surge. 8 to 12 feet. these islands are flat. a foot aboveground. the buildings are taller than that. some will be impacted if we re talking 6 to 9 feet in panama city. we had florence with the incredible amounts of rain for the carolinas. that is on the way. that is stage two of the storm. it is strengthening on the way to the panhandle as a major hurricane later on wednesday. a managimaginmajor hurricane. ivan, thank you. president trump apologizing to new supreme court justice brett kavanaugh during a ceremonial swearing-in event at the white house. every sitting member of the supreme court was in attendance along with top republicans. the president painting kavanaugh as a victim of a political hoax. on behalf of our nation, i want to apologize to brett and
with the midterms now four weeks away. good morning. this is early start. i m joe jonhns. i m christine romans. it is 4:00 a.m. in the east. we begin with breaking news. florida panhandle bracing for hurricane michael. hurricane michael is expected to strengthen to a category three by the time it hits the panhandle midday wednesday. states of emergency declared in florida and alabama. emergency officials have ordered evacuations in ten counties. some mandatory. others voluntary. florida governor rick scott strongly urging people to heed all warnings. every family must be prepared. remember, we can rebuild your house, but not rebuild your life. take this seriously. keep your family safe. meteorologist ivan cabrera is live in the cnn weather center. ivan, what is the latest on the
florida panhandle bracing for hurricane michael. hurricane michael is expected to strengthen to a category three by the time it hits the panhandle midday wednesday. states of emergency declared in both florida and alabama and emergency officials have ordered evacuations in at least ten counties. some mandatory. others voluntary. florida governor rick scott strongly urging people to heed all warnings. every family must be prepared. every family. remember, we can rebuild your house, but not rebuild your life. take this seriously. keep your family safe. meteorologist ivan cabrera is standing by now live in the cnn weather center. ivan, what is the latest on michael? joe, we are dealing with the category one hurricane. high end one. 90-mile-an-hour winds. we have a new advisory in 20 to 30 minutes. chad will have that at the top of the hour. moving north/northwest at 12 miles an hour. overnight, i thought it would blow up.
people say the local government took their land, sold it to developers and kept the money. residents say food and supplies are running low and they fear police might storm the village. u.s. military officials now admit its u.n.-man droned was looking for suspected nuclear sites in iran. one official says it was on a cia mission, tehran put the aircraft on display after it was brought down recently on iranian soil. prolific writer and social critic christopher hitchens has died. he often skewed the elite in his writings. his 17 books took aim at everything from the cancer that ravaged his body to waterboarding to religion. christopher hitchens was 62 years old. those are the top stories from cnn, the world news leader. i m of did does have. world business today starts now. it s 9:00 a.m. here in london. good morning, i m nina dos santos. and it s 5:00 p.m. in hong kong, i m manisha tank. this is world business today, the top stories on friday, the 16th of decembe