cut off by 8 to 12 feet of storm surge. later this hour we expect an update on storm preparations from governor ron desantis. we'll bring that to you live. until then our cnn teams are across florida covering the storm from every angle. we're going to start with cnn chief meteorologist chad myers. tell us the latest on idalia and its path. >> reporter: yeah, the 5:00 advisory just in. 100 mile per hour storm, a category 2 with 120 mile per hour gusts. the hurricane hunter that i said was leaving biloxi did make it to the storm, so they did get the update ot100 moving north at 16 miles per hour. that means this storm isn't going to be in the water for hours. we don't want this thing in the water for 35 more hours getting more and more strength to it. that is one of the good pieces. another thing that happened in the 5:00 advisory is the track has been shifted about 20 miles to the west away from cedar key but a little bit closer to st. marks where our brian todd is, and even a very significant blow likely to tallahassee with all those big trees that are there, you get wind gusts 80 mile per hour we're going to get so many wind gusts and lose so many trees. there is the eye and you can see it from the tampa ralder and the key west radar. it has been circular and the storm is breathing and now we expect that next rapid intenseification for the next 18 hours before it makes landfall in appalachia bay. that's the catcher mitt going to catch all this storm surge, significant storm surge. a lot of rainfall as well, and all of a sudden you're going to push that rain, try to brain it back into places that have a saltwater surge, so flash flooding is certainly, certainly likely. >> chad, explain exactly why these storm surges of just a few feet can be so dangerous on the west coast of florida. >> sure. well, there's so much here that is a flat part of the country, a flat part of florida. so we're looking here at more than 12 feet of surge, but that doesn't just mean it's all going to come in all at one time. it comes in one wave after another. each wave is 4 inches taller than the next, and it just keeps ongoing and keeps ongoing. and why that is significant is that when you start to push the water even a foot or 2 feet of water onto land, you don't get just 2 feet flooding, you get hundreds of feet flooding as the water pushes up the shore. and then all of a sudden because it's so flat, you start to raise that to 4 feet. now you've lost half a mile of beach. and then you do it again and go all the way to what we're expecting, then you've lost homes not on stilts and even some homes that are on stilts may not make it through this. this is going to be one significant surge. because of the shape of the coastline, it's not going to bea glancing blow, it's going to be a catching blow. that area is going to catch all of the water, and it can't go anywhere except up the rivers, up the creeks, into st. marks, all the way possibly pushing water all the way up, in some spots even i-10 could see a bit of a surge, not something going to knock the power lines down but with all this wind definitely going to see thousands, could be millions of big, big pine trees, live oaks that will be falling that will all have to be picked up as the power lines have to go back up. it's going to be a long, long loss of electricity. >> chad myers, thank you so much. let's go to chief correspondent bill weir about 90 miles south of tallahassee. the water temperature in the gulf of mexico has been exceedingly warm. how is that record warm-water, how is it contributing to the strengthening of this monster storm? >> reporter: well, heat -- hot water is the engine for hurricanes, and the engines we're seeing now are bigger than ever before. the gulf of mexico had never seen a surface temperature of 84 degrees fahrenheit until august when it went to 88, over 2.5 degrees above average for the last 20, 25 years or so. so that engine has the potential -- every one degree above normal has the potential to add 10% more strength to a hurricane. there's a lot of other factors a at play there. winds that can are 120 could be 125. there's nowhere for this water surge to go but up the rivers, here's exhibit "a." this is the river and it's a beautiful fishing community here. we're at scalp season right now would be hugely popular the hotels and inns here with anglers of all sorts and a historic community, a lot of older construction, wooden construction here. and they had about 6 feet of storm surge in 2016, the last big storm to come through here. they're talking 12 feet, so that's twice as high. so many of these homes here you have a fuel on stilts, but there's a lot of prefabricated mobile home-style homes in this area as well. and those are no match for 12 feet of storm surge. less than a year ago i was south of here getting ready for hurricane ian, which turned out to be the most costly, 156 lives lost, most of them lee county storm surge where you had no way to navigate so much floating debris. cars floating in just a couple feet of storm surge, and when everything is shaken loose, it's hard to hold on. the warning here is get out, but there's always that 2, 3% maybe more of the die hard who say i'm never leaving the storm. those are the ones first responders are worried about in moments like this. >> bill weir, thank you so much. to tampa now. a storm surge of 27 feet above normal levels is expected in and around tampa bay. millions of people live in that area. how are they preparing? >> reporter: yeah, that's exactly right, jake. right now there are two mandatory evacuations. one of them is right here in hillsborough county, which is home to the tampa bay area. the other is west of us in pinellas county. that's home to clear water and st. pete area. now, the concern through tomorrow here in hillsborough county and tampa bay area is going to be the flooding, right? we're talking about a storm surge as you noted, jake, anywhere between 4 and 7 feet. right now the tide is falling, but this time tomorrow we expect to take into account of course all this rain which is starting to fall. we're talking anywhere between 4 to 8 inches of it. we've also got to figure in high tide, and then we've got the storm surge going to make its iowa in here. the concern is the flooding, hurricane shelters and we're told those can hold up to 20,000 people. >> let's stay with the tampa area right now and bring in the tampa fire rescue chief. chief tripp forecasters are predicting up to a few feet of the storm surge, a few feet above that. you're born and raised in tampa. how concerned are you? how are you preparing? >> we're definitely concerned. we did do an evacuation zone for those low-lying areas and making sure families are protected. we have many shelters that are open, and we have an emergency reentry program that we won't allow those families to go back in until after that surge has cleared. we expect the surge to take place tomorrow afternoon pretty much between 11:00 and 1:00 and pretty much the waters around until about 5:00 in the afternoon. we're going to make sure the area is safe. >> you cautioned residents yesterday once the storm reaches a certain wind speed, fire rescue in tampa will not be able to respond quickly. what is that wind speed? what do you do after that wind speed has been reached? >> so we make sure we let the community know what levels we can respond to, and usually we don't want to put our people in danger, so that's why we make sure to get people to evacuate early. once the wind speed gets up to about 50 miles an hour, it is unsafe for us to put any large response out there in the field. >> meaning the worst could come when it's pitch-black and middle of the night, maybe no l electricity. i imagine that complicates rescue efforts quite a bit. >> it does and we do have other lights we can project. we have other departments we can work with and working with the electrical company as well to go out with these areas that have no power. we've been working with the state and local government to assist us if we need assistance. >> thank you for what you do. appreciate it. we're just starting to tee the outer bands of hurricane idalia hitting florida. coming up next an update from the national hurricane center about why the storm might be more dangerous than previous hurricanes. the latest on hurricane idalia after this quick break. for freeee. that's what i'm talking about. order in the subway app today. we, , the first generation of moms to lose our kids to social media, are sick of waiting. for 25 years, there's been no new la protecting kids onli. for 25 years, while our children are dying. we can pass the kids online safety act. join us. join us. join us. join us. ♪ let's lead the way. wayfair has deals so big that you might get a big head. because with savings so real... you can get your dream sofa for half the price. wayfair. it's always a big deal. ♪ wayfair, you've got just what i need ♪ at the alzheimer's association walk to end alzheimer's, this is why we walk. ♪ they're why we walk. ♪ we walk in the alzheimer's association walk to end alzheimer's because we're getting closer to beating this disease. join us. hi, we've both got a big birthday coming up. so we have a lot of questions about medicare plans. we've got a lot of answers! how can i help? 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(what?) ♪ ♪ can i get a can i get a drumroll please (oohh) ♪ ♪ that's nice (yahh) ♪ ( ♪ ♪ ) ♪ ya, can i get a drumroll, can i get a drum- ♪ ♪ that's nice ♪ and we're back with our breaking news coverage of hurricane idalia. moments ago we got an update from the national hurricane center noting that idalia is now considered a category 2 storm and is expected to keep strengthening before making landfall along florida's gulf coast this evening. let's go to saint marks, florida, to south of tallahassee where we find cnn's brian todd. he's at the top of the so-called big bend. the big bend is where the panhandle meet the western coast of the peninsula in florida. brian, the new hurricane track sends the eye of the storm even closer to where you are right now. what are weather officials saying to those who have made the decision to stay? >> reporter: jake, i just asked an emergency management official that very question. what do you say to people who want to stay? this official had a one word response, don't. but then he did say if you choose to stay make sure you have at least three to four days worth of provisions to get you through the next few days because it's going to be tough for emergency people and emergency responders to get to you. why is that? you take a look where we are here and how low we are to the water. we're in st. marks. and just beyond that is bay. this area right here is going to get a 6 foot storm surge which means the wind is going to act as a snowplow, pushing all this water here way past where i am. residents here fully expect this area here to be flooded by tomorrow morning when the storm hits. people urged to leave. the sheriff's deputies going door to koor knocking on doors in florida and elsewhere. when it's a mandatory evacuation it means they cannot physically pull you out of your house, but they strongly urge you to leave. with the forecast here and you can see how low we're in the water here, that is something people do need to heed. we did talk to residents in this town who want to stay and they're staying for various reasons. some are saying their home is here and they want to check their home in case it's damaged. with the surge of water here this whole area is expected to be flooded. not a safe place to be in the next few hours, jake. >> hurricane idalia is expected to cause major flight delays and cancellations, of course, just ahead of the labor day travel weekend. cnn's pete muntean is at the magic wall. >> a lot of people had trips planned for disney, universal, the gulf coast, tampa bay. you'll want to have your airlines downloaded and dialled up because there's so many people planning to travel for the labor day rush, sort of the climax of the big summer travel rush. it may be the biggest on record. the faa says thursday will be the biggest day in terms of the number of flights scheduled. but the tsa says friday will be the largest number in terms of passengers boarding flights. the issue now is that the storm is going for some major airports on the florida gulf coast. tampa international airport already closed, closed at midnight. st. pete just closed at 5:00 p.m. some 70% of cancellations in the united states are flights into and out of tampa. southwest airlines especially hard hit. i want you to listen to the vice president of the tampa international airport. he says the big concern now is not only the airport and infrastructure and the passengers but the 10,000 employees who work at the airport. he says they just had to shut the airport down preemptively. listen. >> impacting peoples travel plans is not something we take lightly, and suspending flight operations is a last resort for our team here at tpa, but safety is paramount, and we have to ensure we're protecting our employees and airport infrastructure that could be damaged by wind or water. >> the big concern at tampa bay international airport is the storm surge. you can see the airport here almost right here on tampa bay, they're expecting storm surge at the airport 4 to 7 feet. so they are thinking that they may be able to do a damage assessment some time tomorrow morning, potentially reopening the airport on thursday. but we will see. the cancellations and delays for tomorrow already piling up. jake. >> all right, pete muntean, thanks so much. as the hurricane strengthens the concern about the potentially deadly storm surge continues to grow. we're going to have an update from florida's governor ahead. stay with us. couple questions and got a real offer in seconds. then, they just picked up the car and paid me right on the spot. sell your car at carvana dot com today. she runs and plays like a puppy again. his #2s are perfect! he's a brand new dog, all in less than a year. when people switch their dog's food from kibble to the farmer's dog, they often say that it feels like magic. but there's no magic involved. 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>> i think it's pretty much locked in at this point. we're looking at landfall somewhere in the florida big bend area. the main concern -- >> all right, so jamie has gone out there. let us go to our next individual will be john berman. he is live for us in steamhatchy in florida, which is south of tallahassee. whil we're waiting to get john berman's signal het let me show you again the big bend area of florida where this storm is headed. the big bend is basically the corner of the panhandle. if we can get the map that actually shows the panhandle and peninsula at the same time. there it is. and that area right there near tallahassee is called the big bend, where the panhandle of florida hits the peninsula, hits the gulf coast while the panhandle has been traveling over the gulf of mexico, which is warmer than it has been in the past. it is gaining even more strength. so now let us go to cnn news central anchor john berman who is live in steinhatchee, florida. what is the major concern for residents there? >> reporter: the major concern is the storm surge, jake. there's no question about it. i'm standing right now in a marina and the hurricane in 2016 people were walking away with water up to their waist. that was 6 foot storm surge. they're talking 10 to feet storm h surge here. 10 to 15 feet you would imagine it would be well over their head. this area could be inundated. that is the fear here. they haven't a storm like this year period, full stop than anyone can really remember. the ones that had passed through were much weaker were ones stronger did hit and send this kind of storm surge. that's what they're most concerned about. we talk would a couple people with the sheriff's department. the sheriffs have been going door-to-door to get people to leave these low-lying areas particularly if they don't live in really strong brick housesch the sheriffs are telling me they've had some success. some people planning to stay they've convinced them to go because they're telling them, look, this one is just different. the people who live around here this is a fishing town about 5,000 people depending on what time of year. they know the water and they like to think they can ride through just about anything. but what the sheriff is trying to tell them is, guys, this one is different, please take this very seriously, jake. >> we should note also, john, and i remember covering the aftermath of hurricane katrina and the levees breaking in new orleans with you back in 2005. and one of the things i don't think people living in areas like this don't understand this is not just ocean water in 5 feet in a town. it's a cesspool, really. it's dangerous water. it has oil in it, all sorts of contaminants. in many cases it's toxic. it's not just like fun ocean water. >> reporter: no, and it's a really good point. and there's water everywhere. the steinhatchee river that i'm on right now is flows out. the concern is it's going to flow in and going to flow in 5, 10, 15 feet maybe from where it is right now. they've had real flooding issues over the last few years, but that's with the water upriver. the fresh-water falling and then coming down here it's very vulnerable, very fragile and it's not just this one river. there are all kinds of waterways, so once you start pushing a wall of water into it, as you said it just creates so many problems. unhealthy, unsafe, and for a time perhaps unlivable. >> all right, john berman in steinhatchee, thank you so much. we're standing by for an update from governor desantis as the storm pushes in and this is on the way as the worst of the storm will hit florida's gulf coast. we'll be right back. 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addiction to opioids like fentanyl. but even with opioid use disorder, you still have a choice. by choosing treatment, you choose family, your career and your life on your terms. choose change, california, and find medically proven treatment options at choosechangeca.org. and we're back with the latest on the track of hurricane idalia, which is now a dangerous category 2 storm and getting stronger. its maximum sustained winds right now are about 100 miles an hour. we're awaiting a news conference from florida governor ron desantis with all the latest information, and we will have much more ahead on hurricane idalia, but let's turn right now for a moment to our law and justice lead because cnn's sara murray is monitoring developments in georgia where a state court is preparing for next week's arraignments in the election interference case against former president trump and his 18 codefendants accused essentially of trying to steal georgia's electoral votes through fraud. the fulton county district attorney, sarah, is still pressing for an october trial for all 19 defendants including donald trump. october? >> yeah, that's right. i mean there's a bit of herding cats going on in ther latest filing. she says, look, ken chesebro said he wants a speedy trial. he said to the judge she's going to try him in october. she's essentially telling the judge this is our goal, if your goal is to try some people separately because they want to have a speedy trial or if some people want to sever off of this case and be tried separately, we need to have a hearing on the issues and brief them. she's making very clear she'd still like to go to trial in october and go to trial with all 19 defendants at that time, jake. >> the arraignment in the election interference case, the deadline is scheduled for a week from tomorrow, september 6th. cnn, of course, will cover that. do we know if former president trump has any plans to go to atlanta for the arraignment? >> they haven't signaled yet what their plans are, but obviously we've heard from donald trump over and over again complaining these cases are election interference, so you would wonder why he'd choose to go in person if you have the opportunity to waive your arraignment, and we've seen a number of his other codefendants in this case enter their not guilty pleas with the judge, say they intend to waive arraignment, and normally that's allowed in this court in these kinds of cases unless we hear otherwise from the judge. i would be surprised if donald trump doesn't take that opportunity, but we'll see. >> also today a judge asked for additional briefs on mark meadows' bid to move the georgia election case from georgia court to federal court. he says he needs to do this because he was serving at the pleasure of the president, his white house chief of staff at the time. what do we know about that today? >> well, the judge wants more information even though, of course, he had a whole day hearing on this issue. but there's still a legal matter he wants sorted out, and that's this question of, look, if one of the acts mark meadows did written out in this indictment could be chalked up to his role as white house chief of staff is that enough for mark meadows to move this to federal court, or does he not clear the bar? he wants to hear from meadows on that, the district attorney and hear all that by thursday afternoon which tells you whatever the judge's decision is going to be on this matter it's not coming at us on friday, jake. >> we're joined now by republican congress member ken buck. he's a member of the house freedom caucus. good to see you. we've now seen trump indicted in four different cases, and the jockeying is under way to set trial dates, all of which will conflict with the republican presidential primaries and caucuses. what's your feeling how distracting trump's legal troubles will be for the republican party writ large? >> well, first of all, i think it's going to be very distracting for the former president because he's got going to be in different locations that aren't heeleding primaries, and i think it's going to be news wrkty whenever he shows up in the courts so he'll get a bump with that. in terms of the debate we saw last week, it's difficult to go after the former president's policies, and it's also one of the things that's talked about the most is not the answers that are given on the stage but the answers that weren't given because the former president wasn't there. >> donald trump keeps dismissing his legal troublings as election interference. you've read the indictments. is that how you see it, or do you think donald trump is in legitimate legal peril at least in one or two of these cases? >> i think there are a couple cases that -- and i'm sure the president and his -- the former president and his attorneys are taking all these very seriously, but there are a couple cases. the classified documents case, for example, that i think is a very serious case, i'm sure the president is focused on defending himself in that case. >> let's turn to the republican leadership, the house republican leadership's push to open an inquiry targeting president biden. last month called impeachment talk a shiny object to distract from budget negotiations. what are you hearing about the impeachment inquiry conversation with your discussions with other members for of the house republican caucus and for that matter for your constituents back home? >> yeah, so i think the speaker is intending to either bring a floor vote or it doesn't appear that one is necessary by the constitution. you may just order an impeachment inquiry to move forward. the -- my constituents back here really in all of colorado are split on this issue. a lot of them -- and part of this, jake, i think it's fair to say doesn't justify in having an impeachment inquiry or an impeachment of president biden, but part of this is based on the fact that president trump was impeached twice and acquitted twice by the senate. i think there's more of an appetite on the right now for impeachment because it really hasn't been respected the way it was for the last 150, 200 years. so i think my constituents back here some of them want revenge, some of them want retribution, and others want to move on and solve the problems that we face in this country. >> i mean for the record the second impeachment was after january 6th and it was a bipartisan vote to impeach donald trump in both in the house and the senate. republicans in both the house and senate voted against donald trump for that impeachment, so it might be observed they're not even equal in importance in that way. >> well, i think that's right. i think, you know, the first impeachment one democrat who's now changed to republican voted not to impeach the president. and in the second impeachment i think there were 10 or 11 republicans who voted to impeach president trump. so, yes, but we'll see what happens with this. obviously we're not at the point where we're ready to offer evidence of impeachment but rather just to start an inquiry into whether impeachment is appropriate. >> yeah, i'm still not quite sure what crime joe biden is to have committed, but we'll get to that at a later date because i want to bring up the fact your leader, house majority leader steve scalise, republican of louisiana revealed rather today he's being treated for a form of blood cancer. obviously all of us are hoping for the best for him. have you spoken with leader scalise at all? >> i've not spoken with him. i've exchanged texts with him. and as a cancer survivor, i wished him the best. he is is a tough cookie. he obviously survived a shooting incident and has been living with those injuries and has a really strong soul, and i believe if anybody can overcome this blood cancer it will certainly be the leader scalise. >> all right, colorado republican congressman ken buck, good to see you, sir. thanks for joining us. >> good to see you, thanks. any moment we expect to hear from governor ron desantis. earlier the press secretary careen jean pierre they're in constatant contact. we'll have an update on florida ahead. ♪ ♪ 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. like ours is spoiling their dogs. good, real food is simple. it looks like food, it smells like food, it's what dogs are supposed to be eating. no living being should ever eat processed food for every single meal of their life. it's amazing to me how many people write in about their dogs changing for the better. the farmer's dog is just our way to help people take care of them. ♪ (sfx: ping) (♪) ♪ please don't go ♪ ♪ please don't go.. ♪ ♪ please don't go ♪ ♪ please don't go ♪ ♪ don't goooooo! ♪ (♪) ♪ don't go away ♪ (♪) ♪ please don't go ♪ and we're back with our continuing coverage of hurricane idalia, the powerful storm currently making its way towards florida's gulf coast. we're waiting to hear an update from florida governor ron desantis. and as soon as that starts we will bring that to you live. let's bring back cnn meteorologist chad meyers right now. chad, the slightest wobble could have big implications. you talked about this happening in the past. what's the latest on this track? >> yeah, the wobble problem is that the storm track is almost going parallel to the florida coast, so a 1 or 2-degree track changes where the landfall will be compared to a perpendicular landfall where 1 or 2 degrees only makes 2 miles. i mean 1 or 2 degrees could make 10 miles or so. we're still going that wildlife refuge area even if we go left or right a little bit. 100 mile per hour storm right now. a little brighter color pattern, more purple color in the center of the eye. that means the storms are higher, they're colder, they're the tensifying. something else i've just seen here. on the radar we're seeing lightening again which means likely an intensification process going on. the track has changed slightly to the west, 20 miles or so from the last advisory at 5:00, but that puts hurricane force winds all the way into georgia. there are hurricane warnings in georgia. can't remember the last time i've seen a hurricane warning across state lines, but that's what's going to happen here. we have 125 mile per hour, 120 mile per hour storm, moving fairly quickly it's not going to slow down in time to not be a hurricane by the time it gets to georgia. notice there's an awful lot of lightening here in parts of florida as well. we talked about this yesterday where there's a potential even for some tornados on land here. no watches or warnings right now, but there were some warnings earlier around marco island, and the wind gusts are picking up somewhere 20 to 25 miles there on the west coast of florida. a few changes have gone here the past couple of hours. there is is the storm itself. i think likely this is going to be onshore somewhere around 6:00 to 7:00 tomorrow morning, but that doesn't mean that's when the initial wind starts. the wind is going to be well ahead of that 3:00, 4:00, 5:00 we're going to start to hear things go bump in the night for sure. and because it's tracked a little bit farcter to the west, that puts tallahassee into the wind event where 60 to 70 mile per hour winds will certainly bring down quite a few power lines and trees in the beautiful city of tallahassee. something else going to go on, likely i-10 will be at least shutdown for a while because those same trees are going to be falling down across the interstate and get removed before you see all that traffic continue. tallahassee not only with the wind but almost 6 inches of rain. you put that on top of a tree with wet roots and all of a sudden trees start to come down. it's going to be a rough night. >> all right, chad myers, thanks so much. hurricane idalia already whipped its way through the western edge of cuba causing major flooding and damage there. how severe is the damage in cuba? >> reporter: the sun is out behind me, but don't be fooled. cuba took a licking today and they're just now assessing the damage. we're talking thousands of people forced to evacuate from coastal areas, now hundreds of thousands of people according to official numbers that are still without power and the government has to go, and it's slow work to begin the job of restoring power, of fixing power poles, downed power lines. we saw dramatic scenes of flooding across western cuba, people that had inches of rain in their house, storm surge. and, you know, that pickup process is only beginning now. whole areas of agriculture that were just slammed into, and the thing to remember, jake, is this storm came into cuba's, the tropical storm left here as a category 1 and skirted the western edge. cuba by comparison got lucky. the storm going to florida is going to be a much more powerful storm, all the same much more from florida and hurricane idalia ahead as this storm gains strength over the warm waters of the gulf of mexico. the graduate student accused of killing a faculty member at the university of north carolina chapel hill yesterday appeared in court today this as police are still looking for a motive and the weapon used. what more do we know about the suspect and the charges he's facing and the victim? >> tail efrjsi qi is facing a first degree murder charge as well as possession of a handgun on education property. according to the police report, the handgun was a 9 millimeter pistol. the judge didn't require him to enter a plea and they also said he will continuing to be held without bond. police are examining the connection between the victim and the suspect. the victim identified as an associate professor in the department of applied physical sciences. sugiaj yan working at the university since 2019. at a press conference the chancellor and the unc police chief talked about the tragedy and mentioned that the victim was a father of two young children. >> the victim and suspect knew each other, and the suspect went directly to the victim and then left calder labs. we're still exploring the relationship between the professor as well as the suspect. >> the incident caused panic on campus, and for hours there was a scarcery of information. the shooting happened at the heart of unc chapel hill near the bell tower. according to officials, classes will remain canceled until thursday. at the bell tower they will have a ringing of the bell followed by a moment of silence. the suspect, tailei qi has a probable cause hearing for september 18th. they're still looking for the weapon used in the attack as well as trying to figure out a motive. >> i know that campus very well. nye mie late grandfather was the head of the physics department. my mom went there. how are the good people in chapel hill doing? >> reporter: they're still processing it. i've been speaking to both former and current students. some of these students have been called generation lockdown. they've gone through these situations post sandy hook and columbine. for some of them, this was their worst nightmare that came true. in our world lead it has been two years since the deadly attack on abby gate at the kabul airport. today the families of 13 of the u.s. service members killed in that attack spoke out on capitol hill. >> those men and women in uniform loved their jobs and they carried out this humanitarian evacuation in the worst of circumstances. there were failures and i can count over half a dozen opportunities to stop this tragic ending. system we had in place were ignored. our armed services' request for air support, multiple military personnel saying this is not a good idea, our snipers asking for permission to engage. every one of them ignored. these are red flags. why were they ignored? >> exactly two years ago today these families met their loved ones' remains at dover air force base. two years later they're still searching for answers about what happened on that fateful day in kabul. >> we want answers. we need answers, and we expect those answers. i'm calling on you, please, please don't let this fall through the cracks. >> they want answers, they need answers. they also deserve answers. in our world lead today a private funeral was held for wagner mercenary chief yevgeny prigozhin according to a company prigozhin owned. video appears to show him buried next to his father. russian media says about 30 people attended. russian president vladimir putin was reportedly not one of them. this comes a week after prigozhin and nine others were killed when their private plane crashed near moscow. the major update at this hour. hurricane idalia a powerful category 2 hurricane, expected to balloon into a category 3 storm before it slams the florida gulf coast. we're standing by to hear from florida governor ron desantis. we'll have the latest on this monster storm up next on "the situation roroom." boom, you get a real offer. sell your car to carvana todaya. was also the first time you heard of a town named dinosaur, colorado. we just got an order from dosaur, colorado. start an easy to build, poweul website for free with a partner th always puts you first. start for free at godaddy.com - [narrator] what if there was a hearing aid that could keep up with you? 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(notification dings) in fact, more than 95% of enhance select premium customers report hearing better with their friends, family, and colleagues. with jabra enhance select, you can get the same advanced hearing aid technology and professional care you expect from a clinic at a fraction of the cost. for a limited time, get $300 off select hearing aid models. visit jabraenhance.com. happening now, idalia is a powerful category 2 hurricane and still strengthening as it closes in on florida's gulf coast. we're standing by for an update from florida governor ron desantis as officials warn that catastrophic devastation and death are very possible. parts of florida are being lashed by idalia right now as it barrels told i'm path. welcome to our viewers near the united states and around the world. wolf blitzer is off today. i'm alex marquardt, and you're in "the situation room." as we stand by for an update from florida officials, let's get right to the breaking news. hurricane idalia is growing strength and the urging threat it's posing to florida's golf coast. we have correspondents fanned out all across the danger zone. weather experts tracking idalia's power and path. first to cnn meteorologist chad myers. we have a new forecast out. give us the latest. >> 100-mile-per-hour storm. hurricane hunter has been flying through the storm, found a much lower pressure. that lower pressure has significantly now increased the wind speed around the storm itself. 100 miles per hour, but gusts could be 120.