we know now that it's no longer a tropical storm. it has gained in strength to a category 1 hurricane and we are expecting that to grow even more powerful as this hurricane hits those warm gulf waters and intensifies to potentially a category 3. to remind people what kind of damage a category 3 storm can do, it's not so much about the wind as it is about the water. a category 3 storm, you will remember, hit in louisiana in 2005, hurricane katrina, and you remember the story there with the breaking of the looefs. it was all about the power of water. than is the fear now. the storm surge. you see how the beaches are flat. that water can be pushed right up and into very populated areas. so they are telling people to get to safer ground. you don't have to go hundreds of miles. you don't have to go to another state but get to safer ground that. is spelled out for people. . wa i /* i want to go he go to derek van dam. he has another u view as he watches this hurricane get ever closer. >> reporter: chthis out. we are in clearwater. you were talking about the warm gulf of mexico waters. we are beyond bathtub waters. we are in hot tub territory. temperatures are running two to three degrees fahrenheit above where they should be this time of year. that's like jet fuel for an incoming area. it will feed off those warm waters. how this coastline is so susceptible, particularly the west coast of the florida peninsula, the gulf side, right, and into the big bend area. an aerial perspective gives you an idea of what we're talking about here. so side by side, hopefully, you have this up, you can see the storm surge projections. 8 to 12 feet near cedar key. that is incredible. look at the vast miles of flat beaches that go as far as the sky can see. clearwater to the north. we are in sand key to at south of this. and we are going to get on the granular details. the national hurricane center has this storm surge prediction map. what you are looking at is tampa bay and the shading of orange is anywhere from 4 to 7 feet, perhaps up to 9 feet of storm surge inundation above normally dry ground. clearwater, we zoom in a little bit closer where i am located you see the yellows and orange. let go a little further north into cedar key and what you are going to see there is a lot of red and a lot of orange. that is because that topography of the big bend, it's like a catcher's mitt literally taking all of that piled up water from the very shallow and very warm gulf of mexico that you see behind me and it's going to pile up all that water. remember, hermine, back in 2016, was a category 1. that brought six feet of storm surge to cedar key. we are projecting 8 to 12 feet that could inundate that area. sara. >> reporter: again, i can't stress this enough. it looks so beautiful where you are, derek van dam, just a few hundred yards behind me. it is so tempting to come out and to play in that bathtub-like or, as you said, hot tub-like water. but authorities say if you stay too long, you will not have time to get to safety, you will not have time to get out of the way of danger. you can come back to this. it will be here. right now it is a time for those in evacuation zones goat to a safer place and, meantime, do not forget about, by the way, your pets. plenty of places have shelters for pets and people. so you can take your entire family with you. derek van dam, thank you so much for a view from the very warm ocean. we will toss it now back to phil. >> actually, no. no, we're not. we are not going to do that. we are going to pay attention to our executive producer, carolyn, who tells me that st. petersburg police chief anthony holloway is here with us. sir, can you hear me? >> yes, i can. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. thank you for being up bright and early with us as we are finally seeing how beautiful it is here on the west coast of florida. but there is danger on the way. what are you expecting there in st. petersburg and what are you telling the citizens of st. petersburg to be on the lookout for and to do? >> good morning again. you are absolutely correct. for the next eight hours, we are asking people that are in the flood area, zone 8, to use these eight hours right now to gather up your belongings, get your family, your pets, and move out of those areas. we have here in st. pete, we have four shelters that are open. we just want tpeople to move awy from danger because we know around 4:00 p.m. that's when we will see the first rain bands come in. somewhere between 9:00 and 9:00 tonight and 9:00 in the morning, the weather is going to get pretty bad. we know the wind will be somewhere between 40 to 60 miles an hour. like you were talking about earlier, those surges are going to be what we're really worried about, about flooding in our city. >> reporter: those storm surges, i know that tampa has certainly experience issed hurricanes before. give mema sense, because having gone through these as a floridian, as a reporter, i know you have gone through these as a chief, when this symptom comes in and it's packing 60, 70, 80 marin 80-mile-an-hour winds, you tell people to evacuate, correct? >> yes, when a storm is really bad, we have to take the first responders, we have to move in out of the bad weather so we can make sure we can respond to the calls. the people that decide not to evacuate, they have to remember to shelter in place. you are going to be on your own until the weather dies down and then we will be able to come back out and rescue you. if you are going to stay at home, shelter in place. above we prefer you move out of the way so we don't have to be tied up making rescues, get back up and going as soon as possible. >> reporter: the worst thing you can do is put other people in danger and our officers and firefighters and rescue teams will be put in danger if someone is in dire need of help because of the storm surge. and it is the water. we can keep reminding people about this because it can't be said enough, that it is the water. it is the storm surge that is the most dangerous. it is the most deadly in every storm that we see. we pay a lot of attention to the winds because they are very visual, but it is the water that is extremely dangerous, very hard to get away from if you don't evacuate in time. sir, thank you so much. police chief anthony holloway of st. petersburg. all the best of luck to you and your team there as you await this storm. you not only have to protect people, you lirch there. so you have to protect your family an work force. i appreciate you are time, sir. >> thank you very much. >> all right. now, carolyn, can i toss back to phil? >> yeah. >> i was ready. i was ready, but that was a more -- much more important person to talk to -- very important message from the chief place. we are going to stay in touch with you and the team throughout the course of the next hour, as we have been throughout the course of the morning. also coming up, house republicans, they are gearing up to launch possible impeachment inquiry into president biden. how are democrats going to react? we will ask the highest ranking democrat in the house, congressman hakeem jeffries is next. only pay for what you need. you could save $700 dollars just by switching. ooooh, let me put a reminder on my phone. on the top of the pile! oh. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ ♪ ("un monde pliable" by jeongpill song) ♪ ( ♪ ♪ ) (camera shutters) ( ♪ ♪ ) (camera shutters) ( ♪ ♪ ) ( ♪ ♪ ) ( ♪ ♪ ) was also the first time you heard of a town named dinosaur, colorado. we just got an order from dinosaur, colorado. start an easy to build, powerful website for free with a partner that always puts you first. start for free at godaddy.com purple mattresses exclusive gel flex grid draws away heat relieves pressure and instantly adapts. sleep better. live purple. right now save up to $900 off mattress sets during purple's labor day sale. visit purple.com or a mattress firm near you. 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[whip sound] take the first step to see if your small business qualifies. ♪ donald trump stares down 91 felony charges across four criminal cases. some house republicans are turning theirattention towards biden. top republicans have privately start today strategize about how to prove forward with an impeachment inquiry this fall. it's something mccarthy has been hinting at publicly for several months. >> the hole determination here is how the bidens handle this. if they provide the documents there wouldn't be a need for an impeachment inquiry. but if they withhold the documents and fight like they have now to not provide to the american public what they deserve to know, we will move forward with an impeachment inquiry when we come back into session. >> joining us now new york congressman and house democratic leader hakeem jeffries. i want to start there. it feels like it's no longer an if, but a when, potentially as soon as the end of next month is what our col cleeg has been reporting. your response to republicans launching an impeachment inquiry into the president? >> throughout this year the american people have been forced to deal with a do nothing extreme republican congress that has done nothing to make a difference in the economy, nothing to make a difference with respect to job creation, nothing as it relates to health care, affordability, nothing as to relates to inflation, nothing as it relates to public safety. they have nothing to show for their majority throughout the year. so as a natural consequence of that, they just continue to take orders from donald trump. their puppet master in chief, who has directed them to persecute and to go after joe biden, which may take the form of an i wllegitimate impeachmen inquiry. >> do you feel -- one of the things our colleagues have been reporting is they are not going to have a vote to launch the impeachment inquiry because they don't have 218 votes, front line republicans, many come from your state of new york, aren't necessarily there yet. i talked to some of them behind the scenes. they say that. do you feel politically it would be advantageous to you if they decide to go down this path? >> i will leave the political assess mgts to others. from a policy perspective, it's exactly the wrong thing do. as house dems we want to continue to focus for delivering for everyday americans, making a difference in the lives of everyday americans. there are so many challenges we need to continue to confront. president biden is leading in an extraordinary way trying to build an economy from the middle out and the bottom up as opposed to the top down, which has been the case under republican presidents and we will continue to support him. there are also issues related to gun safety that we should be tackling. this is a uniquely american problem and it's tragic. we shouldn't have children who have to familiarize themselves with active shooter drills as early as kindergarten all across the country. we should be tackling gun safety and common-sense measures that we support. instead, what we see are republicans with this do-nothing extreme majority wasting the time and the treasure of the american people and that's unfortunate. >> i want to ask you about the economy and the jacksonville shooting and gun safety in a second. we had the key house republicans yesterday wrote to attorney general merrick garland demanding information about the investigation into hunter biden saying since the early days of the investigation concerning hunter biden, doj has deviated from the investigative procedure and afforded hunter biden special privileges not afforded to other americans. i understand your point about policy, but you have a role in kind of this back and forth when they go down this path defending the president, defending the president's family to some agree. are you confident when you look at what the justice department has done, when you look at the investigations into hunter biden that the republicans have pursued up to this point, there hasn't been -- everything is above board? >> yes, i'm extremely confident. the american people know joe biden is a good and decent man who dedicated his life to public service and will continue to serve the people honorably and admirably. on the other hand, you have people like marjorie taylor greene and george santos and others running the show amongst the house republican majority. it's an extreme group of people who aren't really trying to improve the lives of the american people. as democrats, we are going to continue to put people over politics and to focus on lowering costs, better paying jobs, safer communities, growing the economy for the middle class and delivering. that will be a clear contrast available us to to present to the american people in november of 2024. >> there is a possibility that contrast gets laid dare with the b deadline. the fiscal deadline. spending bills have to be done or a continuing resolution has to be signed. i lived in the appropriations world many years. if i go down that rabbit hole, my team will not be happy with me. but there is no conference right now, there is no neither chamber has started to reconcile 12 appropriations bills. have you spoken to speaker mccarthy about a continuing resolution? do you think that the above is going to shut down? >>. >> i have not spoke ton kevin mccarthy about a continuing resolution recent lip. i expect within the next week we will intensify those conversations i have spoken to the biden administration, poke yesterday to leader chuck schumer. we agree the right thing is to make sure that we continue to provide funding for the government so that the federal government can provide for the health, the safety, and the economic well being of the american people. that is our fundamental responsibility. but, again, dealing with an extreme group of people, this extreme maga republican majority that right now temporarily holds the gavels in the house of representatives, there is an inability to function, to do the basics of what is required as members of congress, and to focus on solving problems for the american people. so the extreme maga republicans are marching us towards a reckless government shutdown because what they want to try to do is to jam their right-wing ideology down the throats of the american people. that's exactly the wrong thing that should occur. >> do you think though that -- mccarthy controls the floor. do you think a harvard is inevitable? >> it remains to be seen. we will work hard to stop a reckless shutdown from taking place. ultimately, that is the area that the extreme maga republicans are going to have to make a decision about whether they want to govern or whether they want to continue to pedal their right-wing ideology. >> the administration set up an emergency spending proposal that included disaster funding and additional ukraine funding. if you purdue university pull up the polling on where the american is, i think 45% say yes and more. 55% say no. it's a major issue inside the republican conference. by the end of september will the additional ukraine funding be approved? >> it will be important for us to continue to be there for the ukrainian people as they fight valiantly against russia. this is a conflict not just between ukraine and russia. it's a conflict between democracy and autocracy, between freedom and tyranny, between truth and propaganda and we should continue to stand on the side of the free world. at the same time, we have to provide for the needs of the american people. so as house democrats we will continue to work with president biden to implement the historic legislative agenda that was passed in the previous congress under the leadership of speaker pelosi and partnership in democrats in the senate and the biden administration to implement the infrastructure investments jobs act which will ensure water, fix our crumbling infrastructure, create good paying jobs. implement the chips in science act, bringing domestic jobs back to the united states of america, and the inflation reduction act to combat climate crisis, lower drugs costs, give medicare the ability to negotiate reducing prices for the seniors of america. these are things we will continue to focus on. >> that's what i want to ask you about. in terms of the two years prior to now, from a legislative achievement standpoint, policy priorities, you mentioned chips, infrastructure, the inflation reduction act. i am not sure scale-wise you have seen something with the slim majorities that president biden had. yet when you look at the polling -- and i know you are familiar with this. you have been in the districts talking the last several weeks. cnn poll earlier this month shows despite the positive macroeconomic indicators, 63% of americans disapprove of the way biden handles the economy. that flummoxed white house officials. why do you think that is? how do you rectify that in your mind? >> president biden and the administration, text messages in the house and senate with been busy governing. we delivered historic results for the american people on issue after issue after issue, including being there for the veterans. we who have been exposed to toxic substances, burn pits, agent orange, being there for the american people, we have been governing. we have been busy getting things done. the next 12 months we will have an opportunity to implement those accomplishment and at the same time communicate them to the american people. not to say to the american people reward us, but we can list those accomplishments, elevate them to say to the american people trust us, that we have made progress as to relates to the economy and kitchen table pocketbook issues and we will continue to build upon that progress to do more to make life better for everyday americans. >> critical announcement from the administration today. i want to ask you, you have been out in the districts, you would be the next speaker if -- presumably, if your caucus abides, if democrats take control of the house. the majority for republicans is very slim. if you flip your new york seats, you have a fatukasi to the majority if you hold on. when you look around new york now, to you believe you will flip those seats and how many do you think you can flip in 2024? >> we will hard to deliver the majority in new york and across the country so we can continue to get work done t do a job for the american people that is designed to deliver for them. more money in their pockets. more free d dumb. certainly reproductive freedom. these unite democrats, independents and republicans. that's our message as we move forward. people over politics, building an economy -- >> do you have the -- >> yeah, i'm confident -- >> even with the primaries? >> primaries are a good thing. its parts of american democrat. i am confident that we will be strongly positioned to defeat these extreme maga republican individuals who are currently in the house of representatives who act like moderates but who really have extreme voting records, vote with george santos and marjorie taylor greene almost every step of the way. >> even when president biden seems to say mike was perhaps one of those moderate republicans? >> i will have to make the case individually -- >> to the president -- >> the president -- president biden is a good and decent man. and we ill continue to be. we are going to draw a contrast with the voting records of each of the individuals who currently holds seats that we should win back in new york and california and arizona, all across the land. >> a lot of policy. a lot of politics. no shortage of things on your plate this office. house democrat leader hakeem jeffries thank you for coming? in clearwater beach, we continue to watch and wait for the path of the hurricane headed that way. >> yeah, phil, you know, we are standing on sand key, which is just south of clearwater beach, just over my shoulder here, and i want to give you a little bit of a perspective of what this hurricane is encountering now. i am stepping into the warm gulf of mexico waters. you know, we are beyond bathtub. we are at hot tub levels. these water temperatures are two to three degrees farenheit where they should be this time of year. that will have significant implications. how can you sleep on such a firm setting? gab, mine is almost the same as yours. almost is just another word for not as good as mine. save 50% on the sleep number limited edition smart bed. plus, free home delivery when you add a base. shop now only y at sleep number. my brain. so i choose new neuriva ultra. unlike some others, it supports 7 brain health indicators, includg mental alertness from one serving. to help keep me sharp. try new neuriva ultra. think bigger. trying vapes to quit smoking might feel like progress, but with 3x more nicotine than a pack of cigarettes - vapes increase cravings - trapping you in an endless craving loop. nicorette reduces cravings until they're gone for good. and there he is. chaz. the rec league's self-crowned pickleball king. do you just bow down? 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that is 5'11"? is that what i heard? it shows you how high the water can get and it's coming at you really fast. so there is no time for you to get away, which is why there are now 20 counties that are in some state of evacuation orders. either mandatory or voluntary orders. and what that means for a lot of people in different counties is you don't have to go, as we are hearing from officials, hundreds of miles away. don't have to go to another state. sometimes just a few miles away. away from the coast. away from where the storm surge is going to happen. it's in some capacity, it will be smaller in some places and larger in others. you don't want to be caught in it. you need to be thinking about that now. we understand that in st. pete we are expecting to see some of those outer bands coming around 4:00 p.m. today. and by the morning, wednesday morning, we are going to see the real strength of this hurricane hitting the west coast of florida. where exactly? well, i have someone that can sort of talk to you about that. our derek van dam, meteorologist and reporterer extraordinaire, he is watching this from the sky and ground at beach level. let us know what's going on, derek. >> yeah, tcheck this out. the warm gulf of mexico waters, you know, i could walk literally for several hundred feet and i would only have water up to my knees here. this is a very shallow, shallow basin. and that water is so -- this coastline is so susceptible to storm surge, not only because the hurricane going to be feeding off of those above average water temperatures, but because of the nature of this coastline. i have a drone shot to help put that tin perspective. you saw phil mattingly's great representation of what 12 feet of storm surge looks like. i will take you to the area and show you a little bit about why this area is just so prone to a storm surge event. it is because of the fact that the coastline here goes on literally for miles and it is so shallow all the way out into the waters of the gulf of mexico. now, 8 to 12 feet near cedar key. hurricane hermine in 2016, that was category 1 and that brought six feet of storm surge to cedar key. now we are projecting a major hurricane, category 3 or higher, that could bring significant impacts to that area. tampa bay here, we have the official forecast of around 4 to 7 feet. the air force base there south of the city. we've got the coastal areas, the coastal waterways. near clearwater, this is a prone region as well. these intercoastal waterways have potential of 4 to 7 feet as well. fourth north into the cedar key region are more oranges and reds. that's indicating the 8 to 12-foot storm surge. something no one wants to see. that is the reality that we are facing here. and, sara, you know, you talked about the force of storm surge. no one talks about that. 1,700 pounds, that's what a cubic yard of water weighs. so can you imagine 8 to 12 feet of water rushing in on to the shoreline with that amount of force and pressure, no one could withstand that. that is why there are mandatory evacuations that line this coastline. >> we are seeing these gorgeous pictures, derek. thank you for that. when we look at this beach and look from above, it is pristine and beautiful. will this be completely covered in water as the storm surge gets closer if hurricane wobbles closer to clearwater? >> look, our official forecast calls for 4 to 7 feet of inundation. that's above normally dry land. now, there is a couple of other complicating factors here we haven't had the chance to discuss. there is a supermoon that could coincide with the arrival of idalia. this is terrible timing. a full moon, that has a greater tug, greater force on the tides. it is minimal when you are talking about the shallow waters of the gulf of mexico, but it is still something to consider, especially if the timing of idalia comes onshore right when the full moon is at the greatest, the supermoon coinciding on wednesday. it is all a possibility. we have to watch low tide versus high tide, clearwater 4 to 7 feet, but that big bend, the catcher's mitt of florida, literally all the water pushing up into that area, that's what we are concerned about as it gathers strength in the eastern sections. gulf of mexico. >> and that is why authorities are telling people to evacuate. if you get that call, do the right thing. take all of the things that you want to save, like pictures, and also your pets, don't forget your pets, they are family, too. derek van dam, thank you so much for giving us that really gorgeous look of the beach there. we know your family is watching, so we want to tell them you will be out of harm's way. we will not leave you out there as the storm starts hitting the area. we will be watching it together from a slightly safer space. appreciate you. all right. i want to go now to the mayor of clearwater, and we appreciate you, derek, the mayor is joining us now as we wait for this storm as it's coming close early. we expect to see it sometime this afternoon. so outer bands. what are you telling people in the community that they need to be doing right now? >> well, just like you said and derek said, take this seriously. if you are on low-lying areas, mobile home parks, please get out now. don't wait to the last minute when traffic will be congested. get out now. take your pets. take the things you need. if you are here and you are not in a low-lying area, hunker down. have your hurricane kit, water, batteries, radio, things that you need to just weather this storm. the good news is the fast-moving storm, not a very wide storm. but as derek said, 4 to 7 feet of surge along the beach and the entire pinellas county coastline, much will be underwater for half a day or a day. it should recede rapidly, but still it will be a dangerous storm and don't try to be a hero and ride it out. if they tell you to get out of there, please get out of there and do it now. >> can you give us some sense or -- there are always people who are hard-headed, who decide that they don't want to leave their homes, that they won't leave their homes. in happens in every single storm. you can understand why, because sometimes you just say, listen, i am going to be here for the long haul, i am going to take care of what i can. what can you tell us about emergency management and what will be in in place in case someone is under able to make it out as soon as now? is able to leave now? >> well, we have teams standing by. we have people that need help. we have 11 buses taking them to approved shelters now. they can call the number pinellas county, which is 727-464-4333 if they kneed transportation. do it now. we have people standing by, as does the county, help you get out of there. i can tell you a quick story. a friend stayed on sanibel last year. it took him -- his garage through six feet of water. he lucky to be alive. he watched his two cars wash away in five, six feet of water. he was lucky to get upstairs. he said i will never, ever do that again. he is lucky to be alive. >> reporter: we hear those stories so often. we also see the result of people staying and ending upperishing because they did not app take the warnings seriously. and the thing that gets people, really, sir, is clearwater is gorgeous. you know that. we know that. you see it right now and you think, why would i leave this? it is absolutely beautiful right now. but if you have been through the hurricanes, you know how quickly that can change. what should people be bringing with them? for example, you mentioned medical issues. so prescriptions. what should people are preparing for right this second to bring with them as they leave to higher or safer ground? >> well, medical items that you say you need, prescription drugs. anything that they need for their daily use and survival. really, just the minimal of stuff that you need, get it in your car, get going, get on a bus, call the number if you need assistance and it will take you somewhere. the other important thing, you don't have to evacuate hundreds of miles. we are talking tens of miles. get to higher ground. get to friend's house. get to a hotel. get to a shelter. get to higher ground. you don't have to drive out of the state. just leave the immediate area of danger, clearwater beach, the beaches up and down pinellas county. >> reporter: mayor, you told an important story. fort myers is still recovering and sanibel island as well from hurricane ian, which was devastating. this storm is going to abcategory 3. we remember what happened in louisiana in 2005. that was a category 3 storm. people need to remember it really is the water that is the danger here, that storm surge. so incredibly powerful. you cannot fight it. sir, thank you so much for taking a few minutes us. i know you are a busy person trying to make sure your residents are safe at this moment in time. i do want to quickly ask you one last question, and that is about schools. there are several school districts that have closed. can you give us a sense of what is happening in clearwater so people understand how long they may be close d as far as their children? >> all schools are closed today and tomorrow. they hope to be able to reopen on thursday. all city government and county governments are closed today and tomorrow. other than, of course, the emergency operation centers. everything is closed starting now or by noon today. >> reporter: wonderful. thank you so much, sir. please stay safe and i hope you and your family make it through this, and your property, make it through this without any kind of damage. appreciate you. all right. i will toss it now back to phil in the studio. >> thanks, sara. very important messages and context in that interview. i want to note some things that changed in the amount of time that we have been on air. what we know going forward, what we know at this moment with hurricane idalia, governor ron desantis is scheduled to hold a press conference at 9:00 a.m. we also know idalia has strengthened in the time we have been on air. shortly before we started the show, it was given the title of category 1 hurricane. expected to reach -- intensify to category 3. now 80 miles per hour winds according to hurricane hunters in 22 counties, under mandatory or voluntary evacuation orders. so we will have a lot more on that coming up. we also know house minority leader hockey tack keep jeffrie will discuss with the panel coming up next. right now get a free footlong at subway. like the subway series menu. buy one footlong in the app, get one free. for freeee. that's what i'm talking about. order in the subway app today. president biden, top democrat in the house, hakeem jeffries, says democrats are not worried. >> they have nothing to show for their majority throughout the year and so as natural consequence of that, they just continue to take orders from donald trump. their puppet mastner chief, who has directed them to persecute and to go after joe biden, which may take the form of an illegitimate impeachment inquiry. >> let's bring back in and bring in new folks. criminal defense attorney caroline, elie honig and elana, i want to start with you. i think when you look at what is happening on capitol hill, the balancing act that the house speaker kevin mccarthy has, the fact they may go down this path and it seems inevitable at this point. politically, what does that mean for a slim majority for house republicans? >> it's tough. i think that right now mccarthy knows that he doesn't have the votes needed to formally launch this. they may not need that, to vote on it in order to move forward with an impeachment inquiry. i think they will. i have been covering these house investigations very closely for months now. it's what the chairmen have been building forward. and everyone, particularly those on the far right section of the party and house have been expecting. mccarthy knows he needs to move forward with this. it's interesting speaking about, you know, leader jeffries' inte interview with you. i was catching up with him in the green room before he went on the. he said even though a lot of modern republicans say they don't wouldn't this to move forward, that impeachment is warranted or go against what mccarthy and some of the more far-right members say, they almost always vote with them and with the -- and with speaker mccarthy. and so i think that was interesting to hear him say and something that he is going be watching for because really the moderates in this very slim majority are going to have a huge role in this if they move forward with an impeachment inquiry. >> and they are the majority makers. they are the front liners. a lot are in. they are in hakeem jeffries's state. that's the capitol hill pass pekt, protection that former president donald trump has been asking house republicans to do. the actual cases itself, the timing of things, figuring out when the federal case is going to start. we have a date. you saw the documents from the former president's legal team about time, the scale of what they have to get their arms around. does the date make sense? >> well, you know, i am a criminal defense attorney, so i do align myself more with that side of things. that being said, 2026 was a bit of a reach. that's what they were arguing for. as a defense attorney, you can't just really take the government's word for it. there are 12 million documents here to look through. the government noted there are duplicative documents in that dump, he has many of them in his possession already. however, you know, you can't just go on that t you are going to want to look through the documents to make sure there is nothing in there that's a surprise. there are sophisticated ways to sift through those documents, word search ability. that being said, march 4th, it's coming up. lot of federal trials would give more time on that. so i do think it will be an issue likely, you know, it's not going to be a winner on appeal. it's definitely going to be up for debate. >> i agree. judges have very wide discretion when it comes to setting trial dates. i believe donald trump will appeal this eventually. it's cutting it close. a case with 12 million pages of documents go to trial in seven months. so rationale that the doj offered that the judge agreed which think don't cut it. for example, one of the things doj argued and the judge agreed he has sort of known this was a possibility for a year or so, going back to january 6th trials. that's not the way it works in our system. you are not on notice as a criminal defendant until an indictment drops. that's the purpose of an indictment. you can't just say, you kind of should have known there was something floating out in the ether. i agree with caroline. one the rationales is we, the prosecutors, gave you this handy guide, that's nice. that's a sweet courtesy. guess what? it's up to the defense lawyer to decide what matters to the defense. i think they are cutting it close to the line with respect to donald trump's constitutional right to fully prepare. >> that's an interesting point. the dynamics here, the congress, the political, the legal. i am glad you guys are here to keep it all in line for me. appreciate it. thank you, guys. hurricane idalia is now a category 1 storm with winds around 80 miles per hour. it's expected to strengthen more and could become a dangerous category hurricane as it floechs florida gulf ghost. joining me is harry enten. >> what is this morning's number? the number for today is 40. why is that? because it is the 24 hour forecast tracker for tropical cyclones. 40 miles on average. and we have seen tremendous improvement this how accurate the forecasts have become within 24 hours. it was 102 miles for the 24 hour forecast tracker back in the 1990s. so we slashed it by about a third. and in fact at this particular point the average forecast tracker at 96 hours this decade, 129 hours. that is actually slightly better than it was for 24 hours back in the 1970s. so we have seen tremendous accuracy jump in terms of predicting the track of hurricanes and that is part of the reason why we were able to give out these warnings for idalia so early on. >> harry, it is me out here in clearwater. i am listening to your every word even before i have had coffee. thank you for always bringing the great numbers to you. i do want to ask you, have we humans or scientists gotten better at forecasting a storm's intensity as well? >> yeah, we talked about how much better we've gotten at the track, but how about the intensity? this is the average intensity forecast surge in 24 hours. we really haven't seen that much improvement over the last few decades. in the 2000s, it was 12 miles per hour. last decade 10 miles per hour. now 9. so we haven't seen that jump. but where we have seen it is at the 72 hour time span. back in the 2000s, it was 21 miles per hour. 16 miles per hour last decade. and now look at this, we're at 12 miles per hour. so one of the things that was so difficult to forecast, we are getting better at further out we are and that is part of the reason that we knew idalia would become a major storm much earlier thanes that decades. a remarkable achieve the of signs. >> totally fascinating. harry enten, thank you very much. and i just want to say, it was remarkable you getting down there especially not telling me that you were going there. i was a little offended when i showed you and you weren't here. and quite impressed that you were down there. >> it is a gift. >> you've got a lot of work that you've been doing, that you will be doing going forward. we know that you will keep us posted and you will be back here tomorrow from down there. >> that is correct. and we are watching of course hurricane idalia, it is now a category 1, but it is going to intensify correspond to every single scientist who has been watching this storm as it goes over the gulf. we are now looking at pictures there from our drone showing you clearwater, showing you how beautiful it is right now, but that water you are seeing in the ocean could be surging right over all of that beautiful sand. we're keeping an eye on it and we'll let you know the timing of all this. thank you so much for joining us. this has been "cnn this morning." and you are looking at the storm track right now of the hurricane. back to you, phil. >> sara sidner will be back with us tomorrow. stay safe and great work throughout the course of the morning. we of course will be keeping a close eye on that storm on that hurricane as it moves through the gulf coast on cnn throughout the course of the day. but also this morning before we wrap up "cnn this morning," billie jean king was a trailblazing tennis star who fought for equal rights her entire career. last night the u.s. open honored the legend, her efforts and 50 years of equal prize money for women and men at the tournament. >> women's tennis is the leader in women's sports. yes! communities and the people who live and work there grow and thrive. we're proud to call these places home too. they're where we put down roots, and where together, we work to help move everyone's financial goals forward. pnc bank. - [narrator] we just signed the lease on our third shop. my assistant went to customink.com to get new uniforms with all the locations. he found great products, uploaded new art, and had boxes sent to all the shops. custom ink makes it so easy. get started today at customink.com. the first time you connected your godaddy website and your store was also the first time you realized... well, we can do anything. cheesecake cookies? 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"cnn news central" starts right now. hurrican