be stronger gusts and it's expected to intensify to a potentially category 3 hurricane before making land fall in florida tomorrow, where millions are already under hurricane and storm surge warnings. right now, western cuba is feeling the brunt of the storm. then the track, idalia in florida's big bend. but, this is a very important reminder a small shift in the track could put that population center more at risk. sara arrived in florida a few hours ago. some parts of florida will see and feel the impact soon. what are you seeing on the ground now? >> reporter: look, like every other hurricane, it is calm before the storm, but this is when people are being told to evacuate in ten counties. and preparations are under way as idalia, who started out as a tropical storm and is now a hurricane, it is expected to grow and grow and grow to a major hurricane, a category 3 hurricane. right now listen to what people are doing as they try to get out of the way of a high storm surge and high winds. >> a lot of anxieties, yeah. we're concerned. there's been plenty of times when i've overprepared and griped about it afterward because all the work i did i had to undo. but it's better than the alternative of not being prepared if it does turn this way and things go sideways. >> reporter: so you heard the anxiety is high there. we talked to people early this morning at 5:00 a.m. who are also preparing to leave. they came to visit clearwater, where we are, and now they realize this could be a very dangerous and serious storm. with us now derek van dam, i get to hang out with him in person. hurricanes do sometimes bring people together. >> good morning, sara. >> we are standing on the beautiful, sandy beaches of clearwater, but this is potentially a very powerful storm. >> without a doubt. this area is so susceptible purely what you're looking at, how shallow. you could walk out on this shoreline and still be knee height in water for several hundred yards away from where the water starts. so it's just is topography here. it's so flat. it's so vulnerable. we talk about storm surge, that is the number one related fatality disaster for a hurricane, you know. it's not the winds. it is the water. and we continue to go back on that. we harp on that product so much because of its dangers. we saw that with hurricane ian and what it's capable here across the eastern gulf of mexico as well. >> reporter: you have been tracking this. any sense of the timing when we'll start seeing some of the real effects of this? it's always very interesting. it's very humid. it feels like a regular summer day here in florida. >> right. >> we know we're watching it inch closer and closer and closer. >> you said et well earlier. this is the last few hours that people have to prepare their property and to evacuate in those mandatory evacuation zones as well. so just before sunrise we'll have the first bands approach the southern florida peninsula. then they'll slowly creep up and reach us here in clearwater midday today and that's when we start to see the intermittent tropical storm-force winds. it will be overnight and into the day on wednesday. that's when we expect the most power from the storm to really ramp up. wow, if you're on the east side of that center of this particular hurricane, that is where we're going to watch out. we call that the dirty side. that's the area that has the potential for tornadic activity. >> that's the other thing. people are concerned about tornadic activity. the last time when hurricane ian came to this side of florida, people first were alerted it was coming. there was a tornado that showed up. so, there are a lot of things that can happen that are unpredictable in these storms because they do create their own weather, don't they? >> 100%. you have to look out for the wobbles. we talk about that so much. that is what is so crucial because the way that this storm is approaching the florida peninsula will run parallel. if we get an east ward jog or west ward jog, that puts major population densities at play. tampa bay, for instance, clearwater where we are located. if it goes further west, apalachicola, panama city. it's a game of miles. pay attention the forecast track. right now we have big bend cedar key. anywhere this will be a large storm as it continues to expand, intensify. this is what's so phenomenal us to. water temperatures are running 2, 3 degrees farenheit above average. that's like jet fuel for hurricanes. that means this storm will deepen and strengthen and see its wind field grow. we'll see impacts well away from the center of that storm. >> you will feel that wind. it is the storm surge. it is flooding that is the most dangerous and most deadly. we'll be watching it. i'll pay attention to everything you're saying as you track this storm. back to you, phil. >> thank you, sara. thank you, derek. we'll keep a close eye on this throughout the course of the next several hours and days. just to reiterate, idalia strengthened to a hurricane, category 1 hurricane 85 miles north of the western part of cuba. we will be watching that throughout the morning. but we're also watching this morning some major developments in two legal cases for former president trump. the trial for the former president's federal election interference case now has a date to begin set march 4th, 2024. the judge tanya chutkan brushing off the delay for two years delay. instead the biggest voting day in that primary race, super tuesday. meanwhile, mark meadows left court in georgia yesterday without a ruling on his effort to move his state case to federal court. the judge says he will rule as quickly as possible. cnn's evan perez joins us now. evan, i want to start with the federal case, what you were watching in d.c., the delay. how will it work when trump or his legal team try and appeal that date or shift that march 4th date? >> reporter: yeah, phil. look, i think she is not very patient at all with the attempt to try to delay this. she right off the bat told the defense that she didn't believe they were going to get two years. she didn't think they needed two years. they had plenty of time to be able to prepare. they were complaining about millions of pages of documents that were turned over by the government they say they need to prepare. john laura, the proposal from the government was ridiculous and what the government was trying to do was a show trial, not a fair trial. in the end, she asked him to turn the temperature down. then she chose march 4th. and what we expect is that, you know, they may try the former president may try to delay this in some way. perhaps by trying to ask her to appeal the trial date. it's not likely to work, at least not buy him much time. this is what she said from the bench, setting a trial date does not depend and should not depepd on the defendant's personal or professional obligations. the former president is running for office and he'll spend a lot of time in the courtroom instead of being able to be on the campaign trail during that time. >> yeah. we showed the calendar of march where really critical primaries are happening. that's already packed. you look at the next five months, it's packed. i want to ask you about the georgia election interference case. mark meadows showing up to testify. to some degree a collective gasp. you haven't heard from him really january 6th with the exception of his book. the decision to put him on the stand, a risk i think to some degree unexpected but a gamble that could pay off to some degree? >> reporter: right. it is a gamble that could pay off. certainly the judge from the bench yesterday, phil, said that this is pretty low bar to remove this case. he asked some very pointed questions himself of mark meadows' lawyer about the limits of what he was arguing, which is that what mark meadows was doing, going down to georgia, spending time pressuring state officials, all of that was part of his official duties as chief of staff. in the end, though, this is a gamble because in the end what mark meadow's did was answer questions that he has not had to answer at all, certainly not in the georgia case where he's charged and could be used against him. for instance, he denied that he wrote a memo that was designed to try to delay certification of the january 6th -- on january 6th of the election results. that's something that prosecutors in the other federal case could end up using against him and other people inside the white house, phil. >> yeah. it was a fascinating development, hours of testimony. evan, keeping an eye on all of it. thanks so much. >> sure. well, corrupt, old, how americans really feel about the front-runners in the 2024 race. that and new polling coming up next. what are you watching sara? and we are here in florida. we're in clearwater as we await this storm. there are dozens of evacuations. many, many school districts that have closed down. and we're going to check in with cuba who felt the effects of this storm. no, that is not yet the rain from the storm. that's a sprinkler, but we'll give you an update on where the storm is ahead. ♪ this just in ♪ ♪ got the keys to w what you want and what you need ♪ ♪ something new somemething sweet ♪ ♪ moving to a different b beat♪ ♪ okay now (what?) ♪ ♪ can i get a (get a) drumroll? 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you don't have to prep much when you've done nothing wrong. that i'm not concerned with. >> maybe a little misalignment of messaging to some degree, but i do think that underscores pr lawyers here and also the legal team lawyers. the idea of needing a lot of time to prep. you think that's not necessarily off base. >> i don't think it's off base. i think it's a little disingenuous given the fact that they were asking for this 2026 trial date. if they had been willing to compromise and the judge pushed them. can you pick a more realistic date. they kept with that after the election date. and that made it seem as if preparation was really a ruse. what they really want to do is push this off past the election, a point at which in their minds he wins the election, he either pardons himself or he appoints an attorney general who makes these cases go away. >> the unspoken sub text that everybody whispers about. getting elected and the ability to pardon himself or kill any case is a critical component, which is a weird reason to run for president and yet here we are. the calendar, though, is what fascinates me. the trump team immediately jumped on, this is the day before super tuesday. this is election interference. you were indicted four times the middle of a campaign. it was going to be problematic. i'll pull up the march calendar. people are pointing to super tuesday, that's the day after. eight days later is the georgia primary, which by the way georgia is not a great state for the former president right now, beyond just the fulton county indictment. beyond that is florida where his top competitor is the governor of florida who just crushed his opponent in his re-election campaign. when you look at this calendar, are there political problems here? >> yes, because then several weeks after that he'll be in new york for the new york hush money payment case. and then down the line at the end of may in florida he's scheduled to appear in the trial there. then we don't know when the trial date officially will be set in this georgia case. so, this is going to be happening at a time when things are really ramping up on the presidential campaign trail. you know, things already seems like all eyes are on the trail with all this activity over trump's indictments, even more so than they would be in any other election year. but by march, candidates are out there. they're talking to voters. they're really -- things are really ramping up energetically on the trail and this is coming at a time -- super tuesday, if he's going into a federal courthouse, the day before, more than a dozen states throughout the country are voting. optically that would be extremely stark compared to ore candidates on the trail going to their rallies and their events and giving stump speeches. so i think it will be optically stark and the political ramifications of that to come. >> i think your point about optics is, a, 100% accurate. people say stop talking about optics. the optics him showing up for arraignments and indictments has had a boost in his fundraising and poll numbers and consolidated his republican support. you're on the republican campaign and looking at this calendar, he's off the trail for weeks. that's a huge net positive. but is it? >> i think what we saw in the beginning with the indictments was a boost for trump among republicans. but what we have seen more recently he did not get a boost after this latest, this fourth indictment and the american public generally is concerned about this. i think the latest abc ipsos poll about 50% of americans said he should suspend his campaign because of his indictments. and 20% of republicans. i think the concern for trump is maybe he's seeing a boost and seems to think he's getting a boost from these indictments and trials. and we have seen in the fundraising number. but when americans see him in a courthouse right before super tuesday, right before they're about to pull that lever to vote, i think some people will push pause. >> has an impact. before we go, rebecca, what are people going to see, if the date stands and it seems like it's going to, at least at this point, that week, the weeks that follow, what are people going to be seeing or hearing about in terms of this trial? >> so, it's a complicated trial. but it tells a simple story and it tells a simple story about his efforts to interfere with this election. now his defense is going to push hard on this fact that he was simply -- or their argument that he was simply trying to contest what he thought was a rigged election. but, you know, there's a lot of evidence stacked up there that he knew this election was stolen and he continued to push and pushed in ways that were not legitimate. it's one thing to bring a case in court. it's another thing to arrange for fake electors. so i think that evidence will start to play out in much the way it did in the january 6th hearings but at a different point in time as we were just talking about and in a different forum. >> and the forum is extremely important. we're so used to the pr back and forth the statements, the bombastic yelling at one another. this is in a court of law. there are legal precedents and requirements here. that is a different venue. thank you, guys, very much. we'll take you back out live to clearwater, florida, where the city and surrounding communities are bracing for hurricane idalia. we're going to speak to someone on board a hurricane hunter plane in just moment. stay with us. ically shown to support cognitive health in older adults. it's one more step towards taking c charge of your health. so every day, , you can say, ♪ youuu did it! ♪ with centrum silver. 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what are we seeing as these updates start to come in? >> reporter: yeah. what people need to know is it strengthened to a hurricane officially at the 5:00 a.m. update this morning. one interesting thing to note as well is it is on its forward move. we're seeing that northerly progression at 14 miles per hour. that means it is picking up speed and will continue to do so before its landfall. now, look, it has a lot of open water to traverse first. and that water is extremely warm that will allow for what we call rapid intensification, a strengthening of the storm. we have seen this story play out time and time again, hurricane ian last year, we remember that. here is the latest radar. you can see how the western slopes of cuba are getting clobbered right now with heavy rain bands. havana included in that category 1 hurricane moving into the open waters of the southern gulf of mexico and will start to see those rain bands impact places like ft. myers, naples and into tampa as well. storm surge flooding, we have the red highlighted there, 8 to 12 feet, that's cedar key. that's incredible. a lot of people use a bench mash storm of herman, category 1. that brought six feet of storm surge and that was a category 1. this could be a category 3. for cedar key, that means total inundation for that particular key right off the coast. >> this is why authorities are telling people, you have to evacuate now. this storm is going to be powerful. you may not feel it right now. it feels like a regular summer day. but you will start seeing these storm surges and you will start seeing this wind and potentially tornadic activity as well. speaking of someone who has gone through this. we now have patrick oppmann, he is in havana, where this storm has slammed into. patrick, what is the situation there? >> reporter: yeah. literally. it was clear skies this morning. haven't felt a drop of rain. then one of these bands came through as it did and knocked over our equipment, knocked us off the air. absolutely soaked me. and we are on the outer edges of this. the storm passed the west of cuba. i don't believe it ever actually made landfall as a tropical storm. all the same. no cuban officials evacuated 8,000 people from low lying area. we saw heavy flooding in these areas. and as i was just telling you, i thought we weren't going to get a rain drop on us all morning. it looked absolutely clear and then just out of nowhere this band came n absolutely soaked us. knocked over our tripods. we had to take shelter. the storm came by the west of cuba, as it gets into the gulf, historically warm waters and continue to pick up for us. so it's something that people really need to be careful about. again, i just thought that we weren't going to get anything all day and a band of rain and wind came through. we're on the outskirts of this storm. and just absolutely slammed into us. and it was kind of a wall of rain behind us for a little bit, passing now, but throughout the day we'll continue to get this as the storm goes north towards florida and continues to pick up steam. >> patrick oppmann, we're glad you're okay. you gave the perfect example of what can happen and how quickly it can happen, which is why they want people to prepare and to evacuate in now ten counties here in florida because that kind of activity is going to get more intense as the storm intensifies. thank you so much, patrick oppmann, there for us in havana cuba. we are going to eventually hear from a storm hunter who has been chasing this storm and trying to see just what it is like up close and personal as it barrels towards the state. we will have much more with our derek van dam, who is also tracking the storm here with all of his electronics and his smarts. we are going to now toss it back to phil who has incredible way to look at how strong this storm surge just might be. >> sara, we'll get back to you and derek and the team for a moment on the ground. for demonstration purposes. this is really important as people try to visualize what's actually or what could be coming their way in the coming hours and days. more than 5 million people right now are under storm surge warnings across southern and eastern florida. now, it could be life threatening. the highest storm surge is expected to happen in the big bend area of florida. you're looking at it right here in red. forecasters say water levels could reach up to 12 feet. so what does that actually mean? think about this perspective because it seems a little amother fus to some degree. this is a 12 foot ladder. i'm 5'11" on a good day. the water could tower above the average person. could reach the top of a bedroom or a bathroom. people in at risk areas they have been told to evacuate for a reason. that is not made up. that is 12 feet. that's the threat. that's why you're getting the warnings from federal, state and local officials. sara and derek? >> phil, that was a really good way to really show people just how dangerous this can be. and as derek has mentioned over and over and over again because it is the absolute truth, it is the storm surge. it is the flooding that takes lives, that is the most dangerous thing. any hurricane we have seen come through this state. >> well, picture this, sara and phil, great explanation there, phil. a cubic yard of water weighs 1700 pound. imagine several feet of that washing in at you all at once. there's no way you could stand up or any structure could survive that type of an event. we saw that play out with hurricane ian. we saw the devastation that it brought to ft. myers beach. the surge, we always go back to it. it is the number one lethal -- most lethal part of a hurricane. >> that's the most important thing. i have been talking to friends who are in ft. myers. everyone extremely concerned. that area hasn't completely recovered from hurricane ian. now you're seeing another storm. but this is how hurricane season is. sometimes it's one after the other. as this one intensifies, we will be watching and waiting. evacuations again under way for ten counties. 32 school districts now here in florida have been closed down so that people can take their kids to safety. we will update you on the very latest on this storm and what people are doing to prepare for it and those who are evacuating as well. phil? >> sara and derek, we will be going back. this is not hyperbole folks. these are the warnings. we're demonstrating it because it's important. idalia a category 1 hurricane. across the globe, could vladimir putin attend the funeral of his ally turned foe wagner chief yevgeny prigozhin. live to russia with what we're learning. new overnight, we're seeing and hearing from detained american paul whalen for the first time in years as he is wrongfully detained inside a russian prison. stay with us. but your stoma'. that disagreement ends right now. lactaid d ice cream is the creamy, real ice cream you love that will never mess withth your stomach. lactaid ice cream. automatically responds to snoring. so, no more hiding under your pillow. because this system actually detects snoring then adjusts to help reduce it. for a limited time, save up to $700 on select tempur-pedic adjustable mattress sets. then add the whoa! of listerine to your routine. new science shows listerine is 5x more effective than floss at reducing plaque above the gumline. for a cleaner, healthier mouth. ahhhhh. listerine. feel the whoa! my brain. so i choose new neuriva ultra. unlike some others, it supports 7 brain health indicators, including mental alertness from one serving. to help keep me sharp. try new neuriva ultra. think bigger. brand new overnight, there's a heavy police presence and sealed off roads around a cemetery in st. petersburg, russia, that yevgeny pregauche will be buried there. when i heard where you were and what you were reporting on, we have to talk to you. take us inside what you're seeing, what's happening on the ground. >> reporter: yeah. we're actually inside the cemetery which is in st. petersburg, one of the biggest cemeteries in the russian city. and you can see behind me, sort of forested area with a whole load of graves in it. tens of thousands of people have been buried here over the years since it was founded in nearly 20th century. and it's here that we believe that yevgeny prigozhin, the mercenary wagner chief who was killed last week in that plane crash will be laid to rest, will be buried. it's not easy to tell you exactly because a cloak of secrecy, frankly phil, has been thrown all over this. the officials aren't telling us what's happening. there's no official announcement about when the funeral is going to be, but there are lots of indications that this is the place. and let's just have a look over here. let me show you over here. unusually there's been security placed outside the gates. they set uptedetecters. police put outside checking people as they come through. there's nobody coming through at the moment, but some people coming through with carnations, red flowers, showing -- being checked as much as possible. again, you know, a cloak of secrecy over it. we don't know exact funeral arrangements are going to be. we do know from this morning that the kremlin said that vladimir putin, the russian president, will not be attending this ceremony. the kremlin is saying that's a matter for the family. it will be a private affair. again, it talks to this idea that the kremlin as much as possible want this to be a low key affair. they're not keen to talk up the death of yevgeny prigozhin because there are all sorts of suspicions despite the fact that the kremlin denied any involvement. there are still lots of suspicions despite those denials that the killing of yevgeny prigozhin, his plane crash could have had involvement of the russian state. there's no evidence of that yet. there's an investigation under way. but again, you speak to ordinary russians and few people believe that investigation, which is an official investigation, will ever point the finger of blame to state involvement if that's what it finds. interesting situation. we'll see how this developments over the course of the next day or so. >> fascinating developments. please keep us posted. matthew chance, great reporting out in russia. also overnight, rare video of american paul whalen from inside a russian prison. russian state today shot and released the video showing whalen in a prison uniform. he has been detained since 2018. his brother said this is the first time he looked like since june 2020. paul whalen briefly spoke to a reporter. take a listen. >> sir, you understand when i say i can't do an interview which means i can't answer any questions. >> secretary of state antony blinken spoke to whalen. they continue to reit tate their proposal for whalen's release. i want to talk back to sara sidner on the ground in florida as the state prepares, the gulf coast prepares for what is now a category 1 hurricane. sara, what are you seeing on the ground there? >> it is again very calm now. this is the time when people need to get out. there are now more counties, more than 10 counties being evacuated at this hour. 32 school districts closed down and that is because they're very concerned about a high storm surge and the winds will intensify. now, we have someone who is in the midst of this in the sky. lieutenant chris wood is a hurricane hunter. he knows what these things look like up close and personal in the most difficult parts of this. can you give us some sense? i hope you can hear me. thank you for joining me this morning, lieutenant. can you give us some sense of what it is you're seeing? i hear the rattling, the noise you're in right now. [ inau [ inaudible ]. >> it's very hard to hear you. there's a reason for that. we're hearing the outer bands of the hurricane as you go directly into this. why is it so important that you and your crew are there to try and track this, to try to see what we are dealing with? >> so our aircraft can gather information that is not possible by any other means. [ inaudible ]. >> lieutenant chris wood, it's very, very hard to hear you but that is because you're in the belly of the beast. you're in this storm. feeling those outer bands. now, derek van dam is here. he's not only our meteorologist. he's been in one of these enormous planes that go into this. can you give us a sense of what that is like from your perspective as you fly into this massive storm. >> it is. it's extremely chaotic but more chaotic in the storms that are developing and strengthening. what we're seeing with idalia, he is going through some of the greatest turbulence because that storm is now starting to get its act together. we flew in the hurricane hunter planes cj 130 the superaircraft. he is flying in a p 3 o'ryan. a smaller version of that but still a turbo prop. these planes have different reasons why they're out there. he's probably sampling the upper levels of the atmosphere to give us meteorologists better intel, better information so we can forecast and pinpoint that exact track of where idalia will travel. the hurricane hunters i flew with, we fly right into the eye of the hurricane. it's called punching the eye wall. and it is an incredible moment to actually be inside of that circular motion of the inside of that belly of the beast, like you said. >> it is incredible to see it and experience it. but on the ground, the destruction can be enormous. it's an extremely dangerous thing for folks on the ground and frankly for you punching through the eye wall. that turbulence has to be really, really, really incredible. you have to have a good stomach to deal with that sort of thing. >> you have safety belts to hold yourself down. i can't underscore the importance of the work that they're doing. every little bit of detail over the open ocean becomes available to the meteorologist. so we're able to better pinpoint the forecast. so we need the data they are currently collecting. >> right now lieutenant chris wood is collecting that data. i want to now bring in penelis county, the pio. she is going to give us information. i want to thank you for coming on i know this is a time when everyone is preparing and you're trying to help the citizens of this county get to safety. can you give us some sense of what it is and how people are preparing and what they need to know in order to keep themselves and their family safe. >> absolutely. first and foremost, residents should complete their preparations today and be in a safe place by this evening. you know, we have a mandatory evacuation for zone a and all mobile home residents in effect for pinellas county. people need to heed those evacuations. we have special needs and pet shelters available for those who need them. you know, one of the main reasons we've been told people don't evacuate is because they're due to uncertainty of what to do with their pet. it's just like preparing your family member, preparing yourself. make sure your pet has enough food, has enough water. if you're going to evacuate, go to a pet-friendly shelter or evacuate with a family or friend that will allow your pet to be there. there are hotels that are pet friendly. there's a lot of options. you don't have to travel across the state or into another state. we want you to evacuate tens of miles, not hundreds of miles. >> that's really good information going tens of miles not hundreds of miles. one of the things that people must pay attention to is sort of the tracking of the storm. but these storms do wobble. so, where is it that you're trying to tell people to go to? if people go to the north, they may get caught up, if they wait too late in that storm surge. >> absolutely. really all they have to do is go to a nonevacuation zone. so first and foremost, you need to know what zone you're in. if you're in that zone a or mobile home resident, evacuate to an area in pinellas county that is nonevacuation zone. people that don't have any other way to evacuate, don't have anywhere to go, there are shelters available. we opened up ten shelters. and those nine additional ones were opened up this morning. >> where do they get that information? right now everything is working. the storm is not here yet. where should they go to gather the information they need, to know where they r where they can go if they have pets, for example. i know that some of the hotels and some of the other areas, they're hurricane rated as well hopefully out of the evacuation zone. >> well, definitely. you bring up a good point about visitors. we want to make sure our visitors are well are looking up their evacuation zone. do that easily at disaster.pinellas.gov for our local residents and visitors in pinellas county. emergency information is available for us through alert pinellas, disaster.pinellas.gov. we have our county information center open around the clock, starting at 8:00 a.m. if there's some worried friends, folks, that have questions, they can call this evening and they can call 727-464-4333. we have the availability for residents who are deaf or hard of hearing can contact our county information center via online chat. again, that's at disaster.pinellas.gov. >> i think you made a really, really good point. thank you for giving all that information. it's really important to people so they know exactly what they need to do. those people who have children, those people who have pets, treat your pets like you would treat your kids. figure out where to go, bring them with you, do not stay in a dangerous place. get everybody to safety. thank you so much. we appreciate your time this morning. and we want you to stay as safe as possible as you watch this storm and try to keep people out of danger. we are going to toss it back to phil now. >> thanks, sara. very important information. we'll be getting back to you, to derek to the entire team on the ground. but coming up, we want to focus on newly-released surveillance video of the deadly shooting also in florida, jacksonville, florida, what it's revealing about the police response. that's coming up next. stay with us. me nights. you know you are retired right? 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"cnn this morning" continues right now. ♪ a major hurricane is barrelling towards florida's gulf coast. >> millions along the gulf now being told to prepare to evacuate as idalia rapidly gains strength. >> floridians should expect this storm will be a major cat 3 plus hurricane. >> fema deployed two incident management teams to tallahassee. >> this is a big event here. storm surge could be 12 feet. >> it is not going to bode well for the west coast. >> execute those plans and reach out to the resources that we have available locally. ♪ january 6th, well, meet march 4th. >> that's the day before super tuesday. u.s. district judge tanya chutkan denied trump's long-shot bid for a trial in april of 2026. >> she made it quite clear that the public relations games are not going to impact the decisions that she makes in the courtroom. >> the judge in doj is very much thinking about the election date. >> john lauro gave a tstrenuous and impassioned plea. >> that plea is going nowhere. >> it's all talk. it's incoherent, makes no sense. >> mark meadows took the stand under oath. it was a surprising move. >> i think it's so interesting to watch this continue to play out like some sort of ponzi scheme of lies. >> the end of the day, meadows had to testify because there was no one else. ♪ good morning, everyone. it's tuesday, august 29th, i'm phil mattingly. sara sidner is in florida. that's where we want to start, with breaking news, very serious news. idalia is now a category 1 hurricane, maximum sustained winds of 75 miles per hour with stronger wind gusts. and it is expected to intensify to a potentially category 3 hurricane before making landfall in florida tomorrow. where millions are already under hurricane and storm surge warnings. right now, western cuba is feeling the brunt of the storm. then the track puts idalia coming on shore well north of tampa in florida's big bend. but, and this is a critical reminder particularly in this moment, a small shift in the track could put that population center more at risk. now sara arrived just a few hours ago in clearwater, florida. sar ra sara, what have you been seeing since you've been on the ground? >> we've been seeing people leaving because they have been warned this is going to get ready nasty, really quickly. we're talking about a major storm surge as well as high winds. there are now 14 counties that have been told t