rapidly intensifying storm now a category 1. taking aim at florida's gulf coast and with life threatening storm surge and extreme winds, impact could be devastating. plus a calculated risk. president trump's former chief of staff mark meadows taking the stand. but will his testimony convince a jury to move his trial to federal court. and classes are canceled today at unc chapel hill after a faculty member was shot and killed. what we're learning about the suspect in custody. those major stories and more all coming in right now on "cnn news central." ♪ right now, idalia pounding parts of western cuba as a hurricane while florida prepares for impact. idalia is expected to make lawful in florida's big bend region early tomorrow morning potentially as a category 3. it is forecast to bring a life threatening storm surge that could cause water to swell up to 12 feet in some areas of florida and up and down the state's western coast, floridians are preparing. >> we're tying the boats down. my husband is preparing what we can. >> there has been plenty of times when i've overprepared and then griped about it afterward because all the work i did, i had to undo. but it is better than the alternative of not being prepared if it does turn this way and things go sideways. >> sunday it was like it is coming and now it is like get out. it is mandatory. i don't know if i want to leave or not though. i don't know where to go. >> we'll show you the time lapse imagery captured on satellite, it shows a lightning storm inside idalia when it was still a tropical storm. and also hurricane hunters capturing this image of idalia from above. it may look calm, but the storm currently has maximum sustained winds of 80 miles per hour. actually want to take you now to governor desantis who is speaking now about storm preparations. let's listen. >> -- module with expedia, so if you want to find a hotel, you can go to expedia.com/florida. we are coordinating, continue to coordinate with the power companies across the state. we had as of this morning over 25,000 linemen stationed, more on the way, so you will have most likely between 30,000 and 40,000 linemen when the storm hits will be in the state of florida and they will immediately move to commence power restoration efforts. we've also been working with counties to make sure that they know that we have resources ready to deploy and we want to be helpful to support their efforts. so we have received more than 450 active missions that we are coordinating, he have resource request we've received has either been filled or will be filled by the end of this morning. we do have 420,000 gallons of fuel staged and ready to deploy and additional assets are expected over the next few days. and the gas stations that will be prioritized will be the ones along the heavy evacuation routes. we have 8 urban search and rescue teams activated and over 580 rescue personnel ready right now. we have delivered 431 pallets of water, 303 pallets of mre and over 1200 tarps to communities that may be impacted. we have more water and mres ready to be deployed as needed. there are over 20 shelters open and additional 20 special needs shelters are mobilizing or on standby throughout the state of florida. we have 5500 national guardsmen that have been activated. we have deployed 247 starlinks with another 529 staged in central florida and they will be deployed to impacted areas as the needs a rise. 42 school districts have announced school closures over the next two days along with 16 state colleges. and seven florida universities. our florida department of transportation is more than 600 personnel including over 220 cut and toss crew members with more than 400 pieces of heavy equipment and trucks strategically placed across the state to prepare for cut and toss operations post storm. and if you look at that track of where it is going now, you are going to see a lot of debris. there is a lot of trees along that track and it is going to knock down trees, it will knock down power lines, and there will be a need to be able to clear a lot of the right-of-ways. florida department of transportation has about 1100 generators en route to impacted areas. and they will use that to get the traffic signals up and running as soon as possible when the storm passes. as wind becomes stronger later today and into the night, fdot will coordinate with local law enforcement to close bridges once speeds reach in excess of 40 miles per hour. road rangers will be concentrated along evacuation routes to help motorists. we have also called up 33 ambulance strike teams, so over 200 ambulances ready to surge into any impacted area. we've also requested an additional six strike teams through our emergency management assistance compact with other states. and so this storm is going to hit tomorrow morning. you will start certainly seeing effects of this in different parts of the state later on today. you still have time this morning to be able to make your final preparations. if you are in one of those areas that is in line for some of the major storm surge and you are told to evacuate, you have time do that, but you got to do that now. you don't have to go hundreds of miles. you can go to a shelter in a different part of your county, go to a friend's house in an area that is not going to be susceptible to the storm surge. hotel. all these things are good to do. and you should do that and heed. this will be a major hurricane, likely a category 3. and where it is scheduled to hit along this big bend, we've not really had a hurricane strike this area for a long, long time. you have to go back tck to the s before you would see a path like this. so those coastal areas there not necessarily have been through this before. and i think that being safe is the appropriate thing and erring on the side of caution is the appropriate thing. we will of course be mindful of any changes in the path of this storm. i think that everybody on that gulf coast from tampa bay up until northwest florida must remain vigilant. they have nudged the track a little bit further west over the last 24 hours. i mean, we were looking at poten potentially levy county and now more of a taylor county. some models say it may go even further west. so places like tallahassee where we are today certainly you could end up having it hit tallahassee directly and some of the surrounding areas. so reeveryone remain vigilant, consider to listen to the local orders that you receive. i want to thank everybody. we've been in contact with, you know, people from most of these counties the last few days, everybody is working hard, everybody understands that this is a significant event and they are remaining calm, cool and collected. but they are executing and that is what we need to continue do. i want to thank everybody here in the state for working hard. they have been working around the clock and getting the resources where need to be as those requests come in. and of course once the storm passes, we'll immediately go to commence any type of rescue operations and of course the power restoration will be a big priority. go to florida disaster.org/get a plan if you have any questions. again, you still have some time this morning and into the early afternoon. but as we get throughout this day, you are going to start to see rain and wind pick up particularly the further south you are in the state -- >> we've been listening of course to governor desantis there in tallahassee at the state emergency operations center essentially warning floridians that are in the path of this hurricane idalia now tracking at hurricane cat 1 saying that you have time to prepare, but time is ticking essentially. saying if you want to evacuate, you need to do that now. he said that you have time this morning to make final preparations, you don't have to go hundreds of miles but go to a different county, go to a friend's house, a hotel. >> and saying this will be a major storm and uncommon one. he made the point that hurricane directly hitting the big bend area of florida is not something that the sunshine state has seen since the 1800s. and a significant storm at that. it is tracking to land potentially as a category 3 storm as well. let's take you live to clearwater with derek van dam. he has been tracking idalia since it formed. it is sunny right now, but that will change in a matter of a few hours and soon that storm surge also is going to be a serious concern. >> yeah, we talk about the hazards affecting this area. and we are in clearwater beach and this is pinellas county, one of the mandatory evacuation zone as. and stepping into this water, this is way beyond that bathtub feel we talk about when we describe a pleasant beach scene. it is more like hot tub. and that is fuel for hurricanes to strengthen and to form as well. let me show you why this coastline is so susceptible. i want to take you to the skies because we have our drone here. talented group of people behind these camera lens too by the way. just so much going on with this coastline. but i want you to see just how flat it actually is. i can walk out several hundred feet from where i'm standing and have water only up to my knees. it goes on for several hundred feet from here. and so that shallow nature of the water makes this so susceptible to a storm surge of 4 to 7 feet. that is the official forecast for this particular area. clearwater beach is just over my shoulder there. and if the drone goes higher nell varks in elevation, you will see the beach stretches for miles. and 4 to 7 feet for tampa bay. the pinellas county region. but look at the reds, 8 to 12 feet around cedar key region. that is where we're concerned about all of the shallow water from the eastern gulf of mexico that you see behind me, that warm water is going to push up and pile up into that almost catcher's mitt type topography feature. so what you are looking at is storm surge potential. and there is important because you can see the shades of orange around tampa bay, that is 4 to 7 feet perhaps locally higher. and then along the intercoastal water ways, barrier island, you can see yellows and oranges there as well. that is 4 to 7 feet of elevation above normal dry land. and this storm has got a trajectory towards the big bend, but again, we talk about the oneles with these strengthening storms. any deviation for the west or any deviation to the east has major implications for such large population densities including tampa bay. don't let your guard down. >> important piece of advice. that rapid intensification. we saw it with hurricane ian last year. the cone of uncertainty leaving the hurricane to move in an unexpected direction. derek van dam, thanks so much. and evacuation orders have been issued for at least 22 florida counties. but officials are telling people in low lying areas or mobile homes to also consider leaving. >> i'm worried a little bit about the rain. we live in -- mine the wind. we live in a mobile home. but out of all the years i've been in florida, which is all my years, never really had much -- one time it blew the awning off my trailer. so i consider myself pretty lucky. >> and "cnn news central" anchor sara sidner also in clearwater beach. i've been watching your coverage, incredible job my friend. you've been talking to officials. what are they telling you is the most serious concern right now? >> listen to the orders that are being given and do it now. it looks gorgeous. you look at those pictures from derek van dam and the image behind me, and it is attractive. you want to come here, you want to see this beautiful beach. it is quiet, there is no one here, it is gorgeous. but the weather is going to change. and when it does, it will be rapid and when it does, it will be dangerous. not necessarily because of the wind, although you will definitely notice it, but because of the storm surge. derek talking about the fact that it could be between 6 and 12 feet of storm surge. that would be double the side of derek himself where he is standing. water coming up that high and coming at you fast. it is an absolutely imperative that you try and get your things together, get your pets ready, and get to higher ground. authorities have been saying that you don't have to travel hundreds of miles. make sure that you fill that gas tank up. but you don't have to go hundreds of miles or to another state. you just have to get out of the low lying areas. areas that you are seeing right there. the beach, it is flat. when these waters get pushed up on to the beach, they come at you very, very quickly. you do not want to be anywhere near there when that happens, when the first bands start coming in. we know that people have been preparing. we know this is extremely frustrating and unsettling for people who love where they live. they love their home. they don't want to see anything happen to it. but you don't want to be in that home and dealing with all this because the emergency services will not be ready to take action during the major part of the storm. they have to keep themselves safe and so you will have to wait for assistance because if the water is surging, if it is coming, no one can get to you. we saw this so many times in so many storms. the most important thing is your life, the most important thing is a life of your family and your pets. take care of that first. everything else will fall in line. back to you guys. >> and we heard desantis say you have time do that, that being prepare, but you have to do it now. sara sidner, thank you. coming up for us, will donald trump's former chief of staff turned co-defendant win his court battle in georgia? the judge's decision could be a game changer. also, russia releases rare footage of detained american paul whelan inside a prison. what he says happened the first time a tv crew tried to tape him. also a deadly shooting at the university of north carolina 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trump's georgia trial be held? the day that d.a. fani willis wanted, march 4, that is now officially the start of the federal election trial. it is also one day before super tuesday with primaries scattered throughout. and march 25 taken, so timing is getting trickier. number two, will meadows get his federal court moved? a judge yet to issue his ruling. and will the former president be this georgia next week? arraignment is set for september 6 and last night one co-defendant entered an early not guilty plea. evan perez joining us now. a lot of moving parts here. where do we start? >> yeah, that is a very crowded calendar and as you pointed out, the judge, judge tanya chutkan, already chose march 4 as the day that her trial, the trial here in washington, will get started. and that is a day before super tuesday and what we're looking at is given the prospect that the prosecution has said that their case will take four to six weeks to present, that means that the former president will be sitting in a courtroom here in washington not on the campaign trail during those key periods there when other states are up for grabs, other delegates are up for grabs in the republican nomination. that is a huge imposition obviously on a political campaign and the judge really addressed all of that saying that the public interest to have this matter resolved as soon as possible is really the thing that is driving her. she said from the bench that setting a trial date does not depend and should not depend on the defendant's personal or professional obligations. and of course, you know, for the trump team, they are also trying to figure out whether mark meadows succeeds in his effort to move his case out of the state court in georgia to the federal courts because that decision which the judge said could come another any point at any time and will really have an impact not only on other defendants, there is four of them who have asked for their cases to be moved to federal court as well, but the former president who hasn't made that request we fully expect will do so. we saw his trial team in the courtroom yesterday in atlanta. so they were closely watching. and they watched as mark meadows stood on the stand for three hours really taking a risk answering questions both from the prosecution and from his own team, as soon asingasing -- ansg questions that every one will pay attention to his words. >> and that could have implications and also what the judge decides with the meadows case could have huge implications for others as you pointed out. evan perez, thank you. let's get some legal perspective from jessica roth, former federal prosecutor for the southern difficult of new york. thank you so much for being with us. let's start with the statement from donald trump that he is going to appeal the march 4th trial start date. can he actually do that? >> so he can't. at least not now. a judge has enormous discretion to set the schedule in their courtroom including the trial date. so this is something that is not going to be immediately appealable. i doubt very much that we would see his lawyers actually following up on what trump has said in filing a motion to appeal. it may be that at some future date if there is a conviction, that the early trial date could be part of the grounds for an appeal based on ineffective assistance of counsel or some other reason. but i very much doubt that we'll see even a motion to appeal at this point and certainly if filed i doubt very much that an appellate court would consider that. >> so let's talk about what we saw yesterday in fulton county. evan spoke about mark meadows taking a risk by going on the stand and giving testimony. why is that risky for him? >> a number of reasons why it is risky especially that the early stage. anything he says can be used against him as a matter of evidence law. whether in a future prosecution in this case or in some other case for example in the january 6 d.c. case where he is not currently charged but he could potentially be. so anything is admissible in court against him even though he has a fifth amendment right against incrimination. if he does take the stand in some future case, these statements can be used to process examine him and to impeach him for example if they are inconsistent with what he later says at a future trial. once he's had the opportunity to consider further what his testimony might be informed by the discovery he will be seeing from the government. so it is risky because his statements can be used against him. >> that makes sense. so the decision from the judge supposedly coming very soon, but his arraignment is also coming soon as it is from all the other co-defendants on september 6 i believe. does a decision need to come before the arraignment? >> the decision doesn't need to come before the arraignment. i believe the judge said he was mindful of the september 6 date. i believe he said that meadows needed to show up if the judge had not issued an opinion before then. but the judge clearly wants to move this along. the other defendants will be watching to see not only the judge's ultimate decision but the reasoning behind it in evaluating whether they too want to seek removal to federal court. once the arraignment happens on september 6, that actually starts the clock for purposes of the deadline for other defendants who have not yet done so to file a motion to remove their actions to federal court. for example the former president will have 30 days after he's arraigned in which to file a similar motion. >> jessica, quickly, one co-defendant ray smith has already pleaded not guilty. he skipped his arraignment. anything to read into that? >> no, i think that is probably just somebody trying to move things along. perhaps he has other things to to take care of. >> thanks very much for the expertise. and coming up for us, hundreds of flights are canceled and tampa's airport is now closed. that is ahead of hurricane idalia's arrival in florida. coming up, we'll look at the storm's potential impact as we near the busy labor day travel weekend. my relationship with my credit cards wasn't good. i got into debt in college, and no matter how much i paid, it followed me everywhere. the high interest... i felt trapped. debt! debt! debt! debt! so i broke up with my credit card debt and consolidated it into a low rate personal loan from sofi. i finally feel like a grown-up. break up with bad credit card debt. get a personal loan with low fixed rates and borrow up to $100k. go to sofi.com to view your rate. sofi get your money right. being middle class right now, it's tough making ends meet for sure. republicans in congress say if we just cut taxes even more for the biggest corporations the money will eventually someday trickle trickle down to you. right. joe biden would rather just stop those corporations from charging so damn much. capping the cost of drugs like insulin. cracking down on surprise medical 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to and from tampa, which made a preemptive strike to close the airport at 12:01 a.m. this morning. the executive vice president of operations there held a press conference earlier and he says that the big concern is not only flooding and the storm surge, the airport is relatively close to tampa bay, but also projectiles, things on the ramp could get blown around and they simply want to get airplanes relocated out of there. the concern is not only the workers, there are about 10,000 that work in the airport there, but also the passengers he says he is aware that they will take this on the chin, but it is the right thing to do. listen. >> impacting people's travel plans is not something that we take lightly and suspending flight operations is the last resort for our team here at tpa. but safety is paramount and we have to ensure that we're protecting our employees and airport infrastructure that could be damaged by wind or water. >> reporter: hope from the airport is that they will be able to assess the damage as early as tomorrow and potentially reopen sometime on thursday. but it just depends on how poorly the conditions are on the ramp, on the runway, on the roads getting into and out of the airport. the good news here is that even though the airport is closed, airlines are adding flights. you united is adding flights out of sarasota and orlando. and also doing a lot here to try to protect passengers pretty much every major airline has made it so that youcellation fes which is a good thing especially for folks changing vacation plans and also folks trying to get out of town. we're on the precipice of the big labor day travel rush. >> and we'll keep watching it. pete muntean, thank you. keep in mind there are some 5 million people on the east coast of florida right now that are under hurricane warnings and at least 22 florida counties that have issued some level of evacuation orders ahead of hurricane idalia. >> joining us live to discuss is the public information officer with dixie county emergency services. so dixie county is located in the northwest part of the state in the big bend region and has issued a a mandatory evacuation. mandy, we appreciate the time. good morning. we heard from governor desantis about 30 minutes ago and he talked about big bend specifically, he said that that area hasn't really had a hurricane strike in this area in a long time. these coastal areas are not been through this before. what are you most concerned about? >> yeah, absolutely. our last incident was back in 2016 with hermine where we had seen some storm surge but nothing of this magnitude. and back then, we had some major destruction to not only homes but, you know, commercial businesses as well. and we're a very, you know, small community that relies heavily on our coastal communities with their shrimping and crabbing and fishing and our timber. and so if the track stays the same and we see the storm surge that they are predicting, it would be very devastating for our little county and the surrounding counties around us. >> so mandy, what do you need residents to know right now? what is your message to them? >> absolutely need them to pay attention and don't take this lightly. we had a lot of people slowly starting to move into dixie county the past couple year which is we love, but for those that may not have been through something like this before, definitely listen to your neighbors that has lived in florida, has been through hurricanes and can give the best advice on what they seen in this area with how storm surge happens especially with the high tides. and we did just order that mandatory evacuation this morning for all those residents that meet that classification in that order. and we just want everybody to really get to a shelter or evacuate out of the state or with family that has a strong are more solidified home, definitely not in a mobile home or camper, something like that. >> mandy, we hear the warnings to evacuate, but for those who choose not to, what should they be doing? >> absolutely, so our -- the dixie county sheriff office along with florida highway patrol just started going out knocking door to door this morning in the coastal communities and giving them the evacuation order and talking to them about where the shelters is and stuff. and if they choose to stay, they are actually writing down their names an address and how many people is in the homes so that way here in the operations center when the storm passes and we go out to start, you know, doing preliminary searches and initial pushes in to the communities, we kind of get an idea of how many people we may be looking at that did want to stay and the important message for those that do stay is to get to higher ground especially if you are in that predicted storm surge. please tie down any loose propane tanks, lawn chairs, anything like that that could float away or cause hazards for any emergency service personnel that might be going in after the storm, utilities company, all that, anything that could harm them or another citizen, please just secure that the best you can and get to higher ground. >> one thing we hear over and over as to why they don't evacuate actually has to do with their pets, they are afraid of leaving them behind or not being able to care for them if they evacuate. what advice do you have to folks that are on the fence about evacuating and have to consider their pets? >> absolutely. and we have pets of our own. you know, we absolutely love them to death. and we do have shelters in our tri-county area that they can go to. we don't personally have one here in d.c. county unfortunately, but our neighboring counties in levy and taylor both have shelters, and also in the gainesville area, they are more than welcome to take their pets there. there are contact numbers on each of their websites for that county, what they need to bring to that pet friendly shelter to have their animal accepted. so -- and it is tough because a lot of the older communities look at them as the child now. so definitely for those if they are hesitant about that, we just strongly recommend that they call one of the pet friendly shelters and definitely get moved in to either taylor or the other counties if they want to drive a little further. >> a lot of difficult decisions for so many people. mandy, we appreciate your time. thank you. and plenty of news to get to this morning. including a suspect who is in custody after yesterday's deadly shooting at the university of north carolina at chapel hill. some key pieces of the investigation are missing. we'll tell you what police are looking for. and a scary moment last night at a baseball game, atlanta braves star ronald acuna jr. knocked to the ground by overzealous fans. this was on the field during a game against the rockies. all how of it unfolded when we come back. every day, more dog people, and more vets are deciding it's time for a fresh 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shooting has been charged with first-degree murder. monday's attack sent the university into lockdown for several hours. and also prompted officials to cancel classes through today. i want to bring in nick valencia joining us now. what are you learning about the suspect? >> a state official who has been briefed by law enforcement tells me the suspect is a doctoral student at the university of north carolina. and he was actually the person in the photo who was the person of interest that was circulated during the incident as it was unfolding. it is worth noting that police have not officially named this suspect, but just a short time ago, a being booing report from orange county sheriff's office he says he has been charged with first-degree murder and as well as having a gun on education property. and the initial calls in to university of north carolina police came in at about 1:00 p.m. of shots fired on campus. and he was eventually taken into custody but not until after the campus was put into lockdown. he was handcuffed about an hour and a half after the initial calls. absolutely terrifying moment there for those university students who had just started their second week on campus. and when this incident was all said and done, one faculty member was shot and killed. they spoke about the tragic loss. >> we really want to know the why in this case and what led to it. >> so many of you are feeling uncertain about your safety right now. and again, we have very good protocols in place. there is nothing more important on our campus than the safety and well-being of our community members and certainly our nearly 30,000 students are at the top of that list alongside our faculty and staff. >> the shooting happened near the bell tower which if you are familiar with unc, it is basically the heart of campus. and as you heard there from the police chief, it is still too early to tell what the motive is. and you are looking at the photo of the person who was taken into custody and charged this morning with first degree murder. still too early to tell the motive and also they are still looking for the weapon used in the attack. the story still developing. >> absolutely. nick valencia, thank you. new video released by russian state media giving a rare look at life inside prison for wrongfully detained american paul whelan. we'll talk to a member of congress about it. and house republican leaders say they want answers about the appointment of a special counsel in the hunter biden investigation, what they are asking for, when we come back. for moms, from centrum. ♪ this new mom ♪ ♪ here i go ♪ ♪ i am strong and brave i know ♪ ♪ with a little time for me ♪ ♪ no doubt i will get through ♪ ♪ loving me is loving you ♪ ♪ new from centrum. the women's choice multivitamin brand. when you shop wayfair's labor day clearance... you get deals so big, we'll have you saying... am i a big deal? . ig deal. wayfair deals so big that you might get a big head. because with a sale this big, ♪ wayfair, you've got just what i need ♪ gives you access to every game. but terry doesn't have directv. come on. work for dad- here... now, you can find the game easy. my barbecue is saved! get in the redzone with sports pack. call 1-800-directv my barbecue is ruined. david: as we start a new school year, there's something new happening in california's public schools. they're called community schools. leslie: it really is shared leadership with families, students, educators, and communities. jessie: i feel like we're really valued as partners. david: it's a more innovative, holistic approach. grant: in addition to academic services, we look at serving the whole family. narrator: wellness centers, food pantries, and parental education. jessie: they're already making a difference. david: california's community schools: reimagining public education. the chairman of three powerful committees is investigating into three appointments of david weiss into hunter biden investigations. you redhaul call the deal of th and tax charges fell apart, and now a concern in these letters is that weiss is going to have full autonomy to pursue this investigation as he sees fit. >> yeah, that is right, boris. the republicans have had their sights set on david weiss the trump-appointed u.s. attorney who has been overseeing the criminal probe, but now they are stepping up the scrutiny of his appointment to be special counsel in the case. yesterday, a trio of the gop chairmen sent a letter to attorney general merrick garland said that appointment means that he did not have full charging authority all along, and they suggested that the doj has given hunter biden special treatment throughout the investigation which has spanned several years including trumped a menstruation. now, there is investigation as to weiss had the charging authority, and remember he was only asked to be special counsel after the plea deal fell apart and looks like it is going to trial. at the time, merrick garland said he granted request because of the extraordinary circumstances surrounding this case, but these chairmen say that explanation is not sufficient enough for them, and they are requesting a slew of documents and information related to the appointment of david weiss as special counsel. they also want to see a memo outlining scope of the special counsel investigation into hunter biden. we should note that merrick garland is already scheduled to testify before the house judiciary committee september 20th, and he has a september 11th deadline to respond, and no doubt they will keep this hunter biden probe front and center in the weeks and months ahead. >> yes, thank you, melanie zanona. and now, boris, we will go back to florida for the special coverage of hurricane idalia. we handcraft every stearns & foster® using the finest materials, like indulgent memory foam, and ultra-conforming intellicoils®, for a beautiful mattress, and indescribable comfort... every single night. stearns & foster® ... what comfort should be during our labor day sale, bring home incredible comfort with savings up to $800 on select adjustable mattress sets. learn more at stearnsandfoster.com [clock alarm] ♪ morning. ♪ ♪ life after student debt is within reach. refi at sofi.com. you could save thousands and get to your goals faster. sofi. get your money right. 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. hurricane idalia is now a category 1, but getting stronger as it barrels toward florida's coast. the forecasters are warning that the storm could be extremely dangerous as the officials are warning those in the path to hunker down or leave. and in georgia, donald trump's former chief of staff is taking a chance and taking stand. how his testimony could upend the case against his former boss. i'm rahel solomon with boris sanchez and in for john, sara and kate. this is cnn "news central." hurricane idalia is getting stronger to move through the warmer gulf waters to the florida coast. idalia is expected to make landfall as a potentially category 3 hurricane. only two others have made landfall in current projected path. one in 1950, and the other in 1896. idalia is forecasted to have life-threatning surge up to 12 feet. the governor in florida has suspended all tolls in the state, and urging some people in the state to get out now. >> if this storm hits at high tide, storm surge could reach 8 to 12 feet in some areas, and so that would be life-threatening storm surge. you run from the water and you hide from the wind. if you are there in storm surge, you are putting your life in jeopardy when it gets to be that high. >> at least 22 florida counties have issued evacuations. 10 of the counties have made evacuations mandatory. we have the cnn team tracking every angle of the storm, and we begin with eric van dam who is live with us in clearwater, florida. derek, what is biggest risk for people right now? >> without a doubt, storm surge, boris. it is the main concern with this storm, but so many other threats from idalia from inland flooding to constructive winds to bring down trees, power lines and you name it, it is a lot, but we will talk about the storm, and the details