roger stone openly calling for insurrection violence. one democratic congressman says what happened in two pennsylvania districts will tell us everything about which party controls the house next year. we begin the hoyer with hurricane ian and florida now bracing for its arrival. the cat 3 storm on a direct path for the sunshine state. already packing maximum sustained winds of 115 miles per hour. ian expected to strengthen over the next 24 hours. local officials making urgent pleas for people to evacuate. the storm did make landfall this morning in cuba. heavy rains and winds hammering the area. forecasted storm surges up to 8 feet. the current track puts ian s center ten miles from st. pete. if that holds true, it will be the closest path to tampa for a major hurricane since 1950. carlos suarez live on the ground outside tampa. first let s get to the weather center and cnn s chad myers. the 11:00 advisory came in and the american model came in in the past ten minutes.
hello and thank you for being with us. i m ana cabrera in new york. hurricane ian is taking aim and florida is bracing. the powerful storm is expected to get stronger over the next few hours. a cat 4 before the end of the day. the track is shifting a bit, but it is still expected to be a major hurricane when it slams into florida tomorrow night. tampa s mayor says that area is expecting a, quote, devastating amount of water. evacuations are under way. people are boarding up homes and businesses. schools are closing, flights canceled. let s begin our coverage with john cangelosi from the national hurricane center in miami. thanks so much for joining us. update us on where the storm is right now and the latest forecast? sure, ana, here is the latest. hurricane ian starting to pull away from western cuba, max mim winds 115 miles an hour. the storm is wobbling around but generally moving to the north-northeast at about 10 miles an hour. let me show you the latest forecast. as y
millions there on tornado watch. is the west coast that could really feel the brunt getting slammed directly with life threatening storm surge and flooding in a day or so. millions of people in ian s cross hairs and boarding up the homes. people waiting in line for hours for free sand bags. mandatory evacuations were expanded. they re told it s time to leave now. fema s chief urged people to get out of harm s way. our biggest concern as we wait for this storm to make landfall is storm surge and i will note that storm surge is a leading cause of hurricane related fatalities. the decision you choose to make may mean the difference between life and death. overnight the storm made laufld in cuba with rain and winds. it is churning in warm waters of the gulf of mexico. jennifer gray is in the cnn weather center. there is a slight shift in the forecast path to the south. what does this change? basically means that areas just to the south get the bulk of the surge. with this s
i told each one of them, my conversation separately, whatever they need. sincerely, whatever they need, contact me directly. joining me now jamie rome, acting director of the national hurricane center. good to have you with us this hour. we saw in the most recent update, the 2:00 p.m. update that the storm was rapidly intensifying. the major concern at this hour seems to be the storm surge and also just how long this storm could sit. what are the areas that you re most focused on at this hour? i think water is going to be the big issue with this storm, both the incredibly heavy rainfall. you can see it starting to sweep over the southern portions of the florida peninsula. and the storm surge near to the east of where the center makes landfall, and those two when they combine together, it creates a lot of flooding issues. speaking the the mayor of tampa in the last hour, she was pointing to the separate saturation that they re already seeing on the ground there that they
we asked republican governor ron desantis and val demings to come on as well they declined. first up tonight be though, president biden is taking part in a rally for new mexico governor, michelle lujan grist ham and other democrats in albuquerque. the president is trying to frame the election as crucial to the democracy. peter doocy has the story tonight live from the north lawn. good evening, peter. peter: good evening, bret. president biden is suggesting the american experiment could fail if certain republican candidates are elected. and despite that heavy warning, he is also campaigning in new mexico trying to remind young people that he is the one trying to cancel some student loan debt. remember, this is not a referendum. this is a choice. pete: biden is backing incumbent new mexico governor believed to be v.p. short-lister. michelle grisham. he is not here to discuss the issues that new mexicans care about that is skyrocketing crisis, a border where we have mor