water and the Storm Surge associated with this has the highest potential to kill the most amount of people and cause the most amount of destruction. And thats why were asking people, their local leaders are asking people to get out, and you know, find find a Safe Place regarding fema. Its its not an ideal situation. I faced a similar situation in 2017 when harvey, irma, maria and the california wildfires all hit within a two week period. Um, you know, the good thing about this is, is that because of the previous event with helene you know, fema has a pretty sizable force down in florida already working initial recovery from helene. And a lot of those jobs will flip over to the Response Side to make sure that things are in place. And that theyre highly coordinated with Floridas Division of Emergency Management and the Governors Office as milton makes landfall. So, um when this storm hits, theres going to be all sorts of debris still left over from helene. What does the presence of that debris mean for the response . Recovery and how this might go so its definitely, um, what i, what i worry about more more than the debris is what damage was done to the homes by helene because any damage to a home may um, reduce its ability to handle the next event. All right. When helene comes in. So um, you know, the temporary repairs that were made to homes and buildings, um, you know, hopefully theyre very strong. But in this case, when youre talking about a major hurricane, um, the damage is going to be off the charts. You know, as the as the Forecast Track holds. Um, the debris is is vegetative, but its also commercial and demolition and, uh unfortunately, if its not picked up, its going to be scattered by milton all right. Former Fema Administrator brock long. Sir, thank you very much for your time today. Im sure well be talking to you again in this week, which is is set to be a really, really tough one for all of your former colleagues at fema and all of the residents down in florida. Thank you very much. I appreciate it. Thank you. All right. With Hurricane Milton bearing down on florida, the response to Hurricane Helene in that state has become a full blown political campaign issue. On monday, cnn learned floridas republican governor, Ron Desantis refused to return calls from Vice President harris in the wake of Helenes Landfall on Floridas Coast the Vice President has this to say about the governor dodging her calls these are the height of Emergency Situations is just utterly irresponsible. And it is selfish and it is about political gamesmanship. Instead of doing the job that you took an oath to do, which is to put the people first. Reporter but desantis says the Vice President is The One playing games, arguing she has no role in the hurricane response process. During an interview on Fox News. Ive had storms under both President Trump and president biden, and ive worked well with both of them. Shes the first one whos trying to politicize the storm and shes doing that just because of her campaign. Shes trying to get some type of an edge. She knows shes shes doing poorly. And so shes playing these political games i dont have time for political games. All right. Our panel is back. Mike dubke, The One question i do have, i mean, if Ron Desantis has got nothing to do with this and yet theyre trying to hang any failures around the neck of the biden administration, those two things do seem to be in conflict except i cant remember the last time a Vice President of either party called and inserted themselves in an Emergency Situation so on the on The One hand, i totally understand why she would want to be part of the story, but really to to alexs point about hurricanes and elections, we i would wish that these were separated as well, because this is more about the president of the united states, who is Joe Biden right now getting aid down to florida for Governor Desantis and if, if, if she has made calls throughout the three and a half years that shes been the Vice President , and there have been hurricanes, i will stand corrected but i bet you she hasnt. Both sides are. I mean, both sides are doing political gamesmanship here. You know, Ron Desantis doesnt have time for political games. Its time for a Fox News interview to talk about political games. Kamala harris has time for a phone call. And i can tell you she almost never goes over to the reporters before walking on the plane. But she did have time to go to the reporters and then call out Ron Desantis for political gamesmanship. Both are trying to get an edge here, in part because they like who is seen as being more, you know responsible in terms of you know, the reaction to the hurricanes, responsive responsive. Yeah. And i think the saddest thing about it, as people either are suffering or will be, is that both of them win in a way from that exchange, she gets the oh my gosh, i attempted to call the governor. He didnt even call me back. And the governor gets his big Talking Point. Its the sadness to alexs point earlier in The Show about our elections always happening during Hurricane Season. You have these major events where peoples lives are at stake but either of them are trying to score points and succeeding at it. Yeah. And yeah so i do think that there have been moments, particularly in times of crisis, where president ial candidates have inserted themselves into the conversation. And so i think thats actually what were seeing with not just Kamala Harris. Were also seeing it with donald trump. Right. So if we look back at, say the economic crisis of 2008, Barack Obama absolutely suspended his campaign and said, hey, im going to insert myself, even though i have no standing to do anything because i am not president of the united states. We also saw John Mccain do the same thing, and i think part of what we are seeing right now is, yes, an attempt to to to really position themselves politically. But also theres the recognition that this is a moment that is that is devastating, right . Essentially, one of the things that were hearing over and over again from fema is that the amount of misinformation, the amount of politicization that has entered the conversation right now is actually negatively affecting what they are able to do and how people are able to respond to the storm right now. So i actually think the focus right now from everybody should simply be on safety. It should be on what are we going to do here . How are we going to stop this . How are we going to deal with the fallout and the continued fallout because Hurricane Season isnt over. It is not. All right. After the break on cnn this morning, one month to go Election Day, just around the corner. What, if anything, is going to change undecided voters minds at this point . Were going to talk to longtime political strategist, friend of The Show, mark mckinnon. Plus, Kamala Harris opening up about her Gun Ownership after this candid moment with oprah last month. 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Com if you or a loved one have mesothelioma, well send you a free book to answer questions you may have. Call now and well come to you. 800 821 4000. Here we are again in october so a major Port Strike could make for an October Surprise. Could the infamous October Surprise in this Years Election actually be coming from overseas . Hurricane helene affecting at least two battleground states. This to surprise. Is a spike at the pump. The October Surprise that No One wants. Why are October Surprises always so Election Day could anything change voters minds and shake up a race that is basically deadlocked . A new Focus Group moderated by pollster Frank Luntz in the New York Times recently asked a group of young, undecided voters exactly that what have they changed their minds about in recent weeks . 27 year old lillian told them this quote, i think the thing raising my opinion of trump is my opinion of kamala. The Bidenharris Administration Couldnt establish deterrence in the Middle East for the last year. And so now they are bombing the heck out of israel walls surprised me as well. I thought he was eloquent and civil, responded 20 year old laura. And for 24 year old joseph, it was foreign policy. He felt like, quote, at points in the last month, we havent even been a power giving everything going on in the Middle East. Joining me now, former adviser to George W Bush and John Mccain, mark mckinnon, also the creator of paramounts the circus. Mark, always wonderful to have you. Thank you so much for being here. A lot of talk this week about October Surprises or lack thereof. I feel like we may be at the point where theres just so much thats stacking up that theres no single thing that may surprise us, but also when you make these kind of predictions, i think weve all learned that lesson enough to know not to do it anymore. In our politics. What do you see as being the major, potential major impacts on this race that has been so, so, so close all the way along here since the top of the ticket changed good Morning Casey well, The One thing i would say is that at this point in this race, there really arent very many undecided voters. Frank luntz had to do a lot of work to find those undecided voters. I guarantee you. So the question when you have limited resources, you spend trying to find those very limited undecided voters, do you try and persuade those people or do you try and motivate people who have already made up their minds . Thats where you should spend the resources youre trying to. Youre trying to animate and make enthusiastic voters who are for you and get your base out, because there just arent that many undecided voters. So thats kind of a waste of resources, because there just arent that many people now, that said, with the with the election pretty much set and with voters deciding what could change it. Well, The One thing that could change it is a storm and a massive storm and an historic storm. Ask me about katrina youre doing a heck of a job, brownie remember that one . Well, you know, major storms are The One time when people really do look to government to say, this is your job. This is when this is The One time we count on you to respond. So, i mean not only will there, you know, theyll be looking to see how the Harris Biden Administration responds, but think about this too. If its anywhere near as big as it is, its likely to be this is going to dominate News Coverage for the next couple of weeks maybe through the election. It may be the only story that people are talking about. So of course its going to be politicized because it may be the only Story Mark can we dig into this a little bit . I mean, what do you think the risks are for harris . And weve already seen her. We were just talking about the back and forth shes having with Ron Desantis, the governor of florida. Desantis declining to take her call. It is pretty normal for Vice President s to i mean, Alyssa Farah Griffin was on our air Last Night saying Mike Pence always used to do it in, always used to make calls to local officials in disaster areas. But because shes in office, the risk to her may seems to me that it might be higher for her here heading into the final stretch of the election. Whats your take on it . Well, yeah, the risk is that shes an incumbent and shes going to be incumbent during one of the worst storms in our history possibly. So yeah, the risk is very high because all the responsibility for the response is going to be on her. And biden. So its a huge its a huge its a huge Potential Problem for harris its also an opportunity if they respond well but man, something as massive as this. Its just you know, people are going to be unhappy. So you know it is a its a factor that you know, in an election thats this close could be a big factor. Yeah for sure. Mark, speaking of the election being close, theres new New York Times, Siena Polling out this morning that shows. And again its a national poll. But it does show some movement toward harris in september they had it 4747. Now theyve got it 4946. What do you read into this, if anything, in terms of where this race stands or. I always try to in in these closing weeks, i feel like the thing that makes the big difference is where is the ball rolling. Right. Whos got the momentum . Because that tends to really in my experience, make a difference. Heading into Election Day. Do you think this says something about that or not . 100 , casey. And you know listen, its been my job over the years to look at all the data and, you know, all the polling. But as you said in the last couple of weeks, you just get kind of a spidey sense for where things are going. And momentum is really key you could feel that shift in the last week of the campaign in 2016. So thats going to be huge. And i think that theres two things that you mentioned in your polling earlier about harris that i think are are compelling and relevant. One is that shes become the change candidate. But, you know, more than trump has, which is astonishing when you think about the fact that shes in shes technically the incumbent. So that thats a kind of a Magic Trick that shes pulling off, that shes become the Change Agent as an incumbent. The other thing is your fun factor. I mean, you know, at a very base level, this is kind of the Occams Razor Point of view on this thing, which is who do you want to see on your television for the next four years . Donald trump, more of that Fury And Payback and all of that. And that anger. Or do you want to see somebody whos more joyful and just you want to see on tv so you Cant Discount that mark how do you see the the week of the election playing out, considering trumps rhetoric has been pretty dark and were kind of already see him seeing him lay the groundwork for questioning the fairness of in various places. What are you concerned about . What are you looking for where do you think we should be focusing our attention . Pennsylvania. Thats where ill be. Its just astonishing to me that they still dont count their early votes until Election Day. You know, thats thats just a crime. Because that means that the elect we know that the election. How important pennsylvania is going to be. And we know that pennsylvania will very likely not be counted the day of the election. So that means that its highly likely we wont know the results of the election. On Election Day. And that just feeds the conspiracy theories. So im very worried about it because pennsylvania is so key and pennsylvania still has a screwed up system. All right. Mark mcinnes For Mackinnon for us this Morning Mark always love having you come back soon. Thank you. Thank you kick it. All right 52 minutes past the hour. Heres your morning roundup. Hurricane milton. Still a dangerous category four storm right now. The latest update just a short time ago says it will be a major hurricane when it makes landfall on floridas Gulf Coast. We expect that tomorrow night. Highways out of tampa are slammed with traffic as residents follow mandatory evacuation orders. Florida governor Ron Desantis will hold a News Conference on how the state is preparing for the storm in the next hour georgias six Week Abortion Ban reinstated while the states Supreme Court considers an appeal to the ruling. Last week, a Fulton County Judge found the ban on abortions beyond six weeks was unconstitutional the ban will now remain in place indefinitely as the Appeals Battle plays out, and were actually in a good shape for for what we need to ensure that people are able to vote in North Carolina what i worry about more is actually motivation asheville leaders echoing senator j. D. Vances confidence, confirming that north carolinians will be able to vote despite the devastation inflicted by Hurricane Helene. Early voting is scheduled to begin across the state in nine days. All right, lets turn now to this line that Kamala Harris has been using on the Campaign Trail i am a Gun Owner, and tim walz, my running mate, is also a Gun Owner. Tim walz and i are both Gun Owners. Were not taking anybodys guns away. Im a Gun Owner. Tim walz is a gun i know that and i thought that works in my house. Theyre getting shot sir. Yes yes. The firearm that she owns well, turns out its a glock so what kind of gun do you own . And when and why did you get it i have a glock and ive had it for quite some time and i mean look, bill, my background is in Law Enforcement and, um so there you go. Have you ever fired it . Yes of course i have. At a shooting range. Yes, of course i have. All right. Panel is back. Mike, we were talking off camera. I know youve been curious what kind of ive been curious. For two weeks now. No one has asked this question. Thank goodness for for Bill Whitaker because he finally got to the bottom of this. I have no idea why this has been such a mystery for so long. Why what the heck . Just the type of gun now. She didnt ask the why and how. How and why you got it. She avoided that question. So now we have more questions as a follow up. Why . But why specifically is whether its a glock or a smith and wesson, what what is the importance of that . Mainly because i want to know if this is something that her political team said, you need to go out and say and whether or not she was aware of, you know, if a Gun Owner knows the type of gun they have, they know they should know about gun safety. They should know about how to handle a Gun And None of those questions were ever followed up until 60 minutes had to do it. And this is why we need her on hard Hitting News programs, because she didnt get that question on again, The View, the late night with stephen colbert, or call her daddy. Next one is, i guarantee you, next one soldier of Fortune Magazine or guns and ammo. She has talked about owning a gun in the past before this campaign, but youre 100 right that she has never talked about it as much as she has. The last several weeks. It is clearly an effort, part of an ongoing effort to show people in the middle of the country she, their team feels comfortable. They have the democratic base rallied. Theyre trying to present her to the middle of the country as someone thats pragmatic, someone who isnt, as the Trump Campaign has been trying to label her as dangerously liberal. And i think theres a value in being seen as off her own folks its its angering to people on the left and right. Queen Latifah Moment and that the sister Souljah Moment and that excites some folks. But its also i mean, if we look at the stats, if we look at the demographics, black women are actually the fastest growing group of people who are Gun Owners in this country. And so for us to kind of sit around and be like, huh, this is kind of curious. I dont really understand. She actually lines squarely up with these kind of changing trends, not only that, theres i think theres an enormous amount of appeal twofold here. One, she gets to talk to Gun Owners. Right. This is an area that largely democrats have been Cut Off from. But she also simultaneously gets to talk to two thirds of americans who believe in sensible or stricter gun reform. Right. She gets to do both. And then the last point here is that while we focus on this while we talk about, okay, what kind of gun is she going to do . What . You know, how long has she been this . She actually doesnt have to answer other questions right. So were so focused on these kind of conversations around Gun Ownership and things like that. Were not actually talking about the other interviews whether she answered them, did she answer them appropriately, that kind of thing. So it ends up being a really great Talking Point for her that allows her to do multiple things across multiple audiences with very little effort. Mike dubke fell into the trap Mike Listening to your explanation of this, shes finally learning from donald trump. You say a few things that get the News Media focused on, and then you go, you dont have to talk about ukraine and the Un Charter and whatever that Word Salad Answer was Last Night on 60 minutes. You dont have to talk about it. So here was trump back in 2018 talking about firearms. Because again, this is continually an issue that we deal with in our in our political space. Lets watch and then go to court because thats another system. Because a lot of times by the time you go to court, it takes so long to go to court to get the due process procedures. I like taking the guns early, like in this crazy Mans Case that just took place in florida. He had a lot of firearms. They saw everything to go to court would have taken a long time. So you could do exactly what youre saying. But take the guns first. Go through due process second. So mike, this was obviously in the wake of the Parkland Shooting in florida. Horrific. But what he said there didnt sit well with the the nra and others. I mean there are questions really about both of these candidates and their guns too. Yeah, i look its again going back to this point on the Gun Ownership she obviously wanted to inject a way for her to seem relatable to folks in the midwest. Now with with trump, you know, he is known to react to News Stories of the day. And sometimes he just he just speaks, as in that case. And hes hes walked comments back before. I think most of our politicians have done this. When trump is speaking to the nra this week Kamala Harris, as far as we know, is not speaking to the nra. So i think in terms of the people that probably vote on the second amendment, you know trump still has an edge there. Yeah, yeah yeah, i almost forgot. Theres questions about trumps Gun Ownership because hes a convicted felon hes a convicted felon. But the conviction is not final yet until he goes through all appeals. So as of right now, hes still lawfully able to possess a firearm. This is why we have you at the table. Thank you very much for that. Thank thanks to our joining us. Im kasie hunt. Dont go anywhere. Cnn news central starts right now