A. M. Pacific. Im Ana Cabrera reporting from new york. We begin with Breaking News. The president set to speak from the White House this hour, about the devastation in the aftermath of helene. The destruction is really unbelievable, stretching all across the southeast. The Death Toll currently standing at 99. The number is set to climb, still, with Search And Rescue efforts continuing this morning. A third of the deaths in north carolina, where the historic city of asheville saw the worst of it. At this hour, authorities are still searching for the missing. And the community is just struggling to cope without water. Without food, power, Gasoline Or Cell service in so many of those areas. Joining us now, nbcs George Solis is in asheville and Nbcs Gabe Gutierrez is standing by. George, the aerial images from that shot is really breathtaking. What is the situation this morning . Rare, good morning, ana, the situation is really heartbreaking. Some areas have become passable after the water
Forces along its northern border with lebanon. According to one u. S. Official, the idf is planning for a limited Ground Operation that could begin at any moment now. Israeli commandos have been conducting smaller operations over that border in preparation. Just two days after hezbollah confirmed its leader was killed in a massive Idf Strike in southern beirut. A 2,000 Pound Bunker busting bomb, according to an expert who spoke with Nbc News, dropped on the u. S. Designated terror groups headquarters. It follows the detonation of thousands of pagers and walkietalkies and promises they will do whatever it takes to secure the northern border. In addition to killing the hezbollah leader, they killed hamass leader and dropped bombs on Power Plants and Shipping Infrastructure used by the houthis in yemen. The goal, to harm or disable Irans Axis of resistance. The danger, a war in The Middle East that drags in u. S. Forces in. The u. S. Has been able to convince israel to scale back plans fo
The blast. We can go to Beirut And Anna foster. We were speaking to our colleague who was saying the news has been reported on iranians media. That is right. It is an important moment. What i think will be a moment when you see a collective outpouring of grief in southern suburbs of beirut and the south of the country and the south of the Country And Bekaa valley is when we have the funeral. I have no indication when it will happen. It will happen reasonably quickly because these things always do. Perhaps tomorrow. That will be a big moment. If you look back to just over a week ago when we had the attacks with pagers and walkie talkies. People gathered at funerals and a second wave of attacks came then so when people go to a funeral they will remember what happened a week ago and be nervous. If you support hezbollah in the stronghold areas, they will want to be part of their collective grieving process. That is something that i think well have a real impact on the streets of beirut and
Now looking like a ghost town. Thousands have left, many more are still trying to leave. Driving through dahieh this morning, we saw cars packed with mattresses and bags. Some people seemed to be leaving on foot. Israeli Air Strikes destroyed this building yesterday. The smell of the explosives was still hanging in the air and we could hear the sound of drones flying overhead. Israel says it will continue to target hezbollah, even after killing the groups leader, Hassan Nasrallah. Dahieh is no longer safe. There is a tense and anxious wait in lebanon following the killing of Hassan Nasrallah. The wait for a possible response from hezbollah. For 30 years, Hassan Nasrallah led A Group often described as a state within a state. Hezbollah has been weakened but it has not been defeated. There is a trail of destruction in dahieh and across the country. A Ground Invasion of Southern Lebanon feels more imminent. But here, the impact on those caught up by the violence. Lebanon saysi million peo